ur but later this morning and really this afternoon we'll see some clouds moving from the west and i know it doesn't look very great at the moment but the cold front will likely kick off some scattered showers and thunderstorms around here mid to late afternoon into the evening hours. so again be ready for that possibility behind that front we've got much cooler and drier air for the weekend. details on that in just a minute. hot conditions expected today and highs about 90-degrees. and maybe 91, 92 by 4:00 p.m. with some scattered thunderstorms. the weekend forecast inust a minute. traffic now with julie wright. it's been a busy morning for the crew in sky fox. northbound 95 at 695 in baltimore. all of the activity now cleared and the road is reopened. now inside of the capital beltway headed in to cheverly. we had accident activity reported at 410. what we're finding here is definitely a slow ride southbound on the baltimore washington parkway out of river dale headed to northeast and on new york avenue traffic slow headed for the third street tunnel. back outside and we'll show you the topside out every loop. no problems to report past colesville road. 66 this is a slow ride coming inbound living fair oak -- leaving fair oaks headed for 123. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. all right, julie, thank you very much. the race for the white house once again comes through our area. the republican vice presidential candidate republican paul ryeon will be in virginia today then a rally this afternoon at west springfield high school. ryan's medicare reform proposal has suddenly brought the seniors insurance program to the forefront of the exam pain. fox's nicole collins is live on capitol hill with the top story. >> reporter: good morning tony. medicare now gaining traction this week with voters as a new poll shows 73% of adults say the issue will heavily influence their choice in november. making it personal. mitt romney's running mate paul ryan takes his 78-year-old mother on the campaign trail saturday. pitching medicare reform at the villages. a retirement community in florida an important swing state in the election. >> mitt romney and i will protect and strengthen medicare leave it intact for our current seniors and save it for the next generation. [ applause ] >> reporter: romney and ryan argue president obama is raiding the medicare trust fund to pay for his health care law while the president says the republicans want to turn medicare into a voucher program. >> the budget office says if you do that, seniors on average will see costs rise by $6,400 per year. >> reporter: romney illustrated his medicare message for reporters in south carolina before addressing an unsubstantiated charge he avoided paying taxes for a decade. >> over the past ten years i never paid less than 13%. i think the most recent years 13.6% or something like that. >> reporter: the white house says vice president joe biden stays on the 2012 ticket after a series of gaffes this weekend. leading to suggestions from some republicans like former presidential candidate john mccain that biden should be replaced. >> while i appreciate, i have great admiration for and a long relationship with senator mccain but one place i would not go for advice on vice presidential running mates is senator mccain. >> reporter: paul ryan reversed he requested millions in federal stimulus money for his home state of wisconsin after twice denying he had done so. tony? maryland congressman chris van holland has an important role. they report he has agreed to play paul ryan in the vice presidential debate preparations. he has worked closely with him during last year's negotiations. a topic some voters want to more about is gun violence. nearly 70 relatives of people killed or injured in the 2007 virginia tech shootings to governor romney and president obama. they want to know what candidates are going to do to improve background checks. a decision could come today in a fight in maryland. at the center of it all the state's congressional redistricting map. after the census the sixth district was shifted by the state's democratically dominated legislature to include part of montgomery county. republicans took issue with the changes and collected enough signatures support a referendum on the issue but democrats argue the petition process didn't follow the rules. maryland's court of appeals could rule on that case today. more now on the breaking news out of afghanistan. an afghan policeman turns his gun on american allies and kills two u.s. soldiers and yet another so-called green on blue attack early this morning. this is the sixth time in just the last two weeks that afghans wearing army or police uniforms have killed nato troops. this morning's shooting was in the far western province of farah. it comes after seven americans deed in a blackhawk crash in the province yesterday. american soldiers are now dying at a rate of about one per day so far this year. despite the drawdown of troops. a check of this morning's other top stories now. the suspect accused of opening fire at a family research council's headquarters in northwest d.c. is being held without bond. a judge ordered 28-year-old floyd lee corkins to undergo a mental evaluation. he is due back in court next friday. meantime, wednesday's shooting of a security guard has sparked a war of words between the frc and southern poverty law center. in response to the shooting the president tony perkins made it clear corkins was responsible but implied the flc's rhetoric may have provoked him. >> he was given a license to shoot an unarmed man by organizations like the southern poverty law center that have been reckless because they disagree with them on public policy. >> the nonprofit civil rights group fired back saying that claim is outrageous. the frc is a christian conservative organization known for its anti-gay stance. corkins volunteered on weekends at the center along u street. the west nile virus is rapidly spreading across the country. in fact the u.s. is in the midst of the worst ever west nile outbreak in this country. >> yeah, in fact hundreds of cases have been reported nationwide including a few here in our area. lauren demarco to give us more insight on this. >> reporter: when you hear these numbers it is kind of frightening. right now we do know that there are at least two cases in maryland also in virginia, we have reports of two new cases. now? our area, that's really -- in our area that's really sort of typical for in time of year but if we take a look at a map the numbers nationwide are kind of alarming, we have the nation's worst outbreak of west nile virus since first detected in the u.s. in 1999. nearly 700 cases nationwide including 26 deaths, this map is from the centers for disease control website. it was updated a few days ago but additional cases continue to pop up including the ones here in virginia. and then look at the areas all the dark green dots, those are the human cases that have been reported. in dallas county, texas, west nile killed at least ten people and caused more than 200 others to get sick. plans to spray the area last night spraying in more common place and other areas but this is the first time in 45 years that dallas county launched an aerial assault on mosquitoes. the weather this year likely to blame for the increase in cases of west nile that we're seeing. >> what we can piece together is at least for this year we had a very wet month in june. and with that you had an increased mosquito population because of the breeding grounds. >> reporter: that was file -- that was followed by hot, dry weather across the nation's midsection during a drought standing water can quickly turn stagnant when it's not flushed away by the rain or runoff and also the heat speeds up the mosquito's life cycle. symptoms include headache and high fever, can lead to coma and convulsions and muscle weakness and paralysis or of course death. you are urged to dump any standing water near your home and if you're spending any time outdoors wear repellent and protect your clothing particularly around dawn or dusk when they are most active. so what we are seeing in maryland i wanted to tell you this real quick. the most recent case within the d.c. metro area which i'm not sure exactly where it was. a 70-year-old patient and i want to be particularly careful with young kids and elderly as well. >> also reinforce too, most people a majority of people don't experience symptoms? >> reporter: correct, one in 150 will actually become sick. >> okay. >> still something to be mindful of for sure. thank you lauren. in other news, new this morning, hundreds of bikers are riding across the area as part of the 9/11 anniversary event. they are expected to leave shanksville, pennsylvania this morning and then travel through parts of western maryland and northern virginia. the riders will spend the night near the pentagon. it's the 11th annual ride organized by america's 9/11 foundation to support emergency responders and honor the victims of the attacks. time now is 7:10. coming up, the president sidesteps congress and makes a move to create jobs nationwide. >> and wait until you hear what an airline crew requested from passengers after the jet they were on made an emergency stop for fuel. >> plus, d.c. fire efficients want to know -- officials want to know why it took longer than expected to get a woman to the hospital. we investigate this one. >> mice are under the microscope this morning. why officials say they're no blame for the outbreak of another deadly virus. >> as we head to break this morning a live look outside. gorgeous start to your day, taking a look at the beltway there. 