keeps the government open past friday. there is still a bigin stick point between congress and the white house. and the movie mogul at thee centf the me too movement is set to be in crt to answer some of the most serious allegations against him. this is likely the most peac >> you and me right here. >> i tried to sell kit. i thhere's supposed to be an outside picture. we're going to skip over all that and sayood morning. >> the joy and the love. >> it's 4:00 a.m. let that sink in. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. news 4 isorking for you to make sure your holiday trips get off trt a good s even if you're not one of the millions of people taking a trio y, you will still have to deal with heavy traffic. >> you are committed. i love the way you just plowed right through that. >> what do you want me too? it my job. >> let's s if chuck is

working. >> it's time for the airing of. grievanc that's my favorite part. t's going to be a quiet start to your thursday, and most of the daylight hours today not a big weather impact. however, tonight it's going to be crazy weather around here. temperatures will climb almost 20 degrees after the sun goes down tonight. we'll be near 60 by midnight. there's ahance for heavy rain and gusts of wind over 50 miles per hour tonight into the early parts of tomorrow, coming alo withucks of rain. flood watches have been posted from sundown tonight into 1 to 2 inches of rain is likely. localized amounts of 3 to 4 inches of rain are possible. the heaviest of the rain from n sundonight to sunrise tomorrow. right now, though, it is just cold. upper 20s and low 30s around the area. you'll need your heavy coat this morning. and temperatures wtay in the low to mid-40s all day

today. temperatures go up after the sun goes down. more about that and all these crazy weather backs on your late-night plans coming up in a few. now, let's go to melissa mollet. >> good morning, chuck. taking a look in axandria. outer loop, the ramp to van doorn street, blocked by a crash. upper lmarlboro, outerp of the beltway before pennsylvania avenue, two left lanes are getting by there. and gaithersburg, southbound 270 at 270, two left lanes getting by as well. and the key bridgin this mo you can see a little bit of road work here as you're headed into georgetown. aaron? >> me it's 4:02 now. today is expected to be the worst travel day of the holiday season for our area. that rain chuck was talking about will not help at all. >>uckets of rain. that makes me nervous. more peopler thanefore are hitting the runway, railways, tand roads year. no major delays right now, but

that could change as the rain heads up the east coast. the storm ill impact major atlanta, s, includi new york, and boston. as for our area, today will be all about traffic. the worst traffic will come betwee 1:00 and 2:15 p. aaa says it could take up to four times as long to get to your destination. we caught up with travele last night trying to beat the traffic and the rain. >> we were supposed to be home two wgoks we watched the weather to find a window, and t is the closest we could find. >> i heard all about it. that's why we're on the road right>> now. s for the skies, the busiest days at the airports arepe exed to be december 22nd, 23rd, and 26th. breaking news fromondon. major international airport has suspended all flights. justin finch is at the with more. >> london gatwick airport said

all flights he been suspended due to drone activity. here's a look at some of the many frustrateve trs inside the airport. many are likelyet trying to g home for christmas. this is affecting thousands and thousands of passenger th morning an airport official blasted whoever is flying those drone, calling it, quote, an irresponsible act. ,0e airport says last night alone people had their flights disrupted. gatwick ishe uk's second busiest airport. we checked out flights from dulles to london, and it says check with the airline. so likely domino effect to continue around the world today. back in to you. >> justin, thank you. 4:04 now. middlebrook road back open in germantown this morning after a car hit a pedestrian. thisappened at the intersection with ridge crest drive just off i-27 a it wut 8:00 last night when chopper 4 flew over the scene. a 50-year-old woman was rushed to the hospital with fe-threateningnjuries. the 20-year-old driver was also taken to the hospital but is

expectka to be now to the district, where two pedestrians were hit near the national archives. as you can see, d.c. police roped off an area around the tour bus here on pennsylvania avenue northwest. police say the people were hit by that tour bus. they were both seriously hurt. it's unclear if were crossing in the crosswalk or the middle of the street. we are stayi on top of a developing story. a plan to keep theen government s in the works. the u.s. house is expected to vote on a bill to keep the government running throughhe holidays and into next year. last night the senated pas a short-term spending bill to keep the remaining federal agencies open through february 8th. the bill does not include president trump's request for $5 billion to build a wall on the u.s./mexicoorder. >> we can make sure we don't end began it, he way with another government shutdown because of democrats' allergy to sensible immigration policies. eople do remember that

