announcer: now "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. michelle: right now at 4:00, preparations underway for the 4th of july. from security to weather. and weather is the big concern. leon: watches have been posted for the region today but he also have our eyes on the fireworks forecast on monday. alison: we have team coverage for you this afternoon. our chief meteorologist doug hill tracking the storms for today and into the weekend. richard reeve has an eye on the fireworks plans, should inclement weather arrive monday. sam ford has d.c.'s security plans. but we begin with doug and the possibility of severe weather today. doug? doug: we are under severe thunderstorm watch across our area. to the north is a tornado watch in the yellow. most of the action is pennsylvania, new york state and new england. but we have been watching all afternoon for the development and storms that may become severe. they are just starting out. across the blue ridge, interstate 81. the hot and the humid air mass over the next hour or two, we will watch the cells closely to monitor them for possible

zooming in, some of them are in the metro area. but most in the royal area over skyline drive. northeast of town we have seen the storm develop in savage. that will move to anne arundel county and scoot to baltimore. the next few hours are key. the severe thunderstorm watch is until 10:00 tonight. there are additional storms to the west and southwest we'll watch. tomorrow and sunday look just fine. but monday is a concern for the 4th with all the people in town. there will be increasing chances of showers and thunderstorms as we move to the late afternoon and the evening hours. that is the forecast now based on the latest computer model guidance. it won't be really hot. it's only in the lower 80's. there are other firework displays around the region. richard reeve is live along the mall with information about that and other fun stuff we always enjoy on the 4th. richard? richard: i can imagine a lot of people have been watching you to see what is going to be happening. let's take a look at the weather now her

national mall. you can see some cloud cover over here. no big deal right now. as we all know, hundreds of thousands of tourists arriving here for the fireworks monday night. once again we have a year where the weather is iffy. remember last year? the big decision to go or not to go. no matter what the weather, though, those launch crews are getting ready by the reflective pool. they will have those fireworks launched at 9:09 p.m. now d.c. and other jurisdictions have what they call a "safe haven plan." in d.c. they used it in 2006, 2007 and 2015. but the fireworks did go off during all those times. they have never canceled the fireworks in d.c. in recent history. so a lot of folks are keeping their fingers crossed. >> what are you thinking? >> it's okay. bring it on. that's fine. richard: "bring it on"? >> this is our first year here. we shouldn't miss it. >> we

our spot on the mall early so if it rains we will be there for a while. i don't know. we'll see. richard: so, in d.c. they do have a rain date on tuesday. also in college park and takoma park, they are saying the first nice evening if it does rain on monday. in frederick, maryland, staying strong. they are saying rain or shine. we'll have a complete list on the website wjla.com. coming up at 5:00, what people's game plans are. it involves ponchos. leon: don't want to see those, rich. stay connected with the stormwatch7 weather team all weekend long. facebook, twitter and the app is available for you. we are also providing updates at wjla.com, where we have a list of all the scheduled fireworks shows across the region. alison: so, as hundreds of th

to the nation's capital, the city is making sure everyone has a safe holiday weekend. michelle: that's right. d.c. police and mayor outlining the security measures in place. leon: sam ford is standing by in northeast. all hands on deck this weekend, right? sam: well, they didn't exactly call it that, leon, but that seems to be what it is. police officers were outside the sixth police district here. the mayor was here. the police chief was here. the fire chief was here. a host of others who are talking about keeping track of what is going on this weekend. so that there is a safe 4th of july. they started off thanking and giving pep talks to officers who are hitting the streets to be particularly vigilant on d.c.'s busiest weekend of the year. concerns about the use of illegal fireworks.

