Good morning. Im pat lawson news. We start on capitol hill where we are keeping a close eye on republican efforts in the house to repeal and replace the Affordable Care act. Procedural votes and the date related to the bill is happening right now. The final vote is expected to begin about 1 30. Todays vote comes after weeks of negotiations by Republican Leaders to get a majority of their members to back that bill. And its a sign that leaders have the numbers to pass it. Weve broken down the key changes to the plan. So here are four things to know about it. It aims to protect people with preexisting conditions. Yesterday house members added the measure to get more lawmakers on board. Itll cost 8 billion. States would be able to opt out of the requirement that ensurers cover benefits like maternity care, Mental Health care, and hospitalizations. States that do opt out could charge people with preexisting conditions much more. Those folks would go into high Risk Insurance pools. And the billou subsidies based on income with tax credits based on age. This would help people buy insurance in the individual marketplace. If the house passes the bill today, it would then be sent on to the senate. Its unlikely the current house bill would pass the upper chambers though. House members voting expect senators to make significant changes. Were going to take you live to the white house rose garden. Thats where President Trump is taking part in a national day of prayer event. Hes also expected to sign a new executive order on religious freedom. The order aims to weaken a rarely enforced irs rule threatening the loss of tax exempt status for religious organizations that endorse political candidates. All right. Lets move on to our weather. There is a lot to talk about after a chilly morning. Yeah. Storm team 4 is expecting heavy rain late tonight. Our meteorologist joins us now with the latest. We could be seeing over an inch by the time the day is over tomorrow, but in the Morning Hours, thats when we expect the heaviest rain. So here it all is back off to the west. Its heading in this direction. Its not going to be here today, but it will be here through the morning commute tomorrow. So thats why we have a weather alert out for tomorrow morning. Temperatures currently though, ahead of all of this rain, were still cool. Low 60s for the most part. Overcast skies developing. And as we go through the day today, overcast skies by 5 00 p. M. , still dry, 67 degrees. 10 00 p. M. , showers moving in mostly west of the district, 62. Then by 6 00 a. M. Tomorrow morning, heavy rain will be around the area. So the morning drive not looking very good. But we will be seeing some improvements later in the afternoon. Coming up, ill show you closer look at the timing of this plus a cooler weekend forecast. Thats straight ahead. All right. Thank you, shooe in a. Right now prisoner who was missing for days in Howard County is back in police custody. And this morning, were getting new information about how they tracked david watson to a draina megan mcgraph is life in justice where all of this came to a head last night, megan. Reporter well, good morning. David watson slipped out of his shackles and escaped during a transport last friday. And after six days, the search is now over. Hes behind bipartisans and hes talking to investigator behind bars and hes telling investigators how he was able to stay hidden for so long. A new picture of david watson taken after his arrest last night. And new information about how he eluded police for days. This is the narrow Drainage Pipe off dorsey run road where watson was found. A Tactical Team spotted him at around 9 30 last night. After a minor struggle, he was taken into custody. Watson has been cooperating with police. He told investigators that he made use of the abundant Drainage Pipes in the area. And never lingered too long in one place. It appears though from the conversations had been moving back and forth continuingly. He did not bed down for long periods of time. He was moving back and forth. Reporter another had Packing Material and other i ams that watson used to bed down. As for food he said hed been eating out of trash cans. And also Drinking Water from puddles. Reporter and watson apparently also took advantage of a storage shed in the area. He tells investigators that he got clothing from there. He also say thes that the escape was not prethought out. That he actually thought to do it when he was in the middle of that transport. Investigators dont believe that anybody helped him. Now david watson has been convicted of attempted murder. Hes serving a 100 year sentence in delaware. And he will now be taken back to delaware at this point, but sent via a maximum security transport. Still awaiting word on when that transport will actually happen. Back to you all. Thank you. For the second time this week, students a at local university are dealing with an act of hate. University of maryland Campus Police say a noose was found hanging in the kitchen of the fraternity house. The incident happened last thursday. University president wallace lowe called the act, quote, despicable. Campus