the l'enfant plaza. pat collins joins us with more of firsthand accounts of what happened today. >> reporter: sparks, smoke, stuck in a subway for nearly two hours. fear factor, washington style. >> just sitting on the glund, just scared. we pushed the emergency button and nothing did happen. >> reporter: confusion. >> what happened? >> call metro police. >> reporter: followed by long waits and dimly lit metro subway cars. tales of fear from passengers on what's been described as the orange line incident train. >> explosion. explosion. you could feel -- heard the

impact and you can feel the rocking of the train as the explosion went off. >> you see this big old flame and then the train stops in the tunnel. >> all of a sudden we smelt smoke and lights went out. >> i started worrying. i was shaking. >> reporter: it happened around 9:45 this morning near the l'enfant plaza station. and this, this is the troublemaker. it's called a friction ring. it is part of the braking system and fell off a blue line train and hit the third rail and disabled two orange line trains that were following behind. those trains come to a sudden stop. hundreds of people stuck down below, frustrated by the silence from metro. >> we sat there for 30 minutes solid before anyone came through and gave us any information. nothing was said. we were pressing the button

trying on get someone to say something. no one said anything. there was smoke on the train. people were coughing and choking and no one communicated anything to us. >> reporter: scores of fire and rescue workers deployed. metro service between l'enfant and smithsonian station shut down. some people trapped for nearly two hours. ebony broadwater took cell phone pictures of her escape. she, like many passengers, walked through the tunnels illuminated only by glo sticks. >> there were twlirs that we couldn't step on. there were boxes in between the tracks we couldn't step on. and we had to crawl through with glo sticks to get through tunnel. they were making sure we didn't touch any tracks. >> reporter: no one seriously injured today. those trains are back on schedule. metro says that it is going to investigate the incident and its response. doreen, back to you. >> okay, pat cole united states reporting from downtown d.c. thanks, pat. another day of

ineffectiveness on capitol hill. republicans are arguing with democrats and each other and the house is arguing with the senate which is actually already gone for holiday break. in the midst of all of that, a tax increase for millions of american workers looms. brian mooar is live on the hill now with the latest on the payroll tax battle. >> each side is betting that the other is going to cave in or take the blame if taxes go up. senate's payroll tax cut extension slammed into a republican roadblock in the house. house republicans are trying to shame vacationing senate democrats back to the bargaining table. >> i need the president to help out. >> reporter: house speaker john wayne boehner refused to direct vote on the senate bill. instepped sending it to a conference committee. president obama accused

republicans of brinksmanship. >> the clock is ticking. the time is running out. if the house republicans refuse to vote for the senate bill, or even allow to it come up for a vote, taxes will go up in 11 days. >> reporter: not only will 160 million americans see tax increase 2.2 million people lose long-term unemployment benefits. 48 million seniors could lose medicare doctor reimbursements. republicans are demanding a one-year extension. not just 60 days. >> fixing something for two months is not fixing something. >> reporter: democrats see other motivations. >> an excuse. they never wanted the tax cut from the beginning. >> reporter: on capitol hill, high-stakes drama with real-life consequences. >> speaker boehner has negotiatnegotiatative oefficial -- named negotiators

for a negotiation that may not happen. best day of the month so far on wall street. dow jones industrials gained 337 points. nasdaq up 80 points. and the s&p 500 closed 35 higher. the day's numbers were a result of positive signs from europe and an increase in apartment construction in the u.s. severe storm is slamming five states. but our weather couldn't be much better. doug kammerer is in the storm center with details. >> not when you are talking about the mid to end of december. we are talking about temperatures in the 60s. today we hit a high temperature of 55. at the airport we are sitting at 60 degrees. winds at eight miles per hour. we will see the winds on the increase overnight tonight and by tomorrow morning, we are going to see numbers very similar to what we are seeing right now. 41 in hagerstown. 46 in gaithersburg and 48 in manassas. still 50 degrees in la plata. very mild evening. we have not seen much in the way of rain today. all clear for the most part.

