good evening, i'm chris gordon. we begin tonight with a developing story from iraq. an american citizen has apparently been released after being held captive for more than nine months. he made the announcement during a press conference in baghdad. the man did not identify himself but said he was kidnapped by a shiite militia. he is now with the u.s. embassy in baghdad, which is working to verify his identity. the attorney for a u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 civilians in afghanistan is portraying him as a decorated

war hero who may have snapped. staff sergeant robert bales is back in the u.s. he is being held at the u.s. military prison in fort leavenworth, kansas. defense attorney john henry browne says bales may have been suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. he ensured several injuries on his tours of iraq and was reportedly not happy to be going on a fourth tour of duty in afghanistan. >> he was told he would not be going back to the middle east. he was training to be a military recruiter and then overnight, he was told he was going back. >> court records reveal bales had a couple of brushes with trouble, including a hit and run arrest and an assault arrest in the past decade. bales has wife and two young children. they are all staying at a military camp in washington state for their own safety. well, it wasn't supposed to happen until tomorrow, but the cherry blossoms are in bloom.

here is a live look at the tidal basin. it was crowded with visitors enjoying this warm st. patrick's day. news4's darcy spencer joins us now live from the tidal base within more. hi, darcy. >> reporter: hi, chris. i don't know about you, but i can't think of a better way to celebrate st. patrick's day. are a lot of people out here at the tidal basin. it feels like a summer afternoon t is warm weather. we have got a little breeze going, tons of people out here, all, this the star of the show, these beautiful cherry blossoms, as you said, they started to bloom. now getting the peak right, that is a little bit tricky. national park service initially predicted around march 24 to 391st. the new prediction is for the peak blume to start on tower tuesday and last through friday, the blooming already started. we can thank a mild winter for this early start and people are out here trying to get a sneak peek. >> is a surprise that everything bloomed so early. it is beautiful. >> eager to come out this

afternoon, spend a little time soaking in the sunshine and enjoying the cherry blossoms. >> i think it is wonderful and beautiful. we are fortunate enough to be here this week. normally, we miss the cherry blossoms when we make a trip to washington, d.c. it is nice. >> i decided to bring all the kids with me a we are all very happy to see the cherry blossoms. >> reporter: so again, this is not the peak bloom. if is definitely beautiful out here, but you should definitely come out this coming week if you want to see them in full bloom, that peak bloom, it is so beautiful and magnificent. talked to a lot of people down here, some are from out of town this is the time they are here, this is the time they can come see them, it is definitely worth coming out, if you have off this weekend and bring the family down it is certainly beautiful. you want to make that return trip if you can this coming week and be prepared, there is a lot of people out here and traffic is pretty tough around this area. the parking lot right next to the tidal basin is open to the public, but it is kind of tough to get a spot out here.

reporting live from the tidal basin, darcy spencer, news4. >> darcy, thank you very much. d.c. police say they had to shoot a man this morning after he started ramming the car he was drive nothing two cruisers, it happened just after 1 a.m. in southeast washington. police were looking for a car that was stolen earlier in the night on atlantic street. they spotted it on third street and tried to pull the car over. police say the suspect rammed the cruisers and one officer shot the suspect to subdue him. he was treated on the scene and arrested. lawyers for george huguely are asking for the case to be retried a motion was filed on behalf of the former uva lacrosse player in charlottesville circuit court yesterday n february, huguely was found guilty of second degree murder in the death of his ex-girlfriend, yeardley love a jury recommend he had serve 26 years in prison. the judge has not yet officially imposed a sentence on huguely

but his lawyers are preempttivepreemp preempttively requesting a new trial. the race for the white house makes a stop in puerto rico. the american territory holds its primary tomorrow. this comes days after rick santorum stirred a controversy over whether the primary language in puerto rico should be english. nbc's peter alexander reports. >> reporter: people here can't vote in america's general election but they will have a say in selecting the republican nominee. romney with an event today with voters. last night, he was here for a get out the vote rally a lot more of a carnival really than it was a political event. a long list of speakers, almost all of them speaking in spanish. there was music. there was dancing. energy and passion, as romney noted. romney told the puerto rican people that he respects them and cares for them as americans. his rival, rick santorum, who today is in missouri and illinois also caused a fire storm of controversy before he left the island of puerto rico

earlier in the week. he said if puerto rico wants to become the 51st state in america, it was necessary that english become the primary language. that, of course, upset some of his supporters as well as some of the voters here who tried to back pedal, do some damage control, saying more specifically that english would have to be a preferred language but not the official language. >> we understand that the people of different cultures speak different languages but we have a common language and that's what i was saying yesterday, to suggest, maliciously i would add, someone would maliciously write that i said that it was really unfortunate. >> that primary here in puerto rico is tomorrow. missouri caucus is tonight. illinois votes on tuesday. peter alexander, nbc news, san juan, puerto rico. coming up tonight, where d.c. ranks in the list of cities with the most so-called speed traps. plus, help wanted. we will tell you which local employer is looking to fill 500

jobs. and the local bar where president obama celebrated st. patrick's day. chuck? >> thanks, chris a beautiful day outside today. cherry blossoms busting out all over the place, i will have a check of your very warm, possib

