and it includes westmoreland county and the northern neck. heads up down toward the northern neck, maybe a few more inches there but this is not going to be a big storm, and this is one reason why. look at the numbers. 41 degrees right now d.c. 41 in fredericksburg. 41 in leesburg. so as the snow falls, it will melt on contact, at least early. again, tomorrow morning a little bit of a different story. i'm going to have much more on what to expect early tomorrow morning and i just updated our snowfall total map. how much snow will you see in your area? my forecast in just a bit. >> all right, doug. road crews in our area are already getting ready for the storm. d.c. mayor muriel bowser announced an hour ago that the city's snow team will deploy about 9:00 tonight. vdot has started pretreating the roads. it has about 700 trucks ready. vdot is staging the trucks along the roads so they are ready for the evening and the morning rush hours. now, you're encouraged to delay the morning commute if possible. and, of coue, those days where having a weather alert set on your nbc washington app is a good idea. set it to your home screen on the nbc washington app so you can track current conditions. you can also get the latest on any school delays as they come in. chris, over to you. this one is getting ugly. the war of words between mitt romney and donald trump. >> so even though donald trump has offered very few specific economic plans, what little he has said is enough to know that he would be very bad for american workers and for american families, but you say, wait, wait, wait. isn't is he huge business success? doesn't he know what he's talking about? no, he isn't, and, no, he doesn't. >> former presidential candidate mitt romney blasted donald trump and pleaded with his fellow republicans to shun the front-runner for the good of the party and country. romney says enable democrat hillary clinton to win the white house. trump fired back just a little while ago calling romney a, quote, failed candidate and choke artist. now romney and trump's scathing critiques of one another will likely come up later tonight when the final four republicans debate in detroit. dump, senators marco rubio and ted cruz and governor john kasich will be on stage. dr. ben carson will miss this one. he's not officially suspended his campaign, but admits his candidacy cannot see a way forward. front-runner trump will face some tough questions from rubio, cruz, and the fox news moderators after he skipped the last debate the network hosted. we'll have a live report from detroit coming up at 4:30. on the democratic side, hillary clinton and bernie sanders will debate saturday in flint, michigan. clinton is not making any public appearances today, but sanders was in lansing, michigan, this morning hoping to cut into her lead. sanders talked about his trade policy and argued that families approach to trade. michigan is among the states holding primaries next tuesday. just into the live desk, a lockdown at five schools in manassas city has just been lifted. billed win and dean's elementary, mayfield intermediate, mets middle and osbourne high schools were on a modified lockdown because of police activity in an area known as georgetown south, but, again, those lockdowns have now been lifted. we don't know what the police activity was just yet but we'll look into it and have updates for you on the nbc washington app. back to you. first at 4, we just learned two men are now facing charges in montgomery county for alleged human trafficking and child sexual assault. one of them is a school bus driver in maryland. >> reporter: i'm mark segraves in rockville, maryland, where two men have been charged with forcing a 16-year-old girl into prostitution and according to court records, one of the suspects is a school bus driver for police say they were called here to the red roof inn on shady grove road when a 16-year-old girl said one of the men she was having sex with pulled a knife on her and threatened her life. police have charged the two men with multiple counts of human trafficking. the 16-year-old girl is reported to be safe. coming up at 5:00, you'll hear why police believe there could be more victims. first at 4, maryland's highest court heard appeals today in cases related to the death of freddie gray. one of the officers charged in gray's death does not want to be forced to testify against his five fellow officers. gray died after being injured in police custody last april. news4's chris gordon has been following the case from the beginning. he joins us live from annapolis with more on today's developments. chris? >> reporter: well, pat, this is the first time that the maryland court of appeals has ever encountered a case like this. can a defendant who is facing testify against his co-defendants? the appeals focus on baltimore police officer william porter. he testified at his own trial in december. it ended with a hung jury. he will be retried in june. prosecutors want porter to testify against the five other police officers charged in the death of freddie gray, who suffered a broken neck in the police transport van last april. gray died a week later. the trial judge compelled porter to testify against two other officers with use immunity, which means