>> i'm jim vance. we begin with a whole lot of cash on the line tonight. the megamillions lottery jackpot is growing huge, big time. it is now at $640 million. people are strategizing, standing in long lines, teaming up with family and co-workers all in an effort to beat the odds to take home the largest lottery jackpot in history. pat collins in northwest d.c. now with more on all of this. >> reporter: i'm at the tinley market and people continue to line up hoping to get that lucky lottery ticket. the numbers are mind boggling. what could you do with all that money? you're going to what? >> buy the state of alabama. >> reporter: then what? >> give it to people. >> send my children to college and then buy a great big castle. >> reporter: not a house. >> i want a castle. >> i'm going to become great

friends wiand buy my own privat island. >> $640 million. >> reporter: who is going to win it? >> me! >> reporter: it's the biggest jackpot of all time. with all that money at stake you just can't sit on the sidelines. >> really? wouldn't your money be better spent donating it to the needy for clothing? >> it's a really big jackpot. >> needy smeedy. you win this one it's joe banks for everybody. you're going to like the way you look. >> $640 million! >> reporter: with that kind of money at stake, you just can't take it lightly. here at the news 4 megamillions research center we've been studying the lottery for sometime, checking out all the numbers, looking at the trends. we're trying to give you that extra edge. >> $640 million!

>> reporter: more than $500 million! >> what a waste. you know the odds are way, way against you. >> that's more than $500 million. >> who cares about odds? that's why they call it gambling. >> odds of winning, $175 million, $ -- 175,736,500 to one. they say you have a better chance of getting hit by an asteroid than do you of winning the lottery. i don't know anyone who has been hit by an asteroid but a lot of people who won the lottery. >> $640 million? >> reporter: $640 million. >> $640 million? >> well all right. but don't say i didn't warn you. >> go get those numbers. i'm going yacht shopping. >> $640 million!

>> reporter: who is going to win it? >> me! >> reporter: now if there is no winner tonight, the estimated jackpot would be -- would be -- $975 million! live in northwest, pat collins, news 4. >> if you don't show up on monday, pat, we'll understand why. okay? all is forgiven. thank you. hold on tight to those tickets. tune in tonight at 11:00 and we'll have the drawing for that record-breaking jackpot in our broadcast. in the race for the white house the gop candidates are turning their focus to wisconsin. it's the most competitive of the three primaries happening on tuesday. and president obama is also hitting the campaign trail. steve handelsman is live on capitol hill on this friday evening. hey, steve.

>> hey, wendy. thanks. good evening. there is a district of columbia republican primary tuesday. there is one in maryland on tuesday for republicans. the prevote polls show mitt romney the run away favorite in those races. that's why the focus is on wisconsin. republican leaders here on capitol hill hope mitt romney can put away rick santorum in wisconsin. four days before the primary, mitt romney came to wisconsin with a seven-point lead in the nbc news marist poll. >> president obama thinks he is doing a good job. i'm not kidding. he actually thinks he's doing a great job. >> reporter: he's getting key endorsements. conservative house leader paul ryan, who is from wisconsin, 87-year-old former president george bush 41. >> i do think it is time for the party to get behind governor romney. >> reporter: florida tea party senator marco rubio, a wave of romney endorsements. that is really important for him

right now because he needs to start bringing the republican party together to start bringing party unity and start generating some enthusiasm for the general election. >> i'm here -- [ applause ] >> -- yes. i'll take off my jacket. >> reporter: president obama is already campaigning. four events today in two states, claiming he kept his promise of change. >> change is the health care reform that we passed after over a century of trying. >> reporter: back in wisconsin, pennsylvanian rick santorum is still fighting romney. >> a great opportunity here. if wisconsin comes through for us, we got a three-week hiatus. we head to pennsylvania. >> reporter: but wisconsin could be the end. >> it's almost a make-or-break deal for rick santorum. he needs to do very well. he is going into debt. he is not raising enough money to probably survive until tampa so he needs a boost and wisconsin would do that for him. >> reporter: or dramatically

widen mitt romney's lead. >> that chill in the air today, doug, are we going to have a little warmup this weekend? i see the sun is peeking out now. >> the sun is trying to come out. we've gone up one degree from where we were last hour and now up to a balmy 53. has been on the cool side all day long. some areas staying in the 40s just about all day. you can see winds out of the east about eight miles an hour. we've seen mostly cloudy if not cloudy skies just about all day but now are starting to see some breaks in the clouds and that's helping to bump temperatures up a little bit. now 55 in winchester. 55 in culpepper. look at charlottesville. 66 right now. so there was some warm air in the region. gaithersburg though coming in with a temperature of only 46. a very chilly day there.

