the i-81 corridor is coming above freezing. everybody will be above freezing now through the overnight and into tomorrow as the rain gets out of here. any threat of freezing rain or ice accumulation is over now. what we have to deal with, the heavy rain potential as we go to max hd radar. it's been all day getting the rain in. it's been slow to move from west to east. you can see the heaviest is to the southwest of the metro but beginning to move into the fredricksburg area. mow nan says, heavy to re way. there has been a flash flood watch issued. we are watching out for the chance of some localized flooding out there. of course we have all the snow and we may have some of the drainage blocked so there could be a problem with heavier rain as it begins to move in. plus there is a dense fog advisory. the visibility in most cases are less than a half mile and some are less than a quarter mile. >> all right, gary. keep us updated and we will see you in a bit. unand unwanted christmas surprise, a water main break that flooded cars and filled basements. bad news for this family. the main broke about 1:00 this morning. crews are working to fix the road and help the people clean up their basement. at this point the water is back on. a developing story with trouble on board a transatlantic flight. a passenger on board a flight from amsterdam to detroit set off firecrackers. one passenger is being tread. several others including the suspect have minor injuries. delta flight 253 just landed when the passenger ignited the fireworks. he wa immediately subdued. the aircraft is being held. the fbi and ntsb are investigating. the weather is slowing and stopping travel completely through much of the country. ice and snow is making for a mess in oklahoma and south dakota overnight. stranding travelers and some airports shut down altogether. 19 people died in accidents on slippery road and st. paul, minnesota, declared a disaster area because of the snow. >> you have to gun it and hope that you got someone around to help give a push. >> reporter: in texas, dallas had a white christmas. abilene had bigger problems, a surprise blizzard with wind gusts up to 50 miles per hour. christmas day it means just about everything is closed, right, stores, restaurants and businesses. but not everything. in fact, today, fox 5 sherri ly went in search of things to do after all the esents are open. >> reporter: well, normally you hear about people heading to the movies on christmas day. we found plenty of things to do around the d.c. area including taking a look at the monument. you pretty much have them all to yourself. on the national mall, people took advantage of christmas day to see the sights without the crowds. that is what this family did. >> we have seen the lincoln memorial, a little bit of the fdr, einstein, g.w. >> reporter: across from the jefferson memorial, the parking lot at the tidal basin rarely looks this empty. >> how did you get into the city today? >> we drove. not a lot of traffic. real nice. >> reporter: on a regular day you probably wouldn't find a spot down here. >> reporter: thousands spent christmas at mount vernon. there was a gingerbread replica and rarely seen peek inside the third floor of the mansion. >> it's great that it's open. >> reporter: outside the snow made for a picturesque visit. this couple is from puerto rico. >> first white christmas. >> reporter: you left warm puerto rico for cold washington. >> it was her idea. >> reporter: there is even a camel, just like washington had one christmas. >> 1787 he paid 18 shilings to bring a camel here for the enjoyment of his guests during the holiday. >> reporter: with several inches of snow, it's a perct day for sledding. and if you need to work off the christmas cookies, why not take a jog, you won't run into anything. >> it was eerie when we got off the metro stop. there was nobody around. >> reporter: after seeing the monuments, they are heading to the kennedy center. it's open with jazz and two shows in the evening. who knew there was something else open besides the movies on christmas. if you don't get out on christmas day, you could hi most of these places on the weekend. in d.c., sherri ly, fox 5 news. the president and first lady sent out their message to all americans with a special thanks to the military. they are asking to think of members of the armed forces. >> to all the men and women in uniforms spending the holidays far away from home whether it's base in the states, mess hall in iraq or remote out post in afghanistan, you are in our thoughts and prayers. and this holiday season and every holiday season, know that we are doing everything in our power to make sure that you can succeed in your missions and come home safe to your families. >> to all americans from our family to yours, merry christmas. >> merry christmas, everybody. >> reporter: e obama's are spending christmas in hawaii. breaking news now out of pakistan. police say they will pursue terrorism charges against five men in the d.c. area. they were detained in pakistan earlier this month. investigators have recommended charges to a court they claim the men were attempting to collect material to carry out terrorism. the charges could complicate efforts to bring the men back to the u.s. develong news out of the sports world. gilbert