mission as leader of the 1.2 billion catholics around the world. >> translator: in order to govern the park of st. peter, strength of mind and body. strength has deteriorated, to the extent i have had to recognize -- for this reason and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom, i declare that i renounce the ministry of bishop of rome. >> reporter: he just sid during a very paul-key meeting with a number of cardinals said to carry on with this job, you need both a healthy mind and body. well, no doubt about the mind, he's always been sharp and still is, but the body has been weakening by the metropolitan. this is an 85-year-old man with a lot of respond, of course, but still his predecessor john paul ii, he was very ill, and unable to walk, unable to speak,

evening, and he still carried on until he died. well, pope benedict xiv decided to go against almost every rule as the last pope that resigned was in the 13th century, and decide the to just give away to a younger pope that may be has got more strength and stamina to carry on with the church's mission. >> the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception is the largest roman catholic church on this continent right here in northeast washington. >> jim rosenfield has reaction from the pope's news from the spiritual leaders of washington's catholics. jim? >> reporter: cardinal wuehrl expressing surprise. he got the call telling him the pope plans to abdicate coming up just a a little over two weeks from today i want my first

reaction. was it's very startling, totally unprepared for it. the second reaction was, we're going to have to now think a little differently. this will be the first time in modern history that we've had a pope resign. how do we work with all of that? >> reporter: but the cardinal says despite all this news experience of having a pope retired, the work of the church remains the same. interesting insight into his view on the pope's health, which is said to be okay, but is a subject on people's minds. he spent the month of october in rome working with the pope and said he presided over meeting after meeting, made remarks without the use of notes and spoke with great wisdom and clarity. the karl knead, interesting to note, one of ten american cardinals of age to take part in the conclave to elect or select a successor.

as for reaction from parishioners, there's a mass coming up at 5:15. we'll be talking to some of them to get their views on today's surprising news. that's coming up tonight on "news4 at 6." for now jim rosenfield, back to you. the holy father visited the nation's capital, you'll recall for a three-day visit. he celebrated mass, you'll remember this, at nats park in d.c. during his visit here el, he met with then president george wurks bush and leaders of the washington diocese. in our next half hour, we'll look at who may be on the short list to become the next pope. people in the northeast are cleaning up after this weekend's monster blizzard. some areas saw as much as three feet of snow. 15 people here in the u.s. and canada died. many roads are still unplowed.

cars are still abandoned in the snowbanks, but warmers temperatures could be on the way. this is raising fears that a road could collapse under the weight of the melting snow. schools remained closed. xw 140,000 homes and businesses were still waiting to get their power back on. what a mess. things are mild for us today, but our winter weather could be taking a term by well days. >> doug kammerer has a look at the conditions right now. hey, doug. >> hey guys, we've seen the cloud cover about all the day today. and finally it has moved in. 53 degrees right now. 55 in leesburg. 55 in manassas. the warmer area definitely here. we're going to see more wind. you can see it's mostly to the west of the i-81 corridor.

in and around d.c. expect the winds to kick up, too. 37 by the time you wake up tomorrow. we'll talk about our next chance for snow, coming up. for the the second day in a road police are hoping -- the victims, 71 -- on saturday afternoon, chapel oaks drive to check on her well-being. someone had attacked her and left her there. she died at the hospital. ow west that fugitive cop was officially charged, a charge tacked bring the death penalty. christopher dorner is wanted to three murders.

he was also charged today with attempted murder for firing on three other officers last thursday police are also protecting -- in a manifesto. a $1 million reward is being offered for his capture and conviction. in maryland, a tragic case in montgomery county. a 14-year-old boy asked to watch his 7 moral baby sister is now charged with killing her. news4's pat collins is live at the scene in white oak. >> reporter: be forewarned, there are details of this story you might find upsetting. there's a sense of sorrow in every corner here. a 7-month-old murder victim a 14-year-old murder panty, and the mother of both children right there in the middle. . what happened in this white oak apartment has people here

