right now on "news4 midday," people be filing against the ca. a flash flood watch this afternoon. much of the area could see heavy downpours with possible flooding in low lying areas. >> and a chance for millions of dollars. "news4 midday" begins right now. good morning, to you.

welcome to "news4 midday." thousands of people be lining up outside the john f. kennedy library in boston at this moment to bid farewell to senator kennedy. >> you are about to look inside the library, where mourners are walking past the casket. and there are many that never met kennedy but were touched by what he did to change american politics and america. michelle frenzen begins the coverage from boston, massachusetts. reporter: they came by the thousands where kennedy's body lay in repose. and they waited in lines up to four hours long just to pay respect. >> it feels like everybody's favorite uncle. and that's what ted kennedy feels like to so many people. >> reporter: family members greeting the crowds, including the senator's widow, vicky,

hugging and thanking them. >> we are so honored so many people came out to pay tribute to my husband. i just wanted to thank them. >> reporter: those that felt compelled to attend the farewell included many americans that were touched by the laws kennedy helped to pass. >> he was a voice for the poor. you know, the common person. >> average americans alongside leaders like the reverend jesse jackson. >> reporter: he saw america of a land of rights. he has always been there. >> reporter: the swell of mourners followed a day of mourning. a motorcade that journeyed from his home to boston, all along the 70-mile route, people lined the highways and streets that

the kennedys called their own, all to bid farewell to the senator and patriarch. >> senator kennedy's casket will be flown to the arlington national cemetery. we are joined by megan at arlington. >> reporter: preparations are under way for the burial of senator kennedy just up the road from where i am standing here. crews were putting up metal barriers along the sidewalk here. this is the road that leads to the cemetery, the feeling being there may be a crowd that gathers here to watch the motorcade go by. center edwa senator edward kennedy is being buried here, near the grave sites of his two older brothers.

the flag that draped over his coffin flew over the senate. staffers will gather to say a prayer and bid fair well. the hurst will make its way along constitution avenue to the cemetery. at 5:30 saturday evening, senator kennedy will be lor t t rest near the graves of his slain brothers, john f. kennedy and robert kennedy. the burial will be private. the public will be kept away from the grave site. robert e lee's house will be used by the family beginning at noon on saturday. >> reporter: the entire burial site will be off limits to the public all day tomorrow.

the first time the public will be able to see the grave sight will be on sunday morning when arlington opens at 8:00 a.m. on sunday. and the museum just moved the silk screen print to its remembrance gallery. it was made to raise money for the presidential campaign. and the museum just started to display portraits of people > tomorrow morning, trrow morning, ke ey nn bwiedloellwn f to n a'sew f bor'scease and it coo arlington national segat aint :0thategins at s wstay uhit stay with us thr aouheee t f a thend weekend for cagnger for kennedy's fnefu kel.edy's funeral.e aorut hboeie and legacy a and legacy on our website at

nbcwashington.com. let's take a look outside right now. we are watching some heavy rain headed this way. >> we have had low clouds here in the nation's capital all morning long. were under a flash flood watch later today. let's go to meteorologist, tom kierein. >> that is right. we had heavy downpours north of washington. that area is going to be flood prone because the ground is saturated from some of the downpours we had predawn. and now we have a new batch coming into central virginia. you have one moderate downpour here, and just now crossing into prince george's county, right near indian head. and right near mt. vernon. and then to the south, heavy to moderate rain. that's stretching all the way down towards charlottesville. it's going to move into the metro area, the downpours in

another hour or so. we are under the flood watch. all the counties in green, from 2:00 p.m. to midnight. it includes prince georges and montgomery counties, and around baltimore. temperatures now are climbing into the mid-and upper 70s. now, 78 in washington. and eastern shore, they are near 80. out of the mountains in the cool 60s. here is the wider view, showing other showers further to the south. heavier downpours coming out of the north carolina into southern virginia. for the afternoon, cloudy and humid thunderstorms likely. temperatures climbing into the low 80s, and possible flooding later tonight as well. temperatures for the weekend forecast coming up in a few minutes. joe and kimberly? >> thank you, tom. looks like a bit of a sloppy weekend for us. the wet roads caused problems out there. jerry edwards has the latest on the traffic situation. jerry, what do you know now? >> it was a tough commute early on. things calmed down.

