this morning he's charged with murder. a few minutes ago, police released very surprising information. a developing story in alexandria this morning. this is a live look at a crime scene. police spending the night at this home. they are calling an elderly man's death suspicious. good morning and welcome to "news4 today." i'm eun yang. >> good morning, i'm aaron gilchrest. we are also talking about a mega merger that means changes for all air travelers. the deal that we're going to tell you about actually has one big question out there -- will you be paying more to fly? >> probably. now 6:00 a.m. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. you're waking up to wet roads, icy in spot. no rain or snow falling now. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein has your forecast. tom? getting reports of a rash of accidents due to the icy conditions. we had that snow that fell last night. it was coming down pretty hard in bethesda. this was sent in by one of our viewers. weather@nbcwashington.com. it melted on roads, accumulated a little on the grassy areas. the roads stayed wet overnight. and temperatures have dropped. the road temperatures have dropped to near freezing,

especially the bridges and overpasses. as a result, icy spots. if it looks wet, in fact, that could be ice. treat it like that. allow extra time as you leave this morning. near freezing much of northern virginia. much of maryland including montgomery, arlington, fairfax, and prince george's counties. hour by hour through the morning, icy spots may still be lingering through 8:00 a.m. we'll be getting above freezing by mid morning. and then by noontime, ought to be hitting the mid 40s. we'll have lots of sunshine. sunrise, 7:00. sunset at 5:45. arlington, our hometown forecast, that's going to be up near mid 40s by noontime with lots of sunshine. a few clouds building during the afternoon. a leak at the rest of the day and into this evening coming up in ten minutes. now a look at how this iciness affecting traffic. danella's here. good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, very busy this morning because of icy conditions. first let's start with i-270, the ramp to 355 shut down because of ice. also bridges seeing problems. park police reported earlier the arlington memorial bridge seeing a lot of accidents because of

ice. just cars spinning out. you have to use caution. heading to i-270 southbound at 124, quince orchard road. that crash has cleared. your delays are still about four miles from germantown, heavy on the brakes all the way through gaithersburg. let's shoot over to the beltway. beltway dealing with a problem because as you travel the outer loop of the beltway at connecticut avenue, two left lanes are blocked. delays, they start right at university boulevard. you see here at colesville road, solid all the way as you make your way toward connecticut avenue. and on the rails, delay because of a mechanical problem, marc. penn south train 505. delay now, 31 minutes. mert, vre not -- metro, vre not reporting delays. back to you. >> thank you. 6:02. a news conference just wrapped up involving a popular olympic athlete now charged with murder. melissa mollet is at the live desk with new information. that's right. good morning. we're getting, as you said, more information into the newsroom about a shooting involving south african olympic sprinter oscar pistorius. as you said, he's being charged with murder.

south african police just wrapped up a news briefing there. they say pistorius shot his girlfriend, 25-year-old reva steenkemp, at his home early this morning. some media outlets reporting that the double amputee known as bladerunner may have mistaken her for an intruder. there are questions at the press conference that just wrapped up about whether there had been any incidents at his home before. police said yes, there have been allegations of a domestic nature. but they were careful to say they cannot confirm if those allegations were related to pistori pistorius. he's expected in court later this afternoon. if you look at twitter or facebook, reva steenkemp's pages have all kinds of well wishes. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news4. now to a developing story near alexandria. police investigating the suspicious death of a 94-year-old man. he was found last night in his own home on holly street in the del rey area. news4's megan mcgrath has been there all morning and joins us now with the latest. >> reporter: well, certainly a

disturbing sight for people who live on the quiet del rey street. their neighbor's home encircled by police tape. and an officer stationed out front, he's been here all night making sure that nobody goes on to the property. we are expecting investigators to return after the sun comes up today to take another look in the light of day and look for clues into the death of this 94-year-old man. police are calling it a suspicious death. they say that just before 7:00 a.m. -- 7:00 p.m., the man's stepson who also lives here at the home came back to the house and made the discovery. he found his stepfather dead in the house, suffering from trauma to the upper body. this is a very quiet street. as i mentioned here in del rey, there's not a lot of violent crime in the area. however, having said that, i should mention that about ten years ago, there was a high-profile murder that took place not far from here. nancy dunning, wife of the then-alexandria sheriff, was murdered in her del rey home. no one was ever arrested in that

