he was blindsided, and struck from behind. injuries are more serious than previously believed. the video of what went down moments before a decorated marine was viciously assaulted in downtown d.c. you see a group of suspects enter mcdonald's. see marquez exit and i suspect follow him out, strike him to thecked ground. while unconscious, he is hit again, then another suspect kicks him, while a third robs him. whereat the va hospital we send him this video. he said it left him angry, frustrated, and disgusted. earlier he spoke about the violence on d.c. streets. >> it seems like it's turning into an epidemic of violence. you hear about people being attacked by mobs, by groups of people.

>> they are seeking to men for assault and one for robbery. marquez is thankful that d.c. police have a recent video. they are wide in connection with assault and robbery, not a hate crime. he is convinced he was taunted and targeted for attack because of his race. men inolice arrested two the death of a con man turned government witness. say they believe 29-year-old eric garris 26-year-old taqwa mohammed robbed him, shot him and then sped off. his family says he had turned his life around after serving time in prison. >> now to a developing story

pope francis suggested it is ok for catholic women to use contraception to try and stop this red of zika virus. -- the spread of zika virus. the pope said avoiding pregnancy is not an absolute evil. what appears to be a different tone than the church's long-standing ban on birth control. pope francis indicated birth control may be used when it comes to the zika virus. >> avoiding pregnancy, in certain cases such as i mentioned, it was clear. doctors will do their utmost to find back scenes against mosquitoes that carry this disease. >> however the pope did not specif

difference between a avoiding a fetus and preventing a pregnancy. >> he's not going to waver from the teachings of the catholic church but he's going to express his interpretation, especially with mercy. he's bringing a more practical view. >> the zika virus has swept across parts of central and south america and there are suspected links to birth defects. the cdc has urged women to delay travel to countries where the virus is prevalent. >> a lot of old-school catholics -- i think it's time for it. >> some in the impacted area say it obviously does nothing for women who are pregnant.

any changes within the church -- it canings and in be used for disease prevention. pope francis also weighed vote 2016. he wrapped up a five-day trip to mexico. donald trump has repeatedly pledged to build such a wall if he is elected and today he fired back at the pope. a religious: for leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful. christian, and a as president, i will not allow christianity to be consistently attacked and weakened, unlike what is happening now. leon: the latest national poll by cbs news shows donald trump

he has 30% of the vote, followed by ted cruz. cuban leaders are reacting to president obama's reaction that -- announcement that he will be visiting that island nation next month. john: the president may that official announcement this morning on twitter. he and the first lady will be in -22. from march 21 he will meet president castro and raise the issues of human rights and political freedoms. but the cuban government has issues it wants to bring up as well. >> it's a step forward in the improvement of relations between cuba and the united states. of course, in order to achieve the normalization of relations between the two countries, the territory occupied -- occupied

to be returned. minutesg up in about 15 , weise be with members of the delegation links ahead to cuba this weekend. the --ew information on the mayor tweeted a few hours ago that the h street line will start carrying passengers next saturday. the grand opening is set for 10:00 a.m. we're learning more about when the streetcar will run and what it will cost to ride and we will have those details coming up at 6:00. i don't know what the weather's .oing to be like next weekend alison: just to take a walk, a lot of people are looking forward to that. doug hill has a check on the forecast between now and then. doug:

nice break from the winter weather pattern. at the moment it's gorgeous outside. a live look at congressional country club in bethesda. upper 30's across bethesda and most of the area. a couple of spots closer to 40 degrees. , 36 inharlottesville frederick, 38 in the nation's capital. .or tonight, we will stay clear the winds have been gusty but they will diminish as we drop between 16-26 degrees. apleasant day tomorrow, warmer weekend and were still watching a storm center that may .orm to the south that's all part of the seven day outlook. new developments tonight after that home invasion in rockville yesterday. it happened right up -- near interstate 270.

