events. >> you can cash in on great garden supplies. derek thomas joins us later with tips. >> then their 3-year-old son is hearing-impaired and the school wants him to change the way he signs his name. the controversial policy that's turning heads around the nation. >> first, though, let's get right to the gulf. as the tropical storm isaac moves across the area, winds are dying down but heavy rain continues to fall. president barack obama has signed a declaration of disaster for hard hit areas of mississippi and louisiana. saint john the baptist parish and plaquemines parish are among those areas suffering the most. thousands have been evacuated from their homes because of major flooding. this morning officials in plaquemines parish are expected to go door to door to be sure everyone is rescued and are

planning to intentionally puncture a floodwall to relieve growing pressure on one levee. and in mississippi, isaac has already spawned at least one tornado that destroyed several buildings and knocked down power lines. this morning, there are more tornado warnings in effect for parts of mississippi and alabama. and this is a look at what's going on, of course, there in that area. we are going to get a live report in a little bit from elizabeth prann who continues to report from down there but first tucker barnes can tell us what to expect next with isaac and what we have going on here. >> right. isaac is still a tropical storm hard to believe since it made landfall over 36 hours ago. maximum winds about 45 miles per hour. the pressure is on its way up. let's get to the radar. it's still dropping heavy rain across portions of louisiana, mississippi and alabama. we have had a plenty of clouds tude of tornado warnings this morning across portions of western florida and alabama.

so isaac still packing a punch even after this late hour. it's tracking northwest at 8 miles an hour. it is forecast to move far enough away from new orleans and the deep south here over the next 24 hours that things should wind down there. so that's good news. but stillthe potential for flooding rain across many states here later this morning and even into the afternoon hours. temperature in washington let's do local weather real quick 72 degrees, your winds northeast at 3. we are in for another great day. warm this afternoon in the upper 80s. clear skies, low humidity, it will feel good for the end of august. starting to feel a little hint of fall the last couple of days. 88 today, back to summertime weather today and tomorrow. we'll have a look at that and the holiday weekend in just a minute. >> thank you. republicans wrap up their national convention today as mitt romney formally accepts his party's nomination for president. his running mate made his pitch for the gop ticket in a much- anticipated speech last night. our own sarah simmons is back

with the highlights. >> reporter: last night, the party really rolled out a number of its high-profile players including 2008 presidential nominee john mccain and former secretary of state condoleezza rice. but make no mistake, this was congressman paul ryan's night. he focused mainly on the economynd bashing president obama's policies. >> reporter: paul ryan came on stage as the gop's new rockstar with the music premises to back it up. >> i hope it's not a deal breaker, mitt. [ laughter ] >> but my playlist starts with acdc that ends with zeppelin. [ applause and cheers ] >> reporter: with an acceptance speech that was part biography part policy, ryan accepted the vp nomination and immediately assumed the aggressive posture that comes with the job. >> college graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms staring up and hating obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with

life! >> reporter: it was the red meat this crowd wanted to hear on a day when republicans were building their national security and foreign policy cases against the president, mitt romney spoke to an american legion gathering in indianapolis. in tampa, it was senator john mccain and then former secretary of state condoleezza rice. >> we cannot be reluctant to lead and you cannot lead from behind. [ applause and cheers ] >> reporter: the man they were all talking about spent the day defending his record and he again accused republicans of being anti-women. >> women should be trusted to make their own healthcare choices. [ applause and cheers ] >> reporter: the president's campaign pushed the same theme in an ad attack paul ryan. it was a preemptive strike hours before ryan would fire up the crowd in tampa. now, fox 5 will carry mitt romney's acceptance speech live tonight. it is set to happen in the 10:00 hour after he has been introduced by florida senator marco rubio. both mitt romney and paul ryan

will be making a campaign stop in virginia tomorrow. they are going to attend a rally at richmond international airport. virginia is considered a key ballot ground state. -- battleground state. so a lot of attention being paid to the state not just at the rnc but expected from the democratic national convention, as well. >> thank you. meanwhile, president obama took to the internet yesterday for and ask me anything chat on popular site reddit. he answered questions live and said he will fight to keep the internet an open forum of the the president also touched on small businesses and he said that the recipe for the white house beer will be released soon. first lady michelle obama appeared on cbs' late show. she told david letterman she has not been tuning in to watch the republican national convention. the first lady says she has already made her decision. however, she does still encourage voters to follow coverage of both the republican convention and the upcoming democratic national convention.

