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wow. take a look. dozens of wildfires broke out across greece, torching olive groves and cutting off villages. this is burning north of athens and stretching across 25 miles. planes dropped water on the fire up until sunset. crews worked through the night

trying to protect six towns being threatened by the flames. army draftees are helping the firefighters. the fires have also caused blackouts and water shortages. wow. amazing pictures there. >> very nice. >> greece so beautiful. wow, getting torched, at least part of it is. >> that's right. we need a break from the severe weather we've been going through the past couple of days. you need it for your birthday. >> that's right. >> you have the wife and the four daughters at home. what on earth are they going to do? >> hey, i'm -- i just want an elaborate, surprised, well thought-out plan. >> wow. elaborate, no less. >> i'm just saying -- >> you don't wantust the cake. you want it decorated, gifts properly wrapped. >> i want the cake and be able to eat it, too. >> that seems fair. how about a nap? >> especially right after this show, after these hours. >> no kidding. happy birthday. >> thank you, sir. >> what is the number now? 40-what? >> more like 29 for the fifth or sixth time, at least.

>> you keep telling yourself that. we all know better here. >> you're nl on as old as you feel, right? >> you can either admit to the number or we're going to google it. people your age can be googled. >> dwgo to weather, sir. >> all right. proof you will get to see a little sunshine on your sunday. lo at those beautifully lit cloud tops there. yes, indeed, the sun is climbing eadily in our eastern sky. it's been up for 22 minutes and counting. and it won't be too many more minutes and it's going to be above that little cloud deck that is dropping some light rain showers out over the great state of delaware, the very first state, as you know. licensela p license plates.s hihi thilenss morning, while w first ay rays of sunlight, 70 degrees is our current temperature. the dew point is at 68 degrees. dew point is at 65 degrees. dew point -- temperature's in fairfax county 68. 63 in manassas. 62 in winchester. culpepper, i suspect, somebody

in culpepper needs to go out and check the gauge. i don't think it's 52 degrees there. 70 in hagerstown. 68 in frederick, maryland. visibilities have been reduced, especially up across frederick county, upper montgomery county this morning. a little bit of extra fog out there for you first thing. these are little extra following distance as you make your plans to get out on your early sunday morning. a check of doppler, no rain around the metro area right now. there's those light rain showers on the eastern shore, out into the state of delaware as well. a couple of sprinkles now coming up out of central west virginia so you folks west of the blue ridge here might get a spotty drop or two first thing this morning. but by and large, most of your sunday morning will be dry. we are going to have an opportunity for some more showers, maybe some thunderstorms coming up later on today, but they're not going to be those slow moving, super soakers we had to deal with yesterday. that whole mess has lifted on out of here. a l of residual moisture in the atmosphere and there's a little ripple of low pressure that's going to be coming through later on today. that combined with a weather front could kick off some showers and thunderstorms on

your sunday afternoon. so if you have anything to get done, get it done early on in the day. there is hurricane bill. here's massachusetts. there's cape cod. martha's vineyard and nantucket. tropical storm force winds just now pulling out of the cape and the islands there. the storm itself is going to be racing up in the canadian maritimes, then eventually out in the open waters of the north atlantic so good-bye to hurricane bill. won't even be a hurricane in the next 48 hours or so. for us, nice start to your sunday afternoon. we will have the chance for storms around later on this afternoon. one or two of them might reach severe limits but they are not going to be the tremendous rain-producers or the slow-movers of yesterday so we don't need to worry about that. today, morning sunshine. mix of clouds and sun this afternoon. highs today mid to upper 80s. and, kid companies, back to school tomorrow. yes, indeed. a chance of sprinkles first thing tomorrow morning. certainly not going to be a washout at the bus stops. then tuesday and wednesday,

sunshine, outdoor recess days, tuesday, wednesday and thursday as well. another chance of rain friday, saturday. all right. summer's almost over. can't believe it. kids going back to school. >> it will be good at the pools starting monday. >> more space. yeah. >> that's right. a lot more space at the pools. >> thank you, sir. last night the redskins gave out team towels to the fans who showed up. pretty appropriate considering how wet it was at fedex field but the fans who did sit in the rain got to see the skins win. >> progress is what every coach, player and fan wants to see from their team in the preseason. has night against the super bowl champion eelers, progress was achieved by the redskins. the first team offense put together an impressive first quarter drive but it was the backups who stole the show. we're at fed ics field. jim zorn's saying let's play. we need to score some points here, folks. first quarter, the redskins trail. a fade to the corner. marko mitchell leaps, makes the catch. nice play. three yard touchdown.

the redskins tied at 10 just like that. mitchell had three catches for 21 yards and that td. fourth quarter now, steelers lead it 13-10. hunter smith punting it away. joe burnett fields it at his own 18 yard line. check out number 86, fred davis. makes the hit, causes the fumble. dale young recovers it. the skins are in business. here we go. ensuing play, chase daniel still in the game. taking his time. had great protection from the offensive line here. drops back, play action, and then hits fred davis in stride for an 18-yard touchdown. fred davis had a good game. chase daniel finished the game 6-8 for 58dsar y and two scores. the redskins win it 17-13 the final. >> i was much more pleased, you know. we ended up converting third downs. we were 1 of 11 a week ago. i think we were 9 of 17 this ga so we definitely improved in our third down conversions. we even converted on a couple of fourth down plays.

