hi, steve. >> thanks. good evening. arizona actually has more delegates at stake on tuesday per candidate because that primary is winner take all. but up in the wintry state of michigan that's the hot fight. a lost tuesday in his home state of michigan could devastate mitt romney's campaign but he has fought back to a tie in the polls with rick santorum and today attacked him. >> he voted to fund planned parenthood even though that was against his principles. >> reporter: the former senator did look like a classic washington politician. in last night's debate he listed measures he opposed but voted for like no child left behind. >> it was against the principles i believed in but, you know, when you're part of the team sometimes you take one for the team for the leader and i made a mistake. >> i wonder which team he was taking it for. >> reporter: no mercy from mitt romney. >> i can tell you one thing. if i'm president of the united states i will abide by my principles and my team will be the people of the united states

of america. >> reporter: santorum is charging romney changed his stand on abortion. in a new ad to run in michigan. with the focus on michigan, president obama put up an ad saying he saved u.s. car makers. >> every republican candidate turned their back, even said let detroit go bankrupt. not him. >> reporter: and the president mocked a republican plan to lower gasoline prices. >> step one is to drill and step two is to drill. and then step three is to keep drilling. well the american people aren't stupid. they know that's not a plan. especially since we're already drilling. >> reporter: rick santorum's immediate plan, mitt romney's, too, is to win michigan. whoever does take michigan on tuesday gets a big boost going into super tuesday, march 6th. roughly half of the republican delegates needed for the gop nomination will be selected in

the next two weeks. doreen, back to you. >> steve handelsman on capitol hill, thank you, steve. >> you're welcome. in richmond, virginia, the personhood bill is dead after a rowdy debate this afternoon. a state senate committee chairman threatened to have police escort some spectators out who were disrupting the session. the committee ended up passing the legislation on to the senate but then a few hours later the senate voted to send it back to committee. the bill defines life as beginning at conception. the state senate's action effectively kills the bill until next year. in maryland the state senate is getting ready to vote on a bill to legalize same sex marriage. governor martin o'malley is ready to sign the bill if it is passed. darcy spencer has the latest now from annapolis. >> reporter: the gay marriage bill is being debated right now on the senate floor here at the

state house. the senate president mike miller says he expects the bill to pass but it's turning into a lengthy debate because there are a number of amendments that are being introduced. one of the amendments deals with religious freedoms, how same sex marriage will or could affect churches and other religious institutions. supporters of the bill say religious protections are included in the bill but some senators say this could lead to conflicts in the church and lawsuits. >> we will in fact see a circumstance where a religious entity has to make that very difficult choice between complying with their deeply held religious convictions that this amendment protects versus the coercive power of the state to say, you have to comply with this law. >> no church will ever under any circumstances have to perform, salemize, or celebrate or promote same sex marriage or any marriage they disapprove of, interracial marriage, interfaith

marriage, what have you. that is completely within the discretion of the church to decide. >> reporter: the same sex marriage bill already passed the house of delegates last week and maryland governor martin o'malley says once the bill reaches his desk he'll sign it into law. now opponents say they're going to mount a petition drive so voters can make the final decision on the issue. darcy spencer, news 4 in annapolis. for the first time tonight the army private accused of spilling classified u.s. secrets to the website wikileaks appeared before a judge to answer the charges against him. in fort meade today private first class manning declined to enter his plea and deferred a choice of whether to be tried by a military jury or a judge alone. manning is accused of passing confidential military information to wikileaks including war reports from afghanistan and iraq. he could get life in prison if convicted. his lawyers say manning was troubled and should not have had access to that information. a trial date has not been set.

