some african-americans. if your skin is dark, get it tested before using any laser. some medications and over the counter products can make anyone's skin more sensitive. it's crucial to use sunscreen all year long, even in the winter. stay with us everyone. "news4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. rules of the rails. new details are emerging following that deadly metro crash along the red line. what investigators now recommend the transit agencies around the country should do to prevent a future collision. on the world stage, president obama's tough tone, tackling global initiatives. what he's expected to highlight when he goes before the u.n. for the first time. mother nature's fury. fires out west and flooding in the southeast. why hundreds of residents are being forced from their homes

while others are waking up to utter devastation. good morning and welcome to "news4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm barbara harrison. it is wednesday, september 23rd, 2009. let's take a look outside. we've got darkness still. perhaps some clouds above us. we'll have to ask tom what we can expect as this day continues. tom, good morning again. good morning. off to a cloudy start. no rain around as you head off to work and school on this wednesday morning. there's a look at the radar. no precipitation here. we have a few showers to our south and southern virginia. in the 60s in shenandoah valley and the blue ridge weather watchers are reporting this morning, montgomery, fairfax, prince george's, arlington and district of columbia near 70. northern neck and eastern shore near 70 degrees. in the cool mid 50s out in the mountains and now 71 in washington. over the last six hours we've seen a few showers eastern north carolina through central north carolina. those may make their way up here later on today. but just a far small chance of a passing shower. otherwise partly sunny and humid

with highs low 80s. tomorrow a small chance of a passing shower. friday should be sunny and much cooler. lower humidity, highs low 70s. only near 70 on saturday could get showers saturday night into sunday, a look at that as well as the first part of next week coming up in ten minutes at 5:11. >> thanks very much, tom. let's go to ashley linder and take a look at the roadways. things are off to a quiet start. the capital beltway at new hampshire avenue, the break lines headed away from us are continuing leaving college park toward the silver spring area. beltway, no big problems right now. traveling toward 70, volume is not a big factor. no problems in fed rick headed toward clarksburg. toward the capital beltway, moving at speed. back to you. >> it's been three months now since that deadly metro crash. after an extensive investigation, the national transportation safety board is out with a list of safety

recommendations it wants metro and other transit systems around the country to follow. >> there are nine new recommendations for metro and its circuit manufacturer. the safety board considers six to be urgent. most of the concern centers around the safety of the train control systems that detect the presence of trains on the tracks. news4's megan mcgrath joins us from the tacoma metro station with more. >> reporter: there has been a very detailed, methodical investigation. i they're three months into it. investigators still have not pinpointed the exact cause of june's deadly collision. however, they do continue to focus their attention on track circuits. ntsb investigators are particularly concerned about a possible design flaw in audio frequency track circuit systems. that system sent a false signal that prevented a stopped tin to be detected on the track moments before the deadly collision. the ntsb has issued urgent

recommendations, not just to metro, but to transit agencies around the country that use that same technology. debbie hersman with the ntsb says, quote, our findings so far indicate a pressing need to issue these recommendations to immediately address safety glitches we have found that could lead to another tragic accident on another transit or rail system. metro officials meanwhile say they have already put some safety measures in place. >> we're operating in manual mode. two, we're running analysis of all of our circuits. if we detect any problems with the circuits themselves, we put that section of the track into absolute block, and we go out and make immediate adjustment >> reporter: and so metro and other transit systems across the country that use the same technology, they're being asked to review their systems to make sure that no glitches are found and to take safety measures --

safety precautions to avoid a collision like this from happening elsewhere in the system. now, in terms of when investigators might actually pinpoint the exact cause, still not sure. the investigation continues. back to you all in the stio. >> thank you, megan. metro's board is expected to approve a contract this week to repair the electronic doorps on all of its 1,000 series cars. a metro spokesperson tells "the washington post" it will take up to three years to fix all 1800 units. the train operators have been manually opening and closing those doors since april of 2008 when a malfunction started causing them to open on the wrong side. now, metro eventually plans to eliminate the 1000 series cars which were involved in june's deadly crash. metro says it is not making security changes in the wake of a nationwide terror alt. there's no word on a specific threat. but authorities warn that terrorists are interested in attacking public places that include transit systems, hotels

and stadiums. this comes after some high-profile arrests in denver. investigators are still looking for more suspects in a possible plot to set off some backpack bombs. metro says it also boos stead security after the 9/11 attacks. >> at this time we won't be implementing any bag searches. our transit police officers spend a good deal of time in our system. if they see anything of concern, they take steps to investigate that further. >> at nationals park last night there were bag searches at the entrances, but that is the park's normal policy the team says. a teenager accused of hoarding weapons and bomb making materials in his parents home goes to federal court. a lawyer for 19-year-old for colin mckenzie gooz zi. he was indicted last year. vestigators say gudi also had a fake cia badge and a map of

camp david. his lawyer says his client never intended to hurt anyone. he faces up to ten years in prison and a $100,000 fine for the explosives charge. president obama heads back to the united nations today to address foreign policy. this comes as some environmentalists express disappointment about the president a day after he delivered a key address at the un on global climate change. the presint told diplomats yesterday at a un climate change summit that the u.s. is determined to act. some critics say the speech was long on talk and short on commitments to cut carbon dioxide emissions. the president also called on other countries to do their parts to combat climate change. >> those rapidly growing developing nations that will produce nearly all the growth in global carbon emission ins the decades ahead must do their part as well. >> other nations made firm commitments during yesterday's summit. chinese president said his

country would increase its renewable and renewable energy to 15% by 2020. japan announced it will try to reduce it's missions by 25% by that same year. right now the floodwaters in the southeast are beginning to recede and the full extent of the damage is becing very apparent. the death toll from the massive flooding in georgia has now reached nine. authorities believe the latest victim was swept from her car during thundersrms. many residents are now homeless. damaged are estimated in the hundreds of millions. georgia's governor is asking president obama to declare a state of emergency. meanwhile in california, it's the opposite problem. hot, dry winds are fueling a wildfire that has now grown to 8500 acres. some residents in the city of moore parkave already been evacuated. crews are using jets and helicopters to fight the flames in the air. our time is 5:08, 72 degrees. one gubernatorial candidate unveils his transportation plan and says how the commonwealth

would benefit. plus the terrifying crash that proves a 6-year-old girl could have a guardian angel. >> sit down! >> what a judge had to say about a local police officer who assaulted a teenager.

weather and traffic on the 1s. at 5:11, a rather muggy 71 in

washington. in montgomery, fairfax, prince george's and arlington county ins the upper 60s. southern maryland, northern neck near 70. 50s out of the mountains. a few light showers in southern virginia out of the carolinas. small chance of a few passing showers. otherwise partly sunny, warm and humid, highs low 80s. it will be partly cloudy and into the mid 80s. less humid in the afternoon. small chance of a passing shower. lower humidity and much cooler on friday night into saturday. drying out and cool after that. now a look at the traffic on this wednesday morning. ashley, how's it doing? >> well, we do have issues to talk about. on the beltway no problems to report. beltway is just fine. elsewhere in maryland, southbound 270 is going to slow right around 109, route 80. there's a work zone on the northbound side that's attracting a lot of attention from drivers. so do expect slowing going on there. out of springfield, as you can see, volume is light on 95.

barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks ashley. our time is 12 minutes at 5:00. the district passed a new budget. wait till you hear what's on the chopping block. the heated debate continues over health care reform. next at 5:15, how the vice president is now getting involved and how soon we could have a

the health care debate is heating up. kimberly suiters has more on that for us. good morning, kimberly. >> good morning. today's pitch man for health care reform, vice president joe biden who talked to insurance commissioners yesterday. today he heads back to maryland, this time to leisure world to reassure thousands of seniors there. in the meantime, senators on the finance committee on capitol hill deep into negotiations in hopes of signing off on a plan that at least can come up for a vote by friday or next week. the democratic chairman who penned the latest health care bill insists it is not a government take over. senator max baucus may agree to another 50 billion in subsidies to help low income families buy insurance. some of the other 564 amendments under consideration, reducing the top penalty for not buying

insurance, scrapping an insurance tax for high-risk workers, raising that tax for others. backing off on tx consumer products. some republicans say consumers should share the cost of unhealthy choices while the vice president says he's worried about putting an unhealthy financial burden on putting families in businesses. >> the patient, the person receiving the care, is not the person who has been financially accountable. >> the soaring premiums are not only hurting families and killing small businesses, they're hurting our competitive position all around the world. >> the vice president told state insurance commissioners speaking to the national association of insurance commissioners at national harbor in prince george's county, that was yesterday, and armed with a new white house report that claims in the last decade premiums went up three to five times faster than consumer prices. quite a different audience today, no less tough. the vice president brings a team of heavy hitters with him, well known to ph.d.ers.

robert mikulski and ben cardin, plus health and human services secretary kathleen seib beal yus, all at a town hall today at 10:00. you have to be a card carrying member of leisure world to listen in live in person. a note on leisure world. it is described as a private age restricted community in montgomery county maryland with as many as 8500 residents. back to you. >> thank you very much. curt schilling's legacy will apparently be what he did on the pitcher's mound, not capitol hill. the former red sox pitcher says he won't run for the late ted kennedy's senate seat. massachusetts governor could announce as early as tomorrow who will replace kennedy temporarily in the senate. that replacement could be michael dukakis or paul kirk who is chairman of the john f. kennedy library foundation and a close friend of the kennedy family. a special election to fill the seat permanently is scheduled for january.

one of ted kennedy's is in the hospital. robert byrd was rushed to the hospital yesterday after falling at his northern virginia home. the 91-year-old democrat from west virginia didn't break bones or suffer bruises. he's been in poor health in recent years. he's said to to be in good spirits but disappointed he won't be able to go to the senate for its official photo. d.c.'s budget battle is now over. bonuses are among the casualties. council members passed adds 9 billion budget for next year including $700 million in cuts. programs were slashed along with jobs and payment toss many community groups. council members killed nearly $2 million in potential bonuses for government workers. >> this year we're facing, we've cut millions and millions of dollars. i think this is beyond symbolism. i think this is a wise thing to do. >> the council also took its first steps towards e creating a specific ethics code.

it would include a provision to ban political activity in government buildings. score another point for cora masters berry and her fight to keep the southeast tennis and learning center open. the council voted 12-1 to improve emergency legislation that would bar the city from canceling the contract with the group. the fenty administration argued the paperwork was not complete. last week the it was ruled that the city couldn't evict berry's group from the tennis center without more legal proceedings. the season is already over for one member of the washington redskins. the nats and the o's can't shake their losing ways. lindsay czarniak wraps it up in your sports minute. hey there, good morning ever are body. your sports minute on this wednesday morning begins with nationals, last night it wasn't pretty. the nationals gave u seven runs in the fourth inning, gave up sixth in the seventh. part of what the dodgers did to

the nats. with two games left against los angeles, it's going to be near impossible for the nationals to avoid losing their 10 o 0th game, possibly as soon as tonight. the national fall to the dodgers 14-2. in toronto the orioles were trying to end a five-game losing streak. it wasn't meant to be. the bullpen couldn't hold a 5-2 lead. aaron hill doubled with one on. jose bought tease sta scored as the blue jays get the 6-5 walk-off win. the redskins are back on the field preparing for sunday's game in detroit. randy thomas's season was wented. the redskins filled the extra roster spot by adding running back anthony aldridge. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great time. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> tom kierein is in storm center 4. good morning. the first full day of astronomical autumn.

feeling like summer. it's a soft september morning with humidity in the air, upper 60s to near 70 in washington and the nearby suburbs. low to mid 60s around the blue ridge and shenandoah valley. weather watchers in southern maryland, northern neck and eastern shore reporting temperatures near 70 and quite humid. where you see blips of color, that is rain. we have showers coming up from the carolinas perhaps later today. just a small chance. highs reaching the low 80s. otherwise partly sunny, sunrise 6:57. sunset at 7:03. partly cloudy to mostly cloudy evening to follow. thursday turning less humid during the afternoon. tomorrow's highs low to mid 80s, a small chance of a shower with low humidity friday into saturday. dry after that. and now ashley linder, how is the traffic? >> well, taking a look here out of springfield, volume is starting to pick up. you're still moving at speed as you make your way from

fredricksburg through lorton and continuing winding up in springfield. those headlights continuing near 395 with no problem. on 270 southbound it's a little slower around 109. just after that point in the northbound direction, the left lane was blocked with some construction that was left over from the overnight. thus we've got slowing on 270 already at this hour from route 80 off and on past 109. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, ashley. 5:22. 71 degrees. bank of america is giving customers a break from overdraft fees. but the deal comes with a catch. >> also the amazing close encounter when the driver of a car lost control, careening toward a 6-year-old child. a reminder news4 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 news4today.

dramatic video out of washington state. a woman is facing reckless driving charges after nearly crushing the 4-year-old girl with her car. she was walking into the convenient store when the car came out of nowhere, slammed into poles in front of the store and flew over the little girl. miraculously she was not hurt.

the woman behind the wheel is charged with driving with a suspended license. wow. well, a judge has thrown out a lawsuit against a baltimore police officer caught on videotape chewing out a teenager. >> you're damn right you're calling your mother. >> don't take my skateboard, i didn't do anything, dude. >> the officer, salve tory riviera is seen yelling at 14-year-old eric bush. the altercation allegedly began when bush did not follow the officer's demand to stop skateboarding. the teen's family filed a lawsuit. but the judge granted a defense motion to dismiss the case last week. no charges have been filed against the officer. but a police department discipline case against him is still pending. our time is 5:26. president obama prepares to make a major speech before the u.n. and the new recommendations investigators are issuing nearly three months after that deadly

metro crash. how a group of college students are helping in the fight against the spread of the

safety first. the new recommendations from the ntsb following the deadly crash along the red line. high stakes speech. what's on tap for president obama's maiden address to the un general assembly. southern discomfort. residents in the southeast return home to the devastation from severe flooding.

good morning everyone. i'm barbara harrison. good to have you with us today. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. it is wednesday, the 23rd day of september, 2009. this is what it looks like outside. beautiful picture of the jefferson mechl oral all lit up. traffic moving across the 14th street bridge. looks pretty heavy out there. we'll get a look at the traffic coming up in just a moment. first of all, the weather. >> that is heavy traffic out there on the 14th street bridge this early. the pavement is dry, no problems weather wise. we have cloudiness around, but nothing showing up on radar except way down there south of charlottesville to the south and west there. they're getting a few light showers. elsewhere, low clouds, temperatures in the mid and upper 60s toear 70 degrees. now 70 in washington, 50s out of the mountains, near 70 on the eastern shore. a lot of cloudiness.

