>> "news 4 today" starts now. right now on "news 4 today", countdown to the holiday weekend. whether you're hitting the road or staying at home, we have your storm team 4 forecast to get you ready. plus, delivery day. millions of packages will be on your door steps by tonight. what you need to know as we still have to ship your own packages. and bathroom bill blindside. a law set to be repealed. why that mission failed in the final hours. good morning, everybody. it is 5:00 a.m. i'm aaron gill crest. >> i'm eun yang. we are talking about a cold start to our day. melissa mollet will have you look at your roads. meteorologist chuck bell. >> good morning, un and aaron. no chance for rain today. dry day. cloudy, yes, rain, no. because of the clouds and a little south breeze, nowhere near as cold this morning. next couple of days, today and tomorrow, staying on the dry side. that'so

for a pretty good chance of rain showers. no heavy rain but showers on saturday. should be drying out just in time for late night services on christmas eve night. christmas day and the beginning of hanukkah, right now it's a chilly one. southerly winds with wind chills in the 30s and 40s. plan out the day hour which hour, clearing out late morning and breezy, not too cold. afternoon highs near 50 degrees. for tomorrow, little chance for some cooler weather as a cold front goes by. let's take a look at what melissa mollet has in traffic. >> good morning. nice and light right now. southbound bw parkway nasa goddard, bit of a work zone still there. bottom of the beltway, all of these dropping into town and out of town, looking quite well. no major problems. everything rolling along well. 95 at lorton northbound and southbound, looking good. 66 into town and out

problems. update to some breaking news in chantilly. molette green is at the live desk with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. the barricade situation has been successfully resolved. there is a suspect in custody. we did tell you about this a short time ago in the 4:30 half hour. police, they got a call about an emotionally disturbed person in a residential neighborhood on leefield valley drive. the incident is over and officers are clearing out of the area. aaron, back to you. >> molette, thank you. right now a live look at reagan national airport and the roads as we inch closer to the holiday weekend. news 4's justin finch is live this morning with a look at just how many of you are preparing to travel this holiday season. justin, good morning to you. it looks pretty busy back there. >> reporter: eun, good morning. that's right. it's actually picking up right now as we speak even though it's

picking up at this point. 2016 aaa says is set to be one of their biggest and busiest years for holiday travel. nationwide 103 million americans are set to travel 50 miles or more. in the d.c. metro area, more than 6 million are forecast to do the same and almost 1/3 of them choosing to drive. in all, 93 million americans, most of them will do the same aaa finds. that's fueled by lower gas prices and higher consumer confidence. there will be a slight drop in train travel and all around from airports to roads your patience will be a priority if you're traveling. >> yeah. we're prepared already. we try to -- you know, try to mentally prepare ahead of time, just know that we're going to face a lot of stressed out people, a lot of -- you know ahead of time already. >> reporter: now looking live at this line here is some good news

if you're traveling perhaps today, this line here is moving quite quickly. now if these numbers forecast by aaa hold, we are told that this could be, again, perhaps the biggest year for holiday year-end travel ever recorded. this year beginning on friday and ending the first monday in january. aaron, eun, back in to you. >> justin, thank you. it is 5:04. students in fredericks county have one more day of school before winter break. this morning one student is in the frederick county adult detention center accused of taking a loaded gun to school. deputies say they arrested 17-year-old robert shirley jr. yesterday afternoon at oakdale high school. he is being charged as an adult. deputies say other students alerted a teacher after shirley posted videos on social media with the handgun. they say there is no evidence that he was planning an attack. police say a d.c. contractor may have threatened to shoot up the office of the chief technology officer. court documents accuse edwin melton ofli

earlier this month to make the threat. he was apparently upset that his contract was not being renewed. police said when they arrested melton they did not find any guns but they did confiscate a phone that may have been used. melton's attorney denied to comment except to say that melton denied the charges. we're expecting a lot of news about the north carolina bathroom bill. >> molette green has the story. >> reporter: we heard from the ncaa about its decision to pull games from north carolina won't change. part of the early fallout we're seeing over a failed attempt to repeal the controversial bathroom law there. republicans and democrats blaming each other. they met in a special session wednesday specifically to reskinned it. the talks broke down after the senate bill called for a moratorium on cities casting similar ordinances to the ones passed in charlotte earlier this year. now the governor elect there blamed republicans for backing out of their promise.

