>> mayhem after a meet i don't explodes and injures a thousand people. and congress taking time off. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> and if you're heading out for dinner tonight, bring an umbrella. doug kammerer is tracking this storm. what now, doug? >> you'ring goods to need the coats. you can see the rain coming through, very light rain. it just came through the district, but this is the area back toward the west that we're watching, and this will continue to move on through. frederick county, this is rain, until you get to the higher elevations, there is some snow falling around camp david, back towards martins burg and winchester, we're seeing the rain. this is all making its way. and the umbrellas for sure, you will not need the snow shovels

willw with this. only some of us are going to have any chance of accumulating snow. look at these numbers. 51 in washington, 37 in winchester, 43 in leesburg. leesburg has dropped 14 degrees in two hours. the cold air moving in right now. i'll show you what to expect this weekend. it's even colder, coming up. >> thanks, doug. something incredible in russia. a meteor traveling thousands of miles an hour. they say it was 20 miles every second and created a sonic blast, shattered glass, injured hundreds of people. it happened as a much larger asteroid passed by our planet later in the day. nbc's duncan golestoni has the report. >> reporter: astonishing pictures showing the meteorite streaking across the early morning size, the size constituented to be about 10 tons and the speed 33,000 miles

per hour. it was seen and felt on the ground as wointsds shattered as the roof of a factory collapsed. all that damage thought to be caused by the sonic boom. >> much smaller meteorites. they happened -- they happen hundreds of times every year, but only several times a year are they actually seen to fall by people, and very rarely do they do any damage. >> reporter: nearly 1,000 people have been injured, mostly hurt by flying glass. the meteor hit on the same day that an asteroid named 2012-da-14 makes the closest recorded path of an asteroid to earth, closer than some satellites. the european spacegency said its experts have determined there was no connection between the two, just cosmic coincidence. nbc news, london. well, nbc news correspondent tom costello joins us with more on all that activity in the skies. you talked to somebody in russia

who experienced this thing today? >> i did. believe it or not there's a canadian hockey player in this part of russia. i asked him, what are you doing there? he's playing for this league and apparently doing pretty well. he was in bed this morning when suddenly everything started to shake in his apartment. >> there was swinging, it blew the vents out of my bathroom, and there was debris on the floor. i'm up on the 23rd floor. i could feel the buildings swaying. i didn't see the meet i don't go by, but i saw this giant streak that had come across and i was terrified at that point. i didn't know what it was. >> i just got back from the smithsonian. i was talking to some of the meteorite experts, believe it or not they have those, and they meteors are extremely heavy. i got to hold a piece of one, mostly iron, 90% iron. they survive, those pieces that

survive reentry are charred, of course, but a meteor is a piece of an asteroid. we saw the bigger asteroid today flying by the earth. this one, as you can see got through. they think that this thing, when it actually had the sonic blast, it had the force of a nuclear bomb. >> you're talking -- what's the difference between an asteroid and a meteor and -- what's -- >> what i hear is -- the experts tell me, an asteroid, there's something like 750,000 asteroids are orbiting the sun at any one time. when a piece gets through the earth's atmosphere, that becomes a meteor or meteorite, depending on how big it is. >> we've been monitoring this asteroid for quite some time, and we've had all kinds of warning about where it's going and when. how come we can't get that like a meet i don't. >> they say the one in russia was very small. we right now don't have the

sophisticated tracking software and equipment to track something that small. we certainly could do it as a matter of investment. >> did all that damage being that small. >> isn't that amazing? >> almost every window in that town of a million people. >> incredible. thanks, tom. thank you. other news, we have learned a woman who was charged in many rape and abduction of a young child is from our area. prosecutors have formally charged 19-year-old kristina rejesters in that case. investigators say last month a 5-year-old girl was taken from her daycare classroom by a woman posing as the child's mother. the little girl reportedly was taken into a home where she was then sexual aassaulted. local school officials confirm that the suspect graduated from springbrook high school in silver spring back in 2011. they're holding her on $4 million bail. new breaking details are coming in on the federal charges filed against jesse jackson jr.

