they also listened very carefully, this deeply divided court, to the argument that forcing the states to pay more for medicaid is a violation of the fundamental principles of federalism. how bad have the three days of hearing been for the obama administration and healthcare reform? >> what do we want? >> healthcare! >> reporter: cnn legal analyst jeffrey tubin says it has been a train wreck. >> the individual mandate looks doomed to me and the whole law is in some trouble. >> reporter: and the lead lawyer for healthcare's opponents seems in a jovial mood. >> i feel pretty good that it's over. that's for sure. i'm glad i don't have to do this tomorrow morning. >> reporter: not that paul clement did not take any tough questions. even conservative justice antonin scalia asked him if the whole law had to fall if some part of it fell. >> you're telling us that the

whole statute would fall because the cornhusker kickback is bad. that can't be right. >> reporter: but, of course, the debate is not about a cornhusker break for nebraska residents designed to win the vote of their skeptical senator. it is about the requirement that nearly every american prove she has health insurance or face a penalty and on that scalia took a very different position. >> my approach would take if you take the heart out of this statute, the statute's gone. >> reporter: even the chief justice who some observes are thought could be swayed suggested to the obama administration's lawyer that he was reluctant to wade into the financial mess of leaving parts of health reform standing if the court overturns the individual mandate. >> we don't think it's in the court's place to look at the budgetary implications and -- >> but isn't that the point, then, why we should just assume that it is not separable? >> reporter: cnn's tubin has

somewhat softened his line that the obama administration's argument was a train wreck and senate majority leader harry reid says you can read too much into the justices' questions, but clearly the obama administration and supporters of the patient protection and affordable care act have got to be concerned about how the court will rule in june. >> a lot of people watching this. according to the georgetown university health policy institute center on health insurance reform, every state in the nation has already started taking some kind of action to implement ated forrable care act except arizona -- implement the affordable care act except arizona. 12 states issued new rules that address 10 points of the law. today i sat down with montgomery county's chief health officer who is watching the supreme court and holding her breath. >> i think there's a great deal at stake. the united states has been for

so many years having so many people who are uninsured who are not getting healthcare. that's been putting the burden on our hospitals and our emergency departments. we've got to address the healthcare issues and the cost of that. so we really cannot stand still. >> reporter: and the maryland general assembly has not creating a new health benefit exchange where people and small business owners can shop and compare health plans. legislation has also been passed removing a $1 limit on what insurance companies will cover for families medical spending in a lifetime making sure children with preexisting medical conditions aren't denied coverage and extending parents' health benefits to adult children up to age 26. >> maryland has been one of the forerunners in terms of adopting the provisions of affordable care act. >> reporter: what happens if this all blows up? >> we're in trouble. i think there will be many provisions in maryland that we will try to continue to do, but then there's always going to be that issue in terms of how do you fund this? >> reporter: dr. tillman is a firm supporter of the changes

the affordable healthcare act has already brought and feels the individual mandate is a must in making these reforms a permanent reality. >> things are going to start collapsing, you know. we can't keep doing what we're doing because the costs are just totally out of proportion to what it should be. >> just last week maryland launched a website that allows residents to navigate all of the benefits available to them under the healthcare reforms. we do have a link to that at www.wusa9.com. of course, we've got no way of knowing if all those plans will be in vain until the supreme court rules on this in june, but in the meantime today we are joined by georgetown law professor paul rothstein for some analysis of the last three days of arguments and i think the consensus, professor, is the healthcare law may well be in serious jeopardy here. >> it may well be in trouble. it all depends on justice kennedy who yesterday made a very strong statement against the healthcare plan at the beginning of the day. by the end of the day he seemed

to have softened and waffled a bit. i think if he goes in favor of the healthcare plan, that might bring justice roberts along because then that would be the majority. kennedy would make the majority on the split and go to one side, so then roberts might join the majority for two reasons. roberts would get to sign the opinion. if he's in the majority, he's the chief justice. he gets to assign who writes the opinion. he could sign it to himself and would want to write a very narrow opinion that wouldn't give the federal government a lot of power in other areas, just in this healthcare area and the other reason is he doesn't want it to look like a straight political split 5-4 along democrat/republican lines like happened in bush versus gore controversy where they gave it to bush. that was criticized as being political. it broke down according to political lines. he wants the court to have a better reputation than that. >> let's talk about today's

arguments. a lot of skepticism from all the justices about the sever habit argument. can the law -- severability argument. county law exist if the individual mandate goes away? what did you take away from that? >> there are a lot of provisions that people actually like that are in effect now that people in their middle 20s can be on their parents' healthcare, that you can't be rejected for preexisting illness, that the rates are regulated, so a lot of these things people like could go. so there were a lot of different positions flown. the entire nearly 2,000 page bill falls if that individual mandate to buy health insurance falls or that some of the provisions fall, the ones that are funded by the mandate to buy, and that other ones that aren't funded have nothing to do with the mandate to buy that, they will continue like there's a breast milk regulation, a black lung disease regulation, some regulations to try to get doctors to go to underserved areas. those may have nothing to do with the individual requirement

