remembering joe paterno. an emotional day in state college, pennsylvania as the penn state community prepares to say good-bye to a beloved coach. and an arlington man charged with leaking classified information from his days as a cia agent. prosecutors believe what he said about the interrogation of a high profile terror suspect could put fellow agents at risk. good evening and welcome everyone. i'm doreen gentzler in for wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handly. we begin at 5:00 with the death of a woman right outside a prince george's county elementary school. a van belonging to the school apparently ran her over. it happened late this morning that samuel chase elementary on fisher road in temple hills. pat collins is live on the scene with details. pat? >> jim, sources tell news 4 police are looking into the possibility that the victim here was a woman from the neighborhood. they say when she was hit, she was using a cane. a fatality here in the parking lot of the samuel chase

elementary school in temple hills. police say this prince george's county school utility van backed into a woman. they say she was pronounced dead at the scene. mark sanders was across the street at the time. he said he saw three workers trying to push the van but he said he didn't realize there was someone beneath it. >> how unfortunate. a sad accident. here's a laidy and now she is laying on the sidewalk over there deceased and here's three workers who certainly, or a number of workers who came to work today to make an honest living. and they have to deal with this tragedy as well. >> reporter: police are trying to determine what brought the woman to the parking lot of the school this morning. the school was closed. they say she's not a school employee. here's one possibility. behind the school is an apartment complex and there is a

cut that takes you from there all the way back here. jolanda jones uses the short cut every day when she goes for a walk. >> i believe it was just a tragic accident, unfortunately. >> the driver didn't see her. >> and she didn't see him. >> a lot of people use that cut when they walk. >> definitely. >> now prince george's county school superintendent william hite today expressed sincere sympathy for the families of the victim. he said police are working to determine the circumstances surrounding the incident. the investigation tonight continues on. jim, back to you. >> pat collins live for us in temple hills. thank you. firefighters in the district battled a fierce town house blaze this morning. the two-alarm fire broke out around 10:00 here in the 5000 block of 4th street northwest. when firefighters arrived they found flames shooting out of all

three floors of the town house. it took firefighters about two hours to bring everything under control. no one inside the home was hurt. but a firefighter was treated for minor injuries. no word on what started the blaze. federal employees and many students in our area got a late start this morning after the forecast called for icing conditions and freezing rain overnight. nobody wanted to take any chances after last january's snowstorm caused the massive gridlock when people tried to head home at the same time. darcy spencer is at the smithsonian metro stop now with more on how things went out there today. >> reporter: doreen, if you think about it, it's a tricky situation trying to figure out what the road conditions are going to be like for the next morning's commute. the defense did make the decision yesterday evening to open two hours late. those icy conditions did not materialize for the most part but commuters we spoke to today said it was the right move. it was a year ago when snowy

road conditions turned the evening drive home into a nightmare. some called it carmageddon. >> i just wasn't sure what to do so i just turned the car off and saved the gas. >> reporter: drivers were trapped in their cars for hours. some abandoned their rides on slippery roads then there was a criticism. federal workers should have been allowed to leave earlier before the roads were so bad. >> ended up leaving the car and came back the next day to see if it was there and it had already been gone. >> reporter: the fans listened and recently put a new policy in place to make weather decisions earlier. last night the office of personnel management announced government offices in d.c. would open two hours late because road conditions were expected to be icy this morning. >> i think we've learned. we've had a tough winter last year. we don't know what this season is going to bring but i think we have learned and we know if we get information out earlier people will have the kind of information to make timely decisions. >> reporter: federal workers were given the chance to take

unscheduled leave or telecommute and we didn't hear any complaints. >> i lived in a rural area down in p.g. area and the roads were icy down there early this morning. i'm due to work at 6:00 so getting here at 11:00 helped me out today. >> reporter: many workers told us they did not experience any problems on the road but they're still glad they were given the option to come in later. >> yeah. it was a good move. under the circumstances you don't know what this kind of weather, this kind of -- it's tricky to predict. >> reporter: several commuters we spoke to today say they hope officials won't hesitate to make the same decision next time even though those icy conditions didn't happen this time. reporting live from southwest washington, darcy spencer, news 4. doreen, back to you. >> thank you. slippery roads may be to blame for this accident in montgomery county. an oil truck overturned and landed on the side of the road along hawkins creamery road in damascus. the driver had some minor injuries. the truck was eventually pulled out and uprighted. we're told none of the oil in

