potomac river navigation. washington had dreamed of a potomac river navigation long before independence made it a cause. there you see where the navigation would go. not only could such a waterway improve access to his frontier holdings, it would channel western trade through the mouth of the potomac near here, near mt. vernon. both would increase his wealth. following independence, he promoted the schemes on public as well as private grounds. little had actually changed in washington's thinking about the project since 1754 when he first suggested using the potomac river to carry supplies for the general braddock's assault on the french forces in the ohio valley. after braddock operated for land transport because of the falls and rapids, a subscription drive was launched to raise funds for improving navigation on the river below cumberland. with washington serving as a trustee for the enterprise, construction began on a bypass canal around little falls by 1775. but the revolutionary war intervened to put the e

simply put lee and i grew up along the same river, the potomac. not that sounds surprising for two reasons. first were me think of the potomac river especially out here you probably imagine a polluted stream of political corruption. sometimes that's true. you certainly probably don't imagine a river of american history and second when he you think of property league you tend to imagine him personifying an old self this seems light years away from the cosmopolitan capital that we know today. but that shoot -- the truth is far different. reminders are all around the city and i was fortunate for me because one of their minders was through robert e. lee paper so i was able to go and see the letters that robert e. lee roe. writing a biography requires getting out and seeing the places where history actually happened and robert e. lee's history took place all around where i lived. during the course of my research of this book i traveled the full length of the potomac river from the source to its mouth and for those of you not familiar with it potomac it

simply put lee and i grew up along the same river, the potomac. now that sounds for two reasons personally think of the potomac river i think it's -- especially in kentucky you probably imagine a polluted stream of political corruption. sometimes that's true. you certainly don't imagine a river in american history and second when he think of robert e. lee you tend to imagine him personifying the old south that seems light years away from the cosmopolitan capital that we know today. but the truth is far different. reminders of robert e. lee are all around the city of washington. i was fortunate for me because one of those reminders with the majority of robert e. lee's papers are in driving distance of washington so i was able to go to the archives and see the letters that lee himself wrote. writing a biography requires more than just looking at old letters. it also requires getting out and seeing the places where history actually happen history actually happened in robert e. lee's history took place all around where i live. during the course of my

simply put lee and i grew up along the same river, the potomac. now that sounds for two reasons personally think of the potomac river i think it's -- especially in kentucky you probably imagine a polluted stream of political corruption. sometimes that's true. you certainly don't imagine a river in american history and second when he think of robert e. lee you tend to imagine him personifying the old south that seems light years away from the cosmopolitan capital that we know today. but the truth is far different. reminders of robert e. lee are all around the city of washington. i was fortunate for me because one of those reminders with the majority of robert e. lee's papers are in driving distance of washington so i was able to go to the archives and see the letters that lee himself wrote. writing a biography requires more than just looking at old letters. it also requires getting out and seeing the places where history actually happen history actually happened in robert e. lee's history took place all around where i live. during the course of my

lee's first invasion across the potomac. and to give abraham lincoln who was president the opportunity to issue the preliminary emancipation proclamation which in turn would eventually allow abraham lincoln to get a new birth of freedom to the union george washington had forged. anyone who takes the journey that i've just as god must wrestle with an unavoidable question. how did an army officer so associated to george washington's legacy go to war against what we today consider george washington's greatest legacy, the union? it was this question that ultimately drew me to robert e. lee's story, and it's that tragic tension in the knowledge that history could have turned out so much differently. because on the eve of the civil war, leaders on both sides of the potomac, in richmond and in washington, sought lee services for high command. both knew about his connections to george washington. that was common knowledge, and both saw tremendous difference in the. they also knew that winfield scott who at the time was the ranking g

it was a very well drained area of ancient potomac river territory. coming down from dupont circle and eventually down to the level of the white house, to where it sits now. very well drained. in fact, if there was a torrential rainstorm in the 18th or 19th century, logs and dead cattle would slow down the creeks. in the 17th century, the calvert family began to provide speculative land grants in the area. so, there were places here plantations if you will although there -- they were not settled at the time named variously -- rome, widows mite, huckle's delight -- [laughter] all of those were encompassed in what became the federal city. settlement took place at the end of the 17th century, and through the 18th-century so that by 1749, when georgetown was founded and soon became the largest tobacco exporting port in maryland there were many plantations, tobacco plantations , and in fact by the 1770's the land had pretty much been exhausted of tobacco. slave economy. very prominent catholic community as well. there was a route that crossed from virginia

potomac edison saying there's no obvious cause or evidence of what happened. it's possible a tall truck snagged wires with the power pole broken near the top. now, residents have been impacted. the resident who lives here at this home can't even get out of this driveway because of all of the debris. and across the street residents tell us that while there's no outage here they've been asked by potomac edison as a preventative measure to shut off their power. >> potomac edison guy says leave it off. going to do -- as soon as they do our pole they can turn it back on. but until then, don't. so we have a fire going. so we're good. we're good. >> the good news is that crews here on the scene believe they can do all this repair work and restoration without deenergizing the circuit. in other words, for the greater community, the power will stay on and the heat will stay on as these crews work in temperatures about 10 degrees outside. feels like the lower single digits. reporting in damascus mike conneen, abc 7 news. >> we are dealing with yet another round of arctic

