right now on "news4 midday," a deadly police-involved shooting. new information about the encounter that an officer says forced him to fire his gun on christmas day. and good morning, i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. a lot of clouds outside this morning and rain chances will be creeping upwards over the next 24 hours, i'll let you know when you're most likely to need umbrellas, coming up. first comes shopping, then comes exchange, a look at the next wave of the holiday shopping season and how you can be sure you're finding the best sales. good morning on this

december 26, 2016. i'm heroin aaron. >> and i'm kristen wright. we hope you're enjoying your day off during the holidays. it's not too cold if you plan to head out today. >> let's head out to storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. >> no sunshine for people across the mid-atlantic for today. for tomorrow we'll get sun back for the second half of the day. not much rain today. here's the next chance for rain, the showers near cincinnati, chicago and detroit, most of it will bypass us to the north. the trailing edge of rain will come through here late tonight, early parts of the day tomorrow. right now it's really just mist and drizzle outside. western parts of loudoun county and montgomery county. temperaturewise, we've moved into the mid 40s, but that's about it. cloud cover for the remainder of the day, the occasional patch of drizzle or two. rain a little more likely after about noon time tomorrow. we should be in the 60

and start looking at the new year's eve weather as well. coming up, stay with us. developing now, a family wants answers after a man was killed by d.c. police. gerald hall was shot in northeast washington yesterday. >> police are looking at the body camera footage. news4's justin finch is live at the fifth district headquarters with more. >> the video should give police a fuller look at the circumstances leading to the now-fatal shooting. meantime, gerald hall's mother says she has questions for police about the level of force used on her son. >> on what was to be a day of celebration, a woman says she was shaken and still is, by what she saw and heard on her northeast washington block. she didn't want her name or face broadcast. >> it's been a hard christmas. i went back to see if he was okay. and i seen the police in the driveway with guns. >>

she and her husband say they heard a woman scream from a house on the 3200 block of walnut street northeast. the neighbor says she saw a young woman outside and returned to cooking dinner. >> when i got to back to the stove, i was so surprised to hear the gunshots. >> fifth district police officers were on scene dispatched for a domestic disturbance call and reports of a man with a knife. he's identified as 29-year-old jerol hall. >> i got to the scene and they just were shoving him in the ambulance. >> police say hall refused to drop the knife before the shots. his mother does not believe he was armed. but police report a knife was found on scene. she says he was at the woodbridge area house to pick up christmas gifts for his kids from a woman he was receiving. >> and i felt like they could have teased him. they could have did a lot of other things than just kill him. >> hall's mother says he wase

the shooting is still under police investigation and the officer involved has been placed on administrative legal. we're also awaiting request for a comment on an update to this investigation, kristen and aaron, back to you. new this morning, brand new video just in to our news room of recovery crews fishing out pieces of an airplane. the russian military plane crashed into the black sea yesterday. everyone on board was killed. nbc's lucy cavanaugh has the latest on the recovery efforts and the investigation right now. >> it's a round-the-clock mission to piece together a deadly puzzle. thousands of emergency workers scouring frigid waters. salvaging what they can of rewhat remains. no survivors, all 92 on board dead. the plane departed from sochi, bound for syria. two minutes after taking off, it plunged into the black sea in

most of the passengers, members of its world-renowned military choir heading to spread holiday cheer in a holiday concert for russian servicemen and on board, a beloved charity worker known simply as dr. leeza, taking much-needed medicine to a syrian hospital. war is a hell on earth, she once said, but kindness, compassion, mercy are stronger than any weapon. reality is now beginning to sink in for those who loved and lost their dearest. on board a christmas day flight to a war-torn country with a tragic end. singers, dancers and nine russian journalists among the dead. president putin declaring a national day of mourning across russia as the investigation continues. lucy cafanos, nbc news, london. president obama spent part of his christmas day calling troops stationed around the world. he called members of

