derek thomas will take some of your questions about how does my garden grow. >> and there are some good questions. i heard some of them earlier. it will be good. but meanwhile tucker barnes is here. he's our friend. he has update on our weather. >> thank you very much. some clouds and a little sun out there. sunshine and mold -- mild temperatures. and there is your morning look at our satellite radar and again, cloud cover on the increase today. we did have a few light showers pass by to the south, down towards fredericksberg, shore had some showers day. and down toward atlanta and to the south that is the leading edge of storminess which should arrive overnight tonight and into the daytime hours tomorrow an unfortunately it looks like it will stick with us through saturday and sunday. so this is not going to be a great looking forecast into the weekend. let's talk temperatures. i want to look at the bright spot. temperatures will be mild later today. 49 in washington. 56 in fredericksberg. 49 in ocean city. so again mild temperatures to start. should be a nice, warm afternoon with a mix of clouds and sunshine and the rain should hold off until overnight tonight and but -- and nice temperatures. we'll have the rest of the forecast for you later. and health care could be right around the corner. >> theyare still facing road blocks, including some from their own party. stacy cohan joins us live from capitol hill about the story. >> reporter: after nonstop campaigning by president obama, it has come do to this. the house democratic leadership on a push hill today to get this health care reform measure passed. even at a political fundraiser last night the president did not waste a chance to push health care. >> and it is time for an up or down vote in washington on health care reform. i'm tired of talking about it. let's get it done. >> reporter: democrats say they are getting it done after a flurry of meetings last night. the final details are being hammered out. >> we have no more time to think about it and the decision time is here and that's about it. >> reporter: and first of all, how much will this cost? probably in the neighborhood of $1 trillion over ten years but we don't have the final numbers yet and there are still sticky issues like abortion coverage that divide democrats. and the final plan will effect everyone's health care coverage and there is still plenty of anger directed at the democrats. >> and this is a process that represents a manipulation of the rules and a will to circumvent the american people. >> members of congress are trying to figure out how to bend the rules and deliver a bill to the president who is almost on a nonstop campaign. >> i don't get born down. i wear them down. >> reporter: and if it does get passed, a dozen states are considering mandatory health care insurance. and if it is passed, the governor of virginia is expected to sign it. and i'm live on capitol hill, tony, back to you. >> thank you, sarah. >> the senate has passed legislation to give months of jobless checks to people who have been out of work for more than a year and a half. and it will help pay for health insurance. this is a key piece of last year's economic stimulus. and now a 12% unemployment rate and maryland at 7.5% and the commonwealth under 7%. these are january numbers. rates went up in 30 states in january. the good news here is the national unemployment rate dropped below 7%. montgomery county school leaders are out for a plan with deeper cuts. more than 350 positions could be eliminated and class sizes might increase. school officials are sounding that alarm ahead of the county executive unveiling his budget proposal. and the kansas city, missouri, school board approved a plan to close almost half of its public schools before next year, despite pleas from parents and community leaders. the area is facing potential bankruptcy. the plan is to close 29 of 61 schools. there is a new push for more uniform standards to define what is being caught in public schools. proposed national educational guidelines would move math and english instructions closer to standardized text books and testing. the president is offering more federal funding to states that adopt these guidelines. 48 of the 50 states are participating. texas and alaska are not. and this morning crews in frederick county, maryland, are hoping to pick a body out of a dam at lake lingennor. they had to suspend efforts to remove it because it became two dangerous. two fisherman spotted the body and called 911. one resident thinks she has an idea of how the body got there. >> the only thing i thought was a stupid kid jumped off the dam again but we haven't heard anything so far. >> police will try to identify the person once the body is removed from the water. a call about a shooting last night on hawaii avenue in northeast. a man was found unconscious with a gunshot wound and later died at the hospital. so far no word on a suspect or motive. >> a popular piano instructor is in trouble with police again. charles dillon of woodbridge is a piano instructor and advertised online and that led to a new investigation d new charges when police found more child porn. there is no evidence that he touched any piano students and is due in court at the end of the month. fairfax county police are looking for a bank robber that doesn't fit the profile. she is a woman accused of hitting up three banks. the latest the bb&t bank in