approved vaccine, could be the best defense for nurses and parents in the fight against the h1n1 flu. michelle franzen, nbc news, new york. >> stay with us, everyone. "news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. media marathon. president obama is on the offensive, aimed at winning over the people, the american people now that he's making history and rallying supporters behind health care reform at the same time. >> the plot thickens. three men arrested for a homegrown terror plan targeting new york city. the new details we're learning and why the investigation is far from over. >> hail to the redskins. washington pulls off a win in their home opener, but fans turned out to be not so excited about the am's weekend win. well, good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and welcome back, joe krebs. >> thank you very much.

>> seems like were you gone forever. >> just about a week. >> probably not long enough for you. i'm barbara harrison. it's monday, september 21st, 2009. meteorologist tom kierein is standing by to tell us what we can expect from the weather today. look out there, tom. looks pretty nice, doesn't it? >> yes. sunny blue skies we had over the weekend now giving way to gray as we start off this monday morning but no rain around as we look at the radar. no precipitation around the region. we have a cool start to the day. only in the 50s to near 60 degrees around the region. now 61 in washington, mid-50s eastern shore, upper 50s out in the mountains. over the last six hours, quite a bit of cloudiness rolling in, coming in on a southeasterly breeze. we do have showers moving into the ohio valley and western carolinas but not here. looks like we'll stay dry today. mostly cloudy, highs reaching the upper 70s. cloudy tonight. by this time tomorrow morning, we may have a few sprinkles around, perhaps some passing showers on tuesday with highs mid-70s tomorrow. on wednesday and thursday, warmer, highs low 80s. might have a passing shower on wednesday.

here's a look at friday and the weekend. should be mostly dry ase get into a weekend and a bit cooler saturday and sunday. that's the way it looks on this monday morning. back in ten minutes with another update. >> thank you, tom. >> thank you very much. let's go to ashley linder now in our news 4 traffic network. >> good morning, barbara and joe. things are off to a quiet start. this is springfield. the headlights continuing to 395. no problem. taking a trip along 66, we did have some overnight construction on the westbound side by 123. that's in t clearing stages. eastbound traffic is wide-open. no big issues as you make your way toward the beltway and inside all the way to the roosevelt bridge you'll find your lanes open. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, ashley. joe krebs may have been among those out there booing. he was at the game yesterday. a chorus of boos at fedex field, the redskins hear it from some unhappy fans. many fans were not pleased with the redskins' decisions during the home opener. the redskins came in a heavy

favorite in the game and won a close one, beating the st. louis rams 9-7. why the coach says there was no postgame celebrating, we'll tell you ahead in sports. >> three men arrested in an ongoing terror investigation are expected to appear in court. authorities believe new york city may have been the target. but so far the suspects have only been charged with making false statements. the fbi says it is a fast-moving investigation and that's just -- that is just beginning now. brian moore has the latest. >> reporter: three men arrested and facing court appearances monday in a terror investigation that stretches from denver to new york city. the charges -- making false statements to investigators. but evidence reportedly suggests a new york bomb plot with possible links to al qaeda. the main suspect is 24-year-old najibullah zazi of suburban denver. >> the allegation is that mr. zazi lied when he said he had no knowledge of nine pages of handwritten bomb-making material

on his computer. >> reporter: a legal u.s. resident from afghanistan, zazi reportedly told authorities he attended a terror training camp in pakistan. >> he is not a terrorist. he is by no means a terrort. he traveled to new york. he saw friends while he was there. >> reporter: zazi's father and another man were charged with lying about phone calls they made. authorities can't say whether there was a specific target, but there are hints a plan was well under way. >> you have a guy driving from denver to new york. you have a whole group of backpacks. you have people trying to rent the largest u-haul van they could find. all these events together, there just wasn't an innocent explanation to cover all of that. >> reporter: coincidence or not, the arrests came saturday evening, just days before president obama and other world leaders head to new york for a meeting of the u.n. general assembly. mayor michael bloomberg says his city has been and will remain a tempting target.

>> terrorism hasn't gone away. we live in a dangerous world. >> reporter: and authorities say this investigation is just beginning. brian moore, nbc news, washington. >> those suspects could face eight years behind bars for making false statements. >> the man suspected of murdering four people at the home of a longwood university professor will appear in court today. 20-year-old richard mccroskey bragged about the thrill of killing in rap songs he performed on the internet. mccroskey is charged with killing presbyterian pastor mark neederbrock and is suspected in the killings of debra kelley and her husband and daughter. >> well, it's a busy week for president obama. he's off to new york city today where later this week he will deliver his first speech to the united nations general assembly. this comes as health care legislation faces a big test in the senate. brooke hart has more from

capitol hill. >> reporter: blanketing the airwaves, president obama appeared on five sunday news shows. on health care he said requiring uninsured americans to buy coverage as the leading senate measure does is a needed fix. >> you and i and every american out there who has health insurance and are paying the premiums responsibly every month, they've got to pick up the cost for emergency room care when one of those people gets sick. >> reporter: republicans conceded some criticism is untrue. >> this is unsustainable. >> that's right. >> you think the president's a socialist? >> no. >> the head of the republican party is calling him that. >> reporter: they insist how the president would pay for health care reform is easier to say than do. >> when he talks about how you pay for it, we're going to get $300 billion savings from medicare and medicaid, we've never done that before. >> reporter: president obama said signs point to a growing economy, but he said jobs won't likely improve until next year. >> it could even get a little bit worse over the next couple

of months. >> reporter: the president also responded to this recent video sting. workers with the activist group a.c.o.r.n. advising how to evade taxes, even hide underage prostitution. the president agreed a.c.o.r.n. should be investigated. >> what i saw on that video was certainly inappropriate. >> reporter: the obama campaign last year paid a group tied to a.c.o.r.n. to help get out the vote. on another issue, afghanistan, president obama says it's too early to say whether he'll order yet more troops. the top u.s. commander is reportedly warning of failure without them, just as polls show dwindling public support for the war. in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. >> president obama will travel to pittsburgh where he will host world leaders of the 20 largest economies. >> now to the war in afghanistan. the top u.s. commander says he needs more troops in the next year or the u.s. will probably lose the war. that's the word from "the washington post."

it's citing an urgent confidential report written by general stanley mcchrystal. in it he warns that without more troops it might become impossible to defeat the insurgency. the white house is considering a troop surge in afghanistan, despite reluctance from some democratic leaders. president obama has said he will not make decision until he has absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be. >> 5:07 is our time right now, 61 degrees. breaking ground. why a new project aimed at easing traffic congestion may be causing some big problems for yo commute today. >> plus, the shocking new claims about what john edwards planned to do in the event of his cancer-stricken wife's death. >> and a pizza parlor that has become a local landmark, it is now closing its doors and has served its final slice.

well, quench your thirst with this news 4 bargain blast. get a free medium coke zero when you go to chick-fil-a. >> all you need to do is sign up -- to sign up is to join the restaurant's so-called chicken wave. you can find out how by visiting chickenwave.com. >> 5:11 is the time now. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's check in with tom kierein to see what we can expect from the weather today and the rest of the week. tom, good morning again. >> hey, good morning. a touch of autumn in the air this morning. it certainly cool under a mostly cloudy sky, now just in the 50s generally all around the region.

near 60 in washington, arlington and fairfax counties but elsewhere we're in the 50s. we do have quite a bit of cloudiness around this morning. a little bit of sunshine in and out. temperatures should climb into the mid to upper 70s by mid-afternoon. and then cloudy tonight. by this time tomorrow morning we may have a few sprinkles, perhaps a passing shower tomorrow. otherwise, just cloudy on tuesday, highs in the mid-70s. then a bit warmer on wednesday. should be partly sunny, a small chance of a passing shower, highs in the low 80s. partly cloudy on thursday. afternoon highs in the low 80s as well. but then it turns a bit cooler as we get into fday and the weekend. partly cloudy friday, mostly sunny saturday, highs near 80 on friday. 70s on saturday. on sunday, kwooit a bit of cloud iness around. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. ashley linder is here with a traffic update. >> starting off to a relatively quiet start as you can see here. beltway doing just fine across the american legion. headlights continuing toward 270. all the overnight road work is a thing of the past. traveling around town now, we do

have a problem. traveling along central avenue eastbound just before the beltway, we have accident activity that will not affect drivers who are headed in town, but it will affect drivers who are trying to get out of town headed toward the beltway. again, eastbound lanes central avenue blocked at the beltway. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thanks, ashley, very much. our time right now -- >> 12 minutes after 5:00. the shocking claims a new book is making about former senator john edwards' affair. >> plus, becoming one of the most popular social networks in the world. next at 5:15, a warning about job seekers looking to make some fast cash from twitter.

