wire that's preventing police from actually getting access there. >> they might even make it explode possibly if they can't get in. the tragedy in colorado is one of the worst mass shootings in history. >> 12 people were killed and 60 wounded when a graduate student with a gas mask and dressed in combat gear opened fire. >> he called himself the joker and had planned the attack for at least two months. >> we'll have more on this heartbreaking story to come, but first a check on the weather. >> we turn our eyes to chuck. >> good morning, everybody. cloudy skies and noticeably cooler outside today than it's been the last few days. temperatures in the 60s with rain drops a-plenty this morning. rain will taper off by this afternoon and this evening. but if you're making your plans to enjoy your saturday, please keep your umbrellas and raincoats handy.

>> well have now more on the moving massacre in colorado. t a candle vigil was held for those killed. leanne gregg is live with the latest. >> reporter: they looked at dismantling the explosive devices on the inside. they want to preserve as much evidence inside as they possibly can. this community is still stunned by the events that happened inside the sold-out theater. >> reporter: mourners gathered at vigils not far from the crime scene trying to make sense of one of the worst shooting rampages in u.s. history. police say 24-year-old james holmes kicked open the theater's back door, tossed in smoke devices and came in shooting. he was dressed in black wearing a gas mask and body armor, armed with an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and two glock

handguns. ten were killed at the scene, two died later. steven burton is among the 58 injured. >> at the time i thought it was fireworks, then i got hit here and i realized it was sml much more serious. and people started screaming. there was a lot of chaos. >> at that moment i just remember thinking i'm not going to die in here. me and my kids, we're not going to die in here. i need to get them out. i need to get out. and all i could think was if i stand up, he's going to shoot because that's what he was doing. and i was just trying to think. >> reporter: a few miles away the suspect's apartment described by aurora officials as extensively booby-trapped, continues to be a focus of the investigation. with help of a robot officials are working on a plan to disarm what appears to be bottles connected with wires with possibly incendiary devices. colorado's governor is among those struggling to understand why this happened. >> the whole country recognizes

that this is something that we don't accept, we can't explain at this point, but we're not going to just let it happen to us. we're going to push back. ♪ >> reporter: a community in mourning as the investigation enters another day. more vigil are scheduled for tomorrow including one to be attended by the governor and the mayor of aurora. then on monday, the suspect is due for his first appear enin court. leanne gregg from aurora, colorado. today police will once again try to gain access to james holmes' apartment. holmes booby-trapped the place with trip wires to ammunition to fireworks. that apartment again is now surrounded by police that's try to gain access. investigators are being cautious preserve the information inside including a computer and some notebooks. if police can't disarm the

apartment, they haven't ruled out the possibility of blowing the whole place up. here's what we know about the suspect, james holmes. 24-year-old. he grew up in san diego. his father is with a software company, his mother is a nurse. he was in the process of withdrawing. police say that holmes did not have a criminal record. >> after the shooting police and journalists flocked to facebook to see this they could find a james holmes. this led to one mix-up. one james holmes posted a sunl that he's not the suspect, he just shares the name. the tragedy in colorado is certainly on the minds of moviegoers in our area. derrick ward is outside a

theater in northwest d.c. with the very latest. >> the first show begins here at 11:00. d.c. police are telling moviegoers what they can expect to see aside from the movie is a larger police presence. 58 wounded, 12 dead, james holmes due in court on monday. authorities have told moviegoer to see more of a police presence. recently at the gallery place cinemas in d.c., theater goers going there last night actually had their bags purchased. most didn't seem to mind. this is an attempted striking of a balance between security and what semblance of normalcy there can be in the wake of such tragedy. >> we've had no threats. we've had no indication of any

issues in this area. we're just trying to get out ahead of it and make sure the family is safe. >> i did do a double take of should we be doing this, but i didn't want to alarm my kids and say too much. just hope that nobody would do this again. >> now one lasting change may go beyond all of this. the amc theater chain has announced they will no longer allow the wearing of masks or costumes or the bring in of phony or toy weapons during the movie. if there's ever some reprisal of the whole harry potter chain, it would be interesting to see how that would be affected. >> the director of "the dark knight" trilogy spoke out as well. christopher nolan released a statement "i would like to express my profound sorrow at this senseless tragedy. the movie theater is my home and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and

hopeful place in such an unbearable way sun thinkable to me president. >> a drill was scheduled to take place yesterday by pure coincidence. officials acted out a gunman scenario at wise high school in upper marlboro. >> it was important on the heels of the tragedy in colorado to demonstrate to our community that we do have policies in place. >> it included an armored s.w.a.t. vehicle, bomb squad, canine unit, snipers and fake victims. how to best make officers visible in public places to help prevent a shooting. stay with news 4 and nbc washington for coverage of the mass shooting. how it has affected politics this weekend and how you can lp a child trying to process something of this magnitude. we're continue to keep our eye in aurora at that apartment

complex where police are trying to gain access. >> if they can't they may even just blow it up. the warning by suspect on a suspected killer on the loose in the d.c. area. >> while you may want to hold off ordering a certain type of seafood this weekend.

