models are aglowing with the scenario -- agreeing with the scenario the main batch will myth through. if this comes to pass, then things are looking pretty good for the fireworks time frame. close up o doppler, most east of the city. it will continue to move northeast. individual showers farther west to keep an eye on. but over the next couple of hours we will see the trend continue. and i think we are on track to have a muggy and a mild and a cloudy and a damp night out there. but at least weather that should work out okay for the fireworks. late tonight the thunderstorms are a possibility. as a warm front moves through the area. tomorrow a different day. look at this. 86 degrees. we could deal with the thundershowers and clearing and then it will get hot. we are talking 90. we will show you that. the seven-day forecast in a few minutes. michelle: thank you. already, fireworks show have been postponed for

annapolis canceled its parade. those braving the weather for the fireworks on the mall are having to get pretty creative to keep dry. sam sweeney is live on the mall and he continues the team coverage. how is it going out there? we see the folks setting up tents. sam: the fireworks forecast is not stopping any of the people. we talk to the organizers in the past few minutes. they tell us they still expect hundreds of thousands of people to come to the national mall. one of those families right here, the eastons have been out here since the -- eastmans, excuse me out. here since 11:00. this is a

>> we are trying to get a dry patch. since we hauled it out we are staying for whole thing. >> you left early last time. what did you bring and how did you stay busy today? >> everyone has their electronic devices. they have been on facebook and everything. we have a small puppy to keep us busy. we play card games and brought us food and keep us busy. >> thank you. the national park service says that the show will go on at 9:07 tonight. the only way they will cancel is if the lightning and strong storms came in but they have not done that in the last 25 years. we are keeping the finger crossed. back to you. michelle: we might get a window, sam. thank you. before you head out the door for tonight's celebration, take the power of the storm watch weather team with you. download the stormwatch7 weather app or like us on facebook or twitter. the national tradition beat the bad weather on constitution avenue.

[music] they lined the street as the drill team and the celebrities and floats and motorcycles passed by. a group that plays a prominent role in events like this may have its hands tied in future events. "7 on your side" watchdog investigator chris papst learned about the military bands ahead on "abc7 news at 6:00". leon: looming in the background of events like these in the district is security. this year on the heels of terror attacks around the globe, police once again are stepping up the efforts here locally. ryan hughes joins us now live from the national mall where it's all hands on deck for security. what is going on down there? ryan: good evening. no matter where you look you can see a police officer in the corner on the street. now as you make your way onto the mall, if you have a bag you will be asked to open it up and take things out as you get searched. you wi

police cruisers there and a bus blocking the roadways around the mall. police tell us the main goal here is to make sure that people have fun. but also stay safe. >> are you coming in? stop right here. ryan: with tens of thousands of people expected to make their way to the national mall, security is a top priority. bags are getting checked at all eight entrances. law enforcement agencies around the region are joining forces to keep everyone safe this 4th of july. >> we have e.m.t.'s. we have park rangers and volunteers. if you need anything flag one of us down. we are happy to help. ryan: the 4th of july celebrations have already started. rellers watching the parade -- revelers watching the parade marching down constitution avenue. with last week's attacks in turkey and the bombing in syria the police presence is robust on the national mall. this man and his wife pull in from washington state. >> we thought about everything that was going on. we did have concerns. but we deci

important. we need to do this. so we came. ryan: roads around the mall are blocked off until 11:00 tonight. police are stationed on every corner. everyone we spoke with say they welcome it and it helps them feel safe. >> they are really great. we asked a couple about the route and the detours. they are very helpful. >> it's fine. we came here. we are used to the madness in new york. we thought it was safe. that's nice. ryan: police have a tough job ahead of them. if you see or hear something that doesn't seem right let them know so they can take action. we are live downtown tonight. ryan hughes, abc7 news. michelle: thanks. of course it's not just the d.c. area beefing up security around the holiday. jonathan elias joins us now with how other parts of the nation are fighting back in the war on terror. john? jonathan: every major city in the nation is taking similar approaches as d.c. is. it's called all hands on deck. you heard that a second ago.