centreville. she wears dark clothing a scarf to hide her face and sunglasses. she's expected to be behind a bank robbery and that of a credit union. here in the district 3% of all adults and teen-agers have hiv. and now there is a new approach to prevent the spread of the disease. e look at a cutting age step to prevent you. >> reporter: the district's female condom campaign comes as the nation marks it's own observance educating on the importance of being tasted for hiv and at the national club that test was free. >> and if you had more than one partner you will have to test continually. >> reporter: and while encouraging women to get tested for aids, they are pushing the new female condom. >> you literally open it on the side and pop it out. so the female condom looks like this when you came it out. >> reporter: the community education group in southeast is one of the nonprofits handing handing them out to beauty salons and carry-outs where they already distribute male condoms. >> these are new and improved. fda approved, they are more affordable. d.c. health officials are only hoping women will use them. >> and we saw we can afford to add this to our -- our mail order condom. >> reporter: and they are also available now for purchase at the 56 cv s drugstores in the city. karen gray houston, fox 5 news. virginia's attorney general says gays and lesbians are not protected from discrimination but now the governor is speaking out and what he has to say about this. plus an outburst on the house floor aimed at the media. >> i want to know why the american public is fit. they are fit because they're not seeing the congress do the work that they're not sent to do. because the president of the united states is not covering the most significant issue of national importance and that's laying lives down in the nation for our country and it's despicable. >> we'll tell you what sparked this outrage from patrick kennedy. it's 9 minutes after the hour. [ female announcer ] pillsbury grands! biscuits, so warm and fluffy. make the mosout of the most important meal of the day. ♪ made with gooey hersheys mini-kisses. spontanious joy may occur. [ male announcer ] now the best seat in the house is in your house. in fact, with the fios total ticket, it can be in every room. unlike cable, only fios gives you a multi-room dvr that lets you record shows in one room and watch them in up to six other rooms. no one will ever have to miss their favorite shows again. and now you can get a multi-room dvr plus set top box free for six months when you sign up for fios tv, internet and phone. you'll get tv with three times more very satisfied customers than comcast, america's top-rated internet, and phone. get it all together for just $99.99 a month for one year with a two-year agreement. it adds up to savings of $299 for one year. fios total ticket is an awesome value that makes every seat in your house the best seat. so why sit still for cable? call now. 1.866.685.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800-974-6006 tty/v. this is beyond cable. this is fios. this morning we know more about a prince george's county police officer who died on tuesday evening. officer thomas jensen is a five year veteran and died last night from injuries after a car accident. his colleagues had hoped that he would recover. 11 days ago he hit a patch of ice and lost control of his cruiser and hit a pole in college park. he is the son of a retired prince george's county detective sergeant. >> grew up in hyatts hill area and was assigned to hyattsville right out of the academy and he knew the area and the challenges. i remember him as an energetic officer. >> he had been married for just five months. funeral arrangements aren't finalized yet. transit advocates are encouraging cash straps areas to trip in for metro. they want an extra $74 million to metro. the state has a budget gap of $189 million for the fiscal year starting in july. metro has proposed raising fares and cutting service to make up the difference. and toyota investigators look into one runaway prius in california, a similar incident happened in new york. she said her car lurch down a driveway and hit a stonewall. this was recalled for a floor mat trapping the pedal but they don't believe that was the problem. >> the matt had been serviced by a toyota dealership and was being held in place by the factory hook but by an additional device. >> and this comes 24 hours after another widely reported sudden acceleration incident. the ethics commission ended an investigation into eric massa. the new york democrat resign add mid accusations of sexually harassing his staff members. advice van hollen said staff meers could still pursue an investigation outside of the ethics committee. anger on the floor of the house of representatives. democrat dennis cuccinelli calls for a vote to end the war in afghanistan and representative patrick kennedy takes aim at the media. molly hanenberg reports. >> reporter: peopleters flare. >> we're spending trillions of dollars on the useful wars. >> reporter: on both sides of the aisle. >> and there is nothing conservative about the war in afghanistan. >> reporter: over the war in afghanistan. >> the press of the united states is not covering the most significant issue of national importance. >> reporter: bitterness and frustration spilling out at anti-war candidates kucinich makes everyone aware of the president's handling of the war campaign. >> i