well, it seems nowadays everyone is using twitter. we use it on a daily basis here in our newsroom but this morning there's a warning about job seekers with a possible scam that's linked to the social networking site. if you come across an ad or a website promising to pay you thousands of dollars to tweet, don't believe it. as the latest part of our jobs 4 you series, we report that tweeting for cash is certainly not the job for you. >> reporter: with an estimated 10 million members and counting, twitter is among the fastest-growing social networks in the world. >> i have been on twitter for about a year. what i like about it is the immediacy of the communication. >> reporter: andrews tweets from

his willow glen coffee shop and plans to encourage his customers to do the same. >> i'd like to put flat screen tv up and see my customers tweeting each other. >> reporter: what if you could turn those tweets into cash? just jump online and you'll see dozens of websites promising twitter users twquick dough if they post links on their account. >> does it surprise me that cra creativeless minds are trying to capitalize? no. >> reporter: it has fooled some. the better busess bureau has reported it has seen a spike in the number of people scammed by these get rich quick scams. this one is designed to look like a real newspaper and tv network. the person featured has a rags to riches stor college dropout now making $10,000 a month working from home. all you have to do is order a twitter cash kit for $1.95. but that's how they get your credit card information and, later, you're on the hook for 47

bucks a month. but wait. there's more. by signing up for the program, you get to create your own fake newspaper site to recruit others. for each new victim, you get 47 bucks, a pyramid scheme. >> the people that are the most vulnerable are the people who need jobs and lots of people are out looking for how can i make money? >> reporter: this attorney specializes in internet fraud. >> the first thing you should do is ask yourself how someone could possibly make $10,000 a month from home. usually it's impossible. it cannot be done. unless it's a scam. >> reporter: a scam that's hard to fight because the sites that promise fast cash for little work can disappear in just a few weeks or even days. >> they hope to get what they can get and suddenly they're off. >> reporter: even though the fine print says twitter is not associated with this website, add some users make little or no money, the seemingly low up-frontos still grabs some believers. >> i'm just naturally skeptical of all of this stuff so i just don't go for it at all. >> reporter: so twitter fans,

beware or, better yeet, tweet a warning to your followers. >> that was vicky wynn reporting. the better business bureau has a list of some of the names to be aware of on its website. joe? >> bob mcdonnell still leads in the latest "washington post" poll in the race for governor for virginia but that lead is shrinking. he leads among people who say they are certain to vote in december. mcdonnell led deeds among 15% in a poll a month ago. the post found that deeds may be making up ground in northern virginia. >> some outrageous claims about former senator john edwards' affair are being made in a new book. "the new york times" times says a aide claims edwards told his mistress rielle hunter that he would marry her when his wife died. he promised her a rooftop wedding in new york city with an

appearance by the dave matthews band. he also worked to hide the affair. a grand jury is currently investigating whether edwards used campaign money to pay off hunter. hunter has claimed edwards is the father of her child. edwards continues to den that. president obama favors an investigation into a.c.o.r.n.'s activities. the investigation comes after that hidden camera video that involved two a.c.o.r.n. employees advising a prostitute and her pimp. they were apparently advising the couple to lie about her profession and launder her earnings. the house has voted to deny all federal funds for the group while the senate agreed to shut off housing and community grant money to the group. the census bureau has cut ties with a.c.o.r.n. for the 2010 national census amid allegations of voter registration fraud. >> tempered excitement from and about the redskins. >> the team won its first game. you probably know that. but failed to get into the end zone against one of the worst teams in the league. lindsay czarniak has this

morning's sports minute. >> hey there. good morning, everybody. the redskins wanted to get the offense clicking against the rams, and they did just that. it's just that next week they can work on getting touchdowns. the redskins yesterday created ample opportunity to put points on the board, but weren't able to get into the end zone so they relied on kicker shaun suisham's three field goals to edge them past the rams 9-7. redskins taking the field. a lot of people looking to see if this offense would really get going this week. pick it up in the third quarter. the redskins trail 7-6. jason campbell drops back. he fires it to antoine randle el, a great read over the middle. randle el with a great catch, good for a 24-yard pickup. it would lead to a field goal, though. skins up 9-7. in the end, the redskins would need a big stop from its defense. last chance from the rams. marc bulger drops back, airs it out. but chris horton breaks up the

pass, seals the win. the redskins hang on to win 9-7. jim zorn said after the game his team is makingteps in the right direction. >> when we walked into the locker room, the redskin locker room, it was quiet. we, we knew that we under -- that we underperformed in areas, but we were really good in a lot. and so, you know, i think our guys were looking around going, hey, wait a minute, we won. >> jim zorn and the redskins did suffer a loss in yesterday's game starting right guard randy thomas was injured in the second quarter, suffering a torn right tricep. he will undergo an mri today and it's likely he will miss the entire season. we will have the complete update as well as more coverage from yesterday's game coming up on news 4 at 5:00 and 6:00. that's your sports on this monday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> you were there. were you part of the boo squad? >> well -- >> you won't admit it. >> it was pretty miserable.

well, it was just very frustrating. they haven't scored -- the offense hasn't scored but one touchdown in two games. this is very frustrating. >> let's take a look at traffic and weather. 5:21 the time now. >> well, the weather's not frustrating. this should help you feel better. we have cloudy start, though, but no rain around the region at this hour. as we look at temperatures it certainly is autumn-like. in the 50s, near 60 in washington. we do have quite a bit of cloudiness this morning. clouds with us off and on throughout the day. sunshine in and out with highs reaching the mid and upper 70s. might have a sprinkle this time tomorrow morning and a wassing shower possible tuesday afternoon, highs reaching mid-70s. a bit warmer on wednesday and thursday. small chance of a shower wednesday but should be dry thursday, friday and saturday. a slight chance of a shower on sunday. let's check traffic. ashley, how's it doing? >> tom, off to a quite start. capital beltway doing just fine right now. here's the look at university boulevard. elsewhere we do have a problems you make your way on central avenue. the problem is eastbound today,

just before you meet up with the capital beltway. all eastbound lanes currently blocked due to that accident. inbound traffic not affected by this. obviously as volume becomes more of a factor we'll see rubbernecking delays if this accident holds on. for now, taking 95 out of springfield, picking up a little bit of volume with the headlights continuing toward 395. nothing in your way andolume not too bad right now. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thanks very much. >> our time is 5:23. traffic alert. new road work and how it's going to impact commuters in the district. >> also, the end of a neighborhood favorite in northern virginia. >> a reminder -- let's do this together. news 4 is always connected to you on facebook and twitter. for up to the minute breaking news, weather and traffic alerts. you can find us on eitr site by searching news4today, one word.

the largest wildfire in los angeles county's modern history is still burning. helicopters continue dropping water on smoldering hot spots in the station fire yesterday. firefighters say it's about 93% contained now, and they hope to have it completely extinguished by next tuesday. it's charred more than 160,000 acres and destroyed or damaged morehan 100 homes since it started almost a month ago.

investigators now say it was set intentionally. >> well, it's the end of an era in alexandria. generous's georges, an old neighborhood favorite, closed its doors for the final time last night. they have occupied the same spot on duke street for 33 years. 28 workers will lose their jobs. managers blame the weak economy. >> business dropped down, and, obviously, the banks aren't loaning money to help out small companies. the business has been here for a long time on this corner. alexandria has grown up around it. there's a lot of people that have grown up coming here when they were kids. now they bring their kids. they're very sad. >> the owners plan to sell the duke street building, then hope to open a smaller eatery nearby. the generous george's location in herndon, though, will stay open for business. >> our time right now is 5:27. why a new report says the war in afghanistan is in danger of failure. >> and how policemanaged to foil

a homegrown terror plot linked to new york city. >> reporter: there's been lots of talk and also lots of delays, but look what's been happening here in southeast d.c. street car tracks are under way. i'm tracee wilkins. we'll have a live report coming up.

blast from the past. the new construction project and how it's going to affect commuters in the district.

