the controversy in florida continues to grow on one side where people say that trayvon martin's killer is still free. >> the other side, stay on your side law, preventing them from making an arrest, now igniting the heart wrenching national debate about guns and debates. florida's governor hired a prosecutor to oversee the death of the 17-year-old. george zimmerman continues to stand on his fire that he opened fire in self-defense after firing him inside a gate -- after following him inside a gated community. after receiving a vote of no confidence from the san francisco commissioners for failing to arrest zimmerman, the police chief bill lee says he will step aside temporarily because he has become a distraction. it was a gesture that martin's parents said fell short. >> this is a temporary step down. there is nothing that we want

is an arrest, a conviction, and we want him charged for the murder of my son. >> reporter: today, martin's parents met with the fbi and attorneys to talk about the investigations. florida prosecutors will convene a grand jury next month to decide whether zimmerman will be charged. well founded or not, there is a very strong perception on the part of many that this is at its core a case of racism that lead to death. so now imagine what it is like to be a mother of a young african american male who closes the door behind him and leads the safety of your home for the real world of america in 2012. well tonight, we talked to some moms who don't have to panel. >> reporter: a rally at the round table, trayvon martin at the center. >> that is racial profiling. >> reporter: many of the women here see what they believe to be racial profiling. >> my father was on his way to

work at the same city at 5:00 a.m. in the morning. >> reporter: when he ended up thrown in jail for a non-broken broken taillight, putting cameras like this one in squad cars to record police stops. you're watching the camera prompted by her dad's treatment, record the arrest of her son. >> they thought he was a gang member. >> reporter: shattered her son, she says. >> because he had been raised to and was doing all the things that would prevent him from having to be involved in things like perceived as a bad person because of the color of his skin. >> reporter: kids are throwing out the city paid money. >> reporter: they've watched the florida case with dismay. >> so basically everything that i taught them to try to instill values to them about authority is like, you know, it's a big disappointment. >> reporter: it's not just

young black men. >> at 13 my brother was murdered. >> reporter: never solved because of the low priority given to the death of the young black men. >> it made me feel like this is no way to be safe. that there is nothing that will protect you from whatever else is on out there in the world. >> reporter: latasha brown carries this picture of her 19- year-old. >> as a mother, that should not be a concern of mine that i'm worried that my son might be misread or deceived wrong because of who he is. >> we want our children to be respected for who they are and not profiled just by the color of their skin. >> reporter: as the nation thinks about florida, a mother asks. >> what kind of society are we creating that a perception could actually lead to death? >> now before george zimmerman shot and killed trayvon martin, he made reference to the teenager's race when he called police. questions of responsibility and scope of duty for the neighborhood watches have come up. our we'll give you a view on

what the local neighborhood watch is like. >> reporter: we have been doing this for 16 years. dave evans is the director of the tanglewood watch patrol. the small community nestled in silver spring is normally quiet, but it isn't immune to street-level crimes. >> we have interrupted car break-ins, possibly even attempted thefts. we've had people roaming in the neighborhood that when the police were called they came out and it turns out that they had outstanding warrants. >> reporter: according to evans, about 50 volunteers participate in the program, alternating evening shifts. >> we want to know that you can walk down the street and not be hurt. >> reporter: the job they say is solely to serve as extra eyes and ears to the montgomery county police department. if they see something, they call 911 and report it to the police. confronting a criminal or chasing after one is something they don't do. they are never armed with a gun or any other weapon. >> your best defense is the vehicle that you're in. and you really shouldn't probably leave the vehicle.

