isis. >> and there's more tonight. nbc news has learned that the head of security at the airport in egypt has been fired. >> investigators are looking at the possibility that the bomb was placed on the plane on sharm el sheikh, and it was head for example russia. nbc's kurt gregory has details. >> reporter: a u.s. official tells nbc news that evidence indicates it was a bomb that brought down the russian airliner over the sinai this past weekend. the investigation is focused on the possibility that isis operatives or sympathizers were directly involved in the bombing. >> according to the official, investigators are looking at the possibility that an explosive device may have been planted onboard the plane by ground crews, baggage handlers or others at the sharm el sheikh

airport before it took off. british transportation secretary patrick mclaughlin said uuk officials had become concerned about the bomb. >> we can't say why the russian jet had crashed, but we have become concerned that the plane may well have been brought down as a result of an explosive device. >> reporter: the russian airliner went down satury killing all 224 people aboard. both russian and egyptian officials have discounted that terrorism played a role in the crash. kurt gregory, nbc news. nbc news justice department pete williams joining us now. first of all, we just heard that -- kurt gregory say, somebody's saying there is no possibility or the fact that the, suggestion of terrorism is being discounted. that is not the case at all, is it now? >> no. of course smas a matter of fact

what's pretty clear here among consensus with british authorities and american intelligence officials that the is a growing concern that the plane was brought down by a bomb and they all emphasizhe same thing. nobody knows fe. there is nothing conclusive yet. there's no conclusive forensic evidence. there's no smoking gun, if you will, piece of intelligence, but when you put together what's been found on the ground, both what's been publicly known and what has aren't been publicly disclosed, they tell us and you look at the stream of intelligence, those two strongly suggest that in fact,t was a bomb. >> that's point one. >> the second point about who was responsible for it whether it was isis, there's less information to go on there. what we are told is that there is some intelligence, probably communication intelligence is what we're led to believe intercepted communications of some kind that suggest that it was, in fact, done by isis. >> as you know, isis has claimed

credit for this -- for the plane going down, not in a video. there is a video out there, but the analysts who have looked at that for us told us they don't believe that is a definitive isis videond rather in a text message and two audio recordings, isis says it was responsible for bringing the plane down. it never said it fired a missile and it just says look at the black boxes and you'll figure it out. part of the problem is the so-called black boxes on the plane don't tell investigators much. they simply quit at some point meaning there was some kind of catastrophic event on the plane, but they don't say what it was. >>. >> but no evidence of isis involvement at this point. >> no definitive evidence of isis involvement and it seems to be the growing feeling of both u.s. and british officials that, in fact was. >> and what do we make about the idea that the head of security at the airport has been fired?

>> i think that that's pretty obvious. i think the fact that this -- that this plane originated from that airport, and we know that intelligence officials have looked at the passenger manifest and the crew members, and don't find any terrorism connections against them. so that leads you obviously to look at who was around the plane at the time? two ways to get a bomb on a plane, carry it on as a passenger or put it on in cargo and so naturally they would look at th a obviously found that security is lax. what we don't know is whether that simply their post-crash investation of security saying, woi! we didn't know it was this bad or whether there was some additional thing thatven't said believe that these people should go. >> i have a hunch it's the former not the latter. >> much more to come. >> as the story continues to develop, we invite you to stay tuned to news 4, and to nbc news "nightly news" with lester holt coming up. we'll have much more on all of

this that's at 7:00 right after this broadcast. a guilty plea in court from a man who carjacked an ambulance and caused a crash that killed a retired math teacher. for the first time today we got a look from inside that ambulance as that crime unfolded. >> this just-released video shows sebastian isakson calmly driving away after assaulting emts. >> we have reaction from the victim's family. >> the facts surrounding the case are absolutely horrific. >> today incourt, mark hargrave came face-to-face withesisaa on. >> what my wife and i took away from it is wtever happens today doesn't change the facts of what happened to our family. we sufre a great loss. >> reporter: camera video from inside an ambulance relsed tod shows sebastn isaacson driving this ambulance and he

