adorn a tree in the front yard of jack conger's rockville home. up like yesterday, no one was there. off-camera residents in the upper middle class neighborhood spoke highly of the conger family. >> can you say anything? kevin: yet today, conger and fellow olympic teammates gunnar bentz entered a rio police station to answer mounting questions about an alleged armed robbery involving them, plus ryan lochte and jimmy feigen. brazilian authorities say they fabricated the story in a drunken stupor following a night of partying. today the chief spokesman avoided any and all media questions about the case saying only that he had seen the news coverage. >> look. as much as i know you love me to talk specifics on this case, i can't do that. i have privacy considerations.

native graduated from high school in olney in may of 2013. the school president telling us by telephone, "we loved jack. he was a good falcon. i'm not sure what to make of what is going on." according to abc news, at least two of the swimmers being questioned may be flying back to the united states as early as late this evening. no word if jack conger is one of those two. we are live in rockville. i'm kevin lewis, abc7 news. alison: all right, kevin. one more note here. tonight a spokesperson for the british olympic team says that one of its athletes was robbed at gunpoint early this morning. the unidentified athlete is reportedly all right. a spokesman for the rio games says the incident is being investigated. jonathan: in the last two hours two postal service employees were released after being arrested this morning.

northwest d.c. what are they charged with? jeff: well, jonathan, three u.s. postal workers are accused of running an illegal marijuana distribution ring out of two separate post office locations in washington, d.c. now, according to the "washington post," a male u.s. postal employee was overseeing the ring while two females were making deliveries of marijuana while on the job. here is video of one of the suspects. one of the female suspects leaving court today. her name is kendra brantley. not wanting to speak with us after the hearing this afternoon in federal court. then this is the other female suspect. alicia norman, covering her face while leaving court with a friend or family member not wanting to speak to us other. the male suspect dean vaughn row is being held on felony drug charges. we are told he is the manager at the river terrace post office in northeast washington where a source says he was arrested there this morning. now the two women are employees at the lamon riggs post office in northwest

would allegedly monitor the arrival of marijuana packages from california and oregon and then brantley and norman would allegedly sell the packages for cash wile on the postal -- while on the postal routes. >> can you tell us what was going on, please? >> there is nothing to tell you. there is nothing to tell you. >> was she part of a drug ring? >> she wasn't. >> you are violating my first amendment rights. i would please appreciate if you leave me alone. thank you very much. jeff: authorities were apparently watching over this ring several months ago way back in the spring earlier this year. all three suspects pleaded not guilty. future court hearings set for next week. live in northwest washington, jeff goldberg, abc7 news. alison: right now 29 wildfires are burning out west. look at this video. the largest is in california. it's only 4% contained. it's the blue cut fire. it has ripped through more than 31,000

tuesday. and the heat and the gusty winds are just making it so tough on the firefighters. >> the conditions have been brutal. they have been extremely hot. the weather has been over 100 degrees. although today is the first day that you have had temps below 100. alison: 34,000 homes are being threatened by the growing wildfire. but to the north, and the south, two fires there almost out. the clayton fire is slowing down. and a fire that was started yesterday in san diego county is now under control. jonathan: from fires to flooding, the scope of the tragedy in louisiana is becoming increasingly worse. today federal and state officials were touring the hard-hit areas of the flood stricken state. the pictures are amazing. he is getting in a boat that used to be a neighborhood. as abc's kenneth moton reports the disastrous weather system crossing the nation has scientists take a closer look. reporter: louisiana's floodwaters are heading south. >> we lost everything in katrina. came here and ten years later lost everything again. reporter: 30,000 people rescued. 40,000

thousands more at risk. the rising waters sparked more destation and more evacuations near -- devastation and more evacuations near baton rouge. the death toll stands at 13. >> i want to stress we are not out of the woods. as i have been saying for six days this is an ongoing event. reporter: on the grounds head of fema and homeland security. 90,000 people registered for government help. >> the federal government is here. we have been here and we will be here as long as it takes to help the community recover. reporter: the disasters has scientists taking a closer look at the weather systems wreaking havoc in the u.s. the climate debate continues. and in the west there are massive wildfires. record-breaking heat made july the hottest month ever. flooding has hit several states in the past year. >> extreme weather patterns is one of the jut comes that we expect -- outcomes that we expect to see from the overall warming conditions. scientists are looking at

