grab your winter coat, the hat, the scarf, the gloves, everything. that arctic blast is here. >> storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will tell us how long these cold temperatures will last. we're also keeping a close eye on the roads. wow it is brutal out there. good morning and welcome to "news 4 today" on this sunday. i'm adam tuss. >> i'm angie goff. we want to get straight to chuck on this. stuff is blowing sideways last night, chuck. everyone talking about it. >> it sure was. as advertised old man winter came and landed on us with both feet last night, cranked out a quick one to in some places two to three inches of snow and then a flash freeze across the area.

temperatures plummeted from 45 degrees at 6:00 last night to 18 degrees before midnight. so an enormous drop in temperatures. these are the current wind gusts. winds are still gusting between 30 and 40 miles per hour right now. so damaging winds are a real issue here trees and branches are down all over the area and there are scattered power outages first thing this morning. actual air temperatures are in the single digits to around 12 degrees. factor in that crazy wind and windchills are running 10 to 20 below zero. if you're outside, don't expect any improvement today. temperatures will struggle to get near 20 degrees for a high temperature this afternoon. these winds are going know where between fou and sundown tonight. when i see you next, we'll tell you how long the cold sticks around. it's not just the air that's cold and icy out there. roads, walkways, roofs and power

lines are in dangerous shape. pepco working to restore power to 12,000 customers. dominion virginia and bge dealing with outages. double check you're not parking on a restricted route. in d.c. the department of human services activated the hypothermia hotline to make sure no one is stranded in the cold. overnight d.c. said it deployed its full snow team yesterday afternoon. we sent crews out to watch the worst of it as it came in. take a loochblth you can see squalls smothering roadways and cars right here, just slowing down in the weather. we talked to several people who were outside. not everyone was ready for this. >> were you prepared? >> no. >> and why not? >> i didn't believe it when the sun came out this afternoon. >> you didn't think it was going to be so bad? >> no. i thought it was another

overreaction. >> the sun can be deceiving sometimes. we want to see your pictures, of course, on the storm like this one sent of a bus in a ditch in rockville. sent pictures to ic@nbcwashington.com or reach out on the nbc washington twitter and facebook pages. >> all amtrak down easter service between boston and brunswick, maine, is canceled today. that means you won't be able to take a train from d.c.'s union station to boston's north station. service between washington and new york is running but there could be delays. you could see lines at the airports today, too, because of weather. right now 60 flights canceled out of reagan national, six delayed at bwi 34 canceled two delays. dulles is reporting 26 canceled flights this morning and one delay. >> we have sunday delays and cancellations from the snow and frigid weather to pass along. you may have to push back your workout as all ymca's in d.c.,

maryland and virginia won't open until noon today. if you were planning on running in the george washington birthday 10k, that race is canceled. it could be worse. you could be in new england. there's no rest for snow weary new england as another storm system takes aim there. some parts of the region could see another two feet of snow this weekend. that's not the only concern. nbc's dan sheneman tells us how the temperatures are dropping dangerously low. >> reporter: the snow began falling saturday evening in new england, the start of what frosters say could be a historic winter storm for the region. earlier in the day trucks loaded up and headed out, position much needed sand and salt ahead of the storm as winter weary residents got ready for yet another round of mother nature's worst. the snow already caused major problems as the storm system moved eastward. >> it was a whiteout. you couldn't see nothing.

>> reporter: nearly two dozen vehicles crashed on indiana's i-69. near erie pennsylvania 107-car pileup along i-90. fortunately no one was seriously hurt. forecasters say the storm's biggest punch will come sunday bringing dangerous blizzard conditions and extremely cold windchills to millions. >> i'm tired of wearing big puffer coats. >> reporter: from frigid new york to boston. >> i can't stress this enough. i'll say it again please stay off the roads late tonight and all day tomorrow. >> reporter: the chance at a record second blizzard in the same winter. >> i don't think anybody will be talking about the blizzard of '78 anymore. >> three consecutive snowstorms week after week after week. it's been a jab, jab, jab and now a right hook. >> reporter: a one, two, three and now fourth punch to the region. dan sheneman, nbc news. >> the beltway is back open this morning in montgomery county after a really bad crash. just after midnight several cars

come lieded on the beltway between river road and the i-270 spur in bethesda. take a look at some of the video we shot. several people had to be rescued from their cars. this one totally crushed. two ems workers were also hit by a car. they were trying to help the others. those workers were taken to the hospital. we've learned that they are in serious condition. montgomery county fire says at least six others were rushed to the hospital. they were badly hurt but no one was killed. no word on the the snow played a role in this crash. a baltimore police officer back home after being shot by a suspect during a chase. the suspect was killed in that thootout yesterday on 702 and hyde park road. police aren't releasing the suspect's name. we know he's a teenager from kentucky. the car he was driving was registered to a kentucky home where three people were found dead. baltimore county detectives are working with police in kentucky to find out what happened will and how it led to the shooting. today the fire season starts

in virginia va. if you haven't heard of it before, it means you can't burn anything before 4:00 in the afternoon between now and the end of april. firefighters say it's among the most dangerous times to start a fire, with all the low humidity and gusty winds we're seeing outside. you've got a few hours left to sign up for health insurance through the affordable care act. today is the deadline. if you live in the district you can sign up through d.c. health link. we posted all the locations in our nx washington app. if you live in maryland, you can use the state's health care website. you may have had trouble signing up on healthcare.gov. it wouldn't allow people to verify their income electronically. that information is crucial because financial assistance is based on how much you make. the government says it has fixed the problem. we're looking at 6:07.

the latest winter weather moved in overnight. we'll look at the mess it's causing today. we want to take a live look outside, a weather alert day for you. boy, can we feel it. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with how long this kind of weather will last.

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some stairry moments for a prince george's county family when a tree came crashing into their house. look at some of the pictures of all the damage. last night's wind causing this to happen at a home in landover. most of the ceiling collapsed when the tree fell. take a look at the road and sidewalk in this video. this is h street northeast in the snoechlt in the time lapse you can see the sidewalk gets totally whited out. cars are still going by but no people we can see out there probably because it was freezing.

before long the road is kofd by the snow as well. we were talking about that chuck. that was wild how that all blew through. >> it was wild for sure. >> i was online on twitter as this was happening. i kept seeing people from all over the area, it's whiting out. it's a white-out condition. everything is blowing sideways, horizontally. it was scary. >> we talked about it yesterday on the morning show. you need to be expecting bursts of snow. that's exactly what happened. no doubt about it. it came in hard and fast and it's here to stay for a while everybody. the pattern is flipped. it is going to be bitterly cold around here, not just for today. there aren't any days out of the next seven to ten where we're likely to be warmer than average. if you have a heavy winter jacket you got for the holiday season, be using it a whole lot. what to expect for today, tonight and tomorrow, dangerous wind and windchills. that's the number one thing. you really need to take the wind and the cold seriously.

icy patches out there first thing the morning. most of the main areas are fine, but it really is essentially a flash freeze from yesterday. and we're still talking about a chance of breaking records around here as we get into tomorrow morning. it is a bone chilling 12 degrees outside right now. northwest winds averaging 22 but gusting to near 35 miles an hour. it's one below zero air temperature in thurmont, maryland. minus 8 in garrett county. most of the metro is in the mid to high single digits. hourly temperatures today, we'll recover a little bit but not much. we'll spend most of the morning in the teens. our forecasted high today hasn't changed, around 20 to 21 degrees in the washington area. that's it. that will be 24 degrees colder than average. windchills for now are running 10 to 20 degrees below zero.

