a bad morning. we don't have any snow or rain. we'll take it. temperatures out there 36 already here in the district. 32 dulles, gaithersburg 34. pretty much everybody is in the 30s right now. now, we have the clouds rolling in. we'll have a lot more cloud cover than we did yesterday. this is what we're watching. we're watching the system down to the south, this will continue to move into the mid-atlantic, bringing us a chance for light showers later on tonight, afternoon and tonight. and ten days from now, it includes the christmas forecast. so that is coming up in a few minutes. let's get you this developing story right now isis claiming responsibility for a deadly church attack, this was in quetta, pakistan. officials say there were two suicide bombers that

chur church. at least five are dead, 18 others wounded. the numbers could go up. hundreds were attending services ahead of christmas. back here closer to home, we are learning more about a deadly hit and run crash in rockville. >> and derrick ward is live near the scene with the latest. >> reporter: good morning. we're at the intersection of rockville pike and congressional lane in rockville. you can see now the scene is clear, but about where that bus is, there are smil some investigative markings out here. it was about 11:14 last night. and when you take a look at the video, you see a scooter there, that was one of the vehicles involved. police say a bmw was northbound about to make the left turn on to congressional lane, at the same time that scooter was headed south on rockville pike. now, they are trying to figure out how they collided, but when they did, the driver of the scooter suffered injuries that proved to be life threatening.

and he died a shorts ti time la. the driver of the bmw ran but they caught him a short time later. they have identified them both, they say that the guy on the scooter was 56-year-old stanley redler of rockville. and the driver of the bmw was in-year-old mark androtti, and he has been charged with dui. and we understand the victim lived just a short distance from where all of this happened. police are asking anyone who might have seen anything to get in touch with them. derrick ward, news 4. this morning a little girl is recovering after she was shot in the leg. d.c. police say kids were playing with a gun when it went off saturday afternoon. the shooting happened inside an apartment building along pomeroy street in southeast. detectives are interviewing everyone who was there at the time of the shooting. but so far no one has been charged. tg

found a man shot to death saturday afternoon at his apartment building. you're looking at a man that shows where that building is, it is along falling water circle in germantown. police don't know why he was shot. votes on the republican tax bill are planned for early this week. kelly o'donnell tells us about the new praise president trump is offering as he waits for what could be his first legislative victory. >> reporter: an eager defense of the $1.5 trillion tax cut bill as the president headed to camp david. >> many americans believe that the tax cuts will benefit the wealthy more than the middle class. >> no, this really will mostly benefit the middle class and jobs. companies are coming in, they are pouring into the country. they have already started and this will be great for jobs. >> reporter: jobs is white house code for helping middle class families. even with unemployment at a 14 year low,

under the gop tax cut plan, a family of four with an income of $73,000 could save roughly $2,000. the standard deduction most tax filers claim would double. the child tax credit also goes up. for parents, those 529 college plans would expand to include tuition saving for k through 12th grade. answering the bill's critics, the president played santa. >> this is going to be one of the great gifts to the middle income people of this country that they have ever gotten. >> reporter: wealthy families and corporations could see the biggest gains. corporate tax rate drops to 21%. the estate tax exemption would allow couples to pass on twice as much with no inheritance tax. the alternative minimum tax intended to prevent overuse of loopholes would kick in at a higher level, $1 million for couples. but the amt ends completely for businesses.

political analysts say reaction is wary. >> i think american people have already sized it up to realize that they won't be the direct beneficiaries but large corporate interests are. >> that was kelly o'donnell reporting. coming up on "meet the press," political earthquake. chuck todd will break down last week's highly contested alabama senate race and what it really means for capitol hill. a warmer sunday is on tap as we take a live look at the white house. perfect day it get out there and do the last minute shopping. lauryn will be back to tell us what the rest of the day looks like. and then we'll take folks out west where we're watching the latest from southern california. the thomas fire is still raging. what is next for firefighters of who are obviously missing the

holiday season and what is next for the folks who live out there.

