update us on what they found during that inspection today. we already know they did find some problematic cables and that they have been replaced. we are also going to learn about whether service will be restored for tomorrow morning's rush. transportation reporter adam tuss is tracking this story from the start joins us from metro headquarters. adam? >> reporter: that's right, wendy. and even at this hour metro inspectors are still on the tracks on the green and the yellow lines. so that tells you how far they're still going to look for problems. and people have been asking all day, did they really have to close the system today? well the fact that they found those problematic cables tells you that the shutdown was necessary. the metro system like we have never seen it buduring the work day. closed as in-depth safety inspections take place. at this point metro has been looking at potentially faulty jumper cable that is line the inside of the tunnel walls and inspectors have found some that needed to be

metro says it's been a worthwhile process. meanwhile, on capitol hill u.s. transportation secretary anthony foxx weighing in on the situation blaming local leaders for what's become of metro's safety culture. >> i don't think it's just resources. i think it is culture and i think it is a deliberate decision that is needed on the part of everyone involved in this to focus relentlessly on safety. >> reporter: one metro official with direct knowledge says monday's electrical cable meltdown at mcpherson square was eerily similar to the deadly l'enfant plaza smoke incident last year. in fact, this official says of monday's smoke episode that if it happened later on during the height of morning rush, just a few hours later, it could have been another deadly incident. metro's also called in electrical engineers from other commuter rail systems and amtrak to help with their cable inspection effort. again, we are expecting an update from metro officials at

6:00, about an hour from now, for what's going to happen tomorrow. the commute home tonight, yeah, that's still a challenge. meagan fitzgerald is tracking that from the west falls church station. hey, meagan. >> hey there. i can tell you things are kind of quiet right now, but we're expecting that to change as folks get off of work and try and get here to the west falls church metro station. so we're expecting to see some packed metrobuses. you can see some of theme starting to pull in now here but not as packed as what we're expecting to see. we had an opportunity to speak with folks earlier, and they told us their commute from virginia into the city wasn't that bad. they were really surprised by that. some took buses. others hailed a cab. others even rode their bike into d.c. this morning, but it certainly wasn't what they were expecting. they expected traffic to be a lot worse, so the hope is that that's what will happen for this evening's commute. coming up at 5:30, later on in this thnewscast, we'll tell you what uber is trying to do to make the commute for folks a little easier. >> like a ghost town out

meagan fitzgerald, thank you so much. this evening d.c. police are working to help everybody get safely out of the district this evening. they'll have officers at a number of intersections to direct traffic. red light cameras posted at those intersections with officers will be suspended during the evening commute. now, police tell us people heading in and out of the city should plan for major delays tonight. >> you know, commuters, the police, even yoda is having fun with this shutdown. someone posted this picture with the caption, metro there is not. walk to d.c. you must. another person already created donald trump's new slogan. make metro great again. and d.c. police just posted this tweet, they're going to be dancing in the streets and directing traffic this afternoon. you can see these and so many of the comic memes you guys have been creating on the nbc washington app. just search commute.&mq to other news tonight, in a surprising revelation today about the deadly ambush outside a prince george's county police station we're learning more

that killed detective jacai colson. the news came just after a dramatic court appearance today for the accused gunman's brothers. county bureau chief tracee wilkins live in upper marlboro with what happened. tracee? >> reporter: jim, police sources were telling us the night of this shooting that an officer shot officer jacai thinking he was the suspect when it happened. today the police chief stopped shy of saying that. he wouldn't call it a case of mistaken identity, but it sounds like now they have proof that that may be what happened here. >> the shot that struck and killed detective colson was deliberately aimed at him by another police officer. >> reporter: prince george's county police chief hank stawinski went on to say it wasn't accidental cross fire that killed detective jacai colson who was plain clothed at the time but it wasn't malicious either. he explained it this