shaking their heads. >> a kid watching a kid, it's ridiculous. >> it's sad, very sad. >> i'm prosecutor john mccarthy moved by this. i'm a dad, a father, everyone knows how thing are tough. >> a 7-month-old baby girl is killed, charged as an adult in the murder, her 14-year-old brother. according to court documents, the teenager confessed to beating the baby with hands, elbows and a belt. the teenager told police after the beating the baby was crying, so he placed his hand on the victim's note and mouth until she stopped. the baby was taken to the hospital and pronounced dead. doctors got suspicious and

called the police they say the mother of the baby had her 14-year-old son watch the baby, and his 3-year-old sister while she went off to work an overnight shift cleaning an office building. when she got home, they say, she found the babe unconscious. they turned out to be bug bites inflitted after the little girl died. >> this particular apartment was infested with -- with bugs, and the bugs attacked this child after she died. >> by law, you can baby-sit when you're 12 in maryland, but people who lift in this complex think 14 is too young. >> there's enough neighbors around that have kids your age, the baby's age, to baby-sit for

you. >> threat be a hearing to determine whether or not this case should be sent to juvenile court. live in white oak, pat collins, news4. musician and gun advocate ted nugent has been invited by texas congressman, and cleopatra pendleton will be a guest of first lady michelle obama. just days after participating in inauguration events. gun violence prevention is expected to be a big part of the president's speech along with immigration reform. a mother and daughters in prince george's county murdered, now the former delivery man accuse of being a criminal mastermind has hi day in court. and red light cameras, find

out why some claim this new technology goes too far. and where you could see more and more of them. just in time for valentine's day, liz crenshaw sorts through the best bouquets to find out which ones deliver the most bang for your buck. "news4 at 5" is just getting started.

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red light cameras are catches a lot more drivers, especially in rock vip, because new technology to fine drivers $75 for more than just running red lights is out. >> adam tuss explains what else the cameras will capture. a lot of cameras here in the city of rockville doing just that, flashing and taking pictures of license plates. the question in this latest red light camera debate are drivers at cameras being targeted. flash after flash after flash at some intersections here in the city of rockville. the city has a new type of camera watching over traffic, it takes video and can also calculate speed. >> it's about a 12-second video clip that you can watch the violation in progress. >> reporter: what makes them so unique is they can see if cars

are coming to a complete stop. sensors called pucks can tell how fast ash and if a right turn is faster than 13 miles an hour and the whole car is over the while line, the camera flashes. >> how fast is a right turn, we came to show you, this is a right turn at about 13 miles an hour. you can see that's pretty fast to be going through an intersection. aaa in rockville says red light camera tickets are up over 100%. >> here's the great irony of it. if you go through the light on yellow, or the lights turns to red while you're going through the intersection, you don't get a ticket, but if you stop, but stop beyond the white line, you get a ticket. >> drivers do say they try to follow the rules. >> because if you're breaking the law, then you're breaking the law. >> i think it's good for public

safety, but a little too far. >> reporter: so the camera continues to flash. the best advice, if you don't want tickets, stay behind that white line whether or not you're stopping at the white light, and efederally if you're making a right turn on red. adam tuss, news4. the new bellway express lanes in virginia are starting out in the red according to the "the washington examiner." the lanes lost about 11.3 million in the first three weeks. documents were shown to investors by transurban, the company that operates the express lanes. in the article transurban says it's still too early to judge the success of the los angeles. doug has a look at our weather. some of those lanes have been wet u a little wet and may be a little snowy coming up on wednesday. >> he's just taunting us isn't

he? >> i said maybe a little. >> that's how much -- we'll be watching the storm system coming up over the next couple days right now that is in the four corners of the country. it may come our way on the day by wednesday. take a look at they numbers. there's the national cathedral. some sunshine finally trying to break through the clouds. we were socked in with the clouds and the fog. current temperature a nice mild 53 degrees until mostly sunny skies. temperatures falling do down about 48. we'll call it clear and cool by 11:00. we'll start to clear out as a cold front moves through. that cold front will bring through colder air and also rather windy conditions. 65 right now in martins burg. petersburg, west virginia was at 68 a bit earlier.

still to the to the -- most of the days in the 40s here, but finally making or way wince upwards of 50 there, but around the district, winds to 30, maybe 40 miles an hour through early tomorrow morning. it could be a pretty nice day ahead of the storm. as we widen out, a couple storm systems are out there, one to the north gave us the rain earlier this morning, bringing rain to boston. it is now so warm even there that they're seeing rain in that region. another massive amount of rain. down starts georgia.

