area in clarksburg. officers believe it is the body of 11-year-old william mcquain. police began searching for him after finding his mother's body last week. mcquain's estranged husband, curtis lopez is charged in her death and is now considered a suspect in william's death, as well. today more children who say they were abused by a former montgomery county elementary teacher are expected to take the stand at her trial. yesterday four children testified susan burke choked, punched and scratched them. burke had been working until her arrest in january. the four boys who testified had similar stories of doing something in the classroom that angered their teacher and having her place her hands around their necks. the prince georges county council seat left vacant by leslie johnson will soon be filled after a special election

last night. democrat derrek lee-on davis won the seat, beating out republican gardner. davis won last month while gardner ran unopposed in the republican primary. leslie jobs pled guilty in june in the corruption trial also involving her husband jack johnson. today the maryland state house is expected to vote on governor martin o'malley's redistricting plan. if approved, it would drastically alter the sixth district in maryland and but bartlett in danger of losing his seat. yesterday maryland state senators passed the plan with a vote. you won't be get ago rested in dc for driving around with expired plates any more. however, driving an unregistered vehicle will cost you plenty.

under the bill, an expired tag, 30 days or less, will carry a $100 fine it goes up to $200 after thirty days and at that point your vehicle can also be towed by police. even the to go is much too much of a severe response for this issue. >> to substitute to go vehicles is troublesome and reminds us of a situation in philadelphia, where they have a similar type law. but in a ten-year span, over 100,000 vehicles were impounded, and this also raises ethnic or racial profiling. aaa would prefer only tickets and fines for drivers with expired registrations under six months. republican presidential candidates took part in a feisty debate in las vegas. they came out swinging against herman cain's 9-9-9 plan.

>> susan mcginniss has a recap. >> reporter: all bets were off in las vegas as republican presidential candidates went head to head. >> i'm speaking. i'm speaking. >> this has been a tough couple of debates for rick. i understand that. you are going to get testy. the debate heated up last night. >> you lose all of your standing because you hired illegals in your home and you knew about it for a year. >> if someone who has a record as governor with regard to illegal immigration that doesn't stand up, it is you. >> most polls show romney is still the gop front runner but all the candidates zeroed in on georgia businessman herman cain. >> i love you brother, but you don't have to have a big analysis to figure this thing out. >> they blasted his 9-9-9 economic plan, calling it a tax

hike, waiting to happen. >> anytime you give congress a brand new tax, it doesn't go away. >> it is a jobs plan, it is revenue neutral, it does not raise taxes on those making the least. >> in virginia, president obama slammed the proposal in an interview with night line, and said he is not worried about who wins the gop nomination. >> there is going to be a very clear contrast between whoever they nominate and their vision for where we need to take the country and where i believe we need to take the country. >> reporter: the president wraps up his three day economic bus tour in virginia. 4:34 now. here's a look at some of the other things making news this morning. secretary of state hillary clinton made an unannounced visit to libya yesterday. announcing aid.

the aid will boost aid to libya to $135 million. secretary clinton said the united states wants to see the former dictator either killed or captured. stay inside. that is what police in ohio, are saying to residents after dozens of animals, including lions and bears, escaped from a wildlife preserve. they are hoping to tranquilize and capture the others. in other local news, maryland inspectors have discovered a few small cracks in three bridges which are part of the newly built interconnector. the cracks are hairline, however they need repair work and the work started yesterday. maryland state highway inspectors discovered the cracks on bridges along georges avenue and the washington post says the

bridges are still safe for drivers to use but they still need to be worked on. the remainder is expected to open by the end of the year. a heads up to anyone who lives, drives or works near the montgomery county fire and rescue training academy in rockville. if you happen to see several emergency vehicles in the area later this morning, it is only a drill. the capital shield drill will assimilate a rescue and emergency response to a terror event. police and fire are participating. 4:36. at 4:41, social security recipients are approved for a financial boost for the first time in two years. jessica doyle has that story. researchers may be close to developing a vaccine against malaria. you are watching 9news now.

welcome back. the threat of strong storms this afternoon and evening. this morning though we have some rain. some of it is heavy in spots. midday lulls at times, mid-60s at noon. high today between 65 and 70s. right now, over to monday carr. >> reporter: we are going to look at a map right now where there is a situation that happened overnight with a pole down in the roadway at south kingshighway at route one. use route one or telegraph as your alternate. i'll keep you posted on that situation in my next report. andrea and mike, back to you. it is time for the first year money report of the

