gulf of mexico and the search continues for 11 missing workers. challenged the nation's most influential bankers today to embrace a new plan to prevent another economic crisis. i want to urge to you join us instead of fighting us in this effort. we begin tonight with d.c. officials dropping the charges against a 14-year-old accused of being the getadwrooifr after a deadly mass shooting in d.c. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. derrick ward has the latest developments from police headquarters in northwest d.c. >> reporter: jim and doreen, a flurry of activity and developments in this case. want to show you video back at the scene while ee explain, try to explain what's going on here today. now, of course, word came earlier this afternoon authorities did not believe they had a strong enough case against a 14-year-old charged as the driver of the getaway vehicle in that drive-by shooting that happened march 30th. the shooting killed four people and wounded five after a

high-speed chase which ensued. the young man who we will not name was -- run into a school. someone ran into a school. police encountered a young man in that school and arrested him as being the driver in that case. now, first of all, when word came out that this -- charges against that young man had been dropped, greatly angered the survivors of some of the victims. >> you speak about justice. this was just a mistake. officer is an eyewitness saying he saw the young man flee the vehicle, flee the van. threw the guns out. apprehended the suspect. now today they are saying oh, that's not the guy. that open it is window. people locked up who the officers said they saw? >> more justice. more justice? justice. we get none. >> it was finger principle evidence and also witness statements that we heard from attorney general peaer nichols exonerated this young man.

he did have a warrant outstanding. that was brought him initially into the system and perhaps why he was initially arrested. again, as we heard from attorney general peter nichols subsequent witness statement and finger prip evidence which he would not elaborate on led to this man -- young man being released and also exonerated. authorities wouldn't make sure that was made public because in the fear of retribution he be had been involved and fear of retribution he was a witness. now, another development in this case. earlier today, we heard from police chief lanier that three search warrants were executed on chesapeake street. not far from the scene of that shooting. two people were arrested. here's the police chief talking about that. >> i will say as of today, three additional arrest warrants were issued and two of those three individuals are now in our custody. and we are very actively seeking a third individual. i am not going to release the name of the third individual. fear for that person's safety. i am begrudging that person or

those who know that person to have him come forward for his own safety and turn himself in because we will find him and we are actively looking for him. >> reporter: police chief lanier commended the officers involved and said the first arrest of the young man came after a high-speed chase and an accident in which several officers were injured. she said they behaved as officers would be expected to behave in such a situation. now the folks -- bringing in the third person subjeof those thre arrest warrants served today on chesapeake street. two in custody. custody, third person remains larnlgt. this investigation continues. we are live in metropolitan police headquarters. back to you. >> derrick ward reporting. funeral services were held today for the d.c. school

principal found dead in his home in sill sprirng last week. the family and friends of brian betts remembered him as a leader who touched thousands of young lives. he was buried this afternoon. the stonewall memory gardens in manassas. betts was the principal at shaw middle school in northwest washington. he didn't show up for work last friday, people were worried they found him eventually dead in his home. somebody had shot him. pat collins has the latest on the investigation now. pat? >> reporter: what do we know about this case? it appears that brian betts was killed sometime after 11:30 at night. and police say now that at least two suspects were involved in the murder. and there is another vehicle, a mystery car that was used in the crime. and it is still out there. in this investigation, police are putting on the full-court

press. >> we are working very hard. investigators haven't stopped through the night or the weekend, putting forth every effort towards trying to get this case resolved. >> reporter: all-star principal brian betts. found shot to death in the bedroom of his home in silver spring. his car taken by his killer. but now we learn of yet another car that could be linked to this high-profile case of murder. this is a possible scenario of death. the evening barbecue. wednesday around 6:00 to 7:00 pnks m., brian betts seen cooking food on his grill in the backyard. a series of phone calls. later that night inside his home, mr. betts talks to friends and members of his family on the phone. but those conversations stopped and at 11:30 p.m. the mystery car. there is an alley that runs alongside mr. betts' home.