there leaked out. the cold rain showers continued for much of our day and it was tough to get rid of that fog. >> kind of gloomy. veronica johnson is in storm center 4 with an update. it has been gloomy, guys. the cold air here but that air milder than the ice pack so hence the fog. it's been sticking around with that ice pack ground. take a look. this is route 29 southbound earlier today. you can see the fog in the distance and the visibility in some locations dropped down to zero. zero mile visibility. earlier today north of laytonsville, maryland, this one sent in from tom on his drive home. throughout the area still holding on to that fog. 38 the temperature. a little bit of a wind chill, too. it's at 33 degrees right now. so lots of moisture but at least the showers are gone. the fog not. here is a look at the current visibilities down to 1/8 mile in gaithersburg, some of the lowest conditions. i think overnight it could become widespread that fog. but again, the rain gone. the bulk of it off to the east so we're not going to see the

drawing until we get to the early part of the day tomorrow. meanwhile, down to the south the storm system that produced all that severe weather is now in areas of georgia, mississippi, and alabama and even the panhandle of florida. we'll talk more about that system and wt is next for us coming up in just a couple minutes. all right. veronica, thank you. a former cia officer was arrested today and charged with leaking classified secrets to reporters. he was a cia intelligence officer from 1990 to '04 and was featured in several news articles after he told reporters he took part in the interrogation of terror suspect abu zubaydah. he is charged with violating the espionage act bypassing classified information to journalists. the prosecutors say the information included the identity of a covert cia officer. after a court appearance he was released on a $250,000 bond. both public and private memorials will be held this week

to say good-bye to coach joe paterno. the long-time penn state football coach died yesterday. as jane watrel reports many on campus today felt the scandal involving the football program should not over shadow his legacy. it was a gloomy day on the penn state campus following sunday's death of former football coach joe paterno. >> this is how everyone feels pretty much today. the weather is pretty sad. >> reporter: the rain adding to the dampened spirits as the winni winningest coach in division 1 football died from complications from lung cancer. at the bronze statue of paterno a blue and white scarf hung from his neck. mourners left flowers and other mementos. joe paterno is penn state. there is no words to describe how much he means to every penn stater. people can say what they want about him and what's happened in the last three months. >> reporter: paterno was fired in november after criticism he did not do enough to stop alleged child abuse by former assistant coach jerry sandusky. many students are angered with

critics who are not familiar with the legacy. everyone is bashing -- the guy just died. have a little more respect for him. he did a lot of great things for our university and people turned their backs on him so quickly. >> reporter: at the paterno family home three blocks from campus the road is closed and a police car is posted. while the family maintains its privacy. while the community continues to grieve the editor of the alumni magazine says joe paterno's generosity continued to shine through right up until the end. >> joe seems to have held no bitterness about that. he was quoted in the media as saying he was bitter for a couple days and then he decided to take the high road. he went on and gave penn state a hundred thousand dollars gift in the month of december after penn state terminated him. he was able to let go of whatever anger he had and i would really hope penn staters could find a way to do the same. >> reporter: in state college, pennsylvania jane watrel news 4. there will be a public viewing for paterno tomorrow and wednesday followed by a private funeral on wednesday.

a public memorial service will be held on thursday. rescuers pulled two additional bodies today from the ship wrecked cruise liner in italy. that brings the total number of victims to 15 now. italian authorities say another 17 people are still unaccounted for. meanwhile efforts to remove the half million gallons of fuel onboard may start as early as tomorrow. that move could last several weeks as crews carefully replace the oil with sea water so the ship doesn't shift and sink further. the next big matchup in the republican presidential race happens eight days from now in the florida primary. mitt romney is retooling his campaign after saturday's double digit loss to newt gingrich in south carolina. today both candidates were in attack mode. romney questioning gingrich's ethics and calling him erratic. >> he's gone from pillar to post almost like a pinball machine from item to item in a way which is highly erratic.

