t> if you made it home from your thanksgivinp on time, count yourself lucky. from the airports to the rails to theroads, people were stuck for hours. we have updates on all the mishaps, some that are still causing problems. >> and this rotn causing a of problems out there. it's starting to lift out of our massiveight now, but problems going up through the new england area. we'll talk about exactly when this rain ends and how cold it's it.g to get after and part of the u.s. border closed after u.s. authorities used tear gas on hundreds of migrets. we'll h the latest on

president trump's advice for mexico this morning. good morning, everyone and welcome to news 4 midday. i'm eun yang. we begin this morning with the weather. it's another gray and rainy monday and we're not seeing the downpours we saw this weekend, but we have had so much rain this month and this year, it is hard to be happybout anymore wet weather. storm team 4 meteorologist lauryn ricketts joins us now. all right, lauryn, is this rain going to last all day? >> no, hey, i think it' h gettig out e right now. we'll keep a chance for someer sh eun, until the early afternoon but a lot of this is here. right on out you can see the heaviest rain falling from baltimore, from philadelphia down through baltimore and t d.c. area and into fredericksburg. seeing some drying conditions back off to the west. and i think that's going to be the trend as we continue into the afternoon. oh, look at this. that's one of our tower cameras here behind my graphic. not a good view, is it?

temperatures at 50 degree right listen, despite the rain, we're still going to have those temperatures move right on up into the low 50s. we will become breezy later on tonight. l talk about the timing of this rain and show you just how cold it's going to get with these windchills, a shock to the stem coming our way. that's coming up in 15 minutes. >> thank you, lauryn. > the same system bringing us rain is dumping snow in parts of the midwest. take a loo at this missouri's governor declared a state of emergency and closed part of a major interstate. in colorado, more than 3 feet of snow in fell some of the state's mountain communities. in wyoming, people are dealing with more than 40 inches of snow and in chicago, the storm forced the cancellation of 800 flights at chicago/o'hare international. and travelers in and out of our airports are feeling the effects of thattorm system. according to flight aware, there are eight cancellations at bwi marshall airport. reagan national has 17 caellations and washingto dulles international airport has five canceled flights.

be sure to check on yourbe flig re heading to the aurirport today. and just getting to reagan international airport was a problem theis weekend and it ha nothing to do with those stormsh construction o lower level of the airport forced all cars on to the upper level last night. the area was packed with people coming and going home, following the thanksgiving holiday. >> i'm so frustrated. yeah. yeah, it's -- it's so bad. i an, i don't know what's going on about thetraffic. but i never seen it like this. >> manyng pass tried to takingll of that mess by metro. a lot of cars there. amtrak also had some major problems lea passengers stuck for more than five hours. a train coming tooston from washington became stuck in queens, new york. amtrak says debris caused damage to theer overhead p line along the way. the train sat on the tracks while crews tried to make repairs from about 10:00 a.m.

unl shortly after 3:00 p.m. passengers complained the toilets were not flushing t througho delay and the train was due in boston at 1:35 p.m.. it reached its destination by 8:30. that is quite a delay. well, here is yet another thing that slowed down travlers. a chemieak forced the closure of the delaware memorial bridge. we're told it was a highly flammable gas that leaked from a nearby chemical riant. thee connects delaware and new jersey. the traffic authority was able to open the bridge early this morning. it was closed for six hours, causing huge trafficbackups. back here in our area, bridge work will mean bigge ch for metro riders. w crewsill be doing repairs on the bridges thatve cross the potomac and that means no yellow line trains. instead, blue line trains will alternate, traveling to the op yellow line news 4's justin finch is live at east potomac park with a closer tok at how lons will be going on. justin?

