investigation by the secret service and the d.c. police department's internal affairs division and these are an embarrassment to the d.c. police department. chief kathy linear spoke about it in front of cameras for the first time. >> there's absolutely no place for jokes of a nature that could be perceived as threatening to the president, the first lady or anybody else. that's not funny and police officers get that. this is not something that you joke about. and when i talked earlier about this process, if it's determined that the statement was made and is not criminal threat in nature, it's still possible that in the administrative investigation that the statement was extremely unprofessional and conduct unbecoming of a police officer. >> reporter: we are told the officer in question is a 17-year veteran of the agency. he has not been identified. reporting live at d.c. police

headquarters, jackie benson, news 4. tonight d.c.'s attorney general is defending vincent gray, but nathan who had no role in the campaign for mayor says the campaign scandal is affecting city government. tom sherwood joins us with more on that. >> the attorney general says the mayor is staying focused on his job. this week jeannie harris admitted in court her part in the $60,000 off the books shadow campaign to elect gray in 2010 and gray has been rebuffing reporters who want to know what he know, but gray says his lawyer won't let him talk. friday on the approximately tic politics hour, wayne nathan weighed in on the scandal impact saying it does affect the running of the government. >> i can't say this is not a distraction and not the subject of water cooler discussions. >> and nathan who played no role

in the great campaign said the mayor is doing a good job. >> i have seen him up close and personal in dealing with governmental affairs and in my judgment, this is an honest man who is doing a very good job as the mayor. >> now with three felony guilty pleas and they're raising questions that are hanging over the mayor. did the mayor in any way approve in the off the books campaign, did the mayor orchestrate it in any way or did the mayor learn of the shadow campaign and take no action to stop it. >> we have to go forward. after wednesday's felony guilty plea, three council members, mariel bouncer and mary chai called for gray's resignation saying he needs to be held accountable and attorney general nathan said he thought that's premature. >> i know there's interest and i'm certainly interested in knowing the results and i think we have to wait for the u.s. attorney to complete that investigation. and we'll know what happened.

>> nathan recently testified before the d.c. council on ways to toughen the city's ethics laws. wendy? >> tom sherwood. news 4's derek ward was with the mayor as he went about business as usual despite the questions surrounding his campaign. derek will have more on that coming up at 5:30. a flight had to make an emergency landing at reagan national because of a problem with one of its flaps. this happened this morning aboard a jazz flight. that's a regional jet from ottawa. jazz is part of air canada. the faa says the flight landed without incident. a suspicious device delayed travelers from new york to madrid, spain. the delta air lines flight returned to jfk airport last night two hours after takeoff because somebody discovered a device with wires in the lavatory. all 208 passengers were evacuated and the bomb squad determined the device wasn't dangerous and the passengers reboarded the plane and it took

off early this morning and arrived at its destination this afternoon. the fbi is on the hunt for a huge tiff father. he's accused of kidnapping his two children from prince georges county and taking them to tunisia. shamari. >> he saw my report on nbc washington.com. he contacted me and i interviewed him from tunisia. >> in an exclusive interview from tunisia, he told me he will not turn himself into the fbi and he won't bring his kids back to the u.s. the fbi says he's a wanted fugitive. he's accused of kidnapping his 2-year-old daughter and son in november. he was awarded visitation rights. he picked up the kids from their grandparent's house and was supposed to return them two days later. instead he and the kids boarded

a plane at dulles and flew to germany and landed in tunisia. the mother flew to tunisia to search for her kids and he says he did nothing wrong. >> i don't have anybody to tell me you are not supposed to take the kids outside the country. nobody told me that. >> now the children's mother is spending time with the kids in tunisia. they're at their grandparents' house. this case has gone to court over there and she hopes that the government will allow her to bring her kids back to our area. the fbi is aware of the interview and they will continue to investigate and special agents are working with the state department and in contact with tunisian authorities. he called me again on our phone and he says he has more to tell me and you can find out more tonight at news 4:00 at 11:00. i'm shamari stone, news 4. >> the rain could be back headed our way. doug is on the storm 4 weather

