a beautiful afternoon coming up. falls church, hometown forecast there by noon in the upper 60s and partly sunny. a look at the rest of your wednesday in ten minutes at 6:11. good morning, danella. how is traffic? good morning, tom. for folks traveling along i-66 this morning, your travel lanes are open. and we have a live look from chopper 4 over the beltway right now. the beltway at i-66 is clear in both directions. in fact, if you're traveling taillights, that's the inner loop of the beltway and headlights the outer loop. no issues. northbound no it accidents. this is a live look right now for folks traveling past prince william parkway. you can see the lanes are starting to see some crowding so heads up on i-95 in the woodbridge area. you are sluggish. but once you pass that and continue to the beltway, those travel lanes are open. i'm back in ten minutes. aaron and eun, over to you. angie goff following a long

speech in the senate from the live desk. >> we've all been following it this morning. senator ted cruz talking all through the night and into the morning all to delay a vote on health care and the budget. live to the senate floor now, the chamber mostly empty now. ted cruz more than 15 hours into his talk-a-thon protest. he supports the plan up for a vote today. it would keep the government going all while defunding the so-called obama care. his marathon speech is not technically a filibuster but a way to get attention as he tries to delay the democratically led senate from voting and sending that measure back to the house. cruz has every intention to talk until he can no longer stand. this is him in the last 20 minutes. >> we can show a level of courage that has been rare in this town to step up and say we will risk retribution from our own parties, stand up and speak the truth. we will stand up and champion our constituents. >> you can see him there rubbing his eyes a little bit. when he ran out of things to say he took to reading a bedtime story to his little girls last

night. an aide tweeted out a picture of them watching and listening to their father read "green eggs and ham." president obama is talking about his health care plan. he broke it down yesterday at a forum in new york. cruz says that plan is going to cost too much and that's why he's going to keep talking. today president obama will hold a conference call with state level leaders across the country talking about his new health care law. this comes as his administration works to educate the public about exchanges launching in states next tuesday. today health and human certificaservices kathleen sebelius has an overview of the 53 premiums available. most americans will have two or more insurers that wok best for their situation. everyone must carry health insurance by january 1 or face a fine. president obama will meet with treasury secretary jack lew at the white house.

lew is out with new federal estimates saying the u.s. could have less than $50 billion on hand to pay its bills when the country hits its debt ceiling, less than previously thought. he is calling on congress to raise the nation's borrowing limit. 6:04 and tonight is your chance to hear how terry mcauliffe and ken cuccinelli plan to boost virginia's economy. the candidates for governor will face off in a debate in mclean, virginia, focus on the economy and other issues facing virginians live on nbc 4 and nbcwashington.com starting at 7:00. our northern virginia bureau chief julie kerry and i will be on the panel asking questions. lieutenant governor candidates outlined what they would do. ralph northam and e.w. jackson squared off in a debate in arlington. both men discussed the role fate plays in their lives. >> i'm not running to be preacher, bishop, pastor of virginia. i'm running to be lieutenant

governor of virginia, and i will seek to serve all the people of virginia is regardless of their back ground. >> what i do in church carries with me to what i do in every day life. >> nor it tham holds a three-point lead over jackson among likely voters. in our latest nbc 4/nbc news marist poll. a developing story in syria. a team of u.n. chemical weapons inspectors back in that country now will look for more evidence that chemical weapons used in syria's civil war. a report after the inspectors' last trip there claimed syrian troops used sarin gas in an attack last month near damascus. >> if you were heading into d.c. for lunch today you might want to avoid driving near the white house. in just a few hours more than 100 federal workers are expected to stage a rally. today's rally will be similar to this one. the walmart protests from last month is hosted by the large retail accountability living wage coalition. the group wants president obama to guarantee a living wage to federally contracted workers. the group also plans to deliver

more than 250,000 signatures to the white house today supporting that measure. today's rally kicks off at 11:00. a police headquarters building evacuated because of an explosion. the accident involving a battery being blamed for the scare. plus, new tattoo rules. the ink some will have to remove to join the army. and a boat built to look like the delorean from "back to the future." the moment things got a little bit out of control for the driver. plus, we are this for a cool morning again. morning again. storm team 4 keeping tabs

i'm terry mcauliffe, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad. for 30 years i've worked as an obgyn, my job is to protect the health of women. so i'm particularly offended by ken cuccinelli. cuccinelli wants to make all abortion illegal ... ... even in cases of rape and incest. ... even to protect a woman's health. i want a governor who's focused on schools and creating jobs, not someone who wants to do my job. who's ken cuccinelli to interfere in the lives of women across virginia?

