good morning, everybody. it is 5:00 a.m. now. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. thanks for joining us on this thursday. before we getstarted, we want to let you knowan spotsy county schools are on a two-hour delay this morning. that area was hit hard with snow earlier this week. now we'rebo worried rain heading into the weekend. >> melissa mollet is keeping up with the early morning traffic cond >> but first, we begin with stor team 4 meteorologist chuckd bell a your forecast. what are you seeing? >> i see the last dry day for a wh ue coming for today. make the most of t everybody. there will be just enough sunshine today to bring temperatures close to 50 degrees. that's warmer than average. here's what you need to know about the forecast. it's nowhere near as cold this morning. you can leave the heavy winter parkas at home. today will be the last dry day until probably, you gssed it, monday of next week. rain moving in around lunchtime ow. off and on rain chances throughout the weekend.

i'll let you know when the o heaviethe rain is likely coming up. for now, it's a dry start and a chilly one this morning. 36 at dulles airport. 36 in columbia. 36 in gaithersburg. pretty much 3us about everywhere. no need for the wipers or ice scrapers today seat heaters set to low. temperatures will start in the mid-30s. we'll hit the mid-40s by midday and low 40s for the ride home from work and school later on this afternoon into this evening. sun's up at 7: 18. more about that rain moving in coming up in a few. good morning, melissa. >> good morning,ck c live look 95 at lorton road, everythioving along very normally for 5:00 a.m. inner loop, outer loop, same situation here. nice and green this morning. nothing to worry about on the beltway. same situation on 270. northbound, southbound looking quite good here. that earlier roadwork on the beltway and 270 is cleared out

of the way. through prince george's county, no worries. aaron? >> melissa, thank you. 5:02 right now. today metro leaders are set to square off on an issue that affects thousands of .criders. >> leaders want to go back to the old hours. justin, a lot of riders get stuck following nats games with earlier closing times. >> reporter: absolutely. here at ny yard, that's something we see yearer a year. of course, they'll also tackle other issues like the budget. however, a lot of eyes a ears will be watching and listening to see what happens with metro cea -- metro's schedwe. we k this is something they're especially interested in, seeing a return to these later hours with service closi at midnight during the week and 3:00 a.m. on weekends. we're expecting metro to push for at least another year

condensed hours to continue making repairs to services. however, this year coming, 2019 in july, is when service is s to g back to those longer hours. if this is passed today, this is what we will see as soon as july. this, of course, is among many issues the metro board is taking on. you can bet here in the navy yard area that people would not mind seeing a return to those longer hours. many say that ride sharing, taxis, uber,lyft r are costing them a lot on the weekends. >> justin, thank you. meanwhile, we're getting a closer look at new problems on metro's silver line. it's a story we've been folling on news 4. chopper flew ove the tracks to get a bird's eye view. we first reported aboutoncrete flaws along the second phase of this project. now we've learned hundreds of concrete rail ties could be

faulty. "the washington post" reports the ties could be out of alignment at key crossover s points. leady these kinds of problems do crop up, and they're addressing the issue. a montgomery county family is thankful their child is back home and safe afterours of panic. police say the child is autistic and possibly nonverbal. a montgomery county school bus picked up the student yesterday afternoon a rockville high school. the student was supposed to get off in silver spring. instead, the child was discovered on the bus at the inner harbor in baltimore. ichool ols are still trying to figure out how this happened. they say montgomery county schools do bus in some students from baltimore city. when the rockville student did not get off at the right stop, the bus continued on to baltimore. this morning, d.c. police ape searching for a man they say kidnapped and a woman at gunpoint. this is 29-year-old mark blue. police say he and nick savoie kidnapped a woman near the naler

road metro station n prince george's county earlier this month. they drove around for 45 minutes and sexually assaued her fore forcing her out of the car in d.c. savoie turned himself into police on tuesday. mark blue is still on the run. it's 5:05. we're following the latest in a federal civil lawsuit filedt agaihe prince george's county police department. 13 officers have sued the department on discrimination claims news 4's megan mcgrath is working for you on this story. what's going on here? >> reporter: well, 13 cur nt rsd former prince george's county police offire part of this lawsuit. we spoke to some of them about the allegations earlier this week. they say that female officers and officers of color face discrimination from the department's leadership in the form of transfers, unfair discipline between black and white ficers, and unfair termination. they are calling for change i the leadership. the officers allege that things are so bad that some on the

