. good afternoon. i'm jessica doyle. jc has the day off. we begin with another day of violent weather across the midwest and south. within the past hour, a tornado reportedly touched down in huntsville, alabama. much of the region is prime for the possibility of more tornadoes today. of course some communities are still cleaning up following deadly storms earlier this

week. at least 13 people died in tornadoes that flattened communities across four states. meteorologist howard bernstein is keeping a close eye on the storms. howard, what's going on right now? >> things are just getting started. we already have reports of homes destroyed in that area, north of huntsville, northern alabama, not far from newmark, alabama if you know that area at all. the brighter orange, red area, that's a high risk of severe weather. these areas are issued by the storm prediction center out of oklahoma. the atmosphere is juiced to be explosive today and cause a lot of damage and potentially some deaths as well because we're talking about tornadoes, long lasting tornadoes, fast moving tornadoes, large hail also and damaging wind gusts. this moderate area goes down toward alabama and mississippi. the highest area ohio to northern tennessee, much of central kentucky and southern indiana. there's a lot going on. locally we've got some rain in

west virginia. this is going to increase our clouds and bring us some showers and storms here after the 3:00 hour. but we've got two tornado watches. one down in tennessee and northern alabama. there's the storm earlier that produced the tornado. then that other watch. just to show you quickly where the storms are now, in and around the chattanooga area north and west of there. it's this other tornado watch that caused a particularly dangerous situation. destructive tornadoes are likely. this is all moving east. there will be another watch late near indiana, ohio and kentucky. if you know anybody in this part of the world, give them a call to let them know what's going o. i'll be back and let you know how this storm system is going to affect us for the rest of the westbound. siewp -- rest of the weekend. super tuesday just a few days away. rick santorum's lead over mitt romney is down to four points. tuesday will also be a critical day for newt gingrich. >> reporter: mitt romney and

rick santorum have their sights set on ohio, the biggest prize among the ten states holding contests super tuesday. a new poll of likely republican voters shows the race tightening between the two front runners with santorum hanging on to a four-point lead. washington state republicans will weigh in first. they caucus saturday. santorum was there last night challenging romney's conservative credentials. >> this race is about what kind of america you're going to leave to your children and grandchildren. >> reporter: voters are listening after santorum nearly beat romney in his home state of michigan. >> he has a great chance to beat mitt romney and to beat president obama. >> reporter: but the prolong nomination battle is a sign that many g.o.p. voters are still undecided. more than a third of ohio republicans say they have yet to select a candidate. mitt romney insists he's got the best chance to beat president obama and he's feeling the heat and should feel the heat because his policies have failed the american people. >> he knows how it works.

i really believe he's the man to make the country work better. >> reporter: newt gingrich is counting on a win in georgia on super tuesday to revive his struggling campaign. >> i want to force washington to decide do you want to be on the american people's team or do you want to get fired and go home? >> reporter: ron paul will be in washington state today firing up his supporters ahead of tomorrow's caucuses. randall pinkston, cbs news, the white house. virginians also vote on super tuesday, but mitt romney and ron paul are the only republicans on the ballot. virginia will hold a separate primary in june for the other races, including the fight to replace jim webb in the senate. the tsa now admits it made a mistake when it refused to allow a woman to carry her breast pump on board a flight because the bottles were empty. amy strand says the tsa agent told her she would have to fill up the bottles. when she asked for a private room, the agent told her to use the bathroom. so she said she stood in the

bathroom next to the sink and pumped. only when she was allowed to board. in a statement they said the agent misstood new procedures and apologizes spots inconvenience -- for the inconvenience. the fight over same-sex marriage in maryland appears to be headed to the november ballot. governor martin o'malley signed the bill into law yesterday evening but it's not scheduled to go into effect till january. opponents expect to garner enough signatures to put the issue to referendum. >> our lives are not an american idol contest. i don't think the validation of our family's respectability should be put up for a -- up to a popular vote. >> when it comes to marriage, holy matrimony, and that's the word, holy, holy matrimony, i think the governor has made a grave error. >> opponents need 56,000 signatures to get a referendum. they hope to get 100,000 so

they have enough in case some are challenged and thrown out. a convicted rapist was sentenced to another three life terms for rape he committed in maryland in the 1970's. yesterday in a montgomery county courtroom, four of timothy buzbee's victims faced their attacker and told the judge what he did to them all of those years ago. >> i'm an 18-year-old lifeguard that you raped. that guy doesn't define him. he didn't and he doesn't. >> buzbee was already serving two life sentences for raping more than a dozen women in the 1970's but he was eligible for parole when new d.n.a. tests on old evidence tied him to four more attacks. the judge told buzbee he is an everybodile man who -- evil man who should spent the rest of his days behind bars. stephanie blake is ordering police not to ask people about their citizenship status. the order comes just days after u.s. immigration and customs enforcement said it would implement the secure

