expect the morning commute to be a messy one. it is 4:00 a.m. good morning everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm e yang. a busy morning this morning on "news4 today." let get to e information you need to know. jack taylor is in for melissa mollet this morning. let's begin with meteorologist chuck bell. it's weirdly warm out there, chuck. >> climbing in the overnight hours as sur of very warm air, not january-like at all has come up the east coast. it's winter and snowing on the back end of this. our temperatures will tumble later on in the day today. no snow in our forecast. but sure is going tbe a windy day today. heavy rain across parts of north central north carolina now. that is the wave of heavy raini thatbe affecting us, especially for the second half of the morning commute. it's raining all over i-95. a few breaks in northwestern

virginia and eastern west virginia. are yo kidding me, it's 56 degrees in clinton, maryland at 4:00 in the morning. 55 in lorton. 41 in leesburg. a surge of warm air, temperatures way up into thes 50 through the morning. then as we get towards noontioe, the front by that, will turn the rain off sometime early this afternoon. and then the win come back around to the northwest and temperatures will fall fast. as you go out the door this morning, take that warm jacket and umbrella. you'll need both of them. for now the news continues. >> a partial government shutdown has entered its 34th day. tomorrow, 800,000 government workers were mark another payday without a >> we learned the gridlock is impacting the state of the union address. news 4's corey smith joins us ai th desk with details. good morning. >> good morning aaron and eun. >> the state of the union address was scheduled to bere

deli next tuesday night. now we don't know when it will happen. esident fired off two tweets announcing he would put the speech on hold, ending a showdown with speaker of the house nancy pelosi. in his speech, t said as shutdown was going on, nancy pelosi asked me to give the state of the union address. i agreed. she thenhanged her mind. that is her prerogative. a econd tweet, he said he didn't want to look for another venue. all this started last week when spr pelosi suggested to the president that because of the shutdown and security concerol, he off on delivering the address. for a time it appeared trump would still try to give the speech. the idea was fleeteoatedould select another venue. the address has been delayed fore. the last time was back in 1986 when president reagan postponed the speech after the challenger

disaster. eun, back to you. >> corey smith, thank you. the senate will vote on two bills to reope thegovernment. the future remains unclear. there is growing support to at looebs find funding for the department of homeland security. five former homeland security secretaries signed a letter requesting congress and the president do everything in their power to reach acompromise. former trump white house chief of staff, john kelly, michael chertoff and janet napolitano and jeh johnson. investigate counterterrorism and the workers should not have to re the charitable generosity of others for assistance in feeding their families and paying their bills. the bills are partisan. the dpgop-backed be bill calls r funding for a border wall. the democratic senate bill would reopen the government for three

weeks but would not inclu funding for a wall. later this morning, tsa workers at reagan national airport will express their frustrations to tim kaine and mark warner. air traffic controllers have been forced to work without pay an many have taken to calling out sick. 't been enough screeners on the job. that has led to long lines and delays. the community outreach to help furloughed federal workers is growing. students from west springfield high school held a potluck dinner for anybodyacted by the shutdown. ther din was arranged by members of the conservative club and young democrats. student organizers say it's a bipartisan efforlp to because it impacts the whole community. >> nearly every single restaurant who we reach out to were keen on donating. they've all seen the effects too. we're all in this together as a community.

>> peopleni in the commu also donated nonperishable food for the food pantry at the school. >> we are updating our app for resources for furloughed workers. you can find out where you can get a give help as well. search shutdown. five minutes after the hour, president trump aes former fixer and lawyer, michael cohen is blaming the president. he cited verbal attac on the cohen family by both rudy giuliani and the president. they've implied that cohen's father-in-law should be investigated. the father-in-law may havetoies organized crime.es ident trump denied threatening cohen and said cohen is threatened by the truth. we're continuing toollow a developing story in central fligida. investators are trying to figure out what caused a man to go into a bank and murder five

