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

teachers did not follow grading policies. there was also poor recordkeeping and irregularities with grade changing. school ceo dr. kevin maxwell responded to the audit in a meeting held tuesday. he says intense training going forward should be able to solve these problems. >> we believe by providing more targeted training we can improve staff's adherence to policies and procedures. upgrading technology through the auto makes of archaic processes will minimize potential areas for fraud. >> yesterday's meeting also pointed out that there was suspicion with prince gorges county schools stemming from more than a year and a half ago. it's 4:31. new video showing the arrest of a ward 8 advisory commissioner. news 4 has interviewed paul trantham about community concerns in the past. now it appears he is the concern. prince gorges county police had pulled him out of a locked bathroom at the police station yesterday. >> come on, mr.

punk. >> don't make me come inside there. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> police arrested trantham for dui yesterday after an officer saw him falling asleep at the wheel on indian head highway. they also say he smelled like alcohol and admitted to having two beers. once back at the station officers say trantham urinated on the floor and shouted racist and homophobic slurs. prince gorges county police chief released a statement saying he finds the incidents disturbing and he supports the actions taken by the officers involved. breaking news now. a key figure in the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the catholic church has died. cardinal bernard love passed away in a rome hospital on tuesday. he resided as archbishop in 2002. he was strongly criticized for protecting priest who had been accused of molesting

"the voice" has a new season 13 champion. if you recorded or dvr'd this, turn it down because we have a spoiler alert. >> the winner of "the voice" is -- chloe kohanski! >> you heard it. chloe kohanski, the new champion of "the voice" giving blake shelton his fourth win as a coach. before "the voice" chloe said she thought about quitting her career in music and now she will take home $100,000 and a contract with universal records group. adam, team adam, team blake, they love to rib each other. "the voice" returns this february for season 14. been a very successful show. >> it has. >> a lot of fun. >> interesting to see what music comes from her in the future. 4:33 right now. d.c. is looking for some

the district hosted a kickoff program on tuesday. the program matches volunteers with senior residents and those with access and functional needs. volunteers clear the person's sidewalk and front walkways and will get a free snow shovel to do it. if you'd like to volunteer to help out you can sign up at dc.gov. >> it's now 4:34. another check on your weather and traffic right now. >> can i sign up aaron for that program? >> yeah. >> that's not how it works. >> you get a free snow shovel, aaron! >> okay. you know what, i know you're getting up there in years, chuck, if you need helping clearing out the snow? >> what did you say? what did you say? >> that might be why he's signing you up. >> oh, my goodness. we must be getting close to the holidays. >> let me put my dentures in and answer that horrible comment. >> how about the forecast, guys. >> you crack me up. >> well, there's no snow this weekend, so that's good. we have rain coming. >> cold next week. >> cold next week.

>> we've been watching it closely so christmas day we're going see the cold aerially start to move in through the day. look at these temperatures this morning though. not as cold out there this morning. 53 degrees in washington. frederick is at 46 degrees. these numbers will be dropping a little bit until sunrise. they'll try to rise a little bit more. we're not going to be as mild as yesterday. a little bit cooler. 37 in manassas. leesburg at 52 degrees. here's what it will be like when you wake up and walk outside. then we drop a couple of degrees. 46 by 8:00 a.m. by 9:00, 47. you'll see the clouds around today but pretty cool as we go through the afternoon. wait until you see the rain for the weekend. afternoon forecast, good morning, chuck. >> temperatures pretty much where we are now. mostly cloudy skies. keep temperatures pretty steady much of the day. sort of a what you see is what you get kind of afternoon. then tonight skies will clear out a bit and as a result it will be noticeably colder by this time tomorrow morning. so keep that in mind. we'll be down into the

