is offering his side of the story. he stood side by side of his lawyer and mother offering an account of what happened. johnson says he did not try to use a fake i.d. to enter a local bar. a.b.c. agents left him bloody and bruised. >> three officers then pinned me to the ground pressing their knees in my back while blood flowed from the gash to my head. >> virginia governor mcauliffe has called for a full investigation into his arrest. the national cherry blossom festival kicks off in the district today. washington's airports joining in the celebration by turning pink for the festival. expect to see a blaze of pink lights and decorations if you pass through reagan national or dulles today. stores will also feature cherry blossom themed food and drinks. it runs until april 12. peak bloom expected at the tail end of the festival this year. >> it means spring is coming although the weather is really not cooperating today. >> winter's last gasp we hope.

chuck bell's in the storm team 4 "weather center". >> you have to remember now we had our last significant snow last year march 25th and today is only the 20th. so this is not unprecedented. just annoying. 34 now in frederick and new market maryland. also gaithersburg. 37 in winchester. just out to the west and north of the immediate downtown area winter winter weather advisory. it includes all of montgomery county and loudoun county. so a snowy slushy commute around for between about 6:00 and 10:00 this morning. by noontime, most of this will be changing over to just all rain. but here on storm team 4 radar, look at the rapid containinghangeover from rain to snow. this is mostly snow martinsburg to hagerstown right now and mostly rain from fairfax and prince william county south into parts of southern maryland. here is future weather thousand.

by 7:00 a.m. most of the metro area all in the form of snow. stays that way through 9:00. road temperatures are above freezing. but the persistence of snow for many hours across northern maryland means we could still see 3 to 5 inches there northern montgomery county towards the blue ridge. around up to,town one inch to maybe two in the form of slushiness. breaking news this morning, bw parkway, we're talking about northbound here shut down completely at route 50. all northbound traffic right now being pushed on to eastbound route 50. and right now we understand that southbound bw parkway is also shut down temporarily as they turn those northbound drivers around. so going to be a mess this morning. you'll want to take your alternate. nasty crash there this morning. 66 headed in and out of town no problems there. same thing 95 here in virginia. nice and clear there. prince george's county in

general looking pretty good. nice and green. lots of movement. no real construction to talk about there this morning. an beltway at st. barnabas road moving along nicely as well. again, more on the bw parkway crash. we've been pushing it out. it's 4:33. and columbia heights business owners are telling their employees to stick together after a series of crimes targeting people headed to work. there were two attempted armed robberies yesterday just a few minutes apparent one of the victims spoke with news 4. she was walking to work when two young men came up and tried to be rob her. >> put hands in the air help help. one gentleman was kind enough in a car to stop and he rolled down his window. he chased them down and the people across the street came running. they stayed with me for a while. just like a nice community. >> d.c. police say more officers are now on patrol in that area. today the so-called beer

pong rapist will be convicted. police started investigating him after a student alleged point degs ter sexually assaulted him after a tournament. point dexter had been victimizing young adult men for a decade luring him in to his home. in court, we may hear directly from his victims about the impact of the assaults on their lives. the man accused of killing a pastor heads to court today for a bond hearing. the 38-year-old is charged with first-degree murder. montgomery county police say he killed the pastor on march 11th. he told police the pastor was possessed. police say that he said quote, i kill demons. just kill me. the pastor had reportedly been asked to pray over him who said he heard voices. met stroero is promising

accountability after handrail fires at tysons corner reportedly overheated, no one was injured. metro is call this is a systemic problem because the fires also happened during construction of the silver line. metro says it will hold the contractor accountable. new pictures of the damage inside of a bethesda rite aid after a bmw plowed through the window. the car almost went fully inside the building and took out a refrigerator in the path. this was yesterday. no one was seriously hurt. no word on what caused the driver to lose control. >> the ncaa tournament has only just begun and there have been some pretty amazing upsets so far already. georgetown and vcu both in action last night. >> well, wait to get to vcu, but you let's start with george up to. if you watched, you're probably a little tired morning. the hoyas taking on eastern

