why a district landmark is now on the auction block. >> he's going to come back. >> holding out hope, an american soldier captured by the taliban. his hometown's plea now for the release of a loved one. good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. today tuesday, july 21st, 2009. let's take a look outside now at 5:00, 72 degrees out there. clouds in the sky. meteorologist tom kierein is here. >> he is, indeed. let's talk about the forecast for today. going to get some rain, tom? >> a chance later on than this morn og rfour viewers in etuthern maryland aretiret gng showers right now. shg up on radar, get somethingignht rai o in northern st. mary's r county, through n county.lvt th into easternha akayatw. m that may make it up into southern's county, erince george'sincounty arune cnt y over e s.e tenu re ptanoci bpitiminute no preutonat ahe rr ta mp amind somewhat muggy morning. erat es around the region near 70 in washington,inmontgomr ainntgomery, fairfax

pr prince georgs counties. eahoer snre near s70. aihent mouainsrntou mns this morning, in theid-50s th ere. we've got this flow, this ntrsteisloinwteom c imnomro f the south that's going to gicrease our humidity today, veans cha ce of a passing ch late-afternoon thundershower. otherwe,y mtlostl cloudy, rather humid, highs mid-80s. a look at tomorrow in ten minutes at 5:11. >> okay. see you then. thank you, tom. >> let'so back to swrrz now and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. take a began der around up to, see how we're doing here. no worries at the wilson bridge, lanes are open. beltway, springfield, 66, up to tysons we're okay. the top side, green belt to silver spring, no early issues. i-270 so far this morning looks like no repeat of yesterday. looks like the lanes are open headed south through germantown. a few folks getting an early start. no problems reported down to the split. back to you. >> thank you. >> we begin now with breaking news. nbc news has confirmed that a group of american students has

been quarantined. >> early reports say the students are quarantined at a hospital in beijing, china. there are reportedly from walter johnson high school in bethesda. >> news 4's tracee wilkins is live right now at walter johnson high school with more on this breaking story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are still waiting to get more information on exactly why these students were in china, how long they've been there, and how many are there. but what we do know, what has been confirmed by our nbc foreign desk is that the students have been quarantined in a hospital in beijing because they were showing signs or symptoms of swine flu. now, the chinese government, they're the ones who have kwa quarantined these students but we d't know how many were there, how long they've been there, nor do we know how long they've been in that hospital. we're waiting to get more information and will bring it to you as soon as it becomes available. i'm tracee wilkins live outside wall ter johonh h h yo ck .> tcko you.

>>o nk trys ha vemuchmu. . >> newmenri a ca eoo wourer filrican a ops ae roadsiom ein thisdlro tsnhi ts 0 t 3.st.s s t month..s. troops have an tsi the previousth monthly high was8 set back in june 2008. >> well, the pentagon says it's sparing nothing in its search for bowe bergdahl. he was kidnapped in afghanistan on june the 30th. in a video released by the taliban, the 23-year-old says he is scared and that he misses his family. in his hometown of hailey, idaho, yellow ribbons are lining the street. his parents spoke through the sheriff. >> we would like to remind all of you that are so focused on seeing our beloved son bowe safely home. >> our commanders are sparing no effort to find this young soldier and i also would say my personal reaction was one of disgust at the exploitation of this young man. >> military sources tell nbc

news that bergdahl was captured when he walked out of his base near the pakistan border without his weapon. meanwhile, the army is looking to temporarily add 22,000 more soldiers to its ranks. defense secretary gates said that the extra troops are needed to help quell the rising violence in afghanistan and support efforts in iraq. injuries, redeployment delays and the decision not to keep soldiers past they are enlistment dates were also given as reasons for the expansion. >> president obama revs up his push for health care reform as some in congress want the process to slow down. a poll shows mr. obama losing public approval of his health agenda. numbers show disapproval ratings rising from 29% in april to 44% now. brooke hart joins us live from capitol hill with more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. just negotiating what to vote on here is major struggle. lawmakers on one house committee worked past midnight here on it,

and president obama today continues what's becoming a daily push to keep his health care effort alive. even as one poll shows support for his handling of health care now below 50%, president obama told pbs it's not about him. >> i am proud of the fact that i think this has to be done. >> reporter: but the president is embracing an increasingly public fight. on nbc's "today." >> doing nothing means you're going to lose what you have because on the current trajectory, your premiums are going to double again over the next five to ten years. >> reporter: republicans slammed the obama plan to tackle it in a new ad, saying kids would suffer. >> his new experiment risks their future and our health. >> reporter: and the gop printed its strategy to kill the obama plan in a playok, a script for critics. >> the barack obama experiment with america is a risk our

country can't afford. it's too much, too fast, too soon. >> reporter: the president did praise senators, including republicans, who are working to trim the costs of reform. >> we have about a $200 billion hole that we have to plug. >> reporter: one option, to tax insurers on what the president calls their cadillac health plan. the president is backing off his august deadline for health care plans to pass. >> if somebody comes to me and says it's basically done, it's going to spill over by a few days or a week, you know, that's different. >> reporter: the president brushed aside as political gop claims that a health care defeat would upset the whole obama agenda. president obama today makes public remarks on health care. then he has invited some key house democrats to the white house, so-called blue dogs to try to break a log jam in his own party over the cost of reforms. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. eun and joe, back to you. >> brooke, thank you. >> police say they're furious about new allegations of corruption among some cops in

the d.c. area. the allegations involve five prince george's county police officers, a d.c. police official and a former d.c. housing authority officer. the fbi's investigating whether the group provided security for an illegal gambling ring that included known drug dealers. investigators are also looking into whether the officers helped distribute drugs and transport high-dollar stolen goods. >> makes all of us in law enforcement very angry. we were wear the same badge as officers that commit misconduct. one bad cop tarnishes the badge we all wear. it also takes away from public confidence in the entire criminal justice system. it's not something that we're going to tolerate. >> back in may of 2007, police raided a warehouse in waldorf as part of an investigation into that illegal gambling ring. "the washington post" reports that witnesses told authorities they had seen marked cruisers and officers in police uniforms at different gatherings. >> while you were sleeping, 18 rest stops in virginia closed their doors for good. it's all part of a plan to cut

costs across the state. those rest stops include one in manassas, two in dale city and two in lady smith, virginia. as of midnight, barrels were put up to block the entrances. many travelers are against the closures. they say when you've been on the road for long periods of time, you need a safe, convenient place to pull over while you're driving. >> you may have a situation where, you know, if you're going to cut these rest stops down, that you may have some more accidents on the road. >> this is a safety issue for the state of virginia, and if you get a major accident with a truck, a tandem truck, you can have a lot of people killed. >> virginia governor tim kaine supports commercializing the rest stops to all businesses to step in and take over. >> 5:08 is the time, 72 degrees. why some parents will have to fork over some extra cash to get their kids ready for school this year. >> plus, michael jackson's father is pointing blame at who might be responsible for the pop star's death. >> and a local county that could

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weather and traffic on the 1s, it's 5:11. light rain falling in southern maryland that's drifting to the north, now coming into charles county. may make it into prince george's county in the next hour or so. right now some light rain through central calvert county as well. that may drift into southern an a run dal county over the next

half hour or so. right now 72 in washington, upper 60s montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties. near 70 in southern maryland. mid-60s around the blue ridge, shenandoah valley. out of the mountains ts morning, partly cloudy in the mid-50s. eastern shore getting some showers at this hour right along the beaches. for us today, partly sunny. highs into the mid-80s. there's a small chance of a late afternoon or evening passing thundershower. and th mostly cloudy by dawn tomorrow. we'll be in the upper 60s and rather humid tomorrow. a chance of afternoon thundershowers, highs into the mid-80s. otherwise, partly cloudy and a rather steamy day. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> a live look, see how we're doing. so far, so good. for those of you headed downt n downtown, 295, pennsylvania avenue, south capitol street, the freeway doing fine. to manassas we go, intstate 66, the car rest area, officially closed. eastbound 66, been watching virginia state trooper come in

and shoo folks away. the i-95 rest area in dale city now officially closed. i'll keep my opinions to myself. i have to bite my tongue on that one. >> okay. >> we got you, jerry. thank you. >> thanks, jerry. 5:13 now, 72 degrees. r & b singer chris brown speaks out for the first time publicly since his confrontation with his engs girlfriend rihanna. >> why a local landmark bearing the name of a politic @b