it's maintaining a receive -- a safe distance. >> 99% of the local law enforcement throughout the united states. we did not allow the weapons in neighborhood watches. >> reporter: it's unclear what the rules of zimmerman's neighborhood watch are or if they were acting as a watchman when he shot trayvon martin. they are questions you'll have to answer. >> it's a difficult situation. i don't know if they really know the fact or if they were difficult on passing judgment. of course, the only person that knows the truth is the person that did the shooting. >> reporter: dave evans says that the reason why they have been so successful for the past 16 years is the continuous support for the volunteers. neighbors who live in this area who are vowing to keep their streets safe. we're in silver spring, ken molestina, 9 news now. >> it turns out that florida is one of the states with the ground laws. they do vary from state to

state. the one in florida gives you wide attitude to use deadly force, rather than having to retreat during the confrontation. for more on the matter, we spoke to the defense attorney. that's just because you don't need to run or pull out your gun and start shooting people. the point is that he did not have to run to stand his ground. did he stand his ground or chase after the the gentleman he eventually shot, mr. martin? >> that is the question. now as for the laws in this area, bruce leshan reports that d.c., maryland, and virginia all require you to back off if you can. most states have laws or presidents that say your home is your passion. so if someone breaks in here and you have a reasonable fear of death or injury, you can use

deadly force with no duty to retreat. in maryland, d.c., virginia, and florida, this would likely be self-defense. but it depends. when police corporal keith washington killed the furniture delivery man in his home, former state prisoner attorney sent him to prison. >> we didn't see the threat of death or harm or anything. >> reporter: but florida has essentially extended the castle view out your door. so a reasonable fear of death or injury in florida mite make this self-defense with no duty to call 911, but not necessarily in maryland, d.c., or florida. and you do not necessarily have to retreat from the confrontation on the street. that might be different in our region. >> if you can get away, you

can. >> and that your cars are also on out there and your castle. but when they were a prosecutor, he had a different perspective. >> the ability to retreat in a car is greater than on foot. >> reporter: bruce leshan, 9news now. >> and tonight a well-known civil rights attorney with ties to the district, they have passed away. >> and they died today at john hopkins hospital. in 2008, he was appointed the sixth president and director of the council of the naacp and the legal defense fund. before that he was the district's corporation council from 91 to 94. he was also a long-time partner in the prominent district law firm. most noticeably an affirmative action case man. they are accused in the massacre of the afghan vile panellers, now charged with 17 counts of murder. the army staff sergeant is accused of killing 17 afghan

civilians, including nine children. the 38-year-old father of two allegedly gunned down the victims as they slept in their homes in two southern villages. well, almost six weeks after the death of whitney houston, we now know what killed her. the coroner's office has released their findings and they concluded that houston drowned in the hotel bathroom due to cocaine use. >> it indicated an acute use and that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately to the collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> tests also show that she used marijuana and prescription drugs, but not in an amount that would have killed her. it was back on february 11 that her body was discovered submerged in the bathtub of the beverly hills hotel room. the update on the triple stabbing. the young woman was under arrest for the crime, but

because she's a juvenile, police are not releasing her name. it happened around 9:30 last night. police say that the attack followed a fight that began on the mcdonalds area. three women stabbed were taken to the hospital and expected to recover. now to a video that has gone viral on youtube. >> this tirade went on for a while. now, she was eventually removed and never hurt anybody, but in light of the school violence and the issues across the country in recent years, we checked with the local effort on how situations like this should be recovered. she tells 9news that the professor, they should have gotten students out of the classroom as fast as possible and call campus police instead of letting the incident

escalate. >> too much time did elapse before they could get control of the situation. >> the name of that student has not been released. treated at the psychiatric facility. and still to come on 9news now. screens and tears. and they pour out of the courtroom after the judge makes the surprising way at the murder case. plus, mitt romney's opponent takes advantage of his campaign staff. the latest political blender. topper? well, 76 today. now, it could be even warmer tomorrow. we'll show you the wakeup weather. yes, we'll have fog. we won't be as widespread as we were this morning. but you might want to allow a little extra time. that'll be at 5:00 and the low 60s here for you by 9:00. we'll come back and talk about the possibility of the record highs for you tomorrow and we checked the weekend forecast. we'll talk about that too.

