opened fire. this morning new details about the suspect who police say killed eight people. finally relief for blackberry customers. service is getting better, following their biggest outage in years. fox5 morning news at 7:00 starts now. straight up 7:00 on this thursday morning. rain tops on the lens tell the story. you can see from the reflection of the headlights, a number of wet roads this morning. wet, foggy out there. also thursday morning. we're glad you're with us. i'm steve chenevey. >> i'm alison seymour. take your time as you head out this morning. tony perkins joining us with a look at all this rain. are we going to need the umbrella all day? >> i would have it with you all day. we'll see periods of rain. the interesting thing about that live shot, it's so dark with the rain clouds and mist. it's a rough start to the day.

hd radar, we'll show you where the real rain is now. this changes minute by minute. now we're seeing more rain redevelop to our south and some of the heaviest rainfall now around the dale city region. and manassas seeing heavy rain. we have seen thunderstorms. so don't be shocked where we have the heavy rainfall, if you don't see lightning or hear rumbles of thunder. it may not be raining, but atmosphere is still wet, still will need your windshield wipers. now we're at 65 degrees. no major change in our temperatures in the last 24 hours. yesterday's high was 66 degrees. 65 right now. 62 at dulles. 63 in baltimore. the forecast for today, cloudy, periods of rain, fog and drizzle going to hang in there

for a while. highs today in the upper 60s and low 70s. about 71 in town. now let's go to julie wright and get an update on traffic. not an easy commute. callers reporting southbound 95 is gridlocked heading down to the accident scene before 21 tying up the right side of the road on southbound 95. problems traveling wood yard road at rosaryville road. on the west side of town, first of all, the accident activity that is tying up braddock road. follow police direction to get by there. outer loop of the beltway remains slow.

slow go southbound 29 white oak down to the beltway. these a check of your fox 5 ontime traffic. we are following breaking news in montgomery county this morning. an amber alert in effect for an 11-year-old boy. >> police say the boy's mother was found dead inside their home. here's the latest from police. sad story, stacy. good morning. >> reporter: it really is a tough story this morning. this is the apartment complex where the little boy was last seen alive and his mother was found dead. he was last seen here around september 30th. we have a picture of the young man, william mcquain, 11 years old. he's last seen as much as two weeks ago. his mother, jane mcquain lives here, and her friend called police yesterday saying she was concerned that she had not seen jane in some time. police arrived on the scene and gained access to the apartment through an open window. they found her dead inside her bedroom. police aren't saying what the

cause of death was. however, they are describing this as a homicide scene and her young son, 11 years old, an missing. here is what we heard earlier today from montgomery county police. >> look out for him and the car are related to one another. we are asking anybody who believes they see that car or william to call 911 immediately. >> reporter: here's more information on william and the car. he's about 5 feet tall, around 85 pounds. the car is a 2011 black honda crv. maryland tags, 5 ag 9405. if you see this vehicle or recognize this boy, please contact police. reporting live, i'm stacey cohan, back to you. thank you. new this morning, d.c. police who were investigating a car crash last night say the

pedestrian who was hit is in critical condition. this happened at new york avenue and florida avenue northeast and appears the driver did stay on the scene. it's still being investigated. two dozen maryland residents will need a place to stay after their homes were damaged by if fire. flames broke out overnight at the apartment complex. no injuries reported, no word on what caused it. we're following a developing earthquake in the pacific overnight. this measured 6.0, south of indonesia's island of bali and sent people running from homes and hotels in manic. walls and ceilings of some temples and at least one school crumbled. it didn't trigger a tsunami and no reports of death reported so

far. another aftershock from the earthquake that rattled the east in august. it happened yesterday about 6 miles southwest of mineral, virginia. two public schools were evacuated. portions of a pinnacle damaged during the earthquake will be removed from the national cathedral this morning. they'll be taken from the southwest corner of the tower. crews are trying to make the pinnacle and tower more stable. the church will use the same crew that inspected the quake damage at the national monument. it's scheduled to reopen november 12th. an american citizen from northern virginia is accused of spying for syria. the government says he watched anti-syrian protestors here in the d.c. region and sent videos of them back to syria. the syrian government is strongly denying claims it intimidates protestors in other

countries. the man faces up to 40 years in prison. former used car salesman charged with trying to assassinate the saudi ambassador apparently had a lot of cash. a long time friend said the iranian suspect was making a lot of money for not very much work. the suspect wouldn't say what kind of work he was doing. in the meantime, the white house is calling allies this morning to further isolate iran for its alleged role in the plot. the alleged underwear bomber pled guilty to all charges against him. the nigerian man faces a mandatory life sentence. a woman accused in a vicious stabbing outside a target store in maryland will stay in jail for now. antoinette starks is charged with attacking a woman outside of the target tuesday. she was denied bond. she is the same woman who in

2005 stabbed two shoppers inside a montgomery county nordstrom's. she was found not criminally responsible in that case. starks was released from a state institution in august august. custody battle over a young boy may have led to a deadly salon shooting in california. >> sarah? >> this morning police released the identity of the alleged shooter. 42-year-old scott evans decree of huntington beach is in jail, booked on suspicion of murder. neighbors say his ex-wife is a stylist at that salon. the salon was packed with customers when police believe this man stormed inside. six people killed instantly, two others died at the hospital. a few dove for cover or ran to safety. they were the lucky ones.

>> i know everybody in there. i think i lost friends in there. three of them, i think. >> police nabbed the suspect a few blocks away. they say he surrendered peacefully. he reportedly told police he had several weapons in his truck. friends of the salon owner say decree was the ex-husband of a stylist who worked there. his neighbors are in shock. >> really devastating, to come home and see this, that you know, it's your neighbor. >> i just waved to him this morning. >> there has not been a murder in four years in the community, and never been anything like this. >> that whole salon had this wonderful spirit in there. wonderful spirit. it's a tragedy. it's a terrible tragedy for all of them and all of us. >> police have not released a motive or any other details about this. they're still trying to piece together the sequence of exactly what happened. allison, steve? >> still hard to understand. sarah, thank you.

new polls show herman cain is the one to beat. but mitt romney is betting that slow and instead wins the race. he is wrapping up his efforts in iowa, hoping for a surprise top three finish in january. in the meantime, his chief rival, rick perry struggling in iowa, trying to get his campaign back on track. perry does however have enough money in the bank to launch a major effort to try to bury romney in that state. tonight the state dinner for the president of the korea at the white house. the first lady is taking the korean first lady to a high school this morning. this is the president of korea speaking to the chamber of commerce. president obama will welcome him in two hours. a strict immigration law up held in alabama and some

residents fighting back. several businesses coming to a screeching halt. why workers are calling out sick. frustrated blackberry customers this morning. the biggest outest in years has spread to the united states. things are starting to look up. we'll explain. a live look outside as we'll get the latest weather and traffic from tony and julie. not the best start to a thursday, but things will get better. it's now 7:11 rrie ] u'ru ho w tbe an effecte le ader. [ cherie ] you're dealing with professionals, teaching things that they were doing every day. [ kimberly ] i manage a network of over a thousand nurses. [ carrie ] i helped turn an at-risk school into an award-winning school. [ cherie ] i'm responsible for the largest urban renewal project in utah. [ kimberly ] and university of phoenix made it possible. learn more at phoenix.edu.