it's hard to connect single events. >> for this event, president obama is getting daily updates on the federal government response. the white house says the president doesn't plan to cut the vacation short to visit louisiana because it would cause a major disruption in the effort. kenneth moton, abc7 news. jonathan: between the flooding in louisiana, the fires in california, the deadly apartment explosion in silver spring and last month's flooding in ellicott city, the american red cross is busy these days as you can imagine. a look at the tolls that the recovery efforts are taking. we will have it coming up today at 5:45. well, thankfully we are only looking now at the chance for a few showers around here tonight. not like what we had last night. alison: last night and monday. we have had a lot of the storms. chief meteorologist doug hill is here with a check on the forecast. doug: hey there. tonight is not looking showery at all. there is one shower southeast of harrisonburg. if you are watching us in green county, maybe a shower there. but that is it. instead most of the region

location in annapolis at st. mary's. 84 degrees with sunshine right now. elsewhere we are running through the upper 80's to near 90. 89 at reagan national. 90 at manassas. 791 in leesburg. ballot -- 91 in leesburg. 85 in annapolis. f you have outdoor -- if you have outdoor dining plans stick with it. this is fine. we will be in the 80's with a bit of a breeze. a lot of sunshine. really don't see any threat of rain. the forecast overnight is partly cloudy and mild. highs, lows tonight at 68 to 74 degrees. as we get through the day tomorrow, it's sunny and hot and around 92. we don't have rain in the forecast. if you are headed to fedex this evening, redskins take on the jets tomorrow night. we will be 90 degrees at gametime. 82 later in the evening. we'll be back with a look at the weekend and the seven-day in a few minutes. alison: see you then. thank you. tonight, police in prince george's county are looking for a hit-and-run suspect. a woman is in critical condition after being hit by a car around 3:30 t

on indian head highway in oxon hill. but police say the driver did not stay on the scene. a popular restaurant in shaw opened an hour ago without one of the co-owners. armin was hit and killed by a car in the 1400 block of ninth street this morning. stephen tschida has the latest on the investigation. stephen: he is believed to have left the restaurant early this morning. he was walking to this car parked in front. early this morning a car heading down ninth street struck and killed armin amin. the 44-year-old and another pedest

street and amin didn't make it. chris kelly knew amin for 12 years. he is devastating. amin worked for kelly last night. >> i would have been working last night. that would have been my shift. you know? and totally unexpected. unbelievable. amin and his business partners childhood friends from suburban maryland opened chaplains a few years ago in the heart of the shaw community. they went from pioneer to prominent player in the now bustling neighborhood. his family, friends and employees say amin was always there to help someone in need. >> friends with everybody. it doesn't matter. only the customers. people even passing through. stephen: now the driver that struck amin did stop. police conducted an investigation. so far no charges have been filed. apparently tragic accident there. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. jona

there is word now that metro transit police are joining the investigation in the derailment along the orange line at east falls church metro general manager paul wiedefeld says this stems from some concerns after employee interviews, inspection reports and video recordings. we'll have more on this developing story coming up "abc7 news at 6:00". alison: we turn to vote 2016 now. a new poll shows this november virginia may not be the battleground that it has been in the past. according to quinnipiac university, hillary clinton leads donald trump by some 12%. when you factor in the third party candidates that lead is still 11 points. at abc7 we want to connect you with the candidates. we have reached out to them to speak not only with us but with our 65 sister stations all across the country. so tell us what would you want to ask them? you could get a voice in the race for the white house. e-mail us at yourvoice@wjla.com. jonathan: coming up for us on "abc7 n

add up to some traffic troubles for you tomorrow. >> right now a bag covers the parking rate at the town center but next month this will be lifted. i'm cheryl conner. coming up we will talk to a whom who started online petition to change the fee. alison: then a little bit later, a heart-breaking image that is bringing new attention to what is happening in syria. we are speaking with a group helping some of those refugees. coming up at 5:30.