our time is 5:15. updating the top stories in the news for today, a group of american students has been quarantined in a hospital in beijing, china, because of swine flu fears. nbc news has learned that the students are from walter johnson high school in bethesda, maryland. the pentagon says it's sparing no effort in its search for an american soldier being held captive by the taliban. private first class bowe bergdahl was kidnapped in afghanistan on june the 30th. military sources tell nbc news that he was captured after he walked out of his base without his weapon. and local police officers say they're furious about new allegations of corrupt cops in the area. the allegations involve five prince george's county officers, a d.c. police official and a former d.c. housing authority officer. the fbi is investigating whether

the group provided security for an illegal gambling ring that included known drug dealers. >> today the hotel that bears the name of a political scandal will be auctioned off. the owner of the watergate hotel defaulted on an outstanding $40 million balance. auctioneers will take bids from potential buyers who have the capital to invest in the building. megan mcgrath joins us live from northwest washington with more on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. it was a burglary that brought down a u.s. president and made the watergate complex famous here on virginia avenue. now, the watergate hotel is going on the auction block later on this morning at 10:15. the hotel has been closed since 2007. the owner, monument realty, defaulted on its $40 million loan, and now alex cooper auctioneers will begin the bidding at $1 million later on today. now, all interested parties must come to the auction with a $1

million deposit. the 12-story hotel will go to the highest bidder. the watergate complex was made famous by the 1972 burglary at the democratic national committee headquarters. the burglars were trying to bug that office. eventually the scandal led to the resignation of richard nixon. again, the hotel, the watergate hotel going on the auction block later today. apparently a lot of repairs needed to this property. it may go for a good price, considering the state of the economy, but those who are interested are also going to have to keep in mind apparently that there are a lot of repairs, a lot of updates that are going to be needed to get this property back up to snuff here. been closed since 2007. but should be interesting to see how that bidding goes later on this morning. it starts at 10:15. eun, back to you. >> megan mcgrath outside the watergate. thank you. >> it's going to cost some parents more money to get their kids ready for school this year because d.c. is canceling the sales tax holiday that it's offered for many years. the holiday generally runs for nine days in august, but

district officials say they cannot afford not to bring in an estimated $640,000 shoppers would have saved. >> i think that it will personally hurt a lot of families who are already struggling with paying for school supplies, clothing and all that. >> certainly saves us money, you know, so we buy more during that tax holiday time. when there's not a tax holiday time, i might not be buying as much. >> maryland is also suspended its tax-free holiday this year. it will pick back up next year, it says. virginia's tax-free holiday is still scheduled for august 7th through the 9th. >> today supervisors are expected to vote on a proposal to combine booze and books at loudoun county libraries. the plan would allow beer and wine at after-hour library fund-raisers. supporters say this could bring in more money to cash-strapped libraries but opponents say the measure could open up the county to lawsuits. >> primary mission is libraries are meant for children, and libraries e not meant to be a

facility to facilitate a commercial enterprise and to shift liability for accidents and for things that occur that we're actually spending many millions of dollars on. >> a library spokesperson says the after-hour events would be strictly for fund-raising, with the proceeds going to library funds. >> in sports this morning, the nationals debuted a new pitcher in their game against the new york mets. >> but even that wasn't enough to turn their luck around. lindsey czarniak has your sports minute. >> hey there, everybody. good morning. your sports minute on this tuesday begins with the nationals. pitcher j.d. martin made his major league debut last night against the new york mets, but it didn't go so well. he lasted just four innings, gave up five runs. meanwhile, former national liven hernandez beat his old team again. the mets won 6-2. to new york where the yankees beat the orioles in the bottom of the ninth. matsui hit a walk-off home run off jim johnson, and the bronx

bombers beat the orioles 2-1. to football. michael vick has now served his time and now must wait to see if nfl commissioner roger goodell will reinstate him. the commissioner says he does plan to speak one-on-one with vick but no date has yet been set. the former falcons quarterback finished a 23-month federal sentence for dogfighting. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> just about 5:21 now, time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein. he's in in storm center 4 with our forecast. good morning. >> hi, eun and joe. good morning. as we get rolling on this tuesday morning, we do have quite a bit of cloudiness around. on radar, light rain in northern st. mary's county, through southern calvert county, slowly drifting to the north/northwest. may be moving into prince george's county and anne arundel county over the next hour or so. elsewhere, no precipitation around. temperatures are mild and a little bit muggy. turned more humid overnight. near 70 all around the metro

area and southern maryland near the bay. mid-60s a little farther to the west. out in the mountains in the mid-50s now. eastern shore getting some rain at the beaches at this hour. that will continue to move to the north up toward new england. may be some flight delays, new york city, hartford, boston later on this morning. as the day progresses, well, we have a small chance of an afternoon thundershower. otherwise, partly sunny, highs reaching the mid-80s. getting humid tomorrow and it will stay humid looks like all the way into the weekend with a chance of passing showers and thundershowers each day all the way through the weekend and into the first part of next week now so we're getting that steamy july weather we've been missing. highs in the 80s. jerry, how's the traffic this morning? >> tom, doing fairly well this morning. good morning, everyone. take a peek and see what's going on, if anything at all, on new york avenue. not much happening at all. coming in from maryland all the way down to the exit 4 of the 3rd street tunnel. pretty good. wilson bridge, good to go. the i-95 corridor as well as the b-w parkway between baltimore and washington looking good.

lanes open on i-270, unlike yesterday. right now we're doing okay fed rick to rockville. don't hit the panic button. >> 5:21, 72 degrees. a high-stakes gambling debate that will affect online poker players. >> r & b singer chris brown goes on camera and talks about his violent confrontation with his ex-girlfriend rihanna. >> plus, how you might be able to see pop star michael jackson's final "this is it" tour. >> here's your liz "on the money" money-saving tip of the day. >> college students need to know as much about money as their parents. here are a couple of tips. avoid nonacademic debt. if you really want something, put a card on the wall and look at it every day for a week. if you still want it, save up and pay cash rather than putting it on a credit card. i'm liz crenshaw, on the money. e

if we don't act, medical bills wi wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs willise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop denials for pre-existing conditions.

not going to sit here and make any ex kuz. i take great pride in me being able to exercise self-control and what i did was inexcusable. i am very sad and very ashaped of what i done. >> one month after pleading guilty to assaulting his former girlfriend rihanna, singer chris brown is now publicly commenting on the incident. in the video, brown says he sought the advice of spiritual advisers hd his mother, herself a victim of domestic violence.

brown will be sentenced to 180 days of community labor. >> michael jackson's father is speaking out about the pop icon's death. he's implying the singer's personal doctor could be to blame. joe jackson appeared on "larry king live" last night. he didn't mention michael jackson's doctor by name. however, he said the doctor gave the singer something to rest but he never woke up. the pop star was preparing for a comeback tour that never happened. now hollywood studios are bidding on rehearsal footage that could become a film. sony has bid $50 million. universal, nbc's parent company, is also said to be in the running. >> our time now is 5:26, 72 degrees. president obama's health care reform plan faces new roadblocks from republicans. >> also, more than half the rest stops across the commonwealth of virginia have officially shut down. >> breaking news about a group of local students quarantined overseas.

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breaking news this morning. rising concern over swine flu. e group of local high school students quarantined overseas. >> batter up. why you could soon see a minor league baseball team in parts of northern virginia. >> the desperate plea from the family of an american soldier captured in afghanistan. good morning and welcome

back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs on this tuesday, the 21st of july, 2009. >> i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. we'll take a live look outside right now at 5:28 -- 29, rather. it is 72 degrees. looks like clear skies right now, a few clouds overhead, but what's the weather going to look like today? >> check in with tom kierein. he's in storm center 4. tom? >> good visibility at the surface, clear view there. we do have a cloudy sky this morning and those clouds are producing a little light rain in southern maryland at this hour. getting some light rain from central calvert county into northern st. mary's and eastern charles county. that is slowly drifting to the north. but elsewhere we don't have any precipitation except far northeastern maryland and temperatures are in the low 70s in washington right near the bay. montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties in the upper 60s. in the mid-60s around the shenandoah valley, mid-50s out in the mountains. near 70 on the eastern shore where they're getting some showers. it's humid there, dew points, salisbury, 69. that's humid. our dew points are not too bad

around washington. it will turn more humid as the day progresses. highs reaching the mid-80s. small chance of a passing late afternoon or evening thundershower. a look at tomorrow's forecast in ten minutes. eun and joe? >> thanks very much. >> let's which ek in with jerry edwards now. he's been watching the roadways. how's it looking? >> a little bit better today than yesterday, that is for sure. along 95, virginia, no worries. just usual volume as you begin the trip north out of dumfries. let's check it out. 395 at the 14th street bridge, through lanes are open. i thought i saw a flashing light -- i did see a flashing light. i sound like tweety the bird. but not having any effect on traffic. all lanes open headed into downtown so good news there. 270 all lanes open, no repeat of yesterday's debacle. back to you. >> all right, jerry, thanks very much. >> we begin with breaking news in maryland. nbc news has confirmed a group of american students has been quarantined. >> early reports say that the