stole it from two emts who stopped to help him after he was involved in a crash. his blood alcohol level was nearly three times the legal limit. >> this is the scene minutes later ingreenbelt after he crashes into several cars including this mercedes killing 77-year-old alahargrave. >> it was all at once and probably never saw it coming. >> he once taught at kennedy high school and from time to time returned to substitute teach. >> my father was a great, great person who will be missed by any and impacted the lives of thousands of people over the coursef his years. >> this is what isaacson looked like after the crash and today he entered a plea admitting his guilt for carjacking, vehicula manslaughter, dui and assault among other charges. he's hadui >> when you look at his complete history he is a danger to society. isaacson will be sentenced in january. he's looking at 43 years with 25

mandatory in prison. in upper marlboro, i'm tracee wilkins, news 4. a man in his 70s is talking with police tonight after hewas hit and then tpp greyhound bus forearly half an hour. it happened at 7th and massachusetts avenue downtown just a block from the convention center. rescue crew his to use hydraulic jacks to get him free. coming up in our next half hour, we'll have reaction from the people who saw it all go down. turning to politics now. some historic wins following eleions in virginia and maryndt the changes and in the race for the white use more good news for ben carson. he's erased an eight-point deficit and surged to a tiet the top of republicans. we have team coverage of all of this tonight. we startwith steve handeman live on capitol hill. >> the election day is a year and four days away and so much can change in the 2008 campaign.

hillary clinton had a 22-point lead in the polls over barack obama, but now it's ben carson who is stealing the numbers and the headlines from donald trump and from clinton. >> reporter: ben carson on the rise in today's quinnipiac poll done since the last debate. carson's at 23%, in a virtual tie with donald trump who was ahead by eight points in that poll a month ago and carson is raising more dollars than other candidates and more than a million since sunday. >> i don't feel that i have to make a lot of changes because i'm not apolitician. politicians are always putting their finger in the r saying what do iave to do whereas all i have to do is tell the truth. >> reporter: fans lined up early and many of them christian conservatives like carson. >> there you go, sir. >> f a lot of these evangelicals the dond trump bravado doesn't work for them, but the humility of ben carson

does work for them. >> reporter: donald trump filed for the new hampshire primary. >> i don't debate well. but vote for me. that's jeb bush. he doesn't have a chance to bring back a single job. >> come for a surge in republican strength and an upset for gernor of kentucky last night. gop wins in mississpi and virginia, despite the party war on capitol hill, ends for the president. >> it's bad news for hillary clinton and if the election were held today she'd be tied with ben carson according tothe nbc news wall street journal poll. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, waino this is david culver in loudoun cnty. these two newly elected board democrats celebrati historic wins last night for sterling supervisor elect koran saines is,eality hit him this

morning. we made history last night in loudoun county. >> saying fellow democrat phyllis randall will be the first african-american to serve on loudoun county's board of supervisors. a board that dates years. >> that's where you will be sitting on. >> yes. it's unreal. >> he grew up in northern virginia and he defeated eugene. >> del gaudio. >> it's not about myself and it's about the community as a whole. >> phyllis randall, chair -- chair -- >> randall had to think about that f a moment and hasn't even taken the gavel yet, but has decided she's not a fan of hairman.gs fishl state-approved >> i think having it to be by law chairman, is ridiculous, to behonest. >> she defeated the independent and the gop nominee. >> change is constant and sometimes change is necessary. >> we don't make anything of it other than she got lucky because

we split the vote between the two republicans in the race. >> virginia gop chairman john whitbeck doesn't see the two aboard as a threat to his party. >> it's certainly not indicative of a trend in either way. they're reflecting on the past that brought them here. >> no one person ever gets to that place by themselves. it's because hundreds of thousands of people lay down a path for me to walk on. >> randall joins a group of women leading jurisdictions ght here in northern virginia, when their new terms begin early next year, women will hold the top positions in arlington, likely, alexandria, fairfax and as you just saw right here in loudoun. doreen? >> david culver reportinkng, t you, david. investigators say he staged his own suicide to cover up years of criminal activity. tonight the bizarreevelopment after a beloved poce officer is found dead. a former state department worker has been sentenced for

spying on women. allegations that came out in court today arebizarre. plus students return to school for the first time since a fire in their chemistry class. the message from the principal as we learn more about the two teenagers who suffered serious burns. abundant sunshine and highs in the 70s and now moving out across the area and storm team 4 radar i'll show you

