thank you for joining us on this last friday of 2018. i'm erika gonzalez. >> and i'm pat lawson muse. amelia is standing by with all the heavy rain we'rege ing. >> i'm continuing to track showers across the area now. i'm starting you down in clinton, maryland.

thrain in da, the top of the beltway as well. it is going to be a slow go with wet roads. here's a look at the wider picture. most of the rain is along and east of i-95. so we're not done with the rainy activity just yet. we're going to see more showers as we head on into the afternoon hours, but we do dry out tonight. but, pat, most of usre under a flood watch through late tonight. i'll have much more on this and how today's rain impacts saturday and sunda11in0. cpgom >> new this midday, president trump islo threatening to the southern border if he doesn't get $5 billion to build a wall along the u.s./mexico border. s o ssbenginno it an end in sight. >> the senate stands adjourned until 10 a.m. on monday, december the 31st. >> reporter: at the capitol,

congress has punted all proceedings and votes until next week, which means the hallways are as empty as manfederal buildings and national partials. many will remain closed from california to the east ast. >> hope it doesn't take weeks. it's been far too longfor the ovvernme -- long for thenment worker. >> reporter: presidete trump twee saying we will be closed ifhe obstructionist democrats do not give us the money to build the wall and change immigration law. both sides are digging in on the seventh days of t impasse, neither showing a willingness to budge in a dispute over whether to set aside $5 billion for a border wall. >>he one t that we should all want to do, no matter what our politicalph philoso may be, is to keep the lights on. >> reporter: meanwhile the nation homeland security secretary travels to the border after the death of a second migrant choold thismonth8-year-

felipe alonzo-gomez died after being taken into federal custody. for the federal works are working without paychecks, uncertainty will continue into next week as well. >> it's not just government workers affected by the shutdown. now the places that you visit, all the tourists town visiting in hed.c., might have to close their doors this morning as well. nicole jacobs has a look what the this all means, especially for the visitors in town. nicole? >> reportee, that's a big erika. we're starting to see the effects of this government shutdown spill over beyond just the federalagworkers. e planning a vacation to d.c. to see you a the museums of the smithsonian zoo and they're all closed.

sop to some tourists may experience that this week. it's a dreary day in the district where tourists have a tough choice sightseeing in the rain or staying in. >> we've never been this fea before. >> reporter: the shermans are visiting from colorado with a list of hopefuls to see. >> all the smithsonians we can get into and the memorials. >> reporter: that's rain or shine. come january 2nd, tha choice may reluctantly be easier as alm hsonian museums will close, yet another result of the government shutdown. >> that would be very dus poi disappointing to come here from colorado and have the smithsonian shut down. >> reporter: that goes for the national zoo as well. the facilities have stayedepen last seven days with the help of previous years' funding but with that depleted, closing . immine >> that was a bummer. we're hoping it doesn't get worse. n >> reporte only federal workers are taking a hit but

those with plans are scrapped. >> it's hard if that's when your vacation was, you be out of luck. ol reporter: again, congress returns to capill january 3rd, but it is still anyone's ess just how long this shutdown will last. pat, erika, back to you. >> a lot of people on edge right now. nicole, thankyou. we're going to be updating developments of this shut down as it ppens. this morning fairfax county police are workingo figure out if a series of burglaries of moments in northern virginia are connected. a majority of the victims are the asianr middle eastern dissent. we have more onhere the thieves are hitting. >> reporter: it's unclear if the victimsere sought out because of their backgrounds but police say that's a noteworthy commonr

. burglaries are spanning quite the sth here. at least 13 homes so far have been hit with similar cases reported at loudoun county as well as the manassis area, too. these burglaries began just as the holiday shoppg season was ramping up. these homes are being hit in the early afternoon andic even, p note. they say that's also critical and that's why neighbors right now saythey, too, are on edge. >> i have nine cameras around the house, security system, alarm system on every door and window. goodlocks, dead bolts on every door. you can't be too careful with family, kids.te >> rep so right now fairfax county police urging all neighbors to keep an eye out for any suspicipicious activities a they're offeringre a rd for

