coming hours. today is the day that millions ofeople across the country will begin their thanksgiving travels. terrible tffic tuesday. >> it's 4:00 a.m. and this morning we're breaking down everything you nee to kno before you go. that includes updates on traffie and forecast. >> melissa is standing by with your traffic but we begin with chuck bell. >> good morning. there's a reason there's no line at reagan airport now is there's morning. in the weather wise, we're in store for a quite weather pattern over the next couple of days. a few sprinkles around. it hasn't added up to much. it's justnough tout a few spots of water on my recently washed car. the cold is coming. we'll be back to mostly sunnys

skiey later on in the af rnoon. it's in the 40s now. 47 in montgomery county. not a bad day to be outside for afternoon highs low to mid 50s but ryblus as the sunshine comes back. more about the deep freeze for thanksgiving coming up. >> good morning. taking a look at the roads, greenbelt near 19gh lane there is clocked by a work zone this morning. two things on 270 as you're headed northbound. so a left lane is getting by. a lot of road workapning there and then northbound after old georgetownroad. one getting by there as well. work zone there also blocking the right lane.

>> hdreds of thousands of families in our area will gas up the car and hithe road f the holidays. >> aaa says this is the busiest day of the thanksgiving week. the most congested time to drivt will been 5 and 7:00 p.m.. it's expected to take 2.5 times longer to get to your thanksgiving destination at that time. as for the best time to drive, consider thanksgiving morning. take a look athe air travel already underway right now. airports are expected to beck this week because of lower airfare and there's no storms in the forecast to slow you down. stay with us throughout the day and we'll beeeping an eye on the traffic and the crowds at the airport l ak for live reports at the next half hour. >> speaking of, we have an update on the fire that forced metro to suspend service along the green and yellow line last night this all happened at mt.

vernon square when flames were spotted just outside of the station. service had to be stopped in the area for about an hour. no o was hurt. >> developing this morning, officials in chicago are vestigating aeadly shooting at a hospital. you're looking at a view of t mercy hospital on chicago's south side. officials say aolice officer and two hospital employees were killed in yesterday's shooting. the suspected shooter was also killed. it's not clear if he killedf himsr if he was killed by police. this morning workers and patients are telling their stories. devastatin just all of this happening days before thanksgiving. wehowed you the view of the scene from the sky. here's a look at what the terrified people had to deal with on the ground. one doctor described the scene e inside hospital as pure chaos. and this morning we're hearing

from another hospital worker. she's a mom and her mainwa goal to get home to her children. >> i said to my children, i'm not -- it's not that i didn't t want answer them, i just cannot -- i want to get home to them. >> well, here's a look. officials say the suspected shooter was in a relationship with one he's accused of killing and according to our station there in chicago murphy hospital completed it's annual active shoong training jus weeks ago. now back to you. >> thank you. also developing this morning, the death toll in the california campfire is now up to 79. the list of names of those unaccounted for has dropped to around 700. that's around 300 fewer than

yesterday. it destroyed nearly 12,000 homes and this morning it's 70% contained. at the same time, the deadly woosley fire is 96% contained now. three people he been killed by that fire. >> a ride share driver sexually assaulted a passenger over the weekend. >> this morning, they're hoping someone recognizes the car involved. this is the red nissan altima. officers say a woman started her ride around 2:45 saturday morning. we told the driver stopped on champagn street and sexually assaulted her. there's ways that you can double check to make sure that your driver is who he or she says he is before they get into a car. >> check the make and model of the car and the license number.

i usually ask them their name. >> officers haven't said whether the car may have been operating as an uber or lyft. they're also working to see if it's t one she ordered or the one she may have mistakenly thought was her ride. >> a little girl's lifehanged fore after a terrible accident at mgm national harbor. her family is now suing the casino. she's now in a wheelchair and her family says she is disabled for life because t of electric shock she suffered in june. the family claims the casino company put business before safety. e lawsuit in part says, quote, in their haes to open their hotel, they intentionally urged construction workers to finish their jobs quickly at the expense of safety and patrons appeared to be jolted we