an interesting moment captured on camera at the republican national convention. the party's oldest and youngest delegates got acquainted. look at that picture. 93-year-old former montana governor tim babcock has attended every rnc for the past 60 years. this convention is a first in the meantime for 17-year-old evan of mount vernon, virginia. babb congress said, quote, our salvation is going to be young people like this boy here. necessary about to enter his senior year of -- he is about to enter his senior year of high school. now to the other top stories we're following. the former university of virginia lacrosse player convicted of killing his girlfriend will learn his fate today. george huguely could be facing more than two dozen years behind bars. our own melanie alnwick is on the story and joins us live fro melanie. >> reporter: well, tony, if the jury had found george huguely guilty of first-degree murder he could be faces life in prison. instead the jury found him guilty of a lesser charge and

recommended a 26-year sentence including one year for grand larceny of love's computer. huguely's familied ask 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. huguely of chevy chase maryland 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. virginia judges generally

follow the jury recommendation for sentence and they can reduce it but cannot increase t huguely has been in prison since his arrest in 2010. he could receive credit for time served. that hearing is schedule for 1:00 this afternoon. tony? >> thank you. we also want to let you know that you should be sure to tune into fox 5 news at 5:00 tonight for the latest in the case. our paul wagner will be covering the sentencing from charlottesville and will also be posting updates throughout the day on myfoxdc.com. the teenager accused of shooting a classmate at perry hall high school in baltimore county remains in a psychiatric hospital this morning. a bail review hearing has been postponed. 15-year-old robert gladden, jr., is charged as an adult. police say he used a shotgun to fire at random in the school's cafeteria. his attorneys say he was a victim of bullying and didn't intend to shoot anyone. the 17-year-old who was hit by a bullet is critically injured. the judge in the trayvon martin shooting case will have

to step down. a florida appeals court granted george zimmerman's request saying in part that the judge's remarks used in a bail order put zimmerman in reasonable fear of a fair trial. the judge offered his personal opinion about evidence for the prosecution and threatened future contempt proceedings. zimmerman is charged with sond-degree murder in the february shooting. he claims self-defense. coming up, we are going to tell you about a signing controversy. why one school district told a deaf 3-year-old that he needs to change the way he signs his name. >> scary moments when a car crashes into a group of schoolchildren. what the 100-year-old driver says happened. straight ahead. >> first, dan evidence may help police -- dna evidence may help police find a deli owner. what the suspect left behind at the crime scene. it's 9:09. we'll be right back. 

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take this fascinating muller yogurt. frut up. means "fruit up." creamy yogurt down below. delectable, layer of fruity, moussey, uppiness on top. frut up. as the europeans say. in their language. wow. you really are bilingual. [ male announcer ] muller. the european for yummy. wow. you really are bilingual. i'm barack now mitt romney's attacking the president on medicare? the nonpartisan a-a-r-p says obamacare "cracks down on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse and strengthens guaranteed benefits."

and the ryan plan? a-a-r-p says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors... and experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees costs more than six thousand dollars. get the facts. metro riders helped police

arrest a man who exposed himself. 48-year-old robert scott, jr., was convicted of inappropriately touching himself on two different trains last month. some called the new online reporting system. there have been 70 online complaints of sexual abuse or harassment on metro trains since the system was activated in march. scott will serve four months in prison. who killed june l im? the northeast deli opener was shot dead inside her store and police believe her killer may already be behind bars. fox 5's paul wagner explains how dna evidence created this new lead. it's a story you'll see first on fox 5. >> reporter: in the hours after june lim was found shot to death inside her deli last june police found an unusual item next to her body that led investigators to a man with a long criminal history. the break in this case came from an empty gun holster found next to the body of mrs. lim here inside the store the day she was murdered.