any tips that lead to an arrest. justin finch, nnews4. >> video this morning in two brutal sexual assault cases in northwest. police need your help identifying a man may be at the center of both attacks. police say the suspect was armed with a knife when he forced the victim out of her home on the 5500 block of 8th street northwest and assaulted her. the crime actually happened july 15th, but police have just released this video of a possible suspect leaving the scene. so seen running down the street. investigators believe that man is the same person in this video. theyay the suspect approached an woman long fellow street in northwest and assaulted her in an alley. this is video of him leaving the scene of theattack. if you have any information about this, call d. police. there are only a few more days left in 2018 but we t alrey kns has been a deadly year for police. 144 law enforcement officials ined in the of duty. that's a 12% increase from last year.

that according to a preliminary report from the national law enforcement officers memorial fund. most of the officers killed were shot. maryland had two fatalities in virginia. one officer died. 14 states and the district of columbia had no officer deaths this year. mcdonald's is considering selling naming rights to everybody. metro says it's looking for a consultant to figure out how ach money corporate sponsorships couually raise. the metro board has raised and rejected this idea several times in the past. we'll see about that. good news if you're planning on tabin taking metro home from your new year's eve party. on metro day, metro will run on a sunday schedule with trains running from 8 a.m. to11 a.m.

buses will run on a reduced schedule. instagram. that is back after a major failure. >> instead of scrolling up and down on your home pages, users had to tap the left or right side to scroll through the images sideways. scrolling up and down would only show you the comments on the image.ns gramupdate quickly starred trding. instagram apologized saying it was supposed to be a smaller test that went broader than anticipated. this is the las chinesance see washington in actionn the football field. they will host theagles on sunday for the final game. a playre still practicing, even though a win won't get them any more game it will eliminate the eagles, who are

the defending super bowl champs. josh jnson will start as quarterback. we don't have to rem td yout washington lost three quarterbacks this season to injury. kickoff sunday is at 4:25 at fedex field. good luck. >> a mysterious sight across the new york skyline still has folks across the country talking. >> we'll have new details behind this bizarre

mass confusion and in some case panic in america's biggest city. >> a fire at a power staedon tuhe night sky over manhattan bright blue, even leading to a ground stoppage at guardia. >> matt bradley takes a closer look at the bizarre occurrence that captivated new yorkers as speculation about the cause went viral. >> reporter: a mysterious blue light flooding the new york skyline and lighting up social media. >> ishat an explosion in. >> reporter: people in the area expressing shock and awe. >> i was thinking it was the end of the world. >> it was some sort of ufo or something. >> reporter: an electrical fire causing the glown the sky and power outages on the ground. >> it did start with th re. the fire affected some transformers and that caused a dip in power for this surrounding area. >> reporter: the blackout causing travel chaos at laguardia airport as the faaro issued aund stop for all

flights. >> they temporarily stoed letting aircraft land in new york. >> reporter: authorities ruling out possible causes. >> this apars to be just an equipment malfunction. there isot to be any terrorist activity epinvolved. >>ter: "am i tripping?" "someone cal the ghost busttus." it was cd for all to see. >> the utility said it's restored all major lines and is looking into the cause. >> tms is f people who don't respond for people who don't

respond to traditional medication. a device delivers a series of magnetic pulses to stimulate parts of the brain thatsuly have decreased activity in depression. >> i was actually engaging in my life again. not only am i more posive, i have a lot more energy. >> it's very encouraging when we see patients telling us how they are nearly 100% improved. >> reporter: patients need to have several 20-meinute sessions a week. also new this morning, additional proof that the cost of medical care n the united states is rapidly increasing. data from the university of washington sho the average visit to the doctor in the u.s. now costs nearly $500. the price of a hospital stay, opthat td more than $22,000 in. 20 experts say these findings are just more proof that the u.s.

exceeds every other country in total health care costs. starting january 1, this is new, hospitals will be required to post online the price of medical servic rvices. the news4 i-team has learned maryland is investigating a scathing audit abo hiring practices. they found the district heights hired two police officers against a psychologist's ancommendations. her officer had 12 traffic ticis and failed to show up fo court. jodie fleischer has the report. >> reporter: the mayor told me the city will hold an emergency closed door meeting to discuss it following a rept on the city's hiring and investigating. stafec didn't even have ad of the training each officer had. >> the citizens deserve to know what's going on.