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making headlines this morning, amtrak train crashed into another train unloading passengers at a station in oakland, california. happened about 10:00 last night. 16 were hurt. host of the injuries were minor. the train was moving about 15 miles per hour at impact. both lead engines though had wheels knocked off the tracks. the cause of the accident is still under investigation. a second passenger aboard that chopper that crashed into

new york's east river two weeks ago has died. new report shows the accident investigator said the helicopter was in good shape and passed inspection days before the fatal crash. however, in the past the faa has warned pilots to be alert of mechanical problems immediately after checkups. records show at least 10 small aircraft crashed on the first flight after their annual inspections since 1999. the pentagon says the chopper that crashed into afghanistan was shot down. military investigators looking into the august 6th crash say it was brought down by an rpg fired by insurgents. it hit the rear roter of the chopper. 30 americans died. 7:15 now. man, a messy start to the day out there. kind of rough. >> yeah. you know, in spots we've had heavy rain and thunderstorm activity during the early morning hour. it's not the smoothest commute.

we have fog across the region. even where it's not raining, you have mist. still have to use the windshield wipers. take the umbrella and rain jacket. likely you'll need it today. we'll show you where the rain is now. we continue to watch it develop, move across the region now. heavy rain, this is what we saw not too long ago in dale city. getting close to the district. it has come through dale city. the eastern portion of this is near 95. again, it's pushing to the north-northeast. we will likely get some of this in arlington, falls church, alexandria, into the district as well, if it hangs together, mount vernon, you're getting some of this as well. that's it now. there are some other sprinkles

here and there. that is the bulk of the rain currently. reagan national reporting light fog -- i'm sorry, reporting drizzle, fog and mist. visibility down to a mile and a half. temperature, 65 degrees. relative humidity, 97%. today, lots of clouds around. rain, drizzle, fog, showers, all that kind of activity. moist, damp day. high only about 71 degrees. we'll have more on the forecast, including a look at the weekend, which does look good, that's coming up. >> got to get through today. >> yes, and tomorrow. >> i'll sacrifice the week for a good weekend. >> of course, most people would. let's check in with julie wright. every time he says weekend, i cep hearing that -- keep hearing that debbie deb song, look out weekend, here i come. >> who is debbie deb. >> i don't think i've ever heard of that song. >> yes, you have. >> have i? >> yes, you have. >> debbie deb? >> yeah. >> no.

>> were you a deejay at your junior high dances? >> pull out your vinyls, it's there. into downtown, eastbound on the freeway after south capitol street, light rain tied up of the accident involving a bus slowing down out of virginia. tieups, wood yard at roseryville road because of accident activity. follow police direction. northbound 5 stacking up. if you are traveling inbound along 66, lanes are open, but a slow go. braddock road slow to 66. from route one, baltimore avenue to georgia avenue, 22 minutes now. traveling south on i-95 from 216 to the beltway, 45 minutes. accident activity before 212 was crowding the right lane. southbound 29, it too is jammed up. 30 minutes traveling from green castle to the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic.

the wall street protestors getting attention from overseas now. the top i totallia in iran says the protests show a serious problem that will ultimately bring down capitalism. iran claims the united states is in a full-blown crisis because it's corruption has been exposed to the american people. protestors have been camped out on wall street and around the country for almost a month. alabama's anti-immigration laws authorizes police to detain people suspected of being in the country illegally and allows public schools to determine the legal residency. some schools closed in solidarity over the bill. >> how much hispanic, legal or illegal in this town, and how much the town and county and

state is going to lose in taxes. >> the mortgage, the car payment, all of these will have to go. i'll have to look for something else to do. not here, probably out of state. >> officials say it was enacted to prevent undocumented workers from taking jobs away from americans. some blackberry users experiencing a backup after an outage. research in motion says the problem has been fixed. european infrastructure failed earlier this week and the outage hit europe, asia, latin america and africa before spreading here to north america. >> it happens occassionally on their network. problem with having a secure network, occassionally you have outages. >> unlike other cell phone makers, research in motion controls the e-mail and messaging traffic to and from its phone, using only one path. it's more secure, but the down

side is problems can affect a large share of the 70 million blackberry users around the world at once. airtran adding a charge for overweight chargers. starting in march, they'll require anyone who can't sit in a single seat with the arm rest lowered required to purchase a second seat. the passenger can request a refund if the flight doesn't oversell. 21 minutes past the hour. part of maryland getting a new area code. republicans may have a new presidential front runner this morning. herman cain continues his improbable surge, but he has a long way to go. now that fall is in full effect, isn't that pretty, decorating for the season. holly is live at ed's plant world in brandy wine to show us how to give your home more curb appeal. we'll check in with her and some of her special guests later this morning.   

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new numbers from realty track suggest banks are getting more aggressive against homeowners who are behind on payments. the number of homes that received a first time default notice between july and september were up 14% since last quarter with a major spike in august. industry wide foreclosure processing problems that emerged last fall had previously resulted in a sharp drop in foreclosure activity. maryland is getting a new area code. the public service commission says the remaining numbers in the 410 and 413 codes expected to be used up next year. the new code will start in march. it will be 667. that will start in march, and assigned to new numbers on the

eastern shore, and anne arundel county, baltimore county, calvert county, carroll county, cease el county har ford and howard county and baltimore city. language started in "avatar" and currently featured on terra nova. there will be a screening and workshops, to. it runs through tuesday. >> both steven and rob have been here with us. both great people. should be a great event. up next, what's next for the president's jobs bill. it failed in the senate earlier this week. a new leader in the gop field for president. could it be herman cain? as we take you to break, a live look outside. sloppy commute this morning. we'll get the latest weather and traffic from tony and julie coming up next. always seems like there are more cars on the road.

