yeardley love trial will begin deliberating guilt or innocence of george huguely. the former university of virginia lacrosse player killed his ex-girlfriend in a drunken, jealous fueled rage. the defense arks love's death was accidental and possibly related to alcohol and drugs. the most important piece of evidence against huguely is likely a videotape where in his own words he admits to police he struggled with love hours before her death and he tells police that he may have banged her head against the wall and grabbed her neck a little bit. when officers tell him she's dead, he starts sobbing. the man accused of plotting to blow up the u.s. capitol is due in court. 29-year-old amine el khalifi was arrested friday in an f.b.i. sting. he thought he had bought a vest filled with explosives from an al qaeda operative. the weapons were fake, however, and that operative was an undercover f.b.i. agent. we now know the name of the woman killed when her bmw went

irborn and -- airborne and hit a kfc restaurant in maryland. she's 29-year-old helena luis smith. witnesses couldn't believe what they were seeing. >> i'd seen this car flying down the highway. >> the car coming all the way across so fast, i didn't even know it was a car. >> he was going maybe a hundred, 110. >> like a tornado. >> he was flipping, flipping, flipping, flipping. >> the girl that was inside the car came out. the car flipped one more time and landed on her. >> smith's passenger and a man in another vehicle were injured. less than a month ago state police allegedly clocked smith going 91 miles an hour on the inner loop near central avenue. at that time she was charged with driving on a suspended license. 23-year-old ross thudberg of baltimore is charged with

first degree assault after road rage. he allegedly stabbed another driver while both vehicles sat at an intersection. the other driver gave chase and both vehicles ended up in a ditch on route 3. the maryland senate is expected to approve same-sex marriage legislation this week. the bill made it out of the senate committee after lawmakers in the house of delegates approved it on friday. governor o'malley said he is promising to sign the measure. opponents are vowing to take the issue to a referendum. private adoption agencies in virginia could stop couples from adopting based on religion. and very soon. the bill passed in the state senate by four votes and now just needs governor bob mcdonnell's signature to become law. it allows private agencies to deny placing children in homes that do not meet the religious beliefs. the supreme court will confront the issue of race and

university add misses. it's a case brought by a white student who was denied a spot at the flagship campus of the university of texas she claims because of her race n. 2003 the high court supported the use of race as a factor in admissions. all four g.o.p. presidential hopefuls will take place in a debate tonight. it's the last face-to-face meeting before the next round of primaries. on march 6, ten states including virginia will hold primaries. >> reporter: rick santorum predicted his next big win campaigning in phoenix, arizona with his family. >> we're here to win arizona. >> reporter: santorum trails mitt romney in the polls there but he has surged ahead nationally. along with his new front-runner status comes more scrutiny. this week several online publications released audio of santorum talking about a spiritual -- [indiscernible] -- where satan attacks the united states. >> the father of lies has his sights on what you would think

the father of lies satan would have his sights on. a good, decent, powerful, influential country. the united states of america. >> reporter: santorum made that speech at ava maria university in florida in 2008. tuesday he responded if they want to dig up old speeches of me talking to religious groups, they can go ahead and do so but i'm going to stay on message. santorum goes on to say i'm going to talk about things that americans want to talk about, which is creating jobs and making our country more secure. santorum will likely have to respond to those remarks and recent comments he made about president obama's energy policy tonight. that's when all four candidates debate in arizona. it's the last time they'll meet before the next round of primaries. mitt romney is in a battle for his home state of michigan. the latest poll shows him five points behind santorum but romney insists he's not deterred. newt gingrich says he won't compete in michigan so he can

focus on the ten states up for grabs on super tuesday next month. susan mcginnis, cbs news, washington. 4:35 now. righters and cbs are report -- roiters and cbs are reporting two journalists were killed in syria. they were killed during a shelling assault by the syrian military. this comes a day after the obama administration says it is open to the possibility of joining the international community in sending military assistance to syria. the white house and the state department say they still hope a political solution will end the regime's crackdown on desent. it's still unclear what role if any the united states might play when it comes to providing aid. roughly 2,000 afghans held up partially burned copies of the occur ran. at a -- came ran.

