Transcripts For WTTG Fox Morning News 20091209

good news is we have missed the snow that that same storm has dumped from midwest areas to the east coast. we have the latest weather and traffic updates in a moment. also shots fired on a local college campus. this morning the gunman under arrest and classes shut down for the day. we're live on the scene with the late. >> plus the latest on health care that could mean the end of public option. fox 5 morning news starts right now. it is wednesday morning. the date is december 9th, 2009 and traffic is a mess out there. the roads are amess. let's face it, conditions in general are a mess out there. we'll steer you through the next three hours. good morning and thanks for joining us, i'm steve chenevey. >> i'm allison seymour. one school closure to tell you about. culpeper county schools are closed in virginia. and ma others are on two-hour delays. we're running those at the top of your screen and you can see the full list on myfoxdc.com. let's check in with tony perkins and get the latest of what is happening outside because it is not the prettiest morning out there. >> no it is not. but we're seeing gradual improvements. good morning, everybody. we're going to start with an area covered by aaffect for par virginia. let's go right to the graphics. it's for fairfax county, for the city of fairfax, city of falls church, arlington and alexandria. that is a flood warning in affect until 8:15 this morning. now, this is the flood watch. this is changing from the last hour. the flood watch has been taken down for parts of the area, including washington, d.c. itself. but it is still in affect off to the east and that's where we've seen the heaviest rainfall. this flood watch is in affect until 10:00 a.m. and now take a look at satellite radar for our egion. and we're getting a break out to the west where the precipitation has broken up a little bit. we'll put it in motion for you and you can see still there is a lot of precip moving through the mid-atlantic and into the ortheast. some of it is snow in new england. we are dealing with rain. we have seen some freezing rain way out to the west. currently we're up another degree. it is 44 at reagan national. they're reporting light rain, humidity 89%. your forecast for today looks like this: morning rain, some of it heavy, that gradually dissipated and by this afternoon partly cloudy. so that means some sun could peek through. high of about 54 and then it becomes windy, down right blustery tonight. i'll give you more details on that coming up in just a little bit. that's a look at the weather. now let's go to julie wright and get an update on traffic. it's a perfect day if ou're a duck out there on the beltway. it's nasty. a lot of standing wateralong 234 out of wakefielchapel road. burk shut down near 123. schreive mill road flooded and eastbound toward 29 in montgomery county. let me take you out to the beltway. an inch of standing water between 50 and 66 slowing down traffic to 35 miles per hour trying to get through northbound. now on the inner loop of the beltway, north of the george washington parkway, the accident here still crowding that right lane so for you traveling out of tyson you are hitting the backup north of the toll road toward the american legion bridge and again that's on the inner loop. outer loop, your lanes are open. southbound 270, traffic still tied up leaving urban anna hen delays from germantown toward he split. if you are traveling the inner loop of the beltway, traveling from maryland into virginia past telegraph road, standing water reported on the beltway w right lane getting through. if you're traveling in the through lanes, delays are forming across the wilson bridge back toward telegraph road before the pace improves. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. and remember the latest traffic, weather updates, school closings and delays out there, you can find them on myfoxdc.com. our big story this morning. police are trying to figure out why a student at northern virginia college took aim at his teacher and sending classmates running for their lives. the student was taken into custody but the community is still shaken. >> let's go live to sharia simon who's is live in woodbridge. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. everybody is still shaken. the campus is still closed this morning and will be closed all day today. we know that students, faculty and staff will be allowed in to get personal belongings after noon today. but there are still police that have the entrance blocked off. police are here, still trying to investigate and figure out exactly why they say the suspect, 20-year-old jason hamm ilton, started firing a gun in a classroom yesterday. students reportedly say that he stood up, pulled out a gun and he was about to make history and started firing at the teacher, who was luckily able to duck and get out of the way. students started running for their lives. no one was injured out of all of this. a nearby police officer who was able to hear the gunshots was able to get inside the building and call for backup. when they went inside, they found t suspect in the hallway outside of the classroom. they were able to take him into custody and he did not put up a fight. now students were stunned that this happened at their campus. >> we're in the activities room and he told us to get out of the building as soon as possible. >> i was just scared because i go to classes here and to think that could happen and someone would do that, it's -- it kind of blows your mind. >> reporter: steve and allison, we do know more about the suspect this morning. we understand that he does live with his parents in manassas and that police have been able to go by the home and speak with the parents as well as look for any other additional evidence. at this point, hamilton is charged with attempted murder. he's been held without bond. his next court appearance is set for january 11th. steve and allison, back to you. >> sarah simmons live. thank you. d.c. police need your help in finding this missing woman. a 48-year-old manager of ruby tuesday's. cynthia ann passmore closed up the restaurant and deposited the money and then has disappeared. multiple atm withdraws were made with her bank card and police fear she could be in danger. there may have been a break- through overnight in the debate over health care reform. >> senate democrats may be on track to pass a bill by christmas. doug luzader has the latest from capitol hill. >> reporter: it looks like democrats in the senate may be on the virginia of dumping the so-called public option or government-run health care. it's a compromise but it may be enough for the democrats to force this through. a democratic leader emerged with what sounded like a deal, even if they wouldn't say much. >> we can't disclose the deals of what we've done, but we have something that is good. >> reporter: but here is what we know. the democrats are talking about ditching their first idea of government-run health care and instead allowing the same agency that oversees health care for federal workers to expand to cover millions of americans and contracting through a private insurer. it may be enough to drive fence sitters like joe leiberman. but democratic leaders are worried about losing liberals but quick to deny that the public option is no more. >> i won't mention which one, but the public option is gone, but it's not true. everyone understand that. >> reporter: that may be a reference to another compromise. a expansion of medicare. republicans were quick to pounce on that because the democratic plan calls for huge cuts in medicare funding. >> what do you think will happen to care for everybody in medicare? what do you think will happen? the ultimate is we're going to ration the care for seniors in this country. >> reporter: and that's an argument that may resonate as democrats continue to make headway. there is still a great deal of work ahead. senate democrats will have to figure out how much the new plan will cost and if it passes it has to be reconciles with the plan that passed the house last month. in washington, doug luzader, fox news. the president announcing a new plan to fix the financial mess. the president has come up with a job plan to get more americans back to work. now this is a three-step plan which includes extending tax cuts to small businesses and investing in roads and bridges and providing rebates for consumers who become energy efficient. the president says tarp money reserved for banks will pay for the plan. >> and the assistance to banks once thought to cost taxpayers untold billions, is on track to actually reap billions in profits for the tax paying public. so this gives us a chance to pay down the deficit faster than we thought possible and to ship funds that would have gone to help the banks on wall street to help create jobs on main street. >> some republicans are calling it another stimulus program claiming it will increase the deficit. the household and security committee will vote on whether to subpoena tariq and mikael salahi. they want to know how the couple got in to the state dinner without an invitation. the salahis said if they are subpoenaed this le invoke t fifth amendment rights and not answer. there is more ahead about the salahis. in about 10 minutes, details about a fight over a car owned by the couple that led to criminal charges. it is just about 7:10 and the new fight over same-sex marriage here in the district ahead. and the latest look at traffic coming up here in a moment. unthink value with the kfc 12-piece holiday feast. get great-tasting original recipe... mixed with kentucky grilled chicken... plus a large cole slaw, two large mashed potatoes, and 6 biscuits, all for just $19.99. unthink. and taste the unbeatable side of kfc. ♪ now you can get a delicious kgc drumstick and thigh, green beans, mashed potatoes, even gravy... all for 395 calories and just $3.95. unthink. and taste the under 400-calorie side of kfc. same-sex marriage seemed to be on its way to passage in the district but now a long time activist is taking a fight against the