that's not going to improve much during the course of the daylight hours. your hometown forecast for gaithersburg, maryland sunshine, winds gusting over 30 miles per hour with a high of 16 today. wake-up time tomorrow morning right around 2 above, but with a windchill of 15 below zero. a chance for snow showing up late in the day tomorrow into early tuesday morning. so much going on. be sure to have our storm team 4 weatherer app ready to go. winter storm warnings are posted across kentucky and tennessee. winter weather advisories to our north and our southwest. so i fully expect advisories to be issued for our area as yes get into tomorrow. wake-up temperatures tomorrow morning, generally in the single digits. our future weather cold and windy today with all the sunshine around. clouds come back in tonight and there's an increase sing likelihood of snow moving in after the sun goes down on

monday night. the cold sticks through the week nary a high temperature above 31 or 32 degrees. >> next up we have "reporter's notebook." >> back in 15 minutes. >> good morning. welcome to reporter"reporter's notebook" notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. we begin with ventilation in the tunnels, a major problem identified by the national transportation safety board probing the fatal smoke incident at l'enfant plaza. malfunctioning fans pulled the smoke towards the stalled train and then the train pulled the smoke inside. the ntsb is recommending all transit agencies test their ventilation systems. joe madison, what's your response to hear about the findings? >> my initial response is, one, i'm glad they're moving quickly on addressing this. two i still find it as i have in the past hard to believe that they didn't know these

problems existed and that because of budget restraints that it may have been something where they just pushed back. as always when you do that, it's a disaster waiting to happen. >> bremante, are you surprised that transit systems across the country need to check their ventilation systems? >> i think that's what jerry connolly is saying the representative from virginia. he used the word stunning that metro has to be reminded that you should know about your ventilation procedures. there's certain things that metro, the second largest subway system in the nation. i think for metro, that's the embarrassing part of it. to joe's point, you would think that they would know these things. i still think that in some ways we can say congress has done a lot, oversight committee has watched this. some could say they're being very reactive to this, also. that if they're the oversight committee, are these things they should have seen ahead of time,

checking with metro, following up on these things not necessarily after a tragedy has happened. >> dave mcconnell, what are they saying about this on capitol hill? >> they would say and are saying, look we've been on their back sides for years now. senator mikulski especially, demanding reports, getting reviews being told in print documented that things are going better. now they've learned things aren't getting better. their concern is there's simply not a culture of responsibility, not a culture of safety and people aren't telling other people what to do they aren't being properly programmed or managed and it's endemic. >> there's also this thing, and i believe it was eleanor holmes knorr ton who said on this station there's a need for $16 billion that needs to come from congress nationwide, or was it just this system? it was a tremendous amount of money that needs -- i think it was nationwide $16 billion to be allocated for all of this.

>> does this also mean, if we follow your omeone at metro needs to lose their job? if this has been talked about, if they've been reminded of this, because we don't hear much about this, that there's executives at metro who should be put on the spot. >> i keep asking that question and they keep saying we're not there yet or words to that effect. >> you mentioned senator mikulski dave, she's calling on regional officials to require that all first responders be given emergency evacuation training on metro. right now training is not mandatory, there are practice drills between metro and local fire departmention, but those are voluntary. there are no uniform requirements. does that surprise you? >> yes. i think that's a surprise to everybody that this isn't mandatory. it certainly was a surprise to senator mikulski. we're looking at all the jurisdictions in the washington region, people can get training on how to deal with a metro accident or smoke inhalation system or whatever, but it's

voluntary. even though it's voluntary, a lot of volunteers aren't showing up. there's a real gap there and senator mikulski w completed. >> metro also told the news 4 i team that all local fire departments are supposed to get emergency training for the disabled. the i team couldn't find any record of that kind of training in the past two years. >> i think that speaks to what we're talking about something endemic where there aren't checks and balances here. is there some oversight within metro to say we're supposed to have this in place but we don't have it in place. i get back to the point that someone is going to have to be held accountable because the stories and reports are coming out. you don't see anything coming out of the reports about metro. >> get rid of the head, then get rid of the board because the board is the governance. they're supposed to do this. we live in the nation's capital. we're always dealing with the concern for terrorism, pat.

and this could be -- this just sends a signal that we're vulnerable out here. as a metro rider, i am very, very concerned. and quite honestly, i think the general public should be very angry and demand these things. >> i'm not hearing it's a problem at the top. i'm hearing it's lower level areas, there either isn't the emphasis on cohesion, on discipline that kind of thing, people telling people what to do as i just said before. it's just not getting through to these people. >> one thing that has happened which or mark sea graves broke on twitter tuesday night is d.c. mayor bowser has ordered the fire department to stop encrypting the radio transmissions. >> let's be honest that was a pretty easy call after seeing what happened and they couldn't communicate with each other. so really that's something that she should have done. i don't know how much more we

can say to that. i think if she hadn't done that, we would be why not. >> we encrypt the system for security purposes. if there's a concern about security, the argument could be made it should continue. stopping encryption critics could say could harm security. >> but at the same time what what happened was they couldn't talk to each other, so the fire people couldn't talk to the metro people, and we end up with one person dieing and lucky it wasn't more. i think you're right. i think it would have been a difficult decision not to do it. >> want to get your opinion about the whistle-blower trial. d.c. police chief cathy lanier says she's relieved by the verdict. cap ton hilton burton filed a civil suit against the department saying his demotion was retaliation for publicly disagreeing with the chief about police escort policy. lanier says he was demoted.

the jury ruled burton's testimony before the city council was not protected by whistle-blower laws. bremante, what did you think about the trial and about seeing d.c.'s police chief on the witness stand? >> obviously imaging is very important. she was on the stand for two days. once you're on the stand as a police chief, you don't know what's going to be asked of you. number one, it's never good when charlie sheen is in the mix when they're talking about your performance and what you're doing as police chief. what's interesting is the jury didn't take long to make the decision. they ruled burton was fired for -- not fired, but demoted for due cause. it is interesting there's a paper trail that shows his performance was not up to par, but this report came out a month after he spoke before the d.c. council saying the chief did know about these celebrity sort of tours, escorts.

i do think it makes it somewhat problematic for the chief to be put in that position even though she was exonerated by the jury. >> joe? >> i think it's very difficult to demote someone to the levels that he was demoted without having documentation. that's why i believe the jury came back first of all -- and i wasn't in the courtroom but i would imagine they came in with the documentation, here is his reviews. so therefore, we can prove this is not retaliation. >> the big question remains do the police in the capital of the united states give special treatment to celebrities. >> yes. >> give them special treatment. >> the chief says only if security is the issue. >> she says only if it's security. the question is what security? what were the security threats? charlie sheen is sure pleased. she's made a friend out of him. there's a lot of concern otherwise. >> got to take a break. we'll be right back.

beginning this fall montgomery county students will get a few e tra zs in the morning, the bell pushed back 20 minutes for middle and high school students, ten minutes for elementary students. everybody's school day will be 20 minutes longer. the vote comes after a spirited debate about this. joe it's left few satisfied. >> one of the reasons it's done to quickly, it doesn't cost any money to do this. >> that was one of the big issues. >> i'm going to have to invoke my former colleague, jerry phillips who was here for so many years. jerry hated this concept of get your kids go to sleep do we honestly think with this extra minute they're going to take advantage of it?

teenagers will probably still stay up late and the reality is i think the jury is still out on whether or not this will benefit or not benefit. >> many teachers agree with you. many parents do not. dave, what about the other big issues joe brings up transportation and cost. that was a factor in the school board making the decision. >> it's not a factor for them, they quickly changed time. >> what i mean by that is the proposal, for example, joshua starr suggested that schools initially start much later, but that would have been much more costly. >> cost was the big factor, but the big parent seems to think or somebody seems to think it's better to late the children sleep later and they'll do better in school. i will now invoke my colleague chris core, core values. knowing teenagers they'll stay up late, they won't study anymore. why are we doing it?

