when you build one of the biggest retail businesses in america, you spend a lot of time working closely with elected officials. from secretaries to presidents you learn what works in government and what doesn't. and if you're david trone you take those lessons all the way to congress. you pledge to take nothing from pacs or corporations because the only special interest a congressman should have is you and he'll promise to work with anyone if it'll get things done. after all he's spent 30 years working both sides of the aisle. i'm david trone and i approve this message. >> now, abc 7 new at 11:00, on your side. leon: prepare for a cool weekend ahead, just in time for the start of the cherry blossom festival. we go there live in a moment, but first meteorologist brian van de graaff tells us what to plan for. we are talking snow? brian:

and the weather service has put up winter weather advisory's for the mountains to the west. elevationsing higher above 2000 feet, those are the areas with the best chance of snow. the rest of us may get get a dusting, but we are above freezing. 40's later tonight. it will be cool tonight. tomorrow, the temperatures will rise before the system moves in. midday tomorrow, the rain and snow overspread. dry in the morning, rain and snow develop in the afternoon. we may have trace amounts in the grassy areas. we will detail the forecast with the latest information, looking for the back half of the weekend coming up. messy, maybe not an ideal forecast for the first weekend of the cherry blossom festival, but we have a week before peak bloom. tom rousse

there are a lot of folks in town for spring break. they are not out yet. the pink, but it is a good thing because these are -- it's a good thing these are not out yet because the snow could have done them in. blossom festival is already underway on pennsylvania avenue right now. tonight, one of the seas most unique traditions kicked off. it was not much doubt with the favorite color was. this is called the pink tie party. the national cherry blossom festival president says that it helps keeps events free of her the next four weeks. performances on the stage begin at 12:30 p.m. saturday. >> there will be over 100 performances over the next 50 days. tom: but there was

preview of the real stars of the festival, the blossoms themselves. >> very excited, i cannot wait. this spring tradition and i love the fact so many people come out. tom: the latest production from the national park service is that the blossoms will peak around wednesday to thursday next week. >> as long as they bloom during the cherry blossom festival, i love it. tom: expect big crowds downtown. the blossoms and fistful drawing a lot of locals. we have already seen folks on spring break. a lot of people already in town. but it is worth it once these bloom. live along the tidal basin, tom roussey, abc 7 news. leon: that will be party central, that's for sure. good news for everybody using metro for the cherry blossom festival, the first of five straight weekends where there will not be track work.

repairs, all real lines will be running on their regular we can schedule. and with us on abc 7 wjla.com as we take you through the festival. we are the proud media sponsors and we will have updates right here. moving on, this just into the newsroom, video of a person of interest in a deadly shooting on 295. darnell richardson was killed wednesday night on benning road in northeast. investigators believe the people in this video may have information about the shooter. if you recognize them, d.c. police want to talk to you. breaking news from southeast washington, were an apartment building was destroyed in a fire. four families are out of their homes tonight. roz plater is live in southeast. how are the families and do you know how the fire started? roz: fire investigators are trying to figure out what happened. some units are still on the scene.

situation because of the presence of propane tanks. this video is from earlier. the fire broke out just before 9 p.m. tonight near malcolm x. and parkland place southeast. fire unitszen responded because of the fast-moving, intense fire, heavy in the back of the building and on both floors extending to the roof. what made this even more dangerous for the crews was the presence of a number of propane tanks believed to be in a unit under construction. the tanks were burning when the fire crews arrived. one witness heard an explosion, possibly from those tanks. >> all of a sudden, we saw something go kaboom! and we looked down the street and we saw this big ball of fire coming from a window. and one of my friends

, we dialed 911. the fire was coming up windows real heavy. news is everybody got out safely, including a younger all who was confined to a wheelchair. they carried her out. back live, a few fire trucks operation,mop up investigators trying to figure out what happened. for now, live in southeast d.c., roz plater, abc 7 news. leon: overseas now, tonight and alexandria man is telling his story about the time that he spent with isis in iraq. the 26-year-old turned himself into kurdish forces in iraq monday. today on kurdish tv, he described how he traveled to europe late last year, then went through turkey. he said he made a huge mistake joining isis. >> i really did not support their ideology, and at that point, that is when i

i needed to escape. leon: u.s. authorities are trying to bring him back to the u.s. if that happens, he could be prosecuted on terrorism charges. the last known fugitive in the paris terrorist attacks is in custody in belgium. the authorities caught him in a raid in brussels. man,s the most wanted caught during the raid. they tracked them down in the neighborhood where he grew up. >> this capture sends a message to all extremist groups that the law enforcement and intelligence community will continue to look for you until they find you. leon: he is thought to have handled logistics for the paris attacks, buying explosives in buying at least one of the attackers -- driving at least one of the attackers through paris. a sad update about tray walker

