♪ ♪ and the big names and the big stars celebrating grammy nominations. we are celebrating some of the local talent up for awards. "news 4 today" starts now. i still can't listen to that bruno mars song and not want to dance. >> right. we were all shaking to the groove. >> chuck bell getting in on the action. >> i'm getting jiggy with it. >> that was a long time ago. >> he went back for that one. >> we love will smith. >> isn't it way back wednesday? >> it is now. >> yes, it is. >> i didn't wear parachute pants or anything. >> there you go. >> hammer time or anything. >> now you're really dating yourself, chuck. we're all like -- we know exactly what you're talking about. >> i was going to say. >> you should do the cabbage patch or running man. >> i don't even know what that is.

>> put a graphic up. let's do that. look at the flag. isn't that lovely. >> look at that beautiful thing. >> saved by old glory. mostly clear sky overhead. that breeze that you see flapping the flag out there, that is coming out of the south and a southerly breeze will make for milder weather today no doubt about it. currently temperatures are in the 30s in most neighborhoods. a few spots above the 40 degree mark. fairfax, 43. arlington, 39. 46 in northwest washington. prince gorges county, 42 in upper marlboro. 37 down in charles county, maryland. forecast for today, nothing to worry about. your jacket here early this morning. jeans and sunglasses. that's it. no heavy sweater required this afternoon at all. a plus weather continues today with a high expected to reach near 65 degrees. that is a baker's dozen above average, melissa. >> baker's dozen. >> that's an old phrase. >> we're going to have a little dance lesson after this. are you ready for that, chuck l

>> chopper 4 here, 295 before benny road southbound here. do have some delays because of a crash here this morning. they say it's in the left lane right now, the incident. we'll get information on that. inner loop and outer loop of the beltway, no problems. remember, no trains between silver spring and fort totton. as far as your travel times, looking pretty good in maryland. going at speed. same thing in virginia. little slow 95 north quantico to the beltway. listen to wtop 95 f.m. when you hop m your car. breaking news out of north korea on its latest missile laun launch. south korean president is warning that the situation on the korean peninsula could get out of control. moon and trump held a phone conversation after the launch. both leaders strongly condemned the

capability of the north korean missile. >> the pentagon agrees this missile went higher than any other. theoretically the missile could hit our area. >> this was the first missile launch since september from north korea. the u.n. security council is expected to meet later today to discuss the latest launch. right now police need your help finding this 15-year-old girl. take a look at her picture here. her name is alexa caraballo. she is from silver springs. she has not been seen in more than a week. police say she may be in d.c. there's some breaking news on an amber alert out of north carolina. chris lawrence with that. >> right now a mother is frantically pleading to get her little girl back home. police have issued an amber alert for 3-year-old moriah woods. she lives in jacksonville, north carolina. the fbi is sharing this surveillance image. it's of a woman and a child inside a walmart in moorehead city.

her on sunday night when she put the little girl to bed. there's a lot to this story. moriah's father questioning how someone could have gone into the house and abducted the little girl without her crying or nobody hearing anything. so there's a lot to this. again, we saw that surveillance photo of a woman with a little girl. we'll stay on top of this story and hopefully get a good ending to that. aaron, back to you. >> 6:04 right now. urgent warning for people who rely on ride sharing to get around town. in virginia an uber driver is accused of kidnapping and attacking a woman on her ride home this weekend. this comes after a similar incident in d.c. >> in that case a woman and her friend went into a car that had an uber sticker near dupont circle. the pair had not booked the ride through the app. the woman says the driver at the scene jordali took her to american university and raped her in the parking t.

