need to be more alert. >> reporter: no one was injured in this incident, but police say university of maryland students living off campus are pretty easy targets for crime. a shocking number of them leave their doors open according to police and when you add drugs in the mix, the risk goes way up. reporting live scott broom, 9 news now. >> the question remains is how they knew there was weed and money there. thank you. did one of montgomery county's most admired schools cheat to win the country's top achievement award? local school leaders say an investigation by the atlanta journal constitution is alive, but the newspaper is sticking by its story. bruce leshan is looking into this. >> go ahead and start making your assignment rolls. >> reporter: the big banner proclaiming the school a national big blue ribbon award winner flies outside and inside, but the atlanta journal

constitution questions whether dramatic gains in student test scores at the school are statistically possible. over three years leading up to the award average scores soared 78 points, a remarkable gain for a school that had been on the verge of state takeover. was there any cheating here? >> never, never. >> reporter: never? >> never. >> reporter: school officials are blasting the reporter who wrote the story saying he ignored the massive influx of resources that turned the school around. >> when the reporter came into the school, he saw all that, yet he still decided to take an angle that somehow any changes in scores have to be the result of cheating and that black kids and latino kids and poor kids can't achieve at high levels. >> my son is doing great because he has won student of the week, student of the month and also student of the year '. >> reporter: but the atlanta paper stands by its reporting pointing to a significant falloff in scores of students scoring advanced in reading the

year after the award. >> this is exactly, exactly how the atlanta scandal began. we reported strange swings in school test scores that experts said were nearly impossible. >> reporter: but at highland 93% of the students are still scoring advanced or proficient and no one but the paper has even hinted at cheating. >> people are outraged. they're infuriated. people are crying because the -- just the insinuation that cheating went on is so powerful. >> reporter: at this point the paper's suspicions about highland are based solely on that big uptick in test scores and then a significant falloff and school leaders say that's really tied to a big influx of dollars, hundred dollars of thousands of dollars in resources to -- hundreds of

thousands of dollars in resources to that school and then the loss and the students there they say are doing remarkably well even without that money. >> we'll see what happens, bruce. thank you. the falls church community activist and businessman on trial for child sex abuse took the chan in his own defense today. michael gardner is accused of molesting three young girls sleeping over at his home last summer. peggy fox has been covering the case since the start and joins us live with his testimony. peggy. >> reporter: well, first the defense spent some time letting the jury get to know michael gardner. he's a lawyer turned businessman who spent years coaching kids soccer. there were character the witnesses describing his reputation as honest and trustworthy. as to his defense about these allegations, he says that the girls might have seen him in the middle of the night and he actually admits to touching one of them in an innocent manner, but anything beyond that he says simply did not happen. the 9 news now video played in

court today shows michael gardner opening the arlington courthouse door for his wife. the video was used to counter defense allegations that he has limited motion in his right arm. gardner told the jury about being diagnosed with stage 3 melanoma in 2004. the cancer destroyed some lymph nodes gardner said leaving him susceptible to infections. last may, a month before the allegations, he came down with a bad infection he said that swelled his hand. he said, "it was a very nagging infection. it didn't finally subside for several months." and the night of the sleepover he said, "i was feeling feverish and fluish." he said he came into his daughter's room at her request because of a loud thunderstorm. he said, "we were not secluded in any separate part. the doors were open. robin, his wife, came in and looked around. we had a conversation." he said i played a superhero lightning -- he played a

superhero lightning game with the girls and did he touch his daughter's friend briefly. he said i reached over and touched her on my mid rift with my left hand. did you ever touch her vagina? gardner said absolutely not. the next night june 17th was the slumber party where two girls say he fondled their genitals. gardner said he went downstairs where the girls were sleeping late into the night to turn out the lights and lock the doors. he said, "i went downstairs in the basement. it was quiet and dark. i didn't see anybody. i went back upstairs and went back to bed." greenspun, his defense attorney, said have you ever had sexual relations with the alleged victim? gardner says no. greenspun, did you ever touch any of the them in a sexual manner? gardner, no. now the dna evidence did not come up today. last week a dna expert testified that a dna profile found on one of the girl's underpants had a probability of matching to michael gardner of

