police standoff surrounding a home in fairfax county after sounds of gun fire in the neighborhood. another round of questions. supreme court nominee sonia sotomayor heads back to captiol hill for another day of tough questions from lawmakers. and health care reform, house democratic leaders say they won't go home for recess until congress overhauls the health care system. good morning, everyone. i'm andrea roane. thanks for joining us. today is wednesday, july 15th. angie goff is here. she's smiling. hope that means the traffic is looking good for you, least we're hopeful. >> an optimist. kim is smiling. a reason to be optimistic with her forecast. >> oh, yeah it is again nice

ladies. >> have to pie the piper. gorgeous start as usual. we have been left with nice weather the last couple of days if not week. get you started with the potten update. trees are low. weeds low and ld w.lo but you know at u yoe threg,brhe t's a lack of ailer jens in the air but code orange which is unhealthy for sensitive groups. we are at 72. baltimore 69. he the west winchester where the air isn't -- air is so great to open the window and let the air in. satellite-radar loop. a few problems. nothing with any rain drops. however, that will be changes

tomorrow. isolate storm is the case on the weekend on friday. i will have the full weekend forecast in a few minutes. angie has the wednesday drive. >> that's right. it is not just wednesday but every day that i'm all about hooking you up with a personalized traffic report. face me on facebook, e-mail me or follow me on twitter. i just had this on-line. in mclean, virginia, internext of kirby and chester brook watch for crews. use caution. take it out and show you 95 northbound. slow ride from newington to the capital beltway. that is volume, my friends. moving to 270, hello, maryland. heading southbound below speed at shady grove. a report of an accident and middle brook to montross that's the main delay. this is estimated at 15 minutes and to wrap up are up we take

you toe district. inbound new york avenue slow from the times building to bladensburg road. a developing story. an ongoing standoff with police in fairfax county. this is a story we first brought you at wusa wusa9.com at 11:00 last ni t.gh the focus is on a house in the block of fisher drive in the mclean area. armando trull is there live with the latest. armando? >> reporter: well, the standoff is now in the 14th hour and residents of this quiet neighborhood in mclean are angry, shocked and concerned. >> it's unreal. you see it on the news. i used to be a newspaper reporter. never a war correspondent but this is what it looks like, a war zone and nobody expects it to happen where you live. >> reporter: with us is lucy caldwell a spokesperson for the fairfax county police. a lot of police here this morning. tell us what you are trying to do. your negotiators have been going up and down the street.

>> certainly. we want to see a peaceful resolution to this. and we are working with residents to make sure they get where they need to go. we are trying to give them information and keep them in a loop. >> reporter: you are trying to speak to a man in the home and there are other people inside the home. why do you need to speak to this man? >> we believe this person may have information and we'd like to talk to him. >> information about what? >> reporter: about a crime that has occurred and we are hoping that we can talk to him, have a conversation and so we have the resources here that will help us make that happen. >> the crime you are investigating is the shooting of a woman i understand, right? >> yes. >> reporter: he may have had some relationship with that woman? >> may be involved with that, uh-huh. >> reporter: we have seen s.w.a.t. teams, row gots, negotiators from neighbors who tell us you have been speaking through a bull horn. have you had any response from him. >> what i can say is that we

are trying to communicate with him and the people in the home to try to explain we just want to have a conversation and try to listen to him and listen to his story. and to see what happened and what's going on. >> reporter: you are prepared to wait that out. >> absolutely. >> you have port atoilets here. >> we certainly want to protect the neighborhood and keep things safe and the neighborhood accessible. this is a very contained situation, a very small area and we do feel that. >> people inside the home are safe, right. >> as far as we know the neighborhood is safe and we are trying to communicate with residents so they know that. >> reporter: thank you very much. lucy caldwell with the police department. that's the latest on the standoff in mclean, virginia. reporting live, armando trull for 9 news now and wusa9.com. crime is down in prince georges county. they credit better enforcement

