hope this sketch helps them catch a man impersonating a police officer before he strikes again this morning his latest victim is speaking out. big headlines coming out of yesterday's primary, then they have nothing to do with the race to the white house instead, all the buzz this morning is about an official ban on gay marriage in one state. and an indiana senator getting the boot after a long run in congress. fox 5 morning news at 7 starts now. that is not a pretty picture. it is straight up 7:00 a.m., 67 degrees on wednesday, may 9th, 2012. a gloomy day out there across the washington region, at least a gloomy start, clouds chance of rain. we will find out about that in just a second i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour. we hope washington capitals will be a bright spot today we

need it. they bring their series with the new york rangers home tonight they need to win it to stay in it. go caps. >> yes, indeed. i feel good about tonight's game. >> you have historically -- >> yep. >> okay. >> tucker barnes what is happening with our weather. >> we have some grey skies and a few light rain droplets around early this morning later this afternoon more showers move in. bring along an umbrella. we will not see a whole lot of improvement as this cold front is a very slow mover. there is your radar most shower activity, a few showers south and east of the city, down towards oxen hill and more showers across the lower eastern shore. most shower activity overnight has moved well east of the city, out to the west, you see that blue line that is the actual cold front it is a slow mover clouds will stick around all day more showers off to the south and west, right along that front a little later this afternoon. that is why we have rain in the forecast for wednesday. temperatures warm, humid, 67

degrees, regan national, humidity 87%. winds out of the south and west, 8 miles per hour. lots of clouds in your forecast. mild day temperatures mid-70s and rain showers returning here mid-afternoon they will i thinker into the evening commute. >> more details on the forecast. a peek at the weekend, look at mothers day coming up. julie wright has your latest. on the roads this happens to be the inner loop of the belt way as you make your way past braddock road towards 66th. overhead sign is blocking our view but we can see where traffic is pushing to the right. accident activity tieing up the second lane from the left. just behind this overhead sign. headed out towards 66 with accident activity tieing up the second lane from the left. below speed leaving dale city, across the occoquan.

southbound 7100, activity stay to the right to get by. this is the belt way outer loop, georgetown road. accident activity possibly involving a motorcyclist. rolling at speed no problems towards bethesda. that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. all right thank you very much our big story airport security here in the u.s., it may be even tighter this morning, as we learn more about the latest al qaeda bomb plot. doug luzader joins us live from capital hill with more and what is being done to ensure our safety when we fly. good morning. good morning guys this entire episode was a big win for the cia but also raising any questions about airport security. overnight two u.s. jet liners one in california, one in arizona, were stopped and searched after bomb threats they were cleared but it is one more sign tsa scrutiny may be heightened now after the cia's

latest intelligence coupe became public. the new version of al qaeda's underwear bomb was handed over by a person al qaeda thought would detonate it a secret agent. it gives u.s. security officials a better idea what they should be looking for. >> we can have all the high tech equipment we want, that will help, but it is ultimately people seeing something that is not right. >> reporter: that may be the ultimate question, those new full body scanners should be able to pick up something like an underwear bomb even one without metal parts. >> if you are wearing an underwear bomb that will stand out so i suspect or i feel very strongly they would be able to identify that and identify either with a pat down or trace detection. >> reporter: but there are new questions about those scanners. congress today will ask whether the tsa is properly deploying the technology that cost tax payers a fortune. >> even the the technology is

properly deployed in this country there may be bigger issues overseas where some airports rely on relatively out dated scanners. >> thank you very much. security meantime is ramping up in frederick county pair land ahead of the -- maryland ahead of the g 8 late they are month. president obama is hosting world leaders at camp david, may 18th and 19th. police warned business owners to remove outdoor items like sandwich boards, tables and chairs in case of protests. schools will be closed may 18th, and several public parks will close beginning may 16th through 20th. allison, another top story this morning, montgomery county police are asking for your help, to track down a man pretending to be a cop a woman says the impersonator robbed her after pulling her over. now that woman is speaking out. fox 5s melanie alnwick is live at montgomery county police

headquarters with the latest got morning. >> reporter: good morning. speaking through a translator the 39-year-old woman wanted to come forward she is concerned the suspect is still out there. she was able to give police a pretty good description what the suspect looked like. take a look at this suspect likeness he is described as a black male, 26 or 27 years old, 5'10", 190 pounds short curly hair, tattoos both arms victim says he got her attention last wednesday morning on avenue road silver spring on her way to st. camilla's church. >> a black man was blowing a horn. >> reporter: she says the man motioned out his window and pulled his car up next to her. >> yelled at me he was a police officer i had to stop. >> reporter: she says the man showed her a badge and demanded her license and registration then ordered her out of her car and told her to sit on the sidewalk which she did.

>> she opened the door and he grabbed her purse and cell phone. >> reporter: the man fled in a small black compact car with blue maryland tags, that may have been bay tags. >> he got in his car and left very fast and i tried to follow him, i was screaming and yelling hoping some body will hear me to help. >> reporter: no one was around she had no cell phone she couldn't dial 911. so she kept driving until she saw a mail carrier who called police for her. here is the suspect again take a good look. montgomery county police would like to hear from anyone who knows this man. of course this case is making people ask what do i do if this happens to me. if you are unsure that the person trying to stop you is a police officer you can always call 911 to try to verify there are officers in the area, if you do pull over again pull over into a well lighted area where there is a lot of people

around and you always do according juvenile court to police police option to ask 911 to send a uniformed officer to where you are. tony. very good advice thank you very much. meanwhile, police in fairfax county continue their investigation into a deadly hit and run accident. the woman charged in the case gloria mcmillen did not intend to run over her victim. it seems to me and errington got into an altercation friday morning. she got out of her car and approached mcmillens suv. mcmillen ran off and ran over her accidentally she is charged with felony hit and run for leaving the scene. major headlines coming out of yesterday's primaries. north carolina voters hit the polls to address a hot button issue same-sex marriage. they approved the constitutional amendment defining marriage as solely between a man and a woman.

that makes north carolina the 30th state to adopt the ban. an official return shows it passed 61% supporting the measure. >> we will be placing it in the safety of oconstitution where it will be safe from the whims of state judges and state legislature who might seek to redefine marriage for us. >> it is heart breaking, this defeat. i thought better of north carolina, i thought better of north carolina voters i thought they were more progressive than the rest of the south. >> the amendment also eliminates other domestic unions from carrying legal status, president barack obama's campaign released a statele saying the president is disappointed by the outcome. another big surprise from last night long time senator, richard lugger lost he was beaten by tea party favorite, richard murdoch. he has been a fixture in the senate for four decades but was targeted as too moderate by

conservatives in his state he lost a lot of support for not having a permanent home in indiana. >> no surprise as mitt romney sweeps all three presidential primaries he added another 100 or so delegates he now has 919 needs 220 more to clench the nomination. meanwhile ron paul has 100 delegates. 7:10 a.m., 67 degrees on wednesday morning white house is sure to be rocking tonight. next what legendary song writing duo will be honored by the president and first lady. is the continued presence of u.s. troops in afghanistan doing more harm than good? a lot of americans seem to think so. we have results of a new poll up next. much anticipated rematch between lamont peterson and american amir khan could be in

jeopardy. >> a better view. this is a look at the american legion bridge more weather and traffic coming straight ahead. fox 5 morning news will be right ahead agents, be on the lookout for aliens. [ people screaming ]

