potentially major snowstorm on friday. >> team coverage on the conditions and commute. let's begin with doug in storm center 4. hi, doug. >> his, guys. we're talking about a major storm coming up later this week and will have major impacts as far as the snow is concerned across our region. right now we're in weather alert mode because of the cold and temperatures as well as the winds. 29 degrees. you combine that with wind gusts, upwards of 20 to 25 miles per hour and you get windchills in the single digits and teens. current windchill, manassas at 9, gaithersburg 9. 11 down toward patuckset river. we have cold air in place for our next storm and that's why it's going to be all snow for just about the entire region. the exemptions may be down to our south and east. that's what we're watching. the guidance is starting to change a little bit. taking the bull's-eye from d.c. just down to the south. so the uncertainty of this system continues. we're going to talk much more about that.

one thing for sure, this system is still going to have a major impact on our area come friday into saturday. timing, that's changed a little bit, too. we're going to talk much more about that. earlier it looked like the schools may be closed on friday. now, maybe not. tonight coming up at 11:00, i'm going to have a lot more on this and the latest details coming up as well. i got your complete forecast in just a couple minutes. >> we will be paying attention, doug, thanks. today's cold weather already caused big problems on metro and the transit agency is paying really close attention to the forecast for the end of the week. transportation reporter adam tuss, he's at the east falls church station. that's where a cracked rail slowed the trains today. adam? >> reporter: that's right, jim. a cracked rail between here and the boston station and in some respects, it couldn't have happened at a worst time. metro's general manager was commuting on the orange line this morning, had to deal with all those delays like these riders. >> what's going on today?

>> reporter: what's going on? >> moving momentarily. >> we had a cracked rail. when it gets very cold, steel basically cracks. it cracked. >> reporter: metro general manager paul wedefeld answering a question from a rider as he and congressman gerry connolly slowly rolled along the orange line, a cracked rail causing single tracking, trains packed as riders crammed on. a second report of a cracked rail turned out to be nothing this morning. although by that point, the damage already done. now this rider, paul, had to change his plan. >> happens all the time, in fact, i was going to take the metro in this morning. i heard it was cracked so i drove in. >> reporter: rails along outdoor sections are more at risk because they're exposed. now aside from the morning issues here, it's been cold. inside metro stations, there are already signs that they're preparing for a white weekend. >> if this is a significant snowfall where we have snow accumulations of 8 to 10 to 12 inches all at one time, or, you

know, in a compressed period of time, that could affect our ability to run trains above ground. >> reporter: metro says once the snow starts impacting the connection to the electrified third rail, some above-ground service may have to stop. but metro says the biggest impact in a big snow will be for bus customers. >> you'll likely see detours and adjusted service on bus at various service levels as we go through the storm. >> reporter: right now waiting and watching, just like the rest of us. now guys, the one piece of good news that metro does say it has working in its favor with this potential snowstorm, of course, it's happening on a weekend. jim, back to you. >> thanks, adam. to stay ahead of the challenges, we -- or the changes which may be challenges, we invite you to download the nbc washington app. you can track when the storm is approaching your neighborhood with our interactive radar and get breaking news alerts. now to a developing story in prince george's county. a tragic story. four people killed as flames

raced through a home in chillum. among the victims, twin toddlers and their grandparents. the mother of the children survived by jumping out of a window. all of this started overnight at a home that did not have a working smoke detector. our bureau chief tracee wilkins is in the neighborhood where fire crews spent the afternoon trying to figure out -- trying to prevent another tragedy. tracee? >> reporter: what they did was go door to door and check these houses in this community to see if folks had smoke detecters and they were very disappointed and alarmed in what they found. prince george's county firefighters went door to door in this chillum neighborhood and quickly realized there were a number of homes with no defense against fire. >> we have absolutely found several already that had to be replaced and a couple that needed them just in the first place. >> reporter: this after it was discovered four people were killed in an early morning fire. trapped in the home with no

working smoke detecters. >> don't know what to think of this. i can't believe this. >> reporter: 2-year-old twins anna and israel omijie captured on their mother's facebook page were killed in the fire as were their grandparents 55-year-old carolyn omogbo and sampson omogbo. >> the wind was blowing, fire was out of control. >> reporter: all four of them were found inside the home on the second floor. the twins in one bedroom. their grandparents in another. word quickly spread through their tight-knit nigerian community. >> what's wrong? she say, you remember the sister? i sea, yes. she said the parents and the twins, babies are gone, and i don't know what to think. >> reporter: the twins' mother elizabeth omogbo omije seen in blue jumped from the second floor window and transported to the hospital. she's expected to survive her injuries. two other family members escaped

