that an end to the on going government shutdown is in sight. both sides stuck to their arguments and neither appeared ready to back down.he par for course around here these days. it is 4:00 a.m., good morning, everybody, i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. have the latest impacts of the shutdown now in its 19th day. >> we want to begin with a check on the forecast and the commute this morning. jack taylor is standing by with a loo at the roads. >> but first, chuck aell has check on your forecast. i can feel the winds, chuck. i feel like it's starting to get colder by the mite. >> you are correct, eun. it will be a very persistent northwest wind over the next 24 to 48 hours. it is going to start a feeling lot more like wintertime around here. that stretch of mild days,gh we be able to tack one more on today. but you can tell there the streamers of snow are coming off the great lakes, and that cold air is going to be moving on in here. we can see some passing snow showers during the afternoon

today. no accumulations today. just conversational snow flakes flying in a northwest wind. not much going on this morning after that burst of heavy rain around 9:30 last night after the front came through. the colder air isin lagging b the front. it's not that cold this morning. we're still well intos. the 40 temperatures will be falling steadily during the course of the day and yes, indeed, some passing snow showers a a possibility this afternoon. we'll talk abo any potential for accumulating snow this weekend coming up. for now, let's go to jack taylor. >> thank you. inner look of the belt way, take a look at this. the tractor trailer was in the rest area, if you will. a little service spot to pull on to. he got stuck. now that ramp is blocked an the heavy duty wrecker is on scene. i-70 eastbound before you get to the south mountain anar the rest. we had a crash. the left lane is about to be

reopened. e a delay with the right side of the roadway will remain closed for a little bit. 50 out at the bay bridge, chuck s talking about with these winds, 301ac middleton bridge just rnings. aaron, eun, back to you. >> jack, thank you. digging in and doubling down. last night in an address to the nation, president trump describe what had he c a crisis at the u.s./mexico border. >> he laid out hisor reasoning wanting to build a border wall and put pressure on democrats to back his plan and end the partial government shutdown now in day 19. speaking from the ovaoffice, the president called a border wall common sense. he claimed bordel pat agents want a wall and called out democrats refusing to support the idea. b>> thisrier is absolutely critical to bseder rity. it's also what our professionals at the border want and need. >> the democratic leadership quicklyh responded wts own

address to the nation. >> o the presidethe united states having failed to get mexico to pay for his e, ineffectunnecessary border wall and unable to convince the congress or the american people to foot the bill, has shut dow the government. >> house speaker nancy pelosi then used the president's own words against him. she minded him that he promised to keep the government shutdown dr months or years til the funding was given for a border wall. today, congressal leaders have been invited back to the white house for another round of negotiations. on thursdayay the president he will visit the southern border. caught in the middle of this ght over how best to secure the border are 800,000 furloughed workers, some of them spent the night outside of the white house protesting the situation. the crowd chanted and held signs critical of the president and tdescribed the crisis a the border as fake. organizer kristen mink says federal workers and many

communities are being hurt financially by this shutdown. >> these are americans who want to work these are people who want to work. they need to pay their bills. theyireed to keep the houses, cars, they need their medications. >> not everyone at the rally was a federal worker. some came because they say the shutdown is having a negative ripple effect on other businesses in the community. last night's rally wasn't the first and won't behe last. democrats are planning another demonstrationig t at 7 in the civic building in silver spring. federal workers, contractors and others are expected to attend. people who receive help from federal food assistance programs are watching what happens with this shutdown very carefully. itay soon affect their cnefits. fooddits were loaded on ebt cards for january. they're expected to be availab for februar as well, but beyond that, card holders are being told tohe make cash last as long as possible. now some businesses are stepping up to help furloughed workers, that includes several banks. wells fargo says i will place fees taken out of accounts for

service, overdraft and insufficient funds. chase is slso waivie fees for federal worker who have direct deposit it ax yoes reports that capital one is extending loan payments due to dates and waiving or refunding some credit card fees. and bank of america is also reportedly working with customers on fee refunds,s waivnd repayment plans. some good news if you're planning to get married in the district, mayor will sign legislation allowing the district to issue marriage licenses for 90 day period. right now the marriage bureau at d.c. superior court is shut down because it was not deemed essential. be sure to stay with news 4 all morning for continuing tcoverage of the governm shutdown. we understand it is affecting thousands of you, and we are keeping track of discounted services and o assistance that's available for you for complete list head to the nbc washington app. five minutes after the hour, a new revelations this morning about the crinal case involving paul manafort, president trump's former chairman.