lewis is keeping in close contact with the police on this one. kevin, what have you learned today? initially saidad there might be a significant update today, but so far we have not heard anything further. we did speak with the girl who believe she came in contact with these wanted man only minutes before they barged into a home on this street. this woman, who doesn't want her name or face shone, was walking her dog along this path yesterday afternoon when she saw two men and felt wary. >> we both got a very suspicious, bad five from them. , and they were glaring at us. we said what are you doing? they were kind of chuckling and said, we are going for a walk. andhe woman called 911 officers were dispatched. then around 10 minutes lat,

this home one block from the walking trail. a 77 and up and robbed 86-year-old homeowners. yesterday the victim's son told us the criminals were drug seekers, but he would not elaborate. this woman remains nervous about her midday run in, but believes she alerted authorities. >> the lesson about this story which we did, if you see something wrong, you get about healing, you call and report suspicious behavior. >> the elderly couple's's comment about drug seekers certainly has raised eyebrows. detectives did interview the 27-year-old who told us he has no clue who want to break into his parents home. so far there have been no arrests. kevin lewis, abc 7 news. leon:

nightclub. police are still looking for the man who held the knife. next new details about what happened inside this club after a deadly stabbing. police say 35-year-old antoine bird was arrested yesterday and is now facing a charge of first-degree murder while armed. 11:40 ated around night. the charging document says the witness heard a suspect yell, i'm going to kill you, which was directed at the victim. pal told another witness that he saw men who had robbed him inside that night. that whitmanstates saw the suspect and another individual flick a knife open and stabbed the victim in the upper body. the other individual was only identified in the court

. it shows the witness told investigators are trying to grab a knife, the witness was stabbed in the hand. the club was ordered to be shut cathyy police chief lanier for 96 hours after the stabbing. coming up at 5:00, making progress. a look at what's happening at st. elizabeths hospital today as d.c. tries to move forward with redeveloping the site. >> probably something related to heroin every day.

i lead the 11 o'clock news with stories of gun violence. and like many of you, my family lived through the beltway sniper crisis. in congress, i'll fight to expand background checks on guns and ammunition,

and mandate gun safety locks, because too many kids die from accidental shootings. let's show the nra we're not afraid of them; as democrats, as americans, as parents. i'm kathleen matthews and i approve this message.

alison: in the last half-hour, the mayor started demolishing part of st. elizabeths hospital. they're making way for a new sports arena. the 5000 seat venue is projected to produce $90 million in new tax revenues over 20 years in the city. construction project, this one a little more controversial. parents are at their wits end with d.c. public school leaders. just four months before the elementary school undergoes a massive renovation, the communities being told there is a huge financial shortfall. suzanne kennedy lays out what it means. suzanne: it's a decades-old but has never been renovated. next it is so bad.

suzanne: a school of by the community, but now parents say it's getting the shaft from the district. >> it is awful. there is no other word for it. suzanne: the massive overhaul is supposed to start in four but there's not enough money for a project that's been in the works for 10 years. >> every part of the project has been a disaster. >> the renovation budget is $68 million but with a $10 million short fall, they will only be able to have either a cafeteria or in auditorium, the library will be shorter and the kindergarten playground will be replaced by parking. he has watched the facility deteriorate. >> 10 years ago, kids were eating in the classroom. we could not have assemblies for the entire school, we had to do all of assemblies twice.

same today. >> d.c. public schools declined an on camera interview, releasing a statement saying in part, we believe we can work together with the community to withoute design impacting the ability to provide a great educational experience. most parents are skeptical of trusting the d.c. school system. they will continue their fight using other channels to get the project fully funded. suzanne kennedy, abc 7 news. baghdadlike the road to . today at least it's a good day to get out and start working on it. if thehat helps is temperature stabilizes and we don't have any real extreme.

just be careful out there. it's crazy. this is a time lapse are going to play for you, this is on the campus of the u.s. naval academy in annapolis. the body of water looking at is the severn river looking southeast as it opens up into chesapeake bay. a beautiful sunrise in that direction and all through this day the sky has been bright and clear. temperatures still chilly, 34 right now. the wind chill is the same. daylight, weout are in the time of year when the daylight hours get longer and longer and the sunrise is a little earlier and said little later. month we are the up to

by march 16, 12 hours, and by early april, 13 hours. so we gain an hour and 13 minutes of daylight over the next few days. 47, sorage highs afternoon temperatures stayed about a half and 10 degrees below average. through the evening hours, with the winds light, the temperatures will drop and it will be pretty chilly overnight. the coldest part of the air mass is to the north. the winds will be called throughout the night and tomorrow they will move offshore. that will allow the warmer air to the south to start heading our way. surface winds will swing around to be southerly and southwesterly. charlottew, 53 in