prince george's county police need your help in finding a suspectle killer. authorities are looking for this man, rudy guerra. police believe he shot and killed a man last weekend in langley park. police are warning people not to approach him as he is considered to be armed and dangerous. they're offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to his arrest. if you have any information,

call 866-411-tips. d.c. police identified the cab company manager killed late thursday night. investigators say hays dennis was stabbed in the chest during a dispute at the goldstar cab company located on q street in southwest. the company was closed at the times but mechanics and employees often stay late. maryland pepco customer will soon see a rate hike but their bills won't go up as much as expected. the maryland public service commission rejected 50 million of the $68 million rate increase request. the entire request was approved, customers would have seen an average monthly increase of $5.50. instead the increase will be around $2. the commission rejected most of the increase because they said pepco didn't deserve it citing a history of what they call substandard performance. a warning for commerustomer

dominion. there's a scam going around where customers are contacted by text message and asked to give their social security number and bank information. the energy company says there's no federal program and to call the police or the better business bureau if you are contacted. montgomery ride on bus service announced scheduling plans next week. it stopped running 30 champion style buses after a fire in silver spring. the company says it will run a normal schedule this weekend. a modified holiday schedule will be in effect next monday and tuesday. normal weekday rfs will resume wednesday. right now the food and drug administration is warning people not to eat raw or partially cooked shellfish that come from new york's oyster bay harbor. this comes after people got sick in several states including maryland. the fda says oysters and clams could be contaminated with bacteria that

causes stomach illness. consumers should check the tags on their shellfish to identify where they were harvested. if they were harvested in the harbor on or after june 1st, consumers should throw the shellfish away immediately. david kwiatkowski is charged with injektding himself with stolen drugs. the contaminated syringes were since used on patients who have been diagnosed with hepatitis c. kwiatkowski worked at a lab in hopkins for six months starting in july of 2009. he also worked at three other maryland hospitals but those locations have not been named. home day care providers in fairfax county are alarmed by a change in state policy that could force them to dramatically reduce the number of children in their care.

getting that special permit costs about $1100. >> you get really attached to these kids. you love them. just the thought of tell the parents two have to leave and choosing the two, how do you do that? a 4-year-old cancer patient is going to disney world even though her father refused to let her go on a trip. strangers donated enough money to send mckenna may and her mother and grandmother to the theme park. she was diagnosed with leukemia two years ago and is now in remission. make a wish offered to send her to disney, but her father wouldn't sign off saying those trips should only go to kids who are terminally ill. >> that's not in good spirits. >> she'll have a great time. >> community rallying behind

her. >> nice to see. 9:15 is the time. can't watch the olympics at work? there's an app for that. >> are the saturday morning showers moving out? here you go little man.

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[ giggles ] ♪ the one and only, cheerios this morning japan launched an unmanned rocket packed with cargo for the international space station. it can carry up to six months of food. it's expected to arrive friday or saturday after delivering supplies to the space station, it will be reloaded with waste then sent off to burn off in the atmosphere. a rocket launch is scheduled for nasa tomorrow. it is expected between 6:00 and

8:00 a.m. residents on wallace island and around the southern chesapeake bay area will be able to see that launch. it's happening during our show tomorrow. >> it was delayed a day but not because of the weather. they wanted to do some more testing on it. >> it will definitely affect plans today. people who were planning on lounging in the backyard and soaking up sun and working on their tan, that will not be happening on their saturday. there will be a little opportunity for that tomorrow. not that suntanning is all that good for you in the first place. mother nature doing you a favor. an abundance of moisture in the area. and as a result we also have raindrops in a few of our favorite neighborhoods this morning. 68 degrees right now with a little light rain and drizzle in downtown washington. dew points in the low 60s. winds now out of the northeast at 10 miles per hour.

northeasterly winds typically means an onshore flow from the ocean. that will keep things cloudy and cool around here for saturday. current temperatures low to mid-60s some many of the upper suburbs. a few spots fredericksburg down into st. mary's county touching into the low 70s. clouds and a bit soggy this morning with the raindrops around. more clouds than anything for this afternoon. rain will gradually be tapering off. then a cloudy finish to the day and a cloudy stretch coming over tonight. not a whole lot in the way of rain. out to ocean city, good day to drive over to the beach. will not be a good beach day with the clouds and the rain drops around. clouds in the upper 70s. then for tomorrow, a little bit better beach weather. first pitch a double header day if they can get them both in. 1:05 for the first time. but the rain showers will be fairly light.