nothing porter says can be used against him. prosecutors want porter to repeat the testimony he gave at his first trial that van driver caesar goodson didn't secure gray with a seat belt and sergeant alicia white failed to get freddie gray medical attention. porter appealed. in court today his lawyers argued it's wrong to compel him to >> every time he gets up on the stand, he subjects himself to a perjury charge which carries ten years more. >> reporter: ahead at 5:00, we'll tell you when the maryland court of appeals is expected to issue its opinion and how it will affect the six baltimore police trials which are currently on hold. that's the latest live in annapolis. pat, back to you. >> chris gordon. thank you, chris. something in the water. in a couple days thousands of you may notice something different about the water in your home. what the water company says you should do about it. it's going to be a busy night for storm team4. snowflakes will start falling in a matter of hours. around the clock updates on this as a small business owner, you know things have a way of moving fast. but if your network can't keep up, it can really slow you down. so switch to the 100% fiber optic network of verizon fios. you'll get 99.9% network reliability, and the fastest wi-fi available. for a network that moves as fast as your business. right now, upgrade to fios 50 meg or higher internet and phone and get $250 back. call or go online today. small business is better on a better network. this is a storm team4 weather alert. >> all right. if you're going out this evening, you're going to notice some of the snow showers, rain showers starting but the bulk of it between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m. for a start time. our temperatures, 34, 36 degrees, so we're not expecting any impact on any area roads for this evening. probably not until very late, say 11:00 p.m. or midnight. you're looking at the temperatures currently across the area. look at this, upper 30s, low 40s, so we're doing just fine. on top of that, the road temperatures are running about five to as much as ten degrees higher than the air temperatures that you're seeing here. so, again, i think we're fine for the evening and prior to midnight. it's what happens after midnight where there might be a few slick spots setting up. so i think on area roads. temperatures drop to the mid-30s. we'll talk about the impact on roads for early tomorrow morning. i'll show you the zones where we could have some slick spots across the area. that's in a few minutes. >> all right. even as v.j. prepares us for what's coming tonight, we're still feeling the fallout nearly two months after the blizzard of 2016 buried us in snow. this week d.c. united tweeted that lot 7 will be closed for the team's first home match of the year at rfk stadium. that was the main dump site for d.c.'s snow removal teams and believe it or not, some of the giant mounds still haven't melted. the team says the lot won't be ready for the match on march 20th. if you live in d.c., arlington, or parts of fairfax county, you may notice that your water may start to smell a little funny. may smell like chlorine. that's because it's time for the annual spring cleaning of the water system. authorities are flushing out the system to improve water quality. they will monitor chlorine levels to make sure it's safe to drink. to get rid of the smell though, water for about two minutes and then refrigerate your water. this all starts on monday and will continue through the 2nd of may. thousands of you drive across it every day, but now officials say it's not safe, and they may have to shut it down. what it will take to keep that from happening. you see them all the time on your facebook feed. quizzes that tell you what kind of super hero you are, what kind of animal you're most like. they seem innocent on the surface, but some of them could be after your money. right now the radar is giving us a stone cold reminder that it's still winter. storm team4 is keeping a close eye on when that snow gets here. >> it's a weather alert day and doug is back in just moments. remember, you can track the weather anytime with the nbc washington app. now to a developing story in baltimore. a department of public works employee has died after being shot on the job and according to wbal, the suspected shooter is a co-worker. the shooting happened inside a maintenance facility this morning. apparently the shooter and the victim were arguing inside a locker room there. now, most 69 peopof the people k at the facility actually go out in the field to respond to water and sewer line problems. moria you should know the the shape and it could be shut down in five years if the park service doesn't make the necessary repairs. news4's tom sherwood is live tom, what is it going to take to fix it? >> reporter: well, pat, first, take a look at the bridge right now. it's my favorite bridge. it was built back in 1932, but now it handles 68,000 vehicles a day. it's the area's most beautiful bridge, but it's falling apart. the park service told us today the roadway and infrastructure needs $250 million in repairs or it may have to close by 2021, five years from now. >> arlington memorial bridge is really known as an iconic bridge in the