. >>> still to come, how the quick action of a neighbor helped save a germantown baby. >>> the end of an era -- >>> and [ coach ] in albuquerque citi pre-approved my mortgage. [ whistle blows ] all right, layups, guys. let's go. in sioux falls i locked in a rate. coach, you get that house yet? working on it. [ coach ] the appraisal? ...springfield. wherever i was, my citi mortgage consultant had me covered. [ crowd cheering ] and 500 miles from home... [ cheering, cellphone beeps ] ...we finally had a new home. [ male announcer ] from pre-approval to closing, citi is with you every step of the way. what's your story? citi can help you write it. denny's new tour of america menu. 50 star cuisine. the new tour of america menu. starting at $4.99. only at denny's. ams ica's diner is always open. >>> on environmental disaster is unfolding in montana. federal and state workers are trying to estimate the damage along the yellowstone river pier and a pipeline burst yesterday sending tens of thousands barrels of crude oil into the water. the river is moving so fast that it is likely that only a

once you pass route 109, it will slow down into germantown. the lanes are open down the point where the lanes divide and over to the inner and outer loops of the beltway. on the inbound side of i-66, 71 thans the beltway, the toll road from hunter mill to the beltway, only 6 minutes. route 4 to the wilson bridge, only 9 minutes. another look coming up at 6:12. andrea and mike, back to you. >>> top of the hour, let's check on the stories happening today. president obama takes part in a twitter town hall meeting. get that. focus will be on economy and the jobs. the event begins at 2:00. you can check it out. >>> the new head of the international monetary fund holds her first press conference. christine lagarde arrived yesterday at imf headquarters. she's the first woman ever to head the organization. >>> song and dance in south africa leading up to today's selection of the host city for the 2018 winter olympics. it is between france, south korea and munich, germany. announcement is scheduled for 11:00. >>> this morning, just about everyone who l

moving over to 270, switching the camera over here, coming down out of frederick, past germantown down to rockville, and everything is clear. nice quiet commute for the drivers this morning. into virginia, 66 eastbound. no problems there taking a look out of centerville through fairfax to the beltway. finally 95 northbound in virginia, everything is looking good down to lauren and the mixing bowl. i'm going to have a look at the g.w. parkway at 5:10. >> kris, thank you. >>> hundreds of thousands of people will watch the fireworks explode over washington, dc. >> many of them will be at the national mall and the u.s. capital -- capitol for all events leading up to the firework display. the big preparations, hope there no one is there yet surae, but who knows. >> reporter: we are ready for a big celebration. happy 4th of july, everyone. people are probably sleeping in, but you to prepare once you get here to the national mall. here's what you can bring, you want to bring your cooler with your food and water, plenty to drink. speaking of, drink plenty of it today, because as howard said, t

outside, no significant delays to report past 109 continuing down toward germantown road toward the split. also, your travel time, 66 drivers, good morning, virginia. from fairfax to the beltway, no problems. lax leak the inner loop is moving from -- looks like the inner loop is moving fine. no complaints approaching the toll plaza. still ahead, we'll have the very latest out in northeast d.c. on outbound new york avenue and the police activity there. that's coming up at 5:09. back to you. >>> an effort to fix a flat tire on the side of the beltway ended up costing a man his life. police say he pulled over on the shoulder near route one in new hampshire avenue yesterday afternoon when another car crashed into him, pinning him between the two vehicles. a third car slammed into them. emergency crews took two children and two other adults to the hospital. their injuries not life- threatening. >> a court hearing is scheduled today for the woman accused murdering her coworker at a bethesda clothing store. a judge will hear pretrial motions in the case against brittany norwood. she's accused of

he went under in gunners lake in germantown. ben eisler has elitist -- has the latest. >> the 38-year-old remains on a respirator here at shady grove hospital. dam it you would not think of the waters as being dangerous -- >> you would not think of these kinds of waters as being dangerous. >> the alluring waters of gunners lake -- tonight folks are reconciling the beauty with pain. >> at is just terrible. >> two friends came by with this remote-controlled dwayne bowe. one of them swam out -- remote- controlled toy boat. one swam out to retrieve it and didn't return. his friend said, when he saw the man go under he thought it was a joke. when he did not come back up, he called 911 call. as the boa strugglet to stay above water, -- boat struggled to stay above water, the owner struggled to stay alive. the last we heard, the man has stabilized somewhat. everyone is hoping for the best. ben eisler, abc 7 news. >> thank you. >>> investigators are trying to determine what led to the drowning of a 6-year-old at sandy point state park.

