virginia early this morning. the latest rumble came after 5:00 a.m., four miles from mineral, the epicenter of last week's 5. quake that shook the east coast. news4's shomari stone joins us live. >> reporter: we're in mineral and a lot of residents and business owners felt the aftershocks this morning. they had flash backs about last week's quake. we're here at the high school and a lot of teachers and students have been volunteering today, taking furniture like this, and moving it across the parking lot to the middle school. that's where they're going to start classes in a couple weeks. now, an inspector came out here to look at the school to make sure there wasn't any serious damage, and you're going to get a glimpse of the video that shows just why these people are moving. the surveillance video from inside louisa county high school in mineral, virginia captures parts of the ceiling collapsing and teachers rushing students outside during last tuesday's 5.8 magnitude earthquake. >> my stomach dropped and i had to get out of there. it took me three seconds to get out of there. >> ninth grade students brandon and desmond are still shaken up more than a week later. >> it's pretty scary. it's like nightmares. >> when it first started happening, i didn't even think it was real at first. it seemed like, whoa, did that really just happen? >> reporter: the video shows the school immediately evacuating as the earth rumbled and parts of the building blocked. minu mineral is at the epicenter. >> i'm glad everybody got out quickly. >> reporter: the high school damage is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. inspectors are still surveying the damage. last week, we showed you the destruction a day after the quake. tiles, plaster and other debris covered the hallway, along with crocks on some walls. the building is closed. students and teachers are moving across the parking lot to the middle school. they'll set up shop in at least a dozen trailers. we are actually in one of the mobile units. this is where the high school students are going to come and start class. crews are going to have to come in here and clean up all this mess and get it real nice for all of the students. crews inspected the high school after today's 3.4 magnitude aftershock, and they found that some of the cracks got a little bigger. it shook brandon's nerves. >> this morning we had another aftershock, and i'm still scared. >> reporter: indeed, a lot of the students are scared. but the school officials have grief counselors that will be on hand to help them adjust back to school. now, classes are expected to resume on september 12th, and coming up at 6:00, you'll hear from some people who live near the nuclear power plant in mineral, and it's real interesting hearing their perspective on today's aftershock. live in mineral, i'm shomari stone. back to you in the studio. >> all right. thanks, shomari. last week's earthquake also caused the massive storage container at that nuclear plant to shift. dominion virginia power which operates that facility says the containers are still intact. but the trimmers caused them to move up to 4 1/2 inches. those containers store the used fuel, and they can weigh up to 115 tons each when they are full. dominion officials say they're evaluating whether to move them back. inspectors say they're still safe where they are. safety precautions in place at our national cathedral in washington, since the quake shook stone and debris from the top of the structure. john schriffen is live at the cathedral where we're getting our first close-up look at the prepairs since the quake. john? >> reporter: well, jim, what we have learned is that just 30 minutes after the earthquake hit last week, they already had an architect and an engineer here on-site to assess the damage. when they went inside the building, this is exactly what they found. pieces of the ceiling that had actually crumbled with the earthquake and were scattered all over the sanctuary. as visitors have come back here today try to get a look at this cath he'd cathedral, they're graduated with this, a barbed wire fence that wraps around the entire building. it's here for precaution. but visitors are wondering when the building will be open again to the public. instead of the soothing sounds of the organ, now covered and protected, rattling noise from the hammers and scaffolding now fills the main sanctuary at the nath casual he'd ral. so loud at times, it was hard to hear the press conference. >> i apologize for the noise and come motion. >> reporter: engineers say because of the way the cathedral is constructed when the earthquake hit last tuesday, the energy was transferred up through the arches and most of the damage was done to the exterior of the building. >> the cathedral was badly shaken. and this gothic style of architecture, if you look at this cathedral, you look at these beautiful embellishments on the exterior, these slender pinnacles and spires, that's what really caught the vibrations from the earthquake. >> reporter: even though engineers believe the structure is sound, the inside wasn't unscathed. when the building shook, pieces of mortar fell to the ground. to make sure visitors are safe when it opens back up, these massive nets reinforced with steel wires will be hanging from the ceiling. >> it's