dozen. it's cold outside. layer up is the key. we've got tom in the weather center. good morning. hoping to get a little bit warmer here. >> it's very cold this morning. all be chattering as you step out the door. we have bright sunshine. there's a live view from our tower camera. the sun is up and a blue sky and temperatures hovering below much of the region here below freezing for a couple of hours. you'll need a warm coat and hat and sunglasses here for the daylight hours. we are in the 20s to around 30 degrees. reagan nation is at 31 degrees. we'll get above freezing by 11:00 and then mid 30s to upper 30s by mid afternoon with bright sun and lighter wind. a look at our first chance for accumulating snow for the season

>> thanks. we need to get to the news. >> we do. let's do it. we sent derrick ward out in the cold to tell us how it feels out there. good morning. how you doing? >> reporter: surprise, surprise, i'm out in the cold, but it's not that bad when the wind doesn't blow, but the wind is indeed blowing. there's a play called skin of our teeth and one of the first lines is it is so cold the dogs are sticking to the sidewalk. we haven't seen any dogs sticking to the sidewalk. they're smart enough to keep moving but we are seeing very cold temperatures and a lot of this is due to the polar vortex. you've never been to the arctic? the arctic is coming to you. we have been lucky. there's not a lot of moisture in the air right now not like up around the great lakes where they're seeing lake effect snow, but we may have some in the forecast. it's all about layering up and usually standing in the sun

now, but there is warmth coming eventually. maybe after christmas. we're live, news 4. >> we'll look ahead to july. thank you. let's get to this developing story in prince george's county. police arresting a man who somehow escaped on the way to jail. this all happened after 9:30 last night year brown station road. you can see on the map right there. the man was being taken to the jail from a traffic stop on possession charges. he got out of the handcuffs and ran away. we're told they found him about 30 minutes later and took him back into custody. more u.s. troops are headed to syria to help in the fight against isis. u.s. defense secretary ash carter says as many as 200 more american soldiers will be sent to help capture the stronghold of raqqah.

authorized to help with the efforts. the announcements came during a security conference. lawmakers on capitol hill have avoided a government shut down. it came down to the wire on friday night when the senate proved a spending bill with less than an hour to spare. the measure keeps the government running through april 28th and gives disaster relief to louisiana, more than $10 billion in emergency war funding and speeds up the confirmation process for retired general james mattis, donald trump's pick for defense secretary. expect tight security at the army/navy football game in baltimore. president elect donald trump is going to be at that game. trump will spend half the game on the army side and the other half on the navy side. he will become the first president elect to ever attend. trump is

thank you tour across the country. he stopped in grand rapids, michigan last night to thank supporters after becoming the first republican presidential candidate to win there since 1988. on the stage the president elect suggested a possible business agreement with ford to keep jobs in the u.s. >> ford's made a promise to me and hopefully at the beginning of the year they're going to honor that promise about something they're going to do that's very big and they're going to do it in michigan, not in mexico, and it's going to be great. gonna be great. >> trump didn't get into specifics about the plan. reports say ford is shifting its small car construction to mexico, but keeping all jobs at its michigan plant to produce different types of cars there. former new york city mayor rudy giuliani won't be in the next president's cabinet. donald trump says he has taken himself out of consideration for a position in his

administration. the trump loyalist was thought to be an early front-runner for secretary of state but his overseas business ties came under scrutiny but trump's incoming chief of staff said he passed a vetting process with flying colors. trump's team is slamming the cia after the intelligence community has concluded russia intervened in the u.s. election to help donald trump win. the report is based on an intelligence briefing given to u.s. senators. president obama has ordered an investigation into the hacking. chuck todd will tualk with reince priebus. try again another weekend, that's what mgm harbor officials are asking folks who visit the resort this weekend. the casino reached capacity on opening night 45 minutes after opening its doors

reservations you're okay. you're asked to arrive early and you need to prepare for heavy traffic. this morning the head of a local liquor board is in trouble with the law. charles caldwell was busted for a dui. he said police arrested him thursday night outside mgm national harbor. investigators say he was involved in a three-vehicle crash and took a field so briety test at the scene. he blames his unsteadiness on his age. he says he should have called usher. many folks are running a race like no other. this is the race we'll join in on. it's called the great chocolate race. already some of street closures in place right now. all should wrap up by about noon. for folks rug

they get a sweet takeaway. we're talking about a box of godiva chocolate and a medal too, but i think everybody is doing it for the chocolate. community rallies together, how neighbors are spending this weekend supporting a popular pizza joint. snow falling, cars sliding, we're talking about dangerous travel across th countrey.

