another rate hike. >> and have some new attack ads on both sides, crossed the line now. the latest from the campaign trail. as fox 5 morning news at 7 starts now. a live view outside, on this wednesday august 8th, 2012. a little humidity out there, we were just talking about a few moments ago. tucker will have details in just seconds this is -- i just said it wednesday. good morning i am tony perkins. >> i am allison seymour. let's not let the people wait for one more second for tucker. >> good morning. yeah, warm humid start to your day. what else is new it is august. it will be a hot afternoon highs 90 degrees. regan national 77 degrees. 75 fredericksburg and 74 in ocean city, let's see, we got a couple 60s. hagerstown 59 degrees.

looking at radar, generally quiet a few showers down to the south, fredericksburg and a few more across the lower eastern shore. those have quieted down. much of your day should be like yesterday, partly to mostly cloudy, some series of sunshine don't think we will see much in the way of showers or thunderstorm activity changes in the forecast as we get into tomorrow and the weekend. forecast today, daytime highs hot side. 92 washington, 93 fredericksburg, scattered late day storm that is a look at weather. let's do traffic and get the latest from julie. we are still over the scene of the crash on the outer loop of the belt way two separate incidents between connecticut and 355 this accident involving a dump truck and another vehicle traffic is able to get by using the two left lanes, college park headed around towards bethesda the second accident happened closer to 355 delays continuing over towards the exit to 270, rubber necking

from bethesda, headed east over silver springs. belt way, st. georges county, leaving 214, to 450. crash on the inner loop, right lane is closed receiving word of a crash inbound route 50 as you approach kennel worth avenue we will bring you more in our next report. 270 check out this ride. southbound 270, bumper to bumper grid lock traffic, word of a vehicle fire. that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. thank you julie. new this morning dc police searching for four men, accused of attacking a man with a hammer and then robbing him. this happened 12:45 a.m. this morning, 14th and irving streets northwest, the man's injuries are said to be not life threatening. other top stories this morning tony a 25-year-old man is being held without bond

charged with preying on young girls. he kidnapped two girls on two different occasions from a thrift store on university boulevard in hyattsville, the first involved an 8-year-old girl july 9th the second monday. a 6-year-old girl was snatched and sexually assaulted at a nearby playground. a police officer found her in the park with this man. >> as i approached this little girl all she had in her eyes were nothing but tears it reminded me of my daughter who is 3 years old she seemed desperate the only thing out of her mouth was i want my daddy i want my daddy. >> well, the father of the 6- year-old released a statement warning parents to watch their children carefully it only takes 30 seconds for them to disappear. for the sect time in just two weeks -- second time in just two weeks, arlington

police are investigating a deadly crime scene. two men were found dead on north culpepper yesterday morning blood was found at the scene no weapons an autopsy will be conducted to determine how 59-year-old keith springs and 31-year-old carl died. another big story we are following this morning pepco's response to the power outages after june. maryland regulators are giving customers to voice concerns. the meeting started hours after pepco's plans to ask for a rate hike. customers voiced their frustrations about the price increase during the public hearing. >> i do not understand how you can rationally justify

rewarding incorn dance. >> i am asking you to do the -- income dance. >> i am asking you to do the right thing. >> a rate increase the rewarding nonperformance. inexcusable. >> tonight residents from prince georges county will have a chance to discuss pepco's performance. officials are holding another public meeting in lar doe. one day before, martin o'malley is looking at allowing a sixth casino. maryland's general assembly will return to annapolis tomorrow to begin debating that bill. turning to the race for the white house, both president obama and his republican challenger, mitt romney are

raising the volume on their criticism of each other but are we reaching a new low in the presidential campaigns now. doug luzader takes a closer look. >> reporter: no question, attacks on both sides have a new edge to them from ads that may cross the line to just plain name calling. >> under obama's plan he wouldn't have to work or train for a job they just send you your welfare check. >> this ad raised hackles at the white house. romney said obama has always been opposed to work. this is categorically false and blatantly dishonest. >> a pro obama super pack intern aired this ad. >> she passed away in 22 days i do not think mitt romney realizes what he has done to anyone. >> mitt romney's business decisions, really to blame for the death of a woman who lost

her health insurance. >> i think it is low ball politics. >> then the name calling, not hard to get the impression these guys just do not like each other. >> it is like robin hood in reverse. it's romney hood. >> we have been watching the president say a lot of things about me and my policies it is just not right if i were to coin a term it would be obamalony. >> president obama is heading to colorado where polls show he is just trailing mitt romney behind likely voters. developing in afghanistan this morning, a suicide bombing in the eastern part of the country kills three nato troops right now the coalition has not yet said what country they are from. the taliban immediately took responsibility for the attack after the insurgency continues to carry out violence. yesterday, two gun men wearing afghan army uniforms killed an

american soldier and wounded two others. new this morning 7 olympic athletes are missing, cameroon's entire boxing team, a swimmer and a soccer player are believed to be trying to defect officials got word they were missing monday night because of immigration rules put in placee seven can stay in the country through november. earn nesto weakened to a tropical storm after making land fall on the yucatan peninsula earlier today it forced hundreds of fishermen to flee and tourists evacuated resorts along the caribbean coast moving to inland hotels, officials will spend the morning surveying to see if the rain and 80-mile per hour winds caused any damage. it is 8 minutes after the hour now, it is a wednesday morning. still ahead new developments out of syria, desperate to escape escalating violence thousands flee that country overnight.

new look for the penn state football team what alterations they are making to their uniforms this season. dc man who ordered a tv online got way more than he bargained for why he called police after opening the package last night. >> as we head to the break, a lot of problems on the roads this morning, julie wright will have the latest for you tucker has the latest weather we will be right back. fox 5 morning news will continue 

>> syrian refugees making headlines, turkey reporting another 2,000 people fled over the border last night and there are two generals and two army colonels with them. we are getting reports, the ground offensive in aleppo may

be getting under way. rebels abandoned some position in the front line district as the battle entered its third week. >> hundreds praying for victims of sunday's shooting at a sikh temple in wisconsin they held a candlelight vigil last night for the six killed by wade michael page the temple's president will be cremated and his ashes spread, in india. there are a couple of individuals here in our -- vigils here in our area, one in front of the white house 6:30 p.m., the other at a sikh temple in silver springs. montgomery county police chief will be there on columbia pike. starts at 8:00 p.m. another big change for the penn state football program the team is ditching those blue and white uniforms worn by joe paterno's players for decades, the new jerseys will include

the names of players and a symbol for child abuse awareness. 7:13 a.m., tucker is joining us i heard about the talk of humidity earlier. you know, it could have been me under a different name, an assumed name to write that question because if we can predict it we know how much hair spray we know what to do. >> it is not terribly co- operative last couple days. >> no. >> hasn't been co-operative this summer >> i know but last couple days temperatures have come down you can feel humidity. >> stops you cold. >> i wish it would stop us cold. >> if only that were the case. >> really. >> let's get your numbers take a look, good news, no heat but a lot of humidity in place that will -- i want to say stick around for the next couple days, kind of corny. 66 in cincinnati, guess what, a heat advisory not in washington, but in places like las vegas, where temperature

will approach 105 to 110 later today. >> but no humidity. >> thank you. that's right. phoenix is 97 degrees and las vegas, 90 degrees. your extreme heat further out south and west. not a lot of features to talk about today showers along the front in the carolinas we are on the north earn edge of that i don't think we will see much shower or thunderstorm activity we will see cloud cover, partly sunny, hot and humid. could there be a shower or thunderstorm later, yes. but our real relief is up towards minneapolis that is a cold front which will bring us some very very comfortable temperature for the weekend. things will get better. 92 today, could be a scattered storm late, humid today, late in the day tomorrow cold front starts to approach the area, good chance of showers and thunderstorms, saturday, 82 degrees, sunday sunshine low humidity, 85. >> 85 sounds nice. >> perfect.