with police officers. >> take your posts. dismissed. jonathan: that was the scene in new york two hours ago as hundreds of officers left a briefing room. the leadership there are part of a critical response command. highly trained officers part of the thousands of the extra officers that will be out on the streets. >> people have told me how reassuring it is to see you there, knowing how well trained you are, how well armed you are. knowing you are among the very best protecting this city. jonathan: in chicago, a similar story there. that is where we are told 5,000 more officers are on the street today. that is more than a typical monday or a typical holiday. boston was also on high alert. it of course is home to the boston pops fireworks spectacular, where a half a million people will camp out on the esplanade on the charles river to watch ten ton of fireworks explode in the sky. that is key in that city and all the cities. michelle: thank you. two suicide bombers struck in the islamic

medina near the burial site of the islamic prophet muhammad. state link saudi news sources say the bombing happened as most people were at home breaking their first fast in the last days of ramadan. early reports say the bombers were the only casualties in the attack. no one has claimed responsibility for the attack. leon: a security scare at home after a virginia teenager stepped on some explosive device in new york's central park. our northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg checks in now live. i understand you just spoke to the teenager's grandfather. how is he doing? jeff: he is doing okay at the moment. the gand father tells us that 18-year-old connor golden a graduate of oakton high at vienna and a student at the university of miami. he is in serious but stable condition at a hospital in new york city. late today the new york city police department saying they believes the device exploded was made by someone who did not intend for it to explode. a day after the

fear throughout new york city, the one person injured in the blast, 18-year-old connor golden of vienna is doing his best to push through. >> groggy. still in intensive care. jeff: his grandfather torrence -- terrance golden says the young man's family are by his side as they struggle to understand what happened. >> we were devastated and shocked. jeff: yesterday, connor and two friends were walking in central park when he unknowingly jumped from a rock to a plastic bag that turned out to be an explosive. the blast could be heard from blocks away on the upper east side of manhattan. chaos unfolded in the park. first responders rushing connor golden to the hospital. officials say the explosion nearly blew off golden's foot and resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee. >> he is a success story. very ambitious. and smart. i think he has the stuff to deal with this.

they believe the device was homemade and meant for experimental and testing purposes not intended to harm. >> the location that it was found and where it was placed is sort of an ideal location conducive to conducting that kind of experiment. >> he is a great kid. fantastic. jeff: john is a neighbor and has known connor golden for 15 years. >> he is an eagle scout. he will make it just fine. jeff: good to hear that. the new york city police officer officials were not specific but said the person who made the device likely lives near central park and got information about the explosive chemicals from the internet. tests are being conduct and they hope to know by wednesday what the device was made of. live in newsroom, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. still ahead at 5:00, america at its finest. how an army veteran with a rifle

certain death. >> what a woman did to lead police to the suspected attacker. >> we watch the skies for rain here, other part of the country preparing for weather crashing through. >> first, you may have seen this earlier. going to the bears. the story behind the unusual scene. that's coming up next.

michelle: well, the july fourth weekend has gone to the bears. take a look here. that is a maryland natural resources police officer casually posing with a bear playing just behind her. the officers were called to check on reports of a bear in baltimore county. they said the bear was in the woods. so they left it alone. instead took this video. leon: another one of my really short books. brothers taking pictures in front of a bear in the woods. michelle: then we had this scene. a viewer spotted this little bear. i don't know how little it is. it looks big to me. making its way across the harbor in stafford. that is the neighborhood there. the chief of police says the bear was actually spotted a few times in

route one in highway 610. but he wasn't hurting anyone so officials left him alone. leon: we are in trouble when they get the roads figured out over there. we aren't the only ones dealing with bad weather this fourth of july. we look at how mother nature is forcing millions to change their plans. reporter: this 4th of july, all eyes on the skies. not just for the fireworks. severe storms move through the midwest and cause blinding conditions on the roads. hail hammered colorado. flash flooding in kansas. this fireworks in wichita collapsed in the middle of the downpour. >> first it started sprinkles rain. all of a sudden the wind started coming. >> me and her were holding poles down for dear life. >> the poles were holding us in midair. reporter: in oklahoma, tornadoes. residents capture video of funnel clouds over the neighborhoods.

