prove it once and for all. in the meantime the story about the raid on the compound is changing. official details are just ahead. we'll also explore if the death of osama bin laden will spur a sense of unit among lawmakers on capitol hill. and the latest on a house explosion in montgomery county. the home was destroyed and the people inside injured and thrown feet into the air. we're live at the scene with more details. also learning more about another house explosion earlier this week. and it's an all too familiar situation for our capitals and the fans. the team enters the playoffs as a high seed only to face elimination by the second round. we have more on the caps on the brink of another early exit coming up. fox 5 morning news at 7:00 starts right now. take a look at the view from the tower cam and there is still rain in the area. it is not the best start to the day and it is rather cool

outside. checking in at 48 degrees in the nation's capital. it is wednesday morning, may 4th, 2011. good morning, i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm allison seymour. welcome to fox 5 morning news at 7:00. and you know what, steve, do i have to be so negative about the caps? can i say they're on the brink of a big upset in no? what happens if they win. >> they come back here in washington. but on the brink, yes. if they lose one more the season is over. or as tucker would say, game over. tony is trying to be more positive as we are. it's not over yet. >> and if a cap or a caps fan, it's one day at a time. you don't focus on we have to win four. you just win one and then the next one. that's what you do. it's been the focus all week. >> i understand that. it could happen. we'll see. here is what will happen. we'll continue to see rain this morning. i know that much. we have rain showers moving across the area. let's take a look at hd radar.

not every single one of you is getting rain but most of the area is seeing rainfall, including many spots of heavier rainfall. anywhere you see the yellow and orange is heavier rainfall. we have had thunderstorm activity and we continue to see thunderstorm activity in southern portions of maryland toward the chesapeake bay. so that's what you want to watch. some of you are just getting light to moderate rainfall but it's a light start to the day. 48 degrees now. a cool -- start to the day as well. 48 in washington. 50 at baltimore. ocean city still at 65. the cold front has not come through yet. winchester, virginia, at 44. here is a look at winds. 14 mile-per-hour winds in washington. 22 at patuxent naval air station where they are getting a little more of that storminess there. 15 mile-per-hour winds in winchester. winds have been blowing up to over 25 miles per hour this morning. so a breezy start to the day.

forecast has early morning showers. then later today becoming partly sunny, cool, breezy, winds out of the west at 20 miles per hour and high today 60 degrees. more in the forecast coming up, including a look at the five- day in a little bit. but first let's go to julie wright and look at traffic. and out toward braddock road, two right lanes tied up at the scene. heads up from annandale, merrifield toward springfield interchange. again, the two right lanes blocked at braddock road. traveling 66 out of manassas, delays past the virginia visitor's center. more delays leaving 50 to 123 and at the beltway. and the beltway a 10 minute ride toward colesville. here is the live shot at university boulevard and lanes are open. and frank tibot road is shult down with wires across the highway in southern maryland.

that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. 7:03 now. a house explosion in montgomery county. >> crews are trying to figure out just how the explosion happened and stacy cohan is live in garrett park this morning with the latest. what do we know, stacy? >> reporter: there is a lot going on. the situation is evolving and they've moved us back because the investigators are trying to see what is going on. they are sifting through everything, trying to determine the cause. when this house exploded there was debris scattered up the street. there are parts of the home that are in the trees. it's amazing that the two people that lived in this house survived. now they have been transported to a hospital. they have serious burns. but they are considered to be nonlife-threatening injuries. we talked earlier to fire ems spokesperson scott graham and the neighbor talks about the

incrediblever osity in which the explosion rocked the house and neighborhood. >> the house is destroyed and moderate damage to neighboring homes and debris within the hour in every direction. >> i was down in my basement and then a big boom. it was like one of those movie explosions. and we saw fire outside through the basement windows and just came out and tried to open my door and it looks like my whole house shifted and i couldn't open the front door. >> reporter: now you can see there are washington gas people on the scene and pepco, fire investigators. there is an incredible contingent of people trying to determine what happened. the houses on either side of the one effects have been evacuated. and when i say the house effects, what you are seeing from this angle is mostly empty space because that is pretty much what is left of this one- story home. once again the two people that

were transported, adult male and female, husband and wife, and she was thrown quite a distance from the home but it would appear at this moment they are both going to recover from their injuries. reporting live, i'm stacy cohan, fox 5 news. >> stacy, thank you for that report. and this is the second house explosion in our area this week. a home exploded in prince william county virginia on monday. the house in dumfries was vacant but undergoing renovations at the time. one person inside the home was hurt in the explosion. investigators have preliminarily determined a gas leak was to blame in that case. and pepco is looking into a man hole blast that happened last night in bethesda. the explosion was heard just after 10:00 on wisconsin avenue. pepco said it was a transformer explosion underground. it briefly knocked out power in the area but nobody was hurt. new this morning, also from montgomery county, a man stabbed to death. this happened late last night

at a townhome in germantown. investigators say an acquaintance of the victim is the suspect here. they say he fled the townhouse and called police from a nearby wal-mart. you can see video of him being put into a police car at the shopping center. the suspect has not been identified. and in the days after the death of osama bin laden, the central question for the obama administration is whether to release a photo of the dead al- qaeda leader's body. whether it will be made public? >> and the white house is trying to correct some misinformation about the raid that killed osama bin laden. doug luzader begins our coverage from capitol hill. >> reporter: the narrative of bin laden's death is changing and the white house is still struggling to decide whether releasing a photograph will help make their case. from above, plenty of eyes were watching as navy seals stormed bin laden's compound under the cover of night. those in the white house

situation room were rivotted but it turned out even the c.i.a. could not see everything. >> we had some observation of the approach but we did not have direct flow of information as to the actual conduct of the operation itself as they were going through the compound. >> reporter: there was a fire fight in the compound, but it turns out that bin laden, who seemed to always surround himself with weapons, wasn't armed. and bin laden was shot in the chest. a time line they struggle to keep straight. >> i apologize. i'm getting confused. >> reporter: leon panetta said the white house will probably release a photo of the body to show he is dead. the fear is it could promote a backlash of supporters. and some in congress question whether pakistan played a role

in hiding him. >> they are either incompetent or complacent about the location of osama bin laden. it's like having john dillinger living next to the fbi and they not know about it. how could that be? >> reporter: and all of this as the president meets ground zero tomorrow. and the president will meet with families of 9/11 victims. one person that won't be there is george w. bush who declined an invitation to attend. in washington, doug luzader, fox news. let's go deeper into the new details we're learning about the raid that doug just touched on. operation was dubbed geronimo. the navy seals found osama bin laden and his family on the second and third floors. he was not armed but did resist capture. according to white house officials his slain son was misidentified and they're not clear if women were used as human shields. they said now his wife was not killed in the attack.

