he stole two cars, trashcrashed one of them, stole clothes and hid out in a woman's house. >> he was arrested just before noon in southeast d.c. we have team coverage of this story tonight. we start with pat collins in southeast d.c. >> reporter: he overpowered a security guard, took her gun, then stole two cars to make his getaway. they spent hours and hours looking for him in fairfax county but he ended up right here in d.c. it was one of the biggest manhunts in recent memory, hundreds of law enforcement officers -- feds state, local -- heavily armed, on foot in trucks, in the air. in fairfax county for hours searching for wossen assaye only to find him miles away in d.c.,

picked up by police there after he got off a bus at 25th and pennsylvania avenue southeast. >> an alert community member identified mr. assaye through all the social media outlets where we put our message out. >> reporter: it began around 3:00 this morning at the inova fairfax hospital. assaye, a bank robbery suspect, was there on suicide watch. he had tried to take his life last week in jail. he was guarded by the u.s. marshal service, a man and a woman. when the man went to the bathroom, assaye jumped the woman, took her gun, and made his escape in bare feet wearing only a hospital gown. now, hospital prisoners are supposed to be shackled to the gurney. what happened here? >> was he or was he not shackled in that hospital room? >> to my knowledge, he was shackle. >> and how did he get out of those shackles? >> that's still being investigated at this point.

>> sit possible he had one of the guards let him loose? >> there's no indication at this point. >> reporter: police move in and seal off the hospital. the search was on. assaye steals a toyota camry and drives it around this annandale neighborhood. he blows a tire and pulls into this woman's garage where he gets clothes and food. he wept through my entire house, which was mostly empty, although he may have gotten some of my old clothes because the hospital gown was left there and some of my old clothes gone. >> reporter: by this time the search in high gear. on foot he eludes police and manages to carjack a second car, end up getting arrested here in the district. >> whatever he did, they dragged him and got him in the back of the car and started taking his boots and stuff off and everything making sure he didn't have a weapon. it was so unbelievable it was like it wasn't real. >> reporter: so what happened in that hospital room? what happened to those shackles? and how did he end up all the

way here in d.c.? there are a lot of questions yet to be answered here. doreen back to you. >> thanks, pat. i'll take it. wossen assaye was arrested only last week for a series of bank robberies. he's the man police were calling the bicycle bandit because of what he used to get away. police say he tried to hang himself in jail last friday. that's why he was taken to inova fairfax hospital. our tisha thompson is in alexandria now where assaye was under much tighter security in court today. tisha? >> reporter: jim, one of the questions we've been getting tonight is why wasn't wossen assaye charged with other crimes stealing cars and we're told it depend on what's possible what prosecutors describe is appropriate. he's only facing one charge of escaping custody from the attorney general because they know what that's what happened today.

he was previously facing one charge of bank robbery even though investigators want to link him to at least 12 different bank robberies. he appeared in court in a very thin white plastic jump suit. it was open to his naval. you can see that his chest was bear. he didn't appear to be wearing any undergarments. he had no shoes, no shirt, just that plastic jump suit. he was wearing shackles. he was wearing handle cuffs. and he was surrounded at all times by four u.s. marshals who stood around him and his attorneys sitting at their table in a semicircle because he was not going anywhere. there were five other uniformed u.s. marshals in the courtroom as well as well as the u.s. marshal himself, robert mathieson, who said he stands by his statement that assaye was wearing handcuffs and was shack med when he supposedly escaped. they're still trying to figure out how that happened. the preliminary hearing was set in court today for friday at 2:00 p.m. and assaye could face up to five years for just the

charge of escaping. in alexandria tisha thompson news4. and i'm wendy rieger back here in the studio. this manhunt went on for nearly eight hours. let me walk you through it. it started at 3:30 this morning. we are hearing of police activity at inova fairfax hospital. it would be another two hours before we learned that a prisoner had escaped with a gun. and that's when things started getting -- started turning very quickly. by 7:30 this morning, police were saying that assaye might be in a stolen toyota camry, 8:00, the search had moved to neighborhoods in annandale, allowing the roads near the hospital to reopen. but then it's 10:20 and a report of another car jaricing. we're learn noug this wild chase was close to ending at that moment. witnesses say as assaye took the hyundai elantra from a home on

