new at midday, information thatould have you rethinking your holiday travel plans. >> president trump reacting to clms made by his former lawyer in court. owat he is saying about hush payments to two women. >> and storm team4 rar completely dry. i'm tracking rain moving into the area tomo. i'll have the latest timing and what you can expect for your weekend in my updated forecast. good morning, everybody. welcomeo"news4midday."

>> right now accused russian agen maria butina is expected to plead guilty to one charge of conspiracy. she's accused of infiltrating co ervative-based groups like the nra in order to bolster russian interests in u.s. politician. she came to the u.s. in 2016 on a student visa. chris gordon is at the hearing. follow him on twitter and we'll update you through our app. >> met leaders are squaring off on an iue that impacts how thousands of people getar nd. >> right now metro closes at 1 a.m. on friday and saturday . nights rides are say it doesn'tpe give le enough time to get home from sporting van ing events or converts.e

tro said that closing early gives more time for maintenance. it wasuggested some of the work could be done midday inead of late atnight. adam tuss has been tweeting updates all morning. >> triple a says more people than er before wil hit the runways, roads and rails this holiday season 112 million people are expected to travel somewhere to see family and frids between christmas and new year's. most people will travel by car. the worst day to be stuck in traffic in our area will be thursday december 20th between 1:00 and 2:15. triple a says that day will take you nearly three times to get to your destination. the busie days at the airports will be december 22nd, 23 and 26th. >> now to our weather. >> with a "w."

>> i was trying to say weather and rain. >> i wish alle had to do was not say rain, amelia and that would mean it wouldn't happen but the reality is a little different, >>right? 'm tracking rain moving into tomorrow. today is our 11th day in a row without any measurable rain. the longest stretch so far this year. right now our temperatures are in the low tid 40s, 46 in washington and we're going to warm to a high temperature today of 49. clouds areoing to continue to increase as we head on into the afecrnoon hoursing mostly cloudy for the majority of the afternoon. here's a checkf your high temperatures tomorrow. we're around 50 for a high temperature in washington, 46 in frederick, the rainin movin after noon. i'm going to have latest timing of when the rain moves in.

>> a man is accused of kidnapping a woman near the naylor road metro station, sexual assaulting her and dumping her on the side of the road. >> one suspect hd tur himself in. megan mcgrath is live with the search f second man. >> reporter: a young man was forced into a car by two strangers, she wasul sexual asd before ultimately being shoved out of the car about 45 minutes later.f one the people believed to be responsible, one suspect, has turned himself in but theecond man is still on the loose. take a good look at this photo of 29-year-old mark blue of northwest. dolice say he's the sec suspect in the kidnapping and rape of a young woman december the 3. blue's alleged accomplice, nick savoy, turned himself into police i roanoke, virginia on

tuesday but blue is still on the loose. this were caught on surveillance tape after they kidnapped the woman. she was sexual assaulted and held against her will for 45 minutes before she was released without her clothes in southeast washington. the woman told a good samaritan who helped her that the men raped her after learning she didn't have much money in her bank account. >> they took everything from her, shoes,ot s, jacket, everything. i didn't think nothing of it. you see somebody who needs help, you just do it. you don't second judge yourse . yohelp. especially a female knocking at your do. >> the victim told one of the suspects was wearing a red coat like he is wearing in this

picture. >> it an awful story. for the sake of that womnd hear healin-- her healing, we h is caught. a family is thankful their child is home and safe. the student was supposed to get off at 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 this b happen they say montgomery county schools actually bus in some students from baltimore city and they suspect when the rockville stu gnt didn'tet off at the right stus, the may have continued on to baltimore. >> happening today, hyattsville police dent will swear in the first woman and first. toead t department. she previously served as a police captain in the. ci "the wall street journal" is

reporting the boy scouts of america may file for bankruptcy due to escalating legal costs of how it handled allegations of sex seweual abuse. they said "w have social and moral responsibility to fairly compensate victims who suffered abuse during their time in n outing and we have obligation to carry out our mission to serve communities and local >>programs. a look at the gas station selling gas for two pennies. >> and new denials. president trump tweeting this morning about his former lawyer and accusations in co

we're follong breaking news now. fairfax county fire crews say they have this large townhous fire under control. officials tweeted out this video showing flames earlier today. we're told this is in the 6,600 block in thekfranconiae area. >> ne dead, dozens injured after a high-speed train hit a railway engine a then crash into a pedestrian overpass from above. you can see the aftermath in this shot here. this is in ankara, the capital

ofturkey, where three railway workers are in custody. >> reporter: the high-speed train a pile of mangled metal this morning. a pedestrian bridge in pieces on top of it. rescuers pulling bodies from the wreckage. they scrambled in the dark for hours trying to free passengers from the twisted train more hanthan 200 were on board. dozens were hurt, some ablelk t wa away but at least three are critically injured. the governor said the high speed train hit another trainin ecting the tracks. the high speed train's front carriage jackknifed landing on the train station platform, t bridge collapsing on top of it. it's turkey'second major train accident this year. in july ten were killed and more than 70 injured when a passenger train derailed in the northwestern part of the country.

