a local neighborhood on edge this morning. the search for a suspect who gunned down a man on a bicycle. and holding out hope. this morning we are waiting for work. thanks for joining us for "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. >> and i'm jim handly in for joe krebs. let's get news on the traffic and weather. we were up at 60, tom. now we're back at 59. quite a chill in the area compared to the last couple of mornings. you need a sweater or light jacket as you head off to work and school on the 18th of october. we're in the low 50s in prince george's county, montgomery, and fairfax. much of frederick county maryland in the 40s as well as around the blue ridge and

shenandoah valley and the mountains. much of southern maryland, northern neck and eastern shore, 50s there. we have a stalled front. along this front, we'll have clouds from time to time. sunrise at 7:20. by noontime, upper 60s. by early to midafternoon for a brief time, it may touch 70 degrees. we'll have the clouds closing in and thickening up tonight. a look at your evening planner. that will be at 6:11. danella, good morning. how's traffic. >> right now chopper 4 is live over the accident that has shut down your ramp to edsall road from 395 north. also looking here, it looks as though your right lane is taken away as well as you make your commute past edsall road. i can tell you, checking the lanes in that area, i'm starting to see significant delays south of edsall as you make your way from the beltway to head towards the edsall ramp. on i-95 north, your delays start around fairfax county parkway.

nothing but headlights, bumper to bumper as they make their way towards 395. traveling the beltway in montgomery county, also starting to see delays on the outer loop as you pass colesville road. as far as accidents go, inner loop and outer loop, both are clear. now back to you both. >> danella, thanks so much. 6:01 now. this morning police are searching for the gunman who shot and killed a bicyclist in northwest washington along lincoln road around 8:00 last night. the victim was taken to the hospital, where he died a short time later. police are not releasing the victim's name at this time. a second shooting in the district, this one in northeast washington. it happened at a gas station along martin luther king avenue. a man was shot. no word on his condition. so far no arrests have been made. in just a few hours, montgomery county police will begin a third day of searching for 11-year-old william mcquain.

the boy has been missing for two weeks now. his mother, jane mcquain, was found dead inside their home last wednesday. her husband curtis lopez was arrested in charlotte, north carolina. he could be extradited as early as today. today a special election to replace councilwoman leslie johnson. johnson resigned this summer after pleading guilty to evidence tampering in a sweeping corruption scandal in which her husband, former county executive jack johnson, pled guilty to bribery. republican dade gardner and democrat davis are running for the seat. polls close at 8:00 tonight. the defense team for another prince george's county law maker accused of taking bribes will offer a second round of character witnesses today. yesterday attorneys for state senator ulysses curry called on a witness who described the law maker as a nice and wonderful person but someone known not to

be all that smart. the defense is trying to portray curry as someone who could not concoct a bribery scheme. curry is accused of receiving $245,000 in payments from the shoppers grocery chain in exchange for legislative favors. new overnight, an israeli soldier held hostage for more than five years is free. sergeant gilad shalit appeared to be in good health as he was released into egypt as part of a prison swap deal between israel and the palestinians. he was then flown to an israeli military base to be reunited with his family. more than 400 palestinian prisoners were set free in gaza and the west bank as part of this deal. iranian president mahmoud ahmadinejad denied allegations that iranian agents were involved in an attempt to assassinate the saudi ambassador here in washington. he said the united states

concocted this story to deflect from internal economic problems here. he also said the united states was part of a terror plot to strengthen economic sanctions against the iran republic. he will not investigate the allegations. the man accused of being a syrian spy said his travel to that country was part of a fact finding mission led by a u.s. congressman. the congressman who led the delegation, ohio democrat dennis kucinich, said he doesn't know mohammed sued. sued is accused of spying on americans who oppose president bashar assad's regime. today it may look like spider-man is clinging to the walls of the national cathedral. the same crew that spent a week dangling from the washington monument, now supposed to head down the cathedral to see how much damage the august quake caused. megan mcgrath joins us live this morning. >> reporter: good morning. no doubt a lot of people are