electricity in a statement they called it a tragic accident and said they were committed to developing with the family. >> the washington post reports that. trump sent hundreds of e-mails from the account to aids and cabinet ofcials. rney says the e-mails had almost always been about logistics and did not containcl sified information. president trump relent leslie made hillary seclinton's of the personal e-mail server an issue during the 2016 campaign often saying clinton pedestrians longed in jail. this morenng threee democrats are making moves toot t robert mueller. ey want to block whitaker from serving as acting attorney general. he was put that role early this month after jeff sessions re-sigd. they saidhe move violates the

constitution because he had not beenonrmed by the senate. they point out he was a known critic of the investigation. many believe president trump chose him as a way of curtaing or ending the russia probe but in an interview on sunday, the president assisted he was unaware of whitaker's past statements. >> i didn't know he took views on the mller investigati as such. >> sources tell nbc news he's expeed toubmit those answers before thanksgiving. >> it's 4:08. there's now pressure from around the world for preside trump to take tougher measures against saudi arabia over the killing of washington post journalist jamal khashoggi. theresident called reports that the crowned prince ordered the killing premature and also described them as a spectacular ly. france is considering sanctions against saudi arabia and germa announced it has banned 18 saudi

nationals. the colorado man convicted ofll g his family will spend the rest of his life in prison. christher watts pled guilty to murdering his pregnant wifnd two young daughters and dumping their bodies on an w oilk site. prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty. something shannon's family agreed to. >> shannon's father called him a heartless monster. he was sentenced to three consecutive life >> new details on alex smith season ending injury. smith's surgery went well and is expected to make full recovery in about to 8 weeks. on sunday, the quarterback broke twoon b in his leg against the houston texans. no colt mccoy will take over as quarterbacks. fans hope he can carry the into the playoffs.

right now they lead the division and prepare for the dallas cowboys. the ge kicks off on thanksgiving at 4:30. >> maybe 8 months. >> he broke two bon in his leg. >> although, these athletes, maybe their body can heal like that. >> prince geouge'sy executive baker's last day in office isn't until next week. >> but he's already planning his next chapter. he was honored for his work in fighting a cure for alzheimer's. the foundation is named after his wife. she wash diagnosed w an early stage form of dementia 8 yea ago and now has alzheimer's. the foundation already raise $72,000 and baker plans to work to raise more money. >> i want to make sure that other families, one, don't have to go through this, which is why we're going to try to find a through those going it, let them know there's places

they can seek help. >> the fndation will provide money for research and alzheimer's awareness. baker's last date in august is decemberrd 3. >> he's had a very life in politics but such aed dev husband. it's incredible. >> nice to see. still ahead, a major food recall just days before thanksgiving. >> plus this week we're getting you ready f black friday shopping. how to maximize the deals before you even get to the store. >> and good morning, everybody. the temperature trend is downward spiral. could be our coldest thanksgiving since 1996. that sounds cold. wh about the weekend and rain chces? all ofan t

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>> thanksgiving is two days awa and grocery stores are packed. >> from now until after thanksgiving, it doesn't matatr ime of day. it will be crowded. >> you have some options. if you can, order online and get that oer soon because time

slots are filling up quickly.lf se-check out may be a good >>tion if you have 20 items or fewer. ou're right. go into thosery gro stores. > an important recall to pass along for you. nearly 100,000 pounds of ground beef are being taken off of storeshelves. the products are from the beef company. what's in a name. it was shipped to five different states. you may be used to a big turkey onsg thanking on your dinner table, butow there's a new trend. a new report finds that tiny turkeys areti g more popular. companies like butterball offer

smaller turkey options. some weigh only 6 pounds. the ris in single person households and smaller families could be motivating people to buy smaller birds. >> some people t think theyte better and would rather have more small birds vsus one big turkey. >> thanksgiving dosner will you a littleless this year. in fact, the average price of this year's feast hasn't cost this ltle in 8 years. average, families will pay just over $48 because of a price drop in turkey. the price is so low, experts suggest stocking up. >> if you have the room, the freezer room, because you can just put them and storehem for later and at 39 cents a pound or whatever, that's a rlly good deal. >> although you know after several days of eating turkey, you can't look at it anymore. experts also suggest shopping with friends and family to save even more onbu . >> we want to take the

opportunity to thank everyone that contributed to our food for families drive. so far, you helped us raise $66,000 for our campandn a it's not over yet.ti you can s help us with our goal of serving up more than 4,00 turkey baskets this holiday. be sure to visit the nbc washington app to make a secure tax-deductible donation through sunday. if you didn't have time to make it out there, you still have time. chuck went out there. >> i was there. i talked to pat on the 5:00 news yesterday. don't you feed those dogs? look how skinny they are? >> these dogs are living on the gravy train. although very little people food. all right. so it' that time. time -- >> he gives his dog milk bones. >> maybe i misheard you. >> come on, now,

