"fox 5 morning news," however, isaac continues to lose steam and the tropical storm heads north but it is still drenching the gulf coast causing massive flooding in the hardest-hit areas, evacuations continuing throughout the night. a live report from louisiana straight ahead. >> plus after four years of getting the runaround, america needs a turnaround and the man for the job is governor mitt romney. >> it was another big night for republicans in tampa. paul ryan came on stage as the gop's new rock star. the republican vice- presidential nominee energized the crowd with his speech and tonight it-mitt romney's turn. >> and it is sentencing day for the former uva lacrosse player convicted of killing his ex- girlfriend. his family's plea to the judge as "fox 5 morning news" at 7:00 starts right now. >> your realtime captioner: linda macdonald beautiful start to what looks to be a beautiful day in our area.

while some parts of the country are dealing with the remnants of isaac, here sunshine. this is thursday, august 30th, 2012. good morning, everybody. i'm tony perkins. >> i'm allison seymour. and we continue to track tropical storm isaac as it slowly moves in bringing heavy rains and strong winds. in louisiana, thousands of people are being evacuated from saint john the baptist parish because of major flooding. the national guard has been working with sheriff's deputies to rescue people who may be stranded in their homes. >> in nearby plaquemines parish, officials plan to intentionally puncture a floodwall to relieve growing pressure on one levee. meanwhile, in mississippi several national guard rescues were made. isaac spawned one tornado that destroyed several buildings and knocked down power lines. president obama has signed a disaster declaration for louisiana and mississippi. it speeds up federal aid and

recovery efforts. about three-quarters of a million people are without power this morning, and the storm is blamed for at least one death. as the rain continues, officials are worried more flooding is possible. but officials in the big easy are happy about one thing. their levee system held up. as a result, the damage is far less than expected and fox's elizabeth prann reports. >> reporter: the city of new orleans suffered minimal damage within the city limits. but it's those homes in those outlying areas where the homes are basically submerged. reporter: louisiana's plaquemines parish is one of the areas hardest hit by isaac. the storm dumped several inches of rain on the area causing severe flooding. officials were forced to rescue dozens of people by boat after they became stranded. >> national guard working with local officials including sheriff's deputies, private citizens and others have reported at least 35 people

have been rescued. >> reporter: rescue operations were also called in for saint bernard parish. a number of residents there chose to ride out the storm in their homes despite evacuation orders, then became overwhelmed by the rain. >> we lost everything. like a lot of people. >> reporter: in new orleans the storm had less of an impact than expected. the city's biggest problem seemed to be downed power lines, scattered tree limbs, and minor flooding. >> the $11 billion that they spent strengthening the levees was spent wisely. >> reporter: the city's historic french quarter drew a steady stream of people looking for some refreshments and electricity despite the wind and rain. >> came down and only place open and i got a drink and something to eat. >> they have power in the quarter because they have all the electrical grounds underground so that's really smart. >> reporter: now, this is a big day for emergency officials. they are going to be out and about making sure there's no one left in their homes stranded and the coast guard

will be going up and down the mississippi river to see if there's been any damage suffered to the riveralls so they can get barge traffic back as soon as possible. tony, allison? >> all right, big money situation there. so all right, elizabeth, thank you very much. let's turn our attention now at 8:04 to tucker barnes with the remnants of isaac and more importantly to us, what's going on with us today on a thursday. good morning, tuck. >> good morning, allison. good morning, everybody. let's get right to tropical storm isaac. maximum winds 45 miles per hour still doing the slow track to the north and west at just 5 miles per hour. you can see generally lifting north in new orleans. they are still getting rain and still a lot of thunderstorms even somtornado warnings earlier this morning in parts of alabama and in western florida. so isaac trying his best to keep it together. let's do the local forecast. we look great. you saw in the live shot sunshine and a nice start. 71 now in washington, humidity

73%. that humidity, dew point temperatures, will remain low today. so even though we'll warm up to the upper 80s to about 90, it shouldn't feel terrible out there with humidity levels relatively low for late august. radar quiet, not expecting any showers or thunderstor around here today. really for the next several days as we continue to be under the influence of a big area of high pressure. 88 in washington, 90 in fredericksburg. it will be warm. heat returns to the 90s tomorrow. let's get the latest from julie wright on the traffic. >> we started off showing you the inner loop of the beltway where we had the crash involving the tractor-trailer on the inner loop of the beltway as you approach route 4 pennsylvania avenue. now only one left lane is closed. delays beginning back at arena drive south on 95, 495 to the accident scene. westbound stretch of 267 the dulles greenway tied up westbound between belmont ridge

and sris mill road due to the crash. belmont ridge to route 7 is a good work around. lanes open no problems to report working towards the toll road towards of the airport. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic.." mitt romney will make his case for the white house in primetime tonight when he officially accepts the nomination in an address that will wrap up the republican national convention. last night the gop rolled out some of their biggest names including former secretary of state condoleezza rice and senator john mccain and romney's running mate paul ryan. >> it is said that this election will turn on domestic and economic issues. but what mitt romney knows and what we know is it's the success at home also depends on our leadership in the world. it is our willingness to shape world events for the better

that has kept us safe, increased our prosperity. >> we can get this economy growing again. we can make the safety net safe again. we can do this. whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. join mitt romney and me. let's give this effort everything we have! [ applause and cheers ] >> let's see this thing all the way through! let's get this done! [ applause and cheers ] >> fox 5 will carry mitt romney's acceptance speech live tonight. it's set to happen in the 10:00 hour after he is introduced by florida senator marco rubio. and there is a big buzz this morning about just who will address the convention before romney and rubio. mystery guest is slated to speak to the delegates tonight. right now the rnc schedule just says to be announced but big money is riding on acto clint

eastward. his voice was a boost for president obama on a commercial for the detroit auto industry. other names are nancy reagan and tim tebow. mitt romney and paul ryan will waste no time hitting the campaign trail after the rnc finishes. tomorrow they will come to virginia for a rally at richmond international airport. now, their appearance will come on the heels of president obama's visit to charlottesville the president spoke to college students yesterday at a rally near the university of virginia and answered questions on the social sharing site -- uhm, this is funny because i don't know this one, is it reddit? during a live online ask me anything chat. i'm not on that one. in [ laughter ] and one of our big local stories making headlines the former university of virginia lacrosse player convicted of killing his girlfriend will learn his sentence today. george huguely could face more than two dozen years behind bars.

fox 5's melanie alnwick is following the case and joins us live are the newsroom. in. reporter: if the jury had found george huguely guilty of first-degree murder he could be facing a lif sentence. he was found guilty of a lesser charge and his family asks for leniency om the judge who will sentence him this afternoon. huguely didn't testify in his own defense during his february trial and never apologized or expressed remorse to the jury. prosecutors had sought a first- degree murder conviction but jurors found that huguely didn't plan to kill his girlfriend the night he kicked her door in instead convicting him of second-degree murder. george huguely was 22 at the time of the murder which shocked the uva campus. he and yeardley love also a 22- year-old lacrosse player were known to have a volatile relationship. in may of 2010, huguely went to love's apartment in a drunken rage. he admitted to fighting with her and leaving her bloodied in her room. a roommate found her dead a short time later. the coroner ruling love died of

blunt-force trauma to the head. the jury recommended a 26-year sentence including one year for grand larceny of love's computer. huguely's family is asking the judge for just a 14-year sentence. though it's not typical in virginia, the judge does have the leeway to reduce the jury's recommendation. however, he cannot increase it. the hearing is scheduled for one chock this afternoon. >> thank you. our paul wagner will be covering the sentencing from charlottesville be sure to tune into fox 5 news at 5:00 this evening for the latest. we'll also be posting updates throughout the day on carbon monoxide d.c..com. d.c. police -- on myfoxdc.com. d.c. police say they found dna on an empty gun holster from the crime scene at the grace deli. according to the affidavit, it belongs to steve williams a man previously convicted of armed wrong bring. he is in jail on parole

violation but hasn't been charged with murder. june limb was found shot to death inside her store this summer. new this morning, a house fire had southeast d.c. flames first reported at the home in the 700 block of alabama avenue around 4:30. investigators believe it started in the crawl space between the basement and first floor. no one was injured. the cause is still under investigation. 7:11 right now on thursday morning. coming up, isaac is already taking a toll on prices at the pump. we'll take a closer look. >> a new record for the number of west nile virus cases across the nation and the worst may be to come. a warning for health officials coming up. >> visitors to the national zoo, details about a visit that opens this weekend. >> a live look outside. not a bad start to the day. we'll get the latest weather from tucker barnes the latest traffic from julie wright in a couple of moments. right now it's 7:11. we'll be right back. that fridge in your kitchen may have crossed

