a weekend of tributes for a young boy found dead earlier this week. >> from strangers to teammates, the murder of 11-year-old william mclain remains unexplainable. good morning. it's sat add october 22nd, 2011. >> thank you so much for joining us. we'll have more on that story in a moment. want to begin with a quick check

of your forecast. chuck bell is joining us in the studio. things looking good this weekend. >> yes, a good-looking weekend. did you enjoy your week. >> with the exception of wednesday. >> wednesday was nasty. >> a little gloomy. that's all right. this is three weeks in a row we have had rain during the week leaving us high and dry for the weekend. three weekends in a row. you got to the love that. outside on a beautiful saturday morning. generally clear sky to get the weekend started. clear skies won't last all day long. a little bit of sunshine this morning. that will cook up cloud deck by late morning, earl you afternoon. no threat for rainfall on your weekend. anything you've got planned outdoors, it will be a cooperative weekend for that. 50 degrees in downtown washington. everybody else is down into the 30s and 40s this morning. 39 in petersburg and culpeper this morning, 39 in manassas. 33 in spotsylvania. state of maryland low to mid 40s for much of montgomery and

frederick county. mid to upper 40ss in prince george's county. so great news for your outdoor plans, 55 by midmorning. low 60s early this afternoon and back down into the mid and upper 50s later on this evening. tomorrow another beauty. actually a better day coming up tomorrow. temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s. a saturday night game on nbc tonight. southern california at notre dame. 54 degrees there and the midshipmen of navy hosting the pirates, sounds like a classic naval battle to me. it's a 3:30 kickoff. 59 degrees there. if you'd like to see our game featured, send me an e-mail chuck bell at nbc.com. we'll get as many games on during the 9:00 hour as we can. tell me who you'd like to see. >> thank you, chuck. just hours from now, william maclean's football team will

take to the field for the first time since the little boy's murder. last name, his arch rivals on the field joined together in solidarity to show that the football family is much deeper than any rivalry. jackie bensen reports. >> where rob was on the gridiron, we're friends. >> sweaty from evening practice, members of the youth football team took a knee and prayed for 11-year-old william mcquain and his mother. 51-year-old jane mcquain was found murdered in the family's germantown apartment october 1th. it sparked a nationwide certainly for her missing son found dead tuesday in a wooded area of clarksburg. the suspect in both murders, mcquain's husband william's stepfather curtis lopez is jailed in north carolina. one of the joys of william's short life was flaying football. but tonight, there's no rivalry, just pain. parents have had to answer some tough questions this week.

>> why does this happen? why do people do this to people? >> the type of questions were why did it happen. >> what do you say? >> i don't know. only god can answer that. >> the tradition of youth football runs strong and deep in montgomery county. this big family grieves together. >> as kids, and as coaches alike, we're all a fraternity. you know, it's scary. it's scary as a child to know that someone that you played against, you know, was taken away and you know really had no part in it, didn't know it was coming. so you know, i guess we mourn together. >> a lot of these people knew william. this is a rival team they played against him, but tonight all that matters is the pain of a lot of kids and a lot of the parents in this part of montgomery county. jackie bensen, news4. a mental hospital patient is behind bars this morning accused of murdering his roommate. police say they found the body of 22-year-old david rico naola

around 2:30 yesterday in his room on the maximum security wing of the clifton p. perkins psychiatric hospital in jessup, maryland. his roommate, 24-year-old vitaye davydov was the one who asked for help. after finding the body, he was immediately taken into custody. you may recognize his name. he was convicted of beating his psychiatrist, dr. wayne eventton to death five years ago. he is now charged with first and second degree murder. a pair of traffic alerts to be aware of if you're headed out this morning. this is i-95 north at the prince william county parkway where several lanes of the interstate remain closed. crews shut them down last fight to repair a 25-foot section of concrete that crumbled earlier this week. work is expected to wrap up at 10:00 a.m. another trouble spot, interstate 66 at the capital beltway. if you're headed west on 66, you cannot exit southbound on the belt way because crews are

reconstructing that ramp. instead, use or keep going till you get to nutley street and head back east on 66. this work is going to continue until monday morning. >> and you won't find relief if you plan on taking metro this weekend as crews are making repairs on four of the system's five lines. on the red line, the rhode island avenue and brook land stations will be closed. the blue line will share one track between stadium armory and addison road. the green line will share one track between fort totten and prince george's plaza and the yellow only runs between huntington and mt. vernon square stopping five stations early. all the lines should be back to normal monday morning. watch out for road closures. for the best buddies challenge this morning. parts of the clara barton parkway will be closed as will sections of eastbound m street, the whitehurst freeway, and several streets around the national mall and tidal basin.

