those accused in a drive-by shooting that even hardened police veterans say is one of the most horrific accidents of violence they have seen in this city. tonight we are learning more about the teenager's long criminal history. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. the criminal history has many people asking why the 14-year-old was out on the street. pat collins is at police head quarters in northwest d.c. with more on that. >> reporter: when people are arrested in the city of washington, oftentimes they are put in the custody of a trusted agency. but it appears sometimes that no one is watching what they do. and that can have dire consequences. police say that it was a teenager at the wheel and that south capitol street drive-by. and here are some disturbing numbers. the suspect is 14 years old. he began committing crimes when he was 9. he has been arrested ten times. including charges of robbery and assault on a police officer. six times the court ordered youth services to keep him in a secure place. six times he managed to get away. and now he's back in court. this time facing the crge of murder. the fourth suspect. after the mass shooting on south capitol street, a police chase. four suspects seen running on 7th and yuma streets southeast from the minivan used in that drive-by. three arrested. one still a large. sources say police believe that the fourth suspect in the south capitol street case might be yet another suspect in the murder of jordan howe. it was the morning of march 22nd that howe was killed in front of this apartment house on alabama avenue southeast. sources say that the murder of howe led to a retaliation shooting. and in retaliation important the retaliation, the south capitol street drive-by. one of the worst acts of violence in the history of washington crime. >> without question it was one of the most horrific scenes i have been on in my 20 years in the department. >> reporter: suspect supervision. one of the suspects in the jordan howe murder, carter. according to court records, at the time howe's murder, carter was facing stolen car and gun charges here at superior court. he was moved from a halfway house to a high intensity supervision program. in fact, on march 23rd, he was supposed to come downtown for orientation inhe high intensity surveillance program. but on that very same day, he was arrested in the murder of jordan howe. it is unclear as to who, if anyone, was watching carter on the day that jordan howe was murdered. doreen, back to you. >> all right. pat collins reporting. thank you, pat. some people that live in the neighborhood say the city is not doing enough to keep them safe. more on that in our next half hour. president obama is calling for patience. he says he hopes critics will give the new health ca reform law a chance to work before they pass judgment. he made that comment today during a speech in portland, maine. >> every single day since i signed the reform law, there has been another poll or headline that says nation still divided on health care reform. polls haven't changed yet. well, yeah. it just happened last week. >> the president plans to visit other cities through the end of the year. and nonan effort to build support for the new health care law. >> more than 35 miles to the gallon. that's a tough new fuel standard set today by president obama's administration. those rules will require new cars to meet that mark by the year 2016. steve handelsman is on capitol hill with details and reaction. hi, steve. >> reporter: thanks. out on the street. how beautiful is it this evening. so far, everybody is steering pretty much the same on this. the administration, car makers, dealers, drivers, i spoke to today. everybody saying that more than 35 miles a gallon sounds great. it is an average to be phased in over four years. by 2016 the fleet of new vehicles sold in this country from the smallest cars to pickup trucks and suvs has to average nearly 50% better gas mileage. from 25 miles per gallon now to 35.5 in six years. that would be save americans money and cut consumption of foreign oil. president obama's goal. >> 1.8 billion barrels of sxoyl like taking 58 million cars off the road for an entire year. >> reporter: new rules shoul spur the sales of electric cars like the chevy bowl. and the nissan lease. development of hybrids and the like. and environmentalists are happy. >> cleaner vehicles, more efficient vehicles, vehicles that use less oil and their cars that people want to drive. >> reporter: automakers say they can make enough high mileage cars and trucks but will americans, in fact, buy them? >> i think i would pay more for a car that has better -- gets better mileage. >> i would be willing to pay more to get better. >> almost a need. >> reporter: manufacturers are still worried. >> large volume in order to meet the tough new standards. >> reporter: but that's the law. 35.5 miles a gallon in 2016. plus lower tail piping issues to cut global warming. companies that fall short will pay big fines. companies that can make and sell a lot of good high mileage vehicles will make big profits. at least that's the plan. live from the hill, steve handelsman, news4. doreen, back to you. >> thank