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by rush limbaugh speak out exclusively to nbc news. >> people in some midwest communities are just beginning to clean up from the storms yesterday. now they're nervous about another storm coming their way. >> history made in maryland but will voters have their own say on same-sex marriage? >> an accused murderer has been set free. the jury found him not guilty a few hours after the defendant tried to make a deal that would send him to prison for 30 years. >> mr. tyler, how does it feel to be a free man? >> reporter: jarvis tyler walks out of a jail, under the jacket, surrounded by relatives. today a jury found him not guilty of killing 17-year-old stacy seaton. >> reporter: what do you have to say to the family? why was he hiding? >> he offered a plea in exchange

for 30 years but prosecutors turned it down. a jury found him not guilty of murder. prosecutors said jarvis tyler was hired to kill stacy, who was pregnant at the time. abraham testified he gave tyler $400 cash and $200 worth of marijuana to kill stacy because he believed she stole drugs money and a gun. >> today's verdict was not what we hoped for. but we do respect the process and the jury's verdict. >> in a written statement stacy's mother gail says we feel as though stacy has been killed again. i'm going back to 2005 all over again. stacey was betrayed by the justice system. it's been six years and nine months. >> what do you say to people who believe that you got away with murder? tyler is cleared of this case. he cannot be tried again.

in prince georges county, shomari stone, news 4. >> a georgetown law school student is speaking out after finds herself in the middle of a capitol hill birth control controversy and the target of a radio show host. today republicans failed to stop president obama's program to require companies to provide free contraceptives to employees. san drew fluke says without health insurance the pill can cost more than $3,000 a year. on his radio show wednesday rush limbaugh said providing birth control coverage would make all americans be her johns. after calls for an apology, today limbaugh called fluke by name and said this -- >> if we are going to pay for your contraceptives and then pay for to you have sex, we want something for it and i'll tell you what it is. we want to you post the videos online so we can all watch.

>> this is historically the kind of language that is used to silence women, especially when women stand up and say that these are reproductive needs. >> both democrats and republicans plan to use this as a platform in the november elections. >> maryland is now the eighth state in the nation along with the district of columbia to legalize same-sex marriage. the question, though, is will it last. governor martin o'malley signed the bill legalizing same-sex marriage today. he did it at the state house in annapolis. the law will go into effect in january. the governor and proponents of the bill say it goes a long way to ensure equal rights for everyone in maryland clushsing children. >> we want them to live in a loving, caring and committed home that is protected equally under the law. >> it means for me as her mom

that she will not be discriminated against, that my daughter when she finds the person that she can love and who can love her, she has that right. >> opponents have already begun the process of forcing a referendum. they're working to collect 56,000 signatures. that's what's necessary to get the vote -- to get the measure on a referendum in november. >> now to the midwest to communities devastated by tornadoes just yesterday are on alert again as another round of storms is set to hit in the coming hours. the national weather service has an expert on the ground in harrisburg, illinois to provide warnings there as early as possible. that's where jay gray reports tonight. >> reporter: nightfall can't mask the devastation here or hide the twisted metal, splintered wood and broken glass scattered for miles. remnants of communities and lives torn apart. earlier the sounds of survival

echoed through harrisburg. crews pulling out or piling up debris, though many here still can't clear away chilling images of the deadly storm. >> i'm nervous, i'm shaky, i'm tired. it's just don't even have word for everything that you feel. >> reporter: words can't really describe the overwhelming sense of loss. at least 13 dead across five states. six of those victims in harrisburg. more than 100 injured in the storms. and now, as survivors search through what 180 mile-an-hour winds left behind, they must also worry about the latest forecast, which includes the possibility of even stronger storms in the next 24 hours. >> we do not want to go through this again and we will do everything we can to protect our people. >> reporter: many battered by the tornadoes but determined to rise from this mangled mess. >> my husband looked at me. he said, well, i'm going to ask you this question, do you want to build it back? i said, sure.

we've been here since 1972, you know. we're not going anywhere. >> reporter: even though so much here is now gone forever. back to that next round of storms now, forecasters save they could begin with the next couple of hours and continue through the financievening tomo starting in the missouri value and running through the deep south. >> and there's more weather coming our way as well. right, doug? >> that's going to be the same storm that's going to affect them. they're going to be affected first out toward the west. nice warm temperatures today with a high of 70 degrees. here's the storm that's going to make its way toward the north very rapidly tomorrow and by 5:00 in the afternoon, we're going to see a pretty good loon of thunderstorm developing out in this area. indiana, portions of kentucky, into ten sif as well and then it will move our way. now the national weather service looking at this area right here, severe storms prediction center put ougt a moderate risk of severe weather.

