that we don't -- you know, we expect it, but i'm not ready. >> we're not ready for that and freezing rain and all that other mess, tom kierein. >> we do have it cold enough for snow, we're down into the 20s. storm team 4 radar showing a little bit of very light snow and some flurries north of the metro area. that's moving off all to the north and east this morning. so very early here predawn on this sunday we are seeing some of that moving on through coming in from the north and west and up into western pennsylvania and into ohio as well. closer up this area in the gray zone showing light snow, howard, northern montgomery, frederick, panhandle of west virginia all of this tracking off to the north and east pulling away. it is a cold morning, our temperatures are down in the 20s. reagan national now at 31. our look at our next chance for some snow coming up in a few minutes. dozens of people in fairfax go back to this morning after this fire tore through their apartment building on richmond highway. the red cross looking to find temporary housing for those who live at the woodlawn garden apartment. this is in the alexandria section of the county. one man tells news 4 his sister was taken to the hospital because the smoke was so bad. she is expected to be okay but he describes what happened moments after this started. >> the neighbors they were like -- i don't know what they were doing but they didn't notice it so i knocked on the door to get everyone out. >> a bus was brought in to help keep people warm. investigators are be looking into the cause. we continue to work to find out how a fire started inside an apartment complex in prince george's county, it happened on dean drive in hyattsville. one person was taken to the hospital and they are being treated in the burn unit right now. another person was rescued from the burning apartment but told crews that they were okay. the cauf not been determined, either. alexandria police are trying to determine what caused a man to fall from an apartment building on four mile run road near mt. vernon avenue. at this point they are just calling this a death investigation, they say it may be an accident but that is still under investigation. we have breaking news out of nigeria this morning. 160 people killed after a church collapsed on to worshippers while they were inside. the number of people killed is likely to go up officials say. the state government saying that it continues to investigate to see if the blag standards were compromised. 38 people dead and nearly 200 hurt after a series of those explosions in istanbul last night. 30 police officers are among the dead we're told. the white house just releasing a statement in the last hour calling this a terror attack. the two blasts happened outsi fans had already gone home. so far 10 people have been attested in connection with these attacks. president-elect donald trump has reportedly made his pick for secretary of state. sources tell nbc news he is expected to tap exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson. nbc news -- nbc's chris palone shows us why he's already drawing fire from republicans and democrats. >> reporter: donald trump in baltimore for the annual army/navy football game sitting alongside top military brass. next month he will be their commander in chief. earlier trump met in new york with exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson. nbc news has learned he is trump's pick for secretary of state. >> to give trump credit he said he was going to try to surround himself with successful people who did well. we find ceos. >> but the tillerson pick is drawing criticism from democrats and republicans. tillerson was his company's liaison to the kremlin and friendship. casey hunt asked republican senator john mccain for his thoughts on the pick. >> i believe that vladimir putin is a thug and a bully and a murderer and i believe that the relationship between mr. tillerson and vladimir putin needs to be examined. >> this comes a few hours after the "washington post" reported the cia believes russia interfered in the presidential election, hacking and leaking democratic party documents not just to cause chaos but to actively help trump win. >> so you're looking ahead to an early part of the trump presidency where russia is very much going to dominate the conversation and certainly you can expect to hear a lot of tough questions at this confirmation hearing. >> the trump team immediately slammed the cia and said it's time to move on. chris palone, nbc news, new york. and "meet the press" will have more on trump's expected nomination of rex tillerson as secretary of state. this morning moderator chuck todd will speak with incoming priebus. chuck will join us for a live review in just a few moments. "saturday night live," did you see it? >> i did. i watched the highlights this morning. i didn't stay up for it but i watched some of the highlights. they're poking trump at donald trump's cabinet picks. >> what a shocker there. the show opened with a parody of cnn's jake tapper. in the skit trump appoints brian cranston's breaking bad character -- >> you haven't seen it. >> i haven't seen it but i'm laughing already. walter white to head up the dea. >> mr. white, how did you even get considered for this job. do you know donald trump? >> no. no. but i'm a big fan. i like his style. he acts first and then asks questions later. i also like that wall he wants to build, nothing comes in from mexico meaning a lot less competition for the rest of us. >> you mean jobs? >> well, the skit also featured kate mckinnon as trump adviser kellyanne conway defending trump's picks. >> they actually addressed trump directly in the weekend update. they were like we know you're watching. >> i have to go watch the highlights. >> and john cena was on, he's always good. if you haven't already today is the day, you have to dig out your winter hat, your gloves, all of that. >> i have the furry pompoms on my head. >> tom is tracking a major temperature drop in the week ahead. much of the country is dealing with bitter cold, the unusual sight, though, in the south and the winter blast leing feet ofav ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ might be an understatement to say the weather is getting chilly in memphis. temps so cold that this fountain the water has turned to slush as temperatures dipped into the teens and 20s there. it's still cold and it could entirely freeze this thing by the end of the weekend. >> it's like one big icy, right? >> it's so pretty looking, though. >> it is pretty until it gets messy and then it wreaks havoc with our commute. i know, tom, you are looking into the future and you've got possibly freezing rain in the -- >> that crystal ball. >> i see, yes, way, way out in the future some snow may be coming our way. right now we are getting a few scattered flurries here on storm team 4 radar, mainly north of the metro area early on this sunday morning. when you step out the door you might have a few flurries driving along heading up 95 toward baltimore or route 50 towards annapolis, these light flurries. across northern montgomery county, frederick moving off to the north and east and pulling away. temperatures are cold so that snow is falling and sticking just a little bit. just some very light snow. hovering in the upper 20s around 30. reagan national is at 31 degrees. hour by hour throughout the day a little sun breaking out around dawn through mid to late morning, near freezing mark by 10:00 a.m. by 2:00 near 40 and hovering near 40 the rest of the afternoon and all the way into the evening and staying dry. just a cloudy sky. then it's after midnight tonight that we will likely get light rain moving on through. there might be freezing rain north and west in the panhandle of west virginia but elsewhere rain tomorrow into the morning and midday, during the afternoon some sun comes out, near 40 tomorrow morning, afternoon highs on monday low 50s. it was looking like wednesday we might get a little light snow, now it's not looking like that, we will be in the 40s. colder after that. thursday a might be next saturday changing over to rain that might linger into the following sunday. that's the way it looks. we do have reporters notebook up for you next. we are back in 15 minutes with more of the day's top stories. good morning. welcome to reporters notebook. i'm pat lawson muse. the mgm national harbor open for business. table games, slot machines, concerts, high end retail and restaurants, breathtaking views of the potomac. maryland's sixth and last casino promises a luxury gambling, entertainment and resort experience. and a regional economic boost. tom sherwood and scott macfar land are here with us this morning. did i leave anything out? did they leave anything out? >> it's the latest casino in what is already a saturated casino market. it's the sixth in maryland, pennsylvania has had casinos for ten years, west virginia has one that may be the closest. >> there's 50 of them in the northeast corner of the united states, 50 of them and more >> i guess your point would be maryland didn't necessarily the washington region didn't necessarily need another. >> i would think the other five casinos in maryland, i've talked to them, i know the other five casinos in maryland are worried this is going to can bl eyes whatever casino market is there in the washington region. you put another player in there you risk thinning out the pool of perspective customers. maryland live has been aggressively counting punching, trying to expand, new hotels, new attractions, but you have other casinos, too. charlestown, rocky gap, eastern shore. >> baltimore. >> baltimore, horseshoe, all of them waiting for the impact. >> horseshoe and maryland live get a bigger cut of the slots. >> they get to keep more of their slot money to balance out what they will lose to mgm. but mgm is perfectly located at wilson bridge. virginia has blocked any move to have casinos in that state. there are millions of people who live in virginia of those who right across the pill son bridge. there's only one concern, there is a little indian tribe east of richmond it's called pamunkui, they fought to be recognized as a tribe by the federal government, they've gotten