hi, tracee. >> reporter: hi, doreen. we have a lot of good news. first of all, here in temple hills they have been able to clear the street after it was packed in snow for this entire duration of the storm. they saw their plow trucks for the first time today. neighbors were very excited about it. we know some good news for the roads tomorrow. prince george's county schools will be closed again to students tomorrow giving road crews more time to get this straight. >> it's unfortunate it took so long. >> it was too little too late for some prince george's county residents who just today saw a plow on their snowy streets for the first time. >> the fact that the snowplows just came today, this morning, on day was this four or five? it's unacceptable. >> reporter: some residents in this beltsville neighborhood had a suggestion for how to get it done faster. >> the idea is if you assign one small plow to each development and just have them constantly plow, you don't allow the snow to get so deep that a regular

plow can't handle it. >> reporter: prince george's county spokesman said primary roads are now 100% passable. heading east on central we found two of three lanes completely cleared with pedestrians using the third like a sidewalk. on other streets, some turn lanes were still covered in snow. then there were other roads clear as a bell like this one off darcy road. all four lanes were open on route 1, but on some residential streets like kemp springs road, people are taking to the roadway because sidewalks are covered. paulette jones, spokesperson with the prince george's county works department, the county is well on its way to meeting it's 9:00 p.m. residential road deadline. they were at 80% around 1:00 p.m. today. so we know that they are absolutely going to meet that 9:00 p.m. deadline tonight. if you have issues and they don't come to your road, give 311 a call. i'm tracee wilkins, back to you all in the studio.

>> thank you. the governor of virginia says he's comfortable with the condition of state roads there after the blizzard, but some drivers may take exception to that. some roads have just one lane for two-way traffic. others still have lanes that narrow or disappear and sidewalks are definitely not ready for students. bureau reporter david culver joins us live from fairfax county where there's still a lot of work to be done, david. >> reporte >> reporter: we watched a school bus pass by testing this route in arlington county, checking to see what sidewalks are open and what is still blocked. the sun helping melt, but not quickly enough for some. >> going on now our fifth day in a row with no school, and the parents, you got to get back to work. >> reporter: many snow days putting pressure on working parents like melissa and joe.

>> first thing we go is what time is your conference call? what time is my conference call. >> reporter: while they worked quietly in their home office able to concentrate on their respective jobs we checked in on their daughter, 5-year-old ever rose moving like a sea creature. >> we're pop-up anyway. we're mobile all year long. >> lola lombard and her staff mobilized overnight to accommodate the many kids kept home during snow days. >> what are some of the things we learned about the reef? >> we don't have a crystal ball so we try to stay really prepared and do what it takes to open when we can. >> reporter: progress being made in cleaning up school properties, but the sidewalks leading up to them still a mess in parts. >> we need to open things up so kids are going to be safe. >> reporter: on the roads, drivers' views blocked by the mounds of snow in some intersections. we found slush forcing wax pool

road from four lanes down to two. another lane disappears turning on to route 68. >> i am hopeful that by the weekend, the end of the weekend, we'll be back to something like normal. >> reporter: and, doreen, if you can believe it, most students in northern virginia not going back to school until february, next week. >> david culver, thank you. montgomery county calls it a complete success. they say they have fulfilled a pledge to clear a path by every neighborhood by a self-imposed 7:00 a.m. deadline. some residentsre not agreeing. some homeowners took matters into their own hands. >> only way we got out of here was this plow right here, manual labor from all the neighbors, snow blowers from the neighbors. >> we've been getting some e-mails, getting calls, and we are responding to those. we're sending a truck right away. >> the next big challenge for

the county, tomorrow morning's commute. chris gordon will have more on how montgomery county is preparing. prince george's county and frederick county in maryland will be closed tomorrow and for some students school is effectively out for the rest of the week. fairfax county and prince william county will be closed through friday. loudoun county says it is closing thursday and friday and planning to extend the semester. nasa city schools are off through today, then will have teacher workdays for the rest of the city. and manassas city park is doing something similar. cool is canceled tomorrow and work day for teachers on friday. d.c. public school students are back home tonight after their first day back in class. this was the scene as some people arrived at coolidge high school in northwest this morning. many parents and students told us they dealt with snow-covered sidewalks and roads on their way in today. >> the streets are still messed

