chief, who hasn't yet decided what to do about increasing american forces. >> reporter: president obama had already seen the warning about failure in afghanistan. saw it three weeks ago. but it hit page 1 today in the "washington post" and "the new york times." a leak of the secret reports sent to washington by the commander of u.s. and nato forces in afghanistan, general stanley mcchrystal, who said privately, he wants 40,000 more troops. failure to provide adequate resources, the general warns, risks a long or conflict, greater casualties and is likely to result in mission failure. some afghan experts agree, more troops are needed. >> so insurgents cannot hide now the one town and then come attack populations in a different town. you want to make it harder for insurgents to do that. >> reporter: republican lawmakers agree. >> i don't believe it's possible to turn around afghanistan without more american combat power. >> reporter: general mcchrystal also wants a new focus on ending

corruption in the karzai government after the botched election. senior democrats including vice president biden saying that has to come first. >> it's the corruption, stupid. if we don't make this the -- help make the afghan government function, the afghans will not fight for their own country and no matter -- no manner, no number of foreign troops we insert there will win the fight for them. >> reporter: on "meet the press" yesterday, president obama said his focus is wiping out al qaeda. >> until i'm satisfied that we've got the right strategy, i'm not going to be sending some young men or woman over there beyond what we already have. >> reporter: that leaves the door open to a u.s troop increase in afghanistan. and republicans are putting the pressure on the president and the majority democrats up here demanding that general mcchrystal be called to testify and go public with his demand for more u.s. forces. live from the hill i'm steve handelsman, "news4." jim and doreen back to you. >> steve, thank you.

doreen? president obama will be focused on internation priorities for most of the week so he's promoting his domestic agenda today. he arrived at new york city a few hours ago to tape an appearance on the late show with david letterman p he's the first u.s. sitting president to appear on the program. he went to a community college troy, new york. he called for a sustained investment in education, technology, health care and research. >> that if government does its modest part there is no stopping the most powerful, generative force that america has known. >> has not lived up to its responsibility to help. he told the crowd that his programs will spur innovation that will lead to new jobs that will transform the economy. right now deadly flooding is forcing hundreds of people listen in the south to evacuate their homes. thunderstorms have dumped heavy rains across parts of georgia and tennessee today as people

scramble to safety. rescue crews are work around the clock. jay gray has our report. >> reporter: driving rains continue to fall across the south, where storms over the last several days have created dangerous and deadly conditions. some of the worst flooding is in georgia, where the raging current has claimed at least two lives after drivers were swept from roadways overrun by water. >> everybody's in their homes, hollering and screaming. i have carried people out of their houses. teenage kids waiting to go to school. >> reporter: are forcing many to higher ground. in some areas the water's beginning to reach the rooftops. >> where are people coming to get them out of there. there are older people in their homes still. >> reporter: emergency response teams have been stretched to their limits. high-water rescues continue around the clock. in tennessee, family members tried to save a man who bet $5 with friends and relatives that he could swim across the rapids. he was swept away when he could no longer hold onto a garden hose they were using as a

lifeline. jay gray, "news4." >> for more on these storms that are causing this deadly flooding let's head up to the storm center and bob ryan. >> jim, it has been deadly, and incredible amounts of rain. look at how much rain has fallen. this is in marietta, georgia. the last two days almost a foot of rain and see for the month, these are spots that would normally get this over six to eight months and they've been getting it just in the order of days and i can show you the doppler that's continuing to show torrential rains especially now around the atlanta area but not only in georgia, as a matter of fact, all way into northern parts of mississippi and alabama. there are the areas that are under these flash flood watches and warnings all in green. you can see through georgia, and i've taken the radar off briefly. these are flash flood warnings in affect in the deep south, around south of tuscaloosa. all of this is caused by some very, warm humid air to our south. at the same time we've got a