patio where it's looking good right now. doug? >> it's not bad at all. the interesting thing is it's cloudy. we've had a lot of cloud cover today and we still got to 88 degrees today and warmer than we were thinking and we were thinking 86 and we hit 88 and right now we're at 87 degrees with winds with cloudy skies and winds out of the southeast at 9 miles per hour. currently sitting right now at 71 back to the west in petersbu petersburg, west virginia. something's going on to help them cool off and that is the rain down to the south and west of us. 88 right now in fredericksburg and there's the rain right now. all of the way to the south and down to the north and down to the west and we're all seeing the shower activity and we'll have chance of showers throughout the rest of the evening hours and most of those will stay west of the i-95 corridor and let's go into fairfax county and how about you around tyson's corner and expect them to drop to 83 by 11:00 and

maybe a few showers with the temperature there by 78 degrees and it will return in a big way and how big of a way? we'll have that coming up in just a couple of minutes. >> thanks, doug. >> in the race for the white house, president obama campaigning in virginia. he'll head for roanoke within the hour. at each stop he has renewed his demand for congress to keep tax rates the same for anyone who makes under $250,000 a year. >> the republicans disagree with me on this and mr. romney disagrees with me on this. my attitude is that's fine, but let's not hold middle class folks hostage. >> tomorrow mitt romney the gop public events scheduled and he's conducted interviews with five tv networks later today.

>> the drudge report posted a story suggesting that condoleezza rice is a front-runner in mitt romney's search for a runningmate. rice served as secretary of state for former president george w. bush. he also served as his national security adviser. she has endorsed romney, but when similar rumors surfaced in may again last month, she told reporters she did not intend to be romney's vice president. >> big rally ending the week on wall street, following a six-day losing streak. the dow rebounded today with a 204-point gain. the nasdaq up also 42 points and the s&p 500 up 22 points. new earning reports by j.p. morgan fueled today's positive numbers. >> despite revelations that the bank now says the trade cost it $5.8 billion this year. that's almost three times the original estimate and each more

it's possible that its oesh traders might have covered up the bad bet and it's gotten rid of managers who were tied to the bad trade. >> it may be must rating for commuters and it could be costing the commonwealth millions of dollars. vij virj fell to third place on cnbc's list of top states for business. it had been at first or second since the network started releasing its annual list in 200737 one of the main reasons for the fall, virginia's horrible traffic. cnbc ranked it 33rd in the country when it comes to tough commutes. it was tenth -- it was a tenth a year ago. >> still ahead on news 4 at 5:00, a massive apartment fire in maryland. the smoke can be seen for miles and tonight we're hearing from the victims who were rescued from the building. another shake-up at "american idol." >> we'll tell you who is the last judge standing

a huge fire with smoke that can be seen for miles appears an electrical short sparked this blaze at an apartment at burtonsville. it took more than a hundred firefighters to get the flames under control and rescue more than a dozen people who were

trapped inside the building. richard jordan joins us live from burtonsville. >> reporter: doreen, 36 apartments were either damaged or destroyed and the blaze started on a unit in the first floor and went up there, and many people trapped in the second or third floor his no way out. >> the flames were shooting at least 30, 40 feet in the air. it just looked like a scene out of the movie. >> a huge blaze worthy of a big screen and the raging fire off castle boulevard was all too real for some 70 people forced out in their bare feet and dressed in what they wore to bed. >> the smoke was so thick you couldn't breathe. >> reporter: 13-year-old sarah oliver was rescued. the girl with the parents and the family pet all trapped on their balcony, but everyone got out safely. >> you got out in ten minutes and shouting and asking for help. >> the firefighters put the ladder up and i had to go down. >> reporter: this woman cut her