we'll continue to see breaks in the clouds through the evening but back through western maryland through west virginia, storminess, a thundershower making its way toward the east. it will try to come into our region through the next few hours and then more shower activity most likely during the day tomorrow. but will it be a washout? i expect showers early in the morning. i'll show you what you can expect on your saturday and if you cancel any plans before the weekend. >> thanks. mastercard and visa are warning banks tonight about a potential security breach about card holders' account information. officials at mastercard say the breach did not impact their own system. they say it involves a third party called global payments. the company says the security breach happened back in early march. mastercard has hired an independent data security organization to find out exactly what happened. if your account has been compromised federal law protects consumers so card holders have

no liability for unauthorized use. the lawyer for the u.s. soldier accused of killing 17 people in afghanistan says the u.s. government is hiding evidence. staff sergeant robert bales is being held at a military facility in kansas. at a news conference today defense lawyer john henry brown says the witnesses to that shooting on march 11 were released from an afghan hospital before he could interview them. he also says the government has not turned over important files. the army is preparing to conduct a psychological evaluation on . police made an arrest today after a bomb threat at a fairfax county high school. 19-year-old marco antonio toledo is charged with calling in a threat to annandale high. the school was evacuated this morning while police searched it and found a suspicious backpack near a door but nothing threatening was inside. after a few hours everyone was allowed back inside the school. a couple was caught in a

violent fight over a taxi cab this week that happened outside the verizon center after a van halen concert. the fight ended with a trip to the hospital for one woman and tonight jane watrel talked to the suspect. she is live from southwest with more on that exclusive encounter. jane? >> reporter: well, wendy, police say there are hundreds of events every year at the verizon center that they work without incident but not this time. in fact they say no one can remember such an act of violence over a taxi cab. he walks out of a d.c. police station after being charged with aggravated assault following wednesday's van halen concert at the verizon center. des police say a capitol hill couple just hailed a cab after the concert when bradley and three friends approached. >> the man and woman getting into the cab when the group tried to rush past them into the cab. that started the argument. the group became violent right away and escalated the situation. they assaulted the man four on one. >> reporter: the woman called 911 and went to her husband's

aid. police say bradley hit her in the face in front of several witnesses. >> when he struck her she fell back. he knocked her semiconscious. her body was going limp and the back of her head struck the sidewalk causing additional injury to her brain and skull. >> reporter: the woman was hospitalized with head injuries and later released. bradley fled the scene and was later found in a nearby parking garage. when asked what happened, he had this to say. >> i said i don't wish to be interviewed if that's what you're doing. >> reporter: police have a different take. >> a real cowardly act to hit that woman in the face like that. >> police say they believe alcohol was a factor. bradley is due back in court on monday. reporting live from southwest, i'm jane watrel, news 4. gary sennees was injured this morning in a crash along the george washington parkway. park police say it happened about 9:00 this morning near the memorial bridge. three cars were involved. sinise apparently was in town to

visit service members and their families. he was taken to the hospital with minor injuries. nobody else was injured. the cause of the crash is still being investigated. military officials at quantico are changing their get tough policy on drunk drivers. the change comes after a federal judge tossed out five dwi cases against the marines. the judge ruled the marines' constitutional rights were violated because they were essentially fooled into waiving their right to a court-martial. that set them up to double punishment, sanctions from the military and criminal court in civilian court. crews had to rescue one of their own. >> we have learned where medical marijuana is going to be grown in the district and some people are ready to embrace their new neighbors. today we had to say farewell to one of our own. take a look back at joe krebs'

last day. >> amber, what's coming up in sports? coming up in sports the nfl bountygate takes another turn. this time though against the league. and one of the best local high school basketball teams needs some last-second heroics. plus the capitals with the ♪