alison: plus the potomac river frozen. it looks like we w >> you are watching abc 7 news at 11:00, on your side. alison: defense secretary ashton carter is on the ground in afghanistan to visit leaders. he was just sworn in tuesday. it is his first trip to afghanistan as pentagon chief. leon: there is an international search underway for three teenaged girls who may be planning to join isil. they were captured in these images leaving london for turkey and they may be trying to cross the border into syria. two of these girls are 15, the other is 16. a major fine for a japanese airbag maker. takata's airbags explode with too much force, causing injuries. the u.s. government has find them $14,000 per day for failing to cooperate with the investigation and the penalties could grow. company is fighting back, saying they have turned over documents about how they will follow procedures. alison: a free ride in the free state. from now until midnight sunday you can get a free uber ride to war from prince george's counties. the ride

. >> you're giving us the forecast from what looked like anchorage out there and it was the potomac. >> truth of the matter many parts of alaska anchorage in particular is warmer there than it is here. >> get out of here! >> most of alaska is warmer too. yeah. it will warm up one day here. so we're getting closer. it's 30 days to first day of spring, 30 31 do the math here. not tonight. don't think spring thoughts yet,

up waters of the potomac. here goes the last of the raindrops from leonard town southward to point lookout. meanwhile, around the metro area nothing left for raindrops. temperatures in the mid to upper 30s around town. so comfortably above the freezing mark. we should make it to the low and mid 40s for a time this afternoon, providing for a big meltdown today and a refreeze for tomorrow. have your winter coat and hat ready to go. when i see you in a few minutes, we'll talk about our return to the deep freeze. i know you want to hear about that. >> here we go again. thanks chuck. >>> give yourself extra time on the road. we are seeing a slushy mess out there. news 4's derrick ward is riding along in montgomery county with a closer look at the road conditions. >> reporter: we're on river w headed away from the district. you're going to see a variety of conditions out here. we're looking at a couple of cars who probably prudently just gave up last night or earlier this morning. they are on the side of the road. t

one in montgomery countyr t potomac and south of there into southern loudoun county.righ band here of some light to moderate snow right in nortt wn and then acro the potomac into arlingn a falls church and acro fair fax county. that band extends down into prinamcounty stafford spotslr band across charles coun across the potomac to fred staffo spotsylvanid culpepe bands of snow will be comi and going. may let up a bit from time to time and then it actually may be coming down a little harder,s a well from to time. e timing for the heaviest snow is between 7:30 and 9:30. after that the snow will quicy taper off by noontime as lingeringly pulls off to the east leaving in its wake a coup inches. 2 to 3 inches fartr south. highest amounts far southern maryla eastern shore could get 3 to 6 inches. ok hour r cold temperaturer the day d next weather and traffic s. >>> it's sticking in the 95 area.e areas are see something good snow falling now and obvie roads will start to get a bit sticky and slick. beltway at kenilworth avenue, that is looking quite good here in prince hard

the potomac river down the hill from this house today. once these brothers built glen echo, they advertised in magazines, in newspapers. they tried to bring attention to this new place on the map they thought of famous people that might come here and bring prestige and bring notice clara barton was famous for her civil war work of 30 years before this. she was known as the angel of the battlefield and she was known for the american red cross. they offered to give for this land for free and to build her a building for free if she would come to glen echo and make this a center for her organization. it was an attractive opportunity to have a big building that would serve the american red cross. it was what she was looking for. the trolley would be very convenient. she would save yes to these brothers. she would have to say a little bit more than yes. she would have to tell the brothers what kind of building she wanted. why did she choose this and where did she get it? johnstown sylvania -- sylvania is the answer. it was below a lake. the lak

the potomac river is iced over this morning.ing to stay that way for the next couple of days as cold air is in place. 18 degrees right now with a wind chill of 5 in washington. single digits all over the map as well. 14 down to 1. fredericksburg are 9 this morning. hour temperatures notice through 5:00 today, staying below the freezing mark. teens and 20s for much of the daylight hours. snow likely as soon as it gets to your house. snow likely for everybody for about 5:00 today. mixing with ice and changing to rain during the overnight hours. lots going on and dependent on where you live. a different forecast for southern maryland and northern maryland. get your zone by zone forecast dialled in. there is the leading edge of the snow moving into the central and southern parts of the valley. arrival times reaching some locations. here in the next couple of minutes and right in the washington metro at around 8:00 or 9:00. baltimore around 10:00 a.m. first place is edinburgh and winchester. if you see snow flakes acceptedsend me a p