stillwater. in south dakota, it was the manmade show versus the spectacular one put on my mother nature. in texas, lightning stroke a home outside of dallas and caused a fire in the roof. but the independence day celebration could be a washout thanks to heavy rains, flash flooding and strong winds. in the west, firefighters are hoping a night of fireworks doesn't spark new wildfires. 17 are burning across nine states. in san bernadino, california, several homes were destroyed when a fast-moving fire took out the hillside. >> it was like a tornado coming with the heat and the wind. i just ran up the hill. reporter: in the west, fire officials are urging people to leave the fireworks to the professionals. kenneth mouton, abc news, los angeles. leon: our professionals here may not get a chance to work it. michelle: we need the window. you said it look like we might get it. doug: we're sure that the window fireworks time, the thunderstorms in the area. there could be rain showers.

will develop. but it won't be steady rain hour after hour. we are seeing a break in that already. looking live from the h.d. weather bug camera in chantilly. the udvar-hazy center there. take a look. that gray and overcast. but no rain falling there at the moment. impressed with the temperature map. look at boston. 87 degrees in boston on the atlantic ocean. if you go south it's cooler. far enough south is hot. charlotte is not that far away. there is a warm front from raleigh to our area. locked in the cool air. the front is moving northward. it is helping create cloudiness. the disturbances along the boundary are creating rain. now we have to figure out the timing of it. all day long the satellite shows a break with the similar moving out and the next one moving later. now we are seeing the sunshine popped in west virginia. that developed more showers.

some of the molds suggest there -- moldals suggest no rain. others suggest scattered showers in the area. both are possible. there is no way for the individual cells to predict exactly where they will develop and move. but we know the general trend is for steady rain we see east, northeast and southeast of washington to continue moving out. we have a couple of showers to the west. to great falls and beyond. but you have to go farther west than that to find the next batch. here is our best updated guesstimate of what will happen at fireworks time. it will be cloudy and muggy. temperatures will be about 72 degrees. the winds will be light. but there will be chances of isolated showers in the area. as we get through the late night, the 111 :00, midnight and after, the thunderstorms are possible in the next batch. the temperatures might rise a degree or two overnight as them whater air lifts in. the -- as the warmer air lifts in. this is the future cast. we have heavier showers along 81. at 9:00, this mod

under the southerly and the southeaster lids winds. patches of the light rain. heavier shower in warrenton but that is quickly out of the picture. scattered showers and then we'll have a chance of heavy thunderstorms in the area. after that it's a slow process to dry things out. we still have 30% chance of showers and isolated thunder in the forecast tomorrow. but drier air is moving in. warmer air overspreads the area on wednesday, and thursday and friday. here is our forecast as we head through the day tomorrow. we will see a big jump in temperatures. 86. scattered showers, thundershower possible. clearing later in the afternoon. southwesterly winds. very warm weather. check this. the next seven days. up to 91 degrees on wednesday. lower 90's through thursday and friday and saturday. we will have shower and thunderstorm possibilities here on friday and saturday. 30%. right now it looks like less humid weather. cooler weather by sunday and monday. settles in for a spell with the highs in the mid-to-upper 80s. lower humidity.

we will monitor it. it doesn't look like thunder at 9:00 but we can't rule out showers elsewhere. michelle: we'll keep an eye on it. thank you. leon: take the stormwatch7 weather team, keep doug hill in your pocket as you celebrate tonight. so to speak. download the weather app for.7 your smartphone. michelle: right now the culmination of a five-year mission to the final frontier. it's mission to support a strange world. no, it's not the enterprise. it's juneau. a nasa probe launched in 2011 to explore jupiter. it's entering orbit around the biggest planet in the solar system right now. in five hours, it will fire it main engine to go into orbit. so that means we can expect to see the best images ever taken of the gas giant in the coming hours and days. we have that to look forward to. leon: yeah. which is

here -- michelle: a space geek? leon: not a space geek but for something that no human eye has never seen before. how do you not get excited about that? michelle: you can tweet about it. leon: i'm on it. still ahead, july fourth tradition in the district, the milestone for the parade that rivals the nation's independence day parade that tells us a few neighborhoods over. >> plus, gospel music certainly saved souls. but one woman says it saved her from a sexual assault. i'm kevin lewis with the story coming up. michelle: as we go to break a look at what is coming up on primetime tonight on abc -- remember, you can sign up for the abc7 fan blast to get details on abc shows and contests. go to wjla.com/enews.

the greek flavors of our mediterranean collection.ve your choice of delicious chicken or hearty steak. with crumbled feta and cool, creamy tzatziki sauce. try our mediterranean collection today. subway. fresh is what we do.

