nine lives. may marion barry dodges another legal bullet. why prosecutors have decided not to tour sue those stalking charges and what his accuser has to say. >> operator error. a metro worker caught on video texting while driving a train. why his punishment has left some people outraged. >> and happy birthday. yes, tai shan is turning 4 years old. how the national zoo plans to celebrate this panda milestone. good morning to you and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, july 9th, 2009. we'll have much more on our top stories after we take a look at traffic and weather on the 1s. >> meteorologist tom kierein has joined us here in the studio, right there. >> hey, tom. going to the birthday party? >> sure. why not? get a frozen treat. you might want it later on

today. will get up to around 80 or so. there's venus gleaming brilliantly in the eastern sky. in the western sky, got the juas-pfunasoo m andooitup j.er thg clouds.om cing int is ho iur, 67w waonsh67ingt. inray oay roo dright r no w, ano p bcipiontiuttoncos iol s aubbsurur r ndaleainars, uso jnt t ihedohepper0 5s, mid-50s toea r60 gr s.ee s. n i nirfafax, mtg onyerfa and prince george's counties. 50 t onhe eastern shore. it's in the 40s jeat n 5 r0 des eet in the tas unmoins. qu bun aeit of a clssoune. there's a weak area of low pressure around the outer banks giving us some high clouds. we'll see a few of the clouds in and out throughout the day. partly cloudy and cooler than average. highs only in the low 80s by the afternoon. average high is in the upper 80s. another day with low humidity. details on tomorrow coming up. >> thank you. >> sounds great. >> let's go to jerry edwards and take a look at the traffic. >> hi, jerry. good morning. >> hey, barbara, joe, tom, good morning to you. good morning, everyone. doing all right as we start this tour on the top side of the

capital beltway around university boulevard. there's the inner loop. that there is the outer loop. between college park and silver spring, no early issues. things moving along nicely. coming in from the west along interstate 66, quiet. haymarket in, the dulles toll road moving nicely as is traffic across the wilson bridge. >> thank you very much. another twist in marion barry's stalking case. turns out he will not face charges after all. the case involves the d.c. council member's ex-girlfriend. but according to barry's representatives it was all a big misunderstanding. we have more now from news 4's jackie bensen. >> the arrest of mr. barry should have never taken place. the false allegations against mr. barry should have never been made. >> reporter: spokesperson natalie williams confirmed council member barry did award an employment contract to donna watts-brighthaupt, the woman at the center of the arrest controversy while the two were romantically involved.

>> miss watts, at the time, was qualified for the position and went through the proper channels in order to be awarded for that contract. >> reporter: dofor donna watts-brighthaupt it was a public, painful end to a relationship with the most controversial, charismatic politician in d.c. history. she claims he was intensely jealous of her ex-husband who she says remains a friend and helped her through cancer treatment. here's how she describes what happened after barry left her home the evening of july fourth. >> i said he's bothering me. make sure he goes home, you know. i thought it was d.c. police because he gets away -- they just let him go. i, i wasn't thinking that i was in a federal place. that's not my fault. i wasn't thinking bad things. i wasn't thinking the worst. >> reporter: she says she was blinded by what she still refers to as barry's political brilliance, but she says there is one mistake she will not make again. >> it's never his fault. he's never wrong. and he's slippery.

>> reporter: jackie bensen, "news 4 today." >> apparently, at 6:45 we will talk with d.c. mayor adrian fenty in our "connecting with the mayor" segment and hear what he has to say about this case. >> there are growing calls to fire a metro train operator caught texting on the job. this video put on youtube has been seen by more than 17,000 people. it shows a train operator texting with his head down last month while the train barrels ahead. the orator was suspended, but returned to work this week. at large d.c. council member kwam i brown says the operator and other violators should be fired. >> there's really no excuse for it. it's very disappointing, especially given the fact that our train operators and really all of our operations personnel, and for that matter every single person at the transit agency, knows what the rules are. >> the video was taken june 5th on the blue line. metro officials say there is no

evidence the operator killed in st month's red line crash had been doing any texting. a boston subway driver has been indicted on charges that he was texting when he plowed into another train, injuring more than 50 people. aiden quinn has been indicted on charges of gross negligence in the accident that happened in may. investigators say quinn barreled through yellow and red warning lights before the crash. he was fired about a week later. transit system now bans operators from even bringing along cell phones while they're on duty. >> a tragedy for two families in virginia this morning after two fathers were killed in a hit-and-run accident. 39-year-old and a 40-year-old man were on their way home from a construction job when they were killed in an accident on tuesday night. lice say a jeep driven by this woman, kelli loos, hit the truck.

she drove off and was involved in another collision. >> how can you mess with a beautiful family like this? >> you're mad? >> very mad, of course. >> loos is in custody in fairfax county on a dui charge. she was -- is expected to be extradited to maryland where she will face additional charges. >> president obama is in italy. midway through the g-8 economic summit this morning. today he'll attend meetings to discuss the global economy and international trade. yesterday, the world leaders discussed global warming. president obama agreed to support the goal to keep the world's temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees. but countries like china and india have yet to commit to greenhouse it was retuckingses. this year's summit is in a keel a, city ravaged from devastating earthquakes in april. >> like many of the other countries will be rbting to the -- to help the rebuilding process. >> other issues on the agenda include iran and north korea's

nuclear testing. >> chinese president hu jintao is missing out on the g-8 summit because of ethnic violence in his country. this is amateur video. it appears to show security forces going into neighborhoods to arrest suspects involved in sunday's deadly violence. 156 people have died in the feud between the hahn chinese, the country's dominant ethnic group and the muslim uighurs. more than 1,000 people were hurt. >> now to a developing story out of iraq. several early morning bombings have killed more than 40 people. and a suicide bomber killed at least 34 people and injured 70 others. in baghdad, two roadside bombs left seven people dead. these attacks come one day after two other deadly bombings. u.s. combat forces pulled back out of the cities last month, signaling confidence in recent security improvements by the iraqis and the ability of the iraqi forces to keep order.

5:07 is the time, 67 degrees. the new safety concerns about bottled water. >> plus, new details in the death of steve mcnair. video of his girlfriend's dui just days before she's accused of killing the former football star and herself. >> and panda-monium at the national zoo. how tai shan plans to celebrate his fourth birthday.

here's today's news 4 bargain blast. starbuckinis g givaway ndthsaous of pints of free ice crm. >> between n ow and j 1y9th, facersok e u cansenig s upig for res fa pefoint of starbucks ice crea the coffee chain wilvi bgie ng away up to 20,000 fre po couns every day. c search starbucks ice cream on facebook for more details. >> our time right now is 5:11, time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's ask tom if it's going to be an ice cream kind of day. good morning again. >> cooler than average. a cool morning. we have that just past full moon in the western sky. live picture there. look at that dramatic shot of the clouds floating in front of the full moon. to the left of the moon, the bright spot is jupiter. and in the eastern sky, there's the city camera and the bright spot in the east is venus this morning with some lavender clouds and a turquoise sky. sunrise at 5:51. right now 65 in washington.

it's only near 60 in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. cool earn that west and north n the 50s. southern maryland around the bay, the eastern shore just near 60 degrees as well. we've got these clouds coming in. they'll be in and out throughout the day, highs in the low 80s with low humity. tonight, partly cloudy, down into the low 60s tomorrow morning. here's the friday forecast. partly cloudy, still comfortable. light breezes, highs only near 80. a look at the weekend and next week in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> tom, we are in fine shape so far this morning. good morning, everyone. smooth sailing at the moment on the approach to the wilson bridge, inner loop and outer loop, you should find most if not all lanes open. looks like all the lanes are now open from the overnight road work so that is very good news. est where, let's check your speeds. traveling the outer loop of the beltway from springfield across the wilson bridge, just 7 minutes. off the wilson bridge up to route 50 in maryland, 16 minutes. from 50, that short stretch up to college park, just 8 minutes.

