a break in the case. police find a missing suv that belonged to a murdered principal. who was seen getting out of that suv? and a mountain of trouble. more bad news for travelers strand because of that volcano in iceland. and a capital comeback. the capps pull out an overtime thriller. how they overcame a 4-1 deficit at the verizon center. good morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 today." i'm kimberly suiters. it's sunday april 18th, 2010. first, a quick look at the day's

forecast. justin drabick sitting in for chuck bell. i was not prepared for how strong the wind was yesterday. >> gusts over 40 miles per hour. those gusts continued during the overnight hours. windchills in mid 30s in some locations. our temperature is very chilly. it is a cold start this morning, one of the coldest morning in awhile since march 2th since we had temperatures here at national airport this cold. 42 right now. how about the virginia piedmont and toward the mountains, mid 30s towards manassas and culpeper. the warm spot out along the chesapeake bay and potomac waters where temperatures in the low to mid 40s. sun up at 6:28 and a decent amount of sunshine by early this morning. this afternoon, could see a few clouds developing. a cold start to the morning means a cool afternoon. highs struggling to get to that

60 doig mark. good news is the winds a little bit less breezy. still a chill in the air. >> thanks so much, justin. investigators are searching for clues inside an suv that belonged to a popular d.c. principal shot and killed. a neighbor called police when she spotted brian betts' stolen suv yesterday morning. the xtera was parked near fourth street in washington. the suv had been missing since betts was found shot to death in his bedroom in silver spring thursday night. >> that vehicle belongs to a murder victim, and it was taken from the scene of a murder when mr. betts was killed. there may be some information in there that will get investigators closer to learning who was responsible for his murder. >> a man told neighbors where that suv was found.

he saw three young men getting out of the suv. funeral arrangements for brian betts are still pending but his family will hold a memorial service in the district. it was a comeback to remember. the capps pulled off an overtime thriller at the verizon center. here's hakem dermish with your sports. >> good morning. well, you can call it the best playoff game ever. at least thus far. after being down by as many as three, the capitals rallied to beat the canadiens in game two and we now have a series. if you thought the caps were done for last night, not so fast. capps trail 5-4. niklas backstrom passes to rookie defenseman john carlson and he beats jaroslav halak. game tied at five. carlson scored the game-winning goal in the junior

championships. game goes to overtime here. nick backstrom was the hero last night. the caps win, 6-5 in o.t. the series now tied at one game apiece. here's the hero, nick backstrom. >> i feel like we will never give up. second period was embarrassing for us a little bit. but we bounced back and that's a good thing for us. i mean, that's so important right now and i mean, we need those kind of wins, especially at home. >> game three is in montreal. gametime set for 7:00. that's all for now. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> new signs from iceland reveal the eruption of that volcano is far from over. it could continue for weeks. the towering plume of ash continues to disrupt major air traffic and it's forcing even more residents to evacuate. nbc's chris jansing has the latest. >> from 5,000 feet above

southern iceland, the volcano today showed its explosive and growing power. a glass yash ice continued to mix with 2500 doig mag marks a potent and potentially catastrophic combination. >> you can imagine what it takes to put a batch of rock into something the size of sugar or smaller. it tells you just how immense amount of energy it takes. >> university of cambridge volnologist has studied volcanos around the world. these spectacular fireworks are unlike any she has ever seen. >> there's a white steam cloud which billows higher up and then there's more dense ash brown cloud which carries hundreds of tons of material. you can really appreciate that no airplane can fly through this.

>> her assessment? with only a third of the ice cap melted, eruptions could continue for weeks. and shifting winds have now carried the massive cloud south, an increasing threat not only in the air but on the ground. high winds have been sweeping the ash across these open fields and carrying with it those shards of glass and rock, the same things to planes are dangerous to humans and they've started evacuations in two towns. meteorologists recorded wind gusts of 40 miles per hour. as the black cloud moved to block the daylight, it was like driving into hell. >> when we were coming in here, it was sunny. like going from day to night. we can only see a few feet ahead of us. late this afternoon, rescue vehicles were moving in to do safety sweeps as more residents and their horses moved out. most have lived in the shad defensive this volcano for many years and respect its devastating potential. >> that would take some -- never

just think they're pretty things to look at. >> by nightfall the plume had expanded to 30,000 feet with eruptions continuing to intensify, warning of continuing danger for everything in its path. >> and that was chris jansing reporting. flights have been grounded on this side of the atlantic, as well. airports the u.s. are crowded with travelers hoping to get to europe but no one is going anyway. ash has airports closed from britain to ukraine and in a situation like this there's not much a passenger can force an airline to do. >> a volcanic eruption is considered an act of god and under the law the airlines are only required to book you on the next available flight with an open seat. >> some passengers are helping other passengers. in new york, members of the u.s. synchronized skating team, yes, synchronized skating, found out cree asian team members were stuck and opened up their holmes to the team.

time to check in with justin. what a force of nature. >> we have wind, cold temperatures. that sticks around again for your sunday. that means below average highs for this afternoon. when we return, i'll let you know what to expect in the complete forecast.

caps. the british are coming. the british are coming. 235 years ago, paul refer shout that had warning now famous. in 1775, revere made that famous ride from boston to lexington and concord to warn of the coming british troops. his main mission was to alert samuel adams and john hancock, the two men the troops were after and to signal the minutemen. he may not have told a lie but george washington apparently had trouble keeping traffic library books. a library in new york city says the father of our country owes $300,000 in late fee. a ledger showing someone listed simply as president checked out two books in 1789 and never returned them. the head librarian says she's not worried about fines. they just want the books back. one book was about international law. the other was about debate. it is 6:11 right now.

time to check in with justin drabick for our weather. when i said force of weather, i was talking about iceland. >> good news is the winds will back off a little bit today. gusts up towards 25 miles per hour at times through this afternoon, but not a bad start this morning as far as the sky conditions. we are seeing generally clear skies. and a few clouds scattered here and there across the region. maybe by the afternoon we see a few more clouds move in from the north. the sun should be up in about 15 minutes and we should see it in full. current check on the temperature at national airport, a chilly one, 42 doigs. you'll need the heavier coat to have a northwest wind sustained at eight miles per hour, much better than yesterday's winds. our average is 47 doigs for this date. way below that and a lot of areas outside the beltway are dipping down into the 30s. some of the cold spots where the winds have gone calm are seeing the freezing mark happening at

dulles airport and out towards manassas is, both at 32 doigs this morning. very chilly morning. low to mid 40s towards annapolis. salisbury on the eastern shore, 35, hagerstown 40, pittsburgh 37 doigs. the core of the coldest air is settling in across the region. good news. it will begin to lift out later on today. you can pick out where that cold air is. the jet stream took another dive southward over the past 48 hours. a big spin in the atmosphere that contains the core of the coldest air so that cold air over us is keeping our atmosphere a bit unstable. there may be a few clouds that develop. majority still to the north of us across pennsylvania. as that cold air moves in, could see a few of those clouds. we'll start to warm the temperatures up early next week. the bulk of the clouds mainly to

the north. future cast may be over doing some of the cloud cover as far as the southward push of it. maybe a slight chance of a sprinkle in the mountains with instability around but that's about it. as we head into monday and tuesday, skies should clear out a little bit more and we should see generally sunny conditions with a nice pleasant start to the workweek. for today, a mix of sun and clouds, a bit cooler as yesterday. not as breezy. highs in the 50s to struggling to get to the low 60s. sustained winds out of the northwest at 10 to 15. 1:35 start against the brewers. bring the sweatshirt or jacket. it will feel cool with temperatures in the upper 50s around gametime. monday, mostly sunny. a very nice pleasant day, 60 to 65 doigs. we'll go to the seven-day forecast. cold airlifting on out of here. we're back in the mid 60s monday, even pushing the upper 60s by wednesday with a decent amount of sunshine.

the weeks looks to certainly improve as far as the temperatures. overnight lows a little bit in the cold side in the 40s. by the end of the week, we approach the 70 doig mark. a chance for a shower or two on thursday. the better chance for rain will come into the picture next weekend for saturday. >> nice to see the 70s again. thanks, justin. next up it, reporters 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 morning forecast. but for now, here's pat lawson muse. >> good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebo " notebook"". police officers suspended. several prince georges county police officers have been suspended in the wake of that videotape. the tape that shows the beating of an unarmed student at university of maryland last month. the beating of john mckenna has prompted investigations that now involve the police internal affairs department, and the fbi.

