situation in afghanistan is getting more intense and tense by the minutes, this morning the first signs of retaliation in response to a shooting spree allegedly at the hands of an american soldier what the white house is doing to ease tensions. >> 110 delegates at stake while mitt romney looks to cement his status. >> more proof the district's efforts to fight street crime is paying off. fox 5 morning news at 7 starts rite now there is a live lookout side at what is a beautiful start to the morning clouds, rain showers, it is quite mild this is tuesday march 13th,

2012 good morning everybody i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour and very excited about the warm temperatures gwen is standing by she has news how long we are going to have to have an umbrella in our back pocket. things are improving let's look at our maps. wet weather in some areas moving its way out of the region in the next hour or so we will start to see a little bit of sunshine 58 degrees national airport, humidity 78%, elsewhere temperature wise we are ranging into the upper 50s and low 60s across the board for today we will see sunny breaks but that will heat up the atmosphere and create instability. a chance of storms this afternoon our high 76 degrees let's check with traffic. checking out that ride northbound 95, as you head northbound, you will find delays if you work your way

northbound coming across the occoquan, leaving wood bridge no problems newington headed out towards the springfield interchange. route 1 difficult because of accident at occoquan, south of father hurly boulevard toward mva. all right thank you we begin our check of the headlines with breaking news look at this live picture a 737 jet liner rolled off the taxi way this morning at the world's busiest airport, hart field jackson international airport atlanta, these are live pictures as i said you can see the jet is tilted on the embankment with one wing sticking up in the air we understand mechanics were testing engines on the delta jet 5:00 a.m. this morning when they experienced a problem with the brakes the plane rolled off the taxi way and sustained significant damage no passengers were onboard no one

is hurt airport operations are continuing as normal. allison. primary day in the deep south voters will also have a say in hawaii the first of its kind gop caucuses will be held on the hawaiian island the candidates are battling conservatives, which will be key especially for mitt romney. >> reporter: good morning allison, two key southern states vote today it has been opportunity for mitt romney to prove he can pick up conservative voters but equally important for newt gingrich. republican voters in mississippi to alabama have their say as republican presidential candidates battle it out for 90 more delegates >> i got it right this morning with biscuitcheesy grits. >> reporter: mitt romney trying

to appeal to voters. >> santorum is not someone who is an economic conservative i am a conservative. >> reporter: romney has yet to pull off a southern win but alabama and mississippi could prove crucial to remaining viable in the race. >> it is very very close we think we have a good chance to win both states in terms of the nomination the biggest story tomorrow night will be simple governor romney will get one out of every three delegates he will fall short. >> reporter: gingrich claims he will stay in the race. >> if they want to elect a con is vair tiff for sure they can -- conservative for sure they can do that lining up behind us. >> reporter: the candidates are focussing on another southern

bell weather contest louisiana. >> nicole thank you. victory for latino voters in texas the obama administration has blocked a new law that would have required all voters in that state to be able to present a photo id before voting as of july nearly 11% of latinos in texas didn't have proper identification. the justice department said texas failed to demonstrate how it would not infringe on their voting rights. david cameron and his wife will get the royal treatment at the white house over the next three days the first thing the president will do is take cameron to the first final four ncaa basketball game in ohio tonight. we are following developments in afghanistan where taliban fighters opened fire on a delegation from the

afghanistan government to one of the villages where an american soldier killed afghanistans allegedly. >> the delegation was talking with the families when the shooting started will thomas is live in the newsroom with more good morning will. >> good morning to you the fall out from the killings of 16 innocent afghan civilians continues we are talking about women and children here it is just unthinkable the white house is vowing to stay the course keeping a close eye on possible retaliatory attacks. >> reaction from president obama on the shooting spree allegedly carried out by an american soldier in afghanistan. >> obviously what happened this weekend was tragic and heart breaking but when you look at what hundreds of thousands of our military personnel have achieved under enormous strain you can't help but be proud generally. >> reporter: senseless killings

once again raised concerns about pulling our troops out. some nato forces are obligated to stay through 2014 as a result the war strategy there remains intact. >> united states is committed to seeing afghanistan continue its move toward a stable, secure, prosperous, democratic state. >> while the white house vows to stay the course some suggest withdrawing our troops early is still a possibility. >> if we see more incidents because of the shooting that could make everyone look at their watches and say we got to move the timeline up even faster and figure out a way to get out. >> reporter: the soldier suspected in the attacks is in u.s. custody in afghanistan despite calls for him to be put on public trial in afghan court he is subject only to american

military justice. defense secretary says he could face the death penalty. will thomas allison back to you. >> thank you very much. now for a check of other top stories three different calls tipped police off to alexandre song's online threat to shoot up the university of maryland campus. his ip address was identified sunday morning a warrant will be issued when he is released from a 72 hour hold for psychiatric evaluation. >> defense is expected to rest in a wrongful death lawsuit against virginia tech. two victims familys from the 2007 massacre claim the school didn't do enough to keep students safe yesterday officers testified they believe the initial violence was an isolated domestic incident a panel of seven jurors two alternates will decide whether the university waited too long to issue a campus alert. in the district police are cracking down on thieves

stealing cell phones and other electronics, they are also targeting businesses that have been selling the stolen items. melanie alnwick live from police headquarters good morning. >> reporter: good morning tony, as we have been talking earlier this year robberies in dc for personal electronics were up more than double, more than 600 robberies since the beginning to have year now dc police are not only going after the thieves but the profit making businesses that are reselling those electronics arresting more than 16 people in its latest sting operation city officials displayed some stolen items they received yesterday, in a sweep of 12 businesses in dc and one in arlington virginia, cell phones ipads game consoles including and also drugs as well including marijuana and k 2 spice police have been using traditional and under cover decoys to focus on

these robberies which as we said doubled for the first month of the year. every time i pass a narcotics special investigation division and detective bureau to be creative they come up with ways to be just as creative as the criminals in this case to turn this around with this type of success as quickly as they did, i would say, to the criminals and the business owners buyer beware we have some pretty sharp people working this case. >> reporter: metropolitan police department is working on setting up an online site where people can go and check out these items to see if it belongs to them one thing police say tony it is important for people to make sure that they record the serial number of their electronics somewhere keep a recreant or put on any unique -- receipt or put on any unique stickers or mark on these devices all three of these will make sure that property they believe is theirs is really theirs. >> thank you very much.

7:10 a.m., 58 degrees on a tuesday morning still ahead a heads up for belt way drivers in northern virginia what you need to know starting tonight. >> strange story a certain brand of laundry detergent appears to be a popular target of thieves not just here but a nationwide trend what police are doing to keep tide off the black market. plus set backs for the red skins just as free agency kicks off. why they are being docked millions in salary cap space. >> as we head to break here is a live lookout side you are looking at 270, traffic problems there, julie wright will be here with the latest on your rush hour and gwen is here with weather when we returns the 7:11 a.m. 

