a massive group of supporters that held signs and chanted. >> this is not a black and white thing. this is about a right and wrong thing. >> reporter: there's question over whether the gunman was justified in shooting and killing the teen. george zimmerman who grew up in man fan sas said he -- manassas said he shot martin because he felt threatened. it's a stand your ground law in florida. he has >> this is what he said to the dispatcher. >> he has his hand in his waist band. >> reporter: mr. zimmerman provided a statement claiming he acted in self-defense which at the time was supported by physical evidence and testimony. by florida statute, law enforcement was prohibited

based on the facts and circumstances they had at the time. what the threat was, we don't know. zimmerman was found with a broken nose after the shooting. the teen was found with candy and ice tea in his pockets. >> trayvon was not -- and i will repeat, was not a bad person. >> it is unclear what the police chief's future in sanford will be after last night's no confidence vote. the u.s. justice department is involved in the investigation. this saturday a justice rally is planned in honor of trayvon martin at freedom plaza. the rally is scheduled from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. participants are asked to wear black or a hoodty. president obama wraps up his tour to defend his energy agenda today. he'll make stops in cushing, oklahoma and columbus, ohio. the president is taking heat from republicans who say he's not doing enough to lower rising gas prices. president obama is expected to announce plans to accelerate work as part of the keystone

pipeline. approved section would go from oklahoma to texas. taking a look at some of the other things on the campaign trail, mitt romney picked up a key endorsement in his quest to become the republican presidential nominee. former governor jeb bush backed romney. a top romney advisor was asked if the g.o.p. primary race was pushed romney so far to the right, he'd risk alienating middle of the road voters in a possible fall campaign. the advisor likened romney's campaign to an etch sketch, something you can shake and start all over. romney said his policies and positions will be the same. a nigerian woman is under

arrest following a record heroin bust at dulles airport. border agents say the 52-year- old ingested 180 thumb size pellets filled with the drug. she told customs she was here to visit her brother but couldn't provide a description. it's worth about $150,000 on the street. she is in the custody of immigration and homeland security agents. police believe they have pictures which may show the man who attack add 16-year-old girl in -- attacked a 16-year-old girl in fairfax on monday as she was walking home from wood soon high school. >> i hear this bloodcurdling scream. >> the teenager who doesn't want to be identified was walking along the path monday when the attack took place. thorpts say the victim -- authorities say the victim was near the entrance of picket road when a man approached her, grabbed her neck and assaulted her. >> to hear her scream like she did, you knew she was

horrified. this is a shortcut for the kids. this is their way home. you're talking hundreds of kids that go through here every day. >> reporter: the employee and several lacrosse players ran to help but got there just in time to see a man running away. police believe the man was caught. you're looking at this surveillance video. he's described as being 20 to 40 years old, 5'8", 170 pounds. again surveillance video believe they caught this man because the path is not on school property, fairfax county public schools says there isn't much they can do. they since sent home an e-mail to all parents urging them to caulk to their kids about the incident -- talk to their kids about the incident and remind them to never walk home alone. a police officer convicted in a bizarre sexual assault case will spend the next decade behind bars. gene jilllet was sentenced to ten years in prison. prosecutors say last july

gillette lured a 20-year-old man to his home, made sexual advances toward him, then shot the man several times as he attempted to flee in jilllet's trucks. jill -- gillette's trucks. gillette apologized to the victim and asked for forgiveness. virginia state lawmakers met in richmond to take another stab at hammering out a budget plan. the current budget is set to expire at the end of june. there's no word if any significant progress was made. we do know voters aren't happy about the stale participate. a new poll by quinnipiac university founds just 30% of voters approve of the legislature's performance. loudoun county needs more time to decide whether it will help pay for phase 2 of the dulles rail project. they want another 30 days to review the project. the county board of supervisors says it wants the extra time since the board has seven new members. phase two would run from reston