mckenna had been charged with attacking the officers and their horses before this video surfaced. those sclarnlgs now been dropped. the officers include a sergeant and the officer who wrote up the charging documents in this case. the police chief says the officers who saw this incident had a duty to intervenor at least report what happened. how do you rate the department's handling of this case and all of the media attention so far? >> well, you -- it's interesting to me that we are centering in on this one incident that happened in the whole melee that occurred. i think that it is it -- it's very troubling to watch those police officers go by and not do anything while this particular student was being beaten. i still think that the media and we're guilty of focusing on this one incident, but not -- we can't absolve the students who have been coming out there

rioting after a basketball game, whatever. there still has to be some focus on the fact that they bear some responsibility themselves for the whole thing happening and the police being there. as to the police reaction, we now have three investigations. we've had several officers suspended. i think between the university and the police department, we will see some justice done, at least charges were dropped against those students. >> do you think these officers should be criminally charged, jerry, dave? >> well, if there's assault, whatever procedures there are within the police department, even the chief said that, they're going to have to be reprimanded for. so i don't know if you call it criminal charges or not, but they will have to be some type of action taken. if there is assault, if that is assault not in the self-defense

of a police officer because adrian makes an interesting point here. one student of a sound bite and that student was on the level, he said it was good and bad on both sides, not only the police but also on the students. and if you remember, pat, we discussed this weeks ago when it first happened. and those kids took to the streets and there was a lot of property damage. >> but this video, dave, shows an unarmed man skipping along the sidewalk who the video shows was assaulted by the officers, attacked by the police officers. >> the video, the video is -- was driving this whole story right now. without the video, i don't know if we would have had some of the subsequent events. and so you just see it and a lot of people that i've talked to both reporters and nonreporters are just not happy about what's in that video. the please will have to deal with it. we know that when maryland or any other big school has a

blowout after a big basketball or sports victory, there's going to be younger people who are going to take a few pops, take a few drinks or just youthful enthusiasm and there's going to be a riot or near riot conditions. the question is, what does the university do with its police force, what does prince georges county do to have a comprehensive plan to deal with it. i'm not sure there's a comprehensive plan to do this. >> don't forget prince george's has a reputation for -- using excess i be force. they're just getting out from under a federal investigation. we've seen this kind of thing happen before. people have even been killed. there has been called to question whether or not they used excess i be force. so this begs the question, have they moved to a different kind of police force, or are they falling back into their old pattern. >> this film, this video was shot by another student. the point here is that there's

no sound. we haven't heard any sound. i'm not going to say the kids provoked it but we don't know. the kids could have provoked those officers to take action. >> there are standards for police response. going back to the bad old days in prince george's keep the when african-americans were pummeled by police to now where it was a situation involving university children, kids after a ball game, i mean, we've come a long way, but the fact remains there are certain standards for police officers to maintain. they are not supposed to overreact even though they are put upon. there's no question about that. and we have to remember there are standards. >> surprise surplus. revelations of a $34 million budget surplus in the d.c. schools caught many by surprise last week. michel rhee broke the news to the d.c. council while explaining how the city was going to fund new teacher pay raises. teachers unions have expressed outrages bus six months ago,

hundreds of teachers were laid off because of a reported budget shortfall. they now want teachers rehired. rhee says they won't be rehired. it seems it's a mess complicated by some debate over whether there really is a surplus. what do you make of this? >> it's really a mess. you've got four entities here that can't explain where the money is or if there's any money. i mean, all have flunked the math tests. either these people can't count or somebody's lying because there's $34 million. i remember a year ago when after she closed the schools and fired those principals, the next thing was to fire some teachers, get rid of teachers. and at that time, the council allocated some monies, i think in the neighborhood of $40 million at least to, go and to supplement teacher salaries so they won't have this big layoff and then this summer, we found the layoff. the question here is, where all

of a sudden did $34 million come from? and if it is there, then i think the teachers, i've talked to some of the council people, they tell me these teachers have a case now because they were fine fired under false pretense. >> dave, could this have come at a worse time. >> when did michel rhee and her colleagues know about the deficit? when did they know and what did they know about it and why didn't they talk about it sooner? a lot of people wonder about that. >> she has said she was under no obligation to disclose this during the contract negotiations. >> she has a troubling history of saying she doesn't have to do this, doesn't have to do that. she's not obligated to disclose it. she seems to forget that she is a public servant and should be disclosing everything not only to the teachers, to the parents who also have their problems with the lack of transparency in this regime. but what it does, is it helps

all those people who are detractors and her critics who say she was trying to get rid of older black teachers and now you're going to come and give raises to these new teachers on their backs they lost their job? it's a really bad public relations if nothing else. >> not only that, public relations but bad accounting because i've talked to vincent gray's office and others on the council. and they all kept saying over and over again, we never get thorough reports. budget reports on where the monies are. >> her actions were based on originally on not enough money and now we're learning we may be learning there was enough money and i mean, there are a lot of questions unanswered here. >> will there it be political fallout for the mair and for the chair of the council? >> sure, sure, because she is his agent to reform schools. if she is found to be not acting properly on something, not disclosing all the information that people think she should, i

mean, she may say there was no obligation to be disclose this and that may or may not be technically correct, but from a public relations standpoint and concern about truth standpoint, i'm not saying she's not telling the truth but the perception is there something is not being talked about that should have been. >> last week i called it a gamble for the mair and said the school situation is a big gamble for his re-election. there's an awful lot of questions that are not answered and you can rest assured with vincent gray running in this race, it's going to be exciting. >> the shouting match between the two of them, education now they have a real issue going into the campaign to fight over. >> the concern is that will her education reforms be submerged to a controversy over the money and will the

welcome back. this past week more than 200 virginia fell lonz got letters

from govern bob mcdonald explaining the new process for regaining their voting reitz, only the letters were reportedly sent out prematurely. the governor has proposed requiring nonviolent felons who have completed their sentences to write letters explaining the nature of their cases, the steps they're taking to find work and get their lives back together and why they should have voting reitz restored. during his campaign, he pledged to speed up the processing of voting applications. so the office says the letters last week were sent in error but he says the letter idea is a policy that's being considered. he calls it a draft proposal. critics say this would make it a very subjective process. adrian, what do you think about the idea of using this strategy to reduce the processing time? >> i don't think it's a good strategy. first of all, they should keep

what's in place where you just have to fill out a minimal form petitioning the governor virginia and in 39 other states you don't even have to do that. your reitz are automatically returned to you, as it should be once you've paid your debt to society and served your time and done your parole, you should again enjoy all the reitz of every citizen and that includes the right to vote. this just adds problems for people who some with low literacy skills, some who are not going to be able to meet the standard and then if they don't meet the standard, then their case is dismissed with prejudice? that's a problem. >> this is week three. and it seems like every week, we hear something about mcdonell and question about some of the actions in his office. but i think adrian hits it right on the head because you're talking about a population of people that want their freedom

like anybody else once they've paid their dues. and what, 39 states, the district of columbia once you've paid your dues, you automatically come out and you get your reitz. but here, because you have to go before a board but still, i think it's more difficult in virginia. >> yeah, i think a lot of people that i've talked to think that the governor is basically on the right track but not moving fast enough or in the right direction. this is a precedent in other states. the question is, is there too much concern and pressure being put on some virginia former inmates, their skills of writing and argumentation that, kind of thing, there ought to be a more simple way do this. >> is there politics involved in this? there are 300,000 former inmates in virginia who can't vote. >> last week. >> and they tend to vote democratic. >> last week i said mcdonald has to dance an awful lot. people like cuccinelli down the

hall, there's an awful lot of dancing. yes, there's politics. he's a conservative. we're talking about a very liberal situation. >> you've got to understand, the pool of people we're talking about are nonviolent offenders who are nonviolent people who have paid their deuce and have already finished their terms. so therefore, their reitz should be restored. beyond politics, let's think pure economics. it costs money to keep people in jail. okay? so he should be doing everything he can especially to move nonviolent people out and to make them again viable people of society who pay taxes who are productive, who contribute to the body politic. that should be, i think, are the standard of conservatives. >> dave? >> i think there's been a lot of the good comment here. i think -- i'm not sure politics is really playing a role in it. i think virginia is a state with very strong penal codes, very

strong lock the criminal up, throw away the key. i'm not sure about politics though. >> do you think the letter policy will become policy or remain a draft proposal? >> draft. >> draft. compromise. >> i don't know. >> i think they floated the balloon and it didn't go any where. too much criticism about it. >> i won the make the accusation they leak it had out but it does seem funny that they sent the first fish out and it don't smell too well. >> jerry, dave, adrian, thank you. that's "reporter's notebook"". news for today continues. good morning. welcome to "news4 today." i'm kimberly suiters. aaron hats morning off. it's sunday, april 18th, 2010.