to buy healthcare. so if that falls, they may still stand, but some of the justices said no, the whole thing ought to go. >> all right. paul rothstein, thank you so much for joining us. we appreciate your analysis. tonight at 11:00 you can hear what the attorneys generals of maryland and virginia have to say about the healthcare reform. doug gansler and ken cuccinelli join us tonight at 11:00. outrage over the trayvon martin shooting has taken a scary turn for a florida family. elaine and david mclean say director spike lee mistakenly tweeted their address and said it was george zimmerman's. zimmerman is the neighborhood watch captain who shot and killed the 17-year-old martin last month. lee is not responding to this report tonight. prince george's county council member karen toles going to court despite her citation for reckless driving. toles was caught going more than 100 miles per hour on the beltway in a county owned vehicle last month. she was initially cited for

unsafe lane change and given a warning for speed, put police reviewed the case and cited toles for reckless driving. her trial is set for next month. coming up later on 9 news now at 7:00 a former tsa agent is grounded for allegedly operating a prostitution ring out of a silver spring hotel. those stories coming up at 7:00 on 9 news now. still to come in this half hour the nation is knocking on the door of a $4 average at the pump, what about our region? topper. >> we're in pretty good shape here in northwest. the sun is back out but down to the south there are some showers. most of the showers are into southern maryland around fredberg. pretty heavy activity will roll through fred -- fredericksburg. pretty heavy activity will roll through fredericksburg. >> up next who former president george h.w. bush is expected to back next.

a big endorsement on the horizon for mitt romney in campaign 2012. former president george h.w. bush is expected to throw his support behind the republican tomorrow. a spokesperson for the romney campaign says the two will appear together at an event in houston near the 41st president's home. newt gingrich is wrapping up an appearance at georgetown university tonight. he spoke to a group of students about social security reform. it's the republican candidate's first appearance since he cut about 1/3 of his campaign staff and about in an hour ron paul is expected to speak at the university of maryland. both maryland and d.c. hold their primaries this tuesday. still ahead tonight another potential snag for the silver line. we'll tell you what's at stake. >> it sounds like science fiction, but the pentagon has actually developed a ray gun. they sent it to afghanistan, but many in the military refuse to use it. we'll show it to you tonight on the cbs evening news.

prices at the punch have officially turned -- pump have officially turned painful. the average price for a regular gallon of gas in the d.c. area is at 4 dollars nine cents higher than the national average of 3.91. the highest in the nation is in hawaii where people are paying 4.55 a gallon on average. the lowest is in wyoming at $3.51. you can find the lowest prices in our area at www.wusa9.com of the click on pump patrol. plans for the second phase of the silver line are in jeopardy tonight and the project's fate seems to lie with the club county board of supervisors. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox -- loudoun county board of supervisors. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox. if loudoun county opts out of the project, a leading economist says it could crip signal county's economic future and hurt the entire -- cripple

the county's economic future and hurt the entire region. >> it's really critical to the jobs they have there and ultimately how strong their economy. is. >> reporter: construction of this silver line to dulles airport might just stop here in retton with phase 1 if loudoun county -- reston with phase 1 if loudoun county's board opts out of phase 2. the reston chamber of commerce put on a show of force today promoting all the benefits of continuing the project. loudoun chair scott york is trying to muster the votes on his board. >> if we want to continue to grow in loudoun county in our eastern end of the community with businesses wanting to locate there, we have to put the infrastructure in place of. >> reporter: peggy fox, 9 news now. on capitol hill virginia senator mark warner is calling the house to act on a senate transportation bill before a saturday deadline. the senate recently passed a bill that would funnel more than $1 billion into virginia transportation projects the next two years. warner says inaction on the part of the house would slow down road and bridge projects that are sorely needed.

on that note a group billing itself as an emergency bridge repair team stopped at some area bridges today urging congress to pass that highway bill. they came armed with duct tape to make symbolic repairs. the flatbed truck made stops to the anacostia freeway, key bridge and bridge at main avenue. don't be surprised to see military aircraft over the region tonight. norad is holding training flights over the d.c. metro area. now these flights will start tonight and carry into tomorrow morning with civil air patrol aircraft, air force f-16's and a coastguard helicopter. a green alert today from the chesapeake bay program. the agency says the amount of underwater grasses in the chesapeake bay dropped by more than 20% last year bringing it to their lowest point in six years. these grasses provide oxygen and, a key habitat for many of the fish living in the bay. the bay program blames heavy rains, snow melt and then extreme summer heat for the decline.

more than 100 marylanders turned out for a rally for clean water today in annapolis. they're supporting legislation designed to reduce pollution from septic systems, upgrade wastewater treatment plants and reduce stormwater runoff. supporters say these bills will make maryland waterways safer for swimming and fishing heading into the summer season. a puppy in california could set the world record for the smallest dog ever. it is a female dachshund and it's a mix and its name is beyonce. that is just beyond precious and tiny. she was so small at birth she could fit on a spoon. at around 3 weeks of age she's about as big as a smartphone. animal control picked up her mother. she gave birth to a litter of five pups. beyonce was the last one delivered without a heartbeat, but the vets managed to revive her. she'll be ready for adoption in two weeks and i'm sure there will be plenty of takers. look at this little face. >> that's so cute.

