these early live shots tell you what the day is like. you can see the haze. it will be a steamy one. good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> i'm alison seymour. ready or not, we'll be back in the soup. >> sure are. >> tuck is here with all the deets. >> good morning. hot temperatures here to stay for your afternoon, expected high about 100 degrees. obviously not starting off on a comfortable note here in the d.c. area. there's a look at your current

temperatures. 77 right now in washington. overnight lows. generally looking at them in the upper 70s along the urban corridor here. little better off to the north and west. winchester currently 70 degrees. and 72 at dulles. expect temperatures to jump quickly. you saw the sunshine in the live shot. not expecting a lot in the way of cloud cover. i don't think we'll see shower or thunderstorm activity as our radar is quiet this morning and this afternoon, too, as that area of high pressure to our west builds in. quiet weather pattern and should be a quiet afternoon. though scorching hot temperatures here to stay, with actual high temperature in washington about 99 degrees. 97 leonardtown and in front royal. this particular heat wave won't last forever. i'll let you know when we'll see relief coming up. let's get to traffic and see if things are moving along with lauren demarco. good morning. >> that is what we want to know

about, that relief. northbound 95, the delays, skyfox over 95 a bit further north, near 7100. to the left of your screen headlights heading toward you, main lanes, hov in the center. everyone is moving. off and on in dale city. up to the mixing bowl, you should be in good shape. trafficland, 395 on the brakes toward duke and continuing to seminary. after that, easy chip to the 14th street bridge. traveling the beltway, inner loop slows briefly in stretches. outer loop, delays from van dorn headed to eisenhower. no problems across the wilson bridge at this point. looking good in prince george's county. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. allison?

thanks, lauren. we are following a developing story out of montgomery county this morning. federal authorities are working with local police to figure out what caused a deadly plane crash. >> the small plane went down before 7:30 last night in laytonsville, maryland near davis airport. melanie alnwick is live at the scene with the latest. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, tony. we do expect that officials from the ntsb and faa will arrive shortly and will begin their investigation around 8:00 this morning. no official cause yet, but there are reports from eyewitnesses that suggests there may have been an engine failure. a spokesperson for davis airport has identified the deceased as 79-year-old flight instructor frank schmidt. he had over 40 years experience and had been hired by friends to take them through a series

of practice runs. the pilot recently purchased a share in the plane and wanted schmidt to help him get more familiar with the plane. witnesses say they heard something go wrong with the plane's engine. >> on its approach made an abrupt back fire, whereas the engine's exhaust emitted a loud bang. you normally wouldn't see the engine do anything that would make you think something was wrong. >> reporter: instead of landing the plane, they took off again and crashed into a wooded area about 40 yards away from a small cluster of homes. the pilot was flown to a trauma center. the man who found the wreckage says the pilot was alert and talking, but it was obvious the flight instructor did not survive that crash. we expect the ntsb and faa will

come out here and go past the air strip here, through that wooded area to take a look to see if it was a mechanical malfunction. back to you. melanie, thank you very much. checking our other top stories, a fire in prince william county forces some people to reportedly jump from their balcony. we're told one firefighter may be hurt, but no one seriously injured. flames broke out around 9:00 last night. firefighters contained the blaze by the time skyfox flew over the area. prince george's county police search for suspects after two people were stabbed last night in the 6400 block of pennsylvania avenue in forestville. the victims are expected to live. investigators are looking for two suspects who they say knew their victims.

new this morning in canada, what's being called the most serious gun violence ever in toronto. massive panic broke out after a gunman opened fire at an outdoor party. two people killed and at least 19 others including an infant were injured. one person of interest is in custody and police are searching for the others. a bridge connecting canada and the u.s. was shut down for hours because of a bomb threat. >> it is one of the busiest bridges linking the united states to on tare o. sarah. >> police say someone called 911 and warned a bomb would go off on the ambassador bridge in detroit. >> the canadian authorities

shut down the bridge on their side. at that time it was collaboration between the customs, u.s. customs along with several other agencies here and the decision was made to actually shut down this side as well. >> police set up several roadblocks near the bridge, where k-9 units were called in. coast guard teams were also on hand patrolling the river underneath the bridge. it led to major traffic backups. >> inconvenienced. sit here five hours, six hours maybe, so they can get things cleared up. check on every inch of the bridge, i guess. >> along with the bridge search, investigators are trying to track down where the 911 call was made. >> this call did come from the u.s. side and we are definitely

following up on the information that we have so far utilizing our intell center. >> they opened the bridge after they found no signs of explosive. >> i personally have been under the bridge and over the bridge. >> the threat comes days after another bomb threat led authorities to temporarily close the nearby windsor tunnel. no device was found in that incident either. back to you. the big story today, the united states could be headed for another recession unless congress and the president strike a deal on spending and tax cuts. fox's doug luzader joins us live with the story. doug? >> reporter: good morning. the senate is going to hear from fed chairman ben bernanke today. there is more talk of the nation going over what's being called a fiscal cliff. if congress and the white house don't get on the same page in coming months, the results could be disastrous for the economy. the bush tax cuts come to an end at the end of the year, and at the same time, big spending

cuts, including hits for the pentagon's budget automatically kick in. some think it could derail the world economy. >> on the fiscal cliff. it's clear that given the size of the u.s. economy, what was in the u.s. has large spillovers for other economies. >> reporter: the tax hikes could lead to a domestic collapse. >> that is a massive tax increase, when you have increases like that, that will precipitate the collapse. >> reporter: whose taxes, if any, should go up? the democrats want those earning more than $250,000 a year to pay more, and they are willing to go to the mat. >> i will absolutely continue this debate into 2013, rather than lock in a long-term deal this year that throws middle class families under the bus. >> what the democrats are proposing today is an entirely

avoidable high stakes game of chicken. >> reporter: in all likelihood this may not be resolved until after the november election, which means the congress would have to act fast to hammer out some kind of an agreement to get it done before we reach that so-called cliff on january 1. allison? >> we will be watching. doug, thank you so much. to the campaign trail now, where first lady michelle obama is expected to campaign for her husband of course in virginia at the end of this week. she'll make appearances in charlottesville and fredericksburg friday. it comes a week after president obama campaigned in the state. now polls show the president has a slight lead in virginia over mitt romney. maryland's governor says progress is being made towards reaching a consensus to hold a special session to expand gambling. he has a meeting today to discuss the issue. he had talks with the

montgomery county executive and prince george's executive yesterday. national harbor has been mentioned as a possible location for a sixth casino. >> this has to happen. this is millions of dollars for the state of maryland. millions of dollars for prince george's county, baltimore city. >> governor o'malley says he won't call a special session until he has an agreement from house leaders. the assembly must take action by august 20th if it wants the issue to get on the november ballot. still ahead, a major milestone today for the dulles rail project. >> and an approach to protect school children in fairfax county from predators. why some bus routes could be changing. >> team u.s.a. got off to a bad start last night. but ended strong. we're checking sports later. >> here's a live look outside. it is going to be a scorcher, folks. we'll get the latest weather

from tucker, traffic from lauren in just a little bit. so stay with us for that. it's 7:11 right now. ould 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.

