that clock is ticking. the senate is working overtime in an effort to wrap up business. the big issues on the table and what happens if lawmakers can't reach an agreement. >> under scrutiny. explosive allegations against police officers in northern virginia. what some cops are accused of doing while on duty, prompting an internal investigation. >> motiveor murder. inside the bizarre mind of a gunman that killed three women. what we're now learning may have led to a deadly health club rampage. good morning and welcome. i'm barbara harrison. >> and i'm keith garvin sitting in for joe krebs. it is thursday, august 6th, 2009. we're going to give you a live look outside, a wet look outside. you may need your em brel has for a little while longer today. >> i couldn't find mine this morning. found my rain hat, though. >> good. i have an umbrella i'll rent you. special discount. we've had seovernight light rain that does continue. where you see the color on radar

is where we're getting light rain. those pockets of orange and yellow is where it's coming down nto tinuicoinovg southwest to ts northeast. now 74tn washington, low 70s orgegomery, fairfax andieou ws s e.elelasie w elsewhere. over the last six hours, been watching a weak area of low pressure sliding through the region. that's what's been giving us this overnight rain. we may have some morning showers and perhaps a passing afternoon thundershower south and east of washington. highs reaching near 80. a little sun coming up this afternoon, then clearing out tonight. low humidity. by dawn tomorrow, only near 60 degrees. a delightful break from high humidity tomorrow, low humidity with highs reaching the mid-80s. but then it returns for the weekend, heat and humid it build saturday and ndwh.ay looks like that will linger into the first part of next week as well. that's the way it looks on this thursday morning. i'll be back in ten minutes with another update. >> thank you, tom. >> let's get an update on the roadways. jerry edwards is in the traffic neork. good morning. >> hi, jerry. >> never fails. i just washed the dog yesterday and now it rains today.

used to be the car. now it's the dog. good morning. let's see how we are doing. so far, so good. no major hangups along interstate 66, haymarket to the capital beltway, but again with the light rain, roads may be a bit slick. elsewhere, the trip south on 270, you're doing fine. out at the bay bridge, coming in, going, no worries. back to you. >> we know your dog is on the couch all the time. >> that's right. >> a lot of time outside. >> don't have to worry about the rain. >> thanks a lot, jerry. >> today's expected to be a busy day on capitol hill. sete members are racing the clock to finish some important business before they go on recess. >> senators have reached a deal on saving the dwindling cash for clunkers program. they've also agreed to vote on confirming judge sonia sotomayor as the first hispanic supreme court justice. >> brooke hart is work all the details of our top story line on capitol hill. brooke, good morning. >> good rning. >> reporter: good morning. it does look like confirmation ahead today for judge sotomayor. most republicans, all but eight, in fact, do plan to vote "no"

despite some not so subtle threats by hispanic groups that opponents will pay a price at the polls. supporters of sonia sotomayor came out in force as the senate vote nears. >> this is a vote that will matter and will be long remembered by our latino community. >> reporter: union, civil rights and hispanic groups joined democrats to brush aside gop criticism. >> i am not convinced that judge sotomayor will set aside her personal judgments and views. >> reporter: eight republicans are expected to break ranks and vote yes. that would give judge sotomayor more senate votes than justice alito, fewer than chief justice roberts. >> my vote for her confirmation will be based solely and wholly on relevant qualifications. >> i will support her. i'll be proud for her. the community she represents and the american dream she shows is possible. >> reporter: also on the senate agenda, whether to keep cash for clunkers alive. president obama wants it. >> what you've seen is not only

greatly improved sales in the showrooms, but what you've also seen is the trade-ins have improved fuel efficiency by about 10% per vehicle. >> reporter: but critics went t a dealer in missouri pushing back. >> the billions of dollars we're spending on cash for clunkers we don't have. >> reporter: many gop senators agree. >> i'm not going to pass a billion to our kids for $2 billion to buy a car today. that's not fair to our children to keep doing it. >> i don't think that's the case. i've had a number of very good conversations with republican leader. >> reporter: but democrats say they have a majority, ready to pump more cash to dealers and buyers and crush clunkers in the process. the senators will debate possible changes to cash for clunkers, including one idea that would limit eligibility to low-income buyers. the expectation, though, is that rebates of some form will be extended to labor day. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. barbara and keith, back to you. >> thank you, brooke. there are some shocking

allegations against some local police officers this morning. it's the late necessary a series of negative events surrounding the alexandria police department. craig melvin has the story. >> rorter: sources tell news 4 the alexandria police department has launched an internal investigation into claims of misconduct involving two of its officers. sources also say the claims are sexual in nature and they were made by a woman who had been pulled over. the alexandria police department would only say as a matter of policy, "we don't discuss the specifics of any ongoing internal investigation." if the claims do turn out to be true, it would be the latest in a string of recent embarrassments for the department. july 25th, alexandria police chief david baker was arrested and charged with dui after crashing his city-issued vehicle. the next week, an alexandria parking enforcement officer arrested for giving out handicapped parking tags to people who weren't handicapped.

alexandria mayor is on vacation but told me by phone wednesday night that he had not heard of the latest investigation. he added, "we have one of the top departments in the metro region. they have my support and the support of the entire city council and our citizens." some of those citizens, strolling through old town, did not sound so supportive. >> it does seem to be a lot of coincidences piled one on top of theother. so, i hope that the city will lo into it and if there are problems, things that need to be fixed, i hope they'll fix them. >> this is the u.s. the police should be doing their job. and if they're not doing the right thing, the people should be very concerned and they should be accountable. and, you know, the taxpayers, we deserve that they do the right job. >> i do love old town. i love living here. kind of sad. >> reporter: craig melvin, news 4. >> and we should learn more about the investigation and the

events that led to the investigation over the next few days. >> new today, marion barry is facing more scrutiny over his contract spending. that's the word from "the washington post." it says between 2007 and 2009, barry spent $252,000 in taxpayer money on outside contracts. that's far more than the second biggest spender on the d.c. council, kwame brown's office spent $45,000. barry has been facing questions about his contract spending since revelations that ee award have one to a woman he had a relationship with. a former louisiana congressman was found guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. a federal jury convicted william jefferson on 11 of 16 counts, including bribery, racketeering and money laundering. prosecutors released the surveillanceideo showing, among other things, jefferson taking a briefcase from the trunk of a car. you may recall fbi agents raided the democrat's washington home back in 200 and found $90,000 in cash in his freezer.

jefferson is accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes. he will be sentenced in october and could face up to 20 years in prison. >> new details this morning in that deadly shootout inside a fitness center near pittsburgh. investigators now say the gunman was apparently motivated by his failure to attract women. police say 48-year-old george sodini entered the la fitness in bridgeville tuesday night with four guns. he then walked into an aerobics class, turned out the light and opened fire, killing three women and himself. investigators say he had no relationship with any of the victims. however, they found notes and a blog posting in which he spelled out his failed love life. >> he complains about he's never spent a weekend with a girl. he's never vacationed with a girl. he never lived with women. >> investigators also believe o sodini has been planning the fitness center massacre for months and made several practice runs. nine others were wounded in the attack.

>> it is now 5:08, 74 degrees outside. what a local man found out about his pet after he was raced to hospital. >> us, the controversy surrounding a city employee's suspension for being impolite to the mayor. >> and a fraternity party flap involving a high-profile district official. cf .

weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning at 5:11. it's raining across northern

virginia, much of maryland and west virginia, the eastern shore. all the color on radar is rain. it's raining in washington, montgomery, fairfax and prince george's couies. temperatures now low and mid-70s around the region. 74 in washington. all this rain moving southwest to northeast. it's a weak area of low pressure that will continue tracking to the east today. so a few morning showers, a small chance of an afternoon thundershower, highs near 80. but lower humidity tomorrow. sunshine back, in the mid-80s. hot and humid for the weekend, saturday and sunday. it will be up into the 90s. a look at next week in ten minutes. junior ri, how's the traffic? >> getting word of a beltway crash outer loop never river road. a little hard to tell from this camera but be careful. the roads are slick. elsewhere through northeast, most of the major roadways doing fine. no hangups at the wilson bridge. barbara and keith, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> time now 5:12, 74 degrees outside. why r & b singer chris brown could be headed to virginia. >> plus, an online scam that could be putting your home in

time now 5:14. updating our top stories of the day. a busy day on capitol hill. the senate is expected to confirm supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor today. it will also vote on a plan to refuel the cash for clunkers program. they are poised to pump another $2 billion into the popular program. two alexandria police

officers are under investigation. sources tell news 4 the investigation involves improper sexual behavior on the job. the officers are accused of having sex with a woman in exchange for leniency in her case. pittsburgh police say a deadly shooting at a health center was triggered by the gunman's inability to attract women. on tuesday, 48-year-old george sodini entered the la fitness in bridgeville with four guns. he killed three women before taking his own life. he did not have a relationship with any of the victims. nine others were wounded in the attack. >> imagine this. you're browsing on craigslist and you find an ad saying your house is for rent. the problem is you didn't put it there. well, that's exactly what happened to a woman in prince william county, virginia. she's not alone. police say cases like this are popping up everywhere. jackie bensen has more. >> reporter: beware of criminals on craigslist. that's the message from prince william county police, after two incidents involving online classified ads, one of which has

resulted in an arrest. 19-yr-old ivan gilliam of dale city has been charged with armed robbery in a scheme to rip off people responding to a craigslist ad for a $400 flat screen tv. >> the vicms arrived. they would rob them, threaten them with a rifle or a shotgun, and relieve them of their money. >> reporter: police also point to the case of ashley pollard. she was horrified to discover that her manassas home, for sale and under contract, had been posted in the housing for rent section of craigslist last weekend. >> a picture of my house showed up with my full address on there and i thought -- i was like - i didn't know what to do. who do you call? >> reporter: pollard says she thinks someone pulled the picture and address right out of the real estate advertisement. police believe the ad was placed by a man in nigeria. >> just trying to get someone to pay the down payment or, you know, the deposit.

and then take off, i guess. >> reporter: police say a quick check of property records, which can be done by phone or online in many cases, can prevent you from giving your hard-earned money to a thief. jackie bensen, news 4. >> and police have not yet arrested anyone in the manassas scam. keith? >> finally in good economic news for one northern virginia county hit especially hard by the foreclosure crisis. there's finally a housing turnaround going on in prince william county. new foreclosures are down 60% from one year ago. according to officials, a combination of budget cuts and lower taxes helped spur the rebound. >> $490 million out of spending out of an approximate 1 billi$1n budget. that was significant. we were able to cut taxes. thgs were looking really dire for a while. home values were down as much as 50%. things were really looking bad for a long time. >> county officials are also expanding a program which helps

county employees buy foreclosed properties. it's only for people buying their first homes. >> d.c. mayor adrian fenty is trying to explain why taxpayer money was used to pay for his fraternity pair. kappa alpha psi is holding its conventi in the district this week. on monday night, a lavish reception was held at the historical society's carnegie library. somehow, a request came from the mayor's office for $37,000 in taxpayer money to cover the cost of the gala. fenty says his fraternity has repaid the city. he calls the whole thing a mistake. the original payment came through the deputy mayor for economic development. new information about sunday's car crash involving mayor fenty. a police report detailing wt happened is not matching up to what his spokeswoman said the night of the accident. "the washington post" is reporting that several police procedures were also violated. the names of fenty's passengers were not on the report, photos were not taken at the sce. the officer couldn't determine

who was at fault and did not issue traffic tickets. the report was taken by a member of fenty's security detail, not a regular patrol officer. we'll hear directly from the mayor coming up in our "ask the mayor segment" this morning. >> there are only a week into training camp and already injuries are becoming a problem for the redskins. >> dan hellie has more in our sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute start was the redskins. receiver d.j. hackett joined the team, vying for the fifth wide receiver spot. the redskins needed a healthy body. devin thomas did not practice on wednesday. malcolm kelly also held out of practice. however, he did work out with jason campbell afterwards. lindsey and i will be live at 6:00 tonight from redskins park. interim manager jim riggleman sure has the nationals playing a whole lot better. last night they beat the marlins 5-4 behind solo home runs, including this one by ryan

zimmerman. the nationals have won four in a row. th are 10-6 under riggleman. the orioles not so lucky. detroit's placido pol an oh hit a two-run single in the eighth inning to give the tigers some insurance runs. they beat the os 4-2. in tennis, andy roddick making it look easy in his first match since wimbledon. he beat benjamin becker in straight sets. took him just 55 minutes. he plays in the next round of the classic. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. have a great thursday. >> coming up on 5:21. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we'll check in with meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4. good morning. >> hey, good morning. the nationals and marlins are playing an afternoon game at nationals park, may be interrupted by some showers. we have some showers around this morning, so grab an umbrella before you head out the door. we have some scattered showers around northern virginia, west virginia, maryland, the district of columbia. where you see these areas of yellow and orange where it's

coming down harder. on the eastern shore, some thunder and lightning, too. that's dissipating. temperatures are in the low and mid-70s around the region. now 74 in washington and on the eastern shore, low 70s, but it's cooler out in the mountains where the sky is beginning to clear out a bit. it's in the mid-60s there. all this rain associated with a weak area of low pressure heading north and east of us and may cause some minor flight delays around new york, boston, portland, maine, later on today. for us, afternoon highs near 80. a little sun breaking out. a small chance of an afternoon thundershower, mainly south and east of washington. low humidity around for friday. saturday and sunday, heat and humidity increase and so do the temperatures with hazy sunshine. looks like the heat wave's going to continue into the first part of next week as well. now the traffic. how's it looking at this hour? >> a couple of beltway crashes. good morning. the outer loop between george avenue and connecticut avenue, accident number one. staying with the beltway, the outer loop of the beltway at river road, another accident. that one's to the shoulder. so obviously the roads are going to be slick so be careful.

elsewhere headed for downtown, 295 from the beltway to the 11th street bridge is fine. no hangups on pennsylvania avenue to the sousa. and 395 in the southeast/southwest freeway moving we. please keep your speeds down and be careful. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> good advice. thank you. it is now 5:22. safety first wlachlt the results of a new crash tests are saying about certain cars. >> and why r & b singer chris brown could be making his way to virginia. >> an employee speaks out for the suspension for not saying hello to the mayor. >> here's your liz "on the money," money-saving tip of the day. >> how can you lower your homeowners' insurance? money magazine says raising your deductible from 250 to $2,500 can save $400 aear. also, shop around for quotes at at least once every two years. and check your clue report. your comprehensive log

underwriting exchange report at choicetrust.com. errors can result in larger premiums. i'm liz crensh m

chris brown won't be sentenced until later this month. a judge delayed the sentencing because he wants more information from virginia. brown is a native of the tappahannock region and the

judge wants to make sure virginia is able to accommodate his plea deal which calls for five years probation, community labor and counseling. brown pleaded guilty to beating up ex-girlfriend rihanna earlier this year. >> well, this could be a reason to be polite even if you're not a morning person. a florida woman was suspended fr her job for not saying hello to the mayor. cassandra moy works for deer field beach in florida. that's not far from boca raton. on monday, she crossed paths with the mayor, but didn't speak. >> i saw her extend her hand out to one of my fellow co-workers, and what they said from there i don't know. i wasn't trying to indulge in their conversation. >> soon, moy found out she was suspended without pay for displaying disrespectful attitude, but moy says she doesn't even know what the mayor looks like. after the story broke, the mayor said she did not complain about moy and that she disagreed with the suspension. after two days, moy was reinstated, but required some counseling.

>> i bet you she's familiarizing herself with every city employee and leader at this point to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> i guess one would do that to save their job. >> all right. well, a local man learns the hard way that his pet reptile is poisonous. >> also, the cash for clunkers program is getting refueled, but the incentive won't last as long as consumers first thought. >> then, more troubles for a local police department. what some officers are acced of doing that could land them pcpcañrzgsgs

jump start. how much longer consumers will be able to take advantage of the government's auto incentive program. >> bad behavior. the shocking allegations that have led to an internal investigation involving local police officers. >> the plot thickens. new details about the gunman who shot and killed three women. what police believe may have motivated the deadly rampage inside a health club. good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, august 6th, 2009. >> i'm keith garvin sitting in for joe krebs. we want to give you a live look outside. washington always looks beautiful, even on a wet day like today. you will certainly need your umbrellas at least for a little while. >> you certainly are. i told you, i only had my hat, couldn't find my umbrella. >> you forgot yours. >> i'm going to need it when i go home. tom, will it last through the day? >> there may be a passing thundershower this afternoon but probably not right around