watch what happens when we widen out here and you can see shower activity to the west and even farther out to the west, we are looking at a big storm out there and that's the storm that produced 10 to 20 inches of snow as well as blizzard conditions and that's the one that's heading our way. let's show you how things shaped up out there towards garden city, kansas, with mike seidel. >> reporter: first blizzard of the season is wrapping up here in the high plains. the winds backed off and snow has diminished. not before we have seen eight to ten-foot drifts in colorado. at least six fatalities so far from a storm that hit parts of five states with winds upwards of 50 miles per hour. new mexico, gusts of 72. . here in western kansas, it was no bargain. this is garden city. not a lot of traffic out here this morning. roads have been plowed but they are icy and snow packed because what fell early yesterday froze and then we had the colder temperatures. running in the mid 20s and it is

going to stay cold right on through christmas so we are guaranteed a white christmas in this part of the world. maybe more snow thursday. just about everything today is closed at this point. except for the 24-hour restaurants. other than that everybody sitting tight. it is hard to go anywhere out garden city. most of the roads here in western kansas, oklahoma panhandle, northeast new mexico, us southeast colorado, if they are not closed, they are impassable. i'm meteorologist mike seidel with the weather channel for nbc news, garden city, kansas. >> thanks, mike. that same storm is going to eventually head our way in a much different capacity but not just that storm. we have into the one but two other storms that are going to follow. we will talk about what those storms will bring and how they will and they will affect your christmas. how they will affect the weekend coming up in a couple of minutes. the body of the late north korean leader kim jong-il lying in state. one of the first to pay his

respects today was kim's successor, kim jong-nam. is little known about the new leader except he's 28 years old. a state funeral for his father is set for next wednesday. closing arguments are expected tomorrow in the hearing of an army intelligence analyst charged with giving classified secrets to the website wikileaks. bradley manning was back in court today at ft. meade. investigators say he provided the biggest leak of u.s. secrets in american history by giving tens of thousands of classified details to the site. man sing facing 22 charges, including aiding the enemy. he faces up to life in prison if convicted. after some contentious debate d.c. council gave final approval to far reaching ethics reform bill. the measure would force more disclosure on spending and campaign contributions and a three-member panel will investigate and person ethical wrongdoing.

tom sherwood joins us to explain what this means. >> what this means is clear. ethics or the lack of them are causing a lot of problems in city government. with both council chairmen kwame brown and ward five council member harry thomas jr. facing separate federal criminal probes, thomas' house was raided by the fbi recently. the council for months struggled to write a new ethics law. >> this amendment lays out the procedure. >> reporter: chairman brown tuesday offered the amendment to allow for the first time council members to vote to expel any member in serious ethical cases. ward 5's thomas under grand jury review for allegedly misspending $300,000 in city funds on himself sat quietly as the chairman introduced the amendment. >> let me state clearly expulsion should be used for cases in which the council determines that the violation of laws in the most serious nature including those violations substantially threatens the public trust. >> reporter: council voted to force more disclosure of campaign contributions and funds raised and spent for

inaugurations, transition committees, defense funds. and created the three-member ethics panel to investigate and punish ethical wrongdoing. council also voted to reduce from 80,000 a year to 40,000 a year funds that could be privately raised to supplement their council offices. some members had wanted to ban those accounts outright. >> i think you -- basically you are just -- establishing today that this is council slush fund and we use it from political purposes. >> reporter: the ethics bill authored by ward 4 member passed easily after sometimes contentious debate. some citizen activists are vowing to keep it as a central issue in the upcoming campaign. >> regardless of what you think of the bill it is implementation. okay. we are creating a new board of ethics and government accountability. there is no money in the budget. >> city contractor should have to disclose giving corporate contributions and i think the companies you should know who is behind the companies that are

funding political campaigns and i think that more on the best politics. >> on the final vote ward 6 council member tommy wells was the only member to vote no. despite all the improvements he said it should have been a lot tougher. >> tom sherwood, thanks. still ahead on "news4 at 6:00," a student picks up a friend near the american university campus this morning and ends up getting carjacked. american woman who served more than a decade in a peruvian prison returns to the states. president obama marked p end of the war in iraq at a special ceremony in maryland. >> festival of lights kicks off tonight with the lighting of the national menorah. dan, what's coming up in sports? >> capitals getting ready for another big game against nation i will have tonight at verizon center. it is a milestone night for one of their leaders. the redskins. finally back to having some fun. and a monday night football, lights out literally. for the