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and how far you'd go -- was shaped before you could even write your name? the first five years are forever. that's why pnc is devoting $250 million and ten more years to helping teachers give kids the skills they need for a lifetime of achievement. pnc. grow up great. we'll take a look outside this morning, help you get prepped for work. not the prettiest start this

morning. traffic in the background, few headlights. >> is that our oxen hill camera? >> that it is. >> yeah. you see how the clouds are lowering and getting rain about to move in here in our region across washington, southwest washington, southeast. probably oxen hill shortly, places like that. it's heavy rain we're about to get. let's start with hd radar. this is a batch of rain we showed you a short time ago moving through dale city. i want to go to hd radar. you can see the rain showers as they come through. here we go. heavy rain i mentioned a short time ago, alexandria, you're getting it in alexandria. alsopoints west, a little bit of heavy rain off to the east and this is all moving to the northeast. right here in washington, along the beltway, we've got it now, if you're traveling that portion over the beltway, springfield over towards tyson's corner, american legion

bridge, it's where we're getting the heaviest rain now. will come through the district, into northwest, northeast, too. there is lightning. we've been seeing some lightning. there's lightning right there south of alexandria. this is some thunderstorm activity and there will be heavy downpours with this as it comes through during the next several minutes. now we'll go to the satellite radar. it's a bigger picture. shows you the whole system there. it's not particularly impressive when you look at it this way, but some of this will be recharging and filling in again as the day progresses. plenty of clouds across the eastern united states. a frontal boundary to the west, which will bring reinforcing rain tomorrow. in fact, here's a look at the surface map. now, we're kind of between two different systems. we have this stationary front i've been telling you about off to the east. low pressure moving along that. that brings rain and moisture in. then we have the other front out to the west, as that one comes through, it's a cold front, that will trigger more

rain showers to develop on friday. we'll be dealing with that. forecast for washington for today, we'll see plenty of clouds, periods of rain, drizzle, fog, some showers. 71 for your high. some of you likely to top out in the upper 60s. tonight the showers continue. cool overnight, low of 62. tomorrow, more rain showers. maybe some sun in the latter part of the day. this sets up for a nice weekend. highs where they should be for this time of year, upper 60s to near 70. now here's julie wright with traffic. you have to pay attention, i have something just for you. ♪ this is debbie deb ♪ >> allison, do you remember this? >> yes. >> you do, really? i don't remember this. ♪ that's what weekends were made for ♪

>> there you go. maybe that's why. if you move like that to the song, they probably kicked you off the dance floor. here we go. south capitol street, accident involving a bus tying up the right side. follow police direction to get by. tough drive to the west on 66. 45 minute drive at this time. no incidents to report coming across the american legion bridge. tony was talking about the heavy weather, so be careful on both sides of the beltway between tyson's and 270. that's a check of your traffic. president obama says he isn't taking no for an answer after his jobs bill was blocked earlier this week. following tuesday's gop presidential debate, is there now a clear front runner? joining us with more insight, former democratic congressman

of illinois, marty russo. good morning. >> pleasure. >> and former republican congressman of pennsylvania, robert walker. good to see you. i want you to weigh in on that song and performance tony and i did. let's go right to the new apparent front runner, at least what some polls say. folks are liking herman cain. bob? >> he has come on very quickly. we've had a number of those in the course of the republican primaries. and we'll see. he has certainly faced major questions about his 999 plan on the debate the other evening. and i think the 9% sales tax will be an issue for him going forward. for now, he's the star of the show. my guess is the guy who is really in the lead, and probably has the best chance of getting the nomination is mitt romney. there are a couple other people coming on. i happen to be with newt gingrich. >> who had a showing.

>> he had a good showing. in a poll yesterday, has bumped rick perry for third place. there are a number of things happening there. it's certainly not a subtle issue. >> seems to me, marty, what people want now is a little simplicity. what can we understand what's a clear plan? in the 999 contain talks about -- cain talks about seems to be catching on. >> being the democrat on the show, my candidate is doing very well. he has no opposition. i think he'll be reelected president of the united states. but i think simplicity creates a problem, because the tax code is so complex. one of the problems, after we did the 8 6 tax act, we got rid of a lot of loopholes and now they've been added back in. a lot of individuals and corporations who care about certain provisions, when passed were supposed do things. for example, lower the capital

tax rate from 28 to 15. in the 10 years it's been at 15%, it's not done one thing to create more jobs in the economy. so you have these massive tax breaks in the last 10 years, and hasn't done anything to spur the economy. if we're going to do tax reform, let's take it from the top to the bottom. 999 is a little too simple. 9% sales tax on top of an already high sales tax won't sell well to the american people. >> let's talk about the unchallenged democratic candidate and the jobs bill. this was turned away by the senate. marty, i'll continue with you, what does this mean and the work ahead for the white house? >> i think there are some key parts that everybody has voted for in the past. i think what's going to happen probably, they'll probably break it up and put it in different pieces and move different pieces of legislation. i agree with bob, if you take

$42 billion out of social security, i think that's a huge mistake. i think it's something that has to be revisited. i believe that, when bob and i were in congress, wherever there was an emergency, no paying for it. we're in serious trouble. in the short-term, maybe we have to do spending to create jobs. but in the long-term, we have to fix that problem. so i think what's happening now, all the osseterrity has lost jobs. i think we'll get something done, but i think the american people are frustrated over the fact this should be the number one priority, and we can't get it moving. >> what do you think, bob? >> i think marty is right, that we'll have the bill broken up. how it will be broken up and whether or not we can get bipartisan consensus around

which pieces move forward is a question. part of the problem here is the jobs bill has been put on the table at the same time you have the super committee trying to work out the long-term prospects for the economy, and somewhere along the way, those two are going to have to be blended. we cannot do things in the jobs bill that end up having a detrimental impact on whatever product the super committee comes forward with, if they're able to come through with a product. and we also need to make certain that the jobs that we produce are in fact done in a way that advances the cause of the economy and gives us a growth economy in the future. can't just be a temporary kind of thing. the problem with some of the president's proposals now is, they're a temporary fix with no long-term stability to them. >> want to get your take on the wall street protestors. these grass root groups have popped up. we saw the tea party and now

the tea party is a force in congress. we're seeing the occupy wall street. what do you make of this? >> i think it's frustration of the american people. the bottom line is, in the last 10 years, middle income, average income has gone from $53,000 a year to $46,000. middle america has watched their income go down over the last 10 years. there's a tremendous amount of frustration. young people don't have jobs. graduated from college, no place to go to find a job. i think they don't feel the government, our government is doing anything to help them. so that's the frustration you see. congress finally did something significant by passing the trade bill. that won't do anything for jobs in the immediate future. it's a tremendous amount of frustration. >> there's a lot of frustration, anger, marty is right. the question is whether or not they can get a focused message. one of the comedians the other night said the chant is, what do we want? we're not sure. when do we want it?

now. that's the problem, though, that the message is a very mixed message at this point. >> thank you for joining us. we'll see you soon. steve, over to you. 7:40 now on this thursday morning. a hacking scandal targeting a list celebrities. what angelina jolie hopes to accomplish in libya. details on both stories coming up. [ female announcer ] this is trish.