>> bremante the teachers who don't like this at all have their own schedules to deal with. there are also issues like child care, after school jobs and extracurricular activities. all of that is impacted by the time the buses are rolling in and out. >> i think this 20-minute thing was a compromise. they wanted school to start later. >> at 8:30. >> but that would have been a $21 million hit, and the new governor of maryland is already talking about cutting school spending so that was an issue. but in terms of the teachers and the parents on the side of the parents who wanted it longer than 20 minutes, we've talked about this. starr is on the way out. you had some parents saying, listen, there are school board elections coming up. and there's going to be a price to pay. this is how serious this issue is for some parents in the county in terms of wanting it longer than 20 minutes. so 20 minutes, you save money, but you're not giving either side enough. >> moving to the governor of maryland, larry hogan in annapolis wants to kill the rain

tax, the fee local jurisdictions can charge to fund after a cleanup. a "washington post" university of maryland poll shows 65% of residents want this tax cut. while the state senate appears to be going along with the governor's idea, there could be a big brick in the way in annapolis. bremante? >> we're talking about maybe $50, $60 a year on your tax bill. it's not that much we're talking about individually. for larry hogan, it's an easy fight for him to win. he's talking about getting rid of a tax. who doesn't want to see their tax bill go lower even if it's not that much? he's his side saying i'm for this. really it is more symbolic because you had a judge that said for the ten counties it was optional anyway ten out of 24. that's less than half, joe, where it's required. >> yes, but if we remember, this rain tax is a misnomer. this is about runoff, this is

about pesticides running into the bay area and impacting this important fishing industry that we have. so i don't think it's going to be as ease zir because i think when we start talking about maryland crabs and the seafood that is so important to this area and if we start seeing that being impactedcsrtñ negatively there may very well be a bigger fight than he expects. >> environment is not ranking high. jobs and the economy are the big things. the environment was big years ago but it's gone down and it's refleshlthed in how they feel about this rain tax. environmentalists won't like it. i think that will probably be something they'll use as an argument to make the governor go back. >> in virginia, the house and senate passed bills policing gift-giving and travel. advocates for good government say, hey what about redistricting? what about that. house speaker howell has intervened in a federal lawsuit that alleges districts were gerrymandered to dilute --

>> you've got this trial. this goes bark to what dave has always said to us. it's so easy in virginia. that's why i think the former governor thought he was going to get off. redistricting is a very difficult question to resolve. and i think the issue is, this attempt to try to create a district while the majority of african-americans are in one particular district and trying to keep it from being a purple state. bottom line is you've got to get a lot of professors involved, a lot of lawyers involved. i'm eat not surprised they didn't take it up. >> quickly, bremante? >> we saw this in maryland. i think it's interesting to see the opposite of what's going on here in virginia. >> the party in power tries to kavr out something for the opposition and something for minorities. both sides try for minorities. they say if we have a solid district that's lengths african-americans, that's something that's good. you can take it home to the

bank let's not mess around with it. it's an argument but it has critics. >> thank you, gentlemen. and thank you i'm pat lawson muse. "news 4 today" continues. the bitter cold is here. hold on to your hat. the winds are blowing. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell has what you need to know before you head out the door. first off, a very good morning to you, welcome to "news 4 today," i'm angie goff. >> i'm adam tuss. today is srngs february 15. as chuck likes to say, rocks in your pockets. this is a weather alert day right, chuck? >> how about boulders in there. it's going to be really windy outside for the remainder of the morning. winds will ease up just a little bit later this afternoon. it is a werth alert day for sure. you need to be fully prepared before you even step out the door this morning. the winds are howling.

high wind warnings, windchill advisories, everything they can throw at us from an advisory is already up. winds are currently gusting between 30 and 40 miles per hour which has windchills running 10 to 20 below zero. what to wear today if you've got it, put it on everybody. hat, scarf, gloves long johns, whatever you have. it's going to be dangerously cold to be outside. actual temperatures are from the single digits to around 12 degrees. highs today only mid to upper teens for montgomery county, near 20 around town. more winter to come. wait till you see the seven-day forecast. stay with us. >> not sure if i want to chuck. thanks. the winter weather could be to blame for a dangerous situation in northwest d.c. take a look at this. the scaffolding that fell off a building in northwest. the building was under construction. you can see ha the sheeting just flapping there right in the wind. thankfully nobody was hurt. all am trach service between

boston and brunswick maine is canceled because of heavy snow. that meansout won't be able to take a train from d.c.'s union station to boston's north station. there are cancellations in the air as well. right now 60 flights delayed at reagan national, bwi, 34 flights canceled, at dulles 26 cancellations this morning. right now all ymcas in d.c., maryland and northern virginia aren't opening until noon. if you are planning to run in the george washington birthday 10k in alexandria, that race has been canceled. organizers say they plan to rescheduled ill sometime in the next few months. people are being asked to stay off the roads because of all the treacherous conditions. in indiana they're dealing with whiteout conditions. heavy snow, high winds causing a five-car crash. and slick roads caused even bigger pileups in pennsylvania. it involved more than 100 cars and trucks. no one, though, was seriously hurt. >> probably going to be a strange day at south view

community church in fairfax county after police found a man's body in the parking lot. loudoun county detectives say he killed himself yesterday after trying to murder his estranged wife in middleburg. they say the man lived in herndon. we're working the find out his name frmths it has been six long years without any answers for the family of a federal worker who vanished on valentine's day. no one has seen pamela butler since february 14, 2009, last seen going into her home in northwest d.c. no one ever saw her leave. yesterday her family and friends here gathered to say they haven't lost hope of figuring out what happened to pamela. >> six years we're still waiting and working, the police are working as hard as they can. it's just a hard case to crack but we're getting there. we're getting close. >> surveillance cameras recorded butler's boyfriend going into the house and leaving around the time she disappeared but he's never been charged with any

crime. prince george's county schools are closed tomorrow for presidents day. on tuesday, lots of students will be going to one school that's reversing its truancy rates. news 4's zachary kiesch tells us how the bond between students and teachers is making a difference. >> i can tell they care by the way they talk to me and encourage to me. >> ken yet that harrison is a junior at crossland high school teachers describe him as with limitless potential. >> i stopped coming. i was thinking about the present, not the future. >> reporter: when the principal took over last year, he was one of a needed help. >> when i came in, i was told we had high truancy rates and we definitely had to address that. >> reporter: she challenged her staff. >> i told my staff, find out what the story is. once you find out what the child's story is, you can help him. >> i found out personal issues about him and reasons he had given up. >> reporter: the task of reeling

him in fell on katrina anderson. they sat down, built a plan and they also built a bond. >> because ken yetity trusted me, he said he would come to school and basically see what happens. >> reporter: districtwide the truancy rate has improved from just under 3400 in 2012 to just under 3,000 last year. the largest gains came at crossland where they saw a drop from 179 in 2012 to 125 this year. this year they're on track to be in the 80s. >> the main thing i'm focused on right now is graduating. whatever i'm doing is positive, it's going to help me graduate that's always good, going to be a good thing. >> reporter: reporting in prince george's county zachary kiesch, news 4. today one north even virginia church is celebrating george washington's birthday with his personal bible. christ church in alexandria will have the bible on display at all their worship services today.

