that brought down several electrical wires. our news partners at wtop report all lanes are blocked in both directions right now. i believe we have rich hunter on the line from wtop. rich, are you there? >> chris, good morning. >> rich, this sounds incredibly serious, especially considering where that road is in relation to how people get in and out of work. >> absolutely. it's one of those things where there are plenty of side roads to get around. a lot of folks don't consider that in the morning that they're going to be redprektirecteredir >> it's between west perry avenue and -- there's lots of directions to get around the closure. >> what are the best one ss? >> it sounds like police are putting folks on the northbound

on the other side, haven't ascertained. if you know that area well enough, you should know. i'm looking in the camera at frederick avenue, slightly north of where the closure is, that's another good way to get around t you can also use a combination of montgomery village avenue and other ways to get around it. while it sounds like a really big deal, it's more of an inconvenience, especially for folks who live in that area or some of the businesses that open early as well. that's the biggest hassle for those folks. >> rich, thank you. thank you very much for giving us the alternatives to help people get to work on time. chestnut street in gaithersburg, shut down in both directions. if that is your commute this morning, you want to try to find another way around. also keep an eye on the weather, as you step outside this morning, you'll notice things are pretty wet. we got a bit of a

overall, not bad right now, chuck. >> not too bad. the rain is all gone at this point in time. moving on out to sea. leave the umbrella at home for today. in fact, a nice dry day coming your way. temperatures are mostly in the 40s. a few spots in the 30s. gaithersburg in frederick, maryland, both at 37. 43 in manassas. 50 degrees at national airport and 49 in annapolis. as you plan out oyour day, sun s up at 7:08. but it's going to be a relatively nice day. temperatures just about average for early december. in fact, today, chris, is december 1st. the beginning of meteorological winter. >> just, what, about a couple weeks until we hit that point on the calendar as well. >> right. a new video in this morning of that rare earthquake near dover yesterday afternoon. millions of people felt the 4.1 magnitude quake. this is video from inside a home in

there are no reports of any injuries or serious damage. the quake was not as powerful as the one a lot of us experienced six years ago. but it wasn't enough to set social media on fire. six miles west of dover. even in falls church, they felt the rumbling. one man sitting down to watch the tree lighting tells us he got a surprise. >> all of a sudden i just felt the couch kind of shake for about two seconds. >> the earthquake wasn't only felt in fairfax county. some folks felt it all around our area. the usgs says they felt it in south carolina and connecticut. i was in arlington helping my daughter with a school project and we felt the house shake as well. how much stronger was that earthquake back in 2011 compared to the one yesterday? that one six years ago was in mineral, virginia, down near

charlottesville. it was a 5.8 magnitude. yesterday was in delaware, a 4 hoy4.1. the 2011 quake was more than 50 times bigger and 350 times stronger than yesterday in tefrmts energy that it released. the epicenters were roughly 150 miles apart. following a developing story out of bowie. the pilot who crashed a plane is going to be okay. chopper 4 was over the scene as investigators examined the plane. pretty dark out there. the pilot is 72 years old. he clipped the tree line as he was trying to land because there were no lights at the airport. prince george's county police want to know if anyone else was the victim of a police impersonator. they say mychal bell from upper marlboro has been

he aped a man in the back of his fake police cruiser. he got the person to get in his car by promising him a safe -- >> he is wearing a badge. got a flashlight out like a police officer would and a badge that looks like a police officer badge. >> bell took the victim's i.d. and police say they have now found the i.d.s of two other adults in his car leading them to believe there may be more victims. new developments in matt lauer's firing from the "today" show. six women have now come forward accusing him of sexual misconduct. lauer was abruptly fired from the "today" show earlier this week following a complaint from a colleague. nbc news confirms the alleged behavior began at the olympics in russia back in 2014 and continued after that. other women have accused the former morning show host

lauer released a statement saying in part he is embarrassed and ashamed. right now, republican senators are reworking their tax plans when they can take a vote on it this morning. senators delayed voting when they couldn't agree on the fiscal trigger. that trigger would type taxes if it doesn't cover its own cost. a nonpartisan committee says it will increase the deficit by a trillion dollars over a decade. end zone shot is caught for the touchdown by doctson. >> well, that was one of the few good moments of the night for the redskins. unfortunately, the cowboys had a lot more of those big plays. they beat the 'skins 38-14. that drops the team to 5-7 on the year. while they're not officially eliminated yet, they are a real long shot to make playoffs. chuck, wenl

left. i mean, it would be a pretty -- the best they can finish is 9-7. >> so you're saying there's a chance? >> a slim one. slim and none and slim is heading out the door. >> how did we lose to the cowboys? they haven't scored points in the last month. frustration grows for redskins nation. welcome to winter everybody. the sunshine is back. we'll talk about the weekend coming up. thank you, chuck. days after learning about their engagement, we may know the exact date of prince harry and meghan markle's wedding. we'll let you know when they're expected to ring. it is the interview that has the tv show the west wing holding out hope. why a reboot is all anyone is talking about. who the creator is picturing as president. of course, we continue to follow that breaking news on fort frederick avenue at chestnut street in gaithersburg.

