yang. chuck bell is here. chuck,ayhings be a little calm right now. we may need to break out the umbrellas by the time the week is over. >> 2018, the year of the rain drop. we will bery today. unfortunately, i'm real worried about your friday. th could be another inch of rain across the area. keep padding the all time annual long ll level which has since been broken. cold this morning. 21 degrees in gaithersburg. 21 inmanassas. 21 in washington. away from the city and the bay, it is a cold start this morning. what a nice start it is going to be today. it will be bright and sunny today. no chance for rain until probably after the sun goes down toborrow. more aut that and whether the rain drops linger into the en we mildine.ning wtop, dave

>> good morning, chuck bell. a frosty start. scraping off frost on the windshield. onef the pains we've had is d.c. 295 southbound by pennsylvania avenue. uneven pavement and long-term not looking forward to a big work zone. inside andsi o the belt way at 66. it feels like a holiday inside the beltway. eastbound, mormalro service this morning. that's the very latest. over to you. >> dave, thank you. 4:01 now. developing this morning. we're w to learn more about a serious overnight crash in rockville. it happened after midnight. itppears at least two cars were involved here. both were badly damaged. four people were hurt. two had to be rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. several fires around the ea keeping firefighters busy

en christmas day. one left n people without a home. >> in prince gorges couory neigs noticed the home was on fire. it started at 4:30 in the afternoon. they noticed thick smoke coming from the home. one person had to climb out of a second story window and jump to safety. >> god isod we all made it out. no one is hurt. thank god. a lot of things lost. we displaced. the main thing, everyone's safe, everyone is okay. >> in all nine people made it out safely along with the family dog. the red cross is helping the family. a family escired a in a row house on 17th place utheast lastnight. d.c. fires were able to keep the fire from extending to the second floor. the apartment was destroyed. at lean one peras

displaced after a fire broke out inside a second floor apartment on pennsylvania avenue northwest. this one started around noon yesterday. firefighters managed to get it under control before it spread. no word on thecause. 4:03. today is the fifth day of the partial governmen utdown. >> at the white house trump blames democrats for leaving the border unsecure. he said the partial shutdown will not end until money is provided for the wall ae.ng u.s./mexico border. >> i can't tell youhen the government is going to be open. i can tell you it's not going to be open until we have a wall, a fence, whatever they'd like to call it. i'll call ity whatever t want. but it's all the same thing. >> president trump added he wants to have the wall in p ce by the election.mo decrats have said they will not provideit him wh additional funding. the lame duck congress will

return thursday. we're continuing with the partial government shutdown. we have a article online explaining what's open, what's closed. we a following a developing story. there are med checks on every child in their custody after a second childn died their custody. an 8-year-old boy from guamala died. the young boy was detained along with h father. a border agent noticed the child appeared to be sick. he was taken to a hospital in new mexico where he was diagnosed with a fever. he was given medicine. he was. released he started vomiting and two men were stabbed near dupont circle. he told police he had been injured during a fight. onother man was found a short distance away a suffering fromtab unds. no names released and no arrests

made. d.c. police are investigating a shooting. an adult was seriously wounded here. this happened around 3:00.m. the victim's name has not been released and no arrestsmade. a somber christmas holiday in indonesia days after a deadly tsunami slammed the region. more than 420 people dead and injured.400 people troops and volunteers are desperately searching along a 16 mile stretch of the coast. the tsunami struck without warning saturday night mashing homes and sweeping people out into the sea meanwhile, tense moments for the survivors after rumors spread that another tsunami was about to hit indonesia. panicked crowds hit thestreets. hundreds of peoplera about 30 minutes later the tsunami warning was declared a false alarm.

residents are being toldo stay away from the beaches zblus case. italy's mount aetetna began erupting. two people were hurt, some buildings were damaged there. have been 130 tremors in the surrounding area e sincely monday. the vol cane snow is 11,000 feet high and spews lava several times a year. a mexican governor diedn a helicopter crash this week. martha erica alonzo had just been sworn in in the mexican's state of puebla. her husband was killed in the crash. it crashed about 10 mrutes af taking off from the airport. the helicopinr sus a failure of some kind. this morning thousands of people in new jersey are

undergoing hiv testing after possibly being exposed to the virus. this happened to a surge center in saddle brook. the center is now urging everybody who had procedures over a nine-month period to get tested. the health department said the risk is low but the center is providing blood tests to make sure nobody contracted hiv, hepatitis b or c. in news 4our health, you may have holiday parties on your schedule. you are' being warned to make sure you don't spread germs. flu activity is pking up across the country. it hasn't been reported in our region but delaware is among sie states wlu viruss well spread. wash, wash, wash those nds. it's not only gms thatay prove dangerous to you but that christmas tree. a lot of peoplep forget to kee the tree watered. that cane creat a fire hazard. the national fire protection

