Was getting on scene. A deadly scene as the house fire has taken three lives. A mobile command center has pulled up. Fire investigators here. No word on whether or not the house had working smoke detectors. Weve had a lot of fires in Prince Georges County, thats one of the things i was talking about with chief bashore. They want to make sure people check smoke detectors. A lot of people dont have sprinkler systems in homes and apartments. Make sure that those smoke detectors work. Guys, devastating news. We had families show up. You can imagine how devastated they are that two children have died along with an adult male. Well stay on the story all morning. Back to you. Thank you. More breaking news now. Another fire. This one in Montgomery County, rockville. We pulled up to the scene here. This is a former youth Treatment Facility which is now vacant. Were talking with firefighters here and will bring you an update as soon as we get it. Tough morning, busy morning, as well. Stay with us for updates on the breaking news stories. Firefighters battid battg mother nature, as well. Cold and windy. Tom . Winds gusting 20, 25 Miles Per Hour. Now theyre settling a little bit. Temperatures are below freezing. In the 20s from the mountains to the atlantic beaches. That includes the immediate metro area. Its only near 20 in Montgomery County. Arlington, fairfax, prince georges, now the low to mid 20s. District of columbia now in the mid 20s. We will stay below freezing to 9 00, 10 00 this morning. Mid 30s by noon. Well have clouds coming and going. Winds will be gusting again around 30 Miles Per Hour at noontime. Hyattsville, hometown location in Prince Georges County, back down this time tomorrow below freezing. Ill have details on the rest of the day coming up in ten minutes. Coming up with your first look at first 4 traffic on this thursday, danella . Good morning. Checking an accident, 295 northbound in d. C. The 11th street bridge, a split, a right lane blocked because of a crash there. Down i95, though, delays kwan to triangle, northbound volume still light. 14 minutes to the beltway. Over to you. Thank you. 6 03. Breaking news. Final arguments being delivered now in a south african courtroom in the bail hearing for olympian onscar pistorius. Theyre arguing whether pistorius should be released on bail. Investigators supported the athletes story during testimony yesterday. The prosecution argued that despite poor evidencegathering, pistorius is still a flight risk because of a supposed home he owns in italy. The detective who has led the investigation is now off the case. Hilton botha faces seven counts of attempted murder. He and two other officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan in 2011. Those charges were initially dropped, but it was discovered yesterday that they were reinstated. It is unclear follow revelation will affect whether pistorius is granted bail. A toddler is dead this morning in Prince Georges County in what appears to be a tragic accident. Police say a 3yearold boy was behind his familys car when it started drifting backwards last night on audrey lane in oxon hill. The father who was carrying his 2yearold daughter at the time dropped the girl and jumped into the car to try to stop it. It was too late, though. The boy was hit and died from his injuries. The little girl also suffered serious injuries. This morning, five men are in custody in connection with the murder of a 15yearold boy in Prince Georges County while police are still searching for the gunman who killed two other teens in the county. All five of these men face charges in Charles Walker jr. s murder. Officers say the Suitland High School freshman was shot and killed monday over a pair of shoes he was carrying. They dont believe his murder is related to the shooting deaths of two other teens. One of whom was also a student at Suitland High School. Aaron kidd and Andre Shuford was shot tuesday in the parking lot of a forestville apartment. Kids died on the scene. Shuford passed away yesterday. Eight days stand between us and the looming sequester cuts. Government agencies all over the country are holding their breath to see if congress will make a deal. The National Institutes of health would lose 1. 5 billion in funding if the deal is not made. That means millions of americans whose lives depend on advanced treatments and research will go without. Nih cancer, hiv, and Alzheimers Research would be to stop. And before you think youre in the clear, the sequester could affect your next trip. Thousands of tsa agents and customs and Border Protection personnel will be furloughed or laid off. That means wait times for domestic and International Flights could double. You could find yourself in line for three hours just to get through security and up to six hours to get through customs. And republicans are weighing in on their plans to avoid the sequester. Speaker of the house john boehner submitted an oped in the wall street journal sending a strong message to the president. Boehner wrote, the president has repeatedly called for even more tax revenue, but the American People dont support trading spending cuts for higher taxes. The president s sequester is the wrong way to reduce the deficit, but it is here to stay. Until washington democrats get serious