arm during the fire escape and firefighters said no one was seriously hurt during the rescue. >> the red cross is hoping to make accommodations for those whose homes were damaged and they're grateful the rescuers got there in time. >> i wanted to reach out to help and i can barely walk myself. if i could, i would be there, and just to stand there and witness it and watch it, you felt like you were in it, you know? >> reporter: the damage to all of the affected units is estimated at $1.5 million. because there were some empty apartments in the apartment complex. a lot of the residents that will be displayed are staying there for now so they do have a place to stay temporarily. reporting live in burtonsville, richard jordan. >> one bit of bad good news in a bad situation. >> the things are going like this. this is the rain chances, this is the temperatures. >> everything's going up!

>> and our mood, exactly, going down, but at least it's the weekend and weir headed into the weekend and looking pretty nice. it's not going to be a horrible weekend and even though we have a chance of rain and more temperatures moving in. we are on the warm side of things, but with cloud cover, not bad. temperatures around 87 degrees and that's the current number at the airport and so far the high today has been 88 degrees and right around average for this time of the year and average high is 89. dew point right now at 58% and the humidity is not too much of a factor and the southeast at 9 miles an hour and once again with the cloudy skies and to the west, temperatures are much cooler and we've had cloud cover and shower activity and 78 in martinsburg and 78 in hagerstown and over toward the eastern shore, 88 in cambridge and that's where we've seen the sunshine. if you've been south and east of washington today, you have seen some sunshine, north and west

and there hasn't been sunshine to come by and you can see here in the shenandoah valley and around the charlottesville area and between laray and charlottesville and a few light showers and sprinkles right now and they were prominent and earlier in the day and you can see it right here coming through the region and the shower activity is now through portions of central pennsylvania and there are more showers down to the south and they are moving to the north. as we move on through the next couple of hours, this is what to expect ask it will be on the warm side right through the rest of the evening and if you're going to be out and about, it's a good idea to take the purse umbrella. i don't think you'll need a big umbrella and always a good idea to keep that umbrella handy. over the next couple of hours, watch tomorrow, high pressure settles down to the south and east of us, but i think we have a good chance of seeing storms tomorrow and any storms that develop will have the potential for heavy downpours and don't worry too much about that, and it will be warm and we'll see the chance of storms. on sunday, the high moves to the

south and we get on the hot side of that high pressure area with temperatures back into the 90s. sunday, another good chance of afternoon showers and thunderstorms. some of those could be on the strong side and once again, we're not talking about any severe weather outbreak like we've seen so much over the past couple of weeks and mostly cloudy showers and out to the west and most areas will be dry this evening and tomorrow morning and waking up and walking out the door and a few showers out there and temperatures, 68 to 76 degrees and as you move on through the day tomorrow, high temperatures, 83 to 89. very close to where we were today and showers and thunderstorms likely with some downpours, so watch out for those. the four-day forecast showing the heat moving in. 93 on sunday. 94 on monday. 97 tuesday and on wednesday it could be hotter than that, possibly and it looks like that should be the end of the heat wave by next week. it will be a heat wave and not as bad as the last one and i

don't anticipate anyone getting over 100 and we'll continue to watch out for that. >> it's enough to make a person head to the beach. >> or head back to london. >> i would love to head back to london. we'll do that in about an hour, as a matter of fact. we will continue our olympic preview out there. we toured all around london, including, you had to go and of course, try the food and the pubs, the english pubs are something to really take in if you get over there and i, of course, got to eat all of the food myself. >> was that fish and chips. was it good? >> it's served differently now than it was just a few years ago. wait until you see it. i'll show it to you at 6:00. >> we're hungry. they're still frying it, aren't they? >> that they're doing. >> thanks, doug. in news for your health, researchers discovered a form of fat that actually burns calories instead of storing them. it's called beige fat. during exercise, a hormone converts regular fat cells into beige fat cell which is burn up