force don't even report wrongdoing done by white officers. fear of going back out there in patrol and not having backup because once you speak up, there is no backup. >> reporter: and it's a of the police department not to comment on pending litigation. county executive says she's not ead the lawsuit but will be looking into it and says that allegations of discrimination are taken very serious. back to you. >> megan mcgrath live in prince george's county. thank you. and happeningtoday, hyattsville's police department will swearn its new police chief. she's the first woman and first african-american to head the department. she previously served as a captain. it looks like voters will not get another chance to weigh in on how much tipped workers are paid in d.c. a judge ruled the ci's board of elections failed to properly

hearing e public of a last month. at that meeting, the board approved language for a proposed referendum and started collectingignatures in favor of another vote on initiative 77. you may remember voters approved that initiative, which raised the minimum wage for tipped workers, but counscilmembers later overturned it. >> the people of d.c. a being punished again. the voters oin d.c. are h their voices and signatures suppressed again because of an error that was out of our control. >> elizabeth ramirez sayshe and other supporters will continue fighting to increase the tipped minimum wage in d.c. five more cases of adenovirus have been reported at the university o maryland. the school plans to combat the problem by disinfecting all residence alls over the winter break. last month a student died from complications of the adenovirus.

for more information about the symptoms and the cases at the iversity of maryland, go to the nbc washington app and search virus. 5:08 right now. breaking news this morning. a deadly train crash in turkey.e chris lawres at the live desk with more. >> aaron, officials say nine people are dead and 40 to 50 others have been injured. take a look at tce crash in the capital of ankara. officials say a high-speed train was coming to a station when it hit a railway engine and then acrashed into pedestrian overpass. it's not clear if a signaling prlemaused that crash. a railway engineer was checkg e track when is the high-speed train slammed into it. at least two cars derailed. par parts of the overpass collapsed on to the train. they'rev also reportingal prosecutors have been assigned to find out what went wrong. >> all right, chris. thank you. coming up on nine after the hour. now to anupdate on the manhunt

for a terror suspect in france. we're learningew information about the suspected shooter who opened fire at a world famous christmas market. police say cherif chekatt is a career criminal born in france. he has 27 convictions for theft and violence. police say he became radicalized in prison and was on a terrorist watch list before tuesday's attack. two people died, and nine others were hurt when he opened fire in the strasbourg christmas investigators believe chekatt was inspired by isis but don't know if the group directed the attack. ia> today m butina is expected to plead guilty in a courtroom she's accused of infiltrating conservative based groups like thele national r association in order to bolster russian efforts in u.s. politics. butnia came to the u.s.16n on a student visa. president trump's former lawyer and fixer michael cohen will spend three years in prison. the sentence was handed down yesterday in new york.

cohen told the judge that he had a blind loyalty to trump and that loyalty led him to cover up the president's, quote, dirty deeds. the crimes include the inleglleh payment of h money to women, lying about the president's business dealingsh russia, and failing to reportof million dollars in income. cohen will begin his sentence in march. federal prosecutors are granting immunity to the publishing company american media incorporated. that's the company that publishes "the national enquirer." prosecutors say it admits to to karen ,0 mcdougal. she's a former playboy model and alleged mistress of donald trump before he was elected president. the white house denies the themmunity deal was signed ifair. back in september, but it was not disclosed untilrd yes. congresswoman nancy pelosi is poised to be elected house speaker for ton s time after striking a deal to limit how long she'll serve. the california democrat says elected speaker, she will step down after two tetes.

her snt satisfied her opponents and paved the way for her to be elected speaker next month. ellen degeneres is showing a diffnent side of herself an interview with "the new york times." the talk show host says sheas consistently thought of leaving her show because in a way feels boxed in creatively. ellen says, i wanted to show all of me. the talk show is me, but i'm also playing a character of a talk-show host. there is a tiny, tiny bit of difference. ellen is reasing a n stand-up special on netflix called "relatable" next week. she focuses on how her celebrity has made her less relshable than used to be and may seem on her show. ellen isn signed to do her talk show through at least the summer of 2020. oh, it would be to sad to see her go. llwe, an early alarm might be hurting your child's performance in the classroom. some new practices are helping kids in our area by letting them stay in bed. and a man was trapped in

grease for two days. firefighters were finally able to free him from a vent, but police have questions about why he was there in the first place. i'm guessing he wasn't looking for the stash of fortune cookies. we're talking about rain coming back into the picture for torrow afternoon and evening. by the time you wake up saturday morning, most of the area will have had nearly a inch of rain. that won't be the end of it. more about how long this rain chance lingers through the weekend coming up.