little bit of an upper-level circulation. so it's been, as you can see, one line after the other that will continue. there's going to be more on the way, unfortunately, for parts of alabama, into western north carolina. for us, on the other hand, a lot of this will just result in cloudiness and maybe some scattered showers as we get into the next couple of days. no very, very heavy rains coming our way but unfortunately there's more to come in the deep south. back to you. >> all right, thank you, bob. interstate 95 will be completely shut down in both directions overnight. construction crews will close the road between the route 1 and lorton roads. julie carey is in fairfax county with more on this. >> reporter: hi, doreen. i-95 rolling along along fine tonight. all but lon lane is closed in each direction. then sometime after midnight, everything comes to a halt here

at the lorton interchange. >> i am glad i won't be here. i'll be heading back to tennessee. >> reporter: plenty of his fellow truckers, washington-area residents will have to cope with the cosquence of not one but two brief overnight closures. it's all part of the ongoing project to add a fourth lane. tonight and tomorrow after midnight in two 30-minute intervales the interstate will be closed. the shurt down will allow crews to start replacing an overheadin? as this project is all about it's adding a fourth lane in each direction so we have to have a wider side stand in place. >> reporter: cars and small trucks able to bypass the closure by heading to route 1 but large trucks that venture into the area will be stuck even at night, some predict big backups. >> it's still going to be very

hectic because d.c.'s not an easy place to get around. it's like dring out in l.a. midnight and later it's still a lot of traffic around here. >> i'm just imagining all of these people trying to get from florida to new york and then having to detour, i don't know, it could be chaotic a little bit. >> reporter: and i-95 isn't the only major closure this week. a total belt way shutdown is ahead at chain bridge road on friday night and into saturday morning. their dominion virginia power will stage intermittent closures as its workers relocate overhead power lines for the dulles metro project. although the complete closures come tonight and tomorrow night and also multiple lane closures in this section of i-95 on wednesday and thursday night and again next week, monday through thursday. this entire project, the six miles, the extra lane's slated for completion in fall of2011. back to you now. >> okay, julie kwaery, thank you. well, we got one in "the w"

column. redskins improved to 1-1 on the season. yesterday barely beating st. louis rams. 9-7 at fedexfield. >> lindsay's down at redskins foork break it down for us on the monday after. lindsay, it's hard to remember a time where we felt so depressed after a win. >> doreen, i think that's a fantastic point. you're right. i meantime redskins, they will tell you a win's a win. happy with the 9-7 victory but suffered a huge loss that is very, very difficult to replace. the redskins today announced that starting right guard randy thomas will go on injured reserve because of an injury that he suffered during the game. it was to his right triceps. and this is devastating for them because he was such a key member of the offensive line. let me take you back to yesterday to the field and show you how it happened. this is a huge blow. randy thomas injured in the second quarter. came out of the game. was replaced then by will montgomery. thomas had really worked himself back because he had missed all but three games in 2007 because of a left tricep's answer.

he really wanted to be back there and devastating for him. he released a statement saying i am very disappointed right now. it hurts because i wanted to be out there with my teammateis. was looking forward to this year. i will have surgery this week and focus my attention on rehabbing. i'll be here every step of the way to help support my teammates this season. i believe to know that we can be successful. jim zorn says this team has a t o so far as a replacement. >> don't know who's going to fill that position right at the moment. we'll know more as we go along. it may not be decided upon with the guys that are here until game time. we may try a couple scenarios. >> reporter: and one of those scenarios could be a couple of guys, rotating, filling that role. guys like will montgomery who went in for him in that game and also could be the true backup chad rinehart or to go outside

of the organization but bottom line they have a lot to do before next sunday's game in detroit against the lions. >> lindsay, we'll see you in a few minutes, tnk you. coming up on our broadcast this evening, three men accused lying to federal authorities in a terrorism investigation appeared in court late this afternoon. we have new information tonight about a man accused killing four people found dead at a home of a virginia college professor. a school bus carrying more than a dozen students crashed into a pond today. and we'll report on the shuttle "discovery's" trip home

three men are now facing criminal charges in connection with a suspected terrorist plot that some officials are calling the most significant since 9/11. one of the men was allegedly trained by al qaeda. all three are facing charges of lying to federal prosecutors. leeann gregg has our report. >> reporter: in federal court in denver the central figure in a terrorism investigation and his father after both were represented over the weekend. 24-year-old zajibullah zazi and airport shuttle driver and 53-year-old mohammed zazi, immigrants from afghanistan, have not been charged with terrorism, but with making false statements to investigators. zazi told "the denver post", quote, it's not true i have nothing to head. afzali also appeared in court in charges for lying to federal agents.

