hello, i'm j.c. hayward. thanks for being with us. u.s. officials say that an american-born terrorist that they have been hunting for for years, is dead. the al-qaeda leader was killed in an air strike this morning.

anwar al-awlaki is believed to have inspired several attacks in america. danielle nottingham has more. >> reporter: one of the most wanted terrorists is dead. an american missile strike killed anwar al-awlaki, a cleric known for spreading anti-american rhetoric online and suspected of encouraging recent attacks against the u.s. the strike hit al-awlaki and other operatives as they traveled in a convoy in southern yemen. e-mail exchanges show al-awlaki inspired the 2009 mass shooting at fort hood that left 13 people dead. he had a hand in training the so-called underwear bomber who attempted to blow up a plane over detroit on christmas day, two years ago. al-awlaki's also believed to have played a role in mail bombs addressed to synagogues in the chicago area found on overseas cargo flights. al-awlaki helped lead al- qaeda and the arabian

peninsula. even after his death, that branch of the terror network remains the most direct threat to america. al-awlaki was born in the united states. he spoke fluent english and actively drew new recruits into al-qaeda. >> his role is the pied piper for western recruits into yemen actually will be very difficult to fill. >> but officials say al- awlaki's voice hasn't been silenced completely. his fiery anti-american sermons are still online and before his death, he reportedly wrote an article justifying attacking civilians in the u.s. and other western countries. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. president barack obama says that the death of al-awlaki marks another significant milestone in the effort to defeat al-qaeda. the president spoke just moments ago at fort myer in virginia. al-awlaki and his organization have been directly

responsible for the death of many yemeni citizens. his hateful ideology and targeting of innocent civilians has been rejected by the vast majority of muslims and people of all faiths. and he has met his demise the government and the people of yemen have joined the international community in a common effort against al-qaeda. anwar al-awlaki was a chief cleric at a mosque in virginia before leaving for yemen. that's where he led accused fort hood shooter major nadal hasan. andrea mccarren is outside the mosque in falls church with more information. andrea? >> reporter: well, j.c., take a look at the sea of international media that has descended on this northern virginia mosque. that's because anwar al-awlaki was the imam here. back in 2001 and 2002. that's when he left for yemen. it was here that he and major

nadal hasan crossed paths. after the fort hood attacks, al- awlaki hailed him as a hero. now, very few of the worshippers who just left from the morning prayers have been speaking with us. however, we did talk with one man who has been praying at this mosque for the last 20 years and knee al-awlaki when he was the imam here. >> that's what i believe. >> reporter: he said he was pleased with the killing but when al-awlaki was the imam here, he never heard him speak of any violence or any anti- american sentiments. we just did speak with some people leaving from the prayer. and apparently al-awlaki's name was not mentioned today. we're getting reaction now and hope to speak with the current imam. we'll have the very latest for you tonight at 5:00. reporting live from falls church, andrea mccarren, 9news

now. thank you very much, andrea. we have an update on the massachusetts man accused of plotting to fly remote- controlled model planes packed with explosives into the pentagon and the u.s. capitol. an official with the islamic society of boston cultural center says rezwan ferdaus was asked to leave a local mosque because of his radical views. 26-year-old ferdaus was arrested in an fbi sting on wednesday. a leader of the mosque called him very disturbed. the white house says that there are no plans right now to recall u.s. ambassador from syria. supporters of syrian president assad pelted robert ford's convoy with rocks, tomatoes and eggs as he arrived for a meeting yesterday. ford and his staff were not injured. but several armored embassy vehicles were damaged. prosecutors dropped a reckless driving charge today

against a driver in a deadly tour bus crash that occurred in virginia. police say that chung admitted that he fell asleep at the wheel on may 31st. the sky express bus crashed on i-95 in caroline county. four female passengers were killed. chung is still scheduled to stand trial on four felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and that trial is set for january. come midnight tonight, new laws will go into effect for maryland drivers. lawmakers are cracking down on texting while driving. surae chinn says beware because it will cost you! >> reporter: aren't we all so distracted while driving these days between turning up the radio, changing stations here, oh, and turning up the heat because it is getting colder and don't forget, dealing with the gps and finding out where you're going. we're doing so many things except actually driving the car and being good defensive

