what is it? and who fired it? and was even fired? those are theuestions on everyone's mind this morning after this image was caught on videotape. ground breaking. the long-awaited proct that will bring hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars to the district fally starts today. i'm eun yang. this wednesday, the 10th of november, 120. beautiful day here in the nation's capital. a dawning as sun is headed our way. 49 degrees now. tom kierein is here to tell us about the forecast. look at the sky change.

>> nice. >> sunlight earlier since we went to standard time. our sunrise is now 45 minutes away. and temperatures are chilly. we're just near 40 now in arlington, fairfax, montgomery and princeeorge's county. mid and upper 40s. mid and upper 40s near the chesapeake bay and eastern shore. farther to our west dipped into the upper 30s in north central, panhandle of west virgin virginia. we have temperatures in the 20s and thirs und high pressure stretching from eastern canada to the gulf coast. bringing us plenty of sunshine. highs should reach low 60s by early to midafternoon. sunset 4:59. a look at thursday, friday, saturday at 6:11. how is the traffic now, jerry? >> tom, generally doing well, 395 to the beltway on up. doing okay. had an accident outbound side of the 14th street bridge.

authorities putting the wraps on that. we have a few flashing lights. else wrshgs rush hour picking up a little volume over the american legion bridge. accident at university boulevard, merrimack inside the beltway. authorities dealing with a serious tractor trler accident i-95 southbound near lady smith. detours in place. northbound the lanes are open. out to therails. mark, camden # 43 and penn 503 bothdelayed. thank you, jerry. we begin the news with this mysterious object. this morning military leaders are trying to find out what caused what looked like a pme or a vapor trail in the sky. it a story that everyone is certainly talking about. this all happened monday evening north of catalina island near los angeles. some say it resembled a missile

in the area. megan mcgrath is live with news about this key piece of evidence. good morning, megan. good morning, joe. it was actually caught on videotape. it looked like a var trail rising from the ocean off the coast of california up into the air. many thought it looked like a missile launch. look at this video. it was shot monday night by a news helicopter owned by kcbs in los angeles. you can see a vapor trail rise from the ocean up into the sky. many thought it was some kind of a missile. the u.s. military says it was not them. although a dramatic sight to see, many experts, including a former nasa mission control specialist, say it was an optical illusi. like a a cotrail from an airliner. th expert says it seems to be rising vertical but, in fact, it is horizontal, traveling toward

the camer because of the angle, though, it seems suspicious. >> the most common thing you see is a rocket flying away. there was nothing absolutely wrong with that. it was a legimate proper interpretation of the geometry. turned out it was wrong. but it's too small to see the actual vehicle. you can't see if it's getting bigger because it's too small. all you see is the cloud. >> reporter:he pentagon is investigating. they released a statement. they don't have any concrete information on what it was. what they will say is they have no information that leads them to believe there was a missile launch of any time. and norad says it was not a foreign military launch. all branches of the military say was not them. and no other pilots reported seeing anything strange. a bigamistry. >> megan mcgrath reporting live. thank you >> no charges will be filed for the destruction of cia videotapes that showed the waterboarding of terror suspects.

the ruling by the stice department comes after a three-year investigation into the cia's interrogation tactics. video showed two men subjected to a process that simulates drowning. the cia destroyed the tapes in 2005, citing no legal reon to keep them much the justice department is still investigating whethethe interrogation methods are legal. right now president obama is in seoul, south koa. he arrive for two economic sum mitts there. the first lady is back on her way to the united states this morning. the president visited the largest mosque in southeast asia. he attended public and catholic schools when he lived in indonesia with with his mother and stepfather. the president also delivered a speech at the university of

indonesia. the trial of t killing of chandra levy will resume today. witnesses may include prison inmates who say ingmar guandique confessed to killing levy. her body was found not until a year later. the trial is expected to wrap up before thanksgiving. a campus says good-bye to a beloved professor. last night a vigil was held for a vigil for american university professor sue markum was held at the arena. she was found in her home in october. police believe she interrupted a robbery and was beaten to death. 18-year-old hamlin was arrested for unauthorized use of the car but no arrests have been made in the murder case. everyone who attended the vigil agreed she was always upbeat no matter what the situation. >> always had a smile. always had a laugh in her voe. and made accounting fun. hodoes anybody make accounting fun?