>> homegrown terror. the new details we're learning about an alleged plan to stage attacks in new york city. >> top priority. the president's busy agenda as he continues to rally supporters behind health care reform. >> another monday and good morning and welcome, every one. i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. it is monday, it's the 21st day of september 2009. this is what it looks like outside. a glow from the city lights on those clouds that are above us right now, but is that jupiter or venus or pluto or goofy? one of those planets up there. >> goofy perhaps. meteorologist tom kierein here in the studio to talk about the weather. good morning. >> that is venus and we do have a few breaks in the cloud cover this morning. we'll see a little bit of sunshine. off to a generally gray start on this monday. as we look at radar, no precipitation. there's venus gleaming in our eastern sky.

and temperature right now is a cool 61 in washington. no precipitation. it's only in the 50s in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. and farther to our west it's in the mid-50s. low to mid-50s around the bay, eastern shore and out of the mountains. a cool start this morning. certainly feeling like autumn on this 21st day of september. the equinox arrives tomorrow. we have some showers showing up in the ohio valley but those should stay away today. we'll have a cloudy day. a little sunshine in and out this morning. highs reaching the mid and upper 70s by mid-afternoon. then cloudy tonight. we'll be in the upper 60s by midnight. low 60s by dawn tomorrow, maybe a sprinkle this time tomorrow morning and a passing shower possible tomorrow. highs mid-70s. a bit warmer on wednesday and thursday. a look at the weekend in ten minutes. stay tuned. >> how are you goingo celebrate the equinox? >> with equanimity. >> oh, good. everybody included. thanks a lot. >> let's go to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. ashley? >> good morning. well, this is a look at the dulles toll road, green way

route 7 area. dulles airport access road fine as far as volume is concerned. we are starting to get some issues around the area. out of burke right now we have a problem. trash truck on fire, 123 headed southbound at 7100. it's passable but would just be in your best interests to avoid 123 if you could. we do have a problem, the eastbound lanes of central avenue remain blocked because of accident activity just before the beltway. again, it does not affect drivers who are coming inbound to central avenue and east capitol street toward the district. joe and barbara, back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thank you, ashley. the redskins get their first win of the year in the home oper, beating the st. louis rams 9-7. after the game, there was no celebrating in the locker room, though. many players were not happy with their performances, saying they need to score touchdowns. hear from them at 5:45 this morning. >> well, we are connected to your commute and today we're closer to the return of street cars to d.c. >> crews are laying track work for the anacostia street car

line. it's a major step in a project that's been plagued by years of delays. tracee wilkins joins us live. >> reporter: looking at a slight possibility for some delays for some of our south capitol driver but nonetheless this is something that folks have been talking about for a very long period of time, trying to make these street cars happen. i remember my dad and my uncle telling stories about how for the street car used to be as transportation here in d.c., and now look what's been going on here in southeast. just over my left shoulder here, street car tracks are actually beginning to be laid here in southeast. in abouthree years, part of the anacostia line may be done. the $55 million project is beginning to take form here at 1st and sterling avenue in southeast. next week "the washington pt" reports work will begin on south capitol street. that work will reduce traffic flow for five to ten minutes through the end of the month at 1st and south capitol since traffic flow in each direction will be closed to one lane while they do their work. officials say that some delays

will continue throughout the rest of the year as well. but street cars are light rail powered by overhead wires and will share lanes with automobiles. this is a project d.c. has been working on for a long period of time. it's been a century since washington has had street cars here, but in seattle and portland, they already have their street cars under way. we're told that here the anacostia line, at least part of it, may be ready and up and running by 2012. then they'd le to see the entire street car project done and up and running in a decade. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning in southeast. back to you in e studio. >> very nostalgic. thank you, tracee. >> three men believed to be involved in a planned terrorist attack will appear in court today. this weekend the fbi arrested the man thought to be at the center of that plot. he is 24-year-old najibullah zazi. an airport shuttle driver in denver. agents say he drove a rented car to new york city two weeks ago, carrying a laptop computer. according to court documents, it contained instructions on how to

make bombs. officials also say zazi admitted to getting weapons training from al qaeda. >> we have an individual who went to training camps in pakistan, who downloaded information on improvised explosive devices. there's clearly intent here. >> agents also arrested zazi's father and another man from new york. both are accused of lying to investigators. >> the body of a yale graduate student who was found murdered last weekend has been returned to northern california to be laid to rest. annie le's body is now in the hands of a funeral home near her hometown of placerville. details of her funeral are being kept private. a memorial service is planned for later this month at her fiance's temple in new york. raymond clark iii, a lab tech in the building where le's body was found, is charged with her murder. >> well, this is a critical week in the health care debate. in anticipation of that, president obama went on a whirlwind media tour, appearing

on five weekend morning talk shows. the senate finance committee will take up the measure proposed by chairman max baucus this week. many republicans and democrats want to make changes to the health care plan. some don't like the lack of a public option or the new tax on high-value insurance plans. however, president obama is standing by some of it, like the part that would -- that would -- americans would -- would force americans, mandate that americans buy health coverage. >> you and i and every american out there who has health insurance and are paying their premiums responsibly every month, they've got to pick up the cost for emergency room care when one of those people gets sick. >> in addition, discussing health care -- in addition to discussing health care reform, president obama will travel to new york city this week to speak to the united nations. after that he'll be in pittsburgh for the g-20 summit. >> now to the war in afghanistan. the top u.s. commander says he needs more troops in the next

year or the u.s. will probably lose the war. that's the word "the washington post" is saying this morning. it's citing an urgent confidential report written by general stanley mcchrystal. in it, he warns that without more troops, it might become impossible to defeat the insurgency. the white house is considering a troop surge in afghanistan, despite a reluctance from some democratic leaders. president obama has said he will not make a decision until he has absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be. >> 5:38 now, 61 degrees. a local caregiver charged with neglect. what police say he did that put mentally challenged lives at risk. >> also why a local lawmaker is blasting a local police department because of its actions during a drug raid. >> and the big winners and the surprising upset at this year's annual prime time emmy awards.

noodles and company is offering you a fee dish on your birthday. >> all you have to do is sign up to get something called a noodle gram in your e-mail. you can do that at noodles.com. >> 5:h41. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> tom, what kind of a day are we going to have? >> your noodles should stay dry. a few clouds around. temperatures around the region are in the 50s for the most

part. it's near 60 right near washgton. and we have quite a bit of cloudiness, though a few breaks in the clouds allowing venus to peek through in the eastern sky. the rest of the day, partly sunny and mild. highs mid and upper 70s. looks like a cloudy day on tuesday. might have a shower in the morning as well as a passing afternoon shower. and then on wednesday and thursday, warmer into the low 80s both days. a small chance of a shower on wednesday but should be dry thursday, friday and saturday with highs near 80 friday, 70s on saturday and sunday a small chance of a shower. otherwise, mostly cloudy with highs in the 70s. i'm back with your bus stop forecast in ten minutes. now, ashley linder, how's the traffic? >> buses won't have trouble stopping around town right now. capital beltway at university boulevard, pretty quiet. on the whole, things are in good shape. the orange line is single tracking between new carrollton and cheverly, due to some emergency track work. elsewhere around the area out of

springfield, volume picking up but you're still moving at the posted speed limit. along 95 to springfield. and then headlights are doing just fine in town. back to you. >> thanks very much, ashley. >> thank you, ashley. our time now 5:42. the winners and the losers at this year's emmy awards. >> plus, the washington redskins win their first home game this season. next at 5:45, so why is the victory just a bit, bit unsettling for a lot of fans?

welcome back. well, a win is a win, but not necessarily a thing of beauty. the redskins' players and their fans were not exactly thrilled with the team's performance in the home opener yesterday. they beat the rams but could not get into the end zone. dan hellie heard from the quarterback and the coach.