>> i believe a police officer fired at an armed vind they perceived to be a threat to them. >> reporter: police say michael ford ambushed the station with a death wish. police say he pulled it off with the help of his two younger brothers. today elijah and malik ford were held without bond on attempted murder and assault charges during a video court appearance from the prince george's county jail. during his hearing malik ford temporarily passed out causing a break in the proceedings. michael thomas, the father of all three brothers, refused to comment after the hearing but in court said this in his son malik's defense. my son is excellent. i never thought i'd be standing in front of you pleading for his life. i have lost three sons in one shot. last night michael ford, the suspected gunman, was charged with 25 counts including second-degree murder for the death of officer colson. according to charges documents, elijah ford recorded a video will in which his b

michael mapped out the planned shooting. malik drove michael to the police station and when he started walking to the wrong building, the brothers directed him back to the police station. coming up on news4 at 6:00, one of these brothers is accused of actually recording this shooting as it was happening. today his sister explained to the judge why he would do that. we'll explain that coming up on news4 at 6:00. reporting live in upper marlboro, i'm tracee wilkins. >> i'm wondering if because of the culture of being an undercover detective, if maybe he's not well known around the station and that's part of maintaining the secrecy or his being undercover. is that possible? >> reporter: well, police sources are telling us and also the chief said early on his jufe undercover work had nothing to do with what happened here and this shooting but the police chief is being very intentional in his wording because this is an ongoing investigation, so we cannot assume that these officers did not know this officer, but there wa

chaos, there was a lot happening, so exactly how that shooting happened, we're going to have to wait for al of this to play out to have exact answers for how this kind of mistake could be made. >> i'm sure it weighs very heavily, all of this tragedy. thank you, tracee. right now the search is on for a man who police say led them on a high-speed chase before he stole one of their cruisers. we're told park police officers tried to stop wilson overton but he sped off on the gw parkway. he reached speeds of up to 115 miles an hour. police say he crashed his car at the entrance to 395, bailed out, and while officers were searching for him, overton allegedly stole one of the cruisers and then took off into d.c. he apparently bailed out again after crashing the cruiser at the 11th street bridge. well, the political battle over filling the seat of the late supreme court justice antonin scalia has officially kicked into high gear today. president obama nominating

court earlier today. garland is a former federal prosecutor and current chief judge of the u.s. court of appeals here in d.c. the white house released several images of garland with his family on a new twitter account @scotusnom. garland was emotional as he thanked the president. >> this is the greatest honor of my life other than my wife agreeing to marry me 28 years ago. know my mother is watching this on television and crying her eyes out. i only wish that my father were here to see this today. fidelity to the constitution and the law has been the cornerstone of my professional life and it is the hallmark of the kind of judge i have tried to be. >> shortly after the president's announcement, mitch mcconnell reiterated his intent it delay any hearings until after the presidential election. and as the political battle

begins, we're taking a closer look at him and his ties to our area, talking to those who know him. news4's chris gordon joins us from the supreme court with that. >> reporter: this is worldwide news but it's also a local story. judge garland and his wife, lynn, according to multiple sources, live in bethesda in the edgemore neighborhood. she has taught at sidwell friends school. he has worked in private practice at a large d.c. law firm and for the u.s. attorney's office. so as you can see, their local roots run deep. merrick garland is the chief judge of the u.s. court of appeals for the d.c. circuit. it has been called the second-most important court in the united states. the judge garland was confirmed in 1997 by an overwhelming vote of 76-23 showing bipartisan support. he is highly respected by fellow judges. >> everng

appointment in terms of his credentials but also the kind of person he is. he's a man of extraordinary generosity and honesty. he is unassuming. >> reporter: as a prosecutor, garland got a conviction in the oklahoma city bombing case. former prince george's county state's attorney glen ivy, who is now running for congress, knows judge garland from his days as a harvard law school student. later they both worked in the u.s. attorney's office. >> i have known him now, you know, over 30 years, and he's an outstanding man, great individual, high character. gives a lot to the community and always has. >> reporter: today president obama mentioned his community service. >> setting his own temple tutoring a young student each year for the past 18 years. >> reporter: caroline frederickson president of the american constitution society worked with the white house selecting justice garland and atteed

