a memorial for a family murdered. a 7-year-old girl, her older brother and their mother all dead. police say their father is the killer. and after some distractions this week, president obama is back to pushing for his top priority, health care reform.

good morning, everyone. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm eun yang in for keith garvin today. it is sunday, september 27th, 2009. let's get right to the forecast meteorologist chuck bell's up in storm center 4 with the latest. you promised rape and we certainly got it. good morning, chuck. >> we had plenty of rain across area over the last 24 hours. it was dry 24 hours ago. since then we'vead about an inch ago of rain across the heart of the washington metro area. now luckily as we're getting ready to start your sunday, the heaviestnd steadiest of the rain is gone. not a completely dry forecast for today but it won't be anything like the rainfall we've seen late last night, into this morning. there on doppler, the heaviest of the rain is pulling out. temperatures right now in the low to mid-60s so it's a mild start behind the rain showers. rainfall amounts 1.6 at national airport. almost 1 1/2 in quantico and springfield, also in clinton, maryland. 1 1/2 inches in annapolis.

a couple of lingering showers first thing this morning. can't rule out a brief, passing shower this after nn but by and large most of our sunday afternoon will be mild and dry, eun, with temperatures back up in the 70s. >> thank you, chuck. police say they are trying to determine what led a father to kill his family in mt. air y, maryland. they say charles dalton sr. murdered his wife and two children before killing himself. one of the kids, 14-year-old charlie, was a junior volunteer firefighter. he volunteered for the very squad that ended up responding for calls to help at the dalton home. darcy spencer talked with firefighters about the teen. >> reporter: at the mt. airy volunteer station, firefighters spring into action after receiving a call, but here they're doing their jobs with heavy hearts. a junior firefighter, charlie dalton jr., was killed at the hands of his own father. it was a murder-suicide that left an entire family dead.

>> i think he had been a junior member for about two years, a little bit less than two years. he was a likable kid. he was enthusiastic about his activities here at the mt. airy volunteer fire company. >> reporter: police say 38-year-old charles dalton sr. called his wife jennifer and hire two kids, 14-year-old charlie and 7-year-old emmaline. each was shot once. they were found in their beds, the bodies discovered inside their home on friday evening. police say dalton took his own life, his body found on the floor next to the bed in the master bedroom. >> people in the neighborhood just are trying to put the puzzle pieces together. we just haven't fured out how this could have happened. >> reporter: police say dalton was a self-employed cabinet maker and carpenter and was a night shift maintenance worke with montgomery county schools. jennifer dalton worked at a veterinary hospital in damascus. so far, police have found no clear motive for the murder-suicide. >> just a shock. just, you know, the only reason my little girl got to sleep last

night was she was exhausted from crying. >> reporter: emmaline was a second grader at twin ridge elementary school. charlie's fellow junior firefighters were told about his death at a meeting at the fire station friday night. >> we're going to miss charlie. he was, i think he was going to become a good member for us in time. >> reporter: even the family dog did not survive. police say the beagle was found shot dead inside his kraet just inside the door of the dalton home. police are still trying to figure out why this all happened. a suicide note was not left behind. in mt. airy, maryland, darcy spencer, news 4. >> crisis teams will be at the schools where the children attended when they're back in session on tuesday. a lightning strike has killed a maryland teen attending college in north carolina. john sackit of annapolis died near wrightsville beach in north carolina. he was a freshman at unc wilmington. sackit was swimming. witnesses saw him struggle and

go under after the lightning strike. rescuers performed cpr but could not ve him. maryland is reporting its eighth death blamed on the swine flu. the state's department of health and hygiene says the young man from the baltimore area is the victim. this is the first swine flu death in the state involving a child. in the latest in homegrown terror arrests, president obama is praising the new york city police department for disrupting a possible terrorist bombing plot aimed at commuter trains. he called into a briefing between the nypd and homeland security to thank the police for their outstanding work. the american-born suspect is in custody in new york city today. officials say najibullah zazi was close to pulling off an attack in new york, the city where he grew up and worked as a coffee cart vendor. zazi lived in denver most recently. he was cause on surveillance tape buying gallons of chemicals at a local beauty supply shop. federal agents believe he was

going to coincide an attack. >> he's a new yorker who ran a coffee cart, a nice guy, a smart guy, articulate guy, an engaging person. this is someone you would never suspect as a terrorist. those are the worst kind. >> counterterrorism officials called zazi their firworst nightmare, a homegrown suspect who knows the city, can blend in and can travel in and out of the country easily. after a week focused on international issues, president obama is again pushing for health care reform. president obama attended the annual congressional black caucus's foundation dinner last night at the washington convention center. he told the audience that there is an urgent need to pass health care reform, saying the country has been waiting for reform since the days of president teddy roosevelt and harry truman. >> now's the time to offer stability and security to americans who have insurance. now's the time to make it

affordable for those who don't have health insurance. now's the time to slow the growth of health care costs for our families and businesses, our government. >> tuesday, the senate finance committee is expected to resume debate over its version of the health care bill. they spent much of last week sorting through more than 550 proposed amendments. that bill would cost roughly $800 billion over ten years. this morning on "meet the press," former president bill clinton will share his thoughts on health care and all the major issues facing our nation. he sat down with david gregory for an exclusive interview. you can watch it this morning at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. the road to richmond heads right through northern virginia today. gubernatorial candidates creigh deeds and bob mcdonnell will both be campaigning in our area. deeds, a democrat, will be speaking this evening at the arab america institute's night. tom davis will attend the dinner

as mcdone el's surrogate. mcdonnell will be at an ice cream social. 6:07 is your time. now 63 degrees. up next, highlights from virginia tech's showdown with miami and a look at the full sunday forecast with chuck bell.

so it started drizzling in the middle of the day and it wasn't that bad. >> perfect napping weather, wasn't it? >> last night, though, man, it came down. >> as advertised. we knew it was going to rain hard last night and it did. most places about an inch and a half of rain over the area. we really needed it. it had been a fairly dry september. we had not had more than an inch of rain on a single day since the third walk of august. we turned that around last night. another quarter of an inch since last night. right now under a very low overcast outside this morning, it is a mild start to your sunday. as you see, the washington monument standing tall. look at that. you can almost see the top of the monument. we all know how tall is the washington monument, eun yang? >> i don't know. >> oh, eun, oh. remedial class for you. 555 feet, 5 inches. an easy one to remember. 63 degrees. it is an easy one, once you know it, that is. 63 outside right now.

the wind is calm. there you can see our copious amounts of rainfall across the area. bring up those other factoid. the last time washington dropped below 50, may 19th. i bring that up because, obviously, we have a chance of dropping below 50 degrees here in the washington area before this work and school week is through. for you folks out in the shenandoah valley and west virginia, definitely in the 40s by the middle the of the week. temperature has picked back up to 65 degrees downtown, 64 in prblg prince george's. here's a check of radar. light sprinkles and drizzle across the area first thing this morning. theeavier showers are now pushing away from us. still a few more scattered showers back across parts of west virginia. we'll keep an eye on those. can't give you the l-clear from the rain chances for your sunday afternoon, but most of your sunday will be rain-free. temperatures in the mid-60s now. dew points also in the 60s so it's a little touch of humidity out there first thing this morning. that will be going away later on this afternoon as cooler, drier air really starts to push in. another upper level disturbance now just moving over cincinnati,

ohio. as that pinwheels through here today, that's the reason i can't give you the all clear later on for today, but the heaviest and the steadiest of rains, they are now gone, away from us. so no more than a brief, passing shower. nothing that's going to ruin your outdoor activities today. overnight tonight, skies clear out, a sunny start on monday. by monday afternoon and evening, a fast-moving weather front brings clouds back in. another pass for a passing shower late monday afternoon and tonight. for today, we'll call it a mix of clouds and sunshine. a warmer day than yesterday with temperatures back up into the 70s so that will feel nice. again, i can't rule out a passing shower today and again late on monday but a little touch of october shows up and just in time to turn the calendar as well. highs in the 60s to near 70. lows, i think, our chance to drop below 50, our best chance in washington will be thursday morning. >> thursday morning. >> be ready for a real touch of fall. >> i'm not sure i'm ready for that yet, chuck. >> got a great sweater vest jacket thing on. you'll be fine. >> sweater vest jacket thing.

