everyone is flowing freely on the wet pavement. now back to news. >> of a clock right now. new this morning, police trying to figure out with little violence seen in southeast washington. two people were stabbed and a third person was beaten with a baseball bat. it happened in the 4200 block of seven st.. the stabbing victim's injuries are not life-threatening. we don't know the condition of the beating victim at this hour. firefighters in prince george's county is looking into what caused a garage fire. flames spread to a home along robert lewis avenue. no one was hurt. >> a middle school students in waldorf, maryland, has been arrested, accused of bringing a gun to school. police found the weapon yesterday at mattawoman middle school. john gonzalez at the latest developments. >> [no audio] parents did receive a letter yesterday afternoon stating that a student at the middle school did bring a gun into the school yesterday morning. police said they received a tip through their crime solvers program. they quickly searched and found the unloaded handgun inside the students's locker. the 15-year-old boy told the sheriff's office than he did bring the gun from home with the intention of selling it after school. it is still not clear who the gun belonged to. the student was taken out of the school and arrested, possession of a deadly weapon. the also faces expulsion from school. mattawoman middle school sits on one of these campuses where a high school and the elementary school and our next door. reporting live in charles county, john gonzalez, abc 7. >> more than 100 prince george's county students are recovering after a crash involving three school buses. this happened around 3:45 yesterday afternoon at croom road near 301. three buses from frederick douglass high school were lined up at a stop -- at a stop sign when a tour bus hit one of them, causing a chain reaction. >> i think he did not hit the brakes quick enough. >> some students were being over dramatic. paramedics treated 75 students at the scene. 34 others were taken to prince george's hospital center. the injuries were minor. >> voters in illinois will head to the polls for another crucial contests in the republican presidential race. battling for 54 delegates in that state. brianne carter has a preview. >> another big day in the race for the white house today. some colonists primary a possible gain changer. the two top candidates continue going head-to-head, each hoping to land on top tonight. the battle for the gop nomination is in the land of lincoln today with two top candidates battling for the top spot. we will not be successful. placing an economic lightweight with another one. >> i heard governor romney call me an economic lightweights. because i was not a wall street financier liked him. -- like him. it's mitt romney is surging >> these pancakes are something else. they are as large as miney win and puerto rico last night. >> rick santorum is hoping to carry the votes in rural, conservative areas of illinois. he says winning tonight would be a game changer. >> we will stop talking about delegates and talk about how to stop rick santorum from being the nominee, that is what the establishment will be talking about. >> 54 delegates on the line tonight. mitt romney currently meeting with about half of the delegates already allocated. >> thank you. the white house st. patrick's day celebrations continue today. president obama will meet with the irish prime minister enda kenny this morning. and the vice president and prime minister and will go to the capital for lunch. there will be a reception following a white house tonight. we are looking at 62 degrees right now. >> still ahead, if you have extra money to spend, virginia lawmakers are giving you the chance to by naming rights through bridges and roads. >> oh my god. >> severe weather strikes texas. a look at more the damage from the latest round of storms. >> turn left. the passat is one of nine volkswagen models named a 2012 iihs top safety pick. not that we'd ever brag about it. turn right. come on, nine. turn left. hit the brakes. huh? how'd that get there? [ male announcer ] we can't hide how proud we are to have nine 2012 iihs top safety picks. so we're celebrating with our "safety in numbers" event. that's the power of german eng eeering. right now lee the 2012 passat for $219 a month. >> residents from southeast texas to western missouri bracing for more severe weather today. >> is today in texas if some residents caught a funnel cloud on tape. take a look. >> it hit! >> it left several homes damaged, but no fatalities reported. here's a reminder of what you should not drive through. high water. driver in tulsa, oklahoma, tried to do it and got stuck. not a pretty picture. one in a jeep was able to come by and help them out. the national weather service says it takes only two feet of rushing water to carry vehicles away as big as an suv. not a good situation. >> not a good idea. let's check traffic and weather every ten minutes. no. here. >> we do-- we have no flooding here. >> nedra drive through water of unknown depths -- never drive through. it could sweep away your car. east of 270 from ijamsville and urbana down to gaithersburg, damascus olney, sandy spring, and now stretching into largo and bowie, area as a moderate rain drifting southeast this morning. so there's rainfall north of washington and east of the beltway and early this morning. otherwise, becoming partly cloudy, 74. it will be in ok data exceeded cherry blossoms. you should pack a small umbrella because we might see in isolated thundershowers later today. 