july 22nd. good morning, i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. thank you so much for joining us on this wednesday morning. we're going to check your weather in a moment but first the top stories we're working on for you today. fixing the budget shortfall. just how many jobs will be lost and where will they be hit hardest testing begins on the first swine flu vaccine. when is it going to be available to us? and the president takes his case for health care to the american people as the debate heats up this morning. those stories just ahead and a lot more. let's look at weather. with our first look with justin berk. >> good morning. our our wake-up window at the bottom of the screen. want to remind you, again, when we have a chance of some storms in there it doesn't guarantee we're going to get wet. it's pretty much what happened yesterday. a lot of disappointment because we didn't get the rain even though it turned out to be a really nice day. big storm blew through last night dime-sized hail near mount airy. rain in portions of carol county and baltimore and

harford county. there's fog there this morning. and we'll expect partly sunny skies to give way eventually to another round of isolated thunderstorms later today. 66 now with patchy fog in stevenson. we're dry on the top side of the beltway by the bob davidson ford lincoln mercury in parkville but we're generally looking at, again, patchy fog this morning, upper 60s, to our two-degree guaranteed high of 86 degrees. i've thrown in the 20% chance of a thundershower which means 80% chance it stays dry. i would still take the umbrella in case. let's see what's happening on the roads with kim. >> we're still working the disabled vehicle at 95 northbound about at the pulaski highway area. watch for that. also a crash in harford county, that is going to be pulaski highway at bada boulevard. good news, that earlier crash at the 895 split has been cleared, west side of the beltway, no problems from liberty road down to about security boulevard. and on the east side between

whitemarsh boulevard and harford road traffic is flowing freely at this time. back to you. 6:31. president barack obama is trying to stay in front of this mounting debate on the health care reform. >> tonight on abc2 he's going to discuss the massive overhaul during a primetime news conference. sherrie johnson joins with us a look ahead. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. president barack obama is taking aim at republicans while members of his own party bicker among themselves about his health care plan. tonight the president will take the plan to the american people in a primetime news conference. he's trying to inspire lawmakers to pass his plan before they break for the rest of the summer. the plan is expected to top $1.5 trillion. both the democrats' bills in the house and senate would reform insurance to stop denying people with pre-existing medical conditions. and also compete with private-run plan to compete with insurance with lower costs. on capitol hill republicans continue their steady pressure

and opposition to the president's plan. >> what we're seeing currently is a bipartisan majority has formed against the current proposal. >> there's about 10 issues that we're concerned with. obviously cost cutting is first on the list. >> i know that there are those in this town who openly declare their intention to block reform. >> reporter: president obama will hold a primetime news conference tonight. watch it live here on abc2 starting at 8:00. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. a new poll suggests most americans think the country is moving in the wrong direction. a poll finds the number of people that think president barack obama can improve the economy is now down, a sobering 19 percentage points. while the board of public works is scheduled to work on the governor's proposal to cut $280 million out of the state budget. the governor says the university maryland and the maryland lottery will lose the

most. the governor says he was able to preserve jobs but there will be 39 layoffs and 18 jobs won't be filled. >> that doesn't mean any of us have to like this. none of us like this, but it's a matter of realizing we're all in this together and trying to do everything we can to make sure that we do our part to pull our country's economy out of the ditch and get us moving forward again. >> and the governor says they plan on coming up with another $400 million worth of cuts before labor day. an effort to stop the spread of the h1n1 virus. the world's first human trials of a swine flu vaccine started in australia, the trials would take about seven months to finish but enough initial results are expected for the government to plan distribution in october of 2009. the federal government has already ordered 21 million doses of the vaccine for use in australia. should it be proven to work. time is 6:34. really? do we have nothing more important to talk about? apparently not.