his attorney says he is no terrorist. >> my client is not a risk of flight. he has strong ties to the community. he has strong ties to the community. he's not accused of anything he's not accused of anything act of terrorism and there's no reason to keep him in jail. pending his trial. >> reporter: earlier this month the younger zazi drove to new york carrying a laptop computer. court papers say the computer contained images of handwritten notes with instructions on how to handle explosives and make bomb after three days of questioning in denver, investigato say zazi lied about where the bomb instructions came from, but admitted traveling to pakistan last august and receiving lessons in weapons and explosives at an al qaeda training camp. authorities have found no explosives or specific information on time or location of an attack but they believe new york was the intended target. charges against the three suspects carry a mimum penalty of eight years in prison. government officials say more charges could follow as the investigation continues. leeann gregg, nbc news, denver.

zajibullah zazi will remain in custody pending a hearing on thursday. his father mohammed, could be released went next 48 hours. israel reiterated today that all options remain on the table when it comes to handling any possible nuclear threat from iran. yesterday on cnn, russian president dimitri medvedev and israeli president shimon peres assured him, said that -- peres assured him that israel would not launch a strike against iran's facilities. foreign minister responded today he said the russian president might have misunderstood or misinterpreted peres. >> i don't think that with all due respect that the russian president is authorized to speak for israel and certainly we have not taken any option off t table. >> the head of the israeli military rarely gives interviews but today he too spoke out on the issue. he said diplomatic pressure remains the best way to deal with iran's nuclear program but

the military option remains on the table. iranian officials say they plan to use their nuclear facilities solely to generate energy but there is international concern that iran may have a secret nuclear weapons program. we're continuing to follow developments from a murder investigation that stretch fresflorida to haiti. the associated press reports fleece haiti have now detained a man wanted for questioning in the murder of his wife and five children. their bodies were discovered saturday night inside of their apartment in naples, florida. the children ranged in age from 11 months to 9 years old. police say the husband left miami on friday and flew to haiti. he is now in custody there. 20-year-old richard mccroskey made his first court appearance today. mccroskey was arrested on saturday and charged with murdering a virginia pastor. he's also suspected in the deaths of three other people. the four bodies were found friday in the home of a longwood

university professor. during his court appearance today mccroskey was assigned a public defender and ordered to remain behind bars. there's a preliminary hearing set for january. authorities y mccroskey talked about the thrill of killing in rap songs that he performed on the internet. authorities in texas tonight are investigating what caused a school bus to slide off a road and into a large pond. it happened this morning, 25 miles east of dallas, 18 students were aboard at the time. the students were all members of a high school swim team and on their way back from practice at the time. they all managed to escape through an emergency exit in the back of the bus. five of the students and the driver were taken to a nearby hospital. some were treated for back and neck pain. a school van with kids aboard collided with a car and a minivan in florida today. seven children went to the hospital and a woman is in critical condition tonight. another dozen people were treated on the same. the space shuttle

"discovery" returned home this afternoon after completing its missions to the international space station. "discovery" touched down at kennedy space station about noon riding piggyback on a jumbo jet. was supposed to arrive to its home base about a week ago but stormy skies at cape kcanaveral. and then the shuttle had to make a cross-country trip causing nasa an extra $2 million. "discovery's" next flight is scheduled for next spring. on wall street today stocks began the trading week with a mixed performance. at closing bell the dow was down 41 points on the day. the nasdaq gained five. and the new york stock exchange closed 48 points lower. coming up on our broadcast tonight people are still cleaning up several days after that giant water main break and flooded a maryland neighborhood last week. we'll tell you about a bear that caused quite a stir today near a school. and get a check on our weather with bob.

