>> i ducked to the ground. >> a news4 exclusive this morning. a man who witnessed the shooting at the pentagon tells his story of going from a terrified bystander to a suspect. new video of a deadly hit-and-run on the national mall. now police need your help identifying the driver and the victim. and a historic day for iraq as thousands of people cast their votes for a new government. good morning, everyone. welcome to news4 today. i'm kimberly suiters. it's sunday, march 7th. chuck bell is in storm center 4. what a beautiful day yesterday. more of the same today? >> yes indeed, kimberly. yesterday turned out just the way we wanted it to. sunshine. mid 50s across most of the area. today we get the same kind of treatment only a couple degrees warmer. that will be a welcome improvement for everybody. starting off your sunday morning, temperatures are in the mid to upper 30s around town but some of the colder spots in rural sections of the virginia piedmont have really seen the temperatures plummet overnight. culpeper down into the low 20s now. 39 in washington. windchills, a breeze blowing in washington which is why temperatures haven't fallen much. where the winds have gone calm, it's a cold start on a sunday morning. your forecast for the rest of the day today, plenty of sunshine. we'll pick up some mid and high level cloudiness later in the day. those are not rain making clouds. we don't need to worry about precipitation. today's high up near 58 degrees. plenty of sunshine. nice and mild. just a few high clouds coming in later this afternoon. our good weather will continue into early parts of the week but there are rain chances looming. >> we could hit 60 today. >> there will be places that make it all of the way to 60 degrees today. >> thanks, chuck. a news4 exclusive this morning. an eyewitness to the pentagon shooting says he was an initial target of the investigation. he was on his way home thursday night when police say a gunman opened fire on police at the entrance to the pentagon. the man says his fear turned to confusion when he realized police thought he might have been involved. news4's darcy spencer reports. >> i just got to the metro station and i hear gunfire, pop, pop, so i truck to the ground. >> reporter: dan was at the pentagon metro station thursday evening when a gunman opened fire wounding two pentagon police officers. he somehow became a suspect in the crime. >> they gave commands to lay down flat. don't move. face down. and they handcuffed me. i was puzzled. >> reporter: he says he was heading home to burke after arriving from a flight at reagan national airport. after the shots rang out, law enforcement officers restrained him, searched him and detained him for hours. >> they would not, you know, tell me why i was still in handcuffs. they just said, okay, we're checking the computer. they dragged on for three hours. >> reporter: police say john bedell from california was the lone gunman that wounded jeffrey amos and marvin carraway. this man was released from custody and was not charged with any crime. >> i was thinking i'm going die. i'm very traumatized with this experience. >> reporter: he says he is a u.s. citizen and has never had any trouble with the law. he's at a loss to explain why he became a target in this shooting investigation. >> i was an innocent party who was rushing from the metro to catch a bus and i can't believe that law enforcement would not sort that out in the amount of time that they allot. >> reporter: he says he's not sure what steps he may take now whether he will file a complaint. he does say that he will avoid the pentagon metro station stop in the future. reporting from the pentagon, darcy spencer, news4 today. >> thank you, darcy. you can once again take a bus or train from the pentagon station stop. metro reopened the rail station and upper bus platform yesterday. the entrance to the pentagon closest to the metro transit center does remain closed. officials plan to reopen it by monday morning at 5:00 a.m. police released new video from a deadly hit-and-run accident involving a jogger along the national mall in hopes of identifying not only the driver but the victim. at the top of the screen you can see the woman crossing constitution avenue around 6:00 a.m. sunday morning. police say when she left the frame of the camera, she crossed over 14th street. then you can see a white semi on 14th street pass over constitution avenue. police believe that truck struck and killed the woman. the truck was seen on a different traffic camera a few minutes later nr pennsylvania avenue. >> upon arriving on the scene, they found a woman lying in the roadway who apparently had been struck by a vehicle. our major crash unit was called and an investigation is under way into the nature of the accident. >> to help identify the victim, police released this video of her keys. they also showed several metal bracelets. victim was wearing. she's a white or asian woman in her 30s or 40s in jogging clothes. if you know anything about this woman who was killed, you're asked to call d.c. police. we also posted a picture of the truck on our website, nbcwashington.com. five people including seral children had to be flown to area hospitals after a serious accident in sandy spring. two cars collided south of route 108 around 5:30 last night. among the injured were two boys, ages 7 and 14, and two girls, ages 17 and 11. police did detain one of the drivers at the scene. officers are now asking anyone who might have been in the area and witnessed the crash to please give them a call. right now polls are open across iraq for a historic election. it's the second vote for a full parliament since the 2003 u.s. led invasion. nearly 6,200 candidates are competing for 325 new seats in the parliament. the prime minister is fighting for his political future. about 19 million iraqis are eligible to vote today. meanwhile, there have been several violent outbreaks across the country as militants have vowed to disrupt the process. at least 25 people were killed just this morning in several mot mart yar attacks. iraqi citizens danced in the streets of arlington, virginia yesterday. they were able toast their ballots in a u.s. polling place. coming up, chuck has a look at your sunday and week long forecast. it's a beauty. we'll be right back. good morning. welcome back to news4 today. it's 6:10 right now. let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell for a look at the weather forecast. >> good morning. hopefully you got a chance to get outside and enjoy the sunshine yesterday. i know i did. i appreciated every last morsel of sunshine. we have more of that on the way for today. outside right now on your sunday morning, a clear sky sits overhead and it is a very pleasant start indeed. temperatures are in the 30s. there goes another plane load of folks out of reagan national. saying see you. enough of the cold weather already. next stop miami beach. 39 degrees in town with a light wind at 10. dew point temperature so low down to 12 degrees. i did checking. we haven't even made it to 60 for the fourth time this winter. when was the last time we were 70 or higher? noveer the 16th is how long it's been. for comparison by this same time last year, we had four 70-degree days. yikes. temperatures now mostly in the 30s. there are some cold spots out across the virginia piedmont. warrenton, culpeper, low 20s this morning. right around town the winds never really did lay down much last night. so as a result temperatures didn't fall much. the other side of that is not much of a windchill in warrenton because there's no wind blowing. a breeze here lowered windchills down to the upper 20s and low 30s. a medium weight sweat are or jacket is a good idea as you head out early this morning. all of the cold air is back to our north and west and the dew point temperatures, the measure of moisture in the atmosphere, look how dry the air is around here. teens and 20s for dew points around our area. nice dry weather expected for the remainder of the day today. the last of those clouds now moving away from us. the next weather system is not a very powerful one just jyet. an area of low pressure over iowa. you can follow it on future cast model. notice as the moisture tries to come further and further east into this very dry air mass, it just simply drys up and fades away. high pressure will rule the roost around here for the next couple days. clouds don't really start to come back until late tuesday, early wednesday time frame and rain chances start probably mid to late day wednesday at the earliest and then it gets very unsettled for quite some time after that. for today, your sunday, enjoy it. mostly sunny. just some high clouds coming in later this afternoon. temperatures upper 50s to nearing in on 60 degrees. tomorrow, maybe a few lingering clouds first thing in the morning but a beautiful, bright and pleasant afternoon. tomorrow's highs upper 50s to near 60 degrees. the seven-day forecast does have mostly sunny conditions around here as we go into the first part of the week with a bit of a warming trend. 58 today. 59 tomorrow. 60 on tuesday. a lot of spots fredericksburg, stafford, warrenton, a lot of spots will get into low 60s each and every one of those days. around town here we'll stay below 60. very unsettled weather for thursday, friday, saturday time frame. big storm crashing onto the west coast promises some very dreary weather around here as we get to the second half of the work and school week. you have to make hay while that sunshine is shining. 