in that alley, on the night of the murder, a car spotted there. that car takes off and 15 minutes after midnight. that time, that car, significant to police. what are sources telling us that a vehicle was seen leaving the alley adjacent to mr. betts' home. at about 12:15, thursday morning. we believe that this vehicle may be related to his murder. >> reporter: brian betts' stolen car. ditched friday afternoon in far southeast washington. two men seen leaving that suv. police believe that someone has the key to help them close that case. they want to hear from that person. jim, back to you. >> pat collins. thank you, pat. after illinois governor rod blagojevich has asked a federal judge to subpoena the president

to testify at his upcoming corruption trial, the 11-page motion was filed in court today in chicago. his attorney says president obama has direct knowledge of allegations made in the indictment. blagojevich has pleaded not guilty to charges that accused him scheming to trade or sell the senate seats left vacant when obama was elected president. it would be extremely unusual for a sitting president to testify at a corruption trial. president obama today went to wall street to ask for support in his effort to impose tough new financial regulations. he said that the criticism of his plan is flatly not true. steve handelsman on capitol hill now with more on this. steve? >> reporter: here is how bad it got today on the hill. top democrats went further than the president accused top republicans of lying, of lying about wall street reform. what they call up here thin reg. in northbound today, near where the nation's banking system

nearly failed, president obama demanded new financial regulations to prevent future meltdowns. the goal is to maker is that taxpayers are never again on the hook because of a firm is being too big to fail. >> reporter: don't believe claims to the contrary. >> a vote for reform is a vote to put a stop to taxpayer funded bailouts. that's truth. end of story. >> reporter: before from obama could end his speech, house republicans made the charge. >> the bill that we have in front of us will actually provide permanent bailouts. >> reporter: and john boehner warned of -- >> government takeover of the entire private sector. >> reporter: to democrats that sounds like the last big fight they almost lost. >> bottom line, on the health care bill, we allowed too many lies to get out there you would rebuttal. >> reporter: that's what democrats charge -- they played

a sound bite. >> endless taxpayer bailout. >> his statements we just seen here are not true. >> reporter: the obama plan would force obscure financial instruments like derivatives out in the open. some on wall street want more regulations from congress. >> if they can set politics aside and stop the blame game, that they will, in fact, come up with something constructive. >> reporter: but today the blame game is back. democrats say they are going to move ahead with financial reform on monday up here. but that, jim will require at least one republican vote. back to you. >> steve handelsman, thanks, steve. traders today on wall street were more focus order the financial problems in greece. stocks managed some modest gains after an official in europe said other countries there can afford -- can avoid a death crisis similar to that increase dow up nine points. 134 was the closing level there. the nasdaq is up 14 points.

closed at 2519. the s&p closed about 3 points higher. finished the day at 1209. coming up on "news4 at 6:00," coast guard continues to search for missing workers after an oil platform exploded and burned for more than a day. >> a police stand-off. firin end. >> iceland volcanic ash cloud is still hovering over europe. planes are back in the air. for first tlim is a stud i don't the long-term effects of cell phones on your health. >> veronica, what's ahead in our weather? >> it was nice today. one more nice day before that weekend spoiler comes our way. we will talk about how much rain we can get out of it coming up. >> the capitals surging in montreal. couple of local guys open here. tonight in the nfl draft. plus, tennessee safety eric barry. could he be drafted by the redskins? some think it may happen. "news4 at 6:00" continues.

a fiery police stand-off in phoenix today ended with one suspect dead. it all unfolded this morning when police interrupted a burglary in progress. when the suspect saw the officers, they ran back inside the house and set it on fire. police believe that they took a hostage with them. one of the suspects was shot leaving the house and another man was taken into custody. there's a concern that an environmental hazard may be

brewing off the louisiana coast at the site of the oil rig explosion. the structure had been burning two days before it collapsed and sank into the gulf this afternoon. rescue teams are still searching the area for survivors. jay gray is on the louisiana coast with more. >> reporter: while choppers and coast guard cutters continue to search the waters off the louisiana gulf coast, officials now admit that hope is waning that any of the 11 missing oil rig workers survived. >> based upon reports from our crew members, we me, they came in last night, at the time the incident, they believe that they may have been onboard the rig. not able to evacuate. >> reporter: as the rescue efforts seems to slowly slip towards recovery, there is a new concern. late today after burning for more than 35 hours, the platform collapsed and sank below the water's surface. these pictures show the dramatic scene unfolding and officials are worried about potential for

