today the weather. one day it brings a spring time temperature and the next old man winter is back in town. today erika gonzalez hit the streets where people are dealing with the wind and a big temperature swing. >> but our live team coverage begins with chief meteorologist doug kammerer in storm center 4. what have we got? >> what a difference a day makes. yesterday some areas into the low 60s. today we've got wind chills in the 20s but the actual temperature not too bad. 40 degrees the current temperature out there right now at the airport looking at plenty of sunshine. the sun making its way down over the next couple minutes. winds out of the west at 13 miles an hour. that puts our wind chill right now at 33 degrees. most areas though the wind chills are in the 20s. 32 the current temperature in frederick. already at freezing there. winchester also at 32 degrees. down toward manassas coming in at 39 and over toward fredericksburg high temperature there of 41 degrees. we are going to see a very chilly night tonight. one thing we will not see though is snow. you see a lot of it on the map here up toward the north toward

pittsburgh, buffalo already picking up over 6 inches of snow. parts of west virginia and the ski resorts back to the western maryland all seeing snow during the day today. it will not make its way over the mountains though. we will stay on the clear side of things. rather breezy this evening. 34 degrees at 9:00. temperatures tomorrow morning when you wake up in the upper 20s in the city. most of you will wake up to temperatures in the low 20s and everybody will have wind chills in the teens as you step out the door on your saturday. we're in for a little bit of a cold weekend out there but, hey, it's january. and it's about time. >> that's right. all right, doug. we'll check back in a bit. if you spend any amount of time out today there is no doubt that winter has arrived in our washington metro area. erika gonzalez spent the day talking to people all about the cold and wind. >> reporter: 15 to 25 degrees. storm 4 meteorologists say that is one of the biggest differences between yesterday's weather and today's. >> you don't want to take a chance and dress real light on a day like today because you got

to look out for yourself. if you dress warm, you'll be okay. >> reporter: bill thomas says he had to layer up and even wore a pair of ski pants to help with one of the other biggest differences in weather today. the wind. gusts up to 40 miles per hour only added to today's cold snap. >> well, finally it's cold. we've been waiting so long. >> reporter: while some may have been at home trying to shield themselves from the frigid air -- these guys took advantage of this lonesome park in burke. >> so far not too bad. >> how does that affect this? >> when you're not very good it doesn't affect you too much. that was erika gonzalez reporting. d.c. mayor vincent gray is calling for the eviction of the occupy d.c. protesters at mcpherson square but the occupiers say, nah, they're not budging. today mayor gray sent a strongly worded letter to the national park service citing poor living conditions and the growing rat

population. he wants everyone out of mcpherson square and moved to freedom plaza. gray also says there is a health risk to those occupiers and to d.c. residents because of improper disposal of trash and human waste. the protesters say they're not going anywhere. >> our response to the mayor is, hey. we are here to stay. we are doing the best we can with the way the federal government and park service is laying things on us. >> the national park service police department says there are no plans to remove the protesters. >> well it's a news 4 exclusive. we're hearing now from the mother of a baby found alone at the occupy encampment in mcpherson square. police arrested samuel mack on wednesday saying he left the 13-month-old girl inside a tent in the cold and rain. now the child is back with her mother who did not want to be identified. she says mack is a friend who occasionally watches the little

girl. she says she had no idea he was taking her to occupy d.c. he was supposed to be helping me and my aunt with her so i'm thinking he's going to treat her with respect and care for her like he used to do for his daughter. but i see that he didn't. >> mack pleaded not guilty to child cruelty charges and was released. he is due in court next month. a dead man was found wrapped in plastic near a dumpster in capital heights and tonight police are trying to figure out who he is and who killed him. officers say a maintenance worker found the body around 8:00 this morning on dowood lane. authorities say the cause of death is still not known but they are investigating the case as a murder. there was trauma to the body. police say the victim might have been in his early 30s. a prince george's county teenager pleaded guilty today to first-degree murder, attempted murder, and attempted rape. at maryland's shelton ham juvenile detention center. the teenager could now spend the rest of his life in prison.

