>> good morning, everybody. a warm one on tap for today. other than that, quiet weather conditions around the region. let's look at the current temperatures around the area. 73degrees now in the district. most elsewhere we're in the 60s. 66 in baltimore. 62 dulles airport. frederick, maryland, 61. here's a look at the satellite radar, you saw the live shot of the national cathedral. things look pretty good. few clouds, that's about it. mostly sunny skies this morning. it will be mostly sunny today. warm, sunny, high today about 90 degrees in town. we'll have more on the forecast coming up in a little bit. now let's get an update on traffic with lauren. hey tony. bw parkway delays from 98 -- traveling 32 itself, we could take a live look heading westbound, approaching the ramp to northbound bw parkway. delays. a separate accident on the ramp, still activity there. so watch for the slow traffic. southbound 95 in maryland, near 212, the construction lasted a little bit longer. it's been cleared out. if you're seeing delays there, that is likely the cause. southbound 95 in virginia, to the left side of the roadway on the shoulder, accident activity. you can see it in the center of your screen. northbound heavy briefly, then into springfield. 66 just jammed, heading past the rest area, past centerville on the brakes. slow traffic again at 123. old georgetown road reports of a car fire. not seeing it here, but watch for that. that's a check of our fox five ontime traffic. thank you very much. our top story this morning, an arrest in the murder of viola drath. >> her husband behind bars accused of killing her in their home. that's where our stacy cohan is this morning. >> reporter: albrecht muth was the center of the investigation all along. he called police and said he found his wife unconscious in their home and was arrested a few blocks away from their home. fox five obtained video of that arrest when it happened around 8:00 in the evening yesterday. court records do show albrecht muth has been arrested previously on four domestic violence charges since 1992. he and his wife have been married 21 years. each case was linked to the home he and viola drath shared. in one case he did plead guilty. drath was an author, playwright, journalist, well known this in community and she married him when he was 26 and she was 70. >> he claimed he was a brigadier general in the iraqi army at one point. there was something always a little off about the guy. >> he would wear uniforms? >> yeah. and march up and down the street, aimlessly. >> reporter: now, the family has chosen to release a statement and it says we are deeply saddened by the loss of our mother and grandmother, viola drath. her intelligence, independence and grace remained intact to the end. our family is appreciative of the police department. we will learn more about the manner in which drath was killed when the medical examiner releases an autopsy report, which is expected to happen later today. i'm stacy cohan. back to you. an investigation into the death of a 92-year-old woman in prince george's county. >> sarah has the latest. >> police have a murder mystery on their hands for sure. neighbors had last seen thelma steele six days ago. they got concerned when her mail began piling up. family members called police to check on her. monday night police forced their way in the home of 2900 block of east avenue and found the 92-year-old dead on her couch, with trauma to the body. investigators say she was the victim of foul play but they will not say exactly how she died, calling it a violent act. in this quiet community, that is home to so many senior citizens, it's disturbing news. >> beautiful neighborhood. mostly senior citizens. mind our own business and look out for one another. >> it makes me nervous, because i'm home alone sometimes, too. i do have my son and daughter that live with me, but they go to work and on vacation, so sometimes i'm here. >> neighbors say steele lived in the home by herself and have a daughter and granddaughter that live in the area. investigator it's spent hours at the scene, looking for clues. officers also went door to door looking for any information they could find. now while police are releasing few details, we are told they are treating this case as a homicide investigation. they're asking the district heights community for help to report any suspicious activity. now police have no suspects, no motive, so they will continue this investigation. hopefully they'll find someone. back to you. new this morning, deadly shooting that happened in the district, the 2600 block of 15th street before 2:00 this morning. a man found dead on the scene. authorities are questioning two suspects. so far, no charges have been filed. in prince george's county, police are investigating a homicide in the 3500 block of cherry vale drive before 4:00 this morning. a woman found dead at the scene. we'll continue to follow this story throughout the morning. extensive search to find a maryland woman missing in aruba. gary giordano has been detained as a suspect in this case. he reported robyn gardner disappeared two weeks ago while snorkeling. the new search will include police, firefighters, possibly the military. it's expected to start later this week. other stories making headlines this morning, major developments in the albert haynesworth sexual harassment case. independent investigation has uncovered an alleged bribe offered to one of the government witnesses a week before the trial. the witness is a security guard who was at the hotel in february. a waitress claims haynesworth fondled her while sliding his credit card down her blouse. his attorney has filed several motions to have the case dismissed. >> this witness is the only independent witness who -- only independent eyewitness who observed what occurred that evening. he says it was consensual and several weeks later there was an offer made to him. >> next court date is august 23rd, but a judge could hold a hearing on the motions filed any time between now and then. six security guards under investigation for allegedly accepting autographed baseballs from roger clemens. apparently this happened while clemens was on trial for lying to congress about steroid use. guards are prohibited from taking gifts from criminal defendants. the contractor who hired the officers is now investigates. if the allegations are true, it is unacceptable. four major u.s. tobacco companies suing the federal government over warning labels. the government unveiled nine labels in june, they'll be printed on the entire top half, front and back of cigarette packs. we showed them to you when the government announced they were doing this. they also have to make up 20% of any smoking ads. the companies suing say the warnings are just a government sponsored billboard. republicans have a new front runner in the race for the white house. the field could be growing. >> this comes as president obama is launching attacks. doug luzader has a closer look now. >> reporter: the president wraps up his midwest bus tour today, but republican hopefuls are just getting started. the president may have the big secret service bus traveling through the midwest states he needs though win next year. but it's this guy who is getting almost as much attention. the candidate now leading the republican pack. >> i guess we kind of got competing job tours, if you want to know the truth of the matter, which is fine. >> reporter: texas governor rick perry has only been a candidate since the weekend. but in one poll he has bolted past mitt romney and michelle bachmann. look at the third number down. 16% of likely gop voters are still undecided. even though his office is playing it down, one report says paul ryan may be considering a run. >> this is real. i have talked to people that have been talking to him. >> reporter: whomever republicans nominate, they'll face a president loaded for bear, already what looks like a campaign swing through the midwest. president obama is attacking republicans in general, especially in congress, when he says his tax bills are just sitting. >> the only thing preventing us from passing the bills i just mentioned is a refusal of a faction in congress to put country ahead of economy. our economy cannot afford it. >> reporter: the president's secret service bus and rick perry's campaign bus came within a few miles of one another in iowa yesterday. in washington, doug luzader. wisconsin democrats have come just short of regaining a senate majority. two democratic state senators survived recall attempts last night. republicans hold on to the chamber now, 17-16. the gop had lost two seats through the recall. this stems from how wisconsin lawmakers reacted to republican governor scott walker's proposal curbing union rights. republicans were targeted after they fled the state. a new warning, this one from the president. what president obama says is the next