going to stop and take a look at they do their work. as you say, it was the same team involved in the inspection of the washington monument, and now they're going to do basically the same thing but here at the national cathedral. take a look at the video shot yesterday. they actually got under way yesterday afternoon. they're going to be back here this morning, and they're going to be dangling from the top of the building by ropes, rappelling down the side of the national cathedral looking for cracks, looking for any damage as a result of that earthquake. they have computers with them, all kinds of reporting devices, cameras, and they have special hammers so they can tap on the side of the building, tap on the stones, check for cracks, check for weak spots. if they see any debris that is loose or in danger of falling, they'll take it off at that time to make sure there's no danger on the ground below. how long this will take, we're not quite sure. they've got a lot of ground to cover. they literally will look stone by stone while making their assessment. and they'll come up with a final action plan to determine what needs to be done at the

cathedral. we heard from stone masons this is a huge job. there was a lot of damage, especially to the pinnacles on the central tower. and a lot of work to be done. very painstaking work. these are handmade pieces, the ornaments and the like. huge pieces of stone. some of the chunks they've removed already, two tons. a big job. could take ten years, we're told, to actually complete all the repairs. of course, the first step is to see exactly what needs to be done. that's what they're doing here. we expect to see these folks dangling from the ropes this morning. back to you. >> another big show. megan mcgrath live in northwest washington. megan, thank you. >> you don't want to be up there swinging when those bells go off. that's a headache. >> that would be bad. time 6:07. coming up on this tuesday, how coming up on this tuesday, how thieves

just got her flu shot, like a champ -- mom! taking on the master of disaster, the flu! it's the fight of the season! your flu shot's next, champ. let's do this. flu shots. every day. no appointment needed. most insurance accepted. get a $5 cvs gift card if you're not covered.

find us at minuteclinic.com. i'm jack, and i took the flu down.

welcome back at 6:10. take a look at this video. a dust storm in lubbock, texas. this moved through last night.

winds over 70 miles an hour pushed the dust through the city, reducing visibility to almost zero. if the dust wasn't bad enough to deal with, the high winds knocked down street signs and power lines. west texas is in the middle of a major drought. the national weather service says that 2011 could be the driest year on record. >> almost looks like a special effect. tom kierein, what do you make that have? >> this part of texas as well as central and southern texas are in the worst drought in texas history. this is sort of a reminder of the dust bowl days back in the 1930s when there were millions and millions of tons of top soil taken away by those winds there. of course, lubbock is sort of in a very wide open prairie region where those winds are always generally rather gusty anyway, let alone things being so dry. unfortunately, that's going to continue. here we've been wet. does look like we could get more rain by tomorrow morning.

a cool morning in the low to mid-50s in most locations. 57 at reagan national. a lot of cloudiness around this morning. the clouds courtesy of a stalled front over our region. there may be a few sprinkles over the northern shenandoah valley. here's your day planner. a lot of cloudiness around this morning. sunshine should begin from time to time as we get through the latter part of the morning and early afternoon. highs today reaching upper 60s to near 70. here's your evening planner. sunset 6:26. cloudy this evening. low 60s by midnight. by this time tomorrow morning, rain moving in. forecast for the rest of the week and the weekend at 6:21. danella, good morning. how's traffic? chopper 4 over an area thatof an accident that's taken away your lanes at 395 north at edsall road. still seeing a lot of delays as you make your way on 395 south of edsall is jammed bumper to bumper. if you're taking 95 north, right

now starting to see some crowding around lorton and continues as you make your way towards 395. now back to you both. >> thanks, danella. it is now 6:12. 59 degrees. ahead, now free from an iranian

global movement. breaking news. all escalators at the wheaton metro station are out. if you use the station, we don't have to tell you, that makes for a long walk. tracee wilkins is live there now with the latest. tracee, not good news for commuters this morning. >> reporter: no, it's not good news. it's not every day we report that escalators are down, but here at wheaton station it's news because these are the longest single span escalators in the western hemisphere. it's going to be a difficult walk for some folks this morning. the good news is the elevator is