didn't give any president carte blanche to prosecute a war where ever he or she determined necessary. >> reporter: several lawmakers railing in opposition to the cost of the wars in afghanistan and iraq, and which now according to the congressional budget office has cost trillions of dollars. >> reporter: about 1,000 troops have died since the war began. and something they were quick it point out. >> what is hameful is our policy to put them in harm's way when they don't need to be. >> reporter: but still some say the u.s. war in afghanistan is crucial to securing global peace and pulling out is not an option. >> i believe that precipitously withdrawing our troops would be reckless. >> reporter: the house voted down kucinich's request to end the war. by summer it's expected that over 100 to you troops will be in afghanistan. in washington, molly henenberg, fox news. >> in afghanistan the nato says there is a home -- a homemade bomb has killed four children and a woman. they made history by flying planes during world war ii at a time when many people thought a woman's place was at home. now surviving members of the women's air force service pilots were honored for their achievements. members of congress presented them with the congressional medal yesterday. >> over 65 years ago we each served our country without any expectation or recognition of glory and we did it without compromising the values that we were taught as we grew up, honor, integrity, service, faith and commitment >> the women flew bombers from the factories to the front lines of the war and also took part in training missions and carried targets for artillery practice. and priceless pieces of american history. items owned by harriet tubman are now the property of the smithsonian. the 40 relics are the only personal items known to exist outside of her museum in new york. they include a book of hymns published in 1876 and a shawl given to her by queen victoria. charles blockson is a distant relative who inherited the items a couple of years ago and prayed and stored them under his bed before deciding to give them to the smithsonian. >> this woman who stood in the wind and rain and snow kept going. she is more than part of the underground railroad, she supported the senior citizens and she attended the colored women's convention just before she died so she gave back a lot. for me it's an honor. >> charles blockson is also a collector of african-american history. tubman was born into slavery on the maryland eastern shore and she escaped to freedom in 1849 and she died 97 years ago. the african-american museum at the national mall will house these items. that is expected to open in the year 2015. >> what a great collection. >> that is fascinating. >> and whenever i see something like that, and i'm not being funny, whenever i see the book of hymns, i think if somehow she were able to come back and look at that book, she would recognize it. there is my book. >> it's a direct link to our history. >> i love that stuff. well it's a hot spot for shoes and clothes but there was something else for sale at tysons galleria. what police found that put five men behind bars. and sarah has a slithery story today. despite the fact she doesn't like snakes. >> reporter: and i'm not such a big fan but they're all protected now. they're tucked away and i don't have to look at them for the rest of the day. but we do have a big day. coming up, the reptile and amphibian day. the sharks aren't too worried about it. these are sharks. and coming up we'll talk about that and the preservation efforts going on here at the national aquarium. stay with us. a look at today's trivia question. how did napoleon bona part finance his invasion of rsia in 1812? did he borrow it, sell his land, borrow the money or round up investors? what would a dictator do? >> i thought was bake sales. >> the answer is coming up. if you want to guess now, head to our facebook page. we're back in a moment. 3 five men have been arrested following a year long investigation into drugs being sold at tysons galleria. investigators say the men were selling extacy and marijuana in the mall parking garage and food court. they were busted after undercover officers bought drugs from them. virginia state police and other police departments worked together to make the bust. the d.c. courthouse has been a busy place since this historic day last week. last tuesday same sex couples began applying for marriage licenses and since then we're told more than 450 couples have applied. that's more than the 50 the courthouse gets in the typical week. tuesday was the first day they could hold ceremonies because of a waiting period. a state senator is trying to stop recognizing marriages performed elsewhere. the position says that all states have to recognize marriages from other states. the only exception is if ate lawmakers or courts ban the recognition. meanwhile virginia governor bob mcdonnell has reversed a decision. state's attorney gem ken cuccinelli sent a letter to state institutions telling them homosexuals aren't protected from discrimination under state law but yesterday the governor issued a new statement saying emplyment discrimination of any kind will not be tolerated by his administration and said federal law prohibits discrimination. and you can find pretty much everything online for sale. but would you believe there is a market for ghosts captured in bottles? i didn't know that a