washington, mainly south and east. right now, though, it is raining in washington. where you see the color blue is light rain in fairfax, montgomery, prince george's counties and the district. where you see the yellows and greens, coming down harde in southern maryland, the eastern shore. another pocket of heavy downpours north and east of charlottesville. all of this is heading north and east out of the southwest as weak low pressure is passing through the region. now 74 in washington. weather watchers checking in this morning reporting less generally than about .1 of an inch of rain that's fallen from this. some of the heavier downpours in southern andmtd, the eastern shore have unloaded quite a bit of rain in a short amount of time. later on today, maybe a passing thundershower, mainly south and east of washington, highs near 80. sun breaking out by this afternoon. clearing tonight, low humidity in tomorrow. then heat and humidity build for saturday and sunday. a look at next week in ten minutes. back to you now, barbara and keith. >> okay, tom, thank you. >> thanks, tom. the wet roads already cause ago mess out there on the roadways. jerry edwards in the traffic network. >> good morning. tell you, could be a tough

commute. please be very careful this morning. outer loop of the beltway, couple of accidents to watch for. outer loop between georgia and connecticut, that accident just moved to the shoulder. another one outer loop at river road, that one's to the shoulder and still in the roadway inbound route 4 at wood yard road so be very, very cautious. from the north along i-270, so far, so good. not too much to worry about from frederick to hyattstown down to the capital beltway. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> senators have reached a deal on saving the dwindling cash for communicate clers program. today they're expected to add $2 billion to the popular program. >> the government says money has been spent already. president obama says the program will go broke by friday if it's not refilled by congress. anothecoisncn terha the t senate departsor a month-long recess tomorrow. >> news 4's kimberly suiters is working our top story from rockville. good morning. >> good morning.

>> reporter: good morning to you. continuation of the program could mean as many as 500,000 more cars are purchased. basically car dealers are asking you to trade in your clunkers for a 3,400 or $4,500 rebate. the program was supposed to go until november. they're thinking now, because of its popularity, the money infused today, if it happens by e senate, could last them until labor day. the clunkers keep coming in. >> a 1998 ford ranger. it's got 200,000 miles on it. >> reporter: new, smaller, more fuel-efficient cars keep going out. >> we encourage people to go into showrooms. this is a wildly popular program. >> reporter: detroit automakers represent 45% of total sales, a much-needed boost during the slow summer months. but protesters don't like the price to be paid later. >> the billions of dollars we're spending on cash for clunkers we don't have. we're borrowing it from china. >> i'm not going to pass a

billion to our kids of $2 billion to buy a car today. that's not fair to our children to keep doing this. >> reporter: still, supporters argue the program is good for american consumers and the auto industry and the whole earth. >> cash for clunkers. we'll pass cash for clunkers. >> when will you do that? >> before we leave here. >> reporter: now, every car dealer that's participating can fill you in on the different requirements. but basically your car needs to be less than 25 years old and get less than 18 miles per gallon. you want to trade it in for a more fuel-efficient, brand-new or leased vehicle. reporting in rockville, i'm kimberly suiters. news 4. now back to you. >> thank you, kimberly. >> that's not all the senate has on its plate. senators are set to vote whether to confirm sonia sotomayor to the supreme court. most republicans say they will vote no. but sotomayor has more than enough votes to win confirmation. if all goes as expected, sotomayor would become the first

hispanic justice on the high court and its third woman. >> we have breaking news. aerosmith front man steven tyler's reportedly in the hospital after falling off the stage during a concert. a concert goer tells a south dakota newspaper that tyler was dancing on the stage's catwalk trying to entertain the crowd after the sound system failed. that's when he tot tered backward and fell. he was taken to the back stage area of the concert hall and the rest of the concert was called off. there's no word on his condition at this hour. >> we're learning new details about the deadly shootout inside that health club near pittsburgh. on tuesday, a gunman walked into an aerobics class and opened fire. he killed three women and himself. now investigators say he had a history of ranting about women and his failed love life on the internet. bro brian moore has the latest. >> reporter: this pennsylvania counity is struggling to comprehend a deadly attack directed at innocent victims --

women targeted simply because they were in an aerobics class that caught the eye of an em about it terd gunman. >> a minute later, the lights go out and then seconds later, you just hear shooting and he's going -- shooting all over the room. >> we don't know as we stand here what made him stop shooting. thank god he did. >> reporter: before taking his own life, gunman george sodini gave place a window into his twisted mind. in extensive notes and blog postings, he spelled out his failed love life. >> he complains about he's never spent a weekend with a girl, he's -- he's never vacationed with a girl. he never lived with women. >> reporter: investigators say they now know sodini has been planning the fitness center massacre for months and made several practice runs. he just had a lot of hatred in him. he was hell bent on committing this act and there was nobody going to stop him. >> reporter: police say there's now no doubt who the gunman was and why he targeted his victims.

answers that provide little comfort. brian moore, nbc news, bridgeville, pennsylvania. >> six shooting victims remain in hospital, including the 26-year-old aerobics instructor who was pregnant. doctors say she and the baby will be okay. >> it was an emotional reunion in california. two american journalists back home here in the america. after nearly five months in captivity in north korea. now we're hearing firsthand about the moment they found out their plight had ended. laura ling and euna lee returned home to southern california yesterday morning. north korean leader kim jong-il ii granted the women's release after meeting with former president bill clinton during an unannounced visit. ling described the moment she knew her nightmare was over. >> when we walked through the doors, we saw standing before us president bill clinton.

we were shocked. >> ling and lee were sentenced to hard labor in north korea but they were never taken to a work camp. the women were kept apart and not allowed to communicate with each other. >> metro's getting money to fight terrorism. the federal government is giving metro more than $9.5 million to create antiterrorism teams. the money will be used to hire 20 more officers who will staff teams. metro is also getting more money to expand its chemical detection program at stations and upgrade radio xhupgss in tunnels located in prince george's county. >> our time is 5:38. the popular social networking website that can now help you book your next flight. >> plus, what the result of a new crash tests are saying about certain cars. >> what a local man found out about his pet after he was rushed to the hospital. (announcer) now skating...jim perdue.

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weather and traffic on the 1s. now 5:41. good morning. we've had some light rain overnight. right knnow on radar we have scattered light to moderate rain. temperatures in the low and mid-70s. it's 74 in washington. all this moving southwest to northeast will diminish as we get into the afternoon. there's a small chance of a passing isolated afternoon thundershower south and east of washington. highs today near 80. sunshine coming back by this afternoon and clearing out

tonight. low humidity with sunshine tomorrow, highs in the mid-80s. heat and humidity for saturday and sunday with highs in the 90s. looks like that's going to continue into the first part of next week. i'll be back in ten minutes with an expanded report. jerry, good morning. how's the traffic? >> tom, good morning to you. good morning, everyone. beltway outer loop at connecticut avenue, just before connecticut and outer loop at river road, couple of beltway crashes to be aware of. they should be over to the shoulder. inbound on new york avenue, looks like we're doing okay so far to the 3rd street tunnel. downto downtown, 395 northbound looks pretty good. lanes are open but slick this morning headed across the 14th street bridge. back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. time right now is 5:42. how you can use your facebook account to help you book your next flight. >> plus, some police officers in northern virginia under investigation. next at 5:45 a.m., what they're accused of doing on the job that ul td ndlahem behindnd

our time right now is 5:44. updating our top stories of the morning. the senate will vote on a plan today to pump life into the cash for clunkers program. the popular car incentive program could get another $2 billion in funding if all goes as planned. the white house says the program could fund another 500,000 new cars. judge sonia sotomayor is poised to become the nation's first hispanic supreme court justice. the senate will vote on her confirmation today. president obama nominated sotomayor to replace retiring justice david souter. sotomayor is not expected to change the supreme court's idealogical balance. investigators say a deadly health club shooting i pittsburgh was sparked by the gunman's inability to attract women. on tuesday, 48-year-old george sodini shot and killed three women at the la fitness club in bridgeville. he did not have a relationship with any of the victims. nine others were wounded in the shooting. >> there are some shocking allegations against some local police officers this morning. it's the late necessary a series

of negative events surrounding the alexandria police department. megan mcgrath joins you live with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. two alexandria police officers are the focus of an internal investigation. sources tell news 4 that investigation centers on claims that are sexual in nature and involve a woman who was pulled over by police. sources tell news 4 that internal affairs has launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct involving two alexandria police officers. according to sources, the claims are sexual in nature. the department will not comment other than to say, "we don't discuss the specifics of any ongoing internal investigations." the alexandria police department has had its share of embarrassments in recent weeks. on july 25th, police chief david baker was arrested and charged with dui after being involved in a crash. and a parnging enforcement officer was arrested for giving handicapped parking tags to

drivers who weren't handicapped. now, the mayor of alexandria says he was not aware of the investigation, but says that the alexandria police department is one of the best in the region, that the department has his support, the support of the council as well as the people of alexandria. keith? >> megan mcgrath live in alexandria. thank you. >> three frederick county teens have been charged with vandizing the football field at middletown high school. police say the teens admitted to burning part of the artificial turf early saturday morning. it caused about $20,000 worth of damage. investigators say the teens will attend -- all attend brunswick high school. they've been released to their parents as authorities figure out what to do next. five people were injured in a serious car accident just steps away from a planned press conference with district leaders. a car smashed into the back of an suv, flipping the suv onto its roof. it happened yesterday afternoon on pennsylvania avenue at alabama avenue in southeast d.c. witnesses ran into the intersection to help the injured.