court the search warrant affidavit, police swabbed that holster for dna. they got a profile, put it into the national dna databank and it was a match with a man who had been arrested in virginia. the search warrant affidavit says the dna in the holster belongs to steven vondell williams a man previously convicted of armed robbery. police searched his apartment on "m" street northwest last week but according to the warrant for under nothing. when williams was questioned by detectives, the affidavit says he, quote, asserted his right to counsel. june lim was beloved in the neighborhood around her deli on "h" street northeast. residents came out for a candlelight vigil after the murder and numerous people spoke out including her son. >> it's particularly hard for myself and my wife because we were expecting our first grandchild for them this year. so she will miss the birth of

her first grandchild. >> reporter: this employee at the store. >> my and my family she was always there for us, anything we ask she help us not only paycheck, food, anything you want. >> reporter: d.c. police declined comment saying the search warrant affidavit spoke for itself. june lim was 64 and looking forward to the birth of a grandchild when she was killed. earlier today i spoke by phone with peter lim the victim's son. he told me that the police contacted him and his sister a couple of weeks ago to let them know about this dna connection. he says they are still hopeful there will be an arrest in the case. he says the family is still grief-stricken over the loss of his mother. it's been a very tough last couple of months. in the fox 5 newsroom, i'm paul wagner. making headlines across the country, 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 to a sidewalk near an elementary school yesterday hitting 11 people including nine children. the driver says his brakes failed when he tried to back out of a parking lot. all of the victims, though, are expected to survive. police say the man does have a valid driver's license. one person is dead and two others including a child injured after a house explosion in connecticut. police say a man who was trying to help a friend repair a propane tank was killed in the blast. you can see in the video only the chimney remains there. neighbors were kept from the scene out of concern that asbestos particles were being blown into the air. and more fallout from the penn state child sexual abuse scandal. the university will have to return all the football trophies they won during 14 years because of the sanctions handed down by the ncaa. those trophies include six bowl game wins between 1998 and 2011.

former assistant coach jerry sandusky was convicted of 45 counts of sexual child abuse of young boys during that time period. change your ways. that's the message from a nebraska school district unhappy with the way a 3-year- old deaf boy signs his name. this is hunter spanjer. the preschooler uses a standard type of sign language to communicate. he crosses his index and middle fingers and waves them slightly to say his name. but school officials say that looks like a gun. they argue school policy forbids any instruments that look like a weapon. hunter's parents have asked the school district to reconsider the policy. the national assocation of the deaf has told hunter's parents it will help with legal action if necessary. how you can come face to face with sea lions at the national zoo, coming up next. >> and ebook owners, you could be owed some money. we'll tell you about a new settlement. >> it's all about speed this

weekend in baltimore. this morning, holly is showing us how the city is getting ready for the big grand prix, plus she is talking with a professional driver. 9:17 right now. it's a thursday morning. 72 degrees. stay with us. 

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.

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. >> human children? >> human children. the landscape designed to look like wherethey come from. three publishers have come to an agreement with the united

states government after an earlier legal settlement. they will pay out $69 million. here it is. the lawsuit claims there was a conspiracy to fix the prices of ebooks. so the money will be distributed to consumers nationwide who bought electronic or ebooks from the publishers between april 2010 and may of 2012. now, we want to mention that harper-collins is owned by news 4, the parent company of fox 5. owns by news corp. one player wasn't well received at one particular moment. who was booed next. >> plus students at a local university are taking a close look at this year's campaign. wisdom? >> allison and tony, this is campaign u at american university and what we are going to be doing is discussing politics with these students and their professor. we are going to tell you all about it when "fox 5 morning news" continues after the break.  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.

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into the regular season. the redskins trounced the buccaneers 30-3. the buccaneers were terrible, to be honest. new kicker billy cundiff made three out of four field goals in his debut. he was wide ride on a 4-yarder and heard some booing after being wide right. running bam evan royster and roy helu returned from injuries and scored the team's touchdowns. the skins open the season against the saints a week from sunday. believe it or not. all right. the football season will kick off next week with replacement referees. negotiations between the league and the officials union are at a standstill. the nfl referees association was locked out in early june. talks on a new collective bargaining agreement have gone nowhere. the first game is the dallas cowboys and new york giants. >> you don't like it? >> it's the middle of the week. it's hard tore people to stay up and watch it. just start on sunday.

