for hours. the overturned truck creating problems on i-270. you're going to get around this mess with the help of julie hopefully. >> also this morning, a great day for redskins fans. the up coming season feels real as training camp gets underway, there there's rg3. dave ross is there with all the details. >> and who kidnapped cal ripken's mother? cal ripken,, jr. what we know about this bizarre day-long abduction. >> could we have known about the alleged colorado shooter's deadly plans before the massacre? the clues he reportedly mailed out days before the tragedy. fox5 morning news starts right now.

there you go, a live look outside. not a bad start to the day, i will say. i was a little surprised. but the heat is on the way. this is thursday, july 26, 2012. it is going to be a scorcher. good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> and i'm alison seymour. >> heat advisory takes effect at lunchtime as temperatures will soar to the century mark. >> so here we go again. tucker barnes joining us now with all the details, what we're going to need to stay cool today. >> i'm not happy about it. yesterday was a gorgeous day. temperatures in the upper 80s. later today you mentioned it, up close to 100 degrees with lots of humidity. dangerous heated moves in shortly. let's get to the radar. got one feature we have to watch. pretty good thunderstorm complex north and west of washington. well north and west there. north and west of hagerstown. this has been slowly making progress to the south and east. could give us a few showers or

storms, at least for parts of the area and cloud cover to hold temperatures back a little bit as we start our day. otherwise, off to a warm and increasingly humid start to the day. 75 now in washington. humidity 76%. winds will pick up out of the south and west, gusting to about 15, 20 miles per hour during the morning hours. that will help pump in the warmer air that's off to our west. heat advisory goes in effect at noon today. all the counties in orange under a heat advisory. mix in the humidity and heat, will feel like 105 plus later today. the actual air temperature forecast to be about 100 degrees at 4:00 p.m. once again, lots of water, if you can, keep cool, get in the air conditioning. shade if you have to be working outdoors. here's your forecast today, 100 washington, 101 in fredericksburg and 96 winchester. heat continues into friday and relief for the weekend. julie wright has the latest on our beer truck.

>> it's still there. waiting for the party to happen. unfortunately, tucker, literally we have cases of beer that have been spread out on the highway northbound along 270. we have pictures from skyfox. a lot of cleanup going on. the commute northbound on 270 hindered. only the right shoulder getting by. you can exit here at 109. the exit is open. the wreck occurred north of 109 and traffic can squeeze by using the right shoulder only. impacting southbound compute with the rubber necking delay. traffic there stacking up headed towards 109 and more delays stacking up in germantown. this is the inner loop of the beltway past university boulevard headed to new hampshire avenue. the accident in play here has cleared. outer loop of the beltway slows leaving 95 headed to georgia avenue and there the lanes are open. 66 tied up with delays inbound from fair oaks to the capitol beltway.

delays 66 coming out of manassas down to 28 miles per hour. improves a bit at centreville and slows again in fair oaks at 18 miles per hour. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. some of the top stories this morning, a deadly double shooting in virginia now being called a murder-suicide. this happened inside an apartment in the 3000 block of trevor house drive around 7:00 last night. officers say a man shot and killed his roommate after an argument, then shot himself. he later died at a local hospital. investigators don't foe what set off this violence. investigators are trying to figure out what led to an accidental shooting that killed a 4-year-old boy. it happened yesterday afternoon in woodbridge, virginia. police say the boy somehow got hold of a handgun and shot himself. they say a relative found him inside a parked car. no one else was hurt in the shooting. officers still don't know who

the gun belongs to. another big story we're following, police are on the hunt for the suspect accused of abducting the mother of baseball hall of famer cal ripken, jr. >> she was forced from her home earlier this week. lauren demarco has the latest. >> there are a lot of questions about this case this morning and the motive remains a mystery. >> reporter: mother of baseball legend cal ripken, jr., violet ripken is recovering after a terrifying ordeal. >> she was located unharmed, in her vehicle, in close proximity to her residence. she was assessed by paramedics where she was not northbound to be injured and she is resting with her family. >> reporter: police say an armed man abducted the 74-year- old from her home tuesday morning.

he allegedly drove her around in her hone vehicle before dropping her and the car off some 24 hours later. >> we believe that he drove throughout central maryland and at this time we are not sure what locations he was at, what time he was driving in what counties. >> reporter: ripken's neighbors spoke to violet. >> had a gun and mask and gloves on. she couldn't recognize who he was and he tied her up and put a mask on her, was going to do something else first, and told her to get in the car. he wanted her in the car. >> reporter: police have issued a warning for residents. >> police looking for a white male, late 30s to early 40s, with a tall thin build. we believe he is still armed and should be considered dangerous. >> mrs. ripken is said to be doing well, but understandably shaken by the ordeal. violet ripken was married to

the late cal ripken, senior, and they had four children. police are unsure of the motive, saying there is no ransom demand and it's unclear if the man had knowledge her connection to the legend. he supposedly sent a notebook to the university of colorado describing the assault, but the school says it was delivered monday. reports by several news organizations come as the first memorial service was held for the one of the victims. two more funerals planned this week. also, hospitals in colorado are reducing the medical bills of the victims. many were young and have no insurance and donations of more than $2 million have been collected for them. president obama is pledging

to work with congress to stop gun violence. he's welcoming some controls on the sale of weapons and promising to work with lawmakers of both parties. he told the national urban league in new orleans last night that stepped up background checks should not be controversial. allison? out on the campaign trail now, republican presidential candidate mitt romney has taken his campaign overseas. doug luzader has the story this morning from washington. >> reporter: mitt romney is in london today, the start of an international tour that includes stops in poland and israel. he arrived at a crowded london, already meeting with former british prime minister tony blair. his audience is largely the same back home. this is intended to elevate him on the international stage. on an interview, he was careful not to directly criticize the president while on foreign

soil. his stop in israel is an effort to help draw distinctions. >> they should have a firm conviction that america is securely behind them, and i hope that people of israel feel that. >> reporter: because romney's visit to lon coincides with the olympic games, it highlights his role in 2002 as an olympic organizer. a pro barack obama super pac put out an ad mocking him. that draws it all back to the economy, where romney sees europe as a cautionary tale. >> we have two different roads. one leads to europe, and the other leads to the kind of prosperity which is always charactered america. >> reporter: for romney, the trip is designed to confront one of the president's perceived strong suits. most polls show while most question the president's handling of the economy, he

generally gets good marks on foreign policy. doug luzader, fox news. pennsylvania's tough i.d. law is in court. among those testifying are a 93- year-old who says she's afraid she won't be able to vote. it's the first legal test of a law that requires voters to have photo i.d. the state says it's to clamp down on fraud. talk of expanding gambling in maryland is still on the table. yesterday state house speaker michael bush told lawmakers to prepare for a special session next month. they're expected to discuss a large casino in prince george's county which could include table games and slots. 7:10 now. still ahead, how a hepatitis outbreak in new hampshire has ties to our area.

