more ump so to speak. temperatures in the mid-70s, low 80s for highs. winds not too bad. some of these storms, they've been strong already this morning. coming out of the ohio valley, coming across our region. we've got one line now, more showers in northern virginia. then this other cluster we'll have to watch the next few hours as it tracks just south of due east. you can see these moderate showers in clinton, down 301 toward andrews. but the heavy stuff with lots of lightning and thunder into southwestern areas and western areas of charles county. passing stafford and fredricksburg. colonial beach had one round. round two is coming with dahlgren the next few minutes. in and around the leonardtown area, northern st. mary's county headed toward reduce by, st. leonard, maybe solomon, this has a lot of lightning and thunder and heavy rain as well. we're seeing the scattered showers and storms this morning and rather mild. 67 right now at reagan national. it's 65 on the bay in

annapolis. even north and west the cool spot out in garrett county, 55. hagerstown 59. it's 6:00 a.m. some storms in spots. that means wet roads in spots. that means even slower in spots. >> slower in spots and unfortunately a very serious situation down in brandywine. good morning, everybody. i'm going to start off with that on the northbound side of crane highway north of dyson road. an accident is blocking all lanes northbound on route 301. we'll take a live look a little further south and for those of you who use route 301 out of brandywine. you want to be aware that all lanes are blocked just north of dyson road. go ahead and use cherry tree crossing road as your alternate route. i think it's going to be a while with the investigation and cleanup as well so keep that in mind. let's go back over to the maps. southbound i-95 last time around i told you all lanes were blocked. southbound 95, south of quantico right now they've pushed all the activity to the right side of the road. southbound. northbound your lanes are open but heavy traffic trying to get into woodbridge and then into

springfield. we'll take a live look outside on the northbound side of i-95. here's what it looks like in newington. you can see traffic is slowing down trying to get up into springfield and on to 395 as well. an accident on new hampshire avenue near route 108. we'll have that hopefully for you next time around. coming up in my next report, we'll take another look at area roads at 6:12. andrea and mike. >> thanks, monika. here's a check of some of the stories happening today that we will be following. a big meeting hosted by transportation secretary ray lahood to talk about the metro silver line. he wants to get loudoun county lawmakers on board to build phase two from reston to dulles airport in ashburn. a dispute over funding and labor has put the project in jeopardy. the d.c. city council will be talking about closing time today. mayor gray wants to keep some bars open later in the district as a way to earn more money, but some counselors whose wards are home to bars are opposed to the idea. put a sombrero on that guy. vice president joe biden and his wife dr. jill biden will

host a cinco dimaio -- sink company de -- sicco de mayo breakfast. president obama will be back from his trip to afghanistan. >> it was a surprise and gave the president a chance to lay out his plan for the future. >> delia goncalves is outside the white house with more on that this morning. good morning, delia. >> reporter: the president is expected to return here to the white house later this afternoon, even as critics, and that includes mitt romney himself, say it was good that the president visit afghanistan. if fact, it was president obama's third trip to that country. he arrived in darkness. he laid out a plan toandz the war in 20 -- plan to end the war in 2014. the goal the president says will shift the support and training of the afghan people and its army and that may mean more troops too still stay in the country.

the president sign add ten-year agreement with -- signed a ten- year agreement with president karzai before addressing the country. >> our goal is not to build a country in america's image or eradicate every vestige of the taliban. these objectives would require many more years, many more dollars and most importantly many more american lives. our goal is to destroy al qaeda and we or a path to do exactly that. we will shift into a support role as afghans step forward. as we do, our troops will be coming home. >> reporter: though romney credits president obama for his trip to afghanistan, he continues to blast the president for playing politics with the death of osama bin laden. coming up at 6:30, details on the afghan agreement that was signed last night. back to you. >> delia goncalves, she had to be on tape. you see the weather conditions deteriorating outside the white house. just hours after the president left, a surprise attack by the taliban killed seven people and left 17 more

