at the live desk, i'm scott macfarlane. back to you. >> thank you, scott. >> getting back to the cold weather, we are not the only ones dealing with this extreme cold. a huge swath is stuck in the deep freeze. >> temperatures at 20 to 30 glez below average in some areas, that is proving dangerous, even deadly. nbc's sarah dalov is in chicago. >> reporter: just days into the new year, new winter weather records in communities across the u.s. chicago's high on new year's day, a bone chilling 1 degree. and conditions haveim morning commuters making their way to work tuesday in sub-zero temperatures. >> it is just frigid. like it's biting in the face, just cold. it's no way around it. >> reporter: classes at this connecticut middle school canceled after heating units on the roof froze. elsewhere in the state, crews working overtime to thaw infrastructure. >> we fix one and it puts pressure on another area of the pipe. >> reporter: in dachl enpart, this car was frozen in place. >> i can't tell you how many inches of ice it has on

an investigation by scott macfarlane and the news4 i-team reveals the criminals who target your phonesng even more brazen. >> reporter: people running through metro stations, but not to catch trains. they're running to catch the pe below ground and above. in a string of recent cases, brazen criminals snatched phones out of people hands. it happened at a donut shop on november avenue. in the summer it was jeannette's phone. >> i grabbed for the phone, it wasn't there. mine was taken in church of awful places. >> reporter: where she is choir director. a visitor grabbed it from her purse. >> you want to be welcoming because it's church after all, and it was gone. >> reporter: the news4 i-team pulled police records in d.c., maryland and virginia and found something we didn't expect. they report the overall number of phone thefts is actually dropping as technology allows more owners to brick or lock their phones rendering them inoperative if stolen. but get this. we also discovered that thousands of phones hiefeists more physical. is it scare sni >> after the shock wore off. >> reporter: sh

scott macfarlane, news 4 i-team. >>> breaking news overnight. historic high-level talks between north and south korea. what both sides just agreed on and how it could change the upcoming winter olympics. >> plenty of hope from a family of a man with dementia missing more more than a week. >> and roll tide roll. while you were sleeping, alabama managed a big comeback and win. the nationals championship in college football. >>> news 4 begins now with storm team >> that is a storm team 4 weather alert on this tuesday morning. you may be able to see why here. there were freezing temperatures last night and things could be a little slick when you head out this morning. we've got it covered for you. 5:01. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist >>> i'm eun yang. we're nine days into the year and most of them have been filled with bad weather. we've had it all, right? >> that's true. as always, we're working for you with what you need to know to get your family where they need to go safely. we'll check in, in a second. several school districts are giving stu

. >> and our scott macfarlane has learned that maryland state officials are raising questions about the safety of the crossings and the streets near our local public schools. >> reporter: news4 has learned when the state legislature reconvenes in annapolis later this month there will be a proposal for a statewide review of the crossings and streets near every public school in maryland in every county in every jurisdiction. there is concern among some legislators there is not enough safe sidewalks, pedestrian crossings or bike paths to many schools. and supporters of a statewide review cite a series of recent accidents including a deadly accident in montgomery county in 2012 which killed a student from seneca valley high school. the legislators say this is a statewide problem, but they say in montgomery county in particular. >> good almost any elementary middle sc in my district and you'll see what you see behind me. busy roads, no sidewalks, no bike paths, no safe routes. >> reporter: we are told if approved this proposal would have the state highway administration check state roads nea

in the newsroom, scott macfarlane. now at 6:00, first the snow, this perhaps may be amongst the worst conditions we have seen so far. >> the roads are icy and a lot of these back roads are kind of plowed in. >> now the cold. >> it's really -- >> freezing -- >> out here. >> burr. >> if you thought this was cold, wait till tomorrow. >> tonight bracing from the deep freeze from the rush to clear the ways. >> ways you can save face if you have to be outside. >> bone-chilling, life-threatening cold impacting millions of people right now all up and down the east coast. >> temperatures plummeting into the single digit territory with wind chills in the negatives tonight. new england among the hardest hit areas. images from boston, flood forgive a seawall that broke through. >> tonight our team is work for you. it's not the storm. it's the cold moving in next. >> we'll have schools for you at the bottom in real time. >> let's begin our coverage with doug kammerer in the storm center. doug, we have not even seen the worst of thi

