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

carolinas today may see a delay because of that. our rain chance -- our next rain chance is going to be clear through the weekend. good and dry as we go through your wednesday. temperatures will be only around 50 degrees to top out this afternoon. cooler day. those clouds will hang around. no rain in our forecast right now. we do have milder air for the weekend with that rain and a big cooldown as we go into next week. wait until you see these numbers. we'll take a look at that coming up. let's check your commute. melissa mollet is here. >> eastbound 66 before centerville. very, very slow here. have a crash. everything blocked except the right shoulder at this point this morning. that really is going to slow folks down through centerville this morning. in weatherford, lanes blocked because of a car on its roof here this morning. careful out there as well. northbound 295 near nannie helen

more on that problem on 66. with further amendment, the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> breaking news right now. the u.s. senate has passed a major overhaul in the u.s. tax code. >> 51-48 vote took place shortly after midnight. chris lawrence live with the details on a next hurdle with a bill that could affect just about everybody, chris. >> yeah. a lot of you are going to see a difference in your take home pay. here's the deal. the house is going to have to vote again today to correct some errors on a few minor provisions. that $1.5 trillion tax bill is one step closer to president trump's desk where he's going to sign it into law. here's the 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 argue that permanent corporate tax cut

reorganizing the individual tax code will 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. >> what we're likely to hear from president trump this afternoon. he tweeted about holding a news conference around 1:00. polls showed more than half of americans still oppose this tax bill. we're going to check in with kristin welker at 6:45. back to you. time is 6:03. also breaking this morning, a key figure in the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the catholic church has died. cardinal bernard law passed away in a rome hospital after a long illness. law resigned as archbishop of boston back in 2002. he was strongly criticized for protecting priests who had been accused of protecting children. law remained working with the vatican. pope francis has not made a public statement on law's passing. law was 86 years old. happening to,

election recount that proves every vote counts. a single vote split the race in virginia's 94th house district in the newport news area 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. 6:04 right now. we've been following the graduation scandal that has rocked prince gorges county schools. >> now the county school ceo is speaking out. news 4's megan fitzgerald is live at the prince gorges county headquarters where she's breaking down the county's plan going forward. megan, what do we know about this so far? >> reporter: well, good morning, eun and aaron. yes, first i want to start to let you know yesterday this auditorium here at the school board was packed with parents. they were angry. they said how is it that the ceo of prince gorges public schools

school district for a year before doing anything about it. yesterday dr. kevin maxwell told parents he didn't know nothing was done to fix the grading issues in the county. he took several questions from the audience. many parents saying his lack of oversight is unacceptable. the state's audit found more than 5,000 students graduated last year that didn't meet graduation requirements. it also shows that prince gorges county's lack of policy monitoring, teachers did not -- four recordkeeping. keeping irregularities with grade changing. >> we believe by providing more targeted training, we can improve staff. >> upgrading technology.

>> reporter: the state superintendant. he also said he will inform parents more about this ongoing investigation after the winter break. back to you. >> all right, megan. thank you. 6:06. also following developments on that dead liam track train crash in washington state. the train's engineer didn't attempt to stop the train before it crashed. ntsb said the brakes engaged automatically. the train's traveling more than 60 miles an hour above the speed limit when it jumped the tracks. the ntsb announced that positive train control was in stalled on the tracks but wasn't due to be activated until next year. the train crash killed three people and injured more than 100 others. happening today a blood drive will be held in honor of a local police officer who was killed while protecting our roads. montgomery county police officer

noah leotta was hit by a drunk driver. he was 24 years old. today's blood drive will be held at the montgomery county public safety headquarters in gaithersburg. this can be a dangerous time on the roads when it comes to drunk driving. coming up at 6:30, news 4's justin finch will have a crackdown. "the voice" has a new season 13 champion. if you recorded it, dvr'd it, we do have a spoiler alert for you. >> the winner of "the voice" is -- chloe kohanski! >> chloe kohanski is the new champ of "the voice" giving blake shelton his fourth win as coach. before "the voice" chloe said she thought about quitting her music career. now she will