95 interchange. >> where's the traffic? >> yeah exactly. it's summer. people are coming and going. whenever they please. we're going to get the latest weather and traffic from tucker and julie coming up next. [ obama a ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message. [ male announcer ] you work hard. stretch every penny. but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him... mitt romney made twenty million dollars in two thousand ten but paid only fourteen percent in taxes... probably less than you now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax break... and raises taxes on middle class families by up to two thousand dollars a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase. he pays less. you pay more. [ sally umlaut ] it's greek-style yogurt. thick, scrumptious, and more protein than those regular yogurts. are those almonds i see in the corner thingy? caramelized almonds i think you'll find. well, who wants ordinary run-of-the-mill almonds when you could have the caramelized kind? if i was this girl, i'd caramelize my whole apartment. weird. this greek style yogurt has style. you can say that again. why thank you. this greek style yogurt has style. okay. stop saying it now. you're sending me mixed messages. [ male announcer ] muller. the european for yummy. making headlines this morning, and we begin with the warning about a story topping the news all around the world this morning. the video is extremely disturbing. south africa is in shock after riot police opened fire on 1,000 striking workers at a mine killing more than 30. we will not show you the video which just shows police raising their machine guns and cutting down the miners. police are blaming the striking miners but there's now a full investigation into the massacre and the president is cutting short a foreign trip to deal with the crisis. a little closer to home now a popular lodging area in yosemite national park could be linked to a rare rodent borne disease. a man who tied there in june -- stayed there in june died there from the han that virus. it was found in feces of deer mice and the lodging area. starting next week park officials will began trapping and testing the rodents there in the valley. just 60 cases in virginia and nearly 600 nationally since the deadly virus was first identified back in 1993. this is a strange story. imagine being on a plane when the crew says you have to land because you're low on fuel. then the crew asks you to chip in for the gas. this happened to passengers aboard an air france flight. there's a reason. the flight buzz going from paris to beirut wednesday when they had to make that emergency fuel landing in damascus, syria of all places, passengers were asked to see if they had enough cash to pay for more fuel. air france says they only asked for the cash as a precautionary measure because sanctions now in place against syria make the fill up complicates. they didn't need the help of the passengers. >> isn't that crazy? i understand why. i did. but still. it's -- pretty wild to be -- can you imagine just flying anywhere? hey -- >> anybody got some -- >> do you have the money for gas? >> anybody got money for gas? >> we have only charged you like $100 to check your bag. >> you lose a little confidence in the airline. >> i'm definitely pulling my wallet out if i land in syria. >> anything we can do to get out of here quickly. >> here in town a nice start. 72 right now in washington. going to be a hot and steamy day ahead of the cold front and look out later this afternoon, thunderstorms a possibility and we have a weekend cooldown. >> very good. >> let's do it. >> right now reagan national 72 degrees and our humidity, it's not terrible. 76%. winds are currently out of the south and west at 6 and the winds out of the south and west will pick up a little today and that's going to usher in more humid air. you're going to notice that on the upswing as well today. up ahead of the front. there's our front i know it doesn't look terribly impressive at the moment. just a few showers along it but moving into a more humid atmosphere later this afternoon we're like lie to see some scattered showers and thunderstorms kick up along it. and those showers and storms will linger overnight tonight into the early morning hours tomorrow. i think when you wake up here in washington tomorrow there'll probably be just a few lingering clouds and then gradual clearing tomorrow and a nice afternoon with highs only in the low 80s and lower humidity tomorrow. this front really means business. the beach forecast, forecast along the lower eastern shore a little more complicated. that front is going to hang up lodger and more cloud cover around with the possibility of showers both saturday and perhaps a developing a little storminess on sunday as well. so had to keep the clouds in the forecast and ocean city. check out the cool temperatures only about 80 both days. water temperature 75 degrees and not a warbleout at the beaches but not going to be a bright sunny weekend either down there. here's the forecast for us and for the weekend. 92 today. scattered storms return this afternoon. saturday and sunday highs the really monday and tuesday, in the low to mid-80s. yeah. little august and we're talking 80s. love it. >> you know it's friday when the only thing i notice on the little graph trick the beaches is the -- graphic from the beaches is the water. i'm just looking at the water saying that's nice. thanks tucker. >> all right you know who else loves them? julie wright. she's here with a look at the on time traffic. hey. >> fridays are the best with the start of the weekend and every other week they're payday. i mean who can go wrong with afraid? >> you're right. >> tony is going payday? >> come on. >> hey on the roads right now you're going to find lanes are open if you are traveling northbound on 95 heading into bullet mar that's where we had the early morning crash at 395. all that cleared. this is northbound 95 out of newington and looks pretty good right now going past 7100. if you are traveling northbound north of thornburg accident activity with at least two lanes blocked. southbound 270 no problems headed to the spread from jermantown -- split from jermantown. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. a casual infusion for transportation projects nationwide. the obama administration is making nearly half a billion dollars in unspent highway funds available to states that promise to use the money to create jobs and improve roads and bridges. an official announcement is expected today and the money was initially set aside for special projects years ago but never used. a d.c. fire and ems investigation. it comes after we learned that two ambulance crews may have discussed an emergency transport among themselves. >> a woman waited for help. we have more in the exclusive report. >> reporter: a 93-year-old woman falls in her home on august 6th and ambulance from station 6 dropping off a patient at sick lee hospital a mile away is dispatched. >> we dispatch our closest unit to the emergency. >> reporter: but instead of driving directly to the woman's home, sources tell fox 5 ambulance 6 drives past her house to ambulance 29 station. and insists they take her instead. >> ambulance 6 was dispatched. and currently, we're looking into why ambulance 29 was consequently dispatched to the -- to the emergency. >> reporter: for ambulances to switch assignments like that, ems officials say the office of unified communications would need to be notified and records updated among other things. and all of that adds to the response time. our sources say switching out those two ambulances caused at least a 15 minute delay and getting this 93-year-old with a head injury to the hospital. fortunately, she survived and is now recovering at home after a five day hospital stay. "new york times" editor david rosen balm wasn't so lucky. he was injured in a robbery but the crew misdiagnosed him and transported him to the hospital as a low priority patient. he died two days later. d.c. fire and ems has been under fire ever since to revamp its system so that seriously injured people get to the hospital in less than seven minutes. >> and that's why we're investigating it very actively and we will take appropriate action. >> reporter: assistant chief for operations timothy gearhart says gps tracking data from the ambulances is key. have you uncovered any discrepancies between where ambulance 6 and ambulance 29 were supposed to be that night? >> it's really too early to tell that. it's still under investigation. >> reporter: it's also too early to say if the delayed response has hampered the 93- year-old woman's recovery. audrey barnes, fox 5 morning news. >> according to the department guidelines, in? case the response time was more than double that. all right, time now is 7:22. still ahead a new nationwide push to prevent kids from being left in hot cars. >> plus, up for a debate in the district. r lines but is the cost worth it? we'll take a closer look after the break. >> and a comedy whodunit that lets the audience solve the crime. holly is behind the scenes with "sheer madness" this morning about the success of the long running play and going to introduce us to the cast members as well. we'll be right back. we gotta sell the car. where would we even start? get the car. hi howard. get in. hi, good to see you. start with an actual written offer when selling your car, no strings attached. carmax. start here. the department of transportation and the health department are teaming up with a new plan to stop children from dying in hot cars. transportation secretary ray lahood and human services secretary kathleen sebelius have a new nationwide push in alexandria this morning. a press conference is scheduled for 10:15 this morning. bury the power lines, that's the call we have heard over and over after recent major outages including the june 29th storm. well, now d.c. will take a serious look at putting electrical lines underground. mayor gray announced a 15 member task force that will study the issue and make some recommend daises on it. it will hold its first meeting next week. farmers' markets in virginia will soon be accepting food stamps. the state will receive $92,000 in federal funds to place ebt machines in the marketplaces so eligible customers can use their supplemental nutrition assistance program vouchers for fresh produce and eggs and other healthy items. also pay with a dent or credit card. still ahead, it is a crucial issue for seniors. maryland care. up next, a -- medicare. up next a closer look at how the debate is playing out on the campaign trail. >> as we head to the break, here's another live look outside. tucker barnes will be here in just a moment with weather and julie will be here with a look at traffic and again this is -- the second traffic shot we've seen that doesn't look too bad. we'll have all the details in just a moment. we'll be right back. but you know about a special guest joining us later on fox 5 morning news, director, producer and actor spike lee will be with us live in our 9:00 hour. he's here to talk about the latest film called "red hock summer" and also the project on broadway the recent one man show starring boxer mike tyson. again that's coming up in our 9:00 hour. all right. should be fun. should be a fun weekend too to get outside if you want to. >> uh-huh. >> going to be nice and cool. outdoor plans i think by tomorrow afternoon and sunday should be you know all systems go here. >> maybe some rain early tomorrow? >> a leftover shower early tomorrow morning and some lingering cloud cover here. the farther south and east you get here the thicker the cloud cover will be. i'll show you here in just a minute. warm, pleasant and not terribly humid at this time but it will become so a little later. yesterday, back in the 90s and at least at reagan national it was 91. dulles was 87 and bmi marshall 88. these numbers i think will get awfully close to them again this afternoon. upper 80s and low 90s with noticeably more humidity. yesterday we got a bit of a break from the humidity. today the wet feeling in the feast will be back here as the winds are going to pick up out of the south and west. currently 72 in washington not bad. 66 at dulles and 64 this morning in one chester. 