nation's capital, and it connects our nation's capital to one of our four most hallowed grounds, arlington national cemetery so it's an important bridge not only in the region's transportation network but as part of the historic character of our city. >> reporter: now, coming up at 5:00 and 6:00, we'll tell you more about the infrastructure problems, what's wrong with the bridge inside and under the roadway, and how it could be fixed. i t pat. >> thank you, tom. well, it's a weather alert day, and that snow is moving on in ever so quickly. >> yeah. so, doug, how fast is the storm going to happen and when exactly does it start? >> well, it's moving in right now. we do have some flurries reported in parts of the area, manassas, vienna, out towards lles airport reporting light flurry activity now. it's moving in now. it will be out of here by around this time tomorrow morning, maybe around 6:00, 7:00 tomorrow morning but not a big storm but, yes, we are on weather alert mode as we have a winter weather advisory in effect. 41 degrees, plenty of cloud cover, winds out of the south at 8 miles an hour. temperatures well above the freezing mark. 41 d.c. 41 manassas. 41 leesburg. 41 down towards fredericksburg. so any snow that falls into an atmosphere like this is quickly going to be melting, and i think that's going to be one thing that holds our snow totals down. the other thing is simply going to moisture here. storm team4 radar showing what's moving in. notice this hole. i have talked about this hole before. see how this is right around the radar. that tells me that the atmosphere is still very dry. the hole itself will get smaller and smaller as the particles, as the snow actually begins to make its way closer in, but a lot of this not quite reaching the ground. anything that is is very, very light. we are watching the storm back to the west. it looks pretty good here. snow falling in charleston bup the wider view has the storm system making its way up to the south. that's going to take a lot of the energy away. watch what happens tonight. here is 9:00 tonight. we have some snow developing around the area. by 11:00, everybody is in on the snow. we're starting to see that snow maybe coming down, maybe accumulating on some of the grassy surfaces but then watch what happens around 2:00 in the morning. it's all to the north and now down to the south and watch how the northern part of this just dies and the southern part really takes over. that's going to be the case. yes, 7:00 a.m., we could see showers, it's no longer accumulating on the roadways and by 1:00 in the afternoon, that system is just out of here and we're dealing with clouds. our snowfall forecast, 1 to 2 inches and this is generous 1 to 2 inches. i think most areas around an inch. a coating possible around warrenton, d.c., the metro. the area we're most confident about is down to the south and that's still only one to two, maybe isolated three. there's a winter storm warning for westmoreland county in virginia, down along the northern neck. i don't think we'll hit the criteria but it's up there just in case. snow really begins 8:00 to 10:00 and that's when it's accumulating snow. mostly light. roads staying above freezing so i'm not too worried about tonight. tomorrow morning, veronica will be back with the latest on the roads and what to expect there. but look at the numbers. 43 tomorrow. so anything that falls will melt. 46 on saturday. another system saturday night into sunday. you could wake up to some snow on the roof early sunday morning but then look at monday, 60. wait until you see next week's forecast. >> all right. thank you. silver line construction forcing some changes near dulles airport. this afternoon part of autopilot drive will be closed. traffic will be detoured and a section of the eastbound access highway will be closed while the work on a concrete span is under way. detours start at 9:00 tonight and continue until 5:00 in the morning. this is new at 4, for the first time president obama says the first family will stay here in washington even after they leave the white house. this afternoon the president told a woman in milwaukee they'll be in d.c. until his youngest daughter, sasha, graduates high school. she'll be a sophomore next year when his term is up and a lot of people have speculated he wouldn't want to pull her away from her friends. the obamas also have a home in chicago and at christmas they go to hawaii where the president was born. if you've never done it yourself, you've probably seen your friends post them on quizzes you see on your feed could steal your personal information. well, this is certainly not what you expect to see in the middle of a big city. why cops became cowboys right in the heart of manhattan. i do everything on the internet. but it's kind of slow. my friends said i should get fios because it's the fastest... i just downloaded 600 photos in 60 seconds. that's seriously better. 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(man) i heard that. now get our best offer ever. super fast 100 meg internet, plus tv & phone for just $69.99 a month online with no annual contract. 