here's what it looks like in germantown headed down to rockville. you'll be ok. a look at your travel times starting off with the beltway, 395 to the toll road. the toll road in from hunter mill is 6 minutes and 295 up to the 11th street bridge, only 7 minutes right now. a look at 95 in maryland at 5:25. >>> a very important person will be at tonight's nationals game. details coming up. >> plus, pitcher levon hernandez plays the hero but not on the mound. at the plate. highlights next in sports. >> it is 5:19. tyke to take another look at the question of the morning. >> the 4th of july is biggest holiday for sales of this one item is. it a, hot dogs? b, beer or c, crabs? >> here's a look at a response you left on the facebook.com/wusa9 page. we know this person, bishop wrote i say d, all of the above. >> log on to facebook.com/wusa9 and leave your response. we'll reveal the answer later this morning. beth! hi. looking good! you've lost some weight. thanks! you noticed! you know these clothes are too big now, so i'm donating them. not going back there again. good

break from germantown road down toward montrose.switching over to virginia side, 66 traveling eastbound, fog also an issue. low visibility from 50 over to 123 dragging a bit. a delay, that's growing and getting longer. 395 headed northbound, the slow gofrom has set in. still doing ok. your top traffic stories of the morning including the latest out of hyattsville up at 6:58. back to you. >>> thank you, angie. don't call matthew cochran a hero because he just might blush. >> that's what he is. he's also the virginia state trooper of the year! >> cochran is based in carroll county, virginia. last year, he was first on the scene of an apartment fire. the flames and smoke were strong but he heard a woman trapped inside the burning building and said there was never a choice not to go in. >> hearing her scream is motivation to go in and you know she's still alive. you have a chance to get her out. we did. >> he went in, got her out. saved her life. she says the trooper is her hero. but trooper cochran shares that credit with other first r

this is 270 in germantown. 270 north and south, it's a good ride for you.he sun is up, and your lanes are clear as we head down to 95 north. this is at the rest area. 95 north and south in virginia, your lanes are clear as well. a good commute for you. a look at our rails. metro, marc, and vre all running on time. joe and eun, back to you. >> thank you, danella. >>> it is almost time to light up the sky over the national mall for the annual independence day celebration. thousands of people are expected to attend. the signature fireworks show. that means you need to be prepared. news 4's melissa mollet is live on the mall this morning. good morning, melissa. >> reporter: good morning, joe. i've got to tell you it's going to be one heck of a party on the fourth of july, this monday. all events start at 10:00 a.m. on the national mall. if you want to head to the capitol for concerts and such, that starts at 3:00 p.m. there will be a security checkpoint there, but once you get through security, you can use any available space on a first come, first served basis

there was a discussion between the french president and the germantown -- chancellor which might have resulted in a new plan. >> greece and its debts are hanging over the eurozone. a country without growth. even president obama has been piling on the pressure to find a lasting solution. the summit as regarded as crunch time. >> and no one should be under any illusions, the situation is usually very serious. it requires a response, otherwise the negative consequences will be felt in all corners of europe and beyond. >> tonight, president sarkozy met in berlin to meet with angela merkel. they are the two big beasts of the eurozone but they have struggled to agree. they are wrestling with a key challenges, are arranging a second bailout for greece and bringing down its debt. greece needs in new funding of well over 110 billion euros. the first rescue only increased their debt to 350 billion euros. that is 170% of gdp. the two leaders are likely to agree to make the debt more bearable perhaps by laurie the interest rates. -- lowering the interest rates. >> a great amount of the german mon