that crashlamed on torrential rain, which caused part of the track tose coll this morning it's still not clear how t fastse two trains were traveling or why they were on the stre k. questions now for turkish investigator >> among the dead this morning are three train engineers and six passengers. rescuers say they're confident no one elsis trapped. an update on the ma a terror suspect in france. france has upgraded its national security threat level to the highest level following the deadly shooting at a christmas market. cherif chekatt was on a terror watch list bef tuesday's attack. three people died in that attack. several others were hurt when he opened fire in the strasbourg christmas market. investigators believe chekatt was inspired by isis, but they

not know whether the group directed the attack. president trump's former lawyer a fixer michael cohen will serve three years in prison. >> cohen said he got in trouble covering uptrump's, quote, diy deeds. may not be done talking about that. >> we haveeaction from capitol hill. >> reporter: from president trump this morng on twitter, "i never directed michael cohen to break the law. he was a lawyer and he is i did d to know the law, nothing wrong." his former lawyer got three years behind bars for lying about hush money payments to women mr. trump denies having affairs with. >> he directed cohen and it's more than simply, you know, being complicit. >> reporter: cohen told a federal judge blind loyalty caused him to cover upum trs

dirty deeds, but many of e charges, fraud and tax evashin, were froown business. >> i've yet to see any evidence coming from mr. cohen of collusion and that's what er rted the mue investigation. >> to tell all the truth and all the facts about donald trump, probably in front of a imngressional committee. >> reporter: mea prosecutors reveal that ami, the company that owns the "national enquir" cut a deal to avoid charges for paying $150,000 to alleged trump mystery karen mcdougal. they said that money was to helh influenc2016 election. the judge also gave cohen $2 llion in fines and restitution in addition to going to jail. >> congresswoman nancy pelosi is poised to be elected house speaker forhe second time after striking down a deal to

limb t limit how long she will serve. she said if elected speaker, she will step down after two rms. that satisfied seven opponent and paved the way to her election next month. pelosi was speaker from 2006 to 2010. >> short changed in the classroom. it's happeng toundreds of local students when it comes to learning science and social studies. scott mcmaracfarlane and the ne i-team take a closer look. >> we found schools are not giving e tughe in science. they say it was because of pressure to bst math and english scores. the kid aren't getting the

expected class time as time instead used for other cor subjects. a schoolisict memo acknowledges the schedule is not adequate. the ones where they seem to have trouble getting the curriculum the right way is at the schools sere ther the least economically advantaged kids. thatother u? emendously.rs me >> reporter: they say they will addscience-only courses to make up the difference. we'll have more on our report on news4 at 5. >> maybe you've seen a bill board that really grabbed your attention every now and then. >> yes, but several of them with personal love notes are sparkiny

curiosit in south carolina. these all display personal, handwritten messages to somebody neck nedbunny. one says "dear bunny, you mean everything to me." another reads "i love you and i'm a fool for n treating you right." righ now it is unclear who is behind the bill boards and what the messages man but somebody is in dog house. >> dozens of k circle gas stations accidentally sold fuel for 2 cents aon ga this allowed some drivers to fill up for as little as 30 cents. prices eventually returned to normal. it's blamed on a company-wide computer glitch.

>> thatld w have been nice. a chance to earn $100,000. what you have to do to get it. >> ellen is considering giving up her talk show? up her talk show? >> and the funeral of president the best internet meets the best things to do on the internet. switch to fios, the 100% and an amazon echo on us.nd ge already have prime? we'll cover another year. it's all yours when you sign up for fios gigabit connection, plus tv, plus phone, all with a 2-year price guarantee, all for just $79.99 per month with a 2-year agreement. with fios and prime, you can stream prime originals in 4k. get free games with twitch prime...and get fast, free shipping on over one hundred million items. switch to fios gigabit connection with the fastest speeds available, plus tv, and phone for just $79.99 per month

with a 2-year price guarantee and a 2-year agreement. plus, get a year of prime and an echo on us. only need internet? get fios internet for $39.99 per month and get a $50 amazon gift card when you install by december 31st. 100% fiber-optic network. 100% phenomenal. go to getfios.com today.