new information tonight. at least one person has died after a commercial building came crumbling down on the

upper manhattan this morning. three construction workers were buried alive by the concrete steel and brick. firefighters were working feverishly to free the victims. two survived, but they had pretty serious injuries. the building commissioner believes that a cut in the beam is what caused it. >> a raw emotion for you at the end of the murder trial. relatives of the murder victim erupt in disbelief and enraged this view after the jury acquitted the man who was accused of gunning down three adults and a 2-year-old baby during the robbery back in 2010. the jury was deadlocked against the second defendant and they declared a mistrial. the elias abuelazam motion from the victim's relative spilled out from the courtroom and the lobby, on out to the streets. >> count my little cousin for nothing. and i'm looking on out there. just a couple of months. >> that's not right. >> no. >> the prosecutors say that

they will be retrying the man for whom they deadlocked. they were unable to reach the verdict. >> today, they ordered the government to fast track a part of the keystone pipeline. and that is where the president was today in the heart of the oil country. defending his decision to delay the rest of the project, which would have brought oil from canada. he discussed the energy policy, saying that america is producing more oil today than what they have in the last eight years. they will be opening up a part of the pipeline to distribute it even faster. >> there is a battle neck right here because we cannot get enough for you of the oil. and to the refineries that will be moving fast enough. >> here we are standing in oklahoma. they could put one foot on one side and say this side of the pipeline could go and put one foot on the other side. that foot can't. >> this election year, someamericans are already paying more than $4 for a gallon of gas. many people are. the republican white house hopefuls are telling voters

that president obama is to blame for that. and now the white house, they say that they will be reviewing the northern part of the keystone pipeline if the company that wants to build it could find the alternative route to the one that has been proposed. protesters greeted mitt romney when the gop candidate made an appearance in the district this morning. they were carrying the sketches here after one of romney's aids compared the candidates and their campaign. >> they are looking for someone that is an etched in stone candidate. >> well, yeah, the general election campaign will take on a different profile. the issues i'm running on will be the same. >> they will face off this saturday in the louisiana primary. guys? >> it didn't look like that change too much.

>> right. >> all right, we're looking for a warmer day tomorrow and then the weekend, it's not going to rain continuously, but it will be hard to get that going. let's start with the record highs. now here is the deal. the record highs today at national or downtown here. it will be 93 set back in 1997. all right, that's safe. but the record high, it will be 83 set back in 1984. that will be a maybe. if you take march so far, it will be the warmest march on record. and we will see if it will be standing up that way. here is a live look outside. it's like a june night. it will be a gorgeous night. 56 downtown. winds are dead calm as the fog starts to develop here and the pressure is 33.1 and rising just a little bit. and here is what we will be dealing with the radar. looking pretty good. rolling through down towards fredericksburg.

it's the only one we have seen tonight. we'll probably see a few more tomorrow night, especially west of i-81 and the corridor. the satellite picture radar combined. you can see the swirl here. they just can't move. they will kind of drift eastward. so consequently. we'll see the frontal system here, probably not as clear as sunday night and probably not start to affect us until saturday. in the meantime, big time thunderstorms in alabama and also northwestern sections of georgia and out to east tennessee. so we're looking at just a couple of showers for you tonight and they will be dying out to the south of us down towards fredericksburg and the headlines here tonight will be fog. i don't think that it will be as widespread as it was this morning. so more fog for you in the morning and it will be in for howard. even warmer on friday. yeah, 80 degrees is the common place. isolated thunderstorms are possible for you. and again a better chance along the i-81 corridor and west into the mountains. and cooler and wet over the weekend. now with that said, it won't be raining continuously on saturday nor is it going to rain continuously on sunday,

