malichai. >> there is a live lookout side i would say that is the best looking shot we have had so far this week as the sun comes up right now. this is wednesday, february 15th, 2012. i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour. >> man with that good looking day you wouldn't think there were school delays or closings. banock burn elementary school is closed because of a broken sanitary sewer pipe in the street before and after school care is cancelled no other montgomery county school is impacted by this. all right sounds like a fine day on tap. >> good morning everybody should be just fine more sunshine temperatures back into the middle 50s, and a very comfortable wednesday afternoon expected across the dc area right now we are relatively mild, regan national 43 degrees, 42 dulles, cooler

fredericksburg. 38, hagerstown 39 degrees. we are in for a nice one later today. your sentinel sat rad light sprinkles, light showers off to the north and east, still dealing with cloud cover from that system gradually as high pressure builds west we should see the sunshine more and more during the course of the day with a mostly sunny afternoon temperatures to sore into the mid-50s. this forecast is an easy one, temperatures mid-50s. 54 washington 56 your daytime high in fredericksburg it will be breezy winds out of the north and west, 10 to 15 bring along a jacket. more details on that forecast a look at the 5 day in just a minute. good morning julie. >> good morning tucker barnes we have got slow traffic i will show you where travelling northbound 395, duke street to lanes open no accidents to

report, 295 on the brakes leading the belt way headed towards southeast washington delays if you con tin your commute at the tunnel outer loop of the belt way, new hampshire avenue this delay will carry you in toward silver spring. southbound 270, delays out of german town and again at the lane divide. all right thank you. there is a tentative agreement on extending the payroll tax cuts, lawmakers on capital hill to unvail the agreement today. good morning stacey. >> reporter: good morning tony it is nice to have good news for 160 million americans your pay check will not take a hit because after months of debate it appears, that there has been an agreement reached on the payroll tax cut. senate leaders have reached a

tentative agreement on renewing the payroll tax cut. it will keep the average worker to keep $20 a week. a 2% cut in the payroll cut will be extended through the end of the year. >> there is concern we are talking about the revenue line going to social security at the end of the day the more the americans can keep their own money in their own pocket. >> we got to get serious about social security we got to be honest with american people and be held accountable. jobless benefits for the long term unemployed will be renewed and medicare doctors won't be hit with reduction in their reimbursement rates but many are at odds with how it will all be paid for payroll tax cuts wouldn't be offset by other taxes or spending cuts. >> i am concerned about the pay for being raising the fees. >> why are we arguing over a middle class tax cut that has been given to us for -- by name

to reduce the amount we are paying into social security we should be talking about real tax reform. >> reporter: lawmaker hope to send the bill to president obama this week. >> i think this will get the majority of votes at our conference. politicians on capital hill were getting close to that deadline the payroll tax cut was set to expire end of this month this deal would extend it through the end of this year. back to you. >> thank you. good news for the president a new cbs new york times poll shows the president's ratings are going up as people's outlook on the economy gets better 34% of americans feel the economy is indeed improving, that is the highest percentage in nearly 2 years seems voters are crediting the president for those results with 42% of them saying he is

making progress, fixing our financial situation the president's overall approval rating is at 50% the highest it has been since osama bin laden. looks like the gop presidential contest is once again a two man race this times the rick romney and santorum. romney has won 4 states so has santorum even though he trails in delegates, there are two polls that show santorum has an edge in my michigan which has its primary in two weeks. gingrich says he is still the strongest alternative. numerous reports say marion berry and david katanya got into a profanity laced shouting match yesterday. he apparently called berry a

despicable human being. in an interest view after -- interview afterwards, barry says, katanye disrespected black man. he said he would be failed because he turn d his back onward 8 constituents. how the budget proposal will impact federal workers, back on the hill with congress woman holmes norton. >> the big picture for the district of columbia, good news. >> not so good for federal workers although the president gives them a slight increase taking them out of the freeze for the district the way you judge it, is on policy terms and on muddied terms let's look at money first we have four top priorities and the president funded them all education

priority is a dc tag, a $5 million increase sending our youngsters across the country, to any state supported institution. $100 million to continue development, in ward 8 and new money so that the district can start to develop its part of the st. elizabeth campus on the east campus. >> then there is our health priority the president put $5 million for treatment and prevention of hiv aids and then our big environmental has a prior yourty so we can begin clean up of the anacostia river there is a big break through there on policy last year the president indicated, right in his report, his support for budget autonomy for the

district of columbia, when i was invited by the president, to sit in his box at the martin luther king concert this year, i asked him to go further on a conversation with him i thanked him for what he did last year but asked him, in light of a bill by the chairman of the committee, with jurisdiction over the district that would give us budget autonomy if he would work for us not just be for budget autonomy but work with us in congress to get budget autonomy not only did he say yes that is in his budget moving us a step further than we were last year, toward budget autonomy the president also did something else he took the language of my bill, that would keep the district open whenever there is a shut down over federal issues and put that language in his bill and asked that be passed so i don't think the district of columbia has any complaints about this president's budget this year. you mentioned the federal

workers and we actually talked with a reporter at the washington post he broke it down as far as who is going to get less money and who will be funded more as well does it seem priorities maybe are shifting as far as the government goes, the federal government, work force and agencies involved with that, those sorts of agencies. >> for example epa took a slight or small decrease, but i am impressed by the fact that the president kept most of these agencies at what we call level funding about what they were last year of course that is a cut because the cost of living goes up somewhat. federal workers, the president already has had some freeze he does not extend that freeze but the republicans here of course want to do so in fact the president begins to take recognition of the fact that

this freeze has been a two year, big cut, for federal workers so he gives them a small increase. we don't have to fight hard for that big dispointment in the budget but not as big as it might have been we have been getting promised, authorized, $150 million every year to fix our metro system, which the federal government depends upon as much as any federal agency the president puts 135 million rather than the $450 million in his budget this year what the president is doing even when we see that he doesn't put as much money in his budget as some of us would like we do see he is trying to spread the burden he is trying to get us out of the republicans, only slash and burn recognizing that we have now a good recovery s we could send -- recovery and we could send it back down if we could

harness it with some measure of growth it will be on the house floor beginning today, a perfect transportation bill, he has money in his budget, for what, people across the country have been waiting for, money to finally reauthorize surface transportation for mass transit, and for roads and bridges. >> congress woman eleanor holmes norton live from the hill thanks for spending part of your morning with us. >> coming up next we will check out some of the other stories making headlines. >> we will get the latest on funeral plans for whitney houston. more insight into how she spent her final hours. ♪