and joint efforts by agencies. so far violent crime is down 10% from last year including a 16% drop in murders, 14% drop in rape and 14% drop in property crime. the president's pick for supreme court justice is on captiol hill preparing for the third day of confirmation hearings. she faced a tough day of questioning on tuesday and more sparks are expected to fly today. susan roberts has the latest. >> reporter: it will be another long way in the witness chair for sonia sotomayor. >> you do believe your background will affect the result in cases. >> my record shows at no point or time have i ever permitted my personal views or sympathies to influence the outcome of the case. >> reporter: sonia sotomayor battled through intense grilling on tuesday, backing away from a controversial comment she made during a

speech. in it she said a wise latina woman would reach a better conclusion than a white male. on other issues sonia sotomayor said she had an open mind on gun rights and thinks roe v. wade is the law of the land. >> that is the precedence of the court. >> reporter: despite the tough questioning, sonia sotomayor appears headed to confirmation. democrats hold a strong majority in the senate and some republicans are wary to stand in her way. >> unless there are some major catastrophic mistakes on the part of judge sonia sotomayor it is hard to see how anything would stop her. >> reporter: even lindsey graham said she could possibly get his vote but first graham wants to make sure she won't bring a liberal agenda to the bench. >> that's what we are trying to figure out here, who are we getting, you know, who are we getting as a nation. >> reporter: it may be several more days before they get a full picture but a confirmation

vote should come by the end of the month. with more on the sonia sotomayor hearings, michael greenberger is with us and he is a former justice department official. we just heard from lindsey graham and he said barring any moment down you will be confirmed. so are we showing any signs of a melt down in that first long day of question and answer. >> the short answer is no. i think she has held up remarkably well the republicans senators have a theme in some of her speeches she used language that i think she would like to take back. >> she admitted that. >> and it is understandable. someone who is in academic settings myself, people have rhetorical flourishes and a woman being wiser than a white male is something the republicans used to their advantage but overall i think she's been tremendously

impressive. she's been cool, calm, and what i would say someone who was a litigator for 25 years i'm kind of remarkable her recall of her decisions. they are asking her about. she's had hundreds of decisions over 17 year career and they are picking out little cases here and there and very quick to get back and not only remember the cases but be able to articulate the law in a sophisticated manner. whatever the minor hiccups are and on a day-to-day basis i think she will be overwhelmingly approved. >> let's talk about its hearing versus some in the past. senator coe burn who was pointed about her ethnic background but when justice samuel alito was in the chair as a nominee, he asked him to talk and his background as the

son of italian immigrants. what was in his heart in order to inform of us who he was and who he might be as a justice. >> i think there is a lot of hypocrisy here. you know, with other justices, even clarence thomas having come from georgia there was a feeling of his background and color, his decision-making and we'd have somebody thattened people that does not seem to have worked out. the same is true for alito. but it is very hard to compare these hearings. they are decades apart and the public doesn't have this in a their minds so the republicans have found a chink in her armor. thing she said. off handedly she called them rhetorical flourishes. when you go back to decisions, hundreds of decisions over 17 years and for example senator schumer picked out decisions yesterday where the plaintiffs were very sympathetic.

people had been discriminated against, elderly people, people who had been in plane crash and she had sympathy for the plaintiffs but the law was the law and she had to rule against them. as she keeps saying my opinions are the best measure of my judicial thinking and the high irony of all of this is while the republicans maybe work worried they are getting someone too sympathetic to certain groups i think the progressives feel this is not someone they can rely on as being as progressive vote in every case. she was a prosecutor for five years and was a tough prosecutor and put away a lot of criminal defendants on criminal procedure cases she may not be a dependable vote for those that hope the court will be enforcing civil liberties in an expansionive way. >> is in the last day of questioning and will we hear from others or could this drag