case. police here on the scene, we are expecting activity here at the house later this morning. we seek answers to a lot of the questions that are still out there as to how this 94-year-old died. reported liefg in alexandria, megan mcgrath, news4. an alexandria sheriff's deputy is on administrative leave a little more than a day after police say he shot and killed a man who had broken into his house. investigators say he found the intruder in his home on rosemarie drive in ft. washington, maryland, just after 10:30 tuesday night. investigators say the two men got into a fight, and the sheriff's deputy eventually shot the intruder. he managed to run out of the house before collapsing. he later died. police tell us the intruder may not have been acting alone although we're not hearing of any arrests in this case. 6:05. this morning, south korea says it has a missile that can strike anywhere in neighboring north korea. take a look at video south korean leaders just released showing earlier cruise missile launches. military leaders made it clear

that it is capable of striking the offices of leaders in rival north korea. this comes on the same day that thousands in the north celebrated this week's third successful nuclear tested. because of that test, australia has now blocked a visit by north korean diplomats who were trying to reopen an embassy. 6:06 now. this morning, a mega merger within the coming hour. american airlines and usairways are expected to announce they've finalized a merger that will affect millions of flyers. even as the justice department begins talks over approving the merger, many already want to know what this all means to the passengers. while it looks like flyers will have more options in flying to places like europe and latin america, some experts already say that flying on the new airline which will be the world's largest will cost you more. >> the long term, there will be less competition. this is going to raise ticket prices. in the shoert term, we already going to see higher prices. >> and the answer that all frequent flyers want to know, yes, american and usairways'

programs will eventually combine. no, you will not use frequent flyer miles. miles will carry over. in the day ahead, president obama travels to georgia to push his universal preschool plan. he will visit the college heights early childhood learning center in decatur, georgia. high-quality pre-k was a surprise initiative raised during the state of the union tuesday. today the president plans to detail how preschool accessible to kids nationwide. georgia was the first state to offer voluntary prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds regardless of a family's income. and this morning, we are hearing from the couple held hostage by a suspected murderer in california. how they acted, how they say he acted before a dramatic standoff with police. plus, this morning, new information for anyone who's about to work out. who says slow and steady is the way to go? wet roads and falling temperatures, a bad combination. we're watching for any problems with your weather and traffic on the 1s. and lady gaga delivers bad news.

two school delays into our newsroom now. frederick county, maryland, and page county, virginia, schools will open two hours late today. time for weather & traffic on the 1s now. here's tom kierein. >> that's because of the overnight snow. we had that snow accumulating mainly on grassy areas. as a result, roadways were wet. temperatures have dropped to near freezing. and we have icy spots. so watch out for that until about 9:00. then we'll get above freezing. noontime, mid 40s, near 50 by mid-afternoon. and we'll have a few clouds building. then this evening under a partly cloudy sky, temperatures will be dropping back down to near 40 degrees. i'm back in ten minutes with your traffic outlook. danella? good morning. following breaking news, park police report arlington memorial bridge, icy. so here's what's happening now, westbound as you head outbound,

lanes are blocked because of an accident there. police are responding on both sides. if you're traveling inbound and outbound, you seal police activity in both directions. westbound lanes, they're all blocked now. i'm back in ten minutes with another update on spots you should avoid in the area. aaron and eun? >> thank you. why the tsa is investigating a hollywood power couple. plus, unbelievable video of a skier who ended up in a race he was not expecting. he said, i know you've seen the news, i know you know who i am. >> the couple taken hostage by a california murder suspect.

i'm melissa mollet at the live desk. pope benedict xvi is meeting with cardinals right now and just said he will remain hidden to the world once he steps down. we understand he also plans to meet with pastors of parishes. this continues his farewell tour. the vatican says benedict will reflect on his time there and look back at changes in the vatican as the church moves forward. some cardinals reportedly started maneuvering for the succession as long as two years ago. in the meeting this morning, he said he'll withdraw into isolation, but "i will always be

close to you, and i'm sure you will be close to me." the public's final public mass, an emotional one, was held yesterday. at the live desk, melissa mollet, news4. police say they didn't intentionally set the fire that burned down a california cabin where former lapd officer christopher dorner was apparently holed up. they're investigating what caused the cabin to go up in flames. officers say they fired teargas into that building on tuesday. it caught fire a short time later. that was followed by a single gunshot, they say. police found human remains in the burned out cabin. they are still working to confirm that the remains are dorner's. a husband and wife who police say dorner held hostage say they are happy to be alive. karen and jim reynolds say that they were going to the mountain cabtown clean it out. when they got there, they say they found dorner inside. they say he aimed a gun at them, tied them up, and upon stole their car. >> i actually looked on the coffee table and he left my cell phone right on the coffee table.