you. returning to the weather where flood sing causing major problems for people living in northeast section of the country. veronica has more on this. >> that's right. areas of the northeast have gotten a chance to clear out from the big storm system, the nor'easter. dry conditions today. as you can see across the northeast view. let me take to you new england right now. boston, mass, where the floodwaters are still sea aing problems for residents. storms have stopped but the water continues to flow briskly throughout eastern massachusetts. rivers are cresting and they are expected to remain over flood stage for the next few days. nearly 3500 residents have applied for practical emergency flood assistance and to put it into perspective, in terms of that type of rain event, at least ten inches or more, that only happens around here. about once in a decade. for us, some summertime type warm lth start surging in. huge area of high pressure across the area. we will kick it off here with a gorgeous evening and go into tomorrowmorning. pretty nice. temperatures will be up a few degrees from where they were this morning. so your fast forecast got rain-free stretch to tell you about. just how long. and the easter weekend is going to feel a lot like memorial day weekend. details, doreen, coming up. >> that sounds great. thanks. >> can't wait to hear more. today is what's known as census day. and those people that haven't yet filled out their sent vus form and mailed it in could soon find census workers knocking at their doors. tracie potts has the story. >> reporter: you probably heard those hip new ads and should have the census form by now. the government countsch living in the u.s. through april 1st which means this new form will be one of the last -- newborns will be one of the last counted. local officials are making a big deal at rallies all over the country today and here is why. >> every missed resident has chance to lose $1300 in federal population based funds. >> reporter: it is all about the money. census determines how $400 billion are spent. who gets what for roads, schools, commuty programs, and because the housing crisis is dislocated so many people, the census bureau says that this time count everyone inour home whether they normally live there or not. but some latino ministers are telling their communities don't fill it out because the government may tell immigration agents where to find you. the man in charge says that's not true. >> i can say honestly if the president for some reason called me and asked me for your census form, i can say no. that's not possible under the law. that courts would uphold me. >> reporter: the president has already returned his. do make sure you have the right form because there are fake ones floating around askin for money, social surity numbers, your signature, and even bank information. >> people that called me, the have already filled out their form and sent it back. and they are sick. >> reporter: so far just over half of u.s. households returned their census. have you two more weeks to do so before uncle sam comes knocking on your door. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> so far virginia leads the area with 60% of census forms being returned already. maryland is second with 56%. d.c. is in third with 50% insofar. coming up tonight, u.s. naval warship off the coast today. sex abuse cases involving brees. >> auto make wers a big boost in sales last month. >> major construction project in virginia that may cause headaches for commute. the redskins planning to sxwin dine another quarterback prospect this weekend. vasquez picks up an impressive piece of hardware. capitals try to find their groove. live report from verizon as "news4 at 6:00" continues. for decades, the insurance lobby has called the shots... putting profits before people. but with gerry connolly's help... that's changing. with a law prohibiting insurance company denials... if you get sick or have a pre-existing condition. providing quality, affordable health care options... to individuals and small business owners. and closing the medicare prescription gap. congressman connolly, thank you. the democratic national committee is responsible... for the content of this advertising. u.s. naval warship did battle with a pirate ship off of the east coast of africa today. suspected somali pirates opened fire on the u.s.s. nicholas. it returned fire and sank it. it captured what they think was the mothership and five more pirates. expert says it is possible that the pyre rates saw the nicholas and thought it was worth some money but didn't really mo what i was in and it had so many guns. naval forces have been ramping up off east africa in a bid to cut off a growing pirate threat there. price wars and zero percent financing put americans in a car buying mood last month. new reports out today show sales for some major automaks shot up from the same time last year michelle franzen has more. >> have a seat. >> reporter: sales important u.s. ought oat makers surged in march. overall up nearly a third from a year ago. toyota brake troubles, aggressive incentives helped drive consumers to show rooms. and price wars between general motors