about cutting spending. The government simply cannot keep delaying the inevitable and spending money it doesnt have. And stay with news4 for continuing coverage of the sequestration showdown as the march 1 deadline approaches. When you cant watch, you can always get the latest information on nbcwashington. Com. President obama says a leak of what the white house is planning to do to reform immigration did not hurt the senates negotiations to change immigration. Last friday, a usa today article detailed what the white house wants to propose for people coming to the country illegally just as the senate works to come up with its own bill. The white house says bills get leaked all the time, and that his bill is just a backup in case congressional talks fail. In the meantime, a new poll finds that more than half of u. S. Citizens believe that most or all Illegal Immigrants should be deported. In a survey by reuters and ipsos, 30 believe most illegal immigrant should not be allowed to stay. 23 say all of them should be sent away. Only 5 said all immigrants should be allowed to stay. More than 1,400 adults participated in the survey which was conducted on line. Breaking news. We are on the scene of two fires this morning. In one here in Prince Georges County, three people are dead. Two of the victims are children. And chopper 4 over another fire. This one in rockville. A former youth Treatment Facility there went up in flames overnight. An update on both fires ahead. Plus, a very cold morning. Windchills sending temperatures into the Single Digits in some places. Places. Your weather traffic on the 1s its my coffee when i want it. You press a button, you have great dunkin coffee. I got my coffee for the morning, i got my dunkin kcup packs for the rest of the day. Only available at Dunkin Donuts restaurants. America runs on dunkin coffee. Good morning. Time for weather traffic on the 1s. At 6 11, temperatures into the 20s. Winds blowing around 20 to 30 Miles Per Hour. The windchills are down into the teens to just near ten degrees. You need the warmest winter gear. Heres the temperature scale. Theres the time frame. By noontime, mid 30s. By midafternoon, around 40 degrees. Winds still blowing. Lots of sunshine. Temperatures will drop after midnight near freezing. And maybe a little wintry mix tomorrow. Well talk about that and the weekend forecast, sevenday forecast in ten minutes. Danella . Good morning. Tracking problems in the first 4 traffic office, northbound 295 at the 11th street bridge, still seeing the right lane blocked. Traveling northbound 29 in maryland, fairland road, you have an accident right past the light here. You see blocking the right lane, well talk about delays. Theyre significant right now as you head northbound at randolph road. You see absolutely jammed. Stick to the left to get by the accident. Back to you. Thank you. Wading back into politics. The major event that mitt romney will be attending. And tragedy overnight. Three People Killed in a house fire. 6 15. Were staying on top of breaking news. Tragedy for a Prince Georges County family overnight. Youre looking live at the scene of a serious house fire that hurt six people including four children. Weve just learned that two of the children and one adult male have died. This is happening in the 8600 block of leslie avenue in glenarden. Stay with us for the latest on the story. We are also on the scene of a fire in Montgomery County. Flames ripped through a former youth Treatment Facility in rockville. Want to go live to Megan Mcgrath now with more. Megan . Reporter well, this is the former Karma AcademyTreatment Facility for boys. Its been closed for a number of years, actually boarded up. The electricity cut off. But early this morning, about quarter to 5 00, it caught on fire. 911 call coming in to Montgomery County police. Im joined by scott graham with the Fire Department. Scott, were going to start with a picture that you tweeted out this morning. If their fire was really going when you arrived on the scene. Yeah. The initial firefighters arriving at quarter to 5 00 said they were on the scene with a heavy fire from the roof of the structure involving most of the structure. They went to a defensive attack immediately. Called for a second alarm due to the side of the structure. And it has remained a defensive operation since that time. Reporter what do we know about the status of the building . Its closed and boarded up. Is there reason to believe perhaps people are were spotted or living squatting or living there . Weve to see rule that out. We have to find out what the ignition source was. Our investigators will be here throughout the morning trying to find that source. Trying to rule out what the cause of the fire is. Our concern certainly is that this type of weather, a board up or abandoned building, we want to make certain that there was no one in the building. Reporter where do we go from here . Theyre putting out the fire, although the bulk is out. The bulk is out. Theyre mopping up hot spots now. As soon as we can clear the fire apparatus, investigators will go in and begin their process. Reporter okay. Thank you very much for joining us. And so firefighters still here on the scene. Theyre going to be here for much of the day. As soon as they put out the