>> reporter: the mayorud app the work of an audit which noted re than two dozen deficiencies at his police department. six of the department's ten officers were mentioned by name. back, itport just came was just awful. i couldn't believe some of the things in it. >> reporter: officers told t i-team they've since been nt view -- interviewed by maryland state police chief elliott gibson defended his department. >> it's my t opinions does not even come close to reflecting the kinds of employees that the city of district heights >> reporter: the report said one ficer admitted he'd been disqualified from eight other agencies and a psychologist r recommended he not be hired. investigators say those cases should have been referred to the training commission before approval for hing. >> the training commission said you may get a second opinion and

we did at. >> reporter: another officer had 12 traffic citations and failep tor in court five times, each resulting in a suspended ns lice >> those things were resolved in the court system. >> reporter: as for the missing officer training files, the chief toldhenews4 investigator gave them 60 days to provide them. >> at this point the city has provided probably 90% of those documents.n >> reporter:ay eight of the tend officers signe a no-confidence letter about the chief. they asked the city to relieve hi his duties. >> reporter: there were several officers that did not signpa th icular letter that you're referring to. you really want to know what the chief has been doing, talk t our residents and talk to our other elected officials, not the mayor. >> reporter: the chief told news4 he believed some officers were pre into signing that letter and said he's already

made changes of how they handle background che and tra-- checks trai as a result of that report. e> when news4

if you hoping to begin 2019 with a few home upgrades, you m want to consider some smart technology. >> from smart door bells, smart

lock, maybe smart security cameras. the possibilities are jus endless. this morning susan hogan is working for you with crash course on those high-tech devices. >> alexa, turn off the lights. >> reporter: dan doesn't just write about smart home oducts, he uses them, too. his one must-have devi , a smartspeaker. >> alexa, lock the front door. smart speakers make it very easy toonnect allhe product. >> reporter: to use the smart speaker, you'llind three main options, amazon alexa, google assistant and apple' sy ri, availabl -- .i smart locks have to pass the same break-in tests as aditional lock. >> you want a lock that is smart but also strong. >> this recommended $230 lock

stood up to kicking, picking a drilling tests and connects with any of the three smart speaker assistants. anothe option for your ors, video door bells. you can see who is at your doo and some models even work with smart locks to remotely only the door through an app. you might want to add smart cameras inside and out. they can record a break-in or this little guy breakin the rules when dan isn't home. one thing to keep in mind, you'll need to pay a fee for video storage for most smart rasecurity ca which can be as much as $200 a year. the amaudn c cam is a best buy. consider the net gear arlo pro 2 smart camera for about $220 for outside. >> consumer reports alsoto look nother type of smart device, smart smokeordete if you're considering one. just be careful.

consumer reports says they are available but they're only able to detect one type of fire. they don't detect everything. >> turning nowo the weather and this dreary, dreary raw . ng is this stuff going to stick around? >> well, we're going to continue to track rain showers out there through the afternoon hours. as we move toward the evening hours, w do stao dry out and then it's dry saturday and sunday so -- >> can we just mention something here before everybody starts asking questions? this is not intentional. this happens to usrobably once a month. we feel like we wear a smock around here mt of t time so this is what you get every now and then. color.ll wear the same so there you go. carry on. >> in case you're wondering. >> as we take a look at the weather alerts throughout right now, most of us are actually under a flood watch. this is going to be in effect through late tonight. it officially expires just after midnight at 1 a.m. all of the colors here in b aght green under this flood watch. that includes just about all of

the d.c. metro area back into parts of northern virginia. the heaviest rain now is mainly over but i still can't rule out some isolated flooding concerns. we could see aroun an inch, even more by the time this system moves out of the area. the biggest concern for flooding is going to be in low-lying areas and bycr ks, streams and rivers. we only have watches out there right now, we don't have any flood warnings but we are in storm team weather alert mode for that potential of flooding as we head into the aft enoon anning hours. this is the latest radar right now. you can see rain pretty muc across the entire area. but parts of loudoun county giving a break. this is going to give us another push. p.m. it's still pretty soggy out there with future weather. generally light showers around 4:00 across the area.6, as we move t 7, 8 p.m., can't rule out a few hior-miss showers but we do start to dry