they blame u.s. soldiers for dumping the holy book in a pit with trash. choppers fired flares to keep the crowd under control. the mistake could trigger a public relations disaster, however, as foreign troops try to start withdrawing there in 2014. here's a look at some other things making news now. five people are dead after a shooting inside a health spa in georgia. police say shots began around 9:00 last night. it appears the shooting was a murder-suicide. investigators say they found the gun. a former los angeles teacher charged with several counts of sexual assault pleaded not guilty in the case. 61-year-old mark berndt is accused of blindfolding and gagging students and taking pictures ever them. he's also accused of putting roaches on their faces and holding spoons of semen and putting it in their mouth. he's due back in court on march 28 for a hearing to determine

if there's enough evidence for him to stand trial. mardi gras is over in new orleans, a celebration rooted in tradition. police strolled down bourbon street telling revelers to go home. an estimated one million people packed the streets of new orleans for fat tuesday celebrations. mardi gras's end signifies the beginning of lent. 4:37 now. coming up at 4:41, could the rising gas prices send our economy into another recession? at 4:51, a number of parents are wondering why their children returned to a school which was the scene of a fire last week. stay with us. we're back with your weather first in two minutes.

4:39 on this wednesday morning. we have a couple of clouds around. the mid and high level clouds beginning this morning. we'll rise to the lower 40s by 9:00. this afternoon we'll make the run toward the 60-degree mark. a little breezy. could have gusts out of the southwest up to 20 miles an hour. talking a little bit of spring but back to reality in the seven-day forecast in a few minutes. monika has a look at your time saver traffic. no big problems to report in the district over the potomac and anacostia river crossings. this is pennsylvania avenue at 8th street. westbound maine avenue at 6th street southwest. water main blocks two lanes. we'll go into maryland at 4:47. it is time for the first your money segment of the morning. >> lucky 13. jessica doyle is here with the headlines. good morning. >> good morning. i don't know what i'm more excited about the warm weather or the dow 13,000.

we crossed 13,000 for just a little while, about two hours into the trading session. the last time we crossed that milestone may 2008, four months before leeman brothers collected marking the start of the financial crisis. but the dow could not hold on to 13k. at the end of the session it was up about 16 points, closed at 12,965, not too far away. nasdaq was down about 3. s&p 500 gained about a point. stocks got an early boost from a second bailout for greece. the$172 billion is in exchange for tough cost cutting measures. the white house is looking to overall the corporate tax system. the obama administration is expected to announce today plans to lower the top tax rate to 28% from 35%. but it would next dozens of productions, in fact raising even more tax revenue. the nation's top tax rate is the second highest in the world behind japan.

few companies actually pay that rate because they take advantage of so many tax breaks. economists worry that rising gas prices could put the brakes on the economic recovery. aaa says the national average for a gallon of regular now $3.58, up 26 cents since the beginning of the year and the highest price ever now recorded for february. experts say oil disruptions from iran and the spring driving season are expected to push prices even higher at the pump. now saying $4.25 a gallon in the next couple of weeks perhaps. >> i don't even want to think that. >> i know. i told you my suv and minivan were $07 to $75 -- $70 to $75 last week. >> i think i'm going to start walking more. >> i like that. sexually harassed while riding metro. one group of women says it happens more often than you think. >> we're back with that story plus your weather first in two minutes.

45 degrees at 4:45. >> you've got your pick three numbers now, mike. >> it's the little things. >> it's going to be around 60 this afternoon. well into the 60s tomorrow. then as we get toward the weekend, a little bit back to reality. it's still february, by the way, although noticing a lot of things starting to bud out and bloom. i was talking to a friend of mine who is a master garden. what if the flowers come out early? they'll probably last longer. just have longer blooms which may be a positive thing. let's talk about the bus stop forecast this morning. certainly that's a -- it's a chilly morning in spots. we have some 30s out there and 40s mike was pointing out a moment ago. even partly to mostly cloudy