up. some people, their cars are buried. they cannot get their car to bring their kids to school. >> the melting today combined with a refreeze tonight is threatening to make things even more messy for students in the morning. >> so how cold will it get overnight and how is that going to affect our roads? let's go to doug in the storm center with that side of the story. hi, doug. >> i think it's going to affect our roads in a very, very big way. we saw a mess out there earlier this morning, a lot of snow still on the sides of the roads. that made the lanes a little more narrow and tomorrow it's the ice and really not just tomorrow, tonight. we're already seeing some ice developing in parts of the area. down to 32 already in hagerstown, 39 in d.c. 40 in fredfredericksburg. the next hour or two temperatures will drop to the freezing mark. a very quick refreeze tonight. i do mean very quick. in the next one to two hours we have lots of ice out there. take your time. give yourself a lot of extra time. pack the patience. walking around tomorrow morning, whether you're walking, biking,

driving, whatever you're doing, expect a lot of ice around the area. 25 degrees at that time. by afternoon up to 41. so we'll go back from the ice over to the puddles. a lot of melting tomorrow and then another refreeze tomorrow night. find out what we have coming up for this weekend. i've got that forecast in a minute. >> thank you, doug. democratic presidential candidate bernie sanders visited the white house today for a chat with president obama. afterwards, senator sanders talked to nbc news "nightly news" anchor lester holt. here is some of their conversation. >> what's your bar for success in iowa? >> winning. >> number one? >> yeah. i mean, i think that we have worked really hard. we started off in iowa later than secretary clinton did. we have some 15,000 volunteers. and let me be very clear about this, lester. on caucus night in iowa, you will be able to tell very early, i think, who wins and who loses.

if there is a large voter turnout, we're going to win. >> lester holt joins us now. that's a pretty bold pronouncement from the senator. >> it is, but it's all about ground game and you're at that point now all the campaigning is great, but you've got to get your people out, and that he believes is his strategy and i asked him, i said what happens if you're number two here, and he says he admits psychologically it's not great but he's got a plan. he goes on to new hampshire where he -- the polls suggest he'll do well, and he believes he can get, you know, that pass into the south, south carolina, nevada. he has a strategy. >> that meeting with the president, tell us about that. how long did it last? >> it lasted about 45 minutes. this was agreed to at some holiday function over the holidays, that this would happen. so the timings just happens to coincide this close to the vote but he says they talked about foreign policy, domestic issues, and i said and politics? noting that president obama was in a very similar situation to him in 2008 in iowa. he said, yes, they did, in fact, talk about politics but he kept

that part of the conversation private. >> and did he ask the president for an endorsement? >> he didn't ask for an endorsement but i did ask him, do you recall that conversation with the president with politico the other day which seemed to many people sounded like an endorsement of hillary clinton. he wasn't offended. he said the president was even-handed and that the president believes it's up to the voters. >> we need to point out he has spend some time, the president i mean, with hillary clinton as well with more to come, right? >> he had had a discussion with her and, you know, he's obviously holding off on the sidelines. that conversation the other day got a lot of publicity but the president officially right now is neutral. >> i want to point out that wherever it was you guys were walking, they had already plowed it, shoveled it. >> i was told to bring my own shovel if i was coming to d.c. >> has the blizzard aftermath been as difficult in new york as it feels like it has been here? >> actually no. new york got back on its feet pretty quickly except the cross walks, but i was shocked to still see tractors in the street today. >> we're still at it.

>> it's going to get better. >> we're glad you're in town and we'll -- >> great to be here. we'll be broadcasting right down the hall. >> you can see lester's full interview with bernie sanders on "nbc nightly news" right after this newscast. piles of snow covered traffic lanes making for yet another long commute. we'll tell you why officials in d.c. say the cleanup could last all the way into next week. plus an alleged hacker faces the inside of a courtroom in alexandria. how prosecutors say he was able to send the addresses of military members to isis. and we continue to follow breaking news in waldorf where police say a 2-year-old shot himself. it happened late this afternoon. the toddler's father says he was sleeping when he heard a loud bang and found his child shot in the leg. that toddler was airlifted to the hospit

a live look at the commute this evening. the first significant commute since the blizzard ended. it's been pretty slow going much of the day. now that a lot of people are back at work and in school, but the snow emergency will end at 6:30 tonight. what that means is you can once again park along those routes designated as such. our tom sherwood has more on the challenges of getting back to the business after the storm.

