he said it would save the department millions of dollars. but to this date, the 24-hour shift still in place. park police officials are confirming that a 140-year-old tree that was ut down in farragut square was cut down by mistake. they missed the markings on the tree and cut down the gingko tree. tree preservation specialists say it is a growing problem across the district. >> well, it's sickening. i know that park. i've actually sat under that gingko tree like many other people have. in recent decades the tree canopy dropped from 50% to 36%. that's too bad. it's green and has lovely trees, old trees. stay with us. "news4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m.

dramatic video into our newsroom at had hour as firefighters respond to an intense house fire that left one person dead overnight. >> tonight i propose working with states to make high quality preschool available to every single child in america. >> laying out his plan to reignite the middle class. president obama's vision for america with the state of the union. good morning everyone. i'm aaron gilchrist. i'm eun yang. welcome to "news4 today" for this wednesday, february 13th, 2013. we're watching the weather again at this hour as another winter system heads towards the region and it could be bringing snow. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is here with what you can expect. tom, good morning. >> good morning. right now, we have clouds on the increase. they've been rolling in here in the last hour or so. it's still mostly clear, western, northern suburbs. all cloudy south and west of us. that's ahead of the precipitation that's not going to move in until this afternoon. no travel problems weatherwise.

it's cold o, in the upper 20s. low 30s in montgomery county. arlington and fairfax generally in the low 30s. it's near freezing in prince george's county. much of southern maryland in the upper 30s near the bay waters. rest of northern virginia, loudoun county, prince william, spotsylvania, fauquier, culpeper, near the freezing mark right now. and by 6:00 this morning, we'll still have a few clouds in and out. near freezing. by 7:00 a little above freezing. by 8:00, mid and upper 30s. by noontime, the mid 40s. it's after that. we'll get light rain moving in. then maybe wet snow tonight. i'll show you jobs i think we'll be getting coming up in ten minutes. now, let's take a look at traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning. traveling right now, we'll head all the way up to bw parkway. making that commute along bw parkway and i-95, travel lanes are open between the baltimore beltway and the capitol beltway. i-270 is clear. heading from frederick, here's a

live look at clarksburg road. no issues to report. even traveling through rockville, here's a live look past falls road and connecting to the spur. issue-free. i'm back in ten minutes. we'll check the rails then. we can't just cut our way to prosperity. they know that broad-based economic growth requires a balanced approach to deficit reduction. with spending cuts and revenue. and with everybody doing their fair share. >> the battle over spending took centerstage at president obama's state of the union address. he laid out a plan that he says will reignite the middle class without adding a dime to the national deficit and central to that plan is education, the president says. he called for high quality preschool, which he says will help boost graduation rates. he also wants to reward schools that emphasize math, science and technology. when it comes to higher education, he wants to withhold federal aid to colleges that don't keep tuition costs down. on the jobs front, he called

for a raise to the minimum wage up to $9 from the current $7.25. he wants to link it to increases in the cost of living. he also wants to create infrastructure jobs with a federal program that will fix deteriorating bridges, ports, pipelines and schools. on top of that, the president wants to come back to the ideas that have been floating around for a few years like reforming medicare, changing the tax code and increasing green energy programs. >> there are parent here in this chamber along with two dozen americans whose lives have been torn apart by gun violence. they deserve a vote. >> also an emotional plea from the president last night. toward the end of the speech, he called on congress to vote on gun control measures if for no other reason than to honor those killed by guns. he named several of the mass shootings in the past year. many of the people wore ribbons in honor of gun violence

victims. green in honor of those killed in newtown and black in white for those killed in tucson. following breaking news out of southern california right now. police are trying to determine if a body recovered from a burned out mountain cabin is a former police officer suspected of going on a killing spree. overnight, police told us they'll have to use forensics to determine if the remains are those of christopher dorner. he's been one of the most wanted men for the past week. police launched a massive manhunt for dorner, whom they say waged a deadly campaign to exact revenge for his firing. that serve led officers to a cabin in big bear lake where they say he barricaded himself inside. they shot at each other until the cabin caught fire. >> until mr. dorner has opinion identified as deceased or handcuffs on him and sitting in a yale, we're going to continue as though he's out there. we want to make sure that all