and his wife. at attorney for jackson's wife sandy reveals she has signed a deal agreeing to plead guilty to one count of tax fraud. jesse jackson jr. is charged with conspiring to -- among the items he's accused of buying including $23,000 in michael jackson memorabilia. saying he fully accepts responsibility for the improper decisions and mistakes he has made. tonight there's been an arrest after an explosion inside a fairfax county subshop. officers have arrested 25-year-old horace thompson. they arrested him as he left the washington burn center last night. he is now facing charges of arson and malicious wounding because of that explosion inside a deli on route 1 in reportlord virginia last week.

three men have been arrested for the late-night string of car vandalisms in fairfax county. they're accused of steals ipods, sunglasses, gps units, and loose change. police say they broke the windows of every vehicle that they got into. anonymous tips led police to the suspects. they're facing a number of charges now, including felony and misdemeanor charges. there may be more arrests coming. many people wouldn't think of leaving work with a massive unresolved budget problem looming, yet both chambers adjourned today. lawmakers are taking next week off. when they come back, just four days left to make a deal to prevent the automatic budget cuts. danielle leigh on capitol hill right now, where it's pretty quiet. danielle? >> it is. good evening. we are talking about $85 billion in automatic cuts. now defense would bear the brunt of that, but the cuts wouldn't stop there. lawmakers are spiraling toward

another self-imposed budget deadline march 1st, but that isn't stopping them from leaving town. house democrats made an unsuccessful plea to republicans this afternoon to stay in washington and work. >> no deal, no break. we should be here. >> once again they're walking away from the american people. >> unless congress agrees on alternative savings, dozens of programs will get slashed. the military would cut back on training and counter-terrorism efforts. 10,000 teachers could lose their jobs. disaster relief during events like superstorm sandy would be reduced. even those annoys airport security lines could grow because of furloughs. >> the viable alternative to those kinds of across the board cuts are clearly important. >> reporter: this morning the conservative-led house looked to save elsewhere. >> the bill is passed. >> reporter: lawmakers passed a bill blocking cost of living pay increases for federal employees. >> it's not justice, it's not

fair. >> reporter: president obama also left town. he flew to chicago to push the plan to help the middle class. >> we've got to grow our economy, and create more good jobs. it means we've got to equip every american with the skills and training to fill those jobs. >> reporter: the trip is the president's third this week. no signs of a bargain here, just two weeks left, no deal yet. yesterday senate democrats proposed a package that would delay many of the cuts to defense and other popular programs, but because the plan included tax increases, leading reps rejected it. i'm danielle leigh, news4. there was a special ceremony at the white house today. two people from our area were honored for giving back to the community. president obama handed out the citizens medal. maria gomez received one, so did gaithersburg terry shima.

he fights for veterans through his organization. gomez provides health care and other social services through her organization mary's center. >> it's something that really belongs to the people that i work with, because they're the ones doing it every day, the hard work. >> the six educators killed during the sandy hook shooting were also honored today. family members accepted their medals. tonight police are putting out a sketch of a man who attacked a woman in gaithersburg. the victim told police she was attacked on monday night. she said she walked to her apartment in the 900 block of clopper road, a man asked her for the time and pushed her against the wall as she tried to walk away. he touched her inappropriately and tried to take her purse before she could escape. there's a $10,000 reward in this case. still ahead on "news4 at 6," it didn't take long for cruise ship passengers to file

lawsuits. passengers sound off on an experience they'll never forget. >> i was the first responder in 9/11 and made it through there, but this was worse. >> they can take their free trip and put it where the sun doesn't shine. >> what's next? we'll go live to alabama. people in one jersey town come together and watch phase one of rebuilding. plus an olympic athlete breaks down in tears after being charged with premedicated murder. firefighters back off just in time as a house explodes.

firefighters were trying to put out the blaze at this home in the city of new hope today when a blast knocked some of them to the ground. investigators say an oxygen tank belonging to one of the residents exploded. the house was destroyed, but nobody was injured. oscar pistorius will be back in court in south africa on tuesday. he broke down and cried in court today when charged with the premeditated murder of his girlfriend. he cried so loud that the magistrate told him, take it easy. no bond was set today. pistorius was taken to a holding cell. his agency released a statement