the driver claims it was consensual. they say he was posing as an active driver because he had already been fired by uber. how can you make sure you're safe using one of these ride sharing services? >> working for you this morning with some tips to think about before requesting your ride. news 4's justin finch is driving through shirlington now. justin? >> reporter: eun, once you're in your uber it is so easy to disenga disengage, pull out your smartphone and just not pay attention. uber and law enforcement is saying do not do that but instead to remain alert from the moment you request your ride all the way until you get where you are going safely. take a look now at these tips they're providing us this morning. plan ahead first and know where you're going. if you have a preferred route in mind, tell your driver. also, request your ride from inside. you want to avoid booking and waiting for your uber from the street where you're vulnerable. also to get in the right

you want to verify the car, the tag, and the driver you're also seeing in your app. also, if you can, share where you are going, even a text to a friend or send your location to someone using your smartphone. most importantly, too, police say to trust your gut. if something feels odd or off, do not be afraid to report that in the app to uber or call 911 if you need to as well. we're living here i'm justin finch, news 4, back in to you. >> justin, thank you. 6:06. today the baltimore police detective who was killed nearly two weeks ago will be laid to rest. maryland governor larry hogan will be among those speaking at today's funeral service for detective sean suitor. he was shot while investigating a murder in west baltimore. detective suitor was a d.c. native. a public vigil will be held in his honor at d.c. police headquarters this afternoon. a second woman who used to work for congressman john

conyers is publicly accusing him of sexual harassment. the detroit news says the allegations are coming from cony cony conyer's chief of staff. nbc news has not independently accused it. roy moore is remaining defiant despite the sexual misconduct claims that have rocked his campaign. we are fewer than two weeks until election day in alabama. all of those scandals are why sexual harassment will be the topic on capitol hill today. they are taking up requiring training for all members and their staffs. barbara comstock has been at the forefront to get the battle passed and to change the culture on the hill. she says she won't rest until, quote, we take out all the trash on capitol hill. >> i think it's important that whatever bad apples are here

>> comstock says she wants major reform in the office that helped negotiate secret sexual harassment settlements. also on capitol hill, virginia's top election official will face tough questions. u.s. house oversight committee will ask cortez why he used paper ballots instead of voting machines. we heard cortez said he thought they could be vulnerable with hackers and try to infiltrate virginia's election system. his decision may have led to differences in two counties. it is that time of year for holiday traditions. tonight you can watch the rockefeller christmas tree come to life. >> 2, 1. go! >> yeah! >> i remember this. >> beautiful. >> celebration from last year. more than 50,000 lights will make this year's 75 foot tree

tonight's event will also feature some performances, gwen stefani, harry connick jr., cee lo. >> you want to mention your favorite who's singing? >> yes. jennifer. >> matt lauer and savannah guthrie will be hosting. dogs in our area will be lending a paw to folks in puerto rico. >> they're doing it one santa picture at a time. our molette green is live this morning at dog love bakery in arlington. tell us what this is all about. santa is busy, he has to answer to the children and now the dogs, too, molette? >> i know. we are all surrounded by luncky dogs. they're ready to help dogs in puerto rico. we'll tell you all the details next. how you can bring your dog here and help out those in need

>> ho, ho, ho. >> reporter: we'll be back. you don't want it? >> yeah, poor dog. >> that's okay. there are plenty of dogs who will -- >> that's how it works for tv, right? molette, we'll check back in. the royal wedding. the details are out. how prince harry and meghan markle plan to tie the knot and the steps the bride is taking before she walks down the aisle. more breaking news overnight. a serial killer case closed. $1.99 hot chocolate at dunkin'? a serial killer case closed. that's like a big yummy hug. so hug it up! hug more. hug large. hug medium? hug that. live it a hug life

or larger hot chocolate. america runs on dunkin'. - um, i think one of your friends is here. - oh, well, what does he look like? - [mother] orange and grouchy. - (laughing) that's student loan monster. remember when i told you if you didn't save for college, other monsters would show up? - wait, so he's living here now? - she graduates and moves back home, he follows. they're a package deal. (chuckling) like, uh, oh, snack cakes. om.

