i feel like eventually i can put it behind me and kind of block it out a little bit, but i'm never going to forget that day. >> a local college student learns just how powerful mother nature can be after he survives last week's deadly tornadoes in alabama. this morning he shares his story with news 4. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm kimberly suiters. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. much more on the devastation in the south in just a moment. first a check on our forecast. meteorologist chuck bell joins us in the studio this morning. we're pretty much where we were this time yesterday.

pretty much. only the clouds have come in, and there are already rain drops on the radar. >> they'll go away. >> it's not going to be a washout. but there will be many dry hours for us, but a chance for rain drops to get your sunday wet. outside, not a full deck of overcast over washington just yet, but these clouds will continue to thicken up. we'll get breaks of sunshine, but on the whole, the clouds will win the day. temperatures upper 40s to around 50 degrees in many spots. 48 in sterling, virginia. 45 manassas. 48 degrees in bethesda, maryland. 52 in annapolis. take a check on the radar there. i need a backwards button on the remote control. a couple of light sprinkles now moving into the panhandle of west virginia. there are steadier showers way back across kentucky. most of those should dry out as they come over the mountains of a passing rain drop too.

highs today in the upper 60s. you get less rain and a few extra breaks of sunshine. you'll probably be up in the low 70s today. for most of us, we'll hover right around 70 with a passing shower or too. we're going to get sunshine and dryness in today and tomorrow. tuesday and wednesday look wet. we'll talk about that in a bit. right now the catholic church is just one step away from making pope john paul ii a saint. >> the pope has just been officially beatified, we're learning. nearly 1 million pilgrims is packed st. peter's square for the ceremony. let's take a live look at the vatican this morning. current pope benedict xvi is performing the mass. beatification is the first formal step before possible sainthood. with pope john paul ii passing just six years ago, this is the quickest beatification in modern times. something cardinal and

archbishop of washington donald worrell says is fitting. >> we need heroes. we need people we can look up to. we need people who achieve with everything that we're attempting to do. >> a french nun who says her prayers to the late pontiff cured her of parkinson's disease put pope john paul ii on the fast track to sainthood. >> nearly four days after the worst outbreak of tornadoes in our nation's history, hope of finding survivors is waning. the death toll now stands at 342. alabama was by far the hardest hit. there are 250 people who lost their lives there, and that number could rise. nearly 600 people are unaccounted for in tuscaloosa alone. closer to home, the national weather service has confirmed that two more tornadoes touched down in virginia during the storms, bringing the total for that state to 12. two virginia residents saw the power and destruction of

this historic outbreak up close, but not in their home state. they're students at the university of alabama near tuscaloosa. one watched from his dorm room while another hid in a bathroom closet praying he would survive. news 4's darcy spencer has more on their unforgettable experiences. >> reporter: clothes, roll tide. >> reporter: david cole goes through the items he was able to salvage from his house near the university of alabama in tuscaloosa, where a deadly tornado ripped through causing death and destruction. >> i was really thankful to have survived it and made it out alive. >> reporter: cole, a university sophomore, says the windows started to break and the house through. he hid in the closet while it rolled through. >> just in the closet praying. it was pretty intense and scary. sounded like a train was going right by. you couldn't hear if it was right up to your ear screaming. >> reporter: when it was done,

cole walked outside. he saw the destruction firsthand. an oak tree had split his car in half. he was able to talk to his father about 15 minutes after the tornado is gone. >> life is fragile. when your child is caught up in something like that, you know, it really pulls on the heart strings. >> reporter: david's friend brandon tully is a freshman. he was on campus when he saw the tornado tear a path of destruction near the university. >> you walk down the street and see people carrying a backpack and a trash bag. that's all they have left. the best description i've heard so far about how tuscaloosa looks is like a bomb went off. >> reporter: while it was scary for both students, they both want to return in the fall. >> i feel like i can put it behind me, but i'll never forget that day. >> both students will return to the university at the end of may

to take their final exams. nato air strikes have killed the youngest son of moammar gadhafi just hours after the libyan leader called for a cease fire. three of gadhafi's grandchildren were also killed in the missile attack. the missile hit the house of saif gadhafi. nato says it did hit a, quote now, command and control building but has not confirmed the death of gadhafi's son. the world's most famous newlyweds have released their wedding photos. these pictures of the happy couple and their family were taken in the throne room of buckingham palace after friday's wedding. william and kate have announced they are delaying their honeymoon citing, no surprise here, privacy issues. tomorrow it's back to work for the prince as he will resume his job as a military search and rescue chopper pilot. "saturday night live" host

seth myers had quite a task hosting the white house correspondents' dinner last night, making everybody laugh without offending them too badly. >> always a fine line to walk. one person who definitely was not laughing, donald trump. myers eviscerated the donald in his speech. here are a few of myers' barbs. >> donald trump is saying he'll run for president as a republican, which is surprising because i just assumed he was running as a joke. donald trump often appears on fox, which is ironic because a fox often appears on donald trump's head. donald trump said recently he has a great relationship with the blacks, though unless the blacks are a family of white people, i bet he's mistaken. >> i didn't even see a glimmer of a smile on mr. trump. >> he knew. >> although i think i saw a clenched jaw. did you not see that? whoa. myers also ripped the president on aging rather quickly while in the white house.

he told him, quote, i don't usually do this, but maybe you should start smoking again. >> that's pretty funny stuff. >> i agree with you guys. i did not see any laughter on the donald's face at all. >> i don't think i've ever seen him laugh in any other setting. >> unless he's firing someone. no? >> i've seen him chuckle a few times, i guess. i don't really hang around in the same social circles as he does, only because i don't live in new york, of course. >> don't you think the best pr is not to take yourself too seriousy a ly and to laugh at yourself. >> let's laugh at chuck. >> we get a lot of e-mails when we laugh at chuck. >> i can take it. there will be a chance for rain drops today. it is not going to be a washout. it is not going to be a washout. wa great looking lawn like this,

but trying to grow grass from seed in tough areas like deep shade, along the driveway,

and where the kids play can be a little intimidating... until now. with scotts ez seed. it's scotts best grass seed, starter fertilizer and a growing material that absorbs water and expands to surround and protect the seeds, you'll get a thick, green scotts lawn even if you've never been successful with other seed before. the revolutionary scotts ez seed. grow grass anywhere. child's job is to play. now kids in the petworth neighborhood have a new place to do the work of children. hundreds of volunteers built a playground yesterday at e.l. haynes public charter school on kansas avenue northwest. the design was based on children's drawings. how cool is that? it includes an arts and crafts area to continue those creative

juices as well. >> nice stuff. looks good. >> yesterday was a picture perfect day to play in the park. >> such a pretty day. >> beautiful. >> i skipped the nap and went running yesterday. >> i don't know how you did that. >> the sun was so nice out. sleeping is for cloudy days, wouldn't you agree? >> i do agree but -- >> as soon as you hit the desk. >> exactly. it turned out to be a beauty of a day. today isn't going to be a bad day either. just be ready for breaks of sunshine from time to time. there will be more clouds than sun unfortunately today. if you want to say, will i get to see any sunshine today? yes, there it is on your tv screen right now. and if you wait just a patient minute or two, you might even be able to see it at your house this morning. good looking sunrise out there this morning. temperatures are sneaking up now into the upper 40s and low 50s as the sun comes up over the eastern horizon. 51 degrees the temperature in washington. winds are fairly light out of the southwest at only 3 miles

per hour. temperatures out of the rest of the region, mostly upper 40s to near 50 degrees. be ready for plenty of cloud cover today, but only hit and miss rain chances at best. 48 martinsburg, west virginia. a couple of sprinkles here along interstate 81. winchester, stevens city, right up through west virginia. these are drifting east. those ngs charlestown and up through the panhandle, you'll probably get a few drisly drops. most of the organizing rain is long back out to the west. don't need to worry about that. temperatures 40s along the coastline. temperatures really dropped along the eastern shore. we had enough cloud cover here to keep temperatures in the high 40s to near 50. here's that first little bit of rain showers sneaking into the panhandle of west virginia. for us today, hit and miss chance of showers.

i wouldn't cancel any outdoor activities but be ready to move inside for a quick five or ten minutes as rain comes by. futurecast model, by 8:00 this evening, a better chance for showers coming in by later on this evening. just sort of keep that in the back of your mind. back to work and school tomorrow. more clouds and sunshine. i think not really a whole lot in the way of rain chances tomorrow. i left the rain chance out of the seven day forecast for monday. rain chances in earnest come back tuesday and wednesday. mostly cloudy tomorrow, passing shower from time to time. high temperatures in the 60s and 70s. back to work and school tomorrow. one or two showers can't be completely ruled out, but a little warmer tomorrow than today. the four-day forecast shows a 60% chance of rain, maybe even a rumble or two of thunder on tuesday. no severe weather expected.