2010 has been a banner year for caps fans. the team has won every home game this year. and last night the caps did not disappoint. lindsay czarniak has highlights in your sport minute. >> good morning. your sport minute on this sunday morning begins with the capitals who extend their home win streak to 13 games with last night's win over the rangers. capitals had good offense including a newly acquired player but the star of the game was the goaltender. theodore had 30 saves recording his first shutout since st. patrick's day of last year. capitals beat new york 2-0. they play dallas at verizon center monday night. the maryland terps needed a win to clinch a share of the acc regular season crown and they did just that. vazquez scored 23 points and maryland held off a late virginia rally to win it 74-68. the terps will be the number two seed in next week's ncaa tournament. in chinatown, georgetown hosting cincinnati. they got a much needed spark with the return of guard austin freeman after missing the west virginia game while being diagnosed with diabetes. the redskins made a move yesterday signing ardis hicks. he'll compete for the starting guard spot. that'sour sports minute on this sunday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. next up on nbc 4, reporters notebook, a look at the stories affecting your community. for now, here's pat lawson muse. >> good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. an historic week for the nation's capital and the gay rights movement. same-sex marriage become legal here in the nation's capital. wednesday dozens of couples lined up to get their marriage licenses. the city has taken an historic leap forward becoming more open and inclusive. what does this mean for the nation's capital and how will this change life here in the nation's capital? dave mcconnell? >> from a business standpoint if this thing lasts and congress hasn't risen up to stop it and the supreme court chief justice wants to see how further legal actions move forward. it means more business for people that work on weddings. a new market out there and they're ready to take it and it means the district is the place to come if you are gay or lesbian and you want to get married. this is the place. >> joe madison, what does this say about the changes that have taken place in the city and on the d.c. council? >> already people have come from across the country to dave's comment have come across the country almost from california to participate in the registration of same-sex couples. the landscape of change here is definitely going to be in the business community because you have a whole new thrust, a whole new population now of needs that the business community is going to address. >> where you have that type of thrust, you also have change politically. i think that's what we're also going to see change is the political dynamics of this city. you already have a very active gay community politically and this can only strengthen their position. >> when the mayor signed the same-sex marriage bill last year, he said he hoped d.c. would provide a road map follow activists in other states perhaps including the state of maryland where as you know the attorney general will now begin recognizesi recognizing same-sex marriages from other states. will this help in maryland? >> it could. we discussed previously on this program, they want to test the waters and move the ball along and see how things go. again, in maryland there will be the same opposition from some church groups and from some anti-gay activists and the same kind of support and based on my reporting at this point in time, there doesn't seem to be major opposition but we'll see how this thing goes. >> there's a close association between the district and maryland and the whole border area is a likelihood that maryland is watching d.c. very closely to see how this -- >> i disagree. i think people forget that d.c. is always this pocket of liberal and certainly in recent years it's always been considered liberal. remember, we're bordered by two rather conservative states, virginia and maryland, even though northern virginia, prince george's county, may have a lot of ex-wash toitonians living th, it's a different world. look at where the opposition came to from the d.c. law. it was led by a maryland bishop. jackson. >> maryland is not as liberal as people think it is based on my reporting. however, every time the republicans or conservatives think they are mounting a drive, it usually doesn't get far. the fact remains that when you do get to the eastern shore and upper and southern and maybe western maryland, you do have conservatives but mainstream democratic type voter in maryland seems to be more liberal than certainly in virginia and more liberal than many other states. i don't know how this is going to play out. >> the censor of marilyn berry stripping him of his committee chairmanship and referring allegations ofublic corruption to the u.s. attorney's office for possible prosecution. it was the first time ever that the council has punished a member and here is what marion berry said before the vote. >> the report reduced marion berry 40 years of service to a thief. reduced marion berry 40 years of service to a southeast hustle and i think that's wrong. >> what's your reaction to berry's reaction? >> he talks as if he's removed from his own body. i don't know of anybody that speaks that way -- is that what they call person? it's strange. it's almost as if it's not me they're doing this to. i never heard someone talk like that who is a public official. it's like he's an entity onto himself. but the bottom line is that if you had gone back a few weeks when i was here and said that he would dodge this bullet, he didn't dodge it. and i tell you who comes out smelling like a rose on this is benson gray. gray showed leadership because many people questioned whether he could get the votes, whether he could steer this. he not only got the votes but he got a unanimous vote. >> did he do this because he had to? did vincent gray do this because he had to? was he under pressure? >> if you think of the words, they said that "this hurts me. i'm saddened by it but it was fair." we've gone back 35 years but it had to be done. >> i think sadness is a good word here. i said this before when i've been in discussions about the mayor from the crack cocaine days from many, many other ups and downs and he's had ups and downs. everyone would agree that he's done many, many great things. i believe many, many other people he's done some really bad things. it finally based on my reporting caught up with him. he's been censored. >> barry says he'll work harder than ever. can he be more effective than ever? >> you know, he's considered an urban whatever you want to call it. there's nobody that knows more about urban politics. if he works just as hard as he says he has before whether he has that chairmanship or not, he could do great things. >> if this is two years from now and he ran, he could get re-elected. having lived in ward 8, it's simple. it's marginalized. barry stuck with them. they stick by that politician. >> got to take a break. we'll be right back. stay with us. welcome back. there's now a criminal investigation into a cheating scandal at churchill high school in potomac. at least eight students there allegedly stole teacher's passwords and changed the grades of some 54 students but nearly 700 student records have now been subpoenaed in this case. police say they don't yet know the full scope of the scandal at the school that has a 98% graduation rate and some of the highest s.a.t. scores in the country. this allegedly has gone on for some time. the question on the part of many is how? how could this have gone on to this extent so long? >> the explosion of technology is such that we really don't know everything our computers can do. there is a school of thought that says, yeah, they should have caught this right away and one thing and another. hackers, that'shat these young people are, they are smarter than us. they're smarter than their teachers. they know how to game the system. and some very bright kids who probably don't need to have their grades fixed, they must be smart enough to get good grades any way. >> my 3 year old tells me how to operate my computer, my 3-year-old grandson. these kids grew up with computers. they were born with them. the question really is if the investigation shows criminal wrongdoing, what should happen? and do they get slapped on the wrist? is there a double standard if this was blew? my suggestion would be i would give them harsh punishment and then i would make them work it off. i mean, these are the kinds of minds that you don't necessarily want to ruin their life but you do want them to know there are consequences to their actions and maybe they can work for the system. obviously montgomery county needs money. they can work it off. >> if you focus them on the wrongdoing, the statement by the state police is unauthorized use of computers. this is what they are looking into to see if there was unauthorized use. if that's the case, it is a crime. outright crime. there has to be punishable that way. it seems as if officials at the school and the state are leaning toward just what you're saying. some type of punishment. >> for charges have been filed yet. three of the eight have left the school. five remaining students have been disciplined. >> they have to find a better system if they can. it will be difficult. >> will it hurt the school's reputation? >> absolutely. >> it will hurt the school's reputation but this should be a signal, pat, for other schools because this is going to happen more and more and more. you opened it right away. explosion of technology. >> let's go to college park. after a 79-72 win over duke last night, wednesday night rather, breaking a six-game losing streak to duke, terps fans went into the streets of college park in celebration that got way out of hand. police say 1,500 fans took part in a disturbance out on route 1. we have seen this before. police this time got pelted with leftover snow and ice. 27 people were arrested. they should be expelled. your station anticipated -- i saw jim vance tell reporters say there because it will happen. everybody knew this was going to happen. and the words should have gone out. look, guys, you're not going to destroy public property. this is ridiculous. i bet you drinking had a lot to do with this. i would identify tse students and they would not be members of the university of maryland where my daughter graduated from. they would be out of there. >> is it just alcohol? >> it's alcohol. it's young people -- >> it's attitude. we have an attitude today where i don't have to respect authority. this is what is showed here. i don't care about other people's property. let me just go off on a branch a little bit and relate this to two kids in the airplane thing