you put all the possibilities out there so you'll be ready. >> that's correct. it's a nice blouse. >> the virginia tech taking care of business in a rain-soaked game. hakem dermish has this morning's sports minute. >> good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with college football. in blacksburg yesterday, 11th ranked virginia tech hosting 9th ranked miami. the hokies had no problems with the hurricanes. ryan williams ran for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns. tech downs miami 31-7. in college park, maryland turned the ball over five times against rutgers. the terps lose it 34-13. maryland has committed 13 turnovers in four games and fall to 1-3 for the first time since 1997. in annapolis, navy taking on western kentucky. navy's qb ricky dobbs had a field day, rushing for four touchdowns. navy finished with more than 470 yards of total offense. the mid ship men top the hilltoppers 38-22. in baseball, nats and braves, atlanta scored four runs

in the first inning and never looked back. the braves win big is 1-5. atlanta has won 14 of their last 17 games. meanwhile it was loss number 102 for the nationals. later today the redskins take on the lions at 1:00. that's your sports minute. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> next up on nbc 4, "reporter's notebook," an inside look at the stories affecting your community. we'll be back in 15 minutes with the morning's top stories and your sunday forecast, but for now here's pat lawson muse. >> good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. we start this morning with metro general manager john catoe and his contract. it has been renewed. metro's board made the decision on friday. this decision comes following a lot of controversy and some debate about whether catoe should stay or whether he should go. the decision is to renew his contract for three more years. the controversy over his contract, of course, has

intensified, had intensified in the wake of the deadly crash in june. and the host of otherroblems of other problems that have been plaguing metro. another three years. are you surprised by that? >> no. i'm not surprised at all. >> no. i don't think any of us here on the panel are surprised. on the other hand, i think there was some discussion about it, obviously. there's a lot of buzz about is this guy up to the job. why are all these things happening now? i think a lot of people think -- at least in my reporting i get this -- that he seems to be competent, maybe even much more than coetent, but he's had a horrible series of circumstances in his -- on his tenure, especially with the most recent deadly crash. the question is if more is found out about the crash that reflects badly on his judgment then he could be in trouble, but nothing like that has come up. >> dave makes a great point because we do not have the final report from the national transportation safety board as to the cause of that accident, but we do have strong recommendations for improvement

of mant nabs along the line, along the track system, particularly those systems which indicate there are other trains on the way. there's one particular instance where there was a piece of equipment that was replaced that required the signal strength to be tweaked, if you will, after that replacement procedure which apparently did not happen. so, there are a lot of unanswered questions. mr. catoe's gotten his contract renewed, i guess, for another three years. and again even if there are lower level people in his bureaucracy who are responsible for some of these breaches, ultimately he will bear responsibility. >> but the fact is that i think one of the problems here, catoe's going to have to tighten the reins because we're talking about maintenance problems. we're talking about managerial problems. mid management has been a problem with metro. the other instances you speak of, pat, besides the crash that killed nine people last spring, the other instances are little

things like people driving without licenses, people driving with a suspended license, people are being -- bus drivers hitting people. it's mid-management. until they tighten some of the reins they're going to continue w s only have problems. >> big problems. >> the instance of the bus driver driving and having a problematic record and the accident she was involved in, yet it looked as if things were moving along and they weren't taking action to take her off her job. things like that, they may be single instances but they bother people. >> i think there were some image problems because we had operators that were texting and using their telephones. >> right. right. >> maybe not lot of instances but enough to cause concern. again, if you have image problems, those things have to be addressed quickly. >> getting back to the crash itself and the national transportation safety board's recommendations, they are urgent safety recommendations made by the ntsb about the train control

system that is the focus of the crash in june. there'still no official cause, but the ntsb says a possible design anomaly in the automated system could have led to the crash. equipment in the train control room near the ft. totten station sent the false signal to the crash avoidance system, saying the track was clear when, of course, it was not clear. this has sounded a safety alarm here and across the country. what about metro's response to that, and what's your reaction? >> safety alarm to the point that the union representing the drivers and maintenance people of metro have said that they want metro to continue to operate on that small -- what is it, the manual -- the manual level. >> yes. >> the manual mode. they do not want to go back to any kind of automated mode until this problem is really corrected. and in addition to that, across the country, this says an awful lot about our transportation system. >> i would add, speaking of across the country, they haven't

narrowed down every other jurisdiction that has this exa same system but they do suspect in baltime, boston, other large cities the same system is in operation. so it gives them pause. not to mention, mr. catoe has on his plate the idea of the threat of terrorist attacks within these metro systems which are prime targets. that is one of the other things he certainly has to keep an eye on. >> the big issue here, budgets. have they had enough money? should they have applied the money better? should they have asked for more money? >> let's talk about the virginia governor's race. late friday morning or early friday afternoon, virginia's former governor doug wilder said he is not endorsing anyone for the governor's race. that includes the democrat who's running for governor, creigh deeds. what does that mean and what kind of impact will that have on creigh deeds? >> well, it's certainly -- certainly a backing that deeds would desperately want. wilder said that both men are capable and able, but he is troubled by deeds' positions on

taxes. as i understand it, and also on guns. so he can't endorse him. he won't endorse mcdonnell either, but as i said, he thinks they're both capable. this has to be alow to the deeds organization. >> i think -- i think it's really interesting politics that are being played with these governors races. we hear even the obama administration is somehow involved in the new york governor's race. we have a former governor of virginia not willing to endorse a dlt candidate. seems to me to be a pretty big deal. now, some of the support that, as i say, kaine got as a democrat, that deeds is not able to get, many say that the economic issues that mcdonnell has been addressing regularly have not been put forward in a way that people can grasp exactly what he intends, particularly in terms of taxes. >> on this program, we have said over and over about this virginia race that issues would play a very, very important part, especially transportation. and especially jobs. now, mcdonnell has run his

campaign on jobs. he's supposed to be the jobs candidate. now the whole squawk is over the best transportation plan. >> and taxes and who's going to raise taxes and who won't. >> i'm leading to that, the fact that how it's going to be paid for. deeds has come out last week and said, well, if need be, i have to raise taxes. mcdonnell, being the republican, is saying, well, no, we're not going to raise taxes. there's a battle right there over the one key issue in virginia, especially northern virginia and that's transportation. >> two points. first, you go back to ten doorsmentes. it's true. if you don't get an endorsement it is often argued -- endorsements don't make that much difference anyway, but they provide a base, provide momentum, they can be a help. that said, the other issue involves the way the campaign is going and whether or not deeds can supp plant mcdonnell by saying he's better on education, issues, that he doesn't depend on the fact that he thinks his opponent is out of step on abortion rights and things of

that nature which, because of this term paper that was written by mcdonnell, has hurt him. the question is can mcdonnell maintain the momentum he has? >> we ve to take a break. we'll be right back.

welcome back. the icc takes its toll. the new 18.8 million track between montgery county's i-372 corridor will be a toll road when it opens. the maryland transportation authority's approved preliminary plans that could cost you up to 35 cents per mile at peak hours, cost for the average trip up to $2.35. cost for the entire 18-mile trip if you make it one way, $6.15. a lot of money here. >> if i can get from i-270 to bwi airport in less time than it

takes going around the beltway and everything else for $2.70, i think most drivers have no problems with that because i look at this new toll road, this any idea in tis particular area as maybe a threshold to what we're going to see from now on with these new transportation projects. somebody's got to pay for it. the public is certainly -- >> there's a lot that's new here for this particular road. for maryland, no tollbooths. all collections will be electronic. the amount you pay will depend on the time of day you pay. >> peak and off-peak. >> you can use an e-z pass or fly on through, have your picture taken andet yr toll bill in the mail, plus a surcharge, of course. >> convenience. >> they have that technology in place from people running the red light so just take a picture of your tag and send you a bill. but i think that to jerry's point, i'm not so sure that the idea of the toll as the

pre-eminent movement toward new transportation infrastructure is going to be the "it" thing. think about how long we've been hearing about a commuter tax coming from virginia. >> that's a different ball game. >> how so? >> you're talking about a commuter tax. >> we're talking about raising -- >> charging somebody to be somewhere. it is. >> that's true. but there's a big difference between the district of columbia and the relationship of congress and what happens in virginia or maryland. >> wait until congress starts thinking about this. i don't know. we have a program of national, local and municipal highways because we had toll roads in the early parts of the country. everybody had his road and charges for it. said this isn't working, we can't get anywhere. we have to have a central highway system. you pay for it through your taxes and it's free. a lot of people will say my taxes should cover this. i'm not so thrilled about new tolls. >> they may not be thrilled with tolls at this level. for a round trip, $11.25.