working, but there's only one. the trip down wheaton metro's escalators takes 2:45. that's if you're just riding down. it can be a little bit shorter if you decide to walk a little and ride a little. it is the second deepest station in the metro system, second only to forest glen, which has an elevator, and that's the only way that you can exit because of how deep that station is. so obviously, not having escalators working here is a problem at wheaton metro. we're told that there is a crew on the way to repair the escalators. normally when this happens at wheaton, they try to at least have one up escalator working so that people aren't having to climb the stairs. again, we do know that they do have the elevator working, and that's good news. they're also working to see if they can get some shuttles out here to maybe help some folks get around all of this and move around this station. i'm tracee wilkins live this morning. back to you all in the studio. >> tracee, thanks for that update. check out this video. at least 20 small children in serbia are recovering after a

security demonstration went wrong. a helicopter trying to land in a field blew billboards into spectators in stands. eight children ended up in the hospital. one had a concussion, another a broken collar bone. doctors say no one is seriously hurt. a firefighter is being hailed a hero this morning for catching a 6-year-old boy who jumped from a burning building. take a look. nearly a dozen people were injured. at least 15 people had to be rescued after an explosion and fire at this apartment building in roxbury, massachusetts. one of the fire victims, 6-year-old xavier lamb, jumped from a third floor window to safety. the boy described the terrifying moments before he jumps out of the building. >> i was holding on the window. and after that, i couldn't hold it. so i dropped off.

and then i fell. then mr. policeman catching me. >> the fire left 75 people homeless. police say a resident is responsible for that blaze. that person is behind bars facing arson charges this morning. republican presidential hopefuls will take the stage tonight for the eighth debate of the election season. this time they will be in sin city, las vegas, nevada, and the economy will likely be a hot topic with nevada's unemployment and foreclosure rates the highest in the nation. the field of candidates is smaller with jon huntsman boycotting the debate because nevada moved up their caucus date. the iowa caucuses moved up to january 3rd. florida started a chain reaction of shifting presidential primary dates when it moved up its primary to january 31st. all of the maneuvering may not be over. new hampshire is now considering moving its primary date to as early as december 6. president obama is getting ready for the second day of his bus tour across north carolina and virginia.

jamestown, north carolina, and emporia, virginia, are planned stops for today. the president is pushing his jobs bill. the president is suggesting to break it up into smaller pieces. republicans aretacking the president's trip, saying he's campaigning on the taxpayer's dime. >> on a canadian bus touting american jobs. is that appropriate on the taxpayers dime since it is clearly campaigning. >> we're not playing politics. we're not focused on the election 13 months from now. we're focused on what could help the economy right now. >> the senate could vote on the first piece of the president's bill early this week. it could provide money to save nearly 300,000 state and government employees who are set to be laid off. governor bob mcdonnell is setting politics aside. he'll join the president tomorrow at a base in hampton. the president is expected to announce a plan to put veterans

to work. the president's bus tour through virginia and north carolina is not going according to plan. a truck carrying equipment for one of the president's events was stolen out of a hotel parking lot just north of richmond. angie goff is in the newsroom with more on what happened. this was some pretty important equipment, angie. >> it was. it's not every day we hear a story like this. definitely has people scratching their heads. president obama's podium, teleprompter, and audio equipment stolen just days before he's to visit chesterfield, virginia. inside that truck, presidential seals, which only the president stands behind, several podiums, a teleprompter, and $200,000 worb worth of sound equipment. the truck was reportedly parked at the virginia center commons courtyard marriott, just days before tomorrow's visit. sources say the truck was recovered yesterday near the airport. an defense informations agency spokesperson released a