students are quarantined at a hospital in beijing, china. some are reportedly from walter johnson high school in bethesda. >> news 4's tracee wilkins is live at the high school this morning with more on this breaking news story. tracee, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. we have got two updates. first of all, we spoke with the principal of walter johnson high school who tells us that the high school has not sponsored a trip to china, but this was evidently an independent group. now, nbc foreign desk has given us more of an update so we have more information for you. this was a culture and language group that went over to china, about 21 students. they went about a week ago. again, this was an independently-sponsored group by an organization. we don't have the name of that organization at this point. again, 21 students. two of them from walter johnson high school. one apparently a 17-year-old senior girl who has been in contact with one of our nbc reporters. now, we're told there was at least one boy in the group who developed some sim soms of swine

flu. he was quarantined immediately. in total, about seven students were taken to the hospital and that the rest of them were quarantined in the hotel that they were staying in there in beijing as they tried to sort out exactly what was going on with them. but we're told that more of them started to get sick. so we still have information coming in and we're going to provide updates as that information continues to come in. i can tell you so far it looks like a large number of these students are from montgomery county. we do know at least two of them attend walter johnson high school. waiting for more information. i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning outside the high school. back to you in the studio. >> thanks very much. >> earlier this year a group of students from silver springs found themselves in a similar situation. students from the barry school traveled to china in may and were quarantined for a week. were there as the students were re-united with their family at the airport. >> new today, a roadside bomb has killed four american troops in afghanistan.

that makes july the deadliest month for u.s. troops in this war. at least 30 u.s. troops have died in afghanistan in the month. the previous monthly high was 28 set back in june of 2008. >> the difficult wait is on in hailey, idaho, where friends and family of a soldier captured in afghanistan are praying for his return. bowe bergdahl was kidnapped on june 30th. in recent video released by his captors, the 23-year-old talks about how much he misses his family. in his hometown, yellow ribbons are lining the streets. bergdahl's family, however, out of the spotlight, asking for privacy. >> the family members just don't want to do or risk doing anything to inflame the situation of the captors. you can see how easily that can happen. they're just total focus is on bowe. >> military sources tell nbc news that bergdahl was captured after he walked out of his base near the pakistan border without his weapon.

a marine from virginia has been killed in afghanistan. the department of defense has confirmed that staff sergeant david spicer was killed on july 13th. the 33-year-old from montrose and another marine from pennsylvania died in combat operations in the helmand province. icer was based at camp lejeune. >> today, president obama has summoned key democrats to the white house, hoping they will hammer out an agreement on health care, but the push for reform will not be an easy one. a new washington post/abc news poll shows disapproval of the president's handling of the issue rising from 29% in april to 44% now. and for the first time, fewer than half of those polled say they do approve of the president's health care efforts. republicans say the reform plan's too big for the country to afford. they also say the president is moving too quickly. mr. obama originally wanted congress to act by the august recess, but now he is pushing back his timetable. >> if somebody comes to me and

says it's basically done, it's going to spill over by a few days or a week, you know, that's different. >> this morning, president obama will make public remarks on health care, trying to keep the reform effort alive. >> as of this morning, 18 rest stops across virginia are officially closed. it's all part of a plan to cut costs across the state. those rest stops include one in manass manassas, two in dale city and two in ladysmith, virginia. as of midnight, barrels were put up to block the entrances. many travelers are against the closures. they say when you've been out on the road for long periods of time, you need a safe, convenient place to pull over when you're tired. >>ou may have a situation where, you know, if you're going to cut these rest stops down that you may have more accidents on the road. >> this is a safety issue for the state of virginia, and if you get a major accident with a truck, a tandem truck, you can have a lot of people killed. >> virginia governor tim kaine supports commercializing the

rest stops to allow businesses to stop in and take over. >> we're learning more about new allegations of corrupt cops in the d.c. area. the fbi investigation centers on five prince george's county police officers, a d.c. police official and a former d.c. housing authority officer. investigators are looking into whether the group provided security for an illegal gambling ring that included known drug dealers. the fbi is also investigating whether the officers helped distribute drugs and transport pricey stolen goods. in may of 2007, police raided a warehouse in waldorf as part of an investigation into that illegal gambling ring. according to "the washington post," witnesses said they had seen marked cruisers and uniformed police officers at different gatherings there. >> it is now 5:37, 72 degrees. two-door cars are getting good marks in a recent crash safety test. we'll tell you whether or not your ride made the grade. >> plus, why a famous landmark in northwest washington is now up for sale. >> and a warning for drivers in

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last year alone we invested more in building america's future than any other company - improving and expanding our network, to keep you in control. and behind the scenes, that takes work by our employees, who pride themselves knowing, that because they do it right, you might not even notice. if all of that, makes your connections, faster and more secure... well, that's our business. at&t... your world... delivered. dd tprt adaanexes express. n se aar p sexpress. whenou y eomssre b ec when you become a ageieoutpo cg adtouge cnpo good for a nsi ayngle entray poougos od i tndoa is good today a tomorrow. >> we are approaching 5:41 now. that means it's time for traffic

and weher on the 1s. >> let's go to meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4. hey, tom. >> good morning. as we get going on this tuesday morning, mostly cloudy around washington and radar showing a shower in southern maryland. that is slowly drifting to the north now, etern charles county, exiting st. mary's. through central calvert county. slowly drifting toward the southern prt of prince george's county, maybe drifting in anne arundel county in the next half hour to hour. slowly moving off to the north. temperatures are mild and a bit muggy in southern maryland, around the bay, the eastern shore but still not very humid around washington and points west where it's in the 60s. washington now 72 degrees. over the last six hours, watching some showers from the beaches, along the atlantic coast all the way up into new jersey, new york city and southern new england. but for us today, a partly sunny morning. by noon, near 80. during the afternoon, mid-80s. turning a little more humid. there's a small chance of late afternoon or evening passing thundershower. tomorrow, partly cloudy, more humid, highs in the mid-80s and

a small chance of an afternoon thundershower. a look at the res of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. >> a live look along interstate 66 near manassas. this is the eastbound side. that rest area now closed. that truck the last fortunate soul to get in before police shut it down last night. eastbound, the rest area's closed. westbound, the rest area obviously is open and will be until september, but eastbound, no go. elsewhere, check your speeds, see how you're doing this morning. the trip in from the east, off the eastern shore looking good all the way out in. 16 minutes. headed to the bay bridge from queenstown, another 13 minutes. from the bay bridge to i-97. only 7 little minutes from bowie to the beltway. joe and eun, back to you. >> thanks. >> 5:42 is why your time. why metrobus riders will soon have fewer places to purchase fare cards. >> plus, minor league baseball could be headed to loudoun county. >> if they build it, will too many people come? the concerns, the push, the pull

for a new baseball stadium in loudoun county. i'll have a live report coming up next.

5:44 is your time. updating our top stories of the morning. nbc news has learned 21 students from bethesda are under quarantine inside a beijing hospital because of swine flu fears. the students are from walter johnson high school in montgomery county. they arrived in china about a week ago for a culture and language tour. however, some of them developed swine flu symptoms. the pentagon says troops are swearing no effort to find an american soldier captured by the taliban in afghanistan. his captors videotaped private first class bowe bergdahl, saying he was afraid. defense secretary robert gates says he is disgusted at the taliban's exploitation of a prisoner. 18 rest stops in virginia have been close for good. it happened at midnight, part of a move to close a multibillion dollar budget gap in the commonwealth.