>> plus, making metro more accessible after hours. or during the late hours. we're going to tell you who is calling on the agency to keep the bus line less crowded late at night. >> first, though, it's back to the grid iron, everybody. we're going to check in with dave ross live at the redskins' training camp. exciting! >> here we go. as we head to the break, let's take a live look outside. really not a bad start to the day, but man, it is going to be hot today. tucker will have that for you. julie wright will tell you about the traffic problems out there. we've got more coming up when fox 5 morning news returns. it's 7:11. here's tom petty. ♪ baby why won't you trust me ♪ wow,

look at this bed! this nightstand! this wardrobe! what are you doing here? you're in ikea. my dream bedroom is in ikea? yes. what's that bedroom over there? that's your husband's dream bedroom. whatever your style, take home your dream bedroom together. ikea. the life improvement store. metro is being urged to improve its late night bus

service in the district. a council member has asked metro officials to better manage the schedules and add longer schedules. there have been complaints passengers heading home after 10:00 p.m. can't get on a bus because of overcrowding. apparently the harsh sanctions against penn state, the football program for covering up sandusky's scandal could have been worse. the team faced a four-year ban called the death penalty. in the end, there was a $60 million fine, four-year bowl game fan, reduced football scholarships and negated 111 wins under joe paterno. more than 30 players have come out and they say they will stay at penn state. a fleet of f-16 fighter jets in japan has been grounded after one of the planes crashed into the pacific ocean. the crash happened sunday shortly after the jet took off from a base in japan and was headed to alaska. the american pilot spent six hours in the water of northern

japan before being rescued. he is in stable condition. he ejected out of the plane. it is 7:15 now. tucker barnes is here with, well, we knew it was coming. you warned us. >> yesterday was a gorgeous day. >> really was. >> low humidity, upper 80s. >> at some point in the day i felt like it was hotter. maybe i was mentally preparing myself. >> maybe because you were allowed to be outside. later today you won't be outside. you won't even know how hot it is. not a terrible start to the day. the humidity levels still in check. temperatures in the mid-70s. 75 now washington. 76 in ocean city. 71 in hagerstown. 72 winchester. want to show you it's not just us. pretty much most of the country is under a heat advisory, excessive heat warning or heat advisory. our heat advisory starts at 12 noon today and will continue through 8:00 tonight.

will feel like 100 to 105. the air temperature will get close to 100 and mix in the humidity of course and the heat index will push to 105. wei done this many times this month. heat advisory, take it easy, lots of water if you have to be working outdoors. one interesting part of this forecast, unexpected early thunderstorm complex, i want to mention it has potential to give us a round of showers and storms early today. will give us cloud cover and may hold temperatures become a little bit to start -- back a little bit to start the day. 100 today, that's the official forecast. 80 tonight. 96 tomorrow. much better by sunday and monday. >> very good. >> thanks, tuck. >> sunday the pick of the weekend. >> definitely. >> let's find out what's happening on the roads. we know there are problems out there. julie wright has the latest. >> yes, been busy this morning, especially for those traveling northbound along 270 as you work up towards 109. traffic squeezing by the remains of this overturned beer truck to the right. traffic is able to get through,

the cleanup continues. there was a lot of beer out there and cases of beer off the road. that's impacting the southbound side of the highway. folks seeing this cleanup going on and they're slowing well before havana. delays in germantown and through gaithersburg. inner loop of the beltway, where he had the accident -- we had the accident activity in the work zone. the right lane is still blocked before new hampshire avenue. outer loop slow leaving 95 headed to coalsville road. 66 eastbound on the brakes, and again at the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. ♪ the wait is over for fans of the burgandy and gold. >> today the redskins take the practice field for the first day of training camp and all eyes on rookie quarterback

robert griffin iii. dave ross joins us now from the side lines in ashburn with a preview and it all begins today. >> reporter: can you believe it, tony? i know the music gets you jacked up. i thought you were going to say all the eyes are on me. >> i was going to, dave. >> reporter: i knew you had my back. maybe a couple more eyes on that rg3 guy. just a couple more. he says he wants to be called robert, which i thought was interesting yesterday. he said that's what his teammates call him. the rg3 thing is nice, we love it in the media, and the fans love it, but lease robert, one of many that has to help this team win. they have not won as we all know, and hopefully yesterday was the beginning of a new dawn, a new era, and today it officially begins when they practice this afternoon. the scene out here yesterday, for just a press conference, it was bizarre. all the media assembled to hear a rookie speak. we took the conference live. he spoke for nearly 30 minutes.

the thing that struck me, everywhere he's been, he is so composed. he has the tangibles, 6'2", can run like a deer, can throw on a dime, and whatever he needs to do physically. but the intangibles i think are the most impressive thing so far. we asked him, do you ever get nervous? >> i think i was more anxious, maybe a little nervous for mini camps and otas. now that we've been through the offense, had a taste of how fast the game is and what i need to do as a quarterback to help this team win, i felt a lot more comfortable, so it's actually more relaxing and you know, there's no -- nothing else going on outside of football anymore. we're in training camp, so we're pretty much on lockdown. for a guy like me, that's a good thing. >> reporter: again, here is the schedule of events here. the afternoon practices are the ones that will be open to the

general public. nothing to see here in the morning, at least for the fans. come out in the afternoon, all weekend. sunday is an off day, so you take one as well. cannot forget about our nationals. still playing great baseball. yesterday up in new york taking on the mets. this is michael morse, going opposite field, enough to clear the wall. his seventh of the year. nats in front. the next batter, espinoza, filling in for desmond and quite well. back to back jack. 9th of the year for him. more than enough for strasburg, he dominated yesterday. going to take care of david wright from virginia beach leer. sit him down. goes 7 innings, allows four hits. one earned runs. strikes out 11. five-2, nats. strasburg is now 11-4. all eyes will be on robert griffin iii later today. i ask you, go to my twitter, what is your burning redskins

question of the day? tony, i have one for you, sir. what are your expectations for this training camp? not necessarily the season, but what do you want to see out of camp out of rg3? we'll discuss later on this morning. >> i have an answer for you. thank you, dave ross. appreciate it. >> reporter: can't wait to hear it. >> how did i get in that? >> because we want your opinion, too. >> coming up, katherine jackson goes home. but her grand kids have a new guardian. >> first, why unplugging could be better for your mental health, especially at night. >> later, an invention convention is inspiring imaginations. melanie alnwick is live in upper marlboro with the story. this will be a fun one. it's cool. it's 7:22. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] where did all the obama stimulus money go?

friends, donors, campaign supporters, special interest groups where did the obama stimulus money go? solyndra: 500 million taxpayer dollars. bankrupt. so where did the obama stimulus money go? windmills from china. electric cars from finland 79% of the 2.1 billion in stimulus grants

awarded through it went to overseas companies. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. ♪

if you were asleep, that will wake you up. >> good morning, everybody. sleeping with the lights on, whether overhead, from the tv, the computer, it all can be bad for your mental health. >> new research shows not unplugging at night can lead to signs of depression. a team from ohio state university tested female hamsters with chronic exposure to dim light. the good news, the symptoms went away once they returned to a schedule with a full eight hours of sleep in total darkness. >> yep. what we just talked about this, had a live interview on the show. most people know tanning beds can contribute to skin cancer, but new research shows they can have a super big impact. experts say the risk of developing the disease rises 87% for people under the 35

years old. the data is based on finding 27 studies published over the last 30 years. however, researchers admit more studies still need to be done. and in another health alert this morning, more charges are expected over an outbreak of hepatitis c in new hampshire. police have arrested a man, charging him with infecting at least 31 patients with the disease. he worked at a hospital and was a traveling technician. health officials in maryland confirm he once worked at johns hopkins and southern maryland hospital among others. police say he fed his drug addiction by stealing drugs from needles and feeling the syringes up with saline. still ahead, the fight over taxes before the nation reaches the so-called fiscal cliff. local panel joining us live

with a look at yesterday's symbolic senate vote. >> first, a practice jump from the edge of space. we're going to show you more of these dramatic images. time now, 7:27. check that out. those ads taking my words about small business out of context -- they're flat out wrong. of course americans build their own businesses. every day, hard-working people sacrifice to meet a payroll, create jobs, and make our economy run. and what i said was that we need to stand behind them, as america always has, by investing in education and training, roads and bridges, research and technology. i'm barack obama and i approve this message because i believe we're all in this together. i'm barack obama and i approve this message homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city.

i learned early on if you want to make a difference you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i'm committed to making a difference and i am a phoenix.