christ church was our president's first home parish. washington visited in 1793. the bible was given to the church as a gift in 1804. today the cold could chill out a lot of half naked runners in the cupid's undie run. if you're around at any time, you may see hundreds of people in just their underwear outside. that's a little crazy today. >> can't be safe. >> despite the weather we're having organizers say it takes, quote, an epic snowstorm for the event to be canceled. >> hard core. time right now is 6:37. >> 4% is not enough! >> 4% is not enough! >> why these people are rallying outside the national institutes of health. the news 4 i team goes under cover with a metro commuter using a wheelchair. we'll show you what it's really

like to ride metro while in a wheelchair. stay with us.

changes ahead could have a big impact on those who protect our country. >> joining us moderator of "meet the press" chuck todd. chuck, one of the things you'll talk about, department of homeland security up against the clock to keep it funding. here we go again with another funding situation. >> it's a political fight. the republicans, particularly house conservatives wanted to take a stand against the president and the executive action he took on immigration in general and the decision they made, they decided to use funding with homeland security as a way of trying to make a point here, but all of a sudden now, they can't get this bill through the senate. senate republicans are tossing it back to house republicans. they're fighting over how to go back after the president on the executive order here. and i think that the house republicans are madality senate republicans they won't hold the democrats accountable. i have a feeling the senate

republican leadership is trying to find a way out of this. they just don't know how yet. >> such an important agency. >> and that's it. you get caught up in the politics of security? forget it. if you're the party on the wrong side of that issue, democrats found out the hard way way back in 2002. i think republicans the find out the hard way if they're not careful. >> on the show you sit down with veterans affairs secretary, an agency he is leading that has been dealing with a lot of scandal a lot of criticism. we actually have a clip from your interview we want to play. >> we're making fundamental changes in the department in terms of leadership. we have -- we've held accountable about 900 employees who are no longer with us who were with us before i became secretary. >> what's held accountable mean? have you fired them? >> 900 people have been fired since i became secretary. >> a e real indicator changes are happening. >> basically coming in there

really sort of -- a former ceo, prak tore procter & gamble, he has the ceo feeling. he says he wants to bring business practices to the va. it's a motel mess. this is a guy who hands out his cell phone number to people, if you have problems, call me. when he left me he called me. he said if you see a veteran in trouble give him this number. he's trying to create this cents of urgent zee at the top. the question is whether it trickle down and will you see it all the way through the agency. that we don't know yet. >> we'll be watching, chuck. >> a reminder you can see "meet the press" every sunday right here on nbc4 after "news 4 today." >> 4% is not enough. >> 4% is not enough. >> our children are worth more -- >> they're saying 4% is not enough money for childhood cancer research.

>> using treatments that are 30, 40 years old. there's no new drugs developed. >> the national cancer institute invested nearly $190 million for pediatric cancer research in 2013. if you commute to work in the d.c. area you know how hard and aggravating that trip can be. >> definitely. for one d.c. woman, her short commute has turned into a lifetime battle. the news 4 i-team's tisha thompson has one woman's journey through metro. >> reporter: kelly mack is one of the most upbeat people you'll ever meet. >> pretty easygoing, pretty laid back. i have a pretty sunny disposition. >> reporter: but there's one thing that really gets her down. >> a lot of times i have to make my presence known. i have to ask for space, i have to say excuse me. >> reporter: balting rheumatoid arthritis since she was 2 years old, she can no longer walk and uses a wheelchair to get around. >> everyone is stressed they're rushing to commute.

i think really a lot of people really haven't given a thought about how difficult it might be for people with disabilities to actually use metro. >> reporter: kelly contacted the news 4 i-team to help her show you what she and many others like her go through every day. we hooked her chair up with cameras and followed her as she navigated a maze of elevators. >> sometimes i hear people grumble when i'm getting on first, and they feel like they've been waiting. i say, you know, this is the only way i can take metro. i don't have a choice. i cannot use the escalator. >> reporter: at the woodley park metro station, we watched as she tried to get to the front of the line, only to be cut off by a stroller. sometimes she says people won't even let her on, won't look her in the face as they leave her behind as she caught in these pictures she started taking on her daily commute. >> that elevator was designed and put there for people with disabilities. >> reporter: dara baldwin with the national disability rights network says it's okay to use the elevator if you have a

stroller or luggage but if you see someone with a disability who can't use theesque later you need to let them board first. >> the fact that you have used up equipment that was specifically made for them to get around in, and you're taking it first before they are taking, that is what you're doing. you're taking away that person's civil, human and ada right by doing that. >> reporter: which is why when you get on a metro elevator. you will hear an announcement and see signs telling you to let people with disabilities and seniors board first. kelly says she needs to go in first to maneuver her chair so it will fit into metro's elevators. metro just launched a new campaign reminding riders to give priority to the disabled, elderly and pregnant riders. in a statement metro says because many disabilities are not visible, it's important you don't challenge the person asking to go first in line or to sit in that priority seat.

>> there are times when their train is so crowded i can't get on. there are times when it's very difficult for me to find the right spot to get on the train. >> excuse me. coming in. >> reporter: while there are days people hop off to let her in most days she feels like she has a piece of furniture. >> i've had people lean on my chair or rest their bag on me or my chair. it's kind of uncomfortable to say please don't lean on me, i'm a person. you have to laugh or otherwise you cry. >> reporter: which makes you realize as bad as your commute might be some days kelly's commute is challenging every day. >> everyone knows lich's got its challenges. we can treat each other a little bit better and think about each other. it's not that hard. >> reporter: something to think about from a lady determined not to let others get her down by preventing her from going up. at the farragut north metro

station, tisha thompson news 4 i-team. >> i like kelly's attitude there. coming up in the next hour, the news 4 i-team looks at what would happen to passengers like kelly if she got caught in an emergency on metro like the one that filled with smoke last month. if you have something to i-team should be looking into call 202-885-4444 or e-mail#h ñ s. a lot of people waking up wishing for the 40-degree temperatures. >> i have a tip for people. go inside. >> it was funny, one of our viewers is called inside my best coat. >> we always talk about it's going to be cold cold cold. take my word for it don't take my word for it. it's up to you. windchills nearing 20 below zero right now. that's plenty cold. it's dangerous. if you have outdoor pets, this is the time to bring them inside

or make sure they have extra shelter out there. even outdoor pets used to our climate are not used to this climate. outside we go, it's a cold start. if you have pictures of iciness first thing this morning, send it to me. here there is my social media address on instagram 4cast4u. there are a lot of spots with glare ice on them first thing this morning. i would describe what happened last night as a flash freeze. we had just late snow. before anyone knew anything, temperatures were down below 20 degrees. a high impact today rare to see a sunshine where a high impact weather day, but dangerously cold outside. really, if you don't have to be outside, don't bother going out. it's only 12 degrees at national airport. that's one of the warm spots. dangerously cold and windy all through morning. winds are still gusting between 30 and 40 miles per hour. actual air temperature now is two below zero in thurmont

maryland, 8ality dulles, 9 leesburg, 13 quantico and fredricksburg. these are the windchill forecasts. through the rest of the day, windchills 10 to 20 below now, will only rise to around zero during the peak of the afternoon heating. plan on subzero windchills all day. so much going on. have our storm team 4 weather app in the pam palm of your hand today. we or not done with winter advisories to our north. more importantly look at the winter storm warnings across kentucky tennessee and arkansas. i fully expect we'll have some form of winter weather advisory for here go into effect for monday night into tuesday as an increasing chance of snow is on the way. wake-up temperatures tomorrow morning will only be in the single digits. future weather carries the wind and the cold and the sun through here for today. watch what happens tomorrow. a dry and sunny start, clouds in by afternoon. here is 7:00 tomorrow night and a lot of computer models trying

to crank in some snow for the overnight hours monday night into tuesday morning. could be an accumulating snow. so kids may have an extra day off from school on tuesday. here is the seven-day forecast. don't be fooled by 21 today it will barely feel above zero. record lows tomorrow morning, chance of snow monday night into tuesday, staying cold wednesday and another shot of arctic air comes in wednesday night into thursday, down near nine or ten friday morning and another chance of winter weather next weekend. >> oh, wow. no relief in sight in the near future. >> it's spring in siberia. >> thanks chuck. coming up how the capitals' alex ovechkin is making a difference off the ice. >> you're watching "news 4 today."