is is a fight. nbut to the beginni a fight that can only be won, if we stand together for one cause.

him. expert care foevery new beginning.

welcomek at 5:15. an important recall to tell you about this morning. there is a defect in a popular brand of tampons. some women report u by kotex sleek tampons unraveled and came

apart, forcing them to get help from a doctor. the defective products were made between october 7th of 2017 and october 16th of 2018. an experiment proves what some teachers and parents starting school later is good for students. two seattle high schools pushed back t start of class by 55 minutes. students in both schools reported sleeping longer and being less tired i class. their grades went up too, and attendance improved atosne of schools. over the last few years, some districts in our area have moved theirtart times. fairfax county high schoolers minutesass 10 or 20 later than they used to. in the city of n snassas, the high school bell rings 50 minutes later. in montgomery county, schools shifted times by 20 delta airlines is placing more restrictions on emotional support animals. starting mid-december, the airline will n longerllow support animals on flights longer than eightrs h puppies under 4 months old be

also be banned. some exceptions will be made. until february, passengers w booked flights with a pet before that ban will be allowed to fly as originally ticketed.wo d-be burglar didn't quite accomplish his goal. authorities in northern california rescued a man who was trapped inside a greasy vent for two days. this happened at a chinese restaurant. fireghters were initially called by a nearby business for a report of someone yelling inside the restaurant. >> when they arrived, they found the m i stuckthe duct system above the stove of the restaurant. that's where all the grease was. the would-be bur was arrested and taken to the hospital for a mental evaluation. >> arms stuck over his head there. he's yling. >> oh, my goodness. poor guy. i just don't feel bad for him. >> l actly. ght, mr. bell. tell us about this cold. i will give you credit.

it wasn' as bad yesterday. itas good. >> not as bad. that should be a new forecast category. >> right, thank you. >> and today will be a little less worse. >> all right, yeah! >> we are still watching for tmore rain come. this should finally be the rain chance that does i finally move us all the way into first place for rainiest year on record. baltimore already has the record. they s it about a month ago. dulles airport has a long way to go for the all-time record. our next one we're watching is here a a nationalport. the current record goes back not just before national airport was there but before aviation itself, back all theay to 1889. we're about a half an inch behind that. we should easy be able to accomplish that sometime either with friday's rain total or w an yo on saturday's. that should be enough for the record. i'm thinking we're going to get ncsomewhere between an and maybe an inch and a quarter of rain on the friday, saturday, frame.time right now it's dry outside.

39 in washington. 36 in leesburg. 44 n in edge water, maryland. your planner for today, a reasonable amosht of sune. not a sparkling blue sky, but not bad. lternoon temperatures w peak in the mid to upper 40s. some spots may get to 50 today. 46n montgomery county. rain chances, nothing to worry about for today. widespread rain moves in here for friday afternoon, friday night, on through saturday. most of the steady rain on saturday, i iink, isthe morning hours. no sunshine on saturday, but i think saturday afternoon just intermittent pockets of rain and rain showers. future weather keeps the dry weather in place for today and tonight. even friday morning's commute should be dry. here's 8:00 a.m. tomorrow morning. maybe, maybe five minutes of sunshine first thing tomorrow. then that rain moves on in here by friday afternoon. it will be raining for the friday ride home from work and school.

it will rain off and on throu most of your saturday. not much rain is expected on sunday, but no sunshine. rainfall totals probably ahenth of an i on sunday but smearedhe out throughntire course of the day. >> thank you, chuck. two problems now on the beltway. silver spring outer b loopore university boulevard, crash blocking the left lane. and hyattsville, left lane blocked by a work zone. 70, everything is nice and clear. in fredericksburg, new problem. route 1 at 17, a new crash. on.d be head we'll take a look at that when come back. >> all yght. thank, melissa. the skin scare business is a multibillion-dollar industry. treating your skin rig is much more than just about looking good. we'll have more from an anti-ageing expert from europe.

and see davehe mas performing new music on ellen this afternoon before they take the stage at capital one arena tonight.

the holidays make me look forward to chick-fil-a honestly. every year we have an ugly sweater party. i like the manatee. that one is cute. i love this. we cater it with chick-fil-a. the crowd pleaser. scott's always so helpful. while the food's coming out as quickly as we can, since she usually has a small child with her, we want to make sure we help them to their car. it takes the stress out of the holidays. we're going to help no matter what. scott, here's a present. it's my own ugly sweater! it's dinos! you'd win the prize. you think i win? you win the prize!

welcome back at .5: women spend thousands of dollars on cosmetics every year. skin care is a booming business, especially for anti-ageing products. >> winter weaer can putdded stress on your skin. a skin care company founded in europe shows us some key steps to fight ageing right now.

