occasion of washington's birthday. and every year since 1896 the united states senate has selected one of its members to read it aloud in legislative session in honor of washington's birthday. but it was not the duty of memory that moved the congress of 1968 which passed the uniform monday holiday law to, quote, provide uniform annual observes of certain legal public holidays on mondays. by creating more three-day weekends, congressobserves of certain legal public holidays on mondays. by creating more three-day weekends, congress hoped to, quote, bring substantial benefits to the spiritual and economic life of the nation, end quote, but what it accomplished was to turn a holiday into a vacation and eventually for many americans a day for bargain-hunting. washington's birthday is now celebrated on the third monday in february and therefore never on february 22nd. as a grateful nation enjoys the spiritual and economic benefits of washington's birthday mattress day sales. so far are we from remembering the father of our c

wrong to be sure, but trying to draw washington in now. washington was cautious. the fact of the matter is, at this particular moment, he could not trust his army. could not trust his army. but there was one thing that washington did know, that general's made plan but the line officers, lieutenant, captains, majors, men in actual command who control the troops. so he in conjunction with his staff, colonel brooks, who later by the way becomes governor of our commonwealth, so he, colonel brooks' secretary, jonathan trumbull begin to play out a plan and the plan that is they will call all of these officers together, that is the lieutenants, the captains and the majors, and speak to them directly. they must also prepare an address, a speech. several days now spent in writing what is probably the most important speech ever given in american history. all in secret because, of course, washington's already announced that he's not coming to the meeting. noon, saturday, 15th of march, about 300 officers crowd into the temple of virtue. building, by the way, reconstruction b

i'm to talk to washington as an exemplary president. i guess one way he was exemplary was he didn't take interns to the white house pool. slaves either. but i think he had three achievements. three very important things that he did which i want to talk about. and the first of those is that he did everything for the first time. when he was inaugurated, first inaugurated in april 1789, there were very few precedents to guide there hadn't been many republics in the human history and in almost all of them had been small. they had been city, states, ancient world, renaissance, there were suisse cannons, the one republic that had grown large was rome. but that had become the roman empire. so that example was not very encouraging. washington did have a guideline. he had the constitution. he was very familiar with that because he had been the presiding officer of the constitutional convention in 1787. he had attended every session, heard every argument. he followeding t ing thing th i the ratification debate very closely. he had the federalist

washington disliked him intensely. but gates was a powerful politician and he managed to get reinstated as the commander of the army at newburg, without washington's consent. the congress simply appointed him, and sent him to newburg telling general washington you may use him as you please. so general gates arrived to be the actual commander of the army, washington of course commander in chief. but gates being the general in charge at the encampment. the men in the encampment, of course, bored, not much to do, about 7,000 soldiers. there, they began to build their huts at a place called new windsor, the new windsor encampment. they built about 700 wooden huts, neatly laid out for the winter encampment. and there they took up their quarters. what do you do with an army in this kind of situation? you drill and drill and then you drill some more, you build more huts, you build roads, you have to keep them busy, but it wasn't working very well. so chaplain evans decided let us build a temple of virtue. in the middle of the

came from washington and lived here. and that also ties into a question that i think is very pertinent and is asked all the time these days, why write a book on the history of marching on washington? and the way i think about that, now, is there's two answers. one personal and one more intellectual. so i'll start with the personal. i come from a family of people who march. as i did my research, i discovered the name of my great grandmother, among the women who had supported the cause of the national women's party, though she drew the line when they decided to start picketing the white house in pickets that were so decoreous in comparison to pickets of today they would scarcely attract a blink. she, however, thought that was a shameful break with tradition and withdrew her membership in the national women's party. my parents, as students, went on their second date to the youth march for integrated schools, one of the series of marches held by civil rights activists in the 1950's. this was in 1958. and as i started this bo

which is a washington-based book. why three books on george washington? >> guest: because he is the best. because he i the most important. and everybody knew it. everybody in this lifetime knew and it they all said so, and even when they became his opponents, politically, as madison and jefferson did, they still had to acknowledge his services. and what he had done. and what he did when he died henry lee, famously said, first in war, first in peace, first in the hearts of his countrymen. he won the revolution. then he was the first president. got the new government up and running. then the third thing he did was after those two things, he went home, which is not universal among revolutionary leaders. washington intersects the early career of napoleon. napoleon is just starting. washington dies in 1799 so they overlap. their careers just overlap. and when napoleon was on st. helena after it had all come to smash, he was saying they expected me to become another washington. kind of bitterly. well, you could have. but you chose not to. washington chose to do