statement saying no classified for sensitive information was in the vehicle. we take incidents such as this very seriously, and a formal investigation is continuing. at this time, officials won't say if the thieves took anything at all. also in question, did the crooks intentionally target the president's truck? the next step, see if the surveillance cameras catch the president in action. >> wonder if we should put an alarm on our teleprompter. pretty important this time of day. >> wouldn't want that to happen. today is a big day in the nba labor talks. nba players and owners will get help from a mediator today to end a stalemate. george cohen, who also worked with the nfl, will oversee negotiations in new york city today. if no agreement is reached today, more games could soon be cancelled. tough news for basketball fans. >> it is tough. let's hope they work it out. >> exactly. not good. >> time now is 6:21. i'm looking at that clock thinking p.m.

i know it's a.m. it feels like a.m. out there. it's still cool. >> you poor thing. it's 59 degrees out there. little chilly out there. dark, dark, dark. some clouds out there. meteorologist tom kierein is here with our forecast. good morning, tom. >> you need a light jacket or sweater. it's a chill in the area. right now mid-50s in washington and near the chesapeake bay. away from the waters, only near 50. closer to washington, montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's county, southern parts of montgomery in the low 50s. now a lot of cloudiness around. a stalled front over our region now. maybe producing a few sprinkles in the northern blue ridge and through perhaps a part of clark county into page county. 7:20 is our sunrise. we'll have our temperatures in the low 60s by midmorning. a little sun may break out from time to time this morning and into the afternoon with highs near 70. then cloudy tonight. by this time tomorrow morning, some rain likely and passing showers likely tomorrow, maybe afternoon thunder showers.

much cooler weather as we dry out thursday into the weekend. chilly on friday, saturday, sunday, and monday. sunny each day. danella, how's traffic? i got some good news. the wheaton escalator service has been restored. i know that's a big sigh of relief for you. i do see a problem on the orange line. right now there's a malfunction at the west falls church, and we're seeing delays all the way to new carrollton. and chopper 4 is still live over edsall road. still have your edsall road ramp shut down. delays start south of edsall on 395 north, and they continue. eun and jim, back to you. >> thanks, danella. >> worked on that quickly. >> just in time. >> 6:23 now. 59 degrees. coming up, the touching personal

she drives us here. i swear to you. 9 years old. dad's drimnking. she drove all the way here. >> you heard it right. that michigan father now faces child abuse charges for letting his 9-year-old drive because he

was drunk. a surveillance camera showed her pulling up to a gas station here in detroit. the father bragged about his designated driver to the store clerk. there she is hopping out. a customer called police and got an officer to stop them. we're get ag look at this morning at the moving letter the duchess of cambridge wrote to a cancer patient. the royal couple was attending the grand opening of the children's wing at the royal marsden children's hospital. nate is battling leukemia. the princess wrote him a letter saying she was touched by his strength and character. the signed letter is said to be kate's first personal act of charity. she is sifting through hundreds of offers to decide which charity to take on. it's a lot of pressure. the fact that everyone wants her, and she's trying to carry on the legacy of charity and

good deeds for the royal family, it's nice to see she's doing something so touching. >> 6:27 is our time this morning.

at th"well, we could sleep we hin the same bed,ime: but it just doesn't work." she would like a firmer mattress than i would. yeah, nine out of ten couples disagree on the firmness they want in a mattress. i sleep on the couch. with our bed, the sleep number setting represents the firmness that you like on your half of the mattress. don't mess with my side because i'm comfortable. i can adjust mine to my liking and she can do the same. go ahead and switch sides so you can feel what the other side feels like. you were on his side. how does that feel? it's hard. i like my side better, too. i like my side better. this is too soft. is is too hard. why don't we switch back to where you were. i am so glad to be back. oh, yeah. you can have comfort and you can be in the same bed.

there's no debate or no squabble because you can have it your and i'll have it mine. so we save a lot of marriages. at our sleep better together sale, discover the bed whose unique dual air technology provides total comfort for both of you. and save $400 to $800 on our newest, most innovative bed sets. only at the sleep number store, where queen mattresses start at just $699.