>> she was an amazing professor. we just all want to pay tribute to her. we all miss her. so i think it will be a good sendoff, a good ending or closure to the whole thing. >> professor marcum established a scholarship in her name in 2006. her family hopes contributions to it will be made in her nor. today the district will finally break ground on a new hotel near the convention center. that's where the ground breaking of the brand-new marriott marquis will happen today. this hotel is going to cost $520 million to build. the expectation is it will attract more big events to our ci's convention center. four-star hotel will have more than 1,100 rooms. it's slated to open in 2014. many of you will likely have the day off for veterans day. for those of you who are working we have a few travel alerts for you.

no vre service all day tomorrow. mark will be running but running on an "s" schedule. only trains designated with an "s" on the schedule will operate. metrorail will be operating normally. however, metrobus will run on a limited schedule. riders shoulcheck with metro to see whether their bus will be running. a woman fired for something she wrote on facebook. how the federal government is helping her get her job back. a beautiful morning in the nation's capital. weather and traffic on the ones next. stay with us. ♪ ♪ [ dad ] yeah! [ cheers and applause ] [ male announcer ] achievement gets points for living life. earn pnc points for your credit and debit card purchases. ♪ find out more at pnc.com/getpoints.

pnc. for the achiever in us all. take a look at this. the new clue police have to solve a series of car

the power forward scored last nightnd the capitals defeated the range, 3. ovechkin had two assists. and do the clothes make the man? the nationals sure hope so. nats will unveil new jerseys tonight. >> they will get rid of th block letterin on front of the jerseys. what are you going to do with that sign at nationals park? >> maybe they will have to change that as well. as long as ty play well, i don't care what they wear. >> just something. >> that's right. something. >> we have gorgeous weather.

and you're going to want to wear something warm this morning because it is quite chilly. a milder afternoon. we should make it into the low six. right now low 40s in the nrby suburbs. rural areas dipped into the 30s in washington. it's subfreezing this morning. lots of sun today. tomorrow, sunny for veterans day. highs in the 50s and lighter nd. bright and sunny. highs near 60. a look a lot sunday and into next week at 6:21. how is the traffic now, jerry? >> we'll take to the air around new hampshire avenue. where so far so good both dreks between green belt, silver spring, american legion bridge. moving along very nicely. see if the same is true making the trip in. kennelworth, initial reports of an accident. police headed over there. mixing bowl. everything is mixing appropriately. out to the rails, south of town wilson bridge moving along

nicely. now to t rails. metrorail and vre no delays. mark, couple of issues. camden 843, brunswk 872 and penn 503. a driver throw yogurt at another car. ca someone be fired for something posted on facebook?

the national mall is about to get a major

when you walk up to your colleagues, go they sort of just drift away? don'tdespair. i'm pat your pal. and with my friend, mike will listen. we're hosting a brand-new segment called the foet 10 second sendoff." it's a chance to say what's on your ind. so step up to the plate. get it off your chest. we're all ears.

at least for ten seconds. the "10 second soundoff" only on news 4, only in the emergency room when peoplere up and snappy. >> we are snappy. and you can sound off to pat collins friday morning here on news 4 today. he'll be live on the commuter lot in woodbridge. stop from 5:00 to 7:00 a.m. and give him an earful. >> pat will feel your pain. america's front yard is getting a makeover. secrary of the interior ken salazar signed an agreement yesterday to fix up the national mall. you can expect better maintenance and family-friendly facilities. the project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars but a private group for the trust for national mall is raising money to help pay for the work. >> we are going to get this done. it's not just me. the outpouring of support we have had from the american people, not st here in

