i'm chris lawrence. we'll get right back to the breaking news in a minute. we're working for you to get you ready for the day ahead. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with a look at that forecast. chuck, not bad at this point. i guess things about to change though? >> yeah. they'll be starting to cool down. the colder air is four, five, six hours away. it's anything but cold here early this morning. temperatures mostly in the 40s to near 50s. we'll be dry here the next few days. dry through most of your friday afternoon. big rain chances coming our way and with bitter cold coming our way there's a chance, a chance he says of a wet snowflake on christmas day itself. a low chance but a chance nonetheless. we're in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees now and temperatures will stay pretty much where they are for most of the day. look at that. 46 at 7:00 a.m., 46

1:00. 47 at 4:00. steady temps, not a bad day. the cooldown coming for tomorrow morning. for now back over to the news. >> thank you, chuck. breaking news now, the senate has passed a major overhaul of our tax code. just after midnight 51 senators voted to pass sweeping changes with vice president mike pence presiding over that vote. >> with further amendment, the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> protests erupted from the senate gallery a number of times. democratic senators refused to support the bill and blasted the legislation as rushed in an unfair benefit to the wealthy. but republicans argue that permanent corporate tax cuts and reorganizing the individual tax code will spur economic growth. the $1.5 trillion tax bill is one step closer to president trump's desk where he's expected to sign it into law, but first u.s. house will have to

on a few minor provisions. >> congress is standing at the doorstep of an historic opportunity. >> polls show the bill is opposed by nearly half americans. president trump said a news conference will come soon, one this afternoon. happening today, proof that every vote counts. a single vote flipped the race in virginia's 94th district in newport news in favor of the democrats. that's right. shelly simmons won by one vote giving the democrats a rare 50-50 tie for the republicans in the statehouse of delegates. this is the first time the republicans have not held a majority in the virginia house. ballots had to be recounted yesterday and the judge will rule that recount official sometime later today. we're getting some new video this morning showing the arrest of a ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner.

trantham several times about community concerns in the past. now it appears he is the concern. prince gorges county police had to pull him out of a locked bathroom at the police station yesterday. >> come on, mr. trantham, you have to come out. >> go get your supervisor, you punk. >> don't make me come inside there. >> ble[ bleep ]. >> police arrested him for dui. he admitted to having a couple of beers. once back at the station officers say trantham urinated on the floor, shouted racial and homophobic slurs. hank sewinsky released a statement saying he finds the incident disturbing and he supports the actions taken by the officers involved. tempers flared at a prince gorges county school board meeting last night. ceo kevin maxwell tried to exn

move forward after a scandal rocked the school system. we're in upper marlboro where parents explain why the parents feel they failed. prince gorges county dr. kevin maxwell speaks about the controversy surrounding the school district. >> this provides many overdue corrections to ensure integrity, accuracy and accountability. >> a state audit found more than 5,000 students graduated last year without proof that they met graduation requirements. the audit also found the school system lacked monitoring and procedure clarity. does not adhere to graduation policies. has poor recordkeeping and grade change irregularities. tonight maxwell told the crowd he has a solution. >> we believe by providing more targeted training we can improve staff's adherence to policies and procedures. upgrading technology through the

will minimize potential areas of fraud. >> reporter: news 4 has obtained documents that the school system was aware of many record keeping issues last year after it conducted its own internal investigation. a year before the state audit. parents are outraged. >> you knew the entire time you were getting up here doing your press releases that you were misleading the public and you were lying. >> no one informed me at all in this school district those corrections had not been made. >> reporter: the report also shows that student records were not properly maintained and there was noncompliance with state mandates. >> and in this instance it took several audits and a statewide investigation for us to now be taking it seriously on literally a year and a half later. >> reporter: dr. kevin maxwell says he is taking this issue seriously. he plans to submit a formal response to the state superintendent this week and he will release more information to the

in upper marlboro, shamari stone, news 4. >> definitely not the last we've heard of that situation. guess what, "the voice" has a new champion season 13. if you didn't catch last night's finale, take a look. >> the winner of "the voice" is -- chloe could he han ski! >> yeah, chloe could he han ski is the new champ of "the voice" giving blake shelton his fourth win as a coach. before "the voice" she thought of quitting her music career. now she's going to take home $100,000 and a contract with universal records group. it comes back this february for season 14 right here on nbc. chuck, i always get a kick out of the winner. wow, such a life changing event august in a matter of seconds. >> all this because she learned how to sing in the shower. unbelievable nkts that's right.

