declared across our entire area. doug kammerer right now is here to explain why we should keep a close eye on this one. >> the reason for this, jim, is not because we have a hurricane to the south. it's because what's going to be happening after. this right now, it says it's a hurricane, but most likely it's a tropical storm. but do not let that fool. the 8:00 advisory, i bet it will come out as tropical storm sandy, but it doesn't matter, don't let a weakening storm now fool you later. because this storm is going to continue to make its way up the coast. right now has winds of 57 miles an hour. that was the latest as of the 5:00 advisory from the national hurricane center, moving to the north at 7 miles per hour. it is expected to become a tropical storm most likely around 00, 11:00 advisory. the track is what you want to focus on here. the cone of uncertainty takes it anywhere from boston, to the richmond area and anywhere in between is going to see very strong winds. not going to be the rain, most likely not the flooding in our

region, it will be the winds. let's take a look at one computer model. the winds on sunday, maybe 20, maybe 30 miles an hour. sunday, no longer a big deal. but down toward the coast, 60 mile plus winds on sunday. watch what happens on monday. those get very close to our region. we will be seeing wind gusts upwards of 50 to 60 miles an hour in our area. we'll talk much more about this and what you should do to prepare, plus, how long this storm sticks around coming up. >> thanks, doug. we're already seeing some of the impact on the storm in florida. some erosion on the beaches, and high winds. a lot of surf and much rain. the weather channel's jim cantore has the latest conditions now from singer island, florida. >> reporter: well, looks like we're going to end our day just like we started it, with rain shoir showers and gusty winds. even though the storm is pulling away now, the wind field is expanding. we haven't seen a decrease in the wind. nor have we seen a decrease in

the waves. at the time of high tide you can see the debris line here, it goes all the way up to these chairs. we're still an hour and a half or so away from the high tide. so you've got to be worried about this -- these chairs sitting out here. this could easily get washed away with the kind of waves that we see rolling in through here. winds have changed a little bit. they are now offshore, and things are going to improve in florida over the next 24 hours. we expect half of the winds tomorrow, and maybe a chance of a shower rather than the steady rains. i'm meteorologist jim cantore, back to you. >> a lot of coastal communities are preparing for severe weather tonight. but in rehoboth beach, delaware, it's calm. erica gonzalez is there talking to locals who don't seem worried about the storms heading their way. >> reporter: doreen, we want to tell you about an hour ago, emergency officials were taking things very calmly, so as not to get anybody agitated, they still

want to make sure everybody remains calm. but things have definitely changed here. this system is directly headed toward delaware is what we understand from emergency officials. that's what they've recently told us. they're expecting 10-foot high surge and torrential rain that could measure as much as a foot deep in some places. joseph thomas just met with the surrounding officials minutes ago. the very latest from him, residents that live in low-lying areas and mobile homes here in rehoboth are asked to make preparations to move out of the area now. they are asking these people not to wait for emergency evacuations to be put into place. again, if you live in the rehoboth area, in a low-lying area or mobile home, you're asked to make preparations to move out now. emergency planners could make evacuations and shelter designations as early as tomorrow. here's one thing i do want to

mention to you. this same gentlemen, the emergency center director, thomas, told us to heed the warnings, quote unquote, listen to your gut is what he's telling people, use common sense. this is going to severely affect somebody, he tells us, and right now it looks like we are in the crosshairs. we're going to have much more on this developing story, and this storm, that is not to be taken lightly. we're live at rehoboth beach, erica gonzalez, news4. in fairfax county, emergency workers are doing everything they can to get ready for the storm. they're checking equipment and plan to work longer hours beginning this weekend. they're also encouraging people to stay home when the worst of the storm hits. and while it is too early to know exactly where that will be, officials say it's not too early to prepare. >> pre-positioning a lot of equipment, whether it's police and fire, such as the boat you see behind me, whether it be generators for intersections that may lose power, whether it be flares and signage in areas