washington but across the country has been amazing. the ma thing that people don't realize is there's a problem here. once anybody sees the pictures the first question they ask is what can i do help? >> the interior department says to help protect the mall it plans to deny permits to some events that use avy trucks and other equipment that can tear up the grounds. it seems more and more people in washington are taking advantage of a new program that pays you to car pool. poolf awards program pays people $2 a day to car pool in the d.c. region. it started with just 100 peope. now it's used by more than 700. the program's director says commuters are saving time and money by using h.o.v. lanes and spending less on gas. visit nbc washington.com and search car pool cash. loudon county police are hoping home surveillance will help them catch who is breaking

into vehicles parked in a driveway on riverport drive. if you do recognize this guy, the sherf's department wants to hear from you. they're offeng a $1,000 reward for any information that leads to an arrest and indictment of the spect. >> it started out as a casef road rage and turned into a food fright on friday. a man through a container of yogurt at another driver after getting cut off. the man whoid the cutting off then reportedly flashed a small handgun. that driver was arrested and charged with miss demeanor for bran dishing a firearm. the yogurt bran dishing driver is facing a felony charge for firing a missile at a moving vehicle. there's a fight brewing over whether you can be fired for posting not-so-nice things about your boss online. dawn marie sue sa wasfired from her job at an ambulance company.

the company fired her after she complained about her supervisor on facebook. >> national labor relations act makes it unlawful for employs to interfere with that mmunication. she was on her own time, own resources. and that's really what makes the case different. >> theationalabor relations board says your facebook posts are protected and you cannot be fired. a hearing is set for next year. >> this week's marks the end of an era on the "today" show. gene shallot is leaving after 40 years on that program. tomorrow will be his final day. he first appeared on the "today" show back in 1970. he says he will pursue other activities, including publishing, radio and commercials. his final day will be tomorrow and they will air a salute to him that time. tina fey was awarded the 30 annual mark twain prize for american comedy. fey is the youngest ever recipient of that award.

she was joined by seth meyers, fred armison to name a few. she thanked sarah palin who she im prers napersonated more than her success. >> congratulaons to her. eastern sky, the bright spot you see above the horizon beginning to fade a bit is nus. that's the live view from sky watcher camera. right now at reagan national airport, temperature is 47 degrs. light northerly breeze. rural areas mid and upper 30s in many locations. high today low 60s, sunshine upper 50s for veterans day and sunny. more of the same on saturday. highs saturday afternoon near 606789 partly cloudy. should be dry for the wkend.

as we get into next week, we have a chance for needed rain monday night and tuesday. good morning. how is our traffic now. >> good morning. 270 southbound, pigging up a lot of volume as you begin the commute south. frederick, urbana, germantown. headed to points south. but no accidents reported. 395orthbound heavy. north of ke street, off and on to shirlington. joe and eun, back to you. 6:22, 49 degrees. want to make $150,000 a year? why more and more people in washington are making that much money >> controversy surrounding a group of men in northern virginia. why they had their passports taken away from them.

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no water, no

new today, some republican leaders trying to get rid of michael steele as head of republican natnal committee.

"new york times" reports the gop is pressuring steel not run for reelection when his term ends in january. they're unhappy with the fund-raising efforts of steel, among other things. the proposed new house leaders among high-ranking republicans who would like to see a new rnc chairman should a viable challenger emerge. steel was a former lieutenant governor of maryland. still no clear winner in alaska's senate race. more than 30,000 absentee and early voting ballots are being processed today. part of the review is to check the spelling of the name of the ballots. she ran as independent and can only win as a write-inandida but the voters have to have spelled her name close to correctly to be accepted. ahead, surviving on spam and pop-tarts. mm-mmm. find out if we are in store for another betiful fall day. your weath and traffic together on the ones are next.

