>> wtop is standing by with a check on our commute ts morning. it's a little bit busyom in s places. we begin with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. he's answering the question, how >>ch rain are we going to get, chuck? probably for most of the area around an inch of rain. could be less in the valley. probably half an inch there. close to an inch around most o the city but you get down into southern maryland and the eastern shore, could be 2 inches of rain. weather alert f you todor the possibility of localized flooding. definitely mild. temperatures getting close to 60 degrees today so the mild air comes super loaded with moisturelo there's the watch. pretty much down along the corridor down into parts of central virginia. rain everywhere this morning. heaviest rron culpeper county. hat's headed in over the next little bit temperature in the low to mid 40s around town and up near 60

degrees later on in the afternoon.nd heaviest steadiest of the rain between now and 3:00 or 4:00, there are indicationshat the rain should be coming to an end around 6:00 or 7:00 this evening. what about the weekend, how m dry hours in that part of the forecast? i'll share it with you coming up. >> there are puddles and on the inner loop of the beltway, the clean up continues near rockville pike. single file to the right. traffic is now jammed. on the outer loop of the ey beltway,d georgia avenue n the rightside. outer loop at thbeltway should be cleared but on guard for the spin out potential today. it will be a factor all morning ng. virginia, 95, 395, no incidents heading north. we're on top of it. for now, back to you.

>> appreciate it. ank you. >>6:02 right now. >> today is the 7th day of the partial government shutdown. congress adjourned yesterdaywi out a plan. >> that means 800,000 federal workers don't know when they'll get their next paycheck and it also means popular local spots may begin to close. at thejacobs is live national zoo with more. >> aaron and erica, one of the big questions durinle this w shutdown talk is when or if the effects o it would start to go beyond those federal workers. well, we are noweeing just that. the something semithsonian museo make the difficult decision to close if the shutdown goes beyond january 1st. that's exactly what will happen as congress adjourned yes irday an't expected to convene u againntil january 3rd. so tnrists in t after the new year hoping to take in any of the museums ohe zoo are out of luck. of course this shutdown is now y

entering d 7 and federal workers are growing more and more anxious because the livelihoods are at stake and those working without pay, when they'll get their next paycheck questionable. they'll ask for the smithsonian and the national zoo. we are told they have been using funding for previous years and they are now unable to sustain that in order to stay open during the shutdown. but as for the animals at the zo they'll still be taken care of because animals willow have to report without pay. back to you. >> nicole, thank you. >> it's 6:03. armed robbery, fir degree assault and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony. those are some of t charg facing a d.c. firefighter after a dispute during the se of shoes. he connected through an app, the offer up app. he planned to buy a pair of

designer shoes from the guy. police say things went wrong. it all allegedly happened last thursday around noon. police say moore met with someone onia georgavenue. the victim was apparently selling a pair of lomoshoes. e revealed the gun, ordered the victim out of his car and cook off with the shoes. however the seller was able to take a photo of the car as he was driving away. >> he's been a firefighter in d.c. for four years now. he's now on leave pending the o outcom an investigation. this morning we have tips on how you can keep yourself safe with selling things to strangers you meet line. never invite someone that you don know into your home and if you'reti m up with that person, call your local police and ask if there's a police exchange zone. >> developing in europe this morning, investigators are searching for two people who

robbed a church just outside vienna austria. police found five monks tied up. investigors say thehieves took money and valuables from everybody inside the church. one monk suffered a serious head injury. police say the attack was not terror >>related. lso developing this morning, flights resumed out of laguardia airport following a transformer explosn at aower plant. you can see the explosion caused the new york skyline to glow neon blue. two domestic delta flyings had to be diverted to dulles. no one was hurt. >> we now know the name of a little boy that died in custody after crossing into the u.s. illegally with his father. 8-year-old gomez grew up in a remote part of guatemala. the mother says he was healthy when he and his father the united states. the child passed a health exam when agents picked him up at the