critics say the plan will make the road more dangerous because drivers won't have a place to stop when they're tired. >> today a heated debate continues in northern virginia. loudoun county will vote on a proposal to build a 5500 seat minor league baseball stadium. that sdium would be part of a 400 acre development near the intersection of route 7 and 28. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us live here in the studio with more on this. good morning. >> good morning. many in loudoun county say this plan is a home run. they want the minor league system today. the loudoun county board of supervisors will likely meet and vote this morning on whether to brinthe ballpark there. the proposal is to build it right here, on this undeveloped tract of land near intersection of route 7 and 28. there would be a hotel, restaurants and a retail center proposed as well. the chief strike against the ballpark, concerns about traffic. but monday night, a small rally of supporters gathered outside the county board of supervisors public meeting. even little leaguers kept their

caps on inside to show support for the stadium. supporters said no matter what is developed in that space, there's going to be traffic, and their view a ballpark is the best reason to have it. now, they brought out some heavy hitters. hall of famer brooks robinson pointed to the poparity of other minor league parks he's developed. the legendary third baseman for the orioles drew hearty laughter when he told the supervisors and the crowd that minor league baseball in lancaster, new york and southern maryland is typically better than nationals or orioles ball. there are other concerns, like the timing and financing of this project. at least one environmental group cites impacts on streams, wildlife and taxes. in terms of the traffic issue, developers have thrown out this pitch -- they'll have shuttle buses and four-lane road to the park. will that be enough? we should know today. this morning. back to you. >> thanks very much. on another baseball or softball this time-related story, northern virginia high school is being investigated this morning for possible gender

bias. federal officials are looking into accusations of sexual discrimination at c.d. hilton high school in woodbridge after complaints that the school's softball field was not nearly as nice as the baseball field. at hilton high, the baseball field has a $50,000 press box, a locker room and a concession stand. the softball field has only a wood shed and a port-a-potty. school officials say they're working to address the inequalities. >> a deadly apartment fire in riverdale, maryland, has now claimed the life of a second child. prince george's county firefighters say 7-year-old jai farrell died sunday night after being taken off life support. he was left in critical condition after a fire last friday. his 5-year-old brother jordan farrell died that night. >> we were trying to get in, save the little kids and we couldn't because the smoke was like so bad. >> it's sad because they died due to something that wasn't

their fault. >> investigators say the fire started after a the boy's father left food unattended on the ste stove. nine people were sent to the hospital after a moving van ran a stop sign and crashed into pickup truck. four of the victims had to be flown out. at last check, two were still in critical condition. five others were taken to the hospital by ambulance. >> big gaping companies are companies are blitzing capitol hill, hoping they will change an antigambling law. millions play poker on the internet every day but most of them cannot pay to play. critics say americans should have the right to spend their money as they please. they also say the country could earn $3 billion a year in tax revenue by repealing the law. however, others say the measure is a safe bet. they say the stakes are higher in online gambling and that players can too easily become addicted. meanwhile, new developments in the push to bring slot machines to laurel. laurel racing lost its bid for a

license this year because it did not pay a fee. now an appeals court says a state bort should handle the matter. the court says the board of contract appeals has jurisdiction and that there's no need for the courts to get involved just yet. >> it's a d.c. landmark and its name is synonymous with the scandal that brought down a presidency. today the watergate hotel will go on the auction block. alice cooper auctioneers will start accepting bid force the hotel. it's been closed since 2004 since it was purchased by d.c.-based monument real. plans to convert the building into condos or redevelop it as a luxury hotel fell through. the hotel is one of several buildings in the watergate complemade famous by the burglary that led to president nixon's resignation. >> just about 5:51 now. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> meteorologist tom kierein is in the studio with us. what's the latest, tom? >> turning more humid, july xt couple of days and the ys a weekend. the humidity is coming back. some like it sticky and you will like it if you like sticky.

there is our sky this morning. our sunrise is ten minutes away. it will be coming up at 6:00. now at 5:50, 72 in washington. the gray waters of the potomac reflecting the mostly cloudy sky. right now onof radar we do haven area of some light rain now that is falling in southern maryland. that area of light rain is in ceral calvert county, now exitg northern st. mary's county, getting a little light rain as well in eastern charles county. this is just now drifting into southern prince george's county. it's slowly drifting off to the north. but elsewhere right around washington, we don't have any precipitation or points west. a little lightain in far northeastern maryland this morning. our temperatures are right near 70 in washington and in prince george's county, charles, calvert, st. mary's and anne arundel. farther to our west, mid-60s in fairfax. out in the mountains in the mid-50s now. and western maryland as well in the mid-50s.

so a cool start there. on the eastern shore, they're getting some showers and it's rather steamy there. these are the current dew points. the dew point is at 70. that matches the air temperature so 100% humidity there in salisbury as well as down near norfolk, but dew points farther to our west and north are in the low 60s and mid-50s. that's comfortably dry, certainly for july. over the last six hours watching these showers, this area of moving color is rain just off the atlantic beaches, up into the new york city area and southern new england. that mayause some flight delays from new york into hartford and boston, as well perhaps if you're traveling later on today around the mid-atlantic states, some thunderstorms may develop this afternoon. but probably not severe. there could be some afternoon thundershowers in south florida, maybe some travel delays there as well as along the gulf coast, out in new mexico, central plains and in the upper midwestm nt travel problems heading off to the west coast or much of the rocky region. now over the last 12 hours, been watching this overght shower activity heading off to the

north. all associated with a stalled front and a weak low along that front that's just now over the beaches, the atlantic beaches on the eastern shore. that's going to slowly drift off to the north and east. farther to our west, we have increased humidity coming in ahead of a cold front that's triggering some showers and thundershowers in the upper midwest. now going forward over the next 36 hours, this area of color is a zone of potential showers. later on this afternoon and early this evening we could have that happen, quickly dissipate. by dawn tomorrow, we'll be starting off with a mostly cloudy sky. then during the day on wednesday, another chance maybe of some afternoon showers around the mid-atlantic state. but again does not look like we'll have any severe storms. as we get into thursday, still steamy and still a chance of maybe somrs s nwehowe and thundershowers. we certain nitee d this is the dries july on record so far, onlriy a 1/4 of inchf h rainas fallen at national airpor artly sunny this morning, near 80 by noon. by mid-afternoon the mid-80s. a small chance of an early evening thundershower. after that, partly cloudy around

midnight, up until predawn. then mostly cloudy as we start off tomorrow morning with lows near 70. quite humid. going to be humidineg bning tomorrow and all the way into the weekend. each day steamy humidity, highs hein t mid-80s. molorng inws near 70. small chance of an afternoon thundershower tomorrow. g greater chance maybe of a inerg show or afternoon thundershower on thursday. friday looking partly dyshoucl, just a small chance of an afternoon thundershower, highs in mid-80s and steamy. looks like aou steamy weekend. afternoon possibility of a passing shower or thundershower with highs in the 80s. onas may lge mr toy inda well. watch out for critters this morning. on my way in, i saw a possum, i saw a raccoon, i saw a fox, i saw a coyote. and deer. >> where do you live? >> the only thing i didn't -- the national zoo. >> my goodness. >> the only thing i didn't see was an elephant. >> you should start charging for rides. >> take you on a safari tour.

>> let's go to jry edwards now. what did you see on the way in? >> i saw little martians coming down to take me away. >> we know where you live, jerry. >> let's head out and see how we are doing this morning. on the outer loop of the beltway, so far, so good. from the i-270 spur across the american legion bridge to tysons, inner loop, everything is beautiful so far this morning. elsewhere, let you know there is word of a broke yn-down vehicle in the roadway, 295 northbound at the inbound 11th street bridge. folks headed northn 295 coming up on that thing at speed so plan accordingly. hopefully a tow truck will get out there and move it shortly. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. metro's announced it is closing four locations where bus riders have been able to buy fare cards. "the washington post" reports the sales offices at the royal street bus garage in alexandria, the four-mile bus garage in arlington and the landover bus garage in hyattsville will close on july 31st. the western bus garage in the district will close its sales office on august the 23rd.

>> new today, a political fight over cell phones and driving. federal researchers held back warnings because they didn't want to anger congress. that's the word from "the new york times." it quotes the former head of the national highway traffic safety administration. he says there were hundreds of pages of research and warnings about the hazards of using cell phones behind the wheel. however, the agency was told to withhold the findings because some lawmakers had warned against lobbying states. transit oicials said billions of dollars in financing could be at risk. >> well, some new two-door cars are getting good marks in recent crash safety tests. the insurance institute for highway safety gives the ford focus and the volvo the 30 top scores in front end, side and rear crash tests. also getting top scores in the front end tests are two-door versions of the chevrolet cobalt and the honda civic. in addition, the civic got the highest score in the rear test. insurance institute executive has called the test results on the smaller models good news.

>> to the money crisis now. foreign markets were mixed. japan's nikkei market climbed 2.7%. china's shanghai composite fell 1.6%. and australia's market closed up 0.1%. to wall street now, where futures are pointing to a positive opening. the dow gained 104 points yesterday. the nasdaq climbed 22. the new york stock exchange rose 103 points. >> we are always looking for jobs for you. this morning the anthony management group in clinton, maryland, is looking for architects, engineers and managing consultants. those interested are asked to e-mail their resume. we have posted on link on our website, nbcwashington.com. once you get there, search jobs 4 you. >> still ahead this morning on "news 4 today," a warning for women in northern virginia. two women are attacked in a matter of days. >> following breaking news this morning, high school students from our areaas are quarantined overseas. >> meteorologist tom kierein says get ready for what could be

a wet afternoon. >> we'll have your traffic and weather together on the 1s coming up. "news 4 today" continues. stay with us. announcer: during the autobahn for all event, you can get great lease deals. i love it! i just want to know it's the right move. me? thirteen days in the future. you get a deal on the car you always wanted. schedulemaintenance is included, it's all good. what's the future like? you love your new jetta. and the suit? you like it? no...i love it! concierge claim centers. so i can just drop off my car and you'll take care of everything? yep, even the rental. what if i'm stuck at the office? if you can't come to us, we'll come to you in one of our immediate response vehicles! what if mother won't let me drive?

