if you're looking to buy a house, there's not much of a better time if you've got the money to put down on a down payment, because the financing is fantastic. >> right. what about our 401(k)s? should we just not look? it's just too ugly? >> i think a lot of people would be tempted, you know, if there's any benefit in this. because it's the beginning of august, it doesn't fall -- the selloff doesn't fall at a time when your quarterly statements are sent out, which is usually when a lot of people take a look at their 401(k) statements. that wouldn't happen until sometime in october when the third quarter is completed. so, you know, who knows what happens between now and october? but i think a lot of people when they see the markets go down like this are tempted to sell. but what they have to consider is, are you a long-term investor, is now a time to buy if you're willing to take on added risk? and if you are concerned about the markets going down, you know, ask your financial adviser for what you should do. don't make any rash decisions. that's the worst thing you can do. >> all right. mary thompson, thank you so much. lawmakers came to an agreement today to get the federal aviation administration back up and running full-bore. the deal extends funding for the faa through mid september. it will put nearly 74,000 people back on the job, hundreds of airport construction projects will also go back on track. those employees have been on furlough for the last 12 days, while lawmakers argued about a number of funding issues and union issues. the senate is expected to vote on the bill tomorrow. if that happens, the president will sign it tomorrow. workers should be back on the job on monday. in the meantime, stagnant growth here at home, and the continuing economic problems across the globe have a lot of people wondering if the economy is, in fact, sliding in the wrong direction. nbc's kristen dahlgren has our report. kristen? >> hey there, jim. yeah, jobs, jobs, jobs. we've heard a lot of it here on capitol hill. while today was a really tough day for investors, it was also a tough day for all of those people still looking for work in this economy. >> wall street in a crisis of confidence is rattling investors. >> on wall street, stocks plunged more than 500 points, amid fears of a financial crisis in europe and weakening economy at home. but in suburban d.c. this morning, the number that matters, hundreds lined up to meet with just a few hiring companies. >> net working is the key here, people. >> reporter: for twila taylor, out of work for a year-and-a-half, the most important statistic is her two kids at home. >> i tell them every day i'm going to work, but i'm looking for work. >> reporter: she can't count the number of jobs she has applied for, and she is not alone. there were 400,000 new jobless claims last week, down just slightly from the week before. still, there are some bright spots, like target, with sales up in july. and general motors, surprising the street by doubling its second quarter profit. but even its cfo isn't celebrating. >> obviously, this economic picture is uncertain at this point in time. we want to make sure that we're equipped to handle any scenario. >> reporter: the white house today was staying positive. >> the president believes the economy will continue to grow. that the economy will continue to create jobs. >> reporter: and back at today's job fair, there might be some who walk away winners. >> we're very impressed with the pool today. >> reporter: but there isn't a position for everyone. and for some, the wait has already been way too long. >> i need a job today. >> and speaking of jobs, mary mentioned it at the top of the show, but you can't overestimate how closely everyone is going to be watching that july jobs report that comes out tomorrow. also, the new unemployment rate. we should see what that is tomorrow, jim. >> kristen dahlgren. thank you, kristen. and we touched on those mortgage rates with our interview with mary thompson just a few minutes ago. mortgage rates have fallen to new record lows. according to freddie mac, the average rate of a 15-year fixed mortgage, 3.5%, the lowest rate in at least 20 years. the average rate for a 30-year mortgage fixed, fell to a yearly low of 4.3%. the lower mortgage rate is due in part to investors moving their money from stocks into bonds. there was a lockdown on the campus of virginia tech today over reports of a man with a gun. kids attending a summer camp there said they saw a guy holding what looked like a gun. police interviewed those kids, and then released a sketch of the man. julie carey is in blacksburg, virginia now with more on what happened today. julie? >> well, jim for a while today, the fear and the memories came rushing back as that warning alert popped up on ipad, cell phones, laptops. it read, a man reported with a gun. stay inside, secure doors. now, mid afternoon, the all-clear was issued and campuses returned to normal. most we have spoken to here believe the teenagers who saw the man with the gun simply made an honest mistake. it was just after 9:30 when a warning siren brought the virginia campus to a standstill and memories of 2007. 