bricks smashed through windows, the dangerous prank that has local police taking notice tonight. good evening, everyone, i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm wendy rearing. jim vance has the night off. search suspended. the crews have stopped looking for springs in that deadly cruise ship disaster off the coast of italy. they say the rough seas making the operation too dangerous. boat ran aground friday night, killing 11 people, 22 people are still missing. tonight, the ship's cap stain revealing new details about what happened. >> reporter: this has been a frustrating day for rescuers on the island of giglio. they wanted to blow four holes into the costa "concordia" in order to reach parts of the vessel that so far have been blocked, but that all changed overnight when the vessel moved, ever so slightly, making it unsafe for divers. they haven't been able to go on all day. late this afternoon, we did see helicopters flying overhead, dropping equipment.

we understand that in the coming days, that will be used to pump off liquids. so really that tells us that we are now moving away from a rescue mission and turning into a salvage operation. hope fading for the 20-plus people that are still recorded as missing. there has been some good news though, a german woman who was on the missing list turned into her local police station in germany. she had been on the vessel and come off and returned home, so we now know that she is safe. at the moment, the vessel's captain, francesco schettino is under house arrest in naples a few hours south of here and the latest we are getting is italian media reporting that he told prosecutors yesterday that he turned too late. that hasn't yet been confirmed and he does deny that he is responsible nor accident. >> there are also reports tonight about the captain's quick exit. in transcripts with the coast garkd the captain claims he did not abandon the ship but

actually fell overboard. authorities say that's not true. the captain faces manslaughter charges and 15 years in prison if convicted. this disaster in italy is raising questions about your safety at sea, how do you make sure your ship is safe if you take a cruise in the first step should be the internet. search the ship's name and you can find out if there was ever an accident or problem during a journey. >> all this informations are readily available, not hidden. >> travel experts say choose a cruise line that doesn't involve passengers embarking from multiple ports of call, which means one emergency drill and all passengers will learn at the same time. also consider taking a cruise that speaks your native language t will prevent confusion in the event of an emergency. here at home, police are looking for a woman who used young children in an elaborate scheme to rob an elderly woman of thousands of dollars. the 84-year-old victim was forced to withdraw the money from her bank on new hampshire avenue in langley park after she

first tried to help the suspect. darcy spencer is in langley park with surveillance video that police hope will lead to an arrest. darcy? >> reporter: doreen that 84-year-old woman came here to the scene today. that's the bank where this all happened, to tell her story in her own words, how she tried to help a woman who had those children who she said hadn't eaten in days and they took advantage of her good nature. take a good look that the woman shown in surveillance video from a local bank. police say she forced an elderly woman who withdraw several thousand dollars. >> not doing that well right now. >> reporter: 84-year-old victim suspect doing so well because she was robbed of her life savings by that woman, who claimed she needed help. >> were you scared, ma'am? >> yes, ma'am, i'm still scared. i keep looking around, thinking that they are watchi me and that they will follow me home. >> reporter: it all happened last thursday at noon.

the victim was here at murry's steaks in tacoma park when the robber asked a victim to cash a check this robber wasn't alone, she had another woman with her and three small children, two toddlers as an infant. she said the kids hadn't eaten in days. the victim agreed to drive the robber to the bank of america on new hampshire avenue a mile and a half away. the children stayed behind with the other woman. once in the car, the robber changed her story. >> she told the victim that she had a gun and lend to shoot the victim if the victim did not withdraw several thousand dollars. >> reporter: once inside the bank, surveillance video shows the robber stood next to the victim at the teller window, afearing orchestrate the transaction. went 84-year-old woman gets the cash, you see the robber shoving her out of the bank door. police say the robber forced the victim to drive her lack to murry's steaks, she got out, walked away with all the cash. >> that's terrible, somebody do something like that. they are do it all the time.