and so i was very pleased. what i'm looking for as far as improving is, you know, continue to improve our route running down the field and continue to improve our poise under pressure. you know, trying to really execute very well. we did a lot of that tonight. you know, we're all demanding, i guess. >> jim zorn of the redskins host the patriots next friday. talking baseball now. it was slug fest at nats park last night. the brewers and nationals combined for 20 runs and 26 hits. in the end, the heavy-hitting brew crew outslugged the nationals. they have now lost five in a row. john lannan and the nats had to sit through an 0-minute rain delay before they got things going. ryan braun up with two on. braun rips one into the left field corner. former national felipe lopez hustles around third. he scores.

then comes the relay throw. a play at the plate. mike cameron just in there, gives the brewers a 2-0 lead. for nats it got worse. the brew crew rocked the nats 11-9 the final. in soccer, d.c. united hosted david beckham and the l.a. galaxy last night. unfortunately, the game ended in a 0-0 tie. that's all for your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> and it is 6:57, 70 degrees outside. we'll be back in two minutes with a look at the day's top stories, the forecast and news 4's "viewpoint." ar

good morning, everyone. i'm keith garvin. welcome to "news 4 today." it is sunday, august 23rd. a look at today's top stories in just a moment, but first let's get a check of the weather with chuck bell in storm center 4. a little drier this morning. >> a little bit drier air starting to push back into the area. sun is up in a fairly clear sky over washington. there are clouds out to our east, and on doppler you can see there are a few lonely showers out across delaware and right

along the eastern shore and a few sprinkles up in the west virginia mountains as well. temperatures upper 60s to near 70 now. some fog in frederick, maryland, also toward manassas and culpepp culpepper. highs today mid to upper 80s with morning sunshine but a good chance of a scattering of showers and thunderstorms ler on this afternoon but it will not be the rain show w saw yesterday. keith? >> thanks, chuck. stay out of the water. that's the warning at beaches up and down the east coast. hurricane bill is kicking up the surf and it's delaying the president's martha's vineyard vacation. the first family is expected to leave sometime this morning. tomorrow, kids in the district head back to school, same for prince george's county. parents there are invited to drop their kids off for the first day. some students in the district will need the day to relax. they spent part of their weekend helping to clean up to get schools ready. the redskins win one in the rain. the team got its first victory of the preseason. they beat the defending super bowl champions 17-13. rookie quarterback chase daniel improved his chances of hanging on, throwing two touchdown

passes. a full report on the redskins ahead at 7:30. and those are some of the stories making news today. next is nbc 4's "viewpoint" with jim haew mut a thdawiupn te. bbe f ain mut with an update. >> good morning, everyone, and welcome to "viewpoint." i'm jim hanley. our guests this sunday morning is the chairman of the d.c. city council, vincent gray. mr. gray, thank you for coming in. >> good thank you so much for me having. >> welcome back to "viewpoint." want to talk a budget if we can off the top. earlier this summer, the council approved some tough decisions and you were credited with uniting the council on this vote, a vote that calls for higher taxes in some cases. is this going to get us out of this budget shortfall? >> well, we certainly hope so, jim. let me, first of all, say how proud i am of my 12 other colleagues who came together, worked for hours and hours and hours in order to get us to a balanced budget because they realized the implications for us from a fiscal perspective, as well as the city's reputation

which has been absolutely sterling for the last 10 or 11 years with, you know, 12 consecutive balanced budgets. we don't want to do anything to jeopardize that. the reality is, however, that we've had, since last september we've had revenue estimate reductions continuously. last september, $130 million. then in december, late december, another $127 million. in february, $135 million. then in late june after we'd already passed the fiscal year '10 budget, the chief financial officer came back and told us that it looked as if the -- there would be more reductions. $190 million additional for the current fiscal year, which ends on september 30th. and then another $150 million for next year, fiscal year '10. so, that in and of itself was another $340 million. and we, as a council, decided we needed to take his head-on. we didn't want to borrow against reserv reserves. we wanted to solve the problems now so we could say to the people of this city that this

city continues to be fiscally solvent. >> one of the ways you're closing this and solving this problem is through tax hikes. we're talking about cigarette, gas and sales tax, too. the sales tax would go from 5.75 to 6%. the gas tax, too, up by 3 1/2 cents as well. what is this going to mean to the average person? are these permanent increases? >> first of all, let me put it in context. the cuts far outweigh any tax increases. we'll have $240 million of cuts in the budget, and we're talking about, you know, far less in terms of tax increases. well less than $100 million in terms of tax increases. let me give you a concrete example on the sales tax, which is something of interest to everybody. first of all, something that is not just, you know, unique to d.c. residents because many people who don't live here shop in the district of columbia, so the -- it will be spread across

lots of people, even people who don't live here. let's say you go into a store and spend $10. today your sales tax would be 58 cents on that $10. th the increase that we have introduced, it will be 60 cents so it's a two-cent increase on a $10 purchase which we think will not, you know, result in a great deal of pain for lots of people. but will raise a lot of revenue for the district of columbia in the aggregate. the increase in the gasoline taxes brings us even with where maryland was already. and then the cigarette tax, we hope it has tim pact, frankly, jim, of encouraging some people not to smoke anymore because we know their health condition will improve as a result of that. it will raise revenue for the city. it's on cigarettes and what we call little cigars. but again, the tax increases are far less than the budget cuts that we introduced. the tax -- >> talk about those cuts, some of them. and what is on the table? where might these cuts be happening? the school system is also going

