t.org. murder charges. sergeant robert bales accused in the cold-blooded killing of 16 afghan civilians expected to be officially charged today. calls for justice. outrage there's still no arrest in the shooting death of an unarmed teenager in florida. >> we come to tell you tonight, enough's enough! threatened at gunpoint. >> get the camera -- >> no you can't touch the camera, man. >> we're leaving. we're leaving. >> a camera is rolling when a man pulls a gun on a television news crew. this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, march 23, this is the "cbs morning news" for friday, march 23, 2012. captioning funded by cbs

good morning. sergeant robert bales is expected to be officially charged today. bales is being held at a military prison in kansas. prosecutors say in the early morning of march 11th bales went on a shooting rampage in two afghan village. nine of his victims were children. bales will be tried in a military court. his lawyer says bales does not remember much about the incident. the taliban said again this morning it will seek revenge for the attack against u.s. troops stationed in afghanistan. the u.s. currently has 90,000 troops in afghanistan. the remaining 28,000 surge troops are scheduled to be be withdrawn by this october. the top u.s. commander in afghanistan told a senate investigation yesterday he does not envisioning a drawdawn next year. >> we'll need significant combat

power next year. >> 68,000? >> that's a good going in number. >> president obama plans to have all u.s. forces out of afghanistan by 2014. now to the case of trayvon martin, the black florida teenager gunned down by a neighborhood watch volunteer. the police chief in sanford, florida, and the prosecutor who investigated the case have stepped down. last night thousands rallied, demanding the arrest of the gunman. susan mcginnis reports. >> no justice! >> reporter: protesters chanted for justice as thousands packed a florida park demanding action for an unarmed teenager killed by a neighborhood watchman. >> you want an arrest? >> reporter: they're calling for the prosecution of george zimmerman. he claims he shot trayvon martin in self-defense. the 17-year-old was killed while visiting his familiar in sanford last month. >> he didn't deserve to die. and i pledge i will not let my son die in vein. >> reporter: zimmerman was never arrested and there are questions

about whether or not race played a role in the investigation. >> enough's enough's, we are tired of going to jail for nothing and others going home for something. >> reporter: the congresswoman representing sanford, florida, says martin's case will be the focus of a hate crime hearing on capitol hill next week. mounting pressure forced the police chief to step down temporarily. >> i do this to restore semblance of calm to the city, which has been in turmoil. >> reporter: cbs news has learned the suspect was interviewed the night of the shooting and sources say evidence supported zimmerman's claim of self-defense, but some sanford residents say the case was mishandled. >> we wanted to come out and show support for the family and show unity in the community to try to make right an unjustice rr the justice department and fbi are also investigating and zimmerman could still face charges.

susan mcginnis, cbs news. in france, investigators are trying to determine if the gunman who killed three school children, a rabbi and three french paratroopers acted alone. 23-year-old mohammad merah was killed yesterday after a 32-hour standoff with police. french officials say he had been under surveillance for years and had traveled to afghanistan and pakistan, where he claimed to are been trained by al qaeda. today is the second anniversary of president obama's health care overhaul law. on monday the supreme court is scheduled to begin hearing three days of arguments on why the law should be overturned. in a just-released poll from the american bar association, 85% of the academics, law ares and journalists asked, believe the court will uphold the law. 64% say the case will have a major impact on the presidential election. another issue front and center in this year's campaign, the price of gas. and president obama's energy policy. mr. obama has taken some heat

for his decision to block part of the keystone pipeline project. yesterday the president said he was directing federal agencies to put part of the project on the fast track. nora o'donnell has our report. >> and today i'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles and make this a priority. >> reporter: today the president threw his support behind a portion of the pipeline, he failed to mention a critical point -- these pipes will be used to build a 485-mile southern portion of the pipeline, transporting 700,000 barrels a day from here in cushing, oklahoma, to the gulf of mexico. here's something to keep in mind. this part of the pipeline never required presidential approval. only the pipeline's northern leg required presidential action. house speaker john boehner today. >> the president can take credit for having nothing to do with the bottom half of the pipeline. the fact is, is there's only one