drivers. the last thing we should be doing is making calls or texting on our phone. lawmakers are now closing the loophole with this new law taking effect, prohibiting texting or sending messages. now you can no longer read or receive those messages and this applies all the time while you're driving or stopped at a red light. and now this becomes a primary offense. no longer does an officer have to find another violation to stop you before giving you a ticket. and by the way, if you bake break the law, it will cost you. the first offense is $70 and one point on your driver's license but if police determine that it actually caused a traffic accident, it jumps to $110 and three points on your record. >> i'm texting, next thing i know i'm not on the road. >> guilty as charged. >> i find myself doing it every now and then. i try not to. >> when you get down to it, texting and driving is just

stupid. it is begging to be in a crash. >> new law goes into effect tonight at midnight. i'm surae chinn for 9news now. well, a variety of motor vehicle fees will actually go up in the district of columbia tomorrow. residential parking permits for most residents will increase to $25 from $15. the fee to obtain a duplicate driver's license goes up to $20 from $7. alexandria police are hoping that new photos will help them find missing community activist lenny harris. harris disappeared last wednesday night and just hours later, police say whomever was in this van, tried to use his credit card at an atm in prince george's county. they say the van is a white dodge caravan with no front tags. police are still trying to find out who this man is. they say that he tried to use

harris' credit card at a king street atm. the fate of washington's historic lincoln theatre is still up in the air. the u street theatre officials say that the theatre cannot stay open without support from the city and support in the form of have half a million dollars. the theatre board is appealing to d.c. mayor gray to provide money from the city's surplus tax revenue. still ahead on 9news now at noon, first lady michelle obama and her value-added shopping trip. we'll explain. plus, the g.o.p. presidential race. is another candidate about to race? we'll have those stories and more just ahead.

well, the 2012 presidential primary season is going to undergo some changes because florida has shifted its g.o.p. presidential primary to january 31st next year. only four states, iowa, new hampshire, nevada and south carolina are currently permitted to stage a primary before march 6th. florida's move is expected to spark a chain reaction where the four states will move their contest into january in order to protect their place in the process. well, republican insiders are telling cbs news that new

jersey governor chris christie is seriously considering getting into the g.o.p. presidential race. and they say the odds right now are 50/50. there's no official word from christie yet. he has said nothing about a presidential campaign. all right. let's turn our attention to the michael jackson's former doctor. paramedics who responded to his mansion the day that jackson died are going to get a chance to testify today. prosecutors are trying to prove that dr. conrad murray delayed getting help and actually wanted to conceal evidence that he had given the singer a powerful drug. kendis gibson has more now from los angeles. >> reporter: two paramedics who responded to 9-11 calls from michael jackson's house on the day he died are expected to be called at the stand.

they testified that conrad murray never mentioned giving the singer the powerful medicine propofol. on thursday, jackson's bodyguard testified that dr. murray ordered him to put vials of medicine and i.v. equipment out of sight before calling 911. >> what were the exact words when he had the vials in his hand and he was reaching them out to you? >> he said put these in a bag. >> did you grab a bag? >> did i. >> why were you following these instructions? >> well, my personal experience, i believe that dr. conrad murray had the best intentions for mr. jackson. >> the defense asked alvarez why he waited two months to tell authorities about murray's request to bag the medication. the bodyguard said he didn't realize the significance of it until he saw detectives removing the bags from jackson's house in a news report. attorney ed chernoff also challenged alvarez's recollection of the frantic moments in jackson's bedroom. >> do you think you could have performed all of these events

that are listed here in half a minute? >> that's what happened. if that's the timeframe, that's what happened. >> in half a minute. is that what you're saying? >> i'm very efficient, sir. >> alvarez says he's turned down offers of up to half a million dollars for interviews. kendis gibson, cbs news, los angeles. dr. murray faces up to four years in prison if he is convicted on involuntary manslaughter charges. well, you can say good-bye to free debit transactions if you are a bank of america customer. because the bank plans to start charging customers a $5 monthly fee. customers will only be charged if they use their debit cards to make purchases. they will not be charged if they use their cards at an atm. chase and wells fargo have been charging $3 monthly debit card fees in some markets.