border. on christmas eve a guard noticed the boy was coughing. he died from the flu about 14 hourslater. >> happening today, homeland security secretary will head to the southern border. she is expected to visit e el paso, texas today and yuma, arizona tomorrow. she directed a series of ptraordinarytective measures including new medical screening for detailed migra children. she's urging migrants not to put their children at risk. >> 6 mutes after the hour, before you settle on buying the new outfit, youn try it in a fitting room, just you and a assume or so we >> this morning, police say a man breached that intimate setting by recording shoppers as they were undressing. david culver explains how one teen's qui action lead to an arrest. >> police say the young girl was in the forever 21 dressing room and she was getting when she noticed something was looking at her.

she looked up. it was what she thought might be a camera. she r immediatelyorted it to a store employee. >> police arresting the 39-year-old. they found the alexandria residentinside the fitting room. he used this bluetooth camera device to rord people undressing. >> unfortunately in these cases, somebody that's that committed to doing something like this is not just settling for one person. >> police believe there may be more victims. they say if you think you may have been recorded while in the mall or one of the stores inside, they want to hear from you. new details on a deadly crash that killed twori tous near the national mall. the tour busriver called with hitting and killing tve women may een distracted while driving. hiding his face there ase walked out of the courthouse in d.c. yesterday. surveillance video inside thebu

shows him switching his cell phone between his hands at the exacus moment the struck the women. monica a her mother were in the thosswalk. pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. strange incident on 395 caught on camera yesterday afternoon. video from twitter shows a shirtless man walking down the the person who posted the clip sayshis happened in the northbound lanes of 395 just after king street. the man was taken into custody and later taken to a hospital. > the sex abuse scandal in th catholic church is prompting d.c. and virginia to change the law. to report quire them child abuse. religious leaders are often exempt. the attorney general's office tells ns 4 i talking to faith based groups about changes to the mandatory report laws.

they released a statement saying every priest, and layperson is a mandatory reporter. they say it's been a policy for mo0 than years. >> the oldest synagogue in the district will move to a new location for the third time. they'll move the building from 3rd and g street to 3rdnd west downtown. this is the third time its been moved. it will become part of the capital jewis museum. that's expected to open in 2021. >> how doe the mcdonald's metro system sound? metro is considering selling naming rights to everything. lines, about the rail the buses, the parking lots, the entire system, maybe. metro is looki for a consultant to figureow out h

much money corporate sponsorships could actually raise. the metro board has raised and rejected the idea several times in the past. meanwhile, if you are planning on ting metro home from your new year's eve party, good newss the railm is going to stay open late after the ball drops until 2:00 a.m. on new year's day, met are, o will run on a sunday schedule. they'll be running from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. and metro buses will run on a reduced schedule. >> sll ahea we're showing you how to give your home a tech upgrade. >> ps a potentially ground breaking knew treatment for people livg with anxietynd depression. the new method that doesn't involve medication or talk therapy. >> good morning, everybody. friday morning underway. the final weekend of 2018. no surprisehere. 2018 is going to come to an end with rain falling from the sky.u i'll show the radar and talk more about today's rainfall amounts coming up. does santa claus himself, need the most trusted

battery this holiday season? maybe not. mae he could trust any eries will do. or, hellould just trust dura

friday morning and a storm team weather alert day. rain, a lot of it isd expec to come down for much of the morning and the afternoon. chuck bell will join us with a look at what this may mean for your friday night too. inou news for health, a promising treatment for patients struggling with anxiety and depression. this treatment called transcranial magnetic stimulation is for people that don't respond to medication or traditional therapy. doctors placed the device on the patient's head it stimulates b parts of thein

