leader. that's what the u.s. military says newly released documents will show about osama bin laden. their collection of bin laden's letters, recovered during last year's raid on the compounds,which revealed the hideout. we have more on the documents posted online by the pentagon. >> reporter: right up to the end, osama bin laden was plotting terror. a collection of letters from his final hideout shows he wanted to tart the airplanes carrying president obama. he said killing him automatically will make paiden take over the presidency for the re-- biden take over the presidency for the rest of the term. that he is totally unprepared for the rest of the job. the cbs news senior correspondent, john miller, was the last western coordinator to interview bin laden. >> i think that they were struggling figuring out what al qaeda was at that point.

>> reporter: the navy seals who killed bin laden one year ago gathered the documents from his compound in pakistan. 17 of the letters are now declassified and posted on the afterbemy website. they show bin laden who also wanted to go after the war commander, general david petraeus. he wrote that killing him would alter the war's past. and he worried about dysfunction with al qaeda, talking about losing trust among the radical muslims. >> you can see him struggling for control, struggling for that there. and who are we and what do we mean? >> reporter: the most compelling revelation is the frustration, failing to maintain the control for you over the crumbling network of gihad. cbs news, new york. >> and the documents in bin laden's standout show you what spanned from 2006 to april of last year. the material released today, it is probably only a fraction of what was actually taken out of the compound.

the former d.c. council member tonight, awaiting word from the bureau on where you need to report and when to report to begin that 38-month sentence. that's what he got today from the federal judge in the case involving his exception, stealing more than $350,000 worth of city money that had been meant for the youth programs. and produce johnson was there for the sentencing today. bruce, prosecutors wanted 46 months, but they did not get it. they did not ask for the leniency, but his mother and others did. now, he may have caught a break today, not a big one, but he may have gotten a break from the judge. >> are you done? >> reporter: harris thomas jr. told the packed federal courtroom today for the first time why he used his elected office to steal funds from the city's youth program. he says that it was a sense of entitlement. that prompted him to buy luxury suvs, motorcycles, take trips, with fancy meals. they noticed the irony and that

thomas spent a lifetime before that helping disadvantage youths. the judge took that into account before sentencing the former d.c. councilman to 48 months in prison. >> i thanked the judge for his fairness and distribution of the sentencing. >> reporter: if you had a chance to speak to him, what would you say? >> that we will be praying for you. >> reporter: harris thomas said that they accepted the verdict, but they were not about to give up. despite of the plea agreement, harry thomas jr. had to resign from his seat, the first council member to ever be convicted of a federal crime. keep in mind that the u.s. attorney's office still has two more investigations underway. one involving the mayor, the other involving the council chairman. >> this city will not tolerate unethical public officials. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney ron machen would only say this about the probes into the mayor and kwame brown's campaigns. >> we cannot talk about the ongoing investigations. but i can tell you that we recognize that there is an urgency, a sense of urgency on

what we're doing. we're working as hard and fast as to what we can. but it would be inappropriate to talk about it. >> reporter: mayor vincent gray said that this case is an important reminder that the public officials must never forget who we work for. and the council chairman, brown said in part that there is no excuse in violating the public trust for the public office. >> his mother addressed the court today, pleading mercy for her son, saying that she lectured him about the shame he brought to his wife, city, and family. harris thomas jr.'s father is, of course, harry thomas sr., also a former ward county council member. >> yeah, you know, it was actually my question from the last time that he brought it up from court today and he finally answered it, responding to my

question. he said that he wanted to fess up to admit the mistake and take responsibility again. >> that's what they did in court today. thank you, bruce. back to you. he picked up a key endorsement today. this time from one of his former rivals. the minnesota congresswoman, michele bachmann, she made the announcement in virginia where she joined governor bob mcdonald in campaigning with romney. and now bachmann was a long- time favorite of the tea party, but dropped out after finishing sixth in the iowa caucuses. now she is calling on republicans to get behind romney and to help defeat president obama. >> i am honored to be able to be here to introduce not only governors bob mcdonald, but the fabulous governor for the state of virginia and also to lend my voice, my endorsement to mitt romney as our president. to take the country back! >> bachmann's endorsement comes just one day after newt gingrich bowed out of the race.