out longer. >> it could drag out longer. the questions are taking a long time. leahy is trying to give everybody the maximum amount of time they have. i don't think we can be sure that today will be the end. i think that's their goal to make it the end. >> thank you very much. health care reform will get top billing in washington today. the president, congress and many health care lobbiesist try to put their stamp on the health care system. president obama wants both the house and senate to vote on health reform bills before the august recess. the president is also reiterated that unemployment is likely to pick up for several months as the economy recovers. 2million jobs have been lost since congress passed the economic stimulus package. the unemployment rate stands 9.5%. that's the highest rate in 26 years. on the up side the unemployment

rate is 3 points below the national average and we still have the best job market out of the top 15 largest regions in the country. a bill being considered in the senate would limit the amount of time airline passengers could be stranded on the tarmac. it would require planes delayed more than three hours to return to the gates to give passengers the opportunity to disembark. passenger rights advocates hailed the idea. it is opposed by the airline industry and airport. a powerful earthquake off new zealand coast leads to a tsunami. we'll be right back. you are watching 9 77news now. fiber one. i'm looking for some fiber.

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an earthquake led to a tsunami warning this morning off of new zealand. they issued the warning after a earthquake struck off the western coast. the earthquake's epicenter was 100 miles off though southern island it was eventually cancelled. no survivors after a plane crashed in northwest iran. according to media reports there were 168 people on board. the number includes the flight crew. the russian made airlines jet was headed to the armenian capital when it crashed. this evening the space shuttle "endeavor" will try to liftoff on a mission to the spacial space station.

a hydrogen leak and bad weather have kept it grounded since june. nasa forecasters say there is a 60% chance the weather will cooperate but if they have to scrub the launch today astronauts will have to wait until the end of the month. montgomery county is considering a proal to cut in half the -- proposal to cut the number of people that can live in an apartment or house. the county council is gap ring with the problem impacting drivers and homeowners in the county, too many deer. with me is council president phil andrews. good to have you with us. >> good to see you again. >> what is the limit for people living under the same roof? >> right now it is six unrelated adults. and there have been a lot of concerns in communities about overcrowding and the number of cars that may generate or other issues related to the -- how the house is kept in terms of the yard or cars on the yard,

thicks like that, problems parking. but what the council is look at right now are proposals to address enforcement issues. there hasn't been a staff proposal put forward and i think the council is likely to focus on how cars are kept on the lot, whether the rooms that are used by people are safe for habitation, such as having an exit from the basement so that it is not a fire trap. things like that. the overcrowding issue is one the council may come back to at some point but probably not at this point. >> especially in tough economic times and people get around it saying they are relatives so you are not attempting to define who or what a relative is. >> it is difficult to enforce that idea and would have an affect on affordable housing. we are more concerned about whether the house is maintained well and people are good neighbors in terms of how they

take care of it. >> especially if there are different residents and fire alarms, carbon monoxide detectors. >> making sure the kids are safe and people can get out if there is a disaster, stuff like that. >> we also have the population of deer. more and more drivers and homeowners are facing this problem. >> it is a big problem. really is. >> is it worst than last year? >> it has been at a high level. we are trying to bring it down. 2,000 reported collisions a year between vehicles and deer and it is down 10% from its peak five years ago and we have increased the hunting of deer. 5,000 deer are killed through managed hunts in the county each year and we have set that up because deer overpopulation is a problem and lyme disease is spread through deer and ticks, also through mice but deer are a major carrier of it and we have seen a sharp

increase in lyme disease cases in the county for public health and safety and vegetation, crop vegetation, farmers are complaining about crops being eaten by deer. it is a serious problem and i think people recognize if you have too many deer you need to take action. >> things like that cost money. a council will get a full review of the financial picture. should you expect a pretty picture. >> no. it is not pretty. we knew next year was not easy and the latest numbers confirmed it. the state revenues are down 300 million from what they are expected to be this year and they are counting on those funds to balance the budget next year. we can expect the state will make cuts to local government and state government and the county will have to figure out how to balance its own budget, as well. we cut spending this year compared to last year. lower than it was in terms of

