the funding for the 2010 las vegas conference? >> reporter: former gsa administrator martha johnson did talk making her first statement since these pictures, 2,400 square foot hotel suite showing where gsa vips stayed in the las vegas resort during the agency's $820,000 convention. gsa videos mocked the easy spending policies in videos. >> i am extremely a grieved by the gall of a handful of people to misuse federal tax dollars, twist contracting rules and defile the great name of the general services administration. >> reporter: johnson said the white house did not ask her to quit, but she resigned on her own to symbolize the need for new leadership. >> i will mourn for the rest of my life the loss of my appointment. >> thank god this time what happened in vegas didn't stay in vegas. >> reporter: members of congress expressed outrage and asked why the official who

planned the conference who refused to testify today received a $9,000 bonus. the inspector general who uncovered the las vegas spending spree testified he's handed the case over to the justice department. >> we recommended criminal charges. >> reporter: the acting gsa administrator says the number is now at 12. that's officials who resigned, been fired or placed on administrative leave and there is no mention during today's hearing into our investigation of that $26 million gsa bonus pool. now the latest on the investigation into the secret service and accusations involving agents and prostitutes. the secret service has now revoked security clearance of 11 agents involved in the security scandal. the scandal broke out thursday when an agent reportedly refused to pay one of the prostitutes. congressman darrell issa said

he is considering holding hearings about the accusations. this warm and sunny weather is actually causing big problems in the state of maryland. the eastern shore except cecil county is in a drought. rain is inches behind for the year and soil moisture just 60% of normal and now farmers are putting off planting spring crops and instead are drilling for water. >> ones that are right on the borderline now may need another well to boost the volume out of the system. >> never been this dry this early. >> maryland's department of the environment is already encouraging residents on the eastern shore to conserve water. right now water conditions are close to normal in the rest of the state. >> top, any chance we'll get rain any time soon? >> good news, bad news, we have two cold fronts heading our way. the first will probably go through dry. we're pinning our hopes more over the weekend. let's talk about the drought, though of the we're looking at abnormally dry conditions for

the immediate metro area which means our soil and vegetation are dry. that's why we have fires out to the west, but a severe drought in through the delmarva and moderate drought along the bay, anne arundel county and also calvert county. in terms of temperatures, it's like summer today. high was 89, shy of the record of 92, 85 downtown, 84 gaithersburg, 88 in manassas and cumberland. for tonight partly cloudy, breezy, warm, a slight chance of a shower primarily west of i- 81, lows 56 to 62. winds become northwesterly 10 to 20 when the front goes through. we'll come back and tell you how cool it will be in the wake of the front and look ahead to a better chance for rain later in the week. those deadly tornadoes that ravaged the midwest over the weekend have claimed yet another life. this person who has not yet been identified died in woodward, oklahoma. that is the same town where a tornado killed two men and three children. the storm system spawned a

total of 120 tornadoes all touching down over the weekend between texas and minnesota. today marks the fifth anniversary of the deadliest school shooting in the modern united states history. it was april 16, 2007, when a gunman killed 32 people at virginia tech and of those 32 six were from northern virginia. erin peterson and rima samaha from westfield high, mary reed from annandale high school, leslie sherman from west springfield high school, maxine turner from james madison high school in vienna and daniel cueva from hilton high in woodbridge. a remembrance began at midnight with the lighting of the ceremonial candle at the april 16th memorial on campus which will remain lit for 24 hours and just over 20 minutes virginia governor bob mcdonnell will be attending a commemoration and candlelight vigil at the memorial. our peggy fox is live in blacksburg tonight for what's been a very solemn day on this campus.

>> reporter: yeah, it certainly is, derek. everybody is getting ready for the vigil at 7:30. i've got my kendall. look at these students here. they're -- candle. look at these students here unwrapping these candles. they were donated five years ago anonymously 50,000 candles. so they're using these leftovers today. this donation is just one piece of how the country and surrounded, put their arms around virginia tech in this outpouring of support after the tragedy five years ago today. now at the memorial for those 32 victims today we saw people coming by all day putting flowers down, remembering those 27 students and five teachers who were all gunned down by seung-hui cho, two first i dod in a dorm and he -- died in a dorm and he came back two hours later killing the rest of them in norris hall. today, however, people say it is time to move on. there is certainly sadness to

the lives lost, but also more of a remembrance in celebration of their lives. >> i didn't know anyone personally, but i feel like i did. it means a lot to me that i would come here on this special day. >> you can't change the past. it could have been me. it wasn't. it's bittersweet at times. i mean you always think they could have had a much better life than maybe i could have, but at the same time you want to live on for them as well at the same time and just make sure that your life isn't in vein. isn't-- isn't in vain. >> reporter: this past weekend they had about 7,000 people participating in the run to remember the victims and the lives changed as well, so many people remember what happened and a number of people injured as well. they're expecting thousands to come out this evening at 7:30