andoyota paid off. g.m.'s core brand, buick, cadillac, chevy, gmc, saw nearly a 38% increase in sales. toyota sales jumped 35%. the company is speeding to rebuild trust and confidence following a massive recall for gas, pedal and brake problems and rolled out strong incentives to win customers. >> consumers are very smart, savvy. listen, circumstances are such. here is my maim and number. i want a toyota and willome in and buy it. when they announced the program, come on in. that's exactly what happened. >> reporter: ford sales increased nearly 35%. but the company did not compete in the incentives war. instead ford decreed the boost to strong demand for fusion and taurus brands. >> ford continues to be red hot. ford accrued a goodwill momentum by not going bruptd and american consumer or brand that normally would have taken billions of decades to build up. >> reporter: all positive signals that the struggling auto industry bogged down a year ago by flat-line sales and bankruptcy problems may be on the road to recovery. >> we seeing right now, i believe, is we are seeing a turn in the auto industry, that's sustainable. >> reporter: u.s. automakers heading in the right direction. and enjoying the ride. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> chrysler was the one dim spot in the new numbers. their u.s. sales fell about 8% last month. positive day on wall street today. the dow is up 70 points. nasdaq up four points. s&p 500 also up eight points. lth lick cardinals are defending pope been diktd bene. today a leading vatican official lashed out at media coverage of the sex abuse scandal still unfolding in europe. ann thompson reports. >> reporter: night has fallen in rome and holy thursday ceremonies are over. and once again pope benedict xvi celebrated mass but did mott address the clergy sex abuse scandal. he did wash the feet as part of the re-enactment. he spoke of christ's priestly duties but did not address what has people here in europe so angry. and that is the increasing revelations about priests who abuse children. while the pope isn't talking, the vatican officials are. cardinal william lavata who heads the office of clergy abuse, he accuses "the times" of being unfair in its reporting of pope benedict xvi. he says that the pope is actually owed a debt of gratitude because he's the one who has helped place procedures within the church to help the church deal wit these cases of sexual abuse. that's the latest from rome. i'm ann thompson, now back to you. >> it is a case that involves a decision not to defrock a priest accused of molesting boys in wisconsin. in the article posted on the vatican's website lavata said the priest was already dying by the time the diocese began the process and "the new york times" first reported details of that decision last week. cardinal lavata accused "the times" of wrongly using the case to find fault in pope benedict's handling of the abuse case. the crowds gathered for a special prayer at jerusalem's famous wall. the event includes a special blessing that takes place only three times a year. the security in east jerusalem has been especially tight over the last few weeks. israel has ignored demands by the u.s. to stop building in an area that's been claimed by the palestinians. coming up on "news4 at 6:00," panda pregnancy watch again at the nation school. brand new video out of a volcano. one that's erupting in iceland. >> another check on the forecast. veronica is next çóçóçóçñçñçó active volcano in southern iceland getting larger and the images are getting more impressive. new crater opened late yesterday producing even more fountains of red hot lava. look at that. geologists say it poses no threat to local residents. but they are concerned it could trigger another eruption at a larger mountain nearby. the volcano has been dormant for 200 years before it started erupting. two weeks ago. wow. that's getting bigger and more spectacular each day. >> that's just an incredible sight. veronica, you ought to be glad we have nothing like that around here. it is impressive. >> it is very impressi. somebody is getting awfully good shots of that. meanwhile, around here, it was so nice i think it was dangerously nice. i'm driving to work and going along and going along. enjoying the weather. then i got into a weather trance. i almost forgot where i was going. 46 to the low temperature today. we got up to 74 degrees this afternoon. the average high is 61. average low is 42 degrees. at least 10 to 15 degrees above average, our highs across the area. dew point temperature 40 degrees with relative humidity at 41%. winds out of the south at 10 miles per hour. but there have been cool spots today right near the water that have been running in the 60s. so down south we have 83. raleigh, north carolina, look at all of this warm air. up into detroit, michigan, chicago, illinois, and 81 degrees currently. it is 84 in omaha. so a lot of warmth still due to heading to the east, folks. under high pressure, though. we have fantastic clear conditions. and we are going to have rain-free conditions. probably the next seven days. a while before we see any rain around the area. so a nice dry stretch. clear skies into new york and around main sxhan clear skies down south through georgia. and alabama and mississippi. but already some high clouds coming into areas of the midwest. and the ohio valley. there's clouds associated with the next weather system move thing way. here is one of the cool spots at tillman island. 