virginia closes 19 of the highway rest stops overnight. find out why the move was made and what it means for the next road trip. plus, crime rates in our area and nationwide plummeting to levels we haven't seen in decades. so what's behind the good news. good morning. i'm andrea roane. angie is here with traffic and we day -- we say good morning to kim martucci and how it is outside. >> starting to get humid. i have the extra hold.

i don't know about you. that's the sign of things to come. in to the weekend we look ahead seven days in our forecast and looks unsettled and that's the you've match for rainy at times. show you what is going on we with the satellitrailer loop. calvert llcounty you have been the spotlight isth morning. we still have rain toward saint leonard but it seems to be weakening. this is slow moving stall rain shower or what. we hear you in calvert but we have your back. show you the time lapse tower cam from the netherlands and a view of the washington monday numb and murky weather forecast. you notice the humidity levels have changed since last week's spectacular weather with low humidity. 69% humidity. temperatures in the 70s across the board. 7 an drews air force base.

today we will take a trip to the lower 8 -- 80s but feels like summer. we will have a stray shower probably this afternoon. >> good morning, kim. hey, everybody. we are still feeling the crunch as we get ready for this 9:00 a.m. hour. inner loop in virginia drivers are stacked from braddock road area up to 66. we are estimating the drive time 16 to 20 minutes. that's volume. no incidents or accidents there. check out 395. take it outside and show you how that translates. heavy all morning. things are breaking up a bit. below speed from duke to seminary and using the brakes across the 14th street bridge. moving along to the beltway and take you to the outer loop. we show you north of the district from new hampshire to georgia. that's a ten-minute drive time and a lot of volume between 355, wisconsin after and the mormon temple.

270 southbound under bright and sunny skies. crawling from 118 germantown road to montross. that's an 11 minute commute. wrap it up with a drive through dc. inbound new york avenue is slow. okay florida avenue to the third street tunnel. that's a look at traffic. now over to andrea. this morning we want to spend quality time talking about health rare reform. it affects u.s. about all of us and what should be done and the debate is still going on. >> president obama's pitch for health care reform reaches new levels as he presses his case against the current system. >> it is bankruptcy families and businesses and you will matily the federal government. >> reporter: but the overhaul isn't happening without a fight. there is criticism of the president's plan and how to pay

for it. the chairman of the republican national convention called it socialism and said it is a risk the nation cannot afford. >> it is conducting a dangerous people with the health care and quality of our lives an a reckless people with our economy and an unnecessary experiment with our tax dollars. >> reporter: those tax dollars are a.of contention for many republicans and some conservative democrats. house speaker, nancy pelosi is considering a recession to ease the strain of proposed tax increases that would pay for health care reform. pelosi wants a surcharge to families making more than $1 million a year instead of $350,000 a year. two congressional committees delay action as details are worked out but on monday some progress in the senate. >> we are reached a tentative agreement. i'm pleased. >> reporter: the "washington post" poll shows the president is losing public support with 49% of americans approving of the president's handling of health care and 44% disapprove.

that's a 15 point jump since april. the president continues to push his case in a primetime news conference on wednesday and at a town hall in ohio on thursday. in northwest washington, nicole collins for 9 news now and wusa9.com. it appears the president still has some selling to do in our neck of the woods. democratic senator ben cardin took his position to the public. a particular proposal for people who didn't buy any health insurance. >> are you going to tell me, an individual, that i have to buy health care or going to fine me $2,500 every year that i don't do that? >> what happens if you get sick? what happens if you are in a car accident or what if you happen to flip and you have a broken bone and you end up in

the emergency room. >> you don't pay. you are part of the population that shift its costs can over to a person who does pay. and they are paying for you. >> because there are so many competing versions of the legislation it remains unclear what any eventual compromise may look like. roll call newspaper erin billings is here with more on the debate over health care legislation. thank you for being here. we saw the president's poll numbers are slipping when it comes to health care reform but good numbers when it comes to leadership and i remember bush talking about he had political capitol and he was going to spend it. does the president have any political capital and how does the plan to spend it. >> certainly he has political capital. his popularity is relatively high. high 50s, low 60s for this president. that's nothing to sneeze at but some of the popularity is

