There i am. Hey, were just starting off fine. We got some partly cloudy conditions out there at the moment, temperatures cooling off back into the 30s. Should be nice, quiet morning commute for you, a quiet start to your day and later this afternoon clouds move in, some showers, a little snow tonight and then well talk about the weekend as well. We got a lot to talk about. Roads are nice and quiet. There is a little bit of cloud cover streaming in. We do have a couple fronts coming in today. The first one is moving through as we speak, and we wont notice much change in the air mass. Itll be chilly either way to start your day with temperatures in the low to mid 30s. But we are going to warm up this afternoon ahead of our next front. And it should be a nice, mild day today with partly sunny conditions for at least the first half of the day. Highs expected to be well into the 50s. Maybe well be 54, 55 for a daytime high today. Nice looking conditions. Then some late day showers and then the possibility of it transitioning into some snow again later tonight. A lot going on. But your morning commute just fine. The near Term Forecast here, clear skies, and some cool conditions. Again, temperatures right now in the 30s. Lots of details on the forecast in just a minute. Back to you guys at the desk. All right, tucker, thank you. This mornings top stories, a meteorite hit central russia causing many injuries. More than 400 people are hurt, mostly by broken exwhras. The meteorite caused sharp explosions, intense flashes and left a thick white trail. A driver caught these amazing pictures as this was taking place. Russian emergency Officials Say police got calls about injuries and damage to some buildings there. And later on today, an asteroid half the size of a football field will come close to earth and even come closer to weather and tv satellites that are orbiting the earth. Nasa says theres no chance it will hit here. At the closest point it will be 17,000 miles from earth just after 2 00 this afternoon. This mornings other top stories now, thousands of stranded Cruise Ship Passengers are back on solid ground after days without power or running water. Passengers eagerly ran from the boat, some even kissing the ground right here, oh, they are thankful to be back. The Carnival Cruise ship docked in mobile, alabama late last night. More than 4,000 passengers were on the damaged boat for nearly a week. Carnival is giving passengers a full refund plus it 500. Police in california say the body inside a burned out cabin is that of former lapd officer christopher dorner. He was wanted for the murders of four people, including a Womens Basketball coach and her fiancee. Officials say dorner researched 28yearold monica quan and 27 yearold Keith Lawrence before killing them. Quans father represented dorner during a disciplinary hearing. A big event on valentines day to draw attention to the need for more action to prevent violence against women. Fox med aclin has more. Reporter on a day that has been for love and kindness, for many its so much more than flowers and candy. Its about protecting women around the world from horrible acts of violence. A flash mob daps kicked off a large gathering at farrugat square today. Many more events just like this were held around the world. The best expression of love and appreciation for women in the world is to end the violence against women that is endemic wrierld. Reporter Amnesty International reports that one in three women will sustain some kind of abuse in their lives. Here in the district, its young females facing the most violence. Here in the district we have a tremendous issue of violence with women, particularly adolescent girls who face issues of dating violence and date rape. Reporter recently here in the district of colombia sexual assaults have been the focus of many questions. This comes after a Human Rights Watch group conducted an investigation that revealed d. C. Police were not acting properly when sexual assaults were reported. I hope we can come to the bottom of this. I know theres an investigation being done by an outside law firm which is important and i think its vital. Even if all that happens they lost these files, thats ridiculous. Reporter meanwhile, back at the rally, they are saying to enjoy the candy and roses on this special day, but dont forget about the women suffering through violence. We still have plenty ahead, your weather and traffic, traffic and all your top stories. Fox 5 morning news starts right now. Good morning to you. This is a live look outside over the washington d. C. Area, the Washington Monument there on your screen. And, hey, its friday, its all good. We dont care about cold weather. Ful its friday, february 15th, the day after valentines day. Hope everybody had a great valentines day. Good morning to you, im wisdom martin. I may still be celebrating this weekend. You can push it on into the weekend, maybe until monday. Maybe for the next month. Welcome to fox 5 morning news. Lets get a check of the weather with tucker barnes. Guys, thats your worst nightmare. Having to stretch it out . Yes. Stretch it everyday for a week. You had your day. Everyday should be like valentines day thats true, sarah, youre absolutely right. Everyday in my house is valentines day. Lets do some temperatures. Cold start