. hello and thank you for joining me. i'm hey hey. right now the suspect in monday's deadly shooting at a jewish school in france continues to hold police at bay. the gunman claims to have

terrorist ties. >> reporter: the french police prepare to storm a building to capture a suspect the killer in the city of toulouse. they've been locked in a tense standoff with muhammad merah who shot at them early this morning. the 24-year-old french man drove to a local jewish school on his motorcycle monday and killed teacher jonathan saddler, his two young sons and a little girl. hundreds gathered in jerusalem to bury the victims. the french foreign minister flew to israel for the funeral and he vowed the country would fight hate crimes. president nicholas sarkozy who is running for reelection in five weeks says france must remain united. police believe merah also murdered three french soldiers at an atm earlier this month and again escaped on a motorcycle. france's interior minister says the suspect claims to have connections to al qaeda. he says merah was reportedly seeking payback for the killing

of pal pal children in the middle -- for palestinian children in the middle east and the french army's involvement in afghanistan. afghan authorities say merah was arrested for bomb making in kandahar five years ago but escaped in 2008 during a taliban prison break. cbs news. >> bomb experts are on the scene of a strange discovery in southeast washington. it appears some sort of military ordnance was discovered on 4th street southeast. no one was injured and right now authorities are not sure exactly how that device got there. today a former mound rainier police officer will be sentenced in a bizarre attack. gene gillette was off duty at the time of the shooting inside his home last july. prosecutors say gillette lured a man to his home in capitol heights by offering him a role in a pornographic movie. according to police when no women showed up, the victim was shot when he rebuffed

gillette's advances. gillette pleaded guilty to attempted murder charges last november. police in prince george's county are investigating a homicide. this morning around 1:00 a.m. they found a man shot inside a burning car. it happened on palmer road just east of route 210 in fort washington. investigators are now working on an exact time live. the victim's name has not been released. we have a follow-up to a story you first saw here on channel 9. arlington's police chief has rescinded a people ran mum that many -- memorandum that many viewed as calling for police officers to meet quotas for handing out tickets and arrests in the county. nine nine now received the -- 9 news now received the memo from an arlington police officer.

the police chief acted and said the first one was not intended to set quotas. >> i've never advocated quotas or disciplined an officer because they didn't hit a numeric number for a monthly arrest total. even the perception that that exists bothers me. >> chief scott added there will not be any disciplinary action taken against the to patrol commanders who sent out the original memo. custom agents seized more than four pounds of heroin that was ready for street use. agents arrest add woman who flew in from -- arrested a woman who flew in from nigeria on saturday. she had ingested about 180 pellets packed with heroin. the drugs have a street value of $150,000. the suspect remains in custody and authorities say that this is the second largest heroin

seizure at dulles airport. a crash in prince george's county sent radioactive debris on to the road but there is no serious danger, according to authorities. a soil density gauge flew out of the back of a pickup truck after a crash occurred in glendale on monday. experts said it was radioactive. a hazardous materials crew decontaminated a small area near hill meade road. the gauge contains a small amount of radioactive material but again everyone exposed will be okay. there were tense moments for commuters who take massachusetts avenue at thomas circle because a tractor- trailer became stuck and that shut down one lane of traffic. once the driver released air from the truck's tires, he was able to drive. there's no word if police plan to cite that driver.

we have something unprecedented to share. videotape shot from inside a car moments before a deadly crash. like so many fatal crashes, this one involved young people, alcohol, and speed. andrea mccarren got this dramatic video and she brings us this excerpt. >> we know what we're doing. >> reporter: she was buckled in the front passenger seat videotaping her night out with two friends. the police investigation reveals their car was traveling at 94 miles per hour in a 40 mile per hour zone. >> i wouldn't want anyone else, not even my worst enemy to walk in my shoes right now. >> reporter: the car barreled over a chain link fence and plowed into a brick embankment. the impact so violent, it flung parts ever the car into tree branches and utility wires. >> you can see andrea's report

"6 deadly seconds" in its entirety on 9news now beginning at 5:00 p.m. coming up when our news continue, see how a community bands together to march against violence in columbia heights. a resounding victory for mitt romney in illinois, but his g.o.p. opponents aren't ready to leave the race for the white house. i'm randall pinkston, that story coming up.