directions right now. chopper 4 headed to before we start, i just want to say if anyone still doesn't have fios, directions right now. chopper 4 headed to 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.

tmz reports that that is the weekend the royal wedding will happen. prince harry and meghan markle are engaged and tmz thinks the ceremony will take place saturday, may 26th. that would give all of the guests a nice long weekend and recover from the festivities. it's a holiday in both places. >> is it really? >> it just falls that way i think. did you ever watch the west wing? >> a little bit. >> one of the fans of this is us, over this nonexistent reboot of the -- aaron sork insaid he could see sterling k. playing the president. he said i would be honored. this is

none of it. 20 million fans won't let him go. brown assured them he would only be willing to play the president after the hit show has run its course. i'm sure that's 20 years from now. people on twitter basically lost their mind over this whole thing. now fans of the west wing and this is us are pleading for this reboot. >> social media fans, if you spend your whole day working on twitter and this is what you have to be worked up about. >> the west wing is a show you could see being rebooted for today's times. new -- >> cheers. who needs a new idea? try the old one that is worked out. here's a check of hometown temperatures. mostly in the low to mid-50s. plenty of sunshine. that's the good news. will it last through the weekend. thanks, chuck. forget about the 12 days of christmas. starting today, best buy

kicking up 20 days of door busters. a look at the

we're following breaking news on the -- this is breaking news n gaithersburg. pretty close to gaithersburg high school in front of the ihop. north frederick avenue shut down

at chestnut street. this happened last night. but the cars took down some wires, some poles. this could be shut down until 8:30 this morning. all lanes blocked there. the problem, if you know this area, is that your only alternate is 270. it's just a mess. have to work your way through the neighborhood. chopper 4 should be there in the next couple of minutes. >> we'll be looking for those pictures. thank you, melissa. after 15 days being lost at sea, argentine's navy decided to end the search for the submarine. they extend the rescue mission for as long as they could. there's been little hope of finding the missing cruiser. they have ten days of oxygen left on board. the submarine was returning from the routine mission near the southernmost tip of south america. when it reported an electrical breakdown and disappeared. pope francis celebrated mass in

later today, the pope will lead an interprayer service with muslims and -- he plans to visit them in myanmar. the pope has called on the international community to help bangladesh take care of those refuge refugees. starting today, best buy is promising 20 days of unbelievable deals. the store kicks off the 20 days of door busters. best buy guarantees the price on the deal will be their lowest of the holiday season. now, the store won't actually reveal the deals until the day of the sale. today it's a 60-inch smart 4k tv for just under 600 bucks. the holiday season officially arrived here. president trump has been waiting all year long for a chance to say merry christmas. how he kicked off the national christmas tree lighting. >> 2,

we brought you that moment live on news 4 at 5:00 last night. the president kept his comments short and encouraged folks to enjoy the night. hundreds of people came to see the tree lighting and performances that followed. if you're looking for something cool to check out. 94.7 fresh fm, city center this morning with an exclusive look at a life-size igloo. good morning. this attraction opens up at 4:00 today. you can see for yourself the ice work that goes into this. 60-degree possible temperatures this weekend. so we had a lot of questions. what goes into building a giant igloo in the middle of downtown d.c.? >> tons and tons of work. we calculated about 300 man-hours for this project in total. about 36,000 pounds of ice. tons of time, tons of work.

together. >> we have an art installati installation -- we have 25-foot reindeer in the plaza. there's lots of things for people to come out. it's all free. just enjoy the holidays. >> hugh ow is this going to sta all weekend with the temperatures coming. >> thousands and thousands of pounds of dry ice. it takes a while for the ice to come back up to temperature. we're going to make sure we're on top of maintaining it. >> open to the public all weekend at city center d.c. this will be southeast central all weekend. everyone is welcome to come and enjoy a gigantic 36,000-pound igloo. you're getting a first look right now. we used to build things out of snow.

>> the advantage is when you start out with water instead of snow, that's the secret advantage of see-through igloo making. i digress. finally, a change in the weather coming our way. later on next week, wait until you see that ten-day forecast. a huge change in the overall weather pattern will bring a real shot of cold air down here. we've been talking about it all week. it is still out there for the wednesday night, thursday time frame arrival next week. you'll want to stay weather aware for the next week or so. old man winter is promising a significant change. right now, 50 degrees in washington. there's the first leading edge of changes. northwest wind averaging 16 miles per hour. there's a little bit of a breeze out there early this morning. fortunately, temperatures aren't that low at this point in time. so as you plan out your friday, a little on the breezy side for sure. tonsf

way. afternoon temperatures in the low and mid-50s. not too much different than where we are now. you can use the nbc washington app to stay ahead of the weather and look for me on twitter at chuck bell 4. i'm teamed up with sheena and we'll bring you ten-day forecast coming up. a man accused of killing a woman at a popular tourist attraction has been found not guilty. new reaction just coming in overnight. coming up at 4:30, police say he's been acting like one of their own. that's not all. what a suspected impersonator is accused of doing. the search for more potential victims. more on the computer glitch that left an airline scrambling for pilots. how many havehey filled and t

there was an old woman who lived in a shoe. she had so many children she had to buy lots of groceries. while she was shopping for organic fruits and veggies, burglars broke into her shoe. they stole her kids' mountain bikes and tablets along with her new juice press. luckily the geico insurance agency had helped her with homeowners insurance. she got full replacement on the stolen goods and started a mountain bike juice delivery service.