the lawyer for gary giordano in aruba saying it's impossible he had anything to do with the disappearance of robyn gardner. and prisoner swap this morning. an israeli soldier in custody for five years is home now. >> welcome to "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. >> and i'm jim handly. joe krebs has the day off. should be pretty nice. autumn morning under way. a few breaks in the clouds. you see the first light of day on the live picture from our city camera.

it's quite chilly, a chill in the air on this tuesday morning. mid-50s in washington and on the bay. much of northern maryland only near 50. prince george's county down near 50 degrees now. a few locations in maryland are down into the 40s. most of the shenandoah valley, blue ridge region into west virginia, only mid to upper 40s now. a lot of this cloud cover from a stalled front over this region this morning. may be producing a few sprinkles around the central blue ridge and northern shenandoah valley. otherwise, we'll have clouds in and out. sunrise at 7:20. temperatures at 9:00 ought to be in the low 60s. noontime upper 60s. may briefly touch 70 by afternoon with sunshine in and out. big changes on the way beginning tonight. a look at your evening planner in ten minutes. good morning, danella. how's traffic? >> good morning. starting with chopper 4, still over 395 north where your exit ramp to edsall road is shut down. seeing delays on 395 north because, as you make your way towards the ramp, your right

lane is taken away, and you have to stick to the left. your delays actually start south of edsall. you are jammed as you make your way towards 395. if you're traveling on 5i95 rig now, i can show you what fairfax county looks like, you can see the lanes are packed. delays will start out of dale city as you make your commute on 395. checking the beltway for you right now, outer loop is jammed. as we head over to 270, starting to see some delays at shady grove. you're slow as you head south towards the spur. now back to you both. >> danella, thank you. 6:33 now. later this morning, montgomery county police plan to release more information in their search for 11-year-old william mcquain. the germantown boy may have been missing more than two weeks. investigators found his mother, jane mcquain, beaten and stabbed to death inside her home last week. her husband, curtis lopez, was charged with her murder in charlotte, north carolina.

he could be extradited back to montgomery county as early as today. an alert for parents in fairfax county. they're warning of a possible predator lurking near oakton high school. two females were approached by an unidentified man on blake lane. the man left without incident, but it follows a case early last week where police say a man tried to abduct a 16-year-old girl just a block away. district police this morning are looking for a man who fondled a georgetown university student in broad daylight. police tell us the student was walking on the 3500 block of "s" street in northwest around 2:00 yesterday afternoon. when a man approached her from behind and forcibly fondled her. he then ran off in the direction of 36th street. anyone who has any information about this suspect or may have seen the incident is urged to contact the georgetown department of public safety. the principal at d.c.'s woodrow wilson high school is recommending four students for expulsion for setting fires at

the school. according to "the washington post," two bathroom fires caused $150,000 in damage. news 4 received a tour of the school's $120 million renovations. the principal told the paper he wants to press charges in addition to expelling students responsible. and those who saw the arson did not report it, will also be punished. he also said surveillance cameras were moved for better observation, and security has been ordered to monitor the cameras at all times. new overnight, an israeli soldier is back home today as part of a massive prisoner swap between israel and the palestinians. a crowd mobbed the 25-year-old soldier when he arrived in egypt after being held hostage for more than five years. meanwhile, in gaza and the west bank, more than 400 palestinian prisoners returned to a hero's welcome. three americans once detained in iran have joined the

occupy wall street movement. shane bauer, josh fattal, and sarah shourd are protesting in oakland, california. the three were arrested after crossing the border from iraq to iran while hiking in 2009. iranian authorities accused them of being spies. the group says the wall street rallies has inspired them. similar demonstrations now stretch across europe and asia. author and civil rights activist cornell west will not face charges for protesting at the u.s. supreme court. prosecutors decided not to press charges against the princeton university professor and 18 others after their arrest on sunday. demonstrating on court grounds with signs is prohibited. west said he got no food during his night in jail and only a single cup of water. outside court yesterday, west blasted corporate greed, corporate media ownership, and what he called a racist criminal justice system. it's now 6:36. the "today" show is coming up next at 7:00. let's check in now with matt

