right now at midday, a minivan engulfed in flames and a body found inside. we will have more as police investigate this very disturbing scene. >> and the police chief busted in a dui case. and the cankle problem. fat ankles are the latest body osession. news 4 midday starts right now.

>> good morning and welcome everyone. i am glad you are with us. >> good morning to you. we begin with breaking news out of silver springs. that is where police are on the scene of what they arere callia iosuiceasp dusth in an apartment. >> a woman's body was found this morning on garland avenue. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: we are just across the street from the long branch library. police were called earlier for a welfare check. they found a young woman dead. their investigation began there just moments ago. homicide decktives emerged from that apartment. they are gathered here discussing the case. their investigation very early. we want to bring in luicelle brower. >> the call came in at 6:30 this morning for a possibly suspicious situation, check the

welfare. they found a 23-year-old woman unresponsive. their life saving efforts were not successful. she was pronounced dead at the scene. right now there is no apparent cause of death. so we are investigating this as a suspicious death. at this point we do not know if there is foul play involved but it makes sense for us to investigate in that fashion. so we will continue to try to determine what occurred here early this morning and what caused this young woman's death. >> was there tra ma to her body? >> no apparent signs of tra ma. >> reporter: what makes it suspicious? >> her being 23 years of age, it is possible that she died of natural causes but less likely because of her youth. it makes sense for us to treat this situation as suspicious and do a thur row investigation. >> reporter: police on the scene

investigating a suspicious death of a 23-year-old female who has yet to be identified. news 4. joan, barbara, back to you. and we are following another still developing story near bathesda. the body was burned too severely for identification and police are calling it a death investigation. >> the fire appears to have started in the passenger compartment of the vehicle and that is unusual.

q"cted to begin today in the trial of bene ta ja dck. over the past two s,ekwe 2 2 witnesses have testified for the prugs. pruters are accused her of stabbing her teen aged daughter ask strangling her three younger daughters. she lived in the months with their decomposing esdibo. boes the case is beingeard by a judge alone insad of a jury. an olkptikp vacation home wno k.ocon the auction bl hair yetteal wrsk.ho whener meho when she was convicted of defrauding the city when aasanar a oas manager of the d.c. tax office. bids will be accepted starting today. the minimum bid is listed at $212,000. walters is currently serving a 17 year sentence. >> and now for the latest on the

money crisis. let's take live look at wall street. you can tell that stocks are down about 40 points at this hour. investors are hoping for a positive showing today to continue last week's winning streak when the dough jumped above 9,000 for the first time since january and down about 40 points. investors are keeping an eye on a lot of economic data. we have learned that new home sales jumped 11% in june. that's the biggest increase in nearly nine years. we are looking at the largest numbers in housing and more. and we will have more on all of 24 when we talk with cnbc at 11:45 this morning. >> a big diplomatic effort. president bam and members of the cab ne are meeting with chinese officials. it is the first diague event between the to world pours. the ghouls are consolidating confidence, gaining growth and enhancing cooperation between

the u.s. and china. >> my confidence is rooted in the fact that the united states and china share mutual interests. if we advance those interests through cooperation, our people will benefit approximate the world will be better off because our ability to partner with each other is a prerequisite for progress of many of the most pressing global challenges. >> climate changeann korea will alsth b korea will also be discussed. ee mngtiashat heeting m has to closures. e b closed asyania avenues off and on oi onotor 1e us2nooi or 12th street toptg arn. det ge bridge will get relief. there will bem,,a separate lane for drivers turning right. drivers who need to turn right will not get stuck behind those wanting to go straight.

crews will add the new lane by repositioning barriers and restriping the roadway. and speaking of traffic, let's find out what is going on on the roads right now. >> jerry? >> good morning, everyone. let's take a live look downwn. there is the reagan building. traffic moving along nicely. we have witnessed throughout the moing intermy tant closetures to come and go at the meetings. catching a few folks by surprise. but the planned complete closure was wisely given up early this morning. weertainly do appreciate that. elsewhere, check things out, how are we doing over at the bridge? no worries there. right now 270 northbound and southbound between the beltway.