extra calories. researchers at dana farber cancer institute are studying and hoping to harness its calorie-burning properties and it burns calories during times of extreme cold when people are shivering and the research is still in the early stages and experts say much more study is needed and when it comes to losing weight, keeping a food journal can be helpful and researchers studied post-menopausal women and those that didn't skip meals lost six pounds more than those who did sht. skipping a meal and going out to eat prevents weight loss and fasting helps you crave the high-calorie foods and eating out gives you less control over the portion size and the ingredients going into your meal. the study is published in the journal of the academy of nutrition and dietetics. >> still ahead on news 4. an exclusive report. we'll hear from a 9-year-old girl who pulled a 4-year-old

from the bottom of the swimming pool. >> i'm liz crenshaw. is it really dangerous to shower or use your phone during a thunderstorm? that's the question. the answers are coming up on "ask liz." hold on tight for the highlights you need to see in case you missed it. toni [ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message. [ female announcer ] every woman who believes decisions about our bodies and our health care should be our own is troubled mitt romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a law that outlaws all abortion -- even in cases of rape and incest. and that's not all. i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] for women, planned parenthood means

life-saving cancer screenings and family-planning services. but, for mitt romney... planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that.

oh, that dreamy dan helly is here with in case you missed it. >> the food during the break is starting to make me hungry. this is the slowest time of the year in the sports world, but we were able to dig up gems for your viewing pressure. great fan catches and phenomenal golf shots, just some of what you'll see in the latest installment of "in case you missed it." >> reporter: in case you missed it, on your mark, get set, go. it's the diaper derby in new york. a preliminary event for the triathlon and it was no contest for these tykes in training as they made it a route, and no, you cannot eat the trophy. speak of babies, check out the dad in atlanta. alfonso soriano's foul ball into the stands and dad makes the

one-handed grab while holding on to the baby in the other hand. mom celebrates because she's a cubs fan. even the atlanta players had to applaud the grab. hey, coach, get out of the way. the phillies hunter pence comes around and he didn't get a stop sign, he got a body block. samuel goes down and the coach was less than pleased by the collision with his runner. in golf we see hole in ones all of the time on the pro tour, but how about when there's a bmw on the line? with the six-series coupe sitting right behind the tee, 38-year-old andrew marshall hits a perfect tee shot, rolls right across the green and into the jar for the ace. it's a hole in one. for that shot, marshall wins the car and drives off a winner regardless of how he performed in the tournament. and then, was there pro-stock

motorcycle rider angie smith who couldn't quite make the turn in a race and heads off into the field. she bales just in time as the bike keeps going into the cornfield and just like the movie "field of dreams," everybody who goes into the cornfield disappears. luckily, smith was uninjured. finally, the camera paid the price at the all-star futures game, thanks to will meyers. he fouls one directly into the camera, squarely on the lens. that camera is probably done. no problem, we'll just tape it up and get back into the action. in case you missed it, you have now seen it all. >> one of those hits a player. >> you can't hit a camera more squarely than that. tonight, the nationals are back in action and hopefully they're not in in case you missed it for anything bad, but they're back tonight. >> thank you, dan. >> still ahead, a woman dials a wrong number and it ends up saving her life.

a warning about a rabid fox that attacked a man in maryland'

a fast forward through the headlines now. a d.c. police officer accused of threatening first lady michelle obama has been moved to desk duty. he was allegedly overheard saying he'd shoot the first lady. news 4 has learned that he and other officers who heard the comment and didn't report it may

also be disciplined. president obama campaigning in virginia spent the day in hampton rose is on his way toro an oak. tomorrow he'll speak in centerville high in fairfax. mitt romney sent him to campaign on his behalf. that's according to cnbc. the commonwealth had been first or second on the network's list since it first came out in 2007. virginia's terrible traffic is a major factor in the decline. now let's fast forward to our weather. doug? >> could it be because they're doing construction on the entire virginia portion of the beltway? >> possibly. >> how about let's do one section at a time so everyone can blow through the other -- all right. i'm running out of time. sorry. sorry. hello, everybody. your weather today a little bit on the warm side. we got to 90 degrees today and our official high was 90. 89 in philadelphia, 71 in elkin, west virginia and there was a lot of cloud cover and even rain