jonathan: new information tonight about the potential cause of the deadly explosion at the silver spring apartment complex one week ago. several sources are telling our maryland bureau chief brad bell that a gas leak in a pipe or a piece of equipment near the gas meter for the flower branch apartments let gas build up in the lower level utility room of the building. we are expecting an official announcement as early as tomorrow. we will bring that to you as soon as it happens. alison: nearly three weeks after the deadly flood decembernated main street in city -- decimated main street in ellicott city, some of the people who live and work there were able to get in and

maryland bureau chief brad bell was there. brad: it's been 18 days. the news cycle has moved on. but for ellicott city business owners like brenda franz, nothing has gotten better. >> you just feel so helpless. brad: john schumacher still gets emotional when he sees his flooded out furniture shop. >> we have all these things that we have worked on ourselves. and to see them all destroyed and in a matter of an hour or so is hard to see. brad: but finally today, some progress. for the first time since the deadly july 30 flood, business owners are being allowed extended dusk to dawn shifts in the flooded out town. they are allowed for the first time to bring in their own trucks to move out inventory. >> it will give us finality. and be able to get our business back in order. brad: chris owns a used clothing boutique. most of the inventory gone. >> 80% of got mud

because we couldn't get in right away, the longer it salt there, the worse it got -- sat there, the worse it got. brad: they load up on donated supplies and get to work. they only have five days before the entire town is shut down again for 30 days. for infrastructure repairs. >> like main street, we have been through a lot down here and plan on coming back. brad: joining me live now in ellicott city, off in the distance you can see well the car just blocked our view. the buildings over there boarded up. this is the middle of frederick road. this barricade here. this is as far as anybody can get. that is one of the frustrations here as well. we just saw someone that wanted to go in clean something up. she was told to go all the way around to howard county and that their access would be ending soon. again, the rush is on because they don't get their places cleaned up by monday. the town will remain closed for 30 days af

in ellicott city, brad bell, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks for that. alison: okay. well, let's tuck about our weather. we have had all the thunderstorms lately. doug: a lot late at nights a well. jonathan: the lightning, crazy. doug: i don't think we will see it tonight. i think we get a break. tomorrow probably not either. the weekend the chances ramp up for showers and storms but it will have a happy ending because by the middle of next week it will be cooler and less humid. alison: a little break! doug: yeah. let's get started here on thursday evening live in ocean city, maryland. pretty picture. 81 in the sunshine on the boardwalk. that is sweet. the weekend outlook for the beach is very nice as well. let's talk about what will happen in the next few hours. hold near 90 degree mark a bit longer. fall slowly through the 80's after sunset. it will be comfortable. 89 in at potomac. ashburn is 91.

the outlook tonight is pleasant. temperatures will make the drop. especially after sunset across below 80 to the 70's. the sunsets tonight at 7:58. if you are a lover of the longer daylight hours, we have a long way to go before the sunsets after 8:00 again. the shower white we don't see anything. still one little downpour. i told you before about southeast of harrisburg. may affect thunder and lightning over western portion of green county, virginia, way to the southwest. that is it. nothing is developing. you are good for the outdoor conditions tonight. clear tonight. then we are seeing possibility of a few showers and storms along west of the mountains and the south side virginia to the northern outer banks. that is it. partly cloudy to mostly sunny. 92 for a high in the city. as we get through the day on saturday, we're sunny for a while. as we get through the

lining up. look at the projection of showers and storms. a lot of moisture converging ahead of a strong cold front that will come through late sunday. sunday is the chance of more widespread heavy rain and heavy thunderstorms late sunday afternoon and sunday night. once the storm gets through it's delightful for several days next week. the weekend looks okay but keep the activities, most of them morning, midday, afternoon, because when we get to the nighttime hours the shower chances will go up. give you the latest on the tropical storm you may not have heard about. this is fiona in the tropical atlantic. it's starting to build a bit. but the projections never bring it up to hurricane force. there is little more action sort and southeast of that we are keeping an eye on as well. fiona as it stands right now is projected to remain a tropical storm and continue moving west/northwest. we may get winds of 40 miles per hour. right now is 45. so, not expected really to develop. i said there is another system on the heels farther south and that one we'll