gay union straight to the top. we get the story from karen gray houston. >> reporter: this is bob king, a known face in the ward 5 community where he's been an advisory neighborhood commissioner for more than 25 years. what he doesn't want to see in d.c. is this -- open season on same-sex marriage. >> i'm doing this because the city council and the mayor have left me no other choice. >> reporter: no choice but to fax members of congress a letter explaining why they should hold off on approving the civil marriage equality act of 2009. the council approved it in a preliminary vote last tuesday. the city council made it's decision very clear in an 11-2 decision. we expect more of the same in a final vote next week and the mayor has indicated he will sign the legislation. but bob king says same-sex marriage is one ofthe most contentious issues of the day. he says he has support behind him, including his group stand for marriage and they want the matter taken to the people in an initiative or referendum. >> we have a number of long- standing civic associations, clergy and individuals who are demanding the right to vote as 31 other states have done. >> reporter: but the gay community is promising it will be no cake walk. >> we have friends on hill, congresswoman norton, for one, will do everything she can to see any motion of disapproval does not reach the house floor. >> reporter: nortons office has confirmed she received king's letter. king will meet with three senators thursday to discuss the issue and hopes to meet with representatives the following week. in the district, karen gray houston, fox 5 news. >> opponents of same-sex marriage will be in court in early january appealing a decision by the d.c. board of elections not to place the issue on the ballot. another quick reminder, we're getting delays and closures because of our wintery weather for us. closures today in virginia in garret county, public schools in culpeper county closed for the day. the full list of the delays are at the top of the screen and on myfoxdc.com. and the reason is because some of the wet roads that you see closer to washington are freezing over in some parts out to the west. still cold out there this morning. >> it is still cold out to the west. we're getting mild air working its way in here now. we're 44 degrees down here in d.c. so that's improving conditions here. reagan national airport reporting rain, mist and fog right now. so you'll see some of that develop across portions of the area. let's look at hd radar and then i have something to show you in just a minute. i'll call your attention to it. here is the radar. this is really changing rather significantly during the last hour. now we continue to see very heavy rain to our east, across the chesapeake y into eastern maryland. now pushing into southern maryland. there are heavy rain moving out of annapolis, severna park area, but that is heavy rain. d.c. and points west it's primarily mist and light drizzle, so it has really dissipated from wasngton to points west. here is a look at the u.s. satellite radar. a couple of things here. first of all, all of the action is from the east to the midwest but some very cold air left in the wake of the storm system. blizzard-like conditions in portions of the upper dwest. heavy snow. again we're getting rain. there is snow in the interior northeast. here is what i wanted to show you. take a look at national temperature map. we're at 44 degrees. it takes a while for the map to update. cincinnati a nice 52. st. louis is 35. temperatures drop off, omaha, 9. look at denver. the actual air temperature right now is 15 below in denver. that is brutal. you rarely get a windchill that cold. but for that to actually be the air temperature, 15 below in denver so thank your lucky stars you're here. here is a look at the five-day forecast. high today of about 54 degrees downtown. upper 40s out to the west where we've seen freezing conditions and quite windy late today and tonight. we will see some sunshine this afternoon. and then the cold air is here. high thursday is 40 but for the weekend highs only in the 30s. overnight lows very cold. and yes, there is a chance of snow saturday night into early sunday morning. more about that as it develops. there you go. >> it could be accumulating snow. >> anything will freeze in the next couple of daves. let's see how many people in denver would want to head to miami like julie wright. 15 below. >> i'll fit nicely in an overhead compartment, i promise. from maryland into virginia, not only do we slow across the wilson bridge in the through lanes to telegraph road due to standing water with only the right lane getting by, but delays on the inner loop leaving braddock road. this fin -- continues up to 66. standing water reported between 50 and 66 and that's where they've been doing the hot lane work. 66 slowing in manassas, centreville into the capital beltway. top side of the beltway below speed. college pa through silver spring lanes are open. northbound 95, authorities checking for a crash. southbound 270 on the brakes south of 109 and then germantown headed toward the lane divide. a number of areas with standing water, 236, in loudoun county, schreive mill road shut down because of standing watt and glebe road south of route 1. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. more trouble for the virginia couple accused of crashing the white house state dinner. fox 5 has learned about a bizarre confrontation between the salahis and a tow truck driver that showed up to repossess their car that led to a con frontation. >> reporter: while the salahis refused to answer questions in court last week, their car, a 2006 audi was ticketed for having an inspired reg station sticker. this car was the center of controversy resulting in tariq salahi getting charged with petty larceny. according to a police report, they are $5,500 behind on car payments so a tow truck driver was sent to repo the car. according to statements by the tow truck driver to the deputies, the driver was met by the couple in the driveway and when the tow truck driver said he was there to repossess the car, tariq told his wife to go get the gun and grabbed the keys to the tow truck and ran into the house and closed the door. mrs. salahi said that a male outside had assaulted her husband. hen deputies responded tariq told them that the tow truck driver assaulted his wife and that driver should be arrested. the report also states that tariq called the loan company while the deputies were there and made a payment by phone, allowing him to keep the audi. e final exchange made between the responding deputy and mr. salahi goes like this. the report states that the deputy told tariq he doesn't appreciate him not telling deputies the truth. to which mr. salahi asked the officer, are you calling me a liar? the deputy responds, i guess i am. claudia coffey, fox 5 news. >> tariq salahi was charged with petty larceny. according to the arrest warrant, the charges will be dismissed if he remains on good behavior between now and april at the next court date. coming up, a memorial in the arena he helped to build. >> friends and family and former players come to the verizon center to remember abe pollin. and ahead, one of the most action-packed christmas shows around. holly is checking out cowboy christmas in hagerstown. we'll check in with here in 30 minutes. and our fox 5 christmas tree is filling up with the ornaments you are sending into us and if you would like to nd us an ornament, we still have a lot of room. send it to 5151 wisconsin avenue northwest, washington, d.c., 20016. and be sure to include your name and any other information you uld like us to share about your ornament. when the tree is decorated it will be donated to a local charity. it is 7:22. we'll be right back. ) remember when connections to the internet sounded like this - when high speed internet was out of reach of most american families and small businesses? as recently as the year 2000, only three percent of american families had high speed internet. then competition drove innovation - spurred private investment, and the internet took off - at record breaking speeds. at at&t we're taking the lead - investing some thirty-eight billion dollars in our wired and wireless networks over the past two years. last year alone we invested more than any other public company in america. and at at&t we support a national plan that makes high speed internet available to every american family in the next five years - because we know that now is not the time to stall momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. the future is at stake, and at at&t, the future has always been and at at&t, the future has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered. friends and family poured into the verizon center who honor abe pollin. he died last month but his friends said his legacy will live. everybody had stories to share about how he touched their lives. >> my mom was stuck in russia once visiting. she broke her vertebrae. and i didn't know who to call. i called abe and the next thing i knew he's on the phone with the pentagon and the senate and we'll get somebody over there. abe was the best. >> david sterne says abe pollin had such a giving heart because he didn't want to be the richest man in the cemetery. 