>> in the room with bin laden, a woman, bin laden's wife, was shot in the leg but not killed. bin laden was then shot and killed. >> president obama in his national security team watched as the raid happened however c.i.a. head leon panetta said he did not see the moment when osama bin laden was shot and killed. he said there was a heart- pounding 20 minutes when they didn't know what was going on. and more on why george w. bush has declined an invitation at ground zero. president obama plans to visit the site of the towers tomorrow. the president bush's spokesperson said the offer was appreciated but the former president has chosen to remain out of the spotlight during his post presidency. and twitter was recording

thousands of tweets per second following the raid. rashard menden hall said what kind of person celebrates death. it's amazing how people can hate a man. he said we'll never know what really happened. i have a hard time believing that a plane could take down a skyscraper demolition style. the organization is very proud of the u.s. military and they hope the troops can come home soon. >> and you can find complete coverage of the death of osama bin laden and all developments as they happen on myfoxdc.com. just click on the links on the hot topics bar. 11 minutes past the hour now. the capitals on the brink of elimination from the stanley cup playoffs. it is true, it is now win or go home. we'll have more coming up.

and prince charles makes a stop here in the district and where he will be later today coming up. as we go into break now, that's what happened when it rains in washington, d.c. traffic backs up. here is the view along 395, not far from the pentagon, the air force memorial. we'll get the latest weather and traffic from tony and julie next. >> let's see how air traffic is doing and how the airports are faring. right now the faa is reporting that arrivals and departures are on time. to find links to local airports go to myfoxdc.com and just click on air travel under the traffic tab. a

alabama emergency officials recounting the number of people killed in last week's tornadoes. they say the accuracy of the

count is difficult because some of the bodies are unrecognizable. the death toll believed to be 250 in the state of alabama but the mayor of tuscaloosa say another 240 people are still missing. drews are -- crews are still looking for victims. it could top the $1 billion in losses following the tornado. and the army corp of engineers is weighing to purposely inundate more land with water. many residents were relieved in a decision to blow a levee, formers are now taking legal action. >> this is all i had ever done since i don't know. >> i just never expected to see this. [ crying ] >> a group of about 25 farmers is suing the federal government. they're arguing that their land

has been taken without adequate compensation. >> some arguing it didn't really help the town downstream either. but here we're getting a lot of water overnight. heavy overnight and we'll see how things are doing now. and you can see the picture of alexandria and not much better. >> no, in some ways it's deteriorating. and reagan national is reporting light rain, fog and mist at this moment. we continue to see rain showers across the area and in some spots that rain is heavy. and let's look at max 2 and we'll show what you is happening out there. and we continue to see spots -- not spots, but areas of heavy rain just to the east of the district now. prince george's county, moving into anne arundel county and down to the south, st. marys county across its chesapeake bay to salisbury. and up to western portions of

maryland, so we still have to deal with this. as you can see, this is tracking north and east along a frontal boundary and behind the frontal boundary. so this is going to be with us during the morning hours. after that i think we'll get a little bit of relief. another secondary band of rain is dissipating as it moves east. take a look at the temps. we are at 46 degrees. s that a surprise. i looked at it two minutes ago, it said 48. so we'll double check that but it looks like we may have dropped off now to 46 degrees. so much cooler. wilmington, north carolina, where they have not seen the front come through, 72 degrees there. and 62 degrees in boston. but to the west, st. louis 39 degrees now in st. louis. they are actually frost and -- there are actually frost and freeze advisories out to the west tonight. so it will get cold tonight. 63 degrees for the high today. partial sunshine in the

afternoon. breezy day, rain through the morning. tomorrow nice day and sunshine and 68. friday a couple of showers we think. saturday looks good. sunday a couple of showers as well. that's what is happening with the weather. more coming up in just a little bit. >> mother nature cannot make up her mind on the temperatures. >> she can not with the spring. she has not been able to. >> what is going on? i hope it's not a troubled relationship. >> father time can be difficult. >> don't i know it. any way, steve, what's up? >> a little taste of everything. let's check in with julie on the roads. >> mother nature and father time is sitting over to your left and what does that make us? baby new year's? >> maybe that's what they are fighting about. >> i will say this, and i'm not saying this because allison is my friend, but girl, whatever you use, bottle it up and sell it. >> don't look too closely.

it's the lens, vasoline on the lens. >> no. you look great. kenilworth avenue past eastern and toward east capital street, a stalled bus moved over to the shoulder. so lanes are open. we are dealing with the wet pavement and below speed southbound certainly worth southbound toward the d.c. line. and in bound new york avenue slowing into the traffic lights. the accident bladensberg road accident gone. 270 out of rockville heavy, slow and steady toward the lane divide. outer loop slowing 95 to georgia. 395 on the brakes. beltway past duke street to seminary and boundary channel drive across the 14th street bridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. less than a week after his son's wedding, prince charles is here in the nation's capital and today he's expected to meet with president obama, give a speech and have home at john kerry. yesterday he was out and about meeting members of the supreme court and it was off to a farm

in the le droit park. resident there's are taught to grow and prepare their own foods. >> we wanted to plant something in his honor so what was his favorite vegetable and he said leaks, i love leaks and brussel sprouts. >> prince charles has been a long time supporter of sustainable agriculture. last night he brought members of the military to the british ambassador's home. >> i think he is aging so well. it is 7:21 on this wednesday morning and with air- conditioning season around the corner, local power companies are changing rates. we'll tell you who could see a price hike and who could see some lower bills. we'll have that coming up. >> some people will see that. and no big surprise apps for your smartphone is big business and we're learning how

big that business is. and coming up later, rescue crews are at king's dominion to get a hands-on practice in preparing for worst case scenarios. we'll check in with holly who is at the challenge. that is coming up.

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a consumer alert for virginia dominion power. they are asking state regulators for permission to charge you more money. if approved your power bill could go up between $9 and $13 a month. they blame the rate hike on the cost of fuels going up. and pepco customers will get a break on their power bills. maryland customers will see a decrease of 16%, about $22 a month. and in d.c. a 10% decrease saving customers $10 a month. pepco's new rates go into effect on june 1st.

>> and every little bit helps. smartphone apps is big business. one research firm predicts a 77% growth in sales by the year 2014. according to c-net they say sales of apps could reach $8.3 billion in 2014. by comparison the combined revenues in 2010 were about $2.1 billion. and we need your help to share the news about the latest and greatest apps out there today. to tell us about a cool app to check out head to the smartphone zone on myfoxdc.com. you'll find it by clicking on the mornings tab at the top of the home page. it is now 7:26 on this wednesday morning. will the death of osama bin laden have a unifying effect on capitol hill? we're going to take a closer look coming up after the break. and as we take you to break, a live look outside. we'll get the latest weather and traffic from tony and julie

next. and if you have something you want fox 5 to investigation send us tips or call us at 202- 895-3140. 

getting close to 7:30 now.