slipping like health care. he knows that and he knows time 0 is of the essence because capital does not run forever and this is a critical period. if the congress doesn't make progress now and come back in the fall we have three months until the end of the year and next year is an election year. >> nothing will happen. >> more politics in an election year obviously and that makes legislating more difficult. >> we said there are so many competing versions of health care reform we don't know what the compromise might look like. what is the president's plan? did he put out a plan or what lawmakers are figuring out what to give back to him. >> barack obama when he was in the campaign trail and in to his presidency he laid out specific markers, some principals. he laid out the direction where he wanted health care to go and he had a plan on the trail to be sure. but he said congress needs to do his work. it is the legislative body and

he is trying to strike the right balance and there is a lot of criticism of then president clinton when he tried health care reform in ' 93 because he tried to come up with a plan and give it to congress. and congress said you adopt it or no and they said that's not the way it works and so i think obama is trying to take a different approach. you are darned if you do and don't in this world. some are saying he hasn't been specific enough. some said he hasn't been engaged enough and that's why you are seeing him take this campaign-style approach now. he is hitting the trail and doing a primetime news address and he knows to step it up if he wants it to happen. >> loyal opposition putting a lot of pressure on the president. you heard rnc chair michael steel use the was word socialism. is their plan for health care. >> there have been several and

certain members of congress have put forth ideas. the republican conference in this house has put forth a blueprint but it was fairly vague. there isn't one specific gop plan to point to. there again it is part of the political discussion. >> reporter: is it fair to say they want to see him fail on this as we have heard from the talk show pundits and whatever, the loyal opposition. they want him to fail because they are looking at 2010 and maybe they could gain some seats. >> i don't know that any republican would admit publicly they want him to fail but certainly if he does not succeed it does not hurt the republican cause and this is all about politics at the end of the day. >> what about the leadership in congress. we have one warning defactions on health care. you have representative mike ross, chair of the blue dog democrats who said we told you we wanted to be part of this t.

his family owns a pharmacy and they didn't bring them in to the game. why is speaker pelosi handable it this way. >> everyone had their idea how to get this done. what is interesting to me now we have competing proposals and the house has a bill they are advancing. they seem to be tinkering with it along the way because the democrats are split all over the board how to go forward. all eyes are on the senate finance committee. that's where real talks are going on. they are meeting again today. they said last night they were making progress. everyone in the house included are waiting to see what the senate does. if they come up with a blueprint that has bipartisan support we my be able to see the dam break a little bit here. >> is senator edward kennedy who says this is his life's work is he on the same page? there had been disagreement. >> as you know senator kennedy

is the chairman of the committee that has a competing proposal. the health bill is more liberal. that has a public option component which republicans are opposed to. some democrats are some worry about that, as well. but i think senator kennedy has always said he wants health care reform and i think had he been here or if he were here we might see something different. >> thank you very much. we're not done talking about health care. a look at who will win and lose under the new proposal. but up next, rest stops in virginia tut shutting down. a live report from 66. hear from one of the last people to use a rest stop there. and plus, the numbers on crime go against facoconvention thinking. crime rates are down. we will see why. we'll be right back. nv kelly saunder's nature valley,

the place that inspires her to go faster... and slower, elk mountains, colorado. where's yours? 100% natural nature valley granola bars. the taste nature intended.

maryland senator is in the hospital. she fell down some stairs. she turned 37 yesterday. two people are in critical condition after this crash that happened on belmont ridge road in loudoun county. nine people in all were hurt. in one hour the watergate hotel goes on the auction block. you'll need to put down at least a million dollar deposit if you are interested.