as we travel around the capital belt way you can see very slow. but traveling through bethesda and silver spring the pace is lighter than normal. and also have an issue as you travel randolph road at deers mill. under police direction due to suspicious package. elsewhere out of springfield volume is starting to be a factor as you make your way i-95 and southbound we've got volume all the way towards woodbridge.

wild bear causing quite a commotion today. this is orlando. a bear decided to relax in a tree at a school. this is a bear habitat not far from the school. deputies chased the animal and ran up the tree as you can see. the students on lockdown before the bear decided to take a hike. they had a little interesting lesson out window today. >> i guess they did. that close to disney world maybe you have to take a look at a second time to make sure it's a real bear. >> what is that? >> a little zoology there and everything. >> i know no place to be than here. >> how about that weeken although back to work, back to school, outside today we didn't have any bear but this is our own chester panda got in rock creek park and there they are. >> all over the pce. >> looking for my roses! there's the bambi and mom

heading out for a little stroll. nice day. beautiful day today. we're going to be seeing a touch of humidity coming back but you'd never seen a deer before? >> cute. >> need a camera. >> outside -- yeah, a little first time on camera. 80 degrees, our high temperature. tomorrow is the fabled autumnal equinox at 5:18 but because of an atmosphere the 12 hours of daylight and darkness that does not come until friday. 12:11 of daylight. great wildlife around our neck of the woods too. a nice evening. a mighty fine 70 degrees. dew point 50s. tomorrow in the 60s. you will notice a bit of humidity coming back after that really wonderful, wonderful refreshing weekend. 77 here. 80s to our south. and look at atlanta where the poor polks there are dealing with a terrible, terrible floods from georgia into mississippi and alabama. temperature hasn't changed all that much. there is some chillier air. boy the real feel of fall. look adenver, the

temperature's dropped over 30 degrees in the last 24 hours and you can see that humidity down to our south with dew point's still into the 70s. atlanta's had now eight inches of rain for the month. and the overall pattern, the jet is dipping to the south over us. the high pressure that brought us all of that wonderful weather is moving off. a bit of lift also in the southern parts of the appalachians that's in part the reason for these persistent rains and showers and thunderstorms. the latest batch weapon flood warnings, up into atlanta up into northern georgia. now around tupelo mississippi. birmingham, greenville mississippi. more rain. those will come up the appalachians, but i think you can also get an idea, as they are moving up from the southeast, they are beginning to die out a little bit. so i think all what we'll be seeing here is some scattered, lighter showers. look at marietta, georgia, for the month, more than 17 inches of rain. birmingham, alabama, just in the last couple of days, over four

inches of rain. meanwhile out in the atlantic, things are reasonable quiet. there you can see in the great true. space as we're heading toward autumn, they're heading towards springtime in south america but all caught in this but look here off of africa, there's hardly anything in the way of clouds because of the big dust storm. this is the great picture from the terrace satellite. look at how we are 400 miles out of the atlantic ocean. that's dust from the sahara and not only dust but not a cloud underneath that. that is part of the reason, in part, because of those duststorms and the dust that gets carried across the atlantic that the atlantic tropical season has not been particularly active. a couple of clusters of clouds but really not much going on and part of the reason is some those dust storms off of the sahara. meanwhile, for us, high pressure that brought all of that great weather moves out behind it. some moisture coming in, maybe low clouds even, and maybe some fog, and also as we get into

later of the week even a touch of humidity tt will lead to some scattered showers, a thundershower by wednesday but not tonight, partly cloudy. and as you get up head out tomorrow morning temperatures not as low as they have been in the last couple of mornings and although cool and comfortable around 60 degrees. a lot of clouds around tomorrow and i think maybe a few sprinkles. anything i think would be light and more likely to you folks out to the west, loudoun out towards western parts of fauquier county. temperature to the low to mid 70s. later in the week next seven days here here's how things shape up, we'll be seeing a chance for humidity, showers and thundershowers as we get on into wednesday and also thursday and then by the time we get into friday, not as humid and some more dry air beginning to come in as we get into friday with temperatures by then into the 70s. the next couple of days though a little touch of humidity and after the equinox tomorrow, there it is, it will feel a

little bit -- >> that's what we were looking for -- >> that's what we're looking for. friday the sunshine comes back after that chance of showers. nothing like anything down in -- into georgia so we'll not worry about any of those rains. friday and saturday and it looks nice right now. >> thank you, bob. sounds good. still a head on "news4" we'll hear from some people who live in a maryland neighborhood that was flooded when a giant water main broke last week. we'll tell you about an expansion at dulles airport. coming up in sports the redskins suffer enormous game. and also the cowboys try to get the win in the first game in their new stadium.