7:14 a.m. an unofficial truce in israel making head leans the cease fire comes after four days of tit for tat air strikes. 24 palestinians have died but a peace plan by egypt seems to be holding this morning. in a manhattan courtroom today a muslim convert is set to be arraigned on rare state level terror charges, jose is accused of building a pipe bomb in new york city to try to attack police, soldierother government targets he was arrested back in november and last week a grand jury indited him on charges including weapons possession and conspiracy of terror crimes his defense team says police over reacted and used a self-serving informant to go after a down on his luck loaner. it is sure to be a big day

in nfl free agency begins at 4:00 p.m. this afternoon red skins have already made a couple moves they have cut mike sellers and safety atagwe freeing up money which is a good thing after league sources said red skins will lose $36 million in cap space over the next two years because they front loaded contracts during the uncapped 2010 season. >> does that effect our chances of get hog we want to get? >> i think we have to balance the numbers out no, it should note felt getting rg 3 may effect other things. >> all right hello gwen. >> how you doing. >> excited. >> did you have to get your windshield wipers going this morning? >> just a little bit. >> pretty much the story for everyone. some neighbors to the south are dealing with rainfall some areas it is a little heavier than others let's look at our maps then and show you what is

happening it will all be out of the way, in just a little while things will definitely improve. here is a look at sentinel radar for you, you can see most of it is now moving its way quickly over parts of maryland, southern maryland and dell marva in the next few hours you should see a better clearing trend with this. we will have sunny breaks of course 57 degrees at regan national 59 dulles 50 degrees at marshall airport in baltimore, 55 manassas, gaithersburg 57 martins burg 58 mild start to your morning. frontal system heading through this afternoon and once we get a little bit of sunshine today, with that front coming through that will create a little instability and that will set us up later this afternoon into this evening for a round of thunderstorms isolated and scattered in nature our high today will be 76 degrees your

overnight low 54 and overnight hours we will get a clearing trend and then head back to where we want to be. you have a little time between all the departing showers and thunderstorms to get out and enjoy that high of 76 degrees >> i am super excited i am containing my emotions. >> i will hold you down. >> super excited. >> let's go to julie wright find out what is happening on area roadways. >> all right you guys on the roads northbound 395, v dot moving the camera around accident activity, glieb road cleared over to the shoulder lanes are open again very slow moving as you travel north of shillington accident activity cleared, annandale up to braddock road 23 miles an hour outer loop of the belt way slowing, 95, lanes open that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> we have an alert for drivers on the belt way, there will be lane closures, at the

springfield mixing bowl in virginia, starting tonight this will be from 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 a.m. -- 9:00 p.m. until 5:00 a.m. drivers will have to detour on to 395 and use edsil to continue towards tyson's corner. on friday, the closure will also begin 9:00 p.m. but run two hours longer until 7 saturday morning, plan for delays up to 20 minutes all part of the hot lanes project. maryland house will release an alternative budget proposal today, last week senate and taxation budget committee approved changes to governor o'malley's plan. it would change income taxes and split teacher pension costs with local government over 4 years. senate will take up the bill later this week then the houses turn to consider modification. >> a bill to ban smoking in cars with passengers under 8

years old has preliminary approval from senators in maryland proponents say while second hand smoke effects children of all ages limiting the ban to 8 will make the law easier to enforce children under 8 years old are easier to spot because they are required to sit in car seats stay tuned to fox 5 we will talk more about this at 9:00 a.m. today with the state senator who sponsored this bill. there is an unusual crime wave in our area and around the country police are cracking down on laundry detergent thieves total care liquid tide is flying off the shelves especially the bigger sizes that are 100 to 150-ounce jugs those can retail up to $20 then be sold on the black market for 5 or $10, police say there have been arrests in prince georges county american cleaning institute that represents retailers is concerned about any kind of theft but has reservations about making it more difficult to get access to

their products. >> it is a concern if retailers try to restrict or make it difficult to buy these products we understand retailers need to take measures to minimize retail theft it is a challenge though, making sure consumers still have easy access to these products. >> in case you are wondering we are talking about one specific brand and one specific type total care liquid tide the situation is so bad some retailers like cvs are putting it behind the counter or locking it up what is that about? >> i get it i don't want to endorse any brand but really, when you think of the best laundry detergent when i buy tide it is a little bit of a treat. >> it is that expensive. >> it is yeah, so i don't endorse that at all but it is a good product. >> okay. it is 7:21 a.m. are you currently laid off and

looking for a job? the white house is working to make it less confusing for americans to get help interesting details coming up next. >> feels like spring but spring is still around the corner, but it is time to start thinking about how to spruce up your yard, so, our holly morris is standing by at bell nursery with this year's must have plants and coolest new spring products how pretty is all that. we will check with holly later 7:22 a.m. a.m. 

good news for people living with arthritis a panel of fda experts recommended the federal government allow continued testing of experimental pain drugs to treat the joint disorder reports of bone decay and joint failure led to the agency halting studies of drugs two years ago but arthritis experts say research should continue but with certain safety precautions to protect

patients. >> short term interest rates are expected to remain at a record low level for at least another two years experts believe the federal reserve will not take any action during the day's policy meeting since the fed met last month employers hired more than a half million people and the unemployment rate has dropped. >> obama administration wants to make it easier for displaced workers to find new careers plan is in the works to combine two existing programs that help workers laid off through no fault of their own as a result of downsizing jobs moving overseas, it would offer money for retraining and relocation and stipends to help with child care and transportation costs. most items would need congressional approval it would trip it will number of workers who get retraining from 150,000 to nearly half a million people. it is now 7:26 a.m. on tuesday morning the circus is coming to town where you can

catch a sneak peek or sneak peek that is for free tonight. plus a brand new website hours old making it easier to keep tabs on your lawmakers. we are going to talk to the editor of congress.org next. as we head to break we have a live lookout side the latest weather and traffic from gwen and julie coming up in just a moment it is 7:27 a.m. 

quite a sight still going on live pictures in atlanta, we are giving you another live look at the breaking news out of georgia this morning a jet rolled off the taxi way at hart field jackson international airport 5:00 a.m. this morning delta says mechanics were testing the engines on the 737 when they experienced a problem with the brakes sitting there it looks like a prop plane looks like a movie set but it rolled off the taxi way it has sustained significant damage as you might expect. good news no passengers were onboard no one was hurt the incident does not appear to be effecting take offs and landings which is also another amazing sight but i bet it will

be quite a sight out your window. >> what is going on over there? >> on a lighter note lookout for dcs pachyderm parade that's right, six elephants from the ringling brothers and barnum & bailey circus will have their annual march tonight. the parade will begin 8:00 p.m. this evening virginia and new jersey avenue southeast, the circus is at the verizon center thursday our own holly morris will be there live thursday morning. >> i love elephants. >> elephants and pandas. >> i am addicted to pandas for sure my name is gwen and i have a panda problem. seriously i am always on the internet looking at the pandas. i am concerned though this evening we have some thunderstorms they might be around at that time hopefully it doesn't interfere with this because it is a fun thing to see them walking through the city. >> i would rather go to india

