>> live and in hd, this is abc 7 "news at noon." on your side. >> the federal budget cuts and sequestration hitting the streets of d.c. now. >> this missoni is the latest institution to feel the pinch from the sweeping cuts. -- the smithsonian is the latest. brianne carter reports. >> sequestration is creating change and some of the most popular tourist attractions along the national mall. >> that would be frustrating. >> the smithsonian starting tomorrow will close galleries at

the three museums. it will close the comments area -- the commons. and the african mosaic exhibits will be partially closed. close some of the galleries on the third floor. the much everything around. budget part of mandatory cuts. smithsonian officials already cut back on employee travel and training and deferred unnecessary maintenance. now the cuts have forced a reduction in the security contract. >> this affects everybody. >> while it's inconvenient, it will not impact this mantra much. -- this man's trip. >> [indiscernible].

>> these exhibits will remain closed until september 30. brianne carter, abc 7 news. >> president obama marks and 100 days of his second term with a press conference at the white house. he discussed a variety of topics from the crisis in syria and possible u.s. military action to 's crimeg the fbi; during the boston bombings suspect. and he spoke about the impact of the sequester. >> the sequester is in place right now damaging our economy, hurting our people. what is clear is the only way is to do a bigger deal that meets the test of loring our deficit and growing our economy at the same time. >> the president says, the only way a sequestration deal can be reached its compromise on the part of democrats and republicans. >> the president is set to sign

a bill today to officially end the furloughs for air traffic controllers. the signing was delayed by typographical errors. president obama did plan to sign the bill last week. but administration officials say the letter misused the word account in the bill. >> virginia governor bob mcdonnell is speaking out about the investigation into donations for his daughter's wedding. he spoke with our news partners at wtop this morning. anyaid he did not give special treatment to a dietary supplement company under investigation. the company ceo helped to pay for is daughter's wedding in 2011, giving her $15,000. much more on that coming up tonight at 5:00. >> another rainy morning, but could we have sunshine? jacqui jeras has a look at our forecast. >> not today, but it's coming. take a look at the time lapse

showing a low clouds this morning. visibility dropped down to about 2.5 miles at times this morning. we saw an occasional light drizzle and mist. we're still seeing some especially to the east of the metro. looking at the rainfall totals, hardly amounted to anything. just a drizzle. one-tenth of an inch in gaithersburg. some delays at the airport. reagan national reporting a 30 minute departure delays. a cure to call ahead. the mid-nditions in atlantic and northeast. sunshine off to the west. it will stay cloudy through the rest of today, mid 60's this afternoon. in the 50s tonight. sunshine could be here tomorrow morning. that's the timing, coming up from the belfort furniture weather center in a few minutes. back to you. >> thank you.

investigators have found female dna on one of the bombs used at the finish line of the boston marathon. theagents are looking into widow of tamerlan tsarnaev. they came out of the home with evidence bags. her attorney said she did not know about the bomb plot. the fbi compiled a list of more than a dozen persons of interest. >> the boston marathon bombings were the focus of a counter- terrorism forum in northwest d.c. today police chief cathy lanier was among experts taking part in the event at the washington hotel in northwest. they discussed domestic and international terrorism,, law- enforcement, and foreign relations. >> 9/11, there's been 50 prospects against the united states within the u.s., 42 of which could be described as onegrown or domestic plots

people from our own communities. so who is in the best position to detect those? that's local police. >> she insists d.c. is the most prepared city in the country. suspected of groping a woman on an american airlines flight from miami to reagan national airport earlier this month is expected in court today. according to court documents, he allegedly grabbed the victim's breast and touched other parts of her body as she slept. the softwareicted executive's travel and ordered him to undergo a mental evaluation. >> in a florida courtroom, second-degree murder suspect george zimmerman has waived his right to a pretrial immunity during. he could have tried to gain immunity under florida's stand your ground laws. he's accused in the death of florida teenager trayvon martin. sea-doo in court today for another pretrial hearing. the trial is set to begin on june 10.

