hello, thank you for joining us, i'm jc hayward. the prosecution is expected to wrap up its case today in the george huguely murder trial. the former university of virginia la crosse player is charged with killing his ex- girlfriend, yeardley love. bruce lashan has been covering this trial from the very

beginning. he now joins us live from charlottesville with more. bruce. reporter: hey, jc, the prosecutor moving very fast at this point. we've had a whole bunch of really interesting witnesses against george huguely this morning. one of them was a woman named caitlin taylor. she was george huguely's downstairs neighbor and she testified that she was sleeping about the time of yeardley love's death when she heard a banging on her door. her cousin opened the door, looked out, there was george huguely. she told them to go away and then she heard banging on the widz, looked out through the slats and there was george huguely. again, this was right around the time that yeardley love died. now, the day before apparently huguely had apparently also exchanged some racy, provacative e-mails with caitlin taylor, even though they had never had that kind of a relationship. the public, the media could not see what those texts said.

they sounded embarrassing. they were facing just the jury and taylor told them at one point she had a boyfriend. also heard from a guy named ken clawson, a fellow la crosse player. he said he was yeardley love's best friend, and he testified that around the time that yard -- around the time of yeardley love's death, huguely came back in, was acting very, very strangely, he asked him repeatedly what's wrong with you and got no response. jc. >> we'll continue to follow this story throughout the afternoon. we'll have the latest information on our website, wusa9.com. thank you very much, bruce lashan. there were nine lives lost and 52 others injured, nearly three years after the metro redline crash, the agency is now admitting some blame. dealia gonsal has the very latest. reporter: family members

posted this memorial of family members and victims on the overpass last year. it overlooks the scene of the crash where they all lost their lives. metro has settled with seven of the nine death cases, and according to court documents filed monday, will also claim liability in four other cases. metro says the cash settlements are paid through its $5 million insurance deductible. >> i think it's good that they take care of those people or the victims left behind. >> they at least admit their wrong and they know what they did wrong and they can move forward. reporter: in fact, metro has deemed 100 actions to make trains safer, including circuit and rail work. but those outdated and dangerous 1,000 series cars involved in that deadly collision will not be completely replaced until next year. >> i just want them to fix the lines, make the service better, make it more safe for all of us. reporter: so will the cash settlements to victims'

families end up costing riders in the end? metro says no. not only does insurance cover the lawsuits, the safety improvements are paid for by federal and local money. the rate hikes being proposed right now cover maintenance, hiring, employee pensions and the new silver line. in northeast, dealia gonsal, 9 news now. >> metro declined our request for an on-camera interview, saying they cannot comment on pending litigation. there will be a viewing tonight for joshua weissman. he is the alexandria paramedic to died in an accident last week. tonight's viewing begins at 5:00 p.m. at the everly wheatley funeral home in alexandria. weissman died while respond to go a car fire on interstate 395 in shirlington. he tried to jump over a gap into two overpasses but fell. he tumbled 20 feet and hit his head on a rock at four mile

run. alexandria's fire and ems department will not be on call during weissman's viewing and funeral. calls will be covered, however, by neighboring departments. it has been three years since anyone has seen pam butler and there is still no sign of the analyst from the environmental protection agency. 47-year-old butler vanished on february 12th, 2009 just two days before she was supposed to have a valentine's day dinner with her mother. and that prompted an agoonizing search which still continues today. >> horrible. disaster. i can't think sometimes, i just break down and cry. >> d.c. police say they believe butler was murdered by her former boyfriend. they say, however, that there is not enough evidence to charge him and the boyfriend says he had nothing to do with

butler's disappearance. nuclear experts believe iran is still years away from building a nuclear bomb, but danielle nottingham reports the rogue nation took another step in that direction today. reporter: iran claims it produced these nuclear fuel rods that engineers loaded into a reactor for the first time this morning. state tv broadcast the event, including live coverage of iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad attending a ceremony to mark the latest developments. iran also says it is now using advanced century feuj technology which could increase speed and production of enriched uranium. >> i think they want to signal clearly to the world that they are continuing to march toward a nuclear capability. reporter: president ahmadinejad insists his nation's nuclear program is designed for peaceful purposes, like energy production. but many western nations, including the u.s. suspect iran is trying to make a weapon.