a tough sunday morning for one person out of georgetown. in the hospital this morning after flames broke out at an amou apartment building. >> this is just off of wisconsin avenue. d.c. fire officials say it started on the second floor of the building just before 1:00 in the morning. the fire was contained to just that floor. the person taken to the hospital is expected to be okay. and flames still burning out west. kids across southern california not going to be waking up at their own homes christmas morning. the massive thomas fire continuing to expand. fire officials say they don't expect full containment until january 7. but firefighters do say that they were able to contain ve

saturday. despite that though this fire continues to pack a dangerous punch. >> i refer to this fire as a beast. and it is a monster. we all recognize that. but we will kill it. the team behind me, the men and women out in the field, i have no doubt. >> they are exhausted, but determined. about 95,000 people have been forced to evacuate since the thomas fire began nearly two weeks being a go. this morning the fire is only 40% contained.being a go. this morning the fire is only 40% contained. ex-wife of lorenzen wife is scheduled for a court hearing tomorrow. you see her on the screen. she was taken into custody friday and charged with first-degree murder. the high profile arrest comes more than seven years after her husband's body was found in his home town of memphis. another man, billy turner, is also charged with first-degree murder. international space station

spacex capsule that docked at the station this morning. astronauts used the station's large robotic arm to grab the capsule out of the orbit. it is carrying nearly 5,000 pounds of supplies. you got mice, barley seeds, and a beer experiment. >> mice? >> 5,000 pounds. okay. spacex laufrk elaunched it from canaveral on friday. >> it will stay there until mid-january before it heads back to earth. a little beer, some mice. >> out of this world. 9:10. we are on our way to some pretty mild temperatures. starting to get there. storm team 4 tracking the forecast this sunday. but wait until you hear what the end of the week

if you are headed out to blunc brunch, we'll have more cloud cover out there today. but still maybe a few peaks of sun. temperatures will be in the 40s similar to yesterday as well, mid to upper 40s. however, we could have a few afternoon sprinkles, maybe a shower. thinking will be light, so we'll talk about that coming up

ten day forecast? christmas. so we'll be talking about an early, early look at that coming up. and a reminder that three stations remain closed on the red line this morning, including brooke land, ft. totten and the takoma station. metro is doing emergency repairs. service is expected to be back to normal in time for tomorrow. the iteam working for you getting results. weeks before the legislature convenes for 2018, a key committee has formally approved plans for new ledggislation to protect your children. scott macfarlane explains the changes.

>> reporter: this summer the news 4 iteam revealed a case child protective services found afternoon elementary teacher had engaged in sex abuse against a third grade girl. the teacher has always denied the accusation and was not charged but he was on a state abuse registry and he lost his appeal. but over a span of nearly two years, the man managed to find a new teaching job in prince george's county. virginia law allows teachers to keep their licenses and their names off the abuse registry during the appeals. a state senator says that loophole puts kids at risk. >> it was important that you all got on this and exposed it and enabled lawmakers to look at this issue and take corrective action. >> reporter: the commission has formally voted to recommend new law when they reconvene in january ed

to prevent people found to have engaged in child abuse from stringing out their appeals and potentially finding new work in other schools. >> this is about the safety of our children. we want the best environment for our kids, we want our kids to thrive in school and obviously to learn in school, but to do that, they really have to be safe. >> virginia's state teachers union says it is waiting to see the language in the actual bill when introduced next month. the union telling the iteam it has frequently urged a speedier resolution to the cases, but there are often delays dealing with local social service offices. spectatoring lining the treated at arlington national cemetery. thousands of volunteers showing up early to help unload the wreathes and ple

graves of fallen service members. this is an annual tradition. a wreath was placed at every marker except ones that had a star of david. some volunteers traveling from across the country to help out. his principals call him a superstar. a local high school student takes home a big scholarship from a science competition and chris gordon shows us how he did it. >> and it goes to andrew cuomo. >> reporter: at montgomery blair high school in silver swing, students in andrew's research class hold a watch party to see him compete in the prestigious national competition. >> students in the room where are so excited. there was so much energy and excitement and noise and clapping and cheering. so it was really fun. >> reporter: andrew made them

honors. his entry. >> a special code protecting high domestic stakes auctions from threats of collusion and fraud. it is high tech stuff. now he has a $100,000 scholarship and a future filled with possibilities. >> i love keeping the options open. i think i want to do computer science in economics. rut . >> reporter: he says he was lucky to find a mecntor who rarely works with high school students, but said yes to andrew. >> i'm really proud of him. he is a really sharp guy. and he really lived to his potential. >> reporter: montgomery blair high school specializes in math, science and computer technology. >> i'm bheeaming with pride, yesterday. i lm scared halmost scared him a

