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

50 degrees in leesburg. bus stop forecast looking good. kids will want a jacket because it is a little bit chilly in some spots. through the afternoon cooler than yesterday. we'll be around 50 degrees. more clouds. nice and dry. the wet weather is down to the south. if you're doing your holiday travel anywhere from louisiana to tennessee to the carolinas, that's going to be wet. where i'm heading, melissa, all the way down to florida, that's nice and dry. >> bring back sand and shells and all of that. >> in waterford a brand new problem, 9 at hamilton station. all lanes blocked. sounds like we have a vehicle on its roof here. in bound 66 at fairfax drive, also have a crash. that one is on the right shoulder. northbound 270 at middlebrook road and germantown, do have a crash blocking the right lane. when you're looking at prince gorges county, no problems into town and out of town. the beltway is looking quite good. we're on the problem in waterford coming up.

tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> breaking news. right now the u.s. senate has passed a major overhall of the u.s. tax code. >> that 51-48 vote took place shortly after midnight. chris lawrence live with the details of the next hurdle for this bill. >> aaron, it will affect all of us in terms of what our take home pay is likely. the house and senate have to vote again today to correct errors on a few 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. 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 credits to the wealthy. republicans argue those permanent corporate tax cuts and reorganizing the individual tax code will spur economic growth. >> my view of this, if

people, we ought to go into another line of work. >> and we're likely to hear from the president within hours. president trump tweeted he expects to hold a news conference around 1:00 this afternoon. the polls showed more than half of americans opposed this tax bill. we're going to check in with news 4's edward lawrence on capitol hill. that's coming up about 5:45. in the live desk, chris lawrence. >> chris, thank you. 5:03. happening today a panel of judges will likely certify an election recount that proves every vote counts. a single vote flipped the race in virginia's 94th house district in newport news. 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 grading -- the graduation scandal that has rocked prince gorges county schools. >> now the county school ceo is speaking out.

live at the prince gorges county headquarters where she is breaking down the county's plan going forward. megan, what do we know so far about this? >> well, first, what we know is that this auditorium here behind me at the school board headquarters where parents were angry. they say dr. kevin maxwell, the ceo of the public schools here in prince gorges county knew exactly there was something wrong a year before the state legislative auditors came in to do their audit but did nothing about it. so these parents wanted to know why. so at a public meeting last night maxwell told parents he didn't know that nothing was done to fix the grading issue in the county. he took several questions from audience -- from the audience. many parents saying his lack of oversight is just unacceptable. keep in mind that state audits found that more than 5,000 students graduated last year that didn't meet graduation requirements. it also shows that prince gorges county lacked policy

teachers did not follow grading policies and that there was also poor recordkeeping and irregularities with grading changes. dr. maxwell says he now has a plan to fix the problem. take a listen. >> by providing more targeted training we can improve staff's adherence to policies and procedures. upgrading technology through the automation of archaic processes will minimize potential areas of fraud. >> reporter: now dr. kevin maxwell tells us that he will be delivering a formal report to the state superintendent this week. after winter break he will release more information to parents. back to you. >> megan fitzgerald live in prince gorges county for us. megan, thank you. new video this morning showing the arrest of a ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner. news 4 has interviewed paul trantham multiple times about

community concerns in the past. now it appears he is the concern. prince gorges county police had to pull trantham out of a locked bathroom at the police station yesterday. >> come on, mr. trantham. come on out, man. >> go get your supervisor, you punk. >> don't make me come inside there. >> [ 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 racial and homophobic slurs. we told you that drunk driving crashes increase around the holidays with all the parties and festivities going around this time of year. >> montgomery county police received a scary reminder of that fact when they were

crash. news 4's justin finch is live with what happened and the new crackdown this holiday season. justin? >> hey there, aaron. bars and restaurants see a lot of big business this time of year. you know, for example, as you mentioned, rockville pike here can be a very busy area as well, and be that is why just recently they had that scare that you were just mentioning there. more drivers on the road. more drinking makes it a dangerous combo for police and also for the public. i'll take you back to saturday night about 11:15 p.m. montgomery county police on scene investigating a fatal crash involving a bmw and a scooter in rockville pike and congressional lane. the car driver was actually caught after running away from the scene. that scooter driver was killed. while police did secure that scene with crime tape, emergency lights and even a dump truck, but that did not stop two drivers from entering the crime scene, one coming so close detve