74 today, 72 tomorrow. >> there's some wet pavement, but no major accidents to report. metro rail is starting on normal service. vre and marc rail are good as well. we will take you to a couple of cameras. moving well at washington boulevard near the pentagon. next picture will take us elsewhere hopefully. not going to happen. let's go back to the news desk. >> thank you. 5:11. if you have enough money, you will be able to get a bridge or roads in virginia named after you. the general assembly approved a bill that allows the commonwealth itself the road or bridge naming rights. lawmakers say the plan could raise set -- $27 million over five years. program starts july 1. >> better start saving money. it is 62 degrees. >> coming up if your teenager owns a cell phone, you can probably relate to this story. how many texts the average teenager sends every day. >> it is the first official day of the national cherry blossom festival, but not the thursday >> you are watching abc 7's "good morning washington" with cynne simpson and steve cheveney. this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> 5:14 on this tuesday morning, taking top stories in. mr. gaidar searching for clues in an overnight incident in southeast d.c. the sent three people to hospital. two people were stabbed and another beaten with a baseball bat in the 4200 cloud cover 6th street. none of the interest life- threatening. police found an unloaded gun in the locker of a 15-year-old student at mattawoman middle school. he was planning to sell the gun while walking home from school. republican presidential candidates will face off today in the illinois primary. mitt romney has a double-digit lead in the latest poll over rick santorum. >> the tidal basin, you can expect even larger crowds today because it's the start of the national cherry blossom festival. jummy olabanji has a look ahead. good morning. >> good morning. the glpeak bloom is usually around april 4. but it's going on right now and is expected to last the next couple days. that is drawing a lot of people to the tidal basin. the next few days will definitely be the best time to see the flowers. become here every year and are lucky that we did. this is the best day to enjoy this. >> it is early. the centennial celebration starts today and runs through the next five weeks. the trees are expected to draw 1 million people to d.c. day and night. >> i think it's great. awesome because we are only here this week. >> unseasonably warm weather has broad the bugs out early. you'd be hard-pressed to find anyone complaining. -- buds early. >> nothing compares. it is incredible. >> you might want to consider metro. traffic will be heavy and parking could be a mess. bret harte to get a spot anywhere. >> capital bikeshare has just opened two new kiosks along the mall. >> its nice or visitors. it's fantastic. >> we have seen a few people biking around this area even in these early morning hours to check out the cherry blossoms, which is probably a good thing. as you guys saw, parking will be a mess out here as the day goes on. jummy olabanji reported from the tidal basin. >> we are proud to be a sponsor of the national cherry blossom festival. everything you need to know about the festival on our website, wjla.com. you can find information on traffic patterns, a schedule of events, and more photographs from the tidal basin. >> this has to be one of the best cherry blossoms festivals where i can remember. the timing with the blossoms and also the weather is great. >> the weather is fantastic. march and april could be all or nothing around washington. we have seen snow on the cherry blossoms before. all it takes is a gusty day or thunderstorm and they are gone. >> they are delicate. it's we have produced of whether to go out to look at the cherry blossoms. at least it's not windy and they will be there. >> that's good. >> that's good. >> the main event is there. let's get to live super doppler 7 radar. there's rain nor stand east of washington early this morning. fog in southern maryland. dense fog advisory in lower southern maryland until 10:00 a.m. charles, calvert, paris, prince george's county included until 10:00 a.m.. --there's light to imbeded heavy rain in this system in upper montgomery county. from ijamsville and urbana in frederick county down through damascus the mass is getting hit by a moderate to heavy rain shower right now through olney and north and east of rockville stretching towards laurel, 08, landover largo, and even some of these d.c. getting clipped by, it showers early this morning. that's all. clouds otherwise. and thick fog in law or southern maryland. it is 63 degrees in washington. hagerstown checking in at 61 degrees on this tuesday morning. not a bad day to look at the blossoms. we will break into sunshine at lunchtime. partly cloudy into the afternoon. 74 for the high temperature. chance of a thunderstorm this afternoon. chances are pretty slim. morning clouds tomorrow with afternoon sunshine, highs in the low 70's. low 80's by friday. that's about a 1010 degrees below the record high. more rain by saturday and sunday and cooling off. >> in pretty good shape right now across the wilson bridge. normal travel times through alexandria and oxon hill, heading across the bridge onto 295 looks good. nothing in old town alexandria. maryland looks good between annapolis and new york avenue, good across the bay bridge. nothing complicated on 270 95, 66 between centreville and the beltway. pretty good on the greenway dulles toll road, 95 coming out of fredericksburg. springfield camera, headlights are northbound. if metro rail, marc rail, and vre are on normal service. back to you. >> thank you. apple sold 3 million ipads in three days. it's not just a sales. >> and a new study shows teenagers are texting more than ever. here is rob nelson. >> the new ipads is hot. apple sold 3 million of the tablets in the two days since it took