washington in the very same way. i knew very little about washington to the i had heard of course that he had shot down a cherry tree, which he didn't, and i had heard that he wore a wig which he didn't come and i heard that he had wooden teeth, which he didn't. so i found out very quickly the things i thought i knew about george washington were absolutely not any of them cracked. so as i began the book which i described as csis meets the biography channel coming and you will see why as we go along, it has been a treat for me to replace all of those myths with the facts about george washington. the premise of the book is did george washington really look like his image on the 1 dollar bill? win mount vernon did some research and found that most americans would describe this image of george washington taken from the portrait as old, boring and grumpy come in and of course they realized they were going to have to change their way of looking at the father of our country. they devised a plan in which they would create th

washington. a wise people behaves like a shovel full of dirt or a spritz of water tamping down the partisan. of course thus american politics becomes a less than candid competition to appear above politics. having made explicit his theme of public opinion, washington declares that of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion, morality are indispensable supports, calling these the great pillars of human happiness, washington makes a case for political as well as pious attention to them. he concludes the way to foster religion and morality is through education. the first positive command or prescription of the address states promote then as an object of primary importance institutions important the general diffusion of knowledge. washington anticipates no conflict between religion, morality, and enlightenment. the next rule of conduct is to cherish public credit. follows signed advice on debt and taxation. although the execution of these maxims belongs to the elec

washington in attendance and the senate concludes its debate and gives its advice, but as washington leaves the room the door keeper overhears him say he would be damned before he came there again. and no president ever has. some presidents have asked for written advice on treaties from the senate. wise presidents may consult informally with powerful senators, but no president has ever gone himself to the senate to ask for their advice. and this is just one example of dozens, dozens of could he none drums drums that faced washington that he had to face because it was the first time. he did it very judiciously. the second thing he did, something that every present has to do, he had to navigate the politics of his administration, which for him is the politics of the early and mid 1790s. and they were as savage as american politics has ever been. now consider his first cabinet. the first secretary of state is thomas jefferson. the first treasury secretary is alexander hamilton. the first secretary of war is henry knox and the most important offstage advisor is representative james madis

which he accepted and he served washington until one day, at headquarters, washington was going up the stairs, colonel hamilton was coming down the stairs, the commander in chief said to the colonel, colonel, i wish to see you immediately, the colonel responded, i'll be with you in a few minutes, sir. not the right answer to the commander in chief. washington turned on hamilton, berated him in front of his fellow officers, hamilton then resigned as secretary, returned to the army and later distinguished himself at the battle of yorktown, which brought him back to some degree in washington's good graces. hamilton then left the army and was a congressman from new york. so hamilton then is given the assignment of addressing washington. i doubt that anyone really expected that general washington would join in any plot, but at the same time, they needed to test him out. how did he feel? hamilton warned washington that the army was on the brink of mutiny. he suggested to washington that the general might wish to control, direct the turret was his expression. he also went on to write somethin

about washington. did he head to mount vernon? surprised -- he took it pretty seriously. when he laid the cornerstone, the capital as president it was a masonic ceremonies and he wore his masonic paper. washington was a very dramatic man. he loves plays in the theater. he would go to any performance if there was anything being done. shakespeare, some farce, puppet shows. he would go to see it. he loved the theater and was very theatrical. this was a man he designed his own uniforms all his life. he knew his physical presentation was part of his leadership. masonry has rituals. it was part of it. masonry puts on a show. this was a time when christian worship is very simple. washington is an angry episcopalian. this is for the anglo catholic revival so anglicanism is relatively bareboned saying. that was part of the attraction for a while. >> host: new jersey, you are on booktv. brian lamb doing a lot. semi retirement. >> we all appreciate what brian was able to do. in a very still freeway. very concerne