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making headlines support for the war in afghanistan reached a new low. a new associated press gfk poll shows only 27% of americans backed the war effort. that is a 10% drop compared to last year, 66% oppose it, 40% strongly oppose t. president obama promised to keep fighting forces in afghanistan until the end of 2014. to capital hill senate republicans blocked a democratic back bill that could keep the student loan rate from doubling . it fell 8 votes

short and stalled work on work both parties expect to produce a compromise. coming up 7:15 a.m., tucker barnes joins us with a look at weather. you are looking very kennedy like today. you have that whole kennedy hair thing going. humidity. >> even that motion you just did. >> okay well, i guess i could be called worse things. >> would you do your new england accent. >> no, i have to get to the weather forecast. a plot of humidity, fog, mist and eventually, some more rain showers in the forecast today. bring along the umbrella. it is not going to rain for most of your morning hours but by this afternoon rain showers will move back in. there is your cold front out to the west, a slow mover i mentioned earlier, moving slower than the traffic on 66 this morning. >> oh, tucker. >> thank you allison, it felt clever at 4:45 a.m. this morning.

>> here you go, the front will push off to the south and east later this afternoon, high pressure will build in, end of the week will be gorgeous, by tomorrow sunshine, breezy conditions temperatures 70, just hang in there. we need the rain showers one more day of rain and a much improved forecast for the end of the week. 77 today, showers backrest of the afternoon. by saturday, 80 sunshine mothers day not a wash out yet. i think much of the day will be dry. >> flowers make it better. >> yes. >> thanks tucker. let's go to julie wright and get an update on traffic. >> on the roads right now you will find the inner loop of the belt way very much a slow go as you travel from the robinson terminal trying to get past braddock road and to our accident scene north of braddock. the variable message sign pushing everyone to the right. accident activity to the left side of the highway. delays from the robinson terminal as you push north to

66. you will find the outer loop of the belt way no problems from springfield to van dooren. up in college park, 14 minute commute, found the crash on the outer loop, 355 tieing up the right side of the highway. southbound 270, lanes open german town to the split. the nats took a 1 run lead into the bottom of the 9th against the pirates and pittsburgh but rob jacked a walk-off 2 run homer 2 outs off washington closer henry rodriguez. nats lose 5-4. >> come on. >> wow allison. >> my goodness sarah that is too much. and a must win for the caps tonight they will face the rangers in game 6 of their second round playoff series, tony smells a win and caps win would send it to a deciding game 7. a loss and well, they

are done for the season. let's focus if they win, we are still -- >> i heard the caps after an overtime loss they are 3 and 0 during this series the playoffs. >> okay. >> there you go. >> very good. >> all right. >> okay. >> stakes are high for the caps but they are also high for a dc boxer headed for the big time. >> lamont peterson who is due for a rematch with emir khan it was set to take place in las vegas, may 19th. sarah simmons is back to tell us what this is about. >> yeah, this is bizarre all about a failed drug test on the part of lamont peterson his camp admitted he tested positive back in march if you are a frequent viewer of this newscast we had him on several times. dave ross was on monday talking about the rematch. it appears that fight may not happen. nevada boxing officials will decide later today or tomorrow

whether to go ahead. his lawyer told nevada regulators his positive drug test stems from a one time treatment last november for low testosterone levels in a letter associated press. he told the athletic commission, his doctor determined a one time quote therapeutic treatment would not produce an athletic enhancement. three doctors said more tests were scheduled today. it all said peterson should not be punished it would be up to the five member nevada commission to hold a special meeting to accept the explanation and grant a license for the fight but the head of the commission said yesterday unless there is some obvious, legitimate reason for the positive test, peterson is not fighting allison and tony, it is possible this may not happen but very interesting to hear about these tests and what was

going on. >> we will see how they handle because the response seems to be very measured and thoughtful response we will have to see how they deal with it. >> i think they are even more careful these days with those kind of drug tests. >> thanks sarah. >> mm-hmm. >> time now, 7:20 a.m., wednesday morning it turns out sitting in traffic can do more than get on your nerves results of a study coming up next. special tribute here in dc to the woman who founded the girl scouts organization, some 100 years ago. good news for aging adults there is now a new fun way to help with mobility, memory and balance. it is called virtual rehabilitation, coming up we will show you how the whack a mole game works. 

bad news for dc commuters new research found the longer your driving time between home

and work, the more likely you become over weight. experts believe spending more time in cars gives people less time to work out. the study found commutes more than 15 miles upped the chances of being over weight or obese. and commutes longer than 10 miles increased the risk of high blood pressure. government is taking steps to improve safety for kids who need cat-scans or other x rays that give off radiation, fda is proposing guidelines urging manufacturers to create new machines for children so they don't get adult sized dose of radiation. there is a growing concern because kids are more sensitive again to radiation and have more years ahead of them for triggered radiation cancers to develop. ♪ [ music ] >> that is dion warwick singing rain drops keep falling on my

head. backarack with hal david are getting honored with library of congress' gurrer win prize. in the 60s they produced some of the most popular music for movies, television, recording artists. cheryl crow, diana crawl and steevie wonder will perform tonight. >> american legends. >> yes. >> living legends. >> hal david will not be there he is recovering from a stroke but burt will be there. >> okay. 7:25 a.m., the nations capital is banking big time off visitors to the city. details of a tourism boom coming up next. >> as we head to break, a live lookout side. the latest weather and traffic from tucker and julie. wow. how do we characterize that picture. >> busy. >> okay we will be right back ♪

[ telephone rings ] how's the camping trip? well, the kids had fun, but i think i slept on a rock. ♪ the best part of wakin' up what are you doing? having coffee. ohh. ♪ is folgers in your cup ♪ [ male announcer ] it's happening right now at your local walgreens. pharmacists are going above and beyond... armed with expertise and advice... ♪ ...with one goal in mind... to better serve you... ♪ ...so nothing will get between you and the care you deserve. find your pharmacist at walgreens.com.

welcome back. dc tourism is on the rise. spending by visitors grew more than 6% last year to $6 billion. overall about 18 million people visited dc in 2011. that is the best tourism totals since the 9/11 terrorist attacks devastated the industry

a decade ago. tourism officials are projecting strong numbers in 2013 with warning on the set to host 14 major conferences. the girl scouts turn 100 this year, and madame tousseau's is honoring the founder. a wax figure of juliette gordon lowe is unvailed later this morning. just in time for mothers day, the anniversary honors all motherdaughter who is share the bond of girl scouting. >> wow wonderful. >> it is. >> cool. >> speaking of girls i need to say hello to some viewers who attend poseby woods elementary, kellan savalla and miranda fountain who watch the show. they also want me to mention the boys they like. >> really? >> okay this is big now are you sure they want you to do this? >> they wrote their names down.