and let roomba from irobot help with your everyday messes. roomba navigates your entire home. cleaning up pet hair and debris for up to 2 hours. which means your floors are always clean. you and roomba, from irobot. better. together. back with you this morning. the show of support is expected to continue throughout the weekend for the neighborhood restaurant at the center of pizzagate. hundreds of people held an eat-in at comet ping pong and the line stretched down connecticut avenue in northwest d.c.

supporters organized it on facebook encouraging people to support the neighborhood shop. the owner says he got over 1,000 rsvps. the owner has been arrested and charged after firing a gun inside comet. plows are working to keep up with the lake effect snow. this is hammering parts of new york state. several inches have been dropped on the roads making travel treacherous in western new york. it has caused numerous car crashes and one man lost his life when his car went out of control, swerved into oncoming traffic. the warning remains in effect through today. let's go to pennsylvania now, heavy know being blamed for a chain reaction crash. part of an interstate was shut down. several people went to the hospital but officials say their injuries are minor.

seeing snow. in spokane, washington is coated in white and three inches are expected by this afternoon. in north dakota it's not snow, but bitter cold are giving people the chills. temperatures are expected to dip below zero for the next several days. let's bring you closer to home. the blast of cold will hit you the moment you step outside. look at some of those temps. it is cold, below freezing. tom's updating his forecast with temperatures in your neighborhood. we want to show you this unplaed landing on a high school football field.

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good morning. don't let the cold keep you from getting some exercise today, just layer up, cover your stremstre extremties well and stay warm. temperatures near 30 degrees over the next hour or so and by noon time near 30s and 40s in the afternoon. sun and wind. a look at our next chance for snow of the season in a few minutes. a rare landing at arlington. a military helicopter coming down on a football field. our news partne

the helicopter had some sort of mechanical issue, landed at yorktown high school last night. maintenance crews were able to jump in and make repairs and get that helicopter back up in the air. an area woman's attacker will spend his life behind bars. we have an update on a story we've been following of a man who raped a college student in a public bathroom on campus. now she's telling news 4 how she found the will to survive. >> i was caught off guard especially being in the women's bathroom. >> reporter: a quick trip to the rest room during her first day of classes turned into a nightmare. a man later identified as nathaniel hart seen her on surveillance camera video used as evidence at his trial slipped in behind her and turned the lock on the door. he says he told her he had a gun and would kill her if she resisted. the 19-year-old absolutely believed him. >> i had to learn how to

that situation. >> reporter: terrified minutes stretched into hours. she says at some point she gave up hoping a woman would come into the rest room and it would end and that thought, that thought, changed her. >> you know what, i need to do what i need to do because no one is going to save me. i have to save myself. >> reporter: for whatever reason her attacker had not taken her phone. when he was distracted she took a chance and sent a text to her sister believing he'd kill her if he caught her. >> i told myself if i die today, it's not gonna be peaceful. i have to die fighting. >> reporter: thanks to her call by the time surveillance cameras captured him leaving the building a police dragnet had formed and he is seen trying to hide downtown in a store. within hours he was taken into custody at a nearby motel. what followed was seven years of legal maneuvering by hart. >> today the judge gave a sentence of life plus 120 years

to mr. hart. >> reporter: the now 26-year-old victim plans to start college again next year. >> being able to still be at peace with yourself is something that i'm very grateful that i still have. >> reporter: nathaniel hart originally pleaded guilty and received a sentence of 90 years but it was overturned on appeal. after hearing testimony from the young woman you heard from, it took a jury about 20 minutes to render a verdict of guilty. in silver spring, news 4. at 8:47, the ceo convicted of murdering his estranged wife will go to prison for life in prison plus 16 years. he broke into his wife's home, killed her and staged to look like a suicide. the two were in the middle of a bitter divorce and custody battle. the oldest of the children spoke after court.