heat and traffic jams were on a list of topics that the mayor and members of her cabinet raised. cathy lanier said this will be her 27th straight 4th of july day at work since she joined the department. chief lanier: we have a lot of people in town that are in town over the weekend. you will see a visible increased in presence by m.p.d. this is a holiday weekend. a lot of people will choose to travel on the holidays. a lot of people choose to travel here. sam: one of the things they are saying basically is don't drive in the city, don't drive into the city. they are saying it several times. you know, we talked about this, all this metro track work? well, that is going to be suspended on the 4th of july. so metro will be traveling just as normal. the department of transportation wants that out there so you will not have to expect those situations. metro is normal on the

until 8:00 p.m. on the 5th. if you want to go to the mall, they have bike share. you can ride a bike and leave it or pick a bike up and go from there. there is no circulator bus to take you to the national mall. there are a number of things to tell people here but d.c. is hyped, because they know this is the biggest day, the biggest weekend for the city of the year. they want to be ready. leon, alison, michelle, back to you. michelle: thank you. got it all covered there. breaking news from across the world. we are now about six hours into a hostage situation in dhaka. that is the capital city of bangladesh. this is all unfolding in the diplomatic zone. the u.s. embassy there telling americans and employees there to shelter-in-place. chief political correspondent scott thuman is at the "live desk" with us with more on the now d

scott? scott: you say "deadly" because last word we have heard that two police officers were killed in the gun fight with the hostage-takers. apparently six to eight of them went into the bakery/restaurant, taking plenty of people hostage. the numbers are conflicting right now but for the most part it sounds like 20 or more. there are also now conflicting reports about their fate. we will keep an eye on what exactly is being said. cnn saying 40 people have been injured. isis in the past half hour reportedly claimed responsibility for this attack. we know president obama has been briefed on this matter and, of course, the state department saying at this point there aren't any americans who may have been injured or taken hostage. obviously this is a developing situation. we're still trying to find out the information. they are ten hours ahead of us so they are well past midnight as they try to sort it out. last count we were dealing wi

handful of gunman who some witnesses claim yelled "allahu akbar" when taking over the restaurant. and isis claiming responsibility at this hour. we'll have more throughout the newscast as we continue to monitor the developing situation. back to you. alison: thank you for that. back closer to home developing at 4:00, spotsylvania county sheriff officials are searching for a 14-year-old pregnant girl. naylei marquez last seen sunday morning at her home. now we are told she is seven months pregnant and she requires medication. she is 5'2", weighs 120 pounds. she has a nose ring and pierced ears. she has been known to frequent alexandria, arlington and fairfax. so if you have any information, please want to hear from you. leon: an 8-year-old maryland boy is in critical condition after nearly drowning on a cruise ship. the child was on the royal caribbean cruise ship. the company says the boy was found in one of the ship's swimming pools but no one

the cruise ship was not far offshore away from new jersey. so they managed to return to port and rush the boy to the hospital as soon as the ship got in. michelle: the meeting that rocked the political world. former president bill clinton and attorney general loretta lynch discussing family aboard a plane in arizona. all while hillary clinton is under investigation for use of a private e-mail server during her time as secretary of state. today lynch said she is willing to accept f.b.i. guidance on what to do moving forward. she insists they did not discuss hillary's e-mails. >> it was a social meeting. it really was in that regard. i certainly wouldn't do it again. because i think it has cast a shadow over what it will not touch. michelle: lynch did not say she is fully removing herself from the case at this point. joining us now to discuss more about this bizarre situation

christine. regardless of what side you are on of the aisle, the optics of this, both sides say are problematic here. reporter: bizarre is right. let's remember both bill and hillary clinton have law degrees. so people are saying even the appearance of impropriety should have stopped this from starting in the first place. it has forced attorney general loretta lynch to get out in front of this and responding to tough questions heading into the holiday weekend. >> i did see the president at the phoenix airport the other night. as i was landing, he was heading out. reporter: it's that meeting monday night that raises questions. can attorney general loretta lynch employ solid legal judgment above presidential politics in an election year? that is as she awaits f.b.i. recommendations as to whether anyone including hillary clinton should face criminal charges for using a private e-mail server while clinton served as secretary of state? >> no discussions were