for this candlelight vigil to remember the lives and make sure people never forget what happened here. i'm peggy fox reporting live. back to you. >> thank you, peggy. our hearts still go out to the hokie nation. in conjunction with the anniversary today people impacted by gun violence held a rally on capitol hill. they came to share their stories and also to urge congress to pass tougher gun control measures. >> we're up here because of what i heard said from elected leaders after the virginia tech shooting, after the shooting in tucson, after the shooting that happened every single day that now is not the time to talk about gun violence, now is not the time. it's not appropriate to talk about solutions. >> the group is calling on the congress to reject some bills now for consideration, bills that would make it easier to legally carry a concealed weapon in public places. new developments tonight in the murder case against george zimmerman, lawyers for the man accused of killing trayvon

martin are now asking the judge in the case to step down. zimmerman's attorney mark o'mara filed the request this afternoon. he said judge jessica rexsideler revealed a potential conflict of interest last week and wants it addressed now before it becomes a public. the judge's husband works with an orlando attorney who was approached about representing zimmerman. he declined to take the case and referred it to o' mara. zimmerman is scheduled to go to court friday for a bond hearing. still to come rock in the reds, the capitals' quest for the stanley cup comes home to the verizon center. we will preview game no. 3 with the bruins. >> but first 150 years ago president abraham lincoln set free all the slaves living in washington d.c. and today d.c. marks that anniversary with celebrations all over town. that's up next.

a parade, prayer breakfast and a festival, some of the activities marking emancipation day in d.c. this. holiday calls attention to the day precisely 150 years ago now that president abraham lincoln freed the 3,100 slaves then living in the district of columbia. that it turns out was nine months before he issued the emancipation proclamation. >> they paid our masters for our freedom. and those who wanted to leave the country were given $100 to

leave the country. so my people decided they wanted to stay. >> and during today's activities plenty of talk about the district's ongoing fight for full voting rights in congress and speaking of those rights, a new poll shows more of the country supports the idea of at least budget autonomy for the district. that poll was released today by the group d.c. votes and it shows 71% of u.s. adults believe d.c. taxpayers and elected officials ought to make budget decisions for the city. just 23% support the status quo where congress has to approve the city budget. >> what a beautiful day out today to start the week, but our lawns and flowers not loving it quite as much. topper has the word on when we might finally see some rain that, forecast coming your way in a couple minutes. >> but first space shuttle discovery loaded up for its final night to d.c. and its brand-new home.

breaking news out of illinois, the final winner of that record $656 million mega millions jackpot has now come forward. illinois lottery officials say the single winner will be revealed wednesday. the holders of the other two winning tickets have already come forward in kansas and right here in maryland. those winners have chosen to remain anonymous. just one more day until the shuttle shuffle, that's when discovery comes to its new home in d.c. and the old enterprise is shipped off to los angeles. final preps for discovery's

final journey wrapped up today in florida. crews at kennedy space center loaded the shuttle on top of that 747 jumbo jet that will carry it to d.c., but before landing at dulles discovery will get a hero's welcome with a low altitude flight over the city and its monument. want to find a cool place to watch the special flight? we've got a list of the best spots to see shuttle on www.wusa9.com and if you can't get to one of those, just tune into 9 news now. we'll bring you live coverage of discovery's journey over d.c. right into dulles airport. the capitals' quest for the stanley cup continues tonight at the verizon center. the puck drops in letting than 15 minutes in game three of the eastern conference quarterfinals versus the boston bruins and the caps have a chance to take the lead in the series. >> reporter: i'm kristen berset at the verizon center. get ready for game three between the capitals and the bruins. this series is tied up at 1 game apiece. now the caps have this fame tonight and another game before

they head -- game tonight and another game before they head back to boston for game five. so a win here is crucial for them. they have been so good all season at home and they have a chance to break this series open. >> gives them confidence, yes, they can beat this team, but also shows them how to beat this team, going to the net. we saw that with nick backstrom's goal and putting in rebounds. we saw this in troy brouwer's goal. those dirty goals will be how the caps will be victorious in the series. >> reporter: this game gets going in minutes, fans pouring in rocking the red. this place is going to be loud tonight. we'll have full highlights for you plus postgame coverage coming up tonight at 11:00. for now i'm kristen berset at the verizon. 9 sports now. >> really looking forward to that. meantime some of the biggest names in baseball made the list of potential witnesses for roger clemens' second perjury trial. it got underway today with jury selection at the federal courthouse here in d.c. among the names on the potential witness list, former players

barry bonds, jose conseco and major league baseball commissioner bud selig. federal prosecutors are once again trying to prove clemens lied to congress when he said he never used performance enhancing drugs. the first attempt ended in a mistrial over the summer last year. clemens could face up to 30 years in prison if he is convicted. so the government is taking roger clemens to trial again right now. the u.s. has no budget. unemployment is above 8%. gas is more than four bucks a gallon and major scandals have just come to light at the gsa and the secret service. should be it a priority to prosecute a baller for a second time about supposedly lying about using steroids to play a game? your thoughts are always a priority in mcginty's mailbag. send them to mailbag at wusa9.com. the record breaking heat that baked the u.s. last month was apparently a phenomenon found only in america. as we told you last week, march temperatures in the continental u.s. were 8.6 degrees above normal making that the warmest march in the united states

