. right now tensions are running high after a terror plot right in our back yard. we have the very latest information on the suspected bomber and the covert operation that saved the day. plus, vapor dog. a brand new weapon in dc tracking bombs and terrorists like never before. this is 9news now. we were in the 50s again today, but it seems old man winter is getting crafty in his old age. >> a winter storm is brewing, and it's headed our way. and that means finally some snow. here is topper shutt. >> maybe some snow. and particularly south of town. that looks like the bulls-eye. we talked about that earlier down towards charlottesville. that is going to be the bulls-eye. we do have some changes. you're still okay tomorrow night. maybe you have plans with your significant other. you can keep your saturday night plan. but the snow is trending farther

south. now, it's been doing that for a little while. but the precip was still far enough north to give us some snow, but now it's beginning to trend south. remember, this is almost 48 hours away and the snow has not developed yet. no problems, i don't think, going to and from church. originally we had 11:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m. i think now it's going to be a little later. here is the energy. there is the line, i think, of the track. and we're looking at all of this energy and moisture down into eastern texas, the gulf of mexico, it will eventually consolidate into an area of low pressure and move into alabama and then move off the north carolina coast. a 50-mile difference in this track will make all the difference in the world as far as how much snow we get. temps aren't that cold, but, again, as derek said, do not let that deceive you. 36 in manassas and 36 in gaithersburg. we'll come back. i still have brand new information coming into the office. i'll let you know what that means and i'll let you know if

we're going to see any snow sunday or sunday night. >> thank you, topper. what amine el khalifi didn't know is that undercover agents were in the operative who helped him just enough to get him indicted. gary nurenberg is here to show us how the plan came together and fell apart. >> reporter: this is a technique that the fbi has done before. help a terrorist plan an attack and stop him before he can pull it off, but in this case the guy kept changing his mind about what he wanted to do. el khalifi appeared in court late this afternoon charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction, a crime that carries a potential penalty of life in prison. the moroccan native came to the teenager as 1999 and overstayed his visa and has been living in

the country illegally ever since. the fbi has been watching him for more than a year as he tried to figure out what he wanted to do. on december 1st, he said he planned to attack an office building in alexandria partially used by the military and he wanted to kill face-to-face. on december 8th, he said he wanted to attack a synagogue or an army general. on december 15th he said he found a government building to target by placing a bomb in a restaurant next door. on december 26th, he visited the restaurant in dc to see when it was busiest and decided it would be best to leave a bomb behind a chair. on january 8th, he buys jackets and cell phones for a bomb. on january 15th, he buys nails for a bomb and decides to attack the capitol instead. and he debt nates a test bomb in -- detonates a test bomb in west virginia. he says he wants to die in the attack. on january 28th, he picks a door in the capitol to enter. on february 6th, he walks around the capitol building and decides

the bomb should be detonated remotely by someone else if he's hassled by security. he says he wants to kill capitol police at the door similar to the attack that did kill officers in july of 1998 so that he can make his way deeper into the building to set off the suicide bomb. on tuesday, he puts on the suicide vest and practices. friday he goes to this parking garage near the capitol and picks up a fake suicide vest and a fake machine gun from undercover agents. he's arrested as he leaves to go to the capitol. good work says the chairman of the home security. >> al qaeda has a very difficult time attacking us from outside. so you have either people recruited by al qaeda in the country or you have self radicalized jihadists. >> reporter: the fbi said today what it said last september when it arrested a man who plotted

with undercover agents to fly planes into the pentagon. the fbi said the public was never at risk. the investigation did not end today with the arrest. it continued well into the evening. ken molestina is in the suspect's neighborhood now and joins us with that. >> reporter: gary, this is the 1600-block of south randolph street in arlington. this is the second place where fbi agents executed a search warrant earlier today. they also executed a search warrant out in alexandria where the suspect lived. now, they're being very tight lipped about what, if anything, they found here. but tonight an anti-terrorism investigator is chiming in. >> they monitored all of his communications and then they went in to recover computer files and look for any other

fingerprints or any other identifying information. >> reporter: larry johnson is talking about what federal agents may have been looking for when they raided his alexandria apartment and this house in arlington. authorities are not giving many details on the searches. >> when you read the complaint, you realize what a bone head this guy was. >> reporter: they believe he had every intention to cause harm, he didn't know how to do it. >> if you carried enough explosives to bring down the capitol, you would have to be carrying 500 pounds of it on himself. >> reporter: according to johnson, not knowing how to get an attack of this magnitude is why he took the bait without questioning it. >> yes, they are that gullible. and, yes, the fbi is that good. this is somebody that plays a week in softball and then he gets a call from the new york yankees saying we heard about you and like to give you a try out. >> reporter: we don't know how the fbi was tipped off.

