>> tough reception for mitt romney at the annual naacp reception. the crowd played nice for the most part, but one remark in particular that was not so warmly received. >> attention metro riders, you could soon be waiting longer to catch a train. we'll tell you how long. fox5 morning news starts now. live look outside on this thursday, july 12th, 2012. another warm day on tap. but not unusually warm. good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> i'm alison seymour. let's get to him right now, shall we? >> let's do it. >> tucker barnes, good morning. did i hear you say a little more humid this morning? >> not really humid, but tomorrow and the weekend the humidity on the increase. today that perfect today. warm, not a lot of humidity and

lots of sunshine. good looking day. let's show you radar. we're looking nothing. nice and quiet. a few clouds across portions of the southeast of the viewing area here. ocean city, rehoboth, little cloud cover. otherwise, nice looking start. should be in for partly to mostly sunny skies here by late morning. reagan national, 72 degrees. look at all the 60s. 65 in baltimore. 61 this morning in winchester. that's fantastic. 72 in ocean city. one of our coolest mornings yet this month. going to be a nice day. still will be warm with highs in the upper 80s to about 90. with lots of sunshine, not expecting much in the way of humidity, should feel good. 89 in washington. 90 fredericksburg. details on the weekend forecast in a minute. let's do traffic. julie wright has the latest.

good morning. >> we're checking in with skyfox in just a moment, but we can show you the commute now along northbound 395 definitely below speed working past duke street continuing towards seminary road. remains heavy and steady at this point. i think we have skyfox with us again. they were above northbound i- 95. working northbound this morning you'll find the lanes are open, but the pace is slow moving as you continue northbound. the lanes are open. no accidents to report continuing towards the capitol beltway. earlier accident cleared, lanes are open once again. back inside and we'll update the ride on the other side of town, leaving college park, no problems to report to 270. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. thanks, julie. we have more for commuters, a serious accident closes a portion of indian head highway.

it's because of a two-car crash that happened around 3:00 this morning. now the southbound lanes of 210 are closed between berry road and the prince george/charles county line. a preliminary investigation indicates one of the cars may be going the wrong way on 210. two people were taken to the hospital, no word on their condition at this time. d.c. mayor gray's growing campaign corruption scandal is our big story. three council members are calling for the mayor to resign. >> in comes days after a campaign consultant pleaded guilty for her involvement in a so-called shadow campaign. melanie alnwick has the latest. day two for you on this story. good morning. >> reporter: that's right, allison. things keep coming up. things keep changing. there are so many questions about who knew what when.

mayor gray says he did not know about the secret money that was used to help get him elected. after pleading guilty tuesday, clark says she met with gray in january to discuss the unreported spending. gray says ever since rumors of this shadow campaign surfaced, he has been the one trying to find out what really happened. >> this is a continuing investigation. i want to indicate that again from the very beginning if you recall i was one of those who called for an investigation in the first place. there have been at least three investigations thus far. >> reporter: all three of those investigations ending in guilty pleas for illegal activities. the bombshell dropped tuesday when harris admitted in federal court that there was indeed a

well financed shadow campaign. gray said he knew nothing about the secret money. but harris revealed she had been preparing invoices for the illegal campaign spending in case the office of campaign finance asked for them. her home and office were raided by the fbi the same day the fbi raided the home and office of businessman jeffrey thompson. gray said yesterday that he has no plans to resign. yet other council members have said though it weighs heavily on them, it's time for mayor gray to step down and do what is right for the city. but allison and tony, there is no question this saga is far from over. >> on that we can bet, i believe. melanie, good morning and thank you. we are learning about new allegations against mayor gray's campaign. some of his campaign workers said day laborers working at polling stations got paid $100

in cash, twice the legal limit. at this time there is no indication authorities are investigating these payments. take a look at the surveillance video, police are looking for two men who held up a gas station in prince george's county. it happened last friday in laurel. one of the suspects hit a store worker in the head with a handgun before taking the money and running away. police have several persons of interest in connection with the murder of a reporter in northern virginia's horse country. sarah greenhalgh worked for the winchester star. she was found dead on monday inside her burned out home that the killer set to conceal the crime. police are questioning a man that she dated. she referenced him as crazy in her facebook posting sunday. he is not considered at this time to be a suspect. later this afternoon, a local hero will be buried at

arlington national cemetery. the marine corporal died in afghanistan last month. he studied music at the lavigne school. a funeral is set for 10:00 this morning in georgetown. his family is asking that anyone who wants to send flowers, please send a donation to the lavigne school instead. to the campaign trail now, republican presidential candidate mitt romney got a tough reception yesterday at the annual naacp convention. vice president joe biden will likely fare better when he addresses them this morning. fox's doug luzader is following this one from capitol hill. >> reporter: mitt romney probably didn't expect to win over many voters yesterday, but he did address perhaps the most loyal of president obama's supporters. romney walked on stage at the naacp conception to some

applause and skepticism. >> i do love that music, i have to tell you. i love listening to that organ music. >> reporter: he was game, even if his team knew this would be a tough crowd. >> if you want a president that will make things better in the african-american community, you are looking at him. you take a look. >> reporter: it was a bold statement considering that some 95% of black voters supporterred president obama four years ago. >> i'm going to eliminate every nonessential expensive program i can find, that includes obama care, and i'm going to work to reform and save -- [ booing ] >> reporter: he got credit for showing up. today vice president joe biden will address the group. but president obama decided to skip the event this year, for scheduling reasons at the white house. >> for scheduling. >> again, he's spoken before the organization in the past.

>> reporter: while some questioned whether the president is taking black voters for granted, the reaction showed romney has an uphill climb. it's not just a question of support, but turnout. this will not be the historic election 2008 was, and the obama campaign has been targeting black voters to make sure they return in november. doug luzader, fox news. mitt romney is getting help in virginia today. former new york mayor rudy giuliani will campaign for him in virginia beach. then tomorrow, he'll headline the grand opening of a gop headquarters. meantime, president obama will be in virginia tomorrow. a mood disorder. that's what illinois congressman jesse jackson, jr. is reportedly being treated for. the news comes more than a month after the chicago representative quietly went on

a medical leave of absence. it was initially reported the 47-year-old was being treated for exhauston. last week his staffers said his condition was worse than thought and had been privately battling emotional problems. now a number of his colleagues are speaking out, some wishing him a speedy recovery, and others are urging him to provide the public with more information. >> i think the family would be well advised to give his constituents as much information as is appropriate. >> the people of his congressional district deserve it. the people of illinois deserve it. >> jackson's office has released a statement suggesting his condition is a private matter. the timing of jackson's leave of absence is also raising questions. he's currently under investigation over allegations he raised money for

blagojevich's campaign. 72 degrees on a thursday morning. still ahead, new information in the jerry sandusky scandal. in hours the most recent findings will be released to the public. >> expensive tuition and long hours studying didn't seem to turn some people away from going to college. what a new report reveals about the number of people earning degrees. >> plus, a busy day on tap for metro board members. they'll discuss big issues, including a proposal to set a new standard for train service. a closer look at today's agenda, coming up. >> as we head to the break, we have a live look outside. we'll get the latest on the forecast and a look at traffic from tucker and julie coming up in a bit. now it's 11 minutes after 7:00. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