to the west and take a look at the weather forecast and at 5:00, no rain around the virginia section of the beltway and by tomorrow morning you might see rain out there and it may slow youdown as you look down around:00 a.m., a few showers around and not rain and tomorrow will not be a washout, but take a look at tomorrow afternoon between 5:00 and 6:00, i expect thunderstorms with locally heavy downpours so keep the umbrellas handy as you make your way out and about during the day tomorrow. and the maryland side of the beltway, no construction. back to you. >> despite the attention surrounding his campaign, d.c. mayor vincent gray went about his business and today he continued to dodge questions about the investigation. news 4's derek ward is live with more on the mayor's day. derek? >> reporter: it was indeed a busy day for the mayor with a full schedule of public appearances that began in just about an hour and he still has

to execute the duties of the office despite this controversy that spells how he got there in the first place. >> there was an effort to keep this in business as usual mode. >> i kept to my schedule and i'll continue to keep to my schedule and i'll continue to do that. among the events, a walk wahhing tour along martin luther king avenue, to those who peddle to minors. >> blunts, ceramic tubes and rolling papers, et cetera. >> reporter: while it's a worth topic, the media contingent was larger than what an event like this would usually attract and he fended off questions that his mayoral campaign also operated a so-called shadow campaign. there's an ensuing investigation by the district attorney's office. >> now much of the day to day operations can you monitor? >> you mean the papers? >> about the election.

>> let's stay on this issue, okay? >> gray said while the matter is under investigation, he is limited on what he can say and until the matter is resolved the questions are likely to continue. it wasn't all warm and fuzzy. he did have a tv appearance earlier today and of course, was there a contingent of reporters, me included, trying to ask him the same questions and he actually dodged us by entering through the garage. stay tuned. live at the wilson building, derek ward, news 4. >> thank you, derek. d.c. committee is hearing testimony following the derecho storm that hit two weeks ago. tense of thousands in the district, some lost power for a week or more. today's hearing has been going on for four hours and so far the testimony from residents and citizen groups. we have not yet heard a response from a pepco representative. >> police say a local man coupled his own cousin during a fight over a sre tire.

he shot and killed thomas washington inside his home in brandywine yesterday, washington junior is charged with first-degree murder and being held without bail. an abandoned home that's become something of an eyesore. it is being demolished. today prince georges county executive joined crews as they started being comboing down the old house on nova avenue. baker says it's been abandoned since 2008. neighbors have complained about illegal squatters and people ditching stolen vehicles outside of it. the demolition is part of the transforming neighborhood's initiative. alexandria police have identified this man wanted for allegedly cashing phony checks back in june. today police announced that 48-year-old jay michael lynnford is already in jail. he's accused of stealing a rare, first-edition book of mormon. the book disappeared from an arizona bookstore. marshals raided an apartment and

took him into custody. alexandria police have issued arrest on the fake check charges. neighbors are warning each other about a fox that attacked a man on chevy chase. a fox bit him earlier this week along turner lane. there are also reports of a fox attacking a dog on nearby cummings lane. some people are worried that these foxes could be rabid. those who live in the area say the foxes they've seen have generally left people alone. >> they live in the creek down here, and they have been around a lot. however, i don't think that i ever heard of them actually in the neighborhood, and i've never heard of them actually biting anyone before. >> the national park service says foxes don't usually attack people unless they feel threatened. experts say if you should see one, you should scream and that will usually scare it off. still ahead, another major change in american idol. which judge won't be back for the next season. i was going to get out, and

i saw the girl. she was face down on the ground -- the bottom of the pool. >> a news 4 exclusive. a 9-year-old tells the story of a rescuing a 4-year-old who almost drowned. we'll show you matters. pioneers in outsourcing us jobs supports tax breaks overseas. insourcing. industry and favors bring jobs home. it matters. this message.