for safety. >> it's frightening and it's very staggering. 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. we're very fortunate that same sequence of events didn't play out. >> of course it hit close to home for montgomery county police. they're working on the alcohol task force. starting just before thanksgiving and wrapping up just after the new year. so far they have made 150 arrests and we still have not hit christmas or new year's yet. >> justin finch live for us on the road this morning. justin, thanks. 5:08. "the voice" has a new season 13 champion. >> if you missed last night's finale, here's a look. >> the winner of "the voice" is --

>> there you have it. chloe kohanski, the new champ of "the voice" giving blake shelton his fourth win as coach. before "the voice" chloe thought about quitting her music career. now she's going to take 140e78 $00,000 and a contract with universal records group. "the voice" is back in february for season 14 right here on nbc 4. you know, they spend weeks and weeks and weeks. it's hard work to get to this point. >> they're so talented, everyone. >> yes. >> i don't know, that's why they leave it up to america, right? >> right. well, we had our first taste of snow. are you ready for a little more? this crew is. coming up, why people are signing up to help shovel your snow the next time winter weather hits. and storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell, no snow in the forecast for today. temperatures to get you started this morning are in the upper 40s and 50s. that doesn't feel very december like at all.

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we're following some breaking news here at the live desk. want to show you some live pictures of protests in the west bank. this is against the u.s. decision to recognize jerusalem as israel's capitol. you can see some of the protesters facing off there against some of the israeli forces. we have seen scenes like this over the past two weeks ever since president trump announced that he wanted to move the u.s. embassy from tel aviv to jerusalem. of course, this is coming up on christmas week there in the west bank. we've seen some of the stores in bethlehem complain that they have lost a lot of business due to these protests. we'll keep an eye on the story and bring you more as we learn more. eun, back to you. >> chris, thank you. 5:13. a key figure in the child sexual abuse scandal that rocked the catholic church has died. cardinal bernard law passed away

law resigned as archbishop of boston back in 2002. he was strongly criticized for protecting priests who had been accused of molesting children. law remained with the church working at the vatican. he was 86 years old. a bus carrying cre ining cr passengers overturned injuring 20 and killing some. seven americans and two swedes were injured there. passengers were guests on the royal caribbean cruise ships. the cause of the accident is under investigation. we continue to follow developments on the dead liam track train derailment in washington state. the train's engineer didn't attempt to stop the speeding train before it crashed. the ntsb says the brakes engaged automatically and not due to any human action. the train was traveling 50 miles an hour above the speed limit when it jumped the tracks. the ntsb also announced that si

installed on the tracks there but wasn't due to be activated until next year. the crash killed three people and injured more than 100 others. a florida police officer had to hang on for dear life as a suspect tried to get away. and this morning we're getting a chance to see it from his point of view. >> whoa! >> wow. look at that. his body camera shows the officer hanging onto the door while he's being dragged by the suspect's car. the car starts getting up to 60 miles per hour before the officer tumbles to the ground. there was a short chase through pembroke pines. the police arrested the people in the car. the driver was charged with attempted murder and reckless driving. the officer will be okay. also new this morning, protestors continue to speak out despite the cdc's denial of a "washington post" report on banned words. last night in d.c. the human

so-called banned words on the trump international hotel. last week "the washington post" reported that the trump administration banned the cdc from using words like fetus, transgender, evidence-based and science-based. the cdc sent a notice to nbc news saying they had not been banned from using any words. walt disney world in florida has a new face in the hall of presidents. >> president trump is now part of the disney world attraction. >> i, donald john trump, do solemnly swear that i will faithfully execute the office of the president of the united states and will -- >> president trump made his debut tuesday at the magic kingdom's animatronix exhibit. that's not really him. the show has been closed so disney could adds the 45th president. it can't be an exact match. there's only so

