bond for the former neighborhood watchman whose accused of shooting trayvon martin. in his first public statement since the death of trayvon martin, george zimmerman offered an apology to the florida teenager's parents. >> i am sorry for the loss of your son. i did not know how old he was. i thought he was a little bit younger than i am and i did not know if he was armed or not. >> zimmerman's attorney says his client had hoped to apologize in private, but was not granted a meeting with martin's parents. their attorney called the apology self-serving and says they are devastated he has been granted bond. >> they pray that his freedom is only temporary because the pain that he has caused this family is going to be permanent. >> zimmerman is accused of second-degree murder. he maintains he acted in self- defense. during the bond hearing, zimmerman's family testified over the phone out of concern for their own safety and painted a picture of a caring

nonviolent man. his father said prior incidents sited by prosecutors were misunderstanding or efforts to protect himself or others. >> i have never known him to be violent at all unless he was provoked and then he would turn the other cheek. >> it will take a few days to post bond and there are concerns over zimmerman's safety that need to be addressed. once he's out, he'll be required to wear an electronic monitor and check in with authorities every three days. now zimmerman's arraignment is set for may 29. we are also following breaking news right now in the kevin coffee resentencing. bruce leshan is live at the montgomery county courthouse with the latest on this appeal. bruce. >> reporter: yeah, just a big surprise here in montgomery county. maryland has this unusual system which a panel can review

the sentencing decision of a single judge. a sentence for kevin coffee handed down in this drunk driving incident in which three of his friends were killed. twenty years, just a few moments ago, this three judge panel reduced that sentence to eight years. he's effectively eligible for parole next may 15. i'm showing by the parents of one of the parents in this case. i know this is a tough time for you. you're a lawyer, you pleaded the sentence remain at 20 years. what was your reaction when you heard the judges impose eight years? >> i was flabbergasted. not only with the reduction from 20 to 8 years, but with the -- the language used by the judge in describing the prosecution in this case, the children who were killed in this case.

indeed the parents of those children was unbelievably cruel. i can only imagine took great umbrage with the fact that the washington post reported on this story this morning. otherwise i cannot explain the outrage that spewed from his mouth as he read this clearly prewritten decision before entering the courtroom at 1:00 today. prewritten. >> your husband said this was like putting a sign up at the borders of montgomery county. what did you think the sign says? >> get drunk and get behind the wheel of a car and kill someone because you'll get a slap on the wrist. >> i'm so sorry for your loss. thank you so much for talking to us. >> i want to say one more thing. what the judge did and the way he did was so cruel to us, the families of these victims. he didn't have to do that. nor did the judges, callahan

and bayer have to agree to go along with the judge, the senior of the judges. the way he did that was unbelievable. cruel and unusual. i cannot explain it. i have been 30 years in this county as an attorney. and i have never seen the like of it, but i will never appear in any of those judges. >> i'm so sorry for your loss. so, the judge did say that there is a culture of recklessness, far too much teenage drinking in montgomery county and across the nation, but he also said that kevin coffee, this twenty-year-old cannot be forced to pay for that culture of recklessness. back to you at broadcast house. lesli. >> bruce, that is a tough story all the way around. thank you. those who are involved in this should be able to continue in their work. >> we are following some new information in the secret service sex scandal. a government official now says

a 12th employee is being implicated in the prostitution scandal and that agent says that two more agents will resign today and another has been fired. these latest developments could be the result of polygraph tests, the results were due today. a person not on the chopping block is mark sullivan. the white house maintains it still has confidence in sullivan. meanwhile, we're learning more about the people involved, including a prostitute at the center of the scandal. this is a picture of diana. plus, two of the three ousted agents have now been named and as chin reports, david cheney lives right here in the d.c. area. >> the media has been camped across the street from david cheney's home. no one has been seen coming in or out of the house here in ashburn, but neighbors are talking. >> it's sad that they don't have a higher self-standard of themselves. >> i don't believe it at all.

they are truly the greatest neighbors. >> the good neighbor describes as a same person implicated along with ten other secret service agents in the sex scandal. the first posted a picture. shea di is one of the initial three and allowed to resign. >> the wife and as a mother, i feel that, you know, you should behave better than that. >> cheney posted on his own facebook page, a picture with sarah palin during her vice presidential bid. he commented, i was really checking her out, if you know what i mean. cheney followed in his father's footsteps. george cheney passed away in august and has a long career in secret service. wilson only knows the side of cheney, that's the devoted friend and family man. >> i was going to school in middleberg. he would drive out there and they are fantastic people. i really hope there's no