>> that's a lot of money. >> they're still taking public comments on this so it's not a done deal. >> do we remember them saying this was going to be a toll road when they proposed the icc? maybe they did, but i don't. >> the tolls won't stop the budget ax from falling in prince george's county. the county is about to lay off as many as 125 workers in the next month or so. 85 general employees and 40 health department workers will be laid off because prince george's county is facing a $22.7 million cut -- cut in state funding. there was also talk this past week about possible teacher layoffs in montgomery county. both counties facing really, really tight budgets and having to make some tough decisions. >> yeah, there might be 40 axings, 40 people losing jobs in the health department. that's another problem. people say they're really being -- jack johnson and company are being closed mouthed about the effect of these cuts and not letting people know how

big the cuts will be or where they're going to take place. people think that should we more clear. that that's not a good idea. >> this song has been on the charts for the last year. we've heard about major cuts in maryland. we've heard about furloughs being recommended. heard about how o'malley has tried to juggle the act. it's come down to the point now that prince george's county is not getting the state funds that it used to get. last -- what, couple of weeks, maryland stated it would not give these funds to the counties. sothis could mushroom into howard county, anne arundel county, all of the counties in maryland because maryland is broke. >> should they get some roads and put tolls on them to make up? >> that might help. >> you are half joking but this is a problem that we're seeing nationwide. >> exactly. there's no money. >> state budgets are challenged. therefore, t localities and the counties' budgets are being restricted by the funds they expect from the state.

nobody is going to be brave enough to say that we're looking and have to seriously consider raising revenues by way of increasing taxes in some way, shape or form. it's a hard thing to do in an economic downturn like we're experiencing, but from somewhere, somehow, new revenues have to be generated. the housing market is inching up a bit. we may see some adjustment there over the next couple of quarters. that's a long way off. one thing iill add. he said no sworn public service officers would be impacted by these cuts. >> to your point, we're still penny-pinching all over. everyone is saying let me get the last penny. we need to find ways to bring new revenues in these counties. >> last queion i want to ask you about is code, an official code of ethics for the district. council member vince gray wants to merge -- introduce this as an emergency measure on tuesday. of course, it's in the wake of the investigation, ongoing investigation of council member

marion barry's use of city funds. >> yeah, well this is face-saving, critics say. there's another phrase, another part of the anatomy you might use what you'd cover to do a thing like this. that's what a lot of people say. a lot of people say it's high time the city did it, the district did it. they are not free-wheelers, freelancers down there. once they are elected, they have certain standards. >> makes sense to codify these things. the good thing that comes out of this is the general council may now be the ethics officer for the city council. cod be a good thing. >> i hope -- with the counsel, i can see it happening in the council. i would like to see a good code of ethics, too, for the employees of the district of columbia government. >> thanks, guys. thank you for being with us this morning. that's "reporter's notebook." stay with us. "news 4 today" continues. crime scene tape replaced by

a small memorial outside a home where a family was murdered. two children and their mother killed. now investigators are trying to figure out why. plus, the man accused of murdering four people near longwood university told a cab driver that he has piqued the interest of police. and new scandal involving misplaced and even mixed up embryos. why this clinic has shut its doors. good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. if it's been a wet morning. we want to get the weekend forecast, the rest of it with chuck bell up in storm center 4. good morning. >> good morning, eun. good sunday morning, everybody. off to a very wet start across the area. most of the rain is done but there are an awful lot of puddles and wet sidewalks to deal with on your way out the door early on this sunday morning. there you can see the low clouds still hanging right over the city of washington this morning. here's a check of doppler.

the steadier, heavier rains now moving across the eastern shore. a few showers toward richmond and petersburg. isolated showers across central west virginia. temperatures this morning nice and mild compared to yesterday. a real mild start. temperatures in the low to mid-60s right now. on average an inch and a half of rain late last night, into early this morning. another chance of a brief passing shower coming up later on this afternoon, but by and large most of your sunday is going to be a dry day, turning warmer and breezier than yesterday as well. temperatures, eun, back up into the 70s this afternoon. if you can't find that umbrella after last night, probably going to be all right for most of the day long today. >> thank you, chuck. grief counselors will be on hand next week at the frederick county schools attended by two young murder victims. police say their own father killed them, along with his wife. they are still trying to figure out why. megan mcgrath talked with children who knew the victims. she has more now from mt. airy, maryland. >> reporter: in this quiet mt. airy community, friends and neighbors are trying to make sense of the unthinkable as they

struggle to understand the makeshift memorial out front of the home grows. coming with her mother, sarah brought flowers for her friend and classmate. >> mama told me this morning that she was dead. i, i -- i had a little bit of tears coming down because she was one of the best people i knew. >> reporter: 7-year-old emmaline dalton, her 14-year-old brother charles and her mother, jennifer dalton, were all found dead in their beds friday. police believe charles dalton shot his wife and children as they slept, even killed the family dog, then turned the gun on himself. investigators were called to the home by a co-worker who came to check on the family after jennifer dalton didn't show up for work on friday. neighbors say it's all hard to believe. >> just sweet, great kids. very devout church-going family.

so, people in the neighborhood just are trying to put the puzzle pieces together. we just haven't figured out how this could have happened. >> reporter: according to neighbors, the home on contour road had been on the market for well over a year, but they say there were no signs of trouble. >> they were nice. very spiritual people, very religious people. the stones down the walk have verses from the bible on them. and so it was the last -- it was the last thing you would think of. >> reporter: while state police have ruled it a murder-suicide, there are some questions like why that may never be answered. in mt. airy, megan mcgrath, news 4. >> we're learning more about the california man accused of killing four people in virginia. a cab driver says richard sam mccroskey told him he had a fight with his girlfriend over a text message she received from another man. police arrested mccroskey at the richmond airport the next day. they say he killed his girlfriend, 16-year-old emma

niederbrock and her parents and her friend. the murders happened at a home near longwood university. the cabby also said he told him he expected to make up with his girlfriend. a major safety initiative undertaken by metro after june's deadly rail crash is being called a pr move this morning. metro has touted its efforts as a way to move the older cars to the center of the trains, but "the washington post" has uncovered documents in which metro's safety chief called the initiative a means to address public perception. according to the post, no engineering analysis has been conducted to determine whether there is a scientific basis for metro's claims that moving cars around helps in the event of a crash. the u.s. and its allies will demand unfettered access to the newly discovered nuclear facility in iran. that is what a senior obama administration official says. iran says a new facility won't be operational for 18 months so no u.n. rules have been violated. the country's nuclear chief told state tv that iran will allow the u.n. nuclear agency to

inspect it. meanwhile, iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad says this is all a move designed to turn public opinion against his country. a developing story we're following this morning, acclaimed director ran polansky has been arrested in switzerland on a 31-year-old u.s. arrest warrant. he fled the united states in 1978, a year after pleading guilty to unlawful sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old girl. he has since spent most of his time in france and poland, countries unlikely to extradite him. organizers of the zurich film festival says polansky traveled to switzerland to receive a lifetime achievement award for directing films such as "china town" and "the pianist." the arrest comes three days after the death of susan atkins wloshgs was convicted of kling polansky's ex-wife, actress sharon tate. family and friends gathered together for the funeral of annie le. she's the yale grad student found murdered at a university

lab on the day she was supposed to be getting married. miguel almaguer was there for the moving ceremony. >> we are a family that nobody wants to join, but yet we are bound together because we share something that nobody else -- >> in other news now, there is a disturbing new scandal this morning involving frozen embryos and in vitro fertilization clinic in a louisiana has shut down after admitting its staff mislabeled or misplaced frozen embryos belonging to about 100 patients, this news coming on the heels of an instance where one couple's embryos was accident aally implanted in another woman's body. the louisiana clinic insists no embryos were wrongly implanted. doctors say such mix-ups are rare. an attorney is already seeking a class action suit against the new orleans clinic, claiming errors have affected

not only her clients but dozens of others. hundreds of families who lost loved ones serving our country attended a special ser moan oi the west lawn of the capitol. the fourth annual time of remembrance honors america's fallen in afghanistan and iraq. it took place yesterday. the families in attendance say the event allows them to meet n otrs who lost loved ones in service. they often can't see their family member for several weeks. and she also says most people who attend don't tal about how their loved one died. instead, they talk about how the loved ones lived their lives. it is now 6:38. still ahead on "news 4 today," the unplanned s.n.l. moment that has the bloggers buzzing this moment. plus, tens of thousands are counting down to u 2's show. what metro is doing to make their lives easier. and when conan plans to get back to the set of "the tonight show."

it will take more than a little head injury to keep conan o'brien out of commission. "the tonight show" star says he will be back at work tomorrow night. production on friday night's show was stopped when o'brien hit his head during a stunt. a rerun aired instead. nbc is not giving a lot of details about what the stunt involved, but o'brien released a statement making light of the whole situation.