>> reporter: the redskins living dangerouy but they did get the win. offensively they moved the ball almost at will, but they were allergic to the end zone, settling on three field goals. jason campbell once again solid and for a second straight game, chris cooley was his leading receiver. cooley had seven catches for 73 yards, including this one that set up a first quarter field goal up. up 9-7 now, late in the fourth quarter, the redskins going for it on fourth and one on the 2. but they don't make it. so the rams get the ball back with just under 2:00 to go. this is when the redskins' defense stepped up. pressuring marc bulger and forcing four straight incomplete four passes. the redskins 9-7 winners. it was ugly but they will take it. >> it's hard to win in the nfl. any time you get a win, you take it for what it's worth and you move on and get ready for next week. we lost tohem 17-15.

you would wrath beer the opposite end of im, trying to improve your season or rather be on the winning side of it and say, let's go? let's get better and win. >> i have to look at this thing really hard because it's my responsibility. i can do whatever -- i can wave all kinds of magic wands but i have to come up with the right play and put our guys in the exact -- in the right position. >> reporter: so the good news for jim zorn, it does get easier. the redskins on the road in detroit taking on a lions team that has lost its last 19 games dating back to 2007. that will do it from fedex field. i'm dan hellie. let's send it back to you. >> this was the first time since 2005 that the redskins actually scored fewer than ten points and still won the game. barbara? >> d.c. police are looking for a killer who shot a man to death a block away from a monstery. it happened after 5:00 yesterday morning on perry street in brookland. that's only about a block away from the franciscan monstery.

police say abdullah fuller was dead when they got to the scene. he lived just a few blocks away. gunfire awakened neighbors, including several nuns. >> it's very sad. very sad that a life was taken this morning, on a saun day, which is the day of the lord. and for what reason? what -- what moves people to take other people's licves? that's what we pray for this morning. >> police have not said anything about suspects or a motive. >> a caregiver has been charged with locking three mentally challenged adults in a vehicle while he went in to eat. frederick police have charged brian fleming with vulnerable adult neglect. they say he locked the blind and deaf low functioning adults in the vehicle while he went to lunch. after about an hour, concerned diners called police saying the windows were almost all the way up and the vehicle was parked in the sunlight. officers say the victims were in

very -- were very hot and in distress when they found them. fleming works for the residential housing program where the three victims live. they appear not to have been seriously harmed, though. >> the mayor of berwyn heights is blasting the prince george's county police department for its investigation into a drug raid on his home more than a year ago. police raided his home, shot and killed his two dogs and held him and his family at gunpoint after they tracked a package of marijuana to his house. that package was part of a drug smuggling ring that had nothing to do with him or his family. he wrote an opinion piece in yesterday's "washington post," ripping the police department's internal affairs section for its investigation of the incident. he says police made up a story to try and justify the warrantless search of his home. >> this is an embarrassment, not just for me and my family but it's one that has to send shivers down the spine of anyone who steps foot in prince george's county. >> prince george's county police had no comment about calvo's

piece but officials say officers acted properly during the raid. >> well, a highway near baltimore will remain closed for several more weeks after a massive water main break. the amazing video of this, the six-foot main broke last friday in dundalk. part of browning highway was actually washed away. at least 100 homes were completely flooded and hundreds more lost power. all of this from a water main. 70 of those houses have been deemed to be uninhabitable. >> boy, that was incredible, wasn't it? still trying to clean up. >> that's a big pipe. >> we saw something half that size when we had the problem up in montgomery county. >> river road, right. >> last year. i can't remember how long ago it was. >> last december. >> yeah, right. >> hi, tol. good morning. >> we don't have any water falling from the sky this morning. we do have quite a bit of cloudiness around as we get rolling on this monday, back to work and school. bills to pay, mouths to feed. we do have, though, a few breaks in the clouds allowing us to see

venus in the eastern sky this morning. there's the live view from our city camera. there is capitol hill in the distance. and there is venus over the potomac on this monday morning. right now a cool 61 in washington and as we look at radar, no precipitation around the region on this monday morning. the 21st day of september. the equinox arrives tomorrow. it's only near 60 in arlington and fairfax counties. montgomery county, only in the 50s. only in the 50s in prince george's county as well. eastern shore, they're only in the mid-50s. near the bay, in southern maryland, weather watchers reporting temperatures there only the low to mid-50s this morning. 50s across most of virginia and maryland, shenandoah valley and the blue ridge. as we take a look at the regional temperatures, eastern shore, mid-50s. only in the mid-50s in the mountains, but some milder air is beginning to build in the midwest. that will begin to arrive here by later on this afternoon. but for us this morning, we have just a few clouds coming through at this hour. but it's all cloudy.

shenandoah valley over the mountains. here's a line of some showers now just coming into the ohio valley but these are moving off to the north and will be passing to the west o the major cities here up and down the atlantic seaboard. so for today, should not have any travel problems between washington and boston. however, in the midwest there may be some showers and thunderstorms from the upper midwest through the tennessee valley that may cause some flight delays there as well as perhaps along the gulf coast. but elsewhere really no travel problems if you're heading off farther to the west, out of the west coast. as we look here closer to our region, we do have these showers that stretch from alabama and georgia, through tennessee, kentucky and up into ohio and the great lakes region. this is all part of a flow around the western side of a high pressure just now moving off the coast. as we go forward over the next 48 hours, where you see the colors where they could get some passing showers and perhaps some strong storms maybe developing around st. louis and up through the upper midwest later on today. but here we'll just have some clouds in and out. during the day on tuesday and by

tuesday evening, all cloudy, chance of a passing shower tomorrow. then as we get into wednesday, it looks like we'll still have quite a bit of cloudiness around, maybe a morning shower. then we should begin to dry out by the afternoon, toward the end of the week. here's the forecast for this monday. plan accordingly for the bus stop. we will see a mostly cloudy morning, just a light breeze but quite cool, only in the 50s and low 60s by late morning, by mid-morning. sunrise is at 6:55. and as we get into the rest of the day, by noontime a little sunshine. temperatures into the low 70s and a partly sunny afternoon, highs in the upper 70s. but then by sunset which is getting earlier and earlier now, 7:06 sunset today, we will have temperatures by then just in the low 70s and it should be cloudy. then cloudy the rest of the evening. we ought to be in the upper 60s by midnight. by dawn tomorrow, maybe a sprinkle around. otherwise, a cloudy start to tuesday and in the low 60s. during the day tomorrow, afternoon highs into the mid-70s

again with a greater chance of some passing showers during the afternoon and perhaps the evening and all the way into wednesday morning there's a chance of a passing shower but a general drying trend looks like by wednesday afternoon. it should be warmer, too, with highs in the low 80s. then on thursday, partly cloudy, highs low 80s. that's a little bit above the avmg high this time of year which is 77. as we get into friday, afternoon highs upper 70s to near 80. partly cloudy. weekend looking nice once again. saturday should be mostly sunny with highs in the 70s, morning lows near 60. some clouds rollin in on sunday. that's the way it looks on this monday morning. great weather for the bluemont fair over the weekend in western loudoun county where they had the petting zoo for the kids. did you ever pet a goat? >> can't say i have. >> i have not. >> they like it. i'm told. >> is that right? >> yes. >> okay. >> i've been around people milking goats. >> have you? >> goat cheese, but never actually pet one.

>> okay. >> something to look forward to. >> i wonder if ashley has. ashley, what's the traffic look like? got any goat stories for you? >> no goats on the roadway this morning, not like every other day. travel aig round town right now, we do have some pretty big problems. traveling on public transit today, we've got a problem on the brunswick trains. up to 30 minute delays between barnesville and union station area. met voe accepting marc fare cards. orange line is single tracking between new carrollton and cheverly. back to you. >> thanks very much. >> the television industry has honored its best. the emmy awards were handed out in los angeles. >> it was another huge year for our hit series on nbc, "30 rock." for the third straight year it picked up the award for best comedy series. mark barger has a wrap-up of all of it. >> here's hoping kanye west likes 30 rock. >> reporter: the host neil patrick harris joked about it to start the night.

>> 30 rock. >> reporter: almost three hours later, the nbc sitcom won its third straight emmy as best comedy. >> we want to thank our friends at nbc, jeff zucker, ben, for keeping us on the air even though we are so much more expensive than a talk show. >> reporter: fay's co-star alec baldwin also won best ak for tofor the second year in a row. >> this is the greatest job i'll ever have. >> reporter: there was a surprise for best ak tris as toni collette bet out last year's winner, tina fey. >> this is insanely confronting. >> reporter: it was deja vu in the drama categories. >> mad men. >> reporter: the '60s advertising saga made it two straight wins as best drama. >> we worked very hard to not have it stink the second year. >> reporter: damage's star glenn close also made it two straight wins as best actress. >> it is a job that makes it worthwhile leaving home for. >> i'm so thankful that glenn close is actually a woman. >> reporter: another repeat

winner was bryan cranston, best actor for breaking bad. >> the daily show with jon stewart. >> reporter: another of the night's repeat winner was the daily show. >> i just thank you again for giving me the opportunity to come up here and then go back stage and watch a football game. >> to win the game. >> reporter: only one winner in dallas, but on this night, many in hollywood. mark barger, nbc news. >> the night's other winners, includg the amazing race as best reality cpetition series. >> and the hbo film grey gardens won for best tv movie with acting honors going to jessica lak and her co-star, ken howard. of course, you always want a job that's worthwhile to leave home for. >> absolutely. >> a reminder. news 4 is always connected to you on facebook and twitter for up to the minute breaking news, weather and traffic alerts. you can find us on either site by searching news 4 today, one word. >> coming up next, the new scam

that is targeting twitter users and the new bailout bill in the works on capitol hill that president obama says he'll be happy to look at. >> meteorologist tom kierein will have your workweek forecast. we'll have your weather and traffic together on the 1s.