hurt. the taliban says it was in response to the president's visit. a suicide bomber detonated a car injurying children on their way to school. then taliban militants attacked a housing compound for foreigners. nato forces took out those militants. montgomery county fire investigators will be back at the scene of a huge fire that destroyed 20 apartments in silver spring. the complex along terrace drive yesterday afternoon, flames could be seen for miles as could the smoke. two prrts suffered -- firefighters suffered minor injuries battling the fire. it started in the attic of one of the units. authorities say the red cross is providing shelter for nearly hundreds of residents now who were forced out. again, they're still trying to figure out the exact cause. the f.b.i. is getting leads in its search for former d.c. teacher accused of producing child pornography. eric toth taught at a private elementary school on the grounds of the national cathedral. he was fired in 2008 after another teacher reportedly found pornographic pictures on

the school's camera and in his possession. the agency has received hundreds of tips since placing him on the ten most wanted fugitives list last month. a deadly week in the district. police say there have been five murders in the last five days. we told you about one of them yesterday. the man who was stabbed inside his car and then crashed that car at 5th street and florida avenue northwest. the victim has been identified as dwayne brisbane of upper marlboro. police are offering a $25,000 reward in that case. prince george's county executive rushern baker is really putting on the pressure now for a proposed casino in his county. he met with house speaker michael bush yesterday in annapolis. baker is pushing the idea of a special legislative session to talk about expanding gambling. the proposal was never voted on before the regular session ended in annapolis last month. an expansion of gambling would also have to be approved in a statewide referendum as well. 6:07. jessica doyle is watching your

money and your mother's day. >> the holiday is just a week and a half away. have you gotten your gift yet? hurry up. she's going to help save you some money. >> we have lots of unique gift ideas but we're going to start traditional. this will still surprise and delight without busting the bank. you're going to pay $40 for $80 towards bouquets and flowering plants. this is a google offer. pro flowers has a similar deal, $15 for $30, a deal you'll find on living social. harry&david.com, $25 for $50 of fresh fruits and gourmet gifts, a deal you'll also find on google offers. another one for you, this is going to cost you less than $20 plus shipping. this is a unique one. it's smileycookie.com, sugar cookies that say love you, mom on them. 10% offer right now that you can find on the website n. is from the food company. some people might have tried it

at ton park. this is their online chain. another option, this one is from old navy. it's just a gingham shirt, really cute, really affordable, $24.94 right now on old navy. maybe you want to get your mom some bright jeans, a really big fashion trend right now. we're taking a look at the website notyour downtown daughtersjeans. what makes these jeans so special is they have slimming technology inside of them, a little bit of spanned dex. they say it makes you look one size smaller. i will say i own several pairs of these jeans and they're pretty spectacular. >> several sizes smaller. >> that is the benefit of that. >> i like that. >> a final thought for you. maybe you want to make brunch for your mom on mother's mother's day. gayle king had a suggestion. i love this.

it's a grilled gourmet cheese sandwich. what the inspiration is raisin bread with goat cheese and figure preserve all grilled up and delicious. nice little twist. >> very nice. >> that's pretty cheap. >> can you fit into those jeans after that? >> that's why you have the slimming technology. suck it is in. -- sucks it in. time now 6:09. the feds break up a scary terror plot in these accusations are true. in four minutes, what a group in cleveland was trying to accomplish. >> it's a warm start to our wednesday and it's only going to get nicer as far as temperatures. your weather first is next right here on 9news now.