>> reporter: 15-year-old brian lee watson will be at least 57 years old when he returns to society. that is if he gets paroled. if he lives long enough to serve his full term he'll be 100 and still have to register as a sex offender. such is the severity of his crimes. >> those who rape and kill in our community are not fit to live among us. >> today in court a young man did not exhibit a lot of remorse for human life. >> watson killed 65-year-old hannah wheeler, a teacher where he had been placed charged with a string of burglaries around this apartment complex where he lived. it was during the investigation into the murder at shelton ham that dna evidence revealed to investigators that watton was responsible for much more than just burglarizing his own community. he had attacked a neighbor. he scaled her third floor balcony, entered her apartment, and stabbed her while she slept. he was 13 at the time. that victim identified as hannah

peppera wrote a letter which the prosecutor read in court. she wrote that while she forgave him so she could move on she felt the world was a better place with people like him off the streets. at the complex where watson lived fear and outrage in the wake of his violence there even years later. >> he has to really watch out who was around. i feel sorry for the lady. >> reporter: prosecutors recommended that watson be held at the patuxent river youth facility. >> now authorities say while watson is not insane he does need extensive psychiatric treatment and counseling before he can even be considered to be ready to return to society. a man has been arrested for breaking into three churches in stafford county in just about a week. 24-year-old brian christopher stevens was arrested wednesday. investigators say he broke into ebenezer united methodist, remoth baptist church and north stafford church of christ.

deputies say stevens stole thousands of dollars in tvs and electronics. a few days later he allegedly stole $9,000 in gift cards from ebenezer united and is now facing charges that include breaking and entering and grand larceny. president obama's calling on congress now to give him more power to streamline federal agencies. in order to build a leaner, more effective government. in a speech to business owners at the white house today the president said he would start by compressing six major economic departments into one. another proposed change involves congress. >> the department of homeland security was created to consolidate intelligence and security agencies, but congress didn't consolidate on its side. so now the department of homeland security reports to over 100 different congressional panels. that's a lot of paperwork. that's a lot of reports to prepare. >> reporter: last time a president had the power mr. obama is seeking was back in the

'80s during ronald reagan's administration. even if congress grants him the power to fast track his plans, lawmakers would have the final say on whether to approve the ideas. four gop presidential candidates have lost their fight to get on virginia's primary ballot. rick perry, newt gingrich, jon huntsman, rick santorum. they sued after they failed to qualify for the state's march 6th primary, arguing virginia's law is unconstitutional because only state residents are allowed to gather their signatures. but a federal judge disagrees. mitt romney and ron paul will be the only republicans who qualify for that ballot. coming up on news 4 at 6:00 julie carey will tell us why the other candidates' loss might have been a matter of timing. a federal judge in north carolina is delaying the trial of former presidential candidate john edwards because edwards has a life threatening heart condition. during a hearing on the case today the judge said she received two letters from a cardiologist stating that edwards needs surgery for the

condition next month. the trial was then delayed until march 26th. it was tentatively set to start this month. edwards is accused of violating campaign laws. still ahead air florida. 30 years later. we'll bring you part two of my special report including an interview with chester panzer the first videographer on the scene and also bring you the latest on lenny scutnick a man whose name is synonymous with his act of heroism. help for military families. a major effort to bring down the high unemployment rate of military spouses. and that was the first lady's random dancing. details of her big "i

they are the back bone of our nation's military and are often overlooked when it comes to jobs but the nation's first military spouse career forum and hiring fair is trying to change that. our own military spouse jane watrel has that story. >> you'll find positions on here that are both relevant to biomedical as well as national headquarters. >> reporter: hundreds of military spouses jammed a job fair designed especially for them. >> this is for people to

understand us. for a long time, this has been a long time coming and i love it. >> reporter: to help combat an unemployment rate of 26%, the u.s. chamber of commerce is spearheading job fairs like this one to help spouses link up with dozens of major employers. >> what we have to do is make the case how that may be a source of great employees who are adaptable, willing to jump in there and do what needs to be done, who are great social media, who have specific skills that are of value. >> reporter: there is help with resumes, career counseling, and makeovers. all to keep spouses fresh and relevant for a working world that may not understand the stress of multiple moves. or an injured spouse. pamela stokes eggleston spent three years at walter reed while her husband recovered from war wounds. >> people don't understand what i was going through zwrujust in terms of him not being able to work because he was a reservist. he had a regular job. he could not work at that

