today. this morning, police in loudoun county say they're investigating reports that students brought pot brownies to a school in ashburn. the sheriff tells news4 his deputies will spend the day at farmwell station middle school. the school district has not released information except to say it is investigating the claims, as well. tom, warm and humid. late in january. not fun. >> yeah. well, it's not going to last long. >> okay. >> enjoy it while you can for these fleeting hours where it's going to be mild. we'll be turning colder by later this afternoon and overnight tonight. setting up a chilly weekend. right now, it's relatively mild certainly for this time of year and this time of the day. 53 at reagan national. got a few sprinkles there. we've got a southerly breeze to thanks for the warm air. look at all that rain. it's raining from upstate new york all the way to atlanta, georgia, and that long conveyor belt of rain is going to begin to get closer to the district of columbia. right now, some of the heavier rain are way out in the

mountains of west maryland, west virginia. closer to washington, we're getting just a few sprinkles. areas of green. those are some light sprinkles now in prince george's county, montgomery, arlington, fairfax, howard county, around baltimore. further south down interstate 95, stafford to spotsylvania, it's raining harder. that's going to be moving into the metro area over the next few hours. there's going to be wet pavement. right now, la plata, 61 degrees. pax river, 63. fredericksburg at 64. culpeper, 64. and some of that mild air is going to be coming up our way. farther west and north, it's only in the 30s. frederick, hagerstown, upper 30s. quite a contrast in temperatures around the region. here's your day planner -- big changes on the way, hovering in the 50s to around 60 through the morning hours. some passing showers. then getting windy as we clear out this afternoon, down to the low 50s by 5:00. then much colder tonight, we'll look at the evening planner in ten minutes. here's traffic for friday morning. good morning. good morning, checking our

roadways, i'm not really seeing any issues and travel speeds really good at this time if you're ready to hit the road. traveling westbound 50 making your way from 301 to the beltway, you're at 66 miles per hour. on the dulles toll road, heading eastbound from hunter mill to the beltway, 55 miles per hour, not bad. on activities from fairfax county to the capital beltway, 59 miles per hour. and the trip along i-270, a live look right now at montgomery avenue, no issues heading out of germantown connecting to the spur and on to the beltway. all your lanes are open southbound as well as northbound. joe and eun, back to you. >> thank you. the battle for florida is heating up in the race for the republican presidential nomination. the candidates squared off in a final debate before the sunshine state's primary next tuesday. newt gingrich and mitt romney took personal jabs at each other in jacksonville. romney was particularly animated when gingrich called him the most anti-immigrant gop

candidate. >> want to make sure i understand, is he still the most anti-immigrant candidate? >> of the four of us, yes. >> go ahead, governor. >> that's simply inexcusable. inexcusable. and actually, senator marco rubio came to my defense and said the ad was inexcusable and inflammatory and inappropriate. mr. speaker, i'm not anti-immigrant. my father was born in mexico. my wife's father was born in wales. they came to this country, the idea that i'm anti-immigrant is repulsive. don't use a term like that. >> romney and gingrich also sparred over their investments and connections to fannie mae and freddie mac. a political action committee that supports newt gingrich is launching a new attack on romney. take a listen to this. >> work with any government with any government -- >> we didn't -- we didn't do any work with the government -- ♪ >> the group called winning our future plans to release a documentary on line today. it is called "blood money." it focuses on a company romney's

private equity firm acquired. the medical testing company was reportedly fined millions of dollars for medicare fraud and eventually went bankrupt. meanwhile, gingrich may be emerging as the front-runner in the race for the gop nomination. he leads romney by nine points among republicans likely to vote in the primaries, according to the latest nbc news/"wall street journal" poll. rick santorum is a distant third followed by ron paul. and that may not be the best of news for the republican party. gingrich apparently fares worst of all the candidates against president obama in the general election. the former speaker would lose by 18 points according to that poll. romney would fare best against the president. he trails by just six points among registered voters. a woman is in critical condition this morning after being hit by a car in front of the white house. the accident happened around 8:00 last night at the corner of constitution avenue and 17th street. police tell news4 the woman was crossing the street when she was hit by a van. she was taken to the hospital