skies the next few hours. we'll end up with a good deal of sunshine today. overall i expect this to end up being a partly to mostly sunny day. temperatures make a run toward the 60-degree mark. even by 1:00 we're in the upper 50s. we could see some areas make below 60 south and southwest of town with a breeze today. it's going to gust at times close to 20. you'll notice the wind direction southwest, south. 15 miles per hour at 5:00 p.m. as we get towards the evening hours, that's when we have a chance for some showers to develop. we're watching a batch of clouds, one which moved over us earlier. another batch quickly coming through west virginia. expect that over the next few hours. the weather headline, jackets needed this morning clearly with 30s and 40s. breezy, milder this afternoon, 60ish but showers tonight and then tomorrow even warmer. going to be spring like. we'll be well up in the 60s and it's not out of the question if everything comes together that somebody even gets toward 70 tomorrow afternoon. that will be the warm day. 43 in gaithersburg right now.

baltimore 41. culpeper 36. i did notice fredricksburg at 47 but manassas down to 32. great visibility this morning under partly cloudy skies. we've got a windchill of 43 with that south wind. only 5 miles an hour now but that's going to pick up over the next few hours. the barometer has dropped a lot from yesterday. if you're sensitive to the pressure changes, maybe a little achy for you this morning. watching a storm system in the northwest. then some broken storm systems here. just a lot of things going on, nothing horribly strong yet but things are moving pretty quickly. you'll notice some showers popping near little rock this morning, a sign of some pretty good upper level wind. those upper level winds will be pushing the systems through us and the clouds rather quickly. but it will also provide the warmth and then bit cold down here for the weekend. today again those pafes of -- patches of clouds early. as we head towards this evening, here at 5:00, want to watch these showers as they lift through parts of the region. areas west of us, northwest of

us so scattered passing showers overnight into early, early thursday morning. thursday ends up being a pretty accident day. we may see the stray shower or two develop in the afternoon. better chance thursday night towards friday morning for some showers developing. this is the actual cold front that's going to bring an end to all of this spring-like weather as it pushes through early friday. by 8:45 showers generally east of us. a couple of mountain snow showers start to kick as the colder air moves in friday afternoon. we'll still be around 60 or so friday but only the low to mid- 40s for saturday with even the possibility of a flurry. today 60, breezy, patchy clouds, a few showers tonight. can't rule out a stray shower late tomorrow afternoon. highs in the upper 60s. a lot of areas mid-50s in a few. high around 61, turning colder in the afternoon as the winds kick out of the west and northwest that will drop us into the 40s for saturday and sunday. maybe a flurry on saturday with mountain snow showers and staying in the 40s early next

week. it is 4:48 now. 45 degrees. monika, how is it looking? not too bad at all. we had overnight construction in the tysons area. that's pretty much cleared up for the morning. the beltway is looking great all around town. i'm going to start off with the north side of town and 270. coming in from frederick, there had been construction at i-70. that's been cleared up so you're good to go all the way down to the point where the lanes divide on 270. let's take a live look outside if you're planning to head over in the rockville area n. is what it looks like here on 270. all those corridors look great to the beltway. back over to the maps, this time to the bw parkway and route 50 inside the beltway through cheverly. everything is great. no problems on 50 coming in from annapolis or any of the corridors coming in from southern maryland. in alexandria on the inner loop at telegraph road, the right lane had been blocked with construction. looks like the arrow board is still set up but no delays getting by. coming up in my next report, more on virginia roadways at 4:55. a group of women say they

are getting assaulted when they ride metro. now they're hoping to get some help from council members in d.c. today. >> gary nurenberg spoke with representatives from the group. >> reporter: the d.c. group collective action for safe spaces has been compiling stories of sexual harassment in public maces for to years-- >> places for two years. >> 30% of those have taken place on the metro buses, trains, platforms. >> reporter: the system which handleled 344 million trips last year, one rape, 41 assaults, 40 indecent exposures, 22 arrests. given the millions of trips, it really isn't a big issue. there are a minuscule number of incidents of actual crimes said dan stessel, a metro spokesperson. >> they actually don't track the verbal harassment which we know is much more common. >> i'll be on the metro minding my own business, head phones in, reading a book and people will come up to me like hey,