two were taken to the hospital by helicopter. >> a snake collector is in the hospital after being bitten by his newest acquisition in southeast washington. 31-year-old jason dale had just bought the snake from a neighbor. he thought the snake was a nonpoisonous python. but while trying to pick it up, the snake bit him in the hand and it turns out it was a venemous copperhead. >> all this right here was swollen. i didn't think nothing of it. then about 30 minutes went past and my whole hand was swollen. i got here, my fingers, all that swoll swollen. now it's spreading up my arm. >> doctors say if dale hadn't received treatment when he did, he may have died. >> now to the latest on t swine flu. health experts warn that a swine flu pandemic could hit the country just as children head back to school this fall. that's why parents are urged to act now. health experts say it's very important for families to get their seasonal flu shots as soon as possible this year. otherwise, they put themselves

at ri risk of contracting one virus on top of another. >> may have a brand-new virus that neither vaccine will work against, and we have no idea how virulent, how serious the illnesses may be from that. >> clinical trials already are under way for the new swine flu vaccine. it should be available by mid-october. but if the outbreak spreads before schools open, the vaccine may may be distributed before testing is complete. some drug companies are shipping out supplies of flu vaccines ahead of time. many are expecting there to be a huge demand due to fears from the h1n1 swine flu, but officials say there is no need to panic because there should be enough of the flu vaccine available for everyone. >> the district appears to be making progress in the fight against hiv and aids. a nonprofit think tank found marked improvements in the way the d.c. government is handling

what's been termed an epidemic. the greatest improvements have come in the form of interagency cooperation, hiv surveillance and condom distribution. despite the encouraging signs, the fact remains d.c. still has the worst hiv and aids rate in the nation. the think tank recommends high-ranking city officials eak out more about the hiv and aids problem. >> we are moving up on 5:51. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. hey, tom. >> good morning. had some overnight rain so you'll need an umbrella as you head out because it's continuing this morning. this rain is not really coming down very hard across northern virginia, the district or maryland but there are a few pockets where it's coming down a little bit harder. right now we've got a tashg and wet morning under way. sunrise in 25 minutes. there's a view of the potomac river, capitol hill in the distance under this fwra sky. 74 degrees in washington. right now on the radar where you see all this area of blue that is lig inra. it is raining lightly in arlington and fairfax, montgomery and prince george's counties. and a few scattered areas of

some showers across northern virginia, from prince william into stafford, spot ville vein ya, as well as shenandoah valley. this one area of yellow and orange near charlottesville is one heavy downpour. a heavy downpour crossing the potomac, moving into waldorf over the next few minutes. elsewhere on the eastern shore getting some heavy rain from near oxford and st. michaels. that's moving to the north and east as well. the temperatures are mild this morning. it's in the mid-70s in washington, low 70s in prince george's county, fairfax, montgomery counties. weather watchers reporting less than .1 of an inch, shenandoah valley valley, maryland, but a few pockets in calvert county, they've had up to an inch of rain. these are the rain totals so far here in washington. only .1. prince george's county has had nearly .2. but elsewhere really not a lot of rain from this, just some pockets of more moderate rain passing to our east this

morning. eastern shore now is steamy, in the low 70s there, but it's drying out a bit out of the mountains. in central west virginia it's in the mid-60s with lower humidity beginning to move in there. still associated with a weak area of low essure moving through the region, along that front that passed through yesterday afternoon. behind this, we do have some drier air that's beginning to push in from the midwest. if you're traveling today, could be flight delays along the gulf coast, as well as the central and northern plains. a little light rain out in nevada and as well as perhaps idaho and oregon. elsewhere, maybe some storms just right around the outer banks, but for the most part shouldn't have any travel problems up and down the atlantic seaboard today. over the last 12 hours, been watching this area of low pressure heading along this front, continuing north and east weechlt do have some lower humidity here. a nice area of low pressure over the great lakes. that should be moving in for friday, giving us a nice break from our usual summertime heat and humidity. as woe go forward over the next 36 hours where you ceclor is where we could get some showers.

we'll get some of that drier air in for friday. then on saturday our winds shift around to the south and west. we'll have increasing humidity and heat for the weekend. so here's how we're looking for thsday. a few psingth sorngnihowersng it's fender-bender weather. watch out. got reports of multiple accidents already. by noon it shod ben in the the rain should t th se inrahould taper off by en . smhaa c olencf an isolatede passing thundershower, namely south and east of washington te onr this afternoon. a little sonshine breaks out,le highs near 80 byoo ingd-ternoon. en clearing out t afternoonthrfo gainsthema t overall they ought to e b all they ought to be able toet the game pin it t a ur afternoon thursday game at natiolsarft pk. it will be in the upper 0s at p game time. thar cle out with lower humidity. by this time tomorrow morning, fresh and cool for an august c g.rn we'll take that.

be just near 60 on friday morning. during the afternoon tomorrow,m low humidity, lots of nssune, su highs reaching the mid-80s. then the heat and humidity in time for the weekend so plan accordi jlyng beach and pool weather.ly that will keep you cool. saturday and sunday you'll nee it. in the low 90s on saturday with increased humidity and oppressive heat sunday. highs mid and upperer 9s.s. more of the same on monda and tuesday. then maybe a little less humid and a bit coole by mid-week next week. slight chance of a shower on wednesy. that's the way it looks this morning. >> okay, tom, thank you. >> thanks, tom. get a look at how things are looking on the roadways. wet day out there, jerry. >> indeed, yeah. and the roads are slick and we have had our fair share of accidents already. outer loop of the beltway approaching river road, still tying up the left side of the roadway, authorities are on the ene dealing with that accident. look for delays right at the very end or the south end of the southbound 270 spur, lining up to get to the outer loop of the capital beltway. a little hard to tell from this

camera, but trust me, they're there. route 50, no accidents to report. earlier accident route 4 at wood yard road is now gone. lanes are open. 95, 395, 66, a lot of heavy traffic early on but no major hangups. back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> here's an unusual animal encounter at sea. a six-foot, 120-pound dolphin leaped out of the water and right into the boat off the coast of collier county, florida. the people in the boat kept pouring water on it to make it feel kchbl before finding help to get the dolphin back out into the water. the dolphin spent more than an hour on the boat and was not hurt. >> new today, several domestic carmakers didn't fare so well in the latest round of low-speed crash tests. in tests conducted by the insurance institute for highway safety the bumpers on the new 2010 ford fusion dropped from a marginal to a poor rating. the bumpers on gm's chevy malibu also remained in the poor category. some foreign carmakers, however, did marginally better.

the 2009 honda accord, the hyundai sonata and the mazda six all performed better than their 2007 models. >> facebook's not just for keeping in touch. now you can use it to find a flight. american airlines has added a fare finder feature to its facebook application called travel bag. users can search for the airline's lowest fares without navigating away from their facebook pages. you can also share search results with their friends on facebook. >> to the mine crisis now and a look at how foreign markets are doing today. asian stock markets were mixed. the nikkei gained 1.32%. hongannikong gained. china's shanghai lost 2.11%. the futures are pointing to a positive opening. the nasdaq lost 18 points, closing at 1993.