we have this persistent southerly flow bringing in moisture off the atlantic. got showers now in the carolinas and a few scattered light showers through southern virginia. a small chance of an isolated shower today. otherwise, partly sunny, warm and summer like. afternoon high ins the low 80s. then tomorrow turning less humid, highs mid 80s and the small chance of a passing shower. friday, much cooler and sunny. highs near 70s. near 70 again on saturday. could get showers on saturday and sunday. a look at that in ten minutes. let's see what's going on with the roads out there right now. 14th street bridge looking pretty crowded. is that the case all around? a lot of folks out early? >> you know, it is surprising. we do have a lot awful volume around town right now and a couple of issues. the delays you saw on the 14t street bridge. those are continuing towards the 295 area. and yes eve had problems -- the freeway is good now. but 295, the issues are

northbound before the 11th street bridge, a new accident on the left side. 295 northbound at the naval research lab, we had traffic temporarily stopped. lanes are open now, but it did cause a traffic tie-up through that area. 395 is in great shape between springfield and the 14th street bridge. a little slow getting into the city. no problems around the capital beltway at this hour as you travel this top side. does exist. this is in silver spring. you can see the outer loop starting to slow as you make your way towards bethesda. >> so what doesn't exist? >> on the top of the video, it says "does not exist." >> very interesting philosophical comment this time of day. thanks very much, ashley. we're following two big national stories right now. first, the floodwaters are finally receding in the southeast. the damage is immense. nine people died in this flooding in georgia. many others are now homeless.

and damages are estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. t in california it is the opposite problem. hot, dry winds are fueling a wildfire that has now grown to 8,500 acres. some homeowners in the city of moore park have already been evacuated. police are using airplanes and helicopters to fight those flames from the air. president obama is heading back to the united nations today. he'll be turning his attention toward foreign policy a day after he addressed the un during a summit on climate change. michelle franzen is live in new york city with a look at what the president is expected to say today. good morning, michelle. >> good morning. it certainly has been a whirlwind visit already for president obama. he's had high level meetings and a few speeches, but certainly the un general assembly speech will be his biggest and first as president, and the world will be watching. >> reporter: this morning president barack obama addresses

130 heads of state at the un general assembly, his first as president on the un world stage, and a speech expected to mark a change in foreign policy from his predecessor george w. bush. the speech follows a night of diplomatic mingling with world leaders, a speech at former president bill clinton's global initiative and a marathon day of high-level talks. in an effort to jump start the middle east peace process, president obama brokered a meeting between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. he encouraged them to create two separate states. >> it's past time to stop talking about starting negotiations and time to move forward. >> reporter: another issue on the president's agenda, how the un security council should handle iran's growing defines on developing its nuclear program. iranian president mahmoud

ahmadinejad is expected to address world leaders. moammar cad daffy is creating continue verse is si on his visit in the u.s., setting up a tent in the pausch up state community of bedford, new york. obama's un dae bu and focus leads up to the g-20 summit in pittsburgh. at the same time he's faced with uphill battles at home, a growing opposition to the wars in iraq and afghanistan and whether to send more troops along with the on going debate over health care. key domestic and foreign issues that could end up defining ama's presidency. and following his speech at the un general assembly the president will join world leaders for a luncheon, he will then go behind closed doors again with high level meetings with leaders today including japan and russia. i'm michelle franzen outside the un. barbara and joe, back to you. >> michelle, thanks a lot. in other news in the race

for governor in virginia. creigh deeds is pushing his transportation plan with an editorial in this morning's "washington post." deeds says investing in transportation will help virginia's economy. as governor, deeds says he would reduce congestion in northern virginia, offer telecommuting and flex time tax credits. deeds says he will appoint a bipartisan commission to decide how to fund the plan. he says all options are on the table including tax increases. he also blasts republican bob mcdonnell's refusal to raise taxes to fund transportation projects. it's been three months now since the deadly metro crash on the red line. now the national transportation safety board is out with this list of safety recommendations it wants metro to follow. there are nine new recommendations for the transit agency and its circuit manufacturer. the safety board considers six of those to be urgent. most of the concerns center around the safety of the train

control systems that detect the presence of trains on the tracks. news4's megan mcgrath joins us from the tacoma metro station with more. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, joe. the ntsb has been looking into factors that may have been responsible or behind june's deadly crash. what they found so far has raised concerns about the safety of rail systems elsewhere in the country that use the same circuit track circuit systems. the ntsb has released urgent recommendation toss transit systems across the count. investigators have stopped short of naming the exact cause of june's deadly metro collision. but problems found with the audio frequency track circuits have prompted the ntsb to issue urgent nationwide recommendations to all transit systems using the same technology. ntsb chairman debbie hersman issued a statement saying, quote, our findings so far indicate a pressing need to

issue these recommendations to immediately address safety glitches we have found that could lead to another tragic accident on wa mat that or another transit or rail system. metro's general manager, john catoe says they have already taken safety precautions. >> we're operating in manual mode. two, we're running analysis of all of our circuits. if we detect any problems with the circuits themselves, we put that section of the track into absolute block and we go out and make immediate adjustments. >> reporter: investigators say the track circuit sent a false signal that prevented the stopped train from being detected on the tracks. the ntsb is asking metro and all transit systems that rely on the same type of circuit technology to examine their tck circuits. and metro has been working to come up with a realtime track monitoring system, but that work is not yet complete. as for the ntsb investigation, it's unclear how much longer it

will take when they will actually pinpoint the cause of the collision. back to you, joe. >> megan, thanks very much. a man is dead after being hit by a car near the iwo jima memorial. it happened in arlington last night as the man was trying to cross route 50 near the rosalind exit. the victim's identity has not been released. but the driver did stay at the scene. 5:39 right now. 71 degrees. a major bank is implementing new rules for overdraft fees. also a warning from a loc school district and why some children could be in danger. plus the new way health officials may soon be able to track the spread of the swine flu.

weather and traffic on the 1s. at 5:41, a mild and muggy 71 at reagan national. near 70 in the suburbs. southern maryland near the bay and northern neck, temperatures low and mid 70s there. feeling more like summertime than the first full day of astronomical ought tuchl. a lot of o cloudiness around. partly sunny. partly cloudy, less humid tomorrow. much cooler friday and saturday. highs only low 70s, but should be dry. saturday night through midday sunday maybe some showers and drying out first part of next week. back in ten minutes with the look at my latest school visit. how's the traffic. >> we are starting off pretty slow right now. the outer loop of the beltway as

you can see at 29, this is very unusual for us to have this sort of delay this early. we had a couple issues. the outer loop of the beltway had a wide load that went through along the top side. that started to slow things down. now we've got a couple of accidents. one before connecticut avenue blocking the left lane and one before georgia. that's on the right shoulder. elsewhere i do have good news along 666. all your travel lanes are open. no problems from gainesville towards centreville and centreville towards your roosevelt bridge, travel lanes are open. our time 5:43. a violent home invasion in maryland and the suspect is on the run. the federal government is warning the nation to be vigilant. next at 5:45. the new list of places the fbi says could be targets of terrorists.