welcome back. making headlines this morning, the president of syria is ready to use chemical weapons. that's the claim from the most senior defector from syria to the bbc and the former syrian ambassador says chemical weapons may have already been used. he is making claims about syria using al-qaida operatives to kill his own people. more reports of heavy machine gunfire in different parts of da mass cass. two americans kidnapped in egypt has been released unharmed. they were taken off a bus friday with their tour guide. the kidnapper demanded the release of his uncle. he let the americans go after

negotiations with security officials and tribal leaders. new hope in the fight against hiv, the fda has approved the drug truvada. another big headline, this dangerous heat. >> upper 90s to close to 100. record for today is 102. don't think we'll quite get there. our humidity won't be terrible today. >> okay. >> it was a little tough yesterday. >> i'm looking for -- >> a little hope. i'm getting calls for fall. >> no, not yet.

busy schedules. >> reagan national 80 degrees. not cooling off overnight. that's one of the hallmarks of the heat. 79 in gaithersburg. much of the area in the 70s and why the heat? big dome of high pressure out to the west that actually says hot. >> it's football shaped this time. >> looks like a turkey to me. >> a turkey? >> uh-huh. >> sophisticated viewers. 99in washington today. st. louis 101. talking about the terrible drought out there and the high pressure is the reason why. it causes the storminess to steer up and around it. unfortunately, the pattern will remain intact with a lot of least for the week.

99for us. 98 tomorrow. look at saturday, 85 and sunny. >> yeah! that's going to feel so good. >> going to feel good. can i put in a weather guy for tomorrow? can i trump everybody else? >> sure. >> i'll tell you what it is next weather break. now let's find out what's happening with traffic. lauren demarco is here with that. >> who is calling for fall? no, no, no. >> i've heard it, too, i have to say i've heard a couple people say i'm ready for fall. >> i haven't heard it. i'm not into that. fall means winter, and -- >> you guys, really. >> take it down. delays from new york avenue to southeast southwest freeway now. an accident in the third street tunnel, southbound direction. 350 heavy approaching the bw avenue. and again from north capitol

street because of the wreck. 95 delays from lorton to springfield. 395 off and on the brakes from the beltway to king street. looking good at duke. traveling 66, heavy and slow through manassas, and from 7100 to route 50. and nutley street delays, no accidents reported, just volume. 270 busy from falls road to the spur. some relief for people concerned about increased traffic caused by expansion in virginia. it will expand from telegraph road north to mount vernon memorial highway. it will include bike lanes, and crosswalks. the metro expansion project marks a milestone today.

the final piece of the structure going through tysons corner will be put into place. the first leg of the silver line, which includes four stops in the tysons area is set to open late last year. fairfax county schools will consider where sex offenders live in considering whether to move a bus stop. in the past, the schools turned down such requests. but monday, officials said they'll try to be more flexible in the future. it is 20 minutes after 7:00 now on this tuesday morning. the nationals wrap up their series with the marlins. highlights of last night's game are coming up. >> plus, a newly engaged couple captured in the moment with this snapshot at the d.c. memorial. why it's creating a lot of buzz. >> holly is hanging out with

the washington castles this morning. later we'll hear from the team's coach and get fitness tips. stay with us, fox 5 morning news will be right back. coming up on 7:21. [ cheers and applause ]

because if you don't have any fresh ideas, then you use stale tactics to scare voters. [ cheers and applause ] if you don't have a record to run on, then you paint your opponent as someone people should run from. ♪ you make a big election about small things. ♪ [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

a familiar face returns capitol hill today. former vice president dick cheney is scheduled to meet with house speaker john boehner and other top leaders to discuss the defense cuts. the cuts were included as part of a debt deal last summer. actress and baltimore native jada pinkett smith is set to meet with lawmakers today to testify about human trafficking before the senate foreign relations committee. the actress started an organization called don't sell bodies earlier this year. a photographer needs your help to find a newly engaged mystery couple.

>> she says she was in d.c. july 2nd and spotted a couple at the washington war memorial. she witnessed the man proposed and snapped a few pictures. it's a beautiful photograph. now she wants to find the newly engaged pair to give them the photos. if you know the couple, you can e-mail her at the e-mail address on your -- well, it's not on the screen. perhaps it's on our web site at myfoxdc.com. go there and you can e-mail her. >> in that moment it was funny. >> yes. supposed to be up on the screen. 7:25 now. the first couple stole the spotlight at the verizon center last night. their kiss cam is next. >> and what caused the entire system to shut down over the weekend. we'll hear from the man who runs a popular blog specifically about the transit agency's continued problems. >> here's another live look outside. a little bit hazy out there.

going to be a warm one. tucker has the weather. lauren has the traffic when we return. right now it's 7:25. i'm barack obama and i approve this message. [romney singing]: oh beautiful, for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plain,

america, america, god shed his grace on thee, and crowned thy good, with brotherhood...

in sports, game four of the series between the nats and

marlins, d.c. took a 2-0 lead with zimmerman's tenth homerun of the season. but miami answered back, scoring four runs in the 3rd, including a two-run homer by ramirez. i think they split that series, 2-2. the nats return home for a series against the mets. it's law enforcement appreciation night. part of the proceeds will benefit the national law enforcement officers memorial fund. ticket prices will be reduced for officers and their families, so head out to the park to support them. first pitch at 7:05. quite the night at the sold out verizon center. team u.s.a. hosting brazil. it was all brazil early on. they're a big team. but in the second quarter, the u.s. goes on a 20 to 5 run, thanks in part to lebron james, who finished the game with 30 points. u.s.a.

