i want to thank the people from the northern virginia community college. we have students, administrators, faculty, staff. thank you all for being here. we look forward to your participation. and all of you hear from the m&a community, a community hard hit by the health-care crisis we face in america. -- and thethe annandale community. we want to engage the public and have the president answered their questions. in addition to the people here today, we are live streaming this session over the internet. we want to make sure that everybody has a chance to get in the action to participate. we will have a multi dimensional session. three different ways. first, we will have a chance to hear the video responses to the questions that were put to us here today. and the weekend the president did a youtube video and so we will have video questions first. the white house is doing the live cast on whitehouse.co m and on our facebook page and questions coming from twitter. all that goes on as the president will be asking questions. a nice gentleman named nathan will be

thank you, northern virginia. thank you very much. everybody, please have a seat what a wonderful welcome. i am so grateful to all of you for taking the time to be here. a couple of quick announcements. first of all, i want to thank the president and chancellor for their wonderful hospitality. we are grateful to both of them. we have at some extraordinary elected officials, a few that i want to mention. first of all, you have got one of the finest governors in the country, who is also doing a great job as dnc share. please give tim kane a great round of applause. [applause] part of the reason he is such a good governor is because he took notes while being lieutenant governor to the former governor and now-a senator from the state of virginia, outstanding public servant, mark warner. [applause] and three outstanding members of congress, bobby scott, jim moran, gerry connolly. thank you so much for the great job you do every day. [applause] i know there is all kinds of stuff that valerie was explaining. don't worry. she is in charge, so

his plan is to allocate a small percentage of northern virginia 's sales tax for northern virginia and roads -- for northern virginia's roads. he also wants to sell -- to take of the proceeds from liquor stores and put them to highways. and he wants to raise the speed limit to 70 miles per hour on some roads. >>> the two men can't come to an agreement on other debates. he does not like the proposal that he sent him in response. the first debate is saturday. >>> the governor martin o'malley has outlined his plans to make up part of the $700 million shortfall. it will save $75 million, and the state will cut 18 million from the university of maryland's utilities fund. cuts will be made the stem cell research and state lottery advertising. some state jobs will be cut, but he plans to avoid large layoffs. >>> results of a driver's steady. -- study. why they are just now being revealed. >> the national -- he made his washington debut today. coming up later in sports. ...or if you're already sick... ...or if you lose your job. your health insurance shouldn't either. so let's fix health care.

[cheers and applause] >> thank you, northern virginia. thank you very much. everybody please have a seat. have a seat. what a wonderful welcome, and i'm so grateful to all of you for taking the time to be here. a couple of quick acknowledgements. i want to thank the college president and others for their hospitality. we have some extraordinary elected officials. first of all, you have got one of the finest governors in the country. please give tim kaine a big round of applause. [applause] >> part of the reason tim is such a good governor is because he took notes while being lieutenant governor to the former governor and now senator for the state of virginia, an outstanding public servant, mark warner. [applause] >> and three outstanding members of congress, bobbie scott, jim moran, and mr. conley. thank you guys for the great job you do every day. i know there are all kinds of stuff valerie was explaining. don't worry. she is in charge, and she will organize us. i want to give a few remarks at the outset and we will save most of the time for questions. it is

host: president obama at northern virginia community college in annandale, virginia. you can watch it any time on line at c-span.org and we will show again tonight in our prime time, beginning at 8:00 eastern, here on c-span. good afternoon to andrew, on a republican line. caller: after hearing his speech about health care, i cannot help but think that when he says if you read it and mall for the scare tactics, you will realize that this is a wonderful bill for it i wish he would say that he would encourage looking at the counter argument. i would rather have him say you should take a look at -- this is an important bill for our country. i would wish that he would say to draw your own conclusions rather than pushing for his own opinion. host: where have you read about the bill? caller: i have been reading about it for my local mayors paper and news reports. host: independent caller -- caller: i just watch your coverage of the obama speed. i think he is being very disingenuous. he said it does not want to take over health care. he said the same thing about the automobi

myers in northern virginia but the ft. myers officer we understand was not shot. initially, there was some confusion from prince george's county police over would was shot. multiple agencies are out here. prince george's county police, homicide detectives investigating, just like in baltimore, even though there wasn't a homicide or murder. they're still investigating because that's part of procedure. u.s. capitol police are investigating, and other jurisdictions investigating to see whether any administrative actions need to be taken out here. so quite a big and confusing crime scene in greenbelt, prince george's county. >> thank you very much kai. we are following more breaking news, this time out of baltimore county where police say a man was shot inside a liquor store. this happened less than 30 minutes angst the 7900 block of bel air road in the white marsh knotting ham area. police say it appears to be a robbery gone wrong but we do not yet know who was shot. we do have a crew at the scene. >>> the fallout from the shooting of a five-year-old girl own a city

