over 10,000 passengers that need to get back. scheduled passengers, there are even more. >> reporter: may take longer than that to clear the backlog of passengers. >> today is the day we were supposed to fly out and this morning they told us our flights were canceled. hour later they hustled and said we are going to brussels because there may be another flight. >> reporter: at the height of the crisis, it is believed to be affecting 12 million travelers word wide. european air space handles about 30% of the world's air traffic on a good day. as the operations are down for some six days airlines are estimating it cost $1.7 billion. they will be looking for their government to reimburse them, some of that money, rather along the lines of the way the u.s. government gave money to u.s. airlines after 9/11. at heath row airport, tom aspell, nbc news. >> airlines are estimating their losses at least $1.7 billion because of the air space closures.

about 102 thousand flights have been canceled around the world. one airline predicts it could take three years forhe industry to recover from the week of lost flying time. during the crisis, spain became a travel hub arranging for hundreds of special flights that moved thousands of travelers strand bid the cancellations and air space remained open throughout most of the crisis. >> the friends and the family of a d.c. school principal are gathering tonight to honor the life of brian betts. visitation is being held for the middle school principal in manassas at this hour. betts was found murdered in his house in silver spring last week. chris gordon now is in manassas and with more on this story. chris? >> jim, his students and teachers from shaw middle school are expected to come here to this viewing tonight to pay their last respects. seven charter buses are due to arrive and two charter buses from the montgomery county public school system where he used to work. this viewing is a sad occasion but also it is a recognition of

a man who truly was larger than life. the family of slain principal brian betts arrived here at pierce funeral home just before 5:00. friends and family are gathering. including some former classmates who have known betts since his days as a student at stonewall jackson high school here in manassas. >> he is loved by everyone and admired by everyone. people looked up to him. people knew who he was. when he walked into the room it was like a presence. >> absolutely. >> it wasn't just the students. it was than just the classmates. it was the faculty, the staff. with everybody that loved brian and he loved everybody. >> reporter: brian betts' last entry on his facebook page the evening of april 14th was what are great weather. grilling out. having a cocktail. >> the information we received was that there was not a barbecue that night. mr. betts may have grill ad burger. but there wasn't gathering like i think some of the reports

were. now if anyone has some information that contradicts that statement, we would still love to-to-hear from them. >> reporter: betsz was found his home fully clothed with at least one gunshot wound. no sign of forced entry. police placed betts at his silver spring home until about 11:30 the night of april 14th. two days later, his nissan suv was found abandoned in southeast washington. two men were seen running from it. 42-year-old brian betts was the well-loved and highly respected principal at shaw middle school. before that, he was a physical education teacher in montgomery county. this facebook tribute has comments from friends, former students, and classmates who write of their fond memories going back to his days as a captain of the cheerleading squad at the university of north carolina and at greensboro. police say that betts spent a lot of time on popular social networking websites. investigators are checking to see if any recent contacts lead

to a suspect or suspects. tomorrow there will be private funeral service and burial here in manassas. that's the latest. back to you in washington. >> chris gordon. thank you, chris. the d.c. schools will hold a public memorial for betts on saturday, may 1 at cardoza high school in northwest washington. a day of service will be held for betts tomorrow at the school that he led. the shaw middle school is going to patteder son. and the tribute will be held for students, parents, and staff at the school a week from tomorrow. prince george's county police arrested an attempted murder suspect after he barricaded himself inside of a house for several hours. it all started about 9:00 this morning in bowie. police were serving an arrest warrant for 26-year-old brian barnes at his home on chestnut avenue. barnes jumped into his car and took off. he ended up crashing his car on ninth street and ran into a nearby house pap couple inside that house got out safely.

