so i would say him and george allen wins the senate race, george allen is another person who is very much identified -- >> that's in virginia. >> in virginia. i think he isn't a texan. i think he grew up in california or something. >> his dad was a football coach moving around. >> yeah. yes. but i think even saying that, i would be shocked if somebody does that again if they stand up in front of a confederate flag. it was not the issue that it had been in the republican primary this year which is interesting. >> next question. one more. here. >> thank you. actually have a small question referring to i think what professor mccurry mentioned about how it's kind of exceptional in america -- i have a question how i think it was professor mccurry mentioned about how it seems that america has sort of exceptionally interested in its civil war. i'm wondering but as historian did you ever get the impression that at least in recent years interest in the american civil war has sort of been increasing in foreign countries? professor blight mentioned the kind of conference in jerusalem i think it

i would say if george allen wins the senate race, george allen is another person who is very much identified -- >> that's in virginia. >> -- in virginia. i think he is a southerner. i think he actually grew up somewhere. i think he grew up in california or somewhere. >> his dad was a football coach moving around. >> right, right, right. yes, it's still -- but i think even saying that, i would be shocked if somebody does that again, if they literally stand up in front of a confederate flag. it was not the issue it had been in a republican primer, which was interesting. >> i actually have a question referring to what professor occ mccurry mentioned a little bit ago -- >> a little louder. >> i have a question of what professor mccurry mentioned a little bit ago how america is limited in its civil war. i was wondering, as a historian, did you ever get the impression that at least in recent years interest in the american civil war has sort of been increasing in foreign countries? professor blight mentioned a kind of conference in jerusalem, i think it was. just in my own experience, i've had a fe

george allen says he continues to strongly oppose legalizing same-sex marriage. in prince william county virginia, rebecca cooper. >> thank you. there has also been controversy about the timing of the announcement. it happened right after vice- president joe biden gave his support to same-sex marriage. he has apologized for getting ahead in the discussion. we ask you today on facebook whether you thought his opinion on same-sex marriage will help or hurt his chances of reelection in virginia. a 46% said it will help and 54% say it will hurt his reelection. thank you for voting. >> then there is this story about mitt romney's response to what appears to be principled as a teenager. the issues come to life in the washington post story today. he was a group of boys who held onto another boy while others cut his hair. he says he does not remember the story but he has changed since high school. >> an on-line petition has begun in response to this we oppose the passage of north carolina oppose a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage. the democratic party s

it is essentially a race between two former governors, tim kaine and george allen. scott thuman with more on that. >> it is because it is a quiet day on the campaign trail for the white house that it is a perfect one for us to figure out -- to dig into what will be one of the top five races in the country. here is our exclusive talk today with tim kaine. >> the madness portion is higher than any election i have been in. >> he has said one of the few things he and his opponent will agree on. it will have a circuslike feel with the entire nation watching. >> of the election were today i would feel good about winning. i have five and a half months of tough campaigning ahead. >> a month the issues are the fear pay act and birth control rights. today he spent two hours with women voters. pundits say this race will be less about these two and more about these two. >> virginians are used to making a decision and one race and one in another. i think they will compare me with george. >> tea party leader radtke, jackson and marshall. if he gets the gop not, he will get plenty

former governor george allen is considered the front-runner to win the june 12 primary.et past his opponents. he is trying to win back the seat he lost to democrat jim webb six years ago. the winner will face former governor tim kaine, running unopposed for the democratic nomination. >>> president obama's recent support for same-sex marriage might help make the unions legal in maryland. according to a public policy poll, 57% of likely voters in maryland say that they will vote in favor of same-sex marriage if the issue makes it on to the november ballot. 37% of likely voters say they're against making the marriages legal. that 20-point margin was justice 12 back in march. pollsters say the shift was almost entirely due to a change in attitudes by black voters. >>> a special legislative session to debate whether to expand gambling in maryland may never happen after all. republicans in the house of delegates say they oppose the special session to take up that issue. they say the sessions should only be reserved for true emergencies. lawmakers are at odds on whether to expa

the "washington post" survey shows republican george allen and democrat tim kaine tied at 46% among registered voters. the two former governors are running to replace jim webb who is retiring. get ready for their ads to fill commercial breaks. according to the "washington post," the democratic senator can't -- senatorial campaign committee plan to spend more than $7 million in ads for kaine's race, more than half of its funding in all u.s. senate races. last month the republican senatorial committee reported it's reserving $5.5 million for allen. both parties have now pledged more money in virginia than any other state. >>> today maryland governor o'malley and legislative leaders will discuss the upcoming session with the media. o'malley called the session after lawmakers failed to pass a budget, so a doomsday budget includes more than $500 million in cuts. they will use the cuts to pass an income tax increase to offset major cuts. >>> this morning, loudoun county's chamber of commerce will hold a special meeting to discuss the dulles rail project. this comes after a new report says the county