a $4,000 virginia state tax deduction. before we start, i just want to say if anyone still doesn't have fios, please stay out of the way so your lag doesn't get us all killed, ben. what's so good about fios anyway? uh. what's so great about a 100% fiber-optic network that makes your gaming system actually work awesomely? hey. did you take out the trash? haha, garbage boy! dad, i already took out ben. it's not funny. gaming is best on a 100% fiber-optic network. so get fios. now, just $79.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee, with a 2-year agreement.

good wednesday morning. i'm out here at dogma bakery in shirlington. you just saw molette tell you why we're er

rico. we're talking about whether you should get your kid a pet. my dog is very food driven. she's difficult to handle when she smells food. we have santa. the pictures with santa friday evening, 6:30. friday's forecast is looking pretty good. coming up in a minute, i'm going to talk to someone from lucky dog animal rescue. we're going to answer the question if you should getholid. i think that answer will surprise you. melissa mollet. good morning. >> hi, sheena. chopper 4 over the earlier problem southbound 295 before benning road. that has cleared out of the way. still seeing some delays. we'll talk about this and everything else happening coming up. and i'm chris lawrence here at the live desk with breaking news. police may have taken a potential serial kll

streets. we're getting our first look at the man accused of killing four people in the same neighborhood in tampa. police say howell donaldson was arrested tuesday at a mcdonald's. remember, there were probably a lot of families in there when police had to go in and make that arrest. they say they plan to charge donaldson with four counts of first degree murder. they have been searching for a suspect since these killings started back in early october but got a tip at that fast food restaurant and that led them to donaldson. he doesn't appear to have a criminal history except for a few traffic violations. we'll stay on top of this story and bring you the latest. aaron, back to you. >> chris, thank you. 6:15. we could learn about the person killed walking along the beltway. that led to long backups for several hours. police said the person was hit by a tractor-trailer but they haven't said why that person was

first place. montgomery county, police have kicked off a new campaign aimed at making the roads safer for everyone. >> the undercover campaign is targeting both drivers and pedestrians who break the rules. news 4 cameras were there as an officer in regular clothing used a crosswalk to see whether drivers stopped. here is a video. in just a few hours at one intersection police issued 49 tickets and 26 warnings. no one's stopping. >> why did they say they were pulling you over? >> apparently because i didn't stop. >> reporter: will this change anything for you? >> yes, it will change. yeah. now whether i see or no, sir. i'm going to stop around there. >> some of the warnings went to pedestrians as well. police reminded them they need to wait before crossing even at crosswalks. officers will have similar stops set up across the country all week long. you know what's dangerous, when one c

a car may not realize and try to go past. that makes me nervous. i'll stop. >> this woman who now is going to slam on her brakes every time she sees somebody and the car behind her hits her. you're going too fast. the pedestrians have to pay attention too. >> tough situation. 6:17 right now. lending a helping paw to the pets of puerto rico. >> that's what you and your dog can do in just a few days. news 4's molette green is live in arlington to show how you can help. you know the need is great in puerto rico, that's for sure, molette. >> reporter: i am holding kenny with the cute christmas sweater as you can see and i'm hoping my kids are not up watching this because they've been begging me for a dog. this is something very special happening this week on friday for dog lovers who have a giving spirit. dog lovers usually do, you know? we've got dogs here set up ready to take pictures with santa. he has nothing to do because you're taking a break from the work at the north pole, right?