bathrooms that match the sex on their birth certificate. aaron, back to you now. >> molette, thank you. 5:06 now. more families are grieving as the death toll continues to climb in that deadly explosion outside of mexico city. this morning we know 33 people died in the blast there. fireworks market basically detonated. there's not much left of it right now. investigators are still trying to figure out what sparked the explosion and whether any safety rules were violated. 12 people still missing. there is a massive europe wide search going on now. this man was in the truck that drove into a crowded christmas market. he's from tunisia and was scheduled to be deported from germany. isis claims responsibility for that terror attack. in the aftermath of the berlin attack president-elect donald trump is trying to put on a show of stroenlt in dealing with isis. >> after attending national

yesterday, trump cast the attack as an attack on everyone. >> it's an attack on humanity. that's what it is. it's an attack on humanity and it has to be stopped. >> trump went on to say this validates his assessment of islamic-inspired threats. he met with the heads of boeing and lockheed martin. this comes after he criticized high dollar government contracts with both companies. marilyn houston released a statement about her meeting with trump and said she, quote, conveyed our continued commitment to delivering an affordable aircraft to our u.s. military a and allies. >> with donald trump's inauguration just 29 days away, metro's smart trip card is out. unlike previous years the cards do not have the president-elect's picture on it. instead, they look like this. they have graphics of the white house and american flag to commemorate the 58th presidential inauguration. they say they requested

did not receive a response from the campaign. the cards are designed before the election. starting today there is finally some relief from montgomery county commuters. 60 buses are scheduled to go through the station per rush hour helping to provide bus service to 12,000 people every day. that makes it the largest non-metro rail station in the region. if you need to warm up there is an area inside where you can wait for the bus or buy tickets. it is 5:08. if you're still waiting for a package, today may be the day it arrives. look out for it. today is expected to be the busiest delivery day for the postal service. it anticipates more than 30 million packages and letters will be dropped off. if you still have things to mail, you have to ship priority express through tomorrow. it should be there by christmas. today is your last day for amazon two-day delivery service. we have all the details you need

the nbc washington app. search shipping deadlines. people are still trying to buy presents, much less ship, you know what i'm saying? holiday weekend is almost here as we were saying. storm team 4 looking ahead. another check on your forecast just ahead. plus, keeping yourself healthy during the holidays isn't always as easy as you'd like. how to make sure you are starting 2017 off ght. ri

at t.j.maxx, marshalls and homegoods, we've always believed the holidays should be about joy. where days are filled with magic, not madness. it's why we have amazing prices on thoughtful gifts, everyday. let's bring back the holidays.

welcome back. it's 5:12 just about now. that picture, that looks very autumnal, falling leaves and whatnot. >> not the temperatures though. >> what are you talking about, aaron? >> the leaves are down. that's what's important. there are no green, flowers on the side of the road. very winter picture in my opinion. >> i'm still going autumn. i think it looks late autumn. >> you guys can duke it out after the show. >> i'm going to kill him one of these days. temperatures up near 50 degrees later on this afternoon. no need for the umbrellas. if you're working to keep the holiday pounds off, aaron, you would want to go ahead and get that done midday. that would be the warmest time. weekend outlook, not bad for traveling weather. no big storms. there is some unsettled weather around the area. almost all the trouble will be out across the west coast, l.a., san diego, los angeles and phoenix. the c

midwest gets it. the only travel problems in the northeast corridor might be on saturday with showers from atlanta to boston. snowstorms from minneapolis to boston. five day forecast coming up in ten minutes. see you then. right now live look 270 germantown northbound/southbound. volume with the headlights headed southbound. headed out of town a little early, wouldn't that be nice for them. taking a look top of the beltway and all of these routes out of town and into town. you don't have any problems there. only a bit of road work hanging around. southbound bw parkway near nasa goddard. nice and green so you don't have any worries even if you have to head that way. 66 and 95 no problems. southbound after quantico, tiny bit of a slowdown. nothing reported there. could be perhaps somebody with a flat tire. something like that on the side of the roadway. back in ten minutes. >> reporter: i'm molette green