wednesday is the cloudiest and coolest day of the week. we dry out in time for thursday and friday with highs back up near 70 degrees. you can get the latest forecast, nbcwashington.c nbcwashington.com/weather or put your bar scanner on the qr code. and it did work. we put it out yesterday. we got several e-mails that it works. >> people say which app do you pick? >> pick the free one. >> she said there are lots of free apps. >> any of the free ones, i think they work. i'll find out. >> used to have to get the newspaper if you couldn't get the forecast on tv. >> not anymore. just go to your phone. the capitals look to regroup after a disappointing playoff loss. and the redskins wrap up a busy 2011 draft. >> here's hakim dermish with your "sports minute." good morning, everyone. your "sports minute" starts with the stanley cup playoffs, game two between the capitals and

lightning is tonight at the verizon center. in game one, the caps were 0 for 5 on the power play. it's a credit to tampa bay of the the lightning have killed off 35 of 40 pem advertise in the postseason. when trailing 1-0, washington has a 75% record in game twos. in the nfl draft, the redskins selected 12 players, the most since 1985. in the fourth round of the draft, washington traded up and picked 6 foot, 220 pound nebraska running back roy helu jr. he ranks fourth all time on the cornhuskers career rushing list. in the sixth round with the 177th overall pick, they picked running back evan royster. he's the all-time leading rusher in penn state history. george mason hired georgia tech coach paul hewitt yesterday. hewitt was fired by the yellow jackets last month after spending 11 months at the school. he led the team to five ncaa

appearances, including a run to the 2004 national championship game. he'll be introduced at a news conference on monday. nationals third baseman ryan zimmerman will have surgery on tuesday to repair a torn abdominal muscle. he's expected to be out for six weeks. on the field yesterday, nationals hosting the giants. bottom of the ninth, nats down 2-1. closer on facing adam laroche with the bases loaded. giants hang on to beat the nationals 2-1. that's your "sports minute." i'm hakim dermish. have a great day. >> i'm not at all sure about that beard. >> it's a statement. >> it doesn't match the color of his hair. >> makes him look like a pirate. >> he does look like a pirate. a real pirate on the mound. >> next up is "reporter's notebook," real stories affecting our community. >> we'll be back in 15 minutes with the day's top stories. good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse.

we begin with vincent orange's return to the d.c. council. former ward 5 council member vincent orange beat out eight candidates to win an at large seat on the council. he now fills the old seat vacated by council chair kwame brown. how did vincent orange do this? >> well, he did very well in the east of the park district, the majority black districts for the rest of them. he did not do so well in the so-called white districts, if you want to put it that way. but people got up to vote, and merrill took away from biddle. and biddle took away from somebody else. you can't really say it's black versus white. i think he ran a steady campaign. the others were splitting up the vote, and they just didn't prevail. >> he won with 28% of the vote. what will his return to an increasingly divided council mean? >> it depends what side of the fence he's going to be on? he is actually in a good power

broker position if he plays his cards right because you have a very divided council already with jack havens, dave catania, that wing, and then you have mary shea sort of sitting on the fence. and you have basically, hate to say it, you have sort of the black wing of the council, which includes thomas, brown, and barry, and that group. so it's a matter of where he comes down. we know who has some bad blood with chairman kwame brown, and so it's going to be interesting, especially as they're going through the budget process right now to see where he comes down, especially since he's saying he's not for tax increases, which the mayor wants. >> he also, to answer your first question, he had a lot of labor support. >> right. >> tremendous amount of labor support.

and i interviewed vincent orange, as a matter of fact, on election day, on tuesday, and he claims that he's going to be very independent. and you've got to understand there's weak leadership now in the city council, very weak leadership, self-inflicted, i might add. so vincent orange with his experience that he brings, i think it will be very interesting. when you mention budget, remember this is a man who not only is an attorney, but he's also an accountant. so he knows the budget process. we'll see if he remains as independent as he said he would during the campaign. >> one other thing that people have drawn from the election was this was not a great day for the mayor or the council chairman because they back biddle. in fact, he was appointed to fill in the spot. yet the feeling is that city hall because of distractions over hiring and one thing or another, they simply couldn't do

campaigning or pull the strings and push the people to vote, and it just didn't work out. if there's a double double wham write on that. >> one more thing to say on that. it's clear that biddle was appointed by the d.c. state committee, which was clear the democrats who run the stay. >> with the approval. >> it shows the d.c. democrats are split. >> good point. >> and what's going to happen with their power as it's diminished over the years. orange bucked the system. so we got a new playbook this election >> and it wasn't a good day for "the washington post" because once again they endorsed a republican saying we need diversity and that type of thing, and they were just totally out of it. >> he came in second. the republican came in second. >> the people did hold his party against him. there were people at the interview who said, i like him a

lot, but i just don't feel like voting for a republican. >> especially after what the republicans have done to the district. >> yeah. >> easter monday violence at the zoo. there have been calls for more security since the stabbing of a 14-year-old boy, allegedly by a 16-year-old boy, outside the zoo grounds. police have charged that 16-year-old in the case. the stabbing followed several fights that took place inside where some 30,000 people had gathered for the annual family celebration there. the mayor this past week has been calling for better coordination between d.c. police and other law enforcement agencies during huge events there. the zoo's policies and changes in its crowd control policies, cutting off that 25,000 people, which is its capacity. what are your thoughts about how effective that might be versus hiring more security? >> i think they should do what they do for the easter egg roll, which the zoo event was supposed

to be an answer to historically when blacks could not go to the easter egg roll is to give out tickets in advance or to groups or to, you know, you have to pick up a ticket within a certain time, and there's sort of a lottery who gets in. and once those tickets are gone, nobody else is allowed in that day >> here's why i disagree with that. my grandson went to the easter egg roll. first of all, everybody is checked for weapons because you are going to the white house. secondly, as his mother said, you've got the secret service there with every kind of weapon you can imagine. so there's not going to be any foolishness at the white house. i hate to say this, but i am so angry about this and so disappointed. even though this hasn't happened, and last time was ten years ago. you know, things have changed

since african americans weren't allowed at the white house. so maybe we ought to just call it a day and cancel the celebration because the reality is anyone should be allowed to come. this shouldn't just be an african american day. >> well, everyone is allowed to come, and i would hate to see that alternative taken away from families. it should be just family day at the zoo for those who can't go or can't get tickets to the white house event. they need better coordination, and they need to be a way to weed out -- not weed out, but limit the amount of people going in there. they've got to come wup with a reason. that's why i suggested the pretickets. >> they should have better security. they should be aware. and it is a good tradition, and maybe people could work in the community and have events that highlight the fact of the african american tradition and the history of the day and do things like that and make a point of it. >> but it should be expanded.

jerry's right. it should be expanded so that it's seen as multiethnic, multicultural event that everybody is welcome to. >> and you're probably going to have to have metal detectors, no matter what. >> they went over capacity. >> they were tweeting about this potential fight. this so bothers me you can't have these kinds of activities without these little -- in my day we called them hard ankles, just determined they're going to disrupt something. we need a code of conduct in our community. we really do need a code of conduct in as big of an event as this. >> work on the community level to prevent gangs from doing their thing.

