fbi informant. from july on the federal government and new york police were closely watching him, so there was really no danger. but they say he was intent when he first came to the united states to carry out some kind of terror attack of the he considered many attacks, spouted off at one point about wanting to kill the president. decided on some target in new york, some financial target. scouted out the new york stock exchange. and then settled on the building you're seeing the pictures of now, the federal government bank. he actually went along with this undercover guy who provided him, whatexplosives. assembled the bomb, drove it down to the federal reserve bank, went to a hotel room nearby and repeatedly dialed the cell phone number that he thought would set off the bomb. but of course, the whole thing was inert. as soon as he dialed the number, they arrested him. >> do we know any more about this guy, about what led him to this? >> he's from bangladesh.

he's 21 years old, came to the united states in january, as i say, on a student visa. appears to have wanted to commit jihad from the moment he got here. there's no indication he was doing anything other than acting alone. he talked a lot about al qaeda, but doesn't appear to be directed by any group. though he did say he was inspired by anwar al alacki, who was eventually killed in a drone attack. >> a lone wolf? >> yes, but not homegrown. we turn now to the presidential election of 2012. we are in the final three weeks of the campaign now. barack obama and mitt romney took their game up a notch last night in the debate and gave every indication today they will keep up the intensity in the final stretch. steve handelsman has the latest from capitol hill. steve? >> jim, thanks. how did last night play in virginia, for example, ohio, the

rest of the battleground states? that's what matters most. pollsters try to figure out the answer, the candidates headed out to try to move those numbers. the day after the debate, they went to swing states, still battling. former governor romney in virginia. >> i just think the american people had expected that the president of the united states would be able to describe what he's going to do in the next four years. he can't. he spent most of his time trying to talk about how my plan won't work. >> his tax plan doesn't add up. his jobs plan doesn't create jobs. his deficit reduction plan adds to the deficit. >> reporter: president obama in iowa. >> mitt romney's trying to sell you a sketchy deal. we are not buying it. >> reporter: paul ryan was in ohio. >> didn't mitt romney do a great job for us last night? >> not true, governor romney. >> reporter: the debate was a brawl. >> one-point plan. and that plan is to make sure

that folks at the top play by a different set of rules. >> i will not under any circumstances reduce the share that's being paid by the highest income taxpayers. >> reporter: the sharpest exchange on libya. >> it took them a long time to say this was a terrorist act by a terrorist group. >> the suggestion that anybody in my team would play politics or mislead when we've lost four of our own, governor, is offensive. >> reporter: to some voters, it was too wild. >> i think a lot of that had to do with the moderator, to be honest. i think she lost control. >> reporter: the last debate is on foreign policy, for the next four years. mitt romney's already baiting barack obama. >> he's got to come up with that over this weekend, because there's only one debate left on monday. >> reporter: it should be a doozy. adding to the drama, the final debate is in boca raton, florida, the biggest battleground state.

steve handelsman. somebody called police to report seeing a body in the river. the man's body was found near the shorline beneath the bridge. they're not sure how long the body was in the water. they continue to investigate the cause of death. police in hyattsville, maryland, are looking for a pair of thieves who beat and robbed a man last night in hyattsville. the victim was walking near lancer drive when he was con frostd by what police call robbers. they started beating him in the face with a handgun until he fell to the ground and lost consciousness. the victim was treated for head and face injuries. vermont avenue is back open in northwest d.c. after a metro bus accident there this morning. the bus was heading to capitol heights when his hit by a van on the intersection of vermont. none of them had life-threatening injuries. one of the police officers accused of beating a university of maryland college student took

the stand today in his own defense. earlier, the judge dropped a charge that could have sent all of those policemen to prison for up to 25 years. chris gordon has details on the judge's decision. >> reporter: the most serious charge in the trial of defendants, prince george's county police officer reginald baker and officer james harrison, has been dismissed by the judge. when prosecutors rested their case against the two, defense lawyers argued this was no evidence that student john mckenna was hit in the head by the officers' baton strikes during what they called a riot in college park after university of maryland's basketball victory over duke on march 3rd of 2010. i only see strikes from the neck down, said judge beverly woodard. that's the problem, she told the prosecutor. the judge ruled that there is insufficient proof that the officers intended to inflict serious and permanent injury, which are the legal requirements

