good evening, i'm doreen gentzler. >> and i'm jim vance. dozens were displaced by that fire. it happened in an apartment complex in the 1200 block of g street southeast. jackie bensen is live with this story. >> reporter: jim, there were a lot of people who needed help right away. it was a chaotic scene. >> and then the door right here got stuck. i had to kick it open to get out. >> reporter: the fire broke out about 8:00 p.m. on the third floor of a large apartment complex in the 1200 block of g street southeast on the eastern edge of capitol hill. the building is owned by the district and provides housing for a number of low-income people. quite a few of whom are physically handicapped and use wheelchairs. >> with the handicapped people they couldn't go down themselves. i told everybody to go back into their apartments. i mean because the smoke was too thick out in the hallway. >> some residents complain that a door to the third floor stairwell, had been jammed for over a week, and hindered their ability to escape the building. >> no firefighters indicated there were any kind of problems like that. certainly look at. i don't know specifically what you're talking about, but i did hear them telling you that. >> reporter: the building's management was able to open a community room to keep displaced residents warm. some were housed in vacant apartments. two families were helped by the red cross to find temporary shelt shelter. two people were injured and taken to the hospital. their injuries are described as nonlife threatening. the cause of the fire is under investigation. jim, back to you. >> jackie bensen, thanks, jackie. an update now to an awful story we covered last night, investigators now say that apartment fire in northeast d.c. may had been accidentally started by a 4-year-old boy playing with a lighter. that child remains in the hospital in critical condition tonight. a 24-year-old woman who pulled him from the fire suffered some serious burns. three other young children who were in the apartment made it out safely. the clock is ticking. nurses at the region's largest hospital are threatening to walk off the job just eight hours from now. darcy spencer is outside the washington hospital center with more on the nurses' demands and the approaching deadline. darcy? >> reporter: doreen, if you come to washington hospital center tomorrow, chances are, you're going to see nurses walking the picket line. they say this strike is about patients, patient care, safety. but a top hospital official told me tonight it's about something else, it's about money. >> dr fifth floor is strong. >> reporter: they're calling it strike eve, more than 1,650 nurses plan to walk off of the job friday at washington hospital center. the largest hospital in the region. >> the major issue remains safe patient care, adequate staffing. >> the negotiations have lasted for a year, but there's been no agreement between the hospital and the union. national nurses united. so the rns will abandon their stations friday, and walk a picket line just outside the hospital. >> we're totally united and we want to know all of the patients that we are here to fight on their behalf. >> reporter: hospital officials say they've spent millions of dollars hiring 600 temporary workers to replace the nurses. and that it will not affect patient care. >> we're ready, we'll be prepared and open for business tomorrow. the community should count on us. >> reporter: hospital officials say the union has not brought up patient issues at the about,ing table. >> this is not all about the money, this is an economic strike. we believe that we have dealt with any concerns that they have regarding staffing. safety just hasn't come up at the table. >> the union is calling for a one-day strike. hospital officials say if nurses do strike, they'll have to stay off the job without pay for five days. that's because the temporary workers will be in place that long. the union says, that amounts to a lockout. >> they've hired scabs to take the nurses' jobs which is pretty outrageous. >> reporter: that strike is expected to get under way at 7:00 tomorrow morning, just off of hospital property. hospital officials say they've hired a couple of dozen extra security guards to make sure things go smoothly tomorrow and again the hospital is saying that it will remain open, business as usual tomorrow. reporting live from northwest, darcy spencer, news4, doreen, back to you. >> darcy, thank you. family, friends, and police got together tonight to pay honor and tribute to a police officer who was killed and they're afraid that the man who killed him will be set free. a vigil for oliver smith jr. was held at the second district police station in northwest d.c. smith was killed back in 1997 during a robbery near his home in forestville, maryland. for the smith family the year since the murder have been a constant effort to keep their son's killers behind bars. all three of them were sentenced to life in prison, but a controversial law in maryland allows judges to reconsider the sentences. >> well, the first thing that i understood was that he was to receive life, no possibility of parole, plus 60 years, and then i'm finding out that we have to go back to court, have to face this man again, and relive that whole scenario all over again. and it's pretty difficult. >> the man convicted of shooting was antwaun brown. he was up for a resentencing hearing last week. but that was postponed until september. german prosecutors say the deadly attack