out. if have dinner plans, you may need the umbrella coming into dinner. coming home it should be dry. by 11 p.m., everybody sees dry conditions. so far today, close to an inch of rain inost of the area. so far we've had inches of rain this year so today we'll lily hit 66, the wettest year on record. ladies, if it wasn't raining, it uldn't be that bad vooutside. kind of mild for late de ember. i'll hre on more in >> we'll stek around for that! >> richard overton died yesterday in texas at the age of 11 >> overton was in he is 30s when he volunteered for the army and

he was at the pearl harbor attack in 1941. he once said his secret tog lon life was smoking cigars and drinking whiskey.

there are new developments in the mysterious case of a vol vol mom w vanished on

thanksgiving day. >> here alleged killer, her own fiancee. coming face to face with her parents for a custody of the ht woman's . >> the fate of the little girl lies in thhands of a judge.or >> repter: patrick frazee in shackles thursday, seen for the fit time since his arrest, forced to face kelsey barrett's parents at a temporary custody e girl. for her lit he was arrested in connection with the death of his fiancee. 1-year-old kalee was placed in thetody of her maternal grandparents. that now extended for another wea. colleague says the girl's father was her primary care ver, watching kalee at his colorado ranch while her mother worked at a flight instructor. >> he was a good dad, watching

over her and taking care of her. >> reporter: does this seem like something he would do? >> no. like i said, i was shocked and amazed when i heard this and it seems coly out of character. >> reporter: it's been more than five weeks since phrafrazee, whd nothive wit his girl wfriend, ith his girl friend, the last time they were seen publicly. they received texts from the 29-year-old. authorities there offering their assistance in the investigation. >> as can you tell from the arrest, sadly we do not believe kelsey is still alive. >> reporter: at barrett's home, police found both her cars in the driveway and cinnamon rolls in the kitchen. >> reporter: we are suspicious the crime did occur at kelsey's residence. >> reporter: police searching for clues that will lead to

findingy kel and justice for her family. >> frazee is expected to to court on monday. the little girl's paterna grandmother has filed a motion to intervene in the custody decision. both g ndparents are expected to be back in court to addressr that matte later next week. >> take a look at thisideo that shows a helicopter rescuing a 12-year-old who wasuried beneath an avalanche in the french alps. rescuers found the boy with help of a sniffer dog with a keen nose. the chance of finding a survivor at 15 minutes are minimal, this was 45 minutes. the boy's air ways were not blocked with snow. he is expected to be okay. >> when the rain moves out this weekend, how does a walk in the you? sound to

in montgomery county, you have 421 walk options. the planning board's chair has officially visited all of them. casey anderson capped off his year-end tour yesterday. he says he's been impressed by the condition of theun coty's parks. only a handful had maintenance problems> aybe you are noticing a little holiday weight gain. for most that means making some new y resolutions. >> we'll be doing that. liz mclaughlin takes a look at some new gadgets and apps to help you stick to your new goals for the new year. >> reporter: perhaps aft a few too many holiday treats, many americans plan to move towards healthier lifestyle in 2019. according to offers.com, losing weight and exercising more are the top reserutions year a year. >> there are plenty of gadgets

that help you. >> fitbit's newest model goes beyond counting steps. >> i tested out both mod els. they can personaliis exerc coaching, track your heart rate and sleep and now they're essentially smart watches. you can check your phone notifications and even makes payments. >> reporter: apps such as nerd wallet, acorn and mint can help you get on track, help you set a budget and track goals. >> goals cng every year. one thing i like in terms of working with apps in terms of gochl setting is your data is saved and you can use iear after year. >> screen time is a way to set goals. >> i was shocked i was spending

five hours a day of looking at my device. >> technology that can make you aware of bad habits and provide motivation to change them. >> i don't even want to know how much time i spend on the apps. i'll leave that one alone. it might also do time to do an annual ckin, rchecki iin -- che redoing passwords. >> good idea. >> we have you covered with tons of parties to checkut yhere. al have to do is search new year's eve in our app and don't forget to tag us in your picks,