the challenge is a bike race and 5 k run walk that supports a network of volunteers that help create job leadership opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. we'll talk live with one of the organizers of best buddies at about 6:35. a prince george's county community is in shock this morning after a 10-year-old girl was sexually assaulted while walking home from school. police say it happened thursday evening on the 3100 block of scottish naempb hillcrest heights. investigators say she was walking down the street when she was grabbed by a teenage boy and dragged into the woods where he saw theed her. another man walking nearby heard the girl scream and rushed to her rescue. >> to think of the fact that a young african-american male would do this to a 10-year-old girl coming home from her education just kills me inside.

>> reporter: land berg says the suspect ran as he approached. he tried to chase the man down but lost him in the thick brush. prince george's county police have stepped up patrols in the area. new developments in the search for a missing baby in kansas city. police say a cadaver dog reacted to the scent of a dead person inside the home where 10-month-old lisa irwin disappeared. a police affidavit says the dog picked up the positive scent in her parents' bedroom. investigators also discovered soil in the backyard that had been recently disturbed. her mother, debra bradley told police she didn't initially look in the backyard because she was afraid what she might find. it the trial of michael jackson's doctor could be in the hands of the jury as soon as next week. conrad murray's defense team finally got a clans to cross-examine the prosecution's propofol expert. shaffer maintain the he was negligent in his care for jackson and testified that

swallowing propofol would have no effect on the pop star. the defense is expected to use one of their witnesses to dispute that claim. the time now is 6:08. coming up -- >> mixed reaction this morning on the president's plan to remove all u.s. troops from iraq by the holidays. we look at the challenges now facing that country. plus, why herman cain is now backing off his 9-9-9 tax plan. don't go anywhere.

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i can report that as promised, the rest of our troops in iraq will come home by the end of the year. >> with that statement, president obama set the final exit date for u.s. troops in iraq signaling an end to the eight-year war. the president's decision ends months of wrangling over whether the u.s. would maintain a force there to help train iraqis. the departure allows president obama to keep a campaign promise to end the war. as nbc's chief foreign correspondent richard engel explains, the decision does not come without risks. >> in just ten weeks, america's war in iraq will finally truly be over. nearly nine years after it began

with shock and awe. >> the dangers to our country and the world will be overcome. >> the iraqi capital city has been the target of two surgical strikes. >> reporter: the 21-day assault on baghdad and the hunt for weapons of mass destruction that weren't there. >> we got him. >> but a quick victory began a bloody insurgency, and then a civil war. all along the way, u.s. troops, 166,000 at the peak in 2007, have been fighting, building, and dieing. 4,469 u.s. troops killed. 32,200138 injured. iraqi deaths almost 150,000. but many iraqis believe it's a million. the cost? at least $700 billion. and perhaps a lot more. then a year ago, the u.s. combat mission ended, but tens of

thousands of american trainers stayed on. they were supposed to remain and until the end of this year. but iraq considered keeping 2,000 to 3,000 beyond that, a safeguard in case the civil war returned. but iraqi politicians, especially shiite hard liner muqtada al sadr refused to grant the troops immunity. so they're not staying. so can iraq handle the challenges ahead? recent signs are troubling. car bombings and ethnic violence both up. iran a long-time enemy gaining influence. and this week in northern iraq, kurdish militants launched a raid into turkey, killing 26 turkish soldiers. turkey responded with 10,000 troops and attacked kurdish militants across the border in iraq. all while american troops are still there. >> i think iraq is going to be more destabilized but not

necessarily because we're leaving. i think because we went there in the first place. >> once u.s. troops are gone, iraq will be more vulnerable. but also perhaps more responsible and self-reliant. the training wheels off, iraq will have to succeed or fail. without american troops on the ground to guide the way. >> that was richard engel reporting. just because american troops are leaving does not mean we are turning our back on iraq. that was the message from defense secretary leon panetta who said the u.s. will work with baghdad on a possible role in training the country's forces. >> iraq's a sovereign nation that must determine how to secure its own future. and we will help them in every way. >> panetta went on to cause the mission in iraq successful for the u.s. and nato, but senator john mccain fired back saying the decision to withdraw will be viewed as a victory for our enemies in the middle east,