let's take a look at traffic on the 14th street bridge. give yourself a little extra time because of the wet roadways out there today. >> and i do like what the rain is doing to the grass. tufts of color. my lawn is looking better. >> i have cut mine three times in the last week. we'll continue to get some of this beneficial rain during the course of the morning hours. some spots have seen heavy rain this morning and then we'll get it out of here and get partial clearing going on for the afternoon. there you go. kind of a mixed day. let's take a look at hd radar and show you the precipitation this morning as it moves across the area. we're seeing some of the areas of heavier rain to the east dissipate somewhat and break down. but still, showers there. in d.c. it's mainly light to moderate rainfall as i mentioned a short time ago. reagan national is reporting light rain, fog and mist. we do have some heavier rain just to the west of frederick, right around front royal and

down near charlottesville as well. and maybe fredericksberg, it looks like you'll get another batch of heavier rainfall moving through. but these aren't as impressive as they were this morning. so we continue to watch this track off to the north and east. temperatures across the region, they continue to drop and they've dropped significantly from the 60s, pardon me, 60s late last night and to the 50s this morning and now to the 40s. 46 degrees in washington. 45 at gaithersburg. when i came to work it was 53. 48 now in quantico. winchester 45. and winds have been gusting. we've been telling you that. latest wind gusts in washington 25 miles per hour. so that's part of the story this morning. and it's going to be at the very least breezy through the day today as the front comes through and those breezes will shift out of the northwest and they will bring in -- or they have shifted and they're bringing in those cooler temperatures. so the forecast for today looks

like this: morning showers, becoming, believe it or not, partly sunny and still breezy later on. high about 60 degrees. yesterday we were in the 80s. winds gusting up to 25 miles per hour as we've seen. for tonight, a colder night. in town, lows in the mid and upper 40s. outside of town, out to the north and west, i think lows in the 30s. there is actually a freeze warning or freeze watch and some frost advisories in effect well out to the west where the mountains are for overnight tonight. and so it will be really cold out there. partly cloudy skies. five-day forecast, tomorrow not a bad day. sunshine mixed with a few clouds, nice and 68. friday not terrible, a few showers come through. saturday i think good, mostly sunny and 71. sunday more clouds and scattered showers, 74 for the high. that's the latest on the weather. here is julie wright with more on the problematic rush hour traffic. >> i have to tell you, you can ask any ten-year-old out there, this time of year we're not supposed to be talking about

freeze watch, we're supposed to be talking with freeze pops,. >> i could have used a freeze pop yesterday. >> or a nutty butty. >> yes. >> you already got two of them. you have me and tucker. and here he is. you said problematic. 395 at duke street, blocking the left lane. two vehicles involved and still waiting for help to arrive on the scene. unfortunately this is the back- up leaving the beltway headed northbound toward the 14th street bridge. so it's heavy, slow and steady, beltway up to the bridge. this accident here at duke street is in the back-up and still waiting for fire and rescue units to arrive at the scene. meanwhile traveling kenilworth southbound from 50 toward east capitol street, a stalled car contributed to the delay off the road to the shoulder. in rockville, lanes are open, not too busy here. accident on southbound 270 approaching 28 with more fire and rescue units responding. that's a check of your fox 5 on-

time traffic. pakistan may pay a steep price for harboring osama aden economically. they also want answers about how pakistani officials can claim they knew nothing about bin laden's whereabouts during his apparently long residence there. talking about the developments of the past week now, joining us democratic political strategist peter fenn and republican political strategy-- jimm innocenzi. and let's talk about the political reaction first of all. politically speaking welcome -- politically speaking, the feeling? >> everybody is relieved about this. this is a terrific

organization. the commandos were unbelievable. many of us have memories of blackhawk down and memories of horrible incident with jimmy carter and the helicopters trying to get the hostages out of iran. and in this case it was just -- it was perfectly put together. the president i think did an extraordinary job over 7 months figuring this out and making the decision. a tough decision. if this had gone -- wouldn't you agree, if this had gone like the jimmy carter thing, his presidency would be over. this was a risky deal. >> what other decision did he have? is he going to say no? >> no. he could have bombed it. that was an easy call. >> i would agree, in terms of the type of invasion. but this is a victory for america, a victory for the american military, the american intelligence. this is not a partisan victory. if you want to, you can give george bush as much credible as

possible because of all of the stuff they started back after 9/11 and all of the things they found out through their intelligence gathering so this is an american victory. and i think this sends a message to the middle east, hopefully that's the message delivers in a couple of days that says when you mess with us, you pay the price. >> but -- >> what else is he going to say, peter? >> i'm just saying -- you do want to give the president some credit for this, don't you? >> okay. all right. >> do you think that -- president bush declined the opportunity to go to ground zero. do you think that's a good call on his part? >> absolutely. i think that he -- first of all, this is a guy who has kind of laid low and he doesn't need to be there. everybody knows his role in this whole situation. and i think if you want to be a cynic, look at what happened to paul ryan. i don't think the president sandbagged him but i think that

frankly this is the situation where this is the president of the united states role, let him deliver the message. i think that president bush will come back on the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and be there then. i think that's appropriate. >> i agree with jim. i think one of the things that you can say about president bush throughout and you could say the same thing about president clinton, past presidents shouldn't be in there and trying become presidents again. you could argue it would be nice to have them both there but i think president bush has been reticent about getting involved in anything political. and i think it's a class act. i agree. i do. >> and a number of other questions are coming out and as we look back in hindsight. you have questions about tactics being used, the c.i.a. talking about water bordering

republicans saying this kind of thing works. do you have a carte blanche to take credit for things done in the past because it worked this time? >> steve, i'll tell you something, if we come out with the conclusion that waterboarding, slamming guys heads against the wall, having them -- if these tactics become suddenly the flavor of the month because of this, that's a disaster. there is a front page story in today's new york times that talks about col ied sheikh mohammed. i think we have to be very careful about saying that these kind of tactics work. >> well then you disagree with the c.i.a. director because he came out yesterday and said that some of

the information they gathered was because of waterboarding. >> well it certainly wasn't with the folks that they're talking about in this article today. i mean here is situation. >> but it came from the c.i.a. director. >> but some of the people that were at some point water boarded -- >> let me -- >> no, jim, i think that -- go ahead. >> peter, just tamp it down. we're here to celebrate today, okay. >> i don't want to celebrate those kind of tactics, do you? >> i think in some cases if those are the tactics you have to take to get things out of these guys, then sometimes you have to go through these measures. >> but there is no evidence that that happened, jim. >> we're going to chalk this one up to a disagreement because we could talk about this the whole time. >> read the front page story going through all of that in the times. >> then leon panetta is wrong. >> i didn't see that statement. >> of course not. thank you. >> i want to make sure since we have a minute left, i want to

talk about pakistan. should the u.s. continue to fund pakistan and was there a question of pakistan knowingly harboring osama bin laden and that's the reaction there from capitol hill? >> it's almostin cred you'llous to believe they didn't know something. the official government statement is they didn't but i can't believe somebody in the military or intelligence didn't know this guy was there. >> should we cut off aid to pakistan. >> i think you'll see some people will call for that and others will fight against it. ultimately you can't tell. i would think they would cut some aid off. >> you have to ask the questions. they are right down the street from their west point. this thing was built in 2003. the security around it was incredible. it sort of strains belief that somebody didn't have some sense of what was going on in that compound. >> and i also think it adds to the idea that what do these

people do? they hide among the civilians. we thought they were in caves? they weren't. they were in with everybody else. ultimately i think they are all cowards but that's for another day. >> going to have to leave it there. are you guys going to be okay getting to the parking lot. >> i'm going to push him out. >> and you can find complete coverage all in one place for you on myfoxdc.com. just click on the link and you'll find it on the hot topics bar on the main page. it is now 7:41 and it's 46 degrees out there on a wednesday morning and in the next hour we'll have much more on the impact of osama bin laden's death on national security. we will get insider details from the national security senior editor at cq weekly. that is coming up. plus it's a familiar tune for caps fans. the team is a high seed with big expectations only to face an early elimination. coming up next, it's do or die

time for the caps as they face a deciding came four tonight in tampa. we'll be right back. .ui.of

