people in the country's mid-section. millions are still dealing with an intense and widespread winter storm. sleet and freezing rain are mixing in causing big problems for travel. so far the storm is blamed for two deaths and hundreds of flight cancellations. as we take a look at radar right now, tom kierein will explain what we're seeing here. tom? >> that area in gray is a little bit of a flurry activity. just some light snow flurries. the big storm that hit the midwest will be affecting us but it's tending to dry out as it heads off to the east. now as bee look at our temperatures ahead of that, we're near the freezing mark or below. that includes montgomery, arlington, fairfax prince george's county. shenandoah valley into the mountains, northern neck, eastern shore, cloudy, in the upper 20s, near 30. the leading edge of this precipitation maybe a few

scattered light flurries trying to reach the ground in northern schenn owe douhenandoah valley. east of there, just cloudy. no travel problems weatherwise for the commute. cloudy and cold in the upper 20s through 8:00, 9:00. a little above freezing. maybe a few scattered flurries between 8:00 and noon. i don't anticipate that will be sticking on roadways. we'll have that, though, just very light flurry activity, maybe increasing a little bit into the afternoon hours. sunrises at 6:50. the sunset at 5:54. any wintry mix for coating is not until tonight right now changing to rain. details on that coming up in ten minutes. a look at traffic now this friday morning with danella. good morning. >> good morning. well, we'll start with the rails. if you're taking metro, marc, vre, on time. no delays reported. let's head over to the roadways. still very quiet in our area. taking a closer look if you're traveling along gw parkway north and southbound, you are clear.

crossing over the american legion bridge, no issues on the beltway. a live look. very light volume in both directions. looping around the american legion bridge to the wilson bridge. no incidents there. as you cross over the american legion bridge further to montgomery county heading towards i-95 and prince george's county, no issues to report, no accidents. if you're traveling along i-66, your commute is coming up in ten minutes. eun, over to you. >> danella, thank you. breaking news, melissa mollet is at the live desk. melissa. >> a couple minutes ago, arguments in the oscar pistorius bail hearing wrapped up. we expect a decision whether the olympian will be released at 7:30 our time. the prosecution argued over whether he's a flight risk. he, of course, is accused of killing his girlfriend on valentine's day. pistorius thought she was an intruder. his attorney saying his client should be charged with culpable homicide and not premeditated murder. melissa mollet, news 4. new this morning, metro

transit police looking for a man who pepper sprayed a bus driver. this happened just after midnight on pennsylvania avenue southeast. investigators say the man tried to get the bus to pick him up where there was not a bus stop. the driver refused and that's when the man attacked the driver with mace. the driver didn't suffer any other injuries. police are not releasing a description of the man they're looking for. today in montgomery county a 14-year-old charged in the death of his baby sister will be in court. he beat and suffocated the 7-month-old when she wouldn't stop crying. police say it happened earlier this month inside an apartment. he was watching the baby while his mother worked an overnight shift. the 14-year-old is charged as an adult. a judge could move the case to juvenile court in today's hearing. also in court today in montgomery county, a teacher will make his first appearance on accusations that he repeatedly sexually abused two students. he teaches at meadow hall elementary in rockville. police say he touched two

11-year-old girls inappropriately. we're told it happened on several occasions this school year. he is now on administrative leave. 5:04 right now. we're following a developing story. president obama reaching out to republicans p republican leaders in what may be a last-ditch effort to avoid sequestration. he called house speaker john boehner and mitch mcconnell yesterday to discuss the looming spending cuts. we're not hearing of any progress toward a deal, but the white house says the conversations went well. drastic spending cuts take effect a week from today if the president and congress cannot reach an agreement. president obama will head to a shipyard in newport news, virginia, next week. he'll go there to warn of what the sequestration will mean to the defense industry. that area's economy is entirely -- he is heavily, if not entirely dependent on the military. it will weaken national security. news 4 will have you covered as the sequestration showdown