>> great thank you. let's go to julie wright now, a lot of problems on the road. >> yeah, we have had our fair share of problems, car fires on the belt way land over, accident activity green belt, two separate accidents on the belt way as you approach bethesda now all the activity has cleared so lanes are open, gain travelling this outer loop out of land over basically 214 headed up to 50, bw parkway all the way over toward rockville pike a 2.5 hour commute, just on the outer loop of the belt way with all of your lanes now open. the accident activity cleared but still dealing with a lot of slow traffic, accident activity on the inner loop, bw parkway, cleared to the shoulder, 5 miles an hour the average speed, travelling between land over and green belt authorities checking for the crash, inbound, route 50 approaching kennel worth avenue, southbound 270, heads up adds you work your way south -- as you work your way south of 109. thank you julie.

an esculator at the plaza metro station is still closed after an incident that injured five people, sending three to the hospital yesterday morning a woman's bag got caught in a metal side panel, causing the panel to rip off. now to a story you will only see on fox 5, a disturbing delivery in the district. >> dc man who ordered a flat screen tv online received his package but it was not a television instead he got a gun. wisdom is back now with more on this still developing story. >> right. this has a lot of people scratching their heads of course in disbelief. seth says he ordered a tv from a third party through amazon.com this is what he received instead when he opened the box he found a black semi automatic rifle the ships label had his name and address but the invoice showed it should have been shipped the a gun shop in pennsylvania. he called dc police.

officers came to the house and confiscated the kyle, which is illegal -- the rifle which is illegal in the district. >> hay had never seen anything quite like it but they just sort of took my information and said well, we will handle this weapon because it is illegal to keep here, illegal to transport in a car, so it can't be returned you can't deal with it we have to take it away. so they took possession of it. >> now he says the package was left in his hallway outside his apartment anyone would have gotten hold of it. a third party seller shipped the package not amazon we reached out to amazon and the seller. now the brady campaign released a statement about this it said in part clearly it is a dangerous situation in america when assault weapons are so prevalent and can so easily end up in the wrong hands thank goodness he and his wife alerted the metropolitan police department right away this mishap could have lead to another tragedy and a couple issues here, it is sitting in

the hallway, that, other than the obvious mistake it was shipped to him he didn't order it but it is sitting in the hallway in an apartment building you can imagine how this could have turned into a major tragedy. >> if it had fallen into the wrong hands someone not as honourable as this man who found it and called police. troubling situation. >> indeed thank you so much. it is 7:19 a.m. wednesday morning, still ahead, a summer camp in maryland at the center of a fight club investigation. the allegations against the camp counsellors next. plus he left his signature on decades and dozens and dozens of films and popular songs and plays. after the break a look back at the live of marvin hamlish. >> holly is hanging out with a very special guest a dolphin. she is at the national aquarium in baltimore for their 31st anniversary, how you can get in on this celebration. oh, the two of you, we will be

right back 

7:23 a.m., maryland state police trying to find out what happened to camp brown a week long summer program for children in southern maryland. the camp let out a day early and parents received a let fresh the boys and girls club saying some counsellors instigated fight club type activities one mother told fox 5 her 10-year-old son was punched. some of the counsellors accused of taking part in these activities allegedly came from dcs summer youth employment program and a handful have apparently been fired. the boys and girls club said their goal is to maintain a safe camp experience. police say this is an open investigation. allison. later today the pentagon is burying two airmen missing in action from the vietnam war at arlington. 46 years to the day after they died. on august 8th, 1966, two man

crew of a f4 c airplane was lost in a dog fight over song b provinces. both will be buried with full military honors. he was the talent behind some of the most talented names in the business. >> composer marvin hamlish has died all of you know his music he wrote the barbara stria sand hit the way we were and he turned out a total of 40 film scores and won oscars, grammys, emmys, golden globes a tony and the pulitzer prize for his work. >> take a look at this back in 2002 our own holly morris had the honor of spending a little time with him on stage at kennedy center, he was 68 years

old when he died yesterday. he actually hung out with holly all morning long which very gracious, of him. >> i think she said, he was her favorite guest or at least one of the top two, definitely so. what a big name but what a legacy he does leave behind. >> 7:25 a.m. on wednesday morning. a first in women's gymnastics and a u.s. finals match up in beach volleyball we have this mornings olympic games recap next. >> hitting the campaign trail with an in depth look at the latest attack ads. >> a live lookout side, problems out there, this doesn't appear to be one of them maybe it is. maybe there is a stop in traffic somewhere else along that route, julie has the latest tucker has the forecast in a couple moments stay with us we will be right back @ñ over the e next four months, you have a choice to make.

not just between two political parties, or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. governor romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top. roll back regulations on big banks. and he says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. but you know what? we tried t that top down approa. it's what caused the mess in the first place. i believe the only way to create an economy built to last is to strengthen the middle class. asking the wealthy to pay a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way. so that we can afford to invest in education, manufacturing, and home-grown american energy

for good middle class jobs. sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. ♪ i'm barack obama and i approve this message. >> gymnast amy raisman won lex gold on the floor and picked up a bronze on the balance beam, that gives her three total medals gabby douglas finished

7th after a fall. >> all american final, in beach volleyball, two time defending olympic champ, carrie walsh jennings and misty may trainer, finished the two teams face off tonight. >> that was a good game too. an update on the medal count now, china still leads with 34 gold, and 73 overall, team usa is right behind with 30 golds and 70 total medals, great britain third by russia and germany just added a couple more medals the last hour. speaking of olympic. >> yes. >> maryland's own katie ladeckie will be here later. >> what time? >> 8:30 a.m. >> very exciting. that is great happy to have her here. >> okay meantime, our own

champion, of weather, in the morning, is with us now. >> guess what, warm and humid conditions to start the day, hot and humid, could be a storm, probably not but maybe,. >> boy. >> you are getting a bronze now. >> you might not even get the bronze. >> did you see that poor swim whore got a zero -- swim whore got a zero? he is diver and it went terribly wrong. he landed on his back. >> oh, no. >> i will show it to you in a little bit. 78 washington. 80 annapolis, let's see, a little cooler here to the north and west, 66 in morning in martins burg. i got to pick up my performance. dew point temperatures running high. you will notice humidity i can guarantee it, 73, in washington, 75 annapolis, approaching oppressive levels close to town, 74 quantico,

better, again in the mountains but all of us will be not only dealing with heat but humidity. temperatures will not be terribly extreme but mix in the dew point temperatures that is a combination not comfortable. clouds to start your day periods or peeks of sunshine storminess and rain across the outer banks. and we will generally just be cloudy, could there be a pop up shower or storm yes but most of the area should be dry. looking up stream, north and west relief in the form of a cold front it will start to approach tomorrow give us a better chance of thunderstorms, tomorrow afternoon and then we will have showers and storms friday, and when that clears, by saturday afternoon, and saturday night, guess what? actually refreshing air in here for a change for the end of the weekend humidity levels sunday, will probably be in the comfortable range. today partly sunny, hot, humid, 92 your daytime high winds south, 5, partly cloudy, warm