association says a dry christmas tree can burn paster than new hampshire newspaper. when it starts dropping the needles, it's the best time to recycle. >> no one won the mega millions. t jackpot now stands at $348 million. the next drawing is friday. since the game started in 2002, drawings have only been held on christmas fou times. yesterday was one of them. keeping up with the tradition, no one hasould be the jackpot on christmas day. wouldn't that be something if you could, if you did. all right. still ahead this morning, a new effort to help our nation's veterans is up and running. we are giving you a look at a nationwide hotline a the services it runs. plus, a myste 200 miles above earth. what may spark a criminal

investigation on the space station. cold and dry start to youry wednesmorning. great day today. plenty of sunshine start to finish. but we're trackinges our chance for rain coming up. i'll show you our five day forecast.

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you're watching "news 4 today."e ♪ com let us adore him >> cardinal donald wuerl leading christmas mass. he spoke abo i themportance of families coming together and renewing a commitment to kindness and compassion. compassion was on full display in the basilica's dining room. all of this while hundreds of

people were hand delivered a holiday meal. a groupf volunteers spent theirtm chr morning helping those most in need. volunteers cooked and served hundreds of meals to people at franklin square. soon after sunrise lines began to stretch as did hands, a ha out to the needy with homemade meals. >> it feels great. they've given out, taking their time on good chri the community to those that need it. >> a lot of love out here. santa claus is here today and we're thankful. >> donestirk bap has been providing this service on >>ristmas day for the past ten years. now to a new tool for veterans going through a crisis. >> a hotline i up and running for veterans who need help with anything from having no hea to even health care questions.

almost all theall agents are service members or from a veteras family so they understand what the caller is going through. >> lonely, separated from their families, homeless. president trump promised veterans he would set up a hotline. the n hotlineber is 1-855-948-2311. whapg thhappening this morn mystery more than 200 miles above the >> there was a hole in the side of the space station. kerry sanders has the story. >> reporter: it sounds like a

plot line from a deep space story. losing cabin pressure. at fir they expect a meteor strike. >> and a good unobstructed view now of that black spot. that's the hole on the external hull. >> reporter: but now a sinister plat they discover the hole half the size of a match stick wil d from inside the capsul a criminal investigation not ruled out. antstions investigators ruled out. was it drilled while inorbit. llvestigators wonder if u.s. astronauts d it. tonight scientists hope an innocent answer isfound.

>> involving all of this expensive equipment. >> chuck joining us this morning. if you are headed out on the ros or you're going to the stores to go make all the returns today -- >> boxing day. >> yes. you'll have nice weather to be that. do >> you will not be alone at the mall today no doubt. at least theeaer is very cooperative for all of your plans for your wednesday.mp atures for the month of december, yeah, it has been a very warm year aroun the year. we're more than a degree and a half above average.r e month of december we're almost three degrees warmer than average for the month of december and every day 13ays in a row now have been warmer than average. today may finally break that str string. more mild air coming our way as we headn later into the week. rainfall amounts, over 4 inches of rain in the month of december. that is nearly 2 inches above

average. it's beenfhe year rainfall here. temperature now down to 32n degrees town. luckily there's not much of a breeze to worry about. not much of a wind chill. clear skies and a light wind haa madeery cold start. most of the suburbs way down into the low and mid 20s. 23 degrees in fairfax. 23 in columbia, maryland. getting ready to hit the road. temperatures below freezinbe een now and 7:00, 8:00 in the morning. 100% sunshine and a fine day to be outside. afternoon highs well up into the 40s. average high is 45. so today would be two degrees warmer than that. you can always use our nbc washington app. you'll want it. a lot of rnoming thursday night. slight chance for showers thursday but that mainly comes ter the sun goes down on thursday. friday, raining from start tosh

fi this one is coming from the pacific. it will be all rain and no snow chances with this one. rain moving across parts of the southern plains. that's the beginning of the formation of this next weathert system t will impact us. for today, look at that. hardly a cloud anywhere in the mi mid-atlantic. tomorrow during the day plenty ofshine early tomorrow. clouds coming in later on in the afternoon.ou rain chances cld be here as early as 8:00, 9:00 tomorrow evening.'s thot going to be that much of an impact. friday is looking very rainy indeed. highs for tomorrow, in the mid to upper 40s. that will be another dayarr than average. a lot of rain on friday. look at this weekend rest, saturday and sunday. most of the weekend will be dry. saturd a afternoon dry in the 50s. another milder than average day