a good heavy-duty mesh. and what they have done is stretch cables across the top there from balance bone to balcony. and they're going to be stretched tight. when we walked into the cathedral for the first time, we found little areas of these chips. luckily, no big stones came down. no stone seemed to be loose. >> reporter: as foot fast as crews are working, there will knob mass this weekend. the hope is to have it open in time for the 9/11 ceremonies. >> president obama is going to be here sunday night. secretary of defense on friday night. we're confident that it will be safe to be in here. >> reporter: now, a spokesperson for the cathedral says it's too early to tell just how much damage has been done. but he did tell me it's estimated it could cost millions and years to repair the cathedral back the way it was before the earthquake. live tonight here in northwest d.c., john schriffen. back to you in the studio. >> all right. thank you, john. overswollen rivers are starting to recede in vermont, new jersey and connecticut. patterson, new jersey was particularly hit hard when the passaic river flooded dozens of communities after hurricane irene. now that the river has gone down, we're seeing the widespread damage left behind, and the recovery could take months. a lot of homes, farmlands, roads washed out. president obama will get a firsthand look when he visits patterson on sunday. it's been five days since irene struck. utility companies still working to get everyone's electricity back on. days of being without it takes its toll on communities up and down the east coast and here in our area. residents of one neighborhood in glen arden have been trying to cope without the power, but as megan mcgrath reports, they're finally feeling some relief. >> can we please have some power on this block? this is just crazy. >> reporter: frustration and anger on echols avenue, five days without power. the glen arden street went dark saturday night, when this tree brought down the line. >> it's going to have to be thrown away. >> reporter: food has spoiled, folks have been fumbling around in the dark. residents want to know, what's taking so long? >> this tree can be removed. remove it and get us back to where we need to be. >> for five days, the first time ever in my life, i've been living for 40 years, it ain't never been like this. >> reporter: down the street, glen arden elementary school had partial power, no good enough to reopen. students are off for the fourth straight day. many parents are worried about lost class time and how the days will be made up. >> i was mad. because i think school -- >> i had to take her and a couple of the girls around here to the library so they could use the computers and do some reading and things there. so it's been stressful. >> reporter: then just before 7:00 a.m., there was finally a positive development. bge trucks rolled on to the scene. two-and-a-half hours later, the lights came back on. >> there's light. let there be light! >> reporter: power was also restored to glen arden woods elementary school, and they will have classes on time on friday. in prince george's county, megan mcgrath, news4. >> we have a nice day today, but things starting to change out there. >> yeah, more rain is heading our way. meteorologist veronica johnson joins us with your forecast. what up with that, veronica? >> what up with that, jim? well, that rain is going to come back after the game. after the redskins-buccaneers game. that will be at 7:30. the rain probably not returning to this area until about 11:00 p.m. or midnight. so here you go. not too bad. 82 degrees, we've got a partly sunny sky now, very light wind out there. out of the south and that southerly wind will be real important the next couple days, driving the temperatures way up and give us more humidity, more of that sticky stuff we were feeling this summer. showers and storms, they're now making their way just out to the south of the area, down around richmond, virginia. so, again, a couple he of hours before we see those drops returning. not until about 10:00, 11:00 p.m. or so. so our temperature will drop to 80 degrees by the time we get to the latter part of the hour here. 73 by 9:00. and 70 by 11:00 p.m. we'll take a look at the labor day forecast and what's going on with now tropical storm katia in a couple minutes. >> all right. see you then. thanks, veronica. president obama has agreed now to deliver his major jobs address to a joint session of congress next thursday. he initially wanted to deliver the address wednesday night. the same day congress returns to work from the august recess. but a republican presidential debate is also set for wednesday night. some republicans accused the president of trying to upstage the candidates who want to replace him. but house speaker john boehner said the speech would disrupt votes that are already scheduled. >> does this show maybe a little insecurity on the part of the president? >> this is what people hate about politics. we're spending all this time about the drama of the venue. >> the economy matters. the american people matter. jobs matter. and that's what we're focused oppose. on. >> some critics say the finger pointing serves to undermine confidence within the business community and ultimately stalls the prospects for economic