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making headlines this morning, after months of delays due to a dispute over his ard, this morning, the army soldier accused of opening fire at fort hood is expected to appear in court. major nadal hasan is charged in the 2009 shooting rampage that killed 13 people. his court-martial has been delayed because hasan refused to shave his beard which violates army regulations. an appeals court lifted its stay of the case but did not address whether officials should forcibly shave him. four children remain in serious condition after being hit by an elderly driver in los angeles. police say the 100-year-old man backed his car on a sidewalk near an elementary school yesterday. he hit 11 people including nine children. the driver says his brakes failed when he tried to back out of a parking lot.

all the victims are expected to survive. police say the man does have a valid driver's license. he is 100. new cases of the west nile virus continue to pop up nationwide. the number of cases went up 40% from last week. now totaling nearly 1600. that includes 66 deaths. health officials expect the mosquito-borne disease to continue to peak into september and early october. the majority of the cases have been reported from six states: texas, south dakota, mississippi, oklahoma, louisiana, and michigan. every mosquito bite we get, don't we think, i hope it's not west nile? >> yeah. >> the mosquitos have really been out there this year. >> they have been. >> my front yard is a feeding ground. >> i run to my car. >> it's ridiculous. >> what about your -- >> i have to run to my car from the house. >> it's been and ask the weather guy question. oh, excuse me, ask tony and tucker. but i need to go back and look at the answer. there you go. what's going on in weather?

>> let's check isaac what's left over. still a tropical storm. still bringing the rain. still bringing it to tornado warnings this morning in eastern alabama. you can see the banding features still intact and it still has a big -- what's left over of the eye there to the north and to the west of new orleans. so that's good news. still heavy rain there north of new orleans as well so the story with isaac not done yet. the good news is the remnant is going to move into a part of the country that really needs the rain so next 24 to 48 hours much-needed rain across mid sections of the country. locally, it's been fantastic around here for the last 24 hours. today the sunny streak continues. 70 now in washington. should be a nice comfortable afternoon a little warmer than yesterday with highs expected to be in the upper 80s to about 90 but look right now, 59 in frederick, 59 this morning in winchester so nice start to the day. there's our satellite-radar. pardon me. >> frog in your throat. >> pardon me.

we look fine. sunshine, quiet conditions. low humidity. i'm going to wrap this forecast up real quick. here's your five-day forecast. sunny streak continues. it's going to be hot friday, saturday, highs in the low to mid-90s. so we are going to be havingen to dur a couple hot days here to end august, begin september. maybe the remnants of isaac undas monday. tonight late tonight full moon into early tomorrow. it's a blue moon. >> oh, yeah. >> second full moon of the month. >> is that what blue moon means? >> yes. >> the moon itself is not actually blue. >> have you heard the song called blue moon? >> yeah. >> cool. >> maybe i'll play the lottery. i do [ laughter ] >> here's julie wright -- i don't know what that has to do with the blue moon. but here's julie wright. >> i thought it was a drink, like a beer. >> probably is. [ laughter ] >> i have never heard of that. >> don't set yourself up, julie. >> i'm not. tony never heard of it. >> i have. [ laughter ]

we had problems with metro's red line this morning single tracking between wheaton and glen month so allow extra time. leaving lorton past newington towards the capital beltway all lanes are open. still cleaning up a tractor- trailer wreck off the inner loop of the beltway as you head south of route 4 pennsylvania avenue. lanes are now open delay from marina drive. westbound 66 tied up with delays out of manassas and centreville slow into that sunshine headed for 123 in vienna. the top stretch of the beltway is slow leaving 95 college park past university boulevard towards colesville road. inner loop so far no problems around greenbelt. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic.." tropical storm isaac is causing quite a bump in gas prices across the nation. we were afraid of this one, right? the national average jumped 11 cents in the past week as oil

refineries shut down in the gulf. it's now at 3.83 a gallon. our regional average went up overnight, the average regular is $4. 3.79 in maryland, 3.68 in virginia. the american trail at the national zoo opens to the public on saturday. the new section allows visitors to come face to face with sea lions diving under water. it also features seals, beavers, otters, new wolves and eagles as well as a tide pool for children to play in. really? the landscape is designed to look like the pacific coast habitat where many of the animals come from. cool. have to check it out. 7:20. still ahead on "fox 5 morning news," details about new plans to build another walmart in the district. >> the first lady makes another late night television appearance. her message coming up. >> a weekend of speed, action

and fun with the grand prix of baltimore. holly is standing by with one of the drivers. we'll check in with her later. 

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history will be made today in montgomery county. this afternoon, carla smith will be sworn in as the first black female montgomery county district county judge. smith spent the last 12 years as a prosecutor working for the montgomery county state's attorney and was the chief of the family violence division for five years. in governor o'malley chose the 42-year-old to become a district court judge. d.c. could soon see two new walmart's built in the city. this is a model of the one about to be built on georgia avenue in northwest. i think that's an artist rendition, actually. there is now talk of a second one opening across town on east capitol street in ward 7. the d.c. housing authority submitted an application to the

city on tuesday for zoning changes that would allow the construction of a shopping center including the walmart, wellness center and a sit-down restaurant. d.c.'s own tap water will be among the beverage choices for guests of the presidential inauguration next year. d.c. water sent a letter to the congressional committee planning the inaugural ceremonies asking them to reconsider their selection of bottled water. the chairman of the committee senator charles schumer has responded saying d.c. tap water will be available just as it is in the capital every day. he did acknowledge that the new york-based saratoga spring water will also be served. diplomatic way of saying that, i think. it's a big night for mitt romney as he prepares for his most important speech of the campaign. still ahead a delegate from virginia breaks down last night's big headliners live from tampa. >> plus it was a good and bad night for brice harper in miami. we'll have more on that and highlights from the redskins'

last preseason game. >> we'll get the latest on the weather and traffic from tucker and julie. 7:25. 70 degrees right now. we'll be right back. he's made his choice.

but what choices will women be left with? just like mitt romney, paul ryan would get rid of planned parenthood funding. in congress, ryan voted to ban all federal funding for planned parenthood and allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control. and both romney and ryan backed proposals to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest. for women... for president... the choice is ours. i'm barack obama, and i approve this message.

welcome back. in sports, the nats look to ends a five-game skid in miami. could they do it? bottom of the fourth, brice harper hit a two-run blast to right to get on the scoreboard first. then in the fifth, harper again with a solo home run in the 5th inning as i said. but the rookie got tossed from the game when he slammed his helmet in frustration in the 9th. the nats still win 8-4. yes. needed that win. needed this, too. at fedex field last night the redskins trounced the buccaneers who were happen less. redskins won 30-3. new kicker billy cundiff made three out of four field goals in his debut. the game mostly featured backups vying for a roster spot, which has to be cut to 53 by tomorrow at 9:00 p.m. runningback evan royster and royal has lou returned from injuries and scored the team's three touchdow the skins open against the saints a week from sunday. kurt cousins looked good. the football season kicks off next week with replacement

referees who had a tough time of it last night in the redskins game. negotiations between the league and the officials union are at a standstill. the nfl referees association was locked out in early june and talks on a new collective bargaining agreement have gone nowhere. the first game of the season is on wednesday between the dallas cowboys and the new york giants. >> that's the most clips that the refs have ever gotten. >> really. >> what was wrong with them? >> last night at one point they were reviewing some play in the redskins game. they go under the hood there and they look at it for 6, 7 minutes. >> oh. >> they come back and just as they are about to resume play, the reacement ref says we're going to take another look at it and goes back, which is kind of -- >> he wasn't sure. >> he wasn't sure. so then he is back there for another minute or two. >> was it a good call? >> i don't know. it took so long i could not even remember what they were reviewing. >> that's the strategy. >> the nfl announced yesterday that the replacements are used the first week of the season.