one in 20 quadrillion. that is 20 with 16 zeros, an extremely high probability, especially considering there are only 7 billion people on this planet, but that may not have come across to the jury. in fact, defense attorney jonathan shapiro told me today they thought they turned that dna expert into a defense witness. we'll see what happens with that information. tomorrow we will hear closing arguments and perhaps the jury will get the case that the point. i'm peggy fox reporting live at the arlington courthouse. back to you. >> powerful testimony all around. thank you, peggy. an update on the series of sex assaults on a widely used trail. police have now stepped up patrols on the northwest branch of the trail around hyattsville. there have been five attacks there since january and the latest happened last friday, april 20th. in that case the victim was just walking along the trail near west hyattsville metro

when a man approached with a gun. it is unclear whether just one man is responsible for all the attacks. tonight d.c. police investigating a series of robberies in georgetown, the latest happening just before midnight sunday at the five guys restaurant in the 1300 block of wisconsin avenue. after closing up a gunman forced the clerk back inside and robbed the restaurant of money. that employee was not hurt. earlier sunday afternoon two employees at the serendipity restaurant were robbed while they were taking a break in an alley and one hour later another person held up while walking along nearby 23rd street. so were all these robberies connected? police aren't sure yet. it hasn't happened naturally, so national zoo veterinarians have now performed an artificial insemination on the female giant panda. a second artificial insemination is planned for tonight. scientists had hoped there would be some natural breeding between she and the male giant

panda tian tian, but i guess they aren't really feeling each other that way because it hasn't happened. zoo staff will be monitoring the female in the coming months to see if she's pregnant. >> it was a rather cool and overcast day today, but just you wait. it's going to heat up. top's on the terrace with the latest. >> we're going to combine three months into one month this week indeed. temperatures will be going up gradually. let's start with radar. we do have showers north of us. notice the warm front north of morgantown to petersburg, to the sought of that it's in the 80s and to the north of that in the 60s. we're in pretty good shape through the evening commute, no showers till after midnight tonight. 66 downtown, 71 fredericksburg, primarily 60s now. it's as warm it's been all day. 59 in frederick, 63 leesburg and 68 in oakland, 72 in cumberland. for tonight mostly cloudy, mild, shower possible after midnight, lows in the 50s,

winds southeasterly 10 to 15. we'll come back and talk about when this front clears us when we get back into the warm sector, but it won't stay north all week. we'll explain coming up. the tallest building in new york is once again in lower manhattan. manuel gallegos is in the big apple where today one world trade center surpassed the empire state building. >> reporter: we're down here in lower manhattan at the base of one world trade center and the building is coming along nicely. take a look. 37,000 tons of steel, 200,000 cubic yards of concrete and a million square feet of windows. one world trade center is an engineering marvel and it's getting taller every day. the recovery in lower manhattan reached new heights with the placement of this steel beam. the first column of the 100th floor of 1 world trade center now stands at 1,271 feet high, 21 feet taller than the empire state building. >> it's inspirational and it's

going to make a lot of people happy. >> reporter: it took a while after september 11th for construction to get started, but eventually at a rate of a new floor every week the tower started to alter manhattan's skyline. locals and tourists marveled at the structure. the milestone comes close to the one year anniversary of the death of osama bin laden. >> you're not going to stop america. we're going to rebuild and keep on going. >> sends chills up and down your spine when you think about what happened. >> reporter: from here on the 71st floor of building you get a real since just how massive this structure is and how tall it is. take a look at this panoramic view of all of new york. something that's noticeably different from the original twin towers is that the building is all glass, windows, floor to ceiling all wait around. the tower is one of several -- the way around. the tower is one of several buildings under construction at the site which is also home to the national september 11th memorial and museum. >> it's been an act of passion

and patriotic duty. >> reporter: the skyscraper isn't expected to reach full hite for pat least another year when the needle -- height for at least another year when the needle is added. the tower will top out at 7,676 feet making it the tallest building in the united states. the building is 55% leased and it will be occupied starting in late 2014 and there will be an observation deck on the top at 1,068 feet. >> the tallest building in the world is in dubais standing at 2,723 feet. after getting a devastating diagnosis parents pen a bucket list for their dying baby and still ahead how they plan on making every moment count. >> the obama administration won't comment on efforts to release a human right activist in china. i'm danielle nottingham at the white house. i'll have the story coming up. >> but up next london looking

at plain to keep people safe during the -- a plan to keep people safe during the summer olympics by using surface to air missiles on the top of nearby apartment buildings, just a little controversy.

