weather every ten minutes. >> let's begin with meteorologist adam caskey. >> 78 was the temperature at my home weather station. it is still little humid, but that will be dropping through out the day. there will be humidity later this afternoon and tonight, but -- there will be a break from the humidity this afternoon and tonight. we're talking mid 90's today, 100 degrees by saturday. low to mid 70's in outlying areas. a lot of sunshine this afternoon keeping the storms out of the forecast. now to lisa baden with traffic. on the 14th street bridge there is a construction barrel rolling around on the right side. vdot is on the way to retrieve it. that is the only thing we have going that is abnormal. overnight construction will be out of your way. no accidents to reports. things are quiet on georgia avenue in silver springs. 95 traffic in springfield as well. alison and doug. >> thank you. in our top story, a homegrown terrorists. the man is expected in court today, a 20-erode fairfax man is accused of trying to go to uganda to join us somali terror network. zachary chessser. >> the man made headlines earlier this year after posting what some interpreted was a threat against the creators of the television show "south park," over an episode that he found objectionable. in alexandria and he will be in court today on unrelated charges. this video was from a demonstration in 2008. he's an oakton high school graduate from northern virginia, charged with providing materials to and al qaeda-linson malia terrorist group who claimed responsibility for the july 11 world, bombing the killed more than 75 people. he was arrested the day before the bombing, to board a flight to uganda with a plan of traveling on to somalia. he had his infant son with him when he tried to board the flight to appear less suspicious. according to the fbi, after this bombing, after his arrest, he has said that he is announcing that your group because of the bombing in uganda. nonetheless, he is facing charges and is expected in court later this morning for his first appearance. chris van cleve reporting. president obama could sign a bill restoring unemployment benefits to millions of americans. the house is expected to follow the senate in approving the bill today. white house says the president will sign the bill quickly. a former agriculture department employee is considering returning after the administration apologized for forcing her. -- her out. >> it makes me feel better that the apology is finally coming. >> the white house took action against shirley sherrod without knowing all the facts. a blogger posted a video clip of her saying that she did not do all she could to help white farmer 24 years ago. that farmer was actually a deeply appreciative. the employees said the speech was actually about racial reconciliation. the ntsb is investigating the tuesday incident in which 30 people were injured. the plane was headed to los angeles when it made an emergency landing in denver. they will study the information from the flight data recorder. a senate subcommittee has approved $150 million in federal funding for metro, but there are strings attached. maryland senator barbara mikulski include language to ensure that the money is spent on safety first. the bill requires metro to report to congress detailing safety. ben bernanke goes back to the hill today to talk about the state economy. yesterday said the nation's economic outlook remains unusually uncertain. he downplayed the odds of the economy sliding back to a double-dip recession. wall street did not like what he said. the major indexes finished the day in the red. the markets will keep an eye on what the fed chairman says today. new details about the man suspected in two mother-daughter murders in august. does break came when federal agents raided his calls last july in connection with a gun store robbery. they found evidence that eventually made him a suspect in the murders of karen lofton and her daughter. as well as delores dewitt and her daughter. the 27-year old and lived in the victim's neighborhood and is a serial killer with a long criminal background. the man charged with murdering rockville artist azin naimi is being held without bond. several nvidia of seidler studio b is what led to his arrest. her body was found monday on farragut's street in northwest. the suspect is a 34-year-old raymond williams. he but in her studio as a handyman. he has confessed to killing her. the motive is not clear. day 94 of the oil disaster in the gulf. a storm is taking aim and threatens the whole containment and cleanup efforts. bp has stopped work on relief wells days before they would have connected with the blown- out oilwell. the storm could force ships to leave the spill zone. monitoring would stop. the government is considering opening the cap instead of risking something unexpected. stephen strasburg keeps shutting them down, highlights from cincinnati a little later. no surprises in the latest state of the commute's report, how the metro region rates when it comes to the daily grind. brief relief from the humidity, but the temperatures are not dropping any time soon. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- happy thursday, 5:10. the northwesterly winds has kicked in behind a cold front. that will usher in some slightly less humid air throughout the day. you'll notice it the most this afternoon. it is 75 in potomac, 79 in silver spring. arlington is the hot spot at 81 degrees. 69 in frostburg. 295 this afternoon. it will be a hot day, but slightly less humid. 100 by saturday. record-breaking heat. more on this coming up. looks good on metrorail, normal service systemwide. no problems from park police along the george washington parkway, baltezore washington parkway, or the suitland parkway. looks good through rock creek park. no issues as far as district traffic. 295 looks good. kenilworth avenue, new york avenue looking fine. let's take you to virginia, 395 at the 14th street bridge, no problems. alison and doug. >> thank you. you know how long commutes can be around here. our region's commuter connection program has its latest data. the average commute is 16 miles and it takes 30-35 minutes. 25 percent of those surveyed said their commute is worse than a year ago. 62% say it is about the same. telecommuting and transit use are on the rise while driving alone is declining. how long does it take you to get to work? >> about 10 minutes at this hour. it would take a lot longer at a normal time of day. that is one advantage of this schedule. >> nobody on the road except us and the police. >> 77 degrees right now. >> still to come on this thursday, the founder of facebook on the social network's 500 millionth friend. >> in our top stories, a virginia man accused of providing material support to a group linked with al qaeda will appear in court today. zachary chesser, age 20, was arrested as he and his young son tried to board a flight from new york to uganda. he was headed to africa to become a fighter with al-shabab in somalia. agriculture secretary tom vilsack and the white house have apologized to a former usda employees forced to resign after what appeared to be a racially tint comments. shirley sherrod will accept the apology. secretary clinton is warning myanmar about cooperating with north korea and she wants them to hold free and fair elections this year. she made the comment at a security meeting in vietnam. a price at a local party has parents upset. someone spread peanut butter on part equipment. that's a neighborhood in ashburn. some say the stunt could have put children's lives in danger. >> their daughter suffers from severe peanut allergies, for which is why he does not find what someone did on this playground amusing. >> it gets worse as you add more incidents, they say. >> the loudoun county sheriff's department is investigating why someone smith and entire playground with peanut butter. >> i would not like that to happen. >> some people breathing or touching peanut butter, it causes a dangerous reaction. >> he could stop breathing. a lot could happen. >> all the equipment was covered with peanut butter. according to neighbors. >> we find it appalling, a lot of children have allergies. >> she had a similar incident at school where the kids thought it was funny and did not realize what they were doing. , others believe there was malicious intent. >> clearly someone knew what they were doing. qwest john gonsalez reporting. >> time for traffic and weather. >> what is the latest on the commute on this thursday morning? >> on the hon. the beltway, leaving andrews air force base headed to fedex field, the ramp from the aaland route to route for pennsylvania avenue is still blocked because of the construction barrel. if it should be to the side in the next 15 minutes. normal travel times on 270, 66, the green light, and the toll road. let's take it to the geico camera. this is the green light to the toll road. now to adam caskey. still dark outside, mainly clear skies. a little light on the horizon. sunrise at 6:00 over the district. temperatures in the '70s to near 80. warrenton is 78, 80 at alexandria, 72 in waldorf, 74 in frederick. dew points are down especially farther north of town. the drier and slightly less humid air is coming in from the north and affecting locations farther north first. the dew point is 62 in frederick. that feels pretty good right now. the rest of us, the humidity will gradually keep dropping through the day as well. let's talk about yesterday, 93 with a high temperature. we had traced of precipitation at reagan national. 89 is the average high temperature. the record for today is 103 at reagan national. the record is 101 tomorrow. on saturday the record high temperature is 96. that is easy to break on saturday afternoon. 95 is today's high temperature. you will not notice much of the difference in the slightly less humid air because the temperature rises. partly cloudy tomorrow, hot and humid. a few late-day storms possible. mid to upper 90s on friday. 