that and it's possible they could open a casino. maybe virginia will be breached. >> scott, expectations are very high, the casino has already created nearly 4,000 jobs, 40% of those jobs are going to prince george's county residents which the county soerely wanted. the county is counting on the tax revenue. it's a tall bill to fill, isn't it? >> tax revenue is going to happen. they will get tens of millions of dollars in tax revenue at the state level and ultimately to the local level, but where does that money go? they say the money goes to schools, the education trust fund in maryland is funded through casinos. by that money does not walk its way into the front door of our local schools. that money goes into maryland's general treasury with all of our tax money, it's not sanctuaried in a lockbox for schools only, it goes in the general treasury. critics would say education trust fund for casinos is branding more than anything. >> there is no question mgm is change maker for the state and prince george's county. i'm interested to see as the weeks unfold whether national harbor itself gets something from this because a casino as you talk to them as our stories have shown in the past week the mgm casino is built for you to go there, to stay there, to eat there, to play there, maybe to gamble there. they don't want you to go outside the building. i want to see how much spinoff business there is to the other businesses at national harbor. there may not be as much as people expect. >> scott, you did a story about the secret list that casinos have access to to keep big time respond to what critics say about this favoring the casinos. >> whether you know it or not there are 3,600 people who are not allowed into maryland's casinos, have been booted out by the casinos or by the state. can't walk in the door. 200 of them were kicked out for cheating, for actually breaking the rules and trying to cheat the house out of money. the 3,400 others we don't know why they were kicked out. a few said they were kicked out because they're good at counting cards and knowing how to have an edge at blackjack. the fact that the state has a secret list of people who can't play and won't publicly release it leads critics to say the state is not holding itself or the casinos accountable to ensure they're kicking out people with justification. >> another thing we need to watch, sunday morning is a good time to mention it is the people who have problem gambling issues, there are millions of people who go and bet the whole paycheck, who go andey there but now they will have a chance to send money, there are senior citizens who o live on fixed incomes and who get a social security check and they will be drawn to the casino hoping to make a little bit more money. those people have a real issue, the gambling industry only pays a little bit of attention to and the state has a gambling hotline that you can call if you have problems like that but the "washington post" had an editorial this week saying maryland while it's embraced the gambling world has not done nearly enough to caution the people and keep them away from gambling. >> good point to make. let's talk about mayor bowser and her big visit to the big apple this past week. bowser ñ5ut for and got a meeting with president-elect donald trump. we're told there was some fence mending and there was discussion about the new city he will now be living in and doing business in. to get a better understanding of d.c. and its issues. thomas scott, do we know if the meeting accomplished all of that? >> i think the meeting didn't accomplish a lot because they would have told us what it anything but platitudes out of the meeting. bowser is a democrat, she supported hillary clinton. when it came to donald trump she called his plans for immigration idiotic. she was very tough on him. the trump organization is suing the city over how much tax its charger for its new hotel downtown. look, the mayor said it best, every mayor of the city has to be the gracious host to whoever the president is. so she went up there on kind of a good will mission to say, look, we want to talk about infrastructure, just like every other place wants to talk about infrastructure, we want to talk about being good neighbors, we want you to pay attention to the city. trump trashed maybe cities including washington for crime. he has no idea what the crime rate in washington is. she was trying to break the ice. that's what she did. there is no photo of them together so we don't even know if the meeting happened. >> when i used to work for congress there were two different types of meetings, the meetings in which impactful meetings meetings where impactful things might occur, but you want to get your message out there. i will note that mayor bowser had a press corps following her on the trip to new york and did interviews after. i think she wanted to be seen meeting with the president elect and there's nothing trivial about that. >> trump will be the president of the united states, he will be here. the president can have big influence, there is a great worry they're concerned that congress is going to do things on the city's gun laws, sanctuary cities and all these types of things. in the past president obama has been a backstop to any of that interference with the city's laws, trump may not be, he might let the congress roll right over the city. >> how do you think the trumps will fit in in washington compared to the obamas? >> i think there is a level that's the local city, the national government, the international government here and then trump will be somewhere up here floating over the city. i don't know that he's going to go out to a local sandwich shop and grab a sandwich. >> watch for where the inaugural events happen. see if any happen in new york cit i bet there's inaugural planning -- >> you know there is a plan for him to fly down in a helicopter. initially they talked about trump would neighboring his way from new york to washington by coming down in a el hoo. a lot of that has been tossed aside to be a much more traditional inauguration on january 20th. >> will he stay married to the new york city area? >> he says he's going to be up there a lot and his wife and child will stay for some time. >> until the son finishes skpool. >> let's hope that the president discovers the real local washington, d.c. which is one of the great places in the country. he has to get past all the buffoon ri of national politics to see it. >> tom sherwood his personal tour guide. we will be right back. stay with us. and let roomba from irobot help with your everyday messes. roomba navigates your entire home. cleaning up pet hair and debris for up to 2 hours. which means your floors are always clean. you and roomba, from irobot. better. together. d.c.'s paid leave bill passes a big hurdle, the biggest. the council voted to move ahead with a bill that would create leave laws in the nation, eight weeks to care for new babies or adopted children, six weeks for sick relatives, two weeks of personal sick leave per year. this bill together with the new minimum wage hike would make d.c. an extremely attractive place to work if you have a family, scott. >> i found interesting the number of constituencies there are on this issue, so many different people with a perspective that differs from other people. one of the criticisms i heard of this bill was that it allows district revenue to go to the suburbs. >> two-thirds. >> you have employees who work in the district who do not live in the district giving them enhanced benefits actually expedites the flow of resources and tax money to people who live in fairfax or upper marlboro. >> 56% of the people who will benefit from this, people who work in the city live in the suburbs, maryland and virginia mostly. >> that's a mayor's issue. >> and they do not pay taxes because maryland and virginia have stifled any attempt by the city to properly tax people who live outside the city and work here. from the council members was that the people who need this family help the most, lower income people, don't get that much money. they get -- if they make a minimum wage job and you get it for a couple weeks that's one thing, but they don't -- but middle income people get $1,000 a week, up to $1,000 a week and this was cut back from 16 weeks. this was a big plan to have 16 weeks of paid leave, four months. got whittled back to 11 weeks by the chairman of the council phil mendelson. through negotiation with the businesspeople, community groups, non-profits who were worried about the cost of this cut it back down to eight. >> what does it say about the city? >> that we have one of the most progressive political cities in the country at the very time the country is taking a sharp right turn. >> certainly raised the issue. maryland's governor earlier this week proposing a sick bill plan to give, i think -- >> the governor did. >> the governor of maryland proposing a sick bill. >> the democrats have a tougher one. >w days of sick leave if every employee it your company has more than 50 employees. it raised the issue, raised the profile and the district is a bit of a laboratory for progressive change in that sense. >> this paid family leave thing came out of tom perez the labor secretary in the obama administration. even there governor hogan is trying to get ahead of the curve because the democrats in the state house want to do even more for sick leave. he's trying to do a compromise measure. even president-elect trump's campaign talked about paid family leave. we are one of the last western nations in the world where we don't really take care of families, i think sweden or something like that has four months where you take time to establish your family and then you go back to work. >> governor hogan has to get through the general a sem bloo he. >> democratic general assembly. >> which will be no easy task. the mayor hasn't indicated whether or not she will approve or veto, rather, the paid leave bill. what's your sense? particularly -- i know she doesn't like this bill but she also knows she needs nine votes, the council only needs nine votes to override any veto, there are nine votes to override her veto. she is probably not going to waste time with it. >> residents