[ female announcer ] every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health care

should be our own is troubled mitt romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a law that outlaws all abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest. and that's not all. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] for women, planned parenthood means life-saving cancer screenings and family-planning services. but, for mitt romney... planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. back in the headlines today, the sandusky trial sex abuse scandal.

today penn state will release its internal investigation. it's expected to answer many troubling questions, including how the university responded to warning signs that the former coach was a serial molester. he was convicted on 45 criminal counts last month. the report will be posted online for everyone to see at 9:00 this morning. the republican controlled house did vote yesterday to repeal president obama's health care law. but don't expect it to go anywhere. the repeal has no chance to pass in the democratic controlled senate. democrats said getting rid of the law would eliminate consumer protections that have already affected millions. there's positive news on the education front. more young adults are getting college degrees. a little more than 39% of adults 25 to 34 earned an

associate, bachelor or masters degree. >> still encouraging news. >> yeah. >> life keeps on moving, right? >> yes. >> nice to see some folks were able to go ahead with their plans. >> yep. what's going on? >> weather cooperating overnight. very comfortable in the morning, back in the 60s. 73 in washington. last hour we were 72. that matches the coolest temperature we've had here all month. >> wow. >> okay. >> shows how hot this month has been. will be pleasant. upper 80s to about 90. if you're traveling today, most of the country fairly quiet. 73 in washington. 73 wilmington. threat still to the south. much of the country typical weather. denver not bad, 65 degrees.

let me mention las vegas, 94 degrees. phoenix, 82. got a little monsoonal moisture there into the desert southwest. see it there? into portions of california and arizona and southern nevada. that's interesting. the other feature, the rain showers off to our south and west. that's associated with that system we've been talking about for days and days. will work back towards us, not so much today, but friday afternoon, friday night and this weekend we'll have a warm front kind of sitting on top of us. that will increase the humidity and increase our chances for showers and storms around here starting tomorrow afternoon. today nice and dry. highs about 90. as we get into friday and the weekend, not a terrible weekend, but summery with plenty of humidity and scattered showers and thunderstorms each day. here's your five-day forecast, mentioned the weekend for you, highs about 92 by sunday. also by middle of next week, back into the mid-90s. looks like another round of heat here by next week. >> really? >> i don't think we'll be in

the hundred one -- 100s, but 90s. >> just uncomfortable. >> blowtorch. all right, here's julie wright with the latest on the traffic. >> i want to say, it is july. >> that's right. >> that's fine. i just don't need it to be like blow the power out heat. >> that's true. no blow the power out. >> that's what i'm talking about. >> on the roads our waze crews checking in with delays inbound on route 50 leaving columbia park road. thank you for checking in. below speed slowing at 410 in riverdale. new york avenue on the brakes working inbound this morning continuing through the traffic light at bladensburg road. stand still on 295 checking in northbound 295, delays to 210

and traveling northbound headed up towards the inbound 11th street bridge. the other side of town, delays working across the top stretch of the beltway leaving 95 college park and continuing to coalsville road. no accident, just volume delays. n uthbound 270 lanes are open headed to the lane divide. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. julie, thanks very much. we are monitoring metro this morning, and two big issues the board will take up today. >> one of those issues they'll talk about is the cause of last friday's green line derailment, and another one is a proposal to set new standards for train weight times and how many people can load onto cars. sarah simmons has more. >> new details expected to be released today about last week's derailment. no one was injured in the accident that happened friday. metro says a heat kink was the

likely cause. it's a misalignment of the track caused by the expansion of the rails when the temperatures get too high and prolonged exposure to direct sunlight. the board also plans to discuss setting new criteria for rail service. a proposal drawn up for the meeting today indicates this would be the first time the board would establish criteria for hours of operation, train weight times and how many passengers can fit onto a rail car. here's what they are thinking about portraying weight times. during peak hours maximum amount of time between trains could go as high as 15 minutes. now it's every 6 minutes. maximum train wait time could go up to 30 minutes. as far as how many people can safely fit onto a single rail car, the new policy would set a minimum at 80 and maximum at 120. metro says it's looked at historical patterns and has

done math in coming up with this recommendations. hours of operation would remain the same. and again, if this proposal is adopted, it would be the first time the board would be defining policies on the service that metro rail customers should expect. so before it was an internal thing that metro decided. now it looks like the metro board is defining the policies. should be interesting to see how they're going to be dealing with this issue. >> be interesting to see how people respond to the wait times for the trains. >> yeah. 30 minutes possibly, that's on offpeak times. up to 15 during rush hour. >> i know they're trying to deal with things, but that seems excessive. >> people won't be happy about that. >> no. thank you. time now is 7:21. it's a thursday morning. how does this sound, a coffee maker right in your car? >> no. we don't need that. do we need that? >> let's wait to hear the details. we'll give it to you next. >> also, a major unveiling in the district today that could

help save a life. we have details about a new 911 system after the break. >> plus, the olympics begin in a couple of weeks now. this morning holly is live with a look at what they have planned in anticipation for the summer games. if you want to catch all the action in person, still time to book a flight. holly has those details coming up. 

it's the perfect match for the perfect moment -- oreo the dunkin' way. introducing the new oreo coffee coolatta and new oreo vanilla bean coolatta. taste the fun today. america runs on dunkin'. hurry in to dunkin' and try the new oreo coolatta and donuts today.

a new 911 system is being unveil in the district today. it's free and allows residents to create online profiles about themselves to help emergency officials in their response. profiles include personal information such as pre- existing medical conditions and allergies that are automatically displayed to 911 operators during a call. >> that's a great idea.

not sure about this one, fiat is adding a new addition, offering an incar espresso maker. here's how it works. what could go wrong with this? the machine clips into a cup holder and uses boiled water just like a stove top maker. it also includes coffee cups and spoon holders. the 500l is expected to debut in the u.s. next year. but a spokesperson says he's unaware of plans to bring the maker to america. >> i don't know. >> doing that when you're driving? >> not doing it when you're driving maybe. people would take advantage. >> dealing with boiling water and stuff? >> maybe not. 7:26 now. rg3, he hits the red carpet and the wizards prepare a trip for sin city. >> more fall out concerning mayor gray's campaign. an indepth look how this is

unfolding after the break. >> here's a live look outside. it's a bright sky, looks like, out there this morning. there's the washington monument. we'll get the latest weather and traffic from tucker and julie next. it's 7:27.    