president trump as a candidate said that mexico, not the american taxpayers, were going to have to foot the bill. so it's wasteful spending to have to bld a g, big wall for the entire border. >> the bill does not pay for raises for civilia employees despite attempts by senate democrats. the house must pass the bill and the president must sign it before midnight tomorrow to avoid a partial government shutdown for the third time this year. and president trump declared victory in the fight against. isis with that, he says u.s. troopsn will ret home from syria. >> we have won again isis. so our boys, our young women, our men, they're a coming back. and they're coming back now.nd we won, a that's the way we want i and that's the way they want it. >>ia u.s. officl tells nbc news this decision came quickly and, quote, right from the very top. it caught many gop lawmakers and military leaders off guard. the pentagon released aat ent saying the campaign

over.t isis is not several of the president's strongest supporters said the decision will lead to devastating consequences for our nation and throughout the world. the administration has not released a timetable for withdrawal. it's 4:07. happeningoday, former film producer harvey weinstein is due back in court in new york city. a judge isec expd to decide whether his sexual assault case will move prosecutors say there is eno fh evidence trial. three charges against weinstein aem from allegations he raped woman in 2013. two otherharges date back to 2006. weinstein pled not guilty to the sex crime charges earlier this year. look for more coverage on this coming up on "today." seven minutes after the hour now. today a jury will begin deliberations in the trial of a horrific attack in prince george's county. lah quin phillips is accused of setting h girlfrien on fire while she was pregnant with their child. burns cover nearly 70% of her

body. she survived the attack and gave birth seven weeks early. yesterday in court, the state said phillips did not want his child with her and was dating another woman. phillips faces charges.ed murder the bureau chief is following this case for us. you can follow her o social media for updates. new detailsn a murder-suicide that left a mother dead in northern virginia on tuesday. katherine martell was struck by an suv and shot outside of her partment.rch police say her ex-boyfriend, christopher brooks, killed her and then shot hself. the two were together for eight years and had a 3-year-old daughter. her family says recently she was able to get away from brooks. r mother says she constantly lived in fear because of his threats. >> the child protective services showed up. i think the first time he threatened to shoot the social worker. he threatened to shootldhe c

protective services social worker. >> martelss family s it would like to start a foundation to bring awareness to victims who are caught in abusive relationships. news 4 is committed to raising awareness about domestic violence through our safe at home initiative. we have a list of local resources on the nbc washington search safe at home. 4:09 now. metro transit police hare sted a man accused of flashing children. this is william. he's accused of flashing kids after asking themn for sexe red line. this happened between woodley park and gallery place on tuesday. both of the children involved are 12 years old. police say the children helped them identify the man. now to a story you'll only see on news 4. even more problems along metro's troubled silver line extension. news 4 has learned about hundreds of cracks in concrete in a rail yard that is critical ns this project. news 4 trtation reporter adam tuss first broke the story

and has more. >> reporter:crracking cone along the silver line. you've heard that before, but now even more problems have surfaced in the rail yard being built along the next phase. and this rail yard will be aitical to the entire silver line beinge to operate. charles stark, the man in charge of the project, detailing all o this for news 4. >> what goes through your head when you see something like that? >> contractor needs to fix it. >> reporter: so when it comes to the cracking in these buildings, all you have to do is come here and take a look. this is theain building at this rail yard. you can see there are cracks all overce the p it's gotten so bad in some spots thatse they've put t sight lines here to see if the building is actually moving. if anything shakes here, that sight line will go off. remember, while metro will evtually take over the silver line, the project is being built by the airport authority. of metro says more than half its tunnels are now wired for cellular and data service.

that includeshree new sections of track that just became wireless yesterday. here they are. therange and silver lines between rosslyn. and the green line between college park and fort totten. metro hopes to make all 100 miles of track wireless by of all the hazards that drivers will have to face today, people in a virginia town may have the strangest. we'll tell you about the odd warning. >> what is that? >> we'll tell you that too. >> okay. and a surise visit from former president obama is enough to brighten anyone's spirits this holiday season. more on thert hwarming trip to d.c.'s children's hospital. that's straight ahead on news 4 today all right. four things you need to know about the weather. rain and a lot of it coming our way for tonight. mild and showery weather for tomorrow. i'm optimistic your holiday weekend travel plans will be far sier to accomplish.