>> tonight we're hearing from the family of the illinois police officer who staged his own suicide. >> this was another day of deep sorrow for them. it came after police say the officer who was given a hero's funeral stole money from the department. here's nbc's wendy will fork. >> reporter: the massive man hunt for three alleged cop killers turned what police call the ultimate betrayal. >> we have determined this staged suicide was the end result of extensive criminal acts that gliniewicz had been committing. once thought to be a fallen hero officer joe gliniewicz turned out to be a criminal himself. according to his own department. >> they took off toward the swamp. >> do you need a second unit? >> after that last call to police dispatch, investigators believe the 30-year veteran shot himself twice. >> he was under increasing

levels of personal stress, from scrutiny of his management, of the fox lake police explorer unit. >> reporter: specifically, stealing and laundering money from the unit that he led, one that mentors young people who want to pursue law enforcement. >> tousands of by gliniewicz fo purposes, travel expenses and mortgage payments. >> only after filtering through thousands of messages could they come to this shocking conclusion. >> unbelievable. gosh,ntrom criminal. yeah. it's just sad. i can imagine how his family feels right now. they have my sympathy. an entire community stunned by the revelations, nbc news, chicago. heret home students went back to school for the first time today since a fire at a chemistry class at woodson high

school in fairfax. our chris lawrence now with an update from the principal. >> he released a statement saying crews have made repairs to the area where the fire started and students could go back to taking classes in that room. >> he goes on to say, quote, despite the challenges we faced everyone at woodson managed themselves in a calm, responsible and in a few instances heroic manner. on friday a science teacher was doing a demonstration about the different colo of fire when the explosion happened. five students and a teacher were hurt, but three of those students came back to school today. sonia garviv is still in the hospital and today their classmates signed posters supporting them and counselors were there on campus to help some of the kids adjust. the u.s. chemical safety board is looking into this fire and the school superintendent has suspended the use of all en ames sciencefairfax county. doreen? >> chris lawrenc thank you.

county leaders are addressing safety concerns nearly a yearfter a deadly plane crash in gaithersburg. a mother and her children were onboard. tonight the governor will meet with homeowners who live near the air park. eighve been asking the county and faa timit training and latnight takeoffs sayi those flights raise the risk of accidents. officials say they won't make any recommendations until after the national traportatn safety board finishes its investigation. unpaid tolls on the new express lanes in virginia are costing some people thousand of dollars. today a judge gave those angry drivers a chance to sue the operator of thos lanes. our transportation reporter adam tuss is in maryfield now with a look at wh the company is doing to help those drivers. adam? >> jim, this is turning out to a huge issue here in northern

virginia. the problem has gotten so big that the operator of the lanes is allowing drivers to enter into a forgiveness program if they miss toll. >> express lanes are on 95 and the beltway and they'll be on 66 and drivers need to pay special attention to h they relate to the lanes and they've been hits mi small tolls. >> we were repeat offenders, as thus. we were being a repeat offender as the fin doubled and doubled and doubd and $29 worth of fines turned into almost $11,000 worth of penalties. >> in hi c he finally settled by paying $2200 in fines and fees and he claims he 't notif manner, about the operator of the lanes sayits first-time forgivess program is there to help already assisting 25,000 drivers who took actionmmediately when they missed a toll.

still some don't see it that way. a class action lawsuit moving forward saying transocean is not notifying miss ll untt's too late. >> they didn't even know they ran a toll until months or in some cases a year later and that's because the notice program that the other departments imposed we believe is inadequate under the law. >> f now, the frustrati with drivs like stanfie are stl there. it would be different if we were trying to sneak on to the expressway or the hot lanes or something and these were pele that had honest mistakes or a mechanical malfunction. >> reporter: thetor operaof the lanes released a statement to us tonight saying that it's confident its process works properly. if you want more information about joining the class action lawsuit you can open up the nbc washington app and just search express lane. guys, back to you. >> adam tuss. thank you. paying for patriotism. what's now being done to stop the pentagon from shelling out millions to sports teams who

honor our veterans. > a new to protect mrs of the military and veterans from the dangers of prescription painkillers. we'll hear reaction from a virginia father whose son died of an opioid overse. >> we'll show you how ey get ready forxmx