no more than a few delays from time to time. they should be able to get the games in. but here we go, moderate rain showers northern arundel county. more light rain up towards fred rick and blunz wick maryland getting rain. then out towards the blue ridge just spotty showers. moderate rain now south of fredericksburg. a little bit heavier rain. so saturday showers, that will be the rule for today. overnight tonight really just a cloudy stretch. most of the rain will be done with this by about sunset this evening. then tomorrow a few breaks of sunshine. a good day to travel to the beach today. better sand weather for tomorrow and the better of the three days will come up. today mostly cloudy skies, passing showers through the front half of the day. highs holding in the upper 70s making it our coolest day in more than a month. then breaks of sunshine will allow for a warmer day.

tomorrow's rain chances will be in the second half of the day. there you go. the all-important seven-day forecast. 79 today, 86 tomorrow. back into the mid-90s for monday and tuesday. then after that a little rain chance. standard issue late july weather. low to mid-70s. i'll be tweeting updates on the forecast throughout the course of the day. chuck bell 4 on twitter. that's the address. >> we'll follow you. with just six days until the opening ceremony london is preparing for top notch security. >> the games are on track to be safe and secure. secretary theresa may stopped by the security hub yesterday. this comes after the private security firm admitted last week that it could not supply enough security guards. 3,500 troops have been sent in. the olympic torch arrived in

london yesterday via helicopter. it was then rappelled by the royal marines on a rope line. the flame was eventually given a small torch which will stay the night in london's jewel house alongside the crown jewels. >> very, very cool. >> if you're heading to the game, you may want to download some new apps on your phone. >> mike wilbur has the top apps for the london olympics. >> if you are planning on watching the games from home, there are many apps that can guide you to the games. >> the 2012 team usa olympic app is a great app for the die hard american olympic fan. pit really covers all of the u.s. athletes. it gives you an events schedule. so you can see everything usa all the time in one place. >> the london 2012 game app puts you right in the action. >> london 2012 allows you to play the actual shorts. i've got my character who i've made. you get to compete. you can decide if you want to

train, be in a challenge or actually go to the olympics. i'm training right now. i think i'll do swimming. >> if you're lucky enough to be in london, this travel guide app is perfect. >> this allows you to see what all the hot restaurants are, what all the great site-seeing places are. >> she shows off another app that will be handy when trying to get around the city. >> the london tube deluxe is good for anyone going to london any time. this will tell you the best way to get from point a to point b. the ultimate 2012 olympic guide is what it sounds like. the ultimate in everything. the history from before but also gives you right up to the present. >> still plenty of time to download those apps. the games kick off friday, july 27th. these games provide a unique dilemma for around 3,000 olympic athletes. ramadan began yesterday.

it requires muslims to fast. they have to decide whether to keep fasting or eat food. one says it's up to the individual olympian to make that decision. >> they can talk to their doctor. and if it's bad for them to fast while they're playing. it's very individual. i think it will not be a problem at all. >> ramadan lasts until august 18th. six days after the olympics closing ceremony. stay with nbc for all the coverage. visit nbcolympics and nbcwashington.com to keep track of our local athletes. the nationals will be able to come back today. they had a commanding lead then lost the game. washington and atlanta play a doubleheader today. a short break before starting game two at 7:00 tonight if the weather cooperates.

the nats coming off that devastating loss. washington was up 9-0 by the fifth inning but atlanta stormed back eventually winning in 11 innings. for the nats, their larnlest blown lead in franchise history. that hurts. >> ouch. brett favre is coming out of retirement and hitting the gridiron but his latest gig is a tad different than what he's used to. the quarterback is now an assistant high school football coach in mississippi. favre will work at oak grove high school which is near his home in hattiesburg. no word on what his role will entail, but favre has worked with his high school in the past. >> it would be good for those kids. >> everybody will be going out for the team now. how much did ac repairs cost? liz crenshaw breaks down the prices. plus the big day ahead for the two candidates running for senate. good morning! wow.

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♪ we're back this half hour with some of the pictures from the tragedy in colorado. welcome back to news 4 today. i'm angie goff. >> i'm richard jordan. it's saturday july 21st, 2012. flags are flying at half-staff today. president obama is calling the movie massacre a heinous crime. >> 12 people were killed and nearly 60 wounded when a

graduate student with a gas mask and dressed in combat gear opened fire yesterday during the showing of the new batman movie. >> police say the suspect called himself the joker and planned the attack for at least two months. >> we're going to have much more on the mass shooting in a moment including that tense search of the suspect's home. but first we want to get to your forecast. >> we're off to a soggy start today. meteorologist chuck bell is outside on our storm 4 weather patio. >> good morning. i know angie you've been tweeting out the pictures of your broken umbrella. this is what you need to do. you need to get yourself one of these great storm 4 working umbrellas. if you knew someone in the office that you treated a little nicer, you might have one of your own. 68 right now here in washington. 63 degrees in gaithersburg and germantown. 64 frederick, maryland. 68 in culpepper, virginia, 72 down in california, maryland.