of course the complex was made world famous by the 1972 break in. uncle sam will write a big check for northern virginia. $260million of stimulus funds will go to our region for transportation projects. governor kaine made the announce yesterday. some of it will be used to complete the fairfax county parkway at ft. belvoir, and for paving work in prince william and loudoun counties. the work could start soon. it is unclear if any stimulus money might be used to reopen rest stops in virginia. the rest stops at dale city in both directions are closed to drivers. the same thing on 95 and ladysmith. armando trull is live along 86 in manassas. the rest stops are close there too, right? >> that's right. take a look. this is the site that is greeting thousands of

motorists, barrel an barricades telling them they are no longer welcome at 18 rest stops in in the commonwealth. every day for the last four year bob dougen has opened doors to this rest stop in ' 66. today he closed them for good. >> the money is just not there apparently for the state to ' keep the facilities open. >> reporter: the virginia department of transportation has closed 18 highway rest stops. >> he didn't give mae time limit but he said i'm going to have to leave shortly. >> reporter: many motorists are angry. >> all in all it is a great inconvenience and i don't think it is necessary. >> how inconvenient? the average distance between stops will now be 120 miles. >> people have to go toe the bathroom. people pull up here when they are too tired and traveling. the next rest stop is maryland. who's going to wait that long to get out in. >> if you look there isn't a single rest stop on i-66. people are going to get killed

getting out of their car. >>ing to the bathroom. you have people that were disabled and came here because of he handicap area. what are they going to do. >> closing the stops will save the state $9 million a year. >> we think they could sparingly give us some money from congress or something. i mean one rachetter jet is $350 million. they are getting ready to build 100 more of them and they don't even use them, you know? there are a lot of ideas being floated around as to ways to fund the rest stops including having private entities adopt a stop and suggesting that private businesses can open shop and kiosks and going as far as saying jailed inmates could provide some maintenance at the stops but so far none of that has been adopted and so for the time being this is the kind of welcome that people will get when they come to virginia.

that's the kind of southern hospitality they will see, barrel and barricades. live in manassas, armando trull for 9 news now and wusa9.com. >> thank you. again, there are 18 rest stops across the commonwealth which have closed down. we have the list on our website. go to the virginia news page at wusa9.com. now it is time to say good morning to kim martucci. she has the weather forecast. >> good morning. we are looking ahead to the next three days. we like to give you the forecast first here at channel 9. a little unsettled. we haven't had a lot of rain but the folks that have seen it has been heavy. folks in calvert county for example. 83 today, more cloud than sun. more sunshine tomorrow but with that that is going to lead to rain showers and even thunderstorms tomorrow afternoon and on thursday. notice thursday a lot warmer. up to 87. i want to check on live doppler 9000 for you now and show you

where the rain is this morning it is between saint leonard an lusby along route 4. if your plans take you to southern maryland in calvert county be advised this will open up the heaviens on top of you and catch you by surprise if you are not aware of it but you checked if with us and at wusa9.com you can look at the doppler radar. a great tool. check it out before you leave rain in toe ocean is soaking new york city. around here to the west to get rid of that but unstable air mass on top of that. that's why it is easy to get the cloud and a possible shower this afternoon, not a washout. odds favor you staying dry. the temperature is murky and 73. northeast winds are blowing at 7 miles an hour. frederick is coming in with 72. southern maryland 74. as we take you to the west, winchester, cumberland,

culpeper, all in the 60s this tuesday. here's a look at the lunchtime forecast, mostly cloudy and 80. the air quality is moderate. not a real hot day. temperatures around the lower 80s this afternoon. we are dodging the bullet with the heavy stuff. that's down here in to arkansas, flying in to little rock today, in to texarkana that will be a slow go. obviously with flight delays. around here murky sky and conditions somewhat sticky. it's going to feel like summer. something we haven't had in a long time. as we take you through tomorrow and the next couple of days you will notice we have dry weather and then in the afternoon a chance of showers. that's what happens in the summertime. during the night time hours the atmosphere goes to bed with you and during the day we heat things up and get showers. lower 80s today. in the upper 60s to near 70. tomorrow warmer in the upper 80s.