fire, then as you heard, theyre going to go inside, take a look around, just make sure [ inaudible ] Megan Mcgrath live in rockville. Well check in with Melissa Mollet for breaking news. Just into the newsroom, activists in syria say 31 people are dead including children after a massive sbloegz rocked downtown explosion rocked downtown damascus. A car bomb detonated early this morning near a building of the Ruling Baath Party and a school. State media called the blast a suicide bombing by those battling president bashar al assad. At the live desk, Melissa Mollet, news4. Today Vice President joe biden heads to connecticut for a conference on gun violence where hell sit alongside the parents of a sandy hook elementary shooting victim. Theyll join a number of lawmakers and gun control advocates to discuss tightening the gun laws. The conference is happening at western connecticut state university. Thats the college gunman adam lanza attended as a teenager and is just 15 miles from the site of decembers deadly shooting which killed 26 people. 6 18 now. Also today, Maryland GovernorMartin Omalleys sweeping gun control reform faces a preliminary vote. A senate panel expected to vote today. The bill includes a ban on assault weapons, establishing licensing provisions, and requiring background checks. This morning, university of maryland president wallace lowe is endorsing that gun control legislation. This comes just a week after the apparent murder suicide involving several students in college park. Lowe will formally endorse the bill in a column to be published in todays issue of the campus newspaper, the diamondback. New, weve just received video into the newsroom of north Korean Leader kim jongun at a military drill. Take a look. North Korean State Television is braftding these images broadcasting these images showing kim inspecting soldiers at an unknown base. We cant confirm when the pictures were taken. This comes a little more than a week after north korea conducted its Third Nuclear test. Mitt romney is finally returning to the spotlight more than three months after losing the president ial election. The former republican nominee will speak at the conservative Political Action conference next month in national harbor. Romney has spoken at the conference in past years. But hes kept a low profile since his defeat last november. He did return to washington last month for a luncheon in his honor. It may be a couple of months away, but the Online Lottery for the White House Easter Egg Roll opens in just a few hours. Starting at 10 00 this morning, parents can try their luck at getting tickets for the annual easter egg roll. You can sign up until monday, february 25. Winners will be notified on march 1. The roll is a month later, on april 1. Were marking a huge milestone here on news4. Thats right. 30 years ago today. Some of you may remember seeing tom kierein. Who can tell me what are some of the solids coming to the atmosphere . 30 years at nbc 4 means 30 years of School Visits for tom. Every week tom visits schools answering questions and talking about meteorology and science. If you had to guess, ballpark estimate, how many classrooms do you think you visited over your career . Good question. Has to be hundreds. Such a wonderful experience talking to students. And seeing their real interest in the environment and nature, and there is a gorgeous view of the sunrise now. Thats a live view from the nbc 4 city camera. Reagan national now at 26 degrees. Were going to still be Holding Steady in the mid 20s by 8 00. By noon, should be in the mid 30s much of the region. Lots of sun. That wind is blowing at 25, 30 Miles Per Hour. By midafternoon, the low 40s. The wind is going to be keeping our windchills, teen and 20s, through much of the day. It will settle down tonight. Then during the day on friday, 20s in the morning, afternoon highs into the low 40s. And then friday night we might get a little sleet, a little bit of snow. That changing over to rain after midnight as the atmosphere warms up aloft. Well get our temperatures into the 40s on saturday with occasional light rain during the day saturday and ending sudden night. Then sun back on sunday, should be a bit milder. Should be the best day of the weekend. Around 50 degrees. Great for some muchneeded outdoor activities. Well see monday, too, up near 50 again, increasing cloud. Could get a brief mix changing to rain on tuesday. Im back in ten minutes. A look at traffic with danella now. Good morning. Good morning. Im tracking a couple issues on 29, columbia pike in maryland. First, we just talked about. It northbound at fairland road, a disabled vehicle blocking the right lane here. The second incident has happened at tech road, blocking all of your lanes. So if youre traveling north and southbound on 29, expect delays in both directions. This is randolph road southbound heading toward tech road. Again, the intersection is shut down. Im also still keeping an eye on the rails for you. So far, metro, marc, vre running on or close to schedule. Thanks. Guys, im going to give you some information today, but you need to be careful. Go in like this if you tell your wife or girlfriend there b the story coming up. Well tell you what some local researchers say women are wired to do. And great news