>> we are finding jobs 4 you. the wdc medical training center in landover is looking for a dialysis coordinator. candidates should have ten years of dialysis and five years nursing experience. if you are interested, go to nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you for more information. >> still ahead this morning, why it will soon cost you money to read the news on some of your favorite websites. >> d.c. mayor adrian fenty will join us live for "connecting with the mayor." there are conflicting reports this morning about who caused an accident he was involved in earlier this week. we'll ask the mayor what really happened. >> and we're off to a rainy start this morning. meteorologist tom kierein will let you know how long this rain is going to stick around. we'll have your weather and traffic together on the 1s. stay with us. we're coming back with a full hour of news. @çyçyçycn

fill her up. the senate reaches a deal to put another $2 billion into the cash for clunkers program. but just how long will the money la? >> trouble with the law. the explosive new allegations against alexandria police officers. sources tell news 4 they are sexual in nature. >> good morning, everyone. anks for waking up this morning for "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> and i'm keith garvin in for joe krebs today, thursday, august 6th, 2009. we give you a live look outside now. a wet look outside right now. you may want to grab your umbrella before you leave. >> yeah, kind of drizzling, i guess, here -- in texas, say sprinkling. >> drizzling. >> not coming down so hard now. let's talk to tom kierein about

how long this will last. going to get any worse? >> there may be some afternoon thundershowers but that will likely be south a east of washington, ttnihihing mor a a overnight ws ow heaserk l woo ah sheres was look at the radar w ghsihe areas of green and blue, that's light rain. it is scattered across northern virginia, the shenandoah valley and west virginia. bid in the district of caolghbim we're getting some light rain right nownd o m uchf marylandf tting rain. eastern shore getting some pockets of some heavier rain with a little thunder and lightning there. ellow you see f y e mayty a littl ,cotyun that's thunder with thatear la plata and waldorf. that's heading north and east should be heading into southern prince george's countyevethr next few minutes. the four-day forecast for the rest o tthhe afternoon, sunshin breaking out, highs near 80. a small chae of an isolated thundershowe a mainly south and east of washington. later on this afternoon, low humidity moves in asho we clear out tonight. it will be in place tomorrow with sunshine hshsighs friday t mid-80 he ahe humidity return for the weekend. highs into the 90s saturday and sunday. a look at next week, that will be coming up in ten minutes at

6:11. >> okay, tom, thank you. >> already a messy day on the roadways. we go to jerry edwards for an update. >> good morning. 95 northbound in virginia had an accident before you go to lohr done road. police are on the scene dealing with that. the backup blins at the prince william parkway. that will cost you a couple of extra minutes travel time, no doubt about it. elsewhere the beltway outer loop at river road clearing up the accident. outer loop between george avenue and connecticut avenue wrapping up the accident. you folks in from the north along 270, the good news is volume only right now from frederick to rockville with travel lanes open. barbara and keith, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. >> cash for clunkers refueled. later today the senate is poised to add another $2 billion to the popular program to keep it alive. the white house says it could fund half a million more new car sales, giving shoppers until labor day to visit their local car lots and make a deal. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us live from rockville and has more on today's vote.

kimberly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. well, those who support this program are optimistic that vote will happen today. already nearly 200,000 cars have been traded in in the cash for clunkers program. the belief is with this injection of more money, as many as 500,000 cars could be sold, and the hope originally was to let the program run until november, but it looks more realistically like if it works as planned, the program will have to end around labor day. >> bye. >> reporter: the clunkers ep coming in. >> a 1998 ford ranger, and it's got 200,000 miles on it. >> reporter: new, smaller, more fuel-efficient cars keep going out. >> we encourage people to go into showrooms. this is a wildly popular program. >> reporter: detroit automakers represent 45% of total sales, a much-needed boost during the slow summer months. but protesters don't like the price to be paid later. >> the billions of tlars we're

spending on cash for clunkers we don't have. we're borrowing it from china. >> i'm not going to pass a billion to our kids of $2 billion to buy a car today. that's just not fair to our children to keep doing this. >> reporter: still, supporters argue the program is good for american consumers and the auto industry and the whole earth. >> cash for clunkers. we'll pass cash for clunkers. >> when will you do that? >> before we leave here. >> reporter: now, if cash for clunkers passes, there is an expectation the program will continue to be incredibly popular. if you're not sure whether your clunr qualifies at the very least it has to be less than 25 years old and get less than 18 mpgs in terms of fuel mileage. there are a lot of great websites out there, too, where you can put in your current information, put in the information of the car you want and see how much you can reduce your carbon footprint and how much money you can save. reporting live in rockvill i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. barbara, back to you. >> thanks, kimberly. >> it is also expected to be a

historic day on capitol hill. the senate is expected to vote on the supreme court nomination of judge sonia sotomayor. if confirmed, she will become the first hispanic justice on the high court and its third woman. most republicans say they will vote no because they are afraid she will rule according to her personal biases. but democrats call her a well-qualified judge and a mainstream moderate. they have more than enough votes to win her confirmation. >> a former louisiana congressman was found guilty of taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes. a federal jury convicted william jefferson on 11 of 16 counts, including bribery, racketeering and money laundering. prosecutors released this surveillance video showing, among other things, jefferson taking a briefcase from the trunk of a car. you may recall fbi agents raided the democrat's washington home back in 2005 and found $90,000 in cash in his freezer. jefferson is accused of accepting more than $400,000 in bribes. he'll be sentenced in october and could face up to 20 years in prison.

>> tears of joy in california for a reunion nearly five months in the making. two american journalists back on home soil after being held captive in north korea. laura ling and euna lee returned home to southern california yesterday morning. with them, former president bill clinton who made a surprise visit to pyongyang to secure their release. >> we feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard labor camp. when we walked through the do s doors, we saw standg before us president bill clinton. we were shocked, but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. >> ling and lee had been

sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for illegally entering north korea but they were never actually taken to a work camp. >> we're learning more this morning about the gunman who walked into a health club near pittsburgh and opened fire. investigators now say he was apparently motivated by his failure to attract women. police say 48-year-old george sodini entered the la fitness club in bridgeville on tuesday night with four guns. he then walked into an aerobics class, turned out the lights and opened fire. he killed three women and himself. investigators say he had no relationship with any of the victims. however, they found notes and blog postings in which he spelled out his failed love life. >> he complains about he's never spent a weekend with a girl. he, he's never vacationed with a girl. he never lived with women. >> investigators also believe sodini had been planning the fitness center massacre for months and made several practice runs. nine others were wounded in the attack. >> the federal government is helping metro prevent terror

attacks. the department of homeland security is giving metro more than $9.5 million to create antiterrorism teams. the money will be used to hire 20 more officers who will staff teams focusing on terrorism prevention. this will allow metro to increase random patrols at metro facilities. the agency is getting funds to expand its chemical detection program at stations and upgrade radio communications in tunnels located in prince george's county. new today, aerosmith front man steven tyler falls off stage and is taken to the hospital. a. a new online scam you need to know about. a local woman was shocked to see her own house was for rent online. >> a presidential promise for president obama says will happen by the end of the year.

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our time now 6:11. here's today's news 4 bargain blast. start your day with a free cup of coffee. get a freehand-roasted coffee from corner bakery. with the purchase of any breakfast entree. you can print out a coupon at nbcwashington.com. just search bargain blast. >> it is now 6:11. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> and we'll go to tom kierein in storm center 4 for a look at our weather. good morning, tom. >> wet streets and roads from overnight rain. watch out. we've got reports of multiple fender-benders this morning. a moderate downpour right now in charles county, near la plata, waldorf. heading northeast into southern

prince george's county. elsewhere, some heavy downpours on the eastern shore as well. where you see the pockets of yellow and orange. scattered showers in northern virginia as well as the panhandle of west virginia. temperatures in the low to mid-70s. 73 in washington, 60 shenandoah valley, into the mountains. now afternoon highs climbing to near 80. a little sun breaking out. isolated thundershower is possible, mainly south and east ofashington this afternoon. low humidity coming in, clearing out tonight. it will be in place tomorrow. then heat and humidity building for saturday and sunday and into next week, the heat wave continues. jerry, good morning. how's our thursday commute? >> tom, good morning. south of town, the approach to the wilson bridge is right on the bridge span, had a report of a broken-down vehicle on the inner loop between 210 and 29rtd rtpo to tnn ibe the roadway so heads-up if you're headed in that direction en route to the wilson bridge. speeds this morning particularly tough. top side of e beltway college park toward the american legion bridge could cost you up to 29 minutes this morning because of the series of earlier issues, all of which have been cleared

out of the roadway now. from the american legion bridge to i-66, 7 minutes. after that just 8 minutes from i-66 to springfield. keith, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. a local woman browsing craigslist finds her own house for rent. find out who is behind this newest scam. plus the new explosive allegations about a pair of ó#ó#>

our time now 6:15. updating the top stories in the news for today. the senate is poised to add $2 billion to the cash for clunkers program. the measure would give shoppers until labor day to visit their local car lots and make a deal. the program is so popular that it could go broke tomorrow if congress doesn't step in. the senate will also vote on whether to confirm supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. democrats have enough votes to push h through. if confirm, sotomayor would be the high court's first hispanic justice and its third woman. investigators say the gunman who opened fire inside a health club near pittsburgh was apparently motivated by his failure to attract women. police say 48-year-old george sodini entered the la fitness club tuesday night and killed three women and himself. investigators later found blog postings in which he talked about his failed love life.