i'm not 84 and they have tried take advantage of me. like i told her, old people and children are catching hell. >> reporter: if you recognize the woman in the surveillance video or the surveillance video photograph, you are asked to call prince georges county police them would like to get this person identified and off the street and charged. now, police say there was a similar incident that happened in new carrollton some months ago and are investigating to see if it could be connected. live from langley park, darcy spencer, news4, back to you. the parents of a young woman from northern virginia who was found dead in baltimore are planning a news conference tomorrow. 16-year-old annie mccann was found dead in november 2008 in an east baltimore housing project. officials say mccann died from a lethal dose of lie dough cane from a bottle of back teen. the death points to suicide but the mccann family disagrees. tomorrow, they are promising information on developments in

the case and on legal action they have begun. police still don't know who threw that smoke bomb over the fence at the white house that happened last night, a rally that involved a thousand occupy protesters. the secret service locked down the pennsylvania avenue side of the white house and no one was arrest and president and first lady were not home at the time, out having dinner for michelle obama's birth way. a guilty plea today from a man who helped conceal money diverted to former d.c. council member harry thomas jr. james garvin is the second leader of a nonprofit organization to admit to misappropriating funds to thomas in what prosecutors call a political corruption scheme. chris gordon reports. >> reporter: james garvin realized in 2008 that his program was used to justify distribution of grant funds but did nothing to stop t harry thomas jr. pleaded guilty to theft of federal funds and

filing a false tax return. thomas admitted to misappropriating for his own use grant money for youth activities for personal purposes, buying an expensive suv and motorcycle. gar vichbs the general manager of langston golf course and severed on the board of langston and the 21st century foundation, a nonprofit organization that operated youth programs. garvin is charged with concealing the theft of federal grant money. on january 13th, marshall banks, the founder and director of langston 21 and a howard university professor, pleaded guilty to the same charge. in 2008, langston 21 received $392,000 for youth program. most of the money, $360,000, went to thomas' organization, team thomas and hlt development. everyone here at langston golf course knows garvin as jimmy, he was well liked but golfers won't

talk about him on camera while his case pending. lawyers say garvin will speak when the timing is right. >> jimmy garvin is one-of-a-kind and he is a tremendous individual. as you probably know, he has never had any difficulty whatsoever. >> reporter: garvin confessed he passed hundreds of thousands of dollars through a nonprofiting ortion to former council member harry thomas jr., a source close to jimmy garvin says that he received not a single dime of that money. in the district, chris guard opinion, news4. >> both garvin and maer shall banks will be back in federal court for sentencing in may they each face up to three years in prison and a fine. they have agreed together with harry thomas jr. to reimburse the $392,000 that was misappropriated from youth programs in the district. it is a controversial project and tonight, president obama is rejecting it. plans to build the keystone oil pipeline. a canadian company wants to install a 1700-mile pipeline

that would carry oil from canada to refineries in texas. today, a top white house official said the february 21st deadline set by congress to take action on this project does not provide enough time to make the necessary reviews. there are concerns about the environmental impact. gop lawmakers are pushing the project, saying it would create thousands of jobs and boost the economy. did you know we are still feeling the affects of that big earthquake that rattled our area last summer? there was another aftershock at 8:00 this morning centered five miles southwest of mineral, virginia, a magnitude of 2.5. it is the 82nd aftershock since that 5.8 quake hit on august 23rd. next on news4 at six, mitt romney's tax rate generating criticism on the campaign trail, could it hurt him as he needs the south carolina primary? find out how the scandal at penn state is having an impact on fair fax county? >> a crime ring with a twist,

thieves stealing used cooking oil from area restaurants. >> view outside the verizon center could be changing and it has a lot of people fighting back. >> veronica, a stiff wind thought today. >> that we did. cold and blustery, we have had falling temperatures today. now tonight, one of the coldest nights of the month. dan, you got something hot in sports? >> yeah vj, talking hoops, devon durant back in his hometown to take on the wizards, high praise for the patriots for the ravens defense and former determine, vernon davis on the turn around that has made him the best tight

days too go until the south carolina primary and is feeling the heat, still the front-runner according polls but rivals are pressing him to release tax returns. today one of his top backers spoke out but his advice may not have been what romney wanted to hear. steve handelsman has his report. >> reporter: questioned by his rivals in south carolina about his record on job creation, and now, pressure to release his tax