likely kind of terror atock to hit the u.s. plus, in a little more than a week our nation's capital will be honoring dr. martin luther king, jr. straight ahead, we'll see how the city is preparing for this memorial dedication. as we head to break, let's take another live look outside. a look at traffic by the pentagon. we'll get the latest traffic and weather coming up with tony and lauren after the break. ♪ utceet 7:14 now. secretary of state hillary clinton defending the u.s.'s response to the crack down in syria. more gunfire for the fourth day in a row, leaving 35 people dead. the president there ignoring the growing international condemnation. state television showing people cheering departing troops. the united nations is likely to hold a meeting next week on the syrian crack down. president obama says a lone wolf terror attack is likely the next one to hit the united states. the president says the u.s. government is monitoring all of the potential scenarios for attacks. james murdock may have to answer further questions into the news of the world hacking scandal investigation. this comes after new claims by the committee that there are discrepancies between what murdock told them he knew about the phone hacking and what former senior employees say he actually knew. news of the world was owned by news corp, the parent company of fox five. tony is back with us now with a look at the forecast. how does it look? >> looks fine. going to be a nice day, a warm day. quiet conditions. sunshine. not a bad day on tap. changes come tomorrow when we get rain showers. enjoy today. here in washington it is 73 degrees at this hour. we have temperatures in the 60s elsewhere. boston 67 degrees there now. raleigh north carolina at 65 degrees. you'll see it's still warm to the south. dallas 88 degrees. new orleans 81. denver a cool 58 degrees at this hour. l.a. in the early morning hours, it is 63 degrees. here's a look at the satellite radar and what you're going to see here, nothing. nothing to show you. we have high pressure dominating, controlling our weather, keeping things quiet and mild. eventually a frontal boundary will come through, bringing rain showers into the region tomorrow. you can see that boundary off across the great lakes region and approaching chicago. forecast for today, and the next five days, high today about 90 degrees. warm, lots of sunshine tomorrow. starting off with sun more clouds build in and afternoon showers and thunderstorms. 88 for your high. friday, scattered thunderstorms. saturday looks to be a nice day. sunday, we introduce the chance of some showers and thunderstorms late in the day. that's a look at the weather. more coming up in a little bit. stick with us for that. we will. thank you. let's check with lauren with traffic now. hi lauren. >> couple of clouds on that five-day for today and i'm excited. i think it's a good pool day. we've got a few things going on. gaithersburg, woodfield road, watkins road, fallen power cables. 95 in virginia, northbound at quantico reports of an accident blocking the left lane. live look at 395 traveling northbound across the 14th street bridge, we have some congestion. the hov lanes are slow from before the pentagon. 395 heavy from the beltway to duke street. no problems to report on the beltway in virginia. 66 eastbound slowest manassas through centerville. 270 southbound at old georgetown road, things look good. we have reports of a car fire, so be aware of that. beltway itself in montgomery county, no problems to report, other than the typical congestion from college park into silver spring. 32, eastbound approaching the ramp from northbound bw parkway, pace improving. a little bit of activity on the ramps from an earlier week. northbound slow from powder mill to 19 # 7. we should get an update today on a metrorail project. last month the airports authority voted to build an above ground station at dulles rather than an underground station. the martin luther king memorial opens to the public next monday. city officials gearing up for almost a week of festivities. >> luncheons, concerts, other tributes expected to draw a quarter of a million people. karen gray houston has a preview. >> reporter: head down to the site off ohio drive and work crews are putting on finishing touches. >> there's a lot of construction we can't see much yet. i think it will be good to see once it's done. >> reporter: the sculpture can be seen inside some fencing. city officials and organizers are busy with last minute planning. so many activities, so little time. >> i want to be there just to honor his memory and i think it will be a nice event. >> reporter: mayor gray held a media briefing to discuss logistics for one thing. from the soft opening monday 22nd through the actual dedication saturday, visitors are encouraged to take metro. >> that's where you'll have the most crowded conditions. instead, arlington -- >> reporter: by the way, d.c. residents at the day at the memorial, all day tuesday the 23rd. with a big draw with huge demand, organizers have eliminated the need for tickets. and you can expect some star power at a free concert after the dedication. >> stevie wonder, jamie foxx, aretha franklin and others. >> reporter: the dedication isn't limited to the site of the king memorial. martin luther king junior avenue will be extended from good hope road in southeast to right here at 14th and main. that street sign will be replaced and that stretch of the southeast southwest freeway will be known as martin luther king, jr. drive. it will be symbolic with a ceremony on thursday the 25th and the d.c. democracy freedom march and rally the morning of the 27th. in the district, karen gray houston, fox five news. >> a quick correction, the actual dedication will be on sunday. there will be a musical tribute starting at 10:00 a.m., then the official dedication sunday morning at 11:00, and the concert on the mall from 2:00 until 4:00, sunday the 28th. martin luther king, jr. memorial dedication is less than a week away. we are talking about that now. you can monitor the construction progress on our web site. we also want to know how dr. king's legacy impacted your life. did you or your parents actually meet dr. king personally? were you at the march on washington? we want to hear your stories. we want to see your photographs, too. head to myfoxdc.com to take part in this historic event. look for the link dedicating to dedicating the dream on the hot topics bar of our home page. it's 7:22 now on this wednesday morning. after nearly a week, a man on the top of a tv tower finally came down. we have an update on his condition straight ahead. and what is floating in a river is a mystery. robots taking over the nation's capital. well at least in this location. paul is getting a sneak peek. we'll check in with paul when fox five morning news continues. ouewti making headlines, a man cho limed to the top of a tv tower in ohio six days ago has finally come down. the 25-year-old had resisted attempts to be rescued. he has been taken to the hospital, and will probably be denvered to ament -- transferred to a mental facility. he had been on the thundershower since -- tower since monday. in florida, eight people hurt when lightning hit discovery cove. apparently, nobody was directly hit. guests are outdoors in the water. the victims included three guests and five employees. investigators think the brown substance found on the river came from the past few days of rain, but still don't know what it is. this happened monday night between the 11th street bridge to the south and the new york avenue bridge to the north. initial tests found evidence of petroleum, but further testing showed no consistency with oil. the president continues his bus tour across the midwest as his approval rating hits a new low. is texas governor rick perry the real deal? ♪ you got me tripping ♪ live look outside, you'll get the latest traffic and weather from tony and lauren, that's coming up. 7:27. pmsi' heads up if you live in falls church. new trash bag fees going into place today. that means if you cannot fit all your trash in the big trash bin provided by the city, you have to attach one of these stickers to a bag of garbage. will cost a dollar for each sticker. there will be a grace period to get used to the program. short grace period, though. now for single family homes, but beginning september 7th the stickers will be required for residents of condos and town homes as well. 7:30 now. we say good morning again to tony and his nice warm day. hello, sir. >> hello, there. 