police surrounded the home for hours. they arrested barnes around 2:00 this afternoon. he was wanted for first-degree assault and attempted murder charges. new developments tonight in the beating of a university of maryland student by a prince george's county police. officials at the you don't know held a news conference this afternoon in an effort to explain the confusion over some missing surveillance video footage of the event. the video came from a camera that was on the street close to where the incident occurred. jane watrel is in the newsroom with more on this. >> this is the video that is now in the hands of the beaten student's lawyers. you don't know officials say that it was an employee's mistake that led to the admission to the surveillance video footage. but attorneys for the beaten students are skeptical. this video shows the march 3 elevation where hundreds of university of maryland students took to the streets after a men's basketball victory over duke. the video shows prince george's

county police response as officers and riot gear beat unarmed students. stephanie canter witnessed the police response. >> police officers beating, sticks, huge horses, coming at us. >> reporter: parts of the melee was captured on dozens of university campus security cameras. known as number 158. somehow the lawyers from the beaten students after getting a court order for the footage didn't not get a copy of camera 158. university officials say that's been rectified and bristled at any talk of a coverup. >> as you look at this video -- camera 158, you are going to see these -- the dash assumption or the -- anything we were trying to hide really doesn't hold any weight because the video does not even show the incident in question. the fact we were trying to destroy or hide evidence that does not show anything really doesn't make much sense. >> reporter: the university officials also gave a copy of camera 158 to news4. while there is a three-minute

gap, it occurred before the students celebration spilled over into the downtown area where the camera is located. four prince george's county police officers have been suspended since incident and the beaten students are suing. their attorney says that the missing footage raises questions. >> the 15 or so cameras we received was the one camera, most important camera, that was omitted. again, they say it is a mistake but it is -- coincidence which raises enough questions that one would hope it is thoroughly investigated. >> reporter: maryland state police have been called in by university officials to investigate why the footage wasn't immediately turned over to the students' attorneys. jim? >> jane watrel. thank you, jane. police say people are posing as utility workers to rob homeowners. this happened at least twice this month in prince george's county. one is near forestville and one in suitland. in both case it is suspects knocked on the door and said they were doing utility work and

needed a signature on a work order. when the victims opened the door the suspect pulled out weapons and robbed the people living there. pepco officials want to remind doufts always check for proper identification of workers and if there is anything suspicious about the visit, you should call the company to verify. coming up tonight, explosion rocked an offshore oil platform. column of fire went up into the sky. a frantic search sunday way. pope spoke out for first time about the catholic abuse scandal and promised church action to deal with it. lawmakers on capitol hill are trying to figure out if they can help make metro safer. >> we will tell you about the new effort to protect troops from homemade bombs in afghanistan. how about our forecast? >> today's rain will be ending. but waited until you see what the weekend holds. got a good book? dan? >> it is caps and canadiens. going to montreal for a preview of fit's game four. speaking of number four, what are the skins going to do with

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today the afghan army destroyed more than two tons of fertilizer in a controlled explosion. fertilizer contains ammonium nitrate and surgeons use it to

make roadside bombs. back in february, afghan president karzai banned ammonium nitrate. he signed an order giving afghans 30 days to turn in the fertilizer or face prosecution. explosion today was an effort to destroy some of the fertilizer the government collected. the leaders in north korea today talking tough again. they said that they will exercise their right to build as many nuclear weapons as they need. they also said they would build no more than what they need. and they said they would take part in nonproliferation efforts along with other nuclear states. statement today comes before a meeting of the united nations next month. members there are scheduled to review the nuclear nonproliferation treaty. in another development, media in south korea today reported the north is planning another nuclear test in may or june. the officials at the state department cast doubt on the accuracy of that report.

today president obama made comments that suggest he plans to pick a supreme core nominee with abortion rights. steve handelsman is on capitol hill now with more. hi, steve. >> reporter: thanks. actually since the president was sworn in, about the only big vote up here that's been bipartisan was last summer. core confirmation vote in the senate. this time the president hopes to win over more republican sena r senators roe versus wade remains an issue. senate leaders who the president called in today know he will send them a supreme court nominee who shares that view. >> i want somebody who is going to be interpreting our constitution in a way that takes into account individual rights and that includes women's rights. >> reporter: mr. obama's first nominee, sonia sotomayor, was confirmed with nine gop votes.