98 degrees for the high temperature. 20% chance of rain. the real hot weather is saturday. it will feel like 105-110th when you factor in the humidity. uncomfortable. likely record-breaking. in today's "tech bytes," facebook hits the 500 million marks. vinita nair has that. >> the social networking giant has signed up its 500 millionth user. the website has doubled in size. meny growing pains especially when it comes to privacy. its founder mark tucker bird sat down with world news anger diane sawyer and said he had no plans to change the default privacy settings. >> the right thing is to make it so that certain information by default is always private. like your phone number and other contact information, where you live, that stuff should be private. only people that you have as your friends that you trust should be able to see that. if things like photographs, those are what people tend to share with the community around them. >> he will not make but company public until it makes sense. there's an apple skype application that lets you receive phone calls when other applications are running. you can do things like check will be times or find directions while talking on the phone. we have our new iphone application at abc news. find the latest news, videos, and photographs using the interactive television globe. you can't shake or touch the screen to find a store that interests you most. the globe features content available on abcnews.com including stores from all of our programs, as well as archival footage. you can use facebook or twitter as well and download the application for free on itunes. for more on that interview with the facebook founder, logon to the technology page of abcnews.com for download the new application. i am vinita nair. 5:21 on this thursday morning, 78 degrees. a showdown in cincinnati, but nationals against the best of the national league. and stephen strasburg against the reds. today on "the oprah show", the scandal, what wife of gov. sanford has to say about his affair, today at 4:00. welcome back. tiger woods'image has been tarnished. he's not winning either. he's lost $22 million in endorsement deals. according to sports illustrated, he is still america's highest earning athlete, earning $91 million every year. >> finishing second at 60 million was his rival phil mickelson. in strasbourg is not on that list, but the nationals go on. now to tim brant. >> the nationals got lucky. stephen strasburg delivered against the reds. he packed the house. he threw in the sixth inning, struck out seven, lost one. he did not disappoint all the fans that came to see him. losmguzman help dallas in the fifth. that ball is gone. 3-1 washington, the call on to win -- they went on to win. evan longoria is the better for tampa bay in florida. he said the ball 410 feet. the rays beat the birds 5-4. that's a look at your morning sports. have a great day. 77 degrees. some new rules to protect airline passengers. are they causing more harm than good? the latest debate over tarmac delays. authorities believe he could be one of the most notorious killers. in palma park, detectives got a break in the case of the murders of two mothers and daughters. record breaking heat not yet today, but it is coming [ female announcer ] welcome to busch gardens williamsburg, where d.c. goes to get away. maybe it's because washington d.c. loves the legendary coasters. or that your entire family will have fun, even the little ones. it could be that water country usa has more of the waves, slides and rides everyone wants. so plan your getaway and come play. you never know who you'll run into. get started at buschgardens.com/dc. live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. straight ahead, a homegrown terrorists arrest, a suspect no stranger to national headlines. good morning, washington. welcome back on this thursday morning, july 22. i am alison starling. >> i am doug mcelway. much more on that in a moment. we begin with traffic and weather every ten minutes. get ready for hot day. >> a lot of sunshine. one little shower fizzled out an hour ago. i anticipate a dry day with a lot of sunshine. it's getting hot. >> getting caughhot? >> near 80 degrees in the metro area currently. in the '70s in outlying areas. 77 in leesburg and marshall, 17 culpeper. gaithersburg at 73. we are on the way to p5 today, little longer than yesterday, slightly less humid. 98 tomorrow. the record for today and tomorrow is over 100. i don't think we will tie those records. for the record high for saturday is 96 at reagan national. we could reach 100 degrees with a heat index of 110 by saturday afternoon with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms friday afternoon through sunday afternoon. we will cool off early next week. to the humidity will come back in full force if just-in-time for the weekend. on 66 the traffic is moving. 