. amazon aiming to open its checkout-free "go" stores to promote a smaller version of its retail technology in lobbies, hospitals and other places wure ay rush in for a quick sandwich or salad. last wk amazon said it was inlk tas with a few airports to open "go" stores inside terminals. >> andvitaminwater will give a person $100,000 if they give up their smartphone for a year. vitaminwat is still willing to dish out ten grand if someone can last six w monthshout their smartphone. i'm frank holland with your cnbc business port. >> interesting. i would say that's far better challenge.ffin

>> last all those hours in a coffin, that's for sure. >> now ellen degeneress showing a different sider herself with an interview in ew york times." the talk show host says she's consistently thought of leaving the talk show because in a way she feels boxed in creatively. she sai i wanted t show all of me. the talk show is me but i'm also playing the character of a talk show host. she focuses on how her celebri has made her less relatable than she used to be. she is signed on to do the talk show through at least the summer of 2020t >> i w to sit down and watch that. oethink she's fabulous and anything she is gold. >> it seems genuine when you watch her. >> i feel boxed in as a al meteorologistng about the weather creatively. >> well done,el done.

all right. so we are talking about this relentless way lesless rain tha and get ready for a soggy weekend. >> we're going to have a lot rain out there this weekend. we're tracking one to two inches potentially. most of it will fall friday night into saturday. check it out. it's dry today. if you needo something outdoors, today is the day to get it done. outside this un morning and i enjoyed the nice, dry trail. it finally wasn't muddy out there, a as i said darlier. is the 11th day without any measurable rain. it's a bit chilly o there. as we look to tomorrow, rain will move into the area afternc ime on saturday, it's looking like a rainy day and a few occasional showers out there on sunday. we're almost the wettest year on record. to tie for theecond wettest year on record, we only need .05

inches of rain and in the forecast this weekend, about one to two inches we should obtain that pretty easily by saturday if not sunday. 10 a.m. on friday, plenty of clouds out there.no ce all the white. but the rain still back west of the i-81 corridor. as we head on into the lunchtime hours, we still keep it mainly dry. once we hit around 2 p.m., rain starts to move into n virginia and the d.c. metro area. rain continues on your friday night, it's looking pretty soggy out there. definitely bring a rain jacket.. is just one computer momodel. other computer models have rain in throughout the day on saturday. that being said, we will likely have some dry time out there on saturday but for the most part

it looking pretty soggy. still showers out there and a holiday parties friday night and saturday night you definitely want to have the umbrella. it's the perfect weekendo go holiday stopping despite crowds because it's going to be kind of wet and dampoutside. opening this weekend, unfortunately rain in the forecast, but at leastre w talking plenty of dry weather next weng. i'm g to have more on the weekend coming up at 11:40, >> we'll see you then, amelia. thank you. yourobably thought the idea of gondolas in georgetown was rejected and a thing of the past. new information on a group trying to make it a reality. >> and a story withap very ending in west virginia. four people rescued from a mine after being stuck for ys. da

close call in arlington this morning when a person pushing a strolr wasit bay truck. n the id culver is live scene with the latest. this is a terrifying story, david. how isry edy doing? >> reporter: absolutely. erica and aaron, you're going to start to hear cars coming past me because they are just reopening the roadways here,

specifically lee hignday a fort meyer drive they're going to start reopening. look over my shoulder. you can see the dump truck. thiss the vehicle believed to have been involved in this incident. we're told a woman was crossing the street here at about 9:30, 9:45 this morning when that dump truck hit her. whatakes it even more disturbing, she was pushing a stroller at the time. i want to show you that a photojournalist shot shortly t afters incident. scene.on can you see the aftermath of this horrific accident. as you point t, erika, the woman was rhed to the hospital. witnesses from a nearby building were looking down watching the aftermath of this and one of those witnesses tells me tset ral women rushed to the scene to help with the baby. they picked the baby out of the careler and started takin of that child, passing child from one person to another as emts were working on the woman who was initially pushing that stroller. i checked in with police and

we've learned that she is in the hospital at this hour. we don't know her condition. we're working to get an update on that. antime as you can see, traffic is starting to flow again. the backups were well over the key bridge at one point. can you alsoee police are on scene consolidating this crime scoe i one investigation. they're looking into that vehicle, the dumtr k, trying to figure out what led up to this. a lot of questions remain,we bu re starting to hear some of the heroic acts that emerged from thi incident. >> my word. david, we are hoping for thebe for her and as this story begins to develop, we'll be following you for updates. thank you. >> while the governor of west virginia is calling it a christmas placing. >> he's talking about the safe rescue of three people trappedi side an abandod mine for three days.ep orter: overnight an emotional celebratio r theelieved families of the