>> i have had occasion to interact quite a bit with judge garland, and he has always shown himself to be an outstanding juri jurist, somebody of really quite the highest qualifications but also someone who is nice and genuine. >> reporter: ahead, despite republican opposition, why some people are saying that they predict that judge garland will be confirmed as the next u.s. supreme court justice. that's the latest live from the scene. chris gordon, news4. storm team4 tracking a little bit of a system trying to come through. most of the shower activity is out of here. we're going to continue to track these this evening. and then we've got some cooler temperatures over the next couple days and, yes, i'm tracking possible weekend snow. i have more on that coming up in about ten minutes. front-runners are racking up the

nomination is clearer today, but they haven't reached those magic numbers just yet. and then i heard pounding and -- i'm sorry. i heard pounding and fire, fire, get out of the house. get out of your house. >> hours after they got the flames under control, why fire crews in woodbridge are struggling to get inside to search this home for a missing

we need women in congress. if we want to be heard, it was the women who forced republicans to include women's health and contraceptive coverage in the affordable care act. in congress, i'll fight for pay equity, family leave and tougher gun safety laws. and, as an environmentalist, i'll work combat climate change. i know as a journalist and as a senior executive in business that when women are at the table, we get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message.

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call or go online today. small business is better on a better network. it's a terrible waiting game for a local virginia family who wants to know if their loved one is still inside a home that was devoured by fire. >> prince william county fire officials say it won't be until tomorrow when they can get inside to find the person who lived there. northern virginia bureau reporter david culver is live now off ponderosa court in woodbridge with what was an eat moti emotional awakening for neighbors. >> reporter: keep in mind it has been more than 15 hours since that fire began, and if you look behind me, you can see fire crews are still working. they're trying to get inside this home. they want to find out the

for resident but structurally it's just not safe. you can still see the smoke rising from inside. fire spared only the shell of this woodbridge town home. neighbor joyce shingler had finally fallen asleep when the panic set in. >> and then i heard pounding and -- i'm sorry. i heard pounding and fire, fire, get out of the house, get out of your house. >> reporter: from across the street, this is what she saw, flames out of control. >> the flames were going a full story above the roof, and, oh, my god, somebody can't be in there, can they? >> reporter: that's the question that's taken hours to answer. neighbors believe a man was home last night. >> we have certainty there was somebody there because the car was parked right i front of their house. >> reporter: they tried calling his cell phone throughout the

then they watched one of his sons show up. >> i just saw him running towards the house going my dad, my dad. >> he wanted to run in, and they stop him because it was too intense, the fire, to do anything. >> they grabbed him because he was going to run. that's his father. he was running to the house. >> he had to be restrained. i'm sorry. >> reporter: those living her say fire crews worked quickly to get it under control. one of the firefighters got hurt on scene. >> thankfully he has been treated and released from the hospital. >> reporter: fire crews will work with the atf here tomorrow morning so as to get a crane here. they're hoping to shore up this structure so eventually they can get inside and search it. coming up on news4 at 6:00, i'm going to tell you why neighbors here say the devastation could have been far worse if it weren't for the actions of some of those living right here in this community. reporting live from woodbridge, virginia, i'm david culver, news4.

this was an amazing evening. >> head to head is a nightmare for donald trump because two-thirds of republicans recognize he's not the right candidate to go up against hillary clinton because he loses to hillary clinton. >> just going to keep doing what i'm doing because i think people really do appreciate the positive message. >> it was a big win for john kasich and donald trump is strengthening his hand after the latest round of primaries yesterday. the nbc news delegate tracker shows trump widening his lead in the race for the gop nomination. he has 666 of the 1237 delegates that he needs. ted cruz has 408. kasich 142. marco rubio, who suspended his campaign after losing his home state of florida last night, has 172 delegates, and they are now free to vote for the candidate of their choice at the convention.

