gift. we're working for you with easy, fast ideas. first at 4, a dump truck crashed into a several cars in prince george's county before barreling into someone's home. >> several people were injured this morning on ollens road in oxen hill. bureau chief tracee wilkins talked to the truck driver about what happened. not everyone believes his story. tracee joins us with details. >> reporter: police are investigating to find out if what he said happened here is what actually happened. let me show you what's going on with the house. they pulled the dump truck out. they're trying to shore the house up. the folks who live there are not allowed to return home right now because the house is not safe to live in. this is connected to two other homes and they're saying the two other houses are just fine. let me show you what it looked like here a little while ago when the dump truck plowed through the front of this house. the driver told me he was coming down the road when he was clipped by another truck then kept going in a hit-and-run accident causing him to lose control. crashing into t

vehicles, two of those vehicles were occupied. one included a father and his two sons. they were all taken to the hospital and are expected to be just fine. prince george's county police are now investigating to try and figure out exactly what happened here. this is how one neighbor described it. >> when i heard this bang, sounded like an earthquake or something. and i came out and i saw this dump truck into my neighbor's house. and it was two young boys that was in the car and i went out to assist the young boys. his mouth was all bloody. ambulance came, took them to the hospital. >> reporter: now, it's important to note that the family who lives here was not inside of the house at the time. so no one injured inside of the house. that's the good news. coming up on news 4 attin ing hear from the truck driver. reporting live in oxen hill, tracee wilkins, news 4. we're getting our first look at new video just coming into the newsroom, it is the first ti

donald trump since he started his holiday vacation. mr. trump got a security briefing in florida and then stepped outside his mar-a-lago estate to take a few questions from reporters. when asked about the attack on a christmas market in berlin, trump said it validates his assessment of islamic-inspired threats and that it has to stop. >> it's an attack on humanity, that's what it is, it's an attack on humanity. and it's got to be stopped. thank you. >> mr. trump also said he's been speaking with president obama in their last conversation was a couple days ago. right now, there is a wide manhunt under way in europe for a suspect in the christmas market attack in berlin. german investigators say he's a young tunisian ex-convict with multiple aliases and ties to islamic extremists. and should be considered armed and dangerous. they say they've had their eyes on him for a while now. that they suspected he was preparing a serious crime.

with more. >> reporter: police are searching for 23-year-old tunisian national anis amri, he actually turns 24 tomorrow. he's believed to be behind the attacks that occurred monday night. he hopped the curb and plowed a tractor trailer into a crowd of people attending one of berlin's famous christmas markets. he killed 12 and injured dozens more. about a dozen of those are still in critical condition. now, this is a massive drag net that's been expanding across not only berlin, not only germany but all of europe. $100,000 bounty on this young 23-year-old tunisian's head. it's not clear exactly where he is. police have been trying to look into some of the refugee circles that he passed through. now, this dragnet is expanding, getting bigger and bigger and encompassing all of europe. really the political fallout is going to be very severe in germany, all this going to come

presidential elections hand angela merkel, chancellor of germany, one of the biggest political tests of her career. back to you. also developing this afternoon, that massive explosion at a busy fireworks market in mexico, the death toll is rising. dozens more are hurt and many are unaccounted for. we'll get an update from the ground in mexico city later this hour. only on news 4, police arrested a d.c. government contractor for threatening to shoot and kill his co-workers. i just retweeted news 4's mark segraves who broke the story on twitter. mark has details on what the employee said that got him arrested. >> reporter: northern virginia man was arrested after he called a colleague here at d.c. office of the chief technology officer, saying he was going to come to work and commit, in his words, a mass shooting. and put slugs into the chest of three of his colleagues who he named. these court documents revealed edwin melton told his colleague this early in the morning

