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 launched in

california for a suspect shooting death of a small town police officer. >> my department is hurting. we are struggling through this. >> the alleged gunman in the country illegally. what we are learning about him and the victim. a husband and father gned down just hours after celebrating christmas with his family. all that, plustl b over the baby. the colorado oan accused murdering hissi mng fiancee comes fa to face with her parents. the courtroom shutdown over the custody of the young daughter. doing the impossible. an american's record setting solo journey across antarctica. this morning he is joining us exclusively from t bottom of the world. and feeling lucky? we have 348 million reasons to get excited for the final mega millions drawing of the year today, friday, december 28, 2018.

>> announc: from nbc news this is "today" with savannah guthe andiv hoda kotb l from studio 1a in rockefeller plaza. and welcome to "today." thank you for joining us on this final friday o 2018. craig melvin alongside sheinelle jones. savannah and hoda are enjoying the morning off. colin o'brady. >> what a phenomenal experience. >> it is ouravorite story of the morning. this, of course, is that 33-year-old gentleman who just completed that impossible journey by himself across antarctica. pulling a sled filled with his supplies. that was sunewhere a 375 pounds. >> for more than 900 miles. i am interested, what do you say to keep going? >> he is g to answer those questions coming up. first, our top story. that massive winter storm spreading rain, ice, and snow and creating new travel troubles across much of the country. dylan is standing by with the forecast. first, let's go to nbc's kerry

sanders. he is in birmingham, alabama, t one of many cities impacted by this rough weather. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, craig. it is a miserable morning here. heavy consistent rain here for the last 12 hours. five winches,ch means the ground is soaked and in some cases roads are flooded. overnight a winte storm walloping much of the country, spreading heavy snow, ic rain, and anxiety to those in the. a in kansas, high winds and snowfall leading to whiteout. condit the governor declaring a disaster emergency for theit hardes areas. for motorists, crippling snow leading to accidents from new mexico to south dakota. in pminnesota,ice car sideswiped by a skidding semi that fled the scene. the police taking to twitter to ask for the public's help, identifytrg the k's driver.

air travel across the storm zone grinding it a halt. thousand of flights grounded or delayed. getting out of bismarck, north dakota, challenging. >> my flight was canceled this afternoon. i wasn't going to be able to get oit until saturday. so i am g to get a refund on that ticket. >> reporter: down south pounding rain in texas, stranding vehicles in houston while in austin several rescuers were dispatched to save people from the rising water the same in mississippi. flash floods covering roadwaan leaving my motorists stranded. back up north in minnwoota where tht is over, sledding, cleanup, and good works are on the agenda. >> i have a neighbor who had foot surgery, so he can't shooel. being a minnesotan, you clean out the driveways for him. >> reporr: a warning to motorists in this region this morning. you can see a car's driver

miscalculated as they went under an underpass. the car submerged. fortunately, that person got out safely. this morning this about weather system is moving to atlanta, the busiestth airport ination. so even with just rain, there are likely to be delays. craig. >> all right. kerry sanders in a rainy birmingham. thylk you. is tracking the storms. dylan, good morning. what can we expect? >> good morning. the entire east coast is going to see heavy rain today. the snow will wind down. we have flash flood watches and d watches in effect up and down the east coast and central and northern new england willi ly start off with snow and then transition to rain. heavy rain moving through new york city right now. the rain is falling across boston. philadelphia getting a break from the heaviest rain but more is o the way. the front extends to new orleans wheree it's in this area on th gulf coast we have the threat of severe storms. so as this moves eastward we are going to continue with heavy rain throughout the morning in the northeast and intoarly

this afternoon. it's this afternoon that we are going to see the heavier rain id charleston along the panhandle of florida. this will clear out by tomorrow and replacing it some lake-effectsnow acr the western great lakes. delays at the airports.k, boston, new y philly, d.c., raleigh, charlotte, atlanta. a major hub. f we are likely going to see delays becausee heavier rain and isolated gusty winds. inas far as additional ll, we are looking at an inch and a half to two inches southern new jersey, parts of long island and southern new england. farther twithe south w see perhaps up to four inches along le panhandle of florida which couldd to additional flooding. >> all right. thank you. now to that strange blue glow that lit up both the night sky here in new york city and social media. a lot og, folks are ask what was it? well, nbc's tt bradley is at

laguardia airport with answers this morning. matt, what was it? >> reporter: well, good morning, craig. well, this speculation about this lit up social media. it's not clear exactly what happened. now we are hearing it was an electric fire. this captivated new yorkers for a short time last night. as crews werefi rushing tthe problem, speculation as to its cause raged online. ysterious blue light flooding the new york city skyline and lighting up social media. >> is that an explosion? >> reporter: people expressing shock and awe. >> i was thinking it was the end. world. >> some sort of ufo or something. >> replter: an electrica a fire aton edison power plant in >> itarted with a fire. tqueens. the fire affected some transformers and that caused a dip in f power this surrounding area. >> reporter: the blackout