the former house speaker is expected to endorse romney some time in the coming weeks. sentencing day today for a supervisor at the national archives accused of stealing the very same materials that he was suppose to protect. matt jablo has been following the story, joining us live with pretty unusual details here, matt? >> anita, it's a known case. the archives vast collections of audio recordings. as a long-time supervisor at the national archives, he was in charge of maintaining the nation's collection of historic audio recordings. stealingthousands of those recordings and selling them on ebay was not a part of the job description, which is why he'll be spending the next 18 months in prison. >> reporter: the 67-year-old man, a rockville resident was sentenced today after pleading guilty back in october for

nearly 10 years. he stole as many as 6,000 audio recordings. everything from an eyewitness account to the hiddenburg disaster to a tour. they were blowing on each other to keep warm. >> reporter: and then sold the stolen recordings on ebay. the total take according to prosecutors, about $100,000. >> he betrayed his colleagues. >> so the u.s. attorney said that the case is not so much about the money involved, but about breaking the sacred trust to protect and preserve valuable pieces of american history. >> and he violated his own advice about the importance of archive employees protecting the records of the government. >> i would like to think of myself as the historian more than a collector. golden called the national archives when he saw a record that he donated to the archives

listed for sale on ebay. >> i couldn't imagine what it was doing on ebay because it was a unique record. he said that there is a lesson in all of this. >> the weed of crime bears bitter fraud. crime does not pay, the sha know knows. >> just before being sentenced today, he told the judge that he was profoundly sorry and deeply ashamed by his behavior, which has scared his soul. all right, thank you. coming up on 9news at 7:00, we'll have a little more on the harry thomas jr. sentencing. a prominent defense attorney will be here live in our studios to talk about thomas and the ongoing corruption scandal that continues to plague the d.c. political landscape. that's 9news now at 7:00. >> we'll see you then, derek. still ahead right now, the maryland governor, martin o'malley is showing you a new way to spend gambling in the precinct. we'll talk about it, top? well, a very nice evening in the be immediate metro area.

still pretty warm. a nice night for baseball. here are the numbers for you, they managed to make it up to 80 at national. and 56 was the low. average is now 72 and 52. we'll come back. we have a couple storms on radar. but first, free education from the iv league school? we'll tell you about it coming up next. to get people to try on these new depend silhouette briefs, and today we are rocking the red carpet. look it's lisa rinna!

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hey, how about the free education from harvard or mit? the two institutions have teamed up to offer free online courses. and harvard and mit are using it to research the way that students learn. right now classes include engineering. but they say that more will be added to more subjects eventually.

>> people across the world, you know, especially those who cannot afford to pay the fees of online courses. they should have access to this information. >> wow. and now you don't get a degree from harvard or mit once you finish the courses, but you will get a certificate of master re. log on to edxonline.org for more information if you want to sign up. >> oh, whatever. but the winner is picked to redesign the national law. you'll be able to see what the changes will look like up next. it's time to get going.

to have the energy to turn a "to do" list into a memory. to put more giddy-up in our get-along. to keep stepping up even in overtime.

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national mall unveiled some of the most iconic vistas here. a $700 million project that will see changes to this space. >> these are the best designers in the entire world. it was designed as a shelter place. a way for the wide open business of the mall, but it has become pretty darn disgusting. and the plan has everyone here completely rebuilding. and that will be a big pavilion year for you with restaurants, maybe even a bar. >> reporter: the plan is to tear down the building and the 4th of july area to reorient the stage, so people will be looking back here for the washington monument. and the national title basin for the jefferson memorial. bruce leshan, 9news now.

>> the maryland senate majority leader is now facing a view for you and the ethics violation. the joint commission sent it to the democrat effort investigating the citizens complaint. they found that they failed to disclose money that they made working for the lobby form. and they were filed during the sixth congressional districts. they might be considering committing a commission to study that there. a spokesman for the governor said today that the idea will be now under the discussion. that commission would look for you here and a bill to accomplish both of those stalled this year in the general assembly. and they said that they may have called a special session this summer. to address the gambling. >> they are so tight that it is not only grateful for you to accept the donations, but they held a press conference, showing off what they have

purchased with it. it came from the group of positions to the emergency service units. that police officer is trained to provide the immediate treatment at the scene of the crime, where the trauma care will be necessary. here is a look at the doctor's group who donated the money. >> and through the suggestions of can you help us out and the answer is, yes, absolutely. we can help you out. what you do is very thankful we also share in common that we see the people at their best and their worst, which happened in the emergency department and certainly happened for you out on the field to a level that we cannot even understand. >> among the items purchased, which could clear the patient's blocked airway. a great gift for them. well, this is a big day for them and hundreds of kids who have been training for months at the track and field events. so take a bird's eye view of the learning complex. stand below. they will be competing in the

