at phoenix.edu/beltway tonight at 6:00, rolling thunder roerz into d.c. someone attacking defenseless animals at a local farm. and we'll see how long the sunny skies will last for the rest of this holiday weekend. good evening, everyone. i'm chris gordon. thousands of bikers are here in the city and around our area for rolling thunder, the annual rally to honor our veterans for memorial day. this event is an important tradition for many, and as derrick ward shows us, a key part in healing for those who have sacrificed so much for our

country. >> reporter: this year marks the 25th anniversary of rolling thunder, and for some the 50th anniversary of the start of the vietnam war. but there are those who find that in that accounting, there is a slight to those who were on the ground and who died before 1962. charlie says the names are written in stone. >> there are names on the wall start ing in 1959. we had people killed and captured before that. >> reporter: all along the route, those who did not ride but nonetheless stood for the cause, many with memories of the war. he worked as a so-called tunnel rat and he worked long range recon. >> i worked as close to the enemy as i am to you guys now. i was forced to come back. >> reporter: this man was in deep river country. he knows how fortunate he was to

make it home. >> i have 17 brothers on the wall, and this is the best way to honor their memory. >> reporter: and from the speaker stage, the words from the father of a current p.o.w. held by the taliban proved that the group's cause is still relevant today. >> beau, if you can hear me, you are not forgotten, and so help me, god, will you come home. we will not leave you behind. >> reporter: events like rolling thunder help keep that vow and more. >> i was 18 when i went over, and like i said, i still remember it like it was yesterday, you know. so this is still therapy for me, though. there is nothing more healing than being here with a bunch of people that understand where you came from and what you've done. >> reporter: in northwest, derrick ward, news4. music will fill the national mall tonight as thousands gather for the annual memorial day concert. ♪

>> people came out to the west lawn to watch the dress rehearsal last night. roger dautry will be among the people taking part in the concert. joe montegna will co-host the concert tonight. it's been hot and humid out there. chuck bell is in our weather center to tell us how the weather is going to hold up for those concert goers tonight. chu chuck. >> good evening, everybody. the concert will probably remain dry, but there are people who will try to make it to the great state of maryland tonight. these storms here are out to the west of i-81 and falling apart quickly. those are not the problem. these thunderstorms in southern pennsylvania, those are the problem there, coming out of pungs a tawun -- punxatawny,

pennsylvania. i think most of the storms will stay to the east of downtown, but it's going to be close. we'll talk about more coming up. some problems to report on amtrak tonight causing big delays between d.c. and new york city. services currently suspended between baltimore and wilmington, delaware. it's because of prisons with overhead wires. it is not yet clear when service will be restored. passengers who decided to use other transportation options can request a refund. a security guard narrowly escaped injury today when a car crashed into his booth at leisure world in silver spring. this happened at the complex entrance on norbeck road. the car jumped the curb and slammed into the guard's building. it's not clear how she's doing tonight.

officials closed down the guard booth because of structural damage. defenseless baby animals under attack. that's what investigators are looking into at a farm in fairfax county, and they're wondering if it's connected to a previous recent case involving horses that were stabbed. darcy spencer is live in herndon tonight with more. hi, darcy. >> reporter: yeah, chris, the cuttings happened in this bathroom behind me. it's called the kidwell barn. we're told four animals were cut between yesterday afternoon and this morning. police say this case is very close to and also very similar in nature to a recent case where three horses were slashed. this calf known affectionately as henry was sliced across the top of his head. this goat called scandal was also cut. they are among the four animals slashed by an unknown attacker at the kidwell barn located at frying pan park in herndon. >> awful, horrible, senseless.

no, that's just awful, unspeakable. >> reporter: police say another goat and chicken were also cut sometime between 5:00 p.m. saturday and 7:00 a.m. sunday. police say the crimes could be connected to similar injuries n inflicted on three horses on adjacent property in april. >> i think that's absolutely horrible. they're completely innocent animals and there's no reason for that at all. it's just cruel. >> reporter: farm workers found the injured barnyard animals when they went to feed them around 8:00 sunday morning. the calf and one of the goats are under a year old and bottle fed. authorities say they're not afraid of people and would approach anyone in the hopes of being fed. >> they believe that it's not life threatening, but certainly the animals have been traumatized and are afraid. >> reporter: it was back on april 26 that three therapeutic riding horses were found with deep slash wounds, the horses part of a program for special needs children were able to