special ceremony today marked the end of the war in iraq. president obama invites president binden welcomed home the top commander of u.s. forces in iraq at joint base andrews today. chris clackum reports now on today's symbolic ends to a nine-year conflict. >> at about the same time president obama was at andrews air force base to greet troops and the official return of the u.s. colors that had flown over

baghdad for nearly nine years. anxious families and spontaneous applause greeted those arriving home from iraq. at the airport in baltimore. >> so hard not to see them. >> cared for this way and people appreciate what we are doing for the country. >> reporter: these were the last of the u.s. air force personnel to leave iraq. some with huge plans for the holidays. >> actually get married. that's my big plan. >> reporter: back at andrews the president did not speak publicly but his presence spoke volumes about the end of the u.s. war in iraq. >> today i am proud to safely return our colors to their rightful place, the united states of america. >> reporter: general lloyd austin was the last commander of u.s. forces in iraq and sent military operations there had come to a successful conclusion. he being praise order the military's rank and file.

>> as you reflect on your service in iraq, please know that your sacrifices were instrumental in liberating and oppress -- an oppressed people. >> reporter: some of those the president greeted at andrews were among the last u.s. troops to leave from iraq. chris clackum, news4. >> holiday travel rush is under way now. despite the uncertainty in our economy, more americans are expected to take to the air and roads to celebrate with their family and friends. travel experts say there are still last-minute flight deals available but you should expect most flights to be filled to capacity through new year's. tonight is first night of hanukkah and just over an hour ago national hanukkah menorah was lit during a ceremony on the ellipse. the traditional potato latke was given out. hanukkah is the jewish festival of lights and lasts eight nights. there are events throughout the area each night.

to find out more visit nbcwashington.com. >> barely have top coats on for the menorah lighting ceremony. >> why you need them. >> just not natural. >> not natural at all. >> to be this warm. >> but i like it. >> 12 degrees above average. >> you like it. >> i do. >> i would like to have it feel more like christmas to tell thank you truth. >> wouldn't you? >> yes. >> mother nature is saying no. not going to happen. last year so cold. this year we have been so warm. really just the opposite of what we saw last year with the cold and snow by this point. and right now i don't think we see any snow in the entire month of december. it is still too early. we will talk about that later. out there right now, another very nice night. i mean, really these evenings have been fantastic. temperature today, 57 degrees. 12 degrees above average. average high is 45. that was the low this morning, 45 degrees. the average low is right around the freezing mark.

well above that and 70% of december, that's 14 out of 20 days have been at or above average. it has been amazing how warm we have been. we are only going to get warmer the next couple of days. 50 degrees at the airport. wind out of the southeast at about 8 miles per hour. we are going to see those winds shift out of the south and that's going to help to warm things up overnight. we are going to go down and maybe a couple of degrees, 48 now in gaithersburg. 48 in manassas. right now culpeper coming in at 45 degrees. look to the south. stanton 5shgs 4. charlottesville, 53 degrees. that's the warmer air that will continue to push in overnight and temperatures may be warmer when you wake up tomorrow morning. 41 in hagerstown. 34 in state college. you see we have a frontal boundary here. front right now is draped across the area. most of the rain has been to the north of that front. north of the mason/dixon line. most of us have stayed on the dry side today. we told you to take the umbrella today in case. you probably didn't need it. i bet you will need it during the day tomorrow. we have a better chance of rain there. here is the rain we saw along

