winds are holding steady at 60 miles per hour, just shy of hurricane strength. the storm is still battering haiti and heading towards cuba. isaac's track has shifted back east, putting the keys, southern florida, and possibly tampa back in its sights. >> as the storm moves closer to the u.s., emergency officials in our area are getting ready to help out. today red cross volunteers in fairfax will pack supplies to be shipped to the gulf coast and a team is organizing shelters. six emergency response vehicles in our area are also getting ready to make the trip if they're called upon. >> now let's get the latest on isaac's every move. >> storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein is tracking the storm from stormcenter 4. >> good morning. isaac made landfall briefly in southeastern haiti a couple of hours ago. now they're getting moderate downpours in the western parts of haiti. here's the digital satellite image. it does show, after it did

decrease in strength overnight, it is increasing in strength. they're facing heavy downpours in haiti. that's tracking off to the north and west. latest track shows it heading across cuba through the rest of the day today and through tonight on the coast of cuba. right now it has 60-mile-per-hour winds and may become a category 1 hurricane perhaps by sunday morning when it's going to be just to the east of key west, florida. and right near ft. myers, florida, by sunday midafternoon. by monday midday it may be passing just west of tampa, florida, as a category 1 hurricane, perhaps winds 80 to 90 miles per hour when it makes landfall east of mobile, alabama, moving in with heavy wind for georgia and parts of alabama. more on the local forecast in just a few minutes. back to you. >> tom, thanks. the republican national convention just two days away. gop leaders are keeping a close eye on the shifting path of the storm. yesterday some event locations and local businesses put up window protection in tampa. they will serve double duty, guarding the building from flying objects thrown by isaac

and rowdy protesters. organizers are also making more than 13,000 umbrellas available and putting up more tents for guests to use in between event venues. vice president joe biden won't be crashing the gop's party after all. he is skipping a planned stop in tampa on monday. the obama campaign says the change was made to allow emergency officials to focus on isaac instead of biden's visit. biden still plans to stop in orlando and st. augustine on tuesday to counter republicans' message during their national convention. campaign officials wouldn't say if biden will reschedule his trip to tampa. we have complete coverage of the republican national convention. aaron gilchrist and julie kerry will bring you live reports from tampa, florida, that starts tomorrow night. and we'll bring you live coverage of the democratic national convention in charlotte next month. breaking news. an explosion kills at least 19 people at a refinery in venezuela, and several more are hurt. it happened at the country's biggest oil refinery.

emergency officials there say the victims include a 10-year-old boy. we're going to bring you the latest on this explosion as more information comes into the news room. new this morning, police are investigating two carjackings that happened just miles apart in northeast washington. the first happened around 1:30 at the intersection of 24th street and rhode island avenue. that's where police say a person stole a 2009 gray nissan altima from a driver at gun point. that car has a maryland license plate. then about three hours later, a green mercedes was taken from the 3600 block of "j" street. it's not known if the two incidents are connected. 6 of the 9 victims in the empire state building shooting  have left the hospital and are expected to make a full recovery. police released surveillance video of the accused shooter jeffrey johnson after he allegedly shot a former co-worker outside the new york landmark. police tried to stop him ultimately opening fire and

killing johnson. investigators say a good samaritan who witnessed the shooting helped officers find him. a construction worker who had followed johnson from west 33rd street alerted two uniformed police officers who were on post in front of the empire state building. >> detectives believe some of the shooting victims may have been hit by police gunfire. officers say they'll have to complete ballistics reports to figure out if the suspect opened fire at police. a nato air strike in afghanistan kills a senior pakistani taliban leader and 11 other insurgents. the attack happened near the afghanistan-pakistan border. officials say the man mullah dadola was a key figure in the taliban. the attack happened yesterday, but nato did not officially confirm the identity until early this morning. a traffic alert if you have to drive in northern virginia this weekend, expect big delays on two of the area's most heavily traveled roads. last night crews shut down several lanes on i-66 west at the beltway.

some lanes on exit ramps leading to 66 west have also been closed. then starting tomorrow night, the southbound 495 ramp to 66 west will be completely closed. during that time, you'll have to take the little river turnpike. here's a live look at those closer. everything should be open by monday. you can see the road is clear right now. those closures for work on the express lanes project. that's what it's all about. it will be slow going for metro riders as well. crews will be making track repairs on the orange and red lines. over on the red line, trains will single track between grovener and medical center as well as between takoma and forest glen. and trains will single track between vienna and east falls church for work on the silver line extension. all that work is expected to wrap up in time for monday morning's commute. it's the last weekend of summer for yet another round of students, but some will go back to school a little early to help spruce things up. today's beautification day, and more than 100 schools in the

district, news 4's megan mcgrath is at orr elementary school in southeast where the community is pitching in to make the first day of classes a little more beautiful. good morning, megan. >> reporter: well, good morning. that's right. summer vacation is winding down. 48 hours left, and then the kids in the district return to class. there's a big push on today to make sure that everything is just per fek. we're here at orr elementary in southeast washington. you can see that volunteers are out in full force painediting, weeding, doing work on the playground, you name it. they want to make sure the school is ready on monday when the kids show up. this is part of a larger effort. it's not just this school. we've got 4,000 volunteers fanning out all across the district. there are 115 schools that will be spruced up today. we got out here at 8:00, and they were already here and already working. they're going to be doing this until 1:00 in the afternoon. a little while ago, we talked to the principal here of orr

elementary, and she said this is just a huge help. if they had to rely on just their staff, everybody would be working overtime to get things ready for monday. so this really does make a difference. >> our custodians would have to work 24/7. as you can see, our school is open to the community. so the playground is being used all day and all night. so the custodians would have to clean and do everything by themselves. we have a wonderful staff who would pitch in. it's nice to just have community together supporting the efforts here or elementary school. >> reporter: and, again, 4,000 volunteers taking part in this effort. we're going to bring you an update and talk to the school chancellor coming up later in the show. live here, megan mcgrath, news 4. kids are also preparing for a new school year with a back to school fair in montgomery county. the event runs from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the carver educational center in rockville. it features something for everyone, including information

and resources for parents. health screening, kids' activities, and you can even get free school supplies. free shuttle buses will be running from several area schools all day to the fair. legal trouble strikes again for a country music star. coming up, the fight that police say landed randy travis in handcuffs. >> he just can't stay out of trouble. and why we could see the price of cell phones go up because of a court ruling on apple iphones. and the recently retired redskin clinton portis is here. we're going to get his take on his career and plans for his future. he's made his choice.

