this point but you can see that the car is completely damaged. the police cruiser was front end damage was towed from the scene just a short time ago. we are going to remain here at the scene at chevy chase circle and continue to update you throughout the morning and hopefully when captain paul starks with the montgomery county police public information office arrives here at the scene we will have much more information for you. but police here at the scene have reported that two people have died in this single car crash in chevy chasable. back to you. >> delia goncalves reporting as you can see with all the equipment there, it's an area few normally drive but you will want to find a different route this morning. in other news thousands attended is protest rally in sanford, florida last night to demand justice for the teen. >> the justice department and fbi have opened a civil rights investigation into trayvon

martin's death. as susan mcginnis reports congress may soon get involved. [ people chanting ] >> reporter: protestors 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 family in sanford last month. >> he didn't deserve to die. and i pledge i will not let my son die in vain. >> reporter: zimmerman was never arrested and there are questions about whether or not race played a role in the investigation. >> enough is enough! we are tired of going to jail for nothing. and nothing 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.

the sanford police chief stepped down temporarily. >> i do this in the hopes of restoring some semblance of calm to the city which has been in turmoil. >> reporter: we have learned the suspect was interviewed the night of shooting and sources say evidence supported zimmerman's claim of self- defense. but some sanford residents say the case was mishandled. >> we just wanted to come out and show support to the family and show unity in the community to try to make right an unjustice. >> reporter: the justice department and fbi are also investigating and zimmerman could still face charges, susan mcginnis cbs news. this saturday a justice law schoolty is planned -- rally is planned. it's scheduled from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. wear all black or a hoodie. the soldier will be charged today. staff sergeant robert bales faces murder, assault and other

charges related to the massacre. bales is accused of leaving his base in afghanistan and going of a shooting spree in two villages. president obama went to the heart of oil country to announce a decision he says will bring more oil to world markets. >> as tara mergener tells us the critics aren't impressed. >> hello oklahoma. >> reporter: speaking from an oil pipe yard in curbing, oklahoma, he ordered them to fast track a track to the gulf coast. >> we can't get enough of the oil to our refineries fast enough. >> reporter: the cushing 2 texas pipeline is the third leg of a larger project designed to run from canada. >> this whole issue of the keystone pipeline has generated of course a lot of controversy and a lot of politics. >> reporter: earlier this year the president rejected the

northern portion. >> he would put one foot on one side and that part can't. >> reporter: this election year some americans are already paying more than $4 for a gallon of gas. the republican white house hopefuls are telling voters president obama is to blame. >> president refuses to open up lands for oil and gas exploration particularly oil exploration. >> reporter: the president says the u.s. is drilling more and that more production won't change price at the pump overnight. >> the main reason the gas prices are high right now is because people are worried about what's happening with iran. >> reporter: on this trip president obama made three other stops in battleground states to defend his energy policies. tara mergener for cbs news, the white house. >> the white house will review the northern part of the keystone pipeline which was blocked as a request by the republican governor for environmental concerns if the company can find an alternate route. maryland is getting attention from the gop

presidential candidates. a campaign worker says newt gingrich will visit annapolis next week. he plans to visit the state house and visit with business leaders. front runner was in maryland. the maryland primary is on april 3rd. john a. payton died yesterday as johns hopkins university. payton was the sixth president and director counsel of the naacp legal defense fund. he was also the district corporation counsel from 1991 to 1994. payton also served as lead counsel in the university of michigan law school affirmative action case. the baby of a pregnant woman who was stabbed yesterday in southeast has diedt. victim was eight months pregnant when she was attacked on ninth street. police are still looking for the attacker. a woman is under arrest in connection with a triple stabbing in northeast. it happened wednesday night near rhode island avenue and

fourth street. the three people who were stabbed were taken to the hospital with nonlife- threatening injuries. police in prince george's county need help finding is missing teenager. 17-year-old hollands davis was last seen leaving her capital heights home more than two weeks ago. she's 5'5," weighs about 200 pounds. she was last seen wearing a blue columbia jacket, blue jeans, and black adidas sneakers. the battle over virginia's budget may be over. the state senate is expected to vote monday and approve a version of its state spending plan. it's something senators were not able to do during the regular session. the proposal incorporates some of the demand from democrats that held up previous versions of the budget this month. virginia attorney general ken cuccinelli will run for governor in 2013. the attorney filed yesterday to run. he wants to continue the work he started to strengthen the