with life threatening injuries. we're told the driver of the van stayed on the scene and cooperated with police but was not arrested. constitution between 18th and 15th were shut down as a precaution. the road has since reopened. and new from overnight, a stabbing victim who walked into a rec center for help died from his injuries. police say the man walked into the kennedy recreation center near 7th and p streets northwest and collapsed from his stab wounds. this happened around 7:00 last night. he was rushed to the hospital where he later died. police are trying to figure out the exact location of the stabbing. no arrest have been made. we're getting a closer look at the ex-marine who pleaded guilty to shooting several -- at several military facilities in northern georgia. he pleaded guilty to firing at the pentagon, marine corps museum, and several other military locations. prosecutors also released milaku's video he took of himself while committing those crimes. you can see him with that mask on, and then another part of the

video you see him unmasked as he fired his gun at the museum and triangle. under the deal he agreed to a 25-year sentence. you can watch the entire video right now on nbcwashington.com. prosecutors reduced the charges against a florida doctor who was subjected to racial slurs. virginia state troopers arrested dr. maria ferrar after a minor accident at the pentagon in july. the sheriff's cruiser showed he used ethnic slurs and racial jokes before arresting her. she questioned why they were asking her to sign a ticket. >> work at taco bell, so -- [ inaudible ] >> burrito doctors, yeah. >> it's very difficult to trust people now, especially the police, you know. i have nightmares -- almost every night. >> prosecutors reduced ferrare's

charges to a $50 fine. now the doctor is considering a civil suit against virginia state police. the trooper involved would not comment outside the court. he remains on regular patrol duty. those planning to take metro rail this weekend, expect delays on four of the five lines because of track work. beginning at 10:00 tonight, metro will close two stations on the red line, woodley and cleveland park. shuttles will take passengers between dupont circle and van ness stations. on the orange and blue lines, trains will single track between mcpherson square and the smithsonian station. on the green line, trains will single track between naylor and branch avenue stations. because of the work, yellow line trains will only going toward huntington and mt. vernon square. riders should use the green line to complete their trip. service at tinley town will be back to normal this morning after a cracked rail caused major delays yesterday. passengers were forced to wait as red line trains were single tracking while crews made emergency repairs. metro officials point to

malfunctions including this one that as proof that they need to raise fares to help bring more men money for repairs. they say the money will help make repairs to multiple stations. metro is facing a $116 million shortfall and must approve of a new budget by july 1. 4:38 the time. ahead on "news4 today," banning popular winter footwear. why one school is telling kids to leave their uggs at home. fighting moments caught on tape as people try to get away after several buildings collapse. a little rain this morning.

weather and traffic on the 1s at 4:41. tom kierein in storm center 4. we have light rain in washington, fairfax, arlington, montgomery, prince george's counties and across much of northern virginia, all the way to fredericksburg to near warrenton and charlotteville. and in southern maryland, too, right now light rain beginning to move into charles county. and temperatures just to our south are in the low to mid 60s. right around washington, low 50s, and farther to the north and west, just near 40 degrees. sunrise at 7:19. occasional showers through noontime, and then we'll clear out during the afternoon hours, we'll hover around 60 through the morning, through noontime, then turning colder this afternoon with a gusty wind out of the northwest to 35 miles per hour as we clear out. we'll be down in the low 50s by sunset. then overnight tonight, breezy

under a clear sky, down to near 40 degrees by midnight. a big drop in temperature coming our way. a look at the weekend in ten minutes. how's traffic? good morning, seeing wet pavement as you hit the road. so far not seeing any problems for you. we'll look at i-95. if this is your commute in virginia heading out of dale city, making your way to the beltway in both directions, seeing a lot of green. that means light volume as you see at pohick road. i'll give you a travel speed, f you're traveling northbound. right now at 65 miles per hour. connecting to 395, not a problem at edsall, crossing to the 14th street bridge heading northbound as well as southbound on 395, lanes are open. no accident to report at this time. travel speed northbound, 64 miles per hour. back to you. >> danella, thank you very much. 4:42. 60 degrees. still to come, using paula deen's health problems to drum up business. the newspaper ad that's raising eyebrows in the district. plus, new revelation business a popular game show host and his assistant.