that may flood. we're doing a lot of work right now, a lot of planning. >> the county is also preparing to open temporary shelters if that becomes necessary. airports are already warning of potential delays or cancellations along the east coast. in montgomery county, officials plan to have more portable stop signs ready to go, in case the traffic lights go out. amtrak said it could adjust service if the wind becomes too intense. anything over 60 miles an hour could force the trains along the northeast corridor to stop. and wait for the winds to settle down. metro says winds between 30 and 35 miles an hour could slow its above-ground service in d.c. widespread power outages are a big concern with this storm. so tonight local utilities are taking steps to make sure power gets back on quickly. pepco workers are getting their trucks and other equipment ready and extra repair crews from as far away as texas have been called in to help. residents are gearing up for

possible lights out. pat? >> reporter: doreen, this is no sneak attack storm. there's been plenty of warning, plenty of time to plan. this is a chance for pepco to prove itself. with sandy on its way here, what's your biggest concern? >> hope we don't lose power. >> reporter: what do you fear most? >> losing power like we always do. >> we're worried about power. >> reporter: last-minute pepco prep, linemen out working the wires. and you're from where? >> alabama. >> reporter: and you're ready for sandy? >> i was born ready. >> reporter: tree trimmers out doing what tree trimmers do. it appears these days in some places the choice is trees or power. >> i choose electricity. the day and age we live in now, we need electricity. >> i wish they would put the stuff underground and then we wouldn't have to make that choice. >> i like the trees. but the tree won't keep my tv on and i can't cook my dinner,

unless i go out and build a fire. >> reporter: the warning, at the pepco emergency command center, some serious words about this hurricane-force storm. >> a hurricane is a major event, wherever it makes landfall, wherever the cone of the winds are, there will be significant damage. >> reporter: these are the numbers. today on the street there are 150 pepco linemen, 440 contract linemen, and 300 tree trimmers. the storm force, for this event pepco has requested an additional 2,500 linemen. as of now, 400 have committed. they've requested 400 more tree trimmers. 350 of those have promised to be here. the alternative, generators. don't go looking for one at this tool store in gaithersburg. they're sold out. all they have left, demonstrators. at this home depot store in

bethesda, generators, sold out, sold out, sold out, sold out, sold out. two shipments sold out today. they're expecting a third before 10:00 tonight. if you measure the confidence in pepco by the sale of generators, not so good. but these words today from pepco president, tom graham. >> a lot of us live here. you know, these are our families, these are our friends, these are our neighbors. so, you know, we're trying to do work for our community. >> reporter: so here we go. this storm, just like the last storm, it's really all about power. live in montgomery county, pat collins, news4. >> thank you, pat. we hope you'll stay with news4 and nbcwashington.com for continuing coverage of hurricane sandy. we're also posting constant updates on facebook and twitter. pl, we'll have new details on what communities in prince

george's county are doing to prepare for sandy. that's coming up in our second half hour. following breaking news in takoma park, maryland, now. someone stuck up an armored car there. police tell us it happened in a shopping center along university boulevard near new hampshire avenue. we're told there were shots fired, but it is unclear if anyone was hit. more details on this story will come as soon as we get them. up in new york city, an awful story. a nanny suspected of killing two young children left in her care. police say the children's mother went home last night and found her 6-year-old daughter and her 2-year-old son stabbed to death in a bathtub. their 50-yr-old nanny was suffering from what appeared to be self-inflicted knife wounds. the nanny is still in a hospital tonight. a third child who was with the mother at the time was not injured. the child's father is an executive at cnbc, which is owned by our parent company, nbc. senate majority leader harry

reid is in a las vegas emergency room tonight after a crash involving his caravan on interstate 15. police told a newspaper that senator reid had, quote, minor rib injuries. he was the only one taken tohe hospital in the six-car pileup. it's not clear where senator reid was headed, but first lady michelle obama is scheduled to speak in las vegas tonight. former senator george mcgovern will be buried privately in washington. today his family and friends and colleagues bid him farewell in sioux falls, south dakota. he served three terms in the senate. and in his attempt at the presidency was defeated by richard nixon in a land slide in 1972. mcgovern died sunday at the age of 90. no campaign stops in virginia today for president obama or mitt romney. but the two candidates won't stay away for long. julie carey reports now, governor romney had someone campaigning for him today in

