. i'm thankful for everything in my life. i just want to be here to help other people. >> all across the area, volunteers are working to make sure everyone has a happy thanksgiving. good afternoon. thanks for joining us. i'm mike hydeck. a special thanksgiving feast for the homeless is just now getting under way in a unique location. for the first time ever, it is being hosted on the grounds of the u.s. capitol. andrea mccarren joins us there live. andrea? >> reporter: mike, it is brutally cold out here. that just underscores the need for events like this, not just on thanksgiving but year round.

a springfield, virginia ministry called lucas is volunteering to host the event. some of the volunteers have been up since 3:00 in the morning cooking meals to serve as many as a hundred people. joining me live now is -- you know, people don't expect to end up being homeless. here you are celebrating a historic event. tell me why this location is so symbolic? >> as we take a look at the capitol itself, it's such a symbol of power and not just in our nation, the until, but also worldwide. and to have something like this where people that are coming from all -- all kinds of walks of live, broken hearted, homeless, or may not know where their next meal is coming from or maybe didn't sleep on a pillow last night, bringing them here to -- >> reporter: you're bringing

the powerless to a seat of power. tell me your ministry? >> we feed the homeless on a weekly basis, on sunday nights and saturday mornings just so that we can maybe finish their late night or bring them up in the morning with something warm that they may not have been able to have. >> reporter: something that should be done year round. i know you work on that year round. thank you so much for being with us. best of luck with the event today. mike, happy thanksgiving to you as well as all of our viewers. back to you. >> to you as well, andrea. hopefully they can keep warm. it's not going to be easy today. many of you have been preparing your thanksgiving meal during the parade which you just saw right here on wusa9. but thousands of our neighbors are too sick to cook this holiday season. the good news, they can still actually host a dinner at their own homes thanks to thousands of volunteers. delia goncalves spent the morning at food and friends.

1300 volunteers, 9 hundred turkeys, 3500 thanksgiving meals complete with all the trimmings. the cooking started early. creating the culinary challenge, the executive chef. >> it starts on sunday. we have an incredible kitchen staff to help with this and the best volunteers in the world. >> reporter: i joined in early this morning as volunteers wrapped up the turkeys to be packed up and delivered. >> it's not really about the turkeys. heaven knows there will be a lot of turkeys, almost a thousand pounds of turkey, 13 -- turkeys, 13 pounds of other -- 13,000 pounds of other food but it will be the volunteers that will knock on the door and give the holiday meal. >> reporter: the director craig schneiderman says this mission, his passion, is about healing the community through commitment, from council members to clubs like burgundy

crescent and platinum dreams motorcyclists. >> i'm grateful for everything in my life and i want to be here to help other people. >> for a lot of people who are sick, they are usually the guests, they're not the hosts. they're dependent upon the goodwill and generosity of friends, of neighbors, of family. and what these volunteers are doing today means that our clients, these people who are sick will sit at the head of the table. >> reporter: and with a $50,000 donation from wal-mart, food and friends can deliver these meals today that will not only feed the body but the soul of our sick neighbors. in northeast, delia goncalves, wusa9. taking care of the less fortunate is a priority for many institutions here in the d.c. area. mile an hour yum's kitchen -- miriam's kitchen is one of them, dedicated to making sure everyone gets to heat a hot meal that needs it. workers and volunteers started serving breakfast at 6:30 this morning and they will start their dinner service at 4:45 this afternoon. chef steve is miriam's -- says

miriam's is about more than just feeding people. >> the key here at miriam's kitchen is we get people to sit down for a great meal and once we get them to sit down for a great meal, our great case management team takes over. our goal is not just to give them a great meal but to get them off the streets and get them a home. >> miriam's uses fresh meat and local organic produce. much of it is donated by farmers and grocery stores. this afternoon the president is taking the time to thank our troops overseas for their hard work. >> we give thanks for the freedoms they defend, the freedom to think what we want and say what we think to worship according to our own beliefs, to choose our leaders and, yes, criticize them without punishment. >> and this is video of our troops in kandahar, afghanistan, having their turkey dinner. of course they got the turkey and all the trimmings. just a few minutes ago, wusa9, many of you watched the annual thanksgiving day parade from new york city.