what do you see along the frozen potomac? >> yeah you know, oddly enough you talked about ice safety and just when we got here earlier, someone knocked on the van door and said hey, there's a guy that's ice skating on the potomac. that's probably the worst thing you can do in this kind of weather. to ice skate on something that appears to be frozen. it's not. the ice is not very thick. you can see it behind me. even though -- that looks like it would be fun to skate. not a good idea. don't do it. boy, it was cold cold, cold this morning. we had the two hour delays and school cancellations and records were breaking left and right up and down the east coast. locally, two records were set. first one, reagan national airport, long standing record set back in 1896 when they took the temperature at downtown d.c. we dropped down to 8 degrees then. this morning, we dropped down to 5. b.w.i. marshall breaking the record set back in 1979 originally at 4 degrees and dropped down to 1. the record at dulles will stay 2 below zero. we drop

i was really hoping we'd have a warm potomac phil. >> my mother told me she had a foot of snow outside her door in detroit and i was thinking you would love to trade places. >> nice! derek is happy because now we're in february, the shortest winter month. >> yeah, man. >> climatologically if you're a snow lover and want substantial snow, you've got till about march 15th. >> weren't you telling me a couple of weeks we get through. >> there's a couple chances, but right now i don't see anything i can really sink my teeth into. >>> let's start with a live look outside, our live michael and son weather cam, 50 today, that's nice. temps are falling, 32 now the low so far today. it will go lower before midnight and dew points are falling which means drier air is moving in, wind northwest at 21. gusts are still over 40 miles an hour. it feels like 10 in gaithersburg, 20 downtown, 16 in leesburg. if you're going to the wizards game tonight, dress for single digits, wind chill 0 to 10. bus stop temperatures cold 18 to 28. good news, no winds, so no wind chills to speak of. in fact, cold tomorro

a lot of ice on the potomac surrounding the 14th street bridge. we're looking at temperatures barely eking up to 19, maybe 20. we'll dropping to the mid-teens by 9. overnight 5 to minus 5 with windchills 20, maybe 25 below early friday morning. i'mi'm coming back in a few minutes and not only am i talking about the cold for friday but an enhanced threat during the air saturday as warmer air tries to move n. i'm see you in a few minutes. >>> the cold is affecting people everywhere in the viewing area. some of you are finally at work and finally warm after a pretty long and cold commute on metro this morning. freezing temperatures crack a rail on the green line this morning. trains had to be single tracking between greenbelt and college park three hours as crews worked to repair the break during this bitter cold snap. riders bundled up on the outdoor platform. they were indeed cold, but understanding. >> i tofl rated it. -- i tolerated it. it's understandable. it's very cold. things are going to happen. >> metro says riders can expect some residual

. >>> police are trying to find out who is behind a bomb square in potomac, maryland this morning. sky 9 was above ivy mount school off seven locks road as police were investigating. police say most of the children hadn't gotten to the school yet but the ones who were in class were safely evacuated. rush hour traffic in the area was disrupted as well until the all clear sign was given. >>> police are looking for a car involved in a fatal hit and run. the woman was struck around 4:40 this morning. the toyota suv that hit the pedestrian remained on the scene but a second vehicle that hit the victim while she was lying in the roadway did not. howard county police are asking anyone with information to please contact them. >>> 23 people are confirmed dead after a plane crash in taiwan. the plane clipped the bridge and then went down in the shallow river in taipei. it came to rest just a few yards from the shore line. tina krause has more. >> reporter: dramatic dash cam video caught the moment of the deadly crash. the transasia airways plane clip add taxi and sashed into a highway bridge

>> in a way that sounds like that crash occurred in the potomac. famous air florida crash, you know, the evidence sort of suggests he was trying to clip the bridge it looks like by hitting a wing that could be enough -- at slow speeds it doesn't take much to bring an aircraft down. when you are taking off you are probably flying roughly 110 miles an hour. it's thoord keep an aircraft in the air. the engines were telephoningdeveloping power and the gear was up. >> we understand there were nine people killed ten people taken to a safe area, but we don't know about the injuries as of yet. do you have any indication as to the history record of this plane? >> it's called an atr-72. it's a common commuter aircraft. it's a french-made aircraft very popular with the larger commuter users. we lost one in the states about 1994 when it iced up. i don't think they have a particularly bad safety record although it is strange that this taiwanese carrier has lost two in eight months july to february so -- >> that's a good point. this accident comes months after t

due to private preservation efforts and public land use restrictions is this the over the potomac the one washington most loved and built his the odds of to frame survives virtually unchanged in the midst of northern virginia's urban sprawl. as an inaugural fellow at the national library for the study of george washington with the residency on the ground of mount vernon i was able to enjoy this and other scenes on washington's plantation many times over the course of the year. the view from this be out the became my favorite too especially at sunrise in the spring and flowering trees and give off a warm glow in early-morning light. it was obvious why washington was reluctant to leave mount vernon for public-service image of the neither sought nor wanted. and six months earlier follow fellow virginian james madison, urging him to solve in the federal government applied equally to himself however. supporters of the new constitution and the union it created he implored madison, for getting personal combine their collective efforts through service and the new government to avert the great