to dulles airport and then two stops in loudoun county. those two stops would be scrapped from face two if the -- phase two if the county decides to pull out. the n.f.l. handed down its biggest punishment ever to the saints for a bounty system which paid players to take opposing players out of the game. >> the league announced heavy fines, lost draft picks and suspensions for three different coaches. >> reporter: new orleans saints head coach sean payton has been suspended without way for allowing his season to use a so- called bounty system to target opposing players. it's the first time the league has suspended a coach for any reason. gregg williams who now works for the st. louis rams has been banned indefinitely. >> we have a serious violation of existing rule that threatens the health and welfare of our

players. >> reporter: the n.f.l. says the program paid thousands of dollars to more than 20 players for hits on specific opponents, including quarterbacks aaron rogers, cam newton, bret favre and kurt warner. some of the payments included $1500 for a player knockout, $100 for a cartout -- $1,000 for a cartout. saints defensive players were fined $30,000 for four separate illegal hits, including several on favre. the league says $10,000 bounty was offered to anyone who knocked favre out of the game. payton has acknowledged the violations happened during his watch, but the n.f.l. says he denied the program existed and ignored league instruction to end it. >> we were misled and there were denials throughout that period. meanwhile, there continued to be risks to our players and to

the integrity of our game. >> reporter: goodell has ordered all n.f.l. teams to make sure they're not offering bounties now. >> the saints also suspended their general manager and the assistant head coach for the first six games. they're also looking at 27 saints players. they'll decide about them later o. the saints must pay a $500,000 fine. they'll lose their second round draft pick for the next two years. as for the redskins where gregg williams used to work as defensive coordinator, the n.f.l. has cleared them of any wrongdoing. one thing i have to say about this, you're making millions of dollars, why do you need an incentive of $1500. the time right now is 4:38. at 4:41, a major fast food chain is planning to change the way they serve you certain bef arches. at 4:49, an audit reveals

metro transit may have overpaid a contractor hundreds of thousands of dollars. we're back in just two minutes with your weather first. keep it here.

once again we're dealing with fog. right now it's south, southeast of town. dense fog advisories till 10:00 a.m. stray showers can't be ruled out but this afternoon we're going to turn sunny and warmer with highs mid- to upper 70s, maybe even near 80. right now here's monika santami returning with time saver traffic. on the southbound side of i- 270, traffic is moving well as you head in from frederick down to the point where the lanes divide.

you want to watch out as howard has been saying for fog to the south and east of town. we'll take a closer look at maryland roads at 4:47. >> thank you, monika. the time right now 4:41. i am watching your money. thousands of former workers will share a $10 million settlement. more than 8,000 employees claim they lost money on the bank's stock and retirement accounts after the firm made risky investments in subprime mortgages. the $10 million settlement is with jpmorgan chase which bought bear stearns in 2008 when the firm was on the brink of failure. wall street, a mixed showing. the dow stands at 13,124 dropping 24 points in trade yesterday. nasdaq was up by about a point and the s&p 500 was down by two and a half. the cost of college tuition is going up leaving parents concerned about how they're going to pay. according to complete college planning solutions more than 90% of students are overpaying for college. the group says the trick to

saving some money is filling out the free application for federal student aid or fasa n. is what allows students to be considered for government money. the aid is give an a first come, first serve basis. also, don't put too much money in your child's name and don't let them work too much the year before college because that income could count against them. mcdonald's wants to swap foam cups for the more environmentally friendly paper cups. it's testing double walled paper cups for hot beverages at about 2,000 restaurants. if all goes well, they could drop the foam hot cups later this year. starbucks certainly has been fine without them. >> go for it. the next time you have a sinus infection, you may want to hold off on running to the doctor's office. >> we're back in two minutes with that story and more. plus, your weather first.