we have the ability now to have virtual marches on washington. and all those methods are available to yourself. you see. and some of then are about creating bonds of some darety together. if i look at the pictures i took when i went to pro choice rallies, part of it is about reunions with my friends from college. that's a common thing people do. they come from all over the country, and they see their friends. and they're reminded of their past and their future political lives. and then other people come, you know, and you see others, and you're like, wow, this is amazing. everyone always tells me these stories of how i came -- whether it's the march on washington or jobs or freedom or this or that march, i came all the way from here, and i just ran into this person. i hadn't seen them in years. and that's small politics, maybe. but it's big politics when it

and the worst of it happened when washington, large part of washington's army, surrounded, at fort washington, which was at the northern tip of manhattan. washington was across the -- the -- the hudson river in new jersey. watching. as that army was defeated. and forced to surrender. and then worse than that -- after the men surrendered, par tu -- particularly, the riflemen of the haitian and british forces, a good many of those, of those riflemen were beaten up and then some were put to the sword as washington watched, helplessly, from the palisades. other part of the hudson. washington irving who wrote one of the first and best biographies of george washington interviewed the people who were there. and they told him that washington burst into tears. of helplessness and frustration. it was the lowest upon the of what had happened. he had been responsible for that. it was his decision to defend that indefensible force. and he began and others around him, to wonder -- itch thf this was up to his job. and there were grave thoughts that maybe he was -- would have to be replaced. he led his men i

and lincoln or maybe lincoln and washington. but they share those top two spots somehow. >> they are just not selling. >> and you can work with that, too, can you? thank you very much. i want to thank our panel for a very interesting, lively discussion can. i should mention that steve hayward's book is being sold in the lobby. thank you for coming. happy george washington's birthday. [ applause ] >>> next is the united states senates annual reading of president george washington's farewell address. this dates back to 1862. each year, the senate chooses two people to read it. this year senator jeanne shaheen read the address. this is 40 minutes. >> washington's farewell address to the people of the united states. friends and fellow citizens, the period for a new election of a citizen to administer the executive government of the united states being not far distant and the time arrived when your thoughts must be employed in designating the person who is to be clothed with that important trust, it appears to me proper especially as

and the worst of it happened when a large part of washington's army was surrounded at fort washington, which was at the northern tip of manhattan. washington was across the hudson river in new jersey watching as that army was defeated and forced to surrender and then worse than that, after the men surrendered particularly those riflemen who had been shooting the officers of the british forces, a good many of those riflemen were beaten up and some of them were put to the sword as washington watched helplessly from the other side of the hudson. washington irving, who wrote one of the first and i think one of the best biographies interviewed the people that were there. they said washington burst into tears of helplessness and frustration. he had been responsible for that. it was his decision to defend that indefensible fort. and he began, and others around him, to wonder if this man was up to his job. and there were grave thoughts that maybe he would have to be replaced. and then he led his men in retreat across new jersey west toward pennsylvania, and he asked lieutenant monroe to

i mean, that's clearly -- was one of the early uses of washington, and a continuing use of washington. so -- because it's such a potent place to claim citizenship, that's one reason to use it. but in terms of, you know, dramatic shifts in the political train, you know -- i mean, i know i might be speaking blasphemy. to me, in comparison to other countries, the united states has not had such a dramatic changes, even in the last century, during which this tradition developed. i think the 1960s, it was not so much of a closing down of a system, but of a sense that there was such a desperate need to highlight causes that people turn to more radical tactics. i mean, nixon had many faults, and i'm not saying he was, you know -- but he was not the whole political system. there was still the opportunity to testify. there was still movements in congress. there were still votes. there were still many other things. i think it was the spirit of the time between the civil rights movement and the vietnam -- anti vietnam war movement that made people, after working so hard on so many issues and tryi

when the capital is moved to washington, d.c. and john adams comes down here to be president, we find, in fact, the environment in which this new white house is built, in which this new white house exists, is not that different in terms of the irony that exists there. now, the first irony is the fact that john adams from new england, a non-slave holder, is then followed by three presidents who are all slave holders -- jefferson, madison, an monroe. in addition, the district of columbia itself was infused with slavery and an african-american presence because this new capital of the nation after much negotiation is located between two slave states, virginia and maryland. so we put our nation's capital in the middle of a part of the country where slavery is embraced and encouraged. in addition, the district of columbia itself had a fairly active and large african-american community. in 1800, 25% of the population of this country -- of the city was african-american. they totaled a number of about 4,000 individuals, but about four-fif