police are investigating this as a hate incident. This morning, police at a American University are still searching for whomever was responsible for an active hate on its campus. On monday, somebody hung bananas from nooses references the Alpha Kappa Sorority and placed them around campus. Justin finch has more on the interview with the student at the center of it all. Reporter Student Government president taylor dumps is finding support among members of congress who also happen to be part of her sorority. A perceived target of the on campus hate crime. Today they will Stay Together to denounce it. Speaking with news 4s wendy rooeger, dumpson says she is doing well and says helping au foster better on campus cultural relations is part of why she ran for student body president , becoming the first black woman elected to that post. And then her shocking first day, those nooses and bananas found on campus with the letters aka on them. Thought to stand for the historically black sorority. The member is set to stand side by side with aka members to condemn this act of hate. Now under fbi investigation. And students thinking about leaving au, dumps is asking them to reconsider. As a student who their freshman year wanted to transfer, i can see this on a personal and real level. Staying is one of the best decisions i ever made because i think at the end of the day, going through the adversity i faced in the past year molded me into the person i am and the leader i am becoming. And i wouldnt wish this any other place. I dont think i would be who i am right now. Reportend this hate crime is set for this afternoon. Meantime, the search continues for that person of interest in this case. We have Surveillance Video of that person on our nbc washington app. As well as details about the investigation. Back into you. All right, justin, thank you. This morning, Montgomery CountySchool Resource officers getting the credit for stopping a possible attack. The officer spotted 18yearold march row alvarado leaving einstein high school. He stopped the student and then found a police rifle and loaded magazines in his trunk. Police later learned the car was stolen. And it turns out the gun was also stolen from an unmarked Rockville Police cruiser. Busy families may soon no longer need to hustle in between different afterschool activities. Leaders with boy scouts of america are meeting today in texas to discuss whether to allow girls to become members. For all of its 107 years, the organization has only had boys as members. The organization has been on t by accepting transgender people into its programs in january. Shortly after lifting its ban on gay scout leaders. A warning from google, the spam messages gmail users need to be on the lookout for and what to do if you find one. And this summer, could be one of the worst tick seasons weve ever seen. This has Health Experts concerned about a virus you may never have heard about. Like lyme disease, it is spread also by ticks. What you need to know before you go outdoors for a hike or to mow the lawn. We are working to learn the condition of a woman who was apparently set on fire at a motel. This is video taken at the scene after dc Police Arrived around 9 00 last night. The motel is on Fourth Street northeast near the university. Witnesses say the woman was set on fire by a man in a room at the motel. Were told he ran off, but the motel does have Security Camera footage. We dont know the relationship between the two, but it appears to have been a case of domestic violence. Wed like to remind you that nbc 4s committed to raising awareness about domestic violence. You can find local resources in our nbc washington app through our safe at home campaign. New this morning, weve learned that the side of th history will soon feature a permanent memorial. 49 people were killed last year in the pulse nightclub in orlando, florida. And this morning, the owner announced the future plans for the memorial thats far beyond just one building. Community grants to care for the survivors and victims families and endow scholarships for each of the 49 angels and eventually a museum showcasing historic artifacts and stories from the events. Last year she announced she would not sell the club to the city despite a multimillion dollar offer. One Pulse Foundation adds vise ri board will oversee the memorial complex. No date for an opening has been announced yet. Be really careful before you open your email. Theres a sophisticated scam out there targeting accounts right now. Its as someone shared a document with google on google doc with you, but when you open up the link, you let in a bug that steals your entire email the scam works and what to do about it. Reporter it looks innocent enough. An email inviting you to view a google document from a trusted contact. But when you click the phony document, it gives hackers access to your gmail account. Phishing is a common tactic. They went a step further, sending a worm out to your contacts, reproducing itself hundreds of times with just one click. He got the email on his smart phone. This has me label the more on edge. Im surprised