here you see on storm 4 radar, light to moderate rain showers moving right along route 50 headed out to the bay bridge and along the eastern shore as well. rain drops in bethesda and silver spring. fred rericksburg getting rain a rain drops out towards the blue ridge as well. these are progressing from west to east across your screen. but the front half of your weekend is looking the soggy especially here through the rest of your saturday morning. cloudy skies this afternoon. rain showers will be tapering off as the afternoon goes along. as you head on out to the nationals game. the 1:00 game may have rain delays but today's game should be all right. if you need sunshine in your weekend, that will come your way tomorrow. but even tomorrow can't be guaranteed 100% dry. from the drizzly front lawn back into the comfortable studio. >> chuck, thanks. >> today police will try once

again to get inside the suspect's apartment. >> that's right. the bomb squad has been at that apartment building since yesterday because police say james holmes booby-trapped the place with everything from trip wire to ammunition to fireworks. >> investigator are being cautious to preserve evidence inside that building including a computer and notebooks. >> we're learning more. jay gray continues our team coverage. >> reporter: we're learning more about the firestorm in this colorado theater. >> an act that defies description. >> reporter: police say james holmes was dressed in full body armor when he burst through an exit door during a premiere of the movie "the dark knight." first tossing two smoke canisters, then opening fire. >> he was going up the stairs and shooting everybody just at random. he didn't have an agenda except to kill people. >> reporter: he had weapons

purchased in the last 60 days and that through the internet he had ordered more than 6,000 rounds of ammunition. >> he could have gotten off 60 rounds even if it was semiautomatic within one minute. as far as we know it was a pretty rapid pace of fire in that theater. >> reporter: chaos erupted with that gunfire. victims scattered across the theater, others scrambling to try to escape. a horrific scene that rattled even seasoned law officers. >> our cops went through a lot. as i told you this morning, they rushed people out of that theater into police cars. >> reporter: when it was over, 12 people were dead. 58 injured. >> he was just like unloading into the crowd. it seemed to me to be very purposeful and methodical. >> reporter: holmes was captured behind the theater and

apparently surrendered without putting up a fight. his hair was dyed bright orange and he told officers he was the joker from the batman series. he warned that his apartment was rigged with explosives. bomb squads are still at his residence tonight. >> it's a very vexing problem how to enter the apartment safely. i personally never seen anything like what the pictures show us. >> reporter: many in this community say they've seen anything like the horror that unfolded here overnight. jay gray, colorado. in addition to the 12 killed more than 50 people went to the hospital with various injuries. one of those victims is marcus weaver, a virginia beach native who now lives in colorado. he spoke to our affiliate wavy tv about what he saw in that theater. >> you could hear the ricocheting off the seats, people yelling, people screaming. it was utter chaos. when i was jumping over the seats to get to the exit there

were people trampling over people who were lying on the ground. the most horrific scene i've ever seen. when i went outside, everyone was saying, hey, your shirt's bleeding. and i had a gunshot wound to my right shoulder. >> weaver is still recovering in the hospital. he said he's thankful he's alive and is praying for all the other victims. the shootings come as movie theaters prepare for one of their busiest weekends of the year. paul long in gaithersburg says they're still planning for a big weekend despite the tragedy in colorado. he and moviegoers say while the shooting is terrible, it shouldn't stop people from going to the theater. >> unfortunately. i think it's isolated. i don't think it's something that should change the movie theater industry as a practice. >> i did do a double take of should we be doing this, but i didn't want to alarm my kids and say too much. and just hope that nobody would do this again.

>> movie theater managers say this is likely to be the biggest release of 2012. police say there are no similar threats at cinemas in our area. parents are looking for advice on how to explain the tragedy to their kids. dr. cinda mcdonald says parent ps should it is down with their children to discuss the shooting. important to be honest and direct with kids while sharing age appropriate information. >> i don't believe in sugarcoating it. kids will overhear things and try to fill in the blanks for the information that they're looking for. >> she also suggests is when your kids are ready to go to the theater, parents should consider tagging along. american flags around the country will fly at half-staff for the next few days out of respect for the victims in colorado. president obama ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff until wednesday night. he and mitt romney have taken their campaign ads off the air in colorado for the time being.

the campaign canceled multiple events this weekend including all of their scheduled appearances on the sunday news programs. romney is still planning to head overseas next week. he's planned trips to england, israel and poland. while the national campaigns are on hold, the battle for virginia's senate seat is heating up. later this morning george allen and tim kaine will square off in their official debate. candy crowley will moderate that debate. the latest quinnipiac poll shows allen leading by only two points but that's within the poll's margin of error. >> a redistricting map will go before voters in november. opponents of the new map gathered 59,000 signatures to put the redistricting plan to a referendum. critics say the map approved by the democratically controlled general assembly amounts to supporters say it reflects changes in the state's

demographics. >> you may have noticed that gas prices are going up. but what is causing some of that pain at the pump? new cuban creations at the zoo. i'm liz crenshaw. don't sweat the cost of keeping cool. ♪