>> oh, yeah. they will probably go three or four weeks into the season. >> we'll see. >> okay. interesting. >> the nationals won. >> yes. >> i'm okay with brice harper getting tossed out of the game. that's passion. >> he's young. >> you want players that care whether or not they got to first base safely. >> right. >> but you have a hot head you get kicked out you're no good to the team. >> he doesn't have that reputation. >> a hot head moment. >> tony has had one or two at the anchor desk. >> about to have another one. go. hurry up. [ laughter ] >> gonna blow! >> where's my helmet! [ laughter ] >> i'm going to keep moving. you can see what's left of isak still a tropical storm, still dangerous, still banding, still pulling up moisture in the gulf. severe thunderstorms and even tornado warnings early this

morning. east of new orleans. still heavy rain across portions of mississippi, louisiana. they are still dealing with bands of rain early this morning. let me show you the remnants of isaac over the next day or two. in fact, as we get into the weekend, let's switch maps and there you go. it will push up into parts of the country that need rain so that's good news. as it gets pushed up and around, an area of high pressure over the next couple of days across the southeast. as we get into the end. weekend. late sunday, monday for us for our holiday, here on monday, looks like we too will get in on some of that tropical moisture. so showers could be likely here as early as sunday afternoon and then again on monday as that moisture works on through with a cold front. so we'll have to watch it. this is our next best chance for rain. we are fine, nice and quite

the, beautiful overnight, nice clear skies. you're going to be out watching the moon tonight, no rain or thunderstorms around here anytime soon. in fact, as i said, isaac the remnants the next best chance. temperatures comfortable, low humidity, 70 right now in. what, 66 at dulles, 59, nice in winchester, 67 at the patuxent naval air station. this afternoon warm, south winds at 5. comfortable overnight, tomorrow morning 73. here's your five-day forecast. the heat is on for the end of august, early september. low to mid-90s tomorrow. low 90s on saturday with more humidity. and then the chance of showers and storms return by late sunday and monday with the remnants of isaac. that's a look at weather. let's get the latest on traffic with julie. >> a lot happening here on the roads again this morning.

check this out. behind me the inner loop of the beltway southbound 95, 495, from 50 the john hanson highway towards route 4 pennsylvania avenue. the accident with a tractor- trailer gone but over an hour commute, 1 hour and 10 minutes eastbound. southbound 270 pockets of congestion as you work your way south out of frederick towards the split. from 85 buckeystown road over an hour commute with all lanes open. outer loop below speed, problems on metros red like due to track work, single tracks between wheaton and glenmont so expect tie-ups on the red line. lanes are open northbound 395 but traffic heavy and slow not only from the beltway past king street but again leaving the pentagon up and across the inbounded 14th street bridge. no problems, just volume delays. volume delays on the inner loop between springfield, bradock road and gallows road for the commute inbounded on 6. traffic

flowing between the 2. out of centreville continuing past 286 towards 123 and again at the beltway. westbound 267 shut down at belmont ridge road due to the overturned tanker truck. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic.." nasa is on the way to study the radiation belt. how a lab in maryland is helping with the mission coming up. >> also, we have one of the our young people once again as we continue to feature our back-to- school pictures. say good morning: coming up we have virginia delegate barbara comstock a delegate at the republican national convention. we'll be talking to her coming up.

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the impossible seem inevitable in retrospect but we know it was never inevitable. it took leadership and it took courage and it took belief in our values. mitt romney and paul ryan have the integrity and the experience and the vision to lead us. they know who we are. they know who we want to be. they know who we are in the world and what we offer. >> my dad used to say to me, son, you have a choice. you can be part of the problem or you can be part of the solution. the present administration has made its choices. and mitt romney and i have made ours. before the math and the momentum overwhelm us all, we are going to solve this nation's economic problems. >> there you have it. the two big headliners at last night's republican national convention. vice-presidential nominee paul ryan and former secretary of state condoleezza rice. with a recap and a look ahead,

virginia delegate barbara comstock joins us live from tampa. good morning to you. and thank you for joining us. >> good morning. >> let's go right to -- >> great to be with you. >> we're happy to have you here. we know you have a lot going on there in tampa. let's first get your impressions of last night east speeches and how they went. what you just showed, it was a wonderful evening. it was very enthusiastically received here in the hall. but then seeing reports on it and talking to friends and family around virginia and around the country afterwards, i know the strong message about leadership. the word leadership came up a lot from condoleezza rice, from paul ryan and that's what's sorely needed right now in this economic front with our economy flat and failing. we need leaders who understand the private sector who understand how to turn around the economy. mitt romney is that man to do it and paul ryan is just an extremely able partner who has shown his leadership and his courage to stand up and take

the tough issues on. >> just a few weeks ago before the addition of paul ryan to the ticket, you know, a lot of the talk about the romney campaign was that it wasn't a lot of excitement particularly from the conservative base and all of that. there in the convention hall, do you get the sense that that corner has been turned? >> oh, sure. well, we have been very busy in virginia all summer. we have been out knocking on doors. we have seen a lot of enthusiasm. but certainly when you become a team, when you have more people involved that enthusiasm builds and so we have seen a growing and building enthusiasm. in virginia we have had crowds with up to 10,000 people and more. so coming out of this i'm very excited that the team is going to be coming to richmond on friday so that's going to be exciting having them back in virginia. then mitt romney tonight will lay out his vision and his

leadership vision on how we can get this economy turned around. this is a man uniquely situated given his success in the private sector, his, you know, amazing success with the olympics, and his success as a governor where he had to close a deficit and he had to grow jobs. he had a very low unemployment rate under 5%, i think it was 4.7%. and he was able to do this with a democrat legislature. people forget often that both mitt romney and paul ryan have been elected in democrat states. they have worked with democrats. but they have done all of it in a commonsense conservative way that, you know, cuts the deficit, gets spending under control and doesn't raise taxes, which is something we in virginia are concerned about because president obama has already promised to raise our taxes which will be ground zero here in northern virginia hit very hard with tax increases and then president obama has been awol on the issue of defense cuts which threaten up

to 200,000 jobs in virginia alone which would almost double our unemployment rate. mitt romney and paul ryan have said they will not do those defense cuts. they want to protect our national security. and they understand how important this is to our economy also. >> i want to play a little bit more of what paul ryan had to say last night. listen to this. >> okay. >> get this economy growing again. [ applause and cheers ] >> we can make the safety net safe again. we can do this. whatever your political party, let's come together for the sake of our country. join mitt romney and me. let's give this effort everything we have. let's see this thing all the way through. let's get this done! >> now, you know, he is talking about pulling together and no matter what your political party is. but some would argue that that's what the president has been saying and it's been a largely republican-controlled congress that hasn't been willing to work with him to get things done. how do you view that? >> over, well that's not at