90degrees. >> i'm excited about it. >> embrace it. going to be 90. we've had worse. >> oh yeah. >> it's going to be sunny, too. nice day. warm day, but a nice day. we're going to start with the temperatures around the region. we've seen a change in our temperature. we've now dropped off a little bit. 71degrees in the district. it was 73 a little while ago. 71 now. 73 in annapolis. let's see, some place i haven't mentioned lately. cambridge at 63 degrees. winchester it's 61 degrees. hagerstown, 64. fredericksburg, 66 degrees. here's a look at the temperature trend for the next few days. average high for today, 87 degrees. we'll be close to it, but above it the next couple of days. 88 thursday and friday. warm weather here, not as warm as what we saw during july. overall august has not been bad compared to july. 87degrees saturday. satellite radar, we're looking at it, but nothing to see. we have rain way off in the midwest across the chicago land area, coming into the chicago land area later today, great lakes region. eventually that boundary will get here and bring rain tomorrow. but today, we are dry and virtually cloud-free. the forecast today, mostly sunny skies, warm. high today about 90 degrees. then for tonight, overnight low in town, about 70 degrees. clouds begin to build in and mild overnight. five-day forecast, tomorrow 88, but the showers and thunderstorms move in here. some of the rain could be heavy tomorrow afternoon. scattered thunderstorms on friday. saturday looks to be dry. mostly sunny. sunday maybe a few scattered storms in the latter part of the day. that's the latest on the weather. now let's get the last on traffic. here is lauren dimarco with that. we are still dealing with the wreck northbound i-95 quantico, so watch for delays past that. typical stretches of volume, and approaching springfield. let's take a look at traffic land. if you're traveling in montgomery county on the inner loop of the beltway, jammed up here after connecticut avenue for a car fire. very heavy and slow past connecticut. also reports of a car fire southbound 270 near old georgetown road. typical stretches of volume off and on the brakes from college park around towards silver spring near 29. 66inbound, slowing through manassas. same story as you continue through centerville. closer into the beltway you are in better shape. northbound 395, heavy from the beltway toward duke street. main land northbound 395 also slows to get across the 14th street bridge into the district. that's a check of your fox five on time traffic. allison, over to you. thank you. on his bus tour in iowa, president obama pledged the country will get through this moment of challenge. the president also asked midwesterners to step up with ideas to jump start the economy in their region. joining us this morning republican political strategist, jim, nice to see you. where does peter think he is this week? >> slacking off like he usually is. >> we won't let the party stop because of that. we're happy to welcome former democratic national committee financial leader david mercer. jim, i could almost hear you smiling when president obama was asking citizens to come up with ideas. were you indeed smirking? >> no. >> not you. what's the general reaction here? >> you kind of lead into my point, which is this guy is supposed to be the leader. the reason his numbers are at an all time low now at 39, his lack of leadership. so he's going out there asking people for suggestions, rather than trying to sell a plan. i think that's where he has a lot of problems. the other thing i think from a republican perspective is this is a political tour. we're paying for it. taxpayers are paying for it. buses are $2.2 million a piece. why doesn't he fly down, do the event, go to chicago, raise money and come home, save a little bit of money? i think there's a lot of cynicism out there. he's gotten some response, but i think it's tepid. frankly, it doesn't look good for this guy, because it looks like a reaction to the straw polls we saw this weekend. all the press has come on the republican side, so he's got to rush out to iowa. >> david, what do you think? >> first of all, it was planned months in advance. secondly, he hasn't been out in the country promoting the programs and the initiatives he is trying to lead on if we might clear that up. secondly, it is to be presidential to be out there where he was bogged down here with some of the shenanigans by the tea party and the republican conference on the hill. we see the ratings there. they're at an all time low in our history of 12%. so going back to jim's point of the president now at 39%, which i might add is on average 43%, given the obstruction from the tea party and republicans, is a pretty good number to be at. we are getting dragged down by some of the antics of the tea party. and that has to stop. the people back in 2010 had advocated for compromise and a balanced approach to solving our problems. not getting into heated debate and a lack of compromise in holding your ground for the sake of holding your ground or to accommodate your base. he's out in the country, letting people know that, that he's asking as he did in his speech during the deficit or the debt ceiling debate, to please call your members of congress so we do not go into default and get them motivated to come up with a deal. he's reminding people we have to have that kind of cooperation if we're going to find solutions to unemployment and the other challenges we face. >> is he doing enough to present, as jim said, a concrete plan out there on the road? >> listen, the whole notion that he has no plan is pretty salacious. there were negotiations for weeks on out. what were the republicans waking away from, if the president didn't have a plan? he had a lot of ideas. we left a plan on the table, a grand plan that boehner walked away from that included $4 million in cuts. one of the first democrats to come out and put entitlements on the table. to have a balanced approach, like any family listening on the show now to addressing revenue generation and spending cuts and they walked away. so we only have half the cuts proposed by obama. nonetheless, given the circumstances, president obama needed to create certainty in the market. he got certainty by putting the debate of the debt ceiling to the next time being 2013, so the republicans don't play around with that issue anymore and risk another credit down grade. >> do you want to answer that? i want to talk about governor perry's making a splash. do you want to answer his points? >> the only problem i have with that, with jay carney, when the press asked carney for the president's plan, they said they have a plan, like you're saying. they said, let's see it. we don't have it. let's see it on paper. we don't have it on paper. there's a skepticism -- yeah, you wrote one down. >> extend the payroll tax so middle class families keep more in their pockets. extend unemployment benefits. that's been obstructed by the republicans. just because they say there's not a plan because they don't want to address the issue doesn't mean there isn't a plan. jim, there is a plan and has been -- they weren't looking at each other twiddling their thumbs -- >> why didn't they send this out? >> i have it on paper, and -- [everyone talking at once] -- what they did was walk away from a plan because they didn't want to address revenue generation and balancing the books and standard and poors identified that in their reason for down grade. we were not dealing with a full deck. any family knows you pay your bills first, then you discuss how you're going to address your budget, so maybe you have a lower bill next time. instead, they wanted to talk about how we're going to lower the bill next time without paying the bill now. so that was a whole debate that we should not have been in. >> we shouldn't have been in this in the first place. i would agree with you on that point. this has been going on for years and years and years. it needs to stop. >> you're right. reagan passed 18 debt ceiling -- >> yeah, but reagan also cut the tax rate down to 28. >> he also raised taxes. >> he also cut the tax rate down to 28. obama wants to raise it up. bottom line is, we have almost 10% unemployment. 