an environmental disaster. >> diesel is either still intact and below the surface or it has gone up with the explosion. >> reporter: teams are rushing in to start the cleanup. already there is a sheen of crowd oil mix a mile by five miles wide floating on top of the water. >> we have the best folks in industry and best folks in the government in terms of knowledge of the operations hard at work on this. >> reporter: as both the rescue and cleanup efforts continue around the clock, there are more than 100 families thankful this evening that their loved ones survived. >> it is like -- is he alive or dead or in the hospital? they tell me he was alive. i was overjoyed. i can't describe it. fantastic feeling in the world. >> reporter: feelings that are surely tempered by the knowledge that 11 of their friends may never make it home. family members of the missing are getting updates on the search and recovery mission

every hour but say that there has been little, if any, new information since the night of the initial blast. some of those family members now saying that officials with oil company told them their loved ones are likely dead. tragic situation continuing to unfoed just off the louisiana coast. live in belle chasse, l.a., jim gray. officials in ireland who says he did not do enough about a priest accused of sexual abuse resigned from the church. his resignation was accepted by pope benedict xvi. the bishop admits he did not challenge the dublin church policy of covering up the actions of priests. he's the third bishop to resign in four months. the vatican has come under increasing pressure to get rid of leaders who cover up a priest who sexually abused children. the pope has promised to take action to confront the scandal to bring justice to abusive

priests and to protect the children. that cloud of ash from the volcanic eruption in iceland is shifting now. winds are pushing it towards scandinavia. thousands of flights are taking off from airports in europe now. delays and cancellations continue, though. the good news is that the ash cloud seems to be getting smaller. nbc news chief science correspondent bazell has the latest. >> reporter: as you can see behind me in the volcano still erupting. there's clouds there. behind the clouds there is an ash plume going up 10,000 feet in the sky. the winds from that ash plume are taking to where it still is a threat to many airports. inside the volcano, the eruption has been continuous at the same level since about monday. a big explosion over the weekend. it is conning to spew ash. now it is a question of shifting winds. not any different than volcanic

activity. nobody knows how long this eruption will continue. clearly as long as it does continue, it is going to cause problems for air traffic all over the northern part of europe and scandinavia. so -- it is anybody's guess when this situation will end. back to you, jim. >> thanks, robert. coming up tonight we will find out why metro could be raising its fares. >> forecast coming up.

there are kids all over the white house today. they were the sons and daughters of people who work at the white house. this is take your daughters and sons to workday. first lady michelle obama took bo along. the first dog. she talked to about 200 kids in the east room. the children asked about her work in the white house garden and the campaign to fight childhood obesity. they also wanted to know if she had any influence and could do anything to make school recesses longer. >> good question. >> good for them. >> that's important. >> it is a big day here at news4. as you can see. things look different around here. we have a brand-new set. and we are now broadcasting our newscast in hd. it has been a long time coming. we have -- >> it is big!

>> we have a huge team of managers carefully helping out today. supervising us. you would think that some of them would go outside on a beautiful evening like this. >> absolutely. even the kids that came for -- they wanted to get out. there are only one or two left. mine is one of them. it has been a great day across the area. we had the rain yesterday, today sunshine and only a few isolated showers that have come through. and maybe you were one of the folks that got trapped under one of the isolated showers and -- this morning, how early did you get up? did you notice the fog across the area? led to a couple of travel delays and a few of the airports. the fog burned off rather quickly. we starred the day at 50 degrees. the high today 74 degrees. april now, average is 61.3. seemed like a couple of day guys it was our warmest april on record. and now it is the fourth warmest april on record because we have fallen off the cooler temperatures that we have gotten

across the area here. last couple of days. 71 route now. dew point temperature is at 40 degree was relative humidity standing at 32%. wind out of the north at 13 miles per hour. a few clouds but with high pressure building back in we should get rid of a lot of the clouds over the next few hours. 70 here. buffalo at 50 degrees. 75 in atlanta now. some of the warmth, some of the heat in memphis, tennessee. some of that heat and some higher dew point temperatures, more moisture. one big system coming through the west. we will be producing some severe weather across the plains states this coming weekend. right now we have a few showers laying out in parts of pennsylvania. right through northern west virginia. that's associated with the weather front. it is a weak front but again moving away from our area. we will clear out later tonight and we will clear out and more sunshine tomorrow. one more dry day before we go into this pattern of wet weather across the area. there you can see some showers up around hagerstown.

we had a few around fredericksburg. those are now gone. they made their way east and out of here. the big system that i talked about, look at this. producing snow showers, now some thunderstorms where some of that moisture is finally running north out of the gulf of mexico with drier air to the north and it will be producing more severe weather across the plains. let me take you to colorado right now. this is near the denver area. bennett, colorado, where you may think colorado got more snow. in fact, several inches of marble-sized hail around the area yesterday afternoon and these storms did cause flooding across state and you know what, more severe weather is expected there tomorrow. again, this is a big system. large system that's going to affect -- many, many states. eventually east with lots of wet weather. low pressure. there it is. it will slowly be tracking east through the plains states. hitting the ohio valley and temperatures running in the 70s there from wichita down to brownsville, texas, 77 degrees.

