total of $100,000 to be wired to this informant. and the informant had told him that it would cost $1.5 million to carry out this assassination plot. finally, arbabsiar was arrested at kennedy airport september 29th. within four hours of being given his miranda warning the government says he began to cooperate and told all. saying that he had talked with members of the iranian revolutionary guard about this and that they kept demanding that he take some action. so for all these reasons, the attorney general said today that this was an act that originated with officials in iran. here's how he said it. >> the complaint alleges that this conspiracy was conceived, was sponsored and was directed from iran. and constitutes a flagrant violation of u.s. and international law including a convention that explicitly protects diplomats from being harmed. >> reporter: now, the iranian government has denied any involvement here. but this afternoon p treasury department went further than the justice department did in its criminal complaint, naming the individuals in the iranian government or in this iranian military operation that they say were involved in this plot. and putting them on the known terror list. wendy? >> also i understand, was there a weapon of mass destruction involved in this at all? is that -- is that also something that we're reading about on the wires? what was that? >> reporter: well, that's a bit of a term of art in the federal government. it simply means a bomb. the idea was to bomb the target here. and according to the government, when the -- when the informant said to arbabsiar, you know, we're going to plant this bomb, it might be in a restaurant where the ambassador's known to hang out, it might kill some innocent people, does that bother you, he said, no, whatever it takes. i should point out the federal officials say there never was any specific restaurant discussed. that they just talked about the idea of targeting the ambassador in a restaurant. but they never got around to picking a specific one. >> all right. pete williams, thanks so much. we'll check with you later. the target of the terror plot is based here at the saudi embassy in d.c. john sh riffen is there with more reaction. >> reporter: we are here at the embassy. we've been here for quite some time. i'm going to step out of the shot and let you take a look at the embassy. normal business as usual. people have been going in and out of this building. we don't notice any added security at this point. i didn't get a chance to go inside. i talked to a person at the door. they did not want me to go further. we're told the ambassador is not available for comment to us at this point. once again, the ambassador to saudi arabia is the alleged target in this plot. the embassy has released a statement. i'm going to read that statement for you right now. the statement reads, quote, the royal embassy of saudi arabia would like to express its appreciation to the responsible agencies of the united states government for preventing a criminal act from taking place. the attempt plot is a despicable violation of international norms, standards and don vencons and is not in accord with the principles of humanity, end quote. once again, here live at the embassy. we are still waiting to see if we can speak to someone from the embassy in person. but we will be here at least for the next few hours to see what does take place. we're live here in northwest, back to you guys in the studio. >> thank you, john. a woman is in custody tonight accused of stabbing a shopper outside a target store in prince georges county. and there's word tonight she may have done it before outside another department store. today's incident happened around 10:00 this morning at the vista gardens marketplace on martin luther king highway in lanham. chris? >> reporter: a police source tells me that the suspect in this stabbing is antoinettec. starks of buoy, maryland. that would be the same woman responsible for the stabbing of two customers back in may of 2005 at nordstrom's in montgomery mall. at the time of that attack, 2005, antoinettec. starks had just been released from jessop prison. today, the target steer here in lanham, maryland. it appears antoinette c. starks was released in the past few days from clifton perkins mental hospital. came here today, left the store angry and apparently stabbed a woman, a stranger, in what appears to be a random act of violence. police call it an unprovoked attack. one woman stabbing another right in front of the store entrance of this target in the vista gardens market shopping center. at the starbucks across the parking lot, a witness found an off duty police officer and reported the stabbing. the officer found a woman in front of the target who had been stabbed in the neck and shoulder. witnesses said the suspect ran toward the home depot. police cruisers responded and found the suspect carrying a plastic bag. >> she produced two knives. one in each hand. she did not listen to any of the orders given by the police officers to drop the knives or to halt. she proceeded to walk down the street. >> reporter: some employees who work at the shopping center saw the woman and about a half a dozen police cruisers. >> the whole entire time she's walking like this. she's walking and she's knocking the two knives together. it was two big, like, machete looking knives. >> i saw a lady come towards me with two knives. and i thought she was coming after me. >> reporter: officers tasered the suspect, causing her to drop the knives and fall to the ground. the suspect and the stabbing victim were taken to prince georges hospital. fire rescue crews hosed down the front of the target. the victim had lost a lot of blood. tonight is reported in stable condition. the suspect is in custody and was evaluated at the hospital after being tasered. the target store closed during the investigation. police took statements from witnesses and are getting surveillance video from the cameras above the target entrance to determine what led to the stabbing. once again, the headline, tonight, a police source tells me that the suspect is antoinnette c. starks of buoy, maryland, who's believed responsible for this stabbing. has yet to be charged, is in police custody, is out of the hospital. that she was responsible for the 2005 attack on two people, again a stabbing, at montgomery mall. at that time she was charged with three counts of attempted murder and first-degree assault. charges have yet to be filed against her with regard to today's attack. the target store is now open. customers tell me they