32 were killed. three middle school girls from the district of columbia reported seeing a man carrying a gun covered by a cloth outside a residence hall. >> they said they saw a person carrying a handgun that was covered by a cloth or some type of covering. i think the girls believed what they reported, the officers believed what the girls reported. >> reporter: this junior was studying when she got the text alert and heard the warning siren. >> so we just moved to a different place that wasn't by the windows. one of the workers had us move away from the windows. so i felt very safe. it was still -- i was kind of nervous at first, but i knew that it was going to end up being okay. >> reporter: police converged on the campus and began to search. the girls, part of a 175-student group called higher achievement, helped develop this composite sketch. but as the hours wore on, there were no further sightings and the alert was lifted at 2:41. police say they'll continue to maintain a beefed up security force, and they defended the decision to issue the alert. >> without further evidence to indicate otherwise, you had a report from students, albeit it young people, who had never been on our campus before, they thought they might have seen someone with a gun. and, yes, in this day and age, we don't think we had any other choice but to issue a campus alert. >> reporter: students agreed, the alert was the right thing to do. >> the university reaction was perfect, i think. it was great. >> reporter: this mother, who brought her daughters for a campus visit, had to postpone the tour, but she praises the university response. >> given what happened in the past, i think they did what anybody would do. and you learn from past mistakes and make sure it never happens again. >> reporter: again, there will be extra patrols on campus through the evening, both driving around campus, and officers will be in and out of the buildings. regular fall classes resume here soon, on august 22nd. reporting live, julie carey, back to you. >> thank you, julie. officials at virginia tech wasted no time today with a campus alert system. that comes just months after federal authorities sued the school over the mass shooting there in 2007. authorities say the school waited too long back then to inform students and staff about the gunman who was on campus. the alert didn't go out until two hours after two students had already been shot. by the time it went out, the gunman was already locked in a hall there, norris hall, where he shot and killed 30 more students and faculty before he killed himself. and a mother and son were found murdered inside their prince george's county home. authorities found their bodies in the 11,000 block of hickory drive in ft. washington. right now, one person is being questioned by police. melissa melai with that story. >> reporter: 56-year-old patricia mercer harris and her 20-year-old son frank killed inside their home thursday morning, both suffering multiple gunshot wounds. >> it's just tragic. it's very tragic. and disturbing and alarming. because, you know, it's around the corner. >> reporter: denise jones has lived in this neighborhood for 33 years. she watches as police pull bag after bag of evidence from the home. investigators spent the morning taking photos and talking with neighbors, trying to determine what happened. >> well, it's -- it's too close for comfort. whew. i'm just shaking on the inside. i am just really upset about it. >> reporter: neighbors say the couple and their grown son have lived here for the last 13 years. relatives tell news4 there is also another son in his 30s who lives out of town. the call went out at 4:30 this morning. a man inside the home told the 911 operator two people had been shot. the victims were found on the main level. >> at this point, they are questioning the person who called 911, a resident of the home. >> reporter: those we spoke with here say the family kept to themselves, but was friendly. the father often seen walking down the street to a nearby bus stop. >> it's disturbing. it's disturbing, scary. >> reporter: many here wondering aloud what would lead to such a tragedy. >> i feel sorry for them, because they are kind of quiet, they never bothered anybody. >> reporter: at this point, police won't say if there are any signs of a struggle inside. we do know they have not been called to this address before. in ft. washington, melissa melai, news4. >> and a prince george's county police officer is recovering today from a gunshot wound that occurred on marblewood avenue in chapel oaks about 10:30 last night. officers from a special police team approached four men who were engaged in suspicious activity. one suspect opened fire and