>> now your storm team 4 what there today.and high temperaturein the mid-70sand we had 75 degreest the airport and all three airports, 75 and se of you got into the mid to upper 70s today. right now sundown, temperatures are cooling and winds out of the south at 5 miles per hour and we're starting to see the clouds on the increase and those clouds will continue to increase throughout the night and we're looking at showers on the radar and n much around most of the regn and it's down arou the rivr kingeorge county and some of those showers and tard the culpeper area you can see a shower. some of this is hitting the

grund around 3:01 and do a little bit of a zoom farther to the no into woodbridge and seeing some of the showers coming upight along the potomac rivernd over towards akiki. amost of the swers will be light through the night tonight and i'm not expecting much in the w of corage and they're making their way up through the south and east and it is just off of the coast of the raleigh and north carolina area and showers and heavier rain and just off the coast and we have thisittle southeast flow coming in and thatmeans more cloud cover tonight and that means a chance for showers and that means a chance for fog and this is what to expect for your thursday. morning fog and bit on the humid and mild side and into the low 70s and there could be mist and drizzle especially early tomorrow morning and i still think we will see a nice day as far as temperatures are concernednd temperatures will rise righ into the low 70s here

and there will be a few sprinkles during the day and if you're taking the bike ride outdoors just know you may run into light shower activity especially along i-95 and if you're west of the blu ridge you might not y tmorr and this is along the i-95for tt closer to the chesapeake d closer to the potomac and tomorrow afternoon and not much rain at all. once agin, take the umbrella just in case and waldorf and a nap sis and you folks have the best chance of some of that rain. friday is the warmday and i don't just mean war and record heat a hi of 79 degrees on friday and saturday a high of 60 degrees and fallingemperatures and a chance for showers. coming up at you hur by hour ou ay and if you've those weekend plans, i've got your forecast. >> thanks, high-profile murder case has beenoted out of office. we'll report how that move is

having an impact on the victim's family ahead of the jesse atthew trial. era sized trapped ust, he's a wheels. how did that happen? the story coming up. >> women have complained about possible dangerou and damaging side effects and now a congressman is taking action to get a controversial birth

w 6:30, the risky scue peopleaco help a rson trappedder a bus. >> a former state department employee sentenced for spying on dozensf women in their apartments. >> presenting overdoseeaths among veterans. >> can absolutely sa their lives if administered in a timely fashion. >> what one senator wants every vet to have when their doctor prescribes pain pills. >> a big change for the prosecution just monthsef matth i want this to be over, butb over for us. >> as the pentagon is accse shelling out millions ofollars to professional sports teams to honor our troops. a rescue today ju block from the convenon center, a man pinned under a bus. >> people in the area watching as crews spent nearly half an

hour freeing him from the rear of that greyhound bus. this all unfolded at the busy intersection of 7thnd mass avenue downtown.at's where we f collins. hi, pat. >> reporter: hi, doreen. police are calling it a miracle. aan in his 70s trappe behind this greyhound bus and lives to talk aboutit and investigators are all ears. >> it was a sight that brought this busy downtown intersection to a sudden stop. the driver of the cab saw the guy get t and said oh, my, he's under the bus! >> reporter: this man trapped right near the rear wheels of this 30,000 pound bus. >> there was a guy who was trying to assist so he r -- he crawled up under the b to eck the man's pulse but the n didn't say anything. >> reporr: a double deployment

of rescue workers called to the scene, using hydraulic jacks and large blocks of wood. they managed to stabilize the bus an carefully freed the man. >> scared? i was. i was really concerned because when you get hit by a bus it's not od. >> reporter: the greyhound bus was being used as a shuttle to take people to the american dental association convention downtown. it was turning wh somehow it struck the man who was crossing th street. the fact that he survived this orde ordeal, police are calling it a miracl >> at this point he's in serious, but stable condition. >> and you're talking to him. >> the techs are talking to him now. >> reporter: now a witness says it appeared the driver didn't know he'd hit anybody. the joggers had to pod the side of the bus to get him to stop it. jim, back to you. >> pat collins.

