spread across this community, and so does a sense of fear. >> reporter: from the flowers and piano books left in front of her house to the conservations on the street, alexandrians are remembering the love of the music teacher ruthanne lodato. >> ♪ hello, everybody >> and through tears she sang the song that was taught to her and her children. >> she is going to be missed to the community. >> reporter: and lodato's neighbors a mix of sorrow and fear. >> i am sure that a lot of people are not doing to be answering the doors given what happened. it is a great neighborhood and great people here, and people are shocked. >> my daughter freaked out, and made me lock all of the doors. >> reporter: and lodato's murder comes three months after the

still unsolved killing of ron kirby, the well known transportation planner who was killed in his home a mile away, and the second shooting is keeping executive lock and key busy as residents bolter up security. this afternoon, ron huffman had three calls to install more locks. >> people are aftraid to open u the doors and the door is the barrie barrier, and they are trying to find an avenue to recognize who is in front of the door and people are calling to install peepholes. >> reporter: and as a lifelong resident himself, he feels the unease in the community, and he hopes that the police have more answers. >> well, it is a small town still to us, and i think that it shakes everybody to the core. >> reporter: shaken to the core does sum up the feeling of so many tonight, and coming up on "news4 at 6:00," you will hear from the niece of another high profile alexandria victim, and she wonders about a connection

between all three killings. reporting live, i'm julie carey. >> and with what judy just said, i did happen less than a mile from the city planner ron kirby, and his murder is unsolved as is the killing of an alexandria sheriff's wife nancy dunning. and the police chief said they are looking into any similarities of the three unsolved crimes. we spoke to kirby's widow anne haynes who said that it brought up a number of questions, and how could this happen again and so close to home. stay with nbcwashington.com for more details on the search for lodato's killer. coming up at 5:00, jackie bensen will have more on the interview with ron kirby's emotional widow. >> and thou to the hijacking overseas and the demand to fly the plane to sochi. the plane took off in the ukraine, and instead of going to the host city, o they flew to

istanbul, turkey, across the black sea. there is a worry that sochi could become a target, and pete williams is joining us now to tell us more. what do we know at this minute? >> well, the plane took off in the second largest city in ukraine in the largest part, and after the plane was in the air, a passenger stood up, and he said that he had a bomb, and he wanted the plane to be diverted to sochi. the plane was bound for istanbul, and this crusade, and this is where they saved the day. they said okay, and they turned off the in-flight graphics that show where you are, and he had no idea because the plane left at 6:30 at night, and it is dark outside and he does not e know where they are, and they land in istanbul, and as soon as the pilots entered the turkish air space, they clicked on the alert that they were being hijacked and then it went to the isolated

part of the runway and the auth authorities entered the plane and subdued the man, and there was never any explosive device, and the passengers said that the man seemed to be under the influence of something, alcohol or drugs or something. but there was no one who was ever shot hurt or shots fired. >> and do they believe he is a group? >> well, he was acting on his own, and he made some ukraine nationalist statements and something rambling about the olympics, but they don't believe he has a connection with the chechen groups who they believe are the source of the security worries. >> will this change anything with the security of the olympics? >> no, it is a reflection of the heightened awareness. and anybody, olympics or not, the if someone claims that they

have a bomb on board, the pilots are going to respond. >> and the games are going on tonight. and tonight is the night where it gets started in the winter olympics with the opening ceremony to bring the world together and gives the host country a chance to show off in spectacular style, and for the athletes a moment the remember. at olympic park, jim handly spoke to athletes who were looking forward to the special moment this the entrance. >> well, they looked at and tested all of the lights and the music, and planted palm e trees here. we cannot show you what will happen tonight, but we can tell you that things will all of the sudden turn cold here. vladimir putin is putting on a show here for the world to see. there is something for each of the more than 85 countries taking part, and proud moment for 230 american athletes, and bobsl bobsledder, and g.w. graduate alana myers says that the ope g opening ceremonies was her

favorite part in vancouver. and do you get goose bumps every time you hear it with a scene like this? >> you can't help but get the goose bumps, and just thinking of all that everybody has sa sacrificed for the country and the fact that we can represent our country in a differe way is an incredible honor, and we are privileged to be here. >> reporter: athletes who arrived earlier have taken in the sun, camaraderie, and the canadians brought their bicycles, and they are getting a look around. >> and it is cool when you walk out there and representing the country and smiling and waving and taking pictures, and it is a an unbelievable experience. and this is a volunteer from manassas county. what was it like? >> the rehearsal was beautiful, and industrial themed and very russian. and it was a lot of fun. >> reporter: and the man carrying the flag for the u.s.