on sunday. chance for showers late in the day. that could, could be a lite rain/snow possibility next monday morning. new year's eve morning. between now and then, nothing to worry about. ve dildine, tell me there's nothing to worry about on your roads on tuesday. >> nothing to worry about. traffic is clean and green moving well around the beltway. one of the things to keep in minds as you're moving around the. ci the lanes are open through rush hourun south on d.c. 295. all lanes are slow getting over the rough payment and expansion joi joint. certainly not the case around the capital beltway. traffic is moving briskly without delay. ma0, 95 and baltimore washington parkway. sure to have the ice breaker handy. there will be frost on your

windshield. that's the latest. back over to you. >> dave, thank you, sir. 20 minutes after 4:00. still ahead, changes to tax law ma more money in your pocket, but not everybody is cheering. >> we areoing to explain, and be sure to check out "ellen" at 3:00. stick around for news 4 at 4:00. 4:20. stic. we'll be rht back. 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. the three what? the three p's? what are the three p's? the thone p's of life insurancet are price, price, and price. a price you can afford, a price that can't increase, and a price that fits your budget. i'm 54 and i was a smoker but quit. alex, what's my price?

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so call nowet a 30-day for free information. and you'll also get this free beneficiary planner, ang.it's yours just for call so call now. you're watching "news 4 today." welcome back. 4:22. if you're getting slammed with scam calls this holiday season,

you're not alone. a new report shows that scam calls have spiked 129% this last more than half surveyed say ther haveeived a call within the last week.ex rts say holiday scams was the best time for success. >> jennie-o turkey store recalling turkey due to salmonella. it includes plain ground turkey or turkey with taco or italian seasoning. it follows a similar am warning in november. t our nbc washington app and search turkey for more informatio big changes to the 2018 tax law could put more money in your cket. >> but charities? they could be the ones to take a big hi

consumer reporter susan hogan has what you need a to knout filing your taxes this year. >> remember as we get closer to the end of the year we run into ourlosets to find clothes or other things to donate to charity, that's going to change for an estimated 21 mlion americans. tax deductions for charitable contributions if we itemize instead of taking the standard deduction but under the new actt it's tougher clear. the standard deduction has nearly doubled. >> the standard deduction has gone up. for a married couple that's 24,000 for 2018. for an individual it's 12,000. >> if you don't have than that, you're better o taking the standard deduction.

>> reporter: of course you still can donateo a charity without getting a tax break. you still reap the rewards of knowing you've done something really good. 4:25 your timenow. coming up, you shopped, you wrapped, you gave. >> now it's return time. time to send i all back to the gore. what to know aboting the best for your buck on the gift you don't want. good morning, everybody. temperatures way below freezing this morning. you'll need your winr coat today. you won't need that umbrella yet. the big check on the forecast for the shortened work week coming right up.

"news 4 today" starts now. 4:28 t is youe right now as we take a live look outside on this wednesday morning. still a few hours until sunrise, of course, but the sun will make an a appearance you continue your holiday celebration. od morning, everybody.

i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'mca e gonzalez. thank you for joining us. we're sure you're u waking after big christmas dinners, all the leftovers. >> the cakes, the pies, all of >> so good. you feel it today. we are working for you to get you bac into the swing o things if you are heading back to work. wtop's dave dilldine is in for melissa mollet. >> chuck bell is in. one more big drink of water coming from mother nature. that arrives onfriday. maybe a little chance of some wet snow coming up onr' new y eve. that's a very sll chance. don't start planning snow man names yet. wednesday off to a considerably colder start than wednesday. most areas are 5 to 10 degrees colder now downnto the lowo mid 20s. mid 20s now in prince gorges county. 23 in columbia,maryland.

27 at marine base quantico. all sunshine all the time. sun is not up until 7:25 this morning. still a couple more hrs for that. all sunshine this afternoon. daytime highs today, mid to upper 40s. nothing to complain about there. 47 in leesburg. 45 in culp i'll let you know when the rain is most likely to arrive and how long w into thekend it's going to hang around. good morning, dave dilldine. >> good morning, chuck. easy commute. no beltway issues in maryland and virginia. southbound d.c. 295. the work zone at pennsvania ovechkin, bumpy ride. all lanes getting through and moving well. expect ely morning delays.0, 95, baltimore washington parkway incident and delay free. re