hello, i'm j.c. hayward. thanks for being with us. 50 people are hoaxless this afternoon after a fast-moving fire tore through their

apartment building in langley park. it happened at the bedford stations apartment in the 1400 block of university boulevard. surae chinn has more on efforts to find the families new homes. >> karla munoz came home to find the building next to her on fire. >> everybody was coughing. we tried to go back inside. it was like people, they wanted to evacuate everybody. [ speaking spanish ] >> reporter: lost everything. some distressed attents thought they were on their own as advocacy group stepped in. >> they're very upset. they don't know what to do. where are they going to go? >> the apartment manager says that only added to the confusion. when you hear the property manager didn't do enough, what's your response? >> that's not fair because we did respond quickly. the red cross were there. they want to stay with us and came to the office.

they all had kids. had keys to a new home last night. >> just the clothes on your back. roughly 50 people lost everything and some of their belongings right here on the ground, a mattress, a door, window screens. but firefighters had no chance against this fast-moving fire. >> because i had two friends that their families live in that building. it is sad because they lost everything. >> management says they placed people either in other vacant apartments on site or at other properties. 18 units burned and the apartment manager says they are doing all they can to help people get back on their feet. in langley park, maryland, surae chinn, 9news now. prince george's county fire officials say that the cause of that fire has not been determined. but they have no reason to believe that it was suspicious. and the red cross is helping with food and a $100 gift certificate. silver spring man is in police custody after a bizarre

attack on a metrobus driver. police say that it began when 52-year-old victor mceachen was inappropriately touching himself in the back of the bus. when the vehicle stopped at the wheaton metro station, police say that an argument started and mckeepen stabbed the driver. the driver's injury is considered to be nonlife- threatening. mckeepen was charged with first and second degree assault. a hearing for the former marine accused of firing shots at the pentagon and the marine corps building is being delayed. yonathan melaku was expected to plead guilty today to unrelated larceny charges. he is accused in a series of car vandalism cases in leesburg. however, prosecutors were granted a one-month delay today. melaku was arrested when police spotted him in arlington

national cemetery with a backpack, containing ammonium nitrate. that case on hold while melaku is being jailed in loudoun county. the trial of a-called underwear bomber is underway. the terror suspect who says he was working for al-qaeda is accused of trying to bring down a detroit-bound flight on christmas morning in the year of 2009. the nigerian is acting as his own lawyer. the evidence, however, is stacked against him. the 24-year-old was badly burned and the plane full of witnesses. >> we'll certainly hear about the way that abdul mutallab tried to hide the explosives in his underwear and the training that he received around this. >> if pretrial hearings are any

indication, the trial may be filled with terrorist propaganda. the accused claims that osama bin laden and the radical muslim cleric killed recently by the united states are actually still alive. organizers of the protest in downtown washington will be allowed to remain in freedom plaza. u.s. park police have offered to extend their permit to demonstrate by four months. protestors had declared that they would stay put, even if their permit was allowed to expire which it did yesterday. the demonstrators began camping out in freedom plaza last thursday while marking the 10th anniversary of the war in afghanistan. more than 50 protestors from the occupied boston movement were arrested early this morning. that move came after they ignored repeated warnings from police. there were concerns that the protestors would destroy more than 150,000 dollars worth of

shrubbery that was recently planted. the demonstrators were charged with trespassing. the house where president abraham lincoln died has reopened to the public. the year-long rehabilitation of peterson house included repairs to the exterior. a new climate-controlled system and improvements to the historic windows, doors and shutters. the house is part of the ford theatre national historic site. the park service acquired the house in 1933 and has re- created the scene at the time of president lincoln's death. it closed for repairs in september of 2010 and was scheduled to reopen in the spring of 2011 but that work took longer than planned. local television stations are being subpoenaed in an effort to find a missing baby in kansas city. 10-month-old lisa irwin was reported missing a week ago.