will compete in a record sixth olympics. >> i sat back in my chair and kind of took in the moment, and really took it in. very humbling. >> reporter: and caps' great alexander ovechkin will not be carrying the flag as planned, because he is playing in a game for washington. i'm jim handly in sochi. back to you. >> and jim will be updating us about the e behind the scenes experiences at the games. you can follow him on twitter and our nbcwashington.com and go t there to search for handly. we can't wait to see the opening ceremony tonight on nbc. >> and state police just now said they believe that kevin quick is dead. they have not positively identified a body outside of richmond as quick's, but it may

change when they get word from the medical examiner. this case has spanneded the commonwealth since he escaped. his suv turned up in manassas last saturday, and three siblings were arrested in connection with that theft in alexandria. and then there was two more p arrested after gang parti participation. we will go live with more developments in 15 minutes. >> and a big fire caused significant damage to a complex in maryland. look at this from chopper 4's pictures, as with we flew over the apartments. that is not far from cedar lane in columbia. one person was taken to the hospital with smoke inhalation, and 16 units damaged at least and enough that the families will not be able to stay there, and because of the cold can weather, they are put up in the community's clubhouse. not clear what sparked this blaze. from fire in maryland to water in detroit, a num bber of

drivers are fortunate to be alive after a water main break trapped them in their cars. this is so bad that rescuers had to use front loaders to pluck folks out. some were stuck in the freezing cold water for more than an hour, and some told the rescuers that the water was as high as their seats. the weather caused that main to break. >> and at home, another nuisance after yet another water main break in arlington, the westbound highway to lee highwa highway, and this is going to to be closed tonight. this is between buchanan and columbus streets, because the crews are trying to e get this thing fixed, it is the scene this morning when the crews started digging. the water did get shut off for the folks nearby and the winter weather is giving the underground pipes a beating. storm 4 news meteorologist doug kammerer is monitoring the chance from the snow this weekend and no big deal or becoming a big deal? >> no big deal. form 4 radar is going to be

clear and stay that way. if you are making your way out and about, it is going to be chilly, and out across the aer eaarea. dropping to 37 at 7:00, and 29 by the time you wake up on your saturday. a little on the chilly side, and that is when the snow moves in. the future weather is showing the snow coming in much of the area, and we are expected to see the snow sunday and monday and maybe a few other days, too. we will talk about that, with the seven-day forecast coming up in a minute. and a drug raid in maryland, a and they say that heroin was the tip of the iceberg. something new for the silver line, and a new step to take you closer to taking that metro to dulle dulles. >> and call it is a miracle on ice.

ah, a live look at the sochi seaport and a celebration of the winter olympics is kick off today. >> and yes, to night is the night. the world has been waiting nearly two years and now we are a couple of hours away from watching the opening ceremony of the winter olympics right here on nbc. >> and it promises to be a spectacular broadcast with fireworks and iconic images of russia, and nbc's jack doles has more from sochi. >> reporter: if past ceremonies

are any indication, expect a spectacular during the broadcast of the sochi opening in prime time tonight. >> it is the biggest secret ever. >> reporter: and the producers kept the details closely guarded, but we saw the flame in the hands of a former american. former hockey star angela ruggerio was there. >> it is so honorable to carry the flame today. >> reporter: but earlier today, a man tried to hijack a plane and divert the plane to sochi, but instead, they landed in ukraine. president obama also offered his congratulations in a taped message. >> i want to say congratulations, and good luck for everybody in the red, white

and blue. >> reporter: and those outfits were unveiled on "today" show. >> they are very colorful. and the u.s. women's hockey team decided not to march, because they have a tough match coming up tomorrow morning against finland. >> and for me we go back to die n yab nauru seeni. well, most of the stages are in the qualifying events becomes tu team figure skating event started with pressure, because every program skated counts towards a kcountry's total. and jeremy abbott had a stunning fall, and that was a quadruple, and landed awkwardly, and slid right into the wall. not much better for the u.s. pairs marissa and simon as they stumbled on their side by side triple salchows.

