out with a stack of bills robbery. two suspects, had a gun, had a get away driver, put people in a vault. there was a robbery planned. they've got good security pictures. let's start with that. you can see the two suspects entering the bank. suspect number one, a man with a gray hood has a gun drawn. he heads towards the teller. suspect number two, a man in a black ski mask makes his way towards the back of the bank. suspect number one jumps over the counter. a short time later, you can see suspect number two heading for the front door with what appears to be a bag of money in his hands. two customers in the bank at the time say they were forced into the bank vault where they stayed about two minutes. >> were they wearing masks? >> yeah. they were wearing masks, full cover. >> reporter: they had a mask and

had guns in their hand? >> yeah. i was very scared actually. >> reporter: how long were you locked into the vault? >> a couple -- a couple minute. >> reporter: how long were you in the vault? >> about three to 4 minute, 5 minute. >> did you see them leave the bank? >> yeah. >> reporter: how did you get out of the vault? >> when i come out i see nobody there. >> reporter: about a quarter mile a way, a place they saul israe they call shirlington circle, looking for a dye pact that had been embedded in that cash. this happened around lunchtime right from the cafe and the street from weta and 395, and z easy escape route. police have a description of the get away car.

the get away car described as a black or dark colored suv speeding away from the scene. there's been a sharper rise in bank robberies in northern virginia. i'll have the numbers for you coming up at 6:00. live in arlington, pat collins, news4. we have new details in the last half hour about a warning concerning potential terror threats involving flights to russia. security remains high in and around the olympic venues as we look at the olympic village her here. >> concerning explosives going on to planes to russia. nbc has been following this all day today. how serious is this? what are the specific details? >> hard to know how serious but credible and serious enough for the department of homeland security to notify airplanes that fly planes into russia. tonight, officials emphasize this has nothing to do with

planes that fly to the united states from overseas or flights that thousands and thousands entirely within the united states. this intel is based solely on flights to russia outside the u. united states and it has been given to the small number of commercial flights that fly to russia and charter flights to russia. it's based on chatter of discussing trying to smuggle explosives on to airplanes using tooth peace tubes or cosmetic containers. that information has been passed along. no word from any airlines yet, any of the world's airlines that fly to russia they plan to make changes in what people can carry on. sort of out of an abundance of caution thing we hear about. obviously has a lot to do with the fact that intelligence is paying extra attention to anything having to do with the olympics. >> is this more specific than other threats out there about

sochi? >> i think so, specific in that it americanses a possible avenue of attack. -- in that it mentions a possible avenue of attack hard to assess. i guess they're hearing enough they decided to pass this along. no word for example of a specific target or timing or any specific plot. >> pete williams, thanks so much. and the countdown to this week's opening ceremonies in sochi continues. the latest on that live from sochi. that is coming up at 5:15. >> right now, the cleanup is under way in frederick, maryland, one of the hardest hit areas by the ice we have this morning. there are downed power lines snapped by the weight of the ice. tree branches fell all over the city, some landing on cars and vans. efforts to salt the roads and keep them safe did seem to work. >> and finding thick ice on cars in montgomery county.

scraping windshields proved to be a lot harder in this aftermath. drivers found roads wet instead of slick and crews were out treating roads for hours. even pedestrians had a different view. tree branches and grass encased in ice. >> marc train passengers will feel the effects of the ice sto storm, many through the night. a tree fell on a brunswick line train this morning in maryland. five windows on that train were broken. more than 100 passengers had to be moved to another train and a tree fell on the track that train was traveling on. >> it's been rough. you're looking at union station w some passengers are waiting even longer and delays across the potomac, and that is where we find news4, edadam tux and reag reagan national. how are things going there. >> reporter: you saw the pictures. at's been a tough scene, even

in the skies one everyone is trying to deal with right now, recovery. trying to get home, the traveling not always easy. jill patton and her daughter have to connecticut in philly to get to milwaukee and drive back to chicago. chicago hasn't exactly been fun this winter. >> unbelievable. negative 20 is unbelievable. i think at one point it was colder in chicago than in either of the poles. >> reporter: steven lyons is tired trying to get back to maine. he's delayed until tomorrow. he says he could use some sleep. >> yeah. basically. i've been up since 2:30 last night. caught a plane from birmingham at 5:00 in the morning, lost my voice and everything. it's been rough. >> reporter: there are those looking for more snow. hans and david headed to maine to go skiing? >> reporter: clearly, you're not done with the winter? >> what winter? this is peanuts compared to what we hope to get in maine, a lot of snow.