right there. and i sat down and was able to scoot around and work with it and call 911. >> by then, dorner was long gone. police eventually spotted the stolen car which he crashed. they say he then ran into the woods and into the cabin where the police standoff took place. this morning the tsa is investigating how kim kardashian and kanye west bypassed airport security at jarcht in new york. the stars were on their way back from brazil to los angeles on tuesday morning when they had a layover at jfk. an airline employee allowed them to skip a security checkpoint and escorted them to their connecting flight. a transportation security administration spokeswoman says the airline employee did not follow procedures. tsa agents ended up giving the celebrity couple a private screening, delaying the flight about an hour. the gloves came off during a live debate on georgian public television. take a look at this. a show appropriately called "arguments," put two opposing politicians at odds with each other.

the heat got turned up for sure after the man on the right goes on a rant about how his opponent is a snake. the moderator tries to ease the tension, didn't work. glass broken, punches start flying. both these guys were eventually -- quickly, actually, escorted off the stage, and the show went off air. 6:18. new york city mayor bloomberg will unveil a bold new proposal today. he'll announce plans to ban styrofoam in the big apple. styrofoam is tough to recycle. about 20,000 tons of it get into new york city's waste stream every year. other cities including los angeles and san francisco have already adopted similar bans. the miss america pageant moving back to the east coast home of atlantic city. a spokesman for new jersey governor chris christie confirmed that last night. we'll get the official word later today in a press conference on atlantic city's boardwalk. the miss america pageant moved to las vegas in 2006. pageant organizers would not say if this latest relocation is permanent. going for a long walk is just as healthy or even healthier as going to the gym

for an hour. researchers in the netherlands found people who spent two hours standing and four hours walking each day were healthier than when the same people spent an hour at the gym. they also found these people burned the same amount of calories cycling or slow walking for four hours. researchers say it's more important to cut the number of hours you spend sitting every day. any kind of exercise is good for your health. note the four hours of walking. >> yes. got it. not all at once necessarily. redskins fans, if you want to take a roadtrip today, you may want to head to richmond. the team will break ground this afternoon on its new training facility. the bon sec our washington redskins training center will be built near the science museum of virginia. virginia merritt mcdonnell will be at the air is -- virginia mayor mcdonnell will be at the ceremony. it should be finished in time for training camp this summer. the wizards will have to start another winning streak after the nba all-stare break ends. the pistons ended a stretch of four wins for the wizards last night, 96-85.

washington led through three quarters but allowed the pistons to outscore them in the fourth and steal the win. okafor led with 20 points. ♪ i want your desire cuz your a criminal ♪ >> lady gaga says she is sorry but she has to cancel the rest of her "born this way" ball tour. she has a hip injury that requires surgery. that means her little monsters will not see her at the verizon center later this month. fans will receive refunds, though. the snow overnight was a nice change of pace for these deer in olney, maryland. some parts of the area waking up to a light dusting of snow this morning. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein here with what we can expect today. tom? it accumulated on grassy areas and melted on roads. but as the roads stayed wet overnight, temperatures in just the last couple of hours have dropped to near freezing. so have the pavement temperatures. as a result, we've got ice, patchy ice. if the road looks wet, in fact, that could be ice. watch out for that because we are at or below freezing

throughout most of northern virginia. most of maryland and parts of the district of columbia, as well. and it's going to get above freezing here by 8:00 this morning. by later this afternoon, near 50. and then tomorrow, increasing clouds into the low to mid 50s during the afternoon. might get a little light rain late afternoon into the evening on friday night after midnight. changing to snow. might get snow continuing off and on into saturday morning. then maybe some flurries during the afternoon. highs only in the 30s on saturday and again on sunday. a reminder, yes, still february. and it will certainly feel like winter over the weekend. and into monday morning, too. but by monday afternoon, into the 40s, maybe more rain on tuesday. i'm back in ten minutes. now a look at traffic trouble with danella and iciness. yeah. following breaking news in our area. first we'll start with the arlington memorial bridge. westbound all of your lanes are blocked. eastbound, as well. you'll see police activated because of their response to the accident in the westbound lanes. let's head up to i-270, the ramp to 3 5, that ramp is shut down