but it will be unsettled to say the least. all right overnight we'll stay partly to mostly cloudy and warm. more fog. i'm saying warm. i mean 56 to 52 is some kind of warmth. for all you buffs on out there, we are looking at four consecutive record high minimums for you at dulles. tomorrow morning partly cloudy and warm, sol fog early. 50s and 60s. actually 70s before noon and then by the afternoon, partly cloudy and even warmer for you. an isolated shower or thunderstorm is possible. highs around 80. the winds will be out of the southeast at about 10 and a better chance for showers and storms for you west of town. all right, we'll break it down. fog to start. 56 to 62. warm by noon in the 70s. then warmer by evening. 79 to 84. a thunderstorm is possible. all right next seven days. it looks like this. warm tomorrow, saturday and sunday, okay, showers and storms will be possible on saturday, but it won't be showering all day. light rain and showers possibly on sunday, but it won't be raining all day. a little cooler on sunday, back

in the 60s. then monday and tuesday, bright to brisk. what would we do with average weather, huh? 60 and sunshine. then back to the upper 60s on wednesday and thursday. >> okay, we could handle it. >> yeah, i like the bright. well, there is a push now to bring the washington redskins back to washington. today mayor vince gray met with six other residents to talk about building a training facility for the team in the city. and gray is hoping that the move will help raise some revenue for the old d.c. government. and most important issue is, you know, how do we do something that we think will benefit the district of columbia for you and all ate wards, all 618,000 people. and that is exactly it, the way that we have attracted the government over the last 14 plus months. >> mayor gray's plan also includes other details like building a redskins hall of fame. >> there you go. >> i like that idea. >> but we'll go to hockey tonight. >> yeah, we go to hockey tonight. yes. the nhl season, quickly winding down. the caps sitting on the edge. could they pick up a much-

needed win tonight against the fliers? plus, the wizards, when they pick up back-to-back wins with their new teammates. sports is next.

they make it look pretty easy. wizard back with their road trip they lead the entire game until now. they give the pacers with their first lead and a minute to go.

what a floater! it goes in and they didn't get it off before the block ran out. >> no. >> so the wizards will blow a 22-point lead. pacers win, 85-83. time now to reveal the winner of this week's high school game of the week. over 8,000 of you voted and it is a matchup here. we'll have highlights of this game tomorrow night at 11:00. the nfl handed out their punishment. but now the u.s. senate is getting involved in bounty gate. the senator of illinois is forming a judiciary committee to examine the scheme and determine whether or not bounty should be be considered a crime. they call the bounty system a disturbing practice. he's not focusing on just football, but plans to reach out to representatives from all the major sports to testify once the hearing has been scheduled. that should begin in about two to three weeks. the league closers are

investigating the redskins involvement. but could it have been a little early in the article out today written by the bloggers. the former players have described instances when the former defensive coordinator walked into the locker room with wads of cash in his hand, urging his team to knock the opponents out of the game. and today was andrew luck's turn in the spotlight. the redskins all looked on as he threw off the special skills. it was windy on out there, but he was still impressive. he completed about 92% of his passes. as opening day here is closer, it looks like the national outfielder will not be ready to go because of this injury. he said that he recently received a plasma injection to help speed up recovery. >> still a lot going on in the news. >> yeah. someone would like to find their own cable. >> that's right. >> we'll be right back. >> but once we are done.

did you know that there are actually 82 living medal of honor recipients? >> and today american airlines flew 16 of them. [ cheering ] the medal of honor recipients. >> that's a nice welcome. after arriving, the airlines held a luncheon for the heroes.

they shared war stories. some with hollywood connections. >> if you have seen the movie forrest gump, then you know what i did to receive my medal of honor. i'm the real forrest gump. >> i killed 14 of the other enemies. >> the recipients will be in washington through the weekend with a wreath laying ceremony at the tomb of the unknown. >> that is awesome. >> real life heroes. >> that's impressive. >> a great story. >> yeah, it really is. >> look for 80 degrees tomorrow. get ready. >> yes, we will be. that's 9news tonight. thank you for staying extra late with us. bye.