morning. out here i don't think you can see that. we've got some showers in toward the tennessee and ohio valley. that is ahead of the system coming late today and tonight. some low 40s martinsburg and frederick but hagerstown 52. culpeper 43. reporting one-mile visibility. could be a patch of fog down there with 52 la plata. andrea is headed there later this morning. 50 across the bay in easton. looking for highs this afternoon upper 60s northern shenandoah valley to about 72 here in d.c. 5:00 a.m. good morning, monika samtani. good morning. i'm happy to say that all of our major thoroughfares right now are looking great. no issues to report. pretty much all around town, including coming in from the west. all of your construction should be in its clearing stages if not gone right now. on the beltway west side of town looking good. 66 in from manassas and centreville and fairfax and inside the beltway to the roosevelt bridge. let's take a live look at american legion bridge. a close-up shot of the bridge span. no issues to report across the

potomac river whether leaving 27270 or -- 270 or tysons corner. looking good across the wilson bridge over into alexandria. the accident i was telling you about pretty much cleared right now northbound route 1 at huntington avenue. this time on the beltway in prince george's county at route 4, no problems near andrews air force base. i'll be back with more traffic at 5:09. >> thank you, monika. one man is in jail and authorities say more arrests could be coming in a foiled plot to blow up the federal reserve building in new york city. >> authorities say quazi nafis was arrested in a sting operation. this was wednesday. the 21-year-old went before a judge just an hour after he allegedly tried to blow up the term reserve bank. nafis came to the united states on a student visa back in january. the f.b.i. began watching him after he tried setting up a terror cell using an online chat room and on facebook. undercover agents worked with

nafis posing as al qaeda operatives and their work led to his arrest. undercover agents helped him build what he thought was a 1,000-pound bomb. they put it in a van. it was actually made of harmless materials. they drove the van to the federal reserve building. he was arrested in a hotel room when he tried to detonate what he thought was a bomb from a nearby hotel. he faces life in prison for attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. 5:02. we turn our attention to campaign 2012. president obama and mitt romney will both campaign in new york city today. yesterday the candidates focused on women voters. governor romney told supporters in virginia women have been particularly hit hard by the economy. president obama told supporters he doesn't need a binder full of women to find qualified women. and get ready for the million puppet march. more than 1,000 puppeteers and pbs supporters plan to march on the national mall november 3,

just three days before the election. the rally is in response to romney's comments during the first debate calling for the elimination of government funding for pbs which airs the popular show "sesame street" featuring that buy, big bird. -- >> guy, big bird. an already tense relationship between japan and the united states is now strained once again after two american service men were arrested for raping a woman in okinawa. both men attacked the japanese woman tuesday morning. gentleman important's defense minister has now lodged complaints against the u.s. government and the military. they are demanding the united states take better preventive measures. the u.s. ambassador to japan says the united states military is committed to cooperating fully with the japanese investigation. the judge in the trial of two prince george's county police officers accused of beating a university of maryland student has thrown out the most serious charge leveled against the pair. >> the judge says there is not enough evidence to support a first degree assault charge. kristin fisher is live from

college park. she has more on the latest in this investigation and the court proceedings. good morning, kristin. >> reporter: good morning. these two officers are still facing second degree assault and misconduct in office. but that first degree assault charge, it has been dropped because the judge essentially ruled yesterday that there was not enough evidence to prove that that student had sustained serious enough injuries to warrant that first degree assault charge. kind of the background on that is in the state of maryland, first degree assault only occurs when somebody causes or attempts to cause serious physical injury. yesterday in court, the judge said that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence proving that the student john mckenna had sustained such serious or permanent injuries or that the officers intended to inflict such injuries. in the judge's own words, there's been no permanency. he recovered from his head injury. prosecutors clearly disagree. they say the proof is in the