and a contract with universal records group. congratulations to her. celebrations there. "the voice" returns february right here on nbc. >> quite a story. >> i love fulfilling your zbleems congratulations to chloe. we are continuing our holiday choir showcase this morning. >> this morning news 4's molette green is live in olney, maryland, with the bethel choir. molette, they sound good. >> reporter: joy to the world for the holidays here. this showcase continues with us in olney this morning where they have really rolled out the welcome mat for "news 4 today." i can tell you that. we're going to talk to this choir next about how they plan to celebrate the holiday season and how they want you to celebrate with them coming up next on "news 4 today." live in the community at olney at the bethel world outreach church. ♪ ♪

molette. thank you. protecting the olympics. a new move that could help ease tensions with north korea and the plan to keep hackers at bay. plus, tourist tragedy. a waiting game for relatives. how a luxury vacation turned deadly and why there are still more questions than answers. 62 degrees and sunny yesterday, but the cold air is coming, everybody. saturday, which is what you're looking at here on your map, will be warm and rainy around here. that cold air is going to be settling in here big time starting on christmas afternoon. we'll take a look at the weekend forecast in det ai

breaking news in first 4 traffic. a major problem as folks are headed into centerville. eastbound 66 just before centerville, you can see the crash here. right now it is causi

it looks like we have a couple of extra lanes getting by on the right side. 9 near hamilton station road, all lanes blocked still have the car on the roof. chuck? >> thanks, melissa. relatively quiet weather day for you. temperatures on the mild side. northwest wind is already here. it will bring cooler weather in as we go in tonight and tomorrow. there's your planner for today. temperatures hovering for the 40s and 50s. sheena is back with not only a look at the weekend but some travel conditions for the big get away weekend. >> chuck, thank you. 6:13 right now. 11 people were killed and nearly 20 others were injured when a bus in southeastern mexico overturned. the bus was on an excursion to the mayan ruins when it tipped over. they were guests on the royal caribbean cruise

moon jae-nsain said they've gon through great lengths to prevent hacking. athletes from the north have been invited to the games. the u.s. government has accused north korea of launching a computer virus earlier this year that infected 300,000 computers around the world. ♪ ♪ lovely sounds of the season continue this morning with our holiday choir showcase. >> this morning molette green is in olney with the bethel world outreach choir. they sound beautiful already this morning, molette. ♪ ♪ >> absolutely. just lovely here. this is a church that is certainly international with members from more than 60 countries and this choir is

singing this morning "o holy night." international opera star is performing. they're getting ready to excite worshippers over the holidays. keith children is the director. come on over, keith, and talk a little bit about the impact of music during the holiday season wherever you are. >> we're celebrating the birth of jesus here. we have churches all over the world, and it's our honor to be able to impact the world with the message of jesus kleist this morning. >> reporter: all right. "o holy night." let's get out of the way and let them sing. they're having special christmas eve performances as well as new year's eve performances here in olney. ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ >> our holiday choir showcase continues on "news 4 today." ♪ ♪ >> wow. >> hit that note, right? >> i have goose bumps. yes, beautiful. >> thank you to the choir. thanks, molette. tomorrow our holiday choir showcase continues. >> she sang beautifully. we're going to hear from the cair carollers. >> you hear beautiful music this time of year. >> and then the -- okay. we're going to turn to weather. we're not doing weather, we're doing traffic first. >> melissa mollet with the first 4 traffic. >> breaking news in first 4 traffic. eastbound 66 before centerville. we just got this crash on the left side of t