>> such bologna. now it used to be pious bologna but now it's just desperate bologna. >> some political analysts say the florida primary is a must win contest for the romney campaign. all four republican candidates will face off tonight in the 18th debate of the presidential campaign. brian williams will moderate tonight's debate during a special edition of "rock center." we invite you to tune in and watch it here on nbc 4 tonight at 9:00. a judge in montgomery county says tonight a restaurant is not liable for a 2008 crash that killed a 10-year-old girl. the family of jasmine war sued dog fish head ale house in gaithersburg for more than $3 million. they claim the restaurant over served a man who crashed his car into theirs killing jasmine. he reportedly had 17 beers and a shot of alcohol. the judge says under maryland law restaurants can't be held liable. according to the gazette the family will file an appeal. still ahead on news 4 at

5:00 thousands rally here in washington. 39 years after the supreme court's controversial roe vs. wade decision. a plane crash at sea. a family manages to survive thanks in part to who their rescuers happen to be. i'm liz crenshaw. which is a better deal, leasing a new car or buying one? see which saves you serious cash down the road.

♪ i'm feelin' subway ♪ let's go [ 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! ♪ let's go

gabrielle giffords spent one of her last days as a member of congress visiting a food bank built in her honor, built with $200,000 donated in her name after last year's shooting. it's one of the last things she'll do as a member of the house of representatives. giffords announced yesterday that she will step down from congress to focus on her recovery. when you're in the market for a new car you have two options. buy or lease. but up front deals may not be as transparent as you think. liz crenshaw is here to compare leasing versus buying. >> jim, most of us try to get the best deal when buying a car but the numbers don't always add up to saving money. commercials promising great lease deals or low even 0%

financing are aimed at luring in customers. it begs the question, which is the better deal? leasing or buying new? so we turned to jack gillis with the consumer federation of america for the answer. >> great news for car buyers. the car companies are still recovering. dealers are still desperate to sell. and they need you more than you need them. >> reporter: let's start with buying. no money deal is better than 0%. but most of us won't qualify for 0%. >> beware. 0% financing which is heavily advertised is only available to about 10% of us who have credit ratings high enough to get that good 0% rate. >> reporter: leasing always looks attractive. >> one of the things about leasing is that it has very low monthly payments. >> reporter: but cfa says at the end of the lease there are costs to add in for mileage and wear and tear. >> the dealer will then go over the car with a fine tooth comb and hand you a bill that can be $1,000 to $2,000.

>> reporter: how do the numbers really work out? consumer federation did some math for us. let's start with the 2012 ford focus. the sticker price is the same for leasing and buying. $16,697. lease payments $157 a month. buying at 4.5% on a five-year loan $249 a month. leasing looks cheaper but at the end of three years on the lease you owe fees and you donent don any of the car. you spent $7,887 and have nothing. at the end of three years of buying the car with the loan, you spent $8,964 in payments but because you own a piece of the car your real cost is only $4,985. you have no car value with a lease. >> you don't own the vehicle and at the end of the lease you have nothing. >> reporter: the numbers work the same for a 2012 lexus is. at the end of three years, the

cost to you of leasing, $14,663. the cost to you of buying? $9,723. almost $5,000 cheaper to buy the car. gillis says think of leasing like renting. it's not a better monetary deal but some will still choose it. >> leasing will enable you to get maybe a better car, a bigger car. if you want more car than you can afford, but the bottom line is for most of us it's going to cost more to lease than to buy. >> so leasing is not necessarily a bad deal if it's all about driving the car you want. >> right. >> but in the case of a best monetary decision, buying is better. >> all right. thank you. >> we got it. >> a little math there. >> taking notes. >> you simplified it for us. >> after a lease you don't have a car. when you buy a car you have the car. even if you want to sell it. >> if you want a car and think you won't hold on to it long -- >> if you turn the car over

every two years then you aren't making the money. >> a lot of times after five or six they're not worth a lot. >> but still the residual value is good to be able to turn it over and you have that value and you don't with a lease. >> thank you, liz. we'd like to -- >> buy some better weather. >> exactly. just for a few days. >> this is our fourth day with clouds and dreary conditions around here but what we want is a little bit of sunshine and, you know, what? just hang on a little longer. outside today, boy, it was foggy. the visibility dropped to zero in many locations. this is off the key bridge and a view that, yeah, it's kind of pretty in its own little way. >> it is. >> but gray and gloomy and awfully chilly. we failed to get out of the 30s today. hung in there with all that cloud cover across the area. 38 is the current temperature. a little light wind at 6 miles per hour now and it's giving us a wind chill reading of 33 degrees. your good night wakeup forecast