to have to make some sacrifices. >> yes. well, first, let me make one other point on the taxes. we put them in place for three years, hoping that we'll be on the other side of this recession by that time. the council will have to vote to have those increases sustained. otherwise, they will go back to where they were previously. now, one needs to recognize that 79% of the district's budget is in three areas- public education, public safety and human and health support services. so, outside of that there really isn't very much. in order to achie the cuts that were necessary, we had to look at those areas. we've frozen vacancies in the police department so as people leave, as police officers leave and there probably are about 20 -- 15 to 20 a month who leave, those positions for the next year will be frozen wch will result in several mlions of dollars of savings. with respect tohe schools, it's not really a cut. there would have been an automatic increase in the

funding formula for schools that would have been originally, according to legislation, a 4% increase. that was reduced by 2%, recognizing the problems that we had. so t council is simply saying for the upcoming year, there will be no increase in the funding formula. so it isn't a reduction. it's just saying there will not be an increase. that will save the city probably north of $30 milli. and then there are the cuts as well. >> let's talk about this process before the vote and some had said, particularly when it comes to the tax hikes, that they would have liked to have seen public hearings on this. why didn't we have that or see that? >> well, first of all, we did have a public hearing, and we mentioned up-front that everything was on the table, including the possibility of tax increases and the possibility of cuts in every area of government. we had a hearing that lasted, on the 24th of july, it lasted for ten hours. we had 133 people who signed up to testify. and we were there from :00 in

the morning until almost 8:00 that night, jim. >> did you hear a lot of testimony on the tax increases or not? >> we didn't. we really didn't. we heard a lot of testimony on what people didn't want to see reduced. that isn't atypical, to be honest with you. people look at how they're going to be affected, and there's nothing wrong with that. how their programs are going to be affected, and they make a very passionate and compelling case oftentimes about why they should not be certain reductions. and then the council had only a week thereafter, after that hearing in order to make decisions about what we would do. one suld remember, we had a lot of hearings on this budget even before we voted on it may 12th so we were re-opening a budget that had already been adopted by the council. >> back then, right. >> so, that's where we started. and a lot of the things that we had to cut were unfortunately things we had to prove, jim, because we just didn't have the money to spend. >> all right. we'll be back to talk with vincent gray, the chairman of the d.c. city council right

after this break on "v

welcome back to "viewpoint." our guest this morning, the chairman of the d.c. city council, vincent gray. mr. gray, let's turn to the issue now about these ntroversial earmarks and outside contracts. council member, former mayor, marion barry, came under fire in recent weeks over this very issue. how can citizens hold council members accountable when it comes to earmarks and outside contracts? >> well, of course, the budget is voted on, and they are a part of the budget. and we have had -- we've had hearings on earmarks, and there are rules in place that we -- the most recent rules that were approved were this past january that says that no organization can get an earmark in two consecutive years, and there are limits on the amounts. for operator, which is services or programs, can be no more than $250,000. and for a capital grant, that

would be building something or major revation, or whatever, can be no more than $1 million. organizations are required to submit extensive documentation, including a budget and a program statement in terms of what they're going to do with the dollars. so, really, even though the organization is named, recommended by a specific council member, the level of scrutiny is the same as it would be for any other grant or contract that is aaed district. >> the budget did away with earmarks altogether. is that going to leave some nonprofits in the lurch in 2010 fiscal year? >> well, we really are not absolute se of the impact on every one of them, but we've looked at earmarks as something extra. it shouldn't be a core part of any organization's funding for the very reason i mentioned before and that is it's not funding that's available for one year to the next. there are very good purposes

that are served by it. for example, there are organizations that do certain things that may not fit into the typical request for proposals that the government issues so we try to address that. or community events that, you know, members would like to be able to support because they bring people together. so there are some very good purposes for this, but it really should not be the core funding for any organization because it's not something they should come to rely upon or become dependent upon in that way. >> a few weeks ago it came out that marion barry hired an ex-girlfriend to be a consultant. he said he did nothing wrong, nothing illegal. that he would do it again. your thoughts on that? >> well, council has launched an investigation. we've asked international renowned attorney bob bennett, who's got a team of attorneys who are working with him on this, to look at this issue as well as related issues with earmarks and whatnot. on behalf of the council of the district of columbia they've been working now for several weeks on this, jim.

we expect to have some preliminary results probably in mid to late september and we'll be announcing what those findings are. so i don't want to prejudge the investigation by, you know, by venturing into any speculation about what it may find. >> you reaction, though, to the appearance of it. council member katania says this shows the whole culture needs to be changed, maybe more rigorous practices in terms of hiring in place. >> well, to whatever extent that the council members use contracts -- and they don't u them extensively -- this current fiscal year, for example, there are only four council members who used contracts. the total, all contracts combined for the current fiscal year among council members, $135,000. after council member barry had

about $97,000 of that. i would not want to leave any impression that there's extensive use of contracts. and they're very legitimate purposes. for website maintenance, it just would not make sense to hire somebody on a full time basis to do website maintenance. or staff development with their staff or particular technical expertise that they need with their committees. so, there's very legitimate reasons why these contracts will be put in place in the first place. so, i don't want to suggest that there is a culture that, you know, needs to be changed because council members use contracts. they use all across the government and i think for very good purposes. >> all right. we'll be right back with much more with the dhachairman of th d.c. city council.

good morning, i'm keith garvin updating some of the stories we're following this morning. up and down the east coast, people are being warned to stay out of the water because of hurricane bill.