>> disney worked closely with the white house to integrate president trump into the show. lincoln looks pretty good. >> van buren. >> he never saw lincoln face to face so how would we know? exactly. that's with all of those presses up there. >> gets weird. the whole animatronix thing. >> little creepy. like madam trousseau. >> d.c. is looking for volunteers to join the snow program. >> they hosted an event 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, you can sign up at dc.gov. i think it's a great idea. >> sure. yeah. >> the heart attack snow, the real heavy, wet snow, we don't have that in the forecast. >> yeah. i was going to say, hopefu

this winter, sheena parveen. >> i'm hoping we don't need a lot of volunteers. it's a little bit that comes here and there. >> a little nuisance. >> as we go into christmas day, i know that's the day we're watching. we could see a little bit of a mixed bag potentially late in the day, christmas day, because of how cold it's going to get. but then later next week we do have snow chances in the forecast because it will be so cold. we won't talk about that just yet. we're going to talk about a cooler day today. still dry. not cold enough for snow we're talking about. little bit cooler yesterday. by 10 degrees or so. travel weather does look good as we go through the rest of the week. that's good news if you're traveling around. going into the weekend, we do have showers into the forecast and for christmas day, too, before it gets pretty cold around here. 54 degrees in washington. so it's kind of mild to start your wednesday morning. 46 frederick, 52 degrees in clinton. exercising this mornin

life jacket, mid 40s by 8:00 a.m. right around 50 degrees for a daytime high. there you'll see we're on the northern edge of the rain. the rain will stay to the south through the carolinas and into tennessee, louisiana. that's where we have rain if you're traveling. beware of that. here's your travel forecast. through the afternoon that rain slides into the carolinas. we go into thursday morning, mostly dry across the eastern half but as we look at chicago, that's where we can have some delays coming up. even as we go into the weekend with our rain in the forecast so plan around that. but dry for the rest of the week. let's check your roads right now. good morning, melissa. >> good morning, sheena. 270 northbound with a crash on the right side of the roadway. we still have this problem in waterford. 9 hamilton station road all lanes blocked there. car on its roof here this morning. in bound 66 before fairfax drive right shoulder is blocked by a crash. 95 in virginia looking just f

inner loop and outer loop of the beltway rolling along as well through prince gorges county. 95 in maryland looking quite good. eun? >> thank you, melissa. it's a program that delivers packages inside your home. now new concerns about amazon key. a look at the glitch that puts users at risk of hackers. plus, going on vacation for the holidays? it doesn't mean you have to give up your healthy habits. the keys to m

you're watching news 4. we have a consumer alert for you this morning. cyber security experts say they discovered a serious flaw in amazon's key service. we've been telling you about the service that allows the delivery person to open your door and then leave your package inside your home. >> it's supposed to protect your stuff from being ripped off on the front porch. amazon camera records the delivery so c

it was able to hack into the camera feed, disable the wi-fi and freeze the image. take a look here. nbc crews tested this out. it looks like nothing is going on but in reality the delivery person could have full and undetected access to your home. amazon says it does alert customers when the camera is unavailable. it says it's part of an overall problem with most wi-fi and not just amazon. >> this is why people have so many reservations. you just don't know. >> we haven't heard about anything yet so hopefully we're good. this time of year we know that you may be a little concerned about over eating and under exercising so we -- >> check and check. >> we checked 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

up those healthy habits, but when you mess up, don't worry. >> don't go crazy. you can have a cheat meal. don't make it a cheat day. >> reporter: did he lelanie was says while you cheat work in these simple exercises. >> do a body weight squat. she's staying on her heels. >> reporter: next, a classic or modified pushup. >> it's basically a plank that moves up and down. stomach in nice and tight, her legs are straight. everything is locked out. say you can't do it that way, here's a modified version. you can go to your knees. the next movement she's going to do is front lunge. >> reporter: while lunging keep your knees straight and bending at 90 degree angles and then try this for the upper body. >> we're looking to draw back, pull the shoulders back and tight here and strengthen another part of the back. >> reporter: as you go low watch her form. >> keeps her back nice and flat