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there was a scary scene in detroit when three firefighters narrowly escaped a roof collapse yesterday. the three were on the roof of a building burning dry cleaning business when the roof began to cave in. two firefighters had to work to pull their fellow firefighter to safety. no word yet on what caused the fire but the firefighters are going to be fine. there was a dramatic series of raids in france. s.w.a.t. teams across the country arrested 19 people and cracked down on islamic extremism. police say weapons were seized in today's raids. the french president sarkozy says more arrests are in the works and says some people will be deported. last week a gunman inspired by al qaeda went on a rampage killing seven people before he died in a shootout with police. but police say there is no direct link to today's raids. tuesday's primary day in d.c., maryland, and wisconsin.

joining us now with some insight on what's coming up nbc legal analyst savannah guthrie will be moderating "meet the press" this sunday for david gregory. thanks for joining us. let's talk about wisconsin. will this pretty much wrap it up for romney if he wins that? >> i'm sure romney sees it that way. rick santorum may beg to differ. this is a key opportunity, perhaps last stand for rick santorum. i mean, he has described himself as the midwest candidate, the rust belt candidate. but he hasn't yet really demonstrated that with a convincing win outside his base. so wisconsin is an opportunity for that. nbc did a poll. came out today. shows a five-point race, romney in the lead. santorum has tended to actually -- with the poll numbers before hand he tends to over perform election night. maybe it is a tighter race than even that poll looks like. >> most likely paul ryan, marco rubio, both from more conservative element of the republican party, have endorsed romney. isn't that pretty much a death

nell for santorum and gingrich? >> you make a good point. santorum so far has really downplayed or duplissismissed t endorsements. he says sure the republican establishment is behind mitt romney and i'm not an establishment candidate. you can't say marco rubio just elected recently from the tea party wing and lass the credibility with the tea party is an establishment republican. paul ryan is another one who is a social conservative -- social conservatives on the far right really rally around. so losing those two has got to hurt santorum. it will be interesting to hear his response when he comes on "meet the press" about whether those endorsements hurt and whether they say something larger about what his colleagues think about whether he can really go all the way. >> but he is not the only guest on "meet the press" right? who else is on there? >> senator chuck schumer. a lot to talk about with him in particular the president's health care law. this is a tough week in the supreme court. no question about it. the justices were very skeptical about the law, whether it exceeds the federal government's power under the constitution,

and so what is set up here is a june decision. it's going to come one way or the other. you could see a very divided supreme court one way or the other. in the midst of the presidential election year, passing judgment on the president's signature legislative accomplishment will be interesting. >> would you care to ask our guests on how they want to decide? >> are you kidding? i have to say oral arguments are -- can be misleading but it was a tough week for the government no question. >> thank you so much. and we invite you to watch "meet the press" airing sunday morning at 10:30 on nbc. also on sunday's "press pass" melanie bloom wife of former nbc david correspondent david bloom talks about the dangers of deep vein thrombosis a silent epidemic that took her husband's life at the start of the iraqi war right after "meet the press." >> did you warn me it was going to be so cold today? >> i told you it would be cooler than yesterday. >> you did? >> mm-hmm. >> i must have missed it.

>> i forecasted a degree cooler. it was 10 degrees cooler. are you calling me out? >> no, man. >> it's okay. we talked about this last night at 11:00 the potential for today to be cooler and to see some shower activity. that potential came through. we saw some showers, much cooler numbers, high today only 54 at the airport and that's the coldest day since march 10th. right now, though, seeing a little sunshine out there. that sun trying to warm us up a little bit. this is all the sun we've seen and we will see more sunshine right on through the time the sun sets which is right around 7:30 this evening. low today was at 43. yeah, it was below average and, yes, it was cooler than what we were thinking because we thought, at least i thought we would see at least a little bit more sunshine today. but we were socked in with a cloud cover and look at gaithersburg only 48. baltimore only 47 degrees. the sun was out today down to the south. 64 in fredericksburg. 66 in charlottesville. so we did see some areas that were warmer but most of us stayed on the cool side. out there right now with the sunshine 53 degrees with winds out of the east at 8 miles an

hour. around the rest of the region, temperatures still cool to the north. 46 in gaithersburg. 47 in baltimore. still on the warmer side. down in fredericksburg temperature at 62 degrees. you need the jacket as you step out tonight. maybe if you're thinking about heading out to dinner or a movie but you may also need to take the umbrella because we have at least some shower activity trying to move through. there is the cloud cover we saw. starting to get out of here. but notice this line right here. this line of showers and even a couple thunderstorms that is moving our way. right now storm 4 radar all clear in the immediate area but look back here. just starting to pick up this thundershower and look just to the south of frostburg. a lot of lightning associated with this. i expect the thunderstorm to weaken as it does move toward the east into the panhandle of west virginia but i also think we will see some showers from it and there will be more showers tonight. cold front back to the west. moisture from the south. they're going to try to come together. they're going to do so, however, just offshore which means for us, not a big chance for rain and we really do need to see