there is more reaction tonight following the guilty verdict against george huguely, a student athlete at the university of virginia. he was convicted yesterday of second-degree murder for beating to death his former girlfriend, a woman named yardley love. julie carey is in charlottesville, virginia now and tells us the jurors believe justice was served. >> reporter: on the university of virginia campus, bright sunshine reflected off the rotunda today. students there say they hope last night's guilty verdict will lift the shadow cast on their school and one of its premier sports when former la crosse player george huguely was arrested for murder. most students called the second-degree murder conviction and recommended 26-year sentence a just decision. >> i think he got what he deserves. i think it's nice to know he didn't just get off with minimum sentence for a second degree. >> i think a lot of lives got ruined throughout the whole process. i think his punishment was just

but, again, it's really unfortunate for everyone involved. >> reporter: but the visitor to campus says prosecutors went too far. >> they over charged him which i think is the norm in the prosecutor's office. >> reporter: last night as jurors left in the pouring rain few wanted to comment on the sometimes emotional and dramatic two-week trial. today juror ian conglomeratesky a u va micro biologist told news 4 i feel the jury did its job and justice was served. we did the job the best we could. glomsky says he plans to talk more at a later date about the jury's decision making process. last night prosecutor dave chapman who pushed for a murder verdict told reporters he finds no winners in the outcome. >> there are no winners in this case. there's nothing but loss everywhere. our hearts go out to the love family. they've suffered enormously. >> reporter: george huguely's final sentencing date will be set at a hearing back here at the courthouse on april 16th but his defense team is already

talking about an appeal once the judge's sentence is delivered. in charlottesville, julie carey, news 4. usually in virginia a judge honors the jury's recommendation. that nasty norovirus might be making the rounds at another local university. howard university says it has a number of students down with the stomach bug. the school is working with the d.c. department of health to figure out exactly what's causing the illness. in the meantime the school has asked students, faculty, and staff to take precautions so they don't get sick, too. there are new efforts tonight to crack down on drunk driving in maryland. under a new bill, anyone who is convicted of a dui with a child in the car would have to participate in the ignition interlock program. maryland delegate sam aurora is sponsoring the measure and says there's been an increase in the number of people who are driving drunk with kids in the car. citations are up 10% in just two years according to the washington regional alcohol program. investigators in prince

george's county are trying to figure out what sparked a car fire on the beltway. it happened just after 4:00 this afternoon on the outer loop. you see that white sedan fully engulfed in flames on the shoulder. fire crews shut down the outer loop in that area while they put out the flames. the driver was not injured. turning now to our spectacular weather, it feels like spring out there but it's not going to last too much longer. doug kammerer is live at the weston town center tracking the temperatures at the ice skating rink. hey, doug. >> reporter: it's amazing, doreen. here we injure laare in late fe. tomorrow we expect the temperatures to reach the low 70s and a lot of people out enjoying the ice. one thing you notice here, look at the middle of the ice rink. it is water right now. they did see a lot of melting during the day today but they tell me this is normal for the afternoon and it quickly freezes up as the sun makes its way down which the sun is doing. right now. let's show you the numbers across the area. current numbers in the low 60s

across the region. it is really a beautiful evening and we're going to continue to see a very nice evening as we make our way through the night tonight. could be a few showers as we move on through tomorrow morning but not all that bad. take a look at the numbers right now. currently sitting in the 60s. continuing in the 60s. look at the radar. you can see the cloud cover across the region. we did see a warm front come through earlier. that will allow temperatures to stay well above average overnight so your wakeup forecast showing you 56 at 11:00. 54 at 5:00 a.m. and when you wake up and walk out the door at 7:00 a.m. a temperature of 53 degrees could be a couple showers tomorrow. could be a thunderstorm tomorrow. and very warm temperatures. but that is not the only things we're talking about. there is something else you need to know about as far as weather is concerned tomorrow. i'll have that for you in just a minute and, yes. i just rented skates. >> all right. there is something to look forward to. thank you, doug. coming up next on news 4 at 6:00 the koran controversy. president obama apologizes as the violent protests claimed the lives of two american soldiers

in afghanistan. and the news 4 i-team tonight finds out what's being done to save animals that have been abandoned in a certain area from certain death. gas prices hit record highs this month but drivers could have to dig even deeper next week. viagra has been very helpful to some adults but researchers say it could have even more benefits for some children. dan, what is ahead in sports? >> reporter: doreen, everybody is down here in vieira, nationals ready to start spring training. we're also talking hockey where the caps still are searching for answers and danica patrick, not so fun day on the track just down the road

a deadly helicopter crash last night at a training facility in arizona. seven u.s. marines were killed when two helicopters collided at the yuma training range complex near the arizona/california border. the military says those helicopters are conducting a routine training exercise at the time. they crashed in mid air over a remote section of what they call the chocolate mountains there. there were no survivors and no word yet on what caused that crash. >> president obama has sent a letter to afghan president hamid karzai formally apologizing for the bunk of muslim holy books. the letter expresses deep regret to karzai and to the afghan people. mr. obama also wrote the mishandling of the koran was an error and not intentional. he promised a full investigation and said anyone responsible would be held accountable.