in news 4 your health, a heads-up if you take antidepressants. you might be at a higher risk for diabetes. researchers say this applies to all antidepressants not just a specific one.

researchers say patients on antidepressants are more likely to be overweight which is a factor of type 2 diabetes. one of the side effects is also weight gain. a surprised sight on the bay had baseball announcers doing a double take. take a look for yourself. someone fired up the delorean out on the water outside the san francisco giants stadium. you have to remember the delorean. >> of course. >> it's from the "back to the future" movies, remember? the driver didn't have quite as much control and slammed in a another boat. eke. anchored on the cove. >> eke? >> eke! the car also lost a tire during the joy ride. oops. so not quite the entrance it was hoping to make in the bay. >> fun to watch. although, when it gets scary it makes you say -- >> eke!

>> 6:11 now on our tuesday -- what is it? wednesday morning. 56 degrees. let's get updated on the forecast. tom? sun rise is at 7:00. the first light of day. some high clouds coming over the metro area now. they'll be with us off and on through the morning. that's a live view from our hd city camera early on this wednesday morning. good morning. temperatures right now in the suburbs are down into the 40s most locations. we do have some patchy, dense fog around the shenandoah valley and the blue ridge. watch out for are that as well as out in the mountainses and by 8:00 the low 50s, those high clouds in and out through the rest of the day. we'll be reaching near 70 by noon. upper 70s by midafternoon. another awesome autumn day on the way. a look at the next seven days, your weekend is in seven is minutes r.a. to prince george's county an accident along oxon hill who'd has just cleared. now heading up to the beltway, anyways and clear he

nice and clear. colesville road picking up volume. no major delays just yet. traveling the inner loop clear as well and east drive time between i-95 and i-270. back in had ten minutes. thank you, danella. thieves stealing your money while at the atm without you knowing it. the device police say these two guys are using on montgomery county money machines. plus, imagine opening up a package and finding $100. a town it's happening to many families who

welcome back. it's 6:15. new this morning, the militant group behind the four-day hostage situation in nairobi says kenyan forces used chemical weapons, demolished the building to cover evidence, and buried 137 hostages. just moments ago a spokesman for the president of kenya says the bodies under the rubble are included in the death toll of 61 civilians, six soldiers and five gunmen. this morning we heard gunshots and saw white smoke coming from the building. today begins three days of warning. nbc news obtained exclusive video showing the frightening moments when the terrorists stormed the mall on saturday.

you can see in this video mother and her children playing dead. we're also hearing from an american who escaped and arrived at dulles. >> the missing guy came back, under a lot of pressure to get you out. if you want to get out, we understand it's dangerous, but this is probably your best shot. >> she arrived at dulles yesterday. she is a harvard trained lawyer who was working for the world bank in kenya and you can see more of her story later this morning on the "today" show beginning at 7:00 this morning. 6:16 now. today another busy day for john kerry, the secretary of state will discuss the crisis in syria with more foreign diplomats. he will meet with france's foreign minister. kerry met with shan sha sha's foreign minister yesterday. the white house says they discussed a possible u.n. security council resolution. kerry will meet tomorrow with iran's foreign minister. these will be the highest level