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making headlines, today marks six months since a tennessee nursing school student went missing. she was led into the woods by a man dressed in camouflage. detectives have said whomever took her must have been familiar with the rugged woodlands surrounding the family's home. a florida man faces identity theft and wire tapping charges in connection with hacking into the personal computers of some high profile celebrities. police arrested 35-year-old

christopher cheney after a year- long investigation. authorities say he was able to find personal and revealing items from more than 50 victims, including scarlett johansson. angelina jolie wrapped up a two day visit to libya. she praised the country's citizen for their revolution. she visited tripoli, and met with members of the national transitional council. she says she's hoping to rebuild the libyan society. >> all right. >> okay. >> what's the matter? she has transformed herself in a good will ambassador. >> oh, yeah. travels everywhere. >> what's happening here? rain, rain, rain. i want to take you to hd radar. we're getting it here in washington now. we've been seeing it in other regions. it's moving across the

district. here it is. some areas of heavy rain. possibly thunderstorm activity now. heavy rain in the district here in -- all across the district, really. off to our south and east and portions of prince george's county. near college park you're about to get heavy rain. more heavy rain along route 7, out to the west, towards reston. more storminess as we speak. some of you are not getting rain outside the immediate area, but you are getting mist and drizzle and fog. it's definitely a damp start to the day. let's go to the graphics. here's your big picture. another look at the system as it's coming through. it's a pretty good -- this is future cast, i'm sorry. showing you some of the precipitation as it comes through and what it will look like later today.

periods of rain. some showers coming through, intermittently. sometimes raining, sometimes not. overnight, less rain, but still showers will develop. tomorrow, we have a chance of more rain showers. here's your five-day forecast, high today, 71. tomorrow, mostly cloudy. maybe a little sunshine the latter part of the day. 72. saturday, sunday monday, good amount of sunshine. highs in the upper 60s to around 70 degrees. we got to get through today and tomorrow. these are the messy days. particularly today. and then things will get better for the weekend. >> i like that. let's check in with julie wright. i'm laughing because i'm thinking how silly we were now. >> we were? >> yeah. with the song. >> oh. >> it made me laugh. yes. >> i didn't hear the question, i'm sorry. >> it made me laugh, that song. and our dance party. >> we should do that more often. >> exactly.

>> crash involving the bus, follow police direction in order to get by. trouble on metro's red line at medical center, the station is open, but the escalators are out of service. the red line at medical center, the station is open, but escalators are out of service. connecticut avenue, checking for the accident activity. you can see behind this van police activity here on the westbound side of deersville road. stay to the right to get by there. heavy volume now coming out of tysons across the american legion bridge. no incidents to report. tony was reporting that this side of town was getting hit hard with the weather moving through. so again, proceed with caution. northbound i-75 out of dale city, heavy, slow and steady to the beltway. that's a check of your traffic. we want to let you know about our coverage plans for the mlk memorial dedication this weekend. we'll broadcast the ceremony

sunday morning. starts at 11:00. it will be on our sister station, wdca my 20. that is the mlk memorial dedication ceremony, sunday morning at 11:00 on my 20. we'll stream that coverage on myfoxdc.com. fall is always a fun time to dress up your landscape. >> this morning holly is getting a lesson. it's so important, that curb appeal. >> reporter: curb appeal is important. in fact, we are going to do inviting entrances, but we're going to do more than that. we're making the most of mums and don't worry, i am not the one giving you the tips. someone that really knows is. we're hanging with derek this morning. he's come out to be a part of our team, and we're talking all about fall decorating. coming up, we're going to specifically talk about centerpieces, whether entertaining or gifting, just what you need to do. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us.  

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7:52 now. holly in the creative spirit. >> she is at ed's plant world with autumn decorating tips from our own gardening expert. it's holly and derek this morning. good morning, holly. >> reporter: that's right. it's team coverage when it comes to important topics, like fall decorating. >> fall decorating, absolutely. >> reporter: i'm not the creative one. i just know lots of creative people. that's the key to my success. and you clearly are the most creative when it comes to everything that has to do with

gardening and landscaping. >> thank you. >> reporter: and the fall is one of the most fun times to really go crazy. >> it's fun to go crazy, but this year i want to take a little bit of the country out of it, and like kick it up a notch. >> reporter: are we going big city? >> big city meets small town. >> reporter: okay. i like that. >> what i was thinking about, what about if you added a pop of elegance to your fall arrangement. say you have a hostess gift, you've been invited to a party for halloween, i have one there for you holly. take something like a wonderful little -- >> reporter: pansy. >> -- mug, and deck that out. you can add a pop of color with this moss. >> reporter: i like that. literally, you have these -- i mean, these mugs you can pick up at any, say home goods for three bucks. >> sure. they have them really

affordable. these were like $1.99. you have a $2 pansy, $1.99 vessel. >> reporter: it's so cute. it's different than a bottle of wine. >> and it will last a couple of weeks. >> reporter: you're right, this will last and it's fun. >> at a couple of dollars, you can do it in addition to the wine. these lotus, orange color, these lotus vessels are like four dollars. you know, what's really, really fun this time of the year is, or what is available this time of the year, is seasonal veggies. say you're having a party, and we'll use green moss with this one. what you want to do is this creative centerpiece. >> reporter: i love it. >> pop your moss in there. >> reporter: our time is going faster, so i want to make sure we get our other things in as well. >> right. the last one is say if you want a really great centerpiece, i'm going to bring this one here --

>> reporter: who wants a mediocre centerpiece? >> right, nobody wants mediocre. let's do a little bit of -- >> reporter: straw. >> got to keep the country in there. >> reporter: i thought we were taking the country out. >> we want a little bit of country, but still the elegant pop. >> reporter: got you. >> this one i'm going to do just a bit cleaner with a plain mum. >> reporter: just like that? the straw is nothing, obviously. >> the straw is -- some people will give it to you if you get there on the right day and you're making other purchases. what you've done is you've taken the mundane and created wonderful centerpieces. >> reporter: i love those. those are great! that kicks up your basic mum, which is always a beautiful color, but gives it a little more -- >> yeah. imagine that in the centerpiece. >> reporter: little bit of country, but pop of elegance. >> right. >> reporter: i finally got it. all right.

myfoxdc.com is our web site. we have a link to thomas's landscape, that's the company that derek owns. we also have a link to ed's plant world in brandywine who is hosting us this morning. coming up, allison, i know you're interested, we are going to do inviting entrances so the people will have higher expectations when they come inside your house. >> it starts from the outside. >> reporter: it starts from the outside and you work your way in. and a tip on how you can get a free pumpkin this weekend just by watching fox 5 and coming to ed's plant world this weekend. that's all in our 8:00 hour. back to you. >> free, i love it. thanks, guys. >> who can argue with free? how safe is your child's booster seat? there are new ratings out, and coming up, we're going to take a closer look at how to tell the difference between a good and a bad fit for your vehicle. here's a hint, don't judge them by the price tag. also ahead at 8:00, update

on dr. oz's transformation nation college. in the 9:00 hour, dr. oz will be back to answer some of your questions. you can submit them on our facebook page. keep them simple and generic. he can't do personal diagnosis. we'll get them answered by the good doctor who will be joining us next hour.   

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fox 5 continues to stay on top of breaking news. amber alert in effect. 11-year-old vanished after his mother was found murdered in their montgomery county apartment. we're live on the scene. parents listen up, a new study out about the safety of kids and car booster seats. more on what you need to know to keep your little ones safe. also ahead this hour, dr. oz will join us. he's here with local participants of the transformation nation challenge. find out how it's going and how you can sign up for a chance to get healthy and win a million dollars.