first a quick look at the forecast. let's check in with justin draw beck. this morning at 4:45 5, it's mid april and it's 39 degrees outside. >> we're all over the place. a few days ago, we saw 80s and now dealing with 30s and 40s and highs today will struggle to get to that 60 doig mark. yes, very cold start this morning. good news is the winds not as strong as last night. so yes, it's still cold but not as cold as it would feel if we had wind gusts at 40 miles per hour. freezing point at dulles, culpeper and warrenton, low to mid 30s right now. 40 at national airport. out toward the water, 41 to 45. plenty of sunshine to start the day. still plenty of sunshine but it's really not going to help temperatures a whole lot. highs struggling to get to that 60 doig mark. many areas stuck in the 50s today. and then we'll start to warm

things up as we move through the upcoming workweek. >> sounds good. thanks, justin. >> sure. police found a missing suv taken from the home of a d.c. principal who was shot and killed. investigators are now searching for clues to figure out who murdered brian betts. darcy spencer talk with the victim's sister and those who were touched by this gifted educator. >> a beloved middle school principal, brian betts, found murdered inside his silver spring home on thursday evening. saturday morning police got a huge lead in the investigation. ser rita mullen found his xtera parked in the back lot near her home. her mother called police. >> i think it's really shocking they would pull in the back of our building, you know, because it just seems like it would be unrelated. but it's just, you know, the violence is so widespread. >> place say betts' xtera had

been missing since he was found in his bedroom. sherrita mullen says she actually saw it here about 1:00 friday afternoon. >> did you see anything peculiar about it beyond the fact that it was there? >> just that it was there. nothing peculiar about it. it didn't look like there was anything messed up on it. >> police say they believe betts may have known his killer but many are at a loss to explain why this popular principal of shaw middle school in d.c. would be murred. >> he was very open and very giving. and you know, but he wasn't stupid either. that's what's kind of strange about it because he wasn't the type of person to leave the door unlocked and things like this. >> he had been assistant principal and magnate coordinator in silver spring where a vigil was held in his memory. >> he was always there for you no matter what. i would always go to his office and he would tell me okay. >> students, parents and teachers gathered to remember

main who left a lasting legacy in maryland and d.c. >> he was a very wonderful man, very gifted educator. had a particular gift for reaching the middle school students, which is very rare. >> betts' sister says the family is still in the process of making funeral arrangements but they also plan to hold a memorial service in the district, as well. in silver springs, darcy spencer, "news4 today." >> the budget battle in d.c. public schools is far from over. the washington teachers union is asking a judge to revive its lawsuit against d.c. schools chancellor michelle rhee they sued over her decision to lay off 250 teachers last year and yesterday parents of students got a chance to speak out on plans for next year's school budget and the controversy over reports of a $34 million surplus. the city's chief financial officer wrote to chancellor rhee and in a letter explain that had no surplus exists. now school officials must decide

how to pay for teacher raises promised in a new contract. >> just makes them aware that we can't afford to have any more cuts. they already made cuts and if they continue giving cuts, then we have to -- we're going to, you know, we're going to have less -- i'm a teacher and they start laying people off. it's going to affect everyone. >> the d.c. council will vote on the budget on thursday. new today, a memo from defense secretary robert gates warned the united states lacks a long-term plan to curb iran's nuclear program. the "new york times" reports the secret memo was sent to the white house back in january and reportly set off a search for new options including military alternatives that could be considered if sanctions planned for this year fail. the white house disagrees with the report saying the memo did not force a reassessment. the pentagon says the white house has reviewed many options for dealing with iran's nuclear

program. it's shaping up to be another busy week in washington today and tomorrow. the u.s. is hosting the major economies forum to advance talks on a global deal to fight climate change. some analysts think this forum could be an important step? climate negotiations because december's u.n. conference in copenhagen ended without a legally binding pact. the forum includes 17 countries which account for roughly 80% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. tomorrow protesters will gather at the washington monument for the gun reitz second amendment rally at 10:00 a.m. the event's website says the date was chosen to commemorate the battles of lexington and concord when connists defended themselves from british troops trying to destroy their military supplies. president obama says it is time for new rules of the road on wall street and want to prevent future market meltdowns and if investors make that

gamble, the president insists taxpayers should not be left holding the bag. that plan seems like it would be an easy sell but in this polarized political atmosphere, there's plenty of political pushback. brian mooar has the story. >> after winning the bitter year-long fight over health care reform, taking on wall street seemed like a safe political move for president obama. >> we're going to put in place new rule soez that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make. not taxpayers. >> but with his approval numbers near an all-time low, republicans are challenging his regulatory reform efforts, painting them as another washington power grab. >> the democrats control every lever of power in washington and they've never met a tax they didn't like or found a dollar they couldn't spend. >> republicans are hoping to ride a wave of public frustration to victory in this fall's congressional elections.

they're tuning their message to voters like these who believe washington is the problem. >> are you guys sick and tired of being taxed to death? >> members of the tea party movement vented their anger with big government on tax debt and they're hoping to draw even bigger crowds to the polls less than seven months from now. meanwhile, president obama is running out of time to make the changes he says this country needs. and to convince this country why those changes are needed. >> brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> and in washington, still the controversy surrounding former congressman eric massa intensifies. he now says someone forged his signature on a $40,000 salary raise for his chief of staff. well, the new york democrat also denied authorizing a check from a campaign account in the very same amount. the new accusations come after that staffer co-joe racalto filed a sexual harassment complaint about his former boss.

his attorney says both were done at masa's direction. masza resigned last month. a 49-year-old woman has been charged with dwi after she was involved in a crash with a police officer friday night on rolling road and springfield. investigators say kristina zam ran know pulled into the path i've police cruiser on its way to a burglary call. the police car had lights and sirens on at the time. both sam ran know and the officer were taken to the hospital with serious injuries. the time is now 6:39. a man with a remarkable string of setbacks, first a car accident, then a volcano. his quest to make it home to england for his 85th barringtondy. plus from commander in chief to first fan. how president obama kicked off the weekend. and a chilly morning. how long will it last? justin's full forecast is straight ahead.

state funeral services will be held today for polish president lech kaczynski and his wife in craw cow. some 100,000 people turned out in warsaw yesterday for a memorial and funeral mass for the 96 people killed in the plane crash last weekend. afterward, the coffins holding the polish president and first lady were driven slowly past

places linked to his life. the presidential couple will be buried in craw cow's historical cathedral, a resting place of kings and heros. >> the plane carrying the polish president and his wife flew below the volcanic ash and plume but the volcano has forced many to cancel their attendance at the state funeral. the president cited hazardous flying conditions. a university of cambridge kol volcano expert says she studied volcanoes around the world and this one is unlike anything she has ever seen. >> there's a white steam cloud which billows higher up and then this more dense ash brown cloud which carries hundreds of tons of materials. you can really appreciate that no airplane can fly through

this. >> many travelers have been told it could be a week or more before they get a flight home and if the volcano continues to erupt, it could be even longer. one of the stranded is a man who works here in the d.c. area but lives in england. first there was a fender bender, then there was a volcano. the big question is, will he make it home for his 85th birthday? craig melvin reports. >> william thue's misadventure started on the way to the airport. >> a driver did find -- we got clobbered from the rear. >> he had to go to the hospital to get checked out. he was fine but. >> i missed my flight on wednesday. but that didn't seem too bad. come on, you know. there's another plane tomorrow. >> but there wasn't. in fact, there hasn't been a flight to london since. the volcanic ash cloud looming over part of europe means he has not been able to get home for

his wedding anniversary or his 85th birthday. he's frustrated but thankful that virgin airlines has been putting him up at the hilton. >> can you imagine trying to sleep in one of those chairs? at least i'm living in a great place, good food. but i would like to be able to get on that felony london. >> sure. >> craig melvin, "news4 today." >> happy birthday anyway, mr mr. thue. we'll be right back.

the commander in chief, just a regular old soccer dad with a motorcade. president obama went to his daughter's game yesterday. on the way to the match, a motorcycle did slide into one of the police cars but no one was hurt. once the president arrived at the field he walked his daughter malia to rudolph field and stood alongside other players as they warmed up. she's getting so tall. he even greeted onlookers before walking back to his motorcade. you can see dad with his arm around daughter right there regular old soccer dad. that's fun to see. time to check in with justin. were you a soccer player? that was my sport.