is because of the delays. look at those lights here this morning. very, very slow. chopper 4 on the way right now. this is a 5 1/2 mile backup. hoping this gets better as things had started to clear out a little bit at least here on 66 inbounds here this morning. 202 near marlboro pike have a crash reported there as well. south lawn lane near south lawn there. police on scene there. northbound 295 near nannie helen boroughs avenue. good morning, sheena. >> good morning, melissa. at least the weather is cooperating this morning as you are out and about. nice dress, melissa. pretty color. anyway, as we go through the day today, we're going to take a look real quick at your airport travel. if you are heading out and getting out and about for your travel. for thursday and friday we're looking pretty good weather

wise. now temperatures will be in the mid 40s so, again, if you're already thinking about this, the rain is going to stay to our south today. that's what's happening currently. we have the clouds around. you'll notice them once the sun comes up here. all the rain will stay to the south. if you will be driving from the carolinas, louisiana, tennessee, that's where we're going to see the delays today. walking the dog, we have otto here available from the humane rescue. cute little antlers. he's already for christmas and ready to go home for a family. temperatures as we go home, walking your dog, in the 50s. clouds cooler than yesterday. we do stay nice and dry. temperatures wise at 52 degrees. 45 degrees gaithersburg, 50 in leesburg. 51 degrees in clinton. again, as we go throughout the day today these numbers not really budging too much compared to where we should be for this time of the year. we will be a little bit cool jefrmt morning drive, dry

exercise looking pretty good as we go through the day today. because we're going to be nice and dry. i showed you the travel forecast looking good thursday and friday. the rain starts to move in overnight into saturday. we'll have the rain chances increasing. look how mild it is, 62 degrees. cooler on sunday. rain continues. coming up we're going to take a look at the ten day forecast. we have a big blast of arctic air moving in on christmas day, mainly later in the day. that is going to stick around and it's going to give us a few snow chances later this day too. we'll look at all of those numbers coming up, guys. >> sheena, thank you. out in the cold for the holidays. homes gutted by flames. what's next for the families forced out by fire. healthy habits during the holidays. forget the gym, how about the russian twist? news 4's working for you for moves to keep you looking good without leaving home.

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wow. worth staying up late to watch. here at the live desk we're giving you a look at the second round implosion that took place at the georgia dome down in atlanta. the first implosion happened a month ago, but there were still some remaining structures. this time it took about 300 pounds be of explosives to finish the job compared to 5,000 that they had to use for the initial implosion. that dome opened about 25 years ago paback in 1992. they're clearing out the space. they're goio

green space and the parking lot. the actual stadium has been replaced next door. >> 6:23 right now. this time of year we know you may be a little concerned about over eating and under exercising. >> both. >> so 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 families or friends, the holidays have a way of making it hard to get to the gym and keep up the healthy habits. but when you mess up, don't worry. >> you can have a cheat meal, just don't make it a cheat day. >> reporter: delanie washington says while you're watching what you eat, also work in these simple exercises to sub for your gym routine. >> the first exercise is a body weight squat. she's staying on her heels. >> reporter: next, classic or modified pushup. >> basically a plank that moves up and down. stomach in n a

everything is locked out. say you can't do it that way, here's a modified version. you can actually go to your knees. the next movement she's going to do is a front lunge. >> reporter: while lunging keep your posture straight and knees bending at 90 degree angles. >> we're looking to draw back, pull those shoulders back and tighten here and straighten the middle part of your back. >> reporter: as you go low for the hinge movement watch your form. >> keep your back nice and flat as she goes down. >> reporter: the last move, the russian twist. >> you're talking about the lower abs also. she's holding them in the v position here. if you can't do it that way, you can put your feet on the floor also. >> 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. >> the problem is i'm not stretching. cheat days turn into a cheat month and i don't know when it will stop.

you'll be eating celery for the whole month of january. >> you know me so well. to be making sure you get your nutrients they say you should take a multi-vitamin. >> when you go to a holiday party, you can volunteer to bring a healthy dish. >> right. kale salad. >> 6:25 right now. we turn to serious news. rape and sexual misconduct. a hip-hop mogul accused. women speaking out decades later. the reason russell simmons accusers are breaking their silence now. drunk driving danger. a warning during the holidays. the one case that even surprised local police. and i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. the four things to know about the next couple of days. starting to get cooler out here courtesy of a northwest wind. won't be a bad finish to the work and school week. the weekend will start off mild and wet. my wish was a clubhouse, but we call it "the wish house."