right now mourners are paying their last respects. among them russia's president vladimir putin. he is attending the funeral services you see him there in moscow. a gunman shot the ambassador andre karlov earlier at an art gallery. shouted slogans about the embattled syrian city of aleppo. back to you. >> molette, thank you. it is 5:14. more than two years since their disappearance, there is new information in the search for two missing children from montgomery county. 2-year-old jacob and 3-year-old sarah huggle have not been seen since september of 2014. the national center for missing and exploited children created age progression images of what the two children might look like today. the mother was charged in the disappearance. mental health professionals repeatedly found her not kpe tend to stand trial. here are the age progression images now.

an employee with an arundle county police department is accused of removing painkillers from a public prescription drop box. they found unprescribed painkillers in annette box's car after a minor car accident on tuesday. she managed the drug lab at the police station. we're told dea agents are there helping to take an inventory of everything in that lab. box is suspended pending the investigation and is charged with drug possession. news 4 your health this morning, although we are in the midst of flu season, that's not the only thing making people sick. we talk about flu all the time. as temperatures drop it's cold and bronchitis affecting people most lately. flu cases start peaking around january and february so if you haven't received your flu shot, you still have time. >> the best thing you can do now is get your flu shots, wash your hands and be protected so when the flu starts coming around you are vaccinated and protected. >> somes

the difference between colds and flu symptoms. a cold begins with sore throat, runny nose, cough and congestion are common. flu symptoms are more severe and come on quickly but a fever is more likely with the flu than a cold. well, today is the drawing for the largest lottery in the world. maybe you've heard of this annual tradition in spain. the lotto elgordo or fat one. it is worth an estimated $2.4 billion. no one person walks away with billions here. instead about 15,000 people win. the biggest prize is about $4 million. >> el gordo. >> look for it next time. >> there you go. for the past 20 years an alexandria man is spreading cheer. >> from thanksgiving onward richard stone can be found outside prepping for christmas. he says each year his display gets bigger and better. look at that. that's really nice. richard even hangs one star on each neighbor's trees with

permission, of course. why go through all of this trouble year after year, we ask? richard says it's simple. >> when you turn the corner at night and you just look down the street, you just -- you just smile. >> he's got a big smile on his face at all times. it doesn't matter what the weather is. he's been out in the rain, he's been out in the cold. >> richard says for as long as he is physically able and his neighbors approve, this will be a holiday tradition spreading some joy. >> i think it's wonderful. i'm smiling and i don't even live in alexandria. >> nice gesture, right? you know who makes me smile? >> me. >> yes, you. >> sometimes. >> you're welcome. >> sometimes he does. >> we just keeping opening your microphone? >> he has to do the forecast. >> well -- >> it's very important, aaron. >> it is important. i can do it with sign language i guess if you had a like. rain -- >> no. no. we want to hear you. >> it's better. i want

>> voice for radio -- i've got a voice for tv and a face for radio. i think that was what aaron said to me one time. it was a cool start outside this morning but nowhere near as cold as it has been. when you figure out, remember, we started this week with temperatures in the teens. starting off in the 30s and 40s this morning, nothing to complain about. southerly winds for now will become a northwest wind later on today. weather out of the south now or northwest later, winds will be up at times. breezy at times today. we'll keep the wind chills a little bit on the low side. wind chills down near the freezing mark across the northern parts of the shenandoah valley and maryland. 35 the current wind chill. have your warm coat, hat and scarf on. all of the umbrella weather staying away for a couple of days. the real bitter cold is gone. probably for the remainder of the year. cloudy sky over the u.s. capitol this morning. temperature 42. it will be in the 30s and low 40s here for the next couple of hours. again, a breezy day

temperatures in the upper 40s and low 50s. can always stay ahead of the weather by following us on our nbc washington facebook and have the app of the forecast downloaded there. then you can also follow me on twitter @chuckbell4. worst part of the weather is out across the desert southwest. very unusual for them to be having this much rain. for us, a couple of light snow showers. northern pennsylvania and upper new york and new england. that will be staying away from us. we don't have any big inclement weather to worry about. here's your five day forecast. today 52 with the clouds moving out. tomorrow 47 with the clouds moving back in. we'll be dry all the way through your late friday night plans. saturday, off and on chances for rain really before you get up in the morning up until about the time the sun goes down saturday afternoon. not looking for a lot of rain but cloudy and unsettled. a little bit more optimistic for christmas and the first day of hanukkah.

