reports, it's important to take note of exactly where the first couple stopped today. >> reporter: i think it's important to note where the president is going, but where he isn't going. it doesn't look like he is going to baghdad or afghanistan. that's where the motions are in place to withdraw some 7,000 of the 14,000 u.s. troops there. so the president is sending a signal just by where he isn't going. now, accordi to the reuters reporters and ap reporters traveling with the president, his next stop in germany. this looks like it is a one-off trip in western iraq. not going to baghdad. i think the key question is will he meet with political leaders in iraq. >> that was hans nichols reporting. was a surprise trip. that's why there were so many questions still. but in the coming hours we are going to learn more about the president's itinerary in iraq. >> stay with news4 on air and on

the nbc washington app. we will bring you updates and new details as they come in. and there is more breaking news this evening. umocks surged today, 'racing the dismalrs that we saw on chief. the dow rallied 1,000 points after being closed yesterday for christmas. it is the biggest point gain ever. now, retailers were among the best performers today. surprisehere. energy stocks, by the way, also jumped. > here in washington it is day five in the shutdown stalemate. >> over the holiday president trumpaying heill not reopen the government until hongets $5 biln funding for his border wall. >> democrats also diggingn, refusing the president's demands. now, the senate returns tomorrow, but with no end to the standoff in sight. tonight we've got t as hundreds of thousands of federal workers remain in the crosshairs. >> leon harris is at the liv

desk following the latest on th. negotiations but we begin with news4's chris gordon. he is live at the lincoln memorial where the shutdown is impacting some of the district's biggest touri spots. chris. >> reporter: well, visheors here at t lincoln memorial tell me that the four port a pot it is thatere brought out between the lincoln memorial and the korean memorial a grossly inadequate and unsanitary. on the grounds of the lincoln memorial we found trash cans overflowing. it's not the way most here want the nation's capital to be seen. there are plenty of touristshe visitingincoln memorial for the holidays, but there are no park rangers o hand here and the public bathrooms are closed because of the government shutdown. there are a few porta-potties and long les of people waiting. do you think it's a health hazard? >> yes, absolutely a health hazard.

>> reporter: this is the nation's capital, the lincoln memorial. how could tha be? >> i know. how could that be? >> reporter: trash cans are overflowing with garbage here at the lincoln memorial. chris cox, the founder of bikers for trump, isrying to clean up the mess alone. >> because this is not the image weant the rest of the world or country to see. americans care about it and we want to put america first. southwest : here in washington the sidewalks are empty compared to normal work days when federal employees usually line up to buy their lunch at the food truc that line the curbside. >> there is no business for today. it's not good. >> reporter: some of the federal employees who are working here toda areorried about money even though they have not been furloughed. >> my concern is how long will this last and, you know, our pay status. >> reporter: fedal workers facing uncertainty. visitors here at the lincoln memorialhallenged by what they

ay are inadequate bathroom facilities, trash overflowing garbage cans here on the grunous of the lincoln memorial and no end in sight to the federal shutdown. back to you. >> thank you,hris. as we mentioned, the senate returns tomorrow, but tonight neither democrats nor the president are showing any signs of budging. leon harris is at live desk with that side of the story. >> dave five of partial government shutdown and negotiat republicans, and the white house, well, they appear to be going nowhere fast. gipresident trump d in on his border wall, telling reporters as he flew off to iraq that he will do, quote, whatever it takes to get money for border security. the president did not say how much he would atoept in a deal nd the shutdown. democrats, meanwhile, also standing their ground saying the border wall is somng that they will not fund. the senate is scheduled toe in session tomorrow afternoon, but

with no deal at hand the votes on a spending deal to reopen the government have not been scheduled at this point. this allut assures the shutdown will last into tomorrow and likely longer. we will be covering and keeping you posted. back to you. >> thanks, leon. stay with us on air and online for any updates on the shutdown in our nbc washington app we have free and cheap things to do. even with part of the gernment closed. search shutdown. we have some new video tonight. russia says it successfully tested a new group ofypersonic missiles. now, these new weapons allegedly cannot be tracked by u.s. missile defense systems. russia says the missiles can be loaded with nuclear weapons and hit almost anywhere in t world. the russian military says this test rocket hit aarget 3,700 miles away from where it launched.