in the meantime the violent anti-american protests across afghanistan have now claimed the lives of two american soldiers. it happened as u.s. and afghan forces were trying to control a crowd attacking a u.s. base in eastern afghanistan. there are conflicting accounts of exactly what happened but it appears a man wearing an afghan army uniform shot six americans, killing two. the price of gas is on the way up again, way up. it's already grabbed the attention and the anger of some drivers and today president obama took notice. jay gray has our report. >> reporter: there was a rude wakeup call this morning for commuters across the country. >> that's ridiculous. that is ridiculous. >> reporter: the price of gas jumped dramatically overnight. >> we're seeing gas prices right now that are 9 cents higher than they were a month ago. >> reporter: and experts say it's only going to get worse. >> it certainly is not a good

harbinger of things to come for prices as we head into spring and summer when we know prices tend to rise. >> reporter: during an energy policy speech this afternoon in miami whereby the way the price at the pump has hit the $4 mark president obama said the ultimate fix is finding alternatives to gas. >> we can't just allow ourselves to be held hostage to the ups and downs of the world oil market. we've got to keep developing new sources of energy. we've got to develop new technology that helps us use less energy. >> reporter: but until that happens, the only answer for some is to pull to the side of the road. nationwide gasoline usage is at an 11-year low and the national oil supply is up significantly so why does the price continue to climb? analysts say it's a global issue. >> we're seeing tensions in iran, seeing -- watching the economic situation in greece. all of these feeding that -- the prices. they're going up. >> reporter: and fueling frustrations. >> it is outrageous and, you know, i don't know what we can

do about it. we can't boycott. we all need our cars and we need to get around and it's a necessary evil i'm afraid. so we have to hope for the best. >> reporter: while preparing for the worst. a potentially long and high priced summer at the pump. jay gray, nbc news. some analysts are saying gas prices could go up again on monday after a fire at a refinery in washington state. the price of oil per barrel is also to blame they said. it's reaching levels we haven't seen since last year's uprising in libya. more about our weather now. doug is live in reston with the forecast. how did you happen to choose reston, doug? >> reporter: well, whoa. >> that could be dangerous for the other skaters, doug. and they're a lot smaller than you. >> reporter: what happened, doreen, is i went across the flow. you never go across flow at an ice rink. i apologize to everybody out

here. sorry. hi, ladies. how you guys doing? we came out to reston for a couple reasons. reston town center a great location for people to meet here in fairfax county. absolutely a great place to come out. the zambonie is about to come out. speaking of coming out to this area i want to introduce you to somebody you may know. >> hi. >> recognize that face? angie goff lives in this area and from is here too. >> hello, everybody. little adorea came out recovering from a cold but the weather is so nice we figured it would be nice to come out for a walk. >> reporter: doreen, did you know that angie and i went to the same high school right over there? >> did you really? do they have a historical marker up over there, doug? >> they have an historical marker for myself and for angie goff at herndon high school right down the street. that's right. >> you were ten years ahead of her weren't you? >> i was one year ahead of her. >> yeah, right. >> no. we're not buying it. >> no. >> it was a decade or so in between there. >> that's what i'm thinking.

>> you guys enjoying the weather tonight? >> yes. >> it's fantastic isn't it? >> yeah. >> they've been skating and beating me around the rink. i have to be honest. let's look at how nice it is. temperatures into the 60s all across the area. right now sitting at 67. that was the high temperature earlier this afternoon. only three days this month have been colder than average. every other month well above average just like today. and right now we're at 61 degrees with winds out of the east about 3 miles per hour. as we make our way through the night tonight temperatures are going to cool off but not by much. we're going to stay in the 50s across much of the area. 61 now in the d.c. area as well as over toward herndon. in manassas. 57 in leesburg. right now 54 in gaithersburg. what are we looking at far as the wider picture goes? we do have some rain trying to make its way across the area as the warm front moves up north around the mason/dixon line but still talking about our rain moving in overnight tonight and really in through the day tomorrow. do not expect the rainy day. we are going to see some showers. we are going to see the