returns, mitt romney fired back. >> i was disappointed over the last couple of weeks to see one of my opponents attacking free enterprise, just like the president was. that's -- that's not the role of the republican party. that -- that makes us sad. >> reporter: voters could get mad. romney admits 15% is the income tax rate he paid on the millions he presumably made because they are capital gains. newt gingrich said 15% is enough. >> my goal is not to raise mitt romney's taxes. it is to let everybody pay mitt romney's rate. >> reporter: but at 15%, romney is paying the same rate the is paying the same rate the lowest paid worker would pay on his or her paycheck, half the rate he would pay on a salary in his bracket. if that hurts him with voters, his major backer, new jersey governor chris christie, said today, take the hit now. >> what i would say to governor romney is if you have tax returns to put out, you should put them out, put them out sooner rather than later, because it is always better, in my view, to have complete disclosure and especially when you are the front runner. >> reporter: to become the front runner, newt gingrich, polling

second in south carolina, wants supporters of conservative rick perry and the choice of evangelicals, rick santorum, to switch to him. >> do you need rick perry and rick santorum to drop out of this race? >> it would be helpful. >> santorum said no, called gingrich arrogant, leaving ron paul polling third in south carolina, set for another good primary and leaving mitt romney on track for his third straight victory. i'm steve handlesman, nbc news, charlotte, north carolina. president obama goes into this campaign season with a public that is sharply div 1r50ided over his job performance. 48% surveyed for a new "washington post"/abc news poll say they approve of the job he is doing, 48% disapprove. on the issue of job creation, 45% approve, 51% disapprove. veronica has the weather.

>> even at 11:00 last night, it was plenty mild. >> 60 or something, right? >> exactly. we hit our high today, 58 degrees at midnight today. so, we have been falling ever since. falling into the cold air and getting blasted with a lot of wind, too. take a look around the area there, you see a lot of lights there yeah, uh-huh, not too far here past sunset, 58 degrees was our high today at midnight. the low, currently, we are at 36 degrees you can the average high, 43. in fact that high was just after midnight, 1:31 in the morning. by 5 a.m., already at 46 degrees so, just in that short time span, the mercury really dropped in a hurry, other high temperatures throughout the area, up north, frederick, maryland, mount airy, 52 degrees the high today. look at fredericksburg, virginia, 59 the high today, 60, airy, area, easton, around cambridge, but cold air has moved in, 36 degrees currently,

still breezy out there, northwest wind, currently, 16 miles per hour. windchill reading, 26 degrees here. 27, hagerstown, 34 in culpepper, those windchills in the mid and upper 20s right now and i think for 9 and 11:00, wither going to drop down to the low and mid-20s, so cold here until that wind really start doors settle. there in international falls, minneapolis, minnesota, well to our north and west, some snow and it's a very weak system but it is going to bring us the chance for a few flurries come thursday night. and in the pacific northwest, they have got, yeah, more snow, not quite as much as they were looking at receive informing seattle, washington, most of the snow east of the area, mt. ranier and mount hood. they are still expecting with the two to four that they have gotten already another two to four inches in seattle. talking about that system because it will move very quickly through the east arriving here for the weekend, where we could see a little bit of rain and some more wintery precip early saturday.

next 48 hours, here is your future weather for 1:30 in the morning, we will see a few flurries coming through the area, feeling better than tomorrow. by the afternoon, a few flurries there passing, any time from sunset to about midnight, then that system makes its way quickly through. temperatures on friday will be lower, back into the 30s for highs and i think we are going to see quite a few clouds around the area on friday as well. your evening forecast, mostly clear, the wind settling down, but quite chilly, windchills still in the 20s, 32 to 38 degrees. tomorrow morning, starting out mostly clear, definitely cold, 23 to 28, making it probably the sixth coldest morning of this young year. by afternoon tomorrow, we are partly cloudy, a few flurries coming into the area, again, between 7 p.m. and about midnight, but at 42 to 46, that really is seasonable for this time of year. so another cold day coming our