7:26 right now. we'll get the latest weather and traffic right after the break. and the latest developments in the health care debate. the much-talked about public option may be going away. we'll look at what this means on both sides of the aisle coming up next. we're the fortners. we like to say hello to our friends and family in lorton, virginia. hi tie and raw, jamil, deed raw, love 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(announcer) 28 delicious flavors at around 100 calories each. coming up on 7:30. it is not so pretty out there. temperatures warming up but still a mess on the roads. there is the beltway at connecticut avenue, and the roads are still wet. we do have some school delays and two closures. one in culpeper and garret county. those schools are closed. a bunch of delays on the top of the screen. we'll update those as we continue to get them. we've had a lot come in since 5:00 this morning and everything is online at myfoxdc.com. >> 44 degrees is a great thing with all of the that rain out there. >> we would have had a lot of snow. reagan national has had an inch and a half of snow -- rain -- rain at reagan national since 6:00 last night and that would be 10-15 inches of snow had it been cold enough. so a good thing about that. let's take a look at hd radar. we do have improving conditions in parts of the area. rather quickly we're seeing this frontal system begin to makes it way through here. now the heaviest rain is across the chesapeake bay into eastern maryland, delaware, south and east of washington as well. but there you go, that is the heavy rain. cambridge, maryland, seeing heavy rain. so all of it pushing off. here in the district right now we're primarily left with drizzle, mist and fog as well. what rain is falling is not being picked up by the radar so it's light rain, whatever is happening. but a lot of that has pushed out rather quickly, during the last hour or so. a lot of that has dissipated. let me show you the watch in affect. this has changed during last hour because earlier the entire area was under a flood watch. that's been taken down for counties to the west and it includes washington, d.c., no longer under the flood watch. but off to the east where we're seeing the heavy rain, fod watch still in affect until 10:00 a.m. this morning. satellite radar composite for the region, we are seeing the clouds. i do think that eventually we'll see some sunshine in here, but there you see all of the activity. there is your cold front coming through. so tucker barnes and i will take a look at projected high temperature for today and we'll see if we need to adjust that in any way whatsoever. but the front beginning to come through. we do expect cooler air to work its way in gradually. it takes some time for that to happen -- behind the front. and winds picking up into the day and into the night and it will become quite blustery. current temperature looks like this, 44 in d.c., 38 in quantico, 38 in gaithersburg, 50 in annapolis and leonardtown and so milder off to the east. forecast for today, early rain becoming partly cloudy later and i i think we'll see rays of sun. a milder day. we believe our temperature will make it up into the low to mid- 50s. we'll talk about that again in a little bit. five-day forecast, cooler air makes its way in here and the next several days will be well below normal with high of 40 tomorrow. but only in the 30s friday through sunday. that's a look at what is happening with the weather. now let's get more on the morning rush hour traffic from julie wright. stillery much a busy ride fourths commute -- for those commuters out of maryland into virginia. starting off from 66 leaving waffle mills. the problem is that the two center lanes are blocked off for a crash causing a backup leaving braddock. northbound on 95, this is the h.o.v. lanes and traffic jammed up out of newington northbound on to 395. slow going here on 95, not only out of dale city through woodbridge but again leaving 7100 northbound on the main line past landmark and on 95 and 395, lanes are open. big delays across the wilson bridge, especially in the through lanes. the problem is standing water on the inner loop with only the right lane getting by. that is contributing to the delay out of oxon hill which is slowing out at 210. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. another big story we're following this morning. new development in the health care reform debate. and now it looks like democrats have agreed to give up on the public option. joining us now with a look at the top political stories of the day. peter fenn, good morning. and sitting in for jim innocenzi, john bray bender, good morning. >> good morning. >> we would love to talk about tiger woods, but alas we must talk about politics. let's talk about the president's job plan. a three-prong approach, the big picture here. tax cuts to small businesses, new funding for road projects to the tune of $50 billion and rebates if we do some green updates in our home. critics say this is north stimulus plan. let me start wityou, peter. >> cash for caulkers, how can you not like that. but i think john and i were talking about this beforehand. i think one of the key parts of this is the small business piece, allison. small business in this country accounts for almost two-thirds of all job creation. they're the ones hit hardest and haven't been able to get the loans because mney has been so tight. so i think this is an area where the republicans and democrats might come together on some things. some of the tax breaks, republicans are always calling for reduction in capital gains tax, part of the plan is for that. i think there is some compromise that can be done there and some things they can agree on. i'm not sure that we agree on all of the rest of the package, but i do think that is a key element for this and if we're going to get that unemployment rate down below 10%, small businesses will have to do the hiring. >> john, your reaction to the plan? >> well the speech has to be built as don't blame me, which is what the president spent a great deal of time saying this didn't start with me. but this is a start but not a big enough start. i don't think the president totally understands small buness. on one hand they're saying let's lower some of the small business taxes, free up some money in the capital gains, but they're about to pass health care which will hurt a lot of small businesses. there is no tort reform, which would help small businesses and frankly raising income taxes, to get rid some of the bush tax cuts, takes away the risk- reward of someone wanting to start a business. the reason people start a business is they hope that taking a risk will lead to higher income. well if that just leads to paying more taxes, fewer people will take that risk to start a business and they have to address that as well. >> and also at issue is using the tarp money. he's bn getting criticism that say what about us, forget about wall street, but what about main street? >> i still think that's an important part of it, allison. look, it turns out the $200 billion is left over from the tarp funds. think most people expected a good portion of that will go to help reduce the debt, which of course the president did inherit, john. at one point trillions of dollars. but given that, the interesting thing about this is the unempyment rates among -- in the construction industry has been close to 20%. part of the stimulus package, the shovel-ready projects which we're about a third of the way through, we have a lot more to do and thousands of them are out there, but this new cash for caulkers would help with that industry. and so i think one can argue that -- and, look, what is the best thing to get th deficit down? the best thing is to have everybody working and paying taxes, to have an economic engine that is really taking off. so i think that's where the president is going with that with his speech yesterday. >> which sounds like reagan regon omics. >> but still you will have money going into some of the programs which will be government money on the roads and bridges, there's no question about that. which need to be repairs. but you're right. but when reagon came in, he inherited a recession from jimmy carter, no question, just as obama did, but it was 10% unemployment for 10 months. you and i remember that period, 82-83 -- sort of. >> it was a tough period. >> and so i think that things will be interesting to see -- but the devil is in the details, how will the money be spent. but i think that small business piece may be an area finally where we can have some agreement. >> some bipartisan agreement. let's move on to health care now. bill, one step closer to reaching the president's desk, they say maybe by christmas. i'll let you weigh in on this first, john. >> yesterday the senate had a major move in saying that we won't get this done with public optionch and at least semantically took out public option. it's still, as we said, the devil is in the details. senator reed was not forthcoming last night on what the details are. but it's interesting, i think in some sense you have to say this is democracy working. the plan that the senate democrats have is starting to gravitate toward what the republicans wanted in the first place, to make this more independent on private industry, private enterprise and not public. and so in a sense, the democrats know what they have to do to get this thing passed and i think they're gravitating toward a compromised bill. >> agree with john. and it is tough to get 60 votes. there is no question about that. but for all practical purposes, the overall public option that was out there on the table on the house bill is gone. and i think it's going to make some liberals angry. they're not going to like it. but as bill clinton said, look, you'll be amending this bill next year, you'll be amending it the year after that, you'll be amending it the year after that. you're going to what works. it's a roosevelt approach. so i think we'll see it pass in the senate before christmas. >> wow! well we'll be back next week to talk about it. john, you're welcome back any time jim isn't here. >> thanks, allison. >> we'll be right back.  the beep beep is back. i love it. and this friday fox 5 teams up with the capital area food bank to take your donations to help families in need. >> the kids cafe supported by this program and gurvir dhindsa shows us what they learn on this hands-on class. >> reporter: these kids at the frederick douglas community are learning from the beginning of their cooking class. >> this education is very experimental and kids get their hands in food and experience new food so that trying new things and healthy things is an exciting experience. >> reporter: and this is one of the donations that are supported by your food bank. and it also teaches making healthy choices. plus it sends the kids home for families. >> rafik cooks for his mother