95 and 270 moving as well. no problems on 95 around the beltway. there is lingering "work at exit pennsylvania avenue that should be gone by the time you get there. metrorail is on all service systemwide. let's show you the volume, on the right is southbound leaving springfield toward richmond. the headlights are northbound out of newington to the pentagon. alison and doug. >> thank you. the terrorist with local ties. federal agents busted a fairfax county man early this month as he tried to board a flight to uganda. he wanted to look up with an al qaeda-linked terror network. >> good morning. he is set to make his first court appearance later today. we are talk about zachary chesser, age 20, who faces charges related to terrorism. this is him and rally in 2008. the northern virginia native, oakton high school graduate and u.s. citizen is charged with providing some. -- providing material support to alcott a group that -- and al qaeda-linked group that is responsible for the world cup bombing that killed 75 people. he was on the way to somalia to join al-shabab. >> this gives you more reason to be aware of who is doing what in your neighborhood. >> the affidavit alleges that the suspect said he would be willing to fight on the frontlines and is not afraid of death. he's also known for posting jihadist propaganda, having ties to radical cleric, and for issuing a warning earlier this year to the creators of a cartoon. we should add, according to the fbi, that after the bombing in uganda, he told the fbi that he was renouncing the groups because of that bombing. nonetheless, he's still facing charges and will make his first court appearance later this morning. abc 7 news reporting. and alaska coupled with ties to our area has pleaded guilty in a domestic terrorism case. the rockwoods lied about the existence of a hit list with 15 targets. paul convert to islam in 2001 when the couple lived in virginia. o'clock 33. president obama could sign the bill restoring unemployment benefits to millions of americans. the house is expected to follow the senate in approving the measure today. the president will quickly sign that bill. republicans are already talking about repealing the sweeping financial reform bill. republicans say that the bill president obama's eide yesterday will make it tougher for people and businesses to get credit. the president says it will help consumers and it will rain in wall street. the ntsb is investigating tuesday's incident in which a united jet from dulles took a harrowing drop in severe turbulence and left 30 people injured. it was headed to los angeles but was diverted in denver. this is the third time since there are worried that passengers have been hurt on a united flight this year. a prince george's county man is sitting in custody in connection with a pair of mother-daughter murders. we are learning about the break in the case. courtney robinson has more. >> the break in the case, the turning point in this came when atf agents raided if this man's house, suspecting him of stealing guns. that is when they found other evidence that linked him to at least five murders in our area. in late january of 2009 the officers discovered karen and karissa lofton murdered in their larval house. a month later, to 2009, the bodies of another mother and daughter, delores and ebony dewitt, were found in the trunk of a stolen car. it was parked in the driveway of an empty house. the murder left little evidence, making the case difficult to solve. officers say now they have the man behind bars on federal gun and sex charges. >> one of the most infamous killers in the history of united states. >> the prince george's county police chief said he's got a person of interest, a 27-year- old lago man as a serial killer. they believe is responsible for ordering 47-year-old velma butler in 2008 and setting the house on fire. the man traveled extensively and there could be more victims in other areas in other states. >> you can't be at rest in your mind until you feel it's been resolved. >> sources tell us that this man planned each murder, and he even read up on how to do it. the most compelling evidence comes in the murders of delores and ebony dewitt. that evidence will be presented to the grand jury in hopes of an indictment. courtney robinson reporting. >> thank you. fairfax county police are searching for a doctor accused of inappropriate touching a female patient. 