if youre reaching for that cup of coffee this morning. [ telephone rings ] good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, im that flo. Arent you sweet licensed phoneups available 24 7. Call 1800progressive. Folks with tyred eyes and foggy with fired eyes a wd eyes and foggy brains, good news. Researchers have found drinking two to three cups of coffee a day could cut the risk of early death up to 15 . Its unclear if decaf has the same effect as regular coffee. The next time the man in your life says you talk too much, be sure to chat their ear off about why. Scientists at the university of maryland in baltimore say women really do talk more than men because of higher levels of a protein known as foxp2 found in the brain. Researchers say women have 30 more of the socalled language protein than men. Its been estimated that women say about 20,000 word a day, while men only say about 7,000. And im still wondering if this has anything to do with language skills, intelligence, that sort of thing. How did i know you werent going to read the story and stop talking . Im wondering about the research in this. And i know youd like to say that you dont talk a lot. But i tend to disagree with you. Im sure you would. I do it because its a function of my profession. You do it apparently because you cant help yourself. That is absolutely not true. And i am offended by. That thanks, aaron. Im in the doghouse now. 6 26 the time. This morning, a new report that parents need to know about. Who says children need to slow down on the fast food . Were following two breaking news stories now. Two fires in maryland, the first one a very tough scene. An adult and two children killed. The other fire at a former youth Treatment Facility. Were staying on top of breaking news in Prince Georges County. A deadly house fire in glenar n glenarden. Not much good news coming from the scene. The picture shows some of that, a child being carried away, rescued by firefighters. Two children, though, and an adult did not make it. This is in the 8600 block of leslie avenue in glenarden. We have more live. Tony, good morning. Reporter good morning. That firefighter that was actually carrying that child that i got a picture of, he said he was too distraught to even talk about the scene here this morning. I talked to chief bashore, and i have to tell you that the two children that died were both girls. A few minutes ago we were told an adult male and two children died in this fire. We found out a couple of minutes ago at that children were girls. Look at the scene. You see multiple fire investigators inside the house trying to find any clues as to what started this fire at 4 00 a. M. This morning. A Volunteer Fire Department was first on the scene. They got here, they pulled six people from the house. Four of them were in grave condition. And then as we just learned, three of them have died. Now were unsure if the home had working smoke detectors. Again, firefighters did have to pull those six people out. Were also told that a mother and a child jumped out of the window earlier this morning. There has been just an overwhelming amount of fires here in Prince Georges County. The fire chief wants to let people know that they need to make sure that they check their smoke detectors and make sure that theyre working, especially during the winter when people are using oil and heaters and what have you. Again, firefighters trying investigators trying to figure out the cause of the fire as we have three people that have died. One person, they were able one child they were able to restore a pulse. Still in bad condition. Well continue to stay on the scene in Prince Georges County. Thats the latest. Back to you. Thank you. We want to welcome you back to this last halfhour of news4 today. Im aaron gilchrest. Im eun yang. A cold and windy morning. Tom kierein now on the storm team 4 weather deck. Tom, good morning to you. Whoo it is bitterly cold this morning. Weve got the wind blowing here at about 15, 20 Miles Per Hour. The sky has cleared out. You need to layer up this morning. There is the predawn glow over the potomac river. We have cleared out after a little case loadiness around the region cloudiness around the region earlier. Down to the low to mid 20s. Prince georges county, arlington, fairfax, Montgomery County. All around the region from West Virginia all the way to the atlantic beaches. We have it down into the 20s. Look at the windchills. They are down into the teens right now. And the winds really arent blowing that hard. Around 10, 15 Miles Per Hour. Later this morning and to the afternoon, the wind will increase in strength. In fact, well have gusts to around 20 to 30 Miles Per Hour by later this morning. Ought to just begin to get above freezing by about 10 00. And then by noontime, just the mid 30s. Sunrise coming up at 6 53. Sunset, 5 52. We are going to have this wind with us into the afternoon, as well. Details on that, well look at this evening, too, coming up in ten minutes. Now a look at our traffic on this thursday morning. Heres danella. Good morning. In the first 4 traffic office, tracking a couple of problems. The first one well start with, 210 northbound just prior to the beltway. Crash there is creating a fourmile backup. So if youre traveling northbound 