treet friends. ( elmo giggles ) ♪ big and small! there's fun for all! ♪ flash flood watch. a chance of moderate to heavy rain. tornado damage. the national weather service is releasinging more information about tornadoes that hit parts our area on friday. and traffic jam. concert-goers stuck on the road as paul mccartney took the stage. good morning and welcome to "news 4 today." it's sunday, august 2nd, 2009. i'm keith garvin. we begin with the possibility of thunderstorm and heavy rain today. let's go up to steve villanueva with a look at the heavy rain. what have you got. >> it looks like the front is rain, so much so that we do have a flash flood in effect at 2:00 this afternoon for most of maryland. right now it's 72 degrees. we're starting off on the warm side. temperatures will not be as high as yesterday with lower to mid 80s for this afternoon. we're dry at the moment, even though we had a thunderstorm overnight. off to the west you can see the leading edge of the rain. this will be sliding in to the region a little later on today. in fact, it's pushing through the shenandoah valley. for the afternoon, temperatures lower and mid 80s. possibly even some severe weather east of the district, so something that we'll watch. 83 degrees. monday, tuesday, looking much better. looks like the front is going to slide offshore. we're going to have lots of sunshine and improving weather. again, local heavy rain. back to you. the national weather service say two tornadoes hit frederick, maryland, ott friday. they say one had top speeds of 90 to 100 miles per hour, the other 100 to 110 miles per hour. one hit in ijamsville. peolicre a wanobnm r aho suspectsehe suscts reid tsoue herht outside hergpr. si apartment. she obliged and was attacked. darcy spencer hasin the story. >> reporter: montgomery county police believe this woman was the target and victim. >> this victim was in frail health and very easy to take advantage of her in this situation. >> reporter: police say it was around 2:30 in the afternoon when they phoned the woman in her apartment here in silver spring. they asked her to come to the door to complete an in-house survey. after she answer add couple of questions, she wu attacked. >> then they push her aside, force her down into a chair, rum madge through her bedroom, take cash and identification cards from her, then they leave and show's able to call police. >> reporter: the victim just shy of turning 100 years old was not hurt but was traumated shchl had to be hospitalized overnight. >> if you're not sure sof someone coming to the door, you can't be sure. just don't open the door. >> reporter: residents say they did not hear about the crime. they found it surprising. >> i walk my dog late at night and i'm out and about at all hours and never had a problem, so i'm really sad to hear this. >> that's very bad, especially for the neighborhood. being that old, i don't think it's rightor them to target somebody that age. >> reporter: dcy spencer, "news 4 today." virginia wants to bring high-speed rai to our area but they need federal funding. they planur to ask the governme for more than $1.6 billion in stimulus money. they're entitled to cla t it. the money will be used to improve infrastruck fur for trains to travel up to 95 miles per hour along o interstaid 95. it would run between peetdersburg and the district. a memorable night for paul mccartney. it caused some to miss the show. there weren't any accidents or problems. it was just the sheer volume of traffic that caused the backup. it was comparable to that of a redskins home game. one limo driver expressed his frustration. >> a true night mair. people were driving me crazy to get here. go around, go up the shoulder, go up the other shoulder, do this, do that. >> well rs we were told the concert was great and mccartney even add addpecial song to the area.as was a song that micheld the president would want to sing for someone in his e. wusho us for some students in our tho e,uswo schools in arilendxaae, run on a modifiedenal cdaada whh puts kids back inhen t classroot nd early bright a tomorrow morning e students a inla css nine week and then have a break for about three weeks. a frightening fall for a philadelphia teenager as he drove his father's kaur off the fourth level of the parking lot. the thing that saved his life was the car below. they were at the turf club which is in an off-track betting establishment. around 8:00 p.m. he got his father's keyses, started fooling around with his father's durango, put it in gear and lost control. that's when it flew off the garage and ended on the vehicle below. >> if it wasn't for the cushioning of the vehicle below, the roof would have crushed him. >> he was able to crawl out and was taken to the hospital. he is expected to recover. coming up next on "news 4 today," we'll check in with steve for the full forecast. he'll tell us if today is going to be washout. plus a good sign for the redskins, an impressive debut for the team's first round pick. stay wit. i'm just admiring steve's tie here. >> it's an oldieut a goody. >> at my house it sounded like two heavy weights going. >> we had a little complex going at around midnight, 1:00 in the morning, but thatting is is now out of here. however, we have another front out to the west that is going to come later on today. >> round 2. >> get ready. yesterday, lots of sunshine, quite humid. today the humidity sticks around, but with all the extra cloud cover we'll see, temperatures will be coming down. and then as the front come through, it's going to tap into all of that moisture and bring us possibly local heavy rain, especially north and east of town. here's what it looks like right now. you can see the mid and upper-level clouds coming in. right now it's off to the west. again, it's going to march into the area. the shenandoah valley and piedmont and the district and then across our eastern zones. here's what's happening right now. it's a warm start to the day. 72 degrees here in the district. elsewhere it's 76 down in pax river. 68 in manassas, 71 in martinsburg. dew points are on the high side. it is quite humid out there. on the backside the humidity will drop for a little bit. we are currently dry in thes district but you can see the batch of moisture matching toward the area. it's a large area of rain and within it weave embedded line of thunderstorming, pushing up toward hagerstown and winchester. nonetheless, this entire system is marching off toward the east. you can see the area of rain which stretches from the great lakes all the way down toward it looks like atlanta. notice on the backside of the front, all is quiet. tomorrow the high pressure will build in and we're going to see a much nicer day. ahead of the front you can see all the clouds already starting to stream in. lots of moisture coming in from the gulf of mexico. later on today there is a slight chance of seeing some severe weather. with all the could cover out there, it's not going to be widespread. nonetheless, a severe thunderstorm not out of the question, especially if we can get a few brakes in the clouds. there's the front. they bring the showers and thunderstorms. some will produce locally heavy rain. that's going to be the big threat today. we have a big flash flood watch in effect from 2:00 in the afternoon from basically look like a district north and east and them tomorrows a high pressure builds in, we're going to see a much nicer day. with that being said, here is the forecast for the next couple of days. 83 degrees for today. again, mostly cloudy skies. about an 80% chance. we really upped it since yesterday. tomorrow, 88. lots of sunshine. 90. monday and tuesday looking great. on wednesday, here comes another frontal band. that cou bring us another chance of a thunderstorm in the wednesday/thursday time frame. looks like friday, saturdaying looking oklahoma. >> we're looking okay. we're stuck in a pattern. >> we are. >> we'll take it. >> we'll take it. >> thanks. >> you got it. >> in sports this morning a star stands bright. dan hellie has this morning's "sports minute." good morning, everybody. your "sports minute" starts with the redskins training camp. first day in full dear and the pads were popping yesterday. on point winning several one-on-one matchups with pro bowl chris samuels. the skins go back to work later this morning. meanwhile back on the road. his first multihomer game of the year. the pirates crushed the nationals 11-6. o's hosting the red sox. josh beckett baffled baltimore striking out five and giving up no runs in seven innings. in gulf it's the buick open and look who is here. tiger tied his way to the leaderboard. he shoots a 7 under 65. he leads the way by one stroke at 17 under par. > srmeen senior u.s. open, takoma park nay it fred funk leads the way by one stroke, 13 under par. if funk hangs on to win it will be his first major title. that's your "sports minute." i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great sunday. ok."next up "reporter's note fobonor ok."te for now, here's pat lawson muse. good morning. welcome to "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. on the note book, a stunning fall from grace. alexandria's police chief has stepped down. david baker announced his res ig neigh and retirement following his arrest last weekend in arlington after a car crash. police say baker's blood alcohol level was twice the legal limit and he failed four field sobriety tests. depu deputy earls cook is now the acting chief. at first he said he was not going to step down and then he