that usually has decreased activity during depression. >> i was engaging in myife again. not only am i more positive but i have a lot more energy. >> it's very encouraging when we see patients telling us how they are improved. >> patients may need to have several 20 minute sessions a week. side effects can include head aches and scalp discomfort where the deve is placed. >> new this morning, additional proof. the cost of medical care in the united states is increasing. data from the university of washington shows the average visit to the doctor in the us.w cost nearly $500. the price of a hospital stay ha opped more t $22,000 in 2016. experts say these findings are more proof that the u.xc eds every other country in total health care costs. j startiuary 1, hospitals will be required to post online the price of medical services. >> outith theold, in with the

new, that might mean a good deal for you if you're looking for a new car. rscar deare eager to get rid of this year's inventory and they're offering good deals to do so. acrding to consumer reports, the best deals will be 2018de . some even have a 17% manufacturers discount. experts say it's important to compare offers d amonglerships due to difference in pricing or incentives that may vary. howard county residence denlts a new initiative will help keep homes and businesses from flooding. >> several feet of rushing wer killed two people and destroyed homes and businesses. the new initiative includes new infrastructure for storm water retention, more frequent monitoring of the area's nine waterways and $150,000 in grants for private flood mitigation projects. one of the most important aspects is a new alert system. >> i am directing our office of

emergency managemento develop a comprehensive plan to bolster the alert system with new technology to enhance capabilities during extreme weather contitions. >> c officials say they will also be looking at ways to improve lower main street without demolishing theistoric buildings there. the next phase of the flood mitigation plan will beod ined early next year. >> if you're just now waking up, 6:17 is your time. get ready to take the umbrellas out. the rain boots. heavy rain across the region. the one silver lining is maybe late friday night is okay. >> yeah. i'm a little more optimistic for your friday evening plans. >> maybe give us something. gi us something. >> yeah. the late show. that's going to be myadvice. those 6:00 reservations may still be a little on the rainy side but after 8:00 or 9:00, things are starting to show signs they may be drying up. that wmeld be a wel change.

between now and then it's going to be wet and it is going to be mild. 45 already in washington.ot sun is even up. that's already 1 degree above an high temperature for this time in december. flood watches have been issued for the rest of your friday, into your friday evening for all of the i-95 corridor. look out for highg stand water across a big chunk of the area ais morning and if you're getting on airplane today there could be significant delays as this heavy rain moves into the new york city and boston area, and heavy rain coming in now anyime it rains hard in atlantic that is trouble for air travel. there you can see that moisture pointing straight at us. it's going to rain steadily here for the remainder of the morning urs. raining everywhere now. the heaviest of the rain is in northern virg moving into suburban maryland over the next hour and a half. but here's the newly updated forecast model though showing

periers of me rain impacting the first half of the day in a big, big way. rainfall amounts between now and lunchtime. could be another half an inch or so. this should be the last line of herain, though, coming through between 3:00 and 6:00 thisen g. by 4:30, the heavy rain getting pushed into southern maryland. by 6:30, rain should be tapering back to showers, ifom notg to an end and most of the rain should be out of here by 9:00 or 10:00 this evening. that would be welcome news but rainfall amounts could be an inch or more. we're not ae to take any more moisture so high water will be an issue. dry weather for saturday and most of sunday dry as well. going to the redskins game, you may want to have your poncho just to play it safe. new year's eve will be wet and dave, it will be raining when we say hello to 2019.

>> what a shock. more rain. can't believe it. the bus f is the jackknifed tractor-trailer on the inner loop and rockville pock. one right lane has been getting by extremely slowly down.il thatbe something that you will encounter. watch out for the hydroplaning potential, no sign of trouble despite the road spray on 95 or i-66 heading for the capital belt way. no spin outs there. toll ooking good on the road heading east toward falls church as well. from the wtop traffic center for now, back to you. >> dave, thank you. stl ahead thi morning, smart technology at home. there are dozens of techup ades you can make to your home right now. >> we're giving you a crash

course in them. then remember to catch ellen toda right here on nbc 4. the show starts at 3:00 and then stick around for news 4