fairfax county. >> reporter: four years ago senator john mccain was waging his own battle to become president. >> mitt romney understands like ronald reagan did. >> reporter: in 2012, he has a less demanding but still busy campaign schedule as a surrogate for mitt romney and senate candidates locked in tight races around the country. defense issues he believes could shift romney's way. mccain knows well about a weapon held by the obama campaign. >> we can count on the obama voter turnout operation to be very effective. they have been, they've been in place for a long time here in the commonwealth of virginia. but i also see this rising enthusiasm, and enthusiasm many times will make up for a good machine. >> reporter: mccain will make one prediction about virginia, a long election night. >> the only conclusion that i

think both of us could draw is we better get some sleep on november the 6th, because we're going to be up very, very, very late. >> reporter: in loudoun county, the obama campaign had its own surrogate headliner. caroline kennedy and valerie jarrett, urging supporters to go all out in the final push for votes. kennedy says some virginia polls that show a shift toward romney don't have her worried. >> you want somebody who has the character and judgment that you've seen and know. colin powell is supporting him, that ought to make people feel safe. >> reporter: while the surrogates were doing campaigning today, both presidential candidates returned to virginia soon, and both are coming to prince william county. mitt romney on sunday, president obama on monday. but the romney campaign was forced to cancel an appearance in virginia beach because of hurricane sandy. coming up at 6:00, a suicide

bombing in afghanistan during a religious holiday. and the bomber may have been targeting some very specific people. d.c. city workers are parking without paying. while the rest of us would get tickets, the news4 iteam confronted workers who were getting away with it. some people are ready for a scary halloween. but residents of the bloomingdale section of northwest washington are more afraid of floods that come with this weekend's storm. i'm tom sherwood. i'll have the story coming up. while parts of the caribbean are picking up the pieces after hurricane sandy's deadly destruction, our region is waiting for it to impact millions.

we told you about the robbery of an armored car. shomari is on the scene now. we understand shots were fired. anybody hit? >> reporter: well, right now that's what we're really trying to figure out, jim. this is developing right now, as we speak. we're the first on the scene bringing you close. takoma park police are searching

this volkswagen right here. an fbi agent walked up to me and said, why are they searching that car. i said a witness told me there is a bullet in that car. that's what police are searching for. if you zoom in, you can see the armored car you were talking about. takoma park police are investigating the robbery, occurring at the business on university boulevard here at east takoma park. two men approached the driver in that armored car over there. the driver was making a delivery at a business. here's what's unconfirmed. police say shots were fired. it's unclear if anyone was struck. that's the unconfirmed part. move a little to the left over here, that's the chief right there of takoma park police. he's actually being briefed right now by detectives. i told you we were the first on the scene, and we're so early he's trying to figure out all the information. come back over here, and i can tell you police are continuing to investigate. they're going to talk to witnesses. once again, you have an armored car coming here to a business, making a delivery. the armored car was shot at.

two men are possibly on the loose. we don't know at this particular point. but one thing is clear, we will find out the information and post it immediately on nbcwashington.com. live here, shomari stone, news4. authorities say afghan security forces appear to have been the target of a bombing outside a mosque in northern afghanistan today. a suicide bomber killed at least 36 people, as muslims gathered to celebrate the religious holiday known as ead. many of the victims are believed to be police officers and soldiers. the pro vengs governor and local police chief were in the building when it happened but were not injured. to presidential politics. the race has turned out to be really tight. >> david gregory is the moderator of "meet the press." he's here with the campaign final stretch strategies. we've hea so much over the course of this election cycle about the battleground states. where are the candidates going to focus their final -- >> virginia is certainly going to be a key one.

colorado, ohio that we talk so much about. this is going to be an economic argument. where are we on the economy. are things getting better. does the president deserve more credit or as romney could argue we could not afford another four years. i think that's going to be critical. ohio, for instance, becomes so important because it's doing better than the national economy. because of the auto bailout, some of the things they're doing in the energy sector. the unemployment rate is down. how does that ultimately impact voters. i talked to aides in both campaigns who describe virginia as being as tight as could be. this is why it's turnout, turnout, turnout. they've got to get the voters to the polls. >> the latest poll, if i remember correctly, shows the president ahead by about two points or so in ohio. is it likely from what you're hearing he'll be able to hold that or is romney coming up there as well? >> it's going to be highly contested. the president's campaign is very confident that they can hold ohio. they believe in the lead. it's been a sustained lead.