permit that requires his approval because it crosses our national boundaries. >> reporter: but the truth is, the pipeline's northern route was blocked after republican governor of nebraska, dave heinemann, asked the president to reject it because of environmental concerns. that the pipeline's oil could threaten drinking water for 2 million americans provided by nebraska aquafirm. >> the northern portion we have to review properly to make sure the health and safety of the american people are protected. that's common sense. >> reporter: that northern part of the pipeline won't be approved until the company resubmits to the federal government to address those environmental concerns. we've learned from the company that that could come in the very near future. nora o'donnell, cbs news, columbus, ohio. all four republican presidential hopefuls are campaigning in louisiana today, pushing for votes in tomorrow's primary. a poll released wednesday finds rick santorum with a substantial lead over mitt romney. newt gingrich is in third.

a coroner's report says whitney houston was a chronic cocaine user and that played a major role in her death. preliminary autopsy results show houston drowned in her hotel bathtub with cocaine in her system and that heart disease of a contributing factor. ♪ >> reporter: almost six weeks after whitney houston's death, we finally know what killed the 48-year-old grammy-winning singer. >> the department of coroner has concluded its investigation into the death of miss whitney houston. the final cause of death has been established as drowning due to atheroscleer on theic heart disease and cocaine disease. >> reporter: houston's body was found the evening before the grammy awards, submerged in the bathtub of her beverly hills hotel room. investigates found several prescriptions in her room.

toxicology results show she had cocaine in her system. >> cocaine indicated an acute use and it appeared that the cocaine had been used in the time period just probably immediately prior to her collapse in the bathtub at the hotel. >> reporter: the test also say houston had used marijuana and other prescription drugs, but not an amount that would have killed her. the coroner's announcement ends weeks of speculation whether the death was result of overdose, accident or foul play. whitney houston was buried alongside her father in new jersey. cbs news, los angeles. coming up on the "morning ne news" a plan to keep families in their homes as renters. wonder what it's like to be a firefighter? we'll show you dramatic video taken inside a burning house. first, scott pelley with a preview of tonight's "cbs evening news."

tonight we'll have the top stories from all around the world, plus steve hartman celebrates march madness with a group of guys who hit mind-boggling basketball shots that you will have to see to believe. that story's tonight on the "cbs evening news." ♪ [ upbeat ] [ announcer ] who could resist the call... of america's number-one puppy food brand? with dha and essential nutrients also found in mother's milk. purina puppy chow.

♪ ♪ ♪ grande caramel macchiato. iced grande caramel macchiato. make that iced. actually, hot, please. [ male announcer ] come into starbucks for the espresso drink you love, hot or iced. but there are foods that i had no idea had so much acid in them. my dentist said that the acid in fruit, or fruit juice or fruit teas softens the enamel so that then it can potentially erode. once that enamel is gone, it's gone. my dentist recommended that i use pronamel to help harden that enamel

so that it's not brushed away. pronamel protects your teeth from the effects of acid erosion. i don't have to cut out the things that i love in my diet. i can have the best of both worlds with pronamel. ever wonder what a major house fire looks like to a firefighter trying to put it out? check out this recent helmet camera footage from inside a burning home. it was posted online by the volunteer fire department in little rock, arkansas. no injuries were reported. pretty intense. president obama is expected to sign a just-passed congressional reform bill called the stock act. it was approved in a senate procedural vote yesterday, 96-3. the stock act bars members of congress and thousands of federal workers, including the president, from profiting on financial information they learn on the job.

the bill was introduced after cbs's "60 minutes" revealed members of congress were making money on wall street because laws against insider trading did not apply to them. on the "cbs moneywatch," what's behind the swoon on the stock market and one bank's plans to help troubled homeowners stay in their home. ashley morrison with the latest on that. >> good morning to you. china's manufacturing slowdown and europe's economic problems sent asian stocks into a tailspin today. both japan's nikkei and hong kong's hang seng fell over 1%. those concerns sent stocks down on wall street. the dow lost 78 points while the nasdaq also lost 12. the slump on wall street overshadowed the latest evidence of an economy that is getting stronger. according to the labor department, the number of people seeking unemployment benefits fell to a four-year low last week. applications for unemployment have been declining since the fall. at the same time, employers had been adding an average of