going forward. the next seven days for you. 92 tomorrow. that is nice. saturday partly cloudy, highs of 90. 30% chance of the showers and the thunderstorms west of town. most of the metro should stay dry. then as we continue through the day on sunday, we are going to see the chances of the showers and the storms really start to pick up. 60% late in the day near 90. 85 on monday. the cooler and less humid through next week. it will be so nice. it will be like early september weather a month early. jonathan: how great is that? doug: we'll take that. alison: it will feel great. thank you. see you soon. doug: okay. alison: so too strict or a valuable life lesson? jonathan: that is the debate over a school's policy on forgotten items. we'll delve in the discussion. alison: and your parents may have told you it's a nasty habit, but find out why researchers say cracking your knuckles may be good for you. jonathan: the washington monument closed again today. what a local member of congress says she wants to do about the conta

alison: as we head to break today, happy birthday to robert redford. can you believe the actor and director turns 80 today? if you want to go to our website, wjla.com, you can see why our partners at circa say redford is still ridiculously cool. we'll be right back.

alison: people say one of the allures is that you can park for free. jonathan: that is a bonus. but now the owners and a petition to chain their minds. cheryl: -- change their minds. cheryl: that is a bag over the parking but the drivers can see through it. >> i don't like it. cheryl: next month it will cost $20 to park at the reston town center. the rate increases every hour and goes up to $24 for the day. suzanne stern created an online petition which now has over 6,000 signatures. >> i could just as easily stop at tysons corner and not have the $2 surcharge for the same product from the same exact store. cheryl: tysons corner ten miles away does not charge for parking. boston properties which owns the reston town center hired the group a few months ago to help communication. a spokesman said they h

hundreds of people and holidays and weekend and retail owners and their employees park for free. also he says it will be light enforcement at first. boston properties knows people are parking in the garages long-term and heading to the metro or to the airport. i noticed it right away when you pull in a parking garage in the town center it's tough to find a space. the sign up says drivers can pay through an app on the web or over the phone. the owner of midtownca bob doubts the inner crowd wants to pay for parking. >> i think we will lose a lot of customers. cheryl: the new rates begin on september 12. >> i would love to see the first hour or two free. cheryl: we're told they are not changing. in reston, cheryl conner, abc7 news. jonathan: see what happens when it gets closer. coming up at "abc7 news at 5:00" -- the flag flap. find out why a town is ordering all american flags taken off the fire trucks. alison: and then a

the impact of four disasters within weeks on the american red cross effort to help.

jonathan: back now with a look at the blue cut fire out in california that is burning. these are images from a nasa

satellite. so far it's gobbled up 479 -- 49 square miles in a short period of time. that is just a number of disasters the american red cross is focusing on. look at the map. maryland we had the explosion in the apartment and ellicott city. louisiana with the flooding. and all the fires burning in california. more than nearly two dozen fires. thousands of people forced out of their homes by the flooding. in maryland, they are also helping maryland in the spring spring apartment destroyed. all of this done by red cross. they are working across ellicott city flooding at the end of the july. a lot of stuff going on. as amy aubert reports that is leaving the agency stretched a bit thin. amy: yellow tape blocking the scene at the flower branch apartments. throughout the week, right there for the first responders and the victims, the american red cross. >> when you don't even have a tooth brush or a teddy bear for your kid, they are there providing that. amy: this is the site where the red cross was set up for a week. offering water, g

down the street a shelter still in place. >> we have been very, very busy here. we have also been out in the community responding to other disasters. amy: paul says two volunteers from his team now in louisiana. >> will you bring in volunteers in the disaster operation center here? amy: tammy says here their biggest focus is louisiana. >> the louisiana floods has been one of the largest responses sin hurricane sandy hit in 2012. so this is a huge response for us. amy: in addition to sending 45 volunteers from the washington metro area they are monitoring the need from their disaster operations coordination center in fairfax. >> when it happened so fast, making sure that we had the right people and the right things and the right places can be really difficult. but it's amazing to see the coordination effort. amy: admittedly they are busy from floods to wildfires. >> california is happening at the same time as louisiana. as well as up to 66,000 disasters a year. amy: the team says