about that. reporter: her explanation is not enough to quell a political uproar. >> this lend the perception -- this lends the perception that the game is rigged. reporter: judicial watch, which sued the state department in 2013 over clinton's e-mail records, have asked the justice department inspector general to review the private lynch-clinton meeting. >> this is a major criminal investigation. probably the most important decision she had to make on her watch. she blew it. reporter: some mentioned impeachment. but judicial watch says he sees the f.b.i. indicting hillary clinton long before he can imagine congress impeaching loretta lynch. back to you. leon: thanks. coming up at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- lottery history in the making for the holiday weekend. michelle: also ahead, a child is forced to deal with her parents' pr

the reason a judge says a 10-year-old with a perfect golf swing can't play the game she loves. reporter: we know there is a lot of traffic on 95 this holiday weekend. but for drivers of bigger vehicles, they are not minding all the traffic. i'm jeff goldberg. we will explain why coming up. alison: also ahead this afternoon, the next steps in the new trial granted for

your home can be perfect.re, even when life isn't. the neighbor's back. oh, no. this is my husband, gibby! i wanted to show him your furniture! i like it! you wanna come in? oh no. that would be weird! the 4th of july sale is happening now. havertys.

leon: a nasty child custody battle in virginia has taken a controversial turn. a judge has banned the 10-year-old girl playing competitive golf for next year. she is considered a phenom. maybe even ready for collegiate level already at the age of 10. the girl's father told abc7 that his child's game and her talent could suffer because of the decision and he plans to appeal. but the decision to ban the girl from competition made national headlines. michelle: a lot of folks, including ourselves, was wondering why would the judge impose the ruling without really flushing out the reason for making the decision? leon: however, you are saying that the father is actually her coach. michelle: yeah, we did learn that in the reports. the father is the coach. so perhaps it would mean spending too much time with the daughter. leon: more time than the mother wo

alison: why couldn't she have a different coach? leon: good question. you wouldn't stop a girl going to school if she had a chance to be an a student and get into harvard, right? alison: i can see why it's getting national attention. leon: we'll talk about it more later. maybe not today but later. adnan syed, the subject of the popular "serial" podcast is getting a second trial. for the first time after the ruling today we hear from his lawyer. now syed has been serving a life sentence for the death of hae min lee, his one-time girlfriend back in 2000. a maryland judge decided to vacate his conviction. all of this coming after evidence that syed's original defense attorney did not cross examine an expert witness in the original trial. syed's post-conviction lawyer is reacting to the judge's decision. >> he is not a threat to flee. he is not a danger to the community. i believe in

met him seven years ago. and we, you know, we look forward to a day when we can prove that in court. leon: the state has about 30 days to appeal this decision. if they don't do so, the case will go forward with the new trial. syed's attorney says he plans on asking for bail so that syed can get out of jail until the next trial. alison: well, let's talk more about the holiday weekend now upon us. it's the great getaway. if you haven't left yet, you might be one of the few still in town. along with us. michelle: exactly. we are talking about the 4th of july holiday weekend. millions of folks on the move by air, train, car, you name it. leon: that's right. but this year it's costing a lot less than previous years. we are getting used to the cheaper gas prices. northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg is in woodbridge today. almost like a vacation windfall here. jeff: yes, it's not too bad, leon. traffic right now on 95 south is not terrible. not great >>

terrible. this is where it gets tight going south to richmond. a big reason so many cars are on the roads is gas is the cheapest in 11 years. that is unbelievable. the average price for gallon of gas is about $2.27. that is 38% less than just two years ago. amazing! according to a.a.a., more than 43 million americans will travel this holiday weekend. many of them by car. that makes this the most heavily traveled holiday since a.a.a. began tracking this data in 2001. amazing! the big savings at the pump are especially nice of course for drivers of big trucks and s.u.v.'s. today in woodbridge we had the pleasure of running into the butler brothers. these guys are fantastic. they are driving this enormous r.v. from new jersey to orlando, florida. parking at the pump was not easy for them. they say it costs about $350 to fill up the vehicle. as expensive as that is, that is about $100 cheaper than five