it's going to absomewhat act -- to be a somewhat active weather day. a couple of rup balances of thunder. then more this afternoon. some could be young to severe with highs in the low 80s. coming out of brandywine, a serious accident. crane highway is blocked north of dyson road. use cherry tree yo alternate ro more at 6:17. our time right now is 6:12. five men from ohio are behind bars accused in a domestic

terror plot. >> investigators say the five bought fake explosives from an undercover federal agent and then they thought they were getting ready to blow up a bridge. >> that bridge is in brexville, ohio, a southern suburb of cleveland. teresa garcia tells us what police say motivated this group. >> reporter: f.b.i. agents arrest the five men they say tries to blow up a bridge in the suburbs of cleveland. >> they placed the two inner ivs at the base of a concrete support pillar in an attempt to detonate the devices. >> reporter: the f.b.i. started investigating the men last october after getting a tip. the group allegedly researched various targets before picking the bridge. then an undercover agent sold them two inoperable explosive devices. >> i want to stress and we all want to stress up here that at no time during the course of the investigation was the public ever in danger. >> reporter: the suspects are in their 20s and 30s. they're all self-described anarchists with no ties to

international enterrism. >> the -- terrorism. >> the thrept we face is a diverse one, that terrorism can come in many hughs and from many homelands. >> reporter: investigators say the men wanted to make a statement against corporate america. they face charges of conspiracy and trying to use explosives to damage property affecting interstate commerce. teresa garcia, cbs news. >> our sister station in cleveland reports some of the suspects had ties to the occupy movement in the city. but organizers of the protests there condemn the violence they're charged with trying to carry out. 6:14 now. here's a check of some of the stories making news this morning. occupy protesters initially said they wanted their message to be peaceful tuesday but some vandals in seattle did not follow that message. they smashed windows and set fires. other protests nationwide disrupted traffic but most of those stayed peaceful. a big crime in the small city of dixon, illinois.

the woman in the beige coat with the glasses is the former city financial officer. prosecutors say over 22 years she funneled $53 million in city money to a secret account. she'll be back in court next week. investigators will be surveying the damage this morning in tyler perry's film studio in atlanta. a four-alarm fire damaged one of the studios in his complex. no one was hurt. they're still looking for the cause. howard has a lot of oomph in his forecast. >> the storms down south, areas are getting hammered. you know what i'm talking b. here it's been just a little wet. but this afternoon we could be looking at more scattered strong thunderstorms across the region. in fact, we're under a slight risk of severe weather from the storm prediction center. that means damage from winds and hail later on. you can see another cluster just passing south of the pittsburgh area in toward eastern ohio. on live doppler 9000 hd, we'll

take the tour. storms in the upper part of the bay coming up 95. it's south and east of us that is really packing the punch this morning. here in d.c. we've had some light showers but in prince george's county, especially south of 50, we're seeing some lighter showers. you get to upper marlboro and south and southeast of there, that's where the rain really picks up. looks like the worst of it is going to be from la plata south down 301 to dahlgren. heavy showers and storms. this is back to welcome and moderate rain goes back to stafford and even cromwell. this is all moving toward the east at 30, 35 miles an hour. you get into st. mary's and southern calvert, also thunderstorms here with loud thunder, lightning. the downpours here. this is going to be on and off for the next hour or so. so you can pick up quite a bit of rain in short time. our bus stop forecast, bsly some scattered showers, -- obviously some scattered showers, some storms out there. temperatures running in the 50s but mostly the 60s. sunrise happened a few minutes ago. we'll have a threat for some storms again this afternoon.

temperatures shoot into the low 80s. winds generally southeast at 5 miles an hour although gust in these storms. tonight 77. if you're going to the nats game tonight, there is going to be a threat of a shower but it should be mild and muggy. 70 at the patuxent river naval air station. 63 easton. outside on our weather camera, you see the clouds here. 67 degrees. at the top of the hour we had some rain reported at reagan national with calm winds and the dew point in the low 60s. we have this cluster with us this morning and you'll notice more storms, more unsettled weather west of chicago. this flow is conducive to bring storms at us from time to time the next couple of days. certainly it's going to be warm. today 83. tonight 60s with some 50s north and west. scattered storms again today, tonight. tomorrow afternoon may see a few storms, 83. then friday is going to be hot, upper 80s, isolated afternoon storm. still on the warm side saturday with some afternoon storms, 84. then sunday looks cooler and drier with highs in the mid-

70s. it is 6:17. monika santami is in with time saver traffic and a whole lot to tell you. >> i do. i have a lot to tell you. i'm going to start off with a serious accident that happened about an hour ago on the northbound side of route 301 leaving bandywine. it's completely shut down between brandywine road and missouri avenue. i suggest you use cherry tree crossing road as an alternate route. if you're right at that intersection of route 301 and route 5, you can see it's already very heavy heading northbound because of that accident. plan early if you're just heading out the door. it will be a good idea for you. now take you back over to the maps. this time all the way on the north side of town. out of frederick on 270 it's already heavy from i-70 most of the way down into clarksburg. then the pace improves as you head down toward rockville where it slows again heading for the split. we'll take a live look over at the beltway north of town where you've got your slow traffic off and on on the outer loop

leaving the 95 interchange as you head for silver spring. now i have a -- next report at 6:25. now i have a commuter alert. something new is coming for drivers in maryland. it will be at the bw parkway and anne arundel mills boulevard in anne arundel county. crews are building what's called a die vernging diamond interchange to ease congestion for when maryland live casino opens in june. road geeks will think this is neat but drivers might get confused. here is why. what happens is that you come across -- see this blue line right here? you come across one of these setups and it will cross over. drive on the opside side of the road. that way they can go left on to the southbound bw parkway without a traffic light. there will be a ton of signs to make sure you're on the left side of the road. they use the setups like this around the country but this is the first one in the free state. it should open by next month. again if you're a real traffic geek, a road geek like our

producer dan, ddi is what you should call it. by the way, andrea, this apparently originated in france. >> of course. >> we love the french, don't we? 6:20. next some sports pryce harper makes his national debut, pan, he's talented and the caps get ready for game three with the range glers time for another check of our question of the morning. bet they don't do this in france. 60% of people say this is the most annoying thing they encounter at work. is it a, gossip, b, unwanted comments from a co-worker or c, a colleague who can't do our job. >> boy, do our facebook friends like weighing in on this one. lynn with a little attitude. c, someone who can't do their job. if you're hired for a job, then do it. always walk away with an honestly earned paycheck. >> i'm with you there. become our facebook friend.

post your thoughts. we'll have the correct answer at 6:44. let it all hang out.

never in my lifetime did i think i could walk 60 miles in 3 days. if my mom can fight and beat breast cancer, i can walk 60 miles. (woman) the fund-raising was the easiest part. people were very giving. complete strangers wanting to help. i knew someday i was gonna do this walk. if i can do this, you definitely can do this. we can do this. we can all do this together. (man) register today for the... and receive $25 off your registration fee. because everyone deserves a lifetime. because everyone deserves a lifetime. you can't argue with nutrition you can see. great grains. great grains cereal starts whole and stays whole. see the seam? more processed flakes look nothing like natural grains. i'm eating what i know is better nutrition. mmmm. great grains.

search great grains and see for yourself. we've got some thunderstorms, heavy rain making loud thunderstorms down across southern maryland. look at live doppler 9000hd. you can see the action if la plata back to stafford and even into calvert and southern st. mary's county seeing the heavy downpours as well. scattered showers and storms this morning and again this afternoon. some of the storms this afternoon could also be strong to even severe. highs in the low #s on. mike and -- low 80s. mike and andrea? are you ready to rock the red? >> it's game three between the capitals and rangers with the series tied at one game a piece. the puck drops tonight at 7:30. >> it was game two in the other eastern conference center. flyers hosting the new jersey devils. jersey scored four unanswered goals in the third period alone. devils topping philly 4-1. series tied at a game a piece.

ryan zimmerman through the ball around for the first time since going on the disabled list. and he says he feels pretty good. last night a big debut at nationals park. >> the left fielder number 34, bryce harper. >> got a warm reaction but it was a cool night at the plate for harper. he went 0-3 with a strikeout against arizona. the diamondbacks scratched out nats lose 5-1. they'll try to snap their losing streak again tonight. time 6:25. coming up next, the latest on campaign 2012. one campaign trail will be coming to an end and it's going to happen in our region today. when it comes to picking a car, there's an easy decision that you can make that will save on gas. in ten minutes, why people are not making that decision. >> before you grab the keys, listen to monika santami on

your way to go to work. good morning, monika. >> good morning. keeping you updated on a serious accident northbound route 301. right now actually there's been some progress. the left lane is getting by on the northbound side of route 301 past brandywine road. i'll keep you posted on this situation coming up in my next report at 6:30. you're watching 9news now. stay with us.

welcome back.

howard bernstein with your weather first on the weather terrace. you're looking at a live picture from maryland where there have been some strong thunderstorms going through with heavy rains. that's thomas johnson bridge which connects calvert and st. mary's counties down there. here outside it's a little wet. we've had a couple of light showers but nothing like some other areas. we are expecting scattered showers and storms not just this morning but possibly again this afternoon. the ones this afternoon could be strong to severe. 67 on the -- 67. on the hour we had some sprinkles. 76 at noon. maybe strong thunderstorms late with highs in the low #s on. storms have been -- low 80s. storms have been coming at us since last night. there's another cluster south of pittsburgh we'll have to watch. if it survives the trip, it will mess things up here about three, four hours from now. lusby, heavy rains coming through you. also out of charles county to st. mary's approaching

leonardsdown. north beach moderate showers. even go back toward stafford. you guys down south will be busy for a while. temperatures this morning, don't need a jacket to keep you warm but a rain jacket might be advisable. we're running in the 60s. it's 6:30. inside to monika santami who also has been quite busy this morning. >> i have been busy. there have been a couple of accidents, one very serious one out of brandywine on the northbound side of 301 just north of route 5. you can see this is where the accident is at oak barrel court and right now the left lane is getting by but it's very, very heavy on the northbound side of route 301crain highway. i suggest cherry tree crossing road as your alternate. northbound 95 very slow and heavy out of dale city, most of the way into newington going about 36 miles an hour at backlick road in towards spring field. we'll take a live look there. you can see it's just a lot of volume. the rain slowed things down this morning as well. further north on to 395, here's what it looks like at duke

street heading in order toward seminary road. luckily lanes are open. it's just a lot of traffic. coming up in my next report, i'll update you on the situation out of brandywine at 6:43. the second trial of roger clemens is under way. his former teammate and former friend goes back on the stand. >> our partners at cbs this morning are covering that story. gayle king joins us live if new york with a preview. good morning, gayle. >> hello, mike and andrea. you're so right, mike, former teammate and former friend. we're talking about pitcher andy pettite. "new york times" william roden looks at the courtroom clash over steroids. do you ever wonder why so many works of art cost so much money and you look at it and wonder why. why one screen could sell up to

$200 million. those stories and more when we see you at 7:00. >> wow. $200 million. we're just thinking and salivating over the mother's day grilled cheese sandwich recipe you gave yesterday. >> i know, isn't that good? >> it sounds terrific. have you ever tried it with brie cheese? that was the question here. >> i'm not a brie cheese person. i like cheddar, monterey jack, provolone. >> we're going to try it. >> thanks, gayle. it is 6:33. time to focus on campaign 2012 now. the end of one of the presidential campaigns. republican newt gingrich will suspend his bid for the nomination for president. he'll do it this afternoon during a press conference in the neighborhood of arlington. he won the south carolina primary and georgia but pretty much sputtered after that. he's eventually expected to endorse mitt romney in the weeks ahead. mitt romney will be here in northern virginia today as

well. this video of him in new york city yesterday with rudy giuliani. his campaign today is in chantilly, one of them. then in crystal city in arlington this evening. we are not sure if he's going to be appearing with newt gingrich today at all. tuesday mitt romney praised president obama's trip to afghanistan. the republican says a good relationship with that country is key to our safety. >> president obama met with afghan leaders and american troops while overseas. tara mergener has the latest. >> reporter: a series of explosions hit kabul just hours after president obama left the afghan capital. a taliban spokesman tells cbs news the terrorist group deployed bombers once they learned of the president's visit. they say the attack was meant to show that the taliban is still strong and still a threat. the president made a surprise visit to spell out america's future involvement in afghanistan. >> we must finish the job we started in afghanistan and end

this war responsibly. >> reporter: combat troops are scheduled to pull out of afghanistan in 2014. but some american forces will remain behind. president obama signed an agreement with president karzai to help train local soldiers and provide support in counterterrorism efforts. >> our goal is to destroy al qaeda and we are on a path to do exactly that. >> reporter: the war on terrorism has become a campaign issue in recent days. republican presidential hopeful mitt romney praised the president's trip and stressed afghanistan's importance to our security n. a statement released after the visit romney said it would be a tragedy for afghanistan and a strategic setback for america if the taliban returned to power and once again create add sanity -- created a sanctuary for terrorists. but president obama did say the u.s. is trying to negotiate a peace settlement with the taliban. >> if they break with al qaeda, renounce violence and abide by afghan laws. >> reporter: after today's

attack the taliban says it is still capable and willing to strike anywhere. tara mergener for cbs news, washington. some good news even if just a little when it comes to the scandal at the secret service. homeland security secretary janet napolitano says there is no evidence agents were involved in wrongdoing while in el salvador last year. the allegations were made last week by an anonymous source who spoke with a television station in seattle. several agents have lost their jobs because of that prostitution scandal during a visit to colombia last month. the washington nationals honored one of their own last night for his heroism. andre hawthorne is an usher at the ballpark. two weeks ago we covered it here on the news he fought off two large dogs who were attacking a group of kids in his northeast d.c. neighborhood. hawthorne was severely beaten friending off those dogs and -- and he fended them off with a

kitchen knife. >> i had to sacrifice myself. i'm no hero. it's just something i had to do. >> mayor vincent gray declared yesterday andre hawthorne day in the district. he also received an autographed jersey from the team. 6:37. jessica doyle is watching your money. this morning regulars rate gas averages $3.89 a gallon. >> that sounds good. there's a choice we can make when it comes to upping our gas mileage and that will help. what is it? >> well, it's a choice people aren't making it, believe it or not because stick shifts are actually growing in popularity, making a cokback. >> i didn't know -- comeback. >> i didn't know they still made them. >> manual transanythings are still popular for a bunch -- transmissions are still popular for a bunch of reasons. some consider them more fun to drive but on the downside they tend to get lower gas mileage and we're still buying them, even with gas prices being so high. during the first quarter of this year, six and a half percent of new cars sold had stick shifts.

that's a small percentage of the market but it's the highest percentage since 2006. what's going on? maybe they're just more fun. mark this on your calendar. facebook will go public on may 18 according to "the wall street journal." this is one of the most highly anticipated tech ipos since google went public all the way back in 2004. facebook is expected to start meetings with institutional investors on monday. it's looking to raise about $5 billion in the offering. some electronic devices are easier to recycle safely than others. our partners at "u.s.a. today" turn to security expert and he says ipads, iphones and blackberries are really easy to wipe clean. not the case with older windows xp laptops and net books or android smartphones. the expert randomly purchased devices and 15 of them had sensitive data still on them. bank accounts, security numbers and even court records.

very important to get those things wiped if they're going to recycle. others smash them to bits. >> our tech expert says put a drill right through it. >> very good idea. >> thanks, jess. the time is 6:39. summer isn't too far away. in nine minutes simple advice on how we can drop a dress size in just one month. we have a live look again from the thomas johnson bridge in southern maryland. we've been seeing lightning in this camera shot. coming up howard fills us in on what he says is going to be a busy day weather wise.

welcome back. monika here with time saver traffic. lots to tell you about. first all -- first of all an accident inbound on the memorial bridge. also a serious situation in brandywine or just north of brandywine on the northbound side of route 301. we'll take a live look at the intersection of 301 and route 5

and see if things have improved. the left lane is getting by the accident but you can see up ahead here, lots of slow traffic trying to get by. i might want to use cherry tree crossing road as your alternate route there. we'll go over to another live picture and this time all wait to the other side of town in montgomery county on the southbound side of 270. overall delays frederick into clarks burke. you get a bit of a break and then slow through rockville. also want to give you a heads up about marc trains. 892 and 870 are running 10 to 15 minutes late this morning. coming up in my next report, another look at area roads at 6:58. back to you guys. here in the weather center with howard looking over his shoulder. wait till you see his radar map. >> really lit up down south. southern maryland, st. mary's and calvert counties especially. you're getting hit really, really hard. there's monika santami. we'll see her again in a few minutes. a look at the regional dopplers as we have temperatures this morning supporting those showers and thunderstorms. some lightning really showing up south of d.c. we'll zoom in

and show you. there's been a lot of lightning with these storms down to the south this morning. you're seeing it across st. mary's and calvert counties. the control room, if you could take care of this appropriator please, that would be -- appropriator oo properly ter -- promter, that would be great. we're going to switch it over. this is the heavier stuff we're seeing eastern charles, benedict down into 235 here st. mary's county extending back almost to -- passing leonardtown there. we're seeing this move into calvert county. here's lusby. and into the bay. still some showers, moderate ones in calvert county and lighter ones back to woodbridge and quantico but this is a lot lighter there than what we saw earlier. the bus stop forecast some showers out there. temps in the 60s with some upper 50s but mainly 60s this morning. sunrise at 6:09. of course the thunderstorms down south. looking outside at the day

planner, temperatures today will be comfortable. it's going to be a little humid actually. mid-70s by 11:00. upper 70s at 1:00. could be a shower or thunderstorm here any time but it looks like the mid- to late afternoon has the better chance of seeing strong, maybe severe thunderstorms with highs in the low #s on. -- low 80s. damaging some wind gusts and hail may be the threat from those storms. temps this morning, we're in the 60s. 50s are up in hagerstown. 64 in d.c. 65 college park and 62 in great falls. a quick look outside on our michael & son weather camera cloudy skies for the most part but the showers will return a little bit here but the stuff, the strong stuff could be late with highs in the low 80s. tonight a few showers and storms, 50s and 60s. tomorrow 83. again a threat for some scattered storms in the afternoon. a hot friday, upper 80s. a couple of storms isolated more so on friday i think than thursday. and today especially. by saturday a few storms ahead of a front, 84. sunday looks cooler and drier, perhaps the better day of the

weekend with highs in the mid- 70s. michael? >> thank you, howard. 6:46. would you like to lose a dress size, ladies in a month? it's possible. certified wellness coach rebecca is here with some advice. she's already done this. it doesn't matter your size or shape if you want to get into a dress for the upcoming summer season. you have some advice. >> even a pant size maybe. about three months ago i had ordered a dress for my friend's wedding, i was a bridesmaid. by the dress had come in i gained enough pounds that i couldn't zip it up any more. being a wellness coach who help people lose weight for a living, i thought why don't i coach myself and teach everybody how to do it. so there are three tips i wanted to tell you about today. >> is that the dress right there? the wedding dress? >> that's it. >> that's my friend kim and i in the dress. >> you look great. how did you do it? >> there were three main things that really worked for me. first thing is having a plan, a very specific plan.

a lot of times people know the destination of where they want to get to. for me it was fitting into the dress. but they don't know how to get there. so making a plan. second thing is expecting to get lost along the way. >> because every once in a while you're going to fall off the wagon so to speak. >> it's like two steps forward and one sideways and then backwards. so it's not a linear process. expect to get lost and you'll just keep moving forward. then the last part chi think is the most critical is having a team behind you, having some support. i decided to blog through the whole process so all of my facebook friends were supporting me. every time i posted every day they would be cheering for me and giving me lots of support and advice so that's really important too. >> when it comes to the plan, is it mostly about diet, exercise, the traditional things and have an end date? >> it's kind of a personal formula for everybody. in the blog i talk about finding that unique formula that works for you because the