$330 million more to put it underground rather than over ground. underground supporters say passengers would be closer to the terminal. they'd be covered in bad weather. but is it worth the cost? >> over 75 years, i think it would be. i mean, this has to last 75 years. i am a proponent of underground. this is an international

termin terminal. you can imagine, let's say you're going for a warm weather climate, and all of a sudden you're in the middle of winter, and you've got to walk through this process. i think most people would probably choose to not do that. i always use the example of chicago. o'hare. they have a magnificent underground process. you never go outside. you don't have to worry about the elements. and you're right on the el, as they call it. again, we're looking at this has to last 75 years. >> we're also looking at a tight budget, tight budgetary times. >> that's the question. the governor says, and the main legislators say, there's just not enough money. and frank wolf, the congressman who, among others, watches over the airport, wants a complete study. he made very clear he doesn't think the idea of an underground station is viable at this point. these are tough budgetary times. if you spend extra money on the underground station, what are you taking away from? >> i still say i would have to

agree with joe that it's short-sighted. this is something that is supposed to not just be transportation to the airport, but to spur growth along the dulles-tyson's corner corridor. if you're thinking in terms of that in additional development and turning that edge city into an area where people can live and work, you need to have the transit and the transportation available that will accommodate that. now, we know how many stations are underground, above ground, are no good to us when there's bad weather. if you're traveling, one of the things that you want, and if you want to make a choice between dulles, reagan, and bwi, you want to go the place where you're going to have the least amount of trouble getting to your train. they want to support the rail out to dulles. they need riders. and riders are going to not go if they're going to have more inconvenience, have to go outside, have to take more steps

to get from one transit mode to another. >> how much weight does the governor's voice have in this debate? >> from what i can tell from my reporting, it has quite a bit of weight. question remains -- and not only weight because he's the governor, but because he's talking money, he's talking expense. that's the big argument now, cutting budgets. that's the big deal from the hill to throughout virginia. >> and in that vein, the biggest worry now that the airport authority board has, as they're being pressured to reconsider, is that a number of the jurisdictions saying they're going to hold up the funds. which would delay the process, which would make the costs go up even higher. i think the decision has been made. they should go ahead with it. >> let's move to montgomery county, where the school board has selected its new schools chief. it's official. they've named joshua starr, the new superintendent of schools, to replace jimmy wiest, who's

leaving in june after a dozen years on the job. this is maryland's largest school district. starr, who's 41, comes from a small school district in stamford, connecticut, with 15,000 students in 20 schools. that's roughly a tenth of the size of the enrollment in montgomery county. how do you see joshua starr fitting into this school system? >> >> he's a mystery at this point. he's unfathomable. he has a good record, as i understand it, where he's coming from. he's coming into a county that's been well run by jerry weise. he's got a tough act to follow. like virginia with the airport, they've got big budget problems with the schools and everything else in montgomery county. mike leggett wants to make cuts. teachers don't like that. government workers don't like that. he's going to be involved in how that happens one way or the other with his programs. he's got a huge challenge. >> the thing that he really looks good on paper.

we don't know enough about him because he's not from our area. but he's been in a district where you have the challenges between accommodates rich and poor students, and he's pushed for more equitable curriculum for everybody, and he doesn't believe that you have to award teachers or punish teachers based on test scores. >> we had that argument last week. that's why she's smiling at me. but the other thing is that stamford, connecticut, quite honestly, is a very diverse city. there's a large hispanic population. you've got a growing hispanic population in montgomery county. so i think, even though he came from a small district, let's look at this as a promotion, and we'll see what happens. >> they weighed all that. >> thank you, guys. and thank you for joining us this morning.

that's "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. stay with us now. "news 4 today" continues. the death toll from one of the deadliest storms in recent u.s. history may be about to soar even higher. that's as rescuers continue the search for hundreds of people still missing. good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm kimberly suiters. it is sunday, may 1st, 2011. the death toll this morning stands at 342, but this morning rescuers are quickly shifting their focus to the missing. >> nearly 600 are unaccounted for in tuscaloosa alone, and as the hours pass, the chances for survival in the rubble left behind is quickly diminishing. nbc 4's chris clackham has more

on the relief effort in alabama. >> reporter: the massive relief effort to help tornado victims in alabama is matched only by massive need. >> we have some of the greatest people that care about their neighbors, and it was evident today. every place that we went, we saw so many volunteers. >> reporter: with the tattered flag recovered from the rubble of tornado-ravaged tuscaloosa raised for inspiration, the mayor calls this a humanitarian crisis. >> although we have been ravaged beyond comprehension, we still remain that shining city on the hill because the world has seen our faith in god and our faith in each other. >> reporter: the searches here have intensified, though, because tuscaloosa still cannot account for close to 600 of its residents. >> going through the rubble, looking for those that are missing. we are taking a list of 570 that we have now and cross-referencing with sites and mapping to ensure we track down

every single lead. >> you know of people who did not survive or who remain missing? >> i did not, no. we have not heard no names. >> reporter: it's a problem in pleasant grove too although betty and earl bosak survived with granddaughter andrea in the basement of their now leveled house. >> we were all right here just standing like this. >> there are so many people out here who weren't as lucky as we were. >> reporter: some luck is what's needed for a daunting recovery and clean-up too. expected to take months and to be remembered forever. plus early estimates have that tornado that hit here and 40 miles away in tuscaloosa as actually being on the ground for 80 miles. in pleasant grove, alabama, chris clackham, nbc news. >> it's 6:35 right now. we were just talking about the duration of this tornado. >> that one was on the ground for likely we were talking about 80 miles. >> unbelievable. >> it really is. and it's a testimony to how strong the storms were that day.

an f-1 or an f-0 tornado would never be on the ground for 80 miles. f-4 and f-5 tornadoes, those are the ones who have the widest path and can maintain their intensity over a much longer period of time. some tornadoes have been known to last nearly 100 miles in the past in some of the real extreme events, and that's exactly what we had down there in the deep south the other day was just an extreme event. that was not the only one. there were many storms that day that had storm tracks on the ground of more than 25 miles. it was just one of those rare conditions in the atmosphere down there. a little chance for them to rest, recuperate, and clean up. a little chance for us. we have a decent weekend in place. i'm getting concerned our weekend will not end as rain free as i had hoped it might. outside, we do have a little bit of sunshine first thing this morning. that part of the forecast is holding up beautifully. these clouds are going to

chicken up just a bit. 51 in washington. 41 degrees in leesburg and ashburn. 53 in manchester. 46 manassas. 52 hagerstown. here's a look at live doppler. not a lot of rain just yet. a few sprinkles in winchester moving up towards martinsburg and the panhandle of west virginia. a lost of our high resolution rapid refresh models are telling me some of those showers may last long enough to get over the mountains. keep it in mind as shower chances are spreading ever upwards. still not going to be a washout of a day are but i'm getting concerned that some of the rain showers may be a little steadier than what we were thinking, unfortunately. >> my facial expressions say all. >> by collective, i mean me, myself, and i. in our headlines, police have arrested two people, virginia parents, after making a disturbing discovery outside their home.

friday night authorities in gloucester county found the remains of an infant buried under a shed. this was a day after police found a girl inside a crib badly malneu malnu malnourished. police have arrested the parents, rob and shannon gore. they have been charged with child abuse, and the mother has been charged with attempted murder. in jessup, maryland, a 5-year-old boy was found inside a vacant home with the body of his father. police discovered the two in a home on mary lane. they don't know how long they had been there or how the man died. he's been identified as 26-year-old nahib abdullah. the boy was not hurt. they were last seen leaving a relative's home on tuesday after what police call a domestic incident. three people recovering after a bizarre accident a car wash. it happened at branch avenue and curtis drive in temple hills. police say a worker was driving

a car out of the lot and ran into another car that was being dried. two workers and a customer were hurt. one of the workers has a serious leg injury from that accident. it may not be illegal to register a gun in d.c. anymore, but it is now impossible. the sole business authorized to recomme register guns in the city has shut down. owner charles sikes said he had to close up shop because he lost the lease to his office space. zoning restrictions in the district limit where gun registering businesses can operate. but the d.c. council says it's simply a matter of supply and demand. >> there's not been a huge demand. it's not the demand we thought. therefore, there's no market. >> sykes will have to apply to set up his business in a new location. that process will be expedited to help the registrations get started again.

he also says another potential dealer has expressed interest in operating here in the district. hundreds of volunteers turned out for a beautification project at a local high school this weekend to show that comcast cares. volunteers, including our own aaron gilchrist painted murals and trees and flowers at spring arn high school in northeast on saturday. it was part of comcast cares day. and they turned the courtyard into an outdoor picnic area. comcast donated $25,000 to that school. comcast is the parent company of nbc 4. >> there was an army out there yesterday. >> you said luhundreds of peopl showed up. >> it was spectacular to watch. city cares is the organization that organizes the volunteers. a lot of painting and planting and great stuff. >> it will take a lot of time, you said? >> i don't know how much got

completed yesterday, but a good effort made, good start. >> thanks for doing it, aaron. >> it was fun. 6:40 right now. new developments in lindsay lohan's latest run-in with the law. the deal the troubled actress may finally be willing to make. apparently, not everybody has bieber fever. the incident that made the pop star so angry he almost cancelled his if you want less, you can always have less. but i like having a lot more a lot more than having a lot less. and the more more i have, the more i like having more.

