"news4 today." it's sunday, august 16th, 2009. we want to get the latest on weather from chuck bell who joins us from storm center 4. >> good morning to you. the sun is shining, and it's a bright, blue sky over head temperatures are jumping into the 70s. and 79 degrees in beautiful annapolis, maryland. and fog is disappearing. temperatures today into the upper 80s in the high spots west of the blue ridge, but low 90s around town today. in the gulf of mexico we are watching the latest tropical depression. it could become tropical storm claudette. and our forecast is coming up in a few minutes. >> we will be here. thank you. an american held in myanmar for swimming to the detained

democracy leader as a freeman, and both men arrived in bangkok just a short time ago. webb is the firstmember of congress in more than a decade to visit myanmar. he said he asked the rulers to relus the man who has been detained for 14 of the last 24 years. she was sentenced to p23 years n prison. and there was an incident that left five people incident, and one victim just 14 years old. police were called to a new

en te, nd ahis time and pern not.esead innorthwest. the fstirnctid ienpeap hned before 6:00 last evening on the 400 block of minnesota avenue. seven young people were shot outside the metro station. the younges victim 16 years old. none of the victims' injuries are believed to be life threatening. they also believe many of the people in the crowd had just attended a go-go. and then a man was shot multiple time in northwest. it was in the 300 block of 1st street. and he was pronounced dead at the scene. no reports of arrests in either case. it's becoming less of a vacation and more of a business trip for president obama. this time he held a town hall in

colorado. he is trying to calm the debate. >> at a town hall meeting in colorado, president obama offered up a dose of reality in the health care debate. >> there is no perfect, painless, silver bullet out there. >> he asked his critics to do the same. >> the only thing i want to make sure, if you make an argument argument, because nobody is talking about a government takeover of health care. >> reform opponents are running a pretty good campaign of their own. >> thank you all very much. welcome to the rumble. >> democrats have been on the defensive all week. >> it's my opinion what we are seeing right now is the intentional dismanling of the

america. >> and they are trying to convince americans that health care reform is not about politics. and the president is trying to stir the debate back to a cold, hard discussion of the ,rian mo wa de,tengt badebate, the ofs cu "meet p morning. ,n the morning. on the show, the airman rofit nonprofit freedom freedom omkldaah odaomah senator, forr nasemeortor senator dom taschleom whote wro book about thero process, and calitil commentator, rachel maddow. in prince george's county the search is onlictpeus specto potatpeho sho a a police office. afnton.teesrnayoo afternoon.amel th orauys itsa ereicarty off as tharles officer was in theere fie re w

d.fi e ic othasff notfi hihit. he endp u telling police the shooting might be the result of a dispute with a family member. and a boat ran a ground on rocks. four people were onboard. they apparently misjudged how shallow the water is in that area just north of buoy number 90. and the fire department spent two rescue boats to help dislodge the boat and escort it back to shore. nobody was hurt. there is a proposal on the tae toincrease toll rates on ul toll road. snit doe't end there, and ihe s i expected to go uer aftperft that. airport oic wiaiatanls to hear from you onshi t issue. accepting atiep feedback online through september 14th. and there will also be three public hearings on the issue. if you are looking for

something to do, plenty going on in montgomery county. and news4's michael flynn is there and joins us live with the details. >> we have exciting news out here this morning. there have been recent deliveries. take a look down here. this is glow. a newborn calf, and just born on friday the day the fair got under way out here. if we go up, we can take a look a couple stalls down. from what i understand, tula is about to give birth. despite the recession, the fair has been doing well. marty is the executive director out here. talk about the crowds and how well you are doing despite tough times out here. >> many folks are staying in the community and coming to the fair. the prices have bn able to be the same for the last two years. the admission price is

reasonable. tomorrow is children's day, so kids between the ages of zero and 12 until 4:00 can come to the fair for free. >> talk about, what are the prices to get in? what is there to do once you get in? >> there is a tractor pull on monday, and a rodeo today, and monster trucks on wednesday and thursday, and of course friday and saturday is the demolition derby. tickets are 12:00 at the gate, and at www.mc fair.com, a $2 off coupon for each ticket. >> once you get in here, what is the most exciting thing to do for not much money? >> you can always learn about agriculture and where the food and products come from, and you can milk a cow if you would like to do that. we will have over 17,000

