leon: two major breaking stories, metro on the verge of shutting down for an entire day. and candidates leave the gop race after a crushing loss. donald trump was not undefeated set it. alison: let's get back to the metro situation. it

midnight, less than an hour on now. the metro system will be closed at least 29 hours so that crew can inspect for faulty cables. d.c. public schools will be open, but absences will be excused. leon: we have team coverage coming including how to get around. first we start with the possible dangers that triggered the situation and the question so many people are asking -- why action on this was not taken sooner. richard reeve spoke with d.c. mayor muriel bowser about that. rich? richard: leon, the mayor said she was completely taken by surprise by this decision. this is mcpherson square, where the fire happened last night. metro says it is because of that fire

shutting down the entire real system. metro says it was monday night's fire at mcpherson square -- >> safety is paramount and we need to get to the bottom of this. richard: that prompted this shutdown. >> this is a potential life safety issue. richard: that action an unprecedented shutdown of the metro system, no trains for thousands of riders. d.c. mayor muriel bowser said she was caught unaware. metro officials say they need time to inspect 600 thousand underground jumper cables attached to the third rail. >> until we know that we have these inspections, we need to do that as soon as we can. that follows the ntsb inspectors finding that electrical arcing from mcpherson was similar to that involved in the deadly smoke incident at l'enfant plaza

>> we may find a couple bad, we may find 50. richard: if more faulty cables are found, there could be further delays. >> there could be a lot of congestion. we recognize that. what options did they look at to do this? was the 29-hour closure the only option? richard: mayor bowser said there will be additional circulator buses, that schoolchildren will be a but to ride for free. metro says they will have additional buses. a lot of folks think that tomorrow will be a major traffic headache. live in northwest washington, richard reeve, abc 7 news. leon: there is general consensus on that belief. after last year's deadly smoke incident at l'enfant plaza, the ntsb recommended this type of inspection, sing the transit authority should, "probably de

connectors are properly constructed and installed." that recommendation was made june 8 last year. alison: the shutdown means thousands will have to change their morning routine. still be running, but expect massive crowds, people scrambling to figure out rides before offices open tomorrow. aching matters worse, metro say there may be similar disruptions like this in the future. jay korff has how regular riders plan to adjust. those commuters are frankly scratching their heads, trying to figure out, ok, do i carpool, rideshare, take the bus, ride my bike, what do i do? they know that tomorrow metrorail will not be there for them. >> it's going to be congested everywhere, struggling to get to work. jay >>

to get to work, like i do. when passing through one of the busiest stations, franconia-springfield. time will be a valuable commodity wednesday when the real service comes to a screeching halt because of emergency safety inspections. >> i think they should do this on saturday when nobody has to work. normallyfear that is parked cars will flood highways through the region, turning roadways into parking lots. >> it will be real bad. it will be backed up traffic on 95. jay: the demand for metro bus service is expected to be overwhelming. am believes on timely public transportation so we can get to dialysis treatments on time after work. he worries with traffic tieups expected, will this affect more than just his patience? >> i really cannot makiss

>> i'm going to try to avoid the chaos. jay: metro will have every available bus on the road. jurisdictions are offering additional services. ridesharing companies are offering various deals. capital by chair is offering free membership wednesday. carpooling and hopefully teleworking is a option. the forget about slugging along the 395 corridor, parking and a commuter lot, and then some but he can pick you up and take you to a particular destination like the pentagon or downtown washington. jay korff, abc 7 news. o's closure will impact thousands. abc 7 is is watching closely. washington" will start at 4 a.m. with traffic alerts with julie wright. leon: the other top story tonight, super tuesday, 2.0, now in the boo.