fashionistas everywhere are calling it a rookie mistake. you may remember this. president barack obama threw out the first pitch at the all-star game. you would think all eyes on him to see if we can get the ball over the plate. turns out more people are talking about his attire than his pitching. saying he should know better than to wear so-called mom jeans. the president acknowledges that fashion critics have been calling him an urkel. remember that show "family matters? " he says, they are comfortable. and i must say at least they are not skinny jeans. at least. >> ok. paying for the michael jackson memorial service. >> coming up, we're going to look at some of the costs and why this could turn into a legal battle. and going ape at the safari. what these cute little monkeys are capable of doing to your car. 6 of:35. looks like laundry day at my place. 70 degrees, patchy fog and haze this morning.

we'll talk about the chance of storms with maryland's most accurate forecast. everyone is in a hurry on the outer loop at liberty road. traffic flowing freely at this time. right now let's check the buses and trains. >> good morning. on the buses, number 50, diversion at mannasota and erdman due to a watermain break. 13 and 36, diverting at north and greenmount. 14 bus running 10 minutes late. look for the 10 and 64 buses to be 20 minutes behind. on the marc train, ontime service on the camden, penn, brunswick lines. i never thought it could happen to me...

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a start-up company in dallas just teamed up with at & t to launch a new mobile tv system for your car. called crews cast. it's live satellite tv.

has options like the nfl network, cartoon, teen channels like disney. unlike older systems tunnels and trees won't disrupt service. >> we're in satellite signal now. then we'll lose it here in a second. you see there won't be any interruption to the screen. so right now i have no satellite signal whatsoever but you see a continuous display of the video. >> so right now there are 42 channels. better plan on using it. it costs $1,300 with a monthly service fee of $28. have you seen this? at first it looked like video from animals gone wild but turns out this is all staged. this video is a safari park. baboons raiding luggage on top of a car. tourists have been asked not to drive through with their luggage racks on because this will happen at the baboon exhibit. after they open the luggage and make off with the contents this video was made to show visitors

what could happen if you do drive through with your luggage rack. look at them running away. what did we get? >> one size fits all. love it. he has two super bowl rings. >> but now some serious accusations are just ahead. >> what a former hotel worker says happened when ben roethlisberger called her to his room.

good morning. i'm jamie costello. >> i'm megan pringle. thank you for joining us on this wednesday morning, july 22nd. here are some of the stories we're working on. you think you have budget problems? maryland is facing a $700 million shortfall forcing the governor to make some tough coyses. we have the latest. the controversy over the cost of the michael jackson memorial and now criminal charges concerns as well. we'll explain. and we're going to have the latest on the woman claiming she was raped by steelers quarterback ben roethlisberger. he denies it but this morning we have new details on her accusations. thattage more just ahead. but first the weather with justin. >> reporter: good morning. a little bit of a muggy 70 degrees in downtown baltimore. 60s in the outer fringes. 50s back in through western pennsylvania. the interesting factor is the fact that we've had rain in the forecast just about everyday. most of you have been

frustrated, a little disappointed you didn't see it. big storm blew through last night, mount airy, westminster, dime-sized hail, one to two inches of rainfall clipped northern baltimore and harford county. those are the areas with fog this morning. though we have low clouds around the region there's more cloudiness to the south. there's actually a system in the northern bahamas that has some tropical depression written all over it. we've got ourselves this flare-up coming out of the southern portion of the midwest and on in through the tennessee valley. they may combine forces with a developing coastal system off the carolinas as we head on in through and even down through florida, as we head through tonight and tomorrow. that could roll up the coast and could cause problems for ocean city thursday night and friday. for us today, 86 is our two-degree guarantee, with a 20% chance of a thunderstorm. just take the umbrella in case, we're muggy again tonight, near 70. here's kim with a check of the roads. >> we have volume building on southbound 795 as you make your way out of owings mills headed towards the beltway, but no

incidents or delays at this time. good news in east baltimore. the earlier incidents we had on 95 have since been cleared. that disabled vehicle at pulaski highway on the northbound side of 95 has been cleared. also that crash has been cleared from the right shoulder, southbound 95 right before the 895 split. still working that crash in bellcamp, pulaski highway. and the westbound span of the bay bridge, signal lights not working so give yourself a little extra time though all lanes remain open. quick look at the cameras, this is 695 at the outer loop, you can see from liberty road we have volume building, that's going to be picking up as you make your way down towards the baltimore national pike this morning. back to you. this could be a tough day for those of that you work for the state. >> the governor is cutting, also there's more talk of furloughs now. sherrie johnson has more on today's meeting. >> reporter: today governor martin o'malley will propose $280 million in cuts to trim a $700 million budget deficit. some departments took a bigger hit than others.