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welcome back, time for a look at some of the top stories a visitation service being held today for an alexandria paramedic, he fell off a bridge responding to a car fire on i- 395 in arlington last week his funeral is tomorrow in alexandria, beginning 1:00 p.m. all city schools will be let out early because of the heavy traffic expected. the mayor of culpepper virginia is asking the community to be patient and wait for all the evidence to come in on a deadly shooting a police officer shot and killed that woman, last thursday, he says he was being dragged by her car. the investigation could take several weeks. virginia man filed a lawsuit claiming a sheriff's deputy used unnecessary force, carlos garcia got into an argument with a taxi driver in 2009 garcia said he was not moving and had his hands in the

air when the deputy knocked him to the ground from behind and caused a permanent brain injury. >> tucker is here with us with a look at our wednesday weather. >> perfect temperatures back in the 50s yesterday we had a little sunshine mostly sunny today, a few clouds up there at the moment but later today, bright sunshine, hard to believe it is february. >> nice start to the day >> gorgeous start to the day. let's do it, bus stop forecast. get used to our new look. >> let's see it again. >> now can i just say one thing watch as the bus goes by there is no one driving it and there is no one in it. >> tony why you got to get so technical. >> it is the ghost bus. >> the ghost bus. >> the magic -- what was the scab by do bus called? the mystery machine. partly sunny, 43, on the mild side later this afternoon as mentioned temperatures in the 50s. let's do a spin around the

country 44 washington, up a degree, 31 chicago, just right, nothing too hot nothing too cold to start your day, 63 in tampa, florida, another nice day down in florida, 80s for miami. >> wow. >> there is your sentinel radar that is tomorrow's weather today mostly sunny skies, temperatures 50s. tomorrow's weather arrives in the form of clouds afternoon evening rain showers see those developing across portions of the midwest, temperatures tomorrow upper 40s to 50 we don't run the risk of any winter weather tomorrow your 5 day forecast i mention a nice day today rain showers friday looks fine, saturday could be late day clouds sunday lots of question marks but there is potential for a coastal storm on sunday during the day. dies down pretty good temperature wise. >> yeah, well, that could draw in a lot of cold air. >> speaking of buses we saw our

bus driver, i talk about him a lot kevin bus dude, in the super market it was weird to see him in the super market so much so, that spencer goes that's weird. >> i remember when i used to run into a teacher. on the area roadways, if you run into julie elsewhere in this traffic thing. >> no, that is great i would love to run into julie. >> thank you i just remember running into that person i saw the other night at the club >> that could be awkward. >> oh, tony it's happened. can't remember the person's name it is awkward. all right on the roads you will find 66 eastbound that is where we are bogged down with the latest, fair oaks, headed towards 123, no incidents just volume delays overall that is what we are finding around the capital belt way, unfortunately we have delays, inner loop on

bradock road. toward silver spring southbound 29, randolph road headed past lock wood. 395 across the 14th street bridge heavy duke street, crossing the 14th street bridge that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. this morning we are learning some new details leading up to the untimely death of whitney houston it still remains unclear exactly how the singer died but her struggle with drugs is once again in the spotlight. >> in the meantime private funeral arrangements are being made. wisdom. >> allison and tony, whitney houston's funeral will be held in new jersey at new hope baptist church where she first sang as a child there had been talks of a public ceremony but there are no plans for that at this time us weekly is reporting friending of the pop

star say she is self-medicating and lonely up until the very end. new details emerging about whitney houston's activitys in the dayhours leading to her death us weekly said the pop icon was reportedly doing a lot of drinking pounding champagne, tequila shots and drinking again friday. >> fellow guests at the beverly hills hilton said she was in the bar drinking and looked very sad and out of it. >> just a few hours before her death jacob says, her actions weren't all that out of the ordinary. >> the morning of the last day of whitney's life she spent time by the pool at her hotel and a guest said she looked very hung over she also ordered in room food to her hotel room that afternoon hamburger, fries, turkey sandwich, jalapenos it was her last meal and we know the rest somewhere in the afternoon she got into the bathtub and we know what happened from there.

>> while the autopsy has been done the cause of death isn't yet determined back in her native new jersey her family decided against a public memorial service there were discussions of a service at the 18,000 seat prudential center but the funeral home says that is no longer in the works. >> they have shared her for 30 some year s with the city, with the state, with the world, this is their time now for their farewell. >> a farewell from the mega stars god mother, honouring her god daughter, monday night, with a concert in charlotte south carolina. >> her family is asking any donations in her name be sent to art focus school she attended as a child. just want to say you know as opposed to the us weekly what they are saying about the

drinking and all that i read somewhere else online yesterday there are reports in her last few days she was very reflective, very spiritual, reading her bible with some friends, talking very much about jesus and looking forward the meeting jesus one day. >> really? >> so the two seem to conflict a little bit but you know we will hear probably a variety of reports. >> probably so as this continues to develop and we learn more about what happened and salesladying up to it and report -- leading up to it and the reports come up later on maybe we will get more insight into what was her mind set. >> all right thank you sir. >> sad result either way. >> thank you so much. all right. >> it is 7:22 a.m., now we all know about the stress that soldiers go through, while deployed but their families back here at home suffer as well. >> some husbands and wives are being honored as finalists in the military spouse of the year

awards including a local man we will have more on him when we come back. >> then in our next half hour celebrating black history month with a look at the new slavery at thomas jeffersons monticello exhibit. more on that, stay with us it is 7:23 a.m. land o'lakes spreadable butter with canola oil

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two women used valentines day to bring gay marriage, the debate to the forefront in virginia, they applied for a marriage license yesterday both were turned down the two retired u.s. naval officers have been in a committed relationship for 26 years and don't want the go to dc or new york to get married. >> we aren't going to leave our home it makes sense to stay here and ask for equal rights just like everybody else gets for their partner, and still be part of this community that we

love and we've lived in a long time. >> we are faithful in paying our taxes, to fairfax county, to virginia, to the united states government, we want to stay in virginia. voters in the common wealth approved a constitutional amendment prohibiting same sex unions in 2006. house of delegates expected to take up a bill to legalize gay marriage in maryland. governor o'malley says republican votes could be critical to getting it signed into law, opponents worry it could force educators to teach about gay marriage in public schools. >> final lists announced for the fifth annual, military spouse of the year awards, jeremy hilton is from burke and the finalist from the airforce the win whore will represent the nations million -- winner who will represent the nations

million military spouses will be announced in may. you will meet americas new top dog best in show a pooch described as having a smashed in face that frames a mop of fly away fur. sound cute? >> yes. >> we will see him when we come back stay with us 

>> 7:30 a.m., wednesday morning let's look at our top stories, marion barry asking the council chair to look into the behaviour of fellow councilmember after the two got into a shouting match laced with profanity this happened yesterday during a council retreat in an interview after the argument, barry said he harbours disrespect for black men. a tentative agreement on the payroll tax extension set to be unvailed on capital hill it could get final approval by friday republican leaders in the house dropped their demand it be paid for so they don't get accused of raising taxes in an election year but they have to get rank and file to accept an increase in the deficit.

