maryland, and that he was driving so fast along i-95 on monday that several cars had to swerve to get out of his way. the officer's cruiser ended up in the ditch. another suspect has already been arrested. chris gordon is at the police headquarters in palmer park, maryland, with details of the charges and the events leading up to the crash. chris. >> reporter: tonight police have one suspect in custody, the other remains at large, and police are asking for your help tracking him down. now, both of these suspects have been charged with felony auto theft. the conviction carries a penalty of 15 years, but they could face additional charges as well. investigators today revealed the timeline of events leading up to monday's fatal crash on i-95 that killed 23-year-old prince george's county police officer adrian morris and injured 24-year-old officer michael risher. it starts sunday night at this exxon gas station in beltsville.

the suspects stole a 2005 gray acura tl which a customer left running while she went into the convenience store. mon afternoon the acura was spotted and the suspects were photographed by a surveillance camera at this shell station in laurel. police say the suspects attempted to steal from vehicles here. the manager alerted police. investigators say the suspects' vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed cut directly across all lanes of traffic. citizens steered clear or applied their brakes trying to avoid colliding with the suspects. >> this causes a chain reaction or a reaction which causes our pursuing officer, who was traveling in the middle lanes of the beltway, to quickly change lanes to avoid striking another vehicle. when this maneuver is made, the officer loses control of his police cruiser and slides off the roadway. >> reporter: prince george's state's attorney, the county's

top prosecutor, says she will wait for the finding of the accident reconstruction team to determine if the driver of the acura will be charged with causing the fatal accident. >> if that report supports it, we will certainly file vehicular manslaughter charges if it is appropriate. >> reporter: police investigating monday's crash investigated kenneth claush mitchell jr. charging him with felony auto theft. police issued this wanted poster for the second suspect, said to be the driver of the acura, offering a cash reward up to $25,000 for kavon neal of ft. washington, maryland. here at police headquarters, an investigator today told me that both of the suspects believe to be involved in monday's fatal crash had violent pasts and prior criminal records. that's the latest, live from prince george's county police headquarters, i'm chris gordon, news 4. president obama is expected to arrive in new york any minute now. he and the rest of the

presidential candidates are on the road today. earlier today president obama campaigned in las vegas. his running mate, joe biden, went to detroit. mitt romney was in iowa. his running mate, paul ryan, campaigning in roanoke and raleigh. the republicans trying to get back on message after a three-day detour into the todd akin missouri senate race drama. steve handelsman is on capitol hill with more on this. >> reporter: thanks. a drama that's really not over. even though both mitt romney and paul ryan have picked up the phone to demand that he leave the missouri senate race, todd akin is hanging in. and by hanging in, he poses a threat, they believe, to their ticket because akin pushes abortion to the front border which divides rips appear turns off many women voters. paul ryan went to virginia and north carolina, trying to get the campaign focus back on the economy. >> we've got 23 million people out of work, struggling to find

work today. unemployment has been above 8% for 42 months. and the real unemployment rate is 15%. this is president obama's imaginary recovery. it's not here. >> reporter: the so-called ryan bump is not here. >> let's get this done! >> reporter: picking the congressional conservative did not help mitt romney's poll numbers much. president obama with teachers in nevada today leads 48% to 44% in the nba news/wall street journal poll. he's ten points ahead in voter likability and in recent polls running ahead with women, who outnumbered men in his camera shot at today's speech. >> we've got more work to do. we've got more good teachers to hire. >> reporter: in iowa, mitt romney mentioned women. >> it is free men and women that drive our economy. freedom is what makes america work. an president obama, bless his heart, has tried to substitute government for free people, and it has not worked and it will

never work. >> reporter: not helping romney is republican todd akin, still standing, refusing romney's call to quit the missouri senate race, casting himself as an anti-abortion hero. after apologizing for claiming legitimate rape victims can't get pregnant. >> i don't apologize for the fact that i am strong in my belief of pro life. >> reporter: five days before romney's convention in tampa, tropical storm isaac is a threat. so is the storm over akin. republican leaders do not want the issue of abortion competing with the romney message on the economy. i'm steve handelsman, news 4. federal workers will not get a raise in the near future. president obama told congressional leaders yesterday that he is extending a two-year pay freeze for federal employees until at least next spring. the president has proposed an