>> reporter: hey, n,there, that's right. if everything goes as planned during today's rain and more c rain te does not get in the way of their plans, we should see that yellow line service back on track by december 9th. that's going to be a sunday. the bridge i i question just behind me here. and we do have an upper look, a bird's eye view, if you will, of where those rews areworking, just in front of us here. they have their gear out and their crews have been there, ready to go. with this change happening today, we've got 13 more days. we have seen that metro and riders are going to have some time gettingsed to all of this. for many, snapping backnto the workweek is already hard enough, let along after thanksgiving. a it is, after a long -- coming off of long weekend, yes, it is. >> reporter: now, fold in this. yellow line train service shut f down two weeks beginning today. and shuttle busesarrying crowds between stops. so crews can make structural and track repairs on this yellow line bridge span over the

potomac. we saworkers in heavyear out and ready to go. to get around d.c. and virginia, riders will have the blue line, though passengers may see longer wait times, lines, and crowded cars. rush hour could be acr unch, too, when service is expecte to fall to half capacity getting around the district, though, may be a bit easier. riders can use the green line to make their stops on the yellow line, but -- >> it was real crowded. >> how long did you >> um, i waited for about five or ten minutes? >> was it tight in there? fine., it was >> mixed experiences so far, but it's just day one of week one. soor these t weeks, metro is asking riders to build in extra travel time and maybe a bit ofce pati and online, we have seen some complaints about those shuttle buses not being on time, not getting to the stop in time to catch the train. so not a faywless first here, but metro says, this is going to be their final capital

project of 2018. of course, more to come next year, as the agency works to continue to improve its services. we do have more on shuttle buses and other workarounds on our nbc washington app. just search for metro. we're live at east potomac park, i'm justin finch, news 4. yo, back to >> justin, thank you. today, there will be a bond review hearing for four local high school football players charged in a hazing case. the players are 15-year-old students at damascus high school. they allegedly raped several teammates on the jv football team. police say they assaulted their temates in the locker room with a broomstick in what is said tgbe a hazin ritual. the teens have been crged as adults with first-degree rape. a fifth student has been charged a as a juvenile. settoday, jury selection is to begin in the murder trial f the man accused of ramming a car into a crowd of people at the violent unite the right rally ir ttesville last year. investigators say james alex fields jr. was one of the white

nationalists ptesting the removal of a statue of conferate general robert e. lee. police say that afternoon, fields rammed his car into a crowd of counter-prrs counter-p killed 33-year-oldhe heather r. keep an eye on the nbc washington app for updates from the courtroom. we have new details in thed h of a virginia police officer killed in the line of duty w winchester police officer hunter edwards crashed his cruiser saturday night. he was responding to a 911 call for a fight. the city of winchesterth tweete picture, showing fellow officers saluting edwards' casket yeerday. his cruiser is draped with black bunting and on display so mourners can leave tributes. virginia governor ralph northam has ordered the u.s. and virginia flags throughout the commonwealth be lowered to half-staff on the day officer buried.is a new investigation into the

safety of some medical devices. we'llook at device designed to control back pain. nearly 60,000 americans use it, but is it safe? plus, predent trump lling on mexico again this morning to do something about migrants at the u.s. border. this after a confrontation between the group d u.s. auanth waiting for a liver transplant..

will die waiting. don't wait. find out about living-donor liver transplants at upmc today. living-donor liver transplants mean less waiting and better outcomes. upmc is the nation's leader in living-donor liver transplants. so, why wait for a liver transplant? call upmc today. upmc. life changing medicine the united nations' security

council is holdien an eme meeting today to discuss the rising tensions between russia and ukraine. yesterday, russia fired on and seized three ukrainian naval ships and several sailors in the black sea.in uks president is demanding that russia release its sailors and ships. the two nationsdave trade blame over the incident. russia says it was forced to act because ukraine illegally entered its territoal waters. and there is growing tensions at the u.s./mexico border after hundreds of migrants tried to storm through a fence near san diego. respondedorder agents with tear gas. president donald trump sent out this tweet this morning, saying, quote, mexico should move the flag waving miants, many of whom are stone cold criminals, back to their countries. do it by plane, do i by bus, do it anyway you want, but they are not coming into the usa. nbc newsse white h correspondent kristen welker has the latest on this story. >> reporter: on aysu the trump administration closed the

san ysidro port of entry between san diego and tijuana for a period of time, citing large numbers of migrants, some of whom tried to breac the fence while others threw projectiles. in response b u.s.der patrol officers fired tear gas canisters at some of the migrants. dhs secretary kirstjen nielsen writin dhs will not tolerate this type of lawlessness. hans nichols wna in tijua when migrants stormed the border. >> there are houchundreds of migrants here who haveft their camp and are trying to make it towards the border, towards an officiaoint of entry. but stopping them, mexican police here, who are going to g their them from reach goal. >> reporter: this all comes after the president tweeted sunday, "would be very senatma mexico would stop the caravans long before they got to our southern bordru." the administration is in talks with mexico, according to administration officials, to allow migrants applying for asylum in the united states to n ren mexico while they wait for a decision.