>> i played baseball growing up. >> baseball and now i do a lot of surfing. >> oh, cool. >> i'm trying other things here. >> with this kind of wind, you could get a good surf going, couldn't you. >> you need wind to have -- water temperatures in the atlantic upper 40s to low 50s. back home, just a gorgeous sunrise right now. a few mid to high level clouds but not impacting the sun. it will certainly make its rays to the ground but going to have a tough time warming things up. our current temperature 42 doigs national airport. this is the coldest morning since march 28th, palm sunday, when we had temperatures in the upper 30s at national airport. good news, the winds much lighter out of the northwest. the water is looking a bit more glassy. average low temperature is 47 doigs for this date. certainly we will shattered that number and you head outside the

beltway particularly to the south over virginia piedmont, manassas 32 doigs. warmer towards winchester, upper 30s to around 40 and low to mid 40s along the chesapeake bay waters where that bay water is in the 50s. that's influencing the air temperatures a little bit. everybody is feeling the chilly temperatures this morning. so elkins, west virginia, 31 doigs below freeze. even philadelphia only at 41 doigs this hour. you can see the spin in the clouds with the rain and snow showers across the northeast. that's associated with that upper level disturbance or trough in the jet stream, which is allowing all the cold air to spill southward. it will lift on out of here so we'll start to see a warmup as we head into the upcoming workweek. northwest wind will be sustained from ten to 15 miles per hour today transporting cold dry air coming out of canada. a look at future cast.

the cold air keeps the atmosphere a little bit unstable. could still see the possibility of clouds developing through this afternoon. those give way to more sun as we head into monday and tuesday as an area of high pressure starts to build in from the west. upper 50s to low 60s i think for the warm spots. today certainly the warmest out of the next seven. tomorrow we're up to 64 doigs. mid to upper 60s tuesday and wednesday. beautiful weather on tap for midweek. by the end of the week, the 70 doig mark. a couple of rain chances develop on thursday. that's very slight. saturday a better chance as a larger storm starts to pull in from the midwest. >> thanks. a banner night for d.c. sports fans. the caps won in thrilling fashion and the nats dom fated the brewers. here's hakem dermish with your sports. >> well, you can call them the comeback kids, the cards yak caps or whatever road like. they have been doing it all

year, finding ways to win. last night they found a way. they rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the canadiens in overtime and the series is now tied at one game apiece heading to montreal. alex ovechkin held without a shot in game one, not two. first period. caps turn it over. andre koes seat zen rips it past three door. boudreau says that's enough. pulls jose so in comes semyon varlamov. caps down, 4-2. john carlson the rookie fires on net. look who is working hard in front. alex ovechkin pokes it in and the caps cut the deficit to one. complete bedlam at verizon center. later, still 4-3 montreal. here come the caps. ovechkin skates and shoots. but it's stopped. obi sets up niklas backstrom in front, game tied at four just

like that. now, just over a minute to go in regulation. it's 5-4 montreal. niklas backstrom passes to rookie defenseman john carlson and he bleets jaroslav halak. carlson scores his first playoff goal. we go to overtime. here comes nickback backstrom, the hero. he was in the zone last night and score the game-winner, a hat trick for backstrom. they win it 6-5 in overtime. the series now tied at one game apiece. lindsay czarniak was at the game and has more. >> it was a roller coaster ride here at the verizon center. in the end the capital were the first team back at the station, the best played their best last night. backstrom scored the game-winning goal. he played the best game of his life. ovechkin had seven hits in the first period. the entire montreal roster only had four. obi joked after the game when he

was asked if the physical play was part of his plan. >> strategy. just destroy people and all. no, my job is to score goals and if i have a chance to hit somebody, i'm going to hit him. you know, it was bergeron, my first hit. he's not a strong guy and you know, it was mentally good for me. >> it's the only way we were going to win tonight was if we decided to go all offense. by no stretch of the -- no stretch did we probably deserve to win. we got lucky wan we did. we know we're not out of the woods. there's a lot of people that are going to say that montreal has outplayed us for two games and they were on the road. now we're going into their building. so we have to play a lot better. >> i feel like we is never give up and second period was kind of like embarrassing for us a little bit. we bounced back and that's a good thing for us. i mean, that's so important

right now, and i mean, we need those kind of wins especially at home. >> niklas backstrom, a hat trick on the night, including the game winner. there is a controversy brewing, however. goaltender jose theodore was pulled in the first period after giving up two goals on the first two shots he played. i caught up with him after the game. he said it clearly was the right decision if it led to the win. he also added today at practice is extremely important. he intends to fight and hopes to reclaim that starting role in the capitals play in montreal on monday. from verizon center, lindsay czarniak, back to you. >> talking baseball now. 35-year-old nationals pitcher livan hernandez can still dominant. yesterday against the brewers he threw a complete game shutout, 16 scoreless innings in two starts and the nats have their first winning record in more than two years. believe it.

lee livan hernandez gets weeks looking at a change-up. livan was solid. gave up four hits and no runs. then in the ninth, hernandez gets help from defense. casey mcgee shot to third here. ryan zimmerman back in the starting lineup. knocks it down and gets up and gets him at first. zimmer pan had two rbis. the nats shut out the brewers, 8-0 and hernandez earns his eighth career shutout. last night in atlanta, colorado pitcher jimenez flirting with a no-hitter. bottom nine. and there it is, gets ryan mccandidate to end the game. he throws the first no-hitter in rockies history, the only blemish were his six walks. they blankt braves, 4-0. elsewhere last night, the mets beat the cardinals 2-1 in 20 innings. the game lasted six hours and 53 minutes. also, big news out of georgetown

yesterday. sophomore greg monroe is going pro. the center will skip his final two years of college for the nba and expected to be a high first-round pick in this june's draft. that's all for your sports. i'm hakem dermish have, a great day. >> we'll be backing in 2:30 with a look at the day's top stories and your forecast. plus news4's viewpoint. stay with us. subway now has

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you want it! [ male announcer ] spread the word -- subway now has breakfast! get the deliciousness just the way you want it, like the subway western egg white muffin melt. build your better breakfast at subway. morning, everyone. welcome to "news4 today." i'm kimberly suit perpz aaron has the morning off. the news is just ahead. first a quick look at the day's forecast. meteorologist justin dra bik sitting in for chuck bell. good morning to you. a bit of a chill outside with temperatures down if the freezing mark in some of the cold spots today. the areas that are seeing the calm winds currently. that's also good news. the winds not as bad as yesterday. 42 in national airport, 32 out in dulles as well as manassas. further off to the north, bwi and frederick both at 37 doigs.