thousands of athletes

started their st. patrick's day running around the city. 21,000 layers laced up their shoes for the annual suntrust rock 'n' roll marathon. the winning time was 2:26:35 the luck of the irish can be seen all across constituent today, including 1600 pennsylvania avenue. the fountain on the south lawn of the white house is looking very green today. it was dyed that way in honor of st. patrick's day. president obama also got into the spirit of st. patrick's day. he grabbed a pint of guinness at the dubliner, famous irish bar near union station. the commander in chief also dressed the part wearing a green jacket and bunt that said vip guest. now, one of the president's great, great, great, great grandfathers was irish. a reminder not to drink and drive this st. patrick's day, but if you do overindulge, you can get a safe ride home. the sober ride program is

offering free cab rides in our area through 6:00 tomorrow morning. just call 1-800-200-taxi for a free ride worth up to $30. you must be 21 or older. up next, chuck's back to tell us if the weather will hold out for your st. patrick's day revelry. and tonight on news4 at 11:00, they are not the blues brothers or the men in black. we will introduce you to a cookie delivery

in ann aroundel county, they are betting on a gaming par terror bring pay the troops to aroundel mills. before the doors open in june, they will need hire the staff to run the place. at a job fair today, the turnout was good and the odds that the right workers are out there, even better. derrick ward reports. >> reporter: there's still a ways to go before the maryland live casino in aroundel mills is complete but it is not decide hog will work here. >> thank you for coming >>. >> thank you. >> reporter: this weekend, hundreds hoped the trip up this ramp would lead to a sure-thing, a job when the casino opens this summer. the application process starts on their website. >> today is an opportunity for people to actually learn about the jobs and meet the hiring managers. >> reporter: there are culinary jobs, marketing job, maintenance and engineering position and some more specific to the industry. >> we are looking for people who

like to engage, who will -- like the service it is basically a service mentality. >> i think would be interesting so i'm just here to see what opportunities are available. >> wonderful place, flexible, i like different thing, not doing the same thing over and over again. >> reporter: indeed, those who have made a career in the industry say a casino job is like no other and often refer to themselves as casino gypsies. there is nothing like being on the gaming floor and having the sounds of the slot machines, the excitement of the people hitting jackpots, that's really what kind of drives us to do what we do. >> i know they have different kinds of multimedia branches here, i want to see what they have to offer. >> reporter: 900 positions are available at maryland live and leaders from areas like prince georges county look to open a venue like their own are watching this experience and hope to get dealt a similar hand when it comes to jobs and economic development. >> i'm excited about the opportune that they are providing. i'm excited just that job fairs are happening, actually. >> reporter: derrick ward,

news4. >> you can get more information about the hiring process at the maryland live casino by going to our website, nbcwashington.com, and search as seen on nbc 4. maryland live is scheduled to be opened for business in june. well, a dubious honor for washington. the district comes in at number five on the list of u.s. cities with the most speed traps and red light cameras. that's the word from trapster, a website that allows users to report police activity and so-called speed traps. the d.c. i'm a area has 350 tra enforcement cameras according to poi factory, a website that keeps track of the cameras. new york city topped the list, big apple, big headaches. but what a beautiful day for a drive. >> even if you are snuck traffic, a day like today, not so bad, the sun shining, put the windows down, open the sunroof, put the top down what you need to do. >> you put the top down, you are

confident. >> absolutely. not going to rain with my roof down, i will tell that you now. beautiful day outside today. temperatures soaring into the 70s once again. march, we ought to just go ahead and start calling it may and be done with it. it has been beautiful outside. temperatures thought this afternoon, in the mid-70s, down along the tidal basin there is a live picture, the cherry blossoms are considered to be at peak when 70%, at least 70% of the blossoms are considered to be out. that is peak blossoming period. and, you know, just sort of eyeballing that specific tree right there that looks like 30 to 40% out, still an awful lot of that dark, dark, dark pink comer and those are the buds. the bright white in the petals, an awful lot of dark pink in the picture that is how i'm using my ties estimate it there. the wide shot, nothing but almost looks like summertime out there almost a little hint of haze in the atmosphere. 71 degrees outside. the east wind at 13 miles a hour. that is not going to be our friend around here for the next couple of days. an east wind in march, a lot of

times spells low cloud cover and a chance for some drizzle. going to be watching that very, very carefully. temperatures for now on the extremely mild side. so your saturday evening planner, temperatures upper 60s to near 70 by 7:00, then back down into the upper 50s and low 60s by 11 p.m. after midnight, clear skies, the fog maybe bit of a problem as well. hometown forecast, la plata, maryland, 70 now, headed back down into the mid-50s by midtight timeframe you back from the late movies, temperatures in the 50s, upper 40s by startoff time in the morning, with the cloud cover around, then tomorrow, a little bit more of a sunshine challenge facing us tomorrow. courtesy of that east breeze. nothing going on right around our immediate vicinity, but showers and thunderstorms out here in the west virginia mountains now. these are not racing eastbound, courtesy of this area of high pressure here that is sort of holding these showers at bay now, i think hold most at bay through tomorrow as well.