the third edition on sale however, there are complaints about the new owners tend overheated and shut themselves down. no confirmation on that. a few studies find the average teenager spends critics sense 16 60 text messages per day. three out of four teenagers overall do text. kermit the frog is not much of a texture, he says. >> i intend to drop the telephone. i am a little moist. cracks he also says that the cellular phone service where he lives is not very good and he does not get a pocket for his cellphone either. >> we will have to figure something out. i'm sure apple is working on something for him. is 62 degrees. >> can the capitals get it in gear in the motor city? >> america's favorite little couple. how they survive the loss and found hope again. next "anderson." captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> we are definitely going to go for the super bowl ring. we will do whatever it takes. >> denver and hold the winning ticket. contract negotiations reportedly underway for a deal expected to be around five years, $95 million. that means tim tebow may be on the way out. >> former redskins on the move. landry is headed to the jets. donte stallworth will play for the patriots. >> . tim brant. >> nine games left in the regular- season in the nhl. capitals beat the detroit red wings last night while the sabres beat the tampa. the capitals lead the sabres by the bill points in the playoff spot -- by 2 points. there's alex ovechkin. wait to go. 1-0 troubles in the first. the capitals got five of their last seven. ovechkin had two goals, two assists and the capitals win. if in college basketball, the maryland terrapins played louisville. the biggest lead was 7. blogger and scored 24 points. the terrapins defeated louisville 72-68. it will play the winner of the texas a&m versus arkansas game. at the gray day. >> thanks so much. 5:26, 62 degrees. news continues at 5:30. >> republican presidential candidate mitt romney and rick santorum preparing to go head- to-head in another crucial contest. a preview of today's primary in illinois. >> a 15-year-old boy arrested after bringing a gun to school. i am john gonzalez. a live report straight ahead >> . we have areas of rain to talk about early this this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> police searching for answers into what led to a violent night in southeast washington. two people were stabbed and a third person beaten with baseball bat. >> we began with the traffic and weather every 10 minutes. good morning, lisa. >> i will talk about the red line. emergency trackman's going on right now with a track problem reported near shady grove. red line customers, anticipate delays. a very large funeral procession right now under way leaving park hill maryland, in other words, out of baltimore. they're taking the belt way south i-95 from baltimore to washington. they expect to hit our area in about 30 minutes, travel on the outer loop across the american legion bridge and onto the southbound george washington parkway to arlington cemetery. we will have more information about the procession coming up in a few moments. let's see if we can pull up a picture of what is happening and elsewhere. wet pavement across the american legion bridge where things are quiet for now. let's go to the weather. >> ongoing rainshowers, even a few downpours early this morning. the areas of rain and upper montgomery county into northern prince george's county. also clinton upper marlboro, up to andrews air force base. have your rain through damascus, pushing to the southeast. temperatures around 60 degrees dense fog advisory southern maryland and king george county. we will have a afternoon sunshine, a few stray showers. the high temperature of about 74 degrees. >> thank you. a violent scene in southeast, to people stabbed in the third person beaten with a baseball bat. a >> this happened on seventh street. we do not know what led to the violence at this time. the stabbing injuries are not life-threatening. we do not know the condition of the person beaten. a fight between two brothers ended in a shooting in prince george's county on turn boulevard near a middle school. at one of the man was shot in the stomach. police have arrested his brother. >> fracking discovery of a school in waldorf. is it -- frightening discovery at a middle school in waldorf. what the student told officials he planned to do with the gun. >> there is an elementary school next to the middle school and high-school down the street. school officials tell us parents received a letter stating a student here at mattawoman middle school did indeed carry a gun into the school yesterday morning. police received a tip through their crime solver program. they quickly searched and found the unloaded gun inside the student's locker. the 15-year-old boy telling the sheriff's office he brought it from home with the intentions of selling at as he walked home after school. it is not clear who the gun belongs to. the student was taken out of the school and arrested, charged this morning with possession of a deadly weapon. he also faces expulsion. >> thank you. a family and friends will gather at a church to say goodbye to a woman murdered by her estranged husband. police say heather mcguire was abducted killed, and her body was dumped in kensington. he then kill himself a few hours later. she recently had gotten a restraining order against him. funeral procession for a maryland military officer killed in afghanistan that could affect your commute. he was killed last month during an attack on the afghan interior ministry. he was 48 and a member of the maryland army national guard. the procession started at 5:00 this morning in baltimore county and will reach the beltway between 6:00 that 6:30 this