fortunately there were no injuries. firefighters are still investigating the cause of the fire. slick roads may be the cause of a serious accident between an suv and a u.p.s. tractor-trailer truck. it happened at i-95 near maryland. t police say the suv slammed into the back of the tractor-trailer. the driver of the suv was taken to the hospital. no word on his or her condition. the driver of the u.p.s. truck is okay. at least four people are dead after storms ripped through the south. there have been multiple reports of tornados in north carolina and south carolina and thousands are without power in louisiana, mississippi, and alabama. high winds and heavy winds destroyed more than 50 buildings. just like that, it is 4:31. amazing. >> just like that the time goes. >> we had a rainey day

yesterday. another one today, tom? >> it's not over yet. we have more about to move into the region. good morning. i'm meteorologist item curine. still showing rain advancing from the we have the to the northeast. closer to washington, that band of green is light stretch iing rain. and all the way down to charlottesville. that's advancing off to the north and east and it is getting colder down into the mid 40s now in our western/northern suburbs in washington near 50 as well as in prince georges county. sunrise, 6:53. but 9:00, we'll be in the 40s.

winds could pick up, too. we could have gusts of 30 miles per hour as we get into the afternoon hours. finally, the cloud cover should break up by late afternoon. we'll be down to 40 degrees by then and it will continue to drop overnight. much colder. i will show you that with the evening planner. danella, how is traffic? >> we have no travel troubles this morning. at glees road, you're at 58 miles per hour. the beltway in maryland, not seeing any issues for you there. travel season in this area, outer loop not seeing any issues. 55 miles per hour from i-95 to i-270. and traveling in virginia, you're looking good. nice and clear. this is the view at van doren street. taking the view in this area, not a problem at all.

traveling on the inner loop, not seeing any problems. 56 miles per hour and heading to van dooren street, it will take you six minutes to make that commute. joe, back to you. 4:33 now today. the man suspected of putting bullet holes in the white house will make his first court appearance. oscar or teg easy was arrested in the town of indiana. he faces several charges, including attempted assassination of the president. tracee wilkins is live where the shots were fired. good morning to you. >> good morning. they're saying that that shooting that happened last friday happened anywhere in this area, a little closer to 16th street. now we have more information on that shooting on ortega and also his arrest. 21-year-old oscar ortega hernandez was staying at the

hampton inn when some people recognized him. then there was a bomb scare as police turned the bag that he had with him that turned out to be unarmed. u.s. park police issued a warrant for ortega hernandez's arrest after shots were fired in in the d.c. last friday night right near the white house. witnesses reported seeing a vehicle speed away from the shooting. police found the vehicle crashed a few blocks away and say they found evidence connected that vehicle to ortega-hernandez, including a semi automatic happened b gun, but he was gone from the scene. on tuesday, two bullets were found on white house grounds. one hit a bullet proo glass window and another struck a wall. they are not conclusively connecting friday's shooting

incide incident, but he is facing very serious charges if he is connected to that shooting. the obama family has not home at the time of the shooting. >> tracey, thank you. president obama is on his way to bahli right now for a meeting with leaders from southeast asian nations. the president left australia two hours ago he announced plans to send as many as 2,500 americans into a training hub. for the first time, newt gingerich is leading a poll. gingerich surged from 12% to 23%. herman cain is third and ron paul is fourth.

now gingerich is getting added scrutiny since riding in the polls. he is explaining a sweetheart deal he received from a top mortgage company. his firm made between $1.6 million and $1.8 million from freddie mac. the company, along with fannie mae are widely blamed for the housing issues. >> we had many clients who asked our strategic advice and we provided strategic advice. we did no lobbying of any kind, period. >> gingerich says he has gained valuable experience working with freddie mac. he says he knows a great deal with washington and that may be a good thing. a grand jury indicted 27-year-old christopher didi with shooting a man in hawaii. he's accused of shooting a man outside a mcdonald's restaurant

after an early morning fight. didi was in high protect iing. police arrested stephan christian yesterday. his alleged victim came forward recently and claims assaults between 1993 and 1997. christian worked at baldwin elementary school at the time. police are not saying whether the alleged victim, who is now the an adult, was a student at that school or whether any of the alleged assaults happened on school grounds. 4:37 now. there are new won flikting reports this morning about whether an alleged rape of a boy was ever reported to police. staunt coach mike mckwu eary told friends in an e-mail that he talked to police after he witnessed jerry sandusky sexually abusing the boy. but state college police tells nbc there is no record of mcqueary reporting anything to

campus police. 4:38 is our time right now. ahead on news 4 today, a virginia community left in mourning after a deadly bus accident. what friends are telling us about the life of the young woman who died. plus, left with limb to no service, why some in a maryland community are blaming a new toll road for no cell phone service. police, it's cooled off out there.