causing travel chaos at laguardia airport as the faa issued a ground stop for all flights. >> we temporarily stopped afletting air land in new york. >> this appears to b jt an equipment malfunction. it is not any terrorism or suspicious activity involved. > reporter: not before the phenomenon sparked reaction online. sycuan barkley sycuan saying, am i tripping? someone call t "ghostbusters." the nypd tweeting, we assure you, aliens have not landed in the bronx. this captured for all to see. well, thankfully, craig, wa one injured. con edison said this morning they are trying to figure outha exactly caused this outbreak t are starting an investigation. >> got to be honest, i appreciate the official l there. i saw men in black, so just

sayin'. thank you. also this morning, there appears to be no end in sight to the government shutdown a week into the stalemate. no votes plan and noelf anytime soon for hundreds of thousands of federal workers either temporarily out of jobs or working without pay. nbc's chief white house correspondent hallie jackson has more. good morning. >> good morning to you. and listen, this partial government shutdown is about to hit a milestone that nobody wanted to see. one week as ofigidnight t. so the question now is not whether this will last into the new year. it is going to last into the new year. the question is, how long into 2019 will part of the government stay closed? >> the house stands adjourned until 10:00 a.m. on monday. >> reporter: after less than seven minutes in ssssion congres effectively done working for the year with no movement on a shutdown solution. no urgency and no optimism. i don't see a scenario where

the governmentpens back up until a new congress is sworn in. >> at this point it looks like we couldor be in f a very long-term shutdown. >> reporter: that's a problem for people like emily garris whose husband is in the coast guard and won't be getting paid on monday. >> if this stretches to next month, it will definitely be an issue for my family. my husband is the, you know, major provider for our family. >> reporter: her family and thousands of othersght in the middle as the president digs in on that demand for money for a border barrier blaming democrats for obstruction with the white house blasting them for not getting on board. >> we're stuck. it's a matter of principle for the president. c>> reporter: top democrack schumer firing back. his spokesperson saying, for the white house to try to blame any for thbut the president for this shutdown doesn't pass the laugh test. >> the one thing we should want to do no matter what our political philosophy mayhee is ke lights on.

>> reporter: in?sh down stalemate a focus on the border. that's where homeland security kinshasa wi kirstjen neilsen will btoday. that a boy died in the custody of u.s. customs and border protection. preliminary autopsy results say he tested positive for strn of th flu. his mother devastated, explaining her son and his father were t to escape poverty by making their way to america before both were apprehended. gomez alonzo is the second child die in u.s. custody in less than a month. cbp is reviewing its policies related to children under 10 an added secondary medical screenings for all kids in its care. >> what is the way out of this? it's so messy. >> reporter: yeah, when you are talking about the shutdown, sheinelle, itertainly is. there is some options here. you could have the democrats, for example, agree g toe more money to a wall or a fence, but the president wants, which democrats don't want. you could have the president

agree to accept less moneyth fo wall or the fence, which he doesn't want to do either. you could have oome kind a compromise on border security where both sides declare some kind of a victory. here is the bottom line. everybody in this instance thinks they are the ones who have leverag talk to white house officials, allies of the president who think pssure is building o the democrats. e mocrats think that once they take control of use and make a move to reopen the government, the pressure will build on republicans. so it's the defin of a stalemate. and for those hundreds of ousands of federal employees, not a lot of good options here. >> it's rough. thank you. meanwhile, this morning a massive manhunt is underway for a suspect in the killing of a police officer in california. inveigators saying thelleged shooter who has not been identified is in the country illegally. nbc's morganyhe>> gskd morning. the newman police chief calls hisepartment a family.

the loss the first they have ever had to face. today the search for the man who killed him is growing. >> reporter: this is the man launching a massive statewide buying beer at a convenience store before police say killed corporal ron singh. they on >> my department is hurting. we are struggling through this. >> reporter: newman police chief randy richard saying how his story makes it tougher. before he was a k-9 oicer, he immigrated from fim,. his one drecome a cop. >> he was truly a human being, an american patriot. >> reporter: this christmas day photo the last memory of a family together. five hours later he would be killed after pulling a man over drunkiving today the biggest piece of

evidence, thepiriver's dodge up traced to a nearby mobile home park. >> we will relentlessly continue to hunt our suspect down. >> reporter: the hunt even drawing the attention of president trump who tweeted, there is a manhu going on in california for an illegal immigrant accused of shooting and killing a police tfficer. time get tough on border security. build the wall. a pile of flowers outside the station shows the politics can wait. this loss is personal. and this morning the lead investigator on the case says they will spare no expense to track dhen suspect. meantime, a public vigil for singh is set for tonht. rescuers call it a true miracle. ve 2-year-old boy found a after spending 40 minutes trapped under an avalanche in th french alps. a helicopter was called in to airlift the boy to the hospital as a precaution.