>> okay. how did cundiff do? >> missed a field goal but made the rest of them. >> overall a good pick for the ravens. he did fine. >> team looked great. >> team looked really good. i liked how the defense looks i have to say so keep your fingers crossed. >> i did notice that like nobody really tries to make big contact in these preseason games. >> especially this one. >> doesn't matter. >> you don't want to get hurt. >> i support that. >> right. let's get back to isaac and talk a little about what's going to be happening here over the next couple of days with isaac because it's hard to believe with it so far away it could be impacting our weather towards the end of the weekend but it's a possibility bringing us rain and thunderstorms around here by sunday and monday. you it's going to get picked up and pulled in our direction. there is a live look, still a tropical storm bringing heavy rains. new orleans still getting some banding there with rain. and lots of heavy rains in

mississippi and louisiana this morning. lots of tornado warnings this morning with some of these outer bands, as well. some of the darker yellows and reds, lots of thunderstorm activity. so isaac still a tough system here. the center of circulation is northwest of new orleans. it's finally moving 8 miles an hour. and gradual improvement and late-day sunshine across northern gulf of mexico which would be great. isaac will bring needed rain to parts of the country that have been so parched for the past several months. area of high pressure here is going to become its steering mechanism so it's going to get pushed up and around that area of high pressure bringing heavy rains to again portions of the country that need it and then into the sunday, monday time frame, it looks like it could bring us some showers. still some question marks about exactly where the bulk of that precip will track. but there's indications it could arrive in the mid- atlantic sunday afternoon and monday. we have a holiday weekend coming up. keep that in the back of your

head. we could see tropical rains around here towards the end of the weekend. all right. otherwise, good-looking start to your thursday. 75 degrees in washington. not a lot of humidity. bright blue sky out there. another gorgeous day. 73 in leonardtown. 67 this morning in martinsburg. 71 at dulles. we are in for another good one. it's going tosh warm today. upper 80s for afternoon highs. without a lot of humidity it should be fairly comfortable as we have a warming trend to be hot around here friday and saturday. satellite-radar, that's what you call quiet weather. fine here, fine in maryland, bellefonte pennsylvania looking fine, as well [ laughter ] >> nice conditions for the next couple of days. here you go. plenty of sunshine and warm afternoon. 88 degrees the daytime high. that's a little inside joke. we don't know why certain names pop up. winds out of the south at 5 miles an hour. clear skies overnight. next couple of days,

temperatures get hot. low to mid-90s. tomorrow 93. 91 saturday. so a couple of days with 90s and then we'll cool off with the cloud cover so probably good humidity around here with showers and storms late sunday and monday. again, some question marks. okay. that's a look at weather, allison. back to you. >> thank you. you will have to tell me the joke later. as tucker said, winds are dying down as isaac slowly moves inland. president obama has signed a disaster declaration for hard hit areas in mississippi and louisiana. fox's elizabeth prann has an update from new orleans. >> reporter: it's soon to be a tropical depression. while the worst may be over the effects of the storm linger on. 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 many 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: early estimates show isaac may have called as much as $1.5 billion in damages

in louisiana. in new orleans, elizabeth perhaps, fox news. >> and tropical storm isaac is causing a bump in gas prices across the country. 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. reason nam averages went up overnight. the amphora gallon of regular in d.c. is -- the average for a regular gag in d.c. is $4. $3.79 in maryland and $3.68 in virginia. the race for the white house is really heating up. republicans meeting this week, democrats meet next week and the campaign really goes into overdrive after all that. once again, fox 5 is teaming up with american university to off you some insight into the race. our wisdom martin is live on campus this morning to kick off campaign u2012. wisdom. >> reporter: this is campaign u and this is a little bit of a different twist on following all the politics and everything happening with the campaign

because this is a classroom filled with students and they are going to be talking about everything that's going on with the campaign talking commercials, we're using social media, just everything as far as young people are concerned, getting voters energized, watching the convention, late night television, everything that goes on with this campaign. these students are going to be discussing it in the classroom and the man behind this, a face that's very familiar to fox 5 is the professor. thank you for letting us be part of this. we appreciate it. explain to us about the goal of campaign u when you have these young students in here talking about these issues. >> we have the best and the brightest students around of this generation who are going to be dissecting and analyzing everything about this election so so viewers will get a chance to see the election through this new generation that often doesn't have a voice in the media. this is an opportunity for people to observe things, analyze things, and to call

