stafford county. while butler's brother plans to be there, he knows it won't be easy. >> it's different if somebody dies of a natural death. but for somebody to be snatched away from you. somebody to be killed, i don't think you get closure from that. >> rodriguez cruz is serving a 12-year sentence under the conditions he actually lead investigators to butler's remains. butler's family also tells news 4 they're looking forward to getting he remains and doing the right thing. here's a closer look at the high-profile case that haunted the butler family for years. she vanished the day before valentine's day in 2009. the case went cold but a fresh set of eyes led to a big break in february of this year thanks to a new witness. six months later a guilty plea from butler's one-time boyfriend who confessed to the crime and led

buried her body. d.c. police are investigating a fatal shooting. we're told it happened at 11:00 last night along forester street southwest. not far from the bridge point hospital. we checked with police not long ago and they were still at the scene. you can see from this video that the scene is right in front of homes. we'll update you as we get more information on this we could learn minnesota senator al franken's future in congress. they're calling for his resignation. multiple women accused him of unwanted touching, groping and forcible kissing. several democratic senators called for him to resign. earlier this week, democratic congressman john conyers retired after accusations of sexual misconduct. a house committee will discuss to preventing sexual misconduct.

one thing is requiring them to complete anti-harassment and anti-discrimination training. 4:32 our time right now. most budgets are stretched to the limit. not receiving a paycheck is not an option really. >> time is running out for congress to avoid a government shutdown. take a look. the government will run out of money at midnight tomorrow night. >> news 4's justin finch is live for us this morning in northwest d.c. to explain what this could really mean for your family. justin? >> aaron, the federal government and its supporting services are the backbone of our local economy. even the thought of losing some of that support has many on edge. it stirs up memories of our last shutdown back in 2013 when federal workers went the first two weeks of that month without pay. they eventually did earn back pay here and even back then the obama administration says they counted some 850,000 workers who were forced to sit out of work. imne

that also has a shutdown effect on businesses and a small businesses rather who saw long services put on hold during that time. also nofood stamp recipient -- this would even affect headstart services which rely on funding. if this goes through, they may have to turn away the young students who rely on their services. their families who rely on them as well. you have to imagine a lot of people right now are watching the clock and hoping congress and the president come to some kind of resolution in restoring funding to the federal government. back to you guys. >> justin finch. thank you. >> we are now hearing from the family of an 11-year-old boy in critical condition this morning after what police are calling a terrible accident. the boy was at a neighbor's house tuesday night when the man watching him accidentally shot him. the 33-year-old former

legally owned handgun when it went off. he grabbed the boy, took him home to his mother, then drove both of them to the hospital. the boy's family released a statement last night thanking everyone for their well wishes and asking for privacy and prayers for their son. right now, frederick county bridge is closed in maryland and could stay that way for days. yesterday garbage trucks hit the 355 bridge over the monocacy river causing damage. there's no timetable for when it will be complete. traffic is being rerouted in both directions. we're working for you to find a solution to the high tolls inside the beltway. we've heard from a lot of you that you're outraged at some of the prices you've seen. ron meyer will introduce a resolution to immediately lower the tolls. he wants to return to the 3-hour rush hour toll. in the an

changing the -- i-66 is free if you carpool with an e-zpass flex during rush hour. that motivated one northern virginia man to organize a flood line plan on facebook. >> makes you feel much better because they don't -- they share their ride with somebody else. that's good for the community. good for environment and they get to go to work in a faster pace. >> now, some drivers can pick up riders at the vienna metro station. v-dot says the lanes are working. >> exactly. people are changing their way to work and they're saving money by doing it. >> get to go work faster. >> ultimately the goal is to keep traffic moving. we've seen that. it's 4:35. want to get another check of weather and traffic. >> another look at your thursday morning commute when we check in with melissa. first, chuck and sheena. the screen says 44

>> i mean, yes. in most areas -- what are you laughing about so much? >> it's not all that windy. not raining. >> yaerks aaron. >> it's december. >> december. >> we do areas in the 30s though. it's cold. >> it's chilly out there. >> the cold air has dived into the south. all the way into parts of west texas getting snow now. the cold air has gone down to the south. we're going to stay cold for quite some time to come. pretty much on the cloud line. cloudy skies from washington southbound. we're sort of on the fence here today. it will be a partly to mostly cloudy sky south. a bit more south and northbound towards northern maryland. nothing on radar. 100% dry today. a little ll

little colder though. 37 winchester. 37 fredericksburg. let's go to sheena and find out about that. >> doesn't look too bad, chuck. especially through the afternoon. despite some of the clouds. lingering through part of the area. it looks overall pretty good as we go throughout your afternoon. kids standing out there this morning want a warm coat. 39 degrees by 7:00 a.m. again, we do stay nice and dry. that is great news. by 3:00 p.m., temperatures will be getting more around the upper 40s. we're looking at a decent day. this is part of a pretty long cold stretch. wait until you see that sunday forecast. we'll talk about that. let check on the roads with melissa mollet. good morning, sheena. taking a look right now at this problem on east-west highway. take a look at what is, quote, east-west highway between new hampshire and