that's one of the uses of washington and the continuing use of washington because it's such a potent claim for citizenship, that's one reason to use it. in terms of dramatic shifts in the political terrain, you know, i mean -- i might be speaking flassfamy, but to me in comparison to other nations, the united states has not had such dramatic changes even in the last century during which this tradition was developed. i think that the 1960's it was not so much of a closing down of a system but of a sense that there was such a desperate need to highlight causes that people turn to radical tactics. nixon had many thoughts. i'm not saying he was -- you know, but he was not the whole political system. there was the opportunity to testify. there were movements in congress, there were still vote, there were many other things. i think it was the spirit of the time between the civil rights movement and the anti-vietnam war movement that made people after working so hard on so many issues and try sog many things and seeing things that didn't change they were like, we're going to try other thing

yes, washington. does washington act like lee during the revolution? >> no. >> what is washington's one crucial priority? to maintain the army, to keep the army intact. that means and how does that then -- so that's washington's strategy is the army must survive, so how does that then affect his operational stance? what does washington do then as a consequence of that? >> washington follows a strategy and preserves his army and lee should have preserved and knew he could win the battles he fought so kept on fighting. >> exactly. you see the different -- now, i know i have you read the weigley on monday. who does do the fabian strategy. >> johnston. >> during what campaign. >> atlanta. okay. all right. >> he was criticized. >> who? >> the confederates, the people. >> do you remember who makes that argument? it is in rebuttal to this idea. let me step back and recap. johnston, sherman is marching on johnston in 1864. sherman is trying to take atlanta. johnston fights a delaying action and even weigley a

or lincoln and washington. they share top to spots. >> the franklin pierce mattresses are just not selling. >> you can work with that, too can you? thank you very much. i want to thank our panel for very interesting, lively discussion. i should mention that steve hayward's book is being sold in the lobby. so is our anthology, what so proudly we hail. thank you for coming. happy george washington's birthday. >> next, the united states senate annual reading of president george washington's 1796 farewell address. this tradition dates back to 1862. each year the senate selects one of its members to read the address, alternating parties. this year, senator jeanne shaheen of new hampshire was selected it was the first time a female senator read at dress since 1998. this is 40 minutes. >> washington's farewell address to the people of

i am in support of the 8 washington project. i think it is a tremendous and much-needed improvement to the club. facilities will greatly benefit from both the enhanced fitness and some facilities, but also from the public space and a connection back to the city. more importantly, i think this is a critical project for the city. since the loma prieta earthquake, the city has struggled to reclaim its waterfront. i think san francisco it deserves and is one of the world-class waterfronts, and the presence of parking lots and tennis courts surrounded by a chain-link fence and feels to me like a terribly inappropriate use for this great waterfront. and that the introduction of housing, the introduction of ground-floor retail, and other uses that will help activate the street, open spaces that connect back to the neighborhood, to meet bring what is most appropriate to activating this waterfront, and to continuing some of the development that started to occur and has been such a struggle to maintain a sense the embarcadero if -- since

washington was not a great writer. people want -- if they are quoting they are going to quote great writers. washington was a good writer. but he's not -- definitely not a great one. and so to -- to get him to understand what he did, you have to -- you have to look at his career. you have to understand his deeds and actions. that requires a little more work than grabbing bartletts or whatever. and it requires an investment and an investment in -- of attention. i hope that, you know, occasions like this, meetings like this, bill before congress will encourage people to spend more of that attention because washington truly repays that. but there's like a little initial investment of effort that people have to make before they figure out what this guy's life was about. >> don't know that much about washington? >> people are busy. you know. look, these guys -- well, i am not saying that in a cynical spirit. i'm not seeing it is to run these people down. i mean, the campaigning is madness and just madness. once you get to b