morning. we started the week with a thud. >> today we have a little bit of a bump in the road. we got a rare earnings disappointment from apple of all things. the company is sales profits and sales misseddest nats last quarter. because it sold -- missed estimates last quarter because it sold fewer iphone. at the same time apple set new sales and profit records, overall. still the stock fell 7% after hours. wall street looked good yesterday on more optimism about europe's debt problems potentially getting figured out. france and germany agreed to boost the rescue fund check and the dow standing at 11577, added 180 points yesterday. the nasdaq rose by 42 points and the s&p was up by 24. this is great news for seniors. social security recipients will get bigger checks in january. the cost of living adjustment

is estimated to come in at 3.5%. this is the first increase since 2009 because inflation, believe it or not, was considered to be too low over the last two years. >> some people don't like the taste of starbucks coffee. this could be the ticket for them. starbucks has unveiled a later roast, the blonde roast marks a major departure from the company's typical dark roasted beans. we have to see if blonde roast has more fun. >> it is the battle of the blonde versus the dark roast. >> blonde you wimps, it is just coffee, drink it. we all know identity theft is a huge problem here in the united states. around the world too. but, now there are some criminals that have stooped to a new low. >> we'll bring you the story of a family forced to re-live the pain of losing a child after identity theft criminals stole their dead daughter's id.

we'll be right back.

we don't like to hear that sound or see this. but you need to know a severe weather alert today. welcome back to 9 news now. right to howard and the forecast first. the bigger concern is later on this afternoon and this evening. we have enough spin in the atmosphere we could get severe weather and potentially low top spinners. we'll be watching how things set up later on. not saying this is a definite.

but there are some signs the possibility exists. this morning i want to show you what's been happening with the rain since last night. yesterday what a gorgeous day we had light winds. temperatures got to 74. out in the shenandoah valley, we have seen very little. some areas haven't seen much but others rain is coming down at a good clip. here we are at live doppler hd. toward fredericksburg, prince william, stafford, fairfax county. all seeing some of this moderate to heavy rain. there is more rain down between norfolk and williamsburg, moving toward the north. look at this line. the yellow here. coming right through the metro, montgomery county light to

moderate rain in howard county, headed toward an endale. -- toward this area. just west of forestville, outside of dc here. on the east side of alexandria and the wilson bridge. southern fairfax. down toward areas in prince william, almost to woodbridge, either side. we have heavier rains occurring there. all off toward the north, northeast. look at garrisonville and stafford there. route one and i-95. another band of heavy rains here in areas even down toward lake anna seeing all that move up toward us. for the next couple of hours, we are going to have moderate rain around in spots. our bus stop forecast, rainy and mild. temperatures running in the mid-50s to mid-60s. sunrise at 7:21.

as far as today's concerned, we will have periods of rain. some could be heavy the at times. other times we would get into a lull here. some of the storms may linger into the first part of tonight until we get passed by the cold front. it will cool us down but also will bring winds and drier air toward tomorrow .10 to 15, maybe gusty at times. south and east of us. look at the warm push. norfolk is in the upper 60s. ocean city push not guilty our direction. behind the storm we have temperatures in the 40s in lexington and columbus this morning. we had 70s yesterday and 60s today. we'll be hard pressed to get out of the 60s by friday. we are out of the 50s i should say by the time we get to friday. 60 in mason, and bethesda. and vienna.

60 also up in columbia. annapolis warmer thanks to the water of bay at 65 and in college park and reagan national. both 61 right now. with the rain at national dew point 5. currently a north northeast wind at 8 miles per hour. the entire washington metro reaming the threat of heavy downpours, hail not likely. wind and isolated tornadoes not out of the question later on this afternoon. as this area of low pressure will sweep that cold front toward us. right now we have one batch of rain here more rain off to the south. that is why i believe periods of rain today. we go through 9:00 and you see the heavy stuff? jersey. we'll go through the middle of the day with light to moderate showers around. then out in the west, as it sweeps in toward the evening and first part of the night, that would be potentially where we would get that severe weather push and that is out of here by

tomorrow morning. cold air moving -n we could see higher elevation snow showers thursday, but clearing for us. today 69 degrees. showers and storms. tomorrow 62 with the winds, could have gusts over 30 miles per hour and friday a cool day in the upper 50s. looking ahead toward the weekend. mostly sunny but cool. 62 sunday and a slight warm up monday and tuesday next week. monika santani it is not just the rain affecting us this morning? >> reporter: no. it was an overnight accident as well. south of the beltway here in huntington. good morning, everybody. we have been on the phone with the dispatch supervisor, they are telling us a pole went down, it was a two car accident on the southbound side of south kingshighway at route one. you will be diverted through the area but i suggest you use route one or telegraph road as your alternate route. now with the update, it should be 6:00 when they are able to

get a tem prayer pole up and open up the roadway for you. be aware of that in huntington. if you are planning to head over on 66, the toll road, route 7, there was overnight construction in place right at the beltway. a live look at 66 right now. it looks okay at gallows road. be aware of the construction. coming up in my next report, i will certainly look at maryland. back to you guys. >> reporter: as if stealing someone's identity and ruining finances wasn't bad enough, some criminals are take that go crime to a new low. stealing social security numbers of children who have died. >> earlier this week 9news now broke the story of an arlington family living through this very problem. it is now getting national attention as congress looks for a solution.