we do know that the fbi normally maintains informants within radical and extremists circles. we're live tonight, ken molestina, 9news now. >> thank you, ken. an ultimate look at a canine weapon to fight dogs. that story coming up at 11:15 tonight. a bill to legalize gay marriage in maryland comes one step closer to becoming law. tonight the maryland house of delegates voted to give same sex couple the right to say i do. several amendments to the bill were rejected, including creating civil unions and allowing parents to opt out of education programs that address same sex relationships. the measure now heads to the state senate where last year it easily cleared. new information tonight in our ongoing investigation of a northwest dc liquor store that's allegedly been selling alcohol to minors for years.

9news now aired a report on february 1st about the town square market which documented the sales. today the mayor stepped in to ensure that the investigation moves forward. like us, he wants to know why town square market is still in business and why it's taken so long for investigators to do anything about it. >> when i saw the report, i was concerned about the length of time. i was concerned about what montgomery county had uncovered. >> montgomery county police issued at least 36 alcohol citations over five nights in december for alcohol allegedly purchased at town square market. officers alerted arba to the citations the very same month. remarkably police issued two more alcohol citations just this weekend. another interesting development after our report, abra will be meeting later this month and cops from all surrounding jurisdictions, including montgomery, prince george's county as well as northern virginia. they're hoping to figure out the

best way to share this information so future investigations can be more efficient and be completed a lot faster. to report underage drinking we have numbers for you to call. just check our website wusa9.com. tonight an inspector is under arrest for trying to shakedown a restaurant. grajeda allegedly offered to erase two violation notices and give advance warning of future inspection in exchange for 1,000 bucks. they placed him under surveillance and they arrested him after he took money from the restaurant owner. tonight waiting for president obama's signature, a bill that would extend the tax cut until the end of the year. it reduces how much 160 million american pays into social security. for example, for someone making 50 grand a year, it will allow them to take home an extra $80 a

month. guilty. that is the verdict tonight for the man charged in the death of a maryland state trooper. he was accused of killing the trooper in june 2010. he was off duty working for applebee's. williams got angry about being thrown out of the restaurant and came back looking for revenge. they tried to argue there wasn't enough evidence to connect williams directly to the killing, but the verdict came back guilty. an update now on the apartment fire out of montgomery fire. the fire damaged 12 units inside the building in the 14,200-block. it forced family living in those apartments to have to find a new place to sleep tonight. sky9 out on the scene shortly after crews got the fire out. nobody was hurt. the cause is still under investigation. and two dc firefighters have been treated at the hospital and sent home after being injured while fighting a fire at

anacostia senior high school. this one broke out in a roof where renovations are being done. both firefighters suffered injuries when part of the roof gave one and one firefighter fell through landing on the colleague. as for the students, they were all evacuated safely. >> it's terrible, but i'm just thankful that we were able to evacuate all of our young people. that everybody is safe. >> construction crews reportedly said a large stack of plywood and some insulation caught fire. the cause remains under official investigation. now to a story you'll only see on 9, disturbing allegations of animal cruelty and abuse at the weston zoo. fairfax county police scutesed this search warrant -- executed this search warrant after they said the director drowned the

wallabe. the officer found no blood at the supposed injection site and noted in the warrant that the dead animal was wet. the director told the animal they wash and rinse the body of the animals. no charges have been filed but there is an investigation. still ahead tonight, police have used dogs to sniff out bombs for years but never like this. >> meet the vapor dogs. a new elite canine unit fighting terrorism in dc. that's coming up next.