oak court, neighbors tried to chase him down. >> he almost ran the neighbors over. a guy was backing out the driveway in the car, went up the street did a u-turn came down the people that lived there tried to stop him, almost ran them guys over. and he just drove real fast down the road. >> that construction worker says the s.w.a.t. team arrived seconds later but assaye was gone. this wasn't the only neighborhood terrorized by that search today. coming up at 6:30 david culvert speaks with student who is got more excitement than they bargained for on their spring break. doreen? >> thanks wendy. we've heard from people all day saying they saw the story unfolding live on news4. imagine watching from inside the hospital or in the neighborhood nearby. jackie bensen is outside inova fairfax hospital and continues our live team coverage. jackie? >> reporter: make no mistake, this was a terrifying incident a desperate felon, a gunshot

fired inside one of the area's premier hospitals. now, while what we can tell you is that the employees inside there kept doing their job during that lockdown that lasted for four hours. ambulances headed to the emergency room were diverted to other hospitals. some surgeries were delayed. now, this afternoon i spoke on background to a number of d.c. area law enforcement officials who said they were shocked to hear that an inmate like this facing federal charges was being guarded by private security officers through ayn greemt with the u.s. marshals service. neighbors who saw all of this unfold say it's really shaken them up. >> it was like 3:30 a.m. i heard the helicopter woke me up. the helicopter woke me up. and i didn't know what's going on since this morning. >> reporter: now, i asked a hospital spokesperson via e-mail if there is any talk at this point about possibly recrafting the security plan for inmates seeking treatment here at the

hospital. we have not received a reply yet. live at fairfax hospital jackie bensen news4. jim and doreen back to you. >> thanks jamckie. the u.s. marshals office uses private contract security officers to protect federal courts and inmates. dozens of them are in our area including some who man security posts and checkpoints. congressional reports show that federal judges want the marshal service to hire an additional 346 contract officers in the coming years to beef up protection. the i-team has also learned of concerns about a government helicopter that was searching for assaye this morning and whether that chopper should be grounded. we'll have reports on that story at 6:45. meantime meantime check the nbc washington app for all of today's coverage and we also invite you to sign up for breaking news alerts that are sent right to your phone. well fairfax county police were busy with that manhunt,

another wild situation was happening just a few miles down the road in falls church. a high-speed chase that weaved in and out of traffic on the beltway, i-95 and along the fairfax county parkway. that's where the driver lakisha tracy, was finally stopped and pulled out of her truck. coming up a little bit later in this broadcast, adam tuss reports on why police say they were prepared to deal with this incident. started off on a beautiful note today. then the rain started making its way in. you can see the rain on storm team 4 radar. rain up to the north rain down to the south. the heaviest in through portions of southern maryland from frederick toward waldorf in through prince george's county right around upper marlboro and andrews air force base and right across towards annapolis. more rain to the north and west. as we widen out, you can see we're not quite done just yet. most of this should be out of here around the 8:00 hour. but temperatures they'll go down. look at the highs today. 73 d.c. 74 at fredericksburg.

tomorrow 15 degrees colder. i'll update you on those temperatures and what to expect from the rest of the week in just a minute. >> thanks doug. ten minutes past the deadline for a deal on iran's nuclear program but talks have not ended. what's left to negotiate and whether congress might step in. jo our fist look at an fbi agent pleading guilty to tampering with drug evidence. his public apology outside court.

i'm wendy rieger at the live desk. d.c. mayor muriel bowser has issued an executive order that no district employee can take any official trip to indiana. the mayor becomes the latest official in the country to ban travel to that state in the wake of that controversial religious liberty law. it allows businesses in inn toin refuse to offer business to gay and lesbian couples on religious growns. supporters say the claims are overblown. mayor bowser says this indiana law discriminates against gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people and would not be tolerated in the district. a wide variety of government and business leaders have called on indiana to amend or rescind this law.