after nearly a century spanning the potomac, the frances scott key bridge doesn't lack in beauty.a closer look. there are stories that lie underneath. one of the things is that the bridges are cellular meaning you can get to the inside. thisdor's open. take a look what's inside. on this day, we've stumbled into what appears to be someone's messy living rom. that someone most likely homeless. suitcases, a trunk, even a tv in here. there are doors to be found under the bridge. and that's by design. >> it appears because there's t's so mass-- it's so massive they're voided. that gives you access to the interior of the bridge that you normally wouldn't have. >> reporter: who holds the keys? >> we have a master key. we do. >> reporter: sometimes not enough to keep people out. the bridge does provide protection and the city has had an issue of the homeless making a home here. take this ladder to the next level all the way to the top, and you'll fine the underside of the road you've probably traveled across many times. some other stuff like these hanging swing ropes left over from old wa

the rain is now slicing through montgomery county, bethesda, potomac, silver spring picking up snow in the past hour. going further north it is mostly to all snow, though i have gotten some reports and thank you so much for sending me messages on facebook and twitter letting me know what you have in your backyard that we have a little changeover to rain in frederick county, also a mixture of rain and snow in leesburg, but light snow falling in germantown and the panhandle of west virginia. this is a mostly snow event at the moment. this is moving up to the north and east and down to the south and west we are looking at just rain. that's what moves into the metro area next. that's why it is a mostly wet commute throughout the entire dmv. we'll continue to track this and detail when you can expect tomorrow morning coming up in the first alert seven-day forecast. >> you can stay on top of whatever weather we get overnight and tomorrow morning with the free wusa9 app. it has live radar, road closings and school closings. we'll also be here first thing tomorrow morning 4 a.m. so you know wh

amazing shot in the washington monument the bridges crossing over the icy potomac river. lit not stay icy much longer. that's some good news. 32 degrees the current number, but look at the windchill, down to 23 right now. a very cold night. if you're going out and about, especially into the city with the wind going through the buildings, it will be chilly. 27 gaithersburg and baltimore, 33 fredericksburg luray at 32 degrees. look back to the west. this is where the cold air is coming from. cumberland at 23 petersburg west virginia at 24. that cold air moving in. look where we are tomorrow morning, 18 in d.c. 11 in manassas 13 in leesburg 12 in gaithersburg the record tonight at dulles is 10 degrees and we could come close to that maybe tying or breaking that record if we get just cold enough. another cold one, the outdoor impact forecast tomorrow 7:00 a.m. cold. wait until 9:00 or 10:00 for jogging. 24 by 11:00, 32 degrees by 3:00. we are talking a little bit of wind tomorrow too, so windchill may be a factor. nothing on the radar. we'll stay on the dry side. look where w

>> clipped the bridge over the potomac back in '82 but yeah. know, from -- i saw that same video, the landing gear was up and the plane banked sharply. i don't know taking off or landing or somewheres in between but that -- that's a strange accident. obviously, clipping a bridge is extremely unusual even if it did happen once there in washington, d.c. >> well alan this is the video of it and quite dramatic. you see the plane out of the sky. over some of the buildings and then the wing just clipped the bridge there and we are being told because you asked the question, you didn't know takeoff or landing. this was shortly after takeoff. so does that give you any indication of what may have went wrong? >> you know it is awfully early to talk about that. gear was up and attempting to climb. they were attempting to cloim and that in a way does sound like that crash that occurred in the potomac. famous air florida crash. but, you know the evidence sort of suggests that he was trying to clip the bridge and locked like by hitting a wing that could be en

because on the eve of the civil war, leaders on both sides of the potomac, in richmond and in washington sought his services for high command to both about his connection to george washington. that was common knowledge. and both saw tremendous significance in them. they also knew that winfield scott to at the time was the ranking general in the u.s. army thought lee was the very best soldier hit ever seen in the field. and robert e. lee certainly looked like a fine soldier. he stood just under six feet tall, powerful, broad shoulders a barrel chest. he had perfect posture. everybody who saw him said some version of the same thing, batman looks every inch the soldier. and so in april 1861 an emissary for abraham lincoln asked robert e. lee to come to the city of washington. that ms's name was francis blair and he makes an extraordinary offered to robert e. lee. he says will you leave the main union army to crush secession? and as lee remembered the store, blair tried in every way to convince robert e. lee to say yes. he said blair said to lee the country looks to you quote as a representa

from niagara falls to the potomac river and beyond.lf of the country on ice, a new storm takes aim. we have