a of fires making for a difficult christmas for some families in our region. >> the ame provided aid to more than 20 people displaced since christmas morning and those aren't the only victims. >> in frederick county, maryland, nine dogs were killed christmas fire on eve. on christmas day in montgomery county another fire tore through a home i boyds. in prince george's county a third fire in capitol heights left nine people without home. in debit cardens tone and in down a fourth fire over the weekend. the good news, tonight that fire in darnestown has a happy ading. you might remembe family from last week when they were featured on news4.th well, tonigh were all filled with gratitude after escaping from their burning house over the holiday weekend. news4's darcy spencer has their story. >> reporter: school is out and the ks are playing at home.

this family thrilled to be back here after a scare sunday eving. >> this is where we first started seeing the smoke charring. >> reporter: a fast spreading chimney fire forced a family from their darnestown home. >> and then the next thi you know the wall is on fire. so we had just enough time to grab the kids and the animals. >> reporter: barbara harrison introduced you to rob and reese scheer and their four adopted kids on friday. yhey have a new book called forever fam about the challenges and joyce of adoption. >> the kids have gone through a lot. so this to them was just another obstacle we will overcome. >> reporter: their tree and presents were all okay, but the family w forced to spend chief away from home. >> whether it went up ilames or not, i knew because of all the water and the damage that that does and stuff like that. i just really thought we didn't have a home. >> reporter: fortunately, the damage was not as bad as it could have been. the fireplace and wall have been

cordoned off. an air purifie whirs in the living room. they were all able to return home to spend christmas day together. they are so thankful that the christmas tree wasn't damaged it has precious mementos dating back from the kids' first christmases here as a family.re and they touched by the generosity of the community, offering, clothi shoes, blankets, and a place to stay. >> even what we consider priceless christmas ornaments, they can all beur replaced. family, your kids, they can't. >> reporter: darcy spencer, n s news4. tgomery fire spokesman tells us the fire was ruled accidental. he sayshimney fires are common this time of year in our area. fire officials recommend havg your chimney and fair place inspected -- fireplace inspected once a year. i am overdue for one. great they have each other. our first check on the forecast. we are in the middle of a pretty good stretch of holiday week

weather. that is about to change? >> chief meteorologistoug kammerer in the storm center e th what to expect. all right, doug,e about to get wet on a friday again. go figure. rd again. the t week in a row, the early part of the week, no problem. the last part of the week, yeah, that's got some rain ot. making its way from the west. another big storm system. today though a prett nice day. yes, on the chilly side. right now 44 degrees outside. we saw aigh of 47 a little bit earlier. everybody on the cool side.ay 44 by the is the average high for this time oft year. now, w are watching, nothing around our region. no rain tonight or what we will see tomorrow nit is an increase in clouds. look at all of the rain here. a big storm backhe into southwest portion of the country bringing in some big-time rain d storms around areas like datlis. if you areng trave or have friends coming in from dallas v

to fly through, that a big hub, thould make issues as far as flight delays ago. as far ariving the next 24 hours or so, looking good in our region. th a little bit more on what's happening in the airways, how about derrick out there at reagan natnal. derrick. >> reporter: well, clear skies over washington. it is, indeed, a good day to travel on what's generally the biggest after christmas travel day. aaa says 112.5 million people have traveled for this christmas holiday. about 6.5 million of those people have taken to the air. now, that's the highest in about 2015 years. here a t wasngton, reagan airport and dles, relatively light. 55,000 people flying through reagan # 43,000 through dulles. that is coming or going from both of those airports. great story today. tomorrow, as you say, and later in the week it could,indeed, be bad because of that weather

moving through other parts of te the united s we could see cancellations coming out of some hubs and for folks headingut west, they may see problems as well. right now smoothailing by air. nice sky to look at. even better skies to fly through. national, derrick ward, news4. back to you. >> derrick, anks so much. the rush to return is on. still ahead for us at 5:00, cory smith helps navigate the many returns happening at local malls. >> i don't tell people when i return something. i just do it in secrpl. >> and peo get brutally honest about return etiquette. tips on how to save when you file your taxes. our consumer reporter susan