>> i have tasted it before. >> that's what you do when your 9 years old. i didn't do it yesterday. well, i may haveasted it. well, high pressure and a big area of high pressure at that is going to keep a huge piece of the u.s. quite for thanksgiving even travellers. this is good news for everybody. a little unsettled across the gulf coast and a couple of snow showers, but n thewhole, this is pretty quite weather. first thing this morning, a lot ouds, just a couple of rain just a few sprinkles around. that's all we're going to be left with this morning and, th what little sprinkle opportunity there is will be gone between now and 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning. it will become a partly to mostly sunny afternoon but very blusteund here. temperatures are about as mild now as all day. we'r t in the mid upper 40s. we'll inch our way into the low

50s b noontim and then a gusty northwest wind blows cooler fir tomorrow and a reinforcing shot of cold air arrives jt in time for thanksgiving. probably going to be our coldest thanksgiving since 1996er you in grade school at the time. >> i wasn't even born yet. what are you talking about? grade school. i wasn't even born yet. >> all traffic is stopped in th rmontht now. southbound lanes are getting by. outer loop here before little river turnpike, right lane is gettingby. that work zone, we saw the delays yesterday. district heights, inner loop after pennsylvania avenue, blocked by the work zone and greenbelt right lane blocked there as well. >> melissa, thank you. it's 4:20ight now. coming up, making the most out ofhe black friday deals before thanksgiving dinner. >> later today on ellen, michael

b. jordan stops by. he's hanging out with ellen and guest co-host chrissy

>> experts say men are bmoing for themselves. >> one for you, one for me. >> the surve was conducted by a retail company. >> i have my >> i'm sure. >> spending a lot ofne >> black friday is just a few days away now, but some of you may prefer topend your day at home and not dealro with cwded malls. >> susan is working with you on tips on how to get the most out of the deals before they're gone. >> black friday deals don't end on friday. veey will last long after your leftrs are gone. >> you've seen the chaos. you were even apart of it. but do you have to do this to get this? >> the answer is no, no, no. >> to score a deal, you don't have to go far.

>> great news isr that num one, you'll find all the deals online too, so don't worry. and number two, the deals are going to last all weekend long. >> retail me not anticipates the $800ge american will spend on black friday deals alone. but top items we're expected to spend our money on. >> electronic apparel, laptops, those are all coming in number 1, 2, and >> while it's hard not to get so caught up in the craziness of black friday deals, take a deep brth. do your homework, and most importantly make a list and stick to it. you have time. on yr nbc washington app, just search black friday. w

we'reking for you to help you around the turkey -- the traffic before the turkey. >> yeah. chuck. >> black friday shopping, if you're going to be going out shopping early on black friday morning to do some shopping, make sure that you have that winter coaton. temperatures will be down in the 20s. that's around town. most of the suburbs will be in the teens on friday morning. coming up in the next half hour, ten day forecast and how long this chill is going to hang around. still ahead, a closer look at the live animal that one woman found in her carry out order. found in her carry out order. oh my (alex trebek) $8,000. now, why is this number so important? e $8,508 is the average cost of a funeral.

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thim is the c before the storm, my friend. we're not talking about the weather, though i traffi going to be a mess. going to cause a bit of chaos today. especially during commutes. we're working with you for the

warnings that you're going to have. first,torm tea 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with your getaway forecast. how is it looking? >> it's looking good. traffic.nt to avoid don't get on the road and don't go to the airport. as long as you can avoid driving or getting to an airport, it's going to be fine. >> a couple of rain drops here.a ew more drops on the west virginia-virginia border but it's not a big rain chance for you today. a couple of early morning sprinkles. temperatures are in the 40s, so it's not cold this morning. a very blustery afternoon. afternoon highs in the low and mid 50s it will take a little bit of the joy out of that. car washing forecast, you bet you. after these sprinkles are gone. the next chance for rain comes up on saturday. few.about that in a now let's go to melissa. >> good morning. road work here in