as we plan ahead, middle to upper 80s. here's how it look on the seven day. i wouldn't say every day is a washout but certainly a chance of afternoon thunderstorms like summer. if you like the hot stuff, that what's the weekend is about, highs of 90 degrees. back to you. vile crime is plunging across the country and good news for people in the dc area. it may seem like a trend that is flying in the face of economic theory but as brightny reports the jury is still out on the economy's relationship to crime. >> reporter: with shooting scenes making headlines, prince georges couldn't police battle the misconception that violent crime is up. >> a lot of community building initiatives are hoping to drive us toward getting under the shadow of thissismage. >> reporter: this image doesn't match this statistic, crime is at a 20 year low and homicides down 20% in the county and across the nation. >> our crime looks the way it did in the ' 60s. >> this university of maryland

criminallologist. >> police are more pro active now. >> reporter: a hostage taking and robbery prompted officials to hire more officers or dc where technology helps police track crime by the minute but why is crime dropping when the economy is bad? al after all during the last seven economic downturns crime went up. >> that is interesting about this and somewhat unusual. >> reporter: unusual until you consider the great depression. crime went down. he dubs his theory legitimate. >> if people experience economic hardship but they feel everybody is in it together. they feel everybody is pulling their weight there is a lot of information to suggest that happened during the great depression. i don't think crime will go up. >> reporter: if that is true that is one up side to a major economic downturn. 9 news now and wusa9.com. we have been hearing that many criminallologists are baffled by the trend. with me to weigh in is professor ross a criminal option at the university of baltimore. he is also the author of the

book "beyond bars." welcome back. >> thank you. >> baffled and unexpected is how most experts are reacting. were you one of those baffled and unexpected with the numbers. >> i'm in the same camp. it is unusual to see this long -- it seems almost like a long- term trend prosecutor violent crime to be reducing in the dc area and other major american cities. i'll also say there are some american cities where crime has gone up a little. and we have to avoid simplistic explanations such as people not engaging in crime so frequently. i want to say one thing to begin with. this is my mantra so i apologize for that. and that is, you know, crime stats are reasonably good indicators of actual crime, but there could be other things operating. number one people might be less inclined to report crimes that

are taking place. also, too, police may be less able to uncover and or respond crimes that are occurring. so that may be reflected in the official crime rates. we know that for at least cybercrime many people don't report that simmization. property crimes where people feel they are not going to be able to make an insurance claim. they are not going to report that to the police. so that's part of the parcel. one explanation we have heard and certainly was part of the earlier segment was the relationship between the economy and crime. >> you would think that people who are desperate will go out because we have reported stories where a person said i don't have any money. i'm looking for bread and they turn around and rob the person. >> that's a popular explanation but the evidence with relationship to the relationship between the economy and crime is very skimpy. there are other things that take place that are more

predictors of crime including people's regular activities their routine activities. demographics. law enforcement is important, but it doesn't explain or law enforcement practices don't explain a lot of the decrease crime in many of the jurisdictions throughout the country. we recognize that in many jurisdictions they use the same kinds of practices, whether it is zero tolerance, saturation policing, those kinds of random stops. they are operating not only in washington, d.c. but in other jurisdictions where crime increased o. so it can only explain so much of the reason behind the crime decreasing. >> one area where crime isn't down is locally in baltimore and also in dallas but before we go, we have less than a minute. the impacten the crime numbers. the courts just ruled against a neighborhood patrolling, which they were using to tackle these hot spots an again more proactive policing. do you they will make a

difference and we will see the numbers go up in dc? >> we may see those in the neighborhoods where there was that kind of policing. it is hard to say. crime has that unique ability to displace itself. and it is also somewhat cyclical. for a while you will see crime decress in a neighborhood like trinidad and the police leave and then it goes back up. what happens is the criminals know that that is an area to avoid for a certain period of time. they keep their eyes and ears open. they see patterns of opportunity and then they will comeback. >> they are pro-pack ave in their -- they are proactive in their way own. >> that's right. >> thank you very much. >> my pleasure, thank you. up next we are talking more about health care. how your benefits could change if the president's plan gets through. plus, free food this morning at starbucks. what you need to know and when you need to act. be right back. when i get my period

it's not just one thing it's everything. tylenol and advil don't do as much as pamprin. it's the everything in one pill.