>> that's pretty good incentive. >> i like it. good morning. thanks for being with us. i'm steve chenevey. >> i'm alison seymour. sort of a wet, rainy start to the day. >> it is. >> tony perkins is here to talk about the day in its entirety. >> this morning, widespread rain showers, some of them have been heavy. we've had thunderstorm activity this morning as well. even if you're not getting the heavy rain, it's misty, drizzly out there. definitely a wet start to the day. hd radar, it gives us the best glimpse of what's happening around the region. we are seeing heavy rain continue to move across the area. now it has mostly moved out of the district. still have some in northeast washington, southeast, little bit northwest. but starting to push out into maryland now. highland, near college park, silver springs shortly will get some. in virginia, mcclain, great

falls. many spots where we're getting heavy rain. this is moving to the north and east. again, i cannot rule out rumbles of thunder or some lightning with this as well. there you go. that's a closeup look at what's happening. temperatures across the region, we are in the 60s. 65degrees now in the district. 63 baltimore. dulles at 61 degrees. winchester, 57. and in ocean city it's 65 degrees. here's your look at today. lots of clouds, precipitation off and on. the fog i think is going to hang around in parts of the area for a while. look for a high today only of about 71 degrees. we'll have more on the forecast coming up in a little bit. thanks, tony. let's check back in with julie with a look at traffic. >> people hitting me up on twitter checking for the crash on the beltway outer loop near the exit for st. barn bass road. heads up. old branch at coventry way,

fire and rescue responding. and south osborne road at 301, fire and rescue responding there as well. outer loop of the beltway, out of landover towards the bw parkway, from route 4 to the parkway, about 30 minutes at this time and all lanes are open. accident activity, deersville road west of connecticut avenue, you can see the police officers still on the scene, helping to direct you by. southbound 270, hour commute gaithersburg to the split. slow out of manassas towards the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 ontime traffic. there is an amber alert in effect in the area this morning for an 11-year-old boy. >> police say that that boy's mother was found dead inside their german town home. stacey cohan is live in germantown with more on this breaking news. >> reporter: good morning. there's an interesting time line lined this story, and police are trying to figure out what happened and when.

he's 11 years old, his name is william mcquain. he is missing from his germantown area. last seen september 30th. his mother, jane mcquain, was discovered dead yesterday. police got a call in the bethesda district from a gentleman yesterday who reported he was a friend of hers and he was concerned because he had not been able to reach her for some time. detectives and police contacted the germantown detectives. >> later in the evening, detectives came to her residence, receiving no response, they were able to climb into the balcony section, come in the sliding glass door. that's where they found her deceased in her bedroom. >> reporter: they are ruling this a homicide. they are not describing the cause of death, but say she suffered trauma to the body. they cannot find her 11-year- old son or vehicle, and an

amber alert has been issued. let me show you a picture of that boy. 2011 honda crv. it's black with maryland tags 5 ag 9405. william is 5 feet tall, weighing about 80 to 85 pounds. last seen september 30th, but they're hoping though develop a further time line today and we'll keep you posted. please be on the lookout for that young man and for that vehicle. i'm stacey cohan, back to you. thank you. let's take a look at today's other top stories. eight people dead after a gunman opened fire at a hair salon in california. neighbors familiar with the suspect say a bitter custody battle over a young boy may have led to that shooting rampage. police say scott evans decree under arrest. he is reportedly the ex-husband of a salon employee. d.c. police investigating an accident involving a

pedestrian last night. the call came in around 9:30. police found the driver on the scene at new york avenue near florida avenue. investigators say the pedestrian is in critical condition this morning. 2,000 maryland residents will need a place to stay after flames tore through their apartment complex. you can see heavy damage. it broke out overnight in beltsville. no injuries are reported and no word on what caused the fire. a syrian man from leesburg arrested for spying against protestors. a federal judge ordered him to stay in detention until a hearing tomorrow. he is charged with sending e- mails and videos about protesters here in d.c. back to the syrian government. prosecutors say the goal was to silence and intimidate protestors. white house working the phones lining up allies against iran for its alleged role in

the plot to assassinate the saudi ambassador. this morning britain is saying the plot is a major escalation of iran's backing of terrorism. >> it's a very dangerous thing that they believe they could do this on u.s. soil, kill a saudi ambassador, take american civilians as casualties as well, in washington, d.c. is a brazen acted. >> iran is denying involvement in the alleged assassination plot. let's learn more from a middle eastern expert, author and lecturer and taught at georgetown university. rob, you know the ambassador, who is the target of the assassination. >> went to school together at georgetown. he's such a nice person, and such a shame that such a thing

has happened to him, new father. family man. it's a shame this has happened. but i'm not surprised at all. this is the pattern that goes back 32 years since the establishment of the islamic republic of iran. let's not forget, the first thing the ayatollah khomeini did was encourage the hostage taking of american diplomats. after that we didn't respond. and the mantra has been america cannot do a damn thing. that's been the pattern. >> as you say, you've spent so much time researching and writing, the question is, of course iran is denying responsibility or knowledge or involvement. if this was carried out or orchestrated by members of this guard, do you think this was something that came from higher, from top political leaders in iran, or a renegade unit on its own? >> my personal feeling, it goes above, to the supreme leader of iran, because any assassination

has to have a religious sanction behind it. this is no different from the assassinations of opponents in europe. let's not forget in 1979 a diplomat was killed here. the assassin today is still at large. my opinion it goes to the top. >> what do you think is the connection from the mexican drug lord and people in iran. why go through mexico? >> because the iranian government wants to always keep one hand removed from the process. so it was easier to go to the mexican drug cartel, have them do the assassination, have them bomb the cafe here in georgetown, basically, and make it seem as if this was a mexican job. the iranian government is acting, i'm not surprised, with

a pattern one sees throughout. it's 32 years. >> is it more of a statement, if iran is behind it, more of a statement against the saudis or against the u.s.? >> i think it's both. i think both a statement against the king of saudi arabia, because saudi arabia is standing behind its friend, but it's also a message to the united states. listen, we can come into your back yard, we can come into georgetown, bomb the cafe in georgetown and get away with it. it's a message to king abdullah and to the united states. >> obviously we're starting to hear, as we heard, leading into this reaction from congress and members of the intelligence committee and here based in washington. the question now, how do we respond to this? we're starting to hear more nations, more allies backing us up on this. how do we respond to send a message to iran? >> i think the single most important message is for the president of the united states

to get in front of the voice of america persian language service, or any media, and look the camera directly and say, today we condemn this act, and we are with the people of iran. because the fact of the matter is, there's a divide between the iranian people and the regime. it's time to take advantage of this divide. sanctions in my opinion are not going to work. military action is absolutely not going to work. what will work, and what history shows, is if you give moral courage to the people of a nation, like the libyans be like the russians, they will rise. this is no different. the people of iran will rise. we have to give them moral support. the president of the united states has the biggest card in his hand to do that. >> fascinating stuff. we'll keep an eye on it. rob, we appreciate you stopping by. >> thank you very much. it is 8:11 now on this thursday morning. surprising discovery in a wooded area near a northern virginia middle school.

more on what construction workers found that now has the fbi investigating. a new study finds half of all child booster seats don't work. they aren't designed properly for seat belts that are meant for an adult. the insurance institute for highway safety joins us. stay with us.      i am a a face unclogger.

