hour. we have been to brink road and blunt road. if you look at the helicopter video you have a better vantage point than i. but there were several homes and structures that the fire impinged upon. i believe one of the sheds did catch on fire. no residences, structures or homes were affected although the fire did get close. the weather is not in our favor at the moment. leon: but it won't structure other struck -- threaten other structures? >> we have the resources in pce

case. we believe one shed did catch on fire. we have a lot of resources there and i believe we'll make headway shortly. leon: we will check back later to see how much progress you make. good luck. alison? actually now let's check in with steve rudin in storm watch weather center now. more on today's red flag warning. steve, what is the word with the winds out there? steve: the winds gusting between 25-35 miles per hour. most of the area under a red flag warning until 8:00 tonight. these are areas with pop-up potential for fires like this afternoon. 72 right now in germantown on the weather bug network. we have wind gusts up to 30 miles per

windy as we move through the evening hours and overnight as the dold front approach -- cold front approaches from the north and west. show you what it look like on the satellite and radar. it's dry. if you plan any outdoor activities you will be fine. relief from the dry weather is on the way late tonight/early tomorrow morning. cold front will push across the region to bring us better likelihood for showers. temperatures tonight slowly fall through the 70's. we time the cherry blossom output with doug hill. leon: thank you. this is the middle of the cherry blossom festival. delicate bloom set to hit their peak today. folks trying to get down there, what is best way to do that tom roussey is live with answers for us. >> a lot, a lot of folks down here. some ways of ge

are better than others. >> the folks are determining if these are at peak or not. as soon as we know we will let you know. in the meantime whether it's at peak or not, all of them are coming down. they all took different ways. some ways are easier and fast earthen others. faster than others. >> once you get here it's beautiful. >> i walked. >> i took the metro line. >> i type the capital bike share. >> you are walking faster than the cars? >> i was. >> you chose to drive. is that working out? >> no. >> why not? >> no parking. >> if you want to drive there are other choices besides hunting for parking. one is reserving a spot online using the park now website. >> it wasseesy. >> they had to walk

blocks the family had a spot waiting for them using park now. >> really good, easy. takes five minutes at the most. >> there is a shuttle bus from haynes point to the tidal basin. but we found you had to fight a ton of traffic just to get to it. >> it took us about almost an hour to get to the park we got off at the roosevelt bridge. tom: you still had to take the shuttle. >> yes. tom: would you do it again? >> i'd take metro if i did it again. tom: not to mention the shuttle is supposed to come every ten minutes but the lopez said they waited 15 when we interviewed them. they waited longer and left the shuttle stop. they weren't the only ones frustrated. are you going to stick with it to see the blossoms? >> no. >> giving up? >> yes. >> although some people said the heck with it by the crowds down here. most folks have found a way to get down here and walk around here where the cherry

are. >> they do recommend to get off at the federal triangle and walk or smithsonian station. reporting live along the tidal basin i'm tom roussey, abc7 news. leon: you got it, tom. abc7 of course proud to be a sponsor of this year's national cherry blossom festival. thank you to all of you folks who have sent us photos of the trees this year. we have a lot of them in a photo gallery. you can add to it. send your favorites to us at pics@wjla.com. alison: of course this is one of the busiest weeks of year for metro. a week and a half after the cable fire shed light on the state of the metro system a new call for accountable it. that fire near the mcpherson square station led metro to shut down the entire system as you will remember for those emergency inspections. that was last wednesday. stephen tschida covering metro tonight after today's board

meeting. stephen: a lot of customers concern find out the cable responsible for the fire is the same that caused the deadly l'enfant fire. and paul wiedefeld said he questions whether those entrusted to repair the cables are saying they are doing the work and not doing it. fire near the mcpherson metro station caused major delays for commuters and eventually shut the system down for a full-day inspection. the cause is a faulty cable just like the one that led the fire at l'enfant that led to a woman's death. >> i think about the things that have happened to other people. stephen: the fire comes after metro conducted a system wide investigation and began implementing repairs of the problematic cables. >> i hav