if you're hoping to begin 2019 with home upgrades, consider smart . technolo >> smart doorbells to smart security cameras, possibilities arees en >> susan is working for you with a crash course on the high-tech

devices. >> he done just write about smart home products, he uses them too. ehis one must h device, a smart speaker. >> smart speakers make it very easy to connect all of these different products. >> you'll find three main option amazon's alexa, googl assistant and apple's siri.ns er reports puts them through rigorous testing. for example, smart locks have to pass the same break in test as traditional door locks. >> you want to get a lock thatm is but also strong. >> this recommended $230 lock stood up to kicking, picking and dilling tests and connects with an of the three smart speaker assistants. >> another option for your doors is video u doorbells. n see who is at your door. some models even work with smart

locks to remotely open the door through an app. need even more smart, you might want todd smart cameras inside and out. they can record a break in or this little guy breaking the rules. you'll need to pay a fee for video storage for most smart security cameras whichan be as much as $200 a year. >> the $120 amazon cloud cam is a consumer reports best buy and inside want surveillance and outside of your home, consider the net gear arlo pro 2 smart camera for $220. >> now consumer reports als looked into another type of smart device. talking about smart smokeor dete if you're considering one of those, be careful. they are available but they're only able to detect one type of fire. not everything. >> all right. we are in store for a mild friday but the mild weaer will do you no good because it's going to be raining from sun up

to sun down today. temperatures are in the 40s. we'll be near 60 degrees for today but again, rain could bet heavy times. storm team 4 weather alert for your friday. >> plus 13 homes struck in a rash o burglaries. who the thieves appear to be targeting and when they're striking. >> and it was once theiggest store in the country. now sears may only have hours left. details on that deadline that could mean the end of the store

>> there may be a different story when it comes to our weekend weather. >> let head right over to storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. you can have a look at the forecast. talkpag about the on the road. >> yes, it's going to be an ugly day to try to move about the

nation's capitol. weather alertou mode for because we have another significant chance for localized flooding across the area. our ground can't absorb thatst much more me and a lot of the i-95 corridor likely to get an inch or more of rain. temperatures will be running 15 degrees warmer thanaverage. right along the i-95 corridor from northeast t maryland a way down to fredericksburg. goes into the late evening hours this evening. right now it's already raining everywhere. the instant you step outhe door. tures will be i the upper 50s. most of the rain will be over with hopefully before 7:00 or 8:00 this evening. rain tampering and showers a coming t end. i'm pretty sure you're going to like the first half of your weekend. breezy tomorrow with afohance some rainier weather coming

back in late sunday into new year's eve.ar that of the forecast coming up. for now let's go to dave that says a lot ofot people are slowing down the way they should. >> what else is new though? it's ining. it's washington. people have places to go. we encourage folks tove l their headlights on so other drivers can see them coming. tractor-trailer, jackknroe. h the guard rail. right lane has been getting by this though, thankfully. better to do it during a furlough andholiday, i guess. volume is low, traffic is light. too much speed out there, as you mentioned. so head out the door and hit the road. georgia avenue on the side. there's many more where that came from and likely more where thatsame from we head on throughout the course of the morning and the afternoon. eric and erica, back to you. >> it's6:31. following a developing story in new york city right now. take a look at this, a e transformelosion in queens

started a major firehat could be seen in several parts of that city. laguardia airport forced to stop it's groun operations last night. two flights had to be diverted. the fire turned the skyline leon blue and startled a lot of people. >>whoa. and it was like real quick. within like a second. an then i was scared. i'm not going to lie. i was running down thest rs. everyone is going through the n doors,o one know what is to say to each other, so there's >> nobody was hurt there. the fa says facilities at lagu a, rdia switche to generator power after a brief black out. >> today is day 7 of the shutdown and it could last until next week. >> they're warning that the museum could close if it does not receive funding. for the past week they have had tollse nearly of the funding leftover from previous yearso ep it open. if the spending bill is not passed, the museum could be