of the military to thank them for their service. the president and first lady thanked troops in person sunday at a marine corps base in hawaii, the last time president obama would take part in this annual christmas tradition as president. meanwhile president-elect donald trump is continuing his holiday vacation at his florida estate this morning. in just a few minutes, nbc's edward lawrence will have details on where trump stands in setting up his cabinet with three positions left to fill. today is the second day of hanukkah, last night hundreds of people attended the national menorah lighting in d.c. it was held on the elipse near the white house, it's called the world's biggest menorah. the ceremony including music, dancing, spinning dreidel games and potato latkes. hanukkah is celebrated through january 1st. [ ♪ ♪ ] today's the start of kwanzaa, an african-american and pan-african holiday t

celebrates and culture. it honors a different principle each day. there will be performances from the kumba kids and the west african dance company. right now, metrorail and bus are running 0en a sunday schedule. trains will only be in service until midnight tonight. all metro access runs are canceled for today. university of maryland is playing an important game today. the terps are in detroit for the quick lane bowl. taking on boston college at 2:30 this afternoon. it's head coach dj durkin's first year in charge. he said this game means a lot for everybody, especially the younger players. >> this is an important game for us, they know that, they understand that. it's important for our program, and it's important for our seniors, it's important for our university, our fan base, our guys know that, they understand that. they've taken the right approach all along. we know we have a great challenge ahead of us, too.

season with a 6-6 record. this is their third bowl game in the last four years. playoff dreams still alive for the redskins, what needs to happen to keep washington playing through the postseason. ♪ ♪ saying good-bye to another music legend. a look back at george michael's life and how celebrities are reacting to his death on christmas day. plus sinkhole trouble for a whole town. the emergency evacuation that forced dozens from thei homes r

♪ ♪ ♪ fans across the world are humming george michael's songs this morning, the '80s icon died at his home in england yesterday. you're looking at growing memorials at his door. >> michael was only 53 years old. there's an autopsy today. from our partner station in philadelphia, nbc's ted greenberg shows us the legacy the singer leaves behind. ♪ wake me up before you go-go >> george michael first became a worldwide star with pop duo wham in the early '80s when the british singer, songwriter and producer went solo, to

hits kept coming. ♪ i gotta have faith >> the 1987 "faith" sold more than 20 million copies around the globe. born giorgio paniakos, the singer won wide praise for his tremendous vogual range. but michael's risky behavior and brushes with the law also kept him in the headlines, one arrest led to the singer publicly revealing he was gay. a grave bout of pneumonia left michael near death in 2011, but he pulled through to survive. >> i've never actually appeared on stage and left disappointed. >> according to statements sunday from his publicist and police, the singer died at his home in southern england. a statement with the publicist saying it is with great sadness we can confirm our beloved son, brother and friend, george, passed away peacefully at home over the christ

privacy be respected at this difficult and emotional time. george michael dead, at the age of 53. >> musicians george michael inspired and those he knew well are remembering him this morning. everyone agrees with the sentiment you see here, josh groben tweeting another beautiful voice gone too soon. he's known for songs, "last christmas." actor george takai, mentioning that song and saying michael was resting with the glittering stars. actress and comedian margaret cho called george michael an icon and ally. and sir elton john called him a beloved friend and brilliant soul and artist. >> a lot of people are keeping actress in carrie fisher in their thoughts, thee had a

is in the hospital. her mother said she would give an update on her condition, if there is one. today marks 20 years since jon-bennett ramsey was killed. she was found murdered in her family's home in boulder, colorado, the day after christmas in 1996. jon-benet's killer was never found. officials announce they would do new dna testing on key evidence in the case. a tragic holiday for the family of a man killed in new york. he owned the mansion club in the city of mount vernon, north of the bronx, police say he was shot and killed inside the club yesterday. five other people were also shot. they're all recovering. police believe the suspect was ejected from the club earlier in the evening and wanted pay-back. well imagine sitting in your living room when all of a sudden the floor begins to sink beneath your feet. that's exactly what happened in one southeast michigan neighborhood. a state of emergcy

massive sinkhole. you can see where one home is partially collapsed here. people who live in nearly two dozen homes had to evacuate. officials say they got the call on friday after a homeowner felt his house sinking into the ground. >> if it swallows his house, it might take ours with it. >> we're planning for the worst-case scenario. >> now it's not clear just how big the sinkhole is. but engineers think it may have started because of a possible sewer failure below that home. a town in germany was evacuated on christmas day because of a world war ii bomb. the device was found during a construction project in the city's historic central district last week. authorities spent yesterday defusing it. police said christmas day was the best time to do it because there's less traffic and it's more likely that people could stay with relatives. they are back in their homes now. well christmas is over, which means it's time to go back to the store, 'tis the season for returns, right? >> i don't want to go back.