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nature at its most delicious. zplrchlt metro riders be sure to build extra time into your trip this weekend. all five lines will see delays because of construction. on the red line, the medical center and bethesda station are closed for structural repairs. the trains will travel through those stations but will not stop. on the blue line single lanes between van dorn and springfield. on the orange line single tracking between east and west falls church. because of the silver line. greenline trains will single track between fort totten and prince jornl's plaza. yellow line trains are only

traveling between huntington and mount vernon square. riders can use the green line to complete their trip. everything should be back to normal for the monday morning commute. the recent drought that swept across the country could cause you a little more pain at the pump. the drought is damaging the corn crop which may force gas prices to go up. already the national average has jumped seven cents in just a week. now at $3.46. d.c. is at $3.69 a galgallon, u ten cents from a week ago. virginia is the lowest in our area. drivers are paying about $3.30 right now, up six cents from a week ago. maryland's prices have jumped five cents in a week. and west virginia drivers, you're paying eight cents more than a week ago. at $3.49 a gallon. broken air conditioners, the problem could catch anyone off guard. to prevent sweating the cost of keeping cool, it's all about planning ahead. here's liz crenshaw with some things you should know about getting that ac fixed. >> tighten that up.

>> this time of year allen is responding to a plethora of ac repair calls. he works for shanahan's heating and cooling. it gets more than 400 calls a week for ac service and repairs. so when the ac goes -- >> you want to choose a high quality firm. >> reporter: washington consumers checkbook warns against impulse hiring. >> when you choose a firm don't just go by the ones you've heard or seen advertised. >> reporter: shanahan's heating and cooling is one of 35 firms that ranks superior for overall performance by 90% or more of checkbook's sur vad customers. it xard more than 250 local and air conditioning services. among the companies compared, checkbook found a big difference in price. >> there's really no relationship. we find this again and again. no relationship between price and quality. one thing that checkbook does is

we get competitive quotes from these firms on dozens of different jobs. we know that some of the highest quality firms actually have very low prices. >> reporter: for example, checkbook found the price to install a new air cleaner ranged from $392 to $1,100. and for basic maintenance contracts, not including parts or labor, prices range from less than $100 to more than $300. >> even if something major has to be done, there are different ways to do major things. >> reporter: he says get multiple quotes before hiring an ac firm and be skeptical when a company claims you'll save money from energy efficient equipment because some firms exaggerate. and bigger doesn't always mean better. >> because if it's too big a system for your space, it may just keep switching on and switching off. >> reporter: the biggest culprit when it comes to air conditioning problems -- not changing your air filter often

enough. >> see your difference? that will restrict a lot of air flow, cause all kinds of trouble. the number one thing you can do for your system. >> reporter: keep up with maintenance and have a trusted company on hand. that way you won't sweat the stress of being left in the heat. liz crenshaw, news 4 today. to see the rankings on air conditioning and heating companies go to nbcwashington.com and search ac. not a good time to be without ac these days. >> no, but this morning it was nice and cool. i really like that. >> nice and cool outside this morning. no real need for the air conditioner today because of all the cloud cover outside. how long is it going to last? will you need the ac before your weekend is through?

time to start bumming some people out. >> i am mad. >> she is seasonally affected.

>> headed out to national harbor later today. they're having their big christmas in july event. you can't promise that there won't be some rain. >> i can promise that it won't be a thousand degrees like it's been every other day this summer. >> silver lining. >> a lot of people like that. we were joking about it during the break, there's a lot of people that's summer reading has not been caught up on. and today will be a perfect day for summer reading. yes, indeed. lotses of cloud cover. perfect day for a nap as well. a little nap on a rainy saturday. how good does that sound? outside we go. cloudy skies and light rain and rain showers across the area right now just enough to get you wet and make you mad if you're on your way outside. a nice cool 68 degrees in washington. a northeasterly wind at 10 miles per hour. that will keep temperatures today below 90 degrees for sure and a lot of spots might not even break the 80-degree mark today. wouldn't that be nice?

that will be our coolest day since june 18th. right now 64 at gaithersburg and frederick. tom's brook all in the low 60s this morning with the cloud cover out there. off to a cool and soggy start. temperatures inching their way into the low 70s. but most of the day stays below 80 degrees. the rain drops will be easing up as we get into the afternoon hours. if you got stuff to do outside, the later you can wait in the day, the better of your chances of keeping dry. it won't be 100. we've now have seven days 100 or higher this summer. that ties with the number of record days in the year. the record 11 days above 100 in the 1930s. a little rain delay from time to time but a nice cool day to sit in the stands. rain drops moving across the area. route 50 out towards annapolis