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happy days are here again. whee! ooh. celebrate summer with giant and enjoy mouthwatering fruits and vegetables at prices you can handle. like strawberries, 2-pound pack, just $2.99. this week only, at giant. breaking news this morning. local high school students are quarantined in a hospital in china right now. we're learning new information from beijing about just how many students are quarantined and where they're from. good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm n for barbara harrison on this tuesday, july 21st, 2009. we're going to take a live look outside where the sun is about to come up. 72 degrees, lots of clouds overhead. will it stay cloudy? does that mean rain? >> let's go to tom kierein. he's joined us here in the studio now. he can tell us. >> quite a bit of cloudiness. that sunrise now, which is at

6:00, we're not seeing it. off to our east, the cloud are thicker and they're producing some rain. right now on radar where you see color inthou sern gov iinnto tg movg iininnto southernncrior pge ce 'sgeounty 's falling ofas yellow, falling r 's that's drifting off to the north, exiting st. mary's unco tyty s e hatulho move into aule nn lar deun county over the next few minutes. elsewhere,o precipitation, just aar pdetly cloudy to mostl dy ky shis morning. the forecast for to bdakyy,y 9: in the mid-70s. ght now we're in the 60s to ne ar70. by noon, nr 80. hine in a nd iout. cloudy this afternoon, highs mid-80s, turning more humid. a small chance of anno aerfton or evening passing shower or thundershower. quite humid tonight. by this time tomorrow morning, a steamy start to the day. i'll show you the forecast for wednesday. that will be in ten minutes at 6:11. >> thank you, tom. >> let's check the traffic out there right now. jerry's watching people not stopping and resting. >> yeah, yeah, kind of scary out there, too. good morning.

let's head over to the capital beltway this morning where it is very quiet so far on the inner loop leaving springfield, up toward 66. however, on the exit ramp from the inner loop to go onto 66, word of a broken-down vehicle so authorities are dealing with that. just getting word of potential delays on metrorail on the orange line. apparently there was a train malfunction. that's been resolved. metrorail indicating if any delays at the moment, very, very minor in nature. keep you updated. back to yo >> thank you. we have breaking news this morning. we've been telling you about several high school students from montgomery county are under quarantine inside a beijing, china, hospital. nbc news has learned there are concerns that the teenagers might have swine flu. news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live from walter johnson high school where a couple of the students go to school. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning, joe. we're right outside of the high school here. yes, our foreign desk has been in contact with one of the students who is being quarantined there in beijing,

and we understand that she is an incoming senior here at walter johnson high school. part of this trip, she tells us there are 21 students on this trip, st of whom are from the montgomery county area. she says they were on a culture and language tour, looking forward to seeing the fordden city, the great wall, et cetera. they arrived at the airport and one of their young men in their group was taken in and quarantined for the h1n1 virus. the rest proceeded on to the beijing language institute. it appears about seven students had to be hospitalized. the rest of them were quarantined in their hotel. this young lady we've been talking to was quarantined in hospital as well. we're told the first boy who displayed some apparent symptoms of the h1n1 virus has been released so that looks like possible good news. but she's also saying it appears that more kids in group have been getting sick and they're worried that could affect them continuing with the rest of their tour. now we're still looking forward

to getting more information. still a little sketchy right now as to what's going on, but just to give you a better idea of what's happening in china right now. according to the u.s. embassy there in beijing, they have actually issued a travel alert because it appears that about 1,800 americans have been quarantined in beijing since they've been traveling there. it looks like 200 have tested positive. so, this is an area that's taking what's happening with the h 1 n 1 virus very seriously. they have issued a travel alert reminding passengers how serious it is, to to remind them they could be quickly quarantined if they're showing any symptoms. it appears that's what's happened with this group. back to you in the student. >> tracee wilkins reporting live. thanks very much. earlier this year, a group of students from silver spring found themselves in a similar situation. students were quarantined for about a week. we were there as the students were re-united with the families at the airport.

none of those students ended up actually contracting the swine flu, however. >> new today, four american troops were killed when a roadside bomb exploded in afghanistan. that makes july the deadliest month for u.s. troops in this war. at least 30 u.s. troops have died in afghanistan this month. the previous monthly high was 28 set back in june 2008. a marine from virginia has also been killed in combat in afghanistan. the department of defense confirmed that staff sergeant david spicer was killed on july 13th. the 33-yr-older from montrose died during combat operation ms. the helmand province. spicer was based at camp lejeune in north carolina. and the pentagon says it is sparing no expense in its search for an american soldier being held captive by the taliban. private first class bowe bergdahl was kidnapped in afghanistan on june 30th. in new video released by the taliban, the 23-year-old is seen saying he's scared and he misses his family. military sources tell nbc news

that bergdahl was captured after he walked out of the base without his weapon. >> 18 rest stops in virginia have closed their doors for good. they closed them overnight. the latest victims of the commonwealth's budget problems. they include two in dale city and two in ladysmith, virginia. as of midnight, barrels were put up to block the entrances. some travelers were against those closures. they say that when you've been on the road for a long time, you need a safe, convenient place to pull over. >> you may have a situation where, you know, if you're going to cut these rest stops down, that you may have some more accidents on the road. >> this is a safety issue for the state of virginia, and if you get a major accident with a truck, a tandem truck, you can have a lot of people killed. >> virginia governor tim kaine wants the rest stops to be commercialized, that is, to allow businesses to come in and take over the rest stops. >> police say they are furious about new allegations of corruption among some cops in the d.c. area. the allegations involve five

prince george's county police officers, a d.c. police official and a former d.c. housing authority officer. the fbi is investigating whether the group provided security for an illegal gambling ring that included known drug dealers. >> it makes all of us in law enforcement very angry. i mean, we wear the same badge as officers that commit misconduct. one bad cop tarnishes the badge that we all wear, and it also takes away from public confidence in the entire criminal justice system. so it's not something that we're going to tolerate. >> in may 2007, police raided a warehouse in waldorf as part of an investigation into that illegal gambling ring. "the washington post" reported that witnesses told authorities they'd seen marked cruisers and officers in police uniforms at different gatherings. >> well, today d.c.'s famous watergate hotel is going up on the auction block. alex cooper auctioneers will

start accepting bids for the hotel this morning. it's been closed since 2004, since it was purchased by the d.c.-based monument realty. since then, plans to convert the building into condominiums or redevelop it as a luxury hotel fell through. the hotel is one ofself buildings in the watergate complex made famous by the burglary that led to president nixon's eventual resignation. >> it's been 40 years since the first man landed on the moon, and now america's space program is working toward a new challenge -- survival. neil armstrong made history in 1969. the moon landing was so successful that america spent billions on the international space station, the hubble telescope, the shuttle program and mars rovers. but now nasa's budget is 1/5 of what it used to be. apollo'sstronauts used yesterday's anniversary to push for new investment in space. >> one small step for man. >> one penny ouft eveout of eve

one of your tax dollars goes to support space. >> president obama wants to add nearly $1 billion to nasa's budget next year but the country facing a tough economic reality. the apollo program involved 400,000 jobs. america lost more than that just last month. it is now 6:09, 72 degrees. a warning for women in northern virginia. two women are attacked in a matter of days. the new push on capitol hill to legalize online gambling. >> pop star chris brown breaks his silence in a new ñó ol

weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning. now 6:11. on radar, some light rain now falling in southern maryland that's heading off to the north, getting a little light rain southern prince george's county, through central calvert, maybe moving into anne arundel county, just to the east of the beltway in prince george's county over the next few minutes. right now near 70 in washington, 60s in the suburbs, in many of the rural areas. highs today reaching the mid-80s. small chance of a passing late afternoon or evening thundershower. turning more humid tomorrow. there's a chance of a -- small chance of an afternoon thundershower on wednesday, highsn the mid-80s. a rather steamy day. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. how's the traffic? >> tom, start out on 66 where it is very backed up this morning. well before manassas, getting past the rest area, all the activity, the closure, the flashing lights. no go at the rest area this

morning, quite literally. folks are just continuing on in this morning. that's the eastbound side. westbound, lanes are open. elsewhere, let's see how we're doing. headed for downtown, 295, broken down vehicle. northeast corridor is looking good. >> no stop, no go. >> that's right. >> thank you, jerry. it is now 6:13. michael jackson's father suggests foul play in his son's death. who he belies is responsible. president obama's health care plan is in serious condition. why many democrats are joiningbe id ess prs entit'ciziri he president's çño ó