>> i just want to get along with my co-workers. a little sunshine has started to warm our temperatures up very, very quickly. with all this strong july sunshine and plenty of moisture in the at moser if we will cook up some thunderstorms later today. 80 in washington. 81 in salsbury. still close to 70 degrees. there will be a chance for more showers and thunderstorms to fire up later today. the first batch that had us pretty wet early this morning, nearly an inch of rain in

southe maryland. more showers are coming up for later on this afternoon. don't stray too far from the umbrella. highs between 85 and 90 degrees. back down to joe and barbara. >> thank you, chuck. our time right now eight minutes after 11:00. coming up, what he has to say about his dui case and why it doesn't mean he is giving up his badge. >> hear what sar rah palin has to say to critics as she steps down. >> and is there a deal in the works for ducustody of the children? they smell. that is to say the oh odors of ermm summer

the justice department is very close to closing the 2001 tlax case that killed five people. the associated press tells us that the department planned to close the case last week but it backed away after government lawyers said they needed more time. the move comes one year after government scientist killed himself while under investigation for the crime.

the police chief arrested, accused of driving ufl of alcohol. his spokesperson has said that the chief is is sorry. >> reporter: police chief under arrest for drunken driving. the arrest of the well respected long time chief a shock. >> today we are saddened and disappointed at this turn of events. chief baker is a well respected leader in the department and the community. >> deputy chief earl cook has been named acting leader. >> in that way, i think he was very much apicetog. >> reporter: baker issued a statement.et

>> congratulations and thank you for youru"b; service. >> reporter: baker was sworn in after serving as deputy chief. >> people make mistakes. i don't think that should be fatal for a person's career. >> it is disappointing. he is supposed to be enforcing the rules so you would think he would hold himself to a higher standard. >> getting behind the wheel after drinking is out of character for the chief who has had an unblemished record. >> i have been in social

situationshere i have never seen him even take a drink. he has always turned them down. >> you can-m e ulurais yo thoughts to newss midday and w will try to read some of the responses at the end of our newscast. >> this is not the first time a public official has been arrested in a drunk driving case. in 2004, al ex&dree ya school -% she stepped down from her position last june.y>b

the focus of t simulations is terror prevention. in the past, exercises focus has been on response efforts. >> and chuck joins us here in the studio to talk about the forecast. >> i have towelled off, showe d showed, and cleaned my act up. >> has come into this studio yesterday. good day to be on the outside today. a little steamy outside. before the afternoon showers show up, really quite a pleasant julyfternoon. late morning. almost afternoon to go outside and enjoy it. temperatures are climbing up quickly thanks to strong july sunshine no doubt about that.

it whether be a cool july and one of the driest ones on record. we are in second place s records have been kept here, since the early 1870s. 80 degrees in falls church. 78 this morning. up towards frederick, maryland, all into the low 80s now. rainfall, we actually had a little rain. some pretty strong thunderstorms.

a tenth in baltimore. a little over a tept in frederick. and literally enough to get the ground wet and make your clean car dirty around the washington area. here is a check of live doppler. in rain around our area just yet. that is about it. take a look on the regional radar. not an awful lot of rain to worry about. before all this daytime heating leads to showers and thunderstorms. that little burst area is pulling on out. the weather front will be pressing into this very moist and somewhat unstable air mass. we will have an opportunity for severe weather, too. we will keep you posted on that. bring you all the latest updates and any watches or warnings issued. another complex of thunderstorms across parts of oklahoma and north texas. not a lot of active weather. that is well some news.

we will have afternoon thunderstorms to deal with. primary threat would be gusty winds and frequent lightning. so your forecast, partly to mostly cloudy. more showers likely. a few strong storms are possible. no widespread severe weather. keep an ear and eye to the sky just to be safe. near 90 for today. the lest chance for rain is tomorrow. never say never to mother nature but we don't post if it is less than 30 or 40% chance. we will call it partly cloudy

storm. 30% back in the picture for wednesday. 40% chance for rain on thursday and id.ay as we always mention, first thing on monday, start looking towards the weekend. we don't have any rain posted for neck weekend. let's hope that one holds true. >> we will hold you to that. >> i will change it tomorrow. >> thanks a lot. >> first thing afternoon on sunday we start looking for the next weekend. now let's see what the roads look like? any construction? >> look at that. look at that. that is slow going this morning on the beltway inner loop as you head from 236 in annondale. the lane is closed off and we are just crawling. pretty miserable commute at this hour. take a live look at how we are doing during the summertime haze. you can see things are moving along very nicely.

barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> 11:20. we have 80 degrees out there. the cemetery is facing desecration allegations. what someone found that has police involved. >> they brought you the ipod and the i phone and now apple has something else up its sleeve. what new gadget could be the next big thing. >> and it's summer which means shorts and capris. shortit hard to breathe. but now that i'm breathing better with advair... i can enjoy the zoo with my grandkids. (announcer) for people with copd including chronic bronchitis, emphysema, or both, great news. advair helps significantly improve lung function. while nothing can reverse copd, advair is different from most other medications

because it contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help you breathe better. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. we had a great day, grandpa! we sure did. ask your doctor how advair helps improve lung function for better breathing. (announcer) find out how to get your first full prescription free at advaircopd.com.

president bam is pushing his health care agenda on the road. the senate has already given up on its summer deadline but the house could still vote this week. tracy potts has more on the debate. >> reporter: one democratic plan to get everyone to a doctor is so complex that lawmakers booked a five-hour briefing today to explain it. splins saying let's go back to the drawing board. >> we would like to start over. >> reporter: the senate has given up on reform by summer break. but house speaker nansy ploesy remains confident. >> if i take this bill to the floor, it will win.

>> reporter: some fellow democrats are not so sure. >> i don't believe so next week. the american people want to take a closer look. >> reporter: -- instead of taxing the rich, tax cadillac health care plans like the 240ur $40,000 policy by goldman sachs.

>> there is about 80% agreement. >> 11:25. 80 degrees out there and the latest on the michael jackson death investigation. where police are now focussing and why the custody battle for the singer's children is intensifying. we will tell you why a 911 call is adding fuel to the fire. and summer means sweat and sometimes that means a not so sweet problem. we will tell you howoo g from stinkle tsoe to twinkleesto .es you can e-ml us your thoughts to news ayddmi. we will try to s r romeadee responses at the end of this newscast

sarah palin is no longer the

governor of alaska. she watched as the lieutenant governor was sworn in as the new head of alaska. palin first took shots at the media and then maintained she will continue to fight for her state and her decision was made for good reasons. here is what she said in her fair well speech. >> because i love alaska this much, sir, i felt it was my duty to avoid the unproductive typical politics as usual lame duck session in one's last career in office. how does that benefit you? >> she has not announced future lit call plans. there are number of ethics complaints and mounting legal utlls. >> is of the hospital after suffering a dizy spell. the collapse .

and now on to the controversial arrest. the woman who placed the call is now urns investigation. >> reporter: low priles and talking with the president. a conversation that took place while he happened to be at a bar. >> suddenly this phone call on his cell phone and it's the president of the united states. wow.

>> the conversation was about he and i having a beer here in the white house. >> he said he would be happy to oblige, meeting the president and the sergeant over a beer. >> hopefully we can get that done in the next several days. >> some of the president's critics still want him to apologize. >> it leads you to wonder who will be next if the president decides to use the bully pulpit. >> an attorney for the woman who called 911 issued a statement. she did not know the race of the men when she called 911 because she was too far away. police are not expected to release the 911 call any time soon. the police are assembling a

panel of outside experts to review what happened. they want that panel to hear t tapes first. police have cleared kroully of any wrong doing and any racial profiling. >> there is no evidence that the arrest was race based. >> but some here insist that sensitive issues must be discussed pubically and plan to hold a community forrum on the matter in the days ahead. >> you know, permeate almost every aspect. >> and that was ron allen reporting. professor gate s hopes his arrt will lead to greater understanding about racial profiling. a family has filed a lawsuit against glenwood memory gardens in glenwood, illinois. they claim the cemetery tried to resell a plot. a human bone was found lying on

the ground there. police are loobing into a similar allegation. >> now to the latest twist involving the death of michael jackson. we may learn the results of two separate investigations. the coroner still trying to figure out what killed him. and the ponlt of plan slaughter is on the table as well. >> new questions about the time line of michael jackson's death that could change the game. consider the 9 11 call. >> you have a doctor there? >> he is not responding to anything? >> the doctor giving cpr is dr. conrad murray. three hours earlier, we learned two women claiming to work for dr. murray were at his private

storage unit. >> three to five boxes in the trunk of a car and then they carried a couple of things out. >> before that moment, no one had accessed the storage unit in more than a month. police searched it along with his office. >> they will go to these people. they will try to roll them over. >> now when paramedics arrived at jackson's home, he was already dead. this raising new doubt about the timing of his death and who knew what when. if it is declared a homicide, criminal charges could follow at any time. >> it is not a slam dunk prosecution. you will argue that there is multiple prescriptions. you will argue other things could have caused it. >> court papers reveal that doctor murray is the target of a

manslaughter investigation. dr. murray did nothing wrong. they are planning a third interview. performing was michael jackson's passion but his kids were his life. his three children don't have a permanent home. only swirling speculation abou debbie, their grandmother and aunts. >> not good for the kids, their psychological well being. if everybody settled out of court, these kids can have routine in their lives. >> that was -- there is a custody hearing set for the third of august and the question is now can katherine jackson reach a deal before it goes to a judge. person to take care of the children. >> michael trusted her dearly.

she was supportive and she was the trustee so we believe that she is the most trusted person in the entire world not with standing what happened in 2002 and she is the most fit. >> he says they are working on an agreement. >> right now astronauts from the space shuttle endeavour are on the final space walk of the mission. nasa has been closely monitoring the walk in case of carbon dioxide build up in the space suits. a problem that plagued them last week. e astronauts will be installing tv cameras on the porch. cable hook ups, wires and other taps. "endeavour" will depart the

international space station tomorrow. >> good morning to you once again. we have been talking about how cool and dry this july has been so far. here is where we are ranking now as far as driest julys on recor record. a tie for first and into second place now. only 89 hundredths of an inch of rain for the entire month of july. i forgot to change the other numbers on the list here. only a little over an inch of rain. only 1.14 inches of rain. as we mentioned it is a warm and steamy day. 80 degrees our current

temperature. dew points hovering close to 70 degrees. it does feel humid. don't stray too far from the umbrella. anybody that wants to go the pool. we will call partly cloudy going back to mostly cloudy. showers are likely a few strong thunderstorms are a possible. tomorrow our smallest chance of rain for the week. i think it will be our warmest day for the week. 90 on wednesday and 87 on thursday with increasing rain chances. you hate to have a month this dry and not make the top five. >> absolutely. >> wouldn't you agree? >> for a competitive person, it makes a big difference.

>> absolutely. >> new at midday right now, the growing cost of obesity. putting $147 billion price tag on it. the word from the new study of the research triangle institute. that includes medicaid, medicaid, spending on prescription drugs and more. obese people spent 42% more on medical care than those with normal weight. a difference of $1400. visa is handing out pink slips. last year, v-dot announced it would make the cuts. the job cuts come as the state grapples with a $2.6 billion budget deficits. >> let's check in with jerry ask

see how things are moving. we knew we would have problems. how is that looking now? >> not bad, barbara. intermy tant closures. looks like they have been going relatively smoothly. good news there. ou on the interstate, nothing to fear in montgomery county. not today. this is the inner loop. all the way over to prince george's county moving nicely. no concerns there. we do have construction to talk about. and an accident reported out in maryland. i- 5 southbound. police reported to be on the scene. if you are headed that direction, heads up. barbara and joe back to you. >> thank you. eight people are dead including four children after a minivan barrelled down the wrong side of the highway. it happened yesterday in west chester county new york.

ranging from two years old to nine years old.b a fifth child was take on the the hospital. three people in the suv were killed as well. our time is now 11:40. got a skill to share? find out how your expertise can turn into cash online. >> find out how to cut the cost of your hotel stay in half. >> plus fightk cangs.le how some people are slimming t wn ldoirheerow legs. >> andourer thought police chief's licechief'sli ar charges. e-mail us. il we wl try to read some ohe twe responses at the end of this newsca