arenas is under investigation by the nba for storing unloaded firearms in his locker. fox 5's lindsay murphy is here with the story. >> the issue is that apparently gilbert arenas doesn't know gun laws. number one, the district has gun laws prohibiting carrying guns openingly or concealed and the nba does allow players to legally own guns but prohibits them from carrying them on nba property. he said tee them to the verizon center after his daughter was born earlier this month. a week later he said he gave them to team security to give to police because he didn't want them any more. he was suspended in 2004 because he failed to have proper registration of a handgun while in california. the washington wizards leashed he stored firearms in a locked container in his locker, unloaded and without ammunition. they are cooperating fully with law enforcement and will have no further comment at this time. a spokesman for the washington police department said there was no report of any active investigation involving arenas. >> thank you. thousands of people spent their christmas day helping search for a missing 11-year- old girl. sarah foxwell disappeared from maryland tuesday night. police believe a registered sex offender abducted her. he has been arrested and charged with kidnapping but he is not talking there is no sign of the little girl. the local sheriff's office is asking all residents to search their property for any sign of sarah and hang a red ribbon on their mailbox to show they have done so. a deadly attack inside a christmas party in northwest d.c. police say a man pulled out a gun and shot three people. one victim died at the scene. two others were taken away in critical condition. now they are looking for a suspect. fox 5 paul wagner has the story. >> when d.c. police arrived at this house on fourth street just after 4:00 this morning, they found three people shot inside the basement. two men and a woman. >> more than seven hours after the shooting, the medical examiner's office removed the body of the man pronounced dead at the scene. he has been identified as miguel romero of upper marm borrow. he was shot in the head during an argument that broke out in the basement. the other victim, 24-year-old man and 21-year-old woman suffered gunshot wounds to the head. >> i feel sore 0 ri for the families involved that lost their loved ones on christmas day. but i don't know -- i don't know. i hope this isn't a sign of things to come in this neighborhood. >> reporter: the people that live in this neighborhood proudly say they look out for one another and brag about how long they have lived her. many called out to each other, waving and wishing a merry christmas but the house on fourth street is a bit of a mystery. >> i know nothing. they come and go through the back. i n't even know -- i don't know them at all. >> reporter: some neighbors told us the house sold last summer as my asbestos 15 people -- as many as 15 people live there. >> sorry to hear someone died in there. it's a quiet neighborhood. i'm shocked and surprised that that would happen, especially christmas eve and christmas day. >> reporter: d.c. police spent hours inside the home taking photographs and collecting evidence. there have been a handful of murders in the city this month and if it continues that way, with just a few days left in the year, the city will record the lowest homicide rate since 1964. homicide rate this year is down 25% compared to the same time last year. in northwest, paul wagner, fox 5 news. and, so far this year, d.c. police solved nearly 75% of the district's murder cases. a consumer alert tonight. it has to be with making carts safer for pregnant women. auto accidents are the single largest cause of death for pregnant women. researchers are working with automakers to come up with a computer aided model of pregnant drivers and passengers. they believe it will help with better protection in vehicles. there are no official federal figures kept on the number of fee dale deaths in car accidents. the woman accused of bouncing on the pope is no stranger to the vatican. she has done it before. an attack on the pope right in the middle of st. peter's basilica. this isn't the first time the same woman rushed the pope. she jumped a barrier at a mass last year but didn't reach the pope. now the victim says it will review security procedures. rick leventhal has more on the attack. >> reporter: a sudden commotion in st. peter's basilica after pope benedict xvi is knocked down by a woman that police describe as mentally unstable. the pontiff was walking down the aisle to begin the service when a woman in red leaped toward him and the pair tumbled from view. securitguards rushed forward to help him back to his feet. he was unhurt. >> all of a sudden this person flew over the barricade and the holy father went down and all of a sudden the security people were all on top of it, the whole pile there getting her off and pulling him back up. >> reporter: calmly resumg his walk to the basilica's main altar, beginning the mass to applause from worshippers. they took her in for questioning and it appears she did not have malicious intentions. >> she jumped over the barrier and seemed to have -- then pulled away. at that point she lunged her arms out and grabbed on to the pope and fell and went