. >> reporter: this final debate before primary day provided george allen's, challengers, a last chancedent his front-runner status. the short 60 minute format allowed for a few questions submitted via facebook. in prior debates. candidates outlined federal programs they would cut, starting with president obama's signature health care reform. there was one new lively area of discussion when the moderator asked about the virginia general assembly action to block openly gay prosecutor tracy thorn begland from being named a judge, two decades ago, a former naval officer questioned the military don't ask don't tell policy. gop delegate led the opposition in richmond. >> i said no because this applicant said no to his oath of office. >> jamie radkey and e.w. jackson, a minister say they agree with marshal's position and would block similar judicial nominees. >> the biggest threat that we have facing this country is activist judges. >> i would put a hold on any judge that does not believe in the san kt tctity of life, and judge that thinks that it is not one man and one woman married. >> a mo

tea party favorite jamie radke and bob marshall are challenging george allen for the nomination. >>> a new poll shows former governor and democrat tim kaine beating allen should allen win the republican nod. that was released by marist university. it shows 46% of registered voters would pick cain. just 40% would pick allen. cain is running unopposed in the june 12th primary. >>> the man arrested in the killing of etan patz 33 years ago is now charged with second degree murder. he is pedro hernandez and was charged late today. even though he was admitted to the hospital earlier in the day after talk of suicide. dick brennan brings us more. >> reporter: the new jersey man who confessed to murdering etan patz was hospitalized this morning to get medication for an undisclosed condition. he was also given a psychological evaluation. hours later the wife and daughter of 51-year-old pedro hernandez arrived at the courthouse refusing to answer questions. >> were you surprised by this or did you know? did you expect his confession? >> reporter: hernandez admits to luring the boy into the stor

george allen is considered the front runner to win the primary, but he'll first have to get past the tea party leader. the gop winner will face tim kaine. >>> president obama made one of his most direct attacks yet against mitt romney and his business record. >> joining us to talk about what's happening, meet the press moderator david gregory. welcome. so let's start with the president's continuing attacks on mitt romney and his experience at bain capital. >> this is the battleoff bain and we'll talk more about it on sunday, as bem twell. if mitt romney will say that his chief qualification is his time at bain, then let's look at that. and does he really have the chops to create jobs for everybody or only the few, only the wealthier. on so this is an attempt to identify romney as a guy who identify with middle class folks who only has a rich background and to then go further to sort of indict private equity as a form of capitalism that ultimately advantages the wealthy and can exploit workers. and again, there will be a lot of argument about that. but that's the attempt here. >> so h

there's a new nbc news poll that put democrat tim kaine ahead of republican george allen 46% to 40% in virginia. allen has to fend off three opponents in the june 12 primary. he is the favorite in the race. >> a muslim soldier who planned to attack a restaurant full of u.s. troops, he was found guilty of plotting to bomb a fort hood restaurant and shoot eight survivors last summer. he was planning the attack because he did not appreciate what his unit did in afghanistan. faces up to life in prison when sentenced in july. the new french president is in afghanistan to discuss an early pullout of troops. front of hollande is meeting with some of the troops there as well as the afghan president hamid karzai. he announced the plan to pull out french troops by the end of the week,. at the,. -- at the nato summit. >> you'll see some relief at the gas pumps. >> the average price is down 4 since from last week. the national averages $3.68. in d.c., $3.77. maryland $3.61. in virginia, $3.49. looking for a fun event for the family this holiday weekend? you might want to go to national harbor. >>