>> testimony expected to begin today in a wrongful death lawsuit filed by michael jackson's mother. lawyers for katherine jackson and concert promoter aeg live painted different portraits of the king of pop during opening statements. she claimed the company failed to properly investigate dr. conrad murray. the defense lawyer says the blame in the death allies with jackson. >> the question is what it was michael jackson's life worth it? he died at 50 years of age. he was the son of a wonderful woman and father of three beautiful children. his life was worth quite a bit. he was the best known celebrity on the planet. >> a star-studded lineup of witnesses are expected to testify from sharon osborn to jackson's ex-wife lisa marie presley. in the professional sporting world and there was an announcement yesterday from jason collins. prexy became the first current male athletes to come out publicly as gay.

now he is speaking out about the decision. john gonzalez reports. >> when you keep telling yourself a lie, at some point you buy your own published a story. >> tired of living years of misery, the 34-year-old did jason collins is now the first major pro sports figure to announce that he is gay, shattering one of the final barriers in major-league sports. >> from my teammates i expect support, because that's what i would do for my teammates. >> the first told his aunt years ago. she was extremely supportive. she's a judge in san francisco. the basketball star's twin brother only found out a year ago. >> i really good at playing it straight. >> a d.c. resident has followed career ft. nba centers especially as a member of the wizard's this past season. >> he's just gotten a gatt over it, what is the other person

going to think in the locker room? so i admire him. >> even the president has expressed support. >> it only took one person to be courageous. >> mike wallace of the miami dolphins tweeted that he does not understand that, with all these beautiful women in the world. the post was later removed. >> i hope that every player makes a decision that leads to their own happiness. i am the happiest guy in the world. >> in the past he has dated women and was even engaged as a cover-up. on his jersey as a tribute to messrs. sheppard, the gay teenager who was killed in 1998. john gonzalez, abc 7 news. >> coming up on abc 7 news, a mysterious accident has investigators stumped. people are trying h to trying how it truck ended up in a tree.

>> a royal first for one european country. a historic move in the netherlands after the queen abdicated the throne. >> and the italian murder trial has sparked an international intrigue. amanda knox is now telling her side of the story after spending four years in prison and potentially getting ready to serve even more time. >> a live look outside. the only thing you can say about the weather is nothing else has been consistently, but there's a break in the rainfall coming soon.

>> welcome back. we have breaking news we want to get to. montgomery county police on the scene of a robbery. >> 5400 block of wisconsin

avenue in chevy chase. we go live to jennifer donelan for the latest on what's happening. >> we have multiple crime scenes right now in two jurisdictions. are in chevy chase at the cartier store. there is yellow tape around the base of the building. people are walking in front of it. there's a large presence of media also. 8 this morning multiple suspects entered the store and it was a smash and grab robbery. they smashed open one of the glass counters and stolen property and then took off. we don't know how much property or how much it was worth. we do know that there was a pursued by montgomery county police,. they pursued the vehicle into pc we're getting unconfirmed reports from various sources that the suspect vehicle rammed a d.c. police cruiser in southeast.

developing as we speak. we don't know if they have the suspects in custody. you will remember we have seen similar style robberies around. we had two at the mall in arlington within the last couple months. we had one in the city of frederick where the suspects entered and smashed open the container and then take thousands and thousands of dollars worth of jewelry and watches. is is developing and we will keep you posted. reporting live from chevy chase, jennifer donelan. >> thank you. after spending four years behind bars in italy, amanda knox wants the world to know her side of the story. >> is opening up about years in jail, her overturned murder conviction, and the potential reach out in the works. now this report. >> amanda knox told the world news anger diane sawyer and that she's not to you may think. >> the first thing you want people to know about you? >> i want the truth to come out. i would like to be considered as