them as they see them. >> reporter: talk about social media. >> it's important because it's a new media for a new generation. media has to include social media because in many ways our students are talking about this yesterday, they learn their news through links that are sent to them through tweets or on facebook or other social media sites. so this is the brave new world of media and that has to be brought into the course and campaign. >> reporter: what do you hope the students take out of this other than a good grade? >> we have already worked that out. [ laughter ] >> the hope really is to understand our culture, our history, our politics, what's going on in our society, to drill down deep into all the currents that go, that flow in a presidential election. so there's a lot more than an election at stake in this class. it's understanding who we are

as a people, what our decisions are, and what our newt gingrich is going to be and i think that's what we'll be assessing throughout the next 10 or 12 weeks. >> reporter: thank you, professor. i'm going to run over and talk to some of these students. i have already talked to a couple of them. these are some of the ones that really want to be on tv, right? [ laughter ] >> reporter: so they have been watching the convention, the republican national convention. so we are going to get some reaction. you watched some of the republican national convention last night. tell me your reaction to what you saw. >> i thought it was good. i thought for the most part it was heartfelt. got the crowd going. i really liked paul ryan's speech especially in particular the part where he was talking about how for the last four years, america has been dividing the wealth and if we get into office we're going to start creating the wealth. so as someone that's about to graduate in college that was nice to hear. >> reporter: you also watched paul ryan's speech but you had a different take on someone else's speech that you noticed.

>> well, for me, i found rand paul's speech actually hysterical. it was very dramatic. is a good speaker. he is good at getting everyone rallied up but he did this little montage of talking about reagan how as a child he dragged his father drunk home in the snow which i thought was hysterical. [ laughter ] >> all right. so what about you? you also watched it. what was your take on what you saw? >> my favorite was paul ryan's speech. i can't say i agreed with everything, but i thought it was a really masterful way. he used story in a way that i thought enhanced the campaign narrative without distracting from the message which i thought chris christie did the other night. so it was nice to see that kind of refreshing change. >> okay. thank you very much. now, throughout this process, again, we are going to be here every thursday doing this, talking to the students and professor, get some opinions about different things. we are going to be streaming live on myfoxdc.com, as well. all things politics. if it's happening with the campaign, they are going to talk about it in the classroom

and we are going to bring it to you a little bit of a different perspective about what's happening in the political world. back to you. >> thank you. we did this in 2008 and it's quite fascinating to hear them parce through the ads and all that stuff. >> love it. why some think -- in news that doesn't really matter, why some think kim kardashian is ready to walk down the aisle for a third time. >> really. okay. plus, lady gaga versus lindsay lohan. the pop stars joke to the embattled actress just hours after she was cleared of theft charges. the buzz bin is coming up next. 

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charges after she was accused of stealing jewelry. okay. here's what happened next. lady gaga noticed and fired back with a tweet that read, hm, are those my earrings? just awkward. it was all in good fun. the two celebs are friends. kind of cute. okay. robert pattinson will meet with estranged girlfriend kristen stewart. >> we'll be providing live coverage of that meeting. [ laughter ] >> a source says r-pat isn't happy with the names people are calling her. he has also decided to sell the los angeles mansion that he bought in 2011 and shared with her. they broke up in july after photoed showed her cheating on him with her director, a married man of 40 i believe. >> really. why are we so involved? why are people calling her names? i like that he is doing that. come on, people. anyway. what isthe scoop with this?! the famous kardashian, kim, of course, posted this instagram photo in a white backless gown

what does it look like? looks like a wedding gown. >> okay. >> it had the caption, late night fitting. but it looks like a wedding gown. unclear if it is. kardashian and, of course, kanye west started dating a few months ago. and she has said that she can see herself growing old with the rapper. >> oh, please. >> her mommy, chris jenner, has given her approval if they do wed. >> don't believe any of it. don't believe any of it. in. >> i like kimmi. >> okay. [ pause ] [ laughter ] >> tucker says i'm not the only one. >> no. >> okay. the end of summer can be a great time to score deals on plants and other garden goodies. derek thomas joins us live after the break with tips on the plants and shrubs that give you the most bang for your buck this time of year. first, holly is in the fast lane this morning. >> reporter: they are revving

up for a good time this weekend in baltimore where we are live and where the second annual baltimore grand prix will be racing through the streets come this weekend. coming up next, we are going to talk with the driver who is going to be racing this weekend and he might be the most inspirational person you hear from this morning. we'll show you why next live on "fox 5 morning news." stay with us. this is the plan that revolves around you. introducing share everything. unlimited talk. unlimited text. tap into a single pool of shareable data and add up to 10 different devices, including smartphones and tablets. the first plan of its kind. share everything. only from verizon. get $100 off select motorola 4g lte smartphones like the droid razr. from the first hands-free system, and micro-climate controls powered by twinchill technology, the new ge french door refrigerator

