Anywhere, and thats exactly where American Airlines flies. Book your travel now on aa. Com. Anyway. Right now, pausing to remember. Marking the somber 50th anniversary of president john f. Kennedys assassination. Virginia state senator sends a tweet out after the stabbing attack. Cougar spottings in spotsylvania. Is this real . A sickeng and highly dangerous trend among teenagers. The cotton ball diet. Welcome to news 4 at 4 00, im jim handly. Im pat lawson muse. The 50th anniversary of president john f. Kennedys assassination is being marked today with ceremonies here in washington and dallas where the shootings took place. Ladies and gentlemen, would you join me in a moment of silence in honor of the life of John Fitzgerald kennedy . People gathered for a memorial event where the president s motorcade passed through. The ceremony included a moment of silence at 12 30 dallas time, the time the fatal shots were fired in 1963. Church bells across dallas rang out during the ceremony in honor of our 35th president. Closer to home, here is a live look at kennedys graveside in arlington cemetery. People have been stopping by to see the eternal flame. The only surviving sibling laid a wreath at the grave sight. Its a stark contrast to the sunny blue skies that greeted president kennedy and the first lady 50 years ago. It forced changes in the program for the memorial. Wendy rieger is live in dallas with that part of the coverage. Wendy . Reporter hi jim, hi pat. We are in the middest of deconstructing the set. Some of the magic isnt evident. Earlier today, it was truly such a beautiful thing to be a part of. Dealy plaza, for 50 years held the memory of violence and a National Horror as some would say, a national disgrace. Today, this plaza became somewhat of a cathedral, if you will. It was uplifting and time to think about not the shots that were fired, but to think about the man, the presidency and what we are as americans 50 years later and our ability to endure and ability to transcend, if you will. 5,000 people braved this just awful weather. Thousands more outside the plaza were watching on jumbo trons blocks away. Clearly, 50 years later, the power of this place and the power of this president have not dimmed. I was trying to get toy be a. I wanted her to share this experience with me. I felt like, you know, it was something really important that should be shared with generations, if possible. Just a good feeling in my heart and glad that the country is remembering the president and that our city did a beautiful job. Reporter the city of dallas, of course, carried a heavy burden in the early years. It was called the city of hate. The mayor was proud of dallas overcoming that and resurrecting and renovating the image and this place. So, it has been, i think, they will find it a great success, again, pardon the construction noise behind me. We will have more on what happened today coming up at 5 00. We are going talk to nbc news tom brokaw about a documentary about why it is so important for people who lived through this to retell the story of where they were. Ill see you in an hour. Back to you. We look forward to that, wendy rieger. Thank you so much, wendy. Well have much more about all of todays events on our website, www. Nbcwashington. Com. Search jfk 50 for video of local ceremonies, historic photos, including the front pages of newspapers around the country published the day after jfks death and his funeral, Jacqueline Kennedys legacy, plus how the living president s are marking this anniversary. We want to shift to the other big story this afternoon. Get your winter gear out. Cold weather is blowing in. In fact, it will feel 30 to 40 degrees colder at this time tomorrow. All right, lets get right to meteorologist Veronica Johnson. That really is the big, big story for the forecast here and the upcoming weekend. As you know, storm team 4 days. The other thing im tracking, showers on radar. Not a lot but you can see the movement from west to east. We are going to see the showers moving through for the next couple hours. Folks around quantico getting the rain. Waldorf, you are getting it. Columbia, maryland. Now, more on that cold air. Look at the nation, the western half of the nation dealing with the cold and temperatures already here during the afternoon and 20s and 30s. 37 degrees in chicago. That is what is headed our way, folks. As we go from a temperature of 60 degrees in many neighborhoods today to a big drop by the weekend. In fact, im not just talking about a bitter arctic blast, but im talking about dangerously cold air that is moving in this weekend. Ill tell you when the winds will be the highest and windchills the lowest. Thanks. Thieves left arrested people down power lines. The suspects were after the copper wire that sells for 3,003 a pounld. Nearly 2,000 customers lost power just after midnight including a nursing home. This is not the first time they have targeted copper wire. They may be responsible for a string of recent thefts. People are