changed, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. pretty much the entire event, whatever shape that may take. that's the entire event. we've dusted off the brett-o- meter. we'll give it a 3. i kind of wanted to give it a 2.9, but we'll give it somewhere between a plowable snow and nuisance storm and oddly enough looks like the biggest bull's eye may not be north and west of town this time of the 51 now downtown, 43 gaithersburg, 46 manassas, 45 leesburg. these don't feel like temperatures that will produce snow, but we'll come back and tell you how colder air will work its way into the metro area sunday and we'll show you where the bull's eye will be. now the big breaking news out of annapolis, a short time ago the maryland house of delegates passed a bill that would legalize gay marriage in the state. now that bill goes before the state senate and if that chamber approves it, it is sure to become law because governor martin o'malley definitely will sign it. to our other top story, a

moroccan man living in alexandria now charged in an attempt to bomb the u.s. capitol. the fbi arrested 29-year-old amine el khalifi this afternoon after a lengthy sting operation. we begin team coverage in the satellite center. gary has been following the development says all day long and now he has the very latest. >> the feds say he was motivated by the war on terror which he viewed as the war on muslims. undercover fbi agents posing as al-qaeda operatives strung him along for months as he planned a suicide attack that he wanted to stage personally so he could kill face to face. he appeared late this afternoon in federal court in alexandria where he was formally charged with exempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, a -- attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. el khalifi was arrested in this parking garage earlier today

after wearing a vest filled with explosives and a machine gun he believed to be functional. he manned to shoot his way into the capitol -- planned to shoot his way into the capitol and detonate the suicide vest inside. feds say el khalifi personally purchased nails and other ingredients for that sue sued bomb, good evidence. >> we've seen this -- suicide bomb, goo evidence. >> we've seen this happened repeatedly in the past few years. you not only want a sense of intent and you want to say he was ready to move and the fact he's wearing a suicide vest would suggest to anyone including someone on a jury this guy was going to act on what he believes. >> reporter: it is a technique the fbi used successfully to catch a massachusetts man who wanted to use model airplanes packed with explosives to attack the capitol and pentagon last september. el khalifi came here from morocco as a teenager, has overstayed his visa and been living illegally in the country the last 12 years. he'll be living in federal

custody for the foreseizure future. meantime ken molestina continues our -- foreseeable future. meantime ken molestinaens it our coverage in alexandria -- ken molestina continues our coverage in alexandria where agents raided a apartment believed to be rented by the suspect. >> reporter: fbi agents showed up here at the point apartments off wyndham circle at 3:00 today. it's believed el khalifi lived at point apartments. the fbi entered the unit and searched it, although we do not know what, if anything, they found inside. neighbors say they were alarmed that that terror suspect lived in this community. out in arlington fbi agents showed up to the 1600 block of south randolph. we understand that investigation is linked to this same search that took place over here in alexandria. according to the fbi, a search warrant was issued for the property on south randolph where at least two other people

have also been questioned. so again a lot of information coming out of this investigation. we will stay on top of the latest details and bring all that to you as we get it. ken molestina, 9 news now. thick black smoke billowed from the roof of anacostia high today. the fire forced students out of class and sent two firefighters to the hospital and folks as far as capitol hill say they could see it smoldering. >> reporter: i'm kristin fisher outside anacostia senior high school, the site of a major two alarm fire earlier today. two d.c. firefighters were injured and taken to the hospital. both have been treated and released. initial reports indicate the fire started on the roof and was fueled by high winds and a large volume of roofing material. >> it's terrible, but i'm just thankful that we were able to evacuate all of our young people, that everybody is say. >> reporter: but this parent and former football coach says the students should have never been in the school that's under construction.

in fact, he says there's already been two construction- related incidents at this school in the last two years. >> they use the saw where flammable materials up on the roof that got into the heat and duct system, so they had to evacuate students then. they had one instance where they busted a sewer pipe and the kids had to eat lunch outside of. >> reporter: d.c. public schools said they considered a range of options for relocation sites but that other swing sites were too far, could not accommodate the entire student body or did not have the appropriate ammenities. the cause of this fire is still under investigation. in washington kristin fisher, 9 news now. a 2-year-old girl from district heights is still in critical condition tonight after a fire in her family's townhome. this happened just before 2 a.m. in the 6100 block of hil-mar drive. firefighters and police had to rescue the little girl from the second floor bedroom. three adults and a 9-year-old boy were also inside, but they were able to get out on their own. investigators are trying to figure out what caused it. there is more breaking news

out of maryland, this time in aspen hill where firefighters are working on a three alarm blaze on a place called weeping willow drive. we've heard reports children could be trapped inside that home and we will, of course, bring you more information as soon as we get it. the verdict is guilty in the case of the man charged with killing a maryland state trooper. cyril williams was convicted of first degree murder in the killing of trooper wesley brown which happened in june of 2010. at the time of that murder brown was working as a part- time security guard for an applebee's restaurant in forestville and prosecutors say williams was angry because he was thrown out of that restaurant and he gauge and shot the trooper for revenge. -- came back and shot the trooper for revenge. now to the yeardley love murder trial, today the defense presented security camera video showing love and her former boyfriend george huguely at a bar holding hands, in just one night before huguely allegedly