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i only use french's french fried onions on my crunchy onion chicken because it's america's number one brand. just minutes to make, then bake! when it comes to getting started in open wheel races, it's been the series of choice for more than 20 years. this year will bring exceptional race car drivers to the track. holly morris has one remarkable young man in baltimore. holly, good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. when you talk about the event that's going on this weekend, you really are talking about the best of the best in terms of the racing world. you are going to have the indycar series drivers here, the american le mans series, but there are other series.

these are the people on their way to become the best of of the best. and that's where the usf2000 comes in and where michael johnson comes in because he is one of those drivers. good morning to you. >> good morning. >> reporter: so kind of explain to me the usf2000 like how that fits in. >> that's basically the first series in the mazda road to indy ladder system. where the rookie drivers were hoping to make it to indycar in a couple of years. >> reporter: is someone going to race this weekend that you look up to that you will be watching in the other races? >> i like [ indiscernible ] a good driver, joseph newgarden, they are good. they came up the ladder system and they are young and they really know what they are doing. >> reporter: you're young. you're 19. going to be 20 on october 2. kind of tell me what draws you to racing, what do you like about it. >> i like to see adrenaline, the speed. it takes you into a different zone and you can think just about racing and let everything go behind you. >> reporter: do you think about crashing? >> i don't. you think about it when it happens. >> reporter: there's one other

obstacle that michael has to overcome that the other drivers out there don't have to overcome because michael is paralyzed from the waist down. michael, tell me about that. >> i was racing motorcycles. i raced motorcycles starting at age 3. i broke my back in 2005 racing in canada on a flat track race. and now i race cars. >> reporter: tell me about the mindset of how you go through something like that and then you say, you know what, i'm going to race again. >> a lot of it was for my dad. he kept pushing me and i loved to race. he kept the promise to make me never stop racing and here i am today racing professionally. >> reporter: how do you logistically race in a race car without using legs? >> we have hand controls for the throttle there is a paddle on the left side of my steering wheel, to brake it's through the steering shaft. i have to push in on the steering wheel. the clutch is a level on my

left leg, push in with my left hand. i only need the clutch to go, i don't need to shift. >> reporter: you can't feel the track in terms of how if you are sitting and riding in a car, does that affect your racing ability? >> it does a little bit for feeling bumps and different handling purposes on the race car. but i adjust to it through the steering wheel and it's working well. >> reporter: how long did it take you to learn this system? >> it only took me a little while. with motorcycles on the handle bars my hands were all busy so it came really natural. >> reporter: let's talk about your physical therapy because you have gone through extensive rehab. >> at home two days a week with a rehab center three hours at a time and i have a trainer i work with josh gibbs. we work three to four hours at a time and he's awesome. he knows the body well and it's working well. >> reporter: i would say you're awesome. how successful have you been so far? >> this year has been a little

challenging with different circumstances like a little bit of my fault of crashes and mechanicals and then just my experience. but overall, with motorcycles i have 14 national championships and racing with go-karts three championships. >> reporter: good for you. >> i'm hoping to get my first championship racing cars. >> reporter: maybe this weekend. we can always hope, right? so when i asked you earlier about when you're driving and do you think about the crashes, obviously you have been in a significant one. how are you able to not have that be in the back of your mind? >> i think just the champion i was i kind of learned how to just let it go and really concentrate on what i really want and that's to be successful and to win the race. and i think if i had that in the back of my mind, i wouldn't be successful. >> i tell you, you are an inspiration to many not just in the race car world but just in the world in general. what is your goal? what would you consider successful? >> i would love to make it to indycar and win the indy 500