especially the iranian regime. he says every military commander he's spoken with in iraq says a continued u.s. presence is necessary. he went on to say that all the gains made in iraq are now at risk. in libya, the ruling national transitional council could declare the country's liberation today as new celebrations take place more than 24 hours after the death of moammar gadhafi. also today, questions remain about how the ousted libyan leader died and when he will be buried. sunday, there will be celebrations to mark a formal day of liberation. now to decision 2012. herman cain is making some changes to his 9-9-9 plan to help low income people. cain says people at or below the poverty level would be exempt from the 9% flat income tax. cain also says businesses in struggling parts of the country would qualify for a series of tax breaks and deductions.

>> if you are at or below the poverty level, your plan is 9-0-9. say a men you all. 9-0-9. >> cain is also clarifying his stance on abortion saying he is pro-life, no exceptions. he also says he would not sign any bill that used government money to fund abortions. most americans say politics makes them angry but that doesn't mean there is wide support for the wall street protests against the nation's power brokers. a new poll finds that more than one-third of the country supports the movement that's been sweeping across the country. it's one of the first snapshots of how the public views the protest. but more americans 58% of them, say their anger is directed at our country's politics more so than wall street. occupy d.c., those folks are still out there on the streets and they've had decent weather to sit out there in those tents. >> you can't protest that.

>> the very first weekend of october was yuck and nasty and cold and every weekend since then has been great. tough sledding during the middle of the week for those folks out there with the pitching the tents in downtown. good weather for the weekend though. that's what we care most about. we'll talk about how nice it's going to be coming up after this.

if you're just waking up, you're in for a great day. >> oh, yeah. nice stuff. >> bearer of great news, chuck bell joining us. >> on the whole, i think everyone's going to be happy with the weekend. plenty of sunshine. we have one of the weather words i like to use, self-destructive sunshine coming our way for today. cool air moving in on a northwesterly breeze. get the sunshine out warms up the low levels of the atmosphere and the next thing you know, you've made a cloud deck. as a result, we'll start off with plenty of sunshine. i know. mother nature plays "hardball" sometimes.

so we'll start out with the sunshine. then we'll get the puffy cumulus clouds rolling through during the afternoon. on the whole, a very good weekend. these are not going to be rain making clouds. clouds, yes. rain chances no for your weekend. a clear sky right now over washington. 50 degrees. that's the in-town temperature. most of the suburbs are down into the 40s, even a few spots into the upper 30s this morning. manassas into the upper 30s. 41 at dulles airport. 48 degrees in leesburg. maryland, huntingtown to camp springs and brandy wine rosaryville all in the low 40s this morning. 47 in annapolis. back out to the west, that's where the real chill is this morning. upper 40s from haigers town to martinsburg. near 50 in winchester. overnight tonight, clearing skies after midnight. again, these clearing skies lead to a very pleasant day tomorrow. no rain anywhere within about

500 miles of washington. so clouds we will have by later on this afternoon. temperatures into the upper 50s and low 60s for most of your saturday. sun's up at 7:24 this morning, goes down just before 6:30 this evening. you can see on the satellite picture, generally cloudy skies up into pennsylvania. these clouds stick around off and on through much of the day. on whole, i think you'll enjoy outdoor activities today. just passing clouds and intermittent sunshine. temperatures staying a little bit cooler than average. still by mid to late october standards not so bad. if this is your weekend to get outside and look at the great foliage, the high spots north and west of town, skyline drive relatively good weather. the mild weather back for tomorrow and great weather to get the work and school week started on monday. here's your saturday forecast. morning sunshine leading to afternoon clouds. a light breeze today out of the northwest at 5 to 10. upper 50s and low 60s.