the holiday season is winding down, which means it's time maybe that you are trying to incorporate somexperiences, especially aroundhe holidays, like something that's holiday driven. >> yeah, that mes it extra special. wtop entertainment editor has some ideas for the weekend. >> all right,s christmas over, you're digesting that ham, you might be returning some gifts, checking out different things with the family over the holidays, so i wasn't to give you some independent decembdeas. you can still check out "the nutcracker" at warner theater. that's there until december 28th. you can see "a christmas carol" at ford's theater until december 30th. you can check out "efl"s musical at olney theater and "love

factually" through december 31st. if you want non-chridmas relathings, there's lots of concerts this weekend, too. we have anita baker at mgm national harbor, we have the roots at silver spring, nrbq will be at hamilton life, trombone shorty at the anthem. it sol the most tickets of anyone. d.c. is becoming a music town. that's so great. and you can head over to the black cat, if you want, for a different vibe on new year's for the y nr's eve ball. you can check out movies like "green book," vice, if beal street could talk. if you have young kids, "mary poppins returns." lots of options for you. i'm entertainment editor jason fraley. >> all of that inside. >> at least today.

saturday and sunday are going to be dry. >> if i was going to the movie , to that's what movie i would be seeing. extra gbutter. yo butter halfway through and put the popcorn in. >> i. like >> is my mic good? >> my mike is good. temperatures are near 50 degrees. despite the rain, it's kind of mild out there. average high bout44. so we're running about five degrees above normal. checking out your rain outlook, widespread rai in the forecast today, it's already been raining out there ts morning. rain comes to an end tonight. saturday and sunday keeping it dry and then monday the last day of 2018, why not finish off the year with a littleuilt more

ra -- bit nor rain at this point. then the chance for lingering showers out there early tuesday morning that is correct will will be new year's day. and it's a little warmer out there on saturday. if you're already getting the holiday decorations put away, i would recommend taking the d lighn on saturday with temperatures a little bit more comfortable, but it will be bit breezy on saturday. however, both days are looking co so for the redskins game on sunday at 4m. it's dry, on the cool side with temperatures in the 40s but at least it's dry. there's a chance some rain moves in very late on sunday and mond an80% chance you're dealing with rain, especially in the midday hours on into the second half of the day. if youave new year's dinner plans out, think about bringing the umbrella, ladies thi about

what shoes you're wearing. there's a chance for lingering showers very early tuesday. after that, the first week of january, wednesday, thurayay, frs looking completely dry, chilly, temperatures in the 40s. next weekend we'll have highs near 50. still a rainy day out there. i don't know if this qualifies as grilled cheese and tomato soup because the temperatures aren't that chillyut ihink that sound likes a great idea for this morning.

hey, everybody. our final pet segment of 2018 willh deal wome nontraditional pets. laura has brought along a very special type of pet you canget, nonstandard, not c or dog. tell bus adopting a bunny rabbit. >> this is hop. he's an 8-month-old male. he's one of five or six rabbits we have. >> do rabbits make good ?pe >> they do make good pets. they're great for someone who doesn't want to commit to walking a cat or dog in the rain cold. >> if you're allergic to cats. >> allergic to cats but you may

be allergic to rabbits if you're allergic to cats. >> is there a lot of care involved? >> they need the right ,ho the right food. they make great house pets in that they will run around theho e, they will play with toys you provide for them. they do not want tock be s in a cage and they do not want to be stuck in a hutch outside like they were years and years ago. >> i had a friend who had rabbit in a hutch on the front porch. i always wondere what is the sense of iaving one you're going to put it outside. >> how cold a tolerant they? >> they're not tolerant. like a person they want to be in the house with heat in the winter, air conditioning in the summ. >> i imagi they eat more than

carrots. >> rabbits are the vegan of the animal kingdom but they need a diet with a good sense ofei pr ash good kibble, there's high-quality rabbit kibble out there and supplementing their diet g with ad amount of a variety of greens, carrots, parsley, celery, a little bit of lettuce, not too much. it's a little watery. green.nd of leaf oo grey ey like fruit, raisins, apple slices herend there. >> what are other ranotional snets. >> guinea pigs, we have hamsters. those probably don't need free roam of the house >> the do not. >> the smaller rodents probably need a kennel. >> yes.

