shootings across the d.c. area changed the way people were living around here. people refused to stop moving in parking lots. they continuously looked over their shoulder filling up at a gas station or stay inside. in less than three hours, the man tught to be the master mind of those shootings is set to die by lethal injection. i'm doreençó gentzler. john allen muhammad will be executed in southern virginia tonight. at 5:00 thechk, muhammad wasñi given his last meal. he gotñi a choice of anything o the prison menu.ñr he selected one or more ñritems but hexd didn't want his choice released to the public. at 7:00, he'll be permitted to take a shower, if he wishes. thexecution isñi scheduledxd fo 9:00 tonight. christ gordon is livexd at greensville correctionalñixd ce with more. >> reporter: snipers john allen muhammad and his young companion low boyd malvo are said to be responsible for 13 killings across the country, including ten in our area. the sniper task force investigated the cases so they could be brought to trial. this evening, just a short time ago, ipoke with the veteran prosecutor from northern virginia who sought the death penalty. jury convicted sniper john allen muhammad of capital murder in the shooting death of dean myers in manassas, virginia. they sentenced him to the death penalty. prince william county's commonwealth attorney put muhammad on trial and came her to jarrett, virginia, to see the death sentence carried out. >> we come with a large portion of the task force that are here. it means something to them to see the finalization of all their hard work. >> reporter: greens vils correctional center. john allen muhammad was allowed a final family visit in thday. media gathered to cover his execution by lethal injection. some of the family of the victims of the shootings have come to witness his death. >> i think a lot of people have been waiting for this day and hopefully, it will provide lace and closure. >> reporter: issa nichols traveled here from takoma, washington. she has written a book "genesis, the bullet was meant for me, d.c. sniper untold story," saying she was a friend of his wife mildred. she went with her to court when she got a divorce from john allen muhammad and custody of their three children and muhammad was so angry he sent lee boyd malvo to the front door to shoot her, but killed her niece. >> my daughter tamara and i are going to the execution. the reason we are attending is to participate in justice being served. it was tamara and i to found kenia lying on the floor about eight months or so prior to john's killing spree on the east coast. >> reporter: low boyd malvo sincexd telephoned issa fromxd prison to apologize. she says she has forgiven him. he is now 24 years old. malvo is serving a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. as for the manxd whoxd usedñi t himself the father of malvo, john allençó muhammad is schedui to die here in the next three hours. today virginia governor timothy keane denied his petition for clemency and muhammad's lawyers will seek no further stay of execution. that's the latest from the greensville correctional center. >> stay with news4 for the continuing coverage of this story. we'll report on the effect the shootings are having on the d.c. area more than seven years after they happened. in ft. hood in texas today, president obama joined thousands for a memorial service to honor those killed in the shootings there last week. jay gray has our report. ♪ amazing grace >> reporter: searching for grace and comfort they gather. thousands, some dressed in red, white and blue, most in army green, all struggling to deal with what happened here. >> it's a day for us to just honor the fallen, fellow soldiers. one big family. >> when something drastic like that happens, it affects everybody. >> reporter: president obama met with families of the fallen and some of the wounded before stepping to the podium for the first time in his young presidency as consoler in chief. >> here at ft. hood, we pay tribute to 13 men and women who are not able to escape the horror of war even in the comfort of home. their memory will be honored in the places they lived and by the people they touched. their life's work is our security and the freedom we all too often take for granted. >> reporter: as this grieving community searches for answers so do investigators, examining major nidal hasan's religious vus and whether he may have been influenced by muslim extremists. authorities are asking about a presentation the alleged gunman made to senior officers two years ago discussing islam, suicide bombers and threats posed by muslim soldiers and conflict of fighting in afghanistan. >> i think there is a realization about whether any opportunity was lost to identify hasan as a potential problem. >> reporter: the more immediate problem for so many here. is how to deal with their overwhelming loss. jay gray, nbc news, ft. hood. a marine from the d.c. area has been killed in afghanistan. sergeant charles cartwright of union bridge, maryland, died on saturday while conducting combat operations. sergeant cartwright was a member of the marine corps special forces. he joined the marines in 2001, the day before the september 11th attacks. he was a highly decorated marine. his numerous medals include two purple hearts and navy presidential unit citation. sergeant cartwright was just 26 years old. a former astronaut