from the first local station with news in high definition, this is 9 news now. hello. welcome to 9 news now at noon. i'm j.c. hayward. a toddler has been reunited with his mother after a car jacker took off with the boy inside the mother's suv. the car was found in the 200 block of n street northwest. a few blocks from where it was stolen this morning. the mother told police she put her son in his child seat, but had to go back in to the house. she says that's when the thief sped off with her car and 1- year-old son. >> fifth district officers arrived on the scene within two minutes, and ten minutes later fifth district officers discovered the sleek with the child in the car, evidently unharmed. >> reporter: the child was taken to the hospital as a precaution. he is fine. police are searching for the suspect. lawmakers who back the

president's health care reform bill are now the target of violent threats. nearly a dozen members of congress say they have received threatening messages after voting yes on the health care bill. joel brown has more from captiol hill as lawmakers prepare to vote on the so- called fix it bill. >> reporter: president obama left the white house this morning, heading to the midwest to sell his health care reform plan to a skeptical public. he speaks today in iowa city, iowa where he first campaigned for health care reform three years ago. as the president left washington, his allies on captiol hill were pushing through round two of the health care reform plan. republicans found problems with the so-called fix it bill and they are sending it back to the house for another gop. the gop searched for this hoping to bring it down. >> we fought on behalf of the american people this week and will continue to fight until the bill is repealed. >> reporter: top democrats think it will be on the

president's desk in the next couple of days. the heated debate triggered concerns over the safety of lawmakerrers and their staffers. capitol police and the fbi are investigating threats of violence against members of congress who voted for the bill. >> we need to be careful in public life our rhetoric does not turn in to inciteful violence or violence acts. >> reporter: he announced he'd support a voice mail and received threatening calls -- at least four democratic offices have been vandalized and ten lawmakers say they have received threats. joel brown, cbs news, washington. the effort by the virginia attorney general to stop the president's plan is turning in to a war of words in the commonwealth. republican ken cuccinelli says the democrats plan is unconstitutional and so he has

filed a lawsuit to stop it. democrats call the lawsuit a waste but ken cuccinelli believes he's correct. >> there are plenty of important things we do in our office, but it's hard to argue there is anything more important than defending the constitution of the united states and the commonwealth of virginia. >> virginia will lose the lawsuit and with it hundreds of thousands of dollars in man hours the attorney general office will put in to the effort. >> reporter: virginia is more than one of a cousin suits filing suit to block health care reform. part of the health care reform is finding people who do not have health care, but not in virginia. governor mcdonnell signed a law saying virginians cannot be required to purchase coverage. it is part of the republican's effort to block the reform bill. as you know, virginia's attorney general is also suing to stop the reform. a northern virginia chiropractor who has treated members of the washington

capitals will be released on bond later today. dr. doug nagel is facing steroid-related criminal charges in florida. three capital players confirmed that doug nagel did treat them but it was for standard chiropractic treatment. of course we will have more details on the story coming up on 9 news now beginning at 5:00 p.m. fairfax county investigators believe that a murder suspect killed himself right in front of onlookers. police were called to quincy and 15th street in arlington yesterday afternoon for reports of a man with a gun. investigators say the unidentified man shot himself in the head when police arrived. they now suspect that the man fatally shot a woman yesterday morning in mount vernon. >> detectives will work together to determine the identity of the and see if the evidence links him to the homicide.

>> reporter: police have not released the name of the woman killed in yesterday's shooting. a fairfax county sheriffs deputy is finds himself on the other side of the law. james lee heinz has been accused of engaging in inappropriate contact with a female prisoner. officials say this happened when heinz was guarding a 25- year-old female prisoner at a local hospital. the two allegedly engaged in sexual acts. and now to a bombshell report just released today on the roman catholic sexual abuse scandal. new documents released show that pope benedict xvi , while he was a cardinal, knew about one abusive priest in milwaukee and did nothing. we have more on the alleged cover-up from roam. >> reporter: the ever-widening sex abuse scandal in the catholic church was laid at the feet of the pope benedict xvi today. four americans who said they were all abuse victims held a

demonstration in st. peters square to highlight and confront what they see is a veil of secrecy over the scandal. >> he assaulted this child here, this child here, this child here, this child here and this child here. >> reporter: the perpetrator was father lawrence murphy who according to documents in the lawsuit abused between 150 and 200 children at a school for the deaf in milwaukee. offenses took place over 24 years, many during confession. the demonstrators denounced the pope for turning a blind eye to the case when it was brought to his attention in 1996. they say in order to avoid the scandal his office fought bishops to oust the predator. he said they could discipline the priest under a church policy that demands extreme secrecy. the vatican insists the pope cannot be held responsible for every abuse scandal but it is an open question how long he can resist calls for harsher measures including bishops who