republican leader mitch mcconnel and jeff sessions voted no. but both were consulted by the president. who is hoping to ban this week's flicker of bipartisan. cross-party cooperation looks possible, new financial regulations. senate republicans today. >> i think that we are going to get there. i am very optimistic. >> both sides agree on main point. >> number one, that we don't have to bail out firms if they act recklessly. >> reporter: but the president's approval rate sing back down to about 45% in today's quinnipiac poll. >> the notion he was a post partisan president who would be able to bring people together from different perspectives, the data shows that's not the case. >> reporter: house gop leaders still oppose the wall street plan there is permanent bailout here. >> reporter: the familiar sound of partisan warfare. sure to get loud as soon as mr.

obama names his supreme court nominee next month. live from the hill, steve handelsman, news4. >> steve, thank you. controversial cardinal will not participate in a celebration saturday of the latin mass that will be held at the basilica of the national shrine in northeast d.c. that announce many comes after pressure came from advocates for victims of sexual abuse by priests. that group is upset because of the letter that cardinal hoyos wrote in 2001. in that letter, he congratulated a french bishop for protecting a priest convicted of raping minors. the pope agreed to find a replacement for the event this week. pope benedict publicly addressed the sex abuse can't skals today for first time. in front of hundreds of people in st. peter's square, the pope promised to take what he calls church action to protect

children and the abused. the announcement came after a meeting with several men who said they were abused by priests as children. the pope says he told thoe those men the church would do everything in its power to bring those priests to justice. a frantic search sunday way for 11 missing oil rig workers off the coast of louisiana. they haven't been seen since the rig exploded late last night in the gulf of mexico. about 50 miles south of louisiana. the massive fires sparked by the explosion is still burnin ining kristen dahlgren has the report. >> reporter: the massive explosion sent flames shooting into the skies. survivors scrambling to safety. 126 workers were believed to be on the deep water horizon rig when it was rocked by the blast late tuesday night. most were able to make it off the platform. some had to be airlifted by the coast guard. but hours after the explosion a frantic search continues for

those still missing. >> hoping on the life vessel deployed from the rig, one of those capsules, that they spotted late last night and early this morning, and they are hoping all of those -- that are unaccounted for would be in that vessel. >> reporter: still there is no sign that the coast guard combs through miles of open water. meantime, at hospitals in louisiana and alabama, the wounded are being treated. at least seven were critically injured. and back out in the gulf, firefighters continued to battle the flames for hours as the rig tilts towards the water. >> well, it is leaning very bad to one side. the coast guard comes in and says that they don't know if they will keep it from going over or not. >> reporter: leaving environmental teams standing by and as the search for survivors continues. along with the fight to avoid an even bigger disaster. kristen dahlgren, nbc news there. >> there's extra urgency for

rescuers to find the 11 missing oil workers quickly because the water temperatures in the gulf are colder than normal this time of year. a spring storm stirred up big trouble. >> find out if spirit airlines had a drop in passengers after that plan to charge $45 for carry-on bags that go in the overhead come partment. we will get a look at our forecast.

a huge tornado touched down last night near bushland, texas. 11 miles west of am royal. it stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes. along with the funnel cloud the storm produced hail the size of golf balls. no injuries or damages have been reported, though. wow. those are dramatic pictures. veronica, rainy and gloomy out there today. i guess it is good news for the people who struggle with the pollen. >> that it is. tomorrow we will have -- back to dry conditions around here. pretty mild temperatures, too. hard to believe that today we are socked in with 50-degree temperatures throughout the area. only a three-degree spread between our low and high. tomorrow we will rebound and into the 70s. so nice for tomorrow. let's take a look what has been going on aacross the area today. rain showers, scattered rain showers, mainly light. here is a look at things right. most of the rain is out of here. i still think drizzle, some mist, easterly wind, damp conditions are go to hang on