unharmed. >> i saw the little kids being carried out of the ambulance. i knew something bad had happened because the family was just -- you know -- >> reporter: prince george's county fire and ems are still trying to figure out what started this fire. they do believe that it was accidental. but the investigation is still under way. reporting live in chillum, tracee wilkins, jim, back to you in the studio. >> thanks, tracee. that awful fire comes one year to the day of another terrible house fire that killed a couple in annapolis and four of their grandchildren. that near in annapolis was caused by an electrical problem then fueled by a brittle christmas tree. the flames spread so quickly there was no time for the family to escape. don and sandy pyle were killed along with their grandchildren charlie, west, lexie and katie. investigators learned they had intended to take that christmas tree down the next day. right now d.c. police are

trying to find two men who shot somebody in columbia heights. it happened about two hours ago off 14th street in northwest. police say the victim was shot in the neck in an alley and ran to a nearby apartment building where somebody called 911. he is in critical condition. as for the suspects, they're still out there. police tell us one may have been riding a bicycle. we are learning more tonight about a triple shooting at the state theater in falls church, virginia. police say somebody fired 15 to 20 rounds as an event was letting out just before 2:00 on monday morning. three men were taken to a hospital. now police say one of those men actually went back into the theater for help. and he was taken to hospital by ambulance. the other two drove themselves to a hospital. all of them are expected to be okay. police are still talking to witnesses. they have not arrested anybody yet. some strong words from the lawyer of the man accused of helping a friend try to join

isis. he says his client is innocent and accuses the fbi and prosecutors of creating cases against young muslim men. both men made their first court appearance today and bureau chief julie carey reports from alexandria. >> reporter: inside court, some of them burst into tears and made heart signs with their hands. outside, the siblings of mahmoud el hassan joined hands in a show of support lining up alongside the young man's lawyer. >> he is being charged with aiding and abetting the attempt to provide services to a foreign terrorist organization. my client is innocent of those charges. >> reporter: these are the court documents charging 25-year-old mahmoud el hassan with aiding and abetting with helping a friend try to join isis fighters. prosecutors say that friend, 28-year-old joseph faruk was arrested last friday just before he was set to board a plane to travel to the middle east. he's been charged with attempting to provide material support to terrorists. el hassan was arrested at his family's woodbridge townhouse after prosecutors say he lied to

fbi agents after where his friend was headed. but his attorney says el hassan is a victim of islam-o-phobia. he says as the case unfolds he hopes to show the fbi created this case. >> the issue is the way that the government goes about these cases. they had three informants in this case who were looking for people that they can get in trouble. they thought that they found someone and my client is only charged with aiding and abetting that someone. >> reporter: more than a dozen friends who attend the same islamic center as the defendants also came to today's hearing. >> very nice brother. very nice brother. >> reporter: this man says mahmoud el hassan was taking community college classes and never showed any signs of radicalism. >> no, going to college, going to work, no more. just like me and my friends. >> reporter: both defendants will return to court within this week for bond hearings and el hassan's attorney says he'll be asked his client be allowed to post bond so he can be free

while he awaits trial. in alexandria, julie carey, news 4. lucky and alive. for the first time in years, that's how a retired marine described his feelings after he was freed in that iran prisoner swap. his name is amir hekmati. he was locked up more than four years in iran and tonight we're hearing directly from him for the first time. he thanked everyone who worked hard for his release. >> even the iranian officials who were -- our captor essentially were amazed and asked us why is it that they're working so hard for you? and i just said, well, that's america and they love their citizens. >> three of the freed americans are being evaluated at the u.s. military hospital in germany. they include "washington post" reporter jason rezaian. price george's county police are investigating whether alcohol and speed were factors in a crash that killed a community activist. it happened early yesterday

morning on walker mill road in capitol heights. greg hall was killed in the crash. police say an suv crossed the center line and hit his car head on then sideswiped a third vehicle. hall died on the scene. the other two drivers weren't seriously hurt. hall unsuccessfully ran for a seat in the maryland statehou he in 2013. two prince george's county paramedics were injured in a crash. they are now in good condition at a hospital. a car sideswiped the ambulance about 8:00 last night. the ambulance then hit a light pole near st. barnabas road in oxon hill. that pole fell onto a passing car just narrowly missing the driver of that car. there were no patients in the ambulance at the time. a woman killed in a hit-and-run. why the person responsible may not have known it happened. a big endorsement for donald trump. there are some questions tonight about whether it will help or hurt his campaign. plus a high court showdown over a hot-button issue that has