of the charge of assault in the first degree. student john mckenna was treated for a concussion, and cuts after the incident, but wasn't admitted to the hospital that night. three days later he complained of dizziness and went to an emergency room. the judge left the courtroom to check the law, and returned to rule that the injuries were not proven to be both serious and permanent. >> the judge did dismiss the most serus charge. >> what do you make of it? >> no further comment. we're still in trial. >> any count that gets thrown out is a good count. >> reporter: the defendants now face the less serious charges of misconduct and second-degree assault. in court, with his helmet, shield and baton, corporal baker answered one of his lawyer's questions about that night. i'm afraid, he said, but we have a mission. he said he saw a large male yelling, running at police forces with his fists clenched. he's not obeying commands to go back. i had to get to him before he got to the horses. i don't know what he's got in his hands. it's a threat. i yell, get down, get down.

i engage him with a shield, push him. i apply short strikes to his arm area. the arrest team arrives. baker was later suspended from the police force. now, the co-defendant at this trial, james harrison, was also suspended from the force, pending the outcome of this criminal trial. harrison is expected to take the witness stand and testify in his own defense tomorrow. that's the latest live from the prince george's county courthouse, chris gordon, news4. a daylight robbery has thrown a scare into some customers at a washington gaming store. three men with guns went into that store this afternoon. pat collins reports on a clue that may help lead police to those suspects. >> reporter: jenkins row, it's one of the new structural faces on the hill. you can see the capitol right down the street. lots of shiny new condos. and right on the corner a gamestop store.

that store turned into a crime scene today. the target of a daylight heist. they say there were customers inside the store when it happened, and it happened around 2:56 this afternoon. three men, all masked, two guns. they go inside the gamestop, they tell everybody to get on the floor and be cool. they take money. they take xboxs. and they're out of there in something less than three minutes. police all over the place, looking for clues, trying to identify the suspects. guns, robbery, daylight, popular store, busy street. the ingredients that puts a neighborhood on edge. >> the neighborhood is up and rising, and i'm kind of getting a little frustrated and tired at what the people are being mugged and robbed and things like this. i'm kind of surprised and shocked. >> i think it's absolutely

frightening. i think that it's terrifying, actually. it makes me not want to come over here at all. i wouldn't have come to harris teeter had i known this happened. >> reporter: there are security cameras in that store. police are trying to harvest that videotape so they can use it to close this case. on capitol hill, i'm pat collins, news4. d.c.'s mayor is responding to a new push to lower the fines that come along with speed cameras in the district. three council members have submitted a bill that would cap the fines for speeding tickets from a camera at $50. right now they can be up to $250. >> the enforcement of infractions has actually resulted in improved traffic safety outcomes. so that's the measure that i want to look at. and we'll look at -- we'll work with the council on this legislation as it moves through. >> if approved, it could be 2014 before the new proposed fine

structure goes into effect. my goodness, what a gorgeous day it was today. so fine, in fact, that doug doesn't even want to be in here with us, he's outside. and who can blame him. >> that's exactly right. don't tack personal offense. it's nice out here right now. really, one of the best days we've seen, and i think we're in for a couple more of these. maybe a little fly in the oinment here could come in the form of severe weather. looking at plenty of clear skies. the sun going down quickly. winds out of the south at about 5 miles per hour. everybody still in the 60s. 63 in gaithersburg, fredericksburg coming in at 71 degrees. so nice and mild. rain, not tonight. but tomorrow, take a look at what's back to the west. a big-time storm. a very strong storm coming through portions of the middle part of the country. we'll talk about that storm and what it's going to bring through us. it does bring a chance for severe weather. i'll show you when and who gets

what coming up in my forecast. coming up, safe at home. >> that was the hardest part was laying in a tent for many days hunk erd down in the rain thinking about what everyone else was thinking at home. >> reporter: two virginia men share their harrowing ordeal spending five days stranded in the snow. i'm jackie bensen. pepco crews to the rescue. they help save a toddler. lance armstrong steps down from the livestrong foundation he founded. what the move means for the charitable organization. and an unusual rescue effort, a plane full of passengers is diverted to search for a boat in distress. as governor, i cut five billion dollars in spending

and balanced the budget every year. and tim kaine and i both cut our own pay as governors, to lead by example. mark warner and i reached across party lines to get things done. we were a great team in richmond and we'll be a great team in washington. i'm tim kaine and i approve this message ...because we'll work together to restore fiscal responsibility, grow our economy and create jobs. [ male announcer ] tim kaine. bringing people together to tackle the challenges of tomorrow.