involvement on his part. >> it's been reported that some of the secret service agents say they didn't know the women were prostitutes. but the agency has taken action with a lie detector test and firing some of their own. >> the second of the third ousted agent's name is greg stokes and he too was a supervisor. he was fired also from the agency. breaking news right now. they have announced an arrest in the shooting of the rite aid manager. police say he shot albert right in the back during the holdup. the victim's mom says he is paralyzed from the waist down. official charges in the case are pending, but vincent could be charged with assault with intent to kill. a teenager is recovering tonight after she was stabbed at her school. this happened at fairmonte high at 9:00 this morning and we're

told it was some sort of altercation between the two female students and one of them stabbed the other. the accused attacker is in custody, the other is expected to be okay. the medical examiner has confirmed the remains of a body found earlier this week are those of a woman who disappeared some 21 years ago. christine jarrett. police found the remains buried in concrete under a tool shed and they charged the victim's husband at the time with that murder. back in 1991 saying he walked out. police suspected foul play, but never had enough evidence to make an arrest before now. a somber anniversary today. it has been 13 years since the terrifying mass shooting at a colorado high school. april 20, 1999, students, dillon and erick harris shot and killed 13 people and wounded 23 others at columbine high in a suburb of denver. the teens took their own lives.

a memorial stands not far from the high school in littleton, colorado. coming up tonight at 7:00 on 9news now, justice for spit wads? a student appeals the suspension for shooting spit balls. he's going to the supreme court for this. still ahead in this half hour, a hero's welcome for an injured firefighter. and it's too much soda kill this woman? we're going to explain why her parents say coca-cola is to blame.

too much coca-cola kill a 30-year-old mother? at a hearing in new zealand earlier this week, her family testified they believed it did and some experts agree. natasha drank nearly two gallon of coke every day until she died of a heart attack in 2010.

one nutritionist believes the sheer amount of liquid was more dangerous than the caffeine. a gallon a day is the body's capacity for processing any kind of liquid without messing up the body's electrolytes. needless to say, that much of anything, not good. an injured firefighter is out of the hospital after being caught in a fiery blaze. >> george zimmerman's surprising day in court. plus, two years after the environmental disaster in the gulf. we return to see what happened. that's tonight on the cbs evening news.

in campaign 2012 news, newt gingrich is still in the running to be president. but at a dinner in new york, he acknowledged that he's an underdog by a huge margin. and in the event he does lose to mitt romney, gingrich will work with the former

massachusetts governor. gingrich says he is willing to help with romney's campaign because our grandchildren's future is at stake. president obama appears to be targeting young people as he campaigns for reelection. he is pushing congress to freeze interest rates on certain types of student loans. middle incomes and younger voters are crucial to the president's campaign. according to bloomberg.com, the congressional budget office estimates the one year freeze will cost about $6 billion. police in woodbridge, virginia, are on the hunt for a rock and roll bandit tonight. the man you see here held up a pizza delivery restaurant wednesday night. if you look closely at that surveillance picture, this guy is wearing a mask that looks like the makeup worn by the singers of the rock band, kiss. this subject is 6 feet tall. call police if you have any information about him or the crime. a hero's homecoming for a volunteer firefighter in prince georges county. >> it's been long overdue.

this firefighter was injured in a house fire last february and he is finally heading home from the hospital. >> i'm kristin fisher at the hospital center where today, the last of seven firefighters injured in an arson fire two months ago has been released from the hospital. 22-year-old kevin o'tool walked out of medstar washington hospital to the applause of his fellow firefighters. this is the first time he's been outside in 55 days. he's had ten surgeries in two months. second and third degree burns to 50% of his body. >> when they rolled me in that night, i made a commitment to, this isn't going to take me. i'm going to fight my way through this and get back to who i was. every day is a good day from now on. >> now whoever started that fire has never been caught. this is still a very active investigation. but at least now all seven firefighters injured that day

are home safe. at medstar washington hospital center, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> we wish him well. earth day is this sunday and to mark the occasion, nasa is presenting a three-day exhibit on the national mall. the village features activities. you can conduct a live video chat with nasa earth scientists and learn how the space agency technology is advancing knowledge and awareness of the planet. and you'll find that village at 12th street and jefferson drive. >> a bar on maryland's solomon island is kicking off the 2012 season. >> it's called the tiki bar. let's take a look at pictures. look at those crowds. there could be quite a crowd out there tonight. the st. mary's county sheriff's department is urging folks to celebrate responsibly and for drivers and pedestrians to be careful, especially since it's just reopening now. >> 71 degrees here. >> nice, now let's talk about earth day. if you're going to go, you need

a poncho. >> really? on the mall. that might be okay. get there by 12. >> we need this stuff. >> try to get out of there by 4. live weather cam. and it is brought to you by michael and son and son. pressure falling at 29.86 inches of mercury. it's going to be a very mild night. satellite picture radar combined, here's the front. you can see the line of showers and storms lining up ahead of the front from detroit back through st. louis and over toward dallas. that's going to get in here tomorrow afternoon. so saturday, we have the cold front and sunday we have the nor'easter. so, we do see a pretty skinny line, but a solid line of showers and storms. i can't promise everybody a shower tomorrow afternoon. if you miss it tomorrow afternoon, you'll make up for it saturday night and also sunday with the nor'easter. right now, clear to partly cloudy skies. 74 in rockville.