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get online payroll and put hours back in your day suntrust. live solid. bank solid. we take a look at some of the stories making headlines tonight. more troops and a new strategy, that's what general

stanley mcchrystal says he needs to succeed in washington. the "washington post" obtained a copy of the 66-page report that mcchrystal sento robert gates. the general's bottom line the war winnable but not without major changes on the ground and in the afghan government. charges have been filed against three men in connection with a suspected terror plot. two of the men, a father and son from afghanistan, were arrested over the weekend in denver. court papers say the son has spent time at an al qaeda training camp and that he had bombmaking instructions on his laptop computer on a recent trip on new york. the virginia department of transportation is temporarily closin all lanes of i-95 in both directions. early tomorrow and wednesday. traffic will come to a halt in both directions for 30 minutes at a time between the route 1 and lorton road exits that's in southern fairfax count. closures from midnight to 2:30 in the morning. new signs are being put up in the area. coming up in this half hour

of "news4" at 6:00, the government today discussed how many shots of the swine flu vaccine children will need. we'll tell you about an expansion at dulles international airport. and lindsay will have another live report from redskins park on yesterday's game with the rams. people in baltimore county are still cleaning up the mess caused by friday's huge water main break. the six-foot broke. sent water rushing into the streets. inspectors have deemed 70 of the homes uninhabitable and nearly three dozen are still without power. kate amarah has our report. >> reporter: where the water was, there's now a layer of brown dust covering the streets and alleys, covering the cars. while the water is gone, the damage to resident's homes and cars remain. >> one, two, three, four, five, six, right about here. that's quite a bit of water.

i guess you can call that four feet of water. >> reporter: he and his neighbors filled their backyards with their waterlogged possessions. herb ford's 81-year-old mother lives in this home. >> we have containers here full of pictures from when i was a baby which was a while ago and my mother's taking good care of them. trying to put them in a plastic container which helped but four feetf water, it doesn't discriminate. it takes everything. >> reporter: if it wasn't the homes, it was the automobiles. anate kramer says her two cars were filled with water. >> my car was completely flooded. the pressure from the water actually took my driver's side nd opushed it down. so my car actually has water inside of it from everything. it's gone. and i only have liability. and they're telling me that it won't be covered now. so we lost that. >> reporter: and it's not just the initial water damage folks here are worried about. it's also the moisture left behind. that's where professional cleanup companies come into play. their number one priority, stop

the mold. >> our job is to save the home. if the house gets wet in the basement eventually some mold can form if you don't apply an antimicroial. get it cleaned and dried out? >> what a mess. that was kate amarah reporting. officials say it'll be weeks before they can figure out what caused that water main to break. a man is in critical condition tonight after a car crashed in prince george's county. it happened in the 8800 block here of central avenue earlier this morning in capital heights. when a car collided with an suv. the car caught fire and the driver became trapped inside. rescue crews rushed him to the hospital. the driver of the suv was not injured. investigators are still trying to determine what cause the crash. prince george's county's about to lay off as many as 125 employees in the next month. 85 general employees and 40 health department workers are scheduled to be laid off. county executive jack johnson says this round of layoffs may

not be the last either. he says the need for additional layoffs will be looked at at a regular basis. the county's hiring freeze remains in affect. prince george's county facings a budget cut from the state. some first-time home buyers celebrated their purchases today with a special gift from montgomery county. six families were awarded closing costs for their homes as part of the county's break the barrier to homeownership contest. county executive was there to help them celebrate. the winners had all written an essay of what homeownership means to them. passengers at washington dullel international airport may notice some changes when they travel. the airport's authority has completed the first phase of a major expansion project for international arrivals. that new addition adds more than 2,000 square feet to the building. and also allows customs and

