9:00 on this saturday morning. if you rely on the green line to get around, listen up. metro safetrack surge number 14 underway starting today. the first phase will run until april 29th. the greenbelt and college park stations will be closed during maintenance work with shuttle buses replacing the trains. organizers of the tax march on d.c. are urging president trump to release his tax returns. demonstrators will be marching on the national mall starting at noon today. supporters promoted the rally with an inflatable 13-foot tax march chicken. and now to north korea with a massive parade being honored for the late founding father kim il-song. and they debuted several of their

listi listic missiles, ballistic missiles. you are looking at the hash tag battle. it's about april the giraffe in labor right now. >> right now. it's quite a sight to see. you can see the battle online, girl is winning. but on facebook live -- >> on our facebook live, a lot of people are chiming in to say it's a boy. you think it is a girl. given your betting sciences background -- >> i'm just like girl winning sounds so much better. when we were watching it, we were glued to the tube, and all we could see at that time was one foot. but you said just before we came on air, there were two. >> all right. we're getting there. go april. >> we welcome you in at 9:01 and a check on the forecast. we'll go outside in the storm team 4 weather deck. hey, tom. you're in northwest washington, everything has gone green behind me.

out. and you can check the latest forecast when you're away from the tv right now. 58 degrees and overcast here. and there is a view from the storm team 4 tower camera showing how all the trees are producing leaves here in northwest washington. as a result, the pollen count is really starting to jump. now, on average, our pollen count reaches its high range right now. and it is peak range in may, early to mid-may. and then it drops off in june. and here's the history. we had that fall spring peak in late february and early march that plummeted in late march. and now it is right up into the high range again today. if you suffer from allergies, you'll notice it throughout the day despite cloud cover. and warmer weather moving in. i'm make the pollen count higher tomorrow. we'll look at that and the rain chances to wash the pollen out coming up this half hour. and we're getting new numbers in this morning after the u.s. dropped a so-called mother-of-all-bombs on the

tunnel. 94 islamic state group fighters were killed in thursday's attack. you're looking at the video of when the nonnuclear bomb was dropped. at least four group leaders were among those killed. the u.s. estimates that 600 to 800 isis fighters are in that area of afghanistan. no civilians were kill in the attack. this morning a federal judge has made a ruling surrounding executions in arkansas. a preliminary injunction will halt the state's plan to go forward with the death penalty for some inmates by the end of april. nbc's chris pollone explains what is at stake here. >>er the circuit court judge in arkansas blocked executions from taking place there. the judge issued a temporary restraining order on friday evening after they said it wasn't meant to be used in executions and asked the state prison system to send it back. arkansas's governor had originally scheduled eight executions over 11 days because another dru u

the end of april. a federal judge already blocked one execution earlier this month. and by friday night, that number had fallen to six after the arkansas supreme court stepped in granting bruce earlwa ward a stay of his execution. the flurry of court action came after protests at the state capital in arkansas on friday. the attorney for three of the inmates had called it an assembly line killing. >> it is unprecedented that the state is trying to execute this many people in this short period of time. >> reporter: they have been reluctant to provide more drugs used in lethal injection since the botched execution in oklahoma three years ago. >> it's been a 25-year nightmare for the victims that had to deal with this. and now it's time for that justice to be carried out. >> reporter: they will try to get the latest court decision to halt the execution overturned by the state supreme court. chris

going into one we have to the busiest holy days of the year, a wisconsin community is giving the all-clear for the wisconsin area ch. authorities say he raided a gun shop last week and officials found an assortment of weapons with him. and a copy of the mass fenifestt he mailed to the white house. and there's a criminal investigation into alarming charges against the retired military general in virginia. retired major general james grazioplene faces six counts of rape. he rapped a minor between 1983 and 1989. he lives in gainesville and most recently worked at the pentagon before retiring in 2005. he's going to be prosecuted under the military justice system. and a scary

reston restaurant threatened a employees at the fox mill center. he broke glasses at the bar and then injured a man. essentially, police caught him lying under a car after they say he tried to break into a nearby home. the rights of transgender and gay students will continue to be protected. a student filed a lawsuit after the school board voted to add sexual orientation and gender identity to the nondiscrimination policy. the student said he was terrified to share spaces with transgender students and said it was an invasion of his privacy. the virginia supreme court dismissed the lawsuit saying the student, quote, general

the school system. a plan without proper driving credentials and with a criminal record including a misdemeanor assault charge, was allowed to drive a d. d.c. school bus for five days. the officials say the man was hired due to a lapse in the hiring procedures. and the man in the human resources staffer who approved that hire have both been fired now. school fishes say families of the 22 students who rode with them were notified. and 9:07 on this saturday morning. should you have a right to know who visits the people's house right there, the white house? how the trump administration is changing the policy of what is made public. and i'm tom sherwood holding a chicken. what's up with that? the story coming up.