economy and promote smaller governments. a budget proposal debate is brewing in the maryland house of delegates. it calls for an increase to the state's income tax. they scrapped a plan to tax people making $500,000 a year or more at the highest rate possible. under the house plan, people making $100,000 or less would not see a tax increase. once the house passes is budget plan, it then moves to the senate. here's a look at some of the other things making news now. the official cause of whitney houston's death is drowning. but the los angeles coroner says heart disease and cocaine contributed to the singer's death. houston was found in the bathtub of her hotel room in beverly hills last month. today, pope benedict xvi arrives in mexico. the pope says his goal is to bring mexican catholics back to the church. mexico has one of the largest catholic populations in the world but it's losing members to less conservative religious groups. there's a push to bring the

redskins back to d.c.. yesterday, mayor gray met with residents to propose bidding a training facility for the team. he says this move could help raise revenue for the city. his plan also includes other details like building a redskins' hall of fame. our time is 4:38. at 4:41 are mobile phone provider is preparing to give away free gas in the region. >> good stuff. >> researchers discover another health benefit to taking vitamin d. supplements. >> we're back with your weather first in two minutes. you're watching 9news now. 3q

get irresistibly clean and fresh carpets in your home with resolve deep clean powder. the moist powder removes three times more dirt than vacuuming alone while neutralizing odors for a clean you can see, smell and really enjoy. don't just vacuum clean. resolve clean. 4:40 on this friday morning, we have some patchy dense fog out there west of town and also north of town. but right now, not looking bad. partly to mostly sunny and a very warm day for march. we'll be seeing temperatures more than 20 degrees above normal into the low 80s. problems for the weekend though. that forecast in about five minutesment right now over to beverly farmer in for monika this morning. busy this friday morning howard because southbound connecticut avenue cannot access chevy chase circle. this is the scene of the crash

at the circle. why you can't go further south into chevy chase. better diversion is southbound on to 410. we'll have details coming up and a crash on 295 in the district to deal with too. jessica back to you. thank you beverly. the time right now 4:41 and i am watching your money. hoping for a better day to end the week on wall street but so far today, we are seeing red arrows around the world. europe and asia are following wall street lower in stocks and stocks this morning dropped despite the worries about europe. the dow standing just above the 13,000 level. 13,046 dropped 78 points in trading yesterday. nasdaq was off by 12 and the s&p 500 is down by ten. the job market is growing stronger. the labor department reports the number of people seeking unemployment benefits sunk to a four year low last week. it shows employers added an

average of 245,000 workers from december through february. and that helps to push down the unemployment rate to 8.3%. that's the lowest it's been in three years. here's a way to get free gas. cell phone company cricket will be pumping tanks of free gas tomorrow. it will be in conjunction with the free gas give away. the address in woodbridge, virginia and the first 50 drivers get up to $20 in free gas. and this event begins at 10:00 and ends at 12:00. so you can imagine there will be a lot of people competing far that free gas. >> i was telling you my fill-up was $72 yesterday. >> that's painful. >> i'd wait in that line. a major security deal just north of the district could lead to several traffic problems during this morning rush hour. >> it could be really tough. we're going to be back with that story and your weather first when we return in just two minutes.

good morning, welcome back to 9news now. 4:45. it is friday. the weekend is upon us. and we may need umbrellas on the weekend? >> yes, the rain gear for the eastbound. we're going to have periods of showers and storms starting late tonight tomorrow, through sunday. >> take a toll on the cherry blossoms? >> yes, some of the winds is going to take its toll. just the -- warmth is taken a toll on the cherry blossoms. >> that's true. >> but rain is good for sleeping in on saturday morning. there's the upside. >> and sunday morning. >> yeah. >> saturday morning? any morning. hey weather-wise you know it's a better morning today because we don't have nearly the fog we

had yesterday. we still have patchy dense fog and we could make break a couple of records records in spots -- records in spots with the high temperatures. patches o fog up north and southwest of town. temperatures low to mid-50s in cool spots which is still way above average. day planner a great deal of sunshine. partly to mostly sunny. we'll be in the 70s by noon. with an east to northeast wind at 6 miles per hour you know there's going to be big crowds checking out the blossoms which are in peak bloom right now and today is forecasted to be the last day of peak blooms. 4:00 80-degrees don't forget the sunscreen too. that sun is getting higher and higher and pretty easy to get some sunburn if you're out for a while and by 8:00 p.m. clouds starting to increase. 73. the visibilities are worse to the west and the north. fauquier county, rappahannock, culpeper out to the valley, 0 to a quarter mile. no advisory here but it's up north from frederick into howard, carroll, northern