video. officers reginald baker and james harrison allegedly beat mckenna about 12 times with their batons. they also say that mckenna suffered a concussion. who knows what those long-term effects might be. but defense attorneys and officer baker, he told jurors yesterday he never hit mckenna in the head and he was only trying to get him to open his hands because he didn't know what might be inside of them. he also told jurors he did not realize his codefendant officer harrison was also hitting mckenna. officer harrison is expected to take the stand when court resumes a little bit later this morning. the jury is expected to begin deliberating probably around friday. jessica? i'm sorry, mike and andrea. you're back. >> thanks, irma. see you in a little bit. it's 5:05. time for your latest report of the morning. >> always having fun. >> i'm right here. >> she was just missing one key

person. >> wall street will be focusing on the jobs picture. weekless job reports will be turned in at 8:30. investors would certainly welcome another green light on this stubbornly weak side of the economic equation. there are also new signs that the housing market is finally on the road to recovery. that helped to offset disappointing profits from intel and i.b.m. in trading yesterday. check be the numbers. the dow starts this morning at 13,551, squeezed out a five- point gain. a little but we'll take it. nasdaq up by three. s&p 500 up by six. builders broke ground last month at the fastest pace in more than four years. they requested permits to build even more homes in the coming months. analysts expect that record low mortgage rates and more staicial home prices will continue to -- stable home prices will continue to drive sales and that means jobs. american airlines has plans to hire 1500 new employees.

more than 2200 flight attendants chose to walk away in exchange for a $40,000 payment. the parent company of american airlines also says it lost $238 million in the third quarter because of bankruptcy costs. it's good at least to hear about the hiring portion. >> hopefully fees don't go up to offset it. we're back in-- >> you're back in 30 minutes. what do you have for news. >> some things we may be doing online but we don't realize we're actually putting ourselves and our families in jeopardy. we'll have that at 5:35. >> see you then. a trial date is now set in the shooting death of trayvon martin. >> the family of a former senator says he's now in his last days. we'll be right back.

5:09 on this thursday morning. it's a cool start but we'll have no weather problems till late this afternoon and tonight. consider that when making your plans. we start out with sunshine. temperatures in the 40s and 50s out there this morning.

we'll get well into the 60s by lunch time. highs actually about 72 in d.c. winds picking up southeast 10 to 15. may gust to 20 and during the evening commute, we may see the first showers moving in. could be strong storms tonight. more on that coming up in a few minutes. right now over to monika. she's telling us about the morning commute. in haymarket northbound route 15, that ramp to eastbound i-66 is blocked with an accident. on the inbound side of 66 in manassas things look good into centreville and toward fairfax. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 5:17. here's a look at some other things making news now. a trial date has been set in the murder trial of george zimmerman. it will be june 10 of next year. he's accused of shooting and killing florida teenager trayvon martin last february. he dlaims it was self--- claims it was self-defense and martin attacked him. martin was not armed. former senator george mcgovern is nearing the end of his life.

he's in hospice and is no longer responsive. he was the democratic presidential nominee who lost to nixon in 1972. he served more than two decades in congress. he's 90 years old. it may soon be harder to find your favorite bottle of european wine. drought, frost and hail wreaked havoc on some wine regions, including france and italy. the wine grape harvest in those regions is expected to be the smallest in nearly 50 years. that has a global impact since europe's wine harvest accounts for more than 60% of the worldwide wine production. do you have a tablet computer yet? the wars are heating up with those. another major retailer is announcing one. they'll be out soon. >> a local business thanks to a former -- thanks a former employee wounded in afghanistan. you're watching 9news now.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it's 5:14 on this thursday morning. as mike always says, we're closer to the weekend. here's howard to tell us how that's looking. >> i'm excited about the weekend. going to be a nice, cool, fall weekend. temps in the 60s. we've got the breast cancer walk. then saturday morning you're going to be with monika and jessica. we've got the virginia gold cup, the big garage sale for loudoun county hospital going o lupus walk on sunday.