way tomorrow without the wind. 37 on friday. 37 for a high, maybe a little breezy by the afternoon as well and then the weekend, highs in the mid-40s with a possibility of a little bit of light snow, maybe freezing rain mixed together for a couple of hours saturday with a system that currently is in the pacific northwest. monday right now carries a slight chance a few showers, high of 55. only area i'm most concerned with is just north of d.c., early saturday morning. >> oh. okay. >> okay. been a wild ride lately. >> yeah. >> thanks, veronica. taking a shower will soon cost you more. find out who is raising their water rates. also tonight at 6:00, a dangerous prank playing out in a local community. police are hoping to make arrest before someone gets hurt. police are hoping to make arrest before someone gets hurt. a medical mystery solved, 12

"no messages." but if you're looking for the one place that makes it easy, look no further than carmax. ♪"ta daaaaaaaaaa!" our appraisals are fast and they're free. we'll make you a written offer to buy, good for seven days.

and we'll buy your car even if you don't buy one of ours. carmax...the way car buying should be.

large rocks thrown at cars, bricks smashing through windows, that's what several montgomery county residents say keeps happening in their neighborhood. news4's melissa melee has more

from several victims who tell us this apparent prank could have very dangerous consequences. >> reporter: just down the road, jenny was inside her house saturday when someone threw this brick at her sliding glass door. >> we heard a pop, like a balloon popping and then you hear the crackle of the glass shattering. >> we didn't think it would happen again, but it was so surprising. >> i heard this big thud, i wasn't sure what it was. >> reporter: after that, a car with a mother and son inside heading down warfield road was hit by a brick. another victim struck along east village avenue and townhouse on louis berry, opener was sitting in his living room. nearby, three parked cars were also damaged. >> i realize that they are kind of making a-bit out of this. >> reporter: peterson says he was heading up louis bury in his brand new path finder winn his car was hit with a brick. the suspect, he says, a teenager actually hiding between two parked cars. >> i went took where i heard the

sound on the road, there was a brick lying there. it was clear what it was. >> reporter: the teen got away and peterson had to shell out $700 for repairs. take a look at this match all of the incidents that have been reported happened within a mile of one another. police say that likely means the suspect lives in the very neighborhood he has been vandalizing. >> usually a suspect won't come to a neighborhood and commit this type of crime if he doesn't live there. >> reporter: homeowners associations are planning to ramp up neighborhood watches as police increase patrols. in montgomery village, maryland, melissa mel lakers news4. >> people in month come rained prince georges counties may have to pay more for their water. wssc is announcing a 7.5% fee increase for water and sewer rates. customers who use about $210 gallons of water a day would pay about $5 more each month. company officials say the increase is needed to cover higher operating costs a portion of the rate hike would go toward raises for all employees.

the rate increase takes effect in july. up next, police are trying to find a ring of thieves. they are stealing something from area restaurants and selling it for cold, hard cash. access granted, a local school district is making easier for parents to look through their child's lockers. an internet blackout, google, wikipedia and other popular sites taking a stand against anti-piracy legislation and lawmakers taking notice. coming up in sport, if the 49ers are to get to the super bowl, a former terp could be the reason why. and the

the captain of that cruise ship that ran aground off the coast of italy has been placed on house arrest. prosecutors are expected to charge francesco schettino with manslaughter and abandoning ship. his lawyer says he never left the scene of the shipwreck that killed at least 11 people. rescue work was suspended today after the ship moved slightly off the rocks that had been supporting it. republican presidential candidates are in their final days of campaigning for saturday's south carolina primary and the accusations are getting kind of ugly. today, newt gingrich said he expects mitt romney's campaign to become, in his words,

un-endingly dirty and dishonest the next few days because, he said, they are desperate. rick santorum called gingrich arrogant for calling on conservatives to stop splitting their votes a topped switch their support to him. police are looking for a woman who forced an 84-year-old woman to withdraw thousands of dollars from her bank account. investigators say the suspect first approached the victim outside a store in tacoma park last week. the suspect had three young children with her and said she needed help cashing a check to feed those children. the victim agreed to help her out and after that, she was robbed. some call it liquid gold. in prince georges county, police say thieves are going around stealing used cooking oil. >> as pat collins reports now it is a big loss for more than just