the frontal boundary and just to the north of that front. a few showers back towards west virginia. we will see a couple of these try to move over the mountains but not going to be able to do so. you need the storm to produce a little bit of instability. that storm is out towards the west. you can see it spinning out here and ahead of it we have a lot of moisture. that's the moisture that's going to come in during the day tomorrow. expect to see shower activity during your wednesday. it is not going to be a washout. what we will see is very warm temperatures, gusty winds, upwards of 25 miles per hour. and we may see a rumble of thunder or two. best chance of that south and east of washington. there's the front. right now across the area. tomorrow here comes the area of low pressure. that's going to give us that lift we need to get the showers going. expect showers during the day and they will be off and on all day long. mild conditions. i think some areas could see the low to mid 60s during the day tomorrow. another extremely warm day. as the front moves on through, we will cool down a little bit on thursday. not much. temperatures still around 60, i

think. we will see maybe some sunshine early but then we will start to cloud up ahead of the storm number two. i told you, not one, not two, but three storms. this is storm number two coming in on thursday night. watch what happens here around 2:00 a.m. some heavy rain around the i-95 corridor. fortunately most of us will be sleeping through this storm. it will be fairly fast mover. and by friday morning, it is just about out of here. back side of this does have some cooler air. again, coldest air is still bottled up towards the great lakes. we don't have any chance to any kind of snow through most of the holiday weekend. cloudy and mild this evening. dry for most of us. few showers to the north. 48 to about 54 degrees are in some spots. tomorrow morning, i think we will go down a little bit. 40 degrees early. then i think rebounding quickly. we will see a chance for shower activity early tomorrow morning. those showers will continue and see showers likely light to moderate throughout the day. not an all-day rain event. light to moderate showers. breezy and warm. winds gusting upwards of 25

miles per hour tomorrow. helping to produce those 670-degree temperatures. 61 on thursday. late-day rain. most of thursday will be dry. just about all of friday will be dry. saturday, we also have dry right now. high of 48 degrees. and then we are watching a storm on sunday. of course, sunday is christmas p. temperature now 51 degrees. on the back side there will be colder air. latest on this storm could have a lot of rain associated with and it behind it, we actually on monday i'm going for our first 30-degree temperature day so far this season. how about that? coming up on thursday, which i am hoping will be dry, we have our holiday lights if you wabl us to come out to your yard once again next year. e-mail us at weather@nbcwashington.com. we still want to see those lights because we are continuing to get submissions. we will be in somebody's front yard. this time we are going to the district. >> are we putting the pictures on the internet? >> to the internet, yes, we are.

nbcwashington.com. not just the internet. somewhere. er in -- they are on our website. the d.c. mayor has a new plan for the historic will con theater. [ female announcer ] more people are using wireless devices... in more ways than ever.

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plane crashed this morning in new jersey and killed all

five people onboard. including a family from charlottesville, virginia. the victims included a couple and their two children who had holmes in virginia and manhattan. the national transportation safety board says the pilot talked with an air traffic controller about icing just before that crash. the plane took off from teterboro airport bound for georgia when it crashed 14 minutes after takeoff on interstate 287. nobody on the ground was injured. an american woman convicted of helping rebels in peru is back on u.s. soil now for the first time in more than 15 years. lori arrived at newark international airport earlier today along with her young son. she was convicted in the '90s of helping guerrilla rebels by renting them a home and served 15 years behind bars. she is now on parole and allowed to come home for the holidays. she has to return to peru next month. major motion picture being used to help get an historic theater back on its feet. the lincoln theater on u street is in financial trouble.

the district has been pouring money into it to keep the doors open. next year the arts commission begins oversight of the cheat are but the group is already developing a plan to make it financially viable. the first venture, a four-week run of the movie "the girl with the dragon tattoo." it is sponsored by landmark theaters and opens tomorrow. >> real important for the next four weeks for everybody to come to the theaters and then based on a number of people that come, we would provide this opportunity not only to landmark because we believe in free enterprise. we will invite reel regal and a a liquor store owner learns his punishment. >> had him by the collar with my own hands and i'm thinking -- is this a joke? who are you? who are you? >> a local college student tries

fight off a carjacker in northwest washington. a citizen work group weighs in on the city council's controversial water front redevelopment plan. their advice, coming up. >> i'm darcy spencer in northwest washington. it is not quite christmas but for more than 2,000 kids got an early christmas today thanks to bus drivers. >> "monday night football" going back to the dark ages. one capitals player ready for a