terps are home saturday. the weekend is going to be fine. >> all for great causes. >> a little hurdle getting-- -- you should be a social planner for people. you have a lot going o. let's get your -- going on. let's get your bus stop forecast. temperatures are going to be starting in the 40s and 50s. jacket weather although it is 60 already on the bay in annapolis with clear to partly cloudy skies. sunrise not until 7:21. we'll see sunshine this morning through midday. it's going to be this afternoon when the clouds start to thicken up. by the drive home we may get a shower or two around the area. winds picking up out of the south, southeast maybe gusting to 20. manassas was 45. haymarket 46. it's chilly in prince william county. we've got upper 40s and low 50s in prince george's county. 50 'ish in montgomery county and upper 40s and low 50s reston. jacket weather this morning. but a quiet morning. you won't need the rain gear at

all till really late today, tonight. 55 at reagan national currently with a south wind at 9 and humidity at 86%. watching a storm system middle of the country. you can see what it's doing bringing in some colder air down through the dakotas and iowa. highs will only be in the 40s. maybe some upper 30s in eastern north dakota with 70 in nashville today. 66 up in new york with some heat down in south texas. brownsville 97 degrees. but this storm system spinning over minnesota and iowa, it's going to be responsible for throwing some rain our way. basically tonight in the form of showers and storms. this first batch of rain you see probably going to die out before it gets anywhere close to us. maybe throw a few clouds our way. ahead of that storm system, though, the winds are out of the south. that's bringing in some moisture and warmth. also the whole setup is ripe for some strong, maybe severe thunderstorms. the storm prediction center believes we have a threat for damaging wind gusts mainly tonight is what i'm thinking. late tonight, could be out west in western virginia, southwestern virginia. our concerns are going to be i

think after dark because it looks like at least through the daylight hours, any showers will be south of us and west of us here at 6:00. then here comes the action as we get into the overnight period. but most of this will be gone by early on friday. so timing it will be a nighttime event. with that we've got a yellow alert for the storms tonight. breezy today, 72. 40s and 50s again tonight. tomorrow 73 after an early shower. not bad in the afternoon. saturday and sunday cooler but nice. we'll have temps in the mid-60s both days. 40s at night with monday, tuesday, wednesday looking good. highs well up in the 70s. 5:17. time for monika and timesaver traffic. on the inninger loop of the beltway after colesville road, late clearing construction. crews are telling us by 6:00 they should have it cleared up. inner loop after colesville road. you'll need to stay to the rote rite to get around that. now an accident on the northbound side of 270 near route 118 in the left lane. we'll take a live look there as you look at this camera shot, you will not see any activity.

it's north of this point, north of route 118. again an accident in the left lane up in germantown. southbound side is not affected as you head past that point to the point where the lanes divide. let's go back over to the maps and this time over to virginia. inside the beltway things are looking great as you can see. at or above the speed limit on 66, 395, and 295 going 50 miles an hour. by the way, richie marlboro road after white house road, a deer struck. two cars involved there. watch out for that activity and a live look outside one more time here in springfield. traffic is moving well. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 5:31. back to you guys. >> monika, thank you. microsoft is final -- has finally put a price tag on its new tablet. the surface will start at $499 for the least expensive 32 gigabyte model putting it head to head with apple's ipad. the tablet which runs on microsoft's latest mobile software hits stores october 26. best buy is launching its very own tablet. the android-based insignia flex will enter an already crowded

tablet market when it hits stores november 11. best buy's tablet is expected to be priced at around $250 and that's in line with amazon's kindle. they are hoping to transform tysons corner into a downtown hub. the fairfax county board of supervisors approved a 40-year funding plan to do it. it sets up a new tax structure to pay for roads in the district. under the plan real estate taxes would increase by about 8%. property ject would generate about $-- project would generate about $250 million from land owners over the next 40 years. just about 5:20. let's take another look at the question of the day. 20% of americans have two of these. 20% of us have two of these. is it a, children, b, cars, or c, cell phone? >> wusa9 facebook fan friend terry wrote, wow, only 20%? i thought it might be more but i'm going with c, cell phones. >> what do you think? log on to our facebook fan page. leave your response. we'll have the answer in about an hour and a half from now.