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.

even easier to switch to -- and harder to resist. because now you can upgrade to fios internet and tv for just $79.99 a month, guaranteed for one year, with no annual contract required. everything has to be fast now. that's what fios provides us. [ male announcer ] don't wait. switch to fios for just $79.99 a month for one year with no annual contract required. available online only. the first time i saw fios' picture, i was just awestruck. [ male announcer ] visit verizon.com/superoffer. contact the verizon center for customers with disabilities welcome to life on fios. at 800-974-6006 tty/v. attorneys for the man who tried to kill president ronald reagan have asked to step down from the case. six attorneys say john hinckley and his family can no longer afford to pay them. a judge is expected to rule in november if hinckley can leave st. elizabeth psychiatric

hospital in d.c. for more than ten days. but attorneys say the hearings have taken so long that the hinckley family is behind on medical bills, and they can no longer afford to represent him. one of jerry sandusky's victims is suing penn state over how it handled complaints against the former assistant coach. the victim accuses school officials of not reporting sandusky to authorities. he says this action proves officials cared more about the school's reputation than the safety of children. the university spokesman had no comment about the lawsuit. later today, the school's board of trustees will meet to discuss the sanctions against them. they'll also talk about the search for a new university president. samsung says it will appeal a ruling saying it stole ideas from apple. a jury ruled in favor of apple yesterday and ordered samsung to pay more than $1 billion for patent infringements. apple argued samsung copied the look of the iphone and the ipad to make their own smartphones and tablets. tech analysts say this ruling could make smartphones more

expensive as consumers pay for more creative designs. country music star randy travis is once again in trouble, this time for assault. police arrested travis thursday night for misdemeanor simple assault. investigators say he tried to get into the middle of an argument between an estranged husband and wife in a church parking lot. travis has had his share of trouble recently. earlier this month, he was found naked at an accident scene and arrested for drunk driving. >> he was naked. r&b star usher now has primary custody of his two sons. a georgia court granted him custody after a bitter legal battle with his ex-wife tamica foster. the couple had a co-parenting agreement for 4-year-old usher raymond and 3-year-old navid, but usher claimed foster was an unfit mother. they were married in 2007 but divorced two years later. they will have to meet monthly with a co-parenting counselor. foster lost her son kyle glover

when he was hit in the head in a jet skiing accident last month. lance armstrong is in danger of losing his seven tour de france titles, but he seems to be getting more support than ever. his nonprofit cancer awareness organization live strong reports it collected 25 times the money it normally does in the last 24 hours. and some of the sponsors, including nike and anheuser busch have stated they'll still support him. the national anti-doping agency is vowing to take away lance armstro armstrong's titles and ban him from competing. he said he's tired of fighting accusations of taking steroids. a benefit for armstrong's organization is set to kick off. the 24 hours of booty will start this afternoon. teams of bikers will ride around a 2.5-mile loop around gateway columbia business park for 24 hours straight. the money will go to the lance armstrong foundation and the

ullman cancer fund for young adullingta adul adults. >> 24 hours of booty, that's quite the event. we're going to have one of the most colorful guys to play pro football. he's with us this morning. >> from his plays on the field to his costume changes in front of the media. we'll chat with clinton portis when we come back. [ male announcer ] some think obamacare is the same as free health care. but nothing is free. obama is raiding $716 billion from medicare, changing the program forever. taxing wheelchairs and pacemakers. raising taxes on families making less than one hundred twenty thousand dollars. free healthcare comes at a very high price. the romney-ryan plan will restore medicare funding

and protect and strengthen the program for the next generation. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

good morning. around the region, we've had a lot of cloudiness moving in over the last several hours. we've had rain also approaching the region. storm team 4 radar is showing an area of moderate rain coming into southern maryland, these areas in yellow. these are moderate rain showers advancing to the north and west, and they're continuing to track up into charles county, getting light to moderate showers the

southern part of charles county. then across the tidal potomac, just some lighter showers. that is moving in toward fredericksburg now. around the immediate metro area, we have just a few sprinkles now right around the district and noe northern virginia. a few light showers, eastern suburbs in prince george's county and into calvert and parts of anne arundel county. the farther south you go, the heavier the rain is falling. no thunder and lightning right now. here's the lighter view. all of this associated with a trough of lighter pressure along the atlantic sea board. this trough is going to continue to track along the mid-atlantic coast today, tonight, and part of tomorrow. as it does pull away and move out to sea, it will diminish our showers as we get into sunday. temperatures around the region low to mid-70s around washington, where they're getting the steadier rain. it's right near 70 to the south and east. farther west and north, temperatures much of the shenandoah valley into the mountain, upper 60s to around

