developments in the shooting death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. late this afternoon the police chief of sanford, florida announced he will temporarily step down. this comes amidst nationwide calls for him to be fired. that's after 17-year-old trayvon martin was shot last month and the killer was not arrested. tonight martin's parents are meeting with officials from the justice department. the fbi is said to be examining 911 tapes which may include the possibility of a racial slur. jay gray has our report on the racial tension rippling across the country. >> reporter: in several cities including atlanta hundreds gathered for a trip to florida before sunrise hoping to shed some light on the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. >> we are just fed up. >> reporter: frustration pushing them to a rally in this park in sanford, the city where nearly a month ago the unarmed teenager was killed by community watch volunteer george zimmerman who

told police he fired in self-defense. more than a thousand supporters are expected at the event organized by reverend al sharpton. >> they are believing zimmerman rather than believing other witnesses. >> reporter: amid growing tensions, frustration, and calls for zimmerman to be aested and for sanford police chief bill lee to be fired, that after a symbolic, no confidence vote by city commissioners last night. >> if the chief loved the city he serves, he would say with all these questions i'll voluntarily step aside. >> reporter: and late this afternoon, chief lee announced he would temporarily step away from his post. >> i do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to the city, which has been in turmoil for several weeks. >> reporter: as florida's state attorney the u.s. justice department and the fbi all continue to investigate the case while patience with zimmerman and police is clearly wearing thin here. >> as it is, he is going to continue to hide so we have to find him. so the police won't do their job, we can take their place. >> reporter: as the call for

answers and action continues to grow. the huge crowd expected here tonight will include martin's parents who say they will continue to speak out until something is done about their son's death. jay gray, nbc news, sanford, florida. the trayvon martin case has hit home in the d.c. region. local students from high schools to college campuses are calling for justice. jane watrel continues our team coverage live from northwest with more on the campaigns for the arrest of george zimmerman. jane? >> reporter: well, wendy, in less than an hour there will be a rally on the campus of howard university. this is another outward visible demonstration of the furor surrounding this case. >> please bring to justice trayvon martin's killer george zimmerman. >> reporter: dozens of handwritten letters are being sent to sanford, florida to plead for justice and protest the death of 17-year-old trayvon martin. students at d.c.'s magnate school without walls are outraged. >> me, myself, i'm 17 years old.

knowing trayvon is 17 years old, you know, so i'm getting ready for prom, ready for graduation, going to college and doing all these things and these are things that he'll never be able to do again. >> reporter: the death of the unarmed teen by a neighborhood watch captain has ignite ad call to action around the country. the shooter, 28-year-old george zimmerman, graduated from high school in manassas before moving to florida. he has claimed self-defense and has not been charged so far with any crime. florida is one of 21 states with the so-called stand your ground law. a tragic death that has mezmerized former prince george's county prosecutor glen ivy, the father of five boys. >> it looks to us as if, you know, this young man was killed for no reason, and, you know, there is an investigation going on and i guess the fbi is helping local authorities and it'll all unwind over time. but, you know, that's what it looks like right now and that's how my kids look at it. >> no justice. >> no peace.

>> reporter: at virginia state university hundreds of students rallied for justice. many faculty members and staff joined in with signs of protest. back at school without walls, students hope their letters from the heart will help motivate prosecutors to seek charges against the shooter. >> it's something that you can't even imagine and it's so scary just the concept of it that you feel so motivated to do everything and anything you can. >> reporter: students at the school without walls are also planning a march from their school location, which is on the campus here at george washington university, to the white house. they are pulling permits so that can happen on tuesday. reporting live in northwest i'm jane watrel, news 4. >> thank you, jane. we're following a developing story about the death of whitney houston. the l.a. county coroner just released his autopsy. it says that she drowned. heart disease and cocaine use were contributing factors. the coroner's office says it was

evident that houston was a chronic cocaine user. the legendary singer died last month in a bath tub at the beverly hilton hotel. beverly hills police say there was no evidence of wrongdoing in her death. a pregnant woman stabbed in the stomach at her home in d.c. early this morning. the child did not survive. and now police are offering a reward for information about all this. erika gonzalez reports. >> reporter: a pregnant woman loses her baby after being stabbed inside her southeast apartment. >> that's sad, real sad. i feel sorry for her and the baby. >> reporter: police say it happened thursday morning at 4220 9th street southeast. an anonymous neighbor tells me the expectant mom came pounding on her door, yelling for help around 2:30 this morning. the neighbor says she called 911 after noticing the victim was bleeding from her stomach. during that time she says the