attitude. i listen to managers and people and i question them. >> in the metro board meeting the general manager raised the possibility the fire at mcpherson square stem from workers entrusted with the inspection and repair since the l'enfant incident stating work is completed when they haven't done it. >> i will go back to find out what we did in the 14 months to months to be see what needs to be done differently going forward. stephen: despite assurances that the misrepresentation of work will not be tolerated some passengers say they are losing faith in the system. >> no. i don't feel that i'm safe on metro. but i hope. i hope they will fix it for the better. stephen: wiedefeld saying he is taking a unit from metro and entrusting the unit to conduct investigations and call for specific repairs. he says that unit will report directly to him. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7

leon: turning now to the war on terror and the latest on this week's attacks in brussels. in the last two hours belgium lowered the terror level a notch but says another attack not yet out of the question. today the belgian police revealed they were called to the address that the jihadist used as a hide-out a month before the attacks but they were there to investigate fallen glass. scott thuman at the terrorism alert desk with the latest. scott: police are not sure if anyone was living in the apartment when they were called there last month. but that is not making belgians feel better about the effectiveness of that country's security forces. >> given the facts it's justified that people ask questions. scott: belgian authorities think five men were involved in tuesday's attacks in brussels that killed 31 people and injured 330. three at brussels airport. isis bomb-maker ibrahim

el bakraoui, khalid el bakraoui and another unidentified man, najim laachraoui. they say video from the metro station shows a man holding a large bag at the station. but no one knows whether he survived the blast or not. the interior minister offered to resign saying one of the terrorists ibrahim el bakraoui was detained last week in turkey before he was deported to europe before he was set free. el bakraoui was stensed to nine years in prison by a brussels court in 2010 for opening fire on police officers after a robbery but he didn't serve much of the time. >> people ask how is it possible someone was released early and we missed a chance when he was in turkey to detain him? i offered my resignation to the prime minister but he asked me to stay given the situation and the conditions we are in. scott: meanwhile paris attack suspect salah abdeslam who is

involved in the planning and the setup for the brussels attack is no longer cooperating with belgian police. abdeslam's lawyers says he want to be extradited to france as soon as possible. >> the explanation he will give them there and not in belgium. scott: police are looking into the possibility that the terror cell had other targets and reveal that the el bakraoui brothers used hidden cameras to record one of belgium's nuclear scientists. leon: thank you, scott. coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- fire rips through a row of townhouses. find out why crews had trouble fighting the flames. alison: later, after fizzling out here. rgiii lands a new job. mike: i'm mike carter-conneen at the air and space museum with the update in investigation into an attempted abduction earlier this month. coming up what police are saying now about their person of interest. leon: right now forget about the birds of t

they are old news now. the babies are out. these bald eagles are nesting at the metropolitan police department in southeast d.c. now police have cameras set up to monitor two eggs in this nest. the birds nested there for the last 11 years. eaglets are expected to hatch any day. we'll be watching this one now for all the action soon to come. stay with us.

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.

siness that when women are at the table, we get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message.

ja right now people are gathering at a beltsville funeral home to pay respects to officer jacai colson. the detectiveive was shot by a fellow officer while another man started to shoot outside the district iii headquarters. brad bell outside the viewing after speaking today with officer colson's father. brad? brad: yeah, alison. it has been a very long, tough afternoon for the family. viewings often are. but they have seen hundreds of people. people from as far away as the nypd coming to pay their respects and what the family is telling us is say appreciate it. motorcycle escort. and a gauntlet of officers receive the family of detective jacai colson at the beltsville u

a line forms before the scheduled 2:00 p.m. start time for the viewing. there are hugs and tears. officer colson's father says it helps. >> the outpouring of support and prayers, we can't say enough. >> they summon the courage to speak publicly about their loss for the first time. >> jacai is a hero. he died a hero. he was proud to work for the prince george's police department. >> it was when the plain clothed detective drove in the middle of a chaotic shoot-out. they believe that colson shot and wounded the gunman before he himself was hit by friendly fire. when another cop mistook colson for an armed suspect. james colson today offering words of support for that officer, too. >> we have not waived on that. we asked the police department to make sure that the other family is aware of that. we