be honest. it's not just because i've lost my mom, but i've also lost my father in a very weird odd way to say that, but i'm completely okay with the fact that he did this because it's what he deserves. >> he's planning an appeal to that sentence. the cold has many worrying about flu season. it's almost here. every year millions of americans get the flu. this year vaccination rates are lower and the centers for disease control is reminding everyone it's not too late to get vaccinated. only about 40% of adults have gotten their shots this year. activity spikes between now and february. memorial services for john glenn the first american to orbit the earth get under way, one scientist says an orbit around mars not that far off. a human mission to mars may be less than 20 years fr

he is optimistic that an orbit around the red planet could happen by the early 2030s. she said it would be a powerful step toward finding more life out there. mars is even further from the sun and with this cold weather i don't think i can take any more distance. >> it's cold on mars too. very cold there and we're cold here on earth this morning. it is december after all. it's a winter month and we have temperatures still subfreezing around much of the region and speaking of winter, we have our storm team 4 tracking winter weather special. it airs tonight at 7:30 on nbc4. you'll see our forecast for the winter ahead, how much snow we may get as well as a lot of other great information about winter and how to cope with it. that's tonight at 7:30. right now temperatures are in the 20s just near 30 degrees. most of the region, reagan nation i

by 10:00 just near freezing. by 2:00 upper 30s and bright sunshine through the day with a lighter wind and then by 6:00 back down to the mid 30s and near freezing by 10:00 under a mostly clear sky. i love this photo. took this yesterday because it showed how those cold winds on friday ripped the leaves off the trees. took this picture in northern montgomery county. send us your pics. love seeing your photos and sharing on tv. tomorrow upper 40s with increasing clouds and rain looks likely on monday morning for the commute through mid day monday and then sun back monday afternoon. monday the warmest day for the foreseeable future. it may be 50 degrees and after that near 40 on tuesday and dry and then our first chance of accumulating snow this season may be on wednesday afternoon into wednesday evening.

temperatures may be a little bit above freezing so maybe sort of a wet snow, mostly accumulating on grassy areas and light ak accumulations are possible wednesday afternoon into the evening and then cold down near 20 the latter part of the afternoon and then it will be very cold on friday only maybe just a little above freezing and another chance for accumulating snow that's going to be a week from today. that one may actually be a little more snow than wednesday and then it does look like it may change over to sleet and then rain late on saturday and lingering rain that next weekend. that's the way it looks. it's winter. >> it's definitely december. they're one of the most popular holiday gifts, which gift cards are not

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online for the first year. cable can't offer that. only fios can. if you're taking metro this weekend there are some service alerts to tell you about. safe track is still under way on the orange and silver lines, but this weekend additional safety work is impacting the red line as well. trains will single track from vaness to friendship heights and single tracking between addison road to largo town center on the blue line. crews are installing a cable there. having gotten back from there, i can tell you this is

faster internet access. it appears to be on the way after google and the cuban government strike a deal. this will allow cubans access to a network of servers to get access to g mail and youtube in locations around the world. it's not clear if the servers would be on the island nation itself or just closer than current ones. we're told the deal will be signed monday morning in havana. >> progress happening there. >> a lot of people there welcoming that. if you're like me you get these gift cards and carry them around forever and forget to use them and time goes on. that's not a good thing we hear. we have a bit of a warning for you if you're considering gift cards this holiday season. >> you can share them with me if you want. >> any time, david. >> i'm just saying i'm here. more than half of americans plan to give a gift card for the holidays but they're not created equal. >> i know. they're such a good gift. people love them. nbc explains what you need to

money. >> reporter: for gift givers who hope to skip the holiday shopping frenzy, gift cards may seem like the solution. in fact, 56% of americans plan on giving one this year, but consumer experts are warning receiving a gift card comes with strings attached. >> if you give someone a gift card that has let's say $50 on it, it's not just $50 until the end of time. there is an expiration date. >> reporter: kerry didn't know th. she was saving gift cards for something special, but when she went to use them the value was nearly zero. >> i was really frustrated. i thought it was ridiculous. >> reporter: there's fine print that goes along with gift card including fees and expiration dates and not all gift cards work the same way. the cash value can drop if they're not used within a stated period of time like 90 days. traditional gift cards do

decline in value and show an expiration date further in the future like 2024. >> $1 billion in gift cards was wasted last year so the last thing you want to do is give someone a gift that they never end up using. >> reporter: experts recommend make sure it's a gift card and not a prepaid debit card and buy directly from a retailer not a second hand source and always read the terms of agreement before you buy or use a gift card. reading the fine print to prevent a holiday headache. nbc news new york. extreme cold and snow on the way. how soon it's going to get even colder and when the flakes may start flying here. also cashing in on short-term rentals. we're going to tell you about the business discussion over rbnb and howai

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police arresting a man who escaped along the way to jail. this happened around 9:30 last night. the man was being taken to the county jail from a traffic stop, but somehow he got out of his handcuffs and ran away. they found him about 30 minutes later. ash carter says more u.s. soldiers will