partf our area are dealing with snow and ice covered sidere ets. parking lots and sidewalks. ir thee area is dealing with the cold and conditions will get worse. the cold is not over yet nor is the snow. we've got snow showers outghhere now that are moving through the area. we'll show you who's being impacted coming >>up. a bipartisan group of lawmakers meet for the first time today to come up with a spending agreement and hopefully prevent another govt shutdown. the restrictions the president is already putting on the group. "news4 midday" starts now. good morning and welcome to

"news4 midday." we start with a messy morning comme caused by slippery conditions after our rain, snow and freezing temperatures. chopper 4 flew over some of those crashes and you can see them right here. they were scattered along major roadways. you can see even a jackknifed to trtrailer. this was at the glen oako turn around. >> this bitter cold weather is oren worse people in northern virginia who don't have power or heat rig now. there's 105 outages in northern virginia, the majority of those are in loudon and fairfax countys. more than 6,600 people were without pow and prince george's county residents are still without power. there's a wound advisory that could cause more stages. leurn things over to lauren to talk about what we can expect today.

>> you're right about that. that frontal lsystem,k at this arctic front. you can see it on the dar. it's moving through the area. now, we're seeing some snow squallsut of it. generally, we have a snow squalls around our area but the breediund for them usually up bill the great lakes. when we get snow squalls it usuallyigfies a really strong cold front and some arctic air moving in and that's exactly what we're seeing and these can create some low visibilities, qck small accumulation but they are bursts of snow that move on by and they're sweepg on by and right now all the way down from shenandoah county all the way up to hagerstown, you're impacted on i-on. it willnue to move to the east. we'll have snow showers maybe a quickinor accumulation but i am worried about the visibilities on that being rather low as we see this move to we'll talk about the winds because we've got a wound ry

advi a wind chill advisory. it's going to get mighty cold. we'll talk about that coming up. >> thank you. it's causingroblems for a big part of the country. officials in illinois and the northernintates advis residents to stay indoors. >> in our area, d.c. haste activa a hypothermia alert. molette green has more. >> reporter: we just found out that the district will keep its cold emergency plan in effect through friday as this arctic plunge really sets in on thec. d.area. people this morning out and about bundled up as necessary from head to toe. this is the kind of weather that you have to take seriously. sir, how are you feeling with this cold weather? >> i'm used to r it. orter: you're used to it? >> i love seasons, you know, so i used to live in california where it was 80 degrees all the time and i miss it. so i'm doing well. >> reporr: okay.

well, take care. this cold is going to set in. >> i'le be in th house by then. >> reporter: good for you. people have the rht kindf attitude on a morning like this, but for those in the homeless community, the homeless population that is the biggest concern that people in the city have about what to do about them. so warming centers are going to open day and in the evening hours, so folks can get in out of this dangerously cold weather and if you see someone who needs transportation t one of tho places, you can dial 311 ifou see someone in distress, call 1-1 to get them help right away. that is the very latest from northwest d.c. in downtown where people are dealing with this arctic blast. back in to you. >> thank you. some of us woke up to snow covered roads and icy streets

out there as you can see. it's a good visual of it. transportation reporter adam tuss is live in oakland with a look at the conditions in northern virginia. hi, adam. >> reporter: good morning. we've been out in the storm team four-by-four all morning and it's now getting really cold out there. take a look at the roads here. d this is what we've been finding all over. this meant a day off of school. and look, when you show up, you get an audience. are you happy to be out of school today? >> yeah. >> repter: this is the guyho makes the announcent for fairfax county public schools t?out the day off. is that ri >> yeah. >> reporter: do youe'hink h superman? >> no. >> reporter: you don't? he gives you the day off. they say it's t cold for school. take a look of some of the