leon: a man is behind bars tonight accused of trying to sexual assault a woman after attacking her on a sidewalk. michelle: the reason that man is in custody is his would-be victim fought back. but she says there is more to it than that. montgomery county reporter kevin lewis is live in wheaton to explain. kevin? kevin:

leon, this woman was walking home from work around 1:00 in the morning. she was listening to a popular gospel song on her cell phone when someone grabbed hold of her body. this woman says the lyric of the song gave her the courage to fight her armed attacker outside of this apartment building. she clocked a late night shift at wendy's. >> i feel someone behind me. kevin: and then this 24-year-old woman, too nervous to show her face, experienced terror along georgia avenue in wheaton. >> he grabbed me. he put a knife on my neck. kevin: police say 19-year-old darrionte hebron forced his unknown victim behind this concrete wall and made obscene demands. >> i was remembering only one word. i'm going [bleep] ke

remembered the goes sell song titled, "you are not alone." so she grabbed ahold of the knife and printed back to wendy's where -- sprinted back to wendy's where her manager called 911. today her aunt told us the accused attempted rapist has had his fair share of trouble but never showed signs of violence. >> i don't believe nothing until i see it. people have said many false things about people that is not true, proven not to be true about people. kevin: this victim disagrees and is thankful to be alive. >> the only thing i had in my head was trying to save my life. kevin: during the struggle, hebron cut himself on this concrete wall. that was his pitfall. police collected his blood and then made the link with his d.n.a. which was already on file from a handful of previous crimes including theft,

destruction of property. live in wheaton, i'm kevin lewis, news news. michelle: thank you. celebrating independence day ahead at 5:00. >> washington was a city of parades today. including a popular one uptown that is celebrating 50 years this year. i'm sam ford. that story is next on abc7 news. >> it's weird shooting in the direction of a bald eagle. leon: this is a story your won't soon forget. a veteran used a borrowed rifle saved a bald eagle's life. how he used fire power to save the symbol of america. michelle: we'll check in on the conditions on the national mall. are we still at risk of a rainout? the factors at play to determine if we will see fireworks tonight or have to

prodders, shuckersers, and sniffers, [ inhales ] all giant produce is triple checked. farm, crate, and store. we're focusing on fresh... ...so you don't have to guess. my giant. ♪ amsleep number beds with you with sleepiq technology give you the knowledge to adjust for the best sleep ever. don't miss the lowest prices of the season sale, with the c2 queen mattress now only $699.99 plus 36-month financing. know better sleep. only at a sleep number store.

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. leon: well, it's the big question everyone has been asking us all weekend. are we going to get the fireworks in on the national mall or not? or are we going to get rained out tonight? >> it's been looking iffy. a question that the storm watch 7 team is working nonstop to ans

live with the new models are saying at the moment. steve: all eyes on radar now. we have a lull in the action just off to the west of us over here. that is going to move overhead and hopefully it will last long enough to continue through the 7:00 -- through the 9:00 hour when the fireworks are set to begin. a lot of folks are streaming in from the suburbs to downtown d.c. and the national mall. it's wet right now. a few showers moving on off toward the east. notice as you move further west the western edge of tysons, the rain has come to an end. the clouds will stick around. it will call for scattered to isolated showers. mild and muggy and temperatures in the lower 70's. the show starts at 9:09. and fingers crossedded on this one, we are going to get it in. after that you want to get home quickly because we have another round of showers and thunderstorms on the way later tonight. more on that coming up in a few minutes. leon: all right. you got it, steve. in th

park service is saying everything is a go for tonight's concert at the 9:00 fireworks show. of course, the national park service is keeping a close eye on the conditions. you want to make sure that no one is put at risk out there. the previous years people have sheltered in the smithsonian museum in the bad weather that hit. but the show has not been canceled anytime in recent history. michelle: today marks the 50th anniversary of the independence day parade in the palisades neighborhood of d.c. sam ford has the sights and the sounds of this year's parades. sam: for the 50th year in a row, the palisades parade stepped off macarthur boulevard to celebrate the fourth in d.c. >> we have lived in washington since 1962. we have seen a lot of them. >> you might have seen all 50. >> never can tell. >> parade full of kids and candy and people throwing candy. kids going for it. how is the candy haul? >> it's good. >> it's coming? >> yeah.