on two u.s. airmen at the frankfurt airport may have been an act of islamic extremism. an airman from greene county virginia is one of the two service members killed in yesterday's shooting. zachery kiddeback from monroe high school in virginia. the other victim was from south carolina. meantime, a german judge says the man suspected killing the airmen must remain behind bars. the 21-year-oldcose overo native is being held on two counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder. a german security official says the suspect has confessed to targeting american military members. president obama says moammar gadhafi must go. mr. obama issued his strongest statements yet towards the libyan leader. he did so earlier today. the president did not order a no-fly zone over libya. some u.s. allies are calling for that, because for the second day gadhafi used his warplanes to launch attacks. >> violence must stop. moammar gadhafi has lost the legitimacy to lead and he must leave. those who perpetrate violence against libya people will be held accountable. >> the president also proved the use of u.s. military aircraft to help foreigners who are trying to get out of libya. coming up next to news4 at 11:00, does it prevent crime or cross the line? we'll take you who is taking aim at those random bag searches on metro. popular college professor catching a lot of heat for allowing a live sex demonstration in the classroom. and this local fourth grader did something that president obama probably can't [ male announcer ] from maryland to the mall and beyond, it's easy to spot a capital one bank. ♪ ♪ ♪ the most branches and atms in the dc area. one near you. what's in your wallet? night. in some parts of our local area, a gallon of gas will cost you more than $4. local averages are well below that, brewf but prices are stull boost national norm. aaa says that you can expect prices to keep on climbing but they say that you can do your part to save a bit at pump. aaa says if you buy gas earlier in the week on monday and tuesday, that'll give you a break because that's when it's typically cheaper. they also say that driving 60 miles an hour can help save gas and when possible, should consolidate your trips. a former virginia schoolteacher admitted to preying on students for decades. now he's facing a 25-year-prison sentence for child sex crimes. the 50-year-old pleaded guilty today as part of a plea bargain. rex has gotten underage boys drunk, molested them and taken photos of them. he met his victims while working as a neefrp virginia, maryland, and even overseas in japan. his formal sentencing is set for late may. police in prince george's county has charged seven sorority sisters from the university of maryland with assault and hazing. a pledge in the sorority told the police that the girlsssaulted her at least three times. and she said it was part of her initiation. six of the women appeared in court today. the seventh will be in court in two weeks. that sorority has been suspended by the university since november. metro's new bag search policy could be headed to court. the aclu says the policy's unconstitutional, and they're threatening to sue the transit agency. the new measure started late last year to boost security metro, but the aclu argues that they invade people's privacy and do very little to actually make metro safer. coming up, there's a report that says most of us aren't getting nearly enough sleep. >> also ahead, a high-tech tool to bypass those pesky customer service recordings. how twitter is helping businesses connect with customers. and experts arennounce predicting when the cherry ♪ [ male announcer ] 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. ♪ those days of dialing customer service and then waiting forover to reach a real person may be coming to an end. tonight linda baquero shows us how people are getting just about any consumer problem fixed often in minutes. >> reporter: got a problem with your credit card or bank? forget e-mailing or calling customer service, tweet or poster dilemma and chances are, it'll be resolved right away. american express is one of the company's now scouring the internet to head off problems posted online. >> we have a very involved system, so there are tons of different technology that exists today that enables us to catch the key phrase, amex, or american express, or card, or gold card or green card, that gets pinged to us. >> reporter: amex now has a twitter account at ask amex. recently tweeted, i got an e-mail saying that i got 12,000 points but when i log into amex i see zero points. why? shoefrptly after rachel with ask amex tweets back, i can look into, where is your card issued. >> twegt whether 15 minutes later or an hour later we're having realtime connections with those customers. >> another example of customer connection through twitter, jetblue offered free tickets to anyone who dropped off two cancof food at times square. the tickets were gone immediately. companies are also setting up pages on facebook, offering special deals for their fans. just remember that any post you put up online is available for the possible see, so don't give out any specific information. and if you're sending a tweet, don't just send the tweet, also make sure that you follow that company so that they can direct message or dmu privately. posting an issue online could net you a faster and perhaps more satisfying result. >> it's more than service. it's actually pr in marketing, and i think in today's environment, companies