a warning to police across the country. stair rifts are threating. it's unspecific. the nation ask on alert. news4's tracee wilkins joins us live from the verizon center with more on how authorities are responding. tracee? >> reporter: because we were attacked on 9/11 every sentity in washington has i its own system for protecting itself. they have been doing these things since 9/11. even with the higher alert they'll continue with the same line of ings they've been doing before. we have everything that's on this list, from high-end hotels to sports arenas, to railway transportation. from sports stadiums to entertainment complexes to hotels and the railways. counterterrorism officials are warning to be on the alert. the ever-expanding warning follows the arrests of three suspected terrorists who officials believe they have been planning an attack in new york

using backpack bombs. fbi officials say there could be other possible terrorists connected to the group. unidentified official sources have leaked that if there are others planning to carry out attacks, it may be with backpack bombs. metro officials say they've already stepped up their security following the 9/11 attacks. some of the change is visual, others not so much. >> at this time we're not going to be implementing any bag searches in our system. our transit police officers spend a good deal of time in our system. if they see anything of concern, they take steps to investigate that rther. >> reporter: passengers we talked to say high visibility makes them feel better during high alert. >> i feel safer, given that there's a higher alert than normal and there are police, yeah. >> seems like they're taking action. they're stepping up initiative so nothing happens. >> reporter: at the stadium last night, sports fans underwent the same kind of security they would on any other night. bags were checked as everyone entered, including employees. >> not going into the stadiums in the past where they've had

alerts on. i've always felt safe. they check bags and they're pretty thorough in their security. i feel very safe. >> reporter: according to these warnings there are al qaeda training manuals that identify these areas as accessible targets that are also places of amusement, i'm morality and sin. outside the zer rye son center, back to you in the studio. a heads up for people in d.c. officials will be conducting emergency preparedness drills this weekend. the drills will be held on saturday and sunday at various locations around the district. city officials say they will immediately notify the public when those drills begin. police are investigating a violent home invasion in prince george's county. it happened around 10:30 last night in the forest heights area. an armed suspect approached two women in a car and forced them into their apartment in the 700 block of audrey lane. he then told them to get in a closet while he stole items from inside the apartment. it's unclear if anyone was hurt.

arlington police are on the look out this morning for a man who approached a middle school student and showed her an obscene picture on his iphone. this happened at a bus stop near north glebe road. police are wondering if p this suspect is responsible for a similar series of incidents. a person called the laptop flasher has approached students more than a dozen times to show them lewd images on his computer. after the iphone incident arlington county public school officials sent a warning home to parents. >> as it got closer, i realized he was fiddling with his zipper and pulling himself together. >> we're on the lookout for him. our kids all know that you run, you screen, you don't talk. >> arlington police are also investigating another recent incident of a man who exposed himself to a girl on her way home from school. well, they're schooled for education, college students may

be the ones teaching researchers about the spread of swine flu. a team of scientists are making roubds at duke university collecting blood samples from students in exchange for gift certificates. those go to the lab which try to identify people before they get sick, find out who gets sick and find out who may be spreading disease without having any symptoms. the program started two years ago. but it's been particularly significant this year because of the swine flu. >> it's been unfortunate but fantastic opportunity for us that really can refine our ability to say this is seasonal influenza, this is h1n1, this is another type of common cold virus. >> the program is actually funded by the department of defense which hopes to see howdy cease spreads among soldiers in barracks and sailors on shipts. apparently the days of flavored cigarettes have come to an end, band by the fda. this is a move designed to cut back on the number of teenagers

who pick up the smoking habit. 17-year-olds are said to use flavored cigarettes three times more than adults over the age of 25. the ban is part of a new federal tobacco crackdown. flavored chewing tobacco chewing products are expected to be next on the fda's list for restrictions. 5:51 is the time. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. here is tom. >> good morning. feeling more like summertime. the first full day of astronomical autumn. it feels more like summer around the region. at this hour we have humidity hanging in the air. let's take a look at the view from the citi camera. you can see the lau clouds over the potomac river. still an hour away from sunrise. a muggy 71 at reagan national. no precipitation here. however, we do have one shower just to the west of charlottesville. it's just now drifting near waynesboro, heading towards stanton. that may drift up towards harrisonrg later. no precipitation around.

temperatures are certainly muggy. weather watchers are reporting mid 70s in the northern neck and near the bay. montgomery, fairfax as well as arlington in the upper 60s. it's 71 in washington. mid 60s around the shenandoah valley and around the blue ridge. the eastern ore, low 70s now. certainly muggy there. out of the mountains a bit drier and much cooler, only in the mid 50s. many locations in west virginia and western maryland this morning. showers beginning to move up into the carolinas. the wide view across the nation if you're traveling today, could have flight delays, more heavy rain possible, new orleans perhaps over to houston and unfortunately more rain for georgia and up through perhaps kentucky and western carolinas as well as southern missouri. maybe a little more snow around denver. for our part of the world, while we've got this front that's off to our north around the great lakes, that will be drifting our way tomorrow. ahead of that we have moisture ahead of a low pressure system over the tennessee valley. both of these systems giving us

a chance of a passing shower. here is my visit yesterday at the heather hills elementary school in buoy, maryland. talked to the students there, had a terrific time. what a wonderful group of bright and alert, smart kids at the heather hills elementary school in prince george's county. a wonderful group. we had a lot of fun, and i did, too. it was so much funny want to thank ka tina tombs for inviting me. the bus stop forecast, might have a few clouds this morning. it might be in the upper 60s with low 70s. rather humid. rest of the day, small chance of a shower as well as tomorrow. turning less humid tomorrow afternoon. feeling like summertime today and tomorrow. friday and saturday much cooler, highs near 70s. could get showers saturday night through midday sunday. that's the way it looks this morning. >> did they stuff you in a locker? >> no. i'm not a freshman. >> we do that around the newsroom all the time with tom.

let's go to ashley linder to take a look at the traffic. good morning again. good morning. some good news. as you can see on the outer loop of the beltway, progress is being made. we did have accident activity just before connecticut avenue. and then one before georgia as well. both on the outer loop. both have been moved to left and right shoulders. we do have delays that begin near university boulevard. as you can see after silver spring, pace the fine. the headlights continuing towards 270. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks ashley. bank of america is giving customers a break, dropping overdraft charges for accounts that are overdrawn by less than $10. there's a catch. the account needs to be brought into balance within five days. bank of america is also capping the number of overdraft charges it can add to an account. right now the limit is ten per day. but soon that number will drop to four. the bank is also helping some customers avoid the fees altogether. customers can now opt to have a sale denied at the register if

the account does not have enough funds. there is a lot to think about when you're a parent. now research shows that nine out of ten car safety seats are not installed correctly. the problem can result in preventable injuries and even in some cases in death. brittany glazer tells how how to install the seat correctly. >> with three kids ages three on down, full-time mom katherine stanford has her hands full. when it comes to packing up to go anywhere, it can be a long process getting each youngster secured. while katherine might have to deal with some unwanted stress along the way, she doesn't have to worry about the safety of eachhild's car seat. >> what we really looked for was their safety record. from there we decided who was the safest and what was most recommended for each child at the appropriate age. >> reporter: that's where things get a bit trickier according to

elisa stevens. she says weight and age have to be considered as one when it comes to car seat. >> from birth to 20 pounds the child has to be rear facing. it has to be one year and 20 pounds. >> reporter: once the child is one year old and 20 pounds, time to move to a new seat. they need to be forward facing in a five-point harness, meaning it's going to meet two spots here, down here and in the middle. >> reporter: the brand of car seat does not matter. if it's on store shelves, it meets safety guidelines. for new parents the installation process can be lengthy. she offers these tips after locating the belt path. >> attach it. apply presse to the seat at the same time you're pulling the straps. >> reporter: once the seat is secured, and this can be just a couple of steps or several depending on your car seat and vehicle, you need to test its

stability. >> it shouldn't move an inch left to right. you'll check it at the belt path. >> reporter: most children will go through three car seats before age eight. that includes the rear-facing seat, the for tward-facing seat and finally the booster. katherine has now changed out seats seven times. >> carson is on his third car seat. savannah is on her second. aiden is on his second. >> reporter: while you may think your child is big enough to sit car seatless. this shouldn't happen before the child is eight years old and 80 pounds. that was brittany glazer reporter. it's fine to use hand me down car seats. have it's evaluated by state police or public health officials before you use it. we're finding jobs for you. car fax is looking for an account executive in centreville. the candidate should have four years of prior telesales experience or selling products in the automotive industry. for more information, visit carfax.com.