sam: it's one of the ironies while the big national parade is going on downtown, much of local d.c. is up here and if you are a political type this is a must attend. >> old fashioned. it's local. >> a great d.c. tradition. people are out with their families and kids. >> they came with the entourages, the recent winners and even councilmember vincent orange who lost. >> this is a great day. i have always loved this parade. sam: on the national scene, the hillary folks were there and sandwiched between two hispanic groups, donald trump supporters who in democrat d.c., well, listen. the color and the pageantry of the groups providing entertainment were amazing. the candy kept coming. for the kids like joseph of silver spring -- >> this is the best of the fourth of july year ever. sam: the best fourth ever. in northwest washington, i'm

michelle: new video this evening from the fourth annual july fourth parade in arlington's barcroft area near falls churchk. the parade started near beach three. it went on all the way to beach five with people lining the route in patriotic attire. very nice. now we have already had some cities postpone their fireworks displays including college park, gaithersburg and frederick. also annapolis canceled its parade. we have a complete list of the events and the postponements on wjla.com. leon? leon: on this 4th of july, millions of travelers are taking to the roads and the skies. of the 43 million travelers expected this year, 36 million are choosing to drive to the holiday destination. experts say the drivers are taking advantage of low prices at the pumps nationwide. the national average now at

that is the cheapest since 2005. >> the prices are low. figured to give it a shot. travel. leon: if you are flying out this weekend you will notice more armed officers and the k9 units at the busy airports. this is in response to recent terrorist attacks in bangladesh, iraq and turkey. if you see something, say something. michelle: metro is taking a break from safetrack tonight to make sure you can get to the fireworks on time. frequent rail service will be available as they expect hundreds of thousands to be headed to the national mall for the fireworks, of course. metro will remain open until midnight. with near rush hour service before and after the fireworks. but tomorrow night, safetrack will be back. and in full effect. with surge three expected to begin at 8:00. blue line and yellow line riders are getting hit this time. no trains will run between the national airport and braddock road stations. you will still be able to get

but you will have to take a shuttle bus to head south from there. surge three runs through july 11. then starting on the 12th, surge four kicks in. shutting down service from reagan to crystal city. leon: coming up next at 5:00 -- nerves at steel and a steady hand. meet the sharp-shooting army vet is hailed as a hero for saving a bald eagle. michelle: we are tracking the rain moving through the area. we are keeping an eye on the fireworks at the national mall. leon: coming your way tonight at 6:00 -- donald trump on the attack today after facing backlash over controversial move scene by many as an

leon: it's the kind of story that is coming up with the most american possible but this is absolutely true. michelle: an army veteran uses a borrowed rifle to free a bald eagle that was facing certain death after getting tangled up in a tree. jonathan elias shows us how it all came together. john? jonathan: today the bald eagle is in a cage. that's because it's healing. bouncing back after this. midweek, the bird was dangling and dying 70 feet off the ground. its right tall lon tangled in

a -- talon tangled in a rope. >> everybody had the same thing away. they were aware, they had been aware for two and a half days but it wasn't within their jurisdiction and the safety measures that would be compromised. >> jackie turned to her husband jason, the idea being he would shoot the bird free with his .22 rifle. >> it was weird shooting in the direction of a bald eagle. jonathan: right. not shooting at the eagle but darn close. to shoe away the branch -- chew away the branch it was caught on. what gave him the confidence? to tours of duty in afghanistan. >> took hour and a half. 150 shots. jonathan: it worked. >> we all watch it fumble down in the branches. jonathan: scooped up and rushed to the nearby center in specializing for medical care for eagles and similar birds the eagle pinged up a nickname. >> freedom is the name. jonathan: will freedom fly again? everyone hopes so. it would make

ending. freedom by the way is recovering at the university of minnesota's raptor center. a great center. they say they hope once the eagle is healed it can be released maybe near their home. michelle: great aim. jonathan: people like to hunt and get out of shoot. it's a very small caliber. he had to hit it so times. if it had been a bigger caliber he would have broken the branch. hopefully for the eagle will recover. leon: rooting for the eagle. always. michelle: one of the biggest free agent has a new home. where superstar kevin durant will play next season. >> a group of tennis players is serving up a new way to raise