expectant mom's boyfriend and family arrived. the neighbor tells me the mother to be told her she was asleep on her couch when a man she didn't know entered the home wearing some type of hood and stabbed her. 7th district police says there is no sign of forced entry to the apartment. we found this door and window on the complex shattered. neighbors say a family member of the victim enraged by what happened likely caused the break. >> well, it does concern me but i know things happen all over so i just stay prayed up. >> reporter: the victim was transported here to howard university hospital where the baby identified as koran rashad hunt later died. however, police tell us the mother is recovering. in northwest, ericka gonzalez, news 4. police are offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in that case. there was a bank robbery and bomb scare at a bank in northeast d.c. today. it happened at the td bank on

first street shortly after noon. a man walked in and handed a teller a note demanding money. as he was leaving a dye pack exploded. officers took the man into custody. the suspect then told police he left the bomb inside the bank. officers shut down the entire area. no explosives were found. that man has been arrested. another grocery chain is getting rifd the so-called pink slime in its meat. today giant foods said it will no longer buy fresh ground beef that contains that filler. it comes one day after safeway, shoppers food warehouse, food lion, all did the same. pink slime is the nickname for a cheap meat filler. it's commonly treated with ammonia to kill bacteria. critics say that filler could harbor e-coli and salmonella. the meat industry says the filler is safe. it's been around and in your meat for 20 years. today president obama reversed his position on part of the controversial keystone pipeline. his move is seen as acknowledgment that gasoline

prices are becoming a major factor in the race for the white house. steve handelsman reports. >> reporter: president obama went to oklahoma, republican territory, to defuse a charge republicans are using against him in the campaign. that high fuel prices are his fault. that he is restricting domestic production. >> under my administration, america is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. >> reporter: amid piles of new pipe, mr. obama announced he is fast tracking approval for the south section of the keystone pipeline from cushing, oklahoma to houston, texas. >> anybody who suggests that somehow we're suppressing domestic oil production isn't paying attention. >> reporter: critics charge the president is paying attention to public outrage and reversing himself on part of keystone, keeping the longer north section stalled under environmental review. >> so it's kind of hard to give the president a whole lot of

credit for expediting something that he in fact stopped last year. >> pretty bizarre that we are here watching the president take credit for this. >> environmentalists aren't pleased with the president's move. >> this is about shipping some of the dirtiest oil on the planet through some sensitive environmental areas. >> reporter: rick santorum demanded more u.s. soil to put in pipelines. >> it's one of the reasons you're seeing oil prices continue to go up because the president refuses to open up lands for oil and gas exploration, particularly oil exploration. >> reporter: it is an issue democrats worry will dog the president into the fall. the pain at the pump is increasing. so this afternoon in ohio mr. obama is reminding voters that he is also hiking automotive fuel efficiency standards. so drivers don't have to buy so much fuel. i'm steve handelsman, news 4. it is now easier to make your way around this year's cherry blossom festival we're told. new signs posted around the tidal basin tell visitors about

upcoming events. they also allow people to take self-guided educational tours. there is a new smart phone app that launched -- that allows users to browse hundreds of performances. you can also get the latest restaurant information there. this year marks the 100th anniversary of the cherry blossoms arriving in d.c. from the government of japan. about 1 million people are expected to visit the area this year. >> we were talking about the pink snow you're already seeing. as the blossoms -- >> really nice down there. still ahead metro is showing what it takes to fix those broken escalators plaguing the transit system. new video connected to deadly shootings in france may be connected to the man behind those attacks. there are some new developments on a so-called shadow campaign allegedly tied to d.c. mayor vincent gray. we'll take a look at the list of the best and the worst gas guzzlers on the road. ahn, doug, we got some rain heading our way.