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alex ovechkin scored his 34th goal of the season against the kings last night but the

caps came away with a loss. no matter what ovechkin does on the ice, he's definitely winning off of it. >> this week ovechkin gave a big assist to a local youth hockey program. jason pugh has the story. >> reporter: alex ovechkin finally received the car he's been begging for. >> i'm very happy to be in this position to help the kids and help everybody to be happy and put smile on the face. >> reporter: he and honda presented the car to the american special hockey association a program for children with developmental disabilities. they'll ralph the car off, raising money for the program. >> what are you doing? >> they learn life skills through the game that translate to everyday life for them. they feel accepted. they're part of a team. they have friends. it really open it is door for hem. >> reporter: the caps first hosted kids a few months ago. it was there where evey

developed a relationship with 10-year-old ann schaub. >> alex ovechkin is my boyfriend. i call him baby. >> reporter: you went on to get sushi with him? >> yeah. >> we were so grateful for that piece of alex's time to have him come out and coach our kids on the ice was so special for them. that alone would be something we would remember for the rest of our lives, so for it to turn into this is again it's unbelievable. >> reporter: we've posted great pictures from this event in our nbc washington app. jason pugh news 4 sports. >> love it. all weekend we're celebrating 40 years of "saturday night live." the fun starts tonight at 7:00 p.m. with the "snl" red carpet special. then at 8:00, the anniversary extravaganza will feature 3 1/2 hours of comedy. news 4 will air at 11:30.

use #snl-40. check out your favorite sketches over the years on our website. loren michaels says this is the biggest anniversary show. the list of names paul mccartney, kanye west, paul simon, emma stone, melissa mccarthy. j.t. and jimmy fallon going to reunite. it's going to be fun. >> a big show. much more on "news 4 today." >> including a look at your forecast with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell.

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the arctic blast is here. grab your winter weather gear before you head out the door. >> storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will tell us how long these cold temperatures will last, plus watch out for slick conditions. >> good morning to everyone out there. i'm angie goff. >> i'm adam tuss. welcome to "news 4 today" on this frigid sunday. the wind is howling out there. >> it is dangerously cold out there. we want to check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. >> hey, angie and adam. a cold start this morning. the winds continue to be dangerously gusty. that has windchills nearing in on 20 below zero. some of the coldest windchills we've seen in more than a year. right now a view from the tower camera looking northbound it's shaking out there in the screaming north wind.

winds gusting to 37 miles an hour at national airport. current windchills running 10 to almost 20 below zero all over the region. here are the current wind gusts 34-mile-per-hour gusts in hagerstown, near 40 miles per hour towards fredricksburg. the damaging wind threat is real. trees and branches are down all over the area. there are scattered power outages as well. keep that in mind if you're driving around today. there could be branches and stuff down on some of the local roads. metro temperatures now 3 in gaithersburg. best way to stay safe is to stay inside and stay warm today, dangerously cold if you're outside. a snow threat by monday. more on that coming up. >> thanks. power outages piling up as you wake up to the winter weather. pepco dealing with more than 13,000 outages in our area. dominion virginia is working to restore more than 5,000 northern virginia customers this morning. if you're planning the step out the door, be careful around slick roads and sidewalks.

if you live in montgomery or prince george's counties careful where you park because there's a snow emergency right now. in d.c. the hypothermia hotline is active right now to make sure no one is stranded out in this cold. the city deployed its full snow team yesterday. take a look at this. you can see squalls smothered the roadways and cars having to slow down in all this weather. we did talk to several people who were outside. not everyone said they were ready. >> were you prepared? >> no. >> why not? >> i didn't believe it when the sun came out this afternoon. >> you didn't think it was going to be so bad? >> no. i thought it was another overreaction. >> we do want to see your picturespick. send your pictures to i see@nbcwashington.com. be sure to check before heading to catch your train.

all train service between boston and maine is canceled. you can't take a train from d.c.'s union station to boston's north station. service between washington and new york is running but there could be some delays. right now 60 flights are canceled out of reagan national. seven flights delayed there. at bwi, 34 flights are canceled. dulles reporting 26 canceled flights this morning and one delay. >> some sunday delays and cancellations because of the snow and frigid weather. you may have to push back that worthout as all ymcas don't plan to open until noon today. if you were planning to run in the george washington birthday 10k in alexandria, that race is canceled. organizers plan to reschedule sometime in the next few months. no rest for the snow weary in new england as another storm system takes aim there. some parts of the region could see another two feet of snow this weekend. that's not the only concern.

nbc's dan shenin men has more. >> reporter: the snow began falling saturday evening, just a start of what forecasters say could be a historic winter storm for the region. earlier in the day trucks loaded up and headed out to position much-needed sand and salt ahead of the storm as winter weary residents got ready for yet another round of mother nature's worst. >> hopefully this is the last storm for the year. >> reporter: the snow already caused major problems as the storm system moved eastward. >> it was a whiteout. you couldn't see nothing. >> reporter: nearly two dozen vehicles crashed on indiana's i 69. >> everybody got hit hard. >> reporter: and in pennsylvania, a 107-car pileup. fortunately no one was seriously hurt. forecasters say the storm's biggest punch will come sunday bringing extremely cold windchills to millions from frigid new york to boston. >> can't stress this enough. i'm going to say it again. please stay off the roads late

tonight and all day tomorrow. >> reporter: with a chance at a record second blizzard in the same winter. >> i don't think anybody is going to be talking about the blizzard of '78 anymore. it's now about 2015. >> three consecutive snowstorms week after week after week. it's been like a jab, jab, jab. now it's like the right hook. >> reporter: a one, two three and now fourth pun toch the region. dan shin men, nbc news. strong wind may have brought down a building in northeast d.c. police say this building was under construction. no one was hurt when part of it collapsed last night. weather was likely the reason it collapsed. we continue to follow a developing story in denmark. the gunman behind two shootings in copenhagen has been killed by police. two people were killed and five police officers were hurt. the cafe was hosting a controversial swedish artist who had been threatened with death

due to his cartoons of the prophet muhammad. take your time on the beltway if you're planning on driving there this morning. maryland state police says there's a lot of black ice. the inner loop is back open after a serious crash just after midnight. this was between river road and the i-270 spur in bethesda. take a look at the video. several people had to be rescued from their cars. two ems workers were hit by a car trying to rescue people. they were taken to the hospital in serious condition. montgomery county fire says at least six other people were rushed to the hospital with serious injuries. no one cuz killed. no word on the the snow played a role in the crash. >> you have a few hours left to sign up for health insurance through the affordable care act. today is the deadline. if you live in the district, you can sign up through d.c. health link. several churches around d.c. will be helping people sign up. if you live in maryland, you can use the state's health

connection website. virginians can use health care gov to sign up. you may have had trouble signing up on healthcare.gov yesterday, that's because there was a glitch. it wouldn't allow people to verify income electronically. this is important because that information is crucial because financial assistance is based on how much you make. the government says it has fixed the problem. the time right now looking at seven minutes after the 7:00 hour. one of the new roads in our area is making safety changes. miraculous recovery. what some say helped a man stay alive.