wins 80-69. the u.s.a. women's team took the court before the men and cruised to a 99-67 victory over brazil. all right. okay. and look who was in the front row for the game. president obama, his wife, michelle, and looks like vice president joe biden as well. right away the obamas were featured on the kiss cam, but they didn't give that first kiss the first time. wasn't until the fourth quarter they got a second chance, and this time the president went for it, giving the first lady a big kiss right on the lips and a peck on the forehead for good measure. daughter malia there cheered them on. >> looked like high schoolers. >> i know. precious. >> see how malia has grown up. my goodness. >> i know. that's what happens. kids in the white house, exciting to see them grow up. all right. here's my weather guy question -- >> share. >> i see a lot of people who work outside, especially people who work on the landscaping

with a lot of clothes on, like long sleeves on and even layers. i get the hat, but then like, so does that keep you cooler? >> want me to answer the question? >> that's my weather guy question. >> i have to ask the expert. >> officially, you can't just tell them. >> what good is it being up here with you guys? get nothing? i work with you two every day and i get nothing. i will submit it. >> good question. you're right. >> i think i know the answer, but i'll ask an expert. >> i'll submit it. >> let me get to the weather. what's she's mentioning will be true today. highs close to 100. that will be the actual air temperature. here we go, 80 degrees at reagan national. humidity, 67%. winds out of the north and west

at 5 miles per hour. pressure rising 29.90 inches. here's a big change from the last couple of days, chances for shower into a thunderstorm activity later today, close to nil. high pressure out to the west and that will cap the atmosphere later today. the heat won't last forever. today, tomorrow the worst of it and late in the day tomorrow, we're going to see the possibility of showers and thunderstorms move in with the cold front, and that should cool us down gradually by thursday and by friday and saturday our highs only back in the 80s. better news on the way. let's talk about this big dome of high pressure. this heat dome once again, jet stream retreated to the north and talking about the dry conditions out to the west. as long as this pattern is intact, not much will change. and chicago close to 100 today and boston, new york, too.

the cold front will come through. the mid-atlantic new england expecting cool conditions by friday and saturday and sunday. hang in there. heat wave won't last forever. lots of sunshine. hot and hazy. 99degrees the daytime high. winds out of the west 5 to 10. no heat advisory. not a lot of humidity this afternoon. that will move in tonight. warm and muggy overnight. 80 the overnight low. more humidity tomorrow ahead of our frontal system. highs in the upper 90s. could there be a shower or thunderstorm later today? they could also be strong, yes. look out for that important. cooler-- possibility. cooler by friday and saturday with mid-80s. let's do traffic with lauren demarco. >> i was thinking about allison's question, i would think if you have a lot of clothing on, you'll be sweating and that would make you cooler, but everybody is sweating.

we'll see that answer tomorrow. we have the accident working if you're traveling third street tunnel southbound. watch for delays, new york avenue. 66, after 123, some activity on the right shoulder. delays from before fair oaks, 7100, past 123. past nutley street, smoother trip in towards the beltway. manassas, off and on the brakes from the volume from earlier morning. outer loop of the beltway delays off and on past van dorn to eisenhower. 95 heavy and slow leaving lorton to springfield. no accidents reported, so just volume there. 395 slows towards king street and the inner loop is heavy from the mixing bowl towards little river turnpike to the right of your screen. traveling in maryland, outer loop delays off and on from college park in towards silver spring. usually stretch of slowdowns there. that's a check of your traffic.

tony, over to you. lauren, thank you very much. metro riders still fired up over a computer problem that shut down the system twice over the weekend. the popular blog unsuck d.c. metro recently posted information. the site is responsible for breaking several stories since it was created more than two years ago. joining us with more information by phone, the man who runs the blog. he prefers to re you with us, s >> i'm there, good morning. >> good morning to you. thanks for joining us this morning. let's jump right in. first off, what are your bloggers saying about this most recent incident? >> riders or metro employees? >> the riders, let's start with the riders. >> i think everybody is puzzled how a major subway system can have to stop twice in a day, because of a computer glitch. >> you were getting concerns

immediately as happens with your site, people blogging, while it was going on, right? >> that's correct. some of the first people who were able to hear the communications between the trains and central control talking about a code 34, which is what happens when something like this, what they call something like this. >> tell me about the metro employees who write in to you. >> i think they are just as puzzled. supposedly metro was being -- metro was cited a couple of years ago for not having i.t. contingency plans. they build a system in landover. it's unclear whether that backup system was in place for something like this or more for

something like a fire or something catastrophic were to happen. if you don't have a system for the whole thing, it's not much of a backup. >> that is something you've written about and others have written about on the blog. have you gotten any response from official metro about that, or any information about why the system shut down? >> official metro doesn't really talk to me. >> okay. metro does say safety was not an issue this weekend because other systems that keep the trains far enough apart remained operational. but are you and other riders still concerned about safety? >> i think that that is true, and my metro sources tell me that that is true as well. i do believe that it was not a safety issue, yet you have to wonder if a big computer system like this has problems, what else is going on there? i think that's sort of the general trend of what people feel about metro in every aspect. there are so many incidents. what's going on over there?

>> how do you feel metro has -- has metro been open and forthcoming with this latest incident with the public? >> metro is never open and forthcoming about anything. >> do you have a sense of how metro compares to other major metropolitan rail systems? what i hear from people who use the system, whether routinely or on occasion, it's more expensive than other systems, more complicated to use, and breaks down more often. >> i think the record speaks for itself. i can't say that i disagree with you on any of those points. try to throw in something positive about metro, i think it generally is cleaner than the new york system, but, you know, that's small consolation when you're stuck on a train out in the middle of the blasting sun and nobody is telling you what to do and you have to decide to get off by

yourself. >> metro has had issues over the years, and of course there was the accident that resulted in some deaths in 2009 and there have been a number of recommendations made, many of which they have taken. can you see improvement in the metro system during the last few years? >> i was hoping you'd actually ask that, because i think we've put up with enough week closures, track work, midday closures, service disruptions, while metro does some of these ntsb recommendations. it's been a while now, and i think -- i would think you would start to see some payoff from all of the work, and i thankfully don't think many of us -- frankly don't think many of us do. there hasn't been deaths, in that regard metro has improved.

as far as the daily service, already problems today with track problems. it's a daily thing. that doesn't seem to be getting better. >> we appreciate your input and certainly reading the blog is enlightening, because you can have your fingers on the pulse with the people riding it and the works writing in. we appreciate it, founder of -- >> thank you. take care. >> you too, thank you very much. the founder of unsuck dc metro. it's 7:40 on this tuesday morning. sad day for country music fans. remembering the life and legacy of the genre's first female superstar. first-- ♪ i can go twice as high ♪ take a look ♪ >> you know that music, reading rainbow is going high tech now. the popular pbs show has a new app. coming up, host levar burton

will join us live. he hosted it more than 26 years, if you can believe that. and he'll talk about this new project and we'll find out what else he's up to as well. ♪ reading rainbow ♪ instead, ey use cit mobile check depot. it's easy. they just snap a pic... ♪ hit send... and their checks are deposited right to their account. well almost all of their checks. stand back. seriously? [ male announcer ] citibank mobile check deposit. easier banking. every step of the way. [ male announcer ] when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? the obama outsourcing attacks: "misleading, unfair and untrue." there was "no evidence" that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. candidate obama lied about hillary clinton. so, shame on you, barack obama.