then we'll see the mercury actually rise a little bit overnight. 40 to 39 degrees by early tomorrow morning so you do not have to worry about any of those slick, icy roads for tomorrow morning but there will be a little bit of fog hanging on. as a matter of fact, i think overnight for the early mid part of the night we'll see widespread fog. the rain though is gone. you can see it heading out into delaware. areas of southeastern maryland right now. open it up as we zoom in a little tighter then open it up and show you again we're dry here. it's down to the south along the tail end of that front where there are still some showers and even some thunderstorms. this is all part of the same system that rolled through arkansas, mississippi, and tennessee delivering 22 tornadoes sunday into monday morning. then friday advances off to the east again. fog and a few showers tomorrow morning. we'll get the northwesterly wind. once that happens i think we'll see clearing fast. a partly sunny day coming our way for tomorrow. a little bit on the breezy side at times. then for thursday, back the other way. with the advance of clouds for

morning sunshine those clouds come in quick. i think rain though for the next system doesn't happen until probably early morning thursday. so your evening forecast, folks, you're going to need a coat or a really good jacket. we stay cold. 35 to 40. sun sets today in a couple minutes here at 5:19. all right. take a look. there for tomorrow morning 36 to 42. dense fog, yes. and some wet roads. but again, not icy roads for tomorrow morning. we'll turn sunny, milder, much better tomorrow. 51 to 56 degrees after staying in the 30s. you got to like the 50s in fact. about 10 to 13 degrees above average. so, you know, we're all over the place with the temperatures. 48 degrees on wednesday. close to 50. still some sunshine. there is your rain for thursday. moves in probably late morning on thursday and it's probably out of here by the time we get to friday. 46 the high for thursday. 51 for friday. if you're looking ahead to next weekend right now we have a chance for rain showers on sunday.

there you go. but tomorrow looks splendid. >> tomorrow is very, very nice. >> thanks. still to come on news 4 at 5:00 tonight he was sentenced to life in prison on a series of charges but said the way police caught him was unfair. now the supreme court has handed down a ruling in the case of a d.c. night club owner. i'm julie carey in richmond, virginia. last year's furor in fairfax county over school discipline practices is now in the general assembly spotlight. coming up i'll take a look at an effort to require schools to tell parents when their kids are in big trouble. and a northern virginia man has a big story to tell after a fishing trip. stay wit

♪ ♪ [ 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.

a secret service agent says he gets goose bumps after watching john hinckley jr. during one of his recent trips to williamsburg, virginia. in court today the agent testified hinckley became momentarily fixated on a book about ronald reagan while in williamsburg at a book store. hinckley shot reagan back in 1981. he's been in a psychiatric hospital but is seeking the freedom to eventually move into his mother's house in williamsburg. prosecutors are fighting that. they say he is still a threat to others. privacy advocates woon key ruling from the u.s. supreme court today about how police can use technology in their search for suspects and evidence.

the case involved a man from d.c. who was convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine but that conviction came after police attached a gps tracking device to his car. today all nine justices agreed that police cannot do that without a search warrant. >> nine zero in a fourth amendment case is remarkable and the long-range implications will be very simple, that the police are going to have to be a little more respectful of people's rights. >> experts say this decision will have far reaching effects for years to come. in future cases that deal with technology and privacy. interesting. when we come right back the death of a northern virginia high school student prompts virginia lawmakers to push for a new school disciplinary policy. coming up, why they think it could prevent another tragedy. i'm tom sherwood. the 39th annual march for life came to capitol hill today fighting to ban abortion. i'll have the story coming up on

news 4 at 5:00. plus, digital textbooks may be the way of the future. what one local school system says they're moving forward with paperless curriculums now. we check in to "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood" test. "access hollywood"

fast forward through the headlines. a woman was hit and killed by a school utility van in the parking lot of samuel chase in temple hills this morning. police say the van backed into