. good morning. welcome back to 9news now. a happy early good morning to base commander captain anthony colandra. they get up early and watch us. i was the speaker there at women's history month lunchon yesterday. i said oh, you know, 5:00. no, we're up 4:00 a.m., 4:25, we're watching. a little fog coming in to them. we're just getting reports that fog which was not in bowie half an hour ago is in bowie now marching toward the district. it's marching toward the north. that's where we begin this morning. a dense fog advisory in effect for just about everybody till 10:00 a.m. out toward winchester and hagerstown, martinburg, you're not in it and points west but

everybody else, southern maryland, the eastern shore, most of new jersey, the state of delaware are under a dense fog advisory till 10:00. locally here's a look at visibilities. half mile in baltimore. a half mile being reported at dulles at this hour. so it's creeping off toward the north. still three miles at national. but i expect this number to be dropping. even up in frederick, you guys are down to one half mile visibility. fredricksburg zero. a lot of dense fog. southern maryland down to the south. take it easy. it's going to slow you down. remember low beams. the bus stop forecast, we've got the fog, the low clouds. it could be some drizzle developing as well. but right now not hearing about any. 52 to 62. sunrise at 8 after 7:00 this morning. we start with the low clouds and fog, a stray sprinkle. by noon we'll start to see sunshine. the cloud cover won't be as extensive as yesterday. it will burn off quicker. with more sun this afternoon we'll make it to the mid- to

upper 70s in many areas. winds out of the south at 5 to 10 miles an hour. by 8:00 still pleasant and 71 degrees under mainly clear skies. our weather headlines, warmer today due to the fact that the clouds are not going to be lasting as long i don't think. knock on wood. as we get into this afternoon, just a stray thunderstorm possible. but most of us won't see it. more like june tomorrow as temperatures will shoot into the low 80s ahead of a storm system that promises to bring unsettled weather for the weekend. looks like showers and storms are a pretty good bet saturday into sunday. so if you have outdoor plans this weekend, start thinking about plan b. not necessarily a washout but could have quite a few periods of showers and storms. 61 in d.c. fredricksburg with the fog 58. 57 with the fog at pax river. 54 in winchester. still low 60s when you consider the average high this time of year is 58, the incredible warm stretch continues. here's a look outside our michael & son weather camera. some of the low clouds and fog

moving toward the capitol dome. 61, cloudy skies reported at reagan national. you see this out west? the western satellite goes west. right now it's not working. so that's why we're going to miss some of the west coast weather here on the satellite. but in the middle of the country we've got an area of low pressure which yesterday was in west texas. this morning it's over dallas and oklahoma city. the moisture continues to flow up from the gulf of mexico with heavy rains in mississippi headed toward alabama. that storm system heads our way for the weekend. that's why we're looking at the sthowrs -- at the showers and storms picking up. we may see an isolated one later on. so today 77, the morning fog, stray shower but afternoon sunshine. tomorrow warm. 81 for washington, d.c. but there will be some of our suburbs south and west maybe 83, 84 not out of the question. by saturday only around 70 with

showers and storms. sunday more showers, cooler, 62. monday 65. tuesday maybe the coolest day, about 60 which is almost average. then wednesday we're back to 70. it is now 4:50. monika santami stepping in with time saver traffic. it's pretty early and i think everyone is getting the heads up they need. if you're planning to head around town, what we're talking about is the fog howard just told you about. south and east of town especially. if you're coming in on route 50, you will definitely find the foggy conditions out of annapolis as you head toward the beltway on route 50 itself. we'll take a live look at bw parkway north of the beltway. you can see a bit of fog in the area. it seems to be improving the closer you get to town. we'll go back over to the maps this time to southern maryland. incident free out of accokeek, brandywine, route 4, 301. everything is fine. take a look at the beltway at route 4 pennsylvania avenue. again fog is definitely going to be a factor for you this morning. so keep that in mind for your travel plans. in my next report, we'll take a

look into virginia at 4:55. but first, an audit by metro's inspector general has found the transit agency overpaid a contractor potentially by hundreds of thousands of dollars to help reduce safety problems. according to the washington examiner, the audit also found metro continued making mistake riddled payments to dupont safety resources without enough internal oversight. metro paid dupont $13.7 million through june 2011. the contract is slated to end next month. andrea, back to you. >> thank you, monika. new research suggests cancer cells in the blood can help doctors predict whether a woman's breast cancer comes back. researchers in germany looked at more than 2,000 patients who had surgery to remove their tumors but hasn't started chemotherapy yet. they found women who had at least five cancer cells or circulating tumor cells in their blood were four times more likely to have their breast cancer recur. they were also three times more likely to die from the disease.