no longern own their brands. the people do. >> reporter: in manhattan, linda ba back -- linda baquero. these 8-week-old pit bull puppies were snatched from a house yesterday afternoon. in the 9300 block of goose berry drive in manassas. each puppy is valued at $600. there is a $1,000 reward for information that can lead to an arrest. >> doug's here with a look at our weather. nice sunshine today, but kind of cold out there. >> definitely on the cold side. it makes you think of one thing, you want some warmer weather, and you think of -- >> spring? >> and the? >> the cherry blossoms. >> yeah, that's right! >> whew. >> it sounds like? three syllables. >> not late at night. >> the national cherry blossom festival kicks off in just a few weeks. predictings the trees will peek -- sorry, guys, from march 29th through about april 3rd. yes that's a little bit earlier than usual but don't worry. the festival on march 26th and will draw more than a million visitors to the region. we play that game all the time here at news4, normally jim and doreen are right with it. i have to tell you. >> uh-huh. >> you guys are fantastic. 41 degrees today the high temperature after a high yesterday of 64. so, yes, we were 23 degrees cooler than we were during the day yesterday. and it was chilly outside and it's very cool outside right now. down to 32 at the freezing mark. winds out of south-southeast only around 3 miles an hour, so we're not talking much of a windchill. that's good news as well. temperatures are not falling nearly as fast as they did last night. that's good news. 30 right now in sterling. initiate frederick, and 31 in hagerstown. we have some high clouds that will continue to stream across the area. that will help to keep those temperatures up overnight. the cold air has been in the northeast. 22348 buffalo, 33 in new york. 29 in boston. 10 up there towards cariboo, maine, but only in the northeast. look down to the south and west, 51 in cincinnati. 68 atlanta. 73 in memphis, and some of that warmer air will make its way into our region over the next couple of days. it will be a little bit warmer today but high near 50, still kind of a cool day but i think that we'll definitely get into that warmer air during the day on saturday. so, a cold night tonight, as the high pressure continues to stay around the region, but by tomorrow that high will be exiting. here comes mild air for the day tomorrow and especially into tomorrow evening, we'll start to see winds kicking out of the south to southeast and with that we should warm up into the 50s tomorrow. stay mild tomorrow night, and then very mild during the day on saturday. ahead of our next storm system that will bring us a lot of rain. we have the cold air in place right now, as the jet stream is dipping just down to our south, but by sunday, we'll see that jet dip further down to the south and west. and that will allow a lot of moisture to come control the east, i think a lot of areas could pick up well over an inch of rain during the day on sunday. sunday is going to be one very wet day. tomorrow morning, high clouds. a cold start. 21 to 29 degrees. winds out of southeast 5 to 10 miles per hour. tomorrow warmer. but still a little bit on the cool side so you'll need the jackets but i think that you could put away the heavy coats but get the umbrellas out. you'll need them, at least in portions during the day on saturday. but sunday's going to be the real wet day. a high of 54 on sunday. 46 on monday. a little bit on the breezy side, and right now next week, looking okay. tuesday and wednesday, but another chance for some rain coming up on thursday. and temperatures will be in the -- >> can't help himself, he's going to mess with us some more. the 50s, perhaps? >> yes. >> okay, thank you, doug. coming up in sports, one of the newest caps is feeling right the newest caps is feeling right at hom paul ? oh, hey, charlene. what are you doing ? this is to help me with my online investing. i'm so overwhelmed by jargon and trading tools and data that i need to get as much blood to my brain as possible, just to make sense of it all. touch the ball. whoa ! get sharebuilder from ing direct. hey, my headache's gone. so, still no deal? >> football lives for another day. we don't know what will happen this time tomorrow. we shall see. i'm told by a source, however, close to the situation that the 24-hour extension is expected to lead to a longer extension. coording to the collective bargaining agreement, the motion to decertify would have to be eight hours before the deadline. now that that new deadline is 11:59 tomorrow night that mean the union could decertify up until 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. the two sides met today to cover issues including how to divide $9 billion in revenues, along regular-season schedule, and rookie wages. as one player told me, though, the two sides haven't talked about major issues. tonight, nfl executive jeff pash pashe summed up the good work. >> good discussion, good exchanges. we're looking forward to another dave discussions and keep at it, keep tatas long as it takes. >> for a lot of our fans who dig our game, we appreciate your patience as we work through this. we're going to keep working. we want to play football. >> is it expected it is expected that the two sides will be back at it tomorrow. >> oh, good. >> tomorrow morning to discuss. redskins' defensive end and nfl player told us tonight the two sides aren't even in the same ballpark. there are issues that the