the woman. there was no school today. they're not sure why she was there. her identity has not been released yet. as a makeshift memorial grows around the statue of joe paterno with penn state we're learning more tonight about funeral plans. there is a public viewing tomorrow and wednesday followed by a private funeral on wednesday and public memorial service on thursday. the legendary football coach died sunday from complications of lung cancer. the federal government and school officials allowed workers and students to come in a little bit later this morning after the forecast called for potentially icy conditions on the roads. fears of a repeat of last january's snowstorm that caused gridlock on area roads prompted the late start. there were no major weather related delays reported during the commute this morning. now let's fast forward to the weather. veronica? >> thanks a lot. fog now is going to be the big issue for the overnight and early tomorrow morning. 38 with fog currently and wind chill and 33 degrees. so it is plenty chilly out there right now. but lighter wind for the overnight will give us more fog and probably some widespread fog

up until about 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. in the morning. we're at 38 degrees now. temperatures are going to hold stead eight 38 for the 11:00 hour and probably even for midnight and then rise slightly for tomorrow morning. so we'll stay above freezing. tomorrow's high? 53. back to you. >> thanks, veronica. despite the weather the 39th annual march for life drew a huge crowd to downtown d.c. today. they're protesting the supreme court decision roe vs. wade the decision that legalized abortion 39 years ago. tom sherwood was there and is live on the national mall with more on the story. jim, the march for life is held every january. that's the anniversary month. the anniversary of the supreme court decision making abortion legal. there was prayer. the national anthem. ♪ and there was marching. by the tens of thousands

marchers from around the country marched up to capitol hill and to the supreme court. the message? the same as it was for the first march 39 years ago. overturn roe vs. wade and outlaw abortion. >> our precip this morning that when you're going to defend life it's like david going up to the giant goliath. >> i'm here because i believe in the sanctity of human life and i believe that children, that unborn children have a right to life. >> reporter: despite the cold, wet weather the marchers say the annual march will continue every year until america hears their call. >> i feel like it's a duty we have to live up to, to do something that's right. and that means going out and showing your faith. that's one of the things we're doing right now. it takes a lot of courage to come out here and do it but it's something we have to do because

someone did it before us and it is only right to pass on the tradition. >> i really believe that people who are for abortion don't really, really understand what they're doing because it's not visible. >> tom sherwood reporting. in the wake of his son's suicide a northern virginia father is pushing for change when it comes to discipline in schools. it comes as state lawmakers consider new legislation that would involve parents early on in the disciplinary process. julie carey reports from richmond. >> reporter: friday marked the one-year anniversary of woodson high school sophomore nick steuben's suicide. a suicide his parents blame in part on the disciplinary practices of the fairfax county public schools. today nick's dad came to richmond seeking a state law forcing schools to notify parents quickly when a student faces serious trouble. steuben didn't learn his son was being investigated for buying legal, synthetic marijuana,

until a week after administrators confronted nick. >> we don't find out about it until they've already done questioning, multiple times, over a week-long period and they've already reached the conclusion of what the outcome should be. i think you need to involve parents at the earliest opportunity. >> reporter: the fairfax county school board revised its policy in response to the outcry over nick's case and others. but a bipartisan group of northern virginia lawmakers says a statewide mandate is needed. >> it's a tragedy what happened to mr. steuben's family. we'll make sure this doesn't happen to any other families across the commonwealth. fairfax county republican tim hugo is sponsoring a bill that would require parental notification before school administrators questioned a student about a serious violation. one that could result in suspension or police involvement. >> this is something that could impact this young person for life and i think the parents have an obligation and a duty and a right to be informed of something that could really change what's going to happen to this young person. >> reporter: fairfax county school officials say they will

monitor the legislation and point out the 2011 school board is on record opposing statewide mandates. similar legislation was proposed here last year. the bill sailed through the house but failed in the senate. steve steuben hopes the outcome will be different this year. >> our hope is that we can make something good come out of this. as soon as possible. >> reporter: in richmond, julie carey, news 4. coming up on news 4 at 6:00 we'll hear from one new fairfax county school board member who is backing the bills. >> virginia's highways and bridges could soon bear the name of companies or corporations if the governor has his way. governor bob mcdonald wants to sell naming rights for the state's highways to help pay for road maintenance. under the plan, private entities would be able to put their names on highways, interchanges, and bridges for an annual fee. mcdonald hasn't said how much it could cost. only that the commonwealth transportation board would establish the rules and fees. last year mcdonald announced

plans to let private companies bid to name virginia rest stops. still ahead on news 4 the family who survived a plane crash to find themselves adrift in the ocean. >> wow. we really crashed. and you're not dead. but you've got to get out of here before you drown. coming up witnesses to that crash rushed to the scene trying to pull the family out from underneath the wreckage. and get a load of this. a local man reels in a big fish, a whopper of one that just might be one for the record book