5:22 on this thursday morning. a little bit of fog to tell you about down near culpeper. a mile and a quarter in frederick. with light winds we may be dealing with some isolated patches of fog the next couple of hours. temps in the 40s and 50s this morning. we'll be partly sunny today, 56 by 9:00. clouds coming and going but still a decent amount of

sunshine. 67 at lunch time with a 3:00 reading of 70. we're going to get into the low 70s but for the drive home, we're starting to see some patchy showers developing and more so after dark. mike and andrea, back to you. >> thank you, howard. 5:23. the redskins say they believe -- this is going to be a heck of a game -- they believe they have a fighting chance against the super bowl champions giants. >> the st. louis cardinals are a game closer to being in the world series. kristen berset has those stories and more in this morning's sports. good morning, everybody. the redskins have had a bit of an advantage this season. robert griffin iii has had the chance to play six tough football games without dealing with the stress and pressure of a divisional rivalry. but it's all about to change this weekend when the skins hit the road to face the reigning champs. they have acknowledged -- the giants have acknowledged they'll have a time with the skins offense. >> everybody says what do you

call this offense? i said call it the east coast offense. i get tired of answering the question. i'm not sure the name of the offense. we're just experimenting with what robert can do and having fun with it. >> we're doing different things every game and see how teams respond to it. it's about making sure we execute what we went to the field to do. >> the hits keep coming for cyclist lance armstrong. another sponsor has dropped their endorsement. first it was nike who sponsored armstrong since 1996. then anheuser-busch and energy foods. trek bicycles who have sponsored armstrong since before he ever won his very first title, they have severed ties with him as well. the baseball playoffs again. game three, giants and cardinals tied at one game a piece. mack carpenter, a two-run shot to right. then mother nature came a calling in the 7th. torrential rains. three and a half hour delay.

but the cardinals closer shut down the giants in the 8th and 9th and the cards win game three 3-1. that's a quick look at sports this morning. i'm kristen berset. have a great thursday.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now on this thursday morning. i'm andrea roane. i'm mike hydeck. she's monika samtani. >> how are you? >> great. >> handsome howard on the left. >> wow, you should take a few days off all the time. >> it's a wonder what sleep does. welcome back. glad you're here. glad you're here as well on this friday eve. weather is not going to be a problem this morning or lunch time and probably not going to abproblem for much of the afternoon but late this afternoon and tonight, got to pay attention. some showers and maybe a few strong thunderstorms as well may be coming across the region. our day planner looks pretty g. we start out with the 50s and 60s. all sunny and dry to start.

by noon partly sunny, 67. it will be late this afternoon after hitting a high of 72 that we've got a threat for a few showers by 5:00, 6:00. 6:00 temp 68 degrees. and we're really watching the moisture out to the west. let me show you what's happening here with the satellite and radar. all quiet this morning. got some showers and storms in kentucky and tennessee. they're not going to make it but another line is going to form and head our way for late this afternoon and tonight. this morning, though, you'll need a jacket. frederick down to 41. culpeper and toward the tappahannock airport where it's 46, have had some fog. highs later upper 60s and low 70s. 5:29. here comes monika with timesaver traffic. if you're planning to head around town, there are a couple of things i need to tell you about. good morning, everybody. i'm going to start off with the inbound side of i-66. that's final but in haymarket northbound route 15, that ramp to inbound i-66 is still blocked with an accident. again it's not affecting the interstate itself.

keep that in mind. then you see a tiny bit of slow traffic forming out of manassas into centreville but nothing out of the ordinary there. let's take a live look if you're planning to head inside the beltway. here's what it looks like in falls church. no issues to report heading for the roosevelt bridge. all lanes are open. back over to the maps and this time to the north side of town. i was watching our cameras. i saw cruk crews pick up the construction cones on the inner loop of university boulevard. let's take a live look there. they were a little late in clearing it up. they said it would be about 6:00 but it's 5:30 and it's all gone as you can see. they cleared it up from the left side of the road. you're good to go both loops of the beltway in silver spring. i'll be back with traffic again at 5:39. two prince george's county police officers accused of beating a university of maryland student are due back in court today. >> both, though, are facing one less charge this morning. the judge says a lack of evidence is the reasonable. kristin fisher is live in college park with more. good morning, kristin. >> reporter: good morning.