in between, we are now on the dry side. the cloud cover, the warm temperatures will get out here, but temperatures in the low 50s. it will be rather breezy. then on wednesday, we watch a storm system. early wednesday morning, no problem. it could fine. then here comes our storm. i think just about for everybody it should start as rain. it brings this in as snow across the area, and brings it in as accumulating snow. some computer models are keeping this all rain. we have about 48 hours to watch this. a low chance of accumulation. some chance now of at least an inch of accumulation, back to the north and west. best chance for accumulation here, and it could be significant. we'll be talking about this over the next couple days. don't get your hopes up just yet. if you haven't seen much snow this winter, maybe this time will be the time. tomorrow partly sunny and

breezy. we'll see had 2 on our wednesday with the rain and snow moving in. temperatures around 48 degrees, rather breezy, and then it gets cold this weekend will have some of the coldest air of the season. >> again. >> thank you, doug. the grammys are over, but everyone is still talking about the winners and loser. i'm tom sherwood on the site of the new marriott hotel in downtown washington. what it means for tourism. i'll have the story coming up. and we're going to catch up with two terps who have helped maryland remains one of the top teams in the country. i'm julie carey in fairfax county, where the governor maybe another stop to stump for his transportation plan. the selling point this time,

some breaking news to share with you right now. there are reports of smoke in the tunnel of metro's blue line. firefighters are headed to the bending road station. there are delays on several stations. trains will be single tracking there as metro and d.c. firefighters deal with the problem. we'll keep an eye on the situation there. tonight the maryland women's

basketball team takes on duke in a battle of two. >> two team leaders stepped up. dan hellie is here with the story. >> a huge game for the terps tonight. maryland taking on duke in durham. despite a rash of injuries that would have crippled most. >> in 11 seasons she's won a national title and suffered just one losing year. this year had disaster written all over it. injuries earlier this year, and then a dislocation of a right kneecap. the coach is holding it all

together, and got help with elisa thomas and moore. >> it's been a pleasure obviously every single day, to coach two players of this magnitude in terms of the level that they play at every single night. >> the two players are leaders, challenging their teammates and each other to be the very best in the acc. off the court they formed a special bond. >> we're definitely just like sisters. we hang out with each other all the time. we do everything together, and when we step out on the court, you can see we have each other's backs. just pick up that slack. >> i came here, because there's a friendly atmosphere. it's been a key to our success this year. they always say, you know, your turn is coming. >> this is your time to be the

leader, to be someone that the tale can look up to. >> reporter: hawkins holds the maryland records for most rebounds in a game. while still only a junior, thomas became the 26th player in school history. >> we just understand each other. we've been playing together for three years now. i know where thee at. we just feed off each other's energy. >> that energy is contagious. hopes that bond will lead the program to the second national type. jason pew, news4 sports. 2006, of course, for brenda frees and company. they beat duke in overtime that season, and of course the same two meeting tonight in durham. >> she's been really consistent. >> amazingly consistent. maybe the most underrated coach in our area. she's been great. now that pope benedict is stepping down, find out who may

be in the running. why antiabortion protesters returned to an controversial clinic. and a father loses his daughter and high school sweethearty to a violent murder. for thef irs time he faces the accused killer in court. >> frustrated, angry, sad. a number of feelings ran through

fast forward through the headlines now. a bolt out of the blue today, pope benedict xiv said he is stepping down at the end of the month because he no longer has the strength to lead. it's been nearly 600 years that a pope has abdicated. a 14-year-old has been charged with the murder of his 7-month-old sister. investigators say their mother had been working aen overnight shift. a lot of people in the northeast spending this day and many ahead digging out. ed believe dutch as much as three feet over the region. let's fastforward to our calmer

