he favored legalizing same sex marriage while running for illinois state senate, but by 2004 he believed that marriage is between a man and woman, a view he held running for president four years later. >> i'm not somebody who promotes same sex marriage, but i do believe in civil unions. >> once elected he said my feelings about this are constantly evolving. i struggle with this. the tipping point came this past sunday when his vice president announced on meet the press that he supported same sex marriage. >> i am absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men marrying well are entitled to the same exact rights. >> just three days later the president said his evolution on the issue was over. >> it's important for me to go ahead and affirm that i think same sex couples should be able to get married. >> it's a major victory for liberals and the gay and lesbian community, but for

conservatives and the religious right it is a lightning rod for controversy. today mitt romney again said that he was against same sex marriage, but he stopped short of calling the president's announce. an outright flip-flop. >> i just -- announcement an outright flip-flop. >> i just saw the reports saying he previously was opposed to same sex marriage and now he supports it. if that's the case, he'll be able to make that determination -- you'll be able to make that determination on your own. >> there's no question this will become one of the big issues of this presidential campaign, but this will also continue to divide the american public. right now the latest polls show we are split right down the middle with 50% of americans supporting same sex marriage and 45% still opposing it. >> very divisive issue. thank you so much. right now same sex marriages are legal in seven states and washington d.c. another 11 states allow civil unions. new jersey's legislature did approve marriages earlier this year, but that bill was then

vetoed by the governor, chris christie, and in california there's still a question mark. the fate of proposition 8 which was a vote on the issue is still in limbo. same sex marriages are set to become legal in maryland january 1st. opponents are in the process of selecting signatures to try to force the issue on the ballot this november. governor martin o'malley signed the bill in march. today he praised the president's announcement and said he is confident that if the maryland law does go to a referendum, it will not be vote down. a bill that would have allowed civil unions for same sex couples in colorado has died. chances for that bill evaporated late last night after state lawmakers reached an impasse on whether it would be heard on the house floor before the legislative session ended today. it was an especially tough blow for the bill's supporters since they felt confident they had enough votes to pass the measure and had the support of the governor. you can join in the same sex

marriage debate on our wusa9 facebook page. we have to kill the clair bear. 16 months after the attempted -- nation of gabrielle giffords that -- a attempted assassination of gabrielle giffords, this comes the same day after a republican news party in virginia called for an armed revolution if president obama is elected. saying political discourse has taken a turn for the nasty in the later years has become an understatement. we sent our bruce leshan out today to see where some men would rather see a man behind bars in the white house than president obama. >> reporter: how do you feel about president obama? >> i'm not satisfied. >> reporter: no one expected president obama to carry west virginia in november, but the primary has to be embarrassing. it was a protest vote that saw convicted felon keith judd take

41% of the democratic primary vote against a sitting president. >> the islamic religion is not only just anti-christ, but it's an tie-freedom for the american people. >> reporter: you think the president is a muslim? >> i know he is. >> reporter: some voters subscribe to widely discredited rumors about president obama. >> he's a dictator. >> reporter: judd is incarcerated in federal correctional institution in texarkana, texas, serving 210 months for extortion. >> crazy is as crazy does. >> reporter: but even in more prosperous berkeley county -- >> he got 28.24% versus barack obama's 71.76. >> reporter: more than 1,000 people voted for judd. >> would received a letter here at the berkeley county courthouse. >> reporter: somehow the inmate came up with the $2,500 filing fee to run for president. >> it just says the current economic situation in the united states is like a game of monopoly. >> reporter: president obama lost west virginia to john

mccain by 13 points, to hillary clinton by 41 points even though her campaign was all but over and 20% of the voters admitted that race was a factor in their decision. >> i run across it every day. >> color is king in west virginia. >> reporter: martinsburg pharmacist george carroll says west virginia's disillusionment with the president has more to do with his policies on things like global warming. he's a democrat, but don't ask how he'll vote in the general election. you're not saying? >> my theory is closed mouth cautions flies. >> reporter: in martinsburg bruce leshan -- catches no flies. >> reporter: in martinsburg, bruce leshan. >> 41% of the vote would normally qualify a candidate two delegates at the national convention, but as a federal inmate judd may not even be eligible to serve. as for that republican party newsletter, it was published in

green county, virginia. in it the editor called the commander in chief america's most biblely hostile u.s. president. a -- biblical hostile u.s. president. a campaign consultant for the former republican governor bob ehrlich is accused of using rolow calls to try and suppress the dem -- robocalls to try and suppress the democratic vote back in 2010. the calls told recipients to relax that, governor martin o'malley had been successful. today maryland's governor announced a budget deal heading into next week's general assembly special session. martin o'malley says it includes an income tax hike on individuals who make more than $100,000 a year or households who make more than 150,000. it adds up to a $6 million reduction in state spending and a $204 million projected increase in the state's rainy

day fund. support for the war in afghanistan is at an all time low. an associated press poll finds just 27% of americans say they support the effort. another 66% are opposed. now that compares with 37% support a year ago and 46% of the year before that. that cia operation in yemen that foiled an al-qaeda plot to bomb an airliner apparently was a victory on multiple fronts. according to sources for the associated press, not only did that operation prevent an attack and give the u.s. a look at al-qaeda's latest deadly invention, the double agent involved in the plot provided some of the information that led to last weekend's drone strike that killed a top al- qaeda figure. coming up at 7:00 attack reassessed, prosecutors drop more than half of the charges filed against four people accused of beating a tourist at baltimore's inner harbor. we'll tell you the reason they changed their minds.

