>> reporter: why do you wear heels in the workplace? >> because they're professional. you don't want to be in flats. >> that was sarah haynes reporting. what do you think about heels? do you like high heels? >> i do. i think more women notice women's high heels than men do, i think. >> really? >> do you know what kind of shoes i'm wearing right now? no. >> none. she's wearing no shoes. >> that's true. stay with us, everyone. news 4 at 5:00 a.m. continues in just a moment. traffic alert. thousands of people are expected to gather in downtown washington. what they're doing in the nation's capital and how it's going to affect your morning rush. >> homegrown terror. the fbi foils plots to cause mayhem in several cities across the country. what we're now learning about the suspects and their motives. >> a chaotic scene.

police in riot gear face off with demonstrators in pittsburgh. why tensions remain high ahead of the second day of the g-20 summit. >> good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. shoeless on friday, september 25th, 2009. we're glad you're with us this morning. looking outside, we have some clouds. we've got some rain falling, too, out there. tom will tell us if that will be the case throughout the weekend. good morning, tom. >> i say wear shoes. it is rather a cool and damp this morning. looking at the radar at this hour, we do have some light rain scattered across northern virginia, maryland, the district and west virginia this morning and it's a cool morning. we're in the 60s to near 70 degrees. now 69 in washington. and it's in the upper 60s eastern shore, mid-60s out in the mountains. we do have some other scattered showers moving from west to east that will be with us here through the morning but then we dry out this afternoon, a little sunshine breaking out as highs will be in the 60s. in fact we're in the 70s now,

drop to the 60s by later on this morning and into the afternoon. 50s by dawn tomorrow, maybe some more showers saturday afternoon and evening, into sunday morning. drying out sunday afternoon, maybe some showers monday afternoon. a look into next week in ten minutes at 5:11. >> thank you, tom. >> thank you very much. let's go to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. good morning to you. >> do you have on shoes, ashley? >> i actually don't, shockingly enough. see, i'm a sock person. i just like the feel of feet in the -- in the element, their natural element. >> i agree with you, ashley. >> as long as they don't smell. all righty. taking a trip around town right now very quiet. 270, no problems coming out of clarksburg as you make your way past father hurley, toward the beltway. all lanes are open. capital beltway is in great shape, so is 395 and the 95 corridor in both maryland and virginia now. back to you. >> thank you, ashley linder. we'll be back to you in ten minutes. >> work on the dulles metrorail project shut down part of the beltway overnight. both directions of the beltway

at chain bridge road in tysons corner were intermittently closed for up to 30 minute at time. the closures gave crews the chance to move overhead power lines. all lanes and ramps should be back open at this time. a muslim prayer service is expected to draw thousands of people to capitol hil today. if you work or travel in that area you could run into some big delays. >> that's right. ha service will take place on the west front of the capitol building, although no street closures are in place, city officials say they will shut some streets down in the crowd gets too big. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from capitol hill with more now. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. this is an all-day prayer event. they're expecting several thousand people to attend, so there is the possibility that because of all of the pedestrian traffic that they may have to do what they call sort of rolling street closures, close things down for a little while to allow some of the pedestrians to make their way across some o the streets around the capital to

attend they're vent. we are at maryland avenue and 3rd street. this is one of the areas that could be impacted as people begin to gather. all is quiet right now. we're not seeing much activity at all but that is expected to change as the day wears on here. now, daruhl islam is holding a prayer event. the main event is at 1:00 this afternoon but there are smaller prayer gatherings scheduled for this morning and later in the evening. the organization behd this was hoping for 50,000 people. what we're being told by transportation officials is that they're expecting at least 10,000 people to attend. so, a big crowd here. again, that could have a traffic impact in our area so people are going to be wanting to be aware of that. let's take a look at some of the streets that could be impacted if we see a lot of pedestrian traffic. maryland avenue from 1st to 3rd street in southwest. pennsylvania avenue from 1st to 3rd street in northwest.

and also 1st street from independence to constitution avenue. this is along the route that ny folks will be walking to get to this prayer service. again, because of the volume of pedestrian traffic, we could start seeing some closures beginning later on this morning. now, there is an organizer who's a part of this event that has attracted some controversy and that could cut down on the numbers. i'll have more on that coming up in the next half hour. back to you, barbara, joe. >> okay. thank you, megan. >> thanks, megan. >> ruth bader ginsburg is waking up this morning in the hospital. the supreme court justice became sick in her chambers yesterday afternoon about an hour after receiving a treatment for iron deficiency. the 76-year-old ginsburg felt faint and lightheaded which are possible side effects of the treatment. she was taken to the hospital as a precaution. and senator robert byrd is home from the hospital this morning. the 91-year-old west virginia democrat was released two days after falling at his northern virginia home. tests after that fall revealed a

high white blood cell count. byrd's office says he'll continue receiving antibiotics and recovering at home before returning to capitol hill for debate on health care reform. >> today leaders from the world's richest nations will meet again in pittsburgh for the g-20 summit. in today's session, president obama will push for continued economic stimulus. the world leaders will also focus on new rules, such as limiting banker bonuses to prevent another crisis. before traveling to pittsburgh, president obama led discussions at the u.n. he won passage of a resolution demanding that north korea and iran not build nuclear weapons. >> this is not about singling out individual nations. it is about standing up for the rights of all nations who do live up to their responsibilities. the world must stand together. >> last night -- rather, meanwhile in pittsburgh, police are dealing with hundreds of protesters because of the g-20 summit. at one point, officers had to use pepper gas to control the crowds. last night there were about 20

arrests. >> the state of massachusetts will swear in a new u.s. senator today. yesterday, massachusetts governor deval patrick named former democratic party chairman paul kirk to fill the seat that was held for nearly a half century by the late edward kennedy. kirk will be sworn in this afternoon. however, he will only be senator for a few months. a special election for a permanent replacement will be held in january. kirk has said he will not run for the office during the special election. >> well, a terror plot in our area. three men are charged with planning to murder service members at quantico marine base. among them a so-called american jihadist. daniel patrick boyd was arrested in north carolina but he grew up in northern virginia. he even attended t.c. williams high school. now boyd, his 20-year-old son and another man are charged with plotting against quantico. investigators say the group surveilled the base and had maps of it. >> now we know what his target was, the marine corps base at

quantico. the question is whether or not he had the capability to do anything significant. we're talking about automatic weapons, things like that. could he have killed people? certainly. >> in july, boyd and five others were arrested in north carolina. they were charged with plotting terror attacks in foreign countries. investigators say they seized two dozen guns and more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition from his home. >> a teen is in custody accused of plotting to bomb a downtown dallas skyscraper. fbi agents arrested 19-year-old hosam maher husein smadi yesterday during the fountain place building. in they say he place have had what turned out to be a decoy car bomb near the office tower. the fbi says smadi is a jordanian citizen in the u.s. illegally. they do not believe he's associated with any other terrorists or organizations. >> 72 degrees. what you can do to get your hands on ticket force the king of pop's last dance. >> plus, why hollywood actor

randy quaid and his wife were arrested and had to bail themselves out of jail. >> dozens of people arrested for masterminding a mortgage fraud scheme in fairfax county.

weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning now at 5:11 on this friday morning. our radar is showing some scattered light rain across west virginia, maryland, virginia, the district of columbia this morning. temperatures are cool. they're in the mid and upper 60s

to near 70 degrees. now 69 in washington. some other showers in the west virginia, they'll be rumbling through over the next couple of hours. we should dry out a bit into the afternoon. highs reaching the low 70s, 60s this evening and 50s tomorrow morning. we'll be in the mid-60s and likely showers all the way into saturday evening and lingering through sunday morning. sun back sunday afternoon and a bit warmer. might have a passing shower monday afternoon. small chance of that. some autumn like fresh and cool weather moves in for tuesday through much of the week next week. now, ashley linder, good morning. how's the friday commute? >> starting off quietly and that's the way we like to bring in friday. here we're looking at the dulles toll road and 28. 28 is headed down toward the left side of your screen. as you can see, volume not a big issue through that area. if you're traveling down 270 this early morning, just a couple of cars commuting along with you. no real volume right now as you make your way toward the capital beltway. barbara and joe, back to you.