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couple of ticks away from 8:15. let's look at the stories making headlines. construction workers found a gun, weapons parts and pvc pipe buried in the ground off i-66 near patrick henry drive in arlington. the fbi and bomb squad quickly determined the items were not hazardous. investigators will be back out in that area today looking for clues. engineers removing parts of the pin cal from the -- pinnacle from the national cathedral. they're trying to make the

pinnacle in the central tower more stable. another after shock from the earthquake that rattled the east in august. the aftershock hit yesterday afternoon, about 6 miles southwest of mineral, virginia. there have been 42 aftershocks since the original quake, including two 4.0 or higher. let's check in with tony perkins. >> time for the cuteness factor of the day. >> we got it, we need it. it's a three for. a rare three for. boy, look at this. >> wow. >> check it out. >> they're ready for halloween. their family says they are overly excited for halloween. >> did you try your costumes on ahead of time or did you wait for the big night? >> when i was a kid, i remember trying them on ahead of time. when i was a kid, i'm

dating myself here, the costumes were nowhere near as elaborate -- >> please, you had to carve them out of wood, didn't you? >> they came from drugstores and the hard masks. >> the eye hole and the cheap rubber band. >> break by the third house. >> we liked them. >> we liked it that way! >> carved them out of wood. thank you for that picture. we stopped talking about the kids. >> the kids are adorable. >> to send in your child's picture, myfoxdc.com, click on mornings. some rain showers, some heavy. still seeing it. college park, beltsville getting heavy rain. it's the same batch that's come from virginia and washington. laurel, expect this shortly. other parts of maryland and virginia seeing precipitation. columbia is another location

getting this, or will get it shortly. still problem spots. where we're not getting the heavy rain, we have the drizzle and fog and mist. we're between two different systems. both of them bringing moisture to the mid-atlantic and northeast. the stationary front to the east, that's an area of low pressure moving up, bringing us the rain today. then the frontal boundary you saw to the west will bring rain showers in here tomorrow. it will also bring in cooler air for the weekend. five-day forecast, today periods of rain, 71 the high. tomorrow, clouds, maybe a little sun. showers, 72. the weekend looks great, with highs in the upper 60s to around 70. that's a look at what's happening with the weather. now let's get more on the rush hour traffic from julie wright. what was your favorite halloween costume? >> my favorite? >> yes. >> when i was little i dressed up as smurfette. >> that would be a sight to see. i would like to see a pick of

that. >> you didn't like snooki from last year? >> i liked snooki. >> wait until you see this year's. >> looking forward to it. >> here we go. on the roads, very much a busy commute. accident activity old branch at coventry way. on south osborne at 301, crash being cleared. outer loop saint barn a bass road, checking still. route 4 to georgia avenue, about an hour and 10 minutes delay. all lanes open. it will take you a while if you're headed in to silver spring. inner loop of the beltway virginia, braddock road, a 45 minute commute there. 66 the drive in from manassas, heavy and slow towards the capitol beltway. 270, traveling southbound leaving 109 and continuing towards the beltway, about an hour and 20 minutes. again, tough go now out there

on the roadways. meanwhile, if you are traveling along deersville road at connecticut, we had the accident activity. police are still on the scene of this incident. again, that will tie up your commute on the west side. fire and rescue units on the scene of this crash, delays for that beginning in springfield. that's a check of your fox 5 ontime traffic. parents, might want to listen up. the insurance institute for highway safety releasing new ratings for booster seats. >> it's the only ones that tell parents which seats will provide good seat belt fits for children 4 to 8 years old. >> this is information that a lot of new mothers out there, maybe something they really need to know, hadn't thought of until now. with us today is ann mccard, the senior vice president for research at the insurance thank you for coming in. >> thank you. >> the thing i thought was interesting, you've been doing this for four years now.

i thought it was interesting when i first looked at the fact, it doesn't matter what the features are or what the price is, there are some that are, like, cheaper, but actually better for your children. >> you can get a best set booster for 11 to $15. you can't tell from looking at a booster whether it will do the job it's intended to do, which is to make the seat belt fit correctly on your child. >> you rate more than 80 different seats. >> that's right. >> this year is kind of a new record set for some of these seats. >> it is. there was a record 31 best bets. that means it would work well in any car, minivan, suv. >> let's take a look. i know you brought in a couple of the seats. obviously, we would normally be outside. but it's raining outside. we wanted to bring you in today. give us an idea where should the seat belt be hitting? >> the shoulder belt should go right across the center of the shoulder. you don't want it rubbing up on

the neck. you don't want it falling off the shoulder. if the shoulder belt is uncomfortable, the child will put it behind the back, under the arm where it's not providing protection. the lap belt fit is key. you want the lap belt going firmly across the upper thighs. don't want it riding up on the child's tummy, which is soft and vulnerable to injury in a crash. it's really key not that have that seat belt riding up on the tummy. >> we are taking a look as well at the good fit versus bad fit. there are so many different seats out there. are there things that people can look for, or is it just the ratings they have to go by? >> the ratings are intended to take some of the guess work out. but parents still should take their child with the booster, try it out in their vehicle and go through the steps that i just explained and make sure those seat belts are fitting

correctly. >> now, i think we also have a list of some that are not recommended as well. >> right. >> we have this information as well, there they are, on the screen. those are the ones the institute is not recommending. what necessarily makes these not good? just because simply the seat belt placement doesn't hit in the right place? >> either the lap belt was on the abdomen, or the shoulder belt was riding up on the neck or falling off the shoulder. when we tested it in a variety of vehicle seat belts configurations. what we're saying is those don't seem to work well in pretty much any vehicle. >> what does it mean as part of the ratings you're releasing today when there are 40 seats listed? what does that mean? >> those are seats variable, work well in some vehicles, but not well in others. a lot of them are backless boosters, just the seat without this back. those sort of depend a lot on how the vehicle seat belts are set up. sometimes they work well,

sometimes they don't. for those especially, parents need to check the fit. >> the ones like you said, are the best fit, should be able to work in any car, suv or minivan? >> right. whether it's dad's suv, mom's sedan, should work in any vehicle. >> thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> we want to let folks as well, at myfoxdc.com we have a list of the good versus the bad fits, so it can help you make a decision as well. back to you, allison, steve. sarah, thanks. it's 8:24 now. holly has been hanging out with our gardening guru derek thomas, giving tips on fall decorating. so far they've been great ones. we'll check back with them coming up. plus, dr. oz live. he is joining us, he's here with local participants of the transformation nation challenge. how you can sign up for a chance to get healthy and win a million dollars.

i can't wait to go over there. stay with us, we'll be right back.   complete this merger, and present to the board, sink your teeth into some big n' toasty if you understand. good. you've got spunk. a big day calls for the big n' toasty. wrap your hands around fried eggs, cherrywood smoked bacon, and cheese on texas toast. america runs on dunkin'. and even though you do what you can to take care of it, sometimes you want to give your immune system some support. try new airborne chewable tablets. each serving contains 14 vitamins, minerals and herbs... including zinc, echinacea, ginger, and a blast of vitamin c. it's the easy, great-tasting way to help support your immune system. airborne. in fast-acting effervescent formula, and new super-convenient chewable tablets!