continues. we'll bring you every development as that march 1st deadline approaches. you'll find the latest updates at nbcwashington.com. anne arundel county will try to put a scandal era behind it. laura newman will officially assume the role at 10:00 replacing disgraced executive john leopold. leopold resigned at the beginning of the month after being found guilty of misconduct in this office. he used his private security detail to run personal and political errands and take him to sexual encounters. she's the economic development chief currently. she'll uphold the term running through 2014. a young boy might want to change his definition of emergency. the matter that had the child calling 911. the actions the tsa is taking after the patdown of a young girl in a wheelchair sparked outrage. plus, why the fancy meal you ordered may not be what is brought out to you when you dine out. when you can expect to see some snow in our area as a

winter storm heads our way. your forecast is

take a look at this. that gigantic goldfish is not your typical house pet. researchers from the university of nevada realed in this four-pounder on lake tahoe. this goldfish measured more than

a foot long. large goldfish seem to be multiplying in lake tahoe. researchers say it's unusual saying they're not native to freshwater lakes. where are they coming from? >> how? how does a fish -- i don't even have anything -- >> like this. we've had fish tanks. you'd have to have a tank to take up your whole room. >> four-pounder. >> what do you feed it? >> it ate any and anything it wanted to. >> okay. >> let's get a look at our forecast. coming up on ten minutes ach 5:00. here's a live look outside. if you step out, you'll see clouds at this hour. what's to come, tom? >> it's cold. that's a live view from the nbc hd city camera. we have temperatures right now hovering in the zone near freezing. we are going to continue to have it holding steady near freezing as we get into the rest of the morning. by noontime, we'll be warming up. right now in the upper 20s to

near 30 degrees. storm team 4 radar is showing a little bit of light snow that's now showing up in the areas of gray. that light smoe now is moving of the mountains of west virginia and western maryland. just a little bit of flurry activity. most of the area in the gray, just some scattered light flurries that may be sticking a little bit to some of the roadways in the shenandoah valley and in the panhandle of west virginia and farther south from la ray to stanton, virginia and near charlottesville, too. a few scattered flurries there. hour by hour through the day today, maybe a few scattered flurries around 8:00 through noontime. again, just very, very light. we'll have temperatures in the mid-30s by noontime. in the afternoon, should be above freezing. mid and upper 30s. might have the flurry activity change over to sleet mixing in with it from time to time by late afternoon. a lot of it melting on roadways. through the night, too, between 8:00 and midnight, this is what it looks like. a little bit of that snow and sleet and then rain after that.

perhaps a little light icing in some of the higher elevations. i'll be back in ten minutes with the seven-day outlook. a look at traffic now with danella. good morning. if you're traveling in our area, nice and clear. a live look along i-66. we'll fly over it together. hay market, no issues to report. it's a smooth ride. a lot of green. that means your travel lanes are open. towards centreville, continuing toward the beltway, no issues to report on i-66. we'll go inside the beltway and take a live look as you head past falls church metro station. again, both directions east and westbound travel lanes are open and clear to rosalyn. heading over to the rails, metro, marc, vre on or close to schedulement eun, over to you. >> the busy las vegas strip blocked off after a fiery accident. the incident blamed for this deadly crash. also ahead, a on the slopes as a teenage

outrage as airport security

this is my friend diane. she's played by the rules her whole life. but then the rules flew right out the window. having just lost her husband, she stepped up and adopted her three grandkids, while working full time and caring for her brother, eddie, with cerebral palsy. i get the three children up. i walk andrew at eight i drop olivia off at eight thirty. spend a few minutes at emilio's school. i stop at the grocery store, and then i might do some laundry that has to be done. and then i have about five minutes. the baby sitter comes in and then i go to work. i'm not back home again until 11:30 at night. hard as she works, it's still a struggle to keep up with the bills and stay warm at night. when we asked the biggest oil companies to help families in need, only citgo, the people of venezuela, and president hugo chavez responded. thanks to them, citizens energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like diane's. i'm joe kennedy. if you need help staying warm this winter, call me at 1-877-joe-4-oil. because no one should be left out in the cold!