there's been no letup in the violence in syria. amateur video released today reportedly shows tanks firing on a neighborhood in damascus. there's also video said to show street fighting in aleppo. there is amateur video that appears to show a syrian military helicopter being shot down by rebels in the city.

it exploded in the sky. nbc news has not been able to authenticate any of the video. the syrian government tightly controls media in that country, and it is impossible in some cases to verify accounts from opposition forces and from the government as well. ten afghan soldiers were wounded in a suicide attack by the taliban this morning. nato officials say a suicide bomber set off his explosives outside the gate of the u.s. afghan combat base in eastern afghanistan. that blast sent walls crashing down, and that is what injured the afghan troops. no americans were injured. the attack seems to be part of a changing taliban strategy. and that is to target afghan forces as the coalition troops begin their drawdown. we're learning more about moving the costa concordia cruise ship. it hit rocks off the coast of italy in january and 32 people died. weather delayed salvage efforts

for months. an american company is now working around the clock to try to upright the ship. the cost in the hundreds of millions of dollars. crews are putting large steel boxes over holes in the ship. they plan to fill them with water to act as giant floaties. four tug boats will toe the concordia to a shipyard where it will be scrapped. meanwhile, hearings are under way. >> i couldn't have imagined anything like this. >> hearings are under way to determine if the captain of the concordia should stand trial for the deaths of those people on the ship. for years there have been reports and rumors p lance armstrong, and about his use of performance enhancing drugs. but today those ak sagss became quite costly for the biker. jay gray explains how the allegations pushed armstrong out of the top spot of his livestrong foundation and cost him a major sponsor, too. >> reporter: the long and controversial ride for lance armstrong is taking a dramatic

turn. today he stepped aside as the chairman of the foundation and wildly popular livestrong brand which raises millions of dollars every year for cancer patient support services. a statement from armstrong on the organization's website reads in part, to spare the foundation any negative effects as a result of controversy surrounding my cycling career, i will conclude my chairmanship. that controversy has now also affected armstrong's status with a long-time sponsor. nike announced it will take its name off workout facilities at headquarters. a company press release says, due to the seemingly insurmountable evidence that lance armstrong participated in doping and misled nike for more than a decade, it is with great sadness we have terminated our contract with him. nike does not condone the use of performance-enhancing drugs in any manner. >> this sa sports problem, a cheating problem.

no longer after ten years, they finally cut ties with lance. >> reporter: anheuser-busch also announced it will not renew a contract with armstrong that expires at the end of the year, a fallout from a report released last week by the u.s. anti-doping agency which implicates armstrong as a ring fleerd a massive scandal. >> the u.s. postal service, ran the most successful drug program we've ever seen. >> reporter: performance enhancing drugs that armstrong used extensively and shared, according to testimony from 11 of his teammates. armstrong has continued to deny using peds, but faced with the latest report, said he would no longer fight the allegations. instead, it now seems the fight has turned to one of public relations and corporate survival. jay gray, nbc news. more about our beautiful weather. >> i mean, scale of one to ten -- >> 11.

>> i would go 11, too. there's no scale for what we saw out there today. that's how nice it was. we've got a couple more of these great days ahead. we've also got some potential for severe weather during the night tomorrow night. not going to be within the next 24 hours, but about 24 hours from now, we're going to start talking about it. take a look outside right now. the sun making its way down. sun goes down at 6:26 tonight, i believe. and this wednesday, october 17th, for the record today, we saw a high temperature of 69 degrees. a little bit earlier. a little above average. the record high 86, set way back in 1938. so it can get kind of warm this year. no more 90s for records, by the way. we missed that just a couple of weeks ago as far as those temperatures were concerned. temperatures now in the 60s, just about everywhere. 65 degrees, winds out of the south about 5 miles per hour. we're going to continue to see numbers drop, but not by as fast as they did last night. not nearly as cool when you wake up tomorrow morning.