a former state department employee who pleaded guiltyo spying on women in homes was sentenced today. his name is daniel rosen. a judge ordered him to serve 32 months in prison on crges of voyeurism and stalking. prosecutors say rosen recorded as many as 25 women in their apartments around northwest washington between 2012 and 2014. video showed the victims in their bedrooms, bathrooms and at other private moments. helping veterans at rick of overdong. e u.s. senator has it to prevent death and it will have an impact on our regio news 4's chris gordon has the story. >> many in the military return home with physical and mental injuries and some are prescribed painkillers called opioids that can lead to drug dependency and

even dea. tim kane of virginia is introducing a bill requiring doctors to provide the overdose medication to members of the military and veterans at the same time they are prescribed opioid medication. >> in case ofan o.d. situation you can save that person's life and th's what the bills. >> tom flaherty's son died 14 mo nthsago. >> soncame be dependent and then addicted to prescription opioi drugs. he sits on the task force on prescription drug and heroin abu abuse. >> and the drug can be administered in the presence of an overdose of that can immediately save a life. >> reporter: the dav, the disabled american veterans, is one of the oldest and the largest veteran service organizations. they say vets tang opioid medication need to have macone

on hand and to ma siswa o the effects of the drug and the possibility of an overdose. >> reporter: the new bill is aimed at helping members of the military and veteran, but it can provide additional funding for states to purchase maloxone and trained professionals. reporting from the pentagon, chris gordon, news 4. the prosecutor who helped secure murder indictment against jesse matthew has been voted out of office. denise lunsford is her name. she lost her reelection bid for commonwealth attorney in albemarle county last night. that means she will not be at the prosecution table during matthew's trials for the murders of hannah graham and morgan harrington. th next year. harrington's mother says she

hopes that this doesn't mean that the trials will be delayed. >> there is some thinking or some magical thinking on my part that i want this to be over but i realize it will never be over for us and a murder is not sothyocanie up in a nice package and put aside and say that has been dealt with. it's finished. former federal prosecutor robert tracy will be the new commonwealth attorney for albemarle county. >> matthew is currently serving three life terms for rain in 2005 in fairfax county. still ahead, new calls for action on a controversial birth control device. also, the story of a brave gi fighting cancer. we'll show y how technology is helping her stay connected to school even when she's getting treatment. tracking some showers right now into parts of the area in through southern maryland and parts of northern virginia and waldorf ano

georges county and much more on when the showers

new details in the story of the runaway blimp the pentagon is suspending the missile detecting program it was a part of. the program is on hold until the army figures out how the blimp broke free. it floated from maryland to pennsylvania. the device was supposed to detect missiles and protect the d.c. area. the program has cost taxpayers more than $2.5 billion. cancer treatment can be rough. it can isolate even the toughest adult, but a little girl in montt good morningry county says she's ready for it. over the next five weeks 10-year-old payton walton will be in new york city receiving treatment, but she won't miss a beat at school thanks to this, it's a segway-type device that rolls down the halls holding an ipad. payton can control it from her hospital bed. that allows her to be in class,

in the cafeteria or at recess with her friends at the elementary. she calls the pavs, the acronym for payton's awesome virtual self. >> it's technology. aat 10-year-old does not love >> the rbo csts $ pton's classmates came up with the money to pay for it. >> new develments about a controversial birth control device called essure that was the focus of an i-team investigation and pushing the food and drug administration to revoke its approval for the device and remove it from the market. he was joined by women who said they've been harmed by the permanent birth control product. the fda has gotten thousands of complaints since it was approved in 2002. >> our civi rights have been stripped away by the fda's

approval of this dangerous device. it wiallow those harmed by essew the side effects include severenausea, headaches and blood clots. it does not comment on proposed legislation. it's committed to working with the fda and that the safety and effectiveness of essure is supported by more than a decade of science. coming up, new claims from lawmakers amid reports the pentagon paid millions of dollars to professional sports teams to honor u.s. soldiers. >> plus a quick turnaround at the verizon center. we'll take you inside fourth-day

