vehicle, lost control and hit that second vehicle that was there to help at the scene. there was a person in between the two cars that was crushed. unfortunately this was the situation that happened about an hour ago. authorities had to shut down the entire outer loop of the beltway because one of the cars was fully engulfed in flames. right now the two right flames were just reopened an authorities are still on the scene investigating and cleaning up but they are letting two right lanes get through at the scene of this terrible car accident on the outer loop after i-95 college park but before new hampshire avenue. i'll take you over to a map real quick just so you can see exactly where it happened. so it is on the north or westbound side of the beltway. the red cars are showing you the delays and we can show you another picture of the delays which right now begin back at the v.w. parkway heading northbound. if you are planning to head out to the beltway i would say take

your time and don't go if you don't have to. take another route and get back onto the beltway beyond the accident. let's go again to sky 9. authorities tell me the investigation will take awhile as you can see just a terrible situation with this three- vehicle accident. they cannot tell me if a medevac helicopter landed at the scene or not. i cannot tell you right now the situation with the person that was crushed in between the vehicles. we will keep you posted on this situation as the information becomes available. derek, back to you. >> we actually can add something about the injuries. we are hearing now that two children under the age of 8 and two adults were hurt as well and as you mention we will have more on this as we get it in in this half hour. of course the full story as much as we know tonight at 11 p.m. also tonight in your only local news at 7 p.m. we are in dc with two stories that will impact the whole region. congress hard at work on the

debt ceiling and metro unveiling a new look for its subway cars but we begin with an arrest in a series of arsons including one that injured five firefighters. i'm andrea mccarren in northwest washington where 26- year-old maurice dews has been arrested and charged with setting three dc fires and is a suspect in others. >> mayday, mayday. >> reporter: after this fire in april left five dc firefighters injured federal and local authorities created an arson task force. today their tireless round the clock efforts paid off. >> one individual for sports decides to start burning places to get a reaction. it is a good reaction by law enforcement to put handcuffs on him. >> reporter: dews called to report all three of the fires including multiple calls to 911. in fact, the investigation reveals dews has called to report fires in dc and maryland

at least nine times since 2007. i'm delia gonclaves reporting from southwest washington. good news for metro riders. new trains are on their way. here is a look inside. the cloth bench style seats replaced with vinyl padded seats designed to help give you more personal space with vertical grip pulls at each one. >> we put a lot more hand holds in for people especially that can't reach up to those high bars. >> reporter: carpets replaced with nonslip flooring and led lights and clear privacy shields at priority seats. this demo video shows diagrams and interactive maps in more places but most importantly the trains with the sleek new interior will also be more reliable and safer. 300 of the new cars will replace the 1000 series cars. the models involved in the deadly metro crash two years

ago. i daniellenottingham.. the president obama delivering an update on the debt talks. >> i will reconvene congressional leaders here on sunday and will hopefully be in a position to then start engaging in the hard bargaining that is necessary to get a deal done. >> reporter: the president proposes that congress agree to raise the nation's debt ceiling and slash $4 trillion in federal spending over the next decade. that's double the amount of cuts lawmakers originally considered. >> everything's on the table except raising taxes on the american people. >> reporter: lawmakers have until july 22nd to strike a deal. that gives them enough time to pass the plan before august 2nd. that's the date when the federal government could go into default for the first time in history. if you say the word debt ceiling some folks will start to fall asleep. however, when you show them the images like this one about what we owe and how much we are making and where we spend our

money, it is just mind boggling and as jessica doyle explains trying to sift through those numbers could be well worth all the effort because this could all have a big impact on you. >> reporter: like a lot of families now a days our nation's leaders are fighting about how to pay the bills. think of the problem like a credit card that the nation has maxed out. the federal government can charge 14.3 trillion and then we are cut off and time is ticking down to an august 2nd deadline for congress to increase the amount of money it can borrow or default on its financial obligations. >> we need to come together over the next two weeks to reach a deal that reduces the deficit and upholds the faith and credit of the united states government and the credit of the american people. >> reporter: if a solution is not reached by august 2nd the consequences could be dire. the bipartisan policy center says the treasury would only have enough money to pay about