charged with attacking her romantic rival agreed to a plea agreement in an orlando courtroom today. lisa nowak pleaded guilty to misdemeanor battery and felony burglary. she received one year of probation and 50 hours of community service. nowak is accused of driving from houston to orlando and attacking colleen shipman in an airport parking lot. after nearly three years, shipman is still shaken by the incident. >> i constantly look over my shoulder trying to keep track of everyone around me so i can't be a victim to a surprise attack again.xd oppq2u toñr apologize to ms. shipman in person. i am sincerelyñr sorry for causg fear and misunderstanding and all the public exposure i have gone through. >> the judge in the case said her lack of criminal history and record of service to the country factored into his decision to give lisa nowak probation. 12 people have been charged with borrowing more than $140,000 in books from colleges and community libraries in maryland. and then selling them for cash. jane watrel is here with more on that. >> reporter: the thefts included books from 12 of the 18 prince george's county library branches. the suspects were after expensive text books. authorities say the book theft ring began operating at over a dozen maryland library branches about a year ago. using their library cards, a dozen suspects would check out expensive text books and pawn or sell them online. >> ironically, there were books on ethnics. philosophy, but largely the bulk of the books were in the nursing field and the sciences like chemistry. largely nursing books. >> reporter: court documents show selling library books was a lucrative venture. one member of the theft ring stole 100 medical text books from the university of maryland, baltimore county library, valued at $54,000. in prince george's county, the suspects stole a total of 822 books valued at just over 87,000. >> this is a theft from the public trust. library is a public trust that all of us take advantage of, especially students. this really fit into that. >> reporter: at first selling books went almost undetected. in prince george's county, the holder of a library card can check out up to 75 books. >> it is a lot of books. i think the county library system is going to reevaluate that. it's not a legal decision, but an administrative one. i think the county is looking at it as well as the other jurisdiction. >> reporter: it was sharp-eyed library employees that started noticing the one dozen suspects were checking out large numbers of textbooks and not bringing them back. >> i think crooks and thieves are getting more inventive. we have to keep one step ahead of them. >> reporter: the suspects range from age from 20 to 51. most knew each other by being related or roommates. they a charged with theft over $500 and face a maximum of 15 years in prison. >> thank you, jane watrel. what is now tropical depression ida hit the u.s. gulf coast earlier this morning. some homeowners along the coastlines will have flood damage to clean up. the storm is being blamed for at least one death. a 70-year-old louisiana man appears to have background while trying to help stranded fishermen on the mississippi river. bob has more on what ida might mean for the wther in our area. bob? there will be some impact, but more to our south for folks into southern maryland down into southern virginia. look what happened in georgia. closing in on five inches of rain. in and around us, there's not a lot going on. in washington, temperature right now 61 degrees. because of the increasing winds though, high pressure to our north in that area of storminess to the south, there are gale warnings up all the way now along the outer banks of north carolina north to the delaware coast. for this evening, a few light showers. i think it will be cool and wet and breezy tomorrow. i'll i'll show you where the heaviest rains will be falling. back to you. >> thank you, bob. coming up tonight, the pilot of a u.s.-bound commercial flight was arrested at london's heathrow airport. they say he was drunk. and a push to get more workers paid sick leave. >> tensions high after the north and south korean navies exchange fire. >> how park police are responding to moves d.c. mayor fenty is breaking traffic laws. in sports, boxer sugar ray leonard talking about one of the biggest fight of his life. broncos come into town reeling after a monday night meltdown. the scuffle that stings. the combination of the swine flu and the sagging economy is forcing many workers without paid sick leave to make a tough decision. they have to decide between staying home and not getting paid or going to work feeling sick. today congress took that issue up. tracie potts has our report. >> reporter: 57 million americans have no paid sick leave. many of them are low-wage workers, waitresses, sales clerk and school bus drivers. desiree lost two weeks pay when her kids got the flu. >> sometimes we have to borrow from our rent money. >> reporter: the government said if you get swine flu, be responsible and stay home, but many families can't afford to. >> what is responsible when staying home means risking a paycheck or a job that your family depends on? >> reporter: law makers are troducing emergency legislation that would require employers to pay sick workers for up to seven days. >> families shouldn't have to choose between staying healthy and making ends meet. >> reporter: businesses, especially small ones, worry how that could impact the bottom line. >> it's going to be stretched and we have to make very difficult decisions. >> reporter: like pay cuts or lay-offs or not hiring new workers as this nation fights double-digit unemployment. >> if i have 15 employees, would i hire 16 with this piece of legislation? >> some already pay six leave and fear a law will force them to add more. the district last year became one of many forced to pay sick. in maryland, among county delegate is leading the fight there for paid sick leave. in virginia, 1.5 million people, nearly half the state's workers, do not have paid sick leave. from capitol hill, tracie potts, news4. former president bill clinton is trying to keep the momentum going on health care reform. on saturday, the house passed a health care package but the senate version is bogged down. democratic leaders say they may not get a final bill to president obama before the end of the year. mr. clinton dropped in on senate democrats during their private weekly luncheon today. after he told law makers in this time of job losses and rising health care costs, the overhaul is an economic imperative. on wall street today, a rally for bank of america and american express helped the dow close higher for the fifth day in a row. the dow added 20 points today. it climbed to 10,246, the highest level since early in october. nasdaq is down about three points. the new york stock exchange closed eight points lower today. >> tensions are escalating between north and south korea. ships belonging to the north and south korea navies clashed today. officials in south korea say the noh korean ship was fired upon after entering south korean waters. south korea says the north korean ship retaliated. one north korean was killed and three other sailors were wounded. that information has not been confirmed by north korea. the clash comes ahead of a trip by president obama to south korea. he is scheduled to visit seoul next week. at least 20 people are dead, more than 100 injured after a car bombing at an outdoor market in northwest pakistan. the powerful blast destroyed shops and stalls on both sides of the road and knocked down electrical wires. it's the third attack over the past couple of days in the northwestern part of pakistan. militants there have stepped up attacks in recent weeks in retaliation for an anti-taliban offensive being carried out by the pakistani army. a united airlines pilot has been grounded after allegedly trying to fly while drunk. officials at heathrow airport in london say the pilot's co-workers turned m in. the man is 51 years old. he was arrested in london as he was getting ready to fly a boeing 767 with 135 passengers and crew onboard. this all happened yesterday just before the flight was to fly to chicago. the passengers were eventually put on other flights. united airlines is not releasing the pilot's name. he has been suspended. police in london are now waiting for the results of alcohol tests. coming up on news4, a bus crashed into the side of a home this morning. this year's capital christmas tree is the tallest one ever selected for that display. >> and a check on our weather. arizona is giving the u.s. capital a special christmas gift this year, an 85-foot tall blue spruce. the capital christmas tree was harvested from the apache national forest in the white mountains of arizona over the weekend. it's on the way to d.c. now. this is the tallest tree ever selected for the u.s. capital display. the blue spruce stands taller than a six-story building. the tree will be lit in a ceremony next month. start thinking about the holidays. >> that would be a good trivia question. you wouldn't think arizona. >> no. >> that will be fun to see. >> it will be. >> it's almost here. >> it doesn't feel much like november today. >> wait until morrow. wait until thursday and friday. we still have color around our neck of the woods, too. with the winds picking up, boy, the leaves are really pretty much down off the trees. some of the ones that say, i don't want to give you up yet, still some color. our high temperature today was above average. 66 degrees. that will change tomorrow. our rainfall is a bit below average. right here officially in washington, i don't think we are going to be adding a whole lot of rain, even though it will be damp and chilly and raw. there will be maybe passing showers and sprinkles. you may hear other pins, but i think the heaviest rains will be to our south. especially folks in northern maryland up toward the pennsylvania border. winds calm. earlier there was a record in portland, maine, 64 degrees. boston has cool air coming off the water. new york city right now, 61 degrees. 