right now a good time to get gone. back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> thanks very much. 5:is the, 65 degrees. the latest on the death of michael jackson. whom investigators now want to interview. >> plus, next at 5:15, a pharmacy under fire for putting something other than medicine inside pill bottles. we'll tell you what it was. >> and we're looking for people who make the day special in the early morning hours. if you know someone like that, e-mail that peon's story a and clear, close-up a picture or vio to morningperson@nbcwashington.com. you can see today's morning person at 6:55. iñ ñiñiñ

time right now 5:15. updating the top stories in the news for today, u.s. park police will release documents about the arrest of marion barry in that stalking case. prosecutors have decided not to pursue any charges against him. barry's spokesperson says the d.c. council member, though, is concerned about how police treated him during the arrest. president obama is meeting with brazil's president during the second day of the g-8 summit in italy. today he will also attend meetings to talk about the global economy and international trade. other issues on the agenda include iran and north korea's nuclear tests. metro riders should get an added extra -- should add an extra 30 minutes to their commutes if they're using the

red line for the next ten days. there will be fewer and slower-moving trains. the takoma station will also close early at 10:00 in the evening. the delays are so investigators can look into last month's deadly crash. >> investigators looking into michael jackson's death want to talk to several of the pop stars' doctors this morning. toxicology reports are not due back for a few weeks, but investigators reportedly want to talk to five doctors who prescribed medications to jackson. they've already talked with the doctor who was with him when he died. meanwhile, jackson's dermatologist told cnn's larry king that he gave jackson the painkiller demerol on occasion, but he says he warned him about the powerful sedative diprivan and doesn't know how he got his hands on it. parents in west virginia are upset about a fourth of july gift for kids. a pharmacy and medical center in ripley gave out pill bottles filled with candy during this year's independence day parade. parents are worried it gives kids the wrong idea.

they say it may encourage children to reach for real prescription drugs if they want candy and parents say that could be dangerous. >> there are so many pills that look like candy. if they're young, they don't know the difference. >> these were not real prescription bottles for one thing. we tried to target the older people and some of the older kids who were collecting candy. >> the pharmacy says it won't be handing out anything that could be mistaken for pills in the future. >> well, today there will be a special birthday celebration at the national zoo. tai shan, the giant panda, is turning 4 years old today, believe it or not. megan mcgrath joins us live from national zoo with more on this. good morning. doesn't seem like that could be possible. >> reporter: i know. can you believe it? tian tian and mei xiang have a whole new set of worries. their son is officially a teenager. tai shan has a big birthday today. he's turning 4 years old. in bear years that means that tai shan is entering his adolescence so there's a big birthday celebration going on here at the national zoo.

at 8:30, they are actually going to treat tai shan to a very special birthday cake that actually took two weeks to make. it's made out of water, bamboo, shredded beets, beet juice. the whole thing is frozen -- yum. it will have a giant 4 on the top of it, an ice sculpture of a 4 on top of it it will be out in tai shan's yard this morning when he's let out into the yard at 8:30. we're expecting him to have a lot of fun with that. they think he will probably eat it and play with the cake for about an hour this morning. so certainly a great time to come to the national zoo and check out the pandas. lots of festivities going on today because of the birthday. of course, just checking out the pandas is always a lot of fun. joe, back to you. >> absolutely. thanks very much, megan. >> happening today, a memorial service will be held for former nfl quarterback steve mcnair who police now say was the victim of a murder-suicide. investigators say mcnair's

20-year-old girlfriend, sahel kazemi, shot him four times while he was sleeping. evidence shows she then took her own life. kazemi and mcnair were dating, even though mcnair was married with four children. police say kazemi suspected that mcnair was having an affair with yet another woman. ust days before their deaths, kazemi was pulled over for speeding and suspected dui with mcnair in the passenger seat. this is the police dash cam video. you casee kazemi getting out of the car and talking to the officer. the police had her walk a white line before she got back in. mcnair was not charged in the incident, and according to police, left the scene in a cab. mcnair later bailed kazemi out of jail. >> in sports, the nationals are hoping to have a much better time down in houston today. >> their recent trip to colorado didn't go as well as they had hoped. lindsay czarniak has details in your sports minute. >> hey there. good morning, everybody.

your sports minute begins with baseball. let's just say the nationals are happy to be out of colorado after getting swept by the rockies. three errors proved costly and the rockies pummeled ross detwiler who only lasted five innings. th nationals lost this one 10-4. the orioles scored five runs in the ninth to come back and beat the seattle mariners. jose lopez committed two errors in the inning and the mariners gift wrapped the victory for the os. to tennis. the cass also need to build some momentum because so far, things aren't going so far. the castles have lost the first four matches to start the season. in soccer, the united states scored two second half goals to beat honduras at rfk. d.c. united star santino opened the scoring with the goal in the 73rd minute. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> just about 5:21 now, time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we'll check in with meteorologist tom kierein in

storm center 4. good morning again. >> a very pleasant summer morning. go morning. the sky streaked with purple clouds. there's predawn glow over the potomac river. bright spot in the east is venus. in the west, playing peekaboo with the clouds is the just past full moon and jupiter. it is certainly unusually cool for a july morning. only in the mid-50s now just to our west and north. in montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties, only near 60. here in washington, it's in the mid-60s. weather watchers from southern maryland near the chesapeake bay reporting temperatures in the low to mid-60s there. we've got quite a bit of cloud iness around, with us throughout the day. partly cloudy, highs reaching the low 80s. another cooler than average day tomorrow. more humid, hotter over the weekend, maybe some late-day thundershowers saturday. looks like passing showers and thundershowers are more likely on sunday. then monday, tuesday, wednesday still rather humid but certainly feeling like summertime. that's the way it looks right now with the weather. how's the traffic, jerry? >> tom, a little sampling on the beltway north of town at this early hour on the beltway, inner

loop and outer loop traveling between college park to george avenue, at all way to the american legion bridge, no worries. right now travel lanes are open. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. >> our time 5:22. it is about 65 degrees here in the nation's capital. what's in your bottled water? why congress is calling for stricter regulations. >> and major security breaches at federal building. we'll show you some undercover video of investigators smuggling in bomb-making materials. >> plus, call in the beer bandit. how a thief made away with a huge booty of booze. >> here's your liz "on the mone money", money saving tip of the day. >> health care is expensive. parade magazine has this tip to lower your health care bill. get free screenings and tests. many grocery and drug stores offer free blood pressure tests, plus some hospitals and clinics offer free screenings for diseases such as skin cancer and diabetes. i'm liz crensh

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congress is calling for stricter standards on bottled water this morning. that after new reports from the gao and the environmental working group. many consumers pay more for bottled water under the assumption that it's safer and healthier, but tap water's actually more closely regulated than the bottled kind. officials say bottled water is safe to drink, but they want manufacturers to disclose the

same information that municipal water utilities are required to release. >> well, police in ohio are looking for a guy called the beer bandit. perhaps he was worried about bottled water. he was caught in action near dayton on surveillance video. police say he walked over to the beer refrigerator, loaded up his cart with ten cases of beer and walked the cart right out by the check jou aisles and out of the store. store officials say employees were in the middle of a rush and didn't notice this guy leaving. hmm. 6:28 is the time, 65 degrees. another twist in marion barry's stalking case. coming up, why he will not be facing charges after all. >> then, a wild pice chase with a 14-year-old behind the wheel. why the teen blamed it all on a sweet tooth. and who dishes out the best frozen yogurt? that was for you to decide in our latest competition for the golden local. >> latest competition was between sweet green and tangy sweet, and it was a tight race. tangy sweet won with 51% of the

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marion barry won't face stalking charges after all. we'll tell you why and let his accuser tell her side of the story. good morning, everyone. welcome. i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, july 9th, 2009. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs. some of the other top stories

we're following today. dangerous distraction. a metrorail operator caught texting while driving a train. we'll tell you why his punishment has some people upset. security breach. investigators smug will bomb-making materials into federal buildings. we'll show you the undercover video and tell you all about the fallout. >> and panda-mazing. tai shan is turning 4 years old today. how the national zoo plans to celebrate a panda birthday. those stories and more coming up after we take a look at traffic and weather on the 1s. >> meteorologist tom kierein is in storm center 4 with your forecast. tom? >> hi. good morning. a soft, peachy glow in the eastern horizon on this 9th day of july as we start off this morning, temperatures in the region are cooler than average under a partly cloudy sky. it's just in the mid-60s in washington. right near the bay. but elsewhere only near 60 in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. 50s north of there. out in the mountains it's in the 40s to just near 50. many locations away from waters on the eastern shore only near