the storm does not figure to bring any rain to our area, but the powerful rip currents are what lifeguards are worried about and mosteaches -- the only thing being allowed into the water are surfers taking advantage of the waves. this time tomorrow, kids in our area will be getting up and getting ready for the first day of school. students in the district and prince george's county both begin classes tomorrow. prince george's county is inviting all parents to drop their kids off for the first day. some students in the district did a little extra to get things ready, spending part of their weekend cleaning up. and the redskins win one in the rain. the team got its first victory of the preseason. they beat the defending super bowl champion 17-13. chase daniel threw two touchdown passes. a full report ahead on the redskins at >> welcome to "viewpoint" again. our guest is the chairman of the d.c. city council, vincent gray. mr. gray, let's talk about guns and the issue -- we saw that

lawsuit filed successfully awhile back, the right to own a gun in your home. >> uh-huh. >> and have it legally in your home in the district. >> uh-huh. >> okay. we're raising this to a whole new level. that same attorney who filed that lawsuit wants people to be allowed to carry their weapons in public. your thoughts on that and the likelihood that we might see a decision go this way again? >> well, i think it's ridiculous to empower people -- this is not the -- this is not the wild west. this is not the 19th century where people were strapping on guns at the o.c. corral and going out in the street and settling differences. this is very serious business. even with the gun controls and regulations we have had in place, we have had problems, you know, with guns. and, frankly, empowering everybody to carry a gun is not going to solve our problems. the good news, frankly, is that when you look at where we were in the late '80s and early '90s when we had 400 murders in the city we're now on course to ve the fewest murders in the city

in about three or four decades. so i think it shows that gun control is working. i think it's absolutely preposterous to think that we would now empower people to be walking around with guns in the streets as this suit would ask be done. >> and we're in a unique situation because we have all the federal buildings here. >> right. >> what kinds of challenges would that pose to law enforcement? . well, i think it's going to certainly heighten -- it's going to heighten the need for security. we've already seen that, you know, with the incident that happened at the holocaust museum where, you know, somebody deranged walks in there, starts shooting and kills somebody. i think this would just make those opportunities even greater in the district of columbia. so, we, we really need to be in a place where we have good gun controls in place. frankly, it's obvious that we're being used as a guinea pig. this is the nation's capital. we don't have a vote in congress even though we have in our

standing representative representing us in the congress of the united states. we don't have statehood. so we're just easy pickings to come and try these things out on. if they happen here, then they'll become a precedent for other places. >> you mentioned the decrease in the number of homicides in the district. to what do you attribute that? >> it's hard to know, and i think we really need to look -- we're going to look more at that because we're seeing the same thing in prince george's county. we certainly still have the use of guns. there's no question about that. we have shootings where people have been harmed. but i don't know exactly to what we can attribute it perhaps, you know, some of the -- there's still gang activity but maybe not to the same extent we've seen it in the past. perhaps people are not settling beefs in the same way they settled them in the past. just seems to be less gun use in the district of columbia. the outcome is a great outcome. now we need to understand, you know, more precisely why it's happening and make sure we institutionalize those practices. >> we were talking during the break, and i should -- for

appearances say that i raised the topic here about running for mayor. you said you've been asked this, what, every day about three or four times a day. >> i get it constantly. and i'm really deeply appreciative to people that they feel like the leadership that i've provided, you know, to the city is worthy of even being considered. of such. an honor, an opportunity to serve the city. i'm a native washingtonian. i love the district of columbia. and i have been willing all my life to serve in any capacity that i think would help the city. so, we've certainly not made any decisions on that, jim. >> you're not ruling it out, though. >> not ruling it out. >> how would you rate the mayor's job? you were in here about four or ve months ago when there was a lot of controversy surrounding some of the decisions that he had made. how would you rate his job performance these four or five months later now? >> well, i don't know that there's been a material change. things like the tenant center,

just an enigma to me. they affect so many people, they affect so many children in the cli district of columbia and they raise questions about the level of commitment. certainly in the area of education we're making progress there. someone asked me about the achievement levels and the kids are moving forward in a number of fronts there. we need to get this teacher contract done. that's a lingering issue there. that needs to be solved because it then becomes a cloud over the entire educational system. so, i'm not in the business of giving the mayor a grade. i'm not in the business of evaluating. that's what the voters do for all of us. they evaluate him, they evaluate me and they evaluate my colleagues. >> all right. it is a distae off, but fast approaching, set of next year. >> it is. >> council chair vincent gray, thank you for coming in this morning. good to see you again. >> thank you, jim. >> we thank you for watching "viewpoint" this morning. now back to "news 4 today." enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody.