>> reporter: 17th and l streets downtown. people, cars, bicycles picking their way through one of the city's normally busy intersections. on k street, delivery trucks blocking precious east/west traffic lanes. the service roads jammed with snow. even america's main street, pennsylvania avenue, was getting heavy duty cleanup. an expectation for a full work day tomorrow that could start with an icy street rush hour. >> it's going to take us into next week to have curb to curb open streets, open sidewalks, you know, the ability to walk normally across a crosswalk and not have to find a curb cut to get out. >> reporter: today virginia governor terry mcauliffe grumbled it took him an hour and a half to cross town for a wtop radio appearance. >> i had to come from the capitol and it took us almost an hour. the roads are still single lane here, so it's going to take

time, but listen, everybody is working hard. >> reporter: u.s. park service shut down rock creek parkway for hours today to speed up snow removal for tonight's evening and tomorrow's morning rush hour. some commuters happy they took metro. >> i came by metro, so as long as metro is running, i'm fine. >> reporter: and to be a little corny like "annie" at the national theater, we can all hope that tomorrow is better than we expect. ♪ tomorrow, tomorrow, i love ya tomorrow ♪ >> reporter: now, i said that was corny, but we are hoping tomorrow is better. in downtown, tom sherwood, news4. >> well, we appreciate your effort at a little creativity, tom. all of metro's stations are back open today but it hasn't been a smooth ride. there were complaints all over social media this morning about crowding at the stations. riders are also upset that they're being charged rush hour

fares when trains aren't running at full service. metro just announced that buses will run on a light snow plan tomorrow. they are on a moderate schedule tonight. some good news for those of you who have air travel plans this week. airlines are getting back on track after being forced to cancel thousands of flights because of the storm. today there have been fewer than a hundred cancellations nationwide. we are now deep in the countdown to the iowa caucuses. only five days to go on that. donald trump is injecting new drama into the presidential race. he refuses to attend the republican debate tomorrow. our steve handelsman is on capitol hill with new reaction to this latest scandal. >> reporter: donald trump got to where he is at the top of the heap in national polls flexing his muscle and he's still flexing in this fight. >> are you afraid to debate? >> no, no, no. i said bye-bye, okay?

>> that is a huge risk. we're already seeing republicans pounce on him saying he is too scared to go toe to toe with fox news. >> reporter: it's fox moderator megyn kelly who he says was unfair in the first debate in august, refusing to pull kelly for tomorrow, fox said capitulating to politicians' ultimate tims violates all jurmistic standards, but gop insiders see a triple win for trump. trapping his top rival ted cruz on stage open to attack and seven points up in today's poll, trump protecting his iowa lead and impressing voters. >> they see strength. they see a guy who is not going to be bullied by a network that they like, by the way. >> reporter: democrat bernie sanders went to the white house today to discuss policy with president obama, who has made no endorsement but wrote the book on victory in iowa. >> i'm not saying we could do what barack obama did in 2008. i wish we could, but i don't think we can, but if there is a

large turnout, i think we win. >> reporter: at an iowa bowling alley today, hillary clinton agreed turnout is key. >> and i am asking all of you to go to the caucus monday night because if you stand up for me then, i will stand up and fight for you. >> reporter: clinton and sanders are tied now in the iowa poll but the vermont senator has a lead worth protecting in new hampshire. 15 points in the polls over hillary clinton, and like trump, sanders today was resisting taking part in a debate proposed by nbc to take place in new hampshire after the iowa vote. i'm steve handelsman, news4. >> thank you, steve. we are covering with team coverage next week the iowa caucuses beginning on sunday. steve handelsman and our aaron gilchrist will report in des moines. an international hacker accused of targeting american military members is now facing terror charges in alexandria.