>> we have some rain coming our way but one more day of fantastic weather. take a look at the numbers we've seen today. 76 in washington, 85 just to our west. that's a little hint of things to come. i'll break it down and show you what's to come next in just a minute. dan? hey doug. another big game for the capitals there in philadelphia tonight. the nationals' gio gonzalez has his worst outing of the spring and a day after kicking the tires on r.g. iii the redskins taking a closer look at stanford quarterback andrew luck as news 4 at 6:00 continues.

murder charges are expected tomorrow in connection with the afghan shooting rampage that occurred on march 11th and the death toll has gone up. military officials previously said 16 civilians were killed. now they say 17 are dead. a senior defense official is telling nbc news today that staff sergeant robert bales will be charged with 17 counts of murder, six counts of assault, and attempted murder. the reason for the revision of the death toll is not clear. we are learning more about the terror suspect killed after a 32-hour standoff with police in france. mohammed merah was shot in the head as he tried to jump from his apartment window early this morning. tonight police say they have found videos that he made during the murders of seven people and

they say he had planned to kill again. nbc's jim mess aaceda reports f teluse. >> reporter: he told police he would die with his guns in his hand and was granted his wish in the end. this morning several explosions followed by a number of bursts of automatic weapons fire were found in around the apartment in northern teluse, the 30-hour siege ending. according to police eyewitnesses, merah was holed up inside his bathroom when they entered the premises. he then burst out through the door firing weapons from both hands. two policemen were also injured but not seriously. merah had bragged to police on wednesday that he killed three french soldiers last week because france was occupying afghanistan, that his cold-blooded killing of a rabbi and three children at a jewish school was in revenge for the deaths of innocent palestinian children at the hands of israel and the west. and the killing spree may not have ended there.

police say they launched the raid early wednesday morning after merah said he planned to kill again. his target? another soldier. >> he was very determined. that sort of terrorist. if he is an al qaeda related terrorist is an extremely dangerous individual indeed. >> reporter: there has been great relief of course but also questions about why it took the police so long, more than a week, and of course after seven victims were killed, to move on merah given that he had been on the police radar. in some very frank comments this morning, the french foreign minister said that if there were intelligence failures they would be taken extremely seriously. i'm jim maceda, nbc news, reporting from teluse. now back to you. there are new details about the criminal probe into d.c. mayor vincent gray's campaign back in 2010. federal officials are looking into a possible shadow campaign and we're learning who within that campaign might have been involved. tom sherwood reports.

>> reporter: news 4 last week reported that the shadow campaign was part of the focus by the u.s. attorney's office probing the 2010 campaign and its possible use of unreported cash. prosecutors sent out a flurry of new subpoenas to gather information on any cash or contributions that came from businessman jeffrey thompson, a key financial backer for gray and other campaigns. the post reporting new details of the alleged shadow campaign had sources pointing to long-time political operative vernon hawkins seen here in the hat and overcoat on the day gray filed formal papers to run. hawkins, who has worked on field operations for campaigns since the 1970s did not return telephone calls. gray's office had no comment. sources with knowledge of the gray campaign previously have told news 4 that there was some legitimate confusion on who had authority to spend money. essentially folks were paid independent of the campaign, paid cash directly. and the sources tell news 4 that gray's campaign was rushing to

compete with adrian finty who had millions in campaign cash. one source told us any shadow campaign may have ban misguided effort by some to create a safeguard to back up the get out the vote operation, to even the playing field against fenty. in the district tom sherwood, news 4. the mayor told reporters this week he would no longer comment on any aspect of the federal investigation. he says he asked for that investigation last year and is now awaiting the results. well, after the fog or overcast sky burned off today it was nice and kind of hot out there. >> and the temperatures went -- a little bit of humidity out there too. >> yes indeed. >> most areas made their way to the mid 70s. some made their way into the low 80s today. i think that's where just about everybody is going to be during the day tomorrow. today a great day to get out and about and take a look at the cherry blossoms that are going to be out there. even many neighborhoods around here have the cherry blossoms that are blooming and they are just simply gorgeous. they are blooming right now as

we speak down there toward the tidal basin. if you're thinking about heading down there here are a couple facts. first off the blossoms are supposed to be peaking through tomorrow. peak is defined by about 70% or more of those blossoms in bloom. at the bottom it says get out now if you can. because by saturday, i think we'll see a lot of rain out there. unfortunately i think the rain could affect the blossoms. now 76 degrees. that's the high temperature for the day today. low of 59 this morning. 12 days in a row above average. look at the low this morning in a 59. the average high is 57. so we are well above that by nearly 20 degrees. right now 76. winds out of the south at 7 miles per hour and our humidity up there at 62%. so it is a very humid evening and i do think we will see a repeat of this morning with the fog overnight tonight. 81 currently in manassas. 81 in la plata. over toward waldorf. 82 culpepper and 82 in fredericksburg. very, very warm air across our region. it is only going to get warmer

