derrick, overall things seem fairly peaceful but we're hearing word of some arrests. >> reporter: there were. there were some arrests. things have been relatively normal for the occupation going on since september. early morning did bring a bit of action to mcpherson square as mounted park police officers converged on the square and protesters with occupy d.c. scrambled to assemble their own ranks. looks like the point was to assemble a perimeter around the statute of the park. they did get the protesters to remove the drape around the statute and pedestal referring to the tent of dreams. there were four protesters arrested a peaceful act of civil dis disobedience that led to the arrest. the police chief, david schlosser responding over the heckling of one protester explained what the action was

about. >> when we entered the park, our purpose was to enforce the camping regulations. >> eviction! >> this is not an eviction. this has gone very very successfully. a great deal of cooperation from the folks in the park and right now, we have no arrests. the united states park police continues to support the right of people that exercise their constitutional there i pr constitutionally protected rights. >> reporter: a lot of this is per court order a couple weeks ago, where a judge said they could remain here, call it a vigil as long as there was no camping. park police officers did go through and enforce that. camping materials, sleeping bags, things like that were indeed removed. now, there's a bit of cleanup going on back around the statute. some folks dressed in not necessarily biohazard gear, protective gear removing some of the tents inside that perimeter, some blankets and things in there. we're told the barricades we see here and others inside the park

are only temporary. at some point, it will be taken down. sergeant schlosser said it was put up to allow police officers to do what they're doing. no attempt to clear the park completely. you might call it a bit of dieddied died dieddy -- tidying up and hopefully things will return to normal late in the day unless there is other action and we will try to keep you posted on that. we are live at mcpherson square, derri derrick for news4. >> after he gave the news conference, that was 8:00 a.m. and he said no 'arrests. could you tell us what they occurred for and for what? >> reporter: probably around the time sergeant schlosser was speaking. there were four protesters peacefully sitting on the pedestal. an officer came up explaining what was going to happen. they went peacefully, again, more an act of civil disobedience than disorderly, at

least riotous disordly actions on their part. they essentially wanted to be arrested as an a matter of principle. >> derrick ward staying on top of our breaks news story all morning long. we are shifting our focus to the second biggest story of the morning. interest interesting forecast. >> rain and a little bit of snow coming our way late this evening and early morning tomorrow. before i start, i want to give a big shout-out to the kids at the daughter french immersion school. >> are you going to speak in french? >> i went to france for vacation last summer and they're light years ahead of me. they made these great cards for me. it was so cool to go out there. they're learning french. mansour bell, yes, indeed. mercy bacou.

no matter what language you speak, your name is your name. this is what it looks like inside the tornado. a big jumble out there. thank you so much for all them. i didn't even know they had french immersion schools. i tell you one thing, those kids are picking up french like nobody's business. outside this morning, magnificent. temperatures still in the upper 30s to near 40. 39 in annapolis, 38 in town. 37 degrees in falls church, 34 in leesburg. i will show you the doppler, storm radar live. southern pennsylvania, the leading edge of a much bigger area of moisture down to the south and west coming our way. we have a couple of dry hours left in the morning. clouds will thicken and rain likely by late this afternoon into this evening. temperatures 40s today not the

problem but after 7:00, 8:00 this evening, you folks in northern new york and the virginia panhandle, raindrops, total accumulation at the most in a few spots, maybe an inch. >> record breaking, no. >> for everybody's super bowl parties tomorrow afternoon, the weather will be quiet. >> good news. thank you, chuck. mitt romney is looking for another big win today. as nevada republicans caucus to make their choice for the gop nominee. if the latest polls are any indication, romney could get another big leg up. after a convincing win in florida earlier this week. the former governor has a 20 point lead over rival newt gingrich among likely caucus goers in the latest las vegas review journal poll. rick santorum and ron paul are a distant third and fourth. romney spent yesterday courting business owners at a northern

nevada building supply company. he made president obama his primary target during the visit. romney criticized the president's handling of the economy saying the recovery has taken longer than it should have because of white house policies. romney said as president, he would be a friend of employers and entrepreneurs. meanwhile, newt gingrich has made the gop front-runner his target. the former house speaker met with a few hundred voters at a country western bar in las vegas and derided romney calling him obama light. gingrich also seized on romney's comment he isn't concerned about the very poor. gingrich said it was a bad choice of words for a quote very wealthy man and example of what republicans don't want for a candidate. we're following a developing story out of syria, where more than 200 people have been killed in clashes between rebel and syrian forces. it appears to be the deadliest.