leon: history is being made this 4th of july in montgomery county. it's all to benefit u.s. service men and women. amy aubert is standing by with a look at a woman who set a guinness world record for the most consecutive singles matches. amy, you are saying this woman is not going to stop

amy: well, that is right. she was at it again today. those tennis players are showing some love to military families. but bonnie vona is taking it to a whole new level. for bonnie vona -- >> it feels pretty good. i have to say it feels good to be out here. amy: -- lately, this court -- >> i'm always open for an adventure. this has been. amy: -- more like a second home. >> rewarding one. amy: rewarding with each swing of her racquet. raising money for military families. >> compared to them, this is an insignificant effort. amy: she aimed to raise money for 24 scholarships for children and spouses of military service members. >> it's the court i was on right here. it's very safe. for me. i was thinking about all the people that are out there

in this kind of condition. amy: she passed her goal of 36 matches on saturday. >> that was an exciting feeling. i have goosebumps. i started crying a little bit. amy: emotional volley and marathon of sorts, balancing her own strength and will power to show support. >> the feet, i can feel tenderness where it rubs on the outside of the shoe. amy: after each hour of playing she had a five-minute break. the mother of an army officer calls at it small effort, to serve awareness and fun for military families to take the next step. >> a lesson for my grandkids. when they are challenged with something, go for it. try it. amy: thanks usa hosted the event throughout the day today. they don't yet have a total amount for the donations because funds are still

in. live in maryland, amy aubert, abc7 news. michelle: thank you. 21 military vets and supporters arrived at the georgetown waterfront park after a -- sorry. i'm upping the number. after 395-mile bicycle ride from pittsburgh. the cyclists started the journey back on june 30. the group veterans leadership program is a diverse group of cyclists including vietnam veterans, iraqi veterans and everyone in between. each rider's goal is to raise at least $1 per ride. today, the team raised more than $25,500 in four months. leon: chances are that drivers in germantown did a construction -- double take at a construction sign over the weekend. the message reads "zombies ahead." i don't know. i don't speak french. we don't know if

intentionally. michelle: i think so. >> it's becoming more and more common. if this is what is supposed to mean -- michelle: that could be a first said on tv. leon: i'm not going back over that road. we have a check of the roads with jamie sullivan. jamie: it's not bad if you are traveling on the roads. away from the district. this shows you we are moving well on the capital beltway. this is near route 50. arlington boulevard. through arlington again, moving very well. we take a look at the mapping system, you can see we are mostly in the green. but the area i want to focus in on is going to be right here in the district as we move to the waze map. so our wazers are checking in with the delays. you can see the red and the white striped lines. that indicates it's completely closed. you can see here rock creek parkway heading closer to roosevelt bridge. memorial bridge completely blocked off. then along the national mall. take a look here. constitution avenue.

many of the streets closed. of course with the fireworks tonight. a lot of these went into place because of the parade. if you are driving, which you shouldn't, the one thing i suggest is downloading this waze app. it definitely will be helpful. join the traffic watch 7 team. i suggest you take metro. that is a look at traffic. back to you. leon: all right. thank you, jamie. michelle: of course. a lot of folks talking about the weather. that window that we need for the fireworks to actually take off. leon: let's see if the window is opening or closing right now. doug hill is watching that. doug: it will go like this in the evening hours. but the bigger picture, it's looking pretty good. all things considered. first, if you are headed out, jacket, slicker is going to be cool. in the low 70's. that is it. way below average temperatures. this is the money shot here. this shows everything the past couple of hours. the main area of rain moving east. the next big batch, the next area of low pressure moving in with the possible th

and 10:00 or 11:00 to deal with this stuff. this is a few isolated showers developing over the interstate 81 corridor and to the west. that is what we see as a possibility tonight. not concerned about heavy rain and fireworks time. not concerned about thunderstorms at fireworks time. there could be some rain in the area be. prepared. i don't think it should interrupt the show. if it's raining and you are watching the fireworks be careful when you do "oh," "ah." watch it. but nothing serious. the thunderstorms, watching for it mainly overnight. the future cast, running through it quick. show you most of the rain will come overnight and early in the morning. then we will see a big improvement in the weather pattern. it will be in the 80s and the low 90's for the next few days. it looks terrific. if you like hot stuff, you have got it. shower and storm chance late