did an about-face. was there really any other way for this story to turn out? >> when i heard the make talk about it after his retirement, the mayor indicated that this was the right thing so that the city could move on and the police department could move on with the business of saving t se citizens. so as a political choice, he had no choice. what kind of leadership could he exhibit over his h own rank and file with a drunk driving charge over his head, in addition to running into someone else's vehicle. >> he sent a guy to the hospital too. let's not lose sight of that. this is not strictly a political story. >> it's not a victimless crime. >> right. it's not like things got out of hand at a local pub and he said things he shouldn't have. he sent another to a hospital. the o'thing is in general, as you know, i tend to fall on the sides of people who don't like the law, but if you're an authority -- >> we didn't know that, bill. >> if you're an authority, you're the -- i mean you're not only breaking the law yourselfing you're breaking an oath to uphold the law. so you're tran sending the problem. think the statement that this is a sad day for alexander is right. this is the second time involving an official and alcohol. i think they're conditioned about that. he talked about the stellar police department and the services we provide. but when you're chief, the top man comes across as a dui, that's pretty sad. i mean that's really smacking in the face. >> it's not really an image problem. it's a poor guy's in the hospital problem. i mean he hurt somebody. >> let's be clear about that, right? >> in one way he broke the only law he could have, which is his duty to uphold the law. so i thinking it's much more ndamental than a pr problem. it's not a question of closure but of leadership and the ur jens of power. >> i take both parts. drunk driving is a very sear you crime and people are killed every day on our highways and byways by motorists who are intoxicated. you do not expect the chief of police to find himself in that number. >> in another part of virginia, families of virginia tech victims want the governor tim can to reconvene the massacre that a left 32 people dead. their push following two findings in this virginia tec casing the missing medical record of the gunman sun wee cho finally showed up. the virginia tech review panel had asked for those records two years ago and they were told the records were missing, couldn't be found. so governor cakaine sayses it should reflect this new information. some parents want it reconvened. >> of course, it should be an amendment. he like so many people in the government thinks he owns the information. this was a problem we predicted when he created this silly blue rib bob panel. nine times out of ten they're not to help citizens understand how they can get better control of their government. they're designing to help whitewash the designs of government that left citizens troubled in the first place. >> he used the word whitewash. >> i think it's an appropriate word. this thing has so many leg to it, the fact that this man add had these records. people were asking for them all the time but he's never surfaced or emerged to show where the records were. it's a lot of con nug here. how did these records get in this man's house, number one, and why haven't they emerged before now. >> it shows an absolute contempt for open gernment what happened. it's an absolute contempt from soup to nuts. i'm sorry, jim. >> quite all right. i think it's a little more than saving face or whitewashing because we have a situation where lawsuits were filed and money was paid out of state coffers to compensate victims out of this. now, what we knew then is that this young man had previously stalked a student and that a judge ordered that he -- his care be -- he be followed up on. >> correct. >> we did know that. so the people who were ahead of that commission said there is nothing new that we don't know. to put -- to make it necessary for us to do this again. >> correct. >> we do know most of what was in the files. we have the time of the adjudication. >> we don't know that because we haven't seen the files. number two, just last week judge emmett sullivan ripped the district, ripped them from soup to nuts again because they were setting documents in the persian park paarrest. i think it's time we recognize there's a problem with government. they think they own us and not the other way around that now, there is going to be another investigation under way. the state police are looking into this case. >> well, they said they never closed it. >> why the fmer director took the records home in the first place. >> well, the question here is -- and i'm speculating -- what was the relationship between these two in the very beginning that this man would taerk the files. i mean i would like to know what kind of conferencing or what kind of counseling, whatever the terminology is there, there must have been somehow a relationship between the two. >> you have to say it's been suspicious for him to go from the counseling office to move over to personnel. >> the question for me again and i'm goingeep raising it, do we have a culture of arrogance in our -- right down to the roots of our basic government. do we have a culture that things they are entitled to decide what we can know for our own good. >> that's why we have a check and countercheck in most government situations. >> you'd like to think so. i have personal experience on the virginia tech thing. i foiaed a bunch of information. i was told no, it will come up. two years later i don't have to apologize for a damn thing. >> remember it's sunday morning bill. beg your pardon. you get me up with these open records filing. i'm sorry. let's talk about the former head of the school board. her home in northwest washington a burned pretty much to the ground. everything was destroyed in a fire that drew legions of firefighters around the city but they were unable to put it out quickly because there was low water pressure. was going to say we've been there. weid a series about two years -- or several years ago, and inside her how, a beautiful home it was. the fact here, though, pat, it raises question about the services of wasa. the washington sewer and water authority. we had the situation where the georgetown burned. we have the situation when the apartment building burned in adams morgan and they had to extend all the way over past the duke ellington bridge to get to there to bring water in. this is a case where the fire got out of control merely because they didn't have enough water to put it out. >> i think that there was a priceless art collect but fortunately no one was hurt. >> amen. >> many times there are situations like these when prominentitizens are impacted that real change starts to happen, and the neighbors in that community had been complaining for weeks about low water pressure even in their kitchens. so now we'll probably see some efforts get stepped up around the city by whoever the officials are. >> we've been hearing that for years too. if the georgetown fire isn't enough to grab your aention and the adams morgan fire isn't enough to get your atook, what is it next? we're going to have to a lady of angelses where 50 kids -- >> i'll give you an important name. that's adrian fenty, the guy who's supposed to be in charge of this. >> you're on to something here? not only adrian but rubin, the fire chief who made promises along with adrian, that they were going to check every fire hydrant in the city and that still has not been done. >> we've got to take a break. we'll be right back. stay with us. 1y50irks notebook." we were just talking about the devastating fire that destroyed kay's home. first of all, the city council has a $660 million budget deficit that a it's desperately wrestling with. then you've got two council members who appeared not to be able to get along very well in public. marion barrie and david ka ten ya are really having a tough, tough time of it. >> to coin a phrase. >> they're not agreeing on a lot. what is going on between those two and how is it impacted the council's work, and particularly at this time when they'rerying to find the right cuts and places to balance the bunt. >> i'm really surprised mievs. they used to get along pretty well together, but as of late, especially since the -- >> sit because -- >> the gay marriage then, the gay recognition bill it seems that the two have parted. they are strong animalses, for choice of better words, from the zoo they're two large elephants in the political arena in washington. david and barry. >> here's what i'd keep an eye on. the one you have to watch is mary cha. she's very serious overall but i get the distinct impression that something in her marrows has been affected. she griemds on like the prosecutor that she srks but the real -- marion barry's real problem is going to be because of mary cha. >> what do you thing about that? >> i think that david ka ten ya thought he had his coalition in place when the gay marriag issue was on the pamg. maybe they're lingering feelings about that. another one to watch is curious that the chairman of the council is looking to apparently slash money from the education budget which has got to be a direct jab at the mayor saying he wants to cut from other agencies but he wants to bypass -- pass over if you will the education department. >> one of the indices is a pro-michelle wie poll was taken. why do you care? i think there's a concern, especially on the fenty team, that michelle