>> reporter: principal johnson says andrew has set a high bar for the 3100 students here at the high school. but she thinks that they are up to it. chris gordon, news 4. >> some smart kids we've taken talking about this morning. the rubik's cube kids who are doing this in two seconds. i can't keep up. >> two of us can't do very much math, but you can. >> i can't put this together, i've tried. >> you were peeling off some of the stickers. >> yeah, i was. and i have one on my desk that is a hot mess. >> that is funny. >> but your math skills with the forecast are pretty good. >> yeah, crunching those numbers. 60 for tuesday. if you haven't heard, those temperatures will keep going up and up from now until tuesday. it is not bad

but we also have the cloud cover and i continue to see the clouds moving in. then we have a change on wednesday. a few showers out there today, but we're warming up until about wednesday and then we change until next weekend. we're watching a system for the holiday of course next sunday a week from today, it is christmas eve. so we're watching for another system moving in to our air. and really along the east coast. i'll shoel you that w you that . right now everybody is pretty much above the freezing mark. fre fredericksburg still a little chilly. if you are heading to the redskins/cardinals game, go redskins next year. temperatures mid to upper 40s. maybe a few spotty showers. nothing happening on the radar right now in our area. it looks like a mix, maybe not even hitting the ground. but otherwise we have the clouds streaming in from our next system. and this is our next system moving into the mid-atlantic. what is happening is we ha

coast that will hang out there. it is really kind of blocking this system from moving too far into our area. so it looks likeassociated with once it continues to move northeastern, the high pressure will rob this of a lot of its moisture. and we're just looking at a few spotty showers. so time it out with me. you see the clouds are moving in and then a few spotty showers through the afternoon and evening. not everybody getting wet. and then it's gone overnight. we're looking at partly sunny tomorrow and a little warmer as well. so if you have things you need to do, maybe ice skating, just a few sprinkles. play time looking good. just keep an eye on our weather app. we update every zone by hand, not a computer. so download that and keep an eye on that radar. otherwise watching football, maybe a

we're in the mid-50s tomorrow, 60 on tuesday. a little breezy on wednesday, temperatures that is the change into the 40s on wednesday. and then we look to next weekend, too early to tell, but there is something that could happen next weekend, maybe some rain on saturday, possibly a mix as we get into sunday and monday in. and tuesday's special senate election in alabama between roy moore and doug jones is a huge national story. >> a jones victory would reduce the are not majority as well as the conversation about sexual harassment against women given the allegations that surrounded moore in this contest. >> the significance advantage that moore has in this race is alabama's republican tilt. trump won the state by a whopping 28 points in 2016. >> but jones outspending his

opponent. >> so we are not sure that anyone can gauge who actually will turn out two weeks before christmas with no other major contest on the ballot. >> it will be decided by which force is more powerful, party identification or

got

12 and 10. i told my wife i got best of both worlds. we married, so technically those babies are your babies too. she said i know, but they old, i want new ones. i said first of all, don't talk about my kids like they are used cars. >> yeah, you can always count on kevin hart for some laughs. they were endless on "saturday night live." kevin hart hosted for the third time. >> and also there, the foo fighters gave the crowd christmas cheer as the musical guests. so maybe you're hitting the mall after getting in church services? >> a little last minute shopping there. and we have you covered with the storm team 4 forecast. that is coming up after the break.

as where we approach 9:30, welcome back in. adam and angie are off, so you're stuck requewith us. >> and a little chilly out there, but we're in store for a beautiful sunday because it sounds like it will warm up a bit. >> lauren ricketts is tracking that from the storm team 4 "weather center." >> yeah, we'll warm things up. yesterday it wasn't too bad.