former governors tim kanld george allen are competing to replace jim webb. new polls show tim kaine has a lead over allen. the race is getting national attention because it could decide control of the senate. >>> a low cost airline is soup going to be charging more than some tickets to check a bachlk cnbc's jackie deangelis has more on that story. >> good morning, eun. spirit airlines raising rates. stowing a bag in the overhead bin, that's going to cost $100. they currently charge $45 for a carry-on bag but as of november, people who wait to pay the fee, they're going to have fork over a c-note. if you check bags in online it will soon be $5. anything you can fit under the seat, that's still free. spirit is still one of two airlines that charged for carry-on bags. >> there are going to be a lot of unhappy air travelers, that's for sure. jackie deangelis -- >> note to self, don't fly -- i shouldn't say that. >> $100? that seems kind of crazy. >>> 6 k4r57b:51 is our time. >> i've got an a amazing photo to squlhow you. you no how sometimes you have a disagreem

he has an edge over republican george allen. allen is the favorite in next month's g.o.p.just in time for the holiday weekend, d.c. will open its public swimming pools today. mayor gray will do the honors at 11:30. there are 19 outdoor pools and 11 spray parks in the district. >>> time to answer our question of the morning. it was the person who gets the most mail in the world, was it the pope, santa claus or the president? >> the answer is b, santa. >> of course. >> of course it is. big red man gets a lot of mail. >>> one more check on traffic and weather right here on 9news now next. >>> early clouds. sunshine today, mid-80s with a chance of an isolated storm and the heat through the weekend. >>> we're just going to go to our traffic camera and show what you it looks like through the chesapeake bay bridge. nice and clear. no worries to report. >>> we're not sure delia goncalves is coming back this way. she definitely looks comfortable comfortable. we wish you a happy weekend. bye-bye.

we had this with george allen in virginia, high school and college.red -- >> it fed into a stereotype. >> this story, there's nothing in mitt romney's record over the last 20, 30 years that says he's a bully in any way. if anything in this story that rings true to what he is now, enforcing a prep code here, he's a privileged son of the governor acting like the privileged son of a governor. it could feed into that story line. >> in fact talked about whatever behavioral issues he may have had he seemed to become a different guy after college. >> look, listen, no one, as mike says, thinks we're talking about a bully here. moreover, i think the average person looking at this, average parent with high school kids, average guy walking down the street says oh, gosh, i hope they don't go back to my high school. the average voter says this is beyond consideration. >> i agree with her on this case. i don't think it really matters for average voters. >> when we come back the story that got overshadowed we would have been talking about, dick lugar and the moderat

in ohio senator brown leads, and george allen 49% to 43%. >> george allen keeps running and he keeps >> in florida, let's see bill nelson is up 46 to 42% over his opponent. so the gops once heady prospects for winning the upper chamber have been tempered with flameouts of some democratic resurgence. [ applause ] >> dead heat with elizabeth warren. i love that mostly, because i think are these fake fox issues going to run these races? >> doesn't look like it. >> i'm already looking to vote for senator warren for president in 2008. >> people are smarter than fox news. >> ah 45! [ laughter ] >> that's the beltway, boys. >> as people who watch fox collectively said -- darrr. tim in detroit you are on the "stephanie miller show." hi, tim. >> hi, stephanie. i may be a little bit outdated with this, because the thing about the haircutting that romney did when he was in high school? >> yeah. >> i would make a bigger deal of it, but back in the early 1900s, there's a guy who wrote two books that got him in a hot of heat because they primarily talked about the relationships of the mormons in a

. >>> what a race between tim kaine and george allen for the senate in virginia.post poll finds the kaine/allen race even. both former gov force are looking to replace jim web who defeated allen six years ago. we'll be right back. ♪ you are my sunshine, my only sunshine ♪ ♪ you make me happy when skies are gray ♪ [ female announcer ] you know exactly what it takes to make them feel better. ♪ you make me happy [ female announcer ] that's why you choose children's tylenol. the same brand your mom trusted for you when you were young. ♪ how much i love you [ humming ] [ female announcer ] children's tylenol, the #1 brand of pain and fever relief recommended by pediatricians and used by moms decade after decade. [ humming ] and used by moms decade after decade. you do a lot of no.aking? look i'm going through the rapids. okay... i'll take it. sync your card with facebook, foursquare and twitter for savings. that's the membership effect of american express. >>> from madison, wisconsin. here we are. because they are here. workers. wisconsinites. americans. protesting pea