videos. this is what it looked like out idre in oakland. some of the roads really do look like this. the main roads, they were in good shape but it's going to toe some time for the trucks get out here to every single spot and really do their work out wehere. ust saw a plow come through re spreading lot of salt. that will help us. some residents are frankly a little bit upset that it takes so long to get their street plowed and fixed. take a listen to one person w talked to. >> we're used to it. a lot of the guys in my neighborhood, they bought their own bob cats and theyust do it for the neighborhood. >> reporter: you guys are helping each other out. >> that's how we do it. >> reporter: are you going to go sledding today? what you doing? >> oh,epyeah. >>ter: they don't know yet, but you're happy to have th day off. maybe superman can deliver a

two-hour delay home, we'll see. now we clean it up on the streets. back to yo >> it looike you're running with a rough crowd these days, adam, butik they look trouble makers. eporter: totally. >> i'm just kidding. thank you so much. you have fun out there. right now we're learnin more about a crash in fauquier county whether the weather has become deadly. patton lost control of the car e was driving and crashed into trees. it was right near the stafford county lines. there were some 3 crashes in the first 90 minutes of yesterday's snowstorm in fauquier county alone. developing in prince george's county, polige are inveing the death of a man in hyattsville. we're told that the man was found overnight inside house on hamilton street near 37th avenue. to give you some context, this is just down the street from the supermarket and hrktt

it's unclear if police have made an arrest in this case. if you look at this tweet the president says, quote, if the committee of republicans and democrats now meeting on bordet secus not discussing contemplating a wall or physical barrier, they are wasting their time, end quote. trace potts reports on ne tiations. >> reporter: today the deal makers get to work. >> we'll work out some sensible solutions and there are many of th that i think we can also support. >> reporter: their job to come up wh a border wall compromise that both parties will support andnt presirump will sign avoiding another government shutdown on february 15th. >> we can bridge our differences based on facts, based on evidence based on experts. >> reporter: the conference committee includes nine democrats and eight republicans. their first public meeting happens today. >> we'll have to see if they're

willing break from the president. >> reporter: the senate's top republican is already given them some leeway. >> i'm for whatever works which means avoid ag shutdown and avoiding the president feeling he should declare a national emergency. >> reporter: whatever they come up with, willluave to inc and hing that looks, feels sounds like a wall. >> physical barriers have to be rt of thesolution. >> it could be a barrier. it doesn't have to be a wall. >> woare willing support fencing where it makes sense. >> reporter: america's counting on this new neem of negotiators t keep the governm running and keep paychecks flowing. the president's tinring with this idea of declaring a national emergency to go around congress and build the ll, but here on capitol hill, three of his top intelligence chiefs told congress, north kores the biggest threat to the u.s. they didn't even mention the border. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. federal workers who missetw paychecks during the government shut down should get

paid by tomorrow. the office of personnel management says some of the furloughed workers already received tse checks. furloughed federal workers will get back pay for the five weeks the government was shut down. another sign that the government is getting back to normal, plans are in the works forhe state of the union. stacey abrams will deliver the democratic response to president trump's addressex tuesday. you can watch the state of the union and the democratic response right here on news4. in less than an hour, the maryland governor will deliver his annual state of the state address in annapolis. earlier this week, hogan said he'll be proposing a, quote, major tax cut in the state. he'll outline the tax plan during his speech. this will be hogan's first address during his second te as governor. chris gordon will be attending that event and he'll also be streaming the event live -- we'll be streaming the event live through our app. after ten weeks, the trial

of mexican drug lord ofl apo is about to wrap up. >> plus the latest on the attack of the actor jussie smollett.