61 in gaithersburg right now, 69 in fredericksburg. 64 over towards easton on the eastern shore. nothing here as far as rain is concerned. once again, i don't expect any rain for at least the next 24 hours. but then, we're going to be watching this guy. it's a big storm. this is a very big storm out in the middle part of the country. it is bringing strong winds, very strong winds, 60, 70-mile-an-hour winds. all of these areas in orange, rapid city, bismarck, through portions of nebraska and into portions of colorado, under high wind warnings for winds upwards of 60, 70 miles an hour. everybody else under wind advisories. that purple is actually severe thunderstorm warnings. and there is a tornado warning just to the north and west of st. louis. i do think the game is going to be affected by this storm, the baseball going on right now. we're going to watch those storms move our way. and i think they will give us at least a chance for severe weather. high pressure dominating today, giving us all that sunshine,

moving to the south and east bringing in mild temperatures tonight and very warm temperatures tomorrow. low 70s tomorrow before this frontal boundary moves through. it will have a chance for strong storms. back to the west, around 10:00, 11:00, along the i-95 corridor for the severe weather. and friday we're still nice and warm. and still looking at pretty nice conditions. i think friday's looking good before another cold front comes through late in the day on friday to help us cool down in time for the weekend. a slight risk of severe weather in portions of pennsylvania, all the way down to the carolinas. for us, it's just about everybody in our viewing area has the slight risk of severe weather. best chance back to the westerly, and around the i-95 corridor later. as i mentioned, between 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 tomorrow night. what this is going to show us is tomorrow morning starting at noon, no problem.

tomorrow evening, around 6:30, maybe a few showers. but then here comes the rain, and the thunderstorms right around 10:00, 11:00. this is 11:45 on this one computer model. the biggest potential is going to be strong, maybe damaging winds. we're going to watch this very closely for you for the next 24 hours. friday, no worries there. evening forecast, clear skies. just perfect tonight. 58 to 63 degrees. waking up tomorrow morning to another nice morning, not quite as cool. a little more mild. a nice start, 42 to about 52 degrees. the temperatures warming up. 72 tomorrow, 72 on friday. this weekend, spectacular, with high temperatures in the upper 60s. and next week, i think we could really be on a real here from saturday, maybe all the way through next week for fantastic weather. temperatures above average each and every day. >> we've got a lot to look forward to. >> not bad. >> thank you, doug. still ahead on news4 at 6:00, saved by pepco. >> i saw the flames, i put it

out. we came back and i saw the flame getting bigger. >> hear from the heroic lineman who helped save a sleeping toddler. i'm julie carey, i'll have debate review from mitt romney's supporters and those of the president in a live report. coming up in sports, the yankees on the verge of getting swept out of the postseason for the first time in 30 years. rg3 and the redskins turning their sights to the super bowl champions. how they're preparing for their first nfc east game of the season. [ minto ] you know, those ads saying mitt romney

would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme. so i looked into it. turns out, romney doesn't oppose contraception at all. in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother's life. this issue's important to me,

but i'm more concerned about the debt our children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. imillion dollars for maryland one hundred schools.ty... [ romney ] i'm mitt romney question seven will double it. rushern baker: question seven will add table games and... a new casino, generating millions of dollars... every year, without raising taxes. leggett: and audits will ensure the money goes... where it's supposed to. more jobs, and millions for schools. baker: question seven will be good for our kids... our teachers, and our schools. leggett: keep maryland money in maryland. baker: please vote for question seven. leggett: vote for question seven.

breaking news now from spotsylvania, virginia, where the sheriff's office said someone was hit and killed by a train. tr chopper 4 is over the area.