tomorrow plenty of sunshine. highs tomorrow, upper 50s in the high spots to mid 60s around town. here's the extended forecast. hint of a warming trend begins today, goes through tomorrow. back up to near 70 degrees on monday. tuesday, wednesday look great. but the clouds come back on wednesday and chances for rain back into the forecast by wednesday night. most likely into thursday, friday. we're trying to get those out of here for next weekend. so far next weekend looks iffy. college football, north carolina state in char lotsville. partly sunny, a pretty good day for football there. 3:30 is the kickoff time. temperatures near 60. the hokies hosting the boston college eagles in blacksburg, a 3:00 kickoff this afternoon. plenty of sunshine but cool. highs into the upper 50s and low 60s down there. whoops, i thought i had my addresses. there we are. if you'd like to see your game on the 9:00 hour of the show today, send me an e-mail chuck.bell at nbc.com to get

your game on. it's who's playing, where they're playing. we'll get on as many games as we can. my sooners are hosting texas tech today. >> chuck can you be, where do you like to go leaf peeping? >> i don't like that word. i'm thinking trees and peeping. i don't know. >> where is your mind at this morning? >> i was trying to be eliterative. you can follow the foliage. how is that? >> a lot more formal. >> it will be easier to say. if you've got a better wa i to say it, we'll say it. >> shenandoah valley. >> all perfect. >> all right. thanks, chuck. a weekend of big college football games kick off with a big upset of one of the nation's top ranked teams. >> and one of the best local high school teams tries to stay undefeated in a huge rivalry game. hakem dermish has those highlights in this morning's sports minute. >> good morning. your sports minute begins with college football.

15th ranked west virginia on the road at syracuse. second quarter, west virginia down 14-3, jean know smith looking for stedman bailey makes the great catch over the defender. stays on his feet and cruises into the end zone for a touch down. mountaineers within five. dorian graham fields it at the 2 yard line, finds a hole, makes a great move right here and dorian graham returns it 98 yards for the touch down. syracuse upsets west virginia, 49-23. high school football game of the week in virginia. 5-2 chantilly hosting undefeated centreville in a neighborhood rivalry. very first possession for centreville, mitch fark throws it to chase walter. makes the catch. it's a foot race. walter, he's gone. 72 yards to score. he had two touch downs in the game, centreville beats chantilly 38-13. the wildcats improve to 8-0. home two hockey, the capitals host the red wings tonight.

last night detroit taking on columbus. franzen scored two power-play goals. washington and detroit the only two undefeated teams in the nhl. that's your sports minute. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. it's been called theother of all hot wheels tracks and with good reason. casey and his sons aiden and patrick built this masterpiece in their texas home. the course features curves, loops and booters to keep the cars going. it goes through every room in the house. and as you can see, out the front door and down the street. how cool is this? the track took six months to build and it takes three minutes for the car to complete the track. that thing just keeps going.

here's the best part. the video was put on youtube and has helped raise $1,000 for a friend who has muscular dystrophy. how impressive is that? >> nice. up the stairs too? that's where the boosters come in. >> up the stairs and then on the sidewalk. i guess if they have an animal, that would be fun. >> i wonder what the neighbors were thinking when they were putting the track together down the street and around the block. >> it's wonderful it benefited something so it wasn't just to make a record, so to speak. >> pretty cool stuff. >> coming up in the next half hour of "news4 today," a shark attack leaves an american dead. >> plus, the heir to the saudi throne has died. what that means for the oil rich u.s. ally. >> and the verdict is in for a montgomery county teacher accused of choking her students. don't go anywhere. the story is

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good morning. welcome to "news4 today." i'm john schriffen. >> i'm angie goff. it's saturday, october 22nd. >> the heir to the saudi throne has passed away. saudi state tv says crown prince sultan bin abdelaziz died abroad today after an illness. death opens questions about the succession and the critical oil rich u.s. ally. sultan was the half-brother of saudi arabia's king abdullah who is two years older and also dealing with health problems. an american diver is dead this morning after being attacked by a great white shark in australia. this is the second fatal shark off west australia in just 12 days. today's incident happened off rot nest island in overcast conditions. sharks attack more often in cloudy weather. the 32-year-old american has not been identified. it will be at least several

more weeks before a nuclear power plant in virginia will be back up and running. the north power station shut down in august after the east coast quake hit just miles away. dominion power who owns the plant says the two reactors are ready to be restarted once the nuclear regulatory commission completes its review. the plain concern is that the quake exceeded the limit the plant was designed for. dominion says they have found no damage to any critical systems caused by the quake. i know they plan on holding a public hearing in the next week to keep everybody abreast of the situation who lives around that community. but man, that jake still affecting a lot of parts of our area. >> no kidding. we're lucky it wasn't any bigger. >> no. >> be good to get the power plant turned back on because it's a relatively clean source of energy generation. that's one of the big problems we have in america. we don't have a lot of nuclear power to take over for the coal fired plants. be good to get that one back

