the cherry blossoms are drawing thousands of people after dark tonight. traffic is a mess.

it's only going to get worse over the weekend. good evening, i'm jim vanc >> i'm doreen gentzler. the cherry blossoms, beautiful weather and washington nationals will only draw crowds downtown tomorrow. don't plan on getting anywhere quickly this week. jane watrel is along the tidal basin with that story. >> reporter: it's gorgeous down here. there are still people down here this time of night. the cherry blossom festival brings about a million people into downtown d.c. during that two-week period. we saw a lot of them today and tonight. traffic was at gridlock. sunset over the tidal basin and the enthusiasm for the cherry blossoms didn't dim one bit. >> i'm 74 years old. i don't get tired looking at them. they are wonderful.

>> reporter: tens of thousands of fans agree. >> it's like a winter wonderland. i saw someone take a peek where the cherry blossom blooms are flowing. it's beautiful. >> reporter: according to the cherry blossom festival official bloom watch, the peak days will last until next wednesday. bringing out amateur photographers by the score. >> i love taking pictures. i te as many as i can and pick the best of them. >> every year we get one or two special ones. >> reporter: along with the throngs came traffic, bumper to bumper. the festival continues all day saturday and the washington nationals host a late afternoon exhibition game. that's for another day. tonight, it was all smiles. >> just seeing all the colors and the cherry blossoms fall

down. my son was trying to catch them. it's a good time for us. >> reporter: to help move the massive crowds of people expected in washington tomorrow, metro announced it is adding extra cars to the green line. that will carry people to national stadium. around the tidal basin tomorrow and tomorrownight, it's going to be gridlock. i'm jane watrel, back to you. >> thank you, jane. police standoff that stalled a commute for a lot of train riders this evening now ended. it began just after 2:00 this afternoon. at an apartment complex on eisenhower avenue in alexandria. they were serving an eviction notice when they heard shots inside. that's near the tran tracks. csx stopped rail traffic for about three hours. service was restored just before 6:00 tonight. police say they found the man dead in the apartment about an hour ago.

an officer from prince george's county is in the hospital now. he was hit by a tow truck. it happeneded near 52nd avenue. the officer was trying to remove an uncooperative person from a car. the passing tow truck hit the officer accidentally. that officer is said to have leg and back injuries now. the person he is trying to arrest has been locked up. thieves smashed parking meters in montgomery county to get to the money inside. all that work may not have been very profitable. darcy spencer is in silver springs with the story. >> reporter: it's going to cost thousands of dollars to repair or replace those dozens of meters. police are liking for thieves with a lot of change in their

pockets. nearly 70 parking meters were damaged or destroyed in a rash of smash and grab thefts in silver spring since sunday. thieves may have gotten as little as $2 or as much as $50 for each machine. >> not a lot of bang for your buck. the amount of labor these individuals went into smashing these meters to get the return is not worth it. >> reporter: the vandals hit on two county lots on leland street in bethesda. 29 meters were damaged. 12 were raided in silver spring. police say the thieves smashed the outer casings of the meters and removed the coin cans inside. cost to the government to fix or buy new meters could be in the thousands of dollars. >> if we presented a case to the state's attorney, you're talking in excess of 150 charges, most felonies for the conspiracy

part, theft scheme, breaking into them. value in repairing and replacing them. >> reporter: police have no idea who is responsible. they are asking the public to help catch the thieves. >> in anybody sees somebody walk in with 40 pounds of quarters and dumps it in the coinstar machine, give us a call, please. >> reporter: police are not sure how many people were involved in all these thefts. they say they are reviewing surveillance video and hoping the thieves were caught on camera. live from silver spring, darcy spencer, news4. >> thank you. people in minneapolis, minnesota, are mourning after six people died in an early morningire. three are children. it housed an irish pub and several apartments upstairs. the roof of the building

collapsed. it appears the fire started in an upstairs apartment. three weeks ago authorities found eight fire code violations in the pub. they were to be fixed this week. the fire marshal had not been back out for a follow-up inspection. >> letters sent to several governors have more to do with publicity than threats. bob mcdonnell's office in richmond received one of the letters wednesday and turned it over to the fbi and state police. letters demand the governor leaves office in three days or risk being removed. the anti-government group guardians of free republics believed to have sent them. the new jobs report is out for march. it shows some growth. even the president is remaining cautiously optimistic. u.s. employers added 162,000 new jobs. that's the highest number in one

month in three years. nearly 1/3 of those jobs are temporary census workers. unemployment held steady at 9.7%. 15 million americans are still looking for work. still ahead, an out of control car jumped the curb, crosses a parking lot and ends up in a front yard. popular singer will hear from police after a music video which she stripped. time stops at a busy train station as hundreds stand still. how about weather? >> weather from traveling to egg hunts, church and relaxing, this will make things sweeter. i'll have your forecast coming up. a big-name running back hoping for a fresh smart with the redskins. capitals nearing the playoffs.