>> i don't know about this. >> noah zimmerman and tommy gatos they are the boys they have crushes on. this will create a whole big thing in their schools. but they watch the show every day and ... >> i have grade schoolers they do not want crushes spoken. >> maybe i shouldn't have done that part >> i told you not to. >> a little late for that now. >> all right thank you for watching the show hope that works out with noah and tommy. >> what have you got. >> kids need recess they got to get outside. >> may be indoor recess in the gym. you can see we are never going to get to the bright sunny beautiful day. a lot of clouds around. eventually showers will move back in. there is a live shot you can see, it feels moody, showers just south and east of the city, and we will go right to the radar. and take a look together. showers lingering for the

morning hours. a bit of a break and then guess what they will be back again this afternoon as this cold front is in no hurry to get out of here. shower activity south and east of the city, charles county, southern maryland, light showers, working down 95 towards fredericksburg. all this is pushing east and very light we are not expecting terribly large amount of rain for your morning hours but you can see, showers continue across the lower eastern shore as well. north and west cloud cover a little fog, and eventually more rain for all of us this afternoon. as i mentioned that could front not in a hurry to gosh cold front not in a hurry to -- cold front not in a hurry to get out of here. that will lighten up, and give us another round of rain. pretty good steady rain at times later this afternoon. you want to time the rain out maybe 2, 3, and then move back in, be us with for the evening commute and get out by 10, 11:00 p.m. tonight. then set up for a nice day. chicago, st. louis, clear

skies, sunshine tomorrow, much improvement around here and a nice end to the week with a lot of sunshine and low humidity. currently 67. in addition to warm temperatures very humid as the cooler and dryer air just not here yet. 70 quantico, 66 manassas and dulles, 64 this morning in frederick. so our temperature is nice and warm. showers storms back in the forecast by the afternoon, 77 your daytime high, winds out of the west a to 10. early shower, mostly cloudy overnight. 58, cooler drier air gets in here tomorrow. winds will pick up, lots of sunshine gorgeous afternoon 71 your daytime high. friday and saturday close to perfect temperatures in the 70s. close to 80 saturday. i had to throw a cloud and possibility of a shower in sunday. we might squeak out the day with partial cloudiness. traffic and julie has your latest. on the roads right now you will find lanes are open if you are travelling on the outer

loop leaving 95 around the georgia avenue. problems to report for those travelling along 7 this morning, westbound 7, out bound direction of the cascades parkway, accident activity police on the scene to direct you by. eastbound 7 route 9, louden county accident activity there. speed out of 66 flowing out of manassas. and 7100 to 123, average speed down to 23 miles an hour. belt way inner loop remains slow. headed up towards the robinson terminal, braddock road, tieing up the left side of the highway, delays, leaving college park towards georgia avenue. southbound 270, below speed as you work your way south of arvana, leaving falls road and shady grove headed out towards the split. that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. longest serving republican in the senate headed for retirement after 36 years in

office. senator lugger lost in indiana's republican primary. tea party backed state treasurer richard murdoch won the nomination. political headlines we are here with our team peter feen good to meet you and jim innocenzi nice to see you. >> nice to see you back. >> welcome back. >> jim innocenzi. >> we tried to put a spin on the retirement but what is the real story behind this loss. >> this will be interesting from a democrat >>ly start with you. >> the real story here is if you are a moderate, moderate conservative in the republican party you are dead meat. lizard lugger was defeat -- richard lugger was defeated by like 20 points. one thing in a race like this, we see the ghost of christine

o'donnell from delaware coming back here. we have a good strong democratic candidate even in the tough state. joe donely he has a shot at this race now he wouldn't have had a shot if lugger won the race. this is a sad commentary i think on the republican party they have gone so hard right, they are e voice rating these folks that actually get things done in the commons. >> back in 1972 when he was richard knickson's favorite -- knicks on's favorite mayor, he has been around. there is still much anger, the tea party is still alive. people are unhappy with lugger. republicans were unhappy with him. i don't think it is because he is gone to the middle, i think

he is out of touch. he is 80 years old but an old looking 80-year-old. if you saw clips or footage he looked old and out of touch he could have retired but you know 32 years in elected office it is time for a change. there is a lot of anger at america across america. this was a referendum on lugger and it shows he lost by 20 points>> is it short sighted if democrat has a chance of coming in and winning. >> that is not going to happen. we had a reference before about the end of the 60s i think peter probably broke out his bong or something beforehand. he is smoking something. it is not going to happen. could it happen? sure and i could be 6'10" and dunk a basketball. >> keep an eye on this race i don't thing you have the strongest candidate, right now, donnelly has about $900,000 in the bank he is about to raise a

whole lot of a heck more. the campaign committee is going to go into this state is my guess. it is a tough state for democrats. >> i think that is right. we would agree with that. >> what does it say when published reports have eric cantor not stepping in to help, distancing himself from dick lugger does that send a message too or just that your time is over it is time for some body new. >> the only message it sends, dick lugger is going to lose. why would you support a guy that is going to lose. >> he had his time in the senate everybody has his time in public office. at some point everybody's career needs to end. >> i will tell you jim. >> he is 80. >> this is a bigger issue than that. eric cantor did the same thing in the illinois race, very close going after the tea party candidate. he is taking on john boehner inside of that caucus, he wants to be speaker. this is the republican --

really they won't compromise on anything, they owe pose everything what we are seeing in -- oppose everything. what we are seeing, it is a mistake for the party. you have academics writing about how the republican party is damaging the country by not being pragmatic and doing anything. cantor is part of that group. this, murdoch said i am not going to deal with these people. i am not going to compromise i am not going back there to get things done. i am going back there to make a statement. >> there is no question about it. i think he will have a tougher time than you formally would have, had it been dick lugger but you are trying to create tension peter, you've got problems in the democratic party. look at the president. >> oh, really? >> what happened to north

carolina my friend. >> again -- >> let's move on and talk about another interesting headline out of yesterday's primaries, north carolina, basically voters there approving a constitution amendment to say marriage is one man one woman and that is it. what does that say? >> it is more than that. they have a law against gay marriage already. secondly this isn't just about marriage this is about civil unions, and this is about people who have lived together for a length of time, and not officially married and having benefits. one of the things that was not stressed in that campaign is how far you are going here with this. there are a lot of people who recollects aren't married who do -- who aren't married who do share a civil union. again my view on this is that the train has really left the station on gay marriage. it is going to happen but you know, this is a very very tough issue for a lot of people, it is a change in culture, and as you can see from that vote,