>> president barack obama and first lady michelle obama hit old town alexandria for their valentines dinner last night they dined at vermilion, on king street earlier in the day the president sent his wife a rare personal tweet wishing her a happy valentines day. that's nice >> i didn't know he tweeted. >> i either now we do. >> exciting night at madson square garden westminster dog show handed out best in show. >> which dog took home top prize. >> best in show at the 136th annual westminster kennel club, america's dog show, is the pekinese. [ applause ] there he is. >> or she is. it is malikai the pooch was the night's big winter 4-year- old won his 115th overall best in show title that is a lot.

he beat out a handful of other breeds like dalmation, german shepherd, irish setter the first time in more than 20 years, a pekinese has taken home the coveted award. >> pekinese a strong look on it. >> it is. >> long flowing hair. >> maybe that is in now >> i have been trying to get tucker to grow his hair out he won't do it. >> sorry allison. >> it is just different in a world with this button downed look it would be kind of different. >> you would like me to look pekinese? >> maybe not pekinese. >> you look fine just how you are what is going on. >> mild side to start the day in for a nice afternoon sun should break out highs mid-50s will be breezy bring along a jacket winds out of the northwest, 15 miles per hour it will feel cooler >> not like the 50-mile an hour winds we had the other day. >> yeah. >> a nice afternoon. let's start with a look at

current temperatures regan national, 44 degrees didn't cool off a lot overnight generally lows were upper 30s and low 40s. 36 in quantico, i don't think -- i don't remember any of the area getting below freezing we are off to a mild start. 41 martins burg, 42 dulles, 45 leonard town. a few clouds to start your morning they will dissipate and move off north and east high pressure west will keep us nice and dry today. i know what you are wondering what is going on with the rain. it will arrive in the form of rain as temperatures during the day tomorrow will be in upper 40s no winter weather next couple days, i mention the breezes for you, late this afternoon tonight will start to cloud up during the day tomorrow particularly tomorrow afternoon showers move in and then when this front clears by tomorrow night back into the

sunshine, temperatures back into the 50s, on friday, this is turning into another nice week in the month of february. 54, mostly sunny breezy at times, winds north and west, 10 to 15 could be a late night shower, 5 miles per hour here is your 5 day forecast mild next couple days friday fantastic, saturday looks promising 51 sunday a lot of question marks, if it deepens, moves on just the right track, it could be a wintery mix highs only in the 30s. that bares watching end of the weekend that is a look at your weather forecast. julie wright has your latest. i love you just the way you are tucker barnes. >> you are so sweet julie. >> still hoping to get left over valentines candy >> i didn't get much this year, talk to tony. >> what you got was a cold

honey and that you can keep. >> typical delay coming southbound, out of laurel, south of 197 what i am concerned about is the northbound side heading north of 197 on the right side of your screen as you travel northbound out of laurel again we are checking out that ride for you, i am not hearing anything stopping in your way. slow going northbound side of the highway unusual commute as you work between 197 and 198, taking it back inside update the ride southbound 270, german town headed out, old georgetown road, all your lanes here open, annandale headed up towards 66 an 18 minute ride duke street to seminary road and 14th street bridge that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> more now on our top story tentative deal that would extend 2% pay cut and extra

jobless benefits through 2012 joining us now peter and jim good to see both of you guys. >> like wise. >> let's start with that all of a sudden the republicans agreed to extend the payroll tax cut i will start with jim. you are nodding your head what happened? this is very sudden. >> republicans wanted to do this last year and all of a sudden the democrats caved and only wanted to do it through february. never let a crisis go to waste. >> spin spin spin. >> the bottom line the republicans got a pretty got deal out of it it is not revenue neutral but in the long term the word is they will now, after this year, bring back -- it is extended to 79 weeks,. >> i love you like a brother jim but let me tell you

republicans knew what this was going to be like if they had tried to go through paying for it, coming with revenue for it they are not paying for the bush tax cuts, this is a thousand dollars in every person's pocket basically. >> i thought it was 400. >> for a year. >> you get two pay checks a month you know, 80 times 12. >> i can do the math about $1,000. >> okay. okay. >> the point being that the republicans said oh, my god i cannot us if with this any longer they will cream us in the election with it they caved in now you know, the unemployment insurance they will get a deal on that. so that is good news but republicans cut their losses it

was smart for them politically. >> when the president said that are you ready for this? when the president said the gas prices have gone up 83% since he has been elected and the gas prices could go up even higher, what happens? >> people like paying high gas prices? >> no. >> do they blame the president of the united states? >> i think they would >> i don't think so. >> jimbo his popularity is 50% it is higher and moving the economy, optimism on the economy is moving up you know this trajectory continues who are they going to give credit to. >> the president. >> republicans in congress. >> the president. >> it is interesting to see you know what is interesting in our political age, 50% is like all right, that is great. >> congress at 10%. >> that's true. >> all relative. >> well,. >> or a republican candidate the front runner mitt romney up

50% negative. >> do you want to just do the whole segment i will just leave? >> let jim talk. >> [ overlapping voices ] >> the president is still under water with an awful lot of voter groups in an awful lot of states you think he will walk out of this thing? you thing this is an easy election for him? that's right. >> let me ask you about this the president proposed a 3 .8 trillion dollars budget,. >> right. >> 1.5 trillion in new taxes on companies and the wealthy, want to reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over a decade, is the budget going to fly pete i will start with you. >> you want my honest answer? of course not this is his ideal budget this is what he liked to see sit going to pass no. republicans are not going to pass this budget. >> nor will democrats. >> well, they by in large will support it but here is what he is saying the economy is moving ahead we need to continue

creating jobs, continue stimulating the economy and this is the best way to do it and also it sets up a system, that is fair because the wealthy finally unlike the tax plans and the plans for the republicans does not let them get away with not paying their fair share. >> you say even the democrats won't support it. >> because it is over a thousand days, democrats in the senate have not passed a budget cha is the point this is all -- what is the point this is all just window dressing and pr the reality is, you know as long as they don't pass the budget in the senate it doesn't really matter this is not a part of -- >> this is a process of negotiation we haven't passed you know appropriations bill was on time in 10 years jim and i agree on this point the american people say hey, guys get your act together, put this economy back on track, with which thank god we are beginning to do but it is a