terror arrest. the fbi unravels a potential attack on new york city. why authorities say this plot was the real deal. >> it was a beautiful win. the fans voiced their displeasure with the redskins. the skins were able to get by the lowly worst team in footb l football -- rams -- without

scoring a single touchdown. >> good morning. thanks for waking up with us this morning for "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this monday, the 21st day of september 2009. let's take a look outside as we look at some -- we had some clouds above us right now. we'll find out what the situation is at this moment, though. 61 degrees out there. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." >> and tom is here. welcome to you, tom. >> good morning. >> tell us what we can expect today. >> as we get going, we've had a few clouds around. sunrise is about an hour away. around our region now, no precipitation from those clouds. a few breaks in the clouds allowing us to see toward the east and venus. right now as we look at the next several days we'll have a partly sunny day with highs in the mid and upper 70s. cloudy tonight, we'll be in the low 60s by dawn tomorrow. cloudy on tuesday. perhaps a morning sprinkle or afternoon passing shower. then on wednesday, partly sunny, highs low 80s. a small chance of a passing shower. thursday looking partly cloudy with highs in the low 80s.

here's a look at friday and the weekend. should be partly cloudy friday with highs near 80. saturday, partly to mostly sunny, with highs in the 70s and clouds rolling in on sunday. a small chance of a shower with highs in the 70s. i'm back in ten minutes with another update, off to work and school on this monday. >> tom, thank you. >> let's go to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. first of all, let's check out this developing story. we're following this story out of prince george's county where an early morning accident has left one person in critical condition. police say an suv and a car crashed just before 3:00 this morning, this in the 8800 block of central avenue and capitol heights. they say the car caught on fire with the driver inside. the driver was rushed to the hospital and we're told the driver is now in critical condition. the suv's driver, though, was not injured seriously. >> maybe ashley can tell us if there are any traffic problems as a result of that accident. ashley, good morning. >> yes, joe and barbara, this accident is directly affecting

traffic. the only thing that is good about this accident is it's on the outbound side, so as far as volume as a factor it's not too bad getting into town. westbound lanes are unaffected. eastbound lanes of central enue are blocked right now. they have a detour in place but just avoid that area if you can. as far as springfield is concerned, that's what we're looking at here. the headlights, there's a lot more of them continuing toward 395. volume not a huge factor. no major slowing around town. around the capital beltway, the headlights are continuing toward 270. those brake lights headed out of maryland, down to the tysons area with all lanes open and at speed. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thanks very much. new today, a sobering warning from the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. his message is that we need more troops in the next year or the united states will probably lose the war there. that's the word from "the washington post." it cites an urgent confidential report written by general stanley mcchrystal. in it, he warns that without more troops it might become impossible to defeat the

insurgency and the war will," quote, likely result in failure. the white house is considering a troop surge in afghanistan, despite reluctance from some democratic leaders. president obama says he will not make a decision until he has, quote, absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be. >> and president obama is also dealing with a few other important issues this week. first it's off to new york city where he'll deliver a speech to the united nations. thene'll be in pittsburgh meeting with leaders from around the world at the g-20 summit. all this comes as health care legislation faces a big test in the senate. brooke hart joins us from capitol hill with more on this now. brooke, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. that's right. the senate finance committee will take up the measure proper mowsed by senator max baucus. many democrats and republicans want changes to his plan but president obama in his media blitz this weekend stood by key parts of it. blketing the airwaves, president obama appeared on five sunday news shows. on health care he said requiring

uninsured americans to buy coverage, as the leading senate measure does, is a needed fix. >>ou and i and every american out there who has health insurance and are paying the premiums responsibly every month, they've got to pick up the cost for emergency room care when one of those people gets sick. >> reporter: republicans conceded some criticism is untrue. >> this is unsustainable. >> that's right. >> you think the president's a socialist? >> no. >> the head of the republican party is calling him that. >> reporter: they insist how the president would pay for health care reform is easier to say than do. >> when he talks about how you pay for it, we're going to get $300 billion savings from medicare and medicaid, we've never done that before. >> reporter: president obama said signs point to a growing economy, but he said jobs won't likely improve until next year. >> it could even get a little bit worse over the next couple of months. >> reporter: the president also responded to this recent video sting. workers with the activist group a.c.o.r.n. advising how to evade taxes, even hide underage

prostitution. the president agreed a.c.o.r.n. should be investigated. >> what i saw on that video was certainly inappropriate. >> reporter: the obama campaign last year paid a group tied to a.c.o.r.n. to help get out the vote. and president obama responded to what you mentioned earlier, joe and barbara, the issue of afghanistan. he said it's too early to say whether he will order yet more troops there. the top u.s. commander is reportedly warning of failure without them, just as polls show dwindling public support for the war. i'm brooke hart. back to you. >> thanks, brooke. >> just days before president oba was scheduled to leave for new york city, police arrested three men believed to be involved in plotting a terrorist attack. at the center of the investigation 24-year-old najibullah zazi, an airport shuttle driver in denver. agents say that he drove a rented car to new york city two weeks ago, carrying a laptop computer. according to court documents, that laptop contained instructions on how to make bombs.

officials also say that zazi admitted to getting weapons training from al qaeda. authorities cannot say whether there was a specific target, but there are hints a plan was well under way. >> you have a guy driving from denver to new york. you have a whole group of backpacks. you have people trying to rent the largest u-haul van that they could find. all these events together, there just wasn't an innocent explanation to cover all of that. >> agents also arrested zadzi's father and another man from new york city. all three are accused of lying to investigators and they will appear in federal court later today. >> a caregiver has been charged with locking three mentally challenged adults in a hot vehicle while he went into a restaurant to eat. frederick police charged brian fleming with vulnerable adult nigt. they say he blocked the blind and deaf low-functioning adults in the vehicle while he went to

lunch. officers say they were hot and in distress when they were found. they were not hurt. a hyattsville police officer shot and wounded a suspect near a busy shopping mall. it happened around 7:00 yesterday evening near the mall at prince george's on bell crest road. police say the man was driving toward an officer when he was shot. the man's brother tells news 4 he was shot in the arm and that a bullet grazed his face. he says the shooting was unjustified. police are still investigating. >> well, an ugly win is still a win, but for a while yesterday, redskins fans let the team hear it. yep, the boo birds were out at the home opener. many redskins fans were not happy with what they saw yesterday. the team came in a very heavy favorite, but could not even score a single touchdown. they won a close game, though, beating the st. louis rams 9-7. many of the players say that's

not acceptable and they talked about the need to improve. and coach zorn, though, is staying positive. we're going to hear from him in ten minutes. >> the search for an escaped legally insane killer is over this morning in washington state, but why was he allowed to go to the state fair in the first place? >> and this morning, the governor of new york is ioring a request from the president to step aside. with online cash manager, you can do it all. suntrust. live solid. bank solid.

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good morning. weather and traffic on the 1s now at 6:11. look at this lavender and lemon sunrise under way here on this monday morning, now just a cool 61 in washington. live picture from our city camera. what a beautiful dawn under way. it's only in the 50s elsewhere in the suburbs as well as out around the rural areas of maryland and virginia. from dupont circle to clinton, reston and colesville, we'll have a delightful monday. partly sunny with highs mid and upper 70s. a chance of showers tomorrow and wednesday. drying out thursday, into friday and the weekend. should have -- maybe near 80 degrees for highs and 70s on saturday and sunday. ashley, how's the traffic? >> starting off slowly as you make your way on 270 southbound. volume starting to be a factor around 109. pace does improve, though, as you continue southbound and passing by clarksburg and father hurley back up to speed before you meet down with the beltway. do have a problem on the orange line this morning between new carrollton and cheverly, we are single tracking due to some

track work. also have an accident in the eastbound direction of central avenue blocking eastbound lanes. there is a detour posted but just avoid the area if you can. back to you. >> okay. thank you very much, ashley. >> well, the redskins fans, you'll want to see this. the embarrassing moment for cowboys owner jerry jones during last night's game. next at 6:15, a warning for job seekers looking to make some fast cash on twitter.

if a job offer sounds too good to be true, it probably is. that's especially the case with ads you might find online. offering twitter users thousands of dollars to tweet. the ads are part of an elaborate scam. vicky win has more on a job that's not for you. >> reporter: with an estimated 10 million members and counting, twitter is among the fastest-growing social networks in the world. >> i have been on twitter for about a year. what i like about it is the immediacy of the communication. >> reporter: andrew tweets from his willow glen coffee shop and plans to encourage his customers to do the same. >> i'd like to put flat screen tv up and see my customers tweeting each other. >> reporter: what if you could turn those tweets into cash? just jump online and you'll see dozens of websites promising twitter users quick dough if they post links on their accounts. >> does it surprise me that creativeless minds are trying to find ways to capitalize on such a wonderful technology? no, not at all.