recovery. when we come back, apple loses yet another prototype of a new u iphone. where the employee left behind the iphone 5. a local contractor was killed two years ago. tonight, pat collins talks to the man's wife about this cold case. how has america changed in the ten years since the september 11th attacks? we go live to new york and richard engel who has spent a lot of time on the front just ten days until the start of the regular football season, and there are still a number of questions surrounding skins. and tonight the team tries to come up with answers during the final preseason matchupence against the buccaneers. >> it is the fourth and final game of the preseason. mike shanahan said they're going to treat this like game number three. that means starters would play a lot. only it does not indicate that out on the field right now, because there's about 17 guys, many of them starters, who have been running wind sprints before the game. that generally means they will not be playing. so this is going like a traditional preseason game number four. john beck, it looks like, should be the starting quarterback, and rex grossman has been working out with guys running sprints. so perhaps rex grossman doesn't play at all. about the quarterbacks is what this entire preseason seems to have been about. these guys have been competing all season long, and they have been playing very well the last couple weeks. rex grossman is a guy who played in all three season preseason games so far. throwing two touchdowns and an interception. his quarterback creating a solid 92.3. let's not forget, grossman started for a super bowl team before. i know it's kind of crazy and i know it was the bears, but he did start. as for beck, he played in two preseason games with a 99 quarterback rating and a completion percentage of 74. tonight, beck expected to get the start. >> i've been in this league now for my fifth year. i've worked hard since then. i know i'm not the same guy and tried to put myself in the best situation i can so when i do get an opportunity, i can be at my very best and take those past experiences. because i look at them as good. okay, that happened. i know what that feels like. i know what decision i made then. now i can just move forward. >> every week is an opportunity to separate yourself. so this week is no different. you know, i'm excited about playing. and see what happens. >> all right. so that's rex grossman. john beck appears to be getting the start tonight. so that quarterback dual may already be over. we'll have to wait and see. a lot more from here at fedex field coming up in sports in a few minutes. >> thanks. a rather embarrassing situation for apple. the company has misplaced yet another top secret iphone prototype. >> it's not in your purse, is it? >> no, if it was, i wouldn't know what it was. >> this time it's the prototype for the iphone 5, and apple wants it back. an apple employee left the valuable device in a san francisco bar back in july. apple then electronically traced the missing phone to a house in san francisco. police searched that house, but found nothing. c-net believes it was sold online for a mere 200 bucks. >> as far as we can tell, it might have been sold on craigsli craigslist. here's an iphone for $200, it may or may not work. >> of course, the fear is the phone could end up in their competitor's hands, who could take a bite out of apple's secrets and profits. if this sounds familiar, last year an apple employee lost the iphone 4 prototype in a bar. it was later sold to a tech blogger for $5,000 cash. he knew what he was doing. maybe he hadn't had as many drinks. who knows? two men are facing criminal charges in that incident. 250, $5,000? >> and anyone who bought a phone recently from someone in a bar is going, hmmm, could this be the sfwhun the one? >> a lot of bar transactions like that going on. i didn't know. it's been a while. >> okay. how is our weather? heating up? >> it's going to start heating up, getting sticky. we're going to think summer has returned for just a brief period of time. but it's okay, because it's coming on the weekend, labor day weekend, when everyone wants to relax a little bit and maybe have a little taste of summer while we say goodbye, right? 82 degrees, the temperature right now. we've got just a few clouds out there, what's left from those showers that came through. just a couple hours ago. most of the rain sitting well south and west of the area. light wind at 8 miles per hour, and it's coming out of the south. and that southerly wind, boy, it's going to be taking the temperatures up. the range now from temperatures 77 degrees, martinsburg, 76 hagerstown to 82 degrees inside the beltway. and you've got 82 also around culpeper. but that area to the north and west, it's really cooled down after the rain moved through. there's a batch approaching just the western side of richmond right now. had some rain earlier around prince frederick, mechanicsville area. that rain has moved on, and dried up. farmville, and, again, headed toward the south and southeast right around i-95, wet weather. what's proceeding this is a weak disturbance moving through the area. we'll see rain turn tonight at 11:00 p.m. to midnight and likely to be wet early tomorrow morning when the sun comes up when all of the kids have to head