getting wet. 301 over the bay bridge. light rain in northwest washington as well. rain drops in frederick headed out to mount airy. rain drops through winchester now headed out towards wartonsville and the panhandle of west virginia. the bulk of the rain is here in the front half of the day. there's not a whole lot left up stream from us. but with the daytime heating taking place, you might be able to bubble up a couple more saturday showers. but i don't think a huge risk of a rainout today. cloudy skies overnight tonight. and tomorrow. breaks of sunshine will allow for a warmer and more humid day and a chance for more afternoon storms on your sunday. headed out to the beach, not the best for today. today here around town cloudy skies, passing showers which will slowly be coming to an end. most of us staying below 80. mid-80s tomorrow. and our rain chances tomorrow more of an often early evening

time frame. same story on monday but the heat comes back for monday and tuesday. i think tuesday will be the worst of it. a chance of severe weather tuesday before we quiet things back down. highs around 90, that's usable. those 100 degree days that we just don't like. >> we've had enough of that, i think. 1930s can keep their record. >> take it back. so two endangered cuban crocodiles have hatched at the national zoo. the birth is really rare. scientists believe there are fewer than 6,000 cuban crocks remaining in the wild and in cuba. there's only been a hand ofl of hatch lings in florida and zoos. these are the first to hatch at the zoo in nearly 25 years. now for a look a what's happening in the kids post -- >> enjoying the olympics at all ages, baseball stars in batting cages and coolout fits that are

all the rages? tough rhyming day in the newsroom. joining us this week is tracy grant on "the washington post's" kids post. the olympics are coming up, we're getting kids excited. >> you may not be aware of this, but the olympics start friday. in sunday's kids post, we've created a kid friendly guidep you can't watch all the coverage. you got to get outside and play. but for example, katie ladecky is a 15-year-old from bethesda who will be swimming. kids want to watch that. oscar pistorius, the blade runner, is an amazing story running in the 400 meters. he had his legs amputated when he was 11 months old. in sunday's kids post, a guide not to miss events that might really appeal to kids over the next two weeks. >> now also you brought a special book about all-stars, baseball league, tell us about

it. >> that's right "stars in the shadows" is our featured book in our kids post book club which you can still join. this is a story about the 1934 negro league all-star game. and it's written in a terrific way. p it's written like a play by play of the game. so it's very edge of your seat. it's very exciting, and it also will tell kids about a time in america that they may not be familiar with. >> we see uniforms in schools but now camps also. >> in tuesday's kids post, we talk about in some cases 70% of summer camps require kids to wear uniforms. the question is is this stunting their creativity or is it helping to prevent teasing? and that's in tuesday's kids post. >> thanks, tracy. for some fun family activities visit nbcwashington.com or washingtonpost.com and click on kids post. >> eat local week is celebrating its grand finale with a block party today.

the farm-to-street party will again be on the 1300 block of v street. the party includes 40 vendors, more than 20 chef demonstrations, two bands and local breweries. the party starts at 1:00 and i'm getting a lot of twitter buzz on this, too. >> hopefully the weather will hold up because soggy food isn't fun. >> that's where the brewery part comes in. coming up at the top of the hour, we're following developments of that mass shooting in colorado. >> this morning the investigation, the victims and the efforts to get in a booby-trapped apartment.

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good morning. i'm richard jordan. >> and i'm angie goff. welcome to news 4 today. saturday july 21st, 2012. >> continuing coverage of the tragedy in colorado.

flags are flying at half-staff today. president obama is calling the movie massacre a heinous crime. >> 12 people were killed and nearly 60 wounded when a graduate student with a gas mask and dressed in combat gear opened fire during a showing of the new batman movie. >> police say the suspect called himself the joker and he planned the attack for at least two months. >> today police will try to once again get inside the suspect's apartment. >> police say james holmes booby-trapped the place with everything from trip wires to ammunition to fireworks. >> we're hearing from people who were inside the theater when the gunfire started. >> leanne gregg has the latest from aurora, colorado. ♪ >> reporter: mourners gathered at vigils not far from the crime scene trying to make sense of one of the worst shooting rampages in u.s. history. police say 24-year-old james holmes kicked open the theater's back door, tossed in smoke devices and came in shooting. he was dressed in black wearing a gas mask and body armor, armed

with an assault rifle, a 12-gauge shotgun and two glock handguns. ten were killed at the scene, two died later. steven burton is among the 58 injured. >> at the time i thought it was fireworks, then i got hit here and i realized it was, you know, something much more serious. and people started screaming. there was a lot of chaos. >> at that moment i just remember thinking i'm not going to die in here. me and my kids, we're not going to die in here. i need to get them out. i need to get out. and all i could think was if i stand up, he's going to shoot because that's what he was doing. and i was just trying to think. >> reporter: a few miles away the suspect's apartment described by aurora officials as extensively booby-trapped, continues to be a focus of the investigation. with help of a robot officials are working on a plan to disarm what appears to be bottles connected with wires with possibly incendiary devices. colorado's governor is among those struggling to understand