and muggy, 75 overnight low do it again tomorrow better chance of showers and storms, tomorrow and today, best chance friday, pretty much a guarantee with the frontal system moving through get it out during the day saturday, check out your daytime high low 80s sunday, sunshine, hoe humidity, 85 degrees. okay that is weather let's do traffic, julie, she got busy what is up. >> yeah, i did. it is crazy out here on the roads i mean almost a 3 hour commute at this point leaving 214, headed around towards 355 rockville pike, car fire 450, two separate accidents, between connecticut and 355 your outer loop commute is down as much as 5 miles an hour as you work on the outer loop, i have delays on the inner loop as you travel 270, to connecticut avenue leaving new hampshire around toward it is baltimore washington parkway. slow moving trip, northbound,

rhode island avenue, eastern and 38th, dealing with a jackknifed tractor trailer, left lane still blocked off accident activity southbound 270, lanes open, slow moving traffic out of hyatts town, car fire, southbound, before 121 that is a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. in the race for president mitt romney's newly placed ad, claims, president obama has gutted welfare reform. our usual wednesday political sparring mates are away this week we are happy to talk headlines with a new team today, john is a familiar face on the show political editor at human events newspaper and chuck democratic political strategist and senior fellow at center for national policy. good morning. >> good morning. >> want to talk about the latest round of political ads, first yesterday's primaries

held in kansas, missouri, washington state, michigan what has developed interesting to both of you gentlemen this morning, i will start with you john. >> in michigan and missouri these are two states that republicans think that they can gain the seats they need, to win a majority of seats in the u.s. senate. the seat in missouri changed hands no less than four times, in the last 18 years, this is the same senate seat that harry trueman once had and attorney general, john ash i don't have the had in the 1990s. so there is a lot of history there. todd achen, congressman who spent the least amount of money, better known and better funded candidates and now faces democrat, sarah mchaskel from michigan. and admittedly, republicans have not won a senate seat in

that state, since 1972. the candidate was nora romney, mitt romney's mom. staying in missouri it is interesting you had mr. achen who won the primary, sarah palin on one side, all the money on the other side but for democrats they were happy to see mr. achen to the point they went in and tried to help him win. goes back to the days of the delaware senate race, for nevada senate race where they were trying to nominate a tea party that is a state that is really tough for democrats to win and for the senator to have a chance they needed a nominee like achen to win that primary also, last night in kansas, a little known reported fact was that there was a fight within the republican party for control of the state senate you had republican conservatives, taking on the republican moderates. last night in kansas a lot of those republican conservatives keep those moderates out of their seats in their own primaries. >> interesting development make of that what you will heading

into the general election. let's talk about the gop convention and two speakers have been added, condaleeza rice, and governor martinez, of new mexico. both added as speakers. so, let's two put and two together can we expect an announcement of a vice presidential running mate for mitt romney and might it be either of these two women. >> yes, not now, but i doubt it. >> okay. >> okay let me sound byte it for you. i do think that he will make an announcement before the convention but he certainly is not going to do it while the olympic is going on. i think the first former mix czar would not do that. i -- olympic czar would not do that. rice has said she would not

accept it. governor martinez, she is fascinating to talk to, on the personal and political fronts she simply said she is so committed to her work as governor if she were to be asked and said yes she couldn't look back at the young women and see her as a role model and take it. >> chuck, let me ask you the same question but with a little different spin, who in your opinion, as a demrat, does mitt romney need t secure some of those end -- need to secure some of those independent vote what is would be the smart move in your opinion. >> you mentioned yourself putting condaleeza rice and martinez on center stage they need help with latinos and la tinas and single women and help with certain blue collar workers it is good to put them up that is why i think they won't be the vice president's pick look to a state that is really important even though the vice president cannot deliver that state it is good to have them there, as states men someone who has been

around, ala rob portman or someone of that caliber. there talk of mr. ryan from wisconsin, people who have experience people from important statepeople who are safe. i don't thing you will see the republican party go and do a wild card again. martinez, skilled, very respected checking off lots of things on top, la tina, woman, young i think they will do the safe choice, some body from a battleground state somewhat of a states man or been around washington dc and knows where all the restrooms are. >> we started this and we sort of teased the whole segment, we are talking about this latest round of political ads, i know we just ended with you chuck but the claim is this president, president obama has dismantled the step you have to secure the welfare check, president clinton put in place in the 90s. what is truth and fact and fiction. >> the biggest fact is mitt

romney needs to take this story off the front pages as he heads into his convention they are both going to come at each other but the fact is there have been four governors who sent a letter asking for waivers for the welfare thing. so the welfare bill would not eliminate work to welfare, it is trying to help eliminate and stream line the process, and one of the facts that hasn't been talked about in the press two of these four governors are republicans from the state of utah and nevada and what hasn't been talked about 29 republican governors asked for this same waiver four years ago including perry, romney, pollenty and bush this is not something trying to dismantle the welfare bill just a waiver to make it more efficient so hard working americans, can be helped along until they find that job. >> john. >> i do think governor herbert in utah and the other gentlemen you mentioned should talk to

the people who first raised this issue before governor romney, senator hatch, also of utah andcongressman camp, chairman of the tax and means committee they said simply if it was intended, that the temporary assistance for needy families program, to which this program is administered wanted cash payments it would have done so in the first place and let it be that way the law that president clinton signed in 1996, did not permit that, it was more work to welfare, and cash payments were out of the question. this is an issue i followed closely, my friend the late bob carlson, helped craft the program, for governor regan in sacramento, this is a model for other states including my home state of connecticut, new york under governor nelson, rockefeller a program finally accepted by democratic president at the highest levels after two vetoes i might add

and they might work out a package there is an old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it. >> thanks for being with us see you again and chuck we hope to see you again soon as well. >> thank you. >> tony over to you. so civil over there. >> i know. >> very nice >> i like it. >> thank you guys very much. 7:41 a.m., a long dormant volcano covers an area, where one of the most popular film trilogies was shot of all time with ash. we could start feeling the impact of a refinery fire in california by the end of the week we are told. we will be right back n 1996, president clinton and a bi-partisan congress helped end welfare as we know it, by requiring work for welfare. but on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work, and wouldn't have to train for a job --

they just send you your welfare check. and welfare to work goes back to being plain, old welfare. mitt romney will restore the work requirement, because it works. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. [ sally umlaut ] what? the five stages of muller. ah yes... stage one: suspicion. "it's a yogurt, how good can it be?" stage two: revision. "actually, this ain't bad." stage three: surprise! "look at this cool cornery thing! i love this stuff!!" stage four: desolation.