lauer to see what they're working on for "today" this morning. matt, my heart almost stopped when you said where in the world is matt lauer again. >> are you the gullible top? >> i am, i have to say. >> i'm glad it worked. a tragedy waiting to happen. when indy car champ dan wheldon was killed in a fiery crash. this morning racing legend mario andretti speaks out. and then we'll talk to a detective who's just been hired by the parents of missing baby lisa irwin. is it a sign criminal charges could be very near? also ahead, why you just may be getting taken for a ride when you bring your car to the dealer for repairs. all that plus susan boyle speaks out about how her life has changed since she wowed the world on britain's got talent. so we've got that and much more ahead as we get started on a tuesday morning right here on "today," eun. back to you. >> looking forward to it. thanks, matt. >> all right. take care.

time now 6:37 on this tuesday. ahead, talk about a bird's eye view. the high flying repairs taking place today. >> plus the happy ending about a story about a lovable pig.

to do. good morning. time for weather and traffic on

this tuesday morning. i'm meteorologist tom kierein. a chilly morning this morning from berry farm to greenbelt, landover, reston, and bethesda. it's only around 50 degrees. mid-50s right in downtown washington and national airport and right near the bay. elsewhere, quite a chill in the air. only in the 40s shenandoah valley and much of west virginia and western maryland. we've got a stalled front giving us quite a bit of cloudiness around the region this morning. we'll have these clouds with us here from time to time throughout the rest of the day. there's the eastern horizon. it's partly to mostly cloudy now. the first light of day beginning to show up. sunrise at 7:20. will be in the upper 60s near 70 during the afternoon. a little sunshine in and out. here's your evening planner. a lot of clouds around. low 60s by midnight. rain by this time tomorrow morning. we'll look at that, the rest of the week, and the weekend in ten minutes. how's traffic, danella? a couple of accidents affecting your commute this morning. first let's start at powder mill

road at laurel bowie road. that intersection completely shut down due to an accident involving a motorcycle. let's head over to 295 south. an accident at laurel bowie roadblocking your left shoulder lane. and 395, the exit ramp still shut down, traveling 395 north, the exit ramp towards edsall is shut down, and we're seeing delays. also checking cameras on 95, found an accident there. actually, these are the delays at prince william parkway. but found an accident on 95 south at route 123 blocking your left lane as you're travel actually 95 north at the left lane on route 123. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. 6:42 now. 58 degrees. ahead an unusual defense for a local politician accused of

♪ ♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪

[ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

ed maryland man held in aruba in the disappearance of a maryland woman will stay in jail. today we're hearing from gary giordano's new lawyer for the first time. nbc's janet shamlian is live in aruba. janet, good morning. >> reporter: this represents a major change in defense strategy for gary giordano. chris is a well-known defense

attorney here on the island. he has been hired to take over the lead on this case. nbc news talked to him yesterday. he spoke to us about -- he really tried to shoot down the money as a motive theory here, saying the only reason gary giordano called on this insurance right after the alleged disappearance of robyn gardner is that he was advised to by his then attorney. that teern miattorney michael l saying a legal expense was going to be expensive, the search was going to be expensive, and did gary giordano have any insurance? that is what prompted the call to the insurance company that raised so much speculation in this case that gary giordano was after money. gary giordano was in court here yesterday. he was hoping to be set free. a motion filed by his attorney michael lopez. that was denied. he was taken back into lockup. next up is an important hearing next week, the 60-day point in this case, at which point

prosecutors will argue to hold giordano another 30 days to prepare for trial. the new lead attorney on this case, eun, is going to argue to set him free. back to you. >> gary giordano was a few days in aruba. within a window of approximately two hours, he would have had to kill her, take her to somewhere on the island, bury her or dump her in a cave. i've lived here all my life. there are caves apparently in st. nicholas, not so far away from the beach where the lady disappeared. i wouldn't know how to find them. >> reporter: so chris is making the case that gary giordano doesn't know the island. how is he going to take a body, put it into a cave that a resident of the island himself wouldn't even know how to find. he is now going to be taking the lead on this case.