with the air traffic controllers. it's the same principle here of respect for authority and the seriousness of certain jobs. >> that said, the question has to be why were the authorities -- were they ready for this? did they let this happen? did they drop the ball? too much for them to handle and if it was why didn't they think about it before? >> of course they anticipated it. we sat at home and anticipated it it. channel 4 anchor anticipated it. they're limited in what they can do. these are just some bad acting kids who decided they don't care about the signs, they don't care about the street. they don't care about their reputation. they don't care about being seen on tv. >> regardless whether it it is maryland yesterday, high school students hacking, the whole problem today is the lack of discipline in all of our educational arenas. >> quickly before we go, the virginia governor is critical of obama's stimulus package but will to take the money for the race to the top education program. >> during the campaign he said his defenders and he say no. i always said i wouldn't take it. however, if it came, i wouldn't ignore it he's trying to say first i was for it and then against it and then for it. he says that's consistent. there seems to be some evidence of that. he's trying to play his critics say both sides of the aisle. >> as one critic put it nicely, face reality. reality has come. you're going to accept the money. >> final word, joe? >> record hypocrisy when you see it with a capital h. say anything to get elected. once you get elected especially when it's a term limit, you can do whatever you want. >> $350 million. >> thank, guys. >> thank you for being with us. that's reporter's notebook. stay with us "news4 today" continues. good morning, everyone. the pentagon metro station is back open three days after a deadly shooting and this morning we're hearing from a man who watched it all happen. president obama sets a new deadline for a vote on health care but there's concern that not everyone will come to an agreement by then. and changes are coming to the airport this week. the new scanners that some are calling an invasion of privacy. welcome back to "news4 today." i'm kimberly suiters. let's check in with chuck bell for a quick look at the forecast. chuck, comparing today to yesterday, how are we looking? >> how did you like yesterday? >> it was beautiful. gorgeous. >> then today will be better. >> great. >> we love better. we're always interested in better or more. whatever is the appropriate word at any given time. outside on your sunday morning, it's a good one. temperatures are on the chilly side. it's the winter that won't end. we have to put up with more of a morning chill out there. temperatures will respond quite nicely to the strong march sunshine. a breeze blowing in town has windchill down to the freezing mark evenhough air temperatures are in the upper 30s in downtown. here's your day part forecast. temperatures climbing all of the way up to 58 degrees today. that's a four-degree improvement over yesterday. sun doesn't go down until 6:07. coming up at this very moment, 6:42. now currently 6:32 outside this morning. we'll prove the sun will be up. >> i have no doubt it will be. thank you, chuck. now to the latest on the pentagon shooting. you can once again take a bus or train from the pentagon station stop. the pentagon metro station reopened last night. however, the entrance to the pentagon that's closest to the metro transit center does remain closed. officials plan on reopening it by tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. this morning we're also hear from an eyewitness to the pentagon shooting who says he was an initial target of the investigation. >> they give commands to lay down flat. don't move. face down. and they handcuffed me and then i was puzzled. why are you handcuffing me? >> dan namisi was on his way home when a gunman opened fire on officers at the pentagon. he somehow became a suspect and officers handcued, searched and detained him for three hours. he was released and not charged at all. n am namisi is not sure if he'll file a complaint. police are trying to identify a body found in a remote part of montgomery county off brown church road in a state park near the howard county line. a hunter in the area made that discovery. investigators say the body is badly decomposed and can't figure out the person's race or age or how long the body has been there. a soldier from rockville, maryland, was killed in afghanistan. specialist anthony pochy was in military vehicle that flipped over on thursday. his father tells news4 his driver told the driver to swerve to avoid hitting a civilian family. the specialist also served in iraq. the 30 year old grew up in bethesda and he leaves behind a wife and three young children. once again this weekend president obama is pressing for health care reform. he is seeking a vote by march 18th when he leaves on a trip to guam, indonesia and australia. this late pus comes while democratic majority in congress is struggling. more on all this from nbc's mike vikara at the white house. >> reporter: the president today made a fresh plea for action. >> we're close. very close. i asked congress to finish its work. i asked them to give the american people an up or down vote. >> reporter: while there's talk of ultimate victory, it's unlikely to win the support of a single republican in congress. >> we're going to fight and fight and fight and stop this massive takeover of the health care system in america. >> reporter: it's a divide among majority democrats that stands between the president and success on his signature issue. >> we will not support legislation that has public funding for abortion. >> reporter: some conservative democrats claim the bill would allow public funding of abortions and facing a storm of protests, republicans in leaning districts where health care reform is unpopular are also withholding support. critics say congress should turn their attention to jobs. >> why focus on health care reform rather than focusing on the fact that so many people are unemployed. >> reporter: there are more problems for democrats. >> i'm a direct salty kind of guy. >> reporter: a freshman is quitting congress in the wake of allegations he harassed a male aide and charlie rangel stepping down from his post as chairman of the powerful ways and means committee. >> it just seems to me that i should not do anything that would impede the success of other democrats. >> reporter: allause for democratic concern in the coming midterm elections. >> democratic house members are on the verge of panic. when you're in fear of losing your own seat, every issue becomes more difficult. >> in chile this morning, it's been eight days since that massive earthquake and international aid is finally arriving. two u.s. cargo planes carrying relief supplies and 50 u.s. troops arrived in chile yesterday. getting aid to parts of the country has been difficult due to damaged roads and some areas are still waiting for supplies to arrive. water purification units, a field hospital and quake experts are also expected to arrive from the united states in the next several days. looting continues to be a problem in many parts of chile. new video from the quake region shows dozens ransacking a food warehouse. many of the looters were running from the building. others just walkedway with boxes filled with canned fish. the country is stepping up efforts to provide more food to the quake victims. it's 6:37 right now. still ahead, more than a dozen people remain hospitalized after a deadly bus crash in arizona. this morning paramedics are thanking an 11-year-old boy who they say helped save the lives of many more. plus, the red carpet is being rolled out for the oscars. find out why millions of people might not be able to watch the awards from home tonight. an 11-year-old boy who survived a deadly bus crash in arizona is being called a hero by paramedics that responded to the scene. oscar rodriguez was traveling from california to mexico with his father and sister when their bus crashed. he was thrown out of the bus as were all of the passengers. he was able to get up and walk arou. and that's when he began helping paramedics who were facing a language barrier with most of the passengers. >> i just remember my legs were sliding all over the ace. >> he stepped up. he helped translate spanish to english telling us what was hurting on people and at the same time not telling us about his own injuries and going through the pain until there was nobody else left around. what's wrong? my chest hurts. >> wow. in that crash six people were killed and 16 others injured. and now to the continuing challenge of airport security. tomorrow full body scanners will start going into service. it's part of a new push by the obama administration to improve security. nbc's jay gray had a more. >> reporter: the latest line of defense is now moving into place at airports across the country. three new full body scanners were wheeled into boston's logan airport this week. >> it's just one more layer of security that helps deter any bad people from doing harm. >> reporter: the new machines will go online monday in boston. the first of 150 units the transportation safety administration plans to have in place at u.s. airports by june. the imaging machines allow agents to see throu clothing to identify possible hidden objects. the new technology, which provides what has been called pl blurry black and white images of a passenger's body have rose concern. >> the officer viewing the image will be remotely located and the image won't be stored. >> reporter: there have been concerned it will increase lines and lag times at airports. still, many travelers welcome the closer look. >> whatever it takes to keep us safe and to make everything right for us, i'm for it. >> no one needs another 9/11. >> reporter: that effort will also in many airports include a hands-on check. the tsa plans to begin random tests at several airports swabbing travelers's hands for any trace amounts of explosives. for "today," jay gray, nbc news, dallas. a dispute between two media companies will keep millions of customers in the dark on oscars night. cab cablevision