saying his client refutes the charges. pistorius became a national eischen last summer after becoming the first double amputee to compete as an olympic sprinter. the first lawsuit has been filed already against carnival cruise lines. passengers returned late last night after five days stranded at sea. for some that's when a new nightmare began. chris po element lone is live in atlanta to explain the long journey home. >> reporter: that's right. you would think that would be the end of their journey or end of the tale after sitting out in the gulf of mexico for more than four days, but getting home for some was easier said than done. overjoyed passengers of the carnival cruise ship "triumph" thought their ordeal was over on thursday, but for some finding their way home has been just as

unforgiving. one of the businesses chartered to bring passengers to new orleans broke down. people didn't laugh, they cried. >> i don't know, if life gives you lemons, you have to eat the lemons sometimes. >> reporter: passengers returned to galveston on friday, they realized a special place and special people were in sight. >> yeah, i'm ready to go home. >> reporter: others weren't as forgiving. >> the last four hours have been hideous compared to the last seven days. hideous. >> reporter: a tough sentiment after an engine fire left the "triumph" bobbing endlessly in the gulf of mexico. at times not much to eat. >> we stood in lines for two hours and 53 minutes to get a cheeseburger. >> reporter: sandy barry, one of the passengers who made it safely home to chicago. >> bilge water everywhere, everywhere. i'm still wearing my flip-flops, because my shoes got destroyed.

>> reporter: she says she will cruise again. others aren't ready to climb back aboard. >> they can take their free trip and put it where the sun doesn't shine. >> reporter: back in mole, things are far from done as investigators try to piece together exactly what happened. i've got a nice sunset look of the "triumph" as it sets in the local shipyard. that's where they brought it after it docked last night. the ship is actually registered in the bahamas, so authorities from that country will lead the investigation and write the report into what exactly went wrong on this trip, but u.s. authorities are assisting in that report. you can be sure there will be many rules and regulations passed to try to prevent this from happening again. i'm chris pollone. i send it back to you. >> what a mess. i'm sure those people were so glad to get off the ship. our weather has been beautiful, but it's getting cooler. >> we're going downhill very, very fast. i high near 60, it was gorgeous

today. a lot of people enjoying it. some of you had the tops down on the cars? >> no. i saw you come in. out there right nour, the temperatures are coming down quick. we had a bit of rain come through earlier. now we're seeing some clearing skies, as the first wave moves on through. we have a lot more where that came from. take a look at the rain right now. the first bout that did drop those temperatures is now up towards the baltimore area. most of us just saw some light rain associatewood that. we also saw some wind. that is when we saw the cooler numbers, too. temperature is falling as rain and snow, snow in some of the blue ridge right now, also reports of some snow in the mountains. anytime you have elevation, it aids the snow development. up north, northern anne arundel county, that's where we're

seeing the light showers from before. this is the area we're watching now, over towards frederick and washington county, we're starting to see the rain move in, it's mixing with sleet and snow in some areas. it will continue to do that. anytime you look at rain and see this, during the summer, you know it's a heavier downpour, but during the winter, this is what's called bright banding. what that means is there's frozen precip here. it may be sleet, it may be snow, but definitely the upper levels. it's trying to work its way down. it will continue to do so. the rain moving in, the snow moving in, too. as the colder air moves in, the rain will change to snow, but also notice this. a very disorganized system. do not expect much from this at all, as you make your way out overnight. for the record today, a high of 60 degrees. beautiful, with a low of 36, the warmest day in more than two weeks. now we're talking about a chance of snow later this evening. that's how fast this is going to change. take a look at they number now.

43 in leesburg. the temperature in winchester has dropped nearly 20 degrees. it's dropped nearly 15 in leesburg. it has dropped ten degrees in washington. there's our storm number one, that moves through overnight into early tomorrow morning. then storm number two off the coast. that one will have enough cold air, anything that falls in our region will be snow. just a matter of how close the storm system gets. i do think we'll have some snow. that would be the best spot for that during the day tomorrow. that storm system moves out. everybody sees the same thing on sunday. that's just cold and very windy conditions. again, mainly rain down to the south, a few flakes, less than an inch to the north and west. really less than an inch here. maybe 1 to 2 up to the north, toward aberdeen, but for our region, we won't see much. storm number 2 does have more potential, a few flakes back to the north and west. southern maryland, less than an