friday. all of this is the big fund-raiser for hurricane relief in puerto rico for dogs who are in need. joining me now is stephanie rivero with the lucky dog rescue holding alexey. penny is leaving my arms. bye, penny. this is so very important to be able to do this for the animals that are still in puerto rico who need help. >> yes. so there are so many animals in puerto rico that still need help and every penny that we make during all of the santa photo shoots will be going to hurricane relief efforts in puerto rico. >> reporter: i mean, there are dogs who are actually here. there's a dog here, bruno mars, who came from puerto rico who is adoptable. those in the green bandanas are adoptable. there are so many more over there who are adoptable. >> we're hoping to bring in more dogs from puerto rico in january. we just recently brought up over 100 dogs from

big plane just filled with animals and there are just still so many that need our help. again, the money that we get from all of this really, really helps to allow us to bring up as many animals as we pub bring can. >> in is a preview of what's to come this friday. we've got some information up on the screen. that starts at 6:30. then there's one the next day in restin and another in the following week in bethesda. bringing them here and to care for them there as they struggle to recover. that is the latest from this fantastic dog bakery, i might have to say, with a leks yeah and everybody else. >> you know that dog is good natured because the dog is allowing the reindeer antlers to stay on the head. >> and the camera in his face, too. >> very sweet. super cute. thank you, molette. >> great cause there. remember that -- there's one of those -- there's a bill murray mov

christmass past and he was the ceo of the big company. we can't get the -- we can't get the antlers to stay on their head. have you tried staples? >> we don't recommend that. >> it was a line in a movie. it's not a suggestion. >> leo will not wear them. will she wear them? >> she looks like a deer and you put antlers on her head and you'd think she's a baby doe. she doesn't care for them. she has the big radar antenna ears. she doesn't care for them. that dog can hear cheese hit the sand from 1,000 paces and can't hear me yelling at her to come here from two feet. crazy. clear skies overhead this morning. nice day coming your way today. hopefully if you get outside and spend some time in it and enjoy it. 43 in washington. winds remain in the south. that means it will be another mild afternoon. 61 yesterday. 62 the day before that. today we're looking for 64

34 now in montgomery county. 36 in frederick, maryland. 32 in fort meade. seasonably chilly. bus stops, around 35 to 40 degrees early this morning. mid -- low to mid 60s at lunchtime and even mild as late as 5:00. highs in your hometown, 59 in martinsburg. 65 and sunny today. 57 tomorrow with increasing clouds. chance for a little sprinkle or two late tomorrow night. then back to breezy sunshine on friday. both days this weekend will be dry. that is excellent news for all of the people putting up holiday decorations. let's go over to melissa mollet and check on traffic. >> that will be me absolutely this weekend is the weekend it's happening. southbound 295 before benning road. that has cleared out of the way. chopper 4 over that area as you're headed into the district just to show

you. beltway, inner loop and outer loop looking fine. very normal up top. northbound indian head highway before old for the road. leesburg pike and bailey's crossroad, crash there. 95 north from woodbridge a little slower as well. eun? >> melissa, thank you. right now on "news 4 today," caught on camera. a police bike versus an atv. the wild encounter and how things went wrong. and your social media feed may be buzzing about the grammy nominations. next we'll tell you about the local musicians who made the cut. and if you're a fan of brian cranston, you're in luck. the actor will be on ellen today

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you're watching "news 4 today." ♪ ♪ 2018 grammy nominations are out. one of the summer anthems this year "des poe see the tow" is up. there were multiple nominations this year. >> love it all. >> local talent up for big awards. gaithersburg native, logic, nominated. song with a lot of meaning. best music video nomination for his suicide prevention anthem. rockville's father john misty as well as d.c.'s goldlink and shy glizzy are also up for

>> who was that? goldlink and shy glizzy. >> are you making fun of me? >> no. >> shy glizzy. i need to enunciate. >> always a great show. >> them, they. >> all right. we're going to listen to some shy glizzy during the break. >> good luck today. 6:26 right now. if you're a government worker, now is the time to pay attention. there is new talk about a government shutdown. what president trump says is on the line and why your paycheck could be put on hold. >> reporter: i'm adam tuss. are you an hov cheater out here on the road? well, the police, they want a word with you, especially if you're on i-66. i'll tell you about a new cra