772 in st. louis. tomorrow with the one dry day that's left. we should get up to 70 degrees. towtenial severe weather with the system, isolated tornadoes. probably the first big severe weather outbreak for the plains states that we have seen so far this spring. in the yellow, that's the sweet spot. missouri down towards texas, isolated storms coming into west virginia and kentucky and tennessee. and then on saturday the area gets a little closer to it. sunday where i think we could have a few thunderstorms popping around our area. stay tuned. next 48 hours, future cast will take the clouds on out of here. it is high pressure moves in. weather front south but take a look at the low pressure system. tracking towards the east. so i think our first showers will start showing up around here saturday about midday. in an time. lunch time or so. how much rain we are going to get out of this system, anywhere from an inch to an inch and a half. more across northeastern maryland. for this evening, pleasant and 57 degrees. dropping fromming the 60s to mid

50s. for tomorrow morning, we are mostly clear. cool and chilly. sun comes up tomorrow at 6:21. between 42 and 49 degrees. then for the day tomorrow, more sunshine. feeling a lot like april. it is going to be a delightful day. is it too late to take the day off? i don't know. >> as far as we are concerned. >> all right. let me get your 4-day forecast. temperatures running close to average tomorrow. then we drop to the mid 60s saturday as the rain develops across the area. if you have something you need to get in this weekend, you still have time, i think, early part of the day on saturday. more showers, more likely the rain on sunday with the 70% chance. monday as well looking wet. right now tuesday we will start to see skies clear. but no big heat for us. we could be going into a bit more of a wet pattern for the area. >> if have you the opening, tomorrow is a good day to take the day off. all right. thanks, veronica. coming up, federal air

marshal from northern virginia is accused of raping a woman at gunpoint. >> some people say cigarettes can hurt you. even when there is no smoke. we will tell you the story of one dog's greates indicate april dulles airport. >> coming up if sports, talking capitals. the redskins seem to have everyone confused as to what they will do at tonight's nfl draft. plus, a former dunbar high school star hoping to get his name called. "news4 at 6:00" continues.

air marshal charged with raping a woman at gunpoint in an airport hotel in seattle the federal marshal wearing badge during the attack. that's the story we begin this- hour. >> man accused is omar is he also of herndon, virginia. the incident happened at a hotel near the seattle international airport. john schriffen has the story. >> reporter: every day thousands of armed federal air mayortials fly the skies to protect the skies. washington state officials say a federal air marshal from right here in herndon, virginia, abused his power and is now behind bars, accused of first-degree rape. according to the court documents, settles during an overnight stay in seattle last

friday hired a woman off backpage.com to perform an erotic show in his hotel room. the woman alleges after money exchanged she went into the bathroom to change. when she came out the woman claims settles was standing there naked only wearing a top badge, holding a gun and said, quote, u.s. marshal, have you to do what i tell to you do. it is then the woman claims settles raped her and when he was done, demanded his $180 back. after the woman called authorities settles who was identified because he was completely shaven was arrested this past saturday. sources tell news4 that settles is a probation airy air marshal who has only been the job the past few months but we also found out that passengers don't have to worry about settles protecting another flight. as soon as the rape allegations surfaced, settles was fired. the tsa released this statement. quote, the transportation security administration holds all of its employees to the highest professional standards. goes on to say the tsa is fully cooperating with local

authorities to investigate this matter. passengers we spoke to said they are concerned. >> i think that's horrific. so -- they should really do background checks on people. >> it would worry me if someone like that is trying to keep me safe. i think that anywhere you go, any walk of life, you are going to find people like that. >> reporter: john schriffen, news4. >> thank you, john. in the court documents settles admitted to having an encounter with the alleged victim but denied ever raping her. if he is convicted of this first-degree ripe charge he could get life in prison. printout this fewer motorcycle -- motorcyclists were killed last year. they are offering as a reason for that the fact that the economy has caused fewer people to buy motorcycles. also, the government's highway safety association says down 10%. fell from 5300 in 2008 to 4800 in '09.