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people in virginia will get to weigh in about a proposed walmart. this is the final step before the is taken voted 5-4 to recommend approval. soup visors do not have to take the recommendation. walmart says the store will not harm the historic battlefield. good news for restaurant lovers. get ready the pay less for your

meal. it is restaurant week in bathesda chefy chase. a nice day or night out without paying full price. for a complete list, check out bathesda.org. most lunches are between $12 to $15. dinners are about $30. it is time to take a look at some of the business stories making headlines. we join you live. >> hi, good morning. stocks are a bit lower looks like across the board. investors were hoping to keep last week's rally alive. right now it is not happening. some of that rally at least spad overseas as someone enjoyed some gains so far today. we are waiting on some more

companies to report earnings this week. we heard from verizon this morning. it will be a good week for economic data. in the first reading of the gdp. numbers just a little bit ago. looks like they rose 11% in june. that is well above economists forecast. the biggest monthly surge in nearly nine years. we also saw prices drop kr blichlt -- hotel occupancy is down about 11% from a year ago. and apple is reportedly teaming up with four major record companies in an eort to boost

digital music sales. little offer interactive features along with music down loads. apple is said to be developing a tablet sized device. the device would connect to the internet and could compete with amazon's kendall. >> there is a new way to turn your know-how into cash all from the comfort of your own home. she wanted to stay home with her kids but make money, too. she came across the website ehow.com. people like her write how to how to do. businesses sponsor the articles with advertisements. every time someone clicks you get paid. >> the

>> ehow.com has about 600,000 contributors and read by about 32 million users a month. >> you cannot smell through your television. yuck. the sweaty, stinky, and solely disgusting. they are, and perhaps only a heel would point them out in public. we are talking about mall odorous feet. the problem affects many different types of people. >> we see it in certainly athletes. we see it in certain types of footwear that don't breathe well. we see knit in stocking feet, nylons, socks. >> sweat, socks and shoes are

the three biggest culprits but it can be a nerve problem where you get excessive sweating. there are many good foot sprays available to kill bacteria and fungus. if the sprays don't help, take your dogs out for a walk and go see a doctor for help. >> c ankle was a word i heard of today for the first time. >> legs with no definition between the calf and the ankle area. hence the combination of the two words. is there anything you can d about them? >> in the 1960s, we tackled love handled. in the 70s it was saddle bags and aew years ago it was the

muffen top. lately our gaze has shifted downward to an area just below the knee. >> right at the ankle. c ankles. >> that's right. it's the dreaded cankle. >> a condition where your calf muscle is t same width as your ankle. there is a straight line. used to be called piano f]hñleg. >> and they have strolled into the forefront. >> amy poehler remarks -- >> stop saying i have cankles. >> jennifer aniston was fate fixated on her ankles. >> there are guys that look at these and get turned off by the krankles. >> the cause is mostly genetic.

predisposed to have fat deposits in your ankles. >> and it's mot just women who are worried. >> do i have kankles? >> they are offering classes to help fight the bulge. >> i have been working hard to define all over. hopefully i have eradicated it. >> while some work out, others go to extremes. >> lipo suction of the area is very popular. >> but it can be pricey. surgery can range from $5 to $12,000. have we become overly wrankled about our cankles? >> it is something that people focus on themselveses and not something that most people are looking out for. you should not let them crush your confidence. >> that was amy robauch.

>> urban additionnary define cankles as an absence of the ankles. some people will apply hemorrhoid cream and wrapping it in an ace bandage overnight. the jury is still out on how effective that really is. >> i thought we were supposed to be concentrating on the arms. michelle obama having perfect arms, i thought everybody was looking in this direction. >> maybe i should try the cream on my nose and see what happens. 80 degrees out there. still more news for us midday. >> chuck bell will be back with another check on the forecast lyfor us. >> and looking for people tofo make today's special. e-mail their story a and clear close up pictu or video.ic

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welcome back. let's find out about some of the ststories in the works for this afteoon. >> we are here with a preview. good morning, pat. >> good monday morning. welcome back from vacation, barbara. it wasn't long enough was it? >> ever, ever. coming up this afternoon, many have long believed there is a link between autism and stomach problems. now a new study suggests otherwise. but there is new information that parpts need to know about diet and treatment for their children. then at 5:00 today, a breakthrough device that will keep your food perfectly fresh. find out if the handi-vac does what it does. >> thanks. >> and let's get a last look at weather. >> thanks barbara and joe.

beautiful weather for the next couple of hours. if you have anything you need to get done, go on out and do it. 80x aátqqáhr' washington. not much on the radar just yet so all will be dry here. but we will have more showers and thunderstorms. one or two of them could reach ve sere limits. we wil keep you ahead of the storms. tomorrow hot and mostly dry and turn in a little bit cooler and more unsettled. neck weekend, looking good. barbara and joe. >> okay. thank you very much, chuck. >> and that's knew 4 midday. thans for joining us. be sure to tune