welcome back to "viewpoint." our guest this morning, the d.c. council chair vincent gray. mr. gray, let's talk a little bit now if we can about the office of attorney general in the district. "washington post" editorial a few weeks ago cites that it's chronically underfunded, understaffed. says the title "cleaning up" the d.c. attorney general's office muss beat a top priority. what was your response when you read that? >> first of all, these problems are long-standing. i think everyone acknowledges that. there's a lot of money. there are tens of millions of dollars invested in the office of attorney general every year, and, you know, if there were needs that needed to be addressed, there's always a reprogramming process in the government. we get reprogramings every week within the government to say that we need to move money around in order to do these thin because they have, you know, an emergent quality about them. as far as i know, we've gotten nothing in the council that

would would request a reprogramming. i look at those reprogramings myself and i don't recall anything coming through saying that we needed to invest more money in a document management system. the other question that really is going to hopefully be answered by judge sullivan in this and that is whether there was any deliberate misrepresentation of the facts in this situation around the park situation that now happe d happened, i guess, six or seven years ago. it should be resolved, dealt with, addressed and over with. >> some of your colleagues on the council have called for the attorney general nichols to leave, to step aside. your view on that? >> well, i think we ought to wait. we shouldn't be precipitous in reaching any conclusions on this. we ought to wait andee what the judge's determinations are. he now has all the information. he has affidavits that have been submitted by the attorney general himself. and i'm looking forward to getting judge sullivan's determinations. if there's any improprietary that he finds in this situation,

then we ought to address that in the aftermath. >> what's the time line on that? what are we looking at? >> i don't know. this is the judge's decision completely. i'm sure he recognizes the gravity of the situation, and i'm absolutely sure that he will move, you know, quite rapidly in order to get this settled. >> i want to talk about the southeast tennyson learning center, founded and running by correspond cora masters-barry, helped thousands of children over six, seven years now. recently they've been ordered to vaca vacate. give stimulus background on what happened here and why it happened. it seemed to happen out of the blue, according to ms. barry. >> uh-huh. well, first of all, it needs to be underscored they've done an outstanding job working with children over there. >> it's not just tennis. we should say. >> no, no, ed's educational as well. tennis is almost a catalyst for getting kids in the door to relyork with them in terms of what we call out of school

time services. it's a nice complement to what kids are getting in schools. it is a magnet. it is a catalyst for kids who otherwise wouldn't have these opportunities. she's gotten serena and venus williams on occasion to be a part. it is a fantastic program. and this seems to stem from some issue around the corporate status, their corporate documents haven't been -- haven't lapsed. now they've solved that, as i understand it. why would anybody -- that's the question. why would anybody want to terminate the people who are running a program of this level of quality over an administrative issue? it just does not make sense. we -- the issue's been solved and we ought to be working with them to help support this program and even build upon what's already been done there. >> i think there is going to be an oversight hearing or -- >> yes, council member thomas is going to have an oversight hearing on this. the mayor needs to say, first and foremost, they've solved whatever the administrative issues were. thereeeds to be an

acknowledgedment of the quality of the services provided there. we need to provide more support to the wish list committee and its programs and recognize that that is a model. >> the d.c. government owns that property. >> that's right. >> the department of recreation really staffs it. so, what is the status right now? can they stay in place or is time ticking away? that 30-day today. >> that's right. after th 30 days, those 30 days have elapsed, they're supposed to vacate. again the question is why? this was the vision of mrs. barry in the first place, and she worked with the government under then -- with mayor -- then mayor williams, anthony williams to get this done. it would not have happened without her, without her leadership. the other thing that's important to point out, jim, is that they have brought probably $2 million of private money into that program beyond what the government has invested. and that's through her own commitment, passion, and level

of devotion to the children who otherwise would not have this opportunity. it absolutely is enigmatic that something like this would happen. it's been solved and let's move on to keep them in place. >> all you have to do is talk to any of the kids out there and their parents, too, to find out how much it's meant to them over the years. >> absolutely. it's a fabulous facility. i've been there any number of times. the first thing they want to show you is not the tennis court. >> the computer labs. >> the educational services. you get those kids in to be exposed to a sport that so many kids are not exposed to, especially east of the river. and then you've got the hook to get them involved in educational enrichment activities. >> so true. we'll be right back. d.c. council chair vincent gray. stay with us on "viewpoint." hard to believe it's back to school time already. students return to the classroom

tomorrow, but before they tackle homework, some volunteer their time to do some yard work. plus, mother nature putting a damper on all those kids hoping to get outside this weekend. two straight days of downpours and more rain possible today. and a wet win for the redskins. they toppled the defending super bowl champions. which bench player started for the home team. good morning, everyone. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm keith garvin. many of you are waking up, hoping for a warm, sunny day. meteorologist chuck bell is up in storm center 4 to tell us if those blue skies are coming back. >> good morning, keith. a little blue in our morning sky first thing on your sunday. good morning, everybody. temperatures are in the mid to upper 60s in the suburbs to around 70 in town. looky there. blue skies overhead. still some clouds hanging around. we do have an opportunity for some more rain showers today but they're not going to be those

slow moving summer super soakers we've had the last couple of days. here's a check of doppler radar. a couple sprinkles up in the west virginia mountains. some showers now leaving the delaware coast. temperatures 68 in fairfax, montgomery count 69 in prince george's county. visibilities are improving but still only a half mile visibility in frederick, maryland. highs today mid to upper 80s. 30 to 40% chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms later on today, keith. but it's not going to be the four-inch rainfall amounts like yesterday. >> very good to hear. thank you, chuck. hurricane bill passed bermuda with just a glancing blow. even though the storm's not expected to make u.s. landfall, many along the east coast are still feeling the effects. kristen dahlgren has the latest. >> reporter: on the island of bermuda, hurricane bill whipped up winds and surf. but hundreds of miles away, huge and dangerous waves were also making their way to the u.s. mainland. from massachusetts to florida, this weekend the swells are high and potenally deadly.