baby, you look good tonight. >> reporter: sometimes it's less clear on a crowded metro car. >> you feel something below your waist and you say, was that really necessary? there's a question of well, is it because we're crowded or because someone's taking advantage of the situation. >> reporter: new york, chicago, and boston all have public service announcements highlighting the problem on their public transportation systems. >> we want that so that people know they shouldn't harass first of all and people who are harassed can know where to go, what number to call, what can they do. >> reporter: they also want sensitivity training for metro employees. >> i said excuse me? he said it again, i'm going to disrespect you today. i'm going to tell you you're a pretty young lady. and i had the reaction of well, if you know that this is disrespectful and you know this is crossing the line, then why would you say that. >> reporter: one person's harassment is another person's

flirting. if someone feels harassed, she should bring it to the attention of metro transit police and we'll follow up said that metro spokesman dan stessel. the group wants them to track claims of sexual harassment and begin sensitivity training. gary nurenberg, 9news now. a number of people are wondering why students return to anacostia high school just days after a fire broke out in the southeast d.c. school. this was anacostia high last friday when fire broke out in an area undergoing major reconstruction. the fire forced 900 students and faculty to evacuate but today they were -- but yesterday, rather, they were back in class. marvin tucker, a parent and community activist says friday's fire was but the latest mishap caused by the construction. >> there was incidents of a major pipe bust and sanitary waste was going throughout the

building. the kids couldn't use the rest rooms. >> we're trying not to disrupt the kids. where we can do construction that allows the young people to stay in the building, we want to be able to do that because that's their natural environs. >> anacostia's principle is hoping the new construction will be done in another four months or so. 4:53. time for the question of the morning. >> 78% of married men say they want this one thing for their birthday. is it a, a brand new sports car, b, tickets to see their favorite sports team or c, a day alone. >> log on to the wusa9.com facebook fan page. leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour.

. well can back.

your weather first this wednesday morning. you'll need a jacket. we have 30s and 40s. not a bad day at all. temperatures will be climbing into the mid-50s. we could see possibly a couple of sprinkles to the south and southwest by 6:00 but showers tonight. we'll have the reps of your seven-day forecast coming up. right now monika is in with time saver traffic. we're going to take a live look at route 50 and i-97 as cause -- as you came in from -- come in from annapolis. everything looking fine. more coming up at 5:01. would you like one of those new tablet computers? they're getting cheaper. there's a new one for the growing list. barnes and noble is going to release a new, cheaper nook. updated 8 gigabyte versions are going to sell for $199. it's expected to match or even possibly undercut amazon's $199

kindle fire. unless you won one for free from us. barnes and noble currently has a 16 gigabyte nook that costs around $250. the smithsonian african- american history and culture museum will officially be dedicated on the national mall. president obama will be among those attending the event. coming up in about five minutes, delia goncalves will join us live to talk more about the museum and today's ceremony. the president sings about his sweet home. >> and adele has done it again. she's winning big in great britain. edward lawrence has those stories and more at this look at entertainment. >> reporter: the white house was swinging in celebration of blues music and black history month. the president and first lady hosted blues music legends and contemporary artists in performance at the white house. bebe king brought the house down. an energetic mick jagger also performed for the crowd.

in performance at the white house premiers next monday on pbs. it will also be broadcast to u.s. troops abroad at a later date. fresh off her six grammy sweep, adele won big at the brit awards in london. >> the winner is adele. >> reporter: adele won best british female solo artist and album of the year at britain's top music honors. she also performed her hit song "rolling in the deep." >> i'm so, so proud to be british. >> reporter: reanna accepted the -- rihanna accepted an award and adam lambert is headed across the pond himself. he's joining the rock band queen for one concert this summer. that's the same venue where freddi mercury sang his last concert with queen back in

1986. matthew perry is joining the cast of "the good wife." the former friends and "west wing" star will have an occurring roll as -- role as an attorney. i'm edward lawrence for cbs news, los angeles. good morning and thank you for watching 9news now, 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. do we have any food today? here's monika santami. good mortgage. happy wednesday. good looking day today. a better looking day tomorrow before things start to change back to reality as we head toward the weekend. you're going to like it here the next couple of days if you want that little taste of spring which is still about a month away. let's get you going. your day planner, we have patchy clouds this morning basically high and mid-level ones. won't get precipitation out of this. 44 degrees with mid-50s by noon. it will be breezy again this