it lasted 20 terrifying seconds. tonight, dramatic new video from inside a school as a tornado

touches down. the identity of an american soldier accused in the deadly rampage in afghanistan is now revealed. he's out of jail but the fight is far from over. how actor george clooney managed to keep the spotlight in the humanitarian issue. a potentially dangerous weekend. >> this year st. patrick's day falls on a saturday. and for some, the celebrations have already begun. jane watrel joins us live from a dui checkpoint in fort washington. >> reporter: already prince george's county police have given several field sobriety tests to drivers that they've pulled over from this dui checkpoint. it's all part of a pre-st. patrick's day crackdown. too much wearing of the green can lead to flashing red and blue lights. in fairfax county last st. patrick's day, there were 14 dwi arrests with 22 other alcohol-related arrests.

statewide in virginia, 28 st. patrick's day accidents resulted in one dead and 15 injured. startling numbers that have prompted agencies like prince george's county police to set up checkpoints on the highway. >> we're out here to ensure their safety, make sure they arrive home safely. >> reporter: still st. patrick's day preps are in full swing. at pat troy's ireland's own, 100 pounds of corned beef brisk et are being readied for the day. with 1200 revellers expected for meals alone. >> it takes six or seven hours. it has to be simmered and done slowly. that's the secret. nice and lean. so when people get it with their potatoes and cabbage tomorrow, it's melting in their mouth. >> reporter: regulars are looking forward to the fess activities which start promptly at 9:00 saturday morning. >> we like to come out and actually celebrate st. patrick's day, our irish heritage, and have a good time with our friends.

>> reporter: for those who prefer celtic music over crowds, a popular st. patrick's day tradition is held in falls church, a concert in historic cherry hill farm. >> people feel good after they leave from one of these concerts. it's very uplifting. >> reporter: a chance to eat, drink and be merry but also mindful that police will be monitoring the trip home. >> definitely have that designated driver, drink responsely because we know people are going to drink. just do it responsibly and get home safe. >> reporter: fairfax county police as well as virginia state police say they plan to be out tomorrow night with dui patrols as well. reporting live in fort washington, i'm jane watrel, news 4. >> thanks, jane. the weather's an incentive to get out and about after a record-setting warm temperatures yesterday. today more than 20 degrees cooler across parts of the region. doug, what can we expect tomorrow? >> well, tomorrow i think we move back up a little.

temperatures held down by the cloud cover and that marine influence we talked about last night coming in across the area. 59 in washington today after a high of 82 yesterday. 69, though, in hagerstown and 77 in richmond. i do think warmer numbers will move back in during the day tomorrow. but here's what else could move back in. satellite and radar showing more cloudiness and a few showers off to the west. i'll show you how those could affect your st. patrick's day holiday in a minute opinion we now know the identity of the u.s. soldier accused of murdering 16 afghan civilians, many of them children. his name is staff sergeant robert bales. he lives in washington state and joined the military after the 9/11 terror attacks. nbc's reporter takes a closer look now at his past. >> reporter: u.s. officials have confirmed the american soldier suspected of murdering 16 afghan citizens is 38-year-old robert bales, shown here during training exercises at a military facility in california. >> he felt it was his calling to

stand up for the united states after 9/11 and then decided to make his career the military. >> reporter: afghanistan had been his fourth deployment. he had three previous tours in iraq. officials say bales suffered a traumatic head injury while in iraq and lost part of his foot in a separate incident. he may suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder. >> one of his fellow soldiers was mortally wounded a few days before this incident. >> reporter: bales has been described as a highly decorated star sergeant, a member of the 3rd stryker brigade. on friday the staff sergeant was flown from kuwait on his way back to the u.s. and to the federal prison at ft. leavenworth. the military has not announced what charges bales may face but say his move back to u.s. soil does not guarantee he won't stand trial later in afghanistan. nbc news. >> bales is a married father of two. his father is now staying on the

military base in washington state for their protection. as for the suspect himself, he's being transferred now to fort levin worth in kansas. a navy reserve police officer just returned home from afghanistan. it was his fourth tour of duty overseas. officer kevin cruz arrived today here at reagan national airport and was greeted by his wife and daughter. he survived an attack in october and says the situation overseas is still dangerous. >> i'm glad i got out of there where i can, you know. it's sad, though. with all the incidents that's been happening, you know. i wish things could turn out a little better, but we're still pushing through, you know. >> cruz says he plans to be home, glad to be home and plans to vacation in puerto rico before returning to work. movie star george clooney got arrested here in washington today to draw attention to the problems in sudan. he was part of a protest outside the sudanese embassy. he says the country is headed for a full-blown humanitarian crisis unless something is done and quickly. jackie bensen has more.