his name is ardit ferizi. prosecutors say he hacked into the database of a u.s. retailer last year. he sorted out the names and addresses of about 1,300 military and government workers, then passed the details to an isis member who then posted the information online. he has just been extradited to the u.s. and appeared in court for the first time today. "the washington post" long awaited newsroom reunion with jason rezaian finally happened today. "washington post" colleagues tweeted photos of rezaian and his wife as they sat in on a morning editorial meeting. they were welcomed with a standing ovation. jason rezaian served as the post's bureau chief until iran accused him of spying. he spent a year and a half in prison before he was freed during the iran prisoner swap earlier this month. next, a new warning about the zika virus as we learn about several new cases in the u.s., including one in virginia.

i'm mark segraves, coming up on news4, why the snow in these parking spaces could mean a brutal commute tomorrow morning. montgomery county is about to lift its snow emergency. how it migh

doug, the memory of trying to drive home on those icy roads last wednesday is still very

vivid for a lot of us. is tomorrow morning going to be anything like that? >> i think it really could be. the one thing about what we saw last wednesday, obviously the entire road covered. this one a little bit different because you're going to have patches of ice but they could be very significant and that's really something to watch out for. not just tomorrow morning, but the next couple of hours. i really think we're going to have a lot of problems here coming up. take a look outside down towards the airport. looking pretty good tonight. air travel trying to get back to normal. 39 degrees right now, winds out of the north at 10 miles an hour. that puts our windchill right around the freezing mark right now. take a look at the numbers. gaithersburg now down to freezing. 32 in hagerstown. 34 in martins berg and frederick. many of the overpasses and bridges will freeze first. the rest of the area starting to fall and we'll fall fairly quickly and i think by 7:00 or 8:00 we'll be below freezing. we have cloud cover down to the south. that's good news for places like fredericksburg. you won't fall quite as quick. where we have the clear skies,

d.c. to the north and west, we are going to fall. by 7:00 tonight, down to 30 gaithersburg, 29 in martinsburg. still above freezing in the city. but by 10:00 everybody below freezing now. 28 in d.c. 22 in leesburg. could be 15 already in martinsburg. that's how fast we will fall. snow cover and clear skies allows temperatures to fall very, very quickly. that's what we're going to see out there tonight and that's why i'm expecting everything to ice over. look at tomorrow morning. 7:00 a.m., 16 gaithersburg, 18 in lease berg. 22 in d.c. it only has to get below the 32 degree morning to get the ice and we will get to tomorrow. 10:00 a.m. still below freezing in many areas. we'll start to melt with the sunshine but by 10:00 tomorrow still dealing with some problems. even my noon some areas back to the west we could be dealing with that. freeze happens quick this evening. remember that. tomorrow morning dangerously slick. i think tomorrow and really

overnight tonight by around 8:00 or 9:00 tonight but then tomorrow morning really a big deal. that's why we have you in the red here. yellow again on friday morning. yeah, i think a little bit better as far as the roads are concerned but icy again on friday. so the commuter forecast, more icy patches tomorrow. around 25 degrees. tomorrow afternoon, more melting and that's why we have the refreeze tomorrow night. now, temperatures in the next couple days, this is the scenario that we deal with. melting during the day, freezing at night. we're going to see this each day as we head into the weekend. look at the weekend temperature. 44 on saturday. 49 on sunday. and doreen, we were talking about this last week, temperatures get into the 60s with potential for heavy rain tuesday into wednesday that could lead to some flooding. we'll talk more about that coming up at 6:45. >> thank you, doug. finding parking is tough enough but it could be even more difficult tomorrow with several inches of snow still on the ground. tonight the best advice for people who use local commuter lots. also new reaction tonight

from president obama about the blizzard of 2016. he'll talk about d.c. and chicago. some people say it can get too cold for crime. but not for this guy. he used the snow over the weekend as an accomplice.