and see them in the wild. >> you would? >> yeah. >> i likely i don't knows and big cats too and -- lions and big cats too and puppies. >> just an animal lover. >> and i like warm temperatures, and what nice weather we are going to have the rain has been moving through this morning some of you might have seen some of it some of you didn't get any some of you are still dealing with it a lot of friends to the south, dealing with this gradually moving its way out we have improvement into the course of the day let's look at maps you can see this is really going to push its way out temperature right now 57 degrees officially national airport the winds have picked up southerly wind flow 12 miles an that southerly wind will boost temperatures today 59 dulles, 59 fredericksburg, 55 degrees leonard town, 59 hagerstown. 58 martins burg what we are dealing with is a couple components we have warm southerly air pushing its way

up the eastern sea board a lot of moisture making it on the humid side then this frontal system that will head through this afternoon in the break between the showers we are getting this morning that started to wane off and thunderstorms expected this afternoon we will get sunshine in that window daytime heating will add to instability as this frontal system moves through and that will set us up for a few isolated scattered thunderstorms behind it all a nice ridge of high pressure builds in, back with sunshine and warm conditions sticking around for today a high of 76 degrees chance of afternoon storms, we heat up to 77 on your wednesday with no shortage of sunshine same thing thursday, bright day at 76, a few showers in the forecast for friday and saturday temperatures drop a little into the low 70s but who is complaining we are doing very well with temperatures overnight lows will be into the 50s keep your eyes to the sky this afternoon and into this evening we will see a clearing trend in the overnight hours

but once again expecting some storms by the afternoon hours let's check with julie to see how commuters are holding up. >> a couple problems gwen travelling around town you will find the inner loop of the belt way well below speed braddock headed out the to 66 average speed down to 23 miles aen hour. leaving the belt way, toward glib road accident activity tieing up the right lane. headed in towards southeast washington, 28 miles an hour westbound headed toward the freeway 8th street accident activity reported there d dot enroute to the scene that is keeping you on the brakes as you travel northbound 295 across the inbound 11th street bridge expect delays inbound route 50, northeast traffic flowing 395, still below speed past glieb road with that earlier incident cleared. julie thank you well, do you want to find out where your member of congress stands on immigration, birth control or

any other hot button issue, and do you want to let him or her know exactly how you feel about their position? that all just got easiesier, joining us this morning the editor of congress.org which relaunches today, good morning good to see you. >> thanks for having me. >> tell me about this whole effort and that i did not misspeak when i said relaunching this is not new. >> we have had this website for a couple years we are adding more news and information to it from some of our other products. cq roll call usually writes news for those who need to know it for a living we have product that is are subscription based and a number of reporters on the hill the most on capital hill of any news organization but the general public, grass roots audience doesn't always see our stuff this is just a place we are going to put some of that stuff out there to help you understand what is going on on the hill we also have tools on there if you would like

after you read one of our storys to write your member of congress and let them know what you think, we make it easy to find out who your members are and send them an e-mail on the website. >> this is more for just every day joe citizen to find out who first of all where to go where they stand when you go to the website which we are showing you now will you find out about like we said in the introduction where does this congressman stand on say immigration. >> mm-hmm. >> abortion would you find that out. >> we will give you information what issues are coming up, which lawmakers are taking a strong stand on them, and what bills might be voted on next we have a free weekly e-mail called mega vote tells you how your members of congress voted last week on the major issues of the week. which, we have a lot of people really like that because it is really hard to know, which votes counted which votes mattered, even on the health care bill a couple years ago there were dozens and dozens of

votes only one of them really mattered. >> here is my question i don't know if you know the answer to it yet, how does congress feel about it? >> well, congress -- members of congress have mixed opinions they like to hear from constituents, they can't afford polls you know all the time, and it is one way of gauging what people in their district or state think about things is volume of mail they get at the same time e-mail made it so easy for people to contact congress they get millions of e- mails up there a lot of time what they really are doing is looking at simply counting numbers is this for or against something then they count them if it backs up their opinion, they read it more closely and try to find someone we have had people who sent letters to congress and they have the letter read out loud on the floor of the senate or house but that is a little more rare but they do pay attention to what people are telling them. >> the system does work how we used to see it in the movies when we were young. >> because our software and

that congress uses allows you to write only your member of congress they don't care what other people in another state or district think they value knowing you live in their area you can vote for them this is what you thing about the issues. >> do you have a sense of what might be searched more especially in this time, this election cycle, do you have any idea about what people are looking to find out from congress? >> we saw things like the stop internet piracy act that got a lot of attention, boy in a matter of a week that went from not being something people were looking at on the website to being just the number one thing people were searching for. so these grass roots efforts tend to come out of nowhere and catch even members of congress by surprise so we will be looking at those things to see what people are searching for if there is something they want to know more about we will put more of that information out there. >> simply congress.org. >> great easy to remember. >> when we go on we should be

able to find everything subscription do we have to do that. >> no, everything is free look at the website any time you want we have a weekly e-mail news letter and mega vote news letter, all easy to find on the website. >> love it, the editor of the brand newly relaunched congress.org thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> tony over to you. >> thank you very much. 7:39 a.m., still ahead disturbing hazing allegations at an ivy league school putting the issue back in the spotlight. emotional welcome home for a fallen soldier from our area how he is being remembered we have that coming up next. ♪

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making headlines, 7:42 a.m. a marine pilot honored as a hero in his hometown. captain michael quinn killed in a helicopter crash in arizona last month yesterday a long procession of police, firefighters, and supporters escorted him to virginia one last time he was a 28-year-old

marine captain he had been scheduled to be deployed to afghanistan in the coming weeks. shocking list of hazing allegations at dart mouth college new hampshire some details of the story are a little disturbing and upsetting fraternity pledges were allegedly forced to swim in a children's pool of vomit and rotten food and then chug cups of vinegar a former fraternity brother wrote a column in the school newspaper, describes his experience more than 100 faculty have called on the school to set up an independent commission to address the issue. >> first lady michelle obama will be at university with the wife of prime minister cameron. mrs. obama is gearing up for a trip to london for the upcoming 2012 games she will lead the official u.s. delegation at the opening ceremonies this summer. 7:43 a.m., gwen is back

with us this morning for the vacationing tucker barnes, it will be a decent day. >> it is you know we had a bit of rain this morning but we are going to salvage a good part of the day for everybody with a little bit of sunshine before we get back into a little bit more wet weather. it is not all bad temperatures are up as well that is a good thing here is a look at sentinel live fox radar, you can see so much improvement from the last hour as far as wet weather is concerned now continuing to move east, just a little bit too, as well across areas to the south near christ church, moving across the bay but things are getting better and we do have sunshine later 57 degrees national, 59 dulles, 60 degrees at bwi marshall, and elsewhere, temperatures are ranging from the upper 50s to low 60s everywhere, we've got 64 quantico already, 57 gaithersburg, 59 hagerstown winds are calm but start to pick up just a little bit here

and there i anticipate winds picking up 10 to 15 miles per hour but they are coming from the south that is helping boost our temperatures it will be a warm day temperatures heading into the low to mid-70s, now we have a frontal system coming through, and once we get into some daytime heating and sunshine with that cold front coming through we will end up in a unstable atmosphere as a result we have chance of seeing thunderstorms isolated scattered in nature, also along the i-95 corridor, gusty winds area east of that, including dc but also could see a little bit of hail depending how strong they get definitely keep an eye out, if you are heading any where later on this evening they will stick around until most of tonight hours, except overnight will get a clearing trend. looking forward to the day thank you. >> julie wright with more for you on this mornings rush hour traffic. i thought you were going to say more weather it doesn't get much better than that.