>> it saves a lot. it's big-time. a lot of money back in your pocket. jeff: what are you doing with the money? >> everything. [laughter] >> it's nice to save some money. you know that! yes. good to save some money. jeff: no doubt. the guys were awesome. they were happy about saving money but they were not thrilled about the traffic. the same goes for everybody on 95 today. we did find travel hubs that were unexpectedly quiet. a lot of people we spoke with there were surprised. we'll tell you where and what they had to say coming up at 5:00. until then, live in woodbridge, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. leon: thanks, jeff. let's get a check of the traffic situation all over the area. jamie sullivan is here with the details. jamie: i want to start off with the best and the worst times to travel. of course, right now we are in the thick of the worst time to travel. that started right around 3:00. this is according to the traffic watch 7 waze data

after 5:00, we will be a little better but not by much. i am talking bumper-to-bumper traffic. look here near sandy point. if you are one of those ones heading to the beach, get ready. this backup right now is about 11 miles. it starts well before the severn river bridge. continuing outbound as you get closer to saint margaret's. getting to the toll plaza is the rough spot. once you get across the bridge, it is smooth sailing. no issues. but again, the problem is just getting to the bridge. let's switch gears. we are going to talk 95 now. if you are heading southbound, this is through woodbridge. not at a terrible pace but it is a lot of volume. the big picture you can see here. it looks pretty typical for us. kenilworth avenue slowing. same on 395 and the freeway. bottom side of the beltway and the northwest corner. as far as crashes go, we have had about three accidents in the past two hours on 50 right near the bay bridge. right now nothing to report in the immediate area. and on the bay bridge, it's just slowing. we will keep you update

hopefully, we won't have any crashes but there is the potential with that many cars out there. leon: thank you. michelle: there is also the potential for serious weather. doug: in the past 20, 30 minutes we are starting to see a number of thunderstorms bubble up to the west. that will be the area if we are going to get anything. that is where it's coming from. i'll share it with you. let's get started around the area. we have the severe thunderstorm watch in pink. entire metro area and beyond. you notice it's all east of the blue ridge all the way to the coast. severe thunderstorm watch until 10:00 tonight. a little farther north in new york state and interior new england a tornado watch in effect. here is the area we are watching. we have a few showers over baltimore, north of the bay bridge, eastern shore. this area to the west we are watching closely. this is an area of showers and storms, a number of them, all individual cells. the motion is pretty clear-cut. they are moving due west and due east. this motion will keep most of them south of the metro area over the next few hours. but it's plenty hot and humid out there. a lot of sunshine. that means the

very unstable and will allow some of the storms to continue to flourish and grow some as they trek to the east. no warnings in effect right now. the closest area of showers and storms approaching the dulles airport now. we will lose contact with them in a little bit but we'll see them reemerge over western section of fairfax county before long. so the story tonight will be the possibility of showers and thunderstorms. there is our watch. the yellow area denotes the area under the tornado watch. the storms are more numerous to the north and northeast. the cold front we think is an area of causing these, and then the cold front to northwestern pennsylvania will clear out the skies tonight and set the stage for a beautiful day tomorrow. fairly beautiful sunday. sunday night and monday it goes downhill in a hurry. first pitch tonight, keep the door for isolated thunderstorms from 7:00 to 8:00 tonight. there is a possibility. i don't think it's likely but it is possible. for the 4th of july weekend, tomorrow is gorgeous around the area. 85, low humidity,

increasing cloudiness on sunday and 83. then right now it appears that the rain will become more and more likely through the day on monday. and we think there is a better than 50/50 chance for showers and thunderstorms for the fireworks on monday afternoon. so with that in mind, here is the seven-day. tomorrow is gorgeous, 85. increasing cloudiness after the morning sun on sunday, 83 with a 30% chance of evening showers and storms. monday the 4th, only 82 but increasing chances of showers and storms through the day, especially through the night and into tuesday. wednesday, thursday, friday, a little warmup here. back in the lower 90's by this time next week. michelle: feeling like july. leon: i got numbers to beat those. alison: you have the winning numbers? leon: not yet. shhh! michelle: we'll find out tonight. leon: don't tell them. no, i don't have the winning numbers. mega-million drawing is up to $415 million tonight. alison: the power ball tomorrow is up to