news4 is always connected to you on facebook and twitter. you can find us on either site by searching news4today, one word. up next at 6:00 a.m. a scene out of a movie. what caused a shootout that shut down the world's busiest border crossing.

mixed signals. the ntsb issues new urgent safety recommendations to metro following june's deadly crash. why the transit agency needs to act quickly. the world stage. in just a few hours president obama will address the united nations general assembly from iran to middle east peace talks. we'll preview everything on the president's busy agenda.

good morning everyone. thanks for waking up with us this morning for "news4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to the you. i'm joe krebs on this wednesday, the 23rd day of september, 2009. live look outside right now. we have clouds above us here in the nation's capital. 71 degrees. . we'll talk about the weather. let's go to tom kierein here in the studio with his forecast. >> good morning. sunrise about an hour away. it feels more like a summer morning than the first full day of autumn. you can wear your margaritalle shirt going to work and school. we do have a shower just to the west of charlottesville near waynesboro and stanton head together the north in harrisburg. don't have precipitation elsewhere. we have temperatures muggy near 70. here is how we're looking for the next few days. highs today in the low 80s. small chance of a passing shower and partly sunny. tomorrow partly clouding turning

less humid by the afternoon. highs still warmer than average and a small chance of a shower, then much cooler for friday and saturday. morning low ms. the 50s. and maybe some showers saturday night into sunday. a look at that coming up in ten minutes. that will be at 6:11. stay tuned. >> thanks, tom. >> thanks very much. let's check on the traffic with ashley linder who is watching things on the road for us today. good morning. >> good morning. we're certainly starting off with a bang for wednesday. on the outer loop of the beltway we had two separate accidents, also a wide load that traveled through. the earlier accidents were at connecticut and georgia. both of those have been -- 29 in georgia. both of those have been cleared over to the shoulders and both are, again, out of the roadway. we've still got volume as a factor. the outer loop will on the outer loop. out of bethesda it does get better. three months after the deadly crash on metro's red line, the national transportation safety board has come out with a new list of safety recommend dathss it wants the transit agencies around the

country to follow. there are nine new recommendations for metro. the manufacturer of its train detecting circuits. the safety board considers six of those to be urgent. most of the concerns center around the safety of the train control systems that detect the presence of trains on the tracks. news4's megan mcgrath joins us live from the tacoma metro station with more. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, joe. investigators have been focusing for some time on the traffic circuits. what they have found has raised concerns about other rail systems around the country that use the same technology. the ntsb has issued urgent recommendations to rail systems all across the country that use those same circuits. investigators have stopped short of naming the exact cause of june's deadly metro collision. but problems found with the audio frequency track circuits have prompted the ntsb to issue urgent nationwide recommendations to all transit systems using the same technology.

ntsb chairman debbie hersman issued a statement saying, quote, our findings so far indicate a pressing need to issue these recommendations to immediately address safety glitches we have found that could lead to another tragic accident on wamatta or another transit or rail system. metro's general manager, john catoe says they have already taken safety precautions. >> we're operating in manual mode. two, we're running analysis of all of our circuits. if we detect any problems with the circuits themselves, we put that section of the track into absolute block and we go out and make immediate adjustments. >> reporter: investigators say the track circuit sent a false signal that prevented the stopped train from being detected on e tracks. the ntsb is asking metro and all transit systems that rely on the same type of circuit technology to examine their track circuits.

it's unclear at this point how much longer the ntsb investigation will go on. still no word on the absolute cause of this collision. now, what do riders think about this latest development? we'll hear from them coming up in about 45 minutes. joe, back to you. >> megan, thanks very much. metro says it's not making any security changes in the wake of a nationwide terror alert. there's no word on a specific threat. but authorities are warning that terrorists are interested in attacking public places like transit systems, hotels and stadiums. this comes after high-profile arrests in denver. investigators are still looking for more suspects in a possible plot to set off backpack bombs. metro says it also boosted its security after the 9/11 attacks. president obama will address 130 heads of state at the u.n. general assembly. the president spent yesterday meeting with world leaders and speaking at former president clinton's cloebl initiative. on his agenda for today, how the

u.n. secretary council -- security council should handle concern about iran's development of its nuclear program. president obama was at the u.n. yesterday for a summit on climate change. >> we understand the gravity of the climate threat. we are determined to act. and we will meet our responsible to future generations. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad will address world leaders at the u.n. today. he and president obama are not expected to cross paths. we'll have much more on today's big speech a little later in this hour. right now out in southern california, crews are battling a fast-spreading wildfire that's already spread to 8,500 acres. hot, dry winds are fueling these flames. many residents in the city of moore park have already been evacuated. right now that fire is about 10% contained. crews are now usi airplanes and helicopters to fight the flames from the air. in the southeast this

morning many towns are remain under stagnant water after heavy rains brought serious flooding. the torrential downpours in northern georgia are being blamed for at least nine deaths. rescuers believe the latest victim was swept from her car during thunderstorms. damages are estimated many the hundreds of millions. >> everything we own is floating around in there, everything we own is floating around in there. >> we don't have anything. everything we worked for is in the house. we've only been in there for a year. >> georgia's governor has asked president obama to declare a state of emergency for that area. new today, police are investigating a violent home invasion in prince george's county. around 10:30 last night in the forest heights area, police say an armed suspect approached two women in a car and forced them into their apartment. he told them to get into a closet while he stole items from inside the apartment. our time now is 6:07.

the controversial decision in massachusetts, we now know whether the governor will have the power to appoint an interim replacement for the late senator ted kennedy. the world's busiest border crossing is shut down following a wild scene. federal agents fire shots across nine lanes of traffic trying to stop the smuggling of illegal immigrants. how a young girl escaped an out-of-control car c

still dark out there on this wednesday morning. 71 degrees our current temperature with cloudy skies. we'll take a look at our weather to see what we can expect the rest of the day. >> fall began, but it feels like summer returned. >> it said, not so fast. not quite done with us yet. as we look outside at in hour, we have a lot of cloudiness. weather watchers are reporting wild and muggy conditions. from the shenandoah valley and atlantic beaches, it's quite humid. in the mid 60s in montgomery, fairfax. right near the bay it's in the mid 70s now. 60s father to the west. 50s out of the mountains. highs low 80s today. partly sunny, warm and humid, small chance of a shower tomorrow and still feeling like summertime, but turning less humid during the afternoon. much cooler friday and saturday. highs only near 70. clouding up saturday night.

maybe showers saturday night into sunday. on the outer loop of the beltway we had several accidents. one before connecticut moved to the left shoulder and then one that was by georgia. delays from new hampshire avenue to make it towards the silver spring area. but beyond that you're looking pretty good. elsewhere around town we have delays on the 95 corridor as you make your way from lorton to woodbridge. expect heavy delays. but meeting up with the beltway is fine. barbara and joe back to you. >> time is 6:12, 71 degrees. the drug more and more women are becoming addicted to. it improves your alertness, concentration and some people even use it to lose weight. dangerous side effects. remember this? >> sit down, i'm not a dlud! . you're damn right you're calling your mother. >> what happened to the police officer who is not a dude in maryland caught on videotape yelling at a skateboarder who did call him a dude.