right now a live look at storm team4 radar. you can see a major system brewing out west. soon that system is headed our way. doug is back with the impacts in our area in just a few minutes. well, it is the day after, folks. take aook at this. time lapse video taken inside tyson's corner no doubt there is a rush to return all of those unwanted holida also busy, pentagon city mall. news4's cory smith is there live with us wit that part of the story. hey, cory. >> reporter: hey, jim, how are you doing?ur i am you are an expert gift giver. probably not a lot of people turning anything you got them. but, i mean, if you look behind

me, the halmalls are absolutely packed. people cashing in on gift cards or making those returns.nk you would tt would be an easy process. you go back to the store with everything you need and you give them what you don't want.ki after t to folks today, it is not that simple. receipt, check. return item. >> a pair of shoes for my daughter. >> i come back to return a coat i gave my daughter. >> im returning a pair of trousers. >> reporter: check. excuse forour return? >> one tizeoo small. >> i don't like it. >> reporter: it's that time of year when a grin and bear it attitude can hide the disappointment of receiving a gift that isn't right. >> we give thets g then we bring it back. >> reporter: accorng to the national retail deration, u.s. retailers are expected to handle about $72 billion worth of holiday returns. about 10% of their total holida. seas jordan krewe walked into pentagon city mallith a couple

hundred dollars of returns. >> i wan to g something else. >> reporter: h did mom feel? >> guilty. >> reporter: at least the son told her the truth. omengolks can't brithemselves a loved one they swung and miss. these got these ugg boots which were, well, ugly. >> i didn't like them. >> reporter: don worry. your secret is safe with us. remember, if you didn't find what you wanted under the tree thischristmas, there is always next year. i don't know about you guy but if someone gives me a gift and it just isn't right, i don't thk i could tell them. i think i would just give it back and say i love it andfu hoy i don't run into that person again so i don't have to tellhem i gav their gift back. >> true. >> reporter: to each their own. comfortableare more than others letting their friends down. back to you. >> that's a good quality. busted the woman over uggs though. now everybody knows. >> reporter: hey, hopefuy, h friend wasn't watching. we will see. >> all right. thanks so much.

how did you do? >> i haven't taken anything back. >> i have had my years. is year, so far, so good. cory, thanks so much. consumer reports analyzed 21 national retail chains and it listed the return policies from best to worst. we have posted a moreut the opoliciesn our nbc washington website. just search holiday returns. all right, doug. oh, wow, you kepthat. at was an interesting choice. >> you like that?'r >> y rocking that tonight. that is not a christmas tie. you ve worn it before. >> that was good, ghm. >> all >> that was pretty good. i like that one a lot. to say.even know what >> it's a nice tie. it reads well on tv, doug. >> he is trying to cover for his decision to take back what you brought him. xactly right. you went ahead and kept that tie? hey, man, come on now. >> it pops. >> we got a snowstorm over

hanley's house. watch your hef. a hurricane. after today, it was ani pretty day to get outside. a lot of kids enjoying it. we could htle used a lbit of snow. a white christmas, yeah, this was zionrk national out in utah yesterday. how about that? a really cool experience outer some nice big flakes out that way as well. that is the same system right nowaking its way across the country and the same one that will bring us, well, more rain. yeah, more rain. just to add on to this record year we have had. tonight a pretty nice night, 44 degrees. we are going to see dry conditions tonight andhat means clear skies, too. temperatures in the 30s around 9, 10:00 tonight. already there in winchester, 42 degrees. gaithersburg 41 degrees. look at cambridge along the eastern shore, 3degrtheeere as well. we are looking athilly night. temperatures should stay around

or above average for this time of on the radar nothing to show. we are dry. we will stay that way through ctomorrow. yo see what i'm talking about. satellite and radar together all clear. not even a cloudn the sky tonight. as we look towards the west, this is where the srm system is. it's a big one. here is the upper-level low. once again came through zion national park yesterday making its way to the south. snow around santa fe and the untains of newexico. but look at all of the moisture heading out ahead of this. again very warm airheading out ahead of this as well. we are going to get in on the warm sector. temperatures will shoot up theo nexte of days, too. future weather, when this rain moves in. it's not tomorrow. tomorrow at 1:00 we are dry. we have got sunshine. i think tomorrow is a really nice day if you are traveling tomorrow, going back home or have loved ones coming bac into town, i think it's a-okay. tomorrow night different store we hot the clouds. now we have got the rain coming in around 9:00, 107 evening.rrow friday morning possibly moderate