9.2% unemployment this month. the president has to create jobs here. here's-- >> not just the president. congress and the president. that's what the american -- he is leading. he's got his initiatives. that's what we need cooperation on. >> let me interrupt here. this could go on for the entire interview. i want to get your opinion in the last couple of seconds on governor perry. seemed to make a big splash in the middle of the straw poll. what are his strengths as a candidate? >> i think he probably is sort of a blend between michelle bachmann and a mitt romney. right now you have, you know, he's conservative, considered to be conservative like michelle bachmann, but a leader. he's run the state, and proven his experience the last 10 years. he's been touting that 40% of the jobs created in america have been created in texas. frankly, jobs is the issue in this campaign. we can argue about debate, but until we get america back to work, it's all craziness. so i think that's why he's got the juice that he has. rasmussen has a poll that shows him jumping to the front. so he's put some energy in this thing. >> end it there. will you come back and say whatever you were going to say? >> enjoyed it very much. >> david and jim, nice to see both of you. thank you for coming in. i was going to say something funny. >> go ahead. >> no, no. >> save the humor for later, allison. two murder cases in which two elderly women were killed. police are still trying to figure out who murdered a 92- year-old woman. and an arrest in the death of a 91-year-old journalist will georgetown. her husband now charged. coming up, we're going to learn more about that arrest and get reaction from neighbors. stay with us. we're back after this. it's 7:45 now. >> sure is. >> look who is back. >> mr. perkins. >> nothing new to tell you. >> that's all right, because it's good news. >> do we want to take a look outside? no we don't. current temperatures around the region. reagan national, 71 degrees right now. dulles at 62. bwi marshall at 66. here's a look at the future cast. today, clear. lots of sunshine. warm. 90degrees for your high. clouds out to the west and then by tomorrow get clouds building in during the morning hours and this rain rain across the region tomorrow afternoon. including some spots of heavy rain. you'll need the umbrella tomorrow, but not today. high today about 90 degrees under sunny skies. tomorrow, warm 88. clouds building in, rain showers, thunderstorms across the area. same friday, maybe less than thursday, but still some. saturday looks good, under mostly sunny skies. 87degrees for a high. then on sunday, we think it will be 88 degrees, with a few showers maybe late in the day. there you go. thanks, tony. >> my pleasure. let's check in with lauren. >> hey guys. those toll road eastbound before the beltway, we have a wreck there, right lane blocked, it's the lane that leads to the inner loop. you have to slow down as you head inbound now. beltway, traveling the inner loop approaching georgia avenue, we had a car fire. we had the two right lanes blocked. that's the left of your screen with cars approaching us. looks like everything has moved off to the shoulder. so that is great news. right now heavy and slow traffic from old georgetown road. again, maybe blocking that right lane again. we'll see what happens there. nope, moving on. everything off to the right side of the road. that is good news. do watch for the slow traffic from old georgetown road past 355 up towards this at georgia avenue. let's look at trafficland. outer loop of the beltway heavy and slow. stretch from college park into silver spring. university boulevard jammed there. towards connecticut, the pace does improve for you. traveling the beltway in virginia, this is the outer loop, leaving spring held, toward van doran street. jammed through manassas and centerville. northbound 395 from the beltway past duke street, heavy, then again leer from the pentagon across the 14th street bridge, you're slowing as you head to the freeway. 95 northbound at quantico, had a wreck on the left shoulder. also joplin road eastbound at i- 95 right lane is blocked. steve, over to you. thank you. we want to say good morning to our facebook fan of the day. she says she's counting down to the first day of school. she says only fox five morning news can help her get through those hectic mornings. here's my advice, sleep in while you can. school will be starting soon. if you would like to be tomorrow's fan of the day, post a comment under her picture. search for fox5 morning news on faceback. no space between fox and the number 5. we are going high tech this morning at the washington convention center. >> paul is there live this morning, getting a first look at a robot and unmanned systems exhibit along with a dance marathon. paul, good morning. >> reporter: we're getting geek today with technology. auvsi unmanned systems north america, it's a convention that has robots like this one, oh god, no, it's all right. that robot is actually meant to be thrown. and we are going to find out about this technology and more after the break, so stick with us. i'm going to try to break something here maybe. rather interesting technology event happening at the convention center this week. >> paul is there this morning to learn about the latest in robots and unmanned systems. good morning. >> reporter: this is a very cool event. i'm fascinated by what i've seen so far. it's one of the world's largest conventions that features robots and unmanned systems. i'm joined by the president and ceo. thank you for joining me. >> thank you. >> reporter: talk about the event. >> it's largest of its kind. demonstrating the possibilities of unmanned systems in the air, underground and maritime. >> reporter: talk about how many countries are represented. >> we have over 500 exhibiters here. we have over 7,000 attendees and visitors. we also have over 400 countries being represented. >> reporter: we're using the terms robots and unmanned systems. what's the difference? >> most people understand a robot or robotics and that's the things you see from hollywood or on your television and movies. you think of those as being the manufacturing type things, sophisticated, automation type events. unmanned system, it's usually a term used by the military or presenting from the military side what these capabilities are. >> reporter: we were talking the roles of these robots, to go into situations that we don't want humans to go into, correct? >> correct. unmanned systems or robotics have the ability to do the dangerous and difficult missions that our men and women are exposed to understanding the men and women know how to do their mission better than anyone else. this is just a tool to help them stay out of harm's way when they have to or can, but if they do, they'll go into harm's way. >> reporter: thank you. we're going to feature some of the robots. i'm joined by tim of i robot. >> this is the purpose of these robots. this is the pack bot. designed for explosive work. if you see the guys that have to go into dangerous environments and disarm ieds, or improvised explosives devices, these robots can allow them to have a safe distance up to a thousand meters. send the robot down to disarm, remove the device, or actually detonate the device and keep the operator safe. the whole idea is to provide standoff range. >> reporter: this one? >> this is also the vehicle we put at the fukushima reactor site. it provided visual surveillance of what the damage was there. this is a lighter weight, it is being delivered to infantry forces. previously we gave them to route clearance forces and explosive ordinance disposal. this can be put in a backpack and provide the infantry situational awareness ahead of going into a dangerous location. >> reporter: this one we just showed in the tease. what is this used for and you can toss it, correct? >> there is a throwble robot. you can throw it up to 15 feet on a hard concrete surface. >> reporter: don't hit our cameraman. >> will upright itself and provide situational awareness and camera views. >> reporter: thank you. tell me about your company. >> we specialize in unmanned aviation. we have products that can endure five days endurance to this with a 45 minute endurance. >> reporter: we have this one that flies? >> the design concept for this is that it's totally modular and backpackble. would be designed for a tactile unit. >> reporter: back to you in the studio. >> that's really cool stuff. >> that flying one is really cool. >> amazing what they can do. 7:56now. we'll check in with paul next hour. in the meantime, we're going to get a look at the animal world. photo of a baby gorilla on mama's back. >> here's one of a cougar. this all, thanks to a local wildlife advocacy group. coming up we're going to find out how they got to capture the animals in their own element when one of the scientists joins us instudio. join us after the break. 7:57now. d "m=÷ós?z ais two women in their 90s murdered. one in d.c., the other in maryland. police have made one arrest in one case. the search is on for suspects in the other. montgomery county's police chief speaking out about the flash mob robbery in german town. 129 days to go until christmas. >> wow. >> might be a little too early to start shopping but it's not too early to start planning. we'll have tips. thank you for being with us. i'm steve chenevey. >> i'm allison seymour. when i think it's roughly four months before december, see that's why i'm enjoying the thought of 90 degrees. >> i'm there with you. >> tony, good morning. >> good morning to you. enjoy it while it lasts. before we know it, everything will change. >> just like that. >> that's right. good morning. we'll look at the satellite radar really the only reason we're showing it to you is to show you how blank it is. this is an actual satellite image. there's nothing to show you. a couple of clouds here and there. mostly clear skies. no precipitation. dry day-to-day. calm day-to-day. quiet day to day. that will change tomorrow when we get rain showers moving in here. right now the latest stats to come to us from reagan national airport, 71 degrees. relative humidity 78%. no winds to speak of. barometric pressure on the rise. the forecast for washington for today, mostly sunny skies. a quiet day. look for a high around 90 in washington. 