it include as good possibility of at least a few tornadoes in that region. i'll let you know what it means for them and what it means for us. >> breaking news in southeast washington right now. this is a live look at benning road southeast where two people have been shot. police have shut down the 5000 block at h street. >> surveillance video captured scary moments as a car smashed into a dry cleaners in d.c. today. it happened this afternoon in fort lincoln. nobody was hurt but the crash caused considerable damage to the front of the building. it was the same dry cleaner involved in a lawsuit when a former judge sued for $54 million over that lost pair of pants. >> a victory of sorts tonight for fairfax county salsa.

they recommended a delay in a amendment that would have limited the size of dance floors in certain eating establishments. that step was taken tonight after the county planning commission was presented with a petition with 1,500 signatures opposing the measure. those against the measure see tonight as a glimmer of hope. >> because the recommendation was the board of supervisors not work on this amendment as it stands, that they come up with something better to submit to them. i think that better will actually be in our favor. so in the long run it going to be better for us that way. >> that issue now moves to the board of such viceor. they'll meet on tuesday and decide whether to move forward on the issue. >> a student told his mom he had seen another student post comments about planning a violent act at simpson middle school. the mother called school officials tuesday night. the student who posted the

comments is getting psychiatric help now. he's not facing any criminal charges at this time. >> classes will resume for kids at chardon high school in ohio, the site of a shooting that left three students dead. today students, faculty and parents gathered at the school. the coach who chased down the student gunman spoke out and told the community that he is not a hero. >> i don't know why this happened. i only wish i could have done more. i'm not a hero, just a football coach and a study hall teacher. >> the suspect is 17-year-old t.j. lane. he was charged with three juvenile counts of aggravated murder today. he still could be charged as an adult. >> police in laymaryland will h them find the driver who hit man walking on a sidewalk. it was captured by a metro bus dash cam yesterday.

it shows the truck jumping curb and running into the man. the man who was hit was knocked down an embankment and is still in critical condition. >> after three days at sea with no electricity, no a.c. or running water, hundreds of cruise ship passengers are back on solid ground tonight. a french fishing boat towed the allegra to shore. it lost power after a fire in the electrical room. the passengers spent most of the time on deck eating cold sandwiches. >> everybody said some on deck, some in hallways where there was a little breeze at night. we couldn't stay in our cabin. it was just too hot. >> the company offered customers a full refund and a free trip home. >> coming up tonight, a major airport shut down when a police chase veered on to a runway. >> and a local couple

spearheading a database listing a medal of honor winners as a med[ male announcer ]s as this was how my day began. got my bearings.

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new video just in to news4 shows a suspected drunk driver leading police on a chase along the runway at the philadelphia national airport. police eventually caught up with the guy and arrested him about 3:30 this afternoon. he's been charged with dui and

reckless endangerment. the incident shut down the airport for about half han hour. >> supreme court is considering a law that punishes people for lying about receiving medals hour from the military when they did not in fact. the military does not have an official registry of i res-- recipients. >> in 1973 specialist jamie pacheko was killed in vietnam. it's what happened after the decorated shoulder's death that put his best friend on a life long mission. >> in 2005 a man in california took my closest friend's silver star citation and put his own name on it. >> reporter: they have exposed countless people posing as medal recipients. they are also the only ones tracking the real heros. sterner spends up to 14 hours a

day building an online database of veterans, a list of all their awards. this week he testified before congress criticizing the department of defense for not having one. >> i have had cases of highly decorated heros nearly turned away from arlington national cemetery because their branch of service didn't have a record of their award. >> reporter: the sterners recently fond themselves in the middle of a national debate surrounding the controversial congressional act. a college paper pam wrote in 2006 is considered a blueprint for the law that bans lying about military honors. recently a california lawmaker was prosecuted for pretending to have been awarded the medal of honor. >> this isn't grandpa telling a war story. this is a con man telling a lie to defraud other people. >> reporter: sterner says he's uncovered 2,000 similar cases but his focus now isn't on finding frauds. it's finding help to complete

his work. >> i wish we didn't have these because every time have i to deal with a stolen valor case, that takes away hours i could be typing up the historical record of a real heroic man or woman. >> reporter: sterner's database is called the hall of valor and there anyone can search for service member's information online. we'll have a link to the hall of valor on our web site, nbcw.com. >> the national park service predicted the peak bloom for the cherry blossoms will fall between march 24th and march 31st. that's when officials say 70% of the trees will be in full bloom. this year mark as milestone. it's the 100th anniversary of the gift of the cherry trees from japan. >> this is really the beginning of the tourism season in our city and in the region. when you think of the million plus people that will be coming to washington, staying in hotels throughout the region and eating in restaurants, it a huge