>>> an alert to drivers in northern virginia. a water main break is causing major problems on one major roadway. what you need to know before you head out the door. >> more trouble for metro riders. part of the red line will be shut down today. how it could affect your daily commute. >> plus, a shooting on capitol hill. police get into a firefight and kill a man just blocks from the capitol building. how the frightening ordeal unfolded. >>> good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison. it is thursday, july 16th, 2009. >> let's take a look outside right now. we can see the early dawn light just beginning to appear right now at 5:00. 75 degrees. looks like we may get some humidity back today, right, tom? >> it is beginning to return, our old friend and relative humidity is now beginning to show up, oh, about 30, 45 miles or sothou swest of washington. beginning to soulowlyomep uouru way, but right now on radar, no preciparat tion ouethend mro iea ernrhe tntou b mnsai tut th

. >>> northern virginia residents will soon see some big improvement on the road thanks to the federal stimulus money. elisse that is what the local governments are telling us. they will share $260 million in federal funds. that will go to pave the roads and complete a new interchange to ease congestion between the fairfax county parkway. prince george's county leaders are set to vote today on whether to furlough county employees for two weeks. that move approved as part of the budget. the council must formally adopt the plan before it can happen. police officers and firefighters are among those facing mandatory leave. >>> bob mcdonnell unveiled his transportation plan this week. he plans to privatize the of calling beverage control and dedicate the proceeds to transportation. he also plans to take a percentage of sales tax collected in northern virginia and put it toward a regional transportation account. his democratic opponent revealed his plan for the state's economy today. he wants to create tax credit for businesses that provide loans for small businesses. he also says that fixin

three stops in northern virginia are now officially closed. one on 66 will remain open through the labor day weekend. this is what you will see as you drive down the interstate. this is what the rest stops are going to look like. officials say closing 19 rest stops will help the over $2 billion gap. some say a better alternative is to have private companies takeover. drivers say keeping them close is too big of an inconvenience. >> this is the only rest area on this highway. if nature calls, we do not know where to go. >> under a federal law, only states are allowed to run interstates along interstates. some states like new jersey have exemption. virginia would need a waiver from congress for private businesses to step in. >> thank you. >>> six minutes after the hour. when we return, is the air we breathe lowering your kids's iq? results of a new study after the break. >> adam caskey live. there are no storms to chase locally. we do have a bit of sunshine. we will highlight the forecast. >>> coming to from the ocean city fire department. be sa

what this means for many drivers who travel through northern virginia. >> four decades ago, history was made in the depths of outer space. why some famous astronauts are >>> good morning, everyone. if you're just waking up, this is "early today." in sports, that storybook finish that everyone was rooting for in golf's british open came crashing down yesterday in a bitter end for veteran tom watson. here's nbc's bill seward with an early look at all your sports headlines. >>> a very good morning to you. tom watson was on the verge of history but he couldn't punk situate an incredible week at the british open. 59 years of age, watson in position to become the oldest player to become a winner. cink with a birdie putt to get to 2 under. came down to this for watson. par putt for the win. par putt for history. not even close. tommy fell into a four-hole playoff with cink. the wheel simply fell off for the five-time open winner, far from elementary, my dear watson. watson's double-bogeyed the hole. cink made the most of his spotlight. beautiful approach. finished just feet from the hole. got

. >> people looking for work in northern virginia will get to meet with governor tim kaine is today. the jobless rate rose slightly to 7.2% in june, well below the national average of 9.5%. the unemployment rate is even lower in northern virginia, standing at 5.3%. >>> with rising unemployment, the soaring number of foreclosures, and that is why leaders from the cities of alexandria, the week, maryland, fairfax, prince william, and prince george's counties are joining together to ask the $39 million in stimulus money that would help neighborhoods hard hit by foreclosures. >>> his status has gone from where about unknown to missing, captured. private first class bowe bergdahl is being held by the taliban. there are signs that he's been mentally and physically abused, perhaps. >> confirmation of the taliban kidnapping came with the posting of this 28-minute video on youtube. >> my name is beau bergdahl. >> according to the military, though bergdahl was captured after leaving his base in egg to guinness then for reasons that are still unclear. >> i'm scared, i'm scared i will not be abl

a warning for women in northern virginia.women are attacked in a matter of days. >>> the new push on capitol hill to legalize online gambling. >> pop star chris brown breaks his silence in a new ñó ol >>> weather and traffic on the 1s. good morning. now 6:11. on radar, some light rain now falling in southern maryland that's heading off to the north, getting a little light rain southern prince george's county, through central calvert, maybe moving into anne arundel county, just to the east of the beltway in prince george's county over the next few minutes. right now near 70 in washington, 60s in the suburbs, in many of the rural areas. highs today reaching the mid-80s. small chance of a passing late afternoon or evening thundershower. turning more humid tomorrow. there's a chance of a -- small chance of an afternoon thundershower on wednesday, highsn the mid-80s. a rather steamy day. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. how's the traffic? >> tom, start out on 66 where it is very backed up this morning

