the first day of arguments are presented today and tom fitzgerald is inside the courtroom. was today's proceeding a warm- up for tomorrow? >> and this is a warm-up case. what the court looked at was whether or not it was early to take up the case. part of the healthcare law said if you don't purchase health insurance, you have to pay a mennality on penalty on the taxes. there is this law that said you can't sue to stop attacks before that is tax collected. the justices today considered if they will have to wait until 2015 when this law is fully impacted for them to rule. overall, what opponents are saying is that the healthcare law is unconstitutional. they say it forces people to purchase health insurance and they claim that that power is not give 10 to the government they say in the constitution. new, supporters have the opposite vow and say the law will stand. interesting in court today, felt this was a importantly released audio to try to decide the healthcare mandate was a tax or penaltiy and if it had the jurisdiction to rule now before the law is fully impacted. >> t

tom fitzgerald was in the chamber for all of it. and has this report. >> reporter: the nine justices of the u.s. supreme court had not one but two issues that they had to grapple with. first, if the president's health care law, which includes a mandate to purchase insurance is unconstitutional, does that, in essence, throw out the entire law. secondly, they had to look at the expand of the medicaid program and whether that is in and of itself was unconstitutional. after six hours and three days, the finish line appeared at the supreme court. [ cheering ] >> reporter: after looking at whether the healthcare laws mandate to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional, the justices took on a bigger question: if the mandate is thrown out, does that mean the entire healthcare law struck down as well? again, the divided court took opposing positions. conservatives said because the mandate is the cornerstone of the healthcare law, the law must be struck down if the mandate is unconstitutional. >> there is no way that this court's decisio

some of the letters have a postmark of tom fitzgerald from texas. >>> the tenure will continue for public schoolteachers. earlier today the senate rejected a proposal that would ended contracts. the proposal would have make it easier to fire teachers. turn 23 to 13. >>> had been harassed from platforms and station entrances. asked police to do more. work on an antiarrest group. asking riders to e-mail harassment, explaining what happened and where. >>> the biggest solar storm in five years hitting the earth right now. no major satellite interference or power problems. delta recruiting flights. >> a solar storm making its way toward earth. >> as far as tell right now. >> reporter: two massive flares erupted on the sun this week. the first occurring on sunday and the second on tuesday. the storms have the potential to trip power grids and interfere with gps systems and travel. >> can get disturbed. so that means the error with the instrument, you know, satellites might experience larger drag. >> despite potential problems, nasa scientists say there's no need to panic. >> see every corner of

tom fitzgerald has more on that. >> reporter: the health care reform act was first passed on capitold signed into law by president obama. but the health care law is now facing its biggest test in the supreme court, an unusually long three-day hearing which could strike down the landmark legislation. >> we love the constitution! >> we love obamacare. >> reporter: the lawyer for the states challenging the health care law says that its mandate for people to buy health insurance is not in the constitution. >> it is act one of a four-act play but if we lose today, with never get to the issues tomorrow. >> reporter: but supporters ever the law say it is constitutional. virginia democratic congressman gerald connelly voted for it in congress. >> i believe there is no constitutional grounds for invalidating this law and i believe frankly if the supreme court yields to that temptation, it's partisan political decision. >> reporter: if the first of four cases monday, court considered if it could even rule on the health care law because of and 1860s law that says can you not sue to stop a tax b

tom fitzgerald has the latest. >> reporter: fox 5 started looking into instant tax service in februaryn i go to pick up my check it's short and i'm like this is not right. >> they didn't give me no paperwork. >> reporter: now the justice department is suing the instan tax service. >> these fran chases have been engaging in pervasive fraud. >> reporter: the lawsuit claims instant tax filed false returns to get big returns from the federal government. >> they added income or reduced income to get a maximum infund. >> reporter: customers were also being targeted. sharitta douglas owns several instant tax stores in the area. later customers complained that large fees were being deducted from their refunds. >> all kinds of bogus things taken out of your refund check and i could not sit there, the fran cheese the -- franchise owner and explain it. >> reporter: she's cooperating with authorities. it's a lesson to everyone about being careful on who prepares your taxes. >> most tax preparers are competent but there are too many that are not. >> reporter: no offices in the d.c. area are in this