87in winchester. 89 in waldorf. more weather in a little bit. there you go. >> sounds like a good day. let's check in with lauren. good morning, you guys. couple of things going on. we have an accident eastbound dulles toll road at the beltway. watch for that. also just reported connecticut avenue near the chevy chase circle, we have reports of a car fire. let's take a live look, beltway still dealing with delays inner loop jammed to the right of your screen from old georgetown road to georgia avenue, where we had the earlier car fire. it remains heavy and slow. as you travel northbound, 395, delays off and on from the beltway to duke street. then pretty heavy now across the 14th street bridge. delays from before the pentagon, the main and hov lanes. 66 jammed through manassas and delays off and on from 50 fair oaks to the beltway. new this morning, we are just getting word of an arrest after the murder of a woman overnight in beltsville maryland. police were called to the house before 4:00 a.m. a woman white house found dead there. no word on the victim or the suspect's identities. two hours earlier d.c. police were called to the 2600 block of 15th street northwest where a man was found dead. he had been shot. no charges filed there. also under investigation this morning, two shocking crimes involving the murder of elderly women in our area. >> 92-year-old thelma steele was found dead in her prince s county home monday night. and days early in georgetown, 91-year-old viola drath killed in her home. we begin in georgetown. stacy cohan has details of an arrest. >> reporter: good morning. 47-year-old albrecht muth was arrested yesterday in this murder investigation. he had been married to the victim for over 20 years. he was arrested just a few blocks away from their home here they shared on q street. now, we have been told that albrecht muth reported to police he found his wife viola drath, in their home, unconscious. however, police believed that her death was not of natural causes right away and began to zero in on him as a suspect. court records show he's been arrested on domestic violence charges four times since 1992. each case was linked to the address he shared with his wife. in one case he did plead guilty. viola drath was an author, playwright, journalist, well known in this community. she and the suspect had been married over 20 years. she married him when he was just 26 and she was 70 years old. >> it's scary to know that he was living next door. i always had an eerie feeling about him. >> reporter: why eerie? >> i'm not really sure. you could never read him. he never, never was, like i said, it's a friendly place. he never smiled. always looked straight ahead. >> reporter: he's often described as eccentric, known for wandering around in a military uniform. we are expecting to learn more about the nature of her death. the findings of the autopsy expected later today. back to you. as for the murder of thelma steele, still no suspect. police found her body number night in her district heights home. family members asked police to check on her. investigators say she was the victim of foul play, but won't say how she died. authorities in aruba planning another search to find a missing maryland woman. gary giordano has been detained as a suspect. he reported rob everyone gardner disappeared more than two weeks ago while snorkeling. the new search will include police, firefighters, possibly the military. it's expected to start later this week. attorneys for the woman accused of killing her coworker in bethesda will be in court today. brittany norwood is scheduled to stand trial october 24th. today her lawyers will be in court for a pretrial hearing. she is charged with the brutal murder inside the athletic shop in march. prosecutors say they will seek a sentence of life without parole if convicted. new information on the flash mob robbery from last weekend. police are using surveillance video. they say more than two dozen young people raided the stores. investigators have identified about half of the people in this video from tips from the public. the video went viral and police have made arrests, most of those youngsters under the age of 18. >> the arrests we make likely will go to juvenile court and that will involve the parents. to give the judge a chance to look at the family situation and hopefully come up with appropriate measures to prevent this from happening again. >> most had just come from the montgomery county nature. now to a big story around the world. the pope arrives in spain today and protestors don't like the fact the government is paying for his visit. this morning, spanish police just arrested a chemistry student planning to attack the protestors. he is a mexican exchange student specializing in organic chemistry. police say he was planning a gas attack. president obama wrapping up his tour in the midwest today. he'll be holding a pair of town hall meetings in illinois today. the white house insists it's not a campaign tour. details emerging in a pentagon report. the department of defense's inspector general found the army improperly inspected battlefield equipment. apparently, tests were incomplete, conducted on the wrong size plates or relied on ballistics test rounds that were inconsistent. more than 5 million of the inserts were bought through seven contracts between 2004 and 2006. there is also a push to change the way the pentagon takes care of military retirees. the defense secretary admitted retirement reforms are being discussed, but no decisions have been made. a secure retirement was seen as a way to compensate people for the constant moves they make, as well as the danger of serving. >> where are the future leaders of the united states military come from? we fear this initiative could end the all volunteer force. >> it's not a crazy idea for the pentagon to look at this and certainly they recognize that their ability to stretch budgets is getting limited. >> under the current pension system, those who serve 20 years or more can retire at 50% of their highest average salary from the last three years than those who serve less than 20% get nothing. the defense business board proposes a shift to the military equivalent of 401(k) plans. coming up, we'll look at other stories making headlines, including more on the arrest in america following a crime in australia, involving a fake bomb. check this out. these are some of the 52,000 note owes captured by automatic -- photos captured by automatic cameras hidden in the wild. amazing. stay with us. it is now 8:13 on this wednesday morning. secretary of state hillary clinton is defending the u.s.'s response to syria's crackdown. 35 are now dead. the president is escalating the crack down on the protesters deploying tanks, ground troops and snipers. in london, 1,000 people have been arrested in the riots. the government has insisted it is not trying to influence the justice system. a man suspected in possible extortion plot in australia, in a plot there, will remain in a kentucky jail until his extradition hearing in october. a swat team captured paul peters. he's accused of trapping what turned out to be a fake bomb around a teenage girl's neck. i want to say congratulations to tony lewis junior, he is a political activist with a group called sons of life he came up with. that is a picture of tony lewis,, jr. with his father partner of the most notorious drug dealer in the 80s. young tony has turned his life into something one for the record books in an excellent way working to help the district. he's an advocate for ex offenders and youth with parents incarcerated. he was up for one of steve harvey's hoodie awards. he looks at people making a difference in the community. he was voted best community leader for the 2011 hoodie award. we want to say congratulations. >> nationwide award, right? >> nationwide award. representing in a positive way for d.c. he watches the show too. hope you're watching and we think that's a very cool honor. >> tony, congratulations. tony perkins with us now as well, and we congratulate him not only for the weather, but a nice photo. >> check her out. this is -- >> cute doll. >> and they match. >> matching outfits. she goes by the name minnie. holding her american girl doll. >> look at the gloves. >> she's styling. that's great. very cute photo. keep it up, janiya, and mini me. very cute. if you want to send us your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings. here's a look at the current temperatures and we have taken a jump up. 75degrees right now in d.c. a lot of folks have joined us in the 70s. 71 baltimore. 