>> reporter: it might not surprise savvy twitter users but i has fooled some. the better business bureau has reported it has seen a spike in the number of people scammed by these get rich quick scams. a popular one rye now? this one is designed to look like a real newspaper and tv network. the person featured has a rags to riches story. college dropout now making $10,000 a month working from home. all you have to do is order a twitter cash kit for $1.95. but that's how they get your credit card information and, later, you're on the hook for 47 bucks a month. but wait. there's more. by signing up for the program, you get to create your own fake newspaper site to recruit others. for each new victim, you get 47 bucks, a pyramid scheme. >> the people that are the most vulnerable are the people who need jobs and lots of people are out looking for how can i make money? >> reporter: this attorney specializes in internet frd. >> the first thing you should do is ask yourself how someone

could possibly make $10,000 a month from home. usually it's impossible. it cannot be done. unless it's a scam. >> reporter: a scam that's hard to fight because the sites that promise fast cash for little work can disappear in just a few weeks or even days. >> they hope to get what they can get and suddenly they're off. >> reporter: even though the fine print says twitter is not associated with this website, add some users make little or no money, the seemingly low up-front cost still grabs some believers. >> i'm just naturally skeptical of all of this stuff so i just don't go for it at all. >> reporter: so twitter fans, beware or, better yet, tweet a warning to your followers. >> that was vicky wynn reporting. you can find a list of some of the names to beware of on the better business bureau's website. joe? >> an escaped killer has been captured in washington state. dozens of officers searched for phillip paul this weekend after he slipped away to a field trip to a state fair.

he is spending time in a mental institution for a murder of an elderly woman. he went to the fair on a supervised trip. officers acting on a tip located him 180 miles away from the fair. the hospital is now being scrutinized for allowing himo go on the trip with such little security. >> the race for governor of virginia may be tightening up. republican bob mcdonnell still leads democratic creigh deeds in the most recent "washington post" poll, but that lead is shrinking. mcdonnell now leads 51% to 47% among vots who say they'll definitely cast their ballots in november. but he led by 15 points last month among likely voters. deeds has made up ground recently by winning over voters in northern virginia. he's also getting more support from women. >> unemployment, poor and inadequate health care facilities. >> new york governor david paterson says he's running for re-election, despite calls from a chorus of democrats for him to drop out of the 2010 race.

president obama's reportedly among them. patterson became governor when eliot spitzer stepped down in a sex scandal last year. his approval numbers have nose dived in recent months after a number of political setbacks and some democrats fear they can't win there next year. >> well, it was a win for the redskins in their home opener. they beat the st. louis rams, but it was not the kind of runaway win a lot of fans were hoping for or even expected. lindsay czarniak has this morning's sports minute. >> hey there. good morning, everybody. the redskins wanted to get the offense clicking against the rams, and they did just that. it's just that next week they can work on getting touchdowns. the redskins yesterday created ample opportunity to put points on the board, but weren't able to get into the end zone so they relied on kicker shaun suisham's three field goals to edge them past the rams 9-7. we're at fedex field. redskins taking the field. a lot of people looking to see

if this offense would really get going this week. pick it up in the third quarter. the redskins trail 7-6. jason campbell drops back. he fires it to antoine randle el, a great read over the middle. randle el with a great catch, good for a 24-yard pickup. it would lead to a field goal, though. skins up 9-7. in the end, the redskins would need a big stop from its defense. last chance for the rams. marc bulger drops back, airs it out. but chris horton breaks up the pass, seals the win. the redskins hang on to win 9-7. jim zorn said after the game his team is making steps in the right direction. >> when we walked into the locker room, the redskin locker room, it was quiet. we, we knew that we under -- that we underperfoed in areas, but we were really good in a lot. and so, you know, i think our guys were looking around going, hey, wait a minute, we won. >> jim zorn and the redskins did suffer a loss in yesterday's

game. starting right guard randy thomas was injured in the second quarter, suffering a torn right tricep. he will undergo an mri today and it's likely he will miss the entire season. we will have the complete update as well as more coverage from yesterday's game coming up on news 4 at 5:00 and 6:00. that's your sports on this monday morning. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. 6. >> and sports bloggers are buzzing this morning about an embarrassing moment from last night's giants/cowboys game. after a new york player picked off a tony romo pass, the camera cut to cowboys owner jerry jones -- oh, dear -- catching him with a different kind of pick. well, the night only got worse for jones. the giants spoiled the opening of his new billion dollar stadium, beating the cowboys on a last-second field goal, 33-31. sorry, tony. >> can you imagine how they're going to use that pick? >> i don't know. >> on youtube. >> i don't want to think about

it. >> probably a million different ways. >> in slow-mo. >> exactly. 6:21 is the time now. he's check weather. tom? >> look at our sunrise. venus gleaming in a sea of turquoise on this monday morning. live picture from our city camera. it's partly cloudy and certainly feeling like autumn. tomorrow, first day of the equinox is the first day of astronomical autumn and temperatures around the region certainly feeling like it, in the 50s, near 60 in washington. highs today should reach into the mid and upper 70s from washington's benning neighborhood to laurel, annandale and ashton. a terrific day on the way. then cloudy tomorrow and a chance of a passing shower from morning until evening. highs mid-70s. partly sunny wednesday, maybe a morning shower mainly, a small chance of an afternoon shower. and then perhaps just a few clouds around, but mild again on thursday. wednesday and thursday, highs low 80s. near 80 on friday and partly cloudy. then saturday should be mostly sunny with highs in the 70s. clouding up again on sunday. small chance of a passing shower

by late on sunday it appears now. most of the weekend looking dry with highs in the 70s. that's the way it looks on this monday morning. now let's check the traffic with ashley linder. how are we doing? >> things are in relatively good shape. taking public transit today's not your day. brunswick line, problems wen the barnesville and union station area. expect 30-minute delays. metro is offering your fare card. if you are riding metro on the orange line this morning we have problems if you travel between new carrollton and cheverly. single tracking so expect delays there. as far as the roadways are concerned, springfield, 95, no big problems on the 95 corridor now. a little bit of volume out of springfield, continuing toward 395. that's per the usual, though. out of maryland, traveling to 70, you'll find volume being a factor around 109. you're fine toward the capital beltway. joe and barbara, back to you. >> all right. thank you, ashley. the discount one downtown museum is offering just for metro riders. and it's the end ofn era in northern virginia. a popular pizza shop closes its

doors after more than 30 years in business.

washington's madamtussaud wax museum is going car-free. a car-free day tomorrow. the museum is urging area

residents to rede their carbon footprints by bicycling, taking mass transit or walking. beginning today, the museum will offer a a $5 discount on admission to visitors who show their metro smart trip cards. the promotion runs through sunday. >> well, it's the end of an era in alexandria. generous george's, an old neighborhood favorite, has now closed. the pizza and pasta place has occupied the same spot on duke street for 33 years. 28 workers will lose their jobs. managers blame the weak economy. >> obviously, the banks aren't loaning money to help out small companies. the business has been here for a long time on this corner, and alexandria's grown up around it. there's a lot of people that have grown up, coming here when they were kids. now they bring their kids. we're very sad. >> the owners plan to sell the duke street building, then hope to open a smaller eatery nearby. the generous george's location in herndon will stay open for business. >> well, the new construction

project in d.c. that is expected to slow down your commute. and three terror suspects accused of planning an attack on new york city are under arrest and will be in court today. the fbi's case against them.

mission faure. the new report this morning from the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. what he says needs to happen or the war will be a failure. >> it was an ugly win.

without scoring a touchdown, the redskins narrowly escape the st. louis rams. good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it is monday, september 21st, 2009. looking outside, we have clouds above us but not so bad. in fact, it's a beautiful morning. crisp, fall-like. we're right on the edge of fall, aren't we? coming up tomorrow? >> yeah, the final fleeting hours of astronomical summer. certainly feeling like autumn this morning. a cool start under this partly cloudy sky. at this hour off to work and school with no precipitation on radar. but it's only in the low and mid-50s in fairfax, arlington, montgomery, prince george's counties. weather watchers in southern maryland are only reporting in the mid-50s there. elsewhere, weather watchers across virginia, maryland, into the mountains, in the mid-50s there as well as on the eastern shore. and as we get through the day we'll have some sunshine in and out this morning through mid-afternoon, then cloudy by the end of the day. highs reaching the upper 70s. cloudy tonight, we'll be in the upper 60s by midnight. sunset's at 7:06.