trouble on 95 or no? >> looking okay right now. thank you for the dry roads. much appreciated. you do get credit for that. right now 95 at lorton road the live picture showing you traffic flowing. inner loop and outer loop, construction out of the way. nothing happening on the beltway. 270 northbound and southbound. northbound at falls road, earlier we had a little blip of red there on the screen. it wasn't anything. it sort of just disappeared and no major problems there. we don't have any problems northbound and southbound there on 270. as far as metro goes, all lines are open right now. everything running at this point on time. back here at 5:31. >> thank you, melissa. help santa out. thousands of children sending wish lists that go unfulfilled. today you can help change that. we'll explain coming up. plus, an update on the double hand transplant -- >> i can't even handle im

on how

fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local sled jump record, fly, gary, fly. ...his friend can download 13 versions of the perfect song... ...his sister can live stream it... ...while his mom downloads how to set a dislocated shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year. cable can't offer that. only fios can.

stronger is blasting without risking her bones. stronger is less pain, new hope, more fight. it's doing everything in your power, and everything in ours. because we don't just want kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger. and with your support, they will. make a gift today at childrensnational.org/givenow

you're watching "news 4 today." if your kids, or you, can't stop playing super mario run -- >> be honest. >> -- you're not alone. the game sell the an apple record and reached 40 million downloads in just four days. faster than any other app ever. broke a record set by another nintendo property, pokemon go. super mario run is only available on iphones and ipads. >> if you download the app right away, it is free. in order to get to some of the other -- >> you have to buy it. >> yes, you have to purchase the other. that's where it's going to start to cost you. >> if you're a certain age, you probably will. nice little throw back. we want to update you now on a remarkable 9-year-old boy we've gotten to know a little bit. >> to know him is to love

>> you remember the first child in the world to have a double hand transplant. he's doing pushups and he's doing everything. he continues to make great progress. his doctors say nerves have grown into the transplant part. the muscles responsible for fine motor movement are now functioning. now zion and his mother are writing a book about all they've endured. >> meeting other people with prosthetics and disabilities have kind of -- kind of like a relationship because we all have a story behind me. >> can i just vote for him for president now. >> his mother paty says that now that her son has hands she feels like the richest woman in the world. you see them there at the christmas tree. i think she made the point that, you know, this is the result of an organ donation. she encourages people to do that

that is the best gift you can give, to become an organ donor. >> such great ambassadors telling the story. it's really inspiring people to do more and live life fully and gratefully. >> the gratitude thing that you see through this little boy is amazing. >> i love him. it is thursday so we are so close to the holiday weekend at this point. we are getting you ready for whatever is coming our way. >> christmas is sunday, aaron. >> it is. another check on the forecast with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell right after this. new in our next half hour, no more fundraising. a member of donald trump's family says he will stop raising money for charity. we'll

right now on "news 4 today", countdown to the holiday weekend. whether you're hitting the road or staying at home, we have the storm team 4 forecast. first though, inauguration plans with 28, 29 days to go. >> like 28 days and ten hours. >> something like that. a look at the biggest events and how they'll impact you. and can you give santa a hand? he's so busy. wish lists mailed to the post office still need to be fulfilled. we'll tell you how you can help make a child's christmas the best it can be. "news 4 today" starts now.

