and now from washington's leading news station this is news 4 at 11. tonight destruction so

incredible it's hard to take it in. schools gone, houses gone. tonight the first storeies of survival. >> i really can't remember much about it other than just seeing everything flying around. >> we got on the buses and started heading to my house and tornadoes following us. >> all evening long the death toll has been climbing. in indiana alone rescue crews are searching debris in four different counties. good evening. these tornadoes have impacted millions of americans across several states. at least 28 # people are now dead and there may be more. >> it is amazing this outbreak we have been seeing. one of the hardest hit states the state of indiana. four people confirmed dead. two towns hit the hardest where the junior and senior high school was hurt. marysville described as being

"completely gone." >> in kentucky 12 people are confirmed dead there. strong storms moved through knocking down trees and power lines. >> and parts of tennessee including nashville seeing golf ball sized hail bouncing off of cars. >> the tornado count could be close to 100 before this is over. jay gray has more tonight. >> a day of watches and warnings gave way to this devastating reality. >> it was unreal. things were falling. things were coming off the walls, noise, crashes, glass flying everywhere. it was like a dream. >> reporter: a bad dream for thousands across tornado alley as dozens of powerful tornadoes ripped apart communities from indiana through tennessee. the hardest hit henryville, southern indiana.

>> at this time we know we have fatalities. we have numerous people who are injured. >> reporter: entire neighborhoods wiped away. local schools had just sent students home early when the first twister struck. >> it was huge. i seen it come down, go up and throwing debris everywhere. it was ugly. >> reporter: many students rushed back inside their schools for safety. others rushed to the open arms of storm shelters of neighbors. >> we got on the buses and started heading to my house and the tornadoes following us. luckily this woman was generous to let us stay in her basement. >> shocking. it's shocking. >> reporter: that shock on the faces of those who survived and who are now trying to remind themselves of what is important here. >> we are alive. that's what counts. tvs, cars all can be replaced. no need to get upset. and my rocking chair.

>> reporter: fine even if this tight knit community is not right now though they stress their will is stronger than the winds or these haunting images as they begin the long and difficult work of recovery. jay gray, nbc news, nashville, tennessee. >> kentucky declared a state of emergency. this video showing the damage of that town and some of the injured. just two days ago another tornado touched down in west liberty when the previous monster storm line was moving through. >> it is unbelievable to see two tornado outbreaks in a matter of three days. this one definitely bigger than the last one. these are the tornado reports. just over the last 12 hours from just south of st. louis all the way across kentucky and tennessee in through ohio and down to the south including georgia and parts of tennessee

and alabama. all of these now could be multiple tornadoes. 100 reports so far. 92 is the official number of reports thus far. many of these the same tornado. one reported tornado potentiall minutes. that was the one that we are talking about in towards parts of southern indiana. our weather we are finally seeing that line come our area. we are not seeing severe weather. we do have thunder. a lot of lightning and a another batch. you can see this right around 66. they are make their way towards the north and southern portions of loudoun county and will hit fairfax county. there is more to come. we will see the potential for heavy rain overnight tonight and a few storms. i am not expecting anything severe tonight. if it occurs we'll be here for you right here at nbc 4.

the georgetown university law student in the middle of a national debate over contraception got a call from the president today. she recounted that conversation and the wild week it has been. >> it is a little bigger than i expected. >> reporter: in the national spot light after rush limbaugh called her a degrading name. his comment came after she testified in support for employers to provide free birth control for women. >> it's an attempt to silence women as it has been historically. >> reporter: today mr. obama called her personally. >> to offer his support and thank me for speaking out about an issue that is so important to so many american women. >> reporter: the president's health care policy requires employers to provide contraception to employees even at georgetown university. >> you should have access to

health care no matter where you study or work. >> reporter: there is another side. she is catholic and says the government shouldn't tell churches or religious institutions what to do. >> it is a catholic school. >> in terms of choices, what do you say to people who say why not go to a or drugstore and buy a condom? >> it is important to understand that contraception is used for other purposes. >> repor rush limbaugh has not apologized for his comments. in northeast washington, news 4. a council woman will no longer be driving a government car. the county took away her car today after being pulled over after being clocked at more than 100 miles per hour on the belt way. she got a warning. she plans to enroll in a driver improvement class.

a county executive in maryland defended himself tonight against charges of serious misconduct in office. john loepold was indicted today. he is not married and sat down with jackie vincent. >> the state prosecutor has had his opportunity to present his side of the story and i look forward to our side being heard. >> reporter: responds to the grand jury indictment that accuses him of misconduct in office including allegations that first surfaced at the mall parking lot in 2009. leopold who makes $130,000 a year is accused of having people wait for him while he got in another car and had sex with another employee. >> in a trial the evidence and arguments can be heard by both sides.

