>> they seemed to have cancelled the flash mob for today. i can't understand why and you know, and i'm seeing a lot of people that look debrag -- bedragelled and that is one of the things i love, is that hey also look like they have energy. there is also always something fun to see. the bank trust thermometer showing us 106 degrees. that is warm and i all bring my group truth. my thermometer is picking up a degree of 99. i wanted to also talk about why the heat is terriblyup comfortable and that is the high humidity and to show you what we're talking about and that is the true measure of humidity. if we tell you it's 60 to 64, that is not great and not too bad. when the dupont climbs from 65 to 69, it gets more noticeable. by 70 to 74, let's describe it asp comfortable and when that dupoint is above 75, it's a pressive and we're there. despite that fact, the people are still out here and i wanted to show you that we have a group that came up from charlotte, north carolina. check this out. they're all here playing, and i wanted to find out from you guys why did you decide to come to d.c. on the hottest week? >> we're having a good time in d.c. and decided to in back. >> you have been gathering a crowd, too. i wanted to show all the hot instruments that the guys are playing with the tubeas. wait a minute, where did my tuba guy go -- tuba guy go? you think you're hot, try carrying this tuba around at then degrees. he's had that on his back. are you hanging in there? yeah, i'm hanging in there and. >> reporter: how ole are you? >> you're 6 years old and how long have you been playing that? [ indiscernible ] >> a will something to take our minds off of this hot summer in d.c. >> we were going to try to keep it going but clearly we're having problems there, technical problems and we'lltri to get back to sue in -- we'll try to get back to sue in a bit. at least they're having fun out there. can you imagine liveing without -- air condition something today and the next few days are almost unbearable. d.c. has cooling centers and they're set up to get people out of the heat if you need it. for a list, to go to www.myfoxdc.com and look under local news. shape. if you have -- shawn? >> if you have to be out in the heat, stay hydrated. the last two days, the cows in the emergency district shot up 25%. all available ambulances were strengthing patients with heat- related illnesses and that is not one of the best days to be out touring. are tourists still braving the heat? >> reporter: they are, actually. we found a thank you braving -- 5 we found a few braving the heat. there are 100 cooling centers opened in the distribute and that is at rec centers, libraries, senior centers and pools are having extra hours today. the cities pools have extra hours. on the mall, the only place to find refuge wassard where that water is. and that world war i, i'm sorry, world war ii memorial and at the franklin roosevelt memorial. we did fund a few people heading over there because of the waterfalls and whatnot -- whatnot. if you didn't want to stay outside, the only pace to go was into the museum. >> it's one of the most beautiful memorials in all of washington and possibly the coolest, so we thought. >> reporter: sylvia garcia and her family purposely decided to tour the frank lip roosevelt memorial because they knew there would be water j. how are you dealing with the heat other than sitting next to this nice waterfall in. >> we're using that and throwing water and don't know more to do. yeah. >> reporter: norma carter and her family are visiting from houston, texas, where the humidity is legendary, but this? >> it was a pleasant surprise to find it in this heat. >> did you sit by any of them at all for a few want ins -- minutes to take refuge? yes, yes, we do did. and every sprinkler system we saw on the way, we ran for it. [ laughter ] >> reporter: a pleasant breeze for a good part of the day kept things somewhat cool. when the cods parted, the sun began beating down, it was time to find shade and some water. pete said the calls for emergency services have shot up. >> we have seen a 25% increase in the call volume, a little over 500 calls and that is about $400 which are ems- related. >> reporter: he said that paramedics are seeing all sorts of symptoms on their calls throughout the city. >> we have had the calls from simple dehydration and heat cramps, heat exhaustion and then, of course, the worse is heatstroke. and a cuteless number of pre- existing conditions that are aggravated by this hot weather. >> reporter: no matter how hot it gets, you're still likely to see people like this who don't seem to be bothered by the heat at all. and he said d.c. fire and ems has been challenged by the heat and that even in the ambulances, they're able to cool them 15 degrees cooler than the absolute, outside air company -- temperature, and they're having problems with ambulances breaking down, fire trucks breaking down and trying to keep the air conditioners going. because of that, they have mechanics working around the clock to keep that apparatus on the street. shawn? >> this is affecting everyone out there. paul wagner, get inside and get cool. thank you. despite the heat, there were 1,000 people outside to commemorate a critical moment in american history. 