210, four miles to get to the beltway. Still tracking the situation along 29 in maryland. Chopper 4 is on the scene. Earlier a crash was blocking the northbound and southbound lanes. Now southbound gets by. Travel lanes are open, but delays are about a mile. As you travel southbound, 29, you see as chopper zooms in heading toward tech road. Seeing delays right about a mile as you continue this commute. Once you pass tech road, though, travel lanes open up. Lets head over to i95 northbound. Along the left lane here. The left lane as well as the left center lane. Fire Department Police also on the scene. This is at franconiaspringfield parkway. Aaron . Thank you. Fire marshals trying to figure out this morning what caused a raging warehouse fire in germantown. Crews were called to the area for what is believed to be a storage unit fire for a catering company, they think, at about 8 00 last night. It took 75 Montgomery County firefighters, six tanker trucks of water, and several hours to put the fire out. No one was hurt. The building is a total loss. Firefighters say the flames moved so fast, it may be hard to figure out how it started. 6 34. In Montgomery County, look out for a suspicious man approaching girls. Police say a man has approached several girls in three separate cases in the chevy chase area. On tuesday, a man approached two girls in two incidents at south park avenue and kirkside drive. On friday, a man approached a group of young girls in the 2400 block of ross road. In each case the girls were able to run to safety. If you have any information, call Montgomery County police. Today a former olympic swim coach is expected in court for a plea hearing in Montgomery County. Rick curl is expected to plead guilty on child sex abuse charges. A former swimmer says curl sexually abused her for five years in the 1980s, starting when she was 13 years old. She is now an adult. Curl could face 15 years in prison if found guilty. Getting soda from the vending machine could become a thing of the past for students in Fairfax County. The school board considering a ban on soda sales. Members are considering it, of course for health reasons, but a ban would present one problem across the county, soda sales currently bring in more than 100,000 a year. And many think students would just bring the drinks from home. No word on whether the current soda machines would be replaced with a different kind of vending machine. For more information on this, check out the fairfax times or log on to fairfaxtimes. Com. This morning, a new survey shows how much we consume in fast food. A new study find adults consume about 11 of their daily calories from fast food. Researchers say thats down over the last few years. The percentage of fast food calories was the same in both men and women. It did decrease with age. No difference was observed by income status. Africanamericans and younger adults consumed the most fast food. Today the d. C. Council will discuss a proposal to crack down on parents whose kids continue skipping school. David catania wants to require the attorney general to prosecute parents if their kids have 20 or more unexcused absences in a school year. That could land parents in jail for up to five days. About 3,000 d. C. Students miss at least a month of school every year. A d. C. Council member wants to limit where smoke curse light up outside, as well. Vincent orange sponsoring that bill. It would bar smoking within 25 feet of a playground, schoolyard, or other outdoor play area. That means it could soon be illegal to smoke on hundreds of city blocks. Council chairman phil mendelsohnn says hes concerned the bill may essentially outlaw tobacco. A new plan aimed at making d. C. The greenest city in the nation is ruffling some feathers. Mayor vincent gray unveiled a number of proposals yesterday to make the district more environmentally friendly. Among them, doubling the number of bike lanes in the city, raising parking meter rates during peak hours to cut car usage 25 , and charging homeowners for the amount of trash they generate. The ideas are getting mixed reviews. The mayor says the plan is meant to set some longterm goals. Breaking news this morning. Firefighters battling two fires, this one at a former youth facility. It is now vacant. An update ahead. In Prince Georges County, a deadly fire at this home, two children among the three victims killed. Right now, much of the country is getting buried by snow. The latest on a very rare storm ahead. And a look at our forecast. A bitter winter storm is dropping a mix of snow, sleet, and ice in the midwest, causing a mess on the roads. Its heading our way. A look at storm team 4 radar. The worst of the storm making its way through the midsection this hour. Nbcs jay gray live in kansas city, missouri. Good morning. A bitter cold wind. Gusting at times over 25 Miles Per Hour. No snow at this point. But it is on the way. Lets take a live look in wichita, kansas. They are getting the snow right now. And its near whiteout conditions there. It is coming down more than an inch an hour. It will continue this way for quite some time. You can see just making a mess of things there. And thats whats on the way. In fact, forecasters saying this snow is going to continue throughout the day into the evening. By