work, but he did not threaten anyone. he left abruptly in the middle of the day. employees did not find out about the threat until about midafternoon. at that point, the building was put into lockdown. next day, police arrested melton and charged him with making threats against his co-workers. he's now in a halfway house awaiting his trial. as for here at the office of the chief technology officer, they tell us that they brought mpd in the very next day to do active shooter training for their staff and they brought counselors in as well for their colleagues. no one was hurt, and no gun was found. in southeast, mark segraves, news 4. two people have to find a new place to live after fire ripped through this montgomery county home. firefighters say it started with ashes that were not properly extinguished. it happened on pasture brook way in rockville last night. firefighters returned to that neighborhood this morning to

especially during this time of the year. misplaced fireplace ashes also destroyed a home in d.c. and one in fairfax county recently. we are working for you with some tips to help you safely dispose of those ashes. investigators say you should never put them in ha combustible container like a trash bag or cardboard box. always use a metal container with a lid and pour water into the ashes to make sure they're cold. don't place ash containers on your deck, porch or in your garage. and keep them away from your house. we'll be talking with montgomery county fire about this and what you should do to protect your home in our next hour. we warmed up a little bit today. we were about 10 degrees warmer than yesterday. right now, we're at 47. but plebt of clouds out there. that will be the case on into the evening hours. we keep the clouds but luckily it stays dry. 42 degrees by 7:00 p.m. by 11:00 p.m., we're in the upper 30s. you still want the warm coat as you're walking the dog tonight

there with the kids. now, what to wear tomorrow, you want the warm coat once again but the sunglasses as well. however, we'll be warm enough where you can leave the gloves, hat and scarf at home. i'll be talking about your forecast hour by hour tomorrow, coming up in about ten minutes and also there is some rain in the forecast on saturday. i'll be timing that out, again, coming up right around 4:17. >> looking forward to it, tanks, amelia. look, you're running out of time to get the holiday packages in the mail. the deadlines you need to know, if you want your gifts delivered by christmas. toda is the deadline to ship via u.p.s., second-day air. and fedex two-day deliveries. if you're going to the post office, priority mail packages have to be sent today. but you can ship all the way to friday using priority mail express. if you're using amazon, the deadline for two-day delivery is tomorrow. the same goes for walmart.com and kmart.com's rush delivery. find more details on last-minute shipping dates and what it will cost you in the nbc washington

just search "shipping deadlines." holiday travel rush is here but are they really best and worst teams -- are there worst and best times to travel? what you need to know if you're hitting the road and the runways. not done holiday shopping? you're definitely not alone. four things you need to know to get the best gifts in time for the big day. plus thousands of dollars worth of pirate movies and tv shows. >> all traced back t

the rush to get out of town is in full swing rig

. live pictures of reagan international airport and i-270. 2.5 million people from our area are traveling for the holidays. most of you, your friends and neighbors, are driving. new data today from reagan national shows it's expecting the most flyers this season since 2005. and we've learned more and more people in our area are choosing to fly out of reagan national airport. the washington-area transportation planning board says 34% more are booking flights out of dca compared to 2013, and dulles international airport is seeing a major drop in traffic. today's survey shows a 31% drop in passengers there. of the three local airports, bwi marshall carries the most passengers every year. now to a story you saw first on your phone, something a lot of you have retweeted. news 4 iphone scott mcfacfarlan broke the news of a bootlegging

operation linked to an address on capitol hill. federal officials have seized those bank records. the investigation involved pirated copies of the show the "west wing" worth about $2,800. the dvds were imported from hong kong and then resold on line. one suspect involved in the bootlegging lives on capitol hill. federal agents found over 1,900 dvds at his house, at least 300 found to be fakes. they found thousands of dollars of box sets including the "big bang theory" and the "twilight zone." out of their homes and into the cold. days before christmas. hear from the man who says his daughter prevented it from becoming a tragedy. tens of millions of americans are traveling for the big holiday weekend. we want you to weigh in. tell us if you plan to travel or just stay home. it's our nbc washington flash survey. so far, a lot of you say you're staying put. head to the nbc washington facebok page right now and ovo

more than two dozen people in prince george's county are wondering when they can go back home. >> fire broke out in their condo complex in green belt. it happened days before the holiday weekend. neighbors say they were just grateful to get out safely. >> news 4's justin finch reports, the entire community is now pitching in to help them. >> reporter: amid the sound of saws and coming and going of