being allowed back into their offices after a gas leak forced evacuations and diverted traffic. It happened at the intersepgs of cycle road. A construction crew damaged a pressurized. They evacwatd offices as a precaution. Washington gas was able to fix the damage by 9 30. No reports of injuries from this incident. A disturbing discovery in loudoun services is investigating the dumping of dozens of animal cs in the rive. Julie carey has seen it and says many appear to be dogs. Animal control is investigating but not commenting. Julie spoke with the man who made the discovery today. Well hear from him coming up on news 4 at 5 00 tonight. D. C. Police are looking for the person who murdered a woman. Someone called to report gunshots. They found the victim near an apartment complex. She died at the hospital. D. C. Police dont have strong leads, yet, in this case. Good day and great week for wall street. Here is a live look at the new york stock change. P all up. S closing with the nd the dow up 50 points on the day. The s p set day records. Right now, a royal visit happening at the white house. President obama is hosting King Mohammad the sixth of morocco. The two leaders are expected to discuss a number of topics including the situation in the middle east and promoting Economic Development in africa. First Lady Michelle obama took time out to honor special educators. They are the winners of National Arts and humanities awards. It recognizes teachers and youth that uses art to uplift the lives of the nations young people. Each group gets 10,000. Ralph lauren, calvin klein, coach, some of the designers open in our area in a brandnew outlet mall. Crowds of shoppers a a big deal. You name dropper. Is this a cougar like the post says . If not, what else could it be . Your last chance, the deadline approaching tonight for the National Zoos new panda cub. The Virginia State senator who was seriously injured during an attack earlier this week in his home is home from the hospital. Creigh deeds was stabbed tuesday by his 24yearold son gus, who then shot himself to death. Deeds thanked people for his support. He tweeted your friendship is important to me. Theres a picture circulating on facebook that has people asking, is there a cougar on the loose in Spotsylvania County . They captured this pick chir of a catlike creature. If you look closely, you can see it has no tail. Its the first clue it may not be a cougar. We checked with the Virginia Department of game and inland fisheries today. They tell us every month they get a couple calls about cougars in virginia. There have not been recent, confirmed sightings. You have a couple hours to go to vote on what you want the National Zoos panda cub to be named. Bao bao meaning presh shouse. Ling hua, long yun or bao. The winning name will be chosen on its 100th birthday. Coming up, huge day in Prince Georges County. The new Tanger Outlet mall opens for the first time and shoppers flock over in droves. That means cold, hard cash in the local economy. Remember this viral video that we first showed you last week . We have a hilarious update. Rock star, superstar, John Bon Jovi should be thanking his Boston Celtics fan today. Well tell you why. It is the number one story on our website right now. The Tanger Outlets in Prince Georges County now open for business. Hundreds of shoppers flocked to the new mall located on oxon hill road. Megan mcgrath spoke to customers there to grab grand opening deals. Reporter outside h m, the employees were dancing and the customers were lining up. Then, at 9 00great. Im glad for the people this is opened up. Theres a lot of jobs. This is right across the bridge from me in fairfax. Im excited. Reporter Tanger Outlets is home to 80 high end retailers, cole hahn and underarmor. They have great stuff in there. Reporter she snagged an id holder. Good deal . 50 off. And additional 40 off. Reporter the deals were everywhere. Some stores offered free gift cards. I got it for nothing. Nothing. Reporter it was a gift card that allowed michelle to get a free coat. The coat was on sale for 49. 95. I had a 50 coupon, so i cant have to pay tax. It was coat. Waiting a long time for the high end retail shopping. Reporter they have been before this, they had to go to the outlets on the eastern shore. Thats a bit of a drive. This is five minutes from my house. Reporter while there are a lot of grand opening deals to be had, the retailers say they are offering additional discounts on black friday. Many shoppers say they will be back. From the Tanger Outlets, megan mcgrath, news 4. Might want to shop for a coat, gloves and a hat and boots. G your best winter gear ready for saturday night. Its saturday late when, boom, the temperature is going to drop and folks are going to say what happened . I was teaching folks about the weather today. This is arlington traditional school, Elementary School in virginia, also a National School of excellence. Lets take a look at the their projects today as they build model homes that