rescue. taking a live look near the lincoln memorial. the bridge not lit up, but police are telling news4 there was a crash in the area and a vehicle went into the water. d.c. police helping out. they say one person was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. we have a crew headed to the scene and will bring you updates on this breaking news as we learn more. we're learning more tonight about a d.c. man who is charged in connection with a fire that killed a 4-year-old girl last week. hearing the suspect's name triggered painful memories for a maryland man whose wife was killed 20 years ago. darcy spencer has his story tonight. >> the whole blast went into my arm. >> reporter: he shows a blast left in his arm when he was shot with a shotgun 21 years ago. the same gunman killed his wife, sharon. jerome calvary lewis was charged and acquitted in the shootings by a jury. any doubt that this was the guy who did it?

>> no doubt. >> reporter: last friday, he was driving and listening to the raid yes when he heard that name from long ago. charged with murder two in connection with a fire at his home that left 4-year-old samurai jenkins dead. >> then they said his name, jerome calvary lewis, and it just -- i couldn't believe it. i almost -- i didn't swerve or anything, but it just shocked me. >> reporter: he pointed to lewis as the triggerman who shot him and his wife, leaving their two young daughters without a mom. but a jury found for lewis. articles point to an alibi witness who says she was with him at the time of the murder and a lack of dna evidence. the reports say lewis took the stand in his own defense. >> my anger, if anything, is about this little girl dying. it shouldn't have happened. she should be alive. >> reporter: since the death of his wife, he's become a champion for victims. he's on the board of the maryland crime victims resource center, a support group.

>> when i walked outside to my car, i can actually feel sharon giving me a hug and telling me i did okay. >> reporter: he says he feels okay that the prosecution of his case was weak, and the jury process flawed. he says he hopes the case against lewis now in d.c. will stick. >> it won't be justification. i won't be just feed unless there's a conviction and a strong sentence. >> darcy spencer reporting for us. lewis was acquitted in the killing of sharon wigs. overseas, u.s. officials were shocked today when afghan president hamid karzai ordered all u.s. special operations forces out of a taliban strong hold. he says torture and other serious allegations have been leveled against afghans working with american forces in the area. u.s. officials strongly deny any suggestion that u.s. forces condone the kidnapping, torture or murder of afghan civilians or suspects. roughly half the u.s. force in

afghanistan is set to withdraw by the end of the year. it's not clear whether today's development will change that timeline. john kerry landed in london tonight on the first leg of his first overseas visit and the nation's top diplomat. kerry and foreign ministers from europe and the middle east set to meet with the syrian opposition on wednesday in rome. but some of the syrians are threatening to boycott that meeting. u.s. ambassador to syria is headed to cairo tonight to meet with the opposition in hopes of getting the talks back on track. meanwhile, the violence continues as the syrian conflict approaches the two-year mark. this amateur video posted online appears to show syrian warplanes hitting parts of damascus. another clip shows the fire that followed the shelling of a bakery near aleppo. syrian controls on the media make it impossible for nbc news to verify the authenticity of the clips.

pope benedict says he'll continue to serve the church after he steps down from his post later this week. the 85-year-old pontiff told an estimated 100,000 people in st. pete's square today that god called him to a life of prayer and meditation. washington's archbishop will be at the vatican for the pope's final week. he left for rome today. after presiding over a mass of thanksgiving for benedict's papacy. he's part of the conclave selecting the next pope. at mass, he spoke about the need for a pontiff to function in modern times. >> the office is also exercised today in an age of instantaneous communication, where social media dominate how we relate to one another and therefore how the voice of peter must be articulated if it's to be heard. >> once in rome, he will meet with the pope and he and the other members of the conclave

will start the process of choosing his successor. turning to the weather now. a spring-like day to wrap up the weekend. hoping for a repeat tomorrow. here's the man who can tell us in that will happen. hi, chuck. >> good evening, everybody. the winds have staid up, but i don't think that's going to be as big a problem tomorrow as it was today. but boy, is it a chilly night outside. a clear sky and full moon out there tonight, as well. temperatures already below freezing now across most of northern maryland. into the mid 30s in and around town. these are the current wind gusts. almost 30-mile-per-hour range, so it is windy and cold outside. tonight, clear, cold, breezy, 36 right now. startoff temperature, 32. but a whole lot of spots well down into the 20s. by lunchtime, full sunshine and temperatures once again near 50. clouds coming our way later tomorrow. >> thank you, chuck. less than a full workweek to go before the sequester hits.

the white house just releasing a new look at the staggering scope of the $85 billion in mandatory cuts that take effect friday. here's how some of it shaking out for our area. funding for primary and secondary education will be cut by nearly $29 million total in d.c., maryland and virginia. funds for educating children with disabilities will be cut by $24.5 million total in our region. defense department employee furloughs will hit 149,000 workers in our region will who receive a 20% pay cut. >> this sequester stands to wipe out a lot of hard-fought job gains in virginia and maryland. so for whatever our differences might be, we understand this is an economic threat. >> we've got to get the job done. it's been 18 months, the sequester was put in place to be a hammer, not a poll sichlt --

policy. >> that was on cbs' "face the nation" today. and sequestration will effect public transit, as well. metro officials saying that federal workers represent roughly 40% of rush hour ridership. so if furloughs force the workers to stay home one day a week, metro revenue will decline and operating budget could be affected. federal funding for capital improvement program would be slashed by $12 billion. generally that's used for safety upgrades and modernization. embattled d.c. council member jim graham will not fight tomorrow's vote to reprimand him for ethics violation. graham, who represents ward one, says the issue has gone on too long and he has serious business to attend to. he's facing a rare reprimand vote tomorrow. two separate investigations found he improperly tried to barter who would get unrelated

contracts for the district in the metro system in 2008. he faces no civil or criminal charges. neighbors coming together to help a family that lost practically everything in a massive fire. this is video of the intense flames that engulfed the house yesterday. everyone inside the home got out, but the family didn't have any insurance. there were also no working smoke detectors in the home. a teenager who was in the house says the only reason he got out is because he heard his sister screaming. >> it was her screams that woke you up, right? >> yes, it was. if it wasn't for her, i probably wouldn't be here. >> the red cross give us three days at the hotel, and basically after that, we really don't know where we're going to go. >> friends have created a website to gather donations for the family. for more information, head to our website, nbcwashington.com and search key word accokeek fire.