that's getting earlier and earlier. sun rises later and later. maybe a few sprinkles by dawn tomorrow, perhaps passing showers on tuesday with highs mid-70s. and warmer wednesday and thursday. small chance of a shower on wednesday. look at friday and the weekend in ten minutes, coming up at 6:41. >> thank you, tom. >> let's go to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning, joe and barbara. starting off, we got a little bit of good news. traveling the orange line, they had some emergency maintenance going on and that is now complete so you're back at speed between new carrollton and cheverly. no longer single tracking. passing by 29, we do have some volume going on out of college park, making your way toward silver spring on the outer loop of the beltway but nothing too terrible right now. elsewhere around town, springfield doing just fine. we are picking up some volume as you make your way past edsel road, continuing through shirlington. back to you. >> thank you, ashley. >> thanks a lot. we have dramatic new video to show you now about that serious accident we've been telling you about in prince george's county.

the driver of this vehicle is now in critical condition after crashing into an suv early this morning. this happened in the 8800 block of central avenue and capitol heights. police say the car caught on fire after the accident and the driver was trapped inside. the suv's driver was not seriously injured. >> new today. more troops or fail. that's a sobering assessment from the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. "the washington post" cites an urgent confidential report written by general stanley mcchrystal. he says more troops are needed within the year. without them, he says, it might become impossible to defeat the insurgency and the war will, quote, likely result in failure. the white house is considering a troop surge in afghanistan despite reluctance from some democratic leaders. president obama has said he will not make a decision until he has absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be. >> well, the president will travel to new york city this week where he will make his

maiden speech to the u.n. general assembly. after that, it's off to pittsburgh for the g-20 summit. all this comes after a weekend packed with discussions about health care reform. president obama visited five morning talk shows yesterday to answer questions about that issue. he also discussed the new measure put forth by the senate. one part he does agree with is the part which would require every american to buy health care. >> you and i and every american out there who has health insurance and are paying their premiums responsibly every month, they've got to pick up the cost for emergency room care when one of those people gets sick. >> the senate finance committee will take up that health care measure this week. many republicans and democrats want to make changes to the plan. some don't like the lack of a public option. others are worried about the cost or the new tax on high-value insurance plans. >> three men believed to be involved in a planned terrorist attack will appear in federal court today. this weekend, the fbi arrested

the man thought to be the center of this plot. he's 24-year-old najibullah zazi, an airport shuttle driver in denver. agents say he drove a rented car to new york city two weeks ago, carrying a laptop computer. according to court documents, it contained instructions on how to make bombs. officials also say zazi admitted to getting weapons training from al qaeda. >> we have an individual who went to training camps in pakistan, who downloaded information on improvised explosion every devices. there's clearly intent here. what we don't know is whether or not he had the capability. >> agents also arrested zazi's father and another man from new york. all three men are accused of lying to investigators. >> well, the man did you suspected of murdering four people at the home of a longwood university professor will appear in court today. 20-year-old richard mccroskey bragged about the thrill of killing in rap songs he performed on the internet. mccroskey is charged with killing presbyterian pastor mark niederbrock at the home in

farmville, virginia. he's also suspected in the murders of professor debra kelley, kelley's husband and their teenage daughters. investigators believe the murder suspect, mccroskey, had a romantic relationship with the daughter. >> we're connected to your commute, and this morning we're closer to the return of street cars in d.c. crews are laying track work for the anacostia line. it's a pilot project for the street car revival. and it's been plagued by years of delays already. news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live from southeast d.c. with more on what this means for drivers out there. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. it will mean some delays for drivers that will be happening over the next year as they begin construction on the anacostia line, but i'm telling you, i remember all the store fridays my dad about street cars and how if he wasn't walking, he was on the street car. before street cars disappeared, more than a century ago. but taking a look over here, look what's been happening in southeast. construction, actually seeing street car lines beginning to form is really amazing, considering how long the

project's been talked about. the $55 million project is beginning to take shape here at 1st sterling avenue and southeast. next week "the washington post" reports work will begin on south capitol street. that work will be the work that will affect traffic and reduce flow for about five to ten minutes. that's going to be happening because of intersections of south capitol and first sterling. they will close the lanes down to one lane in each direction. officials say that that's going to last until about the end of the month. and then there should be some more work that continues about the end of the year that could also impact traffic in that area. but street cars are light rail powered by overhead wires and will share lanes with automobiles and, like i said, it's been more than a century since d.c. has had street cars working here as another option for transportation, but in seattle and also in portland they've been using it to much success. part of the reason that they've decided to get these thing going here in d.c. they're hoping that part of the anacostia line will be up and running by 2012. in fact, the entire system will

be up and running within the next decade. i'm tracee wilkins live in southeast. back to you. >> thanks, tracee. >> well, the cleanup continues in dundalk, maryland, today after a massive water main break there. the six-foot main broke on friday. it will be several weeks before the highway will be re-opened to traffic. part of the road actually washed away by all the water. at least 100 homes were completely flooded and hundreds more lost power. 70 of thoses have now been deemed to be uninhabitable. >> our time now 6:. the redskins won but it wasn't pretty. find out what the players are saying about their performance. maryland senator ben cardin introduces a new bailout bill. find out what industry he wants to help out. >> and the big winners from the prime time emmy awards. >> the greatest job i'll ever have.

weather and traffic on the 1s now at 6:41. we've got a beautiful peach a and -- actually sort of

idescent orange and pink and to turquoise sunrise. sun coming up in 15 minutes in a partly cloudy sky. from georgetown to hyattsville, fairfax city gaithersburg, a chill in the air. highs today in the 70s with clouds in and out. cloudy this afternoon and tonight and tomorrow and passing showers are likely on tuesday. a small chance wednesday. uray, partly cloudy. both of those days warmer into the low 80s. near 80 on friday but should be dry. a nice weekend to follow. i'll be back with the bus stop forecast coming up in ten minutes. ashley, how's the traffic? >> i come bearing some good news. if you were traveling along -- well, we had an earlier major accident that shut down central avenue east of the beltway in the eastbound direction. that investigation has completed so central avenue is now wide-open. now we've got problems as far as delays are concerned. as you can see, 270 at father hurley, the lineup begins toward 80. as far as the beltway is concerned, we do have delays on the outer loop leaving college

park toward silver spring. out of springfield, no major issues to report. volume on 395 in the northbound direction. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thank you. >> our time now 6:42. the new bailout bill in the works on capitol hill that president obama says he will be happy to look at. the fans were unimpressed with the redskins' victory over the rams, but what did the players have to say about their performance? hear from them next at 6:45.

some redskins fans booing the team, at the home opener yesterday. i guess boos are better than boo-hoos which there would have been if they had lost. the redskins did hold on to win a close game against the st. louis rams, a team they were expected to have no problems with. many fans certainly were not happy with the play-calling or the performance of the players. some of the players echoed those sentiments after the game, saying that they need to do a better job. and dan hellie found players had two different ways of looking at the win. >> reporter: the redskins

continue to live dangerous with a two-point win over one of the worst teams in the nfl. but facts are facts. two points, 12 points or 20 points, it's still a "w." the relief in the locker room outweighed the frustration of not being able to find the end zone. >> we have to score points to win football games. i guess it's tough. everyone w frustrated on our sideline and it's something that we're definitely going to have to continue to address. >> yeah, we won, but i mean we won it in such an ugly fashion that, i mean, you don't even really take pride in that win. this was a great team. hats off to them. everybody knows that this wasn't the same team we saw last week on film. at the same time when you play the way we played and you keep giving a team opportunities to get back in the game -- >> i'll take a win any way we can get it. yeah, we'd like to run for 300 yards, pass for 600 yards and win by 50, but we, we moved the ball effectively. we just didn't produce in the

red zone. a win's a win. i'm going to take this one and be happy with it. >> seem to be dfrg opinions in the locker room. the win's a win mentality or we really would have liked to have won this. where would you fall? >> i fall in the category we got a "w." we can correct it tomorrow. bottom line. it's not easy to win in this league. i fall in the category we go a "w. "we can get it corrected. >> reporter: it does get easier. the redskins on the road in detroit taking on a lions team ha has lost its 19 games dating back to 2007. that will do it from fedex field. i'm dan hellie. back to you. >> and here's something for the redskins to hang their hats on. they accomplished a rare feat. this is the first time since 2005 they scored fewer than ten points and still won. >> today more budget cuts are in the works for montgomery county schools. officials will be meeting to figure out how to trim the fat in the middle of the school year.