60 to the mid-50s at this hour. we've got some clouds coming in. we'll have those clouds in and out throughout the day. highs reaching the low 80s this afternoon. that's way below the average high of 88. sunrise is 5:51. sunset at 8:35. i'll show you the forecast for tomorrow at 5:41. barbara and joe? >> all right. thanks, tom. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards. he's keeping an eye on the roadways out there. >> good morning. actually i'm using both this morning so i'm wide awake. how's that? kind of scary, isn't it? >> yeah. >> the drive along95 northbound and southbound, dale city, capital beltway, no worries whatsoever. lanes are open. route 1 also looks good heading in that direction this morning around ft. bell var. let's see what else is happening. new york avenue, kenilworth avenue, south capital street all looking good. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> the latest legal drama now to surround former d.c. mayor marion barry has taken a few more twists and turns. this morning we're learning that he will not face stalking charges. we're also hearing from the

woman involved in the case. >> news 4's trace ee wilkins joins us from northwest washington this morning and has details for us. good morning, tracee. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. good morning, joe. yes, it looks like this has taken another twist but has not necessarily come to an end. there's a lot that came out during this investigation into this situation that's going to have to be further investigated. but we do have reports that barry and his attorney do not plan on attending the hearing today that will be held at 10:00 a. because the charges have been dropped, that's basically what they will be announcing today in court. the d.c. attorney general's office announced yesterday it found no reason to pursue this case. barry was charged with stalking after donna watts, a woman he was romantically invold with, told park police barry was bothering her. it happened on july 4th. barry was arrested and charged. since then, he's held several press conferences proclaiming his innocence and at times bashing donna watts.

yesterday evening, prosecutors announced they won't pursue the charges and also yesterday evening watts told news 4 how it all happened. >> i said, he's bothering me. make sure he goes home, you know. i thought it was d.c. police because he gets away. they just let him go. i, i wasn't thinking that i was in a federal place. that's not my fault. i wasn't thinking bad things. i wasn't thinking the worst. >> reporter: now, watts explains that she was with her ex-husband at anacostia park watching fireworks when this altercation happened with barry. as she said there, she did not know that it was going to end up with him being arrested and then charged. now, the d.c. attorney general peter nichols is urging the city council to investigate the fact that watts was awarded this $60,000 contract, according to "the washington post." nicolls is saying if the counsel doesn't do an investigation, he will. tracee wilkins live this morning outside the courthouse. back to you. >> thanks. this is just barry's latest

run-in with the law over his long political career. in october 2005, barry pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for not filing years of income taxes. he was sentenced to three years probation. in september 2006, the u.s. secret service stopped barry for running a red light and a dispute ensued over drug testing at the scene. a judge later found barry not guilty of that. december 2006, park police charge bdry with drivingn b oa spsuded license. d.spe th e vdm lerdmmela bd a a ercoutromp er t st pju hisasrueb ftary, eve corhts ugsoo r t s tbaaxonroti abaerft he lag fwan.ilinagai a juk judge extended his probation two more years. >> it is day two of the g-8 summit in italy. president obama is taking a leadership role today. he is chairing the climate talks but he's already running into some resistance. here at home he faces increasing criticism on the economy. brooke hart has our report. >> reporter: president obama puts climate change front and

there at the g-8 today, leading a meeting of the world's top polluters. yesterday, g-8 nations pledged to limit global warming to 3.6 degrees with little talk of how. the president's challenge as he toured damage from l'aquila's earthquake in april is diplomatic. developing nations china and india balked at specific goals to cut emissions. they want freedom to grow and blame richer countries for forecasts of damage. >> climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating poverty of the developing countries. >> reporter: it's the leading issue for angry g-8 protesters in italy. >> we want them to set strong targets for climate change. we want strong co 2 emissions reductions. >> reporter: on the global economy, g-8 leaders called stimulus plans still necessary. on capitol hill, republicans called the president's a failure. >> every american has the right to ask where are the jobs that

were promised? >> reporter: democratic governors testified it is working. >> the increase in taxes, the cuts in services would be infinitely greater were not it for the aid that the stimulus program has given to the states. >> reporter: economist says the funds have yet to fully kick in. >> i think we need patience. the stimulus is just now getting going, and i think we'll see the benefits of it itore clearly this year. >> reporter: despite the signs, no one predicts the stimulus will revive the number of jobs lost by the recession. worries about jobs are costing the president support. in ohio where vice president joe biden travels today, unemployment has topped 10%. and as of this week, more people disapprove than approve of his handling of the economy. in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. >> earlier this week, quinnipiac university released a poll. 48% said they do not approve of how president obama is handling the economy. 46% said they do approve, but that approval rating is down 11

points since may. south korea is on high alert for more cyb attacks today. south korean intelligence officials suspect north korea is behind the recent wave of cyber attacks in south korea and the united states. that attack shut down some websites for a few days. the malicious software was also found on white house, pentagon and transportation department computers. government agencies in south korea were also affected. >> our time now 5:37. the temperature 65 degrees. how the national zoo is celebrating a panda birthday today. >> plus, a metro operator texting while driving a train. why his punishment has left some people outraged. >> and a high-speed chase with a 14-year-old behind the wheel. why some are blaming it all on ice cream.

'srehere today's news 4 t.asaibl you can get re fe combo m feal from chick-fil-a, but there's a tcca you ha tso drestc upikedr a w.co viouy,ecause borom trow is cow appreciation day.om call ahead to make sure your local store is participating. before you get into that costume. >> i was going to say, show up in your cow costume. >> you would look udderly ridiculous if they weren't. >> if they weren't having a contest. good morning, tom. >> very mooving. good morning. as you get going this morning,

if you're milking the cows it's under a partly cloudy sky. there's the predawn glow over the potomac river, now a cool and comfy 65 in washington. we've got some clouds that are coming in. they'll be with us from time to time throughout the day. only near 60 in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. 50s farther to our west and north. doesn't feel like a july morning. certainly unusually cool with low humidity and clouds around. we'll see highs today reaching the low 80s by mid-afternoon. sunrise is just ten minutes away. sunset at 8:35. and then overnight tonight, partly cloudy. tomorrow, friday, partly cloudy, still not too humid. and light breezes out of the southeast as highs only reach near 80 degrees. certainly way cooler than the average for this time of the year. a look at the weekend and next week in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> i'm still trying to get over the cow outfit. let's head out and see how we are doing. so far, so good. good morning to my frederick peeps, everything moving along nicely up there. for you folks along i-70 and the exit for 270, no worries all the

way to the split. 340 also very, very quiet. check your rails this morning and everything's pulling out on time. metrorail reporting no delays. keeping in mind that we do have reduced speeds. vre and marc all looking good so far. barbara and joe, back to you. >> they could have invited people to come dressed as chicks. >> chicks? >> at chick-fil-a. >> yeah, i guess they could have. >> the point is they're not serving beef. >> they're saving cows. >> saving cows. that's why the cows wear big smiles. >> eat chickens, not cows. >> that's the cow appreciation. >> i get it. yeah, cows should come to -- >> this is getting way too complicated. i'm gone. bye. >> bye-bye, jerry. see you in ten minutes. it is now 5:42, 65 degrees. shocking security breaches in federal buildings. we will show you undercover video. >> plus, panda-monga celebrations at the zoo.

our time now 5:45. updating the top stories of the morning. today u.s. park police will release documents detailing the arrest of marion barry in a stalking case. prosecutors have decided not to tour sue charges against the d.c. council member. barry's spokes member says mr. barry is concerned about how police treated him during the arrest. president obama is meeting with brazil's president today on the second day of the g-8 summit in italy. international leaders will be discussing climate change, develop aid, the economy and international trade. several early morning bombings have killed more than 40 people in iraq. in tall i far, a suicide bomber killed at least 30 people. in baghdad, two roadse bombs left seven people dead. u.s. combat forces just pulled back out of the cities last month, signaling confidence in recent security improvements.