at the live desk i'm wendy rieger. back to you. late developments from the boston marathon bombing trial. closing arguments are now set for monday in the case against dzhokhar tsarnaev. the defense rested its case after calling just four witnesses, one a fingerprints expert. he says the majority of prints on bomb remnants and detonators were from dzhokhar tsarnaev's brother, tamerlan who was killed in a shoot-out with police. a cell site analyst also testified that dzhokhar was not with tamerlan when the older brother bought bomb components. three people died 260 were injured. tonight a former fbi agent is apologizing for stealing heroin from fbi evidence and for jeopardizing dozens of cases. matthew lowry spoke publicly for the first time after pleading guilty in federal court in d.c. news4's mark segraves is outside the courthouse where lowry spoke about how powerful addiction can be.

>> reporter: that's right. inside the courtroom, matthew lowry accepted responsibility and made no excuses for his actions over several years stealing heroin out of the evidence locker at the fbi. outside here on the steps of the courthouse before reporters, he said it was his addiction to painkillers and he said he hopes the public can learn a lesson from his mistakes. >> prescription opiate adibs has no boundaries. it's -- i think it's one of the biggest epidemics as far as drugs there is. >> reporter: lowry says it was his addiction to painkillers that led to his addiction to heroin. more than a dozen law enforcement agents sat in the courtroom today supporting their former colleague. as a child, lowry dreamt of being a police officer just like his father who stood behind him today in court where the former fbi agent pled guilty to 64 charges. >> i just want to apologize and say that i was wrong for my actions, especially to my family former law enforcement

colleagues. >> reporter: in the courtroom, the 33-year-old former fbi agent who worked on several large-scale undercover drug operations admitted to the judge he had stolen heroin from the fbi evidence control center. it took the judge nearly an hour to read each of the 64 charges, after which the judge asked lowry if he was guilty. lowry repeatedly answered "yes your honor." prosecutors say that math math be -- matthew lowry began stealing heroin in 2013 from evidence seized in high-profile drug busts in our area. between 2013 and 2014 he ampered with nearly 2,000 grams of heroin. lowry began falsifying records so he could steal the heroin from the fbi's evidence control center. after the fbi learned of the tainted evidence, prosecutors were forced to dismiss charges against 26 defendants, some of whom had already pled guilty and were serving time. two ongoing investigations were dropped as well. >> i hope that people from this

see how addictive -- anybody can get addicted to many medication. >> reporter: lowry told the judge he is still in counseling for his addiction to painkiller bus he is managing it. he already went through rehab. had he gone to trial and been found guilty he would have faced up to 51 years in prison. during the plea he will face now seven years. he'll be sentenced in late june. vance, back to you. just minutes ago, a self-imposed deadline passed with no deal as part of the negotiations about dismantling iran's nuclear program. there are signs of progress so they'll try it again tomorrow. steve handelsman is on capitol hill now with a look at the next steps. steve? >> reporter: a new deadline, the immediate next step is they'll talk again tomorrow. that's just fuelling this delay, missing another deadline fueling the efforts by some lawmakers on capitol hill to impose tougher sanctions on the iranians to try to force them to

do with those sangs, but so far they haven't agreed to do at least in brit writhing in the talks. other nuclear experts in washington looking at these talks say there's great progress, even though there's nothing in writing, no framework agreement, which is what they hope for by 6:00 washington time. because these experts say the iranians have agreed in principle to vastly reduce their purification of uranium that would be needed to make a bomb and more importantly the experts say to open all of their facilities to intrusive inspections that would go on and on and on for a period of maybe ten years. and so there are fingers crossed among people who have backed these talks that ultimately will be success. they've moved again this framework deadline to tomorrow then amd at june 30th to have a formal written agreement. but at the same time with no deal jim, in switzerland, they'll be more lawmakers on the hill who are saying even if president obama vetoes an effort