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♪ the country music world is mourning the loss of a legend, kitty wells died yesterday in nashville at the age of 92. she was the first female singer to top the country chart with her song, "it wasn't god who made honky tonk angels." >> i am embarrassed that i have not heard her name before. >> i have heard the name. i am not familiar with her or her music. >> right. how is that possible? >> i mean, she really dominated as you can see from the video, a long time ago. >> okay. >> she was 92 when she died. >> we know some of the other

big names of females in country music. >> i don't know. big question. >> we all know patsy cline. loretta lynn. >> maybe it's you and i. do you know the name? >> i'm not familiar with her. >> i must do research. >> i want to know more about the name of her big hit. >> country music has the best song titles. >> who would make the honky tonk angels these days? >> have to listen to the song. >> all right. yes, i have an idea. >> god didn't make it. >> is it honky tonk weather? >> i don't know. >> maybe it's the blues weather. >> highs in the upper 90s. i don't know what honky tonk means. >> honky tonk -- do the weather. we don't have time. >> tony was going to explain it. 76 in baltimore -- >> what is the difference between honky tonk and country?

>> we'll find out. i think we're in trouble. futurecast, not much to talk about as far as shower and thunderstorm opportunities today. there we are at 5:00, a few clouds. that will be about it. scorcher without much relief. no height advisory, but air temperatures in the upper 90s to 100, the next round of least will be with us overnight and tomorrow. good news with this round of heat, we'll be done with it by the end of the week. 99 today. 98 tomorrow. possibility of strong storms late tomorrow evening and relief friday and saturday. highs in the mid-80s with less humidity. >> honky tonk is a type of bar that provides musical entertainment. this is wikipedia, usually country music. maybe it was the brand of music played in the bars. that's what wikipedia says. >> that is true, that is true. >> it is? >> yes. >> see how quickly i answered your question. >> thank you, allison.

>> making reference to -- all right, let's go to lauren demarco. perhaps no stranger to honky tonks? >> did you know kitty wells? >> sure. no, i did not. i don't know if julie wright, she knows about music. we'll have to find out next week. >> i think everybody is a little bit country. >> i'm a little bit rock and roll. this is going on way too long. >> let's get to trafficland. traveling 66 inbound, delays from before 7100 past route 50 here to 123, disabled vehicle, it's just cleared out. should be easing out approaching nutley street inbound. no problems on the beltway itself as far as accidents, but volume delays on the inner loop heading up toward little river

turnpike and outer loop heading past van dorn to eisenhower. approaching the 11th street bridge, right lane blocked. delays leaving 7100 heading towards springfield. 395 slows off and on from the beltway towards seminary. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. allison, tony? thanks, lauren. with the likes of serena and venus williams, the washington kastles are one of the hottest teams around. hey, holly. >> reporter: we are live, and we are getting a service lesson from the world team tennis coach of the year last year, murphy jensen. i'm not getting a lot of attention from him. i can't figure out why. we'll tell you why you need to

come out and take on a game. stay with us. just teach me, just for a few minutes. plan  hi parents, big year for spelling.

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♪ it wasn't god who made honky tonk angels ♪ >> we were just talking about kitty wells who has died at the age of 92. her hit was "it wasn't god who made honky tonk angels." we were wondering what that song was about. that was in response to another hit song, "the wild side of life," by hank thomson. in that song he blamed a honky tonk angel for break up his marriage. in her song, she said, many times men think they are still singling. that was her answer. believe it or not, the words

from those songs were banned from the air way, and the grand old opry asked her not to sing it. >> hero. the washington kastles are back on the court. >> holly morris joins us. i do not recall ever seeing cheerleaders for tennis. >> he sees them now, though, holly. >> reporter: you see them, and you see the coach there. he's a lthe cheerleaders were h year. they've only been around five years, and they've won the whole thing two times, so they deserve cheerleaders and more. >> we're living the dream! >> reporter: murphy was complaining about coming up

early until these three lovely ladies showed up. >> talking about this perfect season in d.c., and what's wrong with that? >> reporter: it really is perfect. doesn't matter who is playing -- >> or what time. holly, you're a big kastle game. >> reporter: actually, the cheerleaders are here. we thank them for coming out because it adds to this rock and roll tennis that makes it so much fun. >> it's all about the atmosphere. what they bring to the tennis here, i keep reminding them, we defeat our opponents with the fans, the music, the girls, and our team before they get here, because it's kind of like a rock concert. not quite a kiss concert, but definitely something to check out, because of the energy. >> reporter: you were named coach of the year last year,

and it's hurting your credit. can we hand these over. give him the racket. ladies, leave the courts to us. >> thank you. >> reporter: last night venus played. you continued your undefeated streak. now at 22, 23 games? >> one-16-6. >> reporter: that's legit. >> it's out of control. >> reporter: it used to be the people would only come when the star players played like venus last night. but that's not the case with the kastles. >> it's not the case, because the brand of tennis we put forth and the effort. we legitimately have a team that's on a mission. what mark has assembled is a winning organization in the d.c. community. we do that through the fan experience. our players play at the level we play at. venus comes out and says she

has as much fun competing for the kastles as winning wimbledon. that's hard to believe. she's serious, because when we get here, it's not about the -- in the speech before the match -- >> reporter: dropped the racket. >> i say it's more important that you play for one another than for the individual, because tennis isn't golf or individual sports. here's an atmosphere where you're playing for the community, each other and teammates and our camaraderie defeats our opponents from the get go. >> reporter: from one of the best -- >> tmz called the kastles key. the key to the kastles. we're going to work on your stroke. improves your short back swing and great follow through. bounce hit. bring it back, bounce hit. one more time. bounce, hit. the key to great tennis is to be able to do without thinking. >> reporter: that's why you're so good at it.