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some bridges in maryland are crumbling according to the maryland department of transportation. take a look at some of this video. this severalier this week. this car struck by some falling concrete. that was along suitland road.

that sparked dozens of new inspections. mdot says at least 17 bridges need to be repaired. right now five bridges are being worked on four in our area,. learning how to use the new electronic express lanes in northern virginia takes a little studying. now more changes are coming. but this time it's all about safety. >> take a ride through the springfield interchange with the 95 and 495 express lanes meet and you can see how there would be some confusion. roads crisscrossing everywhere. so now better direction. >> now a big sign that says entrance only, flashing beacons on the top of it to call to drivers that you're about to enter the 495 express lanes. >> reporter: the operator of the express lanes says extra state police are are being called in to monitor the shoulders.

some drivers have been waiting until the shoulders until the hov rules on 395 end and then jumping in those lanes. >> for drivers, remember it's unsafe, illegal only stop in the shoulder if it's an emergency and you have to do it. >> reporter: focusing on the 95 express lanes news 4 learned 95% of the traffic on the road has an ez pass, so that's good. the average toll has been $4.30. drivers we talked to certainly are using the new lanes. >> it takes me about ten minutes to get home as opposed to maybe an hour with traffic or bad weather. >> reporter: what about the thought of paying to get around traffic? you're okay with paying the get around the traffic? >> actually currently mom, i know this might be not the best time to find out if she does happen to watch the news, but it's still connected to her account. as of now she's paying and i'm reaping all the benefits. >> reporter: i'm sure she's happy you're getting home faster, grant. >> we also found out the average

weekday toll revenue on the road is about $103,000. the number of trips on the 95 express lanes just over 30000 per week day. the power of prayer. how a man says he recovered with some special help. >> chuck says bundle up? >> that's exactly right. if you own it, wear it today. it is dangerously cold this morning. this arctic blast is not just here for today it's here for a while. seven-day forecast just ahead.

today is a weather alert day. we're keeping an eye on the roads. here is a look from the maryland department of transportation. watch out for slick roads and sidewalks. coming up, storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will let us know how long this cold weather is going to stick around. >> some people including a doctor are calling it a miracle of a recovery when a prince george's county pass star came back from the brink of death. news 4's doreen gentzler tells us about a unique procedure that helped save his life. >> i try not to go back there a lot simply because i thought i was asleep for a night. and here it was three to four weeks later. >> reporter: when michael freeman, pastor of spirit of faith christian center awoke in his hospital bed, he says he had no idea he almost died. >> you can't of wake up and they

tell you you're in a different month, you're in a different hospital. >> reporter: what he thought was a common cold turned out to be an aggressive pneumonia that was attacking his lungs. doctors at their local hospital said there was nothing more they could do for him, but his wife dolores didn't give up. >> i was never frightened i was never worried i was never concerned. >> reporter: at the suggestion of a family member they reached out to med star washington hospital center where they have a program called ecmo short for extra corp real membrane oxygenation. it's used for patients whose hearts won't pump. some hospitals use it for patients like freeman whose lungs aren't working. >> in a situation like this, what the pump does is replaces the function of the lungs. >> reporter: ecmo works by withdrawing the patient's blood, pumping oxygen into it and returning it to the body.

in pastor freeman's case, it gives the lungs time to heal. >> once we decide to institute something like ecmo we know the risk of that patient dieing is around 50%. >> i didn't cry, didn't feel like crying didn't want to cry. i said, i don't have time to cry, i'm in a fight, a fight for life. >> reporter: pastor freeman stayed on the ecmo machine for three weeks. just when doctors were beginning to give up, his lunges started to heal. he was going to live. dr. molina says one remarkable thing about this case, even though the pastor was close to death, his family never doubted his survival. >> i personally truly believe that they must have an impact in the final outcome. >> he is where he is today because of the combination of care, with my faith and with the doctors. >> reporter: this is pastor freeman, the day he came back to his church surrounded by a

cheering congregation over come with emotion. though his lunges are still healing, he says this experience has made him feel morale live than ever. >> i'm getting better every day. any day above ground is a good day. i feel great to be alive. >> reporter: doreen gentzler, news 4. >> great story. dr. molina tells us most hospitals in our area don't have an ecmo program because it's complicated and requires a lot of training and experience. >> guess what? it's frigid outside, really cold. >> dangerously cold outside this morning. people who were somehowr

blanket and a space% heater. that's the kind of morning it is. about the only place that doesn't look cold, the moon. it's mild here by comparison. if you've got a great picture send it in instagram forecast for you on twitter @chuckbell4 and i'll share as many as i can. near record colds, records for tomorrow morning it's 5 at national airport. i don't know that we can get all the way down to 5 at national airport. but dulles international airport, the record is 11. that one is as good as dead in the water already. bwi march shel shall's record is 5. that one is in jeopardy. what to expect? dangerous windchills, windchills running 10 to 20 now, barely

above zero today. lots of icy flashes. that flash freeze has a lot of black ice out there so be real lir calf this morning. it dropped to 11 at national airport with a northwest wind averaging 29 miles an hour. single digits all over the metro area this morning. 9 in lorton, 9 in leesburg. 3 in gaithersburg. here is your windchill forecast for the rest of the day, windchills barely getting above zero. have your heaviest winter coat and spend as little time outside yesterday. it's not going to get any better any time soon. all the latest always available on our storm team 4 facebook page and our weather app as well. be advised, winter is not done with this yet. winter storm warnings across kentucky and tennessee. that's a storm that will primarily go to our south. it's got enough moisture and plenty of cold air in place. snow is likely. wake-up temperatures tomorrow morning, single digits across most of the area.

here is where my concerns comes in, after about lunchtime tomorrow, a cold start, 7:00 a.m., plenty of sunshine. by 7:00 tomorrow clouds in place. our computer models are trying to increase our snow chances. this is 2:00 a.m. tuesday morning. this is overnight monday night into tuesday morning. acquit hit of snow coming through here and there's a lot of disagreement about how much snow, but you do need to know we have all the cold air in place. the start will be real close. accumulations are looking possible to likely. the american computer model gives us three to six inches of snow. that's not my specific forecast but it's a possibility. you'll need to stay weather air wear for the next couple days. there's your seven-day forecast. it doesn't get any better any time soon. another shot of arctic wear on thursday and another chance for winter weather next weekend. >> we are not done. >> no, we are not. >> we're getting word some church services are canceled. we're posting all that information on our website

nbcwashington.com. >> you just feel for the people still without power. just got a tweet from one woman saying they're going on 12 hours in fairfax city. >> if your neighborhoods are out, if you know somebody has power, share the electricity, share the warmth. stay home with the lord this morning. >> he will forgive. >> pastor chuck has you covered. >> why couples won't forget the day they got married in the district. >> you're watching "news 4 today."