all the case because for the first two years the president had democrat majority and he pushed through a very partisan agenda. he got his stimulus on a partisan basis. he didn't work with republicans of the his healthcare bill didn't get any republican support and he refused to work with republicans with that and rammed it through with strong opposition and now even many democrats say they regret that vote because it was so partisan. the president got what he wanted. the problem is the results. it hasn't worked. we have unemployment now stuck at over 8%. the president said if we pass this stimulus, it would be under 8%. it's never gone under 8%. and the problem is, the president doesn't know how to get us out of this economic ditch because, you know, he is doing the wrong things. so we need someone who understands how to have an economic turnaround. remember, the president said if he couldn't get this done in three years, it would be a

within-term proposition. -- a one-term proposition. he's exactly right. that's why we need mitt romney and paul ryan because they have the leadership skills and the vision and the ability to turn this around. it doesn't have to be this wayne. this is not the new normal. and for virginia, i can tell you, we want to have a 21st century economy and invigorated youthful ticket who understands how we can have that. >> virginia delegate barbara comstock, we have to go because we're losing that window of opportunity. we thank you and invite you to come by when you get back to town. thanks. >> thanks. happy to be with you. other news now, nasa is finally launching two satellites up this morning after days of delays. they will study the two radiation belts around the earth to improve space weather forecasting. it's being run by a physics

laboratory out of laurel, maryland. >> space weather forecasting? >> we'll take it. >> cool. >> we have satellites that need upgrades, as well. that will happen down the road, too. >> i know you're excited about it. >> you know i am. can't get enough satellite pictures. let's talk local weather. beautiful again today, warm this afternoon. not a lot of humidity, highs near 90. i think it will feel warm. 70 now in the city. lots of 60s outside the beltway but look how cool it is. we are getting little hints of fall lately. look at banton. 49 degrees this morning. >> that's what it was in july, too. >> 57 this morning in pittsburgh. 60 detroit. some of the maps starting to change colors a little bit. looking at our satellite-radar we're nice and quiet. that's the reason for the cool air with all the clear skies out there. plenty of cool last night. and we'll be in for a beautiful day. clouds from time to time not expecting rain or thunderstorms for the next several days. we'll have a warming trend here, hot by tomorrow and

saturday with highs back into the 90s well into the 90s tomorrow. in fact, i might be a little conservative with that 93. it might be 94, 95 for parts of the area tomorrow. there is your five-day forecast. next chance for showers and storms second half of sunday, monday. i know it's a holiday, sorry, but isaac not cooperating with us. that will be the remnants of isaac if it happens. >> doesn't affect us, does it? we'll be right here? >> at work? >> on monday. >> can't wait. >> most of us. [ pause ] >> here's julie wright with a look -- >> julie, are you working monday? >> technically no. i'm going to be the emcee at the gaithersburg parade. come out. funnel cake's on me. i'm working but not at 9:00 a.m. >> what time? >> 1:00. >> we'll see then. >> can i bring connor? >> of course. >> cool. >> i'll give connor funnel cake but not you, tony. you owe me pumpkin pie. 395 across the 14th street

bridge heavy and slow delays at the beltway. outer loop below speed. lanes are open below speed germantown to the split. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic.." still ahead, the indycar series takes over baltimore this weekend. >> amazing thing they do up there. holly tells us what it's all about. hey, holly. >> reporter: well, it's about driving fast and hopefully not crashing. that's what this is all about. we are live this morning at the inner harbor where they are gearing up for the second annual grand prix. look at this. the streets of baltimore turned into a racetrack. we are tacking about action packed fast paced race car driving at its finest. we'll have all the details you need to know so you can get in gear yourself. all live next on "fox 5 morning news." stay with us. president clinton: this election to me is about which...

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folks from all over are heading to the inner harbor to catch the excitement at the second grand prix in baltimore. >> with a preview of this really fast event, fox 5's holly morris joins us live from just above the raceway. holly, i'm trying to get my bearings there because i know that street but it looks totally different right now. >> reporter: well, it really is fascinating to watch them turn the streets around the inner harbor into a racetrack. we are standing on one of the terraces of the convention center so see, there's camden yards there right down there on the end and you can see this is one of the streets. this is conway street. it intersections with sharp in front of the convention center and this is part of the raceway where people will be driving fast this weekend. about 160,000 people has year, hoping for more this year and an even better experience this year. tim is the general manager of the race and joins me. good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: how are we feeling? >> very good. >> reporter: revved up, pun

intended. >> that's right. we are actually a little ahead of schedule on the track build where you see right behind us we have to build a little piece of the track over the light rail. we have 21 of the 22 million pounds of concrete block down, we have the fence up and starting to put the tires in place so streets of baltimore becoming a racetrack and the good news is we are keeping downtown baltimore open for business. >> which is good. >> reporter: people are happy about that. we have some video of the race last year. for people who aren't familiar with it kind of give me an idea of what exactly people are going to be seeping and how it all works. >> there is a big family component so we have family fun zones. we have a lot of things for kids to do. the whole inner harbor attraction area is right here but what people are going to see is five of the greatest racing series in america. we have the izod indy cars sunday, the american le mans series on saturday and, of course, we have the indy lights up to 180 miles an l. hour down pratt street if you can imagine that.

>> reporter: we all imagine that. >> so we are coming know turn one then they have to slow down to 80 miles an hour to make the right hander coming down light street across here on conway so it's a very exciting racetrack for drivers. it's very technical but there's also some very fast parts which drivers like. >> reporter: we hope for no crashes obviously. last year helio castroneves was involved in crash. what kind of safety precautions are we taking this year? >> 22 million pounds of concrete blocks to keep drivers inside the fence. the cars made out of a material that keeps the drivers protected. the tires against the walls are there to absorb the energy and for us it's about energy management. we have a great relationship with the city of baltimore fire department with the paramedics and so on. shock trauma here university of maryland medical center is our official medical center. so we hope not to have to take anybody there but if so we're

prepared. >> there's something inherently dangerous about driving 180 miles an hour. let's be honest. thank you very much the . i have a race car driver as a guest. >> i'm 17. i still get the kids menu. [ laughter ] >> zack, he is more than just a race car driver. he is a young man that's truly an inspiration because you're part of an anti-bullying campaign. you have written a book. the 99 things you need to know or you wish you knew before you were 16. >> right. >> so tell me about your background how you got involved in race car driving and what you're hoping to to. >> i mean, ever since i was little for some reason i dreamed of being these guys going 180 miles an hour down the streets of baltimore or around the world. >> your mom fainted. >> she's a nurse. my family was in motorsports at the time. i kept telling my dad i wanted to race and at 12 we bought a go-kart and in twenty signed up

with andretti. >> we have video of him racing. the interesting thing is that you actually wanted to be a successful race car driver because that was a way to prove to the people that were bullying that you can't do this to me. >> i was in public school. i was bullied growing up when i was getting into carting and i use what they used against me as fuel saying i'm going to make it just because you said that i can do anything that i can and i want to make sure that kids across america can do whatever they want, as well. >> and also kids across america i just want to give you one tactic that zack used. they were kind of making fun of you because you were on the smaller side and so -- >> as you can tell. i is wanted to stand up. it's not about your size. it's not about what you're doing. it's how you -- all you want to achieve in your life and you should never let someone stop you. >> reporter: now what you told that guy? maybe i'm not small. maybe you're a giant. i love it. turning the cards. i'm going to be watching you this weekend.

be safe. >> thank you so much. >> reporter: myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the baltimore grand prix. get them now. coming up in the next hour we'll talk more about the spokespersons and some changes they have made to improve the experience this year. back to you in the studio. >> love that young man. thank you, holly. coming up at 8:00 couponing website apps around for several years. we are talking about the daily emails you get from groupon and living social. now prince george's county has some beef with the online discounts. lauren demarco explains in the smartphone zone. >> and football season is officially in full swing but as the season gets under way, there is growing concern with the younger players who are more vulnerable to head injuries. here with the nation's large youth football -- harper what the nation's largest youth football team is doing to make the game safer.  [ harry umlaut ] i speak eueuropean you know. [ sally umlaut ] uh-huh.