>> if we don't have borders, we don't have a country. >> reporter: over the weekend, the president indicated the new asylum policy is a done deal, tweeting, "migrants at the southern border will not be allowed into the united states until their claims are individuallypproved in court." but a top mexican official ntradicted the president, saying no agreement had been reached. also threatened to close the entire u.s. border if the situation worsens. >> that was nbc's kristen welket ing. today, president p'tr former campaign foreign policy adviser george papadopoulos will head to prison. he begins his two we-week sente. last year, hey pled guilt to lying to federal agents about his interactions with russian officials. officials in alexandria givd their rent in the area won't skyrocket that much men amazon moves into crystal city, even though rent in seattle where amazon has ties sharply increased. according to our media partner, wtop,ay officials there will be plenty of housing options

planned for that area. and virginia state officialsnire pl several resources, such as loans, to help boost affordable housing. uaedical marij is prove m become a much bigger business inyland than predicted. in the first nine months of legal sales, medical marijuana sale totaled $67 million. a market research firm predicted sales would reach $46 million the first year. lready passed ve that number, the predictions a e being recakacalculat.recalculatd now medical marijuana sales in maryland are expected to hit $100 million in december. in an effort to put a dent in the country's opioid crisis, there is a new push at devices aimed at controlling back pain, but are they safe and have they beenufficiently tested? nbc's stephanie gosk looks into it further. >> a hollywood stunt man left pete korby with debilitating chronic pain.

>> i had to keep a flask of jack daniels and a packetf oxy to keep me going. >> reporter: but today korby can tend t h hisses thanks to a spinal device called a spinal cord simulator. >> it literally saved my life. >> reporter: the device is surgically implanted under the skin and m sends ad current to the spinal cord to relieve chronic plain. spinal cord stimulators are being touted as a se non-opioid option for certain patients. >> it just kept pushing it. you know what i mean? >> reporter: jim taftig had h hopes when he met representatives from a company that manufactures the device at a doctor's visit. >> you're going to see a dramatic decrease in your pain medicine. and i was like, that's great. >> reporter: but it didn't work out that way, he says. >> it was the sensation of beg electrocuted. it was very painful. >> reporter: and, he says, it left him worse off than before. >> i walked with cane before this. i was able to go do things.

and now i'm stuck in a bed. >> reporter: an nbc news investigation in partnership with the associated press found more than 80,000 spinal cord stimulator injury reports filed with the fda over the last decade. the third highest of any medical device category on the market. the reports include device malfunctions, shocks, infections, and in rare case paralysis. advocates say the approval process for devices should be much more rigorous. >> i think most americans assume, if fda aprovproves it, s work.n to >> but that's not always the case. >> it is not always the case. and too often with medical devices, we don't knowkshether it w or not. >> reporter: the fda says injury reports are not a reliable source of data and conclusions about a device's safety or role in an adverse event cannot be drawn from the data alone. and that spinal cord stimulators go through the most rigorous devicees approval pr in terms of human testing, fda

approval for jim taft's device was based on one new clinical study, in which 26 patients thatthat had the device implanted. it also included aeview of existing studies. >> there isn't much really good information in the medical literature to tell us which patients in particular the device is likely to be helpful in. >> boston sentific manufactured taft's device and told nbc news that the technology has been used for over 40 years and has helped hundreds of thousands of people. according to its internal quality asrssment, ove 95% of the injury reports were temporary or reversible. but that is cold comfort for jim taft. >> had i known wt i know now out it, i wouldn't have had one put in. >> reporter: stephaniegosk, nbc news, washington. dictionary.com is o with the word of the year. the pick was a part of many

political conversations in 2018. and for seven tense minutes today, nasa scientists will be watching and hoping for a safe hending on mars. what happens after lding an

