>>ncer: "news 4 today"

starts now. >> good morning and thank you so much for joining us. i'm meagan fitzgerald in for david culver. we are covering a lot of news this morning. before we get to want to check in with lauryn ricketts. temperatures are going to warm up, ain'tt, that ri lauryn? >> a big warmup out there today, meghan. tomorrow, warmer than today. monday, a lot warmer than sunday. tuesday is going to be the warmest day we'll have in this stretch. we've got two stretches of warm days on that ten-day forecast. we'll show you that coming up. first, let's go ahead and show you what's going on outside. beautiful looking view. listen, this weekend, looking fantastic.be going t absolutely beautiful. plenty of sunshine this quiet, finally, this weekend. temperatures starting off a little on the cool side. good, we have come up out of the single digits. for a long time ther shenandoah valley, you were at 9 degrees. didn't budge all morning. everody coming up.

temperatures still below freezing. have icy patches out there from the snow we got yesterday. be very careful. there's been a few accidents according to our news partners at wtop because of slick nditions, especially on bridges, ramps, and overpasses. be careful. we're warming to the l 40s today. all sunshine out there today. we'll talk about how warm we're we head through the beginning of this week and through the end of this work week. that's all coming up in a few minutes. meghan? lauryn, thank you. now to the latest on an overnight tragedy in prince george's county. police say several children were kill in a serious crash in buoy. news 4's derrick ward has arrived on scene and has the latest. good morning, derrick. >> reporter: good morning. we are here along route 301. lyou'reking at northbound 301 behind me. we're at the intersection of 301 and pensbury drive. this happened at 4:30 this morning. a single car crash, as we are told, heading north.

th is just above the intersection or the ramp from 214 to 301. what we know at this point is that there aretiple fatalities here. children are among those fatalities. we don't have a breakdown of the ages or genders at ts point. maryland state police plan to hold a news conrence later this morning, we'll get details on this. as we know now, a single-car crash with multie fatalities on route 301 near pensbury drive. again, this is under investigation. you will find 301 blocked between pointer ridge and the 214 on-r hp. you'e to do a work around there to get onto route 301, as this crash is still investigated. we are live inbu , derrick ward, news 4. back to you. >> derrick, thank you.on wenue to follow a developing story out of virginia. this morning, major backlash and calls for rignations concerning governor ralph northam and the photo we're

w you.to s it was taken more than 30 years ago and has suddenly re grfaced. theernor admits he is in one of the two -- he is one of the twoe peo seen here. one painted in blackface. the other in a kkk hood and robe. the picture appears in northam's medical school yearbook from po84. now, he'sgizing for it. >> that photo and the racist and offensive attitudes it represents does not reflect that personod i am t or the way that i have conducted myself as a soldier, a doctor, and a public servant. i am deeply sorry. >> northam gave no sign that he intends to resign. many piople are queng the timing of the photo's release. the story first appeared on b league politics, a far right formerebsite, founded by breitbart news employees. it was published two days after northam's comments on late-ter abortion during an interview on

wtop radio. he was answering a questiorom news 4's julie carey. it provoked a strong backlash from conservative lawmakers and others. >> we want the government not to be involved in these types of decisions. we want the decision to be me the mothers and their providers. and this is why, julie, that legislators, most men, by the way, shouldn't be telling a woman what she should and shouldn't beit doing w her body. if northam's apology -- in northam's apology, he said he is willing to work hard to earn virginians trust back. fallout over the photo isde read. colleagues to presidential candidates are reacting. democratic senators mark warner d tim kaine called the photo shocking and offensive, and said northam shouldisten to the people he's hurt. they stopped short of calling for his resignation. democratic senator camila heart

li eamala harris, also running for president, saidrs are called to a higher standard. she urged the goverr to step aside. the virginia legislative black caucus really went after mr. northam. they accused him of a betrayal and said, the photo rips off a scab of a painful history and are a, quote, piercing ofremind america's sin. stay up to date on our coverage of this developing story in the nbc washington app. search northam. this morning, a woman is recovering after she was shot while holding a child in prince george's county. this was the scene last night in district heights. police say a man drove with a group to thisouse on senator avenue to break up with his girlfriend. the two started fightg when, suddenly, someone fired a gun toward the girlfriend. the bullet missed her and struck a relative who was holding a child. they we both rushed to the hospital and are expecting to be okay. it is n clear who fired the shot. of course, police are asking anyone with information to call

them right away. and an emotional day in d.c., in a d.c. courtroom. seven people charged in a 10-year-old girl's murder appeared in front of a skbrorjuf the first time. wilson was killed during ato shoo near her home in northeast d.c.ye before erday's hearing began, the mgirl'sother said a friend of one of the began taunting her. police threw the man out of the courthouse. >> the guy was singing the song, this is the reason why the murder rate up. emotional.me very this is not just a tragic case. this is my life. this is my child. o she way 10 years old. >> there is a spot in ll for anyone who would harass that woman or herha family after she's been through. >> the police chief hit the nail on the head. the judge set the trial date for august of next year. the trial is expected to last several weeks. we're told more suspects could be charged in the murder. thoughts and prayers are with