in case you missed it, "saturday night live" returned lastnight. >> i'm here to apologize for my speech on wednesday. it was just so long and so rambly and it didn't make any sense. i watched the tape and i was like, who is that guy? but allow me to explain. >> it's nice to know that when moammar gadhafi makes a rather untraditional speech, someone is there to spoof it. it mocked the libyan leader on its season premier last night. actress megan fox hosted. snl is celebrating its 35th anniversary. during a sketch at the end of the show, a new cast member inadvertently let a four-letter word slip. oops. ♪

u2 provided the music last night on saturday night live. bono and the boys will be here in washington tuesday night performing at fedex field. if you're one of the lucky fans going to the concert, you can count on taking metro to morgan boulevard station on the blue y line near the stadium will stay open an extra hour, until 1:00 a.m. the market will be looking to rebound on monday after giving up some ground this week, but the release of some key economic indicators may point traders in another direction. for a look at the week ahead in business, here's cnbc's bill griffeth. >> reporter: as we end one fiscal year, nearly $1.5 trillion indebt, we begin a new one with jobs, housing and the economy in focus this week. the labor department is expected to show more jobs were lost in september but at a far slower pace than earlier in the year. we'll get a pair of reports that are expected to show home prices are still falling but as they do, pending home sales -- those deals already agreed on but not yet fennelized -- are expected

to keep rising. a look at the nation's economic growth, a reading on the gdp will likely show the u.s. economy shrank by a little more than 1% between april and june. on thursday, as we roll into october, automakers will tell us what kind of impact the end of the cash for clunkers program had on sales. the smart money says without the thousands in government givebacks, sales were not as robu robust. the international olympic committee will be choosing the site of the 2016 olympic games. the four candidates, tokyo, madrid, rio and the hometown of president and mrs. obama, chicago. in fact, the first lady will be in cope an hagen for the announcement of that decision. i'm bill griffeth. get all your business news on cnbc, now celebrating its 20th year. >> do you think it's going to rain for the u2 concert? >> no, it's not. i'm very optimistic. it will be chilly for the 80,000 plus but it will gee good weather, i suspect. a chance for rain coming our way before your sub day is through.

don't go away just yet. a complete check of today's forecast and a look down into the week which starts the beautiful month of october. all that's coming up.

the fight against breast cancer went airborne this week as participants in jump for the cause brought awareness wle trying to break a record. they broke a record this saturday at the end of a week-long event, with 181 -- look at that -- participants from 31 countries, and they set another record by raising more than $900,000 for breast cancer

research, the most in history. what an amazing sight. >> that's great. one guy with a crazy pink parachute out in the front there. >> so amazing. thrilling event. i don't know if i'd do that, but for a great cause. you get to raise money and break a record. >> i've got a very strict rule about jumping out of a perfectly good airplane. i would like to try it some day. >> you would? i have no desire. just looking at that petrifies me. >> i've got all kinds of people volunteering to help me skydive but throwing me out of the plane, but i -- >> they're lining up to push you out. >> that's right. 757 full of people, i'll give him the push he needs. but i don't know. i just don't know if i could make that last step. a lot of commitment. >> too risky for me. >> could i write a check? >> exactly. you can. they take your money. >> of course they do. you don't have to risk your life to donate money or to raise money for a good cause. >> but that was fun. >> did look good. our weather is on the way up for today. no doubt about that. after a very wet saturday afternoon and aoggy saturday night, we're off to a damp start

this morning but the heaviest and the steadiest of the rains have pulled out of the washington area, and i mentioned it earlier. can't give you the complete all dry for the rest of the day forecast, but most of the day long will be dry. although we're off to kind of a sloppy start out there first thing this morning. under a mostly cloudy sky, still a little light rain and drizzle coming down across downtown washington where our current temperature sits at 65 degrees. the wind remains calm. rainfall, yeah, that was a nice drink from mother nature, wasn't it? 1.61 inches of rain at reagan national airport. there's some cool weather coming ouway. the last time we dropped below 50 degrees was back in the middle parts of may. we're going to be close to the 50 degree mark in washington, downtown for a couple of mornings this week. you folks in the western suburbs, shenandoah valley, get ready for some really chilly starts as we get toward the middle of the week. temperatures dropping into the 40s. there may even be a little scattered frost across parts of central west virginia. so the change of season is under

way. 65 here in town now. 64 in prince george's county. 66 for annapolis and also down into calvert and st. mary's counties. 55 in culpepper. upper 50s west of the blue ridge, toward winchester and martinsburg. radar shows a couple light sprinkles across montgomery and howard counties and maryland, one or two lonely raindrops in southern calvert county. mostly dry conditions, mostly rain free. the ground is still very, very wet out there. temperatures 60s right along the eastern seaboard. 50s back off to our west. the real story, of course, is the humidity. a little touch of humidity out there first thing this morning, where our dew points are in the low 60s but drier air will be swilling in later on this afternoon. here's a look at the satellite and radar. look at the plume of moisture racing over the washington area late yesterday afternoon and overnight tonight. now you can see a nice little dry slot across the shenandoah valley and eastern west virginia. that's going to be our little break in the rain for later this morning and early this afternoon. but there's another little

impulse coming by that may generate another chance for showers later on this afternoon, but anything that comes down this afternoon is going to be short-lived, scattered, hit and miss showers. not those -- the solid soaker w had last night. by 8:00 tonight, everything should be going dry once again. skies will be clear overnight tonight and a clear start for your monday work and school day as well. but by monday afternoon, clouds racing back in and by late tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening we have another chance for some passing showers. again, not a soaking rain event but a 1/4 inch of rain as it blows by and ushers in a serious taste of fall-like weather as we get toward the middle of the week. today, plenty of clouds and w t wetness first thing this morning. noticeably warmer up into the mid-70s today. showers still a possibility but not a washout. your seven-day forecast, 75 today, 77 tomorrow. again, a slight chance of a passing shower tomorrow afternoon and evening, turning

breezy and much cooler. highs only in the 60s for tuesday and wednesday. only near 70 for highs on thursday and friday. i think thursday morning will be the chilliest morning of the week, at least in downtown where we may get back down below 50 degrees. >> so, jackets and fleeces for the kids? >> yes. a jacket, sweater or vest. >> penn state bitten by the upset bug at home. a late interception for the iowa hawke hawkeyes. virginiaech fans didn't have to sweat it out. the hokies defended their home turf against a top ten opponent. maryland was not as fortunate again. hakem dermish has this morning's sports. >> good morning, everyone. before yesterday's game against miami, virginia tech's defensive coordinator bud foster challenged his unit to start living up to the traditions of hokie defense. he posted a note in each of his player's lockers serving as a

reminder of where tech has been and where they are now. they have ranked in the top seven in the country in total defense. this season, 77th. that challenge is noteworthy. we're in blacksburg. here's that note at the bottom. it reads, you have the responsibility to uphold the tradition. hmm. all righty. first quarter. hokies on the doorstep. ryan williams gets the pitch here and dives in to the end zone for six. nifty. 7-0 hokies. williams finished with 150 yards rushing and two tds. next possession, let's go through the air. tyrod taylor connecting with boik inn. that's a 48-yard touchdown pass. 14-0 hokies. you've seen the offense. now let's see that defense. miami punting it away, or not so much. check it out. blocks the punt. matt ready scoops it up and scores. the hokies' defense allowed 209 yards of offense, 11th ranked virginia tech knocks off 9th ranked miami 31-7. >> it's just a fact. you didn't hear much about

virginia tech this week. you heard a lot about miami and rightfully so. i don't take anything -- it should be that way. but like i say, i'm proud of our guys. i'm proud of what we're all about here at virginia tech. >> virginia tech playing beamer ball there. in college park yesterday, turnovers torched the terps. maryland found themselves on the wrong side of the final score thanks to five turnovers against rutgers. the terps are now 1-3 for the first time since 1997. taking the field with a zealous attitude but they didn't start very well. five seconds into the game, chris turner throws and -- uh-oh. picked off by rutgers' antonio lowery. he returns it 36 yard force the touchdown. just like that, the scarlett knights have a 7-0 lead. second quarter now, maryland trails 10-3. here they come. turner throws right, to williams. slips a tackle and he's in. 24-yard score. terps tied at 10.

third quarter, terps up 13-10. deep in their own territory. chris turner sacked into the end zone. turner fumbles. rutgers recovers it for a touchdown. knights take a 17-13 lead. maryland has 13 turnovers in four games. fourth quarter gets worse. the handoff, goes around. terps having problems making tackles. 61 yards for the td. the terps fall 34-13. they are 1-3. let's go to annapolis. navy hosting western kentucky here. the goats didn't want to cooperate. first possession of the game for the midshipmen, ricky dobbs fakes the haoff, takes it 29 yards for the touchdown. scooting along right there. navy takes a 7-0 lead. dobbs finished with four you rushing td ns the ball game. then western kentucky answers. the freshman qb rolls into the end zone untouched, but check this out. high fives the official.

celebrating in style, hmm? the hilltoppers take a 14-10 lead. but navy comes right back. ricky dobbs fakes the handoff again, then delivers a perfect pass to cory financer tee for a 29-yard touchdown. navy had 473 yards of total offense. they win big 38-22. elsewhere, howard defeats georgetown 14-11. talking baseball now and the red hot atlanta braves are in town trying to improve their resume in the race for the wild card. the braves have won 13 of hire last 16 games -- check that. make that 14 of their last 17. top of the first, garrett match in some trouble here. diaz hits a soft chipper to field where pete orr charges and then -- this is never good -- throws it into the ground. that's an error. brian mccann scores. here comes escobar. the braves scored four runs in the inning. bottom five now, nats down 6-

mike morris pinch-hitting wh two on and this is what we call pinch-hitting in style. he delivers. crushed it high and deep to center for a three-run homer. his first homer of the season, nats cut the lead to two. thinking comeback. then in the ninth, the braves piled on. ron villone in the game. facing mccann. drives it to the upper deck in right. two-run home run for mccann, his 21st of the year. the braves beat the nationals 11-5. later today, the redskins on the road in detroit taking on the lions at1:00. that's all for your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> we'll be back in just a couple of minute was a look at the day's top stories and the forecast and news 4's "viewpoint."