boy, again, it was overwhelming. >> here is the problem the president has right now this puts the president in a bust. the president is against gay marriage but in a state like north carolina, everybody agrees is a swing state this time allison, the problem isn't the bubble vote or the white male vote as people would say, it is the black vote. it is the black minister who is have the keys to the van who drive people to the polls and so, that is not to say the president is not going to get his share of black votes. he will but what percentage of the overall vote would the black votes be. if the president would come out in favour of something like this, you would hurt him in part of his base. he is in a jam. that is why you have seen the white house stamper stumble, and they have a big problem they bailed ongoing to north carolina because of this vote. >> let me stop you there. yes or no, the compromise with student loans is still going on? yes or no >> they say they are still talking, but you know,

democrats put up a very large plan and the republicans again wouldn't allow a vote on it. they phil busters it. i am sorry jim would you come back next week. >> maybe. >> next week? >> maybe. >> let's start with that. >> if he puts his -- >> yeah. >> tony, peter admitted in the 60s he had a dashi. >> i would love to see pictures. 7:41 a.m. potential large scale environmental problem, piling up on the shores of alaska. after the break a closer look at this tsunami debris from japan that just keeps on coming. >> reminder about our special fox 5 weather day with the washington nationals coming up next tuesday, myself, tucker, sue palka and other special guests will be at the ballpark that morning with thousands of school kids from across the

region. they will see a special weather presentation by tucker and i and sue and others and then get to stay for the game. you can be a part of this if you want more detail goes to myfoxdc.com click on the mornings tab. we will be right back ( telephone rings )

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>> this is on the west coast of alaska. debris is washing ashore, piling up on the beachs in the state. it is believed to be debris from last year's devastating tsunami in japan. some to have items have japanese labels on them, the trash is arriving in the u.s. earlier than scientists thought it would get here. researchers believe tonnes of materials are still floating towards u.s. and canadian is you know, is some of of the this hazardous. big problems. all right. >> okay. >> amazing. all the way across >> we knew it would. >> yep. >> what is going on. >> around here a lot of clouds low clouds, fog continues across the region. rain showers return this afternoon.

get a bit of a break next few hourrain will come back. >> okay. >> there is your live -- >> time to go back home and get your umbrella. >> yes, you want the go back and get it. i don't know how you would be watching us if you are walking down the street. >> can people watch on their phones. >> good question. >> radar, a few left over showers southern maryland. out to the west a cold front will get in here a little later today and tonight, when the cooler and dryer air will get a chance to work through. future cast, shower activity, nice job picking up the shower south and east of washington. notice the cloud cover, thick here all day, by 2:00 p.m. just a few scattered showers around, but look what happens by the evening rush, by mid-to late afternoon showers move back in. we will have rain around here. going to the caps game tonight verizon center it will be fine indoors. after the game you will see rain showers, and then the whole thing clears out sunshine lower humidity back in the forecast, by -- allison.

>> trying to test to see if we can get the show on my phone >> apparently we are getting something on your phone. >> 77 today and a lot of sunshine end of the week. >> all right. >> never mind me. >> i am trying to do it to see if we can -- go ahead julie. >> yes. >> i'm sorry. >> well, for once the weather was interesting so i was paying attention. >> what does that mean julie. >> julie is on my side because we are girls. >> that's right and another zinger for tony when he said i wasn't invited to the ballpark because it wasn't traffic related. what do you think those kids are going to flap their wings and arrive at nats stadium when their mommas call me i am sending them to you. our lanes are open, no incidents slow go out of gaithersburg. outer loop of the belt way below speed, leaving 95 towards

georgia avenue. a drive on the inner loop wall to wall traffic from before the robinson terminal, past braddock up towards 66. second lane from the left has cleared, better news on route 70. accident activity along route 7 at 9 has cleared that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. revolutionizing rehabilitation. >> details about the benefit of virtually related therapy. >> who thought video games would help seniors get better. where and what it is about live next fox 5 morning news stay with us pgh >> time to say good morning to our facebook fan of the day. jeannette cob. she said being picked fan of the day would be like winning mega millions. if she is picked georgetown cupcakes will be delivered to the whole fox 5 team. okay but you know that is not necessary we just like having you as fan of the day. for a chance to be tomorrow's fan of the day head to our

facebook page and post a comment under jeannette's photo. how cute. >> not only is it not necessary we cannot actually accept those. we have strict rules here.  (bell rings)

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welcome back. when you think of virtual reality you probably think video games. >> holly morris is at a health care center in gaithersburg where they are using the technology to rehabilitate senior residents. interesting stuff good morning. >> it is interesting. there is not anything these days that isn't high tech. we are live this morning at the wilson health care center they have the first virtual therapy system in the state of maryland. we are watching it be put to good use this morning. debbie is the assistant administrator she joins me. good morning.

>> good morning. >> this is fascinating. tell me about how this all came to be. >> this is our omni virtual reality equipment. we were looking to therapy that involved technology and more state of the art. >> why? >> well, normal therapy you get on a treadmill, maybe you are doing parallel bars, stationary bike, that is great we have all that but we were looking for a different way to engage people we wanted people to do something more fun, personalized and more engaging. with virtual reality system we are able to do games that are really maxed as therapy and specialize it for the person using it. >> did you find that the older people were receptive to this right away? some times older people get intimidated by technology. >> that is the great thing, there are multiple levels and within each of the levels, they are able to cust his even more.

it is not -- customize it even more. it is not. we can make it minimum difficulty or higher did i have high difficulty. >> it was well received not only by the folks here at the methodist village but we serve people from the greater washington area. people are coming in for rehabilitation. >> give me an idea, exactly how it works. >> sure. so before we get started, the virtual reality equipment, did an outline of her. so as she moves, you can see the blue footprints on the screen, she moves, it shows up there. so, what manny is doing is working on balance. what she is trying to do is hit the mice and hit the moles but not the lady bugs. >> there is a lot going on. >> physically active her mind

is being active. let's check with fern our star player this morning and manny the occupational therapist. are you having fun? >> it is great. >> how does this compare to walking on the treadmill. >> much more fun. >> look i am distracting her. she is like i want a high score. quit talking to me. manny what difference have you seen. >> it is fun. every time they see the machine they want to find out more about it. so we can make it fun and get your functional independence. they love this machine >> i have a feeling she is not the only one having fun. >> no, i am getting my excitement too. >> exactly. >> what difference have you seen in patients that have used this. >> their balance has gotten better, they always want to gain their functional independence. she is going really fast i have to keep up with her. yes. but it made a big difference in

rehab. step back nice and easy. >> how does it work in terms of how often would someone come and do this. >> we try to do it every day. we can print a report and shows progress every day. we can put it in the documentation. each day gives us a report how well they are doing. it is good to see it every day to see is progress. that is good. so back. >> you need some water? are you sweating yet? so you think this would be something you would come and do again. >> oh, yes. i am all for this. >> she gives it two thumbs up. how about that. myfoxdc.com our website. we have a link to asberry methodist village in wilson health care center. this morning we are all about virtual therapy we will find out what else there is to offer next hour. i am going to do this for misskaufman off camera she will be like this i am exhausted. >> thanks holly. >> very good. >> we've got much more straight

ahead coming up fox 5 morning news. >> a year and a half after starting an initiative to improve reliability, pepco says efforts are starting to pay off. next hour we will talk with pepco's president about the improvements and ongoing effort to up glade equipment and service. -- upgrade equipment and service land o'lakes spreadable butter with canola oil

is made with sweet cream, canola oil and salt. just three natural ingredients. what's in your spread ?