cantampa beats washington. the redskins unveil the new uniforms tomorrow, and robert griffin iii still wants to be the no. 1 pick. >> there are to no. 1 picks. they pick the guy - -- picked a guy. there are two numbe rone picks. i want to be mad if ever goes first. -- won't be mad if andrew goes first. >> in the box point guard -- the bucks point guard took charge, beating washington 112-98. the national's play the red sox this afternoon. like the 1-0 pitch here, back, back look out. a solo shot. the sox won 4-2. the play tomorrow here in d.c.. the greatest golfers in the world have gathered in the dust of for the masters. tiger is the favorite, but there are still a lot of doubters. can he get a jacket? he will meet his a-game. college basketball kentucky lead kansas right now late in the ballgame by nine. the georgetown ladies lost their head coach. he's leaving to coach ladies at auburn. >> kansas is making it interesting. we will be right back. >> we are giving away another ipad. go to wjla.facebook. right

good morning washington continues right now. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> good morning, washington. it's tuesday april 17. not as warm as this time yesterday. still off to a pleasant start. thanks for waking up with us. it is 6:00. i am cynne simpson. >> i am steve chenevey. we begin with traffic and weather every ten minutes. we will check in with steve hershorn in a minute. first, adam caskey. >> not as warm as yesterday. yesterday we opened our swimming pool for the season in my backyard, the $10 plastic one. nice and comfortable in about an hour. so that's officially open. is going to be cooler today in the mid-70s. we are in the 60's right now for the most part. 69 in arlington, 60 in berkeley springs, 64 in manchester. 64 in bowie. on our way to the mid-70s, partly cloudy, breezy at times. a refreshing breeze out of the north west, dropping the humidity. we will talk about rain chances coming up. >> we will take a live look at an accident. newschopper 7 over the scene of accident on 95 or actually this is 66 near the exit for route 28 ce

the washington redskins made it official. >> the washington redskins select robert griffin iii. >> new face of the franchise will be in town today. one day after the was picked in the nfl draft. one of the worst kept secrets in nfl history has done nothing to dim support. >> not a lot of drama. the excitement begins. jummy olabanji joins us in ashburn with a look at the draft day excitement. >> good morning. excitement is exactly the right word to use this morning. and you know, people are excited. they have the robert griffin iii merchandise out for sale this morning. selling out. flying off the shelves. yesterday, last night, as soon as the draft started, everyone saw him walk on the stage in the blue suit after his name was called. that cheers erupted. rg3 could be heard. folks were excited in our area. the big draft party was going on at fedex field. thousands of people were there buying merchandise and celebrating with one another. robert griffin iii knows that he has work to do as soon as he gets in washington. abc 7's director tim brandt asked him how he feels about having one o

over the years of protests, people have learned to make washington into a people's capitol. they have made public spaces, including the mall, many of the areas around the capitol, to a great extent pennsylvania avenue, spaces that almost any group can gain access to if they're willing to be peaceful and not too disruptive. and this is a space that can be used for a variety of political purposes by making it something that is accepted, groups from a far greater range of political persuasions now march on washington than ever would have been imagined in the 1930's or the 1940's. the variety of groups. and they can be used both to build movements, to confirm movements, and to inspire others to think seriously about political causes. and those others are sometimes the person standing next to you in a demonstration or the person watching you on television and sometimes the president and sometimes the citizens of another country to take inspiration from the washington citizens or the citizens of america expressing their views on an issue. so i think that over the years it has beco

while in washington in 1860, he was a frequent guest of benjamin taylor. he engaged rooms at the wormley's establishment on i street. in his book about his travels, he described wormley as thusly. i'm bound to say that my friend did well for me. i found myself put up at the house of one wormley, a colored man in i street to whose attention i can recommend any english man who may chance to watch porters in washington. i conceive myself to be greatly in luck. in 1863 when blacks were finally allowed to join in the battles of the war, james' brother, samu samuel, and two of his sons, had registered for the draft and served in the army. being the very first to enlist in the new d.c. regiment, william served with charles and john cook jr. as quoted in the tribune. as further evidence of the role the family played in abolition, james actively engaged in slave running. on a visit with governor seward, a correspondent wrote seward had comment that had he and james had spirited slaves down the james river on their schooner to freedom a year and a half prior to the