>> holly -- >> reporter: you don't have to think. >> up here is bad neighborhood. we don't want to think. >> reporter: no, no. >> everybody says, the pros make it look easy. holly, you make it look easy. every time, you are one step away -- >> reporter: did i get it that time? [ yelling ] >> reporter: myfoxdc.com is our web site. only have home games through next tuesday. four games between now and then. get the hottest ticket in town. i'm not just talking about the weather. more fox 5 morning news after the break, stay with us.

fox 5 is continuing to follow a developing story out of montgomery county where federal investigators are on the scene of a deadly plane crash this morning. the latest in a live report. >> new claims against the man

who killed trayvon martin. what she has to say he did to her for years. >> unwelcomed souvenir for a woman returning from vacation. find out what bit her that landed her in the hospital for a week. good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> is that video over? >> yes. i'm alison seymour. that's coming up in today's medical team. we'll also look at creepy crawlers that are helpful to your health. >> the whole segment is fascinating today. tucker barnes is here with us. very nice suit combination there. >> thank you, sir. hot one today. temperatures, actually our temperatures close to 100. >> actual air temperature? >> right. >> what's it going to feel like? >> the humidity won't be terrible today. our heat index only 102. as we get into tomorrow, the humidity will be back. no heat advisories today. doesn't mean the heat won't be dangerous. so get in the shade, lots of water, that kind of thing.

82 now washington. 83 annapolis. let's do the temperature trend. i want to give you the good news here. this round of heat will only last a couple more days. today and tomorrow highs near 100. thursday and friday we'll start a cooldown. friday and this weekend looking great now, with low humidity and temperatures in the 80s. but for today, got to get through your tuesday first. lots of heat, highs about 100 degrees at 4:00 p.m. a few clouds. not going to rain today. >> thank you. >> pool day. >> let's look at the roadways. lauren demarco is in for julie wright with that. >> we have what looks to be a serious accident that happened on 95 northbound in virginia. heading north after dale city before the prince william parkway, accident involving at least two tractor-trailers and vehicles. everybody moving to the far right to get past it prior to the exhibit. 395 delays off and on towards

seminary. volume heading across the 14th street bridge. approaching the douglas bridge, heavy volume here as well. 295 southbound approaching the 11th street bridge, right lane is blocked with an accident so stay to the left there. traveling 270 southbound, delays off and on from 370 down toward the split for the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. tony, allison? thank you, lauren. this morning we continue to follow our big story out of montgomery county, where federal authorities are investigating a deadly plane crash. >> this happened before 7:30 last night in laytonsville, maryland, near davis airport. fox5's melanie alnwick is live on the scene with an update on this ongoing investigation. mel? >> reporter: good morning, allison. a lot of people say they didn't know there was an airport here, but in fact folks at the airport say this is the oldest airport, air strip, in montgomery county, and it went under new management about two years ago and they get about

eight to 10 flights on a busy day, maybe two on a not so busy day. the plane that crashed yesterday was here doing practice runs. if you look at the end of the air strip here, the plane had been flying about 45 minutes doing practice runs. as it was making an approach right along here, witnesses say they heard a back fire like a gunshot. then the plane came down along the middle of the air strip here. looked like it was coming in for a landing, but it took off again over in the distance. and you can see over toward the tree line is where it took a sharp plunge downward. it crashed about 40 yards away. the pilot recently purchased a share in the plane, and was doing a series of practice takeoffs and landings called touch and goes with the help of a flight instructor. he has been identified as 79- year-old frank schmidt.

witnesses found the pilot alert and talking, but it was obvious schmidt didn't survive. >> we didn't immediately identify the second person on board who was my friend, because he was wedged in between the side of the aircraft and the person that was talking. we were able to locate him and i approached him and he felt pretty lifeless, and at that moment i realized that that was my friend who i would never see again, i would never fly with again. >> reporter: schmidt was an expert instructor with more than 40 years of experience. he had logged over 18,000 flight hours in his career. the pilot was taken to a trauma center. the extent of his injuries are not known. again, allison and tony, the ntsb and faa are due to be here in a few minutes and start their investigation. they plan to be extricating the plane from the woods. this morning the airport has

put out this flyer that they're going to take over to montgomery county air park as well to let everyone know what happened yesterday with frank schmidt. they say that he definitely in the aviation circles here in montgomery county was a local legend. back to you. >> very sad story. thank you, melanie. checking some of our other top stories now, fire investigators in prince william county continue to probe the cause of a blaze that damaged apartments last night and forced some to jump from balconies. flames broke out at the friendship place apartment building in woodbridge last night. one firefighter may have been hurt, but no one injured seriously. new this morning, prince george's county police search for suspects after two people were stabbed late last night. this happened in the 6400 block of pennsylvania avenue in forestville. the victims are expected to live. investigators are looking for two suspects who they say knew their victims. also new this morning, a

shooting at a community barbecue in toronto, canada, leaves two people dead and 19 others wounded. it's being called the worst gun violence ever in toronto. gunmen sprayed a crowd of more than 200 people last night. among the 19 injured was a baby. some of the injuries happened when panic broke out and everybody tried to run. now to the latest in the trayvon martin case. more problems for shooter george zimmerman. >> a woman has come forward with two potentially damaging claims. wisdom? >> the prosecutors released this audiotape of so-called witness number nine, and she claims zimmerman grew up in a racist family and molested her for 10 years. >> he would reach under the blankets and try to do things and i would try to push him

off, but he was bigger and stronger and older. he would put his hands under my pants, under my underwear. >> reporter: she went on about the zimmerman family. >> [inaudible] -- they talked a lot of bad things about black people. >> there is a 19-month difference between the two of them, and she's saying something happened that george denies. she can have her story, but he contest the validity of it. >> reporter: he denies his family is racist. >> in her first anonymous phone call to the police, that's all she talked about, he's a racist. the fbi when they did their investigation found no evidence of racism. when she told that story, and

it didn't get tracked to the next stage, she suggested this story of sexual abuse. >> reporter: he says the statements most likely won't be admitted into court, but he is concerned about public opinion. >> reporter: will this be damaging to what he's going through now? >> yes. it's certainly more static. something that's not relevant and coming into trial and we have to look at that. >> reporter: zimmerman has been hiding in a safe house on a $1 million bond. >> zimmerman's lawyers says the family has been living in near because of death threats, but don't have extra security after paying out the bond. though donations to the defense fund have increased in recent days. this new information, a lot of people question why it's coming out now, and how that's going to play into the legal process, because this is more about something that went on before. >> right. >> trayvon martin. how is that going to play in?