[mother] yeah but this neighborhood,i feel like it's got a lot of what we were kinda talking about. we should definitely go see it. [agent] hi. melanie. maggie. living room. [dad]what about this? this looks good. [brendan] no. [mother] isn't it great? [agent] hey brendan,you might like this room. [announcer]redfin pays its agents based on your happiness...

that's real estate, redefined.

perhaps you've noticed it's a weather alert day here at news 4. it is dangerously cold outside. and there's the potential for a major snowstorm on friday. there's been a shift in the guidance about that forecast. doug is tracking it all and he's coming up in a few minutes with a forecast to help all of us prepare for the weekend. to politics now and the

high-profile endorsement for republican presidential candidate donald trump. nbc news has confirmed that sarah palin will endorse trump at a rally in iowa. already today, trump got a big boost from the governor of iowa. edward lawrence joins us now with the late developments. edwa edward? >> reporter: jim, all day donald trump has been saying he's going to make a big announcement. we actually have a live look at that announcement getting ready to happen in ames, iowa, today. there's a lot of people in the room waiting for sarah palin and donald trump to come on the stage. the endorsement he's going to get is going to come from a key figure among conservative voters. nbc news confirmed in iowa today, donald trump will get an endorsement on his bid to be president from sarah palin. palin helped trump's rival, ted cruz, get elected to the senate in 2012. >> i'm a big fan of sarah palin, yes. >> reporter: trump also planted the seed that cruz may not have the right temperament to be president.

>> i haven't talked about his temperament, but he's got to be careful because his temperament has been questioned a lot. >> reporter: cruz says he won't respond to personal attacks, but blasted trump on hot-button issues. >> mr. trump enthusupported the t.a.r.p. bailouts. i disagree with him. we should have no bailouts of wall street banks. >> reporter: cruz also used the immigration issue to go after trump. >> we will build a wall, i actually have somebody in mind to build it. >> reporter: the iowa caucus is the first official test and that state's republican governor came out against cruz today. >> i believe that would be a big mistake for iowa to support him and i know he's ahead in the polls but the only poll that counts is the one they take on caucus night. >> reporter: the governor won't endorse a candidate yet. >> iowa hasn't picked that winner for 16 years. if they pick somebody other than me, they're going to fpick

another loser. >> reporter: the latest polls in iowa show senator ted cruz and donald trump are leading the way. they are within the margin of error, though, finishing third would be senator marco rubio. reporting live on capitol hill, edward lawrence, back to you, doreen. >> thanks, edward. two new class-action lawsuits were filed against michigan's governor today in connection with the water crisis in flint, michigan. one of president obama's senior advisers met at the white house today with flint's mayor. they talked about ways to address the public health emergency there. more than 100,000 people in flint have potentially been exposed to water with elevated levels of lead and other contamina contaminants. michigan governor rick snyder plans to talk about the emergency in the state of the state address tonight. he has apologized for the state's role in the crisis but refused calls to resign. protesters plan to picket outside snyder's house during tonight's speech. today, the supreme court announced it will weigh in on president obama's executive

order. the deportation of millions of undocumented immigrants. the high court showdown will play out in the middle of a presidential race in which immigration is the most divisive issues. nbc's brian mooar has more on this. >> the u.s. supreme court today agreed to referee the fight over president obama's efforts to shield more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. the 2014 policy known as dapa allows some adults here illegally for more than five years and without criminal records to stay if their children are u.s. citizens or lawful permanent residents. it also expands protections for so-called dreamers, young immigrants brought to the united states illegally by children. it all happened by executive order and without a vote in congress. >> this ultimately is a reflection of a president who's determined to do everything he possibly can to try to fix our broken immigration system. >> reporter: texas and 25 other states successfully blocked the move in the lower courts.