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what is it and w fired it? those are the questions are everyone's mind this morning after this

no vacation. right now a cruise ship stranded

at sea is slowly making its way back to land. little food, no hot wate and very little electricity. what are earth? the mystery inhe sky that has everybody scratching their heads, including folks in the pentagon. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm eun yang. it iwednesday, november 10th, 2010. 6:30. beautiful sky. the sun prepares to rise in the nation's catal. beautiful weather here. >> the sun is rubbing its eyes thinking do i have to? do i have to? yeah, you do. >> sunrise is just 15 minutes away or so. there's the live view from the sky watcher camera at 300 feet. and the sun's rays already hitting the stratus fear over our region. 37 at national airport. low 40s in prince george's, arlington, fairfax counties. farther west, it's dipped into th 30s, as well as southwest of

washington, central virginia. mid and upper 30s weather watchers reportg. western maryland, west virginia, manyocations in the 20s right now. cold start there. and we do have a large ridge of high pressure that stretches from eastern can do the gulf coast. it will give us plenty of sunshine. highs reaching the low 60s. a look at thursday, friday, saturday in ten minutes. how is the traffic, jerry? >> tom, let's take to the air. looking down toward the district on route 50. had the accident route 50 down around kennelworth avenue. early days as you begin to drive in from route410 towards northeas let's see ho we're doing elsewhere. the drive over on greenbelt. no big surprises. a little bit of volume. travel lan reported open. let's head over and see if there's anything to worry about. 66 inbound doing pretty well. won't be too long and we will have intense sunshin delays i

expect. an accident quickly moved to the shoulder in dale city. metro and vre with no delays. camden, 843. penn, 401. and 503 running behind schedule at this point. we are on top of a developing story. tug boats reached a ship. ship splendor drifting at sea since it lost power on monday. the coast guard says 4,500 people are on board. an engine room fire knocked out electrical power and the entire ship shut down some 200 miles south of san diego. aaron, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. e conditions have to be rough. it's hot. people are in tight quarters. it is moving, albeit slowly. carnival splendor is making its way to san diego right now. tug boats started pulling it back to san diego.

200 miles from san diego. it left port on monday in long beach, california. there was a fire in an engine room. no serious damage there. but it knocked out power to everything on the ship. no air-conditioning, no hot water and eventually not much food until the coast guard flew in supplies yesterday. >> right now it's bread. there's cups, utensils. we have frozen milk, canned goods. easy to make items that are served cold. >> the passengers are monitored closely. they're in good care and doing very well considering the circumstances. >> reporter: there are 4,500 passengers and crew members crammed on that 952-foot ship right now. no word how fast the tub boats are moving. there are two but they are under coast guard escort. it was originally going toen sen nada, mexico. they should get to that port sometime late tomorrow.

eun. >> i'm sure they will be happy to see land. aaron gilchrist in our wsroom. aaron, thank you. right now president obama is in seoul, south carolina. the first lady is on her way back to the u.s. this morng. the president visited the largest mosque in southeast asia. in islam the handling to mecca is one of the most sacred rituals. for more than a dozen muslims from northern virginia that trip almostidn't happen.

the agency received the visas for their passports and overnighted it back via u.p.s. the group was set to fly out fry evening. the muslim community is upset abt the seizure saying the only reason they were targeted is because of their names. >> i believe they were targeted because they had muslim mes. if the package had john smith name written on there, i don't think these folks would have been under the situation that they were put in. >> by the time the mistake was fixed, everyone had missed their flight. but the government stepped up and footed the entire bill and passport repayments.

the cost for them, 4,000. a misunderstood joke may have pvoked a shooting. joseph sharp jr. was a student. he and a fellow student were joking around in northeast monday night when they ran into three other guys. investigators said they ought the laughter was directed at them. shots were fired and sharps was killed. his family is left to cope with the loss as police continue to search for suspects. >> it really, really hurts. but as a father we just have to move on and say the lord has got him now. i'm hay for that part. >> the second teen who was shot remains in the hospital but is expected to survive. 6:36. "today" show is next at 7:00. let's check in with meredith vieira to see what they're working on today. good morning to you, eun. former president george w. bush will join us for an exclusive live interview. thoughts on a host of topics, including the xheshgs the rise of the teaparty, and how his new memoir is being received.

and new details on the carnival cruise ship stranded in the pacific ocean with thousands of passengers on board. it is being towed slowly back to shore. a special live reunion 45 years in the making. we will catch up with julianne drews and all seven kids from the sound of music when we get started on a wednesday morning here on "today." back to you, eun. >> one of th best movies ever. thank you very much. see you soon. cities and states keep cracking down on smoking. the new proposal that could mean money out of your pocket. hot or not. what "travel & leisure" magazine think back seat pele in d.c. 6:37, 49 degrees. betiful day out there. weather ask traffic togeer on the ones coming up.