a crash investigation -- we'll keep an eye on that one. no big delays. on the play, that's charles street between newton road and cooksey road because of a bad -- there on 50, westbound right now. tractor-trailer crash there. you can see that closure. all lanes blocked. eastbound on the bridge, two-way traffic on the eastbound stand there. >> melissa, thank you. 4:38. the list of the top safest vehicles is out. unless you have one of a dozen models. yours did not make the cut. the story before you hit the road this morning. >> it's a story only on news 4. about the only man who can fire robert mueller. what's a top justice department official think when it comes to the handling of the russia investigation? >> what can brown do for her? find her white wedding gown. an update on the bride who

hunt down her

in the market for a new car? you might want to watch this. >> insurance institute highway safety released the top picks for 2018. this year it looks even tougher to get a high mark. consumer reporter susan hogan has the story new this

>> just how well your headlights work is now playing a huge role in how well your vehicle is actually rated. this time around, just 15 vehicles got the top safety pick plus award. not only are good headlights a huge factor in vehicle performance, but so is passenger side protection and overlap front crashes. most of the top safety picks plus awards went to two manufacturers, hyundai and subaru. those models that have front crash prevention and specific headlights get more points. automakers pledged to make them standard on all cars by 2022. you see crash test rating. go to our nbc washington app and search cash test. back to you guys. we are alsoing staying on top of breaking news in southern california. >> take a look at this new video coming in from one of the new wildfires coming in. this is of a

rescue a rabbit from the flames. this is in ventura. at first the man was not able to chase the rabbit before it ran into the brush. as you can see, it looks like he

breaking news at 4:45. firefighters continue to fight the flames of several wildfires burning in southern california. the latest challenge crews are facing now. >> franken's final day? the latest speculation in the middle of a sex controversy. a local bride's dress drama comes to an end. special delivery. >> for all that, let's check in with chuck. might want to bundle up. >> temperatures 30 arizona and

40s. the colder air settled in and reinforcing shots of cold air the next couple of days. colder air arrives for the weekend. particularly sunday. at least a chance for snowflakes from time to time. chuck, thank you. breaking news. the wildfires continue to burn. >> new one has ignited and they're calling it the -- the socal fire in -- we find gina kim with a look at the conditions. what are you seeing? >> hi there eun and aaron. good morning to you. all of this started, all of this devastation started on monday if you recall when we had 80 mile an hour gusts into southern california breaking out fires everywhere. we had a little bit of a respite yesterday where firefighters were able to h

now they're forecasting, the national weather service is forecasting those 80 mile an hour gusts to return throughout the day today. that has firefighters and homeowners alike bracing for the worst four days into this southern california area. coupled with the wind, we're expected to have conditions, temperatures up to 80 degrees in areas. firefighters say if those conditions are present all day today, all those helicopters, all the fire droppers, there's not much they can do to stop the spread of the fire. we have more than 200 homes and buildings damaged or destroyed among the four fires that are actively burning throughout southern california right now. more than 200,000 people remain evacuated. the worst of the fires is here in ventura county where we have the thomas fire that has scorched 90,000 acres so far. back to you. >> terrible situation

thank you, gina. 4:47 now. the big announcement expected on capitol hill. will senator al franken resign? >> tracie potts is on capitol hill. the senator will make that announcement today. >> we're expecting an announcement today. they tweeted last night that decision had been made. he was still talking with his family. this came after 35 democrats turned against him saying that they think he should step down after a 7th accuser came forward telling politico he tried to forcibly kiss her in 2006 before he was in the senate. one way or the other from franken today. >> we're closing in on a government shutdown. likely in the house. unknown in the senate whereas you know, the margin is so much tighter and democrats are pushing this idea with immigration in conjunction with the budget an the shutdown. democratic votes are neede

this in addition to republicans. they need eight democrats to sign on to keep the government from shutting down. no democrats -- they're meeting with president trump to talk about protecting daca, d.r.e.a.m.ers who would lose their status. >> tracie potts on the hill this morning. it's 4:49. we'll turn to a story only on news 4. the man at the justice department who oversooes special counsel, robert mueller. he's satisfied with the job mueller is doing. >> attorney general jeff sessions recused himself from the russia investigation. rosenstein oversees mueller. on monday, scott macfarlane asked him about mueller's progress so far. >> are you satisfied with what you've seen so far in the office of special counsel? >> yes. when we conduct investigations, as you know, just as -- w