claiming they'd be forced to pay a high price for those allowed to stay. if the states win, the lower court battles could wage on long after president obama left office and if the president wins the policy could be in place right as the race for the white house is heading to the finish line. >> no matter how this case goes, it's going to enflame the bases of both parties. >> reporter: and the decision will sharpen the boundaries of presidential power. the court is expected to hear the case in april with the decision by late june. brian mooar, nbc news, washington. a huge corporation is accused of intimidating thousands of small businessowners into paying unwarranted amounts of money to rent credit card processing equipment. the news 4 i-team obtained court complaints that accuse the company of threatening mom and pop shops with fraudulent lawsuits. a local butty shop owner say s it happened to her. the i-team will share her story and the response squaring off

against these small businesses tonight on news 4 at 11:00. there are allegations tonight of a sexual assault inside a local movie theater. the victim's family says officials did not do enough to protect their son from a repeat offender. the search for a garbage truck and its driver believed to have been involved in a fatal hit-and-run crash here in prince george's county. ahead on news 4. plus, coping with the cold. how people here are dealing with the dangerous temperatures and preparing for a potential snowstorm.

all right. let's get now to what everybody around here is talking about anyhow. bitter cold today for sure. nobody even cares about that much anymore because we want to know what's coming the weekend. >> indeed, we do. we have team coverage with doug and veronica tracking the potential for a major snowstorm later this week. let's start with doug and the conditions out there right now. doug? >> yeah, guys, again, this is going to continue to evolve over the next couple days and you just said when we came in here, you're going to know a lot more tonight. storm making its way on shore right now. computer models getting together. latest data coming together. we'll have a lot better information coming tonight. that's why we haven't given snowfall totals just yet fwp first off we have to talk about the cold. that's the issue currently. 25 degrees. winds out of the west at 14 mile

per hour. take a look at the numbers. these are the temperatures. 19 in gaithersburg. 19 around la ray. 21 manassas. today was a day we were dealing with those winds gusting well over 20 miles per hour. veronica johnson outside right now. v.j., lot of people asking why does veronica have to go outside? she loves it out there, right? >> reporter: i have the gear. the wool, the scarf, gloves, everything to stay warm. we do still see the wind up right now. the winds today have been gusting to 20, 25 miles per hour. coming down in a few locations but you can still see leesburg still gusting at 30. 25 camp springs. around green belt. so, yes, breezy and for early tomorrow morning, we still expect a little bit of wind. just enough to bring down the windchill values right now they're at 13 degrees in d.c., 5 in germantown. 16 what it feels like in fredericksburg. early tomorrow morning, they'll be a little lower. what i like is tomorrow afternoon a lot less wind. and that's the change that

you'll notice. when we hit 32 tomorrow, finally freezing and above freezing, i'll take that, but at the bus stop tomorrow morning, you better believe it will once again be cold and of course, doug, you got more on the possibility of a few flurries late tomorrow. >> yeah, that's right. that's from another clipper system. those clipper systems move in very quickly. just like the one did on sunday. this is the one we're watching right now. you can see it back toward kansas city. one thing you notice, not a lot of snow with this. as veronica says, this is going to move through our area. flurries, tomorrow evening into the overnight hours. it will continue to give us a reinforcing shot of colder air. that's when the next one comes we're going to have enough cold air for snow. here's the system moving on through san francisco bringing them a lot of rain, over an inch of rain in parts of that region. the mountains picking up a lot more than that. now that it's on shore, now we can really start to get ahold of what's happening. we have a lot more information, data coming in now. the system moving across the sierra, the rockies down toward the gulf then where does it go

from here? a little farther south. does it come up from the north? we are eventually going to see it coming off the coast. this is one of the latest computer models. one of the european models bringing it down to the south. actually taking the bull's-eye from d.c. yesterday well down toward richmond and fredericksburg tomorrow. the gfs, however, still has the bull's-eye a little farther to the north and still gets philadelphia some big snow where the european does not. that's why we're talking about a lot of inconsistency now in the models. so what do we know? well, we know this is going to be a major storm for most of the region. the difference, by the way, between yesterday's european and today's european, 24 inches to 18 inches. 18 inches is still a lot of snow across our region. what are we going to see? well, still too early to tell but the heaviest snow will be friday night into the day on saturday. it may start early on friday. this is something we're going to be watching, too. the timing may be changing. most of friday may be okay. it will be friday night into the day on saturday. and, again, still changing. when would we give our first snowfall accumulation maps? i think that's going to come

