i'm craig melvin. >> i'm barbara harrison. straight ahead on "news4 today," the government continues sending out warnings about the swine flu. what they're now saying about a vaccine and how soon it will be available. >> cost-cutting measures in effect across the commonwealth. why drivers won't have access to along a major interstate. >>> a new way to test how healthy you ar >>> good morning. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, everyone knows about the new york yankees/boston red sox rivalry. from the looks of next year's schedule major league baseball is banking on it. here's nbc's fred roggin with an early look at all your sports headlines. >>> good morning. major league baseball announced the yankees will open and close next season against the red sox. the fifth time in the last 50 years the relatives will begin and end the season against each other. this morning the yanks and blue jays. big lead in the eighth. mark hit aaron hill in the back. then in the bottom of the inning, jessie carlton threw be

i'm pat lawson muse. >> i'm craig melvin. we want to update you in the breaking news we have been following here in news4. it appears as if everything is okay in mexico. you see a commercial airline jet that had been hijacked, you see the passengers and the crew members all got off the plane there. >> there were 104 people onboard that aeromexico flight that was overtaken at the cancun airport, flown to mexico city where it landed and passengers got off. earlier there were reports there might have been a bomb onboard. apparently there was no bomb but there was a suspicious package. there were reports some of the hijackers were threatening to detonate something, some kind of explosive if they personate allowed to talk with the mexican president felipe calderon >> thats with new video we had just gotten in. there was a woman aboard that plane who said they didn't realize the pane was being hijacked until police began to run out on the tarmac there. again, it looks like everything is, we don't want to say okay, but everyone is o

craig melvin, news 4. >> stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m.

i'm craig melvin. >> i'm eun yang. jim and doreen have the evening off. ted loza is accused of promoting srn laws for taxi cabs in exchange of cash and gifts. >>> ted loza was accused of taking money. when asked why he took the money, he said he needed it. he was a long-time aide to jim graham for ten years. fbi agents early thursday

i'm craig melvin. police believe 14-year-old charlie and 7-year-old emma line dalton were killed thursday. charlie was a junior volunteer firefighter for the squad that ended up responding for calls for help from the dalton home. darcy spepser starts us off tonight. >> reporter: at the mount arie fire station firefighters spring into action. here they are doing their jobs with heavy hearts. a junior firefighter, charlie dalton jr. was killed at the hands of his own family a murder/suicide that left the whole family dead. >> charlie was a likable kid. he was enthusiastic about his duties. >> reporter: 38-year-old charles dalton jr. killed his wife jennifer and two kids, 14-year-old charlie and 7-year-old emmaline. each was shot once. they were found in their beds. the bodies found in their home friday evening. police say dalton took his own life, his body found on the floor next to the bed in the master bedroom. >> people in the neighborhood are trying to put the puzzle pieces together, figure out how t

. >> craig melvin, news 4. >> the secret lives of washington. i would love to be able to do that. don't think i can. >> a little different. >> it would look different if i tried. some -- any good news about our weather? it's cloudy and gray? >> it's cloudy and gray through tomorrow. a little sunshine by the afternoon. not much. still wet weather. not a lot in the way of heavy rain coming our way. just a nuisance. it's a bit breezy out there. we got up to 77 degrees. we pick up a trace of rainfall today. the average high now is 79 degrees. by the end of this month, the average high 74 degrees. now, we aret 68. we still have on the radar spotty showers across the area. down through fairfax county, light showers still left around the area. potomac down to oakton still on the west side, the showers are drifting, east and northeast through the area. so, into tomorrow morning, rain likely. light rain and drizzle. here it is on the satellite and radar. weather front right through here, virginia, settling down in north carolina. that's where most of the rain has been. the temperature 68 d

i'm doreen gentzler. >> i'm craig melvin in for jim vance. america's leader told them it's time to help the u.s. fix the world's problems. president obama's speech was not the only one that got a lot of atteio