the americans have room to make up, but only the top five countries will advance to the final round, and lady's ice dancing and singles is up next. and ashley wagner will skate tomorrow in the singles event for the u.s. a strong showing could help team usa get back on track, and give wagner a chance to prove that she deserves to be at the olympics. >> this is making history, and you know, it is an opportunity to gain another olympic medal and something we didn't have in figure skating so i'm incredibly honored the be a part of the event. >> and an amazing feat for the luge. this is a luger going 70 miles per hour, and he falls off of to sled and slides down the course, and then he makes an amazing save. he flips back over and gets back on the sled to finish the run. absolutely incredible. 70 miles per hour he is going,

and i can't get sick of looking at that. but guys, the ashley wagner, the ladies singles skater there has the best record, and many people feel she has something to prove after finishing fourth place in the national championships, and she calls herself a vicious competitor, and no sweetness on the ice for her. >> and you think that the luge guy has done it before, because that is some moves. >> that is some moves rig the s there and skills. >> i would have been screaming. >> how do you not get hirt hurt there. >> yes. >> thank you. and for now you can turn on the breaking news alerts on our nbc washington app, and we will send you the news from the games. >> and the weekend is upon us, and we have news about the snow? >> well, a teeny bit, a you mow the pretty snow that you are walking around and the snow starts to fall and you say, that is nice. >> and we are veterans now. >> and we are up there with the

buffaloes in new york. >> well, we will show you what is happening outside and not a bad shop, but this is happening earlier in portland, oregon, a place that does not see a lot of snow. they were shutdown there, and we will continue to bring you the scenes across the country. the country is in a deep freeze. ever reri state, every state except for florida now has snow somewhere in the state. isn't that amazing? that is absolutely amazing, and you are wondering what about, hawaii, doug? yes, the tall mountains, and they get snow out there, too. and for us, 41 degrees with the winds out of the south at 7 miles per hour, and cloud cover across the region, but friday was a good day, and we will call it a fantastic friday. and higher temperatures around the region, and cooler in hagerstown and manassas and 44 in fredericksburg, and the temperatures are above where

they were in the last couple of days. the storm team 4 satellite shows it is clear. we have some cloud cover making its way in here now, and that is what we are looking at, but just some clouds that we will see throughout the night. and chilly, but not frigid. 22 in gaithersburg, and 20 in manassas, and 19 in fredrick, maryland. as we look through the next couple of days, you notice the snow coming in. tomorrow at 7:00 a.m., to problems. chilly, but the clouds are moving in. then 1:00 or 2:00, the snow, and just about everybody has a chance to see some snow tomorrow, and we are not calling for a lot, but snow around leesburg, and waldorf and some minor accumulation, but saturday afternoon, it will end by 5:00 or so. and turn the globe on, and then off. sunday, the same deal, start off with that and then get the snow coming in later in the afternoon at 5:00 or 6:00 coming in from the west, and moving ak cross

the entire region, and sunday most likely on the afternoon side of things as far as the snow is concerned. 60% chance on saturday and 40% on sunday. another chance of snow monday. so we have three days to see snow. out of the three days, how much do you think that we will get? a coating to two inches at the most. this is not a big deal. down to the south and east, around an inch, but don't worry about the roads, because most should be a okay, but watch out for that. and 38 on monday, and 34 on tuesday, and then maybe a more significant can storm as we head to next week wednesday and thursday and even friday which is valentine's day, we will have the falling temperatures in the day, so get close to whoever it may be. guys? >> well, someone is trying to scam soldiers, and we will tell you how the

from over. i urge you to continue to support the law enforcement commu community as we grieve the loss of our brother, kevin. >> just a few minutes ago, virginia state police revealed that they have not officially identified the body found yesterday, with but they do believe it is kevin quick. >> yes, it is a case that has police disturbed by the fact that one of their own was targeted. news4 kristin wright is live in