talks between the two countries in more than 30 years. meanwhile iran's new president says he is prepared to resume talks over his country's nuclear program, rowhani told the u.n. his country poses, quote, absolutely no threat to the world. right now police in west virginia are searching for the person who shot six people. the shooting happened at a housing complex late last night. some of the victims managed to walk to a nearby gas station to look for help. all of the victims are expected to make full recoveries. police have not released a motive for the shooting. new this morning, things are back to normal at police headquarters in columbus, ohio, after an explosion reported inside the building there. firefighters, the bomb squad searched the building floor by floor. no signs of smoke or damage. a police spokesman says an industrial battery in the lobby blew up. looking for two thieves who could have swiped your personal

information at atms. a surveillance camera snapped a picture of them. take a look. police say they put skimmers on bank of america atms. the device can record your account and p.i.n. number when you go to get cash. police say this has been going on for about a month now. they've expanded their investigation into washington, d.c. they won't say how many people have been hit or how much money the two have stolen. new this morning, asiana airlines being investigated over accusations the carrier failed to properly help victims' families after that plane crash in san francisco. three people died, dozens were injured when flight 214 crashed in july. u.s. law requires all airlines to have a family assistance plan in place for accidents that provide things like a toll-free number to inform families about transportation and lodging. the ntsb has found asiana failed to provide emergency contact numbers, set up a proper hotline, or even contact passengers' families for days

after the crash. asiana could face fines of nearly $30,000 for each part of that law that it violated. right now search crews are combing through debris of a massive earthquake in pakistan looking for survivors. the quake measured 7.7 and killed an estimated 238 people. thousands of others are hurt. the quake leveled houses and buildings and has made rescue efforts difficult. they are sending in military troops and helicopters to help search crews. doctors there describe the scene as horrific. pakistani leaders say the quake moved land with enough force to create a small island. think twice about getting a tattoo if you want to join the army. new recruits will not be allowed to have at thtattoos visible be their elbows or knees or above the neckline. that's according to the military publication "stars and stripes." the rule is part of a new policy on grooming and appearance. this will not apply to current soldiers. the new policy could take effect in a month or two.

i'll post the whole article on my facebook page. you should book your flight now for the holidays. according to kayak.com, you generally find the cheapest air fathers now through the middle of october. after that, all bets are off. you'll score the best thanksgiving deals flying out the monday or tuesday before and the closer to christmas day you fly, the more money you'll save. you actually fly on christmas day which is probably the best way to fly. >> i've done it once and it wasn't bad at all. >> i'm sure the airport is quiet, too. coming up on 6:21 now on our wednesday morning, check the forecast for you. here is tom. good morning. here in the storm team 4 weather center, reports of patchy, dense fogg from the shfog from shenan valley. watch out for deer, watch out for pedestrians there. closer to washington don't have

any fog around our nearby neighborhoods. right in washington generally in the low 50s. we'll stay in the 40s and low 50s between now and about 8:30 this morning. a few high clouds coming and going. we have a calm wind. and as the day progresses we'll have our temperatures quickly climbing. a few morning clouds in be a out by noontime. m.d. afternoon mid to upper 70s with some clouds coming and going. a beautiful autumn day coming up. then this evening back down into the 60s and by dawn tomorrow should be not as chilly as this morning. afternoon highs on thursday in the upper 70s and partly cloudy to partly sunny at times. then during the day friday should be a beautiful day. mostly sunny. highs upper 70s. your weekend storm team 4 seven-day outlook saturday, sunday looking fabulous for outdoor activities. should be great, great weather on sunday, too. then monday and tuesday, some clouds around. a slight chance of a shower and i'll be back in ten minutes.

our hometown forecast coming. danella, how is traffic? tom, look out for pedestrians. right now tracking an accident involving a pedestrian. this is new york avenue at north capitol street. the report just coming in. so if you're traveling new york avenue both directions please use caution this morning. out to i-66 for folks traveling eastbound at 234 an accident to your left shoulder lane. you can see authorities are on scene as well as vdot on scene and for your delays the chopper zooms out you can see a bit sluggish for folks traveling i-66 eastbound. these delays continue as you make your way to 29, route 29, in that area. luckily travel lanes are open but you are just seeing heavy volume this morning as you continue towards the accident eastbound. over to the rails, six-minute delay. a five-minute delay on penn south train number 407. i'm back in ten minutes.