150 years ago today, union and confederate soldiers faced each other in momasses -- monasses. karen gray houston is covering a special re-p actment that is underway outside of the old courthouse. >> ready, aim, fire. >> reporter: there was gun fire as marine volunteers from quantico dressed in union form forms -- union uniforms. they had to stop and reload, so back then, they made themselves targets and they were not always dressed exactly a like, cause manage ir-- more confusion. >> the rules haven't been set yet that all union troops were going to ware blue and copfed rapt rat troops wearing gray. >> reporter: they paragraphed the heat to get history lessons under the watchful eye of prince county firefighters and medics. this young man brought his umbrella. what do you know about the civil war? it was brutal. a lot of people died. >> reporter: during formal simonies, even virginia's governor had to admit it was warm. >> you look great and hot out there. >> reporter: among the evens, walk throughs of the battle field, e including the tent -- including the tent campgrounds showing how soldiers lived and slept. >> and that was shaped with the country, really. >> reporter: over on the other side of up to, outside of the ole monasses courthouse, bands commemorated the 1911 jubilee of peace with civil war soldiers. and this is the first time the former enemies met on the balfield to shake hands and they called it a peace jibe lee. >> reporter: back -- jubilee. >> reporter: back out here live, it was unbearably hot. i feel sorry for the folks who came out wearing the period costumes. and some people in the crowd are bake -- breaking away for the street now. you can see a few umbrellas in the crowd. people brought their fans. i am told by a park ranger that it's probably veryak prone@that we're having this 90 degrees plus hot and weather right now because back during the civil war, during that battle of monasses, he said it was probably about 90 degrees. >> and it takes you back and in the moment at that time. have you had any health problems today as far as the crowds? have you heard any problems? we contacted the monasses fire department and got a call back from the health department. they said they hospital had any health-related transports. they had one transport to a hospital and that one was unrelated and we're waiting to hear back from prince williams count joe. and that is amazing what people can bear in that heat. thank you and that is a fascinating look at history, though. our facebook page is on fire with your comments and asked with what some of you are doing. lori writes she's hit hiding in the ac and praying for the heat and that health of the power grid. sharon said staying at work and using the federal government ac. and artura loiaza has a suggestion for anyone working in the heat. put a towel around your neck, it collects your sweat. -like www.myfoxdc.com on facebook and join in the conversation. our coverage of the extreme heat is far from over tonight. coming up next, don't miss my one-on-one interview with dr. oz. his tips are just ahead. and the space shuttle atlantis picture-perfect landing closes the book on nasa shuttle fleet. as we say goodbye, there is word of a new discovery in space. >> keep it here. fox 5 news at 5 is coming back. >> america's favorite doctor, doctor oz is moving to fox 5 this fall and is checking in with us tonight to give us a preview of the big show and advice how to keep with the dangerous heat. welcome to the d.c. region, dr. oz. >> and thank you very much, shawn. >> you know, part of the nation right now is -- and hovering 100 with staying hydrated, what are history sway -- some of the ways to protect organizations? a lot of folks think it's about drinking water. that is not the case. you need the electrorights and chemistry, you're losing sweat. eat moist foods, papaias, water hi -- papaias, watermelons, milk and juice products are great. don't drink teas and coffee. they trick your body into urinating out fluid need. you don't want the chicago in your system. that will raise your body temperature. >> what about sports drinks? >> a lot of them have caffeine, or caffeine-like stuff in them. you don't want to trick your body. trying to keep up with the temperature. what happened is the natural enzymes, or processes that keep our cells alive, this magical thing called life stop working and they become inefficient. folks with who will have a hot stroke stop sweating. that is why they get the headaches and the muscle cramps and irritable heartrates and why they can't breathe. when you notice them, you not only want to hydrate but there are a few tops to offer you and i love doing these. this is stuff you can do at home and better than anyone. the first off, mitt young. keep the misters look for the plant to mist your own body. >> exactly. >> that will cool you down as the fluid, van rates off of your skin. effective for -- evaporates off of your skin and the other one that works well is ice. especially in parts of your body that accumulate heat, like your armpit, groin areas and back and belly, they will cool you down if you put ice on them. >> we promise not to laugh if we see big water stains on people. around d.c. a lot, we sigh people running in the national and is it safe for people exer -- to exercise now? >> i will give you an idea. the u.s. army actually looks at temperature, how soldiers can -- young healthy men and women. if it's 116 heat index as it is in washington, d.c., today, and tomorrow, we expect the same. then they only allow you to go outside and exercise for 10 minutes. you're not getting much of a workout. you will sweat a lot and not happy doing it. if you're not moving around, you could stay outside for a half hour. you have to take 10 minutes off to cool