million. michelle: a lot of cash. our abc7 instapoll at wjla.com/votenow raises the question -- if you are playing, which one are you going after? the mega-millions, the power ball or both? leon: if you could play both, why wouldn't you? michelle: why not? if not, go for the one with the higher jackpot. leon: that means if you have so confident in your luck you only need to buy the one ticket. michelle: i mean, if you only have one buck, the power ball is two bucks. so if you are going to choose -- alison: okay. that's good reasoning. leon: if you say i don't need to play both you probably have enough money as it is already. keep it moving. alison: if you win either of the jackpots, you could have all the burgers you want for the rest of your life. this year's contestants have had enough. the sights, the sounds and the winner of the annual burger-eating contest downtown. that's next

leon: forget about coney ilap. jay korff takes us downtown where people filled up on burgers at a nauseating pace. jay: some of the burgers coming out of the z-burger in northwest wa

customers. they were delivered to the front sidewalk for the restaurant's seventh annual independence burger eating contest. >> here we have ten of the best bottomless pits in the country, ladies and gentlemen. they are going to be eating the hamburgers today. >> this is becoming huge. this is one of the biggest burger-eating competitions in the world now. jay: top-ranked competitive eater molly skylar of nebraska returned to defend her title. for 12 grueling minutes, these highly trained consumers of insane amount of food forced down burger after burger. chewing, drinking and sweating under a hot summer sun. top contender david "tininger "tininger -- david "tiger wings and things" could not keep up with the mother of four. >> with four minutes to go, molly, the reigning champion, 19 hamburgers. look, she is about to

jay: in the end, her relentless pace allowed her to stomach 28 burgers. >> it's fun. hot out here. great people. i get excited to get free burgers. jay: like any champion she celebrated her title with a milkshake. >> we are the bottomless pit. we are the elite. jay: jay korff, abc7 news. michelle: way to go, molly. >> i'm guessing that stuff in her ears to keep the food in. is that it? plugs? is that what that? alison: oh, man. michelle: 28 burgers. i couldn't get past maybe two. leon: it is always the skinny ones. what about that? michelle: where does she put it? leon: what happened to the laws of physics? it doesn't make sense. alison: there is so much wrong with it. leon: c'mon, you know you see that and think that is my daughter's husband. that is going to be my daughter's husband. alison: help me. [laughter] michl

still ahead for us, a look at the all-important weekend weather including the fireworks forecast. kevin: i'm kevin lewis live in silver springs. fact checking a wmata pledge. what we found coming up. alison: take a look now at the abc7 instapoll. just head to wjla.com/votenow if you want to participate. here is the question -- if you are playing the lottery this weekend, what will you spend your money on? leon: burgers. alison: burgers. lots of burgers. michelle: 28 of "why are you checking your credit score? "well you don't want to live with mom and dad forever, do you?" "then she says...bazang!" "ok, good one." (laughs) "bazang. remember?" "bazang...you get it?" "bazang?" "yeah!" "uh, how do i check my credit score?" "credit karma, don't worry bud it's free."

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announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 4:00". on your side. leon: doug is watching the skies. doug: any where we're looking at here? leon: no. doug: this is the udvar-hazy center in dulles. we are looking on the horizon. there is an indication of rain. some of the clouds not overcast with the foreground. a light shower is going to be moving over dulles. a few other areas have thunder and rain. let's get busy checking those. see it on the left-hand side of your screen if you are watching in h.d., i hope. leon: i can make it out. doug: you see the rain falling. it's not falling north or to the right of the picture. we h

approaching that area. however we have potential for heavier rain moving in as already thunderstorms are developing to the south and southwest of the dulles area. the entire region shaded in pink under a severe thunderstorm watch until 10:00 tonight. here is the rotation of the radar. you can see the shower area near dulles. you get farther west and southwest. there are five, six seven clusters of the showers and the thunderstorms moving east. most of the action is well to the northeast. through pennsylvania, new york, interior new england. locally we have showers coming across eastern loudoun county, front royal. you can trace them. washington, virginia, culpeper and south along 81. so if we get anything nasty it will come from the cells that continue to develop. the forecast tonight we'll see the showers and the storms at times. but they will end tonight. becoming less humid overnight as the winds turn