target returns center in gai gaithersburg where she talked to people taking things back. >> here at the return center they're expecting 200 to 400 returns today. a lot of people looking to unload those unwanted gifts or in some cases, make it up to their recipients. >> our christmas was ruined, right? we're here to fix daddy's present. >> christmas may be over, but for people like the hahn family, the trips to the store certainly aren't. >> my husband asked for socks and it was the one thing we couldn't get right, we got the wrong kind so we're here to exchange them. >> there are three of the many people in this area headed back to the drawing board after striking out in the gift department. >> the gift broke so we're just exchanging it. >> we got finding nemo instead of finding dory. >> target gives you 90 days to fix mis

four-foot tall darth vader figure, his kids didn't want to wait one day. >> they thought it was too embarrassing for them to do the returns. they made poor old dad do it. >> chances are good you, too, may be headed to the store at some point. consumer report survey found almost half of all people have returned at least one gift. store manager tyler kunitz says he's seen it all. >> i've seen a lot of times where something has been opened up and used and they try to bring it back. >> and if you are looking to make those returns, you'll want to make sure to keep the price tags on and don't open the box and you'll want to save the gift receipt, make sure you bring a photo i.d. when you make those returns and stay on top of those deadlines so you don't miss them. live at the gaithersburg target, amy cho, news4. good advice, amy. thank you for that. not every store makes it easy to return those unwanted gifts. ahead in our next half hour we'll tell you about the stores with the best and worst return policies.

plan to ship back, you'll have to wait until tomorrow. all u.s. post offices are closed today to observe christmas, that means no regular mail service. only priority mail express packages are being delivered today. fedex and u.p.s. also have limited delivery service today. locations will be back up and running tomorrow. now besides those unwanted gifts, lots of boxes might be piled up in your house right now. but there is a good way that you can put them to use, use them for donations with the give-back box program. fill a leftover amazon box with things you want to donate. then go to give-back box.com. put on a shipping label. and they will send your donations to the nearest goodwill for free. ♪ ♪ >> bringing christmas cheer to a man who has spread so much. up next we'll show you how a neighborhood paid tribute to a

spirits, we

y25eny y17vy ♪ ♪ carollers brought some holiday cheer to ted adelman's home in atlanta on christmas day, he's the homeowner who was diagnosed with cancer. because of that, he was not able

lights and decorations this year. >> his neighbors rallied to bring christmas joy to him. they gathered outside of his house last night to sing carols to him and his family. adelman said he is very thankful. >> i know a lot of people like it and enjoy it, but i never realized how deep it was and how much people really did enjoy it. >> adelman plans to put the display up next year when he feels better. and he says also that the local firefighters have also offered to help. >> he'll have a bigger display possibly next year with all the extra help coming in. hope to see it next year. let's turn to meteorologist chuck bell now. we've been feeling pretty good outside so far this morning. >> not too cold. after last year we were in the 70s around christmas time. we knew we couldn't repeat that again. that was our warmest december on record, this december a little more typical around here. temperatures are

that's about average for this time of year. average high is 45 degrees. there's a live picture from our city camera this morning all gray, all the time. a whole lot of clouds out there. not really much of a rain threat for today. obviously there's at least a chance for some sprinkles and drizzle from time to time. that's just about it. tomorrow will be noticeably warmer, a lot of neighborhoods should get 60 or higher tomorrow afternoon. a little better chance for rain tomorrow. that's mostly the first part of the day. no bitter cold air is coming our way, it looks like 2017 will start out with at least a shower chance, the forecast for new year's weekend. saturday, new year's eve. 3:00 in the afternoon, chilly, sunny and dry, by 11:00 saturday night, going into the new year, mostly cloudy, kind of cold. temperatures in the upper 30s as we ring in 2017. during new year's dayoring i was going to put a 6:00 or 7:00