you've probably seen the events honoring men and women of our armed services at sporting events and some of us have taken part in celebrations in the stands, but few if any realize that many of those heartwarming tributes and family reunions were actually paid productions. the department of defense using tax dollars to foot the bill. nbc's jay gray has the story. >> while so many are quick to recognize the cost of their service we're now beginning to learn the price that comes with honoring our men and women in uniform? as much as $6.8 million that we

saw the department of defense spend on sports marketing contracts since 2012. that's right, the soldier singing the national anthem and the service men and women unfurling the flag on the field and even some of the emotional homecoming reunions were the result of what senator john mccain other ands called paid patriotism. >> there are a lot of good things that professional sports do to honor the men and women who serve in the military, but those millions of dollars are not acceptable. >> a congressional investigation shows contracts included some kind of staged, patriotic moment. the service members didn't know about the agreement and many of the leagues and teams say the events were free add-ones to existing high-dollar marketing contracts. >> it kind of cheapens the whole lot and that's simply not right.

>> not right and soon could be illegal. >> the leagues have pledged not to continue and perhaps more importantly it's now as soon as the president signs the defense ath rise aksz asian act into law, it will be prohibited. >> because those who serve and their families have already paid the ultimate price. >> jay gray, nbc news. >> we have a loist of the professional sports teams that have received payment from the department of defense. you can search paying for patriotism. crews are paying for back-to-back events over the next several nights and if that wasn't tough must, enough, we also have to deal with the special requests made by some of the artists who perform there. our mark segraves has our report. >> reporter: when y go to a hockey game you expect it to be full. at the verizon center they keep the temperature at 50s for caps

games. for basketball they crank it up into the 60s. >> we have to compensate for the heat load that will come in with all of the people. >> if you were at the madonna concert it was a bit warmer. >> she liked it warmer than cooler whicheve was a big benef and you don't have to run as much ac. >> crews at the verizon center will be working long nights as they transition from a wizards game to a caps game to a concert with the former members of the grateful dead and john mayer and then back to hockey. >> it's kind of like a dance. a very choreographed in the way things move and e order that they're done. >> reporter: and the crews probably won't get much rest until next year as their busy season is just getting started. >> so not the first rodeo and this weekend, although challenging with four days in a row, in the first ten days in decembe

december,. >> kevin hart he insisted no one in the audience could take pictures of videos using their cell phones. >>s hire extra security that literally walked the aisles asking people to put their cell phones away and it was a no warning if once the show started if your cell phone was out you were removed from the building. >> over the two nights hart performed about 75 fans caught using their phones were removed from the venue. i'm mark segraves at the verizon center where they'll be working late for the next few nights. so much goes into that that we don't even think about. >> that's right. >> doug, beautiful today. how long can this last? >> it's over. >> no, it is not. >> we have clouds moving in and rain moving in and some showers. today it's over. we're getting toorth one, but today -- >> you have 80 degrees coming. what are you talking about it's over? >> today it was bright, blue skies and it was gorgeous because blue skies have gone away and let's take a look and show you what's happening outside right nownd the

eveninglanner and the sun went down at 5:05. i'm hating this as temperatures -- the sun will go down before 5:00 starting on tuesday of next week. 67 degrees and that sun did help us out and we got in the mid-70s today and showers are moving in and that's all they are, showers and sprinkles and most of you will probably stay dry. temperatures will stay on the mild side and still 68 in leesburg, and 66 toward springs and show you where the showers are and storm team radar showing them in through fairfax county and down along the fredericksburg area and i want to show you just south of d.c. and just getting into the beltway and the springeld area and moving right into fairfax county and arlington county and over toward prince george's county and you can follow that line right on down to the south in through charles county and a few more showers in through fredericksburg. if you're west of the blue