now. >> i'll go and buy the items on there and he shows me what he learned in class. >> reporter: some kids have never seen some of the vegetable before, but so far so good. >> gen beans, red pepper. >> reporter: in the class they talk about getting a variety of vitamins, vegetables and different nutrients. which is something mothers and organizers agree is better than what the kids might normally have after school. >> without that, we wouldn't be able to feed these kids here. so anybody out there, you have donations, time to give, they have helped us so much. >> and you can give and you can help out this friday. you can be a big part of our stuff a truck food drive at four area giant food stores collecting money and nonperishable foods for the food bank. if you would like to see the list of locations, the four of them, and what is needed the most, go to myfoxdc.com. we put the information there. >> always a good time of year. tony -- >> yes. >> i was prepared for anything and quite happy when it was a bit warmer and we missed it. >> yeah. which is good. most of it stayed well off to the west. the ice and the freezing rain and the sleet, although we did get some reports from winchester, which is out to the west, that they had about an inch or two of snow before it changed over to sleet. so frozen precipitation to the west, rain here and even that is now moving out. take a look at the hd radar and across the region, improving conditions generally speaking, unless you're east of the chesapeake day. that's where you get a lot of rain right now. east of the bay, southern maryland, across the southern portions of chesapeake, the central portions of the chesapeake bay as well. heavy rain. but the district is clearing out as far as precipitation goes. we do have some mist and some fog and likely some drizzle here and there. temperatures across the region look like this. now, pretty colors. 44 degrees now in the district. 42 in pittsburgh. that's good. binghamton, new york, freezing up there. they have snow. 32 degrees. new york city 33. they're probably getting rain at this hour. and look out to the west. columbus, ohio, 52 degrees out there. here is a look at the radar image for the area. there is the heavy rain and now, i'll tell you what, if you're heading up to new jersey, new york city, places like that, that's where the heavy rain is. some of that will push off shore as the morning progresses. here is your five-day forecast. tucker barnes and i talked about it, your high will be low to mid-50s, for technical reasons you don't want to concern about. in the 30s on friday, saturday and sunday and yes we could get snow saturday night. right now there is a 50% chance of accumulation. are the roads getting any better now that the rain is moving through? >> no. and you missed it steve, but i told tony yesterday, every time he says the "snow" word i'll start singing the hippopotamus wrong. >> i didn't agree to that. >> that doesn't matter. it's my world and you're just visiting. in my world it's sunny and 85. here we go. a tough drive, standing water at the hot lane construction between arlington and 66, but then the accident before 66 tieing up two center lanes. the accident is clear but the damage is done. traffic on the inner loop slow toward 66. 66 is on the brakes out of centreville all the way into the beltway. toll road, heads up, on the breaks from 7100 into the capital beltway and the problem there was the crash on the inner loop before the american legion bridge. now that activity has cleared but earn fortunately a slow ride up the west side and we just pointed that out. northbound 95, main line slowing in separate stretches, dumfries up to lorton and leaving the fsp and into the 95. the h.o.v. labor starting to see some improving. traffic slowing closer to 644 but this carries you up to glebe road before this pace improves. burk lake road shut down in each direction from 123 because of standing water. and for those leaving frederick south of 70 and 50, but here in rockville, still bumper-to- bumper slow in the main line and in the c.d. lanes toward the split. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. it's 7:49 right now on this wednesday morning. it's a christmas show like -- well probably nothing like you've seen before. >> holly is at the antietam recreation center in hagerstown, looking very cute. what is going on, holly? >> reporter: what do you mean? doesn't every christmas show have a wheel of death? is that what we're seeing right now as we are indeed getting a preview of the cowboy christmas show. and that is andy, throwing real knives at a real person and we'll give you a whole lot of real reasons why you want to come here and visit yourself. stay with us. are you still alive? wave if you're still alive. reme internet sounded like this - when high speed internet was out of reach of most american families and small businesses? as recently as the year 2000, only three percent of american families had high speed internet. then competition drove innovation - spurred private investment, and the internet took off - at record breaking speeds. at at&t we're taking the lead - investing some thirty-eight billiodollars in our wired and wireless networks over the past two years. last year alone we invested more than any other public company in america. and at at&t we support a national plan that makes high speed internet available to every american family in the next five years - because we know that now is not the time to stall momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. the future is at stake, and at at&t, the future has always been and at at&t, the future has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered. when it comes to celebrating christmas, cowboys might not be the fir thing that comes to your mind. >> everybody elebrates in some way and holly is checking out a unique christmas show you can only see in hagerstown. and holly, bases on that tease, i'm scared already. >> reporter: i know. there is a high danger quotient when it comes to this show but there is also a high entertainment quotient and it's fun for the entire family and truly an experience when you come out. brooks more is the show announcer and joins me. good morning to you. >> good morning, holly. >> good morning. >> it's good to see you again. >> reporter: it's been two years since we did the show last time. we were just so amazed the last time we were here and you guys have raised it even another level. tell me about the 2009 show. >> well it's a brand new formatted show this year. the first in the last three years. we've changed our script of the play to bring it up to date. the shows of the past were more dated back to the 1800 periods and this show is set in more current times of 2009, revolving around -- >> reporter: that's a pretty big update, by the way. >> it's a huge update. what we want to do is something more contemporary but keeping the same tone as the other plays. it evolves around a play in a play. and a gentleman is trying to fight off the bank foreclosuring and it can re late. and he's daling with the death of his owner who previously owned the playhouse and getting ready for the brand new play and dealing with the headaches that come with that but also along the way, learning what the real meaning of christmas is. it's not all about materialism and the chaos that goes on with shpping, but it's about family and about god. just the christmas spirit. >> reporter: and we're looking at -- how old is she? >> she's only 8 years old. >> reporter: she looks like a 23-year-old in an -year-old body. >> her voice is amazing. i'm floored every time i hear her. and when the crowd hears her, they have the same reaction. they're like, wow! >> reporter: i can imagine. and people can come an hour before the show and do some fun activities. >> we have free dinner activities starting at 8:00 and it consists of a hay ride, marshmallow roasting, pony roads and a nativity scene which allows kids and adults to interact with the animals. a good old-fashioned country store downstairs where you can buy some good old-fashioned candy or nick knacks for christmas. and on our stage we have some country line dancing to participate in. there is plenty to do leading up to the dinner itself. so we think we have something for everyone in the family, both young and old. so we've gotten good feedback this year. >> it's hard to believe, it's already in the 6th year. >> yes. and we're always trying -- as everything else, just trying to keep it fresh and updated and offer something new every year to the members. we have a lot of repeat customer that's come back. >> i can imagine. >> reporter: well let's listen into the show a little bit and we'll give information on how you can get tickets in just a second. [ singing ] >> reporter: so here is what you need to know to get tickets. go to myfoxdc.com and we have a link to the cowboy christmas show to get tickets for your family. shows from thursday through saturday through january 2nd. so i will tell you, tickets are going fast. the week of christmas they do have shows on tuesday and wednesday. we're going to have more live from antietam recreation in our next hour. until then, we'll see you after the fox 5 morning news. ♪ ( children giggling ) sometimes, if you wish hard enough, you get exactly what you want for christmas. welcome to christmas town -- a busch gardens celebration. tickets available now at christmastown.com a college campus closed after a gunman started shooting inside a classroom. and then the house land security administrative meets today and plans to subpeona the state dinner party crashers. but they plan to in volk their fifth amendment rights. we'll talk about what this means. we'll see if the weather will have an impact here. thanks for joining us, i'm steve chenevey. >> i'm allison seymour. here in our area we're mostly seeing rain. some school systems are delays or even closed. and the information can be found on top of your screen and at myfoxdc.com. low lying roads may be closed because of flooding. this is what it looked like in oakton, this is fox mill road at shady mill road. you can see how