not everyone is like you, check, they won't be up super early new year's day. so start off time 11:00 a.m. new year's day. better rain chances in the second part of the day on new year's day as we try to watch pro football. a lot of the college games have been moved to the second since new year's is on a sunday. here's the way the rest of the shortened work week for many goes. near 49 today with drizzle around. rain chances early tomorrow but then a break or two of sunshine. to put temperatures above 60 tomorrow. chilly and sunny on wednesday and a chance for showers on thursday. the ten-day forecast and hour by hour with our future weather as well coming up in a few. so thoughtful of you on new year's day. >> no one's up at a:00 a.m. on new year's day. except us. two local families are linked in an incredible way. earlier this year we introduced you to a man who had recently received a life-saving heart transplant. >> he had not

family, but now he has and they discovered how much they have in common. news4's doreen gentzler has their stories. ♪ ♪ >> for chris canalis, creating rap music was his passion. in this case, a piece to promote a prince george's county community service group, path to greatness, in which he was very active. >> i wanted everyone to know just what a wonderful 23-year-old spirit he had. and just so full of life. and just how important it was, not only to enjoy life, but to give back. >> robin bright is chris canali s's stepmother, he suffered a severe asthma attack last october and four days later he was taken away from a loving family. a family that took

organ donation. because they had talked about it long before. at the same time a few miles away another hospital patient was near death because of a failing heart. suddenly, he got the miraculous news he was hoping for. >> once you find out that it actually there, it's kind of unbelievable and overwhelming to know that it's there. somebody thaw don't know and doesn't know you, has to, had to die for you to survive. i mean and get their heart. >> judge lee satterfield shared his successful heart transplant story with us last february. he knew almost nothing about the donor and said he might like to meet the family someday. he knew they were grieving and might not want that. then a month later the transplant team shared a letter from the donor's family. they did want to meet. >> were you apprehensive about that first face-to-face meeting? >> absolutely. you don't know what to expect.

your loved one is now gone. so you don't know how you will feel when you come face to face with someone. who is recipient. but as soon as they were walking down the hall and we saw how much life he had and his smile, it just made us feel so much better. because we knew this is exactly what chris wanted to do. >> it turns out chris canalis's family had seen our story on judge satterfield. never realizing their son was the donor and robin bright is also a judge in prince george's county. these two families were surprised to learn how much they have in common. both judges and families are active now in urging more people to become organ donors. they both know almost two dozen people die every day, waiting or

>> doreen gentzler, news4. just a beautiful thing to be able that sort of a gift. literally to give the gift of life to other families. well it is crunch time for the trump transition team. up next, a look at positions that still need to be filled, as inch closer to the we

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president-elect donald trump is waking up this morning at his florida estate. this comes after he spent christmas eve at church with his wife. >> but with one week left in 2016, trump still has some cabinet positions left to fill. nbc's edward lawrence has the latest. >> president-elect donald trump has a few spots left to fill in his cabinet. three big ones yet to be named. the director of national intelligence, secretary of agriculture, and secretary of veterans affairs. >> i want to take care of our veterans, i want to take care of them. they're being taken care of horribly. >> as he mulls over those posts, the confirmation hearings on some of his current picks will start before mr. trump is sworn in. both attorney general nominee jeff sessions and secretary of state nominee, rex tillerson will face fights in early january. as democrats are likely to bring up conflict of interest issues. >> he has recruited a cabinet of winners. their number e

