forecast and the traffic. >> i broke my foot a few weeks ago, i've been in the boot for a few weeks. what you need to know about the forecast, it's cold outside this morning. all the suburbs down below freezing. it will be 100% sunshine today, d after thi cold start this morning, a nice warming trend. today will be warmer than yesterday. tomorrow warmer than today. we'll be in the 70s for friday and the first half of the weekend. right now, 75 on saturday doesn't do youood on a wednesday morning. it's 20 in manassas and warrington. 36 in arlington, virginia. temperatures at or below

freezing between now and 8:30. into the mid 40s by noontime. afternoon temperatures today in the low to mid 50s. high temperature this afternoon around 55 degrees. y need a check of the forecast, go to our nbc washington app. tidbits s tweeting out about the weather. let's go over to melissa mollet. l>> outerp near bw parkway, live picture from chopper 4. the disabled vehicle is on the right side. this is good. got over vehicle. we weretarting to see backups happening fast here. inner loop is just fine. no complaints just there. in northwest, this is a big issue, new hampshire avenue at park road. a rollover crashith entrapment. right now that area is shut down. northbound old goshlg toeorgeto crash there. springfield northbound 95 at fairfax county parkway, brand-new accident. we're following developments

concerning two separate horrible crashes on area roads. >> starting with a deadly crash in brandywine. prince george's county pole say one driver is dead after two cars crashed before 10:00 last night.pe this is ch 4 at the scene there onraywine road near crane highway. the other driver was taken to the hospital. no word on their current season or what may have caused this crash. this morning five students riare being treated for in after another crash in prince george's county. justin finch is live near duval high school. he has more on what police say about satellite use in this accident. justin? rn reporter: good g. authorities are hoping that teens waking up this morning and driving to school will wear their seat belts after hearing about this story. this was a very bad, three-car crash here outside of duval high school. one they say could have been much worse. let's show you the aftermath of that crash. five teens from duval high were inside of that blue nissan, two were in front.

they were spared theus worst be of air bags. in the back there were three students. five seniors total. the three in the back were sea seriously hurt. they were driving around noon yesterday before a veh pulled out in front of them. their vehicles collided. that nissan was pinched into a head-on collision with a third vehicle. fire crewsame here to the scene. they responded to get the injured to hospitals. turns out those in the other two vehicles were less seriousn hurt this crash. the interim county school's ceo, dr. monica sgalston says is urging families to have serious talk t withir students about driver safety. >> we're guardedly optimistic all three of those young people who received injuries are expected to survive. we are guardedly optimistic. i wanted tompsize that. >> this was the chief saying he

is guardedly optimistic about the recovery of those three most seriously hurt teens from the back of that nissan. as to why they were o campus during lunch yesterday, that is under investigation. prince george's county has some teens mithified schedules for work and advanced study. at leastne of tho students did have an early leave. the other four, that's under investigation. back inside to you. >> thank you very much. in a matter of hours the white nationist convicted of deliberately driving his car into a crowd of demonstrators in charlottesville two ars ago is expected to plead guilty to federal hate crime charges. in doing so james fields jr. avoids the death penal heather hyer was killed hed several otrs injured. the victims and survivors were in charlottesville titprotest a une the right rally.

a jury has recommended fields serve life in prison plus 419 years. today we hope to learn more about a sry that had a lot of people talking yesterday and still talking today. a stunning reversal in chicago. geosecutors dropped all ch against "empire" star jussie smollett. >> this has been an incredibly difficult time. honestly one of the worst of my entire life. >> police say sm orchestrated a fake hate crime in january whehe claimed two men attacked him. it's important to note smollett was not exonerated. prosecutors dropped chges after smollett agreed to pay c $10,000 in couts and two days of public service. >> this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message if you're in a position of influence and twer you'll gated one way. other people will be treated another way. >> the fbi is still

investigating whether smollett sent a threatening letter to the sereof his tv show a week be he reported the assault. today leaders of the d.c. police department will no doubt face some tough questioning at an oversight hearing. the department's use of force is on the rise for a second straight year. >> new data shows black people g are overwhel the target of that force. according to the office of police complaints there were over 1,000 use of force 01 incidents in in 2018 that number increased to 1,242 incidents. a 20% increase there.le black pe were the subjects of 90% of those cases in 2018. now the report also found 80of the use of force incidents weree just it's important to te that the department defines use of force as anythinfrom taking a suspect down to handcuff them to dischaing a firearm. council member charles allen says the numbe are concerning. >> see a number of 90% of black residents on the receiving end