during the day tomorrow. here's the cloud cover. we saw a little bit earlier today those clouds giving way to plenty of sunshine here. they stuck up around the philadelphia area during the day but they still reached the high temperature there of about 71 degrees. here is the storm itself. and this is a monster storm. we've been talking about this all week long. look at the rain from canada down toward the gulf coast. from the atlantic all the way back toward the rocky mountains. that's how big this storm is and it's an extremely slow mover so this is the first piece we're going to see and then we'll see the main piece of energy move through overnight saturday night and into sunday. but the first piece will get here tomorrow afternoon. and into tomorrow night. future weather forecast, nice and warm today. you already know that. that warm air sticks around. tomorrow partly sunny and another great day. isolated chance of a shower. maybe a thunderstorm. but tomorrow is not going to be wet at all compared to what we're going to see on saturday. here's the first piece of energy. it's that cold front that will make its way our way. i expect a lot of rain during the day on saturday. the potential for thunderstorms is there and we will see that

potential for some stronger storms especially from washington to the south. then the piece of energy, the stronger piece moves in during the day on sunday. that will shift our winds out of the northeast bringing us a rather continuous and chilly rain. temperatures should be around average or even a little bit below if this wind comes off the atlantic like i think it could. temperatures could be in the mid 50s all day long with that rain. so not a very good day on sunday. here's 1:00 on saturday afternoon and this is how much rainfall we expect across the area. this is one computer model giving us about a half inch through about 1:00 on saturday. that means this is going to start friday night and go right on through the day on saturday. watch what happens by saturday evening here. a line of showers and thunderstorms developing from washington down toward southern maryland. maybe some stronger storms. most areas on saturday evening already over an inch of rain and then on sunday, well, on sunday we could just add to those totals upwards of 1.3 in leesburg. 1.3 manassas. over an inch in washington. i think the numbers could even

get upwards of 2 to 3 inches of rain as we make our way through the rest of the day sunday. we're in for a fairly wet weekend so get out now and enjoy it if you can. partly cloudy this evening. a great evening. nice and warm. 64 to 70. tomorrow we'll start off with that fog again but it's going to remain on the mild side. tomorrow afternoon, after we get rid of the clouds we'll see sunshine in the afternoon, 79 to 85 degrees. and we'll be a little bit on the humid side and then here comes the stormy weekend with thunderstorms activity on saturday. just rain on sunday and it could even last through early monday morning before finally clearing out and, you we rebound right back into the mid to upper 60s by the end of next week. >> all right. >> it's great. >> we can handle it. thanks, doug. still ahead we'll tell you why the real danger on the road could be the people walking the streets. >> the popular sex shop raising eyebrows again in old town alexandria. >> there may not be enough money to go

the police chief in the trayvon martin case is temporarily stepping down. martin is the unarmed black teenager killed in sanford, florida shot by george zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer who claimed self-defense even though martin was only carrying skittles and a bottle of tea.

today the police chief said he stands by his department's investigation but admits that he has become a distraction. d.c. police are investigating the stabbing of a pregnant woman in her home in southeast washington early this morning. the victim is in stable condition now at howard university hospital. her infant child was delivered but later died. police say there is no sign of forced entry into that house. there is word that federal officials are investigating a so-called shadow campaign that involved vincent gray's 2010 race for mayor in d.c. according to "the washington post." the shadow campaign allegedly raised and spent money to get gray elected but was not disclose disclosed on campaign finance reports. more die in accidents on prince george's county roads than any other county in the state. >> police are launching a new campaign to save lives and will soon be handing out steep fines if you violate those rules of the road. darcy spencer with our report. >> reporter: statistics show prince george's county has the highest number of pedestrian