well, officer james harrison is expected to take the stand when court resumes just a little bit later today. his codefendant officer reginald baker testified yesterday. essentially he said the reason he hit this student john mckenna, he said the reasonable he hit him was because he approached the officers with his fist clenched. the officer said he asked him to open his hands. he was worried about what might be inside. but when mckenna did not open his hands, that is when he began to hit him. when this student didn't listen, all of this went down right after this duke-maryland basketball game in 2010. thousands of students had flooded route 1 right after the unlikely victory. they say they were celebrating but police say they were rioting. the student involved in this trial mckenna, he sustained a very mild concussion but that's about it. for that reason the judge dropped the first degree assault charge. he said that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence

to prove that the student's injuries were serious enough to warrant such a serious charge. the officers are still facing two other charges, second degree sought and misconduct in office. that is what the jury still is going to have to decide. they are expected to begin deliberating likely tomorrow. andrea, mike? >> thank you, kristin fisher reporting live. police in silver spring, maryland are looking for a hit- and-run driver. they say a black pickup truck hit an elderly woman on university boulevard near east wayne avenue. she was not walking in the crosswalk when she was struck. police say the woman hurt her head but they don't believe her injuries are life-threatening. after she was struck, several other cars crashed into each other to avoid her. violent crime is on the rise in the united states for the first time in nearly 20 years according to the justice department. the national crime victimization survey shows violent crimes rose 18% last year. that's the first year-to-year

increase since 1993. go back to 1993, 16.8 million violent crimes were reported in the u.s. by 2011, that number had dropped dramatically to 5.8 million. again this is the first time it's gone up since then. property crimes were also up around 11%. four more people have died from an outbreak of fungal meningitis and that brings the death toll to 19. in all nearly 250 people in 15 states, including maryland and virginia, have gotten sick. the outbreak is tied to steroid shots for back pain. most have a rare form of the disease. a specialty pharmacy in massachusetts made the steroid. federal officials are investigating. just about 5:34. time for another your money report. >> jessica doyle is standing by. >> that's right, andrea. there are a lot of dangers lurking out there in the word. to name a few, burglars, abductors, irchlts d. -- i.d.

thieves and you could be opening up yourself to this potential threat without knowing it. >> reporter: you're so excited about that big trip, you just have to tell somebody. >> hey, i'm on vacation. >> reporter: so we post details and photos on facebook and twitter, a move adam levin, chairman of credit.com says can have serious unintended consequences. >> they're going to tell you where they're going, when they return. so someone stalking them, they can figure out how to find them. >> reporter: if they're casing your house, now they know when to knock it over in a burglary. >> the second thing is let me tell you all about my life through quizzes. >> reporter: this type of oversharing and online quizzes and surveys gives a potential hacker all the information needed to steal your identity. >> the street you grew up on, your dog's name, your mother's maiden name, qiezs are soaking up -- quizzes are soaking up

individual pieces of information that may seem completely harmless to you. combine them, it's leit a.m. >> reporter: another -- lethal. >> reporter: another one? public wi-fi. >> people will sit in the middle after public square and do their banking. they don't realize the funny looking fellow over there is actually taking as much information he possibly can by his own antenna and using it to put together a mosaic of your life. >> reporter: the last mistake puts the most important thing in your life in jeopardy, your children. and it starts with the best of intentions capturing the special moments on your cell phone. >> people love to take pictures of their children. they love to post them on websites. >> reporter: the problem nowadays is all of those smartphone photos are gio tagged, embedded with code that tells a possible abductor where the photo was taken. >> now they know from the website that they have hacked into the name of your child, the park your child likes to

play in so they can walk up to your child and basically utter their name and make it sound like they've come from you. >> there is an easy solution. turn off gio tagging for photos on your phone and be careful how you share your pictures of your children online. >> one last thing. you wouldn't leave your keys in your car with the engine running. don't leave your smartphone unprotected. a lot of people don't have a pin number to secure their phone. in the hands of the wrong person, an unsecured phone is like giving away the keys to your life. it's always remarkable to me when people just slide open their phone and there's absolutely no protection. >> i was one of those. my son said you need a password. >> absolutely. >> good advice. thanks. researchers discover a new way to treat crohn's disease. >> maintaining a healthy weight can help women battling cancer. 9news returns after this. i don't spend money

on gasoline. i am probably going to the gas station about once a month. last time i was at a gas station was about...i would say... two months ago. i very rarely put gas in my chevy volt. i go to the gas station such a small amount that i forget how to put gas in my car. [ male announcer ] and it's not just these owners giving the volt high praise. volt received the j.d. power and associates appeal award two years in a row. ♪