how many people were affected. Smart people. Vigilant people. Reporter of more than a billion gmail users, google says about a million were affected. Among the target, u. S. Senate staffers who were instructed wednesday to delete the message and not click on the link. For those who did click, scammers were able to harvest full email histories, including all the personal data sent or received in gmail. Hackers could also reset passwords for online in email is a mess and is not getting any better. And people are only getting more sophisticated at hacking. Reporter in a statement, google added, we were able to stop the campaign within approximately one hour. While Contact Information was accessed and used by the campaign, our investigations show that no other data was exposed. Experts say although google issued a quick fix, hackers have proven theres a new strategy as effective and lucrative. User names and pass words are being sold all over the dark web. And you can package a bunch and buy and sell them for not that much money. That was jolene kent reporting. Now if youve gotten this email and you clicked on the link, go into your settings and revoke access from google docs and change your password. Which is good advice any time. Military veterans sounded off last night at a town hall about problems in d. C. s va hospital. This comes after a few weeks after a report from the Inspector General that rooms and missing supplies at the facility. And while some vets had good things to say about the center, others called for change. Because i want to show what kind of bandage was put on the port of the iv port on my husbands arm. This is just unbelievable. You dont this to veterans. New hospital director says changes have got to be made. Va secretary david testified before congress yesterday and vowed to improve services at the va. One in five americans spend their money on vitamin d supplements believing that itll improve their health. Reporter dr. John torres looks into the role of vitamin d supplements and just how well they actually work. Reporter Heather Gillis is spending more times outdoors these days. She says she needs that sunshine, a vital source of vitamin d and she start she was feeling weak and in a recent blood test revealed a vitamin d deficiency. I started to feel really run down and lethargic. And i just sort of i lacked the energy i usually have. Reporter more than 780 million americans take supplements. Theyre frovn prevent osteopro sis which heather does not have but doctors say vitamin ds role in helping cure other ailments is still not clear. It certainly works for bones. Theres no question that its critical to protect you against fractures. Its role in the prevention of cancer or Heart Disease is still being explored. Reporter another concern, rates of testing for vitamin d deficiencies are skyrocketing. Results may lead to the unnecessary use of vitamin d supplements. Too many people are getting tested too frequently. I think its reasonable if youre in your 40s to have one test to verify that youre okay. Reporter so who should be generally people with darker skin, those at risk for osteopro sis and those with digestive disorders. Heather is also making healthier lifestyle choices to add vitamin d through foods like oily fish, cereals, milk, and juice. Theres a lot of things that you have to think about to be a complete person. Well its going to be a terrible year for ticks. Thats the warning from Health Professionals this year. And this lyme disease werent troubling enough, a more serious tickbourn disease may be emerging. The virus is new. People are starting to hear about that has more serious consequences. The virus can cause inflammation in the brain which leads to death or permanent disability in 60 of the cases. Historic flooding in the midwest is far from over this morning. Incredible new video coming in now from the hardest hit area. The first Family Planning their move to d. C. Coming up, were going to tell you what the president said about where his son will be attending school nexyear. T fios is not cable. Were wired differently. Maybe thats why weve been ranked highest in Customer Satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. And now you can love fios too. Get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. All for 79. 99 per month onlinefor the first year with a twoyear agreement. Its the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. Cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of their download speeds. Plus get hbo for a year and free multiroom dvr service for two years. And Verizon Wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, datafree. Get the best. Go to getfios. Com stronger is blasting without risking her bones. Its training her good cells. To fight the bad guys. Stronger is less pain. New hope. More fight. Its doing everything in your power. And everything in ours. Stronger, is changing even faster than they do. Because we dont just want your kids to grow up. We want them to grow up stronger. This just shocking video we have to tell you about. Thankfully serve okay here. This is a bus that drove into this high water in louisiana and scenes like this and more are playing out across several towns. Nbcs blake mccoy shows us the massive impact this morning. Reporter this morning in parts of the midwest and south, torrential rain is adding to already record flooding. Down river water surging through a levy breach northeast of little rock. Officials warning its a life threatening situation. The black river ten feet above flood stage. National guard troops now on alert. 