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the fire and rescue department in burke, virginia, is honoring black history month with a new plaque. you can see members of the department holding it up right there. it honors black civil war heroes including wood choppers who cut down thousands of acres of trees in burke to provide timber to the union's army and engineers. it was a special day for 14 lucky couples. d.c. courts opened up the doors for a special round of valentine's day weddings. >> getting married on valentine's day that's a surefire way to never forget your anniversary. >> we're gathered here today to join to this couple in legal honorable state of matrimony. >> reporter: it will be a wedding anniversary easy to

remember. >> take thee tiffany. >> take thee tiffany. >> reporter: this young smiling witness looking on with excitement. >> with this ring i thee wed. >> reporter: the d.c. superior court's marriage bureau opening its doors for a special saturday session. >> the staff came up with this idea and volunteered to come in of their own free will of a saturday morning that they didn't have to do and perform the weddings and help couples get their licenses. uz)m÷ great. >> i now pronounce you legally married. >> whoo hoo! >> reporter: back to mohammed and tiffany. >> i now pronounce you legally married. you may kiss your bride. >> reporter: that kiss followed by a family hug, sealed with the signature of their sweet witness. >> here you are. congratulations. >> reporter: the d.c. superior court's marriage bureau

processed more than 7500 marriage license applications in 2013. this is the first time they've ever opened the court for saturday weddings. i'm david culver, news 4. >> extra special for a lot of families out there. >> i like the whole not ever forgetting your anniversary. >> that's right. that's crucial. nice setup too. they did a good job. the time right now 7:27. >> we're checking out the storm damage from the strong winds in our region. >> plus the winter weather is causing treacherous driving conditions. we're going to show you the mess on the roadways. >> overnight a flash freeze settled into the area. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will tell us how long this cold is going to last. living with chronic migraine feels like each day is a game of chance. i wanted to put the odds in my favor. so my doctor told me about botox®

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we are waking up to bitter cold. here is a look at how cold it feels outside right now. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell has what you need to know before you head out your door. >> you are looking at the actual temperatures right there. good morning everybody and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm angie goff. >> i'm adam tuss. today is sunday, february 15. chuck, i'm not used to seeing a single digit on the weather button right there. >> 9, i know it. get used to it. it will be there again tomorrow morning. in fact, tomorrow morning it's probably going to be colder from an air temperature perspective but the winds won't be as extreme. the windchills won't be quite as low. here we go then for today it's indeed a cold one.

our tower cam shaking and smim manying and shaking in the winds. winds gusting to near 40 miles per hour at times. windchills are minus 10 to minus 20 degrees this morning. there you see the current wind gusts. 40-plus-mile-per-hour wind gusts across montgomery, fairfax and parts of prince william county. what to wear today? if you have it and it's warm everything you've got put it on today. temperatures in the single digits now will only recover a little bit today into the upper teens to near about 20 degrees. the cold is here to say. that means snow chances are on the up and up too. >> our director just says she watched the map drop from 9 to 8. >> back up to 9. >> let's keep it rising. the winter weather could be to blame. take a look. this is scaffolding that fell off a building at 9 and v streets northwest. the building was under

construction. you can see the sheeting is just flapping in the wind. nobody was hurt. all am trick service between boston and brunswick maine, is canceled because of the heavy snow. there are cancellations in the air wednesday well. right now 60 flights out of reagan national at bwi, 35 flights. dulles is reporting 26 cancellations so far this morning. >> your sunday workout could be delayed because of the weather. right now all ymcas in d.c., maryland and virginia aren't opening until noon. if you were planning on running in the george washington birthday 10k race in alexandria, that's been canceled. new this morning, cringe-worthy video from hours ago, a tree falling on this person's car in northeast d.c. this is during the high winds overnight. it's 16th street around rum street northeast. be sure to watch out where you park your car today. people are being asked to stay off the roads in several areas this weekend because of the treacherous conditions. this is a look at what's going

on in indiana. they are dealing with whiteout conditions, heavy snow. the high winds causing this five-car crash. slick roads caused an even bigger pileup in pennsylvania. we're talking 100 cars trucks. the good news is no one was seriously hurt. >> we know the name of a man killed in a shootout with police. according to investigator they called benjamin gwenn robbing a store on swan street northwest. according to police officer, gwenn shot at them before he killed himself a few blocks away. a maryland police officer is back home after being shot by a suspect during the chase. the suspect was killed in the shootout yesterday. this was on route 702 and hyde park road in essex, maryland. police are not releasing the suspect's name. we know he's a teenager from kentucky. the car the suspect was driving is registered to a kentucky home where three people were also

found dead. baltimore county detectives are working with police in kentucky to figure out what happened there and how it led to baltimore. this morning we or working to learn the name of a man after police found his body in the parking lot at the south view community church in herndon. loudoun county deputies say he may have killed himself there, 20 miles away from where he tried to kill his wife in middleburg. according to the share ref's office, the man shot his wife before she grabbed the gun, shot at him and he ran away. it's been six long years for a family of a woman who vanished on valentine's day. no one has seen pamela butler who was last seen going into her home in northwest d.c. yesterday her family and friends gathered here to say they haven't lost hope of figuring out what happened to pamela.

the time right now, we're looking at 7:34. surveillance cameras recorded butler's -- actually that's more on that story. we'll have more on this winter weather that's affecting our area coming up. stay with us.

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the spring fire season starts in virginia today. if you haven't heard of it before that means you can't burn anything before 4:00 in the afternoon between now and the end of april. firefighters say it's among the most dangerous times to start a fire with all the low humidity and gustya!c winds outside. fires are allowed after 4:00 as long as you don't walk away from them. butterfly lovers listen up. there's a major effort under way to save the monarch butterfly before it goes extinct. >> anne thompson tells us about

the special project in a first grade classroom. >> reporter: they are ready made for closeups, monarch butterfly butterflies whose cycle of life is taught to schoolchildren everywhere. in ms. corrigan's first grade class, the lessons go beyond learn sglg what happens to monarchs if they don't get the proper foote food? >> they'll die. >> that's pretty bad. >> reporter: so the students are growing their food, milk week to transplant outside in the spring. >> what does the milk weed do for the butterflies? >> to be strong and be healthy. >> reporter: using a grant from the national wildlife federation for supplies efforts like this are getting a big boost. working with the nwf, the u.s. fish and wildlife service will spend $2 million to restore and improve 200,000 acres of habitat for the butterflies and support 750 school projects.

>> at a time when i think folks are not convinced that big problems can be solved, this is something we can actually fix. >> reporter: since 1995 monarchs lost an area the size of texas in critical habitat. along their annual habitat from mexico to the necks khan border, numbers plummeting to 1 billion in 1996 to 30 million two years ago. >> this is common milk weed right here. >> reporter: last fall this biologist showed us the launching pad threatened by develop and agricultural practices. >> the answer is to use any kind of pesticide insecticides or herbicides judiciously. >> reporter: now by planting milk weed, everyone can help. >> what do you see in their eyes as you teach them about the monarchs? >> wonder and they're inquisitive. >> reporter: it's evident in the face of diane corrigan's students, anxious to help save the creatures that light up

their imaginations. anne thompson, nbc news, brooklyn. we have a flus 4 i-team investigation. we go under cover on the metro with a woman who uses a wheelchair to get around. we look at how she would escape during a metro emergency. >> now here's chuck. >> windchills still running 10 to 20 below zero first thing this morning. it's dangerously cold. make sure you're protecting people, pipes and pets for your sunday. we had a flash freeze overnight and the cold is here to stay. seven-day forecast coming up.

we have the "today" show coming up next on nbc4 starting at 8:00. >> let's get a preview. america hill and lester holt joining us live from new york. >> just ahead on sunday morning on "today," as you can imagine, our top story is the dangerous weather affecting such a large part of the country. nearly 100 million people affected. in boston that city getting hammered with snow. winds up to 65 miles an hour. temperatures plunging to levels that haven't been seen in 20 years. we'll go live with an update. we'll tell you about major privacy concerns for people who date online. your personal information in some cases could be at risk. some of the newest fashion mavens hitting fashion week are not who you would expect. some of the nba all-stars taking a break from the court to hit the catwalk.

live from new york the 40th anniversary special. we'll tell you who to expect to seechlt and introduce you to a man who keeps the show running every week. the cast members would be lost without him. >> we'll have those stories and a lot more when we get started on a sunday morning. >> can't help but laugh at that part of the skit. that is the funniest thing ever. >> going to be a good show. >> this could be the show of the century. >> actually this is going to be the show of the century. it's going to be a close second. >> how could we miss dylan in another snow pile in boston. >> dylan would like you to find a way to miss that. >> we haven't even given her a return ticket. >> that's,000 peacock rolls. thanks guys. well, there are new concerns from metro riders who worry whether they would make it out during an emergency during the tracks. >> as the news 4 i-team uncovered when they started

asking what would happen if someone in a wheelchair needed to be evacuated. would they get out or be left behind? >> reporter: kelly mack uses metro every day to commute to work. she asked us to come along with her to look at this. the entrance to the safety walkway at the end of the farragut metro station. >> no way my chair would fill on this. >> reporter: she realized this path isn't wide enough for her standard size chair and is cut off by stairs. she noticed it after lost month's incident when one woman died. >> it's very worrisome. it doesn't sound like there's a real good plan for people in general, much less people with disabilities like myself. >> this is an emergency evacuation cart. every metro station has these in the stations.