>> we will see you then. thank you, danella. more than 6949,000 residents signed up for next month's earthquake drill. they say it's a great chance to practice what to do in an earthquake. organizers say you should drop to the floor, take cover, and hold on. the drill happens october 17, more than two years ago a 5.8 earthquake hit this virginia that sent shock waves all up and down the eastern seaboard. today the human rights campaign will premiere a new short till film to prevent bull. what can we do, bias, bullying and bystanders. it happens at 4:00 at cleveland elementary school in northwest washington. a panel discussion following the screening. the obama administration says drug testers need to do a better job testing for synthetic marijuana. the white house office of national drug control policy just released a study it conducted in our area. researchers who tested d.c. men

on parole or probation found that more than a third of them tested positive for synthetic marijuana. but still passed the traditional drug test. researchers warn this could mean noncripp noncriminals who take drug tests could be using synthetic marijuana. >> do you get enough sleep? never. if your answer is no, like me, electronics could be the problem. nighttime exposure to artificial light can disrupt your sleep cycle. that means if you want a good night's sleep turn off your phone, your tablet and your television. >> we're going to have a very turned on smartphone society looking at their phones at 1:00 in the morning and that's going to influence our sleep routines. >> doctors say you should turn all electronics off at least an hour before you want a deep sleep. almost 300 lucky residents in maryland walked away from

state and local fairs with more than could the the ton candy. they found money and lots of it. officials have returned almost $330,000 to more than 275 residents. all those people discovered the money with the help of unclaimed property units set up at fairs. well, it may be only september, but in salem, oregon, somebody is already in the giving spirit in a big, unexpected way. >> someone is putting $100 bills in random grocery store items. people are finding the sweet surprises in cookies and chocolate bars. >> opened it up and $100 bill fell out just like that. >> when we got home, they were getting their ice cream and lo and behold they came running out, we found $100. what? this cannot be real. >> this never happens to me. grocery store owners say they've counted nearly $2,000 worth of lucky $100s. store managers say they don't know where the money is coming interest with but the bills are authentic. >> thank you and keep moving.

new this morning, claims of the nsa spying, the new target a foreign report says was the subject of intense surveillance here in washington. >> plus, we've watched this speech in the senate live all night, all hornung. ahead the health care test vote coming in the senate and when senator ted cruz says he'll stop this speech. plus, a plumber helps save a woman's life after she was hit by a taxi. this morning why he says that ♪ for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/dcmetro.

♪ for a store near you go to benjaminmoore.com/dcmetro.

good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet! licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. in just the last few minutes things have changed in the senate chamber. you can see florida senator marco rubio has taken to the podium in this live picture here. this is part of the marathon speech texas senator ted cruz started more than 15 hours ago while many of you were at work yesterd yesterday. it's at that stand against the affordable care act. we will break down the political strategy behind this mood in just a few minutes. but first, the sun is just

start i starting to peek out from the horizon. look at the gorgeous view of the nation's capital from our city cam. when you step outside, you might need a jacket. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein now to get an update on your forecast. t tom? we have a sun rise in about half an hour at 7:00 this morning. got patchy, dense fog reports coming in from the shenandoah valley and around the blue ridge. temperatures there low to mid-40s. closer to washington in the suburbs we're generally in the mid-40s this morning with a calm wind. a few high clouds coming over. right in the district of columbia in the low 50s as well as right near the bay waters and the tidal potomac. as the day progresses we'll have our temperatures still chilly through 8:30, 9:00. but then by 10:00 should be in the mid-60s. the by noontime near 70 degrees and partly sunny. hometown forecast burtonsville, montgomery county, should be partly sunny in the mid-60s by noontime. a look at the rest of your