we've got some turtles, water turtles, we have some sliders in our lagoon. the adoption fees from nontraditional animals are a little lower. they will be spayed or neutered. we don't spay or neuter turtles. >> i won'twh ask >> you say when they're ears are up, they'realert. >> right now he's comfortable, though. you can tell. >> i think mr. hop here would make a fine addition. thank you, laura, for coming on in today. you can find out about adopting a pet by going to humanealliance.org. >> the capitals and had your

canaans playing forhe first time since sunday. that time off seemed to help the caps. ey skated away with a 3-1 victo victory. alex ovechkin won't be getting a vacation. he's been been vot the all-star captain for the second straight year. it's well deserved,too. ovie's having the best start to the season hs ever had with the league, leading at 29 goals and he is ten yea older than the next oldest all-star game captain. the all-star game is set for january 26th in san jose. and ovechkin almost made the short list for the associated press's male athlete of the year. >> but no surprise here, the king ofbasketball, lebron james, was the winner. the announcement came hours before his 156 game playing streak.

he was sitting out due to a join injury. ovechkin kansas city chiefs quarterback and triple crown winner justify rounded out the top five. >> how long will all this rain last? amelia is coming back to break it down when it storm team4 weather

the fate of sears could be determined today. the chairman of the iconic reiler, eddie lambert has until 4te.m. eas to submit a proposal to buy the company outright from his hedge fund in an effort keep stores open. advisers would have untilay thuro decide whether the offer is a qualified bid. if not, the retailer coulstart liquidating its assets. sears, which also owns kmart, file for bankruptcy. it has 500 stores and 68,000 workers. >> and mcdonald's is making a g bet on breakfast again. more customers are skipping morning visits to get their mcmuffin fix in the afternoon or

even in the evenmcg. donald's blamed slowing u.s. sales on weakness in the g. morn assessing sales only in the morning. with your cnbc business report, i'm frankholland. >> this is what will happen to you if y eat the muffin top, you'll gethe muffin top. >> enough said. s christmas traditionally one of the biggest movie days of the year and hollywood expects thon tonue through the weekend. >> i can handle the moreundane jobs. >> reporter: christian bail leaps from behind in "vice." this examines the dynamic between vice president dick cheney and untested president

george bush. he isn't interested in this white house gig. vice is rated r. >> the show must go on in "stan and ohlie. that he play legendary comedy duo laurel and hardy. it follows their act and relationships toward the end of their careers. it's rated pg. >> john c. reilly is part of another famous pair in "holmes and watson." the two add a giggle twist to the sherlock home legend. they're on their way to solve a murder at the buckingham palace but have only a few days to do it before the killer tries to kill the queen. >> and any cold kidman wins an

oscar for "destroyer." >> pretty muietty much like any with nicole kidman. >> time now f our final midday forecast of 2018. >> amelia, tak it awa >> all of the areas in bright green are in a flood watchug th today. rain will end bween 6 p.m. and as late at 9 p.m. the area seeing anay inch, even a little bit more, and that could lead to floodingconcerns, even early tomorrow meanly in areas.ing you can see for the most part light showers across the entire area.se again, tontinue into the afternoon hours and then we do

highs todayght with in the low to mid 50s, breezy tomorrow with a mix of clouds and sunshine. low to mid 50s. on sunday we're in the 40s. the day is dry but joov night sundthere's the chance the rain will move in and we will close out monday with ran in the forecast. that rainnds very early tuesday morning. and january 1st, ladies, not that bad with a high near 60. >> we'll take it. thank you for joining us. >> we are back on their this afternoon first at 4. you can get news andeather updates any time with the nbc washington app. have a great day. we'll see you later.

you will be in the room as our child comes into the world. >> here we go. >> oh, my god. >> oh, that's so emotional.io gabrielle sharing that emotional video. taking us inside the delivery room for their daughter. look who's hereac rl lindsay. >> happy to be here. >> happy to be here. >> she is. you ath one o happiest people i think i've ever