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"news 4 today" starts now. 6:28 is your time right now. good morning. thanks for joining us for "news 4 today." we are working for you, right? >> we are. have a look at your weather

this hump day. meteorologist chuck bell on the storm team 4 weather deck with word on the comeback of some cold air. >> we want to get to the news this morning. >> the left side of 66 here. we now have the crash on the left side of the roadway. as the chopper zooms out and sort of pans up to the left here, this is a massive six mile backup inbounds on 66. it is bad here this morning for so many people. so eastbound before centerville is where that left side is blocked. also have a disabled vehicle there near sudley in bound. marlboro pike, a crash reported there at prince gorges county. follow police direction there. inner loop and outer loop overall not that bad. good morning, mr. bell. >> good morning, melissa. traffic troubles are not weather related. it is a dry start to the day. it's not even all that cold yet. the northwest winds

as your extra layer today. leave the puppy coats at home. current temperatures in the upper 40s to around 50 degrees in most areas. still 52 now at national airport. the daily grade today quite favorable. not going to be all that cold. temperatures will pretty much hover where they are all through the day today. upper 40s through 50 today. little breezy at times now. what to wear then, your medium coat and a sweater for later on in the day today. holiday weekend, a lot of holiday traveling for saturday and sunday. when the arctic air gets here coming up. >> chuck, thank you. we told you about the drunk driving crashes increasing around the very busy holiday times. >> montgomery county police got a reminder of that fact while they were investigating a deadly dui crash. >> news 4's justin finch is live with a new crackdown this holiday season, justin, good

morning. >> reporter: hey there, eun. good morning. you know, right now montgomery county police are very busy. they've launched an alcohol task force to get impaired drivers off the road. so far they've arrested 150 dui drivers since just before november and up until now. as you mentioned over the weekend, they had quite a scare. want be to take you to over the weekend. overnight saturday morning into sunday morning police responding to the scene of a fatal crash involving a scooter and a bmw near rockville pike and congressional lane. there that scooter driver was killed as a result of that accident. first police say the driver of that bmw fled the scene. he was caught. hours later a driver comes dangerously close to investigators as they were looking into that crash. and then not long after that a woman is driving past emergency lights, vehicles, crews on scene. over traffic cones and into the path of investigators who tried stopping her before having t

>> it's frightening and very staggering. i'd be remiss if i didn't note the last officer that died in duty died one mile north of this collision as a result of a drunk driver. we are very fortunate that that same sequence of events didn't play out on saturday night. >> of course these cases over the weekend hitting close to home for police. here on rockville pike lots of businesses and restaurants, of course. the holidays a big time for them as well. with more drinking and more drivers on the road, it's a dangerous combination for the police and the public. if you're going out to party over the holiday season, please get a safe ride to drive you home. i'm justin finch, news 4, back in to you. >> justin, thanks so much. 6:32 right now. here's a look at our other top stories this morning. the u.s. senate passed a major overhaul of the tax code. 51-48 vote took place after midnight. senate democrats all voted against thel

correct some errors on a few minor ploe visiorovisions. the engineer of the amtrak train that derailed in washington state did not 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 over the speed limit when it jumped the tracks. the crash killed three people and injured more than 100 others. we're staying on top of the graduation scandal in prince gorges county schools. more than 500 students were allowed to graduate without meeting the requirements. dr. kevin maxwell says with additional staff training and better technology the problem should be solved. take a look at this video here less than a week before christmas. the residents of one prince gorges county apartment complex are without a place to sleep. >> flames