fatalities in the state. do you think it's dangerous in the county trying to cross the roads? >> yes it is. cars don't stop most of the time. it's dangerous out here. >> reporter: in 2009 and 2010 there were 23 pedestrian deaths in prince george's. last year two dozen. police say in 75% of the cases the pedestrian was at fault. >> i think they should improve on what they're doing, much better than they're doing. >> wait for the white sign that says it's okay to walk. >> reporter: for the first time in a decade the county has joined the metro area's street smart campaign. on wednesday officers were in langley park and other areas in the county providing information to walkers in english and spanish before a push to begin enforcement next week. >> we notice a high volume of pedestrian traffic that aren't obeying the pedestrian laws such as crossing at crosswalks or they're crossing into traffic. >> reporter: in january of this year michael thomas and mildred freeman were struck and killed

by a hit-and-run driver while crossing oxon hill road. the couple, who were walking hand in hand on their way to a bus stop, were not in a crosswalk. >> you know, when you are going to get a bus stop and you are going to work you're really not thinking about a crosswalk but the quickest way to get to the bus stop so you can be off to work. but again, if they were in the crosswalk it may not have happened. >> reporter: some point to the crosswalks themselves, placed far from bus stops and shopping centers. still, there are questions as to whether walking in a crosswalk will make a difference. >> have you had a lot of close calls? >> a lot. >> you've almost been hit? >> yes. >> what were the circumstances? >> drivers trying to make the light when the light already turned red. >> reporter: the safety campaign is going to affect pedestrians, people on bikes, as well as motorists. this information has been handed out and people caught jaywalking could face a $50 fine. people who fail to stop for those in a crosswalk could face a $500 fine. in langley park, darcy spencer, news 4. and police will start

issuing tickets starting next wednesday. >> going to be a mess around walter reed medical center tomorrow with an anti-terrorism exercise there that could make traffic a mess tomorrow morning in bethesda. officials at walter reed say nobody outside the campus will see anything out of the ordinary. but there will be increased security at the entrance gates. that could back up traffic on surrounding roads during the morning rush. the hospital says drivers should prepare for some delays. metro riders can now get a look at the progress in the escalator upgrades at the dupont circle stop. this video from metro's website shows workers removing the center escalator from the station's south entrance. they did that yesterday. crews broke the escalator into seven pieces because of this. that thing is huge. they had to do that. each piece required three cranes to be hauled from -- taken out of the station. dupont's south entrance is undergoing a full

reconstruction. those escalators are expected to be closed for at least another six months. you know sex sells and a local shop is proving it with its curb side ad. but some parents and some nearby businesses say the sign is a tad too racy. news 4's derrick ward has more on a controversy in old town. >> reporter: it's a time of year when foot traffic picks up in old town alexandria with no shortage of signs aimed at enticing patrons. it is an important part of doing business in a place like this. but there is one sign outside a shop in old town that's getting a lot of attention though all of it, not necessarily what the proprietor might expect or want. it's a sign outside lotus bloom advertising class instruction in a certain intimate act described by two words which uttered by themselves wouldn't get a passing notice but put them together and you raise eyebrows. >> we haven't had too many complaints. we teach a lot of different work shops on a variety of topics. >> reporter: the proprietors describe the shop as a place

where customers can discuss topics, ask questions and make intimate purchases with candor and without judgment, a business started by a nurse who saw a need or niche to be filled. >> mostly we try to advertise because people don't know there is an education aspect to the store. >> you know what? i don't really notice them. >> reporter: in a few instances the sign did get a second glance and reaction. >> numerous people come down here, mainly children and old people, and i think it's totally disrespectful. >> it doesn't really bother me. for kids walking by it may be would bother them but for me, just another store. >> not appropriate for this neighborhood. >> reporter: now the classes are immensely popular. as a matter of fact, the first section is already filled up with a waiting list from january. but to meet the growing demand, it will add an advanced course come next week. in alexandria, derrick ward, news 4. >> alexandria city officials say

they've not received any recent complaints about the sign. police in prince george's county say a local barber shop was selling more than just hair cuts. they say they received a tip that the store was selling stolen bottles of liquid tide, the soap. today they raided the nouveau hair store on new hampshire avenue in chillham, maryland. police recovered the stolen detergent with dozens of bottles of dove beauty wash and other stolen items. police arrested four men at the shop. they've all been charged with theft. police say they're going to arrest more people coming up pretty soon. it appears that protests over the school budget in prince william county in virginia might be paying off. teachers have been demonstrating against a plan to freeze their pay for the second time in three years. last night school board members considered a budget that included a 2% increase in pay. that measure was defeated in favor of looking for additional budget cuts to increase the