>> reporter: the last move, the russian twist. >> deep position here. if you can't do it that way, you can put your feet on the floor also, too. >> reporter: aim for 10 to 15 reps of each exercise. you will want to do the whole routine about two to three times or your personal best. justin finch, news 4. i had a whole cheat month. what does that mean, you know what i mean? >> it's there. >> that's why january the gyms are full. make sure you are getting your nutrients, experts advise you to take a good multivitamin. >> when you're invited to a holiday party, bring a healthy dish. >> never get invited again. >> and be that guy. >> what are you going to do, bring kale chips? >> let me in. >> no way. 5:26. emergency landing. take a look at this. we'll tell you what happened to the driver of the car that was used as a landing strip. big news for drivers, a major shortcut is about to

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"news 4 today" begins with breaking news. >> the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> that breaking news overnight. the senate passing a trillion dollar tax bill. what it means for you and why it's not a done deal yet. >> out in the cold for the holidays. homes gutted by flames. what's next for the families forced out by fire. rape and sexual misconduct. a hip-hop mogul accused. women speaking out decades later. the reason russell simmons accusers are breaking their silence now. your time right now is 5:30. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. thanks for joining us for "news 4 today." very busy morning trying to gets us ready for christmas. it's wednesday. >> melissa is always tracking your commute. a look at the changing forecast. meteorologist chuck bell and storm team four weather deck. what do you

blowing in on a northwest wind today. i hope you enjoyed that 62 and sunshine yesterday. won't be anywhere near that warm today. it's not too terribly cold this morning. current temperature, 54 degrees at national airport right now. still 55 by the bay in annapolis. even 46 up near charlestown, west virginia. that is not cold for a december morning at all. so the daily grade today, quite favorable. a b plus for today. little cloudy, little breezy at times. not terribly cold. you may need a medium jacket here early this morning, your sweater later on today. won't need the umbrella or the sunglasses though. the cooler air is settling on in. we'll take a closer look tomorrow and sheena will look at the weekend forecast coming up. for now, as promised, melissa mollet who is tracking any traffic troubles. >> have a couple traffic troubles here this morning. northbound 270 at middlebrook, still have the report of the crash on the right side of the roadway. southbound looking just fine here this morning.

hyland street at east church, report of a vehicle fire. we do have fire and rescue on the scene there this morning. waterford, 9 near hamilton station road, lanes still should down there. car on its roof. bad accident there from overnight. in bound 66 before fairfax drive, right shoulder blocked by a crash there. aaron? >> melissa, thank you. 5:32. look at the morning's top stories. the senate passed a major overhaul of the u.s. tax code overnight. 51-48 vote took place shortly after midnight. senate democrats all voted against the bill. now the house will vote again today to correct some errors on a few minor provisions. we're going to check in with news 4's edward lawrence on a few things. cardinal bernard law has passed away in a rome hospital. law was a key figure in the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the boston catholic church in 2002. he was strongly criticized for protecting priests who had been accused of molesting children. law remained with the church working at the van

we've been following the graduation scandal surrounding prince gorges county schools. more than 5,000 students were allowed to graduate last year without meeting requirements. the county school ceo spoke out in a meeting held yesterday. dr. kevin maxwell says with additional staff training and better technology, the problem should be solved. allegations of sexual misconduct continue to grow against music mogul russell simmons. >> an emotional interview on megyn kelly today actress natasha williams black and sherry hines discussed their sexual misconduct allegations against simmons. >> if i could see that 18-year-old girl today, of course i would reassure her that it was not her fault, but i think this culture is -- up until this point now, we were just talking about timing, so much encourages this

and it's transactional and it has to do with women sometimes anticipating things to a point where if it happens, oh, it's -- it feels horrible but, you know, i was the pink bikini girl in the movie. >> simmons has denied the allegations. police believe a registered sex offender may have tried to contact multiple children online with the hopes of luring them to his home. the 63-year-old is back in jail for raping a 12-year-old boy he reportedly met online. frederick police say that he drove to frederick, maryland, to pick up the 12-year-old last week. police say the 63-year-old man took the boy to his silver springs apartment and raped him. police want to hear from any parents who think their child may have been contacted by reyes. 5:34 right now. i want to show you this incredible video here, just awful to see. less than a week before christmas now, and residents in thi