damage left by fire some hours earlier. prince george's county firefighters on scene about 1:00 a.m. after flames were seen jumping from the roof of this three-story green brier condominium building off hanover parkway in green belt. martin, a father of two, now grateful his daughter was first to smell something burning from her room and she woke him up as alarms began to blare. the fire, he says, was above their apartment and he saw those flames up close. his daughter leaving just in time. >> i looked up into her room, i saw flame coming out through the vent. >> reporter: he says he then started knocking on doors. more than 30 people were forced into the streets. wrapped warmly as temperatures lingered below freezing. in all, firefighters say the blaze appears focused in two condo units. crews say the second and third floors took heavy fire damage and other floors and units below are waterlogged.

ipads, everything is just -- >> reporter: days before the holidays, some at the green brier complex already planning a response for their neighbors now in need. >> i was concerned, but it was, like, 1:00 in the morning, so i didn't want to be in the way so i didn't come down here. but we'll do what we need to do. that's the kind of community we are. >> the red cross is also helping those families. fire investigators say 18 adults, 13 children, 7 dogs, 4 cats and 1 large snake were displaced. fire did about $75,000 in damage. remember all that freezing rain we got saturday morning? well, we got some new details on a deadly crash on the beltway. a 495 was especially slick and we learned a man from alexandria died in a crash near mile marker 50. virginia state police say he lost control of his truck and crashed.

another vehicle slid into him and that's how he crashed. boy, you look at that and it's just, man, i was out there so i know how bad it was. i'm just -- thank goodness that we're getting some nice, clear, warmer weather right now. >> yeah, that's going to be great for folks who are taking to the roads to get out of town for the holidays, isn't it? >> absolutely, pat and chris. i have to say, i passed the crash on 95 on saturday, and it was still a mess during the evening hours. thankfully, no freezing rain or snow in the forecast the next few days. tomorrow and friday if you're traveling locally, even across most of the mid-atlantic area, we're looking at completely dry roads. now there's going to be some rain around saturday, so you do want to anticipate some wet roads out there especially during the morning hours. again, thankfully no freezing rain or snow in the forecast for the holiday wheekeekend. weather headlines, some rain around saturday morning. tomorrow on into the weekend, temperatures are going to be around 50 degrees, so even a little bit above

degrees. by the way, happy winter. winter officially began this morning around 5:44. and as you look ahead to new year's eve night, if you have plans to be outdoors, well, right now it's looking dry. but it's looking chilly as well. currently we're in the 40s across the board. 43 in gaithersburg. 47 in washington. and 46 in leesburg. yesterday it was cold. we were only in the 30s. but instead of going down tomorrow, temperatures are going to go up. so 7:00 a.m., some clouds out there. mid 30s. low 30s in the suburbs. by lunchtime, we're already warmer. we're at 49 degrees. during the afternoon, it's going to be a little breezy tomorrow. look at the highs. 52. not bad. tomorrow evening, cool and around 41 degrees. all in all the weather having a low impact on your thursday. at the bus stop, we're in the 30s. a warm jacket. i'm sure the kids, though, very excited anticipating the holiday weekend. only a few more days to get through then we'll be there. traveling again, it's looking

i know i had the gloves on today. probably won't need those tomorrow. if you're getting some of the last-minute holiday shopping done, it's looking dry, but chilly. i want to widen out future weather to show you if you have family coming into town, i know tom has family coming in from boston. look at what new england is going to be dealing with including boston tomorrow morning. we're starting you off at 9:00. see snow showers up there on into new york. but really not a lot. so some good news there. even lake-effect snow that's not going to amount to much. so great news if you have family coming in from western new york or buffalo. tomorrow evening, just about the entire eastern seaboard back into the central of the country looking dry and looking good. so as we look to the next ten days, again, notice highs generally around 50, even on into monday. some morning rain around christmas eve day, then christmas day looking dry. tom's going to take a closer look at the forecast tonight if you're heading out to get holiday shopping done. >> thank you, amelia. the story shocked the country. 4-

deadly police shooting. now it's christmas. why one redskins player says he was so moved he had to make sure the little girl who he never met has a very merry christmas. plus, it was just supposed to be a ride on the metro, but now it's going viral and putting a lot of folks in the holiday spirit. i had to put this on my facebook page because i love the song. hear this woman's inedible scrto