i'm very confident once the facts are known that we will prevail in this case cht. >> reporter: susan wickman notes the indictmentsis wide ranging. >> the part that concerns us the most are the allegations about keeping political opponents and using county resources to be involved in campaign activity. >> reporter: as for conconstituents -- >> people you put trust in aren't trust worthy. >> reporter: the charges are allegations and do not prevent him from continuing to serve as executive. a conviction would be another matter. reporting from annapolis, news 4. mother of a murdered teenager says her daughter's suspected killer will see justice despite a jury's decision to acquit him. accused of killing seton in a park in 2005. prosecutors turned down a plea deal that would have put him in prison for 15 years.

last night he walked out a free man after a jury acquitted him of murder charges. >> i have been very disappointed in the criminal justice system but i have met many advocates and heroes. another man, abraham mcdonald is accused of paying tyler with drugs and money to kill seton. he pleaded guilty to second degree murder and is scheduled to be sentenced on monday. it is an important weekend ahead for republicans looking to take president obama's job. 424 delegates are at stake on super tuesday. mitt romney, rick santorum, newt gingrich in the swing state of ohio tomorrow where no candidate has an advantage. gingrich was in his home state of georgia today. washington state holds caucuses tomorrow but no delegates are up for grabs there. production on the chevy volt

is coming to a halt. 1,300 general motors employees will be furloughed. the work stoppage is set to begin this month. gm is halting production of the volt because there weren't enough people buying them. tonight police at philadelphia international airport are trying to find ways to make the airport more secure after a suspected drunk driver went speeding up and down the run ways that forced a flight to abort a landing. the driver gained access by driving his jeep through the perimeter fencing. >> it could have been a disaster of epic proportion had it been someone with malinsdpent had a connection to terrorism. >> the 24-year-old driver is facing dui, reckless endangerment and resisting arrest charges.

still ahead tonight, gucci, uggs, coach, the bust. the special arrangements for the trial has more than 70 lawyers represent hundreds of passengers. we go back to southern indiana where the weather channel's jim cantorah updates us. and on a developing sports story. >> motivating the team is the job of every coach. tonight a former redskins defensive coordinator admits to putting bounties on opposing players while coaching with the new orleans saints. what they have to say about the investigation that has uncovered a bounty system in new orleans [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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no wonder more people choose xfinity over any other provider. ♪ love can be so mystical ♪ the captain accused in a cruise ship wreck off the coast of italy will be the center of a court hearing tomorrow. prosecutors say he steered the costa concordia too close to the rocks and 25 people were killed. so many lawyers want to take part in the hearing it will be moved from a courtroom to a theater. the captain won't be there because of concerns for his safety. federal officials in new jersey broke up one of the largest counter fit smuggling. 29 people from the u.s. and

china have been charged with pedaling fake products. had the goods that were seized been real they would be worth more than $325 million. back to the top story, the destruction across four states from deadly tornadoes. the weather channel in southern indiana. >> reporter: from henryville, indiana, one of the hardest hit towns across southern indiana. there are many with a lot of destruction. getting word of nine fatalities undergoing a massive search and rescue effort over at least four counties here where there is so much destruction especially on county roads that they can't get in. a lot of debris is going to have to be removed. we are talk about tree limbs, power lines, whole houses moved off their foundations. as a meteorologist i can tell you these winds were probably

well in excess of 170 miles per hour with the damage i have seen in this location alone. it is amazing when you take a look at the massive undertaking. search and rescue across four counties that will take a couple of days to complete. there are people missing. tons have been injured. behind me here an elementary school that was severely damaged but kids taking shelter in that no one was harmed. it is a very, very solid structure but the top of it has pretty much been blown off by this massive tornado. it is still an ongoing outbreak. if you look at the average number of tornadoes for march in one day with this outbreak we could surpass that number and that is an amazing fact. one of the worst outbreaks in march history, perhaps the worth. >> that is stunning to see so much damage. >> it really is extremely stunning to see that damage.

