st. patrick's day, and even the cherry blossoms seem to be

celebrating. warm weather has coaxed them into an early bloom. good evening, everybody. i'm chris gordon. now, the tidal basin has been crowded today with visitors attracted to see the cherry blossoms. starting tomorrow there will be changes designed to make it easier to get around. "news 4's" darcy spencer joins us live with details. hi, darcy. >> reporter: hi, chris. here are the changes. a new shuttle service is going to be offered between haynes point and jefferson. it's only going to cost you a dollar. also two new capitol stations are going to be added. this is all an effort to make it easier to come down here and check out the cherry blossoms. here it is mid-march, st. patrick's day, and already the cherry blossoms on the tidal basin are starting to bloom. >> we came in actually for a conference and we decided to come into the city for the evening and we've been enjoying

the cherry blossoms and the monuments. >> reporter: they're not even at peak yet. is that a good thing they're out? >> that's great. it's great. i would like to see snow in the winter, but i'm loving it. >> reporter: the snow, that's not likely to happen. but the national parks predict they'll peak on tuesday because of the warm winter. >> it's nice to walk around and see the trees and see them bloom. >> reporter: earlier in the day the tidal basin was swarming with thousands of people getting a sneak preview of what's to come. >> it is beautiful. >> i decided to bring the kids with me and we're all very happy to see the cherry blossoms. >> reporter: some actually prefer the nighttime view and the moment it creates. >> it's a romantic time. >> and we're intrucing upon it. >> that's okay. it's for lovers. >> reporter: d.c. is for lovers.

>> yes, absolutely. this is the place to be when you're romantic, and it's a cheap date, guys. >> reporter: it certainly is. now, take a look out here. this is some of the blooms. you can see here that they're out. also on the same branch you can see that some are still in the budding stage. so if you come out here tomorrow, it's definitely going to be a beautiful sight. some of them are in bloom, but some still have a way to go. the peak doesn't start until tuesday. if you come out tomorrow, you want to make sure you come back next week to see them when they're at their peak stage. reporting live from the tidal basin, darcy spencer, "news 4." >> thanks, darcy. it feels more like may than march. will that last for the rest of the weekend. meteorologist chuck bell is in "storm center 4." chuck? >> good evening, chris. good evening, everybody. another mild day. 75 degrees our high temperature today. not only was that a big improvement other yesterday's 59. but it makes it the seventh day

this month -- keep in mind we're only 17 days into this month. seven times we've been 70 or higher and three times last week in a row, we were 80 degrees or higher. as far as the cherry blossoms peaking early, no doubt about it. that's defined as 70% or more in blossom. probably only going to last about stoechb ten days, depending on how warm we get. we'll talk about that in the seven-day coming up. we're following a developing story in arlington, virginia. firefighter officials say a woman fell from the parking garage at the ballston common mall. she was taken to the hospital. no word on her condition. a u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians is back on u.s. soil. he's back at the fort

leavenworth center. he endured several injuries on his three tours in iraq and was reportedly not happy to be going on a fourth tour of duty in afghanistan. well, this is a story that has sparked outrage. tonight we're hearing the 911 tapes in the shooting of an unarmed teen in florida. he was killed by a neighborhood watch volunteer who said he acted in self-defense. but the boy's family says that in the calls you're about to hear, their son was the one who was crying for help. stuart moore has our report. >> reporter: a witness made the call to 911. >> 911. do you need police or medical? >> i'm not sure. maybe both. i can hear both. >> it's unclear whether it's trayvon martin or community watch leader george zimmerman. >> male or female? >> i think it's male. >> do you know why?

>> i don't know. they're yelling for help. send someone quick. >> does he look hurt? >> i can't see him. i don't want go out there. i don't know what's going on. >> so you thing he's yelling help? >> yes. just -- there's gunshots. >> you just heard gunshots. >> yes. >> how many. just one. >> that single gunshot took the 17-year-old's life. the parents were on the "today" show and said their son was screaming for help. >> to hear my son begging for his life, really disturbed me as a mother. that was my baby. and he was pleading for his life. >> a short time before his death, zimmerman called police to report a suspicious person. they told him not to pursue trayvon martin. >> are you following him? >> yeah. >> okay. we don't need you to do that. >> okay. he's got his hand on his waistband and he's a black male.