>> thank you very much. >> our time is now 12 minutes after 5:00. lack of knowdge, why parents may want to think twice before spanking their child. >> plus, accusations of bribery at city hall. next at 5:15, why d.c. council member's chief of staff is now under scrutiny.

bribery in city hall.

those are the accusations facing a d.c. council member's chief of staff. ted loza is facing federal charges, accused of taking money to promote taxi legislation. he worked for jim graham for more than a decade and now the council member himself is consulting with an attorney. chris gordon reports. >> reporter: fbi agents executed a search warrant in the offices of city council member jim graham, focusing on the desk of the chief of staff, ted loza, computer files and the council's server. loza was arrested thursday morning and charged with accepting cash for promoting legislation favorable to an individual and his associates in the taxicab industry. loza pleaded not guilty and was released from custody, promising to remain in the district of columbia. >> we fully believe that once all the evidence has been put in front of a jury that he will be completely vindicated. >> reporter: the indictment charges loza with accepting a $1,000 bribe on june 19th from an individual seeking a moratorium on taxicab licenses,

making them more valuable. but granting him and his associates an exception for more hybrid taxis. on june 29th that iividual met with loza's boss, councilman jim graham, who said he would introduce the bill the next day. the indictment says on july 10th, loza presented a copy of the taxicab legislation to that person, identified in the indictment as individual number 1 who said this is for you, and thank you very much. individual number 1 handed $500 in cash to loza, who is quoted as saying, you know i need it. that's why i take it, you know. councilman graham placed loza on administrative leave, pending the outcome of the investigation. have you consulted with or hired an attorney with regard to any of this? >> well, i'm concerned about the -- i was very concerned about the allegations which i heard just very recently, and so i did consult with an attorney. >> reporter: you feel nothing was done on your behalf? >> no, i was engaged in no way

in any part of this. i was not knowledgeable about it. there is nothing -- there was no impact of these allegations on any legislation. >> reporter: this is chris gordon, "news 4 today." >> and graham says loza didn't work on legislation. he handled constituent services in ward 1. many people in the d.c. government are asking whether the investigation is going to grow larger. >> epitomize leadership. these have been very difficult times as you have stated. >> there won't be any changes at the top spot at metro despite a challenging year for the transit agency. the metro board has voted to extend general manager john catoe's contract another three years. metro leaders have been criticized following a deadly train crash, big budget shortfalls and service delays this summer. despite the criticism, board members say now is not the same to change. >> well, 20 people are facing charges in connection with what police and fbi agents are calling a massive mortgage fraud

scheme in fairfax county. investigators say as many as 200 properties worth more than $100 millio may have been involved in the scheme. police say the masterminds were finding unqualified buyers and padding their bank accounts so they could get large home loans. once the homes were purchased, investigators say they then tore them down, turned them into mcmansions and resold them to other straw buyers. then, according to "the washington post," they were turned into boarding houses for a dozen or more people. neighbors often complained about the large homes popping up. >> they smelled a rat, and they were right. the magnitude of it is enormous. there were many times during the investigation that we could have stopped where we were and let this out but we wanted to make sure we rounded up all the people involved in this. >> the masterminds of the scheme will be prosecuted in federal court and could face up to 30 years in prison. >> also in fairfax county, a major business expansion could bring more than 1,500 new jobs to the area.

governor tim kaine was in mclean yesterday when saic officials announced they would move their headquarters to the county. the move could create about 1200 new jobs and other companies could create more than 330 jobs. forbes.com labeled virginia the best state to do business for the fourth year in a row. >> for the second year in a row the nationals hit the century mark. that is not a good thing. >> last night they became the first team this season to hit 10losses. for the second year in a row. here's dan hellie with the morning's sports minute. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute begins with the nationals who lost their 100th game of the season last night. the nats almost rallied back from a 4-0 deficit but one play cost them big-time. in the bottom of the eighth, nats down one run, ian desmond sends thshot to right. here comes willie harris. the nats send him home. not a good move. harris out by a mile.

the nationals fall 7-6 and that's it. they lose game number 100 for the second straight year. turning now to football and we know there is a changing of the guard at redskins park. we just don't know what that change will be. jim zorn says he will decide on randy thomas' replacement today. either will montgomery or chad rinehart will be the team's new starting right guard. in terms of experience, the redskins not choosing from a horn of plenty. preseason hockey, caps on the road against the rangers. aucoin tied the game at 2 in the second period but then in the third, the rangers get a soft goal when higgins pokes it in for the game-winner. the rangers edge the capitals 3-2. the caps open up the regular season next thursday. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great friday. >> spanking your children might do more than just sting their bottoms. a university of new hampshire professor says his research shows children who are spanked

have lower i.q.s. the study tested the i.q.s of a group of young children and retested them four years later. the kids who were spanked had i.q.s three to five points lower than kids who were not spanked. >> now i got an excuse for why my i.q. is not so good. let's go to tom kierein now in storm center 4, get a look at our forecast. >> your dad knocked the sense out of you? >> i think he did. >> good morning. we've had some light rain moving through over the last couple of hours, predawn light rain across much o western northern virginia, west virginia, the district and maryland this morning. it's cool, now 69 in washington, mid-60s farther west and north, near 70s northern maryland, around the bay. over the last six hours, other showers moving through the ohio valley may drift through for the next couple of hours but by late morning we ought to dry out. be in the low 70s. drop back into the 60s by mid to late afternoon. 50s by tomorrow morning. clouding up in the afternoon. looks like a wet afternoon for

all the college games and high school games tomorrow. highs mid-60s. maybe some more showers saturday night through sunday morning, then drying out sunday afternoon, highs in the 70s. small chance of a passing shower monday afternoon, then drying out with cool autumn weather tuesday through thursday next week. ashley linder, good morning. how's the friday traffic? >> good morning. we are starting off pretty quietly. 95 as you make your way out of dumfries headed toward the capital beltway, no sign of heavy volume as of yet. capital beltway in great shape. no issues as you leave springfield, headed through tysons and toward the american legion bridge. speaking of, look what we have there, the american legion bridge. as i was saying, those headlights are on the inner loop continuing toward 270. doing just fine. no problems out of maryland. 270 starting to get volume around 109 but not too bad right now. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thanks very much. our time is 5:22, 72 degrees. this is it. your last chance to see michael jackson on stage. how you can get your hands on tickets to the king of pop's new movie. >> also hollywood actor and his

wife arrested for not paying a $10,000 hotel bill. >> and a reminder, news 4's always connect todd on you facebook and twitter. you can find us on either site by going there, logging in, then searching news4today, one word.

randy quaid and his wife are free this morning after spending several hours in a texas jail. authorities in california say the couple skipped out on a $10,000 hotel bill in santa barbara county. the two were booked in the west texas town of marif a on felony warrants of burglary, defrauding an inn keeper and conspiracy. >> being billed as one final chance to see the king of pop. dozens of fans are lining up in los angeles for tickets to the new michael jackson documentary called "this is it." it's a behind the scenes look at the pop star as he got ready for the concert that's were scheduled for london. jackson, of course, died on june 25th and the shows never happened. the rehearsal is the last we'll see of it. tickets won't go on sale until early sunday morning so fans already in line will probably be waiting for days. >> our time is 5:26. we have breaking news.

a deadly attack in southern afghanistan, and u.s. troops are dead. >> the unrest and disruption protests in pittsburgh ahead of the g-20 summit. >> reporter: and a prayer event called islam on capitol hill could disrupt traffic this morning. i'm megan mcgrath. the details coming up in a live

roadblock. the thousands of people gathering in the district and how it will affect your commute this morning. >> tensions rising.