the obama administration is now weighing additional sanctions against iran. the white house wants iran kicked out of a financial group that is key to its overseas sale of oil. experts say that could cripple iran economically, but would almost certainly drive up the price of oil. there's concern that if sanctions don't work, israel will attack its enemy. the both israel and iran accuse each other of recent attacks on nuclear experts and diplomats. next week members of the international nuclear watchdog group will travel to iran hoping to negotiate an end to iran's nuclear program and diffuse the escalating tensions. danielle nottingham, cbs news, the white house. >> some military analysts believe that israel is preparing to attack iran in the spring. a hot devicive political issue could soon be off the table for the upcoming presidential election. we're talking about an extension of the payroll tax

cut. a tentative deal has now been reached on the hill. the deal would save the average worker about $20 a week, but the extension will also add $100 billion to the deficit. that's a concession republicans made after talks stalled. >> well, i think the moment we get it off the table -- we've got to move on to another issue. >> senate majority leader harry reid says he is confident the payroll tax cut will pass both houses. the measure could end up on the president's desk by the end of the week. more details about whitney houston's funeral service are coming out. a grammy-winning gospel singer will give her eulogy. randall pinkston reports from north new jersey. reporter: the rain could not keep whitney houston's fans from the memorial that has sprouted up outside the new jersey church where she grew up. >> she was a beautiful person, beautiful voice, no one will ever be able to replace her. reporter: funeral services for

the late singer will be held at this church on saturday. gospel singer and pastor marvin weinens will give the eulogy. >> it did take too long to know she's still that little girl from new jersey. reporter: weyans remembered the last time she performed on stage. >> we sang together "we go to the rock" and it is that rock of salvation, that faith we have in jesus that sustains us during times like this. reporter: the 48-year-old houston was found in the bathtub of her beverly hills hotel room on saturday. investigators are waiting for toxicology results to determine what killed her. her family has chosen to keep the funeral private. fans say they understand. >> if this is the only way that we're able to express our condolences and, you know, for us to grieve and mourn, then that's why i'm here. reporter: but many are still holding out hope there'll eventually be a public

memorial. randall pinkston, cbs news, newark. >> houston will be buried at the fairview cemetery in westfield, new jersey next to where her father was buried in 2003. still to come on 9 news now at noon, america's newest top dog made history last night in westminster. and president obama's popularity is on the rise. is it going to be harder for republicans to take over the white house? we'll have some answers.

president obama's popularity is on the rise, that's according to a "new york times"/cbs poll. the survey says the reason is an improved economy. but the times adds "polls can capture only a specific moment in time." so with me now with some answers is former connecticut congressman toby mauffet. so good to see you. >> great to being here again. >> do you miss being on the hill? >> sometimes. but, you know, this is a different ball game than even 10, 12 years ago. i mean, the scrutiny is just overwhelming. who could have imagined preinternet that you'd have this kind of 24-hour scrutiny. these people are under a lot of pressure. i have a lot of respect for people on both sides of the aisle that are doing this work. >> let's talk first about the

president's popularity increasing with the economy getting better, unemployment rates are dropping. is he just lucky? >> he is very lucky. he'll take luck. as a sports fan and as a basketball player and so forth and now i guess an aspiring golfer, he'll take luck and as a politician you have to take luck if you get it when it falls in your lap because you're going to be unlucky. i think a lot of this, though, is when you get knocked down and you're not lucky, how fast do you get up and what kind of shape, just to use a boxing analogy. i think that's the thing about romney that's so stunning to me. i have friends in massachusetts, democrats, very involved who told me four or five months ago there's no way president obama is beating this guy. >> really? >> no way. they just can't beat him. these are people who were there when he was governor. they thought he was so tough, so politically agile, so sort of creative and appealing and now they're seeing -- those same people are saying, wait a minute, this is a guy we really

didn't see. i think he's a knocked off stride. just to go back to the boxing analogy, when romney gets knocked down, he doesn't do that well getting up so far, and i think for his advisers, that's got to be a huge concern. >> are you surprised by rick santorum's rise, this roller coaster ride? >> you know, we're sitting in washington d.c., jc, and so i'll -- out past the beltway, these candidates, including our presidents sometimes will bash washington and washington insiders and so forth. but my theory is that some of the people who have been in washington the longest are the toughest candidates. they've been in that pressure cooker and i think romney has been a candidate, but he hasn't really been in the rough-and- tumble of washington. i think that's where santorum is beating up on him a bit. but, look, i think we're going to find out something here. if the far right, the social values community, et cetera, if the far right doesn't want romney, then they're going to find a way to get gingrich out of the race, they have to. >> get gingrich out of the race? >> yeah. they have to.