245,000 jobs a month. bank of america is experimenting with a plan that would help keem troubled homeowners in their home as renters. this week they started the pilot program called mortgage to lease. homeowners facing for closure can transfer the title of their home to the bank in exchange they will have their mortgage debt relieved and will be able to rent their home at or below market value for up to three years. the program is only available to about 1,000 customers in select cities. and the etch-a-sketch has shaken up the presidential campaign and now the classic toy is seeing a sales resurgence. sales of the etch-a-sketch on amazon.com are up more than 1500% the day after a mitt romney adviser said the campaign would change in the fall just like shaking up the toy. the company that makes the etch-a-sketch also saw its stock price more than double yesterday. betty, we learned this morning the company is sending a box of etch-a-sketches to each of the

candidates. i'm sure they'll love getting those. >> of course it is. great marketing for them. all right, ashley, thank you. well, this is opening day for the "hunger games" and some fans have already seen it. theaters here in new york and elsewhere offered midnight screenings and they couldn't wait crowd, well, those guys turned out, of course. "hunger games" is expected to bring in more than $100 million this weekend. your friday morning weather and louisville cardinals play giant killer against the top-seeded team. ng a taste test. ocean spray cranberry juice versus vegetable juice. first the cranberry. mm! tasty. now, the vegetable juice, with more than 10 times the sodium of cranberry juice. we have a winner! are made with sweet cherries and the crisp, clean taste of our cranberries. i cannot tell a lie. 'tis tasty. okay, george washington, did you take my truck out last night? 'tis tasty.

♪ abracadabra. new hershey's milk chocolate with almonds in pieces. your favorites, in pieces.

here's a look at today's forecast. miami, partly cloudy, 83. chicago, thunderstorms, 64. dallas, mostly sunny, 80. and l.a., mostly cloudy, 65. now for a check of the national forecast. a storm system will slowly move into the ohio valley and the southeast. severe storms with hail and flood-producing rain are likely from the tennessee valley to the gulf coast and east to george. it will be windy from eastern california with gusts up to 50 miles an hour. the sweet 16 turned sour for michigan state. top-seeded spartans led early by green's big jam but they couldn't beat the top defense and sharp shooting of fourth seeded louisville. cardinals stevens scored on a alley-oop. with time running out, the

three-pointer sealed the 57-44 win. michigan state is the first number one seed to fall in the tournament. the seven seeded florida gators took it to number three, marquette. boynton's long alley-oop jam in the first half. late in the game, bradley beale took a fast break pass and jammed it home. florida won it. they'll face michigan state. ohio state ended cincinnati's hope behind jarod sullen ger's 23 points. second seeded buckeyes won it 81-66. and it was tight all the way from top-seeded syracuse against number four, wisconsin. in the second half the orange up for good with a drive, spin and layup. syracuse won it 64-63 setting up an elite match-up with ohio state. and sweet 16 regional semifinal action continues tonight in the south.

baylor versus xavier at 7:15 eastern and kentucky versus indiana at 9:45. those games right here on cbs. in the midwest, north carolina takes on ohio at 7:47. and kansas plays north carolina state at 10:17 on tbs. when we return, terror for a tv news crew. a man gets angry and pulls a gun on a reporter in arkansas. we'll show you what happens next.

here's a look at today's forecast in some cities around the country. washington, d.c., 82. atlanta, thunderstorms, 79. st. louis, 67. sunny in denver, 74. partly cloudy in seattle, 50 degrees. here's another look at this morning's top stories. the army sergeant accused of murdering 17 afghan civilians is expected to be formally charged

today. robert bales is being held at a military prison in kansas. he could face 17 counts of murder and 6 counts of attempted murder. preliminary autopsy results show whitney houston had cocaine in her system when she drowned in a hotel bathtub. heart disease also played a role. the l.a. coroner says houston was a chronic cocaine user. now to a caught on video incident involving a reporter and a camera crew for cbs memphis affiliate wreg. they. looking into the death of a man in northwest arkansas and were confronted by an angry man who turned out to have a gun. >> we were just trying to find out what was going on. that's all. >> sh's lying. look, your camera -- >> no you can't touch the camera now. >> you really -- >> okay. >> we're leaving. we're leaving. >> but before they could leave, he sped away. the crew called the sheriff's department and the station plans to press charges against the