because of ice. checking the beltway crash, delays on the outer loop, six miles. the crash is at connecticut avenue and blocks the left side of the roadway. again, that's a six-mile backup. let's head over to colesville road at the beltway. lanes southbound are blocked now. delays are at least a mile. that should grow. again, this is southbound, colesville road right at the beltway. all of those lanes are blocked. i'm back in ten minutes. back to you. >> thank you. the local couple taking their love to new heights on this valentine's day. and some remarkable video of a skier who ended up in a race against an avalanche. my mom doesn't drink starbucks coffee because she thinks it's too dark, and so i brought her some blonde roast. she loves it now. "my son made me this coffee," "you should try it, it's delicious." ♪

and some people found that a little bit strong. but as soon as they tasted blonde roast, boy they were on board.

♪ check out unbelievable video from a skiing competition in switzerland. more than a quarter million people have seen this skewer not only trying to score the best time but also racing to survive an avalanche. this was the swatch skiers cup. the skier accidently triggered the avalanche for a run. he not only outraced it but did it in style with a back flip at the end. you can see the entire run for yourself. we posted a link to our facebook page. >> most importantly he won the race. on this valentine's day, a d.c. couple will be one of three couples who will get married high atop the empire state

building in new york city. lori ann phillips and daniel rose not that will met on a blind date at a d.c. restaurant. apparently it was love at first sight. the couple did not have a traditional engagement, though. instead of getting an engagement ring they bought a house. the two single parents will get hitched this morning at 9:00. >> congratulations. >> a nice story to tell for sure. happy valentine's day, aaron. >> thank you, you, too. the nightmare vacation is almost over for a crippled cruise ship hours away from port. how carnival is making it up to the people on board. a developing story this morning. a 94-year-old man found dead in his home. why police are calling this suspicious. breaking news on the roads.

right now, we're waiting for more information about the death of a 94-year-old man. police saying it is a suspicious death. we're on the scene with them right now. that's the latest from the scene in alexandria. coming up in about ten minutes. also thoerk this morning, breaking news overseas, one of the most popular athletes from the london olympics is under arrest. what police revealed at an overnight news conference. right now a crippled cruise ship slowly but surely making its way to u.s. port. it's hours away from arriving. how carnival is trying to repay

passengers. 6:29. we're keeping a close eye on the roads, ice all over the place. it's causing huge problems. meteorologist tom kierein is on the storm team 4 weather deck. what are you seeing out there? we got wet overnight from the snow that melted on roadways, accumulated on grassy areas, and rain. not only are the roads getting icy but so are the sidewalks. front steps, watch out as you step out your front door. we did get a coating of snow. this photo sent in by one of our viewers, eldersburg, maryland, west of baltimore. looks a lot like this across much of montgomery county into loudoun county, points north and west of washington. about a half inch to an inch of fresh coating of snow on the grassy areas mainly, melting on roadways. now the roadways are freezing up. temperatures near freezing all around montgomery county, most of prince george's, arlington, fairfax, as well. watch out, the roads are slick, so are the sidewalks and the front steps, reagan national now is at 37 degrees. later today, we'll be above freezing by 8:00 a.m. a lot of the iciness will begin

to melt then. then by 9:00, near 40. mid 40s by non-time. sunrise at 7 -- noontime. s sunrise at 7:00. by noontime hyattsville in the mid fourth. getting this iciness all around the region here for another couple of hours. keep that in mind. danella, how's traffic. >> breaking news in our area. accidents. it's hard to keep track, but i'm following them for you. follow us, first 4 traffic. we're tweeting all the accidents. westbound, arlington american legion bridge, all your lanes are blocked because of ice and a crash in the area. 66 heading eastbound, a four-mile delay. i'll talk details in a few minutes. >> thank you. 6:316789 thousands of passengers stranded at sea will finally reach dry ground. the carnival cruise has not had electricity, air conditioning, or working bathrooms for days now. jay gray is live in mobile, alabama, where the ship will pull in to port today.