that decline comes after 11 straight years of increased motorcycle fatalities. the officials say that there are also fewer rookie riders on the roads. service cuts on the table as metro looks for ways to close a budget gap of $189 million. the cap poses problems for the ongoing expansion projects. chris gordon has our report. >> reporter: to be used exclusively on the dulles rail lines. the metropolitan washington airport authority is supervising construction of metro's new 23-mile-long silver line from fall church to dulles international airport and loudoun county. in 2007, metro reportedly quoted the cost of the 64 rail cars to the airport's authority and at $190 million. but now there are reports that metro is charging an additional $75 million for the cars. which could threaten to delay

the project. >> i am disappointed because they keep raising the rates on the metro but haven't built a line yet. everybody wants to go to dulles. get their cheaper if they took the metro. >> reporter: metro is trying to close a $189 million budget gap for the new fiscal year that begins this summer. a $100 million fare increase is being considered along with a reduction in services. which is causing some concern. >> we don't want the system to close at 2:00 a.m. on weekends. we want it to reflecting the bar hours because we are taking drunk drivers off the road. and d.c. fought hard for that. >> reporter: money is being cut for maintenance budgets, meaning escalator and elevator breakdowns could become even more of a problem in the future. >> it does cause delays, long lines getting on the elevator, and -- it is annoying. >> reporter: another problem facing metro is the uncertainty if or when it will receive $150

million in federal funds to be matched by $150 million in payments from maryland, virginia, and the district. this is chris gordon, news4. >> metro says now it cannot estimate what a fare increase would cost p average rider. the search for a norwegian military dog on the grounds of dulles international airport is finally over. the dog was found safe and sound. the 21-month-old doberman named condor somehow got out of its travel crate about 10:00 last night while he and his handler waited for their flight home. a maintenance worker spotted the dog 3:00 this afternoon in a remote area of the airport. the dog's handler was brought in the ask was able to capture him. get this. when he was loaded on to the ramp of a plane for the ride home, he managed to break loose again. he was caught about 20 minutes later and near a runway fence. the dog is fine. and he's finally on that plane headed home. when we spoke to the handler earlier this morning she

expressed frugstration about -- the frustration about the search. condor is a certain much and patrol dog for the norwegian army. he and his handler flew into dulles last week for a dog training course in northern virginia. they started the flight home about an hour ago. i'm thinking maybe the military may not be the best career choice for condor. >> that is a dog that does not want to be locked up. question of having -- whether cell phones affect your health over the long term. >> which car is better for the environment? electric or hybrid? we will check it out. >> we will show you a guy that really knows how to cut loose on the job. you go. if i had to sit on a bench during the middle of a game

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earth day today. if you have been thinking about going green with your car, there are more choicing than ever now. which is better? hybrid or electric? we break down all of the options on the market. >> reporter: it could be tomb for the hybrid, so par the king of ecoconscious cars to get dethroned. >> prius is going to be knocked off its perch later this year and early next year when the chevy volt and leaf come out. >> reporter: expected at dealerships by december, nissan leaf can go 100 miles per charge and partly made of recycled appliances and plastic bottles. the chevy volt can get 40 miles

per charge but comes with a gasoline engine that kicks in when the battery runs out. the roadster is the only pure electric highway approved car that you can buy right now. but at $109,000 base price, very few people own one. in about a year, though, they are coming out with another electric car for half the price. these cars cost about $80 cents per day to charge and use less energy annually than a fridge. if you ask the editor of "motor trend" magazine, they say pure electric cars will only make sense if you have another gas-powered car for longer trips. >> if you are going to choose between a hybrid and pure electric vehicle at the moment, a hybrid is far and away the best option. >> reporter: mckenzie says most car makers are coming out with a new hybrid in the next few years, including hyundai which promises an aggressive version

that barely sifts gas at freeway speeds. >> if you get 5 million hybrids on the roads you will make moren getting 50,000 electric cars on the road. >> what i would like to see ten years from now is no more fossil fuel combustion. >> reporter: whatever you buy for your next car, one thing is for sure. gas guzzlers are going the roy of dinosaurs. gina kim, nbc news, los angeles. what's coming up, dan? >> draft is 45 minutes away now. we still have any idea, nobody has any idea the the redskins put smoke screening out there. latest we are hearing is a safety. plus, the capitals have control of their playoff series. they know it is far from over. "news4 at 6:00" continues.