6400 nearby residents told to seek higher ground. This couple lets their house monday. Its cold. Its raining. Its bad. Id like to go home. Its going to get stuck. Reporter this terrifying scene in louisiana as a school bus with kids inside comes precariously close to tipping over. The kids all rescued and okay this morning. Everywhere you look, water. All over, stories of misery. Stacy robinsons basement i havent had much sleep. Ive set my alarm for every 45 minutes to wake up and go out and check the road to see how far its come up. Im wanting this rain to stop. You know, i hate this. Reporter the water here is already starting to recede. And residents could be let back into their homes some time in the next 24 hours. Black mccoy, nbc news, valley park, missouri. Turning now to our weather. Are we looking at possible flooding from all the rain were expecting . There is a chance with the heavy rain tomorrow morning that we could see some localized flooding. This should be moving through fairly quickly though. Heavy rain for the morning commute tomorrow. Its not going to be fun tomorrow morning as youre driving, heavy rain will be here i think before the morning commute starts and through most of it. And again, some of that rain will be heavy at times. Could be lowering visibility. Take your time tomorrow morning, grab the umbrella before you head ou probably needed a light jacket this morning. Tomorrow youre going to switch it out. Today though, more clouds are going to keep moving in. Rain overnight. Weather alert tomorrow morning because of the rain i just mentioned, but a cooler weekend. So if you like the warm weekend last weekend, well, its going to be very different as we go through this saturday and sunday. Currently 62 degrees. The district, you see those overcast skies. Breezy east wind at 14 miles an hour. Temperatures arent going to get very warm today either. Well be in about the mid to upper 60s this afternoon. 63 mt. Frederick and clinton. If youre walking a dog today. At least itll be nice and dry. We dont expect the rain until overnight. Heres nelson available for adoption. Hes actually from puerto rico believe it or not. By 4 00 p. M. This afternoon, 67 degrees overcast skies, 7 00 p. M. , 63. Still overcast, but still dry. Theres the rain off to the west. We have a big weather system thatll be moving through. And yes, unfortunately the timing will be putting it here tomorrow morning. Were dry right now. The closest rain is off near ohio. And the clouds are going to keep moving in ahead of it. Again, youll notice that today, but tomorrow morning, heavy rain will be around early. Here is future weather, so now we get towards 9 00 p. M. The clouds are here, rain off to the west right down 81 most likely by that time. Then well see that heavy rain moving in by about 5 00 in the morning. The reds, orangings, yellows showing you the heaviest rain around the beltway. Basically all over. Then by the afternoon, some improvements could still see a few showers. Then saturday and we have another round of showers by saturday afternoon. And the weekend is going to be cooler with that. So tomorrow, that weather alerts out for the morning. Heavy rain and big improvements as we get closer to lunchtime. Look at the weekend though. Mid to low 60s. Well take a look at your extended forecast coming up. Thank you. Star wars lovers, you probably already know, but we just have to say, may the fourth be with you. Its may star wars holiday and a lot are getting on board. So are Prince William county police. They tweeted saying, troopers are riding speeders today. Some of them simply shared the phrase may the force be with you. Entertainment weekly gave a little tribute to Carrie Fisher in the process. And we know you canter that, but the tonight show with jimmy fallon pulled together clips from all of the different movies. Sounds like theyre singing the song all star by smashmouth. Well making sure your next flight is safe and comfy, lawmakers are again questioning Airline Execs this morning. The hearing comes as a Major Carrier announces big changes that are likely to make you feel a little more cramped. And royal retirement. Prince phillip, the husband of Queen Elizabeth makes a big announcement that has social media followers on high alert today. Hey allergy muddlers are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool . Try zyrtec® zyrtec® starts working hard at hour one and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. Stick with zyrtec®. Muddle no more®. Try rhinocort® allergy spray for powerful nasal allergy relief. Youre watch, news 4 midday. Hes the one who has always been by Queen Elizabeths side. But this morning, weve