seasonable. average temperature for this time of year is upper 40s. that's where we were yesterday and i do believe maybe a degree or two warmer today. but we have more cloud cover out there. 36 degrees is our temperature now as those temperatures have become before freeze. light winds throughout the day. only thing about today compared to yesterday maybe a few spotty sprinkles or a shower as we get into the afternoon. look at that, i know my computer will crash on me. temperatures will be in the mid to upper fourth o40s on out the daytime highs. and we looking at some cloud cover and a little bit of some light precipitation in the harris harrisonburg area. but this is what we're tracking. we'll talk about the rest of the week where we warm things up even warmer today, we'll talk about that coming up. let's take you to

virginia where we'll ask you a question. do you recognize these flags? a lot of folks may not. but some people in vienna there say that they represent hate. julie carey spoke with the owner of those flags and he says his neighbors have it all wrong. >> reporter: it's a flag embraced by some in the alt-right movement purportedly carried by demonstrators in charlottesville. so some vienna residents were alarmed to see it at a neighbor's. derrick rice is the owner. this is his enarco capitalism flag and then the keck represents a fictional country. some see it as an adaptation of the nazi war flag, but he says the alt-right has hijacked it. >> it is satire, playing on the fact that people in the modern day are very obsessed about race. i'm more interested in race equality.

>> reporter: the woman who called us says she sees them differently. she finds it offensive, even hurtful in this diverse community. >> the concern is that there is somebody that ascribes to those beliefs in our neighborhood and we don't really agree with that and we want everybody to feel welcome and we don't want to perpetuate hate. >> reporter: a few neighbors put hate has no home here. rice invites them to talk to him instead about his political philosophy and what he thinks the flags convey. >> peace, nonviolence. if you researched it, you would have come across the nonaggression principle. >> reporter: the flags we're told don't violate the rules here. julie carey, news 4.

the largest company in the world for hotels will keep thousands of jobs in bethesda. wtop reports that marriott international will move its headquarters to downtown bethesda by 2022. it will be built near the metro station there. the current building sits near i-270 and the beltway. montgomery county approved the plans earlier this week. last year the county gave marriott a $69 million incentive to stay. >> big deal. 9:33. it's been more than three months since hurricane har avey slamme southern texas. >> and tammy leitner shows us there is still a lot of work to be done. >> reporter: it is chaos in harding family house. they have been crammed into their second floor ever since hurricane harvey flooded their suburban houston neighborhood.

>> this is living room, bedroom, kitchen room, dining room. >> reporter: you may remember eric harding because of this viral video. the pastor says he simply wanted to show his 13-year-old son the piano he loved so much still worked. >> it kind of became this little piece of hope for some reason. >> reporter: nearly 900,000 texans were affected by the storm. for many recovery has been painfully slow. >> right now we're in that initial recovery phase. is it doing as fast as any of us would like? no, not really. >> reporter: fema says part of the challenge is the massive scale of damage which stretches roughly 41,000 square miles, larger than the state of maine. >> but we are making progress. >> reporter: nearly half of affected residents say they aren't getting the help they need. >> we did have enough for a deposit, eh

we got a couple tvs, a bedroom set. that was about it, that's as far as the fema money took us. >> reporter: her port arthur home was a total loss. the family had to be airlifted out one by one. >> imagine not knowing where you're going to go. >> reporter: the singletons are now renting an apartment in austin. >> i think i went back twice and it is still just a mess. still nasty. i got sick the last time i went back. i would never go back to start over there. >> reporter: for the hardings, even though it can get a little crowded, they are grateful to be together and home for the holidays. tammy leitner, nbc news, texas. are you going home for the holidays or is destination vacation in store for you? wherever you

yourself. there will be a lot of company on the roads with you. we have your travel forecast when we come back. good morning. it is a big game sunday here in washington. the red skin hosting the cardinals in a must win for many. redskins officially out of the playoff, but plenty to play for. the defense hoping to get back on track, a rough five weeks, a 1-4 record with the defense giving up 374 yards per game and allowing 30 points per game. frustration all over this roster, including team leaders like josh norman who knows where the problems lie. >> i think communication for us is lacking. we're suffering in areas in which we have injuries, everybody has injuries. got to all speak the same language, same lingo. >> crank up the music, sunday night football cowboys visit