this will be the third straight year with midyear spending cuts. and the federal reserve meets this week and the question is whether the board will make any changes there now that it looks like the economy is coming out of a recession. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us live with a look ahead to this week's meeting. good morning. >> reporter: hi. investors will be paying attention to a number of economic errors and events this week, including that fed meeting on wednesday that you mentioned. most experts, though, don't think the central bank will make any changes to interest rates until next year, but the fed could provide more insight into its exit strategy from a series of lending programs it created in wake of the fincial crisis. americans have used offshore bank accounts to avoid paying taxes will get a little more time to own up to the holdings. "usa today" says the irs will announce today it's extending a leniency program until october 15. after that deadline, the irs could impose penalties of 50% for all years in which an

offshore account wasn't disclosed. and president obama says he'd be willing to consider bills before congress that would offer struggling newspaper publishers tax breaks if they restructure as nonprofit businesses. maryland senator ben cardin has introduced a so-called newspaper bailout bill. the president has said that good journalism is critical to the health of our democracy. that's good news for all of us. back to you in d.c. >> all right, courtney, thanks. have a great day. we'll see you a little later. >> reporter: thanks. >> the television industry has honored its best. the 61st annual emmy awards were handed out in los angeles. mark barger has a wrap-up. >> here's hoping kanye west likes "30 rock." >> reporter: the host neil patrick harris joked about it to start the night. >> "30 rock." >> reporter: almost three hours later, the nbc sitcom won its third straight emmy as best comedy. >> we want to thank our friends at nbc, jeff zucker, ben, for keeping us on the air even though we are so much more

expensive than a talk show. >> reporter: fey's co-star alec baldwin also won best actor for the second year in a row. >> this is the greatest job i'll ever have. >> reporter: there was a surprise for best actress as toni collette beat out last year's winner, tina fey. >> this is insanely confronting. >> reporter: it was deja vu in the drama categories. >> "mad men." >> reporter: the '60s advertising saga made it two straight wins as best drama. >> we worked very hard to not have it stink the second year. >> reporter: "damage's" star glenn close also made it two straight wins as best actress. >> it is a job that makes it worthwhile leaving home for. >> i'm so thankful that glenn close is actually a woman. >> reporter: another repeat winner was bryan cranston, best actor for "breaking bad." >> "the daily show" with jon stewart. >> reporter: another of the night's repeat winners was "the daily show."

seven straight wins. >> i just thank you again for giving me the opportunity to come up here and then go back stage and watch a football game. >> to win the game. >> reporter: oy one winner in dallas, but on this night, many in hollywood. mark barger, nbc news. >> the night's other winners included "the amazing race" and "grey gardens." >> talk about a winner. this weekend's weather was unbelievable. >> i would likto thank the academy for -- >> yea! do it again then. >> hey, we've got an emmy award winning sunrise under way. a beautiful start to this monday. live picture from our city camera showing a lemon glow and above that sort of iridescent pink reflected on the underside of those clouds that are just off in the eastern horizon now. mostly clear elsewhere as we start off this monday, back to work and school. sun coming up in about four minimums. nothing showing up on radar. no precipitation.

certainly feeling like autumn. these are the final fleeting hours of astronomical summer. 50s weather watchers reporting shbd shbd and around the blue ridge and much of virginia and maryland this morning. only the low and mid-50s. near 60 in washington. only in the 50s in southern maryland, northern neck and the eastern shore. out in the mountains it's only in the 50s as well so quite an autumn-like start to this day. as we take a look across the country, shouldn't have any flight delays except perhaps parts of the upper midwest as well as through perhaps, oh, near indianapolis and columbus, down through louisville and memphis and nashville later on today. elsewhere we should not have any travel problems weatherwise. we do have a swath of rain stretching from alabama and georgia all the way to the great lakes. that will stay to our west today as high pressure is keeping us dry here. that high will continue moving out over the western atlantic. as it does it will increase our chances for some rain. here's the bus stop forecast this morning. should be partly sunny to mostly sunny. sunrise just a few minutes away. a light breeze.

and quite cool. dress your child accordingly. only in the 509s to low 60s. and then by 9:00 we should be in the mid-60s and then low 70s by noon with clouds in and out. a mostly cloudy finish to the day. we'll be in the upper 70s by mid-afternoon. then by sunset which is at 7:06, down near 70. then the low 60s by dawn tomorrow. by this time tomorrow morning, maybe a few sprinkles, a cloudy day to follow, perhaps a passing shower on tuesday. highs tomorrow mid-70s. warmer wednesday and thursday. partly cloudy to partly sunny both days, highs low 80s. small chance of a passing shower wednesday but should be dry thursday, friday and saturday. small chance of a shower on sunday. i'm back with frequent updates throughout the "today" show. see you "news4 midday" at 11:00. >> thanks, tom. >> let's go to ashley linder now, take another look at the roadways. good morning. >> starting off with good news. we had an earlier major accident on the eastbound side of central avenue right as you me up with the capital beltway. as you can see here, this was from earlier. good news is that that accident investigation and reconstruction

all gone so central avenue has re-opened around the area. now as we take a look out of springfield, volume is starting to be an issue not so much on the 95 corridor. that's in pretty good shape. but 395 is slow from the beltway headed over toward duke street. traveling around the capital beltway, this is actually a look at 270 headed southbound. we have delays from 109 headed toward father hurley. back to you. >> all right. thanks, ashley. >> thank you, ashley. updating our top stories. more troops this year or fail. that's the warning from the top u.s. commander in afghanistan. "the washington post" cites an urgent confidential report from general stanley mcchris cal. he says without more troops it might become impossible to defeat the insurgency >> president obama will leave for new york city later today to spend several days there and is set to address the u.n. general assembly on wednesday. after that, he will travel to pittsburgh whe pittsburgh where he will host leaders for the g-20 summit. >> three men involved in a planned terror attack will be in

court today. agents arrested najibullah zazi, his father and another man over the weekend. investigators also believe zazi played a direct role in the suspected plot which may have targeted new york city. >> we'd like to invite you to nominate a news 4 morning person today. we want to know who makes your day special in the early morning hours. just e-mail their story along with a clear, close-up picture or a video to morningperson@nbcwashington.com. we'll try to recognize them right here on the air. >> if you're looking for a new and discreet way to pass the time at work, a british company may have the perfect solution. it's a silk tie that has a small pocket on the back designed to hold your ipod. the company says it allows you to care yes your ipod and listen to music without anyone knowing it. an extra fabric loop keeps the wires out of sight and close to the body. the british company owns boutiques in the u.s. so you can see them at a store near you in the near future.

they haven't announced what the female variety will be like. >> i'm sorry. were you saying something? >> no. you'd like to do that, wouldn't you? >> it would be nice. >> and how about the weather? we're here at the equinox. that means equal day, equal night, right? >> while you're listing to your jay-z, a wonderful sunrise under way at this hour. it's a screensaver sunrise. by later on today, going all cloudy. we'll be in the upper 70s. then a passing shower possible on tuesday, highs reaching the mid-70s. and then on wednesday, partly sunny, highs in the low 80s. a small chance of a shower. thursday looking partly cloudy with highs in the low 80s. here's a look at the end of the week and the weekend. friday, partly cloudy, high near 80. weekend looking nice. sunny saturday, highs in the 70s. increasing clouds sunday. slight chance of a passing shower during the afternoon with highs in the 70s. can we take a look at the sunrise? it has been spectacular. sun is just now coming up at this hour. there is the live picture.

over the potomac, captured by our city camera on this monday morning. >> that is beautiful, tom. >> that is gorgeous picture. nice way to start the week after one fabulous weekend. >> it sure was great. >> delightful. >> except for the game, i guess, hmm? randall el said, at least it was a "w." >> it was. somebody else said yesterday as we were leaving the game said, in december, nobody will remember how many touchdowns they scored in the first home game of the year. >> that's right. hopefully a few more ws out there. >> we hope. that's "news 4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> have a great day. wake up with us. we start at 4:55 in the morning. throughout the day, stay connected with us. we're on facebook and twitter. we're on facebook and twitter. get online payroll and put hours back in your day suntrust. live solid. bank solid.