the time its done in places like this, wichita could see up to two feet of snow. Crews have staged, its going to be tough to stay ahead of a storm thats dropping snow at this rate. Theyll do the best they can. A lot of schools obviously closed in the area. Businesses watching and trying to determine what they will do as the storm moves through. Again, this is a condition thats only going to get worse throughout the morning and into the middle of the day. Thats the latest live here, back to you now. Aaron, eun . Thanks. As we advance to the east, its bitterly cold but clear. Temperatures down into the low to mid 20s. Just about all of virginia, West Virginia, and into maryland, delaware, all around the region. We are below freezing. Springfield, hometown forecast by noontime, just the mid 30s. The winds will be gusting around 30 Miles Per Hour, feeling like its only 20 by midday. Then by midafternoon, we should be peeking in the low 40s. Still a strong, gusty wind, then the wind diminishes tonight temperatures plummeting right back down below freezing after midnight. Then maybe a bid of a wintry mix from the storm here tomorrow. Well talk about that and look at the weekend, sevenday outlook in ten minutes. Now traffic with danella. Good morning. In the first 4 traffic office, checking delays in oxon hill along 210. Northbound, a fourmile delay once you get to the beltway, thats where you will find the accident. Please be aware of that delay. Lets head over i95 northbound in virginia. Franconiaspringfield parkway. Crash here just blocking the left lane. And it involves multiple vehicles. You see tow truck is on the scene. Hopefully it should clear soon. For now, just two of the right lanes will get you by. Well talk about delays at Fairfax County parkway. You see absolutely jammed. Almost looks like the camera is frozen. You see hov getting by nice and clear. From Prince William parkway, well take at least 40 minutes to get to the beltway. Eun . Thank you. 6 43. Breaking news out of rockville. This is one of two fire scenes were at this morning. Megan mcgrath is live now. What are you learning so far . Reporter well, we have new information about the history of this building and a police call that came in last night before the fire began. The fire is at the Karma Academy. A former Treatment Facility for juveniles in the justice system. It has been closed for a number of years. The electricity has been cut to the building. Were learning that last night a 911 call came in, a call to police. Rockville city police, for a report of an open door here at the facility. Its owned by the county. Because of that, there are routine security checks done to the facility, to the grounds. During one of those checks last night, that Security Officer discovered the open door. Again, this facility is supposed to be all boarded up and locked tight. They checked out the building, did not find anybody inside, secured the building, and then left. Well jump to this morning about quarter of 5 00. A 911 call came in. Report from a neighbor that the building was fiscally engulfed in flames. Theres a picture that was tweeted out early this morning by the Public Information officer by Montgomery County police. You can see just how intense this fire was. It fully engulfed the building. It is a complete loss at this point. One of the questions the Fire Department has is was there someone inside the building. Homeless people perhaps, living inside this building. They do not know the answer to that. Theyre knocking down the flames, dealing with hot spots. When they finish that, theyll go inside and check it out. Reporting live in rockville, Megan Mcgrath, news4. Back to you. Thank you. 6 45. Breaking news out of south africa now. It will be yet another day before we learn whether olympian Oscar Pistorius will be granted bail. His lawyer says a late start to todays hearing will push the decision to tomorrow. So far today the defense is arguing that there is no evidence to supported a murder charge against pistorius. They say investigators supported his story yesterday. The prosecution is arguing that despite poor evidencegathering, pistorius is a flight risk because of a supposed home he owns in italy. The detective who has led the pistorius investigation is off the case. Hilton botha faces his own legal issues. Seven counts of attempted murder. He and two other officers fired shots while trying to stop a minivan in 2011. Those charges were initially dropped. It was discovered yesterday that they were reinstated. Its not clear if the revelation will affect whether pistorius is granted bail. A toddler is dead in Prince Georges County this morning after being hit by the family car. Police say a 3yearold boy was behind the car when it started drifting backwards last night on audrey lane in oxon hill. The father who was carrying his 2yearold daughter at the time dropped the girl and jumped into the car to try and stop it. It was too late. The little boy was hit and died from his injuries. The little girl also suffered serious injuries. Security will be tight at Suitland High School as students deal with the murder of one of their own. Look at what happened at a vigil for the fallen student. [ siren ] people began scrambling shortly after an argument broke out. Police eventually got the control of situation. This unfolded as more than 100 people gathered to remember 15yearold Charles Walker. He was shot and killed monday. Police believe he was killed over a pair of shoes he was carrying. Officers arrested five suspects in the shooting yesterday. Im pleased some somebody had to come to justice for this. They had to come to justice for this. Im very happy with the police department. Charles walker is one of seven teens killed in Prince Georges County this school year. He died yesterday after being shot in forestville. 