to your day, were in it the 30s, 33 degrees right now out at dulles, 35 at bwi marshall and 38 here at reagan national, so were close by at reagan national. Temperatures later today are actually going to be in the 50s. We have kind of a wild forecast the next couple of days, so pay close attention, take notes and hopefully well get it right because its somewhat of a complicated forecast. Heres whats going to be happening near term, mostly cloudy, a series of fronts that are coming through, the first one this morning, a few clouds, otherwise that one will be a nonissue. Thatch and tonight were going to get another little front coming through. That one will bring us much colder air. So up ahead of that front today, well get some partial sunshine for your friday, temperatures in the 50s and late this afternoon well cloud up again. And by late this afternoon and this evening well get some showers that will likely transition for parts of the area, just like a couple of nights ago, from rain to snow. All right . You with me so far . Yeah. That front is going to try to slide through the area, and then were going to see if an area of low pressure develops along it for the day tomorrow and that could pri us more snow, or parts of the area more snow, okay . Like a lot of snow . Well, potentially it could bring some more snow. Well talk about that. Dont have to worry about it today. Im freaked out when he doesnt give me details. Well talk more. Thats fine. I got it, tucker. Lets check in with julie right now. Reporter im happy to be celebrating valentines day. Lets go back to that topic. Hey, southbound 270 quiet right now out of germantown, leaving 118 headed out towards the split. No issues reported right now on the capitol beltway. Traffic flowing freely between college park and bethesda, in fact, here it is live, the beltway west near georgia avenue, the inner loop looks great towards kennalworth avenue and towards greenbelt. Southbound construction on 198 in the process of clearing. Lanes are open in virginia as you work your way northbound on i95, continuing northbound out of dale city it. Thats a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. Julie, thank you. New this morning, Science Fiction comes to life in russia as a meteorite crashed to the ground early today. This is pictures of it happening. It happened about 1,000 miles east of moscow. The space rock caused numerous explosions which injured more than 400 people, most of them hurt by broken glass. Eyewitnesses say they saw a huge burst of light and then a loud thundering sound. The meteorite cause add large section of a factory roof to collapse as well. Our other big story this morning, relief and excitement for thousands of stranded Cruise Ship Passengers after the boat finally docks in alabama. The Carnival Cruise liner docked about 10 00 last night after five days at sea with no power or running water. Fox 5 sherry lee is live in the newsroom now following this one for us this morning. Good morning, sherry. Reporter good morning, sarah, good morning, which wisdom. Passengers and waiting family on the shore cheered as that crippled cruise ship docked. It took four hours to get everyone off and this morning many are on their way or already in hotels, thankful to be home. The Carnival Cruise ship triumph arrived in mobile around 9 15 central time last night, people kissing the ground there. More than 4,000 passengers on the ship endured five days with no power after an engine room fire. Some say the conditions were so bad people slept on the open deck in a makeshift tent city. Passengers complained of overflowing toilets, unsanitary conditions and had to use the bathroom in buckets and plastic bags. Up to 100 awaiting buses took passengers to hotels in new orleans and texas. Many were tired and just happy to be on dry land after the horrific ordeal at sea. I feel like they did their very best. Well, they made a lot of mistakes because they didnt have the tugboats come out, the tow boats come out immediately. We felt it was too big of a delay, but we also i felt like they tried hard. The crew was amazing. Reporter carnival now admits the triumph had been plagued with mechanical problems in the weeks leading up to the engine room fire. Dozens of planned voyages have now been canceled and a 14 story ship is head today a mobile shipyard for assessment. The National Transportation safety board has also opened an investigation. The cruise line said it would give passengers a full refund, discounts on future cruises and another 500 in compensation. Carnival apologized to passengers and says it is doing everything it can to get people back home safely. Wisdom and sarah. A lot of people being as patient as possible. Thank you, sherry. Lets go to california now where the remains in a burned out cabin have been identified as accused murderer christopher dorner. He is the former lapd officer who led authorities on a days long manhunt after allegedly killing four people. On Facebook Dorner claimed the murders were revenge killings from being let go from the force. Officials say he researched two of his victims, 28yearold monica quan and her fiancee, 27 yearold Keith Lawrence before killing them. Quans father represented dorner during a discipline ier hearing. The hunt ended with a shootout with officers before the cabin