on the entire cabinet. these are successful, perful people who like winning and are prepared to work very hard to win. >> mr. trump ran a nontraditional campaign and has broke from tradition as president-elect. he tried to get a u.n. resolution concerning israel tabled, threatened to pull a defense contract from lockheed martin and may have reignited a nuclear arms race with russia. >> you haven't seen a situation like this where a president-elect is speaking out on all sorts of issues in a way that is almost drowning out the person who is still president. >> mr. trump will officially become president january 20th. with more cabinet picks expected soon. the president-elect announced he wants to dissolve his foundation in a statement donald trump says that's because he wants to avoid the potential of a conflict of interest. edward lawrence, nbc news, washington. vice president joe biden could be staying in the district after his successor is sworn in. biden told the "los angeles times" that he's planning to live in washington,

part time after january 20th. he said the decision is largely driven by family. biden says his wife will continue to teach at northern virginia community college where dr. jill biden has been an english professor since 2009. holiday spirit is in full swing across the d.c. region. celebrations include traditions from all over the world, especially many of the embassies here in d.c. >> news4's barbara harrison has a look at how russia's embassy marks the holiday season. the flag of the russian federation waves above this elegant french beaux-art style fashion mansion built in 1910. it's been since 1913, first the

the ambassador of russia to the united states. ♪ ♪ >> ambassador, so nice to see you. >> i was welcomed by ambassador sergei kiziak. >> what a beautiful mansion. go we like it also. >> on the elegant marble staircase, a serenade welcome awaited us. >> these are kids from the russian embassy school. >> spasibo, wonderful. >> thank you very much. >> oh my. >> on the second floor, an expansive landing leads to the grand salon. decorated for the holidays, the star atop the tree doing its best to outshine the

mouldings and corinthian columns. >> beautiful, breathtaking. >> and in russia it's not exactly the christmas tree, we call it yulka, russian for pine tree, it has become more or less secular symbol. to all christians, it's a christmas tree. for nonchristians it's a new year tree. >> a new year tree. >> he said the traditions around the tree are similar to those around the world. >> you would put presents for kids during the middle of the night. >> the gifts are brought by grandfather frost. a character from russian folk tales. >> welcome to our red room. >> the room is set for tea. >> please be seated. >> thank you. >> on the table the russian holiday favorites, pierogi, sweet pretzels and the all-important russian salad. >> it's relatively russian. >> he said it's

salad. created by a chef at a famous french restaurant in russia in the 1860s, it's now a holiday staple, especially for the new year. >> and you know russia is a huge country and very diverse, many cultures, many religions. different traditions. but the new year is something special. that is secular. and that brings together around the tradition to celebrate in a family and with friends, all of us together. >> and food is always a part of every celebration. >> hello. i've heard a lot of amazing things about you. >> award winning embassy chef roman chadron has been busy in the kitchen. >> this is somebody we're very proud of. >> and your assistants. >> the children from the embassy school joined us to help prepare some of the traditional holiday food. >> what are you going to cook? >> salad. >> what type of salad

>> that's what i was saying. you cannot imagine a russian new year's table without salad olivieri. while mandarin duck baked with orange people was in the oven the chefs helped the kids prepare all manner of holiday fare. >> in terms of the festive mood i would say, it starts somewhere in the 25th. then it goes to the 1st of january when we have a new year. then it's a very big day for all russian orthodox christians, as more than 40% of population in russia. we have our own christmas that is january 7th. ♪ ♪

glorious. >> hanging along the panelled walls of the dining room, several important russian paintings. the table is set for a holiday dinner. and just as in russia, the ambassador says the guests at the table will be of many different faiths. >> we are multiethnic, we are mul multireligious. we respect very much traditions of all our people. >> the children have added their hand-painted ornaments to the trees. and they made one extra. >> it's for me? >> yes. >> there's often an exchange of gifts at this time of year. whether for christmas or on the eve of the new year. nastrovia. >> every dinner ends with a toast. >> people will wish to each

other, peace, peace in the world. and we love to wish it to the americans as well. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ you can see other embassies celebrate the holidays, search christmas on embassy row, on the nbc washington app for more of barbara's stories. so colorful. >> yes. beautiful. well not long after the ball drops, a lot of you are hoping the redskins don't drop the ball on their playoff chances. >> the team is playing on new year's day, against the giants. the game is this coming sunday at 4:25 in the