organizers were worried that the winds were going to be a major issue and possibly keep the balloons grounded, but they were able to lift off just as planned. this year's parade featured four new balloons. a new snoopy and woodstock, another sponge bob square pants and adventure time with fin dn and jake and -- finn and jake and toothless. there were manning bands and celeb -- marching bands and celebrities as well. it was really quite fun to watch. a lot of shoppers aren't waiting till tomorrow to start shopping for the holiday deals. a handful of stores are opening their doors today, including k- mart which has been open for business since 6:00 this morning. toys 'r' us gets things cranking at 5:00 p.m. wal-mart and best buy will open at 6:00 p.m. target, sears, jcpenney and many macy's stores will be joining the crowd at 8:00 tonight. well, if you plan to do shopping today or tomorrow, jessica doyle has a rundown of the hottest deals. >> reporter: we've been

tracking black friday plans for months now and these are some of the top deals we found available on black friday or even right now online and in stores. we're going to start with tablets. the caveat here is some stores will only have a few of these deals. just keep that in mind when you head to the store. target is selling this deal on the ipad air. it's only saving you 20 bucks but you're getting a $100 target gift card with purchase. it's an in store only deal. if you factor in the $100 gift card, then the black friday price is 24% off apple's list price. you don't tend to find apple deals often. that's a good one. you can get the nook hd tablet for $79 at target as well. it was $129. staples has the kindle fire hd tablet for $79. it used to be $199. and wal-mart has been selling the 5d for $45 for a month now

with a contract. starting at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow, you can also get a $75 gift card to go along with it. the samsung galaxy s4 is the hottest android phone right now and the 4g smart phone from at&t, sprint and verizon is free at best buy. you need to sign up for a two- year contract in order to get that deal. and we're going to wind a tv deal some people are saying is going to break all records this year. target is going to sell the element 50-inch high deftv for $299. this is in stores only. we want to wish you a very happy thanksgiving. jessica doyle, wusa9. right now d.c. police are investigating two shootings that were just blocks apart this morning. the first one around 3:00 a.m. on barnaby terrace in southeast d.c. there a man was shot in the chest. then moments later on woman was shot in the leg on southern avenue. police say both victims are in stable condition. police are trying to see if

these two incidents are indeed related or not. a local family is out of their home this afternoon after a massive fire there. this is all that remains of the house at lieu was cril -- lucasville road in manassas. flames started about 4:00 this morning. two adults made it out alive. two dogs, however, did not. the house is a total loss according to investigators and the fire marshal is trying to figure out the cause at this point. more problems with the affordable care act website. small businesses will have to wait a year before they can use the federal website to purchase health insurance plans for their employees. it was supposed to happen by the end of this month but more technical problems are holding things up once again. the obama administration says the tech team need as full year to complete the fix on this portion of the website. >> it was important for us to prioritize the functionialty that would enable consumers individually to shop and enroll

online. >> the white house is rushing to meet its self-imposed sunday deadline for the rest of the website. the obama administration is aiming for 50,000 people to be able to use healthcare.gov all at the same time. barbecue for thanksgiving? you bet. we're in the kitchen with our friends from hill country arbecue in just a little t.bi stay wit. h us >> after the break, the incredible video after violent storm tearing apart a school during this j

welcome back. check out this incredible individual crow from inside a middle school when a tornado hits. the debris raining down from the walls and ceiling, the gymnasiums and the hallways at soesuthw ternlemidd olscho in lafayette, indiana. the storm slammed into the school on november 17. fortunately that was a sunday. so no one was in the school at