on the democratic side, hillary clinton was the big winner picking up some big victories in florida, north carolina, ohio, and illinois. 2,383 delegates are needed. clinton has 1566. sanders 838. clinton is turning her sights to the gop front-runner. >> our commander in chief has to be able to defend our country, not embarrass it. >> we can make real change. >> the next big prize for these candidates in both parties, the arizona primary sha, march 22nd. well, president obama is out with his picks for the ncaa tournament in a bracket he filgd out for espn. the president picked kansas, texas a&m, north carolina, and michigan state to reach the final four. he's got kansas winning the

as far as schools with local -- >> the kit and the coo boodle. >> both of them. the president has maryland making the sweet 16. west virginia and uva making the elite 8. george washington's women getting ready for the tournament. second straight season the colonials have made it to the big dance, and this season they've been led by their quarterback on the court. jason pugh is here with their story. >> jim, last year's early exit from the ncaa tournament has motivated the women's basketball team at george washington, and you know what? their determination is fueled by that first round loss and even driven in part by their former high school quarterback nim n nicknamed hannah joe montana. >> i'm a scrappy player. >> if you're going against hannah, she's going to wear you out until you get a sub because she's going to be all over the floor. >> a loose ball, setting a screen, diving on the

another -- i think to her that's another war wound and she kind of likes that. >> a wound earned on the court but a style born on the field. in high school she juggled basketball, volleyball, and flag football. a state champion quarterback her junior year. >> i really had to show the girls and prove myself, prove my worth in the position i was placed in. >> i kept saying the competitive level she has, if she's able to focus on one sport, that feel she had was going to be so high. >> there are a lot of things that correlate between football and basketball and it's really nice to have -- i have had extra experience through football that has i think really improved my basketball iq and the physicality out there. >> as hannah grows, so does the postseason potential of gw. >> a lot of stuff she does doesn't show up on the stat sheet. i'm lucky to have her on my team. she's somebody i love playing with and i would hate playing against. i'm happy she chose to come to gw and i get to

>> she has that mindset, nobody is ever going to outmuscle her and it's been fun to watch her grow as a player with still that same mindset she had in high school. >> hannah and the ladies from george washington learned monday night they will play kansas state on friday afternoon in columbia. should they advance, they will stake on the number one seed, south carolina, on sunday. it's a deal to keep you safe on the road. imagine if your car could prevent your next crash. it could happen. every single car could soon hit the brakes for you. plus a dramatic plea for leniency did not help a uva student being held in north korea. more

we're taking a look at what's going on across the area. we're having some cloud cover but some sunshine, too. temperature 72 degrees. a very warm day today and as we told you yesterday, the temperatures getting into the mid to upper 70s across the area. look at 78 in fredericksburg. charlottesville at 84. luray at

a we mentioned we could see isolated showers and thunderstorms. not much going on, but we talked about isolated. look around the warrenton area, right to the south of 66. this is a fairly heavy storm that has developed right now. no lightning with this just yet but a heavy downpour that will cross over 15 from marshall down towards warrenton. heads up for that one and continue on in. maybe a few more this evening, but most of us will remain on the dry side. all part of a frontal boundary moving through. another front to the west. we will see this piece of energy tomorrow so there might be a slight chance of shower tomorrow afternoon. high temperatures mid-60s to around 70 degrees. some areas may be a little warmer than that but we will still be very mild tomorrow with those high temperatures well above average. now, this weekend we go back to winter. high of upper 40s to around 50 on saturday. and then on sunday we see a storm system move through. this is going to be another coastal low, could become a nor'easter depending how close to the coast it is, ho w

is, how cold air moves in. we could see some snow and it could be accumulating snowfall. this would be on sunday. this is something that we're going to be watching very, very closely. so tracking a coastal storm. snow looking more and more likely. but very hard to accumulate snow in the month of march. can it happen? of course it can. we've had a lot around our region. just two years ago, seven inches in d.c., and then normally happens right around march 17th. 62 on your friday. there's that 50 on saturday. chance of rain or snow, 38 degrees on sunday. much more on this coming up with veronica. she's got the latest at 5:45. metro is expected to hold a press korcconference in about 3 minutes. plus a high-tech school in our area ripped off, and the thieves, they knew right where to go to get the goods. also, everyone wants to know about the traffic bottle neck on i-270. >> and now there's a plan to get you out of

it is the tale of two commutes during the metrorail shutdown. drivers on the dulles toll road, smooth s