70. noontime showers. by 3:00 a chance of lightning as well as around 6:00. we'll be near 80 by midafternoon. that's going to be the high for the day. then if you're going to the skins and colts game tonight, maybe some showers and lightning. temperatures are going to be in the mid-70s during the game. and if there is any lightning, they'll suspend the play for a while. it's only going to be intermittent, not constant. if you're heading out this evening, maybe some showers and lightning through this saturday evening. temperatures will be in the 70s through the evening. during the day tomorrow, we'll have afternoon highs reaching the mid-80s, and temperatures in the morning will generally be in the upper 60s. we'll have it into the 80s again on monday, back to work and school. we'll have quite a bit of humidity around too today, tonight, tomorrow, and into monday. again, just a slighter chance of a passing shower saturday morning and afternoon thunder showers sunday afternoon. tuesday there's going to be a front approaching. that front may trigger some showers and perhaps some thunder

showers by tuesday afternoon into tuesday evening. after that, we ought to get lower humidity moving in. we'll have the temperatures in the mid-80s on wednesday, thursday, and into friday. we'll have it into the upper 80s again, but lower humidity in place. that's the way it looks. back to you. it's the battle of the draft fix today at fedex field. the first two picks of the 2012 draft will square off in a few hours as the colts tak on the redskins. number one pick andrew luck will take the field against number two pick robert griffin iii. both teams are commemorating this much hyped game. get this, they're selling t-shirts for $35. the redskins take on the koellingcolts at 4:00 p.m. on nbc 4. the redskins post-game report is right after the game. >> clinton portis is a newly retired man. just days ago the running back great aunnounced he is bowing ot

of the pro football arena after a long seven seasons with the redskins. >> and he's joining us this morning to talk about life after the skins. how's it going? >> it's going good. it's two days removed. so i really have just been dealing with the mayhem of announcing retirement. haven't gotten started living yet, but coming soon. >> why leave now? the redskins are supposed to be hot this year. >> they are. i think they will be. for myself, it just wasn't the same. i think for the heart and desire that it takes to go out and play footba football, i think it kind of disappeared. i just felt like it was time to move on. >> what do you think you're going to miss the most? seven seasons, nine years in the nfl. there has to be some moments. >> i think the competition, the camaraderie with teammates, watching the plan come together, and going out to execute. i think that's going to be messy. you can't find competition like

this anywhere besides sports. so that side of my life, either the competition side will disappear, but i think, when you talk about being competitive in the business world and moving on with life, you've got to figure out a new way. >> you're known for your ability on the field, but you're also known for your personality and the characters you come up with. what's going to happen with them? are they retiring too? >> they're done. you know, they're done. >> no more choo-choo? >> no more. i still owe one more appearance for them, but i'm pretty much done. i think it's just that phase of lifetime is shut down and move on to a new phase. >> we were able to hear from some of your teammates and people who have supported you along the way. this is what they had to say. >> always, like i said, a very humorous guy, kept everything light. but then when it's time to work, it's time to work. i respected that. >> he was a vicious pass blocker. defense didn't want to blitz against him.

>> don't lose sight of his ability to run a football too. he almost rushed for 10,000 yards, second leading rusher for the redskins in the franchise. >> i saw that you tweeted earlier this week, thanks to all my fans, the players, my haters, everybody who's made you what you are today and has made the game of football your game of football, what it is today. to hear that, what does it mean to you? >> it's great. when you're in a locker room, it's hard to find other guys who look up to you because it's like you -- it's all me. who going to walk over and say, hey, man, you're my inspiration. those type of guys are hard to come by. usually, it's when you're gone that you have the opportunity that people pay their respects. so to be able to walk away from the game and still have contact with teammates and hear teammates speak about it, it's a great feeling. >> we fielded questions online. right? >> we did. before that, we like your shirt, but you've got some other costumes that you've shown before. we've got some video of that.

i'm wondering, how do you come up with this stuff, man? >> actually, i came up with it like probably on the spot. like 30 minutes before you seen it. >> how do you find this stuff 30 minutes before? you hit up the dollar store? is >> it would just be a whole bunch of stuff in my locker. it got to the point where me and my teammates was figuring out like what we want to put on, like here, use this, use that. come up with the name, like the name was the best part. >> i love his glasses. >> coming up with the name that matched. >> you don't have a favorite? >> all of them was fun to me. they were all a good time once you get into character. it was just fun to do. >> let's take some of the questions that we've got over on our facebook and twitter page. first one is from maria. she's asking, "what will be your next challenge? are you thinking about going back to school, coaching, commentsating?"

>> i really do want to go back to school. i want to go to business school, since that's the realm of the world that i'll be entering. i want to go take some business courses. i was in school for finance, and i didn't finish my degree. so i would love to go back and take business courses, even finish off my degree when i have time. >> stay here in d.c.? is that the plan? >> i'll be back and forth between d.c. and miami. it will be fun. i always wanted to feel like a scholar. i would love to go to georgetown. >> those glasses look good on you. >> very studious. i know you'll be spending time with your adorable kids, chaz and camden too. glad you get a little more family time. >> they got to go to school. i'm sure they would like to see me study because i stay on them about reading and writing and counting. so they would love that. they would love to see me in that stressed out studying. they swear it's the roughest

thing, like why we got to do this? let us play video games. so no. >> you're going to be around a lot more to lay down the hammer. >> clinton portis, thanks so much for being with us. >> thanks for having me. appreciate it. >> coming up, the latest forecast track on tropical storm isaac as it heads towards more populated areas.

good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm angie goff. >> and i'm richard jordan. it is saturday, august 25th, 2012.