threeeo remaining youk pe stuck in an abandoned west virginia coal mine reunited with their loved ones after four excruciating days undergroun >> it was terrible. o reporter: cody, of the rescued, thankful his grandfather has forgiveor him f what he says was a bad decision to enter the mine in the firstac e. erika treadway came out of the mine with nos. shoe kayla williams shouting back to her loveds ones a she's taken away for medical treatment. erwhelming gratefulness, especially for the rescuers who got them out fely. >> i thank them from the bottom of my heart. >> reporter: the fourth member of the group was able to find hits way out monday, telling police whereo find the others. rescue teams navigated from both ends of the abandoned mine through a maze of tunnels. >> did you ever give up hope? >> no.

>> reporter: but for now these family just grateful that their prayers were answered for the holidays. ea>> anyone involvedhing for us, i just want to thank you with everything inside of me. >> reporter: an investigation is now pending as toro why the was down there in the first place. it is illegal wnt virginia to enter abandoned mines. some relatives suggested they were there looking for copper wire that they could then sell. >> today we are getting a closer look at new problems on metro's silver line. it's atory we've been following on news4. chopper4 flew over the tracir. we reported on concrete flaws along the second phase of this pject and now we've learned hundreds of concrete rail ties could be faulty, out of alignment at key points. they say they are addressing the

issue and everything is on track to open in 2020. >> new life may be coming to the plan of an aerial gondola. the goreorgetown business executive said a gondola could be built decades before a bridge could be and at a reduced cost. >> a rer cg toyota andle s brand vehicles are listed on your screen. some were previously recalled and replaced with inflaters that used ammonium nitrate that could still explode.

>> and delmonte is recalling more than 64,000 cases of canne corn. the company is recalling fiesta corn ssoned with red and green peppers. the company said it could spoil and lead to life-threatening injuries if eaten. >> the university of maryland urging students to receive flu shots over bre winter k. 35 students have gotten sick virus. they also asked sick students to stay at home and avoid public ansportation. yesterday we reported the school plans to combat the probably policemen by disinfecting the residence halls over winter break. last month a studentied from complications from this flu. for more information about symptoms and the cases at the university of cmaryland, you go to our nbc washington app and search virus.

>> an arlington county teacher found a way to take his lesson out of the classro and putt on display at the new boston quarter mall. he wanted hiso students t understand how art is created. >> reporter: in art class, painting, drilling, part of lesson kenmore middle school jeff wilson wanted to create. >> how itoes from an idea on the table in the classroom and how it gets into a public space. can i see which one is trouble with the drill bit? >> mr. wilson always tells us we're working at a high school level and that we're reallyin adva in our artwork. >> reporter: drilling in bit by bit, a lessonhe about art can take you. >> it's really cool that it's going into the mall because people from like all over are

going to go to this mall at some point and see it and be like, oh,tudents made this? that's so cool. >> reporter: just days away from publicla di the light box and a company in pieces get a space t insidehe new quarter mall. >> you have to put ittight. >> make it beautiful. make it amazing. make it ten out ofqu ten ity, entertainment for the mall. and we're still not getting paid for this. >> nice. coming up, what you need to know about a meteor shor that nasa says will put on a dazzling display. >> plus what

it's a sure sign that the

2019 year is getting closer.in new york is ge ready for its much-anticipated new year's eve celebration. i cannot talk today. yesterday the seven-foot numbers 1 and 9 arrived in times square. that will be on display through december 20th. after at they'll be poihoisted p before the ball drops on december 31st. you are going to want to turn yoyes to the sky tonight for a real treat. >> hundreds of meteors will streak across the sky. this is a perfect school night activity for the kids. nasa said this will be the most prolific meteor shower of the year. it will pick u after midnight when the moon has set. more than a hundred multi-colored meteors will streak acros the sky for hours.