to talk about that, we go to his native pennsylvania it discuss santorum with tom fitzgerald, politics writer for the philadelphia enquirer. welcome, tom. what is driving him at this point? is the delegate map looks set against him. say what you know about covering him with about what is driving him and what may determine when he decides to get out. >> santorum has a super natural, the guy is a missionary. one of his former aides said you can't understand rick santorum without thinking of him as a catholic missionary. he believes that he possesses you a unique truths. if he can get you to accept it, you can be portrayed. i don't mean that in a sarcastic way. he has deep faith in god and we will keep fighting for white quite a while. but thing with santorum is, in addition to his -- his long record of being a conscience conservative, if you will, he knows how to play the game. he is not quite, you know, changing his stripes on an etch-a-sketch. but when he was is in the senate, he was in the leadership. he famously or infamously said during debate that he took one for the team when he v

laura. >> tom fitzgerald, thank you. a suspicious package sent to limbaugh's home in florida forced officers to evacuate part of the neighborhood. limbaugh's staff has a x-ray machine to check items. they could not identify what was inside the box, so they called police. the box contained a plaque sent to him by a business person. a man is charged with setting a house on fire with a flair gun. sheriff deputies responded to a call for a fire on willow pond drive last night. deputies discovered a car and reported finding a flare gun and marijuana inside. a passenger in the car is charged with shooting the flare gun and arson. >>> now to a news alert in arlington. men dressing up as cops to rob unsuspected people. it's happened twice, but detectives don't believe these cases are connected. john 5's john hanrahan is in the newsroom with all the details. >> these robberies happened last week and they occurred only about 12 hours apart because the incidents were quite different. the suspect involved have very different descrip

tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >>> the pope and fidel castro come face to face.d out what the pontiff told the former leader next. >> and later a horrifying story for any parent, a baby about to be released from the hospital when a nurse made a mistake that caused permanent injury.  chili's $20 dinner for two has a bold new favorite -- steak. first, share an appetizer, then choose two entrees, like our 100% usda choice sirloin, available for a limited time on chili's $20 dinner for two. >>> pope benedict left cuba today after publicly demanding the cuban government allow its catholic citizens more freedom to worship. during his three-day visit to the communist country the pope met with fidel castro and celebrate an open air mass in havana with president raul castro. the pope preached against what he called fanaticism. he said all people share a need for what he called authentic freedom. >>> the battle for the republic can nomination rages on while mitt romney's challengers try to desperately take down the frontrunner. james rosen with the latest from the campai

tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >>> a unique exhibit in the district tonight. people with autism sharing their amazing artwork. this as alarming new numbers about the disorder are released. the story is coming up next.  >>> of >>> in tonight's health alert alarming new numbers about autism in america. a new cdc report estimates that one in 88 children have some form of autism spectrum disorder. health officials attribute the increase mainly to better recognition of indications through wider screening and better diagnosis. tonight in rockville an art exhibit opened up to raise autism awareness and call for more resources. fox 5's karen gray houston shows us. ows us. >> reporter: the artwork is colorful, original, eclectic. the evening reception was cosponsored by the johns hopkins montgomery county campus and the madison health autism foundation. the art was created by more than 30 young adult artists who have been diagnosed with autism, people like talented 17- year-old emily meehan who likes to draw birds. >> the thing that i look forward to drawing the bir

fox 5's tom fitzgerald has the story. >> what a great night. >> wednesday after supertuesday, mitt romney lot to celebrate. but his goal of locking up the nomination is still unfulfilled. >> your support means everything to ann and me and i'm not going to let you down. i'm going to get this nomination. >> mitt romney won six of the ten supertuesday states including virginia. but rick santorum won tennessee and oklahoma and only lost ohio by 1%. >> this was a big night tonight. lots of states. we're going to win a few, we're going to lose a few. >> newt gingrich won his home state of georgia and once again, aimed a election night speech right at mitt romney. >> i don't believe the romney technique of outspending your opponent four or five to one with negative ads will work against barack obama. >> for his part, ron paul meanwhile, still has not won a single state. >> the american people are way ahead of washington. washington is sound asleep. >> it's romney who has been unable to put his opponents to sleep. now forced to spend more time and more money fighting fellow republicans. >> and th