went up in flames. Our other top stories this morning, in Virginia Alexandria Police have ruled the death of a 94yearold man a homicide. Emma roars was found dead inside his holly street home on wednesday in what appears to have been a violent attack. While police have not made an arrest in his murder, they have arrested a woman, 45yearold Marie Johnson for robbing the elderly mans home last november. She is going to be questioned, and just like anybody else, detectives are going to come in contact with, so its still ongoing and very active. Police are not saying how they identified johnson as the suspect in the november burglary, but police say the victims house is surrounded by security cameras placed there after at least one previous breakin. In capitol heights, maryland, friends and family gathered to remember a 71year old disabled woman found murdered in her home on saturday. Geraldine mcintyre was known throughout her closeknit community as a friendly woman who on warm days would just sit outside on her porch, greeting people. Prince georges county police have been combing through the neighborhood, passing out flyers and looking for leads. They arent saying what, if anything, was taken from her home. Coming up next on fox 5 morning news, two weeks from today massive budget cuts will kick in if action isnt taken soon. Sequestration will have a big impact on thousands of jobs here in our area, and as the deadline comes closer, the calls for something to get done are growing louder. Its 4 37. Well be back. Almost tastes like one of jacks cereals. Fiber one. Uh, forgot jacks cereal. [ jack ] whats for breakfast . Um. Try the number one yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] over a third of a days fiber. Fiber one. Shimmy, shimmy chocolate. Shimmy, shimmy chocolate. We, we chocolate cross over. Yeah, we chocolate cross over. [ male announcer ] introducing fiber one 80 calorie chocolate cereal. Chocolate. This is dylan right here, this is dylan, and this is his big brother hayden. Dylans only five, but hes already been through two surgeries for brain tumors. And he just went through his second round of chemo. And this is their mother, dawn, who runs this loving and happy home. She too struggled with tumors. But that doesnt slow her down. Her love of family comes first. Their dad, phil, works two jobs, repairing copiers, and on weekends delivering newspapers. But the bills keep piling up, and the heating bill gets pushed off. When you learn about their difficulties, it just breaks your heart. When we asked the Biggest Oil Companies to help families in need, only citgo, the people of venezuela, and president hugo chavez responded. Thanks to them, Citizens Energy is able to deliver millions of gallons of fuel to families just like the berios. Im joe kennedy. If you need help staying warm, call me at 1877joe4oil. Because no one should be left out in the cold making headlines this morning, two weeks from today is the deadline for lawmakers at the white house to avoid automatic acrosstheboard spending cuts known as stretion sequestration. The director of the fbi warns it would be like cutting almost 3,000 employees. Other administration Officials Say the cuts will be devastating. It would mean fewer teachers to educate our children, less funding for schools to help disadvantaged students for children with disabilities. No amount of planning can mit gate the negative effects of sequestration on the security of the country. The sequester was enacted during the 2011 debt ceiling negotiations. It was to happen only if lawmakers fail today agree on reducing the nations debt, something that has not happened yet. Last night Senate Republicans blocked the nomination of chuck hagel, the president s pick to be the next defense secretary. They are demanding more details from the white house on the daily raid on the u. S. Consulate in libya last september and also want more time to look into income that hagel failed to disclose during confirmation hearings last week. Republicans say they will not block an upordown vote after they get back from vacation in 10 days. I think that that is a sufficient period of time to get answers to any questions and i think that senator hagel after that period of time deserves a cloture vote and an upordown vote on his nomination. President obama says republicans are playing politics with National Security during wartime and says hagel will eventually be confirmed. Coming up next on fox 5 morning news, warmer weather, the crack of the bat, you can almost smell spring around the corner, coh, yeah. Baseball time. Its almost here. The nats are stepping up to the plate down in florida getting ready for their first full squad practice at spring training. First, lets talk check in, rather, with tucker barnes. I got it the eventually ill get it together. Its friday, wisdom, you can say whatever you want. We got clear skies out there, lots going on today, tonight and tomorrow weather wise. Youre going to want to hear about it and julie wright has your traffic too. Well do it right after the break. Id like to thank eating right, whole grain, multigrain cheerios my bowl, my spoons mom, are those my jeans . [ female announcer ] people who choose more whole grain tend to weigh less than those who dont. Multigrain cheerios has whole grain and 110 