government could be captured in a bottle. >> i didn't either. >> well evidently there is a market for that. somebody has bought these bottled up ghosts. details coming up next. >> i don't think a ghost would fit in a bottle that small. and this year's cherry blossom festival. we'll be back in a moment. now with extraordinary savings come in to save or log on now ethan allen. extraordinary savings. limed time well you've heard the expression, there is a sucker born every minute. >> i've heard that once or twice, a web auction just proved it one more again. >> a new zealand auctioned these glass bottles claiming they look ghosts that looks like wind ex. that was captured during an score six in her house. and she got $2,000 for them. no word on who the sucker -- who the buyer was. >> you guys are too skeptical. how do you know? >> i just never heard of a ghost being caught in a battle. >> even if you believe in ghosts. >> and i do believe in ghosts, by the way. >> well first of all, ghosts have nothing in particular to do with a score six. you're expelling evil spirits. >> but they could be evil. >> but they would just be hanging around the score six. >> do you remember ghost busters, they were able to capture the ghosts. >> that two would make a fine documentary. >> well now, tony. >> we don't know if it was liquid form in the container. >> i think they did become liquid. >> see. >> there you go. >> tucker, once again you have proved us wrong. >> and who is the tucker now. what is happening with weather. >> let's go weather. a little bit of sunshine out there. not going to last all day. the clouds will move back in and with the clouds comes the rain and it will be good for the gardens. we're going to do a garden segment and say this is all going to be good down the road but not this weekend. it's going to rain most of the weekend. even heavy at times. we'll start with the satellite radar. and a couple of light sprinkles and showers to the south of washington. you can see those during the start of the day here, down toward fredericksberg that has faded and a lingering shower across the bay. this is not the main event, this is just the preliminary stuff moving up from the south and west. we'll open it up for you. and you can see the clear skies and a little bit clearing across central maryland pushing into virginia. so a little bit of sunshine to start the day but the clouds will win out and eventually the storminess will move in. and this is -- this is the main event. this is the real deal here. you can see the rain at this hour down into georgia. we have advisories and warnings thrown up today. a tornado watch box from alabama and mississippi. and this is all headed in our direction. i don't think we'll talk about severe weather around here but certainly the possibility of some heavy rain. during the afternoon commute we should be fine. but after midnight the rain will move in and then pick up the pace during the afternoon tomorrow and we could have a period of heavy rain into the first part of the weekend, lingering into saturday and this will be a slow mover. and you can see the center of low pressure there and it will spin out there for the next couple of daysch and because of that we have a flood watch that has been issued. we still have a deep snow pack well out to the north and west and we'll throw another inch or two of rain on top of that. and places are under a flood watch. and we'll see to see how much rain we get but that could be pushed into the east. and 55 now in washington. that's a nice start to the day. quantico 50. and nice and mild with highs around 60. today a lot of clouds, could be an afternoon shower and the rain gets here after midnight tonight. notice the overnight low of 50. and there is your five-day forecast. a lot of rain late tomorrow and into the day on saturday. unfortunately sunday looks cloudy with on-again, off-again showers and hopefully some sunshine by monday. and let's get to tony. i don't knowhere he is. i'm in studio b. spring is just around the corner and so is the national cherry blossom festival. now to help raise money for the festival, washington's top chefs will be preparing cherry cuisine for the pink tie party. it will help support 16 days of ents that are largely free and open to the public. here to help us kick off the season of blossoms is chef charlie palmer of charlie palmer steak. >> you got it. you got your pin. >> i got it. and have i mentioned i was once the grand marshall of the parade, many years ago. it was exciting. and this is exciting too. this is an event in the fourth year. >> yes. and we kick it off tonight. the event is at the w. hotel and we'll kick it off tonight and we have chefs from all over d.c. joining us and it's really an amazing collection of chefs and food. >> and it's an interesting challenge that you all have, too. >> it is. >> because it's themed meals. >> yes. and everything includes cherries. like today we're going to do a dish with dries cherries because our cherries aren't on the trees and we have a pork tenderloin that is wrapped in friend chetta. >> now on the inside was it cooked? >> no. raw pork tenderloin. and this is something people can do at home easily. you buy it in the store and very little prep to do with it. and it's nice and lien. and with the brushuto, it renders out all of the fat. and then you kind of just throw it into the oven. and we sear it up. and we're getting a nice, crisp layer