inch. over towards calvert beech. down around the patuxent river, maybe 1 to 2 inches, if that storm system is close enough to the coast. tomorrow morning, clouds, chili with areas of light snow. i think we'll see another chance of snow during the afternoon tomorrow. a chance of flurries on sunday, but that won't amount to anything either. monday and tuesday, temperatures starting to warm back up. 51 on tuesday, with a chance of shower activity, then we look towards next friday. that's our next storm with another chance of rain or snow. we'll continue to watch that one as well. so a lot going on with a little coming out of it. if that makes sense. >> it does. >> we're getting used to it. >> thank you, doug. today the first phase of reel building the boardwalk on the jersey shore got under way. hurricane sandy ripped apart seaside heights nearly four months ago. nbc reports on how they're

making chance as they rebuild. >> reporter: these are the first of about 2,000 pilings going up to help bring a landmark back to life. ♪ >> reporter: in the wake of a catastrophe seaside heights made this a moment. to celebrate. >> it's wonderful. >> reporter: linda and her husband from neighboring seaside park were part of the crowd that watched the first piling for a new boardwalk get driven deep into the sand replacing the iconic one destroyed in october. >> my grandchildren can't wait for it to be back and working again. >> the excitement is in the air. you feel like it's christmas. >> reporter: the community's mayor says it would cost about $7 million to rebuild the boardwalk and add a new protective seawall, a feat he expects contractors to fin by

mid-may. will this boardwalk be built differently than what was here before to withstand any future storms? >> yeah, the pilings are longer. now we're going to 20 feet down, they're stain will steel screwed down with nails, with more hurricane ties and straps. >> reporter: in the distance the roller coaster still sits in the ocean, but the mayor expect the ride to be removed in the next two months, one of many steps like this one to restore the shore. >> it was devastating in the beginning, seeing it today, it's definitely joyful to see us coming back. >> reporter: seaside heights has to front the money for this rebuilding project, but officials hope that federal dollars will eventually come in to cover about 75% of the bill. coming up tonight, crews have a second chance to cut down the right tree. the wife of a murdered man talks about the arrest of a

suspect. making the commute better along this stretch. some say no pain, no gain. i'm adam tuss, the story is coming up. coming up in sports, tubby smith's audition for "dancing with the stars." believe it or not, the caps find fault with their third win in a row. down here, the players tells us what makes davey johnson so effective, despite the fact he's 50 years older than some of th

the medical center metro station in bethesda is about to see some major construction. a new underground pedestrian tunnel is going in. transportation reporter adam tuss, along wisconsin avenue, with a look at the impact that work might have on the busiest roadways. adam? >> reporter: plans to fix traffic could make it worse for a while. that's what could be happening here along wisconsin avenue. a bit farther up rockville heights, but the message from transportation leaders tonight -- no pain, no gain. if we have to make it easier, then we're going to need a couple things. first transportation options, and second, a willingness to think outside the car. for some not soon enough. >> bumper from bumper to the

beltway past this area. >> reporter: the here he's talking about the national military medical center. thousands more personnel, patients and employees using the facilities because of the base realignment. traffic is heavier, and the need for transportation improvement is immediate. >> we won't get rid of traffic. i won't promise that. >> reporter: but a plan is in the works. phil al per son says intersections are being improve. metro just gave the go ahead to add on to the medical station, including a bank of high-speed elevators and pedestrian tunnel that will be dug underrockville pike. >> this project will address traffic situation right in front of the navy's main gate. >> reporter: some pedestrians say it's about time fixes are being made and cars and pedestrians are mixing too close together. >> there's a lot of accidents. >> with cars or pedestrians? i realize both. >> reporter: pedestrian accidents here? >> right here. >> reporter: the construction does need to happen.

with that construction comes delays. and there's even more construction planned for the pike. not far away from the medical center, a huge 17-story apart building, project leaders hoping the residents use the metro stations as their vehicles. now, ground on both these project expected to be broken in about a year. project leaders say they'll work with the communities to limit the travel headaches. adam tuss, news4. right now at 6:30, let's go to wendy rieger at the live desk with stories coming into our newsroom. >> now facebook says it's been attacked, but assuring its users that the personal data was not compromised. the social media site made that announcement today on the plowing. it says several employees' laptops were hacked when they installed new software last month. facebook says the hackers got in through a weakness in the java softwa