re'sublic lease is running a little short. before we close, let's talk about football. michael vick back in the game. he finnished sentence for running a dog-fighting league. he can take part in league preseason practices and play in the final two season games if he can find a team that can pick him up. once the season start he could take part. he could be playing as soon as october. jim? >> he's paid his debt to society. let the games begin. >> i heard a story where a person was acting as a double agent and he was passing on information and he got a number of year, ended up serving no time. here's a man, egregious as it is, fighting dogs, he's done is in sentence, halfwayhouse, he should be given a chance. hope people learned something from this. i hope michael vick has learned something from this. because while -- he's a great player but they're still role models to our young people and they see this kind of action. >> listen. i don't want my kid to thing you should look up to proathletes. i want them to look at them to hit home runs and score touchdowns. >> that's true. >> they're still role models, bill, i don't care what you say. >> charles barkley said it pest. i'm not a role model nor should i be. thank you for being with us. now, "news 4 today" continues. updating our top story, a woman set to turn 100 years old in 16 days gets robbed in her own silver spring home and now police are looking for the two expects. police say someone called the 99-year-old and asked her to take an in-home survey. after they arrived they held her down and took her belongings. the woman is expected to be okay. the national weather service now says two tornadoes hit frederick, maryland, on friday. one hit top speeds of 90 to 100 mifrps. the other 100 to 110 miles per hour. both tornadoes hit near the town of ijamsville. a small aer tornado was reported near carroll county. and a memorable evening for paul mccartney last night, at least those who were able to get there. that's because a traffic nightmare caused concert-goers to miss the beginning of the show. there weren't any accidents or major problems. it was just the she volume of traffic that caused the backup. good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm keith garvin. we want to begin this half hour with a quick look at the weather. for your that we go up to steve villanueva. >> good ith. keit good morning, everyone. the cold front has the potential to bring locally heavy rain, so much so the weather service has issued a flash flood wap for later today. we're heading into the low 80s. a little cooler thankses to the cloud cover. there's a storm heading our way moving into the shenandoah valley. about 83 degrees in the district. tomorrow, much better weather. lots of sunshine. tuesday looks great as well. of course, i'll give you all the details coming up in just a little bit. >> sounds good, steve. we'll be here. new details on a story out of israel. police in tel aviv are looking for people who opened fire at a gay youth club. they believe it was criminally motivated around not the work of terrorists. they're going door to door. gays and lesbians enjoy great freedom. there are openly gay soldiers and musicians and actors. he'll be. it gives eligible veterans, reservists and national guard members a chance to receive free undergraduate education at a free public or in-state university. the bill was ip trow deuced in tow 7 and now the department of veterans affairs will begin distributing the tuition payment. i provides the most expensive educational assistance since the original gi bill was passed in 1944. in his weekly address president obama cited newly released gross domestic product figures as an indication that his economic recovery plan is indeed working. >> history shows that you need to have economic growth before you have job growth, and the report yesterday on our economy is an important sign that we're headed in the right direction. business investment, which had been plummeting in the past few months, is showing sign of stabilizing. this means they're eventually businesses will start growing and hiring again. >> mr. o says it will take a y trlyulut f o of the o n.ss ttunmo o te inheo t hees t press" this pofdee obresi ntama's key advisers chargg with getting bthgsin ack on helay summers is 'll talk about what therr tal lk about what the administ ti accomplished so far. "meet the press" begins at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. it's a win/win situation for buyers and sellers. the cash for clunkers program is been qui popular. as derrick ward reports, that deadline could be extended. >> this is the first program in my opinion that actually impacted people. you know, i know we impacted banks real well. >> kneel sullivan is taking advantage of the cash for clunkers program. he believes his old explorer has explored enough. it's got over the 00,000 miles on it. with a chance to get $45 hup out of it, he's coming out ahead. >> this car didn't cost 4r5 $00100,000 miles ago. we can get something for my daughter. >> it's almost out of money. a $2 billion cash infusion passed the house. it's yet to get through the senate. late this week there were $779 million left, prompting some dealerships like dar cars to stay open as late to get in as many deals as possible before the money ran out. >> we were really happy because we were very concerned that it was over. >> it's even for these people here in silver spring. what were once cream puffs now silently await the crusher. now, a lot of these cars still run. they're good solid transportation, but folks are opting for something more. they want to get it while they can. >> what are they getting? tammy darvish has seen a lot of domestic trade-ins. >> probably over 85% of the people purchasing cars under this program are purchasing foreign cars. >> they're also getting though e people who stayed out of the marketplace until there was incentive. >> no way i would have bought a car. the only reason i got it was because you get $4500 and i can get a car for less than $10,000. i -- the last new car i bought was '91 it. >> ee helping new business and helping, for sure, consumers. >> derek a ward, "news 4." >> if the money holds up it's slate. the clunkers are supposed to be destroyed. the engine and drive train can be resold for salvage. now in iraq they are one army. the only coalition army. british and australian troops quietly departed the weekend making war in iraq a strictly american effort. however, an army colonel says it hasn't lost its international partners. they're working in different capacities such as nato or military advisers, law enforcement, and con strukd workers. three u.s. troops have been killed in southern afghanistan. roadside bombs ripped through their patroln saturday. it's become the weapon of choice among militants. the number of roadside bombs have spiked the year. so far 43 soldiers in afghanistan have been killed in combat. july was the deadliest start since the start of the war in 2001. now to iran, we're learning learningst searreed. arrested.n os crinse d rossed intoer trytori in hil tryeertotori whil hiks.g on sciofaialtoddintata ast licial sai atom cpanion n i c.iraq back in adenolrihe f tdy e tey ketaernd we sur.oopsoo epan r ttsorthaep r ttstee thr gsin . ngin t sss w who represent the swiss in tehran to confirm these reports. police say an emotionally disturbed homele man is responsible for yesterday's bogus bomb scare at laguardia airport. the police evacuated the main terminal when the man approached the terminal with a bag full of batteries and wires. he's now facing a number of charges. a number of flights with were delayeded on canceled. it caused a domino ee felt at other airports, preventing flight crews from getting in to or out of the area a. a jet lost its brakes. as the jet burned off fuel they deployed a cable across the runway. the take hook ended up drawing the cable. that brought it to an immediate stop. i think we're about to see that right there. it's about to catch. there we go. and no one, we are happy to report, was hurt. time now, 6:39. 72 degrees outside. still ahead trk happiest place on earth just got a little more expensive. details on a price hike at disney world. plus an olympic rematch of two not-so-friendly rivals, the man he beat by a finger tip gets hia (mom) he needed everything for college: towels, sheets and then there was the stuff he wanted... like a new microwave. and because of walmart's unbeatable prices, we were able to get it all. ...and then some. set them up for success-- for less. save money. live better. walmart. and we all have doubt. but when the moment comes... what's going to win? here's to confidence. gillette helps you look, feel, be your best. gillette. the best a man can get. we'll get an update on when key reports are lived this week. here's bill griffith ahead. wall street rolls into the dog day of sum were a big wind on its back. the stock market just wrapped up one of the best julys in decade and historically when july is hot, stops get hotter in august although the games may not be quite as big. there will be less focus this week on earnings and more on the economy. automakerses roll out their sales figures for july. the so-called cash for clunkers program may have deals but they were already starting to see a pick-up before that. craft, proctor & gamble, they're both expected to report they made a little less money. traders want to know if they're still losing sales to cheaper generic sales in this economy. and we're get two key reading on this economy, both