let's take a look at the republican race for president. mitt romney says that he is closing in on the republican nomination. yesterday he grabbed a decisive win in illinois. randall pinkston reports romney's opponents have no intention, however, of leaving the race. >> reporter: mitt romney's big win in illinois widens his lead in the delegate race putting him almost halfway to the number needed for the republican nomination. >> we thank the people of illinois for their vote. >> reporter: romney outspend his opponent 7-1 and won over republicans who care most about beating president obama. but he is still struggling to

excite the base. voter turnout was low in illinois, something democrats are quick to point out. >> you could draw a bigger crowd at a green bay packers rally in downtown chicago. >> reporter: rick santorum finished a distant second in ili. romney supporters are calling for him to leave the race but santorum says he's not going anywhere. >> again, it's very clear it's a two-person race. >> reporter: santorum believes he can win this weekend in louisiana. and the white house is more than happy to see the republican nomination process drag on. the. is visiting western battleground states nevada and new mexico but his reelection campaign is facing a bit of controversy stirred up at a recent fund-raiser with michele obama headlines the event, actor robert deniro joked about the republican field saying do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady? newt gingrich jumped on the comment? >> he should apologize for it. >> reporter: gingrich finished

fourth in illinois just behind ron paul who talked to jay leno last night. >> i think the other three should just get out of the race. >> reporter: paul is running last in the delegate race but insists his campaign will continue to the convention. randall pinkston, cbs news, the white house. here is what the primary calendar looks like. on saturday the louisiana primary will be held. santorum holds a 13-point advantage over romney in the latest poll there. then on april 3, voters in the district of columbia, maryland and wisconsin will go to the polls and on april 24, five states, including new york and pennsylvania will hold their primaries. coming up next, howard and the forecast. >> i see it rather comfortable. we've gotten rid of the drizzle, most of of the fog, but there's one little thunderstorm i'm watching on live doppler 9000 hd approaching southern charles

county. we'll show you more on that and have the rest of the week's forecast and talking about the weekend as well when we return.

we've been combing through the day's daily deals, e-mails and retailer websites to find you great deals. two ice cream deals are among my favorites. this one may appeal to you on living social. it's a deal for carvel in arlington. pay $4, get $8 to spend on frozen treats or pay $10 and get $20 for any ice cream cake.

and here's another yum. gilt city has a deal for ben & jerry' shops at old post office pavilion, georgetown, union station, national harbor and old town alexandria. pay $5 for $10 of ice cream and more. this deal has limited availability so it could sell out. finally, would you like a personalized case for your iphone 4s, maybe put a picture of your kid or dog on there? google offers is showing this deal. $14 for a personalized case from pixwraps. it's normally $31. if you have an offer you've seen or you're a local merchant with a deal, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. i'm jessica doyle, 9news now. more than 600 people locked arms and marched against hate crimes targeting the gay, lesbian and transgender community. this was the scene last night at 14th and irving streets northwest in columbia heights. a gay man was shot at the ihop

restaurant earlier this month after a confrontation with a group of customers. city officials say they want to send a message that sexually biased crimes will not be tolerated. >> i do think there's a perception that certain people are more vulnerable to target of crime. >> so far the suspect has not been captured. the march ended at a dupont circle nightclub with a fund- raiser for victims of anti-gay crimes. aftershocks continue to rattle parts of southern mexico. however, no one was killed when a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck on tuesday. it is estimated that 800 homes near the epicenter were damaged. the tremor caused tall buildings, hundreds of miles away in mexico city to sway. a less powerful 5.1 aftershock was felt in the capital. if you see a lot of fire trucks and ambulances racing

around in fairfax county today, don't worry. it is the start of a three-day tornado drill. tornadoes have caused $34 million in damage in that county over the years, and that's why fairfax first responders are teaming up for this exercise. the national cherry blossom festival is officially under way. it started yesterday along the tidal basin with the cherry blossoms in peak bloom. they're gorgeous. about a million people are expected to visit the district over the course of the festival and that means there will be lots ever seen incompetent -- of scenic photographers and lots of parking tickets. aaa says last year there were more parking tickets issued in the district of columbia during this festival than any other time of year. >> just a warning. 68,000 -- 68,000 parking

tickets issued over the last cherry blossom festival period. please, tourists, beware and be warned. >> take metro. take metro. the event dubbed the nation's greatest springtime celebration will last for the next five weeks. festivities get under way this sunday with the opening ceremony. and the peak blooms are set to end on friday but i'm going to get some more details from howard about that. >> all the warm weather we've been having, meteorological winter was the warmest in washington history by 2 degrees. the period that just ended when spring began a couple of days ago, the warmest by 2 degrees. that is phenomenally warm. we had 2 inches of snow. look where we've been the last few weeks, well above average. >> will the blooms still stay until friday? >> they'll still stay till friday. the problem is a lot of people have made tear plans to come into -- their plans to come