to the bus stop. but i think it's back to partly sunny skies for the bulk of the afternoon tomorrow. we're watching not only katia is now a tropical storm but this wave of low pressure, could become lee in the gulf of mexico and provide not only louisiana and western areas of florida with some rain, but also texas which really needs some rain. but that's the storm to watch right there. and it's thely ward islands. by the end of the weekend, we'll start to see many some rain moving through the area, as well as spots like hispaniola and puerto rico. category 3 by the time we get to tuesday of next week. forecast still looks as though it will start turning, recurving away from the u.s., and that's what we want to hear. but for next week, could be some rough surf and big waves at the beach. evening forecast, 79 to 74. a few lingering showers south. tomorrow morning, we'll have a temperature between 59 and 65 degrees. tomorrow's high temperature, back up into the mid 80s or so. so a little bit of rain for tomorrow morning heading in. and some hot stuff for the labor day weekend. 91 degrees on sunday. >> wow. >> probably feel like 95 and we have some storms too for the afternoon. >> turn that ac back on. >> thanks, veronica. well, in a single day, the september 11th attacks changed the course of our nation's history, as well as its psyche. >> a decade later, we are still coming to terms with what has come to be known as the war on terror. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel has exhaustively covered the wars in afghanistan and iraq, as well as every other major event in the middle east in the past decade. and tonight on msnbc, richard begins a two-part series on how the attacks changed america. of richard joins us now from new york. richard, you have ties to new york city, and you've essentially been in the middle east or in a war zone ever since you graduated from college. where were you 9/11, and what was that day like for you? >> i'm a native new yorker i was born here. but right after college, i was living overseas, and first i lived in egypt and i was living in jerusalem at the time of 9/11, and i watched the region change. and since then, i've seen the united states get involved in two land wars in the muslim world, deemployee more than 2 million troops by conservative estimates, spend over $1 trillion, lost 6,000 troops, 10 times that many injured. it has been a decade that has truly transformed americans' relationship with the muslim world. but also american culture. and its own concept of security. >> richard, you have lived for ten years, it seems, on the front lines, as have our soldiers. what is that like? what kind of toll does that take on one's psyche? >> well, oftentimes it can be exhausting, physically. but i've had a real privilege to see this -- these events unfolding in front of me. i've had great camera people to work with. and yes, i've spent a lot of time with the troops. and the troops have a bit of conflicted feelings, often, you'll find about war. they want to go to war, they said to be involved. that's what they signed up for the military to do. but deployment after deployment will and has taken enormous toll on their families, on their sense of the future. it can often feel like one deployment will just roll right into the next. and while almost to a man -- or to a woman, the soldiers would tell you that serving is their greatest accomplishment. but i think a lot of them as well would like to see an end to this decade-long string of deployment that we have seen. >> all right. richard, tell us a little about your msnbc documentary that you have been working on. it begins tonight at 9:00. >> i do half of it. rachel mad do you does the other half. i provide the field reporting and she does more analysis, interviews, looks at what's changed inside the united states. and it takes place over three hours, and we try and encapsulate what has happened to our nation and the world over this -- over this last decade. >> all right. richard engel. we enjoy your coverage and we look forward to this documentary. thanks so much for joining us. we appreciate it. >> i hope people will watch. thank you. part one premiers tonight at 9:00 on msnbc. coming up on "nbc nightly news" with brian williams, a new report reveals shocking statistics on the health of the 9/11 firefighters. that's at 7:00 right after news4 at 6:00. coming up next on news4 at 5:00, firefighters battle to save hundreds of homes from burning to the ground. burning to the ground. hurricane irene unearths when your eyes are smiling... you're smiling. and when they're laughing... you're laughing. be kind to your eyes... with transitions lenses. transitions adapt to changing light so you see your whole day comfortably... and conveniently while protecting your eyes from the sun. ask your eyecare professional which transitions lenses are right for you. we have some breaking news out of anne arundel county, where police are searching for a prison inmate who escaped from court today. he left the district court in annapolis today. these are his booking photos. he was last seen wearing a green prison shirt and pants. if you see him, police say you should not approach him, but call the police. wildfires continue to threaten homes across the southwest. record heat, drought and high winds