possibility of a thunderstorm or two. as we make our way through the day tomorrow. but the biggest factor i think is going to be the winds tomorrow. temperatures above the front or ahead of the front will still be warm. look at memphis, tennessee right now at 79 degrees. 74 the high in raleigh. i think we could see temperatures into the 70s tomorrow. but then by late afternoon winds will start to pick up and we could see those winds gusting upwards of 50 miles per hour. and that is why there is a high wind watch in effect for areas just off to the west. it does include areas like loudoun county and all of the counties along i-81 so watch out there as that storm moves on by. we'll see the winds pick up with the chance of a shower or thunderstorm. really not everybody is going to see the rain but if you do you could see a brief, heavy downpour. the wind continues during the day on saturday with a high temperature on saturday. that's going to be in the low 50s at least in most areas. some areas in the upper 40s but the winds still gusting upwards of 30 miles an hour. mostly cloudy, isolated showers. windy and warm tomorrow morning. 44 in the suburbs.

about 53 in the city. then tomorrow afternoon mostly cloudy. showers. thunderstorms possible. very windy. 68 to 73 degrees. we're going for a high of 72 at the airport. that is just amazing. that would tie the other day of 72 that we've seen so far this winter but just amazing how warm we've been. we do cool off. 48 on saturday. 52 on sunday. take a look at that. temperatures move right back up over the next couple days. guys, i want to show you this little girl right here. come over here. this is her first time. i haven't even met her yet. i was just talking to your mom. it's your first time? >> yeah. >> how are you doing? >> good. >> i saw you take a little spill but you're okay now? >> yeah. >> okay. you didn't lose that tooth on the ice did you? >> no. >> okay. you look kind of like alex ovechkin a little bit with that. so we'll toss it back to you guys. i have to tell you, though, doesn't get much better than this in late february. you already knew that. >> you tell those children to stay out of the way as long as you have skates on, doug.

>> i know. it's not fun, doreen, it's scary. >> all right. thanks, doug. >> we'll check back in a little bit. coming up be careful what you post online. we'll tell you why a man is facing jail time for what he put on facebook. >> the mystery surrounding the ♪

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authorities in uganda are trying to figure out what killed an american television producer. 39-year-old jerry rice was found dead in his hotel room last weekend. his assistant was also in the room and is now reportedly in a coma. an early autopsy revealed large amounts of cocaine in rice's stomach. his family believes rice may have been forced to ingest it. rice worked as a producer for the current season of "the amazing race." a former d.c. police commander who organized a police escort for actor charlie sheen is planning now to file a whistle blower lawsuit against the district. his name is hilton burton. he says he was demoted after he testified to a d.c. council that celebrity escorts were common place. that contradicted the testimony of chief kathy lanier who said the escort violated department policy. burton was demoted back in august. lanier says the demotion was not connected to the escort or to

burton's testimony. it was a bitter divorce battle in ohio and tonight a man has been ordered to post an apology to his estranged wife on facebook after writing nasty messages about her or he could face time behind bars. mark byron says he was just venting about his upcoming divorce when he put the note on his page in december but court records show byron's post violated a protection order his wife has against him. a magistrate ruled he had to post an apology on the social media website for 30 days or face jail time. >> on one hand i've been told i can't say what i want to say on face book and now i am also told i must say sething that they're telling me i have to say. this prewritten apology. >> his wife was originally blocked from his facebook account but now he must grant her access to his page. coming up tonight an 82-year-old woman robbed in her home will tell you what she did after the crime, what the criminal did to keep her from

calling the police. a local county rapidly growing but too many pets are being left behind. tonight the news 4 i-team takes a look at the problem and what's being done to fix it. and reports that viagra might have benefits for children. we'll tell you, stay tuned. coming up in sports an update on ryan zimmerman's contract situation down here in vieira. a 25-year-old streak comes to an end at daytona. and the capitals in need of a spark. they're in need of ♪ let me get that door for you... [ man ] i loved my first car... sometimes the door gets stuck... oh sure. ooh! [ man ] ...and then, i didn't. um... [ sighs ]