ridge. tomorrow there could be some fog and showers off and on. most of the day is dry tomorrow, but take the umbrella just in case. 72 re00 a then we get to friday. 78 degrees and that's the record. how about 79 on friday afternoon and that is a record for this time of year. the average high is 62, but don't get used to that. as i said, it's over and we go right back down and a high of 60 degrees on saturday and not just 60 on saturday and temperatures actually fall during the day from 60 early in the day to the low 50s by 5:00, 6:00 in the afternoon and shower activity on saturday, too and sunday just cold with a high of 58 and we stay on the cool side as we make our way toward early next week. >> your weekend is early, if we can. >> it is awesome. bring it on. >> we have sports coming up and getting ready to play was

pbly the toughest team in the nfl. guys are on the field a little chippy. look out now. stay tuned. >> first, here's lester holt and he's got a look at what's ahead on nbc "nightly news". >> doreen and jim coming up at 7:00 on nbc "nightly news" breaking details about the crashed russian jet liner and why u.s. officials suspect it was bombed from the sky. our team in place with full coverage. authorities in illinois are of a police officer an elaborate suicide plot and before you post a negative review of a product or service, wait until you see

the guys at practice got physical out there, huh? >> it's the big week, the patriots and the best team in the nfl and you have to ramp up your practice habits a little bit. the redskins will have their hands full when they travel to new england and the patriots have the league's top-scoring offense and four-time super bowl champion tom brady, he's on pace to having his best season of his career. with more on the skins and how they plan to pull off the maloney.pset of the nfl >> as the redskins get ready for the patriots they know what they have to do.

they have to have their best week of practice and they have to put out their best effort on sunday and even more important, they have to believe. they're fired up for this one and today's practice setting the tone thanks to the return of chris culvert out three games with a knee injury and culvert is back and he's getting everybody ready to throw down against the defending super bowl champ. >> it don't take much. you're not going to bully me and you're not going to do certain things that are not allowed. it's just like that. >> i love hearing it and that's something we definitely encourage and want more of. >> being a heavy underdog can sometimes bring the best out of anyone. skins have nothing to lose and the mentality to win. >> the odds are against us and we don't care too much about that. people in this locker room and the coaches, we have a game plan and we'll execute it and what better fitting to do and go out

with super bowl champs and it's us against 100,000 people. so we're going there swinging and we'll leave the stadium swinging. >> reporter: injuries are still a concern. chris culver has no doubt he will be back and d haul who was limited today and fellow corner who did not practice and having a banged up secondary is exactly what you do not want, facing tom brady and the new england patriots. in redskins park, carol maloney, news 4 sports. >> thanks so much, carol. >> the redskins are a 14 1/2-point underdog to new england. he's hopeful chris culver will be able to play this sunday against the pats. >> over to basketball another challenge for the wizards tonight and they look to get their first win of the season when they face san antonio. historically the wizards have had a major problem when it comes to playing the spurs and they lost their last matchup in january, but that victory snapped a 17-game losing streak,

lots of change for both teams since then. the wizards, it's all about the new fast-paced offense led by john wall and bradley biel. san antonio are trying to incorporate new guys like lemarcus aldridge. coach randy whitman believes not much has changed though for the spurs. >> are they different? are they playing different? no. pretty much what you've seen the last 44 years, i think, that he's been there. >> a different team, and a lot of the guys got better and they're a team that will run their offense no matter what and they're down 20 or up 20. they're a patient team and they stick to their concept and you want to see those guys and it's a great test for us. >> they might be the best team in the nba the san antonio spurs this year. we'll see. >> good-looking team. thanks, jason. >> that's us for now. "nightly news" up next. >> we'll see you for news 4 at 11:00.

have a good evening.

tonight, breaking news. new evidence indicates it was likely a bomb that brought down that russian plane and isis may have planted it, fears that isis terror tactics have reached a whole new level. an officer's betrayal. he was hailed a hero but a costly manhunt failed to find his supposed killers but now it is said he staged his own death after embezzling for years after a youth program. buyer beware. did you know some businesses can sue you or fine you for giving them a bad online review. the effort in congress to put a stop to it. and the cost of living. a young man needing a new cholesterol drug costs over $14,000 a year and the ceo of the drug company defending to nbc news why it costs so much.