♪ ♪ if it feels like you live in the bathroom with recurring constipation and belly pain, talk to your doctor and say yesss! to linzess. yesss! linzess treats adults with ibs with constipation or chronic constipation. linzess can help relieve your belly pain, and lets you have more frequent and complete bowel movements. linzess is not a laxative. it helps you get ahead of your recurring constipation. do not give linzess to children less than 6 and it should not be given to children 6 to less than 18,

it may harm them. do not take linzess if you have a bowel blockage. get immediate help if you develop unusual or severe stomach pain, especially with bloody or black stools. the most common side effect is diarrhea, sometimes severe. if it's severe, stop taking linzess and call your doctor right away. other side effects include gas, stomach-area pain, and swelling. so say yesss! to help for recurring constipation. yesss! to help for belly pain. talk to your doctor and say yesss! linzess. we have ann update oe deadly camp fire in northern california. it is now fully contained. this is video showing the destruction left behind by the

fire. less than a month, it destroyed more than 13,000 homes an kled at least 85 people. nearly 300 people are still unaccounted for this morning and the butte county sheriff's ins of some the re of the missing may never be recovered due to the serity of the fire. very sad. an earthquake rocked sending dozens of people to the iranian authorities say the number injured is now more than 700. no deaths have been reported so far. a 6.3 quake hit the western part of the country yesterday. this tremor hit near the same place where another earthquake killed more than 600 people last year. happeni today, a major accomplishment in space. a nasa spacecraft is expected to make touchdown on mars. the insight lande will arrive on the red planet later today. it is desigd to explore mars' surface and core for the first time ever. back in craft launched

may and is the first to make a mars landing since the iuriosity rove 2012. you can watch the landing online this afternoon starting at 2:00. yobeknow it's going t cool, and all the data that it brings back wl be even cooler. >> i know, water evidence and all that kind of stuff. team might have to take a trip or something to go check it out. >> it's exciting. that's going to be awome. >> look at this! look at this -- >> i can't see anything. >> what is this mess? >> it's gross outside! an saturday w gross, too. i thought it was a nightmare. but not the heavy rain that we'r seeing -- that we saw on saturday. definitely not seeing that out there today. light seeing tho showers, though, still. however, i have an update on the timing. go ahead and get to the maps and show you guys what's gog on out there. sten, we do not have any rain after we go through the next couple of days. so tuesda wednesday, thursday, we are looking dry. but we do have rain as we get into your friday and saturday. so we will have some rain moving into the region, as we get into your friday and your saturday. and it looks like small chances

friday and slightly better chance on sunday. and if we had to take this graphic out one mor day, sunday does look like the wetter two of unfortunately. so again, tuesday, wednesday, thursday,ee will be on destroy side, thank goodness. we have that rain pushing through the area. this looks like the last little bout. i'll keep the chanceor some showers, some hotel edisolated f all o this more moderate, steady rain is pushing to the north and east and not too muc behind it widen out this view. you can see a few showers. a lot are dyi out around the appalachian mountains. we'll keep the chance for some showers. definitely foggy and cloudy through the afternoon. tlot of that will move on out of here throughou early portion of the afternoon. i think by 5:00, most of us will be dr keeping a chance of a shower here or there as we go into the early g. but then we dry out and get windy as we head through the ternoon and into the evening. a little breezy out there right now. it's cooler. temperatures in the 40s. weade it up to right around 51

degrees today. winds will pick up and again, it is going to be fairly brisk. tonight, it's going to be blustery tomorrow morning and blustery through your wednesday. the winds wil start to die down a little bit on thursday, but we could have wind gusts up to 30 so again, it is going to be on the blustery side over the next daseveral . 45 degrees tomorrow, and the with winds, windchills in the 30s. that is it. windchills in the 20s on wednesday and the wind starts to die down a little bit on thursday. we'll talk about that week more in detail, that's coming up on that ten-day forecast in just about ten minutes. lauren. you, prince harry and his wife, eeghan, are moving to the suburbs ahead of birth of their first child. officials say the couple is moving from kensingto palace in central london to frogmore cottage, a house on the grounds of windsor castle. nbc'soreir simmons from london. >> reporter: rumors of ttwsion beeen harry and meghan, william and kate, bursting into the open. britain'"sun" newspaper