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

today is the last day of mini camp for the wizards. the team is preparing for the summer league in vegas which tips off tomorrow against the hawks. top pick bradley beale among others have been going at it at two practices a day. okay. redskins quarterback robert griffin iii showed off his socks -- look at those -- while walking the red carpet at the espy awards in l.a. last night. he won for best male college athlete and he's on the cover of this year's ncaa football 13 video game. rookies report to practice next week. >> do we know what's on his socks? >> appear to be multicolored. >> looking it up? >> maybe later. >> i can't wait for football

season to start. >> i've had that same feeling, i sure did. >> although, do you know what's great about it this year? often we're like, come on, football season. this year the nats are doing great. >> yeah. >> going to be fine. >> good year for sports in d.c. this year. let's get to our forecast. lots of sunshine today. today is what we call a nice day. >> need that. >> not too hot. no rain. highs to upper 80s to about 90. humidity, though we always have some in the summertime, won't be terrible today. the weekend, temperatures head for the 90s. won't be excruciating heat, but low 90s and more humidity. scattered storms return with the warm front tomorrow. both saturday and sunday afternoon chance for scattered storms. i mentioned the heat builds next week. mid-90s by next tuesday and wednesday. right now nice start to the

day. comfortable. 73 in washington. not a whole lot of humidity out there. 70 in leonardtown. 76 in annapolis. if you're waking up to the west, 66 in manassas. 64 in culpepper and winchester. nice start to the day. temperatures will be in the -- call it comfortable, warm range this afternoon. typical summer fare. highs in the upper 80s to about 90. this is the same front that came through late in the day sunday and brought us the cooler air and end to our heat wave. it's still hanging out in the carolinas and will get a little push here and start to push back towards the washington area as we get into the daytime hours tomorrow, particularly for the weekend. more in the way of cloudiness, more humidity and better chance of showers and storms starting tomorrow. until then, we'll have enough pressure with the winds out of the north and east to keep things dry one more day. lots of sunshine, warm afternoon. 89 the high. winds south and east at about 5

to 10. mild overnight. 73degrees. five-day forecast next several days, 87 tomorrow. late-day shower or thunderstorm in the forecast, not only friday, saturday and sunday as well. temperatures bubbling up into the low 90s and again mid-90s here by tuesday and wednesday next week. more heat by the middle of next week. that's a look at weather. let's do traffic and there she is, julie has a smile and she'll tell you what's happening with traffic. >> is it bubbling up? >> i think i've said that. >> you got to do it with a snap. it's only cool with the snap, tucker. it is. >> on the roads now, inbound along the bw parkway, accident activity in the left lane. heads up out of riverdale headed past prince george's hospital. inbound 50 on the brakes 410. top stretch of the beltway, below speed working from

college park headed around towards 270. down to about 17 miles per hour here at new hampshire avenue. virginia, lanes open 66 eastbound. no problems reported here on 395. slow moving from the beltway to king street and across the bridge. that's a check of your traffic. this is not the campaign we intended to run, tom. i have said -- >> vincent gray breaking his silent, speaking out for the first time wednesday since a former top aide admitted to funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to help him get elected. despite calls for his resignation, gray said he never knew about illegal fund raising and shadow campaigning and has no plans to step down. we turn to professor paul butter. good to have you here. >> great to be here.

>> certainly the news this week with jean harris saying, yeah, $650,000 that was being used in this shadow campaign. this morning the post is reporting gray met with her back in january, so he at least knew about this in january. and now reports from the associated press that the campaign, gray campaign was paying day laborers who worked at polling places in $2,010,100 2010 $100 in cash, twice the legal limit. doesn't look good for the mayor. >> it doesn't. the classic question is, what did he know and when did he know it? if in fact, he knew about this secret campaign back in january, then he may be facing some criminal exposure. he probably would have had to

have filed campaign reports, or correct wrong campaign reports. he may have said things to investigators. so again, it's the classic d.c. story, it's the coverup. he's not alleged to at this point have masterminded the campaign. we don't know who did it. when asked that question, when did you know, he said that's part of the investigation. that's not a good answer. he needs to have said, i learned about it tuesday when ms. harris pled guilty. any answer other than that, he's in trouble. >> though he said that's part of the investigation, couldn't that indicate, yes, he did meet with harris in january -- we're talking january of this year, so this is after the campaign was long over -- that he possibly -- and we just don't know this -- he may have met with her and may have ordered that some new documents, what have you, be provided to investigators? >> that's possible, but they would have had to be publicly

disclosed. the public learned about this tuesday in federal court. we'll see when he found out. that is part of the investigation. but the point is, he knows when he knew. >> right. >> if he didn't say, i found out on tuesday, then that's got -- that's not good news if he's looking to avoid a criminal case. >> as a former federal prosecutor, is it clear to you, it seems to many of us laypeople that the prosecutors, investigators are working their way up. are they working their way up to the mayor? >> yes. the united ey for the district of columbia said tuesday this was a corrupt election, it was financed by back room deals, and basically that the mayor won election dishonestly. if you have the united states attorney saying that about you, you're in trouble. no one, even if you're innocent, no one wants a relentless prosecutor trying to build a case against you.

because almost always a prosecutor can find something. remember, he went after kwame brown, the council chair person. he thought he engaged in public corruption, but was brought down by person financial issues. he was looking for something, and when prosecutors look for something, they find something. >> it's significant the u.s. attorneys use these words, because he's not making flippant remarks. >> i was shocked. that was strong language for a prosecutor to say that about a mayor that hasn't been charged yet. he was saying it about the campaign, calling it a through and through corrupt campaign. >> you believe the mayor, should charges ever be brought, the mayor might opt to go to trial rather than, you know, resign and plea or something like that. why do you say that? >> tony, unfortunately, this isn't the first time that a mayor, if there is in fact a criminal case, this isn't the

first time we've been through this in the district of columbia, and we saw in the previous case all kinds of other issues come up. so the standard for bringing a case, prosecutors aren't supposed to even charge, unless they think they can get a jury to convict. that would mean 12 citizens of the district of columbia would have to unanimously agree that the mayor committed some kind of criminal case. again, this is a guy who was popularly elected. he won overwhelmingly. that's a difficult standard. charges aren't even supposed to be brought, unless that standard can be met. >> very high standard. >> it is. >> paul butler, thank you for coming in. we appreciate the insight. >> it's always a pleasure. >> we'll see you again. allison. 7:39. 73degrees now on a thursday morning. still ahead, a big milestone for the rolling stones. 50 years ago today they played their first gig. they have not stopped playing

since. we're going to tell you how they are celebrating. ♪

♪ you come knocking on my front door ♪ >> going to be a contest between who has the raspiest voice. rod and stevie, their heart and soul tower, coming to verizon center july 27th. >> for a chance to win two tickets to the show, go to our web site, myfoxdc.com. you have to be 18 to enter and a legal resident of d.c., maryland or virginia. complete rules on the site. big day for one legendary band. today is the 50th anniversary of the rolling stones' first concert. members of the group are celebrating in london together. they'll attend a photo exhibition chronicling their career and rehearse new gigs. they say they are amazed after all these years they are still

going strong. that's funny. they're amazed at that themselves. rumors of the 50th anniversary tour, but so far no dates set. >> amazing. happy anniversary. and another rock legend in a dispute over a famous guitar, a guitar bob dylan famously plugged in the new port folk festival in 1965. he says he has it, but a new jersey woman claims it's been in her attic 47 years. the guitar could be the most historic instrument in rock and roll, that might be right, and could be worth up to a million dollars. >> i bet the family has it. i bet he forgot and the family has it. >> will be interesting. >> probably can verify that. >> i want to say thank you. made this nice announcement this week that wisdom and i are the new anchors of the show