and low 30s. so a chillier start to the day tomorrow. then tomorrow during the day itself also staying on the cooler side. mostly in the 40s. now if you're already starting to think about the weekend, big travel weekend coming up for a lot of people. saturday and sunday both precious little in the way of sunshine. most of the rain threat this weekend is on saturday. the drops could linger into early sunday. sunday afternoon just cloudy and chilly, melissa, with temperatures mostly in the low 40s. considerably colder weather pattern setting up for late weekend. >> thank you, chuck. taking a look at the roads, new problem northbound 270. this is near middlebrook road is what the report is right now. we do have a crash there blocking the right lane. this shot at middlebrook not quite showing it. sounds like it might be just before middlebrook road this morning. outer loop allentown road, work zone with two left lanes getting by. 66 is just fine. so is 95. had a couple of little things happening earlier that are now out of the way. and top of the

quite good. aaron? >> melissa, thank you. killed over a christmas present. a mother says an early gift is why her son was shot. the gift she says cost her teenager his life. plus, giving hope for the holidays. how you can help nbc 4 make sure every child has something to open this holiday season. and still ahead, some good news for drivers heading into d.c. an update on when a busy stretch beach drive will reopen after nths of constructmoio

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you're watching "news 4 today." less than a week before christmas and people inside one prince gorges county apartment are without a place to sleep. >> flames barreled through their complex on curtis drive and hillcrest heights yesterday morning. 32 people were inside that building when the fire started. they all got out. five people suffered smoke inhalation. one man described what it was like to escape those flames. >> you get to the door, i see it's smokey. i get low ready to go out the door. i get out the building i notice it behind me. man, they jumping off the balcony so we had to go catch them. >> the red cross will give the adults toys to give to their children as well as money for hotels, food and clothing. no word yet on what caused that fire. and speaking of toys and the holiday season, they're flowing in from the salvation army. >> with help from dozens of volunteers, the salvation army is now distributing all of the

collected through the angel tree program this year. news 4 is a proud partner in this effort. our molette green served as emcee at the kickoff event at the toy warehouse yesterday. she also participated in the ribbon cutting there. we spoke to some parents who received the angel tree donation and they say it really means everything to them. >> i cherish them. they're my everything so just seeing them smile in the morning and on christmas morning, that's all that matters. >> the salvation army provided nearly 14,000 children in the d.c. area with christmas presents last year. you can still donate through our nbc washington app. just search angel tree. such a great people participating by donating toys. >> makes a big difference. wow. a lot of kids are going to be very happy to see those bikes on christmas morning. well, temperatures as you walk outside pretty comfortable. not as chilly as yesterday

now in the district. these numbers will be dropping a little bit before the sun comes up but a cooler day today. we'll take a look at that forecast and some rain for the weekend coming up. plus, the man stranded in a forest saved by a drone. the amazing way a 92-year-old was tracked down from the sky. and we're tracking breaking news from capitol hill. a tax reform plan passed ove

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good morning, we are halfway through the week. depending where you are, not too chilly in the district, 53. low 50s in parof

we'll talk about the timing of rain for your weekend. thanks, sheena. 4:45. breaking news now. republicans poised to make the most significant overhaul of taxes in 31 years. >> news 4's edward lawrence is on capitol hill this morning. edward, this bill is now headed back to the house for another vote today. explain that to us. >> reporter: aaron, a little bit embarrassing. this is supposed to easily go through the house of representatives and the senate was supposed to be a little more close. the senate passed this bill first. the house of representatives had an issue, it was a procedural issue. nothing to do with support. language in the bill was deemed against procedure or house rules for a simple majority vote. they need to go back and tweak the language a little bit. they'll go back and vote again later on this morning. it should pass and be able to go to the president's desk later on today. >> edward, has the president made any comments about the vote at this point? >> you know, eun, right after the vote passed in the senate the president twed

terrible individual mandate repealed. that's one of the things the president was harping against. he went on to say that there would be a news conference at the white house as soon as the house votes on this. the president ready to take credit for this tax bill. >> edward lawrence live on capitol hill for us. edward, thank you. 4:46 now. the clock is ticking. we are just two days away from a potential government shutdown. congress has until midnight friday to reach a spending deal to avoid a government closure over the holidays. republicans need democratic votes in the senate to prevent that shutdown. democrats are using their leverage to make deals to protect undocumented immigrants known as d.r.e.a.m.ers. chuck schumer is very hopeful about the negotiations. republican senator john mccain who is home in arizona recovering from cancer treatment was the only senator to miss voting on the tax bill. his office tells nbc news that the senator is grateful for the care he continues to receive and