nbc's ammayman is in cairo. >> reporter: good morning. it is being described as an up rice ricing against syrian president bashar assad. not quite sure what instigated the attacks but reports the  military defectors carried out attacks on syrian government forces in and around the city and that's what instigated the violence. the syrian government said those killed and wounded were at the hands of armed gangs and terrorists and not responsible for the images circulating on the internet. because journalists cannot enter the country, we have been relying on amateur footage from eyewitnesses on the ground and describing it as horrific. saturday, the united nations security council will be holding a rare weekend in new york to

discuss a resolution that could potentially put an end to the violence. back to you. thank you. the ongoing battle between police forces has gotten the attention of syrian americans who have demanded syrian president bashar assad resigned. dozens of people gathered outside the syrian embassy on wyoming west last night to show support for the protesters and denized the syrian president as genocide. >> it's worse than bosnia. it's like ethnic cleansing, worse than bosnia. syrian people are refusing to go through that. we're all together, muslims and christians, jews and sunni and everybody. >> there are similar protests going on at syrian embassies

around the world. one place syrians protested is egypt. they stormed the embassy early this morning, smashing furniture and setting parts of the building on fire. egypt has seen violent protests in response to the deadly soccer riot earlier this week. they accused security forces of not controlling crowds and even being complicit in the tragedy. the army intelligent analyst being accused of the biggest classified leak in history will face a court-martial. the district in washington handed down the court-martial against private first class bradley manning last night. he is accused of giving wikileaks 7,000 pages of classified documents from the wars in iraq and afghanistan. he faces 22 counts including aiding the enemy and could be sentenced to life in prison if convicted. a traffic alert for drivers in virginia today. part of leesburg pike will be

closed today. the left lane for boast east and westbound roads on 495 will be closed from 7:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. crews will be working on installing a new bridge deck. all beltway ramps will still be open as part of the 495's express lane's project expected to be finished late this year. if you are headed into the city from northern virginia, let's talk about the rails from the metro this weekend, you can expect delays. the rosslyn station from orange and blue lines and arlington station on the blue line are both closed because of track work. free shuttle buses are running to get you around those closed stations and single tracking on the red line between van ness and friendship heights. all the work should be done in time for monday morning commutes. time now, 10 minutes after the 9:00 hour, still ahead, reversal of fortunes as the susan g. komen foundation decides to continue funding

planned parenthood and the unexpected boost they are receiving from this week's controversy. >> in case you haven't heard, there's a pretty important football game being played this weekend. why indianapolis

welcome back. february is national pie month. if you think pies are

old-fashioned, you're in for a big sur price. pies are totally in. joining us now are alley blakely and erin blakely. thanks for joining us. you just opened up a pie shop in georgetown, very very popular. you have an interesting story how the sisters from great falls decided to do this. >> we grew up baking pies with my mom. kind of social event, our family and friends would always come. after we did our different careers in new york and my sister was in new york and in finance. we decided, why not, we're all best friends, met's do this. we took the plunge and finally opened our shop and super excited in georgetown. >> it seems you found a market for this. there was a cupcake craze and this is taking off. >> we will show you how to do our apple cuppy. a cup-pie. it's a tiny pie. >> a cupcake sized pie, very

accessible, so it kind of gives the cupcake a run for its money, i think. >> easy to make? >> absolutely. a ali will show you how to do it. >> you roll your dough out. i found a cutter that cuts in the circle. you put it into a cupcake tray. >> push it in. >> push it in. then i made little weights. you take the beans. you put in tinfoil and bake it. at the end it comes out -- >> nice and crisp. almost like a flour. you can fill this with anything. what were you going to put in it today? brown sugar? >> you take your apples and chop them up and put -- we do our apple pie mix, sugar, flour, nutmeg and cinnamon. >> how many different flavors of these do you have at the store? >> tons of different flavors. we're constantly swapping them out depending on the season. we get our fruits from local farms.

this summer we have blueberry, peach, chocolate, and we have different sizes and makes it unique. >> you were tweeting about pies and the super bowl, do the two go together? >> absolutely. it's an american sport. pies are all american. we are doing one tomorrow for go pats and patriots. so everyone can taylor the pies to what they want. >> we have to mention there's another sister. she's as tall as you guys. glad i wore my heels today. having a complex. >> our younger sister is holding down the fort for us as we're going to be open in a couple hours. >> definitely tempting. we will have the recipe on nbcwashington.com. now turnover a sweet duo, chris and chuck. >> if you need any volunteers to help clean that up. we'll be over there.

not all of it will make it to your car. >> not all of it. who doesn't like apple pie for goodness sakes. that's a slam-dunk of a weekend treat no matter how big or small they make it. we have rain coming in your direction that might mix in with

the recovery is speeding up. we've got to do everything in our power to keep it going. >> while we welcome the positive news today, i think our point is very simple. we can do better. >> the gop candidates also chimed in, saying the report was good news, but that they could have brought a more speedy recovery and prevented, as many jobs from being lost. the surprisingly good numbers gave wall street a big boost to end the week.