>> another security scare overnight. this time involving two airplanes on the west coast. details straight ahead. >> more how the cia stopped the latest underwear bomb plot. in our area a police impersonator on the loose in montgomery county. police are hoping this newly released image will lead to an arrest. two big developments after last night's primaries an indiana senator loses his seat after four decades in office. in north carolina voters make a decision on same-sex marriage. when will president obama take a stance on that issue. good morning i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour. >> it is a rainy day out there, at least to start.

tucker barnes joining us with a look at the rest of the wednesday weather. more rain on the bay a little bit -- way. a little break here. by this afternoon rain showers move back in. a little rain and sunshine for the end of the week. one more day. >> that's good. >> people getting tired of it. our fourth day of clouds. >> yeah. >> live look at radar. shower activity, generally confined to southeast portions of the city. this is generally pushing east, i think most of us should get a break, clouds might lift a little bit. you might see a ray of sunshine and then later today, cold front out to our west, possibility of more showers in the forecast. temperatures we are warm, humid out there, 67 degrees, humidity 90%. >> ah. >> that is a warm combination, july combination. winds south and west, 8 miles per hour. your forecast plenty of clouds around showers return late this afternoon could be embedded

thunder storm, temperatures in the 70s. >> thanks tucker. >> very good sir. thank you very much. folks going to the caps game may want an umbrella. >> yep. >> julie and get the latest on this more thankings rush hour traffic -- mornings rush hour traffic. >> you will need your energy to cheer on the caps. >> we will unleash the furry. on the roads, slow traffic, leaving 95 towards georgia avenue, below speed out of laurel to the belt way, 202 reports of a stalled car. travelling inbound on 50, below speed, headed into northeast. inner loop of the belt way, grid locked, before braddock up towards 66. eastbound 7 at the berlin turnpike. fur travelling in bound on the suit land parkway remains heavy and slow, headed out to the freeway. suit land parkway reports of a

stalled car in the right lane. authorities are checking for a crash on the inner loop as you approach the wilson bridge. this mornings top story a double agent stops the underwear bomb plot. just last night two planes were stopped and searched one in california the other arizona. >> they were cleared but it is another sign tsa security may be heightened even though the government says no changes are coming. for more on the informant who stopped the underwear bombing, sarah. allison and tony, we know saudi intelligence recruited the double agent and sent him to yemen. to infiltrate al qaeda. he handed the bomb over to the cia it is being studied by the fbi. >> officials in the u.s. say a joint effort with their counter parts in yemen confirmed the foiled bomb plot is result of work bya cia informant >> result of close cooperation both within the government but

also abroad, with security intelligence partners overseas. >> cia was able to get its hands on the bomb well before an attack was set in motion. the device is an upgraded version of the underwear bomb that failed to detonate aboard a jet liner christmas day 2009. it reportedly contained no metal and used a chemical to be a detonator. somata this type of bomb would easily have -- some say this type of bomb waldoesly have slipped through x ray machines but one tsa expert says an officer would have spotted it. >> the officer in the booth sees thousands and thousands of normal people every day. if you are wearing an underwear bomb that is going to stand out. so i suspect or i feel very strongly they would be able to identify that, and they could identify either with a pat down or trace detection. >> while there are no immediate plans to change security procedures. some airline travelers are wondering what is next. >> on one hand americans

unrealistically demand 100% security. on the other hand they have a lot to say about it when it becomes inconvenient or irksome. >> now back to that informant we know he is safely out of yemen. the device itself is still being analyzed by the fbi at its lab just down the road on interstate 95, quantico virginia. >> thanks sarah. fox 5 follow up to a story we first reported last week involving a man pretending to be a police officer. >> a woman says the impersonator robbed her after pulling her over. now that woman is speaking out. melanie alnwick is live at montgomery county police headquarters with the latest [ audio difficulty ] >> we are clearly having problems with that live shot we will get that fixed up.

meantime in the race for the white house mitt romney sweeps last night's primaries. presumptive republican nominee won in north carolina -- won in indiana, excuse me. north carolina, west virginia presidential primaries none as surprised, romney does not have any serious challenge at this point. >> big story of last night's primaries was the loss by indiana's long time senator richard lugger he was defeated by tea party favorite, richard murdoch. he has been an institution on capital hill. first elected to the senate in 1976. democrats are hoping to pick up the indiana senate seat giving them a stronger majority. the other major headline out of the primaries, north carolina votes to approve a constitutional amendment, defining marriage as sewly between a -- solely between a man and woman should president obama define his stance if so,

when is it too risky before the november election. we will talk with the managing ed tort of the hill other side of the break. >> commuter concerns how all that time spent in your car is effecting your health. is there anything you can do about it. >> also pepco says it has been making changes to improve reliability. we will talk with the regional president about the work they have been doing and the results. stay with us, 7 minutes after 8:00 a.m.

there are new details on a story we first reported last week involving a man pretending to be a police officer. >> a woman says the impersonator robbed her after pulling her over. that woman is speaking out. melanie alnwick is live at montgomery county police headquarters, good morning. >> reporter: good morning tony. police say the suspect looked pretty good wearing black boots black pants, black vest looked like a police vest had a silver badge on that and a black hat

with embroidered police emblem. the victim a 39-year-old woman decided to speak to the media through a translator because she is concerned that the man is still out there and may strike again. police were able to get a composite of the suspect together. he is a black male, 26 to 27 years old, 5'10", 190 pounds, short curly hair tattoos both arms. last thursday when the woman says she was driving in silver spring on her way to st. camilla's church, 11:45 a.m. and she noticed that a car was following her. it was a small black compact car blue maryland tags, police say they may have been those chesapeake bay tags. there weren't any lights or sirens on the car but the suspect was able to convince her to pull over. >> a black man was blowing a horn, he yelled at me that he was a police officer and i had to stop. she opened the door, and he

grabbed the purse and cell phone. >> reporter: now the woman says she had no way to call 911 no id with her purse and cell phone gone but at least she still had her car keys she admits she tried to follow the suspect but did lose sight of him instead she stopped and pulled over a mail carrier who called 911 for her. she was not injured in this case, but obviously shaken up. she said you know she tells people this disturbed her so much she has had to seek professional counselling. tony and allison. all right thank you. nevada boxing officials will likely decide today or tomorrow, whether to go ahead with the rematch between dcs lamont peterson and amare khan. peterson did test positive for a banned substance back in march a doctor reportedly recommended he take