>> reporter: a lot of cancellations hit and miss on the board. the major impact started last night as airplanes decided it wasn't worth putting their planes in the way of ice here in d.c. >> the airlines particularly this year and recent years began pre-canceling flights. what they really don't want is passeng passengers come to the airport only to find out their flight is canceled and letting them know in advance. >> quite a day for marc riders on the brunswick line. a train hit a tree, and a tree fell on tracks and a tree fell on a train and power lines. marc still not completely back to normal. back here live at reagan international airport. still not recovered from all of that. when will everything get back to normal here at the airport. hear what airline officials are telling us.

reporting live at reagan national. adam tuss. hundreds of thousands are without power, many in pennsylvania. while in new york, the rain created problems above ground because theysed up all the salt they have. and from our sister city philadelphia, we look at the situation in that area. >> reporter: we were stopped by downed wires and trees at nearly every ku every turn. >> i don't know what to think. trees were a falling everywhere you went, they were falling. >> reporter: one tree fell into aerial dunlop's house this morning and fortunately she was in the living room when it hit the bedroom. his neighbor was luckier. this huge tree hit his house. we could hear branches continue to break while we stood here. almost no one in callen township has power. even police are running the

radio system off this small generator. >> power outages are still a problem for parts of our region. potomac edison has the largest share of customers who are struggling with over 29,000 outages in frederick county. more than 2,000 in montgomery county. howard has about a thousand of people without power. storm team 4 meteorologist, doug kammerer is here to tell us what we can expect next. >> that was the area we were telling you about, upper montgomery count. loudoun county and the panhandle of west virginia. down to the south and east not as big a problem, a light glaze to the south. a few sidewalks covered. an inch to quarter of an inch from d.c. to bethesda and fairfax. it was back towards the west, w winchester, leesburg and clarksburg and gaithersburg and frederick, where we saw a quarter to a half-inch of ice and that will bring down trees

and bring down power lines what we've seen through the area. temperatures are starting to go up. as the storm system moves out we continue to see clearing skyiei overnight tonight, at least partial clearing. and we see 48 in washington and 48 in fredericksburg and nearly 50 here and temperatures fall to the 20s and some to the teens. we mention a re-freeze, plus more than potential weekend snow coming up in a minute. tonight, a small memorial is growing outside a high school in mcclain following the deaths of two students. police found a 7-year-old boy dead in scouts run nature school monday and found a 7-year-old boy dead at his home and police do not suspect foul play. they do not believe these deaths are connecticuted.

langley sent a letter home about the cats and said a crisis counselor is available. taking indecent liberties with children. patrick white, from it, said he was assigned to the glen forest elementary school in falls church. police told us just a few minutes ago they don't know of any local school kids that were affected. the death of actor phillip seymour hoffman has encouraged one family to talk the fatal attraction of heroin. a virginia mother wants to share her loss and warn others about the signs and evidence that was mounting before her son overdosed. also, a major national drugstore chain is going to stop selling cigarettes. find out how customers feel about the dramatic changes at cvs. one of the biggest names on the u.s. olympic have live team

from russia when news4 at 5:00 continues. the olympic flame has arrived in sochi as we have less than 48 hours from the opening ceremony of the winter games. since russian president vladimir putin held the torch last october it has since traveled 40,000 miles crisscrossing the country. team usa announced veteran

olympian todd ludwick will carry the flag, the sixth time he has represe represented the u.s., 30 years old and in combined skiing. one person will not be there, billie jean king, an openly gay tennis star says her mother is in failing health and needs to be with her family at this time. the first headline from the games shaun white has withdrawn from the snowboarding slopestyle event after a big crash from another competitor earlier this week and white cited the risk of injury. the latest of games in sochi. >> jack is live in russia. we will beigin with shaun white. >> we know him for the wild red hair he has since cut for the olympics. he was up for two gold medals

but now cut to one opportunity. this is the slopestyle event that won't feature the 27-year-old and now plans to fuss cuss on the gold in the ha halfpipe. he focused on the practice and said he's good and ready to go for his third straight gold. >> i'm feeling healthy. i think it was blown out of proportion a little bit the other day in the slope course. i definitely jammed it. it happens all the time. the ankle and strains that come and go, but nice it wasn't serious. >> the course has drawn some criticism and now the condition of other big olympic venues are under the microscope. jack is live outside the olympic stadium with more on that. what's going on? >> i tell you what, diana. the russians have more than