border patrol -- drivers will notice the work on first sterling avenue and south capital street. official his hoped to have the street car running this year but project has hit a number of delays and now they're expecting part of the anacostia up and running by 2012. >> and in downtown d.c. today the city was celebrating the restoration of the chinatown arch on h street. first directed back in 1986. tom sherwood has our story. ♪ >> reporter: chinese drums filled eighth street in downtown washington on monday. political leaders were celebrating the restoration of the famous chinese arts that was first installed in 1986 as a symbol of iendship between china and washington. >> we have fully restored the

chinatown friendship arch, which is a great asset. >> reporter: the arch originally cost $1 million. the restoration this summer costs over $300,000 paid for by the city. city leaders say the arch also represents the rebirth of downtown washington that began in the 1980s. >> one, two, three. >> reporter: although the chinatown presence has been scaled back with all of the development, the area's still a scene of major chinese celebrations every year. ♪ tom sherwood, "news4," washington. >> the restoration project is part of an ongoing effor to boost tourism in chinatown. the area in which includes the verizon center was once run down and crime-ridden and is now a lively destination seven days a week. it is hopping down there. >> i remember when the verizon center before it was going up we would say -- think, oh it's near

chinatown and now chinatown and the arch are near the verizon center. coming up on our broad cast this evening, more than 35 million people world wide are living with alzheimer's disease. we'll hear from a bottom who found out she was carrying someone else's baby after using in vitro fertilization.

good ovning. bob ryan storm center4. and the pollen has been up there but not as bad as on average. you can see the ragweed pollen count for september now, usually it's often 25 to 30. today was only seven. temperatures right now into the mid 70s. skiiers, here's how it look, breckenridge, colorado, still out onto the mountains this. tomorrow morning you will see temperatures around 60 degrees and a lot of clouds around. next seven days, i think we're more likely to be seeing some showers. maybe even a thundershower on wednesday and thursday. and more fine weather as we head into friday and saturday. back to you. >> all right, thank you, bob. unless a cure is found the number of alzheimer's cases

around the world could soar in the years ahead. more than 35 million people world wide are now living with alzheimer's disease or other types of dementia. that's about 10% higher than what scientists had predicted just a few years ago and it's expected to double every 20 years. much of the growth will be fueled by the fact that people are living longer now and by population growth especially if developing nations. experts also predict that problems associated with alzheimer's will have an impact on the economy and the health system. were contesting and counseling inmates around the country for hiv and aids. the program is honored with the 2010 exemplary offender program award from the american correctional association. first implemented in 2006, it automatically provided hiv testing when a prisoner first arrives and also gives treatment and counseling throughout a prisoner's term even continuing with follow- help after an

inmate is released. today mayor fenty called the prisoner testing program a critical part of his administration's work to stop the spread of hiv in the district. in less than two weeks, an ohio woman will give birth to her fourth child but it won't be hers to keep. carolyn savage became a surrogate mother by mistake after a fertility clinic implanted her with an embreeio that belonged to another couple. she and her husband sean would not consider the clinic's offer to terminate the pregnancy after the implantation. instead offered to carry the baby to term and immediately hand it over to the biological couple. during an appearance on the "today" show the couple discussed how they are prae pre-pairing for the birth. >> i think in the beginning we were really scared of that moment. and it's still a scary moment.