we saw this about two days ago. we saw the first line go through and we knew today was the day we would see a lot of tornadoes. you don't think maybe 100. thatset unfathomable. that is what we have seen. 100 reports so far. many will come from single tornadoes. i expect the number to come down a little bit. let's show you what is happening outside. we have some rain across the area and some thunder around the capitol and a little bit of lightning in parts of the area. we will continue to see the thunderstorms rumble through here. yes it is the same line. this is the second batch of rain to come through our region during the day today. here is the first batch. this one had thunder to the south and moderate rain. here is the line. watch how this line moves extremely fast across the country. it was in st. louis earlier today. moves across cincinnati and west virginia and right into our area. we are still seeing some tench

for thunderstorms here. this was the hardest hit around louisville. this area really took the brunt of those storms. the storms now coming through. you can see a little bit in the way of some lightning out there. nothing severe. that is the biggest concern for our area is that i don't think we are going to see anything severe. could be flooding across parts of the area so make sure you are careful when you are driving. you can see lightning strikes across fairfax county skpmpt then back along 66 this area seeing very heavy rain and another area towards fredrick, maryland. we are going to continue to watch as these move on through the district in about the next half hour or so so watch out if you are thinking about heading out and about. 48 degrees is the current temperature with winds out of the northeast at about 5 miles per hour. temperatures not going to fall a lot from where they are.

45 in leesburg. 50s as you move closer to the chesapeake bay. here is the storm system with the frontal boundary to the west. this is 8:00 in the morning. those storms are already out of here. we will start to clear out. that's how fast they are moving. by tomorrow afternoon i think many areas will see at least partly sunny skies. down to the south southern maryland may see more clouds than sun. saturday may not be all that bad. on sunday we see partly cloudy skies. maybe a snow shower or two and then we have to watch monday. potent little system could drop a little bit in the way of some snow. the keyword there is little bit. rain ending early tomorrow morning by probably 7 # or 8 # clk. mild and rather breezy. 44 to about 50 degrees. tomorrow mild and windy. as we make our way through the next couple of days you can see the cool trend, 53 on sunday.

possible snow on sunday. only 47 # on monday. we rebound back to the 60s by early next week. there could be another strong storm for the same area late next week, too. coming up in sports what in the devil happened to the capitols? capit[ male announcer ] with citibank, it's easy for jay to deposit checks from anywhere. easier than actually going to the bank. mobile check deposit. easier banking. standard at citibank. got my bearings. ♪ a little bird told me about a band. ♪ an old man shared some fish stories.

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trouble for redskins former coordinator greg williams in hot water with the nfl. williams has admitted to being the ring leader of a bounty system in new orleans. players got paid for injuring opponents. bonuses for knockout hits and bounties on opposing quarterbacks. williams left the saints for the rams and is not going to escape punishment. this bounty system has been alive in the nfl for a long time on several teams but the timing of this investigation couldn't be worse with the nfl trying to crack down on concussions. philip daniels is one of several players who told the washington post that greg williams also administered the program with the redskins paying players hundreds 2000s of dollars for knockout hits. roger good elsays punishment could be fines. greg williams said it was a

terrible mistake and we knew it was wrong while we were doing it. instead of getting caught up with it i should have stopped it. i take full responsibility for my role. i am truly sorry. i have learned a hard lesson and i guarantee that i will never participate in or allow this kind of activity to happen again. >> whose money was it? >> so what philip daniels said is he thought that greg williams would collect the money and fine players for being late and use that money as incentive to get players to play hard. >> not the team money. >> no, not the team money. it was fine money that they were collecting. redskins players that i talked to really down played the system saying it was more of a player run operation rather than one by the coach. joe gibbs said he was not aware of the bounty system. the redskins have placed the franchise tag on davis meaning

he won't be an unrestricted free agent. good move for both sides considering davis's drug history that can keep him out for an entire year if he tests positive again. a few words used to describe what happened at the verizon center tonight, embarrassing, nothing good, terrible, a complete lack of character just from jeff halperson. maybe the caps needed a pep talk. >> win the game. >> come on. >> a couple of birthday boys and caps fans from fredrick. rough night for michael against new jersey. caps down 2-0. steals it. shoots and scores. man, he stays with this one. gets the rebound and postatize right back in there. the former capitol doing some

work. devils up 3-0. second period capitols lose the puck in a neutral zone. a pretty good night. hat trick, three goals. the devils shut out the capitols 5-0 snapping washington's three game winning streak. also, women's acc basketball tournament in action. terps beat the the word is swapportunity. can i have the definition? swapportunity: the opportunity to swap a higher calorie snack for a yoplait light. can you use it in a sentence? mmm. swapping a 300 calorie donut for this 110 calorie strawberry shortcake is a good swapportunity.

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take a look at storm 4 radar, the strongest storms over part of montgomery county and right around the district there is lightning and fairly heavy rain. watch out if you are driving around town. we'll continue to see these

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