back soon. >> we're thankful for these guys out here. they must have been here i don't know how many hours. >> reporter: i'm ken molestina, 9news now. >> there are only a few dozen customers who don't have power. those outages cannot be restored until the customers themselves take care of specific issues on their end and their homes. good morning and welcome to 9news now. today is wednesday, july 6th. >> olga breese is in for howard. good morning, olga. >> the steaminess is back. >> it is a little bit hard to breathe out there even at this hour of the morning. normally, we get a little bit of a break overnight. not the case right now. our current temperatures are very, very warm. in and around the beltway. most of us are in the middle range to the upper 70s. humidity value very, very high. it will be a sticky start to the morning. but we'll definitely see the possibility of a few spot

showers and scattered thunderstorms possible later on this afternoon. here's how it breaks down for your day planner. we're close to the 80 degree mark. we'll be there at national airport. then as we head in toward the afternoon, temperatures rise out of the 80s. we're looking at a warm stretch for the entire week. the forecast for today should take us to about 91 for washington. we'll see 93 toward leesburg. we could even see some of the upper 80s around most of the region. let's take a look at the morning drive. >> good morning, everybody. we're starting off this morning with the green light although we do have some construction to tell you about. we'll take you to the inner loop of the beltway heading toward springfield. what you need to know is until about 5:00 this morning, if you're traveling on the southbound side of the beltway toward springfield, you can go no further than 395. you'll have to head north, head to edsel road and get back on to the inner loop. 95 is not affected by the construction. i'll keep you posted on that.

let's take you around town now, if you're planning to head inbound on i-66, it is construction at the paving operation. at route 123. that will go to the outer loop of the beltway in tysons corner. more construction between 123 and route 7 along the right side of the roadway. one last look southbound on i- 270, no construction to worry about between frederick, father hurley boulevard, rockville and down to the point where the lanes divide. coming up, we'll take another look around the area in maryland at 4:40. andrea, mike, back to you. thank you, monika. here is a look at things making news today. same-sex couples can now apply for marriage licenses in new york. >> they must use online forms which now feature gender neutral terminology on them. the forms allow couples to either enter information saying bride or groom or simply just spouse. the first marriage license isn't expected to be issued until july 25th. that is the first business day after the state's law legalizing gay marriage becomes

active. jury selection begins in the case against baseball legend roger clemens. he's accused of lying to congress to about using steroids during his 23-year pitching career. the trial is expected to last four to six weeks. casey anthony could be a free woman as early as tomorrow. a federal jury acquitted the florida woman tuesday of murdering her 2-year-old daughter, caylee. anthony will be sentenced thursday on four counts of lying to investigators but since she's already served three years in prison, legal experts don't believe she'll get any additional time. the largest forest fire in arizona history is all but contained. state officials are now turning their focus to preventing massive flood damage just as summer storms begin. arizona leaders say they're concerned because soil damage from the fire may make some areas unable to absorb rain water. >> president obama is keeping pressure on congress. he wants them to raise the debt ceiling and reduce the nation's ballooning deficit. >> after calling congressional leaders over the weekend, he's

preparing to meet them in person at the white house. tara mergener has more. president obama wants congress to strike a deal on raising the debt limit in the next two weeks. >> we've made progress. and i believe that greater progress is within sight but i don't want to fool anybody. we still have to work through some real differences. >> reporter: he's invited democratic and republican leaders to the white house tomorrow to try to jump start stalled talks. the president is urging lawmakers to leave their differences at the door and he's rejected any talk of a short-term agreement that would raise the debt ceiling for six to eight months. >> i don't share that view. i don't think the american people here sent us here to avoid tough problems. >> the president insists any deal will have to include not only spending cuts but also tax hikes for the wealthy. still, republicans aren't budging. >> frankly, we don't think the voters sent a wave of

republicans last november because they wanted us to raise taxes. >> with unemployment hovering above 9%, the g.o.p. argues tax increases will only hurt the economy even more. i'm happy to discuss the issues at the white house, house speaker john boehner said in a statement. but such discussions will be fruitless until the president recognizes economic and legislative reality. congress has until august 2nd to raise the debt limit or administration officials warn the u.s. will default on its bills for the first time. potentially throwing the country back into a recession. tara mergener for cbs news, washington. >> republicans are insisting on at least $2 trillion in spending cuts before they agree to raise the debt ceiling. so far, the white house has identified slightly more than $1 trillion in cuts over ten years and is proposing up to $4 hundred billion in new tax revenue. >> the numbers are staggering. >> the debt ceiling debate is affecting other legislation. senate democratic leaders agreed to delay a test vote on a measure authorizing the u.s.