economic impact on the region overall. >> the festival runs from march 20th to april 27th. it's a little longer than usual this year. >> and if we could have weather like we had today for the cherry blossom festival, that would be a good economic boost right there. >> i believe so. i don't know who has more pressure, me or the guy predicting what's going to happen? there's a lot of planning going on around that week. it's going to be a nice couple of days temperaturewise. we will see a chance of forms late tomorrow night and early saturday morning. a nice night after just a fantastic day. a high temperature today of 70 degrees. now temperatures have cooled quite significantly across parts of the area and they'll continue to do so tonight under clear skies but out there today, like i said, just gorgeous with that sun shine, high of 70 at the airport. that was earlier this morning.

current temperature 70 degrees. today was the warmest day. 47 degrees right now the current temperature with winds out of the north, northeast at 7 miles per hour. we are starting to cool across the region. some of the coolest spots now down toward fredericksburg down around that 51 degree mark. it's going to be a fairly mild night for early march but still a little on the cool side as you wake up. you will need a jacket as you step out. here's why the warm air down to the south, 80 in virginia beach, 70 in richmond. but up to the north, state college only 43, up toorts wilkes bar 43, too. it's not driving in any rain. we will be dry between now and probably through about 3:00, 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. then we're going to watch the storm system.

not much arof a storm now. >> this is going to become a big storm. forus, we'll be watching as the front moves through the same areas that saw tornadoes yesterday. could see more significant weather there. shower activity moving in by the afternoon. maybe a rumble of thunder but i'm not expecting much tomorrow. we could see bouts of moderate to heavy rain. with that a potential for flooding, not a big potential but we're going to watch it very closely. that storm does move out very quickly and on saturday we dry out. some of us i think will see sunshine late saturday afternoon but maybe not all of us, especially those of us from washington off to the east. mostly clear tomorrow morning. a nice morning, 33 to about 40 degree when is you wake up and

step ot tut the door. tomorrow afternoon possible storms, still mild, 56 to about 61 degrees. next couple of days showing 65 on saturday. if we get sunshine and the right wind direction, we could get on the warm side but we're still looking at the chance for possible snow monday with the high of 46 degrees. >> the percentages of saying that correctly are low. >> ilt almost like rear wheel drive. don't try to say that three times fast. >> a senior night spoiler at

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>> another senior night, right? >> in charlottesville, virginia. it's feeling a little bit of madness right now. it's good stuff. if you believe in bracketology, you better believe in virginia. uva is set to make its first ncaa tournament appearance since 2007. leading the cavaliers in their charge to the postseason, senior forward mike scott. tonight scott trying to help the cavs earn their first win against florida state in five years. senior night in charlottesville, mike scott, esan sen being honored. mike scott out front by his lonesome. second half, cavs go on a run. scott finished with a game high 28 points, 10 rebounds and his

mama, lisa, she's loving it. five minutes to go. uva turns it over but check out the collision here between bernard james and joe harris of virginia. and james, well, he decides to kick harris there in the mid section. coach leonard hamilton, he used to coach here in washington, "what are you doing"? the seminoles trail by 10 after free throws. but they would rally. dulkys buries the 3-pointer. 5 seconds left. ian miller for three. are you kidding me? caps a 16-2 run. virginia fans are stunned. 0.8 left. virginia loses a heart breaker 63-60. the cavs still remain fourth in the acc. virginia tech on the road against clemson. we begin in the second half and

check out the steal by andre young here. and then check out the behind-the-back pass to tanner smith. nifty. hokies down about 2 attacking the rim. he misses the first and tries to intentionally miss the second. he does. the hokies can't get the rebound. no more chance, no more shot. hokies lose. 58-56. virginia tech falls to 4-11 in the conference. >> fear the beer. it the unofficial campaign slogan for george mason's ryan mason. the beard can keep growing, but the campaign cannot. pe pearson is the first patriot to win the award in 11 years. first round action at the honda classic. that's a heck of a parking spot.

shot of the day, takoma park native fred funk offer 17. out of the stand, into the cup. however, funk is 6 over. tiger woods off to a good start on number one. knocks down a 19-foot birdie. that was the own time he made a putt over ten feet. putting for par on 12, struggling. lips out. then putting for birdie on 13, it's going to be the same result. tiger finished with four bogeys. shoots a 1 over 71. here's the leader, davis love iii on 18. kid, this is how you get up and down. he would birdie this hole. love also had a hole in one. he ties the course record with a 64, leads the tournament at 6 under par. tiger woods playing at the honda classic first time as a pro. he's got a lot of work to do there. he's 1 over and the l

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