half of its bills. some federal employees could get i.o.u.s instead of paychecks potentially including the military. but even more fallout would come from an historic default which would slash our credit rating with some to junk status. like missing a payment on a credit card, interest rates on national debts would sore and so would your rates for nearly every other kind of loan. mortgages, credit cards and consumer and business loans. an across the board shock in borrowing rates would cascade through businesses such as the auto and housing industries and could send them back into a full recession. without the availability of loans consumers might be unlikely to buy cars or homes or pretty much anything but the bare necessities. with spending drying up, companies could have no other choice but to start laying off workers all over again. without a deal in congress the downward spiral could push the economy back into darker times. on capitol hill, jessica doyle,

wusa 9 news. >> there is some good news tonight for out of work homeowners on the financial front. starting august the 1st the federal housing administration will extend the period for folks in its programs from three or four months to a full year. now, that means qualified homeowners can modify their loans and others can miss payments for a full 12 months before they begin foreclosing on them. a similar loan modification program in maryland appears to be working out. 4,777 foreclosures took place in the first quarter of this year and that is the lowest number since the third quarter of 2007. a little thick and a little sticky out there today, topper. hoping for relief over the weekend. i'm wondering. >> may have to wait until the weekend. right now a couple of thunderstorms north of town. frontal boundary just north of us. will takes a long time to sag south. only warnings out for is more baltimore city, a flash flood warning until about 9:15 p.m. they have been getting hammered with storms. all the storms are north

because the boundaries up to the north and this is a some we are watching. on the west side of 270. and we will zoom into this storm. doesn't have any hail in it but has some pretty good rainfall rates of 1 to 2 inches per hour and the storm itself is going to move right toward frederick in the next hour or so. let's show you where it will go. 30% chance of hail. it is going to head towards horseshoe bend at about 7:11, potomac vista at 7:12. stone breaker at 7:16. garrett's mill at 7:17. headed towards frederick and affecting middletown and hitting meyerstown and jefferson will get good rains with this too. right now no warnings, watches. we will come back though and talk about what watch does go into effect though. >> thank you, topper. they say you have to take the good news with the bad and tonight why that is holding true for some who ride the

metro. we will show you. first, all eyes on majong at the national zoo. there is another panda cub out there. we have got the baby pictures. that's coming up. >> wusa 9 news is brought to you by geico.

check out the new addition at a virginia zoo. it is a baby red panda. although he does not look red right there. the cub was born three weeks ago at the zoo. he just opened his eyes for the first time this week and right now he weighs just under 1 pound. he is waiting for a name and we have heard no mention of sticks of butter. of course that does raise the question, however, about the possibility that we could have a new panda cub closer to home at our own national zoo. we did talk with somebody from the zoo this afternoon and they tell us as of yet no baby cub but they are still seeing some signs that majong could be pregnant. we will keep you posted because just like you we have heard all this before. still ahead, topper keeping an eye on the skies. there are some storms starting to pop up around our region. but first, it is kind of sad but atlantis is on the launch pad and this is the last space shuttle mission. we will have more on it for you. that's coming up next. ú

i'm kristin fisher at the kennedy space center where we are less than 24 hours away from the last shuttle launch. up to 1 million people could be coming here to watch it including my mom who is a current nasa astronaut. she was also the first mom in space. and coming up tonight at 11 p.m., i will share with you my personal story about what it was like to grow up in a household where both of the parents were astronauts. that story is coming up at 11

p.m. >> great baby pictures, kristin. >> russia is now ready to embark on another era in space. that country wants to be the first to send the olympic torch into outer space. russia is hosting the 2014 winter games and they say after sending the first human into space he wants to mark this milestone as well. tourists flocking to the front lawn. two national galleries, six monuments and memorials and other things, stuff is starting to get crowded. the smithsonian is working to build a black national history museum and now they are recommending a hispanic history museum. now they say it is time to tell the story of all of the people. >> it should be devoted to all men of art and cultural

accomplishments. this museum covering each group's story in the context of every group story should have sexed the trends of groups having their own individual specific museums. >> isn't there already a history museum down there? i thought there was. they are calling for a presidential commission to study creating the national museum of the american people. now, guess it is a little different because specifically it would tell the history of immigration and migration that formed this country. the idea is endorsed by 130 different minority groups. although that's interest. in less than two hours we learned the question of whether some illegal immigrants can pay instate tuition at maryland colleges will be on the ballot next november. the maryland state board of elections validated more than 63,000 signatures after a petition drive. that's 8000 more than the organizers really needed to get and there are still 40,000 additional signatures to be

examined. after two days, some are hoping to use the foggy bottom escalators. it is still being worked on. when is the last time you scribbled a note. can you remember the last time you wrote something in cursor? indiana school administrators think the age old writing style is falling to the wayside. they are encouraging students to take keyboard courses instead. is is old school to write cursor. but how would you sign your name without cursor writing?