one of the coldest mornings we've seen in a few weeks. we're going to be talking about temperatures a good five doigs cooler than yesterday. highs struggling to get to that 60 doig mark today. that's going to be in the warm spots. many areas only in the 50s this afternoon and keep in mind our highs should incumbent upper 60s. but there will be a warmup coming up in the seven-day forecast. all the details later on. updating our top stories now, investigators are searching for clues inside an suv that belonged to a popular d.c. principal who was shot and killed. a neighbor called police when she spotted brian betts' stolenny san xtera near fourth street in southeast yesterday morning. police say the suv had been missing that since betts was found shot to death in his bedroom on thursday night. a memo from robert gates warned the united states lacks a long-term plan to curb iran's nuclear program. the "new york times" reporting the secret memo was sent to the

white house in january. the white house disagrees with the report saying the memo about not force a reassessment. and the caps rallying from a three-goal deficit to beat the canadiens in overtime, 6-5. niklas backstrom led the team with a hat trick. the series is now tied and the next game is tomorrow in montreal. those are some of the stories making news today. next is nbc4's "viewpoint." we'll be back in a few minutes with another update. >> good morning, everyone. i'm jim hadley. our topic this week, the march of dimes and it's long-time commitment to improving the health of babies. joe rigby is ceo and president of petco holdings and chairman of the washington march for babies. kelly gillespie, ceo of events and a mom herself and dr. baker, noble fairfax hospital for children. welcome back to "viewpoint" for

some of you. let's start out and give viewers a general sense of the numbers out there. we know that the rate is improving slightly. but there are still large numbers out there of premature babies. what are we talking about in our area. >> it's still a serious issue across the nation. one out of eight babies are born remature. in the washington area, it's one out of seven which is why this effort is so important. >> dr. baker dear, fine for viewers when we're talking about premature, how many weeks? >> less than 37 weeks is defined as prematurity. and i think it's a great point. and the rate is huge. we talk about over half a million infants a year are born preterm with an expense of $26 billion. so this is not a small problem and we'll not a small health care problem either because these infants continue to have long-term sequel lal secondary to prematurity.

>> kelly, your son was premature. he's now 9 years old and very healthy. >> jack was born at 24 weeks gestation. i was just six months pregnant and found out that a couple weeks before that he was in danger of being a miscarriage. so i was taken to the hospital in an ambulance and put in the high risk ward in nova fairfax hospital and it was touch and go for three weeks whether or not we could arrest the contractions that i was having and we were very lucky that i was able to go through excellent care. dr. baker was then in charge of the nicu when jack was born at 24 weeks. he weighed about 1.5 pounds. >> he was in the nicu for how long? >> four months and it was touch and go for those four months. very small child is a frightening thing to see, especially when it's your child. that first day when you get to see your child and you're going down that long, long hall to get

to that nicu and i was in a wheelchair just having come from surgery, it's the hardest jurisprudenceny you'll have to take. >> i want to talk about family support later. that's so much a part of the march of dimes. we've got a big walkoming up. pep cohas been a long time backer and supporter of this walkoming up on april 25th. tell us a little bit about it and how people can get involved. >> we're incredibly excited. this has been a long time commitment from pep cole to support this effort. it's part of our culture to reach out into the community. we had 1500 walkers last year. we're trying to double that to 3,000. we're making good progress but need people to show up. there's information that i think we're going to be providing today in terms of calling in or the website. so show up and have a great time. >> we're going to be putting up that website and the phone number throughout the half hour. dr. baker, of course, kelly's

story is inspiring for so many people out there. jack is 9 years old and healthy but oftentimes, that is not the case. what are some of the long-term implications and consequences of a premature birth for many families out there? >> the first one is long-term into your lodge rick injury, cerebral palsy and as you are more preterm, the incidence continues to go up. even kids born slightly preterm, less than 37, maybe they're 34 weeks which is still considered preterm have an increased incidence of long-term neurologic injury. it is up to us as physicians to educate the population that you need to try your best to go as far as long through gestation as possible. you can also have vision issues that develop. you can have many mobility, walking problems, again, potentially related to cerebral palsy and there's a whole gamut of others that really seem to

may not be picked up initially after these kids are discharged but you might see long-term. >> do we know what causes the majority of premature baby cases or do we? i understand that about 50% we don't know an actual cause. is that right. >> that is correct. it still eludes us the real etiology for half of the moms that go into preterm labor. through the march of dimes and research, they're trying to focus on this and figure out why a lot of these moms will go into preterm labor. >> kelly, did you have any warning signs. >> none. >> tell us before jack was born. >> at 21 weeks i went in for a sonogram and the technician couldn't find my cervix and that raised a little bit of alarm. then they called in the head technician and finally they just called an blans stead and said you are two sentmeters dilated which meant i was in danger of losing jack completely. i was rushed in an ambulance to the hospital, put ontren dellenburg which is an inverted

bed so that my, the gravity could help hold him in. they were able to do a stitch around my sir vix beak to hold him in and the infection we think had probably already been in there and i was in labor for the next three weeks trying to keep him there. so it was very, very frightening time. i was at innova fairfax. it's a wonderful hospital. they had the best care possible and i think that's the reason he survived. 24 weeks, he was 1.5 pounds. he just came one day they said okay, this is it. here he comes. >> i want to talk more after the break about how inknow value fairfax and pepco holdings is rallying around this big march coming up april 25th. that's a sunday morning, 28:00 registration for the four-mile walk. there is the number on the screen and the website for more information. we'll be right back on "viewpoint." so stay with us.

and welcome back to "viewpoint." our topic today march of dimes and hits commitment to healthier babies. joe rigby, i want to ask you about this big march coming up on the 25th. where does the money go that's raised for that. >> as a mentioned earlier, the goal of the campaign is $410,000. we're well on our way. almost 80 cents of every dollar gets to the mission. so there's very little overhead or administrate i be costs. but there's a number of key things that we're trying to accomplish. one is to fund the research, also to educate women. we're looking to provide whether it's information or additional emotional support for families that have babies that are premature assisting the health care professionals like dr. baker. so this money gets channelled into just vital vital things that are related to the campaign. >> let's talk a little bit, kelly about, that emotional support and how critical it is

for parents and families in general. you said during the break, it was terrifying for you at first. i can imagine. how important, these nick cues, how important are they to families? >> they're critical obviously and, of course, to the child. but the nick cue is an interesting place. it's full of sounds and smells and a lot of it is the fear that we feel and that's how, whenever i hear a sound that is like, you know, a beep that i go heard on one of the manors it brings me right back or the smell of alcohol or something. it's terrifying. in the midst of all this melee is this child that is your child. the fear just drives us. so it's really very hard and there's so much uncertainty and they have a honeymoon period when they're born. they do very well for a couple days and can just fall off. it's very, very frightening. we had calls twice in the middle of the fight through our four-month ordeal where the nurses said you really need to

come in tonight because he may not make it through the night. so you know, at 3:00 in the morning we're racing down the road to try to get to the hospital and see if he does. we were very lucky. >> dr. baker you've seen that family support make a tremendous difference at innova fairfax. what kind of difference can it make for parents? >> it's a huge asset. i take care of babies, to make sure i'm taking care of the fluids, breathing, infection but you've got a parent right there who's spearsing this at the same time. so the march of dimes through the family support has reallily take than parent and they'll have days when they have scrapbooking and pizza and talking to other parents and trying to comfort them and say it is a roller coaster. but the huge majority of these kids survive and do well. if you hang in there it will start to turn around. it really has been a huge asset to us as physicians to take care

of the parent as well while we sort of focus on the child. >> every case is different. is there a typical length of stay that will parents can expect on the high end and the low end too? >> know, usually a child is going to be in the nicu till his due date. so if 40 weeks is gestation they're born at 25, they may be there for 15 weeks or so. having said that the more preterm, the greater chance they're going to go longer than that. so you know, it can be anywhere from four to five to six months. we've had a few kids there close to a year that have had really, really difficult times. but usually it's somewhere around the term date. >> so much a part of this walk is raising awareness. is that right? >> oh, absolutely. you know, it's absolutely rl easy sell in a way. have i two kids, 28 and 26. they were born healthy. you realize what a gift that is when you hear stories like kelly, and when you communicate that to your employees like we are at pep co, it's not

difficult to get people to kind of contribute and really want to do this because not only does it make you feel good, you realize it's making a huge difference. >> pep co, you're getting everybody on board with this? >> well, being connected to our communities is very important to us. we think we provide an essential service, and as i said earlier, our folks have a long history of wanting to be involved. so you know, i send a message out that i'm asking for you to support me and we have a series of rallies we hold across the company. so it's very easy. part of my job as the chairman of this campaign is to make phone calls to mile counterparts if the business community, connect them with the incredible people at march for babies and to get their campaigns rolling. so it's not difficult at all to kind of get people to get on board with this. >> i ask this of a lot of people. in charity work these days, our economy last year, has it been