online. safety first though. especially where nuclear power is concerned. don't want the fish. >> homer imp son will tell you that. >> clear skies out there for you now. and seasonably chilly. temperatures mostly in the 40s across the suburbs to near 50 in town. absolutely positively nothing on radar right now. so don't expect any rain this weekend. plenty of sunshine to get your weekend started. clouds cooking up by late this morning, early this afternoon. a partly sunny afternoon today. temperatures in the upper 50s to low 60s. tomorrow an even better day. more sunshine tomorrow and slightly warmer. on nbc tonight, southern cal playing notre dame if you'd like to get your game on like this one here, east carolina and navy at 3:30 this afternoon, send me that note, chuck.bell at nbc.com. >> thank you. a silver spring teacher is closer to clearing her name this morning after a jury found her not guilty of assaulting several students. first grade teacher susan burke

was accused of grabbing and even choking some students. jane watrel has more. >> the jury took less than 90 minutes to return their verdict. clearing susan burke of all charges. in closing arguments, the defense attorney for susan burke told the montgomery county jury there was "no proof the 36-year-old first grade teacher choked her sounds." the jury agreed. >> a lot of evidence was presented. i think the state did an excellent job trying to prove their case. i think the jury did their job and i think justice was served today. >> burke had faced seven counts of second degree assault. the alleged incidents happened at greencastle elementary school last year. she took the stand and denied grabbing her students' necks. >> as far as mrs. burke is concerned, she did all the right things. she's a human being like everybody else. and people make mistakes and i wasn't there. >> prosecutors would not comment after verdict.

they had alled that burke would get angry with students at the silver springs school and choke them. six students took the witness stand. but their testimony didn't convince the jury. >> i was by grace of whom ever given a very good opportunity to cross-examine the children and the other witnesses that the state put on. and i think that the evidence was overwhelmingly in my client's favor. >> burke still faces two counts of felony child abuse, a montgomery county prosecutors say they plan to move forward on those cases. no trial date has been set. in rockville, jane watrel, news4. susan burke taught in the system will for ten years. she has been on administrative leave since february and is no longer with the school system. the four men charged in the murder of sean taylor will go on trial in january. taylor was shot and killed in

his miami home back in 2007. during an alleged attempted robbery. all four suspects have pleaded not guilty. they face life in prison if convicted. a fifth man has already pleaded guilty to murder and burglary charges and is likely to testify against the others. well, this video sparked outrage around the district but we've learned two metro transit police officers won't face charges for tear actions. the officers were facing federal criminal -- federal criminal civil rights charges after this video showed them pushing a man in a wheelchair to the ground on u street back in may. the justice department released a statement saying there is not enough evidence to pursue charges against them. well, still ahead on "news4 today," why you may have trouble finding the perfect pumpkin this year. >> the best buddies challenge getting under way this morning.

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welcome back. it's a charity walk, run and ride today in the district, and it benefits best buddies. >> a group dedicated to creating opportunities for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. joining us live from today's race is charles calhoun, a buddy ambassador and founder of best buddies anthony shriver. good morning to the both of you. >> how you doing? >> doing great. tell us all about, what is this event all about? >> it's about best buddies, raising awareness and raising money and creating opportunities for people with special needs like charles, finding them jobs, mentors, friends and it's going to be a great day. great weather and we're going to raise a ton of morning. >> charles, i have a question for you. as a buddy ambassador, what exactly do you do and how did

you prepare for this day in. >> what i do is i go out to different states. i'm a buddy ambassador. what i do is i write speeches about best buddies and how it's changed me personally and i get a lot more people involved because of it. >> now, it is pretty early out there. i know a lot of people have been training months just for this day. how many riders and walkers are expected out there? >> well, we expect almost 1500 people in total. the best part about it for me, we have this year almost 700 students coming out from high schools and middle schools in the metropolitan area. the largest number of kids we've had come out. those are the people we want to volunteer year round to raise money, make great awareness for them and for them to meet people like charles is incredible. >> and anthony, i know that it's more than just a walk. it's more than just a run. what you're doing today is able