wednesday coming at 6:41. good morning, tom. checking out our area roadways. we're going to head up to i-270 because we're still seeing volumes. this is normal delays, no accidents but you are slow from frederick, maryland, continuing southbound to 109. a live look at what the volume looks like. very slow crawl for folks traveling all the way near clarksville road that's where the lanes opened up and you're still clear. shooting back over to 66 and talk about nosy drivers, accident just off to the left shoulder lane here. this is at 234. eastbound traffic is slow. a lot of folks slowing down to see what's going on. if you're traveling 66 heading to 234, seeing volume, that volume continues. pretty heavy right until route 29. i'm back in ten. danella, thank you. happening today on capitol hill a possible vote in the senate

that could strip money from health care and help prevent a government shutdown. inside the capitol right now senator ted cruz of texas and other republicans have been speaking for more than 15 hours in this live picture you see marco rubio speak iing in opposition to the health care law. senator cruz has been getting help from his fellow republicans including mike lee. nbc's tracie potts has been keeping an eye overnight. she joins us live. >> reporter: good morning, everyone. between the three of them, they have been talking for over 15 hours, going on 16 hours now, trying to prevent or delay this vote. the vote is scheduled to happen about an hour after the senate gets into session, so later this morning and that vote would include two things, a budget so we don't have a government shutdown, but it would also take all the money away from the affordable health care act. known here as obama care. they want to see that but they know democrats are not going to

let that be part of the final vote and so they're trying to prevent that change from happening. they want to see the money go away. as a result we're seeing this marathon talk-a-thon all night long on capitol hill. is it going to work? will it delay the vote? that we don't know. but the republican party is concerned. republican leaders warned them against this because they think if the vote is delayed, it will simply shorten the time to get something done before next week's deadline and if that's the case and the government shuts down, they fear republicans may be blamed. aaron? >> tracie potts on the hill for us, thank you. more reports of spying by the nsa against u.s. allies. the hindu newspaper in india reports the nsa bugged the i indian embassy in d.c. and the indian u.n. office in new york with sophisticated equipment. the report cites documents obtained by edward snowden. the documents also list india on a list of countries chosen for intensive spying. india has defended nsa spying

programs in the past saying they prevented terrorist attacks. this morning six people face charges this connection with the stabbing death of a woodbridge high school football player. prince william county police arrested four women and two men in the murder case of 18-year-old kenny diaz. the youngest suspect is 19-year-old diandra samuels. diaz was found stabbed to death at the marumsco acre lake park. police say everyone knew each other. they say the suspects were also involved in drugs. and new this morning, branch avenue back open after a serious crash in the district. take a look at this video. you can see the front end of this car just crushed. d.c. police say a driver lost control of his are car around 4:00 this morning and slammed in a a tow truck. the driver was take tone a nearby hospital but is expected to be okay. police think that person may have fallen asleep. we now know the identity of a body found decomposing in a d.c. closet. this morning police are trying to determine how the 46-year-old woman died.

the body of tonda camp was found saturday inside her apartment on adams street in southeast washington. neighbors say they smelled a foul odor in the building for more than two months. police haven't released a lot of information in the case. an elder ly d.c. man who lot his home over a $134 tax bill is taking his case to court. he's challenging the district's tax lien program. it allows the city to impose liens for unpaid property taxes and then sell them to private investors. "the washington post" found some of those demanded thousands of dollars in fees from homeowners and took their homes when they couldn't pay them. the lawsuit says the tax lien program is an abuse of government power and calls it unconstitutional. a step closer to moving to virginia. the fred ricks wurg city council approved a preliminary agreement for a new ballpark to house a minor league baseball team. the suns need to submit that afwre agreement to major league baseball. d.c. city leaders will join

executives from marriott to celebrate a milestone in the construction of the district's largest hotel. at 10:00 a.m. they will hold a topping off ceremony at the marriott marquee site near the washington convention center in northwest a. crane will lift a ceremonial beam on top of that 14-story building signifying construction has reached its full height. the hotel is set to open in the spring. gambling near the district. the details we expect today about a possible casino project at the national harbor. and do you see abraham lincoln in this photo? the big moment in u.s. history some experts think this picture shows. good morning. the eastern sky painted with brush strokes of color early on this wednesday morning. temperatures right now are down into the 40s much of the region.