good morning washington continues now. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> wake up, wake up, it is thursday, april 12, it will be a great day for baseball. thank for joining us this morning. >> we will begin with your traffic and weather every 10 minutes. let's check in with adam caskey after we go to lisa baden. >> it is a good morning on the beltway in virginia. nothing to report on 395 but a heavy volume of traffic, the usual stuff leaving edsall road but across the 14th street bridge and here we are on the bellboy at kenilworth avenue moving at this speed. >> into this afternoon, we will have a bit of a warm trend. yesterday was the low point all we could temperatures in the mid 50's and snow reported mixed in with light rain. back near 60's of today but we are on the upswing. 40 degrees right now and only 39 in shepard's town, west virginia generally upper 30's to low 40's. mere 60 and breezy with scattered clouds and 57 for the first pitch today. >> let's start this hour from prince george's county where police are on the scene of an officer-i

we ask that 8 washington you consider 8 will provide. -- we ask that you consider what 8 washington will provide. i received virtually zero benefits from the site. it has an out of date jim. it cost $200 per month. this is not the ymca. this is a private club that i cannot afford. there are two parking lots and the infamous blocking of our view and prevents it public access to the waterfront. contrast that to what 8 washington provides. i think the 99% will benefit from this project. we will take down that horrible greenwald, which is necessary, by the way, for it tennis players to play in the background. it will provide new housing in the number of other benefits that you of offered. >> i think it fits perfectly in character of the neighborhood. i realize it is concerning to many of you, but this project site would be distinguished from any future development down the waterfront because of some of the proximity. the slippery slope argument is not a strong argument. in addition, the fact

good morning washington at 5:00 a.m. begins right now. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. rise and shine. it's tuesday, april 3. on the quad a.m. i am cynne simpson. >> i am steve chenevey. first, meteorologist adam caskey. >> it is a cool start to our tuesday morning. we are taking temperatures from the belfort furniture weather center. typical april weather. morning, andin the you can carry the jacket in the afternoon. 46 in washington, 37 in centreville, 42 in washington, virginia. 37 in frostburg, 36 la plata. a chill in the air. sunny and 67 this afternoon and warmer tomorrow with a slight chance of showers. a cool start on 95 in virginia. complicated out of fredericksburg to get into on 395 and a decent ride. favor times in our between washington and baltimore. now to news. we are following a big dip in politics. contests held in the district and in maryland today if. will have their say in e republican presidential g with city council races. john gonzales is live outside a polling

mike shanahan talked about him -- will talk about him on "good morning washington." in about 30 minutes. >> we are following a developing story from baltimore where police are holding a press conference to announce more details about the man arrested in the death of felicia barnes. the suspect is named michael johnson but they dohave not said what they charged him with. she disappeared in 2010 while visiting family members in maryland. her body was found last april. d.c. police are looking for clues in the mysterious death of a tourist from the netherlands. john gonzales has the latest. >> this man was found dead around 6:00 tuesday night and police describe him as a typical tourist. they are trying to figure out why he rented an apartment in a residential area in northwest the sake d.c. the 66-year-old man was a retired registered nurse from colorado was visiting d.c.. why would he be targeted? police are trying to figure that out this morning. they never happened to be walking by an alley when he stumbled upon the body. the cause of death is blunt force trauma to t

in 1775 she wrote a poem to george washington, to his excellency george washington, in which she praised washington's prowess as commander in chief and celebrated the american struggle against britain. not only that, she actually sent her poem to george washington. so here she is. she's still an enslaved woman, and she sends her poem to the commander in chief of the american continental army. washington, to his credit, responded to wheatley's poem generously and graciously, and the two actually met one another in 1776. it shows you then that even a slave owner like george washington was willing to recognize merit when he saw it. not so another american political leader, thomas jefferson, who dismissed phillis wheatley's poetry as inferior and not worth the label of literary. nevertheless, i think what this whole episode shows us is that for phillis wheatley and for the americans who witnessed the flourishing of her career it was possible to see that black people were capable of much more than anyone had given them credit for. surely most of the leaders of philadelphia in 1776 would not h

i knew very little about washington. i heard of course that he had shot down a cherry tree, which he didn't and i heard you were a week, which he didn't. and i heard that he wore wooden teeth, which he didn't. so i found that very quickly the things i thought i knew about george washington were absolutely not and have them correct. so as i began this book, which i describe as csi needs the biography channel and you'll see why as we go along, it's really been a treat for me to replace all of those smith with facts about george washington. the premise that the book is really at this. the george washington really look like his image on dollars though? when mount vernon did some research, they found that most americans would describe the image of george washington taken from the portrait as old, boring and from eight? of course they realize they would have to change the way of looking at the father of our country. they devised a plan in which they would create three life-size figures into which washington at the ages of 19 a