metro says it will inspect all 194 of its series 5,000 cars after a train part fell off this morning. a friction wheel came off of a blue line train and hit a rail. two trains behind it were damaged. this shut down service on the blue and orange lines between federal circle and federal center and federal triangle. all train services now back to normal. pay rom taxes will go up for millions of american workers if congress doesn't make a deal into the next 11 days. today the house rejected a vote on the senate's plan for a two-month extension and republicans demanded negotiations for a one-year deal. d.c. council agreeing to a series of changes in an effort

to overhaul the city's ethics laws and it comes as two council members faced federal investigations. a bill approved today would allow expulsion of a member who seriously violates ethics rules. it also forces more disclosure of campaign contributions and reduces the amount of money that can be privately raised by council members. police say they have arrested the man that trade to carjack not one but two cars in the middle of rush hour traffic this morning. >> this happened in one circle near american university in north west d.c. as news4's erika gonzalez reports the suspect was finally stopped thanks to a surprising source. >> her last year. this is -- the best stories i have, to be honest with you. >> reporter: joe kennedy and his friend natalie brown were headed home to maine for the holidays when miss say that they were carjacked by 40-year-old khan who according to authorities lives in northwest d.c. brown was picking up kennedy at his home on massachusetts avenue. she says she was standing near

the curb with the engine running and had the driver's side window down as she watched him load his bags in the truck. that's when she says -- khan dove, headfirst into her car and got behind the wheel. >> i had him by the collar with my own hands. i'm thinking and screaming is this a joke? who are you? who are you? he looks at me square in the face and doesn't say anything and finally manages to get it out of park and -- >> victims tell tuesday suspect behind the wheel didn't get very far. in fact, he traveled first through oncoming traffic and towards ward circle before turning on to nebraska and slamming into this tree and then blowing out the vehicle's tires. kennedy says he ran behind the car and saw the man abandon his friend's vehicle and tried to get into other people's cars who were traveling down the road. he lucked out. >> he got into one lady's car and tried to drive her car while he was sitting on her in the driver's seat and it was a stick shift so he couldn't get it in

gear. >> reporter: khan's luck quickly ran dry. >> then a dump truck driver got out of his car and went over to -- him as he's sitting on person and pulled him outappreh it under control. >> reporter: he's charged with carjacking but don't know the motive behind the crime. in northwest d.c., erika gonzalez. two college students say they plan on renting a car so they can continue their travel home for christmas. a prince george's county liquor store owner was sentenced today to nearly four years in prison for his involvement in an ex-torngs scheme with former county executive jack johnson. he was ordered to 46 months in police son and three years of probation. he operated several liquor stores in the county includitic liquors in hyattsville. he conspired to pay johnson in exchange for acts of liquor license and permit inspections.

new cameras are up now at carroll creek lindh yard park in frederick and police he that will help prevent crime. two new high resolution cameras are now recording 24/7 there. the park has seen a rise in vandalism and local police are hoping the added set of eyes can stop bad behavior. the city of frederick is paying $12,000 price tag. it is a debate gone on for years. what's the best way to redevelop the alexandria waterfront in old town? the council plan revealed earlier drew strong criticism and now as julie carey reports a citizen work group according to sort the issues out added its voice. >> reporter: the alexandria waterfront, what should be a place of beauty is in many spots an eyesore. model shows thousand city council envig it is redevelopment and warehouses are transform flood hotels and park space is expanded and linked. the parking lot would be open to the river but many residents

complain the city plan brings in too much development and including this group which staged the latest protest today. >> what we are arguing is the key point juncture in alexandria's history lets create more public places where everybody can go. >> reporter: the water front plan work group looking for compromise amid the controversies. today it delivered 142-page report that suggests the council should step back and study a variety of issues more completely before voting on the redevelopment plan. >> this was a proven concept. we still have a plan to implement and insufficient materials we felt in eight different areas to move forward in implementation. >> among the studies suggested a transportation management plan for union street which parallels waterfront. they say flood mitigation needs a closer look. so does environmental impact. 2 group did agree the city should back off any threat of using eminent domain to take over the boat club's parking lot. they suggest negotiation instead. but conclude that moving the parking lot is a key to beautifying the gateway to the