>> reporter: she doesn't wear makeup on her not even for this interview. she is the ceo of alchimie forever. mantra, self-scare through skin ce. >> it' not extravagant, and it's not a luxury. it's really part of your health care. that's the only way to think about orit. >> rr: she started studying under her father, a world renowned dermatologist, when she was just 10. she has more than two decades of experience. here are her four pro tips to target anti-ageing. number one, always wear sunscreen. >> make sure you're using an spf 20 or above every singleay regardless of time of year, regardless ofyo if you think re going to spend time outside or not. >> reporter: next, use an hantioxidant product, s as a serum with vitamin c, green tea, or grape extract. they can protect your skin from free radicals, which damage your skin. >> the beauty of them is that they do prevention and

correction. >> reporter: third, retinol is the gold standard ingredient for anti-ageing. she says it is the one product that's bee scientifically proven to reduce the appearance of fine lines. >> you'll see an improvement in the grain of th t skin, texture of the skin, which is what some people refer to as glow. >> reporter: and lastly, don't forget about the delicate skin around your eyes. the earlier you start, the better the long-term results. >> i like to tell young women f you're old enough to drink, you're old enough for an eye cream. >> see, the problem is when you're 21, you don think you'll ever be 41. you can't imagine the day, but it starts to happen. i hang started u a retinol product. we'll see if there are result. it aoes dry my skin little bit. the price of beauty, aaron. >> i think you're gorgeous. allis day. cas is still about two weeks away, but santa clausade a rare daytime appearance. chopper 4 was over montgomery county when they spotted santa in a harley instead of a sleigh.

this is part of montgomery county epolice'sort to collect donations and gifts to deliver to the children's inn at the national institutes of health. >> santa has to learn how to ride motorcycle, drive a sleigh. the man is just busy. >> renaissance man. >> working hard. wonder if he can sing carols. all right. 5:26 right now. the next presidential election is more than a yea away, but another democrat is ready to throw his hat into the ring and take on president trump. >> we'll tell you who. plus, in the wrong place and the right time. a group of hikers taken by surpriseno when a vol next to them erupted. a look at this incredible footage. chuck? all right. good morning, everybody. temperatures are mostly abo eezing this morning. that is a win for sure. as you're getting the kids dressed today, they'll need that warm coat for early thi morning. the sunglasses as well.

leave the scarf and umbrella at home for today. that may not be case tomorrow. an hour by hour look at the forecast coming up. you know when you're at ross and you find a deal on cookware that makes you say. yes! ...oh, yeah! bring on the holidays! that's yes for less. ...oh, yeah! everything you need to prep, cook and serve up the season. it feels even better when you find it for less-at ross. yes for less.

hey, batter, batter, [ crowd cheers ]li everyone, i lead a busy life. but i know the importance of having time to do what you love. at comcast we know our customers' time is valuable. 2 that's why we haveour appointment windows, including nights and weekends. so you can do more of whayou love. my name is tito, and i'm a tech ops manager at comcast. we're working to make thinso simple, easy and a.

and alize you are the the hostess with the mostest. you know wheu you're at ross yes! yeah! that's yes for less. entertain in style all season long. it feels even better when you find it for less-at ross. yes for less.

