making history again. >> the president goes on an

unprecedented media blitz in an effort to push health care reform. hello again. i'm don scott. >> i'm mary bubala. >> the president's new pitch for health care reform includes appearances on five different tv talk shows this weekend. that's the first for a president. as joel brown reports for wjz, some are concerned it could be too much. >> reporter: president obama will try to dominate the air waves with a sunday morning media blitz. he'll push his health care reform plan on five different talk shows. it's a presidential first. the only network not on the list. fox newschannel. the president needs to sell a skeptical public on his plans and needs to win republican support. even the latest draft, put together by a bi-partisan group of senators is not getting backing from the gop majority. >> i don't think there's any chance that these big government health care proposals are going to pass either the house or the

senate. >> the president's already made 157 speeches and done 66 television appearances all aimed at selling his health care reform plans. at his upcoming talk show rounds, some say it could be overkill. >> if the president is on all the time, if it's all obama all the time, then probably people are going to tune out some of the message. >> reporter: but top white house aids insist the president is the best salesman for his number one priority. now, they're backing him up with the first lady, michelle obama is expected to help the president pitch the plan with a softer touch. at this point mrs. obama has an approval rating higher than her husband. it's around 70%. top administration officials hope that combined with her background as a hospital executive will help take the edge off the president's hard sell. joel brown, cbs news, the white house. the president will also

visit david letterman, come monday. a first ever appearance by a sitting president on the late show. the u.s. senate has approved money for a controversial transportation project through the city. live in the newsroom, we'll explain what the funding means for the red line project. good afternoon sally. >> the senate has approved $4 million to fund part of the project, meaning the red line is one step closer to construction. the project would connect the two existing light rail lines. it would frun security square in wood lawn to downtown, bay view hospital and canton. many canton residents have protested the plan in the past because it calls for the rail to run above ground in their neighborhood. add noise and congestion in the area. mary? the mta says building underground would be five times more expensive. the state plans to ask the federal transit administration to help fund more of project. investigators say a baltimore county man who posed as a cancer-stricken teenager

online is facing child pornography charges. 38-year-old douglas patrick represented himself as an 18-year-old lesbian with cancer in order to get teenaged girls to send him naked pictures of themselves. he's been indicted by a federal grand jury and is facing charges in the case. a car chase ends in a multivehicle accident in maryland. the person behind the wheel is still on the loose. the car was chased into prince georges county last night. it caused a five-car crash in temple hills. several people, including a state trooper are hurt. the car-jacker was able to jump out and run away. police continue to search the area for him this noon. right now the state attorney general's office is reviewing the case of a johns hopkins student who killed a man with a samurai sword. this comes as police provide more information on how the incident unfolded. wjz stays on the story with mike

helgrin. >> reporter: that review process could take days or weeks. police have recreated the scene and say the student hit manhattan with the sword just one time. >> the state's attorneys office has still not decided whether to file charges against a johns hopkins student who police say killed a man with a samurai sword. yesterday investigators told wjz new information about the incident. neighbors reported suspicious activity near the home. they searched it. but they found nothing. they decided to do another search themselves. outside, near the garage, he found donald rice. he raised the sword and said stop. asked his roommates to call police. they went inside to get their cell phones. during that time, the hopkins security and police officer heard commotion , made their way

back towards the house to figure out what was going on. during that time, he struck the suspect after he lunged at him. it sounds like he was acting as a means of self-defense. >> reporter: the burglar had stolen items from the house hours before the confrontation with the sword outside the home in new jersey. neighbors expressed support for the student. >> luckily god was on his side, he fought back. >> reporter: rice had a long record, including 29 past arrests for burglary. his sister says what he not armed and believes this was excessive force. >> if you made a 911 call, what reason did you have to go outdoors? my brother wasn't in the building. wasn't like he was trying to get in the back door. what he crouched down, hiding. >> now the university does have extensive security patrols in

this area. they've urged students to be on alert after more than a dozen burglaries near campus. >> mike, thank you. >> donald rice was 49 years old. the student is turning 21 this week. there's a new push to shut down a city nightclub connected to several recent climbs. the sweet ultra lounge brings rowdy crowds to their area. a stabbing happened in the past year, including a shooting and assault with a brick. police have asked the commissioner to shut down the club under the new padlock law. >> the crime has continued. the community up there isn't safe as long as that club is open. >> the police commissioner is looking into the request and for a way to end the situation . constellation energy's proposed deal with french utility edf continues to draw a

heated debate. conc tlaegs wants to sell half its assets for $4.5 billion. many expressed fear the deal will end up raising rates for bge customers. the pfc is evaluating bge's current financial commission today. we'll evaluate our own conditions outside. take a look. moreover cast skies, but we're told a warm-up and how about a brighten suppose on the way. we have live first warning weather coverage on the way. >> what do you think this is like a carryout menu? order when you want and it gets there in 30 minutes or less? >> we're working on that. >> it's going to take a break in the cloud cover in order for the sun to come through. the winds have shifted. that's a good thing. that's the first sign that things are warming up. 77 in ocean city. 70 in the nation's capitol.