along with you and wisdom. got this basket of cookies that you have your dear friends, tracy, who watches every morning. >> from atlanta, georgia. >> from atlanta, georgia. she watches every day. thank you for the cookies. i'm going to share them with the staff. tucker has been waiting all morning for me to open them up. she sent a nice note. the people who put the cookies together, the cookie says congratons. >> kind of wordy. >> they speak for themselves. >> not a lot of room on the cookie. >> true. thank you tracy. >> so nice. our weather will be nice today. upper 80s to about 90. live shot. >> that's pretty. >> you can tell there's not a lot of water in the atmosphere, because visibility is pretty good this morning. there you go. nice start to your day. got plans to get in the yard,

this is the day to do it. because the heat and humidity, the steam will be back for the weekend. 73 in washington. 68 at dulles. 68 in fredericksburg. ocean city 73 degrees. watching the front, stays to our south today. should be dealing with sunshine this afternoon. wouldn't you know it, it will move back towards as a warm front this weekend. thunderstorms back in the forecast starting the second half of friday, saturday, and sunday too. each afternoon the possibility of scattered storms and temperatures back in the 90s around here. low 90s for the weekend. 90 saturday, mid-90s sunday and monday. >> no three digit degrees on our temperatures. >> fingers crossed now. julie, before julie mentions it, yes, we'll get you some of these cookies. >> that wasn't what i was going to say, actually, breaking news -- >> what?

>> now that you are an anchor, i don't think you're allowed to share the twitter account with tucker barnes anymore. >> yes, you're right. that means unfortunately i will no longer be tweeting. >> you mean when i have to do it anyways? >> he said he's not going to tweet at all. >> oh, my gosh. i think@t perkins is perfect for you. >> i'll look into it. now you're not getting cookies. >> you know -- [ laughter ] -- i get no love from this man. i really don't. 395, duke street, across the 14th street bridge, all lanes open. struggle on 66, working into the sunshine. outer loop closed 95 to georgia. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. thank you very much. >> with the summer games fast approaching, a local fitness center is challenging you to be olympic strong. >> what a beautiful location.

holly is standing by in northwest with details. holly, you look fantastic. >> reporter: thank you. if i was going to be an olympian or train like one, i would want to do it at this place. is it gorgeous or what? we are live this morning at vita fitness, specifically at the penthouse pool, where, yes, they are celebrating team u.s.a. in all different ways. we'll talk about that. but if you still want to head to the games, believe it or not, you can. we're going to talk airfare and more on how you can go over there. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪

how you want. but they can be really well thexpensive.ted a puppy, so to save money i just found them a possum. dad, i think he's dead. probably just playin' possum. sfx: possum hisses there he is. there's an easier way to save. geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more on car insurance.

want to say good morning to our fan of the day. it's sharon daniels. she says she wakes up at 4:30. but at 4:25 you get a bonus

five minutes. anyway, she has been hoping to be fan of the day. so that means today is your lucky day, sharon. for a chance for your day to be friday, and you can get that special shoutout from us, log onto our facebook page and leave a common under her picture. >> do you know what her picture reminds me of? nina simone. glamorous. we're nearing the start of the 2012 olympics. if you haven't booked your trip yet, any hope of getting to the games? they won't be broadcast on tv in the united states this year. >> or if you'd be happier watching the olympic glory from home, how can you get geared up? holly morris joins us live from northwest. tony has the jokes this morning. >> reporter: i know. i was waiting for you to get it. i was like, i think he's kidding. here's the thing about the

olympics, they're bigger than any network, because everyone celebrating their athletes representing their country and it truly is a fun time. there's a bunch of different ways you can get in on team u.s.a. spirit. we're doing it this morning at vida fitness. they opened about a year ago, but in april they opened this amazing penthouse pool location, where james joins me, the marketing director. i have a feeling it's not too hard to market this place. >> no, it's great. one of a kind in d.c. >> reporter: it really is. we've been saying we don't feel like we're in d.c. we feel like we're in l.a. for sports clubs, they probably get this extra push, everyone all of a sudden wants to be fit. what are some of the things you're doing? >> we're all about the olympics at vida. we started pushing it 100 days out. it's all about train like an olympian. we have kevin doing our swim

class here, mimicking the swim meet at the olympics. we have a five-week program we're doing for nonmembers that they can train like an olympian, learn to eat like an olympian. we have competitions so they can build the competitiviveness within the club. we're going to give out a silver medal, bronze and gold medal here. >> reporter: i want to make sure we touch on that, because you're going to have an opening ceremony of sorts? >> yep. the day before. the olympics starts on the 13th. we're doing ours on the 12th. >> reporter: then you're going to have a closing ceremony? >> yep. >> reporter: when you see -- do you see people come, and it's also a talking point, let's talk about the olympics, watch the olympics, we can watch them at the bar. it brings people together, don't you think? >> it does. it's what the olympic spirit is all about. you start out and don't know these athletes and by the time

it's over everybody is rooting for them and it builds camaraderie within the club. you watch it on tv. it's just -- i love the olympics. >> reporter: i know! it's very exciting. you can really be in on the excitement if you went to london. thank you, james. >> thank you. >> reporter: i'm going to pull up my chair next to my favorite travel agent. vivian. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: we have our tea and crump pets. >> i feel like it's the jubilee. >> reporter: we're 15 days out, and you can still book a flight. >> i checked it again yesterday and out of the washington area, you can do it for under a thousand dollars even on the nonstops. >> reporter: part of getting that good fare is going to a different airport. u want, you can go into on the other airports, such as manchester, such as even going into dublin, and how about the romantics, never been to paris,

how about flying into paris and taking the tunnel over for the events. >> reporter: if you're going over there, and since you're going over there, probably want to do sight seeing in addition to seeing the olympics. what wobble a plan of attack there? >> the plan of attack would be after the opening ceremonies, while some of the teams are playing outside of london, and won't come in until the gold medal round, do your sight seeing then. take advantage of the tube and go to stonehenge. go to canterbury, oxford, the things out of the city. >> reporter: what do you think the likelihood of still getting tickets to a venue to see an event? >> i would say it's pretty probable. think about teams that have left the city and there's people just like any athletic event that now want to get rid of their tickets because they're going home. >> reporter: wonderful. myfoxdc.com is our web site. we have a link to west end

travel and a link to vida fitness. coming up in our next hour, though, julie who is competing in rhythmic gymnastics and she's joining us in the pool. back to you. >> thank you. ahead, verizon is speaking out about its crippled 911 service last month. the regional vice president of the company joins us live for a recent call for a task force to investigate. >> you might start to notice higher prices on foods at the grocery store, such as corn. a severe drought in the states is really taking a toll on farmers and their crops. we're going to talk to a research economist from the usda about how this affects you now and down the road. 7:57. ♪