our officers and the citizens in los angeles are safe. police say dorner killed at least four people and it could take days or weeks to identify the remains in the burned out cabin. look at dashcam video of a deadly fire in charles county. that fire killed one person and sent three others to the hospital with minor injuries. new this morning -- do we want to go to megan? >> let's go to megan mcgrath live with the latest. megan? >> reporter: well, aaron, this was a very intense and deadly fire. just take a look over my shoulder here. you can see the damage that was done to this home on stuckey road. what little is left of it this morning. when firefighters got to the scene shall the home was fully engulfed in flames. take a holook at this video. the camera mounted to the dashboard of their vehicle. this is what it looked like on

the scene. you can see the flames just shooting up into the sky. a very, very intense fire. they had a difficult time putting it out. this is a very rural area here in indian head. there are no fire hydrants in the area. they had to bring in tanker trucks as water supply. a difficult fire to fight. an elderly woman was killed in in blaze. four children and three adults have been displaced. there were three people taken to the hospital but we're told that they had minor injuries. but an elderly woman did die here at the scene. the cause of this fire still under investigation. reporting live in indian head, megan mcgrath, news 4. we continue to keep an eye on the vatican this morning as pope benedict addresses the catholic faithful for the first time since news broke that he's stepping down. also ahead, an alabama mother sharing for the first time what her son went through as he was held hostage for days. the report blaming a sugary drink for the death of a woman. we continue to watch the weather for you as well as we

wait for another winter storm system to arrive. what you can expect throughout the day with weather and traffic on

i'm angie goff at the live desk. pope benedict xvi speaking for the first time after his announcement that he is stepping down as pope. this is what he told the crowd.

he said he is resigning for the good of the church. he repeatedly said in italian that he didn't have the strength to continue. he said i did this in the full liberty for the good of the church. you're looking at live pictures right now as the general meeting gets under way. this is benedict's first appearance since he shocked the world in news that he will leave his position at the end of the month. when he originally walked into the ceremony, it was an overwhelming warm reception. he's actually interrupted a few times with applause and with cheers. people reportedly had tears in their eyes. this is because today he could perhaps celebrate his final ash wednesday mass. also had the vatican saying it might be the last time he leads mass as well. because of this, the location has been changed. they're hosting this at st. peter's basilica. the vatican said that's to accommodate the huge crowds who want to mark the end of his eight-year rule. looking ahead, mo date has been

set for the secret conclave to take place to decide who the next pope will be. at the live desk, angie goff, news 4. we're also watching the weather again at this had hour. >> it's clear that the cold start to the morning right now, but the rain is quickly moving toward the region. could switch over to snow. right now, tom kierein is here with the details. >> good morning. that was a live view of the city camera showing a cloudy sky over the jefferson memorial. right now it's 36 in washington. down to the 20s in montgomery county. points north and west. upper 20s near freezing. near freezing, prince george's county as well as arlington and fairfax and montgomery. hour by hour through the day, temperatures climbing into the 40s by noontime. then rain moving in during the afternoon changing to snow. after around 6:00 p.m. until midnight, wet snow. mostly melting on roadways and less than an inch. much of the region may be up here along the pennsylvania border into the mountains.

maybe an inch or two. most of that on grassy areas as well. all ending after midnight tonight. i'm back in ten minutes with your seven-day outlook. a look at traffic with danella. >> we'll start with the rails. if you take metro, marc, vre, mo report of delays. over to the roadways, shooting over had time as you make your commute along 5 branch avenue, even pennsylvania avenue. even along 301. all the roads check out. no accidents. back with a live look at route 50 in maryland in ten minutes. aaron and eun. danella, thank you. the might mayor vacation continues for cruise ship passengers stranded in the gulf of mexico. when they could finally see land. a photo controversy. the pictures captured by

i'm angie goff at the live desk with breaking news out of afghanistan. women and children are among those dead following a nato attack that took out top taliban

leaders. three commanders, including a notorious al qaeda linked military leader were killed in the air raid. officials say five children and four women also died in that attack. nato is investigating. the mission supported u.s. and afghan forces on the ground in the taliban-controlled area. angie goff at the live dress being, news 4. a much quieter french quarter this morning. cleaning crews have taken the place of crowds on bourbon street. an estimated million people traveled there this year. it helped to generate $144 million for the gulf coast economy. churches across the d.c. area will celebrate ash wednesday and the beginning of lent. hundreds are expected in st. matthew in dupont circle. that's where archbishop of washington will lead a mass after noon today. the symbolic marking on the forehead represents repentance. it's a time of spiritual