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in a week and a half, lindsay lohan has a pretrial hearing for her stolen necklace case. it appears the actress might be changing her tune about going to trial at all. a source close to lohan says she's considering a no contest plea to end the trial all together. a source says the troubled star there starlet wants to put the case behind her and refocus on her acting career. a source says lohan would not be looking to admit guilt and wants to settle the case quickly. justin bieber has plenty of fans, and plenty of people, let's say, when the next cd comes out, they wouldn't rush out to buy it. >> still, though, a non-belieber -- >> did you make that up? >> no, but i'll take it. they were tossing eggs at bieber at a concert. he was performing at a concert

in australia when eggs landed just six inches of front of him. he didn't miss a beat and backed away so the mess could be picked up. bieber fans are furious. one of them tweeted, you now have 9 million beliebers after you. be afraid. >> that is very scary. >> be very afraid. >> that's borderline assault. you can't throw stuff at people. >> that's just a lot. >> we never throw stuff at chuck. >> no, that's true. >> criticism and insults, sure, but not actual things. >> not close to you anyway. >> i feel bad for justin. it's hard enough being a pop star, i'm sure. let alone having people throw stuff at you. >> you feel bad for a 12-year-old that has $1 billion? >> he's not 12. >> talk about the weekend forecast, which includes, unfortunately, the mention for some rain showers today. all that is coming up on the other side of this break.

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and i still get to eat. fashion direct from designers. savings direct to you. that's right. i'm a maxxinista. t.j.maxx. let us make a maxxinista out of you. it is 6:48 right now. 54 degrees outside. the sun is up. we're going to deal with hiding. the sun has gone into hiding already. our picture behind us here, you can't see it for sure. we'll take a check of city camera and let you know whether or not we can have any more chance of sunshine today. sunshine will be at a premium.

the clouds have snuck back in already. and already a couple of rain showers way towards the west virginia mountains. around town, we have many, many more dry hours to come, but unfortunately i do think that rainfall chances are sneaking up just a bit by the time we get into mid to late afternoon. outside, though, on a sunday morning, we are generally nice and dry. i'll show you the radar in just a second here. mostly cloudy here in washington. certainly not a gloomy overcast just yet. as you look live at the jefferson memorial, comfortably sitting in the middle of downtown d.c. our current temperature, 51 degrees in washington with a light breeze out of the southwest at only 3 miles per hour. temperatures around the rest of the region, mostly in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees. here's a look at live doppler. you can see a couple of lonesome showers moving up into the panhandle of west virginia, if i widen the view out just a bit, you can see more showers across parts of central kentucky. most of this is falling apart as it comes east of the mountains. nonetheless, some of the newer computer models are thinking enough of those showers will

live over the mountains where it may interfere with the second half of a sunday afternoon. cool outside of the washington area, especially to points east where the skies were clear for a longer period overnight. more warm moist air coming up across parts of the ohio valley. that push of moisture laden air coming up for later today, especially as you get into the front half of the work and school week. limited sunshine with high pressure in charge today. here's a look at the futurecast model by 8:00 this evening. light rain showers just out to the west as you go through the overnight hours. most of that should come to an end. an opportunity, especially west of town tomorrow, for a couple more showers. real serious soaking rain chances come to everybody tuesday afternoon through wednesday. so then your forecast for today, mostly cloudy. passing showers from time to time. not enough to cancel outdoor activities. then for tomorrow, more clouds than sunshine. still not a washout of a monday either. milder than today with highs up three to five degrees warmer

than today. today's highs upper 60s to near 70. tuesday, 75 with a rumble or two of thunder, a real possibility. not expecting any organized severe weather. showering cool weather for wednesday. and then the sunshine comes back to finish out the week for thursday and for friday. >> you think patches of sunshine today? >> we make a break or two of sunshine from time to time. it won't be a washout, just keep an eye on the sky. >> the caps gear up for game two in their playoff series with the lightning. >> hakim dermish has more of how the caps hope to rebound. good morning, everyone. game two between the capitals and lightning is tonight at verizon center. if it the caps don't shape up, they'll be down 2-0 before they ship out to florida. but according to history, that likely won't happen. when trailing in a series 1-0, washington has a 7-5 record in game twos, and that, folks, is the nugget of the night. in game one, the capitals missed out on several scoring opportunities, going 0 for 5 on

the power play, and it's a credit to tampa bay. the lightning have killed off 39 of 40 penalties in the postseason. coach bruce boudreau says the caps will try, try again in game two. >> i think it's the key to every game and every series, you know, like you guys watch tv, and every time you listen to another coach's press conference that loses, we didn't win the battles, we didn't get the loose pucks. if you don't do that, you're not going to be successful. i think they got more than we did last night, and we'll try to do better tomorrow. >> stay with "news 4 today." we'll have pre and post-game coverage. the redskins selected 12 players in the draft, the most since 1985, but none of them were quarterbacks. coach mike shanahan really likes john beck. saying last night, quote, i think the world of him. there's no doubt john beck is a hard worker, but he hasn't played in a regular season game

since 2007. meanwhile in the fourth round of the draft, washington traded up and took 6 foot, 220 pound nebraska running back roy helu jr. he ran a 4.40 40 yard dash at the combine. and helu's father was a captain of the u.s. national rugby team. the redskins love the talent at nebraska so much, they also took two of helu's teammates, selecting safety dejon gomez. the redskins selected penn state running back and former westfield standout evan royster. he helped them win a championship in 2003. the 6'2" running back is the all time leading rusher in penn state history. royster was originally a cowboys fan growing up in northern virginia, but he told us last night his family has since converted him to a redskins fan. good kid. here's a look at who else the redskins drafted. also in the sixth round, they select aldrick robinson, a wide receiver from smu.

in the seventh round, brandyn thompson, a defensive back out of boise state. maurice hurt an offensive lineman from flar. and markus white, a defensive end from florida state. and finally washington takes nose tackle chris neild from west virginia. however, none of the draft picks can sign because of the restored nfl lockout. let's go to college park for the maryland spring game. beautiful day for football yesterday for coach randy edsel and the terps. first quarter, red team with the ball. david is a talented young man. goes 15 yards for the touchdown. he led the rushers with 73 yards. red team leads the white team 28-0 at halftime. can you say the rosters were a little stacked maybe. second half, more red team. quarterback danny o'brien rolls out, finds ronny tyler for the 27-yard score. o'brien threw for 190 yards, two touchdowns. red team beats the white team 35-7. for winning, the red squad was treated to steak and shrimp for

dinner. white team had to beat pork and beans. here's qb danny o'brien before he had his meal. >> i'm comfortable with the whole offense. it's just a matter of being consistent with it. i thought we had a really good grasp of it. we had a nice moving the ball on offense. so i'm pretty comfortable. and former maryland running back da rel scott was selected in the second round of the nfl draft by the giants yesterday. and former virginia tech qb t tyrod taylor was taken in the second round. hewitt was fired by the yellow jackets last month after spending 11 years at the school. hewitt led georgia tech to five ncaa appearances, including a run to the 2004 national championship game. however, hewitt's record in the acc was 72-104. hewitt is receiving a $7.2 million buyout over five years from georgia tech. that works out to be $130,000 a

month. according to "the washington post" hewitt agreed to a five-year deal at george mason. he'll be introduced at a news conference on monday. talking baseball. nationals third baseman ryan zimmerman will have surgery on tuesday to repair a torn abdominal muscle. zimmerman is expected to be out for six weeks. on the field yesterday, nationals hosting the giants. bottom two is where we pick it up, no score. rick ankiel up with the bases loaded. doesn't get all of it. little flare to short off the glove of mike fontenot. ian desmond, come on down. nationals take a 1-0 lead. nice break for the nats. top seven, 1-1 game. john landon pitching to aubrey huff. walks in a run. giants up 2-1. that was all for john lannon. bottom of the ninth, nats down 2-1. giants closer brian wilson and his beard on to close it out. it's not the playoffs yet, but he still rocks the beard. facing adam laroche and gets him

swinging to end the game. giants hang on to beat the nationals 2-1. same two teams today at 1:35. that's your morning sports. i'm hakim dermish. have a great day and go caps. >> it's important for them to win that game tonight. they don't want to be down 2-0. >> go caps. >> still more "news 4 today" after the break.