unhappy with police conduct in fair tax county will be able to take their complaints could a civilian review board. the poured has voted to set up a nine member panel to scrutinize police procedures and internal police investigations. how significant is there for fairf fairfax? >> there is an engaged public in fairfax over this issue, hard to believe it's already been three plus years since the shooting that inspired these changes, the shooting of resident john gear. say anything you want about this review board and review of police policies, but it has certainly engaged so many people in the fairfax community. i think it's a case where elected leaders are listening to what their constituents are yi this. still the most violent incidents involving police will be investigated by authorities, prosecutors and by the police internal review board and all of that, but this is as john cook, one of the fairfax supervisors said, this is another chance where if you feel like you have been mistreated by a police officer, you have a place to go. one of the concerns is in a diversifying county like fairfax is that people feel like they're not treated properly. you don't have to be abused by a police officer to want to say this officer ought to get better training. this is a chance to open the door a little bit wider so the police officers are, in fact, accountable to the people they protect. let me say that this is an example of the urbanization of our suburbs. it's happening in montgomery, prince george's, arlington long ago, fairfax, loudoun county, all these places they're becoming more urban, more diverse, more language is spo n spoken, more people. the police officers have to step up to that, too, and fairfax is trying to change. >> the one board member whod: proposal to light up the skies around washington in certain places with electronic boards like the ones at verizon center. >> the big break through with the verizon center, it looks like a drive in movie and then they're all over the big screens, flashing things and now the council this week approved them for the nats stadium on south capitol street. the good ne don't like them council specifically said you cannot use this as a reason to put them all over the city. if the mayor wants to allow them anywhere else in the city the proposal will have to come back to the council. >> scott, between those and the billboards outside the mgm national harbor, could start to look a little like vegas around here. >> hard to get noticed, i guess electronic billboards help you get noticed. i think if you talk to the nationals about this they would say they wanted parody with the other professional sports team in town. if the which had ards and capitals get it the nats should be permitted to get it. >> that means when4/ the soccer stadium is built they are going to want signs outdoors and if the skins ever come back to rfk i'm sure there will be signs there. just everybody get your sunglasses. >> signs for everybody. thanks, guys. and thank you. that's reporters notebook. "news 4 today" continues. coming up on 6:30 this morning, the red cross is looking to find temporary housing for dozens of people after an apartment fire in the alexandria section of fairfax county. that fire broke out just after 6:00 last night at an apartment building on richmond highway, only one woman was treated for smoke inhalation. 38 people are dead after a pair of explosions at a soccer game in istanbul. close to 200 people were hurt. the blast happening outside of a soccer stadium after fans had already gone home. ten people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. sources close to donald trump's transition tell nbc news he is expected to nominate exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson as secretary of state. "news 4 today" starts now. and good morning to you. sunday morning, it's 6:30. i'm molettee tuss. >> and i'm angie fwof. we have our coffee ready. >> i have tea. >> you switched over. you are going to need something warm especially if you are planning to head outside. it is a cold start to our sunday. tom kierein track that go along with some rain. >> when you step out to walk the dog this morning, take a morning walk, you need to layer up, it's a cold morning. we have a lot of clouds around and they are producing light snow, we can see that on the storm team 4 radar up into pennsylvania. it does extend into maryland north of d.c. getting a little bit of light snow right along interstate 70 between baltimore and frederick. that's all pulling off to the north and east and pulling away. we are probably going to get a little sunshine breaking out around sunrise which this morning is at 7:17. we're below freezing, 20s far north and west, 20s and 30 around the metro area. getting up to around 40 this afternoon. a look for our chances for snow coming up in next weather is taking a toll on the northern part of the u.s. morgan radford shows us where temperatures are dropping and the snow is piling up. >> reporter: residents in the midwest desperately digging their way out of almost three feet of snow. >> yesterday i did my driveway three times and i woke up to another foot of snow this morning just to do it all over again. >> reporter: in parts of ohio another nature landing a one/two punch. freezing temperatures and whiteout conditions. >> it's a young person's weather. >> reporter: and a nightmare for commuters. tens of millions under a winter weather advisory with more than 30 inches of snow falling near clear land and buffalo, another 6 inches expected off the great lakes. that storm system coming from the west where in portland an entire neighborhood was left in the dark after this tree snapped bringing down a power line. for hours when another high voltage line ripped. first responders ex courting them to safety. cities and towns across the northern plains feeling well below sfloe. still not enough to stop these tail faters in north dakota or shoppers in show. >> i get excited. i love it. >> reporter: where some say the worst is yet to come. be in for a whole world of hurt because we have had wonderful weather up until the beginning -- middle of december and now here we are, it's going to be negative 10 next week and we're in trouble. >> that was nbc's morgan radford reporting there. this winter storm is taking a toll on travel through the midwest, nearly a though flights have been canceled at chicago's o'hare airport today, half a liefls, half departures. midway airport also seeing travel issues wi southwest canceling all of its flights there. check with your airline if you are traveling through one of these destinations. >> it's folks looking to seek refuge from the cold inside the mgm national harbor are being asked to come back another time. since its grand opening the resort and casino has reached capacity at least twice. despite the cold its pretty much business as usual on the national harbor side of things. we caught up with folks out and about heading to the shops and restaurants. >> i like the cold. i'm a ski instructor so i love the cold. my wife not so much. >> look at her all wrapped up in her parka. we're told parking was not an issue at national harbor, either, so shopping should be a breeze as the season continues. some doors have opened up for people who spend their lives living on the meets in montgomery county. progress place a facility that helps the homeless has opened a brand new facility in it silver spring. it gives homeless men and women a place to get a meal, receive medical treatment or find someone to talk to. >> individuals who have experienced homelessness will and stabilize their live. >> they're going to hip out a lot of people. that's one thing for certain. >> progress place also has transitional housing available. recent estimates show 980 people are homeless in montgomery county which is down about 11% from last year. some good news out of northern virginia this morning. it's now legal to rent your home in arlington county if you are into that through the services of air b & b and companies like that. the county board voted on saturday people who want to do so they can apply for a newly created accessory home stay permit, that's what it's called, and it's free, but it does limit the number of guests that a renter can host overnight. it also requires that renters live in their homes at least half of the year. permit applications will be available at the end of the year. d.c. police have finally charged saeve evans teen's murder, 16-year-old breyona mcmillian was hit by a stray bullet the day after thanksgiving. this happened at the potomac gardens housing complex in south d.c. she had just returned home from boarding school. and this morning police are linking two gunshot victims to the same shooting in prince william county. now, this all started friday night when someone called in a shooting on forest hill avenue. officers did not find anyone there, but during the investigation they got a call from prince george's county police. a man from manassas turned up at a hospital in maryland with a gun shot wound, then a second man was being treated for a gunshot wound at a virginia hospital. detectives tell us they're trying to figure out exactly what happened. secretary of defense ash carter is in iraq. you're looking at video from his trip to a carter is scheduled to meet today with american commanders and iraqi leaders to assess the progress in the fight to retake the city of mosul from isis. yesterday he announced that he's sending an additional 200 troops to syria to train and advise local fighters combating isis. meanwhile there is an increasingly desperate situation in the syrian city of aleppo this morning as government forces move to take complete control and thousands of people try to get out before they do so. nbc's matt bradley has the latest. >> reporter: syria's government is tightening its noose around east aleppo. strangling the nearly 100,000 civilians thought to remain inside. the rest are fleeing by the tens of thousands. for fighting aged men escaping aleppo can seem like jumping from the pan into the fire. the united nations said hundreds of men and boys they reached government held west aleppo this week. >> what is the worry among human rights workers once aleppo falls completely? >> you will have a huge number of people who may be exposed to reprisals of different kinds, including being picked up and held in detention centers, interrogated and tortured. >> reporter: meanwhile a flurry of negotiations to end the slaughter has once again achieved little. secretary kerry urging syria and russia to protect the innocent. >> they need to provide guarantees and allow guarantees to be put in place that make certain that people arenot marching into a massacre. >> reporter: government forces say they've captured over 90% of what was once syria's largest city, they're determined to achieve a military victory and finally tip the war's balance in president assad's favor but at a high cost, nearly six years of war and 400,000 dead. it's a civil war complicated by the ongoing fight against isis in the region in which u involved. 