it's the last day of the month and the coldest day of the month, too. coming up, we'll tell you why you should not be fooled by the milder weekend ahead. winter is not done with us yet. plus ukraine's fugitive president speaking out for the first time since fleeing the country. his vow to fight on. and police back out this morning where a teen was shot and killed. there have already been 21 homicides in the city this year. coming up, a look at how that number compared with this time last year. and good morning, it's barbara harrison, it's friday, february

28, 2014. the d.c. area has seen remarkably frigid areas. today the teens and single digits despite thesunshine. temperatures remain in the 20s. tom kierein joins us with good news on milder temperatures this weekend, but bad news about monday. >> a lot of us have cabin fever and want to get out and should be great for a weekend for outdoor activities on saturday and sunday, but today if you plan on heading out now, you'll be greeted by lots of sunshine. that is a live view from tower cam in northwest wateshington. camera showing beautiful sunshine. it is not warming us very much, though. temperatures right now are just in the teens to around 20 degrees. fredericksburg up to 24. that will be one of the warm spots for the afternoon. high temperatures there may make it up to near freezing. but right around washington, highs only reaching the upper

20s, highs farther nor and west this afternoon, only the low 20s. around the bay, bright spine there, but highs only around 30 degrees. a milder weekend is coming in. we'll look at that and a chance for snow on monday. that is coming up in just a couple of minutes. >> thank you, tom. new this morning, growing concern about gun violence in the district after two new homicide cases. someone shot the a woman to death on jay street in northeast right off kenworth avenue. just hours earlier, an 18-year-old was killed a haley tear r terrace from the bellevue area. what have you learned, richard? >> reporter: police were out here for 15 hours investigating the shooting. they say that teen was shot inside that apartment building. he came out, covered in flooblo. ultimately collapsed next to that red jaguar. and he was not the only person

in the district who was killed last night. d.c. whom cihomicide detectives around the clock, two killed just hours apart. the home wrapped in crime tape all night as police investigated next door. she says she's fed up. >> it's every day. we read the paper or listen to the tv, somebody's killing somebody for no reason at all. >> reporter: thursday night, a teenager became the 20th person killed in the district in 2014. then a few hours later, eight miles away, a woman was killed in another deadly shooting. the first responders rushed her to the hospital, but her injuries were too critical to survive. 21 homicides in two months. they were just 12 for the same time period last year. and 104 in all of 2013. it's a violent start marked by senseless shootings. >> just crazy. i don't know what to say. >> reporter: police are looking for answers in the latest homicides, but some people say there isn't a good explanation

for so much violence. >> shocking to me. very shocking. >> reporter: police officers still coming through the apartment building as they tip to investigate. now, francis bold p wes bolden d never seen the teen before and does not believe he lived here in the neighborhood where all the police activity has been taking place. richard jordan, news 4. and we went through the 2014 homicide records about th. out of the 21 cases so far this year, 13 happened in the 6th and 7th police districts. those cover some of northeast and the majority of southeast washington. and we're following a developing story in ukraine. ousted president viktor yanukovych is speaking out for the first time since he fled kiev. ukranian leaders are concerned russia's military may be poised to take over part of that country.

tracie potts has the latest from capitol hill. >> reporter: from russia in his first appearance since fleeing ukraine, viktor yanukovych called the new government i will legitimate, he says threats forced him out and he plans to return once it's safe. he blames pro fascist militants and quoting here, irresponsible western policies for the uprising which he calls anarchy yanukovych says he will not ask russia for help, but 150,000 russian troops, tanks, aircraft and ships are already at the border. training russia says. russia denies its military is taking over two airports in southern crimea. the u.s. is watching. >> i expect russia to be transparent about these activities. and i urge them not to take any steps that could be misinterpreted. or lead to miscalculation. >> so we will watch very carefully and very hopefully that russia will join us in the effort to help will shore up the

econo economy, hold the country together and provide a road forward. >> reporter: the new government is asking nato for help and may declare a state of emergency in crimea. a russian flag has been raised over the region's parliament building. the u.s. is backing the new government, but it's not clear who is in charge. trai tracie potts, nbc news, washington. vice president biden called ukraine's new prime minister this morning to pledge support as they prepare for elections in mail. and this morning we're getting you new details about an apartment fire in springfield. five people had to be taken to the hospital after a fire wrote out on the first floor of that building. it happened last late night in fairfax county. fire officials say the fire started from a cigarette. a majority of the people in the building have been displaced because of the damage there. chir

and another cigarette sparked a fire along indian lane. someone put a cigarette in a flower bed. everyone inside the house was able to get out okay. a firefighter twisted his knee. we're told the fire caused an estimated $200,000 in damage. some students in northern virginia may have access to more technology. next school year. arlington public schools have released the 2015 budget proposal. it includes funding to provide tablets to every second and sixth grader. the $539 million budget also devotes a 2% cost of living increase to employees, while at the same time, cutting 75 positions. and we have breaking news. a verdict is in in the trial of kerry kennedy who was charged with driving while impaired. our live desks that been monitoring a press conference and we'll bring us up-to-date in a bit. and we're also keeping a close eye on conditions in parts

of california today. where they could get the most rain they have gotten in two years. and a political announcement, the congressional spouse wants to take her husband's job. stay with us.