place to live. flames barreled through their contract on curtis drive in hillcrest heights yesterday morning. 32 people inside the building when that fire started. all of them got out. we know that five people suffered smoke inhalation. one man described for us what it was like to get away from those flames. >> you get to the door, i see it's smokey. i get low, get ready to go out the door. i get out the building, i notice the thing behind me. i go out and seeing 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 for christmas as well as money for hotels, food, clothing. no word yet on what caused that fire. 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 and blagdon road. this is the second part of a major three year construction

the roadways. they've fixed drainage systems, added trees, new sidewalks and walking paths. the entire proj iect is expecte to be completed by 2019. a loudoun county sheriff's drone is being credited with helping to rescue a 92-year-old hunter. bill mcdonald lost his way home in the laurel run area on saturday. it started to get dark before he could make it back to the road so mcdonnell noticed that he didn't recognize where he was. his cell phone was already dead. he's an army vet though. he said he didn't panic and he made a bed out of brush and then just settled in for the night. little did he know the loudoun county sheriff's office was already using its drone to try to find them. >> 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. >> now bill's family has made him promise that he won't go hiking anymore on his own. the

agreed to that. you don't have to worry about that again. take folks with you. have a good time. 5:37 your time right now. growing concerns about a looming deadline. the reason you should start paying attention to the threat of a government shutdown. dangerous pursuit. a police officer dragged in the streets. how this chase ended and what new body camera video reveals

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. you're watching "news 4 today." what a scene this was. three people hurt here when a small plane crashed into a tennessee neighborhood on tuesday. that plane went down near downtown knoxville. it landed on a parked car. nobody on the ground was hurt there but three people on the plane went to the hospital. no word yet on what caused that crash. the purple line light rail project just cleared a major legal hurdle. federal and maryland transit administrations do not have to conduct a new environmental assessment to find new routes for the transit system. a federal judge reversed a district court judge's ruling in may ordering a new environmental impact study for the project to move forward. light rail system will connect from gorges and montgomery county. a senseless crime. a basketball court killing and the gunman is still on the

before christmas. this time of year our roads can be a dangerous place for -- 3, 2 -- this time of year our roads become a dangerous place for the public and police. i'm justin finch and we are live with the close call montgomery county officers had just this weekend. well, good morning. we're going to be cooler as we go through the day today so you will notice that and you'll notice the clouds sticking around. 40s for many of our suburbs today. coming up, i'll show you the temperatures right now as you are stepping out the door. melissa. brand-new problem right now in springfield. southbound fairfax county parkway. popes head road, vehicle off the roadway.

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coming up on "news 4 today." drunk driving danger. a warning during the holidays. the one case

local police. and finding your face on facebook. how you can know if someone is using a picture of you without your permission. this morning 54 degrees right now in washington. coming up in a few minutes, chuck will show you the weekend rain chances and your christmas day forecast. it's 5:45. breaking news right now. republicans are poised to make the most significant overhaul of taxes in 31 years. >> news 4's edward lawrence is live on capitol hill. edward, this bill now headed back to the house, we know, for a revote today. what can you tell us about the issues here? >> reporter: well, aaron, it was a little bit of an embarrassment to the house. it was supposed to be the house that voted first on this tax bill and then the senate was going to be more of a closer vote. the senate passed the bill no problem. the house though is a procedural issue. the bill that passed failed some of the -- parts of the

procedural rules in the house which would mean the bill would need a super majority instead of a simple majority. now the house has to revote on the bill. that will happen later on this morning. expected to go to the white house later on today. >> edward, has the president made any comments about the vote at this point? >> reporter: would you believe it? the president tweeted about it after the senate passed their vote. the president tweeted out saying that the terrible individual mandate repealed. he went on to say that should the house pass this bill, there would be a news conference at the white house at 1:00 p.m. where the president will take some questions. >> all right. edward lawrence live for us on capitol hill. edward, thank you. as we move past the tax bill, the clock is ticking. we're two days away from a potential government shutdown. congress has until midnight friday to reach a spending deal to avoid a government closure. republicans need democrats votes in the senate to prevent the shutdown. democrats are using their leverage to push for a deal to protect the un