"news 4 today" starts now. good morning. get ready for another beautiful day for the end of november. thanks for joining us and waking up with us today. >> we want to get to your weather and f

course. melissa back from the long holiday weekend. >> sheena parveen is out live in arlington with santa and cute pooches. chuck bell kicking things off. chuck, how is it feeling? chilly right now? >> little chill. i want sheena to ask santa how big that lump of coal aaron is going to get for christmas. i don't think it can fit down the chimney based on his behavior. i digress. clear sky. beautiful morning. chilly outside. nothing to worry about as you look over the downtown monuments. temperatures in the mid to upper 30s. you need your jacket first thing. jeans and sunglasses. sunny start to finish today. either i'm an easy grader or the weather is just that nice. i think it's a little of both. 65 and sunny, a plus weather. cooler weather. into melissa

chopper 4, pretty shot here. top of the beltway, inner loop and outer loop. looking pretty typical for this time of day. looking gorgeous in the distance here. northbound, 210. indian head highway before old fort road. as you're headed inbounds here this morning, quite slow there. inner loop and outer loop of the beltway. no big problems. you could see the top of the beltway slow down from chopper 4. just a couple of minutes ago. the rest of the beltway looks quite good. 270 montrose northbound and southbound. take a look here. reminder, no trains on the red line between silver springs and fort totten. eun? >> melissa, thank you. top stories we're following this morning. today president trump will travel to the midwest to push his tax plan. he'll make a speech later today in st. louis, missouri. senate republicans will bring their tax plan to a vote this week.

gop and the president to score a legislative win this year. new images released this morning show a woman carrying a little girl police believe is a missing 3-year-old from north carolina. amber alert was issued for moriah k. woods on sunday. her parents say she was taken from her jacksonville home. police have not identified the woman in these new pictures. prince william county police say an uber driver held down a woman and sexually assaulted her in his car. police arrested 37-year-old christian avalo on monday. the assault happened saturday morning. avalo had been driving for uber for eight months and had passed a background check. and now to the video you want to stop and see. this is a pretty frightening situation here. shows you a police officer hitting the pavement while trying to chase down an atv driver riding illegally on d.c. streets. >> it appears he was trying to jump from his bike to an atv.

this video was shot by one of those atv riders. you can hear laughter as the officer falls to the ground. people that we showed this to say that's not what they expect from police. >> probably wasn't the safest thing to do from a moving bicycle. >> i think it's irresponsible. i do not think it was an intelligent move. >> i haven't seen something like that since a western. they ride up on horses and jump on the guy on the next horse. >> now d.c. police say the officer suffered minor injuries in last weekend's incident. it's not the first time dc police have had run-ins with atv riders. last summer they seized 50 vehicles and had them crushed at a junkyard. a man who volunteered at a prince gorges county school is being charged with soliciting a minor. he was an athletic

photo of himself to an under age victim. joseph was arrested earlier this week after another student told a teacher. d.c. school chancellor expected to speak later this morning about allegations that teachers at ballou high school felt pressure to pass chronically absent students. we told you that every 2017 graduate had been accepted to college. now a new investigation by npr and wamu radio found 57 students were on track to graduate in april but somehow 164 received diplomas in june. the investigation found half of the graduates missed more than three months of school. d.c. schools would not respond to a request for comment last night. check the nbc washington app later today for an update. some say it is a war on christmas. the arch diocese of washington says metro is refusing to let them use a christmas ad on the back of their buses. now they're taking metro to court. this is the ad in question right

the federal lawsuit says the transit agency is violating its first amendment rights over the ad. metro says the policies are clear. two years ago they announced that it would not allow advertising that included issue oriented political, religious, and advocacy advertising. other u.s. cities have faced similar controversies. we're working for you this morning with a warning about a commuter crackdown. out on 66 as police search for drivers who are abusing the hov lanes. >> news 4 reporter adam tuss is on the highway for us this morning. adam, why crack down on the drivers now? >> reporter: well, don't be a cheater, that is the message out here on 66, guys, because of course next week, remember, on monday 66 inside the beltway changes forever. the willing to system kicks in. express lanes go into effect here on 66 inside the beltway and the police want to make sure that everyone is following the rules because, get this, if people are cheating the system and they're not either an