the outburst and unrest in the streets of pittsburgh ahead of the g-20 summit. >> thwarted plot. how the fbi uncovered terrorist plans to target skyscrapers and a local military base. >> good morning and happy friday. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. it is friday, it's the 25th day of september, 2009. live look outside this morning. got some clouds and some rain falling around the region. 69 degrees right now. see whether that's going to continue and how widespread it might be. tom? >> let's ask tom. he's right here. good morning. >> our summer and september weather is over as it turned more autumn like overnight with a northeast wind. we've got some scattered light rain across much of northern virginia, maryland, the district of columbia this morning. it's turned cooler. we're now in the mid and upper 60s. 69 in washington. mid-60s farther west and north. near 70 right near the bay,

northern neck and the eastern shore. the wider view showing some other showers out in central west virginia, southern pennsylvania. those will be drifting through here for the next couple of hours. then some sunshine back this afternoon, low 70s, dropping into the 60s by late afternoon and overnight tonight down into the 50s by dawn tomorrow. maybe some showers tomorrow afternoon and evening. actually a likelihood. may linger into sunday morning, then drying out sunday afternoon. a small chance of a shower late on monday. a look into next week coming up in ten minutes. >> thank you, tom. >> let's go to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. this rain affecting traffic much? looks like it. >> it's not too bad. the roadways are slick, but we've got an accident here. no word on whether it was caused by the rain. judging by the roadways there, doesn't look too slick. be that as it may, we have the two left lanes blocked through this area. this is the inner loop at central avenue. coming from greenbelt expect -- it just occurred so we don't have substantial delays yet but they'll start to creep back toward 202 here shortly. out of springfield, volume light

continuing toward 395. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> officers firing tear gas into the air in pittsburgh to disperse crowds of protesters. demonstrators clashed with police. they're protesting the g-20 summit taking place in the steel city. more than 50 people have been locked up. >> well, despite the chaotic scene in the streets, the leaders of the group of 20 nations will meet this morning. >> and this morning, a major announcement is expected at the request of president obama. brooke hart is live with a look at what's happening today at the summit. good morning, brooke. >> reporter: good morning to you. that's right. president obama will make the announcement this morning from pittsburgh that the g-20 will take on some new responsibility. in fact, primary responsibility when it comes to the world economy. taking that over from the g-8, president obama wanted to streamline these summits. this particular one doesn't have

the feel of economic crisis as the other two this past year as world leaders try to keep a fragile recovery on track. the obamas welcomed g-20 leaders to pittsburgh, a group that today will claim the role of board of directors of the world economy. included are economic heavyweights china, india and brazil. treasury secretary tim geithner said a shift in their say makes sense. >> given the change of balance of activity in the world and have that shift occur to those countries who have been for a substantial period of time among the most rapidly grong countries in the world. >> reporter: the news puts pressure on host president obama to produce results. there are calls for g-20 nations to phase out subsidy for fossil fue fuels, a move aimed to combat climate change, and to limit bonuses paid to banker in order to curb huge risk-taking. the u.s.s on board with new rules. >> we want them to take effect now so the effect compensation practice today, not tomorrow and

that they bring about reforms in compensation by the end of this calendar year. >> reporter: not far from the g-20 talks, protests overnight heated up. police used pepper spray and smoke to disperse the crowd. some demonstrators marched against capitalism and caused damage at nearby banks. some downtown businesses were ready for it and easterly youier boarded up. >> people walking around, vendors. no one's coming around. it's like a ghost town today. >> reporter: by morning, protests had led to some arrests. as for those compensation rules, secretary geithner said they will involve separate standards for each country. some european nations had wanted to set specific limits on some bonuses they see u.s. banks returning to now. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. back to you. >> thank you, brooke. >> reporter: you're welcome. >> five more american troops have been killed in what has become the deadliest year in the war in afghanistan. the department of defense says four soldiers and a marine died in three separate incidents.

the top general has asked for more troops in the war torn country. a request the obama administration is now considering. >> supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is in the hospital this morning after feeling sick in her chambers yesterday. the 76-year-old ginsburg had received a treatment for iron deficiency at her office and began feeling faint and lightheaded about an hour after that. those are both possible side effects of the treatment. ginsburg, who had a small malignant growth removed from her pancreas back in february, was taken to the hospital as a precaution. >> well, thousands of people are expected to gather outside the capitol building today for a muslim prayer service. that could affect a lot of folks who travel through the area. the service will take place on the west front of the capitol building, although there are no street closures in place yet, district officials say they will shut down some streets if the crowd gets too large. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from capitol hill now with more. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, joe.

the main event doesn't happen for a few hours but there are smaller prayer services scheduled throughout the day and they're expecting a big crowd here. as you said, that could impact traffic. we're down here at 3rd street and maryland avenue and you can see that all is quiet right now. we're really not seeing anybody gathering or any activity at this point, but we're still a few hours away from the main event. now, darul islam has scheduled a prayer event called islam on capitol hill. they're going to be praying on the west side of the capitol, the main prayer event is going to take place at 1:00 this afternoon, but there are smaller gatherings that are scheduled throughout the day as well. so transportation officials are telling motorists to expect a very heavy volume of pedestrian traffic around this area. there are no plans to actually shut down streets in any kind of permanent way here, but what they're going to do is monitor the crowd. they're expecting a lot of folks to be crossing the streets here

by the west side of the capitol. if there are too many pedestrians to do that safely, they will temporarily start closing streets to allow that flow of pedestrian traffic so that folks attending this event can actually get over onto the capitol grounds. here are the roads that could be impacted. maryland avenue between 1st and 3rd street in southwest. pennsylvania avenue from 1st to 3rd in northwest. and 1st street between independence and constition, again for what is expected to be a heavy flow of pedestrians. now, this event has generated some controversy. one of the organizers behind the event was on the defense team, the team that defended a man convicted of the 1993 world trade center bombing. he defended his past work, however, telling "the washington post" that he's a defense attorney. it's his job to uphold the constitutional rights of others. he also pointed to his work as a prosecutor in which he put criminals behind bars. i should also mention that there is a counter event that is

scheduled for today here on capitol hill as well. that's from a group called stop the islamization of america. they've planned their event to coincide with this prayer event. again, police and transportation officials are expecting a large crowd here, thousands of people to attend. they want people to be aware that there might be a lot of folks crossing the street. keep your speeds down and be prepared. there might be some street closures. joe, back to you. >> okay. megan, thanks very much. warning now f metro riders who plan to take the orange line this weekend. you may want to build an extra half hour into your ride if you'll be traveling between the cheverly and stadium-armory stations. trains will be sharing a single track because of track and bridge maintenance beginning tonight at 9:30. normal service should resume on monday morning. >> a sad note to pass ong this morning. the man affectionately known to many as big russ has died. he is the father of the late nbc news legend tim russert and grandfather of nbc's luke

russert. timothy joseph russert sr. died yesterday with his family by his side. the world got to know him through his son's 2004 best-selling book "big russ and me." in addition to being a father and grandfather, the family says he was a patriot and a friend. big russ was 85 years old. >> our time is now 5:38, 69 degrees. how the white house is now getting involved in the debate over texting and driving. >> also the warning for parents from virginia police before sending kids off to school. >> plus, a staffing shortage in maryland and how it could be putting your life at risk.

weather and traffic on the 1s. it's 5:41. good morning. now a cool 69 in washington. radar showing some scattered light showers moving west to east across west virginia, virginia, maryland, the district of columbia this morning. temperatures are in the mid and upper 60s to near 70. now 69 in washington and we have some other showers out in west virginia that may be drifting through over the next couple of hours. then as we get into the afternoon hours, some sun breaking out with temperatures falling out of the mid-70s by early afternoon, into the 60s by late afternoon and overnight tonight. then tomorrow a little sun in the morning, in the 50s. afternoon, clouds and a likelihood of passing showers into saturday night, perhaps lingering into sunday morning, drying out sunday afternoon. small chance of a passing shower monday afternoon. then drying out and cooling down tuesday, wednesday and thursday into next week. i'm back with the national travel forecast in ten minutes, barbara and joe. >> thanks very much, tom.

>> thank you, tom. the time now 5:42. why virginia police want parents to urge their kids to be vigilant on the way to the bus stop. >> plus, a pair of terror suspects arrested an charged. next at 5:45, their plan to attack a local military se.

good morning. welcome back. a terror attack at quantico. that's what investigators say three men were planning when they were arrested in north carolina. authorities called them homegrown terrorists. think say their ringleader actually has ties to northern virginia. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us now live from fbi headquarters with more on what authorities say the men were plotting. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. let's take a step back to this summer. you remember some old charges against daniel patrick boyd for allegedly plotting terrorism in the middle east with a group of men from this area, all of those men now being held in a virginia

prison. so, coming now, new charges of a potentially murderous plot against a virginia military base. the justice department reports the target, marine corps base quantico in virginia. the alleged plotter, 39-year-old daniel patrick boyd. boyd grew up in northern virginia, attended t.c. williams high school. a grand jury indictment announced in the eastern district of north carolina alleges boyd, his 20-year-old son zack and another man conspired to murder u.s. military personnel. it alleges boyd did surveillance of the marine corps base and obtained map of it. >> most important development today is now we know what his target was, the marine corps base at quantico. the question is whether or not he had the capability to do anything significant. we're talking about automatic weapons, things like that. could he have killed people? certainly. >> reporter: marine corps base officials released the following statement. in this case, quantico personnel worked closely with the ncis and fbi to assist in the investigation and protect

personnel. in july, boyd, two of his sons and five other men were charged north carolina with attempting to execute terrorist plots in foreign countries. at that time, there was not yet evidence of a u.s. target. >> there are opportunities for radicalization inside the united states, but they're few and far between. this is not part of a broader trend. >> reporter: now, the fbi said in this case its agent seized two dozen guns and 27,000 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition. the indictment says the plan was to kill americans. reporting live at fbi headquarters, i'm kimberly suiters, news 4. back to you. >> thanks very much. we are learning now more about an afghan immigrant accused of plotting a terrorist attack in the united states. prosecutors say that najibullah zazi and at least three other people shopped at denver area beauty products suppliers this summer and bought gallons of chemicals. those chemicals could be combined to make the same kinds of explosives used in the deadly