have fueled flames in oklahoma city. one fire that had been contained on tuesday flared up again yesterday, forcing hundreds from their homes. at least 40 homes have now been destroyed. hundreds more are threatened. in north texas, some firefighters or fires, rather, have been burning for at least three days. texas is having its most severe drought in more than four decades. still ahead on news4 at 5:00, hurricane irene's wrath includes snakes. two people have been bitten. take a look at this surveillance video. if you know this man, you know a killer. and police want to hear from you. i'm pat collins. i'll have the story coming up. news4. plus, it's used as outdoor decorative lighting, but it can kill you. the kincaids live here. across the street, the padillas. ben and his family live here, too. ben's a re/max agent, and he's a big part of this community. there are lots of reasons why re/max agents average more sales than other agents. experience, certainly. but maybe it's also because they care about the markets they serve and the neighbors who rely on them. nobody sells more real estate than re/max. visit remax.com today. well, hurricane irene has brought out some unwelcome visitors. snakes. two people have actually been bitten already. derrick ward is live in the newsroom to explain why there has been an increase in snake sightings since the storm rolled through. >> reporter: seen any snakes lately? a lot of people, more than usual, have in our area of late. some encounters actually ended in bites, though most experts say it's better to respect that snake you might come across than it is to be frozen in fear. it may seem like they're poking their heads out of holes all over the place. one of our producers snapped this fellow right outside her door in upper marlboro. as for these big ones, you're more likely to be struck with a snowstorm than to encounter one of these. not so much for the copper head, one woman bitten by one in her backyard. we found a woodbridge resident who had seen one lately, as well. >> we've had quite a few coming through the yard, nesting around the pool. we've got some dachshunds, so we're very concerned about that. >> reporter: why all these certain enteen sightings? irene is flushing them out. sam had a passion for snakes for as long as he can remember. oliver, the corn snake, is a pet. but sam spends a lot of time at the pond near his home looking for snakes in their natural habitat. >> had there been a copper head and i had done what i had just done i probably would have been bitten. >> reporter: he uses aseries of specialized tools but you can improvise. >> put the bucket on the ground and sweep it in and the snake will be in the bucket. >> reporter: though he and most animal experts say you should almost always contact animal control or professional pet services should you encounter a snake. sam is planning on studying herp totaling in college and figures it will give him a leg up in helping us understand our legless neighbors. he has already made some interesting observations down at the pond. >> i found that after the hurricane and any major storm, all of these snakes -- like i'm talking like ten snakes will all pool in this one area and wait for fish to come downstream, so they basically can just wait for them to come by and snap them up. >> reporter: a hunting strategy. experts say snakes are also beginning to look for places to hyper naet for the winter. and that can be the busy season for those who trap them professionally. we'll talk to one of those people coming up in the 6:00 hour. live in the newsroom. now back to you. >> derrick ward, thank you. football player derek sheila was laid to rest today. he died sunday, six days after collapsing during practice. services were held at the prince of peace lutheran church in gaithersburg. derek's father says his son died from a head injury suffered during practice, and wants to see rule changes to make football safer. shealy was an honor student studying political science and history. it's been two years since his death, and police still don't know who killed fred davis. tonight davis's wife makes an emotional plea, hoping someone will come forward with information that could lead to an arrest. pattel collins has more. >> reporter: if this story sounds familiar, it's because we've told it before. first in september, 2009, when it happened. then again last year. but, you see, there's still no suspect. still no motive. someone is still getting away with the murder of fred davis. someone is getting away with murder. >> yeah. i have to live with this every day, and i wonder, what does that person think? they've had to live with it for two years two. >> reporter: that's mary davis, wife of fred davis. they married when she was 18, at the time of his death, they had been together 32 years. fred davis, a contractor, shot and killed in september 2009, as he was working in a building on forestville road. it happened around 11:00 in the morning. fred was upstairs in this building, remodelling a bathroom. he was talking on the phone with his brother. he was shot through the hand, through the phone, through the head. >> we worked this case the the last two years. i can't find any reason anybody would want to kill fred davis. >> reporter: do you think it might be a case of mistaken