to toughen sanctions, they might override the president's veto because here on the hill a lot of people worried about a bad deal with iran. i'm steve handelsman news4. >> thank you steve. doug's back with more about our weather. seems like it unfolded today just as you predicted. >> i'll tell you what the one thing that was not as i predicted, i went far high temperature in the low 60s. we hit 73 today. >> it was nice. >> i don't mind missing that way for sure. >> and it was hard to believe it was going to start raining later. >> exactly right. >> we were doubting you a little bit. >> don't doubt too much there, doreen. we did see that rain come in right around that 4:00 5:00 hour and right now most of the rain out of the d.c. metro area but we continue to see more showers moving in from the north. one other thing we are noticing the wind 66 degrees right now, winds out of the west at 17 miles per hour. some light showers from the airport down to the south and east. look at these wind gusts. 33 miles an hour winchester manassas 54-mile-an-hour wind gusts here, 43 in washington.

we have a wind advisory now in effect from the national weather service until 9:00 tonight for winds gusting upwards of 50 miles an hour. could see some tree branches down isolated power outages too. this is the rain toward the south and west that came through the area earlier, now down through prince george's county anne arundel, calvert, waldorf, down towards charles and st. mary's county including the northern neck. back to the west more showers around martinsburg and the shep wards town area over towards the charlestown area and right over towards frederick. we'll continue to see more. let's zoom into southern maryland and i'll show you where the heaviest rain is. just just to the north of waldorf up around upper marlboro the 301 region right along route 2, right along route 4 through calvert county and through portions of st. mary's county and colonial beach. you'll continue to see the rain make its way through in the next one 0-2 hours. here's the storm system itself. let's widen out more and show you the storm. we saw plenty of sunshine today,highs in the lower 70s, snow though not far away parts of

pennsylvania picking up 6 inches of snow earlier from this same storm system. so very warm to the south, very cold to the north nap colder air is trying to move our way. it's not all going to get here though but we are going to see cooler numbers. already cooler to the north, 51 in hagerstown 57 in frederick, 72 though still down towards fredericksburg so a 21 1121-degree temperature difference across our viewing area. showers continue to move on through, 7:00 more to the south, and showers to the north creeping closer to the d.c. metro area by around 8:00. quickly move out by 9:00 10:00, 11:00. overnight all we'll be dealing with is clearing skies. tomorrow will be about 10 to 15 degrees colder than where we were today. not a bad day. 58 for a high tomorrow. 60 down towards fredericksburg, 57 in frederick with sunshine, that's not a bad afternoon at all. it's going to be a little breezy tomorrow and then just windy on thursday, but it's a warm windy, upwards of 70 degrees on thursday 75 on friday. showers likely maybe eve an rumble of thunder or two, then

we cool towards the weekend. saturday a high of 57 degrees. 63 degrees on sunday. and then monday coming in with a high temperature of 67 and that is nationals opening day. >> sweet. >> about time. glad to hear it doug. a local police officer wrapped up in a hazing scandal. tonight we'll report the allegations that got him suspended. and new questions about the co-pilot who brought down a commercial flight. when the airline first knew he struggled with directing your attention -- with depression. an unforgetta break for students in this annandale neighborhood.

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the mayor of indianapolis is demanding changes to the law he signed. he is calling for legislation that would clarify that the law does not allow businesses to discriminate. >> was i expecting this kind of backlash? heavy. s no. this law does not give anyone a license to deny services to gay and lesbian couples. >> late this afternoon, legislators in arkansas approved a similar measure.

it is headed to the fwof nor's desk and he says he will sign it. the committee investigating the attacks on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya is giving hillary clinton a deadline one month to come up to capitol hill and talk about her private e-mails. representative tray dowdy wants a private but recorded interview with the former secretary of state. clinton used a private e-mail account for government work while she was secretary of state. gowdy wants to understand why she deleted some of those e-mails and wiped the server clean. he's giving her until may 1st to talk to him. an attorney for clinton says she will speak only before a public hearing. there are more questions tonight about the german airliner that was deliberately brought down by the co-pilot in the french alps. questions are being asked about what the airline knew about that pilot's mental state before the crash last week. lufthansa airlines says back in 2009 the pilot told their flight school that he had a serious

depressive episode. he sen e-mail to the school when he returned to training after an interruption. today the airline said it turned over those documents to prosecutors. there were no survivors in that crash last week. next, what neighbors in a xi quiet virginia community are sharing about frightening hours before an escaped prisoner was taken down in d.c. and news4 uncovering new details about the driver killed trying to break through the gates of the nsa.