for the caps, tonight's game in tampa is win or go home. >> that is the case. it looked like they were going to be great last night. they had a 3-2 lead but then in a span of less than 30 seconds, it just fell apart. picking it up late in the 2nd period, green fires and the rebound loose and ovechkin gets to the puck and slops it in. the 25th career playoff goal and puts the caps up 3-2 and everybody celebrates, including myself watching at home. and third period, thompson centerd it and it's deflected off john carlson and ryan malone that gives lightning the 4-3 lead. malone gets the goal. and that's your final, 4-3. the lightning take a commanding 3-0 lead in the best of 7 series. that means if tampa wins tonight it is over. and the caps season will be

over. if the caps win tonight they're come back here and play in washington. >> i have a good feeling tonight. i have a good feeling. >> i hope so. >> maybe tomorrow we can talk about a win. >> that's right. and then you're at home. >> yes. what do you want me to talk about? >> when the rain will stop. >> it will stop late morning, early afternoon. >> okay. >> let's take a look and let me show you hd radar. this is primarily a morning event but a good morning event it has been. a good amount of rainfall has come through. spots of heavy rain and thunderstorm activity earlier this morning south and east of the district. right now it's mainly just rain. there are some areas where there is heavier rain, wherever you see the yellow and oranges there, we are seeing heavier rainfall amounts. here is a look at our future cast. that is one of the things we use to help us estimate when rainfall is going to end. there is how it looks at 10:00 this morning, we believe. still raining but out to the west drying out.

and during the afternoon hours, some clearing out, we'll get some sunshine in here. still some spotty moisture up to the north and west. but certainly by tomorrow it's going to be fine around here. pleasant day tomorrow. today still breezy through the afternoon and a cool day with a high only around 60 degrees. here is your five-day forecast. morning rain gives way to partial sunshine this afternoon. breezy and 60 for the high. overnight cold, lows in the 40s overnight. out to the north and west, maybe in the 30s. tomorrow, nice day. friday 70 and saturday 71 and mostly sunny. sunday 74 but more clouds build in and we could see some showers. that's the latest. more coming up in 13 minutes. >> precisely? >> yes. >> excellent. >> sounds like a plan. let's check in with julie and look at traffic. >> wet pavement not helping out our drive around town. a number of accidents that have popped up in the last 15-20 minutes or so. let's start off here. if you are traveling eastbound on route 50, headed out toward davidsonville here at 301, accident tieing up the right

side of the roadway. so again that's outbound, leaving the beltway toward analyst westbound lanes are open. franklin road is closed off because of wires down in the highway. i-95 approaching 198, the problem is debris. callers describe it as gravel in the roadway. southbound 95 delays building from 32 trying to get down into laurel. outer loop of the beltway, checking for a crash around the curve approaching 355. seeing delays form as you were past -- past connecticut avenue. a live shot of 395 at duke street, the accident in the left lane now off to the shoulder with state police. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. rescue crews across the region are at king's dominion right now just practicing to prepare for a worst case scenario. >> holly, good morning. >> reporter: i think getting stuck on a rollercoaster is a worst case scenario. it could happen and if it does

wouldn't you like to make sure the rescue teams know what to do? that's why they are practicing today and king's dominion is helping out in hosting the 17th annual rescue challenge. exactly what it is and the important lesson the rescue personnel are learning here to keep us all safe. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. 

the 17th annual rescue challenge going on in our area. >> and this morning holly is at king's dominion to learn about the important rescue training event. there is no distance too far for holly and the crew to go to bring you this information. >> reporter: exactly. and we love traveling down 95 through the rain to get here. but it is important information because it's going to help us all make a lot more secure when we come out to a place like

king's dominion and have a fun- filled day. but you hope that doesn't happen, but if you're smart you plan for it and that's what the rescue challenge is all about. so i'm joined midway up on the platform inside flight of fear with an inside look here because this is the 17th rescue challenge. so it must be something you think is pretty important? >> absolutely. with all of the weather we've had lately, with the tornadoes and the hurricanes, flooding, it's an opportunity for our teams to get together to make rescues. we had two tornadoes strike out county last wednesday and king's dominion has been good enough to let us train on the worst case scenario and that's where our teams are here today for. >> reporter: and some people would say why would they invite you to say look at someone stranded on a ride but it's not about that. >> it's all about safety and making sure people know we do think about this stuff.

our guest safety is our number one priority at all times. >> reporter: and it has to be when this park boasts a lot of rollercoasters and even one is bigger, better, scarier than the one before. so safety is a concern. >> exactly. and to have our local crews here training on the stuff for that potential worst case scenario will make it easier for everybody when it comes to what it going on and they can show up and know the equipment they are working on and know the coasters and can take care of the situation quickly. >> reporter: and it's not just about the rescue on a rollercoaster because how often does this happen? really it's very rare. >> very rare. >> reporter: but the techniques used here can be used in other scenarios? >> exactly. we have 27 entities from the state of virginia and some from maryland that they all train on. and the rollercoasters are similar but they can take that back to where they are, where

they have amusement rides and use that same scenario. it is an opportunity to get together and share the knowledge and they may have knowledge that we don't know and john has helped us with different things because we got a new ride. so it works out perfectly. >> reporter: so you can pool your resources? >> exactly. >> reporter: and how do you decide who gets to come? >> we invite everybody in and the ones that can afford it, we let them come and we make a dvd so the ones that couldn't can see the scenarios we have. >> reporter: and how long does it last? >> through thursday. >> reporter: so it's a several- day event. so let's explain to everyone where we are because we are in a totally enclosed rollercoaster. >> we are on the flight of fear which is a totally enclosed rollercoaster that is in the dark. we have the lights turned on right now. and the scenario they have set up are a couple of fallen workers from a man basket from a crane from inside the building. it's totally something that

could happen. we hope it doesn't. >> reporter: so let me get this straight. it may not be that someone is riding the ride and the ride breaks down. this is because you have to continually maintain the rides people are up there in precarious positions all of the time and something could happen? >> oh, yeah. like our maintenance crews are out here early in the morning, late at night, in inspecting the rides, checking the rides on a daily basis. so this is something that are positions we get in every day. >> reporter: and so for the team that's come out here, are they usually novices or are these people that already have experience that are taking it to the next level? >> we did a little scenario the first day. there was probably about 20 people that it was their first time. and a lot of them had been here over ten years. so we do have a lot of knowledge and we share the knowledge. and as people retire, the teams educate themselves and team leaders educate them on how to do this properly. >> reporter: and not only getting specific knowledge but when they leave here don't you

think they are more confident responders? >> absolutely. and in any moment we could call them for help. the technical rescue teams are not stand-alone entities, not enough people in our county or the other countity if you have a large incident. so we have the contact, know how to get in touch with people and within minutes in this central located area we could have teams from up in northern virginia or south virginia. >> reporter: thank you both very much for letting us get this inside look. and the next hour exercises will be underway and we'll see some rescues in action. until then continue watching fox 5 morning news because we'll be right back after the break. my busy family, the family with thousands of odors.