exhibits here at the fa. and children can play for free with many activities, including face painting and a wild west show, and many other activities. lots to do at the fair. >> congratulations on the calfs. >> great, and thank you for being here today. >> the doors open this morning at 10:00, and the rides start at noon. lots of stuff to do out here, and i will gain probably 10 pounds with all the fair food. >> you are coming back live before the show, and you will be milking a could you. we want to see that. >> i did not know that. i feel a cold coming on. >> michael flynn, have fun out there. coming up on the sunday morning edition of "news4 today," the taliban is threatening more attacks in afghanistan. we will have the latest a bombing on saturday in kabul. and then new areas may

suffer. and the new dolphin exhibit in our area

the taliban is trying to shake the people of afghanistan days before they are supposed to vote for president. the group is taking responsible the for a deadly bombing and says it's just the beginning. richard engel has more from kabul. >> reporter:. most of the people killed and injured were out in front at a check point near the main nato head courters. according to a u.s. official, all american personnel have been

accounted for. a taliban spokesman saidhis attack was carried out by the taliban and more attacks would be coming ahead of elections in this country, scheduled to take place next thursday. the taliban spokesman said it was a suicide car bomb, and the car was packed with 100 pounds of explosive. richard engel, nbc news, kabul. police believe these men might have beenin planng to rob the store that day. the next day they made off with jewels more than $65 million. starting to weekend you will have to provide more personal information before taking to the skies. u.s. airlines are asking more questions, gender and date of

birth when you book a flight. it's to better weed out people that pose a risk to airline security. one of india'sla biggest moe stars was detained for two hours at newark's airport after they spotted the word "con" in his name. they say he was questioned for a little over an hour as a standard process for screening foreign travelers. he was heading to chicago to promote a new film about racial profiling. and maryland governor has his own plan toro pduce $750 p million in state spending. the y udget secret to cut a 0cut another $toiollmin. a tcaloo lteid a to local

governments, which will affect community le csge collegesnd and roads.s. he has been looking forgut ts c board of public works next week. it will provide college kids extra security and parents extra peace of mind. it's to make sure they stay safe. derrick ward has more. >> reporter: move in day, the right of passages for sons and daughters. howard university and american university, parents say good-bye. >> i am not concerned about leaving her by herself. i am concerned about some of the things that may go on in the city. >> this is the best part of the city as far as i know. we are very excited. i think it's going to be a tremendous opportunity here for her. >> one of the things that parents are concerned about is

safety. howard university is starting a new program. it's cell-phone based. the phones have features like panic buttons, and it can alert help if a user is not at a preset location at a preset time. >> they all have cell phones. we feel this is a way to reach out to the students and for them to reach us rapidly. >> this is in addition to existing campus security measures. >> meanwhile here on the campus of american university, they have the same system in effect, and it has some of the same features. for parents and students, the same calming reassuring affect. >> it was wonderful, ty send texts to your phone, like snow day, or somebody on campus that

should not be, they send it to your phone. >> as long as i am careful and no messing around and getting to know people that know the area, i think i will be fine, and i know not to go out late at night by myself. >> i feel better than i did a few weeks ago. >> keeping kids safe and parents -- >> yeah, peace of mind. >> yeah. the happity. day is when you send your kids off to college. >> yeah, that's when the bills really start to pileup. >> we have a beautiful day filled with 100% free sunshine.

what do you know? it's august and we have a string of 90s. >> what? in august? in washington? i don't know what mother nature is doing to us, after a cooler

than average summer. and now august turns out to be a little on the warm side, and almost a degree and a half warmer than avhao tve am w goi spell around here. and when is the hardest week in august? the day the kids go back to school. when i was a kid, uphill both ways, and 1,000 degrees outside. and some own a boat, and separated themselves from friends and family, and they took a boat out for a day of fishing. 77 degrees, t concern the temperature at ronald reagan national airport. and the dew point climbing closer to the uncomfortable mark at 70. so far, august a degree and a half warmer than average, and one inch below average in rainfall already.