100 meg speeds at a price this good? fios can do that. cable just can't. switch to better. switch to fios you're watching news4 at >> apple has opened up a twitter account to help you fix your support problems. @applesupport went live this morning. the new account will provide some tech support as well as tips, tricks, and tutorials. apple already has twitter accounts for specific products, but until now it had avoided having a big presence on social media. seems like harmless fun. after checking your facebook feed, you maybe do a quiz or two. >> yeah, but while some quizzes are legitimate, hackers could be lurking behind others waiting to steal your personal information. reporter lindsay mastis takes a look at how to protect yourself. >> these quizzes look like fun but they're called click bait for a reason. like a lot of us katy hayes can't resist. >> if mooi friends take it, i usually do take it. >> reporter: but hackers can hijack accounts and use them to lure in more victims. >> they have so much information. >> reporter: the manager director at the florida center explains hackers just want one thing, money. it seems harmless. >> but you never know who is asking you for that information. >> reporter: they will use quizzes to disguise malicious links. some will connect to your facebook account to extract data. they can even trick you into downloading malware. quiz questions themselves could be a trap. >> the more they know about you, the more ways they can trick you into doing something like clicking on a link that you should not click on. >> reporter: so how can you tell whether the quiz you're taking is safe? be cautious of quizzes and polls that want you to sign in. the same goes for e-mail addresses. he urges treat them like cash. don't click on links just because a friend posted i reputable sources that protect your data. >> now that i think about it, i probably shouldn't take the quizzes anymore. my computer or phone might already be in damage of that and hopefully nothing happens but maybe i should stop taking the quizzes. >> and here are some more tips. hover over links before you click on them to get a better look at who or where they're from. instead of clicking on the link, try going to a trusted news source and then search for the story there. and if it's a scam, make sure to report it to the social media site. good tips. this is a sign of the times for metro. >> yeah. it's not just for people riding it. how the people who work there are starting to feel the pinch. and in a few hours you're going to start to see some snow falling around our area. how it could impact you tonight and the morning commute. as a small business owner, here's one thing you can rely on: your business will change as it grows. whether it's new space, more employees, or better equipment, things have a way of moving fast. but if your network can't keep up, it can really slow you down. and that's not good for business. thankfully, a switch to the 100% fiber optic network of verizon fios is all it takes to keep everything moving in the right direction. with fios you get 99.9% network reliability with uploads as fast as downloads. but you also get something more. a network that can move as fast as your business does. right now, upgrade to fios 50 meg or higher internet and phone and get $250 back. call or go online today. small business is better on a better network. now at 4:30, winter is not over yet. snow is on the way. >> yeah, that's why we're in weather alert mode in a winter weather advisory that is now going to kick in in a few hours. v.j. has been tracking all of this at the storm center. v.j., what are you thinking right now? >> right now i'm thinking we're seeing a little bit of flurry activity out there. i think our road conditions are just fine, but, you know, in this segment here i will talk you through our current mp now, how they're going to change during the overnight period and where some of the worst spots could be by early tomorrow morning. for even the early part of tonight, i think our road conditions are just going to be wet. as we get into the early part of the day tomorrow, friday morning, i think some isolated slick spots as there will still be snow falling early part of the day. i think the bulk of it is out of here at 5:00 to 6:00 a.m. check out tomorrow morning's temperatures. this is critical as to what will be going on. it's not going to be snowing everywhere. low to mid-30s for highs. air temperatures tomorrow morning, low to mid-30s. the road temperatures slightly higher than that which is why i think most locations are fine. i'll break it down for new a couple mings and shutes and sho where the most slick spots could be tomorrow morning. all right, veronica. this is scott macfarlane back to the breaking nution we brought you at the top of the hour. we learned what caused the lockdowns at the five manassas schools. police say shots were fired on right now. officers say two men were seen firing at passing cars and then ran into a home on the street. a source has told police there may be high-powered rifles in the home and officers have called in atf for backup. several cars were damaged by bullets and the lockdowns at the five schools were lifted, but if you live on aspen place or nearby bird drive or george street, the schools are asking you to pick up your child from the school. we're watching the situation closely. we'll