beat love to death in her bedroom. the trial will be in session tomorrow. one of hughley's defense lawyers has been sick the last couple days, but his other lawyer says the defense should easily be able to get through the rest of their case tomorrow. president obama says he will sign the newly passed payroll tax cut extension once he gets back from the west coast. the measure cleared both the house and senate before lunchtime today and it extends the payroll tax cut and unemployment benefits while also avoiding a medicare fee cut for doctors for the rest of this year. president obama applauded the congress for working together to make the deal. >> this is a big teal and i want to thank members of congress -- deal and i want to thank members of congress for listening to the voice of the american people it. is amazing what happens when congress focuses on doing right thing instead of just playing politics. this was a good example and congress should take pride in it. >> the payroll tax cut reduces how much 160 million americans pay into social security. so for someone making 50 grand a year, it will save them about

80 bucks per month. now that deal's passing was in no part thanks to local congressmen and women. out of the 11 who represent the d.c. area, just two voted in favor of the tax cut. that would be senator jim webb from virginia and representative roscoe bartlidge from maryland. the others voted nay. the others opposed the measure because of the way it was funded. coming up a popular local zoo under police scrutiny after its director is accused of animal cruelty. but first paying for pushing the pedal, maryland rakes in millions of dollars on drivers who speed through work zones.

commuters in olney who want to ditch their cars have a new place to catch mass transit. a new park n ride opens monday along georgia avenue just north of norbeck road in olney. it's got about 200 parking spaces and two bus shelters where people can catch icc commuter buses. according to aaa, work zone speed cameras in maryland brought in a whole lot of cash for the state last year generating nearly half a million citations all issued to

drives going at least 12 miles an hour -- drivers going at least 12 miles an hour over the speed limit near the construction zones. the face value of those citations, $18.9 million. here's some sound advice from aaa mid-atlantic. >> unless you really want to contribute your hard earned dollars to maryland unnecessarily, take the lead out of your foot going through work zones. >> good advice. aaa estimates the work zone speed camera program has generated just shy of a million tickets statewide since it was launched three years ago. winter making a return to d.c. topper lets us know when the snow will start falling and how much is likely to fall. you need to wait around for that full forecast coming right up. but first family and friends are gathering in new jersey to pay tribute to the late whitney houston.

hundreds of fans lining up outside the wiggins funeral home in newark new jersey to sign a condolence book to whitney houston. inside the family was gathering for a private viewing. houston will be remembered at a funeral in a nearby church tomorrow. we'll carry it live for you starting at noon. you can see it on bounce tv our digital channel 9.2. on comcast it's 207. we'll stream it live at www.wusa9.com. a popular petting zoo under investigation tonight. police are looking into whether the director of the reston zoo

drowned a sick animal and then stored controlled drugs without the proper permits. in a story only seen on 9, peggy fox has uncovered court documents that are pretty disturbing. >> reporter: >> it's a familiar place for families with children, but now the reston zoo is under investigation for possible cruelty to animals. >> oh, my goodness. that's horrible. >> oh, my god, disgusting. >> reporter: this neighbor is stunned at the allegations surrounding the director of the reston zoo. it's a popular petting zoo for families which also hosts birthday parties for children. it houses a variety of animals such as goats, camels, chickens and turkeys and until recently a wallaby like this one found on youtube, but thursday morning fairfax county police executed this search warrant after an employee at the zoo said the zoo director had drowned a sick wallaby as a means of euthanasia. in the search warrant the employee put the wallaby in a crate and later observed the

empty crate next to a water spigot with a 5-gallon bucket of water. the warrant says the employee jumped into a dumpster and found a trash bag containing the deceased wallaby which was profusely wet. the police officer wrote that the director said she euthanized the wallaby by injection with a drug called bauthanasia, but the officer found no blood at the supposed injection site and noted the animal was wet. the director told the officer they washed the bodies. an employee said she supports the director and doesn't believe the aggregation. 50 years ago today the united states made space history. that is when astronaut john glenn became the first american to orbit the earth. he blasted off on a converted nuclear missile called friendship 7 and then glenn orbited the earth three times. he was up there only four hours and 55 minutes, came back and he got a hero's welcome, what a

day. it was very dangerous. when they said godspeed, john glenn, that was serious like he could have died, oh, yeah. it wasn't like the apollo missions or the others later where the technology was a little bit more ready for primetime. >> well, we're looking at temps in the 50s today, 50s tomorrow and then snow. >> things change. >> and then some snow and then the 50s follow next tuition. it won't be around long. let's start width a -- next tuesday. it won't be around long. let's start out with a look at our camera by michael and son, still 51 downtown, dew point 24, prosecutor going up a bit at 30. -- pressure going up a bit at 30.08. we did have gusts up to 25 miles per hour. a coastal storm sunday. keep your saturday night plans. it may start as rain quickly changing to snow even in places