good morning, welcome back this morning. many are questioning the infrastructure in rio de janeiro after three buildings collapsed. security video shows people running to safety as buildings come down behind them. look at that dust. rescuers pulled at least six bodies from the rubble. 16 people remain missing. brazilian officials suspect shoddy construction work for the cause. rio will host the world cup in 2014 and the summer olympics in 2016. 4:45. new this morning, "costa concordia" is offering passengers of the capsized italian cruise ship $14,500 each as compensation for their ruined cruise. carnival, the company that owns the ship, says it expects to lose around $95 million in

bookings on the ship that had to be canceled. meanwhile, firefighters continued to search yesterday for bodies inside the capsized ship. they were also looking for documents, hard drives, or anything else that would help them reconstruct the events that led to the crash. 16 people are confirmed dead and others are still missing. thousands filled the basketball arena yesterday to say final good-byes to former football coach joe paterno. many celebrities turned out to say good-bye who to see paterno who died at the age of 85. >> when i think of the impact that joe paterno has made on me and my teammates and everyone that's come through here, i -- i think of the acronym tlc, but not necessarily tender loving care even though he did show that. i think of team, loyalty, and competition. >> this was the third and final day of mourning for paterno.

the long-time head coach was buried in a private funeral service wednesday. the parent company of an electric car battery maker that received a $118 million grant from the obama administration filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. enter one is the third company to seek bankruptcy protection after getting assistance from the energy department under the economic stimulus law. california's solar panel maker solyndra and beacon power declared bankruptcy last year. defense secretary leon panetta is looking to slash the pentagon's budget and is proposing major cuts. yesterday he recommended the army shrink by 80,000 soldiers while the marines trim their ranks by 20,000. he also suggested removing six fighter jet squadrons, retiring seven navy cruisers. these moves would cut around $260 billion in spending over the next five years. panetta was quick to point out that there were no proposed freezes or reductions in pay for troops. arlington national cemetery is denying reports that it

cannot account for millions of dollars it's received over a six-year period. cemetery officials say they can account for the $12 million in unspent money the inspector general has identified. the money was discussed during a senate subcommittee hearing on wednesday. a cemetery spokeswoman says that federal auditors will re-examine the cemetery's financial records in june to make sure everything is accounted for. a middle school is banning a popular style of winter boots for classrooms. school officials say students were using their uggs, fluffy looking boots, to hide their cell phones and food. teachers complained that the boots became a destruction. laceups and tight-fitted boots are still allowed and students can use uggs to get to school but must change before class. parents are having mixed reactions to the new rule. >> kids can't learn if their cell phones keep going off during the day. >> they wear school uniforms, they should go as far as having shoes. >> my daughter don't have a lot of shoes. my daughter ain't been raised on a silver spoon, and i can't

afford to be buying her a bunch of shoes to keep changing every day. >> some students say they can sneak cell phones and food just as easily into basketball-style shoes. >> peanut butter in my shoes. a big setback for virginia school districts hoping to start before labor day. a virginia senate committee killed several bills that would eliminate the so-called king's dominion law. tourism lobbyists argue that starting school before labor day weekend would cost the state much-needed late summer tourism dollars. educators say the later start puts virginia students at a disadvantage, though. several bills to repeal the kings domestic indian law are still alive in the -- king's domestic indian law are still alive in the house. outstanding tickets can be paid without penalty today. so far the district collected more than $3.5 million in revenue through the program.

you probably don't have to look too far to find a starbucks near you. one starbucks in the district with real sentimental value for a lot of folks about to close its doors for good. or at least for a while. the coffee shop on wisconsin avenue near the national cathedral will close on sunday. spent a lot of time sitting at those tables. it was the first starbucks ever on the east coast. it opened in 395. the shopping center, where it's located, is being renovated and turned into a mixed use development called cathedral commonwealth center. a few starbucks will open when construction is completed. a local sports club appears to be targeting celebrity southern cook paula deen. in a "washington examiner" ad, the sports club writes, "paula, you made a fortune off fat. call us if you want to be around to enjoy it." the ad comes a few weeks after deane announced she has type-two diabetes and has had it for three years. critics say as a public figure she should have changed the way she cooked on her popular tv

show. deen is now a spokesperson for a diabetes drug company. it brings new meaning to the phrase "drunk at the wheel." "wheel of fortune" host pat sajak admitted that he and vanna white have been drunk on the show. he said he and vanna white used to get tipsy during their dinner break before taping the final show of the night. he said they would go to a local mexican restaurant and knock back margaritas. he said it was tough to remember the alphabet during those days. he said those days are long behind him and he is totally sober during the taping. >> he ought to make a dvd of the shows and could make a lot of money. >> they'll show up on youtube eventually. >> probably will. >> it was a different time, too. we can -- there could be stories told in this business, as well. >> really? >> not i don't, just saying -- all right. 4:51. final for weather & traffic on the 1s. >> do you have a calendar on you? i -- >> i know.