political year. >> i want to talk about political year the gop race now, santorum is jumping to the front, jim i want to start with you what is going on here who is the front run whore will get the not -- runner who will get the nomination. i don't think it will go to the convention what you are about to see is you are going to see multi state primaries in one day that is an advantage to romney because you can see, in his campaign -- he and his campaign have purchased 6 ads in different states, michigan is a state in which it is one of his home states he is greatly organized there. santorum things he can do well there there are a lot of evangelical christians there what you are going to see michigan might be the pivot we said it about florida, south carolina, as we get to the second phase you will see whether or not everything everybody talked about with romney is true he has the strength he has the

organization he has the money or whether or not it doesn't matter and someone like santorum takes off. and it may even go on longer than that here is what might happen gingrich is dead in the water, the question now becomes, is gingrich just you know, limped along all the way to the convention like he says he is going to if he does his vote goes to santorum. i mean the latest polls show over 2-1 santorum picks up that vote the only way mitt romney will be able to pull this off he will have to win ugly. his negative ads are all over the air waves now in michigan he can do it in some of these other states will it make a difference are his negatives that high and is he somewhat unbelievable. only a third of republicans are pleased with their candidate. >> we are out of time one word answer from each of you if rick santorum pulls out michigan and wins is that trouble for

romney. >> absolutely. >> still remains to be seen. >> that is not one word thank you both. we appreciate it we will be back with more in just a moment stay with us 

good morning gentlemen. >> good morning allison. >> i would like to know the latest on the weather. >> i have that for you >> has it changed? >> temperatures, 50s. should be a good looking day and a look at regan national, 44 degrees cooler there, cold off to the north and west freezing temperatures in places like detroit where it is 32 degrees, boston 39. future cast haven't done this in a little while it will show you nothing today clearing skies, sunshine we will be a little breezy this afternoon 7:00 p.m. sun will set, still clear, overnight we will cloud up during tomorrow, cloudy, by the afternoon, rain showers will arrive look how far north the snow is all the way up to

northern new england mostly just a rain event. your 5 day forecast, 54 lots of sunshine nice afternoon friday looks great, saturday promising sunday, as mentioned lots of question marks could be a coastal storm could be temperatures in the 30s. chef >> it bares watching. >> bares watching. >> thank you sir. >> yes. >> julie wright is watching the roads she has the latest on traffic. >> hey, you guys right now what i am finding are delays 395 across the inbound 14th street bridge just volume delays, same out to the west, 66, heavy and steady, 60th and 123, that is a 22 minute commute on the outer loop leaving new hampshire silver spring no accidents to report that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> 7:48 a.m. >> this morning we are celebrating black history month at the american history museum, annie, wonderful exhibit good morning.

>> it really is there are more than 200 artifacts here coming up we will get to know more about this exhibit it is going on now until october it is called slavery at thomas jefferson's monticello we have a lot to look forward to. hope you stay with us fox 5 morning news  working in public relations is not for the faint of heart. i love what i do, i enjoy the work, but it's a very hectic pace. strayer university met my needs in terms of my family, my work-life balance. the fact that leading companies are hiring strayer graduates is impressive, but it's not surprising. these companies want us so badly. i'm felicia blow, and i earned my mba from strayer university.

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at thomas jefferson's monticello is a new show. >> i am just amazed by this exhibit i took a tour and it is just interesting to see over 200 artifacts, first hand it is an amazing experience and you know this was a partnership between the smithsonian of course and monticello joining me now is dr. ellis the cocurator of this exhibit good morning. >> good morning. >> thank you for spending the morning with us you will be like our personal guide. >> my pleasure. >> why was the partnership so important for both agencies to partner up. >> most had to do with extraordinary research monticello has done over 50 years the research is not only related to jefferson and jefferson's family but also to enslaved families at monticello we know a great deal because of the wonderful research,

archaeology done at monticello we could not tell this story without that partnership. >> thomas jefferson was known to be very meticulous and wrote down everything, right? what is the process like digging up some of the thingthe record keeping of it all. >> much of it is looking at a variety of documents and focusing on those where he talked about a great deal the daily lives of those who worked and lived on the property and one of the things that i wanted to show you was a farm book behind isaac jefferson, the farm book was somewhere around 1774, when jefferson began it he worked on it from 1774 until around the latter part of the 1820s it is a huge document that gives us a great deal of information about enslaved at monticello, isaac jefferson being one of the important trades men that were a part of

the granger family and then on the other side here we see thomas jefferson and behind him is the declaration of independence the whole idea behind these two images was to say here is the public life of jefferson and here is the private life of jefferson understanding the public and private side of jefferson becomes very very important one reason we call it slavery, at jefferson's monticello is because, under the sort of beginnings of our nation, where we began to look at freedom from the mother country, jeffer sob and many of the -- jefferson and many of the founding fathers had slaves and owned slaves. >> i was going to ask you do you ever get asked how the president who wrote the declaration of independence could own slaves do you ever get asked that question? >> all the time much of it has to do with just the lives that

they were born into, slavery was a part of jefferson's life from the time he was born until he died so it was a part of who he was, it was a part of who his generation was doesn't make it right but certainly gives you some sense it was something that was a part of his life. that is why we believe it is so important to understand it, talk about it and get to know those who surrounded that community and those who were a part of his life public as well as private. >> thank you we have a lot for you throughout the morning, if you want to come out log on to myfoxdc.com the exhibit is here until october 14th, it is completely free of course and open every day from 10 to 5:30 p.m. back to you in studio. >> i have got to see this exhibit. >> i know. >> absolutely. >> thank you annie. 7:56 a.m. dealing with customer service agents man on the phone, it can

be aggravating. >> coming up after 8 foxes consumer reporter reveals things the operator won't tell you armed with this information your next customer service request might be smooth sailing. >> very good. >> in our next hour how some facebook photos were lifted off some people's pages then posted on a pornographic website. stay with us fox 5 morning news will be right back 