>> how old would you say he is? >> late teens. >> late teens? >> mm-hmm. there's something wrong with him. >> he had a bag of skittles and sweet tea and was steppis away from his mom's front door. >> hearing my son's cries for help, he begged and pleaded for his life. >> and it's just difficult for us right now because we don't understand why he has not been arrested. we have two witnesses that came forth and the tapes, the 911 tapes tells it all. >> that was stuart moore reporting. the victim's parents are calling on the fbi and the justice department to look into the case. the florida state attorney will decide if charges will be filed in the case, but no word on when that might happen. well, the gop primary action now moves to puerto rico. the u.s. territory has 20 delegates up for grabs in tomorrow's primary. mitt romney was in san juan for a rally before heading to illinois ahead of tuesday's

primary there. meanwhile rick santorum was in missouri where a caucus was held but the caucus results won't be release ed until the state convention. a major milestone tonight for maryland senator barbaramy cull s mikulski. the democrat was elected to the u.s. house of representatives in 197 f and moved to the u.s. senate in 1986. she still has more than four years left on her current term. senator mikulski will be honored by her colleagues on the u.s. senate floor in wednesday. coming up a real life drama. masked men rob an entire movie theater in arlington. plus we'll tell you where a business is trying to fill 900 jobs locally. and the d.c. bar where president

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virginia. a movie theater was robbed from a scene that seemed to come right from the big screen. police say two masked men held up a theater on swap box road around 4:00 p.m. this afternoon. the thieves pulled the fire alarm which caused an evacuation. no one was injured. no word on how much cash they got away with. hundreds lined up under the new live maryland casino. the casino held the job fair to fill more than 900 positions

before it opens in june. the jobs range from food service to maintenance to slot attendants. now, if you want to learn how to apply, we have a link on our website at nbcwashington.com. and search "as seen on nbc 4." still ahead, no, they are not the men in black. we'll take you inside a cookie service with a top-secret mission. and chuck will reveal if the rest of the weekend will be just

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be seen, heard, and felt all across the washington region today. p.j. clark's in northwest had bagpipes. and people were lined up for the st. patrick's day parade. >> the fountain on the south lawn of the white house was dyed green and the president also celebrated st. pat's day by sipping a point of guinness. one of the president's great, great, great grandfathers was from ireland and a lot of people celebrating outside. >> no doubt. why would you spend day like today inside. there would be almost nothing to come up with. >> if there could be waiting lines to get outside, you could be inside. >> that could be the case. what a wonderful day it was outside today. 75 degrees with sunshine on a

saturday on st. patrick's day. very unusual. was not a record. records are in the 80s this time of year, but nonetheless,dy noitd hear a single complaint outside today. out we go on your saturday evening. mostly clear sky overhead. it will eventually lead to, i think, dense patchy fog on your early sunday morning. file that away. if you're going to get up early, be on the lookout for fog. leave a little early because you'll have to drive a few miles slower. man it's mild outside. our average high is 56. we're still above that at 11:00. still in the low 60s in shorthand. upper 50s in stchl charles county. a little cooler, obviously a little influence from the cool bay water temperatures. your sunday planner, another mild one coming. not quite as pretty as it was

today. foggy and 55 in the morning and then a mix of clouds and sunshine off and on through much of the day. might touch 70 degrees, but i don't think it a goengs to be mid-70s. nothing but false returns. a couple of sprinkles down here martinsville. thunderstorms near raleigh, north carolina, and unsettled weather in the ohio valley. this is having a hard time making its way eastbound because rehave high pressure sitting off the eastern seaboard. that's slowing everything down. as the high pressure tries to back up on the coastline, a foggy start first thing in the morning. it should be gone by 9:00, 10:00 in the morning. most of our shower chances again tomorrow stay well out to the west of washington, but as we get into monday, that onshore breeze, that easterly wind, putting all that low level moisture in here, that will eventually lead to better shower

chances as we get to monday and tuesday. and even then, better chances, yes, but not a washout. important for blossoms. outside, by morning time, fog likely by daybreak, dense in spots. wakeup temperatures in the upper 40s, low 50s. going to be mild. plenty of fog. clouds in the morning. one or two outside chances of a brief passing shower. but most of us don't need to worry about more than a sprinkle and only 30% of a passing shower monday and tuesday. no crazy wind, no heavy downpours. that's important because cherry blossoms, as beautiful as they are, are very, very delicate in this stage of coming out and we don't need wind or rain to mess with them. >> we've got a long festival because it tees 100th anniversary. >> it started early. >> it started early. you have a sweet tooth, so listen to this. they look like the blues brothers, but what they're delivering, they help cure the blues. the boss, he calls himself agent