washington in portland oregon. eastern washington's coach predicted a win before the game. he was wrong. georgetown won that game 84-74. see, you can't trash talk like that. georgetown is a strong team. they play again on saturday against fifth seeded utah. >> and now to the -- there is my tweet. you probably saw my facebook post and tweet shortly after they lost to ohio state. i was literally standing up for the last ten minutes of this game. it took overtime to decide this in the end, ohio state moved on. so vcu, there's always next year for us. we'll do it. >> yes. you've been consistent. here is a look at today's games. virginia takes on belmont on trutv, maryland takes on valparaiso at 4:40 on tnt. go terps. and i want to mention fairfax county schools open on time morning just in. fairfax county schools on time.

i'm richard jordan at the live desk following a developing story this morning. we just got in new video overnight from a huge fire in chicago. this was in the archer heights neighborhood. take a look at the video coming in of the warehouse fire. there were 160 firefighters that responded to this more than 50 fire trucks there at the warehouse. now, here is the the irony. inside that warehouse, fire extinguishers are halved. no reports of any injuries. but fire investigators are still trying to determine what caused the massive blaze. happening right now we're closely watching this spring snowstorm. here is a live look outside of our storm team 4 weather deck. just raining right now in northwest washington. chuck bell is back at 4:41 with a look at whether your neighborhood will see rain or snow today. also ahead, new information on the can deadly you museum attack in tunisia. who is claiming responsibility.

and how on to make your trip to the cherry blossom festival is breeze when you take the metro.

a promise from the d.c. government that it hopes to smooth your commute. they plan to hold its pothole apolooza next week and plans to accelerate its response time the aim is 48 hours after the report comes in. you can see the iteam investigation into how long d.c.

takes to fill potholes and learn how to report them take helps them get filled faster. just go to the investigations session on the nbc washington app. we may be seeing snow today, but today is also the opening of the cherry blossom festival. if you want to something inside you can head downtown to the convention center for an art tour. art at the center begins tonight at 6:30 and it's free. and if you're headed down to check out the cherry blossom festival this weekend, you'll probably want to take metro. some tips to make your trip easier travel during the times that are not so busy. avoid taking trains between 4:00 and 6:00 p.m.. that's when most stations are crowded. also avoid getting off at the smithsonian station. instead get off at the l'enfant plaza, archives or arlington cemetery station. weather and traffic on the 1s it is 4:41 now on your friday morning. temperatures are in the therts and 40s. mid-30s northern maryland and

out into the panhandle of west virginia. all rain. and it will stay that way south of washington. culpeper for to fredericksburg down to st. mary's temperatures well above the freezing marg. winter weather advisories posted for howard frederick. winter storm warning in washington county. so the overall impact on your day, there you can see rain changing over to snow across much of the area. it will have a high impact in northern maryland. already a tough day on the roads. already a mess on the roads here. breaking news this morning, probably going to be like this for much of the morning. northbound bw parkway completely shut down at route 50. so right now all northbound traffic being pushed on to route 50. and southbound lanes also closed because they are trying to turn some of the northbound traffic around. 270 at mopmontrose everything flowing. 95 at lorton also looking good.

a family reunion decades in the making. and we were there to capture it all. the emotional moments after the break. and a school murder plot stopped before it was too late. how police managed to foil a student's plan.

good morning once again. rain changing over to snow now from the north he said of the capital beltway right up the 270 corridor out to hagerstown and into the shenandoah valley. moderate rain fairfax and prince william county. it is now 4:45. today the man accused of a murder in silver spring will be in court. investigators say eric ramirez shot jonathan lopez on piney branch road monday night. lopez later died. police say lopez was dating one of are a mere rexer are a mereradiculopathy

mere resident's ex-girlfriends. a big break in a cold case.\ mere resident's ex-girlfriends. a big break in a cold case. mere resident's ex-girlfriends. a big break in a cold case.mere resident's ex-girlfriends. a big break in a cold case. a grand jury returned an indictment against raymond pose city yesterday. crystal anderson was 29 when she went missing in august of 2011.posecity yesterday. crystal anderson was 29 when she went missing in august of 2011. anderson's family was there for the announcement wearing her photo in tribute. her mother recounted her desperate search. >> for months i searched for my child. and i couldn't find her. and i looked out the door and said oh, god the world is too big, where could she be. >> the charles county sheriff's office says the motive for the murder was robbery. police are investigating two similar car break-ins over the past two days. maryland national capital park police say the break-ins happened wednesday at convince