regular job and on top of that i was laid off. >> reporter: egg el ston works as a consultant now. this is the first job fair dedicated exclusively to military spouses. organizers say they want to have 10 to 20 more over the next year. jane watrel, news 4. >> washington, d.c. has the largest population of military spouses in the nation. monday is martin luther king day and after eight years the mlk day parade is returning to southeast d.c. the parade begins at 11:00 on monday. festivities kick off at the friendship public charter school and end at lekie elementary school. boxing champ lamont peterson will serve as one of the grand marshals. they going to have good weather on monday? >> on monday. it's in the forecast and, yes. i think better weather is coming on monday. monday is looking all right. a little bit warmer for sure. >> you would be who? >> oh, yeah. doug kammerer nbc 4 chief meteorologist. i got this today at a career fair. i was down at herndon intermediate school, middle school where i went to school as a kid and they invited me out to

talk to the kids out there. didn't realize i had that on. two ms one r. >> just so you know who i am. >> a little confusing. i want to say hi to all of those kids. they all gave me names to say. sorry. i forgot all 700 of you. out there right now, a pretty good day. if you like it cold and a lot of you do, a lot of people saying, hey, we've been waiting for this cold air. others of you, on my facebook page right now saying, i don't mind the cold but where is the snow? there is no snow to be found at all around our area. i don't expect to see any snow. there is no snow in our immediate forecast for at least the next seven days so don't get your hopes up for snow even though we are talking about the middle of january. 40 degrees the current temperature out there with winds gusting to 23 miles per hour right now. that's going to put our wind chills in the upper 20s to lower 30s all across the area. currently 34 in gaithersburg. 32 frederick. 39 manassas right now and 41 in fredericksburg. take a look at the wind chills down to 21 in frederick.

17 in hagerstown and in martinsburg. 30 in culpepper and down toward patuxent river a wind chill of 31 degrees. we have been dealing with those wind chills all day long. winds still gusting upwards of 20, 30, and close to 40 miles an hour in some locations and take a look at the numbers back to the west. the mountains, really helping us out today because without the mountains take a look at the numbers we would be sitting at 18 in elkins, 21 in morgantown, 21 in pittsburgh. we are seeing the cold air come through but not nearly as cold as just about 100, 200 miles away. much colder there. we'll continue to see the cold air try to filter on in here. storm 4 doppler radar once again i said nothing around our region but completely different story to the north and west. pittsburgh seeing a lot of snow today. also around portions of west virginia around charleston, west virginia. they're seeing some snow in parts of ohio, all of which are way below average for snow. we are, too, but as i mentioned i don't see any snow in our forecast for quite sometime. the good news though for our ski

areas, they are going to see some snow especially to the west of the allegheny front, maybe toward snowshoe seeing good snow. if you're thinking about skiing this weekend i just got off the phone with a couple ski resorts around our area including liberty and white tail. they are making snow, snow should be pretty good for this weekend if you're thinking about doing some skiing around the area. it will be cold though on your saturday. if you're thinking about going skiing on saturday plenty of sunshine east of the mountains. back to the west more snow shower activity in western portions of maryland and some portions of pennsylvania but other than that, not much going on in our weather except for the cold air. mostly clear, windy, and chilly this evening. wind chills near 20 degrees with temperatures falling between 30 and about 36 degrees. tomorrow morning, 23 to 28 degrees. so a chilly start to the day. winds still at 10 to 15 so that'll put wind chills in the teens tomorrow morning. tomorrow becoming mostly sunny, breezy, but not too cold. 34 to 37 degrees. we'll be about ten, about five to ten degrees below average for this time of year. as we move on through the next couple days, sunday a little bit

colder but not as breezy with plenty of sunshine. then monday for the mlk parade looking very good. 46 degrees on monday. 55 on tuesday. as yet another storm system moves off to our west bringing in plenty of mild air and, yes, more rain instead of the frozen precipitation. >> all right. >> i would rather have that than icy stuff. >> than icy stuff. you don't need this. >> thanks, doug. still ahead another guilty plea in a corruption case involving former d.c. council member harry thomas jr. who admitted to covering up the scheme. plus a major crash on i-270. a tractor-trailer flips on its side. >> we're counting down the hours to the nbc 4 health and fitness expo with a preview of

it's that time of year again. here is a live look at the washington convention center. we are making final preparations for the nbc 4 health and fitness expo. it gets under way tomorrow. >> she's ready. we just got a bird's eye view, doreen. what's coming up? >> oh, really. hi, jim and wendy. i don't want to know what you just saw. we're at the d.c. convention center. they got the fork lifts out and people are setting up. everybody is getting ready for what will be a very busy weekend here. we hope a lot of people will come and join us.