in newly public federal court filings lawyers reveal that manafort is suspected of sharing presidential polling data withsa ruian operative. that informati was supposed to ho redacted. it sws one way russians may ve gained access to inside information from the trump campaign before the election. specl counsel robert mueller prosecuted manafort as part of thega russia inveson and possible coordination with the trump campaign in 2016. jury is already convicted manafort in alexandria for federal financial crimes. reaking news right now, officials are investigating suspicious packaging delivers to several consulates in australia. chris lawrence has details.so >> spokesp confirms to nbc news the u.s. consulate in melbourne received one of those suspicious packages. in a statement we're being told they handled the package according to standard procedure and in close coordination with local authorities. we're also hearing from the british consulate in melbourne well. they received a suspicious

package and say it was actually, quote, ticking. so far officials are only saying ey're investigating suspicious packages at several consulates and embassies across australia. the important thing here, no one has been injured, but all of this is happening just a couple days after a suspicious white powder was discovered at a package at the consulate in australia. that did not contain any poison or toxins. eun. >> chris lawrence, thank you. now 07, we're getting the first look at a sketch of a man accused ofin assau two little girls in fair fax county. police have been working tois g picture out to the public as quickly as possible. officers say two sisters were walkingn charles thompson lane when a man groped one of them on saturday. he then tried t to touch other sister, but she fought him off. police passed out thela sketch night and talked to residents. many say they're concerned about satheir ty. >> but i'm just like ocked. i kno this isn't the best

neighborhood, but it's still scary. i feel likeom i can't out at night. and for it to happen to two little girls, it's awful. n's awful. >> right officers are passing out these fliers in hopes of getting any witnesses, anyone with information is asked to call police. this morning, we're learning more about the victim of a brutal stabbing in the district. on sunday, police say this victim was attacked insideis apartment in cathedral heights and stabbed 47 times. lugo was openly gay and police say the stabbing was a crime of passion. detectives later arrested navy medic colin porter. porter wastaoned at kwaunlt koe. maryland and virginia lawmaks will begin their legislative sessions today. maryland, there's a proposal to more speed cameras in prince georges county. that highway is called one o the most dangerous in the area. chris gordon will cover the

maryland legislature for us. in virginiaho there's a session, democrats will again push several gun violence bills that includes universal background checks and so-called red flag law. that law would allow police to temporarily tak guns away from people who are considered dang julie kerry will be in richmond. look for her coverage again on news 4 at4. meanwhile, northern virginia democrats have hung on to a sear in thenia state senate. this after a special election yesterday. voters in parts of louden and fair fax counties elected jennifer boysko. she has been in the house of delegates. she defeated gop candidate jill may by a margin of 70 to 30%. boysko replaceson jennifer we who is now in congress. her victory creates t need for another special election. nine minutes after four:00 now. there's something on the roads now that's unusual, even for c. >> the oldest synagogue in the

city will be rolling down third street to new site later this morning. the building that was the original home will itng the road at 9:45. the 273 ton building wil make a short one-block trip from third and ftreet down to third street in northwest. the building will become part of the new capital jewish museum set to open in 2021. this is the third time this building has moved. the first was to make roomo for me headquarters in 1969 and then again two years ago when construction for capital crossing began. it will be interesting to see, right? a huge building. trucking down theroad. still ahead f you are hoping to see online b sportsting become legal in d.c. this week, not so fast. pulled at issue was the council's meeting moments before a vote was supposed to take place. plus, america's war on cancer. a new study has encouraging news but not for all of us we're breaking it down next. chuck? it's all about the wind and

it's a about thecold. starting today, lasting through the rest of the week and indeed, r little chances for snowrd satuay night are increasing. satuay night are increasing.