good morning, everyone. i'm eun yang. welcome to "news 4 today" at 7:00. it is sunday, september 27th. a look at the top stories in just a moment, but first let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell up in storm center 4. has the rain gone away, chuck? >> the heavy rain has pulled out of the area, eun, but we are off to a very cloudy and a very wet start across the area. even without the rain coming down it's still quite soggy in the great outdoors.

you can see from our city camera picture, very, very gray conditions today in the washington area. a couple of light rain showers still in prince george's county and the eastern parts of the district of columbia. a few showers right along the northern neck and nestled up alongside the chesapeake bay. not any heavy rain left. that has pulled away. but a brief passing shower can't be ruled out this morning. again, a chance for showers later on today. most of your sunday will be rain free. temperatures in the mid office now after an inch and a half of rain. only a brief chance of a passing shower this afternoon. not another washout. >> okay. sounds good. thank you, chuck. in the news this morning, a small community is in mourning today after a mother and her two children were killed. a memorial is now set up outside the mt. airy home where the crime happened. investigators say charles dalton sr. killed his two children and his wife before killing himself. they have not said why. we're learning more about the california man accused of killing four people in virginia

a cab driver says richard sam mccroskey told him he had a fight with his girlfriend over a text message she received from another man. police arrested mccroskey at the richmond airport the next day. they say he killed his girlfriend, her parents and her friend. the murders happened at a home near longwood university. several streets will be closed for much of today for fiesta d.c. mt. pleasant street will be shut down between park road and argon place. till born street will be closed between park and lamont street. lamont street will be closed between mt. pleasant and 17th street. kenyan street will be closed between 17th and mt. pleasant. those are the top stories making news today. next is nbc 4's "viewpoint." we'll be back in a few minutes with an update. >> good morning. welcome to "viewpoint." i'm jim handly. our topic this morning improving the lives of older adults.

and our guests this morning are l. andrew morgan. he is director of sales and marketing at as bury village. the reverend joseph williams. been around for 31 years, his organization has. and ann dean with the downtown clusters geriatric day care center. all of you, welcome. thank you for coming in this sunday morning. we appreciate it. >> thank you for having us. >> thank you. >> we want to talk about a long list of issues that seniors or older americans are facing these days, but let's put it in context, i guess, of the economy. it's affecting everybody, but what are some of the specific challenges that older adults are facing now? >> i would start with the basic needs of services. people are struggling across the globe in terms of having your basic needs of food, housing, employment. and older adults are living on fixed incomes, tried more in

their area. you think about the fact that if you don't have a safety net organizations that are able to provide your basic needs of services, people will fall throughn a whole different class. and to age in place or to be able to stay in the district of klum bay, for example, those services are very much needed. talking about for feed, rental assistance, utility assistance, talking about assistance of navigating the medicaid and medicare kind of things. so that's what i would start with. >> a lot of older adults are finding that they're going to have to work longer than they had planned on. maybe some of them are coming out of retirement to manage health care bills or keep a roof over their heads. is that a big issue that we've seen in the past year? >> the people that are assisting us through a senior aid program, and they constantly have people coming through, being placed,

you know, different organizations and i think it is a big need for people to have the additional income. it is very difficult. >> asbury has how many residents? it's a spwling, beautiful campus. how many residents? >> a little over 1,300. >> tell us about the average resident there agewise and who goes to asbury and lives there? >> basically you have planners and people who have put things aside or set things up so that when they reach a point where it's time to transition from living in their home to a more communal type living arrangement, they're prepared to do it. on average people are coming to us or moving in, rather, at about 78 which is interesting because the average age coming in -- or the minimum age coming in is 60. we do have residents who come to us at 60, 61, 62, but we've

noticed as an industry and the continuing care retirement industry that the age has kind of creeped up. in part it's because of the fact that today 75-year-old is the 65-year-old of 15 years ago or 20 years ago. but basically, you have planners, people who have been planning for this particular point in time in their life and they find asbury a place to come to continue to be as engaged and as active as they were in their home. >> we were talking earlier before the program began about means. there are some things that all seniors or older adults have in common and that was access. and it can be access to health care and the challenges there, too. certainly that's a big one for a lot of the people that you serve. >> yeah. you think about the fact that we have individuals that we serve, living on social security income of $642 a month. that works out t be a little

over $7,000 a year, but still 28% below the poverty level set by dhhs. to be able to get your -- t get to the basic quality of services, whether it's getting to a doctor, whether it's really having the means to understand how you're going to go from day to day, we run three different senior centers and have nine different nutrition sites. all of them are at capacity because even being able to get a basic meal during the day or a nutritious meal during the day is vital to a lot of seniors. so, our job, as we advocate for them, is to get them networked into those social services as they need. >> your organization depends on volunteers in a big way. >> yes. yes, it does. we have probably 5 to 600 different volunteers throughout the year. a lot of people come through

from a university,s, college, church groups to assist and it's really, really needed because you have only a limited amount of staff because you have a limited amount of money. and without the volunteers, you know, we would really be hurting. we do have some volunteers that are with us daily and they are just a great help. >> we will put up some phone numbers a bit later on in the half hour. if anybody wants more information on the organizations and plus how they can volunteer as well, too. we'll be right back on "viewpoint."

welcome back to "viewpoint." our topic this morning, improving the lives of older adults. andrew, we were talking in the break there about common threads that you see in terms of needs no matter where the seniors are coming from and to lump them into one group is not always accurate. >> well, it's interesting, jim.

i've never had an opportunity to sit and have a discussion around the table with people who are serving seniors in different groups, and as we were talking today, i realized there are some very common threads, something that connects us all. it has to do with the fact that individuals at any age need to have opportunities to be engaged. they need to have opportunities or they need to have a means to manage and take care of their physical body and, you know, we use a wellness model as kind of a framework for the programs and services and the framework for the campus that we have at asbury. it's looking at the person's physical needs, looking at their they will ne intellectual needs, their spiritual, emotional needs and their vocational needs. it's -- it's an interesting thing that no matter who you talk to, you know, we all have those needs. and when we reached a point when we turn 81, we won't all of a

sudden be a different person. we'll still have a need to find ways to be active in the community that we live in. we'll still have a need and a desire to be engaged and to make a difference and to matter. that doesn't change just because, as i like to say, our earth suit gets lower. >> right. >> we don't change as people. >> reverend, you're keeping a lot of the people you serve engaged. you have a computer lab that's doing some training, too, to get them into the workforce or back into the workforce if they need to. >> our whole effort is to help people remain active, independent members of their community. we do have them engaged in a wellness, a health and wellness, but a socialization and recreation piece where we put our computer lab. we actually provide training on basic microsoft office, basic comput computering, even how to do a gene yol describe through a video set up on the computer system. one of the pieces that over the last couple of years has become

important is the fact that people do need to go back into the workforce. we're helping seniors to learn administrative and organizational skills, to connect them with -- whether it's dentists' offices or doctors' offices. the doctors and dentists believe they can depend more on a senior than they can on younger individuals. so, it's an opportunity for them to give themselves supplemental income, which is very much needed. >> we have heard that, that older workers can sometimes be the better worker, more dependable worker or loyal and stay with you. >> that's right. they will come to work. on payday they will be there after ha afterwards. some young people struggle with that. >> does age get in the way, though o the flip side of someone trying to look for work or stay on the job later in life? >> it can to a certain extent, but i think the workers that are coming out as the reverend said

are very dedicated. they want to be there. they do need the work. but they are going to put the extra effort in to get things done. >> andrew, you co-host a radio show on wmal. one of the themes is right-sizing your home, i think is the name of it. talk a little bit about what right sizing means and also simplifying. you talk about that, too. >> yes. we started the program based on a need that we discovered in some surveys we did. one of the number one reasons why a person wouldn't make a move sooner to a retirement community is because of the fact that they have to deal with all the stuff that they have accumulated over the years. >> yeah. >> we often joke about the fact that some have attics that they haven't seen since 1972. basements that they are quite frankly afraid of. so that's where the show came from. but it's evolved into a great

deal more. what we've come to realize is that right sing is a task, it's something you do physically but it's also something that you have to do from an emotional and a mental standpoint, meek that to transition from one phase of life into another can be as daunting a task as cleaning out the garage or even more so. so, in the program we do help people to kind of reconcile their stuff. and we help people to work through the transition. we encourage people to look at their life more from the standpoint of what they're actually able to do and, you know, you can look at the quality of your life by looking at the quality of your days. there's not a disconnect. we sometimes think, well, life is here and it's really good, but that's not reflected in our daily life. so, life is what you live each day. so encourage people to look at that and ask yourself, you know, am i engaged? do i have opportunities to share my gifts and my talents and my

ability in meaningful ways? are there things that i've always wanted to pursue but i've never been able to and is now a good time? and then the follow-up question to that is can i put down some of the burdens or can i remove some of the burdens that i have of just maintaining a house, a home, whatever it might be so that i'm free to engaining in things that gain me more meaning. that may be volunteering. that might be teaching a class. it might be a number of different things, but these are the things that give life meaning and we encourage people, when you look at right sizing to not look at it simply as disposing of things, but to look at what's on the other side of it. that is you have freed up time so you can do something that will give your life a great deal more meaning and something that ultimately will leave a huge legacy and make a strong contribution to your community. we can all do that. that's what we encourage people to do. >> we will take a break. when we come back we're going to put up some phone numbers, too.