officers and it is a tragedy all the way around. >> tomorrow there will be a full honor funeral. thousands will attend. colson's friends on the force are glad so many will hear about the man they knew. >> sometimes you scratch your head where he might do something silly, you can't be mad at him. he has an infectious smile. brad: well, tonight, a little bit of a lull here. there is no lines. few officers milling about that. is normal at viewings. they expect more to come later on. this is open to the public and open until 9:00 p.m. the funeral is tomorrow in upper marlboro and attended by thousands. in beltsville, brad bell, news snooze. >> montgomery county executive ike leggett wants to review the use of stun guns in the county. sings 2005 four of the 11 deaths in the stungun police encounters involved montgomery county

investigation by "baltimore sun" in several cases the officers used the devices for longer than the recommended 15 seconds. alison: "7 on your side" on your side with a consumer alert. giant food offering refund on two gerbero organic pouch products. pears, carrot and peas and the carrot, apple and mangoes. they may have a packaging defect that may result in the food to be spoiled. they are asking people to throw the food away and bring in a receipt. leon: we're not about apples and mangos. we are all about cherries here. cherry trees. beautiful sights coming in from the tidal basin. starting to hit the peak. this is from myron, the moon setting this morning utahans point before sunrise. if you have photos like this we'd like so see it. send it to us at pics@wjla.com. >> there are so many photographers there 24/7, taking all different ang

leon: this is the time of year to do it. >> doug hill is out there, too, today at the tidal basin. leon: hey, doug. how is it looking? how are the crowds? doug: the crowds are fine. this is a tough assignment. a tough assignment here. just enjoying the absolute beauty of the cherry blossoms and the gorgeous weather. folks are coming, steady crowd. folks getting home from work and coming to visit. it's a steady line of folks. a lot of abc7 friends stop by to say hello. hello, kathleen. how are you? >> pretty shirt you have on today. how appropriate! doug: you like what you are seeing? >> this is beautiful. the weather, for march! doug: it's all good. you have fun. >> thank you. >> hi! [cheering] doug: we always get this. one thing we have to tell you about is the red flag warning out there. the weather is beautiful there are also concerns about the fires. we have seen it so far on the news. red flag warning is up until 8:00 in the area shaded in red. another

that is contributing to the dry air. and the dry air combined with the winds gusting to 31 miles per hour. just a bit ago at reagan national. 31 in leesburg and hagerstown. that is a problem. we have rain in the morning. that will help steve rudin with the fire threat but we are afraid it might do damage to blossoms. what do you think? steve: looking outside right now it looks beautiful. looking at the national harbor. no worries at all. we have mostly sunny skies right now. the temperatures as we look across the area, 79 degrees in manassas. 77 in culpeper. 75 in luray and winchester now at 75. cumberland at 79. we will get relief from the dry weather later tonight as a cold front approaches from the west. the cold front will bring us showers come early tomorrow morning. behind it, we have the slightly cooler air. look at the warmth overspreading the mid-atlantic. indianapolis at 57. compare it to the other side of the front where we are atom 37 degrees over

no worries for us this everything. go visit cherry blossoms, dine outside and go for a walk. exercise. it will stay dry. clouds on the increase as the cold front moves closer toward us. winter is not over yet. heavy snow in northern michigan, upward of six to ten inches. some areas upward of a foot of snow. for us just rain. on the way late tonight and early tomorrow morning and a little rain can cause big problems, especially if it arrives in time for the early morning rush hour commute tomorrow. 58 to 63 for an overnight low. keep in mind these temperatures are well above our average daytime highs for this time of year. this is our future cast. as we move through early tomorrow morning, 9:00 over the district. southern montgomery county. keep in mind this is just a computer simulation. but move through the midday hours. evening begins to clear out. outdoor recess for the kids. then temperatures will still be in the upper 60