♪ ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] what's the point of an epa estimated 42 miles per gallon if the miles aren't interesting? the lexus ct hybrid. this is the pursuit of perfection.

straight ahead, under pressure, three d.c. council members call on mayor vincent gray to step down. plus, new details about how his campaign spent money back in 2010 and when the mayor learned

about it. we'll have a live report. >> looking for answers. one day after fairfax county officials call for a task force to investigate a massive 911 failure. we will talk to verizon officials about what went wrong during last month's storm. >> later, biting off more than they could chew. a family fishing trip ends with a shock of a lifetime. there's some of the video. good morning, everybody, i'm tony perkins. >> and i'm alison seymour. we welcome you to the 8:00 hour of fox 5 morning news. and tucker barnes is with us of course, talking about this weather on this thursday. nice start to the day. temperatures overnight in the 60s, low 70s. >> comfortable. >> very comfortable. later this afternoon will be warm, but not too hot. >> saying the magic words. >> let's get down to business here. 73 in washington. humidity 73%. winds out of the east at 3 miles per hour. winds off the ocean that will

stabilize things today and keep us generally in fine shape here. a lot of sunshine this afternoon. satellite radar, little cloud cover to start your day, particularly south of the city and south and east of the city. if you're watching down at the beaches, you have a little more in the way of cloud cover. i think you'll see plenty of sunshine even towards ocean city later this afternoon. for us, bright sunshine for much of your day. highs in the upper 80s to low 90s. should be dry. not concerned about showers and thunderstorms later this afternoon. here's your planner for the day, highs, warm this afternoon, upper 80s to about 90 by 4:00 p.m. >> we'll take it. let's go to julie wright. >> traveling around the capitol beltway, in the heart of the rush hour, headed toward the split, all lanes open, no problems to report, continuing

across the american legion bridge. we have reports of accident activity inbound 66 on the tr bridge tying up a couple of lanes. thank you, regina. she's moving that camera around. big delays traveling inbound this morning. accident activity tying up two lanes towards constitution avenue and towards the e street express way. no problems on the gw parkway. lanes open from the beltway towards the potomac crossing. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. julie, thank you very much. we are about 60 minutes away now from a first glimpse at a new report that could shed new light on one of the most troubling scandals in college sports history. today the results of penn state's internal investigation into the jerry sandusky scandal will be released. sandusky is the former assistant football coach convicted of several accounts

of child sex abuse. the team interviewed hundreds of people, hoping to learn how the team responded to repeated warnings that sandusky was a serial molester. three members of the d.c. council are calling on mayor gray to resign. >> it's the latest in the growing campaign corruption scandal plaguing the d.c. government. melanie alnwick has details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are learning more about the illegal campaign activities that were used to help get gray elected in 2010. the associated press reporting the day laborers hired by the campaign to work at polls were paid $100, and that is twice the legal limit, and then that those payments were disguised as consulting fees. again, not legal. not allowed to do according to laws. after the finance shadow campaign was confirmed in federal court tuesday, some council members say it is time for mayor gray to step down.

mayor gray still isn't speaking candidly about the corruption inside his 2010 campaign, citing the ongoing investigation. but wednesday he did say he never knew about illegal fund raising or shadow campaign taking place. after entering a guilty plea tuesday, campaign pr consultantant jeannie harris told the washington post she met with gray in january to discuss the unreported spending. gray said since rumors of a shadow campaign surfaced, he's been trying to find out what happened and he was the first to call for an investigation. some council members say the scandal raises doubts about the validity of his election. >> his legitimacy of his -- >> i can't how the business of government can go forward in the way it should. >> reporter: gray said he is very concerned about the revolutions, but he says that they do not reflect on his work as mayor and he is not corrupt

nor is his administration. he did have a meeting late yesterday evening with new council chairman, and mendleson made a statement saying he believes the calls for the resignation are premature at this time. allison? thanks, melanie. turning to national politics, a day after mitt romney's address to the nation's largest civil rights organization, the white house gets to offer a rebuttal of sorts. today the vice president will speak to the naacp. yesterday, mitt romney received a polite reception. he pitched his economic policies to the crowd of african-american voters, saying he would do more for african- americans than president obama has done. he also pledged to repeal the recent health care reform law, which proved unpopular.

>> i'm going to eliminate every nonessential expensive program i can find, that includes obama care, and i'm going to work to reform and save -- [ crowd booing] ] >> he also received some applause when he spoke out against gay marriage. romney is unlikely to win over the african-american vote. about 95% of african-american voters backed president obama in 2008. a former vice president is lending the former governor some support. today dick cheney and his wife will hold a fundraiser for romney near their home in jackson hole, wyoming. as expected, the republican controlled house has voted to repeal the so-called obama care law. but the effort is still dead in the water. the repeal has no chance of passing the democratic controlled senate. even if it did, the white house would veto it. democrats say getting rid of the law would eliminate consumer protections that have benefited millions of people. speaking of health, we have

new information this morning about illinois congressman jesse jackson junior's medical issues. yesterday his office announced the 47-year-old is being treated for a mood disorder. they also denied reports he suffers from alcohol and substance abuse issues. the news comes more than a month after the lawmaker quietly left congress on a medical leave of absence. his office refused to provide more details such as his whereabouts or the name of his doctor. the power wasn't the only thing people lost in last month's storm. more than 2 million people lost access to 911. >> still ahead on fox 5 morning news, we'll talk live with verizon's regional vice president about what went wrong and what steps the company is taking to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> metro's controversial new plan though save money could cost passengers more time. 8:08now. we'll be right back. 

making headlines in the

days ahead, metro's board of directors is holding a meeting today. they're expected to give several updates on last week's derailment on the green trains. also today, a local hero laid to rest. this afternoon marine corporal neil cody sears will be buried at arlington national cemetery. he died in afghanistan last month. the governor of maryland is going to be hanging out with the governor of virginia today, and other governors. it's the 104th annual meeting of the national governor's association. it runs until sunday. it's 8:12 now. let's get another check on the weather from tucker. and-- >> yes, something special. something extra. >> special. >> in the governor's meeting, they have to introduce each

other -- >> and the honorable, and the honorable. >> time for fox 5 first photo of the day. today we say hello to payton symone williams. >> i like that name. >> cute as can be. >> i am going to predict now, she is a future supreme court justice. >> going early with that. >> you watch. >> i may not be around for that. i hope that's the case. this is a picture of one-year- old symone enjoying her first fourth of july barbecue. >> she matches holly today. >> adorable. >> to send us your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com, click on mornings. going to be another warm day, with high temperatures in the upper 80s to about 90. now it's 73 in

washington. very comfortable overnight. our temperatures falling back into the 60s. comfortable 60s. winchester 63 degrees. 73 in ocean city. cloud cover for our friends to the south and east. lower eastern shore, southern maryland, a little cloud cover. i think the trend will be partly sunny for you. the rest of us, washington and north and west, generally a sunny day, bright sunny day. not expecting any rain showers and/or thunderstorm activity upfront. tomorrow and the weekend, the front moves back in and with it the risk of scattered showers and thunderstorms, as well as more humidity. enjoy the relatively nice conditions today. 89 in afternoon. mostly sunny. not a lot of humidity. humidity back this weekend with clouds and scattered showers and thunderstorms both saturday and sunday. highs in the low 90s. that's a look at weather. let's do traffic and get the