identity? >> yes, that's possible. >> reporter: it's a one-clue case. shadowy surveillance video shows the killer walking into the building and then running from the murder scene. fred davis, murdered. he was 53 years old. >> it's been rough? >> yeah. >> reporter: miss him? >> yeah. and i think about what happened. it's just terrible. >> reporter: look again at the security video. if you know this man, you know a killer. and police want to hear from you. i'm pat collins, news4, prince george's county. a $25,000 reward is being offered for anyone who comes forward with information that would lead to an arrest in this case. next on news4 at 5:00 tonight, they're decorative fire pots in your backyard, but they can extremely dangerous. tonight the massive recall of fuel gels. and a man got his foot stuck in a machine, and the only way out, well, it's a tough one. this survival story, and why he's talking about it with news4 those gel fuels used to light outdoor patio lights pose a deadly risk. the government is recalling 2 million gel fuel products after two deaths and a lot of injuries. the fuel is used to light outdoor fire pots and tiki torches. it's sold in plastic bottles and jugs. it's portable. the consumer product safety commission announced today, nine companies have issued a voluntary recall. the fuel gel can splatter on to other people and nearby objects and set them on fire. >> i urge consumers to stop using the gel fuel, as there is a serious and even deadly risk of flash fires and burns when they are added to an already burning pot. >> two people have died as a result of their burns. more than 30 people hospitalized. you can find the list of companies involved in this recall at nbcwashington.com. just search gel fuel. there is a town in el salvador where every year around this time young men set rags on fire, then hurl the fire balls at each other. check out this video from last night. the tradition of fire ball-hurling is done in remembrance of a huge volcanic eruption back in 1922. there's also an urban legend associated with fire-throwing. some people believe the hot laugha from the volcano was a local saint named geronimo. for the last ten years, this has been going on. no one has been seriously hurt. >> that's amazing. >> that's something. up next, it's back to school and now college students can save money on their textbooks. coming up in had sports, redskins starters share how much they expect to play this evening in the last preseason game okay, you're the good cop. i'm the bad cop. look, it's still a great time to refinance. listen up, buster! we're not gonna pay any closing fees. i'd do what she says, friend. i can't control her. well, it's the "no closing fee refinance," so we pick up the closing fees. oh, you're gonna pick up the closing fees? yes. on average, that's $3,300 at closing. [ both ] thirty-three hundred?! that's a lot of donuts. [ male announcer ] visit capital one bank today to refinance your mortgage, and we'll pick up, on average, $3,300 at closing. what's in your wallet? i'm good. students are back, blanketing our college campuses and many are busy shopping for books. >> and they're expensive, too, college textbooks. they can run a student hundreds of dollars. but unlike the old days, today there are savings to be had. and liz crenshaw joins us to tell us. >> reporter: college textbooks, yes, they can be very expensive. in fact, college students spend on average $700 on required course materials every your. but with different options to buy books, rent books, you can save big bucks. >> i have about ten books per class. so i was spending upwards of 600, $700 a semester. >> law school books are really expensive, $750 each. >> reporter: traditionally, student bought textbooks at the campus store. >> some i like to rent, some i like to buy. >> reporter: but today buying new is only one option for required reading. you can rent books and return them at the end of the semester. you can buy them used, buy or rent them online, and download books to, your ereader. >> if your book is online, it's sometimes cheaper than if you come to the book store to buy them. >> reporter: so how much can you save? take a look. we checked the price of a college psychology textbook at american university's book store. brand-new, it costs $150. the same book, brand-new, on amazon.com, $103. 31% cheaper than the book store. if we rent the same psych book from the book store, it costs about $75. rent it online at cheg.com, $40. that's a 47% price difference. this television textbook sells brand-new at the book store for $20. it's available for download to a kindle for only $10. a savings of 50%. >> it's cheaper, it's more effective, and it still gives you the same result. >> i've rented several books from the book store here at american and it's always been a good deal, because you can write in them and highlight them. as long as there aren't pages missing you can bring it back with no fee. is the national association of college stores says don't unwrap or write in the books until you're certain it's the exact version you need. know the refund policy, especially the deadline. keep all receipts. you'll need them for the returns. and be cautious when buying materials online from outside or unknown sources. >> ask the librarians and ask the other people and ask other