raise. the board will meet again next wednesday. a final plan must be sent to the county board of supervisors by april 1st. a program that helps first-time parents with their newborns is in jeopardy across the state of maryland because cuts in the state budget may cost the healthy families program the bulk of its funding. news 4's erika gonzalez has our report. >> reporter: matthew is 9 months old, a growing baby boy, being raised by his single mom. she tells me when she was 7 months' pregnant the maryland health department referred her to healthy families, a program that provides home visits once a week an hour at a time for up to four years to help teach first-time parents the ins and outs of raising children. >> does your child do this position? >> reporter: the program is so important, in fact, the maryland state legislature just passed the home visiting accountability

act of 2012 establishing standards for these visits. >> make this investment with these kids when they're young and it is going to reap great benefits for the community as they get older. >> reporter: montgomery county police chief tom major says he is behind the program because it not only teaches parents how to change diapers and bottle feed but how to give positive reinforcement and even discipline, minimizing the odds of child abuse and neglect among other things he says. >> and evidence has shown that people, kids and families who have taken advantage of these programs later in life have far fewer problems and far less likely to be involved in the criminal justice system than those families that didn't take advantage of these kinds of programs. >> reporter: however, the program could soon come to an end. >> the home visiting bill was all about establishing standards for home visiting in the state of maryland but the funding is a different issue. >> reporter: janet kerwin with healthy families tells me cuts to the maryland state budget have placed the program in jeopardy of losing the bulk of its money.

she says the focus is on the federal government to see if they can free up money and continue helping parents establish what she calls a strong base and guidelines to raise her child. in rockville, erika gonzalez, news 4. the budget for this program was cut nearly in half from $4.6 million to $2.2 million. the maryland family network is hopeful the program will be funded. they just don't know how until -- they won't know rather until the supplemental budget is revealed next week. coming up we're going to tell you which vehicles can save you thousands of dollars in gas money. >> a big storm threatening our peak cherry blossoms during the festival. doug is going to have the details. his forecast is coming up. coming up in sports, stanford quarterback andrew luck impresses at his pro day. and the capitals trying to close out a five-game road trip in style. as news 4 at 6:00 continues.

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we have breaking news out of tysons corner in virginia right now, told a man fell from a pedestrian bridge on cambridge road an hour and a half ago. police say the man dropped about 20 feet. he is at a hospital now, no word right now on his condition. we'll have more on this as more details become available. wendy? >> gas prices as you know are on the rise. there is no sign of stopping. right now the national average for a gallon of regular gas is $3.88.

that's up more than 30 cents from last month. in the district it's $4.09. maryland, 3.91. in virginia 3.81 a gallon. "consumer reports" just released its new list of the best and the worst vehicles when it comes to fuel efficiency. the three worst? getting just 13 miles to the gallon. the cadillac escalade is considered the least efficient. close behind the dodge ram 2500 and the ford expedition el. all of these are costing you more than $3500 bucks a year to fill up. on the flip side, the nissan leaf is the electric vehicle and is ranked best. gets 106 miles to the gallon and costs just over 400 bucks a year to fill the thing up. right behind it the chevy volt and the toyota prius. the bottom line? if you can afford to trade in your gas guzzler you could save more than $2,000 or more. back to you. >> can't beat that. >> we could save some money you and i.

>> if we, yeah. but there are perks on the other side. that's another story. what are we looking at? >> we have a lot of stuff going on today. tiger testing that injured achilles. he was back on the golf course and looking good. a big game for the capitals as they travel to philly to take on the flyers and the redskins get a closeup look at the other quarterback they could be selecting with the number two overall pick. coming up after sports, d.c. mayor vincent gray apparently ready to take the next step to