74 for you patuxent naval air station and let's see across the bay, ocean city is 73. temperatures going to warm up quickly. the reason why? winds are out of the south and west and they'll pick up so you'll feel a bit of a breeze today and that's going to push in that warmer more humid air for a time this afternoon. and then this, the cold front, the cloud cover, the possibility of showers and thunderstorms will move in a little later. so early sunshine for you today. and then you'll start to see the clouds move in by mid to late afternoon and an increasing possibility of scattered showers and thunderstorms later today and the threat will linger into the nighttime hours. this front is going to be kind of moving slowly through the area during the overnight hours and tomorrow morning we get up as you mentioned i think some cloud cover around here and the farther south and east you get down to the beaches the clouds are going to hold together longer here. and possibility of showers will linger into the afternoon across the lower eastern shore thunderstorm. i think here in washington back in the sunshine by second half of saturday. 92 today. a.m. sun. p.m. clouds. yes, scattered afternoon storms back and winds south and west here 5 to 10 and you will notice the humidity on the increase as well. scattered showers and storms tonight really right into the overnight hours, overnight low about 70. nationals' game. i think they'll get it in but you may be dodging a few rain drops at the game there later tonight. there's five day forecast. tomorrow 83-degrees and overnight lows in the mid 60s. we can turn off the air conditioner here into the weekend it's going to be very nice around here. highs only 80 on sunday. okay, let's go traffic and get the latest from julie. julie? >> it looks good -- the forecast. >> i thought you were talking about me. >> yeah, yeah, yeah. you're a hottie tucker. all the ladies love you. >> you're just saying that julie. >> you know. they do. they really do. okay, on the roads right now you're going find the topside of the beltway the outer loop here at colesville road no problems to report. southbound bw parkway we have delays continuing to 450 earlier incidents cleared. this is 355 at cedar doing on going road work and it's scheduled to begin right now as we speak here along cedar and 355. right now 355 is open and no problems to report traveling from the beltway headed in towards downtown. you'll find lanes are open if you are traveling northbound on i-95 out of newington. traffic volume moving at speed and continuing back up to the capitol beltway. a crash northbound approaching thornburg, you're hitting the backup there. the accident occurred north of is that at the 122-mile marker. two lanes are blocked. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. all right, julie. thank you. both campaigns are intent on using representative paul ryan's medicare plan as a big campaign issue. democrats say the proposal would gut medicare and strand seniors but republicans counter claim that the current administration's plans would snatch money from needy seniors and courthouse it to finance unneeded health care reform programs. "usa today" reporter richard wolf joins us now with more. thank you so much for coming in to sort this out for us. >> i'll try, i'm not sure it's sortable. >> we hear the different ads that are out there and unfortunately sometimes it's all that people hear and they take it as gospel. and that's not necessarily the case here. let's talk about the medicare plan. of course with the selection of ryan as romney reese vp running mate here it's brought it into the forefront. what are the differences with the obama administration's idea and congressman ryan's? >> the obama administration was out there first with their affordable care act about providing insurance to 32 million more people and they needed financing for it. about a third of the money i believe it is comes from cuts to medicare. cuts to medicare, we shouldn't even use that word. it's reductions in future increases, medicare never decreases but the cuts that the obama administration wants would come from providers. they would not come from your grandmother. so they would come from doctors, drug makers, medical device makers et cetera. and those groups all were involved in the passage of the affordable care act in the first place, what they're getting back for the increased money they would pay in is all these new customers that the affordable care act is supposed to give them. that's the obama plan, not so much a medicare reduction plan as it is the affordable care act. the obama health care law and medicare being a way to pay for it. on the flip side you have the romney ryan plan. that's called premium support. a lot of people like to call it vouchers. that amounts to is you would get a set amount of money be paid directly to the insurance company but you'd be picking your private plan. they say now you can have traditional medicare but one way or another, you would probably either pay more or get less as the years go on. for that plan. however, it doesn't kick in until 2012. >> i think that's the thing we were talking about beforehand. a lot of these ads kind of make it sound like they show seniors in these ads making it look like you're going to get hit right now and right away. that's not the case. >> right. >> in congressman ryan's plan. it's delayed a little bit. how much truth bending is really going on in the ads then? how much can they get away with? and how much can we really believe? >> you can believe most of what you hear but the ads are meant to give a misimpressions. so on the one hand, the obama administration -- the obama campaign i should say which is eager to have this debate because they think paul ryan's budget now the plan that romney has endorsed is bad politics for republicans. they won't overtly say that it's going to affect today's seniors. nor will they say it's going to affect people over 55 which it does not. but the ads sort of imply that. they will show people senior citizens in the ads, they talk a lot and they replay all the news reports ant how this is going to be a game changer in florida. why should it be a game changer in florida? florida is one quarter senior citizens, they are protected under the ryan plan. it's all about younger people going in. so there's that misimpression. the same thing on the republican side. they try to make it look like what the obama $716 billion in cuts is, is it's going to affect your parents and grandparents today whereas -- well, it would kick in immediately but? this case it's cuts to the health care providers not the beneficiaries. >> richard wolf with "usa today." basically kind of need to check your facts and you've been doing that i know. "usa today" with your q&a. i know it's -- like you said before the ads kind of drown it out but you look for the information that is there as to what the plans are about. thank you so much for coming in. we appreciate it. tony? thank you very much. still ahead on fox 5 morning news, one of the first outside glimpse of jesse jackson jr.'s struggle with bipolar disorder. details from a special visitor. >> and hikers to the rescue. how they managed to get this injured dog down from one of colorado's highest peaks. time now 7:38. we'll be right back. as jesse jackson jr. continues treatment for bipolar disorder he welcomed a former congressman who also suffers from the disease for a visit. patrick kennedy spent an hour with jackson yesterday in minnesota. he says the chicago democrat is in a deep depression and has a lot of work ahead. but says jackson recognizes the challenges he faces and has great determination to recover. kennedy retired from congress last year. he has also been treated at the mayo clinic. people going to a shopping plaza in chicago will now know that that is the place where the first couple shared their first kiss. a plaque marks the spot outside where president obama first planted a smooch on michelle. that was back in 1989. the management of the shopping center put up the 3,000-pound granite marker this week. the obamas will celebrate their 20th anniversary this october. >> hmm. okay. now to a story for the animal lovers out there. a couple hiking last weekend found an injured german shepherd abandoned on top of one of colorado's highest peaks. they rallied fellow hikers on a hiking website to help out. the team found the dog at about 13,000 feet and took turns carrying her down the mountain in a backpack carrierment isn't that sweet? i love that. the dog is currently being cared for by a veterinarian. that's a great story. but then on top of that i'm like who would leave the dog there? i hope someone didn't just leave it there. did the dog run off maybe? >> unless the dog wrapped its own injury i think somebody was trying to take care of it weren't they? >> may believe he was injured when they found him -- maybe he was injured when they found him. >> what i'm hoping -- >> maybe he was injured and they wrapped it. i don't think the dog wrapped it himself. >> dogs do amazing things. >> i'm just saying it would leave you to believe they found him injured and they wrap him up. >> that looked like the picture we discovered she just wrapped her own leg. >> what's going on with the weather? >> wow. >> i'm going to have to say it again aren't i? >> don't! >> say what? 72 degrees right now at washington. 