2005 bus and subway bombings in london. zazi faces new charges that could land him in prison for life if he is convicted. >> happening today, a special hearing after a devastating house fire that has put the district's fire hydrants under scrutiny. in july the northeast d.c. home of well-known washingtonian peggy cooper cafritz went up in flames. firefighters arrived in just five minutes after being called. the nearest working hydrants didn't have enough water pressure to fight back the flames. the city council's public safety committee is taking up the issue this morning at 9:30. >> parents in arlington are on alert today after a high school student was assaulted at a bus stop. a man attacked a 17-year-old girl yesterday morning at a bus stop in the 4200 block of fairfax drive. that's right next to the ballston metro stop. police say the victim was able to push the man off and run away after he tried to hug and kiss her. anyone with information is asked to call the police. well, a man is in jail this

morning after leading prince george's county police on a wild car chase. the incident began with a routine traffic stop in bladensburg. after several collisions, it ended on new york avenue near the d.c. line. police say the suspect threw a bag full of drugs into the anacostia river and then was trying to jump in himself before the officers stopped him. the suspect's 3-year-old son was in the back seat of the van during the entire chase. he was not injured. >> there's a staffing shortage in the prince george's county fire department and union leaders say it's putting public safety at risk. union officials say the county re-arranged career staffing at fire stations on august 1st. the capitol heights station has failed to respond to more than 500 emergency calls. during a recent fire in bowie, there was an 11-minute response time. that's because the firefighters assigned to the closest station were already on another call. >> that is not acceptable. general national standards for the nfpa state the first driving

engine company should arrive within four minutes of an incident. that's like saying you're cutting the police force, cutting doctors, nurses. certain things you cannot cut. >> county fire officials have not responded to these specific allegations, but in the past they have said these cuts are necessary and do not affect public safety. union leaders, however, say the problem will only get worse as firefighters andaramedics retire and are not replaced. >> and more on trying to save some money. maryland is considering merging two of its state police barracks in an effort to save money. they're thinking of closing down the barracks in forestville and moving those troopers to the college park station. some residents are concerned the move will delay the troopers' emergency response time. maryland state police spokesman says this will not be a factor because troopers would still be stationed throughout the county. no word on when a final decision mighbe made. >> our time almost 5:51. time for traffic and weather on the 1s, tom. >> good morning.

it's a little wet this friday morning. we've had some predawn sprinkles moving through the region. at this hour, also much cooler than our summer in september weather we've had the last few days. there is the washington monument. you see our cameras getting a few sprinkles on the lens there, a live picture from the city camera. cool 69 degrees now in washington. as we look at the radar, you see the moving color west to east. we have some of these passing showers. they're very light. in some areas actually not quite reaching the ground but the areas of green it certainly is. these are moving out of wes virginia, across northern virginia, into the district and much of maryland this morning, moving west to east. it will be with us here for another couple of hours. the temperatures are cool, in the mid-60s weather watchers reporting, shenandoah valley and around the blue ridge. it's in the mid-60s in fairfax and in montgomery county, upper 60s now in washington and in arlington. mid-60s prince george's county, near 70 near the bay and on the eastern shore. out in the mountains in the low 60s right now where they've had some passing showers as well over the last six hours.

we may see just a few more of these coming our way here over the next couple of hours. here's the national view over the last four hours. storm system over the western plains may trigger rain there. maybe some flight delays around denver. maybe other flight delays from memphis to new orleans and perhaps houston with some storms there, but just some light rain just to our south perhaps later on today as well as parts of the ohio valley and into the upper midwest. but elsewhere you should t have any travel problems. for us, we do have a stalled frontal zone that is just to our south. this area of stalled weather here is going to hang around today so there may be some showers here along this front, central virginia, into southern west virginia. this area of low pressure is going to gradually come our way and move on through by saturday and increase our chances for rain. so as we go forward over the next 48 hours we ought to get some breaks in the clouds this afternoon. then by dawn on saturday, partly sunny. during the day on saturday this

area of low pressure moves in from the west, bringing likely showers. looks like wet weather for all the high school and college games on saturday and into saturday evening. sunday morning, much of this rain should be exiting to the east. maybe a few lingering showers south of washington past dawn on sunday morning. then some sunshine back on sunday aernoon. here's the bus stop forecast. we'll have our temperatures holding steady in the mid and upper 60s for the next couple of hours with a chance of a passing shower. otherwise, just cloudy and cool on this friday morning. then by noontime we may make it into the low 70s and still cloudy but the rain probably will have ended by then. then during the afternoon, a little sunshine breaking out, temperatures dropping down into the mid-60s. in fact, by sunset, which today is at 7:00 p.m. -- sunrise this morning one minute before 7:00. the rest of the evening should be good for high school games tonight. partly cloudy, in the mid-60s. mostly cloudy starting off saturday morning. a little sunshine may break out mid-morning saturday. then clouding up quickly in the

afternoon as that system comes through with likely rain so wet for the games tomorrow, in the mid-60s. into saturday night, too, some passing showers are possible. they may linger into sunday morning. then some sun back sunday afternoon and a bit warmer. should make it into the mid and upper 70s. then into monday looks lik we'll have quite a pattern change. we might have an isolated shower monday afternoon but overall it's going to be turning drier with some sunshine and in the mid-70s. cooler on tuesday, wednesday and thursday. each day morning lows in the 40s out in the mountains, 50s around the metro area. afternoon highs only in the 60s to near 70. some crisp, cool autumn weather with bright sun in a blue sky for mid-week next week. that's the way it looks on this friday morning. have a great weekend, despite the rain tomorrow. >> sounds like a good weekend for movies. >> yeah. >> see anything good lately? >> i haven't, no. >> not something you do? >> not compatible with my sleep hours.

>> joe, you've seen some good vies, haven't you? >> join me and all the old folks. we go real early. we see movies early in the afternoon. let's go to ashley linder now. she's taking a look at the roads out there. ashley, you work both sides of the day so you never get to see anything. >> i know, i know. it works out well for my wallet so i'm not complaining. >> that's good. >> now we've got some problems. here not too bad on 95 but before this point, 95 northbound before the prince william parkway there's police activity on the right shoulder. with the flashing lights, everybody's slowing down. slowing the main and hovs. as far as the beltway is concerned, this is where we did have an accident on the inner loop at central. that's over to the shoulder. not really causing a big delay. new accident reported on the inner loop before 355. no word on lane information but we're keeping an eye on it for you. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you, ashley. . the white house is getting readily to tackle distracted

driving. it's planning to look into cell phone use by bus and truck drivers. d.c. has banned people from using cell phones while behind the wheel. virginia has a law against texting while driving. a similar law in maryland takes effect next week. >> well, the kings and queens of late night comedy are back. the new season for "saturday night live" returns tomorrow night. snl is coming off one of its most critically acclaimed seasons in more than a decade, fueled by the 2008 presidential election. that means added pressure to turn out a show as funny and as relevant this year. we'll have to see. >> it's like jordan. >> that's a joke. >> megan fox will host tomorrow night's episode. the musical guest will be u 2. >> sounds like a good show. now a check on the money crisis and a look at how the foreign markets are doing.

asian markets were mostly in the red this morning. the nikkei lost. the shanghai lost 0.52%. the hang seng was flat. to wall street now where the dow futures are pointing toward a positive opening. yesterday, the dow lost 41 points closing at 9706. the nasdaq lost 23 points closing at 2107. >> news 4's always looking for jobs for you. med ashurnt, a medical information company in bowie, is currently recruiting for several i.t. positions. oppositions include senior managers, data architects and web developers. visit med assurant.com or search nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> we're connected to you on facebook and twitter, for up to the minute breaking news, weather and traffic alerts. you can find us by searching news4today. >> well, coming up next at 6:00 a.m., it is the newest diet fad

that tastes good and suppresses hunger, but just how heahy is the cookie diet for you? just how healthy do you think it would be? >> you are waking up to rain throughout the area.