her every day. > president trump's long-time political ally rog stone may be going to trial in october. yesterday, stone left a status hearing with th trial date unresolved. th only time he addressed the court was toonfirm he understands that he is notd alloweo talk to potential witnesses in the case. the jge said she is considering a gag order and gave both sides a week to final opinions on the matter. prosecutors havene charged s with seven counts, including lying to congress over hackeds e-ma given to wikileaks during the presidential election. taking a live look outside now. lauryn ricketts will join us in a moment with a look at your forecast and the work week ead. stayith w

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we continue to follow the controversy swirling around

virginia governor ralph northam. we've been on this story or throughout theng for you. just coming into th use rnewsro we are learning we are expecting to hear something from governort northam'm within the next hour on a possible resignation. joining us this morning is long-time politic recorder tom sherwood. thank you so much for joining so much to get to. the last half hour we talked, we left off by touching onov lieutenantnor justin fairfax, who would resumfthe position governor, should governor northam step down. abouto we need to know lieutenant governor fairfax? from all accounts, he doesn't ave much of a political background. >> i think the lieutenant governor would disagree with you. he ran in 2013 for attorney general and lost to mark ha herring. he ran a good race. elected lieutenant governor. >> is that the extent of his service? former federal prosecutor. he is0 years old. that is pretty young for us old he has a good career.

in fairfax county. name is fae fax. he'd ter the job. as we said earlier, if fairfax becomes governor, he will serve out the remaining three years of governor northam's term and would be allowed, under the constitution, to run in 2021 for another four-year term. >> he could, basically, be in the pition for seven years. >> he was already seen thoughs a the new -- just like progressive democrats across the country, justin fairfax was already seen as part of that group, that he was t new face a the younger face of the democratic party. >> what would he need too to bring virginia together? obviously, we are looking at a divided nation. more specifically,n virgin divided virginia. >> racial relations, of course, are a nationwide problem. as we sai earlier, virginia, with its history of the civil war, masve resistance, has all kinds of pockets. even cory stewart, the republican r against tim kaine last year for the senate, a lot of republicans now who are

calling on governor northam t resign last year didn't speak up when coryas stewart running the campaign that many people saw as racist and insensitive to virginia of 2019. we have all that to go. again, we're hearing that there could be something as soon as around 10:00. i know tt the legislative black caucus met last night. nirst, they put out a statement last t. the virginia legislative black caucus put out one statement saying how ppdinted they were and felt betrayed. >> sure. >> they had a meeting with governor northam last night. they said, even though he'd done many things for the state and it was sporimportant, that caucus called on him to resign. that might have been the tipping point. >> that was the question i was goingo get to. we're out of -- >> i know what out of time means. >> so much to scuss. we can have conversations on twitter. e can tweet us with questions. you are certainly a wealth of knowledge on this.

you've been covering thisor years, virginia politics. thank you so much for joining us. >> happy to be here. we are taking a live look at the executive mansi richmond. we are hearing that we could learn more information within the next hour about whether or not governor ralph northam will ndill be governor by the of today. stay with news 4. stay with news 4. we'll right back after thibes

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for governor ralph northam's job. this comes after a picture taken 30 years ago suddenly resurfaces. news 4's david culver is live in richmond with the latest. good morning, david. what do we know? >> reporter: meghan, good morningo you. you mentioned the folks calling for the resignation. i want to add to that what we're just hearing now from the republican leadership, speaker cox's office. they are joining that echoing call for the resignation ofer virginia gr ralph northam. i want to set the scene. we're on the capitol grounds. this behi me is the executive mansion. i was hering before you came to us some chants on the other side. it looked like a line o protesters had come together, calling for the resignation, as security here has really been beefed up. we're preparing for what will likely be a announcement of some sort. i'm hearing this will happen ioound 10:00. meghan, the que remains, will this be a press conference where he willddress us and be able to take questions, perhaps? the other possibility we're hearing is that he will release

a video detailing his plans that leuld follow here. it is not if those plans would be a resignation. that is certainly whatpr the sure is around this area. i was talking to some leadership within the senat democrats. they are frustrated. quite frankly, they ssaid, tom sherwood was reporting, they met last night. they heard from the he said his plans were to meet with his pastor, pray, along with his wifeni last t, and come to a decision, which we do expect will come out at some point this morning. we're standing by for whatever that may be. as soon as we get it, we're ing to relay it to you. i'm keeping an eye out. we know, obviously, the governor is here. next to it, to set the scene, is building,k henry which is generally where they do some of the announcements. it is not clear if folks willha mobilize way. on the back edge, you have the capitol. as soon as we get more details as to when that will come down and what tt will look like, i'll relay that to you. if not on air, we'll push it out through the nbc washington app.