18yearold Andre Shuford was shot in the parking lot of a forestville apartment. Another teen, aaron kidd, was also killed in the shooting. Police have not arrested anyone in the case. Congress may not be in session, but a few democrats are holding a hearing on capitol hill, looking into the impact of sequestration on the american economy, middleclass families, and small businesses. Wednesday, defense secretary leon panetta formally notified congress of the pentagons plan to furlough civilian employees should congress not act to stop those automatic spending cuts from going into effect on march 1, just eight days from now. And Government Agencies all over the Country Holding their breath to see if congress will make a deal. The National Institutes of health would lose 1. At billion in funding 1. 5 billion in funding if a deal is not made. That means millions of americans whose lives depend on advanced treatments and research, theyll have to go without. Nih, cancer, hiv, and Alzheimers Research would come to a halt. Border protection and transit agents could be out of jobs because of cuts. The wait times for flights could double. You could find yourself in line for three hours to get through security and six hours to get through customs. House Speaker John Boehner submitted an oped in the wall street journal about the cuts. Speaker boehner wrote, the president has repeatedly called for even more tax revenue, but the American People dont support trading spending cuts for higher taxes. The president s sequester is the wrong way to reduce the deficit, but it is here to stay until washington democrats get serious about cutting spending. The government simply cannot keep delaying the inevitable and spending money it doesnt have. And stay with news4 for continuing coverage of the sequestration showdown as the march 1 deadline approaches. Which you cant watch, you can get the latest information on nbcwashington. Com. Sony makes the announcement gamers have been waiting for. Cnbc has more on that. Good morning. Good morning. Sony takes the wraps off the new playstation 4 sort of. The Consumer Electronics giant held a big event last night in new york and showed off what the new game console will be able to do. Features include streaming video and other content from the internet and a cloud gaming service. Sony didnt reveal the actual p. S. 4 device and also didnt say how much it would cost. The p. S. 4 is expected to hit stores in november. Back to you. All right. Thank you. We have been celebrating the 30year anniversary of tom kierein here at nbc washington. Yeah. No no ordinary day in the weather center. Its toms 30th anniversary. Since 1983, tom has been delivering the forecast with a little flair. Brushstroke orange clouds in that deep Midnight Blue sky. Theres a tangerine tinge on the underside of those clouds now. That is my favorite part of every morning. Tom, quite possibly the only meteorologist who can make you hungry with the forecast. Thats right. What is the sun doing today, tom . Looks like peaches and cream to me. I love it. That is a live view from the nbc 4 h. D. City camera. Its been such an honor and privilege to serve you, our viewer at home, all these years. Thank you so much for your loyal viewership over the years. And i cant believe its been 30 years. Were starting off this february morning down into the 20s. Its below freezing. All the way from the mountains to the beaches. Montgomery countys in the low 20s. Just low and mid 20s in Prince Georges County, arlington, and fairfax, low to mid 20s. In the mid 20s district of columbia. These are the latest windchills. Windchills now are just in the teens to near ten degrees. Winds only blowing 10, 15 Miles Per Hour. Its going to be increasing. Now the sun, its going to be coming up in a second. Sunrise at 6 53. Reagan national at 26 by midafternoon, low 40s with the wind gusting around 30 Miles Per Hour. And then tomorrow, well have increasing clouds, mid 20s in the morning. Cloudy through the daylight hours. Then its friday night, after sunset. After we reach near 40 in the afternoon, its going to drop into the 30s. We may get snow and sleet on friday. After midnight, we should get warmer air aloft, changing precipitation to a cold rain. Then mid 30s saturday with cold rain. Off and on chilly rain on saturday with highs in the 40s. Sun back on sunday and monday with highs near 50 each day. Then another chance of maybe a brief wintry mix on tuesday, changing to rain. Then drying out wednesday. Highs in the mid 40s. Now lets look at traffic. Danella, good morning. Good morning, in the David Letterman traffic office, a live shot. The trip will take 15 minutes on 495. It is slow. Lets head over to 210 dealing with an accident northbound lanes prior to the beltway. This accident should be clearing soon according to police. Delays are about 4. 