6:40 is ourtime. 49 degrees. such beautiful fall weather. the sun is about to come up in the nation's dam. and i love the early sunrise. >> hard to beat. tom kierein joins us here in the studio for a look at your forecast for today.

will it stay nice all day? >> yeah. and into the weekend too. it will be a great weekend to do some hiking on the blue ridge, skyline drive. looks like a great weekend coming up. anothemorning with dry weather, clear sky. near 40 in the suburbs. rural areas in the 30s. right now 37 at national airport. highs today 60 or so with lots of sun. for veterans day, events tomorrow, sunny, highs reaching the mid and upper 50s. friday more of the same. saturday, near 60 degrees. great start to the weekend. jerry, good morning. how is the wednesday commute? >> head over to kennelworth, inbound, maryland district line, eastern avenue. authorities reportedly still dealing with seeing how slow traffic is now. backup on route 50 and the b.w. parkway for the capital beltway. northeast a little tough for the time being until police get the

accident out of there. elsewhere, picking up a little volume around town. southbound 95, coul't find any construction yet. 95 northbound just the usual delays. tractor trailer accident, route 123 off i-95. let's see how things are progressing as we head out. metro, vre still doing okay. mark brunswick 892,enn 405 and 503 all delayed a little bit. >> jerry, thank you. >> healthy french fries? is there such athing? i can only dream. one fast food chain is giving it a try. a survey ranks the cities the most attractive and least attractive people. you might be surprised to find out where d.c. ranks. more and more federal workers seeing a pay raise. wait until you hear how m

this morning everyone is talking about this mysterious object. righnow military leaders are trying to figure out what caused the plume from what looked like a vapor trail in the sky. it happened monday night north of catalina island near lax, california. some say it resembled a missile. megan, good morning. >> reporter: good morning, eun. a lot of folks, including experts at the pentagon, are trying to figure out exactly what happened. there was a strange vor trail that was actually caughtn video. it appeared it was coming up out of the ocean, up into the air from the ocn. a lot of folks thought it looked like a misle launch. let's take a look at this video.

actually, it was shot monday night by a news helicopter by kcbs in las vegas. it goes up intthe sky, turning pink in the sunset. now it looked like a missile launch. a lot of people have been speculating ever since. the u.s. military has been investigating. they say they have no concrete explanation. a former nasa mission control specialist say it was an optical illusion. the vapor trail seems to be rising vertically but it's horizontal, traveling toward the camera. but because of the angle, it looks suspicious. >> theost common thing you see is a rocket flying away. it was a legitimate proper interpretation of the geometry. turned out it was wrong. but it's too small to see the actual vehicle. all you see is the cloud. >> reporter: that there is one explanation. the pentagon doesn't have a concrete cause for this vapor trail that was caught on video. they're still investigating.

they do say, however, that it wasn't them. all branches of the military report they had no sort of launches in that area. and norad said it was not a foreign missile launch. certainly a very dramatic video there has a lot of people shaking their heads wondering exactly what it was. back to you in the studio. who knows when we'll find out. megan mcgrath at the pentagon. megan, thank you. detectives say instead of prostitution stings they're now reaching out tlocal sex workers and cracking down on escort web sites. they say it will help bring them closer to catching the pimps involved.