"it's gone!" stage five: anticipation "i guess i could always have another"... "have you been through the five stages of muller yet?" "yeah, just now." [ male announcer ] muller. the european for yummy.

scientists closely watching a volcano in new erupted for th more than a century this week. what is going on? no one was injured but ther rungs dumped a whole lot of ash on the ski nick area, -- scenic area where the lord of the

rings movies were shot. >> allison, speaking of that, residents in the los angeles area felt the ground shake last night a 4.4 magnitude earthquake hit just before 11:30 p.m., it was centered 2 miles east of yorba linda in orange county no reports of damage or injuries. emotions ran high at a meeting in california, following a refinery fire monday. the blaze sent residents scrambling incorridors. hundreds -- indoors, hundreds flooded hospitals with health complaints. chevron was too slow to notify the public about the fire. it is expected to have an impact on gas prices nationwide we could see a 10 to 15¢ increase some say. >> you know this is coming this next story the nations fastest texters face off in the big apple 11 contestants from all over the nation are coming

totimes square the winner gets $50,000. last year's champion is coming back to defend his title it will not be tony perkins. >> i am pretty good. >> you are? do you use both thumbs? >> i don't know. i guess -- i don't know. >> yeah. i think the fastest ones use their thumbs. >> any way that is going on and yeah. volcanos erupting, earthquakes. >> we shouldn't even -- around here we don't even talk about it unless it is a 5 or 6 you know what i mean? >> i we shall we hasn't. >> for california, -- i wish we hadn't. >> for california that was -- >> last year we had 5.9. >> we had the warm up with the puny little ones. >> don't tempt fate >> i don't call anything puny. >> let's get to your forecast.

>> i do. >> warm and humid conditions later the day expecting more of the same, you know just like yesterday, temperatures expected to be low 90s for afternoon highs, your satellite radar a few showers off the outer banks as we get into the afternoon, a little sunshine here, but, most of the day, should at least the day should be cloud filled, cold front north and west that will bring us changes as we get into the weekend show you the 5 day in just a second an update with ernesto. maximum winds, 70 miles an hour. still bringing heavy rain this will be a rain maker across the yucatan peninsula, 8 to 12 inches of rain it will get back out into the bay where it will reintensify and make a second land fall in 24 hours or so, once again there in mexico this story will continue for the next couple days. our 5 day forecast, okay. we won't do the 5 day later today 92, warm and humid. >> another award winner.

>> are you speaking about earnesto or my forecast? >> forecast. >> julie you have had a busy morning how is it looking now? >> i know i think some body in the weather department or to the right should buy lunch. >> why are you always trying to get me to buy lunch? >> because you never do. >> not true you are giving the wrong impression. >> you bought julie lunch? >> i didn't say i bought julie lunch. >> he was hoping for an all you can eat buffet, $5.99 get off cheap you know. all right outer loop of the belt way tony check it out, delays, 214, around to 355, a 2.5 hour commute just on the outer loop along where we have had several stretches of accidentcar fire as mix of problems, for those on the outer loop. very much a slow go, inner loop slowing between 270, commit cut, delays, bw parkway, still

coming through college park and green belt, earlier accident has cleared, 5 miles an hour your average speed as you work your way around that belt way. inbound 50, lanes open, slow, leaving 410 river dale headed in toward it is bw parkway. northbound or out bound 50, clean up continues, of an accident in the left lane. delays continue as you make your way through german town. travelling in virginia, closed from duke street to seminary, eastbound 66 tied up to the belt way. that is a check of your on time traffic. still ahead a birthday celebration at the national aquarium. >> special deals, activities surprises all week long. what a perfect picture. >> yeah, like maya she was born here but she is helping celebrate the aquarium's

birthday today, 31 years old. they have all kinds of special things going on why you need to make a trip to baltimore to get in on the special celebration live next fox 5 morning news. stay with us.  [ female announuncer ] safeway presents

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good morning i am holly morris. there is a super special birthday going on as we are live at the national aquarium in baltimore today marks their 31st birthday, and now is the time for you to get in on the celebration they have a lot of fun things planned this is carrie she is one of the dolphin trainers she allowed us to come into the dolphin pool is this maya. >> maya. >> she is a super star. so first of all how long have you been here.

>> at the aquarium since 2007. >> happy birthday to all of you, we thought it would be fun to talk about your job whats is like to be a trainer. >> we start with food preparation, 300 pounds of fish, give or take and we sort through for the best quality fish for these guys start our day with different types of training sessions our first we do with them actually starts off with a visual or physical examination we basically look over their backs, come over. basically we look over their backside we can look at their tail here. she looks good. >> you said she was born here in 2001. >> yes. 11 years old. we can look at their bellies. >> they love to get their belly rubbed. >> see her belly button there >> how cool is that. a little tickle here. >> so dolphins are ticklish in

case you were wondering look inside her mouth she has 88 to 100 cone shaped teeth. wow along with her tongue. >> look at that. >> hey,. >> good job. >> looking good. >> so this is a daily exam just to make sure everything looks good. and then from there? >> we go ahead and start our presentations we have for our public, offer different types throughout the day, on different types of topics, show casing animals, and abilities. >> can we see some of those? >> sure one of their adaptations they can swim really fast, up to 25 miles an hour she will swim really fast right along that window. >> now as we watch her swim i want to talk about you did away with the shows per se now you have dolphin discovery. >> exactly. it opens up our guests to have a lot more interaction, connections with our dolphins. it is a great educational

opportunity for her guests come in throughout the day we have different presentations throughout the day >> i was talking with maya she said she was watching olympic and while the divers are gate she said she can do way better. >> let's check it out we will see. she has a pretty good back dive. >> as we watch i want to find out about the dolphin sleep over. nice. look at that entry. >> very nice splash. look at that. >> good job maya. >> quickly about the dolphin sleep over a great chance for guests to come in at night and get a behind the scenes look they get to spend the night at our viewing area in the morning after breakfast they come in and get a personalized chat with a trainer and a cool enrichment session. >> one last amazing behaviour. >> sure let's see.

>> that's her pro fessing her love to fox 5 morning news, myfoxdc.com our website we have a link to the national aquarium here in baltimore they have lots of things going on, coming up next hour we will feed the stingrays and the only down side i can find from being a dolphin trainer you are not allowed to wear accessories no jewellery but every job you have to give something. >> i can handle that trade off. >> i know. >> thank you. well, a big show ahead in 15 minutes i will sit down with prince georges county executive baker he will address ongoing efforts to bring a casino to national harbour and his wife's diagnosis of early onset alzheimers. >> she is back home from london this morning bethesda's olympic super star is sharing her experience live with fox 5. coming up 8:30 a.m., stay with us i got the chance to start my own business.

i know what it's like to hire people and to make ends meet. from those experiences, i had the chance of running the olympics. the games were in real trouble. there'd been way too much spending. and in massachusetts i found a budget that was badly out of balance. our legislature was 85% democrat. and every one of the four years i was governor, we balanced the budget. i want to use those experiences to help americans have a better future. we believe in our future. we believe in ourselves. we believe the greatest days of america are ahead. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