they think early voting helps them. that's critical. because if romney can't get ohio, he's got other paths to get to 270. they're just more difficult. >> you talk about turnout. as we get down to the end here, who's got the best strategy in place to get the voters out to the polls? >> the obama campaign has an excellent ground game. talking to the romney campaign today, they're very confident about something. they said a lot of the intensity was about beating president obama. now it's not just that, it's about getting romney elected. he's had a very positive surge which is why we're talking about scenarios about, could romney win the popular vote but lose the electoral college, therefore, lose the presidency. it's possible because he's overperforming in a lot of areas. the president is underperforming in areas he won bigger last time. we could end up seeing that. and we'll talk to governora sick of ohio, governor walker of

wisconsin. big focus on the battleground states and what's going to decide it. >> thank you, david. we invite you to join david on "meet the press" sunday morning at 10:30 right here on nbc 4. within the last hour, vincent gray declared a state of emergency here. the city prepares for hurricane sandy. it affects all the public works and safety agent situation. in the bloomingdale neighborhood, they still have real reasons to worry. as tom sherwood reports now, that area has a long history of problems with flooding. >> reporter: in bloomingdale near florida avenue in north capitol street, halloween is fun. pretend scary. but too many recent floods here are desperately serious. neighbors fear more flooding from the oncoming storm sandy. d.c. water crews were rushing to clear some drains to minimize flooding until long-term solutions are made. but neighbors can't wait. they grab their brooms and rakes to do what they could to keep

storm drains clear. 72-year-old arnez wilson, here 50 years, said she asked a passing worker to help her. >> i said could you help me with these leaves? he said do the best you can. i don't know what to do. >> reporter: ward 5 council member duffy was out touring the area, talking with neighbors. he pitched in for a moment or two. but he said the whole neighborhood needs more urgent attention. >> she just wants the media to help. >> and you deserve the media to help. you've been here contributing to the fabric of this community for quite some time. there's no reason why you should be out here trying to get these leaves up. we appreciate what you're doing. but we want to help as well. >> reporter: water officials and mayor vincent gray say the whole city has stepped up preparations for this storm. in the district, tom sherwood, news4. doug's back with more about the approaching storm. it's really not a question of if, it's more a question of how bad is it going to be.

>> yeah. one of the big factors is, what if it goes north, what if it goes south. no matter where it goes, it's going to be strong winds. if it goes farther south, we get more rain, and more potential for flooding. that's why this is still a very hard scenario to work out. we'll continue to be right here at nbc 4. we'll show you where the storm is. if you look at it now, you look at a storm, and currently right now, our conditions not too bad. actually a fairly nice night. we've got clouds. we'll see fog move back in overnight tonight. you want to watch out for that as you step out and about. don't worry about anything over the next 24 hours except for the impending storm. we don't have anything going on. at least weatherwise, other than cloud cover. if you look at this hurricane, and it is still a hurricane. that's what the national weather service says. in their discussion they talk about it most likely being a tropical storm now, under 75 miles per hour. it is a very ragged looking storm. normally you see a disk, a circular storm here, and we don't see any cloud cover down to the south.

at least not higher cloud tops. what we see is the strong storms coming onshore in portions of florida. they're seeing the strong wind, the outer bands. not a very well defined storm. even if this is a tropical storm, i do not want you to be fooled by this. this storm will most likely decrease in strength before it quickly increases in strength on its way to our region. so once again, don't be fooled if it does go down in intensity. here's the storm right now. jacksonville, down toward miami, seeing some of that heavy rain. they'll continue to see wind gusts throughout the day today. as it moves up the coast, this is what it will collide with, and why we're calling it a super storm. a cold front coming down, very cold air in behind it. the two are going to meet and you've got really perfect scenario for a deepening storm system that could cause a lot of damage. right now, it's winds of 75 miles an hour mochg to of the north at 7 miles an hour. could reform into a hurricane, and then make its way onshore. the latest track does move it a