amazingly, he was not injured. he was skiing off trail when he was swept a away. thlanche dragged him more than 100 yards. eventually, a rese dog found the boy. police say he survived in part because his airways were not blocked wsnow. meanwhile, anticipation is growing for t millions drawing. the jackpot up to an estimated $348 million. that's the largest since october's still unclaimed cord-setting $1.5 billion prize. nbc's kristen dahlgren with the latest on that. kristin, good morning. >> good morning, craig. we are just north of new york city in yoers. there has been a pretty steady stream of people this morning to buy the mega millions tickets. this store opened up at and even then they had people buying their tickets. everybody wants to get in on this one. the people that work here say that after it gets to about $3 million, that's when they see the real lotto fevhae'ki.

he'sre w about. that's about 210 million if you take the cash option. about59 million after taxes. the odds of winning though 1 i 302 million. so pretty slim, but it does happen. brooklyn thiseek there was a powerball winner for 298 million. this store that we are in acally sold 106 mega million ticket in 2015. that ot of people hoping lightning strikes here twice. now, all this lottery fever, as we mentioned that has a lot of people thinking about that last big jackpot, 1 billion sold in south carolina. as you said, still unclaimed. that winner only has to april to claim it. otherwise, all of that money e goes back to states. back to you guys. >> what? >> that's such a wild story to . >> it is crazy. >> $1.5 billion ticket that hasn't been claimed. thank you.

>> what did you say yesterday, dylan? >> you have to play toea win? >> that's the lottery slogan. she didn't coin that. >> i thought it was p sofound yesterday, woo, that was good. >> i don't make profound statements. >> yeah. i could talk about the weather. speaking of? >> there is a lot goingn, on. i mea the entire east coast dealing with snow across new england. heain through the middle mid-atlantic here and this stretcs to the panhandle of florida into mississippi and alabama. this is where we will see the travel troubles today. we are also looking at gusty winds athoss parts o great lakes and that's going to continue to make things very wifficult on the roads with the blowing s out there up across minnesota and parts of the dakotas and into nebraska, too. heavy snow also fouling mere albuquerque, new mexico. california looks sunny and dry. the pacific northwest though another storm system making its way we will get to your local forecast in the next 30 seconds.

good morning.m i'm stam4 meteorologist chuck bell. rain heavy in places across the area first thing this morning. grab your umbrella. flood watches have been issued for most of the i-95 corridor. rainfall amounts between now and the time it comes t an end 8:00 or 9:00 this evening could be 1 to 1 1/2 inches of rain. low-to-mid 40s right now. gh temperatures close t 60 degrees. dry weather for most of the weekend, but more rain on new year's eve.

>> that's your lest forecast. coming up, a courtroom show down. the custody of the couple's baby girl hanging inba thelance. we are going to have the latest on that. the american who just made history wit the nearly 1,000 mile walk alone acrossta antica joins us exclusively. first, this is "today" on nbc. clelus but,s

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hospitals to post their prices. what the change will mean for your medical bills. could angelina jolie have a future in politics? what she is saying about that this morning after your local news. ♪

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yes!ep i then carmax is for you, because helping people is what our people are all about. this is a news4 today newsbreak. >> good morning. it is 7:26, friday, december 18. i today is the seventh day of t government shutdown and it could last well into nextlicacontroll congress adjourned for the year without a plan to adamant the government will remain shut down until he gets $5 billion forl. border w a man has been charged with filming a teenage girl as she 2dressed inside a forever dressing room. a girl found the recording device in the room on christmas eve and police were able to catch the man and arrest him. a check on theorning

commute. wtop's dave dildine is here. hey, dave >> hey, slippery when wet. new crash at pennsylvania avenue. fire rescue on scene just getting by, two lanes to the right. a crash in montgomery county on the inner loop, getting by in one lane to the right. slippery but with no incidents on 495 in virginia. veryu.yo >> thank you. up> we will have a check of your forecast coming ext.