small plates are all the rage on the restaurant scene. in spain they call them tapas, and in italy they're called cecchetti. >> and they take us to a new place called sugo czech checkety. >> introduced to the potomac in may the 100-seat sugo cecchetti. the newcomer small plates as a waiter told me come out as they're ready and are meant to be shared. a salad of fennel and oranges has mint and sparkle with champagne vinegar. cauliflower has creamy tufts of goat cheese. shaved pork and provolone cheese are packaged between grilled bread. from the gas-fired brick oven come puffed lips and blazing char. my favorite is the sicilian,

decked out with black olives and white anchovies and broccoli rabe, the dining room has plenty of selling points, as well. red leather booths say old-school italian. white globes suspended lay a glow at night. sugo is located at 12505 in to poem ak. this is food critic with "the washington post." >> check out the washington post magazine for more of the video reviews check out nbcwashington.com. let's go. i'm hungry now. coming up, the hit show that will soon film in d.c.. >> and we'll tell you how a wrong number may end up saving a woman's life. >> dealing with cloud cover around parts of the region and ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪

well-deserved recognition today for a young woman in northern virginia. the 9-year-old was the only person who noticed another child not moving at the bottom of the swimming pool. she didn't just call for help. she actually saved the other child's life. news 4's melissa malay spoke to the child in the news 4 exclusive. >> reporter: 9-year-old camille rivas is being hailed a hero. >> when i started swimming i just felt something in me that it just made me feel like, oh, my goodness. i belong here. i love swimming. >> reporter: june 26th, it was a busy, hot day at the complex pool in manassas. camille's mother doesn't want her face shown, but she was here with her grandmother. >> i was going to get out, and i saw the girl. she was face down on the bottom

of the pool. so i held my breath and went down there and poked her to see if she was playing around and holding her breath and holding her breath or something. >> reporter: the little girl, a 4-year-old, police say the mother had left her five children inside the gate while she signed in a guest. >> this is where the little girl was. >> camille says when she saw her she picked her up and cradled her and laid her on the concrete and yelled for help. >> i said help! someone help me! i think this girl drowneded. >> reporter: the little girl wasn't breathing and who lifeguards started cpr. she says it was terrifying. >> she had foam and stuff coming out of her mouth and nose. >> continental pool which runs the facility here tell us news 4 they completed the investigation and the lifeguards were in the proper position at the time. giovanna nerevez has been charged with three counts on child neglect and camille has

been wondering about the little girl. >> i've been thinking about her all week for the last two weeks. >> reporter: the 4-year-old is expected to make a full recovery and this morning camille was honor period. >> she doesn't think it was a big deal, and she was very light to push out of the pool and she's just a tiny, petite little thing. it's amazing. it's just amazing. >> prince william fire and rescue will give her an award for her bravery. >> i feel like i did something really good. >> melissa malay, news 4. >> a lot of people feel like you did. head's up if you're out driving or taking the metro this weekend, police in maryland will be cracking down on speeding motorcyclists and officers in maryland state police will be taking part in operation road runner. they'll be targeting speeding motorcyclists along a 15-mile stretch in route 50. >> they'll be working on all five rail lines and us aboutes

will replace trains in pentagon city on the blue and yellow lines and the reagan airport and crystal city stops will be closed and there will be single tracking on the red, green and orange lines. >> here's doug with another check of the weather, doug? >> a lot of cloud cover in most of the area, but i think a pretty nice place in town. the current temperature with winds out of the southeast at about 9 miles per hour with plenty of cloud cover, a few showers, too. notice where they are back into portions of west virginia up to the north in the northern portions of maryland and these are very light showers and a lot of this is not reaching the ground right now and there have been some showers during the day out through portions of west virginia. as far as temperatures go, we'll see temperatures staying on the cooler side of things during the evening hours and still rather warm. we'll call it warm, but back to the west, that is where the rain has been and that's where the rain will stay for most of the evening and take a look at these temperatures into the 60s and 66