it's 7:00 a.m. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm kimberly suiters. it's sunday, may 1st. first a quick check on your forecast. meteorologist chuck bell joining us in studio. loved yesterday. probably the bet ert of the two days? >> we knew that yesterday, that yesterday would be a lot nicer than today. i'm still optimistic we'll be able to keep at least some good things about today's forecast. it isn't going to be a washout. we'll have rain chances sneaking in later in the day. i think we'll be able to get it done for the most part. outside on a sunday morning, cloudy out there, that's for sure. these clouds are not rain makers

just yet, but they'll continue to thicken up by later on today. it's a cool start headed out for your morning jog or bike ride or dog walk or just to sit outside and read the paper, not too bad. just maybe a little shawl. just put your shawl on and go outside and read the paper. >> not a snuggie, just a shawl? >> i hate snuggies. the mere thought of a snuggie makes me furious. >> i'm going to bring mine in next week. >> a couple of rain drops out toward the panhandle of west virginia, maybe a few out towards loudoun county. these aren't soakers just yet, but they're steadier showers across west virginia that show signs of coming our way. again, not looking for a lost rain, about you a quick passing shower more than enough to get you wet. >> wet and mad as i like to say. >> so you go from your shawl to your poncho. >> here's a look at the top stories of the morning right now. the focus for rescue crews in the tornado-ravaged south has turned from the dead to the missing. nearly 600 people are still

unaccounted for in tuscaloosa, alabama, alone. officials fear that could add to the 342 already confirmed dead in the worst tornado outbreak in the nation's history. libyan government officials say the youngest son and three grandchildren of moammar gadhafi were killed in a nato air strike. nato says it did hit a, quote, command and control building, but it does not confirm the death of gadhafi's son. hours before, the libyan leader called on the nato leaders for a cease fire. and the catholic church on their way to calling pope john paul ii a saint. more than 1 million gathered for the beatification this morning. it's the first step to sainthood. >> those are the top stories. next is nbc 4's "viewpoint." good morning, everybody. i'm jim hadley. today our topic is the growing hispanic community. and today we're talking about the successes, the concerns, issues, and successes. with us in the studio this

morning, we have pedro aviles, hispanic community advocate, also the director of the d.c. mayor's office on latino affairs, roxana olivas. she's the president and ceo for maternal child care inc. good morning to you all. let's start out with the census numbers over the past ten years, where the population and shifting and growing, and how it's growing. we've seen the numbers change dramatically. >> definitely, specifically in the district of columbia ya. we've seen significant growth in wards that were not traditionally latinos. primarily ward one and ward four are the ones where the latino community is concentrated, and we've now grown significantly in the city. we're now 9% of the population in the district of columbia. so that in and of itself, it goes along with the national

trend where hispanics are increasingly becoming a larger population in the united states, and the same thing in the district of columbia. >> and, in fact, just outside, the suburbs. for years have been growing in terms of latino population. >> the population has been shifting to the suburbs. and virginia, for ins tance, th latino population doubled in number. in maryland, 1 in 10 vinindivids who live in the state of maryland are hispanic descent? >> how do you explain that? is part of that indigegentriifi in the city? >> i would think so. washington, d.c., is like other big cities, it rents. and purchasing a home for individuals leaves no choice but to go to the suburbs because you can find better and more affordable housing than it is in the district of columbia. >> is it also jobs or not? >> i think it's a combination. we also have to remember we've grown 21% in the last ten years

in the district of columbia. i think it's a combination. we're also seeing -- so we're seeing individuals come into the city as well because of jobs. so we're seeing both trends moving out and also coming into the city. >> it's interesting because i think, truth be told, the district of columbia actually has the most friendly laws to the hispanic community. and yet, you know, the hierarchy of needs, people need a roof under their heads, and those houses are really more affordable out in the suburbs. the schools -- >> certainly. >> were getting better in the district of columbia. a lot of credit goes to that. but, you know, the suburbs have had that draw. also for the schools because just like all the rest of the population, our community wants to put their children in the best opportunity schools. >> you know, they say before the decade's out, the majority of the nation's children will be minorities. what are the economic and

political ramifications of that? >> can i just say first off that for the first time i think the number of children born, hispanics born in the city, in this region, has outnumbered the number of immigrants coming in. >> exactly. >> and that's an important piece. i'm sorry. go ahead. >> no. i was going to carry on, basically, the same comment i was going to give that she gave as well. we are seeing, just not first generation, we're seeing second and third generation double in numbers >> so they say, i think, by 2023 most children will be minorities in this country. >> and i think there will be -- one of the implications, it's political. the question for a lot of us is how are these numbers going to translate into more political representation in terms of economic implications? you know, how prepared is our community to enter the labor

market? there's some challenges that have to do with dedication. unfortunately, hispanics still have one of the largest school dropout rates in the city as well as in the whole region. so the challenge is, as we have more individuals, what are some of the steps, what are some of the public policies that are going to be put in place so that we deal with issues of disparity in economic performance, disparities in the dropout rates, and the implication is not only for elected and city officials but also for our community. what's the role that we as parents need to be playing in the educations of our children so that, as we increase in the population, we also increase in the number of high school garage the was -- graduates or the number of college graduates. that's going to be a critical issue as we become larger and larger. >> america's future is tied directly to the success of students, latino students. >> i agree with his point, but i also think that we also have to

educate our community about political process, how important it is to vote. so i think that's also something that us, as latino leaders, have to do. >> and one of the ways i think that we get that vote, that we get the hispanics to vote and to be able to really take ownership of this country, to really own it, you know, to not continue the struggle that the many of our parents have done, which is we have a foot home and a foot here, but now these children can own this, can say this is my country. and one way of doing that is to really have programs that are really meeting the needs of this pop population. when we cut the infrastructure of the general population, we're cutting the infrastructure of the majority of the population that's going to be taking care of you and i in the future. when we cut moneys to the schools, when we cut moneys to social service components that are helping kids to really move up the economic ladder in their education and their parents,

when we cut that infrastructure, which is happening right now because of our economic issues right now, we really need to be very careful as to what are the revenues that are coming in to set off those deficits and how much of the social infrastructure are we cutting? because in some jurisdictions, we're cutting 60%. it's on the back of the poor that we are really cutting this. >> i want to talk more about that. we have to take a break, but as we continue, we'll pick up the conversation there. as we go to break, i'll show you a couple of web addresses and phone numbers if you'd like to learn more about the program. the d.c. mayor's office on latino affairs and mary's center. [ coach ] in albuquerque, citi pre-approved my mortgage.

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hispanic population in the region. you want to stand back 20 years when mt. pleasant and the district really erupted. pedro, you have had your ear to the ground so to speak and really tapped into the pulse out there in the community and what has changed, progress that's been made since 20 years ago. what have you seen, and what have you heard? >> if you remember, 20 years ago, the mt. pleasant, the services were triggered by interaction between a member of the metro police department and a member of our community. one of the -- part of the anecdotal information that i've been gathering is that there seems to be significant improvement in the way in which the latino community now relates to mpd. i don't know if that is the result of all the sensitivity training that took place or it's because latinos and other minorities are -- have a significant presence. so it was sort of like a police

story back then 20 years ago. and based on the information that i've gathered from some of the members of our community as to how they feel treated by the police, they have seen an improvement in the way we relate, and it seems to me that chief lanier is doing a great job in materials of improving the relations with the community, not only with the latino community, but with all members of the community in the districts. i think that's been reflected. we still have some challenges. we still have not managed to do what latinos have done in virginia and maryland, elect someone to the city council. that is such an elusive goal. i hope that, as we reflect on the progress we've made over the last 20 years, we also put a lot of emphasis. that becomes a major goal in the next election, for example. there's one coming up next week, i understand, that we have one latino candidate, it's also part of that. in the future, it still remains

a challenge. >> that's a milestone, yet, roxana, as maria pointed out, there are friendlier policies in place in d.c. >> i wanted to go to two points, and one being that secure communities does not exist in the district of columbia. that was pushed through the council that would not allow it to happen. secure communities exist in arlington and many parts of virginia and also in maryland. it's a friendlier law as in -- >> tell our viewers when you talk about that, you mean what? >> i can relate it to 287g that happened in arizona. it's a similar law, which is like racial profiling. and going back to the office of latino affairs, we have a program with mpd that is racially sensitive. we go and teach mpd about our culture, about latinos. that has improved in the district of columbia unlike

other regions. >> that's the metropolitan police department in d.c. >> exactly. going back to secure communities, the latino residents, and many residents stood up against that law. so it got pushed back. >> we were talking about voting and how important that is in the latino community. what is turnout like? has it been difficult over the years, and is it improving getting people to the polls and actually taking an active step in what happens in their communities? >> i think it has. i mean, i think that's true for any community, right? new communities, communities that have been sort of tossed aside, discriminated. i think that it takes generations to kind of take that ownership, as i was saying earlier. this is my country. and this really up to me to decide who i'm going to put in power and to hold those people accountable, right? but that takes a certain amount

of really ability for people to trust the government, that the government is really working out for you. and that includes, you know, having great schools. it includes answering to the needs of the community in terms of whether it be social services, housing, security, safe communities. it means we're creating jobs. we're preparing that generation both the adults and the kids to take on those jobs. so that, i think, and as long as people feel there is a sense of all of us moving together, both the public sector and the community, then there's a more sense of -- you know, that's what got me to vote. it got me to vote when i went to college, and i said, you know, i'm not going back. this is -- and i want to move forward. i want to pay it forward. how do we do that? you pay it forward by your actions and making sure you integrate into the system without giving up your culture. but embracing the culture. it's very hard to embrace a

culture that has and keeps you down constantly and discriminates you constantly. >> very well put. we're going to pick up the conversation from there as we return on "viewpoint." we want to show you web addresses and numbers too if you'd like to learn more about the various organizations. and we'll talk more about mary's center on the other side of the break.

