e o tarimyin for 65ar65 in oxon hill. alexander, but 65. in west virginia, 46. mid to upper 70's at lunchtime. low mid 80's for the afternoon. let's check in the commute. >> we are looking live on 270 as you make your way past old georgetown road. we saw things prett quiet all the way through the stretch of montgomery county. same deal for the cameras along 95 in virginia, good as your mckelway up from fredericksburg. a bit of volume building up from lorton heading up to newington all the way up to the 14th street bridge. >> thank you. the holiday weekend is upon us. it means one last chance to hit

the roads. >> some metro station closures will not make it any better. courtney robinson is live with what to expect. >> good morning. reagan's metro stop is one of three that will shut down tonight starting at 9:30 only to reopen at 5:00 a.m. on tuesday. prepare yourself for delays. it might be an inconvenience for you, but for metro, it is sitting time and money. they will get to work closing three stations' this holiday weekend -- pentagon city, crystal city, and reagan national airport. this will save $1 million in late night maintenance costs. still, getting to work will not be easy. >> it is going to be hard to get to home. >> she uses metro to commute

from work. they will need to add an extra 45 minutes to their commute. all stations on the blue and yellow lines will close friday night and will reopen tuesday morning. metro says they typically have fewer riders during the holiday weekend. we will see 14% fewer washingtonians traveling out of town this holiday weekend compared to last. at the three major airports, expect a 21% drop in passengers. they also say that we can expect this to be the third busiest labor day that we have seen in a decade. >> thank you. alexandria police are investigating a suspicious death. police found a man with wounds to the upper body lying in the parking lot of south riding last

night. he was taken to hospital where he later died. the hill staffer struck by metrobus while jogging has been identified as 30-year-old amanda mahnke. she was a communications director. she entered a crosswalk when the bus struck her. she was taken to hospital in critical condition and she remains at the hospital. last night, the board of trustees at montgomery college said brian johnson will be placed on administrative leave. his contract will not be renewed. johnson was accused of mismanagement and overspending. the former provost will be taking over as interim president. present obama's planned

speech to predict president obama's planned speech to students -- conservatives accuse the president of trying to promote his political agenda. the white house is sending out strong hint is willing to scrap a public insurance option to move the plan forward. there was a town hall last night hosted by mark warner. the mood turned confrontational several times. some were upset with the federal government and the president. >> we did not support that type of government. >> i do not believe the president that we have is a patriot. >> you have a right to say whatever you want. but i categorically disagree with you. i think president obama is a great patriot.

>> president obama will address health care reform next wednesday. arsine is being blamed for that massive wildfire that has killed two firefighters. the fire has burned more than 200 square miles and destroyed dozens of homes. the fire is now about 38% contained. this is one of the largest wildfires in southern california history. michael jackson has finally been laid to rest. there was a private ceremony at the forest lawn memorial park. several celebrities including elizabeth taylor and macaulay culkin joined his family and friends. his body is in a mausoleum off- limits to the public. kids are the focus of swine flu prevention this fall. >> most infected kids will be

fine. but others could be vulnerable. john hendricks has some new guidelines that will go out today. >> the start of the school year has brought the first swine flu cases of the season. >> some specimens were sent to the state lab. >> a new study says kids with existing health problems faced the highest risks. they looked at the first 36 children who died from of the virus. if your child has health problems like asthma or diabetes and develops symptoms, do not wait to see a doctor. >> kids with the underlying conditions need to be treated properly if the develop fever and be at the front of the line for vaccination when it becomes available. >> the warning is especially important at a elementary school

where rate kindergartner died. >> one of the kids in his class diskettes and home with a high fever. there are eight kids in his class that were not in class today. >> parents and students are wondering where to draw the line. >> i would do if the vaccination if it comes out. >> no one really wants to get sick, especially at the beginning of the semester. there are other weekends to have parties. >> for most people, health officials recommend treating a swine flu like any other -- wash your hands often. if you are sick, stay home. we should learn more this morning about what the district is doing to prepare for swine flu. mayor fenty will announce his plans during a news conference later run this morning.