tonight's big headline, trump beats marco rubio in his home state of florida. not god's plan that i be president in 2016 or maybe ever, while today my campaign is suspended, the fact that i've even come this far is evidence of how special america is. getting several victories tonight, but he was not undefeated. tom roussey has the latest. what does the scoreboard look like? tom: a good night, but not great. he won florida ended elsewhere elsewhere. it is oh so close with ted cruz. that was said, trump was denied ohio, where john kasich won. still, overall, a good night for trump. >>

we have something happening that makes the republican party probably the biggest political story anywhere in the world. everybody is writing about it. >> we are moving closer to securing the democratic party nomination and winning this election in november! on the democratic side, hillary clinton had a pretty good night. florida, north carolina, ohio, and is winning illinois. she may not get a clean sweep. , bernie sanders is in the lead at this moment. tom roussey, abc 7 news. leon: the race is not over yet. primary season goes until june. alison: tonight's results will drastically reshape the political landscape. for how, we turn to chief political correspondent scott thuman. everybody talking about john kasich's victory, but does that make a difference on where trump stance?

scott: what happens now is john kasich will be looking not necessarily at ever getting to 00-plusortant 12 delegates, but it prevents donald trump from possibly getting to that magic number. that means that you could have a contested convention. not know who the nominee is on the gop side until the convention in july. victory delays and possibly, possibly derails donald trump if there is possibly a brokered convention. leon: marco rubio stepping up, how does that factor in? does that go to ted cruz or john kasich? ted cruz says he welcomes his supporters with open arms. we believe it now makes this race focused more on things like pocy

monday. we'll be covering it. having only three people in the stage, moderators have a lot more time to hold candidates responsible for what they believe are actual solutions, not just talk. leon: john kasich is now getting scrutiny. >> he is also fund-raising like never before. alison: good point. leon: scott loves this stuff. keep following scott. we will have more continuing coverage on the long road to the and the primary still coming. several developing story still ahead. targetedn a field trip by would be abduct her at the smithsonian museum. i'm steve rudin. sunglasses in the morning, and keep the umbrella handy.

alison: developing now, a field trip turns dangerous at a popular d.c. museum. the police arenvestigating is -- attempted abduction at the smithsonian air and space museum. police say this is the man suspected of attempted abduction. he exits the air and space museum near a group of kids. outside, he grabs the hand of a young child from a local center, then began walking. >> one of the chaperones noticed, asked the man what he was doing. tom: he walked away and got onto a white shuttle bus. >> that's very scary. i cannot imagine anything like that happening to one of my children. station ismond reporting that the police are investigating if there is any connection with a man who allegedly inappropriately touched

d.c. enters spring, when thousands of kids visit. that everyoneope remains vigilant, whether it is your group or not. tom: if you saw these men inside the museum or saw the suspect get onto the shuttle bus, please give u.s. park police a call. tom roussey, abc 7 news. new charges in the shooting death of prince george's county police officer jacai colson. a say that three brothers triggered the gunfire sunday. one of them was recording it on cell phone video and laughing. the state's attorney says that ford willelijah likely face second-degree murder charges. it is a complicated case we will continue to coverage. -- continue to cover. alison: new

trial dates for the baltimore police officers charged in the shooting death -- in the death of freddie gray. six officers awaiting trial with the last one starting in october. among them, officer william porter, whose first trial ended with a hung jury. he will be retried in september. gray suffered a fatal spine injury in the back of a police transport van, triggering national protests. to honor aque way lake braddock high school student who was killed in a car crash, a portrait. she was an 18-year-old senior who died in a car crash last year. this portrait, taken from his senior picture. i had a lot of classes with him. this is where the candlelight vigil was held. without that was the most appropriate

itn: here is how he is doing , he does most of his work at night. support of the school football team and the police. alison: we are keeping a close am. on d.c.'s c mr. president and the first lady eagles are about to be parents. we are told the eggs could hatch at any moment. stay with us and we will bring you updates. speaking of things popping up, we found that the peak bloom for the cherry blossoms will be pushed back. the national park service is now predicting march 23 and 24. last week they were moved up because of the warm weather, but recent temperatures and the blooming faces prompted this latest adjustment. abc 7 is is a proud sponsor of this