tom fitzgerald is here and is following everything. how much are we talking? >> reporter: what the president said is that he's approving roughly about a quarter of the entire length of the proposed pipeline, a section that would run, though, between oklahoma and texas and while the president said this was a move to move more oil to the marketplace, tonight, he's facing more criticism and this time from the left and the right. >> reporter: in oklahoma on thursday, president obama said that he is fast tracking a portion of the keystone oil pipeline. >> this whole issue of the keystone pipeline generated, obviously, a lot of controversy and politics. >> reporter: the president rejected the keystone pipeline in january over environmental concernings. many voters are concerned about high gas prices. >> and today, i'm directing my administration to cut through the red tape and to breakthrough bureaucratic hurdles and get it done. >> reporter: the decision allows 500 miles of pipeline from oklahoma to texas to proceed. the total 1,000 miles of proposed lanes to canad

tom fitzgerald is here now and pressure's been building on the white house to say something about this. >> reporter: it has. with all of this, the president chose his words carefully today and made the remarks in response to a question during a brief appearance this morning to announce his nominee for the world bank presidency. the president had faced increasing criticism, though, in recent days for not speaking out about the trayvon martin shooting. the president said when he thinks about trayvon martin, he thinks about his own children. the president called for federal, state, and local officials to pull together and to investigate what he calls a tragedy. >> my main message is to the parents of trayvon martin. and if i had a son, he would look like trayvon, and i think they are right to expect that all of us as americans are going to take it with the seriousness it deserves and get to the bottom of what happened. >> reporter: the white house was not the only scene of attention in regards to the shooting. on capitol hill today, meanwhile, congressional staffers from democratic and re

fox 5's tom fitzgerald reports. >> reporter: in his previous washington visit benjamin netanyahu had with president obama on the palestinians and israel's borders. >> i want to welcome prime minister netanyahu. >> reporter: this time iran is center stage in a face to face meeting the president saying his preferred course for blocking iran from a nuclear weapon is diplomacy. >> i reserve all options and my policy here is not going to be one of containment. my policy is prevention of iran obtaining nuclear weapons. >> reporter: but looking directly at the president, the prime minister said if iran is close to obtaining nuclear weapons, israel will take actions. >> to defend itself by itself against any threat and that when it comes to israel's security, israel has the right, the sovereign right to, make its own decisions. >> reporter: the meeting comes on the heels of the president's speech to the largest pro israel lobby in d.c. sunday night urging both sides to cool down. >> already there is too much loose talk of war. >> reporter: but republicans like house majority leader eric cant

fox 5's tom fitzgerald has the story. >> my name is sandra fluke. >> reporter: last week sandra fluke, a georgetown university law student testified in support of a provision in president obama's healthcare law that companies provide cont coverage, but now controversy has spawned from rush limbaugh's comment about the policy she was supporting about sandra fluke. >> what does that make her? it makes her a slut, right? makes her a prostitute. she wants to be paid to have sex. >> reporter: the white house says president obama called to support fluke this morning and limbaugh's remarks disappointed. >> i think it's a very important thing for us to think about. >> reporter: on nbc's today show sandra fluke said she was stunned, outraged and very upset at the remarks. >> in our society in certain sectors this is evidently still acceptable and that's just very problematic. >> reporter: d.c. congressman eleanor holmes norton was on the committee fluke appeared before last week and said democrats will use the controversy to highlight differences with republicans. >> that's clearing the war pa