to heavy rain. i do think thees hea will be on friday morning through about noon. e areis noon, and watching the front come through here. some of the computer models bring us heavy rain around this time on friday, and that's what'sappening on i-95 with this computer models at noon before it gets out ofere in the afternoon. we have rain in the afternoon. trying to get out of here around 5, 6:00. good news there. towards the weekend we will track another system. right now 5 degrees. sunshine early, clouds late. a nice december day thaorrow with sunshine out there and light winds. as you make your way into the next couple of days 60 on friday, 100% chance of rain, 55 on saturday, 44 degrees on sunday, 30% chance of showers oy su not a washout. friday's wayne rain a half-inch inch. new year's eve shower activity, 47 on monday, 54 degrees on tuesday. fat, of course, thest day of the new year. let's go out on 2018 with rain

and why not start 2019 with rain? that's kind of been the case as we made our way through the year, hasn't it? >> yes, it has. >> thank you, doug. making your commute a little safer. metr adding extra lights to certain stations. we will show you where safety improvementsre still to come. and a local kennel goes up in flames with dogs trapped inside. >> they are recovering extremely well. t an owner describes the rescue efforts and than community forhe support. t

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developing tonight we are working to learn more about a violt crash here in rockville. take a look at this video. you can see two carsin lved, left completely mangled. this happened just after midnight on rockville pike near rawlins avenue. we know four people were jured, at least twof them were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. pat. one teenager is another injured after they were hit by a car on christmas night in glen burnie. anne arundel police sayhe two teens were struck trying to cross maryland route 100 just west of oakwood road around 7:45 last night. 17-year-old steven carlisle died li the scene. say there were no signs that speed, drugs, or alcohol played a factor.

ppd itrs to be pedestrian error. the driver has not been charged. big changes to the 2018 tax law could put more money in pocket. >> but charities could take a big hit. usconsumer reporter hogan is working for you tonight with what you need to know about filing your taxes this year. >> remember as we get closer e th of the year we rummage through our closets to try to find clothes or other things to donate to charity for that big tax write-off. that's going to change for an estimated 21 million americans. doing good is its own reward. tax deductions for abl chari contribution helps shave money off of our tax bills if we itemize instead of takin the standard deduction. under the new tax cuts and jobs act, that threshold to clear.er that's because the staard deduction has nearly doubled. >> the standard deduction has

gone up. for a married couplehas $24,000 for 2018. for an individual, $12,000. >> reporter: come tax time, if you don't have more than thate o wroff, you are better off taking the standard deduction and it makes life easier without having to hold on to all of those receipts. now, of course, you still can donate to a w charityhout getting a tax break. you still reap the rewards of knowing you have done something reallyood. back to you. >> all right. thanks, susan. mail is about to get more expensive. the biggest increase to postage in decades happens january 27th. forever stamps will yufjump by nickel to 55 cents. other mail that you send out will also cost a bit more. the u.s. postal service has been pressured to fix revenue shortfalls. don't let it happen to you. tonight we are working for you with a reminder about the potential fire hazard of those real christmas trees. now, a dry tree can burn

extremely quickly. we've seen it on video. experts tell us the best way to protect yourome is to get rid of the tree as soon as it starts dropping its needles. don't wait. storm team4 radar showing severe weather out to our west. that same system could bring us even more flooding later this week. and it's not the only rainstorm doug is tracking. and for the first time we are hearing from washington head coach and players days after the coroversial release of d.j swearinger. first, dogs trapped inside a local kennel as it goes up in flames. tonight an owner thanks th tonight an owner thanks th community e fo

♪ tonight an owner thanks th community e fo not long ago, roa started here. and then, more jobs began to appear. ese techs in a lab. this builder in a hardhat... ...the welders and electricians they all needed lunch.the e teachers... doctors... jobs grew a bunch. what started with one job spread all around. because each job in energye creates many m this town. energy lives here.