62 degrees in rosslyn. >> did the mayor snub two civil rights leaders? >> did you cancel the meetings? >> ill little later, a closer look at the scheduling controversy. >> live in the weather center, we're looking at another gorgeous day. we will show you the forecast coming up in just a minute. >> the son just

hello.

i'm mike. >> and diane joke. >> and we are with the ocean city beach patrol. >> this is our idea of rush hour. come on down. good morning, washington. a gorgeous weekend at the beach for usbeach forjimena -- jimena has left a lot of damage. one man has been killed and others have been stranded. there is warnings of more flash flooding to come. 6:11. >> we will head outside. we have not had many hurricanes, nothing really serious. >> on our side of the country, we have had erika that has lost steam. it will bring a lot of rain. it is just a depression.

it is not expected to intensi. morning. 61 in prince frederick. 63 in woodbridge. los mid 80's with lots of sunshine. tomorrow, low 80's and loss of sunshine. partly sunny skies. -- lots of sunshine. we keep the low humidity. it is a pretty good deal weather-wise. let's check in on the traffic. >> everything is moving well so far on the roadways. this is 66 across from you as you head onto the constitution stretch into the district. moving pretty well for the most part. there is a problem in queen anne's country, just east of 404 where they have cleaned up a couple of trucks. there was some debris including

some asparagus. it is east of 404. >> thank you. 6:12, up 62 degrees. >> how many more have joined the ranks of the jobless? we will have a preview of the august unemployment report. >>he white house is in the hot seat over a back-to-schoolk-to-l

>> you are watching abc 7's "good morning washington," with doug mckelway, alison starling, meteorologist brian van de graaff, weather, and lisa baden, traffic. this is "good morning washington," on your side. in our top stories, plant ahead if you're going to be writing metro this morning. the reagan national airport,

crystal city, and the pentagon city stations will all be closed because of a maintenance project. shuttle buses will be available. the white house will release a copy of president obama's speech to school children a day early, on monday, to ease controversy. some parents are climbing to keep their parents' home on that day. >> investigators have launched a homicide investigation into the wildfire. they say it was intentionally set. it led to the death of two firefighters. adrian fenty is not saying much about some meetings that he has cancelled. >> he canceled meetings with maya angelou and dorothy height. the wanted to speak about efforts to run the tennis

center. abc 7 asked fenty about the matter. >> i do not know the details of any scheduling matters. >> you did not know you had meetings scheduled with them. >> i do not think you even know that. >> dorothy height said they were scheduled to meet with the mayor in august. she said the meetings were cancelled and said she was disappointed. 6:00 sexting. your traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. >> let's check the roads. you talk about asparagus on our roads. >> what happened was a bad crash -- not a terrible crash. 50 east of 404 was shut down and is still shut down while the cleanup some asparagus. right now, pretty good as we take a tour of 270 as you head

through montgomery county on their way to the beltway. the beltway is moving pretty well. this is north on 395. things should be moving well towards the springfield interchange through landmark and up to the 14th street bridge. i wanted to start by showingte. i is a tropical onprsies. itsiit is bringing some rain to puerto ricond a or atoto cuba. it will slowly move over the next couple of days. itl wilay well down t our south and east. close toe homst ae, mor system offshore east is finally moving northwarwe will contueue to seey nice trend th rnafn. oo hhe nuaoke lothert mb s. awet e numbths. otav he aco o oof cl csps

the west, especially in the shenandoah valley. 50 in martinsburg. 45 in petersburg. 69 in southern maryland. the clouds are moving out of fear. of a few of those clouds will move out and we will look for loss of sunshine. this feature to our north is the feature for the coming days. it will move off the coast and will allow some of energy and maybe a shot of moisture. we do need some rain around here. a bit warmer, low pay deposits. the breeze keeps the humidity down. -- a bit warmer, low humidity. monday, partly sunny. a nice-looking stretch. a shot for some showers later next week. low to mid mid 80's of her afternoon highs at the beach.