would with stand various weather from hail to hurricanes to storm surge. Look at that. They had all sorts of fun today. I think we have future scientists there, guys. Or maybe future city planners, you know . Do you build back in the same area . We had a lot of fun. Lets take a look outside. Its been a gray dachlt yes, you are going to need the umbrella. We have showers across the area now. Well zoom into where they are. To the south and east of d. C. Clinton, waldorf, 301, wet on area roads for the evening rush. All this is moving from west to east through the area. We have a chance of showers until 9 00 or 10 00 p. M. This evening. Here is a look at the evening planner. Cool conditions at 11 00 as we go from 59 to 46 degrees. Still cool for the early part of the day tomorrow. As it has rain makes its way out of here, a little bit of winds, our lowist windchill readings come sunday morning. Tomorrow, not too bad. 38 to 43 from gaithersburg into d. C. High temperature tomorrow, 49 to 50. Its the falling temperatures we are going to have throughout the day tomorrow and windchill readings, i think, during the afternoon evening hours that are dropping fast. 46 to 50, turning cold. Again, becoming windy on your storm team four day forecast, here it is. 36 is it for the high tomorrow. If you have anything planned, saturday, try to get it done early in the day saturday. Theres your monday and tuesday. You can see another storm system moves in right before thanksgiving. As far as saturday and sunday goes, again, a dramatic drop in temperatures tomorrow. Wh r couple minutes, im going to take you through the neighborhood and show you the windchill readings when the winds are going to be the strongest saturday night and sunday. Its coming up in a few minutes. Bon jovis living on a prayer gets new life after this viral video. The iconic rock song is back on the billboard 100 after this video, that celtics fan lip syncing during halftime. It renewed the songs popularity. Its now 25 on the list of the top 100 songs in the country. Now we have that song on our minds. The story everybody is talking about today. Whether or not the fcc should liflt the ban on cell phone calls during flights. Is it a nice convenience or say goodbye to peace and quiet. This is great, a little bit of everything, yams and potatoes. Green beans, all the fixings. Getting into the spirit of giving. Every year, the food for families drive asks for donations to put food on the tables of local families in need for the holidays. This year is different, in a wonderful way. The amazing contributions i got to witness every year our food for Families Campaign feeds thousands of needy families. Every year, we get a lot of help from the nurses at Georgetown University hospital. The effort to collect 7200 cans of food is going strong. In the lobby at med star georgetown hospital, these nurses are setting the table. Running out of room. These are the final hours of their campaign to collect 7200 cans of food in 72 hours. Im kind of impressed with how many healthy things we collected for thanksgiving. Its exciting. For three days, the donations have been pouring in. A lot of vegetables, things complete the meal for everyone. Just about everything except the turkey. The cans are collected here. These came from the e. R. We see some of these families the food is going toward. This is a way for us to help them. This year, they use their own gift card from the hospital to buy food. Its a 75 gift card to giant and we took one and donated it back to the cause. This woman brought cans with her husband. We knew we had to come today for my husbands doctor appointment so we thought we would bring a few cans. They started the campaign more than 10 years ago and people have always been generous. This year, the pace picked up. All the cans are headed to Verizon Center for the food for families drive. From there, an army of volunteers at the metropolitan police boys and girls cb it to e table of needy families. Hopefully people will continue the giving spirit throughout the season. So, we want you to come down to 2 Verizon Center monday if you would like to donate to food for families. We invite you to join us online as well at www. Nbcwashington. Com. We will be at the Verizon Center from 6 00 a. M. To 6 00 p. M. Collecting donations and food. We hope you will help us this year. It helps a lot of people in the area. You always get us in a giving spirit every time this year. Big day monld. It is. See you from sunrise to sunset, as we say. Next on news 4 at 4 00, inside the dark world of heroin addiction. The deadly problem in one of marylands wealthiest communities straight ahead. Remembering president john f. Kennedy. A look back at the jfk we had and lost and the memory that lives on today. I was going to the library to do my homework. It took a lot of juggling to keep it all together. For some lowincome families, having Broadband Internet is a faraway dream. So we created internet essentials, americas largest lowcost internet