the dow gained 157 points to close at the highest level since just before the financial crisis started in 2008. the nasdaq gained 46 points, closing at an 11 year high. the s&p gained 19 points. angie. after facing intense public scrutiny, the susan g. komen foundation reverses its decision and continues to help fund planned parenthood. komen's founder issued an apology yesterday. she said despite rumors the mover was politically motivated, they were simply trying to act in the organization's best interests. f . >> i hope we can get past the craziness of the past few days and get on with the mission of saving women from breast cancer. >> i am very relieved it's over and we can focus on women's health again. >> they revised the criteria to

only exclude groups under investigation. planned parenthood benefitted by raising more than $3 million in donations the last four days. for the next 24 hours, we will be looking to see if it's rain or snow. >> for most of us, it will be raindrops, for better or worse. snow lovers, only 1.7 inches of snow the entire winter so far. this winter without a winter doesn't look like it will treat us differently this weekend. the majority of what we will get will be in the liquid form but there will be snowflakes to be found, especially the further north you go from the d.c. metro area. outside, saturday morning, 9:22. the sun is occupy. we got a lit -- the sun is up. we got a little break. conditions are overcast this afternoon. 38 degrees in washington, light

breeze out of the northeast at only 5 miles an hour. metro temperatures, 36 in gaithersburg and bethesda and silver spring, in the upper 30s. and towards the blue ridge, shenandoah valley, 34 in martinsburg, 36, winchester, 36 in hagerstown. the first raindrops are starting to show up in martinsville. clouds showing up over the course of your saturday and temperatures in the mid-40s a brief time today. looks like there's a lot more on radar. most is evacuating on the ground and there are raindrops. it will increase in intensity as we go through the rest of today. morg and across nebraska and kansas, strong thunderstorms in memphis, tennessee, jackson, mississippi, new orleans, louisiana.

on the northern fringe, light snow across the northern half of ohio. that colder air is slipping in our direction later on today. our direction stopped at 5:00 this afternoon. the bulk is rain. the cold air sinking further down to the south. we'll mix over -- especially you folks in northern maryland and martinsburg, virginia, you will probably see the best chance for some accumulation of snow and maybe an inch. by 4:30 this afternoon, the green is rain and mix and snow in northern maryland. 8:30 this evening, rain across southern parts of maryland and that rain-snow mix across northern most maryland. as we get into the midnight time frame, not a lot of precipitation. whether snow or rain, precipitation amounts is light and by tomorrow, it's at an end. highs today, mid to upper 40s.

by tomorrow, what little bit of rain and snow we get will be ending by about this time tomorrow morning. then we will be left with a cloudy chilly day and roads should be dry for people out for their super bowl activities and 40s and 50s most of the next week. the most excitement we will get will be conversational snowflakes in town. >> it will just be wet. >> it will be wet and cold. >> don't like that combo. thanks, chuck. the time right now, 9:25. up next, we will go back live to mcpherson square, where police have set up a perimeter during a confrontation with occupy d.c. protesters. a man convicted of killing a nun in a drunk driving accident learns his fate. the message he had for the victim's loved ones as he was sentenced.

>> things went south for mitt romney. when he said he wasn't concerned about the very poor and democrats and republicans piled on and he got donald trump's endorsement and may or may not be a blessing and lastly, job reports friday showing unemployment rate dipping to 8.3%. >> he might help that with that trump endorsement that what happens in vegas stays in vegas. we'll s what happens. tonight, might have a big victory. we'll see what goes. >> i'm

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welcome to "news4 today." i'm angie goff. >> i'm chris gordon. we're following breaking news out of the district. u.s. park police entered the occupy d.c. camp this morning at mcpherson square to enforce the law against camping overnight at federal parks. protesters were not evicted but did remove the tent of dreams that was erected over the

statute of general mcpherson. news4's derrick ward has been on the scene. what's happening right now. >> reporter: things again have calmed down. there is still a park police presence at the center of the park, as you can see there. they have returned to the relative calm that has been the occupation since october pretty much. we want to show you video from early this morning. before dawn, morning did break on about a dozen mounted u.s. park police officers and others in riot gear and on foot all converging on mcpherson square, they set up temporary fences an went about clearing out what camping gear there was here. that means taking down the so-called tent of dreams also, which is just a tarp draped over the statute of the center of the square. the camping gear such as sleeping bags and blankets are banned as is sleeping. we did talk to one protester this morning about what they're

doing to comply? >> i've been drinking 5-hour energy drinks an plenty of coffee all day to stay awake. i have not slept since monday -- actually, since monday, when the paper came around. i've just been praying to god nothing happen to me while i'm up because without sleep, your body shut down. >> reporter: it is a challenge to keep it legal. the u.s. park police said what they were doing here this morning was not an eviction. the fences that are up here now are expected to come down later. there were four protesters who were arrested. they were arrested of their own volition. they asked to be arrested, it was a peaceful act of civil disobedience. since then, there hasn't been much going on around the statute. they are taking away some tents and blankets and things not protected by the court order that said this occupation can continue as a vigil but it cannot be a camp out. that's where we are now.