you can take advantage of all kinds of free medical tests and screenings here and we hope that a lot of people will take advantage of that. with me right now is lynn hopkins cantwell with the washington hospital center. there are a lot of great information sources here including great nutrition information. you're talking about what you can eat for a hundred calories. >> passportt to health section, we talk about food choices. if you burn more calories than you take in you will lose weight if you take in more calories than you burn you will gain weight. >> we americans have a hard time with portion control. >> we do. what we've done is prepared an exhibit here where we have a variety of foods, each is a 100 calorie portion, and you can see that for some of those foods you get a tiny bit of food. >> like the tiny piece of snickers bar compared to a large portion of pretzels. >> yes or a big apple or large

portion of fruit or even rice cakes. it's all about choices and making the right choices for you. no food is really off limits. just reel bit how you want to use your calories. >> lynn, lots of good information for people here. there is a passport to health. you visit all the stations and get a pretty good gift at the end including a food scale and some ways to measure your portion sizes. you can also be screened at the washington hospital center booth for high blood pressure and diabetes. other things as well. we have the director of the melanoma center with the hospital. you can be screened for skin cancer here? >> that's right. this weekend we've assembled an enthusiastic group of dermatologists from the washington hospital center to be here doing skin screenings and using this opportunity to raise awareness that even people of color can develop skin cancer such as melanoma. and the other thing we'll do is talk about how the skin can actually be a manifestation or a clue to internal skin diseases such as diabetes so we'll educate people about rashes

which can occur around the neck and really can be a clue to an internal condition that needs attention. >> so if i or someone i care about is concerned about a mole or something like that, this is a good opportunity to come down and have it checked out for free? >> oh, yes. a great opportunity. come down. we'll have 15 dermatologists waiting to help everybody in the community so we're looking forward to it all right. we're glad you and washington hospital center are here. we hope you will be here as well. free blood pressure, diabetes, you can be screened for kidney disease. i think someone is doing hiv testing. there are a whole lot of opportunities for free medical testing and a lot of information. coming up we'll take a look at where the free massages will be available, jim and wendy. i hope you stay tuned for that. >> sign me up. are these the seated massages where we put our faces in the cradle? that's a long line. >> you have to wait and find

out. coming up in a few minutes. >> i want to know when you are teaching the zoomba class. >> mm-hmm. >> zoomba is going to be big. first thing tomorrow morning and when i say big i mean hundreds of people. >> wow. >> all in a zoomba class at one time including our boss is going to take a crack at it and so is our reporter erika gonzalez who i am told is actually a zoomba instructor. >> really. >> we got a lot of action here tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. >> sounds like it. >> we can burn off the apple you just showed us. yeah. right. >> thanks. >> we'll check back in a few minutes. throughout the week we'll be keeping up on all the buzz during the expo so follow us on twitter at nbc health expo for photos, prizes, chats with our anchors and reporters and when you get to the expo, tweet us using the hash tag nbc health expo. we'd love to hear from you. you can also get info by searching nbc washington on facebook. we come right back on news 4 at 5:00. a big day at a school in

alexandria. the first lady and "i carly" come to town. we'll show you the first lady's so-called random dancing and tell you why not all the kids liked what she had to say. and a college student falls off a cliff but investigators say it was no accident.

d.c. mayor vincent gray says the occupy d.c. camp at mcpherson square is a health hazard and has increased the rat

population. he wants the protesters evicted and moved to the freedom plaza protest. the national park service says there are no plans to do that. police say this home invasion suspect may have struck again. they're looking into whether he is responsible for a home invasion and assault in temple hills this morning. he has already been identified as a suspect in the home invasion in bethesda earlier this week. we'll have more in a live report coming up tonight at 6:00. four candidates who sued virginia to get on the ballot for the gop nomination for president lost their case. rick perry, rick santorum,ewt gingrich, jon huntsman say the law allowing only virginia residents to collect signatures is not constitutional but a federal judge ruled that the challengers have a point about the law but they waited too long to challenge it. fast forward to our chilly weather. a little chilly. the winds starting to die down a little bit right now but take a look. right now our current wind gusts of 23 miles an hour in washington. 28 in camp springs and over toward andrews airforce base.