forced tohutdown to the public next week. >> congres adjourned yesterday without a debate to reopen. democrats will take control of the house on thursday. they have said they will not includunding to build the wall at the u.s.-mexico border. president trump insisted for that money and he'll keep the getsnment closed until he the funding. thiseaves 800,000 federal workers not knowing when they will be paid. we'll have a live report fromio the nl zoo. >> new video this morning in two asult cases in police need help identifying a man that may be at the center of attacks. the suspect is armed with a knife when he forced the victim out ofom her in the 5,500 block of 8th street northwest and assaued her. investigators say that man is

the same person in thi video. the suspect approached a woman on longfellow street and assaulted her in an ally if you have any information call d.c. poce. >> this morning, fairfax county police are working to figure out whether a string of burglaries are connected. >> the majority of the victi are of asian or middle eastern decent. justin finch is liv with more on when and where they're hitting. justin. >> well, they're not sure if they were sought out becauseth r background. they do say that's for sure noteworthy. now looking at our map where you'll see the burglaries span quite the swath here talking about fairfax, great falls, mcclain, at least 13 homes have en hit so far with similar cases in loudoun county as well

as manassas. now these burglaries have begun in mid october just as the hoday season was ramping up. these homes are being hit in the early afternoon and evening police have noticed and that's why they're asking neighbors to be on art for suspicious activity, cars o noises they may hear and see and also too there are tips they g want to more of those as well and they're also offering cash awards for any tips that lead to an arrest in this on going investigion. e founder of the d.c. play house says the show must go on. workers found the damage when theyived the next day she was just devastated when she saw

cis. >> whene in and saw the box office pretty much, i'd say wrecked. but everything was pulled out and the crodar was u to open the cabinet and the refrigerator door was open and it just felt like, why did you do that? >> a go fund me page is set up to help the play house repair the damage and install the security system. as for the january show, theater workers say they're going push through to make it happen. >> 6:36 and the clock is ticking for sears to come up with a survival plan. sources say t retailer could be forced to liquidate if a rescue bid dysn't come in the end of the day. the chairman and largest shareholder offered a $4.6 billion proposalo buyhe company out of chapter 11 bankruptcy. that proposal has not been formally submitted and financing has not been secured. sears employees 68,000 people. this weekend is your last chance to see the redskins inction thisseason.

the team that looked like it had playoff potential will host the eagles on sunday. >> players are still practicing hard even though a win isn't going to get them any more games eagleswill eliminate the who are the defending super bowl champions we don't have to remind you the skins lost three qurbacks to injury. >> you may be enjoying the most important meal of day right now. mcdonald's is hoping to beef up your breakfast. the new deals you can find in a drive-thru near you. coming up. >> insta fail. the photo sharing app roll out causes backlash instead. what went wrongnd what

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people werelivid about this. the photo sharing app tried to roll out a new layout and people weren't having it. instead of scrolling up and down on the homepage, users had to tap the left or right side ofcr then to scroll through the images. you can see how it worked there. scrolling up and down would show you thent comme on the pictures. #instagram update started trending and the backlash was insane. the hdfea instagram tweeted a series of apologies saying it s supposed to be a smaller test that went broader than anticipated. they went back to the old version. >> all right. now here's your cnbc morning business report. >> good morning. i'm frank. holla mcdonald establi mcdonald's making a big bt on breakfagain. they responded to calls and added all daybreak fast consumers cheered and their

sales got a big boos bu that lead to consequences as more customers arekipping morning visits and instead going in the afternoon an evening. ey're blaming slowing sales on weakness in the morning. so the added coffee take and muffin a topss well as $1 sandwich deals. >> muffin top on seinfeld once. where is the restf this muffin. top of the muffin to you. th iskenny. he's available for adoption at the humane rescue alliance. he would eat the stump of the muffin for sure. temperatures in the upper 50s -- that's a thing. i promiseou