across-the-board pay raise of one-half percent. even if congress approves it. it will not take effect before a budget is passed. before lawmakers left for the august recess, they passed a short-term deal that funds the government only through next april. maryland senator barbara mikulski has been added to the list of speakers at the democratic national convention. she'll speak at a program that highlights the 12 democratic women running for senate this year. that is a record number. of course she is a record maker herself. she has served more than 35 years in congress, longer than any other woman in american history. the democratic convention begins on september 3rd. it's in charlotte, north carolina. >> you can stay with news 4 for convention coverage. we have live team coverage from the republican national convention starting next week. we also have live coverage of the democratic convention in charlotte next month. republican leaders have their eyes on the tropics as they track isaac tonight. planners of the rnc concerned

about the development of this tropical storm. thousands of delegates getting ready to head to tampa for that convention and the storm could cause some serious problems there. storm team 4 chief meteorologist doug kammerer joins us with a look at the path potentially. >> a lot of people here around our region have a lot of concerns and i do think this could impact the state of florida. this storm still not very well organized. it is now just making its way into the caribbean. as of the latest advisory had winds of 45 miles an hour so a fairly weak tropical storm and it's moving very fast. west at 22 miles per hour. on that track it will take it just to the south of puerto rico, right over hispaniola, which would essentially take the storm apart potentially, and that's good news. potentially bring it up, you see the track here, right around the tampa area by monday at 2:00. but again, the cone of uncert n uncertainty very large. i'll talk more about the potential hurricane coming up in a few minutes.

right now we've got rain around our region and some heavy rain in through portions of northern virginia, the west virginia panhandle, especially right around the metroarea. here's some of the heaviest rain. also around leesburg. look right around the district and over around the airport, over towards mount vernon, seeing heavy rain here. we'll talk about what it means for the nats game and what it means for your evening ahead. the earthquake that rattled the washington monument last august did not cause the monument to sink. apparently that was a surprise. that report came from a team of experts who surveyed the structure. tomorrow marks the one-year anniversary that a 5.8 magnitude earthquake hit our ea. the lead surveyor called the news surprising about the monument not sinking, but he atri attributed the findings to the monument's original engineers and the good job they did. the monument is closed for repairs and is not expected to open until the year 2014. mayor vincent gray showed off some new taxi meters that

are now being installed in all 6,000 of the licensed cabs in the city. they will keep better track of taxi fares an they will allow all cabs to accept credit cards. tom sherwood has our report. >> reporter: at a cab repair shop in northeast washington, workers are beginning to install new meters that better track cab fares, fees, receipts and destinations. about 6,000 cabs by the end of the year. >> if you look, it's self-explanatory. >> reporter: mayor vincent gray got a demonstration of the new system that he says brings the city into the 21st century and is safer for everyone. >> because it will substantially reduce the extent to which this is a cash system and protect not only the passengers, but even more so the drivers who will be less vulnerable to being robbed by somebody who knows that they're carrying cash. >> reporter: some drivers like the modern system they're being required to use but others complained to the mayor who

stood is in ground. >> my thing is, you know, the cabs have become second class citizens. >> we have become very solution oriented. we have done more for the taxicab industry than anybody has been in the history of this city. >> some drivers still fear they're losing money in the few system. >> i talk to drivers and i do represent drivers. i can say there's quite a b of unrest in the drivers. >> reporter: the mayor noted for drivers that he's raised cab fares, eliminated a cap on those fares and supported surcharges for gasoline. the city also plans to pay the cost of meter installation to the drivers. the city's hotel and restaurant industry says the changes are desperately needed. half the cab rides are from out of towners. >> it's extremely important to us as we compete against first-tier cities around the world and around the country, this is something that has been missing and is somewhat of a black eye for us as a destination. >> reporter: again, all of the city cabs should have the new meters by january.