in northern virginia. people retreat and reach for their cameras.one retamer decides it's time for christmas. yes, indeedy in july. hakeem, what have you got? >> veterans lead the way at u.s. open the in baseball, a local kid puts on a show in baltimore. high drama in houston. astros x/Ño#2tz fios guy! where ya headed? ah, just installed fios in the whole building. now everyone has the fastest upload speeds. and we're giving them a mini netbook. well, i'm sticking with cable. so's ted. (voice) no i'm not! he's just goofing. (voice) no i'm not! (sighing) ted has betrayed me. (announcer) switch to verizon fios tv, phone and internet today and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. call the verizon center for customers with disabilities at 800.974.6006 tty/v and get an ultra-sleek compaq mini netbook. >>> bob dole is in the hospital tonight. admitted to walter reed army medical center in bethesda. last week his office release aid statement saying he underwent surgery for open sores on his left leg. dole hopes to be out of the hospital by his birthday,

smith grew up in northern virginia. but spent 17 years working with alice waters at a restaurant.ters is the mother of organic food movement. connolly, a d.c. native, ran betty's ocean view diner in berkeley. 15 years ago they decided to get into cheese. >> no one was doing organic cheese. >> reporter: they partnered with albert strauss, a nearby organic dairy farmer and soon they were making organic cheese in a renovated old barn in point reyes, california. >> we' been able to work with albert's milk in that way that it's really about his milk. >> reporter: cowgirl creamery makes four cheeses under their name. mt. cam, a creamy cheese, red hawk, a strong cheese with an amber skin that connolly found annoying. >> it was actually a mistake. >> reporter: she tried to correct the skin color and got fed up. >> and i threw it in the aging room and i said well i'm just not going to deal with this anymore. and a month later we took it out and tried it. it was the best cheese we had ever made.kj÷ >> reporter: they also make two seasonal cheeses all organic. the american cheese movement ha

the communicators," interviews with the attendees of this year's digital media conference of northern virginia. later on "america and the courts" highlights from the confirmation hearings of judge sonia sotomayor or. >> technology expert walt mossberg on gadgets he will be using in the future. >> the northern virginia area of washington, d.c is a hub of high-tech companies. recently a conference call the digital media conference was held there, where a lot of these companies got together to talk about some of the issues that they face in this current economic environment and about some of their new products. "the communicators" attended that conference and did several interviews with the participants. we want to show you some of those this week. first we talk with the organizer of the conference to will be was a broad overview of what it was about. then we spoke with best buy capital about some of the investments the company is making in some of the products you may see on your shelves in the coming months and years. we also spoke about some of the legislative and regulatory issues that compan

. >>> a woman is now charged with rob he three points in northern virginia. today fairfax county charged cynthia crawford with the robberies. she was head without bond yesterday. she was arrested after allegedly solding up a suntrust bank bank friday. >>> adrian fenty and michelle rih announced plans for a new academic curriculum. this fall 13 schools will be turned into theme-based catalyst school. >> a theme-based catalyst school is a school with a science technology, innearing and math curriculum, has an arts integration curriculum. >> now, chance leer rih says the new curriculum are part of the school system strategy to offer programs and initiativing that encourage parents who want to send their kids to public schools in the city. >>> hot lane construction could leave motorists hot under the collar. crews are replacing bridges, overpasses. this will accommodate motorists for a toll. >>> a little relief for those of you who drive across the chain bridge for making a right on to route 123 on the virginia side. it's caused huge backups during the morning an

police spend the night at a northern virginia business where a woman is found dead. >>> hot and humid. it will feel more like a typical summer weekend in the washington area. >>> good morning. welcome to the 6:00 edition of news 4 today. it is saturday july 25, 2009. the news is just ahead. first a quick look at the weather. for that we go to steve up in storm center4. good morning. >> good morning keith, good morning, everyone. we will see a warm day today. temperatures heading up to the low 90s. lots of sunshine. we will call it mostly sunny. the humidity will be on the increase. right now it's 70 degrees in the beltway. heading to the low 90s. 64 at dulles. 61 in culpeper. dew points are climbing. they are in the 60s. these number also go up now that we have southwesterly winds. we are for the most part clear. there is a storm system brewing across the ohio valley. ahead of it a southwesterly flow will develop that gets here overnight tonight and into tomorrow. that will keep the threat of showers and storms in the forecast. decals coming up. >> sounds good. thank you. >>> new toda

watching the storm erupt over the last six hours over central and northern virginia.band staying on the west side but probably will be clipping at least portions of the beltway, howard, carroll and maybe even baltimore county over the next couple of hours. we'll continue to watch this as that moist flow continues to come in and we have energy back west that will continue to reach us throughout the day. more storms midday into the afternoon. we pretty much had to keep the chance throughout the entirety of today. it will be an active one. some storms may produce locally heavy downpours and flash flooding, frequent lightning is definitely a possibility with any one of these storms. lasting in through the evening and overnight, we'll have the chance of storms continuing on in through tomorrow as well. we stay very warm and humid with the same general setup lasting into the weekend. today only two degrees below -- sorry, 82 degrees is our two-degree guarantee with strong storms, back to the low 70s with showers and fog overnight. kim? >>> we're off to a quiet start to star