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>> your realtime captioner: linda macdonald. straight ahead at 8:00, shaken and soaked. an early-morning earthquake rattles parts of california and ernesto makes landfall in

mexico. >> closer to home, holding pepco's feet to the fire. the public gets its chance to weigh in on the power company's performance and another request to raise its rates. >> and later, back from london. a one-on-one with olympic champion and bethesda native katie ledecky. she is here in studio this morning. good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> i'm allison seymour looking forward to meeting that young lady. phenomenal person. >> tucker barnes has the weather. >> temperatures again in the 70s overnight falling back into the upper 70s. >> so you seem a little bored with this routine. >> i'm not bored -- yeah, i am. [ laughter ] >> i'm going to admit it. i want something new. nothing extreme, just maybe a change of air masses. let's take a look at your temperatures. 78 in washington. 74 this morning in baltimore of

the ocean city 74 degrees. maybe i need to go to ocean city. 68 in winchester and hagerstown. looking at our radar, a lot of clouds to start your morning, partly sunny today, partly to mostly cloudy for the first half of the day. maybe a sprinkle or shower. looks like we have had a shower kick up there north and west of town and there could be one or two showers and thunderstorms later today but much of the day should be dry for you just kind of hot and humid out there with highs expected to top out in the low 90s. we do have changes in the forecast and a cooler and drier weekend. think you're going to like that. i'll have that you in a minute. 93 fredericksburg and 10, 20% chance you'll see showers and thunderstorms. let's go to julie wright with the latest on this morning's rush hour traffic. >> it's been anything but on time unfortunately with that big delays on the beltway as you work your way around leaving landover from route 50 all the way over towards 270. a three-hour commute at this w

the north side of the beltway through landover and greenbelt and westbound out of college park towards bethesda. big delays on the outer loop of the beltway, separate incidents have cleared so all lanes are open. a slow ride on southbound 95 out of laurel headed down towards the exit for the beltway. now, the average speed here on outer loop down to 5 miles an hour from landover to greenbelt. top stretch of the beltway the inner loop 16 miles an hour interest 270 to connecticut avenue with the remains of the accident on the shoulder. then the delay, just for six miles of travel between new hampshire avenue and the b.w. parkway about an hour commute to get from new hampshire avenue to the bw parkway earlier accident involving the truck there finally cleared but again, almost an hour trip just to go six miles to give you an idea of how slow it on the roads. georgia avenue at 29 checking for the crash there. inner loop in va slow with lanes open. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic." new this morning, more aftershocks rattle parts of

california after a moderate earthquake overnight. the magnitude 4.4 tremor hit about 11:30 pacific time 35 miles southeast of los angeles. no injuries, nor damage, have been reported. ernesto is losing steam as it churns across the yucatan peninsula of mexico. the system now a tropical storm made landfall as a hurricane last night but forecasters say the storm could pick up speed and strength as it moves back over water. even though it's been more than a month since june's derecho, local residents are still frustrated with pepco's response to the power outages. and that is why maryland regulators are now giving customers a chance to voice their concerns at public hearings. in the meantime, the company just announced their plans to ask for another rate hike this year despite all that recent backlash. fox 5's melanie alnwick is following the big story. >> reporter: good morning. well, pepco in its conference call to investors did not

specify how much of a rate increase it would be asking for to recover some of the costs of the storm. but just the idea of it as you can imagine is adding fuel to the fire. montgomery county as we know was one of the hardest-hit areas after the derecho. at one point 702,000 pepco customers in maryland and d.c. were in the dark some for more than a week. residents are increase little frustrated with pepco's performance in recent years. the company is in the middle of a $253 billion five-year reliability improvement program. yesterday, pepco estimated that it lost some 70 to $85 million restoring power following the derecho and news that the company intends to seek a rate hike as you can imagine does not sit well with montgomery county residents. >> i do not understand how you

can rationally justify rewarding incompetence. >> i'm asking you to do the right thing. tell them that they have had three strikes and they're out. >> a rate increase for pepco is just rewarding nonperformance. it is inexcusable. >> reporter: pepco told investors that it plans to keep going back to the public service commission every nine months and keep asking for rate increases until it finally gets some money back. the public service commission is holding these public hearings in eight locations around the state not just talking to pepco customers but also talking to customers of smoke he could and bge as well as after the utility company's performance after the storm. it was rockville last night, tonight in largo in prince george's county at 7:00 is when those prince george's county customers will be able to tell the public service commission about their storm experiences. tony? >> it's the public's chance to weigh in. thank you. v-dot has flagged dozens of trees to be removed in the wake

of a deadly accident. nearly 60 trees that pose a danger to drivers will be cut down in the great falls area. this comes just weeks after a 40-ton decayed oak tree crashed into a car and killed the driver. the tree removal begins next monday. it should take about three weeks to complete. checking our top stories around the region now, arlington police still looking for clues in a possible double homicide. this happened yesterday morning at an apartment on north culpeper street. investigators say a janitor found the bodies of 59-year-old keith sprigs and 31-year-old carl motin. if an autopsy confirms the causes of death as homicide, they would be the fourth in arlington within a month after more than two years with none. a 25-year-old chillum man is chard with kidnapping and sexually assaulting two young girls. police say charles amoffo

abducted them from a thrift store on university boulevard in hyattsville on two separate occasions the first involving an 8-year-old on july 9th, the other happening monday. a police officer arrested this man and rescued the 6-year-old victim at a nearby playground. back here in d.c., police are searching for four men accused of attacking a man with a hammer then robbing him. this happened just before 1:00 this morning at 14th and irving streets northwest. the victim is expected to survive his injuries. and on the campaign trail today president obama heads to colorado to make the case especially to women that he should be re-elected. he will appear with sandra fluke the georgetown law student who famously became part of the healthcare debate over birth control coverage when radio show host rush limbaugh called her a prostitute. republican challenger mitt romney is in iowa this morning. he is speaking at a campaign event in des moines in a couple of hours.

the rally comes after a new ad by the romney camp says the president is undoing welfare reforms. the race is getting more nasty with each candidate trying to paint the other as an extremist. tonight romney heads to fundraisers in new york. admitted killer jared lee loughner will likely spend his life in prison when he is sentenced in mid-november. yesterday, loughner pleaded guilty to the january 2011 attack that killed six people and wounded 13 others including then congresswoman gabrielle giffords. the judge accepted the plea after hearing testimony the gunman was mentally competent. the plea spares loughner the death penalty. in a public statement, giffords and her husband said that they were satisfied with the deal saying, quote, avoiding a trial will allow us to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. hundreds praying for the victims of sunday's shooting at a sikh temple in wisconsin. they held a candlelight vigil

for the six people killed by wade michael page. he is facing gun charges. police searched the home of page and the former girlfriend. they found a gun that was not used sunday. here in our area tonight, there is a vigil across from the white house and later at the sikh temple in silver spring. he is best known for working with the movie for scott joplin the sting, writing the music for a chorus line and the way we were. tributes are pouring in from celebrities. >> a look back at the life and work of composer marvin hamlisch. >> later this hour, the prince george's county executive joins us live to talk about his recent admission about his wife's early onset alzheimer's. he will talk about how he keeps a balance between work and family. >> but, first, olympic gold

medal winner katie ledecky is in studio. she will join us live. 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 ]

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welcome back. coming up on 8:14 right now. >> it's weather time, more importantly it's cuteness time. let's cool down, tucker. what do you have today? >> time for my first 5 photo of the day. cute factor let's say hello to 1-year-old miley. >> they look like they're out of a fashion catalog. >> they are so cut. >> their father says this is a picture he sent to their mother while he is in training for the

army. great. >> go to myfoxdc.com to send us your child's picture and click on mornings. i hope all three of you have a great day. great picture. forecast with radar, want to show you a thunderstorm that's bubbled up in just the last 15 minutes here north and west of the city working up 270 through gaithersburg and just a few minutes ago we had some indication there was some cloud- to-ground lightning with this one but it looks like it's falling apart quickly. so light rain crossing 270. i don't expect this will lassiterably long period of time as much of the morning should be dry. bigger picture lots of clouds start your day. lots of humidity out there, too. temperatures in the upper 70s. later this afternoon expect highs in the low 90s. could there be a shower or thunderstorm? yes. but i don't think it's likely today. a much better chance into our thursday and friday with a passage of a cold front and in fact friday we could have some very soaking rains around here.