have more updates as soon as they come in. back to you. donald trump is a phony, a fraud. if we republicans choose donald trump as our nominee, the pros sects for a safe and pros f prosper use future are greatly diminished. >> i thought he was a better person than that, and m is indeed a choke artist. he choked and he choked like i have never seen anyone choke other than campaign trail. the republican party's last presidential nominee confronts the current front-runner. mitt romney's remarks are expected to be a topic of conversation at tonight's republican debate. >> that i have no doubt. steve handelsman is live in detroit. steve, what are we expecting to hear tonight? >> reporter: well, they're going to fight. you know that, whether it's going to be high road or low road, they're going to fight. so what about mitt romney? i talked to some republicans here in detroit today. they say they are reassessing their support of donald trump. others say no way because of mitt romney. in the escalating effort by some republicans to beat down donald trump, mitt romney is the heaviest hitter so far. >> donald trump is a phony, a fraud. >> reporter: the 2012 republican presidential nominee welcomed the endorsement of trump then. >> governor romney, go out and get them. >> reporter: but savaged trump today. >> the bullying, the showing off. his domestic policies would lead to recession. his foreign policies would make america less safe. but you say, wait, wait, wait, isn't he a huge business success? doesn't he know what he's talking about? no, he isn't, and, no, he doesn't. >> reporter: at a restaurant in detroit five days before the michigan primary with trump far ahead in state polls, a trump backer was turned off by romney. >> don't be telling me or any other citizen, i don't care who you are, on how we're going to think and what we should do. >> reporter: donald trump in maine slammed romney. >> mitt is a failed candidate. he failed. he was begging for my endorsement. i could have said, mitt, drop to your knees, he would have dropped to his knees. >> reporter: john kasich was in michigan. >> mitt is a good guy. he's very troubled about the direction of the country. >> reporter: romney said kasich or marco rubio or ted cruz should be the nominee and after cruz won texas on trails trump by just 27% in delegates. when the republicans debate tonight in detroit, ben carson will be gone. the republican field is shrinking with big guns trained on the front-runner. donald trump to try to put an end to the escalating effort to deny him the nomination is hit hinting again he could bolt the republican party and take millions of voters with him. steve handelsman, news4. the d.c. republican party just announced the results of their presidential straw poll. donald trump came in first with 31 pst. marco rubio was a close second with 28% and ted cruz had 16%. governor john kasich, 14%. the d.c. republican party will meet again on march 12th so select 16 voting delegates to the republican national convention in cleveland. what do you think will happen in the nomination? it's our nbc washington flash do you think donald trump will be the nominee or are we going to see a contested convention? or is somebody going to launch a third-party campaign? just text the number on your screen or head over to the nbc washington facebook page to vote. testimony is over in the fight over virginia's voter i.d. law. this afternoon both sides are preparing written briefs to submit to a judge later this month. the democratic party of virginia is challenging the law saying showing your i.d. suppresses the voting rights of minorities and young people. republicans say it's intended to deter voter fraud. this is darcy spencer in annapolis. could the deaths of two young children in prince george's county allegedly at the hands of their own mother have been prevented? some here say yes. that's because the threat she allegedly made to harm her kids was never reported to child protective services. two released from the hospital following a psychiatric evaluation, she allegedly suffocated her children in their chefferly home. what lawmakers are doing to close a loophole in maryland law to make sure these type of threats are investigated. darcy spencer, news4. metro's new leader is cutting costs by putting a stop from everything is business travel and buying paper clips. "the washington post" reports that general manager paul wiedefeld septembnt a memo orde them to make cuts to all nonessential spending. he cites unforeseen challenges which cost metro $14 million in lost revenue. watching you while you drive. in one part of our area you're about to get a big fine in the mai school buses. a weather alert day. doug and veronica are tracking some snow heading our way. they're also tracking the timing and impact. "first at 4." and right now tracking the snow on storm team4 radar, and, again, it is all snow across the region. many areas reporting light snow, light flurries. that's really all this is, just some flurry activity. a lot of you on my twitter page right now saying snow starting earlier than expected. it's really not. we expected to see some flurry activity. most of this not reaching the ground just yet. you can see not a whole lot going on. what we are talking