there are people and apparently a lot of them who actually visit for this stuff coming up, this draft. >> college football recruiting and then the nfl draft. >> crazy when you think bit. people can't wait for this. in the nfl turn this into a huge, huge -- >> they know how the market it. >> one round tonight and in prime time. nfl draft kicks off in less than an hour. rumors are that the redskins have successfully keptch on their heels in regards what they will do with the fourth overall pick. one report this morning said they were the only team talking to the rams about trading up for the number one pick to draft quarterback sam bradford. another person said that was not the case at all. another said that the redskins wanted to trade down but

couldn't find any takers. the latest now, safety eric barry. he was a monster at tennessee. some say the most sure-fired pick in the draft. smoke screen. seven teams behind the redskins in the draft really covet barry. our buddy jason at "the washington post" says that there is a chance the skins may drop him and later said that it might just be a smoke screen after all. general manager bruce allen continues to give away nothing. >> well, i think there will be opportunities. you know, right now, you know, looking at -- you only have four draft picks. if we can do a great job and in find a player who falls to the fourth from fifth round that can help the redskins, we will consider it a great draft. >> all right. general manager bruce allen. not all about the redskins tonight. three local players could hear their name called in the draft. joe hayden, bruce gallon bell, ben. all projected in some mock

drafts to go in the first round. ben is widely considered the second best receiver in the draft after playing just thee seasons at illinois. ben headed to the big ten after an darg everything career at dunbar high school and he continues to find success on the next level playing extensively as a true freshman in illinois and racking up over 1,000 yards as a sophomore receiving. followed by injuries. confident. very confident. looking forward achieving his dream of just getting drafted. >> it will mean everything in the world to me. a dream i always wanted to do since i was 6 years old. i have been playing football in the backyard with my brothers as long as i can remember. for me to be draft asked playing the next level is a big, big, you know, accomplishment for me. >> reporter: how confident are you thinking about going in first round? >> i feel very confident going in the first round. you know, i know i belong there. the team is -- you know, choose me. going first round. i'm a first-round guy.

you know, me going in the first round will be very good. >> first round guy. here is the thing. i talked about how the draft changed. it used to be two days. now it is three days. tonight they only have the first round. so for a guy like a -- ben, a fringe first rounder if he hasn't been drafted, all night to think about it. >> miserable night. absolutely. >> he is definitely a first-round guy. >> we will keep our fingers crossed for him. caps canceled practice today. not because of their huge win last night but because of fog. their plane rerouted to bwi. once they landed there, 1:00 in the morning, the team had to wait another three hours to deplane because all the customs agents had gone home. all said and done, the guys walked in their front doors and around 5:00 a.m. but i think they slept pretty well after beating the canadiens to take a 3-1 series lead.

alex ovechkin, the way he gets things done. look at that face. that doesn't smell too good. apparently a lot of players in the nhl get things started like that. ovechkin works the shot past price. they go up 1-0. second period now. montreal up 2-1 on the attack. semyon varlamov was phenomenal. final seconds of the period. canadiens on the power play. poti stops that shot. going the other way. two-on-one situation. knuble shoots and mike knuble scores. the game is tied at 2. just before the second intermission. in the third period now. knotted at 2. posted ahead to alex ovechkin. that was just a nasty move. stops on a dime. scores the goal. second of the night.

and 6-3 victory. commanding 3-1 series lead for the capitals. they agree the series is not over yes. >> we are not going to sit there and say hey, listen, we are going dom up there and bombard montreal tomorrow. they are going to play their butts off to survive. and we would like to finish it. i think -- every team that's up 3-1 would like to finish it. we will try our hardest tomorrow to win. i'm sure montreal will try their hardest to survive. >> definitely a lot -- much better feeling knowing you have the lead. the toughest game to win is always -- the fourth win. hopefully we can win that one. >> we are in a good spot. it is still a lot of work. we are happy, you know, we will be home for the next game. i think, you know, really earned two wins. not an easy place to win, playoff times. we are looking forward to verizon center friday. should be absolutely bonkers in