e-mail us your comments to mailbag@wusa9.com. >> we didn't even learn cursive writing until third grade. >> i don't remember. >> you don't practice it. when do you use it? >> never. but send your responses anyway. thunderstorms setting up. should be dry throw for the nats game. live doppler. you can access this on our website at wusa9.com. only warning is for baltimore city. they are under a flash flood warning. got hammered a little bit ago. under the warning until about 9:15 p.m. now, that said, we are looking at the big storm around baltimore. this is the storm we are concerned about up north of frederick on the west side of 270. but it is almost two storms. one crossing 17 at meyersville. all moving off to the south and east headed towards jefferson, frederick or walkersville.

we will put this into motion, in fact. in the next hour the computer actually diminishes the intensity of the storm. takes it through walkersville and crosses it over onto the east side of 270. temperatures right now. 92 downtown. 95 was the high. 90 in manassas. cooler up to the north. 80 in baltimore. 75 in hagerstown. there is a cold front on the map. it will sink south. it will take a long time to get south of us. probably take until saturday morning. muggy with storms tonight. more storms tomorrow. some could be heavy. flash flood watch goes into effect tomorrow. and hot over the weekend but less humid. a little bit more comfortable. for tonight then, mostly cloudy, muggy, showers and thunderstorms possible. 68 to 74. we will revisit how many storms we think will happen overnight tonight at 11 p.m. by morning, some storms are still possible. could be a wet commute going and coming to work.

70s and 80s. winds out of the southwest at 10. then by afternoon a real good chance of showers and thunderstorms. not as hot. flash flood watch goes into effect. high temperatures around 85. now, the next seven days. once we get through tomorrow maybe a leftover shower on saturday but really not a bad weekend. upper 80s on saturday to near 90. 90 on sunday but less humid. hot on monday. back in the mid-90s. and pretty strong cold front rolls through on monday night and tuesday morning which will give us some canadian air. we don't get that too often. we will be back in the mid-80s wednesday and thursday. >> apparently still pretty warm up in canada. >> yes. from our weird news file. you know how sometimes you see those young folks break dancing and you think to yourself there was a time when i could have done that. heck, why not now? to some place warm where tracey may be a grandmother but her groove can still make you move. she has some serious dancing moves. watch her go down to the ground.

no trouble getting back up at all. she is kicking it. now, some might ask, where did grandma learn to move like this? but i would argue the whole break dance thing is so old now she may have come by her skills the old fashioned way and just never forgot. we want to hear what you think. sends your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back.

tune in tomorrow morning for wusa 9 news. the latest on the shuttle launch. in the mail bag tonight, the belly bomb the feds say we have to worry about terrorists getting on planes with bombs sewn into their bodies. apparently there is a bit of worried fatigue. holly carter puts it this way. maybe we should just shut down all forms of travel and sit in our living rooms waiting. listen to ed. when i go to the airport now i will have to turn my head and

cough? another saying my hubby has a surgical rod in his leg. guess we will have to get to the security gates a day before our flights now. we heard more about the sentencing on acquitted mom casey anthony who will be a free woman as of sometime next week. shelly writes "if she truly is innocent, why isn't she concerned with finding her daughter's murderer. if we didn't know then we know now." there were a lot of facebook fans with that same sentiment who apparently forgot that the defense contended that little caylee's death was actually just a terrible accident. and that casey and her family tried to cover things up. vicky is wishing all of it would stop. "i'm sick of hearing about her. stop turning this nut into a celebrity by putting out this news." i'm hoping you didn't turn us off vicky before we aired your comment but if you did tomorrow is always another day at

mcginty's mail bag where the address remains mailbag@wusa9.com or join the conversation already going on on the wusa9 facebook page. that is our report for now. i will be right back here tonight at 11 p.m. don't forget, log on anytime to wusa9.com. you have a great evening. we will see you a bit later. bye-bye. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com

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