it's december 22nd. >> i'm doing the math. >> that might take a couple hours. >> sad but true. good morning, everybody. 5:30. i know that. i'm aaron gill crest. >> i'm eun yang. we are talking to melissa about the roads. >> is that funny? >> 5:30, there's a huge clock. >> tried to do december 22nd to january 20th, that's a little bit -- >> then you have to figure outdoes december have 30 days or 31 days? >> apparently we need to go to weather. just move on. >> it's official, december has 31 days. >> thank you. >> that much i can commit to. four things you need to know about the weather today, it will be cool and dry and on the breezy side. not worried about rain drops around here. little better chance for showers coming up on saturday. but tomorrow the big get away day is going to be a fine day for traveling around here. i'm very optimistic that sunday, christmas day, also looks very nice. afternoon highs with clouds and we'll get more sunshine as the afternoon goes along. winds out of tou

have your wind breaker on today. temperatures, upper 40s and low 50s. pretty nice day. start out with sunshine and clouds tomorrow afternoon and more on the saturday rain chances coming up. let's go over to melissa. she is in first 4 traffic. >> pretty good looking morning to you here. taking a look at the beltway. inner loop and outer loop, everything is rolling along fine here this morning. we did have this until the past couple of minutes. the southbound bw parkway near nasa goddard. the left lane is the only thing getting by. that is clearing out of the way. you don't have to worry about that. 270, northbound and southbound, old hundred looking quite normal. 66 no major problems right now. 95 southbound near quantico also looking good. have you guys figured out how many days? i hear the math happening. >> don't do that. >> do we count the 20th, the actual inauguration day? >> no, we're counting down to something

>> see -- >> you're going to run out of fingers with the inauguration. >> we can all read really well. >> i would say three. three today. >> i did really well in the reading competition. >> yeah. >> thank you, melissa. it's 5:32. right now the great escape is underway. 100 million people heading out of town for the holidays. here's a live look at reagan national airport this morning. >> that's more than 2.5 million people on the roads, the rails and in the air. >> while some are getting out of town for the entire time, others are using up the final vacation days spending time with family and friends. >> going to go check out rockefeller center and just go shopping, window shopping. >> okay. >> god knows what else. >> rockefeller center, we have an appointment to see santa this afternoon at macy's. >> i think gifts have a big role to play

so -- yeah, i know. so probably that and catch up on "star wars" and just spend some time with them. make some damn memories. >> i like his attitude. >> right now, do it! >> you will make some memories. you will enjoy christmas and all of this. >> that's what it's all about. >> making memories, that's important. i like to have memories. happy memories. >> that's right. 5:33 our time right now. federal agents investigating a suspected case of bootlegging in a d.c. capitol hill neighborhood. the news 4 iteam scott mcfarland uncovered this story. pirated dvds of the popular tv show "the west wing." worth about $2800. the dvds were imported from hong kong from 2011 through 2012 and resold on line. immigration and customs agents found more than 1900 dvds at a man's capitol hill home. at least 300 of them were fake. the arlington woman who made hundreds of thousands of dollars

is going to prison. she was sentenced to 30 months for running a multi-year scheme to rip off department stores around the country. our iteam first reported in june that she bought expensive handbags and then returned the cheap knockoffs for refunds and sold the real ones online. as part of her punishment she must repay the department stores the same amount of money she stole from them. covering prince gorges county now. a vigil is planned for today in the park where rashan cotton's body was found. a woman found him shot and batly burned in capitol heights monday morning. police say robbery was a possible motive here. two teens were found inside the victim's car. they were charged with this crime. days before christmas the american red cross is having to help more than 30 people in prince gorges county after their apartment building went up in flames. fire investigators are working to learn what caused a fire early yesterday morning on hanover

the top floors were damaged by the fire and the lower floors were water logged. just take a look what happened also in prince gorges county last night. a dump truck crashed into a home on owens hill in oxon hill. injuring two children. moments before the crash the driver said a box truck clipped him and made him lose control. investigators are investigating the story because it doesn't match with what witnesses say happened. some witnesses claim that he was driving erratically before the crash and say they never saw a truck hit him. we're working for you and hoping you can help some animals that officials say were abused in loudoun county. loudoun animal services says 96 chickens, some of which you see here, two dogs, three rabbits, and a number of geese, ducks, and pigs were all taken from a woman who lives near leaseberg. katelyn legger is facing animal cruelty and inadequate care. many animals arep

adoption. you can visit the loudoun county animal shelter if you'd like to take one home. it is 5:35. a canadian woman is caught trying to smuggle her cat into new zealand. she hid it in the 7,000 mile flight. the cat didn't make a sound during the entire trip. the woman didn't admit that she had it until agents tried to x-ray her bag when she arrived at the airport. i don't know how she managed to keep the cat quiet for that long. >> cats are fairly quiet unless something is wrong. they have really strict laws about bringing animals into those countries. >> how did she manage to get the cat on the plane in the first place? they have all of that security. new this morning, no more fundraising. a member of donald trump's family says he will stop raising money for charity. we'll explain why just ahead. flipping d.c. a new home renovation show coming to our nation's capitol. we have

premiere.