of use of force, it's problematic. >> d.c. police say with 32,000 arrests, only 4% involved force. in the majority of those cases h e officers were within the guidelines. virginia governor ralph northam is making a return to public appearance this week. he's been laying lwo for weeks ing out of site following the release of that controversial photo insi his dical school yearbook. it showed a man in blackface standing next to another man in a kkk robe and hood. northam said it wasn't him but later admitted he acd worn blacin the past. the governor is pushing for a new bill changing what devices drivers can use behi the wheel. we'll take a closer look at that legislation coming up in the next half hour. attorney general william e barr says blic will see robert mueller's report. he believes it will be released within weeks, not months. so far we ve only seen his four-page summary of the findings. it revealed the trump campaign did not collude with russia.

barr says there is not enough evidence to prove the president obstructed justice. the president declared himself completely exonerated. yesterday he appeared on capitol hill to take a victory lap of sorts. there are also signs he seeks political vengeance against those who accused him of collus an. he is onin taking aim at healthcare. >> the republican partwill soon be known as the party of healthcare. >> the justice department is asking a federal appeals court to strike down the entire affordable care act. until now the trump administration argued only parts of the law should be struck down. if the court aees, 28 million people could lose their health insurance. >> the gop will never op trying to destroy the affordable healthcare of america's families. >> house democrats unveiled new legislation to strengthen the heall care law. leperts say it could take a year for the fight to move through the courts. the battle over the border wall will also land in court.

>> the veto of the president is sustained.ai >> the housed to overturn the president's veto to block his national emergency declaration. that declaration gives the president the go-ahead to shift federal funds to build the wall along the u.s./mexico border. the pentagon could divert re than $4 billion from as many as 150 defense prects around the country and world. 16 states joined togetheto file a lawsuit claiming the declaration violates the constitution and current law. a slaughterhouse has been given the green light to move into an industrial area. some peoplwere against it fearing it would impact the neighborhood and other local businesses. but the city council approved the move. saba live poultrmiwill follow c law. the owner vows thereill be no

noise or smell and very little traffic at the location. we have new details about a deadly shooting in prince george's county. police say the man they believe shot two people on monday was taken into custody and then released. the shooting happened inside a townhouse in district heights. officers say that o damon procter went there continue an argument that had started earlier. it turned physical. that's when procter was killed. the suspected shooter will remain free while police continue the investigation. and we now know more about a amdeadly crash involving aak train in prince george's county. two people were trespassing on the trac just before 10:00 on monday night. one of them was hit and killed. t.e other person was not h according to the federal railroad administration the number of accidents in our area is declining. in 2018, a total of 15 people were hit by trains in maryland, that's down from 20 in 2017. that year seven of the pedestrian accidents were in ince george's county. last year only four were reported in the county. today new england's patriots owner, robert kraft,ill attend the annual nfl meetings in

phoenix, arizona. this is following his arrest for prostitution at a spa in florida. the 77-year-old requested a jury trial. key have avoided that if he admitted prosecutors had enough evidence to convichim. he turned that deal down. roger goodell says the league wi wait to hear all the facts in the case before ruling on a punishment for kraft. tomorrow is opening day at nats park. not only the fans who are excited for the new season but the players d managers, too. the team missed out on the playoffs last year but put in some hd work during the off season. une in tomorrow morning here. jim hanley will jolive from nats park for much of the morning all ahead of the afternoon game against the mets. >> mark your calendar. april 1st, that's the new day thce the national park servi says the cherry blossoms will be

in full bloom. peak blo moved up by two days.e thrk service looks at temperatures and where the trees are in t blooming process. right now the indicator tree is in full bloom. the national cherry blossom festival runs until april 14th. talk about a monster catch. look at that picture. that's fisherman, conner donovan, he caught that massive stripped bass in the potomac river in washington, d.c. it was caught near fletcher's boathouse. according to the d.c. department of energy which shared this photo, that large catch is a sign our rivers are getting healthier. >> that's a pretty good looking fish. >> it is. he looks ham s happy about tha. >> bragging right foors long time. d, still ah the naacp preparing to investigate a local school.

recently 65 black students tried to get in, only oneas accepted and parents, do you have a millennium in your house preparing to go to college? what a new study says you can start doing today to help them a have an easierition to college life. chuck? >> saturday will be the better half of the weekend. 70% chance of rain on sunday. pollen counts, mold is low. tree

welcome back. this morning loudoun county public schools is facing new questions about its highly selecte s.t.e.m. programs.