good morning, everybody. 5:30 your time right now. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. we want to get you sarted with heck on your forecast and commute. standing byet is with a look at the roads. >> but we begin with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell and a look at the weather. >> okay. we can do that. was just looking at my twitter feed. today is dick van dike's birthday. his quote for the day is, you can never judge a day just by the weather. i like that quote. 36 degrees right now a dulles airport. 36 also in gaithersburg and leesburg. 35 in hagerstown. 38 at marine bay's quantico. noto bad way get the day going for the kids. it'll be cold at the bus stops but nowhere near as cold as it has been. thereinill be enough sun for outdoor recess today and enough sunshine and mild enough, up near 50 degrees today, foraf r-school activities to be relatively pleasant. so the daily grade for today is very good. 49 with a mix of clouds and sunshine. no rain today. we all know that the rain will

be back for,tomorrnd we all know that it's going to be raining through the weekend. i'll let you know when it'll rain the hardest over the weekend with the ten-day forecast coming up. good morning, melissa >> good morning, mr. bell. taking a look at the beltway again, outer b loopore university boulevard, the crash was blocking the left lane. now it sounds like just is getting by. hyattsville, some road work hanging around there. fredericksburg, route 1 at 17, report of a crash there. sounds like it could be head on. we're trying to g more formation on that one. 95 northbound, southbound, no worries in virginia. 66 also looking good right now. 27 southbound from fredrick to r the sp you're on time but it's a little slow through urbana. .> melissa, thank you. 5:31 right now today metro leaders are expected to debate an issueecting thousands of people, how late should the metro rail system run? >> news 4's justin finch is live

at the navy yard station more on what d.c. leaders want from today's vote. >> reporter: eun, good morning. of course, it's all up to chance, but today wing see metro board vote in favor of bringing back those longer hours. we could see themth as soon as summer, just in time for a nats game. now, again, it is all up to chance, but those long-time metro ridersine could see sce closing at midnight during the week and 3:00 a.m. on weekends. metro, though, may lobby for another option, keeping these condensed hours for a bit longer so they can continue makg repairs to service as well as to the tracks and stations. ese hours, though, were set to revert back to the longerrs h by july 1st of 2019. now, back live out here, those who go to nats gam and live and work in the navy yard area, they'll likely be very receptive to seeing these longer hours.

metr saying this could cost them time for making their repairs by having hours go longer for service. they lose time on the back end to make those repairs te impr their service. of course, win over more riders. wee live from the navy yard, justin finch, news 4. >> justin, thank you.op devg this morning, d.c. police are looking for a man wanted in connection to a brutal crime. >> two men are accused of dnapping a woman near the naler road metro station earlier this moh. one suspect has been arrested. this is 29-year-old mark blue. he is still on the run. police say he andav nicke forced the woman into their car at gunpoint. they say they drove around for 45 minutes and sexually assaulted her before forcingouer of her car in d.c. this home security video shows the victim stumbling from the w allere she'd been dropped off without her clothing in nosoutheast. shcked on a neighbor's door, who heler call police. >> if you see somebody who needs help, you jus do.

i mean, you don't second judge yourself. you just help that person, especially a female knocking o your door, you know, asking for help. >> we want to show you the suspect's picture oncee' again. tha $25,000 reward for information leading to his arest. this mornin montgomery county family is thankful their child is back home and safe. a school bus picked up a student who is on the autism spectrum d possibly nonverbal at rockville high school yesterday afternoon. the student was supposed to get off in silver spring. instead, the child was discovered on the bus at the inner harbor in baltimore. school officials are still trying to figure out how thi happened, but they say montgomery county schools does s in some students from baltimore city. they suspect when the rockville student did not get off at the right stop, the bus continued on to baltimore. it is now 5:34. here are se of your top stories. a big change for commuters i t theons area.

the jones branch road bridge or scott's crossing road bridge, as it will be known, will opeext week over the beltway. this will be an important connection between two sections of tysons that was previously divided by the beltway. eventually pedestrian connections, bike nes, and a transit system are expected to be added. accused russian agent maria expected to plead guilty in a d.c. federal courtroom today. she's accused of infiltrating conservative groups like the national rifle association in order to bolster russian interest in u.s. politics. butina came to the u.s. in 2016 on a stu visa. california congresswoman nancy pelosi appears poised to be elected house speaker f second time after striking a deal to limit how long she's serve. she said if ected, she will step down after two term, and that was enough for a small grou of opposing democrats. still this morning, eight day for the president and congress to prevent a partial government shutdown. are they any closer to finding a

compromise? plus, on strike. today united airlines flight attendants at several major airports are walking off the job. what their demands are and how this may impact the country's air travel industry. we'll be right back.