62 degrees. high temperature today. 61 right mao. again, winds that have been off the water. bay breeze. meanwhile, the locations well west. and inland and hit the low 80s today. up to 83 degrees, front royal, virginia. right now at 79 degrees. air is pretty dry in the west. national weather service as well as the division of forestry, virginia, urging folks with the low humidity and high temperatures to hold off on any open burning. once that -- watch that if you are heading west camping over the easter break. 77 degrees right now in and around the neighborhoods of leesburg, virginia. gore just conditions with a light wind. there is that big surge of warmth. eastern half of the nation. and the blue stuff, chilly stuff. out west. 41, salt lake city. 48 degrees right now in denver, colorado and 44 in boise, idaho. that chill associated with big trough and this next low pressure system can see showers just a few showers across the northern plains. the southern plains may be looking at storms and possibility of severe weather for arkansas and louisiana tomorrow. but here again, w have about 48 hours of at least cloud-free conditions. we could pick up a few high clouds on saturday. and as that weather system that's just talked about out west as it makes its way eastward, will start falling apart there. i doubt that any showers make it across the mountains but could have just a few high clouds around here late saturday. 79, 80 here tomorrow. look at north carolina. raleigh, could get close to 90 degrees there. so here is your forecast then. quite pleasant here for the evening. temperatures will be dropping from the upper 60s to about 60 degrees by midnight. light winds for our area. same thing tomorrow morning. wind light out of the south. sun is upt 6:51. 40 to 45 degrees. seasonable nice start. and it will feel more like may around here with highs getting into the low 80s across the area. and our easter weekend more like memorialay weekend. sunshine and dry conditions through monday on your four-day forecast. even as we go into the mid portion of next week, tuesday, wednesday, right now still sunshine and we could have pew passing showers coming our way on thursday. so a nice stretch. if you didn't get anything outdoors done today you wanted to, you have days to do it. back to you. >> lots of yard work ahead, i predict. >> that's it. >> you and me both. >> thanks, veronica. coming up on our broadcast, people living in the southeast d.c. neighborhood where four people were killed this week have questions for city officials. >> officials at the pentagon today talked about changes that have been de in the wake of an attack on police officers there. >> commuters in virginia are being told to get ready for longer commutes because of construction projects. and yet another panda pregnancy watch at the zoo. coming up in sports, wizards finally catch a break. new redskins running back larry johnson talks to the media. vasquez picked up postseason hardware. "news4 at 6:00" continues. if we don't know how big our community is, how do we know how big our hospitals need to be? the census helps us know exactly what we need, so everyone can get their fair share of funding. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census. i'm nervous about her going away, but i know that she wants to be able to do things on her own. (sunny) the bayer meter helps me become morindependent. (announcer) only bayer's contour meter has programmable personal high low settings. (sunny) the hi/lo settings gives you a good idea of where your blood sugars' at and what you need to do to control it. the bayer meter will give me peace of mind. i want you to be happy. don't cry. my name is sunny and independence is my simple win. (announcer) the contour meter, only from bayer. we are back with our top story for this half hour. paulout from tuesday's drive-by shooting in southeast d.c. nine people were hit. four of them were killed. >> all of those killed were teenagers. it is a community mourns the young lives lost, there is a growing sense of discontent in the neighborhood. many people there believe that the city is not doing enough to prevent the kind of bloodshed that happened on tuesday. aaron gilchrist has our report. >> reporter: vigil wednesday night turned ugly against mayor adrian fenty. marion barry that represents the wrd on city council was shunned by a mourning father. >> total disgrace now and right now i'm unhappy with your -- >> reporter: all sides of the community dissatisfied with the government in the wake of murderous violence. davaughn boyd and there others were killed tuesday in an assault that lasted seconds. today a small memorial replaced blood and bodies. community is starved for action. >> don't wait until something tragic happens. then pop up and say we want to be on the corner -- like this. we have to do something before th this. >> they have no jobs to go to. they don't have