>> back now 8:00 a.m. looks like american workers are the winners so far in this election year we are talking about a tax can you tell us extension more on the deal that -- tax cut extension more on the deal that keeps more money in your wallet. >> a string of obscenities, charges of racism and even talk of fist cuffs. >> then dealing with customer service agents well, that can be aggravating in our next half hour foxes consumer reporter reveals things the operator won't tell you armed with this information your next customer

service request may go very smoothly. pay attention to that one. >> good morning i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour say good morning to tucker barnes on a nice wednesday. >> good morning everybody yeah, steady forecast for wednesday temperatures back in the mid- 50s. sunshine. >> we will take it. >> day after valentines day i like it. >> yeah, just wait until march and april. >> better news. >> no, i said we are going to pay for all this. >> okay well, on that note. >> there you go enjoy today bottom line. temperatures 40s. 44 washington off to a cool start in spots, 30s there, 38 degrees fredericksburg, hagerstown. mid-50s yesterday, today should feel great a lot of sunshine and once again temperatures should surge about 5 to 8 degrees above normal. a few clouds to start your morning a nice sunrise lookout the window here northwest

washington mostly sunny that will be the theme around here later today mostly sunny skies, bit of a breeze out of the north and west gusting to 15 miles per hour bring a jacket just in case because i think it will feel a little cooler than daytime highs as temperatures will be afternoon high temperatures mid-50s more details on the forecast rain in the forecast tomorrow, details coming up in a minute. >> to julie wright she has the latest hey, julie. >> i like how allison said that tuck-er. >> spread it out for his fans. >> there you go. >> on the roads, lanes open here is the sunshine tucker is talking about, fair oaks, 123, still below speed, pace increasing out of manassas. pace improves but we are slowing 50 fair oaks to 123, nuttily to the belt way bradock to 66, 395 heavy, slow and

steady, boundary channel drive over the 14th street bridge. duke street headed toward seminary road. montgomery county, crossing over the american legion bridge. lanes open looking good as you work your way into fairfax. >> here is is something you don't hear often, president obama and republicans on capital hill want the same thing to keep the 2% payroll tax cut alive if they do not extend it 160 million working americans will see their taxes go up in just about 2 weeks but it appears there is a deal. let's get more on this mornings top story from stacey cohan she is live on capital hill. >> hey, tony tax hike just before an election is not a good idea for anybody, everybody agrees this needs to be done but there has been a lot of arguing about the way in which it is done and how it will be paid for the good news seems there is an agreement now, on extending this payroll tax cut. this has been a battle that has been fought since december you

will remember when there was a brief agreement to extend the tax cut, until the end of this month now it appears there is an agreement. i will tell you what will happen if the deal goes through as it is currently written, $20 a week would be the average amount the average worker will get to keep as long as this payroll tax cut stays in place that tax cut is what we pay out to social security this could be sent to the president this week extend that tax break through the end of this year and also it would include an extension of jobless benefits, and medicare reimbursements for doctors they were all bundled in this same measure, still up in the air how to pay for it that has been a sticking point with republicans, certainly democrats, support an idea they would raise taxes on the wealthiest americans that seems to be going nowhere fast in the end if they approve this, as expected they may not yet have

found a way to pay for it. back to you. thank you there is some good news for the president, new cbs new york times poll shows the president's ratings are rising, as people's outlook on the economy improves, 34% of americans feel the economy is getting better now, the highest percentage it has been in nearly two years, voters are crediting the president with those results, 42% of them saying the president is making progress fixing our financial situation, president obama's overall approval rating is 50% the highst since osama bin laden's death. looks like the gop presidential contest is once again a two man race this time mitt romney and rick santorum in a dead heat romney has won 4 states, so far so hasan tore rum even though he trails -- so has santorum, even though he

trails. former house speaker, newt gingrich says he is still the strongest romney alternative despite his dropping numbers in the polls. a foul mouthed fight the headline involving two dc council members this morning, numerous reports say council members, marion barry and david katanya got into a pro fancy laced shouting match a reporter there said he called barry a depickable human being along with several other -- despicable human being along with several other expletives. barry wants council chair kwame brown to look at his behaviour, we will talk with him live in our next hour. virginia moves close tore drug testing people who get welfare they test positive they could lose benefits for a year backers to have bill say it would make sure well pair money

goes to families and -- welfare money goes to familychildren. this measure now goes to the state house but lawmakers there won't take it up until next year. funeral services for whitney houston will be held on saturday, at new hope baptist church newark new jersey, that is the church where she first show cased her singing talents as a child the family says no public memorial service is planned at this time they are opting for a much smaller, private affair and it will be invitation only. they have shared her for 30 some years with the city, with the state, with the world, this is their time for their farewell. fans are still holding out hope there will be some sort of public ceremony so they too can honor the singer. in the meantime houston's family is asking any bowations in her ma'am -- donations in her ma'am rebe sent to the --

memory be sent to the arts focused school. pictures lifted aviation book without their knowledge and posted to a website with pornographic images. it happened to more than a dozen girls in boston parents are trying to figure out what they can do to get the pictures taken down. >> it is terrible >> news someone is lifting girl's facebook profile pictures and putting them on a pornographic website without their knowledge has parents, school districts investigators alarmed. >> three things in life used to be permanent, birth, death, and taxes now it is those plus any image you put on the internet. >> the girls are from all over the u.s., leading investigators to believe there could be many girls on the site who don't know it. >> because these are innocent kids now they are victimized. >> 17 of the girls go to

charlton's bay path vocational technical school. it was his daughters facebook picture when they went on to the website to verify it apparently someone notified her, he as well as his daughter identified a few more of our students on that website. and before i got off the phone i probably had four or five students lined up at my door to also inform me of this website. >> bay path's dean says the girls from her school are fully clothed doing nothing wrong in the pictures still the concern is even just the association with a pornographic website could impact a child's future. >> colleges, jobs, they are googling things like that. >> we asked the county da if there is anything parents can do. >> to your knowledge were any laws violated where you can go after this website >> that is what we are looking at right now. >> foxes heather reporting there. now the da says the website was

shut down once before but some how resurfaced investigators say it could be run from outside the united states which would make shutting it down more difficult. all right, it is 8:10 a.m., coming up, we will check out some other stories making headlines. >> we will look at the growing plastic surgery trend and what is fronting people to go under the knife might surprise you stay with us cheeseburger macaroni?

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in more ways than ever. and our networks are getting crowded. but if congress frees up more wireless spectrum, we can empower more people to innovate, create jobs, and put momentum behind our economy. and a spectrum auction could raise as much as 30 billion dollars to help fund the payroll tax cut. it's simple. more spectrum means more freedom. for everyone.