on there. >> and you do this first before putting it in the oven. >> and now we add more pepper as we go. and you want to take it easy on the salt because the actual pen chetta has a lot of salt in it. >> and are you serving this tonight? >> yeah. this is a dish that -- a variation of the dish we're serving tonight and a dish that we serve at the restaurant for the whole festival. we do it on a pork dish with cherries and cauliflower puree. >> and the festival starts march 27th. and tonight's event, tonight at 6:30, the w. hotel just found out it is almost soldout. so if you want information, go to our website at myfoxdc.com and we'll link you to their event but act fast because it is nearly sold out. >> and what else are you doing? >> we're going to sear this and we have this done and this would go right into the oven and then our little reduction sauce with our plumped dries cherries and then a little bit of nice, smooth, cauliflower purray. a cauliflower cooked down. >> i've never thought to purray cauliflower. >> and we'll put a dalon on there. and this is roasted in the oven. >> that looks fantastic. i love pork tenderloin. and then the cherries over it. >> yes. >> and you mentioned the cherries are plump, and is that from the sauce. >> using fresh cherries they go in last minute. these are just put in some water and a little bit of vinegar and we plump them and let them come to life. and we'll take that and we'll sauce it up here. should i turn this? >> no. we're already done. we have the magic of television and we don't have time to cook it all of the way. >> that looks fantastic. >> and we'll garnish a little bit here. >> all right. charlie palmer steak. you know the restaurant well. the event tonight is the pink tie party. you must wear a pink tie. what do women wear? >> pink dress. >> tonight at the w. hotel. got to try this real quick, allison, before i get to you. mmmm. >> they come out nice and acidic. >> that is good. i'll be over here for a little while, allison. >> i don't blame you. i can almost smell it through the tv. >> go to myfoxdc.com for information about the event tonig. we brought you the breaking news last night about corey haim's death. and now we know more about it. and we'll have an update next. and the material girl is coming to a store near you. the details behind her new clothing line and where you can find it. first though another look at today's trivia question. how did napoleon finance his invasion of russia in 1812, did the borrow the money, sell some land, use counterfeit money or did he round up a group of investors? the answer is coming up later. don't go anywhere. d:z-7md"ú(wh now to a fox 5 follow-up on the death of actor corey haim. an autopsy is being done to determine exactly what killed him. though it's suspected he died of an n the deat etting out of bed at h l.a. apparent accidental drug overdose. he collapsed yesterday morning while getting out of the lost b tv reality show thinvention and now she's teaming up with macy's invention and now she's teaming up with mactime for the ba to school shopping season. >> it is smart. and conan o'brien is turning an average woman into a web celeb. the woman was logging on to twitter once in a while. she had three followers. but then he said he would choose one random person to follow and it turned out it was sarah and now she has 200,000 followers. the exposure has led to a new i- mac and a new york designer is donating a dress for her up coming wedding. >> i'm not really about making money or anything like that right now. i appreciate the help that we have been getting, especially with the wedding since we probably weren't going to have normal things for our wedding. >> she's only 19, marrying her 21-year-old fiance. she's been using her fame for good, suggested her new followers donate to charities. conan isn't talking about his twitter decision. she has invited conan to her wedding and i suspect he will go. >> that's great. i like him. >> i do too. well our garden expert derek thomas is live with us this morning. he's answering some gardening questions for you this morning. and shark, eels and alligators. sarah simmons is in the middle of all of them this morning. we're live this morning, coming up next. breaking news oust district, the search is on for an escaped prison. this is in southeast washington around the 4,000 block of 13th street near greater southeast hospital. we're told the prisoner is rom a place called the correctional treatment facility near the d.c. jail but run by a private firm. here is stacy cohan live near the command post the police have set up. stacy. >> reporter: this happened within the last hour. it's a rapidly evolving situation. they have cordoned off a section of the street. police are trying not to release too many details at this hour. we have seen a large number of officers walking around, large weapons drown and searching the area. it is confirmed that the prison scraped from the correctional treatment facility. now that is in the same area of the city as the jail. so we are quite a distance from there now. it's unclear how the prisoner may have gotten to the area they are searching now. there are reports that there was perhaps a stolen vehicle involved. that has not been confirmed. but the police are releasing very little, even to the residents, other than to keep the section cordoned off. there are helicopters in the area and police helicopters coming into view