strike a deal to keep the government running. thousands of workers and a paycheck forch stmas. >> a jury hands down a surprising verdict for a man accused of setting his pregnant gifriend on fire. >> it's still raining a little bit this mornin >> iid cover my hair. >> a lot of people trying to travel for the holiday weekend.a let's take live look outside. >> we're getting rain with ate massive s that could cause problems for drivers and flyers up and down the east coast today. >> wtop is tracking the road for us this morning. let's start though with storm team 4 c meteorologick bell. i have to say, that radar pictureooked busier than the reality i dealt with this morning. >> i understand what you the heaviest of the rain may already be in the rear-view mirror but that doesn't mean

it's not going to continue to sprinkle and shower on us for the remainder of the day. areas to light to pockets of moderate rain this morning. but no heavy rain at this point in time. the real weather story as you're getting up early, be ready for it to feel like ringtime. temperatures are 15 to 30 degrees warmer now than they were yesterday.ev unbely mild. we're 61 in washington now at 4:00 a.m. 63 in prince george'scounty. 64 in southern maryland. it literally does fee like t first day of spring and the winter solstace is today. we're upper 50s a low and mid 60s all day today. rain chances don'tnd until midnight tonight leaving us colder for the weekend. more about tha coming up. good morning. >> good morning mr. bell.

as you hit the roads, the wipers are going into weoverdrive. don't have a long list of road closures right now. and wind restrictions now downgraded to wing. warn taking a look at the beltway, getting wet in places. beyond washington boulevard, right nowe on scene and blocking the right side. the westbound crash at 50 has just cleared. back over to you. > thank you. it's 4:02. major problems for amtrak travellers. >> a power outage at union station created problems there. >> of all the times, all the folks trying to get home for christmas. minimal power has been restored and trains are starting to resume services, but dozens of passengers spent hours stuffed on a train outside of union

station. ssengers were able to see union station and the platforms, but they were not allowed to get off. one of those passengers was ann thompson. she posted updates throughout the ordeal. >> it's 1:11:00 a.m. it's still raining and we're still stuck. >> i'm tolde are just five minutes from union station. so far we have been waiting an hour and 15 minutes to get oere. >> that first was around 1:00 in the morning. anne tweeted this out, finally freed at 2:52 a.m. so almost 3:00 in the morning g mo. we'll be updating you as we learn more about what has thhappen. >> a nightmare for commuters. all of this rain. it a messy making

and slow ride for millions of holiday travellers and it's not. do the wet weather is expected to continue through early tomorrow morning. the showers couldn't come at a worse time either. yesterday was one of the busiest travel days in the nation. >> aaa officials say 102 million people are expected to travel on the roadways. if you're hitting this road this weekend, here's a few tips t keep in mind. inspect your vehicle, check ther tires damage, buckle up,nk don't dri or drive and leave cell phone alone and get plenty of rest before your journey. developing now, we are just hours away from a partial government shutdown if congress andhe president don't come up with an agreement to keep the federal government open. >> last nightep houselicans passed a short-term spending bill that includes t5 billion build a wall along the

u.s.-mexico border. now that new bill goes to the senate for its consideration that passed a separate bill that did not include fundi for the wall. the senate is expected to meet before noon today. many senatorslready left for christmas break. president trump met with republican csional leaders yesterday and insisted any bill should include fundi forhe wall. >> any measure that funds the government must include border security. it has to. not for political purposes, but for ourco try. >> president trump is plunging the country into chaos. >> more than 400,000 federal workers are stuck in limbo. they could go without a paycheck over the holidays. president trump is scheduled to spend christmas at mara largo. defense secretary james mattis hruded president his two-page resignation letter.

this comes after the president tweeted mattis is retiring. the breaking point came after two major policy diffeisnces week. the president announced the u.s. syria. are leaving the president also requested options to with draw troops in afghanistan. the mattis's letter it criticizes the president's legal judgment. because you have a right to have a secretary of defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and otherbj ts, i believe it is right for me to step down from my sition. they say it proves the administration is out of control. >> everything thatic ies stability, everything that indicates strength, everything thates indicnowledge is leaving this administration. general, kelly, general mattis, so many others. they're is chaos now in this administration. >> secretary mattis's resignation is effective at the end of february.