not paying their way on those express lanes next week, then the price of the road could actually rise because people who aren't supposed to be in the lanes are in the lanes and then clogging up the lanes. so that's what police are really looking out for here now. over the last couple of weeks they've actually put in little blitzes here when they've gone over hov cheaters. 43 citations in one of these mini blitzes. that shows you how many they can get in a one or two-day period. they have new cameras to catch hov cheaters and the police have hand held devices now that let you know if you are an hov cheater. they can just point it at your car and tell you if you're an hov cheater. back out here now on 66 as we drive here live. remember, new express lanes kick in next monday. can't say it enough. next monday, big changes to 66 and as for now, the police looking for hov cheaters so that everyone plays by the rules. back to you. >> all right. adam tuss live for us

adam, thank you. 6:36 right now. we've been telling you about the breaking news involving north korea's new missile launch. up next, new reaction coming out for leaders around the world and the white house. lebron james known for his slam dunks and no matter how the markets change... lebron james known for his slam dunks and at t. rowe price... our disciplined approach remains. global markets may be uncertain... but you can feel confident in our investment experience around the world. call us or your advisor... t. rowe price. invest with confidence.

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. you're watching news 4. >> animals are not gifts, right? >> that is correct.

>> this is. >> so better option. a dog for the holidays and then, you know, if you decide to adopt after that that's fine. >> perfect. >> the answer is kind of no. you need the whole family. we'll tell you how you can hope it. sheena, thank you. we're learning more details about the wedding of prince harry and meghan markle will tie the knot next may. the duchess of cambridge were married back in 2011. its a at saint georges chapel

windsor castle. william and kate are expecting their third child in april. which maybe that's why prince harry and meghan markle chose the may wedding date. i'm not surprised they would choose a different place to get married. they don't have the pressure. >> no need to be as traditional. >> right. the so-called king of the nba kicked off his throne. today people will be talking about a big first for lebron james. >> he was ejected from a game for the first time ever in his entire career. >> going to get it. and he's outta here. lebron james has just been ejected! >> james just kicked out after complaining to a ref about a call. james thought he had been fouled and wouldn't drop it so the ref there ejecting him from the game and walking away and making this even more painful, it happened in a game against his former

guess what, cleveland won even with their best player stuck in the locker room. 6:43 your time right now. harassment on the hill. the new changes happening today and the new way women will get more support at work. breaking news right now in first 4 traffic. chopper 4 over this problem. the inner loop of the beltway shut down now at the american legion bridge. a bad crash. we're going to have more. a live report coming up

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. breaking news at first 4. inner loop of the beltway shut down at the american legion bridge. outer loop also seeing delays. take a look as chopper 4 sort of zooms out. you can see it involves a tractor-trailer, several vehicles and now we have more than a 4 mile backup at this point this morning. stopped here inner loop as you're trying to cross the american legion bridge. a six-mile backup just hearing in my ear right now. 6 mile backup inner loop approaching american legion bridge. if you don't have the nbc washington app, it is a good day to download it. aaron? >> melissa, thank you. ur

services to get around town. there have been 2 unsettles crimes recently in virginia. uber driver is accused of kidnapping and attacking a woman on her ride home this weekend. this comes days after a similar case in d.c. in that case the woman and her friend were in a car that had an uber sticker on it. this was near dupont circle. the pair had not booked the ride through the app. the woman says the driver took her to american university and raped her in a parking lot. the driver claims it was consensual. d.c. police say he was posing as an active driver because he had already been fired by uber. how can you make sure you're safe using one of these ride sharing services? >> working for you this morning with some tips to think about before requesting your next ride. news 4's justin finch is driving through the palisades area of northwest dc with more. justin, you have to be really careful here. >> reporter: yeah. eun, you have to be