some rain. what about three inches below average for the year. fortunately though not going to bring us that rain during the weekend. we don't want to see too many plans deterred by the weekend. as far as showers go for tomorrow, i think we'll actually see some showers tomorrow but not a wash out at all. you may just want to carry the umbrella around. tomorrow could end up being a pretty nice day especially if we see clouds early and then sunshine late in the afternoon. on sunday i think we'll see some sun early but then the clouds move back in and i expect another cold front to move through sunday night. that could bring us some shower activity overnight sunday night. but moeflt of sunday should be okay. so we may actually squeak out a pretty nice weekend. this evening clearing skies. cool. still nice. and dry early in most areas. temperatures 45 to about 52 degrees. tomorrow, 45 or tomorrow morning 45 to about 50 degrees so temperatures not going to fall all that much tonight. it will be rather cool and rather damp tomorrow but a few showers early. those showers could continue during the afternoon. we'll call it mostly cloudy. maybe a few breaks of sun. especially late in the day.

56 to about 61 degrees. so a little bit warmer than it was today. but still a little bit below average, too. we go back above average sunday, monday, and into tuesday. highs near 70 both monday and tuesday and right now tuesday looking a little unsettled but it does look better as we end the week next week and what you can see there is just about every day at least at or above average with the exception of tomorrow. which once again will not be too bad for late march. >> all right. thank you, doug. coming up tonight, medical marijuana will have some roots in the district. we'll tell you what plants will be grown. i'm julie carey in fairfax county. it is one of the busiest but in some spots most worn out roads in the area. but the parkway is about to get a multimillion dollar face lift. what you need to know

my dad was a union electrician. sometimes i'd tag along to a work site, carrying his lunch or tools. it was good, honest work. i went to college with the help of a union scholarship, then started a maryland business, creating jobs by providing financing to small companies wall street ignored. today, congress is ignoring our need for jobs. my dad the electrician taught me, if something's broken, get in there and try to fix it. i'm john delaney, and i approve this message.

that megamillions jackpot is now a record $640 million. you can watch tonight's drawing on news 4 at 11:00. if no one hits the jackpot it goes up to $975 million. today the gop presidential candidates focused on wisconsin, which is coming up on tuesday's primary. and nbc/marist poll shows mitt romney leading rick santorum 40% to 33% in that state. romney received a big endorsement today from wisconsin

representative paul ryan. the primary in wisconsin is the same day as primaries to be held in maryland and the district. an arlington man is charged with assault after a fight over a taxi near the verizon center. police say brian bradley physically assaulted a couple leaving the van halen concert this week. bradley allegedly hit the woman in the case knocking her almost unconscious and sending her to the hospital with a serious head injury. medical marijuana is starting to take root in the district. today the city announced which companies can grow it. >> the news 4 i-team has followed the debate for months. tisha thompson has reaction from the people and businesses who found out today about their new neighbors. >> reporter: it's a controversial plan sparking plenty of passion. and medical marijuana is coming to d.c. >> i think it's fair to the people who applied for it, fair to the community, and certainly one step closer to meeting the needs. >> reporter: the director says only six organizations received a license to grow 95 plants at a

time including hollywood's montel williams. he and a group of investors plan to set up shop on queens chapel road. other locations include 24th place, everett street, channing street, and fenwick streets, all in northeast. >> these are the very best of the best. they have the best security plan. they have the best quality assurance plan. they have the best growing plan. >> reporter: most locations are inward 5 where residents are tourn about their new neighbors. >> we have plenty walking up and down our streets every day. we want them to maintain a safe and comfortable environment. >> reporter: this man runs an after school program for at risk youth right across from the cultivation center on everett street. >> if the government says you can have a legitimate business, and the business is whatever it is, i can't stop you from that. so it's best to partner and figure out ways that we can benefit. >> reporter: he says the cultivation center reached out to him about creating a