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a look at some of our top stories of the day, starting with breaking news. president donald trump and first lady melania are traveling back from iraq. they spent about three and a half hours on the ground there today greeting troops and thanking them for their service. it was the president's fst trip to a war zone. the partial of government shutdown with no end in sight as negotiations hit a standstill. prnident trump digging in money for his border wall, but it's something democrats have said they won't fund. the senate returns tomorrow. so far no vote on spending bills have been scheduled. here is a live look at reagan national airport.ws

s derrick ward says everything appears to be operatingaa smoothly. says today is the biggest post-christmas travel day. 112.5 million people travel for the holiday, a 6.5 million flew. that's the most in 15 years. now to a fire at a kennel on christmas eve. it lves several dogs dead and neighbors and first responders braved those flames trying to rescue as many animals as they could. >> as news4's mark seagraves explains, the owners of the hunt club outside of frederick, maryland, are rallying around their surviving dogs and vowin to rebuild. >> reporter: the blaze broke out justefore midnight christmas eve at the middletown vbeley les kennel. the family-run business has been raising hunsng dore than 50 years. when the fire started there were about l 25 beaglesing in this kennel. dr. brooks ahalt arrived as the

fire was being put out and neighbors as well as first responders were trying to care for the injured dogs. >> that numbe dogs and that number of people, the way the community came together, the way the firefighters were helping with the animals, one of the firefighters gave one of the dogs oxygen because it wasn't breathing. that helped it, too. everybody coming together was amazing. >> reporter: he fought the blaze with others trying to save as many of his beagles as possible. >> we stil and welcome through this. we are going to be rebuilding our kenne ande will be bigger, better, and stronger. >> reporter: six dogs died in the blaze. three other dogs had be euthanized bjuause their es were so bad. dr. ahalt says it was one of the worst tragedies he has ever witnessed. >> to see how bad the burns were, smoke inhalation. like humane victims when th a fire, we had to make a couple of hard decisions on dogs that

suffered significant burns and smoke inhalation. >> reporter: the cause of the fire remains under investigation. in frederick county,ark seagraves, news4. >> just awful. so sad. volunteers from local veterinary clics are helping nurse those survivors beagles back to health. well, as we mentioned, it is a busy day for holid travel. doug is in the storm center to show usow the wea ter will affes day and beyond. >> in our area, great for travel. up and down bi-ton to raleigh, jacksonville looking great. back to the west no problems either. it's well back farer to the west we are seeing the big issues here. airports like dallas. dall obviously a big hub. issues down there with thunderstorm activity. even a tornado watchd that area. could be flight issues there. also new orleans, the big-time issues for that region, too. tomorrow thi rain moves our way. i think tomorrow is dry up and down i-, too, until this is

9:00 tomorrow night. that's when the rain starts to move into our area. traveling on friday a completely different story. we will talk much more about what that storm means to your friday and your weekend and another storm that will affect us just in time for the new year. see you back here in about 15 minutes. >> thank you. cut on christmas eve, a team leader bounced by the burgundy and gold. today for the first time we are hearing from d.j. swearinger's former teammates and head coach about hisontroversial release. george wallace joins us from the newsroom with more. what are they sayi george? >> it's crazy. the redskins back to work for the final few practices of the season. this.j time without swearinger. a mixed reaction from teammates, but they und stand the nfl is a business. >> reporter: swearinger not just a team leader, but a talen d safety who is an alternate forr the p bowl this year. vocal in thehudles and also to the media. he t recently krcriticizing defensive coordinator.

swearinger has been critical of the team before in the media ent. it's too frequent for head coach jay gruden. >> i had multiple discussions with him in, previoor previous instances. at the end of the day we thought as an organization it was best for us to part ways. >> i knew he lov his teammates. he meant well, you know what i mean? sometimes it didn't come out the way he wanted. it happens sometimes. it happens to people all the time. it hure to los a guy like that and a brother. >> i didn't expect everybody toy be hap about it. ierrish it nev happened. i lik a d.j. i liked what he brought to the football team, his passion and competitiveness. at the end of the day we can't have that. >> coming up at 6:00, swearinger's comments weren't the only drama this weekend. scuffling sh norman with titans player mockingt him? no holding back today when talking about, quote, the ultimate disrespect. a must listen coming up on news4

at 60. >> thanks, george. an emergency schoo board meeting set for tonight after the t oatment a new jersey high school wrestler gained wtional attention. the wrestler given an ultimatum. cut his dreadlocks or forfeit s match. 16ohear-old andrewnson hado 90 seconds decide. he ended up cutting his hair and winning the match. his paren say they are thanul for the outpouring of support after the incident. meanwhile, new jersey sports officials have opened a civ rights investigation and they sidelined the referee. tonight's school board will likely decide the ref's fate. tonight metro is working to make your commute safer with better lighting.4 nemeras were here at the foggy bottom station today where metro has installed brand new l.e.d. lights. check themtr out. meo tells us the lights make platforms up to six times brighter. they are energy-efficient. foggy bottom is one of 15 stations that now have those new