one woman says she's thankful for the effort. she said she was beaten and abused after she answered an ad for an escort seice. >> it is good. police are just trying to put us in jail and don't care what the situation is. but in other areas they want to help the girls g out of it and in a better situation. >> police are collecting information on customers or johns in an effort to crack down on the demanside of human trafficking. >> investigators hoping the internet will help them find a person who killed a fairfax county student. the 19-year-old was found stabbed to death in a car along route 50 back in june. freshman year at savannah college of art. the trial of the killing of chandra levy will resume today. witnesses may include prison inmates who say ingmar guandique confessed to killing levy. guandique is charged with killing the washington intern back in 2001.

her body was found not until a year later. the trial is expected to wrap up before thanksgiving. well, you could soon be paying more from cigarettes in virginia if alexandria city leaders get their way. right now it's 30 cents a pack. that's dramatically lower than the $2 tax in maryland and $2.50 in the district. a final proposal will be introduced to the general assembly. in january. the additional money would be used to raise state revenues and curb smoking. a new study ou this morning takes a look at the salaries of federal workers. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us live with this sty. courtney, good morning. >> reporr: good morninto you, eun. it's good work you can get it. the number of o federal workers making $150,000 or more has soared ten-fold in the past five years and dbled since president obama took office. that's grabbing the attention of republicans who captured control

of the house last week. some plan to use lame duck session to challenge the president's proposals to give government workers an acrosshe-board 1.4% pay raise. sea salt is part of an effort. more than 1,300 products have been introduced this year. analysts say it has the potential to grow as fast as the low carb diet did a few years ago. here's a story that either will or will not give your confidence a boost. we all live in a city with some of the most unattractive people in the condition, that's according to "travel & leisure" magazine. >> thanks a lot. they just released a list of cities with e most attractive and unattractive people in the country. washington came in 30th out of 35, just ahead of orlando,

anorage, philadelphia, baltimore and memphis. if it's any consolation, d.c. ranked first in historical sites and fourth in the most intelligent people. we didn't even get that one? >> no. >> the least attractive thing has people so upset. >> ion't think so. there are people people here in d.c. i'from akron, ohio, so i love it here. it's gorgeous, gorgeous people here in d.c. >> well, there's something interesting looking people out here, i guess. >> as for the most attractive cities in the country, charston, south carolina finished first on the list. followed by san diego, savannah and miami. and if move out of the area, it will move up five spots. >> oh, please, joe. >> that's courtesy of your director. >> thank you, curt. i think we're all gorgeous. >> weather is gorgeous, too. good morning. another glorious sunrise.

there's the live view from sky watcher mera. sun is up. a clear sky, up from 300 feet above the average terrain. we're seeing that view. national airport is at 47. and we've got a light breeze coming out of the north this morning. elsewhere, temperatures are chilly. it's near 40 in prince george's, arlington, fairfax, montgomery. mid and upper 30s in the blue ridge, shenandoah, north centr virginia. eastern shore, northern neck of virginia, temperatures there generally in the low to mid-40s. down into the 20s many locations. we've got a clear sky thanks to an enormous ridge of high pressure that stretches from quebec all the way to the atlantic seaboard. this morning for students at the bus stopchilly. bright sun in that noherly breeze. by noon time, upper 50s. midafternoon, low 60s. sunset, 4:59. back to the 50s. 40s by late evening. by dawn, upper 30s starting off

veterans day. mostly sunny tomorrow for the events and activities. should be in the mid and upper 50s in the afternoon and a light wind. friday, more of the same. saturday, near 60. sunday and next week, remaining dry sunday and most of monday. partly cloudy. increasingly cloudy wh highs upper 50s. and you can check the weather any time at weather channel on cable. let's check traffic on this wednesday morng. breaking news, downtown silver spring. right now because of a minor brushfire, the fe department on the scene, there's a stretch of spring street at second avenue in downtown silver spring currently closed off. firefighters knocking down a brushfire just off the railroad tracks. spring street, second avenue, temporarily tied up. you can see e cones in the roadway. firefighters knock down the brushfire underneath e bridge.