complex yesterday morning. 32 people inside that building when the fire started. they all got out. five people suffered smoke inhalation though. the red cross helping the families. they will give the adults toys, hotel, food and clothing. no word on what caused that fire. the new year will bring a welcome change for drivers. the second section of beach drive will reopen. this is the second part of a major three-year reconstruction project. crews have been busy resurfacing the roadway. they've also fixed drainage systems, added trees and added new sidewalks and walking paths. the entire project is expected to be done in 2019. the first female pitcher to appear in the men's negro baseball league maime peanut johnson has died. she was turned away from playing in the all white all-american girlsro

league during the 1950s so she went to play with the men. she continued to break beers her entire career. she ran a shop in bowie and started a league in her name. she was 82 years old. tackle trent williams was named a starter for his sixth straight pro bowl selection. guard brandon scherf and ryan kerrigan. josh norman, zach brown named as pro bowl alternates. it's sunday, january 28th. >> tune in. emergency landing. take a look at the scene here. find out what happened to the driver of the car that was used as a landing strip. are you refusing to come out of the bathroom. >> come out [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> cussing and fussing. it's all caught on video. why police busted a lo

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unbelievable sight here.

tennessee neighborhood on tuesday. went down near downtown knoxville and landed on a parked car. nobody was hurt on the ground here, but three people in that plane went to the hospital. no word yet on what caused that crash. allegations of sexual misconduct continue to grow against music mogul russell simmons. >> in an emotional interview on "megyn kelly today," two women 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 behavior and it's transactional and it has to do with women sometimes anticipating things to a point where if it

you know, i was the pink bikini girl. >> simmons has denied the allegations against him. well, this morning as you wake up and walk outside you might notice it is not as chilly, but i think the kids at the bus stop might still want a jacket. as we go through the afternoon, cooler weather than what we had yesterday but regardless of all the clouds around, we will be staying dry. we'll look at your weekend forecast coming up. melissa. big problem on 66. live report from chopper up above. how big are the backups coming up. and our choir showcase continues with molette live in olney, maryland. ♪ ♪ >> reporter: oh, yeah. let's not forget about the full band that accompanies this world renowned choir. international choir that among them in this choir is miss south africa u.s.a. how they're getting ready to celebrate christmas around the wo

♪ ♪

the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> taxes and your money. breaking news overnight. the senate passing a

dollar tax bill. what it means for you and why this all comes down to a revote in just hours. it's horrifying. it's horrifying. >> a grieving mother, a senseless crime. a basketball court killing and the gunman on the run. the motive for murder days before christmas. the supervisor. >> busted and locked in the bathroom. a local community leader in trouble with the law. what led up to the arrest and the showdown with police. a tennessee rocker takes on an indiana teen. america voted. now we have the new "voice." >> the winner of "the voice" is -- 16 before the hour. first to that breaking news. republicans are poised to make the most significant overhaul of taxes in 31 years. the parties' tax bill passed the senate overnight. >> now it's headed back to the house for a revote because of procedural issues.

kristen welker is live. how soon could the bill be on the president's desk for signature? >> reporter: it's not entirely clear when the president's going to sign it, but we know that he wants to have this finalized before christmas. this morning president trump and the gop are on the brink of that huge victory after an overnight senate vote of 51-48 vote along party lines giving the green light to republicans' sweeping rewrite of the tax code. the president hailing the tax code passage on twitter calling it the biggest in history. the senate vote coming just hours after republicans heralded the passage of the house bill, but there was a last-minute snag as you mentioned, eun, forcing senate republicans to make minor changes before it could pass with those changes eliminated. the house will have to vote again this morning before the legislation heads to the president's desk. so what does the gop bill mean for you? well, corporations get the largest tax cut slashed from 35 to 21%. that rate will be