until 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. let's put -- the high and low temperature on. 54 to 57. again, only three-degree spread. high for today occurring at 2:00 p.m. the average high is 68. today with the coolest going all the way back to march 30th. now let's talk about where we are at 55 degrees. ronald reagan national airport. where we have gotten about opinion 16 of an inch of rain today. you can see what's left on the radar now. we will zoom in around washington, d.c. the beltway, we are dry. again, probably still damp and little misty at times. we have gotten more of that showers hanging on down through southern areas of charles county. around calvert and st. mary's county. most of it is out of here. and by early tomorrow morning we should have signs of sunshine throughout the area. opinion 16 of an inch of rain in manassas today. opinion 39 in ft. belvoir. culpeper picked up opinion 54 of an inch of rain today. rain is going to return for the

weekend. again, today is just an appetizer of things to come. low pressure. that's the system. it has been rather sxwaek moving off the coast. the next storm system is not weak storm system at all. it has been producing some travel slowing down for showers and storms. throughout areas of the west and california and arizona and even nevada. and snow through the higher passes out west and including colorado. this will be abslow moving system. main part really not arriving here fully until the beginning of next week. so again, we will stay socked in for the weekend and beyond. here is look at severe weather reports nationwide. it has been a slow start to us this spring with showers and storms and severe weather reports versus last year. even slower with 2008. not just enough moisture coming out of the gulf of mexico. not enough energy. those low dew points versus what storms need, rich moisture. so we have had this here, therefore, for 2010, only 94

tornado reports versus 480 back in 2008. we could get thunderstorms around here on saturday with that slow-moving storm coming up. next 48 hours, we clear out. mostly clear skies by tomorrow morning. some sunshine and few high clouds. and more cloud cover moving in for friday. already punching in out ahead of that to next system. 70s will go tomorrow and the warmest out of the next seven days. up want to get out there. a good time, too. cut the grass and get a head's up before things for the weekend. drizzle, mist, all ending late p.m. temperatures drop from the upper 50s to the mid 50s. then down to about 45 to 49 degrees by tomorrow morning. and we will have shine throughout the area and just continue to dry out with the westerly wind. tomorrow's winds, northwest, 10 to 20. little breezy at times. 70 to 75 degrees. awfully pleasant. your friday, temperatures will start dropping under the 70-degree mark with and saturday looks like rain starts early.

right through the day, continues with on and off showers for sunday. monday, perhaps even early part of tuesday, so more and more of this is looking like one and two-inch rain event for us coming up in and a wet pattern, too. good weekend for a book and movie. >> tomorrow good. >> very good. >> thanks, veronica. coming up the life of civil rights leader dr. benjamin hooks was honored in memphis today. >> lawmakers questioning the safety of metro on capitol hill. we will find out who is going to take action. are more drivers ready to buy vehicles that are made in the usa? >> we will show you the sun maybe like have you never seen it before. >> coming up in sports, what are the redskins going to do in tomorrow's nfl draft. we can up close and personal with brendan morrison. a huge playoff battle tonight. canadiens and capitals up in montreal. we will have a preview as "news4 at 6:00" continues.

from safety lapses to a budget short fall the metro transit system has been facing host of challenges. the biggest concern is, in fact, safety. that story tops our broadcast for this half hour. >> 15 people lost their lives on the rail system over the last year. today law make others capitol hill wanted to know what metro

is doing to improve the safety and service. elaine reyes has the story. >> reporter: during a question and answer session on the hill, about metro's safety and oversight, everyone on both sides agreed on two things. immediate action was needed to regain the public's trust and the transit agency required a safety culture change. >> we are responsible for safety. no one else is more responsible than us. we have to deliver on that. it is good to have outside eyes such and i want to see them to be effective and see them to be properly resourced so they have the expertise and ask the right questions because it is good to have other eyes looking at you. >> reporter: metro is accountable to itself. the existing tri-state oversight committee has no power to dictate change. after a string of deadly accidents involving passengers and workers, members of congress wanted a progress report from the transit agency. >> i'm very concerned that we