again, he will be making the arguments at that very critical hearing next week. >> janet shamlian live in aruba this morning. janet, thanks so much. this morning police are looking for the gunman who shot and killed a bicyclist in northwest washington. the shooting happened on lincoln road around 8:00 last night. the victim was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead a short time later. police are not releasing the victim's name at this time. so far no arrests have been made. d.c. police are investigating a second shooting, this one in southeast washington. it happened at a gas station along martin luther king avenue. we're told a man was shot. there's no word on his condition. so far again no arrests have been made. eun? today prince george's county will hold a special election to replace former councilwoman leslie johnson. johnson resigned from the county council this summer after pleading guilty to evidence tampering in a sweeping corruption scandal in which her husband, former county

executive, jack johnson, pled guilty to bribery. derek leon d republic republican gary gardner are running for the seat. another prince george's county councilman accused of taking bribes will present his case today. yesterday the defense team called on a character witness who said he was not all that smart. the defense is trying to portray curry as someone not capable of conducting a bribery scheme. for the second time in a month, walmart announced it plans to build a new store in montgomery county. according to "the washington post," the store would be built in the pike center shopping plaza off rockville pike in twin brook parkway. the nation's largest retailer is also planning a store in aspen hill. it's part of an effort by walmart to expand into more urban areas, but the store,

which could open by late 2013, is drawing criticism as it will replace more than six shops that already exist'sh in the shoppin center and will likely bring more traffic to an already congested roadway. could we be paying more when we fill up in maryland? the governor is proposing a 15 cent increase on maryland's gas tax in an effort to conduct more spending on the infrastructure. governor martin o'malley told the general assembly increased revenue from a higher gas tax will help fund road repairs and create public jobs. maryland's gas tax ranks the highest in the nation at 23.5 cents. a 15% hike would put it in the top ten in the country. the "s" in iphone 4s may stand for spectacular. apple is reporting big sales numbers. cnbc's brian schactman has the numbers. just think some people thought

it would be a disappointment because it wasn't an iphone 5. >> the launch to the presentation wasn't good, but the sales are not. apple sold 4 million of the phones from friday to sunday, more than double what it sold when the iphone 4 launched last year. sales are being helped by the fact that more wireless carriers are offering the device, and it's also available in several countries. now the 4s is nearly gone at most retailers. if you order online, you'll have to wait anywhere from a week until the end of the month. i also want to tell you the u.s. government and big banks reportedly working on a plan to make mortgage refinancing available to borrowers underwater or owe more than their home is worth. typically, they can't refinance because they don't have enough equity in their homes. it would aonly apply to banks owned by bank of america, citibank, jp morgan chase, and allied financial. as we get more on that story, we'll bring it to you. >> brian, thanks so much.

have a great day. he was found wandering alone on a prince william county road, but after an appearance here on news 4, didn't take long for somebody to fall in love with wilbur, the pig. the 200-pound potbelly boar has a new home in fauquier county and a new name. it's norm. he was given up for adoption after his previous owner found him a bit too much to handle. norm is living high on the hog with his new family, who have ten acres of farmland, plenty of hay, and lots of loving. >> i saw norm, and you know, he's just very handsome. i thought, i think i need that pig. although my husband's out of the country right now. so what a nice surprise that is. >> okay. handsome's not what comes to mind when you think about norm. >> i think he's cute. >> the van normans changed the pig's name from wilbur because he reminded them of norm from cheers so he can belly up to the