♪ i'm teaching performance. here's what they'll need. ♪ get your backpack, your hoodies, harajuku, ♪ ♪ turquoise kinda purple orangish sorta blue. ♪ ♪ backpacks, yeow, ♪ to put their stuff in. ♪ graphic tees and denim, denim, denim, denim. ♪ ♪ backpacks. school takes a lot, target has is all.

check this out, this is video showing a sky diver's jump that is out of this world. felix bumgardener has jumped more than 18 miles to earth. he says it was a practice run. later this year he plans to journal 22 miles -- jump 22 miles, hoping to break a record. he will wear a custom made body suit allowing him to travel faster than the speed of sound. >> i've been reading about this guy. it's incredible. >> astronauts' uniform i guess it would have to be. >> out in space coming down. >> we see those people sky dive, is that like the next thing? >> this will be extmakes sense >> i would think traveling faster than the speed of sound that would have some impact on

you. not good for you. >> yeah. >> we'll find out. that's like superman. >> without the cape. >> yeah, with a parachute. >> and a big helmet. >> otherwise, just like it. >> no tights, either, but anyway. >> let's get right to your latest here. can we go to hd radar? and then go back. want to show you the thunderstorm complex. thank you very much. just off to the north and west. hagerstown now working towards winchester. already in west virginia. got to watch this. will push towards our region. it will temporarily put a cap on temperatures and may bring rain showers to parts of area, maybe thunderstorms early. later today, we'll switch gears and show you the bigger map, potential for more showers and storms. you can see that complex holding together early. we call this the ring of fire because all the showers and thunderstorms working up and

around our big ridge of high pressure to the west. lots of hot temperatures out here. yesterday unfortunately, st. louis 107 again. guess what, the heat is headed in our direction later today. we'll warm up quickly here. expected high temperature 100 degrees and heat advisory goes in effect at noon. 75 in leonardtown and 76 in annapolis. 71 at dulles. will become increasingly uncomfortable later, with temperature of 100, but will feel worse than that with the humidity. sunny, very hot. could be a few late storms and could be strong later today. just one or two. we'll have to watch out for that. warm and humid overnight. 80 the overnight low. the heat wave continues tomorrow, 96. weekend forecast, it gets better by sunday, monday. highs in the upper 80s with less humidity. let's do traffic and get the latest from julie wright. what's going on? >> we got a lot lapping on the beltway now. the outer loop of the beltway

bogged down with delays, which is typical at this hour. leaving 95, college park past new hampshire avenue, about 21 miles per hour. pace improving up to 38 miles per hour at coalsville road. inner loop slow leaving coalsville road trying to get past new hampshire at 41 miles per hour. big story this morning northbound 270, overturned beer truck in play with only the right shoulder getting by, north of 109. rubber necking delays southbound. lanes open getting through the traffic lights northeast to northwest. slow rolling traffic. inbound new york avenue slow again at the 3rd street tunnel. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. the senate votes down a republican effort to extend the tax breaks across the board, regardless of income. two republicans and one democrat voted against their party lines. joining us with more insight is

former democratic congressman of illinois, marty russo. good morning. >> good morning. >> and robert walker, former republican congressman of pennsylvania and now executive chairman of wechsler and walker pca. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> want to talk about what's going on on the hill and with the administration. let's start with congress, extending the bush era tax cuts, voted down in the senate, goes to the house. what's going to happen here? people are watching this one. >> well, i think what's going to lap, it's that time of the year where more politics are being done versus what really needs to be done for the american people. because tax reform i believe is what really needs to be done. you can't get that done between now and election. our party is saying, this is what we stand for. we're making votes on it. and republicans say this is what we stand for, we're going to have votes on that. neither one is going to get passed ultimately in the end, because at some point we all

have to sit down and say what can we do to avoid the so- called fiscal cliff. between now and then i think politics all over again. >> the house will pass their tax cut bill, the extension of the bush tax cuts, their bill. senate passed their bill yesterday. the republicans called that action a partisan exercise. the democrats will call the house bill a partisan exercise. and the fact is marty is right, that we will get out to december before we'll see action. it's not clear we'll see any real action in december on taxes, because the outcome of the election will play a big role in whether or not people are willing to do major things in the case of taxes. again, i agree with marty, that the real issue here is tax renorm going forward. whether or not you can marshal the kind of momentum you need to get a real tax reform

package, even after the election, is i think a very open question. >> it's kind of a technical thing, too. the constitution says all revenues should originate in the house of representatives. i served in the house ways and means committee, so we had to initiate all the bills before they went to the senate. this is reverse. technically the republicans could claim you violated the constitution. and we have the blue slip -- >> there would be a blue slip on that bill. >> again, i think it's the political season and it's unfortunate, because we have these huge economic problems and we keep playing this game of got you politics. nothing will happen until after the election. it's unfortunate. >> another issue that smacks of all of that is gun control. we just saw this massacre in colorado. the president yesterday addressing a party and basically saying he will try to work with congress to put in

maybe conservative gun control laws. even the president, who is a democrat, is sort of walking very, you know what i'm saying -- so basically, let's talk about there. what can get done, will anything get done, should there be some restrictions on especially these automatic weapons? bob, let me ask you, definitely, let me ask you. >> first of all, there are already restrictions on automatic weapons. there are guns out there that look like automatic weapons that aren't automatic weapons. one pull of the trigger and 20 rounds go down the range. so that's not what we're talking about here. those are already banned. you're talking about weapons where you have to pull the trigger each time, but you can have multiple bullets in the magazine and they're still deadly weapons. >> right. >> but to describe them as automatic weapons is -- >> same result, different --