. >> in this germantown, business is picking up again at the restaurant. -- in this german town. the catering business is doing well, too. it has just received an order for 150 guests at a fashion show. one of the biggest caterers in the region, they are sensitive to economic swings. >> we used to put on lots of company events, like christmas parties. there was a lot to celebrate. then, that dropped off, and there were fewer parties. when you are laying off staff, you can hardly put on a huge party. it is not appropriate. >> now, they and the rest of the catering sector are feeling a noticeable upswings. sales from private and municipal events have climbed 5%. their order books are full almost every weekend, and it is busy with a major upcoming event. the company supplies an estimated 1 million brisse worst -- bratwurst per year. >> people are spending more money and enjoying themselves more. >> the company even has its own fleet of grows on wheels, to make sure they get everything to the party on time. in a nearby area, they are preparing to welcome a business group for three ni

police say two men were controlling the boat on gunners lake in germantown this evening. when the boat got stushgs one man went in to get it. he went under water and didn't come up. his friend jumped in and pulled the man out. that remote-control boat is only about two-feet long. >>> the secret service is now investigating the hacking of fox news on twitter. the hacker sent out messages saying president barack obama had been assassinated in iowa. the tweets stayed up for several hours this morning. fox news released a statement saying it is working with twitter to find out who is responsible and to prevent any such acts in the future. the fox news politics encounters more than 34,000 followers. >>> the president spent this day at the white house. and tonight, he had a message of support for our men and women in uniform. the president and first lady, michelle obama, hosted more than 1,200 troops and their families for a celebration on the south lawn. the president told the guests, the nation is proud of all of them. >> i'm going to make sure that you have the support that

. >>> a man in germantown is also in critical condition this morning after jumping into the lake to recover a remote control boat. police say two men were operating the boat on gunner's lake last night when it got stuck. one man went in to get it but went under water and did not come up. his friend went in, pulled him out, and performed cpr until paramedics arrived. >>> a little girl recovering in the hospital this morning. police say the 4-year-old was walking with her parents after the show when they heard a loud noise, and they discovered the little girl had been shot in the leg. she was taken to johns hopkins where she is in stable condition. another man was stabbed in the neck around the same time outside a restaurant after two groups got into a fight. he was taken to shock trauma and is suffering from life-threatening injuries this morning. >>> new from overnight. out of new zealand, seismologists recorded a 6.5 magnitude earthquake around 3:30 p.m. local time. so far there are no reports of any damage or fatalities. experts are attributing that to the fact this was well below the sur

a last look southbound on 270, nice and quiet at route 109 headed down toward germantown and rockvilleyou're good to go early this morning. coming up, we'll take a look at route 50 in maryland at 4:56. >>> thanks, monika. the holiday almost turned deadly for one man. the 38-year-old man was playing with a toy boat on the water. the toy stalled and when he tried to swim out to get it, he went under the water. when rescuers finally pulled him out, he was unresponsive. he was taken to the hospital where he remains in critical condition. >>> one water incident did turn deadly for a young boy in anne arundel county. the 6-year-old drown at sandy point state park. he may have been underwater in an unguarded section of the beach for up to half an hour. the boy was pulled from the bay. cpr was given, he did not survive. >>> the woman accused killing a coworker inside the lululemon athletic-a store is due in court friday. brittany norwood is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing and beating jayna murray in march. police say after the murder, norwood concocted a story both wome