a jury found kerry kennedy not guilty of driving while impaired. it was a unanimous decision. she was accused of being impaired when she crashed into a rack to tractor trailer in 2010. she said she accidentally took a sleeping pill instead of thyroid medication. >> we need to take a hard look at our criminal justice system

in the united states to make sure that it really is just and that everyone in our country has true access to justice. >> kennedy said she's grateful for the verdict. she faced up to one year in jail. at the live desk. barbara. last year, thousands of you had to stay home without pay because of the government shutdown. well, this morning we're learn which go lawmakers stuck to a promise that about if you weren't being paid, then neither should they be. well, according to the "washington post," maryland congressman john delaney donated more than $7600 of his salary to the mercy health clinic. and mark warner gave about $7100 to the federal employee education and assistance fund. tim kaine asked to have his salary withheld. and maryland congressman declined his pay until furloughed workers were

compensated. virginia congressman did not say what they did with their funds. even with last year's shutdown, lawmakers did it a lot of traveling. and many of those trips were free. the "usa today" says members of congress took more than $3.7 million worth of free trips in 2013. it's the highest for privately funded travel in a decade. n nonprofit groups footed the bill for most of those trips. spouses and family members went along for the ride on almost half those trips. a congressional spouse wants to take her husband's job. mark murray is with us. welcome. >> good morning. >> we talked about this before. we speculated that john dingell's wife was probably going to run for his seat. let's hear her announcement today.

>> i've spent my entire career trying to make a difference outside of government. and now i want to bring that same commitment and experience to congress. >> john dingell is the longest serving member of congress right now. will it be easy to campaign fors will dingle? >> absolutely. and one thing that benefits her is that last name. i.d. matters so much. people have been used to casting a ballot for a dingell. this has been held in their name for 80 years. the father going back to the fdr administration. current congressman served from '55 until now. thousand wife d now wife debbie wants to take it over. >> so that will help her hurt her? >> on the good side, you have the great name i.d.. on the other hand, people might say it's time for a change.

washington is broken and it's time to throw them all out including the names that you've been familiar with for more than 80 years. >> a lot of people know mrs. dingell spent a lot of time promoting the democratic party of which she is a member. was that surprising at all to you? >> not surprising at all. will this is an overwhelmingly democratic seat in the detroit area. president obama got more than 60% of the vote in 2012 there. you want to say that you are a democrat in that kind of district often and loudly. >> this afternoon president obama is expected for give a speech to the democratic national committee where he will talk about the opportunity for all versus the republicans who support opportunity for a few he says. would you call this a strategy speech heading in to the midterms? >> it's similar a framing speech. i think he wants to emphasize the democrats running in 2014. it's the economy, stupid. halves something that came up when bill clinton was running in '92. president obama wants to say let's run on the economy and we'll make sure that people know that getting opportunity for all

is the most important thing. and then of course trying to knock the republican party down a couple pegs by saying they're not opportunity for all, only for some. and that's the argument he'll layout today in his speech. >> let's talk about the vice president and the fact that he doesn't seem to be getting a lot of attention for his possible bid for 2016. >> the big reason is hillary clinton. everyone wanting to see what she wants to do. and of course joe biden might say i'm kind of the rodney dangerfield here, i'm not getting any respect whatsoever. but it's because hillary clinton is such a big star. and also look at the changing democratic party. i'm not sure going forward in the next 20 years or so that we'll see a lot of presidential nominees from the presidential party that are white men. the democratic party is in a totally different direction and seems that they will be going for females or minority candidates going forward. >> all right. thank you. and for more from mark and the rest of the nbc news political team, check out first read on nbcnews.com.

and right now, as we from prepare for snow, californians are preparing for a second round of heavy rain. ? l.a. county, dozens of homes are being evacuated in case of mudslides there. neighbors are lining the streets with sand bags to prevent flooding. to the west in malibu, a nine mile section of the pacific coast highway has been shut down. heavy rain above the highway can lead to severe rock slides. scary out there. and we have something scary heading in our direction. >> there is a lot of cold fatigue. and surprisingly this february as we look back over the month as we say good-bye to february has only been about one degree colder than average surprisingly. >> that is surprising. >> and we've had a little over 11 inches of snow. of course much of the region farther west and north had a lot more snow.