it's still not clear what caused a driver to lose control of a car and kill a woman in wheaton this morning. police say the 79-year-old car gymed a curb and hit the woman as she walked through a dunkin' donuts parking lot and kept going. the car hit another vehicle before stopping in somebody's front yard. the woman wasn't carrying any i.d. with her. officials with metro are trying to explain why they waited almost eight weeks to tell the public about two rapes on metro property. both women were raped in a parking garage at the largo town central station on february 5th. the victim was raped, robbed and carjacked. investigators held news of that incident for investigative reasons. on february 11th, a suspect was arrested.

an official with the agency says metro prepared a release after the arrest, but it did not get sent out while metro was dealing with the february blizzards. today was the last day on the job for metro's general manager john cato. he announced his resignation in january after three years on the job. last year was difficult for the transit agency. they suffered the deadliest crash in metro history. former new jersey transit chief richard sarles will be interim chief. a former maryland police chief arrested for selling a gun will be in jail. he was indicted last november for stealing a hand gun from the evidence room and selling it out of the trunk of his car. he was chief of the morningside police department. "the washington post" reports he told the judge he needed money to buy diapers.

he was sentenced to five years in jail for the gun sale and 18 months for the theft charge, however, all but 60 days of the sentences were suspended. coming up, the vatican on the defense and lashing out. apple ipads go on sale this morning. saving money on cereal.

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the internet has been budsing this week after the release of a music video in which a singer stripped in daley plaza with president kennedy was shot. dallas police will get involved. >> reporter: erica badu bared it all for a music video shot last month in daley plaza.

her unauthorized in the buff stunt earned her a disorderly citation from dallas police. >> she disrobed in a public place without disregard to individuals and small children close by. >> reporter: the woman who filed the charges told police the scene discombusted her. the owner of good records on lower greenville says he understands some people's reactionut the performance was artistic. others say it was all part of a bigger plan. >> you want somebody who is thinking outside the box and gives you a means to escape. >> i think it's a publicity stunt, albeit a well-timed one. >> reporter: badu will stop by saturday to sign albums for fans. >> we are going to have an offduty police office here.

>> reporter: the fine could cost her $500. she can fight it in court or just mail it here to downtown dallas. pope benedict continues to remain silent regarding the church sex scandal. he made no mention of it during good friday activities today. a worldwide outcry is growing over what some say is a cover-up by catholic leaders. a cover-up of abuse by priests. the pope's personal preacher made a plea in his defense. he compared the attacks on pope benedict to the persecution of the jews during world war ii. vatican has distanced itself from those comments. in vatican city today, life-long catholics expressed their frustration. >> i think the pope could be more proactive and send a stronger message about how the church can make retribution.

>> all around the world, special prayer services are being offered during holy week to recognize the victims of the sex scandal. one of those took place here in the district today. victims of abuse, their families and supporters gathered outside . matthew's church in northwest d.c. the arch diocese of washington instituted background checks. >> veronica is here with more on our weekend weather forecast. we want all the juicy details. >> i know. you want more of what we gist had, right? yeah. through the easter break, we are going to have relaxing, no-fuss type weather across the area let's start here now with some weather video for you. the tidal basin, of course. cherry blossoms there hanging over the water. keep in mind tomorrow night it's going to be busy down there,

too. it's the fireworks. the pink fireworks over the southwest water front that starts 8:30 and runs until 9:00. 77 was our high today before 3:00 p.m. the low 53 before 6:00 a.m. last year on good friday we hit 75. that sunday we reached only 56 degrees. this weekend we may not hit 80 degrees in the district. reagan national airport will stay in between at 75 to 79 degree pocket. warmer still for easter break. 58 is the current temperature right now. we have a wind blowing out of the south, southeast at 7 miles per hour. you can see the light wind there in rockville. 60 the temperature for you folks. 78 was your high. fairfax, 80 the high. 59 degrees. 71, cool near the water today. 56 is the reading now in st.