7:18 right now. i'm kimberly suiters of here's a look at some of the stories we're following this morning. police are investigating a virginia couple after the remains of an infant were found buried under a shed at their gloucester home. authorities arrested 29-year-old brian gore and 25-year-old shannon gore and charged them with felony child abuse. just the day before, police found a young girl caged inside a crib badly ma lly malnourishe

newborn in the home. the baby, however, was unharmed. the search for rescue crews in the tornado ravaged south have turned from the dead to the missing. officials fear it could add to the 342 already confirmed dead in the worst tornado outbreak in the nation's history. libyan government officials say the youngest son and three grandchildren of moammar gadhafi were killed in a nato air strike. hours before that air strike, the libyan leader called on nato leaders for a cease fire. and welcome back again here on "viewpoint." i want to touch on this huge victory for the legislature in april, the d.r.e.a.m. act for illegal immigrants. they're allowed to get in state rates for public university educations. how important is this? this drew national attention.

>> it's extremely important. we see the population of maryland of legal residents, it's huge. i have friends that went and testified in annapolis. i know the story of one legal resident that lives there that comes from colombia and was unable -- got accepted to harvard but couldn't afford the tuition. now with that law, i mean, he'll be able to go to cleollege in t state of maryland. >> and he's been getting an education in maryland all his life. >> i think it's also significant because, for many years, the immigrant advoces have been employing congress to do the d.r.e.a.m. act, just like there are documented students in maryland who benefit, we could do the same thing for students all over the united states. i'm very optimistic that hopefully in the next couple of years we'll see some push on the part of the obama administration to persuade congress to enact at least a little piece of

immigration reform because, if that happens, that means that we are, in essence, providing some sort of humanitarian aid to many children who are in this country since they were little kids. they are here undocumented. it's not their fault. i think it behooves us as a socie society, and i think what montgomery county has done -- i'm sorry. maryland has done, it's exemplary. it should be emulated by other jurisdiction as round the area and the whole country for that matter. >> also want to talk a little bit about the district of columbia, that residents are allowed to have in state tuition. >> at udc. >> at udc, correct. the mayor just announced a new member of our latino community, dr. carmen ramirez, to serve on the board of trustees, which is

a big win for us. >> talk about the role of the city and your organization helps give grants and money out to organizations who serve majority latino groups. >> well, the office of latino affairs was established in 1976. with the pressure of the community and a need that existed during that time. and one of the main roles is to be in advocacy. so we communicate to the community to know our government, that there's these services in our government, these social services they can get. but also with our grant, we help one of the grants that was established was through mary's center was a grant. now we see it's a national organization, an example. >> maria, tell us a little bit about mary's center. we have done stories on mary's center. you have grown tremendously, and a lot of the services that we're talking about in terms of social and educational services, are free to people in need. >> sot mary's center really is

to me is taking, you know, my experience, and many people's experiences and saying, what can we do living those experiences? what are the things that move you forward in this economy? so that when -- when they cut the ton of benefits to people a certain number of years, we want to prevent that. we want to prevent the person even getting that. so what happens is it keeps people healthy, makes sure they're ready to have children, it supports them with community support systems, whether it's making sure the kids go to school, making sure there's a roof over people's head. and the third piece of the mary's center is moving the parent at the economic level. so making sure that every parent has a chance to learn english. it's not shoving english down their throat of the it's a necessary language. it's a necessary language to move up the economic ladder so you go from a salad maker to

maybe managing that restaurant, right? and that is going to really move that economic means. >> it's a game changer. >> and then supporting the adolescents because we know that adolescents have a tremendous power to change the well-being of a family through their -- the way that they converse with their parents and the way they persuade their parents to do things or not do things, right? >> those are formative years for them, but you're right. they influence the entire family. we've got to take another quick break. put up the web addresses one more time if we can with the phon

welcome back to "viewpoint." again, we're talking about the growing hispanic population in our region. we're talking about policies and laws. in d.c., roxana, if we can talk about language access, the law here. when was that implemented, and what does it mean infoto latino

residents? >> it was implemented in the year 2004. it consists of, first of all, to assist that language is no longer a barrier to our residents in the district of columbia. so major documentation, major press releases like that have to be translated. but not only that, there's a language access line as well that allows our residents that are lep limited proefficiency in english, to communicate with government agencies, like hospitals and schools, for example. >> interesting. pedro, you have a big event coming up on the 5th. >> four days from today, we're going to be observing the 20th anniversary of the mt. pleasant disturbances for those viewers who were not here 20 years ago, this was an important milestone for our community because it kind of brought us all together, and we dealt with the underlying causes. on may 5th, we're going to be at mt. pleasant and have a small vigil just to reflect upon what

has happened and pray that the next 20 years we continue making the progress we've made so that we can see stronger organizations like mary's center that have become anchor ins our community and provide badly needed services. i'd like to extend an invitation to anyone who wants to join us. it's going to be an observance of the mt. pleasant disturbances 20 years ago. we'll have some exhibits, some evidence of the progress that we've made. >> maria, we talked about budget cuts. we started out the program talking about the census. and as we all know, barely, african-americans no longer represent the majority in d.c. with different groups, organizations, agencies, fighting for every dollar they can in these tight times, do you see a competition for grant money, service money, resources out there? >> there is a lot of

competition. i give an example in my agency. i have a $20 million budget to rai raise, and it's been very, very tough. the cdgb funds, the block grants, were cut from the federal government, which means those were cut in the district, and, boom, out of nowhere, one week notice, $60,000 were pulled out of our budget for 2011, and this will continue probably with a lot of other grants as the budget processes through the city council as we speak this week. >> we've got about 20 seconds. roxana, would you like to add anything? >> i'd like to say something about the budget. after so many years, it's the first time the office of latino affairs is not being cut under mayor gray. that's a huge win. those grants to assist our community is going to continue. >> fantastic. pedro, of course, we talked about how you've been listening to people over these past 20 years really. and you raise the level of trust

and distrust? do you still feel mistrust of some in your community? >> yes. but it's not stemming from spiritual issues in the district of columbia. it's stemming more from this ugly national mood, anti-immigrant, and i think that's what's producing a lot of anxiety in our communities, especially from the undocumented population. by and large, i feel the latino community is here to say. we're making incredible contributions to the development of the city, and we're really grateful we're here. we're going to try our best to elect a latino council member. >> and we have a leader. >> we do. >> thank you to all of you for an enlightening morning. now back to "news 4 today." enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody, as we send you off with the web addresses and phone numbers. have a great day.

i feel like eventually i can put it behind me, kind of block it out a little bit, but i'm never going to forget that day. >> a local college student learns just how powerful mother nature can be after he survives last week's deadly trntd in alabama. this morning he's sharing his store yoi with news 4. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm kimberly suiters. >> and i'm aaron gilchrist. meteorologist chuck bell is here with us as we wait for a warmup but still expect the clouds. more sun than clouds, no doubt. we did get a beautiful sunrise. if you missed it, it was 1:20 ago already, early sunrises this time of year. but the clouds are going to begin to thicken up as we go through the rest of the day. it's not going to be a washout. let me get that on the record right now. it's not going to be a washout. though we will have increasing shower chances early on. it's a bright sky. 52 downtown.