are not afraid to go in and shop here because an arrest has been made in this case. that's the latest. back to you in the studio. >> relieved they must be. chris gordon live for us in lanham. thank you. president obama spent most of his day in pennsylvania as his job plan nears its first big test in the senate. the president met in pittsburgh with the council he appointed on jobs and competitiveness. that council gave him its interim report which includes a series of proposals meant to accelerate job creation. >> scour this report, identify all those areas in which we can act administratively without additional congressional authorization, and just get it done. >> jeff immelt is the chairman of the jobs council and he's also chairman and ceo of general electric. ge is a part owner of nbc 4. as for the president's jobs plan, the senate is expected to vote in about an hour on whether to move the bill forward as a whole. if it fails to gain 60 votes, senate democrats may try to break it up and vote on individual parts. house republican leaders have already said they do not intend to take up the bill as a whole, but may vote on some parts of it. republican candidates for the white house are preparing for their big debate tonight in new hampshire. it will focus primarily on the economy and fiscal issues. since the previous debate, both sarah palin and chris christie have announced they aren't running. godfather's pizza's ceo, herman cain, has surged in the polls. meanwhile, a big nod today in the world of politics. new jersey governor christie has endorsed mitt romney for the republican nomination. in a news conference this morning up in new hampshire christie says romney has the perfect mix of private sector and political expience. kind of a milestone today in those widespread protests in downtown d.c. six protesters got arrested, marking the first group arrest since they arrived ten days ago. tom sherwood live at freedom plaza with more on this. tom? >> reporter: wendy, things have kind of picked up in the last while. a few moments ago right here next to freedom plaza along 14th street, marches were going down from k street, mcpherson square down towards the national mall. they announced they were going to do this earlier. they got into the street. police got in front of them and behind them and said they would march in the street and dance in the street to call attention to their protest. we're into the fifth day of protests here in washington. we've had our first arrest. there may be many more days to come. >> we are the 99%! >> reporter: at midday dozens of protesters sought to shut down the u.s. senate park office building. >> end war now! >> reporter: u.s. capitol police said six persons were arrested and charged with unlawful demonstrating. protesters said it was part of the occupy wall street that have erupted in many cities. >> we're not going to stop until they hear our voices and change. >> we are here to express our displeasure with the continuation of war and spending money on war instead of on human needs. >> reporter: the confrontation on capitol hill contrasted -- >> we're hoping people will go down there and join them on the march. >> reporter: with more kwi it protest camps here on freedom plaza and mcpherson square a few blocks away. >> anyone who feel empowers to do anything, start a committee, are welcome to do so. >> reporter: late today the federal park service confirmed that a four-day demonstration permit that expired last night is being extended for up to four months at freedom plaza. the last minute details were being worked out and written down. >> there's overwhelming support for that. people are very excited. they want to stay here. they want to continue this dialogue. we've had a lot of visitors coming through which is fantastic. so we're just in the final paperwork stages of that. >> reporter: now, major gray's office is going to -- along with d.c. vote is going to hold a big rally here on freedom plaza saturday for the part of the martin luther king memorial dedications this weekend. major gray said today, however, that he would share this plaza with the protesters who are here now. wendy, back to you. >> tom sherwood, thank you, tom. well, the clouds have moved in. and those beautiful days are going away. >> yeah. it's over, folks. for now, anyway. the c more on how wet we'll be getting tomorrow. >> this is kind of the scenario we've been in. three weeks to a month of clouds and rain. a great week of plenty of sunshine. now it looks like we're going back to a period of clouds and more rain again. i don't think it's going to be a long period. nothing like what we saw before. 70 degrees the current temperature. a few areas of drizzle right now. no real areas of rain. 70 degrees in washington. 70 in leaesburg. winchester, 66. doppler radar as i mentioned, not much in the way of rain. we told you today would mostly be on the dry side, though there were a few showers into southern maryland. look what happens when we widen out. a lot of rain in the southern portion of virginia, in towards the carolinas and back to the west. all of that is going to try to move through overnight tonight and into the day tomorrow. expect showers around 9:00 and 11:00 tonight. then i think a better chance for some fog and some rain tomorrow morning. showers in there at 7:00 a.m. it does look like some of that could be on the heavy side. we'll continue to watch it and have the latest forecast coming up in just about seven minutes. we're just getting started on news 4 at 5:00. when we come back, what jurors heard today in the michael jackson trial that caused emotions to run high in the courtroom. a device that's helping patients get the treatment they need to battle asthma. plus, japan gives away free tickets to people who want to tickets to people who want to [ female announcer ] starbucks via® is planted the same... ♪ ...harvested the same... ♪ ...and roasted the same as our other premium coffees. ♪ it only makes sense it would taste the same. so, try it for yourself. buy a pack of 100% natural starbucks via® ready brew. we promise you'll love it or we'll send you a bag of starbucks coffee. it's the starbucks via® taste promise. look for it at starbucks stores and where you buy groceries. more americans than ever before are suffering from asthma, making it one of the country's most common diseases. >> it can be deadly, too. every day 11 people die from asthma. but now a device is helping patients get the treatment they need. doreen gentzler with more on the story. >> asthma is the result of swelling in the airways of the