clouds you see up high are at about 30,000 feet with no precipitation associated with them. the breezy, chilly weather is turning into a cold, dry air mass. instead of being in the upper 30's, we will be in the mid 40's tomorrow. this is the set up for the weekend. the leading edge of the warmer air will come in probably midday on saturday and we will see a rapid warm-up through saturday afternoon. tomorrow will pick up some sunshine and cloudiness at times. the next seven days, look at the big jump, nearly 20 degrees. we could have 65-66 and places on saturday. 59 on sunday with maybe a sprinkle or shower late day. tuesday and wednesday we are

models to see when the strong -- when the storm system will approach. be theoesn't seem to threat of a major winter storm for us but we will determine what we get. right now i'm not too concerned. if you are concerned, we better be worried. they say you are never too old to learn something new. leon: still ahead, one woman who personifies that sentiment. forget the tumbling tumbleweeds, see how one town is fighting a mounting problem.

alison: breaking news about the freddie gray case. jonathan is standing by with more. jonathan: were getting word that the five officers have all been put on

being put on hold for this reason. officer porter, the first officer tried back in december, his case ended in a mistrial because the jury could not come to a unanimous decision. to testify other officers trials and he is refusing to do so. there are a lot of technicalities going on with this. the prosecution has asked for the matter to be cleared up and the higher court is now saying yes, the issue has to be resolved before any more cases can go to trial. anothering monday, officer's trial was about to get started. again, no more trials for these officers until the issue whether porter will testify or not has been dealt with. obama may not be heading off to cuba until next month but

sam ford caught up with some of the delegation today. hispanic chamber of commerce leading the way, a delegation from the dmv announced its headed to sunny cuba this weekend. every time you're developing international relationships, it must start somewhere. >> it will include the montgomery county executive ike leggett and maurice jones. lead inimportant to saying that we want to explore how we interact with the nation's capital as well. sam: the cuban embassy reopened last year with much fanfare but the embargo remains in place. those in the delegation today say they know that, but they want to be ready if and when it is lifted. to be the first ones in there, and do it in her collaborative fashion. >> president obama announced he is going next

for cuban-americans reaction in this area -- >> we are cubans with different opinions. we hate and love each other. it's a never ending relationship. >> he left cuba as a toddler and sees this is a plus. >> i think it's about time we do something. let's move on. isthe delegation says this the first time region has acted together. d.c. a long will spend $40,000 on the trip. the hope is that somewhere down the road, it will pay off. sam ford, abc 7 news. alison: still to come, who needs sleep? apparently the answer is more of us than are getting sleep. we will explain.

abc7 lard today two men were arrested accused of

a stretch of interstate 70 running through maryland and beyond. police say the heroine epidemic is particularly pronounced in this area. jennifer donelan traveled on the highway tonight to martinsburg, west virginia, of community fighting for survival. >> found a body over there. found the body by the train tracks. that's all they are doing now is finding bodies. jennifer: martinsburg, west virginia. od three times, and they brought him back. it?ow bad is they call this place little baltimore now. one takes a turn and goes in picks them up. was 2014, berkeley county

designated as a high intensity drug trafficking area. the morning we travel to , governor tomlin had convened a summit on substance abuse. the illegaldown on use of prescription drugs. do you know anybody who is been hurt, overdosed, died? >> my brother is in jail right now. >> as one hospital official explained, doctors will resuscitate them, bringing them back to live, but sadly, many will then just sign themselves out and walk away. is the nasal spray used to reverse the heroine overdose. in 2015 the governor reports statewide first responders administered more than 3000 doses of narcan.

love ones because they feel powerless. met with kathy stevens, she was just days away from the one-year anniversary of her daughter tiffany's fatal heroine overdose. >> i don't want anybody to be in the position that i was in. >> she is still haunted by the lack of treatment options for her daughter. >> there was nothing. there was no help. ande is a waiting list there's nothing you can do. >> the plan to build an inpatient recovery system in martinsburg was so full of controversy. >> it's not a police problem. it's a societal problem. how do you fight it if you don't know what you are fighting? it's a sunup to sundown battle to save lives. there are more than

treatment and recovery centers in the entire state of west virginia. governor tomlin gathered all this information and set up a toll-free number. we have it for you on our website. tomorrow where -- tomorrow we are bringing the help to you toh a phone bank from 4:30 7:30 p.m. all callstant to know are private. tomorrow on the heroine highway, we are taking you to hagerstown at 4:00 p.m. and we have to former heroin addict store you cannot miss it 5:00. so you just randomly talked to whoever came your way and every there -- every person there had been affected. >> every single person we talked to had a story about heroin, whether it touched their family or someone they knew. it is rampant. alison:

is devastating. jennifer: she was on a waiting list, they turned her down, and a month later she died. a los angeles hospital paid $17,000 to hackers to get their computer systems back up and running. the hackers got into the computer system two weeks ago and allegedly used ran somewhere to lock up access and shut down internal communication. the hospital pay the ransom to get it system restored and said that patient care was not infected. the fbi's investigating. alison: a battle still brewing between the fbi and apple over their refusal to unlock the cell phone used by one of the san bernardino shooters. the apple ceo, tim cook, says his company is refusing, and

so-called backdoor into a secure phone would put all phones at risk. case analysts say the could end up before the supreme court. leon: and 85 euro grandmother in pennsylvania is showing everybody young and old just have to get out and embrace the weather. take a look. this is betty richie. she decided to celebrate her 85th birthday by making snow angels. her daughter posted this video on facebook and its gone viral, with more than a million views. she said she is excited to make so many people happy. she is literally young at heart. alison: she is embracing the wetter -- the weather better than most of us. still to come, a slow speed chase like 90 have ever seen before. we will explain exactly what's going on here. >> county

staffers and civic association members are working to preserv

>> one more day to go to the upcoming weekend and huge changes on the way. highs in the lower 60's, lots of sunshine, little cooler on saturday and a chance for a few showers. don't forget the mardi gras family festival saturday. temperatures will be in the

a new cdc report finds that one in three americans don't get enough sleep. researchers say a good night sleep should last at least seven hours. risk ofsleep increases chronic diseases like heart disease. south dakota is the most well rested state. hawaii is the least rested state. there is a lot to do in hawaii. perhapsou

falling asleep because your mind is restless, like tumbleweeds heading across the prairie. is in thein australia middle of a nightmare because truckloads of the stuff for overtaking yards and road. some piles are as high as rooftops. can you believe that? is the worst because of the dry summer. the problem is not considered a fire risk, so that's good. but homeowners are on their own to clean it up. that's it is frustrating because you know you have a couple of hours work ahead of you. >> it's physically draining and mentally more training. alison: how do you even begin to clean that up? would you rather have that or a blizzard? i think i would rather have that because you don't have to shovel that. [laughter] check

out, here's something else to look at. a slow speed chase in florida. started when a man don't boulders on the roadway near the seven mile bridge in the keys. he damaged the road and sides of the bridge. he was stopped with spike strips. a cruiser was damaged also. we cannot go it day without having a man in florida at the first part of the story. you have to come to work every day. alison: why a top basketball player lands on trading in his cardinals red for the red white and blue. we were able to register this dog as an emotional support animal. we will hear fm

in congress, i'll fight to expand background checks on guns and ammunition, ban assault weapons, and mandate gun safety locks, because too many kids die from accidental shootings. let's show the nra we're not afraid of them; as democrats, as americans, as parents. i'm kathleen matthews and i approve this message.

leon:

news, word of a helicopter crash. jonathan: there were five tourists aboard a helicopter, there is clearly a problem. everybody heard a couple of bangs. became disengaged and as you can see it came down pretty hard in the water about 10 yards off shore. a lot of people were in line to buy tickets. they rushed into the water and pulled everyone out. the only person with serious injuries is a 16-year-old whose condition is listed as critical. for others who were taken out are said to be ok, but again, this is a serious scene and a .ot of people heard the bangs as soon as we get more information, we will be sure and let you know. fromn:

ponies to head talks. you can get an emotional support animal on a plane. it's happening because some people simply don't want their pets to fly under the plane and they found a way to get them on board for free. josie is here to explain how. >> there are federal law loopholes that leavitt wide open to register just about anything. it is not hard to do. is adorable,pug photogenic and the apple of her mother's eye, but there's something she is not. >> it's obvious she is not a support animal. >> she has the paperwork so she can fly any commercial flight for free, thanks to a letter her owner