currently 78 in washington. 74 baltimore. 74 in ocean city. here's your five-day forecast. i mentioned today's forecast. tomorrow 93 with a few scattered storms, best chance for rain this week friday in fact we have soaking rains here friday. saturday and really sunday look great with temperatures backing off finally into the 80s with less humidity by sunday. that's weather. let's do traffic and julie, we have gold medalist in the house. >> isn't that exciting? >> yeah. >> i hope she brought her medal and everything. >> she did. >> good. on the roads, if you are traveling the beltway you're still unfortunately stuck in big tie-ups from landover around towards the bw parkway and continues towards 270. again, about a three-hour commute as you work your way north and west on the capital beltway. earlier incidents that contributed to these delays have cleared. southbound 95 well below speed from 192 to the exit for the beltway. there's on the inner loop, 270, leaving 270 towards 355 about 16 miles an hour. and then again, just to travel six miles on the beltway from new hampshire avenue to the bw

parkway a 52-minute ride. beltway in virginia no lanes open but below speed 6 miles an hour from springfield to gallows road. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic." here's your olympic medal county update. one guy not in medal contention, german weightlift erma thighias steiner. take a look. the defending champion dropped a 423-pound weight on his neck after losing his footing, he was okay but did not return to competition. today america will add at least one gold and one silver when misty may trainer and kerry walsh jennings face off with

teammates april ross and jennifer cassie in the women's beach volleyball final. joining us live in studio this morning is one of team usa's gold medal winners, 15- year-old bethesda's katie ledecky a swimmer of course, the youngest u.s. olympian and american recordholder in the 800-meter freestyle. [ applause ] >> congratulations and welcome back home. >> thank you. >> can you tell how proud we are of you? we were talking earlier and i said to katie, of course, everybody is going to say how do you feel. it'ssurreal for me to be talking to you. so welcome. >> thank you. >> how do you feel now that you can breathe a little bit? >> it's very surreal. it's starting to sing in slowly but i'm sure it will take a full year probably to sink in fully. >> do you wear the gold everywhere you go or would that be too much of a distraction? >> no. >> it's really beautiful and i have never seen a gold medal

period in person. i mean, how does that feel? this is years of training, katie. i know this doesn't happen overnight. how does it feel to wear the gold? >> it feels incredible. it's just getting up on that medal podium felt surreal just thinking back to all the olympics i had watched and those medalists and to be part of it even to just be part of the olympics was amazing. before the medal i was having a blast. after it, it was just icing on the cake. >> the amount of pressure you are all under when you're there you're the elite athletes from all over the world. cap you put into words the pressure you feel before your event? that weightlifter trained most of his life, as well. what is that pressure like? >> i didn't feel too much pressure. i was having a blast. >> great. >> this was all the usa swimming athletes and the whole

usa team going to opening ceremonies and just eating in the cafeteria with all the other athletes was so much fun and to be able to compete on that level was a lot. >> a lot has been made about you being the youngest member of team usa at 15. does that play into it? does it matter? >> i felt like i belonged there and the usa swim team made me feel very welcome. we bonded really well and we were there to do our part to represent the usa. >> that's what you did. your mom is in studio today with us. your brother, too. and it's got to take the entire commitment of everybody to get do this point. so what was your life like, say, i don't know, four months ago? what was training like? what kind of hours did you put in? >> early-morning wakeups about twice a week, 4:45 practices and then off to school, working hard there and then back at the

pool in the afternoon. >> was there ever a day where you're like, can i just golike mcdonald's and then hang out after school, mom? or in your mind was that not even in the program? >> no, no. i was having so much fun these past few years and just every year i have been swimming, i have the best teammates, the best classmates and we have just been all enjoying the ride. >> you got that hero's welcome an all star welcome when you came back from some of those classmates. we thought we ran to a bunch of times because it was heartwarming to us. so what would it be like just to go back to school at the and of the month and be a regular teenager again? >> i think everything will be normal. it was so much fun to spend that moment with them and enjoy that moment with them. i'm glad i was able to do that. >> i'm glad we were able to be there, as well. my last question, you beat that record set 23 years ago by janet evans. have you heard from her yet? > oh, yes. i think she tweeted something out. that means a lot to me. she's a great role model for

all swimmers. >> okay. so we're going to see you in another four years. i have no doubt about it. >> maybe. hopefully. >> okay. right. i'm going to put my money on t if you want to do it, i'll see you there in 2016. this is katie ledecky, your gold medalist in the 800-meter freestyles in the olympics and we all watched and cheered for you. thank you for being with us today. >> thank you. >> and mom and brother, too. tony, over to you. >> what a great attitude. that's wonderful. all right. thank you very much. coming up next, remembering a music man who scored the sound track to countless lives and later an under sea adventure in celebration of the baltimore aquarium's 31st anniversary. it's 8:22. we'll be right back.  [ male announcer ] in 1996,

president clininton and a bi-partisan congress helped end welfare as we know it, by requiring work for welfare. but on july 12th, president obama quietly announced a plan to gut welfare reform by dropping work requirements. under obama's plan, you wouldn't have to work, and wouldn't have to train for a job -- they just send you your welfare check. and welfare to work goes back to being plain, old welfare. mitt romney will restore the work requirement, because it works. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

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♪[ music ] ♪ memories light the corners of my behind. he was the name behind some of the biggest stars on the stage and screen. composer marvin hamlisch brought us some of the biggest hits in history. ♪ memories ] >> he penned the barbra streisand hit, the way we were.

his work earned him oscars, grammys, emmys, golden globes, a tony award and the pulitzer prize. here in the district, he was the national symphony orchestra's principal pops conductor for 11 seasons. >> and take a look at this. >> now you know, ladies and gentlemen. >> hey, listen, real quickly, i wanted to get this in because we have talked a lot about you being with the national symphony orchestra and the pop season and everything. you have done so much more than that, though. of all the awards that you have won, of all the songs that you've written what really stands out in your mind? >> back in 2002, holly hit the stage with hamlisch at the kennedy center. he appeared with the nso for more than 30 years. composer marvin hamlisch died monday in california after a brief illness. he was 68 years old. >> such a talent and enriched so many people's lives with his music. beautiful music. all right. making headlines here at home, we'll have the latest headlines for you. >> we'll be right back. @ñ

in the headlines, airports nationwide are making some changes after a few scary moments in the skies over reagan national last week. the federal aviation administration is suspending all opposite direction operations when controllers direct some planes to take off and land from the opposite of the usual direction. the procedure was in place at reagan national last tuesday when there was a miscommunication between air traffic controllers about reversing the flow of traffic to and from and runway. in egypt, the military has fired missiles on militants in sinai. the air strikes early this morning by attack helicopters were aimed at suspected islamic militants. it follows attacks on egyptian border guards over the weekend by militants that left 16 egyptian soldiers dead.