talking about a growing rift, the "daily mail" referring to unease between their wiveeg >> i think mn and kate are two very different women. they're in pa similar role in the royal, but very different characters. >> the palace's announcement that the princes, their wives and children will live an hour's drive apart, saying simply, the duke andf duchess sussex will move to frogmore cottage in the windsor estate early next year as they prepare for the arrival of their first child. frogmore cottage is a large home, and while in need of renovation, it's close to the chapel they were married. and there's space for memoan's er, doria. but some reports say a lart apartmen was available at kensington palace, where william will still live and where, father-to-be harry spent his own childhood wit diana. her loss forging the boys' close bond. and last month it was reported th at toperations. >> i think the fact william

and harry are considering going their separate ways, officially, with separate households is just a sign of the different directns they're going in their lives. lliam, of course, i going to be king one day. it seems like sort of natural timing. >> and that was keir simmons reporting. many of you f decorat the holidays this weekend. did you know what kind of lights you putou on tree? the answer is important when it comes to safety. and many of us watch ur calories, but some people are taking that a step further. a look at how drastic cuts ce ld help you lnger.iv>>

the family of a man mistakenly shot and killed by alabama police is calling on the department to release all videos of the shooting. the shooting happened on thanksgiving, dinghe pre-black friday rush in a mall just outside of birmingham. officersal ini thought 21-year-old e.j. bradford jr. fired shots that injured twoor during someof fight at the mall, but after further investigation, the hoover police department announced bradford was not the shoote but may have been involved in the alter indication. this morning, arbradford'sts say the department rushed to judgment in the shooting. >> they basically sai he was walking around the mall, waving a gun, trying to escape. that wasn't my child. >> the family says they learned

about bradford's death on social media. if you're insd bet today and hear some irons and muffled explosions, don't be alarmed pb it is part of construction for ryland's purple line. the blast will loosen and remove rocks. they'll start throughout the day at wisconsin avenue and elm street. each exp sion is expected to last only a few seconds, but it may be felt arby and cause metro trains in the area to stop momentarily. the 16-mile purple line is expected to open in 2022. well, you may not go all out, but chances are you plan to hang some holiday lights in your home or outside. keep in mind c some of them be hazardous. consumer report's susan hogan is working 4 you with some tips to stay safe. >> reporter: if you're still using the same holiday lights from years ago, they're probably incandescent. and that means it's a good idea to check them for safety. >> you should check the wires and see if there's anything frayed, if anything's broken, make sure the plug's still in

good condition. >> reporter: and make sure wire is pliable, not brittle. if some bulbs are out, consumer reports says it's safe to replace them, but what if the lights just don't work? >> throw them away. you can't repair them. they can causefire. >> reporter: that's one reason jeff staples only uses l.e.d. lights for his holiday display. >> they're much less problematic. the bulbs are solid, so they dent break. >> reporter: jeff has been installing elaborate displays, music included, for the past fiveyears. he programs the display through his computer. >> i really enjoy it. i'm outlining the perimeter of my house and putting up six 3-foot snowflakes. >> reporter: even though he's spent about $6,000 on the lights alone,e says, you can't beat their efficiency. >> i can run the whole display for lesshan the cost of running a refrigerator. >> reporter: and consumer reports says they can last for a long time, something jeff is counting on. >> the excitement of being able to interact with the maybe they can program their own

displays. >> and one more thing about safety. if you're still usi incandescent lights like i am, is is something new that i didn't know, the more you string them together, the more of a poweroverload you can actually create, so just be careful and aware of that. this is a scam you are going to want to steer clear of this holiday season. the secret sister exchange isok back on facethissie ierthis yea. it promises you will get 3 gifts in exchange for buying one by recruiting others to particate in this gift exchange. the better business bureau says it's actually a pyramid scheme. these exchanges are illegal mbling and participants could be subject to mail fraud penalties. if you receive an invitation, ignore it and report it to facebook. ur> the ay of news and media has been under intense scrutiny in 2018, so i might not come as a shock that dictionary.com's word of the year is "misinformation." it means, quote, false inrmation that is spread

regardle of whether there is intent to mislead. the company says it was part of many political conversations this year. the word choice was a call to action against fake news and daerous conspiracy theories. as the gluttony of thanksgiving wears off, you might want to consider the lengths to which some people are eyie as f.of thoseou calorie-restricted diet is the key to living longer,ealthier lives. nbc's kathy park looks at the science behind it. >> reporter: at this dinne party in san francisco, the guests believe eating less helps you liv longer. >> some people have more hunger and some people have less. and you do ado just get u to it after you've been doing this for a period of time. >> reporter: michael ray calls himself aalie restriction practitioner, devoted to the diet for 19 years. >> sok take me b when you initially got started. what was it like for you? >> it was amazing when i first got because you got this just