we'll keep you posted as things develop at mcpherson square, derrick ward, news4. >> thank you very much. the eyes of the world, sports world specifically are on indianapolis this weekend. super bowl xlvi a day away. >> that's right. giants and patriots will square off tomorrow evening. the party in indianapolis has been going on all week. tracie potts is live in indianapolis. looks like the weather not cooperating so much this morning. >> reporter: not so nice this morning. good morning. it's been windy and cold and a lot more rain we had earlier than we have now. we're hoping tomorrow will be much better for the game. one of the concerns, of 300,000 people coming in, is security. no specific threat and federal authorities are helping out here to keep it that way. thousands crowded downtown

indianapolis last night for one of the city's free super bowl concerts, many unaware they're on camera high-tech cameras detecting images of crimes before they happened. >> if somebody put something down and walked away from it. >> officials tell us security is almost as tight as at the white house. everything in and out checked for explosives. a 30 mile no-fly zone over the city tomorrow. also, fans can focus on fun, which by the way, is not cheap. game tickets are going for $2,000 and up, plus transportation, food, hotels. >> swipe it and forget it. >> you're probably looking at 3 to 3500 bucks. >> reporter: we found fans trying to enjoy the super bowl without the super price. snow my nephew lives up in zionsville. we'll be staying there. john was nice enough to drive his car. we're here on the cheap.

>> reporter: for most who will never make it to the game, the host committee provided affordable entertainment like the popular $10 zip line. >> this has become the people's or midwestern people's super bowl. because of that, we wanted a rallying point and place for them to congregate. >> reporter: souvenirs can break your budget. check out these prices. this guy tells us, he doesn't care what he spends. >> i'm restocking my entire wardrobe. >> reporter: federal authorities said make sure it's real. they've confiscated over $5 million in fake merchandise. >> i can imagine that. thank you, tracie. stay dry. there are never before seen security measures at the airport in indianapolis. dogs are sniffing for explosives as they move through the airport. this is a pilot program. in the past, they're trained only to sniff out stationary

objects. >> fairfax county police are cracking down on drunk drivers and plan to increase patrols due to the large number of super bowl parties around town. they did the same thing last year as they busted 39 people for drunk driving. with so many super bowl parties this weekend, a local ant anti-dui group is urging everyone to be safe. the greater washington anti-dui has safe tips for people for super bowl sunday. use a designated driver. if you don't have one, call a cab or uses public transportation. close the bar an hour before the house party is over and never allow someone who has been drinking too much to get behind the wheel. it will be a supersized sunday night on news4. the patriots and giants kick off at 6:29 p.m. after the game, watch the season 2 premier of "the voice."

i'm hosting a live chat of that show on nbcwashington.com. be sure to tune in at news411. the whole crew will be here. it will be a good time. the super bowl means it's time for the super fandemonium swe sweepstakes. you could win lunch with the 11 team. just go to our nbc washington facebook page, like us and enter to win by 10:00 monday morning. in local news, d.c. police have released surveillance video in hopes of talking to a man seen walking way from a scene where a transgendered person was murdered. this video shows a man walking calmly across east capitol street, heading away from a bus stop where 23-year-old parker jones had been stabbed to death. they said a motive has not been established but want to talk to the man in the video.

any witnesses could be eligible for a $25,000 award. an illegal immigrant who killed a nun in a car accident was in court. he killed one an injured two other nuns. this was montano's third drunk driving offense. during the sentencing, he said he's extremely sorry for the pain he's caused and ready to receive his punishment. >> i'm extremely sorry for the destruction and harm i put the sisters and their families through. i feel horrible for what i have done. i take full responsibility for my actions and i'm willing to accept my penalty. >> the judge actually had a longer sentence in mind but lowered it after hearing montano's statement. an 84-year-old woman is recovering after being found beaten and bloodied inside her apartment in maryland. police say that the woman opened her door on

wednesday to a man she thought was her neighbor. he forced his way inside, beat her and then took some of her belongings. she was found a day later lying on the floor unable to move after a neighbor noticed her door was open. no arrests have been made. a former d.c. police sergeant will spend 18 months behind bars for scamming an 85-year-old woman she was assigned to help. >> aisha hackley was sentenced yesterday. police say hackley met the victim in december of 2010 during a fraud investigation. instead of helping her, police said hackley forged her signature and took more than 40 grand from her bank account. hackley pleaded guilty last august and has since paid full restitution. there is a growing dispute between the vietnamese american community and fairfax police after an illegal gambling bust.

police raided three businesses and arrested two men for illegal gambling and money laundering. this comes after a raid of a dozen bars and restaurants which netted 70 gambling machines and a million dollars in cash. community leaders say all the people arrested in august were either acquitted or had their charges dismissed. >> either one, it's incompetency on the police force with improper investigation or, two, straight racism. >> you have a lot of people involved in this that turn to more serious activities in terms of retribution, because you're dealing with large sums of money generally speaking. >> police say despite the community communities calls to police itself, more arrests are expected. virginia voters have to wait to cast their ballots in the u.s. congressional primaries this year. the come mop wealth house committee voted to push it back from june to august to give the

assembly more time to straighten out more voting district boundaries. a newly redrawn district map is being challenged in court. last year, redistricting delayed state legislature primaries until august. it's 9:40 right now. you think you pay a lot when you go to starbucks? some local starbucks employees are being stuck with bills for hundreds of dollars. we'll explain why when we return. say you get a check in the mail you're not expecting. is it okay to cash it or could it be part of a scam? how to tell the difference between g