pamprin multi-symptom welcome back. it is tuesday, july 21st. we are half way through the 9:00 hour and kicking off our traffic report. the outer loop that is very slow from new hampshire to georgia avenue. we are looking at maybe ten to 12 minutes but that is starting to break apart. good news there. 270 southbound that's the next shot. we are clear montgomery village avenue to the capital beltway. over on virginia side of things, 395 from the beltway to the 14th street bridge looks like a nice commute. move over to the maps and show you the gw parkway. i like what i see. nothing but green from the beltway to the key bridge. telling us the drivers are moving at speed. speaking of the key bridge, let's cross it. a live shot for you. good amount of volume on to m street but overall no incidents or accidents as drivers make

ware they way through georgetown and beyond. that's the latest look at traffic. now over to jessica doyle. here's a check on "living $mart" headlines. in 30 might bees the fed chairman heads to captiol hill he is expected to repeat the forecast that the economy will start to grow in the second half of the year. he is lakely to be asked about taxpayer bailouts of financial companies and the throw slow- moving government efforts to stop foreclosures. this friday the cash for clunkers program really kick off. auto dealers will sell under the new cash for clunkers program. for four months consumers can get a trade in credit of $4,500 if they exchange vehicles that get 18 miles a gallon or less f eshi ene dathy y dato sc food atda starbucks but tood fastto get a free t acfa. get a free yistbu r ang bu h nct for buying a bench but by 100 bu:3

by 10:3have tohato veha a coupoe if. deal. if they run out of pastries there is no rain check. we have seen studies that show some people are putting off going to the doctor because they don't have health insurance and a new study finds 41% of individually insured aexults are skipping appointments because of the cost. the study was conduct by the commonwealth fund, a nonprofit advocate that advocates health care coverage. well, first off let's talk about what we know about the proposals so far. how will benefits be affect or do we not know yet. >> that's the trillion dollar question as we know right now there are a number of proposals on the senate and house side and until one proposal is agreed upon by both sides of the house and senate it is hard to determine exactly where we

will end up and what benefits may or may not be affected. >> reporter: let's talk an perceived winners and losers, under the broad-brush plans in the house and senate. talk about uninsured folks. how many people would get insurance, the ballpark. >> the general numbers are between 30 and 5 million folks. >> they would receive coverage that they hasn't had in the past. the other concern is cost because medical costs are breaking the back of a lot of folks. >> that's an excellent question and no one knows the answer to it. one of the ways the government is looking to supplement this trillion dollar price tag, which is actually $2.3 trillion number is to reduce the current dollars that are being spent on medicare. >> let's talk about that. that is a perceived loser under the program that is being weighed in the house and senate. how would medicare and medicaid

recipients be affected. >> probably with reduced coverage. we know that their, based on all the plans we have seen today that the medicare/medicaid portion will be utilized to help to offset some of these costs which translates in to the doctors, the professional fees paid less, hospitals receiving less and could ultimately result in folks not being able to obtain various tests or medications they need. >> because they are too expense under the plan. >> exactly. >> talk about the months and doctors. do we have any sense of how they will affected by the proposal. >> depending on the hospital itself where there are a number of safety net hospitals as we talked about the last time i was here. those hospitals are suffering with reduced payments from medicare and medicaid. if those dollars are further reduced it could realistically

for safety net hospitals for example. we have one here in southeast. hospitals like that could significantly suffer and again you can see a reduction in overall services being provided to the people that need it the most. >> we appreciate your insight in to this and we will continue to try to figure out what these programs will mean. well, you have heard kim talk about her upcoming wedding for weeks now. ahead see the hair styles she's looking at and find out how you can pick the final result. singer chris brown is talking to fans this morning able assault charges. hear what he has toheay sn w9 news now returns.