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coming up, the gulf coast under water. isaac dumps more than a foot of rain on parts of louisiana and mississippi. and the misery isn't over yet. >> we will not duck the tough issues. we will lead. >> plus, paul ryan's national

debut. the vice-presidential candidate introduces himself to the convention and country. then lays out a new plan for america's future. we'll have a live report. >> and later on the lighter side, bad luck in the form of a black cat. we'll show you what happened when the frightened feline took to the soccer field. good morning, i'm tony perkins. >> i'm allison seymour. happy you're with us on this thursday morning. getting right to the gulf now, tropical storm isaac' winds are dying down but the storm is still drenching parts of louisiana and mississippi as it slowly crawls inland. president obama has declared federal emergencying in the two coastal states trying to speed up federal aid and recovery efforts to the area hit hard of the the hardest area so far, saint john the baptist and plaquemines parishes. the water is several feet deep in poet areas and crews worked around the clock rescuing thousands. the eye of the storm passed

slightly west of new orleans and the levee system held. more than 500,000 people have no more and the new orleans mayor mitch landrieu has ordered a dusk-to-dawn curfew for the city. the storm also spawned tornadoes as it moved across the southeast. this is video of the damage in gulfport, mississippi. so far, the death toll stands at one. early estimates show it may have caused $1.5 billion in damage. for an update on isaac, we toss it over to tucker barnes at the weather wall. good morning. >> good morning. you mentioned tornadoes. still tornado warnings this morning. so although isaac is losing its punch maximum winds just 45 miles per hour. still we have these tropical bands of rain that have been pushed up from the gulf of mexico and along these bands you can see very intense rain, thunderstorm activity and the possibility of tornadoes. so tornado threats continue today to the east of the storm

in portions of mississippi, alabama. here's what's left of the eye structure now moving off. just got the latest update off to the north and west at 8 miles per hour so in no hurry unfortunately to get out of here and another day of drenching rains across the south. local weather real quick, off to a fabulous start here in washington. 70 degrees at ragan national. we'll be in for a beautiful one later this afternoon. our high temperatures as we get into the afternoon hours will top out in the upper 80s to about90. that's a look at the forecast. back to you. >> thank you. we are going to get a firsthand account of just what isaac has left behind now and the problems the storm is still causing. hard hit is plaquemines parish louisiana as we said. that's just south of new orleans. joining us now on the phone is parish president billy nungesser. sir, are you there? yes, sir. >> thank you very much for

taking time to talk to us. give us a sense of the situation now in your parish. >> reporter: well, on the east bank, we are going to go home to home. the sheriff's deputies and saint bernard's sheriff's department to do a double-check of the mes from the roofs that are visible out of the water to be sure there is no one left there and this morning we'll continue the rescue efforts on the west bank. late yesterday we had water coming up highway 23. i saw some video from the national guard that i have never seen water rushing up the highway that quick. as a matter of fact, some more historic -- heroic stories. a gentleman was trying to make it up the road in his vehicle, got submerged by water. he got out to walk for help. and his wife who was wheelchair- bound, ended up floating out the vehicle. one of the sheriff's deputies that made it to my house, which

is raised above the levee used my personal boat to rescue her clinging to a telephone pole. 30 people took up at my home because it is on a mound of mud that sticks out of the water to get some of those people that were able to make it to my home. it's ironic that on katrina, i rode out katrina there. and as a private citizen i rescued a family that was floating in a mobile home. that land has been in their family for years. a new mobile home same situation, they had to flee from their home as the water came rushing down the highway. and that family is living at my home again which i haven't been home to. but the same family on the same day 7 years ago is now in my home again for a similar story. just an incredible deja vu that you couldn't even imagine. >> we know there is still much work to be done as you go home to home to be sure people are okay. we thank you for your time this

morning and we wish you the best of luck in all of those efforts. >> thank you. >> billy nungesser, the president of plaquemines parish in louisiana. >> that story brings it home. >> it does. >> and it also speaks to the feeling there as well between neighbors. >> yup. >> all right. let's head over to julie wright with a look at our roadways right here in our area. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. it's been very busy out here on the highway and we still have problems to report traveling on the outer loop of the beltway in the direction of the wilson bridge. accident in the local lanes keeping you on the brakes from telegraph road with the average speed down to 37 miles an hour. what's unusual is the inner loop backup from route 5 to the bridge with lanes open for a 15- minute commute. northbound 210 slow from the beltway to the naval research lab and the suitland parkway to the inbounded 11th street bridge. southbound 95 gridlocked out of laurel to the beltway 20 miles per hour south from 195.

delays for those continuing around the capital beltway on the inner loop leaving springfield towards gallows road. southbound 270 no issues to report but delays continue out of gates burning and rockville headed for the split. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic.." one other note now about isaac. the storm is being blamed for the biggest one day bump in gas prices in more than a year. the national average is now 3.83 a gallon 11 cents higher than a week ago. regional prices run. a gallon of regular in d.c. will be $4. maryland and virginia a little less. another big story that we're following this morning. the final chapter in the university of virginia lacrosse murder case. formal sentencing is scheduled today for the former player convicted of killing his ex- girlfriend. our own melanie alnwick is following the case and joins us from the newsroom with the latest. reporter: if the jury had found george huguely guilty of first-degree murder he could be facing life in prison this morning. he was found guilty of a lesser charge and recommended a 26 year sentence including one

year for grand larceny for theft of a computer. his family is asking the judge for just a 14-year sentence. huguely didn't testify in his own defense during his february trial and never apologized or expressed remorse to the jury. prosecutors had sought a first- degree murder conviction but jurors found that huguely didn't plan to kill his girlfriend the night he kicked her door in instead convicting him of second-degree murder. george huguely was 22 at the time of the murder which shocked the uva campus. he and yeardley love also a 22- year-old lacrosse player were known to have a volatile relationship. in may of 2010, huguely went to love's apartment in a drunken rage. he admitted to fighting with her and leaving her bloodied in her room. a roommate found her dead a short time later. the coroner ruling love died of blunt-force trauma to the head. virginiajudges generally following jury recommendations but have the leeway to reduce sentences but cannot increase it.

he has been in jail since 2010 and could get credit for time served. paul wagner will be covering the sentencing from charlottesville. be sure to tune into fox 5 news at 5:00 tonight for the latest. we'll also be posting updates throughout the day on myfoxdc.com. now to other quick court notes. the man accused of killing 12 people during a shooting spree at a colorado movie theater will be back in court for a mental competency hearing. a university of colorado psychiatrist who once treated james holmes is expected to testify. and closer to home a former army ranger accused of killing his roommate also a veteran of the war in afghanistan will be back on trial for the second time. gary smith was convicted in 2008 for killing michael mcqueen but maryland supreme court threw the case out saying a judge should have allowed smith's defense team to present evidence that mcqueen was suicidally depressed. the book is not even on store shelves yet but making

headlines, "no easy day." a the author has grand an interview to cbs "60 minutes" set to air sunday in. it the former navy seal says shame on anyone who claims his book it politically motivated. the book written under the pen name mark owen offers an inside account of how osama bin laden was killed and contradicts the official account from the white house and the pentagon. new this morning, nasa has successfully launched two satellites. they went up this morning after days of delays. the satellites will study the two rotation belts that circle the earth and the impact the sun has on them. the goal is to improve space weather forecasting. the mission is being run by the johns hopkins applied physics lab out of laurel, maryland. michelle obama says that she is skipping the coverage of the republican convention in tampa because her mind is already made up. >> but that doesn't mean that she wants other people to tune out, as well. still ahead at 8:00, what else

the first lady told david letterman during last night's late show. >> but first, our convention coverage continues live from tampa where mitt romney is just hours away from addressing the nation. 10 minutes after actually coming up on 11 minutes after 8:00. we'll be right back. this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything.