why this happened. >> the whole country recognizes that this is something that we don't accept, we can't explain at this point, but we're not going to just let it happen to us. we're going to push back. ♪ >> reporter: a community in mourning as the investigation enters another day. and more vigils are planned for tomorrow including one expected to be attended by the governor and the aurora mayor. on monday the suspect is expected to be in court for his first appearance. from aurora, colorado, lee anne greg, news 4. this morning friends and neighbors are speaking out about the shooting. the 24-year-old grew up in suburban san diego, california. he graduated from the university of california riverside with a degree in neuroscience in 2010. a friend described him as smart and funny. >> first i thought about it --

found out it was him, my first thought was expletives. i can't believe this happened. >> i keep thinking what happened to a nice little boy from a nice family, and it's terrible. >> the holmes family issued a statement saying, quote, our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy. we are still trying to process this information, and we appreciate that people respect our privacy, end quote. the massacre in colorado is certainly on the minds of moviegoers around the country whether or not they're seeing "the dark knight rises" or another movie. some are seeing extra security at the theater. derrick ward joins us live. >> reporter: we're outside the uptown theeate are where that movie will start showing in about an hour. there's something enduring about the moviegoing experience. in this age where a short time after a film comes out at the theaters, you can see it on cd, then on cable.

people want to experience that in a room with other people. there's something about that that will endure even in the light of this tragedy surrounding "the dark knight rises." there has been an intelligent bulletin issued by the fbi. it confirms that there has been no specific threat aimed at theaters showing "the dark knight rises" following the massacres in colorado. jurisdiction all over are taking measures. they range from visible police presence that you may see at theaters here in this area, has been announced to bag searches. something we've actually seen at the regal gallery place cinemas here in d.c. showing "the dark knight rises" last night. it's on the minds of those coming to see that movie. but how does it affect their experience? >> he terrorized a lot of people, but i don't think that necessarily had to do with the guy -- i think he said he was the joker, but i think he probably had some issues where

he was going to do it either -- i don't know if it had necessarily to do with the movie, but he was going to do some kind of act whether or not based on the batman movies. >> now one thing that we may see long after this has settled down a bit is a change in policy at the amc theaters. they've announced they'll no longer allow patrons to wear masks or costumes or bring in any kind of toy weapon even though it may be associated with the feature that's showing. i spoke to a man in india and he said in their country, where the industry is thriving, they go through something akin to airport screening to go see a movie because of issues they've had there with the violence. we're nowhere near anything here in this country, but it is indeed food for thought. we're live in northwest. flags around the country will fly at half-staff for the next few days the out of respect

for the victims in colorado. president obama ordered the flags to be flown at half-staff until wednesday night. the campaigns canceled multiple events this weekend including all of their scheduled news appearances. romney has trips planned to england, israel and poland. while millions kept checking social media sites for updates on the shooting, one company made a mistake by twitter. they saw aroar was trending. aurora is trending clearly about our kim kardashian inspired aurora dress. they quickly deleted the tweet, then posted new tweets, we apologized for our misunderstanding about aurora. we didn't check what the trend was about hence the confusion. we've removed the insensitive

tweet. >> this is a boutique that's based out of the uk. so we weren't aware at the time. >> we'll continue watching what's happening out in colorado. but back here everyone has their eye to the sky. >> there's a lot of events going on around town. will it rain on them? >> it will rain on the ones that are outside first thing this morning. people are running the twilight 8-k in rockville. that race tonight doesn't start until 8:45. by then all the rain will be gone. but events taking place this morning and early this afternoon be ready to contend with rain drops. there's the view from our city camera. rain drops on the lens, 68 degrees. 67 in waldorf, charlotte hall. leesburg getting a break right now. but rain drops coming into loudoun county. a little bit of rain down in northern st. mary's. so you folks down toward leonardtown, be on the lookout.

raindrops coming your way. cloudy skies for sure. good news is we'll not be 90 degrees. many spots might even hold in the 70s. coming up next here, the parallels between the "dark knight ""movie and the massacre [ male announcer ] where did all the obama stimulus money go? friends, donors, campaign supporters, special interest groups where did the obama stimulus money go? solyndra: 500 million taxpayer dollars. bankrupt. so where did the obama stimulus money go? windmills from china. electric cars from finland 79% of the 2.1 billion in stimulus grants awarded through it went to overseas companies. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

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you're watching news 4 today. >> in the wake of the colorado shooting, some of the country's largest theater chains are chamging their security procedures. amc theaters announced it will not allow customer to wear masks or bring fake weapons into the theater any more. regal cinemas said it's tightening security. a representative said that only ticket holders should expect stricter control over character attire and accessories. the director of "the dark knight" trilogy spoke out as well.

christopher nolan released a statement that said in part, quote, the movie theater is my home and the idea that someone would violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way is devastating to me, end quote. >> too early to know why the gunman chose a theater full of people watching "the dark knight rises" but there are eerie parallels between the franchise and the shooting. in this movie a villain leads an attack on a packed football stadium and kills people in public at the stock exchange. the joker kills the audience of a television show with gas in the graphic novel of "the dark knight." also a batman video game called arkham city takes place in an abandoned theater. he was planning it for a while. so it does seem intentional to be at a packed movie theaters.