70s down to our south. memphis 71. here what's left of ida. it's the circulation in the atmosphere. it's a regular low pressure, but willing moving off the coast, but moving only slowly. a lot of moisture coming up, but to our south and out to the southeast, lower eastern shore is going to be getting some heavrains. look at the areas that have had so much rain. we had about 36 inches of rain here so far this year. atlanta had over 56 inches of rain. they don't need more. with more rain they had four to five inches of rain. that's the reason there are flood watches and flood warnings tonight into tomorrow. right now on radar, you can get an idea of that dry air. high pressure building to our north keeping this area of moisture at bay for the time being. eventually, the moisture certainly will win out and the rainfall will win out. you get an idea how it gets eaten away as this rain tries to move to the north. heavy rains right now still around asheville, north carolina, down into georgia, greenville, south carolina, to all of this. ida, what's left of it, moves out to the coast then begins to move off. will stay a little more to our south and southeast. here is what's happeng in futurecast. there is the area of high pressure that will slowly build to our north. there is that area of low pressure which will move off the coast. you are going to get an idea how we will be on the edge of some of the rain, but not the winds. there will be gusty winds because of that pressure gradient. while there will be heavier rains, two to five inches of rain in south eastern virginia, north carolina, along the coast there will be very strong winds. spots like ocean city and toward the south, virginia beach, where winds and waves will build, 30 maybe 35 mile-an-hour winds. seas will build as the pressure gradient continues. overnight tonight, a few sprinkles or showers possible. anything around here would be light. as we go through tomorrow, there will be steadier rain for you folks into southern maryland. because we have that northeasterly wind and a lot of the clouds, it's not much different from the 40s to the afternoon temperatures which will be in the low 50s. later on tomorrow afternoon, 15 to 25 miles per hour. quite a different day. once again, as we get into thursday and friday, still a chance for some lingering periods of light rain and still breezy. i think we do break out and see sunshine returning. that will be nice on saturday, and sunday looks like a nice day. another chance for showers along about monday. >> doesn't sound too bad. >> chilly the next couple of days, but not a pouring rain. >> thank you, bob. coming up tonight, with convicted sniper john allen muhammad set to be executed in less than three hours, we'll have a report on the effect the shootings are having on the d.c. area more than seven years after they happened. some scary moments when a woman fell on the subway tracks with a train bearing down. >> bicyclists from the d.c. area weighing in on d.c. mayor fenty's use of police escorts when he goes for a ride. >> how easily germs can spread in the office. coming up in sports, sugar ray leonard talks aut his famous 1987 bout with marvin hagler. albert haynesworth goes back to school. take a look at some of the stories making headlines tonight. about 15,000 people attended afternoon to honor those who were killed at ft. hood in texas last week. president obama paid tribute to each of the 13 people who died. he and first lady michelle obama also met with the families of the victims before the service this afternoon. 12 people have been charged with borrowing more than $140,000 worth of books from colleges and community libraries in maryland and selling them. more than a dozen maryland library branches fell victim. the suspects stole more than 800 books worth more than $87,000. congress is pushing for employers to give workers more paid sick time if they have the swine flu. law makers are introducing emergency legislation that would require employers to pay sick workers up to seven days. the house already has a bill. the senate is writing one. 57 million americans have no paid sick leave. coming up in this half hour of news4 at 6:00, workers across the d.c. area calling out sick because of the swine flu. we'll report on how easily germs can spread in an office. park police commented about mair adrian fenty's use of police escorts when he goes bicycling. nba star kareem abdul jabbar announced today he has cancer. john allen muhammad will be put to death by injection at 9:00 p.m. on date of his execution, memories of the lives he took and widespread terror he caused are still fresh on the minds of area residents. julie carey has our report. >> reporter: at this shell station, someone made sure one of the sniper victims was remembered today. flowers were left at the site where young mother laury rivera was killed after she vacuumed her minivan. the mechanic was here that morning. >> after that we were very scared. we don't know where the shooting guys are. we don't know if they are coming again. >> reporter: fear is the emotion most recall as they look back on the three-week c.j. gas stations and parking lots were in the snipers' sights. even pumping gas was no longer routine. >> people would get gas, how they would duck like they were under fire. i remember certain gas stations putting up blue tarp. >> reporter: when a school boy became a victim who survived, parents hovered over children on their way to school. this parent remembers strategically planng even dog walks. >> we were under lockdown for some of it. the dog would look at me and not be able to understand why we weren't going for a nice walk because it was a beautiful fall day. i would hear about one of the killings and i would go for a dog walk because i figured he was tied up in traffic and couldn't kill me. >> reporter: many who drove white advance remember the traffic jams and relentless searches. contractor bill peterson frequents the home depot where linda franklin was killed. >> even the police came to my house and knocked on the door and wanted to know where