see lower rates, the cut for individuals will expire in a decade. the bill repeals the obamacare individual mandate and scales back popular deductions like the one for state, local and property taxes but it does increase the child tax credit. still democrats argue it benefits the wealthy and hurts the mid the class. the new nbc news wall street journal poll shows the bill remains unpopular with 31% of americans calling it a bad idea. republicans insist those feelings will change. still, they have their work cut out for them when it comes to convincing the voters. eun, aaron, back to you. >> all right. kristen welker at the white house for us this morning. more from kristen on the "today" show in a few minutes. thank you. new video this morning showing the arrest of a ward 8 advisory neighborhood commissioner here in the district. news 4 has interview paul trantham multiple times about community concerns in the past. now it appears he is the concern. prince gorges county police had to pull

locked bathroom. >> come on out, man. >> go get your supervise oor yo punk. >> don't make me come inside there. >> [ bleep ]. [ bleep ]. >> police arrested trantham for dui after an officer saw him falling asleep at the wheel on indian head highway. they say he also 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. a statement was released saying he finds the incident disturbing and he supports the operations taken by the officers. 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, and he was shot and killed monday night. it happened on a basketball court at the frederick douglas community center in southeast d.c. we're told someone tried to take the shoes off of him and after angu

>> 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. >> so sad. james was 17 years old. the air jordan 11s he was wearing came out just two weeks ago. we've been following the graduation scandal surrounding prince gorges county schools. >> now the county school ceo is speaking out. news 4's megan fitzgerald is live. megan, what do we know about this case so far? >> reporter: so, eun, we're learning a lot of new things. you know, that's the exact same question that a lot of these parents had when they came here and packed the auditorium. they were angry because they say that the ceo of prince gorges county public schools dr. kevin maxwell knew that there were problems within the school district for a year before that audit went underway and still they say he did nothing about it. so they came to this meeting demanding answers and wanting to know why.

night maxwell told parents he didn't know that nothing was done to fix those grading issues in the county. he took several questions from the audience. many parents saying his lack of oversight is unacceptable. so keep in mind here the state audit found that more than 5,000 students graduated last year that didn't meet graduation rekwooirmgr requiremen requirements. it shows that the prince gorges black county policy monitoring, teachers did not follow grading policies. there's poor recordkeeping and irregularity with grading changes. dr. kevin maxwell says he now has a plan to fix those problems. >> we can improve staff's adherence with policy and procedures. upgrading technology through the automation of archaic processes will minimize potential areas for fraud. >> reporter: now dr. kevin maxwell says he is going to put together a final pl

he says he will deliver more information to parents at the end of winter break. back to you. >> all right. thank you, megan. we're staying on top of some breaking news in first 4 traffic this morning. >> melissa mollet is following developments. >> good morning. chopper 4 over this problem. take a look at this backup here this morning. this is 66 in bound here this morning as you're headed into centerville near 29. original crash out of the way. chopper 4 showing you about a 6 1/2 mile backup at this point this morning. here's another view from the ground. take a look at this map. at this point as you're headed out of gainesville headed into centerville going just 6 miles per hour on 66 in bound. again, chopper 4 up above this. what are you seeing from above, brad? >> well, melissa, we head in a little further west here just over gainesville so we can take a look at how extensive these delays are. the brake lights headed eastbound on 66 towards centerville. let me tell you th

not moving. as i pan over here, i can show you an alternate which is 29 and that will take you into the battlefield area. that will get you through with a little bit of a delay there in the first couple of miles. once you get past 234 sudley road, it's much better. now, melissa, we have something else going on on the beltway. is that true? >> take a look at that, brad. that's a great alternate as brad said, 29 there. after allentown road, left side blocked on the left side joint base andrews. 202, crash near marlboro reported there. still have a problem hanging around waterford. 9 near hamilton station lanes blocked because of a car that's flipped over on its roof. they have crews out there getting that out of the way. 270 southbound looks okay. top of the beltway. not bad. not the greatest. 95 and 270, 20 minutes on the outer loop. 66 in bound once you hit fairfax county parkway. 95 north quantico to the beltway a little bit slow. r