but with that extra moisture sneaking back in, there will be a chance for you folks, the higher terrain, patchy drizzle around tomorrow, for this evening, mild, almost feeling humid outside. after midnight, before sunrise, potentially thick fog forming first thing in the morning, fog burns away, 9, 10:00, gradually, our shower chances may start to increase, as we get toward monday and tuesday. not looking for a lot of rain, chances increasing. this evening, quite mild, looking and feeling like spring out there evening temperatures, low to middle 60s, overnight tonight, watch out for thick fog in the morning, east of the mountains, west of the bay, upper 40s, low 50s tomorrow, call it mostly cloudy day, a little bit over bonus sunshine tomorrow afternoon, don't pound on it as much as we saw today, a little chance for a sprinkle west of town tomorrow, better chances for scattered showers again on tuesday but look at all

those numbers. at least 15 degrees warmer than average every single day. >> we are grateful. >> i cannot believe it all i can say. >> thank you, chuck, on behalf of everyone. in sports tonight, march madness turns into maryland madness as the lady

if your black set not busted, got to have a shamrock in your pocket. >> mine is as good as dead in the water. >> at least if it is busted, you can root for the lower seeds to win, you know, like lehigh beating duke, i'm sure a lot of maryland fans are exciteded about that. >> they took some delight in that last night. >> if you don't have a team in the big dance, you certainly want to root for, you know, the murray state guys. >> sin der rel last. >> agencies actually. what you want. the men's ncaa tournament on friday, the little guys came up big, a pair of 15 seeds upset the two seeds. norfolk state beat missouri and lehigh defeated duke. today in the women's tournament, the little women did not come up big. number two seed maryland flexing its muscles against 15 seed navy. midshipmen making the short trip from annapolis is college park, first ever meeting between navy and maryland. first half, terps up six, acc play over the year alyssa thomas drives, goes up and under, she

only had five points in the first half, but she turned it on in the second. maryland up by 15, off the navy miss. terps in transition, thomas out front, finished with a game-high 17 point, 10 rebounds, scored her 1,000th career point. later, drive, spin move, bucket, foul. maryland defeats navy 59-44. as for thomas, the coach said the summer sophomore was too arched so she challenged her at halftime. >> what is great is you can motivate her and challenge her is in so many ways. we needed her to play slower, which what a great thing for a coach to have to say, you need to slow down and composureself. >> up next, maryland matches up

against louisville on monday night. the georgetown men's basketball team is still dancing, but first, an injury update. georgetown mascot jack the bulldog, who suffered a torn acl last weekend while jumping on the couch, is now walking fine. but jack isn't out of the dog house just yet. he still has another meeting with a canine orthopedic surgeon this tuesday. meanwhile, the hoyas are preparing for the wolfe pack. dan hellie has more from columbus. >> reporter: as impressive as the hoyas freshmen have been this year it is the elder statesmen who set the tone. the hoyas will have trouble beating nc state unless thompson, simms and clark lead the way. >> any given night, jason will put up 20, 25, sometimes 30 points so you know, when he is on, i think we are good. when henry is on, we are outstanding. when how sward on, wow. watch out. watch out. we are not on, we got a lot of

guys on this team that can score the ball that can defend. when all fly of rust on at the same time, it is very scary. >> us being on, freshmen coming on, giving us what they can do knocking down shots, being big on defense. we are on, that means the rest of the team is on. >> the older guys, and i'm thinking of jason henry, hollieholliewho will his -- hollies, experienced the rain of losing the first round. they did a good job of helping the other guys understand how final the loss s >> jt three even keeled as usual a win over nc state tomorrow puts georgetown back in the sweet 16 for the first time since their final four run five years ago. from columbus, ohio, dan helly, news4 sports. >> dan, thank you. in pittsburgh, vice president and syracuse law alum joe biden watching the

top-seeded orange take on kansas state. first half, syracuse looking strong. waiters for three, part of a 21-3 orange run. waiters scored 18 off the bench. wildcats strike right back. jordan henriquez the rebound and the put back. k state had 22 offensive rebounds. wildcats end the half on a 12-2 run. second half, orange up 7. jar dean drives, great pass to christmas. jar dean had eight assists. the senior also scored 14 of his 16 points in the second half. syracuse wins 75-59, advancing to the sweet 16 for the third straight year. number two seed ohio state taking on number 7 seed gonzaga. the pride of toledo, ohio, will buford, put the buckeyes up ten. senior played all 40 minutes. no breaks for him. put me in, coach. back come the bulldogs, back three, john stockton's kid,

david, kicks it out to harris. all tied at 61. here we go. minute to play. buckeyes up three, inside, sullen jer, he is clutch, finished with 18 points, ohio state beats gonzaga, 73-66, punching his ticket for the sweet 16. the game we have our eye on, vcu and indiana, maybe the fighting aaron gilchrest get another upset win. >> the ram, ram nation h. >> yes, sir. >> that is one of our local teams. root for them, georgetown. thank you. >> yep. >> thank you, chuck. that's the news for now. [ male announcer ] what if you had thermal night-vision goggles,

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