we're trying to mentally frame it in a positive way. trying to look at it as a gift for another family that eight months ago we didn't know. and look at it like that. i think that's the only way we're going to get through it. >> the savages have three other children. two sons. ages 15 and 12. and an 18-month-old daughter who was also conceived through in vitro. the child carolyn is expecting now is a boy. the couple say they have a cordial relationship with the baby's biological parents and say they only want a moment to say hello, then good-bye when he's born. coming up tonight in "news for your health" for energy energy more people are passing up the coffee and energy drinks for something called energy shots. the tiny bottles are flying off of the shelves of local convenient stores but some energy shot drinkers we talked with say the cost of that pick-me-up can sometimes be less than convenient. >> you cannot go to sleep. you will not go to sleep. >> it's basically very jittery and sort of eye don't know on your toes. >> a lot of people rely on them. some use them for sleep. >> reporter: some college students swear by them because

they give a big dose of caffeine and you don't have to drink an entire cup of coffee or a sugary 16-ounce drink. manufacturers claim that they can keep you energized for periods of time and you will not get that sluggish feeling after they wear off but doctors are warning that these shots could be packing more of a wallop than you might think. my report on the risk of that bottled buzz coming up on "foouznour" at 11:00. the redskins could have used some of that yesterday, perhaps oone level. lindsay, what do you got coming up in sports? >> reporter: you said it, i didn't. the redskins get the win but they suffer a big loss. and also elsewhere in the nfl the cowboys take it down to the wire. the first game at their brand-new stadium. and back to the redskins, let's talk about the offense. and why they had trouble scoring some points.

well the redskins got a win yesterday but it's still a rough monday out at park. >> it is. >> dan and lindsay are out there to giv ups the good news and the bad news. hi, guys. >> reporter: hey guys. good news as hey did get the win but i think that they may give that up win to not have the loss of starting right guard randy thomas because this is the thing that everybody worried about before the start of the season. they knew that the offensive line had to stay intact. prone by injuries and we saw what happed in the second half of last season when injured started to plague the offensive line. >> the big question last year in the draft, big question in training camp was the depth on the offensive line and it wasn't that long ago that people said randy thomas might be the best offensive lineman on this team, all around. but he's been battling injuries in the last couple of years.

>> reporter: he has and felt like he was really maybe in the best shape that he's been in the past years to start this season so this is particularly devastating for him. go back to the field yesterday. and randy thomas was so upset that he only released a stement saying he'll be around the court, the team in go way that he can. suffered an injury in the sond quarter and been through this before. 2007 he injured his right tricep. missed but all of three games that year. worked hard in the off-season to get ready for this season. his teammates say it's difficult for them as well. >> after the game, he was emotional. sitting in the training room getting treatment. i mean he's worked so hard, so hard to come back. i mean he's probably one of the hardest workers on the team to come to getting his arm right, being in the weightoom, being here in the off-season and it's frustrating for him because he just went through it and for him to go through it again i feel for him because he had work sod hard. >> that's a big loss. he's the leader. he's got -- pumps us up before

the games in the locker room. gives all of the speeches. definitely a leader over there and to happen to him a second time it's kind of sad. randy's a guy who works hard, trained hard all off-season, my heart goes out to him. >> i don't know if we can go outside of the organization now and have a guy ready for detroit. detroit's got an excellent defense. they've got two big tackles and we've got to have somebody that can communicate with our terminology and our -- kind of the way that we're training our guys. they've got to step right in. i think that -- will get that guy ready. >> reporter: jim zorn joked about it this afternoon saying he knew the first name that everybody would think of would be kendall. the redskins' former lineman. who was released. kendal before in afternoon had not been contacted by the redskins and although you did hear zorn they could possibly go outside of the organization. if they choose to stay inside it

is likely it could be will montgomery or the backup right guard who is chad rinehart and likely that that happens and the redskins though have other fish to fry because they had something that they couldn't quite do in this game yesterday against the rams. >> it was fun here today and out at fedexfield yesterday in the locker room, kind of a lukewarm feeling. >> yeah, quiet. >> yeah it was literally one red zone meltdown after another. four chances inside the 10 yard line for the redskins and they could not get a single touchdown. lots of reasons why. couple of drop passes that would had been touchdowns. a couple of missed blocks but jim zorn remains steadfast. he does believe in his play-calling. he says this is eventually going to work. the one play that seemed to be the most baffling is in the third quarter. clintin portis on the half back pass fails to connect with chris cooley. so the redskins settle on a field goal. fourth quarter fourth and one on