>> no, i know you are loving it. >> i am on the roads you will find lanes are open top side of the belt way definitely a slow go as you work 95 college park past university boulevard around toward coalsville road, southbound 95, ramp to outer loop, inbound 50, nice ride travelling in from annapolis, river dale headed in, you will find lanes are open as you continue to work your way out, coming in off canal road chain bridge trouble spots to report, arizona avenue, you will find 66 inbound belt way still in a good speed as you travel across the tr bridge, now 395, crossing the potomac heavy and steady as you travel from the belt way. that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. more commuter news now. d dot is installing 1100 parking meters reserved for handicapped drivers 400 red topped meters were installed but advocates complain there

wasn't enough to meet demand handicapped drivers used to park free but the city changed its policy because a number of drivers were using fake or expired handicapped plaque cards to avoid paying for parking. time to start getting excited for spring holly morris is helping us out. >> she is live at bell nursery burtonsville maryland good morning. >> we are here because they know flowers in fact, my first planting spring tip of the day, is pansies now injury rain yums later how about that, we are learning that and more, we are indeed learning how to spruce up your home just in time for spring all live next fox 5 morning news, stay with us, good news you can use [ female announcer ] introducing coffee-mate natural bliss.

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samuel is hoping president barack obama is watching the show this morning first of all if you are, good morning mr. president but samuel wants to know, so he can request to take a real photo with the president so he doesn't have to use this photo shopped one if you look closely you can see him in the frame there, find us on facebook searching, fox 5 morning news and post a comment under that photo. >> would you photo shop a picture of yourself standing next to the president rather than -- >> that makes it more realistic what he is doing. >> okay. >> we have another fan of the day today special one, sarah, if you look forward to our fan of the day you have her to thank for it she came up with the idea sarah is our emmy award winning producer who heads up the 8:00 a.m. hour fox 5 morning news each day she came to fox 5 in 2004 and is now moving on to a new chapter in her career, we will miss her very much we thank her for the professionalism, problem solving skills and talent she brings with her each

and every day, and she is about to produce her final hour here at fox 5 morning news. >> hmm >> she will be missed. >> definitely. >> for sure. all right the warm weather this week might have you getting excited for spring. >> that is why this morning holly is at bell nursery burtonsville maryland learning about the plants that are popular this time of year. pretty. >> nothing says spring like the sunshine we have been seeing and beautiful flower which is you will see a whole lot of as we are live at bell nursery burtonville they know flowers they are the perfect people for us to check in with so you can spruce up your home for the spring season. kevin harris is one of the assistant growers, he knows everything about all these beautiful metals happy spring to you. >> you as well. >> it looks like spring in here smells like spring let's get started you have good things to talk about. >> yes, we do i know everybody is super excited, weather is great everything is wonderful look here this is all our

beautiful product we have for you find this at your local home depots. >> that's right because bell nursery provides all the flowers for home depot and the one thing i love about your flowers you try to make gardening easy, you try to make everyone be successful growers let's talk about the new varieties new things out there this year we are looking at pansies. >> yes, pansies, what you are looking at now are 10-inch hanging baskets as you can see we have some that come in just single colors, yellows, blues and if you want something with a little mix, we have mixed colors as well in our baskets. >> let's walk around the line so everyone can see the colors available when talking about pansies so i guess now is a good time to plant those. >> yes, now is a good time to plant pansies. >> not too early. >> no, they like it a little cold they are a tough plant if you put them out now, even if we get a little cold snap they should be all right. >> really so these say sun annual this is something you will plant every year full sun.

>> yes, they can take full sun. >> can they take partial? >> no, they can take a little bit of partial and full sun,. >> wow you can't not be successful. >> no, you can't very easy plant to grow. >> i love this as we go along all the different colors i am trying to make my way to the orange this is a new color. >> yes, we started growing this orange nice, bright, vibrant something you don't typically see a lot we like it it looked very nice we wanted to include it in our mix this year. >> how do you get a new color. >> when we get a new color we talk to our planned distributors they go through their sources, who genetically breed these and make new colors every year and then they preview those to us and then we trial them if we like them then we go ahead and put them in our mix. >> and then they grow. that's right. >> you talk about genetically breeding you really do make it easier for people to be gardeners i wasn't you know just embellishing when i said that tell me about these pansies here and why -- how they have been genetically

altered to make them sustain themselves. >> all right this is the new pansy this year if you look at it, it is trailing right over the basket, and you may look and say wow that looks just like a petunia, it is funny you may think that these are considered a wave pansy, so these will trail for you and look very nice in a basket. >> do you have to prune those. >> no, but if you want to and they get a little bit, -- >> i don't want to prune that is the whole point. >> fine, we will make it easy, no pruning necessary. >> i will take five baskets. we talked about geraniums you don't want to plant those now later. >> plant them later it is a little too cold for those yet wait until i warms up a bit. >> what else do we have going on here? >> perennials, weeping cherries that we have, and some heathers here. >> so these are perennials these will come back every year but now is the time to plant

them. >> yes, in the spring they will do well for you. >> you can't talk about washington and not talk azaleas. >> look how beautiful these are. go ahead and plant these now as well? >> yes we can wait until it gets maybe a little warmer, but it should be all right once it gets a little bit >> these will blossom out is it best to buy them blossomed out or buds. >> wow, you can buy them just like this better with the blossom outlooks nice and impact in the landscape. >> instant impact that is what i am always looking for in my yard we have a link to bell nursery, myfoxdc.com all their plants are available at local home depots throughout the area you heard kevin talk in terms of things you should plant later or things that work if it will get cold again how do you protect your flowers when there is a cold snap we will talk about that and talk about container gardening in our next hour. >> thank you. >> thanks holly. >> in our 8:00 a.m.

hour a popular trail montgomery county could be in for big changes prompting safety concerns sarah simmons more details about the capital present trail next hour. >> after -- crescent trail next hour. >> after 8, you may hear something that is the leading cause of injuries, is something we use every day. how to properly kid proof your home. 3 minutes before 8:00 a.m. :00 ? not yet. i want to buy used but how do you know what you're really getting. check out carmax. all their used cars are guaranteed. that's where henderson found the one for him.