now we are watching for the friday getaway. and let's get out and take a live look. i-95, this is the northbound side. we are doing okay. 95 southbound also moving along nicely. but with the weather beginning to move in, i suspect we may have a little bit of an early rush hour. elsewhere, we head out and take a live look south of town at the wilson bridge, which is doing fine. westbound on roout route 50, moving nicely. and could a dramatic water main break be on the horizon. it cannot find reports about what inspectors found when they laid the pipes back in 1965. and the officials say they will not be able to determine whether other pipes could have similar problems. a helicopter and boat had to rescue trapped drivers when the water main break sent water

gushing down the road in bethesda. thousands of children unable to go to class because they didn't have class schedules. the superintendent of schools is offering an apology, but the problem so far is still not fixed. news4's tracee wilkins joins us live. >> the superintendent already missed his deadline to have the problem fixed by today. now they are hoping to have all of the students in classes by monday. when this problem started, there were 8,000 students without class schedules. officials are now saying the number is down to under 2,000. but there are still growing frustrations. >> we have temporarily reassigned central office staff to provide assistance to our schools, and are working around the clock to insure that all students have schedules. >> prince george's county superintendent says the scheduling mix-up on the first day of school have been frustrating for families and

embarrassing for the system, and he says he is sorry. >> i want to offer my sincere apologizes to the students and family and staff for the inconvenience and disruption to the school year that this scheduling issue has imposed. >> during last night's regularly scheduled school board meeting, they revealed they knew about the issue but ran out of time to fix it and did not have a backup plan. on the first day, 8,000 mostly high school students were sent to gyms and cafeterias and holding areas while administrators try to fix the problem. much of the blame rest on the $4 million school system called max. it was introduced to prince georges' county last year, and has had a number of problems since. >> we are reviewing it to see if there is damages that can be recovered. >> in some cases, students have

been given mock schedules until the real ones could be produced. and school board members and parents and students are growing impatient. >> i told him that you are going to enjoy ninth grade. and the first thing he came home to tell me is that i am not sure i reay le high school. >> right now what they are telling us is it's going to be resolved by monday. i have been told each day that it was going to be resolved and it's still not resolved. >> i have a schedule now, but on the first day i did not know where i was going. i was among half of the school. >> the superintendent is promising parents their children's academic record will not be negatively impacted by the mix up. students will be given opportunities to catch up, including saturday walk in study sessions. >> if the kids actually do get to classes on monday, does this mean they have solved the problems there within the system? >> no, it doesn't. actually they have not come up with a solution to fix the computer problem as of yet.

and they have to go through what they call leveling, and that's making sure they have the right amount of students and that right classroom and that could take some time, too. it could be a while before the students are in the places they are supposed to be and learn without any kind of disruption. >> a very complex problem. once you mess it up, it's hard to correct. a police officer pulls a baby from a burning car after the child's fathe allegedly trthro tem acntci ade fth.em . er s is thene sce in manassasrn. morning. edli tori t pve ol to pull over a car for speeding, and the driver kept going and ended up crash into a stonewall. as the car caught fire, police say the driver got out and started to run. officer oilerau c the tus sctpe and cuffed him,ct and that's wh the guy said, his 7-month-old daughter was still in the car. >> i was able to get her out. i got her out of the car. she was still in the car seat. i sat her down by my car on the grass and went back to address the driver. >> the baby is okay.

her father is in the hospital, and he faces several charges. the father of the pennsylvania woman accused of faking the kidnapping of her and her daughter is now in legal trouble himself. william steiner attacked a group of photographers yesterday when he was leaving the courthouse. police detained him after the incident. he will not face charges. he pleaded guilty to identity theft and making false reports to police. she was sentenced to nine to 24 months in prison. a woman is freed after being kept captive for 18 years. coming up, the alarming details surrounding the kidnapping, including where that woman has been kept since she was 11 years old. plus, a wildfire forces the evacuation o 500 homes in a los angeles suburb. it's just one of several fires burning across the park state. it could be another messy

game tonight in the rain. the redskins

good morning. welcome back. today nasa is hoping the third time is a charm indeed. engineers are planning to launch the space shuttle discovery, and lift off is set for one minute past midnight tonight. it was supposed to blast off on tuesday and that launch was scrubbed because of bad weather, and then the launch on wednesday was scrubbed because of a malfunctioning fuel valve. engineers have now fixed that problem. on the one hand, wonderful story, and seemingly joyful, on the other hand horrific and sad and troubling. a missing girl has been found 18 years after she was kidnapped from a bus stop.