timing the cool front early tomorrow morning for the rush hour commute. it's out of here by the end of the day. cooler, drier air will fill in across the area for the first half of the upcoming weekend. at least it will stay dry for easter sunday. then we will stay on the cool side as we move to early next week. here is your day planner for tomorrow. 67 degrees. 11:00. showers will quickly wrap up. clouds will ease and we will see the temperatures in the lower 70's. here is the seven-day outlook calling for temperatures that are going to cool down for the upcoming weekend. we will see the temperatures that begin to rebound by the middle of next week. alison: pretty good. we'll take it. thank you. welcome back. steve: thank you. good to be back. leon: he is sporting a cherry blossom tie, too. alison: all in the spirit. very good. all right. still to come here at 5:00, mammograms may be useful in diagnosing more than breast cancer. leon: we'll explain that. plus -- >> frankly ridiculous. there is no biden rule. it doesn't exist. leon: the vice

references to his previous statements about supreme court nominees. sam: i'm sam ford at the d.c. jail. what we learned today in one of the mayor's hearings that the population here as plummeted. that story is next on abc7 news. alison: but first t.g.i.t. --

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alison: we are back with a live look at the d.c. skyline. the latest data finds the d.c. region is now officially the sixth largest metropolitan area in the country. new york, los angeles, chicago, dallas and houston. they are the top five. leon: school modernization is the key element of the d.c. mayor muriel bowser's proposed 2017 budget. she unveiled her $13.4 billion plan. it includes $220 million for school improvement. mayor bowser wants to complete modernization project that began in 2007 under then mayor. the budget includes $12 million for the city's third party ambulance program and $13 million to revamp homeless

alison: mayor bowser asking for three-person increase in the budget for the d.c. jail. but this comes number of inmates drops pretty dramatically. d.c. bureau chief sam ford spent the day looking in the story behind the new numbers. sam: at her breakfast meeting with the council, mayor bowser included $5.9 million for -- for d.c. to take control of the correctional facility. >> we want to provide the services and not have the services provided by a contractor. sam: the mayor who visited the jail wants more space for d.c. to run transition programs and bring home felons housed by the federal bureau of prisons six months or so before the sentences are up. >> what we would like to do is again return the people back earlier so that again we can have more enhanced planning. sam: all of this may be possible because d.c. has so much free space in the jail and the treatment faci

but only 62% is being used. the treatment facility's capacity is 1,300 but only 38% is being used. >> so we have the space where we can do new programming such as the job readiness center. sam: the courts are sending fewer people to jail and police are arresting fewer people. some of that has to do with the change in marijuana laws where marijuana's be decriminalized or legalized. it's gone from more than 2,000 people arrested every year for marijuana possession to last year about six. reporting from southeast washington, sam ford, abc7 news. leon:m coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- a stranger's decision makes a life-saving difference. alison: updating the breaking news right now from the top of the hour. this brush fire we are following in german town was threatening a home. now the montgomery county fire department is telling abc7 news that the fire is now

we do have a crew on the way to the scene. we will bring you more information as soon as they get there. we'll be right back

alison: we have this just in from california tonight. actor and comedian garry shandling has died in a los angeles hospital. there are reports he suf

a major heart attack. he was best-known for his mock talk show the larry sanders show on hbo. he recently appeared on the jerry seinfeld web series "comedian in cars getting coffee." leon: diane cho reports that tray are crediting a stranger with saving their lives. diane: fire spread to a home in a fast-moving fire that happened in a time with many were still in bed. >> heard it and yelled fire. woke me up. diane: she is walking around with a limp after she jumped off the front steps to get away fr

like a dream. so you can't process it. you just see flames. up in the air. >> firefighters say as soon as they arrived in the 7,000 block of chads ford drive in brandywine around 4:00 this morning the flames were showing from the ground up. >> hi matter hurts more for those who lost everything -- my heart hurts more for those who lost everything. my house is salvageable. diane: the fire chief said there was a delay getting to fire hydrant initially. the top blew off and they had to find a second one. william davis junior woke up after hearing the cracking and popping noises coming from next door. even though the flames hadn't spread in the home when they left it only took ten minutes before their home went up in flames, too. >> just as long as all the lives came out of there, everybody is fine. that is all you can ask for. >> the cause of the fire is still under investigation. we are told 25

estimated around $1 million. in brandywine, diane cho, abc7 news. alison: thank you very much. meanwhile a major gift to the smithsonian newest museum. microsoft is donating $1 million to support the national museum of african-american history and culture. museum officials say this donation will bring a new perspective for telling the african-american story in a rich and compelling way. the museum will open to the public september 24. >> first he was a person of interest. >> they say drai