special game. all from the shot put and the weather, certainly cooperating. so great. >> yes, they love it. i don't want to hear that in july, but admit it that it is very cool. just a couple thunderstorms for you. i don't think that they will need to make it into the immediate metro area. we'll take a look at the cam, brought to you by michael and sun, just gorgeous. if you are on the outside, it will be very nice outside, temperatures, 81, that's a new high for the day. winds are out of the south at 6. the pressure is steady. now, we're going to take a look at doppler radar. that's just a couple of storms that we have been following these about 4:00 this afternoon, they are weakening, which will be good news. we'll zoom in a little bit for you and very light rain,

indicated in the green there, strike that ling 81. we'll zoom back out there again and put it back into motion. they won't really come to the very well. we'll show you where they will go in the next hour and move off to the southeast, following the river like they did yesterday, but they need to die out all the way together before they make it to leesburg and they are probably not going to get too much for you in the extreme western counties in the next hour or so. so really all in all, a very nice evening. the temperatures, they need to take that out too, a little cooler at the water, but that will be a good thing. but 79 in bethesda. 80 in arlington. we're looking at temperatures, one of the warmer readings and also 83 out towards college park. that's the deal, unsettled, but it will be okay. i'll tell you this, we just said it in the radio a minute ago that saturday looks better and better. just remember that. isolated thunderstorms are possible tonight and warmer tomorrow. a much had better chance for

the storms tomorrow. some could be severe and we'll keep you posted. that'll be good and just the isolated shower on sunday, not a big deal. but of course, there's a ton of stuff going on this weekend. partly cloudy and warm and possible early. and that could be heavy, but the snow warnings have gone out there. we won't see anything here tonight. we'll get into tomorrow morning with no showers in the morning. partly cloudy and warm. grab your shades. 60s and 70s. the cold front will approach. we have a much better chance for showers and thunderstorms developing. some could be heavy and warmer too. high temperatures around 85 degrees. all right, next seven days. what we did, we kind of toned down the showers on saturday. temperatures are around 80. just a couple showers are possible on sunday and monday and those three days, they will be pretty nice. getting a little cooler in the mid-70s on sunday and monday. and a pretty good chance for the widespread activity on tuesday and wednesday and low to mid-70s. then kind of cool next thursday, but it will be okay.

partly cloudy and 70. we have the festival here for you and the flower mart and the gold cup. >> and the kentucky derby party? the bow ties and bells? >> right, alexandria. that's your house. >> yes. >> i was just going. >> yes, i'm going. i'll be there. >> well, you know what, there are a lot of people that would go the distance for a story. but i don't know as many who have gone as far as you have in the past 24 hours. >> i don't think that i got here until 1:30 last night as you can imagine that the players had a much deserved day off today after the triple overtime thriller against the rangers. and despite the outcome, the guy was pretty upbeat after the game. find out why. and plus, the redskins fans, we have your first look at rg3 wearing the burgundy and gold. sports is next.

and an nhl playoff game going into overtime. that's nothing new, especially for the caps this post season. they have had four games against boston that went to extra periods. but last night's game, they took it to a whole other level. it was a triple overtime thriller at the verizon center. the third longest playoff game in franchise history. lasting a total of three hours and 44 minutes. majority of the fans stayed up well past their bedtime to see the outcome of the game. and now this is one game that

the caps say they will not soon forget. >> you always have good memories. win or lose, you know, you always have good memories. it is always the battle, you know, and the guys battled last night. >> it definitely hurts, but we have to be proud with how well we have played and, you know, the things we did, creating scoring opportunities, guys are diving the blocked shots, doing a lot of the things that we need to do to win hockey games. and if we play like that most of the time, we'll come out on top. >> and the news was not all bad last night. the nationals snapped a five- game losing streak with a two- run walk-off homer by ian desmond. but the star of the game was bryce harper. today, we got our first look at robert griffin iii in burgundy and gold. redskins.com posted these pictures of rg iii getting some extra practice. the rookie camps are tomorrow.

>> yes, he's slightly excited. time now to reveal the latest high school game of the week's poll. lots of great games to choose from. lacrosse, baseball, softball. go to dchighschoolsportsnet.com. we'll announce a winner tomorrow night. most people hung around at the verizon center to the end, including james carney. let's just say that he was a bit tired this morning. >> good afternoon everyone, i have water and a highly caffeinated beverage because not only did i come back from a quick visit to afghanistan yesterday with the president, but last night i took my son to the capital's game. and it lasted a little longer than i expected. >> and let's just say that his mother was not overjoyed by the fact that we got back around 12:30 or 12:45 and he had school this morning. i want to say a shoutout to all the fellow fans in section 103, awesome. [ laughter ] >> okay. you know it was long, but

they obviously still had fun. >> all right. that's awesome stuff. >> the evening news is next. good night everyone.