did not act against known abusers. >> reporter: benedict said the church should cooperate with civil authorities, but an official statement called it tragic. those who brought it to the vatican were detained for the police for holding an invalid demonstration. civil rights legend -- legend dr. dorothy height is reported in intensive care. according to the "washington post" dr. height is at howard university hospital. she turned 98 years old yesterday. robert koch, the star of the comedy adventure series, i spy, has died. he starred on the show with bill cosby and starred on the greatest american hero in the ' 80s. culp collapsed outside of his hollywood home apparently from a heart attack. robert culp was 79 years old.

still to come when 9 news now at noon returns, a close call for commuters and a pilot after his plane stalls while in flight. and more proof that hard work pays off. nine dc school students are heading to college on full scholarships. we'll be right back.

first thing is to try to get the engine restarted and

flying again. >> a pilot cheated death after landing his plane on a california highway this morning. john finley says he's thankful that no one on the ground was injured. he says the engine stalled shortly after takeoff. he says he found a space between some moving cars and merged in to traffic. we have new information on the road rage shooting on interstate 95 in virginia. we first told you about an arrest this that case yesterday. virginia state police tell 9 news now the suspect, 25-year- old gabriel fired more than a dozen shots at james bigham of woodbridge. we have also learned that bigham's truck hit the other man's jaguar twice before the shots were fired. officials say it happened with a man's 2-year-old daughter in the car. >> really shows when you are angry how you can lose control of your emotions.

and you can just forget your surroundingsings, i think for a minute. >> reporter: police charged both men with reckless driving. however, the father is facing child ending iment and weapons charges. coming up next we will have the forecast from devon. a thin overcast sky out here. i'm trying to see a little sun coming through that. that will be having a big affect on our temperatures and huge changes in to tomorrow. i will explain this with a forecast when we come back. [ male announcer ] nature valley

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some of the district's best high school students learned that hard work pays off because nine students have received full four-year scholarships to george washington university. audrey barnes has more on the honors ♪ [ music ] >> reporter: it had the feel of a ballou high school pep rally, but what this crowd was celebrating is dreams come true. >> hailing from my alma mater, mr. nicholas kelly from school without walls. >> reporter: nine scholarships were dolled out to the district's top high school students to attend one of the

district's best universities, george washington. >> he was born at gw hospital and will be there again. give it up for isaiah west of the new ballou high school. >> reporter: the crowd went crazy when one of their own got a full ride to gw. he'd like to be a surgeon someday. >> it can happen. all you have to do is work hard and be sure you believe in yourself and surround yourself with people who believe in you. >> he earned it. he deserves every second of it. >> reporter: she the third sibling in her family to receive the scholarship to gw. >> money is not an issue. i don't have to worry about that and have that in me back of my mind. >> reporter: her parent violence made raising gifted and talented kids to an art form. >> reporter: what is the secret? >> be close to your children. >> reporter: these scholarships are a huge thing, $16 million

to 125 kids in the last 21 years. audrey barnes, 9 news now. >> i'm so proud of them. that is wonderful. congratulations. all right. we got through yesterday with no challenge. >> beautiful. a lot of sunshine here and you see the cloud cover building in today but it doesn't mean much during the day. it could mean showers later in the forecast and does mean we have big changes on the way. but most of us will be asleep tonight. the next three days, this is one of the forecasts with my temperatures if i think of it too much i can really undo myself here. originally 71 with the clouds come in and brought it down to 67. some areas south of here with some sun breaking out here and there, already near 70 degrees. it's going to be mild until we get the cold front come through with a possible storm and rain in the morning hours and definitely windy and colder friday. that's for certain. huge change today, tomorrow and

even cold leading in to the week. this is an arctic front coming through. this isn't more of a mild pacific air mass coming in. so i brought temperatures down mid to upper 60s in washington. cloudy and breezy. the southwest breeze is picking up 10 to 15 miles an hour. if it gets stronger it will push us over the 70-degree barrier. nevertheless it will be okay. a possible thunderstorm. temperatures down to 44 to 49 oar if ehlos. sunset, 7:45. it will be hard to see with the cloud cover and rain. these high temperatures are just about the same as the morning temperatures. because if anything we will stay the same or cool a few degrees with a huge northwest breeze kicking in. 20 to 30-mile an hour winds with gusts higher. 61 in washington. even gaithersburg is up to 61. see what is happening south of here, fredericksburg 70 degrees. we have 70s. if you happen to be watching in