still 31 up toward baltimore. so we're still dealing with pretty good wind. it's really when you go outside on the chilly side but the wind is reel wlai makes it cold out there. current wind chills in the upper teens. well to our north and west and to low to mid 20s in most locations. we'll continue to talk about wind chills through the day tomorrow and then talk about the warmup as it starts next week. we'll talk more about that and what you'll wake up to tomorrow morning coming up in a moment. today all eyes were on metro. three leaders in our area, maryland governor martin o'malley, virginia governor bob mcdonald, and d.c. mayor vincent gray, came together today for a big summit. pat collins is live at the wilson building in d.c. with more on the story. jim, two governors and the mayor behind closed doors. the topic? metro safety. safety with a capital "s." at the wilson building governor bob mcdonald of virginia. governor martin o'malley from maryland.

and d.c. mayor vincent gray. for about an hour they met behind closed doors, talking about metro. the focus? safety. >> we get what we pay for and i'd much rather pay a few nickels more per ride than have to worry about my wife or my daughter being one of the fatalities in an avoidable accident. >> the good news is over the last couple years, this last year, no fatalities. injuries are down significantly. violent crime in and around the metro area is down 19%. communication is up. people are being held accountable for their performance. >> mayor gray said he'd like to see more emphasis on training and work schedules. >> that is to increase the training of metro workers especially those who are involved directly in those issues that impact on safety, public safety as well as the safety of the workers. and then secondly something that general manager, the ceo talked

about, and that is he calls it the fatigue management but more specifically overtime management which has an impact to make sure that you don't have workers who are tired. >> reporter: the three leaders have signed a memorandum of understanding promising to meet annually to review metro's performance. jim, back to you. >> all right. pat collins in downtown d.c. pat, thank you. a tractor-trailer flipped on i-270 this morning. that caused a lot of trouble as you can imagine in the morning commute. it happened on the exit ramp to shady grove road. all of the northbound local lanes and the exit ramp shut down for about an hour. the driver of the truck not seriously hurt. a second person pleaded guilty today in the corruption scandal of former d.c. councilman harry thomas. a leader of a nonprofit youth organization admitted he wrote hefty checks to thomas who then spent the money on himself to fund a lavish lifestyle. tom sherwood has our report. marshall banks is a 71-year-old professor at howard

university and a founder of langston 21st century. the nonprofit to encourage young people in sports and academics that operates at langston golf course in northeast washington. but friday marshall banks walked from u.s. district court after pleading guilty to a felony charge of writing checks from his foundation to one controlled by harry thomas jr. checks worth hundreds of thousands of dollars and more. thomas pled guilty last week to two felony counts. he'll be sentenced in may and may receive four years in prison. banks' attorney randy jameson described him as a well meaning citizen who got caught up in thomas's schemes and took no money for himself. >> i agree with the phrase quota. i think it's an appropriate way of putting it. >> banks is cooperating with prosecutors. he faces potentially three years in prison on his felony plea. but a sentencing date was not set, an indication he continues to cooperate. tom sherwood, news 4,

washington. now in a statement after the bank's guilty plea today u.s. attorney ronald mate ron said the banks, quote, stood by while tomas stole the money. he said the case is a warning to others not to participate in public corruption schemes. hayfield secondary school students in alexandria got a preview of things to come when first lady michelle obama joined the cast of nickleodeon's tv show "i carly." ♪ >> a little bit of random dancing broke out. the appearance promoted mrs. obama's appearance on "i carly" monday where she thanks military families for their service during a q & a session a few students actually booed the first lady when she told them about legislation to add more vegetables to school lunches. not always popular. >> oh, come on. it's just vegetables. still ahead, speaking of health,

we're going back to the washington convention center with more on the exhibits you'll find this weekend at the nbc 4 health and fitness expo. also ahead a mother's search for a killer. a cold c