70 in leonardtown. 60s off to the west and 63 manassas and 63 frederick. >> get you back on monday. >> you know what he said. futurecast put in motion for you, cloud cover across the area. later today. we're going to have sunshine here the next couple of hours and the clouds will move in. look out for the possibility of thunderstorms later this afternoon and during the evening hours. at 6:00 a line of thunderstorms starting to develop north and west. and then there you go by 2:00 in the morning some showers and thunderstorms linger across the area. notice what happens tomorrow morning. we start to clear out here in washington. but the points south and east the clouds kind of stick around along with a few showers down at the beaches tomorrow afternoon. so further south than east you get the less sunshine you will get in your saturday forecast. sunday, monday tuesday back into the 80s and should be a nice cool trend here. >> yeah. >> very good. >> yeah. all right, thank you sir. let's go the julie wright now with the latest on this morning's rush hour traffic. hey julie. >> can i just and who leaves their dog? i mean -- i know that bothered me. that really bothers me. >> this is what i was going to say and i know what tucker was saying because it looked like the dog was discovered and had been injured already and wrapped. what i'm assuming someone was up there with the dog, the dog got injured and they maybe just one person and couldn't figure out how to get the dog down. >> for eight days? you couldn't figure out how to get in touch with somebody and get your dog down? >> they did it through a website. it was like a chain of people they got to dog down. but the dog is going to be okay. >> it's okay. calming down now. >> okay. >> i'm going to squeeze beetle bailey and give him an extra biscuit when i get home. they are set up the construction here at 355 and cedar along the right side of the road. not too much of a backup right now but again ongoing roadwork is taking place. topside of the beltway slowing briefly past colesville road. looking good past the inner loop. no problems to report on the bw parkway. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. please don't get married. i love you. you should -- you should love me in the eyes. >> i'm sorry. so sweaty. now it's just gone. >> we are sharing another scene from "ben and kate." another comedy. >> you have a chance to see this show and others in an exclusive screening in los angeles. you can enter for a chance to win this grand prize trip right now at myfoxdc.com. look under the mornings page. you can be one of 20 additional winners as well. five first prize winners will each receive a $50 american express gift card and 15 second prize winners will receive two tickets to an advance screening here in the d.c. area. you must believe 18 or older and you must live in d.c., maryland or virginia to enter, you can see the complete rules on myfoxdc.com. yeah. and you must have a magnifying glass to see them at the bottom of the screen too. >> fine print. >> myfoxdc.com head there. still ahead a trip to the kennedy center. >> holly is live. >> it is record-breaking indeed tony. in fact this month, i don't know if you knew this. but this month, you are going to hit the 12,000th performance mark. we are on stage this morning at the kennedy center with some of the people behind the "sheer madness." that goes on here. at this wonderful cultural center coming up we're going to tell you firsthand how they're celebrating their 25 year anniversary and why you need to come out and see the show. you won't be disappointed. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. . time now for our facebook fan of the day and today we say hello to tonya sparkle dupree. her middle name is taken right from the movie and she is up early to go see the remake. the movie of "sparkle" of course with whitney houston in it which we've been talking about this morning. con congratulatelations to you tonya. fox 5 morning news -- congratulations to you tonya. fox 5 morning news will continue after the break. i'm drinking dunkin'. medium iced, cream and sugar. dunkin' iced all day long. dunkin' keeps me going. it gives me the boost i need. dunkin' iced keeps me moving and grooving. i run on dunkin'. america runs on dunkin' coffee. we're talking "sheer madness" this morning. the comedy whodunit holds the guinness world record as the second longest running play in the history of american theater. >> wow. >> did you know that? >> no. i didn't want. >> it celebrates its 25th anniversary this month. >> it continues to delight autoyenses worldwide and here at home. holly morrison is live from the kennedy center this morning. >> you know what? i'm going to amaze you even more because actually the boston version of "sheer madness" holds the record for the longst running play in american history. the -- the d.c. version holds the record as the second longest running play. and the chicago version holds the record for the third longest running play. so i guess we can say this is a pretty successful play? >> somehow. >> somehow. some way. >> we've managed to hang on. >> these are two of the successful men that help make it happen here. not only at the kennedy center and also around the world literally. this is bob, he's the associate director and also sometimes cast member. he is -- is this right? you have played every male role in this play. >> i have. and in rehearsal i -- when i'm putting in a new actress i play the female part. >> we are just going to dub him "sheer madness." and this is tony. and you've been with the show for how long? >> since '99. >> you also do it in boston. >> yes. >> let's talk a little bit about how this craze really got started. >> well, back in the late '70s i think around '77 or '78. bruce jordan who was the original director of the show and one of the creators of the show found this little play called "sharon schnit" which was written by a german sociologist and it was a -- it's kinds of an experiment and perception. he found it and he recognized there was some potential for it. and he brought it to maryland abrams the two of them worked on it and made it a comedy. and put it up at the lake george dinner theater and it was very successful. they moved it to boston. and that's where it's been since the beginning of time. basically. >> right. right. here they're celebrating their 25th anniversary which is why we're here today. we have some old pictures which are pretty fun to look at. >> especially when i had hair. >> we did comment on it. does it seem funny we're in a hair salon? talking to two guys and don't have a lot of hair? i digress. how does this work and what makes the play unique? >> it's a murder mystery and it takes place of course in a hair salon. the audience participates and they decide every night who the killer is. >> so every time you come to see the show it could literally be different because it could have a different ending. >> it's different ever night. >> but it also becomes current because what was funny 25 years ago -- may not totally still be funny today. right? >> right. yes. >> you guys keep the show current. >> we do, we do. actually that's one of the non- - of the continuous jobs that we do in the dressing room every night. every night somebody's got the paper and we're looking through the paper and talking about things we've seen on television, things that are in the public mentality at the time. the thing about this show is we bring in people here at the kennedy center from all over the country. and from canada and what have you. and so we have to come up with the jokes, we can't do inside the beltway stuff. can't be stuff that's -- you know, that only a washingtonian would know. >> but that is part of what makes it successful in other cities is that you make it so specific to that city. that's the challenge here. >> that's right. >> right. i mean we balance it and it's fun you know we make a very local reference and we'll hear the audience laugh and we'll know well tonight we have a local audience you know. and i don't know that. but we -- we try to put things in every day that are out of the news you know. i mean we just keep our fingers crossed for some scandal. >> i'm sorry, dill you say just say you watched channel 5 for the news? >> exactly. right. and you're on 5 right? >> right. [ laughter ] at least you got the number right. so for the cast members though a lot of you have been in it for so long. i mean obviously you must enjoy it. >> i love it. i saw the -- >> steady paycheck? >> yes. and i've been in it for so long and i saw the show in high school and i saw bruce play tony which was the part i play now. i rebel watching it saying i have to do the show someday and here i am you know. >> the thing i love about "sheer madness" and i saw it for the first time in chicago actually. and then when i move today washington and saw it was here i'm like i have to go see it again. it is one of the shows that you love to come back and see more. but what i love about it is that it doesn't matter if you love theater or not. you are going to love this. and which is a great way to introduce people to theater. >> and you know what? we have thousands of kids and the school groups. every school group in america must come to washington at some point and time. >> down on the mall. >> to the right please on the escalator. but we have one lady came up to me not too long ago and she said i saw the show when i was in seventh grade and i am chaperoning my daughter's seventh grade class to see the show. i wanted to hit her -- >> exactly! >> and then you got your cane out. okay. listen. >> isn't that nice? >> myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the kennedy center. "sheer madness" runs tuesdayed through sundays and on sunday that's -- tuesdays through sundays, tuesday there's a matinee. we have the wonderful milestone of 25 years and still going strong. back to you on the studio. >> all right, she's convinced me i need to see it again. i also saw it in chicago for the first time. coming up at 8:00 we're going to check in with fox news sunday host chris wallace for a preview. >> and movie critic kevin mccarthy has a sneak peek at the box office this weekend. wisdom martin is coming up next with tony perkins here. u paid in to medicare for years. every paycheck. now, when you need it obama has cut $716 billion dollars from medicare. why? to pay for obamacare. so now the money you paid for your guaranteed healthcare is going to a massive new government program that's not for you. the romney-ryan plan protects medicare benefits for today's seniors and strengthens the plan for the next generation. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. straight ahead at 8:00 an air yawl assault on west nile virus. parts of texas take extreme measures to fight mosquitoes and more cases pop up in the metro area. we have a live report. plus tough talk on the campaign trail. we'll have a closer look at the back and forth when fox news sunday host chris wallace joins us live. and later, breaking the bank to raise a child. it may be a priceless experience, but paying for it certainly is not. good morning everybody, i'm tony perkins. >> and i'm wisdom martin. allison has the day off. >> now with tucker bern asks see the weather for today and the -- barnes and see what the weather is for and for the weekend. >> we'll take it. later today kind of hot and steamy. highs in the 90s and some thunderstorms later and want to be ready for that. >> all right, brace yourself. >> but then the weekend looks great. at least cooler. let's do it. current numbers reagan national still hanging out in the 70s and generally comfortable start. 60s here to the west and the north of the city. 64 in winchester. 65 this morning baltimore and ocean city 73 degrees. not a bad start. should be plenty of sunshine for the first half of the day. later this afternoon we'll see the clouds roll in. and along with it the threat of scattered showers and thunderstorms as our cold front starts to move from the west and the north here. there's a live look. not a lot to feature here and a lot of sunshine for the next several hours, again morning sunshine and afternoon clouds for friday. it will be hot and steamy compared to yesterday. more humidity in the forecast. 92 in washington. 90 in baltimore. 89 front royal and the threat of showers and thunderstorms later this afternoon and tonight but a cooler weekend and i'll have details on that in just a minute. all right, thank you very much tucker barnes. very good. now let's go the julie wright and get the latest on the morning's rush hour traffic. julie? >> i saw the boys, i like it. >> thank you. >> that's actually man show julie. >> oh. [ laughter ] well, then. back to the traffic. 355 coming southbound this is where they're busy setting up the roadwork they've got it if place, the right side of the roadway is blocked at cedar. northbound all lanes are open no problems there. on the outer loop of the beltway lanes are open leaving university boulevard. now northbound 295 as you approach the inbound 11th street bridge. delays leaving the beltway continuing up to the scene and again inner loop and outer loop running at speed at colesville. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. thank you julie. two more u.s. troops are dead in afghanistan after an attack by a policeman. it is the sixth such attack in two weeks. the shooting happened early this morning in the western province of farah. the attacker was a member of the afghan local police. a group being trained by u.s. forces. the attacker was also shot and killed. today's attack brings the two day u.s. death toll in afghanistan to nine. yesterday seven soldiers died when a blackhawk helicopter crashed. nato is still investigating the crash. another disturbing report from the front lines the army says the number of soldier suicides more than doubled from june to july. 26 active duty soldiers kill ld themselves last month. 14 more than the year before. the marine corps had eight suicides in july. six more than in june. that brings the milltarial branch's total to -- military branch's total to 32 for 2012. tying the total for all of 2011. the air force reported six suicides in july, four more than june. the 2012 total so far stands at 116 for all military branches. the new republican vice presidential candidate is in virginia today. congressman paul ryan is heading to the high school in glen allen this morning. he is a victory rally at 11:00 and this morning in springfield after 3:00. at 3:30. rather mitt romney's wife anne is talking about the multiple sclerosis. the wife says she had quote a little bitty flare-up during the spring and romney himself is talking about his taxes saying he's paid no less than 13 of the the income taxes but -- 13% of the income taxes but now we're hearing the obama campaign just in the last hour put out an offer to romney saying the he releases five years of tax returns obama's team won't criticize him for not releasing any more. our big story this morning. the west nile virus is rapidly spreading across the country. officials say this is the worst outbreak of the disease ever. now according to the cdc so far nearly 700 cases have been reported. including a few right here in our area. fox 5's lauren demarco is here with the latest on the story. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning to you, the kind of frightening because included in the 700 cases 26 deaths nationwide. here in our area in maryland two people have come down with the virus. the most recent a 70-year-old in the d.c. metro area. another in mid-july in central maryland and virginia now has two confirmed cases one in southwest virginia. the other in the northwest part of the state. officials say these numbers are normal for the time of year here in our area. however, again, nationwide we are experiencing the worst outbreak ever of west nile virus since first detected in the u.s. in 1999. nearly half of the cases are in texas. in dallas county, west nile has killed at least ten people and caused more than 200 ores to get -- others to get sick. you can see here the county used planes last night to spray and they had to wrap up early because of some rain showers but they will be out again tonight. spraying is more commonplace in otherruations but this is the first time in -- in other areas but this is the first time in 45 years that dallas county launched an aerial attack on mosquitoes. most people won't get sick but about one in 150 people will develop the severe form of the illness. symptoms including headache, fever, stiff neck, disorientation and can also lead to coma, paralysis and of course death. one of the best ways to protect your family is to get rid of the standing water around your home and your yard. expert says mosquitoes require a surprisingly small amount so check pet dishes and birdbaths and make sure lids cannot flipped up -- are not flipped upside down and flip any dripping faucet. mosquitoes are most active around dawn or dusk and wear protective clothing and an epa registered bug spray if you're espning time outdoors -- spending time outdoors. wisdom back to you. >> thank you very much for that report. out west now where fire crews lifted some evacuation ordered even as thigh continue fighting the raging wildfires. some residents don't feel safe from the flames. the good news? the crews have made some progress containing the three dozen fires burning across four states. wisdom, the man accused of shooting a guard in the lobby of the family research council will undergo a mental evaluation. but, in the meantime, 23-year- old floyd lee corkins will be held without bond. he's due back in court next week. the victim of the shooting security guard leo johnson is recuperating in a local hospital and is said to be in good spirits. investigators continued to look at whether the accused shooter opened fire at the frc because of its stance against gay rights and same sex marriage and now comments from the head of the family research council about the alleged gunman's motivation touched off a debate. >> i believe he was given a license to do that by a group such as the southern poverty law center who as you pointed out earlier labeled us a hate group because we defend the family and we stand for traditional orthodox christianity. >> the southern poverty law center responded to the claim saying this -- perkins' accusation is outrageous. the splc listed them a as a hate group since 2010 because it has -- all right, when we come back we're going to talk a little bit about sports, the nats face an nl rival, the redskins get ready for a preseason game number two. and here's one for you. condoleeza rice remember her? she adds a new job to her resume. still ahead at 8:00 we'll have a complete sports wrap. even got rise in there. >> very interesting, but first a rolling tribute to the victims of 9/11 caledonian some traffic delays for -- could mean some traffic delays for drivers here in our region. we're going to tell you where when fox 5 morning news continues. right now it's 8:09. [ female announcer ] these are the crescents you love on a holiday. and these are the ones you'll love on a school night. pillsbury crescent dogs with just a few ingredients you have an easy dinner... pillsbury crescent dogs... school night ideas made easy. that's been wrapped in a flaky crust stuffed with a gooey center toasted up all golden brown then given a delicious design? a toaster strudel. pillsbury toaster strudel. so delicious...so fun. [ male announcer ] you worork hard. stretch every penny. but chances are you pay a higher tax rate than him... mitt romney made twenty million dollars in two thousand ten but paid only fourteen percent in taxes... probably less than you now he has a plan that would give millionaires another tax break... and raises taxes on middle class families by up to two thousand dollars a year. mitt romney's middle class tax increase. he pays less. you pay more. all right, looking at the day ahead a rolling tribute to the victims of the september 11th terror attacks could mean some traffic delays as well. hundreds of motorcyclist will ride across parts of western maryland and northern virginia traveling from shanksville, pennsylvania to the pentagon to new york city. now their route includes parts of interstate 70 and 66. extra cash is being made available for transit projects nationwide. today the department of transportation will free up about half a