snicker doodle. he was a chemistry student. he dropped out and decided to mix flour, watter, egs. he takes his cookies and delivers them under cover to students for a sweet fix. it's a secret because he was embarrassed to tell anybody he chose cookies over chemistry. >> that's the reason we call it the secret cookie service because it was a secret from everyone that knew me. >> well, it looks like he made the right move. customers are hooked. more than 24,000 students are clam mooring for snickerdoodle cookies and he's looking to take his business nationwide soon and he hopes to be rolling in dough. >> oh, you knew that was coming. >> they knew that was coming. [ female announcer ] with xfinity,

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people may wonder why rex grossman is trending tonight. >> why is that? >> they might think this is the real march madness for real redskins fans. >> something's up. >> this is a little puzzling. >> it depends on who you are. if you thought the rex grossman era was over in washington, not so fast. he's reportedly agreed to a deal with the redskins. he threw down 16 touchdowns and 20 interception last season. how can we forget. this year we would probably like to see him holding a clipboard.

georgetown is trying out for the sweet spot. standing in the hoyas' way, nc state. dan hellie explains. >> reporter: with belmont in the books georgetown focused on north carolina state, a team playing in the ncaa tournament for the first time since 2006. and the game plan for mark and his guys is simple. speed up the game. to counteract georgetown's methodical approach. >> you can't get frustrated. sometimes you feel like you're beat up on the back door. it's just what they do. they do it well. >> very frustrated playing them. they don't want to get up and down the floor. they just want to play very slow. >> i think we can play both ways. a lot of teams say they need to speed us up, but we can play, you know, the fast break game. we can slow it down in the half-court. >> we can play anything. we've got success on the pace.

not once have i said to this team that we're trying to slow it down, and so fast, slow, it doesn't matter. >> reporter: john thompson iii and his guys, business life as usual. last year they won easily. 12:15 tip. nc state and georgetown. the winner advances to the sweet 16. from columbus, ohio, dan hellie, "news 4" sports. vcu's dan ends tonight. indiana won 63-61. indiana will meet number one overall seat kentucky in the sweet 16. the wildcats' only loss was to the hoosiers. marquette taking on murray state. the racers only lost one game this season. second half, marquette's van der blue goes up for a layup here. edward daniel, get that out of here. racers going the other way. isaiah cannon, check it out.

it's the circus shot go. murray stayed up three. later, he scored six straight points for the golden eagles and marquette takes the lead. then jake you der, big east play over the year, knocks down. he finished 17 points, 13 rebounds. his dad didn't get to see the flight in person because his flight was canceled. he can start packing for phoenix bus marquette beats them earning a spot in the sweet 16. in pittsburgh, joe biden watched the top seeded orange take on kansas state. first half, syracuse looking sharp. part of a 21-3 orange run. waders scored 18 off the bench. wildcats scored back. gets the rebound and the putback. k-state, 22 offensive rebounds. that's impressive. wildcats in the half on a 12-2

run. second half, orange up second. scoop jardine drives right past to jardin christmas. jardin, he hat syracuse wins 79-59 advancing to the sweet 16 for the third straight year. the women's ncaa tournament tipped off this morn and while number two seed maryland is feeling the comforts of playing at home, the goal is to get out of dodge. to accomplish that the terps would have to win two games. the first against navy. making a short trip. first f meeting between navy and maryland. first half, terps up. alyssa thomas, check it out. 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 now. running away with it. off the navy miss. terps in transition. thomas out front. she finished with game-high 17

points, 10 rebounds. thomas also scored her 1,000th career point. lauren, spin move, bucket and a foul. maryland defeats navy, 59-44 and now maryland moves on the play louisville on monday night. also tomorrow georgetown women play fresno state in the first round. tip-off scheduled for 12:20. >> that's great. we have more action with the lady terps. >> it's going to be interesting because you're going have georgetown men and women play at the same time. >> that's our news

a message from rick santorum. [ light cheers and applause ] >> hello. i'm rick santorum, republican candidate for president of the united states. w