f.m. when you hop in your car. good morning, chuck. hello, melissa. getting ready for the winter solstice. it's tomorrow morning at 11:28 a.m. making tomorrow the shortest day of the year. five seconds less daylight today than we had today and three seconds less tomorrow than we're going to have today. 52 with a northwest wind in washington. it's anything but cold this morning. we'll cool down a little bit over the next couple of hours. really, temperatures will remain relatively steady through the day today. in the upper 40s and low 50s but the cold is coming. future weather, this is saturday. we'll be warm and rainy around here on saturday. turning colder on sunday then as we get into christmas day itself, a little ripple of low pressure going overhead means another chance for rain on monday, christmas day, which could, could end with a few snowflakes. we're watching it very carefully. we always have our custom

tailored storm team 4 forecast. you can follow me on social media there chuckbell4 on facebook and chuckbell4 on twitter. traveling today dry around the washington area. rain showers down to the south. richmond, raleigh, down towards atlanta you'll run into the rain drops there. here's our ten day forecast, 50 today, 40s with sunshine tomorrow. friday, big chance of rain and very warm on saturday and the polar plunge comes back next week. >> thank you, chuck. ♪ ♪ >> oh, the sounds of the season continues to delight us this morning with our holiday choir showcase. melissa just said we wish we could have this every single day, right? >> news 4's molette green live in olney with the bethel world outreach choir. molette, how's it going? ♪ ♪ >> reporter: it's going so well. i'm right over here by the full band that accompanies this international choir. this

boasts members from more than 60 countries around the world. the pastor joins me, fred wisman who came out of the choir. talk about how extraordinary your choir is which reflects your church. >> sure. we have children, we have youth, we have adults, we have young marrieds, we have senior adults, we have pastors which i am on staff and then we have a lot of people that come on board that just love to sing and we come together and love what we're doing. and it's just incredible what we do. >> reporter: it really is incredible. then you have this big plan for christmas eve and of course new year's eve with special services offered right here in olney at this international church. i'll let you go back and join the choir and let's hear them complete this fantastic holiday song. ♪ ♪

♪ ♪ live in olney. news 4, molette green. >> thank you, molette. tomorrow our holiday showcase continues. >> we're going to hear from the ca carollers from gaithersburg. so fun to share this. 6:55. 4 things to know before you head out the door. the u.s. senate passed a gop tax bill overnight. now the white house will revote this morning to correct some errors on provisions. house speaker paul ryan will be joining savannah gut

live interview on "today." also breaking overnight, cardinal bernard law passed away in a rome hospital. law was a key figure in the child sex abuse scandal that rocked the church in 1992. he was 86 years old. more on this story on "today." over 5,000 students were allowed to graduate last year from prince gorges county schools without meeting requirements. county school ceo dr. kevin maxwell spoke out yesterday and said that additional staff training and better technology will prevent these problems from happening again. head to our nbc washington app for the latest on this scandal. and "the voice" has a new champion. chloe kohanski the new winner of "the voice" giving blake shelton his fourth championship. she's taking home $100,000 and a contract with universal records group. "the voice" continues in february for season 14. breaking news in first 4 traffic. chopper 4 still over this problem. a seven mile backup in bound on 66 as you approach centerville.

29 is not a bad option, slow for a couple of miles. guys. >> melissa, thank you. that is the broadcast this morning. appreciate you waking up with us. >> the "today" show is next. back in 25 minutes. we leave you with the beautiful sounds of the choir in olney. they've been delighting us all morning long. >> absolutely. make it a great wednesday, everybody. ♪ ♪ ♪

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good morning. breaking overnight. >> the tax cuts and jobs act is passed. >> the senate approves the republican sweeping tax overhaul, to the dismay of democrats. >> what a disgrace. that's what this bill is. >> but an embrassing snag forces another house vote today. >> one member of the staffs screwed up. it's not the end of western civilization. >> this morning, house speaker paul ryan joins us live to talk about his party's big moment. who were the big winners and losers and what it means for you. deadly distraction. investigators looking into the deadly amtrak derailment,