gd morning everybody. it's raining hard across most of the d.c. metro area f now. we have a little break across parts ofni central vir now but there will be more moderate rain later this morning andoo afte flood watches are issues. a storm team4 weather alert toda temperatures are mild, mid-to-upper 40s now. we will be near 60 today. an inch to an inch and a half of

rain bween now and 12 hours from now is eacertainly likely. dry weather for t another local news update in 25 minutes. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ back at:3on a friday morning, december 28, 2018. it's the calm during the storm, so to speak, in times square. rain isn't stopping preparations for the world's largest new year's eve party. >>he folks are flocking here to new york city to. celebra we will get to that late. first, theea wther. theasve winter storm sweeping across the country is making travel treacherous. transportation officials inda nortta issued a no travel advisory for the eastern part of that state. in kansas high winds and snowfall led to whiteout conditions there. thea governor declarin

disaster emergency. down south pounding rain left vehies stranded in houston, texas. in austin, rescuers wereo dispatchedave people from rising waters there. dylan will be back with the forecast in a few minutes. day seven of the partial government shutdown. negotiations app gr to beng nowhere. president trump is digging in on his demand for money a for border wall. he is blaming democrats for obstruction. democrats are firing back saying the president is the onl person to blame. mean bhiem, homeland security secretary kristin neilsen is traveling to el paso today following the death of twogr t children this month who were in federal custody. four people who were trapped r several days in an abandoned coal mine in west virginia have been arrested. eddie williams jr., kayla williams, cody beverly and erica trdway were rescued several days later. the mother of one of the trespassers said that the four

had eered that mine to steal copper, but beverly and treadway said they were exploring. officials say entering a closed mine is a crime no matter the motivation. the latest in theou myste case of a colorado mother who vanished thanksgiving day. her alleged killer her fiance coming face t face with her parents during a custody hearing for the couple's young daughter. good morning, kathy. >> it's been 26 days since kelsey berrethpe dised. her fiance charged in connection with her death even though authorities have not yet found her body. investigators are working around the clock to finanswers. patrick frazee in shackles thursday seen for the first time since his arrest, forced to face kelsey berrtsh's par he was arrested a week ago in h connection withe death of his fiancee.th

couple's 1-year-old daughter caylee was placed in the custody of her materna grandparents after her father's aest last week. that order now extended for another week. colleague of girl's fher was her primary caregiver, watching caylee at his colorado ranch while her mother worked as a flight instructor. >> he was a good dad.ch he was wg over her and watching her and taking care of her. >> does this seemike something would do? >> no. like i said, i was shocked and amazed when i heard this. it just doesn't -- it seems completely out of character. >> reporter: it's been more than five weeks since frazee, who did not live with his fiancee, told police he picked up his daughter from berreth on thanksgiving. this surveillance video shows berreth and her daughter at a grocery store earlier that. day the last time she was seen publicly. three days later both her employer and frazee say they received texts from the e9-year-old. berreth's cell ph pinging a

gooding, idaho. authorities offering their assistance in the investigation. >> as you can tell from the arrest, sadly, we do not believe kelsey is alive. >> reporter:tberreth's home police found both her cars in the driveway and cinnamon rolls in the kitchen. at investigators have recovered a number of items ake us suspicion that the crime occurred at the residence. >> reporter: police searching for clues that will lead to clues to find kelsey and justice forer family. >> any idea when we might hear from frazee? >> he is scheduled to appear in court on monday h whene will be formally charge and is expected to enter a plea at that time. the mother has filed a motion to grant custody to kelsey berreth's parents. >> thank you. let's turn to the weather for a moment here. we have been talking about the stormy weather for the east coast. but out westng they are loo at nastiness. dylan, what's the word? >> an interesting situation across the southwest and new

mexico. albuquerque is under a blizzard warning. this is the first time ever a blizzard warning has been issued for albuquerque and we are going to see the snow continue to it's falling right now. it's this fr tth .we ldrea. look atacross the country. above-average temperatures in the east and below-average temperaturesut west. rapid city 18 degrees for a high. minneapolis 53. charlotte mid-60s todayon saturday it stays mild up and down the east coast as temperatures continue to dropen upper midwest and the northern plains. look at pierce, south dakota. by tuesday a high temperature of only 7 degrees. chicago drops to 25 for high on tuesday. even nashville goes from 51 to 64 and then down to 48 by the time we get into new year's rey. we going to see much cooler temperatures start to take hold of the country getting into the year. meantime, today a big storm that is likely to cause delays up and

wn the east coast mostly because of the heavy rain. here is a peek out your window. good morning. i'm storm team4 meteorologist chuck bell. it is raining hard across t mos metro area now. this isn't going to ease up until 5:00 or 6:00 this afternoon. watch out for high standing water and ponding on the roadways. it could be a big problem today. current temperatures in the 40s. it will be mild today with temperatures in the upper 50s to near 60. rain should beo coming an end around 6:00 or so this evening. it will be dry for most of your weekend. >> that's your latest forecast. >> thank you. still ahead, the confusionr nding your medical bills. a new rule requiring hospitals post prices online, will to make things clearer. a firsthand look atas na technology being used to make discoveries about the ancient and mysterious dead sea scrolls. and could angelina jolie leave hollywood for washington?

our favorite story this friday morning, what is thefo nt r the american who just completedri that hisc nearly 1,000-mile journey across antarctica. we are going to talk to him exclusively from the bottom of e world right after this. hey. i heard you're moving into a new apartment. yeah, it's pretty stressful. this music is supposed to relax me, though. ♪ maybe you'd mellow out a bit if you got geico to help you with your renters insurance. oh, geico helps with renters insurance? good to know. yeah, and they could save you a lot of money. wow, suddenly i feel so relieved. you guys are fired. get to know geico and see how much you could save on renters insurance. tand, our adu. here. moved in with us. so, we save by using tide. which means we use less. three generations of clothes cleaned in one wash. those are moms. anybody seen my pants? nothing cleans better. put those on dad! it's got to be tide.