little bit farther to the north. that's very good news for us in regards to rain. but it does not change the fact we're going to see a huge wind event here from boston all the way down to richmond, and even down to raleigh. this is something we'll watch out for. saturday, low impact. we're not talking about any impacts really. just cloud cover, rather breezy conditions. that's about it. on sunday, we'll call it low impact with a chance of a shower. but the high impact area will be down towards our coast, toward ocean city and rehoboth and virginia beach. on monday, everybody's under the high impact area, along the i-95 corridor, i-81, low impact for you. not expecting too much in the way of rain or wind here. notice here on tuesday as it moves back in, everybody in our area will see a high impact event, maybe an extreme impact event. we'll redefine the forecast over the next couple of days because of strong winds, coastal flooding still a concern, heavy rain and power outages. if you have travel plans, that is going to be a high impact area across the entire northeast

and all the way back towards the great lakes states. call ahead and check with nbcwashington.com/weather. a lot of people wondering how strong the winds could be. let's take you through saturday. 14-mile-an-hour winds tonight. by saturday, we'll start to see the winds pick up, maybe 20, 25 miles an hour. not too bad. but sunday we'll start to see the winds increase. around the area, maybe 30, maybe 35. but toward the shore, that's when they get up to 50 and 60. watch what happens on monday morning. as we make our way through monday morning, 50 and 60 and even 70-mile-an-hour gusts around our region. so once again, this storm means business. it's coming our way and we'll continue to watch it for you right here over the next couple of days. once again as we make our way in through the next couple of days, tomorrow, no real worries. we'll see cloud cover, temperatures, though, on the mild side with a high of 69. 62 on sunday. the marine corps marathon looking okay. a shower or two. breezy, but not bad. monday and tuesday, here comes sandy and we will see very heavy rain in parts of the region.

but it's the winds that will be the biggest factor here. and one thing you notice there on the couple days, thursday and friday we start to clear out. wednesday, halloween, not looking too bad. a high temperature of 52. so very cool for halloween. talking about this cool air, we've been so warm, in the 80s the last couple of details. if it goes to the north and pulls in the cold air, you've got heavy rain, strong winds and windchills in the 30s. >> oh, my goodness. >> at least we have the new track giving us a little more time to prepare. >> most definitely. >> you've got the weekend to get things straightened up. >> most certainly. coming up, confrontations in the district. a woman goes home to a burglar. i'm tracee wilkins in laurel where things are almost back to normal after that derecho. here's how it's looking now and here's how it looked then. coming up on news4, what the city is doing to prepare for sandy. coming up in sports, we'll have the latest on the status of london fletcher. he did practice today, but is

that streak in jeopardy? plus, the terps hoops team gets unwanted news regarding a new player. and the world series providing a world of hurt for the tigers. news4 at 6:00 continues. anncr: seven-hundred-thousand jobs. that's what the plan george allen supports... would cost our economy. newspapers called it "economically destructive." like allen's votes to give tax breaks to companies... that ship jobs overseas, his economic plan would... help big corporations, devastating the middle class. allen even voted against tax breaks for small businesses. virginia can't afford to go back to george allen. the democratic senatorial campaign committee... is responsible for the content of this advertising.

when we think no one is looking. is what we do... mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas.

his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education. so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message.

if you run a red light elliely in the district you could get a ticket. >> the news4 iteam undercover for the past month to find out who's parking for free. tisha thompson has our report. >> reporter: pay to park, or pay the fine. >> happens if you don't pay the meter? >> then you get a ticket. >> reporter: parking officers don't play around in the district. >> i've got a ticket. i'm only three minutes over the time limit. >> reporter: after getting a tip from a viewer, the news4 iteam started its own parking patrol. wait until you see which

district employees are illegally parking all day. and getting away with it. >> oh, wow. that's interesting. >> well, i think it's unfair. >> reporter: it's 7:00 a.m. spots are filling up fast around the d.c. government's center on 14th and northwest. while some drivers drop in coins, it's hard not to notice car after car after car sitting at unpaid meters. hanging on the mirror, handicapped placards. according to d.c. law, placards only allow you free parking for twice the posted time on the meter. we watched this guy day after day park his dodge charger on this street at a two-hour meter. he climbs into a d.c. department of transportation van that drives across town where it drops him off at his job directing traffic. three hours after his time expires, his car still sits near the reed center. no money in the meter, and no ticket on the window. >> for the last few weeks we've