♪ pierre! your fashion is so "right now," but your banking is so last season! earn more with high yield free checking at capital one bank. instead of some unfashionable rate, your checking could be earning five times the national average. and free atms anywhere.

five times the interest? that's hot. oooooo! let's catwalk! you want more interest? open an account at a capital one bank. what's in your wallet? does this make my tuches look big?

the d.c. war memorial is the only memorial on the national mall dedicated to d.c. residents. well, now a controversial effort is under way on capitol hill to rededicate it to all americans. the memorial sits on independence avenue west of 17th street near the tidal basin. it was dedicated back in 1931 to salute the 26,000 washingtonians who fought in world war i. but congressman tedd poe of texas is sponsoring a bill to turn it into a national monument to the great war. delegate eleanor holmes norton, mayor vincent gray, and other city leaders say, hands offer. >> we will not tolerate dishonoring those who gave their lives for our country and paid

the very highest price. the district of columbia memorial belongs to the people of the district of columbia. >> reporter: congress allocated $7.3 million in stimulus money to restore the monument. it reopened last november after renovations. a man from the manassas area may have caught a record-setting fish. check out the rock fish. 74 pounds. reeled in off cape henry in the veech area. the salt water fishing tournament will have to certify the catch to make it official but it is a full pound bigger than the previous record holder. the angler is an x-ray technician at prince william hospital and told the virginia pilot newspaper he has caught shark and barracuda before but never a fish this big. a lot of sushi there. >> indeed. coming up on news 4 at 5:00 trading in textbooks for computers. why a fairfax school decided now is the time to move toward technology. coming up in sports, why the

patriots and the giants are headed to the super bowl. stay tuned.

sales of tablets and e-readers soared over the holiday season according to the pew internet and american life project. 29% of americans own at least one tablet or e-reader up more

than 60%. tablet computers like ipads are equally popular with men and women. when it comes to e-readers women are more likely to use them. just last week apple announced its new i-books 2 for students to use instead of textbooks. in fairfax county students switched over to digital textbooks this past fall. news 4's erika gonzalez checked in with the school today to see how it's working for them. >> then you're going to your e-book. what do we do? split the screen please? >> reporter: it started several years ago with just a few assignments in dr. ken holla's ninth grade social studies class. now, 77,000 students and 700 teachers in fairfax county, grade 7 through 12, have traded their social studies textbooks for digital ones. >> computers and my cell phone. i can't live without them. so it was much easier to have my textbook, all my assignments right on my computer. >> reporter: textbooks are used for seven years.

for alice riley, social services coordinator for fairfax county schools, that meant students in 2018 would not be keeping with the times. >> we are now filing taxes online, paying bills online, shopping online. this is what we're preparing our children for. >> reporter: students are assigned a lap top and from there a log-in name and password. once they've gained access to their textbook online they can read documents and even click on videos, scroll down the page, answer questions, and it's all of course with the click of a button. but because they have to use the internet to gain access to their e-book, they also have access to things like facebook, twitter, and wikipedia and cheating can become all too easy. >> when their eyes are glistening and i'm being serious i say okay. get off facebook or something you shouldn't be on to. but mostly i find that they're doing what they should be doing. it's a change in how i teach. these guys will say i run around the room a lot. >> reporter: students that don't have a computer or internet at home to do home work can check

one out from the school and use the library's internet or local hot spots for access. the switch has not come without some opposition from parents. >> well, it was probably more than anything a fear of the unknown. >> reporter: but riley says it's about preparing students for the digital world we live in. >> i told my dad about it and he's in shock. he didn't think we would do these things. but i don't ask them for as much help anymore. >> reporter: riley says the next curriculum likely to be switched from paper to digital will be math. in fairfax county, erika gonzalez, news 4. >> that's about five pounds less books just with that one textbook. >> exactly. >> that's something to be said for that. lots of challenges though for teachers and students with this changeover. veronica johnson has an update on the challenging weather we've been struggling with lately. veronica? some folks were challenged by the weather, how gray and chilly and foggy it was. there were challenges getting through the day, being