expected to be in the less bad category. construction spending in june is seennalling by 0.6%. an analyst says reports are likely to show business is still slow but much better than it was in june. then on friday we get the big one. the labor department's rort in july. they're already warning that the joble rate currently at 9.5% will likely go o higher. but first on tuesday, president obama celebrates a birthday. he'll be 48 years old. i'm bill griffith. get all your business news on cnbc, now celebrating our 0th year. ticket prices are going up at walt disney world. starting tort a one-day theme park ticket h go from 75 to $79. from adults it will go up to 63 to 68 bucks. multi-day ticket packages are also getting more expensive. it comes one day after disney announced its third quarter profit drop, 26%. sports and weather next. stay with u. it was the most highly anticipated swimming rachls phelps beat cover vick. in yesterday's rematch there was a clear winner. keith miller reports. >> it was the race of the year. >> reporter: it was a swimming showdown with the overtone of a prize fight right down to the pre-meet trash talk. >> i'm going to come back and beat him. >> reporter: he barely lost the olympic gold medal to michael phelps in the 100 meter butterfly last august in beijing by a mere fraction of a second. >> i feel like i was there first. >> reporter: today it has him as the underdog. >> he ee going to have the lead at the term. >> reporter: kovich had the best time. he wore the polyeuro than swimsu swimsuit. he popped out of the water like a man on fire. even tugging on his swimsuit to make a point. the prerace a taunts, he said, got him swimming. >> the only thing it does for me is fire me up. i've always welcomed those in the past and welcome them in the present and in the future. >> in the defeat he was humble. >> he's the comeback king. he can do it all. there's nothing he cannot do f if i had to lose i'm most happy to lose to him. >> reporter: before today's showdown phelps said you live for races like this. now he could add -- and for results just like this. keith miller, nbc news, london. >> boy, i couldn't tell if phelps actually accepted a handshake. >> you don't want trash talk. can he just did a comeback and beat you. >> he did. no need for an instant replay on that one. >> lots of water in the pool, a lot of water around here. >> it looks like it's going to be a rainy day. there ee a front coming on with a lot of moisture ahead of it. we have a flash flood watch in effect until 2:00 areas north and west of the district. so, again, a front heading our way. right now lots of clouds ahead of that frontal band and as the day goes on we're going to see the rain move into the regi. some of the rain could be locally level with this next patch of moisture. so here's what it looks like as you look across themall. you can see the washington monument covered in clouds. right now it's 72 degrees. 70 out of dulles. since we have all of the clouds in place, temperatures today will not be as warm today with day time highs climbing into the low 80s. dew points remain on the high side. quite humid out there. these numbers come down on the backside of a frontal band. this is where we have the flash floosh watch in effect from the district up toward frederick county and northern maryland and the northern part of the eastern shore. again, this is where we could have the heaviest rain a little bit later on today. on radar you can see what's heading our way. the rain showers. well, more than the rain shower. the batch of rain is now pushing into the shenandoah valley. right now hagerstown getting hit really hard with heavy rain and lots of lightning as well. again, some embedded thunderstorms are found within this area of rain. but notice on the backside all is quiet. that's where we have high pressure. today, here comes the front as the front moves into the area. it's going to tap into all of that moisture and bring us some locally heavy rain. there's also a slight chance of seeing some severe weather a little bit later on today. it's not as good of chance we had today. because we had all the cloud out that there. so there ee the front. here it comes. it's going bring us the chance of a shower. some locally herb rain later on. about an 80s. so we really increase the chances since yesterday. and then monday and tuesday looking great. and then wednesday and thursday, here comes another weak front. again, later on today, if you're going out, take the umbrella. >> you're the man. thank you, sir. they're on the field but they haven't been playing football. the claim for the redskins when they strapped on the pads. dan hellie has more. >> after the first day in pads the defense clearly ahead of the offense but that isorma at redskins park, however the offense needs to work on catching up now. that starts with the offensive line which clearly needs some time to gel after watching them passing. the defense did look sharp though. first day in full pads and they were popping. rookie line backer and defensive end brian oh orakpo on point nning several battles. the head coach says things change when the pads go on. >> there's sort of a stress level, i think, and an uncomfortableness when you put on the pads and the level of competition goes up, the level of tempo goes up. >> when you strap on full pads, what's the biggest difference? >> it hurts. that's the big difference. the rest is mental, peting up on guy. now the bang willing start. the mental toughness has to come in and you have to fight through it. >> we're all-americans in shorts and helmets. now we've got the pads on. can't nobody talk. everybody is well padded, hitting colliding, thudding, everything to have a great season. >> zorn very impressed so far with his first round draft pick but when asked about the most impressive play owner the day he went with 36-year-old phillip daniels. his first practice in full pads since the end of if 2007 season. daniels, if you rember, missed all of last season with a torn acl. meanwhile derrick mason's retirement over before it started. he will be back on the field tore at training camp. talking baseball, do you know the nationals really have a habit of making unknowns look like stars? last night it happened again. andrew mccutchen. actually a pretty good up-and-comg player but he look liked albert pujols last night. touched the nationals up for three home runs. >>we start with the racing presidents. last night, flattened by the wall. adam dunn doesn't flatten this one out. a popping fly. lastings milledge, come on. you now he wasn't going to get that. christian kuzman trots home. dunn ends up with the rbi double. one run scores and here comes andrew mccutchen racing around third. he score as well. milledge ends up with a 2-1 for his efforts. then the man of the night. the look. andrew mccutchen already has two home runs an he says may i have another, please. thank you very much. that's gone. up and over the wall and left. the three-run home run. three home runs in the game. that doubles his home run for the season. the sick rbi leads the pirates to an 11-6 win over the nationals. in brm, pedroia and the red sox in town. a little man but he yields a mighty large stick. good swing and that is good and gone. a solo shot. sixth run of the season. the sox take the lead. josh beckett, one of the best in major league baseball a, freez freezes. the red sox shut out the orioles 4-0. the buick open's rate aings should rise. tiger is another perfect. ry tiger and his cab by stevy feeling pretty good in grand blanc, michigan. why shouldn't they. tiger teeing off from three, 170 yards out. probably could have hit it this close with a putter. instead he chooses an 8 or a 9-iron. snuggles it up nie and cold. 33 feet away and dare i say bird is the word for mr. wood. he has a one-stroke lead up in michigan. he's at 17 under par. let's go to indiana. it's the u.s. senior open. takoma park native fred funk decides to get this one nice and tight on number9. that sets up a birdie. funk still looking for his first major championship, the coach reads that perfectlile good pace, good line, good birdie. one of six birdies for funk. he leads by one streekt 13 under going into today's final round. a bad start killed d.c. united last night. let's go to loan star state. banging the drums all night long for their boys in orange. let's go to loan star state. banging the drums all night long for their boys in orange.^.^ let's go to loan star state. banging the drums all night long for their boys in orange. passes to brian ching and ching scores. his second goal of the evening. houston takes a 3-0 lead as he does aice little lead there. here's san teen kin na ta. at least 100 guys get ahead or a foot on it before lucia know em me owe gets his second of the night. they go on to lose 4-3. that's your morning sports. i'm dan hellie. everyone have a great morning. >> we're back in two minutes stay with us. this is more than my easy button. it's my "save-so-much-on- his-graphing-calculator... look. i made it say "booger." ...i-can-get-him-a- math-tutor" button. it's my "save-so-much- on-school-supplies- he-can-stop-using-his-sister's old-backpack" button. it's my "save-so much-i-can-get- a-binder-for-every-day- of-the-week" button. there's no school on saturday and sunday, genius. don't ruin this for me. (announcer) staples equals savings on everythingor back to school. staples. t easy. back to "news 4 today." at 7:00 it is sunday, august 2nd, 2009. i'm keith gar a vin. we want to get a weather update from steve. >> steve:. he joins us upstairs from "storm center 4." good morning. >> good morning, keebt. good morning, everybody. keep the uls on standby. with very a large area of rain heading toward the region and this in turn will bring us some locally heavy rain a little bit later on today. right now 71. 