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it's the final night of the republican national convention. and mitt romney will take the stage this evening to make his case to the party faithful inside the tampa bay times forum. and voters around the country. last night his vice- presidential candidate made his national debut. fox news correspondent jennifer davis joins us live from tampa this morning with more. good morning, jeff in. >> reporter: good morning, tony. >> tell us about what happened, jennifer, last night and what we can expect to see today. >> reporter: all right. let's start with last night. it was paul ryan's night. he stepped into the spotlight with the biggest speech of his political career and as far as people here are concerned he really hit it out of the park. he got big ovations as he took the stage as he left and in

between. and he really did sort of lay out a little bit of his personal story as he introduced himself to folks here in the convention hall and around the country and then he really went on the attack. he was definitely an aggressor as he critiqued president obama, saying that he has been more about slogans lately than actually doing anything for the country and he talked about how the gop would like to do things differently in terms of repealing obamacare and making changes to medicaid and dealing with the economy as well. tonight is going to be mitt romney's turn. there is a lot on his plate in terms of his "to do" list. he needs to rally the base and appeal to women voters and show personality and emotion and then really wants to talk about what he will do as president of the united states and how that's different than what the president has been doing and how he thinks it will make a difference. so certainly a lot on his plate. but folks here really looking forward to it as it brings things to an end here at the convention. >> it's been very interesting watching the convention what we can see on tv.

you know, it's been a slow progression over the years but really, at this point, the convention is really seems to be all about the speeches and these moments more than any other stuff getting done there. is that the sense there at the scene? >> reporter: you know, the first day they did have a good deal of business to get through in terms of adopting the party platform and then doing the roll call vote. in terms of the speeches, i think there's a couple of different goals. you certainly can see where the next generation of leaders will emerge and give a speech on a platform of this size and it's a chance for people involved with this ticket to make their mark. condoleezza rice really was a big hit last night as she emerged from academia to give a speech that was very well received and people liked that she not just talked about foreign policy but she hit on domestic issues, as well. you know, one criticism of conventions is that they are a little too scripted and so one interesting thing tonight is that there's a mystery guest on the schedule. and that certainly is

generating a lot of talk here. the person whoever it is is going to appear after "american idol" winner taylor hicks sings and sometime before florida senator marco rubio introduces mitt romney. a lot of guesses about who this person might be. republican leaders not tipping their hand at all but guesses range from clint eastwood or sarah palin or tim tebow and one of the more creative suggestions is it could be a hologram of ronald ragan. that certainly is creating drama into the evening. >> wow. that would be something. [ laughter ] >> that would be something to see! all right. thank you very much, jennifer davis. we appreciate it. reporting live from tampa. >> thanks, tony. when the convention ends, the republican candidates won't waste anytime turning their attention back to battleground virginia. mitt romney and paul ryan will stop by the richmond international airport tomorrow. yesterday, president obama paid the commonwealth a visit with a speech to college students in

charlottesville. thank you. hey, tucker. >> good morning. >> tucker is here with me talking weather. >> time for "my first 5" photo of the day. they love each other. and even when the little brother is not psyched about it, she loves to kiss him. >> he is psyched about it. >> this is such a sweet picture. >> yup. >> it really is. >> it is. >> awww... so cute. ♪ all you need is love >> mesmerizing. >> just taking it all in. to send us your child's picture, go to myfoxdc.com and click on "mornings." congratulations, babies. love it. let's do some weather real quick and you know what?

across the country we have relatively cool temperatures off to -- nice day around here, nice start to the day with temperatures falling back into the 60s outside the beltway this morning. 72 now in washington but check out cincinnati. 57 degrees, buffalo 59. so that's great. as we open it up a little bit, hey, we have 40s on the map. yeah, great falls, casper, wyoming, 49 degrees. so some hints that as we end august and enter september here, hints of fall starting to find their way into the lower 48. looking at the satellite picture, as i hope we'll do here momentarily, of course the main actor in town still isaac down there to our south and west bringing very heavy rain to portions of louisiana, alabama, mississippi at this hour. that will continue to spin to the north bringing much-needed rain across sections of the country that have been so drought stricken over the last several months. and then it will start to push to the east towards the end of the weekend. and it's certainly a possibility, some of the computer models are suggesting that some of that moisture could find its way into the

washington region into the mid- atlantic by late sunday and early monday so that's really our next chance for rain. until then, nice weather trend around here although it will be hot both friday and saturday with highs back in the 90s and there's your scattered showers and storms. unfortunately, i know it's a holiday weekend but looks like second half of sunday and monday. >> oh. >> not a guarantee. >> okay. >> see how it develops. let's go to julie wright. there she is. hey, julie. >> i just kind of pop out there. >> yeah. [ laughter ] >> all right. well, if you are traveling around the capital beltway at this hour you will find lanes open but definitely below speed. heavy volume towards the dulles toll road. 14th street bridge, accident activity in the process of being cleared from 63 southeast contributing to the delay headed northbound on 395 out of virginia over the 14th street bridge towards the anacostia bridges. we have a slow ride with at the

wilson bridge. outer loop crash, delays from telegraph road. inner loop below speed 5 to the bridge a 15-minute ride. that's a check of your "fox 5 on-time traffic.." thanks so much, julie. coming up, the first lady's excuse for not watching the republican national convention coverage. >> disney stars like you have never seen them before. why minnie mouse got a makeover for the catwalk. >> looks like a really skinny jessica rabbit. >> she needs to eat something. >> that's cute. later, we'll go live to charm city where the engines will be roaring for the second annual grand prix. our holly morris has a preview. 

we know there's one person who has not been tuning in to watch the republican national convention. look at what the first lady had to say last night on cbs' "the late show." >> the republican convention is concluding. they had some trouble with the weather. did you see any of the convention? >> no. [ laughter ] >> well -- at first -- well no. [ laughter ] >> let me start by saying, i -- i as the wife of the guy they are running against -- [ laughter ] >> -- i tend not to watch it. but i think it's important for everyone to watch these

conventions because this is the time where you get to know the party. you understand the platform. you understand the candidates. you know, this is technically where the campaign begins. so i think it's very important for everyone to watch as much of both conventions as possible to make their decisions. i didn't watch it. >> right. >> there you go. the first lady was on the show promoting her healthy eating initiative. talk about slimming down. some of disney's most famous characters have a whole new look thanks to a partnership with barney's. the new holiday campaign features iconic characters like minnie mouse. also daisy duck. there is minnie looking cute. >> that's daisy. >> oh, sorry. yeah, daisy. there is goofy not looking goofy at all. instead, sporting the department store's expensive designer duds. according to women's wear daily, the electric holiday campaign will debut at barney's flagship store in new york in

november. the campaign also features a film focused on minnie's trip to paris for fashion week but i'm not sure where healthy comes in. >> i don't know. i'll bet they are going to get some blowback on that because of making minnie and daisy so skinny. some people will say you have to be skinny and all that kind of thing. >> right. >> we'll see. >> and they are still cartoon characters. >> but everything you know -- >> they get politicized. there is a big push to protect kids from concussion. that means some big safety changes coming to pop warner football so still ahead at 8:00 fox medical reporter beth galvin shows us what parents need to know. >> it's a great way to get a good deal but some officials in prince george's county say businesses there are losing out on the social couponing craze. we'll take a look at why. it's 8:26. you're watching "fox 5 morning news." anncr: it'll start out as concrete a and steel...

but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. revision. "actually, this ain't bad"? surprise! "look at this cool corner thingy!"

