welcome to news4 this week. >> hi, i'm veronica johnson and we're going to show you the interesting local stories making news this week. among them, super tuesday. virginians showed out in record numbers to vote. and where is virginia gray, family members of the beloved grandmother have serging for her after they say someone else's body ended up in her casket. . and babies combatting bullying. the unique experience students are getting. first, it was a huge week in virginia where super tuesday brought a record turnout in the commonwealth. every republican primary or caucus has seen record turnout. in viin

voters casts ball lots in the republican primary. that shattered the record from 16 years ago where a little more than 650,000 people voted. the huge turnout brought a surprising close result at least on the republican side. donald trump won the state with 35% of the vote with marco rubio with 32%. for democrats, hillary clinton won with 64% of the vote to b n bernie sanders 35%. we break down the numbers. >> democratic governor celebrating a decisive hillary clinton win in virginia. but when all of the ball lots were counted, turns out republican candidates had plenty to celebrate too. a new record turnout. democrats shattered it in 2008 when they backed barack obama's candidacy. bues

new record. more than a million primary votes casts. >> we have all of these different candidates fighting each other. what we were able to do is fan tas tig. if we unify, i feel great about november. >> democrats have a different take. the chairman of the arlington democratic academy. >> this is a wide spread notion that people want to stop donald trump. there are a lot of people worried about him so a lot of people voted for anybody but donald trump. >> while donald trump narrowly won in virginia, in the suburbs, many republicans backed marco rubio instead. he won fairfax and loudon. trump squeezed out a win in prince william. if so trump continue ons, would he have trouble winning virginia. >> rubio won loudon. trump won prince william. i think either of them is going to be able to win anywhere. >> even the governor thinks trump could be a formidable challenger

trump-clinton contest. >> people say we're hoping for trump. i always say be careful what you hope for. >> one sure payoff for the republicans, access to new information about voters, voters they'll try to reach once the nominee is selected. well virginia could be on its way to become the first state to regulate and formally allow the faintly daily sports sites. lawmakers passed a bill requiring to sites to register with the commonwealth agricultural department. it would ban anybody under 18 from playing and require a $50,000 registration fee from fantasy site praters. the bill now heads to the governor. draft kings says 1.2 million virginians play fantasy sports every year. both nbc sports and have invested in fan dual. just a

way that you get to the hospital if you have a emergency in d.c. will be changing. a private ambulance service will start responding to the 9/1 calls. mark sea graves got a look at how the company will handle transports in a report you saw only on news4. >> for 18 hours a day between 12 and 24 private ambulances will be posted across the district but they won't be sitting around waiting for calls. they'll be constantly moving and strategically deployed based on data. >> you actually can within reason start to make predicted models of where calls are going to come from, what neighborhoods they're going to come from and what times they're going to have to come from. you always have to build in a buffer. >> a medical transport company, the district is paying them $9 million for the first year. not only will they use data from 911 calls to predict needs for service but they'll ams be paying attention to rush hour when it comes to deployment. >> what time of day we're going to see the calls. and we're g

that are overlaying traffic pattern on top of that. >> the ambulance will. staffed with two certified emts as well as the same monitoring equipment as d.c. fire. when you call 911 for a medical emergency, d.c. fire will still be the first to respond. but if it's a nonlife threatening emergency, d.c. fire will then request an amr ambulance for transport. but amr won't wait for the call from d.c. fire to deploy. they'll have dispatchers working inside the 911 call center. >> if a call looks as though we're pretty certain it's going to wind up being triaged to us for transport we can proactively start moving ambulances in that direction in a nonemergency basis until we get the request. let's make a teal, how university students have a chance for some cheep seats when they ride metro. the university is asking students to consider a proposal to get a metro pass with unlimited riding privileges. it would had

their statute fees. all full-time students would be enrolled if the students vote to accept the deal. there's a program in the district aimed at cutting down on bullying among kids and improving sensitivity to others. it involves bringing a small baby into the classroom and letting children handle and study that baby's fragile state. news4 photo journalist beth brown introduces us to roots of empathy. ♪ ♪ how are you, how are you today ♪ >> i thought babies were just people that were just cute and that didn't really do much. but now i know that they do much more than that. >> he makes lots of noises. >> he can come and get it now, right? >> with a baby, it just helps us see them in such a different light and to see themselves in a different light,

able to crawl. >> on a month to month basis, bam the month is over. this really slows us down and gives us a chance to notice things through their eyes. >> what do you think it is about isaiah's shoes that he's so attracted to. >> he's getting used to us because the first time we saw him, like he was looking around like who are these people. >> i think just having that designated time in the day to talk about our feelings, to talk about the way that we may develop differently. >> his hand is starting to open. >> you're noticing his hand is relaxing and opening up more. i think it just opens the door to those types of conversations we're having with each other. >> when you see like they're caring for him and when something is wrong, like she helps him. it makes you think when somebody is struggling with something in class, like i could go help them out. >> after the baby

forget about the negativity that was in the past of the day. ♪ >> well that's looking at a program or a problem in a whole new light. i sure hope it works. you want to learn more, open our nbc washington app and search roots of empathy. we've been talking about it for years an it appears the purple lawn will become a reality. the big step maryland governor took this week to put construction on track. ever dreamed of going to space? now you have a chance to win a i do everything on the internet. but it's kind of slow. my friends said i should get fios because it's the fastest... i just downloaded 600 photos in 60 seconds. that's seriously better. (man) we're out of 2%. i wonder what else could be better around here? (man) i heard that. now get our best offer ever. super fast 100 meg internet, plus tv & phone for just $69.99 a month online with no annual contract.