and left iraqi security forces to keep order. >> a hit-and-run accident has left two fathers dead. gradys mendoza and franklin manzanares were on their way home from their jobs when they were killed in an accident tuesday night. police say a jeep driven by kelli loos struck their pickup truck, forced it over a guardrail, down a ravine, on its top, coming to rest near macarthur boulevard. loos then drove to virginia. >> he was out doing what he needed to do for his family and himself. didn't come back. took our families away. we can't even go see them, so -- >> loos was involved in another accident in virginia and has been arrested and charged with dui. she's in custody in fairfax county right now. she's expected to be extradited to maryland where she will face additional charges. glfrnlgts a metro train operator in hot water for texting on the job. more than 17,000 people have een

this rid yoe on you cube. the rid yoe was taken yoon 5th on the blue line. it shows the train operator texting with his head down last month, not even looking out the window while the train barrelses ahead. the operator was suspended but was returned to work this week. kwame brown wantshe operator and all future texting violators to be fired. metro officials say no evidence has been found that the operator killed in last month's red line crash was texting. >> today, d.c.'s mayor will tour a juvenile detention center where several young offenders have escaped in recent weeks. the new beginnings detention center is in laurel. over the weekend, 16 teens escaped the juvenile facility. the recent jail breaks have prompted anne arundel to offer assistance to the district. yesterday, john leopold offered to notify neighbors about any security breaches through an

e-alert system. the offer follows an angry letter he sent to mayor fenty earlier this week. we're going to ask the mayor about that and a lot more coming up at 6:45 this morning when the mayor joins us live in our stud studio. >> caught on tape. this morning we're getting a firsthand look at a security breach inside a federal building. government investigators shot these pictures as they carried a bomb-making material through security at a federal building. it happened ten times in ten different buildings. the investigators then hid in rest rooms and put together even more powerful explosive devices. >> i'm in one of those buildings. there's hundreds of people in there. how do you explain to yourself how these things were allowed to happen? >> it's purely a lack of oversight on our part. >> the 13,000 guards who work at the federal buildings nationwide are contractors hired from outside companies. investigators say they found that many had expired

certifications and some had no record of training. well, in just a few hours, tai shan, the giant panda, will get to dig into his birthday treat. he turns 4 years old today. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from the national zoo with details for this big party. megan? >> reporter: well, joe, we're going to have to see if tai shan starts talking back to his parents and leaving bamboo laying around his cage. he's officially a teenager today. tai shan is turning 4 years old. in bear years, that means he is officially entered adolescence. now they're going to have a big shin dig here at the national zoo today. they're going to have a special birthday cake brought out for tashan this morning. it will be in his yard when they let him outside. it's actually an interesting concoction that took two weeks to make. it's made out of water, bamboo, shredded beets and beet juice. it's all beenrozen and they also have a big ice skrculpturen the top that has the number 4.

a big day here at the national zoo. a great day to come and visit. it's always fun to watch the pandas, but particularly interesting to see him go at the cake here this morning. 8:30, that's when they'll present him with the birthday cake. so come on out to the national zoo. joe, back to you. >> all right, megan. sounds like a lot of fun. thanks very much. >> we are moving up on 5:51. time to take a look at traffic and weather on the 1s again. >> here's tom. >> it's another delightfully cool and fresh summer morning under way with low humidity. we've got a few clouds coming through that just past full moon now setting in the west. the sun is just about ready to come up. sunrise this morning is one minute away. and we have some high clouds drifting over the potomac river now. that's the live picture from our city camera. just now beginning to see the top of that sun, i think. just about ready to break the horizon there in the next few seconds. and at this hour -- there it is. at this hour, temperatures are in the mid-60s in washington a risenad r we r'ton don ha

ve any preonpitita. we do veti mhuc crnooleha t average, though. down into the mid-50s in frederick, loudoun, prince william county as well as the shenandoah valley and around the blue ridge, panhandle. west virginia. close to washington, in montgomery and fairfax counties only near 60. near 60 in prince george's county as well. right near the bay in southern maryland, in the low to mid-60s. right on the waters, though, a bit warm. in ft. washington, prince george's county now 61. the dew point a comfortably dry 52. and there's the calm wind this morning. on the eastern shore, it's in the mid-50s away from the waters. at the beaches right near 70 degrees. out in the mountains, it is unusually cool. in fact, rather chilly. it's in the upper 40s to near 50 degrees in western maryland, and in many areas of west virginia. we've had some of these high clouds coming in from a developing low pressure center that's off cape hatteras. that's going to head off to the east. meanwhile, we've got high pressure building over new england. if you're traveling today, could

be some rain here in the upper midwest, maybe some storms around the tennessee valley. as swell as down through northern florida could be flight delays there. elsewhere, settled weather here throughout the rest of the nation. a look at the temperatures, t it's certainly chilly. only in the 450s across much of new england. that's where high pressure is located. the circulation around that high is giving us an easterly flow that will keep it cooler than average here for today. and we'll see this pattern continuing into tomorrow as well. so going forward over the next 36 hours we stay dry here except perhaps later on today there may be a shower in the southern shen a company a valley in south virginia. otherwise, dry conditions throughout the mid-atlantic states except at the beaches near the outer banks. they could have some showers and showers later on this afternoon. as we get into friday, another dry day. on saturday, a front will be approaching from the midwest and as that comes in late in the day we might have some showers and thundershowers moving in. ha here's your forecast for this

.ur sday joenanother day with low humidity. we'll take that. gettinnow to be mid-july. right now we're in the 50s and 60s. by 9:00, low 70s. by noon upp 70s. only reaching the low 80s by mid-afternoon with clouds in and out. then by sunset at 8:35 we'll be down into the mid-70s. by midnight it will just be near 70. we'll have that just past full moon again up in the sky late evening and into the predawn hours tomorrow. by dawn on friday, the low 60s. ridu the day tomorrow, partly cloudy, still notooumri hid although a little more humid by the evening. highs reaching near only 80 degrees .mo howrrow average high this time of year 88. over the weekend, it will feel more like semertim into the mid-80s with more humid conditions, although it's not going toe sweltering humidity. just dew points mid and upper 60s. whenever the dew point is over 70 is when we have the sweltering humidity. saturday partly sunny, maybe a late day shower or thundershower. looks like after 6:00 p.m. that

y mappen, a small chance. then on sunday, there's a greater chance of some passing showers and maybe some thundershowers. maybe a morning shower or an afternoon thundershower. highs in the mid-80s and rather steamy. then as weoety nt i next week, it will feel more like typical july weather. humid and hot in the upper 80s on monday and tuesday. partly sunny to sunny, hntyaz skies. both of those days. then on wednesday, increasing clouds, but hot. up pi around 90 it appears now. >> let's go to jerry edwards and take a look at the rush hour on this thursday. any big problems? >> a couple things to warn folks about. good morning once again. 95 northbound out of dale city beginning to slow down just a bit. getting the initial reports of an accident up near the prince william parkway. i have not been able to find it yet, but i'm going to keep watching. 95 northbound. southbound 95 headed on down that direction, that's moving along well. prince george's county an accident, allentown road at temple hill road south of the capital beltway, not affecting traffic on the beltway itself right now. both ways across the wilson bridge doing fine.

50 through the bp parkway, coming down from the parkway northeast, all is well so far. back to you. >> thanks very much, jerry. >> thank you. if you use metro's red line you'll want to add some extra time to your trip for the next ten days. there will be fewer and slower moving trains. riders should add an additional 30 minutes to their commute. the changes are to accommodate the ongoing investigation into last month's deadly crash. the takoma station will also close early at 10:00 p.m. through next sunday. shuttle buses will be available. virginia rest stops have become another casualty of the recession. two northern virginia rest stops will be closing later this month. that's just the beginning. a total of 19 rest areas will be shut terd around the state. v-dot is trying to close a $2.6 million budget gap. aaa says if rest stops are closed, drivers have nowhere to rest or go to the bathroom. 20% of traffic fatalities across the country are caused by drowsy drivers. >> ice cream, you scream, we all

scream when we see what a 14-year-old michigan boy did to try to get some ice cream. the dude's accused of stealing his father's vehicle and led police on a high speed chase. police say the teen topped 100 miles an hour, taking wild turns, crossing into traffic. the chase ended when the vehicle hit an embankment, launching it ten feet off the ground and crashing into some trees. >> you are 14. you don't have a driver's license. why would you even argue with me? >> charges are pending against the 14-year-old driver. police say his 12-year-old cousin and 10-year-old brother were also in the vehicle at the time. amazingly, no one was killed or seriously injured. >> a neighborhood in florida is dealing with an unwanted guest. a large bobcat is on the prowl in melbourne area. let's take a look at some photos. there they are. these were snapped by a 16-year-old who saw the giant cat in her back yard. residents say they don't want the bobcat harmed but they're

concerned for the children and pets in the area. in recent weeks, a duck and two cats have been found dead and the bobcat is suspected. florida wildlife officials say the bobcat sightings are common in the area and there aren't any records of bobcats attacking humans. >> yet. >> but cats, dogs. >> news 4's always looking for jobs for you. dominion hospital in falls church is looking for a social worker. applicants should have at least three years experience. for more details, visit nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> still ahead, a familiar face from the nbc prime time lineup that may make a run for congress. >> not that man, but that man will be joining us live in our studio to answer your questions. >> we're waking up to another gorgeous day. weather and traffic on thes coming up when we come back. y