we're tracking tropical storm isaac. >> it's packing 60-mile-per-hour winds right now and battering the island nation of haiti, w h where it could cause significant damage. nbc's mark potter has more on the challenges haitians face. >> reporter: a sprawling evacuation camp in port-au-prince built after the earthquake here two years ago. they spent the day locating the elderly, sick, and pregnant women. when the storm bearing down, those considered most vulnerable were encouraged to move into a nearby school building, where they would have water, food, and a safe place to sleep, unlike all the others living here >> i expect to find a lot of people without a place, with everything they had washed away. >> reporter: some 400,000 haitians still live in evacuation tents. residents with relatives willing to take them in were urged to leave the camps until the storm passes. on the hillside surrounding port-au-prince, sprawling shanty towns are also a concern because of the threat of flash floods

and mud slides. those living at the bottom of ravines are also in particular danger, as are those along haiti's southern coastline, where the storm is expected to hit hardest. >> 80% of the population is living under the poverty line. nobody's really prepared. nobody's living in proper conditions to be safe now. >> reporter: another concern is that heavy rain could spread an already serious cholera epidemic, which has killed 7,000 victims. aid workers say, as soon as the storm passes, they'll head back into the tent camps to see how much damage was done and to see how many people there were once again left with nothing. mark potter, nbc news, port-au-prince, haiti. >> time now for a check on your forecast. >> let's go to meteorologist tom kierein. he's outside on the storm team 4 weather deck. hi, tom. you can sort of smell the rain in the air. you can tell it's going to be raining within the next hour here in northwest washington. meanwhile, down in the caribbean

is isaac. the latest with isaac showing it is gaining strength overnight and dumping heavy rain in haiti now. here is the latest track for isaac. it does look like it's going to be continuing to head off to the north and west. it does appear the storm itself is going to be sort of gaining a little bit of strength today. right now winds are 60 miles per hour. it may become a hurricane by the time it reaches key west, florida. that would be perhaps early sunday morning. during the day on sunday right to the west of ft. myers, florida, this is the latest track. still within that cone of possibility is tampa, florida. then it does look like it may be a category 1 hurricane. that will be during the day on monday passing west of tampa and then coming inland like late monday does look like perhaps early tuesday morning. moving inland with lots of heavy rain. for us locally, we have rain on way. you can see it advancing from the southwest heading toward the northwest, southeast to northwest. it's just about to come into the

district in the next hour, getting light to moderate showers in southern maryland and then later today passing showers, maybe thunder and lightning, thanear 80. partly sunny sunday. we'll take a look at next week, the seven-day outlook is coming up. back to you. >> thanks, tom. a speech by mitt romney's wife ann at the republican national convention is moving but not because of the weather. rnc officials say senator marco rubio gave up his speaking spot for mrs. romney so she could speak during primetime tv coverage. mrs. romney was originally going to speak monday when no broadcast coverage was planned. romney will still have a premium speaking spot. he's expected to speak right before mitt romney's acceptance speech on thursday nit. we have complete coverage of the republican national convention. aaron gilchrist and julie kerry will bring you live reports from tampa, florida. that begins tomorrow night. and we'll bring you live coverage of the democratic national convention in charlotte next month.

president obama will head to charlottesville, virginia, next week, but he will not speak at the university of virginia because the school turned him down. university officials say it has nothing to do with politics. they don't want to have to cancel classes on the second day of the semester. they also don't want to pay for extra security for the event. if the president did speak at the school, the university would have to provide equal opportunity for mitt romney because it's exempt from the state and federal taxes. virginia's role as a key battleground state is leading to unusually early get out the vote campaigns. both campaigns have been working in the state for months, trying to sway voters. president obama's campaign has opened 36 offices in the commonwealth with more on the way, and mitt romney volunteers have already made more than 1 million contacts either through phone banks or going door to door. both campaigns say they are energized by the efforts. >> one work shift a week is not too much to give to a campaign that is so important. >> i've been out in the

afternoon on days like today when it's 90 degrees out. they can see the sweat coming off my brow. they realize that this is important to me, and i think sometimes that transfers that little bit of enthusiasm. >> the campaigns are also using virtual phone banks for the first time. that allows volunteers to call from the comfort of their own homes. national transportation officials say the deadly train derailment in maryland caused more than $2 million worth of damage. the investigation continues into what exactly caused the derailment. the ntsb expects to wrap up parts of its investigation later today. howard county police are considering reopening roads near the accident. a spokesperson says they'll make a decision based on the cleanup process. the 21-car derailment killed two teenage girls late monday night, burying them in the cold. later this morning, one of the victims of the train derailment will be laid to rest. rose mayr's funeral is at

bethany united methodist church in ellicott city. she was a nursing student at the university of delaware. a memorial service for her friend, elizabeth nass, was yesterday. she was studying special education at james madison university. today's redskins preseason game will begin with a moment of silence for a fallen prince george's county police officer. fans and players will honor adrian morris today before kickoff. morris died monday when his car ran off interstate 95 in beltsville. he and his partner were pursuing two men inside a possibly stolen car. police now say they have those two men in custody. the mother of a murdered prince george's county teen is speaking out for the first time. irma gaither talked exclusively to news 4. she says she's heart broken over the death of her daughter, 17-year-old amber stanley. she was shot to death in the bedroom of their kettering home on wednesday night. she was an honor student and wanted to go to harvard and eventually become a doctor. >> i'm so hurt.

like my heart has been ripped out of my chest. she was my baby. >> right now there are no leads on a possible suspect. gaither says her daughter did not have any problems with anyone at her school. new this morning, nasa is once again forced to scrub the launch of an unmanned spacecraft. bad weather will postpone that launch until tomorrow morning. the atlas 5 rocket will send two spacecrafts to study radiation around earth. the two probes will try to solve the mystery of how radiation is created. nasa will try to launch the spacecrafts at 4:00 tomorrow morning. today is safety seat saturday. it's a time where you can have police and health department officials check out your child's car seat. and make sure it is installed correctly. today's event is being held at the fairfax county public safety center parking garage. that's in the 10500 block of page avenue. if you can't make it today, don't worry.

you can see an instructional video on virginia department of health's youtube page. the time right now is 9:38. coming up on "news 4 today," the changes made to high school sports in maryland to help protect student-athletes from injury. disguise revealed. the baseball player shows his true identity at a game and gives one woman quite a surprise. we're going to show you the memorable moment. ♪