to support the ability to help people like charles transition into the workplace. can you tell us a little bit about what you do as far as you know, once all of this is over, what you do with everything, everything that this benefits? >> yeah, for sure. one of the big issues we're pushing over the next ten years is our employment program. i really believe the last big hurdle for people with development disabilities is employment. 85% unemployment for people like charles in this country. and we can't expect them to really find their way and to feel like they're included unless they are economic security and power. you can't have that without jobs. so one of the results of this event is going to be we're going to bring our jobs program to washington, d.c. and expand it dramatically. so next year, i'll be talking to you, we'll have jobs for people with special needs. it's a beginning. we need hundreds of thousands of jobs for people with special needs. i hope people in the district and virginia and maryland reach out to us if you want to hire

people like charles. i promise you, they'll be the best employees you've ever had. >> sounds like a wonderful program. charles, are you going to run, walk or bike today? >> i am going to bike today. i'm doing the criterion race. >> wonderful. best of luck to you and all the riders. looks like a wonderful event. charles and anthony, thank you oech for joining us this morning. >> thanks, guys. >> our pleasure, thank you. >> thank you, take care. >> all right. we are proud to have doreen gensler taking part in the opening ceremonies which will start the race at 7:30 this morning. we also have a group of people in our office participating in that race. so just a great cause all around. >> yeah, the "today" show is next on nbc4. >> let's find out what they're working on. amy robach joins us live from new york. good morning. >> good morning to you. coming up this morning on "today," coming home. president obama announces an end to the war in iraq. he hopes troops will be back in the u.s. in time for the holidays. we'll have the latest on had

major milestone in the nearly nine-year con friktflict. then a disturbing new development in the search for baby lisa. nearly three weeks after she disappeared, a cadaver dog picks up a scent inside her bedroom. we'll have late details and talk with a private investigator hired by the family. plus, news out of australia as an american diver is killed by a great white shark. it happened today just off the coast of a popular beach. it's the second fatal attack in less than two weeks. and on a much lighter note, has prince harry found his american princess? the british royal has been spotted with a brunette from california, some are calling her his girlfriend. does it mean harry has found true love? we'll tell you when we see you right here on "today." john and angie, now back to you. >> tnk you so much. >> i saw that coming. i mean, it was only a matter of time that prince harry would be making the social circuit. >> the economy may still be in bad shape but that's not keeping

people from spending money on the spookiest holiday of the year. nbc's jennifer bjorklund has more on the halloween's comim boom. >> costume shops are kicking into overdrive. >> halloween is really our christmas. >> here at cinema secrets, halloween head quarries founder maurice stein says sales are scary good after two down years. >> this year we really expected it to take a climb but i wasn't really ready for the climb that it's already taken. we're about almost two weeks ahead of ourself in sales. >> reporter: and when they're doing well, a thousand other stores they manufacture and supply rub effect things to are doing well also. >> this one i didn't enjoy doing because that's my grandson. >> he says they had to bring a crew back in to manufacture more to keep up with demand and are shipping overnight to keep them in stock nationwide. the national retail federation reports overall spending on halloween is up this year to a

record high $72 per person, 6.86 billion nationally. you can see the number break down here for costumes in 2007, people reported spending an average of $38.50. that went down to just below $35 in '09 but this year expected to be over $40. on candy, people who spent $20.94 in '07 dipped down to below $20 in '09 and now expecting to spend about $22, something to feel good about on a holiday that's all about feeling good. >> it's good to be enjoying time and halloween is like all about being ridiculous. >> i guess that's what it's all about, being ridiculous. >> they say for retailers halloween is the warmup to the christmas season. so looks like they're on the right track. >> got your costume already. >> i'm going as a tired mom. that's what you're going to get. sorry, folks. we're going to have your weather we're going to have your weather with chuck bell coming up ne

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>> you may not be able to be as picky you head to the pumpkin patch this weekend. all the rain we got in september is bad news for the pumpkin crop. some local pumpkin patches had to even bring in some pumpkins from out of state this year. and our director naomi made some wonderful pumpkin brownies last week and said finding the canned pumpkin was difficult. >> really? >> yeah. i don't think wonderful was the word. it was incredible. we had it for two days. >> we went in for three servings. and we starred the morning off asking her what she brought us to eat this morning. >> seconds are polite show you like the food. thirds maybe a hint of gluteny. >> the frosting was so good. >> give me more. >> what a gray date today for anybody going out to the pumpkin patch today or if you're just planning on watching a little college football or going out for a sail on the bay, it's going to be wonderful weather today.