waterfront. >> at the same time we need to do something better at the end of our main street. it is a great street pete we need to mick eight better street where it meets the river. >> reporter: the work group report takes issue with the city council's assumption that these robinson terminal warehouses, two of them on the waterfront, be redeveloped first into boutique hotels or if not that office space. a city council vote on the water front plan is scheduled for next month. some council members seem reluctant to delay that vote in spite of the work group's suggestion for more study. >> i don't think we need to reconsider the timetable. >> reporter: julie carey, news4. a public hearing and possible council vote on that plan set for january the 21. passenger at reagan national airport was stopped after security found knives hidden inside of a book in their carry-on luggage. it happened yesterday as the passenger was trying to catch a flight to chicago and tsa officers say the knives were throwing daggers that measured more than half a foot. they were inside a book that had been hollowed out.

the passenger voluntarily handed over the book and knives and was not charged. still ahead in broadcast tonight had how you will be able to watch the super bowl on your phone. >> putting smiles on children's faces at a local school. >> sending best wishes and happy christmas to my family in maryland, my

good afternoon, everybody. welcome back. i'm meteorologist doug kammerer. watching a very mild evening outside right now. temperature of 50 degrees. winds out of the southeast at about 8 miles per hour. we are watching a storm system that will bring us rain. we will bring a couple of showers up towards the north for the most part and continue to see a slight chance of a sprinkle through the rest of the overnight hours but the rain down around memphis and atlanta. that's what we are starting to see a system take shape and will make its way to the north and east. that will bring us rain during the day tomorrow. it will also don't pump in some very warm air for this time of year. high temperature tomorrow of 62 degrees. washington. 63 in laplata. 66 in fredericksburg. to north frederick, maryland, 57 degrees. martinsburg, 58. expect rain tomorrow. expect them in the shower form. it is not going to be an all-day rain. we will see showers from time to time. could even be a rumble of

thunder or two. not expecting anything strong. your four-day forecast 62 tomorrow. then 60 on thursday. another storm moves in. that storm will move in late thursday night and into the overnight hours and should be out of here by friday. right now friday and saturday looking dry. i cannot say that, however, for the whole holiday weekend. i will share that with you in a couple of minutes. breaking news right now out of gaithersburg. ten-inch water main break on north summit avenue. chopper 4 flying over the scene as crews do work. could take four, six hours to complete the repairs there and we are told several apartment complexes nearby are affected. >> tonight nasa scientists are looking into whether there could be life on two new planets discovered in our galaxy. nasa says the telescope spotted the planets which are about the same size as the earth. kepler 20-e and 20-f orbit a star outside of our solar system that resembles our sun. some scientists say temperatures

as high as 1,, 00 degrees the planet surface is just too hot to support life as we know it. >> as we know it. you never know. dan hellie is at the verizon center with hockey action. >> yeah. more than just hockey to talk about. the wizards up in philadelphia. one final tune-up this season. at verizon center it is a

metro bus drivers are making it a special christmas for a

group of d.c. elementary school students that threw a party today for more than two dozen kids. darcy spencer reports now, the gifts were just what the children wanted. >> reporter: christmas is still several days away but santa had a special delivery for these elementary school students. eugene on the gott the bike he wanted for christmas early thanks to some metro bus drivers. you feel pretty special having them do the for you? >> yes. >> reporter: he was among the 257 students from the elementary school in southwest d.c. who were selected for the special christmas party. >> a lot to me. because the operators do a great every single day. just the look at the kids' faces to see how it warmed their hearts and want to help them have a better christmas than they would have already had. it is great thing. >> reporter: the school reached out to the children's parents finding out what they want and that's what they got. price wasn't a problem.