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high schools in maryland are learning new rules aimed at cushing the concussions that players suffer on the field. >> a look at how regulations are changing schools' athletic programs. hi, seth. >> hi. whether you're a little leaguer or an nfl linebacker, athletes need to protect themselves. centers for disease control say, when it comes to brain injuries, kids are at higher risk than

adults. now maryland public schools are taking action. one hit. that's all it could take to rattle your brain and cause a concussion. football and soccer players are all too familiar with the warnings and the symptoms. >> that can be anywhere from just sort of a dazed, foggy look coming from the child. or it could be a severe headache with vomiting and confusion. >> reporter: dr. barton leonard runs the emergency department at suburban hospital. >> the biggest concern in terms of concussion and awareness is missing a concussion or missing a more serious head injury. >> that's where these new rules come in. all coaches must be trained in concussion risk management. the new regulations require coaches to pull athletes off the field if they suspect they have a connecticcussion and keep the the sidelines if they suspect they have a problem. montgomery county public schools superintendent joshua starr says he is making sure the parents

understand. >> the parent is a critical partner here. if they see that their child is behaving in ways that may be an anomaly in some way, they should talk to the coach, talk to the doctor. >> whitman high school's head coach jim koontz says he won't be taking chances. >> there's something wrong with the kid, he's not responding right, we're taking your helmet, you're done. let's get an evaluation. >> the first question parents ask him is when can i put my kid back in? he said it really depends on the severity of the concussion and the symptoms, but you should definitely have your child reassess sxd gradually phase them back into physical activity. >> thanks, seth. today more than 40 companies will look to make things a little bit better for thousands of vets. the companies are holding a hiring event for veterans today at walter reed medical center in bethesda from 10:00 to 3:00. it's part of the 100,000 jobs mission which focuses on getting vets back into the work force. companies like cisco, hostess,

and jp morgan chase look to fill around 2,000 jobs in d.c. chances are you've seen one of those videos where a member of the military makes a surprise homecoming. but one airman really threw his mom a curveball. staff sergeant trey murphy told his family he would not be home until sunday. but on thursday he trained with a minor league baseball team in his hometown of greenville, south carolina, all day long. then his parents were invited to the game that night. when they got called onto the field, he made his big surprise. murphy's mom says he knocked it right out of the park. i just got chills. >> i thought this is so neat. it is so special because it is overwhelming because i really wasn't going to sleep well until i could hug his neck. >> she did that. >> so the best news of all, murphy says he is home for good now. so that's some great news. what a -- >> that was great. he really pulled that off. i mean, he was standing right

behind her, and she did not have a clue. >> she's shaking. >> what a special moment there. >> wonderful. >> let's turn to weather now. we've got some rain on the way. so far, so good metro-wise with dry weather. it's going to be moving in. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

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enjoy the dog days of summer at the village in shirlington today. dog owners invited to bring their family friends to the wags and whiskers event. it features pet adoptions, contests. you can even get your pet portrait taken. the event runs from 11:00 to 4:00. best of all, it's free. they're going to have face painting. >> there's nothing like the smell of a wet dog. this year they'll get that.

looks like a cloudy day the rest of the day and some showers moving into the metro area perhaps over the next hour. they've already had showers south and east of washington, and as we take a look at the sky, now the live view from our hd city camera showing cloud cover over the monuments this morning. we have 75 with a cloudy sky at reagan national. dewpoint has come up. 67. that's rather humid. it's going to be a rather steamy day. light northeasterly breeze now. temperatures elsewhere, where it's been raining in southern maryland. many locations in the low 70s to mid-70s in st. mary's county right on the bay waters and northern neck. richmond, fredericksburg. they're getting moderate showers now. low 70s there. mid-70s in washington. montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties in the low to mid-70s. here comes the rain. it does look like just some light rain initially moving up toward the metro area. perhaps over the next hour or so. these areas of moderate rain, these pockets of yellow in the northern neck and just north of fredericksburg just now in st. charles county.

that's going to be crossing the potomac into prince william the next hour. getting moderate showers over the atlantic beaches. so we're not alone. closest rain to watch just coming into southern prince george's county and across prince charles county. again, advancing to the north and northwest. just a few sprinkles initially here over the last hour. all of this associated with a trough of low pressure along the atlantic sea board. this is an area of low pressure that's going to be cranking up our way. getting heavy downpours to norfolk just south of richmond. this may be heading our way later this afternoon. plan accordingly. by noontime, maybe some rain around and lightning with downpours during the afternoon. not going to be constant just coming and going. there may be a little lightning associated with this too. if you are going to the skins-colts game, kickoff at 4:00. there may be showers then, maybe some lightning. if there is lightning, they have to suspend the game for a time. mid-70s through the game. this evening, if you're going out saturday night, maybe a few passing showers with a little lightning lighting up the saturday evening sky.