the two. pummeled for a two-yard loss. the goal line seemed to have an ante redskins' force field but jim zorn is a believer. he was not second-guessing his goal line call. >> if i could see every play that was going to fail before it failed, i'm with you. i wouldn't call it but i felt very confident and because we work on it, you know, we execute. we have to execute it. and i use that word sometimes, but we work on it. and it's not a grab bag situation. >> i think that we have to execute as a player better. you can talk about the play-calling but every play is designed to score. tweak here but as players we have to get it done. >> it's one of those things we've got to capitalize on it. we're all professionals. we've all been in this situation before and you know it's a matter of just digging yourself out of it. i mean we're going to wk on

it. >> that's redskins' fullback mike sellers who actually dropped a short pass that would have surely bane touchdown. >> very interesting story in the locker room after the game. sunny jergson, he used to work with us, questioning jim zorn after the game. he said, coach, if that play had been sent to me when i was a quarterback, i would have audibled out of play or not called it. jim zorn responded by saying well then i would have called a time-out and i would have benched you. >> and he said, sorry. because basically, and it was a very interesting point because sonny was saying how do you rely on someone who is not your quarterback. >> as a former quarterback, we want to throw the ball. be the moneymakers. >> exactly but as you said before i think that zorn's response was merited. >> zorn handled it well. >> he did. moving onto the cowboys, man, talk about how frustrating it must have been for them to have this beautiful, new stadium and to go in there and to be tramped to the end by the giants the way they were. take you back down to dallas.

the cowboys opening this new billion-dollar texas stadium with all of the pomp and circumstance, in the half former president george w. bush and also former first lady laura bush who were there, threw the coin toss to watch the dallas cowboys play the giants. we go to the fourth quarter. dallas trails by six. but not for long. felix jones would hand off, four seconds to play. giants with the chance to win. and lawrence tynes on from 37 yards out, up and it's good. the giants come back to win the game, 33-31. right in the nick of time. spoiling the cowboys' home opener. new york is now 2-0. >> amazing thing is tony romo's absolutely terrible in that game. >> yeah. >> yet somehow the cowboys were in it until the very end. >> yeah a good thing it's not december because that's when he usually chokes. did i say that? >> a jab two weeks into the season. i love it. >> back out here at redskins park, obviously, not fun news because the redskins are without

starting right guard randy thomas, which is a huge blow. we'll see what they do in prep rations to play the liones this sunday. >> a big roster move. add another player, maybe not a lineman, it could be another position. >> good point. >> not until later this week that we find out? >> we'll probably find out on tuesday i believ >> okay. all right, thank you, guys. coming up on "news4" in evening, some new information about how children should be vaccinated against the swine flu.

the new swine flu vaccine isn't available candidate but new clues about how many shots that children may need to be protected from the virus. it looks like some youngsters will need just one dose. others may need two. tracie potts has details. >> reporter: early results from pediatric trials of the h1n1 flu vaccine show most children, 10 and older had a robust immune response to the low dose of the vaccine. >> which tells us that this vaccine is acting very similarly to what the seasonal flu vaccine acts like in children. >> reporter: that means likely, just one shot or nasal spray for kids 10 and older, but probably two for those under 10. >> they need a little extra, little nudge to the immune system to respond. >> reporter: scientists won't know for sure until more rests come in in a few weeks but they urge parents, once vaccine is

available, don't delay. >> give them one and then keep your eye on the information. you may need to bring them back. >> reporter: some doctors say they're still waiting on both the h1n1 and the seasonal flu vaccine. >> we're hoping they'll be able to get both. >> reporter: that's the good idea with the shots. the cdc says getting flu mist for the regular flu and the spray on the h1n1 on the same day could make one or both less effective. until the vaccine's ready, school nurses are taking temperatures and isolating students on the front lines of a pandemic that's just getting started. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. >> the experts are not surprised. the older you are the easier it is for your body to fight virus. >> coming up tonight on "news4" at 11:00, a teacher found drunk in the car with a student. a look into the safety of some pick-me-up drinks that are popular with college students. and a former ms. virginia shaves her head for a good cause. >> that's our