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news 4 today. cra along i-81 in western virginia typically result in long days. now they may lead to tolls. virginia governor says funding is needed to make improvements to the road. they are backing a $2 billion plan to widen the highway in some areas and lengthen merge lanes. it would cost $50 for trucks and $25 for carsin m the entire 325 mile one-way trip. i you are hoping to see d.c. council vote on a bill to pave the way for online sports better here in the district, were no doubt disappointed yesterday. the vote was scrapped at the last several councilmens began

wondering why the multimillion dollar contract to implement online betting was being offered to the same company that manages the d.c. lottery. the question was asked, should the contract instead be taward highest bidder? >> this is a decision about how to get the most t revenue f district. this is about money. >> the legislati immediately pulled and the council decided instead to ask the public for its input. a h ring will be scheduled f that. what this means is if online sports betting does become legal in d.c., it may be a couple months. update about the lawsuit filed against mgm national harbor by the family of the girl who suffered an electric shock over the summer. family attorneys now accuse the resort of what they're calling delay tactics. green's family says she was disabled for life and the lawsuit places blame on faulty electrical wiring. in response, mgm filed a motion asking for more detailed informition. aid the initial complaint

filed by green's family was too vague. the family's lawyers called the response baseless and said it was a tactic to delay a trial. news 4 reached out to mgm for comment. we haven't heard back. inrthe past the reso called the incident a tragedynd said it is committed to reaching a resolution with the familys i4:15 now. topping news for your health this morning, a much welcomed date about t fight against cancer. right now fewer americans arein g from the disease than ever before. the cntry is seeing the lowest cancer death rates in 25s. ye a significant drop in cigarette smoking and advances in early detection and treatment are some of the reasons behind the drop. however, news from this study wasn't all promising. economically poor areas still have higher cancer mortalityra s and death rates for cancers of the liver, pancreas all rose. each is considered an obesity related illnesmo

thising, we're hearing the story of a local high school football player whos tackling cancer in a pretty remarkable way. >> a young man used that diagnosis a motivation to return to the field stronger an everbefore. >> reporter: sebastian is used to tackling players on the football field. he's a long snapper and a linebacker at edson high school alexandria, virginia. but a year and a half ago his life took an unpected turn. forcing him to tackle something much more riseous, cancer. >> i was pretty scared, but i was just wondering if i could get back to playing sports or if i was going to get back to being able to walk even. >> reporter: sebastian was diagnosed wh osteosarcoma, a rare bone cancer. he had to have his foot amputated. now he's walking, running, even swimming with help from a prosthetic. >> i built the device. i make sure it works. but he's the one that takes that to the next level. >> reporter: it's a remarkable

marriage of science and strength. coming up tonight at news 4 at 5, we'll tak you inside the northern virginia lab that made t possible and show you h they're helping change lives around the world. that's tonight at 5. just a reminder for you, chec out the annual nbc 4 telemundo 44 health and fitne expo at the washington convention center. there will be health screenings, experts to answer questions and we'll be there as well if that's not enough, it's all free. no reason not to come down. lots of open space. >> we're free? >> what we get from you we would not pay from. >> nothing is free, chuck. >> go saturday. sunday could be a little g. interest >> uh-oh. >> you know how i fl about interesting weather. >> yes. you are giddy. >> a little? little chances for snow are growing. >> oh my, chuck. >> i know you want it, eun. i know you do. you have three kids at home.

itthey want >> you have been outvoted, 3 to 1. t >> just lik dog. >> 4 to 1. you might as well give up, eun and get the shovel ready. temperatures for the month, yesterday another mild day. aaron and i were talking about this midday yesterday, would we ever make it to 60? yes, 60 the high yesterday. when the rain came in at 9:00, we hadd a w gust of 42 miles an hour. wind is a big part of the forecast for the c nextple days. northwest winds at 12 now. that's nothing. once the sun com up, the high wind speeds aloft will be mixed down to the surface and so it's going to be a very windy these temperatures are as warm as we're going to be the rest of the day. temperaturoi will be the downward slide as we go through she remainder of the day. low 40 by noontime. mid to upper 30s by later in the afternoon and there will be a chance for a passing snow flurry or snow shower today as these streamers are comin right off e great lakes. not going to get any accumulating sno day. saturday night into sunday,

that's another story. let me show you future weather for today first. nothing to worry about here this morning. any w precipitati get today, little passing snow flurry or snow shower won't a up to anything. here you can see on our high resolution forecast model, sit showing little hints of snow shower or two during the course of the afternoon. all that comes to an end sfter th goes down this evening. we'll be back to partly to mostly sunny weather for tomorrow. today, mid 40s. gusty northwest winds.to rrow, temperatures staying in the 30s with wind chills in the 20s all day and then againy that v powerful northwest wind. all right. eekend snow chances. saturday morning a8:00, the weekend will start off cold and dry. by saturday afrnoon, mostly cloudy and there's an opportunity for some snow before the sun goes down on saturday. an potentiallyome accumulating snow saturday night into sunday morning. and snow lingeringff and on potentially through most of the day on sunday.