been watching you park this car with a handicapped placard. say again? you don't want to give us a comment? we also see this employee parking each morning at a meter but not paying up before heading to work. one day directing traffic, another day patrolling k street for parking violations. that's right, she writes parking tickets. parking isn't the only thing we noticed. we noticed one of the ddot advance driving around for hours before dropping any officers off. we also catch some of the vans running red lights. >> anybody that runs a red light, or, you know, breaks a traffic law, that sort of stuff, that's not tolerated. >> reporter: john lyle with ddot said all of its employees are expected to follow the law like everyone else. >> it concerns authorities. it's been raised with the

supervisors to make sure they tell their staff that that's not acceptable. >> reporter: as for parking, he said district employees do not get a free pass. and using a handicapped placard does not allow for unlimited use. >> that's an issue that we've been trying to address and that's why we created the red top meter program so that everybody would have to pay for parking, because we really think that's going to cut down on the fraud. >> the red top meter program is expected to begin next year, where even those with placards will have to pay. we continue our investigation tonight at 11:00. hear how one d.c. council member wants to fix the problems we uncovered and it could involve every person in d.c. with a placard. tisha thompson, news4 iteam. right now, a woman is recovering from a frightening attack after she interrupted a burglar in her home. the victim was stabbed several times about 2:30 this afternoon. it happened on washington place

northeast. she is expected to survive. police are still trying to find who attacked her. now, to the latest on hurricane sandy. many people are concerned about the massive storm, especially after dealing with the derecho this summer. memories are all too fresh. tracee wilkins is in laurel with how they are gearing up for this storm. tracee? >> reporter: doreen, we were here the day after these came tumbling over in laurel, and one-third of the city lost its power for weeks. some folks are saying they are never going to be in the dark again. this was the scene this past summer when the derecho plowed through our area. the prince george's county, laurel got it the worst. >> we had one pole here that snapped and when it came down, it basically dominoed the rest of the poles. >> reporter: it took a few weeks to fix the poles. >> this particular service line that runs through here provides

power for about a third of the city of laurel. so it was out for quite a while. >> reporter: and while most of the poles have been replaced, some are still leaning a bit with low wires. >> you can hang on it. and i'm only 5'8". >> reporter: and that worries these business owners. >> what i'm worried about is if in fact the storm comes through, what are they going to do about it. >> reporter: laurel administrators say another major power loss is a big concern for everyone. >> we've got a lot of older areas in the city of laurel that have overhead lines. the infrastructure is somewhat dated. our phones are ringing, customer standing in line, asking about generators. >> reporter: the possibility of weeks without power again has people in laurel buying out the hardware stores. >> apparently right now we have zero generators inside the store. so it's definitely been challenging. >> reporter: now, again, if you have a generator, it's important that you use it properly. make sure that you plug it in

far away from the house and it is in an area where it's getting a lot of air. now, bg & e has an additional 2,000 folks to come in to assist in case sandy does come our way. they're looking at 3,000 to 4,000 crews on the ground trying to help out folks who live here in laurel, and in the rest of their service area. in laurel, tracee wilkins, news4. doug now continues to track that hurricane at this hour. doug? >> yeah, we're going to be watching the rains as far as the winds are concerned. i'll give you a breakdown on those coming up in just a minute, as sandy moves our way. we want you to stay ahead of this storm. download our weather app. just download nbc washington weather. president obama: there's just no quit in america...

and you're seeing that right now. over five million new jobs. exports up forty one percent. home values... rising. our auto industry... back. and our heroes are coming home. we're not there yet, but we've made real progress and the... last thing we should do is turn back now. here's my plan for the next four years: making education and training a national priority; building on our manufacturing boom; boosting american-made energy; reducing the deficits responsibly by cutting where... we can, and asking the wealthy to pay a little more. and ending the war in afghanistan, so we can... do some nation-building here at home. that's the right path. so read my plan, compare it to governor romney's... and decide which is better for you. it's an honor to be your president... and i'm asking for your vote... so together, we can keep moving america forward. i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

the investigation into possible voter fraud involving virginia congress man jim moran's son is widening tonight. the virginia state board of elections said it will ask the attorney general to open an investigation. patrick moran resigned as field director of his father's campaign on wednesday. that resignation came hours after a conservative group released an undercover video showing patrick moran discussing how you might cast fraudulent

ballots. yesterday arlington county police launched a criminal investigation into the matter. tell us what we're working on in sports. >> one thing i looked up is all the major sporting events this weekend are inland. the world series moving to detroit, coming up in sports, the tiger return to their lair. plus, he's played 231 straight games. but that streak on the line this weekend. as london fletcher, do you think he'll play?