learned Prince Phillip is stepping aside from his public role. Hes retiring at the end of this summer. Nbcs kiir simmons shows us the importance influence the duke has had. Reporter making the historic announcement this morning, Prince Phillip, the single most important person in the queens life standing down from royal duties. At 95, he will no longer carry out Public Engagement this year. The queen in full support. Hes retiring. I think hell be attending major royal events, but no 9 00 to 5 00 anymore. Reporter this is how the world knows him. Loyal companion, always two steps behind the queen. The queen is going to be greatly moved and affected because Prince Phillip has been by her side. Reporter rumors started when the british tabloid reporting that a highly unusual emergency meeting was called at Buckingham Palace this morning. For all senior royal staff members. Initially the palace refused to reveal what the meeting was about. Setting off a fire storm of speculation. Media quickly gathering outside the palace. Prince phillip was seen enjoying himself just yesterday attending an event in london. Both royals enjoying the day at the zoo last month. Today, taken its toll. Out of the hospital a few times. And royal duties can be physically demanding. The palace quick to underscore the queen will carry out her engagements as usual. This will be viewed as a generational change. We know the queen will never abdicate, but over time, may well step back more and more from duties. I think well see more from Prince William and well miss Prince Phillip will miss perhaps his often politically incorrect jokes. An event yesterday, he told people youre about to witness the worlds most experienced plaque unveiler. Back to you. Lawmakers are demanding answers from airline executives. This time the Senate Committee is asking the question to united president scott kirby. United has been under a lot of pressure to make changes after a passenger was dragged off a flight to make room for crew members. Need to ask yourselves as providers, are you prioritizing those shareholder several lawmakers introduced bills to change the way airlines handle overcrowding situations. So far, none have come to a vote yet. And just when you thought Airline Seats couldnt get anymore uncomfortable, the nations Largest Airline is planning to reduce leg room by as much as two inches in the economy cabin. Get cozy with your neighbors, folks. American Airlines Says the new design will be felt in its new 737 max jets. The change is meant to bring a bit more comfort to wallets by adding more seats. And to help offset rising employee wages. Our crowded local schools are increasingly congested on the outside too. A news 4 iteam investigation found the local High School Parking crunch is leading for rule breaking and potential profits for folks with homes nearby. Scott macfarlane has the story. Reporter parking is difficult to come back at some schools. Its limited to only seniors in some cases. To those with high gpas and those willing to spend 75 a year for the parking passes. A semester long investigation by the news 4 iteam found the end result is creative parking in some of the closest neighborhoods. Including students violating no parking signs on the nearby streets. Some parking in ret stricted permit parking only spaces which are meant for nearby homeowners. And near churchill high, we found this, private driveways looking more like parking lots. No comment from the home owners, but county investigators told the iteam it found some renting the spaces to students which the county says is a violation. Its a neighborhood. And to violate that brings in additional cars, and its impactful. If pedestrian safety, childrens safety, pet safety. Reporter coming up tonight our iteam investigation, whats being done to solve this parking crunch. And what happens to the students d for now, scott mcfarlan, news 4 iteam. Melania and barron trump are closer to joining the president at the white house. The president says his son has been admitted to a school here in washington and is expected to start at the beginning of the next school year. The first lady and son are living in new york city until the end of the school year. In an interview with bloomberg news, the president didnt name the school, but he did call it, quote, a good school. And you can bet a lot of parents are doing a lot of speculating this morning. News 4 is going sugarfree all this week to highlight the impact sugar has on your health. Now were just passed the halfway mark of our week long challenge. Thats right. Well for pat collins, this has become a lot more just like a lifestyle, lifestyle change and those changes, they are paying off. Reporter im pat collins, and this is my lunch. Ill show you whats inside in a minute, but first, ive got to te people who go off sugar for just one week . Amateurs. Ive been off it for two months. Ive lost 20 pounds. Were good friends, arent we . Let me show you something. This is my belt. This is pat collins in february. This is pat collins now. 20 pounds ive lost, but i didnt do it by myself. I had some help. I want you to meet janet. Shes my conscience of calories. Shes the one who taught me that sugar is the devil. What are four things you should never, ever do to stay away from sugar . Skip meals because then your blood sugar level will drop and youll be starving. Two, avoid all carbohydrates. Again, your body wont be balanced. Some people say im never going to eat brea three, never avoid fresh fruits and vegetables. And four, never drink excessive artificially sweetened items. Reporter and now for my lunch. 