tougher to raise money? >> in our experience, it has. we're also very involved with the united way. but you know, while we have seen a dip, which you would somewhat expect, we still see people wanting to do what they can. and also you find a lot of people want to just devote their time. you know, they can't provide the financial support, they still want to -- so, i don't think the basic desire to want to make a difference has changed at all. >> that's good to hear. kelly, i'm curious. how many other parents have you met along the way at these marches who have stories similar to yours? >> many. i've had so many friends who said, oh, my gosh, my cousin who lives in kansas just had a preterm baby. so people come to us for help and comfort because they know what we've been through. but at the walk, it's fantastic to see these families. and unfortunately, some of them have lost their babies and they walk for their children and there are lots of great stories of folks who have had success

stories and we join with them and it's a great day. so we have a team, too. i have a walk team, jack and finn. that's jack's brother, finn. we'll have a team there as well and have done that for many years and it's a lot of fun. >> nine years. >> we want to put up once again the website and phone number where you can get involved and take part in this march coming up april 25th. it's saturday -- sunday, a sunday the 25th. 8:00 a.m. be there. we're hoping to double the number of people from last

hello, everyone. i'm kimberly suitors in the news, four firefighters are recovering after they were injured battling an apartment fire in st. mary's county. that fire left more than two dozen out of their holmes. it happened yesterday evening in the 227,000 block of laurel glen

road in california, maryland. the cause of that fire remains under investigation. state funeral services held today for poland's president lech kaczynski and his wife in krakow. more than 100,000 mourners gathered in warsaw yesterday for a memorial and funeral mass for the six people killed in last weekend's plane crash. now the ice linda volcano is keeping several world leaders including president obama from attending today's state funeral. the massive cloud is also forcing evacuations in southern iceland. now we return to you "viewpoint." >> and welcome back to "viewpoint." we're talking about the march of dimes and their big walkoming up april 25th. we were talking about the kick off breakfast and what struck you is the lifelong commitment some families have. >> we had a breakfast at the

u.s. chamber of commerce and thanks to the comam chamber for giving us the facilities. part of it was to have guest speakers but we also had a video. one of the things that struck me as a watch it had was this year after year commitment from the parents? >> even parents who have unfortunately lost a child. it becomes is almost a lifelong dedication to making a difference. you can't watch this without being significantly moved. >> dr. baker, you were talking about how many families kind of resect year after year at this event. >> even though they may have lost a child, it doesn't lessen support for the march of dimes and look at this as a way they might be able to help so another child doesn't have the experience they have and willing to give back time. a lot of the families use this as a mini reunion because they've been in the nicu typically at the same time. they have contests, t-shirts. they make it a lot of fun and it's a shot in the arm for us as

physicians that these parents are willing to give back all that time and money to help news our fight against prematurity and the sequelae from prematurity. >> it must make a big difference to know you're not alone, that there are so many families going through what you went through. >> if there's anything i've tried to do as a mom, i've tried. i've volunteered at the unit, i've been a nicu cudler who the babies are on theirway home and need constant care. i've been on the march of dimes and be on the board and anything i can do to help other parents is what i do and that's why i do the walk. >> we've got a photograph of your son jack. you were able to touch him on the second day. >> yeah. >> and you're still volunteering. what is that marines like to hold a premature baby that is so tiny. >> jack was born as we said at 24 weeks. his eyes were fused shut. his skin was just barely formed.

so he was very, very fragile looking child. and it was terrifying to reach in there. i was surprised. we were lucky we got to touch him that day. we didn't get to hold him for about two months till he was large enough and could withstand the infections. that was a great day to be able to hold him. >> is that one of the biggest concerns, infebzs at those critical days. >> infection is huge. the biggest hurdle initially is breathing and respiratory. that's what we have to support as the baby makes the transition from inside a mom to the real world. and then once you get past that infection is huge because their defense systems are not nearly as strong as they should be so they are at a high rick of getting infection. >> when did you know, kelly, how far in certainly out of nicu, that jack was going to be okay? >> the day that they told me he was going to come home. seriously, he had the worst infection of his whole

four-month stay about three weeks before he was, his scheduled due date, and that was one of the times where we almost lost him. so i never gave myself any hope or anything. we just had to keep riding that roller coaster and hope he would be okay. so the day the doctor said, you know he's coming home tomorrow, i said no, he's really not. you can't send him home with me. i can't take a child home on a heart monitor and oox i jen thanks but yeah, he did. that was the best day of our lives too. >> it must make it an easier sell when you've got so many inspiring stories to get your people at pep coon board and others out in the community too. >> we use a variety of different things. we have speakers come in at at the rallies. we have monthly safety meetings so opportunities to get all of our employees together and we really leverage the video i mentioned earlier. >> it's not just about the four-mile walk. you've got a lot of activities going on that day. tell us about this bus.

>> the mama and baby bus. the money raised by march of dimes funds, the mother and baby bus travels around d.c. and it provides services, prenatal care and dental care for women expectant mothers and it's a great way for them to be aware. a lot of the problems of preterm labor are ignored by women who aren't aware of them or aren't educated on them. what's what march of dimes is trying to do, educate people, tell them what to look for, all those are on the website, as well. and then also try to prevent that. i can give au example. jack's care was about half a million dollars. it never stopped there because as soon as he left the nicu, we had so many, i mean my entire schedule was full of doctors' appointments and therapies. he still does go through some. he has very bad eyesight. we're in vision therapy for him. there are thingsty always wonder. as a parent you never stop wondering. he's 9 years old, he's doing

well in school. but there are some problems. a lot may have to do with his eyesight. anything we can do at march of dimes to raise money to restlaent happening to another kid is just fabulous. >> when we come back, i want to talk more about the cost and average and advances being made on the research front too as we continue on viewpoint, again, it's april 25th. here's the phone number and website for you, 703-824-0111. we'll be right back. ♪

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welcome back to viewpoint. a big march coming up for the march of dimes. that is coming up on april 25th. joe rigby, you've got everybody at pep coon board. it's easy for anybody who want to take part. it's a four-mile walk. you run yourself but it's a walk. >> you know, it's about an hour

and a half your time. if you want to get involved, you can get information through the website. get your friends and neighbors. we're looking for people to hopefully set a personal goal for 200 hours of contributions. everything makes a difference. >> that's great. let's talk about we had touched on where some of that money goes. awareness and education. doctor, what's happening on the research front? >> the march of dimes is instrumental in folic acid and getting moms folic acid before and during pregnancy and almost eliminated any sort of spina bifida. it is unusual for me to see an infant with this disease anymore. also luge in surfactant, a ped indication we give newborns 0 to help their lungs function more maturely and looking at genetic markers for prematurity. just a whole host. they do the metabolic screens that look at maybe 20 to 30 different inborn diseases potentially treated in the newborn and look at just a drop

of blood and screen infants for it. >> you mention aid lot can be done in terms of lifestyle changes, part of this, too. educating the moms. >> you know it, really is. specifically if you have diabetics, getting it under control before you get pregnant because once you become pregnant it's more difficult to control. maybe getting yourself in shape. but prenatally it can optimize your outcome if you're ready physically to get pregnant. >> kelly who, better to spread the word and the message and make people more aware than someone who has walked the walk. i would think it would be safe to say before nine years ago, you weren't an expert, certainly not the expert you are today. >> no, i thought briefly about going back to medical school and trying to take up, but no, we do get a great education quickly. we have to learn medical terms very, very fast. and you know, the whole time we're involved in this process, there's a lot of guilt. i me know mean, i was always, always thinking about what could

i have done to prevent this and nobody really knows. the causes of, as dr. baker said, 50% of all premature births the cause is unknown. we spend quite a lot of time wondering how could i have done that better. i hope for other mothers they'll do things like consider getting pregnant, go to the march of dimes website, read the saenz of premature labor. do take folic acid. pay attention. >> just want to say for our viewers, jack's doctor was dr. baker. he saw you through. >> yes, did he. >> it's been a tremendous education for all of thus morning. thank you for making us more aware. pep cois behind this once again. a long-term commitment and innova fairfax, as well. 703-824-111 and there is the march of dimes website. again, that march is coming up on sunday, april 25th. that's all the time we have on viewpoint this morning. thank you for watching.

now back to "news4 today." enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. a break in the case. police find a missing suv that belonged to a murdered principal. who was seen getting out of that vehicling? a mountain of trouble. more bad news for travelers stranded because of that volcano in iceland. why they should not look to the airlines for much help. and a capital comeback. the caps pull out an overtime thriller. how they overcame a 4-1 deficit at the good morning. welcome to "news4 today." i'm kimberly suitors. it's sunday april 18th, 2010. first a quick look at the day's forecast. meteorologist justin draw beck sitting in for chuck bell in storm center4. how does today's weather compare to yesterday's?