adoption program. Having the internet at home means she has to go no further than the Kitchen Table to do her homework. Now, more than one million americans have been connected at home. It makes it so much better to do homework, when youre at home. Welcome to whats next. Comcastnbcuniversal. Good afternoon, im pat lawson muse. Im jim handly. New at 4 30, now, shocking new information in the case of the navy yard shooter, aaron alexis. Lets go Scott Macfarlane at the live desk. Aaron alexis em ployer revoked his access to information. It happened six weeks before the navy yard shooting. The report said the Company Never informed the navy. Aaron alexis was a computer contractor at the navy yard. His employ year, the experts based in ft. Lauderdale, florida. At the live desk, im scott arnow, to the wicked weather. An incredibly huge drop in the mercury is on the way. We are talking as much as 40 dgsz. Meteorologist, Veronica Johnson is tracking this arctic blast. When is it going to hit us, veronica . It really hits saturday evening. A lot of re going to say what cold air are you talking about . You can be assured, it is coming. High clouds, yes, overcast and rainshowers coming down right now. So, some wet roads, a few drops hitting your windshield if you are heading out. In terms of temperatures here, as we take a look and head into your neighborhood, our temperatures are dropping down into the 40s. Its not going to get all that cold, even for tomorrow morning. I have chilly conditions as we drop to 43 to 44 degrees. Meanwhile, in terms of those windchill temperatures i promised you i would show you. Here we are saturday, 9 00, already readings in leesburg at 25. Manass manassas, 27 degrees. The windchill readings for sunday morning, you are looking at them, in the teens. Gaithersburg, manassas, 18 degrees is what it will feel like. When i return, we are going tog. Head on into your neighborhood. Its very cold, very damp in dallas, texas today. It did not stop a throng of people from gathering outside dealy plaza where 50 years ago, john f. Kennedy was gunned down. Our anniversary coverage continues with jay gray in dallas. Reporter thousands gathered midday in dealy plaza much like they did 50 years ago. Would you join me in a moment of silence . Reporter replaced by a solemn, memorial to honor a leader taken away too soon. We the people of dallas honor the life, legacy and leadership of the man who called us to think not of our own interest but of our countries. America reporter the temperature and rains fell, but could not keep out those drawn hereyd a half century ago. Gone but in the forgotten is the old expression for departed heroes. If not forgotten, they are not gone. Reporter the images and profound words kept the kennedy legacy alive since his death. They unveiled this plaque, text from the speech he was never able to deliver here. We in this country, in this generation are by destiny, rather than choice. The watchman on the walls of world freedom. Reporter freedom ensured by hero heroes, like the 35th president , john f. Kennedy. Despite the weather, 5,000 people showed up in dealy plaza, thousands of others set up throughout the downtown area. Jay gray, nbc news, dallas. We have much more about all website. Wendy rieger will join us live at 5 00. Go to www. Nbcwashington. Com, search jfk 50 for video of local ceremonies, historic photo, videos of his speech in which he proclaims, ask not what your country can do for you. Also, jfk conspiracy theories from popular to the most obscure. Again, www. Nbcwashington. Com. Breaking news now about the referee involved in a verbal spat with one of washingtons offensive linemen. Jason pugh has details from the live desk. Jason . Profane and derogatory statements has been suspended one game without pay. Post game comments, he accused him of using Profane Language toward him during sundays veri complaint, but handed down the one game suspension for ellison. From the live desk, im jason pugh. Teenage girls eating cotton balls to stay thin . How the cotton ball diet got so popular. Im liz crenshaw. Is it safe to cook stuffing in your thanksgiving turkey . Thats the question. The all right. We are talking turkey today. Should you buy your thanksgiving turkey fresh or frozen . Is it safe to cook stuffing in your bird and is pink turkey meat safe to eat . Liz crenshaw joins us with a special turkey edition of ask liz this friday. Liz, is it better to cook a fresh or frozen turkey for thanksgiving and how far in advance can you buy it . The u. S. Department of agriculture helped us. To buy a frozen turkey, if you want to get it well in advance. If you have an old bird thats been in the freezer for years is not going to taste as fresh. Usda says frozen turkeys are safe to eat years later. Start thawing that turkey in time for thanksgiving dinner. For reference, a 10 pound turkey take as minimum two to three days to thaw in the fridge. Now on to the stuffing. Thats a big question on a lot of minds. The question is, do you stuff