by midnight, near 70. by dawn tomorrow, ought to be in the upper 60s. during the day on sunday, partly sunny. highs low to mid-80s. going to be rather humid tomorrow too. might get a morning shower. greater chance of any rain during the afternoon, about a 40% chance of an afternoon thunder shower. don't anticipate severe weather today or tomorrow. monday, back to work and school. a lot of school systems back on monday. it will feel like summertime with rather humid conditions. highs reaching upper 80s and partly sunny then. still steamy on tuesday, partly sunny. highs reaching upper 80s. and a front coming our way bringing in lower humidity. as it does push in tuesday afternoon and evening, it might trigger passing thunder showers. after that, looks like lower humidity moving in wednesday, thursday, and friday. right now indications are isaac coming inland over georgia, monday, tuesday, and staying south of us during the week. so the way it looks right now, probably going to rain itself out. >> good news for us. >> seems like today might be a

good day to go to the movies. let's check out what's new at the box office. >> this is a ridiculous vehicle. >> i'm trying. i'm trying. >> a young couple embarks on a road trip they will never forget in the action comedy "hit and run." zach shepard and kristen bell, engaged in real life -- i didn't know that -- they must run from a criminal from their past as well as federal agents hot on their trail. bradley cooper and tom arnold also co-star. >> joseph gordon levitt stars in a different movie in "premium rush. he stars as wiley, a new york city messenger who rides through the city without any brakes. when someone wants an envelope, he'll do whatever it takes to it get it from wiley. >> and a science experiment goes horribly wrong in "the apparition." students take part in a

parapsychology experiment and accidentally conjure up an evil spirit. it's rated pg-13. here's some fun stuff. business ladies of loudoun county strutted their stuff at the fall fashion preview. work it, lorna. the annual show held at the belmont country club featured fashions from 16 local businesses. consultant annette harris talked trends and tips. the night benefited breast cancer charity the tiger lily foundation. >> now to eun yang with a look at what's inside the pages of this week's kids post. good morning. this week on kids post, on tv, popular names that last over time, keeping the bay at its prime. the super hero is back, but he's not fighting crime. joining us once again is tracy grant of washington post kids post. great to be with you. you have excited news about the return of captain underpants. we are excited about this one. >> kids all over the country are excited. captain underpants is back with

his first book in six years. it's "captain underpants and the terrifying return of tippy tinkle trousers." we always love the names. the book is out tuesday. we have in kids post an interview with dav pilkey, the author of the captain underpants series, and he is going to be in town at the barnes and noble in tyson's corner on tuesday and barston's child's play on tuesday. you can read all about it in tuesday's kids post. >> one of our favorites, child's play, and my oldest son can't wait. so tuesday. now how kids can get involved in keeping the chesapeake bay beautiful. >> kids go to the beach all summer long. they drive across the bay bridge. in sunday's kids post, we encourage them to look at what they're crossing as they cross the bay bridge. and we have this wonderful graphic illustration, talks about what kids can do to help

save the bay. for example, take a shorter shower. ask your parents to mow their lawn less frequently. and take the car to the car wash because that water gets recycled. >> very good. at last, how popular girls and boys names last over time. >> in wednesday's kids post we have a fascinating story looking at the most popular girls and boys names from 1940 and where they stand now. let me tell you, the girls names don't hold up very well. the most popular girls names of 1940, i'm thinking kids don't have any barbaras or patricias or bettys in their class this year. but the boys names held up much better. james, robert, william, which was the fourth most popular boys name in 1940, is actually the third most popular boys name today. >> boys names standing the test of time. thank you, tracy. and for fun family activities, visit nbcwashington.com or click on kits post.

that is kids post on tv this week. i'm eun yang. >> saw richard was up there. >> richard was on the list. coming up, how a big event today can help parents and students prepare for the first day of school. and taking pride. how you can help in the major cleanup project going on right now in the district. that is d.c. police chief cathy lanier pitching in too.

good morning. i'm richard jordan. and i'm angie goff. welcome to "news 4 today." it is saturday, august 25th, 2012. >> everybody is can ttracking tropical storm isaac. the storm is gaining strength as it heads for the coast. winds are holding steady at 60 miles per hour just shy of hurricane strength. the storm is still battering haiti and headed towards cuba.

isaac's track has shifted back east and putting florida, ft. myers, and possibly even tampa in its sights. >> emergency officials in our area are getting ready to help out. today red cross volunteers in fairfax will pack supplies. six emergency response vehicles in our area can make the trip if they are called upon. >> isaac has definitely shifted the past couple of days. we want to find out where the storm is now. >> meteorologist tom kierein has been tracking the storm's path all morning long. what is the latest, tom? right now it is right over western haiti and unloading a lot of rain there. here is haiti. it is continuing to develop, redevelop after it weakened a bit overnight. it is now taking a turn toward the northwest. its latest conditions out ahead of that. they're getting rain in southern florida that has nothing to do with isaac.

winds at 60 miles an hour. now moving northwest at 14 miles an hour and passing over northeastern cuba throughout the rest of the day today, tonight, and rt part of sunday. very early monday morning, it's going to be just to the southwest of ft. myers, florida, as a category 1 hurricane the way it looks right now, with winds at 80 miles an hour. then just to the west of tampa, florida, though tampa still in that area of possible track on the eastern side of it. that would be monday morning. it would be just to the west of tampa, then coming inland is the latest indication in the panhandle of florida by tuesday during the afternoon hours. then as it goes inland, unloading a lot of rain over georgia. i'll have the latest on the rain and our local forecast in just a few minutes. back to you. >> many to, thanks. new this morning, police are investigating two carjackings that happened miles apart in northeast washington. the first happened at 1:30 at the intersection of 24th street and rhode island avenue. that's where police say someone stole a 2009 gray nissan altima

from a driver at gunpoint. that car has a maryland license plate. then about three hours later a green mercedes taken from the 3600 block of "j" street. it's still not known if these two incidents are connected. a homicide investigation this morning in riverdale, maryland, where a woman was found dead inside her apartment. prince george's county police say they were called to the home on kennedy street near kenilworth around 8:30 last night. when they arrived, they found a woman with trauma to her upper body. investigators searched the area but found no signs of a break-in. no word on any leads in this investigation. baltimore police have released video from a high speed chase on the beltway. >> you better not move that car! >> police released that tense video after the suspect, taron white, pleaded guilty last year in court. last year police say he stole a car with a woman and her baby still inside. white finally slowed down enough so the woman and her child could

get out. they just threw themselves out of that car. police eventually caught white. he will learn his sentence in november. prosecutors will ask for 40 years behind bars. a traffic alert if you have to drive in northern virginia this weekend. expect some big plays on two of the area's most heavily traveled roads. last night crews shut down several lanes on i-66 west at the beltway. some lanes on exit ramps leading to 66 west have also been closed. so starting tomorrow night, the southbound 495 ramp to 66 west will be completely closed. during that time, you're going to have to use 236 or little river turnpike. everything should be reopened by monday. the closures are for work on the express lanes project. it's the last weekend of summer for yet another round of students. today kids in montgomery county can prepare for the first day back to school with the school fair. the free event runs from 11:00 this morning until 2:00 at the carver educational services center in rockville.