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we are back with an oregon man's incredible grueling and historic journey. >> we told you about this yesterday. colin o'brady just became the first person ever to cross the continent of antarctica alone without any assistance. ews going to join us for an exclusive interrom the bottom of the world in just a moment. first, nbc's joe fryer has mor on his epic 54-day journey. >> reporter: at the endar of th desolate antarctica became a race track of sorts with t intrepid adventurers vying to make history. one a 33-year-old man from oregon named colin o'brady. g>> i will be attemptin a world

first. >> reporter: the solo unaided adventuretarted november 3rd when o'brady and louis rudd set off on the 900 mile plus trek. november 9 o'brady took the lead over r december 12 he reached the south pole. a lonely journey, averaging 15 to 20 miles a day. >> i went to deep places in my mind and some of those places were scary and dark. it was trying to maintain that positive voice in my head. >> reporter: on christmas with the finish line soos o'brady embarked on a sleepless 32-hour push, sprinting nearly 80 miles to reach the end. his first call was to his wife back in oregon. >> it was an emotionaler cotion. it was a lot of pride and we were screaming and hooting and hollering and happy he was there safely. >> reporter: it's a remarkable feet for o'brady who ten years ago was swrurd in a fire that left burns on nearly a quarter of his body. that didn't stop him from finishing triathlons, scaling

!untains. >> >> reporter: and now conquering antarctica. aiis morni he is still there, 40 pounds lighter,ng for rudd to finish. but o'brady is eager to share his story, what he calls his letter to the world, reminding us all to dream big. for "today," joe fryer, nbc news. >> and colin o'bra joins us now exclusively by phone from antarctica. colin, good morning to you, sir. first of all, congratulations on the achievement. 900 miles roughly by foot pulling a sled. how do you feel this morning? >> i am not going to lie. i'm little tired. i am still sitting here in my tent all alone. it is an incredible just so excited and grateful to be here safely. >> i was reading about your you some of the most trek. extreme conditions on earth. talk to me about h emotional it was and the mental challenges

facedou what did you say to yourself to keep going mile after mile after mile alone? >> it's minus 30 degree and 60-mile-per-hour windchill. crazy. i kept p my sled 12, 13 hours every single day. i never took a rest day. you know, every morning i'd wake and tell myself my mantra, you are strong,abou're c, you can do this. and throughout the day i always it was a mental battle. i tried to stay in the moment. doing this for something more than myself, to inspire other people to take on the impossible in tir lives. >> colin, amazingly, you weren't the only guy trying to do this. there was a british explorer named lou rudd, who started this impossible journey at t same time. he is still out there, still trying to finish. he is expected to finish soon. how do you feel about lou and did you see him at all on your

ju journey? >> i have the utmost respect for lou. metro him a we ha people have been trying to do th crossing for about 100 years unsuccessfully. a person lost their life a few years ago. it's a very challenging project. him e not visually seen other than his tent in the distance on about day six, was the last time i saw him. it's about a while. he is anticipated to finish in the next day or two here. i'm actually waiting at the finish line f want to be the very first person to congratulate i himn person. it's an extraordinary achievement for him. >> what did you eat? d logistically h you do it? when it was over, what is your first meal? what are you looking forward to? >> the logistics arewe crazy. lan this for a couple years. we snt a year figuring out the exact grams of every piece of weight and food i would put in my system to make it perctly

optimized with whole food nutrition. so so much went into the planning and joe listics. to me that's why we were successful. now that i'm at the other side, i have lost about 40 pounds. i'm very thin. a proper meal will b number one priority. then when i get back to south america, i'm wrapping my arms around jenna, my amazing wife. i can't wait to see her. this has been both of our dream >> colin, there are a lot of folks back here who are ceptionally proud of you, sir. thank you. thank you. takeare of yourself. do stop in when you get back. safe travels, and congratulations again. colin o'brady. >> thank you so much. m phenomenal. i have soy questions i want to ask him. i have been to the arcc, which is extreme conditions, but nothing compared to what the antarctic is. i want to know how he stayedrm

how he got through, because it's very isolating. >> yeah, if he had to pull that keg of beer, he could have made it in 50 days. >> part of the reason he did it he said was to inspire other people, whether you're an entrepreneur, student, inspire people to reach beyond the brink. defy the odds. >> yeah. >> and another guy out there doing it. nice to see him sport that guy. >> yes. stick around for him. >> coming up with a few days left in the year. the moves you need to make right now to trim your tax bill for 2018. first, these messages. (vo) they're all going in the same direction. but in very different ways. and pampers gives all of them our driest, best-fitting diaper. pampers cruisers. with 3 way fit. they adapt at the waist, legs and bottom. with up to 12 hours of protection. for all of the freedom to move their way. in pampers cruisers. only pampers diapers are the number one choice of hospitals,