says it pays disney more than $200 million a year so at midnight disney cut off access to millions of cablevision customers in new york seeking an additional $40 million. customers will only be able to watch the oscars tonight if they have a television with an antenna or digital converter box. >>rain or shine, the oscars will happen tonight. just in case the weather doesn't cooperate, the show's producers are preparing for that covering the red carpet area with a clear plastic tent and have gold oscar statues draped in plastic. the awards will be presented in 24 categories. this year there are ten nominees for the best picture award. a lot of buildup for that. it's 6:44. let's check in with chuck. he has our weather forecast. >> optimism once again blooming and flourishing here in the weather office. bright and sunny weather on the way for later today. the question as you look at the rising sun, how long can it last? the answer coming up. if you have never experienced the thrill of climbing to the top of a wall or having gone kayaking, you have another chance today at the travel and adventure show at the washington convention center. hundreds of people turned out for that event yesterday. and they got to try out lots of outdoor activities and plan exciting vacations. in another part of the convention center, a very popular part, the biggest loser held an open casting call for next season to find out about events happening at today's travel and adventure show, visit our website at nbcwashington.com. it's 6:47. let's check in with chuck bell. the sunrise a street this morning. >> 56 inches of snow this winter. our all-time record. now only the ugly brown piles remain unfortunately. outside on your sunday morning, there you go. a live picture. there's the national cathedral high atop the hill in northwest massachusetts where massachusetts and wisconsin avenues come together. if you look really close just off to the left of the cathedral there, that's the tower here at nbc 4. current temperature sitting at 39 degrees. light north wind blowing at 12 miles an hour. dew points remain really low. dry air in place. that's good news because dry air warms up quickly. it will be a pleasant afternoon. we won't make 70 today. last time we were 70 degrees or higher was november the 16th. we have waited and waited for a 70-degree day and we're going to have to wait longer. no 70s in our future. temperatures right now generally in the 30s around town and by the bay where the winds never laid down completely but out across the virginia piedmont from manassas to culpeper, temperatures mid 20s where winds have died back. mid to high 30s this morning in town. because the wind is blowing, a bit of a windchill left. most everybody else is around the 30-degree mark. temperatures out to our west still fairly chilly and because of that northwest wind flow, we'll have a little improvement today but i don't see any warmup on the way. no 70s in sight still. again, there's our dew point temperatures in the teens and low 20s all across the area so this nice dry air will warm up very quickly this afternoon. and even for spots that are starting off this morning in the mid 20s, we'll be near 60 degrees by later this afternoon. everybody is in store for a 20 to 30-degree warmup as we go through the remainder of the afternoon. plenty of sunday sunshine and relatively mild. our average high temperature this time of year now 53 degrees. we should get above average by later on this afternoon. we all know how much we enjoy being above average. showers out to our west fading away as a ripple of low pressure comes east into our dry air mass. clouds and raindrops fade away as high pressure wins the war for the next 36 to 48 hours. gradually that will shift more and more toward the coastline and we'll pick up more of a southwesterly wind flow around here as we head toward monday afternoon tuesday time frame that will increase moisture and for better or worse, it will increase our rain chances as well. so sunny today. high clouds coming in late this afternoon and this evening. they will linger through the overnight hours and into early tomorrow. so some morning clouds around first thing but otherwise a very sunny and pleasant stretch of weather is coming our way. the all-important seven-day forecast today, 58 in town. a lot of spots in the virginia piedmont will touch 60 today and tomorrow. think our best chance here in washington will be on tuesday. and i like to be a little bit optimistic. we may be able to get to 60 on monday. we'll let you know that tomorrow. but then enjoy. the clouds and rains return and it will be that chilly, ugly march rain and not the fun rain we want. >> we appreciate you being cheerful and expectant in your forecast. >> i am expectant? >> you are. congratulations. >> i need to work on a name. the capitals were expectant hoping to keep their 2010 home game winning streak alive this weekend and fortunately for fans they did it. lindsay czarniak has highlights. >> good morning. your sports on this sunday morning begins with washington capitals. there's no question the capitals best player last night was goaltender theodore. he this 30 saves. first shutout since last night. the capitals beat the rangers to keep their 13 home win streak intact. let me take to you verizon center where some young capital fans get a very up close view of good things to come. first period, the capitals with the puck. carried into the ranger zone. sends it to eric who fires it pass the goalie. 14th goal of the season. caps led by one. second period on defense. morrison tries to get it to carlson but the rangers get it. theodore made incredible saves. making 30. bruce doesn't like the giveaway. still in the second. alexander with the cross ice pass. he finds eric alone in front of the net. he takes care of business. the capitals stay perfect at home. >> i thought he was great. i thought he was by far our best player. >> any time they were putting pressure on us, he would get it and stop it and he would not let a rebound go tonight and that's the key to his game and he's just brimming with confidence. we hope he can keep it and it gives us, you know, a lot of options in goal. >> bruce and the capitals back in the action monday night at home against the dallas stars. moving to college hoops. maryland had to defeat virginia yesterday to earn a share of the conference title for the first time since 2002 and enter the ncaa tournament as a two seed. coach gary williams knew when he heard a guard was suspended and would not play that the cavaliers wod respond with vengeance and they did. the terps get the win 71-68. cheer in charlottesville. trying to clinch a share of the acc. first half cavs playing defense. baker gets it to scott for the jam. ve virginia was thinking we could pull the upset. coming up with the steal and lay-up. 2 of the 23 points as terps led by 11 at the half. second half, more maryland d. the kavs inbounding the ball. nice for that dunk. virginia would cut it down to one. the terps clinch a share of the regular season title for the first time since 2002. freeman was so sic he had to be hospitalized and was diagnosed with diabetes. yesterday freeman was able to get back on the court and back to doing what he loves. he did exactly what he's known for. he dominated. freeman scored 23 points. follow me to verizon center. austin freeman presented with the game ball for scoring his 1,000th career point. georgetown only led by three at halftime. cincinnati now trying to stay in it off the bear cats miss. stevenson gets the rebound. tries to get it to wright. wright is there for the steal. gets it ahead for the dunk. monroe 19 points, 15 boards. georgetown gets the win, 74-47. one more score to pass along for you. gw yesterday lost to temple 70-57. the colonials are going to the tournament for the first time in three years. number ten gw travels to face number seven dayton flyers on tuesday. to baseball news, nationals are struggling. winless so far this spring. yesterday against the mets it was no different. we're in florida. john lanon is your opening day starter. on the hill yesterday for the nats. a strikeout in the top of second. he struck out two and give up two runs in two innings of work. bottom of second. two on. sent to deep left field. the three-run shot puts nationals up 4-2. after that the bull pen gave up 12 more runs and mets beat the nats 14-6. high school basketball playoffs in full swing. the city championship between public and private schools is at verizon center next sunday, march 14th. d.c. public schools championship was last night. here's your mvp. hawkins for eastern taking it to the hoop for 32 points. up court quickly to pittman who is there for the dunk. the knights are back-to-back city champs with the 103-89 win. the redskins by the way made their first move of free agency yesterday agreeing to terms signing with offensive lineman ardis hicks worth $9 million. hicks can play guard and tackle. he'll compete for the right guard spot previously held by randy thomas. he spent the last four years with the vikings. he started 13 of those games over the last three seasons. as for more moves, keep a close eye because willie parker will visit with the redskins on monday. that's your sports on this sunday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> thanks. 