>> yeah. but it becomes an important part of the overall debate here, because the fact is that there are many legitimate hunting weapons that have those same characteristics. the problem here, and it's not a problem in my view, but the issue is we have the second amendment. it's pretty clear that the right of citizens to bear arms won't be abridged. so in this country we've got to figure out ways in which we go after this issue based upon the fact these people are committing criminal acts. and we need to face the fact that we've got a rise in violence in this society that is bigger than simply the gun problem. >> you know, ak-47s aren't sporting weapons. that's a gun that kills people. one of the things we have to do is figure out which weapons we should protect under the second

amendment, people want to hunt, i don't have anything against that. but an ak-47, assault weapon being easily obtained in our society, i think it creates a lot of problems. the argument, guns don't kill people, people kill people. yeah, but that person didn't have a gun, he wouldn't kill all those people. >> again, he has a right to have a gun. >> i disagree. >> they're not hunting weapons for the most part. i don't know, i've done track shooting. >> with an ak-47? >> no. but a lot of people shoot on gun ranges for pleasure. >> but there must be a way we can address this issue, this type of gun violence, must be a way. it would be nice one day to watch the nra and gun owners sit down and say, okay, let's get together, we understand the second amendment is there, we're going to protect that

right. what can we do to reduce gun violence in america? how can we work together? another one of those issues, working together. >> got to end it there. perhaps i should have tailored my notes. thank you for coming in today. tony, over to you. thank you all. coming up next on fox 5 morning news, a hollywood affair, it's managed to make it into the news. a "twilight" star comes clean about her romance with the married director of one of her movies. >> first, katherine jackson's first comments since a judge took away her grandchildren. it's 7:41. we'll be right back.

making headlines in hollywood, more drama for michael jackson's family. the king of pop's three kids are now living with their cousin. >> yesterday a judge temporarily suspended katherine jackson's guardianship, after she disappeared to arizona allegedly without contacting paris, prince michael or blanket. the children's grandmother told

abc news she's devastated by the decision. tito jackson's oldest son will serve as their guardian. we'll have more coming up at 8:00. kristin stewart is saying i'm sorry to her costar and her boyfriend, robert pattinson after getting caught on camera cheating. yesterday the "twilight" star admitted her affair with the 41- year-old snow white director after tabloids published pictures of the two of them kissing. in a statement stewart says "this has jeopardized the most important thing in my life, the person i love and respect the most, rob. i love him, i am so sorry ." no word on whether the couple is still together. i guess it came out last week, i guess, when the pictures were published, which i didn't know about. >> why do we care about it again? >> i don't really care about it. it's all over the internet because everyone involved is

tweeting about it. she tweeted her apology to robert pattinson. i'm sure she apologized personally, too. the director tweeted, my family is the most important thing. everybody is tweeting. >> some of us are hurting, allison. [ laughter ] >> okay. you must be team -- >> the vampire, whoever he is. >> edward? >> all right. >> now i care. let's get to weather. temperatures at reagan national currently in the 70s. 75degrees. 71 at dulles. 72bwi marshal. first and foremost, we have cloud cover and a thunderstorm complex just to our north and west. will be moving through parts of the area. we'll see how well it holds together closer to washington. once we get that east of us, our temperatures will be off and running. this could hold things back a little bit as the cloud cover and rain showers could hold

temperatures down temporarily. still thinking upper 90s to about 100 for afternoon high temperatures. officially under a slight risk for severe weather, all the counties in orange. that really would be later today and moderate risk into central pennsylvania. headed north into southern new england, pennsylvania, look out for the possibility of strong storms today. and we could see one or two later today. 100 heat advisory starts at 12 noon. better by sunday and monday with highs in the 80s. >> i was trying to figure out the other guy, team jacob. i still don't know who is who. >> here's julie wright. she might know. >> i just said that to our producer, chris, how do they not know "twilight"? >> is pattinson edward or jacob? >> edward. it all happened in the second movie, allison. >> oh, okay. >> there's the werewolf and the

vampire, and she chose the director? [ laughter ] >> of "snow white." whatever. on the roads now, what i know is northbound 270 the cleanup continues. clean up on the beer truck is out there. only the right side of the roadway is getting by. the truck is up on its wheels at this point. but we have cases of beer that need to be mopped up, cleaned up, whatever. traveling northbound you're getting by to the right. southbound heavy volume delays due to rubber necking, but delays open. no problems leaving northeast to northwest. inside of the third street tunnel, the stalled car, stay to the left to get by. traveling inbound on the dulles toll road now, accident activity tying up two left lanes. slow traffic on eastbound 66 to about 16 miles per hour here at fair oaks. closer into vienna leaving nutley street, 26 miles per hour, but well below speed. that's a check of your fox 5 on-

time traffic. still ahead, a phd at the ymca. >> melanie alnwick is live in marlboro to explain. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. phd at the ymca, that means physical, healthy and driven. it's one of their signature programs and all day here at the thingamajig convention, we're doing relay races, talking about bottle rockets, robots and using your mind to construct anything you can think of. it's going on here today, and we are going to bring it to you live when fox 5 morning news continues.  re did all the obama stimulus money go? friends, donors, campaign supporters, special interest groups where did the obama stimulus money go? solyndra: 500 million taxpayer dollars. bankrupt. so where did the obama stimulus money go?

windmills from china. electric cars from finland 79% of the 2.1 billion in stimulus grants awarded through it went to overseas companies. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

♪ i dig this music. >> me, too. >> time for our facebook fan of the day.

we say hello to robert smith. robert writes that the morning crew here at fox 5 always helps get his day started. you're welcome. it's our pleasure to do that for you and for everybody. for your chance to be tomorrow's fan, log onto our facebook page and leave a picture under robert's photo. >> in turn and in truth, he helped get our day started. >> totally. >> there you go. thank you much. this morning more than 4,000 young people are teaming up to get creative and stretch their imaginations. >> it's the 11th annual ymca thingamajig convention. >> 18th annual. >> what did i say? >> 11th. >> how could i do that to them? it challenges young people to make healthy habits a priority. melanie alnwick joins us now from upper marlboro. >> reporter: good morning. thingamajig convention invention, what a name, right? you have to have a name like that when incorporating all the

activities that are going on here. these kids are ready at 8:00 in the morning. this is the first time they've been through this course. joining me is leslie, a board member with the ymca. welcome. thank you for coming in. >> my pleasure. >> reporter: give me a sense of what is going on. what is the goal of thingamajig? >> it started in 1984 as a small project as one of the camps, the summer camps. >> reporter: there's a lot of ymca summer camps. >> started out with about 140 kids, now it's up to 4,000 kids. it's a great interaction between the children and people from the community. it embodies the core values of the ymca, which are youth development and also healthy mind, body, spirit. >> reporter: 18 years, you must have seen so many more sponsors

and things coming on board in that time. >> absolutely. now it's become a thing that people in the community want to be involved in and part of it is because the kid are so enthusiastic. and it's all about the kids and a great way for people who love science to inspire kids. >> reporter: i can tell just by looking around this morning how much fun it is going to be today. we want to go to lashawn yates, the director of youth wellness. so you can get a phd? >> you can get a phd at the ymca. our phd program stands for physical, healthy and driven. we kicked it off in 2004. it's for children ages 6 to 14. the goal is to teach children how to live a healthy lifestyle, and help fight obesity. >> reporter: what did you design this course for? >> we love the obstacle course.