you have a lot of deadlines in your business, right? weoniss deadlines, w't get paid. what if you lost your network connection? you gotta be kidding me. r chaotic. g-speed network lets you download files up to 20 times faster. and go beyond fast with 4g lte backup for complete reliability. so, if you lose your twork connection... ♪ ♪ you won't miss the deadlines. ving the confidence something that's never gonna go down would be priceless. one more way we go beyond. t caay and pay just $49.95 a month for fast, reliable internet. comcast business. be nd fast. what if numbers tell onat t. rowe pricey? our experts go beyond the numbers to examine investment opportunities fithand. like e-commerce d.spurring cardboard deman

the pursuit of allergy-free peanuts. and mobile paynt reaching new marke this is strategic investing. because your investments deserve the full story. t.rowe price. invest with confidence.

you hear all that? those aren't winds. that's a tonf rock and lava blasting out of a guatemalan volcano back in november. a group of hikers was nearby when theeg eruption. one of the hikers said this was, quote, one of the craziest experiences ofis life. to be that close. i hope they we far enough away. >> pretty unique story to tell. awesome pictures. wow. united airlines flight

attendants are expected to hold a strike thisorning at chicago o'hare airport. >> the demonstration will be one of 16 across the globe. attendants are disgruntled over looming staff cuts by united. the airline is expected to eliminate a flight attendant on most international flights. union officials expect a large turnou at today's protest. we're working for you this morning. toyota is recalling about 70,000 vehicles in the u.s. to reagace air b inflaters. the recall covers both toyota andus l brands. we've put a list of the models impacted here on your screen. some vehicles were previously re lled, and the inflaters were replaced with new ones that still used ammonium nigh tratra which could explode. toyota will use inflaters made by anothpany that uses a different chemical. check your pantry. del monte is recalling more than 64,000 cans of corn -- cases of canned corn, i shoulday. here's a look. they're recalling fiesta corn,

seasonre with red and peppers. the company says the corn could spoil and lead to life-threatening illnesses if eaten. the corns werehipped to 25 states, including maryland and virginia. weant to turn back to meteorologist chuck bell and see what we can expect morning. >> we'll be in the 30s to around 40 degrees for the next couple hours. we'll have a reasonable amount of sunshine for today. soak it in andenjoy it because sunshine will be at an extreme premium starting this time tomorrow. i'll give you the ten-day forecast in ten minutes. also ahead, what now? president trump's former attorney and self-described fixer michael cohen sentenced to three years in prison. what this means for robert mueller's ongoing investigation. mueller's ongoing investigation. we'rlive from capitol hille

thanks. it's like a smart thing. what's the weather? [cowza device] sunny, perfect chicken eating weather. how'd you get in here? [cowza device] it's time for chicken.

what's the traffic like? d [cowice] rerouting you to chicken. okay. hey cowza, order pizza. [cowza device] ordering chicken. no, pizza. [cza device] chicken. moooo okay, chicken it is. it's chick-fil-catering season. [cowza device] now that's smart.

shouts and taunts awaited former trump attorney michael acohen yesterday he stepped out of a new york city courtroom. the judge residing over the case

told cohen he had lost h moral compass somewhere down the line. he then sentenced eehen to t years in prison and fined him $50,000. in response, cohen told the judge heis, quote, blind loyalt to trump led him to cover up his dirty deeds. he said he tried to fix his mistakes by cooperatingith investigators. >> tracie potts joins us live from capitol hill to try toalut this together. what does yesterday's sentence mean for president trump and ths mueller igation moving forward? >> so it means the circle of people who are getting in trouble surrounding president trump is getting closer and closis. this was h long-time personal lawyer, michael cohen knows a lot about president trump's involvement, he says, and he's now directly pointed the finger president trump being involved in some of the very things that sent him to jail. so that raises the question, could the president be facing ga any sort of le troubles himself? we don't know that yet. as for russia connection,cohen

will continue to cooperate. he may have more to say, to lend itself to that we don't know.. all he said so far iste he didn congress the truth about how involved they were in trying to build this trump tower in russia that nevereay happened. republican supporters of the president here point out that's nowhere close to. collusi >> all right. tracie potts live on capitol hill. trac, thank you. 5:46 right now. the number of democrats eyeing the country's top political office in 2020 may be growing. si that's why i'm exploring a candidacy for pnt of the united states in 2020. >> that is julian castro, former member of president obama's cabinet. served as secretary of housing and urban development. he was the mayor of swa antonio an considered a running mate for hillary clinton. castro is now the third ndidate to file paperwork for a possible run. he joins maryland congressman john delaney and congressional candidate richard eda of west