the biggest hit, stem cell research with $3 million. higher education, colleges and universities with more than $40 million. and the maryland lottery promotion budget cut by $5.5 million. 39 people will lose their jobs and 18 open jobs will not be filled. the state decreased budgets and cut programs to put money back into the general fund. every state department was touched except for one, and that is education. >> there one day will be a recovery and when that recovery comes our ability to capitalize on that, to compete not only nationally with you globally -- but globally will depend upon the job we do to protect the priority of education in the here and now. >> folks who say that government needs to operate like a business and sweat out the cost, well, that's what the governor's doing. >> reporter: a spokesman with the budget and tax policy institute says layoffs and tax increases will be hard to push forward with an election coming up. sherrie johnson, abc2 news. the parents of three

elementary school children are demanding an apology from police and baltimore city after their children were arrested and put in jail. this all started with a call to police on friday night. in the medfield neighborhood off of falls road. the three boys ages 7, 8 and 11 were caught trying to steal a go-cart and scooter from a neighbor's yard so police arrested them. but the kids' parents say arresting them is one thing. locking them up is another. >> it's horrible. seeing my 7-year-old handcuffed sitting on a curb. was the worst feeling i've ever had. but i think it was much too extreme for three children to be handcuffed together for that amount of time. >> no charges will be filed against the boys. a maryland nanny is charged with showing pornography to the children she cared for an even asking one of them to pose nude. hyattsville police say 22-year-old asa hern check showed web sites to a 5-year-old as well as two girls

10 and 12. she's also accused of telling a boy to stand naked in front of a web cam are a and having explicit sexual conversation was the children. the children say they locked themselves in a bathroom to avoid her. controversy from the start. who should pay for michael jackson's memorial service? now l.a.'s top prosecutor says city workers may have broken the law. >> our investigation has taken an unanticipated turn. that raises both civil and criminal aspects. >> the l.a. city attorney declined further comment citing the ongoing investigation. several council members want to know why taxpayers should pay millions for the memorial. thousands of police officers were brought in, for crowds who didn't show up. $48,000 was also spent to bring the officers sandwiches from nearly 70 miles away. tough times even for the formerly rich and famous. court records show that actor steven baldwin is millions of dollars in debt and has filed

for chapter 11 bankruptcy. baldwin appeared in several films including the usual suspects. he was most recently in a reality show "i'm a celebrity, get me out of here" from dog fighting to drunk driving to this. >> ben roethlisberger is now fighting assault charges, sexual assault charges. abc2 news brittney gordon has more. >> reporter: in pittsburgh big ben can do no wrong on the football field but ben roethlisberger now faces a lawsuit alleging he raped a woman last year. a former worker here at harrah's tahoe resort says ben roethlisberger assaulted her during a july 2008 stay. the quarterback had been invited to the nevada hotel for the american century celebrity golf tournament. according to the woman filing the lawsuit she was told to make sure he had a nice trip. therefore when the steelers star asked her to fix his tv she promptly went to his room.