48 culpepper and manassas. 49 martinsburg. there's a look at live doppler. not much going on downtown much a few sprinkles in the panhandle of west virginia. there's steadier showers way back across parts of central kentucky. latest computer model,indicating they'll make it over the mountains now. we may have to worry more about rain for the second half of sunday. for now, everything looks reasonably good. just be ready for showers this afternoon. there shouldn't be torrential downpours, no thunder and lightning or severe weather, just a littledampening. four days after the deadliest outbreak of tornadoes in our nation's history, hope of finding survivors is waning. the death toll stands at 342. alabama was by far the hardest hit. there were 250 people who lost their lives. that number could rise. nearly 600 people are unaccounted for in tuscaloosa alone.

close to home, the national weather service confirmed that two more tornadoes touched down in virginia. bringing the death toll in that state to 12. two virginia residents saw the historic outbreak up close, but not in their home state. they're students at the university of alabama in tuscaloosa. one watched from his dorm room. the other hid in a bathroom closet praying he would survive. news 4's darcy spencer has more on their unforgettable experience. >> as quick as we could. here's clothes. roll tide. >> reporter: david cole goes through the items he was able to salvage from his house about a mile from the university of alabama in tuscaloosa, where a deadly tornado ripped through, causing death and destruction. >> just really thankful to have survived it and get out alive. >> reporter: cole, a university sophomore, says the windows began to break and the house shook. he hid in a closet. >> just for about a minute in the bathroom closet praying.

it was pretty intense and scary. it sounded like a train was going by you. you couldn't hear if it was right up to your ear screaming. >> reporter: when cole walked outside, he saw the destruction firsthand. an oak tree had split his car in half. he was able to talk to his father about 15 minutes after the tornado was gone. >> life is fragile. when your child is caught up in something like that, it really pulls on the heart strings. >> reporter: david's friend brandon tully is a freshman. he was on campus when he saw the tornado tear a path of destruction near the university. >> you saw people walking down the street carrying a backpack, and that's all they had left. the best description i hear about how tuscaloosa looks is that an atomic bomb went off. >> reporter: while the experience was frightening for both students, they say they plan to return in the fall. >> i'm always going to have this in my head what happened, but i feel eventually i can put it behind me and block it out a

bit. but i'm never going to forget that day. >> reporter: darcy spencer, "news 4 today." both students will have to rush to the university at the end of may to take final exams. this morning officials say the youngest son of moammar gadhafi was killed in a nato air strike. three of gadhafi's grandchildren were also killed in the missile attack. the missile hit the house of saif al arab in tripoli. the strike happened just hours after the libyan leader called for a cease fire from nato. right now the catholic church is just one step away from making the now blessed pope john paul ii a saint. the pope has just been officially beatified. nearly 1 million pilgrims packed st. peter's square for the ceremony, at which this portrait was unveiled. the current pope benedict xvi

performed the beatification mass. it's the first formal step beforesai beforesainthood. this is the fastest of all time having just died six years ago. something archbishop wuerl says is fitting. >> we need heroes. we need people who achieve the very things we're attempting to do. >> a french nun who says her prayers to the late pontiff cured her parkinson's disease put blessed pope john paul ii on the fast track to sainthood. prince william and catherine middleton can now breathe a deep sigh of relief. the wedding soefis over, and the released the official wedding photographs to the public. the pictures were taken in the throne room of buckingham palace after friday's wedding. the new duke and duchess of cambridge have announced they'll delay their honeymoon, citing privacy issues. there's no word yet where they will head out, and that's the

point. tomorrow it's back to work for the prince as he'll resume his job as a military search and rescue chopper pilot. >> good luck hiding. they'll find you. they'll figure it out. >> i know. donald trump has been in the spotlight quite recently for his attacks on president obama. last night at the white house correspondents' dinner, obama got some revenge courtesy of seth myers. >> the "saturday night live" head writer used the donald as a big old punching bag. here's a few of his sharp tongued attacks. >> donald trump has been saying he'll run for president as a republican, which is surprising because i just assumed he was running as a joke. donald trump often appears on fox, which is ironic because a fox often appears on donald trump's head. donald trump recently said he has a great relationship with the blacks. now, unless the blacks are a family of white people, i bet he's mistaken. >> oh, there's only one person

not laughing in that room. myers did not spare the president either, spoking fun at his rapidly graying hair since entering the white house. you can see myers this morning when he speaks with david gregory on "meet the press" at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. >> he did a good job. i watched a little bit more of that. it was some funny stuff. the president was pretty funny too last night. >> it's always a very fine line to walk, skewering people in front of them. the capitals look to regroup after a disappointing playoff loss, and the redskins wrap up the 2011 draft. >> here's hakim dermish with your "sports minute." good morning, everyone. your "sports minute" starts with the stanley cup playoffs, game two between the capitals and lightning is tonight at verizon center. in game one, the caps were 0 for 5 on the power play, and it's a credit to tampa bay. the lightning have killed off 39 of 40 penalties in the postseason. but when trailing in a series 1-0, washington has a 7-5 record in game twos.

face-off is set for 7:00 later tonight. in the nfl draft, the redskins selected 12 players, the most since 1985. in the fourth round of the draft, washington traded up and picked 6 foot, 220-pound nebraska running back roy helu jr. he ranks fourth all time on the cornhuskers career rushing list. in the sixth round, with the 177th overall pick, the redskins selected penn state running back and former westfield high school standout evan royster. royster is the all time leading rusher in penn state history. college basketball news, george mason hired former georgia tech coach paul hewitt yesterday. hewitt was fired by the yellow jackets last month after spending 11 years at the school. he led georgia tech to five ncaa appearances including a run to the 2004 national championship game. in baseball, nationals third baseman ryan zimmerman will have surgery on tuesday to repair a torn abdominal muscle l. zimmerman is expected to be out for six weeks. on the field yesterday,

nationals hosting the giants. bottom of the ninth, nats down 2-1. giants closer brian wilson facing adam laroche with the bases loaded, gets him out. >> i think a beard on the mound like that is a distraction for the batters. >> that may be the tactic. 7:40 right now. new developments in lindsay lohan's latest run-in with the law. the deal the troubled actress may finally be willing to make. and apparently not everybody has bieber fever. the incident that made the pop star so angry he almost cancelled his concert right in

7:42. lindsay lohan is looking to put her most recent court case behind her. she's considering a no contest plea to end the trial all together. the source saying the troubled starlet just wants to move on and refocus on her acting career. by pleading no contest, lohan would not be admitting guilt and would settle the case quickly. no date has been set for the actual trial. mariah carey has given birth to twins. the singer and husband nick cannon celebrated the birth of both a girl and a boy. the girl is one minute older, in case you're wondering. carey gave birth early saturday morning. both kids and mom are doing all right. the singer's representative say the two have not named the children yet. the couple is expected to renew wedding vows later today. justin bieber has millions of fans, but apparently a few

that are not so fond of the pop star let him know it during a concert in australia. bieber was performing when six eggs landed just inches in front of him. the pop mega star didn't miss a beat. he backed away so the mess could be cleaned up. after the song, he threatened to end the concert right there. eventually, his tantrum ended, and he went on with the show. bieber's fans are furious with one fan tweeting, quote, you now have 9 million beliebers after you. be afraid. >> you're laughing. hundreds of volunteers turned out for a beautification project at a local high school this weekend to show that comcast cares. volunteers painted murals, see aaron gilchrist. plant planted trees and flowers as part of comcast cares day. they turned the courtyard into an outdar park area. comcast donated $25,000 to the school. they're the new parent company of nbc 4.

>> and that was spingarn high school. i've been corrected. it was only day one of the walk. thousands of supporters were cheered yesterday who participa participated in the ninth annual avon walk for cancer. this is one of the biggest fund raisers for breast cancer research. the avon foundation has raised more than $380 million since 2003. you'll see more pink today as walkers complete a half marathon. we also have a live interview today with another event to help fund the fight against breast cancer coming up at 9:15 this morning. >> looking forward to that. 7:45 right now. the "today" show is next here on nbc 4. it starts at 8:00. >> let's get a preview now. jenna wolfe joins us live from new york. good morning, jenna. >> kimberly, aaron, good morning to you. coming up on "today," path of destruction.

lester is live in tuscaloosa, alabama, with the deadliest tornado outbreak in decades. hundreds have been killed. and this morning hundreds more remain missing. we'll have the latest on the search for survivors and the struggle to rebuild. also, deadly strike. in libya, a nato attack kills moammar gadhafi's son and his three grandchildren. the dictator escaped the operation. we'll have a live report from tripoli. plus the step to sainthood for pope john paul ii. look at this extraordinary sight at the vatican as more than 1 million gather for the beatification mass for the late pontiff. we'll take you there live. and meet the comedian in chief. president obama was going for laughs at the white house correspondents dinner last night, making donald trump his punch line with joke after joke. if you didn't stay up to see it last night on c-span, we'll bring you the highlights. those stories and much more when lester and i see you a bit later on "today." kimberly and aaron, back to you guys. >> thank you, jenna.