we can set it up as big as we want and as small as we want. we have kids running, jumping, playing. they're hopping and crawling through hoops and they're having fun, but still getting in exercise all at the same time. that's kind of what phd is based on, having fun and exercising at the same time. >> reporter: because if you were just to say, do 50 jumping jacks -- >> exactly. that would be very hard for some, because they won't be motivated. this way you're having fun, being challenged. you have people rooting you on. it's a great activity to get kids up and moving. we love the obstacle course. >> reporter: great. what else will the children be doing today involved with the phd activities? >> we have the university of maryland wrestling team that will be out and they'll be doing things with the obstacle course. we have hula hoop demos. we'll have a lot of activities that will get kids moving. >> reporter: thank you very much. i appreciate it. looks like they are going to

have a great time today. this is just the beginning here at the thingamajig invention convention. coming up later we are going to tell you how you, if you're looking for something to do today, how you can bring your kids down to participate. the idol rumor mill is swirling. who producers are reportedly setting their sights on for the third judge. >> secret from the stars when it comes to losing baby weight. can new moms slim down like the celebs? plus the new research looking into a link between how your morning routine, beauty routine, might affect diabetes. >> and singer and actor eric bonet joins us live. we'll be right back.     ♪

i've never felt this way before, but it's a scary time to be a woman. mitt romney is just so out of touch. [ female announcer ] mitt romney opposes requiring insurance coverage for contraception. and romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a bill that outlaws all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. there's so much we need to do. we need to attack our problems -- not a woman's choice. [ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message.

it is the dawning of a new era for the redskins. training camp kicks off today. all eyes are on rg3, or robert as he wants to be called. we're live at redskins park

this morning. >> also, a foamy mess on the road, beer all over the place when a tractor-trailer overturns. >> who will care for the children of the late king of pop? good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> i'm alison seymour. welcome to thursday morning. happy to have you with us. >> yes, indeed, and we're happy to have tucker barnes with us so he can let us know what's happening later today. >> have three words for us? >> you may not want to hear, unless you like hazy, hot and humid. some people love it. yesterday a gorgeous morning, upper 80s. today, 100. heat advisory that goes in effect at noon. thunderstorm complex here north and west of the city, and it's been holding together pretty tough here the last couple of hours. i don't know how much rain will get in here in the washington

area, though it's a possibility. some of the cloud cover associated with this definitely spilling into the area and that will try to hold temperatures back a little bit. perhaps our highs will reach the upper 90s instead of 100. looking for any kind of relief. reagan national 75 degrees. humidity 79%. humidity on the increase as well. wind out of the south at 10 miles per hour. gusting out of the south and west 10 to 15 later today. there's your heat advisory, goes in effect at 12 noon through 8:00 tonight. air temperature about 100 degrees. it will feel like 105 plus. lots of water, that kind of thing later today. >> tuck, thank you. >> let's go to julie wright. she's got the latest on the rush hour traffic, including the latest on that overturned truck. >> what are you doing after the show? it's still there, the truck, the beer. >> i'm surprised we haven't seen people driving up and grabbing cases. >> i think everybody is using

that right shoulder to get by. 355 and the 5 is an option, but they're like, case of beer, got a party this weekend. >> there you go. >> here we are, 270 northbound, truck is up, but still there. coming northbound, definitely well below speed. inbound new york avenue no problems northeast to northwest. trouble to the west traveling inbound on the dulles toll road. accident activity occurred at wolf trap. delays eastbound on 66 down to 16 miles per hour. again with the slow commute through vienna at 26 miles per hour headed to the beltway. duke street average speed at 17 miles per hour. gets better up to shurlington at 34 miles per hour. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. the suspect in the movie massacre reportedly described his killings in a notebook sent to the university of colorado in denver. the school confirms james

holmes mailed the notebook to the school. there are reports it arrived several days before the shooting, but university officials say it did not arrive until monday, the date of his first court appearance. >> the notebook was sent to a psychiatrist and said to contain details about how he was going to kill people, including drawings of stick people shooting people. the school won't confirm the contents. meanwhile, two more funerals scheduled this week. one was held yesterday. hospitals in colorado also are reducing the medical bills of the victims, many of them were young and had no insurance. meanwhile, donations of more than $2 million have already been collected for those victims. president obama is pledging to work with congress to stop gun violence. he spoke in new orleans to the national urban league last night and called for more background checks for people who want to buy guns. the president is pledging to work with lawmakers of both parties to stop violence in the wake of the movie massacre. mitt romney is in london.

he sat down with former prime minister tony blair early this morning at his private office in hyde park. and next hour he will meet with the current prime minister david cameron. romney is in london to build ties with british leaders and in keeping with his promise to fix the economy, he is asking for a meeting with britain's top financial officer. another big story we're following this morning, violet ripken, the mother of cal ripken, junior, is home safe after being abducted earlier this week. the suspect is still on the loose. fox5's lauren demarco has the latest on that search. >> good morning, tony. the case is really rather bizarre. now investigators are working to try to get to the bottom of it and find the alleged abductor. police say 74-year-old violet ripken, mother of cal junior, was kidnapped for about 24 hours and released unharmed. the motive remains a mystery.

there was no ransom demand. she lives alone and authorities didn't realize she was missing until around 8:00 p.m. tuesday night, when someone called 911 to report a suspicious car in baltimore county. police traced the plates and realized the vehicle belonged to her. neighbors now say a man confronted mrs. ripken in the garage of her home about 12 hours earlier than that, tuesday morning. he blindfolded her and forced her into her own car at gun point. >> had a gun and mask and gloves on. she couldn't recognize who he was. tied her up and put a mask on her. he was going to do something else first. told her to get in the car. he wanted her in the car. >> 6:00 a.m. yesterday, still bound, sitting in her car, not far from her home. police officers were patrolling the neighborhood, but the suspect was able to park on her street and then took off on

foot. mrs.ripken is said to be doing well, but is understandably shaken by the ordeal. during the nearly 24 hours she was missing, neighbors say the suspect gave her food and lit cigarettes for her. police aren't commenting on reports he used her credit cards in several places. tony, allison, back to you. >> all right, thank you very much. michael jackson's family is in the middle of a bitter dispute, i'm sure you've heard about it. his children are at the center of that dispute. >> days after disappearing to arizona without a word, katherine jackson is headed home and speaking out. >> it's another strange chapter, too, in the saga that is the late king of pop's life and legacy. now a judge has stepped in for the sake of michael jackson's three children. >> reporter: a california judge has temporarily appointed michael jackson's nephew, tito jackson, junior, as the

caretaker of his three children. michael's mother was removed from the guardianship of the three after conflicting reports over her health and whereabouts. >> it certainly has been a misunderstanding that i think really cass kateed into a day- to-day new drama upon upon new drama type situation. >> reporter: katherine was reported missing after not speaking to her grandchildren in several days. some suspected she may have been kidnapped. she was resting in an arizona resort with other family members. in an interview with abc news, jackson reacts to the ruling. >> i'm devastated that while i've been away that my grandchildren have been taken away from me. >> reporter: the guardianship is only temporary. katherine jackson's attorney is working to reinstate her as guardian. >> i made it really clear under no circumstance would i go

along with any permanent appointment of another guardian. i intend to immediately file paperwork to get her reinstated. >> adding to the drama, five of michael's siblings have called on the executors of the estate to resign. they believe the will is a fake. clearly, this isn't ending soon. it's a mess. >> thank you, sarah, for that report. too bad. >> it really is. you want there to be some peace. >> right. >> in that family. you know, there are small children involved. is "american idol" going country? still ahead at 8:00, we're going to tell you who could be joining the cast as third judge. >> hopefully, practice makes perfect. the redskins get ready to hit the grid iron for the first day of training camp. all eyes are on the news man. dave ross -- he's not the new man. >> sounded like it.