the bird or cook the stuffing in a separate casserole dish. Everybody used to stuff the bird. Usda recommends cooking the stuffing outside the bird in a separate dish in the oven. Whether you cook it in a dish or turkey, you must use a Meat Thermometer to check the temperature. Safely cding must reach 165. For safetys sake, the turkey must reach 165 degrees on a thermometer. Last question about food safety today. Consumers want to know if pink turkey meat is safe to eat . I like this one. Usda, col is not a sign of safety. The only way to know if your turkey is safe to eat, again, use a food thermometer. You can make sure its reached a safe temperature of 165. The meat of smoked turkey is always pink. There you go. You shouldnt be alarmed in this case. We have put more thanksgiving tips online. Head to www. Nbcwashington. Com liz crenshaw. Connection with me on twitter, search liz crenshaw and facebook. Coming up at 5 00, how long does it take to defrost that frozen thanksgiving turkey . Once its defrosted, how long should you cook it. Outlets have the same merchandise as Retail Stores . We are going answer that at 5 00. It isnt just anymore on thanksgiving. Thank you, liz. See you at 5 00. Its the talk of the day. Whether or not the fcc should lift the ban on cell phone calls during flights. The question is, will there be a quiet section on the plane . Plus, we are checking out this incredible new weight loss trend among teenagers. Balls. Why are they doing this . Veronica, tell us about the big chill coming our way. Theres a lot going on. We have showers out there. Extreme cold is set to move in and a preturkey day storm. When i return, ill tell you when and where i think we may see travel delays with t the skies could become more cell phone friendly if the head of the fcc gets his way. Today, the chair, tom wheeler said banning cell phone use during flight is outdated. He wants passengers to use their smartphones to send emails, Text Messages and Download Data in flight. You would be able to do it at altitudes of 10,000 feet or higher. Cell use during landing and take off would be prohibits. Critics cringe at the idea of a plane full of chattering passengers saying it could undermine safety. O sweet drinks. Women who drink them after menopause could develop a uterine cancer type one. Researchers at the university of minnesota said 50,000 women in the u. S. Could be diagnosed with it this year. Young children who have televisions in their bedrooms may have a tougher time identifying with others. Ohio state researchers interviewed 100 preschoolers and their parents. The youngsters were exposed to more background tv had a weaker understanding of their beliefs, feelings and desires. They believe its how too much tv can stall their cognitive development. The secret to a successful pregnancy. Adopt a Healthy Lifestyle before you get pregnant. Women who had no complications during pregnancies went on to deliver healthy babies. They had normal weight and Blood Pressure in common. They were more likely to eat theltier foods like fruit and cut back on drug and alcohol use. Women who didnt experience complications were working during pregnancies. Eating something commonly found in a bathroom, not a kitchen. This is hard to believe. People are eating cotton balls in an effort to shed pounds. This is not the sort of fiber you want in your diet. Reporter in the pursuit of body perfection, dieting can take change turns. Videos on youtube tout the cotton ball diet as a way to lose weight. Basically, eat a cotton ball soaked in use rather than eating a real meal. From what i understand, there are a lot of supermodels and other celebrities attempting this. Im that young women imlate these women and their figures. Reporter you should never try to eat a cotton ball. Its nondigestible and is something of a spongetype effect. It might be at least an initial feeling of fullness in the stomach. Reporter that fiber isnt the kind you want to be eating. Trying this socalled diet is a very bad idea. Its possibly could cause an obstructive effect lower in the intestines. I consider that a fairly dangerous technique. Most cotton balls are not made out of cotton, but bleached Polyester Fibers that contain chemicals. Over time, they can create serious blockages or obstruction and could be life threatening. Turning back to the weather n everybodys mind as we head in the temperatures. A rapid drop in the temperature, too. Get your best winter gear ready. Get it set. Dont be fooled by the morning temperature tomorrow. Out there, we have showers that are moving through the area. Im going to zoom in on where most of them are, south and east of d. C. , around clinton, maryland, quantico and deal and calvert beach. They are moving out. Showers will start moving in. More on your saturday. Saturday is going to turn cold. Sunday is the frigid day. The winds ramp up late saturday. As we g into early sunday morning. As far as the temperatures go sunday, we have been advertising the shocking drop in temperatures. Here we are at 5 00. 