we want to get you up to speed on this forecast. what are you seeing, eun? >> i'm seeing chuck bell with some feel like temperatures. >> i thought he was tossing to eun to do the weather. wait a minute, i'm over here. >> no, i'm not good at that. >> that's all right. i can't read off a teleprompter to save my life. temperatures in the 30ed and 40s. a little bit of a wind chill. temperatures near 40. i would have your wind breaker on or insulated jacket. 30s and 40s on your way out. into the low 50s. warm coat and your hat and scarf is all you need. you don't need the heavy gloves. daily grade, we're going to give today very good. sunshine later this afternoon and up to 52 degrees. also very good is the beltway right now. inner loop and outer loop, everything rolling nice as you're headed out today. dulles especially as you're headed out. these roads looking really nice this morning. taking a look at travel

spur will take you 11 minutes. top of the beltway from 95 over to 270. actually going closer to the speed limit going to take you nine minutes here this morning. 66 into the town of fairfax county parkway to the beltway will take you ten minutes. 95 north to quantico will take you 19. listen to wtop when you hop into your car this morning. >> ah. >> new video from a blast inside a moving bus. what caused one rider's pants to burns into flames. and flipping d.c. a local couple bringing their renovation business to your television. we'll tell you about their new show. sharing santa's load for wish sts that go li

fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local sled jump record, fly, gary, fly. ...his friend can download 13 versions of the perfect song... ...his sister can live stream it... ...while his mom downloads how to set a dislocated shoulder. get 150 meg internet, tv and phone for just $79.99 per month online for the first year. cable can't offer that. only fios can.

16 before the hour. here are four things to know this morning. more than 100 million people are traveling it this weekend. ks

ahead of the great escape. north carolina lawmakers failed to repeal the controversial bathroom bill during a special session wednesday. now both sides are blaming each other for the failure. donald trump is appearing to double down on his attempt to create a muslim ban or registry. if you're still waiting for a package, today may be the day it arrives. look out for it. today expects to be the busiest day for the postal service. it anticipates more than 30 million packages and letters will be dropped off today. now if you still have christmas presents to mail, be sure to ship with priority express through tomorrow and they should be there on time. today is your last day for amazon's two-day delivery service. nbc 4 is working for you. we have all the details you need on last-minute shipping dates from the nbc washington apps. search shipping deadline. 15 before the hour. right now there is a call for people with big hearts. >> i love this. there are letters from kid

been answered yet. we have three days to go. news 4's megan mcgrath is live at the northeast washington post office where those letters are waiting. >> megan? >> reporter: well, that's right, every year this happens. the postal service, they don't solicit these letters but still they arrive year after year. letters addressed to santa that have been placed in the mail by children, and here at the brentwood post office what they have been doing is gathering up the letters and they're trying to match those letters with a secret santa, if you will, a good samaritan who will purchase some of the things that have been asked for by the children and then they mail them out. now as of last night though there are 83 of those letters that have yet to be matched and so they are looking for some good samaritans, some secret santas who can come out today and get matched with a child in need. it's all very

running out to come down to the brentwood post office and they will help you work it out, figure out what child you would like to buy for. >> so here in d.c. when they address them to santa claus they'll come here to brendwotwo. we'll take them and organize them for families to adopt them. >> reporter: now here's the thing. time is really running out. if you want to help, you need to grab a letter today, buy the gift today and get them here to the brentwood post office in northeast by 5:00 tonight so that they can be shipped out. keep in mind that you'll also have to pay the cost of shipping. and, again, as of last night, 83 letters are still in need of the secret santa. back to you guys. >> we have to act fast at this rate. 5:00 tonight doesn't give you much time. >> megan, thank you. to the live desk now.