>> a local naacp chapter says the selection process at the academies of loudoun may be biased. that's because of the small mber of black students accepted into the specialized schools. >> cory smith takes a clloer and shows us how the school district is trying to fix the issue. >> reporter: the academies of loudoun includes two programs geared towards s.t.e.mds. the academy of engineering and technology and the academy of science. 65 african-american students applied for a spot in one of those programs for this school year only one was accepted. the numbers don't add up? >> they don't add up. >> reporr: those numbers and complaints from several parents prompted the naacp chapter president to demand th school district address the di arity. currently it's based on a student's academic progress and scores on tests. >> it's subjective. any time you have subjective

criteria, there may be at play issues of racism. >> reporter: the schoorict is heeding her calls writing in a statement, quote, beginning with admissions windows opening in the fall of 2019, changes to the admissions process will be made to decrease testing bias. and better measure aptitude and passion for s.t.e.m., rather than achievement alone.r w thomas is encouraged that administrators have t recogniz issue. >> we plan to fix this problem of acamies of loudoun admissions process and the pipeline together. >> cory smith, news 4. parents have to get those kids ready for college at some point. they have tout get of the house. >> a new study reveals that millennials that have a good relationship with their parents may have an easier transition to college life. researchers at the university ve missouri surd 300 rising freshman, those who felt wpported by their parents worried less ande successfully able to adjust to college life. those who felt their parents were conolling and overly involved had a hder time making that transition. >> all right. let's send it over to chuck bell with ak at the forecast.

we do need our coats this morning. >> absolutely. when i was picking my college, my parents were like just don't go a thousand miles away from home. atlanta to the university of oklahoma, 980 miles. it's chilly here in town. it's a lot colder in the suburbs and the shenandoah valley. mid 20s in the shenandoah. 25 i fairfax. 28 in lorton, virginia. 28 in frederick, maryland. dog walking forecast for today. cute little louie, looks like the little rascals dog with that spot on his eye. he's availableordoption at the humane rescue alliance. he would make a great wking buddy. those dog walks this morning, keep the pace up to keep your body heat generating. temperatures will climb into the low to mid 50lo at this. high pressure has us nice and dry. in fact, nice weath up and

down the eastern seaboard today. if you're flying, driving, rotaking the train here to boston or southbound to atlanta, no weather wor es atall. future weather has maybe a few clouds igh level drifting through. no rain toy. no rain for tomorrow either. any chances for showers should be confined to t north side of the mason dixon line. on friday, skies partly to dstly cloudying the day. any chances for a few showers on friday will be limited to the i 81 corridor. we don't need to worrybout that here. the weekend, i told you satulday be the better half. the kite festival down on the mall, southwestwinds, 1 to 20 miles per hour on saturday with temperatures in the 70s. rain h chancesd off untilevenin. an increasing chance for rain be ure you get sunday morning, and showers most of at sunday, morning and well

into the afternoon. 55 and sun vine today. oww to mid 60s around the area for tomo then that gradual increase in clouds, back-to-back days in the 70s on a friday and saturday.ha most of sounds like good news to me. >> that does sound like good looking forward to that weekend. northbound old georgetown road near democracy, still some flares blocking part of the roadway here, but a crash just got out of the way. northwest new hampshire avenue er crash oad, roll with entrapment. we have that closure there. as we zoom in here, southbound 295 before pennsylvania avenue, left side is blocked by accident there. northbound 95 near fairfax county, right now it's delayed here. they're lhaking forcrash. we are seeing delays as you head northbound. asel for your tr times, looking good in virginia.

maryland, just a slow down toph ofeltway outer loop right now, 29 miles per hour. now, 29 miles per hour. listen to wtop

i'm paige, and well the little thing that i like about the grilled chicken sandwich is that it's picture perfect. it's juicy and it just has all the right combinations. c

i think i could sideredch is a grilled chicken sandwich. influencer. my name is frank and the little tng i like about the grs led chicken sandwiche first bite. i love how juicy the chicken is but there's also the tomatoes and the lettuce and it's incredible. make sure you get it with waffle fries, because that's my favorite. very soon it will finally start feeling like spring around re. it's the perfect time to start planting a garden. if you've never done it before gardening can be intimidating.