e early lean on about how much, i think a solid 3 to 6ch is a very realistic possibility that could spell some trouble for school o monday. needless to say, it's a long way between now and then, jack taylor, but you may want to start thinking up snowman names. >> huh, i think i might want to figure out where that snow shovel is, too. better news on the inner loop of the beltway, ramp to go north on 210. a tractor trailer is across the roadway, he has now cleared but the authorities have not reopened the lamp on 210. t ju last of cones i believe that need to be cleared from the roadway. there's the tractor trailer itself. you will find we had activity on 70 going eastbound up in the hagerstown area as you headed toward south untain, lefane is now getting by. 301 mack bridge now operatingin under just warnings. work northbound i5. right lane getting by there. back into you. >> jack, thank you. it's 4:21 now.

still ahead, fighting the flu. >> and debunkingyths about the flu shot then later today on "ellen". - >> you're not you mean processed sugar. you're not doing processed sugar. >> right. that was my resolution. >> i see. >> i wn't doing processed sugar. >> did you notice a difference? id you have a headache or anything happen tyou? >> no, i just really wanted ice cream. >> yeah. >> that's everyday,though, he stops by and not only talking resolution business his family. his family. catch ellen nbc (alex trebek) $8,000. over $8,000. now,orhy is this number so int? because $8,508 is the average cost of a funeral.

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. >> announcer: you're watching news 4 today. 4:24 ise your t right now. flu season is in full swing. while all doctors are concerned about theprd of germs, many are also worried about the spread of misinformation. >> news 4ustin talked to a local doctor who debupgs the myths and tells how seriously we need to take the flu this year. >> so it's about that time ofve year whenone is talking about the flu, how to avoid it, what to do to not get sick hopefully. we are joined now by dr. gary simon. dr. simon, i want to ask you first, we're in flu season right now. ca tell how bad it might get? >> it's a little early to i think, yes, flu is running right now. it's running a little bit ahead of lastyear. >> you think hearing that that's more of a reason to

serious about protecting yourself and your family. is it too late to get a flu shot? >> no, it's not too late.ho everybodyd get a flu shot. and you cannot get the flu from the flu shot. there is no live virus in the flu shot. so anybody who says iot the flu from the flu shot, it's impossibleon >> special crn too for your children, older relatives, others who are vulnerable. >> well, special concern for children, not because children ge such severedisease, although they certainly can, bur ye and years ago showed that if you immunize the children, it protects the grandparents. their immune response is not as good as the children's immune response. imnize the children t protect the elderly. >> i know a few people who my ded i can fight this o own. thinking it was a bad cold, it wound up being the flu. how can y tell the difference? >> not every cold is the flu.

if you're sick for one day with a cold, that's not infl sa. >> for expected families, the doctor says minimizing flu exposure is critical. >> now, the person who is at greatest risk is a p woman. and the influenza vaccine is not pregnant for the fetus or pregnant woman. every pregnan s womanuld be immunized for fluenza. >> justin finch, news 4. 4:26 now. just in time for those new year's resolutions, a chain of local sports clubs is ed. the warning before you sign a contract with a gymup comin and temperatures aren't really all that cold this morning. wee still in the 40 don't think for a minute that it's going to be anywhere near this warm before your daytime activities are done. check of today's forecast hour by hour coming right up. plus it may look like aut doodle just landed a local girl cash for college.

i saw this yesterday. i saw this yesterday. her drawing went fromaper to p

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>> announcer: news 4 today stts no it is 4:30. and you're going to grab the extra layer as you greed this morning and get used to it. you'll need the watter coat, and all the other stuff for the next few days. it might get a little rough around good morning, everybody i'm aaron gill christ. >> and i'm eun yang. the snow chances are sticking around. the cold temperatures. talking about that snow. chuck bell will giv us a closer look at the forectnd check in with jack taylor for a look at the roads. chuck, give us the news. tell it to me straight. >> you seem as though you're disappointed and wead 27 days in a row warmer than average. how much more can i deliver for you? ?at's th exactly. but it will be turning much colder today. it's as warm n i as will be all day. so when you go outside, oh, it's not that cold, don't you worry. this norwest wind willrive