the restaurants. >> reporter: french fries. fried fish. but eventually that cooking oil gets old and sort of grungy and, well, you know what they say, one man's trash is another man's treasure? well, in some circles, that old, grungy cooking oil, that stuff that ends up looking like this is considered by some to be, i don't dare say it, liquid -- every night, someone is out stealing this used cooking oil? >> yes. >> in the county? >> yes. inside the county. outside the county. pretty much all over the state. >> reporter: that's detective andrea sheehan. she does special investigations for the prince georges county police and right now, she's tracking down grease thieves. happening every night? >> yes. >> every night? >> yes. >> what do you make of something like this? >> well, it's a new commodity. >> reporter: now this is the way

it should work. in the business, they call it uco, used cooking oil. grease haulers pay restaurants for it. they recycle it and use it for biofuel or animal feed. and everybody's happy. but this is what's going on. in the middle of the night, thieves are coming around, sucking out the used grease, selling it on the down low to recyclers. the grease haulers, they are not getting any money. the restaurants, they are not getting any money. the thieves, they're getting the money. by phone, we talked to one grease hauler who says he has lost more than $100,000 this year. they asked us not to identify them by name. >> opportunistic people with very low moral integrity and they are willing to do anything to survive, i guess. >> reporter: here at lenny's, angela says they have been stealing grease from her for months. >> every month, two and three times like this. >> keep stealing the oil? >> yes. >> you don't get paid?

>> no. they never pay me. >> reporter: these cases are hard to solve, you see, this grease, it doesn't have a serial numbers so it's difficult to tell when it's hot. i'm pat collins, news4, prince georges county. >> the owners of a prince georges county nightclub where there was a deadly shooting have pleaded guilty in the case a woman was killed outside the msg nightclub in capital heights last summer and a man was injured. today two owners of that club agreed to plead guilty to charges that include operating a dance club without a license. they received a six-month suspended sentence and probation. >> even though we encourage business in the county, we will not stand by and have any individual operate a dance club that causes death, destruction and violence in our community. the nightclub was shutdown, the fam i love the young woman killed say they plan to file a lawsuit against the club's owners. the child sex abuse scandal at penn state terrified the nation but tonight, local

authorities say the lessons learned from that case may already be helping children in our community. erika gonzalez has more on the impact it is having in fairfax county. >> reporter: since news of the former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky's alleged sexual abuse of minors surfaced this summer, there has been a spike of reported cases of child sex abuse in the county. according to police, there were 19 case of child sex abuse in december of 2010. there were 39 in the same month of 2011. >> people will call and they will refer back to that sometimes and they will say, you know, this happened there and here's my situation. do i have a case? >> reporter: today, detectives and social services employees fielded questions from the public on the topic. dozens logged on to an online chat and asked things like what if i was abused as a child but am an adult now to can i report child abuse and stay anonymous? police say after seeing the

sandusky scandal play out, more people have gotten the courage to tomy police about their own stories of abuse. the office for women and domestic violence service confirmed to those in the chat there is no statute of limitations for prosecution in virginia on child sex abuse. there are seven detectives on the fairfax county police child abuse squad. police say they are working with the department of family services to help with the new case loads. in fact, the office for women and domestic violence services has a support group for men who were sexually assaulted as children. erika gonzalez, news4. doctors and emergency responders in montgomery county say they are now equipped to treat heart attack patients faster. news4 got a demonstration of their new electrocardiogram system or ekg, this afternoon. doctors say the machines are web-based and save critical time during an emergency. they say a heart attack

patient's vitals can be sent during transport from the ambulance directly to the hospital. doctors can receive the information on their desktop or a smartphone. the district also uses this same technology. still ahead on news4, a possible explanation about what's making dozen students from the same high school sick but some parents aren't convinced yet. extreme weather from coast to coast. snow is slamming washington state. tornadoes hitting the midwest and what we can expect in the days ahead. why ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder. pnc bank. for the achiever in you.