the high across northern virginia ashburn for example 83. 81 stafford and that's the case in front royal. the high in remington 80 degrees. got to love how good it feels. let me tell you why. the winds are out of the northeast. that is a gentle direction for us. heat and humidity are soon to be in the forecast. i will tell you about the seven day in a few. angie has the traffic. good morning. >> hello, everybody. it is friday, the time is 9:02 and the sun is shining and we still have some slow goings too tell you about. begin with 395 northbound. we are delayed from the capital beltway to seminary. i have no incidents or accidents on this road. good news there. switching that shot over to 66 heading eastbound. we are using the brakes a little bit from route 123 to the capital beltway. check out what is going on through the district. right now incident free. we will switch it over and show you inbound new york avenue. typical volume stretches from the washington times building to bladensburg road. you want to bring the sun shade. sun glare will be a factor for the commute. moving along th

barnot ev lyioprde usodrsunto previously understood by fedaler authorities in northern virginia and caught them by surprise when lanis died in centreville. >> she saved 16 people's lives, the ones that were arrested. her death was a catalyst for this case. >> reporter: the investigation revealed a hneroieaal heroin des and users, most of them current or former students of westfield high school. prosecutors say sniffle introduced alicia lanis to the drug supplying another girl several months after the victim's death. ne ata ttent mewsone4, a olavetif sniffle whoidn'tf nt to be identaiie sdd w w all loved but skyler is not the monster that t press portray him to believe. but prosecutors say that t defendant actively obstructed the investigation by trying to convince others to lie to authorities. in court today, the victim's father spoke directly to the defendant. and recounted a conversation they had. >> i told him, if anything ever happens to her, i will make sure the world comes down on him. little did i know at that time, that the world happened to be the u.s. government. >> reporter: the

the communicators," more of our interviews from the recently-held digital media conference in northern virginia. we begin with a discussion of how one web site is taking a different approach to delivering news. neil buddety is president of daily me. mr. buddy, why another online news site? >> guest: well, daily me is really about developing media and technology together in tandem, and daily me.com is one way which we showcase that technology. we're also really about taking our technology that allows for understanding users and their interests and personalizing content and improving targeting of advertising and licensing it to a large number of news sites. we believe that most news sites will need to be personalized in the future to meet the needs of readers and that they need this kind of technology to improve the quality of what they do, strengthen their engagement with their readers online and develop really strong online digital businesses. >> host: so when you go to daily me.com, how can you personalize what you want to receive, and where do you receive it from? >> guest: sure. well, to som

>> host: the northern virginia area of washington, d.c. is a hub of high-tech companies, and recent lay conference called the digital media conference was held there where a lot of these companies got together and talked about some of the issues that they face in this current economic environment and about some of their new products the caters did several interviews with participants, and we want to show you some of those on "the communicators." firstoff, we talk with the organizer of the conference, then we spoke with cookie ant some of the -- about some of the investments his company is making and some of the products you may see on your shelves. rick cotton, executive vice presidentover nbc universal also spoke with us about some of the regulatory issues his company faces, and finally we spoke with dena kaplan about their product and business model and where they see their growth. all this week on "the communicators." ned sherman is with us. he is a co-founder of digital media wire, what is digital media wire? >> guest: we're a publicat

northern virginia not going to leave you out. fredericksburg is 64.rge 87. 80 in amissville and 82 in arlington. so pretty comfortable weather. you can thank the nurse'sly winds off the ocean. keeping things comfortable and tolerable for this time of the year. as we take a look at where the rain is, we showed you the video from south carolina. that batch heading to the ocean and that is going to stay out of reach. if you are catching a flight, heads up, the heat is really oppressive in south carolina. pretty much upper 90s to 100- degree range. 84 atlanta, and 64 in boston. pack a light jacket. the seven-day forecast we will be in the lower 80s today and tomorrow. a little more sunshine tomorrow. over the weekend we are still on track to get up to the upper 80s on saturday. a couple of scattered thunderstorms on sunday and then next week still looking good with middle 80s. keep in mind the average high is upper 80s. anything below that feels pretty good. see if our roads are moving along with angie goff. >> they sure are. are you up and at it. are you

team officials have a northern virginia neighborhood surrounded. the tense situation unfolding at this hour that has area residents on edge. >>> system failure. new details surfaced following the deadly metro crash. the problem the transit system says is still happening along the red line. >>> supreme court come knee nominee sonia sotomayor is in day three of her confirmation hearings. good morning. i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm lynn yang. we have had such wonderful summer weather the past few days. it's been amazing. >>> we'll see if the luck continues with tom keirein here in the studio. >> i can't remember a summer t htee i b taswhnshi sveloly >>s hi aums mero errembme it inntues. e ad h four days with 90-degree temperatures so far this mmader. that way lowhe t agerave.er ahis morning,ng nothi on rar.da h fhigewlo asud creri dftg d ov i. n9 gtnsh.waon wlo 60sn i pencri george 's ty .o thas e af owagtin sh,on mi 60d-s. ouar nd tay b and thethor nner n , rene awen t ickhe lerow60 s. eaterstate 5 near the rural s oarf maryland i andont theo ahdoahllva,