investigators in chicago are looking for surveillance video the possible hate crime against "empire" star jussie smollett. it's a story that's dominating social media this morning. miguel almaguer has the latest development. >>eporter: jussie smollett, a long time actor and star on the hit tv show "empire" tells

police he's the victim of a b brutalting that took place on the chicago street. investigators say they're treating the reported attack as a possible hate crime. >> can you head overck to c a barrier report. >> reporter: he says he was pproached by two men yelling out racial and homophobic slurs. he was attacked. an unkno was poured on him. at some point one of them wrapped a rope around his neck. the men yelled, this is maga, make america great again country. the actor took himself to a hospital. >> he didn't deserve nor abody deserved to have a noose put around your neck, to have bleroh on you. >> reporter: lee daniels, empire's creator posted then deleted this photo calling the attack a cowardly act. with no suspects or even a description, today detectives

say they've expanded the search area for cameras but thus far no video of the alleged asalantshir vee has been discovered. one of smollest's friends says he talked to the actor hours before the attack. evidence of further the vitriol going on in our country. >> reporter: smollett who recently appeared on "today" is an outspoken social justice activist and an advocate for the y community. he came out to "ellen" in 2015. >> i get some ignorant tweets evy once in a while. >> reporter: this morning a flood of support from well wishers andig names on social media. carrie washington, reese witherspoon, vla davis and steve harvey tweeting this video. >> this is about coming to the aide of another brother that haa ed the brutality of hatred, racism and bigotry. >> reporter: thena p and glaad

also among the chorusmn cing the heinous crime the one that he says took place on these chicago streets. this erning, pol have not classified this as a hate crime because the investigation is ongoing. smollett's family says he is recovering well. in montgomery county this morning, two friends and recent ege graduates were found shot to death inside a car. we showed you the sne yesterday morning. police identified the victims as christian roberts and jordan radway. they were found shot inside the ca just off stuart lane. a relative of one of the victims tells us the fily is crushed. >> what are you going to remember most about jordan? >> his fun loving personality. his sweetness. >> a vigil will be held this friday at the high school where the two played basketball.

the vigil wl follow friday's game. with the super bowl a few days away, c fans expect security in atlanta to be pretty tight. >> the nfl will join local law enforcement to outline their public safety pla for gang related activities. the los angeles rams take on the new england patriots ts sunday. we've got everything in the washington app. closing arguments begin in el case of the drug lord chapo. >> he's accused of bringing millions of dollars of drugs into the u.s. a jur could reach a verdict within the next few days. ifconvicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison. >> reporter: notorious drugaf cker built his multi-billion dollar empire witt decen, corruption and violence. according to federal prosecutors, within days a jury

in brooklyis will decide fate. the marathon trial lasted more than ten weeks. have there been any big surprises? >> it's bombshell after bombshell. >> reporter: taking the stand, drug runners, assassins, a mistress and even his personal accountant many of whom the defense argued could not be trusted. the drugs were smuggled using tunnels, trucks, trains and submarines. used as bribe money for just about every level of official including mexico's former president, a witness said president enrique pena nieto was paid $100 million. a charge he denies. he used a t mile longnel and a motorcycle to bust out in 2015 only to be arrested again and extradited to the u.s. >> this is an investigation

that's spans years and multiple agencies and this was every facet of u.s. law enforcement really coming together to try to bring this man to justice in the united states. >> throughout the trial his wife has been a regular. if he is found guilty, he will spend the rest of his life in a federal ison, that is unless he figures out a way to escape. stephanie gosk, nbc news, new york. a teenager who discovered the problem wh apple's facetime app is talking this morning. what he was doing when he found the glitch? we told you aut the work on border security being done on capitol hill today. some lawmakers are also making a new push for equal pay. t we'lll u about the we'lll u about the yo at redfin, we charge you a 1% listing fee.

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here's something we don't see everyday. the postal service actually suspending deliveries in nearly a dozen states because of the

extreme cold. check this out in chicago, it's so cold they actually set the train tracks on firepo kee them from getting warped. it's the windy city where we find wendy brazing the well below zero temperatures. >> it's only safe to stay outside in these temperatures for just a few moments, frostbite can set in in as little as five minutes. >> reporter: millions across the upper midwestre hunkering down as these windchills reach 70 degrees below zero. >> i have on leggings,pants, two jackets. >> reporter: schools are closed. most offices areeo allowinge to work from home. it's so cold the u.s. postal service which almost never stops service has suspended mail deliveries in 11 midwestern states because of safety concerns. n chicago, we are set to hallenge the all-time coldest temperature on record, negative