ever, but that is not the case for the whole world. the national oceanic and atmospheric association said the worldwide average last month was just .8 of a degree warmer than the 20th century average that. means the world had its coolest march since 1999. >> not so cool today. >> no. >> let's put this in perspective. 89 was the high, not a record. 89 is the average high from july 15th through august 2nd. we've been about a month ahead of schedule in terms of plants and vegetation, but now we're leaping ahead. here's the deal. cold front rolls through tonight lowering temperatures gradually by the middle of the week. let's start with the temperature graph because it's more like july. started out nice saturday, beautiful day, 75. we jumped to 83 yesterday, 89 today. we should go back to 75 tomorrow and wednesday will be the coolest day of the week with temperatures in the low 60s for highs. so we'll have a day below

average for a change. this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. this is wisconsin avenue looking north. still 85 downtown, winds south, southwest at 16. they'll continue in that direction and kind of remain breezy until the front goes through. they switch and become northwesterly after midnight. unfortunately the front has very little moisture with it. all right. 87 college park, 83 bethesda, still 88 rockville, 84 gaithersburg, 82 in leesburg, 84 manassas and we're looking at temperatures down to the mid- 80s in fort belvoir. mild and breezy tonight, not as warm tomorrow but still above average, still dry and then cooler wednesday and thursday. those will be our cool days. for tonight partly cloudy, breezy, warm, got to keep the chance of an isolated shower in, but i think it will be primarily west of i-81, so 56 to 62 for lows, winds becoming northwest at 10 to 20 late. tomorrow morning a nice morning, partly cloudy, breezy

and mild. grab your shades, 50s and 60s, winds turning northwest 10 to 15 and by afternoon very respectable day, partly cloudy, breezy and not as warm but still nice, highs near 75, winds northwest at 10 to 15 and gusty. we're looking at upper 50s for yoke land but mid-60s for couple -- for oakland but mid- 60s for cumberland. low 70s for warrenton, leesburg and manassas. mid-70s downtown, low to mid- 70s up to 70 and we're looking at mid-70s into southern maryland, 74 annapolis and a small craft advisory for the bay and tidal potomac until 2 p.m. tomorrow. break it down, 56 to 64 to start at 6:00, very nice by noon. walking to lunch, great 68 to 72. by evening 72 to 76. next seven days, again wednesday our cool day, low 60s, then temps going back up, upper 60s into thursday. we're back in the mid-70s friday and then really this is pretty good news, derek, pretty

good chance of showers and storms saturday night, much of sunday and even lingering into monday and we need that that. would be our best chance for any widespread activity and some kind of steady rain and maybe some big boomers. >> we've been dodging the rain all spring. you got to figure we're due. >> let's hope so. >> thank you, top. we'll be back in a minute. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag at wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back.

in our mailbag tonight reaction to that prostitution scam involving secret service agents in colombia allegedly partying way too hard off hours in preparation for the president's visit. congressman issa says he might have to hold some new investigative hearings. greg is not impressed. seems when there is a new headline, somebody in congress is preparing for investigation. it seems like the real workers toot real job keeping the country running -- do the real job keeping the country running. the latest is the secret service. they need to be fired, not

investigated. they protect the president. >> a couple things to keep in mind, it is congress' job to have oversight over the money spent and a lot of times those investigations do turn up information. and then dale on washington d.c. on george zimmerman's lawyer's request friday that the man be given bail. as much as i think zimmerman is guilty, he is declared under our legal system innocent until proven guilty. he has cooperated with the authorities and has turned himself into the authorities when charges were filed. it pains my heart to say that he deserves bail. you have to take the good with the bad in order to have a credible legal system. you know what, dale, that's a very good point and as i said in my let's be real commentary friday, we should also perhaps prepare for the possibility that anything could happen in that jail, that justice for trayvon may not include a guilty verdict. mcginty's mailbag always includes your e-mails. our address here is mailbag at

wusa9.com. please don't forget to include your name and where you're writing us from or join the conversation already ongoing on our wusa9 facebook page. well, that is our report. i'll be right back here at 11:00 along with anita brikman and topper. don't forget, log on any time you like to www.wusa9.com 6789 have a great evening. we'll see you a bit later. bye bye.

"entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world. pippa, the gun, the royal controversy. will kate middleton's sister be arrested? the fallout from the paparazzi face-off. and video of pippa partying in paris the night before. >> new wedding information and the construction at what could be the ceremony location. >> demi moore in bed. her first tweet since leaving rehab. and is ashton dating mila kunis? >> an katie partying with rihanna. >> and candice bergen. years after her stroke.