>> new at 11:00, we just walked with trayvon's father. find out what he wants to ask his son's killer. we take the health care crisis beyond the politics to the people. two families with totally different views tell how it impacts their lives. the operation was a success, but the patient may die. that may well be the fate of

the country's new health care law that survives in congress, but whose vital signs plummeted today. >> the obama administration lawyer was savaged on behalf of the law that would require americans to be covered on health insurance or fay a fine. the dequestion, does congress have the constitutional power to order americans to open their wallets and buy health insurance? as gary nurenberg reports, that was the focus at the court today. gary? >> reporter: well, derrick, you're right. the fight was over that individual mandate, the requirement that most americans be covered by insurance by 2014 or pay a fine. and the argument raises a very basic and seemingly uncomplicated question. does congress have the power to force americans to buy something from private industry? legal scholars long ago identified justice anthony kennedy as the swing vote that could be decisive. he expressed his skepticism early. >> here the government is saying that the federal

government has a duty to tell individual citizens that it must act. that changes the relationship of the federal government to the individual in a very fundamental way. >> reporter: justices generally hate fundamental changes, fear setting a precedent giving congress too much power to force americans to take certain action. the chief justice. >> and we can compel people to do things, purchase insurance in this case, something else in the next case. can i tell you what the something else is, so while you're answering it? the something else is everybody has to exercise, because there's no doubt that lack of exercise causes illness and that causes health care costs to go up. >> reporter: he was addressing the government's argument that those who don't buy health insurance affect costs because they eventually get care without paying money, an argument recognized by ruth ginsburg. >> i thought a major, major

point of your argument was that the people who don't participate in this market are making it much more expensive for the people who do. >> reporter: the question seems so hostile to the health care law that many legal scholars predicted the individual mandate will fail the constitutional challenge. but don't be too sure about justice kennedy, argues georgetown law professor. >> he started out being very much against the health care plan, but by the end of the day, i sensed a little bit of softening. so i don't know how far that's going to go, so i can't call him. >> reporter: and although virtually no one saw this as a good day for the health care law, cbs legal correspondent jan crawford offers a caveat. >> they go into their conferences, discuss this case among themselves and start writing the opinions. sometimes they change their minds. if you look back over history over the last 20 years, one of the justices whose often changed his mind is justice

kennedy. >> reporter: kennedy's importance really can't be overstated in a court where four justices are expected to vote one way and four justices expected to vote the other way. this ronald reagan appointee is often the deciding vote for a needed 5-4 majority. but jan crawford is right, predicting any outcome is nothing more than a guess. tomorrow arguments over whether the federal government can tell state governments what to do as regards the medicaid program and whether key parts of the health care program can survive if other parts are found unconstitutional. >> a lot to watch tomorrow, as well. gary, thank you. of course the health care case before the supreme court is about a lot more than lawyers and legal scholars. at its heart the case is about regular americans and the way they pay for the medical care their families need. we spoke tonight with two people on opposite sides of this debate. matt jablow has their story. >> are you ready? >> reporter: for rob and martin, a mother of three from

waldorf, maryland, the legal maneuverings going on are a clearly a personal matter, and potentially a serious financial matter as well. >> it's a frightening thing. >> reporter: robin's son, one of the twin boys she gave birth to seven months ago was born with serious medical issues that have already required a lot of money and medical attention. and will no doubt require a lot more in the years ahead. >> we found out when he was here that his heart is on the wrong side of his chest and his intest since are turned backwards. >> reporter: robin says she has good medical insurance through her job, but were it not for the fact that the affordable care act prohibits lifetime payments for medical care her family might soon be facing bankruptcy. >> we could hit the lifetime before he turns a year old. >> reporter: what's for, the affordable care act which makes it easier for people with preexisting conditions to get insurance, would help him as an