you raised volunteering, so if someone wants to get involved out there with any of these three organizations we'll share those numbers with you when we come back on "viewpoint."

good morning. i'm eun yang. here's a look at some stories we're following today. a memorial has been set up outside the mt. airy home where a family was killed. investigators say charles dalton sr. killed his two children and his wife before killing himself. they have not said why. a major safety initiative undertaken by metro after june's deadly rail crash is being called a pr move. metro has moved older cars to the center of the trains as a way to make trains safer in the event of a crash, but "the washington post" has uncovered documents in which metro's safety chief called the initiative, quote, a means to address public perception. and the following streets are closed for fiesta d.c. today. mt. pleasant will be shut down between park road and argon

place, argon place is also shut down, lamont street will be closed between mt. pleasant and 17th street andenyan street will be closed between 17th and mt. pleasant street. now back to "viewpoint."

-- we were sharing. but you have to encourage seniors that they can't keep the last 40 years of their lives. there's some stuff they're going to have to rise and make a decision about. if, in fact, a landlord in the district of columbia comes in and sees a lot of things that can end up being a fire hazard, then it can affect their lease. so we do that on a regular basis. we also send a team of volunteers to do light housecleaning. we've seen suations where there were some seniors who were living in some very real bad and unhealthy circumstances. if it were not for emaus volunteers going in and cleaning that up, they would have ended up not being able to stay in

their place. so, aging in place is what all of us want to do. >> sure. >> we want to -- whether it's stay as long as we can for as long as we can. that's what we're trying to help seniors to do. that's an important aspect. >> let's put up some phone numbers. asbury, the phone number there, the downtown clusters geriatric day care center in the district here and emaus services for the aging at 745-1200. andrew, let's talk a little bit about that transition that you had raised earlier. it's not always easy. and what is the key there in making that transition successful for yourself, for maybe it's a parent? >> the key is to, one, keep your eye on what's on the other side of it. sometimes we get bogged down with the process so much that we lose sight of why we're doing it. and the more that you can familiarize yourself with what's

on the other side, the more motivation you have to get through it. the other thing is to break it down into very small, manageable pieces. for someone who's listening this morning, if you're in a situation where you need to organize, simplify or right-size your life even, you can start with a closet and the same principle that you're going to apply in organizing and simplifying that closet will carry on throughout the rest of the home. the key is to get in motion with it and to not allow what appears to be a huge task or what appears to be an elephant -- >> overwhelm you. >> right. the old saying the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. >> right. >> same thing applies with right-sizing. you take it a step at a time, keep your eye on what's to come on the other side of it, and you can get through it. there are a number of services out there who can also help. and so the other thing that i suggest is that people seek help

if, in fact, it is a bit overwhelming. but get in motion. don't wait until next week to get started on it. everybody has that junk drur at home. we all have that drawer we have been throwing things in for years. >> maybe the second or third junk drawer right here. >> start there. >> okay. >> but get started wherever you can and allow it to carry throughout the rest of your home. >> we'll be right back with more on how if you need assistance you can get it. welcome back to "viewpoint." our topic again this morning improving the lives of older adults. we wanted to talk about direct services. if someone is in need of a service out there, they go to your group and a host of other

groups around our region. tell us how that works. >> well depending on what service you need, you can start out with the office on aging, talk to the social worker there on the phone and dcribe the situation that you have. from there, you can be referred to a lot of different places. one of them is ours. it is downtown clusters geriatric day care center. we have been in existence since 1976. we have a nonprofit, and we are serving persons who are still living alone, able to handle their affairs through to persons with advancing alzheimer's disease. and the program is monday through friday, 7:45 in the morning until 5:45 in the afternoon. >> that's great. >> you are more than welcome to give us a call if you have someone who would like to come out, spend a great day, have a lot of fun. >> that's wonderful. >> right. now reverend williams has a different kind of a program.

he has a senior center. >> right. actually a little more comprehensive in that we are the lead agency for ward 2 for the district of columbia, for the d.c. office on aging so as a part of the senior service network in the district. we're responsible for operating three different senior centers, eight different nutrition sites, in addition to coordinating what's called adrc, the aging and disability resource center services for the ward. emaus has been around for 31 years. we like to say we serve the frisky, the fragile and the frail. we cover the janitor in that regard. but we have been around basically to making sure that seniors are able to be active and independent members of their community. so aging in place, being able to stay in your home, being able to survive in the district is what we've been doing for the last years. >> having an advocate, i know, is a big part of your program, a lot of volunteers. you want to put up those phone

numbers if we can once again because we have all three nonprofit organizations. andrew, let's kind of wrap it up if we can about the changing dynamic out there. this is certainly the fastest growing population in our area. and, in fact, the country. and what does that mean for the economy and the way we kind of look at the senior population now or older adult population? >> well, i think people come -- people approach aging with more expectations. at one point, we would think of retirement as kind of the golden years when you'd sit on the rocking -- sit on the porch on the rocking chair and kick back. but there -- you know, today's older adult has an expectation of being active, being vita not wanting to even agree to the idea that they are retired in some cases. what i mean by that is the

reason that we often don't use the word "senior" is because most older adults don't refer to themselves as seniors and don't want to. >> right. >> they see themselves simply as someone, again, who still has something to give and the expectations is that they will be able to continue to do that in whatever form, fashion or whatever opportunity comes up for them to do it. >> whave mentioned, i think we have 15 seconds. every 15 seconds someone transitions into that -- from boomer to -- >> to senior, to the older adult. >> right. >> that's right. and i mentioned earlier that in the district of columbia it's the -- according to a recent census it is one of the largest growing populations or the fastest over the last ten years. so, the needs are going to become more apparent. >> sure. >> we have to galvanize ourselves in the district of columbia to beat able to meet their needs. m constantly saying to the elected officials that you can't keep coming around just when

it'sime for a vote. in fact, my seniors shared with me recently that it's important for me to bring the council men and the mayor so they can have a direct conversation with them because they're not liking what they're experiencing right now from the district. >> more and more, we have to work together, all of our groups, our agencies and organizations out there in this tight economy. i want to thank you all for coming in. this has been an enlightning half hour. we thank you for watching. now back to "news 4 today." enjoy the rest of your weekend, everyone. a memorial for a family murdered. a 7-year-old girl, her older brother and their mother all dead. police say their father is the killer. plus, what the man accused of murdering four people near longwood university told a cab driver that has piqued the interest of police. and after some distractions this week, president obama is back to pushing for his top priority, alth care reform.

good morning. i'm eun yang. welcome back to "news 4 today." it is sunday, september 27th, 2009. the news is straight ahead. first we're going to check in with meteorologist chuck bell up in storm center 4 for the forecast. good morning, chuck. >> good morning, everybody. off to a very wet start on this sunday morning. basically if you left something outside last night, it is soaked all the way through first thing this morning. there's a live picture from our city camera. a low deck of gray clouds hanging right over washington first thing this morning. the heaviest and steadiest of rains are gone but we do have lingering dampness out there, down into st. mary's county, out into the eastern shore as well. some light drizzle and mist still happening around town. rainfall amounts have been generous from mother nature. on average, about an inch and a half across the metro area. temperatures now are in the mid-60s.

it will be a milder day today. we'll get a little sunshine from time to time. highs into the mid-70s. another chance of a passing shower or two later on this afternoon, but no washouts. headed out to the ravens game in baltimore, generally good weather for the rave generalsens. >> that's gd news. thank you. we're learning more this morning about the family killed in mt. airy. they say charles dalton sr. murdered his wife and two children before killing himself. one of the children, 14-year-old charlie, was a junior volunteer firefighter. he volunteered for the very squad that responded to the calls for help from the dalton home. darcy spencer talked with firefighters who knew the teen. >> reporter: at the mt. airy volunteer station, firefighters spring into action after receiving a call, but here they're doing their jobs with heavy hearts. a junior firefighter, charlie dalton jr., was killed at the hands of his own father. it was a murder-suicide that left an entire family dead. >> i think he had been a junior member for about two years, a little bit less than two years.