if the skins lose, the season is over. but if they win, and the cowboys beat the lions in monday night football tonight, the skins are in. last chance is a little complicated here. if the lions win tonight, then the skins still have to win and hope the lions beat the packers next week. >> can all that happen? >> sure. anything is possible we hope. from shopping to returns. today you can start exchanging those gifts that weren't quite right. coming up a few tips to make sure you're getting the most of the post-holiday sales. two little boys getting an extra special christmas surprise from the 911 dispatcher who helped save their

more of a windy christmas than a white one for people in denver. winds near 90 miles per hour

leaving 45,000 customers without electricity. one tree even damaged a car's rear window. the heavy winds were to blame for a brush fire that burned about 29 acres. no evacuations were necessary, though. right now winter storm continues to make its way across the upper midwest. that storm brought plenty of snow to the region, including north dakota. >> some parts of the state were blanketed by as much as 18 inches of snow. the blizzard conditions have made it almost impossible to travel on the roads out there. slippery roads, low visibility have all caused a lot of accidents. shutting down major interstates in some places. meanwhile, 42 degrees here. >> nothing to worry about for us. >> the winds were a big-time problem up there. denver to western parts of the dakotas, western nebraska, almost every reporting station in nebraska had a 70-mile-per-hour wind gust yesterday. so crazy windy for them. fortunately that's not going to be an issue for the remainder

though the storm is headed up into parts of southern canada if you can't get a white christmas in north dakota, what do you live in north dakota for, you know what i mean? but they're on pace, they've had their snowiest winter season on record in bismarck, they've had 45 inches of snow. number one all-time to this point in the season. so snow lovers in the dakotas, which is pretty much a guarantee that most of them are, they're getting all that they wanted. for us, it's cloudy and chilly. temperatures uniformly in the low to mid 40s, we'll get up to about 48 or 9 degrees across most of the area for ties today. our computer mod sl trying to hint that you might see one little peek of sunshine around 2:00, don't count on it. i'm not sure that's really going to happen. the clouds may thin out a little. but not enough to really let much in the way of sunshine come through. you can stay ahead of the weather on our nbc washington app, it has an interactive radar to track the rain chances coming

tomorrow. most of tomorrow's rain chance probably in the 4:00, 5:00 to 9:00 timeframe. most of it coming to an end before noon. i think we'll get a little sunshine tomorrow afternoon and delightfully mild. 60s tomorrow. briefly before the colder air comes back in. just little pockets of mist and drizzle out there for us for the remainder of the day. our future weather mod that will tries to bring some clearing but not until well after the sun goes down. i don't think the clearing is going to last too much. the ten-day forecast, conservative at 61, fredericksburg, stafford. owl towards culpepper, parts of northern virginia could be 65 or warmer. little chance for rain on saturday. and some sunday new year's day chances of rain mainly second half of the day and big back-to-work day on the 2nd. looks like it could be a little showery. two brothers in prince george's county have been receiving acts of

a first responder who helped save their lives. the little boys are just two and three years old and so cute. police say the children's father, christian dillard stabbed the boys last month in an awful attack. he's charged with attempted first-degree murder, assault and related charges. well paramedic lieutenant pamela graham has befriended the family. she invited them to spend christmas at her home. where the boys had presents under the tree. their mother says she is grateful for their new friend. >> we talk and ask how she's doing. she's a really good person. >> i'm happy to see they're doing much better. >> the boys also got a visit from santa. playing the role with the prince george's county fire rescue dispatcher. he was at the 911 call about the attack came in. >> really nice way to

little guys. and i tweeted out the story earlier. if you want to see the other conversation that happened around it. it's a nice story for the holidays. >> considering what they've been through. first comes shopping, then comes returns. not every holiday present can be a great gift. so today you can start those returns and exchange. up next, we'll fill you in on which stores make it easy to get what you w