while they're ongoing. what the american people will see is only if and when a case is charged. there are several cases charged to date. we're not in a position to talk about anything else going on. >> the management and the administration of the office is -- yes, that's correct. >> scott asked ty cobb for a comment about what rosenstein had to say. as i have routinely said, i have great respect for robert mueller. we remain committed to him for a speedy and appropriate resolution. rosenstein will testify before the house judiciary committee next week. harsh words from maryland governor larry hogan. he described the boost in prince george's county's high school graduation rate as fake progress. take a look at this exchange between hogan and a county school board member in annapolis yesterday. >> out of a good education because think graduated them without the ability to graduate. >> i just have to disagree with

finding of fact. by an investigation by the state board of ed. >> earlier this year, we told you several graduates did not meet core requirements for graduation. whistle blower says the registrar, guidance chair and three guidance counselors changed student records. earlier this week the school ceo, kevin maxwell released changes coming to grading and certification issues in the county. >> proud of you. [ applause ] we want to tell you about a huge achievement for students in prince george's county. the three were all inducted into the national honor society at chelsea school. it focuses solely on k through 12 students with lernl darning disabilities. despite their challenge

putting in work. >> sky is the limit with a good education. 4:51. we have an update for you. a story has a lot of you talking about the nbc washington facebook page. we're talking about that northern virginia ride who had trouble with her wedding dress. march shell abate i finally received her wedding dress yesterday after weeks of battling with ups. so she bought her wedding dress in california. first grade teacher -- from california to maryland. it was shipped to maryland again before ending up in the midwest. ups promised it would be delivered and the company made good on that promise. >> very apologetic. they said they were disgusted when they heard my story and my description of the conversations that i've had with customer

month. >> she's thankful and relieved that all of this is now taken care of. she can focus on her big day that's weeks away. we saw the picture of the wedding dress. it is gorgeous. >> if i were -- i'd have to carry it with me from california. put it on the wedding day. it's the end of an era for generations of families in montgomery county. >> 60 years in business. the brothers who run the store announced on facebook they lost their lease due to redevelopment in the area. the story -- the owners are looking for a new location. the doors will close at this location in april. >> mom and pop small businesses close. >> hopefully they'll find a new spot. nigh nose is a little runny and so is his.

colder or whenever it's out of the 70 to 80-degree mark. for real. you think i'm joking. all the time. but yes, the cold weather might make you sniffle this morning. the weather pattern is going to stay cold enough to give us a couple days in the 30s for daytime highs. make sure you have all the cold weather clothes you need. all the puffy coat taken out of storage the next week or so. probably beyond that for what we're seeing right now. we're watching the storm offshore. that will be getting closer to tomorrow evening and saturday morning. the weekend will be colder too. currently at 43 degrees washington. 34 dulles. 37 gaithersburg and leesburg. 42 in clinton. we have the clouds around. stubborn to clear the area. north and west of the district, more in the way of clearing. rain down to the south will stay south. we stay dry

system is going to originate from. it's going to stay off the coastline. exercising today. we'll stay dry. temperatures mid to upper 40s. there's the cold air in place. here comes the storm system off the coastline into early saturday. but really it stays mostly down to our south and east. so that's going to be the best chance for any rain or snow shower late friday into early saturday. i think most of the area will be staying dry but cold. sunday look at that. high of 39 degrees. we have more 30s as you look down next week. we'll take a closer look at what you can expect today. let's check the road as you head outside too. good morning, melissa. >> good morning, sheena. still have the problem in chill um. cash investigation under way between new hampshire and ridge road. all lanes blocked. the best alternate, unfortunately, is -- the other one we've been talking about as

alton and cooksey road. folks are able to get around it because of police direction. inner and outer loop of the beltway, no major issues. melissa, thank you. a story first on 4. what the brother of a murder vict victim. pamela butler, has to say. one day ahead of her search for her remains. a popular way for drivers to get to and from work. would you

tax-free shopping for local military shoppers. >> scott mack far lan reports, military exchanges are also targeted by thieves. >> reporter: military exchanges are popular with military members and retirees, including this one. the navy exchange here in bethesda to get popular items for discount prices. it's a deserved service for those who serve. but a news 4 i-team reports that they're not off limits to criminals. crooks stole more than a million dollars in military exchanges

including this brazen from a navy exchange in norfolk. it happened nationwide. sometimes it's by the military members. by their kids. or even by the employees. >> most of the shoplifters, they shoplift once, they'll shoplift twice. if we don't get them the first time, we may get them the second time. >> part of our i-team report, what are the popular items? criminal and military do you face if you're caught stealing from inside. for now, in bethesda, scott macfarlane, news 4 i-team. right now on "news4 today," she disappeared years ago. now police could be days away from finding her body. the break in the case and what her family is saying about it now. >> new video,