military involvement in libya. majority leaders say they needed to focus all of their attention on spending and the debt limit. >> president obama will begin sending condolence letters to the families of u.s. service members who commit suicide. it has been a long-standing policy of the white house to only send the personalized letters to the families of service members who died in combat or as a result of noncombat incidents in a war zone. the policy change came about after a two-year campaign by a number of military families. metro's silver line extension to dulles international airport could be in for yet another battle. >> according to "the washington post," virginia state attorney general ken cuccinelli is threatening to file a lawsuit against the metropolitan washington's airport authority. he says the decision by the nwaa which would require the lead contractor to hire union workers. the law suit's threat comes after a group of business

leaders said any deal requiring union workers would only increase the final cost. the already multibillion dollar project. a special session of the maryland legislature expected to convene the week of october 17th. normally state lawmakers don't begin their session until january. special session was called so lawmakers could read throughout the congressional district based on the results of the 2010 census. five days after pleading guilty to federal corruption charges, leslie johnson has resigned from prince george's county county council. the resignation effective july 31st. council members, however, demanding she resign immediately and they voted to take away her car and her staff. no word if johnson plans to honor their request or stand by the resignation date of july 31st. at 4:41, a key government contractor is rumored to be considering a move out of one local city. then at 4:49, as nasa prepares for its final shuttle mission, they're considering the possibility of yet another

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>> i'm meteorologist olga breese in for howard bernstein this morning. temperatures on the moist side and the atmosphere is muggy. we're starting with high humidity this morning and our day planner is going to keep it very, very warm. already starting out in the 70s. we're headed for the low to mid- 80s by noontime. we'll soar into the lower 90s by later on this afternoon. let's take a check of the morning drive. >> thank you so much, olga. we'll take a fly of route 50 westbound coming in from the bay bridge right into annapolis, bowie, prince george's county, all the way to

the beltway. your lanes are open. in nigh next report, we'll wrap up construction in the area. back to you. coming up on 4:41, time for the first "your money" report of the morning. >> jessica doyle is here with a look at wall street. first, a hiccup for travel plans. >> of course, in the past, we've talked about how expensive flying to europe is because you have the fuel surcharges in place. it could get even more expensive. the european union plans to impose carbon emission caps to all carriers flying in and out of europe starting next year. airlines would have to pay for emissions and they could pass the costs on to passengers. >> u.s. carriers are suing claiming it is against international law. the european court of justice is expected to rule by the end of the year. wall street is up to a slow start for the first week of july compared to last week when stocks had their biggest gain in two years. checking the numbers, the dow stands this morning at 12,569.

drops down to 13 points in trading. we got green arrows for the nasdaq. down arrows for the s&p 500 off almost 2 points. maryland labor officials say job seekers have a new online tool for finding green jobs. the state's labor day has launched a new web site mark green works.com. it has free job search and recruitment tools for maryland, virginia and the district. the officials say the region has about 235,000 employees working with green products, providing green services. that's about 3% to 4% of total jobs in the region. a big federal contractor may be house hunting. bechtel says it is considering moving its offices out of frederick to another location in the washington area. the frederick news post reports the san francisco-based company told its 2,000 workers on thursday that leases on the frederick offices are up for renewal. the company has coordinated many international projects including nuclear reactors and

$2.3 billion in construction contracts in iraq. so, you know, you can imagine a lot of areas are going to start bidding on those. >> yeah. >> they're going to try to get a better deal on the current lease. >> the thought had occurred. could be a little bit of a negotiation tactic. >> you would think leases are lower than in the washington area. interesting. >> we'll see if they can get a deal somewhere else. >> metro says its trains are meeting all of the agency's on- time goals now. >> a closer look at the numbers is revealing something else.