and 79 degrees out in prince george's county, and 79 in annapolis. and temperatures out here across the virginia piedmont and san n shenandoah valley lagging behind. some fair weather cumulus clouds bubbling up. and one or two spots of rain west of the blue ridge today. 95% of us will stay hot and dry for the rest of our sunday. and the front off the coast still generating showers for the banks. and getting more active is tropical storm anna right there, and bill on her heels. and then the more immediate concern, tropical depression four. if it reaches tropical storm strent, and the national hurricane center does think it will do that, it will be tropical storm claudette.

it should be makin landfall in the next 48 hours. and it's just east of mobile bay. it could bring heavy rainfall to deep parts of the south in the next couple days. and the moisture should bring us rain showers. but today it will be hot and dry. temperatures today, two or three degrees warmer than yesterday. yesterday we topped out at 89 downtown. i am forecasting 92 in the area for today. and 94 for tomorrow. tomorrow may be the warst day of the week. and the humidity is starting to sneak back in here as we get back towards tuesday and wednesday. i think our best chances for much-needed rain showers arrive as you get towards the wednesday and thursday timeframe. >> we need a cooling breeze, i suspect. >> thank you, sir. and the nationals make a historical offer for the draft,

but will it be enough? here is the "sports minute." good morning, everybody. your "sports minute" begins with baseball. the nationals offered the number one draft pick a record-setting contract. and the team president says there is a real possibility he will not sign. on the field, the national's offense erupted against the reds. the nats down the reds. and then the angels beat the orioles, 5-1. and then tiger woods has a two-shot leading going into today's round. tiger is 14-0 when leading at a tournament. and vick worked out at the number three quarterback in the afternoon practice. and that's your sports minute,

and have a great day. this week's kids post is under water experience, teaching kids about life under the sea. here is joe krebs. >> good morning. dodging dolphins. colorful coral, and playful puppe puppets. >> good to be here, joe. >> a lot of kids that went to the beach this last weekend might have seen dolphins? >> yeah, that's right. and we are devoting two days to the ocean world. we are talking about the dolphins up at the national aquarium in baltimore who have wonderful new program that looks at not just dolphins jumping out of the water, but how dolphins live in the water. it's very, very fascinating. and also it encourages kids to understand what they need to do to keep the waters clean and

safe. >> talk about living in the water, and the one of the most interesting things is coral. >> yeah, it's an animal. it's hard to believe that coral d dolphins are both animals. but they are. and the national zoo of all places is trying to grow its own coral. they have a wonderful exhibition in their invertbra house. >> can you take it for a walk? >> it's not good to a leash, coral. >> and let's talk about puppets. >> peppet performances, and that's the group that does the puppet play house. and a really nice family outing.

>> log on to nbcwashington.com or washingtonpost.com/kidspost. have a great day. coming up in the next half hour, a wild hurricane season is kicking up now. bullets fly at a d.c.ngitti stop hngti

checking our top stories thisafter half hour, police are looking for a suspect that fired into a crowd injuring seven people. and it happened at a bus station. none of the injuries are believed to be life threatening. and senator webb negotiated the release of the man you see there. they are now in bangkok, thailand. and obama is confident his plan to overhaul the nation's health care will succeed. he says there is 80% agreement in congress on shaping the legislation. the president touted his health care plan yesterday at a town hall meeting in colorado.

good morning. welcome back to "news4 today." i am keith garvin. we go to chuck bell who is up in storm center 4. >> good morning, keith and everybody. it's certainly off to a hazy st tsaroscrhe t washington area thismorning. here is a live picture from the tower cam here. and we are looking southbound past the cathedral. and there is a lot of haze out there for you this morning. cannot hardly find the national m monument downtown. and it's going to be a warm one today. no doubt about that. up near 92 degrees, and keith, today is one of only two days left in 2009, where the sunsets 8:00 or later. >> can you believe it.