>> he'll have a preview. >> big day for facebook. today founder mark zuckerburg will find out how much investors like the social network. 8:09. we'll be right back. consumers today have a legitimate concern about the chicken they eat.

they want to know more about how they were raised, what they were fed. we spend a lot of time on the feed because a chicken is what it eats. [ jim ] this seal verifies we feed my fresh all-natural chickens an all-vegetarian diet including corn, soybeans, and marigolds. we actually ask the usda to come check us. we have never fed steroids or hormones and never will. no blood meal, no meat and bone meal. yuck. no animal by-products. it means when you put my chicken on the table, you know where it came from.

making headlines in the day ahead, the man accused of killing 91-year-old socialite wife last year is due in court today. he'll appear before a judge for mental health hearing to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. he is also expected to be formally charged with first degree murder. metro's board is expected to take a voted on a proposal to add national mall. the riders advisory council also plans to bring up issues involving emergency communications during the meeting. finally, facebook will release its first earnings report. the social network site and its founder are under pressure to show they can deliver a profit

for shareholders, this after a mess of an ipo back in may. interesting to see what comes out of that. 8:13now. tucker has told us it's going to be a scorcher out there. >> before you get to that, show us something cute. >> coolness factor of the day. time for our my first 5 photo of the day. >> hello beautiful. >> this is mckenzie page ford. >> doesn't look like she has a haircut, but has cute hair. she is a doll baby. >> she's beautiful. here's what she loves to do. she loves to laugh and stomp her feet. i like those things, too. she watches fox 5 every day with her mommy and cookie. >> who is cookie? >> we don't know who cookie is.

>> okay. maybe her cookie monster puppet. i used to have an ernie one. >> does she have cookie in her hand? >> no. >> hard to tell. we don't know who cookie is. we're glad cookie watches as well. >> look at her arms, tucker. these are the things i love. they're so yummy. >> i know. >> okay, i'm done. i'm sorry. >> it's cute when you notice, it's creepy when i notice. to submit your child's picture, myfoxdc.com, click on mornings. thank you so much. thanks to your mom, too. let's get to the storminess to our north and west. good rain in hagerstown. frederick, likely to get some rain. we'll see how close this tracks to washington. either way, some of the cloud cover spilling into the area. that will want to hold temperatures down for the time being. we'll see how hot we get this afternoon. either way, we'll be well into the 90s and awfully close to 100 later today with a heat

advisory that goes in effect at 12:00 noon. temperatures on their way up. 78 in washington. 80 quantico. let me mention our humidity on the increase as well. more heat, more humidity today. and a forecast high, might want to cover your eyes for this one, 100 degrees. could get a few thunderstorms bubbling up, too. could be strong. let's do traffic and julie wright has the latest. tell me about the beer. >> on the roads now, if you are traveling northbound along 270, only the right lane able to squeeze by. while you were doing the weather, they had zoomed in on this particular shot. the truck has been uprighted. it's on its wheels. but still a lot of cleanup. only the right lane getting by, the right shoulder, that is. northbound on 270 before you

reach 109. southbound, expect delays working in from ravanna. up to 38 miles per hour on coalsville road. inner loop, slow from 355 headed to college park. average speed 16 miles per hour, east of georgia avenue. 22miles per hour headed northbound from the beltway. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. the wait is over for fans of the burgandy and gold. >> today the redskins take the practice field for the first day of training camp. everyone will be watching robert griffin iii and seeing how things gel. is the anticipation building? >> reporter: it is.

guess what? bruce alan, the general manager walked behind me, and he said, hey, good to see that you reported on time. i think he was going to fine me if we weren't here. i'm never late for training camp. we're all here. robert griffin iii is here. he's on time. got him signed, sealed and delivered. took an extra few days before mini camp last week. but he's here. the maturation process of a young quarterback, you need to be here day one. today is day one, and of course robert griffin iii, you're right, everyone will be watching him today. yesterday we were all here just for his press conference. this guy, he's put together. he can handle us. he talked to us for 30 minutes, the media, and answered everything with a lot of class and dignity. he answered questions about his new car, his expectations of being the face of the franchise. you name it, he was never put off by anything that anybody

asked him here. one thing he did want to talk about was being quarterback and not being a celebrity. >> it's not about being in the spotlight, unless you're doing it for the right reasons. it's less about myself and more about helping this team get back to where it wants to be. those guys see that and they want us to be talked about in a good way, not a bad way. so i think those guys look at it as hey, we've got our chance to have a spotlight. i don't think you can be approachable if you're larger than life or they feel you think you're larger than life. you got to be down to earth, be able talk to them. be real with them. i think that's the biggest thing, and i try to be real with all my teammates. they can call me whatever they want, but i think that persona of rg3, as far as the fan, doesn't really -- it's not the same feeling for these guys in the locker room. >> reporter: yep, he's just

robert to his teammates. schedule of events, today and tomorrow and saturday, the 3:00 practices are the ones that are open to the public. come on out. it will be hot. the morning walk throughs are closed. don't show up until 3:00. of course, everybody has the day off sunday, so they kick it off again monday. it's going to be a fun, fun day, day one out here. but the other thing to think about, this is the last year they'll have training camp here. can you believe it? it's been 12 years. this is the 12th training camp here in ashburn, virginia. yes, i've been here for every one of them. will be the end of an era here, as they go to richmond next year. it all starts today. >> i had forgotten that. you're right, dave. >> reporter: flies by. >> sure does. >> thanks, dave. coming up, idol chatter, a disney controversy, and chick- fil-a versus the city of boston. >> talking about all those

things coming up, are we? and coming up, eating healthier with the ymca. melanie alnwick is live with their annual invention convention to show us how they're doing it. it's 8:20 now.

the producers of "american idol" must be psychic. >> here's why. this is no joke, earlier this week you and i were talking, tony, about where they should go with the direction for the third judge for the next season. we decided it should be someone with a country background music. sure enough, the latest rumors say the show is setting its sights on superstar brad paisley. one idol insider says bringing in a country star as a judge makes sense, since the most successful winner to date, carrie underwood is a country singer. if it's true, he would join randy jackson and newcomer mariah carey. in full disclosure, i did say garth brooks. >> i still think would be a good choice. but that's a good choice, too. >> great choice. more backlash for chick-fil- a. the president reiterated his stance against gay marriage

earlier this month. the mayor of boston is outraged and sent a letter to him stating -- it appears disneyworld isn't the happiest place on earth for everyone. a santa claus impersonator recently vacationed in the park and says the officials told him to tone things down. even though he wasn't dressed in a santa suit. has that face. also asked him not to take pictures or sign autographs and tell kids he wasn't actually kris kringle. he says the experience has turned him off to the magic kingdom. >> he looks like santa. kids are going up to him. who are they to say, hey, tone it down? >> is are they saying, are you kris kringle and him saying, well --

>> i don't know. he's a santa impersonator. >> it's in a land of their characters, so they don't want an impersonator of santa there. >> they like to control everything. still ahead, the olympic countdown. >> turn it down, santa. >> santa, over here. the games are underway, and so is the controversy. we'll show you what happened. >> first, from baby to beach body before you can blink, medical reporter deena centifonti shows us some people get back in shape so fast. 8:26and you're watching fox 5 morning news. those ads taking my words about small business out of context --

they're flat out wrong. of course americans build their own businesses. every day, hard-working people sacrifice to meet a payroll, create jobs, and make our economy run. and what i said was that we need to stand behind them, as america always has, by investing in education and training, roads and bridges, research and technology. i'm barack obama and i approve this message

because i believe we're all in this together.