this happened at about 4:00 this afternoon. we'll bring you more details as they become available. a 19-year-old pepco lineman is being called a hero tonight. he was working on the lines in upper marlboro when he noticed smoke coming out of a home. he grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran into the burning house. jackie bensen reports he may have saved a sleeping toddler's life. >> reporter: the pepco employees credit good training for the way they reacted. >> i set the fire extinguisher ran. i couldn't see anything. this whole area was full of smoke. >> reporter: 19-year-old pepco lineman ryan callahan was part of a crew upgrading electricity to a home under renovation on ritchie marlboro road when he noticed smoke. >> it was pretty bad. the smoke was very thick. going into the kitchen area, you couldn't see anything. all i saw was the flame. i put it out. we came back and i saw the flame getting bigger. >> reporter: others ran to alert the homeowner who had walked her

7 and 9-year-olds to the end of the driveway to put them on the school bus. she began sprinting to the house knowing her son asher was still sleeping in an upstairs room. >> i came back running, because this one was in the room. i had to make sure he was fine. >> reporter: prince george's county fire officials say given the home's rural location, the pepco crew prevented what could have been a tragedy. >> while we have fire responses here in the area, we're met by a driveway that's rather long and tedious to negotiate. >> reporter: it's not clear how the fire started. a trash compacter burnt. but the homeowner worries that in the chaos of a school morning, she may have left the stove on. she called the pepco employees angels. >> they are a godsend. they are really a godsend, because i don't know what would have happened. >> reporter: young asher was quiet but his eyes lit up when asked what he will likely remember about today.

>> did you see the fire truck? >> reporter: jackie bensen, news4. developments today in the police beating trial of the university of maryland student. the judge dismissed first-degree assault charges against the two prince george's county officers. the judge said there's no proof that the officers meant to inflict serious and permanent harm, which is the standard. one of the officers, reginald baker, took the stand today. he testified he was afraid of the man running toward him during a post-game celebration back in 2010. federal authorities arrested a 21-year-old man on a terror sting operation in new york this morning. they say nafis was trying to blow up the federal reserve building in manhattan. investigators say he parked a van filled with what he believed to be explosives outside the building and then tried to detonate it. he's charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and with attempting to provide material support to al qaeda. lance armstrong is stepping

down from the livestrong organization. armstrong said he does not want distractions in his personal life to affect the charity. armstrong and nike also are parting ways. the company said they were misled by armstrong. this comes a week after the anti-doping agency stripped armstrong of his tour de france titles. they said he was at the center of a major doping operation. after the debate last night, the presidential candidates are back fighting for votes in the battleground states tonight. republican mitt romney will speak at a rally in loudoun county, virginia, about a half hour from now. julie carey is there as well. and she's going to tell us now about a celebrity traveling with the governor today. julie? >> reporter: i'll talk about that in a minute. virginia seems to be the go-to spot for mitt romney after the first debate. after last night's more

combative affair, the mood is a little more subdued. the reviews a little different. supporters rolled into the leesburg park to see mitt romney, last night's combative debate was still replaying in many people's minds. this loudoun county family came to see romney for the first time and maria admits she didn't enjoy the first debate as much as the first. >> the sort of head-to-head combative type of confrontations does kind of, i think, for most women, at least for me and the friends that i have, it's kind of unsettling. >> reporter: her husband, too, says it would have been tough for romney to improve on his first debate, nearly all scored as a big win. >> i think mitt romney seemed to be on the defensive a lot. just because he did very well in the first debate, i think the pressure was for him to do well in the second. the president came out a lot more assertive. >> reporter: but this romney

supporter views things differently. >> i still think mitt romney won. >> reporter: democrats who staged a brief polite counterrally said they liked obama's aggressive style. >> he was strong, decisive, presidential, extremely strong last night. we're very pleased with his performance last night. >> reporter: but on a lunchtime walk in downtown leesburg, this obama supporter admits she cringed a bit watching. >> they got into each other's personal space, and that was very unbecoming of both of them. but i felt as if president obama did what he had to do and say, look, if you want to fight, here it is. >> reporter: at the obama campaign office in leesburg, volunteers say they got a lift from the president's performance, and say a steady stream of new volunteers came in today in response. >> i thought last night was very good. i thought the president was very, very presidential. he answered the questions as they were asked. he had solutions, plans for the

economy. >> reporter: and the program here has started with delegate barbara comstock up on the stage now. dennis miller is supposed to take the stage later on. on friday president obama returns to northern virginia. he will be at george mason university friday morning. for now reporting live from leesburg, julie carey, news4. the i-495 express lanes project is now in the final stages of construction. it is expected to open later this fall. today leaders of the project showed off a new high-tech operation center that will control everything from cameras to tolls. the express lanes will have to be monitored to make sure traffic keeps moving at a minimum 55 miles an hour. if there's too much congestion, the tolls will go up. when traffic slows down, the tolls go down. there are no toll booths, it is all electronic, so drivers will need an easy pass. car pools of three or more people will ride toll free.