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a state lawmaker wants howardounty to tax plastic bags. delegate terri hill tells "the baltimore sun"ns she po introduce a bill allowing to do that. the tax would be paid at checkout and would not apply to dry-cleaning, newspapers, or prescription. the goal is to reduce plastic waste. other places in our area withestrictions on plastic bags include montgomery county, which has a 5 cent tax on them. same goes for the dtrict. tacoma park bans them outright. efforts to ban plastic bags in

baltimore and annapolis both neiled. well, there's way to get groceries delivered to your doorstep from giant stores in. our ar the company has expanded a partnership with instacart. they'll offer delivery from dozens of loc across the district, maryland, and virginia. many customers will be able to get same-dayn delivery wits little as an hour. giant already uses pea pod to deliver groceries in our area. just making it easier. you know,ai weight gn continues to be a growing problem for many americans. a new study says the ahtrage weig for men and women has spik t within the past decades. the avege weight for men is now 198 pounds. for women, it's nearly 171 poheds. since t 1960s, americans have gained an average of 24 pounds. the study conducted by the national centeror health statistics. five-time olympic gold medalist missy franklin is retiring from professional e swimming. shburst on to the world scene

at the lonlynics at just 17, winning four gold medals. since that time, she's battled chronic shoulder pain. in a heartfelt online post,he now 23-year-old franklin called swimming her first true love. she says people always ask her when she knew she was good. she said s truly doesn't know because all that she ever was concerned with was having fun. and i think that's what separates the champions. if you're having fun and foced on that, maybe you're not as stressed to win the medals. >> it shows, right? an intersection in danville, virginia, has been named a hazard because of abandoned cats. this week a witness says they saw someone stop and release 30 cats at the intersection south of richmond. the city's humane society says more than 100 cars live near the intersection -- cats. i'm going to guess that cats liveear theintersection. the area has apparently been a dumping ground for cats for many ocars. the humane sty has been setting traps there for decades,

but the population continues to outpace the traps. >> i'm sorry, cat lovers. i know you're ore t i'm allergic. so just the thought of that is making myye water. >> cats everywhere. it's 4:18. patientsl around for at d.c.'s children's hospital. >> former president barack obama weing a santa claus hat there, c surprised tldren yesterday. he showed up with a bag full of presents and plenty of cheer to go around. >> wherever the family is, wherever the people you love t' are, ts christmas. >> he spent about 90 minutes visiting children there, parents and hospital staff too. >> he brought santa moves, you ow, the dad dancing. he last visited children's hospital four years ago. great to see all the smilesn the faces. not just the patients but everyone who works at the hospital too. >> not the secret service though. >> no, they're not smiling.

pretty straight faced. >> i don't think i've ever seen any secret service detail from any dutyhe smile. >>re on duty. i know a few off duty. they're smiling. >> okay, good. good to know, chuckell. >> so we're at 77 -- 77, i wish. 77? >> 37 degrees right now. >> this deluge you keep talking about. >> it's just going to be crazy. in the year of rain that we have one of s is going to be the crazier ones because it is december, and our temperaturesy are lik to increase 15 or 20 degrees after theun goes down tonight. our high temperature for today will be near 60,ut it will come at 11:59 p.m. most of the day will be cloudy, cold, and dry to at least get you started. 37 now at nationalt, airp but once you get away from i-95, it's below freezing this morning. layer up. 31 in gaithersburg. 29 in fairfax. 25 in manassas. 29 in prince george's county. really, only downtown washington