the tax operated budget. no cost of living adjustments for employees. we avoided layoffs which we wanted to do because it is a terrible time to put people out of a job. so we managed to do that this year but without tax increases, as well. next year will be perhaps more difficult. >> a lot on your shoulders there. >> thank you for spending time with us. >> let's go to kim with an update on the forecast. andrea, good morning. a quick check on yesterday's weather high in the middle 80s and the record today, 100 set back in 88. and 56 set back in 1895. we have had a lot of 50s in the suburbs the last ntrece rn in efg. r insh rainll fo lylstoitr , ju ha s be en ry dry. official atgaeati rnan on na airport we had 13/100 of an inch. and dulles 5/100 of an inch.

so far 2009 does have a surplus. but we could use the rain. we want to keep the crops green along with your garden. 82 at noon. 88 at 5:00. the air quality is code orange. seive s unhealthy for itns groups. let me take ivyou back in time. isn't this beautiful. the time lapse tower cam from the nether land and the view of the washington monument. sun gets higher in the sky and these are thin serous clouds made of ice crystals. we will be watching this cluster of storms blast in the ohio river valley today. the frontal system will bring a couple of thunderstorms in the afternoon and with southwesterly winds in place an increase in the humidity. today we have high pressure on top of us. we will hold off on the humidity one more day and save it for tomorrow and as we head in to the weekend. here's the seven-day forecast,

everybody. upper 80s today, tomorrow, friday. a couple of storms are possible starting tomorrow in to the weekend. saturday a front will come through and bring us better odds for getting wet in to the afternoon. as you make your weekend plans, sunday is the better of the two. on monday 83, isolated storms. that is the case on tuesday. follow me on twitter, my i.d. name is weather kim. i get the forecast every morning. our next guest is an author, teacher award-winning poet and convicted car jacker. dwayne best is out with his memoir. it is called a question of freedom, a meme yarr of learning survival and coming of age in prison. this is a fascinating book. and you are a beautiful writer. your process reads like poetry and you have a wonderful poem in the beginning of the book. i wondered if you read us a

couple of lines. >> i come from friday nights hue humid and musty air junk yard band crankin'. >> this book is so interesting to read because you really are telling the tale of two people. you are an honor student, 16 years old living in suitland, maryland and today a published author, a juvenile activist for kids. but you are also somebody who spent nine years in prison. how did those two lives come together? >> when i think about it now i realize it is not necessarily i had two lives but i couldn't navigate the realm of possibilities the world i lived in. i made mistakes because i had options that others didn't have. i thought only 30 minutes of my life that i could obtain power from holding a gun in my hand and when that happened i realized you don't get true

power from committing crimes but doing things that impact your life and others in a positive way. >> you were 16 when you were incarcerated as an adult. you spent 8 1/2 years in prison. how did you survive? what skills did you have to employ to make it through that time. >> in a lot of ways i used the skills i used every day in the work force and in school but i had to navigate violence more than most people have to navigate violence. i had to learn and believe more what i had to offer. so i was a gd tutor from the moment i was incarcerated a law clerk, played basketball and found ways to do things that would engage my mind and allow others to see me as more than a state number and when i say others inmates and guards and the people i wrote in letter and think of me more than as an inmate and when i did inmates

started to think of me as more than an inmate. >> tell us what you are doing with kids so they can avoid the same situation. >> we offer classes at hartman, be lieu and simon elementary and we don't spend time talking about crime and what happens if you get in trouble but mostly the importance of literature and how important it is to understand they can engage the world with what they have to say more than any violence they commit. they can commit with their hands. >> reporter: what's going on with you personally right now. you are back in college. >> i'm back in college. i just graduated from the university of maryland. >> reporter: congratulations. >> that was a beautiful moment because i was chosen to be the commencement speaker and spoke before 16,000 family members, friends and fellow graduates. once that is over, i am