in winchester and around 76 in and around the city. temperatures right around the city will be on the warm side and places like northern virginia will drop down into the 60s later tonight and a fairly nice start tomorrow and do expect to see showers, and 87 degrees is your temperature, and 86 in manassas and 90 in fredericksburg and 88 is what we're going for. we get hit 90 today and tomorrow could be very similar. so we may be bumping these numbers up just around the 6:00 hour and stay tuned for the 6:00 show and if you're headed down toward the beaches and maybe you're going to ocean city with your family and take a look at the numbers and 83 on saturday and 86 on sunday and 87 on monday and there will be a chance of showers and maybe a couple of thunderstorms and once again, not a washout so do not cancel that weekend vacation or the weekend mini vacation. this is what you can expect here and this is saturday, 88 degrees

on your sunday and 94 monday and then 97 tuesday. this is where the heat really starts to build in. take a look at the numbers here. 97 next wednesday and we could see the heat index once again close to 100, monday, tuesday and wednesday. a bit of a heat wave out there and you want to stay tuned for that and a chance for storms is the and sunday and again on wednesday as the frontal boundary moves through, that front could move through and create a nice day on friday. thursday not being looking too bad with the high temperature of 90 degrees with the chance of showers and thunderstorms. veronica johnson will be live next week in somebody's backyard. hooray, veronica is so excited about it and she's waiting to go out there. she's clapping and ready to go. if you want us to come to your backyard, send us pictures to weather@nbcwashington.com. guys, we'll send it right back in to you.

♪ ♪ is this an old wives tale or what? is it dangerous to shower or use your phone during a thunderstorm? and why is it possibly unsafe to clean a grill with a wire grill brush? and why do some of those popcorn boxes have the nutritional info for both the popped and the unpopped corn. we're not going to eat the unpopped corn. it's friday and liz crenshaw joins us now for "ask liz." >> inquiring minds. >> i like the first one. >> the first one came from andrea, a viewer. is it true that you're not supposed to shower in a thunderstorm or use your phone. is that true? >> the national weather service helped us, and they do say avoid using corded, showers and washing your hands. it can travel through the electrical, the phone, tv and plumbing systems. so if you're washing your hands and lightning strikes your home

it is possible for you to experience an electric shock. the national weather service recommends also avoiding touching anything that's plugged into a wall during the thunderstorm and that includes lamps, a tv, computer and a hard-wired telephone and not a wives tale during a thunderstorm. stay away from the plumbing and electrical. >> what is a hard wire telephone. >> our next question. this is interesting. a viewer has heard that wire brushes used to grill -- i thought we couldn't clean off a barbecue grill because of the gunk that's on it, but it turns out there is a problem. >> we turned to the centers for disease control and it has issued a new safety warning about using grill cleaning brushes and it turns out there have been six recent cases where folks were treated after accidentally ingesting the wire bristles from the grill cleaning

brushes. they want to carefully look at the grill service before cooking to make sure there were no bristles left behind. you might also look into other ways to clean your grill. the usda recommends heating the grill up to 500 degrees and simply using a crumbled piece of aluminum foil instead of the wire brush. >> someone in our control room said it happened to his daughter and she had to have surgery to get it out. so this is real. >> cdc had a couple that were in the stomach and some in the intestines. it is very serious. >> this is more fun and it's our last question. >> and this is a food prop here. >> shannon e-mailed us and they want to know why some boxes of popcorn have nutritional information about the popped and unpopped. we contacted oroville redden