in the newsroom tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >>> a fight breaks out in the middle of a fast food restaurant it's the officer called in to calm things down caught in the middle. see who comes to his defense. >>> we're just hours from the next republican primary, why most of the candidates aren't paying much attention to it. >>> if you see a story you think we should look into, send your news tips to fox5tips at wttg.com or call 202-895-3000. i was shocked to find out how many couples don't sleep in the same bedroom. but in the sleep number store, we hear it all the time. nine out of ten couples disagree on the firmness they want in a mattress. i sleep on the couch. with our bed, the sleep number setting represents the firmness that you like on your half of the mattress. you can have it your way and i'll have it mine. so we save a lot of marriages. at our semi-annual sleep sale, save on our most popular bed sets. plus, free standard shipping but only through march 18th! only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699. look! here she comes! ♪ she'll be comin' 'round t

fox 5's tom fitzgerald reports. >> house republicans unveiled their 2013 budget tuesday which combinesgrams for the poor while installing lower overall tax rates. >> we have an obligation in the house because we're in the majority. >> congressman paul ryan house budget committee chairman wrote the gop budget called the path to prosperity. >> we are here to offer americans the chance to choose which future they want for themselves, the president's path of debt and decline, or the path that we're proposing. >> the gop aims to merge six different tax rates into just two, a 10% and a 25% bracket for individuals and create one corporate tax bracket of 25%. >> we have never needed a budget more than we need it today. >> but while republicans say the government is spending too much democrats argue it isn't taking in enough in taxes, especially from the rich. >> not a plan that this president could support. >> white house press secretary jay carney described the gop plan is a rye run of previous efforts to -- a rerun of previous efforts to safeguard tax cuts for the wealthy. >> unfortunately w

fox 5's tom fitzgerald reports. >> reporter: when healthcare reform became law, it mandated employers offer free contraceptive care in their health insurance. >> the clerk will call the roll. >> reporter: in the senate thursday republicans offered a measure to end that mandate saying it forces churches and religious groups to violate their beliefs on birth control and abortion. >> i believe that such a mandate poses a threat to our religious freedom. >> it's not within the power of the federal government to tell anybody what to believe. >> reporter: but democrats argue the white house offered a compromise having insurance companies pay for contraceptive care and creating an exemption for churches and religious groups. >> every step of the way it seems as if there is an assault on women's reproductive choice. >> not one of them suggested that men shouldn't have their viagra, but we'll gnata side. >> reporter: the republican effort was defeat -- put that a side. >> reporter: the republican effort was defeated 51-48. they were accused of fanning the flames of social issues to score point

fox 5s tom fitzgerald checked the returns into the newsroom and, tom, i guess the question is, at leastine, mitt romney wins michigan. it was a must win he did and wins ohio with a must win he did and trying to figure out if this is a media-driven story line at this point? >> reporter: it's a mixed bag for mitt romney. there is some good things and bad things, depending on how you look at it and in a better position today. the same time things didn't go perfectly for mitt romney on supertuesday. he lost tennessee, barely won ohio and, tonight, while romney has more delegates than anyone else, he's facing more battles ahead as his opponents show no sign of quitting this race. >> what a great night. >> reporter: the wednesday after super tuesday, mitt romney has a lot to celebrate. but his goal of locking up the nomination is still unfulfilled. >> and your support really means everything and i'm not going let you down. gym iting -- i'm going get the nomination. >> reporter: mitt romney won six of the 10 supertuesday states, including virginia. rick santorum won tennessee so and oklahoma.

. >> let's go right to fox 5's tom fitzgerald keeping a close eye on how super tuesday is playing out >> this has been a busy night. it's clearly not over yet, but the key here was heading into tonight mitt romney really needed to focus on two states as key, tennessee and ohio. tennessee may have been mitt romney's only chance here to win a southern state and he could not do it. santorum's win not only denies romney of that first possible southern win, but also punches santorum's ticket to continue on in this race. speaking tonight in steubenville, ohio, the former pennsylvania senator thanked supporters not only for this win in tennessee, but out west in oklahoma as well. now for his part newt gingrich as we said won big in his homestate of georgia, but when it came time to give his victory speech, again went after mitt romney tonight. for his part mitt romney, well, he did win in his former state where he was governor, massachusetts, and in the neighboring state of vermont, but that is not strong gop territory. he needs to win in ohio tonight to be able to claim a wide super tuesday