>> still to come in this half hour kristen berset is at verizon center where they are rocking the red. >> reporter: it is going to be rocking tonight. you can bet that. game 6, caps, rangers tonight. it's do or die night for the caps. can they stay alive? we'll hear from the players coming up later in sports. >> we are outside with the umbrella because we have some showers and a few thunderstorms pushing through. we'll show you live doppler 9000 and the cool airous our doorstep. we've got showers pretty -- air is on our doorstep. we've got showers pretty much everywhere. we'll talk about how cool it will get and when the rain finally rolls out. >> but first protestors gather outside a major company as shareholders trying to hold their annual meeting up next.

back on 9 news now, five people have been arrested while trying to force their way into the annual bank of america shareholders meeting in charlotte, north carolina. those five were among hundreds of protestors who gathered on the streets this morning. among those arrested? a man from massachusetts who said his home had been foreclosed. the u.s. postal service says it will be able to keep thousands of rural post offices open by cutting back on operating hours. >> the agency is backing off its plan to close up to 3,700 post offices after may 15th. the postal service said many rural communities voiced concerns about such closings. you can imagine why. >> so we're discontinuing the process we applied to the 3,700 post offices and we'll begin a new process that gives communities the option to maintain their post office with reduced window service hours. we believe this will result in very few post offices being closed in rural america. >> under the new plan communities could also choose

to close their post office and opt for a so-called village post office in which postal services are offered in libraries, government offices or local stores. still ahead taking the law into your own hand, what a local man did when his bike was stolen and police said they couldn't help.

in two months we will try to walk across 1 -- i will try to walk across 1 -- he will try to walk across 1,800 feet over niagra falls. the 33-year-old walked across baltimore's inner harbor on a wire about an hour ago following in the footsteps of his great grandfather who did the same stunt back in 1973 at the baltimore city fair. loudoun county supervisors will decide the fate of the second phase of the silver line in july, but today loudoun business owners got an earful from a local economist on the cost of saying no. >> reporter: i'm peggy fox in

tysons corner. loudoun county opts out of dulles rail, will be it a catastrophic economic mistake? phase 2 is supposed to include two stops in loudoun county right here along the greenway, but loudoun supervisors may not let that happen. >> what do you have against dulles rail? >> nothing. i think it should stop at the airport. i just don't think loudoun county residents will benefit from it. >> reporter: supervisor ken reed is still unconvinced after listening to gmu economist steven fuller. >> otherwise the outcome is more residential development with less commercial development, higher tacks burden for residents. this is a no brainer. >> reporter: fuller says with rail loudoun county will attract high development that will attract tens of thousands of high paying jobs. he says without high rail by 2040 loudoun county will miss out on $200 million on economic growth.

peggy fox, 9 news now. >> hopefully the silver line won't see the delays that riders see on metro's blue line. according to the washington examiner, metro's board of directors will get a report tomorrow that says the blue line had the worst on time performance record in the last year. the line with the best on time performance? the orange line. a local d.c. man is fighting crime on his own through craigslist after finding his stolen bike in an ad on the popular website. he came up with a scheme to reverse the theft. >> reporter: i'm anny hong in northeast d.c. where the owner of this bike lent it out to a friend. it got stolen off a back porch in northwest d.c. he saw it on craigslist. that's when he came up with a scheme to not only get his bike back, but to steal it back. >> i was furious. >> reporter: danny loesch found his stolen bike being sold on craigslist a day after it was stolen. the asking price? one hundred dollars for the cannondale hybrid bike he bought more than 10 years ago

for 600. >> i started making contact with the seller just text messaging. >> reporter: the two agreed to meet. loesch hopped a cab to meet the seller. the cab driver was sympathetic having been a victim of theft himself and was in on the scream. the two negotiated a price and then danny took for a test drive. >> i had the taxi pull up behind me, put the bike in the trunk and we were on the other side of town when the thief called asking where i was and didn't answer. he left a message threatening to call the police on me. >> reporter: in northeast d.c., anny hong, 9 news now. today was national bike to school day. check out these pictures of a group of students making their way to brent elementary school in southeast. at least eight local public and private schools took part in the inaugural event. bike to workday is friday and hopefully the weather will cooperate. this was bike to school. then it's bike to work. >> looks like they dodged the

