live and in hd, this is "abc 7 news at noon," on your side. >> we begin with the growing controversy dogging the presidential front runner on the republican side. herman cain will publicly issue down allegations of sexual harassment. the fourth accuser and has made her statement in front of the world. >> the press conference

scheduled for 5:00 east coast time in arizona. he will set the record straight, finally ending the back-and- forth battle. after a week of dodging the issue and questions, republican presidential hopeful herman cain appears ready to respond to allegations. >> he can step forward and end this. >> sharon bialek said she is telling the truth. >> i am doing this because it's the right thing to do. >> she claims he sexually harassed her 14 years ago when she went to the then-president of the national restaurant association for a job. >> he put his hand under my skirt and grabbed my head and brought it towards his crotch. >> he vehemently denies the allegations, calling them completely false. >> there's not an ounce of truth in all these allegations. >> last night he joked about the

issue. >> you to think the other candidates will follow suit and hire women to charge them with sexual harassment? >> if they are smart, they will. >> when asked if she thought herman cain was to be president, sharon bialek said not until he tells the truth. he is still holding the top spot in a number of the latest polls. brianne carter, abc 7 news. >> the question now, who do you believe? we will build resultrevealed to the results tonight. this a crash is setting down -- and down the eastbound span across the bay bridge. something is wrong with my microphone. this is a two-vehicle crash.

one person close to shock trauma with serious injuries and two others suffered minor injuries. one lane of the westbound bridge has been reversed to allow traffic across. a teenager shot in the head in georgetown has died. 17-year-old tyronn garner of southeast d.c. was shot last monday night along m street. minutes after the shooting, police arrested a 24-year-old and charged him with carrying a pistol without a license. he has not been linked to the shooting. he was one of five people shot in the city on halloween. rising tensions between occupy d.c. and d.c. police. protesters demanding answers in the wake of injuries. they're presenting a peace offering today to the d.c. government. ben eisler is at mcpherson square to explain. >> today's protesters extending

an olive branch to. they send a small delegation to meet with council members to express a renewed commitment to nonviolence. >> it is imperative that we come to an understanding with the police, would boundaries can cross and which ones not to cross. >> they sat down to discuss making amends with the city. >> we are taking a small delegation to the building to say we are not here to disrupt anything or cause harm. >> representatives of the occupy d.c. movement took off to the wilson building to voice a commitment to nonviolence and make sure police know that the protesters supports them. >> they are part of the 99 as well and are trying to feed their families. >> this is a day after police chief cathy lanier said the protests have become violent and confrontational. this was after friday night when

four got injured. >> i did not jump on that car. he rolled over me. >> i along with a few others chased the car down seventh street. >> when police did not charge the driver protesters demanded an investigation. >> peaceful protesters should not be rolled over by cars with no proper investigation. >> police have done interviews now with victims as well as witnesses regarding the two hit- and-run incident. cathy lanier says that she will go forward without giving any details change how the department handles incidents to ensure public safety. ben eisler reporting. a house under construction nearly burned to the ground this morning in montgomery county. firefighters were called to the home on franklin street near summit ave. this was just after 4:00.

the fire caused $1 million in damage. no one was hurt. the cause is under investigation. sunshine appears to be sticking around today. temperatures are climbing. adam caskey has a look at the forecast. >> another beautiful day. a high-pressure system directly overhead. that gives us a fairly calm wind and a general sinking motion in an atmosphere. a beautiful sunrise over the district this morning. no clouds in the sky all day. we may have a few high, thin clouds tomorrow, but that's all. tomorrow should be a repeat performance of today. 66 in bowie already. 60 in berryville. cooler in the to the north and west of the metro area. 64 in berkeley springs, 67 in arlington. some places could reach 71 today for the high temperature later on in the next couple hours. temperatures will slide quickly after sunset, as usual this time of year.

light and variable wind. changes by thursday and friday straight ahead. following new developments in the scandal. administrators moments ago cancelled joe paterno's weekly news conference. the school said with ongoing legal -- a school cited ongoing legal allegations. jerry sandusky is charged with molesting 8 boys. joe paterno told university officials, but did not tell police. >> whether you are football coach or the man's keeping the building, you have a moral responsibility. >> be a political director and the senior vice president were charged with a cover-up. they stepped down from their positions. investigators have said joe paterno should have done more, but that is not the target of the investigation. one year before the presidential race, local voters go to the polls today in key elections.

residents cast their ballots in a plane this morning at langley high school. in virginia, republicans are battling to win control of the state senate from democrats. republicans already hold the governor's seat as well as the majority of the house. a number of local races are also on the vballots. and it's election day in maryland. bowie, rockville, college park, and greenbelt will elect a new mayor. several cities are electing city council members. polls in maryland are open until 8:00. what is the results clive tonight in all the local races on our website wjla.com. -- live tonight. mississippi residents are voting on a measure that could prompt a new national fight over abortion. it's a constitutional amendment that says life begins at conception. it could seek to overturn roe versus wade, the 1973 supreme

court case that legalized abortion. still ahead justice for the jackson family. the convicted dr. on suicide watch. brianne casevere weather slams oklahoma. >> there are no words for that kind of tragedy. >> months after a deadly collapse, sugarland speaks out for the first time about the night the fans lost their lives. first, the november warm

michael jackson's doctors

behind bars and on suicide watch. yesterday an l.a. jury convicted dr. conrad murray of involuntary manslaughter. when word of the verdict came out, both legal teams and jackson's family rushed to the courthouse. after words, jackson supporters including his sister expressed satisfaction that justice was served. >> it's wonderful. justice was served. >> he is to be kept in custody of the sheriff and ordered to appear for proceedings and formal probation. >> his sentencing is november 29. he could face up to four years behind bars. that ishe likely will not spend block behind bars due to overcrowding in the california prison system. 7 is on your side with good news for some bank customers. 13 million people will get a

statement from bank of america because, a federal judge approved a $410 million settlement in a lawsuit claiming the bank charged customers excessive overdraft fees. the average customer will likely get back $27 even though they paid a $300 in overdraft fees. scientists are attracting -- tracking an asteroid the size of an aircraft carrier that's moving toward the earth. it will pass the closest at 6:28 p.m. eastern time. there is no chance of impact according to nasa. the last time it's happened was 1976. people in oklahoma dealing with a wild weather. this is video, where several tornadoes touched down yesterday. this was in a rural area.