tom sherwood, news 4. coming up, flames are raging out of control in the west, and if this keeps up, it could be a record year for wildfires. the u.s. has never seen a west nile outbreak like this one. and the district cannot fight the spread of the virus like other places around the country. >> reporter: i'm darcy spencer in ellicott city where federal authorities are searching for the cause of that deadly train derailment. today we learned who was at the controls when the accident happened. and the district is celebrating chuck brown day on ce[ male announcer ] you paid in to medicare for years.

every paycheck. now, when you need it obama has cut $716 billion dollars from medicare. why? to pay for obamacare. so now the money you paid for your guaranteed healthcare is going to a massive new government program that's not for you. the romney-ryan plan protects medicare benefits for today's seniors and strengthens the plan for the next generation. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

and strengthens the plan for the next generation.

but somewhere along the way, something went horribly wrong. george allen voted for trillions in debt while voting to raise his pay four times, then voted to keep special tax breaks for oil and gas companies and took over a half-million from them. worse, allen went to work for them. the west nile virus is on track for possibly the worst year on record.

there are now more than 1100 west nile cases reported throughout the country. the centers for disease control released some new numbers today. that number of cases is three times as many as usually seep this time of year. half of the cases have occurred in texas, but mississippi, louisiana, oklahoma and south dakota also report large numbers. the vast majority of people who get the mosquito-borne disease do not actually get sick, but so far at least 41 people have died from the disease. experts recommend eliminating standing water from around your house. they say that's where the mosquitos breed. >> use a mosquito repellent when you go out. at dusk or dawn when mosquitos bite, cover up. wear long-sleeved shirts. >> d.c. does not spray an aerosol of pesticides to fight the spread of west nile virus. there are several reaches for that, including the fact the city does not have the authority

to apply larvacide it's called on federally owned properties. spraying pesticides can also trigger asthma an aggravate respiratory conditions. wildfires continue to burn out of control across much of the western u.s. and with several dry months still ahead of us, there is little relief in sight. nbc's jay gray has a look at what's becoming a record-breaking season. >> reporter: the searing orange flames and they can black smoke serve as a painful reminder. >> these are long duration fires. they'll be on the landscape for probably the next six to eight weeks. >> reporter: high temperatures and a lack of rain have helped to fuel 35 wildfires across ten states, burning nearly 7 million acres and the cost to fight those fires has already climbed over $1 billion. numbers that are only expected to get worse. with no real relief for the drought in the forecast, 2012 is on pace to be the worst wildfire season in u.s. history. but the statistics mean nothing

to those in the face of the flames. >> something i worked for all my life. >> reporter: bill schumaker an his daughter have packed everything they can. >> he's not going, i'm not going. >> reporter: they're fighting to save his house, but the ponderosa fire in california has already claimed seven homes and counting. in all, more than 1800 structures across the country have been destroyed by fire this summer. in idaho, the most telling pictures come from the air. >> it's more massive than you can imagine, standing on the ground and watching the smoke climb into the air. >> reporter: the governor has called into the national guard, helping fire teams maintain the blaze as best they can while waiting to strike. >> when it's the right opportunity in the right place, that's where we're going to engage and let those guys go. let them go get it. >> reporter: unfortunately, it looks like there will be plenty to get, for firefighters across the country over the next few months. jay gray, nbc news.

tonight on nightly news with brian williams, miguel almaguer will have the latest from the front lines of that ponderosa fire in california. again, that is tonight at 7:00 right after this broadcast. no relief in sight for them, i take it. >> no. >> no storms moving out there that would bring some rains? >> most of though storms are dry storms and don't put down a lot of rain but they to put down some lightning. for us, we've got some rain going on. our rain -- or our storms out there have a lot of rain tonight but not a whole lot of lightning. take a look outside right now. it was just pouring about 15 minutes ago right around the airport and out there towards gravelly point where we're looking at along 395 and out towards the monuments but now starting to see at least a little clearing in parts of the city. as we move off toward the east, there's still a lot of rain out there. 86 degrees the high temperature today, low of 68. most of today has been great and there is more great weather

ahead. i really think we're in for a really nice stretch but we have some showers out there, including one at the airport. 75 degrees right now. a much cooler 75 degrees after 85 just two hours ago. because of the rain we're down about ten degrees. winds out of the north at 14 miles per hour. temperatures into the 70s. we've got rain around leesburg at 77, winchester 77 degrees and la plata at 82 degrees. where's the rain right now? right along the potomac through west virginia, and down toward the south a few showers down to the south and west of fredericksburg. here's the rain through jefferson county, west virginia. some big-time showers around leesburg and follow the potomac down through the district and you've got more rain out here. here's where the heaviest rain is, just south and east of leesburg and riotght along 7. as far as route 7 goes, more showers right along route 7.