testosterone pellets because of low levels. >> it is do or die for the capitals. caps will try to rebound from their heart breaking overtime loss to the rangers tonight at verizon center. the puck drops for game 6 of the second round series at 7:30 p.m. new york can close out the series with a win but a caps win, and we head back to new york for a deciding game 7. they will be robbing the red and super -- rocking the red and super loud tonight. >> and home too >> i feel good about it >> i do too. >> tucker barnes has lots to feel good about he has an adorable young person now. >> yep my first 5 photo of the day this is carolyn. there she is. >> aw. >> hello beautiful. >> what a great outfit. she turned 18 months old this

month. >> so cute. >> a year and a half. >> that would be right tucker. >> thank you tony >> i guess that is a year and a half. >> proud of my math work. her parents say what does she love to do most of all? >> going to tea. >> good guess. >> being sweet. >> well, of course. she loves watching birds. >> okay. >> exactly what she is doing in this photo. >> early bird watcher. >> so cute. you are right the outfit is perfect. >> it is nice isn't it. >> to send your child's picture go to myfoxdc.com click on mornings. i like the mellow music. >> the flute. >> where do you get all these versions of the song. >> let's go to radar. bird watching, maybe early this morning later today rain will return you might want to head indoors. sentinel radar, a little mix of everything, north and west of washington, a few rays of sunshine. south and east rain showers.

generally annapolis, southern maryland, charles county, colonial beach, virginia, light rain showers pushing east, and north. most of us will get a break here for the late morning hours and then see the rain, spill back in this afternoon. south and west, tennessee, kentucky, rain showers those rain showers reorganized themselves right along our front, our cold front moving very slowly through the area and give us another batch of clouds and rain. bring along an umbrella, not going to rain all day like yesterday but a period of rain. >> much improved, sunshine, breezy conditions low humidity, 71. friday and saturday look fantastic could be a shower sunday. don't cancel plans we will find some of that forecast and get closer for our mothers day. that is a look at your weather forecast. the latest on traffic from julie wright. are you going to the game? >> i will be watching the game. not going. it is hard on a school night. >> definitely. i will stay up late as i can.

hopefully no overtime. >> we are willing to stay up until 10:00 p.m. but do not do the overtime. >> can't do midnight tonight. need to wrap this up quickly. >> we did it last saturday we can do it again. on the roads, we do have problems coming from the west. if you are travelling eastbound, route 7, as you approach 287, berlin turnpike only one lane able to get by. traffic heavy route 7 as you travel in from lees burg earlier accident activity cleared westbound 7, cascade parkway. they are cleaning up accident activity police are on the scene. inner loop of the belt way, accident blocking the right lane. oxen hill across the bridge. heavy volume, suit land parkway, south capital street. that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. thank you very much. voters in north carolina

approve a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. north carolina is the 30th state to adopt that ban. president obama is still on the fence, although his vice president affirmed his support for gay marriage. it is an election year. when will and should president obama plant himself firmly on one side or the other. joining us now, bob cusack managing editor of the hill. >> good morning. >> to me this is the most fascinating interesting issue of this election cycle. the president is really -- he is on that fence, and he says his thoughts about this are evolving. do his thoughts have to evolve, to some point, before the election where he says yes, i am for it or no, i am against it. >> depends how much of a distraction this was. when he ran for state senate, he supported same-sex marriage. later on, evolving. some would say desolving. i would say joe biden didn't do

him any favours saying he did support same-sex marriage. i don't think a lot of voters will go to the polls on this but it goes to the heart of what democrats want to attack mitt romney they say he is a flip flopper not genuine he will say anything to be president. all this kind of ricochets back on the president. he may be forced to come out with what you would do on a second term. >> it is a tough decision for him. if he says i am for it, that will please some people but displease some others perhaps southern states earlier we are mentioning black chumps and all of that kind of thing -- churches and all that kind of thing. it could cause problems. >> overall votes the campaign is thinking they will lose votes overall. they could cause some votes, in the independent states, in these key battleground states, and every little vote counts, i mean this could come down to

the wire. when you have missteps, this was one this week, will there be another one next week this stuff adds up. distraction they have to play defense. cannot play offence. >> you talk about the vice president coming out and talking about this on meet the press on sunday. what was up with that? was he just you know talking off the top of his head? which he some times does or are there -- is there an effort under way? past members of the president's cabinet that want to push him in one direction? >> i don't think joe biden was perfectly fine to do this. he just does have a way of talking off the cuff. he said he has never had a boss until he was vice president he speaks his mind he did say the president sets the policy someone said maybe he could have elaborated more to defer to the president. but cheney did the same with george w bush.

joe biden speaks his mind. can the republicans make some press. >> they can press him. why are you on the fence. why do voters have to wait for your position. democratsic say what is your physical soy on immigration. -- policy on immigration. republicans don't have a policy. >> richard lugger losing his senate seat in indiana. >> polls have shown tea party has taken a hit over the last couple years this is a big victory for the tea party. it could be for democrats they thing they can win this seat now they have a tea party candidate. republicans are still the favorite in the seat, mostly red states. it is one republicans have to worry about. dick lugger in the set nate, 36 years -- senate, 36 years. not much campaigns he lost big. >> tea party you know, arguing

in guy is too moderate, we need a stronger conservative. it seems to be a mixed message to some extent on one hand you see voters saying we need congress and president to work together on the other hand they tried to penalize him for being moderate and reaching across the aisle. what is the message. >> there is mixed messages that is what democrats say, murdoch say he won't compromise. some voters want compromise some don't like it. they didn't like the fact on the right lugger voted for both of obama's supreme court justices and it was a close friend of the president, he put out a statement last night rare, when a republican loses an election. bob cusack thanks for coming in. >> thank you. >> allison. 8:21 a.m., john travolta, facing disturbing allegations this morning tmz says they have proof he is innocent of this. details coming up next. later this hour, virtual reality therapy, holly showing

us how high tech treatment is helping seniors right in our own area. we will be right back

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travolta off the hook for a $2 million lawsuit. the picture was snapped january 17th, new york city the same day a male masseur says he was sexually assaulted by travolta, in los angeles. another masseur filed a suit yesterday. his lawyer calls them absurd and ridiculous. closing arguments in the trial of william balfour he decided not to testify in his own defense. the defense rested its case after calling two witnesses to the stand. prosecutors wrapped up earlier in the day. they spent two weeks laying out a largely circumstantial case. witnesses testimony is giving insight into how john edwards felt about his former mistress. his former speech writer wendy

button took the stand saying in 2009 edwards told her he loved hunter and still saw her button also said he told her his chief finance chairman had been using campaign cash to support rielle hunter and their child. 8:26 a.m., wednesday morning, oscars of the food industry took place in new york last night. which local restaurants had chefs in the running and how did they do. we are talking about the james beard awards after the break. plus sitting in the car for extended periods of time is not only frustrating but bad for your health. live with results of a new study and ways you can combat the negative effects [ male announcer ] this was how my day began.

a little bird told me about a band... ♪ an old man shared some fish stories... ♪ oooh, my turn. ♪ she was in paris, but we talked for hours... everyone else buzzed about the band. there's a wireless mind inside all of us. so, where to next? ♪

my little helpers... and 100% natural french's yellow mustard. it has zero calories for me, and a taste my family loves. >> frederick county maryland is getting ready to welcome some

big names on the stage. police this week warned frederick business owners to take precautions against possible flash mob protestors, that means bringing inside things like tables and chairs that could be used to cause damage. frederick county maryland schools will be closed on the 18th and public parks near camp david will also close, for several days. establishments from the dc region were shut out of the annual james bierd awards. the whose who of america's kitchen hit the red carpet in the big apple. a chef from new jersey won best chef for mid-atlantic even though four of the five nominees were from our area. local nominees also went home empty handed what is up with that. >> we have fine eating establishments. >> yes, we do. >> okay. well, you know, the fact they were nominated is great. speaks well of them.

