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