high the water got there. and burk lake closed near 7100 in fairfax station because of flooding this morning. a car got stuck in the high water there. also want to mention, no parking available at the laurel marc train station due to flooding. there is no place to park your vehicle. just a minute after the hour. good morning, tony perkins. >> good morning. most of the precipitation is moving out of washington and to the west. but if you are to the east, you are still dealing with heavy rain so we're not out of the woods there. let me show you hd radar and where the precipitation is. it is primarily in eastern maryland and southern maryland. now a lot of it is in dekalba wear. so this is moving at a good clip. i have to say it seems to have picked up in speed during the last couple of hours, pushing out of here because in the early hours, we had rain all across the region, including a lot of spots of heavy rain but now pushed off to the east and we begin some drying out across the washington area. although that will take a long time. heavy rain in southern maryland at this hour and across central portions of the chesapeake bay. here is what the temperatures look like in the gion. currently in d.c., our temperature is -- we're going to -- i'm sorry, we're going to view. some instruction for the folks here. here is a look at the satellite radar. and what we're seeing here across the region is that the other end of that big storm systems that bringing heavy snow to portions of the midwest, for us it's brought some frozen precipitation in western portions of virginia, west virginia, western portions of maryland and rain for us. current temperatures, 44 degrees here in d.c. 47 in baltimore. 37 at dulles airport. the forecast for today, rain this morning. that dissipates and moves out. partly cloudy this afternoon. so yeah, i think we'll see some sunshine. high in the low to mid-50s and then temperatures begin to drop and the winds pick up. and can't rule out a thunderstorm or two south of the district later on this afternoon and this evening. we'll have more on the forecast coming up in just a little bit. >> tony, thanks. let's check in with julie wright. it's been a rough morning on the roads. how is it looking now? >> not a lot better, i have to tell you. we still have our hands full with standing water. and beech drive shut down because of standing water. here is the ny -- the nicest shot right now. over the 14th street bridge, trying to merge on to 395 and into southeast washington, but lanes are open shoulder to shoulder. delays northbound across the potomac and into southeast washington. the big story is the standing water on the inner loop. and inner loop through this train drop, you can see the through lanes very, very slow. this delay is beginning back at oxon hill leaving 210 out of maryland into virginia and again at telegraph road, only the right lane gets you through. you're back on therake braddock back up to 66. accident cleared to the shoulder. toll roads jammed from 7100 toward the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. our top story this morning, scary moments on the campus of a local school. police arrested this man after they say he opened fire inside a classroom at northern virginia community college. sarah simmons joins us live from woodbridge with these delays. sarah, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, allison. the campus will be closed all day today. you can see behind me they still have one of the entrance blocked off with a police officer standing guard here. now students recounted the incident yesterday saying that the suspect stood up during a math class and said he was aboutto make history and pulled out a gun and started firing at the teacher. that's when everyone started running for their lives. just after 2:00 p.m. gunshots were fired on the northern virginia college campus. >> it was surreal to me. because it's the first time i've been at a school where there was a shooting. >> reporter: the shots came from a math class in the main building. witnesses say 20-year-old jason hamm ilton stood up with a weapon and shot at the teacher. >> from what i understand, they hit the floor and she had the students evacuate and she was also assisted by another faculty member. >> reporter: at the same time anthony mellous had just finished a traffic shot when he heard two gunshots. >> i went to the area where i thought the sound came from and when i went around to ask questions, i heard a second one coming from the building and so that confirmed that it was gunshots. and people started running out of the building. >> reporter: all of the students and the teacher got out unharmed but the gunman was still in classroom 412. officer mellous called for backup. meanwhile teachers and campus administrators were scrambling to warn students to leave now. >> we were in the activities room and they told us to get out of the building as soon as possiblement and we all got our stuff in possible and made our way out of the building as quickly as possible. >> reporter: something like virginia tech passed through your mind, on a much smaller scale. but you just worry for the people still in the building, trying to comfort your friends that are upset. >> reporter: sam hill says they activated the emergency alert system. >> we have a system where we notify all computers and we also have an emergency text messaging system for those students who sign up for it and then we also have phones in all of our classrooms and then we have a digital messaging system throughout the campus. >> reporter: students were stunned. had no idea what was happening or if it was real. >> i was honestly just scared because i go to classes here and to think that could hapn and someone would just do that, it kind of blowed your mind. >> when police got to room 412, they say hamilton was sitting in the hallway with his weapon. >> he told us there was no one else there with him and he confirmed to us that e was the person that fired the shots. and we took him into custody. >> reporter: hamilton was arrested without incident. no one was hurt, but the situation could have been a lot worse. now as for the suspect, again, he is still in custody this morning. he is from manassas. we understand police have spoken with his parents and have been searching the house in manassas to look for any other possible additional evidence there. hamilton has been charged with attempted murder. he's being held without bond. he's set to appear again before court january 11th. as for here on campus, students and faculty will be allowed back in after noon today to pick up any personal belongings they may have and we also understand that the campus is going to make available counseling services after the campus opens for anyone who needs it. allison back to you. >> sarah, thank you. the woman accused of trying to steal an unborn child faces a judge today. police say veronica der amouse tried to cut a pregnant woman's stomach and snatch the baby out of her woman. luckily the mother and baby survived. new this morning, the fbi is searching for five missing students from the d.c. area. sources tell fox news they may have gone overseas. all five men are believed to be muslim. investigators were brought in after families raised concerns. there were concerns it could be similar to a case in minneapolis where 20 men left their home to go to a group linked to al-qaeda. and the 48-year-old manager of a ruby tuesday's in northwest is missing. cynthia ann passmore closed up the restaurant and deposited the money and disappeared after midnight when surveillance showed her driving out of the parking lot. police have learned that multiple withdrawals have been made from her bank account and her family is worried. >> we were all just together for thanksgiving. i think somebody has her and need to give her back. she hasn't done anything to everyone. she is a fun-loving person. she would give you the shirt off her back. so we just want her to come home. >> police say based on initial interviews with family members, she could be in danger and they need your help to find her. she was last seen in a late 90s gold colored nissan maxima with maryland license plates. 44 degrees on this wednesday morning. the house homeland security administrative will take up the case of the white house party crashers today. >> what this could mean legally for the salahis. too much snow. i'm ainsley earhart, the latest on some of the nation's wicked weather coming up. and not so wicked, but the weather is still a problem. for more school delays and cancellations, more often than not it's late starts today, we have it all online at myfoxdc.com. and we'll check in on the forecast with tony perkins and julie has a look at the roads coming up. it's 10 minutes past the hour. welcome back to fox 5 morning news. here is live look at the beltway right now at connecticut avenue. our road service is still wet. not raining as it was earlier this morning, but still some problems out there. it's part of the same system that brought these crazy blizzard conditions to the midwest. in illinois, wisconsin, iowa, all expected to see up to whiteout conditions today. >> and they're seeing dangerous ice, heavy snow, fierce winds. five people have been killed in this storm. ainsley earhart has more details. >> reporter: he's back. old man winter takes the u.s. by storm. more than a dozen states are slammed with snow, ice and wind. >> pretty nasty. >> reporter: forecasters say two-thirds of the country will be affected by the storm by the time it moves off of the east coast. in iowa it's already seen the storm and there could be snowdrifts of up to 16 feet. >> it's scary. i've broken my leg a couple of times in the snow so i don't lok forward to this. >> reporter: flights are delays across the midwest. at chicago o'hare, hundreds of flights were canceled. it's even worst in cedar rapids iowa. all of the flights there were grounded. and as far as the roads were concerned, one word -- treacherous. >> it's getting worse the farther north you go. >> reporter: near the great lakes, more than three feet of snow is expected by the end of