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stories making headlines. herman cain may be walking with more swagger now. he is the new front runner. 27%. romney with 23% and perry with 16%. anyone with a blackberry knows about the outages. the maker, research in motion, says e-mail, messaging and internet services are slowly coming back. like this video. for the last three days service in europe and middle east was interrupted and yesterday the outage spread to north america. maryland residents will have a new area code soon. there will be a new area code starting in march. 667is the number. you won't lose your number, it won't change, just the new residents of maryland who get new phones will be 667.

catchy. >> you like that? >> 666 was already taken. >> we're superstitious like that. there are no floor 13s. >> 667. >> okay. >> 301 is still around, right? >> it's still around. >> they're filling up fast. >> it's when i was a kid. >> i remember when you didn't have to dial an area code. >> me, too! >> want to know how bad it was in my town? only had to dial five numbers. >> i thought you were going to say, operator, 367. >> no. it was cans and strings. >> shouts out to rural pennsylvania. >> more rain in the forecast today. good news is we're saving the good stuff for the weekend. >> i love it. >> little fog, little mist, too. drizzle. the rest of us drizzle and light fog. persistent rain showers this morning. latest band in the washington

area and up 95, towards beltsville, towards laurel there. another band to the east of 270, rockville. no lightning with this. this is where the heaviest of the rain is falling. light showers across the area. not quite done yet. not a beautiful day. less rain than yesterday, as we'll be between two systems today. you can see the brunt of what we got here yesterday north and east of new york. we'll get a bit of a break, and you can see a lot of cloud cover and showers. a cold front out to the west will get in through here later today and overnight and first part of tomorrow. might be a peek of sunshine later today, but i think most of the day will be gray. drizzle will hang tough at least the morning hours and the next front arrives. later today and tomorrow, we'll be looking at brighter conditions for the weekend. saturday and sunday look to be sunny and bright, with temperatures about 70.

good looking weekend shaping up. 64 now in washington. temperatures haven't budged in about 24 hours. 57 hagerstown. our highs later today, thinking low 70s, if we can get the rain out of here. little drizzle for the day. friday's high, 72. beautiful weekend forecast, 70 sunday afternoon for the redskin game, and by monday, back into the upper 60s. that's a look at the forecast. allison, i assume i'm tossing it over to you and all of your new friends. yes, like 27 of my new friends. two and a half weeks ago the transformation nation challenge began on the dr. oz show, which you can see here at fox 5. the goal of the challenge is to get americans to put themselves first and take control of their weight and health. one participant will win $1 million. [cheering] >> dr. oz joins us this morning along with local participants. nice to see you. >> thank you for having me. >> congratulations on the success of you show. you keep going and going and

going. >> been a ton of fun. what makes it worth it is having wonderful folks like these. showing up early. they have all signed up. there's a million dollar prize. it's about showing up in your own lives. i have two wonderful folks to talk to us. >> good morning. this is angie and diana. good morning. >> good morning. >> what has held you back? so many people watching, they feel disconnected, what has held you back from being the person you want to be? >> it started about eight years ago. i was in medical school. i was in my third year and i started getting sick. i went home to have surgery, and i tried to return to school, and i was told i was dismissed. >> i'm going to ask you the same question, diana, why haven't you been able to fix the things in life you want to fix? >> i had to accept what happened to me is okay, and i

had to move on. i have moved on and have another career. >> one of the steps, it's not just about weight loss, though that's important, one of the steps is tell a friend. it helps with forgiveness. when you have friends supporting you, not enablers. your story, ann. >> my story, is i'm typical of weight loss people. i had to struggle with weight loss all my life. there was no one or two events. it's something i've just been dealing with for as long as i can remember it's been in the forefront. i have sort of kicked that can, and i have now lost 50 pounds. [cheers and applause] >> the difference for me is that i have changed the mindset. i'm not on a diet. i'm on a lifestyle. what i'm eating today and the habits i'm learning today will be a part of the rest of my life. so i'm not cheating or blowing

a diet if i have something sweet. i allow for that and try to figure out okay, am i going to have salad to balance that? am i going to the gym? am i going to take a separate exercise moment? that's been a real shift for me. >> i want to ask, why now? a million dollars, sure. but it's hard to make that decision. angie, why now? >> my 40th birthday is tuesday. >> happy birthday. >> so now is the time i need to start taking care of myself. >> okay. diane? >> my why now moment was in december. and i went to my nurse practitioner for my first annual physical in a while. and she asked me very nicely, are you happy with the size you're at? and i said, no. and so we had a good conversation about that. and when i left, i realized that my experience with my

nurse practitioner had been different than previous times when i had gone to doctor's appointments, that you must, you have to, all these fearful words, and you leave the doctor's office fearful, defensive with walls, frustrated because if you happen to have said, what should i do, they say, i don't know. you can try this program, that program. it's hard. >> i love that story. next week we're going to cover connecting with your doctor or healer. it's so valuable. we grew up expecting to have the ability to have a conversation with our doctor. now it's become a technique. i applaud you for that. you changed that. let me give all of you a reason you can show up in your own life today. we've made it easy. go to droz.com. we have tips to get involved today. for example, think about this, i don't want anyone having

meals after 8:00 at night. it's important. you can have tea, but no meals. be smart about breakfast. protein and fiber for breakfast. number two, cut out the whites. white flour, pasta, sugar. all the whites go away. you'll effortlessly lose weight with that, i guarantee you. thirdly, build a little muscle mass. can we all do squats together? >> when you said all, did you mean all? >> yeah. hold that, so i can hear you cheering. people at home, you have to do this. get your posture straight, be proud of who you are. ultimately it's about loving yourself. it's what i heard most from your stories. if you don't want people eating the stuff you're eating, you shouldn't eat it either. it's the role model for your child, for example. build your knees down, like you're about to sit on the toilet. come back up again. we're going to keep going. >> i was waiting for you to bring up toilets and poop. you know dr. oz loves that. we can all follow the rules you

gave now. those are three big ones. get moving, if you've eaten something you're not happy with, right? >> the reason this is critical, if you cheat, it will make you think twice. also this turns the muscles on. all the sugar will get soaked up in your muscles and you won't deposit it on your thighs. >> dr. oz is sticking with us. next hour we're going to take some of your questions you sent on facebook. are we done now? back to you. thank you, guys. >> allison, i know you're in great shape, but your legs will be burning. we'll give you the commercial break to recoup. weekly jobless claims just coming in. we'll share those after the break. and the world's third richest man, coming clean about how much he made last year, and the number might depress you a little bit. we'll reveal that next coming up on fox 5 morning news.