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the fall out from the killing of 16 civilians in afghanistan by a u.s. soldier is growing more violent as protestors plan to burn an effigy of president obama. capital present trail is a popular -- crescent trail is a popular one for runners bikers walkers but soon all that traffic could be forced to cross busy wisconsin avenue. >> every 6 minutes a child in the u.s. is rushed to the er because of stair related

injuries. the fox medical team joins us with a look at the danger and what can be done to keep your kids safe. good morning i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour before we get to weather and traffic we are following breaking news out of the district a carjacking in the 3800 block suit land road southeast we understand a 5 month old child was in the car when it was stolen, this just happened 15 minutes ago. dc police say it was a white 2007 acura mdx suv carjacked it has oklahoma tags, the license plate number 870 byz if you see this vehicle you are asked to contact police. all right we will keep you posted on that as the story develops. gwen is here this morning with an update on today's weather forecast which is going to be very very nice. >> it is. >> for the most part. >> you are right tony we had to deal with a little bit of light rain into the course of this

morning some of you saw heavier rainfall take a look at radar, you can see, most of it is out of the way we have a batch moving across dell marva other than that it is dry just about everywhere else we have a frontal system to keep an eye on. 57 degrees national airport, winds picked up 12 miles an hour humidity 83, and here is a look at area temperatures 60 baltimore, 50 manassas, 55 winchester 55 martins burg so for today showers partly sunny. showers now pretty much ended we will see partly sunny skies with that daytime heating and the approach of a cold front we are setting ourselves up for instability to be in the area, as a result of that there is a chance of isolated scattered thunderstorms this afternoon and evening. our high will be a very nice 76 degrees, winds will be from the southwest 10 to 15 miles an hour and storms will stick around a little bit into evening hours a bit of tonight

and clearing overnight but you've got that great period of time from this morning until late this afternoon when storms start to kick in to get out and enjoy the 76-degree weather with a bit of sunshine. as tony said everything has been shaping up nicely once again keep your eyes to the sky this evening for those storms some of them could contain gusty winds and maybe some hail is possible but isolated and scattered in nature. >> just like springtime or summertime. >> we have to expect it. >> thanks gwen. >> let's head over to julie wright she has her on time traffic 8:03 a.m. >> good morning you guys, right now travelling the inner loop of the belt way leaving annandale up towards braddock 21 miles an hour lanes are open tough travel up the west side, van dooren and eisenhower, average speed 295, 19 miles an hour past malcolm x avenue, as allison reported earlier police

are investigating a carjack which can will investigate your -- carjacking which will effect your commute, a lot of police presence in this area. lanes are open 95 georgia avenue crossing over the 14th street bridge heavy slow and steady all lanes are open that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> our top story the fall out from the killing of 16 afghan civilians by u.s. soldier, is growing more violent. today an afghan soldier was killed by taliban militants who opened fire on a delegation holding a me nori can't like service for sunday's -- memorial service for sunday's victims. in the meantime hundreds of students are protesting, shouting angry slogans and carrying banners. others are holding an effigy of president barack obama they plan to burn the soldier has not been identified by the defense secretary says he could face the death penalty. military sources tell fox news he is an infan industry sniper out of -- infantry sniper out

of joint lewis mccard washington state he suffered a brain injury after a roll over but deemed fit for duty. >> this is his fourth tour of duty, three tours iraq and this one in afghanistan. joining us now to give understanding is dr. field a clinical psychologist with a background in post traumatic stress and combat fatigue thanks for coming in. >> thank you for inviting me. >> this is something you testify in courtrooms about some times i don't want to give people the wrong impression we are making excuses for what happened we don't know the identity of this soldier we don't know what may have caused this, but people are talking about it and people are trying to understand how can something like this happen. talk a little bit about what you know that might influence this type of behaviour. >> okay. there is some research done

actually in england, on the proximity of redeployments that suggest that redocuments close together in time -- redeployments close together in time lead to more marital break down more stress on the social system. so many armies, many armies not only those in nato who are part of the coalition, but armies that are part of the united nations interim forces in lebanon for example, peace keeping, try to space the deployments to give the soldiers a couple of years, more than a year certainly, at home before redeployment or in noncombat position. that is number one.

number two, many of the post traumatic stress disorder cases don't show up until six months after the trauma. as much as six months maybe a little bit more. in the meanwhile, the prolonged stress has an impact on the brain and central nervous system and that can be very very damaging to many of the neurobiological processes in the body, so that is just one of the aspects and this case we are also talking about closed head trauma and closed head trauma has often permanent consequences in that the person may not be totally disabled but disabled in part. particularly, if they are not

given treatment both physical therapy, psycho therapy, some times even occupational therapy, if there is a problem with the hand movement. these are hidden wounds and this is what we've been trying to study ever since at least the vietnam war when i got involved with it, and we've gotten some further understanding of it, one of the important things i really really have to emphasize is the necessity for treatment the necessity for assessment because if the soldier is sent back into deployment into combat without having been thoroughly assessed and this means psychological assessment and doesn't mean filling out a

questionnaire -- >> so i want to summarize because we are about to run out of time, so what you are indthe things that indicates you could have a problem with an individual some times some times not depends on the individual is when they have been deployed in rapid success which does tend to happen now with these wars we have been fighting the last couple years soldiers come home for a few months and go back and also, brain injury tells you something there. >> closed head trauma we don't know there is brain injury until there was complete examination and that needs to be done along with the psychological you need mris you need to have ct scans, you certainly need to have a neuropsychological and neurology and psychiatry. >> is there a way if i can ask for a relatively short answer, to predict what type of individual might be prone to

stress like this. >> well, in a way there is, because we know that people who suffer prolonged stress in childhood, and this is very likely for children growing up in poverty, where there is prolonged stress, suffer prolonged illnesses in childhood and adolescence. maybe more susceptible, on the other hand, one of the things that we are beginning to study fortunately now, is the capacity for resilience and a lot more study needs to go into that, because that might make a difference in who is seen as likely prospect for combat and who needs to be in noncombat position. >> i have to cut you back only because i know in israel they have done a lot of this type of

study it is something we need to do more >> a lot and norway and sweden. >> thanks for coming in next time we will allow more time and have you talk longer. >> thank you. >> allison. tony thank you. the polls are now open in the deep south, heading into today's contest it is a 3 way tie between mitt romney, santorum and gingrich in mississippi polls are opening later this morning in hawaii and american samoa there are 119 delegates at stake, candidates spent much of yesterday in the south criticizing president obama's energy policy. >> if you read the president's energy speeches he is in cloud coo coo land. the biggest issue this fall will be drilling versus alga, 2.50 a gallon versus $10, which future do you want for your children and your country. >> when it was tough to say

that stuff in the ground is an asset not a liability i stood up and said this isn't climate science this is political science. >> gingrich campaign is down playing speculation it will offer perry a dc spot on the ticket, they said they have not even talked about it. >> thank you it is 8:12 a.m. coming up next an update on that breaking news the carjacking of a vehicle carrying a 5 month old baby sarah. >> big changes are on store for capital present trail what the montgomery county council is struggling to decide on when fox 5 morning news returns. 