there's the view. there's more to life than the climb. you've gotta stop and look around a little. come, shed life's layers in asheville. let the child inside you out to play. remember who you are. life is for the taking, not for taking it easy. asheville. discovery, inside and out. florida is dealing with another brush fire. we have been telling you about

with. dozens of fires have torched acre after acre, look at that. the most reisn't fire in tampa sparked yesterday afternoon. the cause still unknown. the threat of wildfires continues in florida because of the dry and windy conditions there. as a result, multiple counties in the ftampa area have barred burn bans. the white house is ending an obama-era practice, makes visitor logs of the complex open to the public. they cited privacy concerns and national security as the reason. during the obama years, lawyers did delete names on the logs for the very reasons, but the white house ultimately released nearly 6 million visitor records. in 2012, donald trump posted this, a series of tweets including the one that criticizes then president obama for a lack of transparency. well, it's quickly warming up, but not quick enough for some folks out already, but it won't

can you believe it? tom is tracking your chances for thunderstorms this holiday weekend. and a holiday weekend filled with too much candy, is there such a thing? a chocolate bunny, some peeps and a few holiday pounds. we'll tell you how the little treats can add up quickly.

this is one of our most read and most shared stories on the nbc washington app.

proposing to ban chickens as pets. >> yeah, right now, can you believe it, the law is unclear about this. as news the's tom sherwood reports, people who have chickens are ready to fight back. >> you're trying to make sure you can keep your chickens. >> we are. >> reporter: lawyers for this couple have chickens in their backyard. >> come on, girls. come on, maggie. >> reporter: that would be maggie thatcher and this is tina fey. the two others are chelsea clinton and ivanka trump. >> they make more noise than barking dogs. >> reporter: but they got a legal notice this week giving them 48 hours to get rid of the chickens. the lawyers went to court and the officials backed off. but only because mayor muriel bowser is proposing new legislation to clarify a law to ban chickens. on the

was on the hot seat. >> what is the deal with the chickens? >> the chickens are the number one cause of salmonella, particularly when kept as pets in urban environments. >> reporter: but what if city schools like janney elementary have chickens in their plakds. >> you wouldn't let elementary children be around chickens if there were a danger. >> reporter: many intend to find murder yel bo muriel bowser's proposed law, but what do you do when chickens become older? does there come a too many whim cook them? >> no, tom, the pets have names. >> you know, sherwood, they have names. so the ban on chickens is not the only change the mayor wants. her proposal would also require cat owners for the first time to get licenses for their cats. and in other news, homeless families will soon get extra help in d.c.

the district will be leasing apartment buildings to house families who have no place to live. it's part of mayor muriel bowser's plan to close d.c. general for several years. the city has been paying millions of dollars to help families in motels. and the mayor received criticism to build temporary shelters to house the homeless. and good news if you like capital bikeshare to set up a new post in prince george's county. the red bikes should start to roll out next spring. the county is planning 40 bikes at national harbor and 250 bikes in the anascostia trails in the heritage area. they are planning to add more to greenbelt and college park. they already operate in d.c., parts of virginia and montgomery county. in the quest for the cup, the capitals will go head-to-head with the toronto mapleleafs in game two of th

playoffs. a lot of fans are holding their breath that the caps come out a winner, david. >> thursday night the team was able to beat out toronto in overtime to give them the lead so far in the series. >> you have lived this moment in your brain when you're a young kid, in the backyard or whatever, when you're 8, 9, 10 years old. and so i'll just go out there and play. playoff where is the best time of the year. >> the puck drops tonight at 7:00. that's at the verizon center. >> you know what? it's a good time to be a basketball fan, too, here in d.c. >> for the wizards fans who want to score a ticket to a playoff game. it may be easier and cheaper. that's always good news. wtop reporting that the cheapest ticket on the resale market for tomorrow night's game was $36. for game two of the verizon center, cheaper at $32. much cheaper than the nfl playoffs that are constantly $100 here. so you v

winner in our sugar showdown. >> uh-huh. >> our candy brackets came down to cadbury mini eggs versus reese's peanut butter eggs. >> it was close but the cadbury mini eggs won with 53% of the vote. a lot of us will snack on candy this holiday weekend, a lot of us, but how much is too much? and susan hogan will show us, the tiny little treats can quickly add up. >> reporter: whether you're picking through your kid's easter basket or candy, you buy it at deep discount the day after, there's going to be a lot of temptation around easter. you may find all of these eggs in one basket, but to keep from eating them all, try to stick to 100 calories. 100 calories of reese's pieces eggs look like this, 6 1/3 eggs. nestle crunch eggs, 3 1/3. cadbury cream eggs you can he