tomorrow. we'll talk much more about this storm system then. high temperatures, 28 degrees tomorrow. 32 on your -- in the d.c. metro area. and above freezing down toward fredericksburg. so at least we have something there with less wind tomorrow, at least a little bit more comfortable. 34 on thursday. there's our storm friday into saturday. we're weather alert today because of the cold. weather alert again friday and saturday. if you've been waiting for winter, hey, we noufound it. >> all right. this is what you were hoping for, doug. >> we needed one storm for our forecast to verify. this might be it. >> okay. thanks, doug. we asked people if they were changing their plans because of the severe weather threat. a lot of you said yes, 35%, but just as many are still waiting to decide and almost the same number say no, you're not changing any plans. if you want to stay ahead of any changes, download our nbc washington app and get breaking news alerts sent right to your phone. whether it's fahrenheit or celsius, i'm mark segraves, how

we're coping with this cold weather. also tonight, a deadly hit-and-run. police are trying to find a garbage truck they believe was involved and we'll tell you what we're learning about the victim. and a local family takes action after a young boy is sexually assaulted at a movie theater. >> i just can't understand how something like this could happen. >> who they say is r

i'm chris lawrence at the live desk. metro transit police say they arrested a teenager for assaulting a man on a red line train. earlier this month they released these photos of people they were looking for. police say the assault happened in december as the train pulled into the station. the victim was hit in the face and knocked unconscious. police have arrested a 17-year-old who they stopped at the gallery place station about ten days ago. police say the teenager had a bb gun which is prohibited on the metro system. more arrests could be coming. jim, doreen? chris lawrence, thank you. a garbage truck was involved in a crash that left a woman dead in prince george's county. tonight police believe the driver may not have realized they hit somebody. >> the woman that was killed, her pickup truck ran into a pole off the beltway on pennsylvania avenue in forestville. >> chris gordon is at police headquarters with what's being

done to find that driver. chris? >> reporter: well, doreen and jim, investigators want to talk to the driver and first have to find the truck that was involved in this fatal hit-and-run accident. the pickup truck hit a heavy metal sign pole killing the driver. police say she was exiting the beltway onto pennsylvania avenue when her pickup made contact with a trash truck. causing her to lose control and hit the pole. police say the trash truck left the scene. they describe it as green or blue with red writing on it and damage to the passenger side. but police say they may not be able to charge the driver with hit-and-run. >> we believe at this time due to the size of the vehicle that was involved, the driver may not have known that contact was made with the victim's vehicle. >> reporter: it will take time for county police to reconstruct the collision. figure out how it happened and who was responsible. police tell us today they were focused on finding the trash truck and the driver involved in

this accident. >> we've contacted the local trash companies and we are working toward identifying the company involved. still actively investigating who was driving the vehicle at the time this took place. >> reporter: now today i stopped by one way services company and i was told by a manager that they will check all of their trucks for damage tonight. i called another. they said police had already been there. that it wasn't one of their trucks. so now police are turning to the public asking for witnesses or anybody who has seen a blue or green trash truck with damage to the right side. that's the latest live, prince george's county police headquarter, back to you. >> thanks, chris. we go back to weather now. cold out there. you know that snoep co. snow coming in the forecast. people prepare for the potential of a storm. doug? >> i want to talk a little more about the snow. the type of snowfall. you heard us mention it in different ways. conversational snow.

plowable snow. this snow that we got, not the conversational kind. no, not at all. not inconvenient. it's definitely more than that. problematic and for some, this could eventually be paralyzing as far as that's concerned. this could be very much like snowmeggedon was in 2010 as far as snowfall totals. i have the latest for you. see you back here at 6:45. that's only ten minutes away. >> not far at all, doug. lots of people are paying attention to doug's forecast and getting ready for all this. hardware stores in our area tell us they've been busy all day long. customers buying shovels and sand stuff and other supplies. and mark segraves found out some people, my kind of people are hoping we get some snow and a lot of it. he's in tinley town neighborhood. how about you? hoping for more or less, segraves? >> reporter: bring it on, van, the more the merrier. my kids don't want to go to school, the wife doesn't want to go to work. if it snow, i'll be working all weekend long.