she's a survivor. >> she is, beyonce. >> couldn't resist. we're looking at 72 the high today, pretty nice. now you know what? we have to say good-bye to the blossoms. >> i'm so sad. i'm not ready. >> i understand was their enemy and boom -- wind was their enemy and boom. they kind of matured and leafed out. they're pretty much gone. now remember the event goes until the 20th i think, the 27th. >> there's so much going on, the portrait gallery. >> it's still a great event. still get down there and enjoy. a live look outside, picked a comment off facebook from lisa. she said it was a loud sound, approaching wind and gusts at the base of old rag mountain 20 miles rest of delray. they may get some more storms in a minute. scared all the rescue dogs in their pens, too. 70 right now downtown, high was 72, wind south, southwest at 9

and pressure beginning to rise 29.69 inches of mercury. the front is still to the northwest of us. here's where the heaviest showers and storms can be found through eastern kentucky and the southern 1/2 of west virginia, but we see more showers and thunderstorms crossing 81 and headed over toward fredericksburg and charlottesville. we'll zoom in with live doppler to the south and west. you're in leesburg, fairfax, montgomery county, you're done with showers tonight, but down toward culpeper you're not and by the way, old rag mountain has been hammered twice today and this is moving through now. this is moving southeastward towards fredericksburg and will produce pretty heavy rain, rainfall rates almost an inch as hour as it progresses off to the southeast in the next hour, it will cross 95 and cross fredericksburg and go across eventually into southern maryland. temperatures, 70 in arlington, 72 bethesda, 68 reston, 69

toward fort belvoir. we're drying out quickly. thunderstorms end by 8:00, breezy and cooler tomorrow, seasonable, nice friday and unsettled on saturday. so for tonight showers and storms ending early, partly cloudy, breezy and mild, lows around 50, winds becoming northwest at 10 to 20. tomorrow morning sunshine. we're looking at temperatures in the 50s to around 60. you still might want to take a jacket because the winds will be northwest at 10 to 20 and firsty and by afternoon mostly sunny, breezy and cooler but seasonable, high temperatures between 60 and 65. next seven days, nice on friday, low 60s on saturday showers and storms, back in the mid-60s but gorgeous on sunday, mid-70s, fantastic monday, we're 80, more storms on tuesday, then much cooler next wednesday. don't plant flowers yet. we're not past the last frost date. >> let's just enjoy that weekend. thanks, topper. you know, last night's caps game at the verizon center had to be so hard for hometown fans to watch. >> especially they've done so well this season at home and

that is like they didn't even show up last night of it was rough. the capitals got back on the sighs this morning trying to put that debacle from last night behind them, but they still have a slim chance to make the playoffs. find out what needs to be done. >> punishments are handed down to the terps after this bench clearing brawl. find out what it was. sports is next. we love gardening...

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now 9 sports with kristen berset, the best sports in town. >> dale hunter didn't have much to say after his capitals got embarrassed last night on home ice. it was the biggest game of the capitals season, a much needed win to propel them into the playoffs of instead they produced a listless performance including a crucial turnover by alex ovechkin that led to a shorthanded goal by the sabres. their young goalie was yanked after the sabres got past him three times. now with just a handful of game rees maining the capitals' playoff hopes are on -- games remaining the capital's playoff hopes or life support. >> we've got to win these games. if we win all five, we're pretty much in because of tiebreakers and all that. so guys are frustrated with us losing. >> nicklas backstrom will join his team on the road for their

game against boston thursday, but he will not play. back some some started practicing with the team march 24th, passed a concussion test but is considered day to day. time to vote no our high school game of the week poll, five different choices, among them two big match-ups, boys lacrosse and baseball, girls soccer. go to our website to vote. for just the second time ever all no. 1 seeds advanced to the women's final four that. means no maryland representation. the lady terps were riding a 10- game win streak in search of their first final four appearance since 2006 but put in one of their worst performances all season losing to notre dame last night by 31 points. the terps shot just 39% and didn't make a single three- pointer. brenda frese took time to reflect on the season. >> i just appreciate the journey and the ride that we got to spend the season because you couldn't have asked for a better group, a better team in

terms of how committed each and everyone was to this team, to this program. >> gary williams being honored for his contributions to basketball in the d.c. area. on may 5th, one year to the day of his retirement announcement, the former maryland coach will be inducted into the d.c. metropolitan basketball hall of fame. danny o'brien is now a badger. the former maryland quarterback left college park in february, is now headed out west to play for wisconsin. he'll be eligible to play immediately. finally tonight maryland midfielder kevin cooper serves a one-game suspension after getting involved in this bench clearing brawl last saturday. cooper was eject along with north carolina's greg mcbride. the one game suspension is the ncaa norm for getting ejected from a game, but craziness on the lacrosse field. >> not the hockey rink. >> terps play virginia and he won't be able to play. >> that's a bummer. that's all for 9 news now now at 6:00. stay with wusa9 for the cbs

evening news next and i'll be back at 7:00 for our area's only local newscast and an update on weather. we'll be right back.