michael's. 50s there. temperatures in annapolis around st. mary's. high pressure made its way east. south-southwesterly flow will promote the warmth. look at the showers and a few embedded thunderstorms. that rolled in last night. it all started last night producing wind damage and hail. chicago not getting the rain, but western side of illinois, pitsville getting an inch of rain. as it heads east it will fall apart. cloud cover for our area just a bit. 58 the temperature now. 30s in denver. mercury is falling behind that system. really, i think, our temperatures are going to hold steady from 75 to 80 through monday. there is the system coming

through. sunday, a few clouds. still mostly sunny. mild starting into the day tomorrow. 49 to 55. a touch of summer. it's going to be toasty warm without the humidity. feeling like summer. by monday, conditions still dry. for opening day, washington nationals, perfect weather. 80 on tuesday. our next chance of rain not until thursday. comfortable, summery type weather. >> thanks, veronica. >> wonderful. still ahead, a congressman tries to clarify his statement. >> and sports.

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the question is can we get another streak going? >> the answer is no. at least not right now. we're trying though. that 16-game losing streak is in the books. do isn't mean the wizards were any better than they were. they started a new losing streak against chicago tonight. one problem with the team, everybody wants to get their shots in. they want to prove they can play and might be trying too hard. according to flip saunders, that is exactly what's happening. bill shaneer getting honored tonight. mcgee is there. good dunk. fourth quarter. andray blatche blocked.

the big fellow playing point guard. throwing it up to the real point guard. bulls up by nine. blatche kicks it out to mike miller. miller doesn't shoot a lot, but usuay it's on target. miller has 15. bulls just too much though. rose gets to taj gibson. he hits. game, set, match. 95-87, the final. chicago beats wizards. redskins added another horse to their stable of experienced running backs. willie parker, formerly of the steelers signed a one-year deal with washington. he did not come to back up clinton portis or larry johnson. parker was slowed down by injuries his last two seasons in pittsburgh. last year he lost his starting job. when healthy though, the 29-year-old known as fast willie

averaged around 1,300 yards per season from 2005 to 2007. redskins now have three former pro bowl running backs on the roster. redskins still evaluating quarterbacks. they are currently hosting notre dame qb jimmy clausen. five regular season games left for the capitals. biggest question has to be goaltending. a couple of weeks ago it seemed jose theodore would be the guy in postseason. he's gone unbeaten since january but struggled in the last couple of games. tide could be shifting to the young russian. popular with the ladies and kids. barley is starting to heat up. that begs the question, is the wily veteran getting nervous? it was just last season in the

playof playoffs he replaced theodore. bruce boudreau will wait until the last minute to decide. >> the game is the same. you have to make the save. even if you get the call night before the first playoff game or i know i've got enough experience it's not going to affect me. i'm not getting distracted by any things i can't control. i'm coming to play hard and well and the best i can. >> that's going to be interesting to see what bruce boudreau decides to do. >> still have the president's cup? >> president's trophy could be locked up tomorrow. they never won that before. it goes to the team with the best regular season record in hockey. >> we want to win that, but don't want it to be a jinx? >> exactly.

they could change that, right? >> screw the president's cup, right? you know what i mean? >> keep the eye on the prize. the strike of a clock.

a georgia congressman is trying to clarify comments that made him an internet sensation. during an armed services committee last week, hank johnson questioned a plan to relocate 8,000 marines to the island of guam.

>> my fear is that the whole island will become so overly populated that it will tip over and capsize. we don't anticipate that. >> the congressman said today his comment was a metaphor. he said he was trying to illustrate his concern about the impact of the military buildup of guam's infrastructure. >> apple's next big thing goes on sale nationwide storm morning. some people are waiting overnight to get their hands on an ipad. it's smaller than a laptop but bigger than an iphone. it's a clipboard size package. is costs $500 to $800. it has not caused the kind of excitement the iphone did, but many technology analysts have been impressed of the device as much more of a luxury than

>> reporter: one of the busiest train stations on the east coast stood still yesterday. when the clock struck 6:00, people froze. it was planned by a group from drexel university. that's cool.