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two days after the killing of osama bin laden, more details being released about the raid. plus the debate continues over whether to release photos of his corpse. and then it is amazing that anyone survived this. a montgomery county home explodes overnight throwing the residents out into the street. we're live on the scene. check this out, first lady michelle obama caught on camera

doing the dougie. she's not the only big name that got down yesterday. more of this video coming up ahead this hour. good stuff. good morning and thanks for being with us this wednesday morning. i'm steve chenevey. >> and i'm allison seymour. and we're hip enough. we know that wasn't the dougie, but if you watch it longer there is more to that. which was funny because we tried to do it last night, me and the girls, syndey and i tried, that is an exhausting video. this is off the video with beyonce. >> and then she was doing it in new york. that's a workout in itself. >> that's good. >> but you can't do the running man so that was one of the things. >> i can't do anything really well. >> really? >> i'm not a good dancer. >> he would be doing the running man today if he was outside. >> and we have rain across the region. some of the rain is heavy. right now mostly light to moderate rainfall. let's take a look at hd rainfall. and also a couple of breaks in the action here and there. so we're going to deal with this again through the early

and mid morning hours and then it will start to scoot out of here and that will be a good thing. but yes, rain across the area for your morning commute. right now current temperature, and i've double checked this because most of the other indicators say 46 degrees, this particular one says 48 degrees, relative humidity is 89%. we know our temperatures are in the 40s and it is rather breezy out. forecast for today, morning rain will give way to -- partial sunshine later. it will be breezy through the day and a much cooler day with highs only in the upper 50s and low 60s. that will do it. we'll have more on the forecast coming up in just a little bit. >> thank you, sir. let's check in with julie wright. with the wet roads out there there have been problems. what is going on now? >> we have a lot going on. on the east side of the town, eastbound along route 50 approaching 301 in bowie, the accident has traffic squeezing by to the left from the capital

beltway toward analyst. westbound all lanes are open but slow in bowie rubbing necking past the seen and delays from riverdale to cheverly into northeast. and 198 the gravel in the roadway is cleared and lanes are open but the commute traveling southbound on 95 jammed up from 32 to 198. a 15 minute trip to go a couple of miles there. and traveling 7100 north of the dulles toll road at spring street, checking for a crash. slowing at hunter mill again approaching the beltway. wrapping up 395 at duke street, the delays all the way from the 14th street bridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. a house explosion in montgomery county. it happened on ashley drive in rockville before 3:00 this morning and that's where we find stacy cohan with the latest. stacy, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. the investigation continues. this remains an active scene many hours after the initial explosion. if you look here, you can see -- well you can see a house

that is standing. that is next to the rubble remaining of the house that actually exploded. around 3:00 this morning neighbors heard a loud boom. one of our photographers who lives several miles away said he heard the noise. it was an incredible blast and you can see debris scattered everywhere. it's in the trees, on rooftops. two homes adjacent to the one affected were also badly damaged in this. and after the explosion some people luckily in the immediate area ran out to try to help. >> i heard the man screaming for his wife's name and i wasn't sure whether she was alive or whether he seen her or not and when i was on the phone, and while i was on the phone i found her and i told them to come as fast as they can. >> i was more concerned with the people there because they were on the ground. they got blew back from the explosion and if there was a second explosion i wouldn't want them to be as close as they were.

so i was more concerned with getting them out and i injured myself in my back going to help them. >> reporter: there were two people home at the time. a man and woman had just moved in a few days ago to this house. we don't know what caused it or if they were in the process of running out of the house when it exploded or if they were just thrown from the bedroom in the middle of the night. in any case, we were told the female actually ended up quite a distance away behind a neighboring yard with her husband looking around to help her. they were both transported to local hospitals, to a local burn unit. we are told they suffered serious injuries but are expected to survive. pepco and washington gas are out here along with fire investigators trying to determine the source of this massive explosion. reporting live from rockville, i'm stacy cohan, back to you. >> stacy, thank you so much. and pepco is looking into a man hole explosion that happened last night in bethesda. the explosion was heard just after 10:00 on wisconsin avenue. pepco said it was a transformer explosion underground.

it briefly knocked out power and no one was hurt in this explosion. now to the latest on the killing of osama bin laden. leon panetta said the administration does have gravity photos of the leader's corpse and one of them is like lie to be released to the public. however that decision is up to the white house. officials hope that will quiet any doubts that osama bin laden is dead but some are worried that anti-u.s. sentiment could be inflamed. two days after ward we continue to learn about the raid. he was unarmed but made threatening moves so he was shot in the chest and head. he was found in a million dollar mansion in pakistan but was not living a life of luxury. some three dozen people shared the home that had walls stained with mold. officials say the house had no internet or phone connection and the people inside rarely strayed outside. a new washington post poll said 7 in ten americans think

the country's long-term security has improved now that osama bin laden is dead and two- thirds say they are afraid of revenge by al-qaeda or other terror groups. and joining us now to talk more, jonathan broder, the senior editor at cq weekly. first of all with, it comes to pakistan and osama bin laden living in the area he was, do you think we'll ever know if he knowingly was there as far as what pakistani officials are military knew about his living arrangements? >> i can't predict that. but it's a very difficult question right now. pakistan has become the most difficult, complex relationship that the united states has right now. on one hand it's inconceivable to many in washington that osama bin laden could have been living in this town, which is home to pakistan's west point, the house was a mere thousand

feet away from this military academy, the town is home to many retired military and retired intelligence people from pakistan. and one needs a permit from the local authorities, a security clearance, to buy property, to build on property and even to rent property. so it's pretty hard to fathom how the pakistanis could not have known. >> but jet pakistan still remains vital to the united states. >> it does. and that's the conundrum. this is the country we can't live with or without. and 90% of the supplies come from the pakistani port and then through the pass and through wetta into afghanistan. with relationships with pakistan are further strains then those supply routes could be in danger. >> the white house has to decide whether or not to

release a photo of a deceased osama bin laden. good idea or not? what could that result be? >> i think that the calculation of the white house is as long as there is some doubt in the arab and muslim world and conspiracy theories begin to develop that osama bin laden is still alive, they are going to have to put those doubts to rest. and as gruesome as these photos are, i mean after all he was popped twice in the head, they are not going to be pretty, but the photos will have to be released. >> your decades of experience and have been all over the world and covered international security, what do you think happens next? is there is possible ilt of -- possibility of retaliatory attacks and people are still in fear that something could happen. >> the fact that osama bin laden is dead doesn't mean that al-qaeda is dead. they could try a retaliatory attack and i do want to mention

that in the arab world in general, this killing comes amid a historic seat change in the arab world where they call it the arab awakening where people on the street are demanding freedom and democracy and an end to autocratic regimes which were the same targets of al-qaeda. in other words al-qaeda did not succeed in getting rid of these autocratic rules but the prodemocracy demonstrators on the street in egypt and tunisia, have gotten rid of them and they are trying to get them in other countries as well. i think that al-qaeda's day in the arab world is eclipsing and it is being eclipsed by prodemocracy movement. >> fascinating point. would love to talk to you all day. we appreciate your time this

morning. we appreciate your time this morning. back to you. a montgomery county man has been stabbed to death. this is happened overnight in germantown. investigators say an acquaintance of the victim is the suspect. he called police from a nearby wal-mart. you can see video of him being put into a police car at the shopping center. the suspect has not been identified. d.c. miss are also investigating a deadly stabbing. this happened just after 10:00 p.m. in the 3200 block of agner place in southeast. the victim has not been identified and there is no word on a suspect. 11 minutes past the hour now. up next news from pepco and from virginia dominion power companies. one of the company is going to lower your prices and one is going to raise them? which one works for you? we'll have the details after a break. gas prices are going up and some drivers are thinking about going to a hybrid vehicle. it might help the environment

but not your wallet. we'll break down the numbers after 80:00. stay with us.