. >> and tom fitzgerald will follow. bob mentioned romney and paul are on the ballot. give us a refresher as to why here? >> reporter: virginia is not a small state and this goes back to virginia's aic rules how they go about put pick people on the ballot. you need a certain percentage of people in congressional districts and mitt romney and ron paul met the requirements. the others didn't. rick perry was one, john huntsman, michele bachmann and they're out of the race n. december, perry foiled suit. what the court said, brian, you may have a point here, candidates. virginia's ballot law may not be constitutional but it's december. too late for to you do this and this is going to go ahead and as it has with the two candidates on this ballot. expect this to be revisited. >> ten states in all, including virginia. the key one, obviously, ohio, right? you can't understate ohio's importance tonight, brian. no republican has been elected president of the united states without ohio. no president has been elected, a generation new of 50 years without getting ohio. also tenness

tom fitzgerald tonight. >>> another big story, the trayvon martin case drawing attention on capitol hill. a group of congressional democrats is lashing out at sanford, florida, police, claiming they bungled the trayvon martin shooting investigation. the lawmakers on the house committee wrapped up a two-hour briefing racial frofiling -- profiling and hate crimes. martin's parents are on capitol hill meeting with the members. karen gray heist hop onhas more. >> reporter: the briefing ended a few minutes ago and examining the role of the federal government. this comes because of the shooting of a black kid by another has struck a racial nerve. martin's mother made remarks during the briefing earlier and that briefing chairman noted that it captured the attention of the nation and the president spoke out about it. he said it's vital for the federal government to investigate and prosecute any time violentaks are taken and the motivation is raised. florida congresswoman frederico wilson vowed to go on the house floor every day and -- every day until the perpetrator is arrested. trayvon martin'

. >> all right, tom fitzgerald. >>> illinois voters head to the polls today in the latest republic primary and things are heated between the two republican candidates fighting for the top spots. 54 delegates up for grabs and 69 being awarded to the winner. mitt romney and santorum chris crossed the state trying to pick up last-minute votes. >> and one of the people who is running also for the republican nomination today said that he doesn't care about the unemployment rate. that doesn't bother him. i do care. it does bother me. >> the unsuccessful -- in the state of massachusetts is one of the worst job creators in the four yearings he was governor. >> neither newt gingrich nor ron paul campaigned much in illinois. >>> and should young teenagers convicted of killing someone be locked up for life with no chance of parole? the supreme court is taking up that issue today. the justices are look at two cases involving 14-year-olds serving life sentences. just as kennedy wrote earlier, opinions ruling out the death penalty for juveniles, and life without parole sentences for young people whose c

. >> thank you, tom fitzgerald. >>> developing news out of northern virginia tonight. five gang members are charged with running a sex trafficking ring. prosecutors say the suspects recruited high school girls and used social networking sites to contact them. and paul wagner has more on the details. paul? >> reporter: this was a big deal. the fbi came here to the u.s. courthouse in alexandrea, along with neal mcbride, the u.s. attorney, the chief of police in fairfax, dave war and ken coochieel iny to announce the -- and ken kucinelli, the attorney general and five were taken into custody, 11 total the last year. they broke up a ring called the undercrouped crypts and they were sex trafficking with young girls, and they were recruiting them through social net-- networking sites going to high schools, metro stops, bus stops to try to recruit the girls into prostitution. they believe they found 10 victims, laura, but they believe there are many more. according to the affidavit, justin strom, danielle dove, jeffreys and gilley used facebook and my space to recruit will gi

insight into the strain repeated deployments put on his family through his wife's own words, tom fitzgerald following this. where did this meeting take place. >> attorney john henry brown met for more than three hours with 38-year-old staff sergeant robert bales he is being held a at an isolated cell, in fort leaven worth kansas. >> what sparked staff sergeant robert bales to allegedly murder 16 afghan civilians? his attorney john henry brown says bales is mentally ill, after three deployments to iraq, and another to afghanistan. >> everybody that has had three or four deployments to the middle east will have some form of ptsb i don't know anything specific about it he had a con cuss sieve head injury, which can be as serious if not more serious than ptsb. >> he met with bales in fort leaven worth, still not formerly charged he is accused of leaving his base in southern kandahar and killing 16 people he is under psychiatric evaluation and the killings are dawning fresh concerns overcome bat stress in u.s. troops >> i hope we can understand there is always room for improvement in the treatme