>> interesting. did you used to geek out about this stuff when you were litt? >> no. i liked knowing the weather to prepare for my day. the meteor showers -- >> but people want to know if it's going to be too cloudy to see it. >> we're not tracking clear skies out there toweght. e going to have partly to mostly cloudy skies today on into the evening andt overni hours with the high temperature today near 50 degrees, which is right aroord normal this time of year. our average high now 48. here's your rain outlook. we're utcompletely dry there today. rain moves into the area, though, tomorrow after lunchtime. likely during the afternoon hours, your friday evening is then lookingy. so we have some heavy rain in spoty overnight frinto early saturday and then maybe some dry time later saturday.s but i looking like a high chance you're going to be

dealing with rain for your saturday morning. on sunday still a few showers out there before we return to dry weather on monday. so today you just need the jacket but tomorrow, saturday and sunday definitely want tove that umbrella handy. it is perfect grilled cheese, tomato soup weather, maybe even a double order. it's just ad comfort f kind of day for your saturday and even sunday actually. sunday actually. 54 for a high temperature

i used to be that quiet day between monday and wednesday. but now, there's all this playful banter and staying up late. how am i supposed to read my book? i'm the quiet day, i was never supposed to be this much fun! can you, can you win a little more quietly? ♪

it's janet, miss jackson if you're nasty.

she's final ly going to join he brother michael as a member of the rock 'n' roll hall of fame. the class also includes stevie nicks, def l leppard and othersp a gooent cares for us and when the situation calls for it, they embarrass us to no end. >> this is what one mother did at a marylandam basketball g and it has gone viral. watch this. >> the moment the kid realizes he's on the camera, right? uh-oh. >> stop, mom! get off, get off! >> this is mandy. that's her totally mortified son

sitting next to herhere. can't get away. can't move far enough. this clip was shared on twitter and soon everybody was sharing it. kelly clarkson's voice you hear singingthere, she tweeted "this is my kind of mama." now to aoliday story about a little boy in texas and his first visitith santa claus. >> lester ht has the story. >> reporter: there's nothing quite like meeting man in t big redsuit. but 6-year-old matthew wolf needed a santa with special magic. >> i ran up to santa and was like he is blind, autistic and very interested in santa. santa raised his hands and sd say no more. misty watched heron got to feel santa. >> santa said do you want to

feel anything else? and matthew said your eyes that twinkle. g>> reporter: matthew eve to feel a reindeer. >> he's never seen a reindeer. he's never seen a picture of a reindeer. let him feel one. >> reporter: when misty shared the momentonline, the response was overwhelming. what a beautiful christmas story. oh, my heart. reminding us of the greatest l.fts of >> i stood there with my eyes all glassy from tears welling up inside. >> are found under the christmas tree. >> it's definitely been a very good christmas present. >> ere's just so many levels of beautiful in that story. for santa to understand and know exactly what to do to make that a special moment. good lord. okay. amelia, take it away. >> what aovely story. for this afternoon, we're going to have increasing clouds with eahigh temperatures today 50, we start off your friday dry but rain moves in after lunchtime tomorrow during the afternoon

and evening s. there's a chance that the rain night mooit n might not getere until about or 5 p.m. then some occasional showers for saturday afternoon and evening. a few occasional showers again on sunday with temperatures saturday in the low to mid 50s, sunday we're back in the 40s. monday, tuesday, wednesday, we orep it dry, erika. >> thank you joining us. we are back on the air this 4:00.noon first at >> you can get news and weather updates any time with the washington app. have ay, great da eveone. have ay, great da eveone. we'll ryse the best internet meets the best things to do on the internet. switch to fios, the 100% fiber-optic network

and get a year of amazon prime and an amazon echo on us. already have prime? we'll cover another year. it's all yours when you sign up for fios gigabit connection, plus tv, plus phone, all with a 2-year price guarantee, all for just $79.99 per month with a 2-year agreement. with fios and prime, you can stream prime originals in 4k. get free games with twitch prime...and get fast, free shipping on over one hundred million items. switch to fios gigabit connection with the fastest speeds available, plus tv, and phone for just $79.99 per month with a 2-year price guarantee and a 2-year agreement. plus, get a year of prime and an echo on us. only need internet? get fios internet for $39.99 per month and get a $50 amazon gift card when you install by december 31st. 100% fiber-optic network. 100% phenomenal. go to getfios.com today. heartburn and gas? ♪ fight both fast tums chewy bites with gas relief

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we're live in five, four, three, two, one. >> we >> wait a minute! i love that! >> we've got a new lopen. >> ie it. >> but right now we just gotsw sied by j. lo. >> amazing! >> in that dress. >> whoo! >> how does she arriv in magic. it's j. lo magi >> i'll show you how she arrived in that. did you see the picture she posted? >> no. re >> she's t for the second act premiere in new york, and when you travel with a dress and a train that long -- >> oh, my goodness, natalie. >> this is how you roll. >> you've got to get the bus. >> is it a bus? is it a van? there's barely room forod.ut he's like in the corner, taking pictures of her. >> taking pictures. >> it's