70 out at dulles. 750 in prince george's county in clinton. we are heading into the lower 80s this afternoon. with e have a flash flood watch in effect from 2:00 until the evening hours. this is from the district into prince george's county. shenandoah valley already being affected by the batch of moisture. it slides across the region later on. we'll see improving weather for tomorrow. but for today, lot ofcloud, low 80s. showers and thunderstorms. monday looking much better. of course, all the details coming up a little bit later on. pack to you. >> we heard you, sir. umbrellas standing by. the national weather service now says two tornados hit on friday. the top speeds at 90 to 100 miles per houring the other at 100 to 110 mileses per hour. a woman set to turn 100 years old in 16 days gets robbed in her own silver spring home. police are looking for two expects. someone called her and asked her to take an in-home survey. after they arrived the men held her down and took her belongings. the woman is expected to be okay j and a memorable evening for paul mccartney fans, at least for those able to get there. that because a traffic nightmare caused some to miss the show. there weren't any accidents or major problems. it was just the sheer volume of traffic that caused the backup. those are the top stories this morning. next is channel 4's "viewpoint." we'll be back in a few minutes with more. good morning. welcome to "viewpoint." i'm pat lawson muse. this morning we're going to focus on good works of five local non-profit organizations. they're part of them in sick cities across the country receiving $1.r5 million grant from the nbc universal foundation. these grants are given to organizations that have demonstrate add commitment to improving educational opportunities for students and public schools in greats six through 12. we're going to talk about what they're going do with the grant mu. welcome o the program. let's begin with brian smith who's with eduserv inc. and chris who's a volunteer of the art center and rachel is the manager of environmental efforts. let's start with you, bright and edusurk. tell us exactly what your organization does. >> it stands for educators serving in the community. we oar a non profit association who focuses on a number of things in the industry. we're do a lot of service activities. engineeringing culinary a, media and a lot of other fferent kind os areas to help young people get hands-on experience and go into programs they want to. >> with your grandol you're goi to give them interesting hands-on experience. tell us about this robot they're going to build. >> yes, definitely. we do a lot of great program related to our young innovators's program. children will get a chance to learn about engineering as well as technical training on how to program, design, and build their own engineering project, which will be a robot. the robots can do didn't types of things whether it's from using a gps, tracking themselves through 12 different typeses of satellites circling the earth. also using bluetooth technologies and lots of other types of things but the students will have a great time. they always do in the program. >> sounds really cool and really neat. rachel, let's talk about your organization. i mentioned veronica johnson who's our meteorologist haseen volunteered for years. you prepare high school students to study science and the environmental. >> these right. we work with high school students working, comparing them one to one, working with professionals, trying to get them ready for college to pursue a career in vurnltal sciences. they work on a year-long environmental project in the city, you know, working with the dirtd in anacostia aing working with the potomac, things like that. get them ready to learn about their own environment and get them excited about environment at issues. >> some of them will no doubt be work on tv some day. >> hopefully. >> doing the weather. >> you also have a program on green economy workshops. >> yes. this year our conference, which will be held at the ronald reagan building, will focus on green economy. that's something our president is really pushing and something we're excited to be a part of and our conference will be focusing on that this year. >> so the grant you're get willing help you with the mentoring program. >> with our mentoring programme. getting those kids outside, getting them with professional environmental mentors, helping them look at different colleges and universities that have great a environmental programs, just getting them excited and outside and getting them ready for life. >> chris tracy let's talk about sitar arts. this exposes disadvantaged students in the area to the individual and performing arts and you do it in an after-school program. >> mm-hmm. >> tell u about that. >> it's a wonderful program. it provides multi-disciplinary arts education to children with three volunteers. i'm a volunteer who i've been teaching piano for almost ten year now. there are other whose teach music, dance, visual and performing arts to mostly low income children. there are about 80% low income chrp and youth who are part of the center and they discover their inherent talents in a safe place with adult whose really care about them and it's just a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together for the benefits of the kids. and they study with professionals? >> yeah. washington ballet, the corcoran school of art, washington art society as well. they'll provide some of the teachers for some of the clachs in addition to other volunteers in the community and it's wonderful way for the community to come together. >> with el continue our discussion with these groups and the wonderful work that they're doing in the washington community when we come back. ññ ( birds chirping ) ♪ ♪ mmm! ♪ and i would do anything for love ♪ a.1. makes meat loaf sing. welcome back. we were talking before the break with chris tacey. homany art students do you serve? >> we expect to serve 700 students in the coming academic year and 200 of those will probably be teens. and the grant from nbc is helping us provide teen programming that helps them develop life skills and career skills through the arts. we have a digital arts program that gives students an opportunity to learn graphic design, web design, music production, and skills so they can take into the adult world with them that will dovetail with their own ar a it is tick talent. >> tell u how many youngsters you're teaching the ways of science. >> we're working with a few high schools here in the district and it's anywhere from 50 to 100 kids a session that we work with and are able to mentor one on one. >> brian? >> well, with the nbc grant we're serving about 20 students here in the air yachl overy'all we serve issed about 300 across the country. >> how can our viewers help your organization. >>? well, in several ways. definitely we're always looking for volunteers, those to serve as a mentor with any of our students at any time during th day or've enon the weekends. have didn't programs at our main office, our training center, as well as all locations in schools and different places and college campuses that we do over the summer as well. >> okay. and then rachel? >> sure. we have opportunities for mentors, people to serve as mentors for the students. >> can northbound do it? >> anyone can do it. >> you don't have to know how to be a mentor? >> we'll help you out. you don't have to be a science buff or meteorologist such as ms. johnson. anyone can come. for the professionals that have expert advice and things line that for our student, they're available, and we're also available for people to help out with scholarship. if you want to write out a check, that's fine. >> i can play the piano, but how can volunteers help the citr center. >> you don't have to be a polished artist to be a volunteer. i am not but i've been teaching for ten years. we're looking for piano and guitar teachers but there are lots of ways through all dirpt artistic disciplines and financial contributions especially during this economic time are extremely important. the piece of mind that low income parents have when they know their children are safe, happy, and creatively engaged is priceless and financial contributions make that happen so we really appreciate that. >> as you indicated, you know, in an economy like this, financial cobtry bug of any kind are certainly helpful. how has the economy, though, hurt you? >> well, you know, it's impacting all nonprofits. i would say that the community that has supported citar art center throughout its life are continuing to be very supportive but it's a time when our families are feeling the pinch more than ever. so i believe it's even more important than it was before for students to be able to discover their talents, have that confidence that comes with that, and be able to go out into the world feeling good about what they can contribute. so it's more important than ever for u to rally around. >> rachel, many schools are cutting their bunts by eliminating programs such as the one that you -- that you're working with. special programs that will teach kids about the science and a environment. how is it impacting your group? >> it's