reflection. one church will try to accommodate christians. st. george's pipst episcopal will offer ashes to go outside the clarendon and virginia metro stops during the morning and evening commutes. the church will give ashes to anyone of any faith who wants to participate. 18 after the hour now. to a developing story on that stranded cruise ship in the gulf of mexico. tugboats currently pulling that disabled carnival cruise lines ship and it could arrive in alabama as early as tonight. this ship had an engine fire over the weekend and it has been a drift in the water for the past four days. more than 3,000 passengers and a thousand crew members are on that ship. has no power except for generators. a lot of customers are complaining about no running water, no circulating air and pretty scarce food. carnival apologized and offered a full refund plus a future cruise. the mother of a young boy held hostage in an underground

bunker says he's having trouble readjusting to normal life. jennifer kirkland whose son is being identified as ethan is having trouble sleeping and is now afraid of school buses. they saw swat team kill his kidnapper. today on capitol hill, the senate will address propose cuts to the united states postal service. postmaster general is scheduled to testify. he's expected to outline his justification for ending saturday mail delivery. several members of congress have said they would challenge the postal service and its plan to cut back to five days a week of mail service. a full senate vote could happen sometime this week to approve chuck hagel as the nation's next defense secretary. the senate armed services committee voted along party lines in hagel's favor. hagel faces opposition from his fellow republicans. many challenged his past

statements on -- hagel is president obama's choice to succeed leon panetta. health officials in new zealand won't be adding health warnings on soft drink labels. after a woman who drank two gallons of coca-cola a day died of a heart attack. a coroner said the amount of soda and caffeine she drank likely led to imbalances that caused her heart problems. officials with the food and grocery council say labels will not save anyone who chooses to drink 30 cans of coke a day. the federal trade commission says the makers of four loko will be required to put an alcohol fat panel on the backs of every can. the facts include the alcohol by volume and number of servings. fusion came under pier for deceptive marketing. they will also have to change the cans containing more than 2 1/2 servings of alcohol so they can be resealed and not consumed in one sitting.

new research about a dietary supplement pregnant women take. women who take folic acid can reduce their babe incompetent's risk of autism. those who took it, autism chances decreased by 40%. it's a landmark finding. >> this does not prevent autism. there were women in this study who took prenatal folic acid and had a child affected with autism. >> folic acid is proven to reduce risk of birth defects, including spina bifida. another photo controversy. italian tabloid has just published pictures of a pregnant princess kate in a bikini on vacation. the photos were reportedly taken while the duke and duchess were visiting the caribbean islands. it's one of several magazines that published a spread of topless photos of princess kate

last september. the royal family is disappointed with the new photos and it is a breach of privacy. it is now 5:21. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. let's check in with tom kierein. tom? >> you don't need an umbrella now. but you might by the time you come home from work and school later today. right now we have increasing clouds by 6:00 a.m. we'll be hovering near the freezing mark. by mid-morning, ought to be in the low 40s by noontime. should be in the mid-40s and cloudy. then it's during the afternoon hours, we'll get light rain developing and hold steady in the 40s. tonight, that rain changes over to snow between 6:00 p.m. maybe until 2:00 a.m. on thursday. some light, wet snowflakes coming down. only a light coating these areas in the light blue here. mainly on grassy areas. looks like less than an inch melting on roadways and then all rain all south and east of us for the rest of the evening. in the mountains, in the dark blue, along the pennsylvania border, that accumulation might be one or two inches.

a lot mainly on grassy areas. here's your seven-day outlook. sun back on thursday. 30s in the morning. afternoon highs, mid and upper 40s. increasing clouds on friday. near 50 degrees. then friday night late, looks like maybe a late evening and into saturday morning light flurries moving in as cold oar air surges in. we'll have a cold weekend. by dawn on saturday, nier freezing. highs upper 30s on saturday. maybe a few scattered snow showers or flurries. doesn't look like a lot. that's going to be during the day on saturday. >> clearing out saturday night. down to the low 20s on sunday morning. reminder, it's still winter. afternoon highs sunday only in the mid-30s. sunshine and cold again on monday. up near 40 degrees for a high during the afternoon. might get some rain on tuesday with a high around 50. i'm back ten minutes with another update. now traffic with danella. >> good morning. still quiet right now. we'll head over to 50 in maryland between bay bridge and the beltway. travel lanes are open.