you move to the beltway and i-95 around newington, franconia, springfield, mt. vernon seeing some of this rain. you cross over the potomac, around oxen hill, very heavy rain here and that includes nats park. they had a rain delay the last two nights. they may have another delay tonight because it's 6:20 and that game is supposed to start in 40 minutes. it's going to take them some time to get that game together but i do think they should move out of here an they should get the game in. when? these storms are not moving very fast so is as good as mine. tropical satellite showing a storm down to the south. this is tropical storm isaac right now making its way towards the east at a very quick clip. about 22 miles an hour. a weak tropical storm. here's what's going to happen with isaac. this is what we have to watch. it's going to move through puerto rico or just to the south of puerto rico. it's going to bring them heavy rain and the potential for wind but not too many problems. then it's going to move over

hispaniola. if it makes a direct landfall on hispaniola, this storm will just fall apart. you've got mountains over 10,000 feet that will disrupt the circulation. you will not see this storm exit hispaniola as a hurricane. and the hurricane center does bring it back to a tropical storm and eventually back to a hurricane, in towards southern portions of florida. but the cone of uncertainty very close to the southeast coast here and potentially even into the gulf, so there's still a lot of uncertainty with this an we are going to watch it for you very closely right here at nbc 4. so stay with us if you have any plans in the bahamas or down towards florida. mostly clear, a great start. cool in the suburbs. 56 in the suburbs tomorrow morning to about 68 in the city. tomorrow afternoon, mostly sunny, a beautiful day. 83 to 88. but guess what, can't rule out an isolated shower with some heavier downpours an that goes for the next few days. 88 on friday, 88 on saturday, 87 on sunday. a broken record, but it's a good record.

89 on monday and then maybe another storm chance on tuesday, but right now the weather for the next couple of days looking really, really nice. >> thanks, doug. the nasa mars rover, the one they call curiosity, it moved today for the first time since it lan elanded on mars. scientists tweeted a picture which shows the tire tracks made by the rover. it went about 15 feet, turned around and headed back to the spot where it landed. the landing site was named bradbury landing. scientists are planning to use the rover to take soil samples. they're hoping to learn whether there ever might have been life on mars. coming up, a construction project in new york city causes a scare. and a d.c. woman killed during a brutal attack. he was just trying to defend her mother. coming up in sports, how robert griffin thriii and andre

luck are handling the hype heading into this season's showdown. and i go one on one with and i go one on one with bryce he's made his choice.ds

but what choices will women be left with? just like mitt romney, paul ryan would get rid of planned parenthood funding. in congress, ryan voted to ban all federal funding for planned parenthood and allow employers to deny women access to cancer screenings and birth control. and both romney and ryan backed proposals to outlaw abortion even in cases of rape and incest. for women... for president... the choice is ours. i'm barack obama, and i approve this message.

just in the last few hours the family of a d.c. woman who was stabbed outside her apartment revealed to news 4 who they say killed her. >> pat collins reports the family says that 29-year-old woman was killed trying to keep her mother safe. >> reporter: she was very protective of you, was she? >> very. >> reporter: she didn't want anybody to take advantage of you? >> right. >> reporter: and essentially she gave her life to protect you? >> yes, she did. >> reporter: with family, with

friends, michelle mitchell back at the place where it happened. back at the apartment where her daughter was killed trying to keep her mother safe. the victim, antoinette mitchell, she was 29 years old. she lived in an upstairs apartment on 13th street southeast with her mom. they say around midnight the mom's ex-boyfriend comes over to the apartment and refuses to leave. around 4:00 a.m., antoinette tells the man, get out or i'm calling the cops. as she starts to dial 911, the man walks out of the apartment, downstairs and out the front door. antoinette follows him down to make sure he's gone and to make sure that door is locked. that's when it got violent. >> my daughter came down to this door here to lock it. he pulled it back open and he said oh, you want to get gangstafied and he pulled out a