. >>> a near tragedy on july 4th in germantown. police say a man was playing with a remote control boat in gunner's lake around 7:00 last night. boat stalled. the man went into get it but couldn't make it back to shore. he was rescued and taken to the hospital. he is expected to survive. >>> a 6-year-old fell into the marina eight yesterday morning. he was rushed to the hospital but later died. >>> the chances of survival are grim at best for seven americans. they are missing since the boat they were in sunk suddenly sunday in mexico's gulf of california. one fisherman died. 19 tourists and 1 crew members survived. fox's steve rapoport has the latest. >> reporter: this is an annual fourth of july week-long trip for many of the 27 who ventured into the gulf of california saturday. their 115-foot boat was about 60 miles south of the port of san felipe when it hit an electrical storm. >> at about 2:30 on the 3rd of july, opinions were awakened by other passengers and crew members and alerted that the ship was sinking. extremely large

that's a clear shot in each direction as you travel between germantown. no incidents to report between laurel and the beltway. the parkway they are checking for a crash near 202. that's a check of your fox 5 on time traffic. >>> summertime means a lot of time outdoors and probably a lot of time bothered by bugs. >> mosquitoes and ticks aren't just a nuisance. they can be a health hazard as well. there are ways to take back your yard. >> reporter: aaron kelly is enjoying outdoor play time with his girls. something he couldn't do this time last year. >> we were getting eaten alive. >> reporter: mosquitoes were really bugging the kellies. the things that attracted he and his wife to this house, they are attracted to mosquitoes as well. >> this is absolutely number one breeding spot. they love this. >> reporter: ross knows a thing or two about tracking down backyard pests. >> these are areas we also find a lot of ticks. they like compost areas. >> reporter: he's a mosquito expert. he says homeowners can take back their yard using a system. >> we want to use s

an easy drive southbound 270 working from 104 into germantown. northbound i-95, the usual suspects from the prince william parkway. accident activity reported eastbound on 66 at the exit for marshal. the eastbound lanes are currently closed. westbound everything is open. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. >> thank you, julie. >>> there bass excitement outside the verizon center but not for a sporting event but an ancient ritual. all these people that you see here came to see the dalai lama celebrate world peace. it's meant to inspire harmonious relationships and peace in the hearts of everyone in the world. it celebrates the 76th birthday of the dalai lama. he doesn't think that is important. >> in our tradition, we consider the death is more important than birthday. >> this event will run for 11 days. >>> all right. time to talk about sports and all things entertainment with the sports jocks from the fan. it's just me today, no steve chenevey, just me and tony perkins. how is it going. let's talk about something that is going good, t

this is a live shot of traffic on 270 out of germantown working out to rockdale. we have fog that is keeping sky fox on the ground because of poor visibility. traveling northbound i-95 in newington, lanes are open. it's below speed as you travel up to 335. 395 delays from duck to seminary road. new york sunshine is coming through the clouds. accident investigation remains on westbound 202 west of 704 at firehouse road. the roadway is blocked. eastbound lanes are open. that's a check of your fox 5 on- time traffic. >> thank you. >>> apparently unlimited has its limits, at least if you are a verizon wireless subscriber. starting today, new smartphone customers have caps on how much data they can consume. will we pay more for our phone and application addictions? money reporter melanie alnwick breaks it down. >> reporter: verizon joins at&t and t mobile in capping customer's data usage. verizon plans start at $30 a month for two gigabytes. >> i read in the wall street journal this is the last day of the existing contract. >> reporter: verizon joins at&t in capping cu

no incidents reported if you are continuing the trip south in germantown to the lane divide. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >>> major developments in the sexual assault case against dominique strauss-kahn, the former head of the international monetary fund accused of attacking a hotel maid in new york city. the new york sometimes says the prosecutor's case is in jeopardy. the times and now also the associated press report prosecutors do not believe much of what the housekeeper has hold them about the alleged assault or her louvre. one law enforcement official says he has repeatedly lied including about details in her asylum application in which she claims she was raped in her native guinea. she reportedly has ties to drug dealing and money laundering. strauss-kahn's attorneys will be back in court today trying to get their client's strict bail conditions eased. >>> making headline here in our area this morning, deadly violence at a maryland shopping plaza. one person is dead. at least two others hurt after a stabbing at the university's town center in hyattsvil