communities program in baltimore. that's when federal authorities checked the immigration status of people arrested and booked in jail. the mayor is worried that witnesses of crimes may soon be afraid to come forward. jack ef once was surprised -- evans was surprised this morning. as he arrived for breakfast with the business coalition, they urged leaders to stop cutting programs. >> there are members of our congregations that are not able to find jobs and we are very vexed because we know the business community is thriving and we want to know where our regular people are not thriving in this city. >> councilman evans spoke with the group before his meeting and said he would raise their concerns. president obama has strong words for iran. a newly expansive remarks the president said he's not bluffing when he insists iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. president obama says military options are still possible

adding that containment is not an option. the president meets with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu on monday. a new round of attacks was reported in the city of homs even as the red cross tried to get emergency supplies to citizens. we have the latest. >> reporter: this internet video shows anti-government protesters rallying in the rebel city of homs. until a deadly blast ripped through the crowd. syrian government forces fired a mortar on the demonstration killing at least ten people, including several children. activists say gunmen loyal to president assad executed ten more men in a campaign to wipe out the opposition. britain's prime minister accused the assad regime of butchering its own people. >> one day no matter how long it takes, there will be a day

of reckoning for this dreadful regime. >> reporter: european union leaders vowed to document war crimes and urged assad supporters to turn their backs on the president or pay the price. rebels withdraw from the district of homs thursday and syrian troops reportedly moved in to kill fighters would stayed behind. the red cross says syrian authorities have blocked an aid convoy from bringing in emergency supplies. humanitarian groups say they're desperate to reach civilians in the devastated district. government forces have bombarded for weeks. >> france is closing its embassy in syria a day after two french journalists escaped to lebanon after being trapped for days in the central city of homs. when we come back, outrage over a new tourist attraction that some say is inappropriate. plus, the georgetown university student whose sex life is now getting national attention.

radio host rush limbaugh has called a georgetown university student promise cows and a shut -- promisous and shut and wants her to most sex

videos on line. it's all fallout from the recent debate over contraceptive coverage mandates. we have the story of one georgetown student whose congressional testimony put her in the spotlight. >> reporter: sandra fluke testified it's not all about sex, that some students need contraceptives for existing medical conditions. >> without it contraception can cost a woman over 3,000 during law school. >> reporter: limbaugh characterized it this way. >> essentially says that she must be paid to have sex. what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? makes her a prostitute. she's having so much sex, she can't afford the contraception she wants you and me and the taxpayers to pay her to have sex. what does that make us? we're the pitches. >> reporter: democrats came to fluke's defense amusing limbaugh who pointed out the d.c. health department will provide free condoms to those who ask. >> so ms. fluke, here's the deal.

if we are going to pay for your contraceptionives and thus -- contraceptives and thus pay for you to have sex, we want something for it and i'll tell what you it is. we want you to post the videos online so we can all watch. >> reporter: fluke issued a statement saying no woman deserves to be disrespected in this language. language is an attack on all women and has been used throughout history to silence our voices. the millions of women who have and will continue to speak out in support of women's health care and access to contraceptives proves we will not be silenced. gary nurenberg, 9 news now. >> fluke was on nbc last night saying she was stunned and outraged. she said limbaugh's words are inappropriate and outside the bounds of civil discourse. a group wants to give tours of the borrower jeffrey dahmer met some of his victims.

families of the victims are not happy with the venture. they are trying to stop them. the tour organizer says the tours are protected by free speech. up next, why this will be a historic day for continental airlines and howard is back with the weekend forecast. the clouds are starting to thicken. i don't think we'll get that much warmer today. allergy update just came in from the u.s. army allergy lab here in washington. trees are high at 319. mold low 1505. we'll have the forecast right through the upcoming weekend. it's going to get chillier. 9news now at noon returns right after this.

when continental airlines flight 1489 arrives in phoenix it will mark an end of an era. continental and united merged two years ago. starting tomorrow, all flights will be under the united name only. big changes in our weekend weather, too. >> 70 yesterday. today we're in the 50s. by sunday, late sunday night some flurries could be returning. we could have some strong thunderstorms in spots between now and then. the upper level wind pattern is not the same a a couple days ago. there is a hundred plus mile an

hour jet stream going over the ohio valley. we're not going to have that and thus not have the severity of the storms either. we have the clouds increasing. i think after the 3:00 hour, we're pretty much looking at chances for rain moving in from southwest to northeast. it's still maybe cloudy here at 3:00 but we're starting to pick up a few returns toward harrisonburg. that stuff is moving quickly to the north and east. by 5:00 55 degrees. it is going to be a wet afternoon commute. getting out of town later on, yeah, especially if you're getting west or southwest, it is going to be wet. 9:00 even up to pittsburgh later on going back to the burgh for the weekend, going to be a slow, wet right home. southeast winds at 10 to 15. that's giving us a little high water too on the west side of the bay. here's a look at live doppler 9000hd. the stuff you see closer, this is not reaching the ground. you get down to harrisonburg it is. we're seeing a lot of lightning coming out of west virginia west of roanoke. here's beckly. a lot of lightning popping in.