manassas where quick's suv was first spotted. kristin? >> right. stunning news that now six people are charged in connection to kevin quick's disappearance, and investigators are saying that this is a death investigation, and they do believe that the suspects were at some point at this bank on sudly and lemond in vanessa. >> do we know why kevin was targeted or why he was picked -- we are just trying to rationalize what would make him a victim. >> reporter: police have arrested a total of six people in the case. the three on top are siblings from albemarle county, and in a raid, the s.w.a.t. team smashed into a day's inn in alexandria where they were hiding out. and three more have been arrested now all charged with second-degree murder. a small construction business

this in springfield said they fired leslie casterloe from her job in e desemer, because she was acting erratic at work. and nobody answered the door there. and it is less than a mile from the bank where quick's suv was spotted in police surveillance. and the search warrant for the vehicle says that quick's bank account was accessed via atm in forks union and manassas. >> we are the first responders, and we are not supposed to be the victims. >> reporter: investigators say that more arrests could be coming in this case. and now in the search warrant that i mentioned, there is a list of eitems that were seized from kevin quick's suv as evidence, and we are working on that for you coming up at 6:00. live in manassas, kristin wright, news4. right now at 5:00 a major heroin bust right in our backyard. >> the police did not just find drugs and cash. what grabbed their attention was a weapon in disguise.

>> and tired of hearing the noisy traffic? well, there is a solution for that, and we will find out why the high-tech fix may be creating bigger problems. i'm jackie bensen and the new.

a fast forward through the headlines. a ukrainian man is charged with

trying to hijack a plane to send to sochi. turkish officials scrambled a fighter jet to escort the plane to istanbul, turkey, where it did land safely. >> and with we are hours away from the opening ceremonies. with e no e that the women's hockey team is resting up for a match against finland. now to weather, doug. on the cold side in our area today, the temperatures are five degrees below average. d.c. coming in at 42 degrees, and 45 down towards fredericksbu fredericksburg. in the next seven days the average high is 46. we get close to that, and well, maybe once or twice, but most every day of the next seven on the chilly side, and yes, as we mentioned, numerous chances for the light snow. >> thank you, doug. next at 5:30, people in

alexandria are asked to use caution when answering a door. >> and that after a murder in that area have a lot of people nervous tonight of why this happened. jackie bensen is with us on this evenin of the manhunt, and she is near the home of another man who was murdered not long ago. >> reporter: well, at a press conference the police chief earl cook says that he hopes that the woman who described may provide a description, and possibly enough for a composite sketch of the man who killed ruthanne lodato. the physical evidence is not much further than the entrance of stone ridge drive. that is where police say a man opened up fire on ruthanne lodato and her elderly mother's care giver when they answered the door yesterday.

the man described as white hair and balding and wearing a gray jacket was not known if they know the man. >> it is not known whether they knew the man. >> reporter: and the police chief spoke to the residents who are very upset about the two high profile unsolved homicides and this one now. the wife of the sheriff at the time, and also the shooting of governance county attorney which took place less a than a mile a waway away. >> residents have a right to be concerned, but i don't want to characterize it as a serial killer floating around the city, because we don't have enough facts and data to support that. >> reporter: for ron haynes' widow, yesterday's shooting brought a torrent of emotions. >> i nef thought that he was not

safe in our house, and it is so unbelievable, and so weird and so wrong to do this kind of thing. >> reporter: coming up on "news4 at 6:00," the police chief directly addresses the residents' concerns about their safety. live in alexandria, jackie bep zen. >> thank you. two people from ann arundel county are facing charges after police found heroin in their home. inside they found marijuana and heroin and ecstasy and this very unusu unusual.22 caliber gun that looks like a pen. they had a street value of drugs of more than $1,000. they are being held without bail. >> and mourners today at the funeral of philip seymour hoffman. hoffman leaves behind his

partner of 15 years and their three children. he was 46. a former montgomery teaier accused of sexually abusing young children is being held without bail. he is accused of sexually assaulting 15 kids between 2005 and 2013. he is a former music teacher at new hampshire estates music school in silver springs, and he plead gill toy to child porn thursday. and a man who attacked his boss police say with a knife. there is a new push out there that the road that you drive on should be

president obama returned to washington about an hour ago after signing the massive farm bill into law. he traveled to the university of michigan for that signing, and toured a biotech e research lab at that school. it took four years of haggling in congress to get this bill passed. the law replaces direct payments to farmers with a new crop insurance program, and it cuts the food stamp programs with by 8 bi$8 billion. >> and the truth is that a lot of folks go through tough times at some point in their lives. that doesn't mean they should go