>> shocking allegations against some alexandria police officers this morning. it's just the latest in a series of negative events surrounding the police department. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from alexandria with details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. two alexandria police officers are the focus of an internal investigation, and sources tell news 4 that that investigation centers on claims that are sexual in nature, involve a woman who was pulled over by police. sources tell news 4 that internal affairs has launched an investigation into allegations of misconduct involving two alexandria police officers. according to sources, the claims are sexual in nature. the department will not comment other than to say, "we don't discuss the specifics of any going internal investigations." the alexandria police department has had its share of embarrassments in recent weeks. on july 25th, police chief david baker was arrested and charged with dui after being involved in a crash, and a parking enforcement officer was arrested

for giving handicapped parking tags to drivers who weren't handicapped. now, the mayor of alexandria says he was not aware of the internal investigation, but says that the alexandria police department is one of the best in the region and that the department has his support, the support of the council and citizens of alexandria. keith, back to you. >> all right, megan mcgrath live in alexandria. thank you. >> beware of scams on craigslist. that's the message from prince william county police. case in point, a woman in manassas, she was horrified when she learned her home was for sale and under contract was in a housing for rent section in craigslist. >> a picture of my house showed up with my full address on there and i thought -- i was like -- i didn't know, you know, what to do. who do you call? >> pollard thinks someone pulled the picture and address right out of the real estate advertisement. police believe the ad was placed by a man in nigeria. investigators are also looking

into two other craigslist scams in prince william county. one resulted in an arrest. 19-year-old ivan gilliam of dale city was charged witarmed robbery in a scheme to rip off people responding to a craigslistd to a $400 flat screen tv. signs of a housing turnaround in prince william county. new foreclosures are down 60% from one year ago. county officials say a combination of budget cuts and lower taxes helped spur the rebound. the count isy is also expanding program which helps county employees buy foreclosed properties. and president obama is reaching out to the senate finance committee trying to keep his push for health care reform alive. he's invited negotiators to the white house, hoping it will help them work out a deal by the end of the year. yesterday, the president hit the road in his quest for reform. he visited a community in indiana that has one of the nation's highest unemployment rates. mr. obama says there will be a health care deal but says it's unclear if the effort will be a

bipartisan one. >> the redskins will be back at work today in training camp. second year wideouts malcolm thomas and devin kelly missed the practice with hamstrings. here's dan hellie with your sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute starts with the redskins. receiver d.j. hackett joined the team, vying for the fifth wide receiver spot. the redskins needed a healthy body. devin thomas did not practice on wednesday. malcolm kelly also held out of practice. however, he did work out with jason campbell afterwards. lindsey and i will be live at 6:00 tonight from redskins park. interim manager jim riggleman sure has the nationals playing a whole lot better. last night they beat the marlins 5-4 behind solo home runs, including this one by ryan zimmerman. the nationals have won four in a row. they are 10-6 under riggleman. the orioles not so lucky. detroit's placido polanco hit a

two-run single in the eighth inning to give the tigers so insurance runs. they beat the os 4-2. in tennis, andy roddick making it look easy in his first match since wimbledon. he beat benjamin becker in straight sets. 6-3, 6-2. took him just 55 minutes. he plays in the next round of the leg mason classic. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. have a great thursday. >> some folks in florida got quite a surprise. a six-foot, 120-pound dolphin leaped out of the water and right into a bt off the coast of collier county, florida. the people in the boat kept pouring water on it to make it feel comfortable before finding help to get the dolphin back out of the boat and into the water. the dolphin spent more than an hour on the boat and was not hurt. >> good samaritans there. >> yeah. that's just the weather. let's find out what we can expect. we have a wet day in the nation's capitol. tom, will this be the case throughout the day? >> well, off and on this morning

for sure. there is the wet and gray sky over washington. live picture from the city camera. on radar where you see the blue is light rain. raining lightly in washington and fairfax, prince george's and montgomery county. one pocket of moderate rain in charles county. that will be moving into southern prince george's over the next little while. moderate pockets of rain from oxford not st. mike's a also to. scattered light moderate showers north of charlottesville. that should be moving into the metro area in another hour or so. these showers also heading to the north and east. temperatures are getting a little bit cooler from where they were just a couple of hours ago. now down to 72 in washington, near 70 in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. 60s shenandoah valley valley into the mountains. for the rest of the day, some sunshine should break out this afternoon. a small chance of an afternoon passing thundershower, mainly south and east. clearing out with lower humidity moving in tonight. near 60 tomorrow morning. mostly sunny friday with low

humidity, in the mid-80s. heat and humidity return for saturday and sunday and into the first part of next week. highs in the 90s each day with oppressive humidity. jerry, how's the thursday traffic? >> along i-270, no worries, lanes are open. haven't had any hangups to report on 270 so that is good news. check out the beltway south of town where there had been report of a broken-down vehicle. keep you updated on that. back to you. >> okay, jerry, thank you. our time is 6:22. new questions this morning for d.c. councilman marion barry about his spending habits. and we're learning new information about the health of hair oh smith's front man steven tyler. he fell off stage at a concert and had to be taken to a hospital. >> first, here's your liz "on the money," money-saving tip of the day. >> how can you lower your homeowners' insurance? money magazine says raising your deductible from 250 to $2,500 can save $400 a year. also, shop around for quotes at

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aerosmith front man steven tyler is reportedly in the hospital this morning after falling off the stage during a concert. one concertgoer told a south dakota newspaper that tyler was dancing on the stage's catwalk when he tottered backward and fell. he was then taken back stage and the rest of the concert was called off. there n there's no word on his condition this morning. >> when conan o'brien took over "the tonight show" in may, jay leno's role became bigger. this morning he's giving us an idea of what we can expect. >> we got a lot of new elements in the show. we have a lot of correspondents. we have a lot of young comics. we hope we can make some stars on this show. >> nbc's got plenty riding on leno, turning over five hours of valuable prime time real estate. jay says it will be an alternative to 10:00 p.m. dramas other networks. the jay leno show debuts monday,

september 14th. more problems for d.c. councilman marion barry. the new questions this morning about how he's spending taxpayer money. take a look at this. good samaritans race to the rescue to help those involved in a violent crash on a local street. >> inside the mind of a killer. what the gunman responsible for what the gunman responsible for a sand castle?oting at a óóóóóóñ sure, pal. let's just find a good spot. [ dramatic music plays ] a big day at the beach with the legendary taste of dunkin' donuts coffee on ice. this looks like a good spot. you kin' do it.

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unfinished business before they head out of town on vacation. senators reach a deal to vote on whether to put another $2 billion into the cash for clunkers program. but just how long will the money last? plus, history is expected to be made today when it votes on the nomination of supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor. we'll take you live to capitol hill to preview the busy day ahead on capitol hill.

good morning. thanks for waking up with us this morning for "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> and i'm keith garvin in for joe krebs. today thursday, august 6th, 2009. we give you another live look outside. as you can see, it's a little tough to see the capitol dome because we have some rain in our area. you may want to pack those umbrellas when you head out the door. >> and here's tom kierein to talk about how long the rain will last. >> it is lilt rain now, but urs t.weo meur o streets and we've got reports of tiul mepl fender-benders so take it easy as we starting off with a wet commute on this thursday morning. where yeou seehe t area t of yew anrean orange in charles coun, that's onere oa f heavy rain. aater to heavy shower that's atvimo off to the north and east.vi into hould be movg southern prince george cnty in the next fewminutes. numis.te earlier this morning, wther watchers reporting heavy rain with thunder and lightning in calvert county. nlpots wt and north we'vendnly o out d r leoussnl irandrinc pe nes 70 inr

or montgomery, fairfax andain totaw vee ares the r t otals we've had since, ,n mid-afternoon yesterday and all the way overnight tonight so not a lot, but a few pockets of heavier stin south and .stea low humidity and sunshine back tomorrow, but heat and humidity build for saturday and sunday. a look at next week in ten nute at 6:41. >> all right, tom, thank you. >> thanks. >> let's check on the traffic now. jerry, good morning again. >> good morning. been a bit busy, settling down a little bit and that's good news. let's see how we're doing. making the trip headed for downtown inbound on the sousa bridge, no worries. again, the wet pavement. outbound looks okay. travel lanes are open. elsewhere, the inner loop of the beltway headed for the wilson bridge, broken-down vehicle has been cleared. headed downtown by the virginia breaches, potomac river crossings incident-free at this hour, including the 14th street bridge. picking up the volume now but the lanes are open.