yelled at him to stop. >> he walked up and took her by the hand and ready to walk off with her. >> the witnesses told police the man boarded a white shuttle bus. with help they identified drai as the suspect but there is no indication he is still in the d.c. region. >> according to the park police this man frequently traveled from israel to the u.s. and canada. and may spend time in the new york city area. given the international scope of the search they partnered with the u.s. immigration and customs enforcement office. >> i can tell you in my time as park police going on ten years i have never heard of a case of this nature. >> investigators are still working to identify a second man in the surveillance video described as white, heavy set with white or gray hair. >> it would be easy for someone to come up and take a kid. >> especially when there are so many people in a small amount of space. so can't be careful enough. >> parents in particular are feeling anxious hearing about the incident and seeing the

big spring break crowds. >> it didn't feel secure when i was a chaperon. the kids want to go all over the place. >> i want them in my sight at all times. >> police say this case is a reminder of why it is important to stay alert and they are urging anyone who sees the men or knows them to call the tip line. on the national mall, mike carter-conneen, abc7 news. alison: "7 on your side" with health matters. heart disease kills more women each year than breast cancer. but a new study finds one day you may be able to detect both with one test. researchers at mount sinai found most mammograms detected hardening of the arteries in the breast which is a possible predictor of heart disease. research is still needed but the study suggests that the screening may one day serve double duty. leon: the first family left buenos aires for family time in southern argentina. they will do sightseeing there before returning to washington

buenos aires this morning he visited a memorial to the thousands of people who were killed under the country's military government in the 1970's. he tossed a white wreath in water in honor of those who died. alison: well, before there was air force one there was columbine two. this lockheed constellation was the first presidential aircraft that was used on a regular basis however, a near collision in 1953 with president eisenhower on board led to the creation of what we know as air force one and that designation. so the plane is now in bridgewater, virginia, where restorations will be completed there. then little join the air show circuit so everybody can see it. after all the work is complete. leon: yeah. piece of history there. alison: interesting. leon: i bet he wish he had i -- wi-fi. alison: he wouldn't know what it was. >> coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- a flight attendant made a run for i

today. find out what she left behind at security that got her in hot water. alison: but first. >> everyone is eating and customers are yelling get it out. are you crazy? kathleen matthews: if we want to be heard, we need women in congress. 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.

doug: doug hill live at the cherry blossom. time for a forecast. we have clear in the morning but breezy over the afternoon. the weekend will turn cooler as we head through the weekend. we are expecting temperatures in low 60's but plenty of sunshine and a few clouds on saturday. sunday will be sunny and pleasant for easter with the highs of 66 through the weekend. the next seven days after we get rid of the rain on monday here. chill year skies sunshine and warming trend resumes next week. stay with us. "abc7 news a

alison: police in roswell, new mexico investigating a mystery involving a u.f.o. but not what you think. steves steal a model u.f.o. from the museum. the men loaded it in the back of the pickup truck and drove away. the model was fops damaged a few miles away and police are

leon: okay. it seems like the barge may be missing a skull. the scan of william shakespeare grave shows there may not be a head inside of it. they used radar to search the tomb and they say the research supports the claim that shakespeare head was stolen by graverobbers in 1879. they say there is not enough evidence to dig it up to know for sure. alison: remains a mystery. a man thrown out of a los angeles sushi restaurant returned with cold-blooded payback. police say hiroshi paid a $200 bill and then began showing off a small snake to customers that he brought with them. the managers asked him to leave. and you know what? he came back later, this time with a 13-foot python. that is when the police say he cursed,

the middle of the restaurant and left. >> get this thing out. everyone is eating. customers are yelling. get this thing out. are you crazy? >> asked three or four times, he was like no. inciting fight with the customers so we had to call the police. alison: okay. animal control officers eventually took the snake away. he was arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats. at one point it was stuck behind the cash register. leon: which means that the sushi chef must not be good with theini -- with the knives. i guess it's normal to driver around with a python in l.a. alison: just don't make him mad. you'll be sorry. leon: coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- digging out. a look at the spring snowstorm that socked in the big city. robert: i'm robert burton in

if you didn't know that. you see the snow. we have a lot to talk about in sports. scott abraham is in louisville in maryland and we're at the house that jordan built. that's coming up in sports.