welcome back a cold and blustery day for us. the same system is the one that brought severe weather to the south. take you to kentucky, show what you took place yesterday n louisville, ken keep, they had a tornado that touched down, this one was an ef-1 with winds over 86 miles per hour. see why it did so much damage to the area, tearing off this roof, the tornado stayed on the ground for four miles, a path about 250 yards wide. on the other side of things, we have got snow in the pacific northwest, specifically,

seattle, washington, where they have gotten between two and about five inches of snow, they do pick up another one to three. look at that car just skidding on the road. they have had some roads closed down there due to the snow and some of the higher elevations and of course, school has been closed there. something that our kids want locally around here, with this weather pattern we are in now, jet stream frommest to east, a zonal pattern, document have the cold air digging down into the mid-atlantic states to give us any snow around here. so, active weather pattern for the next two weeks but not any big snow. very cold night and cold start to the day tomorrow, highs tomorrow, up to 45 degrees it will feel better because we are not going to have any wind around. coming up, look at the 4-day forecast, the potential for light snow and freezing rain coming your way saturday

morning. doreen? >> thanks, veronica. regulations regarding student school lockers in prince william county schools is nothing new but tonight, the school board there will vote on a new policy that gives parents access to their children's lockers. the proposed policy would apply to students younger than 18, give access at reasonable times to their children's locker. if passed, the superintendent will implement the policy countywide. >> this is a situation where we want the parents to know that safety of students is a very, very high priority for us and that the parents have a role to play. >> tonight's school board meeting and vote getting under way in about half an hour. we have an update to a story we told but yesterday. doctors believe they have a diagnosis for a bizarre illness that is plaguing 12 teenaged girls at the same tie school. the girls all attend le roy high in upstate new york. all of them suddenly began suffering from uncontrollable body movements, tics and verbal outbursts. one of the doctors treating the

girls believes they have a rare conversion disorder, something called mass hysteria. a physiological problem related to stress. >> has happeneded before all around the world, different parts of the world. ed bottom line is teen aim letters get better. >> the parents of teams say they are seeking a second opinion. the school district says the students have shown signs of improvement and expected to get better. >> what a mystery. a strange one. >> yeah. coming up, a controversy over a plan to make d.c.'s chinatown look a little more like new york's times square. plus a ride in china is making history, but this one isn't for the faint of heart. >> dan's here with a look at what is ahead in sports. >> football, lady, championship games coming up, ravens did get a lot of respect from the pay the dwreets, the wizards hope to spoil the homecoming of d.c. native kevin durant

the centers for disease control says one in three adults in the u.s. is considered obese and transit agencies are taking note. adourgtd "new york times," larger passengers means larger seats for bus and traipse. the paper reports new jersey transit will add double decker trains with seats two inches wider than the current ones on the single decks. amtrak is reportedly planning

new designs to accommodate the larger-sized riders. a billboard battle is in the works at the verizon center. the d.c. council is carrying bill that would allow up to nine jumbo reasons to around the building. the electronic signs could be any size and that has at least one nearby business upset. vida fitness says it is worried the billboards could wrap around the entire verizon center, ruining the natural light and driving down property values. they say bright lights would be advicish all the way from the treasury building that sits neck to the white house. the council is hearing this next monday. interesting. what do you got tonight? >> down to the final four in the nfl, going to three these out, raven, patriot, niner, giant, you have to pick one. >> ravens. got go with the ravens. i like that. >> did you make a pick yet? >> i have not. going to hold that for a while. the latest super bowl odds are out. patriots have the best chance of wing the game game, 44%.