no schools to attend. whatever reason. and they become victims of their community. >> reporter: they say the city and the community itself has failed their young people. >> when they had nowhere to go, with a do they do? congregate somewhere, some corner. that's their form of recreation. you don't provide anything for them, what do you expect? >> reporter: calling on city leaders to reach out for meaningful dilling on and follow through on intervention and job creation. advisory neighborhood commission chaired theresa jones says that she will push for outreach on multiple levels. >> first place, outreach, outreach, 2000, outreach the family and treating the family as a whole. >> reporter: this morning on "news4 today," mayor fenty acknowledged the frustration and said his administration will do better. >> everybody knows although we made a lot of progress in this city from the homicide rate going down to schools doing better and more recreation programs, there's still a long way to go. >> reporter: long way, government and the neighborhoods and the whole city will have to go together to save young people's lives. in southeast, aaron gilchrist, news4. >> we will continue coverage of that shooting tuesday night this evening on "news4 at 11:00." the pentagon is making security changes in the wake of last month's shooting at the metro station there. the gunman was killed by return fire after he shot at officers. since then the pentagon forced protection agency has stepped up visitors' screening and random inspections. the pentagon's security system is undergoing a multimillion dollar overhaul that includes equipment to help detect biological and a chemical weapons. the army doctor accuse ed massacre could be moving from a hospital room to jail cell soon. the attorneys for hassan say doctors at brook army medical center in texas gave him a discharg physical last night. that's a step in the process of moving him. however, there is no official word on when thatove could happen. major hassan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted murder in those shootings last november. hassan was shot by police during the incident and he is mao paralyzed. mayor fenty announced his plan tay to balance the city's 2011 budget. the proposal includes massive cuts and fee increases with no new taxes. the budget is 3% less than the current budget and some of those hit hardest by the plan would be city workers. proposal eliminates 385 city government jobs. it would be a freeze on automatic pay increases. another part of the plan calls for consolidating government agencies inrder to streamline operations and save money.oal i spend money more fshly. >> with local budget that doesn't grow, we also are presenting to the people the district of columbia is we are going to make sure that even with millions and millions of dollars we are finding ways -- finding -- rooting it out. >> d.c.'s public and charter schools are among the agencies that -- very few of them that would actually get more money under the new budget plans. council has 54 days to review all of the mayor's proposals and to make any changes. several highway construction projects will cause increased raf for commuters in virgia this spring and summer. today transportation authorities gave as you tour of some of the places that have the potential important big traffic trouble. derrick ward has the story. >> lane widening on i-95 between springfield and occoquan. extension of the fairfax county parkway and additional hot lanes on 495 and the rail lines at dulles. a set of ambitious project. >> all of these projects are on schedule. which is -- very critical. >> reporter: that's the good news. there is inescapable bad news, too. >> in doing that there will be some disruptions. there will be inconvenience. >> reporter: in fact, planners predict an average of 20 minutes added to compute times. even though they will t to schedule the most disruptive work at night and on weekends. and other off-peak periods. >> lou outthe region, whether you are at wiehle avenue in reston, whether you are in the mclean area on the dulles toll road, or whether you are on the annandale, you can expect closures of all lanes on the interstate, dulles toll road system, throughout this next year. >> reporter: not all at once. still efforts are being made in conjunction with businesses to less dwren pain. >> we want to encourage telec telecommuting and encourage different work times. we have started a new transit service. >> reporter: planners say if they can get a 30% reduction in traffic in these area, it should make things go smoother. some of it is built in. the dulles rail lines, for instance, has an on-site concrete plan so you see all of the truck traffic for this phase of the dig. efforts like this only go so far. the key planners say is to build a bridge of communications with those affected most. >> can't just build something without reporting on the people because part of our effort is to reduce stress as much as possible. >> reporter: to that look at the insert in local newspapers. vdot puts this out and tells you what is going on, when and where it is going on, the best ways to get around it. very popular publication over the