>> in this particular storm we're worried about high seas. we don't think the winds will exceed 30, 35 miles an hour. >> reporter: while parts of the new england coast could see tropical storm force winds from bill, officials say the biggest issue is likely to be rip currents. rushing surf that can quickly pull swimmers away from shore. >> more water coming to the beach, stronger rip currents going out from the beach into deeper water. >> reporter: many beaches in the northeast closed to swimmers today. >> red flags flying up on any of the beaches, that means don't swim there. we're advising people to stay out of the water until the weekend is over. >> reporter: while lifeguards couldn't keep everyone out of the water, they tried hard to get the warnings out. one of summer's last weekends, one many are now forced to spend out of the water. kristen dahlgren, news 4. >> swimming also was offlimits at president obama's vacation spot on martha's vineyard. bill is the reason president

obama hasn't already left for vacation. the first family delayed their trip. they hope to leave today and spend the next week relaxing on martha's vineyard. president obama may be on vacation but he isn't taking a break from the health care debate. he's still pushing hard for reform and firing back at his critics. brian moore reports. >> reporter: before leaving on vacation, president obama fired a parting shot in the fight over health care reform. >> it also should be an honest debate, not one dominated by willful misrepresentations and outright distortions. >> reporter: the president insists his plan includes no death panels, no insurance for illegal immigrants, no taxpayer fued abortions, and he says the so-called public option will not be a government takeover. >> it sounds scary to me, too, but here's the thing. it's not true. >> reporter: that counter message has been slow to take hold as skeptics continue to speak out at town hall meetings across the country. republicans say it's the

president who's playing fast and loose with the facts. >> the president regularly tells americans that if you like your plan, you can keep your plan. but if you read the bill, that just isn't so. >> reporter: the latest polls show this fight has damaged the president's public approval, and it could threaten his party's hold on congress in next year's elections. >> 48 democrats are sitting in districts that john mccain won. you could see another bloodbath, the kind of blood bath that republicans had in the last two elections and the democrats had in 1980. >> reporter: some believe the president can only win by cutting his losses. >> i think he's got to sort of knock the heads together to the degree he can and convince them to come up with a plan which has most of the features he wants. they're not going to get them all. >> reporter: a lot to think about for a president trying to enjoy a little time away from the office. mobcn nhae, brian moore, nbc news, washington.s, >> and don ms istoday's health care debe on "meet the press."

republican senatorr atin hn h will face offinga astem dtiraocc senator charles schumer. that on "meet the press" here on nbc 4. growing outrage over the release of a convicted terrorist and mass murderer. abdel baset al megrahi is the lockerbie bomber, the only man convicted of the bombing of pan am flight 103. 270 people were killed. now al megrahi is free, released from a scottish prison because he's dying of cancer. u.s. officials watched in anger as he received a hero's homecoming in libya. >> the convicted terrorist was not only greeted upon returning to tripoli by thousands of cheering young men waving banners and placards but he was personally escorted on airplanes provided by the government, by the son of a libyan leader, moammar gadhafi. >> senator charles schumer, who you saw there, has asked for a u.n. resolution against libya. the fbi director has written a ska scathing letter to the scottish justice secretary who let al

megrahi go. mewhile, britain's government is denying suspicion that access to libya's oil reserves was behind the deal for the release. police in anne arradel niv a in aer deadly hit andne eo epgo it happenedit atl lite bor befit 7:00as lght last night near t lt imakbaor and r denma tuthay ot n lane.ic vm n le e sreamyeed investigators are looking for a liblar c ucr > >> truck. , >inpreon gs cee'tyrgun inrepopr g gcergrge's county, e are trying toranckow a missing woman who fme otica di onedne. fmedication. w. aiw.ella aiinas in tws.eks.sho e lives in districtgh htsei . arakclks spe w wh a jamaicanit t igsast mpyhe s investigators say she may be disoriented. if you think you have seen her, they ask you to give them a call. schools in the district will make a good first impression on student force the first day of classes tomorrow.

volunteers spent the day sprucing of the buildings at all 114 city schools which are set to open tomorrow. school chancellor michelle rhee was among those pitching in. she believes classroom appearance is important to students. >> when i talk to kids about coming to school, one of the things they often say to me is that the environment that we create for them, the facility itself, makes a big difference in their lives, and their perception of their schooling. >> students in prince george's county also return to school tomorrow. we are connected to your commute. better bring your patience if you plan on driving the beltway in alexandria tomorrow for the next several days. ndtuy.daignd onighttime lane igd on tuesday. from 10:00 p.mo 5:00 the ner o sesd ulget ready foruleteage rr tto aere an th ule.er ho a should also watch out for the variable speed limits in the area.

a sore ankle is slowing down one of the world's fastest swimmers. aav el phelps a dav ankle.g bo klanne. the olympic gold medalist hurt it in a car accident a little more than a week ago. phelps support the boot in baltimore yesterday where he prompted his duel in the pool with basketball star shaquille o'neal. the contest will be participate of shaq's new reality series. >> a little different than my old races, you know. kind of a head-to-head duel. it's handicapped in a way. >> not in my eyes. maybe in your eyes, but it's >> well, phelps says he's been training in the pool despite the bad ankle. he says the boot is just a precaution. they scored their first points and got their first win. the redskins don't disappoint the home crowd, knocking off the defending super bowl champs. here's hakem dermish with this morning's sports minute.