the passengers have had a rough time. >> reporter: yeah, no question about that. they describe it as a difficult, disgusting trip. they should reach port this afternoon as it pulls in to the port of mobile by three u.s. coast guard tugboats. a third joining the expedition overnight. two already pulling in at about seven miles per hour. they're hoping to speed that up. when they do, family will be waiting to greets a lot of those passengers. they'll be excited to see them, obviously. many have lost communication over the last 24 hours or so because cell phones of those on the ship have lost their charge. there's no way to charge them back up with no electricity. it will be interesting to see them reunited and hear what they have to say about their travels. for those that won't have family members here, they'll have two options. there's a bus here, cheatered, that will take them to galveston, texas, where the

voyage initiated and was supposed to end on monday. the others will move to new orleans, louisiana. there are 1,500 hotel rooms there. they'll get to recuperate. i'm sure they're looking forward to a hot shower and a nice, new bed. that will happen. then chartered planes will take them back to galveston or to their home base. a lot of people here are looking forward to seeing family members. and you know thousands on that ship very anxious to get home. >> and jay, what is carnival doing to compensate these passengers for their disastrous trip? >> reporter: well, obviously they're going to refund all the money that was spent on this voyage. they'll refund the ticket price, taxes, any other expenses that were involved. they've also now offered $500 to each passenger, deep discounts on any future cruise, though. i think you talk to a lot of folks and they'll tell you, i don't want to be anywhere near a boat any time soon. >> jay gray live in mobile, alabama. thank you. a d.c. judge will hear tightly guarded new developments

in the chandra levy murder case. ingmar guandique serving 60 years in prison in the death of the d.c. intern. sources tell news4 new evidence in the 2001 murder could taint some testimony. guandique was in prison in 2009 when another inmate said he confessed to killing levy. no word yet on whether the new evidence would affect that inmate's testimony. today's hearing will be conduct ted judge's bench to keep courtroom observers from listening to conversations. 6:34. today on capitol hill, a group will use this valentine's day to push for more gun control. the group moms rising wants congress to have a heart and pass gun law legislation. the group will hold a rally on capitol hill, then deliver a petition to congresswoman carolyn mccarthy. she's vice chair of the house gun violence prevention task force. a parld of maryland delegates will meet with prosecutors to discuss gun control in the state. it will be behind closed doors. the "washington post" reports that the panel of 16 lawmakers has been discussing the controversial bill in private. it is considered one of the

toughest measures in the nation. house leaders argue the meetings are strictly educational and are exempt from open meeting laws. a public hearing held by the senate last week drew more than 1,000 people and lasted more than eight hours. 6:35. supporters of gun control in the state say they hope the tragic murder/suicide off the university of maryland campus this week spurs lawmakers to act. 24-year-old davon green set several fires nit inside his rental home in college park. they were meant to force his two roommates out of the house whether weather she shot both, killing one -- where he shot both, killing one. some intuition may have saved his life. >> neil had a sense. he saw a gun coming out of his roommate's pocket. and he started to turn to run. and i don't think he got far before he got shot. >> his roommate, steven rain, was shot and killed before green tued the gun on himself. oah is recovering and says he

will return to school. green's family told them he was taking medication for a mental illness. this morning, some baltimore police academy staff members are suspended after a trainee was shot in the head. police say the head instructor possibly picked up the wrong gun during an exercise on tuesday. this happened inside an old psychiatric hospital in owings bhils mill mills. the person shot was training at the university of baltimore. he's in critical condition. police are looking for a man on a bike who sexually assaulted a woman in the district. the attack happened this time tuesday morning in the 4400 gat washington. police say a man on a mountain bike rode up to her, pulled a gun, forced the woman behind an empty house, then sexually assaulted her. she was able to get awaycall po. if you have any information, call d.c. police. getting breaking news now. melissa mollet at the live desk. >> reporter: that's right. good morning, it's official, american airlines and usairways have merged. this leaves travelers four big

carriers to choose. from the merged carrier will be the world's biggest and will keep the moirlz name but -- american airlines name but will keep the name. it still needs to be approved. the airlines will continue to operate separately for several months. at the live desk, news4. a local neighborhood is waking up wanting answers. this is a live look at a home where a 94-year-old man was found dead. why police are calling it suspicious. plus, the major role metro could play in moving fbi headquarters out of the district. breaking news on the roads right now. ice all over the place.