return to service after receiving treatment. >> it's too soon to say if it was the same individual or the same people. however, because of the close proximity, it's something our detectives will have to look at. >> reporter: fairfax county police say because of the open nature of this park as well as the barn, security can be very, very difficult. as a matter of fact, fairfax county park authority officials did not want to say whether there are any security cameras in place, but they say in light of these attacks, there is a stepped-up security. in fact, we saw someone who appeared to be from a private security firm here at the barn just a few minutes ago. we should also mention, no arrests have been made in either one of these attacks. reporting live from herndon, darcy spencer, news4. turning to decision 2012 this morning on "meet the press noo ", maryland governor martin o'malley and former speaker of the house newt gingrich debated at whether barack obama and mitt romney would be better at creating jobs and turning the

economy around, and then he directly asked o'malley if he's planning to run for president in four years, and if gingrich is interested in being romney's running mate this year. >> i think that's highly i am plausible, but i've learned the hard way to never say no, but i find it as implausible as you find it. >> governor, would you run in 2016? are you waiting to see what buysen and clinton do? >> i'm not thinking that far. i'm doing what i'm doing right now, which is to help democratic governors -- >> he gave him a word about running for president. the former house speaker said raise a lot of money. well, there's a growing probe into who is spilling secrets from the vatican, ahead. why more charges could be coming in the leak of hundreds of church documents. a search for answers after a house burst into plaflames in t

midwest. more trouble for lady gaga's tour overseas. why fans

investigators in wisconsin are trying to figure out why a house exploded last night. seven people were hurt in the explosion and fire. this happened in the suburb of milwaukee. two neighboring homes also caught fire because of the

blast. investigators are focusing on the basement as the possible source. they say it could still be a few days before they can determine the cause. a scandal at the vatican is unfolding like the script tie hollywood movie. yesterday pope benedict's butler was charged with leaking hundreds of secret documents. police found many of them in gabrielle's vatican apartment last week. some of the documents wound up in an italian journalist's book. they detailed corruption within the catholic church. many of them seemed to be aimed at the pope's second in command, the secretary of state. an investigation is under way to see if anyone else may have been involved. lady gaga pulls the plug on her sold-out show in indonesia next week because of security concerns. the decision was made after islamist hard liners threatened violence. those against the concert said lady gaga's sexy costumes and provocative dance moves could

corrupt kids. those close to lady gaga say it wasn't just about concerns over her security but about the safety of her fans, too. the concert promoter says all 52,000 tickets will be refunded. fire, storms and even snow in parts of the country. when we come back, we'll show you where the weather is making for a memorable memorial day weekend. we got away with the outdoor activities today, but chuck will tell us that may change for ♪

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the weather this memorial day weekend is shaping up to be memorable itself in several parts of the country, from a tropical storm warning down south to sweltering temperatures in the heartland. nbc's kurt gregory has our story. >> reporter: home this memorial day weekend, wild weather is turning the holiday into not quite a great day at the beach. >> we're really concerned about rip currents associated with this and we're advising folks to stay out of the water. >> reporter: along the georgia coast, northeast florida and parts of south carolina, tropical storm barrel has canceled many vacation plans. >> everybody from back home is calling us, telling us the storm is rolling in, so we decided then instead of staying and hanging out tomorrow, we're going to go back to gainesville. >> it will be an indoors day tomorrow for sure. >> beryl, the second named storm of the system, which doesn't officially start until june 1st,

is expected to make land on sunday. powerful storms are expected along with heavy rains. in some parts of the country, it's the lack of rain causing problems, making the battle against wildfires in several states more difficult. in new mexico, a fire in the hela national forest has burned through more than 150 square miles. in michigan, campers were forced to evacuate as more than 21,000 acres burned, fueled by dry winds and high temperatures. those record highs can be felt across much of the nation, from indianapolis as race fans gear up for the indy 500 to pittsburgh, where some find relief from the heat poolside. but out in northern california, it's not the warmth but the chill in the air. >> it's freezing. we thought we were going to go up to the sun in tahoe. >> that has people double

checking the date on their calendar. kurt gregory, nbc news. hot and humid locally, chuck. what do you got ahead? >> more of the same for better or worse of t. we have another round of showers and thunderstorms firing up in southern pennsylvania, and for better or worse, it looks like you folks in northern maryland could be under the gun for some stronger storms here between about 8:00 tonight and 11:00 tonight. so keep an eye on the sky from washington northbound to the pennsylvania line. outside right now, a lot of people who have spent the day on the potomac waterskiing, sfla splashing and swimming around. they're getting the boats out of the water and probably headed to a backyard barbecue somewhere. a lot of grilling going on out there, 85 at national airport. a breeze at 13 miles per hour. yesterday our breezes were barely over the 5 to 6-mile-an-hour range, so that