>> well, it was. that compared to the commute on canal road that inched along today. >> so right now at 5:30, commuters are knee deep in the latest rush hour with no rail service. thanks for watching. i'm wendy rieger. >> i'm jim handly at 5:30. many are taking it in stride. meagan fitzgerald is at west falls church metro station with the latest from there. meagan? >> reporter: and, jim, i can tell you of course the gates to the metrorail behind us are closed, but this parking structure over to the right here is filled with cars of people who hopped on the bus to commute into the city today. some folks say it was a hassle, but a lot of people we talked to say it wasn't as bad as they expected. when metro says the rails aren't an option for some 29 hours, many commuters had to come up with a game plan quickly. >> my commute was all right. i specifically woke up at 5:30 in the morning so i could get one of the first buses into

sullivan can tell you those metrobuses were in high demand. >> by the time we got to mclean though, it was jam packed shtionz the bus, and there was a very long line outside. >> reporter: because after all, for some folks staying home wasn't an option. >> i have business here. just business meetings. >> we had a meeting with about six people and five of them were there in person. >> reporter: so many taxi drivers had a pretty good day. >> abnormal, exactly. >> reporter: and a similar sentiment for uber drivers. >> it was a surge. i started at 4:30 and just nonstop. >> we've seen a tremendous amount of demand for our product today. >> reporter: she says the company even expanded its uber car pool service into the suburbs of maryland and virginia so riders would have another option at their disposal. >> we've seen tens of thousands of folks come to uber. today we've seen nearly a 70% increase in signups. >> reporter: uber said they capped the surge

needing to get into the city. whatever the alternative means of transportation was today -- >> i think about laugh of our office came in today. >> reporter: it didn't appear to be that epic commute that many previously thought. >> the commute wasn't bad. we had about a mile drive in a taxi. >> reporter: now, coming up at 6:30, you will hear vdot's assessment of the morning commute and what they believe is expected for tonight. >> thank you. without the rails, quite a few people took to two wheels instead of four to get to work today. the folks at capital bike shares say there was an increase in people using their service. last wednesday 9:30 a.m., 3,900 people had used their bikes. at the same time today that number was more than 4,35500, b some customers say they didn't notice a difference. >> bikes missing but there was

no problems. every place -- actually the regular dock i went to was full. >> some cabbies we talked to today said there was also increased ridership for them but that it wasn't as high as they had hoped. and we want to know what you think. did metro make the right call to close down today? vote by texting or calling the number on your screen. i'm susan hogan at the live desk. we just learned this afternoon major automakers and the u.s. government have agreed to make automatic emergency braking standard in most cars by the year 2022. now, the deal includes about 20 automakers according to "consumer reports." that represents about 99% of the cars in the u.s. market. the national highway traffic safety administration and automakers are expected to formally make that announcement tomorrow. news4 has also learned automakers will phase in the equipment which includes backup cameras, radar, and other

braking system can reduce rear end crashes by about 40% according to the insurance institute for highway afternoon. live at the news desk, susan hogan, news4. new trial dates are set for the baltimore police officers who are charged in the death of freddie gray. the prosecutors aren't happy with this line up. gray died last april from spine and neck injuries. investigators say he got them while he was in the back of a police van. now we're learning officers are going to be back in the courtroom this spring. all six of them scheduled to face a judge in the months ahead starting with officer edward nero on may 10th, but prosecutors say they wanted the cases to resume with the retrial of william porter, whose trial ended with a hung jury last year. a sentence of 15 years hard labor for a uva student accused of stealing from a hotel in north korea. his name is otto warmbier. he's from ohio. the uva student was visiting north korea with a group of four other pe w

arrested in early january. he's accused of stealing a propaganda poster from his hotel. the state department is calling for his release on humanitarian grounds saying the punishment doesn't fit the crime. >> reporter: what kind of thieves would steal ipads used by little kids? i'm talking little kids, pre-k to third grade. who would do something like that? i don't know their names b i'veut g now at havertys furniture, it's our spring home event, where you can create the perfect home. from now until march twenty-first... you'll find huge savings on stylish pieces, plus you'll save an extra one hundred dollars, on every thousand you spend. and, we're offering twenty-four month, no interest financing. come in today for storewide savings.