adult. she's for the law. unlike kelly. >> i am hoping for 100% repeal. >> reporter: an employee of the tea party in seattle who says americans will suffer in every way if the government continues to require health care coverage for all. >> it affects me directly and it affects everything about how my relationship with my government, how i can lead my daily life, what kind of health care decisions i can make, what health care options i have for myself. this is the most important decision i think that the supreme court will have ever made. >> reporter: echoing the feelings of many tea party members, karen admits the health care system is badly broken and should be reformed but says the affordable care act will only make things worse. >> thank you, matt. showdown on capitol hill. the controversy surrounding the shooting of florida teenager trayvon martin is playing out with members of the congress. at a forum today, congressional leaders and the teenager's

parents sounded off on what they insist has been an injustice. our ken molestina was there and spoke to the 17-year-old's dad. >> i watched him kill my son. >> reporter: tracy martin is asking his son's killer the question everyone wants answered. why? as the investigation continues into zimmerman, the neighborhood watch man who shot trayvon. a committee of house democrats held a forum where the teen's parents were present. >> i would just like to say that of course my heart is broken. but it breaks even more to know that we have not gotten justice yet. and that this man has not been arrested for shooting and killing my son. >> reporter: three major issues took center stage at the forum. accusations of race and racial profiling on behalf of zimmerman and the sanford police department hands down being the most discussed. >> time and time again when we judge how far we have to go,

the consistent person at the bottom of the barrel or the victims is always a male person of color. >> reporter: also thoroughly talked about as opposition to florida's standard gun law and those who shoot and kill claiming self-defense. also plentiful at the hearing was finger pointing at the sanford police department for what these congressional leaders are describing was prejudicial police work. >> trayvon is the victim of a botched police investigation full of incompetent or intelligent mismanagement. >> reporter: today's hearing lasted more than two hours. throughout the hearing, countless congressional leaders spoke and vowed to support the family. now, while they were speaking, many of them spoke, and now speculation has risen over whether some of the elected officials will use the trayvon case as an opportunity to further their own politicalagendas.

ken molestina, 9 news now. >> thank you, ken. he was attacked a block away from his home, left bloodied and beaten along the sidewalk, only to be targeted again while waiting for help. he's speaking out the first time as d.c. police continue to search for the suspects. >> there's no way that this attack happened without someone seeing it. so it's hard to believe no one has gone to the police or mentioned anything, you know. i had a broken jaw in two places, i spent seven days in icu in the hospital. and i wouldn't wish that upon anyone, you know. anyone should be able to come home, you know, without the fear of being attacked a block from their house. >> this young man was assaulted back on march 12th at the intersection of irving street and georgia avenue in northwest d.c. the victim said somebody came up from behind and attacked him. while he was trying to call for help he was kicked in the face. the victim is gay. d.c. police are calling this a

hate crime. if you have any information about what happened that night, they want to hear from you. we've got breaking news out of montgomery county. county police say two pit bulls have attacked at least two teenagers. this was in the 20400 block in montgomery village. one teen has been taken to the hospital. police fired tasers at the dogs. one dog still acted aggressively and was shot again. that dog has died. police are trying to find the owner of the animal. the owner of the other surviving pit bull arrived at the scene where the attack happened. a former police sergeant and his teenage daughter both dead in an apparent murder/suicide. this happened in the victim's suv parked outside the home of the girl's grandparents on forest grove drive in the neighborhood known as sleepy hollow. the victims identified as 40- year-old john jackson and his 13-year-old daughter alexus.

a neighbor who lives three doors down heard the gunshots. >> it went bang, bang, bang, but very quick, three times. >> john jackson left the police department back in 2010 after serving on the force for 16 years. then, he ran a waste removal company with his brother. he and his daughter lived in falls church. you could survive a nuclear bomb attack blocks away from the white house if you were far away enough from the epicenter of the blast. all that is according to a brand-new government study. the intense flash from that explosion would blind drivers as far away as the beltway, plus the bomb would destroy everything within about a half mile. the study also predicted 323,000 injuries with more than 45,000 dead. but the good news is, if you can call it that, the entire city would not be wiped off the map. new tonight at 11:00, results from today's special election in arlington. voters went to the polls to choose a candidate to serve out the rest of the term on the

county board following her election to the state senate. here's the tally. libby garvey won with 49.2% of the vote. only republican mark kelly came close with 43.5%. garvey is the winner. a commuter alert for the area. crews are demolishing the old gunson road bridge across u.s. route 1. it will close one lane of route 1 tonight and the next two nights. crews will restrict traffic to one lane in each direction after 10:00 each evening from time to time. topper? we had a day below average for today. high temperature 55. kind of chilly right now. wakeup weather will get warmer tomorrow, but you need a jacket. 34 to 44 at 5:00. 32 to 42 at 7:00. upper 30s, upper 40s, sunshine by 9:00. we'll come back and talk about a cold front heading our way, what that means in terms of showers and storms and what that means as to how cold it will get on thursday and friday.