wind up the weekend. leon and michelle and erin. leon: all right. erin: we're already fired up about the big news. leon: kevin durant. we knew he wasn't coming here. it broke our hearts. erin: he broke more hearts. leon: lot of people's hearts. erin: the west just got wilder in the nba after free agent kevin durant announced he will join the golden state warriors from the thunder. now durant signed a two-year deal at $54.3 million. with a player option for year two. by adding k.d. to a roster with steph curry, draymond green, klay thompson, the warriors are the heavy favorite to win the championship next year. durant announced the big decision on the "player's tribune" site and this is part of what he said. the primary mandate i had for myself to make the decision is have it based on the potential for my growth as a player as that has always steered me in the right direction.

life where it's equal ponce to find an opportunity to encourage my evolution attorney general a man. -- evolution as a man. he ended it saying, "i've decided i'm going to join the golden state warriors." the matinee with the nationals and the brewers. the only run was in the fifth. maldanado crushed it in the left field stands. and scott abraham was at nats park and he shows us how the fans celebrated the 4th of july. scott: the sights and the sounds. celebrating america's birthday with america's pastime. >> it's an awesome experience. i have never missed a july 4th ballgame in this ballpark. scott: admiring the pageantry. inside nats park.

it's just a great way to spend the 4th of july. watching the nats play. and win. scott: the players appreciating the special setting. >> playing in the nation's capital on the 4th of july is fun. growing up, this was my favorite holiday. scott: do you have fun festivities planned after the game? >> i'm sleeping. sleeping all day. scott: ben going to get shut eye tonight. he can rest easy. knowing despite the loss the nats won seven of the last nine games going into next week's all-star break. reporting at nats park, scott abraham, abc7 sports. erin: thank you, scott. you know who is really happy about kevin durant going to the warriors? craig our security guy. michelle: yes. erin: if he hasn't talked to you about it yet, he will. he gave me an earful.

long.

the words may be faded but for so in the meaning still seems clear. >> these are the things that the founding fathers touched. >> this document set in to place what we are proud of today. >> i almost got a tear in my eye because i understand that if it's not for that we wouldn't be here today. >> the original declaration of independence is hard to read. you may be surprised to know why. >> it was once displayed in am radioat the patent office -- in a room at the patent office in full sunlight with people smoking and a fireplace. reporter: another fan fact. it was adopted on july 4th, congress voted for independence on july 2nd. signing didn't begin today august. >> i'm a history teacher. i love my country. my daughter

been here before. >> the experience is not just for the history buffs. they get to take part and sign their own version. absorbing what it means. >> i'm in fourth grade. declaration of independence reminds me of how the people got freed for the great things. >> it was made when george washington was the president. >> everybody talked about john hancock's cursive. how big his name was. >> things have changed 240 years later. but the visitors we spoke to say they hope the lesson live on. >> the things in the document are meant to be there forever. >> i'm christine, abc7 news.

at 6:00", what you need to know before heading out to see the 4th of july fireworks show from the weather to the crowds and security. what we are learning about the investigation into a virginia teen who stepped on to an explosive in central park. >> we have seen 11,000 flutes purchased by the pentagon. a $75,000 cello. the pentagon needs to prioritize the spending. michelle: that is your tax dollars at work. the millions spent on military bands and the move in congress to change that. >> now "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. leon: right now off the top at 6:00, all eyes remaining on the skies as thousands are getting ready to head out for the 4th of july fireworks. maureen: we hope that the rain will hold off long enough for the event tonight. some areas, though, have already canceled

fireworks shows. this is a live look at the national mall. gray skies but so far the rain has kept the crowd smaller than usual and it will likely pick up as the night goes on. leon: it looks like the wind is picking up. maureen: windy clouds. we have team coverage. ryan hughes on the national mall following the extra security procedures in place. sam sweeney is checking out the crowds. we begin with the big question. what is the weather looking like? chief meteorologist doug hill has the latest. doug: right now the skies are cloudy. you pointed out no rain in the city at the moment. we have the chance of showers tonight. the best news is the threat of heavy rain and thunderstorms. it looks like it will hold off until later tonight. we have a warm front just to the south. as you look at the satellite and the radar you can see two separate batches of storms. one is passed to the east of washington. the other one is still to the west. in between, we have been noticing a clear shot for a good portion of the afternoon. but with that, that has filled