it appears the entire country is dealing with some sort of severe weather. >> some of the country experiencing record drought where in north carolina the rain was so severe it caved in part of the roof at a charlotte shopping mall. shoppers weren joying their time at the mall when they heard a loud bang. look at all that water. all of a sudden the water started to pour in. >> everyone started screaming and running. everyone is like you have to get out. it was a significant amount of water where it was flooding the escalators enough to be at least up to my midthigh. >> officials say it was simply a structural problem that caused the roof to collapse. >> makes you wonder if this is same part of the system that we're getting i's all part of the same water front that brought us the severe weather a few days ago. they've been dealing with the heavy rainers. we don't have any supersoaker coming our way. but showers are a part of the fo

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the song that may be singing through your head for the rest of the day? raindrops keep falling on my head. that's the way it feels outside this morning. that's the way it's going to be until about lunchtime and maybe into the early afternoon hours. i do think the rain will be coming to an end as we go through our saturday afternoon. but if you got stuff to do in the great outdoors today. you need to have a little rain plan ready to go. 68 degrees in washington. winds out of the northeast averaging 8 miles per hour. a northeast wind around here typically means cloud cover and cooler than average temperatures. that will definitely be the case today. 64 in gaithersburg. 72 down into st. mary's county. 68 in culpepper. even cooler out towards the shenandoah valley. a real nice break from the high heat that we've been dealing with with our seven 100 degree

days this summer. good weather for baseball. there may be intermittent rain delays at the game. but by this evening they should get the evening game in without anything much in the way of delays to worry about. there go the rain showers from west to east. rain showers now in annapolis, anne arundel county. rain drops helping to green up the grass a bitp out in the panhandle of west virginia, a few hundredths of an inch of rain is all you should expect out of this. this is pushed way out over the carolinas. if you are driving to the outer banks today, heavier showers. by 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 this evening even though the clouds will rema remain, back to a cloudy sky for tomorrow afternoon as well. cloudy and cool and kind of

showery. then tomorrow breaks of sunshine will put us back in the 80s. a risk of a thunderstorm by the evening timeframe. looks kind of steamy and nasty around here tuesday, then standard summer weather to finish out the month of squll and take us to the beginning of the olympics. >> a local kayaker who is making a huge sacrifice as he goes for [ male announcer ] want the most enjoyment from your home entertainment?

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we'll see more than 20 local athletes go for gold at the olympics. >> one has done all his preparation on the water. scott parsons has sacrificed financial success for one last shot at the gold. >> zachary kiesch has his story.

>> being a slalom racer in the u.s. is a challenge financially for sure. it's definitely a certain lifestyle. you know that going in. you know there's no fame, no fortune or anything. it's really just about the sport. >> reporter: olympic kayaker scott parsons has given the better part of his life to learn how to command his canoe over whitewater with presig. to be able to focus on his lifelong dream wouldn't be possible without a good support system. >> i'm fortunate to have a perfect wife that's a school teacher at wheaton high school. and through my little bit of income from kayaking and her salary at wheaton, we do all right, we get by. and that's kind of what you sign up for. >> reporter: scott's pursuit of an olympic medal affects almost every walk of life, down to the small apartment the couple rent near the national team's training site on the canal.

>> this neighborhood brookmont, where i live, is kind of the center for kayaking or for slalom kayaking in this area. i knew even while i was going to high school that the day after graduation i was packing up my car and moving to brookmont. you can't beat the two-minute walk down to the main training site. without the financial support it kind of makes it difficult. it's a difficult life decision. do i keep going and kind of stay broke or just move on? and during those times where i think i can walk away and sort of -- those are the times that have taught me the most, actually. even off the water. just kind of figuring out what life is about and at least what life's about for me. yeah, i want to win, and i want to win an olympic medal really badly. i mean, that's pretty huge. but there's just something about getting better each day and working hard to get better at

what i've chosen to do. >> zachary kiesch, news 4 sports. stay with news 4 and nbc for all your olympic coverage. we're just six days away from friday's opening ceremony. also visit nbcolympics.com and nbcwashington.com to keep track of all the local athletes as they go for gold. may we suggest yoga in georgetown. i visited the complementary class at the ritz carlton's urban garden. the class is a partnership with lululemon athletica it naps the dupont circle which is the largest yoga studio in the d.c. area. not only is this morning session free but lets you escape with the busy city. >> nice to connect outdoors and it's in the middle of georgetown but you forget about it when you're in class.

so it's a really neat feeling at the end when realize wow i'm in the center of this bustling city on the weekend yet i'm totally relaxed. >> we'll have much more on this yoga class coming up next. that's on our nbc nonstop station comcast 208, 460 verizon fios and 803 if you're on cox. they have these nice eucalyptus towels and drinks. >> i think you should run over there right now because you've been a little tense today