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here we go. the purple line is getting the green light from the governor and construction could begin before the end of the year. the administration picked purple line transit partners to build a rail between bethesda and new

says the group promised to get the deal done for under $160 million. that's $8 million less than the governor's threshold for supporting the program. the purple line is expected to open in 2022. while the official start of spring may fall on may 20th, here's another barometer that we use for arrival of spring. the national parks service released its prediction dates for peak bloom of the cherry blossoms, between march 31st within and april 3rd. let's not forget. it's going to get packed down there. maryland live is ready to offer you a chance at a prize that is literally out of this world. the casino is launching a new contest that will allow live reward card members to earn enters for a chance to win a trip to space. that trip would be one of several companies testing out space flight and would be subject to the faa. draw w

during the month of march. maybe i'll go. well it's shocking and a heartbreaking mistake. a stranger's body in a beloved one's casket. what we're learning about the misup and why no one wants to take responsibility. plus, it's an issue that several of you brought to our consumer reporter susan hogan, people who are paying their gas bills are getting shutoff notices.

well it could be some time before a family learns what happened to their grandmother. pat collins has been following the story. relatives arrived at a funeral home to find the wrong woman in their grand mother's casket and now there are new developments. >> where is the body of virginia gray? it's at the horton funeral home, according to the hospital. >> the hospital say it is. the hospital tagged it virginia gray. so t

report. we have confirmed the death of former first lady nancy reagan. she was 94 years old. from hollywood to the white house and beyond, nancy reagan and her husband, former president ronald reagan were side by side on the adventure of a lifetime. lester holt takes a look back at her life and legacy. >> nancy davis was an actress herself when she met ronald reagan on the mgm lot in 1949. he was already a star. but though she had her own hollywood dreams, she later said she found her greatest role as his wife. >> i think i was born to be married. i was the happiest girl in the world when i became we. >> they married in 1952. a simple ceremony. even appeared together in hell cat of the navy, the last of her 11 films. >> i began to think maybe

were playing the south beach circuit. >> you knew better. >> how could i know? did you give me a postdated check? >> from then on, by her own description, her life was devoted to her husband, as mother to their two children, patty and ron and a stepmother to his two children by former wife jane wyman. then came politics and her long career as a first lady. first in california to governor ronald reagan in 1966. >> what's ronnie's greatest asset for the women voters? >> my. ronnie, i guess. >> then to president reagan in 1980. after the president was shot by a would-be assassin two months into his first term, his wife was forever shaken. >> every time he went out and talked to thousands of people, my heart stopped. >> but she carried on. steadfast in her chosen roles

friend and partner in efforts like the anti-drug campaign for which she was forever linked. >> when this comes to drugs and alcohol, just say no. >> she was criticized for consulting an astrologer about the president's schedule, dubbed queen nancy for her expensive taste in fashion and white house decor and accused of managing her husband. >> doing everything we can. >> the fact is, she never wavered as a loving wife in all the ways she knew and when in the mid-'90s, the former president revealed he was diagnosed with alzheimer's disease, the partner who would rarely leave his side visited the republican national convention to share her family's pain and a new cause. >> we've learned as too many other families have learned of the terrible pain and loneliness that must be endured as each day brings another reminder of this very long good-bye. >> so nancy, let me say

you for all you do. thank you for your love. and thank you for just being you. >> she stayed close to herron i even in her last years. she made it a point to be there when the reagan library hosted election year debates. and to visit her husband's resting place. a love story to the very end. lester holt, nbc news. >> i want to bring in nbc's andrea mitchell joining us by phone. andrea, lester said it best. it was an epic love story between those two. >> it was an extraordinary love story. we should also say i'm kofrpd, i'm flooded with a flood of memories. because she was i think the most consequential first lady i can imagine in modern history for all of her early missteps and for the press criticism of luxury and designer gowns and

expenses during a recession in 1982, she became throughout the first term and then the second term very clearly the most important adviser who pushed and moved the president in very significant ways towards conversations and discussions with mikaele gorbachev at the first geneva summit. believing that talk was better than the continuation of the cold war. this is a president who had said he could not talk to them because the soviet leaders kept dying on them. bresh nef and others. she saw the opening, saw the possibility and who framed all of those conversations and the social moments despite her an thit -- he was much more ideological than her husband. she played the role behind the scenes that endeared her to him and eventually to the