the president will fill the po ation soon. of this uncertainty is effecting the stock market. e w dropped 460 points. thember is on track to worst month for losses in nearly a decade. this month, u.s. stock futures point to a partial rebound after a volatile week on wall street. >> the university of marylan released new video from football player jor mcnair's final y.actice in body camera footage shows two university police officers arving at the field house at 6:04:00 p.m.. accordin to the report released in september they called 911ni minutes prior. large portions of the footage were blacked o to protect his medical information. you can hear one officer's frustration as they wait for medics. >> when the aulance final arrived, it was at the wrong entrance. the second offic tells the medics to go near the field ere trainers were waiting with mcnair. the ambulance finally left for the hospital nearly 40 minutes

afte11 that call. the 19-year-old died two weeks later at the hospital. the university president said the school tesegal and moral responsible for the mistakes thatttaff made t lead to his death. several members of the coaching staff, including the head coach, have been fired. >> it's now 4:08. c. council member jack evans is under fire this morning. evans consulting firm received stock just weeks before promoting legislation that would benefit the company.e according to post, the shares of stock were worth about i00,000. they were issue october of 2016 for aigital sign company. a month later, evans asked the uncil to place emergency legislation in the next agenda that would have allowed them to install the sign. he later pulled the bill whe he realized it wouldn't pass. in a statement to the post yesterday, he said the stock certificate was returned as soon as it was receive. a pri george's county mother says she's afraid for her

safety after herex-boyfriend was found not guilty of trying to kill her. laquinn philleds was cha with setting her on fire when she was pregnant with their child las year. their daughter had to be delivered 7 weeks early. yesterday a jury found him not guilty on all charges including attempted murder. she says she wasy stunned the verdict. the defense argued that she set herself on fire. >> that leaves me like, what about my whfety? am i supposed to do now? >> my suspicion was that she set herself on fire. there was no gasoline found in the bathtub. there was no dna. no fingerprints >> a second suspect was arrested and charged in this case but prosecutors will evaluate whether to move forward. >> theke all w at the

capitol gazette when the attack happened injune. one would contain five lit pillars that represent theives lost. a boardwalk would wind through a garden where the pillars can be used and honor freedom of thes. pr another called lost copy includes a blank page to recognize the absence of the victims. there's a plan to take a look at the proposals on a website and let people vote for their preference. the memorial will cost between 150 to $300,000. >> the holidays can be an especially tough time for people that don't have a home yesterday there was a vigil here in t district held for homelesseople in our area. the people for fairness coalition gathered those that eded extra cheer this holiday season. they were served a hot meal and sang chrtmas carols together. the trump administration wants to impose stricter work

requiremened. congress to do this but failed. now the president wants to use executive tions. the proposal would tighten work able-bodied on people between the ages of 18 to 49 with nond dets. the rule impacts 800,000 people on food stamps. benefits to the elderly, disabled and pregnant women would not >change. >>well, to most people drones s art of like a toy, but at drone ort near london, a was enough to shutdown flights and leave thousands of passengers stranded. find out whator is next police. >> a holiday shopping marathon is about to get started. what one major retailer is doing that could be tce saving g for the last minute shoppers, chuck? >>s advertised, temperatures went up overnight. you're starting out your friday morning in the 60s with clouds and rain, so you can't really enjoy it all that much. i'll let you kw whenheainy i'

m alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50-85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remember the three p's. e three what? the three p's?what are? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your bget. i'm 54 and i was a smoker but quit. alex, what's my price?t you can verage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65, retired, and take medications. what's my price?95 also $ month. i just turned 80 and i'm on a fixed income. what's my price? $9.95 a month for you, too.

if you're age 50 to 85, call now about the number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial pn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. that's ls than 35 cents a day. you cannot be turned down because of your health. no medical exano health q. your acceptance is guaranteed, and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can n.er go up for any reas and with this plan, you can pick your payment date, so you can time your premium due date to work with your budget. options start at $9.95 a month, plus, you get a 30-day money ba guarantee. so call now for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, and it's yours jusfor calling. so call now.

we he an update to breaking news flights are resuming after drones sparked a shutdown. it leftore than 100,000 passengers stranded there. gatwick is the u.k.'s second busiest airport.of cials are still searching for the operator of the drone. >> in pesylvania, an international student's visa is revoked after being accused of trying to kill his roommate. authorities say he allegedly put poisonousmicals in his roommate's food, drinks, and mou mouthwash. authorities questioned the

chemistry major. he turned himself into police yesterday. he was also accused of leaving racist graffiti in the dorm room. >> an escaped inmate in ohioun herself in hot water. literally. authorities found the 24-yr-old in a hot tub in a retirement village. she escaped on tuesday aft being booked on a drug charge. a few hours later police received reports of a woman sitting in a hot tub wearing a jail jump suit. ers sheortedly told off was in the tub because she was told. a group of bystanders in the district being honored for saving a life. they jumped into action after a man suffered att heart ak while waiting in line tovote. a former school employee collapsed there. they grabbed the schoolto defibril and shocked him

twice to get his heart beating again. >> our responders are going to get there quickly, but there's bystander cally a there first, right? your neighbor, co-worker, that can be there first and render assistance. >> mayor bowser also recognized the first responders that took over from the good samaritan. >> today abeac t that serves alcohol will be opening up. this is what the taco bell cantina will look like. it's set to up open on the waterfront. you can choose from a variety of alcoholic drinks. beer, wine, and sangria. shareable appetizers and other fan favorites. and chalupas and gordidas. interesting.