8:13 a.m., visitation service being held for an alexandria paramedic killed in the line of duty he fell off a bridge responding to a car fire i-395, glieb road arlington last week. his funeral is tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. all city schools will be let out early because of the heavy traffic expected. >> mayor of cull pepper virginia is asking the public to be patient and wait for all evidence to come in on a deadly

shooting, a police officer shot and killed 54 patricia cook last thursday. virginia man filed a lawsuit claiming a louden county sheriff's deputy, used unnecessary force, carlos garcia got into an argument with a taxi driver in 2009, garcia says he wasn't moving and had his hands in the air when the deputy knocked him from the ground behind and caused a permanent brain injury. >> pardon me sorry. >> that's okay i had a little thing too. >> we made it through. this is going to help us too tucker is here with weather but also the cuteness factor of the day. >> cuteness factor of the daytime for my first 5 photo of the day. >> aw. >> very happy little because this is 5-year-old

samya get this, hear beyonce. >> yep. >> is that beyonce? yes. >> thank you okay she absolutely loves beyonce and not just beyonce, justin bieber. >> oh, yes. >> of course. >> of course. >> she is 5 years old. >> she is turning 6 march 2nd and get this allison, i think you probably remember your 6th birthday, looking forward the getting pampered at a kids spa with her sisters and girlfriends. >> her little baby girlfriends how cute >> she is adorable look at that beautiful hair. >> big smile on her face. >> really cute. >> happy birthday. >> hope you have a very happy birthday. send us your child's picture go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings. >> she has personality. >> you can see it. >> yeah. >> let's do some weather and you want a jacket if you are going out the door 44 washington, beautiful afternoon, daytime highs mid-

50s, breezy later today you can see relatively mild start most of the area, 43 manassas, 43 cambridge. 32 detroit colder air off to the north and west, that really won't get a chance to get in here for a couple days our temperature trend through the end of the week will be on the warm side, at least on the mild side afternoon highs each day, sunshine in the forecast, tomorrow rain out towards st. louis now approaching cincinnati will start to move in when it gets here with our high temperatures tomorrow back in the upper 40s we are expecting rain showers best chance for that timeframe will be during the afternoon tomorrow probably through tomorrow evenings commute and then we will start to see sunshine back in the forecast for the day friday. 54 today, rain showers arrive tomorrow 49 back near 50 friday and saturday, sunday looks interesting question marks could be a coastal storm if that were to develop gain if it does develop it could bring us

a wintery mix during the day sunday highs only upper 30s. that is weather, let's do traffic julie wright has your latest. >> i am going to stand out there with a big fan and blow that storm the other way. >> you are. >> that is what i am going to do. >> i want pictures and i will tweet it. >> yeah, you are going the tweet it i will let you know how it works come monday. >> on the roads, lanes open travelling across the american legion bridge, volume increasing as you work your way across the bridge back towards tie sens, northbound i-97, we have accident activity follow police direction in order to get by no problems, southbound 95, down towards the belt way lanes open 39 a remains congested slow coming across the 14th street bridge, lanes coming across the belt way a 25 minute commute leaving springfield, towards 66 outer loop of the belt way we low speed, leaving new hampshire avenue headed in towards silver springs. a new report says americans

are having more plastic surgery procedures the reason may come as a bit of a surprise. dr. joseph michaels a board certified plastic surgeon, in bethesda, good to see you again. >> thank you. >> so the relatively new data, it comes out and shows more of us are getting procedures done can you give us the big picture? what is going on. >> for the second year in a row according to american society of plastic surgeon, that the trend is that there has been a 5% increase in cosmetic procedures over the last year that has been 2 years in a row. >> very interesting reason why we have been teasing this you might think it is for vanity sake but it is mainly because folks are they want to look good at work maybe they are getting back into the work force or what have you they want to look good at the job. >> exactly we are seeing two main reasons there is definitely some improvement in the economy and patients are

having better -- improved disposable income they are spending that money but another reason is that the work force is getting older people are staying in the work force longer and they are also going back into the work force and want to look younger be morcome pet tiff. looking younger hell -- competitive, looking younger helps with job security. >> you passed along the top 5, breast augmentation, nose reshaping, lipo suction, eyelid surgery, and facelift of course and also the top 5 minimally invasive procedures people are doing, the botox, soft tissue fillers, chemical peels, laser hair removal and then micro dermabrasion this is just to brighten up your appearance. >> exactly the more minimally invasive procedures, botox, facial fillers are driving this increase these are mainly

because there is low -- the cost is better, there is very little down time and that is important for patients especially in the work force they can't take time off from work and you know these are the real factors now driving those procedures. >> let me ask you on the other side of this you were talking about people looking their best, still working longer what about the other side responsibility i would imagine from board certified plastic surgeons when you see someone coming in too young how does that play out are we seeing that too. >> we are seeing young patients again plastic surgery is a personal decision and it really has to be done for the right reasons and when we see a patient in our office in my office we want to make sure they have good realistic goals and expectations and they are coming in for the right reason patients should be doing plastic surgery for themselves not to impress other people or for other secondary reasons, and so, one of the things i do

in my practice we want to make sure they have good goals and expectations i can deliver what they want and some times you have to turn some patients away. >> let me ask in the minute we have left if you are out there looking and saying i have been thinking about doing this, what are questions you need to ask your doctor i would imagine are you definitely trained in this specific field pass along more tips. >> the best thing to do is the patient should do their homework they should know about the procedure, have questions to ask they should have a good working relationship with that factor want to know how many of those procedures they have performed, are they a board certified plastic surgeon, before and after question and really make that patient feel comfortable they can deliver the goals they are expecting. >> is this the kind of thing

you want to shop around but can we do comparative shopping? is there standard prices those folks out there should know and go in expecting to pay. >> i think there is a market price but different doctors do vary, i think if a price from a physician is well below what you have seen from other doctors you may really want to look into that doctor's background and make sure that there are board certified plastic surgeon and again you know the consumers really need to do their homework. >> dr. joseph michaels with monarch aesthetic and reconstructive plastic surgery bethesda. >> thanks for having me. >> tony over to you. on this wednesday morning, more than two years have passed, since the deadly red line crash it appears metro is getting ready to admit liability more on that when we come back then in our next half hour we are celebrating black history month with a look at the new slavery at thomas jefferson's monticello exhibit that is at the american history

museum stay with us we will have more it is 8:22 a.m. 

>> metro is expected to admit liability in that deadly red line crash in 2009 according to the washington examiner, metro

and three exempt companies have settled 7 of the 9 death cases many of the dozens of injury cases have also been settled transit agency and companies just filed court documents this week basically those tell the court that they will quote stipulate liability at the trials of the four remaining cases to avoid significant risk and cost. there are more speed cameras in our area the latest ones are in prince georges county almost two dozen have been activated at new locations adding to the speed cameras already in the county, officials plan to have 72 working by next year they are to 8:00 p.m. monday through friday. it is now 8:26 a.m. wednesday morning if you are just waking up stay tuned we have an update on today's top stories. >> then you will learn some tricks of the trade when it comes to dealing with customer service agents, our consumer guru joins us to share some of his secrets to help you get what you want imagine that.