down -- to come into town next week and the week after. we're seeing a lot of clouds. they're going to be slow to break up. this marine layer is thicker than yesterday's marine layer. temperatures climbing toward the 70-degree mark which is still well above average. average is 58. winds northeast 5 to 10 miles an hour. an outside chance we'll see a shower or possible storm. best chance of that will be south of d.c. we're seeing a little of that right now. going out this evening temperatures still in the mid- 60s through 9:00. so other than a light jacket, should be okay. tonight will be like last night in the sense with low clouds, some fog returning. you can see how the low clouds are really hanging tough east of the mountains. in fact, east of the divide here. down to the south, we've had showers there this morning. there we go. the boundary still active in and around the fredricksburg area. the heavier part of the cell has drifted toward the river just north here so this could be drifting into areas in

western charles county, southwestern charles county. riverside, port tobacco. stafford, this is just southeast of you. these showers go back down towards responsibility vain ya and frederickburgs. but this right here fort of goby producing lightning and thunder. north frederick down to 52. we got down to 59. mid-50s in easton and cambridge. at noon well, we're looking at only 64 degrees. that's a 5-degree spread from this morning. 63 in culpeper. it's 64 in easton. annapolis and baltimore are up to 65. the warm spot right now out in luray at 68. looking outside on our michael & son weather camera, still overcast in washington. the temperature of 64. winds still calm. they've been very light all morning. that dew point in the upper 50s. there's a lot of moisture available in the atmosphere. so any rain we get could be locally heavy. downpours. we've had them the last couple of days. nothing like what they're

seeing here in louisiana and mississippi. upper level storms spinning over texas. this thing is bringing in all this moisture off the gulf of mexico pouring inches and inches of rain down there. so not only do they have flooding concerns, they've got severe weather concerns. that was the tornado watch box. around here the marine layer in place. that's off the atlantic. so the clouds going down to central virginia. but look, it's all the way up in parts of southern new england. we could still see some sun mid- to late afternoon. we're also going to watch out for the threat for a couple of showers drifting toward southern midmerchandise as -- for southern maryland as well as we head into the afternoon. better chance of sunshine will be north of d.c. as opposed to south of d.c. today we'll get up to about 70. may see low 70s in a couple of spots, peaks of -- peeks of sun. more low clouds and fog and an isolated shower. upper 70s tomorrow. i think we'll see more sunshine and warmer on friday, 81. then that texas storm heads this way. increasing our chances for showers and storms on saturday

and sunday with temperatures cooling down mainly into the 60s for highs. willard hotels is in the house. this he have a long history with the cherry -- they have a long history with the cherry blossom festival. we'll tell you more when 9news now returns.

hello. i'm one on one today and we're mixing japanese asian infusion with french. i have two chefs with me. i have chef paul on the end and

he is going to start preparing some things. he's helping chef luke from the willard hotel. you have a chef from another restaurant helping you? >> [ indiscernible ] >> so what are you preparing? >> for the 100th anniversary the cherry blossom, we came up with a menu of japanese, asian and french infusion. this is one of our dishes. it's going to be presented on the asian salad. >> the asian salad is with what? carrots? >> we have carrots, seaweed, onion. display on the plate. >> that chicken looks awfully good chef paul over there. look at that. >> he's doing the magic. >> he really is. wait a minute, what is he doing right there?

>> a glaze. he's going to finish with a little bit -- [ indiscernible ] >> you'll have this for a couple of weeks? >> till april 27. >> you've given us the recipe and it's on jchayward.com. and then let me tell you what i like about the willard and i do it whenever i get a chance. you can guess what it is. high tea. >> the goodies at the tea. >> you have brought some of them here, some of the sandwiches. >> we're doing the asian fusion so we have the traditional sandwich. the scones and then the pastry. we have green tea, creme- brulee. we have cherry short bread. >> what is that right there? >> that is a cherry short

bread. >> oh, gosh. >> you have here raspberry. >> that looks good. and no calories, right? you've removed all. no calories. >> you have also a little chocolate mouse with cherry flavor in it. >> so try going to high tea at the willard. it really is lovely. you do it so well. then chef paul, thank you for putting together that lovely dish. and enjoy the cherry blossoms, everyone, because they are absolutely gorgeous. you only have till maybe friday. they're at high bloom. come back and visit us at 5:00. thank you.