don't have a safety mechanism in place and we don't have a good explanation. why trains are going so slow. yet, people are tied to the metro and don't have any other resources. >> reporter: there is also a push for new federal transit standards. the federal transit administration released a recent audit that detailed communication and mismanagement problems among other things within the agency. congressman gerald connelly of virginia said metro's budget shortfall adds to the issues and that the agency needs federal funding. >> federal government is the largest and the fact metro was here. i think they have a certain responsibility to be at the table if we are going to put new burdens on the metro in terms of safety and i think that's appropriate. >> challenges but nothing that is something that 00 seen. some level before. i think they all can be taken care of. it is going to take time. time to get to where we are today. time to work on it.

>> reporter: on capitol hill, elaine reyes, news4. >> d.c. councilman jim graham introduced a measure that would raise the city's gas tax by ten cents a gallon. the extra funds would be used for metro operations. the family is accusing a teacher's aide at oxon hill middle school of beating their mentally handicapped child. in a news conference today the family spokesperson announced the allegations. the 14-year-old child reportedly was playing in the gym when the assault occurred. child's twin brother allegedly was one of the witnesses. >> assaulting teacher grabbed the basketball and threw it into the face of the 14-year-old child. he then picked the child up and threw him into the bleachers. and as the child attempted to get up, the assaulting teacher grabbed him once again and threw him back into the bleachers for a second time. >> both the teach areas aide and principal reportedly have been removed from that school.

parents in spotsylvania counseltri not happy about a proposal that would make student athletes pay to play sports. according to the free louns star the plan would help make up for $15 million. under the plan high school student athletes would pay $75 per sport. middle school athletes would pay $125 per spore. the economically disadvantaged students would pay a reduced rate. the school board says that the fees would allow the schools to keep their athletic program, some of which were in danger of being cut. tonight virginia lawmakers debating some deep budget cuts being proposed by governor bob mcdonnell. the governor's 122 budget amendments includes cuts to a program to help troubled teens and a possible increase on speed fines. in addition to the budget cuts, some lawmakers also took issue with the governor's controversial confederate history month declaration. julie carey reports. >> reporter: the hardest work was done in the regular general assembly session as lawmakers

cut hundreds of millions of dollars to close a budget sho shortfall. bob mcdonnell put his mark on the budget with dozens of amendments. today lawmakers returned to richmond to wrestle with what to approve or reject. among the most contentious amendments for democrats the governor wants deeper cuts to some human services programs. and including one aimed atting troubled kids. >> ones being severely impacted are helping families for kids likely to be abused. programs for the homeless. programs for the poorest of the poor. >> reporter: other amendments attempt to the raise new revenue. the governor wants to hike speeding violations fines and something that could pull in $7 million more over the next two years. democrats charged that violates mcdonnell's own campaign promises. even some republicans are skeptical. >> governor mcdonnell has put some fee increases in these amendments and the only difference between tax and fee

is tax comes out your left pocket. fee comes out of your right pocket. the house republicans, i think are going to have consternation with that. >> reporter: little was said today, though about the biggs controversy of the past month. governor bob mcdonnell's proclamation of april as confederate history month set off a national outcry when his original version failed to mention slavery and devastateding impact. still african-american lawmakers put a brief spotlight on the issue. they wore black ribbons in honor of their ancestors and asked for this special acknowledgement. >> mr. speaker, i ask that we adjourn today that we do so in the honor and the memory of the thousands of slaves who play an important role in the building of the wealth of this commonwealth. >> that request was quickly approved. >> favor that motion say aye. >> aye. >> those opposed? >> reporter: julie carey, news4, virginia.

there could be one unusual complication during the senate vote if there is a tie ', if the tiebreaker lieutenant governor bowling won't be there to settle things. he has been stuck in europe because of the volcanic ash. coming up tonight, spirit airline is on the defensive and there is an announcement today from that company's ceo. >> final respects to the former head of the naacp.