delicious calories. More grains. Less you multigrain cheerios in multigrain cheerios peanut butter. Spring training is getting under way in another with high hopes for the nats this season. The n. It l. East champs have the roster stacked and the motivation to make it happen. Manager davy johnson says its world series or bust. Hes raised the bar. Oh, yeah. As he enters his final season as manager. Steven straussburg and gee gonzalez lead drills at spacecoast stadium or led drills at spacecoast stadium yesterday. Coming up at 9 00 well get a live report from scott smith in florida this morning. Very unflorida like outside here. But it is north of florida, so this is kind of the norm in february. Although it looked pretty nice and sunny down there, i gotta tell you. This is that time of year where its you know, if youve had the snow and the cold weather, youre, like, okay, i can handle spring right now. I think thats what were getting ready for pretty soon here. Were getting signs of it. Yesterday i saw some crocuses. The daffodils are trying to come up. Yeah, things changing. Sun will be getting a little higher in the sky and things will be changing in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime were talking wintertime and a combination we got a lot going on here weather wise. Right. Not necessarily spring like. Not necessarily spring like, in fact, one guarantee is its going to be cold this weekend, thats one thing were sure of. High temperatures on sunday wont get out of the 30s. 36 in leonardtown this morning and, lets see, below freezing here in places like manassas, 27, good morning, manassas, 30 in gaithersburg, 30 this morning in fredrick, nice and chilly out there. Clear skies right now for the time being, but some clouds moving in from the west. And we got a series of fronts that will be coming through. The first one wont bring us any precipitation. Itll come through nice and dry a little later this morning. There it is. Its kind of being pushed off to the north, but itll bring us some cloud cover here, particularly north and west, up towards hagerstown and fredrick, and thats why temperatures are just a little bit up to the north and west. Heres your picture, and what were going to be dealing with later this afternoon, around the bend it comes, our next frontal system, that little area of rain shower activity you see out in arkansas and missouri, thats going to spin up and towards the Washington Area along a front a little later this afternoon. So well get some morning sunshine, well get some clouds moving in a little later, and then i think by evening rush hour maybe some showers around here as high temperatures today are going to push well into the 50s. Whats going to happen later . As that front comes through, cold air is going to dive in behind it, and theres going to be just enough moisture lingering later tonight after midnight into the Early Morning hours that we could see it mix with or transition to snow, just like a couple nights ago. Were not expecting major aclations but probably enough accumulations but enough to coat the ground late tonight and early tomorrow morning. Then things will get interesting. This front is going to kind of hang off the coast. Were expecting an area of low pressure develop along it, an area of low pressure developing a little closer to the shore or further out to sea, we dont know the answer to that question yet and that will determine if tomorrow is a mostly cloudy day or if we have the possibly of some snow in the forecast tomorrow or if parts of the area have snow in the forecast tomorrow. The best thing right now is parts of the area will have snow in the forecast tomorrow, particularly across the bay, lower Eastern Shore and it looks like trillions be some lingering snow during the day as that storm develops and moves offshore. I know its early. I hope you got all that. Early on afternoon clouds, late day showers, this we can absolutely guarantee. 54 your daytime high. Tonight 33, rain transitioning to a little snow for parts of the area. Much colder overnight, 33 the overnight low. Heres a look at your forecast, possible snow for parts of the area tomorrow with highs only in the upper 30s to about 40. We can guarantee that sunday will be cold, blustery and cold, highs in the mid30s. Your holiday, mid40s with sunshine, so that looks better and right now tuesday about 50. Thats weather. Well get you an update here in just a minute with me, traffic with julie wright. Its early. Reporter come on, folks, lets do my forecast. Its tropical. Southbound 270 coming in out of hyattstown, lanes are open with no issues report inside towards germantown. Light volume on the top side of the beltway leaving college park over towards 270. Overnight construction 195 at 95 cleared. An easy drive for you headed inbound toward the capitol beltway. Thats a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. Julie, thank you. We were talking about the nats at spring training just a minute ago and the racing president s, they are warming up too. Starting today their newest member, bill, will face off against teddy for a race all the way to mount rushmore. The two will meet the rest of the gang at landmark on president s day and you can vote on who you think should win, the nats are expected to release more information about all of that later on today. Lets see if phil can give them a run for their money. Hopefully he wont be like the other president who didnt win forever, 400 or 500 games. Up next on fox 5 morning news, they are Government Programs meant to help people get back on their feet ghvment but in an economy where job prospects are tough, some are saying these programs are hurting more people than they are helping. Well explain after the break. Its now 4 49.  