>> no. nbc's jacob raskin reports on how this could be the beginning of a devastating fire season. now burning 215,000 acres across the cascade mountains, the carlton complex fire has become the largest wildfire in washington state history. >> well, there's not a whole lot left. >> what are you going to do? >> start over. i mean what can you do? >> reporter: in the community where ron lives the devastation is everywhere and areas so remote authorities haven't come up to count the loss. we counted at least 15 homes. mandatory evacuations were ordered across an area three times the size of seattle as fire and smoke raced toward the hillside communities. family after family told police.

dozens of evacuees like the harrisons returning to their neighborhoods only to find they are homeless. >> it was like this monster came over our town and just, i don't know, it was -- i've never ever experienced anything like that in my life. >> reporter: little avery hasn't either. >> i love playing on my play set when it wasn't burnt. >> reporter: libby, who is also the mayor, must also think about how to help rebuild her town. >> as mayor, what do you do? >> well, i'm headed down to city hall right now, where we're working on getting our power an water back up. >> reporter: six days now of the same, scorching heat, wind and tinderbox conditions and washington governor says this fire season may be the worst ever with no signs of relief. >> we're seeing kind of the tip of the firestorm here. we unfortunately are going to see this for decades to come.

>> of that devastation in washington state. around here the weather is cloudy, not nearly what we're dealing with in washington state. >> no kidding. >> but we have a little cloud cover around today. hopefully the weather picture will improve. >> when are we supposed to see rain drops, if any. send it to meteorologist chuck bell tracking all that rain for you. >> good morning to you two once again. going over the latest high resolution computer models and still iffy on whether or not we're going to get much in the way of rain chance. the one thing that will help our rain chances is getting more sunshine. here's the view from our tower cam, westbound towards tysons corner. the sky is turning a little more blue out there and the more sunshine we can get through, the warmer things will get an that warmer air at the ground will bubble up. increased chance for showers. sort of like self-destructive sunshine. the more sun the warmer we get the better our rain chances are. just enough sunshine to get through the uv index. spending a lot of time outside don't forget to put your spf on.

temperatures in the mid 70s to upper 70s. nothing showing up on storm team 4 radar just yet. even as i widen the view out, few lonesome sprinkles along the north carolina border. another check of your serviced is about 15 minutes away. see you then. >> okay. >> we are continuing to watch the latest developments on the conflict in israel. attempts at a humanitarian cease-fire appear to have failed this morning. as israel's ground invasion of gaza continues. israel says it agreed to the cease-fire but hamas continues to fire. israel says they have set up a field hospital in gaza to treat wounded palestinian civilians and so far, more than 340 have been killed. 51 israeli soldiers hospitalized and two israeli civilians have died. take a look at this sobering reminder of the dangers of war. a mn in gaza showing nbc news crews the damage from rockets

when that building was pulverized by one. take a look at what's left behind homes, reduced to rubble, and you can't tell the difference between bathrooms and kitchens. most gazans are not fighters and a human rights lawyer says that fight i fighting threatens their future. >> i see they can't even dream because, you know, it's tense. >> it appears nobody was injured in this particular attack. meanwhile a pro-palestinian demonstration is planned today in the district. the palestine right to return collision -- coalition will gather and march to the white house. it's one of the many demonstrations going on to protest the u.s. support of israel. the group says hundreds of palestinians are dead and people here in the u.s. are hearing just one side of the story. today marks the two-year anniversary of the deadliest movie theater shooting in american history.

two years ago 12 were killed, 70 hurt during a midnight showing of "the dark knight rises." james holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. the trial is set to start on december 8. prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. taking a look at the stories in the week ahead. a new hampshire native wounded in afghanistan will be honored with the medal of honor at the white house. staff sergeant ryan pits hit by a grenade in 2008 and he continued to fight even with shrapnel in his legs. he is the ninth living service member to receive this award. >> can you believe it football season almost here. redskins training camp starts thursday in ashburn. the question will it be as hot as last month during minicamp. 90 degree temps caused some tempers to flair during a fight. practices will start around 8:30 a.m., much earlier than last year. the goal is to get the work in before the hottest part of the day. preseason starts september 7th.

the first ever nationwide fast food workers convention will happen in chicago this week. 1400 workers from around the nation are expected to attend. on the agenda, strategizing and developing plans to campaign for higher wages and better working conditions. 10:06. we're not far from another big election. the event happening today to make sure you're familiar with your choices. plus we've told you about the delays on metro now that trains are running on the silver line, next i'll show you exactly why your commute could be slowing down. stay with us.