i was when one of the shootings took place and what not. >> reporter: for others, a flashback to 2002 or a drive past one of the shooting scenes like this would be brings to mind the face of a particular victim. this former colleague of victim dean myers stopped by the sunoco today where his friend was killed october 9, 2002. >> you can never replace them. what happens tonight has no bearing on that. dean myers was an intelligent guy. >> reporter: julie carey, news4. stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for our continuing coverage of this story. we'll have another report from the greensville correctional center tonight on news4 at 11:00. the d.c. council took another step today toward legalizing same-sex marriages in the city. a council committee voted 4-1 to send the bill to the full council in the next few weeks. the committee made some changes to the bill. it now states that churches and other religious organizations cannot be forced to rent out their facilities for same-sex weddings, even if those facilities are available to the general public. the measure stated clergy are not required to perform gay marriages. the revised bill continues domestic partnerships in the district giving couples a choice. >> i'm confident the full council when it considers this, and it's going to consider this in december, i'm confident the full council will support the legislation. i don't know if the vote will be unanimous, but i believe the support is overwhelming in the council. >> if the council approves the measure, mair fenty said he would sign it. if the measure survives a 30-day congressional review period, the gay marriage bill could become law early next year. some bicyclists today are coming to the defense of mayor adrian fenty and his bike riding habits. yesterday he was seen with police escorts and violating traffic laws. >> reporter: there were lots of opinions today about the mair's bike ride but the police gave the official word. cycling in the washington area is a hugely popular sport or past time. bikes legally are subject to the rules of the road like everyone else. some cyclists say mayor fenty should get a break using police escorts on his ride. >> i don't think the mayor is abusing anything. he should have privilege to use police escorts, and you know, it wouldn't be the same story if he was out playing golf. >> reporter: the u.s. park police confirm tuesday fenty violated the law when his group, shot on camera by wtop radio traveled the clara barton parkway. >> it is illegal to drive a bike on the parkway. >> reporter: the wtop footage caused a sensation of response as it showed the mayor and friends riding through stop signs in prohibited areas and causing traffic backups. at a popular union station bike stand, everyone knew about the story. >> i think there's enough police in this town they could escort every one of the bicyclists in this city. it's outrageous. if he wants to use his bicycling habits as a way to gain favor in this city, he should ride his bike like everyone else has to ride their bike in this city. that means fighting every car on the street to make a left turn. >> reporter: mayor fenty said tuesday if he violated any rules or laws, he won't do it again. >> i didn't know that street prohibited bicycles until the deputy brought it to my attention. kudos to them for that. a lot of bicyclists didn't know that was the case either. >> reporter: there is a lesson for everyone. >> cyclists fare best when they act and are treated as brifrs of vehicles. if we want the protection of the law, we need to follow the law, too. >> reporter: the mayor declined to say how he would alter his bike-riding plans, but he told us yesterday he wishes he could ride more. he does like bike riding. >> thank you, tom. a shopping center shut down after more than a dozen people fell ill in afternoon. firefighters evacuated the kab-on john center in tuckerton after fume in a giant store caused people to throw up an pass out. six of the 14 people sickened were taken to hospitals. firefighters investigated, but haven't figured out what caused the fumes. howard county could become the first jurisdiction in the country to ban tanning beds for minors. a public hearing on that issue is currently under way at the county health department in columbia. a proposal would make it illegal for anyone under the age of 18 to use indoor tanning devices. it will also regulate sanitation and hygiene practices of the tanning facilities experts onancer and dermatology are expected to testify at tonight's hearing. coming up on news4 at 6:, basketball star kareem abdul jabbar announced today he was diagnosed with cancer. a train operator is being hailed a hero. >> a bush good evening,ob ryan. cloudy here, but there's the rain getting closer. it's raining in richmond. spots like roanoke, too. heavier rain will stay to our south. look at gulf shores. that was near where ida came ashore. over five inches of rain in that storm total and another 1/4 inch today. heading out to school tomorrow morning, it will be cloudy morning with a few scattered showers to our south. most of the rains tomorrow will be across southern maryland. we are in for a period of breezy, chilly weather. saturday into the weekend, i think the sunshine returns. doreen? >> thank you, bob. coming up at 11:00, focus has been on a shortage of flu vaccines and medications lately. doctors are warning