58--year-old charged with sexual battery. the incident happened in his office last thursday. police arresting anyone else who may have been a potential victim to contact them. police in oakland, calif. have released a video of two people suspected of killing a fairfax county man. a man and woman are shown a block away from where 35-arrowed jin hong kang was murdered. he was in california for a job interview with google. he was shot and killed sunday night during an apparent robbery. day 94 of the oil disaster in the gulf of mexico, the storm could derail efforts to contain the cleanup. the threat has forced bp to stop drilling relief wells. in meantime, a federal judge has barred companies from developing oil and gas wells in northwestern alaska. they said the government failed to follow the law for selling drilling rights. and there's questioning of leases being canceled. still ahead, an embarrassing apology followed by a new job offer. if the latest fallout after the forced resignation of a department of agriculture employee. >> and the latest challenge to new tarmac delay law. signal. airborne. beautiful. and strong. there to ensure the most powerful transmitter is you. rule the air. >> i'm a lifeguard at ocean city, md.. keep your feet in the sand until i am in the stand. good morning, washington. meteorologist adam caskey in the belfort furniture weather center. the humidity is down a little. we have a slight changes in the humidity isespecially around midday. there's a lot of sunshine right now. sunrise in 20 minutes. clear skies to start the morning. if it is 68 degrees incumbent, dew point at 66. berkeley springs, 67. strasbourg, va, 71 degrees. -- strasgburg. becoming less humid this midday and afternoon. 95 is the high temperature. if it becomes harder tomorrow. upper 90's, but it will feel like 105 by the afternoon tomorrow. has the traffic? things will break all the way around the beltway. nothing i-95 between richmond and baltimore. 66, or of your neighbors hitting the road. typical stuff in manassas at 50 fair oaks. no issues on 270. in the district, 295 is quiet. nothing on south capitol street, and parkway is good as well as stallworth ave. moving well on 270. alison and doug. >> thank you. a new study finds the at the rule that puts a three-hour limit on tarmac delays is harming travelers more than helping them. the u.s. transportation department disputes the findings. two airline consultants say that it hurts travelers because it leads airlines to cancel more flights in an effort to avoid fines. 5:42 on this thursday morning. 78 degrees. coming up, more family, for the palin family, the daughter on the alice with the mother. an apology and a new job on the alice with the mother. an apology and a new job offer for the this doesn't have to be our future. not if the senate acts now on legislation to promote energy efficiency, biofuels, and renewable energy sources. let's make america more energy independent, protect our environment, and create millions of new jobs right here at home - instead of losing those jobs to other countries. if you want to change america's energy future, call your senators and tell them to support clean energy legislation now. welcome back at 5:45 on this thursday. a virginia man accused of providing material support to a group linked with al qaeda if will appear in court today. zachary chesser, age 20, was arrested as he and his young son tried to board a flight from new york to uganda. he was upset with the creators of "south park "cartoon. the big break came when federal agents raided his house last july in connection with a gun store robbery in another case. the murders of delores and ebony dewitt and the murders of karen and karissa lofton. rod blagojevich have long insisted on taking the stand in his corruption trial. he said prosecutors had not proven their case and may have proven i his innocence. closing arguments coming up on monday. and agriculture department employee fired for comments posted online get the white house apology and a new job offer. emily schmitz has the latest from northwest. >> shirley sherrod went from of forced ustr resignation to reinforce public apology. >> she deserves an apology. >> a media firestorm caused this. a conservative blog and then a cable television show ran the report in which she spoke about a farmer in need of for help. >> i did not give a white farmer the full force of what i could do. >> based on that clip, tom vilsack asked for her design. it turns out that her speech continue with how she helped the farmer and still help to support -- has his support today 20 years later. >> this should not have happened. it was wrong. but it makes me feel better that the apology is finally coming. >> she has a new job offer from the usda, but she has to talk about it with her family before deciding whether to take it. former attorney general alberto gonzales will not face charges in connection with the firings of nine u.s. attorneys general during the bush administration. while he made inaccurate and misleading statements, it was insufficient evidence to press charges. his lawyer says he's refuting suggestions that prosecutors were improperly removed. time for traffic and weather every ten minutes. >> 77 degrees outside. it will continue to be hot and humid. we got a tiny break in the mid to, right? >> yes, the humidity is dropping a little, especially by this afternoon. it will surge back tomorrow. if the temperatures are climbing. starting today, that is. we will have a record breaker. >> more of the same. >> will be noticed the brakes > -- will be noticwe notice the ? >> not really. there's a sunrise in frederick, 72 degrees at the airport in frederick. expect sunshine today. a few patches clouds especially by the afternoon. 