welcome back. the man who rushed to help a british tourist who was hit by a taxicab in new york city was fired days after the incident. he used his plummer's belt as a tourniquet after it severed her foot. >> justino said he was fired for attracting too much media attention. justino was the torman of an under construction drugstore. the company says he and two other plumbers were laid off because there wasn't enough work at the job site. we are approaching 6:41. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein has a look outside. tom? good morning. look at that predawn sky lit up with neon orange clouds over capitol hill. that's a live view from our nbc 4 city camera early on this wednesday morning. temperatures around the region are generally in the 40s. right now mid to upper 40s in prince george's county,

montgomery county, as well as fairfax county. in the district of columbia it's in the low 50s. by noon should be near 70. midafternoon temperatures should be reaching the mid to upper 70s. your seven-day outlook is coming in ten minutes. how is traffic, danella? tracking delays inbound 66 inside the beltway, sluggish here. a live look and a drive time for you, here is what's happening between the beltway to glebe, about ten minutes but you can see under speed about 39 mills an hour. on i- 6 that crash in the left shoulder lane clearing just a bit. looked like just a few cars remain on the scene. if you are traveling eastbound as you head to this accident at 234 you are facing a three-mile backup but sluggish all the way to the beltway. i'm back in ten minutes. danella, thank you. workers coming together to protest the demands these employees will make this morning and the delivery they will make to the white house. plus, a health care scare.

warning students about a tuberculosis case. and gas prices expected to drop in the coming weeks. we'll tell you how much less experts think you'

they say roll back, we say fight back. >> in just a few hours a crowd larger than this one is expected to gather near the white house

and demand what they call a living wage. richard jordan is live at freedom it plaza now with more on what we can expect interest this rally. richard? >> reporter: good morning. there will be more than 100 workers out here and many of these workers either are employed by the federal government or by companies that are contracted by the federal government. these are cafeteria workers, maintenance employees, even the men and women who sew military uniforms and all of them say they don't make enough. they want a raise. we have seen rallies like this recently, just last week, there were several people that gathered. they were going up against corporate giants, companies like walmart, asking the d.c. council for a living wage. now today's workers will be going to the president. they say they will deliver 250,000 signatures and petitionses to the white house today. they are asking the president to raise their wages. they say they just need to make

more money. now they will be walking from freedom plaza where they will be gathering at 11:00 up a few blocks to the white house. they expect to be there around noon today and they will, of course, want to get some attention for this. they have a large prop there carrying with them. it is a ten-foot-tall pen. they want the president to sign an executive order. reporting live, news 4. keeping operations running in case of a federal shutdown, the council wants to classify all 33,000 district workers as essential personnel. that would allow them to continue to it work since congress oversees d.c.'s budget. they will vote monday, one day before the possible federal shutdown. dk it can's attorney general warns the move could be illegal. today a judge will sentence a maryland man convicted of murdering a 17-year-old walking home from the library. the hearing will happen at 10:30

this morning at the prince george's county courthouse. that's in upper marlboro. he faces life plus 20 years in prison for the 2011 murder of justin isaacs. two more families will honor the lives of those gunned down at the navy yard. kenneth proctor's family will accept visitors at the sacred heart catholic church followed by a funeral mass at 10:00. a viewing for arthur daniels at 9:30 at the community of hope ame church in hillcrest heights will be followed by a funeral at 11:00. and we are getting a different perspective of the navy yard shoot thing this morning. news 4 sat down with the trauma team from medstar washington hospital center for an exclusive interview. the team says they were ready for patients within minutes of hearing of the shooting. medstar is the district's only level one trauma center equipped to handle the region's worst disaste disasters. they say that day they could have handled at least ten critically injured patients. many victims never made it to