two virginia hikers are happy to be home after surviving in the montana wilderness for six days. they endured winter conditions and rugged terrain. richard jordan talked to them about what helped them get through it. >> i don't think our wives will let us go for many years. >> reporter: neal peckens and jason hiser can laugh about it now. but for six days, these friends and avid hikers were lost in the back country of montana's glacier national park. snow op the ground covered their trail, and their topographic map blew away from them. the men were more than 2,000 miles from home, but their thoughts were with their families. >> my wife was having a baby shower on saturday. so i was worried about ruining that as well. >> reporter: hiser is expecting his first child. peckens' wife waiting with their son who just turned a year old. the families called authorities when the men didn't return on time. >> i think that the people at home had it worse than we had it.

sadly. >> reporter: peckens and hiser finally rescued late monday. they used a blanket and put out an sos using burned logs. but help wasn't coming fast enough. >> we saw helicopters. we had a couple of fly over our heads, but they couldn't see you through the fog. >> reporter: the two-day food supply was running low. hiser was in charge of rationing the food. >> for four days in a row, we split, we each ate a quarter of a cliff bar per today. >> reporter: they each lost roughly 15 pounds waiting for the rescuers. they say the days they spent together hunkered down in a tent mostly consisted of talking about the first meal they would eat when they were rescued. all that time in the extreme elements was a test in endurance, and friendship. >> we never got in any arguments. we never got irritated. we just kind of used our heads and thought through things. there are a lot of people that would take that situation a lot differently. so i think we learned that we were with the right guy.

>> reporter: but most of all, they learned the best thing about being home. >> a lot warmer. >> and drier. >> a lot more sunshine. >> we're very grateful for everyone that had shown so much support. >> reporter: richard jordan, news4. still ahead, an unusual rescue effort. how a passenger plane and the passengers on it helped rescuers spot a boat in distress. astronomers say they discovered a new planet with some similarities to earth. how about our weather, doug? >> weather looking good right now. for us, around our area, in the d.c. metro area, but look back to the west. severe thunderstorm watches and warnings. tornado watches. that storm is moving our way. e.

the middle class, who move our country forward. work hard. raise families. and keep america strong. but mitt romney's budget plan will hurt the middle class. raising taxes on the average family by up to $2000 dollars. while giving a tax break of $250,000 dollars to multi-millionaires.

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. yesterday in the vast pacific ocean, off the coast of australia, a guy in a sailboat who was in big trouble. the mast was damaged, he was low on fuel. he had set off his emergency beacon and authorities alerted an air canada jet flying in that area. the pilot called on the passengers to help him look for a boat in the water. and they found it. from 6,000 feet up, they spotted the yacht, and help was summoned. the boater had been drifting there for several days. european astronomers have discovered a new planet about the same size as the earth. it was found using a telescope in chile. the planet is in the solar system right next to ours. the sun can even be seen with the naked eye. scientists believe the new planet is too hot to support life but have not ruled out the possibility of life on other planets in that solar system. fascinating to see with the

naked eye but only in the southern hemisphere. we can't see it here. maybe we ought to get on a plane -- >> and go down to chile. i would be willing to do that. >> cool that they used the passengers to spot that ship. >> he was very happy about it. >> i'll bet he was. >> talking a little hockey. guys still waiting to get this lockout situation solved. hoping that they might be one step closer. tigers are one game closer to taking their brooms out against the yankees. and what about bob? rg3 has a response to ocu's nickname for him, or lack thereof, as news4 at 6:00 ♪

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every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million dollars at casinos in other states. question 7 keeps that maryland money in maryland through expansion of gaming in maryland. it will mean hundreds of millions of dollars for our schools. as governor, i can promise you, that money will go to education. that's the law and that's what we'll do. vote for question seven.