200 special operations troops will join the 300 soldiers already fighting isis in syria. another continuing war that donald trump stands to inherit. matt bradley, nbc news, london. now to a developing story this morning out of kenya where at least 33 people have died and ten people were hurt after a run away tanker slammed into cars on the road and burst into flames as you just saw. the tanker was carrying a dangerous gas and a witness says the tanker was going fast and lost control before veering on to on coming cars. officials say the death toll could rise. republicans will have a bigger edge in their senate majority next month, that's because louisiana voters picked state treasurer john kennedy to fill the state's open u.s. senate seat. his victory now gives republicans a 52-48 seat edge in the chamber. kennedy defeated democrat foster campbell in the race. the seat republican david vitter did not speak reelection. the redskins are looking to bounce pack from their lost last week with a win against their division rifle, the philadelphia eagles today. i wonder where adam is. it's also a chance for desean jackson to play against his former team. this comes after reports during the off-season that jackson could return to the eagles but coach gruden has a thing or two to say about how important jackpot is to the redskins. >> he has been a major -- has had a major impact on this football team, whether he catches three balls for 80 yards or one ball for 69. he doesn't have to be a guy that catches ten balls for 90 yards to have an impact on this team. his deep threat has an impact on the defense, it opens up areas for jordan read and jake son crowder in the back sometimes. >> we want to see more of that. kickoff is at 1:00 in philadelphia. go redskins. louisville quarterback lamar jackson, he is the youngest player to ever win trophy, at 19 years old he won college football's most prestigious award last night in new york. jackson put up over 3,300 yards in the air, more than 1,000 yards on the ground and a jaw dropping 51 touchdowns this year. he's going to have a career. >>he is a beast. he is a beast. freezing rain could slow you down and cause a mess of tomorrow's commute. take note. don't worry, though, tom is tracking the timing of it all. he has what to watch for when we return. christmas trees are part of what make the holiday special after their tree caught on fire. coming up hear from their relative good morning. a cold start on this sunday morning, a lot of clouds around, want to get some exercis up. it will be cold through midmorning. by 9:00 near 30 degrees, sunshine in and out, cloud seeing up tlurg the afternoon. we will be hovering near 40 during the afternoon. a look at our next chances for snow is coming up in a couple minutes. it appears president-elect trump has his secretary of state. >> sources tell nbc news trump is expected to pick exxon mobil ceo rex tillerson for this high profile position that we've been waiting for. so let's bring in moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd. this is a pick already getting a lot of push back from both democrats and republicans and of course they go right to those russian ties. >> it all goes to the russian ties. it's almost as if donald trump is trying to troll america or troll the democrats. just when news, the cia has come to the conclusion that not only did russia interfere in our elections but did so+;@ sole goal being to help donald trump win, he goes and picks if you could identify the one american citizen with the closest personal relationship with vladimir putin that's not in government, it would be rex tillerson. >> how are you going to get this guy through confirmation? >> i have no idea. john mccain and lindsey graham have basically already expressed skepticism. i can tell you this, that's what their public stance is. i think there is going -- nothing would surprise me in how this bid goes, but, remember, nothing is official yet and this just feels -- this just feels like -- like a bridge too far, i think, for some in the republican party. >> because an announcement could come obviously this week is what everybody is saying and trump is known for being unpredictable. how much are you putting into the wild card and the fact that he could -- >> i think he wants to do this. don't get me wrong. i think you already heard his -- look, i've talked to people very close to him on this pick. impressed, he is a big -- you know, successful -- >> what is his benefit? >> the biggest benefit in his mind is the fact that he does have good personal relationships with a lot of these -- in a lot of these hot so spots. >> on the world stage. >> look, if you are a ceo of an oil company, anywhere in the world you have -- you have to have some insight and some knowledge about how the middle east works, but when you're negotiating with countries as a ceo of exxon you usually have -- you have a pretty -- you have some pretty good leverage, it's called cash. >> yeah. >> okay. when you're the secretary of state of the united states of america that isn't necessarily -- you know, it's not about what's in the pest interest of the bottom line here. >> this guy has been at exxon 40 years or so. >> his whole life. >> he has a ton of experience in working in the middle east, but as a businessman. whether that translates into foreign diplomacy where, you know, again, he actua asked him -- asked him not to participate in a russian -- in a big russian business expo in the middle of the crimea crisis and he went anyway. so here is a guy that put exxon's interests above america's interests as ceo of exxon. how is he going to answer that question at the confirmation hearing. >> and you're going to ask the white house chief of staff pick reince priebus about that on your show today. a reminder you can see "meet the press" every sunday at 10:30 right here after "news 4 today." many of you are getting your homes ready for the holidays this weekend, i spent all week doing that. that includes setting up your christmas tree. >> how many days did that take you? >> five days. >> but on a more serious note if you are getting a real tree news 4's megan fitzgerald has a warning that you need to hear before you plug in those lights. >> what do i look for in a pe symmetry, freshness, one that's going to balance itself out. >> reporter: but before you take one home there are critical safety tips to keep in mind. >> what you need to do is when you get home you want to make that fresh cut, just like flowers, it will reseal and it will not reabsorb the water as it should. >> another important factor is you need to unplug your tree every night and when it's unyou a tended. >> reporter: christmas tree safety it's just important to sher grogg, it's extremely personal. >> i lost my brother, my sister-in-law and their four grandchildren to a christmas tree fire two years ago. >> it was january of 2015 when this annapolis mansion went up in flames, the blaze swept through the house so quickly that atf agents say sher's family didn't have a chance to escape. >> it was in the middle of the night and there was an electrical fire which caught the tree and it went into flashover in less than three minutes. >> atf agents determined that t watered daily.#0÷[ if it was they say it's possible sher's family would still be alive. >> go to the needless, make sure that they bend. >> reporter: now she's hoping these safety reminders will save other families from experiencing her grief during what's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. >> everyone is of course in pain, it's changed all of our lives. for me i've found my voice in advocacy. >> and that was news 4's megan fitzgerald reporting. another important reminder unplug the lights every night before you go to bed or when you leave the house. we do have more tips to protect you and the entire family this holiday season in our nbc washington app. all you have to search is tree safety. a lot of valuable information. >> we want everybody to be safe, it's so cold that we cover so many fire stories, the dangers the trees as well as other dangers lurking. >> and it is cold and we have morning. temperatures are hovering in the 20s just about everywhere. here is how we're looking hour by hour for the day ahead. we may actually get a little sunshine breaking out later this morning and temperatures hovering right near 32 by 10:00, but then by 2:00 it will be near 40 and all cloudy and hovering near 40 for the rest of the afternoon and overnight tonight. right now storm team 4 radar picking up a few areas of light snow up 95, up around baltimore into northeastern maryland, another batch of that is in the panhandle of west virginia. all of this is heading off quickly to the north and east, just maybe a brief dusting there. here is the hour by hour timing of snow. by dawn tomorrow -- or i should say rain, the area in green in rain. rain coming in tonight, into tomorrow morning for the morning commute, much of it's going to be ending by 10:00 tomorrow morning, it pulls off south and east of the bay, sunshine breaks out in the afternoon. there is a freezing rain advisory, this pink zone western maryland, panhandle of west virginia, northern shenandoah tenth of an inch of ice and perhaps wet snow mixing in after midnight tonight. after that we will be in the low 50s tomorrow afternoon, then upper 40s and partly sunny