we promised you a story tonight on foods that can help you look and feel younger. because of the breaking news at the capitol, we're going to have to bring you that special health alert next week. >> speaking of the capitol, there is a new generation of super dogs now protecting that building and union station too. old mine explosive dogs can deal with bombs that are just sort of sitting in place. but as bruce leshan explains, these new vapor wake dogs can catch a bomber on the move. >> come on, buddy. >> reporter: rush hour on capitol hill. a couple of friendly labs circle the commuters, sniffing. >> go ahead, boy. get your sniff on. >> reporter: across the street,

capitol police officers strap on a backpack loaded with explosives. and joins the hordes of pedestrians headed for the capitol. the dogs are named quick. as soon as the explosive passes, he's on it. he can sniff out the fleeting death of danger. >> this is no backpack. >> reporter: more explosives. this time strapped to ankles. and ranger picks out the scent just as quickly, eagerly scratching the sidewalk to get at him. >> they're super stars. >> reporter: he is a standard explosive detection dog. he can detect explosives in a truck or bag or in a car. but if the explosive was on a suicide bomber on the move through a crowd, he wouldn't know what to do.

that is oakley's job. >> with the vapor dogs they'll trail that moving target to a source for as long as it's moving. >> reporter: vapor wake dogs like z eta have only been around for a few years, hunting bombers with a handful of agencies like the amtrak police. but from spain to india to britain, experts say they could have saved lives. >> i've been to madrid, i've been to london. i don't want to have to visit sites like that here in the united states. >> reporter: zeta quietly follows the trainer with two pounds of plastic explosive strapped to her ankles. in real life, the alert might have just been enough warning to give a separate police team to take her down before she explodes. at union station, bruce leshan, 9news now. >> now, the trainers of these vapor wake dogs say the animals can enter a room and pick up a scent as much as 15 minutes

after the explosives have passed through. >> wow. topper, you're just telling us this thing is moving, changing. you've been watching it carefully. >> it is. we're still almost 36 hours away from snow if it were to occur. so the storm hadn't formed yet and it doesn't sound like much to you. 50 miles, though, will make all the difference in the world. when you're tracking storms over 3,000 miles, 50 miles isn't a big percentage. if you're a snow lover, i haven't given up the ghost yet but the trends are farther south. let's take a live look outside. michael and son bringing you the weather cam. it's still nice out. 47. that's above the average high okay, during the daytime. winds west, northwest at 7. pressure 1 -- 3.10 inches of mercury. dew point 35 and humidity 42%. so here is the deal. all right. let's fix -- let's just get it together here. outside story, we're not going to change your plans for

saturday night. keep your plans saturday night. but we do want to point out that the trends are farther south. the bulls-eye i81 and 64. and i really don't think you'll have any problems going to and from the church. originally i was a little concerned about maybe getting home 1:00, 2:00. it will probably be okay. here is where the energy and moisture is. we're looking at a lot of rain in portions of east texas. it will consolidate into a low pressure system and then move into alabama and then move into a point off the carolina coast. and just 15 miles north will throw a tremendous amount of moisture our way. it does appear we're going to have marginally cold here. clear skies right now. we'll start out clear tomorrow. we're looking at really a very nice mild and nice saturday. i mean, temps are still going to make it back into the mid 50s with sunshine. saturday night i want to emphasize looks fine. nothing is going to fall from the sky on saturday night. the storm could slide to our south. there is also another scenario. it could slide to our south and then intensify and move up the

coast a little later. then it would be sort of a sunday night storm. that is also a possible scenario we're watching. so we're going to monitor the track very closely all weekend. we'll keep you posted. and i'll be tweeting. you can follow me at topper's weather. overnight clear skies. just chilly. winds out of the northwest at 10. tomorrow morning really great. mostly sunny and chilly. 30s and 40s. not bad. winds out of the north at 10. and by afternoon, some high clouds will come in. but still a pleasant day. high temperatures around 55 and winds out of the southwest at about 10. so everybody makes it into the 50s tomorrow, even leesburg is going to be 53. 53 in sterling and herndon. college park 54. 55 in arlington and 54 downtown. all right. we will break it down. chilly to start. 28-38. and then 48-53 by noon with sunshine. and then we'll see some high clouds come in. but still very nice. 51 to 55. and the best news about tomorrow, as opposed to today,