this is the first time egypt fired miss unless that region since the -- missiles in that region since the 1970s war with israel. let's check your wednesday forecast with tucker barnes. >> warm and humid here to stay. had a shower pop up to the north and west a little thunderstorm activity. you know what, most of your day is going to be dry but we have a potential for storms. >> typical august weather. lots of humidity, too. i want to show you this shower on radar. it was a thunderstorm about 20 minutes ago but no further indications of any lightning. looks like it's falling apart as quickly as it got back together. gaithersburg, clarksburg, 270 up 270 there, might be a brief heavy downpour, that's about it. quiet in washington and got a couple of light showers east of annapolis across the bay towards stevensville. let's push on and show you the satellite and radar. still dealing with the same

radar from a couple of days ago. we have cloud cover. we'll see a little sunshine from time to time today. as mentioned we could see a shower or thunderstorm a little later today but most of your day will be dry and just kind of cloudy, kind of hot and humid. off to the north and west in chicago, that's a cold front that will start to arrive later tomorrow will kick off a round of showers and thunderstorms late thursday. a best chance friday that we'll get some soaking rains and perhaps some thunderstorms around here and then behind that front, some cooler and less humid weather for the weekend. 79 in washington, reagan national. 82 quantico. it is warm and feels swampy outside. manassas 77. here's your five-day forecast. 92 this afternoon, hazy, hot and humid, could be an afternoon thunderstorm, do it again tomorrow with temperatures in the low to mid- 90s and let me mention again on friday we could see some strong thunderstorms and heavy rain around here with that front but by saturday, particularly saturday afternoon and sunday, less humidity and cooler

temperatures here to stay for a couple of days. 82 saturday, only 85 on sunday. all right. that's a look at weather. allison and tony back to you. >> thank you. following a big story out of arizona. a guilty plea from the man who tried to assassinate former congresswoman gabrielle giffords. jared lee loughner entered a plea today after the judge ruled he was competent to understand the charges against him. alicia al cuin in a has more. >> reporter: the judge asked him specifically about every person he shot and whether he intended to do it. 19 times jared lee loughner answered, yes. now 23 years old, loughner will spend the rest of his life in prison for the shooting rampage outside a supermarket in january last year. the attack left six people dead and arizona congresswoman gabrielle giffords clinging to life. loughner pleading guilty today in a tucson courtroom after he was deemed mentally competent to understand the charges. >> mr. loughner will spend the

remainder of his natural life in prison with no possibility. parole. >> reporter: hearing the guilty pleas, congressman barber wounded in the barrage. >> my hope is that what happened today in this court can help all of us move forward and continue our healing process. i truly believe that justice was done today. >> reporter: loughner's court appointed psychiatrist telling the judge after months of medicating loughner to treat his schizophrenia, loughner expressed regret over the shooting. he was especially remorseful over the killing of 9-year-old christina taylor green, saying he deserved to be executed. but psychologist christina pike said loughner also expressed surprise that gabby giffords survived and said that meant he was considered a failure. congresswoman giffords' husband mark kelly telling the "associated press," quote, we don't speak for all the victims or their families, but gabby and i are satisfied with the plea agreement avoiding a trial

allowing us and we hope the whole southern arizona community to continue with our recovery and move forward with our lives. >> reporter: with this plea, loughner avoids the death penalty. he is expected to receive several life sentences, something that won't be handed down until november. back to you. there's more exciting news for nasa. we are getting a look at the first color images sent back from the mars rover curiosity just two days after it landed on the red planet. >> sarah is back in studio with the latest on the rover's mission. >> reporter: it's the first color photo that we have seen coming in and it's a little dusty but we're told this is only the beginning. and that clearer pictures will soon be coming. the one ton rover touched down on the surface of mars on month. initially it beamed back black and white photos but the new color picture released reveals the rust-tinged pebbly landscape you can see here with the distinct mountain ranges

you can make those out there of the gale crater in the distance. the crater leads to an even bigger mountain called mount sharp which is curiosity's next stop. the new photo was taken with curiosity's mars hand lens image or nicknamed molly. it's the first of its kind to showcase why mars is called the red planet. so very interesting pictures coming in from there. engineers, they are going to start booting up curiosity's various instruments, the antennae, scanners and cameras, and will continue to send back photos. the rover will not be making its initial movements for a few weeks though. first engineers need to make sure all the systems are checked and operational. curiosity will spend the next two years studying rocks and soil to determine if life ever existed there or if it even still exists on the red planet. tony and allison, love to see those pictures. curiosity is the perfect name for it curious to know what's on mars. >> love it. thank you, sarah. we have a quick programming

note for you. we have been talking about prince george's county executive rushern baker. we are scheduled to have an interview with him. he is running late. happens to all of us. stuck in traffic. we will now talk with him during the 9:00 hour. still ahead this hour, though, why oxford's annual list of new words might make you feel a little old. a little long in the tooth. >> great. but first, why a banner year for back-to-school spending doesn't mean a sign of economic recovery. and ways to stay at the head of the class by getting the best deals on new supplies. stay with us. it's 8:37. [ harry umlaut ] that's one creamy muller.

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♪[ music ] it's already time for back- to-school shopping. families will spend more than last year and retailers are hungry for your business. fox consumer reporter steve noviello joins you now live from dallas. he is here to tell us how you can earn an a in saving. good morning, steve. >> reporter: good morning, when you figure in things like college textbooks and dorm furnishings back-to-school spending is projected to be $84 billion this year according to the national retail federation. that's about 689 bucks per family up from about 604 last

year. now, don't mistake that uptick in spending for a recovering economy. what's happening is that our population is coming of age. some 54.9 million students will return to class this fall, more kids meaning more sales for consumers. >> it's just a matter of the numbers. what does this mean for us who have to spend money on school supplies? >> reporter: because of this increased demand, retailers really want you on their radar this year and pricing will be incredibly aggressive. the thing about back-to-school is there is a finite amount of time in which to sell this back- to-school stuff. we did some local comparison shopping here and we were really surprised to find when we returned to places that were less crowded and more convenient, we were rewarded with some pretty incredible pricing places like national office supply stores which you

wouldn't normally think of for back to school, aggressive pricings like penny deals on folders, glue sticks, scissors and everywhere we shopped we were reminded of their price match policy. at the end of the day they want you to visit them and shop for everything on your list so don't be afraid to ask of how they can help you to cut corners on your back-to-school budget. >> those office supply stores getting more and more into the game on the back-to-school front. now, does all this mean that mom and dad will have to do some extra homework about all this? >> reporter: you know, i'll tell you what you definitely want to do extra homework on how much stuff costs. crayons a 24 pack for 29 cents at a local grocer. we saw the same box for $1.50 at a dollar store so it's important to know how cheap you can go but the homework that i want to you do is literally work at home. i want you to take out the back-

to-school supply list with the kids and send them on a scavenger hunt through your own home, right? how many things on that list can you they find? what they can't find, that's only the stuff you need to buy. the biggest mistake we make with back-to-school is purchasing stuff we already have hiding in that junk drawer. >> ah, that's a very good idea. >> i used to love getting a little school box and paste and new erasers. it was fun. >> reporter: everything all nice and new for the year and here i am telling you to use last year's pencils. [ laughter ] >> thank you, steve noviello. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> appreciate it. coming up, a special celebration in charm city. holly morris is live in baltimore swimming with the stingrays at the national acquarium. holly. >> reporter: see this guy right here? it might be a girl. i'm not sure how you tell when

it comes to stingrays but i know it is an australian sting ray and it's about time for its breakfast. but not just any breakfast. there is a special birthday breakfast today as the acquarium turns 31. coming up, ware going to have a little animal encounter with the stingrays and the barramundis too and tell you how you can get in on the fund live next on "fox 5 morning news." stay with us. i got the chance to start m my own business.