back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. today will be a big day on capitol hill. the senate is counting down the hours until the august recess, but before lawmakers go on vacation they have a lot to accomplish. senators are working down to the wire. they're working on refueling the cash for clunkers program and likely making a historic addition to the supreme court. brooke hart joins us live from capitol hill with details now. brooke? >> reporter: good morning, barbara. that's right. looks like confirmation is ahead today for judge sonia sotomayor. most republicans, all but eight of them, in fact, do plan to vote "no" and that's despite not so subtlehreats from hispanic groups that opponents will pay a price at the polls. supporters of sonia sotomayor came out in force as the senate vote nears. >> this is a vote that will matter and will be long remembered by our latino community. >> reporter: union, civil rights and hispanic groups joined democrats to brush aside gop criticism. >> i am not convinced that judge sotomayor will set aside her

personal judgments and views. >> reporter: eight republicans are expected to break ranks and vote yes. that would give judge sotomayor more sate votes than justice alito, fewer than chief justice roberts. >> my vote for her confirmation will be based solely and wholly on relevant qualifications. >> i will support her. i'll be proud for her, the community she represents and the american dream she shows is possible. >> reporter: also on the senate agenda, whether to keep cash for clunkers alive. president obama wants it. >> what you've seen is not only greatly improved sales in the showrooms, but what you've also seen is the trade-ins have improved fuel efficiency by about 10% per vehicle. >> reporter: but critics went to a dealer in missouri pushing back. >> the billions of dollars we're spending on cash for clunkers we don't have. >> reporter: many gop senators agree. >> i'm not going to pass a bill on to our kids for $2 billion to buy a car today. that's not fair to our children to keep doing it. >> i don't think that's the

case. i've had a number of very good conversations with republican leader. >> reporter: but democrats say they have a majority, ready to pump more cash to dealers and buyers and crush clunkers in the process. the senators will debate possible changes to cash for clunkers, including one idea that would limit eligibility to low-income buyers. the expectation, though, is that rebates of some form will be extended to labor day. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. barbara, back to you. >> all right, brooke, thank you. >> an emotional reunion in california. two american journalists back on home soil after nearly five months of captivity in north korea. now we're learning firsthand about the moment they found out their plight had ended. laura ling and euna lee returned home to southern california yesterday morning. northern korean leader kim jong-il granted the women's release after meeting with former president bill clinton during an unannounced visit. ling described the moment she knew her nightmare was over. >> when we walked in through the doors, we saw standing before us

president bill clinton. we were shocked. >> ling and lee were sentenc to hard labor in north korea but they were never actually taken to a work camp. the women were kept apart and not allowed to communicate with each other. >> investigators say the man who walked into a health club near pittsburgh and opened fire was motivated by his failure to attract women. police say 48-year-old george sodini entered the la fitness club in bridgeville tuesday night with four guns. he then walked into an aerobics class and opened fire, killing three women and himself. investigators say he had no relationship with any of the victims. however, they found notes and a blog posting in which he spelled out his failed love life. they also believe sodini had been planning the fitness center massacre for months and made several practice runs. >> new today, we are learning

more about d.c. councilman marion barry's spending habits. "the washington post" reports barry spent $252,000 in taxpayer money on outside contracts between 2007 and 2009. that's far more than the second biggest spender on the d.c. council, kwame brown's office spent $45,000. barry has been facing questions about his contract spending since revelations that he awarded one to a woman he had a relationship with. >> a frightening scene in southeast washington. two cars collide and dozens of witnesses run to help. it happened yesterday at the corner of pennsylvania and alabam avenues when a car smashed into the back of an suv. we talked to the only person able to walk away from the accident on his own, the driver of the suv. >> all i know is when i turned around, i was dragging. i said, oh, my god. my mother and my aunt all right? so when the vehicles stopped rolling, i got out of the vehicle.

and i proceeded to help free my mother. >> in all, five people were injured in the crash. those bystanders were able to help several people out of the vehicles. two others had to be cut out by rescue crews. >> the "today" show is next at the top of the hour. let's go live to meredith vieira in new york for a look at what they're working on. >> good morning to you, keith. coming up on this thursday morning on "today," the latest on that deadly health club shooting, including the disturbing block left behind by the gunman. plus, a sister of one of the victims will join us for an exclusive interview. then, could casey anthony's parents be forced to testify against their own daughter? why they have spent the past few days talking with prosecutors. also ahead, the newlywed who allegedly thought she hired a hit man to kill her husband. police actually let her believe that it happened and caught it all on tape. and the buzz from hollywood on why paula abdul really left "american idol." that's when weet started on a thursday morning right here on "today." back to you, keith.

>> all right. inquiring minds want to know. we'll be watching that. thank you. >> thank you. >> time now 6:38. 72 degrees outside. why it will soon cost you money to read the news on some of your favorite websites. we'll ask d.c. mayor adrien fenty about how the district ended up paying for a fraternity

at 6:40, here is today's news 4 bargain blast. how about some free food from mcdonald's? get a free medium fries and drink when you purchase a new angus burger. you can print out a coupon on nbcwashington.com. search bargain blast. >> and we'reoi g to take a look at our forecast now. let's go to tom kierein in storm center 4. good morning. >> hey, good morning. some overnight rain that continues to move across northern virginia, into maryland, in district of columbia. right now getting a moderate downpour in north central charles county between la plata and waldorf. that's headed to the north and east. elsewhere, scattered light showers across maryland. eastern shore has had some heavier downpours this morning. now 72 in washington, near 70 from the blue ridge to the bay. in the 60s, shenandoah valley into the mountains. a little sunshine breaking out later on this afternoon with highs near 80, perhaps an isolated afternoon

thundershower. lower humidity tomorrow. then steamy saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday. each day into the 90s with oppressive humidity. now, jerry, how's the thursday traffic? >> start on the beltway north of town. pretty quiet now. there had been a couple problems earlier but they're all cleared. on again, off again delays outer loop beginning after the i-95 interchange headed to silver spring. elsewhere, check things out on the rails this morning, possible continuing trails on metrorail's red line because of the crash investigation. we do have frederick burg train number 300 running late on vre. marc rail, no delays. >> a local snam collector doesn't realize what he's buying and gets snake bitten. >> d.c. mayor adrian fenty is here. got here through the rain. i'll ask him how the district ends up paying for a fraternity story andoi

we're connecting you with the mayor. i'm here this morning with d.c. mayor adrian fenty. again, welcome. >> thanks for having me. >> your college fraternity reimbursed -- has been

reimbursed, but it reimbursed the district $37,000 that the government spent on a party on monday night. >> right. >> one person writes to us. how is it that your staff paid for your frat party with d.c. funds without your knowledge? how do all these things keep happening in our city and you don't know anything about them until after they happen? that e-mail continues to ask, doesn't that say something about the way you govern your staff selection? >> well, first of all, both the lead-in and the e-mail have got a little bit incorrect. this isn't my college fraternity. this is a national fraternity. it was a college chapter that i belonged to, but this is a 100,000 member-strong fratern y fraternity. so it's a big deal they're here. spending tons of money, thousands of people. what happened was there was an invitation to have an event with the mayor. i have tons of events with mayors. i'm always the honorary committee of this or that. i will continue to do so. at some point, someone on my

staff thought that because i was on this it would be appropriate for the government to pay for the reception, the small reception, part of a much bigger convention. >> you didn't ask for that? >> didn't ask, didn't know about it. it was completely incorrect for them to do so. and we have said that. made sure the money was refunded. to the point of engagement, this morning i will be out ribbon-cutting the new wilson pool. yesterday we're going to have a press conference about the hiv and aids administration that we've got our 14th balanced budget, a aaa bond rating. i'm engaged on the affairs of running the district of columbia government. there are things of some nature that slip through cracks. i do what every other person does. i say, his wren,e shouldn't have done that. we make immediate correction. >> another one for you. you were involved in a fender-bender earlier this week, i think sunday night. >> yeah. >> there are conflicting reports about what really happened there. the initial police department, written by a member of your security detail who was in the