the first lady looks for value. she was photographed recently at a target store in alexandria. some say tarjay. we're told the photographer who took the pictures had been tipped off. coming up, anny and the forecast. >> j.c., turning out to be a fantastic friday. clouds moving in. we have some of the coldest air arriving for the season this weekend. i'll let you know how cold. here's a look at your allergy report where the mold is still high. your forecast coming up after the break. ñññ

the temperatures dropped! >> yeah, can you feel it? >> i can feel it. the drier air, the humidity is going down. this is giving us a little taste of what we're going to see this weekend. fall is here. and we're going to kick off october tomorrow with some very chilly temperatures in a lot of locations. today is actually pretty nice out there. the sun is shining. it does feel quite nice. here is a look at your day planner for this friday. sunny skies but we'll see some high level clouds come in. not worried about the rain for the day. late tonight maybe. temperatures will be in the mid- 70s by this afternoon. tonight should be dry. late tonight, we can maybe see a couple of showers. here's a look at your satellite

radar picture. we've got the clouds coming in from the west. so, the clouds not holding a lot of moisture. the atmosphere is a lot drier compared to the last several days. also, we have a coastal flooding advisory that's been extended in effect now until saturday. 2:00 a.m. tides one to two feet above normal. watch for some minor flooding in the low-lying areas until early tomorrow morning. here's a look at your weather headlines for the next couple of days here. breezy. late this afternoon and especially tonight. but still warm today. you'll need your sunglasses. then much colder for saturday and sunday. check your furnace or heater and get out your blankets. did i that yesterday. currently, temperatures around 73 in downtown. 72 in annapolis. culpepper, mid-70s. luray, 67. cumberland, 64 degrees. with the sun, it does feel pretty nice. 73 at reagan national. mostly sunny skies. winds are light right now. dew point is 58. it does feel not as sticky out

there. here is your national satellite radar picture, the area of upper level low is still spinning. showers and storms in detroit. very cool air there. some temperatures only reaching into the 50s for today. we'll get a taste of that as cold front pushes on through the mid-atlantic through today. then by tomorrow, what we get left with is also the cool air as well. i think also the morning tomorrow, especially sunday morning, some places could be down into the upper 30s in the suburbs. here is your future cast. the clouds roll in. this model thinking it might have a shower this afternoon. i'm really not worried about that. i think the showers will be later tonight overnight really. slight chance as for the bay and the delmarva. now, watch this. we even got some snow right there in the high elevations overnight. and into saturday. so, the highest elevations can maybe pick up, see some snowflakes. by sunday, we're still looking at some cloudy conditions and a chance for showers though through this weekend.

light stuff. nothing too heavy. highs for today, mid-70s around downtown. 73 in leesburg. 68 in martinsburg. fredericksburg, 76 degrees. we should be around 74 for this time of year. enjoy today. it will get breezy later and this evening. saturday, look at that. 60 degrees. chilly conditions, mostly cloudy. few sprinkles or showers possible. sunday, a little more sunshine. partly sunny. 60. here is your seven-day outlook. come say hi to us, fall for fairfax. i will be out there along with howard and topper. this weekend is cool but we start to warm things back up on tuesday, wednesday and thursday into the 70s. we've earned those days. we'll be right back.

don't forget to go to jchayward.com. this week, i went to see fehla at the shakespeare theatre and i'll be featuring it on the web site at jchayward.com. leave comments. let me know what you think. all right, i want to tell you that the maryland wineries are inviting you to uncork some fabulous wines this weekend. at the riverside wine fest. it is being held at the solderly plantation in st. mary's county in hollywood, maryland. i have regina mccarthy here. she is a spokesperson for the maryland wineries association and you brought just a few of the wines that are being featured and some are unusual.

now, i know the chardonnay but what is it? this one? this is an unusual wine. >> that is called -- it is an italian grape grown in southern maryland by slack winery. just one of the great wines that will be poured this weekend. one of 23 wineries represented at the riverside wine fest. >> this is very different. can i sniff it? >> here, you can smell it. >> you have it already poured? >> it is nice and lush. it is very robust. >> it is. this smells very nice. >> it will be great. red wine for this cold, fall weather we're getting this weekend. >> what else do we have? >> i also have a chardonnay from port of leonardtown winery who will be there in leonardtown, maryland. they have a variety of really fantastic wines. i have a chardonnay from running hare vineyard in calvert county. and a chamberson from friday's creek which is also in calvert county. a lot of the wineries from our southern -- the patuxent wine

show will be represented as well as other wineries from around the state. >> the thing of it is when people are looking for a nice bottle of wine, sometimes they don't think about the wineries that are right here. they're very good. they produce wonderful, wonderful wines. >> absolutely. this is a great chance to get out and try a lot of them responsibly, of course. >> of course. >> see which one is your favorite. >> saturday and sunday. >> this saturday and sunday at the historic solderly plantation in hollywood, maryland, from 12:00 to 6:00. >> is there a fee? >> tickets are $25 and can be purchased at the door. >> at the door? >> ok. >> so, you'll get a chance to support maryland wineries which is always a great idea. thank you for coming in. so nice to have you. thank you for being with us. have a great weekend!