complete euphoric rush out of doing it. >> reporter: it takes cutting calories to the extreme. in some cases, up to 50% less than the recommended 2,800 a day for active men, 2,200 forn. wome >> it's just a matter of making the math work. >> reporter: but does it add up? >> aging is inevitable, but h age is not inevitable. >> reporter: university of wisconsin researcher dr.sa nd anderson says long-term landmark studies with monkeys show calorie restriction can extend life and delay diseases, like diabetes and canc. >> w, the interesting thing about monkeys is that they age in a very similar way to humans. >> reporter: almost 30 years after the 1989 study, manyth of e animals have passed their average life expectancy. >> you can see even byking at them, their skin tone, muscle tone, luxurious hair. they really are more healthful than the control animals. >> reporter: at 48, michael says he's in amazing health, but some medical experts believe the practice also serves upef side

cts like dizziness and exhaustion. >> we are the study. we are the people doing this experiment. and we don't have the evidence to say it's going tork wo. >> reporter: back at dinner, they're planning every meal with precision. >> so it's basically rice and beans. >> it looks like a big power >> ye .r. >> reporter: cooking to make each calorie count now, so they see the gains in lif later. kathy park, nbc news, san francisc >> seems pretty extreme. well, it is another rainy monday coming up. lauren lets us know whether more rain is on the workweek forecast. and a look inside the white house today t see this year's holiday decorations. here's a live look outside.

take a look at ththis. halls decked for christmas at the white house. first lady melania trump posted this video to her twitter this morning. you can see all of the decorated trees and wreaths and garlands. completing this 's theme of american treasures, the gold star family tree returned to the

east wing this year and it was decorated by gold star families. also this year, the white house invited local musicians, including high school bands, choirs, and christmas-themed entertairs to help decorate. and from the people's house to the people's tree. take a look atthis, the u.s. capitol tree was delivered this morning. the 80-foot-long nle fir tree is from the willamette forest. >> we've had so much rain, i'm hoping it doesn't f rain these outdoor ceremonies. >> i meant to ask you did the -- >> lauryn, it was pouring at center city d.c. zp >> she did the chrisas lighting at center city

christmas. >> it was pouring. i want to give a shout-out to all the people still came with umbrellas and they wanted to celebrate the season. and it started clearing out when i started doing the countdown. >> and it wasclose. by 7:00, it was out of here. >> what can you do? we can't control the weather. >> we can't do that. i was going to say, at least it's not snowing, but it's not christmas. no snow in the forecast just yet, but we have plenty of rain to go around. if you didn't g your decorating done this weekend, i've got to tell you. i was saying this over the weekend, we look like we have more rain next weekend. so you may have to wait a little bit and put a hold on to those decorating -- decorating your house,ecorating thetree. it's going to be a little on the rainy side as we head into this upcoming weekend. r definitening out there today, and chilly, as well. those temperatures are in the 40s to rightround 50. it's definitely going to be cold, tuesday, wednesday, thursday. it will be dry, but it's going to be windy and blustery. here's the system right now.

here's an area of low pressure. it's transferring a lot of its energy off the coast of jersey. and it's going done to push to the north. look at this. most of this rain is ending right now. e for somea cha showers into the early afternoon, but a lot of that heavy rain is now pushing right out of the d.c. area, pushing up towards baltimore and philly. and we'll start drying out with the exception of a few showers re and ere. don't expect any shine out there today, though. , here as the outlook go you go. we can see that rain pushing out of here by 2:00, we're dry. here's shower, an isolated shower, at best. but then we'll have some clearing as w continu into the overnight. of course, that sun goes down now just about 10 minutes until 5:00. current temperatures out there, we're back up to 50 degrees i washington. we'll be on one side or the other of that 50-degree mark. as far ashat we're looking at for the next several days, we've got sunshine, tuesday, th wednesday, sday. windchills, though, this time for the next three days, 20snd 30 winds will start to settle down on thursday. now, friday, we have a small chance of rain. i'm not convinced that we're