latest from julie. >> bumper-to-bumper traffic now coming southbound on the gw parkway making the exit to the potomac crossing. eastbound 66 trouble, and inbound headed across the bridge mid-span. accident activity tying up the two right lanes. we can see it slow exit off the gw parkway headed to constitution avenue. mid-span, two right lanes closed off at the scene of that crash. southbound along 270, falls road, word of a stalled car in the road, contributing to this delay leaving shady grove road. heavy volume on the american legion bridge. 17miles per hour here at new hampshire avenue. that's a check of your fox 5 ontime traffic. when last month's big storm hit our area, people in northern virginia could not

reach 911 service for emergencies for days. on wednesday, a washington council of government meeting, fairfax county, presented a proposal to create a regional task force to find out why verizon's facility in arlington did not work. leaders from various agencies took part in that meeting, including verizon communications. joining us now with more information from richmond, virginia by phone, is verizon's regional vice president, tony lewis. thank you for joining us this morning. >> thank you, allison. >> i just got to ask you, on behalf of our area, what in the world happened? >> there were three major things that we are investigating that happened in the middle of this storm. we had commercial power failures and extensive network damage that happened both to our inside and outside planted, our equipment inside our central offices and outside. then we had mechanical failures. it's the combination of those

things that caused the failures that did not allow some 911 calls to go through. >> this is a colossal failure on the part of this giant corporation. i have to ask where the backup system here needed to make sure folks get the service they deserve. >> you're correct. we understand one thing and one thing clearly, there's nothing more important to us than 911 and the ability to reach those call takers. as a resident myself, as our employees are residents of the metropolitan area, it's critical we figure out what happened. the system was designed with multiple redundancies. but the magnitude of this storm, in conjunction with multiple network failures is what we're investigating. i appreciate the opportunity for us to come in and sit and

partner with them and to go deep and figure out exactly what happened and most importantly, what we're going to do to avoid it in the future. it is top of mind for us now. >> the 911 director of fairfax county was on our show recently. he says moving forward he doesn't have much confidence in verizon and a big part of it, he wasn't told until this problem until some 12 hours after 911 had gone out. how do you explain that, sir? >> i appreciate his concerns and let me say this, we are very confident in our network. now people are dialing 911 and getting the help they need, not only in washington, but around the country. we feel very confident. we're going to work with steve. we appreciate what steve's frustration has been. we're trusted with any outage, any one call that doesn't go through is a call that should have gone through for us. so we're absolutely going to work with him to make sure we figure out what happened and put in solutions so it doesn't

happen again. >> the virginia state corporation commission, fcc and verizon all looking into this investigation. what sort of turn around can we expect? what can we expect? >> that's why i'm in richmond today. we're meeting with the 911 services board today. we have meetings with the fcc and the virginia scc in the next few days. so we're immediately partnering. we have a special task force from verizon with our best technologists that will be in all the meetings to quickly come to a realization of what happened, why it happened and most importantly, what we're going to do on a going forth basis to assure our public, our customers, our employees that this will not happen again. >> as a customer, not in virginia, but as a customer nonetheless, i got to ask, are you saying you don't know what happened? >> as i mentioned, we see there

were three major failures, the commercial power, network damage and mechanical failures. we know on a base line what we are looking at. we want to go deep. we don't want to make assumptions that we know exactly what contributed to the failures. we want to go deep. we're going to do the work, partner to make sure the solutions we put in place actually solve potential problems we may not know of today. we want to be sure we do the right thing for our customers. >> thank you so much for joining us. that's tony lewis, the verizon regional vice president joining us by phone. >> thank you, allison. thank you very much. talk about the one that got away. still ahead at 8:00, a fishing trip ends with one woman finding a big surprise at the end of her line, and it's all caught on tape. wow. >> and later, a closer look at what it takes to join america's best of the best. holly morris shows us the type of training it takes to be an

olympian. we'll be right back.

oreo and dunkin' are the perfect match for the perfect moment. enjoy the new oreo coolatta and donut today. america runs on dunkin'. welcome back, everybody. fox5 morning news. it's 8:23. they are a handful of events that have triggered serious

emotions. it's the time people remember what they were doing and where they were. you know those events. >> and those same events tend to get around the clock coverage by news organizations. according to a new survey, the 9/11 terrorist attacks were the number one most memorable tv moments. hurricane katrina, o.j. simpson trial, challenger disaster, and death of osama bin laden rounded out the top five. that means the assassination of john k. kennedy isn't in the top five now. i guess that speaks to the aging of our population. >> right. >> but that's still within that 50-year window. >> would think so. like to see the rest of that list. anyone who says fishing isn't exciting wasn't with these people. take a look. sarah braham was reeling in a catch in south carolina

tuesday, when a bull shark grabs the end of the line, giving the group on the pier quite a scare. yeah. >> look at the water that shark is in. that doesn't look to be particularly deep water. >> what in the world. >> i love how they have the net out there. >> right. can you imagine, you're fishing and then this is on your line. >> we're hearing a little too much about sharks all of a sudden? tucker says, it's summertime. >> thanks, tucker. 8:25now. truly from the peanut gallery. >> i used to be over there. >> still ahead, the link between bra size and breast cancer. why there's a connection there. >> fascinating story. first, new details about the death of a local newspaper reporter. how she may have left behind a key clue on her facebook page. we'll be right back. it's 8:25. max.

this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. and a single pool of sharable data that powers up to 10 devices.

the first plan of it's kind. share everything. only from verizon. add a smartphone for just $40 monthly access.

topping headlines here at home and around the world, several leads in the murder of a local newspaper reporter. sarah greenhalgh worked for the winchester star. she was found dead monday inside her burned out home. investigators say the fire was set to conceal the crime. investigators are talking to a man he referenced as crazy she referenced as crazy in a facebook posting. homeowners praying for a -- bracing for a slew of foreclosures. banks are finally addressing their backlog of unpaid mortgages. 700,000 homes expected to be repossessed this year, and that could send down home prices even further. bad news. and a blow to the regime as an ambassador defects to the rebels. syria's ambassador to iraq went

on television last night, announcing he is switching sides. he is the most senior syrian diplomat to switch to the opposition. 8:30 now. and tucker barnes is with us. >> nice looking start to the day. saw a few minutes ago in holly's live shot, beautiful. lots of sunshine. great looking thursday. upper 80s, maybe 90 for afternoon highs. not a lot of humidity and should be dry. good looking day. things will change this weekend. will be a little bit steamier with thunderstorms around. 74 now in washington. 60s in a few spots. 66 in manassas. 72 in morning in salisbury. overnight temperature fell to 72 at reagan national, tying the coolest temperature we've had this month. temperatures trending well above normal for the first third of the month. 71 now in martinsburg. let's do the weather forecast.