about between 7:00, 8:00, 9:00 this morning is the accumulating snow. that's starting to get its act together just down to the southwest. so, yeah, that may start 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 tonight but these things normally do start a little early. winter weather advisory in effect for the entire area. i doubt we hit the criteria but, again, tomorrow morning's rush could be a little slick in some locations. not too worried about it. no need to go to the store and buy any bread, milk, or that other thing, toilet paper. they should remain on the if you illegally pass a school bus in arlington county, you will soon be getting a ticket in the mail. you may remember last year that citations could only be hand delivered. that was the law. news4's molette green explain how that's about to change. >> reporter: a senate bill now clears the way and closes that loophole that will allow now for fines to come in the mail. the existing law did not provide for that, only for hand-delivered tickets. all of this came about after the virginia state attorney general raised some concerns, and that prompted many area school districts to back away from issuing fines from the cameras attached to school bus stop arms. well, come summertime, july 1st, that's when they will regain the ability to mail out those summonses to those folks who break the law. in fairfax county, molette green, news4. most dogs lead fairly simple lives, but some of them are essential to our safety, and saw today on capitol hill. they appeared before a homeland security committee during a hearing on the importance of k-9 programs. customs and border inspections, transportation safety, and agricultural inspections are just three of the programs enlisting k-9s. in today's hearings handlers showed off dogs detecting explosives, currency, weapons, and prohibited agricultural items. "first at 4," raising serious questions as a sports reporter heads to court over videos that violated her privacy. the case is raising concerns about hotel safety. how easy it is for someone to find out where you're sleeping. plus what's been missing lately from capitol hill and why it concerns a lot of women. you're watching news4 at 4:00. this is a storm team4 weather alert. >> back to some real winter weather. the return of snow. storm team4's tracking its every move. >> we're in weather alert mode this afternoon. you can see it coming in on storm team4 radar. let's get right to the storm center for another update. veronica, when do you think this is all going to arrive. >> we're seeing some flurry activity but i think in terms of the bulk of the snow really moving into our area and really starting to come down, it will be after 8:00, 9:00, so we do have some time. and even then when that happens, i think our roa calendar, one of our biggest snows last year was on march 5th, so the average snowfall for the month of march is just over an inch. a lot of folks are ready for spring but, you know, this is the time of year where it's so tough to get spring to come in. right now the storm team4 radar, you're seeing the white where there is some flurry activity right now over to bowie, gaithersburg too and just south of 66 down around warrington. most of the snow after 8:00, you can see our temperature 40 degrees. tomorrow morning snow and that temperature is around freezing. so that is when there could be slick spots setting up. future weather is temperatures both superimposed for you. as we go to the 5:00 hour, approach 10:00, look at that, we're starting to drop just down around the freezing mark. gaithersburg, germantown, olney, 36 in d.c.+5tb with the snow mo through. after midnight is when there could be some slick spots setting up and up when the sun comes up tomorrow morning. 6:00 a.m. we're below freezing. still some snow across our area but most of it is out of here by 5:00 or 6:00 a.m. by 3:00 tomorrow morning, maybe a little bit of sunshine and our temperatures in the 40s and late tomorrow there might even be a few sprinkles around culpeper and leesburg. this is going to be a fast-moving event for us giving us a coating of snow. la ray, charlottesville, warrenton, into d.c., in and around metro d.c., fairfax, prince george's county, 1 to 2. for southern maryland possibly seeing higher amounts here as well as well up to the north across northern maryland. that's areas like frederick, hagertown, winchester. again, this will be a minimal impact weather system for us. slick spots possible i-81, i-70, as well as down to the south. possibility here fredericksburg down 301, leonardtown, areas like calvert beach for early tomorrow morning. once the system is out of here, that's it for us. snow ending ea the weather tomorrow having a low to mad rat impact. our temperatures in the 40s but then we're going to continue to warm as we head through the weekend. 