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and where ever you go, atm fees won't follow. get back to what really matters switch to suntrust checking today suntrust. live solid, bank solid. updating the top stories in the news for today, a group of 21 students from montgomery county is quarantined in beijing, china, because of swine flu concerns. nbc news has learned that two of the teenagers are from walter johnson high school. we do not know what schools the other students attend. they had arrived in china for a culture and language tour when some of them started showing symptoms of the virus. 18 rest stops in virginia have officially closed for good now. they include two in dale city, two in ladysmith. the closures are part of a plan to cut costs across the

commonwealth. police in very even a are looking into two recent incidents where women were sexually assaulted. the first happened saturday morning when a woman woke up to find a man standing in the bedroom of her home. police later arrested this man, 19-year-old roger reyes martinez. according to investigators, he broke into the home, sexually assaulted the 48-year-old woman and then ran off. police are still looking, however, for a man they say flashed and assaulted a jogger on the w and od trail. this is a sketch of the person they're looking for. the 25-year-old woman told police the man rode up on a bike, exposed himself, threw her to the ground and sexually assaulted her. the woman managed to break free and call for help. joe? >> well, the health care debate is dominating capitol hill and it's no different in northern virginia. last night, more than 1,000 people packed the auditorium at t.c. williams high school in alexandria. they were there to urge the governor to fund a program to

provide dental care for uninsured, low-income residents of prince william county. here in washington, the president will meet with key democrats at the white house today. this is all part of his push to keep the reform plan alive. his reform plan. brooke hart now joins us live from capitol hill on more on this. good morning, brooke. >> reporter: good morning. just negotiating what to vote on is turning out to be a major struggle. lawmakers on one house committee were meeting past midnight last night on the issue. president obama is making what is now a daily push to keep his health care effort alive. even as one poll shows sport for this handling of health care below 50%. president obama told pbs it's not about him. >> i am proud of the fact that i think this has to be done. >> reporter: but the president is embracing an increasely public fight. on nbc's "today." >> doing nothing means that you're going to lose what you have because on the current

trajectory, your premiums are going to double again over the next five to ten years. >> reporter: republicans slammed the obama plan to tackle it in a new ad, saying kids would suffer. >> his new experiment risks their future and our health. >> reporter: and the gop printed its strategy to kill the obama plan in a playbook, a script for critics. >> the barack obama experiment with america is a risk our country can't afford. it's too much, too fast, too soon. >> reporter: the president did praise senators, including republicans who are working to trim the cost of reform. >> we have about a $200 billion hole that we have to plug. >> reporter: one option, to tax insurers on what the president calls their cadillac health plan. the president is backing off his august deadline for health care plans to pass. >> if somebody comes to me and says it's basically done. it's going to spill over by a few days or a week, that's different. >> reporter: the president brushed aside as political gop claims that a health care defeat

would upset the whole obama agenda. president obama this morning will make public remarks on health care. then he has invited some key house democrats to the white house, so-called blue dogs to try to break the log jam in his own party over the cost of reforms. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. joe, back to you. >> brooke, thanks very much. want to remind you that coming up at 7:00 this morning on the "today" show, meredith vieira sits down with the president at the white house to talk about the battle over health care and other issues as well. eun? >> joe, thanks. big gaming companies are blitzing capitol hill hoping lawmakers will change an antigambling law. millions of americans play poker on the internet every day, but mows letter of them can't pay to play. critics say americans should have the right to spend their money athey please. they also say the country could earn $3 billion a year in tax revenue by repealing the law. however, others say the measure is a safe bet. they say the stakes are higher on online gambling and that players can become add dibted.

>> well, no betting man or woman would put any money down on the nats right now. the team does have a new manager but it's the same old team and the same old story. here's lindsay czarniak with your sports minute. meanwhile, former national liven hernandez beat his old team again. the mets won 6-2. to new york where the yankees beat the orioles in the bottom of the ninth. matsui hit a walk-off home run against johnson and bronx bombers beat the orioles. michael vick has now served his time and now must way to see if nfl commissioner roger goodell the reinstate him. the commissioner says he does plan to speak one-on-one with vick but no date has yet been set. the former falcons quarterback finish a 23-month federal

sentence for dogfighting. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> the first daughters recently had a chance to see their parents in a whole new light. sasha and malia obama dropped by madame tussaud museum. according to museum officials, the girls started giggling as soon as they saw the figures. they also said the girls were like any other museum guests. they declined special treatment, including an offer to skip to the front of the line to see the ov office replica. >> that muss beat just a little too weird to see your parents in wax. >> just like regular girls. i think i'd giggle, too. >> i can agine. let's go to tom kierein now, 6:21 is our time. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> another cloudy start. good morning. as we get rolling on this tuesday morning, we have light rain now falling in calvert county, northern st. mary's as well as here in central prince george's county. little area of rain is heading

f to the north and passing just to the east of washington at this hour. there's another little shower there just east of the northern neck. weather watchers around the region reporting temperatures in the 60s to the west of washington, near 70 in washington, 60s to near 70 in southern maryland and around the bay. highs today reaching the low 80s. a small chance of an afternoon thundershower. humid tomorrow, partly cloudy, small chance of a mainly afternoon thundershower, in the mid-80s. a greater chance on thursday, a small chance on friday, but humid weather wednesday all the way through the weekend and into next week, maybe afternoon passing thundershowers, highs in the 80s. jerry, good morning. how's our traffic? >> good morning to you. it is a good morning, unlike yesterday on the 270 corridor. no repeat of the debacle with the late-clearing road work. right now looking good, picking up a little bit of volume through germantown, toward aut t too bad. on the rails this morning there is the potential for delays throughout the day for the next couple of days, until thursday, as metrorail still running the

trains slower and possibly fewer trains on stretches of the red line. so bear that in mind. right now we don't have any reports of huge backups. vre, no delays. marc rail looking good now. back to you. >> thank you, jerry, very much. >> a new report claims hundreds of pages of important information about your safety behind the wheel is intentionally withheld from congress. chris brown breaks his silence. what the pop star had to say in an apology to rihanna and his fans. >> first, here's your liz "on the money," money-saving tip of the day. >> college students need to know as much about money as their parents. here are a couple of tips. avoid nonacademic debt. if you really wantsomething, put a card on the wall and look at it every day for a week. if you still want it, save up r cashpthhengutan than putting it on a cred card.an nem liz crenshaw, "on the money."wzññññ c#1i

i'm not going to make any excuses. i take great pride in me being able to exercise self-control and what i did was inexcusable. i am very saddened and very ashamed of what i done. >> chris brown is making a public apology for beating his former girlfriend, pop star rihanna. brown pled guilty last month and will be sentenced to 180 days of

community labor. in an internet video, brown says he sought the advice of spiritual advisers and his mother, herself a victim of domestic violence. >> michael jackson's father is speaking out about the pop icon's death. he's implying the singer's personal physician could be to blame. joe jackson appeared on "larry king live" last night. he did not mention jackson's doctor by name. however, he said the doctor gave the singer something to make him rest, but that michael jackson never woke up. the powerful anesthetic was found inside jackson's home. theoroner is still waiting for a toxicology report to determine how michael jackson died. >> following breaking news now. high school students from our area are quarantined overseas. why a government report intentionally withheld research and warnings about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. >> and the pentagon's new plan to increase the size of the army.

breaking news right now. local high school students are quarantined in aospital in china. we're learning of new information from beijing about just how many students are quarantined and where they are from. >> cellular interference. new today, why a government report withheld warnings about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. >> good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison on this tuesday, july 21st, 2009. a live look outside. it's 71 degrees at 6:30. cloudy out there. i think we're in for some rain today. >> let's find out. ky s loo >> theks s looks a little bit darker. that is an area of rain. right now we c shaeeant t on an radar. the litt a erininre mowllgatod raining moderately now in calvert county. that is a shower that's drifting to the north.