a man to protect the summer olympics is -- a plan to protect the summer olympics is causing controversy in london. there will be surface to air missiles placed around town to protect the games from any

terrorist attacks. this is the first time since world war ii that missiles have been deployed in britain's capital. people are just now getting the word. >> i still kind of throw my head as to why they decided to use a residential area. >> it does raise a lot of questions. >> generally in this country the military just doesn't announce they're going to occupy private property it. puts us at risk. >> the experts say those missiles are required to prevent a 9/11 style terrorist attack. more than 3 their thousand troops will be -- 13,000 troops will be deployed to provide security during the olympic games. it's believed american officials are protecting a well known chinese dissident in beijing. >> and the negotiations for his freedom are causing some tensions between the two nations just days before hillary clinton is set to arrive in china to talk economics. danielle nottingham is at the white house. >> reporter: president obama and his administration are remaining tight lipped on the negotiation to release a

political activist in china whose escape could impact relations between the u.s. and china. at a joint press conference with japan's prime minister, president obama would not talk about chinese human rights activist chen guangcheng. >> obviously i'm aware of the press reports on the situation in china, but i'm not going to make a statement on the issue. >> reporter: chen is reportedly under u.s. protection in china after escaping house arrest. it's believed the two countries are trying to negotiate a deal that would give him asylum in america. >> what i would like to emphasize is that every time we meet with chien at issue of human rights comes up -- china the issue of human rights comes up. >> reporter: the blind lawyer was in prison for several years after he exposed forced abortions under the country's one child policy. friends say chen had help escaping house arrest last week climbing over walls and crossing a stream. he later made a video asking the government not to hurt the

family he left behind. my wife, mother and children are still in the guard's evil hands he says. negotiations for chen will be difficult for the obama administration. officials must try to persuade the chinese to release the man they consider a criminal. later this week secretary of state hillary clinton and other u.s. leaders will arrive in beijing for talks on trade and the economy. chen's friends say the activist wants to stay in china to fight for human rights and does not want to go to the u.s., but he may not have another option. chen and his family were under house arrest for the last 20 months. human rights groups say they were beaten and harassed during that time. at the white house danielle nottingham. now back to you, derek. >> chen supporters do believe a deal for his release will get done before clinton arrives in china. investigators were back at the scene today of that deadly

crash at the bronx zoo. it happened yesterday when an suv flipped over a guardrail and came crashing down just inside the zoo grounds. seven people from the same family died including three children. police say the car was traveling fast when it hit the center median, ran across several lanes of traffic and plunged 100 feet off the overpass to the ground below. >> everybody was taken back by it burb has a relative. everybody -- because everybody has a relative. everybody has a child or a grand parent. it's i have upsetting. >> investigators -- it's very upsetting. >> investigators are examining the height of the guardrail on that deadly crash. there was another deadly crash back in 2006 on that same stretch of road. a sailboat was torn to pieces in a collision with a freighter or other large vessel this weekend. the accident happened during a nighttime race from southern california to mexico.

the bodies of three crew members were found. a fourth is still missing. this is the second deadly yacht accident off the california coast this month. an australian billionaire announced plans to build a replica of the titanic. clyde palmer said the new ship will be every bit as luxurious as the original titanic but with state of the art 21st century technology and the latest navigation and safety systems. plans are calling for the titanic replica to launch in 2016, not sure if this is a good idea, guys. >> i was told he said the boat will not sink, but did he add to that it will, of course, sink if you put a hole in it, so let's be real. >> we're looking at a couple showers here late tonight, not this evening, but a different story in lubbock. they got hammered with thunderstorms. this is pretty intense hail video. you can hear it hitting the windshield. remember hail circumstance lates in the thunderstorm. so it goes up and freezes and