knife. my daughter hit him upside the head with the iron. then he stabbed her multiple times. >> reporter: at the scene today, geraldine mack. she's michelle mitchell's sister, antoinette mitchell's aunt. >> she was very protective about her mother. so if that was the case that she was trying to protect her mother, i can understand it. >> reporter: she wouldn't let anything bad happen to her mother? >> no. >> reporter: so what about that ex-boyfriend? miss mitchell says the cops are out looking for him. she says she's afraid he may come back here. in southeast, pat collins, news 4. police are on the lookout for kavon neal from ft. washington, maryland, who's wanted in connection with monday's police chase that killed a police officer on i-95. police say neal was driving fast, cutting through traffic, forcing several cars to swerve out of the way. a passenger in the car, kenneth mitchell, was arrested, charged with car theft.

a man accused of sending threatening e-mails to president obama is in a courtroom in washington state right now. police arrested 31-year-old anton colari at his apartment in seattle last night. he greeted them with a shotgun and said that he rigged the apartment with explosives. they didn't find any explosives. police are not revealing his exact threat to the president. for the first time today, the national institutes of health revealed its part in a deadly superbug incident last year. they say a patient in a medical study had a bug that spread to a 18 patients and killed six. they scrubbed down with bleach, locked down patients, even ripped out plumbing to prevent the spread of this superbug. researchers stopped it by identifying the dna of the bug and created an antibiotic. the national transportation safety board is still on the scene of a deadly train derailment in ellicott city, maryland. two 19-year-old women were

killed in that accident. we learned today how fast that train was going and who was at the controls. but as darcy spencer reports, investigators still aren't sure what caused the train to go off the rail. >> reporter: the deadly train derailment in ellicott city has brought business here to a stand still. >> one customer in two days. >> reporter: sally owns the discovery's boutique on main street, full of new and vintage items. while the store is open, the road is closed, so many customers are staying away. >> i just heard another 48 hours, so that's disappointing. i know they're doing everything they can, but it's still disappointing. >> reporter: two 19-year-old friends were hanging out on the bridge over main street in old ellicott city on tuesday when a train came rumbling through at 25 miles per hour, the posted speed, and derailed, killing the teens. today investigators confirmed an engineer in training was operating the train when the

accident happened. >> it was a three-person crew consisting of a conductor, an engineer and an engineer in training. the engineer in training was at the helm, was in control. >> reporter: college students rose mayr and elizabeth nass were killed. the girls had posted messages and pictures on a twitter site just before they died saying they were on the bridge. they are not the only teens who have gone on the tracks. >> it's just a wake-up call. i'm going to try to be more safe. >> reporter: tony says he witnessed a derailment here 25 years ago when he was doing restoration work at the historic train station. >> one day when i was working there, a train came by and it was partially derailed. through rocks all over main street, things like that. but this incident here is much, much worse than that one was. >> reporter: csx officials say emergency assistance may be made available to businesses that are facing losses as a result of this derailment. main street is expected to be closed for at least another 48

hours. in ellicott city, darcy spencer, news 4. a man from virginia accused of opening fire at the family research council in washington last week was charged today with that crime. police say 28-year-old floyd corkin shot and wounded a security guard outside the building in downtown d.c. he was also carrying 15 chick-fil-a sandwiches with him at the time. the family research council is a conservative group that has supported the president of chick-fil-a in his opposition to same-sex marriage. neighbors in loudoun county believe they live on a dangerous road. they're worried about an area near chantilly on sweetwater lane and gum spring road. another accident last night renewed their call for help. richard jordan shows us why they think this is so dangerous. >> reporter: these pictures show a truck flipped on its side and a driver trapped. the man taken to the hospital is expected to survive, but the aftermath he left behind still