morning and at arlington national cemetery. >> republican presidential candidates facing off in the illinois primary today but one contender will make a stop in our area. mitt romney has a double-digit lead according to the polls. tomorrow, he will be in maryland to. he also planned to visit frederick, but his campaign cancel the event. >> prepare for a very busy day at the tidal basin today as it is officially the start of the national cherry blossom festival. >> not a bad assignment this morning. what could we expect? >> you can expect plenty of crowds out here. we were out here yesterday and it sort of felt like the festival started yesterday because it was packed. in fact, the peak bloom is scheduled for today, lasting until the end of the week on friday, which usually it happens around april 4. it is very early this year basically because of the warm weather we have had. about a million people are expected to visit the cherry blossoms over the next five weeks. the big parade is on april 14. this is the centennial celebration of the cherry blossoms 100 years ago is when japan gave these beautiful trees as -- here to the district. because the crops will be large traffic will be a problem. -- because the crowds will be large, tropical be a problem. take the metro or some other form of public transportation. also new this year, the capital by chair has put two new locations on the national. people can bicycle down here, which is what a lot of people are doing early this morning. >> what a beautiful day to take on in. we're looking at 62 degrees. >> the latest on u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians, what he told his lawyers during their first face- to-face meeting yesterday. >> tired of fighting for room on the metro train during rush hour? try to relieve some of the congestion. >> there is 395. >> good morning. i want to introduce [unintelligible] >> it is always good to have them help with this up in the morning. we have some areas of localized heavy rain in to talk about. parts of damascus, over an inch of rain since midnight. you see the orange and red on your screen, the heavy rain diving through the southeast basically parallel to the east of 270. just getting clipped by the western edge of the heavy downpour. this stretches down into northern prince george's county and even now around andrews air force base early this morning. temperatures around 60 for the most part. dense fog advisory and lower counties. partly cloudy, 72. looking ahead, we warm up to the lower 80s. it by friday, looking at 82. >> red line delays because of some track problems outside the shady grove station. expect delays traveling the red line this morning. a few of recession that has begun and they're still in baltimore right now on i-70 at 40. their intention is to come to our area. they will be travelling southbound between baltimore and washington, hitting our beltway area around 6:00-6:30. they will take the outer loop to 95 to the george washington parkway, south to arlington cemetery. it is a very large funeral procession that is under way. let's go live where things are rolling quietly at new hampshire ave. if you have not yet used the icc, today would be the day to do it. >> thank you for the heads up. metro riders know how crowded trains can be, especially during rush hour. >> there can be some relief beginning june 18. metro will add an extra train in each direction every 20 minutes on the rush hour on the orange, green, and yellow lines. every third blue line train will be a yellow line. hopefully, that helps. >> coming up, new details on a case in florida that has sparked outrage all across the country. turn which agencies are opening an investigation into the shooting of an unarmed teenager. also ahead -- ♪ ♪ >> celebrities hit the floor for the 14th season of "d >> we take a look at what stories are coming at newt at 6:00, a d.c. council vote that could be major changes for the city school system. >> house republicans did to a sweeping spending plan with cuts to major federal programs, but will the balance the budget? >> and why hillary clinton is joining the search for missing aviator a millionaire heart. >> and march in support of the victims of to the recent hate crimes will be held tonight in northwest d.c. beginning at 7:00 at an ihop in columbia heights or a man was shot last week. police say homophobic slurs were said to the victim before he was wounded. plastic a gay man was beaten and robbed while getting out of a cap -- last week a gay man was beaten and robbed walking out of a cab. >> federal prosecutors and the fbi have opened an investigation into the shooting death of 17- year-old trayvon martin. the unarmed teenager was killed last month in florida by george s. zimmerman, a neighborhood watch volunteer. zimmerman claims it was self- defense and is not been charged. protesters gathered to demand justice. the rev. al sharpton plans to hold a rally on thursday. >> u.s. soldier accused of killing 16 afghan civilians told his lawyer he cannot remember the massacre. >> new details are emerging about the life of staff sergeant robert bales. >> the civilian lawyer for the army soldier accused of murdering 16 afghan civilians says his client had little memory of what happened the night of the massacre. attorney john henry browne says staff sergeant robert bales has members before and after, but very little in between. his client likely facing charges this week, brown spent several hours yesterday meeting for the first time with robert bales at the military facility in fort leavenworth. those who know him still cannot believe the 38-year-old husband and father of two could slaughter innocent villagers. >> i feel sorry for the guy and his wife. >> did he snapped over there? >> i think