bring it on. that's the sentiment we got from everybody we talked to. it differed how much snow they want but they all said the same thing. they're tired of waiting. bring on the white stuff. >> we need snow. it's about time for a change. >> reporter: we need snow? why do we need the snow? >> just to clear the air of all the dirt and dust and pollution. >> reporter: whether they're looking for a change, or just some fun. are you hoping for snow? >> i am. i am so i can stay home and, you know, play with the snowman. >> reporter: all of these people were getting ready and all of them want the snow to come. >> oh, yeah yeah. we're happy with snow. >> reporter: you want the snow? >> yes. >> absolutely. i love having a snowstorm. >> reporter: bundle up, spend time with the family. just like every time before the possibility of a big snow, there was a rush to buy supplies. >> they're looking for snow shovels.

got snow shovel. the wizard blizzard, it's environmentally friendly. other than that, whatever we got, sure, get the job done. >> reporter: how about snow blowers? >> i just sold two snow blowers. >> reporter: leave any behind for anybody else? >> no, not at all. >> reporter: you got as much as you could? >> had to. getting ready for the ice and everything. >> they say it's going to come. aisle getting more. this is my second time coming. >> reporter: this is your second trip? >> yes. i figured i needed, like, two more. >> reporter: you got a shovel and everything else? >> i have my shovel. i have everything ready. i'm prepared. >> reporter: now, one big difference from this time last year, all the stores we checked had plenty of de-icer, shovels and everything you need to get through this weekend no matter what it brings. and of course, if you want to be ready, what are you waiting for? get that nbc washington app on your phone. doreen, i know you got it. back to you. >> i do, mark. put me in the same category with you guys, i'd like to see a bunch of snow. however, with the

dangerously cold temperatures upon us, it never hurts to keep a few basic facts in mind for safety. layers, wearing layers, that's key. loose, lightweight clothing. mittens are warmer than gloves. and always wear a hat out in this cold. stay dry because wet clothing can cause you to be chilled a lot faster. try to keep exertion to a minimum. cold can strain the heart. if you have to get outside and shovel snow, take breaks. know the signs of frostbite. it can come on very quickly depending on temperature and wind chi windchill. look out for loss of feeling and loss of colors in parts of the body affected. you may need medical attention if it doesn't go away quickly as you get warmed up. as we brace for a potential storm on friday, other parts of the country already dealing with snow and lots of it. we'll tell you where things got so bad police actually stopped responding to some accidents. also, there's a new law that could be costly for some local

boy, they're having a rough time out in omaha, nebraska. a snowstorm moved through that area during the morning rush. look at that. that's a whiteout. dozens of accidents reported. police, in fact, stopped responding to crashes that did not involve injuries because there were just so many of them. and it was too dangerous for crews to be out on the road. >> kind of a similar story near cleveland, ohio, a band of lake-effect snow pounded the area yesterday and into this morning. the snow warning has finally been lifted, but you can see there's a lot of damage left behind. some areas of the state are buried in 2 feet of snow. here in the district, the city has talked for years about levying fines on people and businesses that don't clear their sidewalks after a snowstorm. this season it appears they're about to get serious about that. there's a new law that allows the city to hand out tickets similar to parking tickets to violators. homeowners face a fine of $25 if

their sidewalk is not cleared within 24 hours after a storm. for a commercial and multi-family buildings the fine is $150. those walkways must be cleared within eight hours of daylight after a storm and there are some accommodations being made for the elderly and people who are unable to do so. hey, maybe this will help take your mind off the cold temperatures out there. we're just two months away from the national cherry blossom festival. organizers announced the dates and details today. the festival will run from march 20th through april 17th. the blossom kite festival happens april 2nd, the parade april 16th. most events are free and open to the public. coming up, a closer look at the potential snowstorm coming our way and who might feel the impact the most. i'm darcy spencer in prince george's county where a teenager says he was molested in a movie theater bathroom. >> it's just unbelievable. we can't believe that this

happened. >> reporter: coming up on news 4 at 6:00, i'll have the latest on the investigation. and it's one of the biggest nights of the year in hollywood but this year the oscar buzz is not about who's nominated but