>> cool things down a little bit more than yesterday. it was a pleasant day but windy.today the wind has calmed down a little bit but temperatures a good five droigs colder tan yesterday's high. so many areas going to be stuck into the 50s. so today or right now, temperatures holding out in the low 30s. manassas 30 doigs. below freezing there.areas outside the beltway certainly on the chilly side in the 30s. 41 here at national airport. 37 at bwi. through the morning, more clouds developing. we're starting to see those push in from the north. highs struggling to get to 60 doigs. but there is another warmup coming up in the seven-day forecast. i'll have all those details in just a bit. >> we'll check in with you then. thanks, justin. police found the missing suv that was taken from the home of a d.c. principal who was shot and killed. investigators are now searching for clues to figure out who hurded brian betts. darcy spencer talked with the

victim's sister and those touched by the gifted educator. >> a beloved middle school principal, brian betts found murdered inside his home on thursday evening. saturday morning police got a huge lead in the investigation. sherrita mullen found the xtera near her home. her mother called police. >> i think it's really shocking that they would pull in the back of our building because it just seems like it would be unrelated but you know, it's just, you know, the violence is so widespread. >> place say betts' xtera had been missing since he was found shot to death in his bedroom. sherrita mullen said she actually saw the suv about 1:00 friday afternoon. >> did you see anything peculiar about it beyond the fact that it was just there. >> just that it was there. nothing peculiar about it. it didn't look like there was anything messed up on it. >> police believe betts may have known his killer but many are at

a loss to explain why this popular principal would be murdered. >> he was very open and very giving. and you know, but he wasn't stupid either. that's what's kind of strange about it because he wasn't the type of person to leave the door unlocked and things like this. >> he had been assistant principal and magnate coordinator in silver spring where a vigil was held tonight in his memory. >> he was always there for you no matter what. i was always in trouble. i would go to his office and ed tell me it was okay. >> students gather to remember a man who left a lasting legacy. >> he was a wonderful man, very gifted educator. had a particular gift for reaching the middle school students, which is very rare. >> betts' sister says the family is still in the process of making funeral arrangements but they also plan to hold a memorial service in the district, as well. .in silver spring, darcy

spencer, "news4 today." >> the budget battle. a d.c. public schools is far from over. the washington teachers union is asking a judge to revibe its lawsuit against chancellor michelle rhee the union sued over her decision to layoff more than 250 teachers last year. yesterday, parents of students got a chance to speak out on plans for next year's school budget and the controversy over reports of a $34 million surplus. now the city's chief financial officer wrote to chancellor rhee in a letter explain that had no surplus actually exists. now school officials must decide how to pay for teacher raises promised in a new contract. >> this makes them aware that we can't afford to have any more cuts. they already made cuts and they continue giving cuts, then we have to -- we're going to, you know, we're going to have less -- i'm a teacher and they start laying people off, it's going to affect everyone.

>> the d.c. council will vote on the budget on thursday. new today, a memo from defense secretary robert gates warned the united states lacks a long-term plan to curb iran's nuclear program. the new york times reports that the secret memo was sent to the white house back in january. it reportedly set off a search for new options including military alternatives. this could be considered if the diplomacy and sanctions planned for this year fail. the white house disagrees with the report saying the memo did not force a reassessment. the pentagon says the white house has reviewed many options for dealing with iran's nuclear program. >> it is slipping up to be another busy week in washington. today and tomorrow the u.s. is hosting the major economies forum to advance talks on global deal -- on a global deal to fight climate change. some think this to could be an important step in climate goern negotiations because december's conference in copenhagen ended without a legally behinding

pact. it includes 17 countries which account for roughly 80% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. and taking a live look at our washington monument, tomorrow protesters will gather for the gun reitz second amendment rally at 10:00 a.m. the date was chosen to commemorate the battles of lexington and concord during the revolutionary war when con lonnists defended themselves from british troops trying to destroy their military supplies. president obama says it is time now for new rules of the road on wall street. he want to prevent future market meltdowns and if investors make bad gambles, the president insists taxpayers should not be left holding the bag. that plan seems like it should be an easy sell but in the polarized political atmosphere there is plenty of pushback. brian mooar has that story. >> after winning the bitter year-long fight over health care reform, taking on wall street

seemed like a safe political move for president obama. >> we're going to put in place new rules so that big banks and financial institutions will pay for the bad decisions they make, not taxpayers. >> but with his approval numbers near an all-time low, republicans are challenging his regulatory reform efforts, painting them as another washington power grab. >> the democrats control every lever of power in washington and they've never met a tax they didn't like or found a dollar they couldn't spend. >> republicans are hoping to ride a wave of public frustration to victory in this fall's congressional election. they're tuning their message to voters like these who believe washington is the problem. >> are you guys sick and tired of being taxed to death? >> members of the tea party movement vented their anger with big government on tax day. and they're hoping to draw even bigger crowds to the polls less than seven months from now. meanwhile, president obama is running out of time to make the

changes he says this country needs. and to convince this country why those changes are needed. >> brian mooar, nbc news, washington. >> the controversy surrounding former congressman eric masa intensifies this morning. he now says someone forged his signature on a salary raise for his chief of staff. the new york democrat also denied authorizing a check from a campaign account in the very same amount. the new accusations come after the staffer, joericality toe, fired a sexual harassment complaint against his former boss. his attorney says both transactions were done at massa's direction. mass sa resigned last month amid allegations he harassed several male staffers. a man with a remarkable string of setbacks, first a car accident, then a volcano. his quest to make it home to england for his 85th birthday. from commander in chief to

first fan, how president obama kicked off the weekend. and a chilly breezy morning. how long will it last? justin's full forecast is straight ahead.

state funeral services will be held today for polish president lech kaczynski and his wife maria in krakow, poland's ancient capital. some 100,000 people turned out in warsaw yesterday for a memorial and funeral mass for the 96 people killed in the plane crash last weekend.

afterward, the coffins holding the polish president and first lady were driven slowly past places linked to his life. the presidential couple will be buried in krakow's historic cathedral which is a resting place of polish kings and heroes. >> the plane carrying the polish president and his wife's remains flew below the volcanic ash and plume but iceland's volcano has forced many to cancel their attendance at the state funeral. the president cited hazardous flying conditions. the volcano continues to spew ash into the sky. a volcano expert says she studied volcanos around the world, and this one is unlike anything she's ever seen. >> there's a white steam cloud wilcarries hundreds of tons of materials. you can really appreciate that no airplane can fly through

this. >> many travelers have been told it could be a week or more before they get a flight home and if the volcano continues to erupt, it could be even longer. one of the stranded is a man who works here in the d.c. area but lives in england. first there was a fender bender, then there was a volcano. the big question is, will he make it home for his 85th birthday? news4's craig melvin reports. >> william thue's misadventure started wednesday when he was on the way to the airport. >> our driver did find -- the one behind so we got clobbered from the year. >> he had to go to the hospital to get checked out. he was fine but -- >> i missed my flight on wednesday. but that didn't seem too bad. come on, you know. there's another plane tomorrow. >> but there wasn't. in fact, there hasn't been a flight to london since. the volcanic ash cloud looming over part of europe means he has not been able to get home for

his wedding anniversary or his 85th birthday. he's frustrated but thankful that virgin airlines has been putting him up at the hilton. >> can you imagine trying to sleep in one of those chairs? at least i'm living in a great place, good food. but i would like to be able to get on that plane to london. >> sure. >> craig melvin, "news4 today." >> mr. thue says he has no complaints with the airline but he's not all that happy with the guy who rear ended his shuttle. next up on nbc is the "today" show. it starts at 8:00. lesser holt with a preview live from new york. good morning, lester. >> that's some rotten luck he's had a lot of folks suffering because of all this. the latest on the erupting volcano in iceland including more from chris jansing what they saw when they flew over the crater yesterday. it has strand thousands of travelers in this country and

across europe. we'll talk with a pilot will the perils of flying through vol cain nick ash. also, we'll head to poland where that country is holding a state funeral today for its president and first lady who died last week in that horrific plane crash. then we'll go on a treasure hunt with amateur sleuths who unearthed lost gold at the dark ages and finally, why do men and women cheat in the secrets behind extramarital fairs. what motivates people to stay and is infidelity a deal breaker. kimberly, back to you in washington. >> adultery is a felony still in some states. those people better watch out. >> is it? >> yes. >> all right. thanks so much, lester. it is 7:46 right now. let's check in with justin. justin, how is it looking? >> we have a cold start this morning. temperatures many locations are in the 30s outside and there's a mix of sun and clouds and this cold air mass will stick around for today. let you know how long it will

last in the seven-day forecast when we return.