there are a few sprinkles in central prince george's county, and right near the beltway d no tgh nriear landover,he ty're t getting a little light sprinkle there. another light sprinkle in northern st. mary's county. tawhere, no pcionpitati nd the region other than ugarrothh the lower part of the the round's another shower.ro area n a earer70nas ahi wnghito and near the bay, but 60s elsewhere in the suburbs and earaarl s. out in the mountains it's in the 50s. te noontime wlle'ell near 80 af ar patly sunny morning. aartlary cloudy afternoon to foow. turning more humid this affooohsn, t hign ihe low 80s. there's a small chance of a apanoftoner orn anooner oring owly a nationals nationals t park. megame time temperature around degrees. overall, pretty nice night for baseball. the forecast for tomorrow in ten minutes. >> okay. we'll see you then. thank you. >> the mets, might be a mercy delay. that's another topic. let's go to jerry edwards now and take a look at the roads. >> good morning. head back to virginia where it's

real slow drive this morning. interstate 66 the backup begins before manassas, past the rest area, which is closed, continuing toward fair oaks. at all activity at the rest area, the flashing lights and the traffic cones closing the entrance. seems to be drawing a lot of attention. eastbound rest area closed, westbound is open. elsewhere, headed for the wilson bridge, no worries there. the broken down vehicle, inner loop at 66 is gone. coming through waldorf northbound on 301 at 228, had a broken down vehicle in the roadway. authorities working to clear that. back to you. >> thanks. >>e have breaking news this morning. more than 20 students from montgomery county are now under quarantine in beijing, china. nbc news has learned there are concerns the teenagers might have swine flu. the group includes a couple of students from walter johnson high school in bethesda. that's where news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are now learning, according to our nbc foreign desk, that all 21 of the students are from

the montgomery county area. they went to beijing, china, about a week ago for a culture and language tour. we have been in contact with at least one of these students who does attend walter johnson high school and is going to be a senior this year. she is being quarantined in her hotel room. she tells nbc's foreign desk that there are seven students who are in the hospital, at least seven. that the rest of them are in their hotel room where they are being isolated at this point. evidently when they first arrived, one boy showed some symptoms of the swine flu. he was taken off of the airplane and isolated and quarantined. but then the rest of the group began to get sick. now, they're hoping that if everyone recovers they'll be able to continue with their tour. it looks like that first boy who got sick has already been released, so that's good news. but just to give folks an idea of what it's like right now in beijing, china, the u.s. embassy there has issued a travel alert to let people know that they are very serious about this. if people show an elevated temperature or any other signs,

they are instantly quarantined. some people even making it to their first destination once they arrive at the airport. so far we understand that 1,800 americans have been quarantined. 200 have tested positive for the swine flu since this epidemic began. so, this is the kind of atmosphere that folks are dealing with there in china. it appears this may be the case with these students who are now quarantined over there in beijing. tracee wilkins, live this morning in bethesda. eun, back to you in the studio. >> thank you. earlier this year a group of students from silver springs found themselves in a similar situation. students from the barry school travel to china in may and were quarantined for a week. we were there as the students were re-united with their families at the airport. >> new today, there is word that federal researchers gathered countless warnings about the dangers of talking on a cell phone while driving but that they held back because they did not want to anger congress. that's according to "the new york times." it quotes the former head of the

national highway traffic safety administration. he says the agency was told to withhold the findings because some lawmakers had warned against lobbying states. that may have put billions of dollars in financing at risk. well, 18 rest stops in virginia closed overnight. the latest victims of the commonwealth's budget gap. chopper 4 is right now live over dale city, over one of the shut down rest stops. you can see the barrels and barricades out there. some travelers were upset those barricades went up around midnight. they say -- travelers say when you've been on the road for long periods of time you want a safe, convenient place to pull over. >> you may have a situation where, you know, if you're going to cut these rest stops down that you may have some more accidents on the road. >> this is a safety issue for the state of virginia, and if you get a major accident with a truck -- a tandem truck, you can have a lot of people killed. >> contrary to what the congressmen from virginia says,

the governor of virginia supports commercializing the rest stops to allow businesses to step in and take over. >> we're learning more about -- learning more about new allegations of corrupt police officers in the d.c. area. the fbi investigation centers on five prince george's county police officers, a d.c. police official and a former d.c. housing authority officer. investigators are looking into whether the group provided security for an illegal gambling ring that included known drug dealers. the fbi's also investigating whether the officers helped distribute drugs and transport pricey stolen goods. in may of 2007, police raided a warehouse in waldorf as part of an investigation into that illegal gambling ring. according to "the washington post," writs said then seed marked cruisers and uniformed police officers at different gatherings. >> the pentagon says it will spare no effort in its efforts -- in its search for an american soldier being held captive by the taliban. private first class bowe bergdahl was kidnapped in afghan

on june the 30th. in a video released by the taliban, the 23-year-old says he is scared and that he misses his family. his hometown of hailey, idaho, yellow ribbons are lining the streets. his parents spoke through the sheriff. >> like to remind all of you that our soul focus is seeing our beloved son bowe saufly home. >> our commanders are sring no effort to find this young soldier. and i also would say my personal reaction was one of disgust at the exploitation of this young man. >> military sources tell nbc news that bergdahl was ctured after he walked out of his base near the pakistan border without his weapon. meanwhile, the army is planning to temporarily add 22,000 soldiers to its ranks. defense secretary gates says the extra troops are needed to help quell the rising violence in afghanistan and support efforts in iraq. injuries, redeployment delays and the decision not to keep soldiers past their enlistment dates were also reasons given

for the expansion. the army currently has about 550,000 soldiers. >> a popular holiday many parents look forward to is canceled this year. grab a good book and a glass of wine. why one local county could be serving alcohol at its libraries. >> it's a crime caught on camera bana has one business img @-@ss.

6:40 is your time. now here's news 4's bargain blast of the day. today is free pastry day at starbucks. the coffee chain is inviting you to try pastries for free with the purchase of any beverage. the deal is good until 10:30 this morning. you do need a coupon to get the deal. you can print one out on nbcwashington.com. >> it is 6:41. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> lets check in with meteorologist tom kierein. he's up in storm center 4 with our forecast. >> a cloudy start to this tuesday morning, the 21st day of july. on radar getting a shower here in calvert county, and there's a litt sprinkle just to the north of annapolis. on the eastern shore here in kent county, door chester county, a few sprinkles, passing east of washington. temperatures near 70 in washington. near the bay. elsewhere in the 60s. it's in the 50s out in the mountains. for today we'll have afternoon highs reaching the low 80s with

a little sun in and out. a small chance of a passing late afternoon shower or thundershower. then mostly cloudy by dawn tomorrow. the forecast for wednesday, partly cloudy, more humid, small chance of an afternoon thundershower with highs in the mid-80s. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend at 6:51. how's the traffic? >> a live look along 395 where we are loading up nowma as the o make the trip north from duke street. all lanes of open. check your speeds. on the beltway, slow between swi springfield and the wilson bridge. not bad up to college park. >> thank you very much. in a few hours you can start bidding on a famous d.c. land mark which goes on the auction block today. the vote today to bring another sports team to o ñçw

anncr: hot fudge brownie meets cool, creamy ice cream ready from your microwave in less than a minute. new edwards singles a la modes. share one with someone you love. or not. good morning. welcome back. today a heated debate contues in northern virginia. loudoun county will vote on a proposal to bring a 5,500-seat mine or league baseball county in the stadium. but if they build it, will too many people come?

kimberly suiters is here. >> i guess that's a problem a lot of towns would like to have. today a vote whether or not to create a ballpark in loudoun county. there are those who say this plan hasself strikes geps it and others who say it is an absolute home run. the proposal is to build it here, on this 400-acre, undeveloped tract of land near the intersection of routes 7 and 28. there could also be a hotel, restaurants and a retail center, a mixed-use area. those crying foul say they're concerned about traffic. but monday night, a small rally of supporters gathered at the county board of supervisors public meeting. even the little leaguers kept their caps on inside to show support for a ballpark. one proponent said no matter what is developed in this space, there will be traffic. in his view, a ballpark is the best reason to have it. >> i did not hear one person of the 33,000 people that came by -- and i stood there, kept on seeing "support baseball." no one said.