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there is breaking news out of annapolis tonight where the maryland state senate has just passed a bill legalizing same sex marriage. the final vote was 25-22. that bill will now head to governor martin o'malley who says he will sign the bill into law. opponents are still calling for a referendum on same sex marriage to be included on the november ballot. they plan to start a petition drive to collect enough signatures to get the referendum on the ballot. but for now, maryland will become the eighth state in the u.s. to legalize same sex marriage pending governor o'malley's signature. people who live in part of alexandria are nervous tonight after an elderly woman was robbed. she was 82 years old and came face to face with the intruder over the weekend. police say the suspect broke into her home on russell road in the alexandria section of fairfax county. he stole her phone and her car. the car was found a few days later but there's still been no arrest. jane watrel has our report.

>> this is a good neighborhood. i've been here over 28 years and we never had nothing like this. >> reporter: a close knit community in shock. people living along russell road in fairfax county learned their 82-year-old neighbor and friend was the target of a home invasion sunday night. >> it's making me angry that this is an old woman like myself. i'm home here by myself. that means we don't have freedom to do nothing. we work hard. for somebody to come and do this to us is not fair. >> reporter: fairfax county police say the victim was in bed when she heard a loud crash. she went to investigate and found the suspect had broken out a window. >> the man immediately went to the woman. he grabbed her and forced her into another part of the home. he demanded money from her and she did comply with that demand. he went through the home. he disabled the home telephone, took a cell phone from the home. >> the man stole her car as well. police found the 1989 fire bird wednesday night in this beacon

hill parking lot. neighbors say they plan to tighten up security around their homes. >> i have two kids. you know, definitely. as a matter of fact, i usually keep like a -- i have a camera in my garage because we have some stuff stolen out of the garage a few years ago. >> i'm not scared because i keep a baseball bat in my house but, hey, it could happen to anybody. this is ridiculous. >> reporter: while the victim says she was rattled by the incident she was unharmed. she is now working with investigators to help catch the home invader. in fairfax county, jane watrel, news 4. skeletal remains were found at a vacant house in northeast washington this morning. those remains were found after a police chase that ended in an accident in front of that house on 24th street. a k-9 officer chased a suspect into the house. the officer fell through a floor. that's where he found the remains. police say they don't know how long they have been there or even if they're human.

the officer was taken to a hospital. the injuries are not considered to be life threatening. the investigation there continues. there was some emotional testimony in the d.c. mass shooting trial today when one of the victim's mothers took the stand. diane howe's son jordan was the first victim in what became one of the most violent series of attacks in d.c. history. five people were killed all together and nine more wounded in an eight-day spree of violence back in march of 2010. howe says it's especially hard because the man accused of killing her son was a long-time friend. >> that's a snake for you. that's a sflak for you. i'm glad i got it off my chest to testify to let the jury know what really happened that day, that night they killed my son. >> five men are charged with first-degree murder in this case. prosecutors say it all started with a dispute over a missing piece of cheap costume jewelry. thousands of dogs and cats are put to death each year.

that is the reality in prince george's county where they're dealing with a population boom not only in terms of people but also in terms of pets. tisha thompson here now with the news 4 i-team explaining how the county plans to deal with its pet problem. >> the folks at prince george's county's animal control do not shy away from it. they have a hard job especially when it comes to putting down animals. they want to reduce that number but as we find out that's a lot harder to do than you might realize. we're taking you on a ride to show you why prince george's county has a pet problem not with animals but with their owners. >> it is freezing today. >> reporter: it's 18 degrees and officer tanya roberts is checking on dogs who shouldn't be outside. >> what you doing? >> reporter: this dog has a

bucket of water frozen solid. >> if it's frozen that is a concern. it means it wasn't changed today. >> reporter: with a soft heart for the animals and a spine of steel for their keepers. >> you're not cleaning up after him and his bucket is ice. >> reporter: roberts tracks down the owner at work. >> it's a tough time. >> reporter: chief rodney taylor runs prince george's county animal control. >> in the animal field most of the time it is one of the lowest budgets and one of the greatest needs. >> reporter: he says he needs at least 25 officers to operate around the clock. instead he often only has two patrolling the entire county. >> the biggest problem is ownership. not being trained properly. >> reporter: who spend much of their time visiting the same animals like zeke the fence jumper over and over again. >> he gets excited. >> reporter: zeke got into a fight with this lost dog. roberts recognizes him. she has already opened a cruelty investigation into his owner