>> we got ipods and we have all the bicycles, learning games. really expensive dolls, skateboards. >> reporter: the idea is to give these kids a special gift and something they may no find under their own tree come christmas morning. the children first ate slices of pizza, sip order juice and one by one they gave santa, also a bus driver a high-five. and opened their presents. >> it feels very, very good. i have been here for 12 years. i watched these kids grow. it feels very good. the smiles on their faces makes me happy. >> reporter: the children were happy to be singled out for the special treat and get the gifts they wanted most. what you would like to say to the people that did this for you? >> thank you and have a merry christmas. >> reporter: darcy spencer, news4. >> those children got a ride to the party and back to school on, what else a metro bus.

little gift from nbc. you will be able to watch the nfl wild card games and the super bowl online and on your cell phone. the nfl said today that the games on nbc will be available on nfl.com and cnbc.com. you will be able to watch highlights, additional camera angles and live stats. the super bowl is february 5 and can be seen here on news4 or your ipad or iphone. >> i don't know. one of the last shared events that we all watched together. >> 55-inch screen. >> we don't need another reason to be staring down at our device. what do you think, dan? >> staring down at it right now. i think everybody has one. have to -- played that one well. talk capitals tonight. really trying to get back on track. it is one of the writers said they are just not playing good hockey. if the regular season ended now, the capitals who are an 1 -- in 11th place wouldn't make the

playoffs. one of the major problems has been no offense. over the last three games they have not scored more than one goal per game and are taking on a red hot nashville predators team. shaking up the lines. putting in new guys up there on the first line with ovi. it would be very nice to see the capitals get a win and to see mike knuble play well. he is playing his 1,000th game. wearing the jerseys for warmups, everyone wearing number 22. knuble getting in on his 1,000th career game tonight. special three-game ceremony coming up in a few minutes. 39-year-old made his debut back in 1997 with the red wings. he played for five nhl teams and will become the 269th player in nhl history to play in 1,000 career games. he's really peaked as of late.

after his 30th birthday, 241 of his 271 career goals. the man of honor. >> sums up the whole career, you know. you see the amount of games played. very happy about it. looking forward to tonight. and like i said, after tonight it will be over and start building that number up again. >> a special moment because he is such a good guy. you know, he's -- he's always got a smile on his face. he has a great family. it is a good night for him. we want to give him a special -- little more special for having a win. >> that's impressive. he has been there. he is a great guy. i'm just happy for him that he has been able to play this many games. only guy who -- knows how it is

to ply a -- play a thousand games. >> everybody is celebrating number 22 tonight. all the fans going to get a number 22 mike knuble, quite an achievement. 1,000 nhl games for the grizzled veteran, mike knuble. shortened workweek for the redskins with the vikings coming up on saturday. for the first time in forever, the redskins are favored in game. favored by almost a touchdown over the minnesota vikings. they did get a piece of good news. josh wilson passed his concussion test. he does expect to play. wilson, santana moss, among the players that say things feeling a lot better around redskins park lately. >> something we needed. we have been working hard. and -- just to get -- rewarded for what we have been doing, week in and week out, you know, gave us the feeling we needed. >> there has been a -- our focus. no question on us to go out. you know, not in a playoff

situation. you know, we are going out and having fun and playing football. last week against new york. pressure was on them. they were -- in first place in the division. for us it was just about going out and having fun. trying to get a win. >> i feel they are getting back into the groove of things. being more comfortable. just being loose. you know. not caring about the records and everything, the stats, and all of that stuff. you know, obviously it is a stat league. we want to go out and play for each other and just, you know, like we are playing music now. being loose. that's what it is about. >> it is amazing what one win will do for you. monday night football, steelers at the 49ers. a power outage at candlestick park before the game. it delayed the start of the game by 20 minutes. first quarter, ben roethlisberger hobbling but looking for mike wallace. that injured ankle did not do him any good.

positive intercepted by carlos rogers. sixth interception of the year. he had eight in six seasons for the skins. also pretty unbelievable in the second quarter. how about this? power goes out again. 15-minute delay. there is a state of the art $1 million stadium in the works in san francisco. vernon davis can't wai for that. he had a good game, too. he played with a guy nicknamed lights out. he also catch's one-yard touchdown in the third quarter. gives san francisco a 13-3 lead. niners go on to win 20-3. they are now 11-4 on the season. talking hoops. wizards in philadelphia. wrapping up the abbreviated preseason. we learn ad short time ago nick young will be coming off the bench. just got into town a couple of day ace go. he will be playing in this game. flip saunders wants to see something. anything positive from this team after they got thumped by the sixers in their first preseason game on friday.