there. and we will be looking forward to it. >> mike knuble. gri off-season pickup important the capitals. that game will be friday. ryan zimmerman, folks, sitting out again today. we are going to get to that in just one moment. first, i want to talk about boyd gordon. it is our daily caps face-off segment where you get to meet a new member of the capitals. here is a peek at gordon. >> boyd gordon. mime my teammates call me gordo. probably my first game. that's something everyone would probably say. pretty memorable moment. for everyone. if i was than playing hockey i would probably be running my dad's sporting goods store. stanley cup. probably have a barbecue in my backyard, parents' house. have my friends and family come

over. most of my teammates. >> all right. boyd gordon. ryan zimmerman sitting out today after weeking his right legging in last night's win over the rockies. sixth game zimmerman missed with leg problems. nationals hoping for another huge performance from starting pitcher hernandez who hasn't given up a run all season. until this afternoon. hernandez, olivo in the second inning. olivo gets ahold of it. leafing the yard. leaving the yard in a hurry. right there in the bull pen. solo home run. first run he has given up in 17 innings this season. bottom three now. jiminez coming off a no-hitter. playing great. silencing the nats. getting morgan toned the inning, 5-k for jiminez so far. seventh inning.

still 1-0 rockies. he and stewart at the plate. and he also takes hernandez deep. right now, it is 2-0 rockies. bottom of the eighth. even though hernandez has given up two solo home runs. he needs help. give up two runs, get a win there. >> thanks, dan. coming up on "news4 at 6:00," we will tell you about a new study that claims even a cigarette impact can impact your health. we will find out about the long-term impact of cell phones on your health.

european veer muchers hope to find new answers whether cell phones might be linked to cancer and other neurological diseases. today five european countries launched the cohort study on mobile communications or could most. largest project of its kind. looking at the cell phone hazards of more than 250,000 people. people between the ages of 18 and 69. veer muchers will track how often participants make calls and send text messages and download data and monitor where people carry their phones, pants or chest pockets, and if they

use hands-free devices. the hope is to find any possible connections between cell phone use and cancer as well as neurological diseases like alzheimer's and parkinson's. we are all aware by now the health hazards related to second-hand smoke. cigarettes can still be dangerous even when there is no smoke. cigarette butts are toxic to the environment and are the most common source of litter in the world. >> reporter: cigarette butts are tossed out of car windows, left on sidewalks, stufed into the sands. these butts and other form of tobacco debris are the most common form of litter in the world. >> it is toxic litter. >> reporter: dr. hill son is the president of the american legacy foundation, nonprofit, committed to reducing tobacco use. she says that the cigarette butts are filled with toxins, nicotine, tar. although they are partially biodegradable -- >> into pieces of toxins.

biodegrading something composed of toxins helps introduce the toxins more widely into the environment. >> reporter: in a 2009 lab study, researchers soaked one cigarette butt in less than a gallon of water for 24 hours. then added minnows to the tank. about half of the fish were dead within days. while smoking has been outloud in many coastal areas from california to maine, more than a million cigarette butts are still found and collected on the u.s. beaches each year during massive cleanup efforts. >> a lot of environmentalists that smoke you about don't connect up their own smoking behavior as an environmental problem. >> afternoon. >> it is an expensive problem, too. >> threw a cigarette in the parking lot. >> litter and fine can run into the hundreds of dollars in some cities and cleaning bill for the cigarette butts, millions. experts fear the cost to the environment may still be smouldering in these very vulnerable public ashtrays. erica edwards, nbc news.

>> the ocean says cigarettes are the number one item collected by volunteers at beach cleanup days throughout the country. the guys you see on the side of rockville pike, advertising signs for local stores. well, david is one of them. but he does it down in florida. he has become well known all over the city of jacksonville and call him the quizno's dancer. he said he never figured he would have a job like this. believe me, he is working. >> i do this until the end of october, around there. >> whoo! >> i love you. >> every day i see a lot of people, friends. when i -- when i dance, i find myself smiling. makes your day. >> he says he listen to just about every kind of music. but he says he likes to use club

music when he's -- when he is working. he says he's come to love his job. he loves his job so much that he says he's not really doing it for the money anymore. he's good. but, you know, i don't think that there's any outdoor entertainment yet that we have seen in years that beats the cop. >> traffic cop in rhode island. >> traffic cop in rhode island who is an old man now. >> he is the best. >> doing his thing. >> quite limber. >> he is. especially for his advanced years. all right. that's our forecast for now. "nbc nightly news" coming up next. >> we hope you join us for "news4 at 11:00," also in hd.