former governor george allen is considered the front-runner to win the june 12 primary, but he'll firstave to get past tea party leader jamie radke, e.w. jackson, and bob marshall. allen is trying to win back the seat he lost to jim webb six years ago. the gop winner will face former governor tim kaine, running unopposed for the democratic nomination. >>> a new poll shows how much impact president obama is having on the debate over same-sex marriage. according to a public policy poll, 57 likely voters in maryland, 57%, say they'll vote in favor of same-sex marriage if the issue makes it on to the november ball the. -- ballot. 37% of likely voters are against making the marriages legal. that 20% margin was just 12 in march. pollsters say the shift is almost entirely due to a change in attitude by african-american voters. president obama campaign i came out in support of same-sex marriage earlier this month just a couple of weeks before the survey was conducted. >>> meanwhile, just a few percentage points separate the candidates in the three states that could decide who our next president

. >> this is shaping up as a hop out of the ground with tim kaine and george allen facing off.e've seen democrats win the last couple senate elections here, but obviously bob mcdonnell the governor won in rather a landslide a year after president obama carried it in 2008 so that highlights the volatility and the true emergence as a real legitimate swing state of virginia. >> ken vogel, i'm glad you live there and can be there to see it and have all of the traffic jams they come your way. thanks very much. what is next for newt gingrich. susan page's interview. bin laden's letters. what was he writing from his hideout? (spoken in mandarin) i've still got hours of battery life. it's an ultrabook. you bring great shame upon this coffee hut. with a long-lasting ultrabook, everything else seems old fashioned. ultrabook. inspired by intel. hi, i just switched jobs, and i want to roll over my old 401(k) into a fidelity ira. man: okay, no problem. it's easy to get started; i can help you with the paperwork. um...this green line just appeared on my floor. yeah, that's fidelity helping y

hopefuls in virginia will debate for the last time before voters head to the polls, former governor george allen is considered the front-runner to win the june 12th primary but he'll have to get past tea party leader, jamie rapke, minister ew jackson and bob marshall. allen is trying to win back the seat he lost to democrat jim webb six years ago and the gop winner will face former governor tim kaine. >>> our time right now, seven minutes after 11:00, coming up, 33 years ago, hisdy appearance revolutionizeded search for missing children. today the man who accused of his death will appear in court. >>> and six months after a florida mom went missing, the family says police are making progress. >>> and suiting up for summer, the best swimwear for all body types. stay with us, we're coming right stay with us, we're coming right every driver is different, and we've got great news for them all. now you can try snapshot from progressive before you switch your insurance. just plug snapshot into your car and drive like you, to see if your good driving could save you up to 30%. so, try the new way to sav

george allen, bob marshall, amy radkey debated for the last time last night. the most came on the issue of thorne begland. he is openly gay and was blocked from becoming a state judge earlier this week. allen offered a more moderate response. >> sexual orientation in my view is not a criteria for disqualifying or qualifying a judge. >> the latest poll showed allen cruising to the republican nomination. >>> facebook could be on the hook for $1 billion or more in damages over the social media company's botched ipo. the company could be held responsible if the lawyers could prove the company and bankers misled bankers. two congressional panels are looking into the matter. >>> speaking of facebook, first it was facebook's ipo's disaster but now mark zuckerberg is being accused of cheating his wife on her wedding ring. >> they married in a small ceremony the the back yard of their palo alto home last weekend. on thursday paparazzi photos appeared of her with her ruby ring. that hasn't stopped jewelers from speculating at how much zuckerberg spent on it. some have v

senate race in put jim kanew poll of republican george allen d.c.ave a wonderful ride. the delaware memorial bridge. will take you live to a couple cameras. you how to plan. not much here and 395. all morning near shirlington. it has been a wonderful trip. go to adam caskey. >> we have clouds overhead. clouds.see the low there will slowly break. 73 in washington. 68 and winchester. degrees in frederick. mid 80s today. warm and muggy. chance of a .hundershower humid this weekend. much.nk you so thank you for watching. we will be back here at noon.