>> you can now shop at a secondh wae in the district. it's a block up from m street. you'll find the signature hoagies and coffees along with ble bulldog d shot. it's a double shot of express sexpresso and caramel and whipped cream. up next columbia heights, adams morgan, and here. >> you can get just about anything in wawa. kohl's is helping out last minute shoppers. store doo open around the clock. also suffering free instore pick up on certain offers. his is the 6th year the retailer has offered 24 hour shopping leading u to chris mass. i hope there getting a good paycheck.

>> there's a lot of people that would rather work for whatever reason. >> celebrate christmas. >> sure. >> trying to escape their families. >> my in laws are still up. so i'm going to >> santa needs an umbrella. that's what they're at kohl's getting today. anotherainy one. >> it was weirdly rm. >> crazy warm air zoomed in here last night. still in the low to mid 40s at 7:00. we have stayed above 60 in down town washington all through the overnight hours and we have spent most ofhe day above 60 degrees. our average high temperature for this day is 45. so way above average.

could be gusty at times today. haven't beene a scatter all the cold air just yet but even that isarin by december morning standards. your planner for today, mild throhehout the course of day. a 100% chance you'll need the umbrella today. we may be dodging the bullet for extremely heavy rain, but any additional moisture is still a pratlem. so floodes for the rest of the day. the phrase of the year is turn around, don't drown. man, oh kman, loo at how much more moisture is still t come our way. the main area of storminess is moving into pts of northeast georgia. that will bring another chance for moderate rain in here later on in the day today. here's noontime, showery weather. there's the one burst of rain cominger in late aon into the early parts of the evening.

all of this comes to an end about midnight tonight. it will be dry tomorrow. dry sunday, dry christmas eve and dryy. christmas rainy and mild and breezy today. cooler, der air tomorrow f the rest of the weekend. weust have toake it to saturday. >> we can do it. also on the connector toward the clara barton parkway. always slippery. there is a crash. unclear how, if any traffic gets by. otherwise around the beltway traffi is just fine thi morning. take your time, though. that's the latest. back over to you. >> thank you. t's 4:21. it's goingbe a stressful day for anyone that has to catch a flight. if you're headed out from dulles

today, there's very friendly faces. look at theseguys.

adam ss explains how one airline is using dogs. >> a friendly, furry face to

combat the holiday stress at the airport. >> man, i haven't seen anything like that in an airport. oliver.lily, brook, and >> they're the love of my life. >> jody just left her dog for the holiday break, and this brought back a warm feeling. >> does it remind you of your dog here? >> absolutely. there's one especially thatt looks j like them. >> these dogs bring smiles just about everywhere they go, and that's the point. that you forget aut this part of the trip. >> all of these dogs come from pa.l. which is based in d.c. it stands for people, animals, love. and they come here at the airport and brighten y'everyb day. >> here at dulles we plan on serving about 200,000 customers this holiday season and bringing ve some in here to rel pressure and stress and bring some happiness is what we're all about. >> it's huge. you can feel and see people

visibly be compressed. >> i'm definitely happier. it's nice being around them they bring some light to the airport. >> they'll be working three shifts a day over the next couple of days. man's best friend, now travellers best friend here at the airport. >> he's very cute. if they hadys mon i would be more excited. >> see, i would be running the other way. >> ?real we are already tracking trouble for holiday travel. an overnit outage leaving them stranded on union station. wee working wit you for an update and conditions on our road. >> there's no therapy pan bears by the way.

we're tcking rain drops. how much longer, though? that forecast is coming up. >> plus a special trip to d.c. turns tragic. more on the mother and daughter killed after tir white househe i'm alex trebek here to tell you about the colonial penn program. if you're age 50-85 and looking to buy life insurance on a fixed budget, remeer the three p's. the three what?e the ths? what are the three p's? the three p's of life insurance on a fixed budget are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase,

and a price that fits your budget.nd i'm 54 was a smoker but quit. alex, what's my price? you can get coverage for $9.95 a month. i'm 65, retired, and take medications. what's my price? also $9.95 a month. i just turned 80 and i'm on a fixed income. what's my price? $9.95 month for you, too. if you're age 50 to 85,th call now aboutr you, too. number one most popular whole life insurance plan available through the colonial penn program. it has an affordable rate starting at $9.95 a month. that's less than 35 cents a day. you cannot be turned down because of your health. your acceptance isnteed, no health questions.ua and this plan has a guaranteed lifetime rate lock, so your rate can never go up for any reason., and with this plyou can pick yo, so you can time your premium due date y

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here's a look at the radar right now. we could still see up to another inch of rain on our already soaked roader s nowhere for the rain to go anymore. i was driving to work and i saw huge pools of wateridn the of the road. it can be dangerous. so watch out this morning and good morni to you. >> we're also tracking some trouble out of union station here in d.c. this morning. chris lawrence with the latest. >> this is impacting folks trying to make their way home