sunshine. low humidity, mid-80's. some sun and cloudiness. 83 on sunday. for monday on the 4th, increasing cloudiness. late afternoon and everything becoming likely in the evening hours. the nighttime hours it seems now. for the fourth we will see the clouds increase through the day. lower 80's for the high temperatures. after 5:00 or 6:00, through the evening, the showers and the thunderstorms are a possibility. alison: thank you. we have to tell you about a crime alert. two masked men looking for drugs hit up a community rehab patient care center in prince george's county. michelle: as maryland bureau chief brad bell shows us, police say the suspects knew exactly what they were going for. brad: this is where people compost surgery to recover and rehabilitate. these guys proved for some criminals, no victim is off-limits. they planned it out. one thing they might not have planned on is getting caught on camera. this is their wanted p

for these caught on camera criminals it seems no possible victim is off-limits. no target out of bounds. >> you know, it's just disgraceful. >> disgraceful because at 3:30 this morning this trio of crooks robbed the doctor's hospital rehab center at gunpoint, somehow getting in through a door that should have been locked demanding drugs from terrified care-givers. in effect, stealing medicine from people in need. including lawrence manly's wife. >> it abovers me being a veteran and a retired person with my wife having surgery on her knee -- it bothers me being retired veteran and my wife having surgery on her knee. brad: the video shows them with a cart overflowing with drug. they join the get-away driver. not only heartless, they are clumsy. they dumped it on the ground trying to push the cart in the too small s.u.v.

another camera captures the small dark colored four-door vehicle pulling away. police hope someone recognizes the robbers so willing to target the defenseless. >> i don't know what people want nowadays. >> let me go in here and see how she is. brad: the guys were so clumsy and sloppy, when police arrived on the scene in the parking lot they found the drugs that had been stolen, strewn everywhere. now there is a $2,500 reward for information. if anybody recognizes anything about that video, we know it is grainy and we know you can't see faces but somebody may know something. that is what police are hoping. in lanham, brad bell, abc7 news. leon: all right. thank you, brad. you know one of metro's recent pledges was to be more transparent about violent crimes that occur in the system. that cames after abc7 questioned wmata about the policies following a rape on the red line. have they kept their word? have they been more open?

a story you first saw here on abc7. what's the word? kevin: well, leon, you will recall that woman was attacked on a moving red line train that stopped here at the glen mont station. a we broke the story, riders harshly criticized metro for covering up the crime. back on may 24, metro g.m. paul wiedefeld announced effectively immediately, metro police would notify the public about all violent crimes on the day they occur. we wanted to fact check the pledge. we reviewed the police blotter. we counted 12 violent crimes including multiple armed robberies and an assault with an intent to rob, kill or rape. however, despite wiedefeld's pledge, transit police only told the public about one of the 12 violent incidents. metro which refused to speak with us on camera says it plans to hire a community outreach coordinator by january. it will also beg

a daily crime blotter starting in october. as opposed to the current monthly report. still riders are less than amused by what we found. >> i think they just say things to make everybody feel better. >> they don't seem to understand that it is their responsibility in the first place to think of these things and then follow through. >> if something is happening -- if you say you will do something you need to do it. you can't sit and push it under the rug. kevin: metro says it reserves the right to withhold information about violent crimes if going publish could hamper an ongoing investigation. we asked metro if that's why they didn't notify about the 11 of the 12 incidents. they did not give us a clear answer. this is only the last eight days of may. we haven't gotten to the june blotter. there is possibly a lot more to the story. kevin lewis, abc7 news.