call geico and see how affordable homeowners insurance can be.

challenges from a few years ago. brings more than $100 million for als research. the man who inspired that viral challenge has died. he visited uc last year to donate the original ice bucket to the smithsonian. he lived with lou gehrig's disease before he passed away on saturday. he leaves behind a wife and young daughter. my mom passed away from als last year. that money raised goes to a very worthy cause. he was accused of killing a young woman on the san francisco pier and igniting a firestorm over sanctuary cities. now, jose inez -- has been found not guilty of murder. as dan scheneman reports, his case sparked a public debate on immigration because he was in the country

>> san francisco jury has found him not guilty of murder in the death of katherinestein lee. >> we're pleased that he was found not guilty of the murder charges. that's been what this case is about. >> in july of 20 -- she was fatally shot while walking with her father. the prosecution said the suspect found the gun and deliberately fired atste stein lee. the defense said it wasn't deliberate. >> he did not intention ll a discharge it to hurt anyone. that's why he was acquitted. >> it touched off a national debate. he was deported five times and was wanted for a sixth deportation when it happened. president trump said what do you say to the family of kathryn steinle in california who was viciously killed because we can't secure our borders. the defense said, verdict is vindication. >> the case was used as a means

division and to foment a program of mass deportation. >> the prosecution expressed sympathy for thesteinly family. >> our hearts go out to them. >> za rat a faces prison for illegal firearms possession. dan scheneman. nbc news. it is now 4:26 this morning. now, heading over to the live desk. news 4 continues right now with aaron and eun. that breaking news a complete shutdown of north frederick avenue at chestnut in gaithersburg. chopper 4 just arriving on the scene. >> we were on the phone with montgomery county police who tell us that a car hit a pole, which then brought down several electrical wires. this is going to be a big

as you can see there. that's a very busy road that's heavily traveled during morning rush. >> it is, guys. it's going to be a major, major mess. >> we'll get a look at the weather with chuck and sheena. first, let's look at this breaking news. >> this is going to be quite the disaster for a lot of people that head that way on your normal commute. frederick avenue at chestnut street, we have the downed wires here. all lanes blocked, as you saw, from chopper 4. this, i believe, is the ihop right here. then we have gaithersburg high school up the street. this is something supposed to be closer because of poles and wires down. until 8:30 this morning. the problem with this, guys, is that if you know this area, your cut-through is through neighborhood streets. some don't really connect. your main route is 270. that's never good. simons avenue at muddy branch road. this is an area near there.

one major intersection, no ut doubt, going to get quite busy as people try to head that way. inner loop out of connecticut, one right lane blocked by the work zone. no other major problems right now. but it's going to be the issue for a lot of folks throughout the morning. good morning. >> especially for people who wanted to get pancakes at ihop. >> that's going to be a major issue. >> pancakes. we had a little rain come through late last evening. the first drops reached the d.c. metro around 8:00 as promised. now all the raindrops are well off the east coast. we'll be left with the return of sunshine. a nice day outside. not cold. especially compared to how cold it will be by this time next week. still looking for a huge drop in temperatures middle parts of next week. right now, we'll take what we can get. temperatures in the 40s to around 50 degrees. it's not cold here early this morning. afternoon tempe

mid-50s. plenty of sunshine. it always makes friday go by easier. coming up, a peek at the weekend and we'll give you the chilly ten-day forecast. >> chuck, thank you. michael leon bell of upper marlboro has been artsed for sexually assaulting a man after posing as a cop. he told him he could drive him out of a dangerous neighborhood. police think there may be other sexual assault victims out there. >> 36-year-old michael bell has been pretending to be a police officer. on sunday morning he raped a man in the back of his fake police cruiser. according to charging documents, he lured the victim to get into his car by promising him a safe ride out of a dangerous neighborhood in hiyatthyattsvil >> he has a badge that looks like a police officer badge. >> bell took the victim's i.d. and police found the i.d.s

leading them to believe there may be more victims. justin finch will be live in hyattsville later this morning with the latest on this disturbing case. now, new video of the earthquake that so many of you felt. >> chris lawrence has more at the live desk. apparently, it was wide reaching. >> it was. it was centered in delaware. we're getting new video inside a home there. it gives you an idea of how it impacted folks. the entire room starts shaking and even debris is falling from the ceiling. all in all, there wasn't that much damage. as you said, millions felt the quake. including me. i was in arlington with my daughter and we felt the whole house shake. eun? >> chris, thank you. >> yesterday set social media on fire, right? >> i wanted to. i did. e