people. it started around 12:30 wednesday afternoon insebrin florida. about halfway between tampa and miami. after responding to the ioltial call,e received a second call, this one from the suspected shooter himself still inside the bank. he toldolice he went into the building and just started shooting. after a standoff, polic were vele to go inside the bank, get the victims andually arrest the accused killer. >> taken into custody as a result of this is a gentleman by the name of zepp inzaber. he's 21 and lives here in sebring. >> the suspect worked as a prison guard trainee until he quit two weeks ago. a local teen remains in critical condition after being shot in the head inside age prie ge's home. this happened yesterday in landover. the two teens, 15 and 16 years old were hanging out when the gun they had went off. the 15-year-old was hit. ththe grand was upstairs at

the time. >> i'm in shock. j it saw this car. i want to kno what's going on in the neighborhood. >> i'm so concerned. i mean, i'm wondering was this depossibly an ac. >> investigators are trying to figure out if the victim was playing with the gun or if something else led to the e. gunf new details about repair work on a sinkhole we told you about yesterday morning. it may be next week before the problem is fixed. t e hole opened up ae intersection of 17th and d streets northwest near the lipse and constitution hall. between c and eve streets, the been closed. the cause is still unknown. only going to get worse this weird weather. news 4 learned that the frigid o ather may have lede deaths of three people in fairfax county. an w86-year-oldan at sunrise facility in resto. di she wandered outside and was

found lying in the snow. earlier that same day, a homeless man wasound dead in an apartment laundry room in fairfax and labs week an 88-year-old left the living facility in great falls and was later found deadre police asking us all to keep our eyes open. >> folks need to watch out for each other, be observant to activity that seems suspicious. if you see someone in distress, contact local law enforcement. the rescue squad. we want to check on people. three deaths is three too many. >> very sad. the sunrise senior living i facili assisting with this investigation. 4:08 now. big changes y shoul know about when calling for help in the district. you can dial 311 for police if it's not emergency. last year, d.c. received 1. millio 911 calls, s thatws down response times for real emergencies. what do police conside

nonemergencies. things like noise complaints, vandalism d destruction of property. >> if y have anonemergency that's no threat to life, in injury, no suspect on the scene, call 311. p the firstmpt will get you to nonemergency. if you'reun re, call 911. >> d.c. is the only jurisdiction inur area that uses 311 for nonemergency police calls. other areas like montgomery county, prince george county, they have ten-digit numbers. we have those numbers in our washington app. search 311. the drone service, the company is testing drones in seattle. it's called amazon scout. for now the drones will be accompanied by an amazon employee. but the plan it for them to eventually make deliveries on their own. >> hopen' they crash in the trees and other things. >> there's all sorts of things thatould ppen. >> i want my package in one

piece. art placing your flower orders and dinner reservations now. valentine's day is exactly three weeks away. >> one of the mt popular candies for this holiday will be .lifting from shelv the maker of the candy hearts recently went under and the company that took over will not be making any conversation hearts until 20. are you kidding me? this is a tragedy. >> they're nasty. >> they don't taste good. >> keep an eye out for copycats. otheanies filling in the gap. if you happen to see the real candy hearts in stores, there a chance they were made more than a year ago. doesn't matter. n they'ler disintegrate. >> that's the problem. >> end of ldays, we still have the candies. they're cute though. be mine. i love you. >> if you'ret into that s of thing. >> i want the candy. our coverage of the ongoing

goameve lntot of people getting paying their mortgages. if you signing up at a new gym, there are things to keep an eye out for. we're wndking for you breaking it all down, next. > storm team 4 weather alert u.yoec in half of the morning commute. tempatures are way out of s ack t e'insmo g. a big temperature tumble coming as well. five-day forecast coming right up.