and a great deal of activity in this section of the city. once again the correctional treatment facility is privately run. we are expecting more information from the department of corrections and d.c. police and we'll keep you posted on the situation throughout the day. live in southeast washington, i'm stacy cohan. back to you. >> you said there is a possibility that a stolen vehicle is involved. do they know if the inmate if he -- may be armed. >> we don't know. all of the descriptions are really anecdotal but he would be wearing the prison uniform. there are reports that he may have been in shackles, may have escaped them and it's all anecdotal evidence at this point. we're waiting to hear how he may have gotten out of the facility in the first place. >> thank you, stacy. the national aquarium in washington is hosting their rell type and am -- reptile and amphibian day this sunday. >> sarah is there live. it has been fascinating so far this morning. >> reporter: they have all sorts of things out here. and obviously reptiles and amphibians will have the spotlight on on sunday. and we've had our run-in with snakes and alligators this morning. and when you come down you can see what else they have. and andy dehardy is here to talk with us this morning. so 250 species is about what you have here? >> we do. we have over 250 species. probably about 1400 different individual animals so there is lots to see here. >> and sharks are a big crowd pleaser. and this one has some nasty looking teeth. >> that is a swell shark from california. they're given that name because they can swell up with water if they feel threatened by a predator. >> reporter: what else do you have here? those are the sharks that people are fascinated by. those are smaller ones of course. what else do you have here? >> our focus is on america's aquatic treasures and so we have a lot of marine species, reef fish. and we focus on our fatetive freshwater ecosystems so sucker mouthfish that you wouldn't think of that are living in our freshwater rivers and streams. >> reporter: and the national aquarium does work as well getting out into the community and around the country with preservation efforts and i know we wanted to talk about this slippery salamander in here. he's quiet right now, but this is an endangered species. >> yes. this is called a hell bender and some people call them snot otters. i'm not sure how they got that name. >> reporter: i think we can tell about looking at them. >> they can reach a length of almost three feet lng. this guy is about two feet right now. they are unfortunately either threatened or endangered in every state that they live in from missouri to new york. >> reporter: and i know you also do a lot of efforts as well down in the caribbean. there is a type of fish called the lyon fish that you have here on display that actually does more harm than good, so to speak, in the water. >> the caribbean is a rough place to work with you we're working with the red lyon fish. unfortunately the animals were released into the wild from people having home aquariums an enough of them found each other and they are breeding in the caribbean and causing damage because they have no national predators. they are venomous and so sharks, groupers, they don't like to eat these fish but the lyon fish areveracious predators. they keep eating. they have a rapid appetite that they'll consume hundreds of fish a day. >> what are you doing to stop what they are doing? can you eat these fish? can you? they don't look very good. >> we are working with noah and reef environmental education foundation to look at steps to take to control the spread of the lyon fish. a lot of that is early detection and rapid response in the downstream countries and king them aware that lyon fish are coming and remove them from the rieves as soon as possible. but one of the best ways it do that is through human consumption. and they are venomous, not poisonous. and they taste like hog fish and they are good to eat. >> so put those in your fish tacos. andy, thank you so much for talking with us this morning. and again, it's this sunday. reptile and amphibian day here at the national aquarium. go to myfoxdc.com for more information. allison, back to you. >> thank you, sarah. derek thomas is our lawn and garden expert and derek is taking your questions so let's get to it. because we don't have much time. and number one, should i plant at the edges of my garden so i can remove them and replace them with other plants when these are done. >> absolutely. and this is just layering in your garden and i think we have a picture that is about to come up, but what you want to do is you want to plant your garden with foundation planting, intermediate planting and then front planting. and the front planting will be switched out. you have a border and some back drop flowers there. and that just created a yed 3 anfish lk ou alwúotr thnnuals yr evy a rft 3gaenllf e mendhe3% reyold aua ahranem. 3 tt'ju startin s. % oruyheni sets. ole tm stagge the seed planting. and they are about the size of pin heads. plant a little bit each week and then that way yowill prolong the harvest. >> derek, you are so good. you can find his good information on our website at myfoxdc.com. thank you so much. >> thank you. happy spring. >> happy spring. it's almost here. we'll be back in a moment with the answer to today's trivia question about napoleon, that rascal. back in a moment. 3