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you know what else might surprise you? geico is the number one auto insurer in the d.c. metropolitan area. call or click today to see how much you could save with geico. this week's wednesday's child is a bright, young 10-year-old about to turn 11. her big dream is to become an olympic gymnast so we decided to take her to silver star gymnastics. she has a little bashful to begin with but bounced right out of it. 10-year-old tashmir was feeling shy and a little reluctant but after a few cartwheels and a climb aboard the balance beam, er

rise. >> now arms up here night and tall. >> reporter: she told us she wants to be a gymnast like gabby douglas. after a tumble or two down the long mat, she was all smiles and finally relaxed and not so shy anymore. >> flips and her jumps and her cartwheels, natural talent. >> reporter: she told us she even did well at her first attempt at basketball. >> i was like let me just get this shot. he said how are you going to shoot the ball? and i shooted the ball for an example. >> she's a really good student. she reads fabulous. >> reporter: we also discovered she likes to sing and she joined coach ashley in singing one of her favorites. ♪ >> reporter: coach juwan young told tashmir what it

an olympic gymnast. >> you always have to do your schoolwork, listen to your parents. >> and a family is what she needs to reach her goals in life. >> not only is she a great kid, she deserves it. >> reporter: a family that will help her reach for the sky in whatever she decides to do. and if you have room in your home and your heart for tashmir or another child who is waiting, please call our special adoption hotline, 1-88-to adopt me or search wednesday's child on nbcwashington.com. she's got quite a personality once she bounced out of it. >> what a talent too. thank you, barbara. major traffic bottle neck in maryland getting some much-needed attention. >> some major funding could mean your commute is about to get a lot easier.

we need women in congress. if we want to be heard, it was the women who forced republicans to include women's health and contraceptive coverage in the affordable care act. in congress, i'll fight for pay equity, family leave and tougher gun safety laws. and, as an environmentalist, i'll work combat climate change. i know as a journalist and as a senior executive in business that when women are at the table, we get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message.

search is on tonight for a pair of thieves in the district. >> they targeted a high-tech elementary school and this evening we're hearing outrage from leaders of the school community. surveillance video shows the thieves breaking in the eagle academy public charter school. news4's pat collins live in southeast to tell us what they were looking for. pat? >> reporter: wendy, this school has a lot of neat features. it has an indoor learning pool for the kids. a neat library for the kids, and ipads for the kids but not as many ipads as it should have. wait until you see wh h

here. watch to the right of your tv screen. you can see the crook kick his way through the classroom window. first his foot, then the rest of him. a short time later in comes his accompli accomplice. they go right to a stack of ipads almost like they knew where they were. and then they start stuffing them in a getaway bag. this is the eagle academy, a modern, high-tech, public charter school on wheeler road in southeast. pre-k to third grade. and these two guys are ripping the place off. >> we're in the middle of ward 8. these kids do not have a ton of stuff given to them but i'm telling you right now when we put a kid on an ipad even before they can read, they can make it hum. our kids are smart, they know what they're doing. they just need a chance and here was somebody stealing their chance from them. that's wrong. >> reporter: now, the break-in happened on a sunday afternoon.