27 set back in 1985. so the city is added beds to the 270 warming centers open across the . ar >> no one in need of a safe or warm pla to stay will be turned away. no one. >> reporter:housands of flights have also been canceled while it's possible for those planes to y, it's very dangerous for crews to service aircraft and load luggage. the actual temperatures today are colder than siberia, antarctica and mt. aueverest. snow accumulating snow is predicted for tomorrow. thankfullythough, warmer temperatures, those in the 30s and 40 f forecast this weekend. >> it looks like it hurts just to stand out ther >> i can't imagine what minus begin tot does that feel like? ndar here we're dealing with

our own dose of cold. >> you're still talking a sut snowall warnings, is that right? >> and they just started these warnings out for snow squalls recently. >> what does that look 'lke? >> show you right now. snsnow squall is a quick burst of . it creates low visibilities, really gusty winds and l could some quick accumulation, minor accumulation but quick accumulation down on the area. thisnow squal warning goes until 12:45 for those areas in pink. route 15, i-70, 270 already 66 is along i-81 but impacted by this and eventually the beltway. this is d catchingvers off-guard. look at this. it's all with this arctic front ght here that is sweeping through our area. this is the snow developed and that is moving through frederick county but it omisg across loudon county. you'll see a quick burst of snow and it's goinghto move r on. it could lay some minor

accumulation out there and, o course, it may freeze on the roadways. not only that, but we also have wind advisories that are in plige now until 6:00. a lot of these snow squalls are catching ride on these westerly winds. they have the potential to gusts upo0 miles an hour throughout the day. in those snow squalls will have those gusty winds as well. look at these winds out there. they'rki already p up. it is bitterly cold with the s an gusting up to 30 mi hour throughout the afternoon and have the potential to gust up and over 40 miles an hour. the feels le temperature rig now in the teens and 20s. this is where it's going to stay as we head into the afternoon. look at this. across the area current windchills through the middle part of the united states. ere is almost 1 degree difference from the wind chill in international falls and down through the deep south into portions of florida where they're not seeing these breezy winds, but again, almost 100

degree difference from northern portionsstf the unitees to the southern most portions of the united states. this is the wind chill that you would expect through the day light hours today. it'll be above that zero till about 25 degrees above zero. nt they dropthe single digits and teens and overnight will be below zero and tomorrow through the day the winds settle down a little bit but we still have wind chill out there and that's why there's a wind chill advisory starting 9:00 p.m. tonight until 10:00 a.m. on your thursday. for those areas in that snow squall warning north and west of d.c., they may advan that expect it right around the d.c. area coming about 12:30 right around they. belt if you're getting ready to possibly go out and you're in the greater washington area and if you try to dismiss the call with the power button, your video feed will pop-up. this 14-year-old discovered the

glitch while trying to play fortnite with his friends. >> it really shows how crazy these devices are, like, anything could happen, any bug could giveaway all your personal information. >> sounds like he may have an internship at apple. apple plans to release an update later this week. it's advised that you go into your setting and you disab the facetime app. >> my kids want to facetime with their grandparents every night and they live five minutes away. we break down the favorite football snacks state by state. and lauren is back. a snow squall order is issued until 12:35.

the oscar nominated film bla"black panther" is returning

the screen during the first week of february. disney says hopes the free screenings will continue to inspire audiences. "black panther" is the first superhero movie to win a best picture nomination. we're in weather alert mod around here but the way i really know that things are getting serious is when lauren brings out the big pfy moon boots. >> yes. >> when you see those things, watch out. >> look at what bart has done for you. >> canou put it over your head? >> not now. i got a dress on. >> moving on. on. oving we've been here all morning. it's crazy. it's getting crazy out there. >> don't rile her>> up. know where the buttons are. >> you do. listen, one thing i wan to talk about, i do not love we have snow squ ol warnings there. all jokes aside, we do have snow

squalls out there and that's where we'll see additional snow. i do n believe there's a lot of additional accumulation but there is going to be some minor accumulations really quick that could lay down especially on the grassy sorfaces. t could create a little dusting in some portions of our area. the bigry today is the winds out there and we've already had power outages through loudon county and prince george's county. io believe there's more to come because the winds will start gusting up to 50 miles an hour. good news is, we have a warmup comi. one thing you may have not known about the snow showers today is we've got them out there and you didn't know a warmup was coming our way. by this weekend and into early next week, temperatures in the 50s and 60s. let's talk about the snow squall warning. the nationa weather service just started issuing th it goes from frede into northern pennsylvania.