extra breeze helped keep things stirred up a bit. didn't feel quite as oppressive out there. 88 in fredricksburg, virginia, 87 in charlottesville. most of the showers right now are west of i-81, but there are storms in pennsylvania, and i think those thunderstorms are headed to northern maryland here after about 8:00 or 9:00 this evening. once we get to 11:00 time frame, most of those should be coming to an end. if you have the backyard barbecue going and you live in the immediate metropolitan area, no problems for a couple hours at least. showers fading away at this time sorks that's welcome news. but the thunderstorms here in northern pennsylvania, these are going pretty good now and they're drifting southeastbound at about 20 miles an hour. that puts northern maryland under the gun in the next couple hours. then tomorrow, another hot and humid day with pop-up thunderstorms, again, just like the last few days. primarily in the mountains of

west virginia, mountains of pennsylvania, but can't rule out a little shower answer in town, but better widespread shower chances as we roll into tuesday and tuesday night. as far as tropical storm beryl, there it is, rolling into jacksonville, florida. the track from the hurricane center has a slow 38-mile turn before it heads to the racy waters and out to sea. maybe a little patchy fog in the morning. temperatures 60 to 70. tomorrow, steamy once again with a chance of scattered showers and thunderstorms just like the last few days, mostly north and west. here's the week ahead forecast. near 90 tomorrow. if we make 90, that will be our first 90 of the year tomorrow. best shower chances for everybody, tuesday afternoon into wednesday. turning noticeably cooler around here by friday-saturday time frame. il i will be tweeting chuck balfour here on monday.

coming up in sports, you better watch out. objects in rearview mirrors may be

it's a memorial day weekend tradition at the brickyard. >> there was sort of a memorial today at the indy 500.

it began as a memorial lap for the englishman killed in last year's race. they honored him by wearing those signature sunglasses on the 98th latp. but the biggest tribute came at the finish when bagpipes called out and they took the flag. on the 79th lap, mike conway pits his 14 car and look out! he hits a couple of his crew members. but it would even get worse for conway. after he exits pit row with a broken front wing, that is the result. conway loses control and spins into the fence. willpow power can knock it out the way, and yes, the driver's name is will power. look at that. luckily, both drivers would be okay. check out the view from power's car. boom! that will make you lose your breath. this is the view from the car a

castronet was driving. that was some good driving for him, though. the final lap, francite out in front, and today he makes it three. so cue the bagpipes for the skots scottsman. wearing those white sunglasses to honor his teammate. the 26-year-old signed a six-year, $85 million contract with the burrs. it makes him the highest paid center fielder in baseball behind the dodgers mike kemp. the news became official at a press conference this morning. >> we have a solid team here, and, you know, my mother, you're a big part of this. don't cry, please don't.

you're a big part of this, you know that. my entire family, you're the rock of it. and let's enjoy this, but there's a bigger goal here, i believe, and that's winning games. that's the ultimate reason why i signed on is i believe in what showalter and duquette has, and they believe in winning. >> he has the cash, he has the extension, but what about that seven-game hitch he's riding? bottom of the fifth off of lou colshaver, and that makes it 18 games now. jones definitely earning that mega paycheck already. today he's 4 and 1 in the month of may, but in the sixth, he gets in some trouble and trouble's name is jeff francoeur. he hits it out of the park and royals take a 3-2 lead. later in the inning, one out for

contero. escobar trying to score all wait from 1st, so here comes the relay and matt leaders drops it. royals go up 4-2, and that's the final. the o's have now lost five of their last seven games. the nationals are enjoying a two-game lead over the mets. tonight they go for the three-game sweep of the braifz bla braves in atlanta. celtics hosting the 76ers. kevin garnett trying to get boston back. the celtics have been there twice. egondala ahead of the pack. he finishes. he had a team high 18. we have a one-point game here, folks. three-point celtics lead.

the boston point guard scores all nine celtics point during a 9-game run. boston wins 85-75. they'll take on the heat monday in game one of the eastern conference finals. going to be a good match-up. i don't know if i like the heat in that one. >> tomorrow the terps versus loyola. >> that's right. i'm a grad. i can't deny it. >> we'll bei back here at 11:00.