breaking news out of southeast dc concerning a carjacked suv with a baby inside dc police says the a white 2007 acura mdx suv that was carjacked taken from the 8400 block suit land road 7:45 a.m. this morning, it has oklahoma

tags license plate number 870 byz. >> we have more information about the vehicle and child we know the child is 5 months old wearing a white sleeper with brown sleeves the suv has damage to the right front bumper and the front passenger side door. there is a frame around the license plate that says king gate christian school if you have seen this vehicle call police immediately. >> we sure do hope we can report good news by the end of this newscast. 8:16 a.m. >> yep let's go to gwen for an update on weather and more. >> good morning we had a few showers in the course of the morning hours now we are heading towards some sunshine let's look at satellite radar composite the rain is pretty much over as it moves across del marva. light across many of our neighbourhoods, right now 57 degrees regan national, 57 dulles, 60 bwi marshall airport

and elsewhere in our neighbourhood, temperatures 50s and a couple low 60s there, we have 57 at dulles, 57 hagerstown 57 winchester, 52 frederick winds have picked up a little bit in some locations by this afternoon there will be 10 to 15 miles per hour southerly wind flow building in will bring us a warm unstable air mass we are setting ourselves up for thunderstorms, in between sunny breaks warm as temperatures head to 70s we are talking about a high of 76 degrees today. so not all bad. >> time for the special part of the morning show, my first 5 photo of the day, take a look at this cutie, 5 month old aiden from manassas virginia, look at him, he is just adorable, with his little toy

there, with him sleeping away. he absolutely just loves to watch cartoons and as you can see he loves taking a good long nap. he is so cute with his little outfit on. well, he is getting a sleep today he might be awake now watching we will see if you would like to send your child's picture go to myfoxdc.com and click on mornings we would like to see your little one with their first 5. always happy to have a first 5 photo of our young ones there. let's check with julie wright in traffic. no sleep in for you today. >> don't we all enjoy a nice long nap. all right. on the roads you will find your lanes are open if you are travelling northbound 395, from the belt way to seminary road pentagon headed up and above the 14th street bridge all lanes open outer loop of the belt way tied up leaving 95, georgia avenue, 270 on and off the brakes that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >> thank you very much a

heavily traveled trail montgomery county will likely under go a big change. >> capital present trail may end up crossing busy wisconsin avenue that has some worried about safety, sarah joins us live with more. >> well, hi tony and allison this is a very popular trail we are in downtown bethesda where you can see cyclists, joggers, people who walk their dogs on this trail every day and as you know if you are familiar with downtown folks have to cross busy bethesda avenue wood mount to connect on the other side on the other side of the crepe stand there is a tunnel goes underneath the building that is where the trail goes but with the purple line construction scheduled over the next couple years, that could likely change. >> every day mary and her dog george take a stroll on the capital present trail >> my doggy loves the trail. >> she and others know some big changes are in store >> i don't want the lose it on

the other hand if it is $47 million versus something cheaper are we putting the money in the right place. 47 million is about what it would take to keep this trail under wisconsin avenue this portion of the heavily traveled trail will be demolished when work on the purple line begins in 2016 to keep the trail alongside the purple line some say would be risky >> by trying to do it that way we will put at risk the building that it is going under that the structural changes that would have to be made are such it would have a high risk of structural damage to that building, which could cost another $15 billion. >> the trail would then cross over busy wisconsin avenue. >> at a lot of intersections i see barriers, stop for pedestrians mowed over we crossed one on little falls it works okay there but that is much lower volume than wisconsin. >> safety concern for some but something the council president

says they already do at connecticut avenue. >> we can do this, this isn't beyond the pail and the intersection now isn't particularly safe we can make an improvement making it a very safe intersection. >> and this seems like a very popular option at least on the council the transportation committee already unanimously voted to put that trail to cross it over wisconsin avenue, of course, the county council will have to vote on that still, but that looks like it is a very good possibility tony and allison but as i was talking to the council president he acknowledges there are folks concerned about the safety issue they are still looking at the possibility of putting a 5-foot sidewalk that would run along the purple line area so folks maybe with strollers, with their children could still cross under ground so they are still trying to look at that as an option to help relieve fears.

>> thank you very much. it is now 8:21 a.m. on tuesday morning, laundry detergent taken off store shelves just like cigaretterazors, find out why when we come back. >> then you wouldn't know it outside but technically it is still winter, one week to gown till spring find out how to -- go until spring find out how to get your plants ready for the weather really just the calendar certainly feels spring like. holly is on that story for us we will be right back ñ

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like our 100% usda choice sirloin, available for a limited time on chili's $20 dinner for two. welcome back, leaders in illinois are criticizing fema's decision not to give aid to illinois counties ravaged by recent tornadoes, powerful storms hit the region during a 3 day period, february 9th. 7 people were killed in a single town alone. fema officials say the damage did not meet the criteria for federal assistance the illinois governor and state's two senators denounced the ruling and are asking for a meet being officials. >> an unusual crime wave in our area and around the nation police are cracking down on laundry detergent thieves total care liquid tide is flying off the shelves especially the bigger sizes, 100 and 150-ounce

jugs that retail up to $20 sold on the black market for just 5 or $10 police say rather there have been a rash in prince georges county. the cleaning institute has reservation about making it more difficult to get access to their product. >> it is a concern if retailers try to restrict or make it difficult to buy these products, we understand retailers need to take measures to minimize retail theft, it is also a challenge though, making sure consumers still have easy access to these products. >> well, it has gotten so bad some retailers like cvs are putting the tide behind the counter or locking it up. 8:26 a.m. red skins fans are of course excited about rg 3. >> news burgundy and gold are in trouble for off the field

moves last year, more on that when we come back. stay with us, time now 8:26 a.m. on tuesday morning

good news to report, a carjacking with an infant inside the car the vehicle and the child have been found in prince georges county >> they were located just after 8:00 a.m. at arcadia and rail streets oxen hill the suv had been stolen from suit land road southeast earlier this morning. we are told the 5 month old child is safe the parents are on their way to pick up the baby and melanie alnwick is with them we will check with her just as soon as we can. >> boy. >> that is some good news. >> very good news. >> all right. >> gwen is here now with more good news. >> yes, we are head into the 70s again we hit low 70s yesterday, mid-70s today low 70s we were like 18 degrees

above the seasonal average for the day we are just on a roll. >> 72 for the high yesterday dc. >> 72 or 71. i will check for you any way, a lot of the wet weather we had this morning is now out of the picture take a look at radar, you can see we have hardly anything left pushing its way across ocean city out of the way next hour or so behind it all sunshine for you today, let's go to weather maps here is a look at current temperatures 57 right now at regan national airport, 60 marshall baltimore, cumberland, 69, neighbors in martins burg 55 degrees winds picked up a little bit we will see that continuing the you look at our national maps you can see right here just about one quarter of the country into the east coast is seeing a warm spread here we will see all that warm air from the south move its way up the mid-atlantic that will help boost our temperatures today.