ice on the potomac. we're coming out toward the north end of reagan national.skies on our weather camera and 15. winds still gusting to 20 miles per hour. that's our w. in town -- windchill in town is 1. with this coming off the great lakes and mountains, snow showers in the mountains and a few of these, in fact streamers will try to cross the mountains n. is why we're looking at a chance for a flurry or snow shower later today, tonight. tomorrow the windchills in the morning are going to be dangerous. we'll be in territory temperature wise, air temp wise. look at the windchills. as we go throughout the day, low single digits to minus 5. tonight, tomorrow morning, here we are at 5:00. drop to 20 below in gaithersburg. about 13 to 20 below here in the immediate metro. dangerous cold coming up. we've got windchill advisories in effect till 10:00 friday morning. yellow alerts for the cold today and tomorrow with single digits to 5 below in the outer suburbs tonight. the windchills could dip 20, 25 below in spots tomorrow morning. 20 for the high on friday. saturda

the potomac river mostly frozen over. if you have plans to head out this evening, bundle up. the snow flurries moved across southern maryland. not going to amount to much more for them. we look a quiet and dry conditions the next 12 to 18 hours or so. it is cold out there. only 28 in gaithersburg. keep in mind the average daytime high for this time of year is just around 50 degrees. we are going to call for temperatures in the middle 20's. we will see mainly clear skies. still a good deal of sunshine. and by the noon time our, clause will begin to increase just a bit. temperatures rebounding into the upper 20's to lower 30's. we're talking about the wintry mix. maybe some snow, sleet, and freezing rain. >> what is good about these wintry mix is, certain things don't smell as they normally would. it's important in d.c. because there, trash collection has been delayed and a lot of complaints coming in from residents. >> the city is promising to get rid of the overflowing trash by this weekend. steve is live to explain the hall -- the all hands on deck push. >> it might not smel

parts of the potomac are frozen this morning. chuck bell will let us know when we can expect snow coming into our area. we are not the only ones dealing with the winter weather. look at the roads in north georgia. causing treacherous drivewaying down south. leaders asking people to stay off the roads. >> at least 25 people have died because of the extreme cold across the country. the record breaking cold will last through most of next week and we are keeping an eye on the snow and rain through parts of the midwest. as far south as alabama. more than 100 roofs collapsed in massachusetts like this one in westford. several horses had to be rescued here. a pair of dogs pulled from a frozen marsh. coast guard cutters are making their way through the river so commercial ships can travel. it's a danger to the citrus crops in florida. >> could you be safer when it's cold outside? crime goes down when it's cold and picks up as the temperature picks up. since winter began, crimes have plunged in boston and memphis. new york had a 12-day st

it was a city on the potomac surrounded by virginia and maryland, to slaveowning states. the aristocracy of washington at the time at the start of the war, particularly the old families and georgetown -- it only took a couple of generations to be old money at that time. you think of other families they were not that long in terms of generations, but it was a very strong -- i would say it was basically pro-slavery city. of course, an awful lot of washingtonians went south. when corcoran -- he's the man who built and donated the land for the cemetery and georgetown -- he went to paris and waited out the war. he thought it would be more congenial to him. his daughter was married to an eight who was the confederate representative to paris. there was a lot of concern about attitudes compresses session, secession, a lot of traders talk, so congress undertook an investigation and early 1861 and hurt a lot of witnesses and satisfy themselves that while there was a lot of hotheads sing with her going to do when the confederacy to the washington, that in fact there was not ever a m

still a little bit of ice hugging the shorelines of the potomac. all the ice on the local area lakes and streams. stay off the ice, everybody. your weekend impact is nice and low. a nice break from the winter cold. the arctic air that has been locked in place for much of the last 2 1/2 to three weeks is in full retreat. the milder air to the south will move back in. today, warmer than average and warmer than we have been. not toasty warm but tomorrow a little spring prelude coming our way. we can make it up to 60 degrees, it will be the mildest day in about a month. rain chances look to be staying away until early in the day on monday. cloudy skies out there and seasonably chilly. 33 degrees and without a wind out there. not much of a wind chill to concern yourself with. to get the morning dog walk or nothing, temperatures 30s and 40s and into the upper 40s to near 50. good outdoor running and biking weather for sure. 34 in gaithersburg and 33 in frederick. the polar plunge today as well. the forecast in prince george's county. 47 today. 32 tonight

mary's,i cross the potomac and in tow fredericksbu.our b we'll have e temper staying below freezi. th will play a critical role e what is falling and stic will stay there for the rest of the day. even though we'll get sun back later this afternoon. >>> roads and r problems this mornin metro, blue and yellow line delays to largo and mt. vernon square. want to show you a big look at things. 395 inbound, top of the beltway gettg slow all the way over here near kenilworth avenue. we don't typically see this on an average morning. the weather is slowing folks down. taking a look at travel times, 66 east no major problems. 395 twe as long as it should gettg to the 14th street bridge. 95 north not terrible. other g problem, outer loop 20 minutes instef 10. and then 270 southbound germ to the beltway, about five minutes behind. >>> the weather will not affect your commute on vra today. we're told trains are running on a normal scho at if you would service rightnow. same goes for trains on penn and camden lines. brunswk 880 will leave 45 minus