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making headlines here at home and around the world, commuters going westbound on the dulles greenway can now get by an overturned tanker truck using the shoulder and left- hand lane. this was the scene on route 267 earlier this morning after a tanker truck caught fire. the driver has serious i is exp word from afghanistan that two nato troops have been killed in a in a helicopter crash. no further details for the nationality of the dead. :30 right now. tucker is with us once again for another check on our day. hey, tuck. >> good morning. you hook like the cat that ate the

canary. there is a live look at isaac. >> maximum ends with down to 45 miles per hour. it's slowly falling apart. that's of course great news but it is still fairly strong particularly considering it made landfall about 36 hours ago. that's what's left of the eye and you can see most of the rain to the east. good news is it finally got north and north and west of new orleans now. still heavy rain in new orleans but will fall apart later today. still tropical features to isaac heavy rain for parts of the country that need it. it's going to turn up and around this area of high pressure. this is going to deliver a couple of nice days around here with the high pressure system. end of t weekend we could see some showers moving to the mid- atlantic here as early as

sunday perhaps monday. still some questions on the timing of the remnants of isaac and exactly how much rain or thunderstorms we'll get. but keep it in mind the possibility that we'll get some rain around here by the end of the weekend. i know it's a holiday weekend. all right, shifting gears weather in washington couldn't be better. 50s overnight. now mid-60s off to the north and west. dulles 57. 64 martinsburg. it's going to be warm today, upper 80s, low humidity as we have bright blue skies in the forecast, lots of sunshine. that area of high pressure is building south so we are in for a couple of great days although it will be hot around here particularly tomorrow and saturday. there is your five-day forecast. 93 tomorrow with lots of sunshine, humidity back by saturday afternoon with highs in the low 90s and there is your scattered shower and thunderstorm activity at the end of the weekend with remnants of isaac. that's weather. tony, allison, back to you.

>> thank you. social couponing sites and apps like living social and groupon have become pretty mainstream. this summer google even launched an iphone app for daily deals called google offers. it saves consumers cash and works as a marketing tool for businesses but officials say companies in prince george's county may be missing out. fox 5's lauren demarco finds out why. >> reporter: living social, groupon, have you ever heard of them? >> no. >> i have seen something about it maybe reading the title somewhere but never used it or knew what it did. >> reporter: the social couponing concept has been around for several years but has prince george's county been left behind? the county executive's office believes that's the case and they would like to see it change. >> it's only fair that the social couponing websites start to do more to actively engage the business community here. >> reporter: some of the most popular players in the game,

living social, groupon and google offers taylor areas to specific areas. google breaks them down by montgomery county, northern virginia and the district. same for groupon. living social has several locations within virginia and d.c. maryland is broken down to annapolis, several categories for baltimore, howard county and montgomery county. but nowhere do you find prince george's county. >> does feel like a snub in more precise terms, it feels like red lining. >> reporter: to be clear, businesses in prince george's county can run deals through all three services but the offers will show up under washington or montgomery. the county executive himself says he can't understand it. >> we think there are a lot of great things that are going on in prince george's county. >> reporter: rushern baker is concerned that the most recent name in the game google offers doesn't have a section for prince george's county. >> one of the cofounders of google is from prince george's county, went to roosevelt high school, university of maryland.

>> reporter: we called all three social couponing sites. google: we are for exampled on bringing the best deals to google offers subscribers and we do run deals for businesses in prince george's county. any business that is interested in running a google offers can apply on our website. >> no response from groupon but i did talk with a rep from living social. he says that with hyper local deals, it's all about density and variety. the right number of merchants in a given area and the variety and the type of merchants. he says that they are constantly reevaluating but so far in prince george's county, they haven't found the right economic environment. >> the county that has almost 900,000 individuals has fairly high income levels, one of the more fluent african majority counties you can find anywhere. and yet none of these social couponing websites can find

enough businesses that satisfy their needs. >> reporter: the owner of the dandelion patch which is at national harbor says she has had success with social coupons. >> we have sold about 1,000 anywhere between 8 to 1200, 800 to 1200 vouchers in both living social and groupon. not all of them get redeemed but hopefully we'll see at least 90% of those people walk through the doors at the dandelion patch one of our stores. that's 900 people we might not otherwise get. >> reporter: heidi collette says she doesn't see the need for hyper local categories. she feels her coupons will reach more people under d.c. at this store wanda davis would be interesting in running social coupons. >> we need pour business definitely. >> reporter: she would like to see hyper local deals. >> i don't know why it would be under d.c. or another county. it should be under pg because how would you know how to find it is. we are part of economic engine of this region and i think we is he serve to be recognized.

>> reporter: lauren demarco, "fox 5 morning news." it is 8:36 on this thursday morning. the nats end that losing streak. and the redskins other rookie quarterback shines. >> plus, our play of the day courtesy of a wayward cat. run, run. what happened when the feline took to the field, next. he's booking it, isn't he? >> mm-hm. >> we'll be right back.  

president clinton: this election to me is about which... candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income... people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education... and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

♪[ music ] ♪ riding through the city of new orleans ♪ >> that's arlo guthrie singing about new orleans. no one will be flying there. all flights to the airport are canceled. look at the picture. this is a part of the runway that of course is flooded at louis armstrong airport. at last check they only had limited generator power. they are in talk with airlines about when commercial flights can resume. harper! there goes another one. see you later! how about upstairs. >> it was brice harper night in hm. the rookie hit two home runs and throve in three runs to

help the nats beat the marlins 8-4 after driving in three runs. he was also eject from the game when he slammed his helmet in frustration in the 9th. the win ends the team's five- game losing streak. that's good. they begin a series at home tonight against the cardinals. the redskins ended the preseason on a high note. >> boy, did they. now they can hook forward to week one against the saints. the skins routed the buccaneers last night 30-3. new kicker billy cundiff hit three out of four field goals. the game predominantly featured backups and second stringers, third stringers all that. quarterback kurt cousins played into the 3rd quarter and threw for 222 yards, one interception. he looked good again. runningbacks evan royster and roy helu returned from injuries and scored the three touchdowns. finally, talk about bad luck of a black cat ran across a field in the middle of a quarterfinal match.

the frightened cat ran behind the goalkeeper who kept his focus enough to make a save while the cat made a save of his own running off. >> oh. >> so it didn't really bring bad luck at least not for that goalie. the perception alone might have, you know, gotten somebody off their game. coming up next, we are going to check in with the fox medical team with an update on the spread of west nile virus and big changes coming to pop warner football. >> first, though, holly is live this morning out of baltimore as the charm city gets ready to rev its engines. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we are literally watching the transformation. they have closed down the streets. they are putting up the barriers. laying down the racetrack there. gearing up for the second annual baltimore grand prix and even though it's only the second year, they have made some changes to make it more fan friendly. we'll tell you all about it plus talk about some other things you might want to do while here. it's all next on "fox 5 morning news." stay with us. 

time for our facebook fan of the day. look at this sweet picture.

today we say hello to dolores archibald, aka granny. dolores has been getting her daily fox 5 fix since 1977! before we were even fox. >> wow. >> she would love to one day tell us thank you in person. we would love that, too. >> wouldn't we? >> yup. >> thanks for watching for so long. for your chance to be friday's fan, just leave a comment under dolores' picture. >> awww. >> a little baby. last year's grand prix brought more than 150,000 visitors to baltimore and it supposedly brought in millions of dollars. so this year, organizers and city leaders hope to break the record. is going to the raceway worth the trip? of course. fox 5's holly morris joins us live from baltimore with more. >> reporter: wait until you try o get here. it's difficult but it's easier than last year. that's the key. they have tweaked the plan. they learned a lot of lessons from the first year and while a

lot of people enjoyed it you're right, the key is they want even more people to enjoy it this year and have a bigger better experience. j.p. grant the manager of race-on is joining me to talk about that because they are the new people taking control of the event this year. so talk to me about how you went into it this year, looking at it differently than last year. >> we wanted to have a great fan experience. we wanted to incorporate more of the businesses in downtown. this year, when you come to the race, you can come into the race, you can leave the race, you can see other attractions in downtown baltimore. we tried to make it more family- friendly. we have the kids fan zone, the kids go-kart area, we priced tickets so they are competitively priced. >> reporter: your goal is not even to make a ton of money this year for you all. it's really to get it on the map, make it be a destination for people to come here on labor day weekend. not only for the fans, which you talked about, one of the complaints last year was getting in and out. how have you made that easier? >> the construction plan last year was 45 days.