impacting us a little bit, but we have foundation such as nbc 4 who are able to help us, you know, weather this storm. more than anything i think our scholarships have been hit and the scholarships are very important to help the kids go from high school to college in an environmental field. a lot of times the money isn't available to the students and we like to give them a little something. think the economy ha aeffected ourcholarship program more than anything else. >> what about edusurk. >> i know last year we didn't receive a much funding so we had to kind of reinvent ourselves we had to focus on what we do best. one is stem programming. science technology and mathematics. i do a lot of the -- help design a lot of the projects and mak sure that we put that value back into our programs and actually we've for the most part even though we had a downturn in our finances in that sense we had a great increase in a lot of the sponsorships and support and now we're actually growing in various areas in different states as a result of focusing on a lot of our quality stem programs. >> that's good news. >> very good news. >> executive director of edusurk website. wwweduserc.org. rachel edwards is manager of environmenters and your website address is ncseonline@ -- ncseonline.org/environmenters. and chris stacy of the art center. www.sitarart p s .rnrgara mcer.o rartcenter.org. thank you all. coming up next. stay with us. vo: since 2006, walmart has sold over 260 million compact fluolisct enght bulbs. saving our customers over 7 billion dollars on their electric bills.t save money. live better. walmart. of every egible associate's salary to their 401(k) andge profit sharing plan. ...even if the associate didn't contribute a dime... ...making good jobs even better. save money. live better. walmart. good morning. i'm rv m gah in. today is the final day of summer vacation. two schoolsn lex run on a modified calendar which puts ids in the classroom starting ight and early tomorrow morning ateast seven are on a g dified schedule and begin tomorrow. these students are in class nine weeks and on a break for three weeks. they need federal fupting to make it happen. state leaders plan to ask the federal government for more than $1.6 billion in stimulus money. it would run between petersburg and the district. and car dealers in our area remain busy this weekend. with many tries to take advantage of the cash for clunkers program program. it gets them from behind old cars and behind the wheels of new fuel-efficient wheels. congress is looking to inject more into the program. now back to "viewpoint." welcome back to our program. we are continuing our discussion with nonprofits that have received grants from the nbc universal foundation, and let's continue with adventure theater. michael bobbitt is the theater's producing artistic director. he ee joining us this morning to talk about it. jeff frankco is director of city year washington d.c. and uno. summertime in the theater go hand in hand in the washington area. adventure that it ser the longest running theater for children and families in this region. >> absolutely. with're going into our 58th season and we're situated in glen eco park which is west of bethesda heights. we work with children all year long and we focus on adapting classic and popular children stories on the stage and this summer we have running "you're a good man charlie brown." each of your productions has a theme that's community related. >> yes. we try to tie in all of our main stage shows to community giving. for instance last year we did "go dog got" and we partnered with the humane society to have a dog adopg day. this yr for frosty we had a hat and mittens drive. how will the grant help adventure theater. >> this grant is for one of our most cherished outreach programs. it's a partner with a group home and shelter for disadvantaged teens and kids in bethesda and this program is specifically for them to learn how to use that iter and theater arts to resolve conflict. so they work with an instructor through improv and play-writing and they put on a play. in the past we've only been able to do this for about sick weeks out of the year. this grant will let us do it for the whole year. >> they're real life drama. >> real life drama. >> let's talk to jeff franco and uno blessed kunz. >> the city of washed wor with are real life city urbanized type issue. jeff, you're the urban director and you tackle the issues with, for example, high school dropouts, academic performance and the city's hiv/aids epidemic. >> that's correct. we have a program in which you have teens of core members like u no who go around and teach the children there, talk about the different myths and rumors that are out there and try to educate them on how to prevent it and be more aware of it. >> uno, that can be a tough job. one in 20 adults is hiv poive it's 12 times the national rate. what do you tell kids? >> i think that it's important to get the information out there on making right decision. so our curriculum that we -- as we travel around to the different high schools and a few middle school, it's a cdc-approved curriculum and it helps them like jeff said to know the myths from the facts and to make educated decisions. >> how duh that help you in spreading the word and educating the children who need to be educated? >> well, we seven over 3,000 students in d.c. public schools in this program. and so this funding will help us continue that program and to reach more schools and more students. >> and the grant you are ewing for the students in 7th through # 2th grade, tell us a little bit more about the curriculum. >> well, like you know said it's a cdc-based aproblemed program that we run with another called metro teen aids and they train our core members, a team of ten of them torque go to the school and teach them specifically what hiv days is. how they can educate their peer as well so we can try to stem the rate they're been going on in the city. >> and on the topics, the problem of dropout rate and academics, how do you address that a. >> >> we have a program that spends all day every day in a particular school in the morning bell the after-school program. >> are they like -- >> they help the teachers not only creates a positive climate but helping to try to em prove literacy rates and scores that are there. >> we've got to take break. we'll be back and continue our discussion in just a moment. stay with us. , catania. catania. when we went into the break, u know blessed kunz you're wearing an interesting jacket. that jacket is part of your strategy for reaching young people. >> definitely. our red jacket is kind of a signal of our city. it's the culture. also the community recognizes us for our red jacket. it makes us visible as we go into different schools and interact with different children and communities. it's a universal sign of -- you know, they recognize the as lobbing individuals. >> what would you say is the biggest challenge you face when going into a community or a school to talk iv aids on talk with them about the need to study hard and do well in their academic subjects or try to get them to stay in school? >> i think one of the -- one that the red jacket helps a lot is the trust factor, you know, to come into a community and there's a lot of issues, who's really there and what they're doing. so i feel that, you know, is one of the channels that we have as core members but i think we not only reach them academically but have that oh ooh motional connection. >> jeff? >> i was going to say a very important role they fill is they act as near peers in the schools so they're young enough to be seen as friends by the children in the school but old enough to be seen as mentor and role models so that's a need that a lot of kids have. how can nbc viewers help? >> if you're not 17-24 years old we do beautiful projects throughout the city and schools and community centers in which our core members worked hand in hand with volunteers, make murals. you can go to our website to find out when they are. >> if you're 17-24 you can apply to a be core member like i dand dedicate a year in your life to transform and make a difference in the d.c. community. you can also apply online. last year -- we have 100 core members this year and we had 600 app can'ts last year. so if you want to make a difference, then you can go online and apply for august 2010. >> michael, how can those who are watching make a difference? >> i want to say that i'm very, very impressed by the program. we were talking in the green room about finding ways to partner. much like the program we work with the same kinds of kids for the national centers for children's and families. we'd love to offer the program to more children. so certainly funding, support from our patrons, but also if you want to is fun and see a show, come to the theater. there's nothing like going out in the audience and seeing a roomful of kids laughing during the show. >> we talked the economy and the impact it's had on nonprofits. s of it's hurt them across the board. many are finding this i the best time to solicit support. how has the economy impacted the theatre? >> it's tough. you lose funding from the government and certainly foundation and corporation support but we're also hit by ticket sales. people decide it can be leashure and i want people to know it makes you more of a family, makes you more open to the world when you may be stuck in a small spay. so, yeah, we're affected. we're going to survive that you're going to weather the