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ticketholders waking up $217 million richer. virginia lotto officials say a local couple hit the powerball earlier this month. the winning ticket was bought at the richmond airport. that is where the big check will be printed to the lucky winners this afternoon. it will be a valentine's day for that couple for sure. >> did you triple check you're not related to the couple? >> not at all. >> too bad. congrats to them. time for weather and traffic on the 1s. tom? >> good morning. we've got problems this morning. iciness around the region from the overnight rain and snow that melted on roads, now it's freezing up. it looks wet. in fact, it could be ice on your front steps, sidewalk, and many of the area streets and roads. especially ramps and bridges are icing up because air and pavement temperatures are near and below freezing. staying this way for another hour or so through about 8:30 or so. by 9:00, near 40. near 50 by mid-afternoon. we'll have sunshine this morning. then clouds developing during the afternoon. then overnight, it will be

partly cloudy, by midnight, temperatures will be near 40. i'm back with the seven-day outlook. we have tratrouble with the ice -- traffic trouble with the i iciness. that's right. we'll start with westbound arlington memorial bridge. all your lanes are blocked because of an accident. park police are reporting ice along the bridge. you have to give yourself extra time this morning. let's go to colesville road at the beltway. you see hour southbound colesville, northbound shut down at the beltway because of ice. i did see crews trying to de-ice the situation here. please be careful. 355 southbound, as you make your way toward the beltway, all your lanes are blocked because of an accident there. on the beltway, still dealing with the earlier accident. colesville road, two left lanes are blocked. take a look at new hampshire avenue. delays are about six miles right now. and they're growing. please follow us. first the number 4 traffic, i'm tweeting all the accidents i see in the area. more than i have time to report in this report.

i'm back in ten minutes. over to you. >> thank you. we are staying on top of breaking news this morning. olympic sprinter oscar pistorius is behind bars right now. he's accused of murdering his girlfriend inside his south african home. police just held a news briefing there. they say oscar pistorius shot his girlfriend, 29-year-old model reva steenkemp. some media outlets reporting that the double amputee may have mistaken her for an intruder. police referenced earlier incidents at the home. they did not expand. police searching for answers in alexandria after a 94-year-old man was found dead in his home. he was discovered by a family member on the 2700 block of holly street in the del rey area. news4's megan mcgrath is there now and has the latest. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning. you can see the police officer who station s stationed out in front of the home here. he's been here all night long preserving the scene. making sure that nobody crosses that police line. that no one goes inside this

home. police are expected to return here after the sun comes up, take another look in the light of day. look into clues as to what happened, how this 94-year-old man died. police are calling it a suspicious death. they say that just before 7:00 last night, the man's stepson who also lives here came home and made the discovery. he found his stepfather dead in the home, suffering from trauma to the upper body. he then called 911. now back here live on holly street, all is quiet. we can see that there are some lights on inside the house. there's a minivan that's parked out front. but there's no sign of activity, no sign of movement inside the house. of course that's expected to change in the coming hours here this morning as investigators return to the scene. reporting live in del rey, megan mcgrath, news4. back to you. >> thank you. this investigation comes nearly ten years after alexandria's highest profile unsolved murder. local real estate agent nancy dunning was found dead in her del rey home back in 2003.

her husband, former alexandria sheriff jim dunning and her son found her body. police have tried for years to find the person responsible but only have a fleeting glimpse of a man caught on video following her out of the potomac yards target the night she died. 6:45. d.c. police need your help finding the person behind an armed robbery caught on video. i want to show it to you now. this is surveillance video that was captured in an alley off t street in northwest washington. you see the thief pull a gun on two people and rob them. this happened just a few blocks from the u street metro station before 7:00 monday morning. the thief apparently had on a full facemask and a gray hoodie. d.c. police want to hear from you if you can help find this man. an inspruder shot and killed inside a prince george's county -- intruder shot and killed inside a prince george's county home was a sheriff'seputy in ft. washington. two men got into a fight when

the deputy walked in on the intruder tuesday night. the deputy eventually pulled out his gun and opened fire. he's on administrative leave while police investigate the incident. new this morning, south korea sends a stern message to neighbor north korea. they say they have a missile that can strike anywhere in the country, including the officers of -- offices of government leaders. this comes on the same day that thousands in north korea celebrate this week's third successful nuclear test. because of that test, australia has now blocked a visit by north korean diplomats who are trying to reopen an embassy there. also new, maryland governor o'malley is preparing to testify on his plan to repeal the death penalty. he will speak to both house and senate committees debating the proposal. o'malley made a failed attempt at repealing the penalty in 2009 but says he believes he has the votes this time. if passed, maryland would be the sixth state in recent years to do away with capital punishment. a major snub for the d.c. fire chief at yesterday's state of the department address. there was a noticeable number of