down together. >> reporter: in bethlehem, festivities began with a boy scout band and ended with midnight mass at st. katherine's church, next to the church of the nativity build over the stall where mary is believed to have given birth to jesus. gaza celebrating with a service at the local church. in new york, rick leventhal, fox news. >> again, the 25-year-old woman that attacked the pope lunged across the barriers last year as the pope passed by her. both times she wore a red sweatshirt. you can see her on the right of the screen as security forces wrestled her to the ground. she is mentally unstable. she is being treated at a clinic. all right. let's talk about the weather. what a gray and sort of -- dank would be the word. >> slippery on the way to work. >> hopefully some of the rain will wash away the snow. >> earlier this rain may cause a problem with floating. >> there is moderate rain to the south. look at max hd radar and it will show it to you. that is the light rain and sprinkle activity. the yellow, oranges and reds is the heavier stuff moving up from the northwest. it's slow to get in here. we had rain to the north of us. we had a little bit of slippery weather out to the west along i- 81. no major problems today. now the heaviest rain is settlintrue view will show you bigger picture of the storm. it's spread out from the centl plains to the east coast. we have several more hours at least with a chance of moderate rainfall out there. in terms of the fog advisory, it's for most of us, visibility around a quarter mile, even lower than that at times. temperatures stuck in the upper 30s, lower 40s. rain and fog the next several hours. complete forecast for the remainder of this holiday weekend coming up. >> gary. thank you. it looks like the senate gave president obama what he wanted for christmas. new health care reform legislation. what a busy year in the nation's capitol, bank bailouts, hearings on iraq and afghanistan and historic presidential inauguration. tonight as tom fitzgerald found out, this christmas, there are many wishes forthcoming year. >> it's finally christmas on capitol hill in the halls of the house and the senate are unusually still. with congress back home, that leaves center stage to the capitol christmas tree here, this year delivered all the way from the white mountains of arizona and with so many big decisions have been been made, that lead to big christmas wishes of the people that turned out in the nation's capitol christmas morning. >> definitely move along the health care bill and see what happens with that. make progress in afghanistan. >> for everyone to be happy be and eventually get along, cliche as it is. >> i want all wars to be stopped next year so that we can all live in peace and be happy. >> i wish that the people who are out of work find work. businesses that suffered for the last year find some way to make a little capital this year and for continued success to our president and hope he can turn things around for us. >> hopeful that we will work toward resolution of our wars in iraq and afghanistan and hopefully things will wind down anded people in afghanistan -- and the people in afghanistan and iraq will have a peaceful future. >> i hope that more and more people have better hopes and better experiences in 20. >> reporter: the ornaments on the tree were made by children from arizona using natural elements of the white mountains such as copper and wood. it will be on display for the next several weeks if you haven't been able to see it alrey. on capitol hill, tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. it was a battle that crossed international borders but this christmas a father is finally reunited with his son. the five year custody fight ended last night as sean goldman landed with his father. >> reporter: people are already opening their arms to welcome sean goldman. it's in this beautiful house on a quiet street where he will make a home with his dad. the private plane that brought sean goldman and his dad made a smootlanding in orlando. the-year-old boy was -- 9-year- old boy was paraded through the streets of rio. it was far cry from what the goldman family wanted. they are looking forward to happier days. >> we didn't have much of a conversation. he seemed very happy and i don't remember what the exact words were. i told him i loved him and he seemed very happy he was going to come home. we talked a bit about the snow. >> sean was 4 years old when his mother took him to brazil on a vacation and never came back. while there she divorced david gold, remarried and -- goldman, remarried and died in childbirth last year. her family put up a fight to keep sean in brazil. david goldman never gave up. a brazilian court ordered sean to be returned to his biological father. sean's grandfather says he has been waiting for this moment. >> david has been getting ready for so many years, he will make it whatever is the most comfortable for sean. >> shawn sent half his life on another continent but reportedly spoke english when he saw his dad. one day he will understand the love that fueled his dad's fierce fight to get him back. >> he will need the family time with his father and his father has asked for father and son time. if they can blanket him, his father and other relatives blanket him with love, sean with love, he will be able to make the adjustment. >> as sean and his father will be spendingtime in orlando getting reacquainted before returning to new jersey. lisa he was, fox 5 news. >> it's good to have him home. this holiday is being celebrated in differentways around the world -- different ways. around the world. pawspacheck. teeth. check. bottom. needs work. sorry, son. 