comes down, goes up it freezes. by the time the up draft can't keep it up anymore it falls to the ground. >> i hear that's really good for the finish of your car. >> if you cut the hailstone in half, you can see rings and that is essentially how many times it's traveled to the top of the thunderstorms kind of like a tree growth ring. let's have a live look outside. we have some clouds. it's our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. temperatures have actually responded to a few breaks in the clouds, 66 downtown now, looking at winds out of the south at 7 and the pressure is beginning to fall at 30.18 inches of mercury. satellite and radar picture combined, our next system is producing showers and thunderstorms through parts of the midwest back into arkansas and this front will roll through. it's part of a cold front. we have a warm front producing showers in new york state and pennsylvania. that will roll through tomorrow. as this warm front goes through tomorrow we'll pop in the warm

sector. it will increase our chances for showers and thunderstorms and the silver lining, it will push temperatures back up to near 80 degrees across the board. now we're a far cry from 80, 64 arlington, 63 bethesda, 65 also in rockville, 65 college park and beltsville. temps pretty uniform, cloud cover a pretty good equalizer, 63 reston, leesburg and 66 in manassas. so warming up, yup, mild tonight, a late shower after midnight, warmer tuesday but with the shower and thunderstorm risk and then mild on wednesday and thursday. so not quite as warm wednesday and thursday. the front goes back to the south for a time. tonight mostly cloudy and mild, a shower possible after midnight, low temps in the 50s, winds out of the southeast 10 to 15. so if you're inside the beltway, we're talking upper 50s which is considerably above average. our average low is still 52, 56 in gaithersburg, 57 reston, fairfax and also at college park. now tomorrow morning becoming partly sunny, shower or

thunderstorm possible in the morning, 50s and 60s. so you might want to bring your umbrella. it's not going to be everywhere. by afternoon we pop in the warm sector, partly sunny, warmer, high temps around 80, but a shower or thunderstorm is possible. next seven days we are looking at temperatures in the upper 70s as we get into wednesday, a slight chance of a shower, mid- 70s thursday. so the front kind of sags back south. then it goes back north and we pop in the warm sector. mid-80s on friday. saturday mid-80s, low 80s, shower or thunderstorm possible and cooler in the wake of the front, 74 sunday and 70 next monday. so all in all we're warming up when that front gets through us tomorrow. >> sounds great, top. coming up on 9news diabetes and teenagers, startling numbers every parent needs to hear. we're back in 2 1/2 minutes. >> plus the plan that microsoft and barnes & noble hope will take a bite out of apple.

there's a new team in the quest to take all in the e- reader market and beyond. microsoft is buying a 17.6% stake in barnes & noble for $300 million. the deal will create a nook app

for windows 8 which is microsoft's main operating system. >> wal-mart is taking cash and carry to a new level. now the world's largest retailer will let you pay in person for your online purchases. it's an attempt to reach the so- called underbanked, people who may not have access to credit cards or bank accounts. customers can go online to place an order, click cash and take that receipt to one of wal- mart's 3,800 stores in the country to pick up their items. three northern virginia counties topped this year of forbes list of wealthiest counties in virginia. loudoun county, virginia ranked first with a meanian annual household income of $115,000. falls church, virginia was 114,000 was next and fairfax was third and los alamitos county california was fourth and howard county, maryland, rounded out the top five with a

median annual family income of $103,000. if you believe you have been racially profiled by the tsa, there's an app for that that allows you to report incidents of alleged profiling in realtime. it was unveiled today at a news conference and organizations representing several minority groups call it a novel marriage between technology and civil rights activism. here's a tough question. do you have a face only a mother could love? not so sure? there's an app for that, too called the ugly meter. it will take your photo, examine it and rate you on a scale from 1 to 100. 100, you're a super model. 1, well, to use the scientific term you are beaten and haggard. the app's creator is from arizona and by his own creation the man gets a 32 out of 100 which i guess is kind of beaten but not quite so haggard. coming up a bucket list for a dying child that has millions of people talking around the world. >> also ahead a young girl

nearly escapes a run-away truck. we'll take a look at that. >> reporter: i'm kristin fisher at georgetown university where somebody has stolen the hand on the iconic clock tower here on campus. is it an act of vandalism or a time honored tradition? we'll get some answers coming up.