breaking news out of afghanistan. >> reporter: that's right. details just in, aaron, about a deadly suicide attack overnight. at least five people died, others wounded when the bomber blew himself up at the house of an afghan member of parliament there in the capitol of kabul. you can see the devastation there. the lawmaker was wounded by shattered glass. some of his family are among the dead. the taliban claims responsibility. that is the latest. eun. >> thank you, molette. it is 5:48. new this morning, eric trump says he will stop directly raising money for his namesake foundation. it came under scrutiny recently after posting an online auction for coffee with his sister ivanka. they received criticism after an invitation offered a hunting trip with the brothers in exchange for donations to a new charity. both the coffee and hunting trips have been canceled. in just under a month donald trump will be sworn in as our 45th president. now we know some of the plans

the presidential inaugural committee has released this information. they will kick things off on thursday, january 19th. president-elect trump and vice president-elect mike pence will lay a wreath at arlington national cemetery. later that day both will attend a concert on the national mall. then on friday, the 20th, trump will take the oath of office at the u.s. capitol at noon followed by a parade down pennsylvania avenue and later during the evening the inaugural balls. everything wraps up on saturday with a prayer service at the national cathedral. we have an app. you can check it out by searching transition. ticket scalpers are trying to cash in on donald trump's swearing in ceremony. they're selling tickets normally given to the public for thousands of dollars online. the move doesn't sit well with officials. a spokesman for he bay says

appearing on the website. >> you know my plans all along. it's been proven to be right, 100% correct. >> donald trump responding to questions yesterday on whether he would re-evaluate his plans to create a muslim registry orban. >> nbc's edward lawrence is live on capitol hill now. edward, will donald trump push for that once he gets into office? >> reporter: aaron, it doesn't seem so. his staff tried to walk back that plan but it seems like now donald trump is trying to reaffirm that. he used the attack on the christmas market in berlin to show he was, quote, 100% correct when he says he wants to either have a muslim registry or a ban coming into this country. he is not backing down from this even though his staff might be walking back a little bit. >> edward, let's turn to the diplomatic relations between russia and the u.s. the state department responding to the russians saying dialogue between two countries is

what did they say? >> eun, this is a complete spriez for the state department. they pointed to the fact that on tuesday secretary of state john kerry spoke to his counterpart. the pent gone says they have ongoing discussions talking about the syrian conflict. this was a complete surprise to folks in washington. >> edward lawrence live on capitol hill. thank you. 5:51 right now. several children are recovering after their school bus slipped off the road and rolled over on a snowy street. take a look at the video out of montana. that bus was going very slowly but its back wheels slipped into a ditch and it fell on to its side. the bus was filled with children at the time but they are all supposed to be okay. none of them had to go to the hospital. it is now 5:51. time for a look at weather and traffic. you know what, it's going to be a busy day. a lot of people are going

ready for sunday. >> the big question is can they do that or are they going to need the big coat, scarf, all of that jazz. >> no industrial strength wrapping necessary to survive the elements for today. as long as you have an insulated wind breaker, you're going to be just fine. temperatures in the 30s and 40s. not all that cold. mildest morning of the week so far. there is a little bit of a breeze out there. wind chills a bit of an issue. december comparison, a year ago today our high temperature made it up to 62 degrees. what's so unusual about that? that was the first of seven consecutive days here in the end of december that were all 60 or higher. keep in mind our average high temperature is only 45 degrees. that's seven days in a row, 15 degrees or more above average and it peaked out on christmas eve last year at 71 degrees and another 70 on the 27th. that's why last december was the number one warmest december on record. almost 12 degree

average. this december is right on the money. 0.0 degrees average from this point in the month. that's because it was cold last week but mild the week before that. right now, current temperatures 36 in leaseberg, 42 in quantico, 41 in arlington. hometown highs today if you live in frederick, maryland, 47. martinsberg and charlestown, mid 40s. mid 50s from culpeper. doing any traveling have your nbc washington app downloaded. we have an interactive nationwide radar. you can follow any rain or weather. biggest impact will be across the desert southwest. a lot of rain in las vegas, arizona. san diego. no 60s and 70s. near 50 today and tomorrow. showery weather. no heavy rain. christmas day dry. again, milder weather with a