still ahead tonight, local doctors turn science fiction into fact with the most advanced human face transplant yet. plus, how does a dog retire? these bomb-sniffing canines will show us. and a baby is hospitalized for bronchitis and comes out missing a finger. that's coming up.

here's two phrases you never wants to hear in the same sentence. airline pilot and medical situation, but that's exactly what they were dealing with on aflight to las vegas yesterday. they were forced to make an emergency landing in texas when the pilot displayed disturbing behavior, including screaming that the plane was going down and talking about iran and iraq. passengers cell phone captured all the actions and off duty captain who had to be on board had to take over for the erratic pilot. the flight from new york landed safely. the pilot got much-needed medical attention. also caught on tape, speed, part 3, stolen school bus versus the cops. it all went down in new mexico and you can see this police officer trying to slow the bus down, even after running over a spike strip.

it keeps on rolling. eventually the suspect loses control and spins out. of course, slams into a median. officers rush the bus, open fire shooting the suspect twice, but he is expected to survive. what a ride. a florida mother is suing a hospital after she says a nurse left her baby disfigured. >> she said she was born so perfect, and they just -- she just cut off her finger. >> back in october, veronica alguin took the baby to the hospital to be treated for a high fever and bronchitis. when the nurse came in to talk the bandage holding the i.v., she cut too far. >> there was blood going everywhere. it was all over her shirt, on my shirt, on my face. and i mean, she was screaming, and i looked at her hand. she didn't have her finger anymore. >> she says doctors could not

reattach the baby's small finger and she is suing for emotional and psychological damages. the mother says regardless of the legal outcome, her daughter will forever wear someone else's mistake. from a medical mistake to a medical miracle. it is being hailed as the most advanced full face transplant today. a virginia man's face was fully transformed last week after being destroyed in a gun accident 15 years ago. in 1997, richard lee norse suffered an incredibly destructive gun accident as you can see. rodriguez with the university of maryland school of medicine said they tried 12 times to improve his face without much success. then last week, the teen performed a 36-hour procedure, replacing both jaws, teeth and the tongue, plus the soft parts of the face from hairline to neck. he can move his tongue, open and close his eyes, he's beginning to feel his face. he's actually looking in the

mirror shaving and brushing his teeth, which we never even expected. >> and listen to this. he's gotten back his sense of smell. richard lee finally has a chance to live a normal life again without wearing a mask in public. the office of naval research provides funding to the university on making these incredibly complex transplants successful with so many nerves and blood vessels involved. five dogs who spent years sniffing out land mines in iraq are going to retire. the spc helped to bring themstate side and are reviewing applications from families who want to adopt them. they were raised and trained in the state of texas. they worked with private contractors in iraq, sniffing out and cleaning out acre after acre of land contaminated with mines in baghdad. >> there's no clear way to pinpoint how many lives these dogs have probably saved, but

undoubtedly they have. and for the services they've provided for americans, it's only fair that they get the royal treatment for their retirement. >> i'm all for that. alpo in every place. i would hope they all get great homes. >> absolutely. >> pretty dogs. all right, feel good tonight, no problems with the fruit trees or anything. >> are we still below normal? >> just a little bit. no freeze warning tonight. everything's in order as it were. it is still late march and we still have march weather ahead of us. let's start with a live look outside. it's our live weather cam brought to you by michael and sons. temperature 48 downtown. dew point still pretty low. the temperature will fall, but not as crazy as it did last night. winds are calm and switched a little bit to the south. pressure is steady, 30.24 inches of mercury. so the headlines looks like this. there is a cold front on the