once before. but some owners never give their pets a chance. >> how many there? >> at this apartment complex in suitland the former tenants left behind a bed, liquor bottles, and two pit bulls. it is illegal to own pit bulls in prince george's county. they end up here in a holding pen full of other seized and abandoned animals. the cold reality? most will be euthanized. >> we have to sometimes euthanize animals and that is what we dread doing. >> reporter: chief taylor makes no bones about it. in the past year more than 7,000 animals were euthanized up 15% from the previous year. >> we want to make this shelter a dumping ground and the outcome isables get euthanized and we take on all the guilt. we need to change that. >> reporter: he recently recruited a nonprofit to spay and neuter not only shelter

animals but privately owned pets. >> you want to decrease the number so you don't have to euthanize on the back end. >> reporter: but some animals don't have that option. roberts says feral cats are often the sickest animals she sees like this one with a broken paw and bad burns from a car engine he hid in to stay warm. >> most likely he'll be euthanized which will end the suffering but no human could, you know, endure the kind of pain that these animals do. and yet they still keep fighting, you know, and it's not fair to them. >> the chief says spaying and neutering really is the key. if you live in prince george's county and want to get your pets spayed or neutered go to our website nbc washington.com where we have put all the details. jim, doreen? >> so if it happens more often than not. tisha thompson, thanks. still ahead tonight, we'll tell you how the nationals are

trying to take back the park from those loud and often obnoxious philly fans. >> oh, doug? what's up? >> i tell you what, guys. going to be another warm day tomorrow but something else. we'll talk about

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breaking news from annapolis. the maryland senate has just approved same sex marriage. it is an historic decision. darcy spencer is live in annapolis with the latest details. >> reporter: one senator said we are in fact making history today. they knew that in making this vote. the vote happened just a few minutes ago. 25 in favor, 22 against. it was a close vote but the same sex marriage bill has passed the senate here in annapolis. and governor martin o'malley says he will go ahead and sign this bill. >> house bill 438 received a constitutional vote. [ applause ] thank you. >> there you see a picture from the annapolis state house where the state senate this evening just passed the same sex marriage bill. that goes on to the governor who

is expected to sign it quite historic decision in annapolis. we'll go back out to reston now. doug is out there. you got some help i see. >> i have gotten a lot of help, jim. you get a lot of people coming up saying can you interview me? most of the time they're 12 and under. she did a fantastic job giving us that little tease a moment ago. it is going to be not just about the temperatures tomorrow but about the winds. we could actually see some dangerous winds out there. maybe some trees down off to the west. let's show you what's happening right now. current temperature sitting at 52 degrees in gaithersburg but still 61 in washington. just phenomenal across our region this evening. get out and enjoy it if you can. 53 right now down toward pax river. overnight tonight it is going to be on the cooler side than it has been but again well above average. 53 in washington. 48 in manassas. 48 in leesburg. that's about 20 degrees above the average low temperature. tomorrow will be about 25 degrees above the average high with a high temperature of 72 in

washington, 71 in manassas. there is going to be a chance for some thunderstorm activity and a few showers but again the bigger news is going to be the wind. take a look at the high wind. it includes loudoun county, parts of forecastier county and everybody to the west including the panhandle of west virginia, as well as frederick county, virginia and maryland. watch out for those winds tomorrow because once again 40, maybe 50 and maybe even up to 60 miles an hour especially the higher peaks. so we could be dealing with a very dangerous situation as far as the winds are concerned. cooler though as we head toward the weekend. i'll have the seven day coming up. >> thanks, doug. baseball spring training is just beginning down in florida but there is a battle already under way here in d.c. it's over tickets to the nats and phillies series on may 4th. nats are trying to sell the tickets only to washington area fans. it's a take back the park effort they're calling it to keep those obnoxious philadelphia fans from buying up all the tickets as