students to see what is the most effective for that class. and that way, you can save the most money, and still be productive. >> i think the bottom line is depending upon which book it is and whether it's your major something you've got to take, right? sometimes the book just isn't that critical for you. >> big bucks, though. >> right. >> you can write in it and highlight in it, and then the rented one and turn it urn it b. and before you rent the next one, look at it and see -- for some people, if it's already highlighted, hello? it could be good. but no, they're spending a and this is interesting. a very good way. and when you download one of these textbooks to your kindle, people take notes, et cetera. so it doesn't work for everybody. but you don't have to do full-price all of the time at the book store. >> sounds great. >> yeah. >> thanks. let's find out about our forecast. is it going to be great, veronica? >> it is going to be well, pretty great. at least the first part of labor day weekend, now that we had a little bit of a taste of fall around the area with those cool mornings and the dry air. a little bit of humid air for the area and a little bit of heat. 82 degrees is the current temperature. we're at 82. damascus and clarksburg in montgomery county. 80, the temperature in falls church. riverdale at 78 degrees. forecast for 7:30. game time. redskins versus the buccaneers. forecast will be at a temperature of 77 degrees under a partly cloudy sky. and there will be a bit of a south wind, too. still blowing across the area. so a few stars when you look up tonight. for tomorrow morning, you will need your umbrella, because there will be some scattered showers around the area. all be it, light showers, 65, 67 and a little wind tomorrow. most of the rain will take place before noontime. we'll see a high tomorrow of 86 degrees. for the weekend, going up to 90 degrees both saturday and sunday. in fact, 91 we've got -- 91 posted for sunday. scattered storms and the possibility of severe thunderstorms for sunday. then 84, cooler, on monday, as the front moves through. and even on monday, there's a possibility of temperatures that could be falling from early afternoon to late afternoon. so a cool monday coming our way. back to you. >> thanks, veronica. >> come on, september. so what are we looking for tonight in this game with the buccaneers? >> a lot to look for wendy rieger and jim handly. just kidding. a lot to look for in the retrospect, got to look for the bubble players to stand out and some starters might play longer than you expect in the final preseason game. usually sometimes that's not the case. but in this game since they didn't have a very long training camp, they've got to get more reps. so that's what you've got to look for tonight. preseason finale in time for the redskins at home against the buccaneers. and for plenty of players, it will be their last game in a redskins' uniform. final cut day is saturday when the redskins must cut done their roster from 80 to 53. so tonight it is one last chance for the players on the bubble to impress mike shanahan and his coaching staff. >> you know, another game is part of the evaluation process. and you know, we're going to sit back and after the game is over with, you know, evaluate the top 53 so i can make a does good decision saturday and hopefully come up with our practice squad and get a feeling for that. but, you know, it's going to change. every day we're going to evaluate these guys and hopefully come up with the best players. >> and players that do not make the 53-monday roster will have the opportunity to earn a spot on the redskins' eight-man practice squad. we go live to fedex field. normally the starters don't play that much in the final preseason game. will that be different tonight? >> we thought it could be different, because mike shanahan said he was going to treat this like a third preseason game in which the starters played three quarters, but we knew that wasn't really going to be the case. and about an hour ago, there were 17, 18 regulars, most of them starters, who were doing some heavy running before the game. that generally means they're not going to be playing in the game. one of those guys is quarterback rex grossman. so it looks like john beck is going to get the starting quarterback, and a lot of starters sitting this one out. but there will be some regularers who are playing, and it always runs the gamut. some of the guys say, man, in the fourth preseason game, i don't want to play at all. some say i'll play whenever called upon. >> really, just go into the mind set you're going to play. don't know how much. and then you just adjust from there. you can't go into it thinking you're not going to play and then have to play and you're not going to be into it mentally. so go into it like you're going to play a regular game. and if they say you're playing five, ten, snaps and five, ten, hard snaps to do and then chill. >> the coach wants us to go, i'll be ready to go. and this is the last game, but it's been short all season. so it will be good to get in there and get a little bit of work. the hard thing about preseason is, in order to play a football game, it's a violent game. and if you think for a second, okay, you prepared yourself to play five plays or ten plays, you're setting