>> good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with a redskins preseason victory. last night, skins hosting the super bowl champion steelers. third string quarterback chase daniel was the backup of the game. first, daniel threw a three yard touchdown to marko mitchell. then the standout from missouri made a perfect throw to tight end fred davis for an 18-yard touchdown. daniel finished the game for 68 yards and two touchdowns. the redskins win it 17-13, and are 1-1 in the preseason. the skins host the patriots next friday. in baseball, nationals hosting the brewers. it was a slug fest at nationals park last night. the nats and brewers combined for 20 runs and 26 hits. in the end, the brewers outslugged the nats 11-9. the nats have lost five in a row. nats and brewers back at it again later today. orioles on the road against the white sox. chicago's carlos quenton hit his 14th home run of the season. the white sox downed the orioles 4-1. baltimore is 3-7 in their last 10 games. that's your sports minute.

i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> 7:47. coming up on this edition of "news 4 today," the latest on the hunt for a reality tv star wanted in connection with the brutal murder of his model girlfriend. flames light up the night. where this fast-moving fire is forcing people out of their homes.

next up on nbc 4 is the "today" show. lester holt is live in new york and he joins us with a preview. good morning. >> good morning. good to see you. do you know what this is? that's confetti for your birthday. >> oh. >> happy birthday. >> very kind. thank you, sir. i appreciate that. all right. from new york, thank you. >> anyway, no problem. hope you're having a good one. let me tell you what's coming up this morning on "today." we'll have the latest on hurricane bill, steaming away from the u.s. this morning, but

leaving danger in its wake. we'll tell you why authorities are telling folks not to let its guard down. wildfires threaten the city of athens. thousands have been forced from their homes. a state of emergency has been declared. we'll have the latest on that. plus, as the president and first lady -- first family head off for a vacation on martha's vineyard we'll get a guided tour of the island's many charms. we'll get re-acquainted with an inspiring young surfer, overcoming big obstacles and why his life is getting better on and off t water. all that, plus a peak at the nukely discovered video of prince william's girlfriend. keith, finish your broadcast and go enjoy your day. >> i appreciate that confetti. now i owe you on your birthday. >> i saw that about two seconds before i went on. >> thank you so much. have a good one. >> take care. >> all right. the hunt for a reality tv contestant accused of killing his ex-wife has led to his native canada.

police suspect ryan jenkins of murdering jasmine fiore, a model whose mutilated body was found stuffed in a suitcase. >> going to be the best night of your life. >> reporter: ryan jenkins, a smooth-talking reality show contestant and now the face of an international manhunt, a murder suspect who police say is on the run. detectives believe he drove 1,000 miles from los angeles to northwest washington state in a small coastal town, they found his car and his boat. it appears he made a run for canada where he grew up and where his family still lives. >> he's a fugitive and he's on the run from murder charges so he's armed, we believe he's armed. he's dangerous. he's desperate. >> reporter: jenkins is wanted for killing 28-year-old swimsuit model jasmine fiore who he married in march. on saturday her naked body was found stuffed in a suitcase, dumped in a trash bin in orange county, california. a grisly crime scene.

the body so mutilated the victim had to be identified by the serial numbers on her breast implants. >> the fingers and teeth were removed. >> reporter: there's been no confirmed sightings of jenkins to saturday when he reported fiore missing. >> his whole purpose appears to be to get out of the united states, perhaps where he thinks either his parents or his friends will help him or he'll have the ability to hide out. >> reporter: a man who sought fame and is now the prime suspect in a grisly murder. news 4. >> two people died in the small plane crash in ohio that went right down near a high school football scrimmage. take a look here. witnesses say it looked like the pilot intentionally went into a nose dive in an effort to avoid hitting 1,000 or so people in the football stadium. one man there who was watching his son play said it was so sad to watch but there was nothing

anyone could do. still no word on what caused a prison riot that has left four inmates hospitalized in kentucky. it happened in burgeon. inmates set fire the facility, seriously damagingself buildings. officers say they subdued the prisons withinself hours but it took nearly a day to get the flames under control. about 700 inmates had to be moved to other facilities. a state of emergency has been declared in greece. dozens of wildfires broke out across the country, torching olive groves, cutting off villages and sending people fleeing. the fire is 25 miles wide. extremely windy and dry conditions helped spread the flames. planes got their last water dropping runs as the sun set. ground crews worked through the night to protect six towns threatened by the fire. ar draftees are helping hundreds of firefighters battling the flames. the fires have caused blackouts and water shortages in many areas. wow. 7:48 right now. incredible pictures there. dry conditions are not what we've had to worry about here

the last couple of days. >>n baldreemml y utersu i bt b has not been dry since thursday. another chance for some rain showers coming up before our sunday is through. i'll detail that and tell you about our own little return of drier weather, which is coming right up.

it's a little cliche but it was rain that we needed. >> we did need the rain. i like that lester holt confetti thing. >> wasn't that creative? >> i had something ready to go. >> oh, my goodness. >> you get to pick any color of m & ms out of that bag. the other colors are mine, but you get to pick whatever color you want first. >> it's better than last year's present, which was nothing. >> do you know how mauch nothin costs this days? this was 75 cents. happy birthday. we'll try to wrap up a little sunshine for you as well because

everybody would like to see some sun after the last couple of days. hey, i saw tt. three to four inches of rain for you folks yesterday. only an inch and a quarter at national airport. hard to believe i'm having to say that. outside right now, beautiful weather under way in the nation's capital. things have been a little dry around here resoently so we could certainly use the rain showers we have been getting. we didn't need the flash flooding we had. a lot of spots went quickly underwater with the heavy rain. rainfall rates, one to two inches of rain per hour at tis. the rain has cleared out, at least for now. temperatures 70 degrees, a light north wind. yesterday at national airport, 1.29 inches of rain, and so now our 2009 rain surplus, 1.27 inches of rain so we're just about where we would normally expect to be in the rainfall department at this time of the year. had it not been for yesterday, we would have had a deficit. right now it is 70 at national airport, 68 degrees in frederick, maryland.