leon: the white house celebrating paint treasures day -- celebrating st. patrick's day early, the water in the southwest fountain died green. -- dyed green. it is a tradition the obamas brought in from chicago. leon: i've been to chicago during that. steve: i have, and it's neat. spring is not that far away, yet we are sort of grabbing at a. we could have snowflakes by the end of the week. alison: what? leon: get out of here. we were supposed to be through with that. steve: i thought so, too, but it's not going to amount to much. centerville and manassas at 50. further east, 51 largo, college park 50. re satellite and

the overnight into early tomorrow morning. for those of you with a busy rush-hour commute, at least you will not have to deal with the raindrops. through the later part of the day, mid-afternoon, evening, you may be dodging raindrops. partlyme lows, 44 to 50, cloudy, light wind. tomorrow morning, a mixture of sun and clouds. grab the sunglasses. we move through the midday, scattered showers will develop. nothing that will likely wet the thement -- enough to wet pavement. they lotta folks walking tomorrow or catching the metro bus or riding bikes, be careful. leave extra time. we know what just a little bit of rain can do. traffic will be slow, so keep your patience. may have some midday showers, but not going to amount to a whole lot st. patrick's day.

partly sunny skies, isolated showers. don't be surprised if you hear some thunder, but not expecting a thing severe. -- not expecting anything severe. saint patrick's day, upper 60's, upper 50's friday. 50's saturday. sunday, watching a disturbance that may bring us wet snow in the mountains late in the day. inside the beltway, we are talking just showers. tomorrow, nice in the morning, not so great in the afternoon. leon: ok. steve: we will survive. alison: we will. rapper went zero to 100 real quick.

>> and now the toyota sports desk, brought to you by your local toyota dealers. at homee capitals were tonight hosting the hurricanes. with a victory, they would clinch a playoff berth. they were tested tonight come into overtime, 1-1. snapped akin five-game goal drought with the overtime winner is the caps beat the hurricanes. holtbyprocess, braden set a franchise record with his 42nd win of the season. congratulations to them. some fun at had practice. you had to have a half-court shot for practice to be over. take a look. drains it. martin gortat and everyone

good to see them having fun. as the raptors were trying to mount a comeback against the bulls. rake was taunting a player. the raptors were down three points. , but his his part really big team was not doing really big things. they lost. the video went viral. people who are ready for march madness, scott abraham washington washington, following the terps, while robert burton will be in raleigh, north carolina, covering number one seed virginia, who play hampton thursday. finally, the redskins have reportedly reached a one-year deal with pass rusher junior galette, who missed the entire 2015 seaso

the big breaking to update you want. in just over a half hour metro service will be shut down. ♪

♪

alison: the entire metro rail

midnight, staying closed for at least 29 hours. this is because of safety concerns. crews will be checking for faulty cables. run, butes will still big crowds are expected, so you are urged to find alternate travel. will morning washington" start early at 4 a.m. with breaking news and traffic reports. leon: the other big news from the campaign trail, donald trump takes florida by a big margin. dropforces marco rubio to out of the race, saying he is proud, but it's not god's plan for him to be president. hillary clinton took the most dates in the democratic data. she has a near tie with bernie sanders in missouri. still some counting to do. stay with abc 7 for updates. alison: be the first to know when there is breaking news that impact you. sign up for text alerts at wjla.com\

for crash survival, subaru has developed ours most revolutionary feature yet. a car that can see trouble and stop itself to avoid it. when the insurance institute for highway safety tested front crash prevention nobody beat subaru models with eyesight. not toyota. not ford or any other brand. subaru eyesight. an extra set of eyes, every time you drive.

alison: final look at the weather? steve: tomorrow we start off with sunshine, clouds increase during the day. by no means are we talking about a big washout. , a lot ofpatience traffic and a little wet pavement slow things down. st. patrick's day, upper 60's, near 70. upper 50's friday. 51 saturday. those are mountain snowflakes sunday, in the mountains, not inside the beltway. 47 degrees. the coldest of the next seven days. then we start to warm up as we move into next week. the cherryward to blossoms. erin: and the eagle babies.

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♪ >> dicky: from hollywood it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight -- kirsten dunst, from "batman vs. superman: dawn of justice" gal gadot, and music from jake bugg. with cleto and the cletones. and now, to get things rolling, here's jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ♪