astronauts on space shut "discovery" on on their way home. their visit to the international space station came to an end yesterday. that's the crew wearing blueshirts. they said good-bye to those saying good-bye on the international space station and delivered more than seven tons of supplies and equipment including a new sleeping unit. the shuttle scheduled to land tomorrow morning at the kennedy space center in florida. it's 7:49 right now. time to check in with justin to see what you're weather's going to look like this weekend and this week. a little chilly this morning. >> that's right. trying to warm things up a little bit. i think it's going to be tough today. we are looking at more cloud cover than yesterday. we're already starting to see

the clouds move in from north to south as expected. our highs going to be a good five to maybe 10 doigs below the average in many areas across the viewing area. a live look outside right now. you can see clouds starting to move in from the north and again, that's going to be an issue going to limit sun potential as far as the warmup. lots of cold airlocked in place. but good news, it will be out of here as we head later tonight in the start of the workweek. a plane out of national airport hopefully heading somewhere warm. outside right now, 41 doigs. officially at the airport. we have a light northwest wind coming in at five miles per hour. the wind not arab this morning. that's good news there. we're not going to be dealing with brutal windchill factors. the average low temperature 47 doigs. much colder than where we should be this time of year. already down to 30 doigs. manassas airport, 31 here at national airport. to the north we go, hagerstown,

martinsburg both in the lower 40s this hour. the large area of chill is continuing to move southward from new england. pittsburgh currently 38 doigs, 41 philadelphia, 44 in new york city. so again, a lot of cold airlocked in place. the reason is we have this large upper level disturbance in the new england states. you can see the spin in the clouds. rain and snow showers going on up there. clouds starting to slowly move sort ward from pennsylvania. the northwest wind that, cooler air from canada will continue to filter on down for today. then it starts to move out of here as we head into monday. we'll time things out a little bit here. disturbance comes through today. that brings a few clouds from time to time. maybe even a slight chance i've shower out towards the mountains of west virginia with the winds flowing up the mountains causing lift which will trigger off some shower potential. the high pressure moves in from monday to tuesday. that clears us out more.

we'll see increasing sunshine as we move into the upcoming workweek. for today, cooler than yesterday. general 50s to low 60s. northwest winds 10 to 15. gusts to 25. first pitch this afternoon, nationals against the brewers. a little bit breezy, 57 doigs. you may want to bring a sweatshirt especially if you're sitting in areas near the tunnel where the wind blows through. monday, 64. tuesday and wednesday, just very nice weather. mid to upper 60s with sunshine. then approaching that 70 doig mark by the end of the week. very slight chance of a shower thursday. the better chaps to see widespread showers will pull into the picture on sated. >> sound good. thank you. this weekend, the commander in chief was just a regular old soccer dad with a motorcade. president obama went to his daughter's soccer game yesterday. on the way to the match, a motorcycle slid into one of the police cars but no one was hurt

in that incident. the president wore a black baseball hat with shades, kind of in cog nit toe. look how tall his daughter has gotten. he greeted onlookers before walking back to his motorcade and heading back to the white house. a banner night for d.c. sports fans. the caps won in thrilling fashion and the nats dominated the brewers. hakeem has your sports. >> good morning, well, you can call them the comeback kids, the cardiac caps or whatever. it really doesn't matter. the capitals have been doing it all year, finding ways to win and last night they rallied from a three-goal deficit to beat the canadiens in overtime and the series is now tied at one game apiece heading to month treeal. ovechkin held without a shot in game one, no the in game two. 1-0 canadiens. andre cos at this time sen rips

it back theodore. bruce bow boo drew says that's enough. in soms semyon varlamov. third period, caps down 4-2. john carlson gets the puck, fires on net. look who it is in front, alex ovechkin pokes it in and the caps cut the deficit to one. complete bedlam at ver rye done center. later, still 4-3. ovechkin skates and shoots but it's stopped. obi sets up niklas backstrom in front. game tied at four just like that. now, just over a minute to go in regulation. it's 5-4 montreal. niklas backstrom passes to rookie defenseman john carlson and beats jaroslav. game tied at five. carlson scores his first playoff goal. we go to overtime. in overtime, here comes nick backstrom, the hero. he was in the zone last night

and scored the game winner, hate trick for backstrom. the caps win it in overtime. the series now tied at one game apiece going into montreal. lindsay czarniak has more from ver rye zr center. >> it was a roller coaster ride here. and in the end, the capitals were the first team back at the station. the best laid their best last night. teams said backstrom played the best game of his way. alex ovechkin had seven hits in the first period. the entire montreal roster only had four. obi joked after the game when he was asked if the physical play was part of his plan. >> strategy. destroy people and all. no, my job is to score goals and if i have a chance to hit somebody, i'm going to hit him. it was bergeron my first hit and he's not that strong guy. and you know r-- it was rently

good for me. >> it's the only way we were going to win tonight was if we decided to go all offense. by no stretch of the -- no stretch did we probably deserve to win. we got lucky and we did. we know we're not out of the woods. there's a lot of people that are going to say that montreal has outplayed us for two games and they were on the road. now we're going into their building. so we have to play a lot better. >> i feel like we have the feeling in our team we will never give up and the second period was kind of like embarrassing for us a little bit. we bounced back and that's a good thing for us. i mean, that's so important right now, and i mean, we need those kind of wins especially at home. >> niklas backstrom, a hat trick on the night, including the game winner. there is a controversy brewing, however. goaltender jose theodore was pulled in the first period after giving up two goals on the first two shots he played. he was replaced by semyon varlam

varlamov. i caught up with him after the game. he was very calm, disappointed but said it clearly was the right decision if it led to the win. he also added today at practice is extremely important. he intends to fight and hopes to reclaim that starting role in -- when the capitals play in montreal on monday. from verizon center, lindsay czarniak, back to you. >> talking baseball now. 35-year-old nationals pitcher livan hernandez can still dominate. yesterday against the brewers he threw a complete game shutout, he's now thrown 16 scoreless innings in two starts and the nates have their first winning record in more than two years. believe it. livan hernandez sets the tone, gets weeks looking at a change-up. livan was solid. gave up four hits and no runs. then in the ninth, hernandez gets help from defense. casey mcgee at the plate, shot to hired here. ryan zimmerman back in the starting lineup. knocks it down and gets up and gets him at first. zimmerman also has two rbis.

the nats shut out the brewers,-0, and livan hernandez earns his eighth career shutout. last night in atlanta, colorado pitcher jimenez flirting with a no-hitter. bottom nine. and there it is, gets ryan mccann to ground out to end the game. jimenez throws the first no-hitter in rockies history. the only blemish were his six walks. they blank the braves, 4-0. elsewhere last night, the mets beat the cardinals 2-1 in 20 innings. the game lasted six hours and 53 minutes. also, big news out of georgetown yesterday. sophomore greg monroe is going pro. the 6'11" center will skip his final two years of college for the nba. and expected to be a high first-round pick in this june's draft. that's all for your sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> the chicago fire beat d.c. united 2-nil last night at home. he may not have told a lie but

george washington apparently had trouble keeping traffic library books. a library in new york city says the father of our country owes $300,000 in late fee. a ledger showing someone listed as president checked out two books in 1789 and never returned them. the head librarian says they're not worried about the fines. they would like the books back though. in case you're wondering, one was about international law, the other was on debate. that's it for "news4 today." the "today" show is coming up next. we'll be back with a local news update and at 9:00 for a full hours of news. you be till then, everyone, have a great day.