a live look as you make your way past 301. very light volume east and westbound 50. as you continue all the way to new york avenue, mo issues to report. let's continue to the beltway. live look at 50 at the beltway. traffic getting by without any issues. traveling toward the wilson bridge, your commute is clear in both directions. a live look shows no issues to report. taking the rails running on time. eun, over to you. >> lawyers for barry bonds will request a federal court to toss out the home run king's felony conviction. almost two years ago, a jury convicted bonds of obstruction saying he didn't adequately answer whether he ever used performance-enhancing drugs. his lawyers say the answers he gave were never misleading, nor untrue. bonds is not expected to appear at the appeal and the judge will rule on the case at a later date. one of the national's star pitchers is reiterating his stance that he didn't use

performance-enhancing drugs. he insists he never used ped -- >> at the end of the end, i've never taken performance-enhancing drugs. your name was brought up out of nowhere, you're stunned. you can't do nothing about it. you have to wait it out, you have to listen to what's going on. you can't jump the gun. gonzalez says his father was a patient at the clinic at the heart of investigation. he says his father was a legitimate patient who went there to help lose weight. >> it's solo. he shoots and scores. >> yep, troy brower helped to leet the caps to a win over the florida panthers. they got the first winning streak of the season. alex ovechkin chipped in a goal and assist in that come from behind win. they stay in florida and take on the lightning tomorrow night.

ticketmaster is making easier to give your extra ticket to your buddy without leaving your seat at game or concert. you'll soon be able to transfer tickets digitally. you and a friend or family member need a mobile app. you have to sign into your account and e-mail the ticket. that will create a new bar code for the new ticket. the old one won't work anymore. they hope to offer this feature this spring. if you couldn't stay up to see which dog won best in show, you're in luck. the winning dog will be live on the "today" show after "news4 today." here's the winner. he's an affenpinscher named banana joe. he won the westminster kennel club dog show. he beat out the old english sheepdog named bugaboo who finished second. this is a bijon frise from the district. american fox hound from mechanicsville, maryland finished first in the hound group. i went out to interview, not

the -- the owners of a dog that won a couple years ago. it's interesting how they train them and live. >> it's a lot of work to get ready for these dog shows. it may be a dramatic ending to days of fear in southern california. still to come, we're going live to big bear where a standoff with a former lapd officer came to a fiery end. president obama's message for the middle class as he lays out his vision for the state of the union. when and where we could see snow today. your

this video showing the scene as firefighters arrived at a deadly house fire in charles county overnight. police trying to figure out if a body recovered from a burned-out mountain cabin is a former police officer wanted for murder. economy is front and center for president obama as he gives his state of the union. much more on those stories throughout the morning. first, good morning to you. i'm eun yang. good morning, i'm aaron gilchrist. it's wednesday, february 13th. as we take a live look outside right now, it's cool and clear to start things off this morning. but there's snow possibly on the horizon and certainly rain. let's check in with tom kierein. >> nothing yet.

no travel problems weatherwise. our temperatures are near the freezing mark most of the region. reagan national now at 36. throughout the day, we'll have our temperatures hold steady in the 30s through 8:00 a.m. low 40s by 9:00. by noon, cloudy the mid-40s. in the afternoon, light rain changing over to wet snow tonight. i'll have details on that. i'll show you jobs we'll get and where. that's all coming up in ten minutes. a look at first 4 traffic with danella. good morning. >> tracking two situations in d.c. as you travel new york avenue, the 1300 block, westbound lanes, you'll see two lanes blocked by an accident. again, this is just into the first 4 traffic office. also tracking a car fire. this is report of a car fire in southeast. alabama avenue. it's located between 24th and irving streets. just be aware of that as you make your commute. traveling 66 at fairfax county

arc way. inbound volume increasing a bit. outbound no issues to report. inbound, 12 minutes to the beltway. >> mdanella, thank you. president obama is taking his renewed focus on the economy on the road this morning. he spent more than half of his state of union address detailing plans to "reignite the middle class." tracie potts joins us from the capitol with more. >> eun, good morning. new manufacturing jobs a big focus last night and today as president obama heads to a plant in north carolina. in the state of the union, he also said that we can't cut our way to prosperity. it is not what republicans wanted to hear about the budget deficit that they're now dealing with. the president, like his democratic party, protecting medicare for the seniors who are already receiving benefits. although he admitted we've got to do something to stop its growth. he said there are a lot of areas that america can agree on. but one that doesn't seem to be bringing a lot of agreement here