ravens, the worst. the wise guys say baltimore has just a 14% chance of being crowned super bowl champions. the ravens 7 1/2-point underdogs general the patriots in the afc championship game. it is the first time since 2007 the ravens have been underdogs by more than a touchdown. that is just amazing. you know ray lewis and his defense mates are well aware of their underdog role. the defense has carried the ravens throughout the season, heck, carried them throughout the last decade, 36-year-old ray lewis getting it done, 16th season. and in the secondary, safety ed reid will go down as one of the game's legendary ball hawks. interception against the texans last week, just vintage. they will need help on sunday to beat bill belichick's patriots much the coach and his quarterback know reid and lewis very well. >> they are two of the greatest players to have play the game on

the same team on the same defense for so many years. i don't know where to start. the -- i mean, the play ed reid makes at the end of the game against houston last week, a game-saving play. not sure if he hadn't made it, i don't know what would have happened there >> they have a great defense. i think what makes them great, not only the playmakers, all 11 guys played together and really been a strength of that team for as long as i have been around and it continues to be, i am sure, as long as ray and ed and suggs are there, it will be a strength. the giants and niners, biggest game san francisco singers well you can the last time they were the nfc championship game, 1997, niners best outhouse-to-penthouse story in the nfl this year, gone from 6-10 to one win away from the super bowl and they wouldn't be in this position if it wasn't for former terp vernon davis.

davis coming off a record-setting performance, a 180-yard game with a pair of touchdowns to lift the niners to a playoff win over the saints. what makes it more remarkable is how far he has come with the niners, four years ago, here, he got kicked out of a game by head coach mike singletary. unheard of in the nfl. >> i knew from there from the talk that we had, i was going the wrong direction. so i changed my life around and i became more of a leader, in the beginning, it was all about me. that's not right. we don't want it to be all about you. i find it that when it's more about the team, you put the team first, you have more success. >> the longer you play this game, you know, the more you enjoy it the more you understand what thing does and whatnot to do and i think vernon has certainly changed that way, his thinking, i mean, he is just --

he is turned on to be the play terror we have always envisioned him playing. i hope they continue do that. >> i made up my mind, i have my picks. >> go ahead. >> the niners because of vernon davis, got to root for the local guy and then i will go with the ravens, a little regional flavor in there as well. >> like t. >> then the harbaugh on harbaugh coaching matchup, so many story lines for us to talk about on super bowl week this is going to be fun if this comes to fruition. talking hoops now, on paper, things don't bode well for the wizards tonight. things go well this season, many say things don't bode well for the wizard no, sir matter who they are playing. kevin durant and the oklahoma city thunder, a team coming one the best record in the nba. hakem dermish down at verizon center. looks like a few more fans down there than we have seen in the past. >> yes, dan, hello, a few more fans here tonight to see the homecoming of kevin dur rant, prince georges' county product this is a matchup between the

haves and have nots, the thunder 12 wins, the wizards, one win. the best record against the worst record, oklahoma city, riding a seven-game win streak, thanks in part to kevin durant, the five-year pro is a flat-out all-star and flat-out superstar. durant helped thunder the finals last san this season, the thunder rolling again, durant is playing like an mvp. he is fourth in the league in scoring, averaging 26 points per game, durant, he always plays well against his hometown team, seven games against the wizards, averaging 31 points per game, his highest point total against any team in the nba. >> i hope people are cheering for a thunder tonight. i knee lot of my family and friends will be here, excited to play in front of them, a dream come true, man, coming to wizards games as a youngster and be part of this environment and coming back against them is

something i always wanted to do, you know, i'm just glad that, you know, i get a chance to play here. >> it is tough, a great scorer plus coming back home, you know? so got to, you know, try to, you know, put a hand in his face as much as you can and, you know, let other people be on the team. >> here is my man man here, brandon from d.c., come home kd, we need you. he is a wizards fan, but he is also a kevin durant fan. so, you told me that you would like to see kevin durant do well but want the wizards to win, right? >> yeah, i don't -- it doesn't matter who wins, i just want it to be a good game. >> all right. there you go it should be a good game, always a fun game to watch. kevin durant, russell westbrook taking on nick young and john wall and the wizards. i can't guarantee a victory forth wizard, at least it will be fun. dan, let's send it back to you. >> all right, thank you, hakem. loft fan interaction there. talking ten knicks over at the australian other, nadal and federer advanced to the first round, mardi, if i the