now at 6:30 spring break spent on lockdown. how today's manhunt for an escaped prisoner impacted one virginia neighborhood. the news4 i-team exposing new questions about a police helicopter used in today's search. why some first responders say it shouldn't even be flying. and a high-speed chase on i 95 in the middle of rush hour. what it takes for police to call off the pursuit and why they didn't today. certainly a wild tuesday for people in the washington area. first at 6:30 new accounts of the nervous moments for some communities during that manhunt. >> and as our northern virginia bureau reporter david culvert tells us some kids will have

quite the spring break story to tell. david? >> reporter: that's right, vance and doreen. this week in fairfax county students don't have to go to school and otherwise we would have probably been reporting throughout the day about several school lockdowns in the area. still for students in this neighborhood behind me here in annandale, well, a lot of them were at home and they as you said will have quite the story when they return to school on monday. >> this is like happening especially around here is like whoa. >> reporter: you'd be just as surprised if you saw what high schooler rose white woke up to. several police officers? >> yes, i saw many rolling by our streets. >> reporter: her neighborhood just one stop on the suspect's escape tour. police and federal agents moved in waerg camouflage, carrying large rifles bringing out the canines. and they didn't just search from the ground. the loud hum got lin harmon's attention. she's called this place home since she was 7 years old. >> my parents built the house. >> reporter: set back in the woods, quiet until today. >> with policemen all around you figured you were safe.

>> reporter: pauline holmes outside for the first time today, wasn't going to rake her yard until police were gone. >> reporter: you were scared. >> very scared. >> reporter: rose will return to school with quite the spring break story. incredible stories from some neighbors today. our digital team has been putting a lot of them together on our nbc washington app. they'll continue doing that through night and you can check them out there. back to you. >> thanks adam. br today, fbi agents in our area new wossen assaye as the bicycle bandit. authorities say he got that nickname because he was robbing banks while holding a cell phone and then escaping on a bike. police say the crime spree started back october of 2013 and there were 12 different robberies in northern virginia. he was arrested only last week in arlington just hours after a robbery at an apple federal credit union in alexandria.

>> police officers are staked at every entrance at a maryland hospital tonight after someone threatened staffers there. run anne arundel medical center says a family member of a patient made a bomb threat. the hospital is on a modified lockdown meaning people can still get in and out but must present an i.d. to officers at the toor. otherwise the hospital is operating normally. a follow on our big story yesterday when a confrontation at the national security agency ended with a man dressed as a woman dead in the road. tonight we know his name and more about how he and a friend ended up speeding toward the gate at the nsa. here's our chris gordon. >> reporter: the fbi says ricky hall of baltimore died on the scene. we are learning more about the confrontation that happened here at the nsa entrance and what may happen next. fbi agents are conducting interviews following leads and collecting evidence.

baltimore fbi and the u.s. attorney's office will determine if any criminal charges will be filed. now we know it began here in howard county at this motel along washington boulevard. howard county police say a 60-year-old man reported his ford escape had been stolen. he said he picked up two young men in baltimore who were dressed in drag and he drove them here to this motel to party. howard county police now say that the three men were here at the terrace motel in elkridge maryland before the two cross-dressers allegedly stole the 60-year-old baltimore's man suv and took off. they apparently took a wrong turn into the nsa restricted entrance and as seen in this animated recreation crashed into a police cruiser which was blocking the roadway. shots were fired. police reportedly found a gun and drugs in the suv. the fbi identifies the man who died at the scene as 27-year-old ricky hall.