. >> meanwhile, kaine's opponent, george allen got the nra's endorsement this past week? any thoughts about that? >> all of the people conservative are lining up against allen. the people who are more moderate or perhaps liberal are lining behind kaine. the thing in the race is how well will obama do and he will do well or not well according to the jobs economy. >> the only thing that bothers me is that the nra crowd somehow thinks that kaine is anti-gun, and that democrats are ready to come and take your gun out of your house. >> that's not true. >> and it's not true, absolutely not true. and you have allen bushing i am for hunting and my friends don't have to worry about that, and you can go out and hundred the and fish and you don't have to worry about me taking your guns. >>> the cost of a drink may increase. there's a proposal on the table to hike wholesale taxes on spirits and that could add 6 cents to each drink you buy. this comes from councilmember jim graham who says you need social services in the city. how much support do we believe is out there for this? >> de

here to talk about more of what is at stake and his own senate bid, former virginia governor, george allenthanks for joining us. >> great to be with you, shannon. >> tell me what virginians care about, nationally and in the race you are running. >> susan and i are going throughout virginia, my wife and i. we hear from small business owners and families. we hear that people are concerned about the uncertainty of what is coming out of washington. those who have children, coming out of college are worried about children moving back home because they can't find jobs and the jobs that they find are not utilizing their skills and their education. the key issues are energy and obamacare n. southwest virginia, coal-mining area, they can see that jim cane and president obama are for the cap-and-trade energy tax with the epa, virtually outlawing coal. they see the ball obama administration saying no to virginia, for not allowingitous produce oil and gas off our coast. whether they are seniors or businesses, they see that obamacare will cut medicare funding and premiums increasing and they see an une

another person on facebook said the tea party is alive and well in virginia, george allen will get anotherhot at his seat. the tea party candidate " won't be contained either. they are tied in the senate race, 46% in the polls. millions have been raised and spent by the campaign, but it fails to shift to the poll numbers. according to a new washington post poll, among the most competitive in the country. the former governors are tied, and they are looking to succeed the retiring senator. both parties believe virginia will be a key determinant of which side controls the set in january. toby, you're on the program. if the tea party is the party that they claim to be, they will side with ron paul. he is for government responsibility and all the things that the tea party claims they stand for. it seems to be a generic form of the gop party. romney will not beat obama. all he is doing is bashing obama, and it is impossible for me to figure out where the man stands at the moment. >> how long are we going to put up with the tea party ruining our great country? it makes no sense to elect someone t

george allen doesn't have quite the resonance there that he used to but it's going to be a tight battle going to be two barn burners, aren't they? >> it will. i think the presidential race means a lot there because there may be some -- there may be some romney/kaine voters but there aren't any allen/obama voters. allen needs romney to get 51, 52% in virginia. >> that's a pretty steep climb, isn't it, with virginia breaking the way it has? >> it is. but virginia is not where it is in '06 and '08 when democrats were having a great year. it's not where it was in 2010 when republicans were having a great year. it's somewhere in between. it's regressed back a little bit that way. i think it's going to be very, very close but allen needs romney to win by a point and a half. >> i don't know whether this gay marriage statement by the president is going to impact the national race, but you and i both know you get down in some of these more divisive races that, could have an impact. >> i think the place it has the biggest impact is black churches. when you saw gay marriage lose in california, it

a new "washington post" poll shows former republican governor george allen tied with former democratic governor tim kaine in what's shaping up to be the most competitive race in the country. >>> the rematch is on for the governor's race. democrats chose milwaukee mayor tom barrett to challenge scott walker in the june 5 recall election. barrett, who lost to walker just 18 months ago, now has 28 days for another shot at walker. >>> from "the new york times" business section, the original motorcycle cop from the village people has won a federal lawsuit allowing him to reclaim the copyright on songs that he wrote decades ago and signed over to record companies. a copyright law from 1978 allows artists to reclaim their material after 35 years have passed, meaning songwriters like bruce springsteen, billy joel, and other big names from the '70s will soon be eligible to reclaim ownership of their recordings. >> that's big money. big money for names like that. >>> let's go down to politico. j let's talk about what happened in the state of indiana last night. senator lugar losing his republica

guys, the valuable guys at this reunion are freddy and perp and fred and al montgomery, allen brown, and it is not george. they're not here -- >> why do you come back then? that might be a way to escape it. >> yeah. yeah. because maybe i need them as much as they need me. >> do they know that, that you need them like they need you? >> no, because i don't think i have gotten in touch with my sensitivity to be able to communicate that to them and the other piece is we never have time for meaningful conversation. i mean, for example, tonight when we go to the dinner, we will be overcome by lots of stuff, so to sit down and have a meaningful conversation with these guys about what you feel, how you feel, where you are, whatever, no, i have never done that. the only guy that i have spent after vietnam some quality time with is don adams and that's just been recent because we go to football games together and he is a big georgia tech guy and we go down to spend time with him and i stay at his house, but we have never had real dialog about the war and what we did in the war and i don't think we have reached tha