track bed lighting. you can see them on your screen right here by the end of next month. metro says thee lights will installed at three more stations. another 11 will be upgraded in r the half of 2019. metro says it hopes to he all 48 underground stations running the l.e.d. systems in less than three years. bring those shades with you. next, amazon's second headquarters already making an impact on the housing market. our viewer lorpreporter fro northern virginia gets an inside scoop from local experts, and what it means for your bottom line. plus, making the big leagues lld getting of the credit to his parents. the christmas gift spreading hoday cheer allli

millionaire dreams were dashed this christmas. there were no jackpot winners last night's mega millions drawing, but good news. that means the prize money jumed to an estim348 million. next drawing is set for friday, and your odds of winning are about 1 in 302 million. good luck. hey, now to an emotional holiday video. 's going viral out there. have you seen it? a top pitching prospect for the kansas city royals surprising with the christmas gift of a lifetime. >> i am paying off the loan from e bank. also, i paid off all your debt

as well. what? now instead of trying to save money every week to replace the account you drained, you can spend it on yourself. >> wow, you heard that right. 22-year-old brady singer paid off his mom and dad's debt and bank loans. he says it was a small way of saying thank you for their o support his baseball journey. again, only 22. he signed with the kansas city royals for more than $4.2 million. well, they raised him well. he is living back. k at that expression of gratitude. what a wonderful thing to do. >> so sweet. your kidse may be some of millions who unwrapped a new piece of technology yesterday. >> next at 5:00, tips to help you setp their devices safely and protect them from online dangers. >> more than a month aft amazon announced hq2 coming to northern virginia the numbers

are in showing an impact to our region's real estate. and we will be dry tonigh but check out storm team4. rad this storm system is heading in our direction. doug and i will let you know what if numbers tell only half the story? at t. rowe price, hundeyds of our experts ond the numbers po examine investment rtunities firsthand.

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watch your holiday favorites however you want and find them faster with the x1 voice remote. now that's simple. easy. awesome. switch to the entertainment you've been streaming about. get started with xfinity internet, tv and voice for $79.99 a month for 2 full years. click, call or visit a store today. right now a live loo outside on this chilly day after christmas. no rain yet. no wind out there either. doug and amelia are tracking a winter storm, folks. its going to change that and very soon. they are going to take us hour by hour in just a few minutes. meanwhile, temporary shelters have been set up in indonesia for the tsunami victims while a desperate search for others is still underway. over the weekend more than 4 people were killed when that tsunami struck. now there are orders to stay away from the coast of the ris second tsunami.

meanwhile, the volcano that started this continues to erupt. more than h 20,000 peoplee been displaced so far. it seems the company man fof us relied holiday gifts is behind a recent spike in home sales. tonightew numbers show amazon's hq2 announcementmm sparked aniate rush to buy, but how long will that aast? northern virgini bureau reporter david culver has the ory from arlington. >> reporter: late fall into winter, typically chills down the housing market. >> hello. welcome. this is one of our staged properties. >> reporter: this year during what is generally the slow season working overtime, staging houses to feel like homes getting them ready to go on the market. >> yeah, dinitely an amazon effect. >> reporter: susan says she initially had one home scheduled for last month. that was until november 13th. amazon choosing crystal city for one of its campuses ands susa

phone started ringing. >> a dozen homes in november. >> reporter: the immediate impact in virginia, homes for sale going o quickly the market. according to the reaweestate ite dc urban turf in the zip code that iludes what is known as national landing it saw 22 homes under contract compare with three this time last year. a 633% increase. s we had two listings that had beenting and they were priced appropriately, but were not getting much traction or anr offers for than a month. and within days of the amazon announced they bplh had mul offers and they both sold at or above list price. he reporter: taking over domain, amazon real estate group.com and snaggin national landing real estate on facebook, she has heard fro fks across the country looking for investment properties. >> a past client lives in california that was debating ay rental propen the area. he was looking here and in arliton because of azon. >> reporter: hee and other real estate experts do not expect