jayceedugard wasid.naedpped police searched a man's home after he was spotted with two children. >> a seah of the resident revealed a hidden backyard within a backyard. >> police say jaycee gave birth after idgarrgarrido raped her. we will hear from the suspect in a jailhouse interview. a developing story out of southern california, where wildfires forced thousands of people from their homes. at least 2,000 people evacuated the wealthy community of rancho palos vur days north of los angeles and helicopters are

dropping water on the fire. firefighters are struggling to contain the flam th so this is one ofour wildfires burning in southern california right now. folks in northern canada have a different issue. they are digging out from two to three inches of snow. this is the first august snowfall in labrador in more than two decades. kids turned a golf course into a ski slope. let's hope they got in all their skiing yesterday, because the warmer temperatures are expected to melt all that snow today. welcome back to school! >> yeah, exactly. >> any snow days in sight? >> not here. but we may have flooding problems that may cause problems for children getting home from school and getting home from work. we had heavy downpours this dawn. and as we look at the sky over the last few hours, you can see the low clouds racing in out of

the northeast over washington. there is the national cathedral there in the foreground. the upper level flow that is steering all of the systems is coming in out of the southwest. as a result, we are going to have a conveyor belt of moisture streaming in more clouds and a threat of heavier downpours later on. and there is the live picture now at this hour. as the skies brighten just a bit, and the view from the city camera along the potomac river, the gray sky there. a flood watch means there is a chance of flooding, and a flood warning means floodsing is occurring right now. we are under a flood watch for this rnisteafoon.te w don't have any flood warngs lowt yaradnd a souhow you what has bee gngoing on. the radar has been showing an area of rain that is continuing to move from the southwest heading northeast, and just coming up interstate 95. a few pockets of moderate to heavy rain now. and we also have another shower

that got going, and it's just now pulling into prince george's county near the beltway, where route 4 and route 5 meet the beltway. there could be heavy downpours at this time. and further to the north we don't have precipitation, but we will sntohe the iohe metro area in metro area in an nll of thetrsoas are all of the areas ina flood alood pil.nt u t lola0:0te.mhi. until p fairfax, prince georges, montgomery, and howard counties, and north of baltimore. and temperatures all around the region, low to mid-70s to upper 70s in washington. and eastern shore now on the low 80s out of the mountains in the upper 60s. over the last six hours, you can see the upper level flow tracking in out of the southwest heading northeast. some heavier downpours now showing up in southern virginia. now, here is tropical storm danny continuing to spin away, but it's still very disorgani d disorganized.

danny is about 570 south of ocean city, with gusts near 50. and the track is keeping it along the atlantic seoard. should be 100 miles east of ocean city saturday afternoon. and there could be heavy surf at the beaches. for our region, we have the front over us right now. that was the trigger this morning for the predawn thunderstorms not rolling through the new york area city. the front is still in here with the moisture coming up over it. we have scenario for heavy downpours. we look at future cast, by 8:00 this evening, we could have heavy rain coming in. for the afternoon commute, as well as forgetting into the evening hours for the game tonight, it looks like a wet game for the skins and patriots, and we will have heavy downpours with possible flooding this afternoon. highs in the 80s. and then by dawn, near 70, and during the day on saturday, y and maybe a morning swernd a a a small chance of an afternoon shower. and low humidity moving on

sunday and into ayndmo, and highs only in the 70s. mond wednesday aday, wsdneeday thursday generally in the 70s with low humidity. that's the way it looks on this friday morning. back with a couple updates, and we'll watch the rain move in. drivers are watching the rain move in, too. let's go to jerry edwards. >> i saw it clearly about three minutes ago, and this is the weather moving in. we'll take you down to fredericksburg. the issue is a truck that is broken down, 95 southbound. about midway between garrisonville and fredericksburg. it's taking away the right lane, and apparently leaking fuel. the right lane is taken away. south on 95 from garrisonville, trying to head on down fredericksburg and beyond. so heads up for that. >> elsewhere, a little closer to home. if you live in the district,