weather. >> our weather is really nice. if you can, take a look at this shot. 48 degrees by 8:00, and then a cold front moves through 7:00 a.m. coming in, i think our windchills -- not bad, but yes, sir, we're talking about our own snow chances coming up. thank you, doug. jury selection is under way in a double murder trial in prince george's county. the victims, a mother and daughter. the suspect, a man with a long criminal record. chris gordon talked to a family member. >> craig mcdonald is coming to court looking for justice, the bodies of -- and her mother were found in the trunk of a burning car that had been stolen and

left in the driveway of an empty house on webwood court in march of 2009. defendant jason scott is now on trial in the prince george's county circuit court charged with premeditated murder, burglars and use of a handgun. >> i haven't slept since my daughter has been murdered. i can't watch certain tv shows the it's just been a torture, a living hell. and asked if they could set aside any they've heard in news reports. the jurors are not being told that scott is a suspected serial killer, not charged in three other murders, includes the january 2009 killing of another mother and daughter, 45-year-old karen lofton and her 16-year-old daughter carissa lofton found shot in their largo home on

south hall drive just a mile away from the scene of the dewitt double murder. the jurors have also not been informed that jason scott was recently sentenced to 100 years in prison by a federal judge in connection with 50 burglaries, 9 home invasions, chi pornography, selling stolen guns and sexually assaulting a minor using information to track his victims he got while working at u.p.s., even though he will never get out of prison, craig mcdonald wants to see him convicted. >> the 100 years that he's given is for him breaking in houses and other stuff. it doesn't have anything to do with him being sentenced for my daughter's murder. >> the jason scott murder trial is expected to take a month or more. at the prince george's county courthouse, i'm chris gordon, news4. an update on breaking news on metro. trains are no longer single tracking. things are returning to normal after reports of smoke in a

tunnel. there are still delays on trains between the stadium armoire and morgan station. firefighters are still trying to figure out what sparked an early morning fire. this blaze broke out in a vacant home about 4:00 a.m. today, about a block from the maryland border. investigators believe it started outside the house on the back porch and then spread inside and up to the roof. the flames eventually spread to the home next door, which was occupied. nobody there was hurt, but both houses were badly damaged. it is news that stunned the world today. pope benedict xiv announcing he is stepping down at the end of the month because he no longer has the strength to remain ponti pontiff. it's the first time a pope has abdicated in more than 600 years. more than 1 billion catholics are wondering what is next? monsignor bart smith is here. thank you for coming in. we appreciate it.

>> good to be here. >> why now, do you think? >> i believe the holy father discerned -- he's very humble, and this is a manifestation of that humility. he became aware of diminishing faculties that made it difficult for him to to the high level he expects. he has a high reverence for the office action and i think he recognized it could be done better. >> you worked in the vatican for four years and around the pope. let's talk a bit about his legacy. we know he had a conservative theology, helped the vatican brought into the digital age. >> everybody talks about how conservative he is in the same breath they're talking about the fact he's done something that nobody has done before. how conservative is that? he does the things that cost him.

he doesn't stand on his own dignity, like when he exchanged the opening to the anglicans, took down from all of the -- due to the pontiff to makes it as easy as possible. again not the most conservative themes in world to do, really. this is another camp of how he's willing to break from the pattern. >> you actually took part, talk a bit about this process. >> it's beautiful really.

and so once that resignation takes effect on the 28th, there will be no pope. then the camerlengo will close the chambers and invoke the general assemblies, all the cardinals of the church, and they're the government of the church. and after a period of time they'll go into conclafd, which all of the voters and all of the candidates are also eating dinner at the same table together tonight, every night. selectic very carefully to reach that two thirds. >> fascinating. thank you for shares your

insights. we will have much more reaction tonight at 6:00 and of course on "anybody nightly news. "we'll have a special report live from rome following our broadcast tonight. doreen? still coming up we're going backstage at the grammys. firchd out what the top winners had to stay after stepping out of the spotlight. plus lindsey vonn shares encourag 

they have a lot to celebrate today, taking hoff smm -- >> they made sure they one upstaged bringing a whole lot of style. we're taken back stage. >> as you can see, i read the memo. >> reporter: so much for the pre-grammy warning. >> grammy officials say there was nothing different about this year's fashion message. >> this is not a unique memo. this information goes out every year as it has for the past deck indicate. >> ones the grammy started, they played through an irdie rainstorm, and then mopped up, winning best new artists and song of the year for "we are

young." >> these moments. everything is a culmination for what we've been through. >> record of the year honors could prove life-changing for gaultier. >> at times i sometimes feel a bit self-conscious, and the fact that people are celebrating that seems incongruous to me. the british rock band took -- but carrie underwood best country solo performance for blown away. that might also -- >> i said i should take that home and watch movies. you want to watch movies on my dress? ivities it could come in handy he oskars.