top-ranked american, became the first top ten player on the men's side to lose. the best video of the day comes courtesy of marcos baghdad distaking his frustration out on his racquet here, one down, tombs off and decides, you know what -- >> hard to play with that. >> after i busted that one up, i think i'm going to take out a brand new one, maybe still -- >> here we go. >> give it another shot. >> i'm not done yet. >> no. no. could you tell? he takes out two more rack et cetera, still in the plastic, breaks those as well. needless to say his tournament was over in australia. >> those racquets must just not be working for him. a good craftsman never blames the tools. >> thank you, dan s. up next, one of the internet's most visited sites temporarily shutdown to send a message to congress.

if you tried to use wikipedia or craigslist today, you probably didn't get very far. the two site, along with others, are taking part in an online protest of anti-piracy legislation being considered on capitol hill. michelle franzen has details. >> reporter: some of internet's top websites and search engines shut down or showed solidarity

today. wikipedia english had a 24-hour blackout. other site, including google and the "huffington post," took the unprecedented step to protest anti-piracy web legislation they say threatens the free and open internet. >> they wouldn't do it if they didn't think that these bills that are being proposed in congress wouldn't significantly change the way the internet works and how users experience the internet. >> reporter: lawmakers are considering two separate bills. the stop online piracy act, or sopa, would give the government the authority to monitor and shutdown websites accused of distributing pirated content and stop illegal downloads. it is supported by the film and music industries. but tech companies like wired say the restrictions would equal censorship. >> punish everyone and arguably destroy the internet with regulations that have never existed before and which will have consequences that we cannot really predict. >> reporter: today, house speaker john boehner said lawmakers are far from taking a vote.

>> and i would expect that the committee would continue to work to try to build a consensus before this bill moves. >> reporter: the senate's bill, protect intellectual property act, is aimed at targeting foreign-based sites. it is estimated 7,000 websites took part in the protest. sites, like google, directed internet users to an online petition they could sign. meanwhile, the president has also gone on record, saying he would veto any piracy bill that is too broad in its focus. michelle franzen, news4. and congratulationses are in order for one of our own, reporter tom sherwood. today, he accepted an award as one of the washingtonian magazine's washingtonians of the year. >> you know, we are not respected on capitol hill or on the congress or by the president because of our lack of voting rights in this town but we can respect ourselves and that's what we are doing here today. we are respecting each other. our local washington is only as

good as the people active in it. i mean that with all my heart and i thank you for this award. thank you. [ applause ] >> the magazine has given the award for 40 years, honoring those whose good works and generous spirit make washington great place to live and to work. no one loves this city like tom sherwood. >> our congratulationses to tom. the best part was watching tom walk up in the stage, interrupt vance and try to cut him off, try to wrap him up. that was -- that was entertaining. we are happy for tom and we are also very proud of him. >> yes. coming up tonight onews4 at 11:00, new court documents just filed in the jerry sandusky case. we are going to take a close look at them and let you know what they say. also ahead a high school student beaten and robbed for the change in his pocket on a popular path in montgomery county. plus, the latest on a severed head that was found near the hollywood sign and a new discovery today. those stories and more coming up on news4 at 111:00. so, how cold is it going to get the next couple of days?

>> the next couple of house, below freezing in the next couple of hours, right. then tomorrow morning, starting out in the 20s throughout much of the area so, one of the coldest mornings that we have had all year long, 31 degrees by 11 p.m., 27 degrees at 7 a.m. tomorrow. a lot of locations will be starting out in the mid-20s throughout the area. so cold one but with light wind tomorrow. i don't think it will feel as bad as by the afternoon, 46 your high we could see flurries starting this time tomorrow, just a few. >> okay. all right. >> thanks, veronica. china is claiming a record for the highest free fall rintd planet. the new attraction located in the tower in southern china starts on the 112th floor, which is nearly 1600 feet above the ground. and then the seat just drops. 115 feet. very quickly. riders have they enjoy the view of the bustling