tuesday, wednesday. yesterday wednesday was looking like we might get some snow it does not look like that now. thursday and friday colder, only near low 30s for highs and our next chance of really -- our first chance of the season for any accumulating snow might be saturday morning, changing to rain on saturday afternoon next weekend. that's the way it looks. >> thank you so much, tom. you would never expect to have to dodge a deer here. the dark strand restoring ading a father's faith.... stronger is being a typical kid... despite a rare disorder. stronger is seeking answers and not giving up until you find them. because we don't just want kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger. with your support, we can find more answers faster. make a gift today at childrensnational.org/givenow a silicon valley server farm. the vault to man's greatest wonders... selfies, cat videos and winking emojis. speaking of tech wonders, you can get roadside assistance, digital id cards... or even file a claim. do that.. yeah, yeah that should work. it's not happening... just try again. uh, i think i found your problem. thanks. hmm... the award-winning geico app. download it today. ♪ ♪ that's what i'm talking about. santa breaking out some new dance moves for this holiday season to delight some young kids. the man in red moves with other holiday characters. this was in arlington yesterday, it was so police could donate to kids in the community. the department gave away free bikes and toys. pretty awesome. all of the gifts were donated through toys for tots and other community drives. >> i've seen a lot of boxes around the community filled to the top. that says a lot. >> i love that christmas spirit. many military kids have one wish for christmas to bring mom or dad home for the holiday. that christmas wish came true for four brothers in massachusetts. their dad an air force sergeant surprised his family moments after they asked santa to bring him home. he had been stationed in turkey along with his family, but they were forced to leave because it was just unsafe there and dad wasn't the only surprise, but the family dog also made the trip home. how cute. >> that is so sweet. >> yeah. every now and then we all need a spa day, i say that to my >> like every day, right, moms? but a pair of deer in pennsylvania they took it a step further, they were caught on cam running themselves through a car wash. those poor babies, one made it through, they were running through the car wash, this was posted on someone's facebook page, you can see them enter that plastic ba i remember yer, one takes off through the other opening. i wonder if they got clean? >> oh. >> poor little guys. >> okay. we do have much more ahead on "news 4 today." >> that includes an hour by hour look at your forecast with storm team 4 meteorologist fios is not cable. we're wired differently. that means incredibly fast 150 meg internet for the holidays. so in the 3.7 seconds it takes gary watson to beat the local sled jump record, fly, gary, fly. ...his friend can download 13 versions of the perfect song... ...his sister can live stream it... ...while his mom downloads how to set a dislocated shoulder. month online for the first year. cable can't offer that. only fios can. "news 4 today" starts now. now on "news 4 today" first comes the cold and now rain and snow are on the way. tom is tracking how you can plan ahead for this freezing winter weather. and breaking news overseas, more than 100 killed in a sudden church collapse, the danger in nigeria as the roof comes crashing down. fourth in line to the presidency. donald trump's expect expected pick for secretary of state and the new concerns about controversial ties to russia. good sunday morning. i'm molette green. >> and i'm angie start you off for this sunday morning. >> coat, hat, glove, scarf. >> you will have to layer up and dig deep. we will check in with tom kierein. it seems like when we look at your forecast, tom, you have a little bit of everything coming. >> we do. it's that time of year. we have that dangable weather getting more to wintry conditions. it is a cold start, a lot of clouds around this morning and we have been producing a little light snow north of the metro area over the last couple hours, that's moving out of the metro area up into pennsylvania, getting a little bit of light snow panhandle of west virginia coming in the shenandoah valley, a few flurries as well as northeastern baltimore, pennsylvania pulling away. 20s to right around 30 degrees. reagan national is at 31 degrees. into the afternoon climbing into the upper 30s to near 40 degrees by midafternoon with a lot of clouds around. a look at our next chances for snow is coming up this half hour. 7:01. dozens county don't have a place to go back to because of this, this fire at this apartment building on richmond highway. the red cross looking to find temporary housing for those had a live at the woodlawn garden apartments at the alexandria section of the county. one man tells news 4 his sister was taken to the hospital because the smoke was to bad, she is expected to be okay but he describes what happened moments after the fire broke out. >> the neighbors they were like -- i don't know what they were doing but they didn't notice it so i knocked on the door and then we got out. >> now a bus was brought in to help people people warm as fire crews battled the flames last night. investigators are still looking into what caused this fire. we are also working to find out about another fire that started inside an apartment in prince george's county. this happened on dean drive in hyattsville. one person was taken to the hospital and they are being treated in the burn unit right now. another person was rescued from the burning apartment but told c the cause of this fire still hasn't been determined, either. alexandria police are trying to determine what caused a man to fall from an apartment building on four mile run road near mt. vernon avenue. at this point they were just calling this a death investigation, they say it may be an accident, but that is still under investigation. we are covering this breaking news out of nigeria collapsed while worshippers were inside. the number of people killed likely to go up. the state government now saying that it will investigate to see another big story we continue to follow right now, 38 people dead, nearly 200 hurt after a series of explosions in istanbul last night. we know that 30 police officers are among the dead. the white house just releasing a statement in the last hour and a half or so calling this a terror attack. the two blasts happened right outside a major soccer stadium after fans had already gone home. so far ten people were arrested in connection with these attacks. president-elect donald trump's highest profile cabinet pick could be announced in a matter of days. sources telling nbc news trump is expected to tap exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson for secretary of state. nbc's chris palone shows us why this pick is drawing fire from both sides of the aisle. >> reporter: donald trump in baltimore for the annual army navy football game sitting alongside top military brass, next month he will be their commander in chief. earlier trump met in new york with ex oon mobile yeezies rex tillerson. nbc news has learned he is trump's pick for secretary of state. >> to give trump credit he said he was going to try to surround himself with really successful people who did well. we find ceos, people at the top th pick is drawing criticism from democrats and republicans. he was his company's liaison to the kremlin and has been awarded russia's order of friendship. casey hunt asked john mccain for his thoughts on the pick. >> i believe that vladimir putin is a thug and a bully and a murderer and i believe that the relationship between mr. tillerson and vladimir putin needs to be examined. >> reporter: this comes a few hours after the "washington post" reported the cia believes russia interfered in the presidential election, hacking and leaking democratic party documents not just to cause chaos but to actively help trump win. >> so you're looking ahead to an early part of the trump presidency where russia is very much going to dominate the conversation and certainly you can expect to hear a lot of tough questions at this confirmation hearing. >> reporter: the trump team immediately slammed the cia and said it's time to move on. chris palone. nbc news new york. meet the press will have nomination of rex tillerson as secretary of state. this morning moderator chuck todd will speak with us about the incoming trump -- will speak with the incoming trump chief of stat, reince priebus. he will also be speaking with us about the show coming up this morning as well. >> that's a mouthful. that's a lot to get out. saturday night live poking fun at trump and this time the focus the cabinet picks. >> absolutely. the show opened last night with a parody of cnn's jake tapper in the skit trump appoints brian cranston's breaking bad character walter white to head up the dea. >> mr. white, how did you even get considered for this job? do you know trump? >> no. no. but i'm a big fan. i like his style. he acts first and then asks questions later. i also like that wall he wants to build. nothing comes in from mexico meaning a lot less competition for the rest of us. >> you >> sure. >> and the skit also featured kate mckinnon as trump adviser kellyanne conway. >> there's a lot of other funny stuff. john cena was on. they had great skits. worth going back and watching the highlights. >> the promos all week were great and the show i have to go back and watch the highlights. if you haven't done so already you have to find your winter gear. the hat, the gloves, all of ll&% that. tom is tracking a major temperature drop in the week ahead. and much of the country also dealing with some bitter cold. take a look, the unusual sight in the south and the winter blast leaving feet of snow in he wears his army hat, he gets awalks aroundliments. with his army shirt looking all nice. and then people just say, "thank you for serving our country" and i'm like, that's my dad. male vo: no one deserves a warmer welcome home. that's why we're