we'll update the ride out of germantown. southbound 270 looking good from 118 headed past mba. now crash 197 at powder mill road out of virginia. nice easy ride so far prince william parkway. that's a check of the fox 5 on time traffic. >>> all right, now to a big story we are following this morning. after 168 years in publication, britain's biggest sunday newspaper, the "news of the world" is being shut down. now this follows accusations that it hacked the cell phone of a 13-year-old murder victim deleting voice mails leading the parents to believe the girl may have still been alive and now they're investigating other hackings. 200 employees will lose their jobs when the newspaper shuts down on sunday. it's owned by the same parent company as fox 5. >>> the scandal continues to grow this morning. we have just learned a former aide to british prime minister david cameron has been arrested in connection with the scandal. andy coulson is a former editor of the news to have world paper. >>> the duke and duchess of cambridge head to los angeles later today. it's their first visit t

your lanes are open and incident-free. 270 looks good out of germantown. no incidents to report. beltway incident-free right now as well. keep in mind downtown, we'll have a lot of closures today. a lot of pedestrians there. that's a check of your fox 5 on-time traffic. >>> a huge crowd will gather on the national mall today to celebrate independence day. >> but you better pack some patience if you are heading to the big show. >> that's right. this is the big daddy of them all. tens of thousands of people that are expected to be down here for the big fourth of july celebration. the public access to the national mall itself is going to start at about 10:00 a.m. so that is what folks can start filtering down near and getting your favorite spot down here on the national mall. the u.s. park service, they are saying, please, do not drive down here. they are asking people to take metro to get down here. they think that will be your best bet. here is some information you need to know about metro itself. it is going to be open from 7:00 a.m. to midnight. the smithsonian metro stop, that

. >> a woman dragged into the woods off canal road 13 years ago in germantown. let's start with the dc murder. it was the summer of 1998. christine mrzan was walking to her dorm at georgetown university. someone dragged her into the woods, sexual assaulted her and beat her to death. dc police developed a sketch of the man who may be responsible. investigators also collected dna evidence from the crime scene, entered that into a national database, and linked the murder of the 28-year-old to eight sexual attacks in montgomery county. there's the composite sketch we were talking about. now, dc police will launch a new website dedicated to generating tips in an otherwise cold case. the actual launch is coming soon and veteran detectives aren't afraid to try new approaches, even if that means stepping out of their comfort zone. >> our younger detectives were a little more computer-savvy, a little more understanding of that, but it's a learning process for all of us to how we can use these different things to our advantage. i can speak from my own experience just in t

interstate 270, drivers still doing ok down to germantown. we're also tracking your travel times. good morning, virginia. 66 if you're traveling eastbound out of fairfax still moving at a great pace. only about 11 minutes, the inner loop, no problems from 395 to the toll road. toll road itself is smooth sailing from the greenway all the way to the beltway. still ahead, the very latest on the fire on u street at 6:25. now back to you. >>> we're counting down to the final launch of the space shuttle program. a live look from the kennedy space center. about five hours to go now. there is a good chance, however, the weather could be scrubbing today's launch. >> that would be bad news for the thousands of people who have traveled to florida for the launch of atlantis. >> which includes 9news now reporter kristin fisher. she joins us live from the kennedy space center. her mom and dad are astronauts. kristin, i'm so excited for you. are you having fun? >> you have no idea how exciting it is here. i have been up all night long. i got about 30 minutes of sleep, maybe an hour of sleep at t

we'll keep it in maryland to take you over to 270, show you the southbound trip out of the germantown area or even before that past 109. still seeing a lot of taillights, not stacking up just yet. let's move it over to the travel times. 66 if you're traveling eastbound. fairfax to the beltway, construction has cleared out of the way. that's only about a 10 minute commute. 267, dulles toll road is checking out in the green. the inner loop, no problems from 395 to 267. over to you. >>> thank you, angie. if your child brought home a report card like the one metro is getting, you wouldn't be happy about it. >> the metro board is receiving a new review of its safety and reliability. 9news now reporter surae chinn is live at the foggy bottom station where escalators have become a very sore subject. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, you bet. haven't we seen this before? this is a pretty familiar sight. we've got escalators not working or under repair. you see all of the big signs and the boarded up area for the new escalator that will be in place. we found the down escalator here is a