the hospital, a fact that weighs heavily on the team. >> it is rewarding when patients get here and we save them. part of that, too, is there's a lot that get lost that way. >> reflecting on the injured y fatalities who didn't make it to us, that is very hard because we were ready for them. >> they did treat d.c. police officer scott williams. all are ex inspected to make full recoveries. 6:48 right now. the race for the governor of virginia runs through mclean. republican ken cuccinelli and democrat terry mcauliffe will will square off in a live debate. tonight's debate will focus on the issues facing virginians. you can see it live here on nbc 4 and nbcwashington.com starting at 7:00. our northern virginia bureau chief julie kerry and i will be on the panel asking the questions. mitt romney will try to help ken cuccinelli's campaign this afternoon as well. he will headline a private fund-raiser in mclean. terry mcauliffe has been well

ahead of cuccinelli in raising money so far in the race. mcauliffe has more than twice as much money in the bank as the republican attorney general. virginia's lieutenant governor canndidates have made their pitch to voters. democrat ralph northam and e.w. jackson squared off in a debate in arlington. both men discussed the role faith plays in their lives. >> i'm not running to be preacher, theologian, bishop, pastor of virginia. i'm running to be lieutenant governor of virginia and i will seek to serve all the people of virginia regardless of their background. >> what i do in church carries with me to what i do in every day life. >> northam holds a three-point lead over jackson among likely voters in our latest nbc 4/nbc news marist poll. angie goch is following breaking news. this news is coming from across the street, the historic main building of the library of congress was evacuated after a water alarm went off. a viewer tweeting out this

picture of people attending an event evacuating that building. capital police saying the alarm went off in the thomas jefferson building tuesday night. this morning, though, we don't know what triggered the alarm and also no word on how much damage was done either. at the live desk, angie goff. aaron, over to you. thank you. we maybe forgot about the days of gas under $3 a gallon, but they may not be completely a thing of the past. the national average $3.46. the lowest since january. analysts say prices could drop at least 20, 25 cents more in the coming weeks, shrinking demand, lower crude oil prices and a cheap er winter blend off contributing to the dip. that is welcome news since prices have been well over $3 for a record 1,000 days. in our area the average for regular unleaded right now is $3.60 in d.c. $3.39 in maryland. $3.21 in virginia. there may be another picture of president lincoln at the

gettysburg address but the smith soewn ian magazine reports not everyone agrees. take a look at this picture closely. it was taken on the day of the president's speech in 1863 at the library of congress. amateur historian richter identified a tall man on horseback wearing a stove pipe hat and saluting the troops as president lincoln. a disney animator enhanced the picture and disagrees. he says judging by the clothing and where lincoln would have stood this is actually president lincoln. only one other image is known to exist from that day. we posted the photo on our facebook page. take a closer look for yourself and decide is that abraham lincoln or not? >> it sure looks -- the resemblance there -- if it's not him it's a really good likeness although i can't imagine -- well, i guess a lot of people wear hats like that. let's turn to tom and get a look at the forecast. >> or daniel day-lewis. >> he did an amazing job.

what a great movie, right? >> here we have a gorgeous eastern sky and predawn glow over capitol hill captured in this fphoto by our own tony tul right on the mall. he caught this picture just a few minutes ago right before the eastern sky lit up. this is what the eastern sky looks like now. just a couple of minutes ago it was neon pink but now it's fading a little bit. the sun rise over capitol hill is at 7:00. right now 54 at reagan national. a few high clouds drifting over. temperatures are down into the 40s. most of the region. we have some patchy, dense fog around the blue ridge, the foothills. shenandoah valley. watch out for that some locations. the visibility is down to just less than a quarter of a mile to near zero and closer to washington no fog around. just a chilly morning with temperatures in the 40s. bus stop forecast. you need your jacket this morning. temperatures in the 40s and low 50s twaen nbetween now and 8:30

morning. the forecast for the day today, we'll have a rapid warm-up. in fact, look at this temperature graph. a steep climb by noontime. mid and upper 70s by midafternoon. each day we lose daylight. details on that with chuck bell. we're losing two and a half minutes of day light each and every day. so today is the day that we actually have 12 hours of d daylight. the sun up at 7:00 and down at 7:00. the sun is 50 degrees high in the sky today but as we continue our march towards wintertime we continue losing daylight and sun angle by the winter solstice the sun angle down to only 28 degrees high in the sky. we lose another two and a half hours of daylight. so there goes the dwindling daylight as seasons change. >> and we can tell by the long shadows showing up here in late september. and tomorrow another awesome autumn day with highs in the upper 70s. a few clouds in and out. friday gorgeous day, sunny. highs upper 70s. here is your weekend. storm team 4 seven-day squout