uber does verify and background check its drivers, however, it does not hurt to remain cautious and alert when you're in the passenger's seat. here are some tips that uber and law enforcement are now recommending at this time. first, to just plan ahead. know where you're going and how to get there. if you have a way that you want to go, tell your driver. also, request your ride inside. make sure you're not outside waiting for your ride with your phone in the hand. you can be vulnerable that way. also, you want to make sure that you get the right car. that means verifying the driver, the tag, and also the make and model of the car that you're seeing in your app. and share where you're going. don't forget, you can share your location through your messaging app in your smartphone as well. we can also tell you, too, that uber is encouraging all of us to rate your rides, rate your drivers so they know the kind of service that you're getting and the kind of drivers they have behind the wheel. i've had uber users online tell me on

that let them tweet or text for help if they need it at any point in their ride or in their day. use your smartphone to keep you safe, back to you. >> justin finch live on the road. thank you. today sexual harassment will be the top issue on capitol hill. the house plans to take up an anti-sexual harassment resolution that would require training for all members and all of their staff as well. rir virginia congresswoman barbara comstock is at the forefront. she says she won't rest until, quote, we take out all the trash on capitol hill. >> whatever bad apples are here, that they move along. >> now comstock says she also wants major reforms in the office that helped negotiate secret sexual harassment settlements. breaking news out of north korea this morning on its latest ss

south korean president says the situation on the korean peninsula could, quote, get out of control. moon and president trump held a phone conference following that launch. both leaders strongly condemn the test. moon's spokesman said the latest showed an improvement in the capability of the north korean missile. >> the pentagon agrees saying this missile went higher than any other. scientists say theoretically the missile could hit our area. it was the first missile launch since september and the u.n. security council is expected to meet later today to discuss this latest launch. 6:50 is our time right now. a mess on the inner loop of the beltway this morning. >> melissa, what's happening here? >> breaking news right now. this is a big, big problem for a lot of people. chopper 4 over the american legion bridge. the inner loop of the beltway crossing the american legion bridge. a seven mile backup now. we are shut down here. inner loop of the beltway as you cross the bridge. you can see we also have delays here on the outer

chopper 4 zooming out and showing you how bad this is. looks like it involves a tractor-trailer and several other vehicles. just a, quite frankly, pretty good disaster for a lot of people this morning if they don't get this cleared out of the way. now i put arrows for the outer loop and the inner loop to show you what is closed, what is so bad right now. rest of the beltway not looking for that. if you can possibly avoid this area for the next good while here. i would say for the next hour or so at least try to do that. 270 southbound at montrose road, you can see in rockville here quite slow as you head across the bridge there going to be slow area. through prince gorges county, no major problems. clear northbound indian head highway 66 and 95 okay. not terrible, especially when you consider the beltway. remember, no trains on the red line between silver spring and fort totten. tacoma also closed. i would say looking okay here on travel times. top of the beltway looking very normal. 270 southbound as well.

normal slowdowns. remember to listen to wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car. chuck? >> thank you, melissa. lots of traffic out there this morning. better leave early or risk being late. there's a view of our city camera looking over the 14th bridge complex down towards the downtown monument which are waiting on the sun to come up. comes up just after 7:00 a.m. there's a look from the tower camera. brightening sky. 43. little bit out of the south. wind chills a couple degrees colder than actual temperatures. not bad at all. 34 montgomery county. 43 for martinsburg and mid 40s by the western shore of the chesapeake bay. your planner for today, look at that. sunshine, sunshine and sunshine all the way through the day. afternoon highs, low to mid 60s. it's going to be a winner of a day to be outside. highs in your home towns today. 66 culpepper, 59