hello, everybody. a beautiful night out there. beautiful evening. temperatures go down. they're not going down as fast as they did last night. 65 still at the airport. southerly wind keeping us on the mild side. 59 in gaithersburg, 59 in

manassas, 63 in camp springs and 59 down towards huntingtown. temperatures will be cool tonight, but not as cool as they were last night. radar picture, not showing any rain across our area right now. but a chance of storms during the day tomorrow, right along in through washington, most of maryland, and just about anywhere in our viewing area. if you're watching us out there right now, you have possible severe weather across our region, from this storm right here. big-time thunderstorms. 60, 70-mile-an-hour winds right now coming through the st. louis area. that system will move our way during the night tonight and into the day tomorrow. once again, that severe thunderstorm risk in here tomorrow. and really tomorrow night. i think the best chance of severe weather will be between 8:00 tomorrow night and 11:00 tomorrow night. don't worry too much about it during the day. temperatures in the 40s to the north and west. 52 overnight in washington tonight. temperatures warming up nicely tomorrow afternoon. sunshine early. a high of 72 in d.c. upper 60s back to the west. best chance of storms mostlily come after sunset.

this is the xfinity sports desk brought to you by xfinity, your home for the most live sports. a guy i know just got out of marines, wants me to come to some bar on sunday to watch the redskins beat the giants, or get so drunk that it doesn't matter. >> was that the exact text? >> i turned him down. >> while you're exchanging texts with the ex-marines, i'm reading posts on new jersey websites. they are so scared of this quarterback that we have now, robert griffin iii. they said, we have no problem scoring on the redskins. we can put up 28 points. the problem is, now they can put up 28 points, too. i'm curious about that story. skins going up to the meadowlands, 5 1/2-point underdogs to the giants. but now the burgundy and gold

have as much of a chance as anybody in the nfc east to knock off the champs. let's not forget the redskins were the only team to beat the giants twice last season. mike shanahan and his troops east close. >> it's always big playing in that division. it's something you look forward to. especially these veterans and young guys get to learn how important it is. >> it's bigger than any rivalry game you've ever played against, whether it be the giants or eagles or cowboys. just something you look at and say, man, i can't believe this game just really happened like that. it's not hate, it's just excitement. it's going to be fun. >> black and blue, going to get nasty out there. that's what it's all about. you know, trying to oppose your will on the other team. >> i definitely think they'll be ready. i heard one of them say in the paper already this week, we

remember they beat us twice last year. we know we're going to get their best shot and they're going to get our best shot. >> that's ryan kerrigan. look at the quarterback ratings, there are a couple of familiar names up there. aaron rodgers is the top rated quarterback. peyton manning is number two. right behind them, redskins rookie robert griffin iii. giants defensive end in new york calls hip bob griffin. the redskins rookie he said didn't deserve a nickname before the season because he hadn't done anything to earn one. just a week into the season, oc changed his tune saying, i'll call him whatever he wants. young robby griffin was asked about the giants defensive end he'll be facing on sunday. >> as far as i've heard, oc said he'll call me whatever i want to be called. i think that was after the first game. it's whatever, man. bob, robert, i don't care. i don't really talk that much trash. oc is a great player, done great things. i can't argue with him. your play makes you respectable, not you trying to stick it to

somebody. i've never tried to single out any one guy. he's a defensive end, i'm a quarterback. his job is to try to sack me, and my job is to facilitate the ball to somebody else. >> this just hit me as i was listening to his sound bite. you know, he could do pretty well at some of these debates we've been watching lately. >> he's very diplomatic. >> the guy is brilliant. basically, you don't kick off c oc. i will not say anything to upset that man. >> absolutely. >> griffin has the gift of saying exactly the right thing, too. >> he is wise beyond his ears. so far. we'll wait for the other shoe to drop. game three of the national league championship series in st. louis, the cardinals leading the giants 2-1 in the seventh. last night the yankees continued their slide in the alcs, after losing again to the tigers. the yankees, one game away from elimination. we start in the bottom of the fourth last night.

scoreless game. d delmond young. a line drive right out of the park. ends up being a solo home run off of hughes. tigers take a 1-0 league. top nine now, 2-0 tigers. justin verlander only allowing two hits. until nunez gets ahold of one. that is gone. it's now a one-run game. just out of the reach of andy dirks. verlander allows three hits and that run. now down to two outs with two on. phil cook pitching to raul ibanez. and coke takes care of business. tigers win 2-1. they take a 3-0 lead in the series. the yankees have not been swept out of the postseason since 1980. c.c. sabathia tonight said he's confident the offense which has scored just five runs in three games will wake up.