a time honored tradition or act of theft and vandalism?

the hands of the healey clock tower at georgetown university have gone missing. >> are they having a little bit of fun? kristin fisher is live at campus where it is the last day of classes before finals and we're guessing it's probably no coincidence. >> reporter: probably not. i tell you what. almost everybody here on campus thinks that a graduating senior is behind this. the university is calling it a serious offense, but students say this, it's just a prank that dates back to the 1960s. you can hear the time, but you can't read it. the hands of the healey clock tower disappeared overnight. >> i think it's great. i'm kind of proud of my year for finally being the one that's gotten it. >> it's a big offense here at georgetown to do it. so props to the person who did the prank. >> today is the last day of classes, just trying to go out with a bang. >> reporter: ask anyone on campus who's behind it and they'll say -- >> some senior.

>> definitely it's a senior guy probably. >> multiple senior guys. >> it's a tradition and i think everyone tries to do it by their senior year. >> reporter: the last time it was pulled off was in 2005. the two students posed with the hands and posted the picture on facebook. after that the university beefed up the security for the clock tower, about the seven years late it's happened again -- but seven years later it's happened again. a university spokeswoman says georgetown's department of public safety is investigating the missing hands on the healey clock tower. breaking into this area and removing the hands involves serious violations and safety concerns, concerns like how did they get up there? >> i've heard of people managing to find the spare keys to the upper floors of the building. so i think they might have just taken advantage of an abandoned golf cart. >> reporter: the lang pranksters got one year of acquisition -- the last pranksters got one year of academic probation, but this time students say the university should lighten up. >> the school have a little humor with it. >> a slap on the wrist maybe

some sort, no serious consequence. it's all in good fun. >> reporter: for the record, did i try to find students that were against -- i did try to find students that were against the tradition, but so far i've not been able to find one person on campus that didn't enthusiastically support it. >> i was going say good luck with that. they look like they've totally bought into this prank. thank you. in tonight's health alert type 2 diabetes which used to only be seen in adults is on the rise in teenagers and resistant to treatment. new studies show 1/3 of all american kids and teenagers are now obese, 1/3, and this puts them at higher risk for type 2 diabetes. to make matters worse, the standard drug treatment for type 2 diabetes metformin doesn't seem to hold this metabolic disease in check in these younger kids. a combination of both met for man and avandia seem to work -- metformin and avandia seem to work better. >> treating diabetic in children and adolescents appears to require in many of

the children two drugs right off the bat. >> doctors are ant sure why diabetes is harder to control in teenagers, but they say hormonal changes of puberty may be part of that. the severity and early onset of this disease can have disastrous health effects as a person gets older. now to a couple. they brought their new baby home only to get devastating news from the doctors months later. a houston couple is now on a crusade for life. kevin reese reports part of their mission is to share their little girl's story with the world. >> reporter: at a home in bel air everything was right with the world. her parents named her avery. she arrived perfect and with a smile. but just a few months old her

legs went limp. something was wrong. >> i just started screaming and just it doesn't seem real. >> reporter: what was real was spinal muscular atrophy, a rare genetic disorder, the legs first, avery's use of her arms will be next, then the ability to breathe. at best doctors give her 18 months. so what do you do with that little time? you dance. >> do you like that? >> reporter: mike and laura kanawatti took avery's story online and created her own blog. >> the reality is this disease will take my life. >> reporter: and offered her own bucket list, the moments, the memories they want her to have before she's gone. >> avery, you silly girl. >> mike always told me we've got all the time in the world to cry. we can cry, you know, when she's no longer here, but for now we want to try and enjoy