that is, 395 southbound, the outboard 14th street bridge. if you are headed into town, that too looks good. that's how we are doing, kimberly and joe. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. still ahead on news4 midday, virginia tech is dealing with another tragedy this morning. two students found shot to death. we'll have the latest for you. and a new study into alzheimer's disease, and how pictures of celebrities like britney spears beingse ur foned the cure. ndheot co relels. but first a oohot on nbcwashington.com. onhot nbcwashington.com. ho

good morning. welcome back. checking sports on this midday for the second week in the row, the redskins will be playing in the slop, following a wet win over the steelers last week. the team hosts the patriots tonight. the starters are expected to get extensive playing time tonight, the entire first half and into the third quarter. we have live coverage from fedex field beginning at 5:00 this afternoon. a giant jackpot up for grabs.

tonight the drawing is worth 325 million bucks. the third largest in megamillions history. if you opt for the cash option, have you to settle for $204 million, if that's all right. and the next jackpot will hit a new record if nobody wins. can you buy a ticket in maryland or virginia. >> well, $204 million, that's pizza money at least. >> yeah, for the whole family. >> the whole world. coming up in the next half hour, we will hear from the man accused of keeping a girl captive for 18 years. why he says he did nothing wrong. plus the teenager that was nearly buried alive in sand. his family talks about the lessons learned. and new consumer numbers released this morning. what that means for the economy. we will update the forecast. lots of rain expected today. will it last through the weekend? we

right now, in massachusetts, people have a few more hours to pay their respect to the late senator kennedy. his lying in repose at his brother's presidential library in boston. thousands have been arriving this morng. at 3:00 this afternoon, family members will hold a invitation only memorial service. his funeral is set for tomorrow in boston, and then his body will be thrown to andrew's air force base and then driven to arlington national cemetery, where he will be buried near his brothers. and in california, wildfires burning. 1500 pple have been evacuated from one community. an unknown number of structures have been damaged by the 100-acre blaze. now tropical storm danny weakened, but a tropical storm

watch for the north carolina coast remains in effect this morning. danny is expected to produce dangerous surf and life-threatening rip currents. >> danny will not be a problem for us, but heavy rain could be. tom kierein has the latest. is that rain from danny? >> no, not related to it. it's tropical moisture sweeping up across the gulf of mexico and up across our way coming in overnight. now it's in place. as we look at radar, we do have one area of some very heavy rain falling on the beltway in prince georges county. and just to the east of alexandria, across the potomac river, this span will come into the district over the next few minutes, so expect some very heavy rain downtown with some thunder and lightning as well. this will continue. and there is another band of heavy rain further to the south and west right near dale city and prince william county.

and you can see this extends all the way down to fredericksburg and charlotte'sville this morning. 2:00 p.m. all the way into the evening, we could get heavy downpours that may cause flooding. i will be back in a few more minutes with a final update. back to you. >> thanks, tom. >> thanks, tom. a final check of the midday traffic now. >> let's go to jerry edwards and the news4 traffic network. >> we will start on the topside of the capital beltway where it's dry and on the light side. the inner loop headed towards i-95 college park and toward the american legion bridge, no hang ups. an increase in volume, but expected at lunchtime on any day. the wilson bridge, keep in mind, the trk leak k fuel, if you are headed to points well south of d.c., 95 southbound between

garrisonville and fredericksburg ties up the right lane. kimberly and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. mixed news about the economy this morning. consumer spending rose .2% in july. that's what economists expected. however, household incomes remain flat. that's an indicator of how much americans will be willing to spendzsñ in the future. economists are taking a good look for the numbers searching for evidence the recession may be on its way out. >> reporter: we are already seeing a small rebound in housing, as some decide to buy. >> they will jump into the market and we will see a small surge in sales. >> reporter: some corporate profits are up. dell is reporting an unexpected strong second quarter. and companies are making money because they laid off workers. >> these are the things that actually determine a recession

to the average person. >> the claimant's signature and date. >> reporter: unemployment is not expected to bottom out until next spring. while the numbers are improving, relief have not reached the millions of americans who cannot pay their bills. and banks are still in the pinch. >> the fdic has taken a huge hit recovering 81 failed banks just this year. the chair says they have billions in back up funds. >> our resources are strong. your insured deposits are safe, and no uninsured depositor ever st a penny. they think the cash for clunkers program may contributed to today's spending numbers. well, the personal savings rate fell slightly in june from