empty chairs at the d.c. auditorium. last year, dozens of firefighters symbolically turned their backs on chief kenneth ellerbee in response to his plan to change their schedules. this year, they just didn't show up. ellerbee says he knows the changes he's trying to make are not popular, but he says he'll continue with plans to modernize the department. today, metro's board will take a closer look at several issues facing the transit agency. that includes a proposal to build the fbi's new headquarters near a busy station. the board's real estate committee will vote on weather to make land at the greenbelt station available for the facility. that station is at the end of the green line. it has more than 3,700 parking spots, 17 bus bays, and is off the beltway. that could make it attractive to the fbi. and the metro board safety committee will also have its hands full today. it will get a report on last month's green line meltdown. thousands of riders were stuck in a tunnel or dark trains for more than an hour because of a problem with the third rail. we just told you a few

minutes ago two of the country's biggest airlines made it official this morning. american airlines and usairways are merging, an $11 billion deal here. they will form a new american airlines that will be the world's largest airline with more than 900 planes and 3,-200 daily flights. this deal has been in the works for months now. this morning, frequent flyers may be waking up wondering what this all means. for that, we go to cnbc's courtney reagan now. a lot of people wondering about -- what about my frequent flyer miles. will people notice any big change right away? >> it's going to take some time actually. just because the two companies have approved this, the court will still need to approve the proceedings for american airlines because it is operating in bankruptcy. usairways has to get the approval of its shareholders to be able to move forward. so it could actually take a while, potentially even years for this to fully come to fruition. >> one of the other questions i would think flyers would be asking is what impact might this

have on, you know, the cost of fares once everything is finalized. >> reporter: yeah, more than likely you're going to see fares increase. probably not just for this new american airlines but also for the other airlines. if you think about it, it's simple supply and demand. when you sort of reduce the supply out there, prices can go up, competition is lowered. that's why some aren't in huge favor of consolidation. however, a plus could be an expanded network. so now you have american's international destinations paired with usairways' smaller city destinations, domestically that could help some flyers with their choices. with the connections and all of that. it remain to be seen exactly what will happen. i think the bottom line is it will take some time, but eventually we will probably see prices increase as a result. >> all right. courtney reagan with perspective for us on this american airlines/usairways merger. thank you. >> thank you. two school delays into the newsroom now. frederick county, maryland, and

page county, virginia, schools will open two hours late. there's other small school dlamps you can see them all on -- delays. you can see them all on nbcwashington.com. tom, folk got a bit of snow out west. that's probably why they're closing. >> farther north an inch fell on grassy areas. melted on roads and froze up this morning. that water that was on the roads has turned to ice. this is colesville road. silver spring in montgomery county. they've shut it down now. so that they can put some salt and some sand there on the icy section there was colesville road. watch out, other roads and streets and sidewalks and front steps, are definitely icy this morning from the snow and rain. this is the snow that fell in bethesda. it was coming down, came down hard. enough to put down about a half inch or so on many of the grassy areas. d it did melt on roadways. that's frozen up as we are at or below freezing from the

mountains all the way to atlantic beaches. that includes fairfax and arlington counties. sunrise at 7 clinic a.m. reagan national -- 7:0 a.m. reagan national under a clear sky. icy spots until 7:00, 8:00. by 9:00, mid 30s to near 40. by noontime, ought to be hitting the mid 40s. highs this afternoon should be near 50 degrees. maybe into the low 50s across parts of virginia. upper 40s for highs farther north and west. that's by around 2:00, 3:00 this afternoon. and then overnight tonight, partly cloudy, down near freezing by dawn tomorrow. all the pavement will be dry by then. during the rest of the day on friday, up into the low to mid 50s tomorrow afternoon. clouding up friday night. we have a possible of light rain maybe late afternoon on friday into friday evening, changing to snow after midnight friday night and into part of saturday morning. we may get a fresh coating. highs in the upper 30s. maybe scattered flurries and snow showers.