community garden for the kids. he liskes the idea but says he s going to be watching out for problems. so will the city. >> if anybody tried to violate it, i wouldn't hesitate for a moment to take away their license and shut them down. >> all of the locations still need building permits and to pass inspections. marijuana takes about 90 days to mature. so it will be summer before the medical marijuana is ready. in northeast, tisha thompson, news 4 i-team. >> only d.c. residents with serious diseases and conditions will be eligible to buy the medical marijuana. you have to have a note from a doctor registered with the city program. to check out a map of where it will be grown go to nbc washington.com and search medical marijuana. a teenager has been charged with vandalizing a church in stafford county, virginia. earlier this month investigators found a racial slur spray painted on the back wall of the bethlehem primitive baptist church on chapel green road.

a 16-year-old boy from stafford county has now been arrested. he is facing two charges, breaking into a property and damaging the church. there was a rally today in montgomery county for a mother who was brutally killed by her estranged husband. phillip gilberti killed heather mcguire earlier this month before he shot himself. just a day before the murder gilberti was in police custody but a judge set him free. derrick ward spoke to family members who want state laws changed. >> reporter: phillip gilberti was charged with violating a protective order and had been arrested twice for stalking his estranged wife over the same weekend earlier this month. there were threats and violence in the relationship. from mcguire there was relief when gilberti was arrested. >> she thought he was going to be put away for quite sometime. and she told me that she felt happy sunday. we spent the day together.

>> reporter: but it would be the last weekend mother and daughter would spend together. by monday heather lynn mcguire would be dead at the hands of philip gilberti. he had been released on an unsecured bond. police say he sought out and shot his estranged wife in front of terrorized motorists in a busy intersection in kensington. gilberti dumped her body on the connecticut avenue and drove off. >> i want answers as to why phillip gilberti was released. >> reporter: late they're same day gilberti would kill himself as police searched for him. today in rockville a handful of protesters gathered to keep the case and the cause alive. the days following that violent encounter it was learned that on the day gilberti was released the montgomery county district court system computers were down and that when judge hamilton let gilberti go he may not have had access to information such as the threats, assaults, and trespassing charges he amassed over a lengthy and troubled relationship with mcguire. mcguire's mother says her family was also in the dark. >> she had no idea that he was

out on the streets. >> reporter: other information that was not out there, gilberti's attempted murder conviction dating back seven years before mcguire was killed. that conviction stemmed from gilberti trying to kill a girlfriend in nevada. mcguire's mother says the laws here need to be strengthened especially pertaining to repeat offenders. derrick ward, news 4. a truck spilled gravel on the beltway of prince george's county this morning shutting down all the lanes of the outer loop near route 450 at 9:00. it was a nightmare for commuters. all lanes were blocked for about ten miles. it took about an hour to get that mess cleaned up. it's a go-to road for getting around fairfax county but the 32 miles of the fairfax county parkway can be a rough ride. now a big stretch is going to get a lot smoother thanks to a repaving project that gets under way soon. julie carey explains. >> i guess seven years now and it's gone down hill a bit.

>> it needs some care. it's terrible. >> a lot of pot holes, repaving, that kind of stuff. it is deteriorating. >> reporter: these commuters are talking about the fairfax county parkway, a road that carries tens of thousands of people every day from one end of the county to the other. but drivers have noticed it's in desperate need of an asphalt face-lift to smooth over the bumps and fill in the pot holes. >> absolutely. i mean, some of them are big enough for the prius to fall in. so they're pretty -- it's pretty bad. >> reporter: with the new national geospatial agency adding 8500 workers to the corridor the parkway is busier than ever but there is good news for everyone using the road. 24 of its 32 miles between route 7 in herndon and rolling road in springfield will be repaved. while the work is slated to start in april the majority of it will be done when school ist the completion sometime in october. but v dot says day time commuters do not have to brace

for big backups. most of the $19 million worth of work will be done in the dark and on weekends. >> we're going to try to do most of it at night and try to finish it before school starts again in september. >> reporter: the repaving isn't the only relief coming soon to the parkway. four years of work to construct the final extension of the parkway, the two-mile section from rolling road to i-95, is nearing completion. this new rolling road overpass will be opened april 10th and the payoff? after that there will be one less stop light on the parkway. in fairfax county, julie carey, news 4. tuesday's primary election day here in the district as noted earlier. today candidates running for an at large council seat addressed the city ethics problems. at large member vincent orange and his three opponents participated in a debate on wam u radio and all expressed concern that some council members, the mayor, and other city leaders are under federal investigation for possible