i'm craig melvin. the redskins win. he's the thing about sports. a someone a win no matter how you do it. nervous redskins fans bit their nails, scratched their heads but in the end they celebrated, nonetheless, sometimes with touch downs or field goals. a w is a w. we're live at fedex field. hey, lindsay. >> reporter: this is why you don't underestimate the kicker. shawn really won the game. connecting on three field goals. the redskins knew with the rams coming in they could show what they do offensively. they got the ball down the field but couldn't get it into the end zone. still as you said, a win is a win and the redskins take it. 9 dab 7 over the rams. gametime action, the redskins take the field in the home opener. lots of people looking for something to saw spark on offense early. the third quarter, the redskins trail and jason campbell drops back and hits antoine reasonle el and he leads to field goal. the skins would go up, 9-7. and then mark bolger drops back, steps up and fires it off the receiver. but chris horton brings in. the redsk

i'm craig melvin. the washington redskins are 1-1 and they pulled out the nail biter.not one for the

i'm craig melvin. >>> shaping up to be a long week for the senate finance committee.ll work out the latest details on a health care compromise. both republicans and democrats appear to be further apart than ever on many key issues. the white house is not giving up on the so-called public option. conservatives are firmly against the government-run health plan despite reassurances last week by the president that it would actually increase competition from private insurers. democratic leaders want the bill done by thanksgiving. but they say the divisiveness along party lines could keep that from happening. >> the fact is we're not going to miss this opportunity. we invite the republicans to join us for this historic opportunity. if they do not we're still going to go forward. >> later this week, president obama will be campaigning for support for his health care plan at the university of maryland. he'll be holding a rally at the comcast center and that is set to kick off thursday morning. for more political news, congressman joe wilson says once is enough. the south caro

i'm craig melvin. >>> today's loss in detroit didn't just shock hard-core football followers or redskins nation. casual football fans are scratching their heads tonight, too. is it the quarterback? is it the ownership? is it jim zorn? does the head coach become an unemployment statistic this week? all of these questions will be asked this week. we'll start with the last question. does jim zorn lose his job? >> not right now. according to a team source, they said the organization is not expected to make any moves according to a team source. they are not making any moves with jim zorn yet. the fans aren't the only ones questioning the redskins. the hall of fame running back mcrig gins is bringing in the heat. he twittered the following -- there are team issues for sure and individual issuers for sure but the ultimate owner is a loser and you can't fix that. the redskins are 1-2 after losing to a team that had been 0-19. lions quarterback matthew stafford throws like a old timer. carlos rogers gets beat on the play and stafford led the play and they are up. skins down 19-14. last chance on

i'm craig melvin. the hot seat jim zorn was on got hotter this afternoon. redskins nation watched in disbelief as campbell and company could not generate enough offense to beat the lowly lions. league's laughing stock. no way to overstate just how bad this is for the redskins. >> it's sheer disbelief for redskins nation because i think that everybody knew that we needed to beat this team or they said, we fwheed a win. there's this big problem. the nightmare is over for detroit. the nightmare just beginning for the redskins. the lowly lions that lost 19 straight games experienced a dream come true today. winning their first game since 2007. we're in detroit. this is where ma that you stafford had a huge late game. staff ford, a perfect pass to bryant johnson for a 21-yard touchdown. stafford led the lines on a 12-play, 99 yard drive. detroit, 13-0 at the half. santanna moss gets it back to antwaan randle el and that's it. the lyons beat the redskins, 19-14, their first win since 2007. jim zorn, do you have an explanation? >> i never really thought about the

>>'m craig melvin sitting in for joe krebs. it's wednesday, september 16, 2009. a live look over the capitol city. you can see the washington monument off in the distance. what is that? 69 degrees, tom kierein? >> you got it. >> it must have rained overnight. >> we had a little bit. our summer weather is gone. time to put away the floral moo moo. we have a little sprinkle activity on the northeastern shore northeast of maryland. no rain around. it is rather damp this morning. we have cloud cover beginning to break up a little bit. we may have a little sun in and out this morning and through midday. temperatures only reaching the mid 70s. we're in the 60s to near 70. a small chance there may be a little sprinkle or light rain activity this afternoon and cloudy this evening. a likelihood of showers by this time tomorw morning and off and on perhaps through midday on thursday and drying out thursday afternoon. highs tomorrow only near 70. friday a saturdayrying out a bit. a look at sunday into next week. that will be coming up in ten minutes at 5:41. >> i bet a lot