shot the officer in the arm. he fired back, hitting the man. both he and the suspect suffered nonlife threatening injuries. all four suspects are under arrest. coming up tonight, some tense moments for some window washers dangling in the air, almost half an hour. in northern virginia, an injured bald eagle released back into the wild. ♪ >> the high school marching band with a birthday present for the president outside the white house. >> and he had a nice weather today for his big day. >> he did. he must have ordered that up. temperatures today into the mid to upper 80s. right now, sitting at 85 degrees. but a couple of changes moving back in. one, potential for heavy rain and the heat will return. i'll show you when coming up in my full forecast. tiger woods makes his much-anticipated return to the pga tour. didn't play too bad. and out here at redskins park, the first full-squad workout of training camp is in the books. we'll hear from the players [ child's voice ] ooh, that looks good. [ child's voice ] can i have some? [ child's voice ] you guys should rock, paper, scissors for it. ok. [ chuckles ] best of three? sure. one-two-three-shoot. one-two-three-shoot. [ scoffs ] one-two-three-shoot. one-two-three-shoot. one-two-three-shoot. one-two-three-shoot. i win! oh, man. [ muffled ] congratulations. [ male announcer ] get your own bbq pulled pork sub at subway®. tender, slow-cooked pork with irresistibly bold barbecue sauce. subway. eat fresh®. two window washers had what you might call an interesting day on the job in san francisco this morning. their scaffolding collapsed so they were dangling for 25 minutes. firefighters called to the 16-story building. they got there to find one man hanging from the top of the scaffolding, the other one hanging from the bottom. firefighters used the remove to help pull one of the workers to safety. the other man was rescued through a window. both men were taken to a hospital suffering from what they call moderate to serious injuries. and overseas, the demonstrations across syria are growing more violent and deadly by the hour. residents in the city of hamma claim snipers are randomly shooting people on the streets. the military has been cracking down on anti-government protesters since sunday. there are reports at least 250 people have been killed. video from the scene shows cars with their windows shot out. the army is also accused of keeping food and other essential supplies from entering that city. the u.s. estimates the drought and the famine in africa have killed more than 29,000 children under 5 years old just in somalia. it is the first time there's been a precise number of victims related to the crisis in the horn of africa. the u.n. previously had said it is the worst drought in somalia in 60 years. the u.n. says more than 600,000 children in somalia are acutely malnourished. hundreds of millions of dollars have been donated to fight the hunger cries he is there, but the u.n. says it needs hundreds of millions more. well, emily is no longer a tropical storm, but the system that caused flooding and damaged hundreds of homes in haiti today. heavy rains fell in haiti and the dominican republic, but weakened as emily moved toward the mountains that divide those countries. in haiti, people intent camps nervously watched the sky as more than 600,000 people still do not have permanent shelter after last year's devastating earthquake. but the red cross says they were prepared for this. >> we've prepositioned, released supplies throughout the country. we have hundreds of trained volunteers, trained in first aid and basic 'tis saster preparedness, and we have two highly trained emergency response teams that are ready to go, if, in fact, events require it. >> forecasters say emily could touch florida on saturday, but the projected track of the storm would keep the center of it off shore. which would mean just a lot of rain would come for them? >> potentially. that's if the center is able to get organized again. right now, the mountains of late haiti have torn the system apart and it's hard for them to get back in the control, for the system to start to organize again. if it does, it could come close to florida over the next couple days, but something to be watched and i don't think we're going to have to worry here. as far as our weather is derwin concerned pretty nice. this is the leg mason tennis classic at rock creek park. a lot of people fanning themselves a little bit. earlier -- vance, do you know anybody here? that's gail monfis. >> isn't it? >> isn't that gail? oh, no, that's young. >> that's young. monfis won. i love saying that name. love that name. >> but it was a good day for all of them down there during the day today. for the record today, temperature got up to 88 degrees. that's the actual high temperature. actually, the high average temperature for our day today. not too bad when we're right about average. we still need the rain, still 5 1/4 inches below average. good news, i think we're going to make it up. bad news, i think some could be made up during the day on saturday. outside right now, 85 degrees. dew point of 70. heat index right now around 89 degrees. your current temperature, 85 in martinsburg, 88 in culpeper, 86 in fredericksburg. but look out towards the chesapeake bay. a lot cooler. temperatures stuck in the 70s as a result of a lot of cloud cover in that area. and we're going to continue to see some clouds out of here overnight. 