she was a very important political adviser and figure. all along the way, even from his first election in 1980 when she led after new hampshire the firing of many of the top staff members. she brought in jim bakker abdomen others not hard line conservatives, willing to compromise. there were so many echoes we see in the kursurnt campaigns. she loved gossip and fun. i got to know an actor, went to the reagan library, spoke there. talked to her on the phone recently. i did talk to her when margaret thatcher died a few years ago. she was very frail and didn't want to go out in public. she was unable to move around very easily. but she remained plugged in until almost the very end. was an extraordinary impact figure in american political and social lives. >> i think there are those who would suggest that she was also his number one protector. if anybody went after him, you had to go through nancy to

firing of the white house chief of staff. don regan. memorably, she went around the president, eventually vice president bush had to tell don regan that he was fired for hanging up on the first lady, if you can imagine. i don't think there's been a more powerful first lady, at least in modern history. hanging up in anger against the first lady. but she brought people in. she brought in democrats, the late robert strauss, former head of the democratic party, a. ambassador to russia. she brought in figures to talk and better inform the president so he was not isolated in the white house. she protected him perhaps excessively from too much travel after his first pretty much well-viewed as disastrous trip to europe in 1982 when he was overscheduled and barely got through a three-country day ending in state dinner in

windsor castle after starting out in rome and meeting with the pope. but the fact is that she, in keeping his travel schedule, preserved his presidency in realizing that he needed more time. that for him to go to china, he needed to first go to hawaii for a few days and acclimate and then guam and acclimate further and meet with people in guam abdomand see the troops. she managed to organize the white house and she was feared by the staff. they dreaded getting the santa barbara duty if you were there. there was no buffer between you and the calls from the first lady. it was all in the interest of her husband and his presidency. i have to say, finally, that that book that came out with the love letters to nancy after his death, his writing, his diary reflected a person of incredible intelligence and insight. a beautiful writer. and it conic

other assumptions about ronald reagan and his forgetfulness, which could have been early signs of the alzheimer's. the fact that that love affair and that his intelligence and his devotion to her are what we really remember and finally, also, her fighting for research for alzheimer's. for going against the conservative party grain, even the sitting president. she really fought for health, for scientific research. she was the first person who finally steered her husband with her brother's help, richard davis, who was a physician, towards thinking differently about aids after ignoring the scourge. she really did open ronald reagan up to all sorts of new ideas which were toward his original leanings. i think it's because of her as well as, of course, his good instincts that it became a successful presidency. >> andrea, if i ask you st

us. it's 55 past the hour of 11:00 in new york. the passing of former first lady nancy reagan at the age of 94. we're told she died in her bel-air home in california. we do not know more circumstances than that. she was in frail health in later years and had not been seen in public for some time. but andrea, as we continue with you, i think the phrase just say no became synonymous her. she coined that phrase to talk about her battle against drug and alcohol addiction. not her specifically but that she supported that for people. that was her legacy within the white house. i mean, she took it on with great passion. >> that was also part of, let's be clear, it was part of a recalculation, she had to do something important and substantive because of the publicity in the first few

years. michael defenr, one of the top n the white house. they came up with that strategy to tackle what was becoming a major drug problem in the country. she did it very effectively. she did it by reaching out to her hollywood friends and to others. it was very well-produced as a public service campaign and she threw herself into it. just say no to drugs became her theme of that, those years in the first term of the presidency. that said, i think eventually the most consequential contribution will be in foreign policy because it was she who really encouraged her husband to begin talking with what was then the leader of the soviet union after he had been unable to because of the elderly difficult stage of mikal gorbachev's pr

soviet empire and along with the military deployments and the rest of the reagan doctrine. that led to the end of the cold war. and the end of -- in 1989, the berlin wall coming down and all the other development that is transformed europe and the world. >> turning away from domestic and international politics with you, andrea, she truly was a style icon. probably the first of grace merit since jacqueline kennedy onassis. of course, during her white house years. she made designers blilike bill blass. people looked to her as a reflection of of the hoet couture during her era in the white house. >> that's true. bill blass going off all the designers. she paid a price for that, especially because the country was suffering with high unemployment, a real recession. she

would say her popularity to a certain extent through just say no and a traditional event going on now for 131 years after again last night the gridiron digger of jirnliournalists. and she showed up to the surprise of the journalists who she disdained. she showed up dressed as a char woman in raggedy clothes and sang a show, show tune from, i guess it was a barbra streisand movie, second hose rose from second avenue. she won over the press corps. she was an actress for some time before she became first lady. thank you very much, andrea. some of our stations may now go back to regular programmingment for ours, our coverage continues.

i'm alex witt. former first lady nancy reagan as died. nancy davis reagan, former first lady of the yooups, died this morning at her home in los angeles at the age of 94. the cause of death was congestive heart failure. mrs. reagan will be buried at the ronald reagan presidential library in simmy valley, california. let's go to presidential historian michael who joins me on the phone. michael, we have been spe