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welcome back. an investigation into doping allegations against lance armstrong is closed. the u.s. attorney's office dropped the doping investigation yesterday. prosecutors spent two years trying to find out if armstrong

and his teammates used performance enhancing drugs. the seven-time tour de france winner always denied the allegations and says he is happy the investigation is over. employees at a starbucks in virginia say they were suspended for drinking too much coffee at work. a local patch report says eight employees were suspended for drinking more than one free cup during their shift, which is a store rule. in addition, a manager was fired for breaking the same rule. they've also been asked to pay back tabs that are as high as $13,000. the fired worker has filed and appeal. a senior at w.t. woodson high school in fairfax will have the prom of her dreams this year. >> get this. it has nothing to do with the guy she's going with but rather the dress she and potentially hundreds of other girls will be wearing. 17-year-old samantha bryan

entered a nationwide sketch your dress contest and she won. 17 and david's bridal surprised her with the dress and $25,000 scholarship. the dress inspired by vincent van gogh's starry night painting beat out 2,000 other entries and will be sold at david bridal's next week? >> i've known i would be a fashion designer since 2011. i didn't think i would have anything of my own in stores until my 30s or even later and you also assumed it would take me so long. i'm 17! >> 30, so old. so old. b bryant says she does plan to wear her dress to prom and says it's okay if other girls are wearing it, too. two very popular things from a fashion standpoint, as i look at it. a lot of tool and then the blue. it is very very popular this

year. >> our fashionfashionista. >> do you love the way she makes her 30s sound so old. >> i love it. >> we have raindrops and make snowflakes coming your way before our weekend is done. before our weekend is done. a check of your forecast next. i hear you're having a tough day, so i brought you a freshly made sandwich. you made me a sandwich? no, dunkin' did, but i wrote the note. new bakery sandwiches at dunkin' donuts. try the turkey cheddar bacon or ham and cheese today. today my journey continues across the golden state, where everyone has been unbelievably nice. mornin'. i guess i'm helping them save hundreds on car insurance. it probably also doesn't hurt

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i wish our company had something this cool. yeah. you're not... filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. plug into the savings you deserve with snapshot from progressive. d.c. school officials are trying to explain how a man got into an elementary school and

sexually assaulted a student. police say earlier this week, man spoke to an adult aide at ketchum elementary school telling them he had to pick up a student. the aide claims to have recognized the man and assigned a student escort to lead him to a classroom that violated d.c. policy. it's policy requires all visitor s to check in upon arrival at a school. any entering a school building must sign in and present proper identification. it's unclear whether a security guard was at the entrance, as required, at the time this happened npt fairfax county says it saw a significant drop in the number of disciplinary hearings in the past school year. the school hearing office said a total of 716 disciplinary hearings will held in the 2010-2011 school year. 530 of those were expulsion hearings. the school board said they have

seen a 30% drop in the number of disciplinary hearings in the past four years. expulsion of minority students have also declined. the county has come under fire for its disciplinary procedures after an expelled student committed suicide. the school system is getting plenty of help from the federal government to rebuild after last year's earthquake. local schools will receive more than $3 million in assistance in repa repairing the county high and fema will fund a brand new building to replace thomas jefferson elementary. the 5.8 quake in august damaged both schools and elementary and high school students were forced to share a temporary facility due to the earthquake damage. still reeling all these months later. >> takes a long time to put it back together. we are trying to have winter weather in walshington.

i'm trying as hard as i can. we have had almost no winter weather. even though we have it late this evening and early tomorrow morning, you need to keep your expectations very low, very very low, especially if you live near the city of washington or points south. just cloudy skies, a sliver of sunshine, illuminating the base of the washington monument in your screen. looks like the top is in shadow and bottom gleaming off early morning sunshine. the sun will not last a lot longer. 32 degrees, mostly cloudy sky. cloud will continue to thicken most of your saturday and wet early sunday morning. most of which will be rain but snowflakes will be found. 36 in gaithersburg and rockville and 36 in springfield, virginia and reston and leesburg. most importantly, above freezing

in haguerstown. 32 in cumberland, maryland. there is moisture out there. sneaking in. have your umbrellas ready. raindrops in the d.c. area. generally in the mid-40s. most of us in baltimore, maryland not reaching the ground just yet but a lot more coming. and the center pressure not impacting us directly is heading to southern canada. the trailing cold front is bringing strong to severe weather across northern mississippi and louisiana. that line of stronger thunderstorms is aiming for atlanta this afternoon. if you have a flight change at hartsfield international airport, get ready for delays. the northern half of ohio, it changes and mixed to snow and that's the part of the cold air we will be dealing with. rain-snow line just across the

pennsylvania border by 6:00 tonight. 6:00 to midnight tonight. generally light snow across southern maryland and southern pennsylvania. all this comes to an end by early tomorrow morning and by the time you move around to your super bowl parties tomorrow afternoon, the precipitation will be done. here we are 4:30 this afternoon. mostly rain in the green but snowflakes mixing in across the high spots. by 7:00 or 8:00, inching its way close tor the washington metro area, probably snowflakes mixing in. no chance of accumulation in town. you folks in northern virginia and panhandle might get an inch. clouds thickening today, have your umbrellas ready to go for this afternoon and for your saturday morning plans tomorrow, all the wetness will be in the morning so tomorrow afternoon should be dry and the rest of the day, no more cold stuff for at least another week.