prosecutors are seeking raw footage from television news stations featuring interviews with the baby's parents. police have said that they have no suspects so far in this case. we're turning our attention now to campaign 2012. jobs and the economy will be the focus of the republican presidential debate tonight taking place in new hampshire. after stumbling in previous debates, there is a lot of pressure on texas governor rick perry to perform well. surging in the latest polls, herman cain has captured headlines with his idea to scrap the tax code and replace it with a 9% flat tax. >> and it will save all of us collectively $430 billion a year that we spend to fill out the tax code. a new poll released today has cain and mitt romney tied for the lead among virginia

republicans. well, president obama's $447 billion jobs plan faces its first key test on capitol hill today. the senate will hold a procedural vote. but the plan which would provide billions in infrastructure spending is already facing stiff opposition from lawmakers. danielle nottingham has more. >> reporter: president obama headed for pittsburgh to continue selling his jobs plan to voters. but the plan is likely to fail its first test in congress later today. republicans and a few democrats say they will vote against it. >> this bill is the same wasteful spending, the same burdensome union giveaways and the same temporary tax policies. >> white house advisors say if they can't get the votes to pass the package today, they're going to keep at it. >> jut first chapter in what's going to be an effort over the next couple of months to get as much done from the economy right now. >> the senate needs 60 votes to

pass the first test. democrats only control 53 seats in the senate so even if every democrat votes for it, they will still need some republican support and that's not likely to happen. the president's been pushing his jobs plan with campaign- style rallies and stay to win. he's urging voters to pressure lawmakers to vote for the bill. the white house says the $447 billion package will be paid for with spending cuts and tax increases on wealthy americans. republicans say as long as those increases are part of the bill, there is no deal. >> americans continue to be left asking the question where are the jobs? >> reporter: they argue they're open to working with the white house but they say the president's plan is not a jobs bill but another stimulus package that is likely to fail. danielle nottingham, cbs news, washington. the president's council on job creation will release its

report today on the best strategy to drive down unemployment figures which remain above 9%. coming up on 9news now at noon, caught on tape. wild kingdom! a bike racer takes a punishing turn in the african bush. and businesses around the verizon center say they're being punished by the nba lockout. we'll have those stories and more just ahead.

jayna murray was killed. can her parents ever forgive their daughter's alleged killer? watch part of two of andrea mccarran's interview only tonight at 11:00. if you missed part one, we'll air it again tonight at 5:00 p.m. if you go by the white house in a couple of hours, you're going to see a lot of people exercising on the south lawn. it is part of an effort to break the guinness world record title for most people doing jumping jacks in a 24-hour period. first lady michelle obama is going to serve as jumper in chief. the event will be reviewed by an official from the guinness

world records. there will be no jumping or anything else for that matter during the scheduled beginnings of the nba season. negotiators failed to reach an agreement and the first two weeks of the season have been canceled. the move came after commissioner david stern said both sides are very much apart on virtually all issues. owners longed out the players this summer when they couldn't reach a deal before the expiration of the old collective bargaining agreement. well, the news isn't going over too well for fans and for people who work near the verizon center. the nba season generates a lot of money for neighboring bars and restaurants. the green turtle is right next to the verizon center. >> worst thing is a lot of the people that live here in the city, that work in the arena, they don't have jobs at all or that they're like down to one shift a week, one shift they can get with the capitals.

>> fans will turn to something else, especially college. they're playing for their heart, they're out there because they want to not because they're being paid to. >> no new negotiations have been scheduled right now. the last time the nba canceled games was in 1998. coming up, we're going to get howard's forecast. >> j.c., very comfortable right now. although cloudy. nice temps. we've got rain moving in. that may help a little bit with the allergy update. not bad. take you to break with it. it is low for the tree pollen, the weed pollen but the mold spores are moderate. rain in the upcoming weekend when 9news now at noon returns. state farm. this is jessica.

hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm.

caught on tape, amazing video from south africa. a biker was pedaling through the countryside when he was head butted by an antelope and the video was recorded by another biker's camera. the biker who was hit, he was dazed but he's going to be ok. is that incredible? >> a one in a million shot. the antelope leaped out from almost nowhere. he didn't like that biker. >> i think they collided accidently. i would like to think that. i hope we don't have antelopes

attacking bikers. >> he didn't like the fact they were going through his territory. >> that's a possibility, too. >> how are you? >> i'm fine. i'm keeping my umbrella handy. >> you're going to need it later on tonight and wednesday. again, probably thursday night in into friday. the weekend will be pretty good once again. not as warm as last weekend but we'll take dry and some sunshine, won't we? a look at today's day planner because lots of clouds are out there this morning. i gotta get my weather computer going. into the afternoon now, they tell me to change it. 71 degrees at the 1:00 hour. we'll slowly fall off into the upper 60s as we go throughout afternoon. by 5:00, there could be a couple of showers especially south of town. a better chance to see showers as we head toward the late afternoon evening hours as temperatures by 9:00 will be dropping into the mid-60s. notice the winds northeast to northeasterly at 5, 10 miles per hour. here's live doppler 9000 hd and