it's not over yet. good morning. rate now, it's 4:41. i'm for weather and traffic on the 1s. we have showers advancing southwest to northeast as a wave of low pressure is coming through the region. right now in washington, we've got just a few sprinkles. in montgomery county, fairfax county, prince williams, southern fulk, not heavy rain, but moderate showers. that stretches into howard county, as well. farther east, a few spripgels around this morning .we have it turning colder. it's near 50 in the washington suburber pes down into the low and mid 40s now. as the day progresses, it will

gradually get colder, as well. by early afternoon, we'll be down near 40 degrees. overnight tonight, dropping into the 30s by midnight down into the mid 30s under a clear sky with a blustery wind. colder tomorrow morning. we'll look at that into the weekend. danella, how is traffic? >> cold and windy. if you're travel to go 270, here is the view at shady grove. not seeing any issues for you yet. your volume is still light. traveling 240 and south, not seeing any accidents for you. i-95, here is the view in the springfield interchange. i-95, still looking pretty clear. volume is very light. not seeing any accidents on 395 north or south. as he head over the bridge into the city, you are absolutely clear. 49 degrees. still to come, living in the big city usually means dealing with

smoggy sigh skies. now new numbers show us how we stock up against some of the nation's dirtiest cities.

police in california have discovered a drug smuggling tunnel that runs to mexico and along with it 17 tons of marijuana. the tunnel is about 400 yards long. federal agents found the tunnel after stopping a suspicious cargo truck leaving one of those warehouses. the passageway is about 20 feet below ground and has electricity. sunny arabia is calling for a u.n. resolution against the ambassador to the united states. the united states believes iran was planning to kill a saudi

ambassador in a d.c. restaurant last month. the head of iran's human rights council calls accusations of the alleged plot laughable. and germany, france and italy, have now condemned syria. more that 3,500 people have been killed since the series of the uprising eight months ago now. the league has outlined a plan to stop attacks on protesters. a happy ending for one southwest airlines passenger who had to evacuate their flight after a specialus substance was found on board. that plane landed safely around 12:30 this morning and that substance turned out not to be dangerous. a flight attendant first found

the suspicious powder yesterday afternoon before the flight took off. it's not clear what that powder turned out to be, but officials say it never posed a threat to passengers. for the first time, the u.s. national debt hit $15 billion. republicans on the committee rejected the latest democratic proposa proposal. it would have cut spending by $876 billion, slashing money for medicare and medicaid. it would have raised tax revenue by $400 billion, far less than was demanded. the super committee must take action next wednesday. their failure to cut $1.2 trillion over a decade will trigger automatic budget cuts across the board. >> can you hear me now? if you can't hear me, you may live near the connecter if you're on the phone. reports of residents in maryland have noticed that their cell phone recession is getting

worse. several residents have contacted the fcc and speculate the problem could be interference caused by the electronic toll transponders. the maryland transit authority says that the toll equipment is not on a frequency that should diminish reception and, in fact, it was tested for that precise problem before being opened. residents and business owners can now apply for low interest loans from the small business administration. no word whether those living in prince georges county will be eligible for the assistance. this move comes after fema denies benefits in both states. a recent string of robberies in southeast d.c. now includes one in a long time establishment. the expert barber shop has been open for more than 50 years. the owner, paul davis, says last wednesday masked men came in

with guns and took an undisclosed amount from the registers and some are taking precautions by locking their doors. there is a third death at the school this month. jane was killed on tuesday after being hit by a city bus on the campus of james madison university. the 18-year-old was on her cell phone when she stepped into a crosswalk without the walk signal. last night, friends and classmates in fairfax where she graduated from in may remembered her as a gisted dancer and artist. >> it's just so tragic. everyone has the same feel. it's extremely unfortunate. it's just really unfortunate for the whole family. >> a lot of people have been affected by it that were close friends with her. i've seen a lot of people really sad at school.