justin finch has some great information for us, working for yo the garden center with these tips coming from master gardeners and how to put your green thumb to work. >> reporter: new buds blossoming, digging your hands down in the dirt. cultivating the plot or pot into a place where something you ant thrives. there's just something about and in a spring gard even better, the benefits you could reap that don't just grow from the ground. >> you get a lot of good exercise.in a lot of stret a lot of good therapy. breathing in fresh air. >> reporter: getting started is easy says adrian. it just takes patience, curiosity and a trip to the hardware store. >> you need at least 6 to 8 hours of sunlight. some good sized pots. nice pots then some potting mix that will grow seedlings. >> reporter: those pots and potting mix may help a gardener

who doesn't have much space. she recommends starting with herbs and some gardeners she works with recommends anem, too. >> co, chives, arugula, growing herbs is great. you just throw the seeds in the dirt, they'll pop up within a fedays. s >> reporter: tds cost justbu a fes at a home supply store and the herbs you grow but don't use you can dry out or freeze. >> i grow about 300 tomatoes, peppers. why not grow them? you can grow a little red robin toanto only a foot tall, you get four, five pints of tomatoes off of them. >> that'one of the benefits that i enjoy in my home garden, that is growing things that you're not going to find on the market that readily. >> reporter: expect to be in esur garden almost daily. maintaining it torking especially tackling weeds and pests.

>> you may pick them off by hand and squish them. >> reporter: but what about rodents or deer? reach out to a gardening expert and what best suits your needs. good morning. school day forecast for your wednesday, nobl ps after a cold wait for those buses this morning, most of the suburbs in the 20s to get your wednesday started. nice day to spend some quality timeoutside. afternoon temperatures in the low to mid 50s. the grade f today, very good indeed. and new video of a wild chase. an suv spotted weaving in and out of cars on highways and bus roads, but the real surprise was the driver's excuse whe a it came to an end. and this is one of the most dangertretches of roads in our area. but the maryland highway transportation safety -- or the highway safety administration is trtng to make safer. ha will mean some cnges for

it is 6:30 right now as you start your wednesday morning. a live look outside for you. a little bit of lighttarting to break the horizon there.

another chilly day outside. aes little windy than what we had yesterday. that's a good thing.30 right now. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i molette green, in for eun yang. we have got lots to talk about. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck ll, we're counting on you as we get ready for cherry blossom ng time. >> baseball. all of that. >> he will give that beforee check in to what's happening on th roads with melissa mollet. hey, chuck. >> a lot riding on the forecast for the nt few days. everyone wants a little warming trend. we need nice weather for opening day tomorrow, and cherry s blossoms all set to reach their peak blooming period saturday or sunday of this coming weekend. right now still waiting on the n. 30inutes from sunrise. temperatures have really fallen overnight. way io the 20s across most of northern virginia. ryd 20s across howard county. montgomery cou in the 20s.

36 in arlington county. 42 by the bay there in annapolis. so your forecast for today, your commute will be dry both ways. don't forget those sunglasses. put those seat heaters on this morning. temperatures in the upper 40s to low 50s for noontime. the read home from work and school. with thesh sun ing, you can get that car washed today. the next best chance for rain is later on this weekend. we'll time that out for you and ta baseball weather coming up. chopper 4 over volume here, this is outer loop near 95 in maryland. looking pretty typical. an earlier problem on the road is gone.hi ever looking pretty normal. northwest, new hampshire avenue at park road, we had that rollover crash, that's sti hanging around. we had an entrapment.ut ound lanes have just reopened. we that that northbound section shut down. washington, 295 before east

capital, stay on the left to get that accident. northbound 95 at fairfax county parkway, an accident headed inbound. and in ma nas nassnaear balls f road, an accident there. we turn to overnight news developing. one person has died after a b serious crash ndywine, maryland. prince george's county police say that person was one of the drivers involved in a two-vehicle crash. this is chopper 4 vie.o of the sc this is brandywine road near crane highway. the other driver was taken to the hospital. no word on their current condition. to rockville where a 3-year-old was hit and killed in a parking lot. chopper 4 flew over that scene moments after ild was pulled from beneath an suv. >> montgomery county police say the parents of antonio martinez cruz parked in the lot on rockville pike around 4:00. g once the toddl out of the car, he took off running. the child was hit by a silver

ford explorer. the driver stayed on the scene as first responders rushed to save the little boy. word yet if he will be charged. in an effort to cut down on the number of deadly pedestrian crashes in maryland, the dertment of transportation there will reduce the speed limit on some parts g ofrgia avenue. >> drew wilde isive with where you will have to slow down beginning this week. >> reporter: there are significant changes to one of the busier sections of road, but we tk a dri along it this morning, we didn't see any signs notifyinghe drivers about changes. if you look at the screen right now, we have everything you need to know about the changes.ue georgia avetween veers mill road and arcola, that will drop from 35 miles per hour down to 25.