hungry, and not in a country like america. >> and the white house says as many as 50 lawmakers were invited to attend, and a handful of democrats travelled with the president, but no republicans accepted the invitation. and now a website is taken down after trying to scam military soldiers and their families. this was created by criminal cr but not the smart kind. see how they spelled benefit. you can see that the army's criminal division issued a warn warning about the site earlier today, and then hours later, somebody took down that bonus site. a man in laurel is facing assault charges after stabbing his boss. he is accused of stabbing his supervisor multiple times. he said he attacked his super visor after asked about his attendance, and we are told that the super visor is expected to

be okay. and it turns out that the high-tech pavement that is to solve the traffic problem, has other problems of its own. i'm liz crenshaw. will the government reimburse you for pothole damage to your car? that is the question, and the answer is coming up

a grocery store in northwest washington is back open this afternoon after clearing up a little problem with mice. >> yes, the health department

closed down that super market after a customer reported seeing a mouse, and there was evidence of a rodent, so the store brought in exterminators and a cleaning crew and this afternoon the health department gave pit all-clear, and the store is back open. and the silver line to dulles is closer to being a e reality. they say they are done with the first phase, and as reported the dulles transit department says they have reached substantial completion, and that means that the line could be hand ed over o metro, and they will run their own tests, and if all goes well, it is a matter of picking a day to open up the silver line. right now, a fix is under way to bring down the noise level on some of the busy virginia streets. >> and vdot is testing ott some quiet technology. we have adam tuss in herndon to show us how it works and it

doesn't. >> that is right, wendy. this is right here not the quiet pavement, but a stretch that has the regular pavement in place, but when you see the new pavement, stand next to it and listen to the cars traveling on it, it is amazing, but we found out that the new pavement has trouble when the weather gets really cold. >> reporter: take a listen and judge for yourself, quiet pavement, regular pavement. quiet pavement. regular pavement. one more time. quiet pavement. regular pavement. and the difference of the noise level is remarkable. and the reason why the quiet pavement is so quiet is because it is made up of different materials, and more porous, and it simply absorbs the sound instead of kicking it back. sounds great, right? if it were running next to your house? >> i would like it. >> reporter: if it made your house quieter? >> it would be nice.

>> reporter: but it turns out that the pavement has some trouble in the cold weather, and vdot has had to sand the quiet pavement much more than regular, because the water can get into the cracks and the crevices and freeze easier, and in the winter, it has acted more like ramps, and overpasses, and what is important the quiet or the reliability? >> well, if you are going to put it that way, it has to be the reliability. >> reporter: now this pavement is not widespread in northern virginia, but along a few short sections, and vdot says it performs well when it rains, because water washes away. back here now live along the fairfax county parkway, and vdot says that some of the quiet pavement is going to be ripped out. if it is in your neighborhood, you can find out about that in the next hour at 6:00. reporting live in herndon, adam

tuss. >> and let's check in with doug. does it really get cold here, doug? >> well, all right. it is cold for sure, wendy, over the past not only couple of days, but the past couple of weeks, and we have been in the thick of winter so far, and it looks like it is going to contin continue, and i love the site out there at herndon with adam. and sitting at 41 right now in the washington, d.c. metro area, and now out there sonia, you are at 36, and christina in fredericksburg is coming in at that mark. and we are going to start here at 37, and going down to 35 at 9:00 p.m. p, and if you have plans this evening, pretty good on the radar. no storms to talk about. the storm team 4 radar is quiet. nothing going on to the south and the east, but here is the next storm system to affect us tomorrow. bringing more snow to dallas, texas. they are getting hit pretty hard

and this is going to move frup arkansas and to our region tomorrow, and that is why we have the chance of light snow. 32 in martinsburg, and 40 near martinsburg and this is where we could see a dusting of a couple of inches in this area here near warrenton. these are the high temperatures, and belvar coming in at 32. this is not a big storm at all, but something to watch out for, and as we mentioned earlier, it is the pretty snow that we see. 60% chance of seeing snow tomorrow, and then monday another storm will move in with temperatures in the upper 30s, and cold tuesday with the high of 34. then we will get into the unsettled pattern again, and this is an area that we will be watching closely, and watching closely, of course, could be another coastal storm, and right now, rain or snow possible, and still way too early to worry about this one though. guys? >> we have breaking news right now from the state department.