rain mixed with friday traffic, and you know it's going to take a long time to get out to germantownr frederick area. at some point the rain was coming down so hard, you could barely see out of the wind shield. so we're making our way slowly up 270 north. we're in the gaithersburg area. traffic is basically coming to a stand still. we might love a little while and then it comes to a stand still once again. we're seeing some pooling and puddling of water here on 270 north as we're heading out toward frederick. seeing some ambulances and fire trucks in the area. i haven't seen any accidents, per se. i saw them going in the southbound direction. actually toward washington. but very difficult driving conditions in the rain. right now it seems to have lightened up a little bit, but it's been kind of coming in waves where it will lighten up and then you get another downpour. but we're hearing and getting pictures from frederick of major flooding in the downtown area. if you're familiar with frederick at all, it has basically a main street which is market street with a lot of businesses, a

. >>> and a man in germantown is also in critical condition this morning after jumping into a lake toecover a remote controlled boat. police say two men were operating the boat on gunner's lake last night when it got struck. one man went to get it, went under water, and did not come up. his friend went in, pulled him out, and started cpr before paramedics arrived. >>> right now mexican officials searching for seven american tourists missing when the boat they were in capsized in the pacific ocean. the 115-foot boat sank about 50 miles south of the port of san felipe on sunday. the group was on an annual fourth of july fishing trip when an electrical storm came up. at least one american man was killed. the other 35 passengers and crew on board were all rescued. >>> exxon mobil admits the scope of an oil spill caused by a broken pipeline in montana is much larger than it initially reported. about 42,000 gallons of crude oil have flowed into the yellow stone river since friday. initially, exxon said the oil would spread along a ten-mile sprech of the river. now it's said it could stretch

. >>> and a man in germantown is also in critical condition this morning after jumping into a lake to recover a remote controlled boat. were operating haas night when it got stuck. one plant went in to get it, but didn't come out. his friend went in and got him and started cpr before paramedic ace arrived. >>> d.c. police are searching for a gunman who shot a teenager, this happened about 10:45 last night. a man was shot in the leg and the teenager was shot three times. both victims were taken to the hospital. their names and conditions are not being released right now. >>> d.c. police also investigating a shooting in northeast. this one happened about 1:00 this morning along north capital street. police say the victim was taken to the hospital in grave condition. his name has not been released. so far, no arrests have been made. >>> your time right now is 1 11:09. coming up this morning, good and bad news for the lawyers trying to clear the name of former imf chief dominique strauss-kahn. how they plan to fight the latest allegations against him. >>> and how a group of tourists throw

and second place in the women's division, juliet lee of germantown.op ladies all this from area. >> that says something about this area. not sure what it says. >> all right. 5:57 right now. >>> the star of the harry potter movies opens up about a personal problem. what he vows to never do again. -dad, why are you getting that? -that's my cereal. is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. is it a robot? no. is it a jet plane? nope. is it a dinosaur?] [ male announcer ] inside every box of heart healthy cheerios are those great tasting little o's made from carefully selected oats that c help lower cholesterol. stickers? uh-uh. a superhero? ♪ kinda. [ male announcer ] and we think that's the best prize of all. ♪

host: peter, a republican caller in germantown, tenn.. caller: for several years i have witnessed this firsthand, the social pathology created by the liberal spending social programs. it's disconcerting when you mention the particular group of unmarried women. since you are a liberal, i am presuming that your prefering to unwed mothers. not needh is, we do nee more illegitimate mothers. it said more instability and unpredictability into the structure of society. we're spending more and more money and you and i are paying for people that behavior responsible. i am curious what your response to that would be. host: the rising american electorate, on married women of color. guest: i will not tell us single mother that she is an artificial group. you can go ahead and do that. but we're not talking about unwed mothers. there are a single women. either way, they are all americans facing tough economic times. they deserve the respect that everybody else does. i totally disagree with your assessments and where you're coming from. host: why had yo