6:57. we're going to be back in 2 1/2 minutes with a look at the day's top stories and chuck's forecast and news4's viewpoint. stay with us. it's definitely expensive having a growing family and it's something that you think about. try to be conscious of that and plan out our meals so that we can feed everyone on a budget. at giant, we know saving money is important. every time you shop with yr card, you can enjoy thousands of real deal savings and weekly specials, and strawberries, 1-pound container, 2 for $4. this week only. it makes me feel good because we're saving money, and that works for me. only with your giant card. good morning, everyone. i'm kimberly suiters. welcome to "news4 today" at 7:00. it's sunday, march 7th. a look at the day's top stories in just a moment. let's get a check of the weather with meteorologist chuck bell who has just given birth to a beautiful forecast. congratulations. >> i googled it. enthusiasm is the primary definition of expectant. pregnancy is number two. outside on our sunday, good morning, everybody. clear sky overhead. temperatures in the 20s in the colder western suburbs. we look at our beautiful city with a clear sky overhead. climbed up to 40 at national airport. still 21 in manassas and 37 in martinsburg. only places that got rid of wind completely went way cold early this morning. our forecast for everybody today, folks waking up in the 20s this morning. don't you worry, you'll make it to near 60 degrees by later this afternoon. plenty of sunshine around. just a few high clouds coming in later this afternoon. kimberly? >> thank you, chuck. you can once again take a bus or a train from the pentagon station stop. metro reopened its rail station and upper bus platform yesterday just two days after a gunman opened fire on two police officers. the entrance to the pentagon that's closest to the metro transit center, however, does remain closed. officials plan on reopening it by tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. police released new video from a hit-and-run accident involving a jogger along the national mall in the hopes of identifying the driver and the victim. at the top of the screen a woman can be seen crossing constitution avenue around 6:00 a.m. saturday morning. she then crosses over 14th street. you see a white semi on 14th street pass over constitution avenue. police believe that truck hit and killed the woman. they are still looking for the driver of the truck. polls are open across iraq this morning for a historic election. it's the seventh vote for a full parliament since the 2003 u.s.-led invasion. there are 325 seats open in the new parliament. 19 million iraqis are eligible to vote today. insurgents have killed at least 25 people in an attempt to disrupt the elections. those are some of the stories making headlines today. next is "viewpoint." we'll be back with a few minutes with an update. we'll see you then. >> good morning, everybody. welcome to "viewpoint." a very busy week in our nation's capital. marion berry censured this week and history for gay couples and the issue of gay marriage. our guest is vincent gray, the chairman of the d.c. city council. welcome back to "view point." glad to see you again. let's start with this historic vote that you say you didn't have a choice on the matter and that's censoring marion barry. >> this issue goes back to last summer. last july 4th it started when mr. barry was arrested for stalking. those charges were dropped. in the aftermath of all that, there were allegations about contract being led involving personal relationship and allegations around how earmarks had been used and grants that mr. barry sponsored. they went to various organization and how those dollars had been used. we sought a special council to look at this. we were fortunate to get bob bennett. internationally renowned attorney with impeccable credentials and sterling reputation who agreed to take this on. we gave him full authority, whatever he needed in order to get the facts in this situation. it took over seven months for this investigation to be conducted. when he came back with the report, it was very compelling in terms of what his findings were. indicating conflicts of interest, obstruction of justice, a number of questions about how the contract was led and the secretary's office and council which is responsible for executing these contracts according to mr. bennett they were misled about the purpose of the contract and the number of people who got dollars out of these earmarks and in his report he recommended censor. he recommended we look at removing mr. barry from his committee chairmanship. >> which you did. >> we did. he was censors and they recommended turning findings over to the u.s. attorney's office which we approved doing that for them to do what they wom will. >> what does it mean for marion barry? >> obviously he's one of the most unique political leaders of our time. he has overcome so many obstacles in his past. he is still loved and supported which many people. and ankly, jim, this was just emotionally draining and taxing for us to have to do this but we were left in a situation where there really was no alternative but to move to act on this. you know, i think he will continue to have an ability to represent the people of ward 8. one of the things that i remind people of is the first two years -- mr. barry came on this most stint on the council and i came on at the same time as he did as did kwame brown. we were able to do things that were important to the people that we represent. he knows the system as well as anybody. he's been a mayor for 16 years. a council member for ten years. nobody knows the political scene and government as well as marion barry does. i think he'll continue to be an effective and aggressive representative for the people that elected him. >> for ward 8 sidents, if you lived in ward 8, what would you be thinking now? >> i would be wondering what's going to happen in terms of representation going forward. mr. barry has first and foremost said that he feels like he can continue to be an effective presentative. at one point he said i won't have committee responsibilities now so i can devote more time to my constituents. i think people will wonder how this will unfold. it's an unprecedented action for the council. they're a new body by comparison to others having been an elected body only since 1974, 1975. no one has ever been censored to my knowledge no one has been removed from a committee chairmanship. this is carving new territory for us. we'll just have to see how it unfolds. >> speaking of new territory, mr. gray, i want to read you from robert mccartney's column from "the washington post" last thursday. in it he said that many black leaders say barry exceeded his scandal limit. he called it an embarrassment to the generation of new, young politicians that this is the beginning to be the end of an a in district politics. do you see it on this big picture, huge magnitude scale as a s shift here? >> i think we really don't know. there have been times in the past when people pronounced the end was in sight for marion barry only to be demonstrated that simply wasn't the case. change is already afoot as it would be any way. we've got a new generation of political leaders who are coming along. people who have their own views about government and how gove governments should be executed in the district of columbia. many people have seen marion barry get over obstacles and be popular with those who vote for him. >> we'll be right back with vincent gray as we continue on "viewpoint." stay with us. welcome back. mr. gray, we were talking about this oist ork historic vote to censor marion barry. this new emphasis on ethical standards, how does this all play into the contracts on the executive level, specifically $85 million in parks and recreation contracts that are now a bit controversial and what does this mean for adrian fenty? >> the council sent a message that we're very committed to integrity and we're very committed to ensuring there are high level of ethical standards that are observed and we do two things in the council. we legislate and we conduct oversight. this is an important part of our oversight responsibility. we had four committees which is unprecedented working on one issue with contracts. we've had the committee on libraries, park and recreation and government operations and the environment and economic development and then housing and workforce development now chaired by michael brown. he's participated actively in these hearings. where we are now is at a point to get to a conclusion on this investigation. they've been stymied by one key witness, sinclair skynyrd who has not shown up for a deposition and has evaded service. a couple things have happened. one, the council went to court and got a court order that once mr. skynyrd is served again, if he doesn't show up, the first he doesn't show it's a $5,000 fine and every day thereafter is an additional $1,000. we also -- i worked with council member thomas who asked for additional assistance and we've now gotten a person who has agreed to be a special council to work with four committees to move the investigatory process along. there will be an investigation similar to what he conducted in the issues surround ping mr. barry. >> history makine ing inge ingi decision on gay marriage. did it surprise you that this happened? >> no, it didn't. if you look at the history of the district of columbia going back for many years, if you go back to the '70s, there was a bill introduced by a then council member and subsequent chair in the council to authorize gay marriage in the district of columbia. that was more than 30 years ago. it didn't go anywhere. it set in motion a series of steps. if you look at what the city has done on domestic partnerships, if you look at what we did last may to recognize marriage equality and same-sex marriages from other states in the district of columbia, we made progress toward the day when we authorized marriage equality here in the district of columbia. it really was exciting to see people the other day down at the court lined up to be able to apply for their marriage licenses and then look forward to in just a few days them being able to consummate their relationship. >> what will this mean for the city first of all economy-wise? >> we have data that indicate with weddings and people coming into the city and associated events around these weddings, there will be hundreds of thousands of dollars that will be realized as a result of that. in addition to that and the biggest issue is seeing people who are engaged in loving relationships with one another to be able to take those relationships where they would like to take them and have that opportunity. some of them have been involved in relationships for years and could not take the next step. this is an opportunity to be able to do that. >> do you expect we'll see a demographic or population shift? >> could. i think what we're going to see is more states recognizing, you know, same-sex marriages in other states. for example, maryland has just