program. our involvement is going to be limited, both in time and scope. >> voters say they need a president to better explain the u.s. involvement. >> i want to hear from him why he feels is necessary to send troops over there. >> we are still boosting military spending but cutting all of these important programs, so i feel it is a problem. >> as the fights ray john, there are complaints from republicans and some democrats -- as the fighting rages on, there are complaints. on the ground, rebels are cheering. gaining strength that thanks to the air strikes by coalition forces. after losing ground last week, the rebels are dancing. a spokesman for the opposition says they're closing in on the city of sirte. television showed his car mobbed by civilians supporting the libyan leader. but they are now lifting arms to help fight the rebel advancement. the president will release his speech tonight. he chose the location to emphasize that this is a joint military operation led by nato and requested by our allies, not a u.s.-led invasion. rebecca cooper, abc 7 news. >> the president's address is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. we will have it here live on abc7. "jeopardy" originally scheduled to air at that time will air this coming saturday at 1:30 p.m. now to the worsening secretion in japan. they have found contaminated water leaking from the took a shame that nuclear complex. -- from the fukushima nuclear complex. it is 1000 times above the normal level. contamination is now linked to damaged fuel rods that may be partially melting down. tonight we learned the effects of the nuclear disaster in japan have had in effect on us in the d.c. area. >> have begun to test for radiation in the air and water. caroline lyders has more. >> it has made its way from the fukushima dai-ichi plant to maryland where samples of air water and rain downed radioactive iodine. >> we've detected a very, very small amount of radioactive material in the air. >> over the weekend, the maryland department of the environment called for samples of water from prince george's and montgomery county. >> saturday afternoon they notified us and came out to get the samples from the potomac. >> both showed no detectable radioactive iodine. maryland health officials say the levels found in the air and rain water were far less than a single chest x-ray and no threat to the public. >> it is much smaller than detected in california. in the california, people said it absolutely did not pose any risk and it is even smaller here in maryland. >> they conduct routine nuclear raw logical -- nuclear testing. they will check the air water and vegetation and will continue to watch what is happening thousands of miles away. >> does it make me feel better? in some ways, yes. >> it will never be an amount high enough where they will have to hand out the iodine pills but it is good they keep up on that to make sure we are all safe. >> the nuclear regulatory commission is monitoring mail coming in from japan. so far, there has been nothing considered dangerous. caroline lyders, abc7 news. today marks the 32nd anniversary of the worst nuclear disaster in u.s. history. on this date in 1979 the core of a plant in the three mile island and pennsylvania had a partial meltdown. the accident did have a huge impact on standards in the nuclear industry. a similar protest demonstration is expected at the white house. following a developing story from prince william county where a burst a mother and father are in jail accused of putting their three children into a bedroom and trapping them in with dry wall. 33-year-old john robey and christina mora are charged with felony child abuse and neglect. the two track their children, ages four-two, and four months without food or clothing. the four year-old godfrey and went to a neighbor's house for help. the children are in the protective custody and the parents are held without bond. a violent night in prince george's county. two murders happened just hours apart. a pizza delivery man was targeted. 38-year-old paul bennett was shot in the chest and had the pieces stolen. a few hours later, a deadly shooting in the capitol heights. 20-year-old brian cooper died at the hospital. he may have been involved at an earlier altercation. investigators are asking anyone with information to call police. a former college student has pled guilty for taking shots at his math professor. jason hamilton of manassas was arrested in the 2009 after he opened fire on the woodbridge campus of northern virginia community college. he reportedly shot as his professor because he was upset about a grade. no one was hurt and hamilton's attorney said he has serious have mental health problem and he can face anywhere between two and 20 years in prison. be ready to pay more. a $1 fuel surcharge goes into effect to help offset the high cost of gas for the cab drivers. the extra $1 will not apply for trips across into maryland and virginia. it will expire on july 25th but could be repealed sooner. we will keep an eye on that. by abc7 news at 6 continues, how he avoided criminal charges. >> former president jimmy carter is in cuba tonight. what mission the former commander in chief hopes to accomplish. >> a deadly snake is on the loose in the world renowned zoo. 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[music playing] america's beverage companies are working together to put more information right up front... adding new calorie labels to every single can, bottle, and pack they produce... so you can make the choice that's right for you. >> you are watching abc 7 news at 6:00 -- on your side. >> former president jimmy carter is in cuba. he was invited down to discuss ways to improve u.s.