a live look now at the

washington convention center as we get set. our whole team is getting in place for this weekend's nbc 4 health and fitness expo that takes place starting tomorrow morning. >> doreen gentzler is in place as you just saw. what's going on? where are you now? >> hi, guys. well, we are at the care first blue cross blue shield area. i've been talking about all of the free health tests and screenings and the good information about your health and nutrition and fitness. but there's also a lot of fun at the expo this weekend. and care first has something we haven't seen before. this is karla smith with care first. what exactly is the crawling baby race? >> hi, doreen. this is something we're doing for the first time this year in partnership with the march of dimes and the ymca of metro washington. we are going to recognize the first four babies who can finish the 14-foot course or who can get the farthest in three

minutes by awarding the parents with $50 gift cards. >> very cool. >> every participant regardless of win or lose will get a goody bag full of healthy sleep sack and other good materials for parents and children. >> and you come to the care first booth and sign your baby up and you'll have the races twice a day? >> that's right. 10:30 and 1:30. fill out the registration form first thing in the morning and we'll see how far they get. >> reporter: okay. i'm just thinking about the video possibilities for parents getting the video of their child in the baby crawling races and we understand that the winners here will go on to the division finals and then on to the national championships of fastest crawling babies. there are a lot of good opportunities. besides, when they aren't racing babies in this space they're going to have chair aerobics for seniors and exercise classes for young people as well. they're giving away ipods here and some other goodies and this

care first, also a sponsor of the passport to health so this is a stop on that little circuit so we hope people will come down here. some of the other fun things, the redskins have an area here that is a rock climbing wall. you could bring your kids down here and they can kick around a soccer ball or learn how to hit a tennis ball. there are just a lot of really fun activities. we've got zoomba classes going on. we've got the ginormous class at 9:00 on saturday morning. if you can't make it to that one we have zoomba classes throughout the weekend saturday and sunday and lots of other different kinds of fitness classes, something different every single hour. so we hope a lot of people will come down here to the convention center and join us this weekend. wendy, i know you'll be here doing a cooking demonstration. i look forward to seeing that. >> yes. >> a whole lot of stuff to do. >> pat and i are going to be cooking. handly wants to know if he can get into the baby race.

>> that's what i'm doing. i'll do an eating demonstration. >> he thinks he is going to be the ringer. >> reporter: find a baby, jim. come on down here with your video camera. >> there we go. you got it. i'm in there. sign me up taking bets already. >> you can help keep tabs on all the happenings during the expo. just follow us on twitter at nbc health expo for photos, those baby pictures, prizes, and chats with our anchors and reporters. and when you get to the expo, you can tweet us using the hash tag nbc health expo. you can also get expo info by searching nbc washington on facebook. i'm heading down there tomorrow morning. you'll be there. >> at 2:00. pat an are cooking at 2:00. >> cool. still ahead, they are the images that washington will never forget coming up we'll have part two of my report on air florida 30 years later. we'll hear from chester panzer who shot all of this video and thus enabling us to see the

remarkable scene that unfolded down there. and also ahead in sports tonight it's time for the great blaze as we head into that not so glamorous move in case you missed it.

♪ i'm feelin', feelin' a sunny day ♪ ♪ sunny day ♪ i'm feelin', feelin' the taste i crave ♪ ♪ subway ♪ i'm makin' it, makin' it how i like ♪ ♪ it's meant to be ♪ i'm feelin' subway ♪ i'm feelin' subway today [ male announcer ] hey, capital area! are you feelin' subway®? then heat up your day with the big hot pastrami melt!

it's fresh toasted and piled-high with pastrami, then topped with pickles, mustard, and cheese. head into a subway® restaurant today for this melty, mouthwatering sub! ♪ i'm feelin' subway ♪ let's go 30 years ago today air flight 90 plunged into the potomac river killing 78 people. five passengers survived and were rescued in a dramatic display of pure determination. it was a stunning event unfolding in a blizzard. and through sheer luck happened to be captured on video. today on the 30th anniversary we want to remind you of the people who made that day so remarkable. january 13th, 1982, was a day of surreal moments.