recently taken action in that regard. so what you may have frankly is people moving here of course but you also may have people who are living somewhere else will come here to marry and then be able to take that marital relationship back to where they live because their state is now recognizing same-sex marriage. >> the chief justice john roberts denied as we mentioned to stay the district's law but says the whole idea of a ballot initiative was not a moot point. might we see something similar to what happened in san francisco where we saw a lot of gay marriages and then we saw voters banning gay marriage. >> i think not. we have such a strong human rights law. there have been a number of efforts to get a ruling toward an initiative referendum on this issue. we've had both requests. our human rights law is very strong and very clear that you cannot use a referendum or initiative in the district of columbia to take away rights, human rights, from people and that's been used by the board of elections and ethics and our own superior court and the court of appeals to say that there's no basis for granting the rht of a vote to the people on this issue. i think it's unlikely to happen. >> we saw the archdiocese come out in opposition to this and a number of church groups as well in the city. how is this going to sit with them and how do you reach out to them and bring them into this? >> the archdiocese changed the conditions of how you receive health insurance if you work for the archdiocese which excludes people who may be spouses in same-sex marriages. it's a bit disappointing. i would have liked to see the archdiocese determine a different way of doing this recognizing that they are caught in a dilemma. the church's teachings are what they are. many people don't agree with teachings of the church on this issue but they are caught in this dilemma of how they continue to provide social services and how they continue to observe the beliefs of the church. they have opted now to say that spouses in same-sex marriage -- spouses, let's put it that way, will not be included in health care package in the future which in effect will exclude those who are involved in same-sex marriages. >> all right. we'll be right back with much more on "viewpoint" with our guest, vincent gray, chair of the d.c. city council. we'll be right back. welcome back. here are some of the stories we're following this morning. you can take a brus or train frm the pentagon metro stop after it opened last night after a man opened fire on two officers. the entrance to the pentagon closest to the metro transit center does remain closed. officials plan on reopening it by tomorrow morning at 5:00 a.m. this morning polls are open across iraq for a historic election and iraqi citizens living here in the d.c. area are also participating and celebrating one of nine absentee voting stations are in arlington. and a reminder virginia state police a out in full force today along interstates 81 and 95. officers will watch for drivers who are speeding or violating other laws. traffic fatalities in virginia have gone down since last year, police want to make roadways even safer. now back to "viewpoint." . welcome back. vincent gray our guest this morning. let's look at the blizzards and impact on the city and our budget here in the city. first of all, what grade would you give the mayor and the council for responding to the blizzards? >> it's hard to give a grade. there are so many comexities associated with this. the first storm the city did well. then it got worse after that. the city doesn't have enough equipment to deal with the conditions that we faced. we probably never will because presumably something like this will happen once every 30 or 40 years given not only the magnitude of each storm but the fact that they were back to back and we wound up with 40 to 50 inches of snow. the council really wasn't involved as a body. it's one of the things that concerned me deeply. a full handful of council members heard from the mayor. >> you faulted a lack of communication from the mayor to you and other members on the council. >> yeah. i never heard from the mayor directly nor other members heard either. i think we could have been helpful with this especially the ward members who have direct contact and constituent staff and direct contact with their constituents and could have been helpful with some of the issues that were frustrating a lot of the people in the city. and some of the members got involved any way. they got out. my colleague, kwame brown, was out with a snowplow. and some of us were out shoveling snow. we wer taking e-mails. we were forwarding them to the officials to try to get some assistance for folks. one of the things i thought was telling was at a hearing that jim graham held last week. dave klein, the director of the department of transportation, acknowledged the city had no plan for a snow event of this magnitude and while this may happen only rarely, the reality is that people expect us to be prepared for whatever occurs. and there are some things we could have done. first of all, we need to have a far better communication plan. when you look at the level of unemployment in the city, we could have involved people who were without jobs in assisting with the removal of snow and they could have gotten paid on a temporary basis. we could have moved them around the city. we had all these special education buses sitting idle because school was out. we could have used special education buses to move teams around the city and they could have facilitated the plow activity going on in a number of neighborhoods. we could have taken o own channels, channels 13 and 16, and turned them into 24/7 communications operations. i realize you guys reported constantly on the snow but that was often times looking at what's happening with the level of snow, how is it affecting people? we could have kept people informed about what is happening in the neighborhoods. yes, we have a website that you can go to but not everybody does that. a lot of people don't have the facility to use a website in that way. >> every jurisdiction faced its own challenges. compared to other jurisdictions, municipalities and states, how did we fare? >> hard to tell. no one in this jurisdiction was ready for that. people believe that we did well on the front end of this and we did rather poorly as we got further into the second and third snowstorm of the season. we are at the core of the region. i think there was some missteps in terms of saying school would be open. i got an enormous number of e-mails saying what do you mean school is open? we can't get out our door. how do i see my child gets to school? what happens when they get there? will there be teachers who are there to receive them? there's some planning that needs to go on because the lack of coordination at certain points was very pronounced and had a major impact on how this was perceived and how this was executed. >> before we go to break, the cost of it all. how long will we pay for this? we were already in budget trouble. >> we are in huge budget challenges. $200 million spending pressures so the administration is overspend big $200 million. we'll probably have doubled even if we have no more snow events this fiscal year, we will he at least doubled the outlay. now, some of this may be mitigated by fema support. we are applying for funds. the council took action at our last meeting to support going ahead with a request to fema to get some financial resources for covering some of the expenses that we incurred. >> all right. we'll be right back up to wrap-up "viewpoint" after this short break so stick around. welcome back to "viewpoint." our guest today is vincent gray, chair of the d.c. city council. mr. gray, we want to talk about a problem that's getting worse before it gets better. 12.1% unemployment here in the district. east of the river, the number is much greater. >> it's enormous. in ward 7, 19%. in ward 8, about 30% of the people are unemployed. that only counts the people still looking for jobs and doesn't include those out of work for so long they have given up and not looking anymore. >> how likely are we to see a turnaround in this year? >> i think it's unlikely we'll see a major turnaround. people forecast the recession is over. i think one has to interpret what that means. i don think it means you'll see a turnaround in this economy. one of the things of deep concern to us is what will happen to the commercial real estate market and that's where we get a lot of the money coming into this city. the interesting thing is because we're such a unique city, with the federal government, we actually have had an increase in jobs over the last three years in the city. with an increased unemployment at the same time. the problem is that we have a lot of jobs for whichhe skill sets of our people really don't matchup with those jobs. secondly, what's astounding and it's a problem for us over the next several years we have to address is two out of three jobs filled don't live in the district you have columbia. >> perhaps a new job for you down the road, are you ready to announce whether you will run or not run? >> will make neither announcement today. i think most people know that this is something that i am very seriously considering. we're going to get to a decision very soon on this. i have gotten an enormous amount of encouragement from people to do this. i think they appreciate the work this council has done. there was a poll within the last ten days that showed the favorable rating for the council is one of the highest of any led legislative body in the country. >> does the mayor deserve a second term? >> if i run against him, i believe i'm making the statement we need a change. one of the deep concerns to me is i would have liked and saw the opportunity for the mayor and this council to work much more effectively together. there are dynamics that i observed and have been a part of that are puzzling and astounding to me. >> you say very soon. when do you need to get out there and announce and make official in terms of raising money? we know that the mayor has a lot of money. >> i don't think this race will come down to money. i don't think the