, the baltimore ravens cornerback who was hurt in a motorcycle crash. he has died of his injuries. he was riding a dirt bike in miami when the injuries hapten. the bike did not have lights and he was wearing dark clothing, and the bike -- rather, he was not wearing a helmet. it collided with another vehicle. the driver has not been charged. it kills more people than isffic crashes, but heroin not just targeting junkies come it is targeting fathers, mothers. teenagers. richard reeve was at a conference tonight. lotta folks say that it could not happen here, leesburg, va, a quiet loud and county -- loudoun county town. but now many are saying enough is enough. county virginia. >> we are seeing way too many overdoses.

haven for heroin. >> it has become more prominent, but it has always been there. it's not the junkies anymore. brother,she lost her jason, to a drug overdose in september 2014. he was 37 years old. >> he bought what he thought was cocaine and it was laced. that was what killed him. richard: concerns about overdoses with heroin and fentanyl are reaching the breaking point. >> is very dangerous and it kills. richard: at this town hall, residents, political leaders, and law enforcement warned of 35 heroin overdoses in the county over the past year, nine of them fatal. >> it's a very bad drug and very unstable. you never know what you are taking. richard: the county is considering it a virgin's program where alex undergo court-ordered treatment in lieu of jail time.

trying to be good. we are sick people. >> they are wonderful, but it ends in fifth grade. i don't want to see anybody else go through this. it is completely avoidable and preventable. richard: authorities say the biggest problem is this -- heroine is cheap, $15, $20 for tor ounces, which is plenty get high or be fatal. richard reeve, abc 7 news. tonight, montgomery county police are hoping a surveillance video will help find two men wanted for a cell phone store robbery. this happened in the aspen hill shopping center. they pried open a locked cabinet and made off with 50 south -- $57,000 worth of phones. new tonight come a proposal to give federal workers a boost in pay.

supporting the federal adjustment of rates act. if approved, it would mean a 5.3% pay raise for federal employees. up fory this would make more than a billion dollars lost in wages because of sequestration in the three-year long pay freeze. if approved, it would take effect next year. still ahead, a truly massive payout for hulk hogan. how much gawker will have to pay for posting a sex tape. and the big announcement from apple scheduled for monday. we have a sneak peak.

(vo) you can check on them. you can worry about them. you can even choose a car for them. (mom) honey, are you ok? (child) i'm ok. (announcer vo) love. (mom) we're ok.

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. (man) we're out of 2%. i wonder what else could be better around here? (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 leon: new at 11:00, a massive payout for hulk hogan, awarded over $100 million in his lawsuit against gawker for posting a sex tape. the editors argue the video was free speech. jurors deliberated less than six

, and then $65 million for emotional distress. donald trump coming under attack from all sides. a growing number of mainstream republicans are organizing against him. personal information was leaked on the internet and now his family is facing threats. tonight, donald trump fending off attacks from different forces. the republican establishment and international hackers. the fbi and secret service are now investigating claims the hacker group anonymous posted his social security number and cell phone info. >> we are very serious about stopping the fascist donald trump. leon: this son also receiving threats. a letter containing a suspicious white powder was delivered to his new york apartment. it turned out to be harmless, but a letter with it was frightening. "if your father does not drop

envelope will not be fit." meeting,closed-door conservative groups are strategizing ways to deny trump the nomination. someproblem with it -- prominent republicans are rallying around senator ted cruz. >> he is a conservative i can support. leon: but listen to what graham said about cruz just three weeks ago. [in audible] leon: late today, mitt romney saying that he would caucus for ted cruz next week. he is saying that he hopes most ,eople will vote for cruz, forcing a contested convention. trump firing back, saying "mitt romney is a mixed up man who does not have a clue. no wonder why he lost." the white house is denying

clinton. press secretary was careful to mention both democrats when he was talking about the president supreme court nominee. 7 on your side with a consumer alert -- apple's spring news conference will be monday with new gadgets revealed. the headliner is supposed to be a smaller version of the iphone as will as will is a smaller version of the ipad pro. the smaller phone could have a four inch screen. there could also be repositioning of the power and audio buttons. plan to buy starwood hotels is not moving forward. starwood called off the deal at the last minute. marriott was outbid by a chinese insurance company. marriott $400g million to go away. the live camera we cannot stop watching, the eagle