look, great for outdoor activities. highs mid-70s saturday, sunday. a few clouds around the first part of next week. a slight chance of a shower. now a look at your first 4 traffic on this wednesday morning with danella. good morning. good morning, tom. for folks traveling around the beltway this morning, no accidents. but seeing red between i-95 and new hampshire avenue, that means you're jammed. up to i-270 this morning. tracking an accident there southbound. blocking the left side of the highway. one lane to the right. the fire department is on the scene. ambulance there as well so, again, expect just one lane to get by and it's starting to cause big delays already between germantown road heading to the beltway that will take almost 30 minutes. expect this to be even slower if you haven't left the house yet. we'll shoot over to i-66 still tracking delays there. the earlier accident shoulder lane and 234 is gone. from fairfax county parkway to the capital beltway that drive will take 16 minutes. aaron and eun?

thanks, danella. a first look at the designs for a proposed casino at national harbor today. mgm resorts will show off the plans and get an update on the bid to develop what it has called an $800 million facility. the company's ceo has said that he envisions an elegant building featuring glass, brick and stone. mgm is competing with penn national and greenwood racing to build a gaming center in prince george's county. and this morning a change in the financial status of howard university. moody's investor service downgraded the credit rating and cite add drop in revenue and patient volume at the hospital. mood moody's also says fund-raising is weak. howard is a private university but it relies heavily on government support. moody's says federal cuts will impact the school in the next year. virginia commonwealth university will notify about 300 students they may have been exposed to tuberculosis. a vcu spokesman says the extent of the exposure is considered insignificant but screenings

will be offered to people as a precaution. 6:56. here are four things to know before you head out the door. more than 100 federal workers expected to stage a rally near the white house. they want the president to guarantee a living wage for federal contracted workers. we'll be watching to see if this talk-a-thon can prevent a vote. it just hit the 16-hour mark. senator ted cruz is leading this effort with help from senators mike lee and marco rubio. and a team of u.n. inspectors is back in syria to look for more evidence syrian troops used chemical weapons. we'll keep you posted on any developments on n nbcwashington.com. ken cuccinelli, terry mcauliffe square off tonight in a debate. you can watch it live here on nbc 4 at 7:00 p.m. our northern virginia bureau chief julie kerry will be on the panel. another delightful fall day today. temperatures by noon near 70. we should be in mid and upper 70s and then a glorious autumn

day tomorrow and again on friday. looks beautiful are for the weekend for outdoor activities as well. danella, how is traffic? unfortunately, big delays on i-270, tom. because of an accident that has just the right lane getting by southbound expect delays this morning. aaron and eun? >> thank you, danella. that is "news 4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next including a one-on-one interview with michael j. fox about his with michael j. fox about his big return to

i was honored to serve as governor of virginia. we brought folks together in richmond to focus on creating jobs and getting results. that's the virginia way. and that's why i'm backing terry mcauliffe for governor. terry won't let ideological battles get in the way of making progress. terry will work with democrats, republicans, and independents to create jobs and move virginia forward. it's important for virginia that we elect terry mcauliffe as our governor. i'm terry mcauliffe, candidate for governor, and i sponsored this ad.

good morning, cruz control. republican senator ted cruz is still on the senate floor this morning, nearly a full day after starting his one man crusade to block funding for obamacare. but will it work? breaking overnight, one of the worst earthquakes in years killed 230 people in pakistan. hundreds of homes collapsed and now rescue workers are making their way to the scene. we'll have the latest. and bono does bubba. >> when i first met bono he walked in and actually i thought it was a member of his own road crew. >> rock star bono proves to bill clinton that imitation is the sincerist form of flatte