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[ female announcer ] and that charmin softness. new charmin ultra strong. look for it in the new red package. for those who prefer moist wipes, try new charmin freshmates for a cleaner clean. christmas is celebrated in many different ways across the world. >> it is. tonight from the pope to pilgrims to u.s. service members stationed overseas, we are taking a look at how these diverse groups are taking time to honor the holidays. here is evan brown. >> reporter: christmas carols and services for u.s. soldiers stationed in afghanistan. in kabul, a christmas lunch served after father christmas handed out presents. >> i feel sadness. i miss my family tremendously. when you look around at everyone that wears one much these uniforms, army, navy, air force or marine, we are family. i'm here to hopefully make it easier for them being away from their family. >> reporter: bethlehem, crowds of the faithful packed the church of the nativity for morning mass, a prayer for peace and love in the region. at the vatican pope benedict xvi gave the traditional blessing after last night's incident in which a woman jumped over a railing and knocked him down. he was unhurt. the attacker treated for psychiatric problems. in london, the royals gathered for a mass. queen elizabeth, son charles and wife camilla and william and harry attend the ser views as a -- service as family. an annual tradition of dipping into the icy waters of hyde park lake. members of the serpentine swimming club raced each other, sometimes breaking the ice to keep the tradition going. >> it was very cold. very cold. >> reporter: also brilliant the brandy and wine waiting afterwards. >> brandy and some kind of wine i heard. that will warm you up. >> families with loved ones fighting overseas need the support they can get. how one group is turning christmas wishes into year- round giving. innocent newborn puppies rescued. don't miss where they were found right now some of the big stories we are following at 5:00, an explosive landing for a northwest jet in detroit. a passenger set off firecrackers. the airbus carrying 278 passengers was arriving from amsterdam. the passenger was taken into custody and the fbi is investigating. wicked weather is causing problem for travelers throughout the country. some roads and airports have been shut down. in texas, dallas had a white christmas for the first time in 80 years. police are looking for a man that opened fire killing one person at a christmas party this morning. two more were critically hurt in the shooting. investigators say miguel romero was shot and killed during an argument. tis the season of giving but one organization is giving all year long making sacrifice when their military parents are deployed or injured. >> can i se your three-point stance, buddy. >> reporter: 3-year-old bo looks like any other child in the gym class. he is a little boy missing his father terribly. his dad has been in afanistan for many months and won't be coming home for many more. >> it's hardest on the kids. that is my biggest concern. >> look at that one go. >> reporter: keeping busy helps the kids fight off the sadness. so, bo tumbles and older brother james does karate at a gym in maryland. >> i told the teacher i haven't seen him that happy in months. >> reporter: bethany is thrilled too. an organization called our military kids is making it possible for her children to take part in the classes. >> a huge help. these classes, we couldn't have afforded without them. >> reporter: they give grants. they are trying to create a feeling of community for kirn children who don't have the support of a nearby military base. horseback riding, karate, gymnastics. our military kids spent more than $5 million on grants for all sorts of activities for 14,000 children nationwide. the organization gifts to parents whose kids are in the national guard, reserves or wounded in battle. torrey lake's family used a grant to pay for tutoring. sheell behind in school when her dad suffered a traumatic brain injury. her dad used to help torrey with homewo but memory and cognitive issues make that tough now. >> i thought that i might be able to continue on with that but it's a shortfall. >> reporter: with the help of a tutor, torrey brought all her grades up. >> it feels better to actually achieve something. >> this leaves the way for other family members to help their children when they don't have the ability to. >> reporter: now tori is doing so well, she gets to use the next grant to focus on what she really loves, singing. >> good grades and tori can sing, too. >> sure can. >> to learn more, visit their web site at our military kids.org. a tennessee police officer owes his life to his badge. officer joshua intlit smith pulled a car over. a passenger got out and swung at smith with a knife. he missed but the driver then pulled out a gun. >> they shot him point blank. hit