. >> i am craig melvin sitting in for joe krebs. convicted d.c. aa sniper mastermind, mohammed is said to die september 10 lt. the death sentence comes from the sniper attacks back in 2002. mohammed and malvo are both in prison. mohammed's attorney says he will appeal the death sentence. breaking news, set to be executed november 10th. >>> new today, children's national medical center is about to receive one of the largest donations given to an american pediatric hospital. a press conference just wrapped up. what did they have to say? >> reporter: i can tell you people are extremely excited. the donation is huge. $150 million they have big plans for this money. now, imagine surgery without paying or a hospital where a doctor uses a child's own immune system to fight cancer so that surgery is not necessary. sound like a dream? well not to the folks here. the hospital just received $150 million from the government of abu dauby, and the money will be used to build a pediatric surgical center that will hopefully revolutionize pediatric surgery. >> you

craig melvin, news4. >>> a new study shows getting more sleep can help clear a fuzzy memory. a lack of sleep causes more mistakes than what you think you remember. this is the first study of its kind to look at how incorrect memories are affected by lack of sleep. the study suggests college students may score better on tests by getting more sleep rather than staying up all night cramming. and that assumes they have the information in their head in the first place. >>> now, a wom gets her snake back after it slithers out of her appointment back in july. somebody was house sitting while she was on vacation. she put up signs and offered a reward s'skenaaf se s'ske safe tu.rn and somebody spotted the snake crossing a street -- what? they contacted crocker. now the snake and the owner are together again. >> they called the snake by its name and he answered, and wiggles his rattle. >> yeah, and probably carrying a case with his initials on it. >>> still ahead, our coverage of remembering 9/11 continues with a look at the stock exchange this morning. >>> plus, a look at a new show o

i'm craig melvin in for jim handly today. >> i'm wendy rieger.ommunity q and a, your concerns about health care reform. a date with a roabber. a suspect who returned to the the scene of crime for love. and hubble telescope snapshots are beautiful. >>> a woman shot at close range this morning in silver spring. this killing happened outside the victim's apartment building in the briggs chaney area. it does not appear to be a random act of violence. pat collins is in silver sprin to tell us about this. >> reporter: the murder victim identified is 37-year-old simone white. nothing was taken here. her laptop, her purse, her keys, all left at the scene. this appears to be personal. police out tonight looking for a killer, someone who ambushed a woman here just a few feet away from her home. >> i heard shots. i was doing homework. i was in front of the computer. i told everybody to shut the blinds and stuff because i heard shots. i told mom there were shots. it's kind of scary. >> reporter: this is how they say it happened. around 12:30 this morning in

. >> tonight craig melvin shows us more about what's drawing an increasing number of washingtonians to the hip-hop dance class and how the class is getting national attention. that's tonight at 11:00. >>> coming up, a cat found more than 2,300 miles away from home. >> dan what's in sports? >> this is really cool. one little girl catches a baseba baseball. it was very, very funny. we are going to show you that. one of the more popular redskins gets a contract extension. plus jason campbell feeling confident. and he should. >>> there are some guys on the redskins you might want to get to know because they've got some cash. >> we've got new contracts to talk about. hopefully a win to talk about as far as the guys are concerned. they did not play well. after a day off, redskins back on the field to get ready for the rams. one of their captains, a mike seller gets a two-year contract extension that includes a $600,000 signing bonus. sellers was elected to team captain. he was surprised because he is one of the biggest pranksters, he was certainly honored. being named captain is something he

i'm craig melvin.w poll suggests that the virginia governor's race is tightening, bob mcdonnell now leads democra democrat. >> reporter: his lead was ten points. he has been targeting a paper he wrote back in the 80s. it talks about the working families. he says his views has changed. >>> met though is sanitizing all of their is your advices, trains and buses are being cleaned on a weekly basis. passengers, though, need to do their part by covering their coughs and sneezes. weather and traffic are straight ahead. >>> good morning. partly sunny in washington. on the oorn shore, light rain northern around southern parts. in washington, 69 degrees. a northeasterly breeze will be with us throughout the day. a small chance of a pacing, light shower, highs, mid 70s. greater chance tomorrow. friday and saturday, sunshine returns. highs, mid 70s. how is the traffic? >>> along i-270, still very heavy to the outer loop, where there was an accident. other than that, we are packed in very tightly. all volume, 395