bar. i think he does more eating than drinking. >> the husband's going to go, you did what now? a 200-pound potbelly pig. >> you changed his name? what? >> they have lots of land, though. >> it's pretty neat. >> we're happy for wilbur. are we happy about the forecast, tom? >> dress like wilbur this morning. it's really quite a chill in the air this morning. look at this sunrise. screensaver sunrise. a blueberry and apricot glow on the eastern horizon. reagan national, 57. a calm wind. little wispy fog over some of the rural fields. watch out for that this morning. temperatures are chilly. 40s shenandoah valley, out of the mountains. montgomery county, howard, frederick in maryland down in the 40s now. a stalled front over our region may be producing a few sprinkles around the northern blue ridge. otherwise, just some clouds around. as we go forward here today, clouds in and out. here's your future weather as we get into later tonight, though, and tomorrow.

that's when we'll have the clouds increasing. by this time tomorrow morning. this area of green, a zone of potential rain coming in from the east from a coastal low pressure system with us here from time to time. sunrise at 7:20. we'll have it in the 60s by 9:00. near 70 during the afternoon and partly sunny. clouding up tonight, low 60s by midnight. sunset at 6:26. rain likely from time to time tomorrow, maybe some afternoon thunder showers. then autumnal weather comes on in. it's going to be sunny and chilly thursday, friday, saturday, sunday, and monday. that's the way it looks right now. eun and jim. >> tom, thank you so much. we have breaking news right now. fairfax county reporting a police chase. we want to get the latest from danella. danella, what have you learned? >> right now the exit ramp on edsall road completely shut down of the the x . the chase ended here on edsall road. i'm still seeing delays on 395.

this has been a headache all morning. your delays start south on 395, and you're jammed. the good news is earlier police had this taken away. they've given it back to you. three lanes get you past. but your exit ramp still shut down. the edsall road exit ramp from 395 north. also seeing accidents in other areas as well. traveling 95 north, this is as you get to route 123. we have an accident in your left lane. eun, stick to the right. back to you. >> thank you so much, danella. it may look like spider-man is clinging to the walls of the national cathedral today. the same crew that spent more than a week dangling from the washington monument is now inspecting the landmark in northwest to see how much damage the east coast quake caused. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from the cathedral with more. megan, good morning. >> good morning, eun. they do look a little like spiders, these engineers hanging from the buildings just like ropes. it's quite a sight to see. no doubt people are going to stop and take a look at it here today.

this is the same team involved in the inspection of the washington monument. now they're moving on to the national cathedral. they started yesterday. take a look at this video. we're expecting them to be here later on this morning. basically, what they're doing is rappelling off the cathedral, taking a look stone by stone looking for cracks, loose mortar, any loose stones as a result of that earthquake back in august. there's a lot of damage, we already know, up at the pinnacles on the central tower. they're going to look at all the other areas, come up with a plan, and they'll have to repair it all. again, we're expecting them up here soon. back to you, eun. >> megan mcgrath live at the cathedral this morning. megan, thank you. montgomery county police plan to search an area in clarksburg today for 11-year-old william mcquain. his stepfather curtis lopez will be extradited back to maryland from shar the charlotte, north . an israeli soldier held hostage for more than five years is back home.

he was released overnight as part of a massive prison swap between israel and the palestinians. president obama's bus tour is back on the road at this hour. this is new video as the president heads towards greensboro, north carolina. the president is calling on congress to pass pieces of his failed jobs bill to save hundreds of thousands of jobs. the tour wraps up tomorrow here in virginia. republican presidential hopefuls will hold their eighth debate tonight in las vegas. the economy will likely be a hot topic. nevada's unemployment and foreclosure rates are the highest in the nation. and that does it for "news 4 and that does it for "news 4 today."

just got her flu shot, like a champ -- mom! taking on the master of disaster, the flu! it's the fight of the season! your flu shot's next, champ. let's do this. flu shots. every day. no appointment needed. most insurance accepted. get a $5 cvs gift card if you're not covered. find us at minuteclinic.com. i'm jack, and i took the flu down.