checking our top stories here at home and around the world, tragic story out of northern virginia, where a 4- year-old boy accidently shot and killed himself. it happened yesterday afternoon in woodbridge. police say the boy was left alone in a car on empire street

and found the gun inside the vehicle. investigators are still trying to figure out why that boy was left alone and who that gun belongs to. in syria, rebels are bracing for a counter offensive by the syrian army. reinforcements have been ordered there. the rebels have gained control of more than half of aleppo after five days of fighting. it's the commerce capital of syria -- commercial capital of syria. check this out, hello. you don't see it every day, thank goodness. a 10-foot crocodile roaming the streets of southern miami put a scare into some residents. trappers captured the big guy, but not before letting loose its powerful jaw there. there are only about 2,000 crocodiles in southern california, but that's compared to the 1 million gators living

in the sunshine state. >> more alligators than crocodiles? >> but still, i don't want to see either one of them. >> not in your driveway. >> what's the difference between the two? is it the snout length or something? >> i don't know. >> that's fair. >> i don't know either, to be honest. >> okay. >> i'm sure a viewer knows. >> i'll check it out. >> hazy, hot and humid conditions back in the forecast. hope you loved yesterday, because today won't be anything like it, unfortunately. >> i'll check it out on the internet. >> i'll check it out. >> he's trying to figure out how to turn that computer on. >> how do i get to the internet? >> have to put your name in first, tony. 80 in quantico. these temperatures are climbing. overnight, actually not too bad, upper 60s, low 70s. 73 now dulles. 73 manassas and gaithersburg. forecast highs, upper 90s to about 100. mix in the humidity, humidity

on the increase, too and will feel like 100 to 105 later this afternoon. heat advisory back in effect starting at 12 noon. i want to do a closeup, show you this area of showers and thunderstorms to our north and west that has held together fairly well this morning. out towards frederick i think if you're headed up 270, you might uncounter the showers. been pushing off to the east. some of the clouds have been able to roll into our air. may play a role later today keeping our temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s. we'll see how long that cloud cover lingers. the big picture is high pressure to the west. terrible drought continues there. lots of heat advisories. 107yesterday in st. louis. you can see most of the energy is going up and around that area of high pressure. this is actually the leading edge of the warm air trying to punch into the area and will get in here shortly. here's your forecast for later today. let me show you the heat

advisory. goes in effect at noon through tonight. heat dangerous for a time later today. five-day forecast, 100 this afternoon. not a lot of improvement tomorrow. gets better this week with highs -- weekend with highs in the upper 80s. could have a few popup storms later today and some could be strong. that's weather, tony. over to you. thank you very much. ladies, could your morning beauty routine be taking you down the road towards diabetes? there's new research on that. plus, how do celebrity moms lose that baby weight so quickly? fox's deena centifonti is live with our medical team report this morning. let's start with the baby weight issue. many normal, everyday moms struggle to shed the pounds after they give birth. what do celebrities have access to that they, the normal moms, don't? i think i know one thing, money. >> right. time and money, right, tony? sometimes dads gain a little baby weight, too, tony. >> that's true. >> pack on a little belly

there. we wanted to know, because as you look at some of these celebrity moms, it's incredible, and on the other side of the spectrum, you have jessica simpson, she's constantly being photographed with her big purse and sweater and can't shake that weight. contract with weight watchers hanging in the balance. i spoke to a plastic surgeon who works with celebrities and he says, indeed, oftentimes they plan out our plastic surgery after the baby is born, tummy tuck, liposuction. we also talked to an obgyn. in you're struggling to lose the baby weight, many of us, myself included, gain too much when you're pregnant. want to hear the numbers how much you're supposed to be gaining? >> absolutely, yes. >> in a woman is underweight, 28 to 40 pounds.

normal weight, only supposed to gain about 25 pounds. 35 is the high end. overweight, 15 to 25. obese women, 11 to 20 pounds. doctor says, you have to have a scale. i avoided the scale when i was pregnant. you have to get on the scale to track that weight gain. >> there you go. it starts before the pregnancy. deena, let's turn to the new research about beauty products. what is this supposed link to diabetes some are talking about? >> this is interesting. research in boston, they looked at a chemical found in all kinds of beauty products, hairspray, nail polish, moisturizers, also in the home in electronics and toys. this chemical has made headlines before. the newest research found that women with higher levels of it also had diabetes. the study authors say we are

not saying the fallates caused the diabetes, but it's an interesting link. they're accused of it messing with your hormone system. there's been previous studies done that say in lab animals that the chemical causes problems with male reproduction, problems with liver and cholesterol. here's the rub, first of all, you can look at the label and see the chemical on the label. and second of all, the fda says we don't see any problem with it, so we're not going to regulate them right now. >> so just have it in your head and be aware of it, i guess, the possibilities? >> exactly. yes. >> deena centifonti -- >> or stop using your beauty products. >> right. thank you very much. it's good to have you on once again this morning. we appreciate it. >> thanks, tony. 8:36 now. it is a thursday morning and another day of triple digit temps in the forecast. by this point in the summer you

may have run out of things for the kids to do. we have easy projects that will keep them cool and most of all, busy. we'll be right back. [ male announcer ] olympic tennis players bob and mike bryan are always on the move. so they can't get to the bank to deposit a check. instead, they use citibank mobile check deposit. 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.

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it is 8:39 now.

we're going back out to redskins training camp in ashburn with our dave ross. he has a special guest joining him. >> reporter: this is why you come out here to training camp on day one. how about the general manager of the redskins? bruce allen. thank you for taking the time. i know it's the first day. how excited are you as a gm to see what's going out here today when rg3 takes the field? >> it's going to be exciting. everybody signed, all the players have put in a lot of work this offseason. the coaches have put in a lot of work. we have a jolt in our franchise with the draft that we'll feel for the decade to come. now it's just the beginning, and all i'm worried about is injuries. >> reporter: so far everybody is healthy. you talked about getting him signed. it was important to get him here on time. you could have haggled over the contract. you didn't. you said it was more important for him to be here. is that the end result there? >> yeah. it's really up to the young

man, though. it was important to robert to be signed. he's the one who really said, you know, i want to get in on time. i want to be with my teammates. it wasn't for anything that we were doing special on the field, because you really only had 12 or 14 guys. he just wanted to be a part of the team. we recognized and obviously there were no issues. >> reporter: you swapped number ones, gave up two future number ones to get him. when was it you said, i got to have this kid? >> we made that decision early, it was in february. as an organization we met, addressed the weaknesses that we had in our franchise and obviously the quarterback position was something we wanted to do. it was a rare year where we were drafting low. we were going to be at number six. and we decided we'd like two quarterbacks. when we made the trade, we weren't sure exactly what quarterback and so the month of january and february we did a lot of research on those two young men.