a new fiscal year. that means new laws taking effect. in virginia a new measure on gun control that becomes official. i requires police officers at all gun shows to perform voluntary background checks. as of today, you can be fined $100 if you are smoking in a car with a child under the age of 8 also in the vehicle. public elementary schools required to give students 20 minute a day of physical activity. moving to maryland now the minimum wage will go up from 8.25 to $8.75 an hour. gas tax going up almost a penny. michelle: also today a grace period that metro customers long requested. they will now be allowed to exit the same station they entered within 15 minutes without being charged. that is likely to happen in a service disruption. metro general manager wiedefeld says the change is all about refocusing on

customers. leon: lot's get back to our instapoll. mega-million drawing is $415 million. the power ball is up to $243 million. michelle: very nice. head to wjla.com/votenow. if you are playing, which one are you going in for? megamillions, power ball or both. right now the mega-millions is dominating with 67%. nobody exclusively playing power ball alison: poor power ball. no love today. leon: i feel bad for them. michelle: yeah. leon: how can you feel sorry for something with only $243 million? michelle: hopefully we have a winner this weekend. alison: around here. leon: hopefully somebody we know. michelle: sitting next to us.

4:00" -- judy dent gets a tattoo. a birthday gift from her daughter. we let you know what it is ahead. leon: how about where it is? michelle: that, too. leon: coming up new at 5:00, celebrating a milestone. what the air and space museum is doing

michelle: leon's cavs are the victory. coastal carolina college world series win might be the ultimate surprise in sports. alison: take a look. here they are. that is the team arriving back in myrtle beach after leaving omaha after completing the ultimate upset. michelle: coastal carolina. alison: from conway, south carolina. beat baseball giant arizona. a chantaclear is a character from a

judi dench is seizing the day. michelle: with a tattoo for her 81st birthday. it reads "carpe diem" on her wrist. her daughters paid for it. alison: pretty cool. michelle: we want to let you know what is coming up next on "abc7 news at 4:00" -- normally you get out of the water when you see a shark in the surf. find out why they are excited about the 11-footer and where it was spotted. alison: still ahead, big acts like billy joel and bruise springsteen set to rock nats park. then, of course, "hamilton" will be at the kennedy center. good luck to get tickets. looking for secondary market, we'll help you avoid counterfeits up next.

michelle: check this out. 12-feet long. a tiger shark caught and tagged in north carolina. the pictures and the videos posted to facebook this week. researchers getting close enough to tag it before sending it back out into the atlantic.

your job? alison: my goodness. michelle: they are so trained. they are pros at it. seeing it up close like that, that is a little scary. all right. alison: good reminder heading in the holiday weekend. michelle: for sure. the beaches are packed. the three-day weekend is upon us, there is a lot to do. not just the fireworks show across the area. alison: from the national mall and beyond, you don't have to go far to stumble on a lot of fun. kidd o'shea has the weekend kickoff. kidd: the smithsonian's annual folk life festival on the national mall is happening this weekend. this year celebrates the basque country in northern spain. the firecracker 5k for the troops takes place in reston on the 4th of july. the race starts at 8:00. a wonderful opportunity to give thanks and show support for the local military members answer their families. if you want to race go to prraces.com to register. you can kickoff your holiday

there are two shows. 6:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. tickets at howardtheater.com. i hope you have a great 4th of july weekend. do something that makes you happy. i'm "good morning washington's" kidd o'shea. michelle: if you still need ideas for what to do this weekend head to wjla.com. we have a complete guide for you in addition to list of all the fireworks shows near you in d.c., maryland and virginia. there are so many. if you can't make it to the national mall. alison: all right. speaking of fireworks do we have natural fireworks? doug: a few. so let's start with that. tell you about the weather pattern this afternoon. a commod front will roll through late

the watch extends farther north and in new england a tornado watch there. we have a couple of points as a point of interest. to give you context for what we are looking at. if they keep on the track the hier one will cross over to spotsylvania county in the next couple of hours. lighter showers here. there is another hour or two the monitor the storms. we will see everything move through the area to clear out. fredericksburg is 6:03. holiday weekend at home, fine tomorrow. a few clouds on sunday. maybe a shower sunday night. monday, storms and showers increase in probability through the late afternoon or the evening. if you are heading across the evening hours e