46 to 50 degrees saturday and sunday. it's saturday night into sunday morning when we could have a little sprinkle or a little flurry coming through the area. not a big deal at all. and then it gets a little breezy too i think on sunday. calling it a bit of a chilly weekend because our temperatures running a little below average, but hold on because next week we go from the 60s to the 70s, and we hold in the 70s all week long. it's going to feel a lot like spring. hard to believe we're talking about a little bit of snow for a 12-hour period coming up. >> all right, v.j. the defense is calling more witnesses to the stand in the erin andrews stalking case in nashville. today the court heard from a clerk who works at the front desk at the marriott hotel there. she testified that she doesn't remember much from that day, but she says she was trained to never give out other guest's personal information. the defense is trying to prove that the hotel d wrong. however, andrews says the hotel was negligent when it gave her za stalker a room right next to hers. he took nude videos of andrews and posted those videos online. she's suing both for $75 million. you know, this case has a lot of us thinking, you know, how vulnerable are we in our hotel rooms? i mean, it's a scary thought. someone could track you down and even take advantage of you there. >> yeah, and get access to your room and to see you while you're inside the room. nbc's jeff rossen and his team went undercover to test out hotel security. he found hotels giving out personal information, even exact room numbers, with no questions asked. >> reporter: the erin andrews trial making headlines this week. her stalker hatching an elaborate plot to get into the room next to her. so we launched our own hidden camera test. how simple is it to get the room next door? we wnt chains. my producer katherine and i booking separate reservations at each hotel using different credit cards and checking in at different times. >> checking in, please. >> katherine checks in first. >> hi. how are you? >> then i go in later. all i have is her name. will they put me near her? let's start at this marriott. katherine checks in. >> on the sixth floor. elevator to your left. >> reporter: she heads upstairs. later i show up. remember, we have no connection to each other in the system. my friend katherine nathanson is staying here. can i give the room next to her. >> i'm not able to give out what her room number would be without getting her permission. >> reporter: good news. he won't put me anywhere near her, but things take a turn at the hilton. katherine checks in. >> perfect. >> reporter: when i arrive later, listen to what the clerk tells me. my friend katherine can i get the room next to her. do you got me in there? >> on the 19th floor. >> reporter: next to katherine, right? great. this is my room right here. 1922. you can see my key card works. if i was a predator i would be feet away from the woman i was targeting. i would know she's in one of these rooms right over here. luckily this is just an experiment. it's my producer katherine and she told me they were putting her up across the hall. hey. >> hello. >> reporter: they put me in 1922 across the hall. >> no one called or alerted me. i would have had no idea you were right next door to me. >> reporter: but what happens at these next two hotels is even more surprising. first this radisson. >> great. >> on the left side. >> thanks so much. >> you're welcome. >> reporter: okay. katherine is in heading to her room. later i check in. my friend katherine nathanson is staying in the hotel, can i be right next to her. >> you will be right across. >> can i be right next door to her? >> i was trying to do that but they don't have the room next to incompetent? >> you will be in 931, she's in 927. here is my room key. at this hotel there's no guesswork at all. he volunteered her room number to me. he said 927, so if i was some sort of stalker, here i am right at her doorstep and here she is. and turns out it's not an isolated case. watch what happens at this crowne plaza. >> thank you. >> reporter: katherine checks in and goes upstairs. then i arrive. is the room right next to her open? >> right across is that okay? >> reporter: the room next to her is not available? >> no. is it okay if it's across? >> reporter: yeah. >> it just happened again. i'm up on the second floor and for the second time today a hotel clerk put me here and gave me her room number pointblank. said it's 201, no questions asked. it happened again. he gave me your number. >> it's scary. >> reporter: the hotels later telling nbc news they take seriously. the crowne plaza adding what happened falls below expectations. the radisson saying it's instructing hotel management to immediately comply with applicable standards. both are ind pently owned and operated. and from hilton, we are investigating and addressing the incident. when we shared our results with security expert steve cardian, he was appalled. >> with an investigative report like this, it's a wake-up call for the industry to put in place policies and procedure that is will keep our loved ones safe. >> wow. experts say if you want to be completely safe, when you check in tell the clerk you're not expecting anyone, and if anybody asks to be near you, the hotel should call you first. now to a debate in congress over the supply of feminine hygiene products on u.s. house grounds. during the budget hearing, a top democrat on the u.s. house appropriations committee showed a picture of an ou the congresswoman then asked why the house convenience store has stopped stocking women's hygiene products. the house chief administrative officer