virginia. today makes eight days until the deadline to avoid a government sht down. presidump appears no closer to reaching an agreement with democrats to avoid it. af r this week's oval offic argument with top democratic leaders, the president seems more willing than ever to shut down the government. the fight is over the president's demand for $5 billion for a border wall. democrats are offeress than a third of that, and that money would be earmarkse for border rity, not necessarily a wall. 5:47 right now. discrimination claims put the prince george's county police department at the center of a federal lawsuit. >> 13 officers are speaking up by saying the divide in the department is affecting the er community they. megan mcgrath is live with details. >> reporter: well, good morning. 13 current and former prince george's county police ificers areolved with this lawsuit. it's a federal civil lawsuit that's been filed here. they say that female officers andic offers of color face

discrimination from the 's depart leadership, discrimination in the form of transfers, unfair discipline between black and white faficers, and un termination. they want to s a change in leadership. things cers allege that are so bad that some on the force don't report wrongdoing by white police officers because of fear of retaliation. it is the policy of the police department noto comment on pending litigation, but we did speak with some of the officers involved in thes lawsuitwell as the newly elected county executive. we have so much racial divide within the police department that we can't be effective and efficient.re >> i aate their advocacy. i'll take a look at it and tate er action we believe is necessary. >> reporter: and thisawsuit comes as the justice department continues to investigate similar claims made in another lawsuit

involvine than 120 prince george's county police officers. back to you. >> megan mcgrath, thank you. it's 5:48. new this morng, shortchanged in the classroom. it's happening to hundreds of local students when ito comes learning science and social studies. scott macfarlane and tam news 4 i-ook a closer look. >> reporter: we found d.c. public schools violating own requirements, not giving enough class time in science and social studies to students in at least four middl schools. d.c. officials familiar with the issue tl thei-team the school district made the changes because of problems with budgets, resources, and pressure to boost math and english scores. the impactedchools include kelly miller, brookland, eliot-hine, and cardoza. the kids aren't getting the expected class time. the time is instead used for other core subjects. a school district memo about eliot-hine acknowledges the school schedule this year is not adequate. experts and parentsay this

must be fixed. 20 middle schools, dozens of schools in the district, and the ones where they seem to have trouble giving the curriculum the right way is the schools where there's the least economically advantaged kids. that bother you? >> it bothers me tremendously. >> reporter: d.c. public schools says it'll preventll short next semester by adding field trips, hands-on courses, and some science-only days to make up for the lost minutes. nts in e the require other local school districts? and are they being met? it's also part ofep ourt tonight on news 4 at 5:00. for now, scott macfarlane, news 4 i-team. so buffalo has hot sauce. memphis, perhaps, is about the barbecue. t maryland, it's old bay all thee. now there is a new spice on e rack that has the makers of the maryland staple headed to c brt. ol is suing the makers of a spice called new bae. the company's tag line even

says, out o with the and in with the new. the nerve. >> you're going to get it. >> old bay takes issuethith . the lawsuit says new bae's maker acknowledges its name is a nod to the classic. i have to taste it to see what the difference is. >> it's not old bay is what the difference is. >> nothing i old bay. >> take that back to wherevert you got from. >> so erica is doing an instagram post of us. we put bae on i didn't even know what that meant. i had to ask on social media. >> oh, chuck. >> what is it? our boo like >> what do the letters stand for? >> oh, that. >> what is it? before everything else. >> before anyone else. you didn't even know. >> no, i did. >> but you didn't know it. we just gave youui the pop on it and you failed. i had to loot up and actually reach out and get help. so i didn't know it either.

all right. i've been doing digging back through the record books. today will make the 11th day in na row ational airport with 0.0 inches of precipitation. that's the longest stretch of year. more than a you have to go back to september, october of 2017 when we had 21 days in a row of 0.0. i'm aware we had snow earlier this week in the southern half of our area, butt did not actually do anything at national airport. so this is just a point reference here. back in early ju h, we a long stretch without measurable rain, but we did get trace amounts a coupleti s. as far as triple zeros, this is the longest stret a in over year at national airport. finally a chance to dry out. rainfall veamounts, w had 25 inches more rain this year than last year. that is crazy. 39 now. today will be the last dry day of it. today will be the 11th and