>> in it plays in. >> if it plays in at all. may be a character issue. we'll have to wait and see. >> wisdom martin, thank you. what passengers bit into what they had inflight food that has the fbi investigating. >> also ahead, the hot, dry conditions across much of the country are leading to one of the worst droughts in the u.s. where this one stands when we come back. it's 10 minutes after 8:00. 

time now is 8:13. it's a tuesday morning. let's look at some of the stories making headlines. major crossing between u.s. and canada was shut down while police checked out a bomb threat, it came on the u.s. side on the ambassador bridge. there was a similar threat four days ago. the fbi is investigating reports of needles found in

sandwiches served on four delta flights from amsterdam to the u.s. the airline is trying to figure out how the needles got into some turkey sandwiches. most people noticed them before eating the sandwiches, but one passenger was injured. he declined medical care. the sandwiches were all prepared by the same catering company in amsterdam. the u.s. in the grips of the worst drought since 1956. the national climatic data center released its monthly report yesterday, and says as of june 55% of the nation was experiencing moderate to extreme drought. it was 58% in 1956. and the drought conditions continue to spread. now more than half of the nation is in some stage of drought and the rest is going through abnormally dry conditions. bad news. >> tough year and for the farmers out there who are

really suffering. and we'll feel the effects at the grocery store. time for our my fox 5 first photo of the day. this is emily. she turns one on friday. she wakes up every morning and watches fox 5 morning news. >> hey, emily. >> beautiful. >> adorable. >> big birthday coming up, one. >> look at her. look at her sitting in her crib with her little crib lining. she's adorable. i miss babies! i do have a puppy. let me get it together. >> that's close. >> to submit your child's

picture, myfoxdc.com, click on mornings. thank you, emily, go terps. we're all rooting for them. the drought conditions continue to the west, so does the heat. extreme temperatures in big cities today. chicago close to 100. st. louis will be 101 later today. as we focus further to the east, of course in washington, close to 100 and the core of heat is just to our west. with the area of high pressure out towards cincinnati and st. louis, chicago, not only dealing with hot temperatures, but the dry conditions will continue out there several days as well. unfortunately, no letup in the dry conditions. look how quiet the country is. not much going on. you have to get into canada and northern michigan before you find rain activity at all. today highs near 100 and not much relief in the form of

showers and thunderstorms today. a cold front could kick off showers and thunderstorms tomorrow and tomorrow night. cooler air on the way. 99 today. hot and hazy conditions expected. could be some thunderstorms late tomorrow. friday and saturday much better with highs in the mid-80s. lower humidity by saturday. that's weather. let's do some traffic and lauren demarco has the latest. gotten busy suddenly. >> delays due to this serious accident. prior to prince william where this occurred, involving two tractor-trailers and at least two other vehicles. a lot of activity. everybody forced over to the right. getting by single file. anticipate delays approaching dale city to get past all of this mess at this point. accident reported northbound 395 prior to the pentagon in the hov lanes.

kind of behind the sign there, the overpass. everybody getting by that to the right. beltway heavy and slow inner loop leaving the mixing bowl heading to little river turnpike. past that, the pace should improve. in montgomery county, outer loop very heavy from 95 around past new hampshire avenue until georgia where you break free. allison, over to you. syria appears to be moving closer to a civil war between what appears to be a growing rebel resistance versus troops loyal to president assad. joining us is j.j. green national security correspondent. good to see you as always. i heard some are saying syria is in a civil war now. what's the latest? >> the technical term in talking to the experts is a sectarian war.

because you have the minority and other sects that live there in the country that appear to be going after each other. in the midst of all of this you have allegedly terror organizations like al-qaida and others that are supplying pressure, weapons, problems as well, which makes this look like a civil war, because it's hard to tell who is against who, with the exception of the fact that the government appears to be incurring the wrath of everything. the government itself is being very ruthless in terms of dealing with the people's concerns there. >> let's talk about that. what role is president assad playing in that. how is the world community looking at him with what's happening with some of his own people? >> president assad is trying to survive. interestingly enough, allison, you have some people that are saying it's not him that's behind this conflict. it's the generals. it's the people that support him that are forcing him to do this. but i'm not buying that

argument, because his face is on this war, his in this case is on the deaths and killings of all of these people. and it is power that's on the line. what happens to him, what happens to the rest of the minorities once, if he's pushed out of office? this is the concern, that those other sects will essentially get revenge, and certainly they're in the majority. they could probably have their way with them. this is one of the reasons it's believed assad is being so forceful in continuing this mass cure and continuing this whole concept of we need to continue to fight as opposed to stepping away gracefully. >> i got to go off script and say, put this into perspective. i'm having a problem paying by pepco bill, but i want you to break it down. this is the president of syria, these are civilians caught up

in this. this is major fighting. how can we understand this? how can the people at home understand really what's going on there? >> all right, let me put it to you this way, look up on the hill and see a big castle. look down in the valley and see homes that are made out of sticks, rocks and rubble. up on the hill, the people up there are eating well, they're drinking well, they're celebrating, dressing nicely. down in the valley, they don't have food. they don't have water. medical attention. they don't have that. these people are starving, they're dying. they're watching people around them every day being mowed down. now you have this interestingly enough, this group that is out there sort of as auxillary of the ruling party and the president's men that are also in these neighborhoods, in their own neighborhood, mowing down people. primarily because of -- to try

to save their own hold on dominance. it's a horrible scene. >> right. >> thousands of people have been killed. >> unbelievable. >> tens of thousands actually. >> there are reports out that chemical weapons may be being used and the same informants saying president assad might be using forces within al-qaida to go after people. the lines are jumbled. how valid is the chemical weapons claims? >> we have heard they've been moved around and stored. we don't have evidence they're being used and don't know why they're being moved. were they moved to be protected or put into position to use? this is a very grave and disturbing concern right now, not just in syria, but around the world, because chemical weapons, as you know, are outlawed, and they're just deadly. obviously. but it's just a horrible kind

of death. >> right. >> when chemical wednesday are used. what role is al-qaida playing in this? >> question about russia, too, what role they're playing. what's the short answer there. what are we to make of that? >> russia has deployed a new group of troops there about three months. the port of tart asa. we know russia has been supplying syria with weapons and training. we're going to have to wait and see what they do from now on. we know they have stood against another u.n. resolution. >> this is j.j. green, national security correspondent. thank you for being here today. >> pleasure. >> tony, over to you. thank you very much. 8:23now. coming up next, how you can take classes at a prestigious university without having to

set foot in the classroom. >> and want to show off your singing skills or maybe you have good dance moves? metro is looking for a few good performers. >> also, later holly is hitting the court with the washington kastles and she'll show us what the team is serving up this season. there are some of their mascots and cheerleaders. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney, and i approve this message.