i'll keep you updated on we twitter, as. certainly, the growing pressure this morning is for governor ralph northam totepaside. we'll see if he follows through with that. >> you've bn all on t of this story. you have such a wealth of knowledge as it arerelates to virginia politics. fromve not hea lieutenant governor justin fairfax. if you're checking twitter, new clues or details on where he stands, if he is coming out soon? >> reporter: i've been speaking with sources who are very close to the lieutenant svernor. this very complicated situation for him. he is not only a pitical ally of the governor. they have supported each other throughout the race. friend. this friendship is something he's had to balance and say, okay do you go forward with separating yourself publicly and move forward with your owner political caor do you maintain the friendship in some way? remains to beeen how itill

play back. he was headed home yesterday. he came back to richmondeu the nant governor, and will be part of whatever announcement is coming out today. more to come on that. >> we know you'll sy on top of it. david culver joining us live from outside the checktiexecuti mansion in richmond. thank you so much. now, turning t weather. >> yeah. >> looks like a cold day out there. we saw david bundled up. looks like he might be able to shed the coat moving forward into the week. >> yeah into the weekend and beginning of this week, meghan. that's when we're going to start to warm up. yesterday, we were 24 degrees. >>freezing. >> any improvement is a good improvement. >> it's a heat wave, i guess. >> low 40s, absolutely. low 40s out there for daytime highs today. a ptty quiet saturday in store for us. go thankergoodness, especially a the snow yesterday. this morning, we have some icy patches out there. almost everybody below the freezing mark. that's how it is going to be, as we connue into the morning. probably not going to be above the freezing mark until after lunchtime. again, watch out for the icyhe pa all throughout your

morning. i believe we'll have more tomorrowmorning. tomorrow, mild. monday, warm. tuesday, springlike. over the next four days, the temperatures go up little by little. 41 today. 51 tomorrow. 56 on monday. we're in the lo 60s by the time we head into tuesday. average temperature for this time of ar, 44 degrees. it's chilly to start this morning. a lot of areas are starting in the single digits. we're warming up into the teens and 20s right now. again, staying below the freezing mark as we continueth ugh the day. at least the first part of the day. by this afternoon, that's when theemperatures really start to rise. 40 by 3:00. again, we'll have melting overnight, especially for those areas that are in full sunshine. melting oveight and another refreeze tomorrow morning. area of patchy ice tomorrow morning. nothing on the radar right now. we are dry. we are clear, thanks to high pressure. sunshine out there today. clear tonight. more sunshine tomorrow.

if you are going t skiings weekend, it'll be a perfect weekend to do that. exercise, comfortable for february, especially as we head to the weekend and beginning of next week. no travel ises. showed you the radar. high pressure carved out a dry spot throughout the east coast. again, the weekend forecast, not going to be that we do have icy patches that we'll be watching out for, not only through noon today but also tomorrowmo ing. then we're mainly dry as we get to monday and tuesday. monday night, we cou have a w sprinkles. wednesday, another transition day for us. dry. of the day will be we'll have rain showers moving in wednesday night. we're unsettled into thursday and friday, too. temperatures go up thursday and friday, though we'll have rain chances. we'll dip as we get to wednesday. each day we warm up a little bit. sunday warmer than saturday. monday warmer than you get the idea. could have sprinkles late monday. plenty of sunshine and low 50s.

mostly clouds through the middle part of the day and showers in the afternoon and evening for wednesda thursday and friday, not raining the whole time, but a warm front is lifting through, and we'll get the temperatures to the 50s and low 60s. we cool again into your saturday and su another chance of rain coming our way monday. right now, we're notki l at any wintry weather coming our way. the models may have l had atle something for saturday. i know doug had something in there last night. i took it out for today. may be something we have to watch a weekrom today. otherwise, we have more news on the other side of this break. stick arnd we'll ouse

time now is 9:26.an one was rescued from the potomac river after driving into the water overnight. this happened on columbia island hington e george w parkway. she is expected to be okay. police say several cilldren wered in an overnight crash in prince george's county. this was along crane highway. no word yet on exactly how many people were i ide thecar. police say a woman was shot while holding a child in district heights. officers say someoneired a gun after a couple started fighting near a home. the wom and child a expected to be okay. no word on exactly f whoed those shots. and the big story of the morning, g virginiaernor ralph northam is apologizing for this

photo. it shows t people, one in blackface, the other in a kkk it appeared in northam's medical school yearbook from 30 years ago. it just recently resurfaced on a far-right media website. lauryn ricketts, quick check on the weather. >> the groundhog did not see his shadow. >> right. >> spring coming early. hasn't happened a lot since he's been forecasting that in his 100 plus years. we'll have sunshine all this weekend. >> thank you so much for joining us. we are all on top of thisto. symbol you know you're

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