he was not on the ballot in washington. nbc projected mitt romney as the winner in washington and maryland. wisconsin is still too close to call. it's interesting hearing mr. santorum's decisions in his speech. he is in part talking about president obama. talking about the issue of health reform. he goes directly to the issue of access to contraception. mr. santorum has gone at the media hard saying you're talking about contraception all the time. he's always the one bringing it up it's the only argument he made against health reform was a contraception related argument. in going after mr. romney, at the end there you heard mr. santorum in one of the best phrased portions of this ad-hoc speech comparing himself to ronald reagan when he fought a losing campaign to gerald ford. he's coming mitt romney to gerald ford who lost to jimmy carter. it's one thing to call yourself ronald reagan, it's another thing to call someone gerald ford as an insult. i thought interesting also is a choice of words and the way that mr. santorum t

for press conference at the washington convention center. he will reportedly respond to the announcement that zimmerman's lawyers are dropping him as a client after losing contact with him on sunday. they say he may have left florida but they believe he is still in the country and they believe he may have spoken to prosecutors. >> to handle it this way suggests that he may not be in complete control of what is going on. >> zimmerman's former attorneys go on to say that they will take him back as a client if he asks. brianne carter reporting. >> we want to turn our attention to the 2012 campaign,. mitt romney has a clear shot now of the republican presidential nomination. governor sundlun has ended his white house bid. santorum lead the race after winning in 10 states with limited resources. >> miracle after miracle, this race was as improbable as any race we will ever see for president. >> the former pennsylvania senator made the decision to step down over the weekend while his severely ill daughter was in the hospital. he also faced an uphi

a washington scandal. there's outrage. heads that roll. investigations are held. and lawsuits are filed. they are usually about sex and money or both. and that's what engulfs both the u.s. secret service and the general services administration this week. where workers on the taxpayer dime allegedly went way, way outside the lines. first, michael, a brief recap. >> i don't know if it's stage three or four. gwen: i don't know. >> if you've been frustrated with government this is a fun time. officials of the general service administration, that's an agency that takes care of office space and other functions, managed to throw $1 million conference for themselves outside of las vegas. including spending $7,000 on sushi and $3,200 on a mind reader. when that story broke, we had four congressional investigations. about half dozen officials at the g.s.a. lost or -- lost their jobs or resigned. and congress is moving now toward a measure that would cap the cost of conferences at $500,000 which will make it harder t

today the george washington university is the embodiment of that vision. under president knapp's leadership, university has established the center for civic engagement and public service to help develop the next generation of public service leaders and last year the steven and diane robinson knapp fellowship entrepreneurial service learning was established. fellowship inspired by the deep commitment to service and community engagement that gw students exhibit every week. i'd also like to thank the sponsors who enabled us to have this meeting free of charge, for all attendees. the victor pinchuk foundation, the peter peterson foundation, microsoft, joan and irwin jacobs, peter kovler, the prospect fund and boos allen hamilton. thank you very much. [ applause ] tonight, there are more than 1,000 of you here, from more than 300 universities, more than 80 youth organizations, 82 nations, and all 50 states of the united states. you have already made 915 commitments to change your schools, your communities, and the lives of people across the world. you represent

the washington post did speak with an n.c.a.a. official who did not want to be identified who said that usually the practice would be the schools would purchase the textbooks for the athletes and never give them cash. none of this has been identified or commented on from the university. reporting live from our university, jummy olabanji. >> the federal government is saying more about what a local college was shut down. the education department said that a.c.t. college violated the terms of a funding agreement it relied on for revenue. officials said the school failed to meet its obligations to students and taxpayers. college told students on tuesday it was closing after more than 30 years in business. >> later today we hope to get clarity on who hold the winning mega millions ticket in maryland. >> yesterday we heard from the lawyer of the woman who claims to have the winning ticket but that only added to the confusion. john gonzalez is in the newsroom with more >> . lottery officials will hold a press conference today in baltimor