two sides haven't even started to discuss. holliday said the player reps were supposed to is a conference call today at 1:00, that was push said back. the call never occured. asked holliday what he thinks could be accomplished within this 24-hour extension. >> i'm hoping that they pull a rabbit out of the hat. somebody does. and we get on something done, but i don't see this deal getting done in 24 hours. we have not received anything in writing from the owners and former proposal, something from the reps and the board to even discuss and talk about, and so like i said, 24 hours is a long time but i'm not exactly sure what they're going to be able to give to us in that amount of time. >> that's vonnie holliday, the redskins are one of the teams taking advantage of the time before a possible lockout. today, the team signed safety osha waggo oshawaggo. speaking of st. louis, the blues came to town tonight to plate capitals. the caps came out on top with another strong showing from new center jason arnott in a franchise first for caps' goaltender michael notifiert. looking sharp early on. the first period we go. st. louis with the shot on net. the rebound to matt d'agostini. backhand, look at this glove save. see it again. norbert with 25 saves in the game. seconds later, matt bradley and they go tat. bradley he's not messing around. four punches. the bench absolutely loves to. after all that's what they go it. try to get a little spark and woozy after that. second period tied at 1, the blues on the break. st. louis takes a 2-1 lead. and you don't want to see this of what you're about to see from coach bruce boudreau. that means business, not happy at all but make him smile. mike knuble to niklas backstrom. look at backstrom's backhand coord nation like whiffel ball. his 16th of the season. the game is tie at the two on a tremendous heads-up play by nick backstrom. still 2-2. st. louis turns it over. alexander sellin who turned 27 today passes to the new guy jason arnott. he scores the game winner. his first as a washington capital. washington defeatless the st. louis blues, 3-2. goaltender sets a franchise rookie record with 21 wins. great game for him. >> not bad. things are looking up for the caps. >> yes. >> at a good time. >> thank you, lindsay. coming up next it's the latest viral video on youtube. doesn't that just make you laugh? the clip's got 4 million hits but the story of this laughing baby is pretty entertaining, baby [ male announcer ]ning, achievement: embraces mondays. ♪ achievement: loves working capital. ♪ achievement: puts receivables to work. ♪ achievement: expects a lot of itself. cfo: cash flow options, helping business achievers better manage their cash flow. pnc. for the achiever in us all. northwestern university says it will fully investigate a class that involved a live sex act. last week a man used a sex toy on a woman while 100 students looked on. the demonstration was part of a human sexuality course at northwestern. the professor said the event was held after class, and students were not required to attend but president of the university said the incident represents extremely poor judgment. there's some eye-opening information about just how much or how little sleep americans are getting. the centers for disease control found americans need nine hours of sleep a night but researchers found 35% of us can't even nogget seven hours. federal highway officials say sleepy drivers cause more than 1,500 deaths every year. the cdc says you can blame the lack of sleep on all those high-tech gadgets. a 9-year-old kid in maryland who did something most people would never even think about doing. she hushed the first lady. >> now tennis is just right for kids. >> now it's easier than ever to play an hour aday every day. >> hear that? part of a scripted. alexa orlando from frederick took part in that tv promo. it also featured tennis superstars andre agassi and his wife, steffi graf. alexis mother said they didn't know that the first lady was involved until the night before the tv shoot. the tv shoot. >> prett ♪ [ male announcer ] unrestrained. unexpected. and unlike any hybrid you have ever known. ♪ introducing the most fuel-efficient luxury car available. ♪ the radically new... 42 mile per gallon ct hybrid from lexus. ♪ welcome to the darker side of green. until my dad transferred to istanbul. they settled in quickly, found their local deli, a few shortcuts and a neighborhood hangout. but there's one thing they miss... the seventh-inning stretch. so citi helped me use my thankyou points to give them something special. their old seats: 5 and 6, row c. [ male announcer ] use citi thankyou points for almost anything. and earn them fast with the new citi thankyou preferred card. what's your story? citi can help you write it. shouldn't be hard work or cost more money. now there's simple nutrition, only at safeway. green tags throughout the store call out what matters most to you. ♪ there are 22 different nutritional benefits highlighted. ♪ and with our low prices, now safeway makes bringing home the right choices easier than ever. that's simple nutrition. ♪ that's ingredients for life. safeway. nothing like a good laugh after a long day and that good laugh has been watched by millions of people. this baby cracking up while his dad tears up some paper. it all started with the very unfunny development. micah's dad got a job rejection letter. he was frustrated, tore it in half much to his sons delight so the paper ripping continued from "just go with it,"