welcome back, veronica

johnson in storm center 4 to tell you about showers on the way out of here. the showers will be come back by the weekend and could have a thunderstorm ruined here saturday. something we haven't seen much of this year. storms across the area. take a look at the lightning, though, on this picture. this amazing. taken a couple of days ago. white hot lightning crackling amongst the ash of the volcano. the underlying mechanism possibly the bumping of particles that create static electricity. much as within thunderstorms. we don't have any storms today, just showers moving out of here. around baltimore, the biggest batch in northern areas of anne arundel county. it is still going to be drizzly, misty until we get a better northwestern wind in here to help dry things out. 55 in d.c. it is 59 in manassas. 57 degrees currently around alexandria and we will drop to 49 to 50 degrees by tomorrow morning. not a huge drop in the

temperatures. boy, they are going to be springing forward tomorrow with highs throughout the area in the low to mid 70s. from d.c., 73. warrenton, 72. fredericksburg, too, 72 degrees. winds will be out of the northwest and about 10 to 20 miles per hour. little breezy perhaps tomorrow. then quiet but with return of clouds on friday. we will still get up to 70 degrees or so. then the cool 60s with all of the wet weather coming in for saturday. mostly cloudy and 60% chance of showers saturday. 70% chance for sunday. and still monday is wet, too, with the slow-moving system coming out of the west and with thunderstorms across the nation's midsection. so not the best of weekends coming up. this will be the first real cool and really wet weekend for us. back to you guy glass thanks,ver only kanchlgts family, friends, and political leaders from across the country got together in memphis today to bid a final farewell to civil rights leader dr. benjamin hooks. dr. hooks died last thursday at his home in memphis after a long

illness. he was 85. his funeral was held today. hooks was a lawyer. ordained minister. and the leader of the naacp for 15 years. he was remembered as a tenacious and committed leader. >> ben believed in his heart, believed in his soul, the impossible was possible. >> during the service today mourners also observed a moment of silence for another civil rights icon, dorothy heights, who died yesterday. a d.c. reading program is making a difference in the lives of students and it is getting national recognition. the program teams students up with some of washington's biggest power brokers including senators and members of congress. children are paired up with a mentor that reads to them once a week. this session is taking place at brent elementary school in southeast. it is sponsored by everybody wins d.c. private lip funded nonprofit group. we will hear from some of the students and their mentors in a

full report coming up on "in nightly news with brian williams" right after this newscast. what have you got, dan? >> we have a lot. the caps playing once again. montreal. hoping to get things done there. ben roethlisberger suspended. and the steelers reportedly had trying to move him. plus, the redskins, what are they going do if tomorrow's draft? is the quarterback still on the board? a couple of potential linemen, the redskins are looking at, say i hope not. "news4 at 6:00" will con.

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31 would be really nice. >> 3-is. >> close it out. >> sounds like a plan to me. >> caps and canadiens at it again tonight. game four. both teams have changed goalies. caps, of course, switched to semyon varlamov. the goal for the caps just take care of business north of the border and try to close the series out as soon as possible. lindsay has more from montreal. >> reporter: players said early on in this series how beneficial it would be if they could wrap up this first round early. so tonight they have a significant opportunity. if they can beat montreal here, then they could wrap up this first round series with a win in game five on friday. players are not getting ahead of themselves but they know that the rest would be nice. >> rest is huge in the playoffs. if you can win a series early in a couple of four, five games, it benefits you that much down the stretch. we still have our hands full with these guys. not closing up anything yet.