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chuck bell is putting the t finishinches on his full forecast. he's going to join us in a few minutes. at 4:14, we continue with coverage of the government shutdown and its impact on federal workers. >> there is good news for anybody furloughed and living here in thest ct. you'll get help with mortgage payments. the district will make interest loans available to anyone who isn't getting a paycheck. those whoet qualify can up to $5,000 a month. they'l within 60 days of the end of the shutdown. mayor muriel bowser announced that program yesterday at the conference o mayors. >> we perhaps more than anybody are in the belly of the beast of shutdown. we have more than 70,000 d.c. residents who are affected by this furlough. >> the loans will be awarded on a come first serve basis. the application process begins tomorrow. contractors will not be eligible because they are not guaranteed back pay when everything

reopens. wnhe shut isn't only impacting those with mortgages. as david culver explains in virginia, small business owners, too, are feeling the pressure. >> reporter: when times are ht tight, you m think a consignment shop would be the place that a lot of folks flock to,o get adeal. the owner, michael observation, tells me tre feeling it too. >> it's been a fig drop a local small businesslike us. >> only a few shoppers at relove it a recent surge of hopeful sellers. folks dropping off items. >> you have a warehouse here. >> two warehouses full right now. >> full. >> items aren't selling on the floor. so we can't replace them right now. >> he's had tout dow on employees' hours. i am honest with people. business is quiet. the shutdown, do you think it's the shutdown? i know it's the shutdown. >> small businesses struggling with bigss lo.

in percyville, virginia, david culv culver,orews 4. ng for your health this morning. migraines that begin later in life could be a warning sign for something more serious. a new study found that people diagnosed with migraines were twice as likely to have a stroke. >> however, researchers say migraines without aura are not linked to stroke regardless of when the headachesstart. >> a new study says older women need to stay awayri from food. researcher found that eating one serving of fried food a day increathe risk of early death for postmenopausal womch by as mus 13%. the worst culprits were fried fish and fried chicken. is it worth living if youan't eat fried chicken once in a

while, though. >> anythin every day is no good for you. >> even chocolate cake every day. >> wait a minute now. >> chocolate cake might be good for you. >> around my birthday, i think i eat chocolate cake straight for a month. my y birthday in june and husband and my kids in july. we go through stretches of chocolatecake. >> whenever i want it, i jus make one. >> you can bring one in. someone left t cake out in the rain. >> i think t tt's a song. only way to get from what we're talking about to the weather. >> it is a chowed i staloudy an start and mild start to your january day today.ur temper are in thes this morning. plus ten already at 4:15 in the morning. south winds are averaging 15 miles per hour now. f raihere's a big surge and wind coming straight up out

of parts of north carolina and southern virginia. it's pointed uight at the windiest weather today will be along and to the east of the corridor. stronger winds for our friends in nthern maryland and the northern neck. a little less across theen doah valley. there's the line of very heavy rain now coming through the western side of raleigh, north carolina. that'she little ribbon of intense rain and wind which we're going to be having to keep a very close eye on. it's pre much going to come up the i-95 corridor. it's a wet start. grab the umbrella. food watches have been posted. there's an opportunity f a quick inch or more of rain meaning between now and 1:00 this afternoon. watch out for high standing or fast-moving water. one little burst of rain at 6:00 morning. another burst of rain coming in somewhere between 8:00 and 9:00. i bhink that m the one that has the best chance to not only

have bliing rain but i think some of these red shaded areas here, that could be where the most intense winds are as well. watch out, winds could easily gust over 50 miles per hour in southern maryland. lunchtime, the worst of it is starting to come to an end. it will be a quick turn off to the rain. winds will turn around to the northwest around lunchtime today and temperatures will tumble. wel be in themid-50s this morning. in the mid-30s by as early as:0 about this evening. so bring a warm coat with you on the way in. then fortomorrow, breezy and cold. a little bit of cloud cover around tomorrow, maybe a flurry but no significant snow chance. staying cold through saturday and a little more seasonable ather sunday into monday. all right, jack taylor. let's hear how the rain is impacting the commute. >> s far with volume light, we're doing okay. the reminder, 17th street northwes remains closed. unfortunately, that's a compromised roadway at 17th and dean. 17th street remains blocked between c street and new york