continuing my program. i am married to a beautiful woman. we have a beautiful son and we are dealing with our family and i'm still working and writing and hoping that i will have a positive impact on the world every moment of every day. >> it is a terrific book. we want people to know a question of freedom is hitting stores soon. >> august 6th it will be available wherever books are sold. >> thank you for telling us your story. >> thank you. keep it here on 9 news now. we will have more coming up ud clining clbelgium ail. b@

welcome back. loo a live look at the senate hart building. this is members of the judiciary committee getting ready to take their seats to begin the third day of hearings

for nominee sonia sotomayor. they'll begin in a men or two. -- minute or two. the fund-raising totals are in for the virginia gubernatorial race and deeds did well for himself. he raised $3.4 million in june come paired to 1.8 raised by mcdonnell. mcdonnell has twice as much cash in the bank as deeds. virginia is one of two governors races this year. millions from the economic stimulus package are going to a so-called shovel ready project at dulles international airport. the airport shut down one runway to make way for reconstruction. when the rehabilitation of runway c is complete dulles will operate as a larger airport. the government is sending $15 million on the project. reagan national is spending $3 million on video security

cameras. say good morning again to angie. she has the latest on the rush hour. >> good morning. thank you very much. we're half way through the 9:00 hour. with have -- we have new activity in alexandria. this is on the inner loop at route 1. this accident we know is causing drivers to lose the right lane. the traffic flow is okay so they are getting by without incident or without problem. moving outside, 395 northbound slow ride edsall to seminary and drivers are using their brakes from the pentagon to the 14th street bridge. to the maryland side of things. here's 270 southbound. below speed shady grove to montross road. the outer loop where we have a good amount of congestion on the outer loop from 95 to georgia avenue. we are estimating the drive time at 15 to 20 minutes. to wrap it up we will go to our realtime graphics or actually stay with a live shot here. this is drivers across the key bridge.

they are doing fine in to georgetown. before this if you are coming on the gw parkway, take note. southbound past turkey run is where crash activity has popped up. that's a look at traffic. now over to andrea. >> thank you. one harry potter fan says he has seen all the harry potter movies about 25 times each and he is still not bored by them. our next two guests also live and breathe everything harry potter and they have proof. welcome to colleen and shannon michaelson. they happen to be related to our boss. thank you very much for being with us. big smiles on your faces. you have seen harry potter and the half blood prince. >> yes. >> give us your review. start with you shannon. >> i think it was the best one so far and it really followed the book better than the other movies. like there were lines in it that were directly from the book and the other movies didn't do that as much. so i really liked it. >> i liked it, as well. also my favorite so far.

i think they did a really good job of taking very serious side of harry potter and having comedic parts and this one delves in to romance more and people getting boyfriends and girlfriends and that was funny and cute. >> reporter: you are 20 and you are 15. you are talking about the harry potter kids getting older and it still has an appeal for older fans. it's not just for the between set. >> i have started to read the books when i was 10. so as the books are coming out the characters were my age. i grew up with them and because i loved them so much she started to read them and once i found out movies were coming out i was thrill and we were both excited to finally have a movie come out in the summer and we could both go. >> exactly. you said you started to go to the movies and reading the books when you were 10. here's proof of how big of a

fan you are. you wrote a letter to the author. >> i did. when i was about ten or 11 after i read the first two books i wrote a letter asking if i could be a witch and go to wizard school and a couple of years passed i had forgotten about it and my family had moved and i got this letter in the mail and i opened it up and it was a handwritten letter from j.c. rawlings. she had drown an owl on it and i was just in total shock. >> you didn't expect, especially since you moved around that she would find you? >> i didn't think i would get a letter back at all. the books had started to become such a phenomenon why would she take the time to write back to me. >> reporter: in her letter responding to yours she talks about the next time you are in the area in scotland come and see them and she made you