4.2% to 4.5%. economists expect the rate to climb to 6% in the next few months as workers try to rebuild the depleted nest eggs. and johon said much of his success comes from his passion and drive. >> my wife gets mad at me right now because when i play my daughter, who is 14, one-on-one, and we go to 10 -- oh, yeah, i let her get to 9, but then i have to crush her! >> johnson said that the drive to win is the key to success in business. secretary of commerce, gary locke, also spoke at the same conference. two virginia tech students have found shot and killed near a popular campground near the campus. they were not to death sometime last night or early morning.

a man found their bodies while walking his dog. they were identified as david metzler and heidi chilz. a missing girl was found alive after 18 years she was snapped from a bus stop. he was held captive lit rerallyn her captive's backyard. >> he was found alive -- excuse me. she was found alive in antioch. >> reporter: they never knew what happened to the 11-year-old girl abducted outside her home in south lake tahoe. 18 years later they finally got answers. >> right now there is nothing to indicate there was a stranger abduction. no connection to the family. they literally snatched her off

the streets. >> they are nancy and philip garrido. this is a commuter simulation based on childhood photos of what jaycee might look like as an adult. garrido fathered two girls with jaycee. a 15-year-old and 11-year-old. >> he refers to them as his girls, not his daughters. >> charlene never met jaycee, but speaking often with her daughters. >> they said they were being home schooled, and they were going to a church with their father, that their father was the pastor of, and they only have five people in the congregation. >> none of the children have gone to school, never been to a doctor. they were kept incomplete isolation in the compound, if you will, at the rear of the house. >> reporter: how did the garridos hide the secret family for years. satellite shows there was a maze

of tarps, and tents that housed a secret prison. there was a narrow tarp where they lived. there was a out house and shower like you would see as a campground. and electrical towards providing power for a dish water. and there was an old car in the backyard matching the description of the one used in the abduction. >> wait until you hear the story of what took place athis house. you will be impressed. >> reporter: in a rambling interview, he speaks of documents that will exonerate him. >> if you take this a step at a time, you will fall over backwards. in the end, you will find the

most powerful heartwarming story and something that needs to be understood. >>eporter: philip garridso he never harmed his daughters. >> having those two children, those two girls, they slept in my arms every single night from birth. and i never touched them. >> reporter: the case is reminiscent of the abduction of 14-year-old elizabeth smart, twoo li with two strangers for nine months. and more recently, a horrifying case in austria, where a man kept his daughter locked in a basement for 23 years and fathered seven children with her. jaycee's stepfather witnessed her abduction in 1971, and was with her mother when she was able to talk to her over the phone. >> 18 years ago, terry made a

public plea to her daughter. >> jaycee, if you hear me, i love you and i want you to come home tonight. safe and sound. >> reporter: jaycee lee dugard is ready to come home with two daughters of her own. police questioned garrido, and it was the break they needed to solve the cold case. it was no day at the beach for one connecticut teenager that found himself trapped up to his neck in sand. james boyden was digging a hole when a five-foot hole collapsed around him. look at that! rescuers arrived and they provided an oxygen mask. an hour later, he was freed. james and his family shared the experience on the "today" show this morning. >> well at the beginning, it was

like, it hurt a little bit. because of all the sand. it got in my mouth and got in my lungs and it was not good. but after a while, it was like -- it was like carbon dioxide poisoning. >> if he was standing, we would not be here today. because he was down in the hole when it collapsed, that created the situation. even a small hole can be very dangerous. >> james was airlifted to a hospital, and he is expected to be okay. still ahead on "news4 midday," we take a look at how the markets are reacting to new consumer spending numbers out this morning. we will take a look at new movies on theaters on this rainy friday. stay with us. i

all of us in the area know the slogan for virginia is lovers. the state tousm office has

been using it for 40 years. that slogan is up against a couple other classics, nike's just do it, and got milk, and i love new york. i am kind of partial. i always liked this. >> i like maryland is for crabs, too. >> that was not nominated. sorry. >> too bad. let's find out what is happening on wall street. stocks have started the day higher apparently. good morning, joe and kimberly. stocks are mixed as the dow makes a run for nine consecutive days in the green. the market was looking up news from intel. they are citing strong demand for chips, and it's competing for the world's biggest tech