researchers say the findings may lead to treatments which target the cell. a new report says smoking deaths have nearly tripled in the past decade claiming the lives of 50 million people worldwide. the world lung foundation says if current trends continue, a billion people will die from tobacco use and exposure this century. the report says nearly 80% of people who die from tobacco- related illnesses come from low and middle-income countries. allergies this year and our unusually warm weather means it's going to be an even longer allergy season. here's some advice from the asthma clinic on dealing with all of the pollen. replace or rinse out the air filters on your air conditioner. keep your nose and throat clear by using some saline spray or neti pot. even though it is nice outside, exercise indoors to reduce your

pollen exposure. doctors routinely treat sinus infection with antibiotics but new guidelines from the infectious disease society of america says most sinus infections should not be treated with antibiotics. the guidelines say viruses cause 90% to 98% of cases which don't respond to antibiotics. still sinus infections are a leading reason for antibiotics prescriptions in this country leading to drug resistant strains. the antibiotics that used to be offered just aren't really effective anymore. >> the new guidelines suggest doctors wait a little longer to prescribe drugs. they prescribe antibiotics being given in sinus symptoms last ten days or more or there's fever and facial pain. 4:53. time for the question of the morning. good one do. >> it is. 58% of married men say they are better at this than their

wives. is it a, fashion, b, cooking, and c, laundry. >> i think i'm going with c as well. you can log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we're going to reveal the answer during our 6:00 hour.

your weather fir on this foggy morning. a dense fog advisory till 10:00 a.m. this afternoon we should get back into the sunshine quicker than we did yesterday so temperatures should respond in kind. traffic still moving well. we're still moving pretty well. on the northbound side of 395 looks great heading to the 14th street bridge. it's the foggy patches you're

going to encounter to the south and east of town. coming up in my next report, we'll take a closer look into virginia at 5:10. back to you. >> thank you, monika. today is the first of 100 cherry blossom trees that will be planted at reagan national airport, a gift from the main international airport which serves tokyo. of course this is in honor of the 100th anniversary of japan's first cherry blossom gift to the nation's capital. the airports authority also plans to use special lights in its terminals to bathe things in cherry blossom pink. maryland senator barbra mikulski was honored on the senate floor for being the longest serving woman in congress. she was first elected to the house of representatives in 1975 and to the senate in 1986. the 75-year-old mikulski broke the record for the longest serving woman in congress last weekend when she bypassed representative edith rogers of massachusetts.

congratulations to senator mikulski. >> absolutely. a movie star is reportedly pregnant. >> an oscar winner receives a welcome home party. we have those stories and more in this look at entertainment. >> reporter: reece wither responsible is reportedly -- witherspoon is reportedly pregnant. she's about 12 weeks along with her third child. montgomery, alabama held a big celebration for oscar winning actress octavia spencer. the star of "the help" arrived in a pink limousine where hundreds cheered her arrival. >> people of alabama have been so supportive of me. i want you guys to know that this native daughter appreciates it. >> reporter: spencer was even serenaded by the band from her old high school. ♪ we all live in a yellow submarine." >> reporter: the beatles animated feature "the yellow submarine" is getting a

facelift. the 1968 film has been dingal write -- digitally restored. it will be rereleased may 29 along with a cd of the film's sound tack album. -- track album. are you in the market for a enough pad in manhattan. singer alicia keys is putting her penthouse on the market but be ready to shell out $18 million. she's purchased the 16-room home from lenny kravitz in 2010. it features five bedrooms and a 3,000 square footer as with views of the city. -- foot terrace with views of the city. that's your eye on entertainment. >> that's some pad. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. on this friday eve. i'm andrea roane. i got excited there for