support. senator mccain plans to return to washington in january. a grieving mother tells news 4 that someone shot and killed her son over a pair of jordans. james smith was wearing the new sneakers his mother gave him as an early christmas present when he was shot and killed on monday night. it happened on a basketball court in southeast d.c. we're told someone tried to take the shoes off of him and after an argument they shot him. >> i still don't believe it. it's untrue. it's unreal. it's unreal to me. >> james was 17 years old. the air jordan 11s just came out about two weeks ago. police say they don't have any suspects. police believe a registered sex offender may have tried to contact multiple children online with hopes of luring them to his home. 63-year-old ramon reyes is back in jail for raping a 12-year-old boy he met

frederick, maryland, to pick up the 12-year-old last week. he took the boy to a silver springs apartment and raped him. police want to hear from any parents who think their child may have been contacted by reyes. the new year will bring -- >> a welcome change for commuters who take a major road through the district. the second segment of beach drive is set to reopen on january 8th. that runs from park road and children's street to broad branch road. the second part of a three-year reconstruction project. crews have been busy resurfacing the roadways. they fixed drainage systems, added trees, new sidewalks and walking paths. the entire project is expected to be completed by 2019. it's 4:48. three redskins players have made the pro bowl roster this year. tackle trent williams was named a starter for his

selection and brandon shirt and josh norman was named as a pro bowl alternate. pro bowl is sunday, january 8th. the first female pitcher to appear in the men's baseball league mamie peanut johnson died. she went to play with the men. she continued to break barriers her entire career. she was 82 years old. there is still time to check out a beautiful light show right here in d.c. take a look. the zoo lights at the national zoo. you can see them every night through new year's day with the exception of christmas eve and christmas day. christmas day is the only day the zoo is closed. nfc 4's doug camperer

it's so pretty. they did a nice job. >> last night would have been the perfect night to go with the balmy weather. >> anything but cold yesterday afternoon, yesterday evening and even now. the cold air is still lagging behind. we have already turned wind around to the northwest. the cooler air though is going to take most of the day before it settles in. >> rush. >> don't worry. this is nothing compared to what's coming. i'm still telling you right now starting christmas night on through most of next week it is going to be bitter cold around here so enjoy it, everybody. it's not terribly cold out there now. temperatures across the area 40s and 50s but the cooler air is sliding on back in later on in the afternoon. but it's not coming with anything in the way of a rain chance. kind of on the cloudy side today. we're going to be dry today, tomorrow, through most of the day on friday. no sunshine at all this weekend and if you have a chance for rain on christmas day and the cold air coming in so we could, just could be able to

snow during the day on christmas but doesn't look like any accumulating snow. been a while since we had snow actually fall on christmas day itself. right now it's r553 in washingt. that will bring cooler, dryer air in. check out the wake up temperatures. upper 40s and low 50s. not so cold start here this morning and then temperatures really not moving a whole lot during the course of the day today. upper 40s to low and mid 50s at the most. any traveling today? if you're going southbound here cloudier skies and rain chances from richmond southbound into the carolinas. dry around here. most of the rain will stay south as this little dash line that i drew here. richmond and points south, that's where the rain chances will stay. around here plenty of clouds around today. not much in the way of sunshine. as long as it's not raining and freezing cold, that's okay. take a first look at the ten day forecast. t

rain likely on saturday. could be a little rainy early sunday. most of sunday on the cloudy and chilly side. then on monday, chance for some rain showers. look at that, temperatures plummet christmas night and we will be potentially below freezing for high temperatures most of next week and, melissa, with the arctic air in place, we'll have to watch very carefully late thursday and friday of next week when yours truly tries to get out of town on vacation. >> oh, no, chuck. you know better than that. northbound 270 here at middlebrook road, still have a report there near middlebrook with an accident blocking the right lane of the roadway this morning. beltway is just fine. inner loop and outer loop, earlier road work has cleared out of the way. you don't have to worry about that any longer. taking a look at 95 in virginia from quantico up to the beltway, you can see you're on time here. going to take you 17 minutes up to the beltway. same situation if you're headed away. in bound on 395 all