good at the beach for saturday and sunday and on monday. >> thank you. the august unemployment report is due out in just a few hours. by most accounts, it is heading up. >> jeremy hubbard has the numbers in the months go. >> we begin with the most important economic report, the government will release the august jobs report this morning. experts are reporting companies slashed to one 25,000 jobs last month. the unemployment rate likely moved up to 9.5%. many americans are in danger of losing their uneloyment benefits. they will stop getting through weekly checks unless congress or the states authorize another extension. the number of americans on food

stamps rose in june for the eighth straight month. 35 million americans received this food stamps. the average household received nearly $300 in assistance. back-to-school shopping was not enough to snap retailers out of their sales slump. retailers saw sales down. overall, stores did better than expected. some analysts see that as a sign that the holiday season when not be as bad as last year. aaa has forecasted this will be the busst travel holiday of the year, surpassing july 4. the increase is surprising considering how late the holiday falls. it is an indication that people are feeling better about the economy. coming up on "good morning america," store brands vs name brands. that is coming up this mning.

and that is your "money scope" report. i'm jeremy hubbard. >> thank you. 6:20. >> still to come, the redskins cannot seem to catch a break. we will look back at the game last night. >> later today, oprah is putting up something special. her favorite recipes. that is at 4:00. >> we appreciate you waking up with us on this friday morning. you're watching "good morning washington."

the redskins' sputtered through their final preseason tuneup inacksonville. it is hard to judge anything. called brennan and chase daniel played fairly even to see who would get the third string job. brennan went out with an injury. the redskins ended the preseason with a 1-3 record. the redskins lost last by. >> i hope it is not a sign of things to come. michael jackson was laid to rest last night. >> scores of friends and frieand celebrities and relativs were there. >> it was described as a small, private service filled with

familiar faces -- elizabeth taylor, macaulay culkin. the time was spent in small talk, renewing acquaintances. the family arrived in a motorcade driving past barricaded streets. casket was brought out. reporters were not allowed inside, neither were his fans. there were not huge fans here. some cannot stay away. >> the news has been so huge. the impact for the people in tupac is really big. >> michael jackson was the greatest entertainer of all time. >> his interment comes a day after his death certificate was amended. the cause of death is acute propofol in justin. it was a homicide by means of

lethal injection by another. criminal charges are being fired and the reasons it is taken nearly two months to be buried. alex stone, abc news. >> michael was laid to rest. a lot of people will not be resting easy with this pending trial. >> it is in a private area. the public cannot pay their respects. another half-hour still ahead. >> a conservative columnist calls from -- calls for an exit for another war. >> it is back-to-school in northern virginia next week. some parents could be boycotting the first day. >> live in the weather center, a coastal storm is pulling away. what about th about

>> live and in hd, this is "good morning washington," on your side. good morning, washington. 6:30. the start for the long weekend. i am greta kreuz. >> and i am doug mckelway. your traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. we have arrived at the labor day

weekend. together.ings are hngoldi it will bethiow w l dihumi with low humidity. >> there are a few clouds at frederick. mid 50's is kind of an hour average. we are looking for a hike in the low 80's. sunshine and pleasant for your saturday. partly summit on monday. a good-looking, long holiday weekend. we will talk about the beach is coming up in a few moments. fo>> nothing terribly ccaomplitd as you make your waymp around town. there is a crh . onte r5050 near 404. they are caningg up a tractor- r trle night. so degree was spilled into the roadway, some of that was asparagus. nothing to tell you about the 270 stretch.

some fly along the occoquan. good on 395 to the 14th street bridge. >> thank you. tuesday is the first day of school for most northern virginia students. >> some controversy is growing about a presidential lesson plan. we have more on the back-to- school backlash. >> president obama plans to broadcast his back-to-school speech live here at wakefield high school. the white house said this is not a policy speech. some conservatives and parents disagree. they say it is nothing more than an attempt for the president to push his liberal agenda of the population. a backlash over president obama's back-to-school speech is stretching across the country. phones are ringing off the hook. some cite it is a tool to brainwash students.