here are the headlines. frigid friday, a mirld weaker ad snow chances monday. gorgeous blue sky over northwest washington. reagan national at 22 degrees. look at the due poicew point. incredibly dry. you dwefefinitely need the skin lotion and you need to layer up. upper teens to just near 20. northern virginia is just around 20 degrees. southern maryland, northern neck, eastern shore, too, just in the low 20s. now beginning to hit the mid defense in culpepper, fredericksburg, shenandoah valley. hagerstown only at 15. hour by hour today, it will stay below freezing. should make it in the upper 20s

by around 3:00, 4:00. lots of sun. the temperature will drop back tonight, but not terribly cold like this morning. it will be down in to the low 20s by midnight. and this morning, we had many locations down to single digits out at western maryland, it was below zero. the final day of february. hello march. saturday comes in with some milder temperatures, great weather for outdoor activities. highs reaching the mid-40s o this first day of march. and some of the daf dill sprouts are beginning to show up. first day of meteorological spring is tomorrow and it will feel a little like spring on sunday. afternoon highs should make it into the upper 40s. and morning temperatures should be in the low 30s. we'll have a little sun in the morning on sunday. by midafternoon, going cloudy when we'll have the mild air in. then as we see a low pressure system approaching us while it's still mild enough, it will be

rain after sunset into sunday night. and then colder air gets drawn into it changing the rain over to maybe rain and sleet and snow as low pressure tracks right south of us drawing in the cold air, cold enough for it to be mostly snow is the way it looks right now. just analyzing the very latest models just coming in. looks like a plowable snow coming in on monday. storm team 4 watching this closely. still too early to put out any estimates of totals expected. that to be followed by dry and cold weather returning on tuesday. and then wednesday, a bit milder. and finally the end of next week, a warming trend, highs reaching upper 40s on thursday. stay with storm team 4. doug and veronica and amelia will be watching it and giving you frequent updates.

>> okay, tom. we'll get ready for it. a big surprise for a local teacher today for a job well done. plus a look at just how raising be. and the best bet of who will take home a statue.

a public schoolteacher received a special award. megan mcgrath was at the ceremony and she's live at the secondary school where more. >> reporter: barbara, it was a lot of fun. the winner of this award had absolutely no idea what was about to happen. it was all a big secret. take a look.

>> elizabeth galenas! >> reporter: elizabeth was teary eyed. >> i never thought i was going to be a teacher and i've never been happier in my life. i've never worked harder in a career in my life, but i've never been happier. so i just can't believe it. it's amazing. no doubt some of my babies behind me. >> and she's like a second mom to me. i can tell her anything. and she's amazing. she does everything for us. she doesn't ask for anything in return. it was amazing to give her something back. >> how exciting. give her our congratulations. some soon to be parents can probably use a lesson in budgeting. a survey found parents with young children spend an average of $795 a month per child. 57% of people who expect to have children in the next five years think saving for child related

costs is important. but only 21% of those future parents have actually started saving. in news 4 your health this morning, watch out next time you're in the doctor's office. gerps cou germs could be lurking. researchers found one of the germiest spots is the stethoscope. researchers noted if a doctor forgets to disinfect stethoscopes between patients, it could be up to a month before the instrument is actually wiped down for germs. another germy spot, the doctor's actual hand. police are looking for the person who through rocks ew roc froe b ro bus. and how a pedicure for this man turned in to a long hospital stay. and plus beautiful blue skies out there right now. but still very cold. coming up, how much it will warm up for the weekend. st

new today, lawmakers mark 20 years since a landmark gun legislation became law. it was on this day back in 1994 the brady act went into effect. president clinton signed it into law. it was the first to require awaiting check and a background check for some buyers. it was named after brady shot during the assassination attempt of ronald reagan. >> it takes work. and it takes time. and it takes persistence. and with that, we will win again. >> after the shooting brady and his wife started the brady campaign to prevent gun violence. he and president reagawere among the four wounded in the march 1981 shooting.

the man who shot president reagan is about to experience more freedom. according to the "washington post," a federal judge has ruled john hinckley junior can spend up to 17 day as month with his mother. he will be allowed to drive as he is going to treatment, work or pre-approved activities. his lawyer says he is not a threat to the public. >> and metro police are looking over dash cam video from a metrobus attacked last night. according to officials, the w-2 bus was stopped in southeast washington when rocks were launched at the windshield. authorities hope to see something in the video that could lead them to the people responsible. and prepare to wait longer for metro train this weekend. track work will cause trains to run on delayed schedules on four out of five lines.