if your kid's willing to share his hershey's moarshmall low eggs, you can have 3 1/3. and jelly belly beans give the most bang for your calorie buck, 25 beans to put a smile on your face. and 100 calories in your belly. then there are edible animals to reach 100 calories. you can munch 3 1/2 peeps marshmallow chicks. and all ears if you want to eat this lindt bunny because that's all you get for 100 calories. at least they didn't sugar coat it. consumer reports advice that you shouldn't cut yourself off from the treats but just control the portion. >> all right. >> i'm feeling like a reese's peanut butter cup right now. >> i would join you in that. but we don't have any props to

>> that's amazing. >> but i have an egg-salent forecast for you. we have clouds now breaking up as we get into the forecast. it's cloudy at prince george's county where we are looking now at the capital wheel and national harbor. the gray skies reflect maryland the potomac river there with temperatures near 60 degrees just about everywhere as well as shenandoah valley. but we have all sunshine as well as out in the mountains with the sun coming our way. the radar is scanning the clouds and not picking up any rain except a few light sprinkles here in far southern maryland on the eastern shore. those will stay off to the east. but hour-by-hour timing of the showers popping up, areas in color at 3:00 p.m., shenandoah valley and the blue ridge, maybe an isolated shower or rumble of thunder. then a few isolated thundershowers in the metro between

neck between 7:00 and 9:00 p.m. not severe storms, but maybe a passing shower with thunder is the way it looks right now. meanwhile, nats park, first pitch at 1:05 taking on the phillies. we'll be in the mid-70s with the clouds building and maybe an isolated thundershower toward the end of the game. then a 1:35 game tomorrow afternoon. it will feel like summertime. blustery winds. temperatures into the mid-80s by the 7th inning and last out. then by the time to work and school, spring break over for a lot of students in the mid-70s on monday morning. then partly sunny in the afternoon. a nice day on tuesday, partly sunny, upper 60s to near 70 degrees. then some welcomed showers washing pollen out of the air and needed rain because of a drought. we've got that going. that's on wednesday, likely showers and in the 60s during the afternoon. dries out thursday, maybe a few more

again into next weekend on day nine that following sunday and monday. i ain't lookin' to compete with you ♪ ♪ beat or cheat or mistreat you ♪ ♪ simplify you, classify you ♪ ♪ deny, defy or crucify you ♪ ♪ all i really wanna do ♪ ♪ is, baby, be friends with you ♪

it's custom made so you know it's good quality. i'm just speechless because it's perfect.

at a time when many schools are cutting back their art programs, here's one school that is boosting theirs. >> this is paying off for students at northwestern high school in

>> reporter: when did you start painting? >> two years ago. >> reporter: these five northwestern high school students are serious artists. >> i'm mostly digital and gra k graphic design. >> i do mostly drawing and painting. >> reporter: they received more than $1.6 billion in scholarship offers to universities across the country. >> i've accepted to the school of art institute in chicago. >> i'm accepted to the maryland college of institute and art. >> i've been accepted to the university of chicago. >> you look proud. >> i'm very proud. >> reporter: this will be the first graduating class for the visual and arts program. >> it's been an honor to see them grow and experience lots of hardship and overcome. >> like rafael. >> reporter: where are you from

originally? >> el salvador. >> reporter: next year he's headed to the main college of art on scholarship. >> i was one of a thousand students who came to this country and didn't have the chance to go to high school. >> reporter: these twins lost their mother in january. >> it's been hard but then again, she taught us to be so strong. >> the girls say she would be proud to see the girls got a full ride to nyu, new york. >> reporter: prince george's is growing their art program and sending kids to college because of it. >> my art is me and my life is art. so then that is my future. >> reporter: northwestern has a visual arts program. so does suitland high school. the ceo of the prince george's school system is committed to expanding programs like this and the arts. i'm

we'll take you outside for a live look at union station, the flag blowing there with a lot of families traveling this holiday weekend. tom is updating his forecast with what to expect when we talk about the egg hunts and sunday services. and green line riders, it is your chance with the surge on metro. here's what to

we start talking about getting through on metro. the big disruption you will feel even if you don't ride the rails. and a new show of military display as growing tension puts military leaders on alert. and virginia tech ten years later. how the campus is reflecting on a dark moment in history and how they are pushing forward together. welcome in on this saturday morning, april 15, 2017. i'm david culver. >> i'm molette green sitting in for angie goff. it is great to talk about a hot easter before all is said and done before we build up in the weather forecast. >> and we're going to tom kierein with it looking cool in some spots. >> we are hovering near 60 degrees this morning due to low clouds that continuo