yourself up. unless you know -- i've got to play. >> usually by this time, we've had a mini camp. by now you're so sick of it, ready for the regular season. i think it's totally different this year. it's the fourth preseason game, but we haven't been doing it that long. guys need more playing time. and i think that's where it will change a little bit around the league. >> that's redskins coordinator kyle shanahan. two players you saw in that sound bite tim hightower and armstrong not playing. jabbar gathery not playing either. armstrong could play in this game. but a lot of the starters, especially on offense, going to be sit south. and it is interesting that rex grossman not playing at all. but you have to remember, he played in three preseason games, and john beck only two. so i think if you're head coach mike shanahan, this makes sense, especially if he's going to be your starter to keep him sharp, playing a quarter or quarter and a half or so. >> if there is one guy tonight we should watch for, in your opinion, i know i'm going to look for a guy like key land williams. who is a guy that maybe some folks should watch out for, a guy trying to make the 53-man roster that has a lot to prove? >> i think he should watch terrence austin and take a look at niles paul. niles paul is a guy who if you're watching games, you haven't seen him do a lot. but the coaches absolutely love him. he's a receiver out of nebraska and i've been told he's an absolute lock to make this team. and they're just -- they're loaded in terms of young wide receivers. it's really a ballots for some of these guys, and this is a huge game for them tonight. >> a lot of good stuff. thanks so much. we'll check back at 6:00. >> all right. so it's redskins-buccaneers. you were tweeting there, weren't you? >> yes, i was. >> you were tweeting the information we just gave. >> i'm sorry, i wasn't. you have to follow me to know what i'm tweeting. >> tweet this. redskins-buccaneers, 7:30. >> all right. thanks. >> we knew that. thanks. coming up, a man's life-saving decision when his foot was trapped a colorado man is sharing his story of survival today after he cut off his toes when his foot was trapped beneath a truck trailer. >> john hut was alone in the forest when it all happened and he feared he would die if he didn't act quickly. >> miguel almaguer reports. >> my foot was right there. >> reporter: john hut was standing on top of his truck, unloading his rear trailer, when it happened. >> and that thing crushed right down on it. >> reporter: his right foot suddenly became pinned beneath six tons of metal. >> because it hurt like hell. >> reporter: alone, for 30 minutes, nobody could hear his calls for help. hut couldn't move his foot. >> like being in a bear trap. >> reporter: but he was able to reach his pocketknife. worried he would black out, hut made a dramatic decision. >> figured, that was my only way of getting out of that deal alive. >> reporter: his pocketknife would become a saw. >> i looked it over. i thought, well, you better cut this thing off. >> reporter: hut began to cut, toe by toe. >> gritting my teeth, and nobody i had to get it done. >> reporter: he sliced through bone, nerves and tendons. >> and i cut until i couldn't take it anymore. and then i would stop and take a breath or two. >> reporter: by the time he reached his last toe, the big toe, hut's sharp blade had gone dull. >> it would twitch a little bit so when i cut into that big toe, the nerves were still pretty lively. >> reporter: ten excruciating minutes later, it was all over. the amputation was complete. >> it was a pretty good knife. >> reporter: what was left of his foot was finally free. >> of all the things to lose, i think your toes are probably some of the most expendable. >> reporter: hobbled, hut was able to stop the bleeding, but the 61-year-old wouldn't drive away until his boot was by his side. >> got my boot with my toes in it, got in the semi. and headed down out of that country. >> reporter: in his cab, hut had a cell phone, but no service. he would drive 25 miles before he could call for help. at the hospital, his wife margaret would finally reach him. >> first words out of his mouth were, "well, they're still gone." >> reporter: john hut lost some of his foot, but none of his humor. doctors may not have been able to save his toes, but hut is certain he saved his own life. >> you don't regret it one bit. >> not one bit. not one iota. >> wendy, you can turn back now. i hope you're not eating dinner at home, folks. >> well, that was a tough one. thank you for watching news4 at 5:00. all the way to the bitter end. >> stay right there. news4 at 6:00 starts right now. you're watching nbc 4, washington's news leader. now, live in hd, this is news4 at 6:00. tonight, d.c. police officers who were sworn to protect and serve have been accused of lying about witnessing a murder, and attacking members of the transgender community. those are just some of the accusations building up in case after case. now the city's top cops are cracking down. >> we're very aggressive about weeding out dirty cops. good evening, i'm dorene gentzler. >> and jim vance. the d.c. police department is coming under pressure with 23 police officers charged so far with serious crimes, including domestic abuse and murder. last year, 17 officers faced