average speed 62 miles an hour. eun? >> thank you, melissa. still ahead, an unusual crash in the driveway of a home. how a plane ended up crashing on to a car. plus, the story behind an incredible drone rescue. hear from the 92-year-old man saved after being stranded in a freezing forerest. ahead at 5:00, wild new video of an officer being dragged. we're learning about the man behind the wheel ashe t

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we're following some breaking news here at the live desk. getting new details concerning a massive and destrucktive thomas fire in southern california. state fire officials say it's 55% contained. more than two weeks since it started. the fire has destroyed more than 1,000 homes and it's still threatening the wealthy monticeto community. the fire described as a monster is now larger than new york city. keep an eye on this one for you. back to you. thank you, chris. take a look at this. three people were injured when a small plane crashed into a tennessee neighborhood on tuesday. that plane went down near downtown knoxville. it landed on a parked car apparently. no one on the ground was hurt there but three people on that plane were taken to the hospital. no word yet on what caused the crash. a loudoun county sheriff's drone is being

helping rescue a 92-year-old hunter. >> bill mcdonald lost his way in the george washington national forest on saturday. it started to get dark before he could make it back to the road. he noticed that he didn't recognize where he was and his cell phone was already dead. the army veteran said he didn't panic and made a bed out of brush and settled in for the night. little did he know the loudoun sheriff's office was already using its drone to find him. >> they were calling me, bill, william! i said, i'm right here. >> so when he came home i grabbed him, hugged him and kissed him. >> wow. bill's family has made him promise that he won't go hiking anymore on his own. the 92-year-old reluctantly agreed. i bet you he finds his way out. maybe with an extra battery pack for his cell phone. i bet you his army experience helped him survive that, right? he made the bed out of brush and figured out how to

away now, your little ones may be wondering exactly when santa will be getting to your house. >> he has a lot of work to do, you know what i mean? that's why the norad santa tracker comes into play right here. the little ones can view their santa around the world by going to noradsanta.org. for more than 60 years the norad aerospace defense command has been following santa every year on his christmas eve journey. if you're going to follow anyone, you want to follow norad. they know what they're doing, tracking santa, getting all the information you need. >> munich to zurich. >> if you drive a chevy, tracking santa can be one click away apparently. chevrolet and on star have partnered with norad to give drivers the ability to see where santa is on his christmas eve journey. even if you have the kids in the car going to grandma's house,

they can still track santa. they can track him as he makes his way through the sky and down the chimney. >> that might be hard to do. >> you can see where he is in the sky. "news 4 today" begins with breaking news. tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> that breaking news right here in the district. senators staying up all night to pass a tax reform bill. what it means for you and your paycheck. plus, grade changing scandal. parents coming face to face with the administrators they claim have been lying for months and the changes that could be coming to your child's classroom. all right. the moment we've all been waiting for. >> and we have a winner. the new singer crowned as "the voice." which of the finalists pulls off the final win? >> did you see the slit in that dress? >> it's the

they have to wear dramatic fashion. >> i didn't see it. >> i was staring at the dress, too. beautiful. >> we should all get dressed up for work tomorrow. >> it's supposed to be a singing competition. you're supposed to be listening to "the voice." >> weren't sipping right there. >> but you know it's the whole look, the image to become a star, you know what i mean? >> it is tv. you have to dress. >> down or up? >> both! like that much fabric in the middle. let's talk about the forecast. >> the high peak. >> like an snl skit. >> i think we're all going to end up in hr before this is over with. >> anyway, well, this morning you probably will want the higher neck. its 5e 4. actually outside this morning it feels more comfortable than yesterday morning. it's not as chilly. 46 in frederick, 48 dulles, 52 clinton. lorton has dropped down into the