tom fitzgerald was on capitol hill and this came up for a vote, didn't it? >> reporter: republicans tried to roll back the new rules to require insurance companies to provide free contraceptive care and that is forcing them to do something they're opposed to. this was voted down and this is a clear signal that neither side is giving in. when healthcare became law, it mandated employers contraceptive care. >> called the role. >> reporter: in the senate, republicans offered a measure to end that mandate, saying it forces churches and religious groups to violate their beliefs on birth control and abortion. >> and i believe such a mandate poses a threat to our religious freedoms. >> not within the power of the federal government to tell anyone who to -- what to believe. >> reporter: the democrats argued they had offered a compromise creating exemptions for churches and religious groups. >> and every step of the way, seems as if there is an assault on women's reproductive choice. not one suggested men shouldn't have their viagra. we'll put that aside. >> reporter

on capitol hill, tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >> the supporters of trayvon martin and the family are meeting in southeast d.c. there is an interfaith prayer vigil at 6:30 on the big chair in mlk avenue. the rally plaza from 2-4. >> a news alert from maryland with new details about a firing crash that killd two teenagers in chevy chase. they were ride negligent back of a stolen car when the driver lost control while trying to run from police. the vehicle burst into flames and trapping the teenagers. paul wagner is in the newsroom with more. paul? >> reporter: we have new information. the montgomery county police identified the driver of the car as 16-year-old raynard osmond of the district. the teens who were killed were brothers. according to a source familiar with the investigation. the front seat passenger's been identified as rico richardson of northeast, who a source said was under the supervising of the division of youth and rehabilitation services. it's unclear how fast the driver was going as he entered the circle after 1:00 this morning, but the crash was horrific. this is the scene

well, we'll keep an eye on it as well as tom fitzgerald in the next half hour down in the newsroom with the latest. >> what a night. when you consider mitt romney is fighting to be the republican nominee, at this point mitt romney has still not won a primary in a southern state for the republicans. tonight he hoped to do that in tennessee. rick santorum instead ensured that will not happen and as you saw just now with ohio still in flux here, romney is under pressure to win the buckeye state or face a whole new round of questions about how strong a nominee he would be for this party. let's look at some of the other numbers starting with our race in virginia tonight. mitt romney winning in a two- man race 59% to ron paul's 41%. remember, the other candidates were not on the ballots tonight in virginia. moving over to tennessee, that was a big win for rick santorum. romney really wanted this one. rick santorum is ahead tonight 38% over mitt romney, a big win for rick santorum, keeps his momentum going and again look again at that race in ohio tonight and that is on the razor's edge now, a

tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >> thank you. >>> we still have plenty ahead. your weather, traffic and all your top stories. >> fox 5 morning news at 4:30 starts right now. ight now. >>> live look outside right now at the u.s. capitol dome. it is tuesday, march 6, 2012. >> good morning. i'm sarah simmons. >> i'm will thomas. welcome to fox 5 morning news. it was exactly 3:20 in the afternoon when i looked outside to see some white stuff. >> excellent. officially a trace at reagan national. but just to the south, the amounts were very impressive, 6, 8, 10 inches. >> really? they got that are big snowfall of the year. >> i'm sure many people are happy with that. >> it looked nice as it came down. >> we have a cold start to the day and then sunshine and a nice warming trend over the next several days although today will be still a little on the cool side. 32 at reagan national. the entire area is at or below freezing with the exception of patuxent naval air station which is 33. let mow mention areas that got the snowpack. of course, that will freeze or has refroz

fox 5's tom fitzgerald is live with some of what to look for. tom, it's going to be a busy day. >> in all, eight of maryland's congressional seats will seat primaries, as well as the big one in the u.s. senate race. even though it's a primary who wins on tuesdays, it's important, because that's going to be important. >> promises made have not been delivered. >> mitt romney has not locked up the republican nomination. he can use maryland's 37 delegates. rick santorum and newt gingrich are in the race. american university political science professor says romney should come out on top. >> mitt romney is going to do well on tuesday in maryland. he's going to do very well. he's going to win most of those delegates. >> i'm ben and both my grandfather. >> incumbent u.s. senator is facing his first reelection. politicalguy.com shows five other candidates also running for the democratic nomination, but on the republican side, there are nine candidates on the ballot. heavily favored. >> ben should be a shoe in. the only way he is in danger is if larger eve