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in d.c., dozens of activists spent the first day of winter braving the cold for a good cause. they camped out at freedom plaza to raise awareness about homelessness. council members, community leaders and members of the homeless community marched through the streets last night before settling in. some even carried a casket and signs to symbolize the 40 people they say died living on the streets this year. the activists are asking the mayor and the d.c. council to invest millions to end homele homelessness next year. one of the redskins was looking for a way to give back this christmas. so he's helping a little girl overcome the trauma that changed her life. now, offensive lineman ty niseki never met her. he wanted to help victims of recent police shootings so he found out what she wants

christmas. he is a fish out of water. >> what accessories come with her? >> reporter: a 6'8", 330 pound fish. >> little girls like that? >> yeah. >> reporter: he didn't have sisters, and now has an 8-month-old son. >> i love playing with dolls. you got to break it duown with any. playing with a doll, day in the life of a doll? >> reporter: learning firsthand mastering an nfl playbook is is nothing compared to a little girl's christmas list. >> wow. this opened my eyes to a whole new life. >> reporter: he is navigating the american girl place in tysons. building a doll for a little girl in minnesota. she is the 4-year-old girl in the back seat of this car. six months ago she watched a minnesota police officer shoot and kill her

philando castile, we witnessed on facebook live. >> traumatic event, hopefully bring joy to her and end the jeer on a positive note. >> reporter: navigating the outfits, shoes, ensembles that make each doll special. >> five, six years ago i never thought i'd be doing stuff like this. it's a beautiful thing, a blessing. god put me in a great place. i can't complain. >> reporter: he learned a pretty valuable lesson. >> if i have a little girl, i'm going to spend a lot of money. >> as the dad of two girls, that is the understatement of the year. you will spend a lot, my friend. ty says the folks at tysons american girl place were invaluable in helping him get just the doll she wanted. he's going to send it to her as a christmas surprise. really, just a cool, cool story. great guy, too. >> great guy. yeah. and she'll be so happy. >> yeah. yeah. he actually sent some cowboys/redskins tickets to the family of some of the

shooting or who were killed in that shooting on the attack in dallas. so it's not something that's new to him. >> not the first time he's done that. >> he said it's not going to be the last as well. >> that's a good thing. whether you have a few more gifts to buy or haven't started your holiday shopping, we got you covered. >> four things you should know if you have last-minute shopping including the surprising place you could do some serious damage. tis the season for holiday travel and nobody gets you through it like news 4 today. >> triple team traffic is working for you, watching the roads and the rails and giving you the best time to hit the road. plus storm team 4 will have your

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4 things to know. now at 4:30. a story you'll see only on news 4. a d.c. government contractor has been arrested for threatening to shoot several of his colleagues, but no one reported it right away. he was later arrested and was not armed. firefighters are blaming fire that destroyed a rockville home on ashes that weren't properly disposed of. you can read more about how to properly get rid of ashes over the holidays on the nbc washington app. death toll has risen to 32 from the massive explosion at a fireworks market near mexico city. dozens more are still being treated for injuries. nbc's kerry sanders is in mexico, gathering information as the investigation gets under way. h

half hour. and a manhunt is on across germany as police search for the suspect who drove a truck into a christmas market in berlin. investigators consider him armed and dangerous. german authorities say the suspect was under covert surveillance for several months earlier this year. and now at 4:30, that manhunt continues in germany, president-elect donald trump is in florida and speaking out against the terrorists behind the attack. he's already said going after extremists will be his primary mission when he takes office. jennifer johnson joins us now with the latest. jen? >> reporter: good afternoon, chris. donald trump doesn't take over the white house for another 30 days, but today his focus was on the german terror attack. president-elect donald trump met with military leaders at his florida estate today, two days after the isis truck attack in berlin. >> attack on humanity, that's what it is. it's an attack on humanity. and it's got to be stopped. >> reporter: and now