summer. you may start to see the fruition of some of the projects as early as the end of this year. don't expect anything finished until 2013. derrick ward, news4. >> number of people at the national zoo are wondering if the panda mei xiang is pregnant. they say that her hormone levels are rising and that's a good sign. however, mei xiang could be having something they call a false pregnancy which is commo in giant pandas. mei xiang has been through that before, in fact. a the zoo officials say it will likely be another month or more before they know whether another panda cub is on the way. mei xiang and her mate tian tian are on loan for the rest of the year. their cub is back in china little coming up on "news4 at 6:00," an airbus on burst while landing. a school superintendent defending the i reaction to case in which a girl was bullied so much she killed herself. welcome back. veronica johnson in stormstenter 4. cool shot on our city cam. folks busy taking in the outside. anything you can do outdoors today. down by the water. it has been a little on the cool side lou outthe afternoon. but, boy, inland we have pretty warm locations with highs today that have been in the mid 70s and even the upper 70s and around 80 degrees southwest part of virginia. and that warm air has really been hurrying along the flowering of our heavy pollen eightors. 117. that's high. likely to stay high. unfortunately, if you suffer for the next couple of days. there is a look at the temperature readings. culpeper, 81. 78 degrees around centreville and mclean. 72 in d.c. 62 in pax river. 9 degrees in annapolis. 53 to 55 degrees is how we will start the day tomorrow. a light jacket coming up on spring break. a lot of schools are off for tomorrow. 45 to 50 if you wait at the bus stop. high tomorrow is 80 degrees. surge of summer warmth coming our way. jim? >> runway. >> jim, doreen. school officials in massachusetts are defending the way they responded to a case of bullying that led to a student's death. 15-year-old phoebe prince committed suicide at her know many january. prosecutors say that she suffered months of harass many at her high school and just couldn't take it anymore. she received threatening messages online. mine of her classmates, mostly girls, had been charged in the case. some people felt school administrators failed to protect the child. the superintendent says that the principal and teachers only learned of the bullying a week before the death andid take appropriate action at that time. >> the people that work in our schools care deeply about the students there and would not stand by seeing a student hurt. the -- the teachers who did overhear these conversations and did see these things going on are reported them immediately. >> those comments contradict the belief by the district attorney that school officials knew about the harassment and did not step in to stop it. however the administrators involved in what the dfshg a. suspects are not expected to be charged. 9-year-old boy died after being hit by a bus on walt disney world property today. the boy was hit while riding his bicycle with a friend near the ft. wilderness resort in orlando. more than a dozen people were on the bus. none of them were injured. the florida highway patrol is investigating the cause of the crash. some tense moments on a jumbo jet last tonight. one of the plane's tires exploded as it landed at the airport in sydney, australia. somebody onboard captured it on videoen and gin earring think the tire blowout was connected to a braking problem that has since been fixed. what have you got? >> more hockey. trying to brick outf that mini slump they have been in. mao would be a good time. caps trying on get back in the win column tonight against the thrashers. vasquez win as prestigious aword. larry johnson, redskins new running back, compares himself to a type of car and says he is ready to run wild. "news4 at 6:00" continues. if i had to sit on a bench during the middle of a game due to diabetes it would frustrate me. in a basketball game a couple minutes could mean a big momentum shift. my bayer meter is very important. (announcer) only bayer's contour meter has programmable personal high low settings. it allows me to be able to look at my highs and lows to make sure that my diabetes is being controlled as tightly as possible. with my bayer meter i don't miss valuable game time. i'm alana burns and staying in the game is my simple win. (announcer) the contour meter, only from bayer. caps have all these goals they are trying to reach. among them, president's cup. best record. >> president's trophy. best regular season record. only caveat, teams that won that in the past 15 20shgs years, haven't necessarily gone on to win the stanley cup. >> never mind. here's the deal. capitals are v the best record in the league by a lot but have not been sharp lately. that's a mild concern with just six games left before the playoffs start. the good news. brooks laich back in the lineup after missing the last four games because he took a puck to the face. lindsaczarniak down at verizon where it is the caps ask thrashers. with breaking news just in. freak accident, a player cut his eye before the