his badge, knocked him to the ground. officer smh hit his head when he went to the ground. he drew his weapon and got one shot off at the suspects. >> he was not hurt. police are looking for those two men. we will talk a bit about we thought we would sre extra special christmas cheer with the help of the school of incarnation choir from maryland. [singing] ♪ peace, peace, let their be peace ♪ peace, peace, let's pray for peace. . ♪ let their be peace on earth. [singing] [singing] [singing] >> good stuff. >> they sound amazg. parents and grandparents everywhere are taping that left and right. how proud. >> hiding the dvr. good job. >> amazing. >> merry christmas to all of you out there and happy holidays. not exactly water skiing weather around here but that doesn't stop santa claus from finding the funny way. >> it sure didn't. caught on camera ditching the sleigh. more of this video that you got to see coming up next. inside that truck is something familiar-- duracell batteries. and if you think all batteries are the same, consider this: these batteries are going... to the mattel children's hospital, u.c.l.a . because here they use the most... technologically advanced equipment for the healing... and the play. and to power all those toys the people at duracell... packed up a truckload of batteries. because nothing's better than powering a smile. racell. trted everhere. forget the reindeer and sleigh. freezing temperatures did not keep him out of the lake. he hoped back in the boat to warm up after about 10 minutes in the freezing water. >> who knew santa had the moves. a vermont couple is keeping the christmas couple alive all year-round. joan and stephen peters have a whole room dedicated to the christmas collection. it started a decade ago with a humble village under the tree. the couple hosts a open house every year. >> looking good. >> great there. hope your home is all decked out for the holiday. chances are you will be spending the night in doors. >> gary is keeping an eye on the weather are you getting tired sitting around the house thinking how should i get out of the house? how about taking in a movie tonight. maybe you would like to take a trip to a new planet? courtney frail has what is new at theaters. >> there isn't any time to waste. >> reporter: for those investigating a movie outing this christmas, sherlock homes is on the case with robert downing junior and detective watson. with guy richie behind the camera, expect explosions to go with the large popcorn. jude law joins johnny depp completing the lake heath ledger film. the four of them play one character in a fantasy ride about a traveling show with a devilish secret. >> this is very french of us. >> reporter: meryl streep find it's complicated to get caught in a love triangle but it pays off when you get a golden globe nomination. it stars alec baldwin and steve martin. >> i am having an affair with a married man. >> reporter: alvin and the chip mornings, a family adventure, one that includes the introduction of their equally cute singers, the chip-ettes. >> reporter: the big blue blockbuster is hanging around in the number one spot, avatar continues to welcome folks to pandora for a second week. whenever world you spend your christmas in this year, there is plenty of entertainment to help you celebrate. it's a christmas classic today. did you know it's a wonderful life was a flop at the box office? the 1926 film didn't even recoup its production costs. but by the 1970s, jimmy stewart's performance became a television fixture of the holiday season. true to its story, it lived to see a brighter day. it's listed on th american film institute top 100 american films. >> i did not realize that. >> that is one bit of trivia i didn't know. gary says he knew it all along. >> if you play the movie over an over and over again, eventually you get a following. >> who does that? i don't know. >> i didn't see it until five years ago. i loved it. >> great movie. >> good day to stay in and watch the movie. it's kind of -- >> it finally got here, the rain, which was good because the rain waited for the cold temperatures to get scurried out by the warmer temperatures. at least here we didn't have a problem with anything freezing. we did have the winter weather advisory technically back out to the west there is a winter weather advisory in effect the next 1 minutes. that will expire at 6:00 and all the temperatures have warmed up now. so, it's getting better out there at least in terms of the temperatures. it's warming now. temperatures up to 42 degrees at national. by 11:00 we will have fog and showers, temperatures of 43 degrees. showers now at 8:00 a.m. lingering out there. it doesn't mean everybody will be wet but notice the temperature. middle 40s for just about everybody and tomorrow the showers by noon will have moved off to the east and temperatures by lunchtime tomorrow approaching 50 degrees. we haven't had 50 degrees in quite a while. over the next several hours, we have the potential for at least some moderate, maybe even a little bit of heavy rain in places. the flash flood watch has been issued -- it's technically a flood watch. we are more worried about the streams and rivers. we could have localized flooding because of the fact that the snow is clogging up so much of the drains out