scott macfarlane, news4 i-team. >>> did you spot something during your holiday travel?isit the nbc washington app and click on investigation. >>> cutting congestion along a busy local interstate what is ca.us >>> right now at 5:00, the desperate searches for survivors a day after mudslides crushed homes and leave at least 15 people dead. >>> i'm doug kammerer. we're tracking a chance of rain. i'm timing it out for you. >>> also, a counterfeit crackdown. shoes shipped to a local airport and the clues that led agents to the discovery of se jordans are fake. >>> frozen followly. news 4 talks to the local man behind the local escapade that's been seen around the world. >>> but we begin this evening with a tragic turn in the case of a man with dementia who had been missing for a week. >> his family led a massive search for daniel dehaven who was last seen in the beltsville area but last night he was found some 20 miles away. >> darcy spencer is live tonight. the message from police, darcy? >> reporter: that search started right here where i'm standing by the costco in bestsv

scott macfarlane an the news 4 i-team reports. >> reporter: the u.s.tice department says it's going to prosecute manufacturers of fentanyl overseas if it comes to the united states and causes deaths here. that announcement comes amid a surge of cases, a string of seizures of drugs, including fentanyl at dulles international airport. they suspect the chemists make the drugs overseas and then ship the drugs here. officers found them inside food packaging, even others packed inside luggage. they've brought two criminal cases against the international manufacturers. >> this is the first time we've indicted by name chinese chemists in china who are alleged to have supplied fentanyl that resulted in injuries or death in the united states. >> coming up tonight on news 4 at 11:00, we go behind the scenes with u.s. customs offices to show you what happens when they see a suitcase they suspect has contraband inside and we speak with the families of fentanyl victims. the one thing they say has to be done in addition to prosecution to help stop fentanyl from getti

our scott macfarlane has a story you'll see only on 4. >> reporter: christina morris ward was walking to school in germantown before the sun had risen a few years ago. crossing germantown road to get to seneca valley high where she was a sophomore. when a car struck her and killed her. >> she wasec i got there. i kissed her. they were like, you can't touch her. i said, this is my child, i'm going to touch her and i'm going to give her my last good-bye kiss. >> reporter: her mother said she always worried that her daughter crossed a state highway on foot to get to class. >>> that is an area students frequently cross? >> yes. >> reporter: every day? >> every day. they don't always cross in the crosswalk. but they're paying attention. >> reporter: a police investigation found the driver was not at fault, but in the years since morris ward's death has raised concern about the safety of the roads across which students walk throughout our region each day. news4 learned a maryland state legislator will consider safety when it convenes in a few weeks. the state highway administration ordered

. >>> an investigation by scott macfarlane reveals a fast rising of cases in which the deadly drugs were shipped here from overseas. >> reporter: what happened one december night four years ago is still a blur to beth schmidt. >> a police officer came to the door. >> she was worried they were there to report her son was arrested she had been struggling with drug addiction. she was wrong. >> it was basically immediately fentanyl overdose at 23 years old. fentanyl is a highly addictive synthetic form of heroin and april cheap one. >> i can go down and spend $6 and walk away with heroin. >> $6? >> six bucks. >> less than the cost of a pack of cigarettes. >> fentanyl deaths have soared in our region. >> the fentanyl in fairfax county, montgomery county, in d.c., coming from overseas. >> that's correct. >> deputy u.s. attorney general rod rosenstein says sbirnl production has spiked. >> increase demand here. >> yes. the thing you need to recognize about a drug like fentanyl, it's where the supply creates the demand. for people to get hooked on it, they have to have it. >> the drugs are enteri

scott macfarlane, news 4 i-team. >>> breaking news overnight.istoric high-level talks between north and south korea. what both sides just agreed on and how it could change the upcoming winter olympics. >> plenty of hope from a family of a man with dementia missing more more than a week. >> and roll tide roll. while you were sleeping, alabama managed a big comeback and win. the nationals championship in college football. >>> news 4 begins now with storm team

our conversation with i-team's scott macfarlane with a couple issues people will be thinking about goingnew year. you can't help but notice there is a new tax plan that people are going to be impacted by. the republican tax plan was passed into law at the end of last year. regardless of where you fall on some of the controversial points of this plan, people are being impacted by this. >> that's right. >> and particularly people who live here in our area. >> so, anybody hoped the news would quiet down over the holidays and new year's, the tax plan stopped that from happening. things are churning at municipal government offices and state government offices. a lot of people chose to prepay their taxes hoping to get the benefit before the year's end. in maryland, didn't turn out that way. you have hundreds of people who have prepaid in prince george's county and montgomery county. we're not sure what happens are they going to ask for that money to be returned? do they want to be reimbursed or refunded their tax payment? that will take processing and they have a finite amount of workers to do