95, dale city to the 14th street bridge, on again, off again delays. the map through northeast, accident remains. you make the trip on in. we'll head to northeast right now and take a look along nnelworth how jammed it is. let's go out to the rails and see how the trains is doing. metro and vre, okay. brunswick 892 and penn 405 delayed at this point. eun. >> jerry, thank you. many people will be off work tomorrow for veterans day. we have a few travel alerts for those of you who are working. no vre service all d tomorrow. mark will be running but running on an "s" schedule. only trains designated with an "s" on the schedule will operate. metrorail will be operating normally. however, metrobus will run on a limited schele. riders should check with metro to see whether their bus will be running on time. a program paying drivers to

car pool seems to be paying off. it pays people $2 a day to car pool in the d.c. region. it is used by more than 700. commuters are saving time and money by using h.o.v. lanes and spending less on gas. to get involved in t program, visit nbcwashington.com. america's spacious front yard is getting a makeover. secretary of the interior ken salazar signed an agreement yesterday to fix up the national mall. you can expect better maintenance and family-friendly facilities. the projectwill also include a recyclg program. the project will cost hundreds of millions of dollars but a private group for the trust for national mall is raising money to help pay for the work. >> we are going to get this done. it's not just me. the outpouri of support we have had from the american people, nojust here in washington but across the country has been amang. the main thing that people don't realize is there's a problem

here. once anybody sees the pictures that shows the current conditions, the fitter question they a is, what can i do to help? >> the interior department says i plans to deny permits to some events that use heavy trucks and other equipment that can tear up the grounds. ground will finally be broken on a new hotel near the washington convention center. th washington marriott marquis will be built on 9th and massachusetts in northwest. that's where we find news 4's kimberly suiters who joins us with more. kimberly, good morning >> reporter: good morning, eun. when 24 gorgeous convention center opened in 2003, it was supposed to have a companion hotel. that did not happen. scatter no more. you can see right across the street the space where the new marriott marquis is going to be built. the cost, about $520 million. the expectation is, though, it

will attract more big events to the city's convention center and change the surprising fact that d.c. does not even rank in the top 50 for major international meetings the four-star state-of-the-art hotel will have more than 1,100 rooms. it's slated to open in 14. it could create hundreds to thsands of construction and hospitality jobs and where the promise of jobs is, mayors will be. and today mayor fenty and mayor-elecgray will host the official ground breaking at 11:00 a.m. kimberly suiters. news eun, back to you. news 4's aaron gilchrist has this morning's top stories. ile you were sleeping, president obama arrived in seoul, south carolina. he willttend meetings in the top economic powers. it will wrap up the trip with a stop in japan. carnival cruise ship once addressed in the pacific is

being pulled back to port. two mexican tug boats started movingblen door laplendor late . the coast guard says 4,500 people are on board. an engine room fire knocked out electral power and the entire ship shut down some 200 miles south of san diego. still no clear winner in alaska's senate race. more than 3000 absentee an early voting ballots are being processed today. part of the review is to check e spelling of the name of the ballots. she ran as independent and can only win as a write-in candidate thanks very much. out-the door-forecast om tom. >> awesome weather on the way. once again, fresh and cool and invigorating. temperatures right now are just in the 30s and low 40s. but should warm to the low 60s by early to midafternoon with lots of sunshine. a few high clouds later today. overnight tonight should be clear and cool, down into the 60s. afternoon highs in the mid and upper 50s and a lighter breeze. friday, mostly sunny.

afternoon highs uppe 50s. on saturday, looks like it's going to be terrific for all the high school, college games, outdoor creation and fun up around 60 midafternoon. a look at sunday and next week. should be partly cloudy. high near 60. another great dayor outdoor fun. monday, tuesday, increasing clouds. jerry, how is our traffic now >> breaking news in silver spring shortcut through downtown silver spring is closed. firefighters knocking down a brushfire underneath the brid. does not appear to be affecting train travel. if you normally travel through silver spring, that stretcht spring and second avenue temporarily closed off. 270, volume only headed down from germantown into northeast. look out for the accident. kennelworth jammed. joe, eun. >> thanks very much. and that is news 4 today. that you know for starting your