>> we can just get as hot. especially with our lineups, and the veterans we have. you always have the faith that if you go out and do your job, you're going to score runs. >> nhl players, cautiously optimistic about the latest proposal from the nhl. they're hoping it jump starts negotiations that haven't really gone anywhere recently. the players have been locked out for more than a month now. several caps players have been working out, renting their own ice time and hoping something will get done soon. >> i think it's a step in the right direction. it's not exactly something to be overly excited about. right now there's a lot of fine print in their proposal. but it's a step in the right direction i guess is the best way to put it. >> the next three, four, five days will be a big swing of emotions. it's going to be a lot of stuff -- hopefully it will go back and forth. we hope it's a pr ploy on their

part. we want to get things going. i think we've made a lot of concessions. if so, i think that's the big thing. >> fingers crossed. we can see hockey real soon. one more nfl note, ranked 26th in the nfl, welcome backing back terrell suggs at practice today. ray is on the designated to return list. baltimore keeping that door open. let's hit the hellie pad. the wizards looking for their second win of the young pre-season in toronto tonight. kicking off in a couple of minutes. college hoops, indiana ranked number one in the coaches poll. they return four starters from last year including cody zeller who could be the best player in the land. and victor who can jump out of the gym. fun to watch him play.

we've been covering him since high school. indiana, man. they were in a long slide, now back on top. >> you want to claw back. thank you, dan. >>[ female announcer ] as you're making your decision... maybe you're wondering what to believe about mitt romney. well, when it comes to protecting your access to birth control... and the basic women's health care services planned parenthood provides... one thing we must remember, is this: i'll cut off funding to planned parenthood. [ female announcer ] he'll cut it off. cut us off. planned parenthood. we're going to get rid of that. [ female announcer ] women need to know the real mitt romney. [ obama ] i'm barack obama and i approve this message. and balanced the budget every year. and tim kaine and i both cut our own pay as governors, to lead by example. mark warner and i reached across party lines to get things done. we were a great team in richmond and we'll be a great team in washington.

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tomorrow is your first chance to win free tickets to the 90th annual christmas tree lighting ceremony. the lottery opens tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. online at the national tree.org. there are 3,000 seated tickets available and 14,000 standing tickets available to the public. the first family usually attends the ceremony held december #th at the white house. >> it's always cold on that night. >> it was really cold two years ago. last year was okay. they've always got enough hot chocolate. they did run out last year. i can't wait to get down there. if you've not been down there, you really need to try to get down there. they have great acts. >> the national tree.org. >> national tree.org. you know we'll be there. 72 degrees out there right now. 72 on friday. or rather 72 tomorrow and friday. best chance of storms overnight

tomorrow night into early friday. and then the weekend looking good. most of friday, by the way, also looking good. saturday and sunday looking fantastic. monday, tuesday and wednesday, temperatures in the 70s. december 6th for the tree lighting, looks like 38 degrees. >> i'm going to write that down. we'll see. a family in virginia has a pumpkin that may be the largest one in the d.c. area. kate and hub said their pumpkin weighs just under 1,000 pounds. they bought it from a local farmer. they put it on display in their corn maze in plains. they named it priscilla after a children's book about pumpkins. hub says he takes it inside the barn every night to protect it from the cold. just picks it up and carries it just[ minto ] you know,rries it those ads saying mitt romney would ban all abortions and contraception seemed a bit extreme. so i looked into it. turns out, romney doesn't oppose contraception at all.

in fact, he thinks abortion should be an option in cases of rape, incest, or to save a mother's life. this issue's important to me, but i'm more concerned about the debt our children will be left with. i voted for president obama last time, but we just can't afford four more years. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.