>> reporter: in a town where political arrests are commonplace, this was a big deal. it is that urgent. that was the message from actor and activist george clooney as he, his father, american university professor nick clooney, and numerous dignitaries took part in a protest at the embassy of sudan on massachusetts avenue northwest. >> this is your third and final warning. you will be arrested. step this way. >> reporter: clooney and the others were taken to the d.c. police second district station in northwest for processing then released after paying a fine. >> so what we're facing now is hundreds of thousands of people who are looking at the possibility of starvation because the rainy season is coming. it needs to start now. because best estimates are tens of thousands of people are going to die from starvation that is manmade. this isn't a famine. >> reporter: naacp president benjamin jealous also arrested during the protest shared a cell

with clooney. >> it's sort of a father/son thing where he and his father got into this together. and his dad was here who's not a young man by any stretch. going to jail with us. >> reporter: clooney has been a presence in washington over the last two weeks. he showed a very graphic video of his trip to sudan to the u.s. senate. and he was also a guest at the official dinner at the white house. jackie bensen, news 4. one of the creators of that kony 2012 documentary is in the hospital tonight. police detained jason russell last night for running through the streets of san diego in his underwear, vandalizing cars and masturbating. police say russell may have been under the influence of something. the charity invisible children created "kony 2012," the documentary. they say russell was suffering from exhaustion, dehydration and malnutrition last week. the documentary that exposed child abduction in uganda went viral, thrusting russell and the charity into the spotlight. tonight we're learning more about the assassination plots

osama bin laden was working on against president obama and retired army general david petraeus. the information coming from documents inside bin laden's compound after the terror leader's death. bin laden wanted terrorists to attack the aircraft of the president and general petraeus. according to a report in "the washington post," bin laden said if vice president joe biden became the president, it would throw the nation into chaos. in his view, mr. biden wasn't ready for the job. at the time, petraeus led the war in afghanistan. u.s. officials say the plot was never a serious threat. a busy day for the president on the campaign trail. he spent the night at tyler perry's home in atlanta. it was just one stop on a whirlwind fund-raising tour that raked in more than $5 million for the campaign. earlier today, the president was at tyler perry studios. about 1,000 people attended that fund-raiser which featured music by voice judge cee lo green. tickets for the fund-raisers

ranged from $250 to $35,000. the two men leading the gop race to unseat president obama are abeing ttacking him on his surf. romney and santorum both campaigned in illinois. newt gingrich spent the day campaigning in new orleans. louisiana is the next red state to hold a presidential contest, but it's still more than a week away. the republicans are also fighting for votes in puerto rico which holds its primary on sunday. prince george's county executive baker is pushing hard to get a casino in the county. today in annapolis, he testified before a house committee. he says his county and the state would benefit greatly from a major gambling facility. under consideration, a slots parlor at rosecroft raceway or a full-fledged ka seen flcasino a arbor. >> a very nice facility that will attract people not only in the washington region but worldwide. >> among those against the idea is a company with a bid to build a slots parlor up in baltimore.

the company says the facility in prince george's county would steal some of its customers. well, new casino or not, maryland's new slot machines are going to cost the state millions more than expected. according to one analysis, "the washington post" reports each slot machine has a $10,000 price tag. that's more than double initial estimates. and it could amount to an extra $50 million a year by the time five privately owned casinos are slated to open. next on news 4 at 11:00, new video shows the moment of impact as a tornado barrels through a high school. the verdict is in tonight. now the fallout from a college dorm spying case that put a national spotlight on bullying. man on the mend. why march madness may be the reason behind a spike