the week. meteorologist are urging residents to deflate the blow up santas so gusts don't blow them away. >> fortunately we dodged that bullet. >> we did have the rain and temperatures are still cold. let's check in with tony and find out what we can expect now on the dark weather side of the forecast but hopefully on the bright side. first let's look at what is happening with our weather conditions around the region. we'll start with hd radar so we'll show you how the precipitation is moving well to the east now. and for the most part around d.c. we have load -- cloudy and overcast skies. we are still seeing heavy rain across portions of the viewing area in southern maryland, cambridge, salisbury, places like that. heavy rain continues elsewhere. it looks much better. now to the national map. show you the satellite radar first of all for the nation. now western half of the nation is quiet. if the eastern half of the u.s., that's where we're seeing the activity and, yes, the whiteout blizzard conditions continue in parts of the upper midwest and across portions of the great lakes region and some snow in interior new england and there you see our rainfall pushed out, being pushed out by a frontal system. here are your national temperatures. be happy for the 44 degrees we have here because man, it is cold in the western u.s. you get to omaha, it's 6 degrees. and if you're traveling to pierce, south dakota, it's 1 degree. denver is now 6 below. that is not a windchill. that is the actual air temperature. meanwhile -- hey, it's 30 in las vegas. 30 in las vegas. man, cold there. and in florida it is 77 degrees. although in parts of florida it's cold as well. high today of 44 degrees. briefly and then our temperatures will drop and windy conditions across the area. tomorrow high only 40. friday, saturday and sunday overnight lows in the 20s. daytime highs in the 30s. chance of snow saturday night and into sunday. that's a look at the weather. time now for the my first 5 photo of the day. take a look. this is conner. same name and spelling as my son. this boy is 2 months old. the family says so far he's been kept off of santa's naughty list. for two months, that's pretty good. he's really cute and i'm sure he's going to love his first christmas. thanks for sending that in. if you want to send in your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings. now let's get an update on traffic with julie wright. >> wait a minute, how do you stay off of santa's naughty list? >> we'll have to talk to you about this, because i know it's an issue every year. >> i wasn't talking about me, i was talking about you. >> oh, i was talking about you. [ laughter ] >> well luckily santa doesn't have to make his way around the beltway today because he would be dressed up in a yellow slicker and everything. it's been nasty out there. 66, from fair oaks below speed eastbound toward vienna on to the beltway. this morning's commute on the west side of town has been troubled with accidents. we had the crash at the american legion bridge that has been gone but contributing to the delay from fair oaks on to 495 and into montgomery county and impacted the commute off of the toll road. the toll rad is jammed from 7100 on to northbound 495. 495 jammed up badly from braddock up torts the ceaseon -- the tysons area and leaving oxon hill toward telegraph road, standing water with only the right side of the road squeezing by. the top stretch of the beltway, slowing 95 to georgia avenue. beech drive shut down in each direction between franklin and connecticut and that's due to standing water. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. there are new details this morning about the couple known as the white house party crashers. tariq and mikael salahi says if lawmakers subpeona them to testify on capitol hill they will invoke a 5th amendment rights. this is a letter sent to them by their lawyer. they will vote today whether or not to subpoena the couple. paul butler joins us this morning with more on what this all means. paul, if they are called to testify, can they invoke their 5th amendment rights? >> absolutely. congress have to decide whether they want them criminally prosecuted and go to jail or whether congress wants to testify before the committee and find out what happened and how they did this incredible breach of white house security. >> it sounds like the latter is the approach they've taken so far. how can they make that happen? >> now the salahis lawyer said they will invoke fir fifth amendment privilege so they shouldn't have to come to the hearing at all. congress will decide whether it wants to give them im -- immunity, which means anything used against them couldn't be used in a prosecution. so congress has to make the difficult choice, whether they want to get at the truth, whether the salas will tell the truth, even if they get immunity, or do they just want to refer the whole thing for prosecution. >> now is that immunity, what does that cover? is that all encompassing immunity. the most limited immunity would mean anything they said couldn't be used against them. so it means that the prosecutors would say they couldn't use anything against them. if you remember the oliver north situation. >> and if they want the orange option and wanted to pursue criminal charges? >> then the salahis wouldn't have to testify before the committee, but then there could be difficult problems of proof. so there are all of these evidentiary issues about how much they actually thought they were invited, the white house would probably be dragged in, this military officer who they had e-mail correspondence with, it would be a messy prosecution. >> there are republican lawmakers who are also say desire officers should also be subpoenaed to testify. would they follow the same tactics with someone a member of the administration as they may with this couple who are private citizens for the most part? >> no. because what ms. rogers is claiming or the white house on her behalf is some kind of executive privilege, that people who are working for the white house, because of separations of power, shouldn't be hauled before congress. >> because of precedence set in the past. >> all of the cases have occurred in the pass, but usually higher ranking people than a social secretary. >> and one thing that has been brought up, and this going along the criminal route, if you or i jumped the white house fence we would be taken into custody and charged with trespassing along with a numb other crimes. does that argument hold up, while they didn't jump the fence, may not have been on the grounds legally? >> oh, sure. there is more criminal exposure, because there is not only trespass, but there is a felony called false statement. so when you lie to a federal officer as perhaps the salahis did, we don't know yet because we haven't heard from them. but if they did that, that's a felony. >> i know you're probably discussing this with your students at the university, but do you think that immunity will be granted and we'll hear their story on the hill? >> it's tough for congress, but congress takes a backseat toward criminal prosecution if they think there is exposure. and sometimes they will say if do you this, you will go to jail and that may be the message they want to say. >> paul butler, gw university of law. thank you very much. the man in charge of montgomery county schools has a warning. what will happen if the school system doesn't get more money next year. then holly is in hagerstown this morning. she's checking out a unique christmas show starring a bunch of cowboys. see why it's unique and stay with us. we're going to tell you all about it as fox 5 morning news continues. (announcer) approximately two out of three people ill have resolved mptoms. if your antidepressant ale isn't enough, talk to your doctor. one option he may consider is adding abilify. abilify is approved to treat depression in adults when added to an antidepressant. call your doctor if your depression worsens or you have unusual changes in mood, behavior, or thoughts of suicide. antidepressants can increase these in children, teens and young adults. elderly dementia patients taking abilify have an increased risk of death or stroke. call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion on abilify, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction. or uncontrollable muscle movements, as these could become permanent. high blood sugar has been reported with abilify and medicines like it. in some cases, extreme high blood sugar can lead to coma or death. other risks include dizziness upon standing, decreases in white blood cells, which can be serious, seizures, impaired judgment or motor skills, or trouble swallowing. talk to your doctor about the risks and benefits of adding abilify. gotta get that bacon! dog: yummy. crunchy. bacon. bacon. bacon. there, in that bag! mom: who wants a beggin' strip? dog: me! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs! yum, yum, yum... it's beggin'! hm... i love you! beggin' strips! there's no time like beggin' time! , yum, airborne guy: i firstin'! started taking airborne to help support my immune system when i travelled. but then i realized... there are so many other times my immune system could use help. sfx: [waaaaaahhh!] wife: guess who's teething? airborne guy: like whenever life gets a little out of control... daughter: daddy, meet snake. airborne guy: or any time life catches up to you. anncr: airborne helps support your immune system with a special blend of... zinc, ginger, echinacea, and 13 other vitamins, minerals and herbs... plus a blast of vitamin c! wife: 'night dear. sfx: [kissing sound] airborne guy: try airborne. it's good for you when life is not. the strugging economy strikes again as more travel service cuts on maryland high wats. officials prematurely closing bathrooms at rest areas, tightening the hours at others and eliminating counter workers including the heavily visiting chesapeake house on 95. the governor ordered the cuts last month. the montgomery county school superintendent warningses that the system might be forced to eliminate teachers an increase class size if the schools don't get the minimum funding set by the state law next year. he presented the board of education with a $2.2 billion budget proposal that includes a 1% increase in education spending. 