welcome back. the tsa apologizing for in viral video showing agents trying to patdown a wheelchair-bound 3-year-old. >> it seems ominous to suggest that you have to do this. that in and of itself seems very inappropriate. >> we want to note that this little girl is crying for her stuffed animal in the video. they were on the way to disme world when screeners said the toddler would need a patdown. that's when the mother started recording. her earrings, not the wheelchair set off the metal detector. eventually agents inspected the wheelchair and allowed the little girl to pass through without a patdown. the tsa issued a statement for bad guidance given to the

family. they have a policy allowing for a patdown if an agent cannot figure out what set off the metal detector. dramatic new video of a fiery crash on the las vegas strip. it was the result of a shootout between people if two cars, one of which is still on the loose. police say that yesterday morning an argument started in the valet area of a hotel. the people got into their cars and started shooting at each other. one car crashed into a taxi. that taxi burst into flames. the driver of that car was killed. two people in the taxi you as well. three other cars also crashed and the other car involved in the gunfire still on the loose. today boeing will try to get the 787 dreamliners back in the skies during a meeting with the faa. the manufacturer will present how it will fix battery problems that have plagued some of its planes. last month, the faa grounded all 50 of the 787s around the world after lithium-ion batteries caught fire on two separate flights.

analysts say that until the planes are cleared for takeoff, boeing is losing $200 million a month in delivery payments. eer learning the names of the passengers on board a plane that crashed. dr. steven roth and two co-workers are among the dead. a total of five people were killed on the plane. two other passengers have not been identified. authorities say the jetta borted it landing, struck a 60-foot pole and burst into flames. it was heading to nashville where all three victims worked. >> new this morning, today marks the two-year anniversary of the earthquake in new zealand. survivors, friends and family came together for a musical ceremony honoring the victims. ♪ 185 people were killed in that massive quake. the island country's prime minister, john key, also speoke

at the event. ex-police officer drew peterson will spend the next 38 years in prison for the death of his wife. it came with a rare outburst of emotion. moments before the sentence was read, peterson leaned into the courtroom microphone and screamed that he did not kill his wife. he was convicted back in september for the 2004 drowning death of his wife saturday lien savio. the chicago judge denied a retrial. he is still the suspect in the 2007 disappearance of his fourth wife, stacy peterson. this morning, it appears venezuelan president hugo chavez is still suffering respiratory problems that sidelined him for the past two months. the information minister went on tv yesterday to announce that chavez still has trouble breathing and still being treated for the same problems caused by surgery last year. the 58-year-old has barely been seen since september when he underwent a fourth surgery for cancer. >> at 19 after the hour, this

morning we're learning more about the condition of an american jailed in cuba. maryland congressman chris van hollen returned from visiting alan gross in havana in a prison. he's from maryland. he was arrested three years ago. gross was working as a contractor to bring better internet access to a small jewish community there. i talked with the congressman yesterday. he described gross as noticeably not well and very frustrated. >> he showed me on his belt how many new holes he had to punch in it because he has lost so much weight. >> van hollen also met with cuban president raul castro and requested a doctor examine a growth on gross' shoulder. the 63-year-old be release from a 15-year sentence there. the cuban government gave no indication that might happen. former cia director former mistress is apparently still dealing with the fallout of that

affair. they revoked her promotion to lieutenant colonel. she was promoted last august but it's on hold while the military investigates whether she was holding classified information in her home without permission. broadwell could be eligible for that promotion again if she's cleared of any wrongdoing. if you need a reason to keep that safety bar down on the chairlift the next time you go skiing, we have it for you. take a look at this. you see that guy there, that's 17-year-old jacob gutierrez dangling from a chairlift in new mexico. he slipped off after trying to throw a snowball at his friends. after six minutes of trying to pull himself up, he plummeted 45 feet to the ground. believe it or not, folks, he's still alive. he suffered a lacerated liver, tears in both lungs, a hair liep fracture in his skull and a gash on his forehead. he's expected to make a full recovery. that video has 900,000 views on you-tube. amazing. a boy could face criminal