ban on muslim immigrants or a registry. >> you know my plan, all along. >> reporter: trump's pick for national security adviser general mike flynn, an anti-islamist handliner, was at that meeting, this as the state department tried to assure americans today that isis is getting weaker. >> make no mistake, this is a group not anywhere near the capability it was just a couple years ago. >> reporter: trump and flynn vowed to stop isis but for now president obama is still running the show. >> i do think that people understand who has nuclear codes today and who's going to have them on january 20th. >> reporter: vice president-elect mike pence who served food at a homeless shelter in indiana today has already gotten a letter of concern from democrats about flynn and possible conflicts of interest. pence is overseeing the white house transition. >> we pointed out that he and his consulting business went to russia, sat next to vladimir putin to celebrate russia today,

government to do that. >> reporter: but flynn's appointment of national security adviser does not need senate approval. the president-elect announced late this afternoon he has appointed dr. peter navarro, an economist, to head up the newly formed national trade council, that's brand new to the white house. live on capitol hill, jennifer johnson, pat, back to you. >> all right, jennifer, thank you. we're following new developments in a heartbreaking road rage incident in little rock, arkansas, that has a lot of people shaking their heads. a 3-year-old boy shot and killed on sunday while sitting in the back seat of his grandmother's car. the gunman in another car apparently opened fire because the grandmother wasn't driving fast enough. didn't move from the stop light soon enough. the reward in the case has been doubled to $40,000. as police continue searching for the suspect. the incident sparked reaction here in our area. whur's troy johnson is here with today's "talk around town." troy, not only are people shaking their heads, they're

this could happen. apparently twice in little rock in the past month. what are your folks saying about that? >> pat, people are very upset as you said about this, shaking their heads. how can a little boy be put in harm's way like this for something that has to do with traffic? has to do with someone driving. and a lot of people were saying, you know, this could have been even worse, could have been talking about two deaths. the grandmother could have been shot as well. people are saying they want to see this person brought to justice as quickly as possible. it is worth noting, as you mentioned, that the fire shooting in little rock earlier, they have not found the suspect in that case. so now you have these two open cases that have a lot of people worried and concerned about is this something that could happen again? people were saying, what does this say about our society? this particular situation is extreme, but somebody told me, you know, if you see people who are enraged without control on roadways, we've seen that here in our

>> sure. >> we could be looking at a situation like that. they said maybe we need to take a step back. when you see people angry because the barista isn't moving fast enough in a store, or folks are not satisfied and they begin to get angered, maybe it's time to take a step back, let people know that they should as well, and maybe we could be preventing some of these situations from escalating any further. want to switch gears for a moment because people are also talking about that michelle obama interview and what she told oprah and what they learned about and heard from the first lady. >> they were really impressed with what the first lady had to say. because they followed so much of this presidency and the role that she's played, they loved her candor in this interview. kind of felt like one person told me, kind of felt like we were hearing things from mrs. obama about her experiences in the white house that could have come out in a memoir or once she got out of office. so to hear this now, while she's still in office, was

fascinating. and, you know, we all know that a lot of people love her sense of fashion, her parenting decisions, along with the president. an accomplished woman, a modern woman, handling this job and she hasn't disappointed. so some of the things that she said really resonated with a lot of people that i spoke to. nick ky is one person i talked today, said the first lady's comments put the coming holiday and days ahead in perspective as well and reminding her these special moments families spend together are precious and she plans to resolve some of those issues with her own loved ones. >> you have to look at the big picture. right now, things are so uncertain and what i want to have certain in my life is having my family and friends close to me. so sometimes we just have to let bygones be bygones and just bring people together. >> she was really, really locked into that