74 degrees and warrenton already, 80 in alexandria, 73 in friedrichk. 74 degrees at ushughesville. the humidity will take a break of 18 hours today. let's look at the record for today, 103. if tomorrow the record is 101 at reagan national. i don't think we will break these records. we will come close to them. saturday is pretty easy to break this summer so far. 96 is the record high at reagan national for saturday. there's a very good chance of breaking that by several degrees, probably by four degrees. the humidity will increase as well. the clouds scholars allison yesterday afternoon and last night. the club's pushed down to the south. the northwesterly wind is pumping in the slightly less humid air briefly today. 95 is the high temperature. humidity will be lower, but temperatures will go up, so you will not feel much of a change this afternoon. tomorrow the humidity returns. it will be hot and humid, partly cloudy by the afternoon. high temperatures in the upper 90s. it will feel like 100-105 when you factor in the humidity. isolated thunderstorms possible tomorrow afternoon and saturday. 100 degrees saturday, likely breaking a record. cooling off somewhat by monday. low humidity on monday, sonny. there's a stalled car on the outer loop in maryland between the holy cross hospital and georgia avenue. it is blocking the right lane. let's take you to some pictures, 395 traffic looks great leaving the beltway on the way to the pentagon. through falls church and rosslyn, a nice ride. 110, washington boulevard, looks nice. now a picture of 270, between 109 and a land divided for the beltway. alison and doug. >> thank you. milla kitson is in trouble after the violent rants that for caught on tape, now his ex- girlfriend is under investigation as well. l.a. sheriff's detectives are looking into claims that she is trying to extort money from the actor. a spokesperson for her says that his client is cleared of any wrongdoing and there's no word on whether either of the formidable will face charges. when i listened to the phone calls, my gut reaction is most people would hang up the phone unless she wanted to preserve it. >> there's a big difference in the recordings of the two of them. she is very clear and he is muffled. interesting. >> it will come out one way or the other, probably in a courtroom. >> everybody is. talking is. even the governor of california is talking about. >> the good news is bp has contained the oil leak. that is good news, finally. the bad news is that no one has figured out how to contain no gibson -- mel gibson. please turn off your cell phones, because we are expecting a call from him. bristol palin says that her mother does not support her getting engaged to levi johnston, a better mother does not approve. >> krystle says her parents are afraid she will get hurt again. --bristol says. are they still talking about getting married within a week? >> apparently. we are going to take a break. 77 degrees. break. 77 degrees. where d.c. goes to get away. maybe it's because washington d.c. loves the legendary coasters. or that your entire family will have fun, even the little ones. it could be that water country usa has more of the waves, slides and rides everyone wants. so plan your getaway and come play. you never know who you'll run into. get started at buschgardens.com/dc. facebook has hit a major milestone. >> more than 500 million people are now using the social networking site to keep in for a touc -- to keep in touch with friends and family. the constant updates about where you are, how long you have been there have led to home break- ins. some users say it can be too much. >> when you usually have an average of 300 or 400 friends, you generally talk to about five of them. >> it is too much. >> it is not as a celebranecessy celebrate a milestone. someone is claiming part ownership in the company. it is also the subject of a movie that will hit the big screen this fall called "to the social network." there's a lot more still to come in the second hour. >> local traffic patterns have changed over the past years, we will check on the latest state of the commuter report. >> i am in alexandria with the latest on home ground terror suspect and his first day in court. that story is 90 guys remember, we're a solar system. mars is down...and... um, it's only 10am. who hasn't had their jimmy dean breakfast this morning? mmmm! now lets orbit i feel awesome. you're all awesome. jimmy dean breakfast sandwiches, fight the morning fade. moments away on "good morning washington" -- a dangerous terror plot that spans from fairfax county to africa, the latest on the local man at the center of the investigation. another complication for the gulf coast, the oil leak is capped, but a new storm is ta a