high definition, georgetown and salisbury are 81 degrees. we will look at how the cloud cover has billed in here. a few breaks in the northern neck. fredericksburg and richmond. that's why warmer temperatures down that way. but certain the cloud cover only gets thicker and then the chances of rain. the nine future cast shows this very well. by my calculations i'm thinking after 10:00 tonight the first chance of a steady rain to move in. maybe a thunderstorm as the front moves through in to the morning hours. it's going to be rain in the morning hours and you did see correctly we may have a flake or two transitioning by midday. no snowstorms, no accumulations. may see a transition briefly before it is done. by midday. late afternoon clearing but it is all about -- all about the cold air coming in. upper 60s, maybe a few of us hitting the 70-degree mark. overnight look at the color transition from the mid to upper 40s. this is 30s making their way in

to the northwest zones and these are the high temperatures, 20 degrees cooler than what we expect today. a brisk, cold day and then you factor in the rain in the morning a hours and i hate to say it will be possibly a little ugly out there. we see our zone forecast with the temperatures. in the 70-degree mark. seven-day forecast, be sure you know what is coming for tomorrow. temperatures near 20 degrees cooler and that cold air moving in. 52 for a high here on saturday and then a possibility of rain moving in by sunday afternoon. time for pet line nine. we have mary ellen and it is coming up on the easter season. how appropriate. >> we have mr. henry howard. >> it is because of howard. >> we wish him well. he is probably watching right now. >> i was hoping he would be here to meet him because this

is his name's sake. i hope he approves. >> a couple of things we need to know about if we are adopting a rabbit, right. >> they are a ten-year commitment is the big thing. since it is easter a lot of them become children's pets and what a cute rabbit can be. it is a commitment. a stuffed toy will cost somebody $25, a rabbit can live ten years is the average and you are looking at $1,000 a year between veterinary costs, food, litter, all of those things. >> the average life span is upwards of a decade so this is a long-term commitment. >> certainly is. >> you are in hey market, which is west of vienna, fairfax and i-66. open year round. find out more information on wusa9.com. click often pet line nine wane we will have more at noon when you come back.

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why not save on car insurance? [ coin drops ] [ high-pitched voice ] thanks. [ normal voice ] you're welcome. get a free quote at progressive.com. we have something special. right now in our 9 news now kitchen, we want to get you in the spirit of the cherry blossom festival and i want to introduce dougen mcdonald. he is from san francisco. he's been said -- told he is one of the top mixologist unless the country. i'm going to ask him about that and we have a pastry chef from 7th and i northwest. we had his boss on earlier. what is a mixologist. >> is a mixologist is a fancy alcoholic. no i'm a bartender. i make drinks and that's why

i'm here. >> reporter: tell me what you are mixing today. >> i'm here to make the blood and fang which is made with a cherry. have you heard of it. >> i haven't. it is a staple been around for ages. produced in 1818 and it's back. >> all right. >> we will make it. i was having one last night at the willard hotel. >> i haven't had the drink but i have been to the hotel. >> do you know jim? >> he is a wonderful bartender at the willard. >> sweet very mouth, orange juice, and cherrily cure. >> what's going on friday. >> cherry blossom festival. >> all right. that's right. so then you mix that together. >> yes, ma'am. a little ice here.

why not? right? >> and i don't know about that name. >> no blood. >> while he is shaking that up, tell me what you created. >> i created a dessert. there is macaroon lollipops with a little gold leaf on top. this is a pearly cure. >> really? >> is that what is in the glass. >> yeah. >> smells so good. like that. >> are you ready? >> i am. >> i'm ready. >> are you thirsty? >> i am always thursday thirsty. i can just smell it. i can't drink on camera because if i drink i take my clothes off. they said don't do that. >> we just met. we just met. >> a quick little orange twist over the drink. beautiful. let's try this cocktail here.

>> oh, my goodness. oh, wow. taste it and tell me how it tastes. how does it taste? very good. i knew it. i knew it. >> you taste it. come back at 5:00 and thank you for coming to washington, d.c. cherry blossom festival is this weekend. all right. you want to go -- i think the blossoms are all out. >> thank you.