down. today is a good day to stay indoors and exercise. yoga and pilates. >> good advice. last but not least, what can we expect from the dr. oz show this fall? >> oh, i'm see excited. i am coming to visit you with you day and talking about things i know will change your life and we spent a lot of time the first few years talking about the things to do to stay healthy and that is about mot vacation. we'll be in washington, d.c., and all of the great cities of this country doing calls and looking for people who want to change their lives for the better and people wanting to lose weight. check dr.oz.com. we want to transform the nation by coming to you and talking to you where you live. we want to get on your -- and to help you get over the hump to motivate you in the right direction. >> all right, we're looking forward to seeing you every day right here on fox 5. stay cool. [ laughter ] >> you do the same. >> thank you. >> and. >> we have a track alert to pass along tonight in wheat error erroron. the southbound -- wheaton. the water main break closed a street yesterday and the break is fixed; how far, crews are working to repave that road. wssc is hoping to have lanes reopened tonight by midnight. a bittersweet end to the final flight of the nasa space shuttle program. the shuttle managers gathered near the runway with the astronauts, family, and friends to welcome the crew back home. adin -- at mission control, massive staffers past and present, gathered in to celebrate the 135th shuttle mission. the shuttle commander christopher ferguson's last words were a fitting end to the mission. >> the united states chapped the way we see the world and the way we view our universe. a lot of emotion but one thing isp disputable, america's not going to stop exploring. thank you, columbia, challenger, discovery, endeavour. thank you for protecting us and bringing this program to a fitting end. >> today's landing is 50 years to the day that gus grissom was the second american in outer space. well, it may not be a planet anymore but a big deal for nasa. this is video of the hubble space telescope and spotted pluto's fourth moon. the telescope found the moon from 3 billion miles away. nasa has an unmanned spacecraft that is scheduled to arrive in 2015. to learn more about the outer edges of the solar system. coming up next here on fox 5 news at 5, the newest fallout in the uk phone-shacking -- hacking scannedital -- scandal. college you saw earlier, monasses commemorating the 150th anniversary of the first battle of monasses with a four- day event. it includes all kinds of events for the family, including re- enactments. john warlick is the re- actment director for historic, monasses. thank you very much for being with us today. how are they handling the heat out there? first of all, i have to ask you about that. >> and. >> we handle them as best we can like wo50 years ago. we will get through it and have to be careful and keep a lot of water in us and go slower-paced and some of us are used to carrying on. >> and with all of the costumes, it has to be difficult to do this and that does take you back to the day. in your words, light talk about why this is important to remember this day. why is today so important? >> well, you know, this is the beginning of a four-year long conflict, and an attitude of a nation that developed today and i am a firm believer that if you don't understand your history and know where you came from, you don't know who you are today and we got to understand our path. i am the person i am because of what i have gone through. if you know what i have gone through, you can understand me better. >> based on what you're saying, what can we take from that historic battle and how does that tape to us today? >> like part of the battle, a lot of congressmen and all came out to watch because it was a big picnic. folks thought it was going to be a one-day shot and be over with. kind of like the politicians we have that don't understand the scope of things. well, you know, we learn from that and some should learn from that and they went out to watch the bal like the picnic and get caught up in the treat and that is an example of a nation's attitude towards things that should have been more serious. any time you pull a trigger and kill someone, that should be for a good reason. >> and that is fascinating. >> what draws people to be re- enactors? a lot of them are born teachers that like to teach their passion and some have find out who they are and to have this fooling of commitment to honor the awest iser and tell people what they went through, and that is why i thought it was a significant thing because the peace jibely, i think -- jubilee, had a lot to do with the re-p actment and these guys showed up here. it was a healing situation back then. you have to realize these brothers shot brothers, neighborhood fought neighborhood and people tried to understand why that happened and it ended like a lot of veterans coming home from the war now. they brig things with them and they need help. we need to understand what they're going through. they have gone out and done some things that they don't want to do. >> a very important piece of history. we appreciate you teaching us more about that and thank you for being here tonight. the latest developments in the news of the world phone hacking scandal. scotland yard assigned 45 officers. earlier this week, london's top two officers resigned amidaccusations that they paid officers for temperaturation. the british prime minister -- for