the time we do have with her and just make memories. >> reporter: memories like her first easter, her first trip to college, her first innocent kiss, her first little girl tea party with her mom. >> oh, yummy. >> reporter: all of this online for a reason. >> we can watch her die or let her live and through let are her live we're going to try and educate other people about this. >> reporter: sna is a genetic disorder. there is no cure and very little research, but parents can get tested to find out if they are carriers if it's something they could pass to a child. >> it's very aggravating that no one knows about this. >> i refuse to think that my daughter will i do in vain. >> reporter: so mike and laura promised to chronicle every moment in a very short life so that we remember avery, remember a disease that needs more research and remember how they spent each day. >> we didn't sit there and cry that day. we made memories with our

daughter. >> and lots of them. >> reporter: memories they will keep alive hoping someday they lead to a cure. >> now research suggests an estimated 7.5 million people in the u.s. are carriers of the sma gene that. doesn't mean they have the disorder, but they carry the gene. this family is sharing avery's story in mart to encourage parents to be screened -- in part to encourage parents to be screened so they can be aware of the odds of passing that disease on to their children. families may choose to select a future embryo that does not carry the sma gene. i should be arrested for crimes against potted plant-kind. [ clang ] my house is where plants came to die. ♪ but, it turns out all i was missing was miracle-gro potting mix. it's got what a plant needs. even plant food that feeds them for up to 6 months.

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caught on tape, an inmate tries to make a break for it. john rebasol had just gotten off a commercial flight in phoenix and decided it's time to get out of here. he took off a taserlike device that was clamped around his angle so he could get away from his two detention officers. then jumped off a two-story parking garage, ran across a tarmac and tried to steal a tractor. airport employees noticed he had no id badge, so they held him there until the police could get in there. >> he was gone. >> making a break. in china a young girl is lucky to be alive after nearly being run over by a truck at a

busy intersection. surveillance video shows several students running across the street when a truck loaded with sand and stone appears to hit that little girl. the truck veered to one side. it crashed into a traffic light pole, amazingly she crawled out from under the truck and sustained only some minor injuries. >> wow. there's a warning this evening about what else, koala bears in australia. the government declared these marsupials vulnerable in two states in australia. experts blame mining development and wild dogs for the threatened status of the species. 80% of the koala population is found on private property. so landowners are encouraged to help keep them safe as well. a large brown bear wandered into a colorado neighborhood this morning. that bear, there he is, spotted wandering through and stopping to rest in the backyard of an dams county home. animal control is ofs have -- an adams county home. animal control officers have

not been able to spot her again. still to come tonight two cyclists out for a ride get sideswiped by a hit and run driver and that was caught on tape. >> but first a new crime fighting tool that has some local police officers taking to the streets. we'll tell you why they're running up next.

police officers were running through the streets in prince george's county, but as delia goncalves reports, it was nothing to be alarmed about. >> reporter: 52 cadets warm up for today's workout with a purpose. a run through langley park, a troubled neighborhood that they could lookly be serving after october's -- likely be serving after october's graduation. >> this particular community is largely an apartment complex community, largely male, almost 100% immigrant and they have a lot of challenges when it comes

to health issues and alcohol dependence and drug addictions. >> reporter: the assistant police chief, even the county exec are joining in on the run, the transforming neighborhoods program involving six communities inside the beltway that have long been crime hotspots. the goal toss reach out to residents first here -- goal is to reach out to residents first here in langley park. >> they come from communities from el salvador and guatemala where the first thing, distrust of not only police, but their entire government. they come from corrupt countries. so when they're here, the challenge is on us. >> reporter: there are about five more runs scheduled, but the county executive says the commitment will last well beyond the summer. >> it's about education, healthcare, social services, job opportunities and working with our nonprofit and faith communities in these areas until we actually see them change. >> we do all the things. we do community walks. >> reporter: whether they're walking or running community leaders hope residents will join their efforts to hit the pavement and bring change to

their neighborhood. delia goncalves, 9 news now. >> the other locations for the 2-mile runs are east riverdale, suitland, palmer park, hillcrest heights and glass manor. a harley-davidson apparently logged some seriously tough miles. a man in canada found a bike washed ashore. japanese officials are trying to figure out if it was swept out to sea by the terrible tsunami of last year. if, so the harley traveled more than 3,100 miles across the pacific to canada. imagine that. >> imagine if you could fix it back up and that would run. that would be something. >> that's a story. a little cool today with the clouds, not crazy cool. we were within the ballpark of average, but tomorrow it's going to feel like june. get red ditch let's start with a love look outside. it's our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. high temperature, made it to the upper 60s.