hiring 10,000 members of the military community by the end of 2017. i'm very proud of him. male vo: comcast. it just seems it's cold everywhere. check this out, the weather is so cold in memphis that this fountain has almost completely frozen over there. the water has turned to slush as the temperatures dipped into the teens and the 20s. it still could freeze entirely by the end of the weekend. >> wow. >> imagine being stranded on the road for several days. some of those -- some of these trucks outside portland, oregon, have been waiting to get on a closed interstate since thursday, for example. icy road reasons shut down part of i 84 stranding truck drivers and other motorists. maybe have been idling their vehicles in the closest truck stop there. the westbound locations have reopened but the state's department of transportation does not know when the eastbound lanes will be back open. >> you have to feel for them. senator chuck schumer wants federal officials to move faster to require mass federal terrorism watch lists. the recommendation was first made nearly a decade al. in a report made by the september 11th commission. schumer says it's, quote, shocking that this common sense safety gap was never closed. records show the department of homeland security and the tsa have an action pending to require the screenings but it has not been finalized. less crowded, more fun, more time to get things done. i take you on a nighttime adventure to find out which local businesses around here stay open while most of us are sleeping. >> i see the food. i can't wait to see it. bitter cold temperatures and rain on the way. tom is watching a dangerous combination and how soonoads coul rd lift up your head and keep moving or let the paranoia haunt you? everybody lack confidence, everybody lack confidence i keep my fee-fi-fo-fum i keep my heart undone good morning. getting some very light snow far north and west of the metro area. storm team 4 radar that's quickly tracking off to the north and east. right along the 81 corridor in the shenandoah valley up into washington county make a brief dusting of light snow there, there could be a few slick spots. our skies all cloudy here now, we may get sunshine breaking out later today. dress warmly, it's going to be a cold winter day with afternoon highs right around 40. a look at our next chances for snow, that in just a few minutes. at least 20 people are dead after a bombi cathedral in egypt. another 35 were hurt. this is the second deadly attack to hit the egyptian capital in two days. so far there's been no immediate claim of responsibility for today's attack. we do want you to see this amazing video of a rescue in connecticut. take a moment and look at this. a state trooper jumping into action after an accident early friday morning. after racing to the scene he quickly realized that the driver -- they were still inside this car. the four-year trooper grabbed that extinguisher trying to flight the flames. they were able to get them out. minutes later troopers arrived and together they were able to free the driver from the smoldering car. takes a special kind of person to run towards a car that's on fire. you don't know if it's going to explode. >> fatalities in the area recently at this troop. when you get on scene that's your first thing, let's see if i can make this a positive ending. >> well, he did. wow happened to be close by at the time when the crash happened. you might call this an inside job. after a store manager is accused of robbing his own store. these men were arrested after police say they tied up two employees inside a family dollar store in colorado and then robbed the business. officers say one of the men was their boss. police were able to track down the men after a detailed description came from the employees. they are now facing felony charges. >> why are you going to rob the dollar store? >> and your own job. >> come on, people. all right. we know -- i mean -- okay. we know a lot of people will national harbor in the wee hours of the morning to beat the crowds but it's not the only 24 hour business in our region. i pulled all-nighter to discover what you can get done if you're out and about while others are sleeping. transportation, check. overcaffeinated photographer. check. to-do list, check. our middle of the night mission to see what's open is on. >> we've got a crowd. >> the first stop, this 24 hour tire shop in northeast d.c. >> we are very busy overnight in some cases. basically we will have customers coming in, if they need a plugged tire or they need to have a tire repaired or whatnot. >> mack's tire service changed our wheel in ten minutes. karen heffner got her flat fixed next. >> i am so grateful you guys are here in the middle of the night. you just don't know. >> after that all that i'm a little hungry. now time for a snack. >> too early for tacos? >> in dupont circle we hit the happening 24/7 surf side taco stand which turns out to be perfect on the go. >> that's what i'm talking about. hello hash browns, eggs, and a burrito. i might save you some. >> for the most part the drive into maryland is quiet. we roll up to rockville just after 2:00 a.m. >> so do you ever do anything wild and crazy since nobody is looking and watching? >> i do more squats, i do my -- my form gets better. >> for geraldine perez working out before others wake up means freedom. >> not waiting for machines. i can do any type of workout i want, i can jump from one to another. >> this anytime fitness is one of dozens of gyms open around the clock. it's small, but has weights, equipment, security and convenience. >> it's a club for busy people, you know, we have moms working out, people are working in hospitals, cops. >> right down the road -- >> time to get clean. >> -- we find for a small fee we can clean our wheels at flagship car wash at any hour. three locations offer this self serve option but at this something extra. >> free vacuums. okay. >> clean machines, tire change, tacos and treadmills. but how about some time to relax? in centerville, virginia, on heated floors people in lounge ware resting at all hours of the night at spa world, the traditional korean spa has seven rooms filled with elements that claim to heal, salt, charcoal and oak. most of the chambers are really hot. >> this is one of the most beautiful rooms here, it's the amethyst gem room. >> the one filled with the red clay balls one of the most popular. >> we are all getting rested, sun is not even up yet. we have more classes to go. >> we arrive in manassas. >> this is one of many 24-hour lawned mats in the area. >> where we find plenty of room to wash clothes. there's always staff on hand and free wifi, too. while in town -- >> i got coffee. >> a quick stop at this 24 hour starbucks. nothing like fresh brew before watching the sunrise on the way back. >> i'm exhausted. >> and that burrito, my poor photographer, brooks, we got those awesome breet toes, we were on a roll for seven hours shooting straight we didn't get to eat them until we got back to the station. the lamb towel, so easy to make, you can do it in less than a minute, put it online. basically just keeps the sweat out so you put it on, it keeps the sweat out. >> you looked adorable in it. >> thank you. >> i'd like to see tom wear that. >> i do. every -- no, i don't. >> that was good. that was a great piece. >> that room might be a good option, 149 degrees considering what we're walking out into. >> that's toasty. here we could use a little warmth as we're starting off could ld this morning, here is your hour by hour forecast. a lot of clouds around this morning, sunshine breaking out by 10:00, right near freezing. near 40 during the afternoon into tonight with a cloudy sky. right now storm team 4 radar showing a little bit of light snow north and west of us, but most of it's breaking up as it's tracking off north and east. hour by hour into the evening hours the pink zones could get icing late tonight into early tomorrow morning, the green zone is rain coming in by dawn, off and on rain showers through midmorning on monday, then it ends and we get some sunshine breaking out tomorrow afternoon. we will get temperatures up into the low 50s. but we do have this freezing rain advisory here in this zone in color, northwest of the metro area, for late tonight into tomorrow morning, up to maybe a tenth of an inch of icing there by dawn tomorrow so watch out for that. then on tuesday, wednesday, partly sunny both days, in the 40s, cold on thursday and friday with highs only in the?yv low 3. our first chance of any really accumulating snow still looks to be maybe on saturday morning, changing to rain saturday afternoon and ending on sunday midday. that's the way it look. >> all right, tom, a week ago we saw how fake news led to a shooting at a popular pizza place here in washington. we take a close well, the fake business news or the business of fake news i should say came under intense scrutiny last week after false stories about what was going on at comet ping pong. >> police say those reports prompted a man to attack that ta jake jacob soboroff to take a closer look at the fake news phenomenon, it's impact and what's actually behind it. >> reporter: with fake news making real news headlines this week secretary clinton calling it an end, the pizzeria attack in washington, the reason why do so many people turn to phoney news rooms. gal beg your pardon says america's trust in mainstream media sources is at an all time low. >> do you trust the mainstream media? >> no. >> how can you tell when things are slanted and when they're not. >> you can't but then i watch the mock news -- >> are you getting better information from last week tonight or us at nbc news. >> last week tonight does more in depth research and sometimes they are teaching me something. >> do you trust me? >> yes. >> you do? >> because you have glasses. >> because i have glasses. >> distrust in media has like californian justin koehler. >> fbi agent suspected in hillary e-mail leaks found dead in apparent murder suicide. >> the motive behind the killing is being investigated but police say brown has a highly respected agent with the fbi. >> is any of that true? >> not a single thing. >> not a single thing. >> totally fiction. >> in the days before the election over 500,000 people on fbi shared the post by koehler had says he voted for clinton. 