i saw this incredible sunrise over come over the potomac river and i realize how many times must george washington had seen the site and for me it was a moment , he became real. in my research, he really became more and more real the more i researched his life. here's a close-up of george and in each of these periods of time i talk about in the book all i really like to sum up what george washington was like. at this point in his life, in these years when he is a man he ended up being about 6'2" ruddy , complexion with chestnut colored hair who was athletic and strong and have long arms and long legs. he was a survivor of the wilderness. he loved the horse races, box -- fox hunting, cards, billiards, he was fashionable when he was interested in clothing. he was one of the best dancers in virginia and he was very ambitious. when i talk to school kids on these visits i like to explain george washington in this way. george washington was such a man at the men admired his athletic ability, and the ladies wanted to dance with him at the ball. i believe when he came into the room, every head

he spoke at a forum hosted by the potomac institute for policy studies in arlington virginia. this is about an hour. >> good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. and we want to thank you for joining us here today. i'm from the potomac institute for policy studies and on behalf of our president and ceo, and the chairman of our board of regions we're pleased to have you join us today. potomac institute is celebrating its 20th year in existence and we usually look at those science and technology and stoney policy issues that are associated with that. but we also delve into innovative areas. and we're able to host events like this that allow the returning commanders to speak and speak about what they did on their deployments. that brings us to brigadier general dan yu who is with us today. a scholar. a trainer. and a warrior. first of all as a scholar got his masters from college of naval command in new port, rhode island. he also was a national security affairs fellow at the hoover institute in stanford. as a trainer. lieutenant colonel as a commander. had one of our infantry training

i love this view of the national harbor, the potomac frozen over. the road crews hard at work.look at that massive slough at dulles airport. and one of my favorites of the day, cannot get more fun than sledding on the saucer with your dog giving you kisses. and the ice is pretty much coming to an end as we have rain, exiting to the east. tomorrow morning, cloudy skies. we will have sprinkles over southern maryland, but nonetheless we have a nice day before another arctic front moves in for the day sunday night into monday. with that said, tomorrow 41 there will be a lot of melting. anything that is wet overnight sunday night into monday will likely freeze. i think we will have to contend with that monday morning. monday afternoon, only a high of 21, 29 tuesday, 36 wednesday. the temperatures much colder than average this time of year. prepare yourselves, winter is still here. although i will say, eight more days until the start of meteorology goals bring. i will leave you one that bright note. scott: you the optimist. eileen: trying. scott: thank you. a 1-2 punch in the fight a

. >> reporter: iconic majestic and after nearly a century spanning the potomac, the frances scott key bridge still does not lack in beauty. take a closer look. stories lie underneath. one of the things with these old bridges is that they're cellular meaning you can actually get to the inside. well this door's open. take a look what's inside. op this day stumbled into what appears to be someone's messy living room. that someone, most likely homeless. suitcases, a trunk, even a tv in here. there are doors to be found under the bridge and that's by design. >> the piers, because they're so massive, are voided, and that gives you access to the interior of the bridge that you normally wouldn't have. >> reporter: who holds the keys? >> we have a master key. >> reporter: a master key? >> we do. >> reporter: sometimes not enough to keep people out. the bridge does provide protection and the city has had an issue of the homeless making a home here. take this ladder to the next level all the way to the top and you'll find the under side of road you've probably traveled across many times. some ot

potomac, montrose road southbound at seven locks is shut down. alternate iswooton parkway. everything else looking pretty typical. back will ten minutes. >>> 6:22. a special hiring our heros job fair today, happening at the marine corps base at quantico. starts at 10:00. there is also a workshop where you can talk about resume writing and interviewing skills that begins at 8:30. and like all of the hiring our heros fairs, this one is for military veterans and their spouses. more than 60 companies will be at today's fair. >>> you may want to look into insurance if you're renting a home or apartment. a new survey found 6 in 10 american representnters do not have insurance. 45% say it's too expensive. 37% of those are covered but 4% didn't even know if they had it. the national association of insurance commissions reports the average cost of renter's insurance is $187 a year. >>> it's called the silent killer. carbon monoxide is odorless and colorless and kills more than 400 people every year. tonight on news 4 at 11:00, erika gonzalez will walk us through a prince george's co

you don't rely on punxsutawney or potomac? >> no. i rely on the forecast rather than rodents.wiest month of the winter last month was march. let's keep our fingers crossed, one or two good snows and we're on to spring. that's what i'm hoping for. springtime going to be a while out. yes, indeed it is groundhog day in the nation's capital. phil somehow saw his shadow in the snow. six more weeks of winter with a frowny face from me right there even though i am a snow lover. come on phil get with it. pick your game up a little bit. 46 degrees in washington. cloudy skies are still in place but the clouds are starting to thin out right now. north wind at 10 miles per hour. that's nothing compared to where the winds are going to be by the time the sun goes down today. current temperatures are in the mid-30s in northern maryland. low to mid-40s in metro. st. mary's county near 60 for a time this morning. what to expect for the next 24 hours, becoming windy this afternoon. winds gusting over 40 miles per hour a real possibility late this afternoon into about the 11:00, 12:00 time frame