we were able to shorten it to 32 days. we got a lot of experience last year in how to lay out traffic which benefits us. now we are able to shut it down before businesses open in the morning. >> and you want this to be more enjoyable force businesses because while some made money, they were thinking they were going to make more last year and you have done a couple of things to help them out, including ending the races earlier. >> right. last year entertainment ended around 9:00. this year we'll be finished 6:30, 7:00 so people can enjoy the restaurants, bars, and have a great time in baltimore. >> reporter: also you have done a lot of pairing up some businesses in order to kind of make it a dual experience so to speak. >> yes. we have partnered with the aquarium here, we have cross marketing there. we are partnering with dulles plant live so the people can move towards little italy. we have done events in little italy for the restaurants to feel part of the events.

>> reporter: sarah warfield is with visit baltimore who knows things are going on to help you get things in besides racing. >> we have put together a baltimore race week so we're encouraging people to spend the labor day weekend in baltimore of there are great hotel packages with free breakfast, free parking in addition to tickets. then there's also great office from our restaurant community. grand prix fix menus, where fixed course menus at special discounted prices all over town so you can head out, see the race, little italy for dinner, historic mount vernon district, power plant live to see a show, the aquarium, places like the museums, historical societies, all offering discounted admissions. >> reporter: these are the wonderful reasons to come to baltimore anyway and now of the additional reason of the baltimore grand prix. i know last year there was a problem because of a big storm and shelter was hard to find and obviously the hurricane is

something everybody is watching but you have taken that into account too. >> yes. this year, the hurricane [ indiscernible ] we are going to have sunny skies in the 90s. it's going to be a great weather weekend. >> reporter: you're not worried? >> no. >> didn't you open up the bottom of the orioles stadium in case people need to get away? >> in case. >> maybe if they are hot because it's 90 and they need a break from the weather they can go in there, as well. >> we have a family break zone inside the convention center so if it is too hot they can come in and cool off. >> reporter: you know, you're kind of like the great mediator. it's always wonderful to have big events in your city but then sometimes when you live in the city you're like, oh, i wish they didn't have that. so how do you go about making sure everyone is happy and finding that balance? >> we have reached out to the community. we have a senior citizens home right off the track. we're giving the senior citizens options to go on tours, to the site, to the smithsonian, to maryland live, and we thought that was the right thing to do. >> reporter: you listened, right? there was a lot of feedback and

you listened and made changes. it's amazing to watch this all going on. >> in 90 days. >> you can't plan a wedding in this short a time. >> reporter: you have done an amazing job. myfoxdc.com is our website. we have a link to the baltimore grand prix. get your tickets now. it's going to be an awesome racing weekend here around the inner harbor. if you need a little inspiration, next hour i have the driver for you. make sure you stay tuned for that. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. the nation's largest youth football program pop warner is making some changes to keep your young ones safe out there on the field and the west nile virus outbreak is getting worse. we are getting details on both from fox medical team's beth galvin live out of atlanta this morning. good morning, beth of the let's start with the latest on the west nile virus. >> reporter: you know, the cdc said yesterday that the number of cases has jumped 40% in the

last week. we're almost at 1600 confirmed cases right now across several states. we're looking at 66 americans who have already died. what's interesting with this outbreak of west nile virus, though, is that in about half of these cases, allison, they are seeing people developing really serious complications like meningitis and encephalitis. swelling of the brain and the spinal cord. and they are saying that, you know, it used to be that they would see one out of 150 cases where you would have people end up in the icu with severe complications now it's about half of the cases. now a lot of attention is being paid now to west nile virus and this outbreak across the country hitting hardest in texas right now. >> good to know, beth. let's switch gears talk about youth sports. school is back in session now for most of us. 70% they say of football players in the country are kids. they are under the age of 15. so now pop warner football the program is changing its practice rules to protect them against head injuries. can you tell us about this,

beth. >> reporter: yes. well, they are not changing their playing rules when they play their games. what they are doing is changing the way that they are practicing, allison. and if you look at high school players and college football players they are most likely to get hurt or suffer a concussion in a game. but it's different in youth. youth players are more likely to get hurt in practice. that's why pop warner says it's changing the way it practices. >> head up, good. >> reporter: this is only the second day of practicing you've had. >> get that head across. good job. >> reporter: but already, these fifth grade players are doing things a lull differently. >> where it used to be that you would teach the kids to hit with your face mask right in the chest, now we teach them to go to the side with it keep your head completely away from the play. >> you know how to do this? you run hard. don't you shy away from contact. >> reporter: the head coach is drilling his players to play tough but safe. >> head on the wrong side! >> reporter: his players belong

to a youth football league that's training its coaches to follow new rules set out by the national pop warner league to reduce helmet-to-helmet kits limiting high contact drills to a third of practice time. >> there you go. >> reporter: no more than 40 minutes a day or two hours a week and ban full speed head on tackling and blocking drills for more than three yards apart. >> we didn't think about it 20 years ago. it was just he should be hitting has hard as you can and, you know, if you get hurt get back in there. get a glass of water and go back in. >> reporter: research shows the damage of concussions is cumulative and the danger isn't so much the big hits but the smaller repeated blows in practice. last year the cdc says over 1.5 million americans suffered a sports related concussion. it happened to mark houghton's son. >> the doctor said do you have a headache? but my head hurts a little. so i think he was promised. once he said that, the doctor said that's a concussion.

no football for a week. >> reporter: doctors are paying a lot more attention, parents too and coaches. the medical director of the pop warner football league says he believes that taking these preventions in practice or these precautions can cut the number of concussions by half. allison? >> all right. and that includes down the road, then? >> early problems looking at it early can stop it down the road? >> reporter: yeah. i think that, you know, you always want to keep your eye out on trying to prevent the concussions from happening in the first place but also, really important to keep an eye on players. they won't police themselves and pull themselves from the game. so as a parent, as a coach, you need to keep an eye out for a child who suffered a head injury during practice or the game. but interesting we are seeing a lot of these kids get injured during practice, not during the playing of the game. >> all right. beth galvin out of atlanta, thank you. the countdown to the

election is on. we're kicking off our partnership with american university called campaign u. still ahead in our next hour wisdom martin joins us live from campus with details. but first an update on the damage along the gulf coast. we'll show you the ongoing aftermath of isaac when "fox 5 morning news" continues. 

president clinton: this election to me is about which... candidate e is more likely to return us to full employment. this is a clear choice. the republican plan is to cut more taxes on upper-income... people and go back to deregulation. that's what got us in trouble in the first place. president obama has a plan to rebuild america from... the ground up, investing in innovation, education... and job training. it only works if there is a strong middle class. that's what happened when i was president. we need to keep going with his plan. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. this greek style yogurt has style. you can say that again. why thank you. this greek style yogurt has style.

okay. stop saying it now. you're sending me mixed messages. [ male announcer ] muller. the european for yummy. your real room -- >> your realtime captioner: linda macdonald. right now at 9:00, tropical storm isaac is continuing to wreak havoc on the gulf coast. searchers are under way as more homes and buildings are damaged by floodwaters. we'll have a live report from the scene in just a minute. >> mitt romney prepares to accept his party's nomination a day after pipe brings the gop to their feet in tampa. -- after paul ryan brings the gop to their feet in tampa. we have