>> reporter: when the news 4 i-team asked metro what would happen if someone in a wheelchair needed to be evacuated, he said they could use these e tech devices to roll up to tend of the train. >> only ways 160 pounds butx can hold a thousand pounds. >> reporter: metro says all fire firesfire departments are supposed to get the training. d.c. fire tells the i-team all members are to be trained on the e tech but it couldn't provide any training records for this specific item within the past two years. instead it gave us training photos of the merv, the motorized emergency recon vehicle which can get to passengers in less than four minutes and the turk which d.c. fire says was designed with metro in mind because it can fit between rails and over electrical boxes.

the i-team found all of this equipment could require leaving the wheelchair behind. >> the doorways on the ends of the train aren't wide enough for a full-size wheelchair to get out of it. >> i'm terrified for them. >> reporter: dara baldwin with the national disability rights network says she's particularly worried about c spine or quadriplegic riders because they can't be easily separated from their chairs which provide life support. >> you would have to leave that person who is a quad or can't move or shouldn't be moved, you would have to leave that person. >> reporter: metro says fire departments should have special stair chairs. >> they could transfer them from the wheelchair to the stair chair to get them onto this cart to get them back to safety. >> reporter: d.c. fire told the i-team in06a/" incidents the process of removing all or most of the ambulatory people from the train will be due first due to that process being quicker than the removal of non-ambulatory people. in regards to self-evacuation,

those who are non-ambulatory will need the assistance of the fire department because the width of the walkways of the tunnels is 22 inches and will not provide ample space for a wheelchair. >> i depend on my wheelchair. i'd have to depend on other people. >> reporter: at the farragut north metro station tisha thompson, news 4 i-team. >> metro does want to remind that no one should ever self-evacuate unless they're in imminent danger. if you something the i-team should be looking into, call 202-885-4444. or e-mail tips@news 4 i-team.com. >> a tropical ten degrees. it's brutally cold outside, chuck. >> the wind is the big culprit right? >> it absolutely is. we've been following this arctic outbreak for days. we've all been talking about it as early as tuesday wednesday of last week.

in fact our forecasted low temperature for tomorrow morning of 9 degrees that number 9 has been there five mornings in a row leading up to this. we knew it was coming. a lot of people somehow were caught off guard by the flash fleas last night. man did the temperature ever take a tumble overnight. here is the camera from prince george's county, the national harbor camera. notice all the ice starting to pile up along the shoreline there. this is your friendly and direct reminder, do not go out on any of the local ponds, lakes, rivers, streams or anything. that ice is dangerously thin and the water is dangerously cold. just stay off the ice everybody. outside this graphic is the one that doug showed you last week. how true does this look snou two big northwest arrows driving arctic air not just here, but arctic air goes all the way down into the deep south and now winter storm warnings are posted for places like memphis and nashville. the storm will go just down to our south and could bring us

snow as well monday night into tuesday. the overall impact today high impact, a weather alert day. extra pushes on our apps and our website. current windchill minus 20 in gaithersburg, minus 13 in st. mary's county, minus 5 towards the northern neck. sunshine is out. that's not doing much good. 11 degrees at national airport with a northwest wind averaging 25 but gusting to near 40 miles per hour. air temperature now two below in thurmont, 9 in manassas 7 in front royal, ten in luray, temperatures will struggle mightily to get up to around 20 degrees. that's about it if you're going out for dinner and a movie, plan on subzero windchills and temperatures down 15 degrees early this evening and down to 11 degrees by later tonight. have our storm team weather app ready to go for the brutal cold today and increasing snow chance on monday and tuesday.

winder storm warnings to our south. that storm will mainly stay south of us. it may throw just enough moisture to get an accumulating snow. there's not a lot of confidence in the forecast because there's a difference of opinion between the computer models. snow arriving after the sun goes down monday. there could be a couple inches of snow by tuesday morning. keep that in mind. tuesday could be a weather alert day as well. we stay cold all through the coming week. >> we are celebrating 40 years of "saturday night live." we're going to get a look at some of your favorite sketches coming up. >> stay with us. you're watching "news 4 today."

"saturday night live" celebrates its 40th anniversary tonight with a 3 1/2 hour special. >> down by the river cast members and hosts from the past are reuniting for the live event. nbc's mark barger's got how that's got the current cast all fired up. >> live from new york, it's saturday night! >> reporter: most of the current cast of "snl" wasn't even born. >> live from new york, it's saturday night. >> reporter: when the series started in 1975. >> it's surreal, the entire experience has been surreal. >> reporter: they're just the newest members of an ever-changing cast of characters through the show's history. >> every time a cast member leaves, it's like how will the show survive.

but it always does. >> reporter: cast members fueling today's cast u grew up worshipping the cast members from yesterday year. >> when i graduated high school i thought will ferrell was the funniest human being alive. >> i did taech the show every week and then i would go back the next day with my notebook and i would transcribe portions of the sketches. >> reporter: the memories will blend tonight as multiple generations of "snl" cast come together for a 40th anniversary celebration. >> to see kristen wiig shake hands with dan aykroyd that's what i'm excited about. i'm excited about the melting pot version of it. >> reporter: the special will offer classic claim ps. >> here's some flexibility for you. but emphasize all new sketches in some cases mixing performers from different casts. >> if you watch the 40th and i'm

performing on it, watch my eyes because i'm sure they'll be as big as saucers. >> i hope i can rise to the occasion. it's just unbelievable. >> reporter: tonight promises an all new batch of "snl" memories. mark barger, nbc news. >> it begins at 7:00 with the "snl" red carpet. at 8:00 starts 3 1/2 hours of comedy. news 4 will air at 11:30. good luck if you're taking part in the d.c. cupid's undie run. if you look at your screen this is the course of the map. outlined in red is the streets that are closed. they'll be closed a little while this afternoon race continues. despite the weather we're having, organizers are sticking to their guns. they say it takes a, quote, epic snowstorm for the event to be canceled. >> fair enough.

>> plenty cold but no 12340e really falling out there. the sun is out. >> i'm sorry half naked running around the capital there are better ways. >> i used to think of myself as a dedicated runner. >> it can't be good for the body and body parts. >> i'm sure we'll see twitter pictures of that. >> i have a feeling there will be. >> what's our expected high today, chuck? >> all the way to 20 degrees. >> all right. that's all for "news 4 today." thanks for joining us. >> we'll be back at 9:00. until then have a great sunday everyone. >> stay warm.

good morning. pummeled. in boston nearly a foot of new snow on the ground this morning whipped around by winds of 65 miles an hour making it feel like a bitter 35 below. mass transit already shut down roads across the region a nightmare be with and power outages expected to climb througho the day. all told nearly 100 million people affected by this storm. we are live. our reporters battling the elements. gunned down. breaking news gun down. breaking news overnight, police in denmark shoot and kill a terror suspect who opened fire on them near a train station. that suspect believed to be responsible for two deadly attacks. this morning the investigation into weather he may have been part of a larger terror cell.