raindrops. >> friday will be fantastic, jacket a good idea. it's going to be kind of chilly, bright but brisk, refreshing as we've billed it. we're looking at more showers and thunderstorms through the evening commute. that will be a slow go and then drier air moves in. cooler air is already here. let's start with a live look outside. this is our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son. temperatures, well, 72 downtown. the high of 75. temperatures off to the north and west are in the 60s and in some indications the upper 50s already. winds out -- cases the upper 50s already. winds out of north at 5. here's a look at radar. heaviest by far in terms of thunderstorm activity south of leonardtown into southern maryland, northern neck and also just south of fredericksburg. we'll zoom in. we have some areas north and west of town that have some pockets of heavy rain, nothing severe. remember, your windshield wipers are on, your headlights

should be on. pretty heavy rain just north of rockville headed toward olney. it's going to cross 28 and 97 shortly. there's a little batch of heavy rain east of laytonsville that will cross 92, too. we move out south and west and have rain on river road. into centreville that's pretty good moderate rain across the board. this is a heavier shower or thunderstorm trying to intensify that will roll through the district and points south including the airport in the next hour or so. that could be some gusty wins and also heavy rain. we'll back -- winds and also heavy rain. we'll back the radar out and watch this particular system here and see what happens in the next hour. it will move pretty much through the heart of d.c., weaken as it gets north of clinton into southern sections of prince george's county. they'll be with us a while. the showers are not going way soon. 61 in great falls, 57 in

gaithersburg and 59 in leesburg. now here's the deal. cold front moving through, wet evening commute,ed with uny and cooler in the morning. you'll need sun -- windy and cooler in the morning. you'll need sunglasses and jacobs tomorrow. so will the kids. breeze -- jackets tomorrow. so will the kids. breezy and cooler tomorrow, low temperatures in the 50s, wind northwest 10 to 15. tomorrow morning 50s and 60s but cool, northwest winds 10 to 20, partly cloudy and by afternoon partly cloudy, breezy and cool. keep your jacket hayne, high temperatures near 70. -- handy, high temperatures near 70. next seven days, nice friday, gorgeous on saturday, maybe a sprinkle for mother's day, better chance for showers monday. you're headed out, the umbrella is a good idea, but the jacket will be a necessity. >> thank you. when it comes to the caps, they need to be fierce and focused. kristen berset is at the

verizon center with some other words that they need to be tonight. >> reporter: yeah. you got all the cliches. it's an elimination game, do or die, win or go home, whatever you want to say, but that's what it is. the caps need to win tonight. can they bounce back? we'll hear from some of the guys plus our caps expert joins me live when sports returns right after this. ♪

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now 9 sports with kristen

berset, the best sports in town. >> reporter: welcome back. we are louvre at the verizon center, guam 6 between the -- live at the rear sign of center, game 6 between the caps and -- verizon center game 6 between the caps and the rangers. the caps have yet to be down a game with elimination on the line. this caps team has thrived throughout the postseason when their back is against the wall, even dating back to march. the caps have yet to lose consecutive games. that goes for braden holtby as well, 5-0 this postseason after a loss, but really how many times can this team bounce back? monday night's game stung quite a bit, but they say their mindset hasn't changed. >> we know it's at stake. you don't have to say much. you have to go out there and play your game and nothing better than being under pressure. that's the best part of it. >> our preparation needs to be exactly where it was and we need to come out hungry and try

to strike first and that's going to be our goal. >> reporter: one guy who had an emotional roller coaster of a postseason, joel ward going from hero to goat in a matter of games, but he seems to be taking it all in stride hoping for another big shot tonight. >> there's been a lot of support from a lot of people, which i'm very thankful for. i think a lot of people understood it was just a freak accident that kind of went down there the other night. so i get a chance to kind of redeem myself tonight and i look forward to that challenge in helping the team win. >> reporter: back out live now, joining me is our caps beat reporter sky kershing from 106.7 the fan. real quick these guys have shown resilience all postseason. can they do it tonight? >> it's not going to be easy, but they have to get the first goal. they're 0-5 this first season when the opponent scores first, but as you said, they haven't lost back to back games sin march 23rd. braden holt -- since march 23rd. braden holtby has gone 26

straight starts without losing back to back games. they've been loose all postseason. today they're ready to play. they were very serious and a little tight. i don't know if that's a good formula for success tonight. >> reporter: thanks so much. we'll have him after the game in sports at 11:20. here's a look at your high school poll. go to our website to vote. we'll announce the winner tomorrow night. that will do it from the verizon center. back to you guys in the studio. >> let's hope they play hard. >> go caps! >> got to do it. we can do it. >> the cbs evening news is next. >> derek is back at 7:00 with our area's only local newscast and don't forget to join us tomorrow morning bright and early, 4:25 a.m. >> grab a jacket and umbrella as you go out tonight. >> good night, everybody.