in news4 your health, it may

seem like an easy path to becoming more focussed and productive. medical professionals are warning that use of adhd medications are on the rise. >> reporter: add roll is an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder drug, a psycho stimulant that the improves concentration and alertness. most say it also kills the appetite, an attractive side effect form women like this. >> there's a lot of pressure on women, a lot of pressure to succeed, to keep up with the joneses. >> she's going to be a new counselor intern. >> reporter: she says add roll abuse is prevalent. >> it's se dickive because when you're doing aderol you're getting rewarded for how you look, getting rewarded for being on time, being there, doing that. and it looks like it's a breeze. it doesn'took like it's any effort on your part. >> reporter: some dallas doctors say the demand for the prescription is high. >> every now and then someone

will come in, and i can tell from their presentation they have memorized the symptoms of attention deficit and are feeding those back to me in an attempt to get me to prescribe them aderol. >> reporter: what's the harm? >> aderol used appropriately is essentially not addictive. aderol abuse can create a dependency. >> what resulted for this woman, severe depression, anxiety and weight gain, a tough lesson she hopes will help others. >> if i can't do this as a service for other people that may be struggling with addiction, how can i stay sober? i can't. >> that was meredith land reporting. new research in the journal of pediatrics found that the rate of adhd medication abuse was up 76% from 1998 to 2005. president obama has been the spokesman in cef when it comes to health insurance reform.

but this week while he's turned his attention to international affairs, a man known for speaking his mind is taking er the microphone. kimberly suiters joins us live with more on the health care b debate. good morning. >> barbara, can you guess who it is? today's pitch man for health care reform, vice president joe biden who talked to insurance commissioners yesterday. today he heads back to maryland, this time to leisure world to reassure thousands of seniors there. in the meantime senators on capitol hill of the finance committee deep into negotiations in hopes of signing off on a plan that can come do a vote this friday or next week. the democratic chairman who penned the latest health care bill insists it's not a government take over. senator max baucus may agree to another $50 billionn subsidies to help low-income families buy insurance. some of the other 564 amendments under consideration, reducing the top penalty for not buying insurance, scrapping an insurance tax for some high-risk workers, but raising that tax on others, and backing off taxing consumer products. some republicans say consumers

should share the cost of unhealthy choices while the vice president is worried about putting an unhealthy financial rden on families and businesses. >> the patient, the person receiving the care is not the person who has been financially accountable. the soaring premiums are not only hurting families and killing small businesses. they're hurting our competitive position all around the world. >> the vice president there speak together the national association of insurance commissioners at national harbor in prince george's county yesterday. he was armed with a new white house report that claims in the last decade premiums went up three to five times faster than consumer prices. now today, a very different a audience, but no less tough. the vice president is going to bring a team of heavy hitters well known to marylands. barbara mikulski and ben cardin plus kathleen sebelius. this town hall starts at 10:00

today. you have to be a card-carrying member of leisure world to listen in live in person. it's described as a private age-restricted community in montgomery county with as many as 8500 residents. barbara, back to you. >> thanks, kimberly. massachusetts governor will have the authority to name the late ted kennedy's temporary replacement in the u.s. senate. the senate state approved legislation that allowed governor deval patrick to name the successor. opponents say it's not fair because lawmakers stripped mitt romney of the same power when it appeared john kerry might be elected president. patrick is expected to make the decision as early as tomorrow. massachusetts voters will pick a permanent replacement in a spial election in january. a shootout at the border. four people were injured when gunfire erupted at the nation's busiest border crossing. police say it began with human smuggling at the border between san diego and tijuana.

officers say a total of 74 people were crammed into three vans. they say one of the vans tried to barrel past inspectors. that's when customs agents opened fire. three people in the vans were hit by bullets. one of them is in critical condition this morning. another person was injured when the van smashed into another vehicle. police arrested everyone in the vans. a lawsuit against a baltimore police officer videotaped screaming at a teenager will not go to trial. >> sit down. i'm nod a dude! >> i'm calling my mom. >> salve tore rif airy is the officer. seen yelling at eric bush who was 14 at the time. the altercation allegedly started when bush didn't listen to the officer's demand that he stop skateboarding . the teen's family filed a lawsuit against rif airy. he's working in a different part of the city, a displain case against him is still pending. in sports this morning. the nationals are once again closing in on 100 losses.

they now have 99. here is lindsay czarniak with your sports minute. hey there, good morning everybody. your sports minute on this wednesday morning begins with nationals. last night it wasn't pretty. the nationals gave up seven runs in the fourth inning, gave up sixth in the seventh. just part of what the dodgers did to the nats. with two games left against los angeles, it's going to be near impossible for the nationals to avoid losing their 100th game, possibly as soon as tonight. the national fall to the dodgers 14-2. in toronto the orioles were trying to end a five-game losing streak. it wasn't meant to be. the bullpen couldn't hold a 5-2 lead. aaron hill doubled with one on. jose bautista scored as the blue jays get the 6-5 walk-off win. the redskins are back on the field preparing for sunday's game in detroit. yesterday the team officially ended guard randy thomas's season by placing him on the injured reserve list.

in a curious move, the redskins filled the extra roster spot by adding running back anthony aldridge. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great time. 6:31. time for weather an traffic on the 1s. starting off wednesday morning feeling more like summertime than autumn. warm and muggy conditions. on radar there is a shower to the west of charlottesville near waynesboro in the central shenandoah valley heading towards stanton over the next few minutes. elsewhere don't have any precipitation. we have quite a bit of cloudiness with temperatures in the 60s to near 70. we'll stay muggy throughout the day with highs reaching the low 80s. tomorrow warmer than average, low and mid 80s. partly cloudy. turning less humid during the afternoon. much cooler friday and saturday. morning lows 50s. afternoon highs only near 7 o 0s. clouding up saturday afternoon

and saturday evening. maybe showers saturday night through midday sunday. drying out sunday afternoon. still cool. highs near 70s. a bit warmer as we dry out monday and tuesday. that's the way it looks right now with our weather. back the you, barbara and joe. let's go to ashley linder who is looking at the traffic for us today. what's it look like out there? >> good morning. certainly an interesting morning. 270, nothing too bad going on here. as you can see, normal volume delays. it's going to be slow from 109 or just before that point headed down towards the truck scales, but then e beyond that towards the beltway, the pace looks a lot better. elsewhere is where we've got real problems. traveling around town, the outer loop we had earlier accidents all of which has been cleared. slow through college park toward silver spring. now accident activity report at central avenue, blocking the left lane in both direction, involves a police cruiser. expect a heavy police presence with this one and delays. back to you. what first lady michelle obama thinks about all of her

husband's female fans. you have to see this story. the close call for

he's been called the political rock star. president obama apparently had his share of groupies on the campaign trail.

it's reported that women used to grab his back side, at least that's the word from a new book called "barack and michelle: portrait of an american marriage." mrs. obama wanted those women to back off. even though she wasn't pleased by all the attention, it's reported her husband was. according to the book, the first lady said, he's loving it, he's a man, isn't he? the white house declined to comment. >> as will i. in an ordinary trip to the convenient store turns to anything but ordinary for one washington state child who prably escaped death by inches. the little girl is walking into the store when a car slams into poles in front of the store, goes airport and seems to land on top of the child. it would have crushed her against the wall. here is the amazing part. it did not and the girl was not even injured. the woman driving the car is charged with reckless driving and driving with a suspended license.