on capitol hill, the budget and the deficit. here's what both he and republican marco rubio said last night. >> deficit reduction alone is not an economic plan. a growing economy that creates good, middle class jobs. that must be the north star that guides our efforts. >> the choice doesn't have to be higher taxes or dramatic benefit cuts for those in need. instead, we should grow our economy to create new taxpayers, not new taxes. >> higher taxes were not going forth this time around, republicans said, after the president's speech. they thought it was short on specifics and pushed too much big government. today, as i noted, the president heads to north carolina and then atlanta and then chicago, all between now and friday to try to get public support for the ideas he laid out here last night. eun? >> tracie potts, live on capitol hill for us. thank you. a second conservative voice also

responded to the annual address. senator rand paul spoke on behalf of the tea party. while he criticized the president's handling of the economy, he also blamed both parties for failing voters. >> washington acts in a way that your family never could. they spend money they don't have. they borrow from future generations. then they blame each other for never fixing the problem. tonight i urge you to demand a new course. demand washington change their ways or be sent home. >> both paul and rubio also tried to characterize the president as a big government man at a time when smaller government is needed. a senate panel will take up a top priority laid out by the president last night. the senate judiciary committee will hold its first hearing on comprehensive immigration reform. homeland security secretary janet napolitano is among those scheduled to testify along with jose antonio vargas. he's a former journalist and

illegal immigrant who formed the group, define america. last night president obama urged congress to send him an immigration overhaul bill. the hearing begins at 9:30 this morning. also today, president obama's pick for his next treasury secretary will answer questions from the senate finance committee. jack lou will have his confirmation hearing. some lawmakers say he hasn't answered their questions well enough about his responsibilities at the bank. he hopes to succeed timothy geithner at the treasury. more now on breaking news we've been following all night and this morning for you. the manhunt for a los angeles police officer, a former police officer, you see here accused of going on a killing spree may be over. nbc's tony shin live in big bear california with the latest developments overnight. tony, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. first of all, i want to set the scene where i am. i'm right off the highway 38.

i'm about six miles away from where this all happened. this fiery end to what appears to be chris dorner's last stand with local law enforcement. as you know, this started at about noon yesterday afternoon pacific time. this is an area where basically has been saturated by local law enforcement searching door to door, looking for dorner. he never came up until finally someone called and said they saw him. he had stolen a car, basically he got chased by local law enforcement out here. they ended up at a cabin and basically what happened was a shootout, a sheriff's deputy was shot. another sheriff's deputy was shot. one of them passed away sadly. dorner was inside that cabin. according to law enforcement sources, that fire that started

apparently started when swat officers shot tear gas into that cabin and then a source says they heard a single gunshot and the cabin burned down. as you mentioned before, human remains were found out here. they have not been positively i.d.'d but law enforcement sources say they're pretty sure it's christopher dorner and this has ended. back to you. >> tony chin live for us in california. thank you. ready to hold parents responsible when their kids fail to show up for class. >> a college community coming together to remember a student killed near campus. we haven't seen a lot of snow this winter, that's not keeping agencies from using up winter budgets. no rain as you head out the door. you might want to grab your umbrella. changing forecas

[ telephone rings ] good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet! licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. welcome back. i want to say a thank you to the radio production class at elliott hine middle class. they invited me to be on their radio program. asked a lot of great questions about broadcasting and television and about education and fortunate to be able to have that conversation with the young ladies there and the rest of the class as well. did a great job at the interview and produced a live radio broadcast on the internet.

>> might be sitting in these chairs right now. >> they were coming for us. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with more on your weather. good morning. >> good morning. here's the timeline. cloudy this morning. temperatures by noontime, the mid-40 ease and rain developing changing over to snow tonight. ending by midnight. less than an inch in the grassy areas. on the mountains, the pennsylvania border. mainly grassy areas there. only light accumulations on roadways. a look at traffic with knedanel the first accident in southeast. alabama avenue between 24th street and irving street. a car fire in that area set another car on fire. you may see some of your lanes blocked. back in ten minutes. aaron and eun, over to you. thanks, danella. schools have penalties when students don't show up for class. how one local district could come down on parents for letting kids miss too much school.