it was ugly. lockout rush. readily a pair for the wizards who looked like they were playing in a charity game. turned the ball over 20 times. 6 of those turnovers from john wall. shooting not much better. the guy shot just 33% and andray blatche, the only player in double figures, head coach hoping to flip the script tonight. >> we are trying to clean up things. not a matter of us trying to get better each day. and -- it is tough because when you have the guys, you know, mueller is knew. we are trying to integrate these guys already a shortened camp situation. we are just trying to get better at the things we didn't do very well. the things every coach says to do the win, do those things. >> going to be a long season for the wizards. everybody is well aware of that. get the capitals going out here verizon center.

taking the nashville predators. one of the hottest teams in hockey now. ain't going to be easy but there is going to be a celebration. knuble playing in game number 1,000. >> let's hope they win for him tonight. thank you. coming up next, a little boy's attention to detail may have led to the world's first santa friendly chimney. >> for all your news be sure to [ child ] it's so cool! you can put a force field on him and be invisible! [ child 2 ] i call first player. no. i already called it. [ dad ] nobody's playing anything until after we get our homework done. thank you. hello? test drive's not over yet. [ male announcer ] it's practically yours. [ louder ] hello? but we still need your signature. right now during sign then drive,

it's never been easier to get the all-new passat, the 2012 motor trend car of the year, for practically just your signature. that's the power of german engineering. visit vwdealer.com.

zoo's newest resident has been splashing around there since november. it didn't have a name.

now that giant pacific octopus will be called pandora. 10-year-old trinity kimberly submitted the name in the" kids post" contest. the pacific octopus is the largest species of octopus in the world. you can visit pandora at the zoo. zoo coopers expect pandora to grow ten times bigger than what you see right here within the next year. >> it is hard to get a perspective on her size. i think that's a stuffed animal. >> be careful if you buy one of those. >> hi, doug. >> hi, doreen. >> got a check on the -- final check on the weather forecast. >> are you ashamed of the forecast? >> i -- i -- it is going to be warm over the next couple of days. that's the good part what we are going to be seeing. we are talking about three storms that are going to make their way in. one tomorrow and one thursday night. and then another one the looks like it could make its way in time for christmas.

showing you where the rain is now. that monster system that brought all of the snow towards colorado and western kansas is really dying out right now. another system taking shape around memphis and starting to bring up rain from the gulf of mexico. shower activity most of us will continue to stay on the dry side this evening. a few showers overnight into tomorrow. here is what's going on. here is why we are continuing to stay warm. we have the jet stream, normally this time of year talk about the polar jet. that's the one that comes right out of canada and on down through the nation. that one producing cold temperature in denver, minnesota, over towards chicago, but the southern branch of the jet stream coming out of the pacific and picking up gulf moisture as the one that will con to warm us up over the next couple of days. very warm. houston, atlanta, washington, miami, i know this interests you, doreen. i know you are excited about it. four-day forecast, 62 tomorrow. 60 on your thursday.

and 53 saturday. 48 on saturday. and 53 sunday. dry friday and saturday. most of thursday will be dry. storm will come late thursday night. sunday does look like we will see a good chance of rain. there could be enough cold air on the back side to see a couple of snowflakes out there but this storm still one to watch. still very interesting. that's the one that will bring the polar jet down from canada and arctic jet and a few others. >> more about this available on the website. >> yeah. >> thank you, doug. a 6-year-old boy that lives in england, his family will move into a new house next year. a house that's under construction right now. leo was concerned about whether santa would be able to fit down the new chimney. he sent a letter to the developer telling him he was worried that santa would get stuck in there. the builder changed the design a little. the next thing you know santa claus was strap ordped on to a e to perform an official chimney test. young leo was on hand and watched the