jane watrel is along the tidal basin with that story. >> reporter: it's gorgeous down here. there are still people down here this time of night. the cherry blossom festival brings about a million people into downtown d.c. during that two-week period. we saw a lot of them today and tonight. traffic was at gridlock. sunset over the tidal basin and the enthusiasm for the cherry blossoms didn't dim one bit. >> i'm 74 years old. i don't get tired looking at them. they are wonderful. >> reporter: tens of thousands of fans agree. >> it's like a winter wonderland. i saw someone take a peek where the cherry blossom blooms are flowing. it's beautiful. >> reporter: according to the cherry blossom festival official bloom watch, the peak days will last until next wednesday. bringing out amateur photographers by the score. >> i love taking pictures. i te as many as i can and pick the best of them. >> every year we get one or two special ones. >> reporter: along with the throngs came traffic, bumper to bumper. the festival continues all day saturday and the washington nationals host a late

in spotsylvania county, jane watrel, news4. >> couple charged in the cockfighting operation had been living in their home in spotsylvania for about a year. >>> a score has overturned a federal law that banned video showing graphic violence against animals. the justices ruled 8-1. they said the law violated free speech rights. the ruling reverses the conviction of a man from virginia. his name is robert stephens. he was sentenced back in 2005 for running a business that sold videos of pit bull fights. he said that the videos were for educational purposes. the humane society says that it plans to push congress to pass a more narrow law that would, in fact, ban the sale of videos that show animal cruelty. >>> coming up on "news4 at 4:00," we will tell thank you number one medical reason military recruits are turned down. >> also, find out who is pressuring the fda to make food makers lay off the salt. >>> we will tell when you you can take advantage of the cash for appliances rebate program in maryland. >>> welcome back. veronica johnson in storm center 4 where the overnight period, it

i'm jane watrel. only about 8,000 of the 20,000 fligh fligh flights scheduled will happen today. >> airlines are not going to follow the lead of another airliner. spirit airlines recently announced lit start charging passengers for overhead bins. there were some concern other airlines would follow suit. but five of the nation's biggest announced yesterday they will not do so. they're american, delta, yooind united, us airways and jetblue. new york senator charles sumer applauded that move yesterday. he and several other democratic senators support a bill that would tax airlines that charge fees for carry-on bags. >>> coming up on news 4, you mieg might not have to go to u street to check out ben's chilly bowl. we'll explain. >> and with we're looking back at a home grown terrorist attack 15 years lat >> little breezy, a little cool. more what you would expect in april. sunset today at 7:49. the pollen count at 114 grains per cubish meter. oak makes up 86 of that. what's left, 20 some, close to 30 grai

>> jane watrel. thank you, jane. >>> police say people are posing as utility workers to rob homeowners. this happened at least twice this month in prince george's county. one is near forestville and one in suitland. in both case it is suspects knocked on the door and said they were doing utility work and needed a signature on a work order. when the victims opened the door the suspect pulled out weapons and robbed the people living there. pepco officials want to remind doufts always check for proper identification of workers and if there is anything suspicious about the visit, you should call the company to verify. >>> coming up tonight, explosion rocked an offshore oil platform. column of fire went up into the sky. a frantic search sunday way. >>> pope spoke out for first time about the catholic abuse scandal and promised church action to deal with it. >>> lawmakers on capitol hill are trying to figure out if they can help make metro safer. >> we will tell you about the new effort to protect troops f

we begin with jane watrel and the first reaction to the mayor of what happened. >> reporter: doreen, a the lot more information is coming out tonight due to court hearings and a news conference held by the mayor and chief of police. this deadly cycle of events is a case of revenge and counterrevenge, all over the piece of missing jewelry. the two men charged with tuesday night's mass shooting stood silently in d.c. superior court. 26-year-old nathaniel simms is facing three counts of first degree murder while 20-year-old orlander carter faces three murder charges. mourners were gathered outside the 4000 block of capital southeast, a minivan opened up and its occupants openedfire, killing four wounding five. >> i'm convinced that orlander killed my son. >> reporter: diane howe maintained he should have been locked up last week. it was carter's brother who was initially charged with jordan howe's fightal shooting over a stolen brace left. police thought orlando should have been locked up, as well. >> we don't always agree with the u.s. attorney's office. sometimes we have a difference

reporting live in palmer park, jane watrel. back to you, pat. >> thanks, jane. >>> developing story tonight at district court. a man accused of killing an 18ier old woman allegedly over a hamburger was found not guilty in court this afternoon. terrence jones is accused of shooting 18-year-old stanton. the key witness in the case was a 9-year-old boy who said he saw the whole thing. so what happened? pat collins joins us now from northwest with more on this breaking news today. pat? >> reporter: jim, not guilty of first-degree murder. not guilty of second-degree murder. not guilty of aggravated assault. terrence jones, not guilty on all counts in the hamburger murder case. after about a day of deliberation, the jury in the so-called hamburger murder case came up with a verdict of not guilty across the board. can you tell us why you found him not guilty? elizabeth mullen was the defense attorney in the case. tell me your reaction to the verdict. >> i'm afraid we are not allowed. i have no comment. we are pleased with the verdict.

jane watrel is just back from the maryland campus and joins us with the latest. jane?r: it still is a bit confusing. university officials are saying that it was simply an employee's mistake that led to the missing surveillance video footage. it was supposed to be turned over to lawyers for a student allegedly beaten by prince george's county police. they say that about 60 hours of surveillance video from cameras like this one were turned over to lawyers. then university officials realized that the footage from this camera in particular, number 158, closest camera to the beegt incidents, wasn't included. when they realized the video had been taped over they found a campus police investigator had another copy and they made that copy available to lawyers and to

jane watrel, news. >> now dennis quaid has a new documentary aimed at preventing medical mistakes. it's called winning the war on health care harm. it will air on discovery on april 24. that does it for news 4 at 5:00. we thank you for watching. what's the real nuclear terror threat? pat lawson muse joins jim vance news for news 4 at 6:00. >> a report on what the vatican is doing about sex abuse. >> mourning the miners. a touching tribute for the men killed in west virginia. >> and we have learned who will not be filling a vacancy on the supreme court. >> but we begin with a downtown lock down. pat lawson muse in for doreen. right now, the president is preparing for a dinner with dozens of world leaders. the nuclear summit is being held at the convention center. robert gates says the conference is one of the most meaningful ever. he calls it the first real concerted international effort to confron

not because of bad people, he says, but bad systems, jane watrel, news4. >>> news4 continues now. >>>ity of the formal meetings today to keep nuclear weapons out of the hands of terrorists. how the obama administration is already making progress. >>> good morning, and thanks for joining us for "news4 today," i'm eun yang. >> and i'm kimberly suiters, in for joe krebs today, it's tuesday, april 13th, 2010. if you thought the dry, beautiful weather was going to continue today -- you're going to be sorely disappointed. >> if you're going to take credit for the sunshine, you've got to take a little blame for the rain. >> no, i don't. this is washington, for crying out loud. you don't have to take the blame for anything in this town. >> we're not stepping in that. >> outside on a tuesday morning, clouds are sneaking back into the area and rain showers are not too far away. a couple of sprinkles already arriving in far western maryland, way west of hagerstown. 53 degrees downtown right now. clear skies have allowed maryland to drop into the low 40s. on the satellite and radar combination, c