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this is a news4 today newsbreak. >> good morning. 7:56 is your time on this friday, december 28. i'm erika gonzalez. we start things off with wtop's dave dildine and a check of your first4 traffic. >> still sloppy out there, but signs of proess on the inner loop near rockville pike with a jackknifed truck. t they haved the vehicle away. outer loop of the beltway a crash on the left shoulder near pennsylvania avenue. take it slow out there. lots of roa spray and a good reason to slow it down. teat's the very latest from the traffic c back to you. >> coming up, we will talk about what is making things so messy. this morning the rain. your forecast next. lk

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good morning. happy friday. unfortunately, rain is in the area and it's going to stay here pretty much all through the course of the daylight hours today. posted along most of the i-95 mid-to-upper 40s. high temperatures today close to 60 cor degrees. dry weather aor saturday most of sunday, but more rain on new year's eve. >> thank ckyou, c we will have in 25 minutes. for now, back to "the today show."

it's 8:00 on "today." coming up, massive storm spreads the country dumping heavy snow in the midwestg and flood rains in the south. thousands of flights grounded or delayed. so how will this affect your hoday wee travel? dylan has got some answers intos how is that? a new law in the new year forcing hospitals to postce pris for their procedures online. what will it mean for your medical bills and will it finally make them easier to understand? he and a little ukulele by fire. ♪ falling in you >> superstar jennifer lopez sharing a performance by

usr fl in love with it. 8,day is friday, december 2018. ♪ > woo! i'm turning 21 and having fun from texas! >> thanks, mom, for babysitting so we can visit "today." >> from columbia, south carolina, we loveou! woo! ♪ >> celebrating our second anniversary. >> it's his birthday. ur >> today i'm tning 10. woo! [ music ] >> look at that. you can show up, you know, on a nicet day. bu to come out to the plaza and endure a few hours of rain, looking forward to getting out there. >> one of the highlights of my morning. they are always in such a good morning.

it's pouring and freezing. >> welcome back. thanks for joining us. savannah andoda havehe morning off, so you're stuck with me and sheinelle. let's start with a check of your news at 8:00. massive winter storms are sweeping across the country this morning making travel eacherous for people who are headed home for the holidays. nbc's kerry sanders is in birmingham, alabama, with a look at who is getting hurt the hardest. kerry, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. theetain has just up here. for the last 12 hours we have rain.inches of the ground is soaked. in some cases, the puddling has turned into flooding. take a look here. you see on area a driver miscalculated, didn't realize how deep the wat was. just remember the saying, turn around, don't drowned. don't drivento those puddles. you never know how deep they are. in minnesota this mornior the auities are looking for a driver of a semi-truck who was driving in inclement weather, lost control of his truck and sideswiped a police car and took

off. fortunately, no one injured there. of course, in north dakota blizzard conditions. minnesota, same situationith a lot o snow. this is going to be one of those days as people are getting ready to plan for their new year's celebrations and so many people decide to travel from point a to point b, you might need to add a little extra time to get there you have ttime, so take it because this weather is going to be a problem in much ofhe country. guys. >> all right. kerry sanders there for us in anbirmingham. you. dylan is back with a look at who will be impacted the most today. >> it's the east coast where we are likely going to see a lot of delays because of the flooding iin. the sno becoming less of an issue across the midwest. we have flood watches and flash flood watches in effect for a gohe chunk of eastern part of the country. heavy rain moving through new york city right now. philadelphia about to get into some more heavy rain also across new jersey, eastern pennsylvania, through delaware, washington, d.c., which already has its wettest year on record.e we have heavier rain moving into the wtern panhandlef florida ok by

going to see cloud-to-ground lightning and the potential for severe storms. this cold frt is movin eastward. while we will see snow, perhaps 3 to 6 inches of sw across central and northern new england, this is a rain event, especially this morning through the northeast. going into tomorrow, that will pull away. lan-effect snow is possible the back side of it. we are going to see some travel delays likely, includi new york, philly, d.c., down into charlotte and ralgh and en down across parts of florida. atlanta, too. a major hub could see some delays because of the rain. in the northeast we are looking for about an inch or two of rainfall. that could lead i to somesolated flooding. better chance of farther south where the ground is already saturated and we could see up to 4 inches of rain. flooding will be a conrn especial this morning. an eerie blue light illuminated the sky over new york city la night leaving a lot of people wondering what was going on. matt, good morning.