this is a baltimore police photo of hall being booked after ayn rest far 2013 robbery. hall reportedly was the driver of the stolen suv. the passenger was wounded and is being treated at an area hospital. "the new york times" says an official identifies the survivor in the suv as 20-year-old kevin fleming. an nsa police officer was treated for injuries and released from the hospital yesterday. from ft. meade, chris gordon news4. a chase at high speeds in the middle of rush hour. the training officers get that led to today's flawless execution of what police call a pin. up next, the news4 i-team revealing concerns about the park police chopper involved in today's manhunt in northern virginia. it leaves presidential motorcades too.

an attempt to pull over a drive turned into a dangerous escape this morning. police went in pursuit as a woman weaved in and out of rush hour traffic along the beltway i-95 and eventually fairfax county parkway. tusz tu has more onadam tuss has more on the training police relied on to stop her. >> reporter: three officers suffered minor injuries after it was all said and done but it could have been a whole lot worse, and police chalk it up to training. >> all of our officers are given pursuit training as well as individual training. >> reporter: fairfax county police say they were absolutely justified in their high speed pursuit this morning. look at how it played out.

police were trying to stop this truck because of a traffic violation. the driver had other thoughts. at high speed here on 95 south cut across lanes of traffic and jumping on the fairfax county parkway. fairfax county police the lead on the chase, but virginia state police also assisting after several risky moves a state police officer finally able to send the truck spinning. it comes dangerously close to other car ace long the fairfax county parkway when officers performed what they called the precision immobilization technique and the whole thing ends as officers surround the car and drag the woman out. we now know this was the woman in the truck, 36-year-old lakisha tracy. she has outstanding warrants for credit card theft, credit card fraud and identity theft in arlington county. now, if you want to watch the entire video of the whole police chase, you can see it on our nbc washington app right now. in falls church, adam tuss, news4. a prince george's county police officer has been

suspended from the department after a multimillion-dollar lawsuit names him in an alleged hazing incident. this is a photo of corporal jesse stewart. it's from the webpage of the hyattsville landover alumni chapter of the kappa alpha psi fraternity. its membership is made up mostly of adult professionals. a $2 million lawsuit alleges that stewart was hazing men who were pledging the chapter at his home in upper marlboro. >> we each received six smacks to our buttocks area. afterwards we were required to remove our pants and our socks and perform tasks around his home in our bare feet and underwear. >> stewart is second vice president of the chapter. he's suspended from the police department pending the outcome of the lawsuit. the helicopters that protect the president and rescue accident victims. >> one was used today during that manhunt in fairfax county but new at 6:45, the news4 i-team exposes why some of the

insiders say these choppers should be grounded.

taking another look at our top story, an accused bank robber who escaped custody and led hundreds of law enforcement officers on an eight-hour manhunt is back in custody tonight. police say wossen assaye overpowered a guard at inova fairfax hospital and used the guard's gun to slip out. he stole a car, broke into a home then stole a second car. officers arrested him in southeast d.c. after somebody spotted him on a metro bus. he's being held without bond. a photograph captured this

u.s. park police helicopter aiding in the search for that escaped prisoner this morning. the famed helicopters have also rescued victims from danger even led presidential motorcades and policed some of the most restricted space in the world. now an investigation by the news4 i-team's scott mcfarlane raises questions about whether at least one of those helicopters should be grounded. >> it seemed like it was forever. >> reporter: channing blackwell was certain his dad william was about to die. >> in his mind he was gone. >> reporter: stranded on thin ice for an hour atop lake manassas in prince william county. >> once you go under and it's so cold you're done. >> reporter: firefighters and rescuers couldn't reach him. only a helicopter rescue could save him. >> i keep repeating it's coming it's coming it's coming. >> reporter: eagle 2 did arrive and saved william blackwell and the dogs who were with him on the ice that february day. >> my father would not be here if it weren't for the that

helicopter. >> reporter: eagle 1 has a storied history too involved in so many events surveying the damage of hurricane sandy and for years providing surveillance ahead of the presidential motorcade. in fact, the u.s. park police have three helicopters in d.c. news4 i-team cameras roll officers trained one morning aboard the hermits for rescues, rappelling from the sky to the ground. they look sod flawless in the execution, we didn't expect what one of the officers said next -- one of the three helicopters, eagle 2, should be replaced immediately. >> you're not breaking the laws of physics but bending them enough and bending them for an extended period of time on an airframe causes problems. >> reporter: ian glick heads the park police union, representing the women and men who fly the helicopters saying they're not as comfortable behind the controls atz they used to be. >> that's correct. >> reporter: he said the officers believe helicopter are still safe but when the news4 i-team began searching