that surge in sales to continue. orge mason steven fuller institute predicted the increase in demand, stressing it would be disbursed across th region and would occur over several years. david culver, news4. >> as our digital team recently isund out though, not everyone is pg the booming real estate market. q2 in our nbc washington app to learn about the residents losing worried about their homes. and amazon's footprint continues to grow. the company announcing a record-breaking holiday season today with more orders worldwide than ever before. amazon did not specify any sales numbers, but it did say 1 billion items were shipped with prime in the u.s. it also says tens of millions of new cusmers signed up for prime by both free trial and a paid membership. so what was everybody buying? >> yeah. >> top sellers included amazon devices like the echo dot as well as lol surprise dolls

bose noise reduction headphones. >> those are always big. >> great gifts, all of them. >> a billion? >> santarought a ton of those lol surprise dolls. >> really? >> yeah. my daughter was so excited. >> she was a good girl. >> they are like this big. yeah. >> thank you notes to santa i am sure are coming? >>ut absy. absolutely. thank you notes to santa. he gets them. >> yeah. meanwhile, we are getting rain at the end of the week. is it going to be dry? y>>h. tonight, tomorrow going to be dry. a lot of us have family in town. if your family is leaving town or you are getting out of d tow the ne or so, no problem on the roadways. however, that will change late tomorrow night int the day on friday. another dry day tomorrow up and down i-95 or any which way you across the mid-atlantic and northeast tomorrow. right now 44 degrees. 7:00 the 30s. going to be a chilly night

tonight. actually, average temperatures around 30. d.c. will be a little bit above that one actually. most areas in the 20s.es 42 degight now in dulles. 42 manassas. warrenton 35 degrees there. no raine currently around region. again we are dry through this time tomorrow, but then all of this moisture comes look what we've got here. we havem a thunderstrning, a thunderstorm watch, a tornado watch around the dallas area. right now there is arn tornado g right there, that red there. that's a tornado warning. look at the flood watch all the way into parts of tennessee on t around the atlanta area. watch activity in our region, too, even though this storm, amelia, does not look like it will be nearly as big as the storms we have had in the past. we have had two, three, four inches with those storms. y looks like maybe an inch or more in some locations? >> yeah, absolutely. the thing is, doug, we are the wettest year on record. we have hadaio much at this point it's not taking a lot of rain to cause flooding

ises and that could be a concern friday into saturday, especially around our area waterways. this is tomorrow. 5:00, 6:00 dry across the area. getting home from work, getting the evening errds done, the weather not impacting you. in the overnight hours,:0 p.m. rain moves into the area. friday morning wet roads out there stopping future weather at 8:00 a.m. as we head towards the lunchtime hours, we continue to track rain, some pockets ofr heavain like moving through the area on friday, especially around the midday hours. good news, friday evening we start to not only dry out, but clear out as well and then return to dry weather on our saturday. but travel on friday definitely going to be impacted with the ra and even some minor flooding possible. outdoor ice rinks, if you are planning on going friday, you reschedule to tomorrow or saturday. it's going to be a dry d and not th bad out there on saturday. evening parties friday night,

heading outo dinner with family and friends, we will be drying at that point. so improvements with the weather. yeah, heavy rain in the forecast during the day on friday. that could lead to some isolated flooding concerns. then, doug, we are tracking the potential for rain new year's evht. the day is looking dry. as we start the new year, maybe some more ra but not a lot of snow chances in our ten-kday forecast. >> no. we are looking at possibly next thursday. you know, right now we don't have it in there. look at the rain coming in on friday with a high of 60. a great day tomorrow, 50 degrees, sunshine. 60 on your friday. rain moves out.'s saturd dry. high temperature 55. i think saturday is a nicere da. if you going skiing this weekend, looking good. even sunday looking good in the ski areas. most of the rain showers d.c. southward, i think,nd only a 30% chance. now, monday into tuesday that rain comes in during the t afternoon and oking great for new year's eve. if you are heading out to new year's eve, if you are heading stivities, you

need the umbrella. we are going to see the chance for rain right on through the evening hours. temperatures nice. actually mil o for this timef year. 46 at 7:00. the jacket, the umbrellas will ber' needed new yeve and right on into early new year's day. most of new year's day dry and cooler heading towards the first week of the newt year. uch going on. again next thursday 44 and partly sunny skies right n. yeah, we will have to wait and see if anything develops. a possible storm then. not on the maps right now. >> a right. doug, thank you. the parents of a 7-year-oca soutlina girl are defending president trump tonight amid criticism forg somethe told the child on the telephone. >> what are youooing to for christmas? >> i think we'll probablyou put some cookies -- >> now, she called norad on christmas eve kbpting to get an update on santa'srek around the globe. she was asked if she wanted to speak with president trump and she was connected to the white house.