right now the district has lifted its snow emergency and montgomery county is preparing to do the same. many residents there are now able to get out of their neighborhoods. this comes after a pledge to plow the streets has been fulfilled. the big question though is are the roads ready for tomorrow? we have team coverage at 6:30 now. mark segraves with a warning about commuter lots. >> but we begin with chris gordon. he's live in rockville with more on how montgomery county is getting ready for that morning rush. chris? >> reporter: well, we're along 355 in rockville and behind me you see a large pile of snow blocking the right-hand lane here along rockville pike because state crews have not cleared to the curb. that reduces the traffic flow. you will also notice the roadway is wet. it's getting colder. doug kammerer just warned us it could turn icy, and that could make tomorrow morning's commute even tougher than today's.

at 10:00 this morning when rush hour is usually over, traffic on old georgetown road was barely moving. federal workers were allowed to report three hours late. commuters were backed up from bethesda to the beltway and beyond. 270 was snarled by an early morning accident that slowed southbound traffic for hours. >> 2970, had a jackknifed tractor-trailer this morning. so had to take some back roads and the back roads are not as good as the main roads yet. >> reporter: richard dorsey is the head of montgomery county's division of highway services. >> it was a challenge. there's still some choke points in the main system in montgomery county. state roads and county roads. >> reporter: heavy traffic on the roads caused some montgomery county ride on buss to run late. many were crowded with passengers. >> it was longer than normal because the lanes that aren't plowed, so all the one-lane roads, two-lane roads that are

normally three-lane roads. took a while. >> reporter: are you looking forward to tomorrow's rush hour? >> not at all. >> reporter: if this is how bad traffic was today with federal workers allowed to report late, how will it be when they have to report to work on time? >> there's going to be more people, pedestrians and motorists, going out into the public to their jobs, to their leisure. it will be a challenge tomorrow morning. >> reporter: montgomery county will be lifting its snow emergency tomorrow morning at 6:00 p.m. which means more cars will be parking on the street, and those cars that have been stored for free in county public parking lots, they have to be moved by 9:00 a.m. or the owners will have to start paying to park. that's the latest live along 355 in rockville. back to you. >> better get an early, early start wherever you're planning to head tomorrow morning. thank you, chris. tonight president obama is

rating d.c.'s response to the pliferd. in the past he's been known to call us weather wimps. >> properly so. right now nbc's jim rosenfeld is at the white house tonight. jim, first of all, it's good to see you again. you talked one-on-one with the president earlier today. what did he have to say this time around? >> reporter: well, first of all, jim, i got to meet with him briefly one-on-one. not as long any of your sitdowns or doreen's sitdowns. five minutes, okay? >> i think that's all anybody gets actually. >> reporter: his first question to us was how was the drive down here. we came down from philadelphia. i said it was fine but then i asked him how he fell the response here in d.c. has been and also asked him about that slippery motorcade mess from last week. here is what he had to say. >> well, i got to say as a guy from chicago, we're used to snow. people here still have some problems, but hopefully we're making some improvements. the federal government is open today, schools reopened so that's a good sign.

>> reporter: the president said though actually this is the first time in his presidency he's been so seriously tied up in traffic as he was last week, but he stopped short of criticizing officials for the hangup and with that, well, we were off on other topics, primarily a push to get people to sign up for obamacare by the deadline coming up this sunday. >> jim rosenfeld, the raanchor our sister station in philadelphia. hope you miss us, because we sure do miss you. >> reporter: miss you guys too. great to see you. we've been warning you commuter lots will have fewer spaces available because of all the snow that's piled up. news4's mark satisfy griegraves our coverage with some tips. >> here at the commuter parking lot for the germantown marc station, this is what it looks like. nearly 30% of the spaces are still covered in snow and that means it will be a lot tougher to get a parking space here tomorrow morning.

officials with mta and vre tell me if you're planning on coming to tomorrow and you want to get a space here, you better get here early, earlier than normal. they're suggesting you car pool or use kiss and ride or take the bus to the train station. this is how the commuter lots in maryland and virginia look from the air and from the ground. driving through the lots, one has to navigate around the huge piles of snow looking for a parking space. many of those piles are actually taking up parking spaces, including some handicap spaces. talking on wtop radio this morning, virginia governor terry mcauliffe said getting these lots cleared is a priority. >> so now we have to hit the big parking lot areas where school buses are and vre where people can park and the metros. that has to be hit very hard and that's what we're really focusing on now. remember, we can't push the snow. it really has to be picked up and taken somewhere.