will occur around 3:00. we lose the sun, pick up clouds and increase the chances of showers and thunderstorms. mountains look good. cooler. showers and storms are likely there on monday as well. finally at the beach, if you haven't left, it looks fine. jamie: if you haven't left, now is not the best time. walking would be faster, actually. we are starting off with a look near sandy point. in comparison to the traffic heading closer to sandy point to the bay bridge. look at the traffic heading outbound. it's not bad at all. the big issue is here. we sit in bumper to bumper traffic continuing near to the bay bridge. once you cross the toll plaza, smooth sailing continuing closer toward mid-span and further past this point. the bigge

approaching the bay bridge. traveling virginia, slow go through dale city. a big picture look. normal slowing. nothing out of the ordinary. i'm happy to report no crashes right now. that is a look at traffic. back to you. michelle: all right. thank you. there are few things worse than getting up to the ticket takers at a convert and finding out that someone sold you a counterfeit. we'll find out how to spot a fake coming up next. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. so we wired the wagner's house th 100 meg internet. which means that in the time it takes mr. wagner's to pour a 20 oz. cup of coffee, tommy can download 30 songs, and jan can upload 120 photos. 12 seconds. that's the power of fiber optics. and right now you can get 100 meg internet with equal upload and download speeds,

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john: summer is concert and show season in the d.c. area. tickets for many events sell out fast. before you go on the secondary market we have a warning about counterfeit tickets that are hitting the hottest broadway shows. "hamilton" is all the rage on broadway, sweeping the tony awards and sold out for months. "usa today" says some fans are buying counterfeit tickets. >> when the site came up, it looked official. i thought i was on the ticket master site. john: melinda johnson ended up with bad concert tickets earlier in year from a look-alike ticket master website that wasn't the real thing. "usa today" showed the tickets that turned out to be fake. burning a man for

from the doesn't that stink file, what happens when you try to use counterfeit tickets? you get turned away so they can't be scanned, which is what happened to the gentleman with the "hamilton" tickets. doesn't that stink? the better business bureau says to avoid tickets on craigslist or one known web sites. look for established sellers with a street address and good better business report card so you can enjoy the show. stick with reputable sites with a money-back guarantee if the ticket is fraudulent so you don't waste your money. i'm john matarese, abc7 news. leon: tonight -- >> this is our first year here. we shouldn't miss it. leon: city officials prepare as the masses roll in the d.c. area. what you need to know before the festivities. keeping the metro informed after a spike in crime. metro promised to do just that. abc7 finds out if they lived up to the deal. then a rare piece of the past made it to d.c. the newspaper making waves at the museum.

5:00". on your side. alison: right now we are on storm watch this friday afternoon. as we monitor a chance of storms all across our region. chief meteorologist doug hill is here with a check of the forecast. hey, doug, how is it looking? doug: stormy in spots after being in a severe thunderstorm watch all afternoon long. we have got one! it's in culpeper. if you live in culpeper, no surprise there i'm telling you. the skies got dark, showers and storms, light thing. there it is moving to the east. past fredericksburg in the next hour. moving at 25 miles per hour. we'll zoom in now. fair amount of lightning with the cell, too. a little one farther south out of rut kersville. it will go over to standardsville and that way. isolated showers here and there. it will keep everything south of the immediate metro area. as far as the timing goes on this, it looks like it's in stephensburg. we will track it for you. other than that, it

hot and the humid conditions to develop storms in the next hour or two. we will watch those, the entire region under severe thunderstorm watch until 10:00 tonight. that is the latest. alison: okay. we know you will keep a close eye on it for us. thank you. the weather could play a big role in the july fourth celebration on the national mall. we have team coverage of the fireworks and the security plans for you tonight. let's begin with richard reeve. he is on the mall right now. hi, rich. richard: hi, alison. if you are planning to come here for july 4, you probably want to accessorize with something like this. not necessarily the channel 7 raincoat but you want a poncho or something. let's show you why. doug hill talking about it. right now even in d.c. we see threatening clouds here. rain an issue this year because again we have an iffy weather picture for monday. it has happened before. everyone trying to be ready. while prep crews continue working at the reflecting pool