game. theodore apparently had stomach issues. brooks laich in first game back will start as the emergency goalie. have you heard anything about this? >> did you say that because it is april 1st? >> just for a second, could you for a second -- >> wow. well done. >> you had me paranoid. where was i during that? i didn't know. >> well done. >> thank you. that was creative, healthllie. talked about the atlanta thrashers. would points away from locking up a final playoff spot. cap talts, they are not so worried about wrapping up the "w" in the final six games. rid themselves of bad habits they started to develop. let me tell you one of those bad habits. losing the lead early on and getting behind. jose theodore will not get the start mit start. the caps have been outscored 78-1 in the first 20 interests in the past two games. but while the capitals won to fix the problem and get back to the lead-taking ways they know the most important thing is not necessarily the outcome of the final six games. >> you know, you can see how we played two years ago, we win ten, nine games in a row. go to the playoffs and we don't have energy to play seventh game. >> to me the most important thing is to keep going in the right direction. when you go to the playoffs. and if you go in the right direction, you are a good team, usually -- that usually ends up with wins. i want us to, obviously, get six games left and want to start getting playing the way we are capable of playing. you know. we are playing in five of those games at least. desperate teams that are fighting -- definitely something to fight for. >> desperate hockey teams are dangerous. and this is a team that might play in the playoffs. we want to put in the back of their minds they can't beat us. if they face us we play them again next week. if we can beat them mao and face them in the playoffs, you know, maybe they don't feel very confident. tonight it is a big game for us. >> if atlanta can pull it off, it is possible, that's the team the capitals will face here in the first round. i want on show you something. laich will be back on the ice tonight. he is not even a guy that wears a visor. tonight what he has to do for protection is use a mask like this and have a cage on it. dander let me borrow his mask. they use this in youth hockey. even in college. brooks hasn't had use -- since that time period in his fe. so it is really hard for these guys to adapt on the ice. he said he thought without it take him about a period to get justed. imagine what it is like going from mott having anything in front of your face to playing with this cage-type thing. it will be interesting to see what he does. knowing him he is the kind of player that can go out here and wouldn't be shocked if he had a hat track tonight. >> lindsay, would that helmet work in goal if brooks laich would play goalie or no? >> with this working goal? i would think so. i he could borrow this one. the holes are really small. i'm worried about his eye. >> everybody knows that we are just messing around. that was very well played out. kind get you on the hook for a second. >> you are good. you are good. that's why i love working with you. >> enjoy the game. we will see you again at 11:00. >> all right. i couldn't believe -- i thought i would be able to reel her in for a solid -- >> not even for a second. >> she is sharp as a tack. >> she just knows your stuff. >> yeah. i thought she may have been tipped off. april fools, got to try something. redskins continuing hosting potential draftees. eric barry wrapped up his visit today and notre dame quarterback clausen arrives tomorrow. the future rookies take their visits. current redskins continue offseason workouts. today the first time that new running back larry johnson spoke to the media. the redskins are johnson's third team in six months. he was released byans city in the middle of last season and picked up by the bengals. johnson's resume includes a pair of 1700-yard rushing seasons. it also includes several knucklehead moments and run-ins with the law. johnson's 30 years old but says he has plenty of gas left in the tank and also believes that he and clinton portis will complement each other well. >> i still have a lot left. people keep for getting i didn't play much in my first couple of years in the nfl. college. so i still -- i have a lot of burn left and haven't been nicked up or hurt. thank god as far as may whole career. thiss rlly me, just kind of, you know, smoothing on out. like kind of like a cadillac. never really lose it. you know, luster. moving on in. that's how i feel. >> i like he went with the cadillac as opposed to a lambourghini. smooths on out. >> cadillac or election us he looks more like a cadillac. >> he does. when he w playing, when he had the 1700-yard seasons he was one of the best in the league. top future running backs in the league. he still has those legs. season did no end like he would have hoped but you can be sure vasquez will see his numbers hanging in the rafters soon. second leading scorer in school history. vasquez today took home the bob cuzi's award. vasquez was quite a showman during his four years in maryland. mopping up the floor and middle of the game. his no-look