maintenance records we found eagle 1 is 17 years old and has flown 6,600 hours. 'ing 28 is 26 years old having flown nearly lily 10,000 hours. even though internal park police records we obtained recommend aircraft are retyred after reaching 5,000 hours of use. other agencies across the country use the same helicopter. we found eagle 2 has been in the air twice as long as miami's and five times as long as chicago's. there have been no reported safety incidents aboard the helicopter but glick says officers are worried the first warning sign could come too late. >> with a helicopter should the engine go out or the transmission or something happen to it there's a critical loss of power, the helicopter's coming straight down. >> reporter: the i-team obtained the maintenance recommendations for this model helicopter a dell 412 and found nearly every bolt ridge, fitting and ring as

a life span of 10,000 hours or less. a spokeswoman says the agency spend $3 million a year maintaining and operating eagle 2 and the rest of the helicopters and all are safe and serviceable. no timetable for the replacement of eagle 2, but the i-team found internally the park police have been issuing warnings about that helicopter for year. park police memos to supervisors from 2012 recommend replacing'ing 28 in 2013 and say the increasing age of the compromises operating safety. congressional staffers acknowledge that the issue say a federal budget stalemate has made it impossible for the feds to buy a new $14 million helicopter to replace it indefinitely. william blackwell says the government must ensure there's an able helicopter ready to launch longer into the future. >> the next time it might have been a 5-year-old girl or a 7-year-old boy who has their whole life in front of them. >> u.s. park police conduct about a thousand aviation missions a year. the u.s. house will debate how much money to spend on that

agency and their helicopters later this spring. but no firm date as of yet. jim? thank you, scott. that story started with a tip. if you have a story idea for the news4 i-team we invite you to visit our website at nbcwashington.com, click on investigations to send the tip. doug's here with a check on our weather forecast. looking good for tonight and tomorrow? >> we've still got another round of showers coming through and eve an little bit of thunder and lightning that's occurred across our area too. as we look toward the white house, notice the flags in front of the white house, those are moving pretty good. we have a wind advisory in effect too. we've seen wind gusting upwards of 40 to 50 miles per hour. downtown we are between two areas of rain. we will see temperatures drop tonight through the 60s into the upper 50s by around 11:00. look where we are right now. 54 gaithersburg, 60 degrees rockville, 59 in camp springs. 59 degrees back towards leesburg. again, we're talking about falling temperatures after a

high of 73 earlier. here's round one to the south. this is the area that saw a little in the way of thunder earlier. round two back to the west around frederick and leesburg. let's zoom on towards the waldorf area and you can see where this rain is coming through southern prince george's county right along 301 back along the river here. it will be in towards waldorf in the next 10 to 15 minutes if you're not seeing it. south waldorf not seeing it just yet. huntingtown, calvert beach seeing that rain. back to the west looking at this area of heavy rain right around 340 towards frederick and you are ba nashgs clarksburg gaithersburg and right bark towards front royal. wouldn't be surprised to see a little bit of lightning and thunder with this. on this track, you'll see some of that heavier rain coming through now in poolesville, gaithersburg about 7:15 rockville right around that 7:30 hour as it all pushes off towards the east. as it does so we'll see one or two showers behind that round back to the best but that's

about it. cooler weather, high temperatures tomorrow around 58 degrees. we rebound to 70 thursday. it will be windy. 75 on friday with a good chance of showers, maybe a rumble of thunder. the weekend dry. temperatures around 57 on saturday 63 degrees coming up on sunday. >> thanks doug. we have sports coming up. hoyas saying good-bye and the terps saying hello to the final four, again. we'll tell you why. ain't scared of no stinking huskies. first, lester holt with what's ahead on "nbc nightly news." hi jim and doreen. coming up tonight, under pressure indiana goes back to the drawing board with that religious freedom law. what do you take for the aching back? it may be the wrong thing. and what did the newly named host of the "daily show" say?