[ male announcer ] when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? the obama outsourcing attacks: "misleading, unfair and untrue." there was "no evidence" that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. candidate obama lied about hillary clinton. so, shame on you, barack obama. [ male announcer ] but america expects more from a president. obama's dishonest campaign: another reason america has lost confidence in barack obama.

welcome back. metro still trying to figure out what caused the computer malfunction that shut down the system twice over the weekend. the operation center and backup system lost the ability to see the location of trains. earlier this morning we talked with the man who runs unsuck dc metro the blog. >> i believe it was not a safety issue. yet you have to wonder if a big computer system like this has problems, what else is going on there? i think that's the general trend of what people think about metro. what's going on over there? >> this all comes as new national safety regulations were announced for rail transit

systems, giving the federal government oversight. transit agencies could lose federal grant money if they fail to comply. the university of virginia is planning to offer free courses on the internet. they're one of 12 schools teaming up with a firm that will offer online classes. the deal has been in the works for months. uva joins princeton, the university of michigan, stanford and johns hopkins in offering the free courses. coming up, a bus driver's wrong turn leads to a little drama for u.s. olympians on their way to the london games. >> creepy, crawly cures, we'll show you how some of nature's most feared creatures -- feared or just -- can be beneficial.

[ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message..

[ female announcer ] everery 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.

8:31 now. here are some of the stories making headlines. maryland's governor is meeting today to discuss a possible special session on expanding gambling in the state. lawmakers have been at odds over a proposed sixth casino at national harbor. the governor met with the county executives of montgomery county and prince george's county yesterday. a referendum will need to be passed by august 20th to get it on the november ballot. church groups are expected to flood the training facility in new york this month. tim tebow is outspoken about his

religious beliefs. the u.s. olympic team is already setting records, for getting to london in time. heathrow airport yesterday experienced its bussest day ever. that would not have been a good place to be yesterday. heathrow, man. >> i'd have been a little nervous if the bus driver didn't know where you're going. where are you taking us? >> yeah. >> little thing called gps. >> shouldn't you be able to drive from one side of the u.k. to the other in four hours? >> i would think so. >> where was the driver from? four hours, that's a lot. >> that's a lot. >> it was a man driving. no asking for directions.

>> i'm going to do the weather now. >> okay. >> let's do the weather forecast. >> we can't argue that one. >> i'm not going to. maybe i won't get lost walking over to -- >> i'll guide you. >> thank you. 82 now in washington. 83 in annapolis. to the west and north, the 70s holding out. but all of us will be in the mid- to upper 90s later today. certainly blazing hot today. here's the good news, and i'm trying to find good news in a hot forecast, the humidity won't be terrible today. at least we got that working on our side. increasing later tonight and tomorrow. because the humidity won't be terrible, we may not have a heat advisory. still, temperatures very hot with highs close to 100. quiet weather pattern. high pressure to our west is controlling our weather. cap on the atmosphere, i think our chances for showers and storms cooling us down today, close to none. mostly sunny and hazy this

afternoon. as we get into the night time hours and tomorrow the pattern will flip a little bit. by tomorrow afternoon, a cold front will approach. that could kick off some thunderstorms and with it will bring us cooler air for the weekend. jet stream, again, been talking about this high pressure, not only bad news for us, but to the west as the drought continues. as long as this pattern is intact, they won't get rain out there. over the weekend, a nice dip in the mid-atlantic and new england, allowing cooler air. this weekend temperatures in the 80s and lower humidity. five-day forecast, 99 today, 98 tomorrow. storms tomorrow afternoon could be strong. the cooldown starts, friday and saturday, highs in the 80s. we'll talk it. back to you at the desk. you might have heard about this next story, a 17-year-old florida teenager who survived an alligator attack, he lost part of his arm and is recovering thanks to quick

thinking and help from mother nature. dr.jo is live in florida to explain. good morning, dr. jo. good to see you. the whole story is interesting, but when he freed himself from the alligator, he grabbed spider webs and put them on his arm to stop the bleeding. so now there's a lot of interest in this. how does this work? how did he know to do this? please fill us in. >> good morning. i think he saw it on a television series, and basically what happened was when he did come out of that water, there were people there standing by and he does talk about putting pressure on the wound. that is what you really need to do. you need to put pressure on a wound like that, especially if you've severed an artery or major blood vessel. what he believes the spider webs did was help stop the bleeding. when you look at the science of it, there's references to this even in shakespeare about using

it to stop bleeding. there's other components of that spider web that may assist in that endeavor. but there's also so many other things about spider silk that are being studied. they're looking at maybe the possibility of it helping to rebuild things like ligaments or tendons. using it in medicine to create bioscaffolds. there's so much about spider webs that i had no idea until i started researching it after this young man did this. >> we've seen the movie spiderman, but there is some trying they're looking at them for -- truth they're looking at them for answers. >> don't want to look at transspecies exchange of genetic material. i'm not sure that would ever happen. we have so many stops in our systems that would prevent a cell from growing or dividing if it's significantly abnormal. however, they are also looking

at spider silk as an adhesion molecule. so basically we're trying to exchange human genes, they might can use spider silk or components of it. >> i understand scorpions being used in the fight against mrsa. >> they're not using straight scorpion venom. when they test it on things like mrsa, they find the mice healed and their skin, when they compared to the ones that had the treatment and who didn't, they saw significant

differences. again, they're thinking perhaps it could be developed as an ointment to be used along with the other more traditional treatments for things like mrsa. it also attacked another type of bacteria, like e. coli. it has a broad spectrum capability which makes it more exciting. >> we heard about a florida woman, came back from a trip she had taken and she had a bite from something called a bot fly. can you tell me about this? >> basically she went to belize and was bitten by what they believe was mosquitos. the bot fly will lay eggs on a mosquito and in her case, it grew. she had four of them in her scalp. she ended up in the hospital

nine days and they did a biopsy and found a worm under her skin. they breathe through a pore. they put ointment on there and cut off the air supply. she could feel it wiggling around. if you let them go through the entire life cycle, will eventually come out of the pore and go into the soil and become a bot fly. thankfully it's not happening here in the states. it's south and central america. she wanted people to know, if you're going on a trip, protect yourself. insect repellent, hats, clothing. and also her hair, she had a lot of floral scents in her hair that might have been attracting them as well. >> dr. jo, good information. some of it disgusting, but thank you. >> thank you. >> i know, i know. the other thing -- imagine a

worm burrowing out of your -- >> no. >> the other thing from that, if you travel and get a bite, have it checked. a lot of people say, it's nothing. have it checked. >> my fear is they won't even know what it is. >> that's true. >> maybe have it checked incountry where you are. i don't know. big question in washington today, what is it going to take to light a fire under this sluggish economy? >> a menu that is out of this world. how nasa is preparing for a trip to mars. we'll be right back.