immigrants known as d.r.e.a.m.ers. chuck schumer told reporters that he is, quote, 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 appreciates the outpouring of support. senator mccain plans to return to washington in january. d.c.'s ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner paul trantham was arrested by prince gorges county police. we have new video of an officer trying to coax trantham out of a bathroom. come on out. >> supervisor, you punk. >> don't make me come inside there. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> police arrested trantham for dui after they say he was swerving on indian head highway. he had bloodshot eyes, smelled like alcohol and

sobriety test. he urinated on the floor, shouted racial and homophobic slurs as well. hank zewinsky said he finds the incident disturbing and he supports the actions taken by the officers involved. we told you that drunk driving crashes increase around the holidays. there are a lot of parties this time of the year for us. >> montgomery county police received a scary reminder of that fact while they were trying to investigate a deadly dui crash. >> news 4's justin finch is live to explain what happened and the new crackdown this holiday season. justin? >> reporter: hey there, eun, that's right. montgomery county police were on rockville pike over the weekend looking into one fatal crash. at least two suspected drunk drivers rolled through and almost created two more crashes. we're talking about the area of rockville pike not far from congressional lane where a bmw and a scooter crashed on saturday just before

was killed. that scene was secured with crime tape, emergency lights, signs and cruisers, even a dump truck in place, but hours later one man drove right up to that scene and then another driver after him, a woman drove through even over traffic cones and ignoring signals to stop. officers had to run for safety. >> 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: now this, of course, is close to home for montgomery county police. an officer was killed in this area about two years ago while working dui patrol. now in effect right now there is an alcohol task force that is targeting dui drivers. already since just before november up until now they've arrested 150 people for drinking -- rather, driving under the influence. back in to the stu

for us out on the roads. justin, thank you. it's 5:50 right now. and a grieving mother tells news 4 that someone shot and killed her son over a pair of jordans. james smith was wearing the sneakers his mother gave him as an early christmas present when he was shot and killed monday night. it happened on the basketball court in southeast d.c. we're told someone tried to take the shoes off of him after an argument. smith was shot. >> i still haven't tooken it in yet. 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 he was wearing came out just about two weeks ago. 5:50. warning about a loud blast you may hear in our area today. the controlled explosion will take place at the medical center metro in bethesda. expected to happen sometime between 10:30 this morning and 1:30 in the afternoon. crews are building a

tunnel underneath rockville pike so be warned. you don't want to all of a sudden call 911 because you heard something crazy. >> sometimes you have to blow stuff up. >> therapeutic? >> right. >> talking about something personal? >> no. >> we are approaching the winter solstice tomorrow. can you believe it? >> that's a good thing though, right? doesn't that mean our days get longer? >> they start the day after tomorrow. >> yes! >> you'll notice today will be five seconds shorter daylight than yesterday. >> oh. >> tomorrow will be three seconds shorter daylight than today. >> i should feel that this afternoon sometime? >> somewhere around 4:50:35. that's when you'll -- >> i'll text you if i don't feel it. >> chuck knows these things down to the second. >> that's right. starting on friday, eun, you are correct, there will be three seconds more daylight friday. >> yes! >> than there will be tomorrow. it's all going to be uphill from here, everybody. the winter solstice tomorrow morning at 11:28 a.m. shortest day of the year, 9 hours and 26 minutes of

solstice in june, our longest day of the year, 14 hours and 54 minutes of daylight. the days will start getting longer again before you know it. right now it is a mostly cloudy and very mild start to the day. 54 in washington with a northwest wind. 50 in leaseberg, 38 the cold spot in lorton. 52 in beautiful prince gorges county. notice temperatures hold very stable throughout the day. upper 40s to right around 50 degrees. that's about it. more clouds than anything else but not a rain chance for us today. a lot of people getting ready to leave town. very cold air in parts of the inner mountain west. that's moving into the great plains and eventually that cold air, i mean bitter cold arrives here on christmas night. today if you're traveling south of the richmond area there will be some rain chances here from richmond down towards raleigh and charlotte. rainy weather there and no chances of rain here until saturday. unfortunately it looks like the