information. the british prime minister hopes they will give the media, police an inqueery to develop a new relationship. >> i think we have a once in a generation opportunity to really clean up the murky practices, the dodgy relationships which have taken route and to half of the british establishment. >> news from the world had a fallout. they had a contract to be the exclusive media partnership for british athletes leading to the 2012 summer games and that deal is now off. news international is owned by news corp, the parent company of fox 5. chances are you have seen the offers, everything frommarily miles to cash back. >> that's right, how hard is it to redeem the bank card rewards? don't mess tonight's couple alert. and what is metro doing to keep your rides on the rails as comfortable as possible? we'll take you inside the hot car when is we return. first, a quick check with gary. and it's still hot the last time i checked and still hollywood. you know what? it's going to stick around and unfortunately for awhile and we'll talk about when we get a break from the extreme heat. stay with us, though, fox 5 news at five will continue. >> the latest now on that extreme heat enveloping our area. temperatures have hovered around $100 degrees with the heat index reaching as high as 115 in some places. so far, no word on any heat- related deaths, though. the district, maryland, and virginia have cooling centers to help people cope with the heat and we have a complete list of the cooling centers on www.myfoxdc.com and that heat is having an effect to on marc train service. and meantime, the heat is a big concern for metro as well with temperatures near triple digits. rail cars are having problems staying cool. the extrim temperatures are threatenning to buckle the rails. sherri ly is here to explain what metro is doing to prevent the problems. >> reporter: metro has beefed up the staff and last week, a heat-related kink in the rail caused a the rush hour to slow down and today, they are looking for similar track issues and to respond to unair conditioned rail cars, so- called hot cars. there are problem areas out. there a small percentage and a handful of them that wean are chronic losers. >> and in addition to talking about hot cars, there was an accident at the alexandrea really yard this morning. what happened? >> reporter: around 8:15, there was a worker in a rail car and maintenance shot and he was taken to the hospital, his arm injured from the shock. metro said the incident is under investigation. >> we have ordered them to replace and it will take two years to get delivered. although the ntsb is saying we're taking acceptable action and you're making good progress, it's not closed until that last car is delivered. >> metro has been plagued by a number of safety issues. are they making any progress? you heard the general manager talking about some of the things being done as far as safety issues are concerned. he has been on the job now for six months and has improved the safety culture that did not exist prior to the deadly train crash two year ago. the agency has 27 open ntsb recommendations and since the crash and prior to it, eight of them are considered unacceptable by metro, such as repraising -- replacing the 1,000 series rail cars. they're subject to catastrophic failure, shawn? >> all right, thank you so much for the update tonight. >> from everyday essentials at the grocery store, to our annual holiday shopping spree. >> 500, almost 5 a nothing. >> reporter: people are paying with plastic. and with each swipe, most modern charges earn perks, points, or miles at all registers. >> how can they justify? >> reporter: she answers credit questions on the radio and online at credit.com. she said that banks are dishing them out. >> they're really pulling out all of the stops to get credit- worthy customers to use their cards again and use them as much as possible. >> reporter: we earn $48 billion a year in points and miles. the only problem is a third of our rewards go unused and that is 16 billion rewards down the drain. time favors fine wine, including bolts at the stackhouse. >> that is -- . >> 21 years old and -- >> just starting, barely ready to dripping. >> and at 21 years? uh-huh. >> the points don't age gracefully but lose value over time. this marketing firm estimates the typical family has $200 in stale, unused rewards, depreciated or worse, at risk of expiring. you have to just use them. and cash in the rewards. >> reporter: the airline household earns perks in 18 different programs. they might be easier to track if you consolidate and focus on a few programs. >> it's worth checking out what you have and taking advantage. >> reporter: orphan point reminds us of other forgotten credit card benefits. often plastic will protect your purchases beyond the manufacturer's warranty. some inrental car insurance, which can save you dozens of dollars a day and there is the little known credit card copsee average. >> this -- consee average. >> reporter: they're paid to be is you. >> reporter: john hargrave uniquely challenges his, requesting help with a crossword puzzle and a big can of nacho cheese. >> and like a gallon tub. >> they delivered onbo. >> by the end of the month, was asking her to help me book a trip into outer space and. >> reporter: mission accomplished, again. they connected him to virgin galactic, which one day will take tour its to space. >> jerry recommends a no-fuss standby. >> cash back, everyone wants cash. >> so you can splurge with a fancy bol of wine