. >> senator george allen who was an incumbent senator in virginia -- >> and people thought he was a presidential -- >> early presidential type of hype building around him, um, you know, i think that a lot of people considered his race in 2006 more of a technicality. um, he was popular in the state of virginia, had been governor of the state of virginia and was caught on tape by a phone, um, you know, making a statement that was a racial slur. and it wasn't tolerated by the electorate, and he was ousted from office. and, you know, i think that that was a turn of events that was made possible, um, by his democratic opponent because of technology. but there's a lot of technological innovations that are happening on campaigns aside from just online communication. um, and it's really fascinating to watch. >> chris, i interrupted you. >> you were talking, my first national campaign was in 1992, and i was much younger and much quicker at that time, and one of my first assignments was to go to opposition events, um, and then you would actually have to sprint with the reporters to the neares

montgomery county, airport and down toward the district and prince georges county and towards anarundel. strongest through 301, around allen's fresh and bigger rains across the potomac in towards the county, leonard town, pours off to the east, around clark's landing, and tin top hill and red gate, there is more rain to come. st. mary's county you were the last to see the rain, around the california area, just to the north and west of lexington park. how much rain did we see? we need to see some rain out here, many areas have been very dry with the exception of northern prince william in northern faulk, they've seen a ton of rain over the last couple of days and another flash flood warning in effect, saw nearly two inches of rain again today, this area does not need to see any more rain but where we need to see it around washington close to an inch of rain in parts of the area, fairfax county to the north and west around leesburg and frederick county over two inches of rain fell today with heavy thunderstorms that made their way on through. the wider view showing that first boundary making its way towards the east and back t

allen martin has been president of george mason university for 16 years now. a letter he wrote that nailed him the job. in it, he says while attitude about planning is important, action is more important and that's what he has done for the past 16 years. george mason university graduating students have been part of a whirlwind of change that is now virginia's largest university with more than 33,000 students. the rapid growth came about 16 years ago when doctor allen martin took the helm. >> first of all, we had to continue to increase our spirit. we had to take chances and risks at the university. second, we had to take advantage of our location. >> martin says he hired the right people, started new programs, and built new facilities. >> we have built probably at least a billion and a half dollars worth of buildings on the three campuses. arlington, prince william, and fairfax. >> he has been a hands on president with a friendly touch, wide smile, and trademark white hair. pictures with the president and moon walking astronaut, allen shepherd. this chair came

. >> reporter: george mason university graduating students have been part of a whirl wind of change with more than 33,000 students. the rapid growth came about 16 years ago when dr. allenartin took the helm. >> we had to take chances, take risks at the university. second we had to take advantage of our location. location, location, location. >> he hired the right people, started new programs and built new facilities. we have built probably $1.5 billion worth of buildings. >> he has had a friendly touch, a wide smile and trademark white hair. he has friends all over the world, pictures with the president, maggie thatcher and moon walking astronaut alan shepherd. this chair came after mason beat connecticut i point at a chair and said that is my lucky chair. the next day he was sitting here. >> reporter: he wants his legacy to be eye culture of inknow -- a culture of innovation. >> he puts so much energy into the community. >> it was an honor to talk with him about how he got where he is. >> reporter: he says the changes came because they made progress every day. >> we just said we are getting better today and tomorrow maybe tomorrow you'll be on our side but we'll get b

it's a bittersweet day for these george mason university graduates as they prepare to leave behind a school many have grown to love. and this year, university president allenheir experience. after 16 years spent leading mason, putting it on the national map, dr. mertin is retiring. when he started, nearly 6,000 students applied. this year 18,000 did. and enrollment has grown to 33,000. >> the thing that i'm most proud of is the pride that people have in the university. >> reporter: but mertin says the take this greatest satisfaction in how the george mason university now views itself. >> we were aggressive in getting the right people, getting the right programs, and building the right buildings at all times. didn't make a difference what the economy was like, what was going on in richard monday or washington. we made progress. >> reporter: these new graduates agree mason has come a long way. >> i'm proud of the school. >> i'm proud that george mason is my school. >> reporter: the graduation is standing room only. george mason became one of the fastest growing universities in virds and one of the most diverse. he's soaking it all in trying to enjoy his fina