still a little fog left from new market to frederick, down into upper montgomery county, laytonsville, toward upper portions of loudoun county as well, poolsville also getting in on a little touch of fog first thing this morning. but it's fairly nice outside for you this morning. no rain around the metropolitan area. a few sprinkles left in delaware and a few lonely sprinkles in the west virginia mountains, some toward charlottesville. this is part of a weak weather disturbance which will be gliding into our area as we go through the afternoon. rain in the forecast tour today but they won't be the industrial strength downpours we endured yesterday. that is all gone away. we're waiting on this next impulse to swing through here. it will line up with a cold pront that's going to combine in, bring us a chance for showers this after moon. so also got to keep you up to date on hurricane bill now. there is the latest satellite loop over the last 12 hours. the storm is continuing to race now off to the northeast at more than 20 miles per hour. latest position, 187 miles to the east of nantucket,

massachusetts, which is right there. moving north/northeast at 23 miles per hour. still a category 1 hurricane with 85-mile-per-hour sustained winds. it's going to be grazing the canadian maritimes during the day today and gradually, as it gets out over the much colder waters of the north atlantic, it will lose its tropical characteristics and just be a rain-maker and wave-maker over the north atlantic. for us, starting off with dry weathe again, 30 to 40% chance of scattered afternoon showers and thunderstorms coming up, but again not the kind of rain we saw yesterday. then overnight tonight, another weak impulse may bring a few spotty sprinkles to the bus stops first thing tomorrow morning, kids. drier weather does return by monday afternoon. tuesday, wednesday and thursday are dry as well. for today, enjoy that sunshine first thing this morning. we'll have some clouds around later this afternoon. highs today, mid to upper 80s. kids, back to school you go tomorrow. mostly cloudy, maybe a few light showers at the bus stops first

thing. the all-important sen-day forecast, 88 today before the rain showers settle into a few spots. 30% chance of a few sprinkles firs tthginomorrow morning, but most of monday will also be dry. tuesday and wednesday, temperatures in the mid to upper 80s. maybe near 90 again by wednesday. thursday, the clouds start to come back.g another chance for some showers on friday and saturday. we've got to tweak this forecast. friday, saturday, sunday rain things, we've got to get that straightened out. or i'll be very unpopular. what color did you want? don't take the green ones. >> it's a little early but let's go for all them. thank you, sir. >> very good. >> speaking of sweet, the redskins win the first of the preseason and a it came against the defending champions. here's hakem dermish with all the highlights. >> good morning, everyone. progress is what every coach, player and fan wants to see from their team in the preseason. last night against the super bowl champion steelers, progress was achieved by the redskins.

the first team offense put together an impressive first quarter drive but it was the backups who stole the show. we're at fedex field. jim zorn's saying let's play. we need to score some points here, folks. third quarter, redskins trail 10-3 but they're threatening. chase daniel steps back, throws a fade to the corner. marko mitchell leaps, makes the catch. nice play. three yard touchdown. the redskins tied at 10 just like that. mitchell had three catches for 21 yards and that td. fourth quarter now, steelers lead it 13-10. hunter smith punting it away. joe burnett fields it at his own 18 yard line. check out number 86, fred davis. makes the hit, causes the fumble. dale young recovers it. the skins are in business. here we go. ensuing play, chase daniel still in the game. taking his time. had great protection from the offensive line here. drops back, play action, and then hits fred davis in stride for an 18-yard touchdown. fred davis had a good game. chase daniel finished the game

two for 58 yards ores. the redskins win it 17-13 the final. >> i was much more pleased, you know. we ended up converting third downs. we were 1 of 11 a week ago. i think we were 9 of 17 this game so we definitely improved in our third down conversions. we even converted on a couple of fourth down plays. and so i was very pleased. what i'm looking for as far as improving is, you know, continue to improve our route running down the field and continue to improve our poise under pressure. you know, trying to really execute very well. we did a lot of that tonight. you know, we're all demanding, i guess. >> jim zorn and the redskins host the patriots next friday. talking baseball now. it was slug fest at nats park last night. the brewers and nationals combined for 20 runs and 26 hits. in the end, the heavy-hitting brew crew outslugged the nationals. they have now lost five in a row.

john lannan and the nats had to sit through an 80-minute rain delay before they got things going. top of the first. lannan face ago dangerous hitter here. ryan braun up with two on. braun rips one into the left field corner. former national felipe lopez hustles around third. he scores. then comes the ray throw. a play at the plate. mike cameron just in there, gives the brewers a 2-0 lead. for the nats it got worse. the brew crew rocked the nats 11-9 the final. in soccer, d.c. united hosted david beckham and the l.a. galaxy last night. unfortunately, the game ended in a 0-0 tie. that's all for your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> we look forward to having a great day and a drier day than we did over the last couple of days. >> a few scattered showers today, more summer garden variety thunderstorms, not that crazy stuff we've been dealing with. >> not the industrial strength. >> industrial strength rains. ask anyone in annapolis what they thought of it yesterday. >> thank you. that's "news 4 today." the "y"