billion dollars for states to create jobs and fix roads and bridges. now the money was set aside for special projects years ago but never spent. and finally, a warning for metro riders. track work will shut down parts of the red line tonight at 10:00. but this will replace trains between the silver spring and nona stations. trains will also single track on parts of the orange, blue and green lines. all right, it's 8:13 now. tucker barnes joins us once again for the update on your weekend weather. but first -- >> but first. >> you got something else for us right? >> i certainly do thank you tony. it's going to be cute because it's friday. time now for the my first 5 photo of the day. >> it's a twofer. >> it is cute. yes. it's a twofer. all right, today we say hello to brother and sister jaylen and kennedy pearson everybody. >> that is so cute. >> that is cute. >> i like the color coordination. that is nice. >> i love how well-dressed all the kids are. >> i know. >> i don't think i had any outfit that was in nice when i was you know -- under 3. >> i have no idea. >> you didn't have any of that. >> all right the great aunt tells us this is a picture from the very first easter. >> that's great. she -- now, the they're kissing. -- they're kissing is jaylen also using an iphone to snap a picture of themselves? >> i looks like she is just probably finished up a phone call. >> or sending that picture in to be in it. >> she sent the picture to us? that's great. send us your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com and click on the morning tab. congratulations and thanks for sending the picture, it looks fantastic. temperatures right now in washington 74 degrees here in town. 60s north and west and 66 in gaithersburg and manassas. going to open up for you a little bit and if you can see it, focus oftest north and west, places like chicago 59 degrees right now and 63 detroit. guess what? cooler air headed our way this afternoon and overnight tonight as there on the other side of the cold front. see the cloud cover into eastern ohio and the rain showers now breaking out? that's our cold front that will get in here a little later today. a decent chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms and late tonight and early tomorrow it should be a decent weekend. not going to be perfectly sunny but with temperatures only topping out in the low to mid- 80s without a lot of humidity. 92 today and scattered storms and there's your weekend forecast. could be a few showers around here early saturday. and let me mention if you're going to be heading down to the beaches this weekend, both saturday and sunday going to feature a lot of clouds for you with the possibility of some showers down there. as this frontal system is just going to kind of hang up across the lower eastern shore and there could be an area of storminess that develops along it. otherwise can't go wrong at the beaches and around here generally be quiet and a nice drying trend around here by tomorrow afternoon. all right let's do photograph and last look at traffic with -- there she is, julie wright. >> that's a cute picture. i like that. >> adorable. >> it was. i wonder if i tried to do that to my brother now, what would happen? >> what, the kiss? i don't want to get involved in that julie. [ laughter ] >> my brother was mean. my brother 1'6"6 and he used to -- is 6'6" and he used to hold candy over my head and tell me if i could get it i could have it. but i'm the good looking one in the family. >> all right julie. >> have a good weekend tucker. >> 295 northbound it's siblings. if you're traveling from the beltway to the inbound 11th street bridge accident activity here two right lanes we have delays heaving the beltway heading northbound. 66 nice and quiet now. unfortunately hitting the brakes here closer to fair oaks down to about 31 miles an hour. the problem is the accident before the beltway tying up the lane as you commit to 495. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. we have a great weekend. thank you much. 8:17 now. the tough talk on the campaign trail will be one of the main topics of fox news sunday this weekend. chris wallace is the host of the show and he joins me now with a preview of the program. good morning chris. >> good >> let's talk about who you've got on the show. it has been very interesting this week. what's interesting to me about the dialogue going on between the obama campaign and the romney campaign. and now, the ryan campaign and the biden campaigns as well. the week started off very dicey with -- joe biden making a careless slip or however you want to characterize it. but, this week there has been some substance talking about medicare for example. >> yeah, i mean there were a couple of things that were kind of repeats of golden old guys. biden making some verbal gaffes and the republicans being attacked by the democrats on -- on romney's taxes. but the new development this week, the important new development was the debate over medicare and it isn't going quite the way i expected it to. everyone thought the ryan plan calls for in ten years doesn't affect nibble over the age of 55. but in ten years you'd get a voucher and not pay for all the costs. so over time, it would appear that seniors might have to pay more for medicare which is basically free for them now. free for service. but the democrats have been able -- republicans rather have been able to turn that around a little bit tony, and make the point that obama as part of obamacare, takes $700 billion out of medicare and uses it to pay for obamacare. and so basically what they're saying is he's raiding seniors to pay for young people. so it is cutting both ways and i think that could be a very key issue in this campaign. much more important frankly than biden's gaffes or romney's taxes. which is how voters come to perceive who's really protecting medicare. >> now, we have -- you have ed coming in correct? >> we have ed gillless pee for the republicans and robert gibbs the former white house secretary for the obama campaign. one more thing and that is that the obama campaign is now challenging the romney campaign saying if romney will release five years of tax returns we won't ask for any more. i think that's an offer they will find very easy to refuse. >> we just reported that a few moments ago and it will believe interesting to see what mr. gillest pee has to say about that. what else on sentenced. >> you know, obviously we'll talk with them about biden. we'll talk -- and his gaffes. i don't believe there was talk that was any serious consideration at the late date of dumping him for hillary clinton but it will be interesting to talk about and of course the taxes which continues a little bit to my surprise to resonate you know when romney said yesterday i've checked over the last ten years and never paid less than 13% on my taxes. i thought it was interesting but obviously people you know people say what's a relevant issue? my answer is always tony whatever voters think is relevant. >> all right chris, we look forward to the show on sunday and thank you for joining us this morning and of course we will want to remind everybody that you can catch fox news sunday sunday morning of course at 9:00 right after fox 5 morning news. thank you sir. wisdom? all right tony. thank you very much. well coming up this search for america's newest multimillionaire. >> latest live to the kennedy center where holly morrison is going mad with the cast of a famous comedy. whodunit? celebrating a major milestone. it's 8:20. we'll be right back. i've heard that before. >> blowing up -- it's bruce springsteen. >> that's why i've heard it before. >> early stuff. >> all right. let's talk about new jersey. and bruce springsteen. early childhood academy is on the hunt for fans who go goo goo gaga for the boss. >> look at this look at this video. take a look. the learning experience learning academy center held a bruce springsteen look alike contest for babies up to 6 years old. it took place thursday at its location in freehold that's where springsteen grew up. the kids competed for a first place prize of $500 and a free month of child care. pretty good. >> yeah. >> the first place winner was 8- month-old donovan hall who held a tunnel of love cassette tape and two fake tickets to his appearance. that's funny. >> that is. he even looks like he's saying -- he's ready for that. the royal couple gets waxed or at least a likeness of themselves made in wax. >> okay. >> that's -- we clarify that. now madame tussauds debuted them in berlin. the they are on display as a part of campaign britain overseas. >> they look pretty good. nobody in our area won this week's $337 million powerball jackpot. but we know where one of the $1 million tickets was sold. virginia lottery officials say someone bought it at the 7/11 on south washington street in falls church. no winner has come forward yet. and in michigan meanwhile nobody has come forward yet to claim the $337 million powerball prize either. they're getting everything together. was it south washington? i thought i heard north washington street. >> i'm not sure. >> it was one of the streets. >> i just know we didn't win. >> so close. >> we can use some of the money because you know the experience about raising a child may be priceless but the cost is incredibly expensive. >> still ahead in the next half hour a new study shows how much people spend on child care. you may be astonished. it's 8:25. fox 5 morning news, we'll be right back. coming up on 8:29. making had had lines leer and around the world. a 7 clash 11 in alexandria was held up early this morning. this happens in the 5800 block of north kings highway around 4:15 this morning. police say the robber had a gun and no one was hurt. federal investigators have issued an emergency bulletin about weight limits on tires to motor coach companies nationwide. this in response to two serious megabus crashes over the last few weeks. the federal motor carrier safety administration warned companies to prevent tire failures on double decker buses by increasing tire pressure on the back wheels. authorities believe blown tires may have been to blame for both megabus accidents. and in the worst killings in south africa since apartheid. more than 30 miners who were part of a group on strike were killed by riot police. it's an incident that's left the country in shock. police are blaming the striking miners but there's now a full investigation into the massacre. the south africa's president is cutting short a foreign trip to deal with the crisis. all right time now to talk more about the weather. that we're going to have in store for today as well as the weekend. tucker barnes? >> kind of hot and steamy start to the weekend if you include today as part of the weekend. but it will be a decent day today particularly first half a lot of sunshine. you can see not a bad start at all to the morning. nice love shot and plenty of sunshine bathing the area. equally as warm as yesterday but with more humidity. and it will become increasingly uncomfortable ahead of the cold front and the possibility later today and tight we could see scattered showers and thunderstorms back in the forecast. so lots of changes here into the weekend. 