>> the vice pro-boston at james madison and a student died earlier this month. the bus driver will not face any charges. after first rounding up several roosters outside the home, investigators say they found tens of thousands of dollars worth of stolen gold jewelry inside. police say thieves were melting the gold so it would be harder to trace and selling it in new york. police say they expect to make arrests in the case soon. the roosters, meanwhile, were taken to a shelter and had no comment. damascus is the last dry town in montgomery county, but soon that could change. a bill would allow the sale of beer and wine at sit-down restaurants. if it passes, residents in damascus will not the final say on the measure next november. how often are metro buses clean?

do you really want to know? the answer may depend on the root and that some some metro bus drivers set. metro bus drivers complain buses in poorer neighborhoods are not cleaned as often as those in northwest washington. metro is investigating the claims made by union workers. they say people urinate on the bus every day and it is very unsanitary. >> i'll walk from here on out. d.c. has a list that no one wants to be on. baltimore, northern virginia are ranked with 16th dirty areas. california had seven cities in the top ten. and the big apple might be a little rotten. forbes says it ranks as the 14th dirtiest city. what kind of air are we going to have today? i want to take a deep breath. >> it's been washed clean by the rain and the rain has been falling off and on here for the

last 36 hours now. and it's going to continue here perhaps for another eight, nine hours into the early afternoon. a north-northwesterly wind has been increasing. occasionally gusting to around 25 miles per hour. it took quite a raw chill in the air. as we look at the radar, we've had an area of rain advancing southwest and northeast. right now, getting moderate rain where you see the dark green and yellows. here through howard county, central montgomery, northwest washington getting pockets of rain. and that stretches down into northern virginia. this is advancing off to the northeast but it's shifting to the northeast. we may get moderate rain in the northwest.

just a few sprinkles and drizzle and, yes, there's a little bit of snow here in the highland of west virginia. they could get a couple of inches here in some of the high spots. temperatures, they are beginning to drop. off into western maryland, it's down to 40 degrees now. panhandle of washington into montgomery county, it's in the mid 40s, mid and upper 40s as is loudoun and fairfax and prince william is in the upper 40s there. much of northern maryland, northern neck and eastern shore in the low 50s. sunrise will be at 6:53. so a dark and damp morning. we will have occasional showers all the way until, perhaps, early afternoon. and the winds, too, a bit blustery gusting around 25, 30 miles per hour. then by late in the afternoon, the cloud cover will break up and this evening, drong down into the mid 30s, mid 30s by

midnight under a blustery wind. by this time tomorrow morning, many locations in the mid 20s. so a very cold start to tomorrow morning and a cold day tomorrow. sunny saturday, but still chilly. sunday, a bit miler with increasing clouds. it looks like a cloudy day monday. maybe monday night into tuesday could get some showers. and a bit milder. danella, how is traffic? >> if you're getting out of the house and on to the roadways, taking a look at route 50, not seeing any problems on 50 outside of the beltway. a live look right now, not seeing any issues for you. if you're taking 50 and making your way from the beltway heading towards 295 right now, you're at 59 miles per hour and it will take you six minutes to make that trip. continuing on to new york avenue, here is the view. new york avenue, not seeing any issues, no incidents to report at this time. and if you're traveling in d.c., checking cameras fort you in the area.

they're not seeing any problems for you this morning. back to you. >> danella, thanks. actor ricky gervais will hold the golden globes for a third time. he made some one liners charming several hollywood stars and the organizers of the show. someone apparently liked them since they asked him back. the golden globes will be here on january 15th. >> the director says a smart move because people will tune in just to hear what he has to say this year. very inappropriate, but very funny. 4:55 is the time. coming up, they are shocking and controversial ads popping up around the world. but the threat of legal action means a change for a part of the campaign. plus, time is running out to send mail to loved ones in

good morning and welcome back. major league changes may be on the way. the houston astros are about to moshl to the american league. that would set up two 15-team leagues and ensure at least one

interleague game every day of the baseball season. the new alignment could be in place by the beginning of 2013 season. eight suspects have been charged with kidnapping nationals catcher wilson ramos. ramos spoke publicly last night. he thanked his fanes and said he's doing well and is ready to get back to playing football. >> translator: i'd like to say hello to all of them. thank you for all the support that was given to me after what happened to me. i feel good and i'm happy to be back. >> he returned to the team he played for in the off season. he will return to the nationals in the spring. u.s. troops in iraq will be looking festive. service members will no longer be