everyone said i can't wait to take my kids somewhere. we need it. this is an opportunity. don't mess iup. >> pushing for the plan, a serious heavy hitter, hall of famer brooks robinson who points out the popularity of other minor league parks he's developed. the third baseman for the orioles drew hearty laughter and splaus when he told the supervisors in the crowd that minor league baseball is typically better ball than the nationals or the orioles. now, there are other concerns, like the timing, the financing of the project. at least one environmental group cites impacts on streams, wildlife and taxes. in terms of the traffic issue, developers have thrown out this pitch. shuttle buses and a four-lane road to the park. will it be enough to get ready for the 2011 atlantic baseball league season? we should know by this morning, 9:00. back to you. >> okay. thanks very much, kimberly. loudoun county supervisors will also vote today on a proposal to combine booze and books at local libraries. the plan would allow beer and wine at after-hour library

fund-raisers. supporters say it could bring in more money to cash-strapped libraries. however, opponents argue it could open up the library to lawsuits. a library spokesperson says the after-hours event would be strictly for fund-raising. >> it's a d.c. landmark and its name is synonymous with the scandal that brought down a presidency. today, the watergate hotel will go on the auction block. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from northwest washington with details. >> reporter: good morning. you mention the watergate and people who have never been to washington, d.c. know exactly what you're talking about. the watergate hotel and office complex was at the heart of the burglary and scandal that brought down president richard nixon. later today, the hotel will go on the auction block and will go to the highest bidder. the watergate, a building forever famous for the burglary that bears its name and the scandal that brought down a u.s. president. later this morning, developers

will have a chance to own a piece of history when the watergate hotel goes on the auction block. the owner, monument realty, had planned to real vat the hotel, but recently foreclosed on its $40 million bank loan. the 12-story hotel will now go to the highest bidd. interested parties must come to the auction with a $1 million deposit. bidding gets under way at 10:15 this morning. the watergate was made famous by the 1972 burglary of the democratic national committee headquarters located in the watergate office complex adjoining the hotel. the scandal eventually led to the resignation of president richard nixon. while the property may go for a good price in this poor economy, the new owner will have a lot of work to do. the hotel has been closed since 2007 and is in need of extensive renovations. those interested in participating in the auction will have to come with a $1 million certified check or a cashier's check. the bidding begins at 10:15 this

morning. eun, back to you. >> megan mcgrath in northwest washington this morning. megan, thank you. back to school supplies will cost more in the district this year. the annual sales tax holiday has been canceled. it generally runs for nine days in august, but d.c. officials say they cannot afford not to bring in the estimated $640,000 shoppers would save. maryland also suspended its tax-free holiday this year. virginia is still scheduled from august 7th to the 9th. >> today fed chairman ben bernanke heads to capitol hill to begin two days of testimony on the economy as the dow is on its longest winning streak since april of 2007. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us live with today's business headlines. >> reporter: good morning. investors will be keeping an eye on capitol hill today, one of those days when wall street focuses on washington because the fed chairman will go before the house panel to deliver a fresh take on the state of the economy. an op-ed in today's "wall street journal," bernanke says the fed

will keep interest rates low, at least for now, but will be able to hike borrowing costs when the time is right. on wall street, futures are slightly lower ahead of bernanke's testimony. stocks did rise on monday on another set of really good earnings and a bullish forecast on the market by goldman sachs. asian markets were mixed overnight. europe is mostly higher at this hour. the earnings parade marches on today. we get numbers from five members of the dow this morning, caterpillar, coca-cola, dupont, merck and united technologies. the dow rising 104 points on monday to 8848. the nasdaq gained 22 points to 1909. and americans are paying less to fill up their cars and trucks before heading out on a summer road trip. the department of energy says the average price for regular unleaded fell 6 cents last week to $2.46 a gallon. this reflects the lower price for crude oil which makes up more than half of the cost of making gasoline. back to you. >> courtney, thanks very much. have a great day. >> reporter: thank you.

you, too. >> thanks. we are always looking for jobs for you. this morning the anthony management group in clinton, maryland, is looking for architects, engineers and managing consultants. if you are interested in working for the company you are asked to e-mail your resume in. we posted a link on our website, nbcwashington.com. go there and search jobs 4 you. >> well, it is now 6:51. that means we're going to get a check on the weather with tom. >> starting to feel like july of all things. get ready for some extended period of some rather humid conditions. in fact, this is going to be the first time this summer we've had some sticky weather that's going to linger for a number of days. it's still not too humid in washington. there's the sky over the gray potomac river. it's cloudy at this hour. 71 at reagan national. to the right of the screen. and the sun's been up now for about an hour but it's blocked by the clouds which are producing some rain in southern maryland. right now on the radar we've had some rain continuing to slowly drift to the north out of st. mary's county. getting some showers, slowly

drifting toward anne arundel county likely over the next hour or so. the eastern shore, dorchester county, they're getting a little bit of a shower near cambridge. elsewhere on the radar, we don't have any other precipitation except up here in kent county. that's drifting off to north as well. all around the area it's a rather mild, not too muggy morning. upper 60s in fairfax, montgomery, prince george's counties. near 70 in washington, mid-60s in frederick, loudoun county. near 60 in the shenandoah valley. eastern shore's steamy, though, very humid there. they have had some showers overnight. out of the mountains in the mid 506s where they're off to a partly cloudy start there. these morning clouds will slowly drift to the north and east so we've got to get some sunshine going in the next couple of hours. we may have some thundershowers later on today, the mid-atlantic states, perhaps in new england, some flight delays there as well as south florida, the gulf coast. out in new mexico, central plains and the upper midwes but elsewhere should notave any travel problemsn o tnt wes cot. , wr usy b mid-afternoon in the

8ywlo0s. wetting more humid. about a 30% chance of a passing shower or thundershower late afternoon d early this evening that might cause a brief interruption of the nationals/mets game. and then by dawn, mostly cloudy. we'll be near 70 and some steamy weather really moving in. ce platomorrow. looks like now all the way through the weekend. small chance o anofter afterno thundeonrswemor ho.rrtoow r hoteeachance of a morning shower, afternoon thundershower thursday. a small chance of a mainly afternoon thundershower on friday. highs in the mid-80s each day. then over to weekend, we'll be in the 80s andte steamy. we'lhahave c ance of a passing afternoon thundershower saturday, sunday and monday. but not a washout for the weekend by any means. later on this morning i'm going to the d.c. prep a tri academy summer school visit this day coming up. >> lots of fun. thank you. >> let's go to jerry edwards now. he's looking at the roads. problems? >> a couple problems, but the good news is 270 road work was

cleared out on time this morning. although it's moderate to heavy headed through rockville, all through lanes are open. no huge backups like yesterday at this hour. did ve a couple of problems in the district, broken down vehicle, 295 southbound, southbound at bowling. word of a broken down vehicle there. outer loop is slow past van dorn street where the lanes split. and 66 heavy at the beltway but there travel lanes do remain open for you. back to you. >> jerry, thanks very much. >> breaking news this morning. more than 20 students from montgomery county are now under quarantine in beijing, china. nbc news has learned there are concerns the teenagers might have swine flu. at least two of them are from walter johnson high school in bethesda. that's where news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. our nbc foreign desk has been in contact with one of those students from walter johnson here throughout the morning. we're told that, yes, 21 students from various schools here in montgomery county went to beijing, china, about a week ago for a culture and language tour.

one of those students evidently showed se signs of swine flu on the plane. the rest of the group initially moved on while they quarantined just that one student, but now it appears that about seven are in the hospital and the rest are still in kwarn teen in the hotel, including the student we've been in contact with. in china right now, the u.s. embassy there has released travel warning for folks coming to beijing, letting them know that they are very serious about stopping swine flu and that if you show even an elevated temperature they could go ahead and quarantine you. folks who are sitting near you. i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning in bethesda. back to you. >> tracee, thank you. >> it is national zoo keepers week. every day we have a very special morning person, kristin clark has worked as an animal keeper at the national zoo since the summer of 2005. kristin is best known as being a big cat's keeper at the lion and tiger house, but in this photo she's with one of the zoo's smallest animals. that's a prairie dog. we're told the prairie dog's

social structure is like humans. they live in family groups which cluster in neighborhoods. they have cul-de-sacs and they have weekend barbecue. >> minivans. >> if you -- the kids play soccer. if you know someone like kristin, e-mail their story and a clear, close-up picture or video to morning person@nbc. >> a crime caught on tape at some texas business owners going bananas. the video shows what appears to be a monkey burglarizing their story. that's right. the primate is the prime suspect in the latest break-in. the owners are convinced that a monkey has been trained to sneak in and steal several hundred dollars worth of plants. it's hard to see right there. one night security cameras caught what appears to be a monkey inside the store. the next morning, 40 plants were mysteriously gone. could a monkey take 40 plants? >> could be a guy in a monkey suit. >> only you.hi ink c

>> i think we're on to something. >> thenf o numr of monkeys sat down at an infinite number of typewriters, we would have the great works of shakespeare. >> showers each day and into the weekend. >> okay. >> out the door problems? >> outer loop of the beltway, van dorn street slow. the rest areas 66 eastbound and on 95 closed. >> thanks very much, jerry. that is "news 4 today." thanks for starting the day with us. >> we'll see you later for "news 4 midday" at 11:00 a.m. >> bye. 8

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