glenn:threateningicans: gofederal workers;ns over 60 votes to repeal obamacare. now they're refusing to even consider president obama's nominee for the supreme court. it disrespects the president and all of us -- and we won't put up with it. in congress, i'll protect president obama's legacy, defend obamacare, and stand up for social security and medicare. i'm glenn ivey and i approve this message.

brandi: the jetblue flight attendant seen at the airport attempting to smuggle 70 pounds of cocaine in two suitcases according to authorities is facing federal charges. the judge granted $500,000 bail. >> she is a good person and has done everything right until now. >> the fact she had security clearance makes the crime especially egregious. >> on friday renwick went to -- reynolds went to the

when the t.s.a. agents selected her for a secondary screening she became nervous and began looking around. then made a phone call. speaking in a foreign language while being escorted away. moments later the former nyu track star carrying heels dropped the carry on luggage, ditched the shoes ands attempted to ran away escaping from the airport. after five days she turned herself in. >> insider threat is real. it should be a wake-up call to everyone involved. >> following the recent terror attack at the brussels airport, legal experts don't believe prosecutors will give the beauty queen leniency. >> we want to send a message to everyone else that has security clearance that you are being watched and you will be held accountable. >> reynolds did not enter a plea. once she posts bail she will be fitted with a ankle monetary bracelet and could be sentenced to ten years in prison. alison: what a story!

ready to hit the brakes in part of alexandria. the city is lowering the speed limit on two stretches of road from 35 down to 25 miles per hour. the changes take effect tomorrow on seminary road from i-395 and quaker lane. on quaker lane between duke and brad doc road. the changes are being made after the residents there expressed concerns for pedestrian and vehicular safety. leon: all right. see how things are shaping up on the other roads. jamie sullivan watching the roads. are we seeing friday volume on a thursday? it seems heavy. jamie: it is heavy. we are seeing that on 66. the capital beltway, 270. i want to start in germantown. take a look at the solid red line. four miles per hour. that is what the wazers are checking in with. the reason for this is because this is the area in german town where we had the brush fire. brink road. whiteman road. both of those very heavy right now. avoid it by using german town

as an alternate. as we take a bigger picture look at this you see the solid red line. that is what you want to avoid. it's heavy on 795, b.w. parkway and d.c. leon: thank you. we want to get back to breaking news we have been following from earlier in hour. brush fire off brink road off germantown. cheryl conner made her way live to the scene and is just now able to check in to give us an update. what is going on up there? cheryl: leon, you can see the fire response that is behind us. it got dangerously close to some homes off brink road. it happened at 4:00 this afternoon. a large response from montgomery county fire out here. now we understand that no homes were damaged. and no one was injured.

the sheds damaged. >> i was standing outside. another neighbor walking up. i was talking to him about the landscaping we were getting done and he pointed over. i didn't know what he was talking about. as soon as i looked over to the neighbor he could see the flames. >> so you went up there, up to the flames. >> i was standing in front of my cruiser. i knew the fast way to get over there. i jumped in cruiser. i was concerned about the neighbors. cheryl: they are making sure they are safe and we will join

the brush fire in germantown. alison: thank you for the latest. looking to colorado. look at this scene. people digging out from from a spring blizzard. operations at denver airport slowly returning to normal after that raging storm shut it down for seven hours on wednesday. hundreds of miles were shut down. a foot of snow fell across the city and it caused widespread power outages. leon: an old buddy i played ball with lives in denver and sent me a picture of him waist deep in snow. i thought it was a hoax. no way. no way. alison: it has been a while but we were there. now we have a beautiful day. steve: i promise we won't see anything like that for the rest of this season. well, until december. hopefully. look at the wind gusts outs there. the reason why we have a red flag warning out there. the wind gusts 25 to 32 miles per hour. it will stay breezy for the overnight.

77. reagan national airport. culpeper at 76. head to fredericksburg looking at 78 degrees. if you have plans to barbecue or maybe check out the cherry blossoms go for it. we have clouds on the increase later tonight. cold front that is well off. it moves through the area late tomorrow night or excuse me later tonight to tomorrow morning and is likely to bring us showers in time for the rush hour commute early on. then things will clear out. 58 to 63 for overnight low. the future cast. hour by hour by 79:00 or 9:30 tomorrow morning we will look for shower activity along the capital beltway. southern maryland. out of here by the midday. again great conditions to check out cherry blossoms. on the breezy side but the temperatures are well above average for this time of year. highs will make it to 70's. more sunshine for afternoon hours. easter sunday looking great. howers back o

have the potential to cause harm to the cherry blossoms along with the gusty winds. back after this. kathleen matthews: if we want to be heard, we need women in congress. it was the women who forced republicans to include women's health and contraceptive coverage

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.

leon: we have breaking terror news to deliver. police raids in paris foiled a terrorist attack and a man is in custody for that. we are working to get details on that. scott thuman is working on that and he will bring you the news at "abc7 news at 6:00". alison: but first let's talk sports. robert burton is in chicago for us. we saw a little bit of snow falling there. robert: yes. not exactly a good day here in the windy city. i'm home. so that is a good thing. but there is still snow. i don't know if i miss that. however, it is a good day for rgiii. the former redskins quarterback signed a two-year deal with the cleveland browns. the team announced that today. he should be happy about that.

also during a conference call he went back to his days in d.c. here is what he had to say about that. >> what happened there and i thank for the people who surrounded me to get through the time. to show me this is the calling. i'm excited about that. it comes i need to work with them and i'm happy to have an opportunity to grow. robert: back to college hoops. scott abraham in louisville with maryland. probably the toughest matchup yet. scott: the scott is ticking in the first sweet 16 since 2003. maryland will battle overall number one seed kansas. the recipe for success is quite simple for the terps. >> we have to be locked in on defense and we have to close

with a rebound. they are a great rebounding team. they could get hot and it would be a tough night for us. scott: maryland belongs in the sweet 16, a growing confidence with every game in the ncaa tournament. >> i feel like we have the perfect team. a good matchup. we play hard. we compete. we do what we're supposed to do. we'll be fine. scott: it will be a tremendous atmosphere tonight inside the yum center. opening tip-off is scheduled for 79:40. reporting in louisville, scott abraham, abc7 sports. robert: can't wait for that. we are in chicago. it's cold. but it does give you a warm feeling when you see this infamous statue of michael jordan. u.v.a. taking on iowa state many house that jordan built. not any arena but you're playing at the united center. basketball history. you look up and you see bob love, jerry

pippen and michael jordan's jersey retired. that's it for sports. i'm robert burton for abc7 news. alison: have a good time. thank you. that is it for "abc7 news at 5:00". abc7 news following two breaking stories right now at 6:00. announcer: from abc7 news this is a breaking news alert. leon: the breaking news is coming in from paris where we have just learned that a terror attack has been thwarted and a man is in custody. scott thuman is working to gather details. scott: we are talking about the information just coming out of the france's interior ministry office. they have arrested a frenchman in a raid in the northwest portion of paris has been identified as someone they say was the workings of a "high-level plot" to attack in france. the bomb squad is on the scene now. they say he was in the advanced stages for an attack in france. he has been arrested. they are looking now into what

they don't believe it has a direct connection to the attacks we just saw in brussels in the previous attacks in paris. so this is perhaps a separate plot. maybe even a separate cell. one frenchman is under arrest. he was in the advanced stages of plotting to attack within france's borders. we will have more throughout the evening. leon: thank you. stay on top. get back to us. maureen: more breaking news from germantown where a brush fire is contained after threatening several homes. news chopper 7 has been over the scene of the fire burning near the corner of brink and blunt roads in germantown. leon: our cheryl conner joins us now live from the scene. she has made her way there. cheryl, give us an jump date on the progress they are making? cheryl: well, the good thing is that the fire is contained. the bad news, though, it got dangerously close to home. some residents have had to step outside to make sure they are safe. you can see the l