they've done in past years. philly fans at the sign of the whale place downtown say they're going to manage to get their tickets anyway. even though the district may have the last laugh on them. >> we organized a bus trip over to nats stadium every phillies game. >> yell a lot and say obnoxious things. >> yes. it's phillies fans and that's why you either love them or hate them. >> they come down here. they stay in hotels. they drink lots of beer at the stadium. they buy food. they park illegally and we can ticket their cars. >> ooh. >> all kinds of ways to get back out. pennsylvania senator bob casey wrote to the nats complaining about the shutout of philadelphia fans. but the nats wrote back this week. they say they're just trying to protect their fans' base so there. >> seems like the philly fans are the first to acknowledge they are obnoxious. >> they are quick to admit. >> and proud of it. >> yeah. now more sports. dan hellie has found his way down to spring training in

florida. what's coming up, dan? >> reporter: hey, philly fans know they're obnoxious. no question about that. we'll have the latest on the two ryans. ryan brawn facing a 50-game suspension from major league baseball and ryan zimmerman trying to get a long-term contract hammered out in the next couple days. we're also going to talk about the optimism surrounding the team this year. more buzz around the nationals

dan, you must be really cool, man, to be with the team that there's some excitement about this year. this is good. >> this is great. i mean, the excitement level is at an all-time high for this team. many publications picking this team to make the playoffs. a dark horse to make the world series. are you serious? this is all new for everybody in washington talking about the nationals. not nearly as many question marks this year. one of reasons is the pitching staff. just two years ago john landon was the starting pitcher on opening day for the nationals. now he might be the seventh best pitcher on the team in terms of the starters. they signed geo gonzalez in the off-season, edwin jackson, the starting rotation is supposed to be spectacular if they are healthy. here is the question. are expectations too high?

this team has never even had a winning season and now people are already talking about playoffs. we posed that question to the architect of the washington nationals, general manager mike rizzo. >> can't really pay attention to that kind of stuff. i think every year our goal is to make the playoffs. it's nice that other people are taking notice of how far we've come in such a short time but i think at the same time we all know we have a lot of work to do and it's not going to be easy. >> will you be disappointed if they don't make the playoffs this year? >> i will be. i have an expectation to play meaningful games in september and october. i think that we're capable. ability level is capable of achieving that expectation and you know we've done a lot of work in the off-season and throughout the last couple years. we've put together a pretty good club that we really like. we think that can do some things. now it's up to the players. >> reporter: that's general manager mike rizzo.

also heard from ryan zimmerman sitting literally feet apart here at spaceco stadium both asked about the contract situation. ryan zimmerman's agent is here in town. he has been talking with mike rizzo. nobody will say if any progress has been made. of course zimmerman has two years left on his contract so there is no huge hurry but he set saturday as the deadline for when he wants to have a deal done. otherwise he wants to table it for the rest of the season. that's not to say the agent and the general manager couldn't talk amongst themselves. another player we talked to today, michael morris, the breakout star for the nationals last year. played outfield, played first base. he led the team in batting average, home runs with 31. and rbis. and he has been everywhere. he's been in magazines, has his own t-shirt line. michael morris, they call him beast mo. he says he is still trying to keep it humble. take a listen. >> yeah. this is the first year that i hope i'm on the team. you know? but yeah. besides this, every year, you

know, i'm out there fighting and grinding and playing every day. this year i think, i hope again that i'll be able to get ready for the season. not necessarily get ready for spring training but you know i work so hard in the off-season and now i can actually play, fine tune my skills and actually get ready for that first opening day. >> beast mo michael morris. and ryan braun who is the national league mvp found out today that his 50-game suspension for using performance enhancing drugs has been overturned. so the national league mvp will be in spring training and will be playing for the milwaukee brewers on opening day this year. all right. from bad to worse for the capitals. they have now lost 6 of their last 7 after falling to ottawa last night. the capitals still on the outside ever the playoff picture looking in. seems like it's been ground hogs day in terms of that. we've been saying it forever.