on your time bottle of wine on your timeline. >> these are your points. >> right? chris komura, fox news. coming up, d.c. is getting called out. >> don't miss why some say it makes the city so hard for singles. we're going to chat with hot 99.5 sarah frazier on get your take. >> and the clock is ticking and we're staying on top of the latest developments of the nfl lockout. what is being done to save the season. that is still ahead. >> google is signaling an end to its kiegle labs, where employees developed several experimental features and progs. they allow users to try prototype ideas and contact the engineers directly to let them know what worked and what didn't. the company wants to use greater focus in developing new features. the change won't affect google yams or g-mail. can you spot the fake? a blogger uncovered a knockoff apple store in china. it set up a real store with apple logos and the employees wearing the blue shirts and name tags. the quality of the logos and other details made her suspicious. she also found three more fake apple stores in the area. apple's website said it doesn't have any stores in that part of china. >> wow. and that is interesting. apparently that their is not a lot apple can do. >> yeah. >> and that is not like the purse vantage pointers on the side of the road. >> yeah. >> interesting. and the next few as -- days, it's going to be on about the heat out there. yeah, how high will the mercury climb and when will we catch a break? next. >> nfl negotiations put in a holding pattern yesterday. the players were not prepared to vote. and today the ball was on the owner's court. night is end could be here scene is soon and maybe tomorrow. neither has cast their vote and all 32 owners convened in tant on the hopes of voting a collective bargaining agreement and that is something that could be going on now. the past owners some of the say -- must say yay and he was cautiously optimistic. >> you're always cautious and taking it hour ye hour. the goal is that there is a lot in the positive direction and we want to get back to the business of playing football and to get the training camp and have a full preseason and time is of the essence. the players scheduled a conditions call with the executive committee and player reps to decide whether to accept or approve a settlement and how is to to start the voting process. they have to decide to become a union again. and they decertified march 11th. >> the decision to decertify was important. because at the time, we were a real union. and that decision for our players as men to come back as a union is going to be an equally serious and sober one that they have to make. >> if the four-month lockout, the nfl's first work stoppage is going to end in time to keep the preseason in tact, the players and owners almost certainly must ratify the deal this week and they're embarrassed and scheduled to open the preseason august 7th and hall of fame game. if they don't want everyone pushed back, they need to get it done there and they have differing agendas. the simplest tems, they want in order a settlement of the brady lawsuit and versus the lockout and they want that lifted. and recertify the unions. the owners want the players to recertify the new collective bargaining agreement and end of the lockout. they want them in the same think this but not the same order. >> we're still -- . >> i think we're going to have a settlement by tomorrow and maybe we will have free agency next week. >> sorry. >> no, no, i'm not. it's, you know, they have to get this right and that is like a lot of lawyers and legalese. i think that is going to get done and we'll start free agency and then we'll get crazy when people startifying in and talking trains and is donovan being traded, all of that. >> all right, and you'll have more work to do. >> then we'll have more work to do. >> okay. >> thank you. es in day out there. >> is it too hot to ware a tie? >> it's pretty hot. >> can we mandate tomorrow is a non-tie day? >> a tie-free friday in. >> i like that. >> and yeah. >> would that work? >> i am wearing one and not waring shorts. >> i'm wearing long pants. >> and i like. that. you think that would get any mileage? >> sure, go for it. >> yeah? >> and start the movement on facebook. >> and you know what happens on facebook. >> oh. and that is about new. it's going to be hot and whatever you have done today to stay cool, do it today and tomorrow and on saturday. we have this excessive heat warning in place and goes from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. and that is the case for today and we still are under this warning until 10:00 tonight and we're going to be under the warning tomorrow and saturday and doesn't look like they have to extend it into sunday. sometimes the heat waves are tough to break and let's see what happens, 98 degrees in the city, the warmest temperature i have seen on the hour so far and the official highs have not come in yet. dulles, 99. the that is the warmest i have seen out there and look at frederick and martinsburg and win chester, they have got know up to 100 degrees and this is that real important number, which is staying so terribly high and in the city, feels like 112 degrees and 117 in fred bicks -- fredericksberg and 105 in gaithersburg. you can see much else, and going to annapolis is not going to help out much. 106 degrees, and fees like the temperature there and locate broaden the view. 111 is how it feels for richmond and cape hatteras with a heat index of 100 degrees and that is