>> okay. >> what is next. >> a little rain in the forecast. parts of the area getting a couple rays of sunshine north and west of the city. don't be fooled by mid-to late afternoon showers will be back. >> then. >> as we get into thursday, friday and saturday, i just got a question about going to annapolis tomorrow for a fourth grade field trip and just want to report i think your conditions will be perfect. >> excellent. >> there you go. 68 washington. we are off -- let me mention the warm temperatures and humidity as well. both of those on the increase and will be during the course of the day. 71 right now quantico, lots of 60s, 68 dulles, 66 this morning in frederick as we start our day high temperatures mid-70s. we will be right back in the mid-70s. batch of rain to move through. showing you the larger picture. light rain showers southern maryland across the lower

eastern shore. for the rest of us, a few breaks in the clouds, look at what is lurking off to the south and west. more rain shower more cloud cover. if you get in a little sunshine clouds will move back in, and will be mostly cloudy by the afternoon eventually showers will move back in as well, as we have this last spoke of energy that will ride up and along our cold front which is hanging up across the area. future cast picking up the break of sunshine. clouds by 3:00 p.m. showers light out there, a lot of cloud cover, and then the showers really fill back in, as we get back into the late afternoon early evening hours. evening commute, going to the verizon center, you are in for a wet one. we clear out overnight, beautiful starting tomorrow. your 5 day. 77, a little sunshine showers moving in and then thursday, friday and saturday, gorgeous, near 80 saturday. sunday don't cancel plans could be a shower. sunday afternoon, temperatures mid-70s. that is weather tony allison

back to you. >> thank you very much. we have a health alert for you this morning about a possible drug that could prevent hiv. the fda is one step closer to approving the drug truvada used for years to help manage the virus that causes aids. the drug appears to be safe and effective, a panel of advisors will vote tomorrow whether it should be approved as a preventive measure. you have heard speed kills now traffic could make you sick. new research looks at your drive time in traffic and your waistline. >> turns out sitting for long periods of time behind the wheel could lead to weight gain and serious health problems. will thomas live in northwest with a closer look. you are going to show us how to prevent becoming a statistic right? >> reporter: we will do our best to help you at home. whether you are carting the kids around or your commute is more than 16 miles.

turns out roads like wisconsin avenue, that are clogged lead to clogged arteries, fitness director of crunch fitness is here to give us helpful tips first we will lay out the problems, so many of us face, who spend forever behind the wheel take a look. >> when it comes to getting around the washington area. >> probably a half hour, 35 minutes here and then 45 minutes home. >> 20, 25 minutes. >> daily traffic can feel more like a prison sentence. >> takes forever and wastes so much time in your day >> it can get under your skin in more ways than one. a new study in journal of preventative medicine found people who sit in significant traffic or have long commutes are more likely to be over weight and have high blood pressure experts believe spending more time in cars, gives you less time to work out. or you could be burning fewer calories, because you are sitting so long. >> people are overly stressed they don't have enough time and

aren't active enough. >> it is no surprise heavy traffic can cause stress and chronic stress can prompt your body to store fat in your belly. >> we are under 100 times more stress than our grandparents that is why we are storing around our mid-section blood pressure up, not sleeping well,. >> reporter: bill commutes up to 45 minutes a day each way and admits it makes it tough to get to the gym. >> we all know working out is good but more it becomes part of public discourse more helpful it is. >> reporter: now let's talk about solutions, turns out there is help for all of us let's bring in tj spence from crunch fitness. healthy snacks something as simple as that. >> one of the best things you can do is plan ahead. a lot of times, people make bad choices once they run around all day get home at night that is when the junk food comes out. >> reporter: on the road pull

over do fast food, gas station. >> exactly. >> reporter: we have all been there. we talk about exercise you have tips and exercises we can all do as soon as we get out of the car on the drive way in the garage. >> sure. what we will do are jumping jacks, some half blocks and a little hamstring stretch. >> reporter: can i do them with you. >> yeah. >> jumping jacks, hands at the side, gym class. jumping jacks. >> how many do you think people should do. >> 20 of these. >> something everybody can do. >> just get your body loose, heart rate up >> i am feeling it. >> next we will do a half squat put your feet a shoulder width apart, hands out in front. weight on the heels. >> how many of these. >> 20 again. >> okay third one. >> next finish off with a hamstring stretch, get all those muscles working we will loosen up. go feet, together. >> this is the embarrassing part where if you can't touch

your toes you will feel bad. >> that is something to work towards. >> we will just keep your back flat reach down towards your toes hold this for 20 to 30 seconds. >> that is it. >> that is it. >> those three might motivate you to get to the gym. thanks. guys maybe if you are going to the caps game goes into double overtime stand up on your feet and do this too. >> okay. >> well, do i have to -- okay will thank you. >> 8:37 a.m. wednesday morning, financial burden many americans face. latest developments, out of capital hill, next. protestors taking to the streets, speaking out against bank of america. more on that, on the other side of the break. fox 5 morning news will be right back. if 8:37 a.m.

protestors in new york rallying against the bank of america. they are protesting the banks shareholders meeting today. some are those whose homes are in the process of foreclosure. >> still fighting to stay in my house. i don't think it is fair for bank of america to throw people and families on the street.

i think they should work out a better deal with the homeowners and families. >> we want them to reduce the principle when homes are under water, we want them to have a moratorium on foreclosures. >> there are also major protests planned at bank of america's headquarters in north carolina this morning. police in charlotte have already blocked off two blocks surrounding the building anticipating up to a thousand protestors later today. senate republicans blocked a bill to keep student loan interest rates low for one more year. the interest rate now for new subsidized loans is 3.4% but set to double come july. senate republicans favour keeping the loan rate low but don't agree with democrats how to pay for the $6 billion needed. it is 8:41 a.m., losing power is an inconvenience many of us have experienced at one time or another. >> pepco has been working to improve reliability, what

changes have already taken place, we will sit down with the companies president coming up on fox 5. good morning allison. this is marilyn and howl they said video games are not just for their grand kids it is a great way for them to do a little occupational therapy. you will find it at the wilson health care center where we are live. we will tell all about it live next 

do you read in bed? do you read out loud or in your head? do you need a lamp to see? and does it leave your bedmate be? don't you wish there was a light that wouldn't keep them up all night?