delay on germantown heading into rockville. 7 looks good coming from the west. you will find the toll road is at speed. 66, typical slowdowns right now. for those continuing inbounds, traffic slows between the two interchanges in centerville and fair oaks. that's the check of the fox 5 on time track. >>> julie, thank you. new this morning, a fire at a store in northwest forced parts of u street to close down, just before 5:00 this morning. it happened inside u street wine and beer prompting heavy damage. two other businesses were also damaged, kung fu studio and a hair salon. no one was injured and no word on the cause. >>> and now to the other top story. the last launch of thrils. the weather may delay it. >> there is a 70% chance of rain. >> reporter: good morning, al and tony. the weather is the big question. thunderstorms are in the forecast for the space shuttle's launch. here at nasa godard, everyone is watching and waiting keeping their fingers crossed that the skies will clear and all system go. the space shuttle atlantis is fueled and ready to go on the

host: peter, a republican caller in germantown, tenn..aller: for several years i have witnessed this firsthand, the social pathology created by the liberal spending social programs. it's disconcerting when you mention the particular group of unmarried women. since you are a liberal, i am presuming that your prefering to unwed mothers. not needh is, we do nee more illegitimate mothers. it said more instability and unpredictability into the structure of society. we're spending more and more money and you and i are paying for people that behavior responsible. i am curious what your response to that would be. host: the rising american electorate, on married women of color. guest: i will not tell us single mother that she is an artificial group. you can go ahead and do that. but we're not talking about unwed mothers. there are a single women. either way, they are all americans facing tough economic times. they deserve the respect that everybody else does. i totally disagree with your assessments and where you're coming from. host: why had you

host: germantown, maryland. caller: since the u.s. has been in afghanistan, the poppy crop has skyrocketed. american troops are actually guarding the poppy crops and allow the afghan people to grow it. there is one article about how the united states now, our troops, are fighting and dying as the chinese corporations can rape afghanistan and for their natural resources. you are allowing foreign powers to use this as a conduit. guest: again, as i have said, the competition is there. all other countries that are willing to participate in the resources that we have, they are more than welcome. people here understand the business very well. the proximity of afghanistan to other countries in the region is such that transportation costs and cost effectiveness is one of the main criteria for the business. most of the company's theire are interested, for example, indian companies are interested in taking part in other minerals because of their needs. for that, we are very happy to have u.s. companies to come and take part. this is an afghan t

host: germantown, maryland. caller: since the u.s. has been in afghanistan, the poppy crop has skyrocketed. american troops are actually guarding the poppy crops and allow the afghan people to grow it. there is one article about how the united states now, our troops, are fighting and dying as the chinese corporations can rape afghanistan and for their natural resources. you are allowing foreign powers to use this as a conduit. guest: again, as i have said, the competition is there. all other countries that are willing to participate in the resources that we have, they are more than welcome. people here understand the business very well. the proximity of afghanistan to other countries in the region is such that transportation costs and cost effectiveness is one of the main criteria for the business. most of the company's theire are interested, for example, indian companies are interested in taking part in other minerals because of their needs. for that,

we have a town named germantown. and amy contacted me and said please do your utmost to compromise on a budget solution before the deadline expires. our family has already weathered multiple economic downturns due to the dot-com bubble burst, 9/11 and the subprime mortgage crisis. we are responsible with our income, saving for our children's education and our retirement. however, we're extremely nervous about our savings and investments once again. if the united states of america defaults on its loan obligations, it's likely we'll see a significant reduction in the value of our 401(k) and 403-b investments as well as the investments we made for our children and grandchildren's education. i cannot stand by another day and listen to all the elected officials in washington talk about their convictions. please remember your constituents and their situations. another letter from scott in bloomington, illinois. dear senator, i thought i'd offer a real-life personal example of what you're doing to common americans by draggi