but the potomac is a block of ice. >> 26 degrees outside of our studios. let's check in with tom kierein weather and traffic on the 1s at 6:11. >>> potomac is ice covered and temperatures are frigid this morning. it is nose numbing cold down to single digits most of the region. mid teens in washington and right by the bay. got a mostly clear sky now live view from our tower camera. by 8:00 we'll be in the low teens and then by noontime, ought to be in the mid to upper 20s. near freezing around 2:00 or 3:00. then leading edge of snow showers begin to move in around 5:00 p.m.. a look at the timing on when the snow showers will be moving through, when it leaves next weather and traffic on the 1s. >>> blue line delays. to franconia springfield this morning. so that will cause a problem for some folks. and then as far as travel time, 66 east looking good 395 north looking good 95 north about as good as it gets. same thing in maryland outer loop over to 270, only taking 10 minutes this morning. >>> responding to the criticism. metro's message for you after a new

. >>> imagine seeing this coming at you as you're driving along the potomac, a plane dropping out of the sky like a big bird. that horrific crash captured on camera when a prop jet crashed into a shallow river shortly after take off. tonight rescuers used a crane to hoist the wreckage. at least 31 deaths are confirmed, 12 people are still mising and authorities say there may be. bodies in the wreckage. five survivors were rescued from the river. we know the cockpit crew shouted may day right before the crash. investigators are analyzing the black boxes in hopes of learning more about what went wrong. >>> news 4 as learned that the district's trouble streetcar system could be scaled back before the streetcar carries the first passenger. tom sherwood reports on the growing skepticism that could report in cutbacks as early as this spring. >> reporter: streetcar sitting idle still no word when the service will ever pick up a paying passenger. now news 4 has learned the entire planned system of eight lines over 37 miles is in jeopardy with only a fraction of the system likely to be built.

it would increase fees at great falls tavern in potomac.ghtly camping fees at campgrounds would double, but hiker/biker camping would remain free. the fbi's with the family of a 26-year-old woman whom isil claims was killed in an air strike in syria. the u.s. is working to verify the claims. >> where is the proof? that is the question at wing from washington to the middle east after isis claimed that its last known american hostage died during coalition airstrikes. >> you cannot believe in a thing from their mouth at this point. >> militant say that kayla mueller died in this building, destroyed by the jordanian government. her family is holding out hope releasing a statement overnight the rest -- addressed directly at isis. "as your guest, her safety and well-being remains a responsibility." there are concerns that isis is getting help from inside the united states. people were arrested all living low key in low-key towns of suburban chicago, st. louis, and upstate new york. the authority say that they wired cash and used u.s. mail to send

. >>> off the top at 6:00 a live look at national harbor, the potomac river is still frozen after the winter storm, but today the temperature spiked and a lot of the snow and ice is already melting. >>> now, everybody is changing again. for a lot of you, tonight's temperatures will drop below 32 degrees. that is raising concerns over a refreeze. meteorologist amelia segal has an hour by hour look at what we can expect. >> it's going to be the suburbs north and west that will drop below the freezing market during the evening hours. right now temperatures not so bad. in the 40s for most of us 46 for washington with a high data reagan of 50. 39 already in gaithersburg and frederick as well as manassas 43 for those of you in leesburg. by 8:00 p.m. smp suburbs at or below freezing. by 10 p.m., just about every outside of the beltway is be low freezing. this is when we'll see ice start to form. by any night, washington drops to below freezing. tomorrow morning, we are going to be dealing with slick spots across the area 5:00 a.m. notice everybody here is berle low that freezing mark. washin

conditions brought drivers to a crawl on the gw parkway, and the same thing on the beltway on the potomac. drivers were forced to take things slowly as wind gusted up to 60 miles per hour. were heading over to eileen. eileen, what can we expect tonight? eileen: the squalls are just about over with, and now it is about the bitter cold. let me take you to our doppler radar, the snow is gone and things are looking much better than a just a few hours ago. as the arctic front moves through, wind gusted a little bit higher than a severe thunderstorm warning. 57 miles per hour was the wind gust at reagan international and 36 degrees in arlington, 54 degrees, 54 mile per hour's, wouldn't that be nice? 54 mile per hour wins at college park, and in northeast d.c., 53 mile per hour gusts. and we had a report of a scaffolding that fell down earlier in northwest d.c., and you can see that crews are trying to get a little bit of the help there. you can see the snow is covering the roads and the wind is no joke. it makes it very hard for the cruise to work as well. any back to the forecast, temperatures