praying for peace. thousands are gathering in the district today for a large prayer service. the huge crowds are expected to disrupt traffic today. >> on the world stage, president obama and world leaders meet in pittsburgh today to tackle the global financial crisis. how they plan to make sure the money crisis like this never happens again. >> good morning, everyone. thanks for waking up with us this morning for "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. it is friday, september the 25th, 2009.

live look outside. we've got some rain around the region this morning. 69 degrees. >> it sounds like it's going to be a rainy weekend. tom's here to tell us what we can expect today and the rest of the weekend. >> well, we won't fry today, but like we did the last couple of days. felt like summertime in autumn the last couple days. got into the 80s again today, but not today. we do have this area of moving color. that is some scattered light rain, some of which is not quite reaching the ground moving west to east out of west virginia, across virginia, maryland and the district this morning. here's the forecast. by noontime, cloudy, low 70s. during the afternoon, partly sunny, dropping into the 60s. sunset today is at 7:00 p.m. our sunrise is about an hour away. partly cloudy tonight, in the 60s. by dawn tomorrow in the upper 50s, partly sunny saturday morning, then clouding up in the afternoon, likely afternoon and evening showers tomorrow with highs only in the 60s. maybe a lingering shower sunday morning, then sun back sunday afternoon, into the upper 70s. might have a passing shower late

on monday. otherwise, partly cloudy, mid-70s. a look into next week in ten minutes coming up at 6:11. >> thank you, tom. >> let's go to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. >> as we travel down 270, no problems here at germantown road but headed toward 109 there's accident activity crowding the left lane. on and off the brakes from route 85 to get to that point. elsewhere i, around the capital beltway, earlier accident at central avenue, has been cleared. as you pass by the prince william parkway, the police activity is on the right shoulder and now there's a tow truck there. going to be slowing the main and hovs to take a look. the travel portion of the roadway is open. back to you. >> thank you, ashley. >> ashley, thanks. right now preparations are under way for a muslim prayer service that is expected to draw thousands of people to downtown washington. that service will take place later today on the west front of the capitol building. whil there are no street

closures yet, officials say they will shut down streets if the crowd gets too large and that could cause some traffic problems. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from capitol hill with more. good morning, megan. >> reporter: well, good morning. darul islam is the group that is holding this prayer service. they're calling it isl on capitol hill and they're hoping for 50,000 people to come and gather here on the west side of the capitol to pray. this morning as well as in the afternoon. and then there's a smaller service that's scheduled for this evening. this is an all-day event. what we're being told by transportation officials is to expect heavy pedestrian traffic in the area around capitol hill. now, you can see right now everything is very quiet. we're here at 3rd and maryland avenue in southeast. this is one of the areas that will potentially be impacted by the crowds later today. but right now we're not seeing anyone gathering in large numbers, but that is expected to change as the day wears on. they're expecting a lot of pedestrians to be crossing

across the streets around the west side of the capitol. if the crowds get too large, then they're going to be closing down streets to allow that pedestrian flow. now, there's no plan at this time to permanently close streets for any length of time. it will be a hit or miss kind of thing. they'll monitor the crowds, monitor the traffic. when they think it's necessary, they'll shut things down for a while, allow people to cross so they can get onto the grounds of the capitol and open things up again. let's take a look at the roads that could possibly be impacted here today. maryland avenue between 1st and 3rd streets in southwest, also pennsylvania avenue between 1st and 3rd in northwest, and 1st street between independence and constitution. again, they're just going to be rather loose about all of this. they're going to watch the crowds, see how things are traveling. if folks are able to get across the street and get where they want to go without needing them to close down the streets then they will not do so. but if they need to, they want

everyone to be able to get to this event safely. so motorists might want to keep in mind they might see some road closures. also a reminder to folks traveling through th area, keep your speeds down. again, expecting a lot of folks to be crossing. back to you. >> megan mcgrath reporting live. thanks very much. >> supme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is in the hospital this morning and is said to be in stable condition. the 76-year-old ginsburg felt faint and lightheaded yesterday about an hour after receiving treatment for iron deficiency. those are symptoms of that treatment. ginsburg was taken to the hospital as a precaution. she underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer earlier this year. doctors said they found no sign the cancer had spread. >> new video showing violent clashes overnight between police and protesters in pittsburgh. that's the site of this year's g-20 summit. officers fired tear gas into the air after some demonstrators began smashing windows and throwing rocks. police say they arrested about 25 protesters. street dem onations have become

the norm at g-20 meets. the g-20 summit goes on this morning despite the protests. at the suggestion of president obama a major announce ment is expected. the president and first lady have welcomed the leaders of some of the world's wealthiest nations to pittsburgh. this morning the announcement is expected to be that the g-20 will take over the role of the so-called board of directors for decisions on the world's economy, replacing the g-8. the obama administration says including more nations in the process makes sense. >> given the change of balance of activity in the world and have that shift occur to those countries who have been for a substantial period of time among the most rapidly growing countries in the world. >> also up for discussion, calls for the g-20 nations to phase out subsidies for fossil fuels to help combat climate change and to put a limit on bonuses paid to bankers. that to curb risk-taking among bigger banks. >> a terror plot in our aa. three men are charged with

planning to murder service members at quantico marine base. among them a so-called american jihadist, daniel patrick boyd was arrested in north carolina, but he grew up in northern virginia. he attended t.c. williams high school. now boyd, his 20-year-old son and another man are charged with plotting against quantico. investigators say the group surveilled the base and had maps of it. >> now we know what his target was, the marine corps base at quantico. the question is whether or not he had the capability to do anything significant. we're talking about automatic weapons, things like that. could he have killed people? certainly. >> in july, boyd and five others were arrested in north carolina. they were charged with plotting terror attacks in foreign countries. investigators say they seized two dozen guns and more than 27,000 rounds of ammunition from his home. a jordanian citizen accused of plotting to bomb a skyscraper in dallas is schedule to appear in court later today. fb agents arrested hosam maher

husein smadi yesterday near the fountain palace building. they say he placed a decoy car bomb near the office building. investigators say smadi was not associated with other terrorists or terrorist organizations and that he was acting as part of what the fbi calls a self-jihad. an afghan man also accused of plotting a terrorist attack here in the u.s. is facing new charges. prosecutors say zazi and at least three other people bought gallons of chemicals at denver area beauty products suppliers this morning. they say those chemicals could be combined to make the same kinds of bombs used in the deadly london bombings back in 2005. zazi faces life in prison if convicted. his father and an islamic cleric who are charged with lying to fbi agents were released on bail yesterday. >> our time is now 6:08, 69 degrees. some additional meaning to spanking your kids. how it hurts them in more ways than one. a man leads police on a wild

chase in maryland that ends with him jumping into the anacostia river. wait until you hear what he had in the back seat of his van. >> how a group of scammers pulled off the biggest mortgage fraud scheme in fairfax county history.

weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning. now at 6:11, it's a cool 67 in washington. we have some scattered light rain moving west to east across west virginia, maryland,

virginia, the district of columbia on this friday morning and it's cool. we're in the 60s around the region. near 70 southern maryland, around the bay and northern neck. later on today, some sunshine breaking out. we'll be in the low 70s by early afternoon, then dropping into the 60s late afternoon and into tonight, 50s tomorrow morning. clouding up on saturday, likely afternoon and evening showers, may linge into sunday morning, drying out sunday afternoon and a bit warmer. small pass of a passing shower late monday. dry and cool through much of the week next week. how's the friday traffic? >> as we take a peek at the capital beltway right now, chopper 4 over the beltway at central avenue. we had an earlier accident there on the left shoulder. as you can see, it's out of your hair. still a little slow in the area but not too bad. 95 is startin to look a little bit better. we had some police activity as you make your way before the prince william parkway. that's cleared. hovs are doing fine now, but the main line is going to be slow from the woodbridge area headed toward lorton and then 395 northbound slow from duke to seminary. back to you.