got to get out there and enjoy it. >> hurricane season might have gotten off to a quiet start, but the silence have been broken. there are two named storms. and tropical storm anna may be the start of a potentially busy hurricane season. >> it has been a quiet summer so far, and now the formation of tropical storm anna and bill shows the season is kicking into gear. >> it was very unusual compared to what we have seen in the last couple decades. >> i am advised the toll is over 300. >> the monster category 5 storm,

camille, began. more recently here in south florida, hurricane andrew stormed august 17th. andrew with the wends in excess of 175 miles per hour was the costliest natural disaster in the united states. there is no reason to think a slow start means fewer or less powerful hurricanes. >> we see our average storm reach the intensity here. >> it's perfect for calm winds. >> there is what is called a weather pattern in the pacific that may calm hurricane conditions in the atlantic. >> those like el nino years.

>> they better not. el nino occurred in 1992. hurricane andrew. 1965, hurricane betsy. >> the 2009 hurricane season still has 14 weeks to go. almost 17,000 firefighters are trying to make progress when they are trying to contain wildfires in california. that fire is burning miles away from homes and buildings. it's 30% contained. governor arnold arnold schwarzenegger is urging people to obey mandatory evacuation orders. and firefighters are worried coming weather changes could spark more flames. still ahead, sightseeing with the first family. what they have on thend ara ge y.da stay

president obama took time out of his push for health care reform to do sightseeing with his family. the president and first lady along with his daughters toured

yellowstone national park yesterday. they walked among the hot springs and caught one of nature's spectacular shows watching old faithful erupt. and today they expect to see the grand canyon. alex is a teenager that is hope fog areing for a loving fa may like baseball. barbara harrison introduces us to this week's wednesday's child. >> hi, alex. >> meet alex, who just turned 15. to celebrate his birthday, he wanted to calm to the national's park, where his favorite team, the nats, of course, had a game scheduled. this is an exciting day. i want you to meet alex. he is a big fan of yours. >> the catcher congratulated alex on his birthday. for the last five years, alex

has been in foster care. although he was nervous today, his social worker says alex has a great personality. >> alex has a very contagious smile and laugh. when he laughs he lights up a room, and enjoys telling jokes and making people laugh. that's one of his best qualities. josh gave alex a lesson and a few expert pointers for playing the game of baseball. >> you have fun. you light up when you throw the ball. >> alex has learning challenges but works hard in school and does well. he is hoping for an adoptive family that will be proud of all of he accomplishes. >> i would like a family to be caring and loveable and likes baseball, and respectful to me. >> we are looking for a single parent or two-parent adoptive family for alex. i want a family for him that

will accept him for who he is, and will integrate him into their family in terms of family activities and holidays, because he enjoys those kinds of activity ies activities. >> alex got a few things to take home with him, and tickets for a nats' game. he would one day enjoy a family that can come enjoy aeit wh him. rbrrarha fa onisor wedsdayon's child. ad plee t clalhel special on hotl 1-888-to-adoptme. or log on to nbcwashington.com. a lurux hotel for pocket 0 people boo0dked rooms at the crowned azpla.

the wrong price was postepl online. theot h melntea to offer ant ni o-sttwt ghay at half price.t uieq ntle o ff$213 a night. they plan h ton orirhe honor t reservations. and the decision could cost them $129,000, and a young man and woman their job. >> yeah, one poor italian out there out of work currently. >> i need to surf the internet to find deals like that. >> a check of the forecast coming up. i think you will like it, that is if you like it hot and humid, that is. a check of the f

coco just because you cannot afford a fancy sail boat, it doesn't mean you can't be part of a fancy regada.