bright and clear. these clear skies won't last all day for us. sun still about 25, 30 minutes away from coming up in the eastern sky. look how mirror calm the potomac is first thing this morning. 50 degrees the intown temperature. most of the suburbs well down into the 40s this morning. college park, maryland, 41, 45 in gaithersburg, 39 in manassas. plenty of cool air near the blue ridge today. near peak on the foliage today across the high spots. shenton doeia valley towards west virginia. if you're getting outside today, a lot of good color coming in, as well. no rain around washington for today. no rain anywhere near us, as well. a dry forecast for your saturday. plenty of sunshine this morning. we're going to call it self-destructive sunshine. the action of the sun light on the atmosphere today will generate a little bit of a cloud deck later on this afternoon. so expect a very nice day, but with some sunshine in and out.

relatively cool. highs today running 3 to 5 degrees cooler than average for the third weekend in october. high pressure promises good weather for today. better weather coming up for tomorrow and nice weather lasting into the early parts of the week. today, morning sunshine giving way to afternoon clouds today. highs in the upper 50s and low 60s. tomorrow more sunshine. as a result, just a touch warmer. here's your extended forecast. 62 today. 64 tomorrow. near 70 for monday and for tuesday. clouds back in the picture for wednesday and rain likely for thursday and for friday. uva fans headed down to charlottesville taking on the wolfpack this afternoon. a 3:30 kickoff. hokies hosting the boston college eagles, a 3:00 kickoff. if you're making the drive, enjoy the color on the way down and have your sweatshirt ready to go because it will be chilly by the time the game's over. chuck.bell at nbc.com is the address of choice if you want to see your forecast. >> thank you, chuck.

>> still to come on "news4 today" -- >> three very disappointed local marines with the federal government took away. big budget

nation's military. now it's impacting some local marines. the military changed its policy over the amount of money they can get towards their education. i spoke with three marines who say the policy could cause some major problems.

>> these active duty marines decided to speak to me on one condition, we did not disclose their identity out of fear of getting in trouble with the corps. >> this can be damaging to my career personally. >> why are you choosing to speak out? >> singh needs to be done. >> they're upset about a recent change to a tuition assist assumptions program used to further their education. >> one of the reasons i joined the marine corps was for education. >> the department of defense allows enlisted soldiers of all branchs to spend $3500 a year for their education. but according to the marine corps website starting october 1st, the marine corps cut that number down to $875. >> which only allowed marines to take one class a year. >> this is different from the montgomery gi bill which entitles enlisted soldiers a monthly education stipend after completing the minimum required service. >> the marine corps said they had polled marines and they said they only attend one class per

year. >> i definitely feel blind sided because we never got any word of no survey. i don't know what was conducted, when it was sent out. never got an e-mail, phone call, in ig. >> these marines say this new rule will force them to delay their education or dip into their gi bill assistance early, something they hope to use to further their education or use for their family after getting out of the service. >> honestly, a lot of marines are going to start getting out, maybe transferring to the other services. you know, maybe getting out entirely and just using their gi bill and getting a civilian job. >> we feel like we're being targeted. why the marines when we're the first to be out there you know, making the ultimate sacrifice for the country for our families, for our freedom. it isn't fair. >> and we reached out to the marine corps through e-mail and multiple phone calls trying to get an explanation for the change in the tuition assistance program. so far, we have not gotten any response. a little puppy is looking for a loving home after surviving a horrible shooting.

this is daphne, a 1-year-old pitbull puppy found abandoned in a berkeley, california, parking lot last month after an x-ray, animal services say they found 38 pellet from a pellet gun inside daphne. her ears were partially cut off. the humane society was able to remove nine pellets but left the rest outside. authorities believe other puppies were dropped off with similar injuries in march. think they they're sisters. they hope to find who's responsible for that. such cruel cruel actions. >> what a cutie. >> people mean to animals are not people at all really. >> you have a dog so you know how. >> 15-year-old nicolas. crazy as can be. >> these stories get you fired up. sunshine for your weekend, even more coming up tomorrow.