baltimore counties up into pennsylvania where we have the dense fog advises until 10:00 a.m. as far as the records today. not going to do it in d.c.. but 82 in baltimore set in 1907 and 83 in dulles going back to 1994 they are attainable this afternoon and with sunshine, yeah we're going into the low 80s today. it's 6 will at the tappahannock airport. pax river naval air station. with the fog are 57 and with the dense fog york, pennsylvania down to 50. looking outside on the michael & son weather camera, we've got a little bit of moisture in the air but not bad at all this morning: generally clear skies and northeast wind at 5:00 and dew points in the upper 50s. the air is pretty humid but not seeing the widespread fog. still seeing the storm spinning across areas of eastern kansas now. southwestern missouri and northeastern oklahoma. that band of moisture off the gulf. again southeast louisiana through alabama this morning

and this is the storm that i've been talking about for a few days that's going to be here for the weekend. so while today we're doing all right and should see a good deal of sunshine, looks like this shower action over the ohio and tennessee valley that's going to come to us after dark tonight. in fact we go through the day looking pretty good. going out to garrett county late you may see a shower and then tonight here come the showers. isolated thunder. by tomorrow morning, scattered showers and thunderstorms. tomorrow, tomorrow night into sunday as well. so enjoy it. 81 today. some areas south and west of town, 84 even 85. tonight we're down in the 50s to near 60. only about 70 tomorrow with scattered showers and storms. sunday, more showers 64. drying out and cool monday and tuesday with more showers wednesday. upper 60s. 4:48. beverly farmer's in with timesaver traffic. and busy already with detours in your way if you have to head down through northwest. via connecticut avenue and chevy chase. or into southeast with the trash on i-295. we start in chevy chase. live from our crews on the scene.

this is connecticut avenue chevy chase circle. this crash happened in the early morning hours and southbound connecticut avenue can't get any further south than bradley lane. this is the shot of the detour of traffic southbound connecticut at bradley. better bet for you even if you head south from aspen hill and out of kensington. use 410 over to wisconsin avenue to go south into chevy chase rather than bradley lane. also tell you that northbound i- 295 in the district crash investigation closes off traffic at suitland parkway. that's where they divert you for the crash that happened close to the 11th street bridge. elsewhere, we're just picking up construction if you're traveling northbound on 95 two lanes are open into woodbridge into springfield on to 395 picking up the road work where only the right lane was getting by and southbound 95 down near quantico the overnight sign work. 66 in the greenway and the toll road in. no early problems just picking up all the construction barrels there. jessica back to you. thank you. now to some more on something beverly's been talking about

this morning. a heads-up about a security drill which could bring your morning commute to to halt. all taking place today at the walter reed national military center in bethesda which means extra security. and when it takes employees longer to get through thosegates you know what that means. traffic expected to back up. the drill expected to go from 5:00 a.m. until around 8:00 p.m. you might soon need to wear a helmet riding a moped or motor scooter in maryland. the measure would also mandate all scooters be titled and registered. drivers would be required to have eye protection if the scooter has no wind screen or windshield. a similar bill was introduced last year but it did not come to a vote. researchers in japan discovered music can have an effect on organ transplants. they looked at heart transplants in mice and found opera and the classical music influences the immune system.

reducing organ rejection. other types of single monotone music didn't have the same effect. giving out free nicotine patches and counseling smokers may not help them kick the habit. a study in the british medical journal looked at nearly 2600 smokers who called a smoking help line. they found offering the smokers extra support like quitting -- or rather free nicotine replacement therapy and proactive telephone counseling made no difference at all and quitting success rates. the american lung association says cigarette smoke seems to be more toxic to women. women are more likely to get lung cancer, chronic bronchitis than men. what's more the research shows smoking impacts fertility and can make it more difficult for women to conceive. vitamin d. helps bones and the immune system and may even help ward off some cancers and chronic diseases. but how about allergies? >> some provocative new research suggests the vitamin might be -- may be undiscovered