45 degrees on this wednesday morning. senate democrats say they are getting closer to pushing the president's health care bill through the senate. >> but it could come with big changes. we'll look at it next. and it's a wet day here in the d.c. area, so we've seen some flooding and school delay and even a closure or two. tucker is back with a look at our forecast. as we go to break, we have another holiday greeting from good folks services overseas. >> i'm lieutenant cornerel dj lind lee and we're here in japan. >> this is to my sister katherine matthews in d.c. and her fiance rick and son issac. we miss you very much and can't wait to see you again. merry christmas and happy new year. it is 45-degree at 8:30 on this wednesday morning. let's look at stories making headlines. former vice president dick cheney says trying a 9/11 suspect in new york city is a huge mistake. in an interview for fox news, cheney says holding the trial in lower manhattan near ground zero will make him a hero in certain circle and make him as important or more important than osama bin laden. a virginia man will not have to remove a plage pole from his front yard. he was in a fight with his homeowner's association. the association originally claimed that the pole violated the neighborhood aesthetic guidelines but has agreed to withdraw it. he said he would take the case to court if necessary. and the capitol christmas tree shining brightly. it was lit last night by nancy pelosi and the marine corp band performed. the 85-foot blue spruce came from arizona and decorated by 6,000 ornaments made by kids in the state of arizona. it is 8:41 and time for another toy of the day. >> this is what the "what's it." >> where are we going. >> just go where you want. >> they're blocks that can be twisted, flipped and moved into unlimited configurations attached by the heavy plastic in the middle. i mean the elastic. great office toy, don't you think? like a mindless office toy. >> i might lose interest. >> well how about if you're 3 years old. it's for 3 years old. >> i have the attentionof a 3- year-old. >> and it's $5. >> $5 toys, we need more of those. >> it's for kids and you can buy them at independent and specialty stores. >> it's made of wood and block. >> so it's old school. >> it's a what's it. it was designed to teach hand and eye coordination. >> not to be confused with the what is it mascot. >> i'll play with it as you do the weather. >> cheap toys. but good construction. >> it's not plastic. it's wood. >> pretty colors. go ahead, tucker. a lot to talk about. we had rain overnight nd some ice. even a little slow at the onset of this system. there is your radar. we have much quieter conditions. about an inch and a half of rain overnight, so quieter conditions over the next hours and sunshine may build in during the course of the day. but this is a much, much brighter forecast as we get into late morning and the afternoon. no rain here in washington. it's across the bay. south and east at this hour. we have flood watches for most of the area and that's been led to expire earlier here. and we have a flood watch more to the east. and here in washgton, quieter conditions and more warmer temperatures on way. let's open up the picture. we've been talking for the last 24 hours or so about all of the rain and the snow off to the north and west. and we'll show you it to you on max 2. let's go to the system and show you what is going on out there. look at all of the rain moving through ernight. very heavy rain, about an inch and a half at reagan national at last look. and look at the snow on the back side. the area of low pressure here is out towards chicago and that will push up into the great lakes. so it will drive the energy with it and we'll be in for a quiet one today. a little sunshine expected this afternoon. although it will start to get breezy around here and that will tap into colder air which will move in tonight. so the slightly warmer temperatures during the course of the afternoon will not last over the next several days. 45 at reagan national. that's a little better. out to the north and west we're above 32 area wide. 34 in martinsberg. and look at the warm air off to the east. 32 in 57 in cambridge. our forecast for today, i mentioned the flood watch expired here in washington. early rain gives way to sunshine this afternoon and warmer highs. low to mid-50s. and tonight the colder air moves in. 33 in town. thursday and friday highs in upper 30s and 40s. we cloud up for the day on saturday. could be more snow or rain. and we'll watch that carefully into the weekend. that's a look at the forecast. back to you at the desk. >> tucker, thank you very much. is health care a done deal. democrats think so as they've reached a tentative agreement on a major sticking point. that is the government run public option. they have agreed to drop it and replace it with a private one. and it covers uninsured americans as young as 55 but some plan to protest the latest developments today. more now on that health emergency at tiger woods' home. yesterday the golf great's mother-in-law was rushed to the hospital. her name is barborholmesberg. yesterday a suv followed her to the hostal. she was released yesterday afternoon and is now back at tiger woods' home said to be resting. it's been two eks since tiger woods' crash and refusing to answer has fueled speculation about the golfer and his wife. last week he said he let his family down with unspecified transgressions. several woman have come forward saying they have had affairs with the golfer. gatorade has dropped the golfer. you might need more money to buy your sunday paper. how much the post will cost coming up. and if you're looking for a job go to myfoxdc.com and check out our job shop. for more on this job and many others go to its myfoxdc.com and click on the job shop tab near the top of the home page. 8:37 and we'll be right back. (dial-up modem) remember when connections to the internet sounded like this - when high speed internet was out of reach of most american families and small businesses? as recently as the year 2000, only three percent of american families had high speed internet. then competition drove innovation - spurred private investment, and the internet took off - at record breaking speeds. at at&t we're taking the lead - investing some thirty-eight billion dollars in our wired and wireless networks over the past two years. last year alone we invested more than any other public company in america. and at at&t we support a national plan that makes high spe internet available to every american family in the next five years - because we know that now is not the time to sta momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. the future is at stake, and at at&t, the future has always been and at at&t, the future has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered. in lumber. in rubber. in bellies. and precious metals. it's time to put everything you have into your 10k. your 5k. and even your 1k. an of course, you can never go wrong with futures. kaiser permanente. thrive. aol is once again going it alone. the internet pioneer is ending its ties with time warner. aol was once valued at $240 billion. but will likely be worth little more than 1% of that when it lists on the new york stom exchange tomorrow. america online used $147 billion worth of its inflated stock to buy time warner back in 2001. the price of the your sunday paper will go up as the edition for the sunday paper will go up 50-cent from the current $1.50 but the daily paper will stay the same at 75- cent. sticker shock for shopping for car tires. manufacturers raising prices because of material costs. many tigers are bigger and wider and have much better traction to turn and brake better. and another trend is oversize wheels and that means expensive replacement costs. >> people are used to tires that were $50 to $100 and now some tires can be $300. >> and the technology has really advanced over the years and from a handling perspective and comfort and even a wear perspective in some cases. >> you can save money by shopping around or buying your tires online but you'll need to factor in the cost of shipping and of course the in stallation and the mounts which typically adds to the cost. >> they are expensive these days, aren't they? well it's cloudy and wet. but you could do some star gazing tonight. >> we'll telyou which diva will be in town along with her famous husband. holly, what do you have? >>eporter: i have a rooting, tooting christmas. i have my seat. i'm going to tell you how you can get yours too. live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. (announcer) get instant savings on all your christmas gifts at jcpenney. get $10 off instantly when you spend $50. save more with doorbusters, starting early at 6am saturday. like men's and women's cos for just $49.99. go to jcp.com to see gifts for everyone on your list. jcpenney does your phone do searches, for example, the word "human" ? does your phone do searches for "human" on the web, then google maps for places named "human," your contacts for any friends named "human," which would be weird if you had one. even your music for songs you forgot you downloaded ? droid does. search all digital creation. in a world of doesn't... ( children giggling ) sometimes, if you wish hard enough, you get exactly what you want for christmas. welcome to christmas town -- a busch gardens celebration. tickets available now at christmastown.com maria carey and her husband nick cannon are in town today, hosting an invite only screening of the teen nick halo awards. it's a tv special hosted and produced by nick cannon. it recognizes teens working to make a difference in the world. if you want to go to the museum and try to catch a glamps of glamps of the couple, things begin at 7:30. >> they'll be in town. she's so beautiful and he's touch a -- tony will tell us what happens. and