>> thanks very much. >> thanks, ashley. the rough night for a group of metro riders. how they got locked inside a station. and we're going to introduce you to the newest diet fad. it's the cookie diet. the diet not only tastes good, they say, but also suppresses hunger but just how healthy is it for you?

a late night commute turned out to be a longer one than expected for a handful of mro riders. several people called early this morning -- called us to say that they had been locked in the van dorn metro station in alexandria. they say the station manager locked up before the last train had arrived. they tell us it took about 45 minutes for someone to come let them out. metro has not yet commented on the incident. net rojas fired a bus driver involved in an accident with a jogger earlier this month. 43-year-old carla proctor's bus was empty when it hit amanda mahnke at the corner of florida and connecticut avenues northwest. mahnke survived but had critical injuries. proctor had been on administrative leave before she was let go on monday. she had at least two other accidents on the job, according to court records.

despite some of the challenges faced by metro this year there be no change at the leadership at the top anyway. metro's board ex extended john catoe's contract by three years. despite the criticism, board members say now is not the time for change. >> well, a man in is jail this morning after leading prince george's county police on a wild chase while his young son was in the back seat. the incident began with a routine traffic stop in bladensburg. instead of stopping, police say the man took off, crashing into a tractor-trailer and a police cruiser in the process. the chase finally ended on new york avenue near the d.c. line. police say the suspect then threw a bag full of drugs into the anacostia and was trying to jump into the river himself when officers finally cuffed him. no one was injured in the ordeal and the suspect's 3-year-old son, who was in a car seat during this entire chase, has

now been put into his grandmother's custody. police andfbi agents in fk fairfax say they have busted a massive mortgage fraud scheme that involved as many as 200 hos worth a total of more than $100 million. 20 people have been arrested in connection with the scheme. investigators say the masterminds found unqualified straw buyers and padded their bank accounts so they could get large home loans. those buyers would then purchase the homes, which would be then torn down to be rebuilt as mcmansions and then resold to other straw buyers. the homes were turned into boarding houses for a dozen or more people. >> these individuals saw a weakness. they saw the ability to bilk this neighborhood and our financial institutions and worked on it and worked on it and they were very, very successful. but today they're going to pay the price. >> the two-year investigation began when neighbors started complaining about overcrowding

at several properties. prosecutors say the masterminds of the scheme could face up to 30 years in prison. >> there are many diets out there that don't let you eat your favorite foods, but what if you could lose weight by eating a bag of cookies every day? it's called the cookie diet. but does it really work? roxanne vargas finds out. >> reporter: lindas doesn't mind shelling out about $60 a week to buy these diet cookies, the cornerstone of the diet which she started in may. >> for years tried every other diet out there, and then on a roller coaster o gaining weight and was at a point where i was heavier than i had ever been in my life. >> reporter: she followed the instructions, eating six of the special cookies a day, and in the evening she has a dinner of lean protein and vegetables. she says it works for her. >> i wanted to lose about 50 pounds, and so far i've lost 27 of that. >> reporter: the creator says his diet works because the cookies suppress hunger. >> we shoot for 1,000 calories a

day. 500 of those calories come from the cookies. 500 come from the dinner. everyone loses weight when they eat 1,000 calories a day. there are no failures at 1,000 calories a day. >> reporter: a weight management physician gives his take on the cookie diet. >> if someone needs to lose a few pounds for a wding or a cruise or jam into a tuxedo for the high school reunion, this is something that would appeal to them. >> reporter: but the doctor believes a life-style change is needed, too. >> my opinion is that ultimately it will fail because at some point people will stop using the product. >> that was roxanne vargas reporting. the cookies come in several avors, oatmeal race inn, chocolate, blueberry, banana and coconut. locally they can be bought at a kiosk at tysons corner mall or ordered online. are you ready for some cookies? >> always. in sports the nationals are now the first franchise since the 1973 san diego padres to lose

100 games in back-to-back seasons. here's dan hellie. >> good morning, everybody. your sports minute begins with the nationals who lost their 100th game of the season last night. the nats almost rallied back from a 4-0 deficit but one play cost them big-time. in the bottom of the eighth, nats down one run, ian desmond sends the shot to right. here comes willie harris. the nats send him home. not a good move. harris out by a mile. the nationals fall 7-6 and that's it. they lose game number 100 for the second straight year. turning now to football and we know there is a changing of the guard at redskins park. we just don't know what that change will be. jim zorn says he will decide on randy thomas' replacement today. either will montgomery or chad rinehart will be the team's new starting right guard. in terms of experience, the redskins not choosing from a horn of plenty. preseason hockey, caps on the road against the rangers. aucoin tied the game at 2 in the

second period but then in the third, the rangers get a soft goal when higgins pokes it in for the game-winner. the rangers edge the capitals 3-2. the caps open up the regular season next thursday. that's your sports minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great friday. >> well, it is becoming a trend in college football. for the fourth weekend in a row, a top five team goes down. the old ball coach steve spurrier and his south carolina team beat number four ole miss. a pass smacked down late in the fourth quarter sealed the 16-10 win. >> going to be a rainy weekend for outdoor events. let's check in with tom to see how much rain we can expect to get. good morning. >> good morning. should be good weather for tonight's high school games but this morning we do have some showers moving through. the moving color on radar is some scattered light rain moving out of west virginia and heading off to the east. there's the capitol. we have a few sprinkles in washington right now, and as we

look at the radar we do have these areas of rain coming down a little bit harder where you see the green across northern virginia and northwestern maryland. elsewhere just some clouds around and just a few light sprinkles. temperatures are cool. we're in the mid and upper 60s to near 70, around the bay, northern neck, eastern shore. 67 in washington, mid-60s montgomery, fairfax, prince george's county and arlington counties. this scattered light shower activity should end in the next couple of hours. some sun back this afternoon, in the low 70s. dropping into the 60s by late afternoon, into tonight. 50s tomorrow morning. partly sunny saturday morning, clouding up in the afternoon, highs mid-60s. likely rain showers for the high school and college games tomorrow and into saturday night. might have a lingering shower sunday morning but drying out sunday afternoon, highs upper 70s. might have a passing shower late on monday. otherwise, partly cloudy, mid-70s. cooler autumn weather tuesday through thursday. ashley linder, good morning. how's the friday commute? >> well, it's not even 6:30 and we've got some pretty substantial delays. 95 headed northbound, we had

police activity around the hov area or in the hov lanes before the prince william parkway. that's gone but slow on the main lines from 123 to route 1. northbound 395 we're starting to see that trickle down into springfield as we can see in this shot, starting to get pretty slow. the northbound 395 delays are from duke street headed toward seminary. traveling around the capital beltway, the inner loop will be slow headed toward bethesda. there's accident activity reported before 355. it's on both shoulders but it's impacting traffic in the way of volume. back to you. >> thanks, ashley. >> thanks, ashley. >> 6:23 is the time. parents, listen up. what you do to your kids could affect their iq. >> and fans are already lining up to buy tickets for a movie that doesn't open for another month.

well, some ardent michael jackson fans in los angeles have already started camping out for tickets to the first showing of michael jackson's "this is it" movie. that movie chronicles jackson's rehearsals for what would have been his series of sold-out concerts in london. fans started lining up for tickets yesterday afternoon, despite the fact that the tickets won't go on sale until after midnight on sunday. the movie itself opens

nationwide on october the 28th. >> spanking your children might do more than just sting their bottoms. university of new hampshire professor says his research shows children who are spaed have lower iqs. a study tested the iqs of a group of young children and retested them four years later. the kids who were spanked had iqs that were three to five points lower than kid whose were not spanked. wonder if getting spanked with a switch on your calves -- that's what my mother did. go out and bring me a switch. >> that didn't affect your iq. >> i hope not. >> accusation of bribery against the chief of staff of a d.c. district cocilman. we have new video this morning of violent protests in pittsburgh at the g-20 summit. >> what happened to one high school student in northern virginia that now has police investigating.

the bribe briry scandal ins the halls of the wilson building. >> protests and politics in pittsburgh. anarchists clash with police as president obama and world leaders meet to discuss the global financial crisis. >> well, good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it is friday, september 25th,