gog to have rain on saturday. we've put a chance in there, but p-flopping back and forth. and we have better chances of rain as we head into the weekend. >> all right, lauryn, thank you. don't like those windchills in this cold weather. cyber monday deals, we'll look at top picks from big retailers including target, you're still out there chasing what matters. at innovation health, a partnership between inova and aetna, we're committed to whtaking care of the ole you. with medicare advantage plans that offer benefits like health coaching and fitness memberships. plus hospital, medical ande prescription drug coverage in one simple plan. with $0 monthly plan premiums. $0 annual medical deductibles. and $0 copays on ninety-day tier 1 mail-order drugs. plus access to doctors and spitals you know and trust, like inova.

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now that we've feasted on our thanksgiving s,me we can focus on the next round of eating. many families incde baking cookies as their holiday tradition. joining me now is chef hosting a cookin a class the restaurant next sunday, all about cookies, ich is very exciting for me. what kind of cookies are the best for the holidays, do you think? >> i think for the holidays,eo usuallye like to do a cookie display. i think the key is to have a variety. something light a crispy like these meringues, something rich like a chocolate chip cookie, and whatever nostalgic flavors know, ymily likes, you can really do whatever you want, just a variety. >> so you're going to show me today how to make these peppermintmeringues, right? >> yes. >> this seems very intimidating. walk me through how to make these guys. >> a meringue is a very basic pastry, it's the base of a lot of pastries and you can do little cookies like i have today. i just have three egg whites and have a cup of sugar and 6 tablespoons of powdered sugar. >> need both types of sugar.

>> and i recommend either havi a hand mixer or a stand mixer. this is a lot to do by hand. it would be a real workout. you've got to get it real foamy. >> yeah. you can do me a favor and put the sugar in while i start. that's the key. >> is that good? >> yeah. >> is that enough? more sugar? >> you can go t the wholeng if key is, it's going to take a while. so you just mix it until you have a nice fluffy texture. what we like to call stiff peaks. th means it'soing to hold its shape. >> so would you put the powdered sugar in there a well >> that's going to be at the very end. you want to let the egg whites start and gradually add your sgar, powderedar right at the end sf. >> and thiis whatou should have. nice and stiff peaks. shape.holds its so when we pipe it, add a little bit of ppermint extract. remember, a dab will do you. >> too much will mak it really strong. >> we did maybe a quarter teaspoon here. >> that's a little bit?

>> yeah. >> so rememberou can always add more, you can't take away. so to get this fun design,ok he finished product and split it in two. i'll add a little bit of food coloring, not too much, or that's going to get in the way when you're baking >>it. o you have to bake these afterwar afte.ards? >> ye >> there's that crucial step? 20 we'll bake it in a very low oven, about degrees or 180 and just go until they're dry. we'll pipe them on to a sheet ready, ywhen they're should be able to just peel them off. >> the key is not to overcook these meringues, right? >> right, right. soe ve this nice white color. i took a piping back with the tip. if you don't have piping bags at home, you can just use ya ziplo bag and cut the corner. i did to different colors and put them in at the same time. >> so phe one is justin and the red food coloring, for just one of the different -- >> right. and that's going to do a nice

little design. >> so show me how you pipe these on to thething. never turns out right when i do that. >> for a little extratexture, i took ground up starlight mints. a little ppmint. >> probably have them around the house. >> so i take the piping bag and the key is to squeeze -- not from your fingers, from like the palm of your hand. so straight up, squeeze, stop, and get your little tip. >> you're a pro. very pretty. >> yep. >> and just bake it for how long again? >> ot just depen kind of the day and your oven. so i would start at 200 degrees, check on them, make sure they're dry on the outside. of course! if they're taking a long time and maybe you'reoing to get color, turn the oven off and just leave them in there untile theydry. they're as beautiful as they're delicious. thank you so much. your class sunday, december 9th.

