from the first local station with news in high- definition. this is 9news now. good evening, i'm lesli foster. while the nation pauses to remember the nearly 3000 people killed by terrorists on september 11, 2001, a coastguard exercise on the potomac caused some to relive that panic moment all over again. some news agencies mistakenly reported the drill as a real attack and now the media and coastguard are feeling the heat. audrey barnes joins us live from the banks of the potomac with more. what happened, audrey. >> reporter: the pentagon is just on the other side of the trees behind me and while the president and other officials and relatives of those killed

there eight years ago were remembering that. the coastguard boats were simulating an attack. that training exercise and the way the media handled it are the focus of much scrutiny. >> they announced this is a drill, an exercise. >> reporter: apparently not everyone heard the radio transmission that the coastguard was only holding a drill on potomac this morning. they picked up radio trackers from the drill and mistakenly thinking that it was real. >> no shots were fired. there was no criminal activity. >> reporter: advice admiral says they were using a radio frequency boaters and others have access to. if it was a real emergency they wouldn't have. the fbi and other agencies scrambled to gets agents and

officers to the scene. the faa halted air traffic at national airport for 20 minutes grounding 17 planes while they sorted it all out. >> this is very instructive for us. >> reporter: the coastguard is now promising a top-to-bottom review of the training exercise. >> standing up in the front of their boats with their machine guns. looked like it was a full drill of some sort. >> do you think they should have done it today on september 11th anniversary? >> i think of it a poor day. >> reporter: a group representing families that lost loved ones in the september 11th attack is outraged that it happened today. they are outraged at media outlets that reported the false attack without verification. >> particularly on a day of remembrance when all those folks were killed by terrorists. it is important to be sensitive to them. >> reporter: president obama and his motorcade crossed over

potomac today going to and from the pentagon for those ceremonies. coastguard officials say the president wasn't anywhere near the water when that training exercise was going on but his comings and going and timing of the drill are now all under complete review. lesli, back to you. >> audrey, thanks for that. late today cnn responded to the incident saying "given the circumstances it would have been irresponsible not to report on what we were hearing and seeing. as with any breaking news story information is often fluid and cnn updated the story with the official explanation from the coastguard as soon as it was provided. you can find out more information about the coastguard training mission and the fallout by logging on to our website wusa9.com. for some it is hard to believe it has been eight years since those deadly attacks on america. today people around the country remembered the thousands killed by participating in a national day of service. drew levinson kicks off our

coverage at ground 0 in new york. >> reporter: eight years after terrorists attacked the twin towers the emotions at ground 0 were still as raw as the weather. >> may your spirit live forever. >> reporter: on a day when the heavens opened up the rain came down and the winds howled. we again heard their names and we saw their faces. >> steve john. >> reporter: and we felt their family's pain. >> you would be so proud of your son jake and dylon, your mom and your dad, your brothers live their life in honor of your memory. >> reporter: like the hole in the hearts there is still a big empty space in the new york skyline. those they have begun the rebuilding the memorials set for the 10th anniversary is

tied up in red tape. but today it was forefront where a defiant president obama remembered the 184 people who died there. >> in defense of our nation we will never waiver pursuit of al- qaeda and extremists. >> reporter: they gathered in a pennsylvania field. that's where a fourth jet crashed after passengers wrestled control from the terrorists. >> reporter: from that rural setting to the nation's capital to ground 0 and beyond, we as a nation still hurt and vow never to forget. drew levinson, jersey city, new jersey. >> in alexandria city officials and citizens touched by the attacks paused to remember the first responders who rushed to the pentagon and the people who perished that day.

members of the american red cross, salvation army and united way were honored for their help during the crisis. some chose to mark the 9/11 attacks through prayer. washington national cathedral opened its doors for a special service. its funeral bell tolled eight times signaling the eighth anniversary of the attacks. on this day some local students learned more about this day in our country's history. at crossing woods elementary school children folded miniature american flags for troops overseas and though many of them weren't even born on september 11th, eight years ago, they pledged through their service today to never forget. >> reporter: 7-year-old reagan adams is trying to send a little piece of home to men and women a world away. >> thank you for helping us and our country. >> reporter: her second grade classmates are also folding flags and writing notes as part of the project. they will be sent to service men and women on the front lines of the fighting in

afghanistan and one will hopefully reach reaganan's dad. >> yes, i really do. >> reporter: reaganan's mom is the pta president. she suggested the project as a september 11th activity for the entire school. >> i got the idea by just a google search on the internet. i was looking for opportunities to be of service to servicemen and women serving in combat areas and this popped up and it is something easy for children to do. >> i think the children really enjoyed it. today we talked about it. >> reporter: many of these children are too young to know what happened on this tragic day eight years ago. the principal here says they are using september 11th as a day to teach and respond to the president's call to service. >> young responsible, respectful citizens. >> and those students expect to send 2000 of the pocket-sized flags to service members soon. people opened up their