2009. let's take a look outside. we had some rain around the region this morning. looks like we still have some clouds above us. we'll find out from tom if these will be with us through the weekend. i think he said they are. >> we may have a little sunshine in and out as we get into the afternoon hours today. maybe a little saturday morning, then sunday afternoon. yes, mix it up a little bit with some rain. we do have passing light showers now at this hour, moving west to east out of west virginia, across northern virginia, the district and maryland this morning. some of this is not reaching the ground but where you see the green it certainly is across northern virginia, from fairfax county toward front royal as well as northern maryland, northern montgomery county, into frederick county and washington county, getting some light to moderate showers this morning. but this should be tapering off over the next couple of hours. it's certainly cool now. we're in the mid and upper 60s in washington, points west and north. near 70 south and east and on the eastern shore. low 60s in the mountains. this should be the end of the showers for today, this batch coming through here now. and then perhaps a little bit of

sunshine breaking out this afternoon with highs reaching low 70s and dropping back into the 60s by mid to late afternoon and into tonight and 50s tomorrow morning, maybe an afternoon or an evening shower tomorrow. in fact, a likelihood of that. lingering into sunday morning, then drying out sunday afternoon, perhaps a passing shower monday afternoon. a look into next week in ten minutes. >> thank you, tom. let's check in with ashley linder now, find out how the traffic is moving out there. good morning again. >> good morning. well, it's starting off slow. this is a little unusual. the inner loop of the beltway not normally slow in that area. they changed my camera. what was going on through that area was on the inner loop of the beltway at 355 there was accident activity. it's on both of the shoulder but you'll hit some surprising delays from old georgetown road to that point. as we can see here out of springfield, volume very heavy as you continue toward 395. what we have going on 95, 95 northbound before the beltway just after this shot, there's a disabled vehicle in the right lane. 395 slow as you continue toward duke street. back to you. >> thank you. politics and protests in the steel city.

the g-20 summit wraps up today in pittsburgh. as in the past, the event has been marked by demonstrations in the streets. police arresting about 50 people so far. meanwhile, the president and the first lady greeted the world leaders who arrived for the summit. this morning, a major announcement is expected, and brooke hart is live on capitol hill with more on that story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. we're leshg the scope of the announcement. president obama announces this morning that iran has secretly been constructing this nuclear facility south of tehran. he'll be making this announcement, of course, just a couple days after he made the case at the u.n. for the possibility of sanctions if iran refuses to open up its nuclear facilities to inspections. it comes, of course, as the g-20 summit gets under way and world leaders try to keep a fragile economic recovery on track. the obamas welcomed g-20 leaders to pittsburgh, a group that today will claim the role of board of directors of the world economy.

included are economic heavyweights china, india and brazil. treasury secretary tim geithner said a shift in their say makes sense. >> given the change of balance of activity in the world and have that shift occur to those countries who have been, for a substantial period of time, among the most rapidly growing countries in the world. >> reporter: the news puts pressure on host president obama to produce results. there are calls for g-20 natio to phase out subsidy for fossil fuels, a move aimed to combat climate change, and to limit bonuses paid to bankers in order to curb huge risk-taking. the u.s. is on board with new rules. >> we want them to take effect now so they affect compensation practice today, not tomorrow, and that they bring about reforms in compensation by the end of this calendar year. >> reporter: not far from the g-20 talks, protests overnight heated up. police used pepper spray and smoke to disperse the crowd. some demonstrators marched against capitalism and caused

damage at nearby banks. some downtown businesses wer ready for it and earlier boarded up. >> people walking around, vendors. no one's coming around. it's like a ghost town today. >> reporter: by morning, protests had led to some arrests. as for iran, president ahmadinejad claimed at the u.n. this week that iran had fully cooperated with nuclear weapons inspectors. now this revelation of previously hidden nuclear work could make it easier, administration officials say, to make the case for sanctions if iran blocks inspectors or refuses to give up its programs. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. back to you. >> thanks very much. >> the state of massachusetts will get a new u.s. senator today. massachusetts governor deval patrick named former democratic party chairman paul kirk to fill the seat that was held for nearly half century by the late edward kennedy. kirk will be sworn in this afternoon. however, he will only be a senator for a few months. a special election for a permanent replaceme will be held in january.

kirk has said he will not run for office during the special election. ruth bader ginsburg is in the hospital this morning. the supreme court justice felt sick yesterday in her chambers with what might have been side effects of a treatment she had received for iron deficiency. she was taken to the hospital as a precaution. the 76-year-old ginsburg had a cancerous growth removed from he pancreas back in february, but doctors say they found no spread of that cancer. >> bribery in city hall. that's the charge a d.c. council staffer is facing this morning. ted loza is council member jim graham's chief of staff. loza was arrested yesterday morning, charged with taking cash to promote certain taxicab legislation. authorities say the money came from a man who wanted a moratorium on taxicab licenses, a measure that would make them more valuable. the man also wanted an exception for himself and his associates that would allow more hybrid taxis. the man then met with graham, who chairs the committee that oversees cabs in the district, and graham reportedly said he

would introduce the bill. >> no, i mean, nothing -- i was engaged in no way in any part of this. i was not knowledgeable about it. there is nothing -- there was no impact of these allegations on any legislation. >> loza has pleaded not guilty. graham has placed him on administrative leave pending the outcome of this vestigation. >> happening today, a special meeting in regard to the state of the city's fire hydrants. problems were brought to light when the home of well-known washingtonian peggy cooper cafritz went up in flames in july and there was not enough water pressure to fight the fire. there are 9,000 hydrants in the district. "the washington post" reports only 25% of those have been tested to make sure that they will work in an emergency. >> parents in arlington are on alert today after a high school student was assaulted at a bus stop. a man attacked a 17-year-old girl yesterday morning at a bus stop in the 4200 block of fairfax drive. that's right next to the

ballston metro stop. police say the victim was able to push the man off and run away after he tried to hug and kiss her. anyone with information is asked to call the police. >> the large prayer service downtown today that is expected to cause a lot of traffic problems. and how home green terrorists from northern virginia planned to

a look outside, cloudy skies here in the nation's capital. is it affecting traffic and what will the weather be like the rest of this day? let's find out now. we'll begin with weather. here's tom. >> about 19 minutes from sunrise, right? >> yes, indeed. a few sprinkles there on the lens as we get going this morning. we do have rain moving west to east across the region. where you see the moving color, where we are getting some light showers from eastern panhandle of west virginia across northern virginia, the district and maryland this morning. it's cool. we're only in the mid and upper 60s. 67 in washington. near 70, though, southern maryland, northern neck and the lower eastern shore. and as we get through the rest of the day, the morning showers should taper off and end another couple of hours. sunshine breaking out this afternoon, low 70s and dropping

into the 60s mid to late afternoon and into this evening. and 50s tomorrow morning. increasing clouds saturday. a likelihood of afternoon and evening showers, highs mid-60s. maybe some lingering showers sunday morning, then sun breaking out, highs in the upper 70s. mid-70s monday, partly cloudy, a small chance of an afternoon shower. then autumnal on tuesday, wednesday and thursday, highs only the 60s to near 70. morning lows in the cool 50s and 40s. i'll be back in ten minute was the nationalravel forecast. ashley, how's the traffic? >> 95 is not a fun commute in virginia. as you make your way northbound before the beltway, we had a disabled vehicle. that's still there along the right side of the roadway. you can see the impact it's having. 95 northbound flows from the prince william parkway to lorton. from newington toward the disabled vehicle. elsewhere around the area, 270 spur -- well, there we go. the 270 spur doing just fine. those headlights continuing toward the beltway. back to you. >> ashley, thanks a lot.

>> thank you, ashley. >> 6:42 now. the feds foil a number of terror plots across the country and we're learning more about the plan to attack quantico marine base. thousands are gathering in the district today for a large prayer service. how the huge crowds might expect -- might disrupt traffic today. we'll have more.