70 up in gaithersburg. 69 in great falls. 68 in reston and looking at 74 in college park. 73 in beltsville and still 70 down in manassas. very nice evening. all right, well big rain on the way. mild and dry tonight. early tee time tomorrow. pups at the park tomorrow. you can bring your dog to the nats game. some showers are possible. for the most part, should be okay. part of it is covered. go to our website, wusa9.com and click on my blog. big time rain on sunday. i mean, big time rain. how much rain? we'll take you through now. saturday, not that much. saturday, some showers, a little bit here and there. on sunday, it begins to pile up a little bit. i would say on average an inch on either side of the metro area and then probably a little heavier activity east of i-95 and 2 inches over in the dell morva and that's where there's a drought. we stay dry, 54 to 60.

winds light out of the south at 10. tomorrow morning, partly sunny and mild. could see a late shower or thunderstorm in the morning, especially west of town. but by far and away a better chance for showers and storms in the afternoon. partly sunny, still warm. high 74 to 78. winds southwest at 10 to 15. next seven days. after this nor'easter, it's going to stay chilly. going to feel like march. sunday, monday, and tuesday. wind driven rain on sunday. heavy at times. upper 50s, and looking at mid 50s on monday. left over showers, upper os tuesday. showers and storms possible wednesday and thursday. maybe we hit 70 on thursday. a cool week, but as you said, we need it. can't complain. >> there you go. thanks, topper. >> a lot of exciting stuff coming out about rg3, but this latest report isn't painting the most flattering picture. >> it made my eyebrows go up. i guess it's inevitable. all the news about one man can't be all good, unless it's

me. one scout has some negative things to say about rg3. it can't all be positive about me either. find out why another analyst says this is silly and alex ovechkin, not a part of the winning formula last night. what's up with that? explanation upcoming.

now 9sports with dave owen. the best sports in town.

>> like clock work, it happens every year. time ticking down on the nfl draft and a report comes out about a player and it's not particularly flattering. the rg3 camp hasn't had to worry about that. it's been bright smiles. until now, an unnamed scout recently told a milwaukee newspaper that his research revealed a selfish rg3. it raised eyebrows because the guy has been scrutinized and that word has never been uttered about the guy. here is griffin's response. people who know me know i'm not selfish. when the draft gets closer, everybody is going to try to find something wrong with you, so i'm not going to argue that. redskins reporter of 106.7 the fan talked to several coaches and gm's about griffin. here's what he had to say. >> i thought it was silly. everyone is looking to find something out that no one else has. as long as he wants to work

hard, those are the two things that matter. nothing else really does. >> well said. >> well said.(.ecl) don fletcher helping out in the community. he was rebuilding together. they construct homes for families in organizations in need. the soon to be 37-year-old glad to be helping out and says he is glad to be a redskin again. >> i'm very excited, you know, to continue my relationship with the washington redskins was important to me, important to the organization. so i look forward to the season. i'm thrilled to be returning to the redskins. >> all right, alex ovechkin, not a factor last night and that was almost lost in the glow of victory. the captain playing just two minutes in the third period. dale hunter opting to go defensive in that time. it was a move prompted by the coast to help his team hang on. he didn't steam be on his game. he looked sluggish. today, everybody deflecting,

including ovie. >> sometimes you know, you have to -- some get shortchanged a bit, but they do whatever it takes to win a game. >> finally, over 13,000 of you voted for this week's high school game of the week. boys lacrosse. fairfax at thomas jefferson. full highlights at 11:00. in case you didn't understand him, alex ovechkin said no problem, i'll play when they want me to play. >> there you go. >> rainy weekend. >> yeah, tomorrow morning is going be okay. in the afternoon, some showers and storms. pretty warm on saturday, but then we have rain and a wind driven rain on sunday. we need it. more like march, temperatures in the 50s on sunday, monday, and tuesday and showers linger and some of the showers could be snow showers by monday in the mountains. >> knock down some of those allergens and help with our drought. stay with 9news now for the cbs evening news which is coming up next. >> and derek is back with our area's only local newscast at

7:00. have a great weekend.