>> harder than the regular season. impossible to play the way you played. but you can do it for a short period of time. the more rest you get the better it is. >> we always make a big deal of this when it is possible. but at the same time all we want do is win. it took seven games, then we would be very happy to win in seven and go on. i think that the further you go, you -- you might sound fatigued but the closer you get to the holy grail the more energized you are. i don't think that -- i don't think that in a teague will come into play. or the lack thereof. sometimes sitting around is not good for you either because just -- you don't get that game of where -- you know, you are -- on top of it all the time. you know what i'm say? >> this view of montreal is breathtaking. the capitals don't mind if they don't see it again. alex ovechkin told me tonight's game is by far the most important in this series. probably because it is the next one. but honestly, because these guys

do want the chance to wrap this thing up at home on a friday. from montreal, lindsay czarniak, back to you. >> the reason it is so huge is because, like you said, they could be up 3-1 or 2-2. if it goes back to 2-2, montreal wins tonight's game, it is a whole new series. >> starts all over again. >> so let's get it done tonight. >> the caps clearly right now have momentum on their side. but they have had mo on their team for a little while now. here's brendan morrison in today's "caps face-off." . >> my name is brendan morrison, i wear number 9. my teammates call me mo. most memorable hockey moment would be winning the national championship at college, university of michigan. and also scoring my first nhl goal. i they we are talking like

critically, like -- like erskine. ove is always bringing it. i get to keep the stanley cup for dashgs i would probably do several things with it. i would have the road hockey game with my buddies i guy up with, family and friends. i would also like to get away and have quiet time with it. i probably would bring it out on my boat with me. spend time with it out there in the water. bruce boudreau reminds me of santa claus. he is a jolly guy all the time. he is in a great mood. you can see him -- just kind of morph into santa at christmas time. >> quiet team with the cup. >> imagine that. if they win it, worked awful hard to get. >> it that cup has been all over the world. all right. now to another wrinkle to the

story involving a virginia chiropractor who claimed he sold steroids to caps players. "sports illustrated" coming out with a story this week that raises questions about how thoroughly the capitals and the nhl investigated those claims. now the players again answer a steroid question. >> they probably realize there is nothing there to research. there's nothing that happened. why bother wasting their time. middle of the playoffs series now. it is not important. >> my family and friends and people that know me know i would never do that. you know, if people want to think what they want to think. if the media wants to make up stories that aren't there, that's fine. honestly, it does not bother us at all because we have had nothing to hide since the beginning. it is an unfortunate circumstances with what happened. i guess that -- it is a nonissue for us. if they want to keep writing bit then fine. >> matt bradley in the article coming out in "sports illustrated." two-time super bowl winning quarterback ben roethlisberger has been us is penned for six games by nfl commissioner roger

goodell. it could cost the steelers quarterback $2.8 million. the punishment comes down a week after georgia prosecutors decided not to charge roethlisberger in a case involving a 20-year-old college student that accused roethlisberger of sexual assault. there is a chance goodell could reduce the suspension to four games for roethlisberger has to show improvement in his behavior. the commissioner ordered roethlisberger to have a comprehensive behavior alley valuation. after that evaluation, roethlisberger will be allowed to participate in team activity and preseason games. several reports say the steelers are actively shopping him to other nfl teams and they are hoping that-to-get a top ten pick in the draft. a possible landing spot is oakland. often known as a career killer for players in general, especially quarterbacks. that could be very interesting. tomorrow night the redskins will presumably draft someone with the fourth overall pick in the

nfl draft. now, no one, even the redskins, know exactly who they are going to pick or if they will use that pick at all. the redskins are listening to all offers, including trading down and trying to accumulate more picks. even with donovan mcnabb on the roster, wouldn't be a total surprise if the redskins went after a quarterback. especially this guy. sam bradford. the projected number one overall pick if he slipped to the four spot. some believe that notre dame quarterback jimmy clausen is an option as well. at some point the redskins need to address that offensive line which has? gaping holes. two linemen who could end newspaper washington think that the skins would be making a big mistake if they took a quarterback. >> definitely be a mistake. that would definitely be a mistake. no. you know, that -- they are going to -- good for their ball club and hopefully william. if it ain't, you know, you have to live with things like that. >> i can't speak for what they are going to do. you know, obviously they have an idea what they want to do.