the

15 before the hour right now. today university of maryland students are mourning the deaths of two students in a murder-suicide. students came together last night for a vigil on campus. police say davon green, a grad student shot and killed a roommate and wounded another before killing himself. he had a bag of weapons, including a machete, semiautomatic weapon and extra ammo. wallace lowe, the university president will work to make sure that incidents like this don't happen again. >> there are lessons to be learned. questions to be discussed. and changes to be made. >> the injured student who has not revealed his identity is recovering from nonlife-threatening injuries.

today the namly of a maryland baby who was found murdered will hold a vigil for her. the girl died last week. montgomery county police say her 14-year-old uncle beat and suffocated her in this apartment. he was baby-sitting the baby while his sister was working. he is charged as an adult in her death. the vigil will be held at the hines rinaldi funeral home in silver spring. two people are waking up in jail in connection with a shooting in loudoun county. ryan williams and 23-year-old lindsey hard wick are both charged with murder. the man was found in his suv last december. both williams and hard wick are already held on separate charges. police say they do expect to make other arrests in this case. a maryland police trainee is in critical condition after being shot in the head during a training exercise. this was on the grounds of a

closed psychiatric hospital in owings mills. baltimore police suspended all training exercises for now. maryland state police are investigating this incident. >> a private firm will look into allegations that d.c. police mishandled rape cases. they say over the last three years, 170 allegations of sexual assault were not documented. d.c. police chief kathy lanier was highly critical of the report when it was released in january. she claims it does not reflect the current culture of the department and the research methods were flawed. happening today, d.c. fire chief kenneth ellerby will speak on the state of the fire department. he will speak to firefighters, paramedics and guests at udc. last year a group of firefighters walked out during his speech after he proposed changing their work schedules from 24-hour shifts to 12-hour shifts. he said it would save the department millions of dollars. to this date, the 24-hour shifts are still in place.

fairfax county has a new fire chief. the county named richard bowers jr. to that post. he's the fire chief in montgomery county maryland. he'll take over for the retiring chief. he will officially take over the new post at the end of april. prince george's county need your help in finding a missing mother and daughter. 25-year-old stephanie henrik and her 1-year-old daughter lennay were last seeing walking last thursday near a bus stop. they don't believe there's anything suspicious about their disappearance. if you see them, call prince george's county police. the d.c. council may consider changing the proposed truancy bills for school. according to the washington post, more than 5,000 children missed more than a month of class last school year in the district. the proposed law would make d.c.'s attorney general prosecute cases after ten

unexcused absences a school year. they have to do community service or face jail time. critics call it harsh and expensive. alexandria leaders are trying to keep virginia from taking over operations of a failing school. jefferson houston elementary has been denied state accreditation. one part of a proposed education reform plan calls for the state to take over any school that's chronically failing. that could include jefferson houston and other struggling virginia schools. >> we'll have zero tolerance in virginia for failing schools. no parent wants their kid going to a dnf school. there's about six of those in virginia. they were unacceptable. the only -- give us more money and more time. not cutting it. >> an outside agency called the opportunity education institution would help the failing schools get accreditation. alexandria leaders want input before the state moves in.

a virginia senate committee put the brakes on a transportation plan by mcdonnell. the new version includes the gas tax the governor wants eliminated and adds a 1% fuel sales tax and allows local governments to add another 1%. the senate will vote later this week on the bill and will be up to the house to decide its fate. lawmakers there will likely reject the new plan. a new offer from metro could land the fbi headquarters in prince george's county. the transit agency is willing to use land it owns at the green belt metro station. it's looking to replace its current headquarters. it would like to be near a beltway and metro station. the board of directors plans to vote on had proposal tomorrow. park police say a more than one century old tree was accidentally cut down in d.c.'s farragut square. a contractor hired to cut down a different tree made the mistake and ended up cutting down a

140-year-old male gingko tree. it was planted before 1886. tree specialists say it's a growing problem across the city. >> well, it's sickening. i know that park. i've actually sat under that gingko tree like many people have. >> in recent decades, the district tree canopy dropped from 50% to 36%. such a shame. >> it is. >> it is 5:51 right now. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. we've got just a little chill in the air. but no rain just yet. >> not yet. later this afternoon, when you're coming home from work and school, you may need an umbrella. it's a dry start on this wednesday morning. there's capitol hill under an increasingly cloudy sky. reagan national at 36 and mostly cloudy. by 7:00, just going to be a little bit above freezing. much of the area. by mid-morning, the low 40s. by noontime, hitting the 40s.