littered on gum spring road near sweetwater lane in loudoun county. a tree knocked out of the ground and an iron gate torn down so emergency workers could reach the victim. >> we just heard a bunch of ambulances go down the street. we was just working and we looked back an they just kept coming and coming. i was like man. >> reporter: the investigators say the driver was not at fault, but the accident is stirring up street concerns here. the road has a narrow single lane in each direction and curves that often create a blind side for drivers. that can lead to dangerous driving and in the past was deadly. last year there was a fatal crash involving two cars at the same spot where the other driver veered off the road. >> we've been here for about four years now. in the past four years, we've been witness to at least four to five deadly accidents on this road. ir >> reporter: now the rural community is expanding. new developments are popping up quickly. patty just moved in but she said she didn't know about the past

problems. >> no, i had no idea. not until right now. >> reporter: the latest accident is not blamed on the street but still, those who live off the winding road believe something should be done to prevent other close calls. >> it's a continuous thing. as long as the signs are not up and the road is not being policed, this is going to continue to happen time after time after time. >> reporter: the victim from tuesday's crash is listed in stable condition at a nova fairfax hospital. witnesses who saw him immediately after the crash say he's lucky to be alive. richard jordan, news 4. we're following some breaking news downtown in d.c. right now. u.s. park police are searching the martin luther king jr. memorial after a reported citing of a man with some type of a gun. some streets are plaublocked ofd officers have reported not seeing anything. we will bring you more details

as they come in. today is the late chuck brown's birthday. the man known as the godfather of go-go would have turned 76 today. d.c.'s mayor gray honored the godfather of go h-go by making august 22nd chuck brown day in the city. the mayor also announced plans to build a permanent memorial for brown. it's important for future generations learn about brown's accomplishments. >> today we can't believe there would be a possibility that people wouldn't know who chuck brown was. but the day will come when we have children who are unborn, when we have children who are very young who will say who was chuck brown. >> in addition to the memorial, part of langdon park would be renamed chuck brown memorial park. the current amphitheater there and other facilities would be renovated. coming up, for the first time tonight a decision has been made about whether a former uva

lacrosse star should get another trial for murdering his girlfriend. requests pouring into the white house tonight. what's up with the weather, any more storms? >> speaking of pouring, pouring down in a lot of areas. we'll talk about the rain that is here right now and let you [ male announcer ] since 1996 welfare recipients were required to work.

this bipartisan reform successfully reduced welfare rolls. on july 12th president obama quietly ended the work requirement... gutting welfare reform. one of the most respected newspapers in america called it, "nuts!" saying, "if you want to get more people to work, "you don't loosen the requirements -- you tighten them." mitt romney's plan for a stronger middle class will put work back iwelfare. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

we want to update you on the breaking news down by the martin luther king jr. memorial. this video was just in to news 4. u.s. park police walking around the memorial there. they're doing a search after the reported sighting of a man with some type of gun. at this point we have not heard a confirmation of this sighting. of course it is raining there. they had to block off some of the streets there for a time. that is a major route over to nats stadium and people just getting out of town, it's rush hour. so a little commotion over there. again, no confirmation of any sighting by officers, but there was a report that someone thought they saw a guy with a

gun near the martin luther king jr. memorial. we will continue to bring you details of this. george huguely has lost his bid for a new trial. today a judge in charlottesville ruled there was enough overwhelming evidence to support his second-degree murder conviction. the former university of virginia lacrosse player was found guilty in february of killing his ex-girlfriend, yeardley love. his lawyers requested a new trial saying there were some mistakes before and during the original trial. huguely is from maryland and is facing up to 26 years in prison. there was a big explosion up in new york city yesterday. it happened at a city construction site where crews are building a new subway line. footage from a security camera shows smoke and debris shooting out from underground there. that blast shattered windows and caused nearby buildings to tremble. that construction site is closed now as officials try to figure

out what caused the explosion. dan is here now. raining down at the park but we assume we'll try to get a game in, right? >> well, it rained last night and we got the game in. >> and the night before. >> yeah, we're getting the game in tonight. the nationals trying to put even more distance between themselves and the braves. so far so good. plus bryce harper explains the meaning of sexy during our one-on-one interview. and rg3 and andrew luck, how the quarterbacks that went 1 and 2 quarterbacks that went 1 and 2 in this year's draft are

i'm barack obama and i approve this message

now mitt romney's attacking the in thpresident on medicare? the nonpartisan a-a-r-p says obamacare "cracks down on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse and strengthens guaranteed benefits." and the ryan plan? a-a-r-p says it would undermine medicare and could lead to higher costs for seniors... and experts say ryan's voucher plan could raise future retirees costs more than six thousand dollars. get the facts.