we've been telling you about the rush to return presents

are more accommodating than others, according to consumer reports, l.l. bean guarantees 100% satisfaction in every way. that means you can exchange even if items are well used. don't have a receipt. there's no time limit. >> that's a big promise. lands end has a similar policy to l.l. bean, you can get marshal store credit on most bed, bath and beyond items even without a gift receipt. and zappos allows you to return items up to a year for free as long as they're in their original condition. tough returns, forever 21 require as receipt in store only within 30 days. their online store is more lenient. but you still should act quickly. if you received a gift from k-mart, a gift receipt will only get you store credit. sears possible store

or exchange, some items have a restocking fee of 15% of the item's price. barnes & noble also provides store credit with gift receipts, you have until january 31st to head there. if you're looking to power up your new high-tech device you received for christmas, you'll want to listen to the next warning. >> nbc's jolynn kent explains what you need to know to keep your device safe. especially when you're on the go. >> at the mall, on the beach and at the airport. free wi-fi networks and charging ports are everywhere. but these public places are popular targets for hackers. our expert showed us how they do it he set up an unauthorized insecure airport wi-fi at the airport. within minutes 15 travelers around us logged on. not realizing it was an unofficial insecure collection. >> we have a malicious hot spot here. you're punching in what you think is going to be a

passward. >> it seems innocent. >> just like that, your data is gone. and the hopeful charging stations are also prime targets, it's called juice jacking. when you plug your phone into a usb port, a prompt comes up, asking if you trust the connection. so many just say yes. but beware. >> this usb port is actually connected to a system where cybercriminal is looking at your device. >> i realized somebody was trying to enter my computer. >> jerome phillips was hacked at the st. louis airport. his first worry, his financial data. >> you don't know what the bank's response is going to be and your mind races. >> how can you protect yourself? experts say don't charge in a usb port. use a plug. bewarery of pop-up prompts, be skeptical of generic network names and use a virtual private network. >> less is more. slow down. be more cautious. >> and dare to be disconnected. putting your phone down top

your defenses up jolynn kent, nbc news, los angeles. it is a cloudy day outside. but at least we don't have to bundle up. >> storm team 4 meteorologist is back with another look at our holiday with the xfinity tv app, anything with a screen is a tv. stream 130 live channels. plus 40,000 on demand tv shows and movies, all on the go. you can even download from your x1 dvr

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it's a christmas tradition, people flock to the delaware river for reenactment of general george washington's christmas day river crossing.

uniforms and listen to inspiring speech by a reenactor playing washington. the continental army crosses the delaware river on christmas day in 1776 to take on the hessians in trenton. securing a crucial victory in the revolutionary war. if you're relaxing around the house with the kids, you may have them start to say thank you for their gifts in writing. >> in today's high-tech world, etiquette experts agree that writing and sending thank you notes goes a long way when teaching children about gratitude. if your child can't write yet, the experts say you write the note, but then ask the child to scribble or draw something on the card. or talk them through it. what we're thankful for. >> good life lessons. >> let's turn to chuck bell, chuck, thank you, i'm going to write awe letter. i thought you look like a guy that needed $100,000, so i just gave it to you. >>

>> you got that, right? i left it on your desk. >> in the 40s today, not a lot of rain coming our way. but i couldn't rule out a little patch of drizzle from time to time. tomorrow, noticeably milder day and the weather service just issued a wind advisory for the blue ridge and up into the high country. so locations above 2,000 feet could have winds as much as 4 to 50 miles per hour. i'll be tweeting it out and putting it on our facebook page as well. no crazy cold weather to come our way to finish out 2016. maybe some showers new year's day afternoon when you're sleeping one off, aaron. >> we've had enough of you for today. >> thank you and good-bye, chuck bell. that's it for "news4 midday," we appreciate you join us, we're back on the air, first at 4:00. have a great day.

stand by, everyone. we're live in five, four, three, two, one. well, i think everybody saw this coming, president-elect donald trump "time" person of the year. welcome to "access hollywood live." the cover reads "donald trump president of the divided states of america." he did not like that. >> did not like the divided part. he likes being on the cover and interesting to note his tenth time on of the cover, most, though, within the last year. but nobody i think more surprised, perhaps, than him because remember he once said i will never be on the cover. >> last year what did he say, i told you "time" magazine last year when the runner up to angela merkel, he said i told you ti"time" magazine would