1.6 million people saw it on his website. >> how much money did this post make. >> you likely somewhere around about $8,000. >> is it worth it? >> this is one that i would probably take back. even to add to that google closed all the accounts that were running on the site. so even that money is gone. >> do you feel like the work that you did from this computer affected the results of the election in any way? >> i do not. it's something that, again, i'm glad you guys are here now talk being it but you should have been talk being it years ago. >> what's the role of the fake news media in a democracy. >> i'd like to think that it honest. >> reporter: a fraying bond between the fourth estate and the american people, that's something the numbers say is true. jacob soboroff, nbc news, los angeles. it is a cold morning with the temperatures in the 20s and 30s right now. 22. wow. tom is updating his forecast and how you can plan for the day ahead. close to a thousand flights canceled. the winter impact gridlocking travel at one of the busies afoot and light-hearted i take to the open road. healthy, free, the world before me, the long brown path before me leading wherever i choose. the east and the west are mine. all seems beautiful to me. just about 7:30 this morning the red cross looking to find temporary housing for dozens of people after an apartment fire in the alexandria section of fairfax county. that fire broke out just after 6:00 last night at an apartment building on richmond highway. one woman was treated for smoke inhalation. 38 people are dead after a pair of explosions at a soccer game in istanbul. close to 200 people were hurt. it happened outside a mijer soccer stadium after fans had gone home. so far ten people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. sources close to donald trump's transition tell nbc news he's expected to nominaten"( exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson as secretary of state. "news 4 today" starts now. >> good sunday morning, everyone. tuss. >> and i'm angie goff. we do have a busy sunday ahead of us. we also have a cold one at that. this one could be a shock to the system. >> oh, man. >> wow. >> you need hot chocolate, hand warmers. >> we might be overreacting just a little but there is a lot to know especially when it comes to rain and the chance for some it to be freezing in our area. >> it's going to be late tonight. between now and then we will stay dry. storm team 4 looking across our region here live on this sunday morning, there is the view from our tower camera, getting a few breaks in the clouds across northern virginia, that's where we're looking now from our vantage point, cloud cover breaking up to the west, also lingering light snow up near the pennsylvania border, that's pulling away, a few flurries in the panhandle of west virginia, that's pulling away on this sunday morning. staying below freezing until 10:00, 11:00 this morning, climbing to the upper 30s to 40 degrees during the afternoon with a lot of look at that freezing rain zone, that's coming up as well as our next chances for snow in just a few minutes. a bitter blast of winter weather taking a toll on the northern part of the u.s. just look at these images. don't want to see that here. nbc's morgan radford shows us where the temperatures are dropping and the snow is piling up. >> reporter: residents in the midwest desperately digging their way out of almost three feet of snow. >> yesterday i did my driveway three times, then i woke up to another foot of snow this morning just to do it all over again. >> reporter:? parts of ohio mother nature landing a one-two punch, freezing temperatures and whiteout conditions. >> the older i get the more i hate this weather. it's a young person's weather. >> reporter: and a nightmare for commuters. tens of millions under a winter weather advisory with more than 30 inches of snow falling near cleveland and buffalo, another six inches expected off the great lakes. that storm system coming from entire neighborhood was left in the dark after this tree snapped bringing down a power line. others trapped on a dark train for hours. when another high volt annual line ripped. first responders escorting them to safety. cities and towns across the northern plains feeling well below zero, still not enough to top these tailgaters in north dakota. or shoppers in chicago. >> i get excited. i love it. >> reporter: where some say the worst is yet to come. >> i keep saying we're going to be in for a whole world of hurt because we have had wonderful weather up until the middle of december and now here we are, it's going to be negative 10 next week and we're in trouble. >> that was nbc's morgan radford reporting there. this winter storm is taking a toll on travel throughout the midwest. nearly 1,000 flights have been canceled at chicago's o'hare airport for today, it's roughly half the smaller midway airport also seeing travel issues with southwest canceling all of its flights there. check with your airline if you're traveling through one of these destinations. 7:33. folks looking to seek refuge from the mold inside the mgm national harbor are being asked to come back another time. since its grand opening they have reached capacity at least twice. despite the cold it's pretty much business as usual on the national harbor side of things. we caught up with those folks out and about heading to the shops and restaurants. >> i like the cold, i'm a ski instructor so i love the cold, my wife not so much. >> she's like, yeah, i have this parka on and a hat underneath and my thermal underwear, everything. we're told parking was not an issue at national harbor yesterday either, holiday shopping should be a breeze as the season conditions. and some doors have opened up for people who spend their lives living on the streets in of a facility that helps the homeless, it's opened a brand new facility in silver spring, the county owned center gives homeless men and women a place to get a meal, receive medical treatment or even just find someone to talk to. >> individuals who have experienced homelessness will leave their homelessness behind and stabilize their lives. >> they're going to help out a lot of people. that's one thing for certain. >> progress place also has transitional housing available. recent estimates show nearly 1,000 people are homeless in montgomery county which is actually down about 11% from last year. there is some good news out of northern virginia this morning. it's now legal to rent your home in arlington county. if you want to do it you can do it through services like airbnb. the county board voted safe to allow people who want to do so to apply for a newly created accessory home stay permit. that's wat it is free, but it does limit the number of guests that a renter can actually host overnight. it also requires that renters live in their homes at least half of the year. permit applications will be available at the end of the year. d.c. police have now charged saeve evans with a d.c. teen's murder. 16-year-old breyona mcmillian was hit by a stray bullet the day after thanksgiving. this happened at the potomac gardens housing complex in southeast d.c. breyona had just returned home from boarding school for the holiday. evans has been in jail since last wednesday on a firearms charge related to this case. and this morning police are linking two gunshot victims to the same shooting in prince william county. this started friday night when someone called in a shooting on forestdale avenue. officers did not find anyone there, butqpo9ñ during their investigation they got a call from prince george's county police. a man from man a sass turned up at a hospital in maryland with being treated for a gunshot wound at a virginia hospital. detectives tells us they're still trying to figure out exactly what happened. the redskins looking to bounce back from their loss last week with a win against their division rival philadelphia eagles today. it's also a chance for desean jackson to play against his former team. it comes after reports during the off-season that jackson could return to the eagles but coach gruden has a thing or two to say about how important this is to the redskins. >> he has been a major -- has had a major impact on this football team, whether he catches three balls for 80 yards or one ball for 69. he doesn't have to be a guy that catches ten balls for 90 yards to have an impact on this team. his deep threat has an impact on the defense, it opens up areas for jordan reed and jamison crowder in the back sometimes. >> kickoff is at 1:00 in ph jackson is the youngest player to ever win the heisman trophy. look at him. at 19 years old he is looking good in that coat. he won college football's most prestigious award last night in new york. jackson put up over 3,300 yards in the air, more than 1,000 yards on the ground and a jaw dropping 51 touchdowns this year. freezing rain could slow you down and cause a mess of tomorrow's commute. tom is tracking the timing. christmas trees are part of what make the holiday special, but in 2015 a family of six died after their tree caught on fire. coming up hear from their i'm sorry i can't be with you in person, but please know you in spirit. >> all right. music legend bob dylan missed the nobel prize ceremony in sweden. he sent a speech read by the u.s. ambassador to that country. dylan said it took him a bit to process that he had actually won a nobel prize. patty smith performed one of his most moving songs "a hard rain is going to fall". a jury could begin deliberating today in the fatal shooting of new orleans saints star will smith. closing arguments are expected in the trial of 29-year-old car dell hayes. hayes fatally shot the former nfl player in april following a crash. he says he shot in self defense. prosecutors say a loaded gun remained untouched inside smith's damaged car. visit to baghdad. the new announcement from the secretary of defense as troops fight to push back isis. it's going to be easy to spot people who don't listen to tom's forecast, they will be the ones shivering outside because they don't have enough