35 ipads taken then. the wednesday before somebody slipped into the school and stole about a dozen more. now the eagle academy has been here about four years. this is the first time it's been victimized like this. >> it breaks my heart really, but when someone is desperate, there are no laws, there are no rules. it's what i want, what i need, and i'm going to benefit from it. >> reporter: now, coming up at 6:00, the parents speak out. you're going to want to hear that. i'll see you at 6:00. wendy, back to you. >> all right. pat collins. maryland transportation officials are working to make it easier for you to drive through frederick, maryland. governor larry hogan announced nearly $37 million that will help break up a bottle neck along i-80 year the area where i-70 and route 15 meet. plans include widening the roads. the state is investing more than

transportation projects for frederick county. when the economy roars back, so too does the traffic, and right now americans are spending more time driving than ever before. according to a new study by the data company inrix, u.s. drivers spent more than 8 million drivers stuck in traffic last year logging a record 3.15 trillion miles. that shatters the previous record of 3 trillion miles set back in 2007. l.a. has by far the worst traffic followed by d.c., san francisco, houston, and new york. >> and with today's metro shutdown, the traffic wasn't as bad as some people had feared. news4's erica gonzalez caught up with some of the many commuters who had to make those changes today. >> reporter: bus after bus after bus. do you ever take the bus? >> only on the weekends. >> reporter: metro riders forced to take other forms of transportation today after the system shuts down for emergency inspections. >> they're charging us all this money and every time

turning around there's more and more problems. >> reporter: metro employees trying to point folks in the right direction. >> that's what i'm here for. >> reporter: some riders say a little headache in the morning commute is worth it. >> i'm very happy they're concentrating on safety. >> reporter: but at the vienna fairfax station some riders discovered the buses couldn't take them to their exact location. does your job know you are going to be late? >> yes. >> reporter: this man and his colleagues car pooled. >> it doesn't look too bad this morning. >> reporter: normally in a parking lot like this you have to circle around a few times to find a spot. today take your pick. riders tell us it doesn't even look like this on the weekends. jun li needs help getting into the city. most people are satisfied. do you think they made the right call? >> absolutely. safety first. >> so we asked you to weigh in on our flsh survey. did metro officials make the right calltt

entire day. so far most of you approve. you can keep voting on the nbc washington facebook page. we'll have the metro press conference when it happens. the national park service has revised their forecast for peak bloom. now forecast for next wednesday and thursday, that's when 70% of the trees are in bloom. the cherry blossom festival starts on sunday. the first day of spring, veronica. >> i know. >> open our nbc washington app for a list of eight cherry blossom events you won't want to miss. bad timing, i must say, v.j. and doug. >> mother nature, not me. >> you got some -- >> now it's going to be blooming during the festival which is nice. >> exactly. what we're alluding to here is the fact that -- >> maybe not. >> -- the first day of spring will feel like winter around here because we're forecasting a little snow. don't want to see that. cherry

some shamrocks. this is at a home in chantilly. the yard along heather drive adornd with those green pretty lights. it's, yes, not all of them just plain green. lots of them shamrocks. no vine of any little leprech n leprechauns in the area because they know we have the return of winter coming our way this weekend. all right. let's take a look, from the 70s to the 30s this upcoming weekend. definitely sunday. so as you will see in just a moment, sunday we are forecasting some snow across the area. it all depends on the track of the storm system that is yet to be anywhere near the east coast. right now we're tracking some showers, just a few making their way into areas of fairfax county, loudoun county, right up along areas of 66. you can see it here. no lightning but advancing to herndon and reston by

then another chance for more isolated showers from 3::00 to 7:00 to 9:00 tomorrow. same kind of situation like today. i think our sky is partly sunny for tomorrow. there you can see the clouds coming into the area during the afternoon hours. very spotty showers, very light as we get into the evening hours we'll get a little clearing. tomorrow will be warm. fredericksburg, quantico, stafford could get up to 70 degrees. mid-60s to the north. olney, germantown, up into columbia, even around burtonsville, mid-60s for highs tomorrow. for early in the day, again, a little bit of sunshine coming our way. then clouds for the afternoon. 67 by 3:00. again that isolated shower. it will be mild. for your weekend, 50 degrees on saturday. nice during the day. it's during the evening hours, very late evening, 9:00, 10:00 when snow develops. for the early part of the day there could be light accumulation. and as we get

mixing with that snow with the temperature upper 30s to only around 40 degrees. and that really is the change that you're going to notice, those temperatures in the 30s for sunday. right now your storm team4 seven-day forecast shows the rain/snow mick on sunday. and then we're into the 50s and 60s in the early part of next week. guys? >> thanks, v.j. the future of football in our region is changing. we'll explain how a special announcement in the city is going to give sports fans something new to cheer about. it was only a dusting but it caught d.c. government agencies off guard. tonight the i-team went searching for answers about the city's response in the hours leading up to that