hearts about what this day means to them. on our facebook page adrian burton shared her thoughts. she was at the pentagon when it was struck. she says as a survivor of 9/11 i will spend the day reflecting on my blessing and on my life that i was one of the lucky ones that made it out of the pentagon. i will remember my friends who did not. i will cry some more like i did this morning. hold my son for a few extra moments and tell all my loved ones just how much i love them. you can also share your feelings on our facebook account. just go to wusa9.com. up next when wusa 9 news returns. a mother charged with killing two children enters a plea today in court. and find out if you'll have to pay extra for that cash for clunkers credit. that's coming up in tonight's living smart. >> i would b@keep ndisha y thha next colo st rshoof wea t of showers ru sing upnnan d down 270 primarily on the east

side and ey thre amoving off re thheutso the southeast again. right through the district north showers for a while. we will come back and talk about the weekend and when the showers roll in s. turn

a maryland mother accused of killing her two adopted daughters and stuffing their bodies in a freezer has pleaded guilty to child abuse charges. she will be tried for the deaths in montgomery county. dc all hands on deck

program might have helped fight crime but not any more. that's according to an arbitrator who says the initiative violates a police contract on overtime. the chief has been ordered to cancel the program through the end of the year. >> in tonight's living smart focus a texting issue. some want to know whether you'll have to pay taxes on the government's cash for clunkers credit. so here is the deal. it is broken down. you won't have to pay federal income taxes but you may have to pay a state tax. some are included in the price of the vehicle when it is calculated and the state sales tax is due on the time of the purchase. learn more about this on our website wusa9.com. just click on living smart. and coming up. we told you about an expensive wedding cake left in the affare

canceled their ceremony. you will be happy to know it did not go to waste. that story coming up. 9news now is sponsored in part by your local toyota dealer. you like your health coverage, but worry what happens... if you get sick, or change jobs. eight ways reform matters to you.

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the washington post calls bob mcdonnell a "culture warrior." and what does that mean for virginia? it means: bob mcdonnell introduced 35 bills to restrict a woman's right to choose. he wants to outlaw abortion-- even in cases of rape and incest. and mcdonnell opposed birth control for married adults. learn more about bob mcdonnell's crusade to take virginia backwards. i'm creigh deeds, candidate for governor and my campaign sponsored this ad.

take a look at this composite sketch. it is a man that police are looking for in a string of attempted abductions in the fair oaks section of fax irfa county. the suspect matchethire same description of wednesday's attacker and sunday's attack. in all three cases the women fought off the attacker and were not seriously hurt. 19 commuters are probably a little sore tonight but otherwise fine after a bus accident. a metro bus and a commuter bus collided this morning along goodhope road in southeast dc. six children were among the injured. medics took all 19 people off the bus to the hospital to be checked out. you may recall a story we

brought you two weeks ago about an abandoned cake, a cake designer left with a wedding cake after a couple called the whole thing off the day before they were to tie the knot. she wanted to donate the cake to a deserving couple and after sorting through dozens of e- mails she finally found the perfect pair. here is surae chinn with the story. >> reporter: the winning couple. >> come on in. it is beautiful. i love it. >> it is designed specifically for you and no one else has this design. >> reporter: last night the lemon pound cake was stuck in her freezer. >> i started working on it at 6:00 p.m. and finished at 2:00 a.m. it was worth every single minute. more than i ever thought it could be. >> reporter: clara alerted her that a couple expected to walk

down the aisle called it quits and was donating the $1500 cake. after we aired the story viewers responded. >> clara received more than 100 e-mails before deciding on the wedding that is being held tomorrow when she heard their baker bailed out at the last minute. >> so much going on and all of a sudden we realized we may not have a cake. >> it is amazing that people care and are willing to actually help out people and offer something like this. >> reporter: the couple of nine years was strapped for cash for their big day without a cake. >> after nine years how could you not win a contest like this? >> reporter: in gaithersburg, maryland, surae chinn, 9news now and wusa9.com. >> well, surae says she regrets not being able to help everyone. she said she had quite a few heart warming stories.

topper, quite an interesting story there. >> that is. >> it works out for that other couple. so that is great. >> nice cake too. >> good thing they are not getting married today and the plans weren't outdoors because it is a wash. >> that's what they say when it rains on your wedding that it is good luck. they have to. >> i guess they have to. i wouldn't want it though. >> no. >> we are going to improve. showers will linger to the north of town tonight but even that will dissipate after midnight. here is your forecast first. the next three days lots going on. maryland game tomorrow night. should be dry during the game. some showers are possible tomorrow. primarily north of town. little milder. upper 70s. also have an open house at the county center from noon to 7:00 p.m. tomorrow. that should be fine and the prince george's county fair runs through sunday. that should be fine. the better weekend days will be sunday no doubt but still decent. 82 with sunshine on sunday. rainfall amounts more to the east, less to the west.