it features something for everyone, including information and resources for parents, health screenings, kids activities, and even free school supplies. free shuttle buses will also be running from several area schools to the fair all day. and d.c.'s also getting ready to welcome students back to class. >> and the community is helping schools prepare with the city's annual beautification day. news 4's megan mcgrath is live at orr elementary school with more on the projects they are doing today. hi, megan. >> reporter: well, good morning. and this beautification effort is in full swing. take a look behind me here. all of the volunteers here, including the school chancellor, kaya henderson, and the police chief cathy lanier showed up a little while ago. you can see being pressed into service painting the fence. we have all kinds of volunteers here today at orr elementary. we have little guys. we have their parents. we have students from orr elementary. we have teachers. we have just folks who are out in the community who wanted to pitch in and lend a helping hand. of course, getting everything

ready for the first day of school here in the dristrict, which is monday. there are nearly 4,000 volunteers participating in this event. they're not just here, of course, at this school. they're all around the district of columbia . different schools. they got to work at 8:00 this morning. there's a total of 115 schools that are being spruced up here this morning. a little while ago, we spoke to school chancellor kaya henderson, and she talk about the importance of doing this before the kids arrive on monday. >> the condition of our school buildings communicate to our young people whether we value them or not. so we want to ensure they are as bright and ready for the first day of school as the children coming to us. then the second reason is we are dcps, and we can't do what we're supposed to do by ourselves. beautification day is a chance for volunteers, over 4,000 volunteers from all across the city, all across the region who are painting and sprucing and mulching. it gives them an opportunity to

help us ensure a world class education for our young people. >> reporter: and this is the biggest turnout they've had for one of the beautification days. if you want to be a part of it all, walk-in volunteers are welcome. they're going to be at various areas around the district until 1:00 this afternoon. come on down and wear some work clothes. they might have you painting, but you can just walk on in and give you an assignment. reporting live from orr elementary in southeast, megan mcgrath, news 4. back to you in the studio. >> great way to get back into the school spirit. we want to remind you our backpack for kids assignment is still going on. it begins on tuesday, august 28th. so far, with the help of you, the viewers, we are distributing more than 3,000 backpacks across the area. a special thanks to our partners, apple federal credit union, and comcast, our parent company. you can still make donations for us to provide more supplies and backpacks at nbcwashington.com. all you have to do is search back can papack

backpacks. and a special shoutout to our viewer from xaruth from alexand drove up with supplies. another system is making headlines this weekend. >> up next, hurricane andrew 20 years later. the lessons learned from such a destructive storm. we sent him there to fix it, 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.

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. this weekend marks 20 years since one of the worst hurricanes in u.s. history. hurricane andrew tore through the ba many hamas, florida, and louisiana. nbc's kerry sanders looks back on the storm which he covered while living down in florida. >> reporter: it was a monster storm, the top of the scale, a

category 5. wind gusts clocked at 212 miles per hour. andrew hit at night just south of miami and left behind a devastating path of destruction. i worked at the local nbc station and was trapped in a car. the winds are gusting outside our car up to 165 miles per hour. daylight revealed the enormity of the damage. >> everything is all over the place. >> reporter: as helicopters flew over, nothing but devastation. 126,000 homes damaged or destroyed, 26 dead, $26 billion in damage. two decades later, for some survivors, emotions are still raw. >> just to see what that kind of a storm can do and how it can totally displace your life, it's just amazing. >> reporter: andrew exposed shoddy construction from florida's 1980s boom. condominium walls peeled away and roofs shredded.

a lot has changed since 1992. the storm forced an overhaul of florida's building codes, and technology is helping too. 20 years later here at florida international university, they can simulate a hurricane. the winds right now about 30 miles an hour, but as i step out, they can crank up a wall of wind to more than 150 miles an hour, a category 5, just like andrew. a dozen fans creating a perfect test environment to see which construction methods work and which ones don't. >> the nation is better off of the since andrew, a lot of lessons learned. >> reporter: 20 years later, andrew's lesson strengthening a nation and a state, which now casts a cautious eye to isaac. kerry sanders, nbc news, miami. >> and you were just a kid when andrew struck, but you remember it very vividly? >> i remember. everyone hunkered down, and no power for days and days. you don't forget something like that. >> we have been tracking isaac. that's what's been on our minds in this area.

it looks like rain might be the only thing. >> coming in for our saturday, a the lot of outdoor activities are planned. just getting a few sprinkles now just showing up in washington. just saw one there on the lens of our nbc 4 hd city camera.