5:29 on this thursday morning. you won't need any rain gear this morning or the afternoon, but late this afternoon is when we have a chance for some showers and maybe some strong storms tonight. all systems go this morning. we've got a good morning out there. it's quiet. generally clear skies. 55 in town with 40s in the suburbs. noon 67 but late this afternoon after topping out at 72, we'll have a chance for a couple of showers. full forecast looking ahead to the weekend in about five. right now here's monika with timesaver traffic. right now incident free on the northbound side of i-95 heading through springfield on to 395 and the 14th street bridge. there is an accident out in haymarket northbound route 15 ramp to inbound 66. more on traffic coming up once again at 5:47. back to you. i've been combing through the day's daily deals, e-mails and retailer websites to find you deep discounts. some favorites on this

thursday, the munchkins need their halloween costumes. these come at 50% off. amazon.com has launched a halloween costume sale. some pretty popular ones out there. cinderella, the winx, batman and luke sky walker all going for it ten and 20 bucks. 40% off this deal. diner for two for $78 at slate wine bar. you get a sampler plate, two endrays, dessert, wine and a tour. finally, say cheese with the picture people. groupon has a deal. just $16 for a photo shoot with eight photo sheets saving you # 9% off. -- you 89 % off. you'll find this one in spots vain yarks fair oaks or -- spotsylvania, fair oaks or manassas. if you have a deal for our viewers, i would love to hear from ow facebook. over -- from you on facebook.

over to you. hair spray made him a star, zac efron is 25. singer/songwriter neyo is 33. chuck berry 186. freida pinto is 28. gene

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it is 5:44 on this thursday morning. howard is here. it's a tale of to forecasts. >> no problems mud day to mid -- midday to afternoon. but late today a storm system approaches. we have a severe weather concern after dark with some of the storms coming through. a yellow alert for the nighttime hours mainly. 5:00 p.m. onward for the overnight. here's a look at your bus stop forecast.

this morning definitely needing a jacket in outer suburbs. we've got low to mid-40s while it's still in the mid-50s here in town and by the bay. sunrise not until 7:21. we've got a ways to go. i'll remind you again, the time change is that first weekend in november. that's saturday night, november 3, sunday morning, november 4. we fall back on the clocks. fog an issue down in culpeper this morning. half-mile visibility. also up in frederick they're reporting a quarter mile at the airport. tappahannock had some issues. they're up to four now so they're looking better. two in manassas. as far as our day planner, other than the patch of fog in some of the suburbs, we're okay. 53 by 8:00. lunch time looking pretty good. 67. you'll notice the wind, especially this afternoon. eight going to become breezy. winds out of the southeast 10, 15 miles an hour. can gust to 20 or so as the clouds increase late. then tonight showers and thunderstorms. maybe a few strong thunderstorms mixed in with a temperature at 8:00 at 65 falling into the 50s once again by tomorrow morning. we've got that 43 with the fog in culpeper. we've got 46 in baltimore.

hagerstown 52. cumberland only 40 this morning. and in southern maryland, one of our warmer areas at the patuxent river naval air station, 57 degrees. outside on our michael & son weather camera, good visibility under clear skies. 55. dew point 51. that's come up from yesterday when the dew points were in the 40s. a little more humidity, moisture in the air thanks to the southerly wind flow. winds out of the south at 9. the southerly winds will continue all day thanks to this storm spinning over minnesota and iowa. got a lot of showers and storms with t. one line racing away from the main storm now that will fall apart. the big storms well in dixie there this morning. for us not bad. we've got generally clear skies and a comfortable start, 40s and 50s. but the futurecast shows the moisture coming in. oh, severe weather outlook first in the futurecast. this is the severe weather threat for everybody in the area for late today and tonight. damaging wind gusts the primary concern with any strong thunderstorms. we could see a few of them getting here as we get into the nighttime howrption.