there. if this keeps moving, i'm fairly confident we won't have any big issues. fog is a problem. visibility a quarter mile or less. we have a lot of warm air come in over the top of the shallow colder air and that created fog and it looks like the fog will linger. this goes until 1:00 a.m. late, late tonight early tomorrow morning. that basically is from, well, the d.c. area up to the north and out to the west. visibility at times could be lower than one quarter of a mile. you have rain out there. that helps to scurry out the fog. 43 as the temperatures continues to climb. gaithersburg is 39. everybody here in the 40s. even along the areas where we were concerned with today, how long would it take to get the cold air out of the i-81 corridor, it has come above freezing now. cumberland a temperature of 32 degrees. temperatures to the north of us even warm. 39 pittsburgh. binghamto34 and new york city 37. raleigh, north carolina, very mild. their temperature is 55. this area of low pressure is responsible for the blizzard conditions in the central plains. blizzard in -- in oklahoma. white christmas in dallas. we are ahead of the system with the rain. heavy at times as the rain finally pushes through but it will get out by tomorrow morning. the key here is that it keeps moving. as long as it keeps moving and we don't produce a lot more heavy rain on the back side, we should be okay. tonight at 8:00 showers still moving through. tomorrow at 8:00 a.m., lingering showers here but as we go through the day tomorrow, the rain moves to the east. we will stay cloudy. maybe a little bit of sunshine tomorrow and tomorrow afternoon but don't expect a lot. by sunday, notice clouds will move off to the east and things will get better and then eventually colder air comes back in. tomorrow morning, 44, mild with showers. we are not worried about the freezing rain. don't worry about that. 48 by lunchtime tomorrow. still lingering shower but primarily to the east of us. by later on tomorrow afternoon, we can at least expect a little bit of sunshine trying to polk on through. if we don't get it for tomorrow, we will end up getting it on sunday. partly sunny, a little cooler there. then by monday, tuesday, wednesday, the colder temperatures start to settle back in. at least the next couple of days we will have a brief break from the coldest of the temperatures and we will melt a lot of that snow. >> i'm not complaining. >> not at all. get rid of this. >> thank you, gary. now that the holiday gifts are unwrapped, what if you didn't get what you really wanted? the after christmas sales are in full effect. some say this year's will be better than ever. >> reporter: gifts have been opened and you may be all shopped out but some of the biggest retail days of the year are right after christmas. >> i definitely think the will be free shipping offers, 50% off the entire store after christmas. i think this year will be probably the best we have ever seen. >> if you are ready for another deal seeking trip to the stores, map out your adnture first. >> don't stand in the cold looking through the windows. do your research online and see where the sales are then head out to those spots. >> reporter: don't enter any stores without a wish list. >> so that you don't go out and find yourself coming home with things that you will never wear or use. >> ready to tackle the pile of gifts to return? don't forget your gift receipts. >> you don't want to return something and only get the sale price that is on sale for at this moment. so, you want full price for it. after christmas i would go and hit the best sales so you get the most for your return. >> reporter: use any gift cards you received right away. >> you want to use them during the sales but also don't keep them in your wallet for the year and forget that you have them so next year you are buying gifts with them. byourself something special that santa forgot. coming up on the "news edge at 6:00," some of the best gifts come in small packages. if those gift cards are burning a hole in your pocket, there is a good reason why. what you need to know before you start your spending spree. some police officer's quick actions saved a litter of puppies. they thought what they saw was a suspicious looking man carrying a cooler to a pet store. he opened it to show eight newborn puppies. police don't know what he intended to do with the dogs. they are bng treated at an animal hospital. >> eight puppies that seem to be happy and healthy and a mom feeding them and doing great. >> when they are older, the puppies will go up for adoption. the case is under investigation. i bet somebody would like to get that as a christmas gift. matt ackland is in for brian bolter for the "news edge at 6:00." forget the white christmas. it's a wet christmas. tonight we are tracking the rain moving across the area. that is just part of the story. there is a flood watch and a fog advisory. let's get downstairs to gary mcgrady tracking the storm from the weather center. >> it took a while to get the rain in here. it's arrived now. it has gone from light to moderate rainfall. max hd we will show you the heaviest rain moving up i-85 from cambridge through chesapeake beach and annapolis and columbia. another batch southwest of the district. that is the yellows and orangess that you are