. the northeast are still recovers from that blizzard. doug, we're learning more about the massive tornado that slammed the south. >> we have seen some wild weather, and it's really a tale of the seasons, talking about the winter weather where they saw nearly 40 inches of snow in towards parts of connecticut, over 3 feet in many location, the snow, one thing, then you move down to the south. it's more like spring, where you see a tornado coming through portions of hattiesburg. this was a monster storm, a storm that traveled over 170 miles, 15 different tornado reports along that same track, almost 100 people injured from this storm, all of that wild weather going to lead to what we're going to see the next couple days. could we see that here? my forecast is in a minute. i'm liz crenshaw. long-stemmed red roses for valentine's day. what do you get for your money?

the maryland state medical examiner is investigating the death of a new york woman believed to have been undergoing a late-term abortion at a controversial clinic. >> germantown reproductive

health services has been the site of regular protests. jackie bensen has the latest. >> reporter: doreen, because of the patient privacy laws, much of this is shrouded in mystery. the clinic did not respond to requests for comment. police sources and members of a local antiabortion group say the 29-year-old woman died thursday at shady grove adventist hospital, a day after leaving germantown reproductive health services. montgomery county police say there is no criminal investigation into her death at this time. the clinic has been the subject of regular protests, since dr. leroy car heart. michael martelli is with the american coalition for life, an antiaboorgs group that maintains a presence in the same office park. >> sidewalk counselors have the opportunity to look in the eyes of each and every woman and

plead to them, let us help you. they asked for that before the abortion and afterwards as well. >> no national statistics are kept on whether late-term abortions carry more risk for the mother, but a number of studies have been conduct that had seem to indicate the procedure has a somewhat higher mortality rate. i spoke with the woman's family by phone earlier today. they said they would have no comment and considered it a private family matter. reporting from germantown, jackie bensen, notify. former army staff sergeant clinton romesha received the medal of honor today. >> we weren't going to be beat that day action clint said. you're not going to back down in the face of adversity like that. we were just going to win. plain and simple. >> the a ambush happened in

october of 2009. 50 american soldiers stationed at a remote outpost found them surrounded by 300 heavily arm taliban. he led the charge through the day-long fire fight and led a team through enemy fire to retrieve several fallen soldiers. the landsat 8 took off from california today. the new satellite has state of the art sensors that will create better quality images and more data. it's considered the most advanced satellite in nasa's fleet. olympic skier lindsey vonn tweeting on her road to recovery today. she took a hard spill, you remember during the alpine world champions in'sryia last week. today she shared an update that said surgery went very well yesterday, and i'm recovering at home in vail with my family.

she also thanked glue doug's ready with an update on the weather. it got a lot warmer today, didn't is? >> temperatures this morning weren't too bad. as the day went through, the mild air really came in. we're sitting into the 50s, 53 at the airport, winds out of the south at about 15 miles per hour. it's the southerly wince that have helped us to get above average. average highs are about 46. 5 in college park. right now manassas coming in 55 degrees. gaithersburg at 54. so nice weather this evening. even though we have seen a lot of cloud cover. no rain to talk about, so you won't need the umbrella if you're thinking about taking the dog out for a walk or taking a stroll later this evening or an evening run. the next couple days we'll see things different i think wednesday morning in the rush hour starts off just fine.

