>> reporter: these are actually t-38 training jets often referred to as white rockets because of their appearance. often you see interesting things over the sky about d.c., but this was a particularly rare appearance over the skies, and this is, of course, in advance of what caused it to be later in the month. those two planes which have been in the sky over the nation's capitol flying about 1500 feet in what is normally restricted air space. there are several purposes to the mission. first of all, rare photos they've been able to get from up there. and also a training mission to map out the landmarks here. it's also with the arrival of the shuttle "discovery" later this month. "discovery" will make the final trip to the museum in chantilles. to do this they're going to fly piggy back on a 747. so that will only have one pass. so they float these over the district area. they came out from andrews air force base, flew down to virginia, and came across the mall here to sort of map out the landmarks and what have you. these t-38s can be modified to mimic the characteristics with the shuttle piggy back. they're only going to get one pass. these t-38s, we think they're all rumored now. and weather permitting, later this month, when the shuttle does arrive, we'll see the fruits of their labor. now again, it's rare to see the t-38 over our area. if you've seen the shuttle launches, you've seen them on the tail end as it lands. and the astronauts will fly a couple of them around the launch pad before the actual shuttle flight. so we got a little bit of a taste of what they're used to down in florida. and hopefully we'll get a better taste of it come later this month when the "discovery" arrives in our area for real. we're live in the mall. news 4. back to you. >> and it will be pretty spectacular to see that. nationals fans, the wait is finally over. the nationals opened the 2012 season in little more than three hours from now. now take on the chicago cubs in wrigley field. first pitch is scheduled for 2:20. the nationals entered the season with high expectations. some experts picked them to make the playoffs this season. manager davey johnson says he had high hopes for the team, too. >> everybody thinks they got a chance to win. that's the great thing about baseball. they're getting off to a good start. it was an exciting opening game. just always feel special. >> it's a huge honor. and to think where i was just a year ago at this time. and really couldn't ask for much more. it's not what i played for. you want to play for the games in october. but at the same time, hopefully we can get the season started on the right foot and get the ball rolling. . don't be surprised if you're walking downtown today and happen to see a turkey hanging out in a tree. the little bird was spolted this morning in a tree outside the national restaurant association on 17th street. animal control apparently went, assessed the situation, and decided the turkey was no zang, and didn't pose a danger to the public either. hanging out in the tree. hur keys. they start the weather now. a lot of sunshine out there this morning. a cool start to the day, though. now a look at our first forecast. hey, tom. >> what a change. yesterday we were in the 70s. this morning we went all the way down to the upper 30s to low and mid 40s. since then it hasn't warmed up a lot. with the sunshine we have a cold, high pressure system that's pushed in from the north. and all the areas in blue are still generally in the 40 rz. and that includes parts of west virginia, western maryland. and all those areas in west virginia, maryland, the easter shore, it's in the 50s. but areas from stafford county, all the way into washington have warmed now into the 50s. and there's the view from space. so over the last 12 hours we've had clouds on the increase. it's all bright and sunny. areas south and southwest. it's mostly cloudy now. the speckles of grain are a few sprinkles trying to reach the ground toward shar lotsville and from north of roanoke to southern west virginia. for the rest of the afternoon, we'll have clouds in and out. a partly sunny afternoon. it will be cool. we'll have light breezes out of the north and northwest around 5 to 15. and a dramatic change from yesterday. highs reaching just the upper 50s and low 60s. it's going to get colder than it was this morning. we'll talk about that and the weekend as well. and a look at next week. that will all be coming up in just a couple of minutes. >> all right. see you then. thanks. this morning firefighters rescued a family of three for a burning home in the district. this happened in the 1300 block of northwest d.c. >> reporter: the emergency call came from inside the house around 6:30 this morning. three elderly residents were in the home when the fire broke out. all of them had to be rescued. >> we saw flames coming out of the window, and very dark, billowing smoke. >> the smoke billowing out of the shattered windows. >> the smoke was more impressive than the flames. >> neighbors say an elderly woman and the the two sons have lived here for decades. firefighters believe it started in a second-floor bedroom. they had to rescue two people in the first floor for smoke inhalation. the third occupant works downstairs, but in the bedroom where they think the fire started. >> the patient was unconscious. and we were performing advanced life support on the person, trying to get that person alive to bring them to the hospital. >> looked like they got them out quickly. >> hours after the blaze in the 1300 block of locust road, firefighters still on the scene as investigators scour the house for clues. >> we've had some fires, you know. but nothing like this. this top floor was burned out. >> through the broken windows now you can see a charred upper floor, the slate roof cut in several spots for ventilation. >> we have our fire investigation unit conducting a thorough analysis of what happened. >> reporter: investigators say it could be several weeks before they determine what