really. >> it's july. >> it might as well be. feels more like a spring morning than january of all things. we have some temperatures in the 60s around here. we are predrawn on this friday. the 27th of january. right now, capitol hill, a few sprinkles there under a cloudy sky. 53 at reagan national. but the warmer weather is just to our south. thanks to a southerly flow that's bringing in rain and quite a bit to the atlantic seaboard from new york state down to georgia. right now we are getting some light rain here in washington, prince george's, fairfax, arlington, montgomery counties and farther to the south in charles county and parts of anne arundel and calvert and st. mary's. down toward fredericksburg, lighter rain is falling. there's heavier downpours now just coming in along the blue ridge. just about to come into madison and greene counties as well as out in the mountains where temperatures are now around 40 degrees there at shenandoah valley west to north. but look at this -- culpeper, 64. fredericksburg at 64.

la plata, 62 degrees. while frederick is only 39. hagerstown, 37. quite a contrast in temperatures this morning. 7:19 the sunrise. and we'll be in the 50s and low 60s through the morning hours with occasional showers. some might be previously heavy at times here over the next couple of hours. and we'll have a blustery wind move in during the afternoon out of the north and west. that will bring in the colder weather, and we'll be into the low 50s by sunset as we clear out. a clear night tonight, a briez o -- a breeze over the north and west will settle by evening. near 40 by midnight. then near 30 by dawn on saturday. sunny tomorrow, highs low to mid 50s. then colder weather moves in on sunday and monday. should stay dry. into midweek next week, warmer, maybe some rain by the end of the week. danella, how's traffic? good morning, still looking good if you're getting ready it head out of the house. if you're traveling along i-66, we'll look together. from the bypass really to the beltway, your lanes are open. and you're pretty clear.

i'll give you a live look at sully road. looking good in this area, even fairfax county parkway heading eastbound. the commute looks good at 62 miles per hour. continuing on i-66 inside the beltway, a live look at glebe road. you see here your lanes are open and, in fact, volume's still light. another eastbound travel speed, still a good one. 58 miles per hour, making your way from the beltway to gw parkway, joe, that trip will only take 11 minutes. back to you. >> thank you very much. the london olympics begins six months from today. this morning we're getting a look at some of the venues that will host many of the events. most of the facilities are already complete. london's mayor says the city is now switching its focus from building to staging. meanwhile, police say they're getting ready for a possible attack during the olympic. they say the official terror threat level during the games will likely be what they call severe. it is 4:54. 60 degrees. coming up, looking to ungrade

before watching the super bowl. why great deals on flat screen tvs will be harder to find this year. plus, do you think men are best at buying a new car? why you may want to take a woman with you when you head to the de

twitter says it tweaked its technology so it can secensor image in individual countries. the company says it hasn't used

the new filter tool but expects to do so when it enters more countries with different laws. the flexibility is likely to raise fears that twitter's commitment to free speech may be weakening. right now if twitter talks off a tweet, it's wiped out throughout the world. the company says most of those cases have been links to child pornography. looking for a new tv just in time for super bowl xlvi? now's the time to find a great deal with some stores cutting prices by as much as $1,000. analysts say that while the deals are good, they're not as good as last year. one analyst tells "usa today" that shoppers "will see a lot of advertising, but probably not a lot of great deals." the reason behind the lackluster deals is because sales during the recent holiday season were better than last year. and if you're in the market for a new car, a new survey says that you're more likely to buy an american-made vehicle. j.d. power says one in seven people who bought new cars avoided foreign-made cars. that's the highest level since 2003. experts say a sentiment to buy

american that has been growing since the start of the recession is likely a factor along with increasing quality and reliability of american-made cars. of course, a lot of those american-made cars are foreign cars. >> exactly. >> there's a lot of american -- a lot of foreign companies that have plants here in the united states. >> exactly. for men looking for a new set of wheels, there is a new secret to success apparently. >> don't be surprised by this one. bring along a woman. >> ah! >> a study by leasetrader.com found women buyers asked different and more probing questions than men while looking for a car. it also found 67% of women order a vehicle inspection during a lease transfer compared to just over 54% of men. women are also more inclined to ask about safety performance, and the car's accident history, also very valuable things. >> questions like, why do you need a pickup truck? what would you do with a corvette? >> right. see -- yes. >> those questions. >> i'd like