our time 6:27. coming up next at 6:30, we'll go live to new york to preview president obama's speech to the u.n. general assembly and the world. new this m

the world is watchi. today all eyes are on president obama when he addresses the u.n. general assembly. what he's expected today about the war in afghanistan, climate change and other topics. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it is wednesday, september 23rd, 2009. we'll talk about the weather. the first full day of autumn, as we get going, a lot of cloudiness. we have one shower west of charlottesville near waynesboro and stanton. elsewhere, no precipitation. we have low crowds around, temperatures are muggy, in the 60s to near 70 degrees. we'll stay humid today. it's near 70 near eastern shore. much cooler in the mountains of west virginia. only in the 50s there. a chance of a passing shower

later today. still warm tomorrow. small chance of a shower. much cooler friday and saturday. look at sunday and first part of next week in ten minutes. >> thanks very much tom. let's go to ashley linder. taking a look at the roadways. we have problems. we are starting with issues. 95 northbound, no accidents to report. it's going to be heavy out of woodbridge towards lorton. here we're looking at springfield continuing towards 395. along 395 spotty delays towards duke street. across the 14th in good shape. the accident at central avenue has been cleared over to the shoulder. but it's still got a heavy police presence. so do expect delays and a lot of flooshing lights with one. president obama is in new york where he'll make his first address before the u.n. general assembly. the speech this morning is part of a busy day for the commander in chief. he'll also take part in a wreath-laying ceremony before attending a luncheon. he'll meet with japan's new

prime minister as well as russia's president. he and michelle obama will host a reception foreheads of state at the metropolitan museum of art. michelle franzen joins us more with more on the president's u.n. address. good morning. certainly a busy day ahead. already a whirlwind visit for the president in the days before this speech. he had a whirlwind visit with high level talks and also speeching will be his major speech and first here at the u.n. as president and the world will be watching. >> reporter: this morning president barack obama addresses 130 heads of state at the un general assembly, his first as president on the un world stage, and a speech expected to mark a change in foreign policy from his predecessor george w. bush. the speech follows a night of diplomatic mingling with world leaders, a speech at former president bill clinton's global initiative and a marathon day of high-level talks. in an effort to jump start the

middle east peace process, president obama brokered a meeting between israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu and palestinian leader mahmoud abbas. he urged both leaders to move forward on ending the violence and creating two separate states. >> it's past time to stop talking about starting negotiations and time to move forward. >> reporter: another issue on the president's agenda, how the un security council should handle iran's growing defiance on developing its nuclear program. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad is expected to address world leaders. moammar kadafi is creating controversy on his visit in the u.s., setting up a tent in the posh up state community bedford, new york. obama's un debut and focus leads up to the g-20 summit in pittsburgh. at the same time he's faced with uphill battles at home, a

growing opposition to the wars in iraq and afghanistan and whether to send more troops along with the ongoing debate over health care. key domestic and foreign issues that could end up defining obama's presidency. certainly the president's scheduled won't slow down either today or tomorrow after he wraps up here at the u.n., he heads to pittsburgh. barbara? >> thanks a lot, michelle. president obama appeared on "the late show" with david letter after appearing on five sunday morning political shows. are americans getting obama fatigue? a new nbc "wall street journal" poll finds 34% of people think they see and hear the president too much. 54% say it's the right amount. if you ask people who voted for mccain, 63% of them y they've seen too much of the president. iranian president mahmoud

ahmadinejad is urging president obama to see iran as a friend, not as a potential foe. ahmadinejad is in new york to address the general assembly today. he and the president are not expected to cross paths. the iranian leader sa he expects he'll seek a quick resolution to the case of three american hikers currently in custody in the iran. new today. democrat creigh deeds is pushing his transportation plan with an editorial in this morning's "washington post." deeds says investing in transportation will help virginia's economy. as governor, deeds says he will reduce congestion in northern virginia, offer tell communing and flex time t credits. deeds says he will appoint a bipartisan commission to decide how to 23u7bd the plan. he says all options are on the table including tax increases. he blasts republican bob

mcdonnell's refusal to raise taxes to fund transportation projects. happening today, a teenager accused of hoarding weapons an bomb making materials in his parents bethesda home is expected to plead guilty. 19-year-old colin mckenzie gude is back in federal court. his attorney says theeen will plead guilty to possessing a destructive device. investigators say he has fake cia identification and a map of camp david in his room. gude's lawyers says his client never intended to hurt anyone. he faces the possibility of ten years in prison. prince george's county police are investigating a violent home invasion this morng. this happened around 10:30 last night in the forest heights area. an armed suspect approached two women in a car and forced them into their apartment in the 700 block of audrey lane. he then told them to get into a closet while he stole items from inside the apartment. california crews are battling a fast-moving wildfire

that has already spread to 8,500 acres. hot, dry winds are fueling those flames. some residents in the city of moore park have been evacuated. right now the fire is about 10% contained. crews are using jets and helicopters to fight the flames from the air. governor arnold schwarzenegger has also declared a state of emergency. 6:37, 71 degrees. the federal reserve meets today. we'll talk with cnbc to see whether it will make any policy changes now that it appears we are moving out of a recession. the new safety recommendation it is ntsb wants metro to make now following june's deadly metro crash. find out whether any relief

time for weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning. it's 6:41. a muggy 71 degrees in washington, montgomery, fairfax, prince george's arlington county ins the 60s to near 70. warm and muggy all around the ren region. except the mountains, cooler there. highs today low 80s. rather humid. small chance of a passing shower. partly cloudy tomorrow, still warm, low to mid 80s. turning less humid thursday and

friday evening. much cooler with the sunshine around. showers moveing in saturday night through sunday and drying out sunday afternoon into the first part of next week. ashley linder, how's the traffic? >> good morning. starting off slow. outer loop slows from college park in towards silver spring. we had earlier accidents that got things kicked into high gear. speaking of accidents on the belted way, not here, but on the inner loop of the beltway at central avenue, it was affecting both sides of the roadway, but now just on the inner loop. all of your travel lanes are open. it's going to be on the brakes off and on as you make your way from st. barnabas road. on the inner loop at central, left lane blocked. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. a pair of banks are changing their rules for overdrafting and reducing the charges. the. the ntsb issues urgent safety recommendations to metro following june's deadly crash.

it's been three months since that deadly crash on metro's red line. now the national transportation safety board has come out with a new list of safety recommendations it wants the transit agency to follow. there are nine recommendations for metro and the manufacturer of its train detecting circuits. the safety board considers six of those to be urgent. most of the concerns center around the safety of the train control systems that detect the presence of trains on the tracks. megan mcgrath joins us from the tacoma metro station with more. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. for some time we've been hearing how investigators are focusing on track circuits. what they have found has raised concerns there could be a similar accident on other rail systems that rely on the same technology that has prompted the ntsb to unveil new nationwide

safety recommendations. investigators have stopped short of naming the exact cause of june's deadly metro collision. but problems found with the audio frequency track circuits have prompted the ntsb to issue urgent nationwide recommendations to all transit systems using the same technology. ntsb chairman debbie hersman issued a statement saying, quote, our findings so far indicate a pressing need to issue these recommendations to immediately address safety glitches we have found that could lead to another tragic accident on wamatta or another transit or rail system. metro's general manager, john catoe says they have already taken safety precautions. >> we're operating in manual mode. two, we're running analysis of all of our circuits. if we detect a problems with the circuits themselves, we put that section of the track into absolute block and we go out and make immediate adjustments. >> reporter: investigators say the track circuit sent a false

signal that prevented the stopped train from being detected on the tracks. the ntsb is asking metro and all transit systems that rely on the same type of circuit technology to examine their track circuits. a good idea say riders at the tacoma station. >> i think it's good they're looking into this. this problem could happen in other places as well as it happened here. so it's a good thing. >> i am concerned that it could happen again, and it could happen elsewhere. i'm hoping that metro has enough funds to take care of it properly. i don't want to think that those nine lives were sacrificed in vein. >> reporter: so the investigation into the deadly crash continues. it's unclear how long it will take investigators to pinpoint the exact cause and release their conclusion. again, barbara, it looks like they are continuing to focus on those track circuits. it's taking a broader scope here, has an impact not just

here on metro's operations, but on rail systems across the country now. back to you, barbara. >> thank you very much, megan. metro's board is expected to approve a contract to repair the electronic doors on all of its 1000 series rs. a metro spokesperson tells "the washington post" it will take up to three years to fix all 1800 units. train operators have been manually opening and closing those doors since april of 2008 when a malfunction started causing them to open on the wrong side. metro eventually plans to eliminate the 1000 series cars which were involved in june's deadly crash. metro says it will not make any scial changes after that nation-wide terror alert. the warning went out around the country. it didn't mention a specific threat. it sd terrorists are setting their sights on public places like transit systems and sports stadiums. tracee wilkins joins us live from the verizon center where more on how authorities are responding. >> reporter: it doesn't get more public than 7th and 8th street.