critics say president trump could have ruined the child's belief in santa claus. >> are you still a believer in santa? >> yes, sir. >> because at 7 it's marginal, right? >> now, the girl's parents say the phone call with the president was the highlight of their daughter's christmas and that the president was, quote, very kind. today begins another winter holiday celebration. o kwanzaa kic today and runs through the first of the new year. kwanzaa is a pan-african holiday that focuses on family, community, and happy kwanzaa to you. well, shoppers gave retailers a lot to a cheerut this holiday season. according to mastercard, spending pulse in-store sal increased 5% between november 1st and christmas eve. that's aotal ofore than $850 billion. it is tge str increase in the last six years. now, online shopping walese also up more than 19% this ye.

the kids probably haven't come up for air since openiho all new tech devices from christmas, but before they take t them back to school talk to your kids about gro rules. consequences and online safety. consider downloading an app that will track your child's tech use and be sure torotect new accots with strong passwords. not>>234 or abcd. eah, make it harder than that. >> exactly. still ahead at 5:00, escalations overseas. the russians claim they have tested a missile that can circumvent all missile defense systems in the world. plus, president trump and the first lady making a surprise trip overseato ght at 6:00, hear his message to troops in iraq today asstions swirl abouthe govern tme look. it's over. i love you, but i'm not in love with you. she says i can't see you anymore.

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mystery in outer space. russia's space agency wants to know who drilled a potentially adly hole in its soyuzps cae. a tiny hole was discovered four months ago when the capsule was docked at space station.al now a russianut cosmoa says he believes it was drilled from inside the capsule. an investigation is underway with many wanting to kno was drilled in space or on the ground or if it was n accidental puncture. now to a developing story overseas raising international safety fears.

russian president vladimir putin says russia is ready to deploy a new hypersonic nuclear missile. he claims our country's anti-missile defense system can't detect it. cy kafanov has the latest from london. >> reporter: the russians have been trying to develop a hypersonic weapon sysm for a while now but the pentagon has been skeptical about theiro abilityo so. the kremlin claims it successfully tested n missile system called avant-garde. it's an intercontinental missile which they claim travels at 5 to 20 times the sed of sound. it's capable of carrying a nuclear weapon and the russians say i can circumvent all missile defense systems in the world. they released video of putin watching this test from a cnistry of defensetrol room in moscow. now, the russian president claiming the launch was success a that the new weapon will be deployed in russia next year. we canay with certainty that

this is an escalation in tensions. the russiang have been act out in a variety of regions to test the nato aligliance. the russian leading is looking to see how tmi trump stration responds to this latest escalation. nbc news, london. now at 6:00, a surprise trip to the war zone. while back at home, thes government closed for business. why president trump says he is not budging five days into a partial government shutdown. a local family is safe after escaping a holiday fire. >> he had a panic attack because his house was on fire. >> hear the dramatic account of what happened and the lesson we can all learn from it. amazon's impact on our real estate mket and your bottom line. >> yes, there is definitely an amazon effect. plus, the holiday rush to retu home as people navigate crowds at the mall to return giftfr >> a gift om someone that i hope ain't watching that i didn't like.

news4 at 6:00 begins with breaking news. >> tonight ate bold snt from president trump during a surprise trip to iraq. telling troops there the u.s., quote, is no longer the suckers of the world. >> this trip marks his first journey to an active combat zone since takingffe. during the trip mr. trump is policies that have drawn criticism here at home, including the plan to pull troops from syria. >> he also dug in on disand for border wall money on day five of this shutdown here. ment >> meanwhile, wall street's wild ride now in an upward trend. today the dow has seen its best single day of trading ever. let's get right to blaine anders >> reporter: good evening. we are watching all of it, especially the latest with the government shutdown. as you know,apitol hill has been largely empty over the holidays, but the senate