that's not only the centreville, but the northern virginia area. and you know he's sold in dc and maryland and everywhere. that is very prevalent. >> he's not the only one. any other symptoms? >> change in mood, all of these things are important but look, the statistics show that one in three, and up to 50% of the kids do some sort of drug or alcohol in high school. so talk to your kids. you have a one in two chance that they are doing one of the things. pay attention 0 the signs. >> thank you so much for your time today. >> thank you for having me. >> and for your effort effort to help other parents. we appreciate it and i'm sure they do, >>> tony is nyis back forecast. so keep it here. if we don't act, medical bills will wipe out their savings. if we don't act, she'll be denied coverage because of a pre-existing condition. and he won't get the chemotherapy he needs. if we don't act, health care costs will rise 70%. and he'll have to cut benefits for his employees. but we can act. the president and congress have a plan to lower your costs and stop

i'm going to say look, northern virginia has to be taken care of. we have to fund these roads here because the mrosperity here st ro> entnteir state. >opponent,eopponent, democrat creigh des, hasasi h own transportation plan. deeds wantso bi ring high-speed rail to virginia. expand traditional freight and and reduce rush hour traffic through telecommuting and flex timeax credits. >>> governor kaine has thrown his support behind a push for a high-speed rail system to connect washington to central virginia. the governor and local leaders want federal funding to develop ys smwete raiai bethe ten stem district and richmond andwe terg burs and advocates say it woulden encoagcoure economic growth but a ur a$1 $15g which would beov in vate pd nd funding and e worth it if theyg it if theyveremoremove llrsmicamn ro f 1.4 million cars from4 the oghelf fu. eysth gnns of lofuel. ystemelldikyel reach speeds between 110 and 150 miles an hour. >>> it was a spirited debate at the loudoun county board of superviseors meeting today. the board had to decide whether to

three rest stops in northern virginia are officially closed. crews began shutting them do starting at midnight. they have now turned off the lights. the rest stop on i-66 will stay open through labor day. after that, it is up to lawmakers. signs that read "rest area closed" are now in place. >> speaking as a mom, it is a huge problem. stopping for a qui snack -- i think it's a huge concern. >> virginia is closing 19 rest stops. some drivers say there is a better option -- allow private businesses to keep them open. >> that is how it is in new jersey. i think people feel better stopping at private rest areas. >> only states are allowed to run rest stops, but some states like new jersey have received an exemption. rex the important thing is that they are open and that they are clean and well maintained. >> back live, governor kaine says he supports the exemption, but now virginia needs a waiver from congress for private businesses to stab him. pamela brown, abc 7 news. >> thank you. >>> expect delays otun l ranaat least through thursday on the --

. >>> one of northern virginia's top cops has been caught on the wrong side of the law. alexandra police chief david baker will appear in court on dui charges. arlington police arrested baker saturday night after he got into a car accident. police say chief baker's blood alcohol level was .19, more than twice the legal limit. his arrest came as a shock to city leaders. >> today the alexandria community is sattened and disappointed at this turn of events. chief baker is a well-respected leader, in his department and the community. >> the way that he said, i've let you and the rest of the membership down. >> baker was sworn in as chief in 2006 after serving as deputy chief for 16 years. he was placed on administer i have leave. he's due in court for an arraignment on wednesday. >>> well the fight for health care is still heating up and it's not just republicans who are trying to slow down the plan. but members of president obama's own party, the fiscalically conservative blue dog democrats continue to resist key aspects of the health care bill. nancy pelosi said yesterday,

but in northern virginia the rate is double the time this time last year. governor kaine has called together an economic crisis strike force which hopes to extend job training seminars and job opportunities for veterans. >> as d.c. leaders try to figure out how to close a multimillion-dollar budget gap, questions are being raised about millions earmarked for interesting projects. kris van cleave talked with taxpayers about how their money is being spent. >> here is the latest draft of the budget. mayor fenty gave this to the council late friday. if you go through here, there are 141 earmarks. some people call that pork spending. that's a lot lest dollar-wise than it has been in years past. but there are some in here that may surprise you. >> hell, no! no! >> 40 grand of your tax dollars going to the greater washington fashion chamber of commerce? that's just one of about $8.3 million worth of proposed earmarks in the d.c. budget currently being considered by the council. >> that's $40,000 that doesn't need to be spent. >> what do they even do? >> exactly. f