arrest chord knolls park and thursday at the be cabin john tennis facility. car windows were smashed and items stolen. police say they have arrested four gang member this is connection with the crimes. they say the gang is notorious for auto thefts and similar crimes. president obama and israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu say that they will keep consulting on the israeli palestinian conflict. the two leaders spoke by phone yesterday. president obama called to congratulate netanyahu on his election victory. the two also discussed u.s. nuclear negotiations with iran. netanyahu has been outspoken critic of president obama's diplomatic outreach to iran. new this morning, an australian cafe that was the site of a deadly siege is back open. the lindt reopening comes three month after a gun man took 18 people inside hostage. two hostages and the gunman were killed. plaques are how displayed on a wall inside of the cafe. a terror group loyal to isis

claimed responsibility for that december attack. isis claiming also for the vicious attack that left 23 dead in tunisia. gunmen stormed a popular museum two days ago, popular place with western visitors. nine have been arrested. this is the deadliest attack on civilian miss in tunisia in 13 years. tucson police say they arrested two 17-year-old girls, two 15-year-old boys and an 18-year-old on wednesday. officers made the arrests after another student told school administration of the alleged plot. police say one of the students arrested did bring a knife to school on wednesday.younger students could be charged as adults. the fbi now investigating the death of a black man found hanging from a tree in mississippi. the 54-year-old was last seen being dropped off at the river walk casino in vicksburg on march 2. his family filed a missing

person's report later that week. sheriff's deputies were searching for him when they found his body not far from his home hanging by a bedsheet. the fbi says it is not yet clear whether this is a homicide or suicide. it is 4:49. maryland's governor is backing a bill that will allow some criminal records to be blocked from public view. larry hoe gapgan says he believes in second chances and the act would allow people with nonviolent misdemeanor criminal records tom public after three years. the bill passed the senate and now heads to the house for approval. an economic boost planned for the vienna area of fairfax county. navy federal credit union is expanding its headquarters and adding 600 new employees. the world's largest credit union is investing $114 million in this the expansion. the state is providing a million dollar grant for fairfax county to help with the project. you'll want to hear this. for years a local woman has been

anxiously a waiting for the emotional moment of meeting her brother for the first time. >> she learned she had a secret brother, but was never able to meet him will until thousand. 20 years ago, stacey bertotti's other told her she had a brother and he was put up for adoption. with very little information to go organization she started her search. every search came up empty that was until a friend found him in atlanta. >> i always felt like i had a brother, but i never knew. >> there you see the meeting right there. they're at reagan national airport. big hugs tears, too. and they have a lot of years to catch up on. >> and the fact that they found each other. it's amazing with the internet searching, social media. just connecting people. >> and you saw the kids in video. she has kids, husband, and a whole new family for him to get to know. all right, mr. chuck bell. >> i didn't. >> good morning. >> it's raining outside at our studios here. but snowflakes are all over the

place this morning. all you have to do is just go a little farther up to the north and wednesday, and wham it changes right over to snow. if you've got snowflakes flying in your yard send me a picture, picture, @chuckbell4. or look us up on the storm team 4 facebook page or instragram, as well. but winter hanging on tough around here. snow in march, not all that unusual. latest snow on record in washington april the 12th. 1918. almost 100 years ago. had 2 inches of snow in the month of april. for us road impacts for today, biggest impacts will be on i-70 68 270, and i-81. red light conditions there for sure. i-495 the capital beltway and i-66 west of town could be slushy in spots especially the closer you get out to i-81. but i the-95 south of town use caution. could be raindrops. wet roads are bad enough around here. 41 in washington with an east