if so, you'll be happy to know, our newest nook now comes with glow. introducing nook simple touch with glowlight, the only e-reader made for bedtime reading. find your nook at your neighborhood barnes & noble. in september, 2010 pepco began an initiative to improve reliability. their efforts are paying off. this morning pepco region president, thomas graham joins us to talk about their work and results. good morning welcome back to the studio. >> sure. >> how do you think pepco is doing? >> making a lot of progress over the next five years we are going to spend about $910 million making reliability improvements for our customers. we've trimmed about 3700 miles of tree line, since september,

we replaced over 400 miles of cable, we've hired more customer service representatives, doubled phone line capacity, added aps for customers, we have been very busy during this period. during that period, speaking off camera, we had a hurricane hit, irene, i don't think many people would complain about the response, from pepco, what were you hearing was there anything you would have done differently? were you pleased with the response from pepco. >> obviously we don't want to see any customer out of service but when a system of that magnitude comes into your territory we have to be prepared. that is what we were during this time. prepared had more resources on this system tan we ever had, restoring service for customers, and relatively speaking, comparatively speaking to other youty tills we are able to bring -- utilities we are able the bring customers back safely and quickly. we met our goal, thursday 7:00

p.m. we were going to bring customers back every customer was back, we had 2 25,000 customers out of service. >> what was the biggest challenge you said about 21 months or so. >> about 21 months. >> what has been the biggest challenge? we have seen crews on the side of the roads getting trees trimmed back. because we have such old neighbourhoods, what has been the biggest hurdle to jump trying to get everybody running in a satisfactory manner. >> tree trimming. >> okay. >> as i mentioned we have trimmed off 3700 miles of trees during that period of time. our customers, they want the reliable service but there is also a desire for a nice tree canopy, growing up in the dc area, you know i can appreciate that as well. we have to balance the environment, and also reliability and these are some of the conversations we are having with customers now. >> we heard a lot of folks back when things were bad just saying bury the lines just do this.

how have you attacked that? and has it worked for you so far? >> we have not done any selective under grounding as of yet. we have identified a couple areas in maryland where it could take place but there is an extreme cost involved in under grounding and all that has to be balanced as well. >> you mentioned it, but to speak on it more, a lot of the frustration comes from when you just don't have power and get on the phone and try to call some body. either you don't get some body -- we know they are overworked you have looked to improve customer service. some of that has to do with retraining all together. >> a lot of that has to do with it. so we joined that period of time we have gone from 40 to 80 customer service representatives trained our employees, they currently have other responsibilities. every employee in pepco has a second role when the storm hits, we have done training for 275 employees to provide,

support, during storms, we've also doubled phone capacity, gone from 300 lines to 644 lines, so these are all the things we are doing. not just the tree trimming not just cable replacement, there are a lot of process improvement s with e have made and customers now -- we have made and customers now have the ability to report on the internet. i like the ap for blackberry android and iphone where you can also report an outage. >> when we were going to do this segment, knew you were coming in we took it to our facebook family. some responses, the question was how is pepco doing now. response is some of them were vaguely it is the same company, same still is the worst and all that. but these improvements are being made. how do you address that image issue. when some people hear pepco, some people have that negative thought. my power is going out when the wind blows and not coming on for four or five days. how do you attack that.

>> i like to look at the facts. during this period of time for those feeders we have worked on, for the frequency of outages that number reduced by 39%. for duration of outages that number is reduced by 56%. we are seeing real improvements on our systems. we had a test during irene. we saw faster response. so when you put all those things together, we believe we are making progress. now do we believe our work is over? absolutely not. there is still a lot of work to do and we will continue to push through this as i mentioned earlier, we are spending our a billion dollars -- just under a billion dollars over the next few years. >> thanks for coming in >> my pleasure. wilson health care center in gaithersburg maryland is using virtual reality technology to rehabilitate

senior residents. holly morris is there today, to learn more about the unique system. >> hey, tony. it is called omni vr you will only find this virtual therapysystem here where we are live this morning. we have yet another fun session going hal and maryland are taking on the obstacle course with the help of their occupational therapists idel and manny. i am standing next to the head of nursing. when you first heard you were all going to get this system what was your reaction? were you skeptical. >> skeptical whether residents would really participate in it. that is what i was worried about. i knew it from wii but wasn't sure how residents would do with this. they have done so so well. >> what are some specific things that residents work on or issues they can address using the system. >> well, so much because, they can do all of the same exercises, but they can have fun doing them now, and they

really buy into it now. instead of having to do repetitions of arms up in the air ten times. >> easier to convince them to come down and do their sessions and keep with it. how do you see it helps them motivationally in terms of i want to get to that next level. >> they are anxious and excited to come to therapy instead ofdreading it. it is more practical in a lot of ways they get relaxed about it and have a good time instead of it just being work >> i would think, they are like kids at heart. they, like kids, when they are playing video games do want to get to the next level. >> absolutely achievement which you don't get in a lot of other traditional therapy methods and a part of what we want to do. we give choice to our residents. we really give them a chance now to have choice of what exercise do they want to do. what do they want to accomplish. >> let's check in with our

residents and therapists here i have idel and marilyn. marilyn made it to the finish line. we can do her victory speech right now. you are the occupational therapist. what have you thought of this system? >> well, this is actually very good for them because it is like doing the real thing like with her she was so tempted to walk, but i was just asking her to march in place and we are working on balance, working on you know, how she would react and how she would avoid obstacles, so like really very good. reality. >> she is saying good things about you. >> mm-hmm. >> what do you thing of it? >> i think i sweat. >> you don't have to go to exercise class today. >> no way >> it kept your mind engaged. >> yes. concentrating very hard. >> hal what about you. >> just when you thing it is easy you find out you run into

a tree [ laughter ] >> is this something you thing you would find yourself doing again. >> definitely i might enjoy doing this if i can get in free time when they are not using it for patients who need it >> i want to ask you, i know occupational therapy was just named as one of the top careers to go into. to see your field kind of evolve and try new things, how does that help with your job? >> it is -- you know, what is rewarding with our job is that we actually help people restore independence. just you know, seeing them walking out of this facility and going home, it is just really great. >> these two will be marching out. how long have you been married? >> 57 years. >> who is better at this? >> she is. >> exactly why they have been married 57 years right there. thank you guys so much myfoxdc.com our website we have a link to wilson health care center. we will talk more about how this all works next hour back

to you guys. i want you to give some tips to my husband. >> they are a cute couple. >> thank you holly. >> the bat signal is out above the skies of washington this morning. that of course can only mean one thing a i have visit from the caped crew size -- a i have visit from the caped crusader himself. bat man will be with us the super hero that made headlines along route 29 in maryland, pulling his bat mobile up to fox 5 in a few minutes how could you miss it. 8:55 a.m. [ male announcer ] hot outta the oven, it's the pizza sub!

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