hello, everybody. take a look at the clouds out there right now. the dark clouds and some rain that has come through parts of the area. some areas seeing very heavy rain. others seeing a beautiful evening. here's the rain right now on the radar. storm team 4 showing you where that rain is right along the potomac. if you're bordering the potomac, you're probably seeing some of that rain. in through fairfax county, right around herndon and reston, very heavy rain around rockville and in towards prince george's county. let's zoom in. this is the heaviest shower right along rockville pike just to the south and east of rockville.

wheaton seeing some rain. wildwood hills and bethesda starting to see some rain there right along 495. so it is going to be fairly slow. more showers out there but take a look at this. here's nats park right now. no rain over the park. it has been raining there for about the last hour, though. they have received quite a bit of rain. it may take some time to get the game tonight this evening, maybe a delayed start but no rain right now but it doesn't mean we won't see some moving through the next few hours but as of now we're looking okay. wouldn't it be something if we could sweep these guys? >> the biggest series in franchise history and all these guys do is come out and play some of the best baseball of the year. it would be awesome. it's hard to fathom what could be happening with this team. the nationals didn't really need to make a statement this week, but they are. if they can sweep the braves tonight, they'll take an

eight-game lead in the division for the first time in franchise history. last night belonged to this man, stephen strasburg. how about the all star shortstop, ian desmond doing his thing as well. in the second, yard work. a solo home run. since coming off the dl, desmond has homered in back-to-back games to give the nats a 1-0 lead. 19 home runs on the year for desmond. the rain came in the third. 51-minute rain delay. strasburg coming back out. he insisted on it. in the fifth, he strikes out the side. ten strikeouts in the game. the fifth time he's had double-digit strikeouts this year. he gives up just one run. bottom five, nats up 1-0 until this. jesus flores providing the cushion. a three-run home run. the nationals go on to win 4-1. they now lead atlanta by seven games in the standings. strasburg, by the way, improves to 15-5 on the season, being

shut down the last thing he's thinking about right now. >> nobody talks to me personally about it, so obviously i can either scour the internet or watch all this stuff being said on tv or i can just keep pitching and watch the golf channel, i guess. i feel great. i feel like i've got a lot more left in the tank. i'm in it with these guys for the long run. >> like i said the other day, i'm going to take him as far as i normally would. if i had him, i would let him throw 120 pitches. i figure that i cut him short because of all that delay. >> you know, it's been a long time since washington, d.c., has seen playoff baseball. so long that bryce harper's parents weren't even born yet. i caught up with bryce this afternoon to ask him if he was aware of history in the making. >> do you know the last time that this town hosted a major league baseball playoff game was? >> i have no idea. no clue.

>> 1933. 1933. and you have the chance to be a part of that in your rookie season. have you even allowed yourself to think about that? >> that's the only thing i'm worrying about. trying to win games every single day. as long as we're this first place and keep things rolling, that's all that matters to me. everybody gets so caught up in the numbers and what i'm doing, you know, what i did this game or that game, i just really think everybody needs to look at our team and really see that this team is unbelievable. we've got a lot of guys that can play the game. it's a lot of fun to watch. >> you may need to come out with a quote book. you have a new one at the kids camp where you tell them to be as sexy as you can be. that was caught on camera. where did they come about. >> you know, i just think when you're going out and swinging, you know, you don't want to be as tense and play the game so uptight and things like that. just try to be as flawless as you can. try to be as loose as you can. when you're loose and flawless, you're sexy, so there you go.