tripled their original budget to get ready for these games. for the most part the venues have received rave reviews. not the slopestyle course. >> the slopestyle event is one of two new courses at the olympics. that's not all that's new. before being awarded the olympics, there was one ski lift in sochi. my, how things have changed. >> the mountain is unbelievable. >> reporter: since getting the games, seven resorts have been build. rosa says the crown jewel. >> it's excellent now. before this time, before olympic pr preparations it was rather provincial. >> reporter: a new highway and railway from sochi to the mountain cluster cost and estimated $9.4 billion. that alone is more than it costs vancouver to host the olympics four years ago. the russians also spent billions

of dollars building six new stadiums in the coastal cluster. the venues are getting rave reviews from athletes and coaches, especially the ones here for a test event last march. >> it was quite a bit of construction. roman dogs and it was just -- it was a mess. everything is put together well. >> reporter: it's estimated the total cost of hosting the sochi games is north of $51 billion. russians have also had trouble getting hotel rooms ready. the u.s. olympic committee was left scrambling finding replacement rooms for ones that weren't finished for their officers. and if you want to read something interesting read the blogs of some journalists. ours were and helps to be with the local network of nbc. jack dole, news4.

>> it does. keep up with the games on the nbc washington news app now and turn on breaking news alerts and we'll send you the latest from the games. >> all righty. thanks. looking cold there and feeling a little nippy here. what are we looking at? what's next? >> more ice. >> we'll ice up a little bit overnight, especially the areas that had the most icing last night and the same ones that saw the snow the other day, you will have a chance for freezing again the other night and could be some areas with problems by frederick and loudoun county. notice we're starting to break out of the cloud cover at least a little bit now. temperatures rising, some of you into the 50s well down towards the south but many still struggling to get out of the 30s. winds out of the west at 6 miles an hour with a little bit of sun trying to break through. 36 in gaithersburg and baltimore. charlot

charlotteburg 53 degrees, fredericksburg, 77. we do have some milder air trying to work its way in. it will have a tough time doing so as we continue to clear out. radar shows we are all clear. the storm system that brought us all that ice is moving well up to the north and east. south of us we can see the clearing skies. as we continue to watch, we will clear off nicely. watch the cloud cover dissipate and will lead to clearing overnight. as it does so, it will clear up. we saw a stormy pattern clear and as it does so, going through today. potential for coastal storm saturday and sunday. this, i don't think is going to happen. no more seeing a coastal storm coming up the coast. i'm not looking at this at all. we told you last week, don't believe the hype. this storm making it a little closer to us a little like a clipper and i do think we will get snow saturday and sunday and i don't think a huge event.

if you have worries, you should be okay. 18 in manassas. 22 in d.c. yes, anything will freeze. 40 degrees on your friday. a chance of snow saturday with a high of 38 degrees. 40 degrees on sunday. another chance of snow on sunday. saturday and sunday we call it light snow for the most part. look at saturday and show you what we're talking about. afternoon snow when it arrives, areas of light snow and minor impacts. could we see a couple inches saturday or sunday? it's possible. looking towards the next couple of days, 33 degrees on monday and next tuesday and wednesday, that could give us another chance for rain or snow, temperatures in the mid-30s. our very active very cool pattern will continue as we head into the middle of

getting away with it anymore. >> we the proof in numbers. khutor. over the last year we have seen significant violence in the washington areas. >> the navy yard violence and other areas are concerned about security.

and they want to deter those who make violent threats. >> three dead including a gunman and the panic that gripped everyone that day at the maryland mall. and they're considering working on threats of mass violence. >> i don't think this drill will prevent the shooting we had at columbia mall. what it does, says somebody calls columbia mall and says, i have a bomb in such-and-such a store, they find the person who made the call, they can charge them with a crime. >> maryland is only one of seven states in the country that does not make it a crime to communicate a threat of moose violence. prince george's alsobrooks highlighted it. >> a student from the university of maryland said over the internet he would commit acts of mass violence the next day.