caused the fire. in northwest washington, melissa malay, news 4. >> let's check on traffic now. >> hey, aaron. right now i'm watching d.c. you're going to see an balance blocking your right lane. this is in northwest at p 13th and "k" street. an accident involving a pedestrian. the pedestrian is okay, but look out. that road is blocked for you. now you are able to pass. just stick to the right. you are seeing delays as you make your way up to the road work there. now crossing over 14th street bridge is a breeze as you head into the city. really no issues on 95 northbound. you're at 58 miles an hour. aaron, back over to you. >> sounds good. thank you. this afternoon maryland lottery officials will hold a press conference about the controversy surrounding the winning ticket bought in maryland. so far nobody has officially submitted the actual winning ticket. we do know it was sold at a 7-eleven in baltimore county. it's one of three winners bought for the record breaking $656 million prize. in the meantime, the lawyer for the baltimore woman who told news 4 she has one of the winning tickets says she wishes it was all over. she called a press conference yesterday. we all went to the press conference, and then she refused to talk or show anybody the tick. wilson's lawyer has not seen the ticket either. he asked reporters to give wilson her privacy. >> the deal is that, her blood pressure is up. her children are home on spring break. she needs a chance to get back to her routine, as do the children. >> maryland lottery commission says whoever the winner is, they have 182 days for the drawing to claim their prize. police are investigating what they're calling two hate crimes at the university of maryland. in one, somebody wrote an anti-semitic message. in another area they found a noose hanging. that don't believe the two crimes are connected. the university president says hate crimes will not be tolerated. new today, former penn state assistant football coach jerry sandusky appeared in court in the child sex abuse case. the judge overseeing the case says a secret grand jury investigation is making it hard to prepare for sandusky's trial. san dadusky is expected to stan trial in two months for abusing boys. the 68-year-old faces 52 counts of child sex abuse. he denies the charges. right now he's on house arrest. your time is 11:10. coming up, what the captain of the costa concordia was doing. plus, how people today, president obama will sign a bill he says will help small businesses grow. he'll sign the jobs act later this afternoon. that stands for upstart our business startups. it's designed to help startups get financing. opponents say it leaves investors vulnerable to get rich quick schemes. rick santorum is taking time off from campaigning. santorum is facing increased pressure to drop out of the republican presidential nomination race. he just lost the wisconsin, d.c. and maryland primaries to mitt romney on tuesday. romney is turning his attention to the general election and going after president obama. >> the president came here yesterday and railed agast arguments no one is making. it's one of miz favorite strategies. setting up strong man to distract us from the record. while i understand the president doesn't want to run on his record, he can't run from his record either. his home state of pennsylvania runs its primary on the 4th. we're learning more about the deadly cruise ship accident off the coast of italy. vanity fair is reporting the captain made a serious of mistakes before and after the ship ran aground. according to the magazine, francesco was going too fast, navigating by site and talking on the phone when it happened. he tried to stabilize the ship by lowering two and schors. he released too much of the chain. that caused the ship to roll more and caused many passengers to drown. vanity fair also claims that he told the ship's officers to lie and say that everything was under control. is a montgomery county aid worker imprisoned in cuba one of the world east moes influential people? "time" magazine included allen gross in the poll of influential figures. you can go to time.com and vote on who should be included in the time 100 issue. his story made headlines since his arrest more than a year and a half ago. cuba accused him of spying. he insists he was trying to provide internet access to the island's jewish community. now, i haven't been outside today. is it still cold out there? >> it really is. it's take an while to warm up. we had a dramatic drop overnight in the 70s yesterday down to the lower 40s and upper 30s this morning. it's really not warmed up much since then. we had cloudiness after quite a bit of sunshine. now there's capitol hill. the live view from the city camera. and it shows quite a bit of cloud cover over the capitol hill. the potairport is at 54 right n. there's a northeasterly breeze around 10 miles an hour. it's rather dry as well. here's the pollen count. numbers over 1,000. it's mostly tree pollen, and it's oak, pine, sycamore. this is half of what it was last year. still enough to cause problems for allergy sufferers. it will be high for the next couple of days. now the last 12 hours. we've had cloud cover coming in from a rain system passing to the south, getting a few sprinkles now. the areas in green and up near charlottesville. those are well south of washington. north and east it's all sunny in maryland and on the eastern shore. but areas south and west, it's mostly cloudy as well as most of virginia. here's the close-up view showing the cloud cover slowly moving its way in. lots of sunshine. in howard counties, eastern shore. from washington, fairfax, prince william, getting a lot of cloud cover now. a few sprinkles in charlottesville. that will pass well to the south in the next few hours. now temperatures locally around 50 degrees in northern parts of maryland and west virginia. closer to washington where the low to mid-50s now ch montgomery, prince georgia, arlington and fairfax. around the bay, eastern shore, northern