there is another group of medicines rapidly dwindling, and they might not be around the next time you get sick. >> just two weeks after doctors implanted a pacemaker into james hensley, his health deteriorated. >> was swollen, red, irritated. there was an infection there. >> doctors found a type of slow-growing bacteria in the area where the pacemaker had been, but the it was too late. the infection was already spreading. >> really, it was a constant pain struggling. >> what hensley needed was the right combination of antibiotics to kill the bacteria. he was able to get the medications he needed, but medical experts are warning patients like hensley may be out of luck in the near future. >> the cupboard is bare. >> why drug companies aren't producing enough new antibiotics and how that might affect your health. bad bugs, no drugs on news4 at 11:00. kareem abdul jabbar announced today he has diagnosed with leukemia. jabbar is the nba's all-time leading scorer. he was diagnosed last december with cml. jabbar is 62 years old now. he said he was caught off guard when he first learned about the diagnosis. doctors say his prognosis is encouraging. some basketball fans came out of a boston celtic game and found themselves rushing to save a woman who had fallen in front of a subway train. it happened friday night. the woman had been drinking. she stood on the platform smoking a great when she tried to lean out over the tracks to check on the train, she lost her balance and toppled on to the tracks. the celtic fans frantically tried to get train operator's attention. >> and it stopped just in time. it was so close that, you know, i thought she was dead. after she com up with a big smile on her face, and i'm like, oh, my god, you scared me. >> after the woman crawled out from under the train, the other passengers pulled her on to the platform. the only injuries, scraped knees. a track inspector saw the incident and radioed the operator to hit her emergency brakes. yesterday both women were honored for their quick thinking. a transit bus veered out of control and plowed into a home on chicago's south side this morning. the driver and three passengers were on the bus when it happened. all four were taken to the hospital. the crash left a big crack across the side of the house. there was at least one person at home at the time of the crash. she is said to be fine. the cause of this accident is under investigation. lindsay's got sports. >> we are going to turn back the clock a little bit. sugar ray leonardecalls his bout with marvin hagler. deangelo hall takes his complaints to the top. isn't it fun to watch football when there's offense and they are going the field? boy, that was xdfun. >> when a team has confidence going. there was an interesting story surrounding the pittsburgh steelers. ryan clark, remember ryan clark? used to play for the redskins? former redskins safety ryan clark signed with the steelers as a free agent in 2006. that october when the team played broncos in denver he almost died because of a rare blood disorder that is aggravated in high altitudes. last night coach mikeñi tomlin held him out of the game. turns out clark's replacement made the play that sparked the steelers to victory. steelers win a fifth straight in denver.ñi >> that's denver safety brian dawkins getting them fired up. how would his replacement fare? that is the big question. second quarter he enters. kyle orton picked off by carter. look at this. returns it 48 yards. all the way back for the touchdown. tyrone carter had two interceptions on the night. look at this. he celebrates. look at clark running on the field. he is so happy, he can't contain it. steelers up 7-3. third quarter. roethlisberger drops back. kenny peterson gets in there, causes the fumble. back to rookiexd robert ayers. 54 yards for the touchdown. broncos take a 10-7 lead. josh mcdaniel, rookie head coach all pumped up. steelers come back on their ensuing position. big ben out of the shotgun. hits hines ward. steelers fight back always. they go on to win it 28-10. the broncos, the team that surprised a lot of people winning their first six games despite their rookie head coach and a questionable quarterback in kyle orton lost two straight and head to fedex field this sunday. there is a lingering issue from last week's loss to the falcons. deangelo hall is front and center. falcons quarterback matt ryan serve ahed late hit by le'ron landry. that would lead to this. a melee ensued. deangelo hall number 23 says he was trying to get away, but was pulled closer to the chaos. says he was grabbed by falcons' head coach mike smith who was also talking trash, according to hall. all was fired up after the game and said smith put his hands on him in a harmful way and discussed his full intention for justice. >> it wasn't in a mindset to break a fight up. even the head coach came over there and said some words to me, cussing me out, grabbing and pulling at me. like i old 0 them, i'm going to get in a huddle with commissioner goodell. it's different when youry to break a scuffle up as a coach or as a strength coach. when you come in there and you're trying to [ bleep ] that ain't how do you things. they need to have rep cushions. >> deangelo hall was fired up and said he talked to league offices, though not to commissioner roger goodell himself. a spokesman said to expect a decision by friday. sugar ray leonard, olympic champion was recently back in d.c., the city where his boxing career began. now sugar ray has so many milestones to define his career. the most memorable was when he returned to fightxd world middleweight champion marvin hagler. nobody thought sugar ray could win, but he did 22 years later, the outcome is still up for debate. we are back in 1987. sugar ray leonard a huge underdog in this fight. 