homicide of young people in america has an impact on all of us. how can we save these young people's lives? as a police chief, i have an opportunity to affect what happens in a major city. if you want to make a difference, you have to have the right education. university of phoenix opened the door. my name is james craig, i am committed to making a difference, and i am a phoenix. find the program that's right for you at phoenix.edu/beltway

a very special happy birthday to anastasia menezes. our loyal viewer is turning 100 today. they're going out to maryland live. hopefully, 100 will be lucky for her, and she can come back. >> she looks awesome. >> she does look great for 100, huh? is >> i want to know her secrets. great hair. >> maybe you can contact her on twitter or facebook. >> she's probably tweeting away. tom, we've been talking about rain all morning long. clinton portis is in studio. he's going to the game, taking his kids. he wanted to know about the rain. >> if you're going to the game,

there could be some rain. just beginning to get sprinkles right in the metro area. it is been raining in the past couple of hours in the northern neck of virginia, fredericksburg south and southeast. it is beginning to get closer to us. we've got the gray sky over washington now. live view from our nbc 4 hd city camera. there's the washington monument under the gray skies. 77 at reagan national. just a few sprinkles beginning to show up there now. it's pretty much going to be about the high for the day. may only climb up to around 80 by early afternoon. right now in southern maryland where they are getting some of this rain, it's in the low to mid-70s as well as right around the bay and northern neck. farther west, much of northern virginia in fairfax county and loudoun and fauquier. upper 70s in leesburg up towards gaithersburg and frederick in montgomery county and howard county, generally low 70s now. here's the radar over the last several hours. we've had some waves of rain, some showers moving inland.

as they do move inland, they tend to break down a bit. there were some heavier downpours earlier this morning in the northern neck of virginia. as they do come back closer to the metro area, they are weakening a bit. still this area in green just a few sprinkles, light rain now. anne arundel, calvert, southern prince george's county, and into parts of charles county. farther to the west now, just crossing the potomac, coming up toward alexandria down to dale city, right along 95 from quantico to fredericksburg, pavement beginning to get a little bit wet there. all of this associated with an area of low pressure. it's weak low pressure along the atlantic sea board. it's bringing in some of this tropical moisture coming in off the warmer waters of the gulfstream, moving it inland. as it does so, it's going to give us needed rain. this is the rainfall totals we may be getting. some of the heavier amounts here on the eastern shore. these areas in orange and red could get three, four inches or more there. closer to washington, the areas in blue and lavender, generally one to two to 2.5 inches.

this is all by the time it tapers off and ends sunday afternoon into sunday evening. for the rest of the day today, noontime, showers around much of the region. chances of a little bit of lightning with a high around 80. if you are going to the game, any lightning will probably suspend the game for a time. there may be occasional showers as the skins take on the colts of fedex field. kickoff 4:00 this evening. if you're going out, maybe some showers. maybe a little bit of lightning, in the 70s through saturday night. sunday a little sun back. afternoon highs into the mid-80s. might get an isolated showers in the afternoon and evening. monday back to work and school. upper 80s and steamy humidity, partly sunny. partly sunny. still humid tuesday. might get afternoon and evening storms. then lower humidity moves in wednesday, thursday, friday. right now doesn't look like isaac will be affecting us. >>ed g egood news. thanks, tom. coming up, what you can do today to get free game tickets

from the washington nationals. >> and a big night for a maryland high school football team. [ taste buds ] donuts, donuts, donuts!

who are these guys? oh, that's just my buds. bacon, donuts. -my taste buds. -[ taste buds ] waffles. how about we try this new kind of fiber one cereal? you think you're going to slip some fiber by us? rookie. okay. ♪ nutty clusters and almonds, ♪ ♪ almonds. ♪ fiber one is gonna make you smile. ♪ [ male announcer ] introducing new fiber one nutty clusters and almonds. with 43% daily value of fiber for you. crunchy nutty clusters and real almond slices for your taste buds.

want some free tickets to a nats game? it's as easy as helping out at a blood drive. they're teaming up for the second blood drive of the summer. it's happening today at 8:00 at the nationals park conference center. it's going to last until 5:00 tonight. when you donate, you'll get two tickets to a future nats game, a nationals t-shirt, and you'll be entered to win autographed gifts, and you'll even get a behind the scenes tour of nats park. all you've got to do is give some blood. if you're cool with that, go for it. >> just make sure you eat some crackers. it was a big night in baltimore, and high school football is under way. >> lou holder has all your highlights in this morning's

"sports minute." >> many ggood morning, everyone. a double dose of bad news for the washington nationals. starting a three-game series in philadelphia with the phillies. top one, michael morris at the plate and ouch. take another look at this. kyle kendrick plucks him on the hand. x-rays on the hand were negative. bottom four, edwin jackson on the mound. two on, two out for jimmy rollins. and he pokes one into left. john mabry and lance nix comes in to score. phillies up 3-0. jackson went six innings, struck out eight, but allowed three runs. top seven. one on for tyler moore. a two-run homer, moore's seventh of the year. but it wouldn't be enough as the phillies go on to win 4-2 over the nats. baltimore, o's hosting the blue jays. chris davis is the designated

hitter. he's also the dig nate ed home n hitter. davis with not one, not two, but three homers, including one that landed on utah street. baltimore over toronto, 6-4 the final. good counsel traveling to nevada to face bishop gorman. good counsel gets their first loss since october of 2010. up a couple of levels. the big guys plagued too. skins and colts, 4:00 p.m. right here on nbc 4. stick around for the post-game show immediately following the game. that is your sports in a minute. i'm lou holder. have a good day. one of the most colorful and talented players to ever wear the burgundy and gold has retired. clinton portis announced his retirement earlier this week. he joined us in the studio to talk about why he's walking away from football. >> for myself, it just wasn't the same. i think for the heart and desire that it takes to go out and play

footba football, i think it kind of disappeared. i just felt like it was time to move on. >> in seven seasons with washington, portis ran for almost 7,000 yards and 46 touchdowns. he says he'll probably head back to business school to finish his finance degree. he'll do good in class, i bet, wearing that. on a lighter note, he says his costumes are now retired too. >> he can bring them back and be the class clown in school. >> i loved the little choo-choo. it's great. he's going to the game tonight. it might rain a little bit. we'll have coverage at 4:00 p.m. on news 4. >> we'll see you back here tomorrow morning. have a great saturday, everyone.

you know, ronny...

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