. >> one of the first clinics to test it out is right here in northern virginia. >> a weight-loss clinic in arlington tested the pill on about 30 patients in our area. the results have doctors and the field buzzing. it could hit the market as early as next year. it is hard to find an america who has never been on a diet. >> i just started trying to lose some weight. >> my goal is to lose 50 pounds. the >> 26% of americans are obese. a drug called contrave can go further. half reported weight loss of at least 5%. an average of over 17 pounds. >> from a medical perspective, it is very significant. >> at the washington center for weight management and research, they oversaw the study. contrave is a combination of two drugs, a widely used antidepressant and alcohol and drug use drug. it controls under. >> it works on cravings. it is a problem in our environment. >> is a heavy-duty drug cocktail that some have concerns about. the fda asked for a black box warning on one of the key ingredients in contrave, an increase in suicidal thinking. the drug is quickly moving forward, not a silver bulle

police arrest two men wanted for killing a 19-year-old at a house party in an upscale northern virginiahborhood. >> scared soldier. the taliban releases video of a u.s. soldier held hostage in afghanistan. his chilling and emotional message. >> out of this world. today the country will remember one of the greatest achvements of the last century. the apollo 11 moon landing. now the astronauts of that historic mission will be asking the president to help make another giant leap for mankind. >>> good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang in for barbara harrison today. monday, july 20th, 2009. we're going to take a look outside as the sun is coming up over the nation's capitol. look at that gorgeous sky. >> beautiful sunrise out there. the clouds are going to make it very colorful, i suspect, as the sunrise continues. that's a wonderful picture. >> tom, so does that mean it looks good for today? >> so far, yeah. i'd have to say. >> we're just starting, though. >> that's my forecast for the next five minutes. but for the rest of the day, quite a bit of cl

. >> this week, more of our interviews from the recently held digital media conference in northern virginia. we begin this week with a discussion of how one website is taking a different approach to delivering news. >> y another online news site? >> daily news is about developing media and technology together. this is one way that we showcase the technology. we're also about taking the technology allows for understanding users and their interests and personalizing content. it improves the targeting of advertising. we're taking back and licensing it to a large number of news sites. we believe most news sites will need to be personalized in the future to meet the needs of the readers. they need this kind of technology to improve the quality of what they do come to strengthen their engagement with their readers online, and develop strong on-line digital businesses. >> when you go to the web site, how can you personalize what you want to receive? >> to some extent, the web site is in transition. we are about to launch a new version. if you went today, the way we personalize is that you go into

does it help him in the northern virginia area where they were blue for the president?thus far, we have not seen the president bring a negative impact in campaigning for any of the candidates. even the democrats that are conservative understand that he is their party leader so they have akey yes, sirred that position to him. he will be probably much stronger when he goes to liberal states like with governor corzine in new jersey but i think just as effective in virginia. and northern virginia was a huge draw for him. >> but his approval ratings are down. >> that's part of the problem. if the president's approval rating declined precipitously, that could be a problem but the reality is right now there is no bigger fund-raiser or bigger public draw to get people out, but barack obama. >>> let's talk about health care reform. one republican was quoted on tv saying we ought to take as much time going through health care reform as it took the white house to find a dog for the family. why the rush? >> the rush is you have to do it now and the sooner the berth. >> do it now or

. >>> he northern virginia man is going on life -- going on line to save lives. >> he hopes one of those lives is his own. gail pennybacker has the story. >> he is going way beyond flyers and signs at the reston town center, tomorrow, there will be a registry for bone marrow for jonathan haupt, recruiting people in an interesting way. from his hospital bed at johns hopkins it university in baltimore, jonathan haupt uses technology to recruit bone marrow donors in his desperate fight against a viciously aggressive form of leukemia. >> the latest information about my fight with leukemia. >> he is using facebook and twitter. he makes his living as a computer specialist, and is now using computer communications to try to save his life. >> he has his laptop right on his bed. >> his parents say the internet has cast a wide net. time is critical. doctors say he needs a match within a month. this facebook page says -- shows jonathan enjoying the inauguration, and spending time with his godson weeks before the diagnosis. >> we do not want to think about the possibilities. >> his parents and frien

big picture on the weather computer shows we have a batch of showers moving through northern virginia. other showers in virginia and more to our west and southwest. so the energy is coming together to give us these showers and storms this morning. we are in the 70s. south winds five to 15. we will have more showers and storms this afternoon. mid to upper 80s and a slight risk of severe weather from the storm prediction center. that means damaging winds, hail, torrential downpour. we will watch it carefully this afternoon and in to this evening when we could have a few thunderstorms, 60s and 70s. most areas in the 70s. look at the readings this morning. mid to upper 70s. 77 now the coolest of the morning so far here in washington. cambridge is 79. 70 martinsburg. winchester 73. in the mid-80s for highs with a chance of thunderstorms off and on throughout the day and just a lot of energy. you can see it spinning right here. coming out of tennessee and kentucky in to this warm and humid air mass. that's why you will need to keep the umbrellas handy. here's the seven day 86 with thunderst

unfortunate thing with the country the way it is, with the economic crisis. >> now five rest stops in northern virginia are closing tonight. virginia wants to make some of them commercialized to keep them open. but in order to do that they would have to get special permission from congress. >> all right, thank you wind doom. >>> and police ask for your help to track down a man who attacked a jogger on the old trail. here is a look at the suspect, a 25-year-old woman was jogging on the trail when a man exposed himself throwing her to the ground of the it happened last wednesday, the person was wearing a tan outfit. >>> and another person dies, the 7-year-old died sunday at children's hospital. the fire also killed his five- year-old brother, jordan, just hours after they were pulled from the burning apartment. food left on the stove started the fire. the investigators say it appeared the children were home alone before the fire started, but the father tried to rescue them before the firefighters arrived. >>> and alarming allegations regarding police officers and drug dealers. the washington post reports