same thing isn't going to work for everyone. i picked out what worked for me and was able to reach my goal and so it's walking through the process to find out what's going to work for you. >> is the goal and/or date important would you say? because you had a date, the wedding date. >> it helped with motivation. so i had a drop dead date. i had four weeks. that definitely helps with motivation. >> or zip-up date. >> absolutely, yeah. and some unexpected results came out of it too. not only did i fit into the dress, but i've had a nasty sweet tooth all my life and i kicked it with the things that i did. i never thought it would go away but i actually don't crave sugar anymore. >> congratulations. that's fantastic. >> thank you. >> we'll link your blog if you'd like to read it at wusa9.com. now over to jess with the daily deals. thanks so much. i've been combing through the day's daily deals. here are some of our favorites. this is the last day to save

50% on tickets to see d.c. united on may 16. $17 for sideline seats, $22 for midfield. if you want to add a pre-game tailgate party to that midfield ticket, that's $65. the deal is offered by living social. best buy's deal of the day will wake you up. $34.99 for a digital fm dual alarm radio made by philips. it saves you 35 bucks plus free shipping. finally carnival has a memorial day cruise promotion for military feamg. active and former military personnel can book up to three cabins at discounted rates through may 31. these are for three to eight- day sailings through april 30, 2014. promotional rates for the latest offers start at $229 a person. if you have an offer you've seen or if you're a local merchant with a deal for our viewers, i'd love to hear from you on facebook. a check of the news before you go is next.

it is 6:54. still some strong thunderstorms across parts of southern maryland leaving st. mary's and calvert counties toward the bay. we are looking at a chance for some more showers and storms at times today. this afternoon could be strong to severe with highs in the low 80s. andrea? >> thank you, howard. today is wednesday, may 2. a check on the news before you go. transportation secretary ray lahood is hosting a sitdown today over metro's silver line. some loudoun county lawmakers are talking about scrapping the extension from reston to dulles airport. the secretary has called it a needed project for our region. montgomery county police are looking for two suspects in an attempted sexual assault in silver spring. the attack happened shortly

before 11:00 last night in the area of arliss street and garland avenue. a woman told police she was walking when two men approached her. one had a knife. she was able to run away. bryce harper got a standing ovation in his nationals park debut, but he went 0-3 with a strikeout. nationals fall to the diamonds -- diamondbacks 5-1. 6:54. time to reveal the answer to the question of the morning. the question one more time, 60% of people say this is the most annoying thing they encounter at work. is it a, gossip, b, unwanted comments from a co-worker or c, a colleague who can't do their job? >> i overheard the answer. the answer is a, gossip. we don't like it but, you know, we kind of listen. >> i might pick another answer. one more check of traffic and weather when 9news now returns. >> you don't want people to think badly of you so you pick gossip. we'll be back. [ female announcer ] it all begin with our powder.

then we introduced liquid detergent with stainlifters. followed by the number-one super-concentrated liquid detergent. and now, the most concentrated all ever! introducing new all mighty pacs™. packed with all's active stainlifters... each mighty pac delivers more cleaning power per ounce to help tackle your family's tough dirt and stains the first time, every time. new all mighty pacs™. powerful clean. mighty results.

6:58. still some downpours in st. mary's and calvert counties. getting reports of some splooding near the -- flooding near the pax river naval station. a few storms this afternoon and a few more tomorrow. upper 80s. on the southbound side of 270 at route 109, going to be slow. east of that 355 is completely shutdown. a quick look in southern maryland, northbound route 301 at route 5 beginning to improve. the accident activity on the shoulder. as take wall street we're starting at a four-year high this morning. i don't know if we're going to be able to stay there. futures trading is getting a little bit lower. we have economic reports on the agenda. cbs this morning is next with more on the president's to afghanistan and queen elizabeth ii before she wore the crown. howard and i will be back in 25 minutes with a live update on traffic and weather. >> you can always k