here we are -- hours. here we are at 6:00 p.m. watch what happens tonight with the showers and thunderstorms coming through the region. it should be out of here fairly early on friday. so today 72. yellow alert for the storms tonight. a late shower possible, breezy. tonight in the 50s in town. 40s north and west. early showers tomorrow. south and east the bigger threat there. 73 in the afternoon. then the weekend that looks pretty g. i know we have -- pretty good. i know we have lots of walks going o terps are home. 66 saturday and sunday before warming back into the 70s early next week. it's 5:47. monika, over to you. >> thank you, howard. there's a couple of issues i need to tell you about. the first one has been there for a while on the northbound side of route 15, the ramp to eastbound 66. watch out for police direction there. 66 is normal coming in from manassas to centreville and really no delays as you travel through fairfax and vienna. let's take a live look outside and show what you it looks like first here at university boulevard. this is where the second issue was on the inner loop before

university boulevard. that late clearing construction had slowed things down through the area early but right now as you can see the lanes are open. let's go back over to the maps. this time we're heading over to the north side of town coming in from all of your major thoroughfares down to the beltway you're going to be fine including on i-270. let's go there live. if you're planning to head near clopper road, traffic still moving well. of course you're going to hit the brakes right around route 109. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 6:01. first for teens driving is an important part of growing up. but it's also a huge responsibility. in today's extra mile report, it's national teen safe drivers week and there's one more tool we can use to keep our teens safe on the road. >> this year for homecoming andle prom, my mom told me i'm not allowed to get into anyone's car. we're actually taking a bus. >> reporter: there are many distractions mixed with

inexperience can be a rite of disaster. >> it's best to break in the straight. we call it straight line breaking. >> reporter: and hours of training behind the wheel. i drive smarts tom takes new students for a spin literally which puts a little fear in them, too. it shows a car can spin out of control even at 7 to 10 miles an hour in any driving environment. >> we can recreate any weather scenario, any road scenario with that computer module in the car to put the student behind the wheel and in an actual vehicle and they can experience what it's like to be out of control. >> reporter: the parent keeps the conversation going about safe driving with his son. >> it's scary in the beginning with your kids but you do get used to it. but they have to realize that they have a lot to learn and they have to always be aware of the other drivers around them. >> reporter: he now uses the risk disk to make sense of it all for parents. >> it's time of day, it is the

number of passengers in the car. six months is the magic month. within the six months your driver is at the highest risk. >> reporter: after riding the skid car, that reality hit home for alex. >> when you don't have control over the vehicle and you're skidding, you could hit anything on the road. this is just like open area. it wasn't too big of a deal but if you skid like that on the main road, you could easily hit a car. >> nothing like learning right in that car. this teenage risk disk by the way will be given to parents as part of i drive smart's education initiative. here's how it works. like they said, you look at time or day or night. it's night here. number of passengers in the car, and months driving. if it's less than six months as he said, that's the magic number. you look at back. you get the risk here. the score is 14. just with one passenger in the the car, 14 is severe risk. it's a great tool to have and as tom told me, once you learn

this, you can pass it on it other parents. it's such a cool little tool and it's available as part of their initiative. >> you need to have that car everywhere. a phenomenal training device. >> even adults should learn. at 5:51, here's a look at some things making news now. a new study points to a possible breakthrough in the treatment of crohn's disease. researchers at u.c. san diego found the drug stelara which is used to treat psoriasis can also bring relief for chron's patients. it affects about 700,000 americans. during a nine-month trial, patients treated with stelara saw an improvement as early as six weeks into therapy. bariatric surgery is used to treat obesity but researchers say it also has a big impact on preventing heart disease and stroke. a study published in the journal heart found weight loss surgeries can radically reduce risk factors, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