charlie was a likable kid. he was enthusiastic about his activities here at the mt. airy volunteer fire company. >> reporter: police say 38-year-old charles dalton sr. killed his wife jennifer and their two kids, 14-year-old charlie and 7-year-old ealine. each was shot once. they were found in their beds, the bodies discovered inside their home on contour road in mt. airy on friday evening. police say dalton took his own life, his body found on the floor next to the bed in the master bedroom. >> people in the neighborhood just are trying to put the puzzle pieces together. we just ven't figured out how this could have happened. >> reporter: police say dalton was a self-employed cabinet maker and carpenter and was a night shift maintenance worker with montgomery county schools. jennifer dalton worked at a veterinary hospital in damascus. so far, police have found no clear motive for the murder-suicide. >> just a shock. just, you know, the only reason my little girl got to sleep last night was she was exhausted from crying. >> reporter: emmaline was a second grader at twin ridge elementary school. charlie was a freshman at

linganore high in ijamsville where he played football. charlie's fellow junior firefighters were told about his death at a meeting at the fire station friday night. >> we're going to miss charlie. he was -- i think he was going to become a good member for us in time. >> reporter: even the family dog did not survive. police say the beagle was found shot dead inside his crate just inside the front door of the dalton home. police are still trying to figure out why this all happened. a suicide note was not left behind. in mt. airy, maryland, darcy spencer, news 4. >> crisis teams will be at the schools wherthe children attended when they are back in session on tuesday. we are learning more about the california man accused of killing four people in virginia. a cab driver says richard sam mccroskey told him he'd had a fight with his girlfriend over a text message she'd received from another man. police arrested mccroskey at the richmond airport the next day. theyay he killed his girlfriend, 16-year-old emma niederbrock, her parents and her friend.

the murders happened at a home near longwood university. the cabby also says mccross can i told him he expected to make up with his girlfriend and says he didn't detect any anger. a lightning strike has killed a maryland teen attending college in north carolina. john sackett died. the 18-year-old was a freshman at the unc wilmington. sackett was swimming. witnesses saw him strule and go under after the lightning strike. rescuers performed cpr but could not save him. maryland reporting its eighth death blamed on the swine flu. the states department of health and mental hygiene says a young person from the baltimore area is the latest victim. health officials say the child had serious underlying medical conditions and this is the first swine flu death in the state involving a child. after a week focused on international issues, president obama is again pushing for health care reform. mr. obama attended the congressional black cause does foundation's annual dinner last night. he told the audience there is an

urgent need to pass health care reform, saying that the country has been waiting for reform since the days of presidents teddy roosevelt and harry truman. >> now's the time to offer stability and security to americans who have insurance. now's the time to make it affordable for those who don't have health insurance. now's the time to slow the growth of health care costs for our families and business, our government. >> tuesday, the senate finance committee is expected to resume debate over its version of the health care bill. they spent much of last week sorting through more than 550 proposed amendments. that bill would cost roughly $800 billion over ten years. >> the road to richmond heads right through northern virginia today. gubernatorial candidates creigh deeds and bob mcdonnell will both be campaigning in our area. deeds will be speaking this evening at the arab-american institute's annual virginian candidates night. the republican will not be

there, but tom davis will attend the dinner. mcdonnell will be in manassas this afternoon for the northern virginia fraternal order of police's ice cream social. a major safety initiative was undertaken by metro after june's deadly ra rail crash and it's being called a pr move this morning. metro has touted its efforts to move older cars to the center of the trains, but "the washington post" has uncovered documents in which metro's safety chief called the initiative a means to address public perception. according to the report, no engineering analysis was conducted to prove that moving cars around makes trains safer. in california, family and friends gathered for the funeral of annie le. she's the with yale grad student found murdered at a university lab on the day she was supposed to be getting married. miguel almaguer was there for the moving ceremony. >> reporter: surrounded by family, annie le's casket slowly made its way into the church she attended as a child.

grief ran deep for the generations of lives she touched. this would be the final good-bye. >> may she nowhare with him eternal glory. >> reporter: it was a service to celebrate her life, but one also filled with immeasurable sorrow. le's mother read a poem to her daughter, translated by her son. >> my deepest sorrow and season of heart aches, like a knife sheering through my soul. >> reporter: then she spoke to the man annie loved. >> even now, annie is gone, but i still have you, and love you very much, like my son. >> reporter: annie le grew up in california and is a standout student later enrolled at yale. on september 13th, her body was found inside a university research building where she worked. missing for five days, she was discovered on the day le was to be married.

lab technician raymond clark is charged with her murder. investigators have said nothing about a motive, while le's family is left with unanswered questions and overwhelming grief. >> i believe that from anyone i saw, it was through the little things she did, her silliness and friendliness, not her academic achievement, she made the most impression on us. >> reporter: annie le was 24 years old. in many ways her life s just beginning, a promising student, a young woman in love, the victim of a senseless murder. she is gone, but her memory remains. >> i miss you, and i will always love you. >> reporter: a tearful good-bye for a young woman surrounded by love in both life and death. miguel almaguer, nbc news, los angeles. >> and we have a traffic alert to tell you about this morning. if you are driving through adams morgan and the mt. pleasant area, several streets will be closed for much of today for fiesta d.c. which is a celebration of washington's

native latino population. here's a look at the osures. mt. pleasant street will be shut down between park road and argon place. till born street will be closed between park and lamont streets. argon place closed between mt. pleasant street and harvard street. and kenyan street will be closed between 17th and mt. pleasant. virginia tech taking care of business in a rain-soaked game. hakem dermish has this morning's sports minute. >> good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with college football. in blacksburg yesterday, 11th ranked virginia tech hosting 9th ranked miami. the hokies had no problems with the hurricanes. ryan williams ran for 150 yards and 2 touchdowns. tech downs miami 31-7. in college park, maryland turned the ball over five times against rutgers. the terps lose it 34-13. maryland has committed 13 turnovers in four games and fall to 1-3 for the first time since 1997. in annapolis, navy taking on western kentucky.

navy's qb ricky dobbs had a field day, rushing for four touchdowns. navy finished with more than 470 yards of total offense. the midshipmen top the hilltoppers 38-22. in baseball, nats and braves, atlanta scored four runs in the first inning and never looked back. the braves win big 11-5. atlanta has won 14 of their last 17 games. meanwhile it was loss number 102 for the nationals. later today the redskins take on the lions at 1:00. that's your sports minute. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> 7:40 is your time now. 65 degrees. it's a heartbreaking time for some couples struggling to have a child. a new scandal involving embryos. why one clinic is new shutting its doors. plus, a spider steals the show during the speech by the pope.

some people in the audience held their breath when a large spider appeared on pope b benedict's robe. the spider walked along his shoulder on the right side, up to his neck and then to his ear. that's when the pope swatted it. it didn't go away. it appeared on the pope's left shoulder and scampered down his robe in the direction from where it came. all that, stole the show. next up on nbc 4, it's the

"today" show. it starts at 8:00. lester holt joins us live from new york with a bree view. good morning. >> good morning. would you call that a papal pest? i don't know. what's the word for that? that is wi czar. let me tell you what's coming up this morning. the latest escalating tensions with iran as the country talks reconciliation but flexes its military muscle overnight. plus, a breaking story. roman polansky who fled the u.s. 31 years ago arrested overnight. we'll bring you the latest on that. also another scandal involving frozen embryos. this one could affect dozens of families. why does this keep happening? we'll talk about ha. michael jackson fans, line up again, in some cases waiting for days. we'll tell you what they're in line for. all that, plus actress amy poehler on life after "saturday night live." i sit down with her. what would you do if an alligator attacked? find out how one quick-witted lady survived.