like st. mary's and calvert county and southern charles county. critical times for the entire event, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. on sunday. so the threat, we'll show you where the highest threat will be. you may be surprised. it's not going to be up in frederick or hagerstown, no, south through charles county across 95 and back into the i- 81, i-64 corridor around stanton and charlottesville and roanoke. so that looks to be the bull's eye right now, just south of town. we'll see some snow in the metro area, but we won't be in the bull's eye. here's the deal. here's the moisture. it's kind of disorganized now, but it will eventually consolidate and become a pretty well formed organized low pressure in the gulf of mexico as we get into saturday. then it begins to north northeastward into alabama and off the coast of north carolina by sunday night. right now we have clear skies, clear skies tonight, early tomorrow. then some of these high clouds will come in saturday afternoon, but it's still going to be a very nice day saturday.

45 bethesda, 43 college park and beltsville, 47 springfield and reston, 46 sterling and herndon and 45 in leesburg. so it's just chilly outside, but that's not bad for february. more like a march storm and i say that because it's going to be warm before and after the storm. it's not going to last long. grab a coat tonight, still mild and nice tomorrow, no worries tomorrow night and sunday the heaviest snow will be between 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. it looks like that's going to be when the storm passes just to our south of tonight clear and chilly, one to two blanket night, 28 to 38, winds northwest at 10. by tomorrow morning very nice, mostly sunny and chilly. you'll need a coat but 30s and 40s is a pretty good teal, winds light out of the north at 10 -- deal, winds light out of north at 10. by afternoon increasing high clouds, still pleasant and mild, high temps around 55 and winds turn briefly out of the southwest at 10. 6 a.m. 28 to 38 clear, noon mild,

mostly cloudy, 48 to 53 and by evening high clouds come in, but it's still nice, 51 to 55. next three days, we've declared sunday as severe weather alert day because of the snow. it is going to be a coastal storm. temps will fall throughout the day, but breezy monday for presidents day back into the upper 40s, pretty good deal. next seven days back in the mid- 50s on tuesday and wednesday. so it does not stay cold for long. we're looking at showers on wednesday, a little colder thursday, back in the 40s briefly and then some more showers next friday with temperatures in the mid-50s again. >> wow, all right. this should be an interesting -- this is a weird, weird february, isn't it? >> weird, more like march really. >> we're back in a minute. we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag at wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back.

in the mailbag tonight topper shutt's fans push back. last night a viewer complained topper missed the boat on his rain forecast for yesterday, but john says that guy was literally all wet. ever hear of microclimates? my backyard runs 10 degrees to 20 degrees colder than the national airport and it's only 10 miles away. that's a forecaster's nightmare. topper's dedication to getting the word out about foul weather is without blemish from the brett-o-meter, the street by street warnings about tornadoes in. my opinion eyes the best -- opinion he's the best. meantime still getting comments about the andrea mccarren ongoing teenage drinking series especially regarding the northeast liquor store caught selling booze to teenagers. mark wants to know how can that place be in business? the police chief cathy lanier

has authority to pull a liquor license for 72 hours, yet she is allowing that behavior to continue. why has the district police department not stepped in? i'm not sure it's their job, but that is a question we're asking and as you may have seen today, a d.c. deputy mayor has stepped in promising to get to the bottom of what's gone wrong. we'll tell you when we know. meantime on the wusa9 facebook page a debate sparked by my commentary last night casting the issue of gay marriage in terms of fairness and equal treatment. carrie writes well said. blacks and whites at one time couldn't marry. why? same reasons gays can't, taboo. who are we to say whether it's wrong or not but carol writes god has something to say about that. you have the right to be fair on earth, but the moral principles of the holy bible, what we do on this earth will not be tolerated when he comes back. it's not a natural thing

created by my god but edith some of sums it up pretty well. if kim kardashian can get married, anyone should be allowed to. hit us up at mcginty's mailbag at wusa9.com. that is our report tonight. i'll be back alongside anita brikman later tonight. log on any time to www.wusa9.com. we'll see you a bit later. bye bye.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment newsmagazine in the world. whitney houston's funeral. "e.t." is on the ground in new jersey. >> the emotional wake today and from beyonce to oprah, the stars expected here to say their final good-byes tomorrow. >> her cousin dionne warwick, the heartbreaking letter from her mother. her godmother aretha franklin. >> she was having her problems. and was whitney houston refused plastic surgery just days before her death? >> there is a report out there that you turned her away due to health problems, is that true? >> i know what it's like to be a star. contrary to popular belief it's not all it's cracked up to me. >> whitney and kevin costner in their own words. "the bodyguard" secrets you haven't heard. >> i am really proud of that song "i will always love y