help for homeowners who are having a hard time keeping up with mortgage payments. Today through monday Neighborhood Assistance Corporation of america is at the d. C. Armory to help out with this. This will work with homeowners to find ways to reduce their Monthly Payments and help buyers get some good rates. Mortgage counselors are on hand at the armory from 8 00 a. M. To 6 00 p. M. Again, that is through monday. First time requests for jobless benefits, they dropped by 27,000 last month, but unemployment rates remain high. And there are fears the situation could breed a new dependent underclass in america, the unemployed. Doug mckelway looks at why thats happening. The 47 with him reporter mitt romney was roundly secured for those campaign comments which he later called completely wrong. Ohio University Economist Richard Vetter believes that romney was right. He says an expanding system of government benefits has helped create a poverty rate of 14 , 3 higher than in 1973. Theyre actually creating a dependcy on government which is unhealthy both for the individuals involved and their children and also for the broader society. Reporter vetters assessment rings hollow for one laid off worker with 33 years of paralegal experience who now sees Unemployment Benefits she hates collecting. People dont like being unemployed. Its not helping the economy at all. When people are working, the country is happy. Reporter one economist with the leftleaning policy institute suggests to blame government assistance for high unemployment is to confuse causation with corelation. In fact, we know that there are three times as many job seekers as there are job openings right. Even if every single job opening was filled tomorrow, more than 2 3 of our unemployed workers would still be unemployed. Its just that the jobs arent there. Reporter kyle murphy who runs a Sandwich Shop in annapolis, maryland describes how he often sees new hires quit to seek government benefits. They are people who know how to use the system best, get the most out of it, not necessarily the people who need the assistance the most. Reporter vetters says four programs in particular demonstrate americans increasing dependence on government, food stamps, nearly 30 million more americans received them than in the year 2000. Social Security Disability 3 million americans received payments in 1990, today its 8. 6 million. Pell grants, 3. 9 Million Students were awarded them in 2000, but today its 9. 7 million, even though half of graduates work in jobs that require no degree. And extended Unemployment Benefits, 26 weeks had been the standard. Today its 52 weeks or more for many. Theres another explanation for the steep rise in social Security Disability benefits. That being the aging work force, baby boomers approaching the age of infirmity and no improvement in the economy will change that. In washington, doug mckelway, fox news. Coming up next, its a place a lot of people go to grab a late night bite, but one waffle house says it is fed up with security problems, so its asking customers to pay up. But, first, a d. C. Favorite is expanding, fans of bens chili bowl will soon be able to grab their half smoked at another location. What . Yeah. We got the details on the restaurants big plans when fox 5 morning news continues. Lucky charms . yer always after me lucky charms whoa. I forgot how good these taste [ lucky ] theyre magically delicious the one and only, cheerios the local favorite, bens chili bowl is branching out. The loved d. C. Eatery is opening another location on eighth street northeast. Its set to open by the end of the year at the corner of 10th and h. Theyre be serving the chili that was made popular at their original location. Another bens, thats just what we need. They deliver. Youre hoping they deliver this time of day. While were on the subject of food, one waffle house franchise in atlanta is now charging customers to pay for security. Apparently crime was so bad in the area, that management decided to hire an offduty Police Officer to keep customers safe. Fox Denise Dillon has more. Yeah, we have the police for security because it used to get real crazy this there. Reporter and who is paying for that security . Everyone who eats at this waffle house in five points. Thats right. Every time you order a waffle, hash browns or a grits here, youre going to get smothered with a 20 surcharge. I really didnt pay that much attention, but, okay, were in downtown atlanta. Reporter waffle house says the money pays for an offduty atlanta Police Officer to control the crowds and for the safety of the customers and staff. Even though theres a Police Precinct right there, some of the people who work in the businesses along this stretch say theyve seen their fair share of crime, and theyre not surprised waffle house had a higher security. People would be stealing, you know, people may