storm. >> yes. >> how about city? >> it's been a challenge as well. you know, yes've some drop off in term of corporate sponsors who had to cut back but the argument we put forward is at this time more than ever our community needs an organization. they're going in there and trying to improve the lives of people this this community. so we receive a lot of traction with that and we've had a lot of generous folks continue to be involved with the organization. >> uno, how long have you been with the program? >> i'm starting my second year. >> can i ask how old you are? >> i'm from indianapolis, indiana, and i'm only 20 years old. >> sit easy to make friends and get them to trust you? >> there's a fine line. sometimes especially whelp you first go into a setting i can come off as just looking like another high school student. but i also a think thats's a challenge. but when i start talking about the information, i think that it's like a -- their peer, you know, an educated peer letting them know that i'm young, i'm, you know, tot too much older than you and i know this information and i feel better. it's important to make those decisions. >> you are doing important work. thank you so much. uno blessed kunz. jeff frankco and michael bobbitt, the theater's producing artistic director in adventure theater. thank you all. it's been a pleasure working with you and we wish you well. >> thank you. >> thank you. thank you for joining us on viewpoint. stay with us. "news 4 today" continu. money talk. president obama says the economy is doing better than expected. close a teenager survives a plunge off a parking gaj. and a flash flood watch and a thunderstorm this morning. we're tracking severe weather. good morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm keith garvin. we begin this morning with severe weather. we want to check in with steve villanueva up in "storm center 4." good morning, steve. >> good morning, keith. good morning, everyone. we do have a severe thunderstorm making its way across northern maryland this morning. right now we have a severe thunderstorm warning in effect until 8:30 this morning for washington county, frederick county, and carroll county. again, that's a severe thunderstorm warning for washington county, frederick county, and carroll county. we also have a flash flood watch in effect for later on today from 2:00 on until this evening up toward frederick county new york and east. apparently low 60s. we'reeading to the low 80s today. it's producing a lot of thunder right now. off to the west there's still plenty of rain and that will be sliding into the region a little bit later on. it's all part of a large batch of moisture that will be swinging through later today, bringing us locally heavy rain. lots of clouds for today. keeping us a bit cooler than average and definitely cooler than yesterday. likewise for tuesday. and of course we're going to talk about it all coming up in just a couple of minutes. back to you. the u.s. house is headed out. before leaving washington lawmakers will try to extend the popular and expensive cash for clunkers program. this has democrats and republicans draw the batter lines for the upcoming fight for e health care and how to get the economy moving again. brian mooar has our report. >> reporter: if you want to know how tough times are, go to kansas city, kansas, where 3,000 people showdown up for a school price give awachl or nashville that they're in such bad shape they can't afford to take in me more animalses. >> they hope the economic numbers are the roon to be optimistic. >> he promises that will eventually mean more jobs. >> and that's when it will really feel like recovery to the american people. >> reporter: well the stimulus effect may not be seen for months the auto industry is enjoying an overnight boom thanks to washington's cash for clunkers program program. it caught congress off guard a in the million budget was blown in day. the house voted to add $2 billion more and the senate will try to seal the deal before coming home for the august recess. republicans are again asking whether the nation can afford the prot's ambitious agenda. >> they've been spending money and racking up debt at a unpress departmented pace. >> they hope to turn the attention to the bottom line and taking the battle from capitol hill back to their home districts. republicans are hoping to return inubli pc oub plic opinionfo>> rer > t omohen fo pre mor on the mo recovery tune in to eet the press" this moing. one of a'amobkeyam advisers gearthwi gngngtiet on ti n o nact. lay srr umners is the k t'lh walit 'l obama lk with the omaba situation has accomplished so far. "meet the press" begins right at 10:30 on nbc 4. the post 911 gi bill gets eligible veterans, reservists an national guard mens a chance to receive a free undergrat yacht program a. the bill sponsored by senator jim webb was introduced in 2000 p and now the department of veterans affairs will begin distributing the tuition programs. it provides the most since the original gi bill was paed in 1944. it's the u.s. army's famous. british and australian troops quietly departed the weekend making war in iraq a strictly american effort. however an army colonel says they haven't lost all of their a international partners. they're working in different capacities now such as in nato or military advisors, law enforcement and construction workers. three u.s. troops have been killed in southern afghanistan. roadside bombs have ripped through. this type of attack has pick the weapon of choice. the number of roadside bombs has spiked the year. so far 43 have been i canned in contact. july was the deadliest month since the start of the war in 2001. to aron, we're learned re.mo y'here trey'ou are anom w a wom crossed into tunins. etaunons. one o whfhe threeta o contaonct add staye back in aqr ye iraq. tey tol ye bra btered iran byes mistake m ake troops.rmfionedhe ter wee confie edsterreft a rested afteredliaio f t nged he wain failing to heed iranian inian border guard. the swiss have asked them to confirm these reports. new details that morning on a story out of israel. police in tell a veesh are searching for a gunmap who opened fire at a gay youth club. three were killed and 11 wounded. police at the scene say it appear it was criminally motivated. gays and lesbians enjoy great freedoms in tisrael. a frightening fall for a philadelphia teenager, incredible video as well. he drove his fathers ee car off the fourth level of a parking garage, the one thing that saved his life is the car he hecht below. they're at a restaurant and off track betting establishn't. he got his father's keys starting pulling around with the gearses and put it in gear and lost crow. it flew off the yaj and randed on an suv below. >> if it wun't for the cushioning for the vehicle the roof would have crushed them inside the car stoo the boy was able to crawl out and was taken to the hospital. he was expected to recover. a memorable event for paul mccartney last night. according to traffic reports there weren't even any accidents or major problems. it was just the sheer volume of traffic that caused the backup. in fact, traffic was comparable to this of a redskins home game. one expressed his frustration with the situation. >> a true nightmare. my people were driving me crazy getting here. like go around, go up the shoulder, go u up the over shoulder do, this, do that. >> we're told the concert was grade and partny even added a special song for the dekre areas. >> that i go head to head and hold their own. dan hellie has more on today's "sports minute." good morning, everybody. first day in full gear and the pads were popping yesterday. rookie line backer and defensive end brian orakpo on point winning several one-on-one matchups with pro bowl offensive tackle chris samuel. the skins go back to work later this morning. meanwhile nats on the road. pirates rookie andrew mccutchen was the man. he hit three home runs in the game. his first multi homer game of the his career. the pirates crushed the nationals 11-6. josh beckett battled baltimore. the sox shut out the o's, 4-0. look who is here. tiger tore his way to the top of the leader board. he shoot as 7 under 65. he leads the way by one stroke at 17 under pafrmt meanwhile at the seep yore u.s. open, taco na park native leads the way by one stroke at 13 under par achlt if he hangs on to win, it will be his first major title. that's your sports in a minute. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great sunday. >> 7:40. 