5 miles. Shooting back to i95 in virginia, the earlier crash was blocking two of your left lanes. Now you see just the Left Shoulder lane is blocked. This is northbound at franconiaspringfield parkway. Checking on delays, still significant right now. Jammed at Fairfax County parkway. Delays are up to about six miles. Aaron and eun . Thank you. We are continuing to follow breaking news in Prince Georges County. This is all happening in glenarden, maryland. There is a fire in a home that claimed the life of a man and two children. We have more live on the latest. Tony . Reporter hey, guys, good morning. Investigators are still trying to comb through this house to get any idea of what started this fire. Take a live look at the scene now that we have dale here. You see firefighters still on scene. Theyre putting out hot spots in and multiple investigators inside the house. Investigating the fire that took the life of one man and two little girls this morning. I literally just talked to a Family Member a few moments ago. We dont want to speculate as to the start of the fire because, again, investigators will do that. But the man said he came here on tuesday and was absolutely furious that there were kerosene heaters inside the home. So we dont want to speculate that that was the cause of the fire, again, but one of the Family Members told me he was here two days ago and the home did contain kerosene heaters inside. Again, as you mentioned, a man and two little girls parksed away. Another is in passed away. Another is in grave condition. Six people pulled from the home when firefighters got here. Still a lot of questions to be had this morning. Were expecting an update from chief bashore in a few minutes as we get those details, well put them up on nbcwashington. Com. Well also have more at midday. Back to you guys. Tony, thank you. In the day ahead, a push to repeal the Death Penalty in maryland could face its first vote. The Senate Judiciary committee could take up the measure today. It is also before a house committee. Governor Martin Omalley says he believes he has the votes in the assembly to get the bill passed. A previous attempt in 2009 failed. Five men are currently on death row. There has been a hold on executions since 2006. If passed, maryland would become the 18th state to abolish the Death Penalty. Also in maryland today, the governors sweeping gun control reform faces a preliminary vote. A senate panel expected to vote today. That bill includes a ban on assault weapons, establishing licensing provisions, and requiring background checks. Today, Vice President joe biden heads to connecticut for a conference on gun violence. Among the people who will join him, the parents of one of the victims of the sandy hook elementary shooting. The conference is happening at western connecticut state university. Thats the college that gunman adam lanza attended as a teenager and is just 15 miles from the site of decembers deadly shooting in which 26 were killed. First Lady Michelle obama marking a milestone for her lets move campaign. To celebrate three successful years, the first lady is taking the movement on the road. She will make stops in new york, illinois, missouri, and mississippi. Mrs. Obama launched the Wellness Campaign to fight Childhood Obesity and to promote exercise and Healthy Eating among children. Shell spend time with jimmy fallon. You can look forward to that on nbc 4. Fun. Speaking of healthy, our own tom kierein lives a very Healthy Lifestyle and has been giving us the forecast for 30 years. Not once during those 30 years did he ever pass out on the air. What . Theres an australian meteorologist woo eere goin somewhere with this. Its understandable when you see whats happening at the time. Take a look come on. I would have been screaming. That is grant denier going for the ride of his life. He was doing the forecast from a stunt plane this week. Apparently enduring 8 g forces. Was too much for him to handle. He passed out live on the air. He is okay, though. Thank goodness. I mean, its one thing to have do the weather, but then on top of that, doing it up there. All right. Tom has never passed out on the air. No. Thank goodness. But he might he might after seeing this. Take a look. Okay. The air comes in over us, we see the temperatures are quite cool along the coast. Partly cloudy here 30 years ago, tom kierein started here at nbc 4. We are celebrating the time that hes been giving you forecasts, helping you get through the day with weather. Be sure to post something on facebook congratulating tom on 30 wonderful years. Thank you for the service for the community you do every morning. Thanks, tom. Thank you very much. Been getting messages already, twitter, facebook. Really appreciate all woman 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime thats definitely a fair trade. It was such a beautiful experience. jessica lee and its beautiful woman why walk 60 miles in the boldest Breast Cancer event in history . Because your efforts help komen serve millions of women and men facing Breast Cancer every year. Visit the3day. Org to register or to request more information today. It was 3 days of pure joy. And its beautiful