the rain increases very quickly as you get across the stateline here. that is all moving off tort the in order -- toward the northeast in the next hour or so i expect it 3:00, 4:00 here. things will get wet. in the mountains the national weather service has issue add flood watch. does -- issued a flood watch. does include winchester and points west till 7:00 tomorrow morning. remember how much rain we had just on wednesday. well, now we've got some more rain which could exacerbate that. it was a cold morning, clear skies. got down in the upper 20s. we stopped at 40. today we've made some progress. we're sitting at 54 now in washington. still 49 at southern maryland and also at hagerstown. 55 in culpeper. that's our warm spot. with the clouds thickening up, though, don't expect to see us getting all that much warmer. you can see those clouds starting to come in from the west. they'll thicken and lower rather quickly. 54 at national. air still dry. dew point 32. humidity only 43%. but this is a big spring storm

and dangerous spring storm. talking about it earlier, the tornadoes that are going to be expected in this part of the world. us for there's the rain. that will be moving in this afternoon. it will be with us tonight. going to be with us tomorrow morning. i think after 9:00, 10:00 here in d.c., this stuff gets south and east and then southeast of us you may hold on to it. then tomorrow night some colder air moves in. it's going to be a lot chillier around here by the time we get towards sunday. today mid-50s. tonight an about 50 for the low but showers and storms around through the first few hours of tomorrow morning. let's say 8:00, 9:00, 10:00 here in d.c. after that i think we're dry and breezy, 62. sunday look at this. only in the upper 40s. maybe some flurries possible sunday night into monday. monday the cold day and by wednesday and thursday we're looking at temperatures which are going to be warming back up into the low to mid-60s. jessica, over to you. >> thank you, howard. we've been combing through the day's daily deals and retailer websites to find you

deep discounts. here are some of our favorites to help you enjoy the weekend. pretend you're in the caribbean with this one. quantico scuba is offering a discovery scuba diving experience for $25. the deal includes all the necessary equipment and a class on basic skills and safety rules. it's half off. looking for some family fun? sword is offering $9 tickets to see the washington wizards vs. the golden state warriors. tickets normally go for 37 bucks so this is a 76% savings. the deal ends today. and finally we're taking good care of your car. mr. tran mission of woodbridge has a deal with living social. pay 39 bucks and get two engine and oil filter services. that is a 54% savings. if you have an offer you've seen or you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i would love to here from you on facebook. we head to the kitchen when we come back.

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can you really create a winning cupcake without using butter and eggs or these little guys right here which we're going to taste in a little bit? the answer apparently is absolutely. dawn peterson is here to show us how to do it. she's the food network cupcake wars all-star. >> we have a store front in

columbia heights. we're doing wholesale in the region. now we have this awesome cookbook. >> i have to ask you straight off. why would we want to give up butter and sugar when making our cupcakes and what is this? you said this is a big sell gler that's our number one seller. that's a calvin cookie. it's oatmeal cream sandwich. think about oatmeal cookies, salt, -- soft, a little bit salty. >> tell us what you're doing here. >> i'll show you how we make our brownies. everything is egg and dairy free. we have to find ways to come up with a delicious product and not use eggs and butter. so we start off with a mix of oils in place of butter, kind of like a spread, super dark coffee, dark chocolate and we let this melt down. >> you're going to start that with a double boiler. we have traditional flour, sugar, salt, chocolate chips. we use dark chocolate because it tends to not have dairy in

it so we know we don't have to worry about that. super dark cocoa. >> you want me to start whipping this up. >> go right ahead. >> we're making your brownies n. is a special recipe i imagine folks at home will have no problems being able to do? >> not at all. it's super easy. these are called jenny's brownies devised by our head baker who is also on the food network on cupcake wars. these are just super rich and delicious. we call them our grownup brownies. they're filled with chocolate. >> tell us real quick why vegan. >> there are a million reasons. the first three is we choose not to eat my products with animals in them because we can. we can make a difference for the animals. it's better for the environment and better for ourselves so we're not eating cholesterol. we're eating things with less saturated fats. it's health year for our bodies and of course these are desserts with tons of calories and loaded up with fun. >> i had to sneak in. >> this is fantastic.

howard is here. we want to thank you for coming in here today, for showing us these products and showing us some cooking. we want to let folks know that's it for fine fine now at noon -- for 9news now at noon. we're back at 5:00. you can check us out 24 hours a day on the web at wusa9.com. have a great day. have a great weekend, everybody. see you monday.