the time. well, while you're eating turkey this thanksgiving day, nasa scientists will be looking at the sky. that is because a comet is hurdling toward the sun as we speak. so scientists will be watching carefully to see if it survives or disintegrates into pieces. if it does survive, we could be in for a celestial show this holiday season. >> we see these nice clouds moving around the sun and then the comet will exit, go up above into the northern part of our sky, and will become a very nice nighttime comet right around christmas time. >> if the comet survives, the closest it will come to earth is about 40 million miles. it's expected to happen on december 26. well, after the break, spotting bogus charities this holiday season. we have some tims for you. howard? -- some tips for you. howard? it's cold out here. we have a breeze. we have temps struggling to get

out of the 30s. right now we'll take a look at the temperatures. you see it's only 33 in germantown. 37 in manassas. 36 in bowie. we'll talk about the chill and how long it's going to last and i'm looking ahead toward the weekend. wusa9 news will return in just a moment.

if you would like to give

joy to families who need some help, we have an easy way to do it. go to wusa9.com. look for the give joy on the right hand side about halfway down. click on the blue box. you can give a gift to a needy family, make a donation or send a virtual card. the holiday season as we've seen many times over brings out a lot of good in people but also brings out crooks looking to take advantage of people who think they are giving to a legitimate charity. andrea roane has a great way to spot the imposters in this afternoon's call for action. >> reporter: in the next few weeks you'll probably receive a lot of solicitations from charities, so how can you make sure your charitable donations are used for the stated purposes? wusa9 call for action director shirley worker is here with important -- rooker is here with important tips to help you decide whether it's really a charity or a fraud. welcome. these solicitations come in so many forms, i have my greeting

cards, my mailing labels, and i don't know how i even got on these lists. am i obligated to pay for these labels i got in the mail? >> no, in a word. anything that's unsolicited, that matter whether it's from a charity or any other kind of business, you do not have to send a payment. however, sometimes you do want to make a donation to a charity, but the thing is you have to be careful. you have to make certain that in fact it is a charity and you need to go to some of the sources that can tell you whether or not it's legitimate. they can tell you how they spend their money. do they spend it all on administration advertising? it doesn't leave money for the stated burn. >> you want to know how much of the donation you're making is going to the charity. you're saying there are resources where we can find that out? >> there are a number of organizations that actually do watch over charity. they rate them. they will tell you what their budgets are, how they spend their money. really critical that you do that before you make a donation. >> always good information from

sharly. don't be -- shirley. don't be guilted into donating to one of these and doing something you don't want to. for more information, go to wusa9.com and click on the call for action link. it has been a chilly thanksgiving in spite of the sunshine. we've got a breeze out there. you saw the temperatures in the low to mid-30s in most spots now. we're going to make a run upper 30s to near 40 but it's not going to feel that great due to the breezes which will be dying down as we go through the afternoon, especially toward the evening. 35 at 5:00 but with lighter winds and you see how light they're going to get 2, 3 miles an hour, they'll go calm overnight. that will allow temperatures to fall into the upper 20s. upper 20s near town. look at this. these are the wind speeds as of noon. still gusting 20, 25 miles an hour in many spots, gusting over 30 in atlantic city.

south and west, we don't have the wind gusts. they're starting to lay down a little bit and i expect that to be the case as the afternoon wears on. right now, though, mid- to upper 30s. we have 37 for easton. actually 41 in orange well to the south of us and 32, still freezing in cumberland and hagerstown and only in the teens in the mountains. very cold out there, 3,000, 4,000 feet and above. bright sunshine on our michael & son weather camera. notice the scaffolding getting lower and lower as they're removing that from the washington monument. probably will take another couple of weeks. 37. feeling like 29 though so windchills in most spots are in the 20s right now with the north, northwesterly wind at 13. gusting still over 20 miles an hour. the air really has dried out. the dew points in the low teens now after all that rain. some spots even over 3 inches from the system. you can see it pulling away. that's the front with it. as the cold air comes over the atlantic, you with these clouds here off the great lakes. now we're looking at the lake effect snow streamers popping in the cold air. just a weak clipper coming