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like super g split chicken breast, just 99 cents a pound. only at giant. off the hook. stalking charges against d.c. councilman marion barry have been dropped. what the woman who started the investigation is saying about what really happened. >> international powwow. president obama huddles with world leaders. the new challenges they face at italy's g-8 summit. >> good morning, everyone. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> and i'm joe krebs on this thursday, the 9th of july 2009. let's take a live look outside or any kind of look outside. whatever we can manage at this hour. 6:00 in the morning. the sun is up. look at that beautiful sky out there. kind of interesting sky with those clouds. those clouds going to bring us sni rain, tom? >> does not look like it. not today. we've had three days in a row

with no rain. >> i know. >> after that wet period we went through, in a drier pio dnow. do have dry air again in place, low humidity this morning, tempera aresre pleasant, down into the 60s and bys now. 9: in the low 70s. 9:thill be a partly cloudy day wiow l humidity, afternoon highs only reaching the low 80s. sunrise was ten minutes ago. sunset will be at 8:35. ow should be partly cloudy tonight. by this time tomorrow morning again, another cool start. get going on friday in the low 60s. i'll show you the friday forecast. that will be coming up in ten minutes at 6:. stay tuned. >> all right, tom. let's check the traffic. >> let's do so. here's jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. >> good morning. good news. 270 very quiet so far this morning. montgomery village, not much happening whatsoever. that's the southbound side. yeah, a couple cars out there. northbound lanes are open, so between frederick and rockville, accident-free. prince george's county had an accident at temple hill road at allentown road.

police are dealing with that. 50 out of bowie all the way to shefy looking good. b-w parkway, ken nil worth avenue also moving without significant delay. back to you. >> thanks, jerry. federal prosecutors have dropped charges against former d.c. mayor marion barry. the d.c. councilman was accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend. >> u.s. park police arrested barry on saturday for allegedly stalking donna watts-brightha t watts-brhthaupt. her lawyers have said the two were on their way to the beach for an independence day party. the lawyer says watts-brighthaupt changed her mind about the trip and they returned to washington. >> now for the first time since the charges, watts-brighthaupt is speaking one-on-one with news 4. news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live from district court with the latest on all this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. here outside district court because at 10:00 a.m. they're supposed to have a hearing here addressing all of this, but we're told that barry and his attorney most likely will not attend that hearing because

they're basically going to announce that these charges have been dropped. we've been told that officials ve decided, after yesterday, they did not have any reason to pursue this case. barry was charged with stalking after donna watts, a woman he was romantically involved with, told u.s. park police barry was bothering her. it happened on july 4th at anacostia park. barry was arrested and charged. since then he's held several press conferences proclaiming his innocence, and at times bashing donna watts who he at one time hired as a contractor, agreeing to pay her $60,000 to head a leadership program in ward 8. yesterday evening, prosecutors announced they won't pursue charges. hear now from barry spokesperson and also watts. >> the arrest of mr. barry should have never taken place. the false allegations against mr. barry should have never been made. >> i said, he's bothering me. make sure he goes home, you know?

i thought it was d.c. police because he gets away -- they just let him go. i, i wasn't thinking that i was in a federal police. that's not my fault. i wasn't thinking bad things. i wasn't thinking the worst. >> reporter: now "the washington post" is reporting that d.c. attorney general is urging the city council to actually investigate that $60,000 contract that was awarded to watts. and he's saying that if they don't, he will. barry is defending the contract, saying that it was legal. i'm tracee wilkins, live outside the courthouse. back to you in the studio. >> thank you. >> thank you. this is barry's latest run-in with the law. just this decade, back in october of 2005, barry pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor for not filing years of income taxes. he was sentenced to three years probation. in september of 2006, the u.s. secret service stopped barry for running a red light and a dispute ensued over drug testing at the scene. a judge later found barry not guilty. and then in december of 2006, pa p coleedicharg barry wh ivn ingagedusndpe celinsli d.c. thdmverat b llamed a

mpco ermpr.ro hi tr. pasfet uary, precsouts torhtugo reveht s rry's tax probation afte h teilla f jug again. e thdg ee xtended his probation two more years. >> there are growing calls to fire a metro train operator caught texting on the job. this video put on youtube has been seen by more than 17,000 people. it shows a train operator texting with his head down last month while the train barrels ahead. the operator was suspended but returned to work this week. at large d.c. council member kwame brown says the operator and other violators should be fired. >> there's really no excuse for it, and it's very disappointing, especially given the fact that our train operators and really all of our operations personnel, for that matter every single person at the transit agency, knows what the rules are. >> the video was taken june 5th on the blue line. as for the recent deadly red line accident, metro officials say there is no evidence the operator of that train had been texting. drivers using metro should be prepared for delays over the

next week. metro riders can expect fewer and slower moving trains on the red line until at least july 19th. in addition, the takoma metro station will also close early at 10:00 p.m. that's so federal investigators can continue to investigate last month's deadly train crash. >> president obama is in italy midway through the three-day g-8 economic summit. leaders of the exclusive club of eight industrialized nations open up their meeting to five fastest developing market economies. on the agenda, development, economic aid, international trade. brooke hart is following the president's trip from capitol hill. good morning, brooke. >> reporter: good morning. president obama is taking a leadership rolet the g-8 today. he is chairing the climate talks. and what he's finding, especially among those developing nation that you mentioned, is a whole lot of resistance in translating loose promises into concrete steps.

president obama leads a meeting of the world's top polluters. yesterday, g-8 nations pledged to limit global warming to 3.6 degrees with little talk of how. the president's charge as he toured damage from l'aquila's earthquake in april is diplomatic. developing nations china and india balked at specific goals to cut emissions. they want freedom to grow and blame richer countries for forecasts of damage. >> climate change cannot be addressed by perpetuating the pov at therty of deloping count. >> reporter: it's the leading issue for angry g-8 protesters in italy. >> we want them to set strong targets for climate change. we want strong c off2 emissions reductions. >> reporter: on the global economy, g-8 leaders called stimulus plans still necessary. on capitol hill, republicans called the president's a failure. >> every american has the right to ask where are the jobs that were promised?

>> reporter: democrats governors testified it is working. >> the increase in taxes, the cuts in services would be infinitely greater were it not for the aid that the stimulus program has given to the states. >> reporter: this economist says the funds have yet to fully kick in. >> i think we need patience. the stimulus is just now getting going, and i think we'll see the benefits of it more clearly later this year. >> reporter: despite the signs, one predicts the stimulus will revive the number of jobs lost by the recession. worries about jobs are costing the president support. in ohio where vice president jbs joe biden travels today, unemployment has topped 10%. as of this week, more people there disapprove than approve of the president's handling of the economy. live on capitol hill, i'm brooke hart. back to you. >> thank you very much. >> thank you. a developing story in iraq this morning. while you were sleeping, a suicide bomber killed at least 34 people and injured 70 others in tal afar. in baghdad, two roadside bombs

left at least seven people dead. these attacks come just one day after two other deadly bombings. u.s. combat forces just pulled out of iraqi cities last month. signaling confidence in recent security improvements and the ability of iraqi forces to keep order. >> 6:09 is the time. 65 degrees. water woes. the message from capitol hill to think before you drink. plus, what investigators of learned about what really went down that left nfl star steve mcnair dead. >> and a familiar face from the nbc prime time lineup that may make a run for congress. america, whattaya say to big cheesy-steaky-ness! - subway. eat fresh! - eat fresh! when you wanna kick it up with zesty chipotle sauce.

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good morning. sunlight glittering on the potomac river this morning. live view from our city camera. we have temperatures around the region in the mid-60s in washington. only near 60 montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties, 50s to our west. high today into the low 80s. low humidity, partly cloudy. a terrific summer day. then tomorrow, partly cloudy, still comfortable humidity. light breezes, highs only near 80. a look at the weekend and next week in ten minutes. how's the traffic, jerry? >> tom, doing pretty well. northeast kenilworth avenue making the trip in is fine. this is i-95 northbound. had the accident reported near the prince william parkway. nothing found. other than that, looking good all the way to the capital beltway and beyond. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thank you very much. our time right now 6:12, 66 degrees. the sex scandal involving a

prominent republican senatoras deepened. >> plus, a birthday bash at the national zoo today. >>eporter: that's right. there's a big party planned here at the national zoo. tai shan is officially a teenager today. i'm megan mcgrath. a live report coming up.