100 calorie bag of popcorn. Protein bar. Less than four grams of sugar. I dont think of meat anymore. I think of protein. This is turkeyflavored protein. A cheese stick. A really good snack. And a big apple. And in in my off hours, i dont get in the same zip code as beer. Why i had some over the weekend, but no beer. Having craft without beer is like having Peanut Butter without jelly. But i dont do that anymore either. Boy. I give him kudo go hand in hand. Whats turkey flavored protein . Turkey wraps. Yes. Well you can hear more from pats nutritionist on the nbc washington app. And tomorrow morning on news 4 today, nutritionist will join us live to answer any of your questions that you may have about going sugarfree. Right now is a really good time to get outside, enjoy an afternoon walk or a jog. Yes. Enjoy it because its going to change. Tonight, we are back with when to expect the big change to arrive. Fios is not cable. Were wired differently. Maybe thats why weve been ranked highest in Customer Satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. And now you can love fios too. Get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. All for 79. 99 per month onlinefor the first year with a twoyear agreement. Its the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. Cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of their download speeds. Plus get hbo for a year and free multiroom dvr service for two years. And Verizon Wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, datafree. Get the best. Go to getfios. Com driven away. He scores. All right. Thats it. One more loss and theyre done. There is a lot of pressure on the capitals to come back. They hockey this year, but theyre losing in their playoff series against the penguins right now. 31. Theyre going to have advantage in the next game this weekend at the verizon center. All right. And the wizards hoping that coming home will make a difference for them. Yeah, theyre playing the celtics downtown tonight. John wall has been really good in the series, but Isaiah Thomas has been better. The wizards lost games one and two. They really could use a win tonight. Oh yeah. And, we should have some good weather to stay indoors and just watch the game. Yeah, watch them. Root them on. I have faith though. We saw the super bowl, patriots came back like they did. I have faith in the capitals. Okay. I do. Ill be watching with my fingers crossed. As we go through the day today, yes, were watching rain approaching. Four things you need to know. We have a weather alert out for tomorrow. This is going to be tomorrow morning. That is the timing for this weather alert. Keep in mind youll keep yourself extra time out there. Visibility lowering especially when we see the heavy showers moving in. Saturday showers are also in the forecast unfortunately and the weekend will be remarkably cooler. Its not going to be anything like it was last week. Were going to be in the mid to low 60s. Right now low 60s, 62 in the district. Quantico, 64, 63 frederick. If youre dining out today. Were going to stay dry. That is the good news, but you will notice all of these clouds around. 54 degrees by lunch time. Happy hour, 67. Overcast skies. Even by dinner time. That vain going to hold off until later tonight and close to midnight. Heres a look at satellite and radar. You see the clouds now building in. We have even more off to our west. Now look at all of that rain. We have a lot of heavy rain to the west and southwest. And were going to see that early tomorrow morning. So heres future weather. We go through this afternoon, you notice all of those clouds moving in overcast by 10 00 p. M. Most of the rain should be around the 81 by 10 00 p. M. Then we see that move in early tomorrow morning, so for the morning commute, this is now 5 00 a. M. , we will be seeing periods of heavy rainfall. I think well be seeing improvements by lunchtime in the afternoon. Now we go into saturday, we could also be seeing another round of scattered showers. Mostly saturday afternoon. So its also going to be a clear weekend with that. Tomorrow, once the morning rain starts to taper off and we see the improvements, mid70s, breezy, mid60s though saturday. Low 60s on sunday. And mostly cloudy. Next week though, look at this cool pattern setting up. We dont have any 70s or 80s in the forecast after the weekend. Guys. All right. Thanks. Right now theres a new campaign being launched to raise funds in honor of nba sideline reporter craig. After the break, meet craigs si doe and hear how she is continuing his fight against the third leading cause o cancerf fios is not cable. Were wired differently. Maybe thats why weve been ranked highest in Customer Satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. Get 150 meg internet, tv and phone. All for 79. 