. >> and what we are hearing are things are looking up in northern virginia. prices are starting to climb again. the northern virginia association of realtors noted the average second quarter sales price has climbed from over $405,000 in april to over $433,000 in may. and then to $451,000 in june. the group's report shows area homes selling faster than last year. they suggest that $8,000 first time home buyers tax credit maybe helping sales. >>> we're also getting good news at the gas pumps, as well. the latest survey finds the national average price of gas will be 10 cents a gallon in the past two weeks. the national average is 2.56 dallas dollars a gallon. the first price drop since september. >>> fur hankering for a couple of new pieces of clothing but have a window shopping budget, here's an idea. host a clothes swapping party. these are growing in popularity. a couple of friends invite a couple of friends. everyone brings, clothes, belts, shoes, jewelry they don't feel like wearing anymore. there is only one rule, don't take more than you bring. what is l

dominion power about 1200 in northern virginia . d.c. with just over 100. abc 7 news. >> thank you, the severe weather may be to blame for a tractor-trailer accident. an 18 wheeler hit a barrier >> you can see mail spilled all over the highway. the driver had to be rushed to the hospital. his injuries do not appear to be life threatening. you can log on to our website at wjla.com, click on the weather tab on the top of the page. the center of a racially charged incident has accepted an invitation to the white house. braub invited henry lewis gates and the police officer for who arrested him for a beer at thee white house. someone reported a possible ea gates said hmiwaais ss streeted because of his race. gates was arrested. >> the public needs to be assured that at least in public places that the police are capable, competent and they can maintain order. you can't arrest people because they are loud and yelling at you. it doesn't work that way. speak wgget psident. a meeting with the professor. obama continues a push for healthcare reform. talking about the

senators get a full picture but a confirmation should come by end of the month. >>> police in northern virginia remain at a standoff in a mclean virginia neighborhood. 9 news now digital correspondent is live in fairfax county with more. this standoff is in the 11th hour and this is lucy caldwell a spokesperson for the fairfax county police department. i understand there are s.w.a.t. team and maryland police. what are you doing? >> officers are continuing to make an attempt to talk to the person inside the home to try to acertain, go ahead and come out so we can have a discussion and bring this to a closure. >> reporter: the reason you want to speak to this man, as i understand there was a shooting yesterday 6:30, 7 p.m. a woman was shot and maybe a relationship between a man inside the home and the woman who was shot and you want to see if he was linked to what shooting. >> exactly. we don't believe this was a random incident. there was a shooting that occurred last evening. the woman is still in the hospital and they apparently did know one another and then this individual ran in to this part

. >>> the leader of a northern virginia heroin ring has been sentenced to 26 years in prison. antonio harper confessed to distributing as much as 300,000 bags of heroin. the drugs are believed to have caused humannuous over-- numerous overdoses and several deaths. >> the families right now of those kids that have -- that are addicts because of that, they're ghting just to keep those kids alive. they're fighting to get their lives turned around. it's just incredible the wake that he's left behind in our community. >> it's not over. the last member of this heroin ring is scheduled to be sentenced in court next week. >>> a virginia woman running for election is under fire for a controversial comment. you probably never heard her name. but her call to arms has people talking tonight. >>> and gary, we had a few thunderstorms this evening. how about the ekend? >> you know what, shawn? we have a couple more out there that are lingering and they're trying to hold on. they'll be weakening, though. the weekend forecast is upon us and it's going to be a treat. you'll want to be with us f

. >>> we checked out metro stops throughout the district in northern virginia and in maryland and foundgers support metro's new get tough policy on operators banning the use of cell phones and texting. >> i think it's a good idea that they be fired because they're not paying attention to what's going on and they need to have all of their attention on what's ahead of them for our safety. >> reporter: now metro wants riders to report any violations of the new strict policy banning the use of cell phones and texting. you can do so on their website, www.metroopensdoors.com or call metro at area code 202-637-1328. metro says every report will be fully investigated. we're live tonight in upper northwest. back to you in the studio. >> chris gordon, thanks. >>> new questions are being raised about the scope and independence of a d.c. council probe into the contracting rules following the arrest of marion berry. tom is in the newsroom with more. >> reporter: the council votes tomorrow on the start of this probe but right n it's not clear how far they want this probe to go. last friday armed poli