we are 66 now, a few breaks in the clouds, winds out of the south 70, pressure steady over the past hour 30.18 inches of mercury. ed is combined, warm front up to our west which is the key to our forecast the next couple days. that will roll through tomorrow. we're getting the warm sector of air and will push temperatures to 80 degrees. in the meantime as this pushes northward it increases our chance for showers and even a thunderstorm. we're dry tonight, but after midnight some showers will break out especially west of town. temps in the 60s primary, 63 bethesda, 65 in rockville and great falls, 64 reston, 66 in manassas. mid-60s for college park and 64 for beltsville. a shout out to all of you who came out to see us on maryland day saturday. it was a great event. mild tonight, maybe a late shower but after midnight. warmer on tuesday, shower or

thunderstorm possible as that warm front pushes through and mild wednesday and thursday, not quite as warm, still nice, not quite as warm wednesday and thursday. the front sags back to the south. tonight mostly cloudy and mild, shower possible after midnight, low temps in the 50s. winds are increasing southeasterly at 10 to 15. now tomorrow morning becoming partly sunny, mild, showers or thunderstorm possible even in the morning, temps in the 50s and 60s. notice the winds. they've switched and gone southwesterly 10 to 15 ahead of the warm front and by afternoon we're in the warm sector. we can prove that with highs around 80, but a shower or thunderstorm is possible, winds out of northwest at 10. so winds will shift tomorrow by late afternoon. not everyone is going to see a shower tomorrow, but weibring your umbrella just in case. it's a good idea -- i would bring your umbrella just in case. it's a good idea. showers possible tomorrow and by evening a shower or thunderstorm possible, but high 77 to 81, pretty good.

the next three days warmer tomorrow, 80, with a shower or storm. we'll keep a chance of a shower in on wednesday, 78, not quite as warm, more clouds thursday, a shower possible, temps in the mid-70s. we get sort of a flow off the ocean keeping temperatures down a bit. next seven days we go right back to the low to mid-80s. on friday 84, beautiful, on saturday 83, shower or thunderstorm possible and then we look at a cold front this time will sweep through saturday night, cool us off but still nice on sunday, sunshine, 74 and sunshine next monday with highs around 70. so gradually warming up. i know you guys are ready for it. >> we are. >> you can't even call it a cold front if it goes down to 70. >> no. lots of folks talking about two promising young athletes who made their d.c. sports debuts this weekend. >> but they're also buzzing about the caps as they head into game 2 against the rangers tonight. >> kristen berset is here with

more on the ice, the diamond and the quarterback. >>s that. it was a crazy weekend in d.c. sports and the week only continues. joining me now in studio frank hanrahan from 106.7 the fan. we've got a hodge upon of topics, but let's start with tonight, game two of the capitals against the rangers. saturday's play really could have gone either way except for that 90 second frame where they scored two goals. were you encouraged by what you saw saturday in new york? >> well, about you count the first period, i would say, so but you're right. every line, every shift has to be taken with the most importance because little letdown here or there will cost you big time. the capitals let that 90 second shift in those little differential get way from them and allow those two goals by the rangers. tonight it's important to get a 1-0 lead because they fought so hard to even things up in the 1st period. maybe they took a little steam out of their skate for the next 60 minutes. >> real important for them to

of because they come home on wednesday to have the series tied up 1-1. >> absolutely. they always say the series doesn't really start until somebody loses home ice advantage. we saw that in the bruins series, but it shifted quickly back to d.c. and they lost it back to boston. pivotal game in terms of the caps finding their confidence, but if they go down 2-0, it's not over yet. >> this weekend it was all about rg3 even though the caps were playing saturday. he was introduced to the redskin nation. can rg3 be a franchise changer? >> i got my fingers crossed. >> i think a lot of people do. >> the history of the big 12 quarterback who puts up big numbers, doesn't it doesn't work out that well, but with that being said the guy is a prototype and that's what makes me so nervous from what i've seen on tape and the way he handles him. 20,000 folks come out to fedex field to see him. his t-shirt says no pressure, no diamondings. there's going to be a lot of