99 per month online, for the first year with a twoyear agreement. Its the only internet with equal upload and download speeds. Cable only offers upload speeds that are a fraction of their download speeds. Plus get hbo for a year and free multiroom dvr service for two years. And Verizon Wireless customers can stream tv on the fios mobile app, datafree. Get the best. Go to getfios. Com its been almost three years since the death of robin williams, but his fans will have a chance to see the late comedian play one last role. His british scifi film absolutely anything will be released here in the u. S. Williams doesnt actually appear on screen in it, but lends his famous voice to a talking dog. The film hits theaters may 12th. News for your health, it hits people of all ages. Leukemia is the most common here with more on the fight against blood cancers is news 4s reporter. Approximately every three minutes a person in the United States is diagnosed with a blood cancer. Every nine minutes, someone dies from it. Craig sager, the nba sideline reporter was diagnosed with leukemia in 2014 and died last year. He and his wife stacy founded the foundation to raise funds for Blood Cancer Research. Stacy sager joins us along with a doctor from the lymphoma society. Thanks for being here today. First of all, tell us about saiger strong and the effort to raise awareness. Sager strong primary object sieve to fund aml research. He was diagnosed back in 2014. And our whole objective is to Fund Research and clinical trials. It was launched in october. And the two collaborations have the exact same goal and it just makes sense that the natural transition to partner together. And how important would this have been to craig . This would have been mean so much to him to carry on his legacy and carry on his whole goal was not for any other patient or family to endure the pain and suffering that we have gone through the last three years. So, i know hed be proud. For sure. Doctor, many of the patients now use some of this research. Tell us about some of the findings and the break throughs that can help families like stacys. Yes. Well many, many break throughs. And what stacy and i both know is that finding a cure for cancer is a team sport. Uhhuh. And weve teamed up with stacy and the Sager Strong Foundation to make that happen. Many new advances coming forward for many of the blood cancers. New treatments that involve the patients own immune system to find and attack the cancer. New and leave the good cells of the body alone. So patients can avoid chemotherapy. But acute mie loid leukemia, the disease that took craig has been stubborn. We have this initiative together called beat aml to make advances in treating that disease. Are most blood cancers curable and treatable . Can you talk about that . So weve again weve made great progress in treating the blood cancers. Id like to think of Blood Cancer Research as the tip of the spear. Weve been able to make more progress more quickly. Were using Precision Medicine the right drug for the right patient at the right time. Its if you will, its in the dna to do that. So weve made great progress, but no cures yet. No real cures. I believe theyre coming and theyre coming soon. But we need to keep the effort up to make it happen. And stacy, for people watching who want to help and get involved, what can they do . Absolutely. You know, both have Team Building awareness, go on als. Org and join a team and dr. Luke can talk about that a little bit more. Go to sager strong and donate there as well. Its a collaboration of both its a all going to the same goal. So either one, either organization we have the same goal which is beat aml. What a great way to carry on his life and legacy. Stacy sager, thanks so much for being here today. Thank you for having us. After the break, an adoption story involving one of the countrys most famous musical families. And you can catch matt lauer on ellen this afternoon. See if the two are planning more pranks for each other. Ellen airs week days at 3 00 here on nbc 4. And then stick and for news 4 at 4 00. Wedding bells are ringing for msnbcs morning anchors. Morning joanne chors. Joe and mika are engaged. Scarborough proposed while they were away on vacation. Rumors started swirling after he addressed their relationship in an interview with the Hollywood Reporter last month. Msnbc confirmed their engagement early this morning. Carolyn clark grew up listening to gNat King Cole but never knew the man with the signature voice was her biological grandfather. Barbara harris sont presented award for case. The centers for Adoption Services right here in washington. Barbara then invited clark to tell the story of how she put the pieces to figure out the truth about her family. And that is something that is simply unforgettable. Reporter she was born in new york city on Christmas Day 1964. Adopted at three days old by teachers ver in a and robert clark. They loved her dearly. And she them. Growing