the u.s. government has just issued a travel alert for all americans going to russia. that alert says that the olympics present an attractive target for terrorists as has been widely reported, as you know. no liquids have been allowed on the flights inside of russia, and just yesterday the tsa here put similar restrictions on the direct flights from the u.s. to russia. >> and we want to update you on the irs scam hitting the d.c. area. loudoun county officials say that they are using a new technique called caller i.d. spoofing. making it look like a call is coming from the local number, and in the case, the loudoun county sheriff's office. they claim to be collecting back taxes or fines and threatening to arrest you. and if you think that you have been targeted by this, call the police and the federal trade commission. we all want to know the answer to this question, will the government reimburse you for

pothole damage to your car? and what happens to all of the pre-printed super bowl gear that says that the broncos won the super bowl? and how economical to turn down the temperature on your water heater? well, it is a long week, but it is friday, folks. so let's "ask liz." >> thank you, wendy. >> and our first question from bob in mcclane. will a jurisdiction reimburse you for the pothole damage to the car. this is topical. >> well, it is topical, and we checked with maryland and virginia and d.c. says that you s simply file a claim with the city's office of risk management. in maryland, you file a claim with the state treasurer's office, and in virginia, you file a claim with the local v-dot offices. in all jurisdictions the claims are evaluated on a case-by--case basis, and if your car has serious damage, file an insurance claim in case you are

denied reimbursement from the state. >> who knew? >> well, no guarantee. >> and it might take a very long time. and the next question comes from william who sent is an e e-mail, and what do they do with the pre-printed gear made for the team who loses the super bowl, like the broncos. >> like the broncos, and what do they do with it? well, the humanitarian organization world vision helped us with this answer. for more than 15 years, the nfl has donated its preprinted championship merchandise bearing the name of the team that does not win the title to it, and they give it to world vision. world vision then identifies the countries in need overseas who will benefit from all of the gear, and the clothing is shipped to those communities in need. >> that is love ly. that is really lovely. okay. >> and they are wearing around saying that the broncos won. >> well, so they won somewhere. and now we want to know about the energy bills that we are getting sticker shock over. john wants to know if he will save money if he turns down the

water heater. >> the virginia department of mines and minerals gave us this answer and said that heating water in the average american home accounts for 20% of the energy consumption which can range from $250/year for households with natural gas to $450 for electric water heaters. to lower the cost, for each 10 degrees that you lower, you will save 3% to 5% on the energy bills and so if the water heater is set to 140 degrees fahrenheit, lowering it to 120, you could save up to 10% on the bill throughout the year, and john could save $45 by lowering the heater by 10 degrees. so if you have more questions, you can send it to me on liz crenshaw@nbcwashington.com. >> any chocolates left over from

yesterday? >> no, i do not. >> save some more me. >> and now we have information showing that the graduation rate is up, and the dropout rate is down. tr tracee wilkins has a breakdown of the numbers and why one school is seeing a tremendous gain. >> i think that with him, it is about getting him refocused. >> in this meeting the principal and her staff are taking a hard look at each ninth grader. >> so we have to get his mom involved, too. >> yes. >> reporter: they are looking at who needs the most help to guarantee they graduate in four years. >> we are looking at the attendance, ap what is happening here, and why aren't they getting them to school, and once we get them to school what is going on with the individual classes. >> reporter: it is working. last year they had a 9% inkrecre in the graduating class, and also increases county-wide. according to the maryland p department of education, prince

george's county public schools are rising, up 1.25%, and now 74% of the seniors are graduating. limited english speaking students are up 5%, and hispanic and latino students are up 5%. part of what is making this work is the data. this is the early warning system. this is a list of the ninth graders who attend the school, and the most important color is r red. these are the students with specific issues that could keep them from graduating, and the administrators start to focus on thw. >> we get the testing koord coordinator the work with them, and the teachers in the planning period to work with the students, and we have all bought into it, because we want the best for our kids. >> reporter: and the county experienced a lower dropout rate last year down one percent, and now 18% of the students are not finishing school, and that is something that the principal holden is fighting against. >> when they come in here, i'm