we're back. singer and virginia native chris brown is publicly apologizing for attacking his former girlfriend. in february right before the grammy awards he was arrested for beating fellow singer rihanna. he plead guilty to an assault charge and will be sentenced next month. in a two-minute video posted to his website he said he accepted full responsibility for his actions. >> i wish i had the chance to live those few moments again but turnly i can't. i cannot go back to what happened and most importantly i'm not going to sit here and make excuses. i take pride in exercising self control and what i did is inexcusable. i'm sad and ashamed of what i

have done. >> you can watch the entire video by going to wusa9.com. it is on our water cooler page. now to kim with an update and the travel weather forecast. >> i do. around here the rain has been over to calvert county. otherwise rather cloudy. i don't think you will have any trouble leaving our area, airports bwi, dulles or national. la guardia up to hartford and in to logan or t.f. green in province dense and manchester rain slowing you down. rain in fort smith, little rock and blasting of thunderstorms through dallas. that will clear the area leaving them with cloudy skies. west coast looks quiet. some numbers for the temperatures, well l.a. will work on86. pairly 7 loinndokouar e th stre ase look waround the rest e y te hae y tr90we will have in dalla da toy datoday in chicago. n nonthe 60s.

nonthe 60s. leookatlookathielnd, refeinfeeli kyg in ba lile murky but nothing we condition handle. will it be an up do a down do or in between. we asked thee topsoilists help me prepare for my wedding day which is three weeks away. this time we want you to be the judge. watch our stylists in action over the next three days and then you can cast your vote for my wedding dare hair do at my blog at wusa9.com. >> so michael hajjs is here from aveda. he is going to give me a long weather hair look ♪ [ music ] ♪ >> for a down wedding look the

thing to remember is we want to have the face as interest. so we want to work away from the face. when you do wedding hair or something to last throughout the day. you don't want it too clean. have it washed the night before. >> so dirty hair is get for getting your hair styled. >> what if i get the forecast wrong and it rains. any tips for weather hair. a way to shellac it down. >> that would be the worst thing because it will get sticky and it will fall. >> okay. here's the down long tt , lir k. ok, ayandrea. there's the before. who picked theadora i can picture of the before. a veha haa little

smile. most befores are prison foe orsomethg.the e th right. to look goth to look go myto og nd bli will have this irha style along with irthe two othe t.hat n' yeen et yeso so eapeek at my blog a t k ea ekat my blog at what's going to be coming up at wusa9.com. now, tomorrow we will be checking out elie elie salon and red door style on thursday. >> i have seen two so i know which i like out of the two. i will wait until the third until i make my decision. >> very good. >> thank you. up next, why the flu vaccine coming up this fall may not help you fight off the h1n1 strain. we are going to the kitchen with everyone's favorite cook. we have simple recipes the family will love and won't even notice it is healthy.

ce i! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) unlike cable, fios brings 100% fiber optics straight to your home and when you switch now, you can get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. with fios, you'll get razor-sharp tv, blazing fast internet and crystal-clear phone service all for just... sign up today. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v, and for a limited time, get an incredible compaq mini, to get the most out of your fios internet. get it all together with a great deal on fios tv, internet and phone plus get a free compaq mini netbook. just pay shipping, handling and taxes. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v before time runs out on this astonishing offer.

ofudtsst from marylandre inbearquantined in quina erfeov1n1 ars. they are part of the sports and education leag ue1nbased in silver spring, maryland. another group from the volleyball club was released yesterday. the flu vaccine you get later this year will not protect against h1n1 the food and drug administration's new vaccine will offer protection from three common strains but an h1n1 vaccine is still in development. doctors say it is still important to get the seasonal flu shot. thousands of people, especially the chronically ill and small children die from t flu om

year. a supposedly harmless condition known as superficial vein thrombosis or varicose veins may cause more serious trouble. according to a new study, a quarter of patients may be at risk for deep ve thrombosis. that is potentially life- threatening condition. they recommend that people that have them undergo ultrasound screenings to rule out disorders. you may have thought chicken tenders a child's favorite would ruin anyone's diet but tianna is serving up a healthy recipe this morning. and we have macarthur james a opinional training from atlantic dominance.com and he is joined by a young, fit michael. good morning. >> good morning. >> this was this he lifestyle section of "usa today" a provoke five headline and it says is child obesity child

abuse. it is talking about parent being brought up on criminal charges because by the age of 14 her son weighed 555-pounds. and i wanted to got your thoughts before we started our segment on should a parent be held criminally responsible for a child who's this form of extreme obesity? is it obese. >> it is a unique situation. a lot of times you have issues where a lot of parents have to work multiple shifts and stuff like that so they are not always home with the child but what we talk about is the parent being a good role model. the parent needs to set a lot of standards as far as their health for the child. unfortunately in some situations, if the parent isn't there but they have already laid the standards then the child can follow that lead. >> and unlike mac was saying to piggyback on it you need to come up with healthier