pressure -- diamonds. there's going to be a lot of pressure. i think so far, so good. >> another big prospect, bryce harper for the nationals made his major league debut, 2-6 and some great defensive plays. he makes his home debut tuesday. how big is that for this franchise? >> if i didn't have on get up at 4 a.m. -- to get up at 4 a.m., i'd go watch bryce harper play. again he's like strasburg no. 2 but he's a position player. i mean just through two games we saw a great catch in center field. he obviously hit the baseball, 2-6. that's why he was brought up because the nats need some offense. so he's only 19. this is the next step for this franchise seeing him with the big club. >> so far, so good. that's tuesday night, of course. caps tonight game 2 in new york in madison square garden. frank, always great. thank you. back to you guys. still ahead tonight on 9 news now michael gardner takes the stand in his own defense.

>> reporter: this is bruce johnson, prosecutors in prince george's county say they have their man in the murder of a 23- year-old pregnant woman but did he have help? >> first you might think a daycare with a two-year waiting list has a steep price tag to go with it. find out how that's not the case coming up in hero central.

we're heading to falls church for this week's hero

central and this is where the mclean's children center has an average waiting list of two years. >> may sound like a place for those who can only pay full tuition, but it's actually much more than that. >> reporter: the kids have fun following the teacher on bikes. they're also practicing their motor skills. >> my daughter, she learned how to may with friends, how to help friend -- play with friends, how to help friends. so she is learning academic things, too. >> reporter: suzanne a coro says the falls church mclean children's center gives her daughter the ideal environment to get ready for school, especially when her family could not pay the full tuition, $1,400 a month. >> they're working. they cannot afford the high cost of child care and so this is the only assistance most of our families get. >> reporter: the executive director says the center reserves over half its enrollment to serving

youngsters who qualify for subsidized tuition from fairfax county. >> it can be as little as $5 a week up to $100 a week depending on their income and family size. >> reporter: affordable child care gives disadvantaged youngsters a chance to get prepared in a quality learning environment so they don't have to fall behind when they start school. >> it's really remarkable because children do change so quickly. often when they come, they don't speak any english. when they leave, they're fluent in english. they have been exposed to all the opportunities to help them be prepared for kindergarten. >> reporter: the center has not only benefited adeira, it has also helped her mother who immigrated from ecuador. >> i'm working in this center and i'm so happy because the tools or the skills they give us is very, very good because we try to understand a special

kid when they need a special need. >> reporter: all the teachers have certifications or degrees in early childhood education. occupational therapists and speech therapists are also on hand. >> if we're concerned about a child's development, we can have them evaluated right here and they get the therapy that they need right here. >> reporter: suzanna said specialists found a speech delay in her son, but after therapy he's doing well in grade school and now with her daughter attending the center mom has noticed that her little girl is looking forward to the classroom. >> when i say you need to stay at home and she said no, i need to go to my school. my teacher is waiting for me. it's true. they're waiting for her. >> reporter: i'm jc hayward, 9 news now. >> that falls church mclean's children center is open year- round and caters to children between the ages of 2 and 5. go to jchayward.com for more information. this is 9 news now.

>> michael gardner took the stand in his own defense today against child molestation charges. three of his daughter's friends accuse him of touching their private parts during a sleepover and slumber party last june. peggy fox has covered the case from the beginning and joins us now with today's testimony. >> reporter: on the stand today michael gardner adamantly denied sexually abusing three girls. he did say the girls might have seen him in the middle of the night and that he did touch one of them innocent i had, but anything beyond that he -- innocently, but anything beyond that he says simply did not happen. the prosecution played this 9news video in court today to counter defense allegations that gardner was not physically able to commit the acts he's charged with because of limited motion in his right arm due to cancer and radiation treatment, but here you see him opening the rather heavy courthouse door for his wife last week. concerning this sleepover on june 16th, he said he came into his daughter's room at her request because of a loud thunderstorm. he sa