it's 8:14 as we check headlines this morning. days after the royal wedding prince charles is here in the nation's capitol visiting a sperm farm in the le droit park neighborhood where residents grow their own food. later today he'll speak at the future of food conference at georgetown university. the prince will also meet with president obama and have dinner at the home of senator john kerry. southwest airlines has closed the deal to buy airtran airways. the the $1 billion purchase means southwest gets airtran routes in atlanta and for us it means southwest could fly out of reagan national. and they pick up gates also as la guardia airport. and the caps on brink of elimination after losing to the lightning last night 4-3. they trail in the series 3 games to none. and that means tonight is a must-win or the season is over

for your washington capitals. don't want that to happen. >> no, and it won't happen either. you'll see. >> i'm with you. 8:15 now. let's get a check on the weather and another bright spot in our day? >> that's right. how could i forget that. before we get to the weather, i'll show you what is going on outside, but it is time to show you and share with you the my first 5 photo of the day. let's take a look. >> oh, what are you doing? >> young boys are always so anxious to do this. this is jayden giving himself a clean shave with his new toy shaving kit. >> and it looks like he has a costume on. >> buzz lightyear. >> and when we were that age we wanted to do that and when you have to do that, you wish you were that age again. >> much like high heels with little girls and make-up. but in the meantime, he is so handsome.

>> he is adorable. to send us your child's picture go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings. all right, take a look. here is what is happening out there. max 2, a radar image of the precipitation moving through the region. we continue to see some spots where the rain is a little heavier than it is in other locations. so we're not done yet, folks. we continue to deal with this. it is shifting northeast and east. in fact we can actually, on some of the radar images, see the back edge of this system. once we get through the rain there will be lingering clouds and then we'll get some sunshine a little bit later on this afternoon. temperatures across the region, here is a new change for you, we're at 47 degrees now at reagan national. 45 at dulles. 48 in baltimore. patuxent naval air station 51. ocean city remains at 66 degrees at this hour. five-day forecast, high today only about 60 degrees. early showers, partial sunshine this afternoon, breezy. cold tonight, lows in the 40s for some of you out to the

west, in the 30s. tomorrow face day and 68 with sunshine and friday we add more clouds, chance of showers. saturday a good day. sunday not a bad day. 74 and a chance of some showers. that's a look at what is happening with the weather. now let's get more on the rush hour traffic. once again we go to julie wright. still busy out there with a lot going on. especially for you traveling eastbound 50 this morning headed out toward bowie. that's where we have the accident activity. right side of the road is tied up as you leave the capital beltway and head toward annapolis. traffic congested through riverdale and cheverly. again southbound 95, debris in the roadway cleared at 198. delays from 32, about a 15 minute drive at this time. delays traveling the outer loop leaving 95 college park toward georgia avenue. all lanes are open. southbound 270, at 28 rockville disabled vehicle cleared to the shoulder.

northbound 95 the delay in the main line extends across the inbound 14th street bridge. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. good news for pepco customers. your bills are about to go down. in maryland electric bills would decrease by about 15%. in d.c. they'll go down about 10%. the new prices go into effect on june 1st. if you're a virginia dominion power company, not so good news. that utility company is asking state regulators for permission to charge you more. if approve the your bill could go up between $9 and $13 a month. they blame the rate hike on the rising cost of fuel. you may want to opt for a reusable bag if you use shopping in montgomery county. they approved a 5 cents bag tax for disposable paper and tax bags. only one of the nine council members voted against it. they estimate the tax will bring in $1 million in the first year along with helping the environment. while some don't mind the idea of a bag tax, others don't want to pay it. >> i mean the cost of living is

getting higher and higher and now you have to pay extra money for a bag. i mean, come on. this is the u.s. >> it's a great way to save the environment, a great way to build revenue so i'm for the tax. >> some bags are exempt from the tag. newspaper bags, dry-cleaning bags and paper bags from a restaurant for leftovers. the tax is expected to start in january. 20 minutes past the hour. more fears of flooding along the mighty mississippi. and cleaning up in the south. and we're live at king's dominion where rescues are training. stay with us. it's 8:20 and we'll be right back.  bree: sis, help me create my oasis. marcy: ok, romantic garden?

bree: oh, is there a castle nearby? marcy: no, but there's a charming farmhouse. bree: right next to my posh castle! i'm sensing a theme here. well, i am the queen, dear sister. and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month for a year. call now and you'll get this special bonus: $100 back. there's no term contract required. if you don't absolutely love fios you can cancel any time with no early termination fee. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers the best channel lineup, superior picture quality and more hd,

plus the fastest internet in the u.s. why keep paying for cable? get fios tv, internet and phone -- for just $99.99 a month, plus $100 back. this is a limited time offer, so don't wait. call 1.877.827.fios. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities that's 1.877.827.3467. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. get the network that delivers more. get fios. a network ahead.

tough time as long the mississippi. it is a battle over who to save when it comes to the floodwaters. the army corp of engineers blew a two mile hole in illinois to save towns from raging floodwaters from the mississippi. the water level has dropped but more than 130,000 acres of farm land got that water and is now flooded. many farmers are surveying their soaked acreage. >> farming is all i ever have done since -- and it's under water, i don't know.

>> i just never expected to see water like this. >> the army corp of engineers is planning more blasts for today. a group of 25 farmers suing the federal government arming that their land has been taken without adequate compensation. the deadly tornadoes that swept through the south may have caused more damage than hurricane katrina. thousands in the region were already struggling with high unemployment. now they have to recover with no way to work and dim prospects of finding jobs. the damage is still being counted but it could be almost as much as hurricane katrina which cost $1 billion in losses in alabama alone. well to hope those in the south recover a bit. football fans in our area are collecting donations. now they are bitter rivals on the field but fans at the university of alabama and auburn university came together in alexandria yesterday to collect all kinds of things like water, canned goods and a lot of baby clothes. >> because it's hard being this

far away and you can't just jump in your car and go and help someone who needs to clean up so you just have to do what you can where you are. >> because you want to be down there with your hands in the dirt helping people out in person. but up here, we kind of have to judge what we can do best and that's raise money and send down donations. >> the other impressive part, steve, not much trash talking right now between the rivals. they say they are going to wait for the grid iron to do that. >> settle it on the field. it is 8:25. good to see the cooperative spirit. unfortunately things are not cooperating when it comes to gas prices. they are still going up and up and has drivers thinking about switching to a hybrid. >> and while the change will help the environment, it might not help your wallet. at least not right away. we'll break down the numbers when you come back. and michelle obama and beyonce getting down. why they were dancing

yesterday. stay with us. it's 8:25. >> over 600 schools are going to be doing what you are doing. .