70 dulles. 70 frederick and 70 in fredericksburg. satellite radar composite for the region, nothing to see. keep it moving. nothing in the way of cloud cover. one or two clouds, that's about it. it's quiet here in the washington area, across the mid- atlantic and into the northeast as well, as high pressure continues to dominate. five-day forecast, today's high about 90 degrees under sunny skies. tomorrow, 88, but rain moves in tomorrow. could see areas of heavy rain and thunderstorms. friday scattered storms are a possibility. saturday looks to be a nice day. sunday not a bad day, but clouds build in and a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms in the latter part of the day. that's the latest on the weather. now let's get the latest on the morning rush hour traffic. here's lauren demarco. thank you, tony perkins. that map cracks me up with nothing on it. gw parkway northbound before the key report, a wreck reported so watch for that. trafficland, inbound on the dulles toll road watch for delays from hunter mill. accident just prior to the beltway. it's been cleared out of the way, but still heavy and slow at spring hill road. now, if you are traveling the beltway itself, in montgomery county, just jammed on the inner loop from old georgetown road up past connecticut avenue, toward georgia, where we had the earlier car fire. lane is open, but heavy and slow from college park into silver spring. outer loop in virginia, ramp to 123, we have a wreck. watch for that. northbound 395 heavy leaving the beltway, and again crossing the 14th street bridge. that's a check of your fox five on time traffic. steve, over to you. lauren, thank you. mammals, some of the most fascinating species on earth. we rarely get a close look at them in their own element. but thanks to one group, an arlington based wildlife advocacy group, you can see amazing photos of wildlife. joining us now, a scientist for conservation international. thank you for being with us. a fascinating program, which we can't start to understand until we see the photos, which we'll show as we talk. tell us about the process and how you got these photos, things we would not normally be able to catch on camera. >> well, we put these cameras around seven sites in the globe, around the different tropical forests in the world. we put 60 cameras at each site. and they're very far apart. so they're about a mile and a half from each other, so we capture a very large area of animals and -- forest and capture a lot of animals. >> we saw the photo of the baby gorilla. how impressed were you when you saw some of the images that i'm guessing if you had been standing there with the camera, you wouldn't have had the access you get with the remote cameras. >> yeah, some of the images are incredible. they don't only show the moments that these animals go through every day, but also the photos themselves are data for us and show the effect humans are having on animals and ultimately that, you know, this will have on people. >> this photo now, this is one of the ones that really caught your eye. tell us what we're seeing. >> this is a south american taper. looks like an elephant with a short snout. size of a cow. it's in the amazon forest. >> did you find some images that you really were surprised on how rare some of these images would be? >> yeah. we got a mountain taper, which is a very rare species. we were glad to have it. endangered species and not seen there for a while. >> you mentioned the fact you're using this for research purposes, not just the wow factor, which is really impressive when you see the photos. but you use it for research as well. you were really all over the world. >> that's right. we have -- for this particular study, we had seven sites and now we have 16 sites. we basically doubled the amount of work that we're doing. this is really important. this is telling us a lot about how people are influencing these communities, and also it's telling us a lot about how it will ultimately affect people because all these animals, they have important functions in these ecosystems. >> not just animals, but you caught poachers on camera as well, didn't you? >> that's right. it's inevitable in some sites, especially the small sites and the sites surrounded by people, that you will have poachers and people will go hunting. we hope this will help park authorities control poaching. >> here's a question i have, and you brought one of the cameras with you, that we can see. we'll take a look at that right here. you can -- want to explain how this works? >> yeah. basically this is the standard camera. it's housed in a tough enclosure. this is the heat sensor. so the camera, whenever an animal walks in front of it, it will detect the temperature. this is a flash, which is an infrared flash, so the animals won't see it, or as much during the night and doesn't scare them away. it with stands rain and high temperatures. >> you can leave it for a monday or so without retrieving it. that's my question to you, the animals you're finding in remote places. somebody has to get the camera in there and back out. how tough was that? on international had a lot of help with several -- we had several partners internationally working with us in all these countries. it's very tough to get there. it takes about, you know, if you go in the forest, you can only put two or three in a day, because they're so far away. these people are going, these scientists are going into areas where nobody has gone. there are no trails. just have the gps and trying to find the place to put it. >> it's amazing research. you said you're doing it again now, so at we might see more images? >> yeah. it's on going. hopefully we build up to 40 sites. >> the pictures are phenomenal. we'll put a link to your web site on our web site, myfoxdc.com, if you want to check it out. thank you for coming in. best wishes and happy travels. >> thank you. >> allison, back to you. >> steve, i know you said it wasn't the wow factor, but wow. >> it is a big wow factor. >> thank you so much. interesting stuff there. it's 8:22 now on this wednesday morning. a famous face could soon be growing and dispensing medical marijuana in the district. we are at the convention center with a look at the world's largest collection of robots and unmanned systems. we'll have that and the rest of the news when fox five morning news continues. 8:23. ♪ [ male announcer ] are you watching cable? here's what you should be watching: your cable bill. because you could be paying way too much. stop spending more for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for our best price -- just $84.99 a month for a year -- only available online. go to verizon.com/greatprice to sign up and save $360 in the first year. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers superior picture quality more hd, plus america's fastest most consistent, and most reliable internet. there's no annual contract required. why keep paying for cable? get fios tv, internet and phone for just $84.99 a month for a year -- our best price -- only available online. ordering online is easy. have questions? you can even chat live with a fios agent. so don't wait. visit verizon.com/great price. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's verizon.com/greatprice. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. fios. a network ahead. montel williams wants to grow marijuana in d.c. he's part of a group hoping to get licenses to grow and dispense medical marijuana in the district. the "washington post" reports the nonprofit group is expressing preliminary interest in opening a dispensary in the city. williams has a role in the group, and helped to open a clinic in california earlier this year. the message from big tobacco this morning, the warning labels are too graphic. four of the five biggest companies in the u.s. suing the food and drug administration over the new labels. they say it violates their free speech rights by requiring them to carry government sponsored messages. and the warnings play on people's emotions, too. it is 8:26 now. good news if you want to be one of the first to see the new martin luther king, jr. memorial. we will share that with you when we come back. just 129 days till christmas. >> get shopping. >> unbelievable. while it may be a little early perhaps for some to start shopping, it's not too early to start planning, right? tips how to get through the holiday season debt-free. that's coming up in our next half hour. 8:27. we'll be right back. when it comes to getting my family to eat breakfast i could use all the help i can get. like nutella a delicious hazelnut spread that's perfect on multigrain toast, even whole-wheat waffles for a breakfast that my kids love and i feel good about serving. and nutella is made with simple, quality ingredients, like