i know what it's like to hire people and to make ends meet. from those experiences, i had the chance of running the olympics. the games were in real trouble. there'd been way too much spending. and in massachusetts i found a budget that was badly out of balance. our legislature was 85% democrat. and every one of the four years i was governor,

we balanced the budget. i want to use those experiences to help americans have a better future. we believe in our future. we believe in ourselves. we believe the greatest days of america are ahead. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. ♪[ music ] >> our facebook fan of the day. today we are honoring you. thanks for watching. she has been watching since she was in junior high school. 20 years ago. and she watches every morning even on her days off when she should be getting those extra zzzs sleeping in. leavethat's a cheerful picture. have a great day. allison, here's a little shark trivia. did you know that sharks have no bones at all? >> i didn't know that. >> their skeletons are made

entirely of cartilage. >> and would you believe, tony, that the stipulating ray is a cousin or relative of the -- that the stingray is a cousin or relative of the shark? >> didn't know that. >> the national aquarium marks its 31st birthday this morning. we didn't know either one of those fun facts, holly morris. >> reporter: you're going to learn a lot of fun facts if you come out especially this week because they are celebrating their birthday. 31 years old. and they have lots of special stuff planned and there's a lot of up close encounters that you can find yourself involved in. don't be scared because you have people to take you through it. good morning to you. happy birthday. >> thank you. >> reporter: everybody is 31 around here when it comes to the aquarium. we were with the dolphins last hour. they were great partying in their own way. now we have moved up to the stingrays and the barramundis. let's start with the stingrays.

>> we have two freshwater whiprays. >> the first thing i would say is that unique that they are freshwater? i think of stingrays out in the ocean. >> there are a lot of saltwater stingrays but these are the only stingrays in australia that spend time in freshwater. they can go into brackish water a little but primarily in freshwater. this is the male ray hanging out down here and this morning we'll be target feeding the female ray. >> reporter: do they have names? >> we call him male ray and lady ray. >> reporter: you need someone new on your naming committee. lady ray. so in feeding lady ray, how do we do this? what we're going to do is we're going to use this. this is her individual target. the male and female have their own targets. so in theory when she sees this, she knows it's time to be fed and she will come up to it and when she gets positioned the way we want her we'll

reward her with some food. >> so i'm going to watch you do it and you talk me through it. yesterday was her fast day? >> yes. they are fed about a pound of fish and shrimp six days a week. >> reporter: so then they have one day off? >> yes. >> reporter: so you had to train them to do this, right? >> yes. they picked it up very quickly. within a period of a couple of days. >> reporter: that's pretty quick. >> they will get that. >> reporter: so you put that in there and lady ray -- i'm going to get her attention first so she knows we're here. >> this looks like the male ray coming over, right? >> so that's the male ray. he shunned come up. >> in theory. >> right. >> she should come up? >> she had should come up. >> i think the male's coming up. he's like i don't see lady ray around. so wow, look at that. >> hi, buddy. >> i guess he recognized it

wasn't his. so she didn't eat yesterday but maybe she is trying to watch her stingray figure. >> possibly. >> oh, i don't know. the male is hanging around. >> hey, buddy. >> would it be bad for you to sneak him some food? >> yes. >> that would encourage him to come to this target and since this isn't his target, that isn't what we want him to do. >> as we're waiting for lady runway who is clearly keeping us waiting, let's talk about the barramundi. they're huge. >> they are. they're probably about 7 years old right now. and they're probably all female. >> reporter: okay, i have a question about this because i thought i was crazy when i was reading this. you said they are probably female. they actually change sex as they get older? >> yes, they do. they will start off life as male. and they will migrate to the kind of brackish like estuary areas and they will stand about two breeding seasons there as

males. their hormones will start to change and they will produce eggs and they will live out the rest of their life as females. >> reporter: fascinating. >> given the age and the size of the animals, they are probably all female. and they all have names. >> reporter: what kind of names do they have? >> so we have angie. we have broken dorsal. frosty. >> reporter: so clearly, this is a male-dominant tank with this stingray because we have not seen the lady ray at all. she is obviously not hungry here this morning. but people -- oh-oh. oh-oh. here she comes. perhaps the time is almost up. there she is. and people can watch this right? you guys have animal encounters? >> every day. and we're going to wait until she is where we want her and she is nice and calm. so we're going to offer her, her fish and give her a little

bit. and she's good. >> reporter: shows a lady who knows how to make an entrance. myfoxdc.com we have a link to the baltimore aquarium where you can see these animal encounters. coming up we'll have an encounter with a mccaw. hopefully i'm going to feed little miss here next. back to you in the studio. >> fascinating creatures. thank you. fastball... that was well hit to left center... he's got it!! unbelievable. >> roger bernardine in a saves the day with an amazing game- ending catch in the 12th inning in houston last night. the nationals beat the astros 3- 2. espinosa drove in all three runs. . the redskins wrapped up their final practice tuesday before tomorrow's preseason opener in buffalo. >> it didn't take long for mike shanahan to name robert griffin iii griffin as the starting quarterback. he did that back on may 6. since then, griffin has taken

on the majority of reps and is now one day away from making his nfl preseason debut. >> what was it about robert right away that said to you i want this guy i want him to be my quarterback? >> number one, it's hard to have the opportunity to ever get a franchise quarterback at first or second pick or if your season is very poor, obviously. but we're able to make the move to move up and to get a quarterback with that type of ability, a gay with a great arm, great arm strength, he has the intangibles to look for in a person, natural leader, very intelligent, works extremely hard to set the tempo for the rest of the football team and a guy that you feel can make plays when there's no plays to be played. >> hits go, redskins! all right. switching gears now. totes, short for totally obvs and totally obvious. until now these abbreviations

weren't classified as words. well, that's changed. the oxford english dictionary has officially added these to the dix. other words are muffin top? >> eye-rolling and onesie. i'm surprised by eye-rolling and onesie. those have been around for some time. >> whatevs. >> where deets for details? coming up, talking to your children about sex is not easy. but being the go to source for information does have its benefits. >> still ahead in our next hour, deborah rothmann author of talk to me first talks with us live about opening up channels of communication. >> an online order gone wrong. how one man ended up with an assault rifle instead of a new tv. it's a story you'll see only on fox 5. >> prince george's county executive rushern baker will join us in the 9:00 hour to

tell us about his struggles living with his wife with early onset alzheimer's disease and the business of the county, as well. it's 8:55. we'll be right back. 

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>> your realtime captioner: linda macdonald. good morning. i'm tony perkins. >> i'm allison seymour. right now at 9:00, outrage. community members voice their opinion on pepco following june's derecho storm. our melanie alnwick is live with a look at their meeting with the psc. >> then unexpected delivery. a d.c. man orders a tv but ends up calling police when he opens the package. find out what was inside. >> and in just a few minutes, prince george's county executive rushern baker will join us live in studio. he will talk about how he balances work and his home life including a wife who is battling early onset alzheimer's. later, coolest dad ever,