up, they had shared what they knew about her birth mother. I knew she had been sent to new york sort of, you know, hidden away so that people wouldnt know she was pregnant. Reporter Carolyn Clark grew up in an apartment filled with books and music. Especially that of her dads favorite. The late, great, gNat King Cole. I knew every lyric to every song, even the obscure ones. Reporter she later actually by chance his twins, casey and temalin. She met through her boyfriend in massachusetts. We went to a party and my boyfriend introduced noid all of his friends there. One of his friends, his best friends girlfriend actually was emalin cole. Reporter when natalie cole was performing in boston, she was invited to go. And they stayed with the mom who had an apartment there. She seemed to take a special curiosity in me. Knew i was born on Christmas Day, she asked about that. Reporter carolyn had seen old pictures of maria and Nat King Cole. Their daughters cookie and natalie often with them, the photo showed the privileged life his talent afforded them. Nat king cole was like one of the very first true crossover artists. I mean he could just across all racial lines and globally. Reporter his music remained a favorite for carolyn even after she grew up, married, and when my children were song, i used to sing them to sleep with Nat King Cole songs. Reporter concerns for her unborn children made her anxious to know more about her own dna. She sought medical history from the agency from which she was adopted. There were no significant medical issues, but they did give her some social history of the birth mother. The thing that stuck with me the most was that the description of her family at the time i was born. They were clearly wealthy people. Reporter she had left thinking if there had been a black family in those days with all of that wealth, she could surely find them by going through old copies of ebony magazine. And im cranking on this family because its so unique and boom. It just hits me. I know these people. I know exactly who it is. Reporter she called her parents ver in a and robert clarking to ask their advice. Her mother encouraged her to go forward. And so ul up the phone and i called cookie. Reporter prepared for rejection, she braced herself to say she was sorry for the mistake. Reporter and before i could say it, she cut me off. And she said, this means everything to me. Reporter Nat King Cole never knew his granddaughter. He died at 45 years old. Less than two months after her birth. The devastation for cookie is that she gave me up largely to protect the relationship of her father. Who then died. So theres no reputation to protect. And it was too late to go back from it. Carolyn clark is out with a book about her life and family and it is called postcards from cookie. Barbara will have more of this unforgettable reunion between a woman and her long lost birth family tonight on news 4 at 6 00. What an incredible story. Oh yes. I cant wait to see it. Well our weather is going to be pretty incredibly w well right now we just have the clouds moving in. So not for the rest of the day, but tomorrow morning, yes, at least were going to be nice and dry. Theres all of that rain moving in as we go into tomorrow. I want to show you though quickly, we have a flood watch that just got issued. This includes the county. Mostly so the south and west of loudoun county, includes part of the blue ridge mountain. Thats a flood watch for tomorrow morning through noon tomorrow because of the heavy rain that we expect to be moving in. So will be here for the morning drive, weather alert is out for the Morning Hours because of it. Well start to see things improving through the afternoon. Then saturday, its going to be cooler, mid60s with a chance for afternoon showers. Low 60s on sunday. So your weekend after tomorrows heavy rain is really going cool down quite a bit. And we really stay in that cool pattern through all of next week, guys. All right. Thanks. And thank you, thats news 4 midday. Thanks for being with us. Were back on the air this afternoon first at 4 00. Remember get news and weather updates any time with the nbc washington app. Have a great day and then well see you stronand restoringding a a fathers faith. Its standing tall after one surgery. Not six. Stronger is being a typical kid. Despite a rare disorder. Stronger is finding it earlier. And coming home sooner. Stronger is seeking answers. And not giving up, until you find them. Because we dont just want your kids to grow up. We want them to grow up stronger. Stand by, everyone. Were live in five, four, three, two, one. It is may. Prom season is in full swing, and kit, get this the big trend this year, something i think were fans of. Look at these outfits. This is unbelievable. Teens are wearing their moms dresses, and sometimes their grandmothers prom dresses . I love that. I dont think i have my prom dresses anymore. First of all, they look great. These are cute ones. There is a big difference though when you talk about some of the prom dresses that weve seen. Or that we wore wait until you see ours. Some of these are so cute. These are