alternatives for the kids. like what we have today, instead of frying the chicken. >> especially since the kids will be home and snacking a little bit. >> we can use corn flakes. that's what we have here today. it is healthy, oven fried and gives them texture and michael tried it last night and said it was good. >> what are the ingredients. >> a little pepper on the chicken and you can get some chicken breast or tender loins and cut it up and a little kosher salt and little garlic powder and you can also use thyme or oregano. just a little bit and then what you want to do is take a piece of chicken, put it in a little egg wash, little buttermilk or regular milk or even regular egg whites and sprinkle a little bit of the corn flakes? why corn flakes and why not bread crumbs or something. >> the corn flakes are

healthier, doesn't have has much sugar in it and you don't want to use captain crunch or anything. >> then you get a lot of sugar and crunch. what do we mean by obese children, 15, 10-pounds overweight? >> it is a unique thing. obesity they give you a lot of standards based on childhood bmi. what i go by is the the child is 15 to 20-pounds overweight and you see potential they will grow in to their weight, that's understandable and you want to keep them active. what i consider obese is a child that can't do the functional everyday things of walking up the steps cigarette going winded. we talked about getting outside. you have exercises to show us. it is not all about playing the wii. we need to get outside and do some things. >> we will bring michael over here. he will be my demonstrator. there are a lot of things we can do. >> put your hand on your head and do a feet and a basic

squat. squat all the way down and back up. all right. give me two more of those. this works his body and leg and gets his heart rate up and this if you want to make it more exciting do a jump squat. >> couldn't he do it in front of the video screen with a wii. isn't that the good enough. >> it is not the same as being outside in the elements an things like that. you have you want to be out and active and play as much as possible. >> what else can we do. >> michael does the run, which we can't do right now. he was explaining to me that he gets chased by his chihuahua. >> no a chihuahua by our house. >> the importance of getting a handle on what a child is eating and how much weight he is putting on. we are not trying to create anorexia or bulimia but the consequences down the road if we didn't get a handle on it. >> childhood die diabetes,

cholesterol. i remember when i was in a kid and my mom bought pizzas and then started to bake and broil things. as a parent there are other alternatives for kids. i understand we have in inconvenient situation and but you have to plan ahead especially now because there are a lot of kids overweight. not even the children but the parents too. >> everyone get in the healthy mode and we will be healthy together. we will taste and have the number when we come ba. stay with us.

>> this is jeff norman. he doesn't get health insurance from an employer, so he's been buying it himself for years. he's healthy, so he wonders why his rates keep going up. liz sloan wants health insurance but doesn't think she can 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. so if you need health insurance, call the number on your screen, visit our website or contact your local agent. [♪...] check of the numbers on wall street at the opening bell. the dow is up 45. nasdaq is off almost 8. and the

s&p is up a fraction. and here's a look at what's on tap for the rest of the week on 9 news now. tomorrow the anatomy of diva. we will talk to the author of a book about the most heinous crimes ever committed. and montgomery county executive ike leggett drops by on thursday and friday is mind over money and we will help you get a mortgage or refinance and all of the advice is expert and free. >> okay. here we go. seven-day forecast, kind of cloudy. i see a peek of sunshine on the weather terrace. don't the plans look nice outside. it feels like summer this week. a chance of thunderstorms every day. we will turn hot in to the weekend. temperatures around 90 degrees. feast your eyes on this fabulous dish. chicken tenders nice and crunchy and the calorie content. >> the calorie content is great. >> honey mustard. >> and you want to use dee january mustard and honey,

natural sweetener. >> not bad. for a great snake. >> when you look at the raw ones and you go to pick it up, thank goodness, what are friends for. she warned me. they are delicious. >> we have the recipe on the website at wusa9.com. always good to have you here. thanks for joining us. the next news is at noon with j.c. and kim martucci. don't forget to vote on her wedding hairinat her blog. >> bye-bye.