6:15 is our time right now. updating the top stories in the "news 4 today." u.s. park police will release documents about the recent arrest of d.c. council member marion barry. prosecutors have decided not to puue the stalking charges against him, but barry's spokesperson says that barry's concerned about how police treated him during that arrest. president obama is in italy midway through the g-8 economic summit. today the international leaders will be discussing climate change, development aid, the economy and international trade. president obama will also have a separate meeting with brazil's president. a second person in maryland has now died from the swine flu. health department officials say an adult with prior health

problems died after contracting the h1n1 virus. there have been 170 confirmed swine flu deaths nationwide, which also includes those in virginia. >> well, it's a big day for one resident at the national zoo. washington's beloved giant panda is officially a teenager in bear years now. tai shan's birth made national headlines back in 2005. he will celebrate his fourth birthday today. megan mcgrath is at the zoo. ready for the party? got the balloons ready? >> reporter: that's right. i'm hopg they have gift bags. that's my hope. well, you can see that they just opened the gates a little while ago here to the national zoo. and you can see the banner there that depicts tai shan with his mother, a younger tai shan. today, of course, is tai shan's fourth birthday, and that means that in panda years he is officially a teenager. so there are lots of big goings-on that will take place here at the national zoo later

on today. in fact, at 11:30 -- i'm sorry, 8:30 this morning they will present tai shan with a very special and unusual birthday cake. it's going to be out there in the yard when they let him out this morning. it's made t of water, bamboo, shredded beets and beet juice. yummy. that whole concoction has been frozen and there's an ice sculpture with a 4 on the top of it. so he'll be treated to that unusual cake when he comes out into the yard this morning. he'll probably eat it and play with it for about an hour here today. a great day actually to come to the national zoo, check out the pandas. it's always fun, but today should be particularly interesting. seems like not that long ago when tai shan came here to the naonal zoo. but now he's a teenager. back to you, barbara. >> we remember when he was just a stick of butter. >> reporter: i know. that's right. he's going to leave his bamboo laying around, start ignoring the rules ter zoo. i don't know. you know those teenagers. >> all right. enjoy the party. hope to see some pictures.

tai shan's mother mei xiang will be celebrating her birthday soon, too. she was born on july 22nd, 1998. tai shan's father, tian tian will be turning 12 next month. he was born on august 27th, 1997. >> new details about that sex scandal surrounding nevada senator john ensign. his former mistress' husband is now talking about hire secret rug. doug hampton provided a letter to a las vegas newspaper. he claimed it was a handwritten apology from ensign, seen here, to hampton's wife cindy, a former treasure for the senator's campaign committee. doug hampton also says ensign paid his wife more than $25,000 in severance when she stopped working for him. ensign confessed at that time nine-month-long affair with cindy hampton last month. aides to alaska governor sarah palin say her decision to resign was due in part to her willingness to help fellow republican candidates but the question is if they really want

her help. john mcdonald is running. he's stopped short of saying he wants her help. in new jersey, the the only other state with a gubernatorial race, say there are no plans to bring palin. >> there will be a public memorial service in nashville today for former nfl quarterback steve mcnair. nashville police have confirmed he was the victim of murder-suicide. they say mcnair's 20-year-old girlfriend, sahel kazemi, shot him four times while he was sleeping. evidence shows that she then took her own life. kazemi and mcnair were dating, even though mcnair was married with four children. police say kazemi suspected mcnair was involved with yet another woman. >> the washington nationals are hoping to have a much better time down in houston today. >> their recent trip to colorado didn't go as well as they had helped. lindsay czarniak has your sports minute. >> hey there. good morning, everybody. your sports minute begins with baseball.

let's just say the nationals are happy to be out of colorado after getting swept by the rockies. three errors proved costly and the rockies pummeled ross detwiler who only lasted five innings. the nationals lost this one 10-4. the orioles scored five runs in the ninth to come back and beat the seattle mariners. jose lopez committed two errors in the inning and the mariners gift wrapped the victory for the os. > to tennis. the kastles need to build some momentum because so far, things aren't going so well. they lost last night to the st. louis aces at the spied anna kournikova not playing due to an injury. the kastles have lost the first four matches to start the season. in soccer, the united states scored two second half goals to beat honduras at rfk. d.c. united star santino quaranta opened the scoring with the goal in the 73rd minute. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsay czarniak. have a great day. >> the results are in, so who dishes out the best frozen yogurt? that's what you decided in our latest competition for the golden local.

the latest competition was between sweet green and tangy sweet. certainly was a tight race. tangy sweet won, though, with 51% of the vote. be sure to stay tupd for the next competition in the coming weeks. >> 6:21 is our time. time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> meteorologist tom kierein standing by with his forecast. good morning. >> a wonderful view from our city camera showing the sun up over the potomac river. it is glittering on gentle ripples. there goes a plane taking off from reagan national up into a partly cloudy sky this morning. it's a delightful summer morning again with low humidity, temperatures in the low 60s in fairfax county. only near 60 in montgomery and prince george's counties. cooler west and north. southern maryland, near the bay temperatures are near 70. the rest of the day it will be near 80 today and tomorrow. partly cloudy both days, not too humid. more humid over the weekend, highs mid-80s saturday and sunday, maybe a late-day shower or thundershower saturday. a greater chance of a passing

shower or thundershower sunday. feeling like summertime. heat a humidity next week. how's the traffic? >> things moving along pretty well. 95 northbound, southbound no worries. getting word of an accident, though, 210 northbound at barry road. police, fire and rescue crews are on the scene there coming up southern maryland. look out for that. back to you. >> jerry, thank you. >> thank you. >> 6:22, 66 degrees. the tragedy for two virginia families after a hit and run drunk driving accident. >> and why congress is calling for stricter standards on bottled water. >> plus, the nbc prime time star who could have a future in potics. >> and here's your liz "on the money," money saving tip of the day. >> health care is expensive. parade magazine has this tip to lower your health care bill. get free screenings and tests. many grocery and drug stores offer free blood pressure tests, plus some hospitals and clinics offer free screenings for diseases such as skin cancer and diabetes.

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magazine he's seriously considering a run for congress, even though his work as an actor would give his critics a lot to work with. he's involved politically and raises money for several organizations. he says he's already thought about running for office in several states, including new york. well, congress is pushing for stricter standards on bottled water. new reports from the government accountability office say consumers pay more for bottled water under the assumption that it is safer and healthier, but tap water is more closely regulated than bottled water. >> we recommend that bottled water labels and websites disclose the same information that the law requires of municipal water utilities and that this disosure be mandatory. consumers have a right to know where their battled water comes from, how or if it's treated and the pollutants it contains. >> the food and drug administration regulates bottled water. municipal water is under the control of the environmental protection agency. the two agencies have similar standards for water quality. however, the fda has less authority to enforce those

standards than the epa, which requires much more testing. our time right now is 6:26. 66 degrees out there. the controversy surrounding two escapes from a local detention center. we're going to ask d.c. mayor adrian fenty about it when he joins us live at 6:45. >> also, the charges against d.c. councilman marion barry have been dropped and his acc e accuser speaks out. >> the memorial may be over for michael jackson but questions surrou vo lar.st yeast.. when companies were laying off hundreds of thousands of workers... walmart was creating 30 thousand new jobs... all right here in america. ve ysa money. live better. walmart.sa

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>> good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it's thursday, july 9th, 2009. taking a look outside, we have some clouds out there. a chilly start to this day. just 66 degrees right now here in the nation's capital. and tom is here with a look at the forecast. good morning, tom. >> yeah, another unusually cool, unjuly-like morning. temperatures again this morning in the 50s just to our west and north, low humidity in place. d ane taked aak look at the li ve oiewf our wradar,eda don't have any precipitaunonro a the region at this hour. d rraou ea a downt ioohe t low 60 s. n fairfaon merndtg ayomrn pg rrgea. n e' it fr in the0s 6 inn loudoun, m,e edwik, pe ncll eruiuq, o puiarts tfhe doanenah paly, oletsesaranft w virginia and western maryland. to the southt nd easof washington, inar ae nnundel in the low and mid-60s there.e an ond theon ernteas sh e,teaway from the waters it's only in the 50s to near 60. out in the mountains, in the

ilch 4o til oynl near0 5 s.ee nly unjuly-like there. we do have quite a bit of cloudiness around. a partly cloudy day. afternoon highs only reaching the low 80s with low humidity. sunset at 8:36. by this evening it will be cool again, by this time tomorrow morning. a look at the friday forecast in ten minutes. >> thanks, tom. >>let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. >> take a live look and see how things are propering on the capital beltway, around tysons corner, still pretty quiet. lanes available both directions with no issues. good news there. elsewhere check things out headed for downtown, along 395 northbound into town, all the idges inbound moving along very, very nicely. mr. jefferson's memorial. and the outbound side heading from the district across the case bridge on out toward shirlington, all is well. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. >> in the news this morning, federal prosecutors have dropped charges against former d.c.

mayor marion barry. the d.c. council member was accused of stalking his d.-girlfri >> u.s. park police arrested barry on saturday for allegedly stalking donna watts-brightha t watts-brighthaupt. his lawyer has said the mayor and brighthaupt were on their way to re be both beach for an independence day party. the lawyer said she changed her mind about the trip and they returned to washington. >> now for the first time since the incident, brighthaupt is speaking one-on-one with news 4. tracee wilkins joins us live from district court with the latest on all of this good morning. >> good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we're getting a clearer picture of what happened that day and the event that's led up to marion barry's arrest, but as you said, the charges have been dropped. there's still going to be a hearing here at 10:00 a.m., but we're told that basically what they're going to do is announce in court that the charges have been dropped. we're also told that marion barry and his attorney most likely will not be attending. >> never his fault. he's never wrong. and he's slippery.