less than 24 hours later at daytona, nascar's biggest race goes on without a hitch. jason pew will have highlights from the daytona 500. one lawmaker says virginia's new transportation bill punishes drivers for doing the right thing. why there's already an effort to get rid of one part of the compromise. a family celebrating in the district. this woman blowing out the cameras on her 105th birthday cake. coming up in just a bit, dan hellie joins me for "sports final." daytona did not disappoint. danica patrick makes history, but a series champion. and the promising future for one of d.c.'s college hoops program. and an emotional story for one athlete's to compete. that's tonight on "sports final" right here on nbc 4. [ anouncer ] ihop is in time square to compare

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some lawmakers are trying to get parts of the bill thrown out. two northern virginia lawmakers have started an online petition asking governor mcdonald to get rid of the so-called hybrid tax. that part of the bill calls for owners of hybrids and other alternative vehicles to pay a fee. opponents say it's wrong to tax drivers for doing the right thing for the environment. the governor says he will review that part of the bill. olympic gold medalist lindsay vaughn is recovering from her skiing accident earlier this month, but sat down with matt lauer to talk about her injuries. here's what she remembers about the crash. >> i just went off the jump,

flew too far, and landed in a pile of snow that hadn't been cleared away. and it essentially stopped my ski on impact, and my knee just completely buckled. >> you let out a shriek. >> oh, yeah. i initially thought it was going to be worse. there was so much pain i couldn't tell where it was coming from. >> vaughn says she still expects to compete in the 2014 olympics in russia. snow and lots of it out in denver. look at this, the city getting its biggest storm of the season. some places could see more than a foot by the time it wraps up late tonight, cause lots of flight delays and hundreds of cancellations at denver international airport. people in maine getting a nice dose of winter weather. portland getting between 6 and 10 inches of snow. snow there is on the wet and heavy side, and there's some

worry that could cause power outages. so winter is not done with us. >> oh, no. it is still february. and it has no intentions of letting go. >> we haven't seen anything like that. >> we've had 1.5 inches of snow for our entire winter here in march. >> could we get a march storm? >> march 1993 was a good one. but when you see march, you know that you're really pushing it if you expect to see a lot of snow around here. we'll have a chance of getting a little winter weather coming up on tuesday. so stay tuned, everybody. may not be completely done with us just yet. though i don't think it's going to be a big issue around town. we'll talk about that in a second. but for now, what a nice but cold and breezy february night it is here in washington. nearly full moon overhead. temperature back down to a chilly 36 degrees already.

but what's been problematic for most of the late afternoon and evening hours has been the northwesterly wind. it's coming down just a bit, but it's gusting to 24 miles per hour. so when you factor in the temperatures, already upper 20s to low and mid 30s, you add in that gusty northwesterly wind, check out your windchills. back down into the low 20s now in hagerstown. 28 in fredericksburg and 28 in capital heights and district heights. 26 in southern maryland. what about your bus stop forecast? clear and cold. bundle up, everybody. mid 20s to the north and west to around freezing in town. sun is up at 6:46. lunchtime, we'll have outdoor recess tomorrow. temperatures only in the low to mid 40s. nothing going on with the radar. there are snow showers. we showed you the video from

portland, main to southeast massachusetts. and yes, blizzard warnings continue not only for the folks in denver, but all the way down into eastern new mexico. the oklahoma and texas panhandles have blizzard warnings out now and severe weather out ahead of it, north and west of dallas and more strong storms along the gulf coast. those two systems are going to combine to give us the next active weather stretch on tuesday. clear and cold tonight. no worries tonight and no worries tomorrow. plenty of sunshine. everything gets interesting on tuesday. tuesday morning, the clouds rushing in. that pink and blue out there in the shenandoah valley, that could be a period of freezing sleet, rain or snow. lunchtime, all rain around town. that risk or threat of freezing snow and freezing rain out there could linger through most of the late morning into the early afternoon hours on tuesday before everything changes to rain. monday, nothing to worry about. clear and cold to get you

started. temperatures in the upper forts to near 50 degrees. 50 tomorrow and an 80% chance of rain, sleet and snow on tuesday. then just regular showers, lots of warm air coming in with this system. so even if it starts as snow, it should end as all rain. it will be tuesday we're watching most carefully. most of it along interstate 81. so just be ready for that and we'll be talking about it at length tomorrow and tuesday. >> she survived cancer, lived through the depression, even seen the telegram become e-mail. today, a northern virginia woman celebrated a new milestone. ♪ happy birthday to you >> happy birthday, and today, she is 105 years young. she and her family celebrating at union station and they picked

that location because it was built in 1908, the same year she was born. she grew up in west virginia, now lives with her family in falls church. she says her secret, getting along with people. just like here at news4 where we all get along, so we're going to live long and happy lives. >> if i live to 105, i'll be plenty of happy about that. coming up in sports, eric reed and the hokies hop their way back into the win column. jason is up next.