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take a look at this shot. simply gorgeous as we look towards the capitol building and you can see the cherry blossoms there. wondering why they haven't turned the fountain on yet. it's warm enough. i don't see any freezes coming any time soon and you can see the other trees starting to get some leaves on the trees. the color fantastic out there this evening. what a fantastic day we're seeing. current temperature right now 76 degrees with winds out of the south about 7 miles per hour. we have seen a spectacular afternoon. it is going to be a fantastic evening and then tomorrow just a gorgeous day. after some fog i think we'll see some fog but then saturday and sunday they go right back down

hill. 80 degrees in rockville right now. 73 in gaithersburg. 79 over toward college park and right now camp springs, andrews airforce base coming in at 77 degrees. the warm spots manassas and warranton coming in into the 80s. dulles at 78 and out toward leesburg the temperature there right now at 77 degrees. so nice and warm all across the area and it's also dry. don't expect any rain this evening but do expect rain this weekend. here's why. look at this storm. really just a monster of a storm making its way across the east. the good news is the severe weather that it brought a little bit earlier this week starting to calm down a little bit. we will see a chance for some strong storms here on saturday but i don't expect any severe weather. what i do expect though is a lot of rain. temperatures tonight about where they've been over the past couple nights. very warm. 58 in washington tonight. 52 in manassas. 54 in culpepper. 57 in fredericksburg. fog will be a possibility tonight. once again maybe some areas of dense fog so once again give yourself a little bit of extra time tomorrow morning. then tomorrow afternoon the fog

should burn off and we'll see the sun come out and temperatures into the 80s. 83 in washington. 87 in fredericksburg. right now i think tomorrow will be the warmest day that we've seen so far this year. the weekend forecast coming up. >> okay. >> thanks. >> good golf weather. >> but not on saturday and sunday. all right. good watching golf weather on saturday and sunday. >> you know, there is a lot of talk and everybody is excited about r.g. iii but he is the second pick. there is a guy that's probably going to go before him. >> right. it really has been all over sports talk radio lately. what if the colts take robert griffin iii with the number one pick in the nfl draft and the redskins are stuck with luck. d.c. fans already in love with r.g. iii but stanford quarterback andrew luck has been called the best quarterback prospect to come out in years. luck would have been the number one pick last season. instead, he went back to college at stanford. today luck had his pro day in palo alto and just like r.g. iii he killed them.

luck drew rave reviews as you would expect for a guy who's been so highly touted. the conditions were not ideal since it was a bit windy but scouts came away impressed. r.g. iii some say has a slightly stronger arm but most insiders still believe luck will go first over all to the colts leaving r.g. iii for the redskins. nine games left in the regular season for the capitals and they're in the same spot that they have been in for the last month or so. stuck in the eighth and final playoff spot with 80 points but the caps aren't alone. the sabres also have 80 points so there is very little wiggle room for the capitals who have another tough game tonight in philadelphia. the caps coming in off a 5-3 win in detroit and they've put together a good string of games lately winning five of their last seven. it's been said this team will go as far as alex ovechkin takes them and lately the great eight has been just that, great. he scored five games, five goals

in the last four games and has been getting some help too from mike knuble who has exploded after scoring just three goals the entire season. knuble has three in the last four. >> those guys are guys that make this team tick. the guys like knuble who battle as hard as he does and has had ups and downs and when he scores we're all happy for him. the same with ovi because a lot of people have been on him and he gets going and we're all fired up for each other. the more you see guys starting to play good and sacrifice the better we'll play. >> for me the most important thing to do the simple things to get guys going because one guy, you can't win with one guy. it has to be all the guys on the bench and who is on the ice. >> all right. that's alex ovechkin. alex seven is out and joe ward in for the caps tonight. what is one thing that could derail hopes for any team in a

hurry? >> injuries. >> of course. >> that was the weatherman. and he is right. injuries could do it. the nationals already could be without their cleanup hitter for opening day. michael moore is having a second treatment for a strained right lat that has forced him to miss all of spring training. right now he is completely shut down. the nationals say his status for opening day is unclear. this is a guy who had over 30 home runs last year. they desperately need him in the lineup. meanwhile down in jupiter the nationals blasted by the cardinals this afternoon, struggling in spring training. we start in the second. no score. runners on the corner for gio gonzalez. he strikes out garcia and tony cruz is on first caught stealing. they get him in the run down but somebody scores at home. so it was really all for naught. so the cardinals take a 1-0 lead. top of the fourth, garcia also helping his own cause on the mound facing roger bernadinea and he gets them looking. garcia was nasty. struck out nine in five innings