>> reporter: some commuters have adjusted their schedules just so they can get a parking space. >> it's easier to park, and then i amended my schedule. otherwise when you get here later there's no spots and in this situation as you can see, there's definitely not going to be any spots. >> reporter: officials hope to have all the lots fully cleared by monday morning. in montgomery county, mark segraves, news4. the city, d.c., made a lot of money off cars parked in emergency routes during the storm. the city towed away 669 cars. the city issued more than $1.2 million in tickets. most of those cars were taken to private impound lots where you might be forced to dig your car out once you get there. you can call 311 if your car was towed. your pictures keep coming in because you're frustrated about the condition of your street. news4's operation hash tag snow stuck is still up and running.

keep sending us your pictures and videos of unplowed streets, unshoveled sidewalks, or buried bus stops with the hash tag snow stuck and be sure to include the exact location. coming up, the simple mistake that led to a dramatic scene on live tv. plus a new warning about the zika virus after the first confirmed cases reported in virginia. but first, here is doug. >> and i got one word for you -- ice. it's going to be a big problem tomorrow morning. that was a lot of words but it tells you tomorrow is going to be a lot of problems. we'll talk about that and ♪

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and you can get a polaroid cube+ video camera on the spot. new information about what sparked this awful fire in prince george's counsel at the. investigators say an open flame on a kitchen stove ignited a flammable adhesive spray. chopper 4 was over the scene in adelphi two weeks ago as firefighters rescued two people from a balcony. you probably remember this. a husband and wife in the

apartment were injured. the man has been released from the burn unit but his wife is still hospitalized. d.c. police chief kathy cat lanier had an opportunity to get out of town and she turned it down. a spokesperson said the city of chicago reached out to her to gauge her interest in the top police job there, but she declined even an interview. chicago has been searching for a new chief since the last one was fired, that was back in december over the shooting of an unarmed man 16 times by police. chief lanier has been with the d.c. police force since 1990. she has spent the last nine years as chief. now to the growing concerns about a mosquito-borne virus that's already made it into the u.s. it's called the zika virus and it's spreading in south and central america. a virginia resident who traveled to one of those countries was diagnosed with the virus yesterday. here is a look at what you should know about the virus. first, pregnant women are most

at risk when it comes to the zika virus because it's been linked to birth defects and miscarriag miscarriages. the centers for disease control has issued travel advisories for 24 countries where the virus is most prevalent and zika can be treated with over the counter medicines. the world health organization predicted the virus would spread to all country across the americas except for canada and chile. coming up tonight, a daring rescue at the height of the snowstorm. we'll show you how it went down. plus a crime of opportunity. what this man reportedly did as people hunkered down

tonight we have the story of

the family of a man whose recent death has been linked to a defective air bag in his truck. they sat down with our consumer reporter susan hogan who joins us with the story you will see only on news4. >> that's right. 52-year-old joel knight died just three days before christmas. federal regulators confirmed he was killed by a defective air bag made by japanese manufacturer takata. i just returned from south carolina early this morning after a very emotional interview with his family. >> he was my best friend, so to lose him like this, it's very heartbreaking. >> reporter: anne knight is trying hard to be strong but the loss of her husband is still so raw. >> this is crazy. you know, why didn't they contact us? this could have been prevented. his death hacould have been prevented. >> reporter: on december 22nd joel knight was at the wheel of his 2006 ford ranger when he struck a cow in the road.