near 20 degrees on sunday morning. sunday afternoon, the upper 30s and sunny. 20 again monday. sunny monday afternoon. warmer into the mid 40s. might get rain on tuesday. i'm back with frequent updates through out-the-"today" show. eun? -- throughout the "today" show. eun? >> thanks. breaking news, problems due to icy conditions are starting to pile up. parts of the american legion bridge is even closed. that's where tony tull has more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning ewe have an accident on the outbound lanes of the american legion bridge. if we zoom in really far, you -- the memorial bridge. if we zoom in really far, you see a car that lost control. we did come in on the other side of the memorial bridge. police have it blocked off and are diverting traffic. as we've been saying, multiple accidents on the memorial bridge. they have brought in crews in the last two minutes. they'll try to assess how they can get cars out of here.

we're told there may be one injury. again, the outbound lanes of the memorial bridge are blocked, and the inbound lanes are getting by. it's making for slow traffic. we will another police officer that just showed up on the scene. he looks like he might be setting up cones in the next few minutes. if you use the memorial bridge for inbound or outbound travel, be aware that the outbound lanes are closed, and there will be severe delays coming inbound. that's the latest from the memorial bridge. back to you. >> thanks. we'll head from where you are and shoot over to river road. traveling river road, the ramp shut down because of ice. also checking on accidents. i'm sure ice related. southbound 355 at the beltway, all your lanes are blocked because of the accident there. let's check on things along colesville road. tom mentioned this. north and southbound, shut down because of ice. just to let you know if you're traveling the beltway, you cannot get on or off at colesville road. ramps are shut down while they de-ice. i want to show you the beltway,

college park, outer loop absolutely jammed all the way past i-270 because of a crash earlier. connecticut avenue was blocking two of your left lanes. it is just bumper to bumper. heading over to 66, as you make your way eastbound passing sudley, heavy on the brakes. delays at last check over four miles. again, this is because of an earlier accident. was blocking two of your right lanes. involved a disabled vehicle. if you are traveling 66 eastbound, expect delays, as well. please as you leave the house, use caution and slow down because just seeing icy conditions. follow us @first4traffic. we'll be reporting all morning long. over to you. >> twitter's a good source. thank you. all d.c. cabs should be red. a taxicab commission panel says red is the color used by the circulator and bike share program and is strongly associated with the district. this recommendation from the panel comes after many didn't like -- didn't like the proposed color schemes that had already been put out there. d.c. mayor gray says all red

cabs would look like emergency vehicles. but he will consider that recommendation. last year the d.c. council passed a law requiring a uniform color for all d.c. cabs. a special committee is trying to work out a compromise between two different plans to raise money for transportation in virginia. the state senate approved a funding bill to generate a billion dollars a year in revenue. it would raise the gas tax by a nickel and give local cities and counties the option of raising their sales tax by 1%. the house plan would scrap the gas tax altogether and raise the sales tax statewide by .8%. both sides hope a deal can be worked out. >> it indicates that the senate is very serious about making sure we get a very good long-term solution to transportation. and so we're -- not wanting a little patch right and there like a pothole type of thing. >> hope we'll come up with a compromise in the house and senate. >> that special committee, withing on a compromise is made up -- working on a kprom size

made up of state delegates. governor mcdonnell says you may be visible for free tax preparation. the free file program allows taxpayers who made less than $57,000 last year to electronically file state and federal tax returns for free. the governor's office said most taxpayers who don't qualify for the program can still fill -- file on line for free using the state's fillable forms program. in the day ahead, president obama heads to georgia to push his higher quality preschool education. the president focused on universal pre-k during his state of the union tuesday. and today he plans to detail how to make preschool accessible to all kids nationwide. georgia was the first state to offer voluntary prekindergarten to all 4-year-olds regardless of a family's income. tom kierein's here with our out-the-door forecast. >> we're going to be dealing with this ice hering for a couple of hours. getting above freezing by 8:30, 9:00. near 50 this afternoon. big changes on the way. here's the seven-day outlook. low to mid 50s tomorrow afternoon. then maybe rain changing to snow

friday night into saturday. much colder for the weekend. danella, how's traffic? icy out there. colesville road, northbound and southbound at the beltway. ramps to and from the beltway at colesville shut down because of the icy men. back to you. >> thank you. that is "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes with weather, traffic, and breaking news.