homegrown terrorists planning an attack in our area. those are the allegations that investigators are making about a group of men arrested in north carolina. they say the men were plotting to attack quantico marine base and that their ringleader has ties to northern virginia. news 4's kimberly suiters joins us live from fbi headquarters. what the authorities are saying about what was being planned. good morning, kimberly. >> reporter: good morning. you may remember back this summer when those charges came down, there was an indictment. there were many arrests. daniel patrick boyd was allegedly accused of this plot, of international terrorism and leading this group of men. all of those men are in custody in virginia in a prison. these are new charges that perhaps there were plans for a

murderous attack on a virginia military base. the justice department reports the target, marine corps base quantico in virginia. the alleged plotter, 39-year-old daniel patrick boyd. boyd grew up in northern virginia, attended t.c. williams high school. a grand jury indictment announced in the eastern district of north carolina alleges boyd, his 20-year-old son zack and another man conspired to murder u.s. military personnel. it alleges boyd did surveillance of the marine corps base and obtained maps of it. >> most important development today is now we know what s target was, the marine corps base at quantico. the question is whether or not he had the capability to do anything significant. we're talking about automatic weapons, things like that. could he have killed people? certainly. >> reporter: marine corps base officials released the following statement. in this case, quantico personnel worked closely with the ncis and fbi to assist in the investigation and protect personnel. in july, boyd, two of his sons and five other men were charged

in north carolina with attempting to execute terrorist plots in foreign countries. at that ti, there was not yet evidence of a u.s. target. >> there are opportunities for radicalization inside the united states, but they're few and far between. this is not part of a broader trend. >> reporter: the fbi said its agents seized dozen guns and more than 27,000 rounds of armor-piercing ammunition from boyd's home. the indictment says the plan was to attack americans. i'm kimberly suits, news 4. back to you. >> thank you, kimberly. and federal investigators say there's no connection between an alleged terror plot in springfield, illinois, and two similar plots allegedly thwarted this week in other parts of the country. michael finton was arrested on wednesday. officials say he was trying to set off what he thought was a powerful bomb outside aederal courthouse in the illinois capitol.

finton, who investigators say idolized american taliban john lipped appeared in court yesterday. investigators say a teen tried to blow up a skyscraper in dallas. the fbi arrestehim after they say he placed an inactive car bomb by the fountain building. meanwhile, an afghan immigrant accused of planning a terrorist attack is facing new charges that could land him in prison for life. prosecutors say najibullah zazi and three other people bought gallons of chemicals at denver area beauty product suppliers over t summer. they say those chemicals could be combined to make the same kind of bombs used in the deadly london bombings in 2005. >> in a few hours, ben bernanke will be speaking to the congressional black caucus and cnbc's courtney reagan joins us live to tell us what to expect out of that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you both. just days after the fed decided

to leave interest rates unchanged not note thad the recession is likely over, ben bernanke will be out in public. he's making brief remarks to the congressional black caucus's legislative congress this morning and will be taking questions. a chinese automaker has offered $2.5 bill for volvo but the deal could be worth far less to ford because they would want to shed some liabilities, such as volvo's pension obligations. and twitter is reportedly set to secure new funding that could value the company at $1 billion. the popular site restricts users to expressing thoughts in 140 characters or less so that works out to $7.1 million per character. despite the lofty numbers, twitter has yet to generate any revenues. creative math. >> yes, indeed. >> right now, preparations are under way in downtown washington

for a muslim prayer service that's expected to draw thousands of people. the service will take place later today on the west front of the capitol building. while there are no street closures yet, officials say they will shut streets down if the crowd gets too large. that could cause some problems for today's commute. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from capitol hill with more on that. good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning. police will be monitoring the crowd very closely and if it looks like they're having any problems with people crossing the street to get to the event, then just to keep everybody safe they said they will shut down streets, just temporarily, to allow the flow of pedestrian traffic to the event here on the grounds of the u.s. capitol. now, darul islam is -- has scheduled this prayer event. it's called islam on capitol hill. it's taking place on the west side of the u.s. capitol. the main event actually begins at 1:00 this afternoon. however, there are smaller prayer gatherings being held at other times during the day as well. this is an all-day event. transportation officials are telling motorists to expect

heavy pedestrian traffic and that there will possibly be temporary road closures. they won't close things down unless they have to, but it looks like there are a lot of folks having trouble getting across the street, if it's tying up traffic they will shut things down to help with the flow. let's take a look at the streets that could be affected here later today. maryland avenue between 1st and 3rd streets in southwest. pennsylvania avenue from 1st to 3rd in northwest. as well as 1st street between independence and constitution. those are the areas where folks are expected to cross over to get to the west side of the capitol so those could potentially be the choke points. the organization that is sponsoring this event, they are hoping for 50,000 people. that remains to be seen whether they will get that kind of number or not. but transportation officials are certainly planning and again they want everyone to be able to cross the street safely. but motorists are being told to be a little bit patient here. they might see some road closures. and also to keep their speeds

down because of all the pedestrians expected in the area. back to you. >> thank you, megan. >> well, through the books and stories of tim russert, the world got to know the man known as "big russ." now tim russert's father has died. timothy joseph russert sr. died yesterday with his family by his side. he became familiar to tens of thousands of readers throughis son's best-selling 2004 book entitled "big russ and me." in addition to being a father and grandfather, the family says he was a patriot and a friend to many. big russ was 85 years old. >> our time right now 6:52. time for weather, tom. >> it's a wet start to this friday morning so you may need an umbrella if you will be at the bus stop for a length of time this morning as we take a look outside at this hour, got a gray sky over capitol hill. live picture from downtown, looking down pennsylvania avenue. it's cool, in the 60s around the region at this hour.

and looking at the radar, where you see the moving color is where we are getting some passing showers moving west to east, out of west virginia, across northern virginia, most of maryland and the district columbia this morning. this will taper off and end by the next couple of hours. right now where the steady rain is falling it's in the low 60s just to our west and north. upper 60s in washington. mid-60s in montgomery, fairfax, prince george's and arlington counties. all clouds around the region. upper 60s eastern shore, low 60s ouin the mountains. over the last six hours we've seen this conveyer belt of moisture west to east coming through and it looks like this will pass by in the next couple of hours. if you're traveling today, there could be some flight delays around denver. upper level low spinning there with showers and thunderstorms. light rain from minneapolis, st. louis, kentucky, toward the carolinas. maybe some storms from tennessee down to the gulf coast, perhaps some flight delays there. for us, we've got this stalled front just to our south that may

trigger some more showers this afternoon across southern virginia, into southern west virginia. this low pressure system is heading off to the north and east and will be moving in tomorrow. here's the bus stop forecast for this morning. a passing shower likely, temperatures in the 60s. sunrise just a few minutes away. and then overnight tonight should be good weather for the high school games as we get into the afternoon hours, actually may get a little bit of sunshine breaking out. falling out of the low 70s, into the 60s. partly cloudy tonight, good weather for the high school games and 50s tomorrow morning. then clouding up. looks like wet weather for the high school and college games tomorrow afternoon and into tomorrow evening, passing showers are likely. highs only the mid-60s on saturday. and maybe some lingering showers sunday morning, then drying out sunday afternoon, highs upper 70s. partly cloudy, mid-70s on monday. front coming through might trigger an isolated shower monday afternoon, just a small chance. after that front goes by iwill usher in several days of cool autumn weather with dry conditions as well.

lots of sunshine, cool in the morning, 40s and 50s, afternoon highs only the 60s to near 70 into next week. have a great weekend. >> going to feel like fall. >> sure will. >> thank you, tom. >> let's go back to ashley linder now and the news 4 traffic network. >> let's start off looking at the b-w parkway this morning, chopper 4 over the top of the b-w parkway around 197. no major issues to report on the b-w parkway right now. as you can see, volume not a big factor for drivers. elsewhere, we do have problems. out of springfield, volume definitely a factor. 95 slow from the prince william parkway to springfield. 66, nothing like yesterday but it will be slow from business 234 manassas to 28 in centreville. as we travel around the beltway, outer loop already slow from the college park area continuing toward silver spring. the pace does improve out of bethesda as you pass by 270 out of tyson. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> checking the morning's top

stories. we learned president obama and other world leaders will accuse iran of building a secret facility to produce nuclear fuel. that's expected this morning at the start of today's g-20 proceedings in pittsburgh. meanwhile, protesters have kept police busy there. about 50 people were arrested last night. >> supreme court justice ruth bader ginsburg is in the hospital after becoming sick yesterday in her chamber. the 76-year-old felt fabt and lightheaded which might have been side effects from a treatment she received earlier in the day for iron deficiency. ginsburg was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. >> a chief of staff for a d.c. council member is facing bribery charges. ted loza works for council member jim graham. he's accused of accepting cash to promote certain taxicab legislation. loza has pleaded not guilty. graham says he was not aware of any wrongdoing in his office. >> listen up. nominate a news 4 morning person today. do it today. we want to know who makes your day special in these early morning hours. perhaps it's a teacher, perhaps

a bus driver, a crossing guard. e-mail that person's story arong with a clear, close-up picture or video to morningperson@nbcwashington.com. we'll try to recognize that person right here on the air. that's "news 4 today." thanks for starting your day with us. >> have a great day and a great weekend. wake up w us on monday morning. coffee con sewers listen up. starbucks has a new instance brew coming up. liz crenshaw puts the cup of joe to the ultimate test on monday morning. see you then. >> bye.