. >> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. >> the washington redskins select robert griffin iii. >> it is a moment redskins fans have been looking for too long time. robert griffin iii heading to washington today to get to work on a winning season. good morning, washington. it's friday, april 27. i am cynne simpson. >> i am steve chenevey. we begin with traffic and weather. adam caskey has a check on provide a forecast. it is gusty today. bright sunshine, a pretty nice friday overall despite the wind. let's look at the numbers right now. 44 in berkeley springs, 45 in winchester fox 59 the beltway in arlington and chevy chase, 48 in bowie. near 50 to kickstart our final day of the workweek. mid 60's for the high temperature. we will talk about the weekend rain coming up in a few minutes. right now, who looks like it will be late on saturday into saturday night. not a washout this weekend. >> in pretty good shape on the highway. beltway travel, interstate travel, just a little volume. 95 is good in and out of washington and baltimore. between fredericksburg and

shooting of a washington club member, phillip barton key. the son of francis scott key by daniel sickles. according to published sources, james retrieved key's withering body from the sidewalk and brought him inside. the prosecution of daniel sickles was handled by one member of the club, robert old, as the district attorney. the defense of sickles was handled by another member, edwin stanton. soon to be secretary of war under president lincoln. both of these men would figure prominently in james' life during and after the war. stanton regularly would be in contact with james while he served as a member of the cabinet. even subsequent to the war, they were involved in several business transactions. old on the other hand returned to virginia and served in the confederacy as the commissioner, a prisoner exchange for jefferson davis. during one of the negotiations conducted at fortress monroe, james accompanied the union delegation and prepared a special meal for his friend old for the negotiations. apparently upon seeing old, james commented i

washington dc, welcome rg3, your brand new franchise quarterback. after i asked robert lee griffin if after all of this he can live up to the hype? >> are you trying to make anything anti-climatic even know i knew where i was going. when i heard them say robert griffin iii has been selected by the washington redskins, it meant something to me. so i tried to live in the moment and i just cherish everything that happens. >> reporter: the fan expectations are so high and you know all about that. is there anything you want to say? hold up a little bit, guys. don't buy your super bowl tickets just yet. >> you never come out and say you're going to go to the super bowl. but every team's goal is to go to the super bowl. so that's our goal. i think. i haven't even met the team. i'm already talking on behalf of the team. i want to meet the guys. get to know them. let them get to know me. and see if we can gel. and i think we'll be able to. >> reporter: what do you think is the toughest part of the transition to the program. >> just going from top dog to the

near 70 in washington. and by the bay. as we look at the latest travel plans, if you have travel plans today, could be flight delays in new orleans, perhaps birmingham, alabama, toward atlanta. here's the flight path for "discover "discovery," piggybacking on the 747. leaves cape canaveral at 7:00 this morning. should be arriving in washington, off the potomac from the south between t10:00 and 11:00. great weather for that. dark skies. we'll have temperatures near 70 degrees by noontime. and holding steady, low to mid 70s during the afternoon with lots of sunshine. it will be in the 60s for the flyover this morning. and as we look at tomorrow, much cooler, clouds around, maybe a shower late morning or during the afternoon, highs in the mid 60s. then some sun back on thursday. chilly start, near 40, near 70 in the afternoon. then on friday, into the mid 70s. partly sunny and then rain showers over the weekend into the first part of next week. and i traveled to herndon last week to visit fox mill elementary school. talked to

washington is continuing right now. >> this is good morning washington on your side. >> good morning. it is emancipation day. another warm day. we start off with whether every 10 minutes. >> its is a the morning. we are going to eat the highway. everything is working in our favor. 270. everything is open downstream right now. ecb headlights. headlights on northbound. we now go to add them caskey. i do not think we will be that hot. and regionaland reasonably warm. let's take a look at some butchers. 56 a mclean. one of the cool spot. it is well above average. 56 in woodbridge. 64 degrees. here is your hourly forecast. and looks like they will make into the lower 80s. 87 at 4:00 p.m.. partly cloudy tomorrow. a little bit cooler. it'll be the northwesterly winds. >> thank you so much. we begin with and it's tremendousdeadly tornadoes. the town of woodward oklahoma was hard hit. five people into doctors' died. people try to pick up the pieces of what is left of their home. >> i doubt there's anything left. it is total can reach a distraction. >> thousand people still without this. >> inv