things not looking good for the capitals right now. it's been very bleak. dale hunter and the capitals playing without alex ovechkin last night. he has been day to day with a lower body injury. in the first period sends up one and looking for more. michalek beats tomas vokoun and schools dennis wideman on this one. fifth time in the last six games the capitals have gone down 2-0. in the second period ottawa up 3-0. on the power play, chris phillips from the point. he fires and scores. it's 4-0 senators. for the second straight game, vokoun was pulled. the capitals lose their third straight and in the locker room there is certainly frustration but the capitals know their attitude is important right now. >> you can't dwell on it. if you dwell on it, it's going to cause a snowball effect and you run into losing games and that's not what we need right now. we need more of a complete team effort, you know, everybody on the same page. it seems like right now we're a

little bit off and just need to reel it back in. it's not that hard. we just got to do it. >> i don't know. i've never made an excuse. we're not making an excuse for anything. just got to win hockey games. that's just got to be on your mind. just find a way to win. win tomorrow. and then when saturday comes around find another way to win a hockey game. that's all i'm thinking about today and all i'm thinking about tomorrow. find a way to win a hockey game. >> all right. just up the road on 95 here daytona, the daytona 500 of course on sunday. the gatorade dual qualifying races were today and it was an action packed event at daytona. 90 of 60 in the first race. we have a little wreckage. david gil in the 38 slams into montoya and then into paul as well. montoya in the middle is sandwiched. good news is all three drivers will still be racing sunday.

final lap, danica patrick slams hard into the wall. check it out. patrick makes a smart move. she lets go of the wheel. if she hadn't, she could have broken her wrist on impact. she is okay. and she will race on sunday. the defending sprint cup champion tony stewart goes on to win dual number one. he is on the inside of row 2. and matt kensett wins dual number 2. that's it. busy time down here in florida. the all-star game in orlando. you have spring training and the daytona 500 so the orlando airport was madness today. >> you're in a good spot. >> thank you, dan. coming up next a big dog with

well, tonight on nightly news with the oscars approaching we've all heard the acceptance speech that starts with thanking the academy but who is the academy? the official list is secret but the actual academy members may surprise you. we'll have a look inside tonight on "nightly news." that and the rest of the day's

news. for now back to you. >> lawmakers are being warned after some suspicious packages have shown up at the offices of several u.s. senators. today the package with a suspicious address showed up at the burlington office of vermont senator patrick leahy. that office was evacuated. two staffers were screened as a precaution. similar letters with a suspicious light substance were discovered at the philadelphia office of senator pat toomey and the hartford connecticut office of senator joe lieberman. both arrived today. in both cases the buildings were evacuated. so far it does not appear any of the substances were dangerous. doctors in california say they've successfully used the drug viagra to treat children with a deadly disorder. researchers at the lucille packard children's hospital used viagra to treat an infant girl who had severe malformation growths around her heart. researchers believe the lesions sh runk after viagra opened up

blood vessels that allowed fluid out. they say the growths were virtually gone after about a year. there were similar results on three other patients all under the age of 4. and doctors report few side effects. clinical trials are under way now to see if it will work on other children. coming up at 11:00 tonight there is a new sneaker about to be introduced. we'll tell you what's being done to make sure crowds don't get out of control when that new shoe hits the market tomorrow. a mysterious move by the largest public university in america right here in our back yard. the president is put on leave with no explanation. and this thing about 60-degree temperatures in february. it's one of the mildest winters in memory so the question might be asked, how come the state of maryland is almost out of snow removal money? those stories and more at 11:00. >> that's a good question. let's go back to doug at the ice rink with one more check on our weather. hey, doug. hey, guys.

once again just a fantastic day out here across the area. a nice night tonight too. you want to say hi? >> hi. >> hi. >> she wanted to say hi to mom and dad and her brother too. high wind watch in effect for tomorrow. winds could gust upwards of oo miles an hour tomorrow. temperatures the next couple days warm tomorrow but then cooling off saturday and sunday. temperatures staying above average as we head into next week. from reston town center meteorologist doug kammerer. >> good-bye! >> doug's always attracting a crowd. most dog owners have a story about something repulsive their dogs have eaten but there is a dog up in massachusetts named bean. she ate something downright scary. bean is a bull mastiff and weighs about 120 pounds. big dog. her owner is sean bertie. he was eating his dinner on the couch recently including a one-pound wheel of brie. he turned his back and you know what happened right? the wheel of cheese automatically was gone plastic wrap and all. so was the cheese knife. bertie took bean to the vet for an x-ray and there it