-cuba relations. he will meet with castro. his three-day trip is considered a private mission. he last visited in 2002. the funeral mass for a geraldine ferraro is set for new york city. she was tapped to join walter mondale for the presidential run making ferraro the first woman on a major party ticket. she died on saturday from blood cancer. she was 75. it former prosecutor accused of sending explicit text messages will not be facing criminal charges. he resigned from his job at the district attorney office in october. he is accused of trying to start a woman as he prosecuted her ex- boyfriend on an assault charge. more than one dozen other women have come forward with similar allegations. the justice department and another state entity declined to discipline him saying he had not violated any of their roles. when the victims has filed a civil claim against him. still to come, our officials are protecting patrons as they search for a deadly snake on the loose at a new york 0. -- new york zee. >> and doug hill will be back to tell us how long this cold spell will stick around. >> move over to george mason. virginia commonwealth is the latest cinderella. what does this mean for the capitals and tomorrow night's game against the hurricane that? falling developing is from new york city. the hunt continues for a deadly snake that escaped his enclosure at the bronx zoo. >> this egyptian cobra has not been seen since saturday. and scott thuman has the latest in the frantic search. >> this sign tells people the snake house is closed at the bronx zoo really only tells half of the story. here is the 1/2. an egyptian king cobra, once on display, is on the loose. >> snakes are natural born houdinis. >> they pack quite a punch. they can take down a full grown elephant or kill the person in 15 minutes. >> i do not want to sound alarming, but their family kills 15,000 people per year. >> it somehow slithered away from its inclosure over the weekend. zoo officials believe it is summer in the building but it is still concerning. >> i trust the bronx zoo. they are on top of the situation, right? >> they are now being redirected from the building. when the snake gets hungry or thirsty, it will start to move around the building. that is when they will grab him. carefully, of course. scott thuman come abc7 news. facebook readers can be drawing from the white house as they prepare to make a new hire. "the new york times" reports that robert gibbs is considering a job with the social networking site. he would join in a senior communications position in exchange for millions in stock. we want to make a correction to a programming note. the president's address has been scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. we will have it for you live and "jeopardy" that was originally scheduled to air will error in this saturday, april 2nd at 1:30 p.m. >> i said the wrong date. >> we did too, at 5:00. the cherry blossoms will they be hurt by the cold spell? >> i think they are fine for everything i understand about them. the strong wind may be a different story, but we are getting closer to peaked blossom time. we will definitely stay on the chilly side. temperatures in the 40's in the area. here is a look across the city. a beautiful afternoon. after sunset, we will get downright cold. 43 in falls church. 45 in upper marlboro. 43 in the district. 43 is cold, but when you compare that to what our average height is this time of year, it should be 60. we are way below average. officially at reagan national, 47 and 31. around the region, in the 40's. of record epoxy in fredericksburg but they are starting to cool off. -- upper for the's in fredericksburg. 79 in miami. the warmer air is trying to push northward but it is fighting a very stubborn late-season cooler air mass. this division of temperatures gives you an indication of where the jet stream is and provides a guide for the storm track. this is what will happen. disturbances will come out of the midwest, like this one which will make a move down and around the south. the cold air will lock it in place and set the stage for a cold rain. some rain right now in florida, where they really needed. sunshine to mark in the low 50's and clouds and creasing. the first of the disturbance is expected to arrive will be here on wednesday. there may be some snow developing wednesday in the higher elevations north and west. that will last into thursday morning. thursday evening and into friday, another disturbance. not a great weather week around here, but we will get through it. starting oct. in warming to the low 50's tomorrow. -- starting out in the 40's. a little bit of a warm-up and into the 50's over the weekend. lower 60's as early as next monday. >> the toyota sports desk. brought to you by your local toyota dealers. moving you forward. >> he is back. they need him back and it is a good thing this time of year. alex of that can -- ovechkin is back. the great 8 was sidelined with nagging ailments. he's now back. ovechkin wants to play against carolina. coach says, "not so fast." the bottom line is that he feels better. >> everyone wants to be 100%. right now it is time to recover from what has happened to you. >> from hockey to basketball. duke's smith has been named first-team all-american along with kemba walker. only walker of uconn is still playing. the biggest surprise of the tournament is a virginia commonwealth. most brackets did not even have them in the tournament. the gut to the final four and will play butler saturday. he's going to shock the world. north carolina was the last of four acc teams left in the tournament. they were beaten by kentucky after day. a 75-69. calipari and the wildcats move on. they are the last of the 11 big east schools. georgetown women were trying to shock the women -- the world and almost did. they hit 10 of 27 beyond the arc but there was too much conn. a great run by georgetown. now hear this. bill mcgregor resigned this morning. he has been the head coach of the nationally known football team for 29 years. he has an incredible 87% winning percentage. he won 16 league championships more than 350 of his players receiving college football scholarships. more importantly bill mcgregor taught his players about life and the character, and class. he resigned today. in celebrity boxing, it is getting even more bizarre. canseco since his twin brother in the ring to fight for him. fans noticed he did not have the same tattoos of his twin brother. a bait and switch. they were escorted out by the police. the last game with the atlanta braves will not be made up because they will play here for real opening day on thursday. there you have that. >> so we should have a twin brother? >> they did not have the same tattoos. come on. we are waiting to meet the country's latest millionaire. the lucky person, or people, holding a mega million ticket worth 3 $19 million has still not come forward. there are reports the group is are the work of state government workers in downtown new york. is the fifth largest jackpot in the history and the largest ever for a single winning ticket. >> that are hiding out. >> just a quick word about tomorrow. sunday in the low 50's and some precipitation possible later this week. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- [music playing] america's beverage companies are working totother to put more information right up front... adding new calorie labels to every single can, bottle, and pack they produce... so you can make the choice that's right for you. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] with amazing innovation, driven by relentless competition, wireless puts the world at your command. ♪ ♪