layers on. sto team 4rm good morning. advisory, all those counties in color far north and west of the metro area, it goes into effect 10:00 tonight until 10:00 on monday morning, all of those areas you see in color, northern shenandoah valley, panhandle of west virginia, a little wet snow but more importantly icing, perhaps up to an inch of icing late tonight into monday morning. look at our chances for snow in just a few minutes. new this morning, secretary of defense ash carter is in iraq. he made the unannounced trip to the country overnight, you're looking at this video here from his trip to afghanistan friday. carter is scheduled to meet today with american commanders and iraqi leaders to assess progress in the fight to retake the city of mosul from isis. yesterday he announced that he's sending an additional 200 troops to syria to train and advise local fighters combatin isis. there is an increasingly desperate situation in the syrian city of aleppo this there move to take control. complete control. thousands of people try to get out before they do. nbc's matt bradley has the latest. >> reporter: syria's government is tightening its noose around east aleppo. strangling the nearly 100,000 civilians thought to remain inside. the rest are fleeing by the tens of thousands. for fighting-aged men escaping aleppo can seem like jumping from the pan into the fire. the united nations said hundreds of men and boys disappeared once they reached government held west aleppo this week. >> what is the worry among human rights workers once aleppo falls completely? >> you will have a huge number of people who may be exposed to reprisals of different kinds, including being picked up and held in detention centers, interrogated and tortured. >> reporter: a flurry of negotiations to end the slaughter has once again achieved little. russia to protect the innocent. >> they need to provide guarantees and allow guarantees to be put in place that make certain that people are not marching into a massacre. government forces say they've cap steward 90% over what was syria's once largest city. at a high cost, nearly six years of war and more than 400,000 dead. it's a civil war complicated by the ongoing fight against isis in the region in which u.s. troops are increasingly involved. 200 special operations troops will join the 300 soldiers already fighting isis in syria. another continuing war that donald trump stands to inherent. matt bradley, nbc news, london. developing this morning out of kenya the death toll has risen. we've just learned in that runway tanker crash in kenya. take a look at this vi officials saying at least 39 people now have died and ten people hurt after a tanker filled with dangerous gas slammed into multiple cars and then burst into flames. a witness says that the tanker was going fast and lost control before veering into oncoming traffic. republicans will have a bigger edge in their senate majority next month. that's because louisiana voters picked state treasurer john kennedy to fill the state's open u.s. senate seat. his victory now gives republicans a 52-48 seat edge in the chamber. kennedy defeated foster campbell in the race. the seat was open because republican david vitter did not speak reelection. many of you are busy getting your homes ready for the holidays this weekend. that includes setting up your christmas tree. >> but there are important things to keep in mind. if you are getting a real tree, news 4's megan fitzgerald has a warning that you need to hear before you plug inrá% those lig. >> what do i look for in a symmetry, freshness, one that's going to balance itself out. >> reporter: before you take one home there are critical safety tips to keep in mind. >> what you need to do when you get home, you want to make that fresh cut. just like flowers, it will resale and it will not absorb the water as it should. >> also another important factor is you need to unplug your free every night and when it's unattended. >> reporter: christmas tree safety nt just important to sher grogg, it's extremely personal. >> i lost my brother, my sister-in-law and their four grandchildren to a christmas tree fire two years ago. >> it was january of 2015 when this annapolis mansion went up in flames, the blaze swept through the house so quickly that atf agents say sher's family didn't have a chance to escape. >> it was in the middle of the night and there was an electrical fire which caught the tree and it went into flashover in less than three minutes. >> reporter: atf agents determined that the christmas tree wasn'tat if it was they say it's possible sher's family would still be alive. >> go to the needless. make sure that they bend. >> reporter: now she's hoping these safety reminders will save other families from experiencing her grief during what's supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year. >> everyone is of course in pain, it's changed all of our lives. for me i've found my voice in advoca advocacy. >> happened that was megan fitzgerald reports. another important reminder, unplug the lights every night before you go to bed or when you leave the house. we have more tips to protect you and the family this holiday season in our nbc washington app. just search tree safety. i have an artificial tree and we unplug and take the lights off. i think it's a good idea even if you have a fake one as well. >> u.s. snow coming to be safe. >> you don't want -- >> extra safe. >> energy, too, you want to conserve. it's cold, certainly feeling christmassy this #óúemorning, n looking like it, don't have any snow. we did h predawn north and west of the metro area but they are now leaving. we have some clouds, a little bit of sun trying to illuminate the high clouds looking off towards virginia. live view from our tower camera on this sunday morning. hour by hour temperatures, near freezing by 10:00, near 40 during the afternoon with the cloud cover and staying near 40 overnight tonight as well. right now storm team 4 radar showing some of these flurries and light snow, that area is far to our north and west and tracking away and pulling away from the metro area. hour by hour into tonight this area you see in the green, this is where we could get some rain into the shenandoah valley and northern and western suburbs around 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning, then the rain continues for the morning commute on monday. by 9:00, 10:00 in the morning much of it pulls east of the metro area, sunshine breaks out by late morning and during the afternoon tomorrow and milder temperatures moving in as well. we will have highs on monday the low 50s, tuesday and wednesday partly sun with highs in the upper 40s. then turns much colder on thursday and friday, partly sunny both days and cold mornings, afternoon highs may be a little bit above freezing. on saturday morning some wet snow, maybe a light accumulation on grassy areas, then it changes to rain in the afternoon and into saturday night and perhaps in the morning hours on sunday some rain and in the 40s and then dries out sunday afternoon. cold again into following week, to get a little wintry mix that following tuesday. that's the way it looks. >> tom, thank you. you never expect to tdodge deer here. rke da duo that gave a 7:55 now is your time. many military kids have one wish for christmas, to bring mom or dad home for the holiday. that christmas wish came true for four brothers in massachusetts. their dad an air force sergeant surprised his family moments after they asked santa to bring him home. he had been stationed in turkey along with his family but they were forced to leave because it was just too dangerous there. dad wasn't the only surprise, the family dog also made the trip home. that's so nice. >> i love it. anybody who has grown-up in a military home knows that that's the worst when your parent has to go and do a tour of duty anhe spa dad. >> that's right. give it to me. oh, we're talking about the deer. pennsylvania this is where this happened. take a look, they were caught on camera here running, you can see one of them actually makes it through that plastic barrier, the other one takes off through another exit. this was at a car wash, that was posted on a facebook page in philly. hopefully the deer are okay. it looks like he hit that thing pretty hard, but they just wanted a little bath apparently. i don't know if that's what you call a relaxing spa day. >> very fascinating what happens with those animals. 7:56 your time. here are four things to know. two weeks before christmas multiple families in fairfax county will be looking for a new place to live after a devastating fire, dozens of people displaced after flames destroyed part of an apartment building on richmond highway. it happened last night. 160 people dead after a roof collapse on to worshippers in nigeria. at a church there. the state government saying it will investigate to see building's standards were compromised. 38 people dead after a pair of explosions at a soccer game in istanbul. close to 200 hurt. so far ten people have been arrested in connection with the attacks. and president-elect donald trump expected to pick exxonmobil ceo rex tillerson for secretary of state. >> got a lot going this weekend in the forecast. >> cold sunday, a little sunshine right now, but it's going to be all cloudy during the afternoon with highs around 40, maybe a little freezing rain far north and west of the metro area late tonight and next weekend is when we could get a little snow. stay tuned. >> we will be ready. see you in 25 with an it's a great honor. it means a lot. >> after a few weeks taking selfies in the woods. >> god speed, john glenn. >> justice hasn't been served yet. good morning and welcome to "sunday today" i'm willie geist. donald trump won't be sworn in as president for more than a month but he's already fighting with his top intelligence agency. trump mocking the cia over its report that the russian government did in fact interfere with the presidential election and did so to help trump win. did putin really sway the vote, and why is trump taking on his own spies? we'll get into that and questions about trump's likely pick for secretary of state.

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