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by southwest panel. she also released a new song called 62 million girls. that's the number of girls worldwide who are not enrolled in schools. it includes kelly clarkson, kelly rowland and that person you know so well who is so popular. >> zendaya. >> who doesn't know her. springtime is for baseball but starting next year it will be all about football. >> the owner of the caps and wizards is getting ready to bring another football team to d.c. jason is live in the newsroom to tell us about it. >> arena league football is a different brand of football than what people are used to seeing. they will get a good look at it next spring. today was the official announcement of the d.c.'s arena league team. no name or logo for this te

excitement. season tickets for next spring starting around $50. arena football is billed as a faster, more entertaining brand than the nfl. >> you don't want to watch it. you want to experience it. that's exactly what we want to do. i think especially young adults that have very, very short attention spans and are living in this real time multiscreen world, the afl was designed for that. >> we want to completely assault your senses, make you fans and make you understand that this is a kind of football that has never existed before. i wish you well, god bless, come down and see one of our games. it's the best time you will have with your pants on. >> what do sports fans in the city think about the newest sports team? tom sherwood takes a look. >> reporter: the latest version of arena football made a

people had all sorts of opinions. >> fantastic. very entertaining sport. i would go. >> pretty violent. >> i'd go. >> reporter: what's the appeal. >> it's violent. it's fun. >> reporter: do you know anything about it? >> i know nothing. >>. >> reporter: do you like it? >> oh, yes. >> reporter: muriel bowser was bobbing her head to the latest sports team headed to d.c.'s verizon center to join the wizards, the mystics and the capitals. >> you bring the downtown area alive. anytime the capitals play, you can't find a seat in the rest restaurant in this area. >> reporter: the arena football team doesn't have a name yet but it will join in town the nats and the wizards arounds the caps and the d.c. united and the mystics. only the redskins aren't in the city. something that ward 2 council member jack evans out for a run is still trying to change. >> there is no more popute

redskins and the only site for them as everyone knows is the rfk site. >> reporter: in the meantime, the verizon center is drawing big crowds. >> we bring close to 3 million people now downtown, and as the mayor said, we're the number one place for uber to dron off and pick up. >> reporter: the new arena team will begin playing next year. tom sherwood, news4. news4 at 6:00 begins with breaking news. >> system shutdown. tonight an alarming discovery as crews shut down metro for emergency repairs. all this comes amid two big questions, what did investigators find today and what can we expect ahead of tomorrow's commute? >> we're going to be getting some answers soon. metro will be holding a press conference any moment and we'll bring it to you live. the gridlock is under way on the drive home as metrorail remains shut down. >> that's right. the padlocks on the gate are

for tomorrow morning's rush but we're still waiting to hear if metro sticks to that plan. without the rails earlier, some commuters battled some heavy traffic. others had to get creative to get to work and school on time. news4's transportation reporter adam tuss is at metro headquarters with the latest. adam? >> reporter: hey, chris. i just talked to some metro officials and the goal, what they're going to announce in a couple minutes, the goal is to fully open the system tomorrow with some potential bus bridges in between stations. that means you would get on a bus from one station and it would take you to another station and potential single tracking in other areas. there are about 80% done with the inspection of these cables throughout the system. they found about 26 problems with the cables that they have gone through and looked at so far, and a little more than a dozen have been fixed. so that means there are still some problem spots out there, maybe ten or so they haven't even fixed yet. we're going to go to the press conference right now. it's