what do you have planned coming up, mr. perkins. >> make sure you have that rolled out. good morning. in the next hour we'll take a closer look at swine flu. it seems things may not be as bad as first thought. we'll look at why. and all maryland residents can get vaccinated and you no longer have to fall into a special category. we'll have everything you need to know. and have you seen the show jersey shore. some advertisers are pulling their ads already. we'll talk about that too. and the first peach store in the world is opening up at national harbor. yes, a store dedicated to peeps. we're there live with your first look coming up after 9:00. >> is that a big christmas tradition? >> i thought it was easter. >> i would think the same thing. but getting a jump start on it. >> making good christmas gifts. >> we'll find out. tony, we'll see you in a few minutes. when you think about christmas, he don't think of peeps maybe. and you may not think of cowboys either. >> no. but this morning holly morris is learning that the two do go together as she features the cowboy christmas show at the antietam recreation center. holly, good morning. >> reporter: they don't just go together, they go great together. and if you don't believe me, let me introduce you to the cooy of the show. the rope twirling, gun slinging, knife-throwing andy ross and his horse. there they are, coming on up with us this morning. we were here a cple of years ago and andy is a world guinness record holder when it comes to rope twirling. and his actual world regard is for texas skips where you jump through the loop. he did it over 11,000 times. but it's one thing for him to jump through, it's another thing for him and ijah to go around the rope. take a look at that. very nice. andy, hello. >> hello. >> reporter: now that's a dismount. it's good to see you. >> good to see you. >> reporter: merry christmas. >> merry christmas. >> reporter: i see you've been busy, working on your tricks the last few years. >> a little bit, yeah. >> reporter: you're still the superstar of the show. >> i wouldn't say that. >> reporter: he's so humble. so what make this is year's show special. >> i would say it's all new drama this year. >> reporter: brother, there has to be drama when you're doing things like that. and how is ijah holding up? >> you can smile for them, bud. >> reporter: take ijah off because he'll gear up for something else. take a little breather. and while he may be the cowboy, i'm going to introduce you to the cutest cow girl of the show. high, hannah. >> hi. >> reporter: i thought i liked my red cowboy hat but i think i'll have to get a pink one too. you look awfully cute. how old are you? >> i'm 8 years old. >> reporter: you're 8 years old. and such nice manners. and how long have you been singing? >> a year and a half. >> reporter: only a year and a half. wow! and what do you like about being part of the show? >> it's just so fun and i love getting if front of crowds. >> reporter: you do? how would you like to be in front of a whole tv crowd. >> that woulbe surely amazing. >> reporter: i'm just the one to help you do that. you're going to sing to all of the fox 5 morning viewers out there. >> really? >> reporter: give me a little cow boy sweet heart. >> okay. [ music ] ♪ i want to be a cowboy sweet heart, i want to learn to rope and ride. ♪ i want to ride through the plains and dessert, to the great divide. ♪ i want to hear the choir sing, as the sunsets in the wind. ♪ i want to see a cowboy sweetheart, that's the life i love to be. [ yodeling ] ♪ i want to ride a train, i want to feel the wind in my face. ♪ a dozen miles from home, moving as a cow hands pace. ♪ i want to feel my head as the sunset hits my face. ♪ >> reporter: bring your own sweet heart to the cowboy christmas show running thursday through saturday through january 2nd but the week of christmas they have shows on tuesday and wednesday. and they just started doing a valentine's show and you can buy them both and get a discount iyou do it at the same time. put your hands together, y' all. >> she's great. see you next hour. it's that time of year where we need your help to make the holidays for others and we're trimming the fox 5 ornament tree. and we'll give the tree away to charity. we're asking you to send in your ornaments to 5151 wisconsin avenue, washington, d.c., 20016 and be sure to include your name and any other information you would like to share about your ornament. and as we all know, thanks to the economy, nonprofits and charities are feeling the pinch more than ever this holiday season so we've decided to invite a charity on our show every day this holiday season to tell us about their needs and what the community can do to help. and joining us ts morning, richard, the executive director of our house in brookville, maryland. good morning. >> good morning, allison. i love your tie. you're in the holiday spirit. >> of course. >> tell us about our house. >> it's a home for teenage boys that have been abandoned, neglected and orphaned. and we teach our young men carpentry and construction and they work eight hours a day and every evening six nights a week we have high school classes. and we have done many, many construction projects over our 16 years being in existence. we've done -- we've put on more roofs and additions and over 60 wheelchair ramps for people and in addition to that, we have 140-acre farm and we have the maryland organic state version and our young men grow crops and produce and they also have ten beehives and they harvest honey there also. >> and that's fantastic. and we saw a picture that you provided, a rendering of our house and one of the dormitories right there. really nice looking facility for these young men. >> well that's what we-- we're getting ready to build that. >> that is your future plan. >> that's our ure plan. it's 100% green dormitory and there are only two other 100% green dormitories in the united states and our young men can help build it themselves. >> and what do you need, for the viewer watching and saying they can relate to the charity and agree and how can they get involved with volunteering or help for our house. >> we need donations and i need most mentors and people to help us with the new dormitory. we're looking for maybe some successful people who have had similar backgrounds to our young men who can give us a boost and help us. maybe some of our musicians, our wonderful athletes who can give us a hand in this. >> thanks for all that you do. and if you think that richard looks familiar, you've been on oprah and people magazine through the years, so continued success. >> thank you very much. >> and you've brought a -- a little hammer. >> our young men made this a couple of days ago. >> fantastic. please be my guest to hang that ornament front and center. if would you like more information about this charity, go to myfoxdc.com and all of the information there can be found on our website. thank you very much. >> thanks, allison. >> nice to see you again. this friday you can be a part of our stuff a truck area food drive. we'll be collecting money and nonperishable foods for our food bank from 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. at night. for a list of locations and what is needed most, go to myfoxdc.com. you might be surprised to learn who will get the honor of meeting queen elizabeth yesterday. we'll show you that video when we come back. it is now six minutes before 9:00. 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. remember when connections to the internet sounded like this - when high speed internet was out of reach of most american families and small businesses? as recently as the year 2000, only three percent of american families had high speed internet. then competition drove innovation - spurred private investment, and the internet took off - at record breaking speeds. at at&t we're taking the lead - investing some thirty-eight billion dollars in our wired and wireless networks over the past two years. last year alone we invested more than any other public company in america. and at at&t we support a national plan that makes high speed internet available to every american family in the next five years - because we know that now is not the time to stall momentum or to stifle innovation or investment. the future is at stake, and at at&t, the future has always been and at at&t, the future has always been our business. at&t... your world... delivered. the raining queen of pop on the right, meeting the reining queen of england. in a bizarre moment that is lady ga ga shaking the queen's hand. the singer had to tone down her performance for her majesty. apparently she wanted to replace the suicide seen from the m tv music awards. but just showing there is some taste left in award shows. organizers told her to tone down the act and she obliged. she toned down her usual dress opting for the red pvc dress that includes a 20-foot cloak, ruffles and red eye color as well. i don't know, allison. let's turn things over to tony and allison for the 9:00 hour. i wish you could hear the transcript of whatever that transcript was about. that make it more interesting. >> that's a strange picture to see the two of them. we have a lot coming up ahead during the course of our 9:00 show. first of all, a local college campus is closed this morning. gunshots were fired there yesterday. a teacher there is credited with saving lives. that student is under arrest. we'll fill you in on all of the details coming up in a little bit. and the latest on the tiger woods, what has become a saga. he was -- his drink was dropped by gatorade, the tiger gatorade. >> right. >> they said this thing was already in the works and it has nothing to do with everything that has come out. who could tell? maybe, maybe so? >> i believe them. that seems to be the case. and his best friend was supposed to be getting married and he was supposed to be the best man, but -- and the fiance, the woman is a nike sales rep and so it's all tangled in together. she worked for nike, he's the face of nike golf, the best friendsn

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