55 degrees outside at this early hour, chuck. you okay? >> yeah. >> the look you were giving. i'm sorry. i was a little disstrathed. >> what was the look? >> she was beaming. i thought she was going to say something really -- >> did she look mad? >> no, not mad. >> you sure? >> you told her she said the high school wrong, and i thought you were giving her the elbow. just making that up. >> is there some music we can play? let's just move on. >> you always have something sweet to say. so i was just waiting for the sweetness to come out. >> i'm going to share with you, not chuck. >> chuck ruined the mood. >> keep waiting. complete check of your sunday forecast coming up. [ male announcer ] washington, d.c.

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it's 7:49, 55 degrees. yes, i am still waiting for the words of sweetness. >> you were supposed to tell the

people that i said something really nice. >> but you didn't. >> i will. >> okay. >> i have. >> i love the way, you were supposed to tell the people. there's going to be some sort of an announcement. >> let's announce the weather. >> we can do that. clouds have come in overnight, and these clouds are going to continue to move on in as we go through the rest of our sunday. i do think that unfortunately our rain chance,a little higher today than i thought they were going to be. they may continue to inch their way up as we go through the afternoon. still not going to be a washout of a sunday. any rain showers we do get still look to be more on the light side than anything else. you just keep in mipd mother nature may be getting read why to pull the rug out from under us as far as the weather is concerned. we actually did get to see the sunrise this morning. sun was up at 6:11. the clouds have continued to lower and thicken just a bit since that time. 52 now at national airport with a light breeze out of the southwest at 3 miles per hour. dewpoints in the mid-40s. humidity fairly high now at 80%.

50 degrees is a common temperature. hagerstown down to frederick, maryland, sterling, virginia, culpepper, fredericksburg, quantico, all 50s. upper 40s down across parts of southern st. mary's county. your skies were clear for a longer time last night. you dropped down lower in temperature. for now on live doppler, not much going on around our immediate neighborhood. there are showers. these are fading out as they come out of the mountains of west virginia. that's going to be the trend. most of the activity should dry up as it comes out of the mountains. however, some of them will last long enough to rain for a time on our sunday afternoon. be aware of that. clouds well out ahead of the rain showers. some breaks of showers across the northern neck and parts of central virginia. this jgeneral showery weather, most of it to our west. here's the futurecast model. that little ribbon of rain showers trying to develop in the

mountains of west virginia. overnight tonight, that should go away. we'll start off cloudy and dry. and most of our monday will be dry as well. only the slight chance of a passing shower. real rain chance as rife for tuesday and wednesday. for today, mostly cloudy. passing showers. sun doesn't go down until 8:00 tonight. not that you'll see it because of the cloud cover. temperatures today in the upper 60s and low 70s. one or two showers a possibility late in the day. most of your monday will be dry as well. 40% chance. you'll get a couple of drisly drops on you for your sunday afternoon today. 73 degrees tomorrow. a 60% chance of rain, maybe a rumble or two of thunder. we're not looking for severe weather out of that. finally some drier weather coming back. any time we're not on the forecast, you can scan our qr code there or come to nbcwashington.com. >> you're so proud of yourself and this qr code. >> it is amazing. andy, our producer, put that

together. i like it. can't put that graphic up without explaining what it is. >> put your smartphone up there, scan it. that's how you get the app. thanks, chuck. the capitals gear up for game two of the playoff series with the lightning. >> hakim dermish has more how the caps hope to rebound from their game one loss in this morning's sports. good morning, everyone. game two between the capitals and lightning is tonight at verizon center. if it the caps don't shape up, they'll be down 2-0 before they ship out to florida. but according to history, that likely won't happen. when trailing in a series 1-0, washington has a 7-5 record in game twos, and that, folks, is the nugget of the night. in game one, the capitals missed out on several scoring opportunities, going 0 for 5 on the power play, and it's a credit to tampa bay. the lightning have killed off 39 of 40 penalties in the postseason. coach bruce boudreau says the caps will try, try again in game two. >> i think it's the key to every game and every series, you know,

like you guys watch tv, and every time you listen to another coach's press conference that loses, we didn't win the battles, we didn't get the loose pucks. if you don't do that, you're not going to be successful. i think they got more than we did last night, and we'll try to do better tomorrow. >> stay with "news 4 today." we'll have pre and post-game coverage. of game two from verizon center. nfl now. the redskins selected 12 players in the draft, the most since 1985, but none of them were quarterbacks. coach mike shanahan really likes john beck. saying last night, quote, i think the world of him. there's no doubt john beck is a hard worker, but he hasn't played in a regular season game since 2007. meanwhile in the fourth round of the draft, washington traded up and took 6 foot, 220 pound nebraska running back roy helu jr. he ran a 4.40 40 yard dash at the combine. he ranks fourth all time on the cornhuskers career rushing list. and helu's father was a captain of the u.s. national rugby team. the redskins love the talent at

nebraska so much, they also took two of helu's teammates, selecting safety dejon gomez and wide receiver niles paul. in the sixth round with the 177th overall pick, the redskins selected penn state running back and former westfield standout evan royster. he helped them win a championship in 2003. the 6'2" running back is the all time leading rusher in penn state history. royster was originally a cowboys fan growing up in northern virginia, but he told us last night his family has since converted him to a redskins fan. good kid. here's a look at who else the redskins drafted. also in the sixth round, they select aldrick robinson, a wide receiver from smu. in the seventh round, brandyn thompson, a defensive back out of boise state. maurice hurt an offensive lineman from florida. that's a good pickup. with their next pick, the skins draft markus white, a defensive end from florida state. and finally washington takes nose tackle chris neild from west virginia.

however, none of the draft picks can sign because of the restored nfl lockout. let's go to college park for the maryland spring game. beautiful day for football yesterday for coach randy edsel and the terps. first quarter, red team with the ball. david megget, he's a talented young man. goes 15 yards for the touchdown. he led the rushers with 73 yards. red team leads the white team 28-0 at halftime. can you say the rosters were a little stacked maybe. second half, more red team. quarterback danny o'brien rolls out, finds ronny tyler for the 27-yard score. o'brien threw for 199 yards, two touchdowns. red team beats the white team 35-7. for winning, the red squad was treated to steak and shrimp for dinner. the white team had to eat pork and brins. here's qb danny o'brien before he had his meal. >> i'm comfortable with the whole offense. it's just a matter of being consistent with it. everything we called today, i felt we had a really good grasp

of. we had a nice moving the ball on offense. so i'm pretty comfortable. and former maryland running back darell scott was selected in the seventh round of the nfl draft by the new york giants yesterday. and former virginia tech qb tyrod taylor was taken in the six t round by the ravens. college basketball news. george mason hired former georgia tech coach paul hewitt yesterday. hewitt was fired by the yellow jackets last month after spending 11 years at the school. hewitt led georgia tech to five ncaa appearances, including a run to the 2004 national championship game. however, hewitt's record in the acc was 72-104. hewitt is receiving a $7.2 million buyout over five years from georgia tech. that works out to be $130,000 a month. according to "the washington post" hewitt agreed to a five-year deal at george mason. he'll be introduced at a news conference on monday. talking baseball. nationals third baseman ryan zimmerman will have surgery on tuesday to repair a torn abdominal muscle. zimmerman is expected to be out for six weeks.

on the field yesterday, nationals hosting the giants. bottom two is where we pick it up, no score. rick ankiel up with the bases loaded. doesn't get all of it. little flare to short off the glove of mike fontenot. ian desmond, come on down. nationals take a 1-0 lead. nice break for the nats. top seven, 1-1 game. john landon pitching to aubrey huff. bases loaded, full count. oh, no. walks in a run. giants up 2-1. that was all for john lannon. bottom of the ninth, nats down 2-1. giants closer brian wilson and his beard on to close it out. it's not the playoffs yet, but he still rocks the beard. facing adam laroche and gets him swinging to end the game. giants hang on to beat the nationals 2-1. same two teams today at 1:35. that's your morning sports. i'm hakim dermish. have a great day and go caps. >> people don't usually pay too

much attention to the ceremonial first pitch at a ball game. >> but last night at dodgers stadium in los angeles, all eyes were on the mound before the game of the that's because the pitcher who tossed out the first pitch with his foot. you saw it right there. tom willis was born without arms but threw a perfect strike to home plate. willis is traveling around the country visiting all 30 ballparks as part of his pitch for awareness tour, which spreads the message of abilities of people with disabilities. >> putting the ability in disability. that's amazing. that's one of the best first pitches we've ever seen. >> that's true. >> that's it for "news 4 today." we'll be back in 25 minutes with