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♪ well, this is pretty low. a bold thief near houston, texas, swiped a donation jar right off the counter of a convenience store. the cash was meant for a little girl battling terminal cancer. it happened tuesday when the store was busy. police are hoping that this surveillance video will help them catch the guy. a mother in prince george's county is under arrest tonight for taking her 9-year-old son across the country when she didn't have custody. silvia garcia was taking her son out of dodge park elementary school here in landover yesterday morning. she told school officials she had a doctor's office. an amber alert was issued, and the child was found safe with his mother in reno, nevada,

today. garcia was arrested and charged with being a fugitive from justice. the school says it's reviewing its policies. a former rutgers university student is facing ten years in prison and possible deportation for spying on his gay roommate in 2010. a jury found dharun ravi guilty of a hate crime. ravi used a webcam to videotape his roommate, tyler clementi with another man. he later committed suicide in embarrassment by jumping off a bridge. today his father told students everywhere to speak up if they see hate crimes taking place. >> when you see somebody doing something wrong, tell them, that's not right. stop it. you can make the world a better place. the change you want to see in the world begins with you. >> ravi could also be deported to his native india. he was living in the united states legally with a green card. sentencing is set for the end of may. the damage is stunning. the lack of casualties some call

a miracle. those in a michigan tornado's path of destruction are counting their blessings tonight as they sift through the debris. piles of sticks and plaster were once rows of homes in the town of dexter here. 13 homes were wiped out. 100 others damaged. none of the 4,000 residents seriously injured. storm sirens gave a 20-minute warning before the 135-mile-an-hour winds ripped through the town. also, a dramatic look at the power of a tornado as it ripped through an indiana school earlier this month. the school in henryville just released this surveillance video. cameras caught the moment when the ef-4 tornado struck the building. school had just let out, but buses returned to get the kids out of the storm. minutes later, the roof blew off. the school's gym turned into debris. about 80 students, teacher and staff, were safe. they all took cover in a hallway. that is chilling. >> wow! and it's that really warm weather that's contributing to

that -- to causing those tornadoes, isn't it? >> 100%. that's exactly what happened in michigan. they saw a couple tornadoes there. that one was eight miles long, the path. so you're going to continue to see this as long as we continue to be on the warm side of things. and we are going to continue to be on the warm side of things over the eastern two-thirds of the nation. so i do expect more severe weather over the next couple of months, as a matter of fact. but nothing in the immediate future. that's the good news. out there right now, not bad. a pretty nice evening outside. we are seeing a little bit in the way of some fog in parts of the areas. but no shower activity. and temperatures that are still on the mild side for this time of year. we have not gone down too much from the high temperature today of 59 degrees out there at the airport. low this morning of 51. today yet again, above average. and today, yes, even though it was 23 degrees cooler than yesterday, we're still three degrees above the average high of 56 degrees. out there right now, 56. we've only dropped three degrees. we're not going to drop much more over the next couple hours.

maybe down to 51, 52, but we should stay above 50 once again tonight. 66 in gaithersburg. that was the high there. 70 in martinsburg. 70 in frederick. charlottesville coming in at 75. that coldest air, the coolest air could not make it that far south. we saw showers today, we saw clouds helping to keep those temperatures down. tomorrow, however, i think it will be a little different. look at the numbers right now. 60 in hagerstown. at 11:00 at night. 50 in manassas. 56 in fredericksburg. right now at 54. not a bad night to get out and about. and you can expect more of this for the weekend. i know it's a big weekend. looking very nice as far as the temperatures are concerned. shower activity, we saw that earlier in the day. and now some clouds trying to stream back through. we could see the chance for some showers tomorrow. but the forecast looking a little better. let's show you what happened today. cooler air definitely won out here. 82 yesterday. it was 58 in philadelphia. that cool marine air moved right down i-95 towards our area with

our high temperature that reached 59 today. 58 at 2:00 with very cool conditions. tomorrow, though, i expect that push of warm air to move back up to the north. 70 in washington. to the south and west, i think you folks will number the low to mid-70s. to the north and east up towards baltimore, maybe staying in the upper 60s depending on cloud cover. right now i think we could have more sunshine. that would be very good news. tomorrow morning, 6:00 a.m., notice the clouds and yes, a couple of light sprinkles, wouldn't be surprised to see fog and sprinkles early. i'm not counting on that either. as we make our way through the day tomorrow, the clouds give way to sunshine late in the afternoon. that will help temperatures rise if we see enough sun and the wind changes just enough, we could be in the mid-70s again tomorrow. that's the kind of tough forecast this is between 60s to the north and 70s down to the south. on sundays, though, sunday morning, it does look like a good chance of rain. i do think sunday will be the wetter of the two days. tomorrow morning, mostly cloudy. areas of fog. still mild. 47 to about 52 degrees.