>> we have probably had around 50 call today. >> others say, what is the big deal? >> i would love for them to be in school and have that be a member in their lives. >> the speech is intended to notify -- an attempt to motivate students, says the white house. the students should write letters about what they can do to help the students has since been taken out. >> we changed that. the lesson plan speaks to students setting goals. >> some schools are in a frenzy. loudoun county is opting out of showing that the speech live. the district, prince william, and mccormick countess, the decision will be left up to principles and teachers -- and montgomery counties. this is not the first time a

president has given a speech to the nation's students. george h. w. bush giving national televised speech about the dangers of drug abuse. pamela brown, abc 7 news. >> thank you. a nato airstrike targeting the taliban has killed 90 people, most of them civilians. fuel tankers were hijacked. dozens were killed when they exploded. robert gates said now is not the time to get out of that country. more american troops may be going in. big changes in the u.s. embassy in afghanistan. officials have banned alcohol. personnel has been assigned to watch over the guards. conservative columnist george will is calling on the

administration to speed up the timetable to pull troops out of iraq. he said the combat units serving as advisors are irrelevant to the rising chaos in the country. north korea is in the final stages of enriching uranium. they have reportedly sent a letter to the nine nations about the plan. they have tightened sanctions for conducting an atomic tests. talks to get them to abandon the program broke down earlier this year. new information about the man who killed his wife and her sister on wednesday. theodore blandford ignored an order that was filed by his estranged wife. sheena blandford was killed along with your sis it turns out that the protective

order was not enough. >> i am beyond disappointed, to say the least. she really felt and she made comments to friends that he would be back. >> after a few women were killed, but theodore blandford led police on a high-speed chase where he was eventually killed. a murder suspect was able to walk out of washington hospital center because detectives did not have enough evidence to charge him. witnesses were reluctant to talk. winston dillon is accused of killing this 63-year-old on sunday in silver spring. he and another, both wanted for first degree murder. a home for senior citizens in month permit county is now shut down. it is on gainsborough road in potomac. a patient had taped and a rag

tied over her mouth and another man woman was allegedly tied to a wheelchair. police have said the patience are now safe as the investigation continues. today is the first of five furlough days for many maryland state workers. chief judge robert bell says he has decided to keep the court opened because the furloughs were not announced until last week. a controversial thesis is still dominating the lines in the virginia race for governor. democrat creigh deeds is admitting that some of his own police have changed over the past decades, although he did not identify which ones. bob mcdonnell is looking to rebuild their relationship with women voters. healled working women

detrimental to families. he is spending to $1,000 on any tv ad with his wife and daughter. time for a check of some business headlines. >> linda bell is live in new york. >> states are closing offices and furloughing workers in order to save cash. state offices in california, maryland, and virginia are closed for the day today. stranded motorists in maryland may wait longer if they are stranded on the highway. stock index futures are trading higher. economists say employers probably cut the small sum up the jobs since last august. i am not sure what your plans are for the labor day holiday, but you may choose to stay at home.

more people make up for staycations. aaa is predicting weekend travel will tumble 13% from last year. many children have already returned to school. that is your business news. live at bloomberg headquarters in new york, i am linda bell. have a great weekend. >> you, too, linda. 6:38. >> welcoming some of our newest and youngest american citizens. >> it means i am an american. >> do you feel different? >> i feel the same. i am happy. >> we will take you out to a unit citizenship ceremony for children. >> we will take you out to the streets of rosslyn and we will look ahead to the next couple of days. >> we have another check of

welcome back. 6:41. it touched warmer.the hour of--t we're looking for ok atok at th.

we ransifrge omge the 50's to te mid 60's in the warmer spots. we're shooting for both mid 80's and a fair amount of sunshine. low to mid 80's on saturday. we keep it going into labor day. no chance of rain until the middle of next week. it looks spectacular whether you're staying at he or heading to the beach. >> pretty later than normal the we expected. things are looking well. we're looking west across the bay bridge. he is looking at the crashed on the eastern part of the bay. the crashed we have been tellin about is at 5404. they're cleaning up the wreck of a tractor-trailer. we will let you know when everything is clean up and out of the way.

>> thank you. dozens of new american citizens were sworn in. >> all the new citizens are children. 58 children took a special oath. the children ranged in age from one to there were adopted or their parents are naturalized citizens. >> it means now i am an american. quest did you feel different? >> i feel the same. i am happy. >> for her to be able to come here, it is a great privilege. >> there have been citizenship ceremonies held elsewhere. this was the first ever held at george washington's home. >> that is a perfect place to ne have it done. >> so patriotic. coming up next, authorities identified the jogger struck by a bus in downtown d.c.