off to the south we've got frontal system that moved through on sunday. just hanging out down here for the day. it will start to move back towards the mid-atlantic as we get into late this afternoon, really into your day tomorrow and saturday. eventually we'll get more humidity and a better chance of showers and thunderstorms. i think today it's going to hold off. we'll be looking at generally sunny skies and as mentioned, highs where they should be, upper 80s to about 90. front stays to our south today. it rolls back into the region overnight tonight and will hang up across the area for the weekend. that means thunderstorms back in the forecast along with more humidity around here by saturday and sunday. here's your five-day forecast, 89 in afternoon. 87 tomorrow. lot of clouds around tomorrow with a few scattered late-day storms. saturday and sunday we keep the scattered showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. highs in the low 90s. heads up, early next week looks like the heat is back. mid-90s tuesday and wednesday. that's weather, tony. back over to you. tucker, thank you. speaking of the heat, of course, as you know the heat

has been on across much of the country this summer. that may mean you're getting extra sun exposure. but in addition to sunscreen there are certain foods that naturally raise your body's sun protection factor. plus, it's a diagnosis one in eight women will face in her lifetime. now a new study is linking the rink of breast cancer to a woman's bra size. deena centifonti with the fox medical team has details on both of these important stories. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tony. want to start with food? >> let's start with the food. >> reporter: all right. i want to show you this. this is a spinach smoothie, which you may not think it looks good. it's very good. spinach, pineapple, banana. spinach is a key food. when we talk about boosting your body's sun protection factor, it's a lot of the foods we should be eating anyway. let me break it down for you. almonds. it's one of the things top on

the list, because almonds are high in vitamin e and celenemu millimeter. spinach, high in vitamin a. it's the antioxidants that sweep up the free radicals that happen when you get sun damage. fruits like lemons, oranges, strawberries, high in vitamin c. if you're eating it, you can imagine it will be really good for your skin. finally, tony, a german study found the combination of tomato paste and olive oil, when people ate that, they had less damage when they sat under a

sun lamp. it's interesting. you have the lycopene in the tomato paste. put the two together and it seemed to protect skin. >> perfect. i'm going to opt for a spinach salad as opposed to a smoothie, if you don't mind. tell us about this other story, breast cancer and bra size. >> yeah. big headline, bigger breasts linked to greater breast cancer risk. we have to back peddle a little bit. a california genetics company did the study, looked at thousands of european womens, about 19,000 or so, and found women with larger breast size had more genetic variants linked to breast cancer. we can't quite make the link that bigger breast size means greater breast cancer risk. this was really a study about dna. and they did find, again, women with larger breast size had more of the genetic factors. but it's a long way to go in

this research. there are so many things that they need -- we still need to learn about what causes breast cancer. this is a good first step. of course, tony, we always say you can't control your genes, who your parents were. when we talk about breast cancer prevention, we talk about the good basics, good nutrition, exercising, not smoking and getting screenings. >> eating the right foods. may want to be thinking about that more as we hear the developments in this story. you enjoy that, deena. drink up. >> thanks, tony. >> thank you. >> cheers. >> good to see you again. allison? it's news that no one wants to hear, but get ready to pay more at the grocery store. ahead, how our scorching summer will impact your wallet. >> plus, the redskins' new quarterback racking up the awards. we'll take you to the espy awards, where rg iii was showing off the socks and

taking home the prizes. >> that's my take, local teachers get a pay raise. but is the timing right. >> this month thanks to superintendent joshua star, montgomery county teachers will be receiving a 3.4% pay increase. the first increase since salaries were frozen three years ago. the average of the two increases is approximately 5%. included are retroactive pay raises for teachers that would have been eligible for increase last year. no one would disagree the teachers are deserving. but you have to question the timing, which also impacts the already overburdened teacher pension system. while the county's economic future is still certainly not bright. recently, the county council

announced montgomery county is looking at a $71 million deficit for 2014. the county council responding opted instead to giver a $2,000 bonus to other county workers who also hadn't seen a pay increase in a few years. the pay increases for teachers, already the best paid in the region, will be offset by increases in employees' copays for doctor visits and prescription drugs, along with a $27 million surplus. a surplus that may have been more wise to spend on decreasing class sizes, which grew over the past few years because of teacher layoffs. an opportunity to improve the classroom experience for students and teachers was squandered. the county council, while it does set the county's school system overall funding, does not have the authority over determining teacher salary increases. that authority is in the hands of the board of education, and the superintendent. but maybe it's time for the

county council to seek just such authority, since they act more fairly with taxpayer dollars. that's my take. let me know what you think. go to myfoxdc.com and click on that's my take, or send me an e- mail at tmt@wttg.com. building pass, corporatete ca, verizon 4g lte phone.

the global ready one ? yeah, but you won't need... ♪ hajimemashite. hajimemashite. hajimemashite. you guys like football ? thank you so much. i'm stoked. you stoked ? totally. ... and he says, "under the mattress." souse le matelas. ( laughter ) why's the new guy sending me emails from paris ? paris, france ? verizon's 4g lte devices are global-ready. plus, global data for just $25. only from verizon. [ female announcer ] every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health care should be our own is troubled mitt romney supports overturning roe versus wade.

romney backed a law that outlaws all abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest. and that's not all. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] for women, planned parenthood means life-saving cancer screenings and family-planning services. but, for mitt romney... planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] virtual wallet can help you be that person who's good with money. see what's free to spend. move money with a slide. save with a shake. feel good about your decisions.

welcome back. it's 8:40 now. there's a good shot of the area. >> it is. tucker is right, you can see how clear the sky is. not a lot of moisture in the air. low humidity. >> pretty, pretty. well, it is a night dedicated to athletes. >> many of sports' biggest names and celebrities came together for the espy awards. >> the fans decided the espy goes to lebron james. [ applause ] >> there was lebron. not there live, but on video to say thank you. he was the big winner of the night. he took home awards for best male athlete, best championship performance, and best nba player. >> all right. >> miami heat also won for bever team -- best team.