wind at 3 miles per hour. and temperatures will hold steady pretty much all day long. so the temperature you have outside your house right now, probably sptd goingisn't going to move more than a degree or two. hometown forecast clarksburg maryland snow gradually changing to rain this afternoon. temperatures mid to upper 30s. cloudy dry, temperatures down into the low 30s tonight and then 58 tomorrow. have our storm team 4 weather app ready to go on your smartphone. whether is the continuation of the changeover from rain to snow now across parts of northern maryland going right up the 270 cowry door ry corridor. rain and snow today, becoming a mild and sunny day tomorrow with temperatures up near 60 degrees. back into the chilly 50s for sunday. but at least it looks dry both days this weekend. one place it's not dry interstate 270. that's where we find megan mcgrath. >> reporter: yes, it is not dry, chuck. we're seeing snow on the first

day of spring. take a look at our live camera here. look he conditions out here on 270. we just passed shady grove road. and i would say within the last, i don't know, 10 12 minutes we started to see the switchover. it had been raining and then we started to see some snowflakes mixing in and you can see now looking at our windshield here that we have these large snowflakes coming up against the wind shield here. there is still rain mixed in there, but we are definitely seeing an increase in the number of snowflakes mixed in with that rain. and these flakes are rather large. road conditions at this point just wet. major roads have been pre-treated. we knew all of this was headed in our direction. but it could start to get sloppy here. we'll continue on our way north and we'll update you you throughout the morning on the conditions. now we have breaking traffic news so we'll send it over to melissa mollet. breaking news again northbound bw parkway completely shut down at route 50.

all northbound traffic being pushed on to eastbound 50. some southbound lanes also closed as they try to turn drivers around here this morning. taking a look outside the beltway, bw parkway looking nice and clear in and out of town. outside the beltway, of course. 95 also no problems there. 270 now of course megan driving north on 270 through shady grove. southbound also looking quite good. no issues. but again, it is wet and slushy especially up in the frederick and northern montgomery county area. 66 at route 50 looks blurry, but nothing happening there. in and out of town looking good. same thing looking here at prince george's county. overall no major issues in prince george's county. i'll take another look at this problem on bw parkway. we understand it could be shut down for several hours this morning. you'll want to take your alternate. move over, president

jackson. the new movement trying to get a woman on the $20 bill. and caught on camera. the man hole explosion that sent firefighters running to safety and what could be behind that blast.

we first want to let you know loudoun county schools are on a two hour delay. loudoun county schools opening two hours late. arcing cables are to blame for this pothole explosion. these covers can weigh about 100 pounds. a community meeting ended with nearly a dozen people being arrested in philadelphia. protesters threw chairs and punches, upset that no charges were being brought against a police officer after a deadly shooting this december. brandon tate bourne was fatally shot during a traffic stop. police say they spotted a gun in the car. philadelphia's police commissioner and district attorney tried to explain to the protesters who disrupted the meeting why the use of deadly

force was not a crime in that situation. but the protesters chanted no justice, no peace. it is now 4:59. amazon is one step closer to delivering your packages by drone. the federal aviation administration granted amazon an experimental air worthiness certificate and that allows the company to test its unmanned aircraft. the certificate does come with some restrictions. amazon will only be able to fly its test drones during daylight in clear conditions. drones can't fly out of sight of the pilot and the pilot must have a private pilot's certificate. later this year you will once again anable to grace the halls of the watergate hotel. a massive $125 million renovation is almost finished. the building could reopen late this summer or early in the fall. of course watergate was made famous by the 1972 burglary. mayor you bowser says the hotel will be good for business generating 350 jobs and tax

revenue for the district. "news 4 today" continues right now at 5:00 a.m.. rain to start off your friday. this is the start to spring you might not expect. >> but looking at the radar, this is not the spring fling you had in mind. snow is in your forecast. let's get straight to chuck bell. good morning. >> good friday morning, everybody. as advertised rain is quickly changing over to snow. winter weather advisories posted for everywhere north and west of the metro area. it does include loudoun and montgomery counties but it does not include fairfax arlington, the strict or prince george's county. rain quickly changing over to snow though. and as a result slushy snowy commute in the morning and western suburbs. roads could be quite slushy at