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this just in, bad news about the economy. the number of people seeking unemployment benefits barely changed in the last week, suggesting the job market isn't getting better. the labor department says applications ticked down 1,000 to 404,000. if you are looking for work, check out our job shop. our job of the day is at the embassy suites at the convention center. looking for a bell person to greet guests. for more on this job and others, go to myfoxdc.com and click on the job shop tab on the top of our home page. he has been calling for higher taxes on the wealthy to help ease the budget deficit. warren buffet disclosed he made over $62,855,000 last year. in he paid under $7 million in taxes.

if you do that math, it comes out to about 17.5% he paid in taxes. those numbers reinforce his claims he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary, although most of the taxes buffet paid were on dividend income. holly, what are you learning? >> reporter: if you're going to decorate this fall, you have to at least put a pumpkin out. i'm going to tell you how you can get a free pumpkin, plus our garden guru derek hard at work this morning. coming up, we're going to talk about how to create an inviting fall entrance for your home, as we are live this morning at planted world in brandywine. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us.   hey!

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you can even choose to chat with a live person. ♪ and you're always guaranteed the lowest prices online. so don't wait... try, compare and buy at verizonfios.com today. because there's never been a better time this is one of my favorite places in the d.c. region, believe it or not. doesn't look so pretty this morning. >> doesn't look good. >> because of the fog and rain. if you get out there this weekend, check out the fall foilage there. this is the live web camera in the park. the national park service

predicts the color change is about 30% at the higher elevations, 20% in the lower elevations. this weekend, in the upper 60s, maybe 70, perfect day for a drive. >> gorgeous, i'm sure. changing into seasons might inspire you to decorated your home. >> it's why holly is at ed's plant world in brandywine, maryland this morning to get ideas. holly, good morning. >> reporter: i am getting all of my inspiration from this guy here, who we all know and love, derek thomas has come out to join me this morning and share his knowledge. thank you. >> thank you for having me. >> reporter: great to be out of the studio, isn't it? >> it's great. >> reporter: we get to do a little bit more. we're talking about creating the perfect entrance way. it's the first place people see. >> it is your welcome mat. curb appeal is not just a show. it's actually a thing. and when you create a wonderful, inviting space, we

have transformed the entry to this green house into ever greens. if you don't have that big and formal -- >> reporter: if i don't have a place for an allay -- >> you can create a smaller one. one of things i want to challenge the viewers, mix it up a bit. don't think of it as one seasonal. here we have a wonderful pathway. what i want to do, i want to change it out. these were tropicals. good for the summer. i want to change it out. i understand our friend, ed, has a little bit of information on the pumpkin give away we're doing this weekend. while we're doing that -- >> reporter: telling me to go away so your magic can be done? >> working magic on these plants. >> reporter: we're going to see what derek can do as we check in with ed, and talk about pumpkins. including this cute pumpkin here. who is this? >> our newest addition and

pride and joy, 4 months old. >> reporter: it's ed's grandson. >> tv debut. >> reporter: exactly. little pumpkins is something you'll be giving away this weekend. >> we are indeed. we have a display of them here. for every family that comes out with their child, we'll be given a free pumpkin if they mention they saw the segment. >> reporter: children can't come alone. need to come as a family, or with a parent, rather, an adult, guardian. >> yep. >> reporter: someone over 18. you need to say that you saw ed and bryce on fox 5. >> yep. >> reporter: and they'll let you have a free pumpkin. if you say you love holly the best or bryce is the cutest baby until mine arrives, they'll make sure you have a good pumpkin. >> absolutely. >> reporter: i was kidding about the last part. it's been a wet season.

>> we had a brutal summer, then the monsoons come in. probably a lot of replacements. this is a great time to plant. all the ever greens, trees and shrubs, plant them now, if you need to redo the lawn, sod it, segment time for all of -- excellent time. >> reporter: if you buy the mums now, how long will they last? >> probably thanksgiving, and die back, and they're perennial, so they'll come back. >> reporter: we're getting into bulb planting. >> next couple of months plant bulbs. >> i'm ready, holly. >> reporter: bryce, we have made this beautiful entrance way for you to crawl down at some point. ta da! >> we have taken away the tropical and added a pop of evergreen. and-- >> reporter: but wait, there's more. >> put that in, and now your entry way is set. >> reporter: do you know with a

i love about this, really, this is so simple. >> it absolutely is simple. what you can do is, start thinking outside of the box. start thinking about your entry way as your welcome mat. it's the first thing people see. a lot of times we fuss about the indoors. let's bring it out. >> reporter: i absolutely love it. simple, elegant, wonderful. from the creative mind of derek thomas. myfoxdc.com is our web site. we have a link to thomas landscapes, we have a link to ed's plant world in brandywine. coming up in our next hour, there are things you can do now with the vegetation or plants you have to make sure it lasts well through the winter season and everything will be good come next spring. we'll talk with derek about that. >> you'll be trimming topiary. >> reporter: what?

>> be careful, she's edward sis or hands. a man from west virginia can claim he has the best beard. >> is it just being long? >> we'll find out. >> we'll show it to you when we come back. stay with us.   

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we want to say good morning to today's facebook fan of the day. here you go. wendy flemming. congratulations. it is a great picture, allison, you're right. she says she's never noticed a fan of the day from culpepper before. well, we apologize, culpepper. we're going to try to make good on this. wendy, you're the first one. congratulations. for some men, it is a style choice and certainly a way to express themselves. >> a west virginia man won a national best beard contest. >> let's see it. >> dr. john burgess took place for best natural beard. >> wow. >> in a competition on the ifc network show called whisker wars. his beard goes well below his waist line. >> that is some kind of beard.

>> crystal gayle of beards. >> i think so. >> why does at the let it grow? >> it's a reflection of hormonal health. long hair on women is usually a healthy woman. and long hair, full beard on a guy, is an indication of hormonal health. just being healthy. >> he is a doctor. >> he is. >> he's doing a little something with it. he says it's a huge issue for people suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder. >> the beard baby. >> i wonder how long he's been growing that? >> i don't want to know anything more about that man. tony is back after the break. what a 9:00 hour we have today. more with dr. oz. >> love it. >> he is answering some of your questions next. plus, a customer at a bar leaves a tip that's getting a lot of facebook attention this morning, but it wasn't funny. what he left instead that has a lot of people talking this

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welcome back to fox 5 morning news. coming up on 9:00 now. here's a look at some of the stories we're following this hour. we continue to follow a developing story, amber alert still in effect. 11-year-old vanished after his mother was found murdered in their montgomery county apartment. more information coming up. you saw him about a half hour ago, dr. oz is live with us this morning instudio. coming up later he's going to answer some of your questions that you submitted via facebook. one of those, what can men do to increase fertility? we're going to also talk about his upcoming episode and we'll talk health news of the day you don't want to miss that. just a great show