the impact deployed the air bag which ruptured with such force investigators say this large metal shard killed him. a preliminary autopsy report obtained by news4 says the cause of knight's death was a fatal projectile of the neck, probably from the air bag. >> and when the inflater deployed or the propellant exploded, the single piece of steel launched out the canister like a bullet, entered mr. knight's spine and severed his spinal cord. >> reporter: this week the family filed a lawsuit saying ford and takata new about a death in malaysia. the lawsuit claims the malaysia death led to a recall in 61 counts. they say they chose not to recall that model in the united

states. monday ford expanded its recall to include vehicles with the same model air bags as the one in knight's truck. in a statement the company said the ford vehicles affected by this takata action are all 2004, 2006 ford rangers built in north america. >> i think about it every day, every minute of the day, that if this air bag was not in my dad's truck, my dad would still be here. >> reporter: takata told news4 in part our haerltfelt c condolences go out to the driver's family. we are cooperating fully with regulators to take aggressive action to advance vehicle safety. as for the family, they say that statement is too little too late. >> he's been driving their vehicles for over 20 years and you didn't care. so my thing is you don't care, why should i care what happens to your company? but i thought they should have to pay for what they have done wrong. >> the national highway traffic

safety administration said the government ran tests on these particular inflaters and they never failed. now, we have a lot more information for you right now regarding takata air bags' recalls including all of the vehicles now included in this latest round of recalls. it's right now on our nbc washington app. >> so can we assume the government also looked at the victim's truck? >> they absolutely did. they flew down to south carolina to physically look at the truck and that's when they determined that, indeed, that the air bag did cause his death. >> wow. >> thank you, susan. >> thank you. complete strangers came together to form a human chain to help rescue a man whose big rig flew off the pennsylvania turnpike. happened on friday as that storm was beginning. the driver lost control of his semi as the storm got stronger. his truck was dangling perilously off the highway in pittsburgh. then in an incredible act of courage, several people jumped in to help. the driver is going to be okay. this was one of many problems on the pennsylvania turnpike.

some drivers were stuckere for 30 hours. well, most of us were hunkered down or digging out, but one guy apparently used the blizzard to his advantage. police tell us he robbed several stores in prince george's county and they're trying to find him now. pat collins in college park with that story. >> reporter: take a good look at this guy. we call him the blizzard bandit. he used the big snow over the weekend as a distraction to pull off five armed robberies. it started as the snow was calling friday night at perlas restaurant in beltsville. they were just getting ready to close. kevin figueroa said his niece, grandmother, and mother were all there. >> it was loud, where's the money, money, money, money. >> reporter: they didn't speak english. they were really scared. >> they didn't know what to do.

>> reporter: he grabbed the money and off he went. >> then he left. very scary situation for them. >> reporter: most of the targets 7-eleven stores in the beltsville area. he comes in, pulls a gun, gets the money. he tells the employees to put their hands in the air and go to the back room and then he takes off. police believe this gunman used the snow as an accomplice. >> i certainly think he took advantage of the snow and some of the issues with getting around in the community to prey on the community and take advantage of us during the state of emergency. >> reporter: police are posting a $2,500 reward in this case. in prince george's county, pat collins, news4. doug is back with more about our weather and the prfreeze that's probably getting under way. >> it's all right starting in many areas. it's going to come to downtown in the neck one to two hours. once the sun goes down with clor skies and snow pack, that helps

temperatures to tall and they're doing that now. the overnight planner, this is what you need to know, temperatures right now sitting at 39, but down to 34 by next hour. 28 by 11:00. 25 by early tomorrow and i have ice, ice, and more ice making its way in across the area right now. 30 degrees, already below freezing. many of the bridges and overpass overpasses, they will freeze first. weather impacts tomorrow, walking, still tough out there. you have all the slush, you have the ice across the region. that's in the red. driving in the red. parking, we've seen a lot from mark segraves about parking in the area. that will still be an issue. heads up and just know you need to pack the patience once again. pack it all week long. we have been in weather alert all week. schools out again tomorrow in many areas. 41 degrees for a high. 39 on friday. now, friday, 39 doesn't seem bad with sunshine, but it's going to be rather windy so we're talking windchills down between 20 and 25 at 7:00 p.m.