inal day in this stretch of dryness. temperatures are in the mid-30s right now. it'll be a relatively d comfortablember afternoon to be outside. enough sunshine to bring temperatures into the mid and upr 40s for today. today's high, 49 in washington. 50 in. culpepp 47 in beautiful new market, maryland. rain chances, nothing to worry about today. starting tomorrow around noontime, off and on through all of saturday, and at least shower chancesingering through much of your sunday as well. we may not see the sunine again after today. maybe a sliver early tomorrow, but for the most part, we won't get much in the way of sunshine until monday. 49 and doday. 50 tomorrow with steady rain tomorrow afternoon andveng. rain tapering to showers but lasting all day on saturday. an occasional intermittent shower on sunday, no sunshine,e teures in the 40s. of course it will be sunny monday. good morning, melissa. >> goomorning, mr. bell. taking a live look at outer loop before university boulevard. a ltle slow here this morning

because of a crash objen the ri shoulder. loop at landover road, left side blocked by the work zone. westbound 50 before west ox road, chopper 4 on the way to a crash the right now. in fredericksburg, route 1 at 17, have that accident as well. let's look at travel times.un 66 in looks good. 95 north looking pretty goods well. 270, no problems. the top of the beltwa 95 to 270, 36 miles per hour. remember to listen to wtop 103.5 fm when you hop in your car. aaro >> thank you melissa. 5:54 ligright now. heol's aay story sure to make you thankful for the little things. most kidsove to meet santa. matthew wolf's first visit with the big guy was extra special. the 6-year-old is blind and on the autism spectrum. he really wanted to meet santa. take a look at the photos here.

his mother took him to meet santa claus and explained the situation. santa immediately got down on his knee there and allowed matthew to touch his face. matt you w-- matthew was able tl that long, white beard a even touch his eyes. he was also given the chance to touch a reindeer and feel the spirit o christmas, in a sense. >> indeed. such a beautiful gestuy. it rea does move me because that's what christmas is all about. really showing kindness and love. >> a great parent and santa claus. it's a wonderful combination. >> love it. >> a good parent also teaches us, cares for us.he when situation calls for it, embarrasses us to no end. 100%. that is exactly what one mom did the other night at a terps game. it is a move that quickly has begun viral. ♪ since you been gone since you been gone ♪ >> see, thell one with ahe moves is mandy.

the oneotally mortified next to her is her adorable son. at first i don't think he understands what's happening. soon the cliphaasd on twitter. he puts his hood on, trying to get away, nowhere to go. even kelly clarkson took notice. the singer tweeted, this kind of mama. mine too. i mean, he is just notavg it. but guess what, he's going to remember this for the rest of his life. thank you, mom. >> whether he wants to or not. his mom will remind him and so will social media. >> i think it's wonderful. 5:56 right now. let's check your cnbc morning business report. >> good morning, guys. amazon is aiming to open its checkout go stores in the lobbies of office buildings. the company opened a 450 square foot store inside one of its offices in seattle yesterday to promot a smaller version of its retail technology for lobbies, hospitals, and other places where you may just rush in for a quick sandwich or salad. lasteek reports thatmazon was in talks with a few airports

to open stores inside of terminals. with your cnbc morning business report, i'm frank holland. this holiday, no matter who's on your list,

g've got great gifts at prices! so, bring us your husband who thinks he's a celebrity chef. get him ing stain-less and pain-less. bring us your sister who's always asking "can you hold this... and this?" you're both welcome. and bring us your daughter, the daredevil. a bike. she'll love it. and bring us your parents, who are super competitive... ...oh boy... game on. find the perfect gifts for everyone. for way less than you'd expect. we've got ideas, and great prices. tj maxx, marshallsand ho.

could late-night rail service return to d.c.? a vote today could be a big boost for thousands of riders as metro considers expanding service hours. discrimination and retaliation. they are at the center of wsuit file by more than a dozen police officers against the prince george's county

police department. last dance. in a rare inrview, talk show host ellen degeneres says she's considering ending herugely popular daytime television show. it is 6:00 a.m good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. before weetstarted, we want to let you know that spotsylvaniaounty schoolsre on a two-hour delay. they were hit hardeay the snow ier in the week. >> melissa mollet is keeping an eye on trafficdi contions for us. >> we begin with meteorologist chuck bell. >> good morning. it's a relatively pleasant start to arsday morning here in the nation's capital. skies will be pary suno at times mostly sunny today. best of all,t's not as cold this morning compared to the last few days. today, no rain to wor about. ave the umbrella at home. ra