>> olga breese is in for howard bernstein with our forecast today. we could use a little breeze here. >> we've had the high humidity values, high dew points. it is going to bring about that mugginess and then the winds have been light as well. we're not seeing too much movement of the air. it has been fairly stagnant all night long. that's what's causing the temperatures to stay fairly consistent. we've had mainly clear skies. we're quiet on our satellite and radar scan however, i'm expecting increasing clouds as we head through midday and late day, particularly if we go into the afternoon, we might see a

possibility of a late-day shower or thunderstorm to come on through. as of right now though, expect it to be fairly nice. if you're heading out on the road getting ready to make the morning drive, take your sunglasses with you. we'll have sun glare this morning. things will be changing through midday and late day. here's how our weather headlines are looking. at least for the short term. morning commute looks just fine through midday and late day. the clouds start to move on in. temperatures really rise pushing through the 80s by lunchtime and into the lower 90s. you know when we get high humidity, high temperatures and some of the daytime heating with the instability around, it is going to lead to the possibility of scattered afternoon and evening thunderstorms. you will need your umbrella as well. the storm chances will stick around a little bit each day as we head through the middle and the end of the week. i'll let you know what to expect for the weekend forecast in a couple of minutes. right now, about 79 degrees in the city center. that's the warm spot at this hour. most of us are at least into

the lower and middle 70s. i want to show you the high humidity values. when you get the humidity values up to about 50 to 70%, it starts a get a little bit sticky and steamy. even several areas are seeing the 100% humidity. we're not going to really see much relief at least for the next couple of days. as for the satellite and radar, big picture, the storms for the most part are staying away. at least severe weather that is. if you're traveling toward the midsection of the country, we do have a center of low pressure rotating and it is causing a bit of a stir in some locations but at least over here at the mid-atlantic and on the east coast, we're going to be in the clear at least for the daytime hours. the closer we get toward sunset, the more we have that opportunity for the late afternoon and evening, scattered thunderstorms. here's how it breaks down for the forecast. one prediction made by our supercomputers of how things should play out. notice the morning it looking fine through midday and even

early afternoon. some cloud cover will sock us in. we're definitely mostly cloudy by the time we get to the lunch break. later on today, mainly across some of the southern zones, we have the opportunity to see the scattered showers and thunderstorms. it should clear out quite quickly as we head toward the 9:00, 10:00 hour. for tomorrow morning, a little bit more moisture starts to creep back in. our better chances at seeing some of the rain will come in our friday forecast. we're expecting to see more widely spread scattered showers and thunderstorms. so, here's how we look for the forecast for today. 92. our high for gaithersburg. we should see the upper 90s -- the lower 90s across the board for most of us. some areas are squeak out with the upper 70s, upper 80s as well. down into the 70s for tonight. another muggy, sticky and steamy one. for the next three days, it will hold a consistent pattern. chance of a shower or thunderstorm each afternoon and evening. we stay dry for saturday and sunday but we'll really start

to warm on up as we head into next week. monika? >> thank you so much, olga. good morning, everybody. we have the green light. that means that overnight construction is clearing up around the area. in fact, let me take you to the springfield area on the inner loop of the beltway southbound to 495 heading for 395 in springfield. you should see crews cleaning up the cones but in the meantime, if you're heading out there right now, watch out and slow down because that whole beltway side was blocked off with the overnight construction. let's take you over to the other side of town, outer loop in tysons corner, no problems. this construction being moved off the right side of the roadway. if you're heading southbound through tysons, give them some space as well. on the southbound side of i-270 from frederick past route 109 down to the point where the lanes divide, all of the lanes are open. we'll check out the outer loop between 95 and 270, all lanes are open as well. here's what it looks like at colesville road. south on i-95 or the bw

parkway, you'll be ok as well. coming up in my next report, we'll take a look at southern maryland at 4:56. andrea, mike, back to you. space shuttle "atlantis" is due to lift off friday morning. >> nasa expressing concerns the final flight may not begin as planned. emily schmidt explains why. >> kennedy space center is marking time and making history with its final countdown of nasa's space shuttle program. >> we're delighted to be here after a very arduous nine-month training flow, we're glad to be here in florida for launch. >> friday, the four member atlantis crew plans liftoff for 12 days in space, the last of 135 space shuttle missions. so far, nasa says all is a ago. >> all of our prep rations for launch countdown have been completed and we're working no issues at this time. >> but florida skies can be fickle and nasa said today there may be a weather-induced problem that would force a

weekend launch. >> our primary concern for launch would be showers and thunderstorms developing along the sea breeze as it forms on friday and with that, we have a 60% chance of weather. >> the crew will take equipment to the international space station including for the first time, an iphone to help with experiments. social media is coming into play, too. >> it is an honor to be able to go there. >> brent danley is one of 150 twitter users nasa randomly selected to watch the liftoff up close. >> i'll be closer than any other human being to the launch except of course the astronauts. >> he'll share the view via twits. short messages that will document the beginning of the end of the shuttle's long tradition in space. in washington, emily schmidt, 9news now. 9news now reporter kristin fisher actually comes from a family of astronauts and she will be in florida for the launch. her live reports start tomorrow at 5:00 p.m. >> taking a look back at the 30-year run of the shuttle program, taxpayers spent $196