w are in weather alert mode. a flood watch is in effect. the rain is still coming down

hard at this early hour and you can see on the radar that it's going to be a busy, busy day. we can see another inch of rain. the good news is its going to dry o for most of the weekend. the full forecast coming up in a few minutes. today is day 7 of the partial and there'shutdown no end in sight. you may not be abl to g to any of the smithsonian museums including t national zoo last week. >> nicole jacobs is live. >> funding h run out according to officials and these are funds they're using to sustain the facilities fow the shu and for the last seven days they have been relying on the funds

that are now depleted. but they made the dpgates and doors would remain these locations as long as there's no compromisendn o with congress not meeting again until january 3rd, we're looking at just that. so tourists hoping to take in the museum or their favorite zoo animals in the new year are out of luck. now as z for the and the care of the animals, we're told that will sti happen because t workers here are now among the hundreds of thousands across thl country who have to work wiout pay. >> shank you. y with us here on nbc 4 and the "today" show will have the latest on the partial government shutdown. thank you. >> 6:47. happening today the homeland security secretary will head to the southern border of the u. t followin death of a second child in u.s. custody. she is expected to visit e

el paso, texas today and yuma, arizona tomorrow. these are images of the little boy who recently died in the custody of homeland security department. he recently directed that a series of extraordinary protective measures be taken inclicing new medal screenings for detained migrant children. a manas been charged with -- excuse me. new details on a deadly track that kille two women near the national mall. the tour bus driver may have been distracted while driving. surveillance video inside the bus shows james switching his cell phone bween his hands at the exact moment when the bus struck the women. monica and her mother were in the crosswalk. james pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.

a man has been charged with filmingge t girl as she undresse inside a forever 21 dressing room. the girl found the recording device in the corner of the room on christmas eve. police arrested him in a nearby store and they found aet bth transmitter in his possession too. fairfax county police say there could be other victims. >>c. firefighter has been arrested on armed robbery charges. met someone through the marketplace last week to buy a pair of designer shoes. there w a dispute over the price and officers say moore pulled out a gun and forced the victim out of thek car and t off with the shoes. he snapped the picture of the licenseealate and that police to moore. he's charged with assault, armed robbery and moore is on leave from the fire department pending the outcome of an investigation. >> tonight is your next shot to become a multimillionaire. nobody matched the numbers since

october's $1.5 billion thckpot. e was one ticket sold. that was in south carolina. nobody has come laforward to it. meanwhile, this is the gas station where luck struck earlier this week. this shop sold the powerball ticket worth $298. lucky powerball winner has now 59 days to come forward. >>ou can buy powerball in d.c., maryland, and virginia. drawing tight at 11:00. >> good luck. >> the only thing that i would trade a powerba ticketfor, an orange bowl win. that's it. >> barking up the wrong tree. nothing good to see except that ou is not located in texas. >> that's the best part of it. >> moving along. >> a lot of rain to deal with around our area f today. grab your umbrella. your umbrella has probably been your best friend for 2018 and moving along 2019 may get off to

a wet start as well. but your friday, o ist going to be a lot of rain for today. if you're traveling today, changing planes in charlottend atlanta, headed down toward new orleans, look out. heavy rain up and down much of the eastern seaboard. it will make air travel very slow today. pack your patience. future weather though and the updated forecast model he, i'm a little more optimistic for the later half of your friday evening moderate to heavy rain here for theplext c of hours. another one from 9:00 and :00 d another break through noontime before another round of heavy rain ces in. this one between 2:00 and 5:00 in the afternoon. that should be the last wave of heavier rain. after 5:00, notice the yellow colors? thea's the rain pushing into parts of southern maryland and out on to the eastern bore. migh able to get most of the rain to taper 6:00 or 7:00 anyd then b hopefully come to a

end not long after 8:00 this eving. that would be nice. rainfall amounts exceeding half an inch to an inch. be ready for that. that's the flood watch h goes through the late evening hours tonight. this,ne upside of all of it's going to be mild. we're in the mid 40s now and your ten-day forect calls for highs near 60 today. low to mid 50s tomorrow. youraturday will be dry and most of your sunday will be dry as well. a chance for more showers rolleg in hate sunday evening. new year's eve on monday will be raining. it will be raining at midnight when we say held lo to 2019. and drier weather and colder weather for the seconf of next week. bek on the loo out for high standing water and ponding on the local roadways.