48 degrees at 2 00 p. M. , windchills in the 30s by 5 00. Windchills in the 20s by 8 00 p. M. By 9 00 p. M. , windchills in the teens. Cold weather tips for you, remember the hat and gloves preferred. This is the type of cold where hypothermia can set in quickly. Its a danger for late tomorrow as well as early sunday morning, if you are out for any period of time unprepared. Look at the seven day forecast here. Again, we have sunday posted with the windchill temperatures high of 36. Windchills between 15 and 25 degrees. Our winds gusting to 30, maybe even 35 miles per hour. The other thing i mentioned is the storm system that comes in late tuesday wednesday. The temperature, 45 to 40 degrees. Right now, im not worried about any big snow here. As that system pulls away wednesday, the air could be cold enough to give us a switchover. This is a storm system we are tracking now. Part in the southwest part of the country. It digs down to the gulf coast and heads up. I think there could be airport delays around spots like atlanta, georgia. Maybe here in d. C. As well as philadelphia and even wednesday. Late tuesday, wednesday, turkey day, there it is, 38 degrees for a high temperature. Breezy and cold for turkey day, so, good day to stay in and eat a lot, right . All right, we are always up for that. Thanks. Fair oaks mall, they call it the fun zone. For hundreds of wary parents, a zone for active kids. Today, after five months of being closed for construction, a brandnew fun zone reopened. The playground is sponsored by michael and sons. It has a construction theme. A big shot makes the money shot in oklahoma. A fan comes out of the stands and hits the half court for 20,000. Thats right, 20,000 to an Oklahoma City thunders fan last night he made a Half Court Shot during halftime. Afterward, the fan is congratulated by jayz and yo fan made the Half Court Shot to win the prize. You know what next friday is, black fur day in fairfax county. The Animal Shelter has more than 25 dogs and puppies, 40 cats and dozens of other small pets. Black and darker colored animals take longer to be adopted. The shelter is waving all fees on these pets. Other pets adopted out with half off the fee. The shelter is located at 4500 west ox road in fairfax. It is open friday from 10 00 in the morning to 5 00 in the evening. A gift bag of pet friendly goodies goes out with all adopted animals. Still ahead, hooked on heroin. Its not a story from the depths of the inner city. We are going inside marylands wealthiest community into the dark world of drug addiction. Plus this coming up, these ladies were so excited about the opening of Tanger Outlet, its a growing problem, people hooked on heroin. Yes, Montgomery County is seeing a spike in Overdose Deaths. Darcy spencer takes a closer look at the problem and why so many young people are losing their reporter in one of the wealthiest areas in the nation, more than a dozen people died from overdosing on heroin. How many times would you say you hit that vein . 30 or 40 times. It still bleeds, evidence of his heroin habit. Hes beating his addiction. I was injecting myself seven times a day. Reporter hes speaking about the heroin problem in Montgomery County. 13 Overdose Deaths in the county since june. They are popping up. Reporter one of the areas is damascus known for rural qualities, Landscape Properties and expensive homes. There have been several heroin busts here along route 27 and damascus, a twolane road. Dealers use this instead of the inta damascus high school. Heroin problem in Montgomery County and my experience is epic levels. Reporter the drugs penetrate every click from the cheerleaders to the Football Players and then the goth kids. Reporter she spoke out publicly about the problem after her boyfriend who struggled with an addiction to pills took his life. Other friends died from accidental heroin overdoses. Its sad to see the kids i know now who are addicted and who think they are going to end up dead. Reporter Montgomery CountySchool Superintendent said there is education in schools. They look for warning signs of drug abuse and offer counseling. He says this is taking place, for the most part, outside of school. We have students for one quarter of the day half the year. This must be a collaborative approach that involved the entire community. That starts with parents, end quote. Drug use is taking place on school grounds, even in the classroom. I know, for the short time i was there, the culture in the school was that it was acceptable to bring drugs to school. Reporter when she spoke about the addiction problem at school meetings, shes told the problem starts and ends with parents. Its a community problem. The schools are an integral part of the community. For them to suggest it is not their problem is disturbing. Reporter darcy spencer, news 4. Now there are programs aimed a at combatting the problem. One says thats not enough. Well hear from her in the second report at 6 00. Right now at 5 00, cold,