always in need of volunteers. amy aubert, abc7 news. alison: well, the american flag is at the center of a heated debate in upstate new york. so the flags were ordered removed from fire trucks in the town of poughkeepsie. that caused a stir on social media. some residents started an online petition. the fire district board says they believe there is a good reason that the flags need to come down. >> safety concerns for our members, you know, for our firefighters getting on and off the rigs. they are going out to emergency situations. they need to get, you know, upstairs. there is rails. there is compartments. that sort of thing. alison: the fire chief and the board chairman were expected to meet today and find a resolution to this. so stay tuned. we will let you know. jonathan: check the top stories for you now. u.s. olympic swimmers claimed they were robbed at gunpoint in rio but the brazilian

the officials say surveillance video shows they and havized a gas station -- vandalized a gas stas bathroom and fighting with security guards. the investigation comes. alison: three u.s. postal workers have been arrest and charged for their involvement in a drug ring. two were released today and the third is still in jail. it covers more than one post office in d.c. so far the three are charged with bribery. jonathan: metro transit police are now involved in the investigation in the derailment in east falls church. a train slipped from the tracks at crassover section late last month -- crossover sections late last month. now are concerns following employee interviews and inspection reports. alison: "7 on your side" in health matters. we know that sound. well, there is word that cracking your knuckles may not be bad for you after all. it may be annoying but not bad for you. researchers actually studied this. so they took ultrasounds of

what happens when they crack. people who crack their nuckms it turns out they -- knuckles, it turns out they're more flexible than those who don't. jonathan: this will be a talker. arkansas parochial high school getting attention for a strict rule. the principal of the all boys school posted a memo. this one. on the school's facebook page. it reads, "if you are dropping off your son's forgotten lunch, books, homework, equipment, et cetera, please turn around and exit the building. your son will learn to problem solve." the post is going viral. >> it was kind of a shock. but after a couple of years here i understood why it's a rule. >> simple to help boys avoid the default swim of calling mom and dad when things don't go right and to come bail them out. jonathan: didn't your dad say to you if your head wasn't sewed on, you'd forget that, too? the rule has been in place for a few years. the principal said she posted it to inform new students and parents of

i have -- dichotomy. i have one kid that remembers everything and the other forgets everything. it's frustrating. what do you mean you forgot it? alison: it's working in a lot of ways. jonathan: it only takes one time. alison: takes the responsibility off the parents. they don't have to worry about going backs up. jonathan: personal responsibility. what a shock. alison: exactly. children in our area are about to ga back to school, believe it or not. that means a lot more cars on the roads. the national transportation safety board held an event in rockville to highlight the importance of getting kids around safely. so dozens of parents came out to the fitzgerald auto mall. they have the car seats there to make sure that they are securely fastened. >> we leave with a smile on our face every day because we made each one of the car seats, 150 children, safer. alison: motor vehicle death are the second leading 'cause of kids under 14. >> when they go back to school we want

the big day. they are adorable. go to burst.com/wjla to send us your pictures and we may put a few of them on the website or maybe a couple on air. alison: still ahead here at 5:00 -- >> right in the middle of preseason and it's a bad time for football helmet recall. i'm kimberly suiters. what to do if one of your players has one. >> tourists around the world are greeted with bad news at the washington monument. the elevator is broken again. i'm q mccray. i will let you know why and whether they hope it will reopen coming up. jonathan: then coming up new at 6:00 -- a cause for a derailment that blocked amtrak service through d.c. for three days. what is being blamed? it's all new on "abc7 news at 6:00".

steve: one more day for the weekend. we

tomorrow evening. if you plan to go in the game, temperatures are in the 80's. partly cloudy skies. winds out of the west at 5 miles per hour. we'll keep the 90-plus degree days going for now. 90 on saturday. a chance for a few thunderstorms. sunday also just around 90 degrees. i will stay warm and humid but a high risk of storms later in the day. take a look at the outlook for the delmarva beaches. upper 80's on friday. added clouds on saturday. around 85 degrees. sunday will be in the upper 80's with a chance for a few storms. i'll take you out with a look at the seven-day outlook. there you have it. temperatures stay around 90 degrees on sunday. cooler and less humid as they move in the end of next week. stay with us. you are watching "abc7 news at 5:00". back after thi

alison: "7 on your side" now with a consumer alert. talk about tough timing. a football helmet recall for a company that has actually made huge gains in the head protection field. our consumer investigator kimberly suiters reports. kimberly: this recall potentially affects professional players, collegiate players and even youth football players. the timing is not awesome. it's right at the beginning of the preseason and in the middle of two-a-days. the consumer product safety commission put out the recall notice for 6,000 zenith fo

head injury risk. will doesn't remember the brand of helmet he used to wear but he does remember this hit. >> my buddy was at the bottom of a huge pileup. and a bunch of guys landed on top of him and the helmet cracked down the middle. kimberly: the american academy of pediatrics report 54% of head injuries happen in a tackle and the risk of a catastrophic head injury is low. comparable to gymnastics, lower than ice hockey. tell that to tamela vaughn. >> i wonder if he is okay in his head. he was grabbing his head. kimberly: she recalls a game where a helmet may have saved her nephew's life. >> he ran into someone. helmet to helmet. he was knocked out cold. kimberly: after they called zenith the safest helmet in 2013 and the nfl gave it the highest performance ranking in 2015. consumers reported 29 cracked

and march 2016. fortunately there is a quick fix. this week, the c.p.s.c. posted this photo to show where to find the serial number. you will need it when you contact the company for a safe replacement. "7 on your side" did check in with the redskins and with the patriots at yorktown high school. neither team uses the zenith helmet. in arlington, kimberly suiters, abc7 news. jonathan: coming up for us at 5:00 -- >> we saw it go down. we assumed that was the end of the show. jonathan: oh, but you know what happens next, right? you know what happens when you assume something? yeah. that's not what happened. find out what was waiting for the kayakers. we have vi

alison: we are back now with breaking news from the campaign trail. the clinton foundation just announced if hillary clinton is elected president, it will no longer accept any foreign or corporate donations. former president bill clinton made that announcement to staff this afternoon. jonathan: his name is omran. this video of him covered

dust and blood is a stark reminder of what is happening in syria. omran lives with his mother, his father, brother and sister in the town of aleppo. that is a town where thousands have been killed since this civil war started five years ago. hundreds of thousands. in that time we have seen images of refugees trying to flee on foot, by train, by boat. some of the journeyses having deadly consequences. today our richard reeve spoke to some groups trying to help. richard: the shouting, the chaos and the fear. it's all there. in the midst of it all is 5-year-old omran daqneesh. >> the war is all he's ever known. syria has been in a civil war for over five years. that is their reality. richard: omran carried away from a bombed-out building appears in shock. ash covers his body. open wound on his forehead which he wipes off. >> see the image of the young boy sitting alone and dazed and shock with his bloody face and head in that ambulance is just a reminder of h

horrible things have been in syria. richard: mamadou fled et nick cleansing in africa and helps the refugees in the u.s. is reminded of the heart-breaking case of alan, the syrian toddler whose body washed up on a turkish beach last september. >> there are over 4 million syrian refugees in the world. and over 220,000 people have been killed. richard: omran, a symbol of suffering. a young boy who has never known the quiet of peace. >> it's horrific. i can't even imagine going through that experience as an adult let alone doing it having that occur as a 5-year-old child. richard: imagine you are the little boy who has never known peace. there was good news here. he was reunited with his parents later in the day. in northwest washington, richard reeve, abc7 news. alison: gosh. okay, rich. thank you. well, after 15 years, tomorrow will be t

memorial ride. the event started two months after the attacks in 2001. they have been organized by ted from virginia he says the massive procession usually draws about 1,200 motorists but he has found that maryland and virginia police and highway agencies are now reluctant to help stop traffic to keep all of those riders safe. that said, keep an extra lookout over the next few days as the riders arrive. jonathan: all right. time to get another look at the traffic situation on this thursday. jamie sullivan is keeping an eye on a whole lot of cars behind you. jamie: this is the american legion bridge. we begin with how heavy we are seeing traffic on the inner and the outer loop. no accidents to report here. that is in maryland and virginia. although we do drop down as an average about 7 miles per hour getting closer to 270. as far as the district goes, same story, no crashes here. if you are heading northbound, though, on the g.w. parkway near spout run, we do have an accident with our left lane blocked just before that point. so you real

a lot of volume traveling out of arlington through the rosslyn area. if you're traveling outbound on 66, it will take you just under 30 minutes getting from the beltway closer to the fairfax county parkway. and this shows you on 66 just what you are driving into. a lot of sun glare. now i want to just talk to anyone who is heading up to baltimore. the baltimore beltway completely closed. in is on the northside just after pairing parkway. all lanes completely blocked with an accident. heads up if you are heading north to baltimore. that is a look at traffic. alison: thank you. ahead, all new at 6:00, the end of the confederacy in alexandria? the major change being recommended. plus, the local effort to help the tens of thousand of people forced from their homes by the historic flooding in louisiana. the new agency investigating a metro train derailment that is raising a host of new questions. that is all tonight at 6:00. jonathan: this is very cool. a group of kayakers had a very close call with whales off

all of it caught on video. now it happened last wednesday about 125 mimes northwest -- miles northwest of vancouver. they were out there paddles between two islands when they heard a mother humpback whale and a car nearby there. they are. look at the show. they paddled in for a little bit of a closer look. that turned out to be much closer than they anticipated. >> when baby came up, i actually said to the group, all right, guys. back pedal. she wasn't close to us. but when momma come up, that was shortly after it was apparent we needed to get back and get back fast. jonathan: yeah. that tour guide is getting some criticism now for allowing the group to even get that close to the whales. they say they followed the rule, they back pedaled away even though whales can swim much faster than kayakers can paddle. when they start breaching right in front of you, time to back pedal real quick. alison: i would imagine it's like terrifying and exhilarating all at the same time. jonathan: the things wul

you. boy, oh, boy. alison: amazing. all right. well, let's talk about our weather. a little more pleasant today. jonathan: compared to what we have come through? alison: yeah. jonathan: next week will feel like it's fall weather around here. alison: can't wait for that, doug. doug: it will be delightful here. so we observe a little bit in august. comfortable weather. tonight, muggy out there. 89 in reagan national airport. big winds out of the north at 8 miles per hour. let me give you a big look at what will happen around the area for the rest of the night. we have fair weather cloudiness now. if you look closely at the bottom of the screen, yes, that is a shower over charles county. we said there could be isolated showers south of the city. there it is. south of the city. isolated you shower. it should dissipate. a couple more push through. 99.9% will stay dry. whatever you do outside before the sun goes down at 7:58. it's delightful. the temperatures slowly dropping through the mid-and eventually the lower 80's. tomorrow is partly cloudy and mostly sunny. warm and 92. we see a c

81 corridor and the mountains to the west. that is where we could see the showers or thunderstorms. most of the area will stay dry. however the weekend things will change. 90 on saturday and sunday. more humid again. could be isolated thunderstorms saturday afternoon and everything. much better chances for widespread showers an rain sunday afternoon and sunday night. get this. saturday at the national zoo from 11:00 to 2:00 is a giant panda birthday celebration. bei bei is turning 1. they will accelerate the birthday of bao bao and kennaugh. i hear they will have the giant frozen panda birthday cakes they will have. a lot of fun to check out at the national zoo. a lot of excitement. alison: free bamboo for everyone! doug: back to you. alison: all right, doug. thank you. jonathan: talk about the olympics. one of the best sports out there. wrestling. scott: i'm about to wonder what is in the water here between michael phel

lady. maryland doing well in rio. history made in brazil. helen maroulis became the first u.s. woman to win goal at the olympics in wrestling. it happened an hour ago. she shocked the world beating japan's yoshida in the 53-kilogram weight class. before the match, yoshida won 16 straight world or olympic titles. she was the reigning three-time olympic gold medalist. jonathan: was. scott: unbelievable moment for our local girl. congrats to helen. an olympic champion. a chance to learn from the pros. the high school football season around the corner. high school coaches from all across the d.m.v. madeer that way to ashburn. it was the redskins high school coaches clinic. the skins lending a helping hand to those up and coming prep coaches. >> well, anytime you talk about attacking zone defense, -- scott: for the high school football coaches this was a chance to talk shop with the pros. >> it's b

experience. i got a lot of information from great coaches. >> a bunch of offensive lingo. scott: for the pros a chance to give back to pay it forward. >> i know all of us know coaches and players, we were influenced by our high school head coach. scott: for dunbar d.c. head coach the annual clinic at redskins turned into a chance meeting or two to cherish. >> there goes josh norman right there. >> how are you doing? all right, all right. yeah. yep. coach joe. dunbar d.c. played with vernon davis. >> oh, yeah? >> i played with vernon. yeah. he was one year ahead of me. uh-huh. nice meeting you. scott: lo and behold the redskins tight end vernon davis happened by next. >> this guy here has been, he was my teammate in high school. he has been doing great things for dunbar downtown washington, d.c. scott: all in all a day of x's and o's and history lesson

>> i love the vince lombardi trophy. i hope the redskins can grab another one this year. scott: i tell you what. great to see the redskins work with the high school coaches. great to talk about football. it's here. i love it. alison: it doesn't quite feel like it outside yet. but we'll get there. jonathan: friday's game will be a scorcher out there. scott: it will be hot. bring water. jonathan: umbrella. alison: thank you. for us it may be starting to sound like a broken record. jonathan: when we come back, meet some folks surprised to hear that the washington monument is having so many

maureen: do you know? the washington monument will be closed again tomorrow. today, d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton tweeted she plans to meet with the national park service because the public deserves an explanation about what is going on with this. as q mccray reports the ongoing problems have caught some tourists by surprise.

right? another -- déjà vu, right? another day and another closing of the elevator at the washington monument. it shut down yesterday according to the national mall. the people i've been speaking to, a malfunction caused the elevator to shut down. one worker was caught signed the elevator -- caught inside the elevator near the top of the beautiful monument but there are also 80 tourists on the observation floor. they had to walk a good 500 feet to the ground. there are a lot of tourists here now. many are bummed, including the early family. this is mike. he is here from southern california. you have to be upset about this. >> oh, dog gone it, we're disappointed. we were looking forward to going up to the top of the monument. we thought maybe we'd take the stairs but, you know, better safe than sorry. so that's the way it goes. q: there you go. you are here until sunday. hopefully it's open by then. as for when the monument will reopen and the el

to the national mall people they tell me that they are waiting for an inspector to check out the elevator once they get the okay, they will open it as soon as possible. when that will be is still up in the air. that is the latest here from the national mall. i'm q mccray. back to you in the studio. maureen: it is still upton in the air -- up in the air, q? that is a good one. right now at 6:00, police are joining in the investigation now into a train derailment. what we know about the unusual move from metro. alison: plus, lochte lied? well, that is the message from police in rio about the american swimmer story about a robbery. what they say actually happened. and it involves a bathroom. plus devastation on the gulf coast. the new threat and what is being done here to get help to tens of thousands without a home. announcer: now, "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. maureen: last

train derailment that caused days of problems for commuters may now be a criminal matter. metro general manager asked metro transit police to join the investigation. tom roussey is covering metro tonight. he is live at the east falls church station with what he has learned. tom? tom: maureen, a lot of riders we're talking are pretty surprised be this. the derailment happened july 29. this is the station platform behind me. where it happened was a train approaching the station that only made it to right there before it left the tracks. this is video from that day. i was the morning of july 29. this caused a nightmare for a lot of commuters. later metro determined that likely what happened was the tracks were in such poor shape that the rails actually became further apart than normal and that led to the derailment. well now, we now know metro police are getting involved in this investigation. we talked to passengers, they thought it was negligence. they didn't realize it might