they're moving east at about 20 miles an hour. quick short-lived bursts of snow but it will catch a lot of driversff-guard because they're bringing gusty winds as well. associatedsually with a pretty strong cold front and usually signifies the retur of some arctic air into the area. becareesl. visibiliill stay low. i believe it'll be along the i-95 corridor and into the d.c. beltway and it will sco on by southern maryland. should be out of here by 2:33. however, amelia is here and she'll continue to update you on that throughout the afternoon so here. winds are gusting up to 40, 50 miles an hour with windchills dropping pretty quickly. current wind gus out there right now in the 20s and 30s and temperature e already in the singleit dndsig on the low side as we head into e overnight. we do have a wind chill advisory

overnight. another chance some light snow showers friday mainly north and west. look how we warm u over the weekend. tuesday and wednesdays 60>s. retired billionaires working to get you cheaper prescription drugs. coming up, what they say is driving up prices? updat on a woman who had to make aifficult choice during the government shutdown. you'll hear

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milons of people struggle to keep up with the rising costs of prescription drugs but now those people have some powerful allies, a couple who are like bill and melinda gates but dead set on changing health care in america. ey sat down with ann thompson to talk about more about their plan for this >> pushed pricing so far that it created fury amongst the

populus. >> these kinds of comnies have a monopoly on the regulatory system, on the delivery system and the products, so this isn't capitalism, this is a form of oppression. >> reporter: is this a broken system? market? >> absolutely. >> yeah. >> we have a monopolyicith no regulation on it and an industry that has co-opted the political process. >> reporter: the arnolds made billions. he was an energy trader at enrun then a hedge fund manager. she was a corporate lawyer. theyetired in the 30s and now run a foundation already putting $119 million toward health care issues. >> reporter: does greed pla a role? >> i don't know that it's called greed. it's the desire to maximize profits. >> reporter: drug companies exploiting patent laws. arnold funded research reveals the companies behind the top 12 selling drugs in the u.s. are trying to nearly double their patent protection from 20 to 38

years, blocking cheaper generic competition while raising prices an average of 68% over five years. >> we want the patent system refoed and we want a regulatory structure that incentivizes breakthroughs, dr not prolonging the patent for the sake of maximizing profits. >> reporter: the prmaceutical industry criticizes the arnold which are much higher than patients actually pay after insurance and discounts. >> reporter: drug companies say most people don't pay list prices. >>egardless of whether the employers' paying it or government'saying for it o the individual's paying for it, at the end of the day all that money's coming from society, so 2019 is a big year because there are a lot of peopleho got elected on pharmaceutical prices and this is theha time the to pay up or shut up. >> reporter: they are on the clock? >> they are on the clock.

>> a resurgence of measles is causing growing concern across e country andn outbreak in washington state is so serious the governor declared a public health emergency. 200 people in new york have contracted the virus in september. health officials are taking steps t try to contain the disease. measles is highly congress taj juste with serious complications. vaccination rates are dropping due to a variety of factors. the temporary shutdown came to a close not a moment too soon for a maryland woman, the mother of three was forced to choose between paying her rent and paying for chemo. we first introduced you to her last week. nicole jacob metp with her again and learned how strangers came to her help.