and the indycar championship. i think that would be great for what i went through. >> reporter: would you be the first paralyzed driver to be in the first indycar series? >> yes. >> reporter: if you even make it to the series that's something in itself? >> that would be an awesome accomplishment. >> reporter: it's been awesome talking to you, michael. thank you so much. enjoy your time here in baltimore this weekend. be safe. i'm pulling for a win for you. >> thank you. >> reporter: myfoxdc.com is our website. there is a whole weekend available to you. come out and enjoy the baltimore grand prix in its second year, bigger and better than ever and be inspired by drivers like michael. back to you in the studio. >> all right. holly morris, thank you so much. what an inspirational young man he is. well, we are getting close to the end. summer season and that means we can -- to the end of the summer season and that means we can score big bargains where we buy our plants. joining us to tell us what to buy or skip over is our garden guru derek thomas with thomas landscape. good morning. >> good morning. how are you? >> i'm well, thank you. happy almost end of summer to you. >> it's absolutely. well, it's, you know, the unofficial end of summer coming up this weekend and, you know,

i did a little bit of treasure- trove-ing and there are some games. like homestead gardens which is out central avenue west, they have 30% off of all of their pottery. so if you wanted to get some pots that you can use next season, check them out. >> let's be honest, it's pricy out there. >> well, the pottery is really expensive, too. but, you know, the plants are the real deal. like suppose you have something coming up and these marigolds, they were giving these away at 50 cents a plant at local nurseries and the big box stores clearing stuff out at 50 to 60% off. plants you can reuse right now. say if you have some entertaining coming up, that's a good thing to do. your grasses, things like loriape, they are 50% off. and one of our favorite places ed's plant world has everything 50, 60, 70% off this weekend.

and if you go in and mention that you're part of the fox 5 family, they are actually giving you a free tropical plant for indoors. >> fox 5 family, does that mean us? >> yes. [ laughter ] >> this is an annual grass. this will probably last until november and then it will be done. but this plant i found in a local nursery for 60% off. so it's something you can use from now to november. these were 50% off at ed's. this is something that will come back for years to come. >> we have this in our front yard. >> it's getting ready to bloom, perfect, perfect, perfect. plants like perennials you may want to pass this up in the nursery because you think it looks ratty but the thing about a perennial, this plant even though the flowers are done all

this will be next year's growth. what you may want to look at the nursery center is make sure that the root ball if it's like this when you get it home, go ahead and cut it apart. okay? because what this do is that will free up the plant. don't be afraid, pull it ap with the fall temperatures coming, this plant will root in and be great. things like your shrub. this is a perfect time of year to plant the shrub. why not get a shrub this little pencil holly is one sale at 50% off. why not get it now and have it in your garden for years to come? the other thing that you want to look at is when you have plants like this, this is a bit overgrown. don't worry about that. when you get it into your garden, if you do a pruning right on the tips, what that's going to force the plant to do is to flush back out. so when you get something like this you don't have to buy it picture-perfect in the fall. and herbs.

they're giving them away. you know, these herbs are 50 cents each. i saw them at ed's plant world. this is a great, great mint plant. this is going to last you for years to come. >> excellent. >> and also, roses. the roses, if you get a rose like this, don't worry about it if the flowers look ratty. the other thing is, you can try to find bargain areas in the nursery where they have plants that are really past their prime like this rose. you see how it's not as full and lush as that. keep in mind, this rose has got new buds coming out that will bloom for you this fall. it doesn't matter that the plant is a little ratty looking because what you're going to do, come late fall once there's been an entire frost, zapped the foliage, cut everything back to the nodes like this and what you'll be geared up for is for a wonderful rose plant next spring. >> that's so fantastic. >> yeah. >> you just ended that like boom and that's how you do it.

and that's how you do it. derek thomas is our garden guru for a good reason. go online. >> follow me on twitter @thomas garden guy. i have this and other great tips there for you. >> please put the address at plant world. we don't do commercials here but we need that. >> stay with us. we'll be right back. [ female announcer ] introducing yoplait greek 100.

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there is your five-day forecast, upper 80s, low humidity and plenty of sunshine. if you want to get out in the garden tomorrow it will be hot with temperatures in the 90s, allison. saturday 92 and then we'll see some showers and storms maybe the remnants of isaac by sunday and monday. >> what great advice. i really need to get my garden together and i'm actually going to try to do something now. >> your neighbors have said they would like you to do that. >> they have said it for years. [ laughter ] >> all right. >> we of course thank you for watching "fox 5 morning news." and we re