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>> you are watching abc 7's "good morning washington," with doug mckelway, alison starling, meteorologist brian van de graaff, weather, and lisa baden, traffic. this is "good morning washington," on your side. 6:46. point for attack the top stories. >> controversy for president obama's back-to-school speech. parents and teachers will get in look at the transcript to decide for themselves. it will be released on monday.

conservatives are accusing the president of using the speech to further his agenda. >> about 40 children have died since the swine flu virus was first identified in april. >> investigators say the huge wildfire in los angeles was intentionally set. it killed two firefighters. more than 200 square miles have been burned. the fire is about 40% contain. >> michael jackson is now in his final resting place. there was a final service last night. >> the capitol hill staffer struck quiet metrobus is in critical condition. amanda mahnke was struck as she entered a cross or in northwest. she works as a communications

director. the unofficial end of summer is on us. >> metro maintenance could make your trip more difficult. courtney robinson has the latest on that. >> good morning. this all along with pentagon and crystal city's metro stops will close starting tonight at 9:30 only to reopen on tuesday at 5:00 a.m. you need to plan ahead, prepare for any delays. metro will be providing free shuttle service to get around these closures. they are saying you need to add at least 45 minutes to your commute for passengers here at the airport. that could mean some headaches. metro said they have to do with this weekend. it will save about million dollars and about 150 days where they did not have to do a single

track maintenance. metro also says they have fewer riders during the labor day holiday weekend. aaa seems to back that up. about 40% fewer washingtonians will travel this labor day weekend compared to last year. the three airports will see about a 0.1% drop in passengers. the do predict this weekend will be the third busiest labor day weekend we have seen in a decade. courtney robinson, abc 7 news. >> ok, we're braci ourselves. 6:49. your traffic and weather together every 10 minutes. >> one thing you do not have to worry about is the weather. >> nothing happening with erika. it is a tropical depression. it will stay in the caribbean. >> i was going to say the day

off. >> it is a work around. this is a live shot from weatherbug network. we do have some we will get back into lots of sunshine as the day goes on. across the bridge, a lo ot f o are heading to work . it is a holiday weekend. there is the storm system off the coast. it is lifting up towards new england. it will pull those clouds with its. the high pressure to bring some good weather. we had a few extra clouds. we will be back in the sunshine with low humidity. 61 in fairfax. 65 in frederi. fredericksburg, up 59. a few clouds are around this morning. they are lifting now. behind it, clear skies. lots of sunshine today.

let's check in with joe on the traffic. >> we are hearing about a crash of the inner loop to get on to georgia avenue. this camera puts it just passed the point. it just occurred. stay to the left to getet around it. reth aey aill working the problem of the eastern shore on route 50 east of 404. keep it right here. there is more to come as we s we

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might judge takes another's shot and employer with his new film "extract " >> arch campbell has a preview. >> good morning. i am arch campbell with your weekend movie guide. the guy who dreamed upper " office space"returns with a wacky premise for "extract." jason bateman runs a factory

that hasn't juggling a workplace injury, a coal fishwife, and a scheme involving a gigalo. three stars, r-rating. genuine fun. >> hello. could to see you. >> sandra bullock gets a crush in two" associates stocks of the cameramen. this movie makes her creepy. one star. these are the best bets. have a nice weekend, everybody. i am arch campbell, abc 7 news entertainment. it sounds like we do not need to go to the theater. it will be so nice outside. how are the roads shaping up? >> there has been a crash on the beltway of the way to get to georgia avenue. this is the slow down on the

left side of the road. you could get by it. that is about the only problem close in this morning. >> no real issues this morning. just a few clouds. temperatures are a couple of degrees warmer than they have been. very comfortable with low humidity. we will keep it going on saturday and sunday and into monday. very comfortable cditions. a real good chance for moisture, maybe in the middle of next week. temperatures at the beaches at as well in the low to mid 80's. we had denny andbill recently. >> ok, but thank you so much. keep it safe. thank you so much for joining us. >> have a great weekend. >> bye-bye. (announcer) create a gourmet meal on a weeknight?

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