the blizzard traffic, the news, a plane, a the river, a 737. survivors lenny scutnick and cast of people who came together to make history. air florida had taken off from national airport with ice on its wings. pilot error caused the plane to stall on liftoff. and it hit the 14th street bridge plunging head first into the frozen potomac. the tail section broke off freeing five survivors from the wreckage. and you saw a piece of wreckage with about four or five people clinging to it. about four people at that point. there was nothing that looked like an airplane. >> nbc 4 cameraman chester panzer was the only camera crew nearby that day. everyone else was stuck in traffic. he arrived just as the rescue was unfolding. >> it was painful being there. you wanted these people out of the water as quickly as possible. >> reporter: above in eagle one the pilot and rescue technician are trying to rescue five people with just a rope. >> we were in the stone age of

rescue equipment, yes. >> reporter: they were also relying on usher's experience flying in vietnam. he had to maneuver like a cowboy keeping the chopper out of the water and trying not to decapitate bystanders as he brought the victims to shore. >> we still had people on the bank and the river system of our helicopter was just barely above their heads. >> reporter: the video is riveting and it's heart breaking. one of the most searing images the last victim priscilla torado. broken by the crash, weakened by hypothermia, blinded by jet fuel. her baby and husband dead in the wreckage below. and the rotor wash from the chopper is drowning her. panzer says he almost put his camera down. >> i'm thinking this woman is going to drown in front of me and i thought this is not right. i thought, i should not be shooting this. this woman is going to die in front of me.

>> reporter: and that's when lenny scutnick became a household name. in a glorious moment he ripped off his cowboy boots and jumped in to rescue her. he wasn't the only one. before the chopper and the camera arrived, roger olian on the other shore had jumped in with a rope and tried to get to the victims. the cold drove him back. >> and i thought, well, if they can see somebody coming out, maybe they can hold on a little longer until somebody actually can do something. fortunately, that's what happened. >> reporter: so where are they now? olian a retired sheet metal worker for st. elizabeth's hospital is a tree trimmer in arlington. lenny scutnick is retired in living in lorton awaiting his first grandchild. he refused to be interviewed but recently panzer met him for dinner. >> lenny is camera shy. i don't think he -- he certainly never wanted to be a star. >> reporter: chopper pilot don usher went on to become a lawyer. his technician gene windsor

retired recently after suffering a stroke. the survivors tend to do few interviews these days and two of them died in april of 2002 within days of each other from illness. air florida is little known to newer generations who should know that aviation is safer because of new rules imposed as a result of that crash. >> and we have to mention arlen williams who also survived the crash but was trapped in the wreckage and he drowned when it sank. he handed the rescue rope to others knowing that he could not get out and the 14th street bridge was renamed in his honor. we also have to remind you that on that day 30 minutes after the air florida crash metro crashed killing three people. it was quite a day. >> so dramatic. all that video. >> i was in radio back then. that was one of my first stories as a little cub reporter. but i mean it -- i can't believe it's been 30 years. it's been interesting.

people on facebook and twitter, everyone is talking about where they were. it was a seminole moment for the city. and you know when we compare the weather that day to what's going on out there today and we're a little below average but nothing like what we saw that day. >> hard to believe we're in january still even though it is cooler today, doug. >> you saw something there in those pictures obviously a frozen potomac river. that does not happen very often in our area. the previous five days leading up to the 13th we had temperatures not just below zero. the high temperatures three days before was at 15 degrees. the low temperature was at 2 degrees two days in a row. that's why things were just so cold there. one of the coldest months, one of the coldest januarys of all time. 1982 when that in fact happened across our area. today we're seeing temperatures around 40 degrees. that's the current number right now with winds out of the west at 13 miles per hour. that has given us a wind chill. wind chill right now 24 in frederick. 30 right now in leesburg. 28 in culpepper. we are going to see the cold temperatures continuing into the weekend. my complete forecast at 6:00.

all right. thank you, doug. and it's time for sports night. an installment of in case you missed it. >> here is hakem. >> a good entrance. in this week's edition shots at the buzzer, shots to the head, and a shot that ends in the gutter. all the great shots all in case you missed it. in case you missed it, it's never over until it's over. women's basketball game between pepperdine and portland. final seconds pepperdine's katy meanton hits the three-pointer to tie it with just three seconds left. then portland on the inbound and it's stolen by shea williams who lets it go from just inside half court. that's the game winner as pepperdine scores six points in the final three seconds to beat portland. another long-range sharp shooter? iowa state's scott christerpherson throws up a shot and it goes.

beats the buzzer. great shot, unfortunately, only halftime in iowa state losing the game to missouri. in detroit, they have $750 v.i.p. seats but somehow two fans wound up sitting even closer. during a pistons/mavericks game fashion designer aaron cohen and his friend chris smokes just chill on the mavericks bench. nobody on the team seemed to mind as the two are just hanging out drinking beer. can you imagine? hey, coach! put me in! i'm ready. everybody in denver is tebowing including nuggets mascot rocky. but team tebow isn't as accurate as the mascot especially when it comes to over-the-head shots from half court. that's nice but this is better. tim tebow proves over time is his time. against the steelers in his playoff debut, first play of over time, tebow throws a dart to thomas and he burns the entire steelers defense.