love "the voice." i marvell at what they're able to do. >> i sound really good inside my own head but apparently no one else can hear the voice that i hear. >> ditto. we're all hearing about this weather change because it's going to come as quite a shock today. >> today's sort of the transition day. nice, easy transition. there's no bitter cold coming yet but oh, man oh, man wait until you see how cold it gets after christmas. ten day forecast still putting the finishing touches on that. for now, mostly cloudy out there. temperatures close to 50 degrees this morning. see all of that rain down to our south. i'll let you know if that's going to impact your travel plans coming up. remember amazon key? it promised to make getting deliveries even better. now we'll tell you how it can allow criminals inside. >> you spend all year doing the right thing and now the holidays are right here. it doesn't mean your diet is doomed or that your healthy habits are hijacked. i'm justin

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you're watching "news 4 today." protestors continue to speak out despite the cdc's denial of a washington post report on banned words. the human rights campaign posted them onto the trump international hotel. last week they said the trump banned the cdc from

evidence based and science based. the agency's director sent a statement to nbc news saying they have not been banned from using any words. walt disney world in florida has a new face in its hall of presidents. >> saw this yesterday in the paper. >> i donald john trump do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of the president of the united states and -- >> president trump made his debut tuesday at the magic kingdom's animatronix's area. when it comes to how closely it resembles the president, reaction has been somewhat mixed. disney worked closely to integrate president trump into the show. probably one of the things where if you support the president you say, oh, they got it right. >> got the tie right. the really long tie. that is one of his trademarks. >> i've

we're right at the tail end of the busy holiday delivery crunch. we ha ave consumer alert for you. cyber security experts say they have discovered a serious flaw of the kea letter. >> it's called letting a stranger into your house. >> you're getting to the heart of it right now. we've been telling you all about this new service which allows the delivery person to open your door, leave the package inside your home. to be fair, chuck, it is supposed to protect your stuff from getting ripped off on the front porch. we've seen that happen. >> absolutely. >> amazon camera records the delivery so you can watch it. cyber security company says it is able to hack into that camera feed, disable the wi-fi and freeze the image. take a look. nbc news crew tested it out. it looks like nothing's going on. in reality the delivery person can have full and undetected access to your home. you can imagine they're sitting on my couch, they're watching my

presents. >> opening my beer. get out of there! amazon does alert customers when the camera's unavailable and they say this is part of an overall problem with most wi-fi systems not specific to their software. we see cameras freeze up. >> you can have impenetrable web but it would cost a zillion dollars. most people can't afford that. >> i think the people who go for that service are thinking it's still better than leaving my packages on the front porch. >> i have low tech security. the barking dog. >> that will work. what are we looking at today? >> don't give all my secrets away. outside this morning, skies are mostly cloudy. there's a live picture of downtown washington this morning. no rain falling and no rain in the forecast. cooler days are coming back into the picture. details are coming up. >> all right. whoa!

>> talk about scary. terrifying video. officer's body camera capturing the moments he is dragged by a suspect's car. now we're learning whyhat drive tr

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you're watching "news 4 today." i'm the kind of guy that gives in to the indulgence, but i know this time of year some of you may be worried about over eating and und

we checked in with a personal trainer who says you can still enjoy the season and stay healthy. here's news 4's justin finch. >> reporter: whether at home or work, with family or friends, the holidays have a way of making it hard to get to the gym and keep up those helly habits, but when you mess up, don't worry. >> don't go crazy. you can have a cheat meal just don't make it a cheat day. >> reporter: delaney washington, trainer at lifetime fitness in fairfax, while you're watching what you eat work in these simple exercises to sub for your gym routine. >> the first exercise is a body weight squat. staying on your heels. >> reporter: next, a classic or modified push up. >> it's basically a plank that moves up and down. stomach in tight, legs are straight. everything is locked out. here's a modified version. you can go to your knees. the next movement she's going to do is a front