morning. now we are watching for the second egg to make the same move. the parents, mr. president and first lady, do not help the eagles get out of their shells. they stand by to see who will survive, which is what you can do, too. watch the eagle cam anytime live at wjla.com. completely fascinated. brian: earlier, one of them brought a giant fish home. leon: is this little guy going to have to deal with snow? outside right now, 67 today, not a bad day. we should be 57, so we exceeded that by 10 degrees. loving it, but the changes are coming. outside, dropping back. the winter weather moving in. one positive is the tree pollen that has been high -- that is not positive

weather will squash the pollen down. the pollen is off the chart at the beginning of the season. the cooler weather should calm that down. low 50's winchester, 46 fredericksburg. across the area, a fairly calm evening, the temperatures dropping back a little bit. this new system to the south will be churning. that moves to the east and re-energizes off the coast. that brings us the weather. the latest track speeds it along a little bit. by late morning tomorrow, we could have rain at about 11:00. snow at times through the mid day and evening. south and east of the city, southern prince george's, charles, st. mary's county, mainly rain. metro, north and west, some snow. latestw evening, the guidance backs off on the precipitation, decreasing somewhat. in tucson day -- into sunday, very minimal.

cool, but just some spitting sprinkles or flurries into the evening. and raw,till be equal but sunday may be drier than saturday as far as precipitation. trace amounts on the grass. in the mountains, the higher elevation has a higher likelihood of precipitation. midmorning it moves in, we stay above freezing through the day tomorrow. that is the good news. sunday will be cooling off, but the precipitation will be light. the home opener for united, colorado in town. bundle up for the game because it will be cold. then we start the warming trend. tuesday, near 60. wednesday pushing 70, low 70's thursday and friday next week. for the will be chilly d.c. united game. leon: that's ok, we stay indoors for the basketball. erin:

state, while maryland had a scare from south dakota state.

>> and now the toyota sports desk, brought to you by your local toyota dealers. did not doerps themselves any favors today can south dakota state. melo trimble fouled out and the jack rabbits pulled within two. it was as if maryland was trying to lose, and it looked like they were rolling. second half, they were up 15. 62-44. jake layman had 27. south dakota state fought back. 10 seconds to go. the senior comes up big with the steel, the slam. 79-74.d escapes, scott abraham has more from spokane. scott: survive and advance,

in c aa tournament, and maryland did that today, squeaking by south dakota state. the terps are moving on. >> a little relieved, excited because we did played well most of the game. >> right now we are more confident. going forward, we have some stuff. >> i was a bit scared. we came so far to play like that. but i had no doubt we would pull it out. >> we are moving on and we still have a chance to couple is our goal. it is an amazing feeling. at the same time, we know we have business to take care of. scott: next up, sunday showdown with cinderella hawaii, who knocked off fourth-seeded cal. scott abraham, abc 7 sports. erin: thanks, scott. one more

virginia in the sweet 16 for the ninth time in program history, the second time in the last three years. past, they have to get butler. robert burton will be live in raleigh, north carolina, tomorrow with a preview. the caps hosting the predators. in the second, check out the great pass, tj oh she, behind the back. cap's win 4-1. tournament, gw colonials need a three to tie it. jones, gets a good look, but the shot is off the mark. close 1, loses a 56-51. and 14th seed stephen f. austin beat west virginia, tying the largest win by a 14 seed. and number two michigan state lost to middle tennessee state, busting everybody's bracket.

still have not seen a 16 take down a one. speaking of the brackets, 40 filled outple a tournament bracket. the question now come how much money is involved versus the powerball money?

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this year. $6 billionend "only" on powerball and make millions

leon: lots of folks are watching the cherry blossoms and the eagles. brian: tomorrow, upper 40's, below-average this time of year. and we'll have rain and snow midmorning, afternoon, evening. slush inere, just the grasp a stop it will be a cool weekend. slush in the grass. next week we are pushing into the 70's the middle of the week. that is a win-win. don't have to wash the car, stay inside and watch basketball. jimmy ki

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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 we need women in congress. if we want to be heard, it was the women who forced republicans to include women's health and contraceptive coverage in the affordable care act. in congress, i'll fight for pay equity, family leave and tougher gun safety laws. and, as an environmentalist, i'll work combat climate change. i know as a journalist and as a senior executive in business that when women are at the table, we get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message.

>> dicky: from hollywood, it's "jimmy kimmel live"! tonight -- ray romano and former massachusetts governor mitt romney. with cleto and the cletones. and now, not only that, here's jimmy kimmel! [ cheers and applause ] ♪ >> jimmy: thanks, everybod