just north of there, between glenallen to connecticut avenue th will drop from 45 to 35 and finally the speed limit on georgia avenue will drop from 50 miles per hour to 45 miles per hour between connecticut and cherry valley drive. all of these changes will start this week. if you take georgia avenue to get to work you may need to leave 5, 10 minutes sooner regularly now. while this might flel like a hao you while you're on your way to work, remember this is a dangerous stretch of road and they're hoping to tackle that problem. reporting live, drew wilder, news 4 virginia's governor is making a push to get roads safer, that means you have put your phone down or face a fine.

drivers are already banned from using handheld cellpwanes in highwork zones. ralph northam was in alexandria yesterday to expand the bill to all roads. it was one of his first appearance since a blackface scandal broke last year. the general assembly will consider the proposal next week. if this passes, it will take effect july 1st. using a phone while driving is already illegal in maryland and d.c. looking at our other top stories a souwest boein 737 max 8 jet forced to make an emergency lding yesterday after being in the air for just 11 minutes. the plane was part of the fleet nd max 8s that has been gr following two deadly crashes. the plane was going from orlando to california to be stored. two pilots were on the plane and they landed the plane safely.

the historic all-female spacewalk planned for friday has been canceled all becat e there are enough space suits in the right size on the rn inteational space station. one of the women pulled herself fromhe a assignment. male crewmate will fill in. much more coming up ahead on vaccines on "the today show." and severaleports that said shoppers new parent company wants to get out of the retail business t focus on wholesale, ompany says they plan to thoughtfully andy economicall divest retail operations. we have more on this story in the nbc washington app. you may want to make time to pickp a powerball ticket before tonight's drawing.

the jackpot is up to $750 million, the frth largest in tto history. nobody hit all the numbers since december. the cash option would leave you with about $465 million before taxes. we know the odds of winning are 1 in 292 million, but somebody will eventually have to win. >> what will you buy first thing? >> whatever i want. >> you'll share with your friends, right? >> that's what they tell 'mme. >> going to know. yil share. the washington nationstionas swapped their jerseys and cleats for suits at their homecoming gala. >> look at this. the gala was held last at anthem in the wharf in d.c. it was hosted by lindsay czarniak and helps to benefit the washington nationals dream foundaon. the gala included a dinner and silent auction, all of which helped raise more than $1 million for the dream foundation. stay with newsfor news 4 for

teamer ce of nats opening day. we'll have everything you need to know including the latest news on the team, what's new at the park and weather for first pitch. coverage begins brrrht and early ow morning and will continue throughout the day on news 4 and the nbc washington app. 6:38 this morning. coming up, uber for kids. a ridesharing app for

6:40. new video of a wild police chase that ended with a bizarre excuse. a dver was followed by police in cleveland for speeding.

she managed to blow through a barricade of police vehicles several times. this is on a highway and in some dizzy residential areas. at one point the entire back of her suv was damaged. she kept going. poe finally stopped after being forced into a ligh. as the driver was taken into custody she told police she was in a hurry on her way to work. >> wn it comes to getting your kids around our area f their extracurricular activities, now there'sew option. >> it's called hop, skip drive. we spent yesterday with a local family who uses this service. jalen plays six sports so cis moth't get him around all the time. the drivers have gone through strict background checks. s fore he gets into the car, there's a code woriver must give him before he hops inside. >> i like the code. >> the code word? >> how they use the code word so i can identify the person who is taking me places. >> hop, skip, drive is starting

in northern virginia and will expand to the district in the next few weeks and maryland after that. average rides are about 20 to $25. >> here'our cnbc morning business report. good morning. i'mrank holland. u.p.s. is teaming up with a startup company to experiment withsing drones to deliver medical pplies. it is starting with a test in raleigh, north carolina. the program will be overseen by the faa. these drones can only carry pay loads of up to five pounds over distance 12 1/2 miles. u.p.s. expressed interest in using drones to deliver healthcare products. in 2016 it partnered with a non-profit to deliver blood samples in remote locations in rwanda. we know that tomorrow is opening day for the nationals. it will be perfect weather to play a little baseball tomorrow and storm team 4 will be out there. doug will be around. sahe llo, shake his hand.

i'll be back in a flash with your ten-day forecast. some delays headed into the district. chopper 4 sho tng yout problem on 295 a slowdown problem on 295 a slowdown something very important.