>> reporter: then try this for your upper body. >> what we're doing is looking to draw back, pull the shoulders back and focus on the middle of the back. >> reporter: as you go low, watch your form. >> keep your back nice and slight. >> reporter: the last move, the russian twist. >> talking lower abs, too. >> if you can't do it that way, you can put your feet on the floor. >> reporter: aim for 10 to 15 reps of each exercise. you will want to do the whole routine two to three times or your personal best. justin finch, news 4. and to make sure you're getting your nutrients, experts advise you to take a good multi-vitamin. volunteer to bring a healthy dish to a holiday party. a healthy dish? bring some kale to a holiday party? you might not get invited back. >> i brought all of this asparagus just for you. >> i'm

cookies, pie sz, anything but what's the -- the cake. fruitcake. >> fruitcake. >> nobody wants fruitcake. >> can you hear everyone back here in weather and traffic. the answer is fruitcake. >> sheena must be bringing fruitcake then? >> sheena and melissa both are giving you fruitcake for christmas now. good luck giving it all away. mostly cloudy outside now. winds have already started to turn back around to the northwest and that will eventually usher in cooler weather more typical of late december around here. no more 62 and sunny like yesterday. right now winds out of the northwest averaging 13 miles per hour. so a little breezy at times today but it's not terribly cold just yet. still 53 degrees at national airport. that's actually probably warmer than it will be 12 hours from now when you get ready to put a bow on this particular day at work and school. 53 in washington, 37 in a

a big range of temperatures this morning. with the persistent west northwesterly winds setting up shop later in the day. temperatures will whoevhover whe are. you'll get a little break of sun here and there. temperatures are on our forecast model expected to stay relatively mild. so by 5:00 in the afternoon temperatures will be back in the low 40s across the shenandoah valley. mid to upper 40s around town. if you're trying to plan out what do i need to wear for later on in the day? a little cooler later on in the day than it is earlier today. what do you need to know? it will be dry here the next couple of days. not much if anything in the way of sunshine this weekend. there are increasing chances, chris, that we could see a snowflake on christmas day. more about the timing and don't start worrying about snow men names just yet. >> no, but i'd love to have a white christmas. thank you, chuck. >> okay. >> saved by a drone. ahead in the next half hour,

rescued from a freezing night in the floorest. plus, it was a christmas gift that came early. now a mother says it's the reason that someone killed him. first, an officer dragged by a moving car and the

i'm an imaginary friend of a kid just like you.ada! you probably have lots of questions. but look, we'll get through this together.

you're watching "news 4 today." a police officer in florida had to hang on for dear life as a suspect tries to get away. this morning we're getting a chance to see it from his point of view. >> whoa! >> body camera shows the officer hanging onto the door while he's being dragged by the suspect's car. the car gets up to 60 miles an hour before that officer tumbles to the ground. there was a short chase through pembroke pines. police managed to arrest the people in that r.

murder and the officer will be okay. you see a lot but what went down montgomery county even officers tell us that's a new one. news 4's chucky benson explains, they were investigating one crash when at least two other drunk drivers rolled up to the scene. >> two individuals were under the influence of alcohol, nearly drove through our crime scene. the second one, however, drove around their emergency vehicle and drove through our crime scene at a high rate of speed. >> reporter: john o'brien with the collision reconstruction unit described the scene in the 1600 block of rocco pike. his team was investigating a fatal crash where a suspected drunk driver struck 56-year-old ross stanley redler as he drove his moped home from work. the driver left the scene but he was located by officers a short distance away. after blocking the crime scene, the collis

work to locate and preserve evidence. o'brien says those officers were then themselves endangered not once but twice by two more impaired drivers. >> both individuals were arrested for suspicion of driving under the influence. both submitted to alcohol testing which showed they were well over the legal limit. >> reporter: o'brien notes the moped collision scene is uncomfortably close to the spot where a montgomery county officer was struck and killed by a drunk driver two years ago right around this time. >> i'd be remiss if i didn't note that the last officer who died in the line of duty died one mile north of this collision. as a result of a drunk driver. >> reporter: the woman who was charged with driving into the crime scene, she is just 20 years old. in rockville, jackie benson, news 4. >> let's hope we have a safer end to the year out there on the roads. it is now 4:26. i'm h