hazelnuts, skim milk, and a hint of cocoa. it's quick, easy and something everyone can agree on. ♪ ♪ nutella. breakfast never tasted this good. final preparations being made for the dedication of the martin luther king, jr. memorial on the mall. a week-long list of events planned. stevie wonder, jamie foxx, aretha franklin some of the artists that will perform. the city is abandoning plans to require tickets to the early peak of the memorial next tuesday. the dedication set for august 28th and we want you to be a part of this moment in history. go to myfoxdc.com, look under the dedicating the dream. there you can share your photos, stories, video about how dr. king impacted your life and this country. if you took part in the march on washington, if you met him personally, know somebody who did, your thoughts in general about the civil rights movement, tell us about it. send it in. or if say if grandma was there, talk to her about it and document it. >> not only is it something we can use to show others, but a chance for you and grandma to talk about it. start the dialogue. >> hope we do that. in the meantime -- >> hey, allison. good to see you. >> nice to see you, too. forecast, another nice one today. sunshine, low humidity, blue skies. warm this afternoon. as you said, nice to see a 90 once in a while. >> that's right. especially four months out from christmas. >> there you go. four months out from christmas. i better start shopping. 75 reagan national. plenty of 60s overnight. mid-60s out in the mountains. 70 dulles. 72 fredericksburg. blue skies and plenty of sunshine today. highs approaching 90. temperature trend the next couple of days, average daytime high, 87. nothing too extreme through the start of the weekend. today is the nicest day of the week, as we'll have lots of sunshine. you can see into ohio and northwestern pennsylvania, clear skies. high pressure will be moving through. good looking day today. the cold front north and west of chicago will get in here tomorrow, will bring us clouds and increasing possibility of showers and thunderstorms during the day tomorrow. so today will be a dry one and a couple of different opportunities over the next few days for showers and thunderstorms. there's your five-day forecast. 90 today and yeah, weekend looks good, highs in the mid- to upper 80s. >> i like how you phrase that, different opportunities. >> yes. >> the choice is yours! >> trying to make it look sunny. >> i like it and i appreciate it. it could be a sign of things to come. starting in october, wells fargo will start charging debit card users a monthly fee. at first a $3 fee will only apply to customers in georgia, new mexico, nevada and oregon. j.p. morgan chase started a similar program in wisconsin. the test is still underway. summer in full swing, but it's already time to start thinking about the, shiver when you think about it the winter holidays. >> we're not talking about purchasing, but planning. good morning. steve, you say it's time we all take a pledge. >> yeah, absolutely. it goes something like this, i pledge to start saving now, so i can pay for christmas in cash. it happens all the time. i get letters from viewers and they say this, they do so well all year long with their budget, and all of a sudden out of nowhere comes these unexpected holiday expenses. here's the deal, let me let you in on a secret. are you ready? the holidays come at the same time every single year. okay? this is not an unexpected expense. this is a line item in the budget. take a look at this, the average family spends about 750 bucks on holiday shopping this year. that's just average. if you charge that at 15% and pay only the monthly minimum, it will take $1,200 and six years to pay it off, and that's only if you don't charge another thing during those six years, which is highly unlikely. >> yes, because another 750 each of those years, add it up and you're in trouble. where do we start, steve? >> you're only going to spend during the holidays what you save in cash between now and the holidays. if that sounds like it's too crippling for you, maybe next year you start this plan in january. that's when i start mine. or maybe you save twice as much between now and then. first up 10 bucks a week every week between now and christmas. that's about $200. next up, do you go to the atm? >> yes. yes. >> i just heard this story before my segment, atm prices are out of control. stop giving your money away. the average consumer visits the atm 10 times a month at a cost of $4.50 per transaction. if you cut that out, you'll save another $225 between now and the holidays. that's 425 bucks and we haven't even given up anything yet. >> okay. my coanchor steve is the math wiz, but we're still short of that $750. where is that going to come from? >> we've got about $325ish to come up, right? you have 129 days. that's $2.50 a day between now and the holidays. give something up. what is that, a trip to the vending machine or maybe bring your lunch a couple of times a week? the bottom line is this, now what you have on your side is more valuable than money, it is time. let's not have this conversation again in november. i don't want you sitting at your thanksgiving dinner going i should have listened to that noviello guy. start saving today. i promise it will pay off in the end. >> november? i'm talking about december 23rd and i get started sometimes. that's great advice. i'm going to do it. i'm going to take the pledge. >> if she doesn't, i'll make her start january 1st. >> absolutely. >> steve, thank you. always great advice. appreciate you being along with us. 8 # 37:00 now on this wednesday morning. money is tight, and not just for families but local governments, too. >> starting today one virginia city is charging a new tax they hope it will not only raise much needed money, but encourage recycling. that story when we come back. got .sa if you're looking for work, don't forget about our job of the day if you'd like more information on this job or the others we have inside the job shop, go to myfoxdc.com and click on the job shop tab at the top of the home page. if you are a fan of the five-cent grocery bag tax, you will love this story. >> okay. >> if not, maybe not. what about a dollar a bag trash pickup? >> it's a new fee that starts today for residents of falls church. melanie alnwick with this story. >> reporter: these are the stickers that have residents talking. one dollar trash tags sold at city hall, and local hardware stores. >> not too happy about it. they have to go on each bag, so hard to get away from. >> reporter: new rules starting august 17th, require people to put them on any trash that doesn't fit into the city issued 65-gallon bin. kathy alan is the program manager for the city. >> folks that throw away more, that's fine, but it costs us to dispose of it so we're asking for some of that cost to be passed on to the consumer. >> reporter: and fees for yard waste are going up, from what was 50 cents to now a dollar per bag. >> yard waste just like trash costs the city money. >> reporter: the city also wants to encourage more recycling. >> still within what people are throwing away, still a large number of things considered recyclable. >> reporter: recycling actually brings money into the city, as it gets paid for the paper, cans and bottles. there are different rules and stickers, depending on what size can you have. the city believes one trash bin and one recycling bin should be enough for most households. but-- >> you have a party, do a cleanout, you're going to need to buy stickers. >> reporter: it's just one more example of how tight our local budgets have become. melanie alnwick, fox five news. 8:42. the washington nationals paid tribute to the navy seals, the soldiers and air men killed in the helicopter crash in afghanistan. >> we'll take you out to last night's tribute when we come back. paul, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we're at the washington convention center at the auvsi unmanned systems north america, which makes devices that can help navy seals and soldiers and makes devices like this one, i would say a car that allows the blind to drive. stick with us and we'll tell you how after the break. these are ocean spray sparkling juice drinks. they have bubbles. it's real fruit juice; crisp, sparkling water; and no added sugar. and they come in these really cool cans. you want one? i'll wait a bit. all right. mm. refreshing. bacon?! gotta get that bacon! bacon?! bacon? bacon! who wants a beggin' strip? meee! i'd get it myself but i don't have thumbs! yum, yum, yum, yum, yum... it's bacon!!! mmmmm...i love you. i love bacon. i love you. [ male announcer ] there's no time like beggin' time. washington redskins quarterback carousel continues as beck is pegged to be the starter coming up. beck suffered a groin injury and was forced to watch the win over the steelers from the side lines. corner back