70 in hagerstown. things are starting to work into the warm zone. temperatures in the upper 60s, around much of the area. want to show you the visible satellite though. this is what it looks like. clouds will not seem to break. really not too much by way of rain. we'll see the clouds break. we'll see more sun. with the wind coming from the west and southwest, we'll see the temperatures shoot up this afternoon. we'll have the complete updated forecast in a few moments. >> once the sun goes down, raf ha rashhashana begins. it begins 10 days of jewish soul-searching. known as the days of awe which will be capped off by yom kippur, the day of atonement. workplace violence. new information this noon about what led to the murder at yale

university. a bomb threat on board: flight attendants discovered a threatening note on an american airlines jet. tim williams will be back with our first morning weather forecast.

it's possible that raymond clark killed annie le in a workplace confrontation. there are reports he sent her a text message on the day she vanished discussing a meeting to discuss the cleanliness of mouse cages. for the first time we are getting a look inside the california home where jaycee dugard was allegedly held captive for 18 years. the photos of the kitchen show pots, pans and food piled high on the countertops. the walls and furniture are also crawling with mold in several rooms. it's just a mess. phillip and nancy garrido left

the mess behind after police arrested them in august. they pleaded not guilty to kidnapping jaycee and holding her captive for nearly two decades. an investigation is underway after a threatening notice was discovered on an american airlines flight. suggested a bomb might be on board forcing the boston plane to return to miami shortly after it took off. the same passengers were forced to board another flight this morning. the person who might have wrote the note might be getting on the plane with them. >> looks like we're getting back on the plane with the same people. >> are you concerned about that? >> of course. i'd rather be on a different plane. >> we're getting on a different plane with a same people. somebody left the note. >> an american airlines spokesperson has declined to say if investigators found anything else suspicious. it is officially over. guiding light has just aired its final episode after 72 years on

air. the saga started on radio back in 1937 and moved to tv in 1952. the conclusion just aired this morning, right here on wjz. the closing moments sealed the future of the shows super couple. when reba and josh declared their undying love for each other. >> yeah! >> we'll have reaction from their fans tonight at 4:00 and 5:00. >> they've been married and divorced three times before she was married to his brother and his father? >> only in the soaps. coming up in about 2.5 minutes. >> we need a name for that purple bird out back. >> i'll work on it over the break. let's look

we've been saying that augie is the strangest combination. basset hound feet and we think he's part dragon and part moose. he's one year old. he is really energetic, but a really good personality. just has a lot of personality. 235-8826. right there maryland spca. and let's see, of course his yellow uh, bandana, compliments of the friday puppy sponsor.

they believe we can make a difference for pets that need a home like augie. >> augie would like to play tug-of-war with you. >> it's a girl. >> she wants to meet the purple flamingo. >> her back legs are higher than the front. >> i'm sorry. >> goodness. oh boy. we're looking at a nice weekend if you want to take the dog out. it's going to be a nice weekend. clouds will break here soon. we'll see a quick improvement. 68 right now. bwi marshall. relative humidity, 83%. winds from the west, 9 miles per hour. 30.10 and rising. across the state, 68 and 67. some of the lower numbers. 70 the shore. around the immediate metro area,

64 westminster. 68 on kent island. with the wind from the west, we'll see drying out. not too much rain of any sort out there, but the clouds aren't going to break. we have seen a tendency of a southerly winds. as a result, we have a coastal flood advisory in effect. along the western shores of the bay. all rain is to our south. what we'll see, more and more of the high pressure dominating our forecast, drying us out. after the sun starts to pick up, we're going to see uh, more and more of the clearer sky. mostly clear conditions tonight. wet conditions stay to our south. pleasant conditions stay with us. front comes through sunday night into monday. brings a chance of rain with moisture from the west. we'll not see that until monday. sunset today, 7:10. no advisory on the bay. 5 to 10 knots. we're looking at uh, 81 degrees today. it's going to take a little bit to get there. the temperatures will shoot up.

mostly clear tonight, 58 degrees. tomorrow sunny to partly cloudy. pretty mild. >> augie left here 3% less than when she came. i'm wearing the other 3%. never wear a black suit on fridays. >> except if it's purpose friday with your tie. that looks good. the excitement is building as ravens head to san diego. action starts exclusively on wjz13. still to come on wjz's eyewitness news at noon, a person

in today's eyewitness news healthwatch, there's growing evidence today that lack of health insurance can cost lives. a new study finds nearly 45,000 people die in the u.s. each year, one every 12 minutes because they don't have health insurance and can't get good care. overall, researchers say american adults age 64 and younger who lack health coverage have a 40% higher risk of dying than those who have insurance. let's go back to the newsroom for a preview. >> details on a memorial are revealed, how fans can pay their respects to patrick swayze.

a tooth helped this woman get her eyesight back. details at 4:00 and 5:00. stay with us,

good bit of sunshine tomorrow. 77 sunday. rain by monday, tuesday, and into wednesday. overnight lows around 60 degrees. that's our report. thanks for watching eyewitness news on wjz this friday.

thanks for watching. >> we'll see you atñ?ñ?