map. it's going to produce freezing, warmer conditions tomorrow, which is actually a good thing. it will also bring us a chance of showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon. now, in the morning, it's still going to be cold, so you're still going to need a coat and the kids will, too. they'll fight you for it but they'll need it in the morning. breezy and cooler on thursday behind the front. so we've got strong southwest winds tomorrow, warmer. pretty strong northwest winds on thursday, a little bit cooler. nothing crazy, but a little bit cooler. here's a look at the futurecast. 11:30 in the morning around noon, see showers north of cumberland, but nothing in the immediate metro area. again, everybody is not going to see a shower from this system. this is not a moisture-packed cold front, believe me. by 2:00, better chance for showers in cumberland. mainly, it's all green. a little yellow, a little heavier rain. a couple of sprinkles possible downtown. gaithersburg, maybe out route 7. pushes further south and gets out by evening. a few wet roads for the evening commute but nothing strong and

no big storms i don't think in the immediate metro area. so overnight, looks like this. clear to partly cloudy, not as cold. 32 on to42. winds southwesterly at 10. tomorrow, breezy, becoming milder. you still need a coat for the early part of the day. 30s and 40s. winds southwest 10 to 20. by afternoon, southwest winds will help us out a little bit. partly cloudy, breezy and warmer. showers and thunderstorms possible. high temperatures between 70 and 75. winds southwest at 10 to 20 and kind of gusty. everyone should make it to 70, i think, tomorrow. maybe even 72 in gaithersburg. maybe even 73 in arlington, maybe 74 in waldorf. out toward college park looking at low 70s in reston and fairfax. maybe 70 in leesburg and manassas. still that's above average. we'll break it down. 32 to start.

mild by noon and still dry. by evening a couple of showers possible. 69 to 74. next three days, cooler, lower temps just a little bit. back to 61 on thursday. back to 62 on friday. still pretty nice day. next seven days, a little milder on saturday, but some showers and storms are possible. sunday looking very nice, temps in the mid-70s, clouds at night. showers possible on monday ending on tuesday and look at monday, 78 and 68 on tuesday. so sunday i think is april 1st so march goes out like a lamb. >> as it came in. thank you, sir. could the caps pull off a big win? they really, really needed it. we have the score up next in sports.

it began as one of the most pivotal games of the season for the capitals, a chance to control their own post-season destiny. what it turned into was a debacle. caps hosting the buffalo sabers. they get in a hole early on as

a kickout saves. sabers put it back in. a few minutes later, faceoff, alexander simmons goes 5. caps avoiding a chuteout. the sabers were red hot, too much for the caps. buffalo cruises past the caps 5- 1. >> it was one of those games where both teams came out. it wasn't a cat and mouse game. it was a wide-open hockey game. he took the brunt of it. >> i don't think they really helped -- >> nashville is taking on the marlins today. three runs in the first inning. he found his groove after that. nationals only run came from a single in the sixth as they fall to the marlins 3-1. the lady terps have mounted their fair share of come backs this season. most recently erasing an 128-

point -- an 18-point deficit to advance. tonight they dug a hole too deep to get out of. facing notre dame, going coast to coast to tie things up. it didn't take long for the irish to pull away. diggens with the jumper and later on working it on defense, too. she had 22 on the night. the lady terps lose by a lot. 31, a tough pill to swallow for the terps. >> i thought we looked really tired, you know. i think a lot of that was based on having to come back in the a&m game, being down 18. just our energy and effort, you know, it felt like was spent in the game before. >> thompson has played his last game as a hoya. the junior now entering the nba draft. hollis originally retired for the draft but decided to return

for another year. you can get close and personal with your franchise quarterback this weekend. griffin will be signing autographs in chantilly on saturday. spring training game. this liner to deep right field missed. a closer look, he got more jersey than ball. apparently got a little caught up in that one. going along with the theme. >> i'm not a millionaire, i'll be there tomorrow.

>> that is 9 news for tonight. thank you for staying up with us. >> hopefully one of you win the lottery. don't forget we're always on at wusa9.com. who's next? >> letterman.