but we do have another factor we are concerned about, as the cold front approaches into the course of the day we will be in this warm humid air mass here and that will set us up for instability, we have a chance of thunderstorms in the course of the afternoon keep your eyes to the skies, isolated scattered in nature but still late afternoon evening hours we still have a chance of seeing some of that, could be gusty winds along the i-95 corridor through to the east maybe hail in some of those storms. we clear out menty of sunshine -- plenty of sunshine wednesday, 77 thursday another stellar day a few showers friday and saturday overall temperatures not bad at all for that time of year things are really improving as we head through into the forecast. let's check in now with allison seymour. >> thanks gwen the latino vote will play a big role at the polls this fall a group is launching a series of town hall meetings hoping to get latinos to talk about other key issues they are bringing the meetings

to cities around the nation the nonprofit group held a town hall in las vegas this week and planning on another in denver end of the month. president barack obama is hoping that the new health care law will give him enough votes for a second term as foxes ed henry explains the president is focussing on one constituency that was very good to him in 2008. >> full court press sending mailings to 1 million women, secretary of state hillary clinton,. >> taking a stand whose voices are being heard, who are assuming the risks that come with sticking your neck out, whether you are a democracy activist in burma or a georgetown law student. >> all signs some democrats now admit the president's recent

phone call to her was about firing up a key set of voters. >> the women's vote is important. >> the president won 56% of women in 2008 they shifted big time to republicans 2010 mid- terms democrats believe the contraception fight with the catholic church and comments from republicans are driving women to the president there are signs they may be more likely to vote on the economy, with gallup showing his approval among women dipped first week of january he had approval of 52% of women, 41% of men now down to 49% women 41% men. >> republicans have to point to his record of failed leadership on the economy, 15 trillion in debt in the last four years saddles future generations. >> democrats insists the president will win that fight because his health care reform opens the door to preventative care like mammograms and will

mean more than last year's controversial book claiming white house aid anita dunn if not for the president this place would be in court for a hostile work place. >> as long as they are on the right side in terms of policies that will effect them in terms of women's vote. no one will vote against obama because rahm emanuel treated anita dunn badly. >> while limbaugh is a force within his party, he is a comedia on at 11:00 p.m. at night ed henry fox news. first lady michelle obama will be at american university later today with the wife of british prime minister, david cameron they will lead a miniolympic competition for children from across the dc area. mrs. obama is gearing up for a trip to london during the upcoming 2012 olympic games she

will lead the official u.s. delegation at opening ceremonies this summer. >> free agency begins 4:00 p.m. this afternoon, in the nfl red skins already made a couple moves they have cut full back, mike sellers and safety otagwe that will free up money the team may need after league sources reported they will lose $36 million in cap space because they front loaded contracts during the uncapped 2010 season. 8:36 a.m., tuesday morning, the old post office pavilion is about to get a multimillion dollar make over courtesy of the donald. more on his plans for that building when we come back. >> big changes coming to season two of x factor simon cowell joins us after 9 what to expect including more on the big judge shake up, 8:36 a.m. [ dog barking ].  mom!

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month employ injuries, hired more than a half million people and unemployment rate has gone down. >> looking for work check out our job shop our job of the day is with bright star, they are looking for a certified nursing assistant in maryland, pay is between 11 and $13 an hour you want more information on this job and many others go to myfoxdc.com click on the job shop tab top of our home page allison. >> donald trump will soon pus his stamp, pardon the pun -- put his stamp, pardon the pun on this building in washington dc he talks about his plans on fox 5. we are building a beautiful hotel it is really done pain stakingly that will be the old post office will be absolutely magnificent when completed, so we will be employing many many more people, working in a hotel in this economy that is a good

thing. we will bring back the original grand your it is a magnificent building, fantastic atrium you have the bell tower on top it has been closed you don't see it, hear it anything we will bring it back to its original grandeur. >> mr. trump says he hopes to use local workers to help build his new hotel expected to hope in 2016 i just feel compelled to call him mr. trump. >> no, i think i would do the same thing. >> 8:41 a.m. tuesday morning every 6 minutes a child in the u.s. is rushed to the er because of stair related injuries. >> up next, fox medical team looks at the danger and what can be done to keep your kids safe. >> you were all about a little flower power this morning take a look at that, spring is indeed springing, that is why we are live bell nursery burtonsville coming up we will talk about flowers you need to

plant now but also how you still need to know how to cover them now for cool weather and we will talk about containers how do you put it all together info live next fox 5 morning news ♪

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welcome back 8:45 a.m., we all do our best to try to kid proof our homes but you might be surprised to hear one of the leading causes of childhood injuries is something many of us use several times a day. >> the stairs but they are not just dangerous for kids our will thomas knows all too well he joins us with a look at a new study hi will. >> yeah, i am a good fit it happened last friday, i was excitedthrough the week i came careening down the stairs and misjudged the last tread and i ended up with an inversion jeremy foot went to the side so fortunately no break it is the mother of all sprains let me tell you, i guarantee you it will be awhile but let's zero in on preventing injuries this is a wake up call for parents stairs could have the effect you never considered a child could fall as tony and

allison mentioned injuries are common or you could fall holding your child the fox medical teams doctor joins us live from tampa, dr. joe they will make me turn with crutches are you guys nuts? come on dr. joe how are you. >> good morning will. yeah, well, i have to confess i also tripped on a stair over christmas. >> it does happen. >> the last tread missed it and i broke a foot, i mean -- >> the lesson for me -- >> a little tiny. >> the lesson here is hold on to the handrail the stairs i went back i read the study you are going to talk about the handrailing was there i just didn't hold on to it, it is really my own fault let's talk about these injuries i have a big sprain you can have much more severe injuries right? >> yes, when it comes to babies and children, it is a huge number i was very very surprised they said over 10 years it was 900,000 now these are 900,000 kids under the age of 5 presenting to an emergency

department that doesn't count all the other people who may not have gone to the emergency department when you look at the numbers and crunch these numbers and crunch these numbers and look at kids under the age of 1, 25% were being carried down the stairs. when it was a care taker they were more likely to have a serious injury i am wondering if maybe they just were out of practice or the child is wiggling there is lots of things that could effect your ability to take the child from upstairs to down stairs. >> let's talk about the hidden stairwell defects i understand that first tread can be misconceiving depending how your builder put them in right? >> that's true they are looking at changes in construction as far as what you can see when you look down that first tread to see all the way down also with my situation the wall ended the stairs did not so you had the individual july cue that was not correct -- visual cue that was not correct they talk about changing the depth they said the handrails should

be big enough so you can grip them not just pinch them. >> good point some times we see handrail that is are chunky it is hard to hold on to. >> no, that is true that is true and again when you are trying to negotiate the stairs and you are holding something that is another issue they talked about that in the context of children you shouldn't allow children to carry toys down stairs especially if they are large. don't leave anything on the stairs and the gates on the top and bottom, but don't leave a child alone near the staircase even when the gates are up. >> final 20 seconds dr. joe these pressure mounted gates, some times they can't be flush against the walls depending how your stairs and walls connect right? >> no, that's true too they talked about that, they said we need to look at staircase design and gate design lots out there for us to do but you know it is nice to bring this to the forefront so we recognize it is such a hazard. >> dr. joe again thank you for