in women's basketball somewhere along to holding that trophy aloft, you have to go through uconn, don't you. >> you cannot win that thing unless you peat uconn. and it is a very difficult battle. back-to-back seasons the maryland women headed to the final four. they have a big challenge ahead of them facing the uconn

huskies. they beat the terps back in college park arriving at the xfinity center around 9:00 a.m. today. took ta long red eye back from spokane. looking a little tired. maryland making back-to-back final fours for the first time in school history. according to lexie brown, always with things to say, the doubters didn't think it was possible. >> i don't think a lot of people thought that we, you know could make it to back-to-back final fours so i know all the work we put in this summer and the preseason so, you know to be able to make it back has been, you know amazing. >> most people didn't see how hard we've been working this summer and the preseason, but we've been working to get to this point and we're not done yet. >> uconn will be a formidable foe. >> for sure they're a good team but they're not invincible. >> the best postgame locker room celebrations of any other team. the terps had their slips, yeah but they get back up. they do. one of the big difference makers in the game lexie brown. only one point in the sweet 16 she heated up in the second

half. 13 of her 15 coming after halftime. maryland wins its 28th straight game. the terps advance to the final four in tampa. brenda frese's sons marcus and tyler, they're loving it. no school for them. next stop, ginoeno auriemma and the uconn huskies sunday. on the men's side devonte smith-rivera says good buy to georgetown announcing he'll forgo his final season of eligibility, plans to sign with an agent, hopes of getting drafted in the nba. dsr was an all big east first team selection this season and the junior was the hoyas leading scorer. the nhl playoffs right around the corner. all the caps have to do is win four of their remaining six games and it won't matter what the teams behind them do in this season's final two weeks. tonight they face the hurricanes the only team not in playoff contention. but it doesn't always mean it's going to be easy for the caps. tonight, though alex ovechkin

going for his 50th goal of the season. ovechkin and the caps with their morning skate. catches fans hoping to see the great add another historic chapter. he's one away from his sixth career 50-goal season. ovechkin's critics have said it all. he's uncoachable, a coach killer he backstabs teammates. his coach and his team, say uh-uh. >> he cares about the team. he's -- you know, he's in a good place i think in his life where he wants to win, understands the team process. he's an honest guy, straightforward and tells you what he thinks. you ask him to do something, he'll do it. >> i know everybody has numbers in their minds at the begin tofg season what they want to accomplish. for him it's 50 which for the majority of us is an unreefable number for the most part. >> it's a treat, you know, when you're 50 years old, you know, thinking about stuff like that is pretty cool playing with a

guy like that. special to be part of it. wizards back at practice this morning. wiz didn't play last night, but did clinch a playoff spot. thanks to the charlotte hornets losing. despite losing five of their last six games, the wizards heading back to the playoffs. gosh i love that play. for a second straight season eight games left they host the sixers tomorrow. more injury news for the nats third baseman meeting with a doctor in vail colorado. he wants a third opinion on his injured knee. yesterday dr. gene sanders confirmed the nirl diagnosis of a mcl. his status unknown. denard spahn ruled out after surgery. nats a little beat up, a little injured. >> before the season even starts. >> that's all right. get it cleaned up. pop quiz. which nhl player has the most goals in a single season? who do you think? >> gretzky. >> i love you, dor. doreen you're right.

wayne gretzky with 92.

on this tuesday night, fixing it. bowing to pressure, indiana's governor promising to rework the law ensuring religious freedom. viewed by many as a life to discriminate as backlash hits the state's bottom line. how a prisoner got awaynd evaded capture. what if someone is hiding in the trunk of your car and starts kicking his way to the back seat. no secret, turns out the airline was previously told about the co-pilot's treatment for severe de preparation. and treating back pain. the pain reliever many go to first and why it may not be the right pill for your aching back. "nightly news" begins right now.