of work. bottom of the fourth more trouble for gio. a one-two pitch to tyler greene and greene just tatoos this one over the wall in left a two-run shot. gonzalez gave up five runs in four innings. the nationals get pounded, 9-0. they are now just 5-11 in spring training. march madness back in full swing tonight. wisconsin and syracuse tip off the sweet 16 on the men's side. in women's hoops the terps back in the sweet 16 for the third time in the past seven seasons. to get to the elite eight, they will have to get by the defending national champs in texas a&m. the terps have had the luxury of home cooking the last three years playing their first and second-round games in college park. not advancing out of college park last year, served as big-time motivation this season. the terps 72-68 win over louisville on monday give them a boost of confidence but they know the defending champs will

be the favorites come sunday. >> i know people will take that experience over us but we're hungry. we're hungry and ready to make our run in this tournament and like i said if everybody bought into what the coaches have been preaching to us all year and to our motto is fight to the finish and that's something that the whole locker room has bought into and we all believe in each other and that's what is most important at the end of the day. >> we are obviously on a tremendous ride, tremendous journey with this team, a team that doesn't want their season to end. our conference has prepared us, you know, to be able to take on a great opponent like texas a&m. so just looking forward to the matchup. >> ready to go. pga tour guides in orlando at the arnold palmer invitational. and tiger is back from his achilles injury and looking pretty smooth. that is arnie looking on. he likes what he sees in this one. ryan moore on the par 3 7th from 201 yards out.

this is what you call pureed. watch this closely. a couple bounces. rolling, rolling, rolling. >> wow. >> and in for the ace. the second one of the day. the other one by anthony kim. on 14. charlie wie going for the bird and this is a long one. he gets to two. he's chirping. a coleader with jason duffner both at six under. as for tiger, tiger is putting for birdie here on 15. tiger very solid in this round. he finishes at three under par as he gets the birdie to go so tiger just three shots off the pace. i meant to come out to you after the quarterback story. everybody is so infatuated and in love with rg iii for good reason because the kid has a sparkling personality and he obviously is a heck after quarterback. but it is really a no lose situation for the redskins. >> i was ready to say it's not the worst thing that can happen to you. you just have to take andrew

luck. >> he was going to be the number one pick last year. >> was that 30 yards? you remember the last clip? >> yes. >> 30 yards? 60 yards? >> yes. it was a little over 50 yards and they just flicked it like nothing. >> impressive. you never could do that could you? >> no. >> neither could i. it would have been nice. >> it would have been. well coming up a rare sighting of a panda in the wild. >> nice to see that, too. for all your news we invite you to follow news 4 online.

d.c. mayor vincent gray is about to meet with residents of ward 6 and 7 tonight and plans to discuss the pros and cons of having a redskins training facility in d.c. gray supports a plan that would build it on land near rfk. it would also include a hotel and a hall of fame. some council members and residents don't like it. they think it could derail other development plans for that area that have been in the works for years. again, this mee ining begins at 7:00 at the d.c. armory. coming up at 11:00 officers

going door to door after a realtor was attacked while showing a home. tonight there are rallies for justice all over the country and at howard university for trayvon martin. and we'll tell you why a woman is now facing charges after she bragged about jury duty. let's get a final check on our forecast. we have another beautiful day. >> oh, awesome. >> going to be tough. >> i wish i had tomorrow off. i really do. i know you've got it off, buddy. thanks a lot. clouds early then some sunshine. very warm. a bit humid. 79 to 85 degrees. it is going to be a great day no matter where you are unless you're golfing with dan tomorrow. four-day forecast, 83 for the high and then here comes the rain on saturday and sunday. expect thunderstorms on saturday with the rain and then just a plain cool breezy rain on sunday. it does look like the rain could last into early monday morning before clearing on out of here. rather chilly on monday night into tuesday morning and then we do warm right back up with

temperatures about 10 degrees above average by middle of next week once again. >> thanks, doug. we see game around here all the time usually a deer eating up the plants you spent a lot of money planting in your front yard. imagine what it would be like to actually see a panda in the wild. it happened recently in szechwan province in china. it was on tuesday. a guy in a village there happened to be quick with his telephone video cam. he saw giant panda taking a drink from a mountain stream. can you see it? >> yeah. down in the lower area there coming up now. >> right there to the left. >> yeah. >> center left. the panda then quietly just wandered away. the guy ought to be very happy about that because they are not toys. china has 50 panda preserves but there are believed to be only about 1600 of them left in the wild. they are very rare and that kind of footage is extraordinary. >> yes it is. >> what a thrill that must have been.

>> a thrill just to see the video. >> indeed. nightly news coming up. >> see