ethics violations. >> what we're seeing now are people who disrespect each other, people who have no morals. i think we need to change this. >> this is a very, very broken political culture right now when it comes to campaign finance. >> it's clear that residents right now are looking for strong ethical leadership. >> we need to be very clear vincent orange is not under federal investigation, not under local investigation, has not been accused of any wrongdoing whatsoever. >> in addition to the at large race four council members are seeking re-election. marion barry, yvette alexander, murial bowser and jack evans. the polls on tuesday will be open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. from across the district they gathered across northwest for a chance to represent d.c. in the national geography beat in may. they are vying for an opportunity to represent their state. >> a winner! matt wilson!

100 bucks. congratulations. >> that 7th grader matt wilson is from blessed sacrament church, school rather. he won the chance to represent d.c. and rep the district two years ago. the winner of the national geography bee wins a $25,000 scholarship. the top ten finalists compete for a chance to represent the u.s. in the world championships. it's going to be russia next year. >> good for them. coming up somebody actually giving away megamillions tickets today for free. we'll take a look back at our last day with news 4 anchor joe krebs as he sailed off to retirement. coming up in sports, the nationals opening day starter from last year finds a job in a hurry. plus could the capitals get one of their most prolific goal scorers back this weekend? and montrose christian

our colleague and very good friend joe krebs does not have to get up at 2:00 in the morning anymore unless he just wants to. >> joe just signed off for the last time today, retiring after 32 years here with news 4. his professionalism, his sincerity, his dedication. joe is just a giant among journalists and he is a master story teller. we just love this guy. today his final script at the

end of the morning newscast was a message to you, his faithful viewers. >> most of all, i want to thank you. thank you, who have invited me, us, into the quiet of your homes every morning usually in the predawn darkness when you're just trying to figure out who am i, where am i, and what am i doing? we understand that we are guests and you are doing us the favor. and we owe you the responsibility of giving you the information you need and you want as you start your day. thank you for trusting that we will do that. so as i said after many words, it does come down to just two words -- thank you. and bye. >> that's our joe. you know, he is not going to be bored. he is an avid swimmer, a cyclist. he's got a second grandchild on the way. and his wife mary lynn presented him with a long list of things that need to be fixed around the house so we will of course miss

our joe. >> called honey-dos. he has time to take care of them now. you want to, joe? here's what we're looking at in sports. welcome back. >> i'm doing well. his wife has been making that list for a long time. >> 18 years. coming up in sports how saints fans are showing support of their suspended head coach. the caps cap off a shootout in style. and they may get an extra weapon for saturday night's game as news 4 at 6:00 continues. coming up after sports the chance to win america's largest lottery jackpot ever. it won't cost you $1.

backstrom says he is in game shape, ready, and even traveled with the team to boston for yesterday's game. now the caps have been cautious not to rush backstrom back after suffering a concussion. he hasn't played a game since january 3rd missing the stress of 40 games but he could return saturday against montreal or monday against tampa. that's good news. no doubt backstrom would be a huge addition down the stretches specially on that power play. he says he is excited to get back at it. >> everything is possible. it's possible that i could play the last game too. but, i mean, tomorrow and this afternoon and stuff but felt good out there today too so we'll see. i think it's more about being worried about hitting that

again. and maybe -- longer than three months. that's the biggest problem i see. you just have to be ready to face it. >> all right. we'll see if he is back on the ice saturday against td canadiens. let's switch to baseball. the nationals are just six days away from opening day. you got to love that. they'll travel to chicago to take on the chicago cubs. this time last year starter hernandez was gearing up to open up the season for the nats. fast forward one year and he is scrambling to find a job. at least he was for about an hour. hernandez was cut by the astros at noon today but no worries. moments later the 37-year-old signed a one-year, $750,000 deal with the braves. good luck to him. spring training action. nats hosting the marlins in vieira this evening. no score, 0-2. 41 strikeouts. 15 games last season for de

detweiler. the marlins, takes it off the light pole in left center. the second home run of spring training gives the nats a 1-0 lead and right now we have a tied game. it's 1-1 in the third. jim, you know this. >> what? >> it is hard to find silver linings for the wizards lately. >> impossible. >> wait a minute though. wait a minute. we found one. last night. >> what could it be? >> last night crawford had his seventh straight 24 games. but the bad news is the wizards couldn't conjure up enough magic to beat the pacers in and i. too much down the stretch. and the wiz lose their fifth straight. randy whitman's back in his hometown of indy and the second quarter wizards down one. they turn the ball over. indy looking for the -- oops, watch out. get out of there. check it out again. big rejection. he had a good game. ten blocks in that game. third quarter now.