car with you, said it could not be determined who was at fault in the fender-bender, but a statement from your spokeswoman said the other driver was at fault. and "the washington post" is reporting this morning that the initial report violated some of the rules that always happen when a police take a report like this. they didn't name the people who were in the car and a lot of mistakes were made. what really happened on sunday night? >> yeah, i don't know why the report didn't have everything that it needed to in it. it seems to be more technical than anything. names of passengers, dates, et cetera. it seems to have gotten the basic information right, and as my spokesperson said sunday night to the post, driving along, four-way intersection. i'm stopped. a car proceeds into the intersection, pulls in front of me. i hit that vehicle at that point. and then -- >> were you driving? >> yes, absolutely. >> so, you were the striking vehicle. >> that's exactly what the report says. that's exactly what my

communications director -- take another scenario. you're driving along in a car. someone runs out in front of you. of course, you are going to be the person that strikes that person, but that person was in error. and this is a small accident. no one was injured. very little damage to the cars. i understand because i'm mayor it's going to get reported much more heavily than any other accident, but both the young man who was in the other car, his mom came to the scene, has been extremely cooperative. we've cooperated with the police department. again, if there's some errors in the report, as the attorney general said in the paper this morning, we will correct those. but it appears that all of the facts continue to be repeated and are out there. >> in the past, the mayor has been criticized for sending his two sons -- your twin sons -- to private school. but you have said that you were going to change schools. this year your children go to the fourth grade, their last school where they were, only went to third grade. what are you going to do this? >> exactly. during the 2006 campaign, people

asked me are you going to send your kids to public school after they finish in third grade? they've been in the same school since they were 2 years old. they got the third grade. we have made the decision to send them to public school this year. >> going to tell us where? >> no, we don't think that's appropriate. we're doing it because we think it's a great school and it's what's best for the kids. >> they must be looking forward starti. chool year starting. >> 9-year-old boys look forward to everything. >> that's it for now. >> thanks so much. >> a lot more for you -- >> next week. and you guys know where to find me in between. >> okay. if you have aduestion or comment that you would like the mayor to address, send an e-mail to fen at the@nbcwashington.com and we may use your question on the air. we thank you, sir. >> thank you so much. >> thanks for coming in. >> thank you, mr. mayor. well, big news out of the mortgage industry. the government may be splitting up fannie mae and freddie mac. "the washington post" is reporting the obama administration is looking to

overhaul the mortgage giants. one option on the table is to split the companies. fanny's and freddy's troubled assets would be put into a new corporation. for a look at how the markets are looking right now, let's go live to courtney reagan. >> reporter: good morning. futures right now relatively mixed to somewhat flat ahead of the opening bell. cisco could end up to be a drag on the nasdaq, though, because the tech giant says that while business is improving it's still too soon to call a recovery. stock did fall wednesday on weak economic data as a report on the services sector fell last month. asian markets were mostly higher overnight. europe is positive in early trading so there is some green around the world. get a report on new filings for unemployment benefits a bit later this morning. that's that report we get every thursday. and retailers will also be reporting their july sales today, but store are expected to post another month of declines thanks to cool weather, the weak job market and a lack

of tax-free holidays pushing consumers more than likely to the clearance rack instead of paying full price. the dow fell 39 points yesterday to 9280. the nasdaq lost 18 points, 1993. well, rupert murdoch wants to start charging for online news content. the company owns "the wall street journal," the new york post and fox news among other news outlets. they have suffered from a slump in ad revenue. murdoch says an industry that gives away its content is can balancizing its a ability to do good reporting. be interesting to see if that model works. >> it never seems to be a good thing. >> reporter: never. >> a snake collector is in the hospital after being bitten by his newest acquisition in southeast washington. 31-year-old jason dale had just bought the snake from a neighbor. he thought the snake was a nonpoisonous python, but while ying to pick it up, the snake bit him in the hand and it turns

out it was a venemous copperhead. >> in the beginning, only this right here was swollen so i didn't think nothing of it. then about 30 minutes went past and my whole hand was swollen. that's when i said i need to go to the hospital. i get here, my fingers, all that's swollen. now the swelling is spreading up my arm. >> doctors say if dale hadn't received treatment when he did, he may have died. >> speaking of snake collector doesn doesn't necessarily make you a snake expert. >> you used to have a snake, right? >> a boa constrictor. but we made sure it wasn't of the poisonous variety. at least he's recovering. >> hey, tom -- >> a couple years ago i was walkingalong the tow path, stepped up on a stone wall, noticed something in my peripheral vision moving. i stepped down and looked back. it was a nest of copperhead snakes. >> oh, wow. >> i quickly got out of there so watch your footing, especially around clumps of rocks and stones. hey, this morning we've had some rain. you can see some sprinkles of

rain on the lens there of the city camera. there's the gray sky over the e potomac river. right now 72 in washington. as we look at the radar, we do have some scattered showers where you see the green and blue from northern virginia, west virginia, into southern maryland. where you see this pocket of yellow, that is a moderate downpour right near waldorf now that continues moving slowly off to the north and east and northern charles county. it should move into southwestern prince george's county, southeastern prince george's county as well, brandywine may get a downpour in the next hour or so. elsewhere, just scattered showers around at this hour, across northern virginia, into west virginia. another batch of some light rain that may move into the net row area here in another couple of hours. temperatures now 72 in washington, near 70 in prince george's county, montgomery and fairfax. off to the blue ridge as well. blue ridge to the west, weather watchers reporting temperatures in the 60s. these are the rainfall totals we've had so far, about .1 in washington, .2 in charles county. where that one downpour is it may have unloaded about 1/2 an

inch. weather watchers in calvert county reported over an inch of rain from some downpours that came through overnight. meanwhile, around the neighborhood network in rockville, there it's 69. they've had less than .5 of an inch of rain there since yesterday afternoon. out in the mountains, mid-60s now, eastern shore in the low 70s. rather steamy there. they've had some of the heavier rains there. moving off to the north and east in the new york city area, perhaps toward boston later on this morning. then the skies beginning to clear out farther to our west, some lower humidities movin hin. for e rest of the day, by 9:00, mid-70s. by noontime maybe still a passing shower. alla small chance of ad e hiti0 ame this afternoon nas al vrksuhe ftnoon atparkere marlins, there might be an interruption with a passing shower. reakrwise a little sin b urou ovt ghnito d overtght,toninighg out and getting cool by this time tomorrow morning with lower humidity moving in. low 60s. friday partly cloudy to mostly sunny with low humidity. then heat and humidity build

saturday, sunday, into e first part of next week, hitti the 90s withhumidity. heat wngeavhuinmidity. heat wave moving in first time this summer. that's the way it looks this morning. >> thanks, tom. >> jerry, time for a look at the roadways. how are we looking? >> settling down a little bit. a series of problems within the last 90 minutes or so but for the most part just volume now. along 95 and 395, again, accident-free for the moment. but the wet roads do persist. could be an issue this morning. elsewhere south of town to the wilson bridge, no worries. check of speeds, outer loop, speaking of the wilson bridge, from springfield to the bridge, 7 minutes. from the wilson bridge to route 50, 16 minutes. afr that just 8 minutes. but keep your speeds down and watch out for wet roads. >> back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> checking the top stories. the senate is working down to the wire before the august recess. today lawmakers are expected to add another $2 billion to the cash for clunkers program. the white house says the program could go broke tomorrow by

without the extra money. >> the senate is also expected to confirm sonia sotomayor as the next supreme court justice. most republicans say they'll vote against her but democrats have enough votes to get her through. today's news 4 morning person is someone who goes above and beyond in everything she does. bebe is a single mom who works three jobs. one of her jobs is with the federal government. her colleagues say she comes in to work happy and leaves happy every day. they say she is eager to give 110% even when people sometimes don't deserve it. if you know someone like bebe, e-mail their story and a clear, close-up video or picture to morningperson@nbcwashington.com. let's get the forecast. >> you'll need an umbrella. take it easy on the roads. reports of multiple fender-benders. light showers off and on this morning, maybe an afternoon thundershower. lower humidity tomorrow, but a heat wave starting saturday,

into the first part of next week. >> we have had a couple of problems. but what he said. keep your speeds down, be careful and have a great commute. >> all right. "y.nk you,newsaynodto t f>> that's "news 4 today" toda. thanks for srtouin ygr day wi th yus. >> wusee you for "news 4 miay." have a great day.

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