>> she has the scars to prove it. thanks, lester. see you soon. >> okay. >> as lester mentioned, there are new allegations this morning against an in vitro fertilization clinic. a lawsuit has been filed after the stunning admission that workers mislabeled or misplaced more than 100 frozen embryos. the errors have raised knew questions about the in vitro process. ron mott has more. >> reporter: in new orleans -- >> we have become deeply concerned about the reliability of the overall ivf program itself. >> reporter: officials at this in vitro fertilization clinic, part of objection nor hospital, suspended operations on friday, admitting its staff mislabeled or misplaced frozen embryos. >> we are deeply sorry for the concerns, anxiety and fear we know this causes our patients. >> reporter: the facility's ceo said, however, that no embryo was ever implanted in the wrong woman as was the case for this ohio couple. >> they just said i have really

bad news. i sat up. he said, you're pregnant, but they transferred the wrong embryo. >> reporter: this week, she gave birth to a baby boy but agreed to return him to his biological parents. >> we will wonder about this child every day for the rest of our lives. >> reporter: the biological parents of suburban detroit called her a guardian angel. mix-ups like the are raising questions about the dependability of expensive ivf procedures, which are legal and available in every state, often used as a last resort to conceive. more than 130,000 such procedures are performed every year in the u.s., resulting in about 50,000 births. one prominent fertility specialist who is in no way connected to these mishaps said mistakes are extremely rare. >> there have been over 3 million babies born from ivf and there's about three or four cases where this has occurred, so this is the -- literally the one in a million event. >> reporter: back in new orleans, challenges appear to be

mounting for the clinic. an attorney is seeking a class action lawsuit against the hospital, claiming errors have affected not only her client but dozens of others. >> they didn't know which emyos were my couple's, my client's and which were someone else's. that causes a lot of anger and upset, humiliation, just a lot of feelings. >> reporter: a lot of feelings, some argue, simply too painful to bear. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. >> going to the u2 concert tuesday night? you don't have to worry about driving there where the streets have no names. just hop on metro. the morgan boulevard station on the blue line will stay open an extra hour to help fans get home from the concert at fedex field. it will be the only station allowing people to board beyond the normal closing time. metro suggests you buy a round trip fare card or have enough money on your smart trip card to avoid being stuck in long lines. and you know there will be long lines. you know traffic is going to be

bad. >> we're both going, not together, but we are both going separately. we can't figure out whether we should metro or drive. i'm leaning toward metro. >> i definitely am. if you're going to drive, you're going to be stuck. >> my commute is four miles. >> five. >> anything that takes longer than 15, 20 minutes, i lose pashers. >> we should take metro. >> probably should. outside today, a gray and cloudy and wet start to your sunday, but there are improvements on the way. a complete check of your back-to-work and school forecast coming up.

i guess we made up for the lack of rain we have had last night. >> yes. we had as much rain last night as we've had for the whole month of september leading into last night. quite a bit. >> more rain today, too? >> not a lot of rain. most of the rain is done with us for the time but the clouds linger outside early on your sunday morning. it is very wet outside. even though there's not really a lot of rain left on the radar. take a check of it here on our city camera this morning. there's the lincoln memorial sitting quietly on the west side of the reflecting pool. a very cloudy and wet morning outside. even mr. lincoln might be just a little wet first thing on this sunday morning, thanks to all the rain last night. temperatures are mostly in the 60s first thing this morning. 65 downtown with a light south bree. over annch and a half of rain at national airport yesterday. now it's a mild start on our sunday morning but some real fall-like air is coming our way. may even be back below 50 degrees for the first time since

the middle parts of may for washington that's probably wednesday, thursday, maybe even into friday morning, some very chilly starts coming up middle parts of the week. outside this morning, generally in the low to mid-60s around town. upper 50s out to the north and the west. 61 in hagerstown, 61 in in frederick, 66 in annapis. relatively good weather expected in baltimore today for the ravens game. here's a check of radar. still a few light sprinkles into southern maryland, also along the northern neck east of 95, some light showers on the eastern shore as well. oh, that's an unpleasant picture to look at there. 64 degrees right now in town. 64 also down in north carolina. we're not going back to the radar again, i can tell you that. dew points are also in the upper 50s, low 60s. there's the big push of moisture that came through late yesterday and during the overnight hours. that main push of moisture is now east of our area, and there's a lot of rain-free territory here in eastern west virginia, western virginia right now. so the heaviest of the rain is

over, but with a little bit of cool air aloft and another ripple going through the atmosphere, can't give you the all-clear for rain chances later on this afternoon. there will still be a chance for a passing shower or two but it won't be the industrial strength washout rains like we had yesterday. so generally a better afternoon today. a couple of breaks of sunshine, temperatures into the mid-70s. turning a little breezy as well. another weather front races through here late tomorrow, bringing us another chance for showers late monday afternoon and monday evening. so for today we'll call it partly sunny, off to a cloudy start this morning but we will see a little sunshine. warmer today with temperatures back into the 70s. and generally good weather although a shower is still a possibility. then tomorrow, morning sunshine giving way to afternoon clouds and a chance for rain late in the day tomorrow. cleveland browns going to m & t stayed number why baltimore today. good weather for the ravens game. no more than a passing shower or two today. again, late tomorrow. then some real autumn air arrives for tuesday, wednesday, thursday and friday.

i think thursday morning will be the coolest morning here in town. we may drop back down below 50 degrees for the first time since mid-may. >> that's actually cold. >> it is a little chilly. it will start to get those leaves thinking about changing colors. >> all right. thank you, chuck. >> penn state bitten by the upset bug at home. a late interception sealed the win for the iowa hawkeyes. they beat penn state 21-10. the hawkeyes beat the lions last year as well. virginia tech fans didn't have to sweat it out. the hokies defended their home turf. maryland not as fortunate. hakem dermish has this morning's sports. >> good morning, everyone. before yesterday's game against miami, virginia tech's defensive coordinator bud foster challenged his unit to start living up to the traditions of hokie defense. he posted a note in each of his player's lockers sving as a reminder of where tech has been and where they are now. in each of the last five years, they have ranked in the top seven in the country in total defense. this season, 77th. that challenge is noteworthy.

we're in blacksburg. here's that note at the bottom. it reads, "you have the responsibility to uphold the tradition." hmm. all righty. first quarter. hokies on the doorstep. ryan williams gets the pitch here and dives in to the end zone for six. nifty. 7-0 hokies. williams finished with 150 yards rushing and two tds. next possession, let's go through the air. tyrod taylor connecting with boykin. that's a 48-yard touchdown pass. 14-0 hokies. you've seen the offense. now let's see that defense. miami punting it away, or not so much. check it out. blocks the punt. matt reedy scoops it up and scores. the hokies' defense allowed 209 yards of offense, 11th ranked virginia tech knocks off 9th ranked miami 31-7. >> it's just a fact. you didn't hear much about virginia tech this week. you heard a lot about miami and rightfully so. i don't take anything -- it should be that way. but like i say, i'm proud of our

guys. i'm proud of what we're all about here at virginia tech. >> virginia tech playing beamer ball there. in college park yesterday, turnovers torched the terps. i will litteration aside, maryland found themselves on the wrong side of the final score thanks to five turnovers against rutgers. the terps are now 1-3 for the first time since 1997. taking the field with a zealous attitude but they didn't start very well. five seconds into the game, chris turner throws and -- uh-oh. picked off by rutgers' antonio lowery. he returns it 36 yard force the touchdown. just like that, the scarlet knights have a 7-0 lead. second quarter now, maryland trails 10-3. here they come turner throws right, to williams. slips a tackle and he's in. 24-yard score. terps tied at 10. third quarter, terps up 13-10. deep in their own territory. chris turner sacked into the end zone.

turner fumbles. rutgers recovers it for a touchdown. knights take a 17-13 lead. maryland has 13 turnovers in four games. fourth quarter gets worse. the handoff, goes around. terps having problems making tackles. 61 yards for the td. ralph friedgen and the terps fall 34-13. they are 1-3. let's go to annapolis. navy hosting western kentucky here. the goats didn't want to cooperate. first possession of the game for the midshipmen, ricky dobbs fakes the handoff, takes it 29 yards for the touchdown. scooting along right there. navy takes a 7-0 lead. dobbs finished with four you rushing td's in the ball game. then western kentucky answers. the freshman qb rolls into the end zone untouched, but check this out. high fives the official. celebrating in style, hmm? the hilltoppers take a 14-10 lead. but navy comes right back. ricky dobbs fakes the handoff

again, then delivers a perfect pass to cory finnerty for a 29-yard touchdown. navy had 473 yards of total offense. they win big 38-22. elsewhere, howard defeats georgetown 14-11. talking baseball now and the red hot atlanta braves aren town trying to improve their resume in the race for the wild card. the braves have won 13 of their last 16 games -- check that. make that 14 of their last 17. had to give it away. top of the first, garrett mach in some trouble here. facing diaz with the bases loaded. diaz hit as soft chopper to third where pete orr charges and then -- this is never good -- throws it into the ground. that's an error. brian mccann scores. here comes escobar. the braves scored four runs in the inning. bottom five now, nats down 6-1. mike morris pinch-hitting with two on and this is what we call pinch-hitting in style. he delivers.

crushed it high and deep to center for a three-run homer. his first homer of the season, nats cut the lead to two. thinking comeback. then in the ninth, the braves piled on. ron villone in the game. facing mccann. he's a professional hitter. drives it to the upper deck in right. two-run home run for mccann, his 21st of the year. the braves beat the nationals 11-5. later today, the redskins on the road in detroit taking on the lions at 1:00. that's all for your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> redskins going to win? >> i think that they're going to do all right. playing in a dome so there won't be any weather-related problems. i know there are a lot of ravens fans around this area as well. >> don't know why. >> couldn't imagine why. maryland is so far away. all the way on the other side of the anacostia. 75 degrees at baltimore's stadium today where the cleveland browns are coming to town. i think the ravens will pull off a win as well. there is a chance of a passing shower but it won't be the kind