a person. what happened to me was so real. it could have happened to anyone. >> she came to italy and as an american college students studying overseas along with an english roommate. six weeks later it she was dead and amanda knox was blamed. she faced salacious tabloid stories. it's its wanting to be called certain things in the media and another to be sitting in a courtroom fighting for your life while people are calling you a devil. for all intents and purposes, i was a murder a. she and her boyfriend -- her boyfriend were both convicted of murder. an appeals court overturned the decision. she thought the ordeal was over. now the supreme court of israel has sent the case back to a lower court for retrial. >> it was incredibly painful. i felt like after crawling through a field of barbwire and

finally reaching what i thought was the end, it just turned out it was the horizon and i had another field of barbed wire that i had ahead of me. >> her lawyer tells abc news the new trial in florence, italy will likely begin next year. her memoir was released today. she said she wrote the book and speaking out because she wants to tell her side of the story to the world. abc news, new york. >> caps the exclusive interview with amanda knox right here tonight at 10:00 on abc 7. >> jacqui jeras is here to talk about the been. raini. >> the sunshine will be back tomorrow, sooner than we expected. so this looks like good news if you are tired of great conditions. gray conditions.

this is a shot from the top of the belfort furniture weather center rooftop. 59 degrees. there's drizzle and light rain to the east of the district. we're seeing that in anne arundel county, calvert county, couple showers over the delmarva peninsula. we expect occasional light rain and drizzle to continue into the afternoon. and 57 at dulles airport, 55 in gaithersburg, 59 right now in winchester. in elkins, west virginia, 68 degrees. getting sunshine in west virginia. high-pressure to our north and low pressure to our south. that's working to bring in the marine influence of the elastic. that's why it was so cloudy today. this high will start nudging in by late tonight into tomorrow

and that will start the clearing. out, and conditions still by 8:00. still a couple spots of drizzle continuing. 8:00 tomorrow morning, half and half of the clearing. then all clearing out before the noon hour. looking for to finally getting sunshine around here. for the rest of today, cloudy conditions, still areas of light rain or drizzle, 62 to 67 degrees. cloudy skies tonight. i think the drizzle will be ending. 52 to 55. r seven-day forecast shows mostly sunny skies by the afternoon. a few clouds still lingering early. 68 degrees. that will allow us to warm up. in and out of the clouds on wednesday. -- on thursday. the average high this time of year is 71 degrees. we will finally slipped things around. today is the last day of april. did it feel warm or cooled this

month? >> cool. normalere 15 days above and 14 days zero normal. and we had and 90 degree day. >> the 7 day goes like this. that's the good news. >> the sun will come out tomorrow. all right. netherlands,the there is a king for the first time in 120 years. the 46 year-old willem-alexander ascended to the throne today after his mother queen beatrix abdicated. the 75 year-old was the queen for more than three decades. said it's time for new generation to take her place. >> coming up, a driver has been charged and the scene has been cleared, but investigators are still trying to figure out how a pickup truck wound-up 10 feet up in a tree. >> also, coming up later tonight --

>> coming up tonight at 5:00, are you properly protecting your pet during a car accident? does the restraint you are using really work? shocking information tonight about what can happen to your pet in a car crash even if you think you are already doing a good job. a report on what you can and

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captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> a mysterious accident in oregon has investigators stumped. no one can figure out how this pick-up truck got lodged 10th seeded a rare treat. someone spotted the trucks and a morning. authorities say it looks like it had been empty for some time. the driver was cited for hit- and-run and criminal mischief, but that does not solve the real question of how this truck got in the tree in the first place. the federal reserve has figured out something it has been working on for 10 years or. >> after more than a decade spent playing with you ideas, it revealed the design for the new $100 bill. anti-'s tougher counterfeit features including a

hologram. expect to see that in circulation starting in october. ahead, jacqui has a final look at the

>> we're moving past the rain eventually. >> i know. looking forward to that. the roads are still wet, so that is something to keep in mind for the evening commute. we will still have a little drizzle from time to time especially east of the district, a better chance of a light shower. clearing tomorrow morning. sunshine bright tomorrow afternoon. >> sunshine on the way.

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