>> we like it. >> i'm saving money on my heating bills, i'm telling that to myself. consumers have been warned against cashing fraudulent checks received in the mail. but what if the check is legitimate, money rightfully yours. some ways to protect yourself from those bad checks. >> if you look at it, you know, it comes in a very -- it wasn't even in an envelope. it was taped shut just one way. >> reporter: jennifer lindsey in northwest washington received this mysterious check in the mail. the amount, 18.04 cents. it came in the form of something that looks like a post car. the check reads foreign currency fee litigation settlement claim payment. what? >> i was curious, is this a legitimate check or one of those things where if i take it to the bank and i cash it, am i signed up for some kind of timeshare

somewhere, some kind of scam. >> reporter: what was your gut? what did you want to do with it? >> shred it. >> reporter: instead, lindsey did research. >> i did a couple researchers and found it is real. >> reporter: in fact the check is real and 10 million people will receive one just like it. any who traveled abroad during a specific period of time. it stems from a class action lawsuit filed in 2006 against major credit card companies for the way they charged exchange rate fees when consumers made purchases overseas. >> did you travel overseas? >> i did. >> reporter: when? >> in my honeymoon in 2002 in ireland and i haven't traveled since. >> reporter: so lindsey along with other travelers got a piece of the settlement. >> it happens. settlements will take place and consumers may receive a check they're completely unaware of.

>> reporter: edward johnson warns consumers must be vigilant. not all checks that come in the mail are legit. many are scams trying to take your money or sign you up for something. before cashing a mysterious check, do some research. go online to find out whether the company owes exposures money. before you endorse any check, turn it over and read the fine print and make sure you're not joining a club. never write your account number on the back of the check. >> it could be a fishing attempt to get your bank account numbers. >> reporter: in this rare case, lindsey can pocket the $18.04 she's owed. i feel ecstatic. that will buy me a bottle of wine. >> that was liz crenshaw reporting. if you ever receive an unexpected check, be careful. bogus checks don't clear and if

it ends up being fraudulent and a big check from someone you don't know, don't count on the check until your bank confirms the check is real and that usually takes more than 10 days. valuable information there. the time now, 9:57. >> we will go back live straight ahead to our big story this morning. police descend on

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welcome to "news4 today." i'm chris gordon. >> i'm angie goff. it's saturday, february 4th. we continue to follow breaking news out of d.c. earlier this morning, u.s. park police came into the occupy d.c. camp in mcpherson square to enforce the law against camping overnight. >> protesters were not evicted. some tents, including the tent of dreams were taken down. news4's derrick ward joins us live at the scene with more. derrick. >> reporter: chris, indeed, there is still a u.s. park police presence here in the park. if you take a look behind me here at the right, you can see the officers are surrounding the statute. they put up a fence there and essentially cleaned that area out. we want to show you video from earlier this morning, a little after 6:00, maybe 6:30, mounted park police officers converged

on the park along with other officers in riot gear to essentially enforce the court order against camping in the park. the judge ruled they can maintain the protest as a vigil but cannot camp, no sleeping bags or blankets or cooking or camping stove. that process still conditions. they took out a small truck load of things from the park earlier and now going about entering some tents where they are finding camping gear and the tents are being moved. essentially, this has gone smoothly and peacefully. there was a lot of action and maybe a little confusion when the police first came, they started with a helicopter overhead, shining a light and mounted police officers showed up. things have since calmed down for the most part since then and we hear from mounted police officer sergeant david schlosser

why they came this morning? when we entered the park, it was to enforce the camping regulations. >> is the an eviction! >> this is not an eviction. this has gone very very successfully. a great deal of cooperation from the folks in the park. right now, we have no arrests. the united states park police continues to support the right of people that exercise their constitutionally protected rights. >> that weird noise you heard in the background was one protester i guess was exercising some sense of his first amendment right to be annoying. essentially, the press conference did go on afterwards. they made a statement, not a one person statement, a call and response thing and call on police to enforce banking laws as fervently as camping laws in the park. that's where it is, barricades expected to come down at some point today, maybe later.