while we chow down on nachos and hot dogs, they dine on muscles and fries at the belgium race. >> nothing wrong with a good muscle or fry. this guy found a good way to spend a couple hours on a sunday afternoon. i am convinced that is jim vance. when he is not on camera, i think he is fishing somewhere. a beautiful day on the outside with your favorite fishing pole or best friend. august rainfall, less than an inch. july, barely over an inch. less than two inches since july

first. 65% below average. and the good thing about this summer, have not had to mow the grass too much. the stretch of try days will continue around here. today, and tomorrow and tuesday before a rain chance comes back into the pingture. 76 degrees in vienna. and then it's going to be a nice day outside if you like it hot and mid. plenty of sunshine for us. quiet weather, and high pressure in charge. warmer and more humid weather is coming our wayor the first half of the we. we have been talking about it all morning. the tropics have gotten active temperature tropical storm anna over here, and maybe not doing too much. that is tropical storm bill that is expected to reach hurricane strength within the next 48 to 72 hours. we will keep a close eye on

tropical storm bill. now in the gulf of mexico forming overnight last night, tropical storm claudette should be formed before the day is over today. it should bring a lot of rain to portions of southern alabama and georgia, late tonight and through the day tomorrow. hopefully some of the moisture will move its way up the east coast and bring rain showers. for today, sunny and dry. hot and dry again for tomorrow. so be ready for a long stretch of warm, dry days around here. patchy fog is now pretty much burned away. wit shinunesh hshinune heum ndyitiditytoday. and the umrtantveseseven-day forecast will be hot and dry around here. be ready for it. 92, the expected high temperature for the afternoon. 94 toymorrow. 93 tuesday.

first little chance of a shower mainly south and west of the area will be tuesday. here in washington, i think wednesday will be the first chance to see real rain. thursday and friday, better rain chances than that. welcome news. and maybe dry for next weekend. >> low 90s are not so bad. >> yeah, last monday was 97, and that was ugly. >> yeah, we will take 92 and 93. he dominated in college and the oolympics

the growing debate over the president's health care plan, the economy and 40 years after woodstock, and those are among the main topics when we continue on news4. t"the chris matthews show" is next. >> the president seems stalls. his numbers are the lowest yet. he insists hie lowered the recession. and 40 years since woodstock. how big of an influence was it on today's progressive democrats. is our country still divided between the long hairs and the guys with skinny ties. now, keith gregory.

>> this morning, making sense of health care on "meet the press." we will talk this morning to leading voices to help separate fact from vifiction. all this morning on "meet the press." tiger trying to capture his first major of the year. and the nationals offer a prize contract. >> the nationals offered number one overall draft pick a record-setting contract. the team president says there is a real possibility he will not sign. nats all-star ryan zimmerman thinking when it comes down to he has to think about can i go to bed if i turn down $16

million? and now, adam dunn facing his old teammates. over the wall for a home run. it's his 31st home run for the season. and top three, and nats up 3-0. and the bases are loaded, and beg gonzes had a heck of a night. and then in the fourth. the former nats' pitcher on the mound. and then one is roped to right field. and duke is in with a triple. the nats build a nine-run lead.

the pga championship is not officially over, but it's over. when tiger woods has the lead he is 14-0. and he has the shot over harrington who will need more than the luck of irish to upset a guy that does not lose on sundays. >> yeah, it's a major rush, especially when there is a major championship involved. if you are in the position, you know you are not playing poorly. it's fun to go out there and test what you have. the other guys are throwing it throw it back at them. it's fun. that's -- as i said, that's the rush of it, to try and go out there and deal with it and execute. >> tiger woods tees off today at 1:45. some are ordering vick's replica jersey, and some are

ordering t-shirts that say "hide your beagle, vick's an gle." and there we are. and in the afternoon session, vick worked out as a number the quarterback. he is elvauable to play in the final two pre-season games. and then a conference showdown. here is how it went down. we start with the d.c. united fans. no score here. and then check out dwyane using his head perfectly. and then passing it back to rookie, white. let's go to germantown,

maryland. and then the first half of the playoff. freedom in black. check out abby. collides with the keeper. and then sky blue on the attack. she shoots. the freedom fell 2-1, and are eliminated from the playoffs unfortunately. that's your morning sports. have a great day. >> that is "news4 today." "the chris matthews show" is next, followed by "meet the press." enjoy the rest of your weekend. see you tonight.