without elliott, still clinging to their playoff hopes. a all startst 7:00 right here

cutting taxes, and funding the government all in the week ahead. there is barely a vote to spare, they on a tight schedule if they want to get the bill to president trump before christmas. and there will be a rush to pass a new spending bill to keep the federal government from running out of money. that deadline is friday. and dow nike is reporting along with fedex, general mills and also carnival. finally the biggest movie opening of 2017 will also be one of the last debuts of the year. star wars the last jedi on track

that is enough to rang it as the fourth biggest opening all-time behind star wars the force awakens, jurassic world and the avengers. get all your business news on cnbc. families are getting together, some of us nowhere to travel, others will hit the road at some point. >> i'm heading to new jersey. >> and you should expect a lot of people on the roads with you. >> aaa just released its end of year travel forecast. and as chris clackum reports, many of those trips won't involve extended family at all. >> reporter: whether by plane, train, but mostly by automobile, aaa expects this christmas/new year to be the busiest ever.

>> we are expecting 107 million travelers. >> a lot of road rage out there, and you have to manage that, right? >> have to make sure that you get to where you're going because you got precious cargo with you and you're going to see precious cargo. >> reporter: not even gas prices, 25 cents a gallon higher than a year ago, are deterring americans from traveling this holiday period that runs from december 23 through january 1. >> we also are seeing that the labor market is doing fairly well. consumers have more money in their pocket and they are more confident, so they are actually spending that money and contributing more to travel. >> reporter: and not all travel is related to being home for the holidays. aaa's tamron johnson says destinations like california, florida, mexico and hawaii mean travelers want a little me time too. >> this is definitely an opportunity to get away, a little stress free vacation before heading back into the new year. >> reporter: airfares, 20% lower

than last christmas, are also making this season a bit brighter. chris clackum, nbc news. and taking a live look outside. you can see the washington monument on in sunday morning. lauryn is tracking temperatures for the rest of your sunday activities. it looks like things will warm up a little bit. and also we'll take you into one of santa's workshops. look at that. when "news 4 today" continues.

temperatures right now are in the mid-30s. we do have more clouds than sunshine out there, and that is the way it will be today. we will eventually be in the mid to upper 40s today. maybe a few spotty sprinkles or a stray shower later on, so on be mindful of that. maybe you want to download that nbc washington app. i just finished updating everything for each zone. we all here at storm team 4 update it by hand. we have five zones in our forecast. and it will show you on the 10 days that we have christmas coming up. and we'll talk about an early look at that in a few minutes. store windows, you have seen them, they are so magical this time of year. ever wonder who is behind all the incredible christmas creations? >>

>> merry christmas to you. >> reporter: all from the opera inspired imagination of lou nasty. are you a romantic at heart? >> oh, yeah. i'm sicilian and from brooklyn. >> reporter: he makes inanimate objects come to life. >> part nasa and a little frankenstein.

>> and amoun little lou naszity. >> reporter: he is santa's ultimate helper. >> 5:00 on in the morning i'm here and i stay every day until 5:00. sunday i leave a little early or it is called divorce. >> reporter: 50 years ago, lou gained fame when he built a robot that landed him on the front page. and now fans have sought his services around the globe. >> he is a magician. >> reporter: and this home has been lit up for the last five years. a tribute to his wife who died on 9/11. >> every year we raise money in debbie's honor. and it all goes to the hospital. >> reporter: how do i know one of your displays? >> it will make you laugh, make you smile, i promise. >> reporter: and give life to the spirit of the season.

anne thompson, nbc news. and with just about a week until christmas, a nativity scene was unveiled in bethlehem, it was created by maltese christians who added traditional objects. bethlehem's mayor says this holiday stone is a tough one for palestinians following president trump's announcement that the u.s. recognizes jerusalem as the capital. >> powerful to be there this time of year. >> and did you see the little girl, one playing mary and the sheep? >> oh, yeah. >> we were watching that video yesterday, the sheech gp got up took the little