once inside the complainant alleges that roethlisberger blocked her from leaving, fondling her and pushed her on the bed. she says he then pulled off his underpants and assaulted her. a year later some question why the woman is just now filing a lawsuit. but the complainant alleges she told her supervisors at work and was told that most girls would feel lucky to have sex with someone like ben roethlisberger. the suit seeks a minimum of $440,000 in damages from roth bis berger, $50,000 from harrah's and unspecified amount of punitive damages. ben roethlisberger's attorney says the quarterback never assaulted anyone. the complainant only filed several charges. there's no record of any criminal complaints. at the time of the incident the woman says she was told that she would be fired for spreading rumors about ben roethlisberger. she says that after hospital stays for depression and rumors at work she decided to file

this lawsuit. brittney gordon, abc2 news. a big improvement for test scores for baltimore city students and here are the numbers. citywide, 72% of third through eighth grade students scored proficient or advanced on the reading section msa compared to 67% last year. in math the percentage was 63%. that is up from 55% last year. and the improvement means that the city is no longer a part of the state's corrective action status. the governor, the state school superintendent and even the head of the u.s. department of education were all on hand for the release of the results. >> adults dysfunction gets in the way of student achievement. what you have here is adults who are working together on behalf of children and that's what accelerates the rate of change. >> we posted a link to the state's 2009 report card which contains the msa data from all maryland counties and baltimore city, on our web site at abc2news.com. we have a recall to tell you about this morning.

this one involving teethers. martin's food markets and giant food stores removed all varieties of cottontail teethers from their stores. they are being recalled because of the gel inside. it may be contaminated with bacteria. the recalled products include cottontails ice gel teether keys and cottontail fun pal teether. the bacteria may cause stomach pain, vomiting, diarrhea and children with weakened immune systems. so pay attention to this. if you have one throw it away, take your receipt to the store for a full refund. they will give it to you there. new rules are being aimed at making your child's toys safer. the consumer product safety commission will issue higher finds for violations -- fines for violations. the fee would increase from about $2 million to almost $15 million. the new law is called the consumer product safety improvement act. also has a revised limit for the amount of lead that is allowed in children's toys as well as other products. baltimore's historic senator will go on the auction block in a few hours. loyola college is interesting in buying it.

college officials won't say what they will do with the theater but the loyola main campus is only a mile and a half away. baltimore city bought the senator's mortgage last may with plans to foreclose and then sell the property. this week 17,000 firefighters and emts in the city for hands on training, all part of the firehouse expo. the six-day event offers education, exhibits and the latest safety training. a group of firefighters reviewed training on entering a burning building with a coordinated and controlled fire attack. the hands on training is held at a variety of locations all around baltimore. reviewing numerous drills. >> they've made mazes inside the building. they have wire and various things that will entrap a firefighter. so they have to learn how to get themselves untrapped and disentangled. >> and the firehouse expo runs through sunday with a parade that day through the inner harbor. it's probably something many of us will not see in our lifetime, the solar eclipse is the longest and most spectacular of the 21st

century. >> have you heard about this? video of the eclipse as seen in india. millions watched this once in a lifetime phenomenon. at its peak it lasted six minutes and 39 seconds. total eclipses occur about twice a year. as the moon passes between the earth and the sun on the same plane as the earth's orbit. it's only visible in asia. yes, it's more impressive than just a big shadow, come on. 6:55. we have a shadow this morning from clouds. some big storms rolled through last night. most of you stayed dry. today's probably the same. but i would take the umbrella for just the 20% shot of a shower. don't be disappointed -- well, you can be disappointed because we need the rain but don't be surprised. tomorrow, better chain chan and maybe a -- chance of rain and maybe a tropical storm or something tropical storm. wack in the upper 80s as we head through the weekend. 6:55. last check of the roads with

kim. >> this is a spectacular start to the wednesday commute. not too many incidents going on around the area as we check east baltimore. we had a couple incidents on 95 but they have been cleared. the disabled vehicle on northbound 95 is gone. also that crash southbound 95 before 895 has been cleared. pulaski highway at bada boulevard in belcamp remains on the scene, off to the shoulder. police still there so there may be extra time needed. westbound span of the bay bridge all lanes remain open but signals not working. give yourself extra time as you make your way there. back to you. "good morning maryland" at 9:00 after "good morning america." join us. it's back to work wednesday. we'll prepare you. >> we'll take to you a job fair and how do you get the job once you're there? and municipal jobs in our area for those who need help out there. >> yes. a lot ahead. see you at 9:00 have. a great day.