coming up on 8:30 as we take a look at stories making hd line -- making headlines. a first attack since u.s. commandos killing in pakistan. they say it is probably al- qaeda which has vowed revenge for bin laden's death. on the east coast it was 11:35 on the school night but the president's speech had an audience of more than 56 million viewers nationwide. the nealson company said that's far larger than the amount of people watching the recent president's prime time address. and the first lady goes old school and new school at the same time. >> it's all in an effort to

push her "let's move" campaign. she visited alice field middle school yesterday. while there she danced with kids to beyonce's move your body. and doing a bunch of different dances. she was doing the running man, she did the dougie a little bit. it is the newest craze and she nailed it. >> and of course beyonce doing her part and we all know that she can have no problem doing this. making a surprise appearance in harlem, new york in a little school there. the video was remade to do part of the let's move campaign. >> look at her shoes. >> did you wear those shoes? >> no. i would have tennis shoes. i don't think it would damage her image to put on a pair of tennis shoes. >> even more impressive to do it in the high heels. >> and all of the students are dancing so well. >> i thought you were going to

say they all wore the same shirt to school. >> no, but the video has been out. so you have time to practice. >> it doesn't matter if i practiced for a lifetime, i couldn't do it. >> i'll teach you. >> i want to work on the dougie. >> well i can't teach you that one. >> well here is what i'm good at, the rain across the area. things are generally winding down and if you hang in there we'll see some sunshine by late this morning, i think early this afternoon we'll see sun breaking out. and hd radar showing you leftover rain shower activity. generally light across the immediate washington area, although we have another band redeveloping down 95 south of fredericksberg and that will move off to the north and east. so if you are east of the city and along the 95 corridor, quantico into prince william's county and up toward annapolis you might get a band of good rains. there is the pack side of the rain shower activity and again

all shifting to the east. should be winding down in the next couple of hours. and then we'll see some clearing this afternoon, although it will be on the cool side. check out the temperatures. really fallen back overnight after enjoying highs yesterday in the 80s. let's switch maps and i'll show you the temperatures. and again, as we got the cooler air moving in, temperatures have cooled off. in the 80s yesterday, 47 at reagan national. 45 in gaithersburg. 46 in leonardtown. off to the north and west, hagerstown martinsberg, 85. winds out of the north and west gusting to about 25-30 miles per hour in the last look and still out of the north and west. so a breezy afternoon and even with the sunshine highs only in the upper 50s to about 60. there you go. forecast for today, 60 degrees, a little afternoon sunshine. we'll get rid of the shower activity and tomorrow looks great but a cold one tonight. overnight lows in a few spots in the 30s. so a chilly one tomorrow when the kids get out to the bus stop and nice tomorrow at 68. could be a few showers on friday and saturday and

sunshine and about 70. that's a look at the forecast, allison. back to you at the desk. >> tucker, thank you. the price drivers are paying at the pump shot up overnight n. d.c. the average price for a gallon of regular unleaded went up 6 cents to $3.18. according to triple-a -- $4.18, excuse me. and prices also rose in maryland 2 cents to $3.97. staying steady in virginia at $3.86. with the cost of gas spiking, many consumers are once again considering alternative fuels. we know buying a hybrid is a green choice but will it save you any green? fox consumer reporter steve novi ello joins us live from dallas. good morning to you. >> good morning to you as well. >> the question is will drivers ever recoup the hybrid upcharge? will it pay off in a couple of years? >> do the extra dollars really

make sense? well here is the deal. i thinks that psychological. consumers feel like they are paying money because you only pay the upcharge once when you buy the vehicle but you save money at the gas pump once a week and every couple of weeks and we did the math and we found out the hybrid cars will never pay for themselves. if you're doing it to save money, think twice. look at a extreme example and it's the lexus ls hybrid. this is $111,000 vehicle. so i don't expect people are running out and buying this thing. the hybrid up charge on it is $45,000 and it will only save you about $114 worth of gas money every year. so you would have to drive this vehicle 12,000 miles a year for the next 394 years in order for it to even start to pay for itself. so if you're doing it for the money, you might want to think twice. >> all right. now people assume that hybrid

models get significantly better gas mileage? are we going to bust that myth too? fact or fiction, steve? >> right. well and that's why the lexus is so extreme because the difference between the nonhybrid and the hybrid is only about a mile per gallon. look at the ford escape. a fuel efficient vehicle and a very fuel efficient hybrid. but the hybrid highway mileage is 31 miles per gallon and the standard is 28. and you have to figure out what kind of driver you are. the hybrids don't do as well on the highway as they do in the city. they are more fuel efficient in stop-and-go traffic. >> and do you remember the large suvs we used to see and you say they can be more fuel efficient? >> there is an important part that people leave out. let's take a look at the toyota prius. 48 miles per gallon and we

tracked a trip from here toel 'o which is 210 miles and figuring you drive with two people in the car and spend about 6.3 gallons of gas per person. and look at the chevy suburban, it only gets 21 miles per gallon but on the same trip chances are you have six people in it and then you only require 4.8 gallons per person. so even though it doesn't get as good filage, it's the more fuel efficient option because when you think of the number of people you are transporting, that will save you money. >> and with five in my family, good to know i have credibility behind it. and last but not least, is there a way to avoid the upcharge and still get the great gat mileage? >> the bottom line is there are a lot of very fuel-efficient cars. the ford fiesta flying off car lots at 45 miles per gallon and

look at the honda cr 7. it gets 37 miles per gallon and starts at $19,000. and so there are options for consumers that has good gas mileage. and the lexus example that we gave off the top is a extreme example but we want you to be able to figure out if your hybrid is worth the up charge so head to the website and we have a hybrid calculator that we posted. you can go in and plug in the price of gas, how many miles you drive, what the upcharge is on your car model and it will tell you how long it would take to recoup the cost of that additional hybrid fee. >> steve novi ello live from dallas. thank you, steve. >> you got it. >> and you can find that calculator on myfoxdc.com. we'll make it real easy. >> so if you're hauling around five people in your suv, how many of them are chipping in for gas? >> the little ones aren't chipping in anything.

>> tough to take back their allowance. and 8:37 on this morning. what federal agencies are paying the most if you want to make big bucks from the government. some surprises here when we share when we come back. and today is asthma awareness day. did you know that? there are free allergy screening on capitol hill. it's taking place from 11:30 to 11:30 in the foyer of the rayburn building. we have more information on myfoxdc.com. just click on web links. we'll be right back. keohre.c

let's crack open the job shop there morning. if you're looking for work check it out every day. today's job of the day is with town park. they are looking for valet parks in alexandria, washington and bethesda. if you'd like por on this job and -- more on this job and many others go to myfoxdc.com and click on the job shop tab at the top of the home page. which jobs in the federal government pay the most? doctors, lawyers and dentists top the list. feds who make more than $180,000 a year account for less than 1% of the work force. doctors make up eight out of the ten jobs in that salary bracket. attorneys account for 6%. followed by dentists with almost 3%. and financial institution examiners with nearly 2%. some of the top employers, well

the veteran health administration, the s.e.c., the nih, and data does not cover the white house judiciary branch, most of the legislative branch and some agencies including the c.i.a. and the nsa. >> 8:42 right now. high angle rescues, trench accidents and vehicle accidents happen every day. >> and that's why it's important for rescuers to stay on top of the recent techniques and holly is learning all about their training today. >> reporter: good morning. what better place to train than in an amusement park where they specialize in thrills. they are live at king's dominion where the 17th annual rescue challenge is underway. in fact, coming up, the first exercise of the day. we're going to talk about the scenario and the lessons they are learning and how this training is helping us all be a lot safer. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us.  [ male announcer ] are you paying more and more for cable

and enjoying it less and less? stop paying for second best. upgrade to verizon fios and get tv, internet and phone for just $99.99 a month for a year. call now and you'll get this special bonus: $100 back. there's no term contract required. if you don't absolutely love fios you can cancel any time with no early termination fee. fios is a 100% fiber-optic network that delivers the best channel lineup, superior picture quality and more hd, plus the fastest internet in the u.s. why keep paying for cable?