when his case came to court, we were unable to charge him with threats of mass violence and only disturbing activities at school or college. >> reporter: this bill makes it a crime punishable for up to 10 years in prison for any convicted of making a threat of mass violence against a group of five people or more, put in fear and have to evacuate a building or shelter in place. >> as we see these cases from colorado or newtown, these threats are real threats. >> reporter: however, in the case of the columbia mall shootings there was no prior warning or threat made by 19-year-old daryl aguilar who fatally shot two at the zumi store on that terrifying saturday less than two weeks ago. chris gordon, news4. right now at 5, cvs is going to stop selling tobacco products. >> could this be the beginning

of a new trend? >> while cvs is doing that we looked at other harmful products that could be snuffed out next. a look at heroin and its fatal attraction. a mother in northern virginia knows how it can change a family in an instant. >> at the time, it was shock that this could happen to us. we played by all the rules. we did everything in the book. >> what we can all learn from one family's tragedy. in the first in-depth interview, d.c.'s fire chief is speaking out about the death of a man whose family t almond.

a good that comes in 25 flavors. from whole natural to wasabi and soy sauce. and once good gets going, there's no stopping it. get your good going. blue diamond. snack nut of u.s. snowboarding.

loved one, i lost a friend. right now at 5:30, d.c. fire chief talks in-depth for the firehouse. >> and the first time emotion was seen from a man under a great deal of fire for a number of stumbles over recent years. >> there's nothing in our protocols that will prevent an employee from rendering aid to a person that needs aid. >> reporter: d.c. fire chief agreed to sit down with "news4 today" during a break from jury duty.

he said he's prohibited from speaking about the specifics of the incident two weeks ago on rhode island avenue when family members says 77-year-old mills collapsed and died and firefighters refused to help. >> my dad was a great guy and he did not deserve to go out like that in a city he loved. that he gave 47 years of service to. >> i regret that this happened. while they lost a father and a loved one, i lost a friend. >> ellerbe says he had known mills for years. >> mr. mills and i belonged to the same fraternal organization where he was a leader. i know him from working in the d.c. government but also know him as a friendly face and guy i talkeded to when i went to the department of parks and rec and when i went to lunch and see him on u street. >> reporter: ellerbe did confirm the status of davis who was there that day. >> i know she did apply for retirement. as i said, there is a lot of accountability still out there

regarding this incident. >> ellerbe says retiring will not allow any from escaping responsibility for what happene happened. >> i will tell you this. nobody will run away from it and people will be held accountable for it. >> reporter: it sounds like somebody failed on that day. >> until the investigation is over, i can't comment. >> coming up on news4 at 6:00 this evening, the chief explains what happens next as far as disciplinary action and his efforts to restore the public's trust in his department. looks like a few more days before we find out for sure what killed actor phillip seymour hoffman. tests are inconclusive and they need to do more testing to find out why he died. meanwhile, they're questioning four men thought to have supplied the drugs that killed him.

they raided the apartments in the east village and expected to be arraigned sometime today on drug charges. nbc news has learned during the raid, police found heroin, cocaine, marijuana and pills inside the suspect's apartments and hoffman's phone number was found inside one of the suspect's cell phones and police confiscated about $800 in cash. more proof tonight the fatal attraction of heroin can strike any family. a family is sharing their struggle and chris lawrence is here with details of what they suffered with after his death. >> bottom line, they are so sad and don't want any other family to go through this. the family is warning other parents not to be fooled. don't think of heroin as a drug associated with big cities but suburbs just like their in herndon. whenever a family member dies, all kinds of memories come flooding back for this fairfax family, the drug that killed

christopher atwood who overdosed. his mom said she once found his needle hidden is his room but he blew off their acquisitions. the evidence mounted but the family didn't get the full story until after he died when his friends started opening up. >> there's a whole underground network and basically go downtown, washington d.c., to get their heroin and bring it back. i found out at one point from somebody who had observed my son, that when he was 15, he actually shot up at this friend's house and was basically left to die by the family because they didn't want to call the authorities because then they would get in trouble with the law. >> yet they believe the fight against addiction is a health issue, not a moral one. the atwoods created a foundation in their son's name to fight alcohol and drug abuse. you have to hope that message is heard by a lot of other parents out there.