>> reporter: donna watts says she's learned a lot. she's the woman at the center of d.c. council member marion barry's latest run-in with the law. after almost a week of press conferences in which marion barry's spokesperson denied allegations of stalking watts and at times aired the former couple's dirty laundry, prosecutors have decided to drop the stalking charges brought against the ward 8 council member >> the arrest of mr. barry should have never taken place. the false allegations against mr. barry shod have never been made. >> reporter: barry had awarded watts a $60,000 contract to head a leadership program in ward 8. a decision that the d.c. attorney general tells "the washington post" he wants investigated, but barry defends. >> ms. watts, at the time, was qualified for the position and went through the proper channels in order to get -- be awarded for that contract. >> reporter: the post report that's on july fourth, watts and

barry got into a disagreement at her home and he then followed her and her ex-husband to anacostia park where they went to watch fireworks. that's when the trouble really began. >> i said he's bothering me. make sure he goes home, you know? i thought it was d.c. police because he gets away -- they just let him go. i, i wasn't thinking that i was in a federal place. that's not my fault. i wasn't thinking bad things. i wasn't thinking the worst. >> reporter: now, according to post, d.c. attorney general is saying that either the council needs to investigate barry awarding that $60,000 contract to watts or he's going to investigate it. in the meantime, as we mentioned, marion barry is saying the contract was perfectly legal, through his spokesperson. his spokesperson also says that barry has some problems with the way he was dealt with u.s. park police and may possibly be pursuing that. i'm tracee wilkins, reporting live outside the courthouse. back to you. >> thank you. >> thank you, tracee. marion barry currently serves on the d.c. council. coming up in just a few minutes

we'll talk to d.c. mayor adrian fenty in our "connecting with the mayor" segment and hear what he has to say. >> a tragedy for two families in virginia after two fathers were drunk in a hit and run driving accident. thpeis hapned tuesdayn ig h i n the beltway. police say a jeep struck the men's pickup truck andd fceor it over a guardrail and down a ravine. 39-year-old gradys mendo and 37-year-ol fcednkn mnanzanares were killed. police say the driver of the jeep, kelli loos, drove on to virginia where she hit another vehicle and was arrested with dui. >> how can you mess with beautifu families like this? >> you're mad? >> very mad, of course. >> took our families away. we can't even go see them. e.ohe t, last sente s oo lisnoolain j i iai frfax county on a dui chargenow. she's expected to be extradited to maryland where she will face additional charges. >> police say the drowning of a 19-month-old baby appears to be an accident.

it happened tuesday night t baby's mother left her sleeping son at home in the care of his 15-year-old cousin. the teen didn't know that he was supposed to be watching the toddler, apparently, so he went out. when the mother returned home, she found her son unconscious in the pool. no charges have been filed in the case. >> president obama is halfway through the g-8 economic summit in italy. on the agenda today, the global economy and iran. yesterday, the world leaders discussed global warming. president obama agreed to support the goal of keeping the world's temperature from rising more than 3.6 degrees. here in washington, there's growing debate about whether the president's stimulus plan is working quickly enough. >> every american has the right to ask where are the jobs that were promised? >> it's way too soon, in my view, to unfurl the mission accomplished banner, but we're on the right track. >> earlier this week, quinnipiac university released a poll. 48% said they don't approve of how president obama is handling

the economy. 46% say they do approve. that approval rating is down 11% since may. >> now to the latest on the death of michael jackson. the doctor who was with the singer when he died was once under investigation for an alleged botched surgery. tmz's website is reporting two years ago, one of dr. conrad murray's patients died after he drained fluid from his heart. investigators looking into jackson's death have already spoken with murray. this morning, they want to talk to several other doctors who prescribed drugs for the singer. toxicology reports are not due back for several weeks. >> the "today" show is next at the top of the hour. it's go live to matt lauer in new york for a look at what they're working on for today. matt, hi. >> hi, barbara. good to see you. coming up on a thursday here on our program, more on michael jackson. where's his body and where will he be laid to rest? get the latest on that, including some infighting apparently going on within the jackson family. plus who has the legal upper hand when it comes to gaining custody of jackson's three

children, his family members or debbie rowe. we'll talk about that. also ahead, are you wasting money when you buy bottled water? we're going to talk about new questions being raised about purity and safety. and he says he wants to be uber famous. bruno joins us for a live interview when we start on a thursday morning right here on "today." barbara, back to you. >> uber famous, hmm? okay. we will be watching. >> uber bruno. take care. >> thank you. our time is now 5:38. it is 66 degrees here in the nation's capital. d.c. mayor -- d.c. council member marion barry once again at the center of a scandal. we ask d.c. mayor adrien fenty what he thinks about this all. >> plus, rest stops are closing across virginia, leaving drivers searching for new options for when they have to go. >> and why these pill bottles were filled with candy and given to kids.

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switch to suntrust checking today weather and traffic on the 1s now. 6:41. good morning. temperatures are fresh and cool, unusually cool for july, just in the mid-60s in washington. only near 60 in montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. cooler west and north, mid-60s, southern maryland around the bay. by noon benear 80.

partly cloudy tonight and again tomorrow. still comfortable, low humidity on friday, light breezes tomorrow, highs only near 80. a look at that weekend and next week in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> tom, take a look and see how we're doing. good morning, everyone. not too bad along 395 northbound, a couple spots will slow into the sunshine on north out of landmark. elsewhere, how are things moving heading south of town? toward the woodrow wilson bridge, the good news is no accidents to report either direction. re's the 14th street bridge where all is well. back to you. >> thanks very much. time right now 6:42, 66 degrees. why a medical center provided pill bottles filled with candy to children. >> plus, d.c. mayor adrien fenty is joining us in the studio. >> good morning. >> always on a thursday morning. next at 6:45 we'll ask him about the controversy surrounding former d.c. mayor marion barry ad anewth f oue qnser stor io you.

welcome back, everyone. we're connecting you with the mayor. i'm here this morning with d.c. mayor adrian fenty who we've

already welcomed. obviously, the big story this week has been the story of the former mayor, marion barry. some people say this whole thing he's going through right now, although we're expecting the charges to be dropped today -- >> right. >> that he was stalking a former girlfriend, do you think it's embarrassing to the city, this kind of thing? there are some people who say that. >> yeah, i'm sure there are people who have said that and people who think that. any time a public official is -- involved in anything, it's tough on everyone. it's tough on the public official, his family, friends and the citizens, but these things happen. and, you know, it looks, as you said, as though there's been some movement on the criminal charges, at least. and so hopefully with that, there will be some ability to, you know, quickly get this behind -- or for the barry teams -- people to get it behind them. >> perhaps more serious concern to some citizens is the fact that she apparently was on the payroll, gotten some sort of

city contract with him as his girlfriend. do you have anything you want to say about that? >> don't know much about that. i was a city council member for six years, as you're aware. i don't know exactly how she was hired and what, if any, rules someone is alleging were broken. but we have investigatory bodies that look at things like this, and, you know, i -- i think the council and the mayor would say, you know, we welcome any investigations from those bodies, not just in this case but any other case because you have to preserve the public integrity. >> i'm sure we'll be hearing more about that. it's been just over two weeks now since the deadly metro crash. for safety reasons, riders should expect fewer trains and slower service to continue on red line trains. we've been hearing that. how long do you think we're going to have these -- the problems of keeping it running on time and with closures and the things that many riders are complaining about now? >> yeah. i bet -- i don't know for sure. i'm not a transportation expert. actually didn't know about this

issue too much, but i think relative to the situation, i do believe probably will be back on schedule pretty soon. i mean, it's not bad to use an abundance of caution and making sure evething is going right before you put the city in another circumstance like that. >> let me ask you a quick question about the driver that we've seen on youtube video now. >> right, right. >> who was seen texting. >> yes. >> what about that? do you have an opinion on whether he should have been fired? our sister system out in san francisco says they would have fired the guy. >> i think you could probably make a strong case you would fire the person. i can't imagine that there weren't rules and regulations that govern that internally. >> there have been recent jail breaks at a juvenile facility in anne arundel county. d.c. owns the new beginnings center. this past weekend, six offenders escaped. we understand you will be talking about that internally up

at -- in your offices with folks. what are you after? what do you want to find out? >> well, we have a program where we bring in our agencies to talk about the critical issues. we will be talking about exactly how -- just going to walk through step by step. obviously, you know, my administration has made a mistake. either made a mistake in the construction in the facilities area or just management and operations. the -- who's minding the store when the kids escape? enough for the windows to be broken, but people are watching this and they get all the way to the highway. so, we're going to get some answers to that. >> we have some questions to ask you, too, about the filming of a show here. a lot of folks are complaining about that. too much going on down in the dupont circle. >> the "real world" show. >> ask you about that next week. >> that sounds good. >> as always, if you have a question for d.c. mayor adrien fenty, e-mail us. fenty@nbcwashington.com. we'll get those e-mails to him and you will continue to answer their e-mails. >> sounds good. thanks for having me. >> thanks very much. good seeing you, mr. mayor.