3-1 odds against him. hagler in the prime of his career. leonard was shobing the world, returning after such a big break. is was the fight of the year. it went 12 rounds. the decision ultimately, a big surprise for a lot of people. it went to leonard by sit decision. hagler because of that, he absolutely fumed. protested and depending on who you asked, still a lot of people argue that the outcome with the mindset sugar ray won on showmanship. i asked sugar ray what he thinks all these years later. >> i don't even think about that. i was the winner no matter what happened. if i lost the decision, i was the winner. no one felt i had a chance with hagler. the mind can aow you to achieve much more. the mind gives your body that little bit of uh to rise to the occasion. >> he was so frustrated. he moved to italy. >> yeah. he moved to milan, italy. he speaks italian. >> he changed his name to marvelous because of you. how do you think sugar ray really feels, right? >> it was clear. >> he was a great guy to talk to. moving to the redskins. defensive tackle albert haynesworth today made one elementary school fifth grader an absolute star. we are on a campus in annandale. haynesworth picked up victor blanco this morning in a limousine and took him to woodburn elementary. can you imagine how cool victor blanco is now? students waited to greet them. haynesworth locked inside. he talked to the kids about exercise and staying fit. the nfl and j.c. penney donated $2,000 to the school for the student winning the contest. albert says, man, he enjoys the chance to inspire these kids. >> it was awesome, an awesome experience. it's the first time i've done anything like that. >> he's cool. he's funny. he's big. >> they were very cool. they really know who we are. >> albert is cool, but victor blanco is cooler. >> he's the man. >> yeah. >> the highlight of his life. >> right. >> thanks, lindsay. coming up, the swine flu spreading and people across the d.c. area are calling in sick from work. news4 takes a look how easily germs can spread. swine flu seems to be everywhere across the nation. these tiny germs are invading homes, schools and offices. once they got in, it's tough to get them out. barbara harrison shows us first hand how easily this virus spreads. >> germs, they're everywhere. that's nothing new. now there is a new virus in town, h1n1, with the swine flu. even doctors agree, we can run, but we cannot hide. >> we don't think about this a lot because we can't see flu germs, but they're everywhere. when you cough, when you sneeze, you're spreading flu germs. they can end up on door knobs, your computers. they're all over cell phones. >> reporter: once these viruses are airborne, how easily do we pass them around? news4 conducted ourwn unscientific experiment to find out. we came to this downtown d.c. office and spread around this powder called glo-germ, invisible to the eye, but glows on a black light. we placid around the office, copy machine, door knob, arm chair. we let the employees work. they unknowingly passed around the pretend virus to each other and themselves. then we got out the black light and took a look. the powder like the virus spread on to the computer, fax machine, other phones, hands, faces. >> you might think your little experiment was not scientific, but in actual fact, that is how we determine how flu germs are spread. >> reporter: howard university hospital infectious disease specialist dr. lisa fitzpatrick says studies show the flu virus can live as long as two days outside the body. high-traffic areas like busy offices, the area can become a virtual pitri dish for germs. >> it will land and survive wherever it can. >> reporter: the best way to avoid getting infected with the virus -- >> continually wash your hands. keep your hands clean and try to avoid touching your face. >> i was really astounded how much germs spread and just to understand how contagious germs can be and how easily they are spread from person to person, things to things. >> it goes to show how poirt is to keep your hands washed and sanitized. >> barbara harrison, news4. tonight on news4 at 11:00, the execution of john allen muhammad, from victims and some of the businesses impacted here. we'll have live teen coverage. a teenager is suspended from school because of his haircut. what's the problem? join us at 11:00 to find out. >> a new holiday tradition could begin this year in our area, an ice village under construction at national harbor. 40 ice sculptors from china have been hard at work this week. they will carve 2 million pounds of ice onto ten different scenes at the gaylord resort. the project takes oneonth to complete. there will be nativity scenes, local monuments and a castle that includes four ice slides the kids can use. the exhibit is called "ice." gaylord officials say to enjoy your visit wear full winter gear because the temperature is kept at 9 degrees. however, they will loan you a jacket if you need one. "ice" opens november 19th and runs until january 10th. tick r