the parent, and they are my kids, and we have to figure out what to do to get here. >> reporter: and with this increase in the graduation rate and decrease of the dropout rate, even though it is slight, it is an improvement. tracee wilkins news4. it has been 50 years since the british invasion, and we will talk to the deejay who helped to propel the fab four to stard stardom. i'm in an area where another murder has residents on edge. coming

a school offers fried chicken and watermelon for a black history luncheon and that is one of the top stories trending, and a school is the all-girls private academy in san francisco. the school officials apologize and the menu came down and the idea came from the students who had to attend now a diversity assembly to understand racial stereotypes. it looks like goodwill is taking a stance against the anti-gay laws, and the home page has been changed for the olympics, and now it is athletes over the rainbow flag, and under the doodle, there is a saying that says every individual must have the possibility of pr practicing sport without discrimination of any kind. when jay leno took over the "tonight show" it was 1992, and he had dark hair, and bill

clinton was going after the white house challenging the first president bush. >> that is right. last night more than 14.5 million people watch leno bid them an emotional farewell. >> this has been the greatest 22 years of my life. >> the one and only carol burnett. >> comedian billy crystal was the first guest ever, and he returned last night, and oprah winfrey appeared, and president obama sent a best wishes videotaped message. and we will have the "tonight show" returning february 17th with jimmy fallon. and 50 years ago, the fab four appeared to perform on the ed sullivan show. >> and then they appeared in their first con is sert ev-- concert here in washington. >> and we talked to two women who attended those two events.

>> they were always coming from left field. >> reporter: over the course of three days in february of 1964, betty james duke got the hang out with the beatles. >> they would do something fairly irreverent, and the four of them would break into gales of laughter. >> reporter: and her husband was the late carroll james who was the first deejay in america to play the beatles on the radio. after seeing a story about them on the news, she asked if the british office could can help send them over. >> she had a buddy who was a pilot, and the pilot picked it up in london and flew it over here. >> reporter: and rather than just play the song, james decided to pick a letter from one of the many letters to request to play the song, and so he did. >> it was from a young lady marcia albert. >> marcia, the microphone is yours.

>> ladies and gentlemen, for the first time on the air in the united states here are the beatles singing "i want to hold your hand." >> reporter: then james wrote to the embassy, and he introduced the band and then after the concert, he was off to the british embassy. >> and things were going rather smoothly, and then somebody decided that she would get a souvenir which was a lock of john lennon's hair. which precipitated some unpleasantness. >> reporter: duke teaches at the university of maryland today, and she said that spending time with the beatles in the early days of the fame was something she will never forget. >> they had not become jaded to it yet, and they were just having a great time. >> reporter: in chevy chase, mark segraves for news4. and the coverage of the beatle mania, the 50th

anniversary continues on nbcwashington.com, and we have posted video and even more photos. right now at 6:00, a man is in custody after he tried to hijack an airplane and take it to sochi. we will hear from the passengers. and an olympic glitch. russia kicking off the opening ceremony with a lighting nis mistake, but it cannot dim the excitement of the winter games. and police continue the search for a gunman who shot and killed a well known music teacher in alexandria. >> i'm wendy rieger sitting in for doreen gentzler. >> and i'm jim vance, and that man is in custody. they say that he made a bomb threat and demanded that the flight be diverted to sochi, russia. >> and this all unfolded as the winter games were happening in russia. >> and chris lawrence is here with the latest. >> well, guys, the bottom line, and most importantly, everybody is safe. the suspect was sitting near the front of the pegasus airplane on

the way to turkey. he then said he had a bomb, and demanded that it be diverted to sochi, russia, and the pilots said they would, but then they turned off the in-flight maps and went to turkey. then they triggered an alarm about a hijacking, and then they were landed at istanbul followed by a fighter jet, and then the man was taken into custody, a all of the pas is ep jers are safe -- passengers. we have the first pictures of the suspect, and we don't know a lot about him, but this is the first look and pictures of him as he is apparently handcuffed and restrained by some of the authorities there at the airport in istanbul, and the authorities want to make it clear, there was never any explosive device and he was acting alone, and pete williams of nbc also reports they don't believe he had any connection to the