billion over the lifetime of the program. although that sounds like a pretty high number to you and me, when you compare that to other federal spending, it is actually a bargain. medicare spent the same amount in five months last year! taxicab drivers in prince george's county say they've been unfairly targeted by the county council. yesterday, the council approved a measure which calls for a cap limiting the number of taxicab licenses issued in the county at 1,044. >> that's about the same number which are already in use which doesn't leave a lot of room. "washington examiner" says the measure favors the three companies which currently control most in prince george's county. well, the good news is that metro trains are meeting agency goals for being on-time. the bad news, those on-time goals are being achieved because metro recently dropped their on-time standards. >> playing with the numbers, "the washington post" says earlier this year, metro transit lowered its on-time goals from a 95% on-time rate

to 90% and based on a report from metro, 90.9% of all trains are on time in the month of may. the same can't be said for metrobuses. the agency lowered its on-time goal for buses from 80% to 78%. in may, metrobuses were on time just 75% of the time. so, basically, one in every four buses misses its scheduled arrival time. remember on the 4th of july, people are look down the street, where's my bus, where's my bus. it wasn't there. >> it has been packed. >> well, before we take a break, it is time to look at the question of the morning. >> so, what do you think is considered to be the most interesting perk employers can offer their employees? is it a, on-site child care? b, unlimited sick days? and c, free food. what do you think? add your suggestion or your guess to our facebook page. we'll read them and reveal the answer in a little while. can i eat heart healthy without giving up taste?

a man can only try... and try...and try. i heard eating whole grain oats can help lower my cholesterol. it's gonna be tough...so tough. my wife and i want to lower our cholesterol, but finding healthy food that tastes good is torturous. your father is suffering. [ male announcer ] honey nut cheerios tastes great and can help lower cholesterol.

we have muggy conditions, temperatures in the 70s in and around the area with high humidity. our day planner keeps it hot and sticky and steamy as well. the high humidity sticks around. temperatures move into the 80s through midday and late day. we should top out right around 90 degrees later on this afternoon with a chance of a late day shower or thunderstorm. now, let's take a look at the morning ride. >> thank you so much, olga.

good morning, everybody. we'll take a look at southern maryland right now. route 4, route 5, route 301. no problems coming in from clinton, brandywine and upper marlboro right up to 495. coming up, we'll take a look at maryland roads at 5:01, andrea, mike, back to you. delaware has been recognized for having some of the cleanest beaches in the whole country. the national resources defense council recently awarded a superstar beach status to both. they're two of only four beaches in the entire nation to earn the decision nation. >> if you're waiting for the releasts next iphone, you might get your wish this fall. apple has reportedly ordered 15 million fifth generation iphones from an electronics manufacturerring from taiwan. they're schedule to be shipped in september. it will be called iphone 5. it will be a minor upgrade of the iphone 4 and will include a better camera and faster processor. well, it looks like charlie sheen is trying to steal the

spotlight on the night his sitcom returns without him. >> sandra hughes has that and more in this look at entertainment. >> reporter: fired two and a half men star charlie sheen will be roasted on comedy central and the episode will air on the very same night his old show returns to tv. the new two and a half men with ashton kutcher will air september 19th at 9:00 on cbs. at 10:00, the folks will be on charlie on comedy central. coincidence? hip-hop mogul jay-z says his new restaurant in london will be the hottest place in town. j-z and ashley cole will provide jobs in the joint venture for kids who dropped out of school and are jobless. the pair has pledged to donate some profit to charity. the man who's has been stalking paris hilton won't give up. he was ordered to stay away from her. on the 4th of july, he was standing on the beach outside her house. someone recognized james

rainford and called the police. a movie is being made for derek jeter's quest for 3,000 hits. they'll make the film about the new york yankee slugger. it will be called derek jeter 3k. even though daniel radcliffe has gone public about his battle against drinking, the three stars of the harry potter series have gone the way of many child actors. the three and warner bros. say the credit goes to good parenting, good schools and shooting in london instead of the u.s. that's your eye on entertainment, sandra hughes, hollywood. good morning, thank you for watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. >> should we take offense? >> i'm mike hydeck. >> here's monika samtani. >> hi. >> she's in for angie with traffic. now, olga breese has your weather first. >> i wish i had a better forecast. at least the morning is dry and sunny. that's the bright side of it all. it is for the afternoon, midday, well, it is going to be muggy, sticky, steamy and