no winds really tomorrow. so that 53, 54 is going to feel really warm. all right. next three days, we're going to keep the severe weather alert day on sunday. we may take that down. light snow or snow still possible. temperatures will be falling. we're in great shape by monday. sunshine returns. temperatures back into the upper 40s. next seven days, tuesday we're right back in the mid 50s with sunshine. and really the next system on wednesday is going to bring us some rain. temperatures about 54. and we're getting just a little cooler on thursday. temperatures back in the upper 40s. and then some showers possible on friday. and we are right back in the mid 50s. so just barely cold enough on sunday to support some snow. but we'll watch it. and, again, even if it starts snowing sunday afternoon, service temps will be above freezing so you'll have time to get home. >> okay. >> even if that were to happen. >> all right. >> keep us posted. >> we will. speaking of the cold and the ice, how about the capitals? >> and it's big too. it's starting to get serious. >> what's getting big? . >> the caps stuff. >> okay. >> i didn't know what you were talking about. [ laughing ] >> starting to get big.

[ laughing ] >> coming out of the capitals locker room. it might make or break the season. and why are all these kids wearing yellow? a special night for a special kid. game of the week next. look at all this stuff for coffee.

oh there's tons. french presses, espresso tampers, filters. it can get really complicated. not nearly as complicated as shipping it though. i mean shipping is a hassle. not with priority mail flat rate boxes from the postal service. if it fits it ships, anywhere in the country for a low flat rate. that is easy. best news i've heard all day! i'm soooo amped! i mean not amped. excited. well, sort of amped. really kind of in between. have you ever thought about decaf? do you think that would help? yeah. priority mail flat rate shipping starts at just $5.15, only from the postal service. a simpler way to ship.

and now 9 sports with dave owens, the best sports in town. >> well, when brooks says it's make or break, folks, it's make or break. this current 4-game road trip will most likely determine the fate of the men in red. so here we go. 40 seconds to go. this man's name is steven vice. he is here to serve you. 1-0. will remain that way until the third. it's messy in front, nasty in front. 9 minutes later, the other part

of the alex-alex connection. and you better believe it, 2-1. caps get a large victory. they come from behind and get that win. that is big. wizards on the west coast taking on utah. first quarter -- i'll tell you what, if there are -- if there is life on mars, we ought to have mcgee jump up there and find it. that brother can leap. fifth game in a row 15 points or more. later on al jefferson moving on up to an apartment in the sky. utah rolling 114-100. some baseball stuff here. steven strasburg's former college team paying tribute. all remember strasburg went 13-1 with the aztecs. that's where he became famous before becoming baseball's number one overall pick. all right. rockville high school went all out tonight on and off the court. i'll get to the game in a minute. there was a greater cause, though, going on than just

hoops. some of the proceeds from the game went to the family of girl's basketball coach frank leber whose daughter is battling bone cancer. it was our game of the week. this was the scene. the school selling various products to raise money. the t-shirts that say lilly's hope on them. also various pictures of lilly. she is currently at children's hospital soldiering on doing a great job there. all the students decked out in yellow. that's the official color of childhood cancer. reyes, how about a little clockwork orange. qo breaking down the press. cougars go on to win. but tonight was really a night for lilly. >> she knows all these people are rooting for her. we love her. she's such a great kid and we want to help out some other people too suffering from the same thing. we're excited. we want to help lilly out. motivate her. give her spirit and energy.

>> well said by the ath lett i can director. -- athletic director. just got a text from lilly's father that said we're really happy we did the story. >> very touching. thank you. >> sending prayers that way. we'll be right back.

part acrobat. >> check out monkey man here. slinging on the vine. suddenly he decides on the attack. . >> oh. >> but he doesn't realize there's a piece of glass there. >> oh. >> it's lucky for that guy who was standing by the glass. the monkey is an alpha male so he feels threatened by tall males. you didn't know the glass is there. >> it's like he wound himself up to go. >> he flew over there. >> he has been in that cage for 15 years and didn't realize the glass was there. >> that's 9news. good night. have a good weekend. [ laughing ] whatcha lookin' for hon?

ah, these new jeans i want. i've been looking everywhere. new blue jeans? oh, don't be crazy, i've got tons of blue jeans. frank! frank! get my jean bin,

susie wants my jeans. no she doesn't. here we go. nice and loose. ohhh. those are loose, but i actually just ordered three pairs of this kind. ooooohhhh. oh. when it's on your mind, it's on ebay.