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a couple tickets away from 8:30 a.m., 44 degrees out there on a wednesday morning dc councilmember marion barry asking the council chair to look into the behaviour of david catania after they reportedly got into a shouting match laced are profanity yesterday during a council retreat on valentines day. no less. in an interview after the argument, mr. barry said mr. catania, harbours disrespect for black men, catania strongly refuted that we will check with council chair kwame brown in our next hour. >> how would you like to keep more money in your wallet who wouldn't lawmakers on capital hill can extend the payroll tax cut. republican leaders say that can agree to extend it for the rest

of the year without finding a way to pay for it. it means you will keep $20 extra a week if you make $50,000 a year. >> when president obama began talking about the payroll tax cut yesterday, he started by telling the men in the audience that it was valentines day he says he speaks from experience, he did not elaborate, he did not remember one year he did not forget this time around he took the first lady to vermilion restaurant old town alexandria no word what they ate i am sure we will find out later. >> probably yeah. >> i think we have said this before i love that they get out and go to different restaurants that is good. >> yeah. >> good for them and the whole community. >> good for the local economy. >> for sure. >> now i want to try it. >> because you figure they are going to the best places. >> some body vetted it, it is the best place so yeah. >> you got it. >> weather going to be co- operating all day, mid-50s,

lots of sunshine yesterday we had a couple hours of sunshine but today, i think bright sunshine most of the day good looking wednesday forecast here and we are off to a relatively mild start, take a look temperatures mid-40s. 44 washington 44 annapolis, 39 hagerstown, 43 for you manassas. most of the area here was above freezing overnight. temperatures generally falling back mid-30s during the overnight hours let's do the satellite radar and i will get out of your way few clouds to start your morning those should generally dissipate or push off north and east and bright sunshine, as high pressure builds on through later today off to the west, st. louis, rain showers developing this will be our weather forecast, in our weather forecast tomorrow as the clouds will increase and we will have a period of rain around here, starting tomorrow afternoon right through tomorrow evenings rush hour. breezy, winds out of the north and west later this afternoon gusting to 15 miles per hour, behind that area of low

pressure, yesterday, there is your forecast tomorrow clouds tonight, showers arrive during thursday and stick around through thursday evening, more nice weather sunshine 54 your daytime high rain showers tomorrow 49, showers great, saturday not bad. we could have a coastal storm, if that would materialize temperatures upper 30s could have a wintery mix sunday. tony and allison back to you. >> all right tucker thank you very much. maybe you have been there before in the middle of a bat well a customer service agent on the telephone. bush -- battle with a customer service agent on the telephone. before you know it has become an all out war. >> there is a way to getting what you want. >> steve joins us now with the tricks customer service operator, won't tell you, good morning steve now you say, this all starts with an apology. >> yeah, believe it or not tony

it really does by the time you get to that customer service agent on the phone you are likely so irate and out of control, that my suggestion is start with an apology hey, i know my anger is misdirected at you, i am hoping you can help me out or point me in the right direction these folks deal with andre customers all day every day -- angry customers all day every day, be that polite guy, be brief ask for a specific remedy if you don't tell them what you want they can't read your mind you will will likely not be satisfied unless you let them know what you are looking for now there is one exception to the be polite rule it is real interesting some of these automated computer services we deal with on the phone are programmed to detect an increase in the volume of your voice or detect anger in your tone and that will actually get you transferred to a live operator, even faster in some cases. >> interesting.

>> i think that has worked with me before. >> really. >> all right steve they say strength in numbers how can social media help you make your case. >> you know, the old adage goes a satisfied customer tells 3 friends dissatisfied customer tells 300 now it is more like 3,000, 3 million, take your complaints to the internet to twitter facebook, yelp, a lot of companies actually now have specific employees who are social media, consultants, it is their job to gub the internet and look for complaints -- scrub the internet and look for complaints about a company and address them at the highest level before they become some viral pr nightmare a lot of times their companies will take their best people and put them in these position used to be you would have to seek out information about a company but these days, with social media, information including

complaints are delivered directly to you they want to make sure there is as little bad pr about them as possible on the internet. >> you next tip is about timing if you are waiting until you need service you may have waited too long. yeah, a lot of people don't think this one through here i am in the process of buying a new television i have said buy out of state, free shipping no tax i found this offer on the internet i think might be too good to be true it is a company i have never done business with before i am leery about it i have contacted them to say hey, i am thinking about becoming a customer of yours but a little unsure i see some bad reviews on the internet who can i talk to. so what i am doing is establishing a contact at the management level of customer service i now have an e-mail and a direct dial phone number to one specific customer service agent, who i know is able and authorized to resolve any problems, so now if i

decide i want to become a customer and if there is a problem in future i know precisely who i can call to get that problem resolved so i am not going to be one of those customers lost in a tone tree with a tv that -- phone tree with a tv that doesn't work. >> good thought. >> thanks steve let us know what tv you buy. >> yep. it is 8:37 a.m., coming up next meet america's new top dog. >> best in show in westminster and first of his breed to win in 22 years, you don't want to miss what he looks like stay with us 8:37 a.m. hey guys, b!

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back now with word 18 dogs rescued from a horders home will soon be up for adoption at the washington animal rescue league they just got them from mississippi. >> two of them one laying down next to them. >> sure do. >> another two or three weeks before they are up for adoption. so next step is getting these guys some enrichment, medical care, cleaned up a lot of them have diseases we have to take care of and then we get them to our trainers and start

working with them to bring out the dog that is in them that is key. >> the doctor says it is hard to know when they will be ready for a home they were rescued in december. it was an exciting night madson square garden westminster kennel club dog show handed out its most prestigious award best in show. >> which dogs took home the top prize. >> best in show at the 136th annual westminster kennel club, america's dog show is the pekinese. >> there you have it malichai was the big winter 4-year-old won his 115th overall best in show title he beat out a handful of other breeds like dalmation you see there, the german shepherd and the irish setter it is the first time in 22 year as pekinese has taken home the most coveted award it

may also say we had storming norman the 11-year-old dog on the other day the pitt i think washington humane society, it was just on on monday adopted. >> oh,. >> yeah. >> so good for you norman. old dogs do get a second chance at a new life. >> that is great. >> 8:42 a.m. the sequel to the film ghost rider is due out this weekend. >> actor nick lace cage returning to the role for a second time he spoke with kevin mccarthy about that project we will share that one on one interview coming up annie good morning. >> good morning allison and tony there are a few interactive things here at the exhibit, such as at the nailery young men who worked here had to swing their hammer as many as 20,000 times a day to make 10 pounds of nails right here, your kids can get a feel for how heavy a 10-pound bucket is full of nails and these are just one of the things you can experience when you come out