the comments that the first lady had to say and her perspective added something she said she wanted to take in the holidays. >> do you get the sense from your listeners in general that they are sort of, you know, ready to put a lot of things that have happened this year behind them and turn the page in 2017? >> like most years, when people look back on what happened in the year before, they're ready to say, rinse their hands, wash twh their hands with all the things. this was a tough year, the election, a hangover on a lot of people's minds. they want to resolve those things, resolve the situations with their families and look forward to a positive 2017. there's going to be some hard work for many people but they want to start on the right foot. >> all right. as do we all. >> yes. >> thank you, troy. >> thank you. and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> we have had a dreamy start to winter, and we had the warmer temperatures this afternoon and now at sunset as we

the west, live view from the storm team 4 tower camera showing the sun, it's going to be going down here in about 12 minutes and it is going to be fading fast. we'll be getting dark fast. because of this cloud cover that we've had over us throughout the day. we had a beautiful sunrise this morning. i took this picture in rural montgomery county. the solstice sunrise was colorful for a few minutes this morning. temperatures right now are comfortable. we're in the mid to upper 40s just about everywhere. culpeper, 50 degrees. near 50 around the chesapeake bay. if you're going to be shopping tonight, back down to the low 40s by 6:00 p.m. just clouds in and out, near 40 8:00 p.m. 10:00, late shoppers, getting cold, back down into the upper 30s. a look at changes on the way for the holiday weekend in just a few minutes. >> thanks, tom. royals under the weather. a royal holiday tradition now up in the air as queen elizabeth and her husband abruptly call off plans. making the most out of time spent waiting for the metro. the woman who's finding fame after entertaining her fellow

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queen elizabeth and prince philip are sick. they're suffering from what the palace describes as severe colds. they canceled today's trip to the queen's country estate. spending christmas there is a royal family tradition. queen elizabeth turn ee

year. prince philip is 95. unclear if they'll recover in time to spend the holidays with the rest of the royal family. >> hope they feel better. >> yes, of course, me, too. the video of a woman singing a christmas classic on the metro is quickly spreading on social media. including mine. racking up likes and shares like crazy. >> yeah, people have said tymara walker has the voice of an angel. you be the judge. ♪ o night divine o night >> the story behind that voice makes this story even sweeter. walker says she's celebrating a new life after surviving domestic violence. she's a professional singer from vegas. she was just in town visiting family and the ever popular single tracking, she had time on her hands waits on the union

station platform. she decided to serenade passengers with one of my favorite christmas songs, "o holy night." >> yours, too. >> yeah. >> with a voice like that, she should be riding for free. that's my opinion. now or never, you have just a few days left to finish or maybe start that christmas shopping. we have four things you need to know for your last-minute store hopping. the video is like special effects out of a film. we have new details about the incredible explosion, the inveigation into how itst

you're watching news 4 at 4:00. >> well, just a few more days left to find that perfect gift. >> first at 4, we have four last-minute ideas for you procrastinators. and the first day of winter starting with a warming trend. a look at warmer temperatures as we head toward the holiday weekend, just a couple of minutes. five more people have died and many more remain missing after that massive set of explosions at a fireworks market in mexico. >> yeah, the market was well stocked with fireworks for the holidays and bustling with shoppers. nbc's kerry sanders is in mexico with new information on the investigation. >> reporter: even the survivors surveying the damage here cannot believe how powerful the explosions were from the fireworks. it's believed now as you're looking at these huge

followed by another, another, in all, six explosions, a chain reaction, one authorities can't say what set it off but do know these marketplace here, basically an outdoor flea market, had in excess of 100 tons of fireworks. the authorities now say they know at least 31 people. died. they expect that number to climb. they're searching for more than 30 people who are lost in the debris. it's now believed even though they're calling this a search and rescue, it's believed they may not find anybody else alive. more than 70 people injured, some still badly burned are now likely to be flown to the united states to galveston where they'll be treated by doctors there. bottom loine right now, as you look at the devastation here, folks are wondering how could this have happened? was this simply an accident? or could it have been something more? kerry sanders, nbc news, mexico. here