the senate is accusing one of the biggest banks in the world of money laundering. in the next hour lawmakers on the homeland security committee will start a hearing about it. a report found europe's biggest banks let mexican drug cartels launder billions of dollars. hsbc is accused of letting banks in saudi arabia back terrorist activities. ben bernanke expected on capitol hill today, and could offer clues about whether the fed will take more steps to jump start the sluggish u.s.

economy. he'll give his semi-annual report to the banking committee today and to the house financial services committee tomorrow. when nasa eventually sends astronauts to mars, they are going to have to cook for themselves in space. nasa is now preparing the menu for the mission planned for the 2030s. scientists say the menu has to keep the crew physically and mentally healthy. the biggest challenge is the distance. it will take six months to get to mars. they'll spend 18 months on the planet and another six months to come back. i don't see how you do it. >> my goodness. >> yeah. >> i don't see how you do it. 8:45 now. it's a tuesday morning. holly has a pretty cool gig in this heat this morning. >> she is hanging out with the washington kastles and their cheerleaders. >> reporter: we're talking about serious tennis and serious fun. it is our washington kastles.

they are back and ready to defend their undefeated season and great start. look, the gang is all here. murphy jensen the coach, the other than, and they are here in hopes of getting you out here, too. coming up, we'll talk about how this whole thing works and why you don't want to miss a thing coming up on fox 5 morning news. stay with us.

suri cruz is heading to one of manhattan's top schools come september. did we expect anything less? katie holmes enrolled her he convent of the sacred heart. the split reportedly had to do with what school they would go

to and the religion. it's not every day you get to go one-on-one with an olympic medalist. but holly morris is getting tips from one of the greatest in the game. >> she joins us live on the wharf. the owners and coaches are there. who else is there? >> reporter: do you know what else i have that you would like? >> what? >> reporter: bling. there are the two championship rings. they've been around five years. this is the first one they won i believe in 2009. this is the one they won last year. it's got 16 rubies in the season for their 16-0 season. they belong to the owner. good to see you, sir. >> great to be back. >> reporter: i have to give them back? >> you can borrow them. >> reporter: for the next four minutes. it is amazing to me how much you made an impact in the world

of world team tennis in a short amount of time. >> thanks. it's been a great team effort. it's really our players and fans have gotten behind the team. >> reporter: take a look at this video. this was last night. the first lady was here. >> yeah. it was great. they came last year and had such a great time that they wanted to come back. she brought the kids again. they were clearing as loudly as anyone, cheering for our players. great to have them here. >> reporter: it really is infectious when you come out here. i think people don't necessarily understand that, if they haven't come and experienced it. it is a different ball game so to speak compared to wimbledon. >> reporter: it's totally different. first of all, it's a team environment, and it's all about the team, rooting for washington and rooting against boston. we've got the fans getting engaged and the music. people have a great time.

>> reporter: explain how it works, literally every point means something. >> most of the time it comes down to a couple of points here and there. you play five sets. each game is up to four at three all you play one point that decides it. thosepoints end up being really important. people are at the edge of their seats. >> reporter: when you go 16-0 where do you go from there? >> tough question. 32-0. i don't know. we're 22 so far. we don't think about the streak. we think about winning every night. our players are some of the best in the world. they're fired up to do the best they can every night and hopefully bring another championship. >> reporter: we have some out here already on the court getting warmed up. we talked to murphy, who he and his brother won the french open in '93. >> absolutely. >> reporter: another doubles player. >> i would say the best double players in the world, won the australian open this year.

got to the finals of the wimbledon mixed open. >> reporter: he won the australian open this year, and completed his career grand slam. >> going to his sixth olympic. >> reporter: over there the sisters. >> she was the rookie of the year last year. and really carried us to victory in the championship. we love having her sister, anastasia join us. >> reporter: people don't understand how grueling this is. >> it is. play 14 matches in like 21 days. tight schedule. but they get a lot of energy from the fans and the support they get. >> reporter: how many teams in the league. >> eight. >> reporter: eight teams. here's the deal, everybody wants to be on the kastles. >> we get a lot of requests. they see the support in the stands and everyone wants to play in this environment. >> reporter: the williams

sisters kind of have the corner on the market -- >> we have serena and venus. no one is going anywhere. we love this team. >> reporter: do you know what else isn't going anywhere, we're standing here, is what this franchise has meant for the development of the wharf here. >> you know, this is one of the best pieces of real estate in washington. people haven't been down here in a long time. they come here to watch a tennis match and see the boats in the water, and i think you're going to see an amazing renaissance of this part of town. we're happy to be at the beginning of that. >> reporter: thanks in part to you. >> thank you. and we're going to have everyone coming out wednesday and friday, two great matches. >> reporter: and tuesday. >> and sunday is tuesday, matches are close to selling out. every year people come to me and say, i want to come. and then the season is over. >> reporter: special inviteddation from the owner. i guess i have to give the rings back. myfoxdc.com we have a link.

we're going to enjoy our next hour a little tennis lesson. i'm going to work on my service game. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. it's time now for the facebook fan of the day. today we want to say hello to jason barker. >> hey, jason. >> he tells us he and his wife allison dig our show and part of his morning routine. >> we dig you, too. >> i'd love to hear what you're playing on the guitar. from the look i can tell he's a good guitar player. thank you for watching. log onto our facebook page and leave a comment under jason's picture for a chance to be tomorrow's facebook fan of the day. reports 17 people in alabama were shot in a bar overnight. the full story is coming up next hour. >> on a lighter note, we cannot wait to welcome to the show, levar burton. many of us know and love him as the host of "reading rainbow." he has done so many things throughout his career. he's going to fill us in on a

new app for reading rainbow and talk about what else he's up to. he is a busy man. it's 8:55. we'll be right back.  [ crows cawing ] [ male announcer ] strange things happen in the black forest. [ metallic bell toll ] [ car speeding down the road, lightning strikes ] where things aren't always what they seem. [ wolves howling ] because thrills hide in the shadows just waiting at every turn.

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[ male announcer ] when a president doesn't tell the truth, how can we trust him to lead? the obama outsourcing attacks: "misleading, unfair and untrue." there was "no evidence" that mitt romney shipped jobs overseas. candidate obama lied about hillary clinton. so, shame on you, barack obama. [ male announcer ] but america expects more from a president.

obama's dishonest campaign: another reason america has lost confidence in barack obama. new details about a deadly plane crash in maryland. >> we're learning more about the victim while authorities try to figure out what went wrong. we'll have a live report. >> plus, the economy on the verge of collapse, again? why a stalemate between the white house and lawmakers could cost the nation millions of jobs. ♪ i can go twice as high ♪ >> remember this song? today reading rainbow host levar burton is in d.c. he'll join us live instudio to explain how he's helping to bring the pbs classic