neck, mid 50s there. fredricksburg to stafford in the mid 50s. and highs only reaching upper 50s near the pennsylvania border. it may get to the low 60s to mid 60s just south of washington from southern maryland, charles county into stafford and points west. all the areas there climbing in the low to mid-60s briefly. much of the region though, quite cool through the rest of the afternoon. breezes in the north/northwest around 5 to 15. overnight we'll have cloud cover thinning out. we'll break up a bit. but we'll drop temperature wise to the mid 40s by midnight m then by down tomorrow all the way down to the 30s. tomorrow afternoon bright and sunny. a blustery wind. highs only reaching near 60 tomorrow. then on saturday a cold start. could have a freeze on saturday morning. afternoon highs with sunshine saturday into the mid 60s. easter sun, afternoon highs in the mid-60s. then the first part of next week we'll be off to a cool start back to work and school. some schools have next week off for spring break. it's going to be a cool week next week. and nationals opener today. not home opener. they take on the cubs. only near 50 degrees during the game with a blustery wind. >> is it football or baseball? >> i don't know. >> pretty cool out there. >> let's get another peak t at the roads this morning. >> right now i'm looking at i-66 eastbound. i am seeing cones up blocking your left lane. you can still get by pretty easily. you're under speed at 46 miles per hour. taking 13 minutes from fairfax parkway to the beltway. aaron, over to you. >> all right. thank you, ma'am. still ahead on news 4 midday. it was designed for a woman, but steve haste takes his turn at this popular workout to let us know what he thinks. plus the dance theater ensemble is headed to d.c. i was paying too much with cable. paying so much, you want better quality. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. for the amount of money that i'm paying, my cable company should take care of me. 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(man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime. welcome back. virginia johnson is artistic director of dance theater of harlem and a d.c. native. she joins us with more on what audiences can expect from the dance group. good morning. thanks for being here today. >> good morning. >> it's nice to have you back. we know you started in the d.c. area with the washington ballet, right? >> absolute, i'm a washingtonian. it's great to be back. i started dancing with darrell smith. she was the first teacher who gave me the love of dance. i worked with mary day at the washington school of ballet. she gave ne the background and made it possible for me to become a dancer. what was that experience like? >> when i was about 1, i was ready to audition for companies, and somebody said to me, well, you know, you really should switch to modern dance, or you should really try jazz. there just aren't blackball r black ballerinas out there. to have this profession was something at that time, this is the 1960s, just not open. but i went to new york. at that point arthur mitchell was just founding the dance theater of harlem. so i joined that company. i was a founding member of dance theater harlem. i got a chance to have the career i wanted to. danced there for 27 years. >> that's spectacular. how much have things changed for black dancers, black ballerinas? >> that's that tough thing. when i was young dancer and told i couldn't dance, dance theater of harlem made it possible for me. one thing i'm really excited about being artistic director for is i can again create that opportunity for young dancers. we will let this know this is the chance. >> tell us about the ensemble and the show coming to the theater. >> the dance theater ensemble is a group of talented young dancers who was put together about four years ago to begin to resenat restart the dance theater of harlem company. they're talented people from the united states and around the world. they'll be doing a mixed group that shows ballet can be very classical and very contemporary. some of the clips are from a piece called contested space by donald byrd. it's very contemporary. very of the moment. it's using ballet technique on your tips of your toes. but the music is new. there's a very contemporary feel to it. it's going to be an exciting program. we also know it's a rare performance in southeastdc. >> dance theater of harlem has an important message. it's what classical ballet can look like and who can do it. it's important for us to perform in washington, d.c. where people will come to see the performance because they're excited about it. it's important for us to be here because people don't know the possibilities that are open to them. so the arc is a fantastic art center over there. >> we appreciate you bringing this gift of dance for the entire community. i can only imagine how phenomenal of a performance this will be. we should also mention the art performance is actually sold out. there in southeast. but tickets are still available at the lincoln theater for that performance. thank you for being here. >> it was my pleasure. stay with us as news 4 midday continues. new information on the death of whitney houston. what police found in her hotel room and what doctors found in her system. plus the anger over the octomom's decision to go on welfare and why fear led to that i was paying too much with cable. paying so much, you want better quality. it just got more frustrating and frustrating. for the amount of money that i'm paying, my cable company should take care of me. [ male announcer ] stop paying for second best. get verizon fios tv, internet and phone with our best price online: just $94.99 a month, guaranteed for two years. first time we saw tv on fios was amazing. i was just in a...trance watching it. i'm discovering new channels every day. [ male announcer ] sign up with no annual contract. or choose a two-year contract and pick your bonus: hbo and cinemax for 12 months... or $250 bac