the improvement is both faster and more extreme when it's using drug treatments for managing weight. sticking to a healthy weight is critical for older women recovering from cancer. a study presented to the american association for cancer research examined lifestyle habits of elderly survivors. it found women who stayed physically active, eat a healthy diet and stick to an ideal body weight lowered their risk of death from cancer by nearly 40%. 5:52 now. let's take another look at the question of the day. here it is. 20% of americans, two in ten of us, have two of these things. is it a, to children, b, -- two children, b, two cars or c, two cell phones. >> here's a look at the response posted on the wusa9 facebook fan page posted kenton. this is an elusive question because most professionals are issued work phones, most americans families have two

cars and itself average family has three kids. due to the low percentage, my guess is c. >> we'll have the answer in about an hour from now. we'll be right back. one of d.c.'s hottest neighborhoods is only getting hotter. coming up at 6:05, an insider shares her pick on things to do and places to go and we're saving you money to boot. you're watching 9news now.

welcome back. 5 before 6:00. we're in pretty good shape most

areas but there's a touch of fog coming up from prince frederick. patchy fog in southern maryland. but really we're concerned more in frederick. visibility a quarter mile. culpeper visibility a half mile. so some of these rural areas, especially north and west of town are dealing with some of that patchy dense fog. this is also pretty sparse as far as that's concern. we'll see the passing clouds from time to time today. by 9:00 temperatures will be in the low to mid-50s in most spots. still maybe viii in winchester and -- maybe 48 in winchester and cumberland. a mild day. 67 by lunch time. we get into the afternoon. we'll be all right at 3:00. you have plans through 3:00, 4:00 p.m. you should be all right. upper 60s to low 70s for highs. late this afternoon as we approach the 6:00 hour, a cup of showers here. then watch what happens between 6:00 and 9:00. we really increase the showers and some thunderstorms around. some of these tonight could be on the strong to severe side. so stay up on the weather late this afternoon and tonight. andrea and mike, back to you. >> all right, howard. people and their pets

turned out for a very different type of blood drive wednesday. the humane society held a dog blood bank at their headquarters in gaithersburg. the purpose of the drive is to raise awareness of the need for canine blood. the donated blood will be used to help seriously ill or injured pets. each donation can save up to four dogs. we have a couple of dates to remind you about. make sure december 6 is marked on your calendar. that's when the national christmas tree will be lit on the ellipse. 17,000 tickets are available to the public. they will be given away through the lottery. the other date you need to remember, next thursday, october 25, that's when you can start getting online and try to bid for those tickets. you don't need a computer, though. you can also call starting next thursday. 1-877-444-6777. a celebrity couple is getting hitched. >> while another one delivers baby news. alexis christoforous has those stories and more in this look

at entertainment. >> reporter: sources tell us weekly magazine singer justin timer lake is marrying his actress girlfriend jessica biel in southern italy this week. they've been dating for five weeks. according to the report, only close family and friends will attend the intimate rustic ceremony. it's a boy for may gone fox and her actor husband. the 26-year-old transformer star announced the birth of her son on her facebook page. fox says noah shannon green is happy, healthy and perfect. tv star flave a flave is facing assault and battery charges. he threw his fiance to the floor twice and went off her teenage son with two knives. some of hollywood's most iconic movie costumes are going on display in london. a james bond tux daniel craig wore and the cowboy gear heath ledger wore in broke back mountain are among 100 movie

costumes in the exhibit at the victoria and albert mao seeup. it opens saturday. the action thriller alex kroft hits theaters tomorrow. tyler perry stars as the homicide detective and psychologist from the best selling crime novel by james patterson. >> got ourselves a four roses. >> reporter: alex kroft is the same character morgan freeman played in kiss the girl and along came a spider. that's your eye on entertainment. alexis christoforous, cbs news, new york. good morning. thank you for watching 9news now at 6:00 a.m. i'm andrea roane. thanks for being here. i'm mike hydeck. monika samtani is going to have traffic moment tairm. -- momentarily. >> howard bernstein is on deck with the weather. >> weather is doing fine this morning and through midday. it will be later on this afternoon and tonight we may have some showers and maybe some thunderstorms. i know it's unusual but the setup for