wizards up five. jordan crawford driving to the rim. gets it back. steps up. crawford seven straight 20-point games. wizards up eight. in the fourth quarter, the all star gets the bump in the bucket and the pacers beat the wizards, 93-89. all right. i know you're pumped up for a little fun for action. this week is the biggest weekend in college hoops and it's upon us. final four kicking off from the big easy. all eyes will be on the interstate matchup between number one seed kentucky and number four seed louisville. who do you like? >> i don't know but goit to go with louisville in spite of what everybody says. i ain't going with the number one. >> all right. you like the underdog. >> i do. >> not quite the underdog though. a good team. all right. after that game, the early game, then the late game is the battle of two number twos, state and kansas. in the high school ranks today the local powerhouse montrose christian taking on

mount vernon at the espn invitation alg. justin anderson and michael carrera, a lot of emotion. take another look. carrera with 22 points and 14 rebounds. they trailed by three. late in the fourth mount vernon down by one. check out the inbound pass. nice. looking sharp. he takes care of the rest. mount vernon takes the lead. montrose christian has a chance now. down three with ten seconds. justin anderson just a bit short. but he has one more chance right here. last ditch. last ditch effort. going to have to come from half court. anderson again. oh, off the back -- they win 50-47 and montrose christian 50-47[ male announcer ]stian this was how my day began.

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they were giving them away in fort wayne, indiana this morning, free lottery tickets. the store was already full of people buying but lottery officials gave some away. by now you know it is the largest megamillions jackpot in history. the drawing for the $640 million jackpot is tonight at 11:00. we'll have the numbers.

>> is that a lot of money? i'm trying to -- is that a lot? >> give a million dollars to your friends. >> more than either of us can contemplate. >> can you imagine? really. >> no i can't. >> let's talk about numbers that we can imagine. 59 for tomorrow, a little in the way of rain. don't worry too much or change any plans. i don't expect rain all day. 65 sunday. >> thanks, doug. ran into pat collins today at a convenience store there working a system to pick the winning numbers in this megamillions thing. said he had three interns working on the system for weeks. i laughed and said to pat because both he and i know he ain't going to win system or not. but that conversation also made me miss my grandmother. she had a system too. it's called a dream book. and if she were here i'd bet she'd hit the lottery just like she used to hit the numbers. some of you are now saying what in the world is a dream book? here's the deal. back in the day before megamillions and powerball and all the other lotteries there

was a numbers game. that's what we called it in philly. some places called it policy. a friend in jacksonville says they called it cuba. whatever they called it it was illegal and everybody played from the preacher to the policeman. what you did is you picked three numbers. you gave them to a runner or maybe to the guy at the barber shop or wherever. at the end of the day, if your number came up, you got paid. i seem to recall in philly you got 22.50 on a nickel. that's a nice profit. my grandmother played the numbers every single day except sunday. no numbers on sunday. she'd actually play two numbers. she'd play 15 cents on her house address, 215. she then played ten cents on whatever she dreamt the night before. she got that number from the dream book. dream book was this pamphlet like thing smaller than reader's digest but bigger than jet magazine and whatever you dreamt, there was a corresponding number for it in the book. you dream about a puppy that might be 326.

if you dreamt you fell off a ladder that might be 742. but there was a number for just about anything and everything. don't you know at least once and sometimes twice every year my grandmother would hit the number? and win all her money back. she only played 25 cents a day. my grandmother has been gone now for almost 50 years. and i have no idea what she did with those dream books. she especially liked one i remember was called "lucky pete." but don't you know if i knew where to find that lucky pete i'd use it and then i'd be going too because at 11:00 tonight as soon as they announced the winning numbers i'd be on the air. good evening. and good-bye. just saying. >> wow. for all of us here -- we heard you to dream on. "nightly news" is coming up

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