>> reporter: good morning. so last night around 9:15 an explosion at a con edison power plant not that far from laguardia airport caused a massive delays. airport, chaos on the subways andor the con edison plant. this explosion caud that brilliant blue light thatve lasd for l minutes. you could see it as far away as manhattan. it caused power outages on the ground here in new york and delays here at laguardia. the faa went so far as to issue a g stop for all flights for quite a period of time last night. as you can imagine, that caused lots of confusion. it also made for a sensation on social mhia w speculating wildl to the cause and cracking some pretty good jokes. the nypd even tweeted that, we can assure you that aliens have not landed in the bronx.d

it's k of a only here in new york kind of thing. but as you cansee, the con edison released a statement this morning saying that no o has been injured, they have managed to restore all the power to the affected power lines, and they have opened an investigation into what caused the problem to begin with. craig, sheinelle. >> thank you. richard overton, the nation's oldestar w wbeld ihei s country, has died. he was 112. the army veteran had been hospitalizedith pneumonia and was released on christmas eve. i spent time with him in 2014 doing what he loved. sitting on the front porch and sming cigars. t lived by one journey. don't spend timnking about the end. >> you can't d anything about that. it's going to come whether you want it or not just think about living. >> and living is what mr. overto did best.

he enjoyed sing a little whiskey from time to time. he alsonkoved to d milk every day. you spend sometime with someone who is that old you want to find out the secret to longevity. he said, you know, i have been married a few times, but i don't have any kids. i think that's why i lived so long. >> no? i didn't know that. we do a lot of stories, a lot of terviews here. every once in a while you get one you remembe for the rest of your life. i remember that interview that you did. it stuck with me in a big way. we are going to miss you, mr. overton. time for a morning boost? >> i think that was a boost. >> give us another one. this is a good one. a college student in pennsylvania couldn't afford to go home for christmas for the past two years, so this year some of her co-workers got together and bought her a plane tiiset. they sur her with the unforgettable gift last week.

>> we love you, girl. >> how sweet is that? she wasovercome with emotion. the thoughtfulness of herco orkers bringing tears of joy to her eyes. morning, what angelina jolie is reveal p first, ever have troub deciphering your medical bills? a big change coming in 2019, but will it really make things easier? dr. natalie will help us get through that after this. whoa! the mercedes-benz winter event is back, and you won't want to stop for anything else. lease the gla 250 for $359 a month at your local mercedes-benz dealer. mercedes-benz. the best or nothing.

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hidden words on the apartmeparc >> it means to sing. >> reporter: wow. ?> okay. >> reporter: to si >> yeah. >> reporter: which -- >> to sing. >> reporter: this is a word that you never knew was there? that new wordy found this young israeli-american researcher. >>t was very exciting. i mean, i started this project, i took this small box which had what looked like garbage in it and all of a sudden i find words that i recognized. >> reporter: they are using advanced image technology designed to detect patterns in the darkness of space. >> we are using nasa technology tote investihe same material. you think about the people sitting in the cave in the desert wit then we are investigating with super high-tech technology. >> reporter: utilizing the light spectrum and highly tuned cameras theomputer highlights even blackened scriptchures.

>> the bottom parts are completely illegible. >> youan see the words mystic. >> reporter: revealed? >> yes. it's sensitive to this particular light. it's comingout. >> reporter: a biblical jigsaw puzzle where, until now, the eces were invisible. the dead sea scrolls are actually dying? >> they survived in the caves 2,000 years. it's our duty t t try preserve them. >> reporter: and today they are reading that are like coal. >> from ashes, the bible with technology. >> reporter: 70 years after they were found in a cave. >> it is amazing to read now all the black par of the bottom of the scrolls which were connected to the soil. today we can read them withll this technology. it is amazing. >> reporter:odern technology rewriting history. amazing, isn't it, that they ara using n technology to look at

pieces of writing from tan when you don't succeed. here to help us do things differently in 2019, co-founder of the popular head space app. good to see you. >> thanks. >> and it's always so weirdeehen i you in person and hear your voice. when i use the app, it's the voice. it really messes with me. let's start with some things that we can all do to basically stress less in the new year. >> i think the starting point is the temptation is to try to a a lot more things to our list when we think of resolutions. it's, okay, i am going to do this, and actually the odds of sort of being less stressed isa tosome of those things off. we are going to look at ways to be more mindful in our life and doing less we can actually feel healthie and happier in your life. >> it sounds counterintuitive. >> yes. stay with me. the first one, if we can -- learning t meditate. you know this, craig. tan make a massive difference. and it's very different from just sort of reading a book oar

watching tv. in in all the science research we know in learning to do nothing, we actually rest our mind, we rest our body and a fe bett a result. there is a whole bunch of benefits. health benefits and benefits in our life around sort of relationships. the theme i would say for the year, even if you are not kind of ready to meditate, and you can meditate on the head space app, but try to be more present in our life. so will power, that kind of comes and goes. but if we can train ourselves in mindfulness and awareness -- >> be in the moment? >> that never fails us. >> judge less? >> yes. 2018, feel like we were really judgy. >> yes. >> i feel like in 2019, maybe if we could be a little less critical. it's not about needing to be more sort of kind. it's actually if we are just a bit less unkind. so a really simpleedechnique ca noting.