>> why? >> i think in the next two or three weeks we'll find out how serious the far right that has a lot of influence if not control over the republican party, how serious are they about having their guy, that would be santorum now bealt romney. if they're not, then i don't think they make massive efforts. but my guess is and i don't know anything about this, i'm not a republican, but my guess is there's a lot of work behind the scenes to try to get newt to go away. >> we'll see what happens. toby moffett, so nice to have you. >> nice to be here. when we come back, we'll get the forecast from howard. i think you should keep the umbrellas handy. >> that's right, jc. tomorrow we've got a threat for showers. today you might want to use it as a parasol. sunshine and delightful temperatures this afternoon, just a bit of the breeze. we go to break showing you some of the temps. up to 52 here in washington, still some 40s in the shenandoah valley and 50 degrees on the bay in annapolis. a look ahead toward the weekend when 9 news now returns.

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. there's a new top dog in america. he is the winner of the westminster kennel club dog show. >> best in show at the 136th annual westminster kennel club, america's dog show is the pekinese.

[ cheers and applause ] >> the winner is 4-year-old malachi. he is the first pekinese to win since 1990. now, dogs win a silver bowl for that title. the owners don't get prize money, but they certainly will make out when it comes to breeding the champ. look at him. >> i love that dog. >> i do too. some people have been calling him not nice names. saying he looks like a cat. but he's the winner. he is the winner. i will not be here tomorrow because i'm speaking at n.i.h. for black history month. i'll be talking about african- american women, something i know a little bit about, so i hope all the people at n.i.h. come out to hear me at 11:00 tomorrow. i won't be here tomorrow. >> she's good if you you've never seen it, a good opportunity to speak. >> thank you. weather wise a good day out there as well. lots of sunshine, temps going into the mid-50s. we might even hit upper 50 new zealand a couple of spots the way it's been going. and for february, when you consider the average high now

47, not too shabby. hasn't been a bad winter at all. and today another good one. temps moving into the low 50s. already the low 50s, but mid 50s by 3:00, sunny. it's been a little breezy. we've had some gusts over 20 miles an hour. that's really the only kind of negative at all today. by 5:00 still in the lower 50s. we dip into the 40s this evening. so you will definitely need a jacket, but the one thing i hope you're noticing when you look at the wind speeds, 12, 11, nine, they're dropping down. so we'll have lighter winds tonight. we're looking at our next storm system moving across the mississippi river, some rains into indiana and part the thes of tennessee. this is going to have a tough time moving east. we have a threat tomorrow for some showers, but that will mainly be afternoon and evening. it's 52 here in town, 44 hagerstown, down south already 55 in fredricksburg and along the bay and east on the other side of the bay, that is. annapolis at 50. still some 40 new zealand great falls and gaithersburg and sterling at 49, while it's 52

in colombia. here in washington looking at our michael and son weather camera, lots of sunshine on the white house today, pond is going nicely up there, it's not been frozen at all this year. 52 with mostly sunny skies and that north/northwesterly wind at 12 miles per hour. we're watching this storm system. this is coming for tomorrow. this morning i labeled it thursday's rain maker. maybe i should have had thursday afternoon shower maker. i don't think we'll see a lot with this, but that trend west to east will continue. by sunday, though, we'll have a storm in the gulf area coming this way. will it head toward us or will it go out off the south carolina coast? that's kind of the question mark to determine whether or not we see much at all on sunday or maybe something wintery. the jury is still out. in the short term, though, not much coming for today. tonight we'll see some clouds roll in. by 3:00 might see a shower well north and west of us. a peek of sun early and then here come the clouds and a few showers for the afternoon and evening hours on thursday. but probably less than 1/4 inch of rain total, so not a heavy

rain. 55 today, some spots down south upper 50s, tonight we're in the 30s to near 40 with some clouds late. tomorrow a mostly cloudy day, around 50. some afternoon and evening showers. friday pleasant, sunshine, around 50. and then as we head through the weekend, looking good on saturday. we'll watch to see if that coastal bothers us on sunday and nice again president's day and tuesday. stick around. we'll be right back when 9 news now at noon returns.

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