here we have all the areas that have been targeted or are possible tarts according to the new warnings. we have a hotel here. right over here we have the verizon center and gallery place, chinatown metro station. these are all areas that have been put on high alert. here in d.c. we were targets at 9/11. we're the capital of the united states. it's understandable why so many people say they'll feel more comfortable with high security. from sports stadiums to entertainment complexes to hotels and the railways. counterterrorism officials are warning to be on the alert. the ever drk expanding warning follows the arrest of three terrorists who believe may have been planning an attack in new york using backpack bombs. fbi officials say there could be other possible terroris connected to this group. unidentified official sources have leaked that if there are others planning to carry out attacks, it may be with backpack bombs. metro officials have already

stepped up their security during the 9/11 attacks. some of the change is visuals. others, not so much. >> at this time we're not going to be implementing any bag searches in our system. our transit officers spend a good deal of time in our system. if they see anything of concern, they take steps to investigate that further. >> reporter: passengers we talked to say high visibility makes them feel better during high alerts. >> i feel safer, given that there's a higher alert than noal and there are police, yeah. >> seems like they're taking action. they're stepping up initiatives so nothing happens. >> at national stadium last night, sports fans underwent the same kind of security they would on any other night. bags were checked as everyone entered including employees. >> not going into the stadiums in the past where they've had alerts on. i've always felt safe. they check bags and are pretty thorough in their security. i feel very safe. >> according to the warnings, al qaeda training manuals have identified these areas as accessible and also areas of

amusement and immortality. i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning downtown. back to you in the studio. >> tracee, thanks very much. today the fv will meet. the big question is whether the reserve board will make changes now it appears we're exiting the recession. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us. investors playing that hurry up and wait game today as we wait for word from the fed which does wrap up its two-day policy meeting this afternoon. the central bank is widely expected to say the recession is likely over and the economy is improving. but rising unemployment and tight credit conditions will still make for a slow rebound. the fed is also expected to leave interest rates at historic lows. bank of america and jpmorgan chase are capping overdraft fees ahead of credit and debit card reforms that take full effect in february. starting next month bank of america will no longer charge fees when a customer's account is overdrawn by less than $10 in one day and will limit the

number of times the fee can be charged to four per day. early next year chase will make overdraft protection option for all customers and post transactions to accounts as they occur. i think those changes will be good for consumers. that's a good change. back to you. >> thank you very much, courtney. we'll see you later today. >> see you then. to that severe flooding in the southeastern part of the yuntds states. right now waters are begin inin to recede. look at this video. the full extent of the damage is becoming quite apparent. the death toll from this massive flooding in georgia has now reached nine. many residents are now homeless and damages are estimated in the hundreds of millions of dollars. georgia's governor is now asking president obama to declare a state of emergency. let's get a look outside right now. meteorologist tom keesh is joining us to talk about the forecast. really feels like a touch of summer coming back. >> it is. you'll be able to wear your jimmy buffett parrot head shirt

today, the one with the palm trees and the tropical flowers. unless you're a supreme court justice, you have to wear the black robe over that maybe. here we go. take a look outside. we do have the clouds that are hanging in over washington now. and as we look at the radar, we don't have any precipitation here locally. but we do have a few showers far to our south and west looking at the radar now, we can see that -- we have a few showers southwest and west of charlottesville, but not here locally. temperatures are in the 60s to near 70 degrees from the shenandoah valley all the way to the at llantic beaches. montgomery, fairfax, prince george's, arlington counties in the upper 60s. 71 in washington and near 70 on the eastern shore. much cooler in the mountains. over the last six hours, we've seen a few showers here, north carolina. they have made it up into parts of south central and southwestern virginia, and there is a small chance we could have a few of these passing showers later on today. could be flight delays again

houston to new orleans with heavy rain later today. maybe more rain unfortunately for georgia, alabama, all the waup to the tennessee valley to the ohio valley. maybe snow again out in colorado. maybe flight delays there and rain for northern new england. well, i visited the heather hills elementary school yesterday in prince george's county, and i want to give a shout out to the staff and all the students there. had a wonderful time at the heather hills elementary school in buoy. and there is a part of the group there, wonderful, terrific group of students. smart and bright and alert and asked great questions. we had a terrific time. i really enjoyed my visit to the heather hills elementary school in prince george's county in buoy. what a wonderful group of bright, happy faces. here is the bus stop forecast for this morning. we'll have a warm, summer-like morning. muggy and in the upper 60s, low 70s, partly sunny with a light breeze. sunrise is faw minutes away.

rest of the day partly sunny. rather humid, a small chance of a passing shower. more of the same tomorrow. ought to be turning less humid in the afternoon. much cooler on friday and saturday with highs only near 70 as the sunshine returns. clouding up again saturday night. could have showers saturday night and through midday sunday and drying out sunday afternoon into the first part of next we're. that's the way it looks on this wednesday morning. >> let's go back to ashley linder to take another look at the roadways out there. we have had our problems this morning. >> you're telling me. things are pretty bad out there. definitely a couple of roadways to be avoided. 270 at farther hurley, very heavy as you make your way southbound. those corporate towards your beltway. as far as virginia is concerned, 66 is a mess today. if you are head ed ed in the eastbound direction, looking at substantial delays. this is because between the virginia visitors center and 29, there was an accident on the left shoulder, but delays very heavy out of manassas and slow through centreville all the way to the beltway.

barbara and joe, back to you. checking our top stories this morning, president obama will deliver his first speech to the u.n. general assembly adds president today. he's expected to call for help from other countries in helping solve the world's problems. mahmoud ahmadinejad will also address the assembly today. but the president and ahmadinejad's paths are not expected to cross. vice president joe biden will hold a health care town hall meeting at leisure world this morning. the montgomery county community is home to some 8,500 residents above the age of 50. he'll be joined by barbara mikulski and ben cardin and health and human services chairman kathleen sebelius. the meeting is only open to leisure world residents. the ntsb has come out with a new list of safety recommendations it wants metro to follow. there are nine new recommendations. the safety board considers six of those to be urgent. most of the concerns center

around the safety of the train control systems that detect the presence of trains on the tracks. nominate a news4 morning person today. we want to know who makes your day special in the early morning hours. e-mail that person's story along with a clear close-up picture or a video to morningperson@nbcwashington.com, and we'll try to recognize them on the air. that is "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> have a terrific day. we'll see you in the morning. join us. we have a dirty little secret and health alert for women. find out what's in your purse, what could be making you sick. >> bye.