it looks like there is a lot of rain. hardly any is reaching the ground. light sprinkles possible. richmond has been reporting some light rain down here. the stuff north, it is a little bit more hit and miss there. the bigger picture shows the moisture that's been coming out of north carolina into virginia. there has been rain not nearly as much yellow. the air is still moistening up, a little bit dry. this is a sign of things that are changing. a lot more rain will be headed this way tomorrow it looks like. temps in the 60s to around 70 here up in philly as well. 55 in williamsport. upper 60s in fairfax county. 70 from rockville and columbia. 68 in baden. 66 at mason neck. in town, 70 degrees with a dew point still at 59 and the winds northeast at 6 and the cloudy skies stay thickened up. our problems with coming from this storm system out of florida. it is in georgia and the carolinas today. tropical moisture being drawn into this. some of the rain totals over

the next couple of days could be two, three inches, maybe more than that. isolated here. potentially heavy rains. this stuff will be with us really tonight and as we get into the day on wednesday. wednesday looks like a rainy day and a cooler day. today, 71. a late shower. 67 tomorrow. low 60s tonight. we won't move much tomorrow. could be some rumbles of thunder. thursday, partly sunny with late showers returning. 72 into early friday. we clear out for the weekend. saturday, cool. october-like 64. looks good for the 'skins home game with the eagles. we'll be right back with more 9news now at noon in just a moment.

i want you to remind you to go to my new web site,jchayward.com full of information about events around town, my charity work, things i'm involved in. just lots of information. we even give women a little information about how to relax. so, go to jchayward.com every day. new information every day. now, my guest today would like

you to take some steps. literally. go on the mall on sunday and help us fight als. it is a disease that strikes about 30,000 americans at a time each year. and i would like for you to meet christine kirkly who has more information about als. i will be down on the mall sunday morning and i want all of my viewers to join me there because this is a devastating disease. a lot of people call it the lou gehrig's disease because he brought a lot of attention to it. but let's explain to my viewers exactly what it is. >> certainly. als is a fatal disease once you're diagnosed, it is typically two to five years when the person passes. what happens, i guess the easiest way to explain it is if you've ever had your arm or leg in a cast and you don't use it for awhile, once you get that cast off, you notice your muscles aren't as strong and

they're much smaller. that's atrophy. so, that's what happens with als. your muscles atrophy. it could start your feet, your hands, it could start in your throat or your mouth. ultimately, the person passes because they're not -- they're not able to move anything. they need 24/7 care. it is not just an individual disease. it is a community's disease because it takes a lot of people to help someone who is living with it. >> it really does. i've known people who have had this disease and it is slow, slow, slow good-bye. >> yes. >> because what happens is the brain is still able to function but the body shuts down. >> right. >> this walk is so important. why? >> because it is the one event that everybody can attend. when you receive this diagnosis, you feel like you're on an island by yourself. you come to this walk and you have all of these people around

you and you can see that you're not going through this alone. that there are people to help you and there is a community to support you. so, it is not only showing the individuals who are living with this disease that there are people to help them but we're raising awareness because it is considered a rare disease. when you come out for the walk, you'll see it is not so rare. >> so, let's tell my viewers what to do if you want to help fight als. what should you do? >> you should go to our web site which is www.alsinfo.org. you'll see a walk logo. click on that and you can join a team. you can start your own team. or you can donate and of course, you can also volunteer. there's always room for volunteers. >> volunteers are needed. the walk is sunday. it is on the mall. it starts at 10:00 a.m. and i'm going to be there and i want you to be there, too. let's fight als together. >> absolutely. >> let's get a cure and get rid of this devastating disease.

>> thank you for being here. i'll see you on sunday. >> yes, ma'am. absolutely. >> don't forget to go to my web site, jchayward.com because we're going to have information about the walk on my web site but now, i want to go back to howard before we close the show. he's going to tell you to keep the umbrella handy. >> yeah, j.c. rain moving in this afternoon, we could see a couple of showers here and there but really, tonight, overnight into wednesday, could be some potentially heavy rains at times. two inches, maybe more. not out of the question. tomorrow's high stay in the 60s. not much movement. thursday, not too bad. thursday night into friday morning, more showers. friday around 70. the weekend looks cooler and drier. stay safe. >> wonderful, i want to see you on the mall sunday at 10:00. be there with your sneakers on! thanks for being with us. come back and join us at 5:00. have a great day, bye-bye.