76 degrees. there ee a thunderstorm warning in central maryland ld chld blue it's called soldiers for heroes. they ee next. the "today" show is coming up at 8:00 a.m. right after this hour on "news 4 today." lester holt joins us live with a preview. good morning, lester. >> coming up, we've got breaking news. after nearly 20 years the mystery of a navy pilot who disappeared during the first gulf war has now been solved. we'll bring you the details. we'll tell you what the picture reveals about his final moments. also swimmer michael phelps back in the pool against his trash-talking rival. we'll find out who won the dramatic finish and show you the rematch. you'll meet another inspiring swimmer. a woman suddenly paralyzed is breaking records too. a couple of college kids on a mission to make america smile and give us all reason to feel better about ourselves. all that and much more to come. keith, right now let's send it back to you in washington. >> a lot of us need smiles today, lefter. we look forward to that one. >> we'll see you. >> it can be difficult to help find men and women ways to heal. >> did you thank the ladies? thank the ladies. >> reporter: meet army specialist conrad witt and his horse apollo. >> apollo, i tell you, i feel like i've been on here for about four hours. >> reporter: he's recovering from wounds he suffered from iraq. they're emotional as well as physical. . apollo is part of his rehabilitation. wait a minute. you used to be scared of horses? >> scared? i had a phobia. >> reporter: the changes the horses bring to the soldiers is dramatic. by using the gait of the horse is enabling you to work on your balance, mcle tone, work on self-confidence. >> reporter: this therapeutic riding program lasts eighth weeks helping soldiers like specialist robert rodriguez. >> how did it ma uk you feel? >> more relaxed. a lot more relaxed. >> reporter: he served three tours in iraq. he was shot in the chest and was hit by an ied that do you mind me asking you how you felt about your posttraumatic stress disorder? >> i'm still having hard time. >> work on it every day. >> yeah. take it one step at a time. >> these serve up a type of healing that can't be found in a hospital. it all happens here at maryland therapeutic riding and it started with an idea. if they can help children with special needs they could help heal our soldiers too. >> we have seen children who have autism. the only time they speak is when they're on a horse. >> reporter: the horses for heroes program was the brainchild of colonel ken mccready. >> i came to this program bringing a group of special needs children. >> reporter: he decided next time he'd bring wounded warriors. >> when you ee these soldiers and their faces are transform and transfigured just like those young riders. the confidence levels are different. there's a pep in their step. >> with that new confidence the soldiers are giving back, volunteering on weekends to build a trail for those children to ride on and helping care for the horses who have helped them heel. nora o'donnell, nbc news, krounsville, maryland. >> that's a great program. they do so much to help calm. >>'re calming and peaceful. >> good story. not necessarily calming and peaceful in the weather department. >> no. we actually have severe weather moving around. of course stick around, we'll giveouhe y tll d tails. ñ all right. a lot of rumbling and thunder last night in some areas and looks like we have more on the horizon. we have a large area of rain that's moving toward the area and embedded within the rain we have a lot of thunderstorms. right now it produces some severe weather in northern maryland. so good morning, everyone. we do have a front heading our way and today it's going to bring us locally heavy rain, especially in the afternoon hours, anywhere from a half an inch to a inch of rain. ss idue issued a frood watch for part of the region. so let's go to the maps talk about what's going on. here's what it looks like outside this morning. you can hardly see the capitol dome with all the clouds this morning. temperature wise it's 71. i am correct. 71 degrees. the wind is light. dew point, 68. so it is quite muggy out there. that number will be going down tomorrowbackside of this frontal band. this is where we have the warnings in effect this morning. we have severe thunderstorm warnings in effect until 8:30 this morning. now, we also have a flash flood watch in effect from 2:00 this afternoon until the evening hours and that includes thes district, prince george's county and then toward the mason-dixon line. this is where we think we could have some ur pan flooding and small street flooding. heres ee the batch of rain heading our way. you can see the severe thunderstorm right there producing a ton of lightning. it's about to make its way. off to the west, you can the batch of moisture. temperatures right now upper 6. lower 7. today we're heading into the low 80s. dew points continue to be on the high side. you can see the area of storm inness heading our way. as the front makes its way across the area,t may tricker severe thunderstorms especially east of town a little bit latter on this afternoon. so here's futurecast. the front moves in bringing us holly heavy rain, otherwise mostly cloudy with temperatures in the lower 8 and then tomorrow the front settles off to the south and eating. in fact, monday and tuesday's looking great. there's another front right here and this could bring us another round of active weathers as we head toward wednesday. so for today, mostly cloudy, cool, rain, thunder. again, some of these could produce locally heavy rain and possiblyeverer.weatheib thes in the low # 0s for today. tore, at88. monday looking great. tuesday looking pretty nice as well and then here comes another weak front for wednesday and thursday. pa ly cloudy. pop-up thunderstorm not out of the question. friday, saturday, looking dry. but today it's note going to be like yesterday. today the humid part sticks around but we're going to see a lot of clouds and rain move into the area. >> in sports news hitting going on. the players final put on the pads and the redskins first round pick is finally on the field. >> after first day in pads the defense clearly ahead of the offense, but that is normal a redskins park. however, the offense needs to be working. they clearly need time to jell. the defense did look sharp. they were popping. looky linebacker and defensive end brian orakpo on port winning several one-on-one battles with pro bowl offensive tack. chris samuels. the head coach says thinks change when the pads go on. >> there ee sort of a stress level, i think, and an uncomfortableness when you put on the pads anned the level of competition goes up, the level of tempo goes up. >> when you trap strap on full pads what's the biggest difference? >> it hurtses. thing that's the biggest difference. everything else is mental, beating up on guys. now it's going to start. you have to fight through it. >> we're all americans. can't nobody lk. everybody is grail. >> very impressed so far but when asked about the most impressive player on the field yesterday zorn went with 36-year-old phillip daniels. his first practice in full pad since the end of the 2000 season. daniels if you remember missed all of last season with a torn acl. >> derrick mason's retirement ov before it really starteded. he'll be back on the field today at training camp. you know the nationals really have a habit of making unknowns look look star and last night it happens again. andrew mccutchen looked like him. touched the nationals up for three home run. we start, though, with the racing president in pittsburgh. he had a rough night of it. defeated by a pierogi. flattened by the wall. adam dunn flattened this one. lastings, milledge, come on. you knee he wasn't going to get that. zimmerman cruises to third. milledge having trouble in the field. at the plate, milledge does redeem himself to third. rips one to left. one run scores and here comes andrew mccutchen racing around third. he scores as well. milledge ends up with a two-run double for hissests. pirates take a 3-2 lead. then the man of the night, the look. app drew mccutchen already has two home runs and he sayses may i have another, please. thank you very much, that's gone. three home runs in the game. his sixth rbi. takes a well deserved one. he yields a mighty large stick. the sox take a 1-0 lead. josh beckett. he freezes aubrey huff. he gets his 13th win of the year a the red sox shut out the orioles 4-0. the buick open's ratings should double for today's final round. that's because tiger is at the top of the leaderboard. let's not forget he's nearly perfect when leading after three rounds. a ridaunkulus third roub. tiger and stevy feeling pretty good in grand blanc, michigan. why shouldn't they? they're both millionaires. proekt could have hit it this close with a putter. instead he chooses an 8 or 59-iron, snuggles it up nice and close for a birdie. # 3 feet away. and dare i say bird is the word for mr. woods. one of eight birdies in the round for tiger. he has a one-stroke lead up in michigan. he's at 17nder par. let's go to indiana. it's the u.s. senior open. takoma park native fred funk decides to get this one nice and tight on number 9. that sets up a birdie. funk still looking for his first major championship. then funk putting for bird on 16, and the former interpret golf coach reaches this perfectly. good pace, good line, good birdie. one of six birdies for funk. he leads by one stroke at 13 under going into today's final record. a bad start just killed d.c. united last night. they went down 3-0 to houston and never recovered left. 's go to lone star state. banging the drum all night long. his second goal of the evening. houston takes a 3-0 lead as he does a nice little dance here. here is santee know kanata. is this like a pin ball or what. at least 100 guys get a head or a foot on it before lucsh cha know hechts in. they're as goes as they get as they go on to lose 4-3. that's your morning sports. i'm dan hellie. everybody have a great sunday. >> it may have looked like auditions for a taco bell commercial in california yesterday but don't be fooled. take a look there. it was actually the regional finals of the national chihuahua races at a southern california petco store. the dogs scampered down 30-foot-long lanes in answer effort to win the big price, all-expense paid trip to new york city. rememb remember the taco bell dog died earlier this week so in honor to him. >> all right. they look good. that's "news 4 today." the "today" show is next.