it's going to feel a little like ireland early. partly sunny, a few sprinkles, continued warm. 65 to 73 degrees. and here's the next couple of days. with my little irishman dancing, the leprechaun, 70, a few sprinkles right on through the day on tuesday. and maybe even into wednesday. a little bit of an unsettled pattern but not a bad pattern as temperatures remain well above the average. and i didn't realize if you guys would have told me you were doing the green today, i would have done it, too. >> there's a memo. the big day is tomorrow, doug. are you working tomorrow? you could work tomorrow night. >> find your green tomorrow. >> i will try. >> all right. thanks, doug. well, all this talk about the ncaa tournament, here's an angle we have not heard about. some men will do just about anything to spend more time watching college basketball. like scheduling their vasectomies. urologists around the country say the days leading up to the march tournament, the most popular time of year for the surgery. some clinics say their business

doubles. men know they'll be spending several days on the couch after the procedure. doctors say their patients want to make the most of it. a few clinics even offer tournament gift bags complete with a cooler, t-shirts and pizza. so now you know. >> no sympathy from the wife for that. you have to get a little sympathy. >> waited on. >> why not? why not make the most of it, right? >> thinking it through. coming up next in sports, while your bracket may be busted, alex ovechkin picks a major upset. we'll also tell you how his team did on the ice. sky-diving apparently too

getting it done. >> they dominated today in columbus, ohio. we start with this. by now, your bracket is busted. of the 6 million brackets on espn.com, none are perfect. that's because two 15 seeds are still dancing. norfolk state upsets missouri and lehigh defeats duke. a 15 seed has only beaten a 2 seed six times in tournament history. that's a fact. so is this. georgetown wins its first ncaa tournament game since 2008. number three seed georgetown facing number 14 seed belmont. and here's something to cheer about. first half, lubick, backdoor pass, bucket and the foul. the freshman scored 16 points. hoyas up nine at the break. second half, henry sims goes to work. nifty move here. the hoyas shot 61% from the floor. sims had 15 points. georgetown in control.

greg whittington with the block. jason clark goes coast to coast. he had a game high 21 points. his highest scoring game in two months. georgetown beats belmont, 74-59. dan hellie tweeted during the game, after the game, he used a microphone. >> the hoyas aren't coming home early this year because they came out like a team on a mission against belmont. due in part to senior captain jason clark. he scored 8 of the hoyas' first 12 points and finished with a game high 21. >> the shots were falling for me today and that was a relief because i've been kind of off a little lately. >> reporter: how important was it for you to get a hot start because you were in the big east tournament? >> definitely big. it gets your confidence flowing. everybody else follows. i was knocking down shots. we started playing together on the defensive end also. >> reporter: when jason gets off to the kind of start that he got off to, how much does that ignite you guys? >> it ignited us very much.

it gives us a spark. if jason is playing hard, it's going to make the rest of the team play hard. >> we love when jason gets off to a good start because he plays a lot more comfortable. you know, he lets a lot of things come to him when he gets off to a great start. and other things start to open up when jason's in his zone. >> the last couple of days here, couple of -- maybe in a week or so, he's been not making as many shots as he has all year. then the last two days, he's turned back into jason clark again. and so, you know, he hit those shots early, got himself going. and so i kind of knew it was going to be a good day then. >> reporter: the hoyas hoping for more good days ahead starting with nc state on sunday. but the wolfpack going to be a whole lot tougher than belmont. from columbus, dan hellie, news 4 sports. omaha, nebraska, norfolk state against two seed missouri. under a minute to go, tied at 81-81. spar spartans with the ball. norfolk state, the lead. he had a game high 26 points. last chance for the tigers.

phil pressey for the win. huh-uh. norfolk state upsets missouri, 86-84. o'quinn said, quote, we even messed up my bracket. you know whose bracket they didn't mess up? alex ovechkin actually picked norfolk state to beat month no in his bracket. tonight, third period, jets with the puck and dustin byfuglien with the game winner. capitals end their four-game winning streak. washington, good news, remains in the eighth and final playoff spot in the eastern conference. also, wizards lewds to the hawks, 102-88. oh, yeah, t

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a new-age daredevil finishes a free-fall from the edge of

space. felix baumgartner. the australian skydiver is hoping to break the record with a jump from 23 miles up. it's a height that would send his body hurtling through the sound barrier. he'll attempt that high-flying stunt this summer in new mexico. felix baumgartner, not the name of an adventurer.

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