. >> new controversy over an islamic school in northern virginia that has close ties to the saudi governmentbust three people accused of stealing credit cards to go on a shopping spree. >> the government announced the new standard to reduce salomon allege and e. coli outbreaks in our food. >> i do know as much as we may feel and we do that we need michael here with us, god must have needed him far more. >> stevie wonder among those from the entertainment world remembering the life and legacy p michael jackson. (bell ringing) woo-hoo!!!! woo-hoo!!!! woo-hoo!!!! woo-hoo!!!! kobak. mr. miller (announcer) everyone's heading to arby's for the offial5 $ combo of summer. featuring arby's new bbq bacon cheddar roastburger with curly fries and a drink for only $5. big on bbq taste, it's the $5 combo done better. >>> michael's favorite song was not one of the countless masterpieces that he gave us. but it was a song that charlie chaplain wrote for the movie "modern times." it is called "smile." today although our hearts are aching, we need to look up and where he's undoubtedly perched in a crescent mo

healthcare is a topic of a town hall meeting this afternoon at northern virginia president obama community president obama will take questions from an audience, and also youtube users, facebook, and twitter. >> this holiday weekend on book tv, discovering an unfamiliar side of her nation's first president. with historian and author john ferling. join our 3 our conversation sunday. it is part of part three-day holiday weekend, starting friday morning. >> how is c-span funded? >> publicly funded. >> donations? >> government? >> c-span gets its funding through the taxes. >> federal funding? >> 30 years ago, america's cable companies created c-span as a public service, a private business initiative. no government mandate, no government money. >> "washington journal" continues. host: this article in "vanity fair" on sarah palin is getting a lot of attention. the author begins by taking us to a 11th in indiana. -- to an event in indiana. the writing of this article goes on to say that michael steele introduces the special guest speaker as "the storm that is the hon. governor of the great state o

they broke the northern virginia swim league record by almost three seconds. the girls have been swimming together for 18 years and 15- year-old ava green has been invited to participate in the u.s. olympic qualifying meet. that's the 2012 olympics in london. they've already got them started. >> cool. >> what about tonight? >>> a couple of scattered thunderstorms out there. about 30, 40% chance you will run into anything. take an umbrella. high near 86. thanks for watching. the cbs evening news is next. see you back here at 11:00. goodbye.

and few thunderstorms there and the activity stay mainly to the north down south of us over northern virginia. a little pop up shower and thunderstorms. i think we should see the chance for any thunderstorm activity less as we get through the overnight but the thunderstorms threat will probably pop up quite a bit as we get through the afternoon tomorrow. a lot of stormy conditions down through the carolinas. down through georgia and alabama. mississippi. they have noisey night tonight but i think we'll probably get our share of pretty good decent storm activity as we get into the late afternoon evening tomorrow. tonight expecting just mainly clear conditions. 78 degrees the overnight low so warm steamy night. winds out of the south at 5 and like i said big changes are coming for tomorrow with thunderstorm activity and we'll see less humidity as we get into the weekend. i have the weekend outlook coming up until a moment. >>> eighth person now under arrest for the murder of a florida couple known for their work with the disabled. police arrested a real estate agent last night for accessory aft

in northern virginia and maryland suburbs, the vacancy rate rose to over 14%. building owners are lowering rents to try to attract customers. >>> president barack obama square off today against the most perful politician in russia, of vladimir putin. president barack obama is wrapping up his summit in moscow, hoping to reset relations between russia and u.s. >> president barack obama and his russian counterpart toward the kremlin after two days of negotiations. the leaders have agreed to cut their nuclear arsenals by as much as 30%. that is a major breakthrough. the president told us that progress on the issues of north korea and i ran, will take more time. >> that is not something we will know the results of four several more months. as we continue to do the hard diplomatic work of putting this coalition together to tell iran to make a better choice. >> he had breakfast with vladimir putin, russia's powerful prime minister. >> we may not end up agreeing on everything but i think we can add a tone of mutual respect. >> while the dough into the plaza, the first

looking at what we have is a few pop up showers and thunderstorms over parts of northern virginia the heavy activity we saw pushed to the north toward harrisburg and car liel they are getting rainfall. what we will expect is more activity working through the ohio river valley, a lot of rain in southern ohio northeastern portions of kentucky. this will push in our area tomorrow afternoon we'll get good thunderstorms across the area all the heat and humidity is out there and the front will move n. here are the temperatures now. 85 in baltimore. 89 in dc of the heat index feels 88 baltimore, 91 in dc that's what it feels like when you add the heat and hunidity. a southeast wind and marine air out there. cloudy skies. a thunderstorm with temperatures at 69 over night. details and the 7 day coming up. >> drug enforce. agents raid the offices of michael jackson's personal doctor. what they may have been looking for that could help officials determine how the king of pop dealer: during the autobahn for all event, you can get great deals. it's perfect. i just want to make sure it's the right

council will vote on the budget next friday. >>> a shooting at a birthday party in northern virginia is under investigation this morning. this one happened saturday night in sterling. police say two virginia men, guillermo alvarado and rasheed nurse shot and killed a teenager after getting into some sort of altercation. >> the host of the party said the suspects and the 19-year- old victim were not invited guests. >>> some surprising statistics. the district is among the major metro areas on track for fewer homides this year than any other year in the past four decades. >> the same goes for prince george's county and major cities like boston. the police say their state of the art tools are helping. >>> one more step forward for michael vick and freedom. the suspended nfl star's dogfighting sentence is ending. vick will no longer have to use the electronic monitor he has been wearing while on house arrest the last two months of his 23-month sentence. it also allows vick to continue efforts to resume his pro football career. >>> forget about the beach. would wants to go visit a sewage p