>> and i love how bethlehem reminded you of that. >> it was so cute to see that happen. and so we are getting close to christmas. >> so walk us through what we're about to see between now and christmas. >> yeah, it is up and down. temperatures will go right to 60 by tuesday, and then we'll start to fall. next week echbd, another cold blast coming into our area just in time for christmas. at least that is what the thinking is right now. but you know you how things can change. so we'll have a light look on it. but now, we'll continue to see the clouds seep in tolto the re. everybody in the 30s right now. pretty much over that freezing mark at this point. didn't see a lot of patchy black ice out there today because we had the

out the roadways. we could have a spotty showers out there today. especially by later on this afternoon. and into this evening. but again, clouds will be sticking around throughout the afternoon and even into the overnight. temperatures will be in the mid to upper 40s today which is about where we were yesterday. so again, here comes the clouds. that is really not hitting the ground down will in harrisonburg, but what we're watching is this system right now, climbing out of kentucky and tennessee. it will continue to move to the midwest, but the thing is, we have an area of high pressure sitting off to the southeastern coast, so it is blocking a lot of this from coming right into our area. and robbing a little bit of its moisture. so again, we will see this, bruh it will only be spotty showers by the time it gets here. so we have the clouds moving in. here is 9:30 this morning. we continue to see the clouds rolling in. and spotty sprinkles by late this afternoon. not everybody going to see it. it will be out of

by the time you wake up monday morning, looking good. we'll have partly sunny skies and temperatures mild tomorrow in the mid-50s. so again, for your sunday services, cool but nice. if you want to watch the car, spotty p.m. sprinkles. so download the app so you can see the radar where you are. seeing santa, no problems. i don't thinks k the kids will d the rain jackets unless you're m heading out tonight. zoo lights, small umbrella. didn't look like the chances in d.c. for sprinkles are all that good. but we could have a few. 49 is that temperature for daytime highs today. getting the kids ready for school tomorrow, temperatures will be in the 30s, but we will be in the 50s for daytime highs tomorrow. 54 will be the high. under partly sunny skies. and look at tuesday, 60 on tuesday. a lot of cloud cover.

temperatures on the 40s wednesday with rain south, talking central virginia and south of that. thursday, friday, dry. here it comes, we have rain on saturday it looks like, temperatures in the mid-50s. frontal system will come through dropping our temperatures into christmas eve and christmas morning. and we could have a little bit of a mix. too early to tell, but that's the way it looks right now. more on the other side ofhe break. t

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on this sunday morning the 17th of december, 2017, good morning. i'm david culver. >> and i'm meagan fitzgerald. hard to believe that christmas is just a week away. where did it go? are you ready is the question. the answer is no. >> not yet. >> two more gifts to get. i think i'll try to knock it out maybe today. >> and you made some progress yesterday. >> oh, yeah. >> today may be another day that you could get outside. >> yeah, it sounds like it will be warmer, right laury

>> david, how much progress did you make yesterday? >> hey ricketts, what is coming up in the weather? >> maybe some coal in your stocking. i'm waiting for my present. i'll send you my list. i can not believe christmas eve is on sunday, a week from today. so of course we'll have that forecast on our 10 day forecast coming up for you. right now we're looking at some sunshine with a little bit of cloud cover out there. again, really not too bad. here is a look at your current temperatures. 40 here in washington as well as anim animal polic annapolis. outside the beltway, in the 20s but the temperatures are coming up nicely. and with the more cloud cover, we could see a few spotty sprinkles later this afternoon. and we'll talk about that, but we also ha

forecast and along with a taste of winter. we'll talk about that in 15 minutes. and we're learning more about a deadly hit and run crash in rockville. derrick ward is at the scene with the very latest. >> reporter: we're at the intersection of rockville pike and congress allege lane in rockville. this intersection was the scene ever a fatal crash last night. police say it was about 11:45 when the 2008 bmw was heading north on rockville pike turning on to congressional a lane making that left turn when it collided with a scooter that was southbound on rockefeller centerville picenter pike. the guy on the skeecooter died the person driving the bmw ran but they caught up with him. the victim is stanley redler of rockville. and the bmw