from niagara falls to the potomac river and beyond. with almost half of the country on ice, a new storm takes aim. we have the latest forecast for those in the danger zone. >>> and rudy giuliani declares i am not a racist but now he says president obama was raised by socialists and he isn't backing off from his claim that the president doesn't love america. i'm wolf blitzer. you're in "the situation room." >>> breaking now, new and detailed plans for an upcoming ground offensive against isis. this is not a leak. it's coming directly from the pentagon. the war plans call for iraqi and kurdish fighters to work together in a battle this spring to push isis out of iraq's second largest city. significantly, the plans leave open the possibility of u.s. boots on the ground in addition to jets in the skies. newly released propaganda videos show isis fighters preparing for house to house combat. why tell them even more? president obama's deputy national security advisor ben rhodes is over at the white house. he will answer our questions. our co

let's get started with what we're dealing with now and that is the ice on the potomac. all area rivers most all of them iced over near the chesapeake bay iced over. look at these numbers falling now. 12 at washington dulles. 10 in gaithersburg now. 17 at reagan national airport. and through the overnight, down from 2 below to 8 above and as steve rudin told us that will put us in territory to tie or break record low temperatures early tomorrow morning. look at the core of the cold air over southern canada and the great lakes. that will move in overnight. nice warmup out west. get a taste of the warmer air on sunday. not until then. 19. that's it for tomorrow. but then we have to keep our eyes on the weekend and that's going to bring the possibility of snow or a wintry mix saturday turned into a cold rain on sunday morning. and then warming up into the upper 40's. any way you cut it messy weekend but i'll take rain and 48 over 2 below zero. that's my opinion. alison? >> we turn to a problem that we see often during winter months, water main breaks. broken pipes kept crew

the same with potomac edison. dominion has over 100 households out. no word on whether that is because of the weather. seven is on your side helping you stay warm if your power goes out. you do not want to be without heat tonight. on your screen are a few of the major heating centers around the area. we have a complete list online for you at our website wjla.com. abc 7 is your storm watch weather station. stay connected with us on the go by liking us on facebook and all of us on twitter. we are also sending you alerts through our free smartphone app to keep you ahead of the weather. new tonight, danish authorities say a shooting in copenhagen was a terrorist attack. one person was killed, three police officers were wounded. it happened during a free speech event honoring artists. he has been getting death threats since he depicted the prophet mohammed as a dog in 2007. he was uninjured but says that he believes he was the intended target in today's attack. more than 75 firefighters were called to this town house in gaithersburg. unattended cooking cau

the police need your help identifying a woman who was found dead near the airport in the potomac river, just south of the airport. the police say the woman is possibly hispanic with a light complexion in her 40's to early 50's. she had short hair, a dark coat, light blue pajama pants and socks. she also had a ring in on the middle finger of her left hand with the name "erica" on one side "jones" on the other side. she may have had surgery on her right ankle. all of this information is posted at wjla.com. a brother and sister are in protective custody after the police arrested their parents at a wine tasting. officers found a three-year-old girl and two-year-old boy and a parked car yesterday afternoon. the car was often the temperature outside was 28 degrees. the parents are charged with second-degree cruelty to children. two firefighters were injured while battling an apartment fire. investigators believe the fire started early this morning near a dryer vent at the bethesda hills apartments near dudley rain. residents made it out safely. >> these are safe. nobody got hurt. >> two fire

look at sn on top of the -- the ice on the potomac. pretty picture, but we're maybe for somea little differen 38 eet now, winds out of the nor at about 6 miles per hr. we're dealing with cloud cover. we'llone see the clouds the rt night. 32 degr currently in gaithers37 fredericksburg, and 32 or rather 34 back towards winchte as as radar is concernno showing up here. donxp to see much overnigtonight. what we e watchinis a little boundary yocase coming through pennsyl, on back towardscincinnati. it's a little frontal boundary that'go a ma its way throughhe as it does, it could kick off snow shors maybe some flurrs we move on through the nighnd the early portion of tomor morning. here we a future weather 8:00 tonight, few snow showers back towards the mountains. watch whappens, though. they move our way back towards winchtnd 11:00, martinsb t they kind of break up. again, we're not going to see everyboti this. it wi b few and far between. some areas of montgomery county, mayberot district. if you do see snow again, it's not going to be ve

on the potomac river. it's on a lot of ice associated with it. and i don't see that melting anytime soon. even though we do get above freezing during the day on sunday. now, currently, we're at 20 degrees. but here's some good news. we're not dealing with the wind so the windchill is the same as the actual temperature and that makes a huge difference. 20 is cold but the wind that bites youthrough you, that makes it feel colder. nothing on the radar right now. you have to go well down to the south and to the west. you mention parts of tennessee, seeing snow right now around the nashville area. atlanta reporting a little bit of snow winter storm warnings in effect in parts of these state, this whole system making its way our way. future weather times it out for us fairly well and this is the latest computer model we have. nothing around d.c. around 10:00 a.m. if you have any tomorrow morning, get things done early, running the errands around before the nn hour. back to the west, that snow moves in before 10:00 a.m. here it in through the i-95 corri