a light wind and cloudiness. this afternoon, we get rain moving in. around the region, we're near freezing. prince george's county. arlington, fairfax and montgomery. most of northern virginia and maryland near the bay waters in the upper 30s there. here's the storm beginning to take shape coming our way. it's a way out in kentucky, indiana, ohio, illinois tennessee. that's heading to the east and getting closer to us. no precipitation in the metro area. no travel problems. all the pavement is dry. here's the timing. by 1:00, 2:00 this afternoon, some sprinkles of light rain in the areas in green moving in. but the areas in lavender, this could be where we get a little wet snow accumulating in the highlands much west virginia moving into the shenandoah valley. this is 4:00 in the afternoon. all rain east of there by 4:00, 5:00, 6:00. a rain/snow line this evening. this is south and east as of mid-evening this evening.

by midnight, we might get the wet snow moving into the area. between midnight and 2:00 a.m. there might be a light coating. on the eastern shore after that, quickly moving out. we'll see the sun back tomorrow. here's how things look for accumulations. less than an inch in the area in light blue. most of that only on grassy areas. melting on roadways. mostly all rain south and east of there. the areas in the darker blue might get an inch or would in the higher elevations along the pennsylvania border. out into western maryland, west virginia. the sun back. afternoon highs upper 40s. increasing clouds on friday with a high near 50. colder air begins to surge in. we may see scattered flurries or snow showers late friday night and off and on on saturday. much colder saturday. reminder, it's still winter. highs in the 30s. maybe a few flurries and snow showers saturday ending in the afternoon. i don't think we'll get much accumulation at all. sunday, monday, the sun back. cold and milder on tuesday. maybe up near 50 and maybe some rain. i'm back in ten minutes.

another update. first 4 traffic with danella. good morning. >> good morning. well, tom, still tracking accidents. the northeast accident. here's an update for you. inbound new york avenue at kendall street. crash blocks two of the right lanes and involves a pedestrian. please use caution as you travel inbound new york avenue. let's head to southeast. still dealing with the earlier car fire. alabama avenue, 24th street to irving street, two separate car fires in that area. please use caution. in arlington virginia, northbound lehigh way at fort meyer drive as you head northbound. just the right lane is blocked. aaron and eun. >> thank you, danella. d.c. and virginia are dealing with budget surpluses right now. that's not the story in maryland where it spent more than half of its budgeted money already. the highway administration says heavy rain and repeated

deployments are responsible for it. >> there's a big effort to stage crews now. to stage on the interstates and neighborhoods on secondary roads so that we're more prepared during rush hours. >> the maryland highway administration says even though it spent most of its budget already, does have enough money and resources to get through the winter. >> new reports say hurricane sandy was the second most costly. it cost an estimated $50 billion in damage from canada to florida. while most of the damage centered over new jersey and new york, high winds and rising water affected people across the east coast. 72 people were killed in that storm. sandy falls behind hurricane katrina which caused roughly $108 billion in damage in 2005. >> intel is hoping you're ready to ditch your television and start watching tv on your computer. cnbc's shartia brantley is live with that story and more with news pour your money.

>> good morning, shartia. >> good morning, eun. intem is getting into the tv business. they plan to launch an online tv service this year to stream live shows as well as on demand content. they're in talks with several providers. the company trug ld to get a tv service off the ground as media companies have been unwilling to let it unbundle specific networks and shows at a discount to what cable and satellite companies pay. meanwhile, comcast taking full control of nbcuniversal buying the rest of g.e.'s stake in the joint venture. the deal comes two years sooner than planned. in addition, comcast will will spend $1.4 billion on real estate for the users at 30 rock and cnbc's headquarters here in new jersey. ceo brian roberts says the timing was right to make the

deal. after integration between the cable operator and nbc is complete. >> shartia brantley. thank you. any news anchor can tell you that it isn't easy speaking into the camera for an extended period of time. >> florida senator marco rubio can also attest to that. watch this part of his response to the state of the union address last night. >> in the short time that i've been here in washington, nothing has frustrated me more than false choices than the one the president laid out tonight. the choices between big government or -- what we need -- rubio needed a drink of water and he needed it pretty badly apparently. he sort o of lunged for the bottle of water, took a quick sip and kept on speaking. that five-second sip generated buzz on twitter. in fact, his beverage of choice was trending worldwide for a little while last night. >> i think water should have been closer to his person so he didn't have to reach over.

that's why our coffee cups are here. there you go. we've got breaking news impacting the morning commute. >> this is what firefighters saw when the

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