lungs. without proper treatment people can literally suffocate. without taking a look inside the lungs it's hard to tell just how severe someone's asthma really is. now doctors have a new tool to help them diagnosis and treat asthma. they say it's inexpensive, noninvasive and it can save lives. >> it's very hard to breathe. >> reporter: 10-year-old jaden gordean has been suffering from asthma since he was 2 years old. >> it was shocking. because when you realize your child's not breathing properly, you realize the helplessness you feel when there's really nothing you can do. >> reporter: it's forced the d.c. fifth grader to stay on the sidelines when it comes to sports and playing with friends. >> when i run, it's very hard to control my breathing. >> patients do experience shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, wheezing, cough, tightness of the chest. >> reporter: typically doctors test for asthma by measuring how much air a person inhales and exhales. but allergist talal insuli says that doesn't always indicate how severe a person's condition is. >> not allow us to even read the degree of inflammation you do have in the airways. this is very important. we could be probably missing that the patient needs more medication because we are not measuring the degree of inflammation. >> reporter: now doctors have a new tool. it's a device called niox that measures the amount of nitric oxide gas in a person's breath. high levels can indicate your airway is inflamed. >> the patient could be suffering from a higher degree of my trick oxide exhale zbld a higher reading means inflammation is severe. in that case the patient may need a higher dose of medication. a lower reading could indicate their asthma is under control. in this office visit for jaden gordean, his niox test is showing his asthma meds are working for him right now. >> the treatments calm down my asthma. and asthma attacks. >> reporter: that's a relief for his mother, who's had to take jaden to the hospital for his asthma more than once. >> it's another step to knowing exactly what's going on with his lungs. >> it's a helpful tool. but it is one piece of the puzzle. it's very important that this niox test be given in conjunction with the other older tests as well as a comprehensive health history. doctors say all of those things combined with help them prescribe the best possible treatment for asthma. wendy, jim? >> that's good. boy, does that sound scary. >> it's very scary for a lot of people. but asthma can be controlled with the right medication. >> good. all right. thanks, doreen. doug joins us now. something tells me tomorrow is going to be a bit of a payback for all the run of nice days we had last week. >> was it tuesday that we did the little dance and we were excited? >> we're not doing that anymore, huh? >> no. i don't think too many people are excited. believe it or not, i put out the question on my facebook page, the rain is coming back, boohoo. some people were saying we love the rain and we love cooler temperatures. bring on winter. >> they're doing a rain dance. >> what? they were doing a rain dance. it is going to be raining. probably by this time tomorrow morning. out there right now, just the cloud cover. we will continue to see those clouds right on through the night tonight in through the day tomorrow. that's going to eventually make its way in here as rain as well. temperatures outside, 70 degrees. plenty of sunshine. plenty of cloud cover out there. winds out of the northeast at seven miles an hour. temperatures about ten degrees cooler today than yesterday as expected. back to the west, 66 in winchester. 69 in hagerstown. 70 toward the eastern shore. what are we going to be seeing? once again, we're not seeing anything in the way of rain right now. we did see some shower activity down towards calvert county, st. mary's county into portions of southern maryland. a few sprinkles around town. that's about it. you've got to go well down to the south and really down to the south and west. through roanoke, charlottesville, really starting to see some rain move in here. heavier rain. i think that's where it's going to remain for tonight. we're talking about the blue ridge. in the mountains. we'll start to get into some of this action down here into eastern portions of north carolina as this all comes up in towards our region. we will see our rain chances increase overnight tonight. as a result of this area of low pressure. as the area of low pressure moves up, the rain will move in overnight and through tomorrow afternoon. this is 4:00 tomorrow afternoon. noets the rain around the i-95 corridor. some of that could be heavy at times. maybe even a couple of rumbles of thunder though we're not expecting anything severe tomorrow. what we are going to see on thursday is that system move out. we'll see some sunshine again on thursday. this is not going to be a prolonged rain event. but what is going to be happening after thursday, we get into another system that moves on through. yet here comes another area of showers on friday. friday a big transition day, too. we're going to go not only with the showers and milder temperatures, but then the showers are going to move through and a cold front is going to move through. that's going to drop temperatures fairly significantly just in time for the weekend. now, how much rain are we going to be seeing out of this storm? some areas could pick up upwards of an inch to maybe upwards of 2 inches. right around i-95, see up towards 2 1/2 inches. we're going to have to see just how much rain we get. i do not think we're going to be looking at flooding potential. but the biggest areas, maybe gaithersbur gaithersburg,. tomorrow afternoon, we'll see our temperatures rise only into the upper 60s. 66 to 69. rain likely. some of that will be heavy at times. there will be an occasional thunderstorm moving on through here. once again, nothing severe. nothing even strong. thursday, 75. looking pretty good. can't rule out a shower on thursday. right now i think most of us will stay dry. friday 73 with a chance of rain. on saturday, cold and windy. or let's say cool and windy with a high temperature of about 68 degrees. . not that kind of windy, either. >> i'll be around on saturday. >> i know you will be. >> i might be bothering people. you never know. coming up on news 4 at 5:00 tonight, it's not your usual stray. the story behind this pot bellied pig who's now in search bellied pig who's now in search of a new home. ture, you're always looking ahead... to what's next... to what's possible confident... that taking action