joining us a little satellite delay i apologize if i was interrupting you but the lesson here is again for adults, really be cog any sent of your stairs -- cognizant of your stairs hold on to those rails. >> pick the crutches back up. >> thanks will >> you bet. >> allergies, warm weather another shorting of spring next week kicks off the annual cherry blossom festival. this year's festival will mark the 100th anniversary of tokyo's gift of the cherry blossom trees to washington the festival will run from march 20th through april 27th, nice and long this year, officials say the only thing they are worried about, that the trees will blossom too soon. >> we have been talking about that too. >> it is just so warm. >> now, hard to believe, maybe not this year, we are just one week away from spring. >> this morning holly morris is at bell nursery burtonsville

maryland to find out what you need to do to get your plants ready for the warmer weather hey, it is here. >> it is here i was going the say, we don't even have to wait until next week spring is here today would be a perfect day to get out and work in your yard we decided to come to bell nursery as you can see it has sprung, we are surrounded by flowers and we are surrounded by people in the know like bev solomon and john, area and district manager good to see you both. >> thank you for having us. >> we were standing here going. >> it smells so good in here. >> i would love to smell this when i walk outside my house let's talk first about putting the plants in the ground and then what happens if it gets cold again >> if it gets cold you want to take protection you can use burlap, and simply lay it over your plants, use a rock or some weights to weight it down in case it is windy and then that way keeps the frost from settling down on top and hurting the plants now the question is when do i do it.

>> right. >> usually some time when temperatures will get down between 32 and 35 now if it is a clear night you can lookout and see is stars the frost -- see the stars the frost will come down and land on your flowers and make them look weak if it is a cloudy night you don't have to worry the frost won't come down. >> that is a good tip. >> if it is a windy night the frost will stay off as well. >> so if it is clear and still you are in trouble. >> correct. >> so if you don't use burlap you have another things you can use. >> yes, weed block, we use this to keep the weeds out but serves as a good protectant. newspaper, something everybody has and you really just open it up same way john did with the burlap spread it out if it is windy like you said you want to get something i am sure people have pavers or a few rocks you don't need something that big just to keep the wind from blowing it off. >> it is not expensive just getting out and doing it when

you need to. >> absolutely. >> then can you leave it on if it is multiple nights or do you need to take it off and put it back on at night. >> needs to come off as the sun comes out. >> you got to get up early. >> yep. >> we covered our plants if it is cold everything is going well now i want to talk about container gardening and putting this together, pretty varieties how do we work it all in. >> yes >> so you have your 4-inch pansy, you have your container that you've got your christmas tree you bought last year just a matter of digging a little bit plopping your pansies in continue all the way around this will last until summer time and replace it with summer flowers if it does -- >> are these red skins pansies. >> yes. >> burgundy and gold. >> if it gets cold lift the whole pot put it inside the carport garage, front vestibule of your house keep it warmer. >> doesn't necessarily have to be a heated area just covered if you had this on a covered

porch it would be fine. >> correct. >> what have we got here. >> other things to plant. your summer flowers,. >> what are these. >> it is a -- bacopa. >> bless you. >> great filler. >> what is a filler plant. >> a lot of times people will use the more showier flowers in here,. >> we like to say instant impact. >> okay but this is instant impact as well a lot of this is used in a lot of our hanging baskets as fillers it fills in in between and that way you can also mix up the colors. >> okay. >> there is a whole host of other plants that can be considered as filler this is one of the ones you will see soon. >> would your flowers be more expensive than fillers. >> doesn't matter. >> just the colors you like and combos they all grow together fine. >> there are so many this is bacopa also it is not just

white mix and match flowers on your patio or whatever your colors are. >> you can't help but look at all these colorsay spring is here. >> right. >> which they love at bell nursery. myfoxdc.com our website we have a link to bell nursery don't forget all their plants are available at local home depots, coming up next hour we will talk about two important things, we will talk about your yard in terms of fertilizing and other new things out there that home depot will bring over in terms of keeping your yard in shape and if you are looking for a job we will talk about hiring going on here at bell nursery you might be interested in that, back to you in studio. >> good to know thank you don't go too far holly we are supposed to read a couple news stories we are not going to do that we want to take a couple moments to say goodbye to someone a big part of the fox 5 morning news family, it is not someone you typically see on the air she is our producer, for the hour of the show, sarah she has been with the show over 8 years and that is her in the

control room right now. >> look at her oh, she is okay with it. okay. >> she is -- she said wrap. >> is that a real wrap or just embarrassed. >> doesn't matter let's just go on any way. >> sarah is leaving us to move on to another stage in her life a nice job promotion we wish her the best sarah you will be missed >> i have to run down somethings when we do big events here at channel 5 in the morning when i nosy are is the producer talking to us i never have to worry sarah has done two inaugurations the big papal mass all those snow events on weekends, it is usually sarah in the booth just to name a few of the events pentagon after 9/11 the pentagon anniversary there, so you know i just as a person who does this part of the job really appreciate you sarah i know you are going to be missed and you are going to be successful at everything you do but oh, she can talk to us. >> she will miss us too.

>> can we hear you on air or just in our ears. >> just ears. >> she is sitting there calmly which is what she always does which is great she doesn't get up and yell and scream it is a tough job looks easy because she is just listening to us and pushing a button it is a very tough job keeping this show on track interviews go long like this morning, live shots change, breaking news all kinds of stuff it is a very tough job you do it extremely well we wish you the best. >> she is also the mom of kennedy the weather dog. >> yes, she is. >> bye sarah. we will stick around for a couple more minutes we don't know where to go. >> is holly still with us. >> yes, i just want to say kind of piggy back on what you are saying sarah is the consummate professional for people in the field she really puts us at ease what you don't know about her and what i am going to miss the most we will miss the most is her wonderful cues we live and die by our cues here out in the field, and also the little things like every friday, when sarah gives us our final cue of

the week she always goes holly back to mike have a great weekend we notice sarah, we appreciate it it is those little things that move on to big things that is why you are getting the big job i searched hard, i thought i would get you flowers this morning. okay i am just taking advantage of where i am if i could give them all to you sarah i would best of luck we will miss you >> all right. sarah has won three emmy awards and created and maintained our facebook fan of the day page if it starts repeating like one a week because we don't have the hang of it like she did, thank you sarah. >> oh, boy. >> speaking of the facebook fan of the day we want to say good morning to our fan of the day samuel thomas samuel is hoping president barack obama is watching the show this morning if he is, good morning sir, because he wants to request to take a real photo with the president so he doesn't have to use this photo shopped one if you want to be tomorrow's fan of the day search facebook fox

5 morning news no space between fox and number 5 and post a comment under this photo. >> we have a lot coming up in our 9:00 a.m. hour including the latest on the breaking news a 5 month old baby inside a carjacked suv the baby has been found safe, fox 5 was on the scene when he reunited with his parents a live report just ahead. >> latest on this scene a jet plane rolls off the runway at the world's busiest airport this morning we will update what happened, 8:58 a.m. we will be right back ♪[ music ] [ happy trails ]  ah. so much better than last year. [ both screaming ] food out the window! throw the food out the window! [ roaring ] never again.

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