person th raises the most money will necessarily win. also, this is a high profile discussion. this won't be new to folks if i step into this race. people have been following this very closely. i've been at a lot of meetings and spoken all across the city. people talk about this all the time. so entering this race at whatever stage i do, the time issue will not be a huge challenge because i'm in a position where i am involved every day and people are excting me to make an announcement soon. >> as we say, stay tuned still. vincent gray, thank you for coming in. welcome back to "viewpoint." we appreciate it. >> thank you, jim. >> we thank you for watching "viewpoint" and enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. "news4 today" next. news4 exclusive, a man who witnessed the shooting at the pentagon tells his story of going from a terrified bystander to a suspect. and new video of a deadly hit-and-run on the national mall and police need your help identifying not only the driver, but the victim as well. a critical day in iraq's history as thousands head to the polls today to choose a brand new government. good morning, everyone. i'm kimberly suiters. this i "news4 today" on sunday, march 7th. the news in just a moment. first, we want to get you the latest forecast with meteorologist chuck bell. chuck, signs of spring again this morning. glad to see it. >> did you see another fresh flower springing from the ground? >> i did not jog early this morning. maybe i'll look for them later this morning. >> there are some out showing their spring color. another four weeks and the cherry blossoms will be sneaking out. that's the real sign of spring in the washington area. outside right now on your sunday morning, a beautiful bright blue clear sky sitting over washington this morning. a great start to your sunday. 40 degrees our temperature downtown. it's a lot colder across parts of northern virginia. manassas, warrenton, low 20s this morning. culpeper 25. winchester down to 28 degrees. it is going to be a bright and sunny day today. we'll pick up a few clouds later on this afternoon mid and high level clouds dimming out our sunshine a little bit but on the whole a great day coming today. mostly sunny. milder than yesterday. yesterday we topped out at 54. i think today we can do at least 58. >> i'm not going to take a nap today just because of that. thank you, chuck. >> well, i am. >> good for you. we'll check back with you in a bit. new today in the 6800 block of georgia avenue it's temporarily closed after police say a driver attempted to hit a d.c. officer with her car twice. we're told the driver almost hit the officer on georgia avenue northwest. police pulled the car over at georgia avenue and that's when the driver attempted to hit the officer again with her car and then drove away. the driver was finally pulled over near georgia avenue and highland in silver spring. police say the driver faces traffic and drug charges for offenses committed in the district. a news4 exclusive now. an eyewitness to the pentagon shooting said he was an initial target of the investigation. dan namisi was on his way home when a gunman opened fire on police at the entrance to the pentagon. namisi said his fear turned to confusion when police thought he may have been involved. darcy spencer reports. >> i was at the metro station and i hear gunfire. pop. pop. so i ducked to the ground. >> reporter: dan namisi was at the pentagon metro station thursday evening when a gunman opened fire wounding two pentagon police officers. he says he somehow became a suspect in the crime. >> they give commands to lay down flat. don't move. face down. they handcuffed me. i was puzzled why you handcuffing me. i was going to catch a bus. >> reporter: namisi says he was heading hem to burke after arriving home on a flight from reagan national airport. after shots rang out, law enforcement officers restrained him, serarched him and detained him for hours. >> they would not tell me why i was still in handcuffs. they said okay we're checking the computer. and they dragged on for three hours. >> reporter: police say john bedell of california was the lone gunman that wounded officers jeff amos and marvin carraway. namisi was released from custody and was not charged with any crime. >> i was thinking i was going to die. i'm very traumatized with this whole experience. >> reporter: namisi says he's a native of uganda and is a u.s. citizen. he's never had any trouble with the law. he's at a loss to explain why he became a target in this shooting investigation. >> i was innocent but was rushing from the metro to catch a bus and i can't believe that law enforcement would not sort that out in the amount of time that they allot. >> reporter: namisi says he's not sure what steps he'll take now and whether he'll file a complaint. he does say he'll avoid the pentagon metro station stop in the future. reporting from the pentagon, darcy spencer, "news4 today." >> an update from that spot, you can once again take a bus or train from the pentagon station stop. metro reopened its rail station and upper bus platform yesterday. however, the entrance to the pentagon that's closest to the metro transit center does remain closed. officials plan on reopening it by monday morning bright and early at 5:00 a.m. police have released a new video from a deadly hit-and-run accident involving a jogger on the national mall in the hopes of identifying the driver and the victim. at the top of the screen you can see the woman crossing constitution avenue around 6:00 a.m. saturday morning. when she left the frame of the cameras, she crossed over 14th street. then you can see a white semi on 14th street right there passover constitution avenue. police believe that truck struck and killed the woman. the truck was seen on a different traffic camera a few minutes later right there on pennsylvania avenue. >> upon arriving on the scene, they found a woman lying in the roadway who apparently had been struck by a vehicle. our major crash unit was called and an investigation is under way in a the nature of the accident. >> to help identify the woman, police released this video of her keys. they also showed several metal bracelets the victim was wearing. she's described as a white or asian woman in her 30s or 40s wearing jogging clothes. if you know anything about her, you're asked to call d.c. police. we also posted a picture of the truck on our website, nbcwashington.com. right now polls are open across iraq for a historic election. it's the second vote for a full parliament since the 2010 u.s.-led invasion. nearly 6,200 candidates are competing for 325 seats in the new parliament. prime minister nuri alp maliki is fighting for his seat. about 19 million iraqis are eligible to vote today. there have been several violent outbreaks across the country as militants vowed to disrupt the process. at least 25 people were killed this morning in several mortar attacks. iraqi citizens living here in the d.c. area did their part. one of nine absentee voting stations in the entire united states is here in arlington. an iraqi national who now lives in northern virginia wants his children to remember the historic day. >> we told them that we are going to choose the best for our country. >> i feel like i'm celebrating. i'm so happy. that's why i'm here to vote. >> about 1.4 million iraqis in 16 countries including the u.s. are eligible to vote in the iraqi elections. it has been a great year for the capital fans. the team has won every home game so far in 2010 and last night the caps did not disappoint. lindsay czarniak has the highlights in your sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute on this sunday morning begin with the capitals who extend their home win streak to 13 games with last night's win over the larangers. the capitals had good offense. the star of the game was goaltender theodore. he had 30 saves recording his first shutout since st. patrick's day of last year and capitals win 2-0. to basketball, yesterday the maryland terps needed a win in charlottesville to capture a share of the acc season crown. maryland held off a late virginia rally to win it 74-68. the terps will be the number two seed in next week's acc tournament. closer home in chinatown, georgetown hosting cincinnati. a much needed spark with the return of guard austin freeman. freeman back in the lineup after missing the west virginia game while being diagnosed with diabetes. he scored 24 points as they rolled past the bear cats 74-47. redskins made a move yesterday signing former vikings offensive lineman ardis hicks to a deal worth $9 million. hicks will compete for the starting guard spot. that's your sports minute on this sunday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> thank u. it's 7:40 right now. still ahead, we'll have another check of your sunday forecast and a look at the rest of the week. plus, your grocery bill may be going up. the popular item that's costing more at stores and restaurants. >> jex next up on nbc 4 is the "today" show. lester, i will not soon forget your face as you rode down the luge. i see your name and your face and i remember the color draining from your face pretty quickly. >> i have to tell you, that was one of those cases what i was thinking? i thought it was a roller coaster but clearly more than that. glad to be safe and sound. let me tell you what's coming up on "today." we'll talk about that wave of attacks that struck baghdad this morning as iraqis began voting to elect a new parliament and possibly a new prime minister. this leads to the question could the violence affect the plan to pull u.s. troops out. we'll have a live report. amazing video of a gang of robbers storming a casino. a real life "oceans 11" and the world of exotic pets. what causes this fascination with dangerous animals and it's oscar time. tonight promises to be a night of film, fashion and firsts. we'll preview hollywood's biggest night. we'll see you later on "today." >> we hope new yorkers get to watch the oscars. we'll been reporting about the mess up there with cable tv. >> one of the cable companies in dispute with nbc. several million people may be shut out. >> nod good. thank you, lester. >> we'll see you. there's