passes. always the center of attention. he's the only player in acc history that includes michael jordan and ton of other guys to score at least 200 thousand how points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds in his career. gravis has been made player of the acc and for him, though, this one is special. >> you know, lot about not only myself but my team. and the people surrounding me. i'm still paying for it. i'm really happy. i'm going to keep it humble and i'm going keep being hungry and competing the rest of my career. >> how long do you wait before you hang the number 21 in the rafters? >> tomorrow morning. think of all the extraordinary players in the acc. and to be at the top of that list. i mean, that's really quite an accomplishment. incredible you know what i think? two years ago he was getting booed by his own fans. i mean, he has been underappreciated. having an amazing year. lot of potential. lot of him in the nba soon. whole keep of things, speaking of the nba last night's wizards win does not really mean a lot. for the psyche of this young team, is huge. thanks to a monster game for miller. the wizards ended their 16-game losing streak and got their first win of the month. mob need ad win more than flip saunders. man, he has been aching for one. wizards up by ten in the third. a fabulous pass by alberto to mike miller. millder go for a game-high 27. wizards stretched that lead to 12. the hornets did make it interesting. down by four. less than a minute to go. james singleton made the ill-advised pass here. good play on the ball by james posey. he goes up and in for two. the wizards now just leading by two. so with 12 seconds to play p you know, horn lets get it to chris paul. should have hot it. holds on to it and gives it to the big guy, david west. and that's no good. wizards hang on to win it, 96-91. snapping 16-game losing streak and winning for the first time this month. if you throw out that 0-11 start the nationals have a winning record. can't throw it out. my point is they are playing much better than they were. and it continues today with their second to last game down to florida before they come back home. nats down 3-2. two runners on for adam dunn. facing john main sends twoun right and that will work. willie harris races around to score. we are all knotted at three. adam dunn playing first base full time for the national this season. something he says will be a challenge but looking forward to it. next batter, josh willingham with one home run already in the books. get ahold of this one. center field. gary matthews. running back, turning once, turning -- not going to get that one. that's on the warning track. two runs come in to score. willingham, two tore plea on the day with four rb nationals crush the mets 9 9-3. coming up on our broadcast from major internet search engine to a local university, a look at the april fools' day prank played on people fill out and mail back the census today. because your census answers are more than just answers. they're the first step toward a happier, healthier community. we can't move forward until you mail it back. 2010 census. yeah, but... what.. happened to the back there? well, here's the thing: this was the only "sporty two-seater" they had on my budget. uh-huh. and the seats go all the way back. (announcer) settling for less is not smart. what is smart is getting more car for your money at carmax. for the money you'd spend on a stripped down new car, you could get a fully loaded, guaranteed-quality used car at carmax. now more than ever, the smart choice is carmax. the way car buying should be. wonderful, comfortable thursday evening. take a look at the temperatures right now. we get near sunset which today is at 7:32. 72 degrees now in the district, cleveland park. 72. fairfax county, 78 degrees. oakton, 68, quantity company. cool spots near the water. 59 degrees currently in annapolis. our temperatures across the area will drop to about 60 degrees by midnight. moon comes up around 11 cloak p.m. and it stays up through 5:00 a.m. there. then we have sunrise coming our way tomorrow at 6:51 where temperatures will be anywhere between about 46 a 50 degrees across the area. not too chilly to start things out. quick rise in temperatures, up to 80 degrees, surge, summer warm. right through easter weekend and dry conditions until we hit thursday of next week. >> thanks, veronica. maybe it was a long winter. we don't know. something. people seem to be especially up for a good april fools' joke this year. important example, johns hopkins university. generally fairly serious organization. but today the school sent out a press release saying that they were changing their name to john hopkins university and dropping the "s." they said most people pronounce the name wrong anyhow. they are just giving up. includes photos that appear to show workers removing the "s" fromself are a signs. if you were online you may have noticed google's prank. search engine's name was changed to topeka. the joke evolved from comments the mayor of topeka said he wanted to change the name of his city to google. as a prank, google said they were returning the favor. >> both of them, more successful than