robert griffin iii won for best college athlete. >> look at his socks. >> brian wilson arrived with his date, sasquatch. >> you love who you love. >> i'm sure he was attracted by that beard. the critics came out with gloves swinging over the team u.s.a. uniforms. topping the list, made in china. >> what? >> not here in the u.s. other people say the clothes were too expensive. the price tag for the uniform, more than a thousand dollars. fashionistas have harsh words for the beret, saying it's not usually worn in america. >> i'm not with the beret either. if you've ever wondered what kind of training it takes

to be a world class competitor, stay tuned. >> holly morris has an inside look at the life of an olympian. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. i am spending quality time with the beautiful julie zetlin. she'll be competing in rhythmic gymnastics, the first to represent the u.s. since 2004. no pressure. we'll talk to her about her training, her dream, and what it will be like to be over there across the pond. it's all live next on fox 5 morning news. stay with us. can i try on the jacket? ñ

we have been flogging through drenching rains here, and parts of the midwest have gotten less than an inch of rain in the past three months. less than an inch. some farmers are being forced to plow down their crops and turn them into feed for cattle, because their corn has withered. joining us for a look at the relationship between droughts and supermarket prices down the road is the research economist within the food markets branch of the usda food market

division. may i call you ricky? >> sure. >> how bad is it, ricky? >> we don't know the extent of the drought, and how bad it will affect the output of corn and food prices. for a while we were hoping to have a record corn output this year. that's not going to happen now. we know the output is almost certainly going to be below expectations. the only question is how far below expectations. that depends when we get rain. >> i understand where our food comes from, but living in the city, i don't see the effects of what happens to farmers and other people who rely on this for their livelihood. when i hear they'll have to plow their crops down for feed, that's got to be devastating. >> sure. of course, it's a killer, absolutely. you're going for something that produces guaranteed stream of revenues to almost nothing. >> sure. how does a farmer or farm bounce back from that? just a matter of nature? >> well, sure. the idea is over time you have

this average yield that fits the terms of the crop insurance. absolutely, this will be a tough year. again, depending on the extent of the drought, this could be a tough year, especially for smaller farmers. >> for those of us who magically get our food at the supermarket, what does that mean for us when we go to check out? how soon could the prices jump up? >> corn is probably the single most important crop for american food, for the food we buy. it's a component, ingredient in almost 75% of the food we buy at the supermarket. absolutely as the price of corn goes up, so goes the price of food. the relationship between farm corn prices and retail food prices is maybe not as strong as a lot of people might expect. historically going back looking at droughts that have happened in the past and looking at changes in the price of corn in the past, we've seen that if the price of corn shoots up by about 50%, which i should mention is a very dramatic

price increase for corn, then we would expect the overall price of retail groceries to go up between a half and 1 percentage point. average across all of consumer shopping baskets. >> we'll feel that. i don't know if you can answer this, but predictions now, is this expected to get worse this summer or does it matter, is mother nature the one holding the cards here? >> of course mother nature holds all the cards. irrigation is only a factor for the sweet corn. irrigation isn't a major factor in the more vast northern plains where we're growing field corn that we use for feed, which is where the major -- that's the major mechanickism by which corn prices affect food prices. every day it doesn't rain, the situation gets worse. by worse, i mean we're going to end up with less corn. but if rain comes within the next week, that's vital. we're at a tipping point now for our corn crop. our corn stalks are getting -- their buds are coming in, and

this is where they're at the most sensitive. as rain comes in the next week, we could see a bounceback. >> as a specialist, you're watching this i'm sure. >> absolutely. as everybody knows, 2011 was a tough year for food prices, shot up 5 to 6% for major food categories, which is above normal. especially coupled with a weak economy, which is have. here in 2012, and up until now our projection has been for a year of normal historically normal food prices inflation, where the average basket of grocery goods was expected to go up maybe 2.5, 3%. still within the range of normal. this drought in the midwest, and i should note also soybean prices, has the real potential to give us another year of above normal food prices inflation, which will hit consumers where it hurts. >> not a good time with this

economic downturn for food prices to go up. that's the reality. thank you so much. >> of course. >> tony, over to you. thank you very much. what does it take to become an olympic athlete? one young woman from bethesda has the answers. holly morris is with julie zetlin live in northwest. >> reporter: good morning. what a special morning we're having here live at vida fitness, the penthouse pool area. we are talking all things team u.s.a. with julie zetlin. she's 22 years old. beautiful. and ready to head to london to represent our nation. how long have you been training for this moment? >> it's hard to exactly say how long, but i've been doing gymnastics for 18 years, so it's been a long journey. >> reporter: at what point did you say, you know what, i want to go to the olympics? >> it was always a dream of

mine since i was little, but probably became a real when i was a senior level gymnast, probably around 16 years old. >> reporter: let's let everybody know how good you are. you've heard me say she's the first time to represent the team since 2004. you're a bit of a trail blazer in this sport, for us? >> you know, it's weird to think of myself that way, but you know, it was a big deal to make the olympics for team u.s.a. this time around. >> reporter: why you? why were you able to make that leap? >> well, i've been around for a while, as we know. and it's hard to kind of break into the sport and kind of get your name out there. but once you've been working for a while, been competing internationally and had your face around the scene for a while, depending on how good you are, you climb up the

ladder and get your name up there. >> reporter: at the pan am world games you won all around gold, gold in ball and ribbon and silver in the hoops. >> yes. >> reporter: let's talk chances. are we going to see you on the medal stand? >> you know, as much as i would love to say yes for sure, you'll see me win gold, i want people to know the reality of it all, and team u.s.a. for rhythmic gymnastics isn't up there yet. we haven't been on the medal stand at all. the western hemisphere hasn't been up there yet. i'm trying -- >> reporter: to get us on the map? >> yeah. >> reporter: what are you going to do, if they're raising the flag for you? have you thought about that moment? you've thought about that moment. >> i've definitely thought about it. when i got a taste of it at pan am games, it was emotional for me. hearing the anthem and putting my hand on my heart, it was difficult for me to say -- stay

contained and not get emotional. to be on the olympic stage, i can't even begin to describe the feeling. >> reporter: let's talk about the plan of attack from now until then, when you leave, and once you get over there. how does it all work? things that we don't know about being an olympian. >> honestly, you have to remain calm. keep the training how it's been the whole time. don't get overly excited. yet you know this is the highest stage for any athlete. really maintain being healthy and maintain practices the way they are. i always try to think quality versus quantity, because i don't want to get too tired, i don't want to forego any injury. >> reporter: how long does it take to get acclimated to the time change? >> probably not long. i'm used to training internationally. i'll be there a week training. >> reporter: your health is good. you had knee surgery, right?

>> two knee surgeries. >> reporter: two knee surgeries. >> yeah. >> reporter: i'm with you there. my dream is to go and cover olympics. your dream is to be in it. at least one of us realized it. myfoxdc.com is our web site. we have a link to vida fitness where we're live this morning and west end travel if you want to plan to go over there. coming up in our next hour, not just julie who is going. her dad is going, too, and he'll join us and we'll talk about being the parent of an olympian and we'll be rocking the red for you. she's a huge caps' fan. back to you in the studio. >> good luck! we are rooting for you. >> that's great. >> thanks, holly. these are clips the new movie "ice age," it opensation wide in friday, july 13th. get in on the fun by going to myfoxdc.com and enter for a

chance to win tickets. >> today and friday, two winners will be chosen by random drawing. they'll each receive four tickets, that will be valid monday through thursday starting monday july 16th. you must be 18 or older to enter and legal resident of the area, that is d.c., maryland or virginia. you can see the complete rules on our web site. 8:55 now. never underestimate the power of touch. still ahead at 9:00, wait until you hear how much some people will pay to snuggle up with a stranger. >> plus, we'll show you the new way police in prince george's county are training to make life and death decisions. it is fascinating. it's 8:56. we'll be right back. 

good thursday morning. i'm alison seymour. >> i'm tony perkins. coming up this hour, calls for resignation. d.c. mayor vincent gray under the microscope as more details emerge about corruption. ahead, melanie