and this if they don't like the tackles that's their decision and don't like the tackles. nothing to do about it. you know, i think that -- that organization has been doing i long enough where they can pick and choose the players they wanted. whatever they do, they will do what's best for the washington redskins and that will be that. >> tax revenue williams from oklahoma and brian, two of the top offensive tacklers. how thick was hick schneck? >> see how nimble he is. >> he can move. >> i bet that guy must bench 500 pounds. >> weigh 3s 15. how nice must it be to know that in his day you will be a multimillionaire? don't care who picks me. i will be fine. >> yeah. >> don't worry about me. >> thanks. >> that's all you need. one more, one more. don't me out just yet. tiger woods, remember him? he is going to be in charlotte at the end of the month. tiger's also added a player's championship and the at&t national to his schedule. at&t, tiger's tournament, moved temporarily from congressional

to philadelphia. finally, nationals rookie sensation strasburg. made a start today. solid. he went five innings, giving up one hit and no runs and six strikeouts. his totals for the season, 17 and a third innings pitched. seven hits, and one earned run, and 17 strikeouts. and a .73 e.r.a. nationals fans were prepared last night but some of the pitchers really were not. trouble early on for nationalsi. to right. todd helton comes around and scores. the rockies take a 4-0 lead. and that would be it for olsen. out of the game with no outs in the third. olsen's e.r.a. this season, 11.74 in comes tyler walker. does not fare much better. pitching to the pitcher.

d de larosa. not a pretty night. nationals drop to 7-7 on the season. they love baseball. get another shot tonight. >> thanks, dan. coming up, could the toyota crisis create a huge shift in the auto industry? find out what it could mean the next time you go to the dealer. nasa released some spectacular images of the sun. wait until you see this.

some law make verse blarsed spirit airlines 'new carry-on bag fee the. that airline's ceo is defending the fee. his name is ben baldanza. he got inside it when it was announced earlier this month. he said the fee will allow spir to it lower air fares. he says overall, the average customer will end up paying less than before. >> we don't so who loses. if you pay for a bag now on spirit, your total ticket price is going to be the same or a little less than before. if you don't carry a bag, help

us get our planes out faster by not dloging up the airplane you will save $40 or more on your ticket. >> new york senator chuck schumer does not think much of the fees. he's pushing for legislation that would tax airlines for imposing such charges on passengers. >> general motors act set rated on the road to recovery. the auto company announced it paid back billions of bailout money to the government and paid it back early. vehicles made in the usa are getting a new vote of confidence lately. jay gray reports. >> this morning, general moat oshs officials announced they have written their final check to the federal government. >> i am very pleased to announce that as of today, general motors has repaid in full and -- >> there is apparently plenty to cheer about. not only has they paid off the bill but paid it off early.

associated press gm poll released today shows that 38% of americans believe u.s. automakers now make the best and most reliable vehicles. compared to 33% that sided with asian manufacturers. that may sound like a slim margin but most agree the numbers actually indicate that a huge shift in perception. for the first time in a long time, americans feel the best cars on the road are homemade. purely some of the shift can be to high profile quality problems with toyota cars and trucks. but american manufacturers say the bottom line is that they are producing a much better product now. >> our new vision for general motors is simple and direct. design, build, and sell the world's best vehicles. >> jewely and her husband are in the market for a new american made car. they say the u.s. dealers may have finally learn ad valuable less zblon i don't think that the competition with the foreign cars has hurt them in any way.

it made them want to be better. i think they are trying to do that. >> reporter: an effort that seems to be paying off. officials ofs in a lease fascinating pictures today. pictures of sun. they are some of the first from nasa's newest project called the solar dynamics observatory. those pictures show what they call an eruption on the sun. there's also a solar flare there. the temperature of the flare is 10 million degrees. they say they also got shots of what it looks like when a gas changes temperature from 1.5 million degrees to 6 million degrees. the solar dynamic observatory was launched back in february when a five-year mission to study the sun. scientists say the observatory will change our understanding of the sun and its processes. and inasmuch asol