avenue potentially through the end of the week until they complete the repairs. the bay bridge, we were expecting wind restrictions. wind warnings beyond that. no empty house trailers. but you have aut scene there and they will be king care ofyou. follow t orhead signs warning of the wind restrictions. 66, the eastbound direction at nutley street for awhe. got word that is cleared from the right lane. aaron, eun, back to yo still ahead, if you're in the market for a new gym membership, whave tips to stave you money. later on ellen, dra messing stops by and talks about meeting her idol, carol burnett. >> i didn't wait for her. all shesaid, that's going to be our christmas card and i went -- and then i ran. i feeley would pass out too

if carol burnett shook my hand. >> she's the best. later on, ellen puts debra's singing to the test. singing to the test. you can catch that at my mom washes the dishes... ...before she puts them in the dishwasher. so what does the dishwasher do? cascade platinum does the work for you, prewashing and removing stuck-on foods, the first time. wow, that's clean!

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4:24 now.

if getting in shape gs yourl and you're thinking about joining a gym, you need to do resech. >> susan hogan is working for you with tips to save on your gym membership and what to sook for befoning that contract. >> if you're thinking about good g a gym, this is a time of year to find deals that will save you money. >> january is always a big one, without a doubt. january is one of those times where most gyms are offering some kind of incentive for you to come in, try them out. >> consumer reports says ask for a noncommitment trial. many gyms offer day passes to try out their facilities. if you have friends or family interested in signing up with you, they may offer you a lower monthly rate for ap. grou trying the place before you commit will help you decide what type of gym is best for your goals. >> identify what your goal is. if you've tried to do thi goal already andlet say, you joined a bigger gym where you did it alone, maybe that route might not be the number one way. maybe joining a smaller gym,

people are more focused, the accountability and the support that you need. >> when you find the perfect fit for you, you can negotiate a better price. speak with a salesperson or manager to see if they can give you a free month or eliminate the registration fee, especially if you sign a contract u >> sign for six or 12 months, that's about 30 to 40% less than you would be paying in a month to month thing. >> be sure to read the contract from beginning to end. >> see if there are cancellation or subscription fees or where you have to notify in advance to quit the gym. >> be sure to keep a copy of the contract in case you need to reference it in e ture. >> you can also check with your health insurance company or even your employer tof see i they offer discounts at the local gym. backo you guys. good morning. 4:25 on your thursday morning. it's a storm team 4eather alert day.

flood watches have been posted for all of theetro are for the remainder of day.e to maybe 1 to 2 inches of rain possible. feciously windy a well. stay with us. plus, filming fittiom ro a new update in the case against a man accused of watching women while they tried on clothes. an arrest made after a woman in a vegetative state gives birth. birth. the hospital employee now

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storm team 4 weather alert is in effect this morning as we get ready for a very wet day. take a look at all that rain on the radar this morning. it is prompting a flood threat as you get your thursday started. >> the rain has been coming down for the last w hour but we still have several more hours of it to go. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with the warnings for you. > the flag was whipping in the wind. >> also weighted down by the rain. >> there you go. we're going to checkn th

wtop's jack taylor in for melissa mollet this morning to tell us how the rain is impacting the commute. but we beg with chuck bell with the weather, the wind andn the rain it's weird. >> this doesn't feel like january at all. something is clearly out of whack and mother nature plans to fix it in a wihurry. s out of the south this morning. a lot of cloud and rain. e nextatch of heavy rain across parts of northern north carolina, that's going to come up the i-95 corridor. it's about four to five hours away. between 8:30 and 9:00 this morning is when the heaviest of the rain is likely to come int m the d.c.ro area. it will arrive earlier than that. towards fredericksburg and the northern neck. w highesds today will be along and to the east of the i-95 corridor. a little les of a threat of powerhouse wind in the shenandoah valley. everyone is going to be wet. everyone is off to a mild start this morning. flood watches are up.