and bayside communities are above freezing this morning. put your puffy coat on. and going to be a cold cloudy day today. temperatures will be stuck in the upper 30s and low 40s for most of the daylight hours. you're saying, what warmup is coming? the warmupomes after sunset tonight. our winds will turn around to the southeast. it will be very blustery and somewhat stormy late tonight. download your nbc washington app. we're in weather alert mode for today, tonight, and early tomorrow. a very complex pacific storm is going to impact us. just like last weekend when we had the 2 to 3-inch rainfall amounts. g're fac the same amount of rainfall potential with this storm. it's coming at us in two the first part will go into parts of western pennsylvania tonight. that'll draw the warm air in, bring in heavy rain, maybe even a rumble of thunder tomorrow as so enjoy the dry start to the day today. here's future weaths. showove in during the

second half of the afternoon. heavy rain comes in after dark tonight. ain, we're talking about a possibility of 40 to 50 ile-per-hour winds and temperatures near 60 degrees at midnight tonight. then staying in the low 60s off and on tomorrow. a chance when the cold front comes through late tomorrow for a rumble or two of thunder. it's going to be a crazy 24 to 36 hours of weather. so be rdy for it. rainfall amounts, 1 to 2 inches on average. 3 inches or more in some spots. if you're traveling on the weekend, melissa, that is the best recommendation i can give you. leave saturday mooning. >> like the weather will be a lot better then. okay. alexandria, outer loop ramp to van dorn street, left lane is getting by the crash.66 fairfax county parkway to the beltway, 66 miles per hour. the irony there. going to take you about eight minutes this morning. no big pblems there on 66. looking elsewhere, northbound, southbound on 270, looking good.

inner loop and outer loop of the beltway, no big complaints. little roadwork. camp springs outer lamp after branch, two right lanes getting by there. >> melissa, thank y we're just days away from christmas, and some deadlines have already passed. even if you haven't started your holiday shopping, justin finch has tips on how to get your shopping done cheap and fast that's straight ah ea

how about a holid challenge for lost-minute shoppers out there? find the present for fou o friends i hour and stay dollars.hundred >> that's tough. think you can do it? well, we put news 4's justin

finch to the test. he went on app sg spree for us, the news 4 team, ase get ready for the holidays. >> reporter: the challenge has been accepted again. i'm taking it on. four anchors, $100 limit, one hour's time. we're here at the leesburg corner premium outlet store, manager jim gonzalez here. you're my eyes, my ears, my guide. do you think we can meet the challenge? >> i think we can do it. >> reporter: first thing's first, set the time. >> three, two, one. >> reporter: off we went to the apparel store lululemon. i'm looking for like $25, $30 range. that got me to something i think would work for one of the four on my list, this vertile scarf. >> you can wear this like seven different ways. just put them through here, snap

it, and now -- >> reporter: oh, that is cool. and ige b couldn't you see eunes in one o after one of her solid core workouts? looking at socks, i have a reasonhy i'm doing this. we're recording for news 4. i'm sorry. here's where i'm going. maybe dwrouf seen these ankles social media, something of a sock-off between chuck and aaron. i thought i'd pitch and pick up a few new pairs for them joseph a. bank. these are lik glasses that kind of look likehu c. these hats, though, kind of look like aaron, i suppose, right? give me a nod, camera, if you agree. yeah, i think so. an just like that. one more to go, melissa. her social media suggests she might like something christmasy so we checkedut francescas.

y i think i like those better. >> reporter: soou were wondering about time, we killed it. 29 minutes. plenty of time to maybe eve buy something else, but now the harder part isid going to be i stay in budget. i've got cash left over. >> okay. color me impressed, justin finch. i think he was spot on with those presents as soon as he walked into lululemon, i said, i hope that's for me. >> that's the way to shop. bank.n't break the you don't waste a bunch of time. i hope he got himself some ice cream.ey >> i think the is to go in there knowing what you're looking for. it makes it go by fau,er. thank justin. thank justin. (alex trebek) $8,000. over $8,000. now, why is this number so important? if you've already planned how to help cover your final expenses,

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up to be a busy thursday morning. not only will the roads be more congested as r holiday travelh begins, a big storm is headed this way and threatening plansho ofands who are getting out of town. >> making me nervous. ks feeling lot of f that way, i think. we're working for you to h