companies. it expect sales up to $9.2 billion. and the confidence survey put a dam per on the street, because the report shows the confidence level to it's lowest level in august. some high end retailers reporting earnings today. tiffany's surprising everybody. and they saw the net profit fall in the economy. today whirlpool announced it's closing the indiana manufacturing plant and will cut 1,100 jobs. back to you in d.c. >> thank you. have a great weekend. one company in japan designed a robot to help

caregivers get elderly people in and out of bed. >> reporter: a robot nurse can help lift the bed ridden and elderly, which give the disabled more opportunities to move around without injuring their care givers. and this woman wanted the robot to look like something grandmother could love. >> translator: i designed it this way to give it a cute face. >> the alien version is good for a smile. the aging japanese population has created a boom for companies that make robots to help take care of the elderly. reba, has this robot is known, works with sensors in its arms and chest, so the caregiver can

touch the skin to adjust the motion and direction. and it can weigh a person in its arms to distribute the weight. nbc news. >> it is what it is. >> that's weird. and now, a connection with celebrities, like britney spears, what the connection is to alzheimer's. scientists very cleveland clinic done research to show people with the brains with the disease have to work harder to recognize the pictures of celebrities. and the researchers say this could mean the brains of people at higher risk of alzheimer's could be working harder to compensate for damage is that already been done. boil that down to three words? i forgot already. >> i don't knowhat kind of a sign that is. meteorologist,eier

will be back in a m wute bhit another check of the forecast. s.>e oo wh fe lngkior peopleheeo komournwurho ss.y ymaou know somebody like that, ea pictuicture's storye- and ar

this weekend at the box office, absolutely nothing new for kids. it's all about the grown-ups in theaters. starting with a trip back in time. "taking woodstock" is a comedy that shows how one man set out to save his family motel and ended up changing pop culture. it's rated r. and then the latest installment in the final destination series. a group of friends cheat death and death comes to get them one by one. how much funs that? only this time, you can watch the thrills in 3-d.

"the final destination" is rated r. and then another new installment, "halloween 2" hits theaters. and it's rated r. and jim joins us in the studio with a preview of what is coming up. we are here to make you hungry at 4:00. we will head outside for more grilling tips today. hot off the grill, the folks from the burger joint in bethesda shows us how to grill up tury burgers. and for these stories and all the days' news, and your forecast for the weekend, it begins here on news4 at 4:00 and 5:00. >> what time is dinner? >> 4:15 we start it, and then we

come back at 4:45 to test it out. i'm rerady. >> yeah, we are ready now. now let's go to tom for the forecast. >> we are getting lightning in southern prince georges county. that extends across the potomac. and it's come into alexandria. it may be moving into washington over the next few minutes. that stretch is further to the south and west as well, and into some spots. and heavy rain and thunder and lightning is beginning to develop. for the rest of the afternoon, we have a flood watch in effect. all of the docounties in green, and out further to the west and north as well as north and east, it's going to affect us at 2:00 this afternoon until midnight. we will lit the low 80s later today. flooding rains are likely later on this afternoon and into the evening. maybe a passing shower.

a chance of rain tomorrow. partly cloudy, and highs in the mid-80s. lower humidity moves in on saturday night and sunday and monday. most of the weekend is looking up. we will have after highs on sunday, low to mid-80s. we will be in the comfort zone, tuesday, wednesday and thursday, with low humidity, and afternoon highs, and 70s on tuesday. perhaps near 80 on wednesday and thursday as we get into next week. have a great weekend. we will see you on monday morning. >> thank you very much, tom. well, a champion british vegetable grow wur says he has been banned from the competitions because he has won too many times. he is famous for his biggen eo. he has been black listed by the local chapter of the national

legible society. he blames jealousy over his past successes, including 15 trophies over years. and they say he has abusive, diva-like behavior. >> you get the feeling there is not much going on there. >> yeah, trusouble brewing. thank you for joining us. >> i will see you today at 4:00. grilling with jim. and also tomorrow at 5:00 a.m. >> we will be back at 4:55 a.m. monday morning, and we hope you will join us then. bye. >> bye.