when you realize you are getting caught up in critical, negative thinking about yourself or someone else, you catch yourself. you note i thinking. you let it go and come back to what you are doing. really simple. just needs a bit of practice. >> one of the most popular resolutions every year, eat less. binge less. howo we do that? >> mindful eat something less about dieting. it's coming up with a way of approaching food we are healthy and happy with the way we eat. we have a whole new year kind of mindful thing on the head space app. we eat often when we are led by emotions. so before you eat take a breath. on a hunger scale in your mind, where are you between one andte are you actually hungry? do you want to eat when you are about to eat? you can theno it in the middle of the meal and end of the meal to get a ideaf we do. >> thihi is som everyone struggles with mightily. >> this is massive.

very often we are with our ildren, with our loved ones, with our colleagues. we are with themal phys, but we are not really with them mentally because we are scrolling through our emails and through social media. so commit. when you are with another person, put your phone awa you know, maybe even look at scheduling kind of when you check in with your is doesn't have to be constant. do it first thing of the day,e maybe mid of the morning, maybe lunchtime. the world will continue without us cheneing our p every minute of the day. >> reset your phone for the new year? >> yes,ve this idea that technology almost kind of rules our life. but actually we have the opportunity, and we talked about this right, few years ago kind of the ability to when you get a new device, clear it. take everything away. way thatset it up in a works for you. get everything off the home scen. don't ha notifications coming in every few seconds. >> this last one? >> fightless, argue less. write down, grudg resentments, anything that you are kind of

carrying with you. throw it away. leave them in 2018 and head into 2019 without any of that baggage. if you do find yourself in a difficult spot, just remember to breathe. >> always enjoy having you, my friend. thank you. coming up, just a few days left in the new year's. some things that we need to know right now, things need to to right now to lower that tax bill for 2018.th but first is "today" on nbc.

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>> the big change is the increase in the standard deduction. so it went for single filers from about $6,000 to $12,000. for heads of household, $18,000. for married people fighting join24y,00. it's going to make less sense for more people to itemize. you have to have bigger deductions i f order itemizing to make sense, and the limits on what you can wte off on things like the mortgage deduction and state and local . xes, gone down >> you say that one of the most important things to get right or to help yourself at least in rms of deductions is something called bunching. what is that? >> it's essentially taking those bieducsg or every few years. let's look at charitable deductions, for example. if you know that you want to give a lot of moneyty to cha

but you can do it all this year and then table nex year and then do it again the year after, you may get yourself over that limit that it takes to itemize. when you itemize, itemizing can usually saves people money. >> all right. >> all right. let's move to theand this is d r

we're back with we are back with a look ahead to the weekend on "today." tomorrow from box office surprises to tv standouts, a fun look back at the year in entertainment? sunday the highlights from the wealth of stars that willie sat

down with itwain. >> i don't like anything where people go woo. >> i work real hard. >> clearly, i'm grea guys. what took you so long? ♪ >> what is groove? >> groove is your rhythm. your sense of groove. >> o i am king way kaund a. >> i think there is a thirst for these images. there is a thirst for a black superhero. >> i was daunted to sort of take it on, but i just needed to do ort of my interpretation of is. he was a tough man. when he walked into a room, the oxygen coulde leave lik that. so i used to learn to diffuse that with ways to make him laugh. >> my parents moved out to massapequa, which is an indian name which means by the mall. >> then heres the other big secret of . thiencwr mos ofdymeco it. they grade your work. second to second.

i was walki up madison avenue and a woman was in a fur coat and shelis , darling, i love yourkb cooks. a block laterru ack t and says, love your show. >> i could see myself at 50, that's seven years the gold wad a see ya! >> too bad willie couldn' any celebrities. >> right. that's sunday on today. i am taking a few days off. happy new year. mark, thank you sir. >> say it ain't so! this is a news4 today newsbreak. >> good morning. 9:00 on this friday, december 28. i'm erika gonzalez. let's get a check of the roads with wtop's dave dildine. >> just in, a serious crash

north of b field boulevard. here we are in virginia on 395. lots ofoad spray. beltway the crash on the outer loop near pennsylvania cleared.a outer loop river road new crash reported. happy birthday to jack taylor. >> thank you. we will get a check of the forecast when we come back.