. >> down in the newsroom now at fox 5's tom fitzgerald, and day two other hearings of president obama'slthcare law and the focus of today, the mandate of buying health insurance. were there any surprises today? >> there were big surprises. this is the key to this entire three-day hearing. normally, these justices were four to four. four conservative, four liberal. in the middle is justice kennedy. he was not shy about his concerns about the healthcare law and if we heard today was any indication, a major portion of this legislation could be on the way out. outside the supreme court protesters offered up a side show of answers. but inside the ices wrestled with the main event. can the government force people to buy something? 26 states are arguing that the healthcare law's individual mandate for all americans to purchase health insurance is unconstitutional. in a marathon, two hour session, conservative justices said the mandate grants the government powers far beyond those found in the constitution. >> that changes the relationship of the federal government to the individual in a very f

the country's embassy is voicing its support and tom fitzgerald has more. this has taken off?porter: more than 70 million people watched the half- hour documentary online since it debuted two days ago. today, some critics are pointing out that the film doesn't explain the wrongdoings of the ugandan government, so far, though, this f

and tom fitzgerald has more. >> reporter: they have been tough the last few years and this is shaping up to be a heavyweight bout. on the one side, you have the democrats who want to raise taxes on the

fox 5s tom fitzgerald joins us now. what do we know about this guy?porter: the only suspect is described as a u.s. army staff sergeant who did three tours in i rang before going afghanistan -- iraq before going to afghanistan and based out of fort louis and washington state. the pentagon won't release the day before the criminal charges are filed; however, experts we talked to said once that happens, he could fa

. >> thank you very much, tom fitzgerald. >>> and super tuesday is a critical day and holding his first news conference of the area and -- year and to hit on big issues. jennifer davis has more. >> reporter: good afternoon, everybody. >> reporter: the white house aids claim it's a coincidence the president decided to hold a press conference on this super tuesday. the move allows him to share the limelight with gop presidential hopefuls as he responds to the claims he's weak on iran. >> what is said on the campaign trail -- those folks don't have a lot of responsibilities. they're not commanders in chief. >> reporter: they talking too casually about going to war with thrix lammic regime. one day after meeting with the israel prime minister, military force is not the only way to resolve concerns over iran's nuclear program. >> at this stage, it's my belief that we have a window of opportunity where this can still be resolved diplomatically. >> reporter: in response to the lingering houses crisis, the president unveiled new initiatives, aimed at providing mortgage relief and to lower refin

fox 5's tom fitzgerald reports. >> reporter: when health care reform became law it mandated employersfer free contraceptive care in their health insurance. >> clerk will call the roll. >> reporter: in the senate thursday, republicans offered a measure to end that mandate saying it forces churches and religious groups to violate their beliefs on birth control and abortion. >> i believe that such a mandate poses a religious freedoms. >> reporter: not within the power of the federal government to tell anybody what to believe. >> reporter: but democrats argued the white house offered a compromise having insurance companies pay for contraceptive care and creating exemption for churches and religious groups. >> every step of the way it seems as if there's an assault on womens' reproductive choice. >> not one of them suggested that men shouldn't have their viagra but we'll put that aside. >> reporter: the republican effort was defeated. democrats accused the gop of fanning the flames of social issues to score points in an election year. >> we defeated an amendment that would have historicall