even by 1:00, the clouds start to move in. temperatures will be critical, because here comes the moisture. by about 5:00, right around rush hour, we're starting to see the rain move in. most of it should be light, but back toward the west this could all be snow. the rain begins to turn to snow around the d.c. metro area. this is just one computer model. this is something we'll have to consider. but we have another 48 hours to watch this storm system. right now it looks like a good chance of accumulating snow north and west of the i-95 corridor. that's the best chance. partly sunny, breezy and mild, actually a really nice day. 49 and some of the cooler suburbs. next couple days, 42 on wednesday with the rain or snow. 47 on friday, and then some really cold air moves in. highs in the low to mid 30s on monday. we could see a high of 29 degrees. we could see some of the coldest air we have seen so far this season, but right now all eyes are on wednesday. weep keel you ahead of the

storm, right here. a heads-up valentine's day is thursday. we hauled out red early. americans are expected to spend nearly $2 billion on flowers. long-stemmed roses are a very popular pick, but beware. liz crenshaw warns the price and quality may depend on where they come from. >> we call it roses roulette. no long-stemmed roses are created equal. we ordered a dozen online from a local fluorest, picked up a dozens at the grocery store, let folks decide which bouquet was worth some money. >> love is in the air on valentine's day, it's often delivered by way of roses, but the price you pay can carry, so does the definition of long stem. we contacted five vendors, some online, some on the phone, some in person. we asked for the exact same thing, one dozen long-stemmed red roses with a vase. we set them up at boston common

mall. that rangesed in price from $17 to more than 100. we asked pasters by to rate them. letter a came from proflowers.com. it cost us about $86. the roses came in a box with a vase. we trimmed the steps and arranged the flowers ourself. letter bim came from teleflora.com. c came arranged from a local floshest we called at random. it cost us $106. >> i think i like this one. >> reporter: you like that one? even if it's the most expensive one on the table? >> sometimes it's worth it. >> my favorite would be c. >> but flowers b and c were delivered with a twist. online teleflora, our letter b chooses a local fluorest to deliver flowers. it just so happened teleflora picked the same local florist we

picked at random for our abu kei c. the local fluorest called us to say it uses different roses in bouquets that arrangements for teleflora than when it delivers roses ordered delicately by customers. side by side, folks could tell. >> i think c looks like long termed. >> we ordered d from ftd.com. they arrived in a box and we arranged them. it cost us about $77. every passerby commented on how short the long stems were. the website does say in the details of our bouquet that the height would be 14 inches. >> d didn't look too long-stemmed for me. it counts. >> we asked why the long stems came up short. it tells us the length of a long temperature rose can vary, as can the diameter of the rose head. ftd offers a multitude of

varieties and sizes with stem lengths all the way up to five feet. letter e surprised people. we picked up le at safeway. one dozen long-stemmed red roses cost us about $17, including the vase. >> those are gorgeous. i would appreciate those. >> so e, $17 from safeway, including the vase. >> this is good. >> valentine's day, there's a knock on the door, and you get which one? >> c. >> because you're not paying? >> i would debt d, like oh, man. by the way, as time ticks away and we it's always a good thing to show people that especially when you're not exactly sure what you're going to get. >> it's so complicated. >> and the last thing you want to hear is you got me the

shorties. ia, thanks. >> but they are long stemmed in the book. >> there goes dinner. thank you, liz. saving us some money against. after a decade of delay, the district finally has a convention center hotel. we'll take you inside for a special tour next. the cameras give tickets to drivers even if they don't run a red light, but come

the new marriott rising next to the washington convention center will help bring tens of thousands of new visitors to the capital. tom sherwood went along for a peek. >> reporter: even on a cold, cloudy month in february, visitors crowd the sights. mayor was getting the tour of the new marriott marquee, the largest hotel in the city. although it doesn't open until may of next year it already has more than 500,000 room nights booked. including 18 new conventions that have never been held in washington. 17.9 million people came to d.k. last year.

that will increase by tens of thousands of people just by virtue of having a hotel that can accommodate groups that otherwise wouldn't come here for their conventions. >> reporter: the new hotel incorporates a historic brick building that since across 9th street. the hotel was supposed to have been built ten years ago when the center itself opened, but political wrangling and financing delayed the project. the hotel association of washington represents more than 95 hotels in the city. it says the new hotel only strengthens d.c.'s hand against regional and national competition would we're finding the city is still positioned very well. hospitality has been indicated as one of the city's major areas of growth. we have known that for quite some time. >> reporter: in the district tom sherwood, news4. right now at 6:00. for the first time in 600 years the pope is stepping down.