>> it's frightening. thanks, chris. turns out a lot of other drivers are breaking the law in montgomery county. 10 drivers were caught passing county school buses while they were dropping kids off. the district put cameras on the stop signs on five buses the beginning of the year and the cameras alert police every time a driver passes a stop sign while it is out. passing a school bus dropping off students comes at a hefty price. violators face $570 fee bus three points on your license. hiring taxes and new schools highlight the biggest plan for loudoun county. transportation the largest expense with more than $80 million targeted for roads and $88 million to build the dulles north and broad run mschools. and renovation and 6 cents increase of $100 of assessed

value. home values in loudoun up more than 8%. public hearings up later this month. first lady michelle obama went to the high school in alexandra today to talk to students about their post high school education and how to pay for it. she told students a critical first step is fill out the free application for federal student aid. the education department says only about half of high school seniors file for their share of $150 billion in loans and grants that the government makes available every year. >> almost every one is eligible for some form of financial aid. all you have to do to access that aid is fill out this one form. fill out these forms. fill them out! >> mrs. obama told the students she used the federal financial aid program to go to college and she acknowledged her parents found the process a little intimidating at first. she says the form is now shorter and a lot easier to use.

>> it was a chance to say thank you. a firefighter who carried a man from a burning home on his back will have the very special reunion just ahead. yet another storm system making its way away from our

i'll let you know what's in we want to introduce you to a special 15-year-old girl. she's good in math and she loves art. >> her name is octavia and has

big dreams and more than anything longing for a forever family. she learned the fine art of m e making chocolate in gaithersburg. >> we came to make chocolate! >> reporter: 15-year-old latavia was excited about making her favorite treat. inside the factory we met husband and wife owners. they showed us every step from the plant at their farm in the chocolate. she loves the idea of creating things but had little encouragement for her artistic talents. she's been in the foster care system most of her life. she has many talents. her favorite at school. >> i really like art. math is almost my favorite subject. i'm getting there. >> she needs a family that cares. >> she needs a little extra help at home so she can excel like she could. >> i would like a family that

wouldn't give up on me at all. >> there's so many things she dreams of doing in her life. she said it's hard to understand why she doesn't have a family that loves her like other children do. >> i hope i get adopted. i've been waiting my whole life to get adopted. >> reporter: she's like a family to experience the things she's never done before and appreciate the things she's learned to do. like making chocolates. >> we have a wonderful surprise for you. >> reporter: they had a full box of treats for her. but best of all -- >> i really learned a lot about chocolate. >> reporter: barbara harrison, news4 for wednesday's child. >> if you can open your heart or home to latavia, called 1-888-to adopt-me or go online and search wednesday's child. our jim hanley is in sochi and he takes us to the shores of the black s

its shelves. how fast will this happen? coming up. we have a big development in the case of the police missing reservist. >> we have resultsn to cvs, whk

you so long. >> reporter: what it is a health benefit or not. is it hard to quit? >> sure. >> reporter: you want to quit? >> i tried plenty of times. >> reporter: consumers like andre a smoker over 30 years says it's hard to decipher who the pharmacy giant aims to serve. >> reporter: some consumers say if cvs is willing to pull tobacco products from its shelves, would they go a step further and remove beer an treats and that, too, could be problematic for your health. >> the harm caused by those products in and by themselves pales in comparison to the harm of cigarettes. those like rite aid and walgreens are now under greater pressure to follow suit. news4. >> cvs says in addition to removing cigarettes and tobacco products for sell it will start a national cessation program at athletes.

he's really for anything athletic. >> reporter: show me your swing there. but ping-pong is a summer olympic sport and these are the winter games here. on a brisk winter day at the beach, jim hanley in sochi. back to you. >> jim will be updating us about all the behind the scenes experiences he's having at the winter games. you can follow him on facebook and twitter and read his blog. go to nbcwashington.com and search handly in sochi. >> looks like he's having a good time over there. it's the story after the fire is out and a life is saved. news4 has the special reunion between a firefighter and theen

pr pre-treated before the ice and rain hit and people walking pretty slowly on the streets. some streets are as slippery as the sidewalks. >> 234tonight, many trains are canceled because of the ice storms. earlier today a brunswick line train hit a fallen tree. it happened at 5:00 this morning. five windows broken on that train. more than 100 passengers moved to another train. the rain also -- the train also ran into a tree that it brought down. power lines came down with it. nobody was injured. >> we have complete storm coverage and tonight's chances for a re-freeze with chief meteorologist doug cameron and adam tuss. adam, we will start with you. >> reporter: that's right, it hasn't been and easy day on the rails. you were just showing video of the marc t