scott macfarlane broke the story on twitter. the epa says it is reviewing the frequency costs and extent of secretary pruitt's travel. this was requested by members of congress. outside watchdog groups say true wit traveled extensively, including 43 days of travel to his home state of oklahoma. >>> and new opposition to plans to redirect money to the transit agency. both virginia and maryland assemblies reconvened today. they are considering to give them a permanent source of funding. >>> the virus has exploded across 46 states and now there are widespread flu activity with more than 41,000 cases reported. federal health officials say there are three more flu cases this time than at the same time last year. california's been hit especially hard with at least 27 deaths in patients under the age of 65. and there's another complication. flu patients are often treated with iv fluids but there's a nationwide shortage of those iv bags because they are manufactured in puerto rico. manufacturers are still struggling to overcome the dama

pennsylvania avenue, route 4, just yesterday our colleague scott macfarlane was doing a story discussing how when kids have this kind of route to school, it can be pretty dangerous. the state is taking a look at that. scott? >> that's right, tracee. when the maryland state legislature reconvenes this month, they will consider a review of every school crossing on state highways in maryland. they'll be required to order counties to do the same county streets. this is amid growing concerns kids aren't safe enough when they walk to school. the number of pedestrian accidents jumped between 2012 and 2016 in maryland, including a string of incidents near schools. one of them a crash in 2012 near seneca valley high in germantown was deadly. state delegate eric lutke says he's been fielding calls about the lack of sidewalks and lack of bike paths near other large schools in the county including blake high school in silver spring. >> if you go to almost any elementary, no sidewalks, no bike paths, no safe routes. >> reporter: police agencies in md do conduct special enforcement details in schools

check out this retweet from our scott macfarlane. it shows 48 degrees inside a montgomery county classroom today. but for another school district, the trouble started even before the bell rang. news4's meagan fitzgerald is in fairfax county. meagan, what was the issue with the buses? >> reporter: well, fairfax county officials tell us the problem is the school buses have been sitting outside in the freezing cold weather like they are behind me here for the last two weeks while students were on winter break. so, this morning when they started them up, some of them didn't turnover. others broke down later. but this is just one of several issues we saw in school districts across our area. >> yeah, it's really cold. especially with the wind. >> reporter: no one thought the start of 2018 would be a warm one. >> it's really cold. we're all wearing our coats. >> reporter: but students returning from winter break at richard montgomery high school figured it would at least be comfortable inside the classrooms. >> i thought the school was goin

scott macfarlane helps cover capitol hill for us and reports on the fallout. >> wendy, the sex harassment scandal which consumed congress last month has quieted a bit, but little has formally changed since. the house and senate have approved some new mandatory harassment training for all members in all 15,000 plus staffers. but a news4 review of the congressional record shows little traction so far among several new bills to stop harassment including legislation that would get taxpayers off the hook. hundreds of thousands of dollars been paid in the past decade. other new bills would streamline, speed up the process through which potential victims could file complaints, including a bill co-sponsored by virginia senator tim kaine. >> we had to make a cultural change to enable people who feel that they're subject to abuse or improper behavior, we have to make them comfortable to say it. hey, i shouldn't have to tolerate this. >> under current policy, a victim of sex harassment must undergo mediation and cooling off period before getting a hearing or being able to file a suit against a membe

here's the i-team's scott macfarlane. >> the u.s.ce department says it is now going to prosecute manufacturers of fentanyl overseas if that fentanyl comes to the united states and causes deaths here. that announcement comes amid a surge of cases, a string of seizures of drugs of fentanyl at dulles international airport. they suspect chemists make the drugs overseas and ship the drugs here. officers see some hidden inside food packaging, including lollipops. others were packed in luggage. they tell news4 they have already brought two criminal cases against these international manufacturers. >> this is the first time we've actually indicted by name chinese chemists in china who are alleged to have supplied fentanyl that resulted in injuries or deaths in the united states. >> coming up tonight at news4 at 11:00. we go behind the scenes u.s. customs officers to show you what happens when they see a suitcase they suspect has contraband inside. and we speak with the families of fentanyl victims, the one thing they say also has to be done i