>> that simple, huh? >> there you go. that's all you've got to do. >> bringing the sexy back, man. >> makes sense to me. and i believe that kid, by the way, in terms of not thinking about the last time that we were in the playoffs and all of that. let me go out and win this baseball game. that's one of the reasons i like that boy. >> he has blended into this team with the hype that he's come in with as well as he possibly could have. >> i think he's done remarkable well. >> and it's been a roller coaster season for him. people forget he's 19 years old. he's having a heck of a season for a teenager. don't sleep on the o's either, folks. baltimore looking for ba back-to-back wins against the texas rangers, and the o's still very much in the playoff mix as well. manny machado and the o's looking to add to their lead. josh hamilton can do some work with the bat, trying to chase this one down in the outfield, just can't quite get to it.

machado ends up on third with an rbi triple and the o's go up 2-1. same inning, birds up 3-1 now and nate mclouth will keep it going. with his first home run as an oriole goes up 5-1 and they maintain that wild card spot along with the tampa bay rays. if the playoffs started today, both the nationals and the orioles would be in. talking redskins now. they're selling t-shirts on their website. calling it a qb showdown. a little overblown for a preseason game but it will be interesting to see. robert griffin iii and andrew luck on the field at the same time. the first and second pick in this year's nfl draft have basically said they have the same outlook on this rivalry. >> you know, we told each other good luck in our careers and moved on from there. he's trying to lead his team, i'm trying to lead my team and i never will truly get to face andrew because he doesn't play

defense, so that's the one thing i've always said and i'll continue to say. we've just got to look forward to playing defense. >> i don't speak for him but i'm sure he feels the same way. it's not too hard not to get caught up in it. we have much bigger things to worry about. i'm worrying much more about what their defense is doing than what any opposing quarterback, you know, who he is, what they're doing. you know, that's no slight to him in any way, but it's a team game. i'm not buying into it is i guess how i handle it. >> and where can you watch the colts and skins? how about right here on nbc 4. kickoff at 4:00 p.m. complete postgame coverage immediately following the game. >> i love both of them guys. >> i do too. >> it's preseason. >> i know, i know. >> it don't matter. >> they play in the regular season, don't they. >> yes, they do. it's going to be fun because this is the last game the starters will really play. when we come back, a

>>[ male announcer ] you paid in to medicare for years. every paycheck. now, when you need it obama has cut $716 billion dollars from medicare. why? to pay for obamacare. so now the money you paid for your guaranteed healthcare is going to a massive new government program that's not for you. the romney-ryan plan protects medicare benefits for today's seniors and strengthens the plan for the next generation. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

the white house secret beer brew is the hottest recipe in town right now. there are online petitions calling for the obama administration to hand over that recipe. someone else has filed a freedom of information act to get it. last week the president revealed the ale made by white house chefs is so good, he sometimes takes it with him when he travels. >> that's a way to use the laws the right way. get that out here, freedom of information, bring it out. >> so now where's it raining? >> now it's raining in rockville. now it's raining around bethesda. we're starting to see some of those heavier downpours in through montgomery county. you see where that rain is in montgomery county. even some lightning and thunder. also right around mt. vernon. the next couple of days i think we'll see some fantastic weather out here. 87 on thursday, 88 on friday. nice into the weekend and nice

into next week. can't rule out a few showers. but the nats aren't here for the next couple of days, so that means no rain. >> thanks. a remarkable historical artifact was discovered recently in an attic in chattanooga, tennessee. it is an interview with dr. martin luther king jr. at one point, dr. king talks about what he expects the legacy of the civil rights movement to be. >> i am convinced that when the history books are written in future years, historians will have to record this movement as one of the greatest epics of our heritage. >> the interview dates back to december 21st, 1960. that was four years before the civil rights act became year, three years before dr. king's famous "i have a dream" speech, eight years before he was assassinated. the tape was discovered by a man named steven tull. steven tull's father did the interview with dr. king for a

book that the father was planning to write. that book was never written and eventually the tape was just forgotten. as one might imagine, historians are extremely interested in that find. tull says he plans to sell the recording to a private collector later this month. he already has an agent in new york to help him to do that. >> wow. >> that's our broadcast for now. "nightly news" coming up next. >> we hope to see you a little later tonight on news 4 at 11:00. i'm barack obama and i approve this message now mitt romney's attacking the president on medicare? the nonpartisan a-a-r-p says obamacare "cracks down on medicare fraud, waste, and abuse and strengthens guaranteed benefits." and the ryan plan? a-a-r-p says it would undermine medicare

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