80-yard game-winning touchdown. tebow and the broncos moving on to face tom brady and the patriots. more wild plays from wild card weekend. bengals, texans, andy dalton's pass intercepted at the line by rookie defensive end j.j. walk. he returns it 29 yards to the touchdown. it's a light bulb moment for j.j. watt. gets his hands up and makes a play. texans go on to win big. they match up with baltimore on sunday. on the ice, anaheim's player with the elbow to the head of the columbus center. since he is a repeat offender, that cost jacques a three-game suspension and a $23,000 fine. not cool, dude. how about boston's brad marchon with this hit on vancouver's sammy salo? the hit cost him five games and

$152,000. hopefully he learns his lesson. finally, the rookie bowler josh blanchard will not soon forget his first world championship qualifier. he was trying to get a split in the ninth frame. that doesn't happen. he fails to let go of the ball and then wipes out. landing in the gutter. want to get away? in case you missed it, you have now seen it all. southwest airlines should use that for the next commercial. >> we don't usually see bowling crashes. >> no we don't. but he held on to that ball. he held on to the ball. that's not the idea. you're supposed to let it go. try to get the strike here. the want to get away line i stole from jim vance. when we showed that last week a long time ago we couldn't stop laughing. >> okay. >> i just now stopped laughing. >> all right. we're glad you did. for the weekend. >> good week-long laugh. >> still ahead a college student thrown off a cliff. there is a crucial break in this

cold case. >> and for all of your news follow news 4 online. just search nbc washington on facebook and twitter. we're coming right back.

the murder of a college student goes unsolved for years until dna from a national data

base helps police find her killer. keith morrison of "dateline" has the story. >> in the autumn of 1994 in anchorage, alaska a suffocating grief settled on the home of 18-year-old bonnie craig. a state trooper told the family that a hiker found her body floating in the creek. >> we were all devastated. >> it was really tough. >> reporter: the trooper said bonnie had fallen off a cliff. it was an accident. her mother didn't believe it. >> none of it made sense. she didn't drive so how did she get out there? she would not have missed school. >> reporter: others suspected foul play. >> we have blood up here. >> we did find one drop of blood on a leaf at the top of the cliff. it was a drop. #. >> they couldn't find a weapon or eyewitness but the troopers did find something else -- dna

evidence. bonnie had been raped. so they collected dna from every man who had come in contact with her hoping to find a match. no avail. her mother took the case public. >> somebody knows what happened and we need to hear from them. >> the case grew cold and incredibly 12 years after the murder a dna match from a national data base with a man serving time for armed robbery in new hampshire, 4500 miles away. >> you would expect that i would be thrilled and, no. i'm immediately so fearful, are we going to get him convicted? >> it was going to be a very difficult task. >> would there final be justice for bonnie? keith morrison, "dateline" msnbc. >> and dateline friday airs tonight at 10:00 right here on nbc 4. that does it for news 4 at 5:00. we hope your weekend is a good one. stay right there. news 4 at 6 starts right now.

a maintenance worker makes a disturbing discovery. a body left in plastic in a dumpster in prince george's county. >> mayor gray calling for the occupy protesters to be evicted from the mcpherson square. >> former presidential candidate john edwards diagnosed with a life threatening condition. how this health scare is impacting his trial on alleged campaign corruption. >> good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm wendy rieger. doreen is on assignment. >> we begin tonight with breaking news at prince george's county. a woman was sexually assaulted in her home. it happened this morning in the 2500 block of berkeley street in temple hills. investigators are trying to figure out if the suspect is the same man who did two other home invasions earlier this week. jackie benson of the prince george's county police headquarters with more on this. >> reporter: jim, this happened about 6:40 a.m. and i c