depressed, maybe some folks their team lost yesterday. so they're still crying right? 38 the temperature right now. a chilly one for us. a little bit of a light wind at 6 miles per hour but once that wind settles even more which i do think it's going to happen we'll see more widespread fog throughout the area. visibility pretty low, down to zero in some locations earlier today. we've got 37 degrees right now up in areas of fairfax, vienna right now, 38 degrees. cap please springs, landover and riverdale at 39. 38 currently in tinley town. wanting to show you the temperatures across the mid-atlantic all the way down to the south. take a look at charleston, west virginia. it's 63 degrees there right now. 61 in bristol. that's what we were supposed to be today with a little milder air but we never broke out of the cloud cover. so here for the evening we dropped to 38 or hold steady at 38 i should say and then we rise to 39 and 40 by tomorrow morning. some fog around early on at 5:00 and 6:00 a.m.

the high 53 degrees with sunshine breaking out during the day. i do think it's going to be pretty early during the day tomorrow. into the 50s and then into the 40s. upper 40s for wednesday but at least we'll have two days of sunshine before we see the return of clouds and, yes, some rain, too, right now rain coming in, i think late morning on thursday. the high thursday 46. and 51 for friday. but notice those overnight temperatures. they're not going to drop below freezing until we get to the weekend. so right now we got a little rain to talk about on sunday. light rain. could switch over to some flurries late sunday if it goes long enough. not bad for the rest of the week. jim and doreen? >> sounds pretty good tomorrow and wednesday. thanks, veronica. and then there were two. we now know who is heading for the super bowl. we'll see the key plays that helped the patriots and giants advance to the big game. >> we're finally set super bowl xlv patriots/giants the rematch of the super bowl in phoenix a few years ago.

who would have thunk it in the afc championship game it was the patriots defense getting the job done as opposed to the ravens. what a story this was. >> nobody would have thought that. here is the thing the patriots did better than everybody else against the ravens so far. five offensive linemen, four defensive linemen. wrong. three defensive linemen. rod is actually going to drop and what he does he screws up the protection. now it becomes three on five protection. they don't know who to double, who not to cover, who not to block and wind up with the biggest man on the patriots defense on the weakest man on the baltimore offensive line. usually what joe's safety measure is, is ray rice. look where ray rice is. what's he doing over there? >> it's wide open. >> and there is nobody in the middle of the field. this is a touchdown. >> right. >> if they run the correct play. >> bill belichick and the offense even with brady not playing up to par outsmarted these guys didn't they? >> that the thing to do with the ravens. they have so many great players, so many big and strong and fast

players you have to show them something they'll never expect. tom brady is in the shotgun. ben is right next to him. rob is in the game. that is a pass. no. that is a power play. guess who they have on rob? the reason he's there toss stop rob from releasing into the pattern. here is the thing that happens. he doesn't release into the pattern. he blocks the biggest guy on the field and this is the result. touchdown. >> you wouldn't expect a tight end to be in there blocking but in the red zone in the end zone waiting on a pass. >> smart always wins. >> let's move on to the nfc championship game. alex smith and the niners follow the giants, 20-17. the giants' defense got just enough pressure on alex smith in terms of when they had to get in there. >> just the same old story over and over again. pressure plus pipes. smith became the pipe last night. any time you can do it with just four guys and the giants do it

better than anybody including the ravens, patriots, everybody else in football. they can pressure with four. you win. most of the time you will win these games. >> giants quarterback eli manning. here is a guy who got bashed. he might not be brave. he might not be brees. he may not be rogers but he is right there next to those guys. >> actually above them right now because where he is going and they're not. >> for this moment. >> but that is two in four years. he is a leader. watch this play. this is what makes him a lead quarterback in my book. bradshaw, the same play the ravens had. he becomes a safety valve. unlike what the ravens are trying to do with ray rice. the middle of the field is open. but we don't need the middle of the field. we need any part of the field where there's not a niners defender. this is what manning does. they lose pressure. i mean look at the people falling over the top of each other trying to get to him and he finds a way to get rid of the ball through the safety valve of bradshaw who is standing there. the result of the play is first