81 in college park, 89 in rockville. reston at 83. ft. belvoir, 82. nothing to show on the radar. we are high and dry as far as the rain is concerned. i think we'll stay dry for most of us through the day tomorrow. and then i think we have that chance for rain, at least increasing during the day on saturday. so warm today, but here comes tomorrow. nice tomorrow. yeah, we'll be warm again. high temperatures in the mid to upper 80s, but that's exactly what we expect for the month of july. a little bit on the humid side, not really. tomorrow should really be a fantastic afternoon. there is going to be a chance for some thunderstorm activity and some shower activity in the mountains tomorrow. but that's legally going to be about it. this is where things change. on saturday, an area of low pressure moves towards the region. that's going to bring a lot of moisture. we could see some showers, some thunderstorms, and some of those thunderstorms could produce very heavy rainfall during the day. we're talking about 1 to 2 inches of rain. once again, we need the rain, but just don't need it on a saturday night. it could be starting right around 4:00, 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, and in some areas, could go through most of the night. i think most of the rain should be out of here, though, by sunday. we talked about emily. now just the remnants east of haiti but still interacting with the mountains, could see 4 to 8 inches more of rain. winds at 35 miles per hour, and it still has the mountains of cuba to go over. so once again, i think it's going to have a very hard time reorganizing itself as it makes its way towards the bahamas and eventually close to the u.s. coastline. we'll continue to watch. partly cloudy, warm and humid this evening. 78 to 83 degrees. tomorrow morning, waking up, temperatures in the 60s in some of the cooler suburbs to about 73 in the city. warm, a little bit humid but not too bad tomorrow morning. tomorrow afternoon, great. looking good of a fantastic friday. 85 to 88 degrees. winds will be out of the southeast at 10 to 15 miles per hour. as we move through the next couple days, though, here come our changes. 88 degrees on saturday with a good chance of rain late in the day. then sunday and monday, hot and humid. highs in the mid 90s. heat index close to 100, but the heat will not last long. back down to around our average temperatures as we head into next week. and, of course, tomorrow we've got our backyard weather. i'll be live in somebody's backyard tomorrow afternoon. tune in for that. >> all right. thanks, doug. still ahead at 6:00, a special birthday for the president. and a teenager buried alive president obama turns 50 today, and to mark that occasion, the eastern high school marching band decided to celebrate in front of the white house this morning. ♪ they played the traditional version of "happy birthday" and then played stevie wonder's arrangement, which is also interesting. tourists who happened to be there took in a performance from one of the best high school bands in this country. the president intends to spend the weekend in camp david with his family and friends. a california teenager never got the warning that you don't dig six-foot tunnels under the sand at the beach, because you can get buried alive. that's what happened to him. 17-year-old matt mina was digging giant tunnels yesterday at newport beach and it collapsed. several rescue workers dug furiously for 30 minutes before he was eventually pulled from the sand. >> i heard people. i was kind of fading in and out, because i was kind of unconscious underneath the sand. and then i was surprised i was actually being pulled out. i thought i was going to die. >> he also says he is not going to dig at the beach like that anymore. a 16-year-old kid led a sheriff's deputy in spotsylvania, virginia on a 31-mile chase. the deputy was traveling on courthouse road in the area of bloo bloomsbury lane yesterday when this teenager flew by him. the car was going over 30 miles over the speed limit there. the deputy tried to stop him, but for 31 miles, the kid ran red lights, sped through streets and nearly crashed into other cruisers. spike strips finally deflated his tires at lawyers and ridge roads. you'll have to imagine all of this in your mind now, because we're not having the tape right now. deputies arrested the kid who said he was afraid to stop because he said he just got a ticket last week. he's got a