west virginia rest stops ltve become anotheryasltua of ee ormypo noco these.ysdano rginning on july 21sthe tes t area on i-95 in dale city will close for cars but remain open torus.ck theest are on eastbound i-66 in manass will cseil to cars and trucks beginning jul21 st. the westbound stop will close to all traffic beginning in september. in all, a total of 19 rest areas will be shuttered around the state. v-dot is trying to close a $2.6 million budget gap. >> we looked at closing these rest areas, we saw that some of the rest areas are as close as 20 miles apart. what we did is try to keep them at least 120 miles apart, so about a two-hour gap in between. >> aaa warns drivers could get drowsy if there is nowhere to rest. 20% of all traffic fatalities across the countryre caused by drowsy drivers. well, futures are pointing to a positive opening this morning, and the nation's

retailers get ready to release their june sales reports. cnbc's courtney reagan is live with all the day's business news. hrp hrp. >> reporter: good morning. tures are slightly higher. could be due to alcoa reporting a smaller than expected quarterly loss and is reporting they are seeing signs of improving demand. wall street did recover late in the day yesterday, offsetting another slide in oil prices. crude is trading near $61 a barrel. asian markets are split overnight, and europe is higher at this hour. we'll get reports on new filings for unemployment benefits and whole sadrade a bit later this morning. the dow will start off at 8178 after closing up. the nasdaq gained one point. well, the nation's retailers will report their june sales this morning. industry wide sales are expected to have dropped last month as heavy rain and cooler temperatures hurt stores trying to move their summer merchandise. and a new survey finds more than half of potential home buyers are being a bit cautious

about jumping into the market. realtor.com says a fear of losing their job is the biggest reon tha people aren't willing to take the big financial step. other concerns include having to sell their current home and worries that home prices will keep falling. think all those are pretty legitimate reasons to be concerned. back to you. >> absolutely. thanks very much, courtney. have a great day. >> news 4 is always looking for jobs for you. dominion hospital in falls church is looking for a social worker. applicants should have at least three years experience. for details, visit nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> there is a controversy in west virginia over a fourth of july gift for children. a pharmacy and medical center in ripley gave out pill bottles filled with candy during this year's independence day parade. parents were concerned it will give children the wrong idea. they say it may encourage kids to reach for real prescription drugs if they want candy. the pharmacy these there was not -- that was not their intent. they do not plan to hand out anything that could be mistaken for pills in the future.

>> 6:51, time for traffic and weather on the 1s. tom? >> a lot of people are wondering, have we skipped over summer, gone directly into fall? another unusually cool, unjuly-like morning with temperatures down into the 50s and 60s at this hour. there's the sky. clouds passing over washington. live picture from the city camera. w.'s a cool 66 in washington no go nce mery, fairfax andrint p georgeie c lyouonrs ea nnt 60 degrees. nothing showing up on radar, no precipitation there. it's in t 50s shenandoah valley. weather watchers reporting there as well as the highlands of west virginia, western maryland. also in the 50s in a few locations inrederick county, loudoun county, down into prince william and fauquier. stafford and spotsylvania as well near 60 degrees. charles, calvert, st. mary's anne arundel in the low to mid-60s at this hour. eaern shore is cool as well, in the mid-50s away from the waters. out in the mountains certainly chilly, only in the 40s to near 50 degrees on this july moing. we do have some of these clouds that are comingn from the south to west as area of low

pressure's developing around the outer banks that will head out to sea. traveling today? could be flight delays in northern florida, perhaps around the tennessee valley, some rain in the upper midwest but the rest of the nation should not have any travel problems. for us for today for this thursday, the 9th day of july we'll have temperatures by 9:00 in the low 70s. during the afternoon, low 80s. partly cloudy, low humidity. sunset's at 8:35. a partly cloudy evening to follow, near 70 by midnight. by dawn tomorrow, the low 60s. during the day on friday, another day won't be too humid during the day but getting more humid by friday night. partly cloudy. tomorrow's highs only near 80. average high this time of year . getting hotter over the weekend and more humid saturday and sunday, maybe late-day thundershowers saturday. sunday off and on, maybe a morning shower, perhaps a passing afternoon thunrshower, but finally feeling like summer as we get into next week. that's the way it looks. >> thank you. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. let's look and see how things are progressing as we head toward 7:00.

395 northbound pretty heavy and slow now as you begin the commute toward the capital beltway and through landmark and shirlington. travel lanes are reported open at the 14th street bridge, no hangups to report. route 50 over to and from the eastern shore moving along well. had an accident temple hill road at allentown road. now authorities telling us of an accident in the southbound lanes of i-95 near route 212, the calvert ton-beltsville accident. look for that. 270 from i-70 to the split moving along nicely. tolerable this morning. back to you. >> thanks, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. >> well, federal prosecutors apparently plan to drop charges against former d.c. mayor marion barry. the d.c. chairman was -- or councilman, excuse me, was accused of stalking his ex-girlfriend. >> news 4's tracee wilkins joins us live from u.s. district court with more on this. >> reporter: good morning. we received this announcement yesterday that federal prosecutors would drop charges

against marion barry. for that reason we understand that he and his attorney do not plan on attending court today, although there is going to be a 10:00 a.m. hearing. basically they will announce th they have dropped the charges. the d.c. attorney general -- or the d.c. -- the federal prosecutors announced they found no reason to pursue this case. barry was charged with stalking after donna watts, a woman he was romantically involved with, told u.s. park police barry was bothering her. it happened on july fourth at anacostia park. barry was arrested and charged, but again those charges have been dropped. now barry also awarded this woman a $60,000 contract to work with the d.c. government. according to article in "the washington post," the d.c. attorney general wants to find out more about that contract and is encouraging the council to investigate that. i'm tracee wilkins, live this morning outside the court. back to you in the studio. >> thanks very much. >> thanks. today's news 4 morning person is described as clearful with a welcoming disposition. kareem is the overnight manager of the ritz-carlton in

washington. co-workers say every night, kareem chooses a special quote to include in the night watch report to brighten everyone's day. the watch report goes out to whole hotel every morning, which he hopes gets everyone's day off to a good start. if you know someone like kareem, e-mail their story and a clear, close-up picture or video to morningperson@nbcwashington.com. >> let's get an out the door forecast now from tom. >> a fresh, cool morning once again under way. afternoon highs should make it up to the low 80s today. off to a partly cloudy start. live view from our city camera at this hour. during the day tomorrow, another ay with low humidity but highs only near 80. getting more summer like over the weekend. saturday and sunday steamy, in the mid-80s. maybe a late day shower sunday. off and on shower on sunday. >> let's see what kind of traffic we have. >> late accident 95 southbound near route 212 in maryland, fire and rescue crews should be on the scene. be careful. look for delays from 198 on down. >> that is "news 4 today." thanks for starting your

thursday with us. >> don't forget to join us for "news 4 midday" at :0 0. stay connected with us. we're on facebook and twitter. we will be waiting for you in the morning. wake up with us, 4:55 a.m. have a terrific day. >> bye. movie night can get pretty crazy when all us chameleons are in the mood for something different. action! no, cartoon! i like to make it a bit more relaxing with an air aromatherapy fragrance. i love how air wick aromatherapy uses fruit and flower essential oils to inspire the right kind of mood. mmm... lavender and chamomile. aaah. and when they're relaxed, i'm relaxed. choose the mood that's right for your home. air wick.

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