and thursday. closer look at today hour by hour coming up. let's go over to melissa mollet. eastbound 70. >> 70 and 270 have a crash reported. not seeing anything slowing down there right now. also wanted to mention another crash on eastbound 70. that shouldn't affect you or impact you. 66 and 95 looking quite good. 95 northbound and southbound in the area of quantico, a little bit slow. a little bit of volume in that area. nothing being reported. inner and outer loop looking quite good. i'll see you at 6:00 a.m. melissa, thank you. a dramatic scene on a bus in fresno, california. take a look here. an ecigarette exploded in this guy's pocket. he had minor burns but he's expected to be okay. south driving uber cars taken off the road in san francisco. the california department of motor vehicles said uber needs a

self-driving technology in the safe. uber says the cars require constant monitoring so they don't need a permit. right now the cars are cruising around in pittsburgh since september. in the age of uber and lyft, cab companies are losing money. that's why barwood cab company is filing for bankruptcy. ride share services are severely limiting the business. ceo lee barnes said the company is reorganizing and preparing to compete starting with a new look. barnes says his cabs will be painted black. >> it's quick, affordable and seamless. no exchange of your credit card. >> barnes tells news 4 he is determined to keep his business alive. the company has been in service for 50 years. good morning, i'm landon dowdy at cnbc

alphabet is going to add self-driving technology to its cars. google spun off the self-driving business into a special company. the mandate to strike partnerships with automakers and commercializing the research being developed for seven years. in may they signed a deal with fiat chrysler. >> a local couple's success in the d.c. housing market landed them their own reality show. >> they had so much fun renovating their own home, they made a career out of it. they flip homes in d.c. just like the flippers on t.v. now they have their own show. it premiers at fr on hgtv at noon. >> if all goes well it will be a weekly show. tune in to news 4 tonight starting at 4:00 to hear more about the success. if you are a real estate couple in d.c., a lot of

they found a human skull in one of the run-down homes they purchased. >> oh. >> right? what they do, they buy these homes at a cost, renovate them and sell them, flipping. >> which isn't always as easy as it sounds. >> no. >> they say it takes a lot of work to get some of these ready to be sold and to find buyers and that sort of thing. first thing we'll see is possible tent work. well, whether you are hitting the highways or the sky ways, we're helping you get home for the holidays. what you need to know if you're heading out today. >> getting to work could get a lot easier for people montgomery county. the new transit center up and running. >> oh, i love him or her! >> the pandemonium that happened -- >> i said,

be a park ranger, i got really excited. gabe's obviously really sick. and there's a lot that he isn't able to do, and make-a-wish stepped in. we had to climb up the mountain to get the injured hiker. he fell from, like, a rock. he's been the one that has been rescued so many times. he said to me, "today, i got to be the hero." (avo) the subaru share the love event has helped grant the wishes of over twelve hundred kids so far. get a new subaru, and we'll donate two hundred and fifty dollars more to help those in need. ♪put a little love in your heart.♪ the holidays don't officialy begin, until it's time to make: flaky, delicious, piping hot things. golden brown and sticky things. fresh out of the oven, why can't they cool things? new things, old things. and blink and they're gone, those went fast things.

it's baking season. warm up the holidays with pillsbury. now at 6:00 we are working to get you home for the holidays. >> four out of ten people are traveling. what's behind the yuptick. >> get ready to see more cars but don't expect to see anyone behind the wheel. >> do you want to build a snow man? the friendship that will melt your heart. come on, aaron. "news 4 today" starts now.

>> it's christmas. >> zion, now the pandas, i'm a happy camper. >> we have to tie you down. >> this panda has mauled the panda. >> he's playing. caressing the snow man. wanting to be friends. >> he's doing what? >> bam, ow. >> that's caressing apparently. >> looked more like a mauling. >> no, no, no. >> yes, indeed. it's a bear. i'm on aaron's side with this one. weather headlines for today, cloudy skies this morning. nowhere near as cold as it has been. we'll take that for sure. today and tomorrow staying dry. milder than we've been in the last couple of days. a little chance for showers coming up on your saturday. sunday looking better. we'll talk temperatures coming up in a few more minutes. planniut