at a family business in prince george's county destroyed several buildings. this is video from a farm on old marshall hall road. you can see the flames shooting out of a shedning akaki. the farm specializes in eggs and organic produce. we're told some of the chickens died in that fire but most of them have been rescued. and now your storm team 4 forecast. >> as darkness is descending upon us, right now we're just getting sunset and we got a lot of clouds around so getting dark quickly and there is national airport. very busy now. but dry pavement all around the region. the fading light of the day there over the potomac river. what to wear for tonight and tomorrow. a warm coat and you'll need your sunglasses tomorrow. we'll have a lot of sun around but not too cold tonight. you won't be needing the gloves or the scarf. temperatures are still hovering in the 40s just about everywhere

the way to the bay. fredericksburg up to 51. but it's dropping there now. reagan national now at 47 degrees. overall, a pleasant start to the first day of winter. right now storm team 4 radar not showing any snow anywhere in our region or any rain. good travel weather up and down the atlantic seaboard or in and out of the midwest. and hour by hour as we get into the evening hours, by 8:00, back down to near 40 degrees. then by 11:00 tonight, still hovering just a couple l of degrees cooler than that. so a chilly but dry evening. we'll have the overcast thinning a bit. then some sunshine tomorrow morning. we'll be above freezing by 8:00 a.m. then getting warmer. you're going to notice that by late in the morning, climbing quickly into the 40s. and the commuter forecast for tomorrow, by noontime, we'll be up near 50 degrees and then by midafternoon, with lots of sunshine, we ought to be hovering in the low 50s. then when you're heading back home on thursday, a few clouds around, dry roads. nice. right around 50 degrees late

turning a bit cooler as we get into friday with increasing clouds. morning lows near freezing. afternoon highs into the mid 40s. then on saturday morning with temperatures in the upper 30s, it does look like we have a chance of some rain coming in. then by 7:00, it will be near 40 degrees. a little bit of rain still lingering around noontime on saturday. then during the afternoon, we ought to see it clearing out a bit. a little sunshine breaking out. temperatures climbing into the low 50s by midafternoon on saturday. so certainly not feeling much like winter as we get into christmas eve by 8:00 p.m., it will be back down into the mid 40s. then for christmas day, does look like a very nice day. partly sunny to mostly sunny at times. upper 30s in the morning. afternoon highs right around 50 degrees. then as we get into monday, temperatures will be a bit milder up into the low 50s. increasing clouds, though, ahead of a little bit of rain moving in. that rain may be in and out on

up near 60 degrees during the afternoon. then turns chillier on tuesday evening. back down to the upper 30s. then a cold end to the week with afternoon highs just near 40 degrees into the following weekend. that's the way it looks. >> thanks, tom. you know, these days, crooks are getting pretty creative to swipe packages off porches. >> yeah, for example, this guy in tampa looks like he's just deliver a pizza but his pouch is empty. a home surveillance system caught him stealing a gift that was delivered for an 11-year-old girl and get this, he hit up more than one house in the same neighborhood. >> i was mad. my blood pressure is still really high. it's so close to christmas. >> the guy also used a car complete with a domino's delivery logo. the clock is ticking, if you still have some holiday shopping to do. if you put it off buying those gifts because you've had no clue what to buy, don't panic. it's okay. >> yeah, consumer reporter susan

holiday gift ideas. nobody likes to be labeled a procrastinator. >> oh, but they are. there's a lot of them. they're definitely not alone. don't feel so bad. according to "consumer reports'" holiday poll, one-third of americans have jet to buy a single present with one week to go until christmas. here are last-minute gift ideas so you don't have to look like a total scrooge. buy experiences. i really like this one. it's a good idea. tickets to a show, a game, a concert. buy them online, print them, wrap them up in minutes and no one's going to know. shop the supermarket, this is another good one. if you have a food lover on your gift list, but together a cool basket of high-ends food and wine. do that in a matter of minutes. gift cards, i know, this might seem like a stretch, but honestly, people do like them, especially if you personalize them like a gift card from their favorite restaurant or a store, it shows you really know what they like. and finally, amazon prime. sign up. it has a two-day shipping