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healthcare. >> hi, guys. good morning to you. healthcare is back in the headlines this mornin democrats seem all too happy to chan the conversation away from robert mueller's report a do this pivot to pocy, if you will. they are pushing on this issue after the trump administration made a court filing to essentially invalidate the entireda afforble care act. significan up until now the argument had been taking aim at parts ofno what's kwn as obamacare. now republicans have always wanted to repeal a replace. that's been the line we heard again and again for years. in this instance there are even some republicans acknowledging affordable l the care act, there's a real question mark of how you move forward with the replacement. in particular a replacement plan that does protect people with pre-existing that's a provision of the affordable care act that's extremelyopular withfolks. this is a big battle we're

watching on capitol hill. annexpected battle. not a lot of folks thought we would be talking about healthcare today. >> hallie, thank you very much. 6:47. want to sw you this bad crash scene from chopper 4. thisiv crash left prince gorns coun george's county ks w injuries. >> police say not one of those teens was wearing a seat belt. justin finch is n liver duval high school. this could have been much worse. >> that's right. the message here is simple. officials say seat belts save lives, and they hope that's the lesson l for everyone here in prince george's county as these three tns recover from their very sar serious injuri they were in the back of this nissan. two of their pasngers were in the front and spared worse injuries only because of air

bags. all five duval high school seniors were traveling along around noon yesterday when a driver pulled out from a driveway sarbyiking that nissan sedan. that nissan spun andollided head on with a third vehicle. prince george's county fir ews responding to this scene trying to assist those injured as soon aspossible. getting them to hospitals. we do know those in the other two vehicles were not very seriously hurt. but the county executive here also says she hopes that everyone learns they have to be fe on prince george's roads. >> we just finished a terrible i er with 13 fatalities, traffic fatalities in the county. it looks like we're headed into a frightening spring. so i want to communicate to our community, it's so important, it takes two seconds to put on a seat belt. >> for some context re,

looking at these figures from the national highway transition safety administration showing teen drivers were involved in more than 2,0 fatal motor vehicle accidents in 2016. more than half of passenger deaths ages 15 to 18, they were unrestrained or not wearing a seat belt. so you can see why the county rgecutive wasg everyone to be safe out on the roads. we know this morning at duval high they will have counselors onel campus to deal with that tragedy yesterday. back inside to you. >> justin finch live for us, thank you. new video this morning showing two men stealing nearly $12,000 worth of tools in the district. d.c. police say the thieves dressed like construction workers, entered a construction site along 18th street northwest. this was last friday. once inside, they start hauling away several ools, including a big saw. y.lice last saw the men heading into the rear al

today we hope to learn mores about theprising decision to drop all the charges against jussie smollett. the "emctre" was accused of making up a fake hate crime and claim two men attacked him. he spoke yesterday after hearing the news. >> this has been an incredibly difficult time. honestly ne of the worst of my entire life. >> police say smollett was not exonerated here. prosecutors dropped charges after smollett agreed to cay $10,000 rt costs and two days of public service. the mayor i among those outraged by the announcement. >> this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice and sends a clear message if you're in a position of influence and power you'll get treated one way. other people will be treated another way. >> the fbi is still investigating whether smollett tnt a threatening letter set of his tv show a week before he reported the assault. the perfect time to see the jerry blossoms is sneaking up on us.om

peak b is now marked as monday, april 1st. > chuck bell is back with our forecast. >> off to a pleasantly chilly start. skies have been clear. winds have been light overnight. just about ready to have the sun come up. sunrise today at 7:01. tomorrow sun is up before 7:00. up at 6:59. we can keep tse pre-7:00 a.m. sunrises from tomorrow f the next sick monx months, through september 26th. you have to lovehat early daylight. light wind out of the east a 5 miles per hour. outside the city and the bay, it's chilly this morning. 25 now at dul luses airport. 27 in fredericksburg.