rains on the orange, blue and green lines will all running every 20 minutes. and trains on the red line will run every 10 to 16 minutes. the why he will low line will have normal service. >> by this summer, your trips on metro could get more expensive. aaron gilchrist has a look at a possible fare hike. >> we should find out next month whether metro will increase its fares. it just announced yet it plans to move forward with with a 3% to 4% hike. and we're breaking down just how much this increase might cost you. we did the math on a 4% jump in a round trip commute. we'll start with the busiest line. red line. with a trip from glenmont to metro center. right now it costs you 9. $70. after the hike, you would pay $10.09. we head over to prince georges county, take a look at a possible trip from new

carrollton to the pentagon, faeks. this morning you'll pay about $9.40. that will cost you $9.78 with that jump. plus parking going up, as well, 50 cents. and finally, we'll move into virginia, a trip from vienna to union station in the district. right now you'll pay $11.30 for that. but soon you may have to cough up $11.75. and that is not just -- this fare hike isn't something restricted just to the rails. metrobus and metro access also going to see the increases. head to nbcwashington.com and search metro trips for the breakdown. we have breaking news out of florida how. >> this is out of vieira, florida, outside of orlando. there are reports of a gunman outside the county courthouse and the building is on lockdown.

here is video from chopper. you can see there are police on the right happened sind side, g. they are surrounding this man. police have pot cnot confirmed that was the original begrinlor. everyone has been ordered to stay inside the courthouse while they're on lockdown. we're following this story from florida and we'll give you the latest here on news 4 and nbcwashington.com. and right now, temperatures remain in the 20s all around our area. let's check in again with tom kierein for the latest. he's outside experiencing that cold for himself. >> i can't believe it's the last day of february and feeling more like january or middle of winter. here we are approaching spring, the first day of meteorological spring is tomorrow, but it's still just around 20 degrees.

we have temperatures just right around 20 degrees most of the region. and we'll just barely make it into the mid to upper 20s for highs by later this afternoon. and we'll have a light wind. and then some clouds rolling in tonight, not as cold tomorrow morning, down near 20. and then highs on saturday into the mid-40s. and partly sunny. this weekend, upper for the to near 50 on sunday with increasing clouds. then sunday night after sunset, we'll likely get rain moving in, and then around dawn or pre-dawn monday, that rain changes over to snow and some sleet. and perhaps some icing, but it's increasingly looking like it will be mostly snow during the day on monday. could get a significant

accumulation. and after that, another cold blast tuesday and wednesday, a bit warmer by the end of the week. stay with storm team 4, we'll let yyou know what is going on, keeping you updated and getting a closer look with our first estimations of snow totals expected monday. >> sounds like it will be a record year, tom. we'll see you in here shortly. right now family and friends are getting ready to say good-bye to naval academy midshipman killed in a car accident. the naval academy hosts the funeral at noon for max allen. allen crashed his car into a creek on the academy grounds earlier this month. he was scheduled to graduate this may. allen will be remembered at the funeral at the main chapel before a procession and bear ye bear yell. a defective door might be to blame for an emergency landing at dulles. gas station

and mini-mart there now. the design mockup shows a building which would fit the pe feel of georgetown. >> as far as et threesthetics g the building, a nice season wall, make sure it fits properly in the area. >> some people who live near the site are pushing back saying the proposed building would block their view of the potomac. right now maryland law makers are weighing a proposed law that could protect trance gone der people from discrimination. state senators in annapolis are scheduled to vote on the bill today. the statehouse is considering a similar bill up for consideration sometime next week. relaxing day at the nail salon turns into a nightmare for one d.c. man because he contracted an infection that nearly killed him. he shared his sto market.

>> zohydro is only intended to people with severe pain. it's scheduled to hit the market next month. having a baby is challenging enough, but imagine you have to return to a job where you're required to be back in shape just six months later. well, many women in our area do just that thanks to a program that has helped army moms get mission ready. angie goff has more. >> i used to be able to do 42 pushups inwo minutes, 70 sit ups, and run a 17 flat two mile. >> reporter: and in one month, this specialist is expected to do it again. five months after having her first son. >> it takes a while to get your endurance. i'm building it back up slowly, but it does take time. >> reporter: any woman who has given birth knows how tough it can be to bounce back. and here in the and he wermy, t ability is put to the that,

4:5 odds. jarrett leto for dallas buyers club. and some of you are saying best actor is too close to call. >> people are saying this is the number one best actor lineup in years or ever. >> right now matthew mccon that i mcconaughey is predicted 2:1. dicaprio is favored 5:1. so sounds like they are betting on him. just ahead of the oscar, the white house is rolling out the red carpet today for a film festival. this afternoon, president obama will recognize best for nearly 2500 films submitted by students on the role technology plays in their education. so good luck to all of them. in about 24 hour, the idatirod will begin in atlas came. it faces challenges this year