hello, everybody. meteorologist doug kammerer here with you as we continue to watch as sandy makes its way up toward the north and the west. or north and east. and eventually up to the north and west. this is one of our computer models that we use here at nbc 4. you can see on saturday, not a lot going on. here's the washington, d.c. area, just some cloud cover. and rather breezy conditions. that's about it.

the rain, the wind, down toward the carolina coast. but the storm system well off the coast. as it makes its way in on sunday, you can see the storm starting to get a little bit better defined. you notice around us, not dealing with a lot in the way of rain. it will be late on sunday into the day on monday that we start to see the rain. 5:00 on sunday, and then on monday the storm comes closer. we start to see the heavier rain move in. let's take you through the rain. 7:00 a.m. sunday, not too worried about that. as we move through the day on sunday, we start to see the rain move in around 11:00 or 12:00. by 7:30, could be over an inch already. as we make our way through the day on monday, some areas two, three, four, even five to six inches of rain. we'll be talking about this over the next couple of davis as far as the potential for flooding. how about the winds. talking about the winds on your friday. maybe 15 to 20 miles an hour. on sunday, those winds will be even higher, upwards of 20 to

30, maybe 40 miles an hour. and then on monday, as we watch this storm move in and move closer, 50 to potentially miles an hour plus. once again, we'll be watching this big-time. power outages definitely a possibility. you want to make sure you're ready for those. sports now. and london fletcher's going to play, at least going to start. >> you say may not start but definitely make an appearance, that's what you say? you don't mess around with balance issues, right? >> yeah. >> watching him very carefully. if it's up to him, he's playing. when london fletcher first broke into the league, celine dion's song was at the top of the chart. he played in 16 games as a rookie and hasn't missed one

since. now the streak is in jeopardy. fletcher is listed as questionable. he has the slight limping. with his hamstring. he's monitored for balance issues. he's feeling good after a full day of practice, though. >> i was encouraged by today. felt good to get out there, run around. still another 48 hours before the game day. hopefully i keep improving. >> london, is the streak on your mind at all? >> you know what, when y'all bring it up, i really don't think about it a lot until other people talk about it. i've always taken it in the mind-set, if i'm able to play a game, i play a game. it just happened that it's been, you know, all the games. every game. i love being out there with my teammates. i love being out there on the field and playing football. so, you know, that's just really how i kind of approach it. >> the redskins are approaching the game knowing there's a very good chance he will not be

cleared. it's easy to guess who will get the nod in his place. good old lorenzo alexander, the team's muvp, most valuable utility player. he knows the defense so well, experienced on the line and outside linebacker in his four years with the skins. lo enz oh will split time with keenan robinson. they both say they're ready to go. the unit's head man is happy with the team's backup plan. >> i feel good about it. between lorenzo and keenan, they did a nice job when they stepped in last week. it will be weird. from the situation he's been, what, whatever the streak is, 231, that would be a different feeling obviously. but we feel good about the guys we're playing. >> taking reps all week, preparing like he's not going to play. so when i go out there, i play at the high level he's already set for the team. go out and fill the void the best i can. you can never make up for a guy

like london and all that experience and what he brings to the team. but i'll go out and do the best i can and not allow anybody to wonder why london's not in the game. that's my job. >> kickoff sunday in pittsburgh. maryland terrapins did not get the answer they wanted to hear. but they were prepared for it. the terps said the ncaa is denying a player play this season. wells has been practicing with the team since joining them late august. he was expelled from kaxavier ts summer, but said the allegations were unproven and he was never charged. they're working with wells. a five-member panel will hear the appeal and make the filing ruling. it cannot be overstated how big this is for the terps. wells was the rookie of the year last season. the detroit tigers are in a giant hole. they have to win the five

remaining games to win the world series. but the next one is the most important. no team has ever come back from an 0-3 series deficit. take you to last night, beautiful evening in san fran for game two. giants/tigers. top of the second, del mond young at the plate. down the left field line. the man on first is getting sent home. you know who that man is? check it out. it's prince fielder. mr. sprint himself. the big fellow. buster posey got him. bottom of the frame, doug fister pitching to polanco. he literally knocked it right back at him. take another look. right off his head. and you know what? how tough is he. he stays in the game. he said he's fine. bottom seven, another player a lot of people are talking about right here. bases loaded, brandon crawford hits one to omar infante.