-- rather an undiscovered weapon in seasonal allergy control. anita brikman has more. >> there's a very small pilot study looking at the effect of vitamin d. taken along with a nasal inhaler. >> reporter: georgetown university's doctor is talking about study results presented at the annual meeting. two groups of people with existing seasonal allergies got inhaled court steroids a common treatment. one group also took vitamin d. supplements while the other took a dummy pill. the findings suggest oral vitamin d. may boost allergy control and make symptoms go away faster. >> they found that the patients who took the vitamin d. supplement actually recovered more quickly. >> reporter: but while the results are impressive, this was a pilot study. and the research needs to be repeated in a larger group of allergy sufferers. >> so it's not clear whether it's the vitamin d. supplement

or not that had the effect. whether it helped the steroid work better or whether the vitamin d. has an effect on the immune system. >> reporter: vitamin d. is produced naturally by the skin following sun exposure but the doctor says there are safer ways to get this vital nutrient. >> vitamin d. should be obtained through diet and supplementation rather than through sun exposure because the sun is a known carcinogen and it causes skin cancer and right now there's a big skin cancer epidemic. >> reporter: anita brikman, 9news now. >> some of the top sources for d. include fish, orange juice and low fat dairy products. many doctors also recommend the patients take a supplement. for women one which combines calcium and vitamin d. may be most beneficial. it is 4:53 and time for the question of the morning --

>> log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and lee your response. we'll -- leave your response. we'll reveal the autopsy during the 6:00 -- answer during the 6:00 hour.

welcome back. 4:56 this friday morning. pretty good looking day out there. we have a little bit of fog up north and west of town but generally a partly to mostly sunny and almost summer-like today. by noon we'll be in the mid 70s and topping out in the low even mid # 0s south and west of town. some records will be in jeopardy with the 5:00 p.m. temperature of 80-degrees but unfortunately, some town hill move -- downhill moves for the weekend. more on that coming up. right now beverly farmer how's it looking on the roads? as far as the interstates are concerned picking up the

barrels but into chevy chase via connecticut avenue that's another story. ongoing crash investigation southbound traffic detoured here near bradley lane. bradley boulevard south of 410 for the crash investigation at chevy chase circle. more on that in the news. also northbound i-295 closed in the district at suitland parkway for a crash investigation there. andrea back to you. thank you. remember these numbers, 6, 6, 7. it has nothing to do with winning the lottery. maryland is getting a new 667 area code. new phone customers in central maryland and the eastern shore may get the new area code. customers with the existing 410 and 443 numbers will not be affected. the public service commission says the existing area codes are likely to be exhausted soon. there are 82 living medal of honor recipients and yesterday american airlines flew 16 of them to washington ahead of national medal of honor day sunday. >> kristin fisher was there for the heroes' welcome at the

airport. >> proud to announce the arrival of flagship liberty from new york city carrying our most precious -- our recipients of the medal of honor. >> reporter: 16 recipients landed in washington to a crowd like you've never seen at reagan national. some people came to pay their respects. >> this is our history. you know, all three of us came to pay homage. this is why we do this. >> reporter: others just happened to be here. waiting for another flight. >> it's awesome. it is. it's great. those guys are heroes. i mean they're the real deal. >> because it was just so awesome that so many people were standing there and you could look in their eyes and tell that they were there because they truly mean it in their heart. >> reporter: their stories are the stuff of hollywood movies. >> if you have seen the movie "forrest gump" you know what i did to earn my medal of honor because i am the real "forrest gump." >> i ended up by myself and i took out three machine gun nests and killed 14 of the enemy. >> reporter: but as the

luncheon, the recipients aren't talking about how they got their medals. >> what we talk about is america and what's important in our grandchildren. >> reporter: not very often that you have 16 medal of honor recipients can their families all eating lunch tot in the same roll -- together in the same room. they'll be meeting all week. >> i'm in you a whenever i'm around these guys. >> i'm not a hero, just a soldier that did my job but they're my hee rhees. >> reporter: in washington, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> and we definitely thank them for their service. good morning and thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> and i'm jessica doyle in for mike hydeck. beverly farmer is in for monika samtani and traffic in a moment. >> howard bernstein is here for howard bernstein and he has our weather first. no fog this morning. >> not here in town. but couple of spots have them and those guys picked a pretty good day to be off because it is really going to be nice out there. maybe you can get out early today