man. we also have an update on that boom town in wisconsin. for days residents of clintonville have reported a mysterious loud booming with no apparent cause. now experts say the booms appear to have been caused by a string of small earthquakes in granite three miles beneath the town. >> in other places in the united states, a 1.5 earthquake would not be felt, but the type of rock that wisconsin has transmits seismic energy very well. >> well, some folks are relieved to know what's going on, but others say earthquakes are just one more thing to worry about. the european space agency launched a powerful rocket early this morning from its space center in south america. the rocket is carrying more than seven tons of supply and equipment to the international

space station. what a sight. coming after your local news on "cbs this morning," the supreme court showdown over president obama's health care law. i'm betty nguyen. this is the "cbs morning news."

good morning and welcome to 9news now. it took a long time to get here but finally it's friday. march 23rd. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm jessica doyle in for mike hydeck. beverly farmer is in for monika samtani with your timesaver

traffic but of course we begin with howard bernstein and your weather first. >> summer like today in a sense. it's going to be warm. low 80s out there. lots of sunshine. little bit of fog though not as much as we've had the last couple of mornings and that's one of the good things as well. if you want to see the cherry blossoms, today may be the last best day to do that because the weekend is looking a little -- eh. partly cloudy skies out there. 61-degree right now at reagan national. by noon 74 and at 5:00 80 after topping out around 81, 82 somewhere in that range. that's well above average. still 58. the dense fog advisory this morning is up north. points knot and east deal -- north and east dealing with the density of the fog this morning and some of visibilities down to zero. little bit of fog also no advisory from lour ray out to culpeper, not nearly as bad as yesterday although annapolis at a mile and three quarters and

probably get a little worse because we've got still a couple of hours of darkness to go. 54 in frederick. it's 57 out in winchester and culpeper. upper 50s even 60s, 64 right now at the pax river naval air station. that's warmer than this average high for this time of year. maybe looking at 70s along the bay right by the water but look at this low possibly middle 80s southwest of d.c.. amazing, changes coming for the weekend. right now beverly farmer is in for monika. we've got everies in chevy vase and also in southeast. from overnight a crash investigation to deal with this morning. southbound lanes of connecticut avenue diverted here near bradley lane south of 410 but north of chase circle. you can get past to go north on connecticut avenue. southbound traffic is going to be detoured for some time. more details on that story in the news but again southbound

connecticut avenue. south of 410 near bradley lane is where they're going to divert you in chevy chase. northbound i-295 still closed at the exit for suitland parkway for the crash that happened close to the 11th street bridge. northbound traffic isdy credited on to the -- diverted on to the south land parkway until further notice. 95 heading into springfield and to the beltway. overnight roadwork will still tie you up for just a little bit. northbound the left side of the screen is traffic heading into springfield. southbound work at quantico is still in the pickup stages right now. back to you. thank you beverly. as she mentioned we begin now with breaking news out of chevy chase, maryland. >> two people were killed in a crash at chevy chase circle. >> two other people were taken to hospitals overnight. delia goncalves joins us live with the latest. >> reporter: a pretty devastating scene if you just take a look at this car and i'm going to step out of the shot so you can see for yourself it

is torched. singed to pieces and barely unrecognizable. you can see the medical examiner is here on the scene and we understand that there's a single car. it was a single car crash. there was a police cruiser with front end damage that was towed from the scene a short time ago. we are at chevy chase circle and right directly across grafton street where the car apparently struck that tree and burst into flames. police on the scene have con farmed to us that people have died. however, we are waiting for more details into this crash. and to exactly what happened. we are waiting for captain paul starks who's a public information officer with montgomery county police to arrive here at the scene. he'll be speaking to investigators and then will shortly brief the media as to what happened here. of course, this happened around a little after 1:00 this morning and so police are still piecing together details and they