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tactical teams from the area being trained in heavy

rescue this is week. >> holly morris is at king's dominion to watch their training. >> reporter: this is a wonderful opportunity for teams across the state to come together and not only share their own knowledge but learn new techniques as well they can take back and use in their day- to-day operations. we are inside flight of fear where the first scenario is set up. this is a closed ride here and we're joined by the virginia department of fire and william jones with hanover fire and ems. thank you both for joining me. and i understand you're the reason why we're here. you're the one that started this? >> starting 17 years ago with a couple of other fellows and we put this together for regional training throughout the state. we travel around the state doing the training and going to different venues, going to the mountains, going to the beach and here and in central virginia it's great training for everybody and we've put hundreds of firefighter and ems people across the straight

through the trainingism and made them better for it. and let's tell everybody what is going on here for the first exercis >> they are going inside the worker as a worker has fallen off of a ledge and become unconscious and they have to rescue him off of the basket where a maintenance guy simulated a seizure and fell off the basket. so we have to have guys come in and rappel down and rescue them. >> reporter: and i'm assuming that the scenarios that you come up with, they come from real situations that have happened before. >> absolutely. we have anything from a tank turned upside down to a silo extrication to a high-rise and we add every scenario. but these are things that happen so we can hone our skills much better. >> reporter: and there is not only the tech fickal aspect of watching him do what he needs

to do in terms of the rappeling and rescuing a person, but isn't there protocol they have to learn in terms of getting on- site, going through it, who you need to notify? >> there is state ongoing training throughout the state all year long and they attend different classes for different levels. they start at the awareness level and go to operations technician. and here at the rescue challenge it is technician level and very dangerous, high- tech and they really put a lot of effort into it to hone their skills. >> reporter: and now this rollercoaster is usually all in the dark, right? >> right. >> reporter: now did i read right, that they would normally be doing this in the dark? >> they are in the dark and they have things that if something happened they would hit a switch and the whole thing would light up. it couldn't be totally in the dark. >> reporter: and there are unknown obstacles around the

way. >> they have to rig the steel. the great thing about the flight of fear is that we don't do much with the lights off and if they do turn it off, it's like doing nights. >> that makes sense. >> and they have to use head lamps and it makes for a great atmosphere. >> reporter: because we don't get to determine when accidents happen, unfortunately? what do you find is the biggest challenge for the people that go through this? >> to get the proper equipment to the right place and rigging. to put the right people in the right place. >> reporter: i thank you for the training and for you to help continue it. myfoxdc.com is our website and we have a link to find out about the different things going on here in the park throughout the summer. in the next hour we'll have yet another scenario as we watch them train in the high-risk rescue operations.

back to you in the studio. >> holly, thank you very much. improving student achievement for the kids in the d.c. area are some of the goals behind fights for children, an organization that finds program that's work and shines the spotlight on the school using them. and this friday they will celebrate winning schools at the school night gala. and joining us now with more, jeff farney at fight for children and emily lawson the founder of d.c. prep. >> good morning. >> let's talk about fight for children and give folks a bet every idea as to what you are able to do here in the client and how you work with d.c. school children. >> sure. well we're 21 years old and we've been fighting for 21 years to give low-income kids here in washington a great education and keep them healthy so they can learn. so schools are one of you are effort -- are one of our efforts. and we want to shine a spotlight on them and get other schools to use those practices.

>> and you need to get grant money flowing out into the schools. emily the recipient of those. talk about what was in the process and what they did they receive? >> d.c. prep where emily is the founder and ceo is one of our champions of quality this year and we had an exhaustive process of schools apply and we have a committee made up of education experts visit the schools and talk to the teachers and they decide who is the most doing the academic achievement forward for low- income kid and we're thrilled d.c. prep, which is emily and the schools are rock stars in their town and they are one of the winner this is year. >> and the schools getting up to $50,000 grants. >> correct. we gave $50,000 to one school and $25,000 to two schools. >> emily, you are the recipient

for one of the -- the recipient of the money and what are you doing with it? >> we have a lot of hard work and excellent people and we work hard and our goal is to provide education to students through 8th grade, place them in college prep high schools and we make sure they enroll in college. and i think our middle school has distinguished itself over time by performance on the state tests and getting our kids into high school and i think when you come to see our school you would see kids engaged in learning and loving it in an orderly environment. a lost focus and energy. >> it's a question i'll ask you, emily, but jeff, feel free to chime in. is this the type of situation where you are one of four schools receiving the money. do you hope that just because another school in d.c. didn't get the money this time around can still learn something from this and feed off of the success of others? >> definitely. i think that's a big part of life. in doing this we do receive a lot of visitors and we try to be helpful but i think the

grant will encourage us to do even more and do that more protectively so think about what is working. >> we have a lot of great things going on. and if schools are willing to open their doors and share best practices, schooled will move forward fast. >> and a celebration on friday night where you get a chance to honor people. talk about that. >> we took the money from school night and put it on the ground at work in schools so the school night raises money for quality schools initiative and also a chance to celebrate the four great schools. in addition to d.c. prep we have ew stokes, cleveland elementary and thurgood marshall we are celebrating on friday night. yours truly is our host and we're looking forward to having you and we have ziggy marley

performing. and except for you speaking there is no program. it's not another boring gala, it's about celebrating the great schools that we are honoring this year. >> i'm honored to be a part of this and we'll be down there on friday night and ticket ready stale available if you want to come down. the money goes to a great cause to help school children here in d.c. emily congratulations to everybody at your school. i hope that this helps not just students at your school, but in the future and other schools in the d.c. the event sounds like a great one on friday night. we're looking forward it. >> thank you. >> we'll put that information on our website if you would like to purchase tickets on myfoxdc.com as well as more information about the school night. back to you. >> what a worthy cause. thank you, steve. six minutes before 9:00 and today marks a very special anniversary. it was 50 years ago that the freedom riders began their journey into the segregated south. along the ways there were attacks, mob violence and arrests. coming up at 9:00, two riders will join us live to take a

look back. also coming up in the 9:00 hour, r&b superstar cross et michelle is joining us with a life-saving message she wants to share. ou

congratulations to our facebook fan of the day. to a whole bunch of people. our fan of the day is antwanette perry but her cheerleading team is going to the national championship on saturday so we want to say best of luck to to all of the young ladies. and to be tomorrow's fan of the day find us on facebook by searching for fox 5 morning news and post a comment under anton et's photo. good luck and congratulations so far. and that will do it for this hour. we'll turn it over to tony and

allison to take us up to the 10:00 hour. >> here is a look on what we are working on for next hour. an early morning wake up. a home explodes. the people inside thrown feet into the air. we'll have the details. the price of gas and food seems to be getting expensive. there is good news for pepco customers. your bill could go down. why you will pay less for your power in the future. and she's an r&b sensation, chrisette michelle is using her voice to raise attention to the attention of stroke. and we'll talk about that. >> i love her voice. she's great. all right, tucker barnes is downstairs in the weather center keeping an eye on the rain showers move wil