74 light now in washington. again these temperatures overnightfalling back into the comfortable range and lots of 60s to the north and west. frederick 66 degrees. 68 in winchester. see 71 down in fredericksburg this morning so not bad at all. winds are shifted out of the south and west and with the winds out of the south and west our humidity will increase shortly and i think you'll notice that playly this afternoon as -- particularly this afternoon as the front gets closer. another look at the satellite and radar. nice and quiet start to the day. off to the west and north that's the cold front and that will come through later this afternoon and tonight and i know it's not too big at the moment but we're likely to see showers and thunderstorms break out across the area later this afternoon and tonight. behind the front cooler air will filter in, i think as we get into the weekend you can turn the air conditioner off and actually enjoy the air outdoors for a change. here's the futurecast in motion for you. 7:00 tonight starting to see showers break out. the nationals game tonight i think they'll get in it but likely be or at least the possibility of scattered showers around here between about 7:00 and 10:00. at 9:00 still got some showers and early tomorrow morning some clouds and the clouds will gradually decrease during the day. lower eastern shore beaches probably going to hold tough for you with some scattered showers even into tomorrow afternoon. unfortunately the beach weekend not perfect alto not a washout either. 92 today. saturday and sunday high temperatures only in the low 80s and monday and cause check it out. back into the sunshine with temperatures each day only in the 80s. that's a look at weather. well, looking around the region we're talking about the district's first task force on power outages. >> yeah, mayor gray says he has appointed members to a panel to investigate solutions to the problem. including maybe burying electricity lines. they will meet for the first time next thursday. in maryland an appeals court could announce a decision today in redistricting the map. at issue how to divide maryland's sixth district after the census the democratic controlled general assembly moved its borders to include part of montgomery county. republicans balked then collected enough signatures to support a referendum on the measure but democrats then argued in court the petition process didn't follow the rules. and relatives of some of the shooting victims at virginia tech want the presidential candidates to speak out about gun violence. specifically they want to know what the candidates will do to improve bandaged check sos -- background checks so guns are kept out of the hands of dangerous people. so far nearly 70 relatives of people killed or wounded at virginia tech sent letters to obama and romney. >> cdc has a message for baby boomers. get tested for hepatitis c.. the doctors at the centers for disease control are advising people born between 1945 and 1965 get the tests. hepatitis c. virus might not show up for decades and people infected may not know they have liver damage. more than three million americans have it and baby boomers make up two-thirds of them. meanwhile, a new report indicates child care costs continue to soar and as proof, child care awareness of a -- rather child aware of america says most people now pay more for infant care than they do for rent. in fact, in 35 states infant care is more expensive per year than in-state tuition and fees at four year public colleges. that's incredible. >> i have -- wow. it boggles the mind. >> you think about how much it costs to go to college. >> i right i mean altogether all of that. whoo that's a whole lot of money. all right. it is 8:34 now on this friday morning. come up, an action packed trip back in time. and whitney houston's silver screen swan song. our movie critic kevin mccarthy takes us to the movies. >> but first we're talking about baseball when the fox 5 morning news continues. [ male announcer ] do you support work for welfare? barack obama has a long history of opposing work for welfare. "i was not a wild, huge supporter of the federal plan that was signed in 1996." [ male announcer ] on july 12th obama quietly ended work requirements for welfare. you wouldn't have to work and wouldn't have to train for a job. mitt romney strongly believes work must be part of welfare. the romney plan for a stronger middle class: it'll put work back in welfare. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. oh man. look at that picture. wow. ouch. this is all right. some sports writers call it the shot of the year. umpire greg gibson taking a vicious kick to the side of the head while trying to call a play at the plate between the angels and indians. here's how it happened. torii hunter hustling around the bags after a kennedys morales double slides in and can't beat the tag. gibson got a little too close to the action. oh goodness then left the game with a gash on the side of his head. he is going to be okay. oh. luckily the base runner was not wearing metal spikes. >> wow. >> he could have lost an eye. >> yeah. that could have been a lot worse. that was dangerous. >> oh boy. obviously not intentional because he just got a little too close to the action there. okay. okay. >> yeah we get it. >> that's rough. we wish him the best and he's going to be okay. now on the subject of baseball, the nats -- you know they're doing really well right now. >> yes. >> here's the key question we talked about this honest ourselves. strasburg they're going to shut him down soon. is this going to hurt the nats? this could backfire. what if this backfires on him? i know they're trying to save the arm and all that but what if it backfires? >> they have the best record and baseball and maybe this is year to go to the world series. @be a tough call if i were the manager or running the nationals. >> could they at this point stretch it out a little bit more by pulling him early out of games and you know -- they're up against is an inning count. they don't want him to throw more than now it's 180 innings. before we heard 160 and they've stepped it a little bit and that's good. i don't know it's a tough call. the issue is -- do you risk further injury to him if you keep him? you want him for the long-term but tucker is right. >> i'll use cal ripken jr. as the example. i think the second an as a kid the orioles made the world series. they've been nowhere close ever since. he had a 22 year career. when you can go decades without the chance. >> i think you have to roll the dice at this point because you don't have forever. the players -- his teammates don't have forever. he's the franchise. but his teammates you know you don't have forever and you never know when the window may close and get the opportunity again. >> here's the caveat because we did a sessionment on this -- segment on this the other day. the caveat is that the pitching is so good right now they would likely continue to do well without him. >> it'd be a redskins' game without rg3 right? >> we don't even know yet. >> i wouldn't do it. >> we know what's on the bench. so -- since you brought up rg3. don't get me started about the backup quarterback situation. all right. since you just brought up the redskins they're in chicago this weekend for preseason game number two and going to play more games -- or going to play rg3 more series. do we look for anything different this time? are we going to get a bigger sample? >> here's what i look for. i thought rg3 did fine in the first game. we didn't see a lot of him obviously. i didn't think he was great. but i'm not -- i wasn't looking for great really. i thought a lot of people got overly excited. i want to see him have a little more command of the playbook and all of that and i don't want -- again i don't want him to get hurt. that's the key. >> the entire team you want not to get injured. that's the thing about preseason is the whole -- the entire season -- preseason you're concerned about injuries. >> it serves a purpose but yeah very nervous about that. >> it is like an organized practice but already lost a nose tackle and some subtle injuries. >> it is kind of risky but you do need the reps and you do need the practice and i think we'll know more about rg3 when he throws an interception and gets knocked down. how you respond to adversity. that's how you determine it. >> here's what i will look for in the quarterback situation there. if grossman comes out again and is like he was in the last -- time, could grossman drop to number three? >> oh, yeah. >> that's a good point tony. and it's probably -- it probably is time to make that call there you may as well go with kirk cousins because the results can't be any worse than last year. on the last topic in our rapid fire segment right here. i don't know if you saw this right here but condoleeza rice apparently is into modeling now. >> she looks good. >> is this an official nfl -- >> this is official nfl modeling picture and cleveland browns. apparently she likes them because she watched them as a child when they were good. that must have been a long time ago and yes she's modeling this with some other people. leave brand browns gear. wearing number 16. >> who's number 16? the new quarterback? >> no, that's old joe -- cribs i think. i think he was a kick returner. see that's how irrelevant they are. we don't even know who the players are on cleveland's team. i think that was his name. or josh cribbs. >> josh cribbs. >> i just let it go. >> josh cribbs. >> i thought joe cribs? for the browns? okay. well she looks good. >> i don't know if she should be wearing a redskins -- >> why isn't she wearing a redskins? -- >> she's from houston. >> there you go. we'll find out about all of this by tend of the weekend i guess. coming up next what's new at the box office? movie critic kevin mccarthy has the for us -- that for us. >> plus we're celebrating 25 years of "sheer madness." our holly morris is backstage with the the kennedy center. >> reporter: in fact there are 88 productions worldwide of "sheer madness" but like you said wisdom the second longest running production is in our area at the wendy center where we are live on stage with the cast. they are already happening it up. it really is madness here but none themself how you too can come out and celebrate the 25 year milestone. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. this is the plan for back to school. introducing share everything, only from verizon. a shareable pool of data to power up to 10 different devices. add multiple smartphones to your plan, so everyone in your family can enjoy unlimited talk and text. the first plan of its kind. share everything. get your student a samsung galaxy nexus for $99.99. hey there. it's time for our facebook fan of the day. today we say hello to tonya sparkle dupree. tonya says her middle name is taken right from the movie and she is up early this morning to go into the remake. it opens today. let us know what you think. for your chance to be monday's fan of the day just log on to the facebook page and leave a comment under tonya's photo. all right, new at the box office this weekend, '80s action stores team up for the ultimate guy movie and whitney houston's last role. earlier this morning i sat down with movie critic kevin mccarthy for a sneak peek. >> okay. all right. let's talk about something else that's cool. we got some people that are not zombies in a movie. "the expendables" the second one. the first one was you know. had all the stars in it and whoo did you think about the second one? >> the movie did not screen the critics. i just got out of the theater three hours ago. i had been a midnight movie sold out and around, sly, jet li, jason statham, chuck norris, it's the greatest cast of all time for the action movie. they're back, bruce willis sends them on a mission to secure this safety box that was like a secret in it and of course this gets stolen by his character and they have to get this back and take revenge on one of the men who were killed. you walk into the movie and you are going to expect amazing action and that's what you're given. you're given round house kicks and bad one liners by arnold. it embraces what it is. it knows what it is. the action is absolutely incredible. >> but that's what go for. >> exactly. >> you're not going to be deep into thought at this movie. >> i grew up "blood sport" and "ram bow." chuck norris, i don't know if you know all the stupid little facts they have like online. all the wacky bits. they embrace that in the movie. and they do chuck norris jokes and it's fun and action packed. did not screen the critics and it's an exclusive review almost. i loved it. this is like a dream. it's very violent but the cool thing is chuck actually wanted this to be a pg-13. so he had a lot of the bad words removed. but none of the violence. it's one of the most violent movies ever seen and it's still rated r.. i gave it a 4 out of 5 and round house kicks all the way they're saw? >> what's the favorite character in the movie? >> i grew up on arnold and doing the bad one liners. the most classic one of all time is in commando when he breaks the guy's neck and goes don't disturb my friend he's asleep. if last movie, whitney houston's last movie "sparkle" is remake of the 1970s movie. >> i sat down with the cast and jordin sparks -- >> we saw that. >> thank you. they taught whitney houston how to dougie on set. >> right. >> they ended you have teaching me how to dougie. it's very embarrassing if you want to go to my website check it out there. the movie itself here's the deal. it's a story that you want to be inspired by. and i think jordin sparks does a great job at playing sparkle but the movie loses focus on playing the character. you want to be there for her but for an hour and 40 minutes you forget that the focus is on this character. and then like in the last 20 minutes they go oh wait. the my rhee is about sparkle and let's go back to her. that's my biggest problem. a little bit clicheed and form ewe laic. what's' character was interesting. mike epps is great in the movie. but the movie is too predictable. >> you can check out what kevin thinks of "para norman" also new this week by logging on to the website. myfoxdc.com. and after more than 12,000 performances "sheer madness" the still going strong. >> this morning the cast of the show is telling us what it took. holly morris joins us live at the kennedy center with the story. >> reporter: three million of these here at the kennedy center. we are on stage with the cast like you said this morning and i'm not going to pass up the opportunity to be at a posh salon and not have my hair done right? so here we are. in the "sheer madness" salon and met me spruce -- let me introduce us to neil thomas and bruce and tiernan is barbara. happy anniversary to you all. >> thank you so much. >> i don't want to say anything but are you sure you can do my hair? >> positive. >> all right. well, roll away and don't do your nails you can do mine as well. i want you to tell me a little bit about the characters and how they interact. >> i play mike thomas, hell comes into the -- he comes into the shop for the first time but there's also something else that's going on that a lot of people in the shop don't know about. that's where my partner and i come in to kind of see that something else underneath the surface but me i'm just here to get my haircut. what? >> really? >> you know what it's fair to say that tony is the most lovable cart of the show. >> of course look around. >> how do you bring tony to life? >> i am tony. tony is inside me and me just comes out every night. it's fabulous. >> when you have so many different people because when a show runs for 25 years and there's 88 productions, how do you go about making it your own? >> you steal, you steal as much as you can. from the man over there and a lot from a gentleman in boston. and i've stolen a lot. i have. and i create my own. booth to steal. there's nothing wrong with stealing because what -- >> really? >> there really isn't. you make it your own but it's okay to steal. >> and so for you, being barbara, so tell me a little bit about barbara. >> she is a big brassy gal with a lot of blue and attitude. >> i can't imagine. >> it's a shock. i know. she's great though. she has a great time with tony. i had to describe them as maybe fenmies depending on the day. they have a good time. a little impromptu dance party here and there. but -- >> we have a great sometime. >> yeah. >> barbara is really fun because you can sometimes get away with a little -- piss and vinegar here and there and you know just have a really good time with her. >> seeing each're. >> there's a lot of zinging with the show. now this is one of the shows where as an audience member you can be involved as much or not as you want to. you get to help solve the crime by you know asking questions and whatnot. so with that, how much is that a challenge for you all because you don't know what people are going to ask. you have no idea. >> you never do. >> you just have to deal with what they give secure that's part of the fun. >> it's the most exciting part of the show is that the way the audience is involved you never know what's going to happen every night and i think that's what makes theater just -- so amazing. is that you just never really know what's going to happen. >> for you, you just joined the show right? >> yep, i've been in the show for seven months now. i started in february, so yeah. >> was it a little nerve- wracking? these people have been with it for a long time and plus i don't know there's such is reputation that comes with the show. >> like is kind of the rook keel of the group anyway. i mean he's just starting out as far as the police officer and everything. so i think it definitely helped and you know to believe with this cast. -- to be with this cast. and i actually started out as an usher here at the kennedy center. >> really? >> have been here for two years actually and just seeing the show and came and auditioned and got the part and loved it. >> you were up here? >> it was funny because there were luke four over here and seven over there. >> every usher was watching. >> i have nine other nails you know. >> i'm sorry. [ laughter ] >> i'm just saying. okay will be. >> tony is very precise. >> that nail was really long. >> myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the kennedy center and "sheer madness" has a matinee on sunday. in the next hour though we're going to talk more about the 25th anniversary and talk about the future of the show. it's had a great history and the wonderful thing about "sheer madness" is there's always a surprise. you never know what's going to happen and we'll just see what pops up on stage in the 9:00 hour. how am i looking? >> you look great. that one nail is going to be fantastic holly. [ laughter ] >> it is going to shine so brightly they're going to have to bring the lights down. >> all right. well up next spike lee is back on the big screen with his new movie "red hook summer." >> still ahead the writer and director joins us live in studio with a look at the new movie with at least one familiar character. it is 8:55. 8:56 coming up. fox 5 morning news will believe right -- will be right back. right now at 9:00. a west nile outbreak. lauren demarco is live with a look at the local cases for us. plus, how officials are working to can you believe the growing problem. she has got to have it. do the right thing, malcolm x., so many others, all the movies have won thing in common. director spike lee. he is out with a new movie and he joins us live in studio this morning to talk about its release. and local artist jay rome is in studio this morning. he's just won a recording contract and he is about to leave for l. a. but first there he is. live performing for us right