25 to 30 the rest of the day. so it will be a cold day. not the coldest we've seen so far this season but it will be quite chilly. then we warm. saturday and sunday mid to upper 40s. 49 by sunday and look at next week, guys. doreen, again, you asked me this the other day and i said, no, long we'll hit 60s but look as we've moved closer to the event here, 60 on monday, 60 on tuesday. 65 on wednesday. that coming with.bku÷ very stro storm system that will bring us some good amounts of rain, that could cause flooding if we still have snow and i think we will have snow. that's a situation we're going to be watching very, very closely. still seven days out but again 65 degrees, you mentioned that with all the snow that we've seen plus the half an inch of rain, you get a flood threat. we'll talk much more about that again as we move towards next week. >> if it ain't one thing, it's two. >> just a few weeks ago doug was complaining it was boring in the forecast. >> i'm sorry. >> no complaints anymore. we got sports coming txi-up. what about kurt cousins and that

new deal? we'll hear from the gm about that.

this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. >> a lot of talk at the end of the season was we have to pay this guy to keep this guy. have we decided to pay this guy? >> there's a lot of people they need to pay, 19 free agents on

the redskins roster. kirk cousins just one of many guy that is need to be paid. >> he's not just one. >> he's the main one. the main one is one of many. this week the brass have been in alabama at the senior bowl scouting potential draft picks. general manager scot mccloughan there, of course. heqs stated numerous times how important it is to draft well to build a good football team and so is having a really good quarterback. kirk cousins will be a free agent this off-season. getting him locked up is a most for scot mccloughan. >> we start some preliminary talks right now. i had a really good conversation twice with kirk. you know, i know i like the person he is, i like the player he shows, especially the second half of the season. of course, we want m here because he's a red skin, he was drafted a red skin. i think he embodies what a red skin is supposed to look like. >> mccloughan said the team could use the franchise tag but

a long-term deal is preferable. as far as robert griffin iii, they don't need to make a decision until maenrch 3rd. the capitals take on the flyers tonight. the capitals only playing one game in a 13-day span. after today they're off for the all-star break. the best team in hockey looking to match the longest home winning streak in franchise history tonight. the flyers, they have lost three in a row. it's always a big-time rivalry game when philadelphia comes to the town. with the recent postponements, these guys are ready for that puck to drop. >> two games were canceled. we're missing hockey. we're excited to play. can't wait to get to the rink. it's not like we have to play. it's we get to play a game finally. going to be a lot of enthusiasm. >> we have a little bit of pent up energy we want to get rid of and hopefully we can go out and take it out on them. >> the fact it's the flyers gets us a little bit more excited.

>> like that. >> yeah. see, some energy, pent up. moving on to college basketball now. what a wild game for georgetown last night. plenty of reasons why. the hoyas down 11, just over 2:00 to play against creighton. they fight their way back. end the game on a 12-3 run to take down the blue jays. crazy comeback for the players shall the fans, and especially long time play by play announcer rich whose signature call went to epic proportions. >> hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win, hoyas win! georgetown, 74, creighton -- >> the hoyas won. those were 19 "hoyas win."

how about that? that's a record for the regular season. he did get to 20 after an n.i.t. game in 2014. obviously rich in a great mood after the victory. the same could not be said forton thompson, jr. big john, he was not thrilled with the officials last night and when a reporter asked j.t. 3 about the refs and how that he called the game, that's when big john interjected his thoughts. >> last two games here at home were terribly called. you can tell the [ bleep ] commissioner and everybody else in the big east i said that. >> sitting in on his son's postgame press conference. the last two home games for the hoyas -- >> i live his reaction. >> dad! >> 49 personal fouls. their opponents 36. big john and rich in the same sports cast, i'm happy. >> john is free now to say pretty much whatever he wants to say. what are you going to do? that guy with georgetown -- what's the name of the game when the giants won the pennant?

giants win the pennant? you don't remember that, do you. >> did he go 19 times? >> how many times did he go? anybody know? anybody know? by the way, if rg3

you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates, answer the call already.

developing news tonight. trump standoff. an intense drama building as the front-runner goes to war with fox news, refusing to show up for the final debate before iowa, slammed by his rivals. what's behind trump's drastic move? also, one-on-one with bernie sanders. his oval office meeting with president obama days after the president seemed to tip his hand in favo of hillary clinton. deadly shootout. federal agents and a dramatic confrontation with anti-government protesters. the group's leader arrested, the siege still not over. and walmart controversy. the world's largest retailer about to shutter over 150 stores, leaving neighborhoods across 15 states fresh out of luck for food. "nightly news" begins right now.