>> derrick, following the story very closely all morning long. thank you. there are other big stories making headlines this morning. nevada voters will caucus tonight to make their choice for the gop nominee. mitt romney looks like the clear favorite again. he has a 20 point lead over newt gingrich and rick santorum and ron paul third and fourth. in syria, they're continuing to crackdown on protesters and the u.n. security council is expected to meet today calling for syrian president bashar assad to resign. and the biggest leak of classified analyst in history, will face a court-martial. private first class bradley

could be sentenced to life in prin prison after release iing repor from afghanistan and iraq. he could be sentenced to life in prison. we will have a chance for at least enough snow to whiten the ground to you folks in maryland and martinsburg, virginia, they will have the chance to see up to an entire inch of snow! i know, don't plan on making snow angels unless you want rocks in the back of your hair. temperature 42 at national airport. 44 towards solomon's island. 38 in hagerstown. 32 in cumberland, maryland. on storm 4 doppler, not a lot going on just yet. the inner harbor of baltimore, not quite reaching the ground. western parts of pennsylvania and eastern ohio sliding southbound along with colder

air. as a result, we may av rain schmick'sing with and in some spots changing over to snow mainly after the sun comes down tonight and tomorrow morning. filled with cloud and temperatures in the 40s, not expecti expecting accumulation or travel troubles in the metro area. cloudy and chilly tomorrow, highs upper 30s to low 40s. a lot of people plan to go to a super bowl party tomorrow. anything we will have will be done before noon-time or so. the game doesn't kick off until 6:30, which gives you 6 1/2 hours roughly to get from point a to point b. >> a lot of people will be staying warm with that super bowl chili. >> maybe i should make the super bowl chili a little spicier. >> spice it up. indiana's top election official could soon lose his job and head to jail after being convicted of elections fraud. secretary of state, charlie

white, was found guilty of six foll felony charges including perjury. he falsely used his ex-wife's address so he wouldn't have to give up a town council salary. while vehemently denying the charges, he didn't off er a defense to the charges. he refused to step down but now replaced by the deputy secretary. >> it's a classic rematch between two of the biggest teams in football. it's just a day away right here on nbc4. super bowl xlvi could be the most watch event in history with an interstate e estimated 100 ms expected to tune in. there's a reason for all this hype. these two teams met four years ago in super bowl xlii, one of the most exciting games in super bowl history. the giants spoiled it with a win and one of the most amazing

catches ever made in a super bowl. now, the patriots want revenge and giants want to prove they can do it again. both teams have a long history of success in the postseason. giants have three super bowl wins as do patriots but new england came in a span between 2002 and 2005. not everyone will tune in to watch the historic rematch. some will be glued to commercials and ingame entertainment. "american idol" , kelly clarkson will provide pregame entertainment. and for the first time ever, madonna will perform at the halftime show. she spoke to reporters yesterday and said to expect some surprises but nothing too revealing. >> i don't want to blow the surprises. i want people knocked off their seats from beginning to end. great attention to detail has been paid to my wardrobe. there will be no wardrobe

malfunction, promise. >> sunday is super bowl day, you can catch coverage starting at noon. then the moment football fans have been waiting for, kickoff to super bowl xlvi at 6:20 p.m. >> thank you. time for super pandemonium sweepstakes. you could win lunch with the team. go to our nbc washington facebook page and like us and enter to win by 10:00 a.m. monday morning. >> chuck mentioned he would be looking forward to the go daddy commercials. >> thanks for the shout-out, angie. >> we'll leave it at that. 10:08 right now. it affects millions of americans and has no cure. the test you can take to determine if someone you love may have the onset of early alzheimer's disease. details of the war on

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here's a better idea... pillsbury grands! flaky layers biscuits. in just 15 minutes, the light delicate layers add a layer of warmth to your next dinner. pillsbury grands! dinner ideas made easy. new from overnight, one person is dead and two others injured after an explosion late last night at a marine base in coleville, california, about 150 miles east of sacramento. a marine spokesperson says the explosion happened in a home on the base and caused by a problem

with the home's propane distribution system. a man and a woman were taken to an area hospital with third degree burns. iran has lashed out at israel in response to reports israel could soon launch an attack on the country. iran's ayatollah khomeini says iran could quote remove israel like a cancerous tumor if they attack. israel wants to prevent iran from developing a nuclear weapon. earlier this week it was reported defense secretary leon panetta believes israel could attack as early as april. as the u.s. maps out its exit from afghanistan, new numbers shows how violent the country remains. more than 3,000 civilians died last year, up 8% from 2010. the taliban was responsible for more than three-quarters of the deaths and a dramatic jump in number of civilians killed from

suicide attacks. up 80%. and roadside bombs killed the lives of 460 people last year. doctors from arizona have come up with a test that can tell if your loved one is at risk for alzheimer's disease. it kaicontains 21 questions fro normal absentmindedness to more serious memory. does your loved ones repeat statements or stories in the same day. are they getting lost in familiar surroundings like their own neighborhood? do they confuse names of family members or friends? each question can be answered yes or no and given a point value. if you score a 5 or above, you should consult your doctor about potential signs of dementia. we posted the entire quiz on our website, nbcwashington.com.

something we know for sure. something wet on the way. >> we had a couple dry days and we will have wet weather before your saturday is through. your [ male announcer ]h. this was how my day began. a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours...