desk to bring you the latest on that tax reform vote. "news 4 today" continues right now with aaron and eun. >> "news 4 today" begins with breaking news. the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> breaking news right here in the district. senators up all night to pass a tax reform bill. what it means for you and your paycheck. plus, grade changing scandal. parents come face to face with the administrators they say have been lying for months and changes that could be coming to your child's classroom. >> it's a moment we've all been waiting for. ladies and gentlemen, here we go. >> and we have a winner. a new singer crowned as "the voice." guess who pulls off the final win? we're not -- >> one of them. >> we're not going to -- right. we don't want to spoil it though, right? we don't want to spoil it. >> i don't know. >> we don't know either. >> i know. i know. >> you know? don't say. >> we it had in the first half hour. if you're just getting up -- >> okay. >> it's b

>> good morning, everyone. welcome to your wednesday. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. we are sitting pretty at 53 degrees right now. coat open walking in this morning. >> you noticed. >> i had a coat on, but i had it open. >> yeah. >> feels nice. >> flashing the neighbors? what's going on. >> there we go. no. no. no. >> good morning, everybody. good morning, everybody. >> why do you think he's so popular? >> i was wondering. >> all right. so there's what you need to know by the way. it will be turning a little cooler around here the next couple of days but not terribly cold yet. the bitter cold arrives here christmas night. we'll be tracking any chances for a snowflake or two. not too bad around here for the next couple of days. saturday looks plenty mild but oh, does it look on the soggy side around here. no point in having 60 degree weather if it's going to be pouring down rain. look at the early morning temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s now. if you're planning out your day, parto

temperatures trending back down into the mid 40s by 7:00 a.m. and then holding mid to upper 40s to around 50 degrees for most of the day. no reason for taking the umbrella in. it will be a dry ride in and home. good morning, melissa. >> i appreciate that, mr. bell. taking a look at the roads, outer loop here near allentown road, joint base andrews, we have similar road work happening with two left lanes getting by there at the bottom of the beltway. in bound dulles toll road at old obvious road. beltway looks pretty good with the exception of that little bit of a work zone down there near andrews. inner loop and outer loop moving just fine. 66. 95 in maryland and virginia and 270 all rolling along just fine. guys? with further amendment, the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> breaking news this morning. the u.s. senate has ed

code. >> the 51-48 vote took place just after midnight. chris lawrence at the live desk on the details on the next hurdle of a bill that will affect just about everybody in some way. >> all of us there. here's the deal. the house is going to have to vote again to correct some errors on a few minor provisions. the $1.5 trillion tax bill is one step closer to president trump's desk where he's going to sign it into law. you know, there's been tremendous pressure on republicans to secure the party's only major legislative victory this year. democrats say the republicans rushed it through and gave far more benefits to the wealthy but republicans argued that permanent corporate tax cuts and reorganizing the individual tax code, all that's going to spur economic growth. >> my view of this, if we can't sell this to the american people, we ought to go into another line of work. >> and we are likely to hear from the president within hours. president trump tweeted that he

conference around 1:00 in the afternoon. now polls show more than half of americans oppose the tax bill. we're also going to check in with news 4's edward lawrence on capitol hill. that's coming up in just about 15 minutes. aaron? >> chris, thank you. 4:30 right now. happening today, a panel of judges will likely certify an election recount that proves every vote counts. a single vote splits the race in virginia's 94th house district in newport news in favor of the democrats. shelly simons won by one vote giving democrats a rare 50-50 tie with republicans in the house of delegates. this will be the first time in 17 years that republicans have not held a majority in the virginia house. we've also been following the graduation scandal that rock the prince george's county. >> now the county school ceo is responding to the state's performance audit. this audit states that more than 5,000 students graduated last year who didn't meet graduation requirements. it also shows principles gorges