charges for calling 911 because he didn't want to go to bed. >> he's like i'm going to call the cops on you. 911. he just pushes it into the phone. >> this happened in massachusetts. his mother was trying to get the boy to go to sleep. but the boy refused and she seemed in pretty good spirits. i would not be that happy. she did not think he would dial until she heard emergency dispatchers on the line. police showed up to the house anyway. so far, no charges filed. >> i would be so mad, i don't think i would be able to speak properly on camera. >> i got spankings as a kid when i did crazy stuff like that. not that i called 9-1-1. but i would not be able to sit down if i were that young man. >> the things -- sorry. i can't believe it. >> 5:21 is our time. want to get a look at rain and other precipitation headed our way. >> a wintry mix arriving later today. around the region, we're below

freezing from the mountains to the beaches. it's near 30 degrees montgomery, arlington, prince george's county. mid-20s. shenandoah valley. much of southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore near freezing. storm team 4 radar showing a few scattered flurries. these areas in gray. they're trying to reach the ground. coming into very dry air. but parts of shenandoah valley and right just ease of the blue ridge from rappahannock county to madison and green near charlottesville getting a few scattered flurries near washington. hour by hour through the day. slight chance of a flurry. by early afternoon, the upper 30s. we might get a few wet snowflakes and sleet. the tiny ice balls that might put down a coating. perhaps that would be this evening, late afternoon into the evening. just a light coating in this light blue area. that's washington, montgomery county, arlington, fairfax, western charles and farther west. way out west, shenandoah valley

into the mountains, might get up to an inch of snow and sleet and maybe light icing from freezing rain on elevated surfaces there. all of this ending by midnight. changing over to rain and occasional rain during the day on saturday. the four-day forecast, highs mid-40s. that rain ending by saturday afternoon. sun back on sunday, monday. highs both of those days near 50 degrees. morning lows, mid-30s. rain on tuesday maybe. into next week, we could get some snow on thursday. stay tuned. i am back in ten minutes. first 4 traffic this friday morning with danella. good morning. >> good morning. in the first 4 traffic office, checking for incidents and still very quiet this friday morning. if you're traveling along bw parkway between the -- travel lanes are open. i-95, nice and clear. a live look as you travel by 198. you can see in both directions along i-95 in maryland nice and clear. in fact, clear as you connect to the beltway. if you're traveling along the dulles toll road, your commute in ten minutes.

eun, over to you. 5:23 now. the wizards have the third worst record in the nba. and they may be climbing the standings much -- they may not be climbing much after their latest move. the team traded jordan crawford, its third leading scorer to the celtics. washington will get leandro barbosa and collins. collins rarely played and barbosa can't play because of a knee injury. the wizards host the nuggets tonight. if you thought the caps season was getting better, think again. >> he fires, he scores. >> that goal by the new jersey devils completed a two-goal comeback and hand the caps a 3-2 loss last night. matthew pair know and mike re beiro. after the game, the team was clearly frustrated. >> how many times are we going to have this conversation?

it's on us. maybe one of them or two that you might question. but we still had too many penalties. >> what was the view of so many penalties? >> i'm not discussing it. i'm not getting fined tonight. the caps will try to get points back tomorrow night playing the devils again here in d.c. if you're getting ready to eat breakfast this morning. you want to listen to this one. 38,000 pounds much pork sausage being recalled this morning. food safety and inspection services recalling all gwaltney mild pork sausage rolls. it's based in virginia warning the products may contain small pieces of plastics. a grand jury handed down several indictments in connection with the 2009 peanut butter salmonella outbreak. four employees, including the president of peanut corporation of america, face conspiracy, fraud and obstruction of justice charges. the company blamed for a national outbreak of salmonella that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more.

that company is now bankrupt. it might not be what you want to hear if you're headed to a fish fry today. a new report finds much of the fish you're eating is not the seafood you think it is. advocacy group oceana obtained fish from grocery stores and restaurants and found one-third was mislabeled. the most common was snapper. likely because it's an inexpensive fish that can be passed off as something more expensive. >> how do you know? >> i don't eat fish. got nothing for you. it could be difficult getting around this weekend. the impact the looming budget cuts could have on d.c.'s national zoo. plus, what we're learning about the fire that left a father and two children dead. the storm moving into our region. the impact on

look ago the stories making headlines. after days of testimony, olympic sprinter oscar miss topistorius hours from