the family of a 13-year-old boy says he was sexually assaulted in a movie theater bathroom. tonight they have filed a lawsuit against the local group home claiming employees there dropped the ball when they were supposed to be watching the alleged attacker. news 4's darcy spencer has this troubling story. >> reporter: the prince george's county state's attorney's office

reviewing allegations that a man groped a teenager inside a bathroom of the escape movie theater in brandywine sunday afternoon. the office will decide what, if any, charges will be filed. >> it was just really distraught, we're military family. we live on andrews air force base and i just can't understand how something like this could happen. >> reporter: but the boy's family isn't waiting for justice. >> i asked them, did you touch, did you touch my nephew? he say, yes, yes e did. >> reporter: the teen's mother filed a lawsuit claiming the man who groped him is a resident of compass rehabilitation group home. the lawsuit says the facility had a responsibility to properly supervise him. but he was allowed to use the restroom without an escort. the teen's aunt spoke for the family at a press conference. >> it's like we had one job to do and that was to keep [ muted ] and we didn't.

>> reporter: according to online court records, the man the boy is accusing of the crime has a prior record for assault but was found to be incompetent. the compass website says it's a rehabilitation facility for people with intellectual disabilities. we went to the compass administrative offices but we were told no one was available to speak to news 4 about the allegations. >> what we did was improper. what he did was wrong. what he did was criminal. >> reporter: the aunt says that the teenager is doing as well as can be expected and that the family is committed to giving him the help and support he needs to get through what happened to him. in brandywine, darcy spencer, news 4. calls are growing now to boycott the academy awards ceremony because of this year's all-white list of nominees for acting. actress jada pinkett smith and director spike lee are not going to the show next month. actor george clooney also spoke up. he told "variety "magazine it's

not just african-americans being snubbed but hispanics also don't get enough credit for thaeir contributions. people are calling for more folks to speak up. >> i think maybe if you have a member of the academy who is part of those older generation peers that speaks out, it may have a bigger impact. >> late last night, the academy president, cheryl boone isaacs who is african-american issued a statement. she promised more diversity and quickly. she also said the academy is working to make sure they get it right. doug's back with more about our weather. it's a challenge to forecast a storm system that's on the other side of the continent, isn't it? >> yeah, it really is because 50 miles makes a huge difference right now. that's one thing we had today, a 30-mile shift. we had a 100-mile shift in another model and takes the bull's bull e bull's eye from d.c. and puts it over richmond. that's ha we're going to continue to see.

that's why i haven't posted any computer model forecast yet. we know they're going to continue to change. what we also know is now that that storm is on shore, we have a better understanding of what's going to be happening the next few days and i do think by tomorrow morning, we could start posting at least some snow accumulation. by tomorrow night i will definitely have that for you. stay tuned if you really want to know what you're going to be seeing, you have plenty of time to figure it out. we're three days from this event. it's not like it's coming tomorrow. just wait. everything is cool. 25 degrees. temperatures dropping through the low 20s to about 19. it will be cold, rather breezy tonight. windchills as we mentioned all day are already in the single digits. 19 the current temperature in gaithersburg. vienna, 23 degrees. on the radar, no rain, no snow to talk about. we have a chance of flurry r activity tomorrow. here's the storm. this is major snow coming. no doubt about it, we're going to get major snow in part of our area if not the entire region.

that's really the case. the latest on the european mod l, you hear all the time, the european, american models. the european went further south taking the bull's eye from d.c. down to the south. the gfs, the american model, has the bull's-eye close to the d.c. metro area. also continues to give philly and new york some pretty good amount of snow. the european said sorry, philly, sorry, new york, you're not getting anything at all. this is an evolving situation. that's why we want you to stay tuned for this. big snows for the mid-atlantic. that's what we know now. it's still uncertain who exactly is going to see what, but this is something we're going to continue to track. tonight at 11:00 i'll have more information. what to do right now? stay alert. let's go back to that graphic. alert, of course. start making plan "b." maybe not making changes tonight. what are we going to do if this happens saturday, even on sunday in if this is a big enough storm, it would be, it could be crippling for a couple days. this is something you want to think about. think about what you may need.

obviously you may need the snow shovel, the snow blower set up but need to make sure your car is all set for this, too. 34 degrees on thursday. thursday the best day. 31 on friday. 31 on saturday. that's where we have the big storm coming in then we start to thaw. temperatures above freezing. as we move in toward early next week. we may need the thaw with all the snow out there on those roads. back here at the live desk we're following breaking news. we learn a person has been hit and killed by a train just north of union station. the mark pen line service has been suspended from union station. they're making folks turn around as new carrollton. use metro as an alternative to get to new carrollton. one person has been hit and killed by a train by union station. we'll bring

this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity. your home for the most live sports. >> college sports and what'ses a stake tonight in the caps game is more than a hockey match but also something, a record, what? >> i love it because you know how hockey, i think it's the most physical of all the professional sports. anyone? >> i agree.