your planner then for your wednesday, itghill be b and sunny all day long. because we're off to such a cold start, we'll stay cooler than erage today. our average high is 60. today i'm forecasting 55. tomorrow a 10 degree jump, up to degrees for tomorrow afternoon. great weather for the baseball game. home opener is pmorrow. hissure will keep us dry for the next several days. a light east win today becomes a southerly breeze tomorrow. that's the reason for the 10 degree warmup from today to tomorrow w even mildether coming our way for friday and saturday. 50s today. 60s tomorrow. 70s on friday and saturday. showers are now looking all the more likely on our sunday. it will be a chilly one with temperatures in the 50s all through your sunday. let's go over to first 4 traffic now. good morning. >> good morning. southbound 295t before e

capitol street, look at 4, that's four-mile zoom on chopper 4. the camera there, youan see that crash on the right side of the road. looks like a lot of fla ing lights there now. it will be ade y. rner loop of the beltway before brad crdock road, a crash on th right side. ew northwest,ampshire avenue at park road, an overturned vehicle there. that has cleared out of the way. that's good. we are reopened there northbound and southbound. manassas, princ william parkway at balls ford, accident there. and poi of rocks, 15 at lovettsville road, icy conditions. stoppages, deys. lots of issues with folks sliding off the roadway. be careful, it's onl 36 degrees out there. in virginia, those travel times looking okay on 66 a 95. maryland, southbound on 270, 35 miles ur. top of the beltway, outer loop, 22 miles per hour. 103.5 listen to wtop

fm when you hop in your car today. thank you. it's 6:54. have you heard of vampire facials? it's a new process where dermatologists use your bloodro give y skin a youthful new glow. >> the same concept is now being used on aperson's scalp. your blood could help with hair growth c it'sled prp, and those three letters could hold a lot ofmi prime ster missr peoplpromise fe with thinning hair. >> reporter: hair lo be an emotional and embarrassing issue for men and women.ad >> for a d if not more than a decade we have had few treatments to treat men and even fewer to treat women. >> reporter: now there's new h doctors using your own blood to stimulate hair growth. it is called platelet rich plasma, or prp. this doctor is a board certified dermatologist at mcclean dermatology whod wal

through this cosmetic procedure. first she draws blood from a person's arm. >> we draw the blood. we spin the blood, we use the plasma and inject it back in th scal >> reporter: this machine called a centrifuge separates red blood cells from the plasma. the platelets in the plasma elp toepr blood vessels, promote cell growth andim stulate the hair follicles to grow. >> starts off as peach fuzz. en it grows into long thick tufts of hair. >> reporter: each treatment atsts about $150. the doctor says monts need five sessions, which makes this about a $750 investment. most people see hair growth after three or four treatments. the doctor says the results can last as long as you protect your hair. that means avoid coloring it tos much ay away from blow dryers, curling irons and tensions which can cause breakage. 6:55. here are four things to know.

a guilty plea expected today from the man who drove his car into a group of demonstrators in charlottesville. james field, jr. will avoid the death penalty b pleading guilty to hate crimes charges. a driver is dead andis anotr injured after a late-night crash in brandywine.id this is of that scene on brandywine road. the name of the driver killed has not yet been released. we'll post updates in our nbc washington app. get ready to slow down in parts o montgomer county. the speed limit is about to drop on three sections of georgia avenue known for deadly destrian crashes. we have those locations in our nbc washington app. and the powerball jackpot up to50 mi 75$750 million. the winning numbers tonight on news 4 at 11:00, and then we'll fill youn on whether aaron actually won. that's what he's been >predicting. tomorrow, news 4 will have team coverage of nats opening

day. everythi you need to know to take yourself out to the ball game. what's new with the team, the park, and weather forhe first pitch. >> tomorrow, great weather for opening day. mid 60s tomorrow. chillier here today. temperatures in the 50s. a couple nice mild days to finish out the week. >> tha that's the news for today. appreciate you waking up with us. "the today show" is coming up xt. we'llne b

. g morning. chicago shocker. questions mounting this morning after all charges arepe suddenl d against just see smo let, accused of staging his own hate crime. >> i've been truthful and consistent on every level since day one. prosecutors standing by their case saying is not innocent. top chicago officials confused and up in arms. >> this is without a doubt a whitewash of justice. >> do i think justice w served no. >> could smol let still face federal charges. the battle over health ca has the justice