honorary tune. >> it was really about going to hogwarts she said i couldn't go to hogwarts because i'm an american but if i am ever in great britain to look me up and i would be an honorary mary and she was writing on behalf of all the -- >> that's neat. you have seen the movie several times and also reread the books. >> yes. >> do i need to read the books in order to enjoy the movies. >> i don't think you need to read the books. obviously i'm a bit bias because i like the books more than the movies, but i think most of the stuff in the movies you could understand without reading the books. so i think it is okay. >> one last thing as we look at the video. a good fan has something they can keep with them all the time and you are wearing jewelry. one from one of the earlier movies and colleen you have one from the newest movie. tell us about your necklaces. >> this is hemines time

pendant. >> and this is the locket that harry search for at the end of harry potter and the half blood prince. >> you have seen it once, good enough to see again? >> of course. >> thank you for being with us. they give double thumbs up to harry potter and the lf bod lo prince. righl be ba. ckb@

there's been a dramatic increase to the number of people suffering from asthma and allergies. the question is what is behind the trend? good to have you with us. you say dramatic increase. how bad is it? >> it is enormous. in the last 15 years the number of people with environmental allergies has nearly doubled. the number of people with asthma 50 to 60% increase. it use to be 10 to 12 million asthmatics and now 15 to 25. numbers are going through the roof and nobody has any idea why. >> you are talking about the usa and the world health organization says allergies are increasing worldwide and they say this even before the h1n1 outbreak. why haven't we heard more about

that. >> you are asking why the press covers some stories more than others and to me it is like trying to figure out why people fall in love. in the nurse has more prescriptions. >> what causes or triggers someone to have the allergy teak or asthma reaction? mostly food allergies? >> no. most allergies, there are two kinds genetic which are environmental allergies and food allergies. the genetic allergies are on the rise but some food, as well. no one knows why. some think it is global warming or medicines we use. the most is the hygiene, our immune system doesn't get enough work out because our environment is too friendly. >> a few germs could help your immune system. >> there's actually data on

that. >> if you have an allergy do you necessarily get asthma or vice versus if you have asthma you probably had an allergy somewhere along the line. 20 % get asthma. and 80% of that sufferers get allergies. >> with asthma i think i would have to get treatment and medication. with the allergies unless it is a food allergy will over-the- counter medications help. >> they can cause you to be sleepy or high blood pressure. not taking care of them is not a good option because it can cause misery kids lose time from school and adults from work. and so it is important to get medical help. >> aside from a food allergy and you mentioned children

missing school an hospitalization is death also acorns witness if not treated or not handled quickly. >> it is not common but does happen. 4,000, 5,000 asthmatics die. no one knows the answer to why and other allergies if you are stung by a bee you can drop down or eat shrimp you can have a systemic reaction. the biggest problem is they make people miserable. there's a tremendous amount of morbidity meaning loss time from work, school and national health costs. it is a powerful illness that affects peoples lives. >> reporter: anything to reduce our risk of being susceptible to allergies. >> best thing to do is get on a program. for environmental allergies you can reduce the exposure for food allergies stay away.

and certain allergies you can have desensitization with shots. a memoir from a beloved comic is due out in the fall. and we are in the kitchen celebrating belgium independence. we'll be right back. in n afford it. we're assurant health, and we've been customizing plans to meet the needs of individuals for over 110 years. for instance, with our two-year rate guarantee and healthy discount, jeff will get 15% off his rate and lock in that rate for two years. for liz, we offer plans that allow people like her to pay for only the benefits they need, saving them money. in fact, liz could get up to $2 million of coverage for less than $100 per month. unlike other health insurance companies that focus on corporations and treat everyone the same, assurant health is there for the individual.