>> it was just a whole power moment. >> reporter: this 43-year-old mother of three -- >> so like all of myeses came. >> reporter: you may remember her from last week. today she's rejoicing over 20 hemotherapy treatments completed. she shaved her head and all that comes with this horrible diseat until brought her to tears. >> chemo is rough, like from day-to-day, you don't know what you're going to feel, if you're going to be okay. >> reporter: she didn't know if she'd be okay especially when the longest government shutdown went on and on. >> a s veryry moment for me, you know, having to make a choice between what i'm going -- what i'm not going to pay in order to keep me health l >> reportet friday president trump's decision to open it for at least three weeks gave her reservations. >> i'm holding on to every doll i have because just do

not -- i don't trust it at this point. >> reporter: because choosing between rent and treatment was a no-brainer. chemotherapy won out andn her pocketbook fell short. >> someone called in to the hospital and took care of my account. they wiped out my entire balance. >> reporter: even paying her february rent. it's the oindness strangers -- >> it's blessings and it is a bright side to this and i thank god to it. >> reporter: that when the divide on capitol hill runs deep, there is silver lining, one she hopes can transcend rough the country's difficult hour. >> god bless good samaritans. really. quite moving. we're very happy for her. training, if spring you can believe this starts in just two weeks. we still don't know where bryce harper will end up. >> a couple of fundsse rby folks in philly -- take a look.

this is posted by the philadelphia point. the rumors are true, he is coming to philadelphia police. $51,000 a year to start and philly options, andhey forwarded all questions. d.c. police responded. nice try with a multi-year offer of their own. >> they counteredt $58,000. >> we'll have to see if that's what gets the job done. >>on i know about that. all right. super bowl prictors, food anded

there could be a surprising musical groupt a number one next week. we're talking about the back street boys. >> they are heading for the their first number one album in 18 years. has it been that long? >> it s. it has. >> in 18 years on the billboard 200 chart f their new album dna. we think a new commercial could put them over-the-top. ♪ >> oh, snap. the group appears alongside grammy winning artist chance the rapper in this doritos super bowl commercial. good job.

the tag line, doritos, the origins. now i hot. i like it. speaking of the super bowl, we may already know the winner, the new england patriots have at least one fan athe montana zoo named ozzie. he's about 700 pounds. he's a grizzly who's predicted that the pats are going to take town t rams on sunday with his cake eating method here. he has nailed five of hisast super bowl picks. his last miss was super bowl xlviii. we'll have to see how he does. so we know that you're probably already planning your super bowl menu. >> google compiled a list of the most search game day foods based by stand some of them are kind of peunant. maryland's most googled food was pizza. d.c. wanted to know more about bagel pigs in ablanket. buffalo chicken dip was the most seched item in virginia and

wef. pea and peppercorn mash in new mexico,e no idea what that is is. >> people in nevada wanted know about vegan cheesy bacon spinh,h dip. >>ive me a break. >> here's frank holland with more food news. >> reporter: good morning. tbox of chocolates and a dozen roses,t is so 2018. chick-fil-a has you covered in valentine's day. the fast food chain is offering heart shaped trains of chicken nuggets in hor of the holiday as precipitating restaurants. this promotion runs through the end ofy februr while supplies last. with your cnbc morni business and gift report i'm frank holland. >> thank u, frank. time to check in now with lauren rickets. we have a warning right nonow. >> squall warning. we are in one until 12:45. that's likely going to move to the east and amelia draper will

update you through the afternoo biting cold today and thursday and we'll warming up. here's a look at the snow squall inarea. it's m to the east. should be right along the i-95 corridor just as we get into 12:30 or so. >> all laright, en. the big story for us today so stay wh us throughout our afternoon shows. that's it for us today. we'll be back

we're live in five. four. three. two. one.

♪ it's a snow day, a winter cold day ♪ ♪ sy home and just say it's a great family day ♪ ♪ >> that's great. that sounds really gd. >> that doesn't sound like my principal. a school closing video. thanks to michi n superintendent and principal. guys, school cancellations all over the country. welcome to "access live.u remember when ere a k?id deal ever. >> you couldn't do anything for the next couple of days.