>> reporter: identity thieves stole the social security number of alexis after she died in january and used it to claim her as a dependent deduction on a tax return. >> it is very, very upsetting and angering. >> reporter: within days, 11 other families who had lost kids to cancer told jonathan than and neely august inthe stadium thing happened to them. >> if the thief is using it, the name will not ping up against a credit report, fraud alert. >> reporter: the social security numbers of 83 million dead americans can be found online through the use of the social security administration's death master file. >> it has created, in many respects, the perfect crime. >> reporter: florida senator bill nelson said we have got to put a stop to it. tougher laws and better

enforcement are needed. the congressman is meeting with the family within the week to discuss possible solutions to this heart wrenching fraud. recommendations for families going through this? >> see if there is a credit report. in the child's name. secondly, you had placed a deceased fraud alert on the credit report. to notify any potential creditors. thirdly, you would file a police report. lastly you would have to contact all the creditors and close the account. additional tips on our website at wusa 9.com. researchers in africa may have developed a vaccine for malaria. an experimental shot cut the risk of the disease in young children by half. however the vaccine is only about 50% effective. a lot lower than other common vaccines, but it is still something that could help save

thousands of lives. scientists say there will be three more years of testing to see how long it works on babies and how long the protection will last. a new warning for women about high blood pressure and birth defects. babies born to moms who took ace inhibitors in the first trimester are at higher risk of birth defects. researchers established a link between ace inhibitors and second and third trimesters. president obama he's healthcare program has the potential to improve the healthcare system but the united states has more preventable deaths than any other rich nation in the world. a number of took friends you have may say a lot about the size of your brain. british scientists studied the

brain scans of college students they found more friends on took had more brain matter in the region responsible for processing. it is coming up on 4:53. before we take a break, it is time to look at the question of the morning. this morning's question every year. roughly 6000 auto accidents are caused by drivers distracted by this. texting, changing clothes, or picking up dropped food in your vehicle? we'll reveal some of your comments and the correct answer, in a little bit.

welcome back. we have some rain around now. some of it is on the moderate side. see the areas of yellow from dc south and west and the baltimore area. the concern is later this afternoon with a threat for thunderstorms. temperatures by 9:00 hanging in the low 60s to mid-60s south and east. lunch time scattered showers mid-60s. later this afternoon and this evening, temperatures try to get toward 70, we have got the threat toward strong thunderstorms. monika is that wet road conditions may slow you down early in the rush hour, so keep that in mind. the outer loop with the lanes open leaving 95. more on maryland roadways and an incident in huntington, coming up in my next report.

back to you guys. architect grand canyon gary is discussing his design of you approached -- architect frank gary is discussing his design of large, metal tapestry, depicting trees and silos to evoke the kansas town where he grew up. it doesn't cost anything to look. otherwise, you need a pretty fat wallet to afford some of the thing in the 85 ath neiman marcus christmas book. do you want a handcrafted mahogany boat, mike? new do, it will run you $250,000. or perhaps a limited edition ferarri? just ten of those will be available for $395,000 apiece. who said rough economy? or maybe a dancing water fountain for a cool million dollars.

the president of neiman marcus says even though these high priced items usually grab all the headlines, half of the 600 products in this year's catalog, like these lovely earrings, maggie would love them, actually cost less than $250. each. >> just a fountain fa million dollars. >> well. another day in court for lindsey lohan. ann hathaway lands one of hollywood's most coveted roles. karin brown has those stories and more in this look at entertainment news. >> reporter: she missed therapy sessions and didn't show up to perform community service at a women's shelter. ann hathaway is having a very big year. she just landed yet another one of hollywood's most sought after lead actress roles. she will join hugh jackman and russell crow in next year's production of les mis. she is playing cat woman in the batman flick the dark knight

rises. fans of bruce springsteen will soon be able to visit a new mecca, devoted to the boss. monday mug university in west long branch, new jersey has just announced it will store over 15,000 items, including concert footage spanning springsteen's career. and one of the fall season's most talked about movies just had its new york premiere. "like crazy "is the story of lovers caught in a long distance relationship. >> we made the film in a very quiet, intimate way. it was mostly five of us onset. so then to be here, and experiencing this, is very surreal. >> reporter: it opens in theaters on october 28th. karin brown, cbs news, hollywood. and thanks for keeping your eye on us. good morning, you are watching 9news now at 5:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane.