steve rudin with details on that. steve: showers and the thunderstorms are out there at this hour looking now at the hyatt regency tysons corner camera in mclean. the skies are beginning to darken a little bit. showers will remain with us for the next couple of hours but i'm confident we'll get fireworks in as planned at the national mall. show you what is going on across the frederick county area. severe thunderstorm warning posted a half hour ago that extends until 6:15. this cell moving to the south/southeast at around 25 to 30 miles per hour. the cloud tops on this around 30,000 feet. so pretty strong capable of downpours but not a lot of lightning. if you are in the path of the storm, head indoors until it passes. once it moves by we look for conditions to improve.

south laurel, heavy rains. there is nothing warned on, just gusty wind and the hier downpours and downtown d.c. where they are lining up and finding the best seats in the house. this is dry but i can't rule out showers in the next hour or two. the temperatures go from 90 to the middle 80's and the lower 80's by 9:00 tonight. we talk about the rest of the forecast for the overnight hours and the rest of the week and looking ahead to the upcoming weekend in a few minutes. jonathan: all right, steve. thank you very much. as we mentioned, q mccray has been out all day for the fourth of july festivities. michelle: he joins us live from the national mall with the excitement. q? q: yes. i will tell you what. people here are smiling again, guys because it was raining. it rained from 4:15 to 5:15. that is no longer the case. you can see now that people are out and about and walking on the national mall. we are next to the washington monumented.

as sunny as it was this afternoon. the parade was going down constitution avenue. we have video to show you. tens of thousands of people lined constitution avenue to watch the parade. the national independence day parade. we are celebrating the country's 241st birthday. the parade didn't disappoint. right now everybody here on the national mall, they are ready for the concert about to start. and the fireworks, display that is supposed to be like no other across the country. here is what the family from michigan had to say about what they are expecting. >> this is a big finish to the vacation. we are ready for it to be here in person to see it. a dream. >> i have heard they have been big. which i really hope for. i hope they are big this year. the fireworks display starts at 9:09

expected to last at least 17 minutes. so if you want to come down you have time to head to the national mall. fireworks will be lead off here on the national monument. i am told that the weather should be clear by then. that is good news. happy july fourth. happy independence day. back to you inside. michelle: same to you. stay safe out there. we have a list of all the fourth of july events. you can find them on wjla.com. we want to see your video. just upload the video to burst.com/wjla. jonathan: security as you can imagine is tight around d.c. especially the closer you get to the mall. metal detectors and screeners are checking everyone entering the mall through eight checkpoints set up to get in. many streets are closed to prevent someone

a vehicle as a weapon. similar precautions, albeit smaller perhaps have been in place at parades and eventses around the region -- events around the region. michelle: today, two american heroes honored for their bravery when gunman opened fire at baseball practice. special agents david bailey and crystal griner were awarded the law enforcement commendation medal from the d.c. society sons of the american revolution. both were hurt in last month's shooting at simpson park that left congressman steve scalise seriously hurt. president trump spent part of his fourth of july in office. his first fourth of july in office on the golf course. he played a few holes at the tramp -- at the trump national golf course in sterling but he and the first lady are now hosting service members at the white house. here is some of what the president said just moments ago. president trump: each of you here today represents that rare combination of patriotism, virtue and courage

i mean always admired. that the enemies always feared. jonathan: north korea is flexing the military muscle. they claim to have launched a missile this flew higher and longer than previous missiles. if true it would be the first intercontinental ballistic missile launch. that is anales reported lid can reach -- that is a missile that can reportedly reach alaska. it signifies the efforts to hit the just on short notice. this is adding to the escalating tensions between the u.s. and north korea. >> this is a very worrying development. >> there can only be one outcome on the second war. jonathan: for months president trump tried to get china, north korea's most important ally to step in and try to bring things down. today china and russia's leaders called for a freeze on missile testing from north korea. michelle: coming up at 6:00, the dangers

full display in arizona. jonathan: plus, holding on for dear life. how this man was able to escape from a deadly flood in

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. jonathan: they are dealing with the fire. huge one at that in arizona. the reason being this was a fireworks display and then a

display. the cause of it was an ember from the fireworks that blew in an area of dry brush. that started all of this. the show had wrapped up. nobody was hurt. again, the firefighters had their hands full. michelle: reminder about grill safety. several families are now homeless after a fire claimed the gaithersburg townhomes on monday. firefighters claim a grill on the back deck started that fire. charcoal was being used in a propane grill. as the people gather for cookouts this season, firefighters are urging everyone to take extra precautions. they even went back to the neighborhood today to make sure each home was safe. >> sometimes that did not have any protection of smoke alarms so they were able to install. now the families are safer. michelle: so if you are cooking out, firefighters say keep your grill clean. and away from the house, tents and overhang. also in gaithersburg, the heat taking a toll on many at the water park. an ambulance was called in and several people were treated for heat-related

okay. jonathan: there is growing outrage and absolute disbelief in charles county tonight. this after this man carlos bell a former teacher's assistants and track coach revealed he is hives positive. this follows his arrest -- he is hiv-positive. this follows his arrest for sexually assaulting students and making child pornography. >> yesterday the story broke. it was at -- we found out he worked of the our elementary school. so we said do you recognize this person? jonathan: investigators say right now there is no indication that any of the kids tested positive for hiv. the health department says additional teth -- tests are likely. he worked at stoddert middle scam. a track coach at mcdonough and la plata high school. michelle: developing now the police need your help to solve a murder in prince george's county. a man's body found in a welfare check before 7:00 this morning. the 800 block of kayak avenue

of trauma to his body and was pronounced dead at the scene. if you have any information, call crime solvers. jonathan: america isn't the only one celebrating a birthday. today the montgomery county police department turned 95 years young. all right. let me show you a picture. go back in time. you will look at a picture of the first officers of the montgomery county police department. 1922. they were introduced as the first to protect and serve the county as police officers. check out the old rides. the motorcycles. for several years they didn't even have a police station. instead they would meet for role call at the montgomery county courthouse. takes you back. michelle: times have changed. still to come at 6:00, a police officer smacked by a naked man on a metro train. that is not all he did. jonathan: plus, an out-of-this-world light show in time for the fourth. but this one thanks to mother

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this gives us something to look forward to tonight. this was the grand finale in a fourth of july celebration in iowa. they have a tradition. they have a midnight parade followed by fireworks. one of many fireworks displays that went on last night across the country. michelle: if you thought that was cool. take a look at this. prefourth of july light show put on by the earth's atmosphere. all natural here. the final lapse images -- the time lapse images of the northern lights taken from expedition 52 to the international space station. very cool. tonight thousands of people are celebrating the nation's birthday for the first time as american citizens. tom roussey introduces us to a few of those who joined the nation at the home of a founding father. tom: well, the ceremony was held outside the home of the first president here on this stage a little bit earlier today. around a hundred people became brand new citizens of the united states. this is video from the ceremony. the folks hailed from dozens of

they didn't at first know they would get the chance. not just to do this at mount vernon but also to get to be sworn in as the citizens on july fourth, itself. the folks who were here had different stories for why they came here. there was a common thread. this was a very special day. >> we have citizensship july 4th. we are the luckiest ones. >> did you know you would get to do it on july fourth? >> no. it comes in the mail and we know it's on july fourth. >> when you found that out what was your reaction? >> we were so happy. tom: the ceremony here at mount vernon was one of 65 held throughout the country today. in all, about 15,000 people are becoming new citizens on independence day. reporting at mount vernon, i'm tom roussey, abc7 news. jonathan: congratulations to them all as well. the takoma park fire

than america's birthday today. this is the first day of the e.m.t. bicycle unit. they carry bandages, ice packs, oxygen tank and defibrillator. the first assignment was today's fourth of july parade. good way to get around town. crazy video out of houston, texas. watch this. ready? roll it. a naked guy caught on camera slapping a police officer. that is him holding a pesticide hose trying to spray the officer with a pesticide. watch this. then he slaps the officer. that is always a bad move. he got not one but two tasers. then dropped to the ground. apparently he stole the bug spray from a metro grounds crew. they knew something was off when the nigh because naked. they use -- when the guy was naked. they used stun gun and got him to ground and the problem came to an end. >> whoever was inside the tank, who knows what it could have been? it could have been poison. it's a chemical. jonathan: never a good move. the man was charged w

it did end as you saw. they put him on the ground. they got him in handcuffs. michelle: wow! well, right now deadly floods are devastating china. and this man, he is lucky to be alive. you can hardly see him but he was in the corner there. he was rescued from the fast moving waters. the flow of the water so powerful it took more than a dozen people and a fire hose to pull him to safety. so far at least 56 people have been killed by the floods. another 22 are still missing. here now is an unusual rescue. have you ever seen a flying cow? well, here is the closest thing to it. this big guy weighing about 1,500 pounds tumbled into a ravine in italy and injured its leg. firefighters were called in. safely airlifted it to a nearby hilltop. jonathan: a record-breaking kind of day at the nathan hot dog eating contest. one of the contest you watch the video and your stomac

a lot of familiar faces lined up in coney islands. familiar winners as well. three-time women's champ trying to defend the championship. not only did she succeed. she ate record 41 hot dogs with the buns in ten minutes. on the men's side you just saw it there. nine-time champion joey chestnut winning the top spot and set record of 72 hot dogs and buns in ten minutes. i don't even want to do the math. i get sick thinking about it. i don't know how he doesn't explode. michelle: i know. i'm sure he does at some point. steve: what everyone was thinking. michelle: something says summer like the nathan hot dog eating contest. jonathan: i'm still ill over here. steve: i heard one of the winners ate 102 hard boiled eggs for a record. jonathan: just to warm up? steve: in a previous contest. >> goodness. steve: we have strong thunderstorms out there. montgomery to frederick county. we are confident to get fi

at all. we start you off with a big picture here around the capital beltway. few showers. head northern montgomery county to frederick county where we have a newly issued severe thunderstorm warning until 6:45. this cell right here a little bit of lightning associated with it. moving south and east at around 30 miles per hour. so if you are in damascus or frederick, these are the areas that are likely to see the stronger storm with the heavier rain and the gustier winds. not a tremendous amount of lightning. so once again, damascus and the wood field at 6:28. and 6:30. as we move through the next ten to 15 minutes or so. show you a different perspective for this. the 3d slice. tops at 30,000 feet. it's a strong storm out there. heavy downpours will continue. you can see the lightning embedded in the storm. seek shelter right now if you are in damascus. the thunderstorm is moving over your area. over the next ten to 15 minutes or so. head over to princess george's county and ca

looking at a few showers and thunderstorms. not a lot associated with this. nothing severe. not right now. we will continue to watch it for you. laurel, you are drying out as this moves off toward the north and the east. snow hill manor, you are dry. but you are looking due north. this is what you see. a stronger thunderstorm but not a warned thunderstorm. for those of you who are downtown d.c., no problems at all at the national mall. pick out your seat. guaranteed to have a good one. we are going to look for nicer weather conditions on the way later this evening. widen the view out to give everyone a good perspective here. capital beltway, dry inside the beltway. the showers north and east of us. up north and west. the temperatures right now is warm. 84 at reagan national airport. we have had showers. dropping to the middle to the upper 70's. in hagerstown, martinsburg. the heat index values still in the mid-to-the upper 80's to just around 90 or so. forecast for this evening, dropping down to around 9.

fireworks time period. nighttime lows are in the middle 70s downtown d.c. the future cast looks like this. we are calling for a better chance of showers, even a few thunderstorms as we move through the day tomorrow. so grab your umbrella as you head to work and the kids head out tompca. we will look for a chance for some of the storms to become strong come tomorrow afternoon. day planner tomorrow around 85 degrees. the weekend outlook calls temperatures in the middle to the upper 80's. a quick look at the ten-day outlook before we head to break. daytime highs the next ten days upper 80's to

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erin: the perfect independence day for the nationals as the nats earned their 50th win of the season and 1,000th regular season win in team history. how about that? the nats flashing some leather in the third. jay bruce hits a short fly ball to right. bryce harper says nope, not today. dives to make a nice catch there. here it is again. bryce gets the glove under the ball with a beauty. meanwhile, daniel murphy had a monster game in the plate. in the sixth lines to right field for a base hit. michael a. taylor and depot score. five r.b.i. for murphy on the day. the nats win big,

speaking of big, a big night on newschannel8. don't forget to watch the black and red tonight. d.c. united faces f.c. dallas. coverage begins at 8:00. the game starts at 8:30 tonight on the sister station newschannel8. finally the capitols signed berokovsky to $6 million deal and wizards signed mike scott to a one-year deal worth $1.7 million. >> the nats are having fun. erin: keep it going. braves are in town next. steve: severe thunderstorm warning continues for about another 20 minutes. this is for carroll, frederick, howard and montgomery county until 6:45. this is moving south and east at 25 to 30 miles per hour. damascus, you are looking for the stronger storms in your neighborhood in the next ten minutes or so. head to laurel and jessup, you are looking at stronger storms across your area. but nothing that is warned on. download the stormwatch7 weather app. michelle: good tip. thank you. "world news tonight" with david muir coming up next

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tonight north korea's threat to america on the fourth of july. the new, more powerful missile. american officials confirming its long range capability. could north korean missiles now reach alaska, or even further east? the president's response and his unusual message to kim jong-un. president trump and vladimir putin preparing to meet face to face. tonight, the white house and the russians describing the meeting in two very different ways. will russia's meddling in the u.s. election be on the agenda? up in flames. police investigating the possibility of illegal fireworks in the blast that leveled this