crazy. >> reporter: i'm ken molestina, 9news now. >> as ken said police have not released much information so far on the victims here and right now they are still trying to figure out why this happened. well, the monthly jobs report will be released later today. >> and according to our report issued yesterday, the number of people applying the unemployment benefits fell by more than it had in three months. tara mergener has more. >> >> reporter: when the government releases the jobs report this morning, officials believe 168,000 people found jobs in april. and the employment rate will be steady at 8.2%. the march report was bell below the previous three months and they're looking to see if that was a one time dip or the sign of a trend. he was unemployed for several years and worked up to 60 hours a work sending out resumes and applying for jobs. >> it was frustrating at times

definitely. >> reporter: but after several years of taking temp work to make ends meet his search paid off. he now works for seamless.com. >> i'm in disbelief. am i really working here? >> reporter: the april unemployment report is important but the november numbers may be critical to who wins the white house. and both sides have been talking about 8% as the key figure. >> he doesn't want to talk about his own record and his own failures. >> reporter: during a campaign event in virginia yet. mitt romney slammed president obama for not being able to keep the unemployment numbers lower. >> he'll have all sorts of things, he'll talk about that have resulted in the fact that a guy who promised he'd keep employment over 8% has not been able to do so. >> reporter: president obama believes the unemployment rate will be below 8% by november. a recent poll shows economists agree. the associated press poll puts the number at 7.9% on election

day. tara mergener for cbs news, washington. >> jessica doyle will have more on the april jobs report coming up in our your money segment in about 10 minutes. the president will be going on the road once again today. he's scheduled to make public appearance for congress to extend the low student loan rates for another year. republicans and democrats want to keep the loans at 3.4% but republicans want to make health care cuts to subsidize that cost. democrats want to raise taxes to cover it. mitt romney is supposed to have a private meeting today with rick santorum in pittsburgh. now santorum suspended his campaign last month but he still has not endorsed the likely gop nominee romney. yesterday mitt romney did pick up the endorsement from michele bachmann. china's foreign ministry says blind dissident chen guangchen can now apply to study abroad possibly resolving a diplomatic standoff with the united states.

the activist escaped house arrest last week and spent six days inside the u.s. embassy in beijing but after voluntarily leaving the embassy he wants to leave the country. this move is the most positive response from china so far. a collection of osama bin laden's letters reveals his plans for another attack he was working on and some concerns he had as he was hiding in pakistan. >> the military released some of the documents online yesterday. manuel gallegus has more. >> reporter: right up to the end, osama bin laden was plotting terror. a collection of letters from his final hideout shows he wanted to target airplanes carrying president obama. he said killing him automatically will make biden take over the presidency for the remainder of the term. he described the vice president as totally unprepared for the job. former deputy director of national intelligence and cbs news senior correspondent jon miller was the last western

journalist to interview bin laden. >> i think in the end osama bin laden was struggling to figure out what al-qaeda was at that point. >> reporter: the navy cedes who killed blood -- s.e.a.l.s who killed bin laden gathered his documents from pakistan a year ago. they show bin laden also wanted to go after the war commander general david petraeus. he wrote killing him would alter the war's path. and bin laden worried about dysfunction within al-qaeda. fretting about losing trust among radical muslims. >> you can see him struggling for control, struggling for relevance. who are we and what do we mean? >> reporter: the military says the most compelling revelation is bin laden's frustration at failing to maintain control over the crumbling network of jihad. manuel gallegus, cbs news, new york. >> they found documents inside

the hideout dating from september 2006 until april 2011. military experts say the material released is probably only a fraction of what was taken from the compound. u.s. military leaders are ordering field commanders to get their troops in line or else. the new effort to improve discipline comes after the instances of misconduct among the troops such as urinating on enemy corms and other mis-- corpses and other misgivings. u.s. secretary leon panetta will visit fort benning, georgia today. the defense department says the goal is so improve the conduct and help the war effort in afghanistan. here's a look at other things making news now. the death of foreigner nfl great junior seau has been ruled a suicide. the autopsy says the foreigner linebacker died wednesday of a gunshot wound to the chest. the medical examiner says it's awaiting a decision by the family on whether to turn over

the brain to unidentified outside researchers for study. a college student arrested on drug charges is now preparing a $20 million lawsuit against the dea. daniel chong was arrested for smoking marijuana during a drug raid. he admits he was smoking but he says it's what happened after the arrest that was wrong. he says he was left in a federal holding cell without food, water or a toilet for four days. he was convinced he was going to die. the attorneys claim the treatment constitutes torture under the law. they're seeking damages for pain and suffering and they say the loss of future earnings. the dea issued a statement of apology. time now 4:37. coming up in two minutes howard gives us a sneak peek at the weekend forecast and it is a severe weather alert day. >> if you're looking to buy a house, now nay be the best time. jessica doyle will let you know why at 4:42 in your money. >> at 4 listen 51. new -- 4:351 research suggests

bees may be good for treating prostate cancer. >> we're back in two minutes with your weather first. you're watching 9news now.

it is 4:9 on this friday morning. some patchy fog. looks like we're going to be okay through midday. with the slight chance you'll see something out west and this then this afternoon there's the threat for strong to severe thunderstorms that's why today is a severe weather alert day with highs in the mid 80s. i'll have a complete look at the weekend and what we can expect later today when i see you in about five minutes. right now monika is in with timesaver traffic. looking in coming in from prince george's county on route 50. here's new york avenue at 9th street northeast. coming up in my next report, another look at maryland roads at 4:47. mike? it is time for the first

your money segment of the morning. >> it is indeed. happy friday. >> happy friday to both of you and a happy friday jobs report we get later this morning. april jobs report is going to take center stage for investors today. expected to show 163,000 new jobs were created last month while the unemployment rate held steady at 8.2%. now yesterday, we learned the number of americans applying for unemployment benefits actually fell by 27,000. that's the largest weekly drop in about a year. now ahead of the report stocks did head lower and checking the numbers -- in the new associated press survey, 32% of economists believe the unemployment rate will dip below 8% by election day. but they say it's going to take at least three more years before the rate falls below 6% and that would be a sign of a healthy economy. facebook's initial public offering later this month is

expected to raise nearly $12 billion. now that would make it the biggest internet ipo ever. the stock will be priced at between $28 and $35 a share. that value is the social networking site between $85 billion and $95 billion. facebook is set to go public on may 18th on the nasdaq. there's some good news looking to buy a home. mortgage rates are at a new all time low. according to freddie mac the average rate for a 30 year is 2.8%. the rate on a 15 year mortgage dropped and set a new record too at 3.07%. not bad time to refinance either. >> you can qualify. jump on it. >> thanks jess. well, plans for a national mall facelift are finally revealed. >> we'll have more on that story plus your weather first coming up in two minutes, a severe weather alert day.

good morning, welcome back to 9news now. you see it. severe weather alert day. not so much for the morning but howard says later in the afternoon, be aware. >> yeah, anytime from oh 3:00, 4:00 on to maybe 10:00 is what we're concerned with. >> the reason why we do that is because if you leave for work in the morning you need stuff in the car to be prepared just in case. >> exactly and it may get rough in spots, last night it was. hail up to an inch in diameter reported. of course the big loud thunderstorms woke a lot of folks up. you know it if it hit your houseboys it was rocking -- house because it was rocking and rolling your house. it was rocking my house in upper montgomery county. the bus stop forecast, it's quiet right now. we'll call it partly sunny just after 6:00 a.m. when the sun comes up. patches of fog too. some of the moisture had allowed fog to form in areas, the sunrise at 6:04. for the day we should be okay through midday. in fact early afternoon we're

okay. 80 degrees, but 3:00, 4:00 especially from west to east, going to start the see the storms form and be moving to the east/southeast. 85 at 4:00 and by 8:00 still in the upper 70s with some scattered showers and storms arnold. some are strong to severe. the severe weather alert day in the weather headlines, the threat the severe thunderstorms, with the severe thunderstorms the critical time from 3:00 to 10:00. even after 10:00 they start to lose oomph. they're losing the daytime heating. the main threats today are going to be hail and wind gusts, a severe thunderstorm, 58 miles per hour or more that defines a severe thunderstorm. that's what we're concerned about. consider that when you hear severe thunderstorm warning issued for your area. that's what we're looking at. some storms this morning up across eastern pennsylvania extend into southern new york city and actually to new england. we've got storms also showing up across parts of west virginia. this moisture may give us a couple of clouds if the storms

hold together and just a slight chance out west of a storm this morning but really it's the afternoon and evening that my concern level is much higher. visibility down to one-half mile in orange. three quartzers? martinsburg, cumberland and petersburg, west virginia. fredericksburg not reporting but i know there's patchy fog up here as well and stafford has improved to two and a half miles. the temperatures are on the mild side. we're in the 60s. easton is 61 this morning along with baltimore. to the west low 60s 234 winchester. mid 60s in hagerstown and still fredericksburg at 66. locally, low to mid-60s still from great falls at 66. fairfax is 65 degrees. fort belvoir, crofton, columbia 62 as we look outside on the michael & son weather camera. looks pretty good out there. the temperature is 67. reagan national reporting mostly cloudy skies and a southwest wind at 10. that's an important wind direction. that's a warm direction for us.

yesterday, as opposed to wednesday, those winds were in a strong out of the east and we were allowed to burn off the clouds early. the mid 80s out west and today is even warmer than that it looks to be. we're watching a front this thing stretched out with a lot of strong to severe thunderstorms from areas in kansas to missouri. all the way out to new york state here. it's coming in and the front is coming in our direction. we've got upper level winds which are increasing and the low level moisture in place. the ingredients are there to get strong to severe thunderstorms through the afternoon and from the storm prediction center, one area is highlighted to the west and right across us from the blue ridge east the whole i-95 corridor from richmond up toward new york, extending up to scranton. philly, anywhere this afternoon even across the bay, maybe going to the beach to the weekend. you'll also have the threat for strong storms later today and tonight. here's the futurecast. we'll try to give you the times

on this and remember this is a computer model. say up to cumberland or hagerstown, always a little bit of variability with these things. but by noon still fairly quiet. i'm stopping the clock at 2:45. some storms fire off to the west and the mountains. now we're talking about 5:00, 6:00, we've got some storms potentially getting in toward northern virginia just on the north and west side of the mote row for the evening hours coming in. it's not going to be raining everywhere all the time but any of the storms that pop this afternoon and evening have the threat to be on the strong side with the strong winds can the hail. this will be around 9:00. overnight the storms start to wind down. still could have a few of them. quieter saturday morning. how about your saturday? that front is going to sink south of us and the better chance of showers and storms will be south and west of d.c.. not to say that we can't bubble up a few showers or isolated thunderstorms here and there through the afternoon. tobago down to sharp -- but if you go down to charlottesville,

maybe rich mondays. a better chance of storms than here in washington. by sunday hey great shape. sunday looks fantastic around here. temperatures on sunday will be in the mid 70s. the air will be dryer and that's going to be very pleasant. the forecast today severe weather alert day. strong severe thunderstorms possible this afternoon and evening. 86. tonight the 60s and 80 tomorrow. fewer storms main threat is going fob south and southwest tomorrow. sunday nice at 75. monday and tuesday look pretty good although late tuesday another shower or storm at 74 and then turning wetter wednesday into thursday. it's 4:49. monika samtani you're looking nice this friday morning. thank you very much. things are great outside so you should be happy about that as well. no problems to report on the beltway. to the north site of town looking good on 270 and frederick down into clarksburg. a live look at route 355 at east-west highway in the heart of bethesda, very quiet early this fed morning.

this time to the beltway on the north side looking good as well. all lanes are open between college park and bethese that. no problems to report on 95. the bw parkway or route 350 coming in for instance. the south side of town on oxen little. looks great. no issues to report here at oxon hill at 210 and the wilson bridge and beyond. coming up in my next report, a look at virginia at 4:55. mike? now is expanding gambling in the state of maryland a good idea? governor o'malley may be creating a commission to study that issue soon. the commission would look at adding table games and more casinos in the state. a bill to accomplish both of those stalled this year in the general assembly. governor o'malley also may be calling a session special session this summer to address gambling. the u.s. government is teaming up with drug companies to find treatments for different diseases, leaders at the national institutes of health say advances have allowed researchers to identify the cause of more than 4500 diseases.

right now there are drugs to treat only about 250 of them. pharmaceutical companies including astrazeneca and eli lily agreed to make dozens of new compounds to test against the diseases. a blood test may one day be able to identify women most at risk of developing breast cancer. british scientists took blood from 1300 women and found those who have a certain gene mutation have more vulnerable to the disease. they hope the tests can be developed into a screening tool and identify high risk women years before any cancers develop. bees may hold the key to beating prostate cancer. chicago researchers say a compound found in honey beehives called cake can slow down and even stop tumor growth. scientists tested the compound on mice with prostate cancer. the next step is to try the natural remedy on humans. the usda has a new tracking method with keeping your food

safe. new regulations changed how it traces e. coli. and the contamination in the food chain. they also allow inspectors to move more quickly to have tainted food removed if food shelves. they will be required to notify federal officials within 24 hours of identifying a contaminated product. speaking of which, diamond pet foods is expanding a recall to get some of its tainted dog food off the market. the company found salmonella in its product and it wants dog owners to stop using diamond puppy formula dry dog food. the food was sold in six ounce samples up to the 40-pound bag. pets with salmonella infections can infect pets, humans causing some symptoms. for more on the best buy dates and the production codes, go to wusa9.com. we now know what the national mall could soon look like. >> it could include some restaurants, yeah. some new signs for the project

upgrade some of the neglected areas of the mall have been revealed. it's expected to cost big bucks about $700 million. former first lady laura bush is leading the effort to raise private money for the project. >> together, we can renew our very special national mall and leave it as a vibrant legacy for our grandchildren. and our great grandchildren. >> the pool next to the capitol will be replaced by a big public square. an elevated pool will go in nearby. a pavilion with a restaurant and restrooms and have you ever walked around the mall you're looking for both of those would be there next to the constitution gardens plus walkway from the washington monument to the jefferson memorial and the tidal basin and the work is expected with several contractors to begin in two years. >> mrs. bush looked very nice. >> ready for the derby maybe. it is 4:53. time for the question of the morning --

matthew mcconaughey. trying to say something different. log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour. >> please shower.

welcome back, 4:56. your weather first on this severe weather alert day. quiet this morning but it's really the afternoon and evening that i hope you pay attention to the weather. we'll be into the 80-degree range by noon. partly sunny, then mid to late afternoon the chance for strongest severe storms even through the evening with highs in the mid 80s. monika samtani has timesaver traffic now. inbound on i-66 here's what it looks like as you come in from fairfax to vienna and the beltway. all lanes are open and actually light from manassas.

coming up in my next report, a closer look at virginia roads at 5:01. the smithsonian's national history museum received the single largest gift in its history. the executive vice president of coke industries david coke has donated $35 million. that money will be used to build a new done saur hall. coke is also a major donor to conservative political causes. variety at mcdonald's is good for business. they are expected to increase their number of limited time -- not offers, limited time -- you know i got mcrib on the brain. sorry. on the menu like the cherry berry chiller or chicken mcbites. mcdonald's says the research shows that loyal customers want variety and it also brings in new business they say. pepsi teaming up with the king of pop or his estate at at least. they struck a deal with the michael jackson estate to use his image for a new global marketing push. it is called live for now.

it will include special cans with pictures and a chance for fans to win special jackson merchandise. you remember that ill-fated commercial where his hair caught fire. >> amazing the estate is working with pepsi. there are new details about whitney houston's final days. >> and miley cyrus and demi moore team up in a new movie. we have the stories in this week's look at entertainment. >> if i were to let you go -- would you promise -- >> i promise i will be so good mom. >> reporter: demi moore and miley cyrus put a new twist in the new comedy "l. o. l.." >> everyone calls me lol. >> reporter: she's struggling with high school romance. moore played a divorced mom who accidentally reads her daughter's journal. it comes out in a limited number of theaters on friday. there are new details about whitney houston's final days in the new issue of "vanity fair."

the magazine talked to whitney houston's hairdresser. the hairdresser says the last thing she remembers houston saying is quote i just want to love and be loved. the june issue of "vanity fair" is on newsstands now. ♪ hack so far sissy spay sec best known for playing loretta lynn has a new memoir out. >> the section about my childhood is the part that people don't know about it. that the part of my life that i've really never shared. >> reporter: memoir is filled with details about her personal and professional life. and that's your eye on entertainment. bow gad is that ban, cbs news -- bigad shaban, cbs news, los angeles. >> severe weather alert day. today friday morning, may 4t