says the superintendent of house grounds has been notified and the vendors of the store will make efforts to restock. well, when you think of new york city streets, you probably think of cars and taxis and bikes, but horses? the head-turning incident that sent a horse dashing down the streets of manhattan by itself. check out the fresh new look on mcdonald's mcpick 2 menu! try a flaky filet-o-fish made with sustainably sourced fish, a big mac made with 100% beef, chicken mcnuggets made with white meat, or a quarter pounder with cheese seared on the grill. pick any 2 for $5 bucks. ♪ bada ba ba ba as a small business owner, here's one thing you can rely on: your business will change as it grows. whether it's new space, more employees, or better equipment, things have a way of moving fast. but if your network can't keep up, it can really slow you down. and that's not good for business. thankfully, a switch to the 100% fiber optic network of verizon fios is all it takes to keep everything moving in the right direction. with fios you get 99.9% network reliability and the fastest wi-fi available, with uploads as fast as downloads. but you also get something more. a network that can move as fast as your business does. right now, upgrade to fios 50 meg or higher internet and phone and get $250 back. call or go online today. small business is better on a better network. i'll see you at home. the egg mcmuffin. made with a fresh cracked egg and real butter. only at mcdonald's. i'm lovin it. hold your horses. a steed with speed is back safely with the nypd after ditching its rider and taking off through times square. michael george reports on the roundup. >> reporter: gunny the fugitive police horse is back in custody after a brief but memorable escape. police say a sound startled him and he threw off the officer riding him. >> i thought an officer was down because next thing you know you heard sirens everywhere. >> reporter: fortunately the officers had just minor injuries. meanwhile, gunny raced down 48th street, he took a right on 6th and then a right on 47th. maybe he wanted to avoid the traffic on 6th avenue. this cab driver couldn't believe what he was seeing. gunny ran up behind his cab and side swiped him. >> it looked like horse. in rush hour it's very unusual. >> reporter: gunny knocked the side mirror right off the cap but it doesn't seem like he has anything personal against taxis. he damaged this uber too. >> some people were screaming but thank god nobody got hurt. >> reporter: after only about two blocks, gunny stopped on his own at this parking garage on 47th. >> they came here and went into the garage and started doing some two step and then i guess he was telling everybody to get out of the way. >> reporter: gun why i may have stopped here because he recognized it. this is where police horses are occasionally dropped off. now gunny is safe in the hands of officers. >> i just thank god that, you know, the horse didn't hurt nobody or kill anybody because that's a strong animal. >> boy, that's an understatement. the officers on horseback patrol the streets and help ensure the order and safety of large groups of people. now at 5, a man is busted running a prostitution bring in a local hotel using teenaged girls. turns out he's a local school bus driver. i'm mark segraves and i'll have the i'm tommer is woo er isherw the busiest bridges in our region and it could close to traffic in five years if it doesn't get a much-needed makeover. and i'm chris gordon with a battle in the highest court in maryland. could a baltimore police officer be forced to testify against fellow officers in the freddie gray death? but first, this. news4 begins now with storm team4. >> now at 5:00, we're tracking snow. >> and it may impact your morning commute, and this is the kind of forecast that all comes down to timing. doug, schools are going to be paying close attention to your forecast. >> yeah, and i really don't think we're going to need to cancel many schools tomorrow. that's going to be the case as we move through. a lot of the kids out there going to be a little bit disappointed in that, but a delay may be something we need early tomorrow because the snow hub out of here by around 6:00, o'clock in areas. radar shows some snow up toward frederick, maryland, down towards annapolis, but what it doesn't show you is it's still falling in parts of the area, it's bust. >> he, very light snow. you can see what's happening back to the west. the bigger part of the storm is become to the west. as it transfers energy off the coast, we will lose a lot of moisture. this is not going to be a very big storm for the region. winter weather advisory in effect in the purple areas through early tomorrow morning. that most likely the result of what we'll be dealing with, the timing of this. winter storm warning down to the south. i don't think they'll hit the criteria either. we'll have to wait and see. look at the temperatures. well above freezing all across the area. anything that falls this evening will quickly melt. i will have the updated snowfall total map in a minute. >> and if you don't have it now, you should download our nbc washington app so you can keep track of the storm and get any

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