now. even more so the result of the play is eli manning takes this from smith. >> look at that face. >> that right there. when you're going to the super bowl, that's what you want your quarterback to look like. >> and he's already beaten the patriots and tom brady on the biggest stage when they were going for that perfect season. going to be so fun. >> i am so looking forward to this. >> to see what happens this time around. trevor price going to be here with us talking about this for the next couple weeks. it's going to be fun. >> all right. thank you, guys. >> a tough way to end the season though for baltimore. >> the ravens, that was tough. >> we feel bad about that. here is a look at what we're working on for news 4 at 6:00. first off you have an event tonight so i'm filling in for you and you're filling in for me. a little confusing. so anyway, coming up at 6:00 just two days after newt gingrich wins the south carolina primary the candidates are facing off again tonight for a much anticipated debate in florida. there are new rules for the airline industry taking effect

this week that cut down on confusion when it comes to ticket costs. and baggage and everything else. and disney is letting its employees do something they have not been allowed to do in nearly 60 years. what might that be? those stories and more on news 4 at 6:00. >> thank you, wendy. coming up next on news 4 at 5:00 a plane crash at sea. nearby boaters rushed to the aid of a family in the wreckage and they survived because of who their rescuers happen to be. >> and for all your news, follow news 4 online. just search nbc washington on facebook and twitter and we're co

a texas family on vacation in honduras is back home tonight after their trip turned into a nightmare. >> their sea plane crashed upside down and under water. fortunately for them several people from a nearby boat came to their rescue and the whole thing was captured on camera. amy robach has more. >> reporter: a plane ride through paradise for the atkins family. they were hoping to enjoy the sights along the coast of roatan an island in the caribbean off honduras. andy adkins had flown in the same plane two months before. >> it was an awesome, fun ride. great views and great pictures.

a slow flying plane that felt very stable. >> reporter: but last week with his wife jenny and 4-year-old son logan along for the same ride something went terribly wrong. >> we crashed. we lost an engine is what i was told and we crashed into the ocean and flipped over. we were stuck under water. >> all out. >> reporter: larry forseth was on a nearby boat when he saw the crash. his son, paul, captured video of the dramatic rescue. >> we all dove in and swam just as quickly as we could. the timing was impeccable. we were just at the right place at the right time. >> reporter: only moments before the plane's pilot had helped andy get to the surface. but there was no sign of andy's wife or son. >> i dove back under looking for them and didn't find them the first time. came back, got air. went immediately back down and i just came up and i had logan in my arms. and by the time i got to the

surface, jenny was also at the surface with the pilot holding her. we were all still in shock at that point. you know, we knew we had survived the initial crash but we didn't know where it was going to go from there. >> reporter: remarkably, a u.s. navy doctor and another physician were among the divers who risked their lives to save the atkins family. >> they screamed there's two doctors onboard. they got both of them on the back of the boat. got them oxygen, and treated them with all their skill. >> reporter: the entire family spent days in a hospital before returning home thursday night. >> it reaffirms your faith in people and humanity that so many people stepped in to help that didn't have to. >> wow. that's an amazing story. incredible pictures too. >> people are lucky. that was amy robach reporting. that's it for news 4 at 5:00 today. stay right there. news 4 at 6:00 starts right now.

tonight at 6:00 deadly storms roar across the southeast injuring dozens of people, flattening homes and ripping off roofs. >> a woman hit and killed by a maintenance van in the parking lot of a prince george's county school. and remembering joe paterno. penn state's campus mourns the loss of its long-time football coach. and good evening. welcome to news 4 at 6:00. i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm aaron gilchrest. we begin tonight with the republican presidential contest. three hours from now the candidates will face off in their 18th debate of this campaign. if today's bitter verbal jabs are any indication we could see some serious punches tonight. steve handelsman is at the debate site and joins us live now from the university of south florida in tampa. steve, good evening. >> reporter: good evening. it is shaping up like a fist fight tonight here in tampa. in this big, diverse swing state it's gingrich now