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but i've got a warm, fresh baked strawberry toaster strudel. see the difference? mmmm. i do. (announcer) pillsbury toaster strudel. the one kids want to eat. kids are hungry after school. that's why i always have totino's pizza rolls. big pizza taste. in a bite size roll. kids can't resist their delicious pizza flavor. totino's pizza rolls. the pizza way to snack. russell brand will be returning as host of the mtv music awards for the second year in a row and they announced taylor swift will perform. the ma awards will be broadcast from new york on september 13th. natalie portman has been cast as marvel studio's upcoming adaptation of thor.

the film will be released in the u.s. in may of 2011. the late comedian george carlin left behind a final account of his life. his memoir will be published in november. carlin dedicated a decade of his life to the memoir before he died in june of last year. kim? >> we're talking mussels from brussels and our 9:00 a.m. kitchen. it is great to have you with us. we want to welcome chef and owner of belga cafe on captiol hill and we are celebrating belgium independence day. >> yes, indeed. we will do that on the 21st of july and actually start off tomorrow with a dinner at the embassy and then we will go on the whole week with celebrations. we are going to have a day. it is called mussels from brussels. that's why we are here.

we will do a petting zoo and donate to charities. >> beer that you are known for. >> can't go wrong. >> cook a little bit maybe. >> i was asking why are mussels so popular in brussels. is it the location of your country. >> it is the location because we have the north sea and good ground for mussels to grow there. >> a big tidal change coming in is one of the ingredients you need. tell me about the special pots you are cooking them in. >> the pots are from belgium so and we have to bring them in. no supplier here has them. the pots are made to bring to the table like this. this would be the lid where you discard the mussel shells in there. >> make this one a garlic one i call it. a little white wine. and actually just add a little cream to it also. >> okay. >> you are pouring that right

on the shells. >> right on the shells. we are going to use some sprouts, scallions, the sprouts are the garlic. >> so it is like garlic sprouts. >> for you guys watching at home, if you let your garlic grow, this is the top that flowers eventually. so he was cutting those up in there. >> what else. >> celery, pepper, salt, chives. >> good. all of this and we should say all the mussels are sealed up tight because they haven't been cooked yet. >> they are fresh this morning. they brought them in for us. >> a nice hunk of butter. can't go wrong with that. >> and we will start them cooking. one going on here. >> this is garlic one. >> yes. >> this is actually heated up already. this is from my hometown. this is why we are so tall. we will add beer to that one. >> do all mussel dishes have

beer. >> no. we did white wine over here. they also call in the burgundy of beers from belgium. so we did this one with beer and this one with asparagus. >> pretty. >> pretty. >> some bacon an onions. >> exactly. nice onions going on. and hunk of butter. >> if someone were to come to your restaurant and they didn't want to have mussels. >> we also have bell yum fries. we never call them belgium fries or freedom fries. we are famous for beef stews and cook lighter versions of rabbit, pigeon and we have a beautiful brunch with bejerusalem waffles. can't go wrong. a lot of chocolate. >> you guys have it made there. how long do you cook it for.

>> normally four to seven minutes and it depends how much mussels you have in there and how much heat you have underneath but looks like this one maybe. >> here's what we will do. >> before we go to break. tell everyone about the event coming up. >> event, friday we start with blonds have more fun. and we will make cocktails and saturday we have our belgium waffle card and. >> we will take a quick break and sample this when we come back and give you the rest of the rundown on 9 news now this morning. stay with us.

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all right. here's a look at the opening bell.

the numbers on wall street. the dow is up 92. the nasdaq up 26 1/2. and the s&p up 12 1/2. jessica, who knew. your green was a good indicator. and here's what is on tap for the rest of the week on 9 news now at 9:00 a.m. montgomery county executive ike leggett stops by tomorrow and we will hear from prince georges council chair marilyn bland. and is the cash for clunkers plan a clunker of a deal? our mind over money experts will answer that question and help to get you out of credit card debt. they will be here on friday. >> oh, all right. we will tell you what will be here on friday, maybe an isolated thunderstorm as we head to the weekend the odds increase for saturday. sunday is the better half of the weekend. looking good. smells really good morning thank chef bart from captiol hill. you were telling me the proper way to eat mussels is use the shell to scoop out the orones. >> so eat one first.

>> i like that. that's really neat. >> that's how you use it. >> this have one with the white wine. >> the one with the white wine and garlic. >> ready? >> she will be back with j.c. at noon and we will all be back at 4:55 a.m. see you then. fa