hall, horton went at each other during practice. no punches were thrown. but they had to be separated. it may stem from horton missing an assignment in last week's win against the steelers. a mistake that didn't result in score, but hall reportedly questioned horton's performance. both say the incident has been put behind them. >> it happened on the field, it's done. we don't hug it out regardless. you know you got to learn to communicate with your teammates. nobody going to be hugging now. definitely no grudge or nothing like that. >> nothing, you know, that can't -- happened. it's over. moving on. >> what led to the altercation? >> i don't want to get into it. it's done. move forward. >> part of camp. you talk about it, talk about keeping your poise, but you understand how it happens. two competitive guys getting after it. it's the nature of the game. happened every place i've been. >> coach shanahan spoke to both individually after practice. also made them run a couple of extra sprints. nats back home to face the reds. nats answer back, scoring 3 runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. they add homeruns by morris and zimmerman. the nats win 6-4. both teams go back at it again tonight. before last night's game the nats paid tribute to the nation's newest veterans and the men killed in the recent navy seals helicopter crash. our bob barnard was there to report. >> reporter: the nats took batting practice, wearing ball caps of the different military branches, honoring the 30 seals, soldiers and air men killed in afghanistan a week ago saturday. >> athletes get beat around, whatever, but what they go through, a totally different thing what they sacrifice. >> reporter: the war veterans and their families also treated to a pregame dinner. >> devastating. the military is like one big family. when you lose somebody, no matter unit, you feel like you lose a piece of yourself. >> reporter: matthews and detweiler spent time with the military families. >> sometimes being here you forget you're in a war. you go to your day-to-day life and you see something like that, and it's a terrible reminder there are people losing their lives for our freedom. >> reporter: more than 6,000 u.s. service men and women have been killed in iraq and afghanistan. that helicopter crash 10 days ago was the single deadliest incident for the u.s. military in the 10 years we've been at war in afghanistan. these veterans say it's good to honor the dead, but remember the living have issues. >> i think homelessness and joblessness are the top two that face the country. and reassimilating. it's hard. >> reporter: the founder of iraq and afghanistan veterans of america says his membership has a 20% unemployment rate. >> our message to everybody in the area and around the country, if you really want to support the vets and troops, hire them. >> it was hard for me to get a job and find a job. i ended up going to school about a year and a half until i found a good job. >> reporter: but this iraq war veteran christopher adams lost his wife. >> it's very hard readjusting family-wise, getting back into the flow of things. dealing with your family, if you're married. i went through a divorce when i came home, and it was really bad. >> reporter: losing her after two very long tours in iraq. >> when i came home she was like when are you leaving again? it was nothing bad, though. that's what she was used to me not being there. >> reporter: they're here, getting a tip of the cap for their sacrifices. ♪ america, america ♪ >> reporter: bob barnard, fox five news. >> nice to see last night military leaders and big whigs roll into washington today. paul joins us live from the convention center. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. i feel a little silly, because everything i see i'm saying it's cool. but there's actually so much more than it just being cool. it's really helping people, whether it's helping soldiers or even the blind, which is what this car is doing. michael flemming joins me to talk about this, i was going to say cool -- >> very cool. >> reporter: you tell me about it. >> it's a base platform that academia and industry is using across the u.s. one of the applications virginia tech and the national federation of the blind use this for is helping the blind to drive. >> reporter: explain how it works. >> in the back we have the brains, if you will. we have the sensors in the front of the vehicle. thing of them as your eyes. these are the brains, pulling in all that information, determining what a road is, what a car is, what an obstacle is. basically everything we see when we drive every day. >> reporter: when you did the testing, the driver had a blindfold on and everything. they could not see anything? >> that's correct. >> reporter: it wasn't the car driving itself, though, correct? >> that's correct. >> reporter: talk about the difference. >> virginia tech lab developed very innovative feedback to the driver. dr.hong is taking off gloves that conveys information to the driver, telling the driver to turn to the right or left. he's sitting on a pad at that vibrates and provides the driver input. all this information coming to the driver telling the driver what to do. once again, the car didn't make the decision. >> reporter: the driver -- >> the driver made the decision. >> reporter: thank you. we're coming over now. a little bit of a walk. come with me. thanks for having me today. >> hi, paul. >> reporter: director of innovation, correct? >> yeah. >> reporter: i like that title. talk about some of the technology. >> we sponsor research for the navy of today, tomorrow and the future. we're very proud of our unmanned systems portfolio. what you're going to see today, this is the ship mate of the future. in this case we're really focused on damage control, fire fighting. we're looking at humanoid systems for that work. this is sapphire, charlie one of the most advanced human systems out there today. >> reporter: talk about how it works. someone controls that robot and they can kind of go into a dangerous area or area we don't want to send a human? >> in the future the robotic system would recognize that there's a fire and would go after that fire on its own. >> reporter: wow. that's amazing. >> a stretch goal, but we're headed there. >> reporter: talk about the little guys. they're kind of cute. you shouldn't kick it over like that. >> they are remarkably agile. come a long way in the past 20 years. this is really the future of small, light sophisticated systems. >> reporter: other than being adorable, what would you use them for? >> there are confined spaces on board ships. what better thing than to throw into a tank or void in space than a small robot? >> reporter: thank you for joining us today. we are out of time. great stuff today. amazing technology. we have more information on our web site, myfoxdc.com. it's mainly a trade only show. you can attend if you'd like. for more information on the technology, check out our web site. back to you. >> paul, thanks. 8:54on this wednesday morning. if you have a computer, e-mail address, you've probably been spammed, phished. >> coming up, how to keep your home and office computers safer. stay with us for that and more. td si d k:zmt÷bnll-$ @ @ (@ú$ cheverly. we would like to take a moment to say hell throw our facebook fan of the day. shan tell swanson. she is counting down to the first day of school. she says only fox5 morning news gets her through those hectic morning. if you would like to be a fox five fan of the day go to our facebook page. one justin bieber fan was named mayor of the day. it's a program designed to get kids interested in municipal government. caroline gonzalez got right to work. first order of business, changing the name of a sheet to justin bieber way. >> i thought it would be cool to have a street in our town named after him. >> action taken at the higher levels. the temporary sign only up a day. she also gave temporary raises to all city employees and inspected the department. my guess is she is going to be reelected real soon. it's coming up on 9:00 now. that's going to do it for this hour. how do you like that? >> i wish she would come here for the day. >> are you kidding? >> here is a look at some of the stories we are following for the 9:00 hour. an arrest has been made if a high profile georgetown murder case. 91-year-old viola drath was found dead in her home. now her husband is in custody. plus, ipods, droids, tablet computers, all relatively new technology. some of it likely already out of date. technology changes so quickly. how do you manage to keep your personal information safe when systems change so often? we are talking to a come uter expert for some safety tips. and we will be talking about cloud computer. gabe dixon has a style all his own and he is performing in our area tonight. before that he joins us live in studio for what we can expect from his show.