no reports of serious injury or damage. in oklahoma city, fire crews rescued at least three people from floodwaters. tornadoes and flooding happen as significant aftershocks continue after saturday's record-setting 5.6 magnitude quake. they cannot get a break. here we are getting more than our share of the beautiful weather. >> we are. severe weather happen sometimes in the fall. they do need to rein after the severe drought. at least they are getting something out of it. -- they need rain. perfect weather around here. look in that shot, gorgeous. looks like fall out there with leaves falling for most of the trees. baby blue skies overhead. could get these numbers. already a little above the

average afternoon high and we still have a few more hours to go. 62 at reagan national, 68 in gaithersburg 60 in hagerstown, 61 in martinsburg, 60 degrees in lexington park. possible outside, clear skies. nothing but a sunshine with high-pressure in place. high-pressure giving us a general standing motion in atmosphere. it is inhibiting clouds from forming and deflecting active weather of band around our region. that is really protecting us from cloud cover and shower activity for the time being. notice the rainfall in the midsection of the country. that will slowly works its way to the north. it will swing the cold front to our region. what the means for us is cooler temperatures friday or rather its thursday into friday. also, the chance of showers as we go into thursday around

midday and even late morning we could see areas of rain. here's the express forecast. mid 60's around 4:00 p.m., some locations could reach 77 -- 70 or 71 degrees. 4:00 p.m., temperatures dropping. early tomorrow morning, low to mid 40's with a chance of patchy fog. slight chance of rain on thursday. it is a slight chance, not a washout. just a few isolated showers possible for morning through early afternoon. behind a cold front on friday it will be breezy. you will notice the wind and cooler air moving into the area. low 50's on veterans day. into the weekend, temperatures will rebound, a fairly pleasant this upcoming weekend. good news. this is a tragedy none of us will forget. a gust of wind sent an indiana

concert stage tumbling to the ground. seven people died and others injured. a power house country duo came close to losing their lives that night. one story that we will hear tonight. country starts in the spotlight. robin roberts has a preview. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> it is hard to forget, watching that incredible state of collapse in indiana. this is the first time we are learning how close sugarland came to being on stage when this happened. >> that's right. it happened in august. they were about to take the stage. the store manager control them to hold on, a second. the lead singer jennifer told the said that they were under the state took a moment and everything went dark. they could not see much. if it was not until she went

home consumer hotel and was watching tv when she realized what exactly happened. she and her partner in sugarland will explain in detail. i went with them to indiana recently. for them to see the stage a crumpled like that this really affected them and affected so many that night as well. >> i can imagine that stays with you. hoew is jennifer honoring the victim's? i understand has special plans. >> they had a concert that night when we went back to indiana. they had a concert in indianapolis free of charge for everyone that had been a concert. people showed up. some of them were still on crutches. it was such a connection that they have with the people now that were there. so they gave a free concert and it was part of the long process that is ongoing. i imagine that meant a lot for sugarland to come back and share

with the community that has experience so much loss. thanks for joining us. we will be watching your special tonight at 10:00. stay with us on abc 7 is at 11:00 afterwards. coming up, a dangerous trend among young mothers. a growing dependence on prescription drugs. anderson cooper takes

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- this is a disturbing reality that may be a growing trend. young mothers with dangerous

addictions to prescription drugs. anderson cooper investigates on today's show and takes action. he is with us from new york. we have been playing some video with a mother who says she believes this makes or better mother. what is the thinking there? >> she is a dig into a form of oxycontin and snorts about three pills worth per day. she claims she is unable to get out of bed without those skills and have a normal life. solstices taking the pill allows her to do everything a mom should do. that is not a strategy that really works. but that is how she sees it. >> this is shocking and its potential of becoming an epidemic. >> we are seeing prescription drug abuse rising run the country. there is a belief that because it is a prescription drug that

somehow it's not as dangerous as something like cocaine or heroin. we are seeing more and more people dying from prescription drug use or mixing of various prescription drugs. we have seen a big-name celebrities passing away. people to think it is something you get from a doctor, therefore it could not be so bad. >> unbelievable. we will be watching today. this show is today a 4:00. then stay with us for abc 7 news at 5:00. this is only a test period of a federal government's message to americans for tomorrow. conducting the first-ever nationwide test of the emergency alert system. the system will be tested on every radio every tv station in the country tomorrow at 2:00 p.m.. law-enforcement are urging residents not to call 911 when they hear or see the emergency test alert. they are concerned that would

tie up emergency lines. and adam

tonight at 5:00, speech cameras. are they accurate? the answer tonight and information you need that could help you to be the ticket. join us at 5:00. an n.f.l. halftime show turned into a special surprise for one-family.

a woman and her children went on to the field to watch a video from her fiance, staff sergeant william bell. there were told it was not working. take a look. >> experiencing technical difficulty with this message. -- his message. >> looked at that. a staff sergeant planned the halftime surprise with the kansas city chiefs. that's nice to see. looking at the weather now. >> warm and comfortable the next couple days. cool mornings. slight chance of shots on thursday. breezy and cooler on friday.