he did. >> his wife karilyn reported -- new details about a more complicated life of bills has emerged. according to federal documents he enlisted in the army at the same time he was facing questions about his work as a financial adviser. he was accused of cheating and ohio couple out of their life savings and was ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution. the money was never paid. >> i have had money trouble too. whatever money problems you have, that does not cause you to do this. it does not explain it. >> officials say he had been drinking the night of the incident, the lead attorney said bales told him he only had a couple of steps. >> a hearing today on recent developments in afghanistan. the top u.s. commander there general john allen, expected to testify. yesterday, a virginia congressman urged u.s. forces to accelerate the withdrawal from afghanistan saying they are not a threat to the u.s. and fewer than 50 al qaeda members are operating along the border with pakistan. >> huge with for awendy's over fracking. >> at&t expanding to education. >> good morning. let's begin with at&t. businesses may be hiring, but they're having a problem on a qualified workers. at&t is expanding at $250 million campaign to keep students from dropping out of high school and they want them to help prepare for college. the campaign is dubbed at&t aspire and uses and encourages at&t workers to volunteer in the effort to mentor students and also offers internship programs. wendy's has officially surpassed burger king and ranks as the second-largest burger chain gang in the country. that is in terms of u.s. sales. the ceo has changed the picture with premium birders like the w. wendy's and burger king still rank behind mcdonald's. i know the cherry blossoms are in bloom in d.c. outback steakhouse has onions in bloom today. bloom into spring, said that your server and you get the free bloomin onion. >> thank you. i do not know if you have this in new york, but rita's italianize also celebrating spring today. >> we're giving away another new ipad on our facebook page. >> go to wjla.com/facebook and sign up for your chance to win. we will announce the winner on friday at 5:00 on abc 7 news news. >> the 14th season of "dancing with the stars" kicked off last night. a former nerd shows he has some dance moves. >> jaleel white, is known for playing steve urkel on "family matters" is tied with opera singer kathryn jenkins. >> ♪ just thinking of you ♪ >> it is hard to believe this is the first week. they each earn 26 for their fox- trot. there's a three-way tie at the bottom with singer gavin degraw, melissa gilbert, martina navritolova. the first celebrity will be eliminated one week from today right here on abc 7 news. >> the first week, is that one of the first -- worst weeks with the nerves? >> i think so. trying to jump into the competition little bit. as tickets to the end and there is that mirror ball trophy up for grabs, then it really gets intense. >> then they get in shape, too. it comes a little easier in terms of endurance. >> right, they have the training under their belt. >> i think will be a decent day to see the cherry blossoms. we will break into some afternoon sunshine. same-store tomorrow. we have that easterly flow off the atlantic. >> the afternoons have been so lovely. >> we just do not have that beautiful sunrise. take a look at the rainfall totals thus far. frederick county to montgomery and upper county, over an inch of rain since denied due to a few downpours that have an isolated clash since overnight due to a few downpours that have been isolated. south of damascus, you're getting a break, finally. mainly parallel to the just east of 270 in montgomery county, clipping parts of gaithersburg rockville. laurel down toward college park, click the northeast and southeast d.c. as well there andrews air force base, the rain this morning. it is warm, 63 and washington. quantico, 64. 59, frederick. we had that little bit of rain, that we also have a dense fog advisory for southern maryland until 10:00 this morning. the jet stream reaches all the way to the hudson bay in canada. very unusual this time of year to get such a big rich in the flow, pulling all that warm air northward. off to the west, it is the winter with the cooler air dipping down and parts of new mexico and texas. over the weekend, parts of new mexico picked up over a foot of snow. 74, partly cloudy today. tomorrow lower 70's. by friday, lower 80s with added sunshine. the chance of rain and cooler this weekend. >> a very large funeral procession is getting closer to our area traveling south on i-95 in maryland, currently south of route 100 on the way into columbia, laurel eventually on to the outer loop from 95 across the american bridge and on to the george washington parkway southbound. we ask everyone be respectful and patient as this funeral procession travels through. steve will have more details on that coming up in a few moments. take a look at a couple of pictures. that looks very messy. this is by-95 in maryland where we will keep an eye on this fuel procession as it gets closer to our region. -- funeral procession as it is closer to our region. >> we move on to check in with ashton kutcher's latest adventure. >> richard branson said launching tourists into space as his 500th customer and is none other than ashton kutcher. >> he has to pay over $20,000 as a down payment. the seat will cost him a total of $200,000. that is what he makes for one show, right? commercial operations are expected to begin next year. i would love to go on one of those flights. >> i think we should volunteer to do >> a final farewell to a fallen major and the impact on your morning commute. >> the lawyer for the army soldier accused of killi