a new threat to your food budget this morning. during your last trip to the supermarket, you may have in theed tnoticed the price of tomatoes have soared and restaurants aren't serving them as often. ron mott explains why. >> reporter: any way you slice it, a fresh tomato these days costs a pretty penny. sticker shot. 2.29 a pound. even 3.99 in places after an estimated 70% of florida's winter crop by far the nation's largest withered away during a frosty january. it's left lots of rotten tomatoes in the state's industry turning a rotten bottom line for farmers. >> we had to shut down our production. we normally harvest nine month out of the year. this shut our operation down for 2 1/2 months. >> reporter: the result wholesale price as much as five times higher compared to a year ago. in ft. myers, florida, tomatoes are on demand. >> we ask the consumer directly if they're going to eat it, we'll gladly provide it and if not, we won't put it on the salad or sandwich. >> same at some burger king and wendy's locations around the country. other restaurants don't have such options. tomatoes are a key ingredient in many of these dishes. the company says it won't limit supply to customers regardless of price. that means it is still piled high. >> we want to monitor the financial impact of our food costs and try to make changes accordingly but so far we've been ae to ofet some of these increases. >> reporter: where businesses can't absorb the added costs, consumers take the hit most without stewing. >> i'm italian. tomatoes are part of my every y cooking. i make sauce and salads. this year we'll have a little bit less of that. >> reporter: good news is growing says industry experts. the spring crop is coming up a healthy green so far. ron mott, nbc news, atlanta. 7:46 right now. time to check in with meorologist chuck bell. chuck, are we warming up a little bit yet? >> there's still a hint of a chill left for folks out in parts of northern virginia this morning. a warmup is under way. i see 60 in our future plus raindrops. detail check of the foreca st. patrick's day is still a week away. beautiful weather for the 29th annual st. patrick's day parade yesterday. they celebrated everything irish from music to kilts and a whole lot of green. st. patrick's day is march 17th but it was declared open season so everyone can start celebrating early. 7:49 right now. let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell. chuck, do you have any st. patrick's day traditions? >> absolutely. you'll remember the mug of course. >> how could i forget? >> my college roommate when i was in school at oklahoma, my roommate, mike, is now living in northern virginia and is one of the organizers of the st. patrick's day parade we saw the video. he's a good irishman. his new baby son, sean, was just born a week and a half ago with his older sister, lauren. so st. patrick's day weo way back. i'm 50% irish don't you know. >> i got you started. >> we'll change the forecast to the forecast. everyone wants to know about the weather. great weather yesterday for the st. patrick's day parade and it will be a great day for anything you want to get done on sunday. if you have tomorrow and tuesday off, this may b a bit of a vacation for you because it will be some of the nicest weather we've had around here in months. temperatures are still slowly working their way up. 39 at the station in northwest washington. a light northwest wind at 10 to 15 miles per hour. still a bit of a chill in the air. haven't seen 70 degrees or higher since the middle of november and even though it will get nicer around here, everybody, we're not going to be near 70 any time soon. made it all of the way up to 40 at national airport now. manassas down to 21 now. 36 in frederick, maryland. 38 degrees in st. mary city. 29 at marine corps base at quantico. a hint of a breeze. it has a cooldown factor in upper 20s to low 30s across the area. cold air and dry air back out to our north and west will be a big part of our forecast. it's the reason that even though we have a little taste of early spring, there's no 70s in our future. extremely dry air in place. things will warm up very quickly today with that relatively strong march sunshine coming on through. but since the air out to our west is still relatively cold and we have that northwest wind in place, i think about upper 50s and low 60s is about as optimistic as i can be for high temperatures. that's still warmer than average for this time of year. we'll take it. sunday sunshine and mild weather for us today. this little area of rain showers across the middle of the country will be drying up as it comes out to the east. we don't need to worry about rain until during the day on wednesday. a chance of a few light rain showers coming in on our wednesday forecast and then off and on chances for rain all of the way through thursday, friday, and at least saturday. so for today, sunny with high clouds around. milder. sen-day forecast, today's high up near 58 degrees. very close to 60 tomorrow. we might be able to get to 60. tuesday will be our nicest day before the clouds come back. a slight chance of light rain on wednesday. that unsettled weather lasts all of the way through the end of the week and into next weekend. enjoy the sunshine while it is here. >> thanks, chuck. the capitals wer hoping to keep their 2010 home game winning streak alive this weekend and fortunately for fans, they did. lindsay czarniak has the highlights in this morning's sports report. >> good morning, everybody. your sports on this sunday morning begin with the washington capitals and there's no question the capitals best player last night was goaltender theodore. 30 saves. the first shutout since last march. the way he's playing right now the capitals can't afford to not start him. capitals beat the rangers to keep their 13-win home streak intact. first period, capitals with the puck. carries it into the rangers zone. sends it to eric who fires it past the goalie. the caps led by one. second period on defense. the rangers get it. however, theodore made some incredible saves last night. take a good look at this. wasn't letting anything past him. making 30 saves. still in the second. the cross ice pass. the capitals stay perfect at home. >> i thought he was great. i thought he was by far our best player. >> any time they put pressure on us, he would get it and stop it and not let a rebound go tonight and that's the key to his game and he's just brimming with confidence. we hope he can keep it. and it gives us, you know, a lot of options in goal. >> the capitals back in action monday night at home against the dallas stars. moving now to college hoops, maryland had to defeat virginia yesterday to earn a share of the conference title for the first time since 2002 and enter the acc tournament as a two seed. coach gary williams knew when he heard uva star was suspended that he would not play and the cavaliers would respond with vengeance and they did. maryland was able to hold off the charge with strong defense and the terps get the win 74-68. we're in charlottesville. trying to clih at least a share of the acc. first half cavs playing defense. to scott for the jam. virginia was thinking we might be able to pull the upset here but the terps wouldurn it up. vazquez and hayes. comes up with the steal and the lay-up. 2 of 23 points as terps led by 11 at the half. second half, more maryland d. cavs inbounding the ball. a cutting sean moseley nice for that dunk. virginia cut it down to one but the terps clinch a share of the regular season title for the first time since 2002. less than five days ago guard and leading scorer austin freeman was so sick he had to be hospitalized and he was diagnosed with diabetes. yesterday freemans was able to get back on the court and doing what he loves. he did exactly what he's known for. he dominated. freeman scored 23 points and they crushed cincinnati to earn a first wouround bye in the nca tournament. first half, freeman starts the scoring with the ball drives down the lane. gets the lay-up. the start of a very good day for freeman. georgetown only led by three at halftime. cincinnati now trying to stay in it off the bear cats miss. stevenson gets the rebound. tries to get it to wright. chris wright is there for the steal ahead to monroe for the dunk. monroe with 19 points and 15 boards as georgetown gets the win 74-47. one more score to pass along to you. gw yesterday lost to temp but they're going to the tournament for the first time in ten ars. gw travels to face number 7 dayton flyers on tuesday. to baseball news, the nationals are struggling. they're winless so far this spring. yesterday against the mets it was no different. we're in florida. john lanon will be your opening day starter. on the hill for the nats. he gets the strikeout in the top of the second. he struck out two, gave up two runs in two innings of work. bottom of the second now, mets up 2-1. two on for eric. he sends it to deep left field. three-run shot puts the nationals up 4-2 but then the bull pen gave up 12 more runs beating the nats 14-6. the city championship between public and private schools is at verizon center next sunday, march 14th. the d.c. public schools championship was last night. here's your mvp taking it to the hoop for two of his 38 points. off the rare hawkins miss. up court quickly to pittman who is there for the dunk. knight are back-to-back city champs with the win. the redskins by the way made their first move of free agency yesterday agreeing to terms signing with offensive lineman ardis hicks signing a three-year dealorth $9 million. hicks can play guard and tackle and will compete for the right guard spot previously held by randy thomas. he started 13 of the games with the vikings over the last three seasons. as for more moves, keep a close eye because steelers running back free agent willie parker will visit with the redskins on monday. that's your sports on this sunday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> thank you. that's it for "news4 today." "today" show is coming up next. we'll be back here in 25 minutes with an update and join us from 9:00 to 10:00 with all your n s news, weather and sports. we'll see you in 25 minutes.