most of the rain on saturday and maybe a shower or two on saturday and rain chance on sunday. which could potentially, melissa, end with a few wet snowflakes. don't start planning to measure the snow yet, but there may be some flakes to see. >> i'll take anything. i will take anything. i love it. you know that. >> eastbound 66 before centerville, brand-new crash here this morning. this one right now we are hearing that just one right lane is getting by. does not look so bad in the camera here before 28 but we'll keep an eye on that one as it develops. southbound fairfax county parkway after popes head road vehicle off the roadway. looking a little slow 95 northbound here in virginia as you're headed in bound towards the woodbridge area. waterford, 9 near hamilton station road with a car on its roof. frederick, hyland street, east church street report of vehicle fire there. sounds like a crash and a fire. northbound 295 before malcolm x

ave.. beltway too long actually looks pretty good. travel times not bad on 270. inner loop and outer loop look good. 66 in bound. 95 northbound. remember to listen to wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car today. good morning, i'm landon dowdy at cnbc headquarters. facebook is expanding how it uses facial recognition technology. it will send you a notification if someone loads a photo of you. facebook says the new tool is designed to empower users by helping them control their image online. cnbc morning business report i'm landon dowdy. >> landon, thank you. 6:54 now. with christmas days away your little ones may be wondering exactly when santa will arrive. >> such a busy schedule. i don't know how he does it all. that's why the norad tracker comes in

they can see where santa is around the world by going to noradsanta.org. does he start with iffigi, sout pacific. norad, aerospace, defense, command altogether you get a good system. they've been following santa every year on his christmas eve journey. >> do you ever wonder why the reindeer look so suspicious? they look untrusting. >> they know they have a long journey ahead. >> you're right. toys are flowing in from the salvation army. >> with the help of dozens of volunteers, salvation army distributing dolls, clothes, bikes distributed through the angel tree program. molette green served as the emcee for the kickoff at the toy warehouse. she participated in the ribbon cutting you see here. spoke to parents who received the angel tree donations and they say what they see in their children is everything. >>

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 to our nbc washington app. just search angel tree. so many people in the nbc 4 family donate to the angel tree program every holiday season. we are counting -- rather, continuing to count down with our holiday choir showcase. >> this morning she's live in maryland with the bethel world outreach choir. molette, good morning. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: good morning to you guys. they've really rolled out the red carpet for us here starting us off with "joy to the world" here. this is a church that has worshippers from all over the world. from more than

a choir, as you can see, they have young people to adults and among them an international opera singer. we'll talk about all of that in the coming hour. find out what their big plans are to raise their voices on christmas eve for the holidays. we're live this morning in the community. >> all right. >> you know how much i love christmas music. next at 6:00, hacking the olympics. the new plan to protect the winter games. and deadly derailment. a speeding train jumps the tracks. the safety measure that was not in place and where the investigation goes from here. the prince gorges county school board meeting was packed with angry parents demanding answers after the fwrading scandal. coming up, we'll tell you how the ceo says he plans to fix the problem.

all right. the moment we've been waiting for. and in case you missed it, america voted for a new voice. a new reaction the morning after. you are waking up to a busy morning around here folks. >> lawmakers busy working on the hill while most of us were sleeping. republicans passing the most sweeping rewrite of the tax code in decades. >> more on that in just a moment. we want to start with your weather and traffic. storm team 4 meteorologist sheena parveen with more on the return of some cooler air, sheena. >> return of cooler air compared to yesterday. it's not here just yet. we actually have some milder temperatures this morning. it is 52 degrees in washington. 51 in lorton. dulles is at 48 degrees. 50 in leesburg, 48 in frederick. this afternoon cooler than yesterday. we have the clouds around. you'll notice that when the sun comes up here. the rain is going to stay to our south. any traveling going on from about louan