so 1300th in leesburg. jim checked in with an inch and a third. you jump the bay and get 4 inches in dover, over 3 inches in georgetown. live doppler 9000. still showers to the north of us. primarily this is going to be where they are going to line up for the next several hours. district north, route 50 north and route 66 north. you go north of those points and you'll end up with showers tonight. south of town probably clearing later on tonight. showers will continue to just hang to the north and slowly lift up. you can access this via the web wusa9.com. 56 to 64 winds north west at 10. low temps about like last night. upper 50s to mid-60s. 57 in great falls. 57 in tye son. 58 in bowie and 59 in upper

marlboro. that's where the fair is. now temperatures right now 66 downtown. we never made it to 70 today. 63 in frederick. notice the 70s back to the south and west. breaks in the clouds. consequently they are in the low to mid-70s in culpeper and also fredericksburg. saturday morning becoming partly cloudy and cool. by afternoon partly sunny warmer. chance of a shower but not a bad day. upper 70s the highs. winds northwesterly at 10. satellite picture and radar combined tells a story why we had so many delays and cancellations at the u.s. open. same area of low pressure slowly moving north now pulling north of us. tremendous amount of rain fell on the eastern shore and north of us. these are wrap around showers. and we are going to see these slowly lift out late tonight and early tomorrow morning. but we already see clearing down to the south of us. zone forecast all six zones on our website wusa9.com. keep a shower in here but

pretty nice. upper 70s leesburg, fairfax, manassas. downtown 78. bit cooler by the bay. small craft advisories in effect until early in the morning. next seven days. 78 tomorrow. dry for the game though at college park. low 80s on sunday. beautiful day. mid-80s on monday. another beautiful day. mostly sunny. tuesday partly cloudy low 80s. next front coming through wednesday and thursday and some showers possible dropping back into the 70s. and then on friday partly cloudy highs again around 80. weekend looking pretty good. >> she wants to know about the forecast in new york for the -- >> it will be nice. >> okay. >> it will be okay. >> it is going to be okay. >> okay. >> the skins game. big one that counts. >> we don't want to blame anything on the weather. >> no, no. >> first gain -- game of the season. >> trying to play the name game

with the giants receivers. chris cooley had a banner year last year but you may be surprised to see what he came empty handed in. desperately seeking redemption. those stories straight ahead.

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and now 9sports with sara walsh. the best sports in town. the redskins spent the entire preseason trying to figure out who would win the team's number 2 receiving slot and apparently the new york giants still need the opener to figure out who is there number 1. the coach announced his team is going to use a four-man rotation. with plaxico burress gone. this week the unknown wideouts are causing concern for washington. >> they are younger guys but young guys you never know what you might get out of them.

you might get the correct route, you might get the wrong route. >> we just go out and play football at the end of the day. >> meanwhile a season ago the guy leading the redskins in receptions wasn't a wide receiver but a tight end. chris cooley enjoyed another pro bowl year with a career best 849 yards, 83 catches and 0 touchdowns from jason campbell. antwaan randle el in philadelphia. when you've got a tight end capable of the numbers cooley can put up your starting quarterback better get in the ball in the end zone. sort of a season we didn't connect on a touchdown pass. i don't think we will have any problem with that throughout this year and i will just look for a successful season between the two of us throughout the year. >> i have to do a better job scheming to get him the ball. we tried much that's all i can tellyou. >> meanwhile college football and maryland men open their season in college park just 24 hours from now although the

terps are likely counting down the minutes which have ticked by seemingly slow since the opener last saturday. hosting james madison tomorrow. favouring an acc team. but in week 1 two teams took them down. james madison went to the college football subdivision final 4. >> it is a very dangerous team coming in here. they will be fired up. you all know what happened to duke and virginia. we need to be ready. i think our kids are excited and hopefully we can go out and play well and get a win. >> baseball nats in action. first pitch at 7:10 p.m. nats have lost six of their last eight. basketball and it is a hall of fame slam dunk tonight when michael jordan takes his place among the greatest in the sport finally getting an induction

ceremony. that was a foregone conclusion pretty much in his career. six nba championships to his credit and joined by prominent names. john stockton and coaches jerry sloan. a complete wash. serena williams. semifinals pushed to saturday. get the trying to rafael nadal's match in. that is weather permitting. they are on stand by. woodson at lake braddock shown in its entirety on the web. all start around 11:20 a.m. >> that happens a lot. operation football night. >> every friday night. >> yes. >> easy for me to complain i'm not out there. >> need to do something about that. >> i'm trying. >> you're