you have until tomorrow, the 22nd, to order gifts that will arrive on christmas eve. you'll pay a penny for that. >> oh, yeah. what do you have coming up at 5:00? >> we actually have a couple of really -- a real good story we want to tell you about. we heard from a sister of a guy who is deaf and he went to a local dealership and unfortunately he got himself involved in a deal and ended up walking out buying a very expensive vehicle. and the sister really feels that he was taken advantage of. so we will let you know how we were able to help him and also we were able to do to help him get out of this deal. it was a -- you know, it's one of those kind of wake-up calls. a lot of lessons learned on both sides. >> yeah. >> that's coming up on news 4 at 5:00. >> 4 responds at work. >> absolutely. >> sure. it's a law that's been controversial from the very beginning. after nationwide criticism and

what's next for the so-called bathroom law and the people it affe affected

shoppers at a mall in brooklyn took a tumble down this elevator. one minute it was stationary, then suddenly it just started moving sending off a chain reaction as people lost their balance. seven of them ended up in the hospital last night, but the good news is, everyone is going to be okay. the so-called bathroom l

chopping bloc. right now, state lawmakers there are trying to decide if the law they passed earlier this year should be overturned. >> yeah, the law has cost the state jobs, money and triggered boycotts. nbc's chris clackum has the story on the last-minute debate. >> the house will come to order. >> reporter: it's special session wednesday, north carolina lawmakers started the process to possibly repeal hb-2, the so-called bathroom bill. after months of corporate pullout from the state, as well as protests from ordinary citizens. >> people call it the bathroom bill. it's a state oppression bill. >> reporter: the law put restrictions on all workers who filed discrimination lawsuits against their employer but specifically targeted transgender people by forcing them to use bathrooms that corresponded with their sex at birth. earlier this year, the legislature and governor pat mccrory made hb-2 law forcing the restrictions on the entire

adopted an anti-discrimination ordinance affecting only those living there. if repealed, hb-2 proponents say they'd be disappointed. >> it's not discriminatory. it's not a hate bill. it is protecting women and children against predators coming into the showers and locker rooms and restrooms. >> reporter: however, there are some signs the repeal effort is in trouble. by late afternoon, lawmakers were still behind closed doors to hash out a compromise. chris clackum, nbc news. news 4 at 5:00 is next with jim and wendy. >> right now at 5:00, an arrest in a troubling case of murder at a neighborhood park in capitol heights. a family injured after a dump truck loses control and plows into a home. coming up on news 4, the driver explains what happened. he called a colleague here at this d.c. government office building threatening to do a mass shooting. i'm mark segraves.

you what happened next. news 4 at 5:00 starts now. >> tonight, two teenagers charged after police find a man's body. good evening, everyone, i'm jim hand handly. >> i'm wendy rieger. this started monday morning when people found a victim's body set on fire in a park in capitol heights. officers made their arrest a mile away. let's get to pat collins live at the park this evening. pat? >> reporter: wendy, the murder victim, 27 years old. the murder suspect just 17. we're learning more and more tonight about this unusual in a popular neighborhood park. the murder victim, 27-year-old rayshand cotton, the murder suspect, his friend, 17-year-old demiko aiken. the scene, the brook road neighborhood park in capitol

rayshand kotscotton found behine rec scenter here. he'd been shot. according to documents he was scantily closed and badly burned primarily on his lower extremities. the intersection of rollins avenue and rollins lane in capitol heights, that's where murder suspect aiken and his 16-year-old accomplice were arrested yesterday by police. arrested as they were sitting in the murder victim's suv. this is what police are saying about the case. >> it appears that aiken and the victim were some sort of acquaintan acquaintances. >> what's the motive? >> the motive seems to be right now robbery. the preliminary motive. >> reporter: according to court documents murder suspect aiken lives about two miles from the murder ne