we knew either one could be a great redskin. >> reporter: this is the last training camp here in ashburn, virginia this year. going to move down to richmond, virginia. 12 years here. bittersweet having the last one here or are you excited to go down next year, too? >> i think it will be a great experience for the franchise. the redskins for years have gone away -- >> reporter: we've been around the block a little bit. >> yeah. and by the way, they were in occidental college in l.a. 15 years back in the day. >> reporter: wow. >> it will be great for our team to get away. it will be great for the fans, because i've heard from the people at the naval base, they're going to be able to drive up to practice and be able to see practice and people in petersburg and charlottesville are excited. >> reporter: i have to send it back to the studio. quickly, tell everybody what you did in the offseason for fun when you weren't going to trade for robert griffin iii. >> i proved i wasn't 16 years old anymore and i went body surfing. >> reporter: really?

how did that turn out? >> the shoulders remind me -- >> reporter: bruce allen, the general manager of the redskins. impromptu visit. we appreciate it this morning. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: it's a big and exciting year. starts today 3:00, and open to the public. come out and see rg3. back to the studio for now. >> thank you and our thanks to mr. bruce allen. first lady michelle obama is leading the united states delegation opening in the opening ceremonies in london tomorrow night. >> we know who the flag bearer will be for u.s. >> she is a fencer who has won two gold medals. she is seen here in the center. she was chosen by her teammates and she says, she is extremely humbled by the privilege. she'll carry the american flag in front of the world tomorrow. meanwhile, a big gaffe, olympic organizers are apologizing to the north

koreaen women's soccer team. they mistakenly put up the wrong flag showing the south korean flag next to pictures of the north koreaen players. the north koreaen coach was so upset he marched his team off the field and didn't come back until an hour later. >> that's a big mistake. >> yeah. time now is 8:44, on this thursday morning. up next in this morning's garden grow, going to show you simple projects that will help the kids stay occupied as the summer -- we're in that middle part of the summer now, as it wind down. >> also going to take you to the thingamajig invention convention in upper marlboro, maryland. melanie alnwick is live there r later. ing. we'll be right back.

there you go. a good picture. time for our face book fan of the day. we say hello to robert smith. he writes the morning crew here at fox 5 always helps get his day started. thank you, robert, for that. we appreciate it. we thank you and your family

for watching. for your chance to be tomorrow's fan, just log onour facebook page. leave a comment under the picture and again robert, we thank you very, very much. also want to let you know, speaking of our facebook page that the votes are in. we'll be revealing the new ask the weather guys name for that segment coming up next week. stick with us for that. time for garden grow. allison is outside with derek thomas. >> i am outside with not only derek, but my three girls. good morning. good morning to you, derek. >> good morning, how are you? >> great. the kids are here, because it's that time of summer when you're thinking, when is school going to start? you're here to the rescue. you're saying why not get them involved with fun garden projects. >> there's really neat garden projects that will get the girls into the garden, or boys if you have boys. >> yeah.

>> i wanted to show how simple it can be. take a trip to the craft store and pick up things you may have in your yard and repurpose them. what we're going to have all of the little ladies working on are three different projects. we're going to work on a tree, it's actual air plants. the neat thing about these is that they grow without any soil. most plants need soil to grow. but these get all of the nutrients they need from the air. >> that is beyond cool. never heard of that. >> also going to work with succulents. have you studied anything about plants? >> [inaudible]. >> the succulents will work out, because they're easy. and we'll create a terrarium.

>> have you worked with terrariums? >> i have. >> it's like creating a mini ecosystem. what we're going to be able to do with them actually is -- and this glue gun here, what i want you to do here, it's very, very easy to use. >> give the oldest one the glue gun, you're right. >> this is our inspiration. this one we got at the store, and they had already set it up for us. what i want to start with is this one. let's sit it up top there, okay? i want you to put some glue there for me. right up at the top. put a little bit more. there we go. set it down safely on the side of the table. you're good. then we're going to secure that there. that's kind of the top of our pyramid, if you will.

the other thing we're going to do is, we also put wire here. this was a piece of wood that we got, you can find old piece of driftwood that you like, if you're at the beach or something like that. we put this piece of wood and we put wire. the other thing i want you to do, and we're going to work on this and have this all done when we come back for the next segment. we're going to take the moss and put that around. i don't know what your favorite color, if it's red or yellow, but we're going to pick this and that will be the foreground of your design. >> i think that's going to look awesome. >> wonderful. and your terrarium will be different than the others we've done. we have a bilevel. viewers can check it out in the next hour. and we'll put another one.

we're building a skyscraper terrarium. >> a skyscraper for sky. >> this will be better than the bean stalk project you did. >> it will. >> though mama loved that project. >> i did bring it home. [ laughter ] >> all right, derek. >> we have a lot of stuff to get the girls started. we'll continue working on this. is there a particular moss you wanted to use for the bottom? >> that's the craft and arts show out here. it's going to be super great. we're going to rejoin derek and the girls at 9:45. only going to take an hour. >> only going to take an hour, and we'll have it all put together and hopefully, the humidity has got me sweating, but we're good. we're going to definitely have three fabulous projects that the viewers can take to their kids. >> thank you derek, thank you, kids. tony, back to you. >> aren't the girls lovely? thank you very much, allison and derek, we appreciate it. and girls, too.

it is now 8:52 on this thursday morning. coming up next, or coming up next hour, eric benet, he joins us live. he's on tour promoting his new album. the album is called "the one." we'll find out more how his family, including a new arrival, inspired this latest release. stay with us. ♪     the middle class is shrinking. in this day and age you can only accomplish so much without a degree,

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welcome back. fall is right around the corner. we are already getting a sneak peek at the lineup on fox tv. >> they include some of your favorite shows, new projects and everything in between. >> reporter: it was familiar stars be mingling with new faces. the newcomer says adding to

"glee" immediately changed his life. >> i checked my twitter, like this morning, and this afternoon, and i picked up, it was like three or 4,000 followers just in the one day. i can see they're crazy, crazy good. >> that's what i have to do. >> reporter: keifer sutherland's "touched" returns. >> first season was 13 episodes. so we used those to lay out the groundwork. so even though this is our second season, it feels like the continuation of our first, and this is kind of where it starts to get exciting. >> reporter: and the freshman drama "mob doctor." >> we can only hope the show kind of takes on the life that the sopranos took on.

i think we're certainly aiming for that. >> how is it going? >> reporter: on the comedy side, there's "ben and kate." >> it's funny and has funny people in it. but i think it will -- one of its strengths is the amount of heart it has, which i think will allow the audience to empathize with our characters. >> reporter: and the mindy project. >> it's a funny comedy and a work place comedy. i think it's great. >> reporter: friends fans can look in order to the series tying up loose ends before it wraps. >> three days into shooting the episode and nobody is reflective yesterday. >> reporter: in hollywood, adam housley, fox news. good thursday morning. i'm tony perkins. >> i'm alison seymour.

coming up this hour, who abducted violet ripken, the baseball great's mother? at home this morning, but there are missing pieces. lauren demarco is live with the latest on this investigation. >> then chick-fil-a's stance on gay marriage has one mayor saying, don't try to set up shop in my town. who banned the chain and the company's response ahead. >> redskins fans rejoice. back at camp for training camp. dave ross has a live preview of the action and how you can take part. ♪ >> you don't want to miss eric benet, we can consider him a friend to the broadcast. >> i think so. >> been here a few times. he has a new cd and he joins us instudio to talk about his summer tour and his new marriage and new baby. >> one thing is for sure, d.c. has love for eric benet. >> absolutely. >> we appreciate him stopping by. >> he's actually already here. we're happy to have him here. >> d