>> i answered some surveys online, i did two phone calls with a supposed psychologist in oregon and he deemed me necessary to have an emotional support animal. >> this woman admits she is is fullhe system which of problems. tonight at 11:00 we will show you how oversight of the federal law designed to accommodate the disabled is now allowing planes to look increasingly like barnyard's with support pets of all shapes and sizes taking flight. myit's obviously working in favor but there are definitely cracked and wriggles in the system. paul mondale is with the nonprofit canines for independence. -- they are making it much more difficult for people who have disabilities. >> but they rely on

users to elevate them to a new level. >> we were honest the entire way through, but airlines do not have to track how many emotional support pets they welcome on board or how many bogus pets they bounce off of flights. the loopholes and explain why those with legitimate needs could be hurt by this. came clean admitting you have gamed the system to get your pets on planes. so you admit it and keep doing it, come on. can take ferrets, rabbits, birds, anything you want if you can get them registered. alison: let's check in with doug and the weather. doug:

a beautiful thursday evening around the nation's capital. is absolutelyr spectacular. and the temperatures with dry air and clear skies and light winds will plummet tonight. to upper 30's through most of the area, 40 at and 36 inburg manassas. early tomorrow morning, a couple of sample temperatures in the western suburbs, 22 at luray in the morning, stafford at 20 degrees, 22 in woodbridge. as far as what's happening on the weather map, that's the weather sister -- system that will move out tomorrow. even though we will have a chilly start with a lot of

about 45 degrees in the afternoon. as we head into the weekend we are still on track for a 63, 59ul saturday, highs on sunday with some clouds. tuesday wednesday next week, a possible storm system. we will have more detail on that coming up in the 6:00 hour. let's find out how the 6:00 rush is. here's jamie sullivan. >> we've had some sun glare in a few spots. this is near new hampshire avenue, with volume on both sides. let's talk about how congested we are, from 270 continuing to 95 in maryland, that will take you five minutes. 66, bumper-to-bumper. on the toll road. traveling in d.c. is not too bad right now

alternate for you and westbound we do have one line that gets by. let's head over to robert burton for a look at sports. robert: i don't know if you can call this a splash move, but are protected first round draft pick was given up. the second worst team in the western conference with 14-40. averaging 11.6 points per game with five rebounds. scott abraham shows us the nba is not always the dream for college basketball players. practice makes perfect for sophomore jay howard. >> i love the school, i love the basketball program. >> he is a scoring ma

this reason. >> with the tradition we have here, that is saying an awful lot. toafter college, he wants serve our country as a marine. dreams of serving the military did not just happen overnight for jay. let's just say his family had a major influence on his decision. >> my grandfather was in the 101st airborne and my father did not fight in any war, but he was in the second battalion in the marines. you have to come to work every day, just like in the military. >> he's ready to trade his cardinals red for the red, white, and blue.

we will have to see what happens. still to come, a local community fighting to preserve its past.

celebration of black history month, arlington county is encouraging donations to an online photo archive. was created to preserve the rich history of an african-american neighborhood also known as green i 395. just off >> a lot of people don't realize there has been a strong, vibrant, black community in arlington since before the civil war. next several collections of developed by arlington county as a resource for local afri

-- photos just have some generic information. we want to know the information so that it is a living and breathing database. longtime residents point out the historically black neighborhood is changing. electing 32% african-americans. >> they have partnered with a model school. through research and interviews, they learn the school they now 10 was once segregated. >> white and black didn't get together very well so they are like separated. ask people were being discriminated because of the color of their skin. >> the teacher said that knowledge gives children of all colors confidence. >> you need to know where you

came from. it helps you develop as a person and you appreciate the things that people have done for you in the past. >> next saturday the school will feel the heritage festival celebrating arlington's african-american history and culture. >> right now 6:00, the race to .he white house who is canceling school on primary day and who else is now debating it? new video showing the moment a decorated marine is attacked by a group of young people. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] learning more about this helicopter crash in hawaii. at 6:00 starts right now. >> new information on the story .e broke first on abc 7 news >> the attack on a

combat marine in washington. that marine believes the attack was a hate crime. stephen has the story. chris marquez is here at the va hospital. we send him the video, he watched it and told us he was surprised that the brutality of the assault that has left him angry and disgusted. surveillance video of the attack on a decorated marine. he fell victim to a group of violent young people in d.c.. the blows so severe they left chris marquez with a serious head injury. i have this sharp pain that goes down my head and it hurts to move my head around. >> this is video of the assault which bond outrage. yelledunted him and black lives matter. one