>> that's rrect and we'll b doing a lot of italian christmas cookies. >> thank you so much! it is cyber monda and many of you will work while you shop. a survey from robert haftnd technology f64% of professionals pla to look at online sales today at the office. for many retailers, today's deals are just a continuation of black frida sales. here's more now from nbc's jo ling kent. >> this morning, cyber monday is already off to a roaring start. today maybe the biggest online shopping day in u.s. history, as consumers are expted to shell out $7.8 billion in just 24 hours. so where are the best cyber monday deals? on zmamazon, up to 50 off lands end clothing. walmart hocking $150 off treadmill and target knocking $250 off the irobot roomba 960. another hot category, toys. lol surprise, fibyerlings, and

alive are already some of the season's hottest dpifgi online. and with more online purchases come more home deliveries and demand for free shipping. u.p.s. is bracing for almostmi 0 llion packages at the peak of thas , double their usual shipment. >> release the brake 3ls. >> and they're training scores of new drivers to get up to speed. >> we want to make sure they're addressing any of our customers, need they understand we need to deliver our customers' packages on time.>> eporter: as online retailers try to convince shoppers, there's no time like the present. r: of course, none of those good deals on cyber monday not making if you're payments securely and shopping safely. the fbi putting out a tweet last night with some tips o how t protect yourself. you want to make sure that your antivirus software is updated, that your operating system is also updated, shop on the official websites of the stores and sites that you want to be buying from, and of course, make sure you're making that payment on a secure and safe and private wi-fi network. jolee ling kent, nbc news, east

vale, california. coming up, mt a woman hoping to send a message by swimming hundreds of miles in ve

ow breaking news from general motors. the largest u.s. automaker is set todu cut pion at factories in michigan, ohio, maryland, and canada and slash 15% of its salaried workforce.

maryland's plant is located in white mah. theayoffs will amount to more than 14,000 factory and whiteco ar workers. a swimmer in england with a powerful environmental message raising awareness about plastic rivers n in the earth' and oceans. but she does it all dressed as e aid. nbc's sarah harmon has the story. >> reporter: something stirring in the thames. a flash of tail, but it's not a shark or even a fish. it's a mermaid. that mermaid is lindsay cole, swimming 120 miles down the thames on a personal anti-plastic campaign. this is how an urban mermaid gets ready for work. >> so we've got te, wet suits. >> two wet suits, because it is really cold. >> would you like me to zip you> hen i put the tail on.

ohh! >> i'm feeling quite guil s, because iting here in a puffer coat, i'm cold. your lips are a lite bit blue. how cold is it in the wate >> it's pretty cold. i' not going tolie. the first week was really hard. >> reporter: 21 days, 4 hours a day, in november. artist barbara trails her in a canoe, along ithsamantha, the trash shelpture. >> s hollow with the concept th anwe'd fill her with all them ru w we need to fill ter. >> r the thames is also considered quite clean as far as ban rivers goes. >> we've got hephones, cups, tennis balls, helium balloon. this foam board is literally going to go to the sea. this will fill some whale up.

lindsay was inspired after cutting herself on aiece of plastic while free diving in indonesia,he same place where a sperm whale recently washed ashore, its stomach full of plastic. of t's so sad, it's 6 key lilos plastic in its belly, which is loads. >> reporter: along the way, they stopped to share their message with schoolkids. >> we want to save our mermaids and whales from gettinghoked on plastic, because it's just not necessary. >> reporter: the artist and the mermaid making a splash and hopefully a difference. sarah harmon, nbc news, london. >> wow. she has a message to send, for sure. i can't believe she's swimming in those cold waters. lauren rickets, talk about our cold weather. my goodness! >> it's chilly out there. ve got goose bumps right now, just thinking about how chilly shd must be. listen, it's going to be cold and wet when you walk outside today. but the good news is, a lot ofn this rai is ending. look at this right here. we're starting to dry out a pittle bit. i'm going to k a chance of a shower around. look at this, we may even get

some ftsunshine, even i just said, probably not going to see nunshine out there today. i wouldn't bet it, but we've got the clouds. look at this view out here. plenty of clouds, plenty of fog. the rain should be all out of here. even any light shower activity by 4:00 or 5:00. 50 degrees right now, continue to stay in theow 40s, upper 50s today, turning windy as we continue throughout the tuternoon. very windy, day, wednesday, thursday, windchills over the next couple of days will be in the 20s and0s. more rain possible saturday and sunday, better chances on sunday. >> all right, lauryn. thanks so much. that does it for "news 4 midday" anr today. so much for joining us. we are back on the air this afternoon first at 4:00 and you can get the news and weather anytime on the nbc washington app. we hope you have a great day and we'll see ta the morning. care.

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