fox 5's tom fitzgerald with the story. >> what sparked staff sergeant robert bales to allegedly murder? his attorney john henry brown says bales is mentally ill after three deployments to iraq and another to afghanistan. an. >> everybody that had three or four deployments to the middle east is probably going to have some form of ptsd. i don't know anything specific about it. he had a concuss sieve head injury -- a concussive head injury. >> reporter: brown met with his client for three hours. still not formally charged, he's under psychiatric evaluation and the killings are bringing up fresh concerns over combat stress in u.s. troops. >> i hope we can understand that there's always room for improvement in the treatment of our men and women who have served in combat. >> reporter: bales and his wife faced both professional and financial setbacks. he was passed over for promotion and had to put his washington statehouse on the market for thousands less than what he'd paid and also attended anger management classes after a charge of assaulting a girl friend in 2002. >> i was never trained

supreme court, tom fitzgerald, fox 5 news. >>> should bars stay open an hour later to raise revenue in the district? coming up, city leaders react to a controversial plan that could bring in millions. >>> and monitoring metro. why the transit agency pulling dozens of hope rid buses off of the road. >> and jet blue takes action after a pilot has a midair meltdown. the details are next. ar . >> dozens of metro buses are being recalled do you to a potential safety hazard. they arrived last summer and turns out they are prone to potential electrical shortages, and it's not the first problem that metro's had with the new hybrid buses. sherri ly joining us with the latest. >> reporter: the manufacturer sent in a voluntary recall. in some cases, metro tells fox 5 the batteries got sohood hot, the enquarter-- enjep started smoking. they were recalled because of a potential electrical short in the motor's lithium ion battery. and they trying to eliminate the problem. in extreme cases, metro said the battery overheated causing smoke and minor damage inside the engine and this is months a

fox 5's tom fitzgerald was in court today and they're talking about the constitutionality of president's healthcare law. today was really kind of a warm- up. >> reporter: in a lot of ways today was your exhibition game and what's going to be the main event tuesday and wednesday. the court was looking at tax issues related to the healthcare case, but overall for the next three days what we're going to see is a decision eventually to decide whether or not president obama lensed mark d.c. law stands or falls. land mark healthcare law stands or falls. the healthcare reform act was signed by law into president obama on the hill but it's now facing its biggest test in the supreme court, an unusually long 3-day hearing which could strike down the landmark legislation. >> we love the constitution. we love obamacare. >> reporter: the lawyer for the states challenging the healthcare law says that its mandate for people to buy health insurance is not in the constitution. >> it's act one of a four-act play, but if we lose today, we never get to the issues tomorrow. >> reporter: supporters of the l

tom fitzgerald was inside for arguments today. any clue as to how the justises are on this one? >> reporter: there were a lot of clues. in fact, five of the conservative members of the court, of the court today sounded a lot like they were moving towards striking down this individual mandate. it's the portion of the healthcare law, which, at this point, is most controversial. the second day of three days of arguments over the healthcare law. the supreme court building was, once again, swamped with protestors, for and against the healthcare reforms. the court's question today is if the president and congress exceeded their powers into constitution by requiring everyone to purchase health insurance. while the court a liberal wing said the law follows a long line of governments like social security, conservative justices had a different take and said the president's healthcare law goes beyond, too far, in fact, past the powers it has in the constitution. >> the government is saying that the federal government has a duty to tell the individual citizens that it must act and that is d

as fox 5 tom fitzgerald explains, the pentagon won't release his name, but if he's convicted, he couldecuted. >> reporter: the shock continues to reverberate in afghanistan tonight after an american soldier allegedly shot and killed 16 people, many of them women and children. at the u.n. secretary of state hillary clinton assessed the damage both in terms of human lives and the united states' relations with the afghan people. >> like many americans, i was shocked and saddened by the killings of innocent afghan villagers this weekend. we send our condolences to the families who lost their loved ones and to the people of afghanistan. this is not who we are and the united states is committed to seeing that those responsible are held accountable. >> reporter: the white house says its drawdown in afghanistan will go ahead. right now there nearly 90,000 troops there and it's scheduled to drop to 68,000 in september. >> it's certainly not helpful at astray teamic level. >> reporter: michael ohandlin of the brookings institution says the mass shooting while tragic should not derail policy. >>