>> we have pude problems out there increasing inovage and depth in some cases. this tractor-trailer crash o remain the inner loop of the capitol beltway. clean up and recovery continuess itnly one lane to the right getting by. traffic has been stopped. outer loop to the beltway, one of the puddl deep along the right side. there's more where that came noerdriving the conditions. from. certainly watching out for the road spray as you hit the road. we don't have any road closures. so that's the good news. if you're driving through the lowerying areas, those are the places that usually flood. be ext careful on indian head highway near 373 and farmington road, that's obviously

dangerous. back to you. >> learn something new today. we appreciate you helping out this week. thanks. >> thanks, dave. >> of course. you got . >> we got good news if you're from your new year's eve party. it will stay open late and then on new year's day metro is going to run on a sundayschedule. metro buses will run on a reduced >> two well rested teams took to the ice at capital one arena last night. the capitals and hurricanes oth playing for the first time since sunday. the time off seemed to help the caps too. the dendifending stanley cup chs saves.away wit the or dctenviy. now they hit the road for a satuay game against the ottawa senators bef ceing back home for a game on new year's eve. and alex ovechkin won't be getting a vacation.

he is havinghe best start to a season he's ever had with a league leading 29 goals. and at 33 years old, he is ten years older than the next oldest all-star game captain. the-s ar game set for january 23rd in san jose. list for the male athlete of the year. but no surprisehere, the king of basketball, lebron james was the winner once again. the announcement came last night. the laker sat out of a match up after he injuredis groin. james is expected to miss several games ithe next few days as he recovers. james beat out mookie betts. >> ovechkin, kansas city chief's quarterback and triple crown winner justify. not a one name jockey. >> no, just the horse.

>> all right. >> athleticism. >> re. >> all o that. >> all right. it's 6:56. here are four things to know this morn redskins preparing for theire final gam of the season. they had no chance of making it in the playoffs. but a w for washington would mean a loss for the eagles. >> well whent you say i like that. >> kick off on sunday at 4:25 at fedex field. >> today the state of sears could be determinha. theman of the retailer has until 4:00 this amp to submit and more than $4 proposal to buy the company through his hedge nd. sears would have until next thursday to decid whether the offer is a qualified bid. if not, the retailer could start liquidating it's assets. >> an investigation is underway after a transformelosion in queens sparked a major fire that could be seen in several areas .of the city laguardia airport was forced to stop ground operations last ni e power is back on. >> today's the 7th day of the

partial government shutdown. the republican-lead congress adjourd yesterday without a plan to reopen the government. democrats will take control of the house when the new congress convenes next thursday. watch for the latest on the "today" show. >> all right. therest your five day outlook. rain and at lot of today. rain should be tapering off around 7: or8:00 this evening hopefully. dry weather for the first half. ma qe even threerters of your weekend. but rain again for new year's eve. >> starting 2019 rainy. >> have happy new year. >> thank you for helping out this >>week. he's like i'm out. >> we appreciate youoining us j

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good morning. monster winter storm.ns r winter storm. the massive system that has brought heavy snow and whiteout conditions to the mid st and dangerous flooding to the south takes aim at the entire east coast today. 33 million people from florida to new england in the storm zone. millions more across t country facing major travel delays. dylan has the very latest forecast just ahead. mystery i the sky an ererie blue light stuns onloers in new yor this morning what officialsay caused that strange glow and shut down one of the nation's busiest airporve. massi manhunt. an intense search laud