very, very hot for them and again, this goes all the way up to the east coast and to boston. they're bake up there, too, with the high heat index of 103. we may get a little bit of a relief as we get into sunday here and they suggesting that and there is that backdoor cold front that may break the extreme heat and it's getting bitter out in the nation's mid- section, wichita feels look 107 and sap lose feels like 106; cincinnati is not bad as they were 24 hours ago, when they feet like 115 degrees and, of course, we're still hot on the east coast and so, the heat dome has shifted a little to the east today and that definitely will be on top of of us for tomorrow and that is looks like tomorrow is the worst of the three-day heat day here and we're talking about the heat index that could be as much as 120 degrees and do not think we'll get here in up to but surrounding areas and could see the heat index higher than today and very, very mild, temperatures in the mid-70s, in up to, the heat effect is in place and we're counsel to about 81 or so and tomorrow morning at 8:00 a.m., mostly sunny. the heat index is 95 to 98 degrees and if you're going to get out real, real early, once the sun comes up, that is your best bet or anything you want to do outdoors. the heat index at noon, 105 to 110 and look tomorrow, again, soaring 110 to 115. with a dangerous heat index. the heat index over 100 we begin -- and as we get into next week. the thunderstorms saturday and sunday, that is your forecast. stay cool the best way you can. shawn yancy is in the web center. shawn? >> thank you, a perfect segway in just a second. and we're down in the web center now talking about this wok's hot topics. speaking of being hot, the number one topic we want to start with is cool ways to stay cool. what are people doing? >> and we want to feature you tonight. like us on facebook. facebook.com/myfoxdc. we want your g-ready, by the way, pictures on how you're staying cool in this heat and are you six feet tall? >> interesting. >> yes. >> and that is on facebook. i didn't know we were doing this story and people were telling me how they were staying cool. one lady said she was wearing her snuggy at work with the heater under her desk because it's cold at work. i'm look okay, that is interesting. >> she's inside. >> i know. it's coal. >> and one of our writers does that here. >> and red came out the calorie cows on menu boards. i didn't realize how high calorie cutes were on some of the foods we eat. >> and in -- tufts university did it and they found about 50% of the time, they're off. >> uh-huh. and thabelow what they are. when you go to denny's, it's like 850. >> okay. and do you care? >> yeah. >> and the most inaccurate is the soups and salads and that bothers me. people are mixed. >> and also, not some good news for you single folks out there. listen for a mate here in the d.c. region. what is going on? >> and this is a blog getting a lot of attention. tonight in our chat, www.myfoxdc.com, i disagree with a lot of these and i think you are, too and we'll have a discussion on why d.c. women are catches and not fixes, by the way. >> what does the study say? what is the point of the study -- study? >> this guy is saying that d.c. is not great. women are basically in d.c. and we're 6s, not that good looks and doesn't think we're motivated and that we're lazy and expect treatment as if we were as good looking, as if we lived in new york city. >> what is that supposed to mean? >> put his name out there. >> okay. >> and -- . >> we're blowing up your blog. exactly. >> and there are a lot of people chatting about that debate. >> join sarah on the web and we'll have more of this on the web. >> yeah. >> and talk to sarah about it. >> yeah. >> and we'll call that guy up. back to you, laura. sounds good. thanks, girls. coming up on the news edge at 6, we'll have the latest on this dangerous heat wave at the top of the hour. and the debt ceiling debate also heating up as lawmakers competing plans push for support. we're staying on top of that and the latest development today. >> plus, the nation's transportation secretary is furious with congress. we're going to tell you about the political standoff that could force the faa to shut down. and this is pretty hard to watch. wait until you see what happens after this hour of course crash. we have it coming up next on the news edge at 6. >> a new study shows having a positive outlook could help lower your risk of stroke. researchers studied more than 6,000 people over the age of 50 and raised their level of optimism from 1-16. and they found that for each point increase, the risk of stroke decreased 9% during a two-year followup period and the reason? they believe that people who expect the best things in life take active steps to stay healthy. if you have diabetes, sweep out your bagel with nuts. the nuts can control your blood sugar. patients replaced the usual carbs with a mix of a half a cup of mixed nuts per day. the end result? after three months, the blood sugar and bad cholesterol levels dropped. researchers think the unsaturated fats in nuts are responsible. thank you for joining us at 5. the news edge at 6 starts now. >> we hope you're staying hydrated, a steamy week in washington. an excessive heat warning in effect right now and tents are near 100 degrees. with the heat index, we're into the triple digits. the heat index is 112 in some spots and, like i said, it's getting worse. the latest on these dangerous conditions, we turn to sue palka who is live in dupont