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two women using valentines day to bring the gay marriage debate to the forefront in virginia. care venn barb applied for a marriage license yesterday, the two retired naval officers have been in a committed relationship for 26 years and don't want to go to the district or new york to get married. >> we aren't going the leave our home it makes sense to stay here and to ask for equal rights just like everybody else gets for their partner and still be a part of this community we love and have lived in a long time. >> we are faithful in paying our taxes to fairfax county, virginia, united states government. >> we want to say in virginia. voters in the common wealth approved a constitutional amendment that does prohibit same sex unions in 2006. the house of delegates

expected to take up a bill to legalize gay marriage in maryland. it moved to the full chamber with support of one republican. governor oh ma'am lee say republican -- o'malley say republican votes could be important to get it signed into law. if you have a smart phone or know someone with one you have probably heard of words with friends. >> it is a very popular past time for many folks for one couple it will always hold a special place in their hearts, matt hudson and his girlfriend you see that good looking couple there, play the game constantly with each other and matt wants to incorporate it into his proposal so he did. he played by himself until getting this screen he then took a screen shot, when it was time to propose he asked his girlfriend to play a round when his turn came he pulled up a

scene shot and she saw the words marry me she said yes. >> it was just a matter of time before that would happen. >> we have been telling you about this all morning slavery at thomas jefferson's monticello a new exhibit at the american history museum. >> annie yu is getting an up close look at some of the objects in the collection now she joins us from the museum i am so envious annie good morning. >> reporter: allison, you have to come down here i know you are a big history buff you are going to love it and need a good few hours because you are just spending, you know this is an intimate space but there is so much to see over 200 artifacts you will see personal belongings of thomas jefferson but also from the enslaved, and joining me now is dr. rex ellis our personal guide for the morning, one thing you notice when you walk in is the wall of enslaved can you talk about this wall and what we are looking at. >> one thing we are trying to communicate here is that in order to see jefferson and see

him clearly, you have to also see him from the perspective of the enslaved community so you see the statue here behind it are the names we know the names over 600 names of those who were a part of his enslaved community and in some instances all we do know are the names and so what we wanted to do was privilege not only the community, and the people who existed and who were a part of that community but talk about it in reference to how it helps us understand jefferson the man, jefferson the slave owner, jefferson the patriot, jefferson the variety of roles he played it is very important this wall of remembrance is a testament to them as well as to helping us to really see and understand who jefferson was. >> right one thing you wanted the point out, was the difference of using the word enslaved and slave. can you talk about that. >> slave represents what we

think is sort of an impersonal way of saying these are people, individuals involved in a system and that system was slavery but they were enslaved people who were a part of that so we think it honors them it honors the sort of role that they had to take and it in some way penalizes it that is why we add not only enslaved community at monticello, because it is a specific community that had a three dimensional life that in some way we want people to understand and get to know whenever possible we try to make sure that we mention the names, of george or the names of joseph or the names of editor the names of fanny -- edith or the names of fanny so we penalize those involved in a system rather than slaves themselves. >> i am glad you clarified that. >> another thing you noticed is this desk here which belonged

to thomas jefferson. >> we are looking at the portable desk that jefferson actually drafted the declaration of independence on, sort of 18th century lap desk if you will, but it is something that allows us to see the very real documents and how those documents manifested themselves during the period here is also i wanted to talk about george marlin a british painter during the period of abolition which took place after the american revolution into the end of the 18th century there were a great number of people in america as well as great britain who were very passionate about helping to involve themselves in the anti slavery movement and he was one of those, this is a picture that depicts slaves family that has been in some way separated and what is

happening there. and so it was these kinds of paintings that allowed people from not only great britain, but from british north america, to realize the evils of slavery there were many many who lended their aid in terms of monetary aid as well as their political clout to ending the institutional slavery. >> there is so much to see here and i would love to spend hours with you i mean you are just a wealth of knowledge but you know if you want to come out here here is what you need to know log on to our website myfoxdc.com this exhibit is going on now until october 14th it is free of course and open every day from 10 to 5:30 p.m. and the best way to come down here is by taking the orange and blue line metro the stop is smithsonian back to you in studio. >> thanks annie. >> well, he is known for embracing a wide variety of roles from comedy to action to drama now nicklas cage is reprising his ghost rider role in a sequel that opens friday.

>> kevin mccarthy asked about returning to the role for a second time cage says he found new levels to explore in the characters. >> avengeance because it is another incarnation of john blaze and ghost rider that gave me a chance to thing about where i wanted to go with the characters. and it is clearer that he has a different state of mind because he has been living with the curse over 8 years it made him sarcastic ironic, cynical his sense of humour is not unlike a cop or paramedic who develops a dark humour to cope with the horrors he has seen. >> the time around you play john and you also play ghost rider last time you didn't do that. >> correct. >> talk about what it looked like when you were shooting these sequences like what was the make up like your eyes were blacked out >> i said to brian taylor off the bat when he asked he in new orleans would you do the ghost

rider as well i said yes but can i wear a mask i felt if i painted my face in some way to look like a skull or voodoo icon, and black out my eyes it would instill an aura around me that would put fear in my co- stars or directors or crew that i would see and then that would you know like oxygen to a forest fire would make me believe i was the characters so that helped me stay honest with it so i didn't feel ridiculous or absurd and then i would try to present a kind of movement that would be like a bad dream, i wanted to be not fully something you could understand, i wanted you to be aware that you were in the presence of some entity from another dimension i had to kind of rethink how i would move and the aura i would have >> i like when you play dualing characterses almost

like face off where you are playing two extreme characters. >> yeah. >> looking back at your other films if you could have had another dualing characters to bounce off one of your others what would have benefited? >> i think if you look at leaving las vegas there would be something interesting about seeing ben sander son before he started drinking hanging out with ben sanderson drinking. that would have been an interesting relationship. >> all right. >> nick cage looks good. >> healthy. >> yep. >> coming up next hour, dc council chair kwame brown joins us live to talk about the heated argument yesterday between two council members it comes as council continues to struggle with reforming itself. >> local r&b arties, frank serious sings for us ahead of his show tonight. we will be right back 

right now at 9, congress could approve to extend the payroll tax cut by friday our stacey cohappen is live with an -- cohan is live with an update. >> two city council members caught in a heated debate. we will chat live with kwame brown. whitney houston's friends say the star talked about her time coming to an end just days before her death, a live update from los angeles. a little later this hour local r&b singer frank serious joins us to talk about his new album which drops in a few weeks and will perform for us he will be at blues alley tonight. we will talk to him in a little while. >> meantime let's talk with tucker barnes in the weather center with a look at this wednesday weather. >> something else to look forward to nice weather a lot of sunshine em

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