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there will be a lots of people on the streets and roads and highways going to super bowl

parties. >> most of the weekend is reasonable usable for outdoor activities. you have the front half of your saturday and second half of your sunday if you want to be outside and don't want to contend with rain and maybe a little bit of snow here and there. our winter without a winter will drag on through this weekend. there will be a chance for you folks west of the blue ridge and martinsburg, west virginia, you might get a chance for snow in the morning. but around washington area, snowflakes will be hard to fine. cloudy skies now. we had a little bit of sunshine earlier this morning but disappearing rapidly behind a cloud cover there. temperatures will struggle to get up between the low and mid 40s. looking live at our camera. temperatures up upper 40s to 30 degrees. 38 in rockville, bethesda, 38 in

silver spring. 41 towards maryland and rose church, fairfax, reston, leesburg, dulles, mid to upper 30s. the good news for people who don't want to contend with the snow. everybody comfortably above the freezing mark. most will start with light rain. you see it on storm 4 radar, a few drops in northern maryland. more where that came from across parts of eastern ohio and a sliver of snow in the northern half of maryland and heavy snow across parts of the deep south. for us, our main impact is rain this afternoon. mixing with some, changing to snow this evening. here we are at midnight tonight, rain mixing or changing into snow in northern maryland, 9:00 tomorrow morning, the dryer air

pushing precipitation, rain or snow to the south, noon-time tomorrow and even though the clouds will linger through sunday afternoon, not much way of precipitation threat. high pressure bringing us nicer weather during the week. to the rain in metro, washington by 5:00 this afternoon. a mix of rain and snow across northern maryland, going into the saturday evening time frame, 9:00, most of the snowflake chances through frederick, maryland, and the blue ridge high spots, coming to an end tomorrow morning. clouds continue to thicken, have your umbrellas ready to do. temperatures stuck in the mid-40s. for tomorrow, a little bit of snow in the morning and cloudy and chilly afternoon, highs only in the low 40s, bright, beautiful sunshine and warmer than average weather returns for monday and tuesday and back into the cloudy skies by the end of

the week. >> thank you, chuck. >> you're welcome. 20 minutes after the 10:00 hour, where are you watching tomorrow's big game? >> up next, we will have bars off the beaten path but definitely hit

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here is a reason it is good to be eli manning now. brady's bar in new york city is now called mans. the upper eastside watering hole was renamed yesterday. there's no word how long the new name will be in place. of course, brady's probably wouldn't get much business on super bowl sunday because tom parade brady is the qb for the patriots. >> people will be watching tomorrow's game from a party or sports bar. >> if you're still looking for a place to cheer on the pats or giants, our own trevor pryce has a few suggestions for you. >> reporter: is the what a typical sports bar looks like on gameday. wings, jerseys on the wall, football fans acting crazy while cheering on their favorite teams. but i'm not looking for a typical sports bar.

this is the old town inn located in st. george's county. it's a sports bar. this might be the ticket. >> we have the best food in town, anything from homemade skillet cornbread to catfish fingers to sampler platter, cali mary. >> reporter: that sounds better to me than hot wings. >> we're your regular "cheers." >> reporter: helps me to know. just because there's no jerseys on the wall doesn't mean there's no football. >> redskins fan, baltimore second and i like the patriots. i don't like the giants. >> to watch the super bowl, we would come here if we get an invite from vonell. >> reporter: this place even has an air of exclusivity. >> we go to dinner and a club afterwards. i think a place like this would do amazing in d.c. >> reporter: apparently this place is a diamond in the rough. the food is great but i still need more sports.

so here i am in fairfax, virginia, an irish sports bar. what better way to watch a football game than at a football bar. >> this is the spot, the undercover spot. everyone goes to all the big names. no one thinks, oh, let's go to the irish pub. they think this is soccer, rugby, something crazy. >> i can't handle the district on days like that. i need to take a little break from it. >> reporter: so what's here to eat? >> shepherd's pie. >> reporter: shepherd's pie on super bowl sunday. >> you'll be happy and full and able to drink a lot more beer if you drink a shepherd's pie. >> i would consider it an irish sports pub and bar and you get sports on all your tvs. >> where will you be, trevor? >> reporter: you're asking me? >> i guess you will see sunday. news4, i'm trevor pryce. >> we want to welcome trevor

pryce to the team, a 14 year veteran of the nfl. played for ravens, jets, drafted by the bronco's, good to have him here. the competition doesn't stop once the new super bowl cham is crowned. >> nbc's hit singing competition "the voice" returns for its second season right after the big game. >> fiona apple, is that an influence of yours? >> i love fiona apple. >> so do i. >> i'm the only one that said it. >> all that banter is back along with all four original judges as they search for america's next voice. this time, they're look for 12 standout artists to mentor and the judges say it will be a bigger and better season. >> everyone has upped their game including us. >> i'm excited because i don't know what to expect. >> it's singers guyeding other singers. that's what's so special about this show. >> you can catch it on nbc4 immediately following the super bowl and then on its normal

night, mondays at 8:00 p.m. >> during "the voice" premier, we will be doing a live chat the entire show and we want you singing and music fans to chaim in. do you like these colors? >> green. >> george mason university's homecoming today. you can follow them on twitter. alan murton, the retiring president is joining us and hopefully the tailgating will be okay. bring and umbrella. >> bring it inside. >> that's going to do it, the news for today.

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