what about the next couple of days? going to be the last of the great weather. few sprinkles late tomorrow night. probably well after the sun goes down. friday, breezy and cooler but the sun is back. as we head into the weekend, not bad at all. leading edge of the first slightly cooler air that arrives during the day tomorrow. tomorrow as the front is coming through, increasing clouds. when it goes by it might ring out a drop or two of rain. future weather, nothing to worry about through the daylight hours. couple of more clouds around early tomorrow. skies overcast tomorrow afternoon between 8:00 tomorrow evening and about 3:00, 4:00. quick little sprinkle. that's going to be about it. only enough to congeal all the dust on your car going up into big spots. there's the ten day forecast. cooler weather for sure moving in for the second half of next week. >> thank you, chuck. 6:53 right now. dogs in our area will be lending a paw, if you will, to pets in puerto rico. >> they're doing it one santa picture at a time. an

molette green is live at dogma bakery in arlington with how your pets can help. are the dogs like the kids? some are scared of santa? >> reporter: oh, yeah. just like when i used to bring my kids to take pictures with santa. the dogs are the same way. we're setting things up for this photo shoot to help four legged victims of hurricane maria in puerto rico. and santa already has bruno mars who is from puerto rico on his lap. and bruno is loving every moment of it here at the dogma bakery in shirlington. there are several chances for you to come out this friday and saturday and also next week to help out. and we have stephanie rivero with lucky dog rescue here to talk about how the money raised from these photo shoots will actually help. what's the money going to do? >> yeah. so all the money will go towards helping the animals in puerto rico. after hurricane maria hit there were a lot of dogs that needed food, shelter, water. it also goes to help transport the dogs

they all come in by plane and in addition for dogs like bruno mars here, obviously he's a little bit on the pink side. he does have some allergies. the vet bills here, it will also cover those. >> reporter: this is so fantastic. lucky dog rescue has several opportunities for you to come out starting this friday and saturday. we've got information on the screen and of course they have more information on their website. sheena parveen brought in her dog bella. we have beautiful dogs here with their christmas outfits on setting the stage for what's going to happen friday at this location in shirlington. bring your dogs out because dog lovers have a giving spirit. back to you guys inside. >> absolutely they do. we hope this effort goes well to help out the dogs in puerto rico. >> very sweet, molette. it is 6:55. here are 4 things to know before you head out the door today. tonight the rockefeller christmas tree will be lit up for the holidays. you can watch the lighting and musical performances.

tonight at 8:00. today president trump will travel to the midwest to push his tax plan. he'll make a speech later today in st. louis. senate republicans will bring their tax plan to a vote this week. more on the chances of it passing coming up next on the "today" show. a possible serial killer has been arrested. tampa police plan to charge howell donaldson iii with four counts of first degree murder. police have been searching for a suspect since the killings began in early october. today virginia's top election official will testify on capitol hill. he'll tell the government house oversight committee why he decided to use paper ballots instead of voting machines in this month's election. breaking news in a major mess right now in first 4 traffic. take a look at this. chopper 4 over this problem on the american legion bridge. left side of your screen, the inner loop of the beltway shut down right now because of this crash here in the middle of the bridge. as chopper zooms out you can see it

inner loop as you approach the american legion bridge. also slow on the outer loop as you're headed southbound through rockville, 28, montrose road. you can feel the pain there as well. guys, this is not pretty any day of the week. >> no. >> thank you, melissa. that is the broadcast this morning. we thank you for waking up with us. the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes. more on your weather and breaking news in traffic. until then, enjoy your day. >> make it a great wednesday, everybody.

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good morning. breaking news overnight, matt lauer has been terminated from nbc news. our chairman has released a statement saying, a colleague had come forward reporting behavior in violation of our company's standards. we'll have more ahead. serious threat. kim jong-un, bragging about north korea's most provocative missile test yet. a weapon capable of reaching anywhere in the u.s. it endangers world peace, regional peace and the united states. >> president trump responding with this vow. >> it is a situation we will handle. >> the question this morning, how? and face of a serial killer? a 24-year-old suspect arrested in the string of deadly shootings that has