>> the duration -- >> so we have a record that hasn't been touched since the '80s for the caps. i'm going to get to it. hold on one second. i love it. i have some time. i can just draw this out. we didn't want to jinx it up until now. the washington capitals hit the ice tonight in columbus. it's a case of the best team in the league facing one of the worst. it is a special night for one caps player. first, an update on braden holtby. great news the caps goaltender, holtby will be back between the pipes for the blue jackets. holtby had 20 saves against the rangers on sunday but took himself out of the game. we learned later because of dehydration. holtby telling reporters today he was having vision problems because of it. good news, he's feeling good enough to go. now the guy who doesn't ever miss games. karl alzner, the caps iron man set to make his 422nd consecutive start since october 2010. that's going to tie the caps franchise record. his teammate definitely impressed by this feat.

>> it takes a little bit of luck, but it shows, like, his toughness. he's a smart player. he's vulnerable. he's played through a lot of injuries, too. so quite a feat. i hope he keeps it going. >> been in the back of my mind probably more than it should have been over the last few weeks. it's nice that we're finally there and just going to get through a few more hours to be there, but it's a nice feather to the cap i guess. few more minutes now. they're going to drop the puck at 7:00 on csn. the georgetown hoyas have a huge matchup on the road against xavier. there's payback in line as the musketeers won all three meetings last year. tip at 8:30. also tonight seventh ranked maryland hosting northwestern. the guy everyone watching tonight, melo trimble considered the best offensive point guard in the country. he seems to be in a bit of a scoring slump lately finishing with under ten points in three of the last four games.

why, then, doesn't this concern the head coach? because melo is trading his points for assists. >> kid's a winner, you know, he knows what the team needs. he doesn't care about his numbers. i know maybe when he goes back to the room and thinks about it a little bit, but when he's in the heat of the moment he's doing what's best for our team. he's won so many teagames sense he's gotten here. >> maryland and northwestern tip at 8:00 p.m. >> i wish i could do what he does. >> let's work on it after the show. i'll tweet that. >> i wish i could do that. as for the wizards, you know about their health issues, martin gortat today with a few choice words on the subject putting the responsibility to stay healthy on the players. >> i personally can't understand how it's possible people can get constantly hurt. you know, so you got to do something. you got to change something in your routine to become a bigger

pro, to become a better player, more professional at stuff you do. i personally, you know, i take this responsibility, too, i mean, you know, if everybody else is going to take the same, you know, approach, then we're going to be a better team. >> all right. we're going to go down under now. i know we'll get -- australian open. after verdasko took on the first set, nadal thinks he's got him. great return of zone. nadal finishes it with a strong forehand. he took the second set 6-4. now we're getting a little ahead because nadal is in trouble in the fifth set. on the serve. seconds it right back. fernando takes down nadal five sets. first time in nadal's career he is out at the aussie open in the first round. the 14-time grand slam winner not starting off the season so well. >> fernando never beats nadal. that's his -- his tournament right there. you think gortat's going to have to pay for that? >> no, no. >> he was calling out -- >> his teammates maybe.

>> that's what you're talking about. >> you know, in the locker room. i mean, that's pretty hard stuff. >> thanks. >> "nightly news" coming up

breaking news tonight. sarah palin endorsed donald trump, a major move rallying conservatives, as trump tries to fight off ted cruz. the impact on the race. it is a disaster. an admission about the toxic water crisis that poisoned potentially thousands of children. a governor under fire, residents now fighting back. the major snowstorm about to wallop a huge part of the country after three feet of snow. al roker is here. a freed american speaks after years held by iran. the u.s. marine's powerful message as another american family has a loved one still missing, said the government betrayed them. and now is the time. if you are planning to fly this spring or summer, what you should be doing in the next three weeks. "nightly news" begins right now.