hunter pence's score puts the giants up 1-0. they now have the lead two games to none heading into detroit. where doreen already told you is also cold there, in the low 40s. the nhl cancels the game for the remainder of november. >> that's a shame. thank you, carol. doug's back with a new look at hurricane sandy.

. we're going to be talking about this approaching storm all weekend long. >> yeah. >> why are we so sure, doug, that it's definitely coming here? i mean, why can't it go up and hang a right to the east? >> that's what most storms do. most make their way up the coast and keep going. but a little bit of analogy, there's a bouncer at the front door. he's not letting that storm out. there's an area of high pressure

along greenland that will block this storm and there's an area of low pressure off to the west that will pull it right back in. and that's why we're talking about you've got a blocking area of high pressure, area of low pressure that's going to grab it and bring it back in to the northeast. why is it such a big deal? because it's hitting the most populated area in the united states, nearly 60 million people could be affected by this storm. take a look and we'll show you what's happening over the next couple of days. tomorrow, no problem. 62 on sunday. things go downhill sunday afternoon, monday and tuesday we see the worst of this storm. things start to improve on wednesday. that, of course, is halloween. it will be tough for the kids to get out there and do a little trick-or-treating. could be some damage. >> thank you, doug. now, can we all take a big deep breath in, and then let it out slowly. and then over the next four, five days, let's do that again and again, often. here's the deal. we all know by now there's a storm coming. big one. no joke.

i heard a guy from the national weather office today saying in his 40-some year career he's never seen conditions like this come together. another one said he'll probably never see anything else like this in his lifetime. yesterday, a point that doug rarely gets scared by weather but he said this one could be scary. all that from the experts, masters of their craft. they're the guys who gave this threat a name, frankenstorm. scary stuff. with all that said, let's not be scared. a lot of people are, or just on the edge, or already over the edge of being freaked out about this thing. my son, who's scared of nothing, except grizzly bears, is about to freak out. to him and everybody else, let's not. we don't have to. let's decide not to. there are two good reasons to chill out and make the best of this. one, we ain't no pumpgs nks up here. we've dealt with snowmageddon. we survived irene a few years

back. some of us remember agnes, a mother of all storms, we're still here, still standing. as we will be after this one as a memory. here's the second reason. it might not be as bad as it could be. let's put our collective energy together and send that thought out into the universe. always keep in mind, though, the fundamental truth that my aunt used to lay on me all the time, boy, she said, youe got to remember, that man poses and god disposes. >> amen. >> take a deep breath. "nightly news" next. [ earnest ] out of the blue one day, we were told to build a 30-foot stage. gathered the guys and we built that 30-foot stage, not knowing what it was for. just days later, all three shifts were told to assemble in the warehouse. a group of people walked out on that stage and told us that the plant is now closed

and all of you are fired... i looked both ways, i looked at the crowd, and...we all just lost our jobs. we don't have an income. mitt romney made over 100 million dollars by shutting down our plant and devastated our lives. turns out that when we built that stage, it was like building my own coffin, and it just made me sick. [ male announcer ] priorities usa action is responsible for the content of this advertising. when we think no one is looking. pris what we do...ion mitt romney: believe that they are victims. anncr: mitt romney thought no one was looking when... he attacked forty-seven percent of americans. his companies shipped jobs overseas. his plan cuts millionaires' taxes, but raises yours. he'll voucherize medicare... and make catastrophic cuts to education.

so remember what romney said... and what his plan would do. president obama: i'm barack obama and... i approve this message. and this is maryland. teacher: this is west virginia, pennsylvania, delaware. every year marylanders spend five hundred and fifty million gaming at casinos in these other states. question seven will build a new casino and bring table games to baltimore... generating hundreds of millions for schools. and that money has to go to education. it's the law. so vote for question seven. so we can stop spending all that money here, and keep maryland money in classrooms like mine.