across wisconsin and michigan. that's about the worst weather in the country. you look elsewhere, there's very little going on and a storm system spinning off the california coast, maybe a couple of sprinkles trying to get close. i don't think they're going to make it. and that's it. so really good heweatr. i know a lot of folks travel today as well and some folks traveling tomorrow. showers in seattle, 49. salt lake tomorrow looks good. denver looks good. l.a. looks good. the whole southwest part of the country looks good. we'll be warmer today -- or tomorrow than today. minneapolis fine. chicago 34. dallas sunny and 60. florida 60s and 70s. maybe some snow showers in buffalo and cold in the northeast. but i-95 corridor looks great if anybody is traveling for friday. 39 today. tonight we're in the 20s with light winds, low 20s away from town. tomorrow 41 with a light north wind and then still chilly saturday, a few more clouds, 43. sunday we're going to warm up into the upper 40s. then mid-40s monday and tuesday and back in the upper 40s

wednesday. a relatively quiet pattern. we're going to be back. it's thanksgiving. we've got turkey barbecue style coming up [ male announcer ] now's the time to give yourself

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to give yourself the ultimate technology gift today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v so how is your turkey thanksgiving preparation going? have you goofed anything up? we have a fail safe and great, tasty options n. is market chef jim foss from the hill country barbecue market. the great thing about it is one, you're open today so if somebody has goofed up a dish, you can come to their rescue, right? >> we will save the day, absolutely. >> they're at penn quarter. first things first, gosh, this turkey smells amazing. why is it different than any other turkey?

>> well, ours is special for a couple different reasons. number one, it's been brining for two days in a butter milk brine. and we import all of our wood from texas so we only use texas- - >> you smoked this turkey for five hours? >> right. five hours basting it with butter to give it the golden brown skin. it's one of the most incredible turkeys you'll ever eat. >> one of the focuses is they want to be able to help you take some store bought things and give it extra zest. >> i found out, it was interesting that 80% of americans buy store bought cranberry sauce. so what we have here is just, you know, average store bought cranberry sauce, not in a can. we're just going to customize it. i'm going to ask for your help. what we have are great warm spices. we have cinnamon, clove, nutmeg. we have some crystallized ginger which gives it a nice

different flavor. some orange zest which we're definitely going to put some orange zest in there. >> i think that taste is absolutely terrific along side the can berry -- cranberry. >> you can pick this up at any mark. you don't want the white part of the orange. >> you can get all of these from hill country. you can get bourbon-- >> bourbon sweet potatoes. >> my personal favorite, green bean casserole of course. you can get that right from the market. >> absolutely. >> how much time do we have? okay. excellent. we have about 45 seconds. what else are you add something. >> i put that ginger in. we're putting our dried apricots in, golden raisins, and some dried cherries. >> and just before we go, this is unbelievable. >> what we're going to do is very quickly take specialized whipped cream for our dessert.

we have bourbon and sweetened whipped cream. we're just going to mix that up real quick and also just kind of gives it a unique flavor as opposed to your average whipped cream. >> thank you. if you need something at the last minute, hill country barbecue is the place to get it. penn quarter. i'm mike hydeck. happy thanksgiving, everybody. >> happy thanksgiving. see you back here tomorrow. zçzçtó

>> victor: what's going on? >> nikki: i have this odd feeling that things concerning me have been happening that i know nothing about. >> victor: who have you been talking to? >> nikki: i had a visitor today. you won't believe what diane said to me. and now, victor, i need to know, what have you been hiding from me? what in the world is going on? >> diane: michael. thanks for coming by so quickly. >> michael: please tell me you didn't have another run-in with victor. >> diane: no, better -- nikki. >> michael: oh. she came over and read you the riot act? >> diane: oh, hardly. i went looking for her. >> michael: why would you do