balker. the nutrition amounts changed after the food is prepared. some food and butter reduces the fat content in the cooked content and boxed mack rhony and cheese dinner so they do it for the un and the done. >> and send it to askliz@nbcwashington.com and search liz crenshaw's consumer watch and whenever there's food around there's a jim handily around. >> and it's a taste test. >> put it no in a bowl. >> it's good. >> is there butter? >> no, this is -- >> just passing through. >> was he ever little? >> oh, dear. >> give it back to doreen. >> where's my popcorn, liz? >> it's coming! also in the news tonight, another big shake-up on "american idol" and a hit sitcom comes to d.c. those are some of the stories

that are trending today. jennifer lopez is the second judge in as many days to announce she's leaving "american id idol." she says it's time for her to move on and do some of the things she's had on show for two years. steven tyler says he's parting way with the show and that leaves randy jackson the only original judge on the panel and no word on possible replacements. oscar nominated of courser michael clark duncan is recovering at an l.a. hospital and the 54-year-old star is best known for his role in "the green mile." his girlfriend omarosa found him unconscious and performed cpr to revive him. his heart rate is stable and is expected to make a full recovery aside from "the green mile," he appeared on armageddon, sin city and the whole nine yards. if you like parks and recreation, you might get to see some of the show's stars in person next week. the hit nbc sitcom will shoot

parts of the premiere thursday and friday here in the district. most of the filming will take place near the white house, the newseum, the lincoln memorial and the reflecting pool. we still don't know which cast members will be in town. finally one company has a future hiftic way to cut down on traffic, the company is sky tran. it's created pod cars that would be suspended to 20 feet off the ground and zip down at speeds of 40 to 50 miles an hour, and critics worry about the impact pod cars has created on the environment. it hopes to have a system built by 2017. >> we'll keep our eye on that. >> looks cool. coming up next, a wom

a simple wrong number turned out to be the right call. the man who picked up the line was a perfect stranger and don mcafee. stephen was driving home to drop off his dog when a wrong number suddenly changed his plans. he had a woman in distress at the end of the line. >> yea. i was going to ignore it and she said i'm scared and i think i'm

having a stroke and when she said stroke that's what made me think wow, this person needs help. >> reporter: he asked where she lived. he happened to be minute away. i looked up at that moment and the sign was right there. he and his passenger rushed to her door and, and i got down on my knee and had my hand on her leg and tried to talk calmly and made sure that help was on the way. >> i was afraid to walk, but i opened the door to let them in and they came in and rescued me. >> reporter: eileen o'hara was taken to the hospital and treated for bleeding in her brain. she's grateful for the kindness of strangers. >> i thank you very much -- i appreciate it. >> reporter: we often hear about accidents that turn into tragedies, but in this case a phone call made completely by

mistake turned into what some would call a miracle. >> there was an angel. there was an angel looking after mom that day. >> o'hara's daughter says words are not enough. >> what do you do when that happens, you know? you just say thank you over and over again and i would like to meet him and thank him in person. 77-year-old eileen o'hara is blind and suffering from lung and brain cancer, but that fateful moment has given her hope. >> i think of things more. i think how things happen and how lucky i was and lu lucky i am to be here, but stephen doesn't consider himself a hero. >> it's not that big a deal. i can't see how anyone else wouldn't do it. she called the right car going by. >> someone who was scared and alone had a knight in shining armor that day. >> now at 6:00, the battle for

virginia in the race for the white house. tonight at 6:00, a top city official says the mayor is doing a good job, despite a campaign scandal, this after the mayor is trying to stick to city business. the d.c. officer threatening michelle obama is being disciplined. a massive wildfire traps a dozen tenants inside a burning building. >> i'm jim handly. >> i'm doreen ganz. president obama is campaigning in virginia. he's on his way to roanoke. steve handelsman has more. >> reporter: president obama headed to the potomac and raised the issue of obama defense cuts hoping that gives virginians second thoughts about the incumbent. president obama is campaigning for two days in virginia where