metro riders be prepared for changes to your commutes tomorrow. train schedules are changing ahead of the silver line debut next saturday. while the silver line does mean new service for some it absolutely means less service

for others. think of the situation like this, metro staring at one traffic jam and in order to prevent that jam, it's going to keep some blue line trains in the garage. how many trains you can fit through the rosslyn tunnel during the morning rush. and with the silver line coming on board, there isn't enough room. >> do you think you might adjust your schedule to get here early. >> probably so. >> reporter: explain this whole thing using the metro map here. you see here at rosslyn, the blue, silver and orange line meet the tunnel. there's only so many trains you can get through there at rush hour to go into downtown d.c. that's why on monday, some blue line trains go away so that the silver line trains can go through. here's another way to look at it. the graphic from metro shows the red area where fewer trains will be headed during the morning rush. see trains headed towards arlington cemetery and rosslyn will be cut back. there is a twitter handle to save the blue line.

the person who started it tweeted us saying commuters will wait a long time, thousands of hours actually. metro points out if blue line travelers transfer to the yellow lines they can get to downtown faster. brian says it all point to a larger issue for metro the demand for the service. >> big picture, i've been in d.c. since '78. metro's success is creating some of its own problems. the huge continuing growth of the area. metro says it will put more eight-car trains on the tracks to try to address the fact that trains will be coming less frequency on -- frequently. we'll have to watch how it happens. >> the investigation into the malaysia plane crash is having a direct effect on the u.s. relationship with russia. >> that's right. coming up we'll talk about it with "meet the press" moderator david gregory, he's headed over to our studio right now. >> now to chuck. >> that's right. i'm following rain drops along the virginia/north carolina border right now lifting

northbound but will they be here in time to interrupt your sunday afternoon? and what about the work week ahead? all that is coming up in a few minutes. st

we are learning of another passenger aboard the malaysian airlines plane had ties tos u.s. palmer trinity school says kevin jesurun was a graduate of the

class of 1990. that school is a co-ed private college prep school. the school released the statement saying he will be are remembered as an easygoing person with an infectious smile. he was a dutch national born in aru bra. a pro-russian rebel say they'll hand over the plane's black boxes to the international aviation authority. showing rebels recovering what's believed to be the flight data recorder. rebels have taken away all the recovered bodies of the victims by train. those bodies are being taken to the city of donestk. where they, too, will be handed over to the international community. now there have been reports rebels are planning to take away parts of the plane wreckage as well. and both of these topics will be up for discussion on "meet the press" this morning. moderator david gregory joining us now. especially to speak about what's happening in israel. want to talk about this because the numbers are just -- >> escalating violence today. a ground offensive by israel. there are reports of israeli

soldiers being killed. this could have an impact on whether we see an expansion yet of that ground offensive. secretary john kerry my guest on "meet the press" coming up has strong words of support for israel. while he would like to see a cease-fire he makes it clear that there cannot be a reward for terrorist activity on the part of hamas. he's likely to be going to the region very quickly. as i say with these reports of mounting israeli casualties, i think things are about to get worse. >> how much pressure is there on israel to stop this ground invasion? >> well, only in so far as the limit civilian casualties and working with the egyptians to perhaps get a cease-fire, but i think that there's going to be a big push to sort of change out the political leadership in gaza and i think the united states will be leading that effort. >> and we want to transition over to mh17 and the new report that we are hearing about the rebels loading the bodies of the victims on these refrigerated trains if you will to get them out of that area. >> striking and secretary kerry

calls that grotesque. the president demanded international cooperation for an international investigation, demanded that cooperation of russian president putin who has influence over this area and, of course, over the rebels and then you see something like this happening shows you it's going in the wrong direction. secretary kerry calls it a moment of truth for vladimir putin to establish whatever bona fides he has left. he said this is getting to a very tense place. >> secretary kerry certainly has his hands full. i'm sure he's telling you a lot on "meet the press" this morning and catch that coming up right after "news 4 today." thank you. >> you bet. >> appreciate. >> we're less than four months away from election day and today there is's a great event in northern virginia to remind people to exercise their right to vote. the first ever election expo will be held in manassas park this afternoon. you can make sure your elections information is up to date and make any changes that are needed. elections officials from both parties will be there. local lawmakers will also take

part. the event is from 1:30 to 3:30 at the manassas park community center on adams street. >> big changes coming for the arlington pub crawls. you may remember this incident from a few weeks ago when a guy was accused of getting drunk and crashing his car. the county now says it's going to regulate these pub crawls. organizers will need to get a permit and pay a registration fee and that fee will help pay for extra police during these events. but the bars weren't the only big issue in yesterday's discussion amongst arlington leaders. the they approved $534 million for arlington public schools, specifically to address the surging school population. they're investing more than a billion dollars in metro and other transit projects and the county dedicated money to better leverage what the state of virginia is consideritributing street car project. >> we sit to stretch our legs, bend our heads down to our

knees. >> nats outfielder denard span taking time out from baseball to get the kids to pick up a book. that's good. he was one of four outfielders to visit public libraries yesterday. he was at the public library part of the summer reading all stars program. the nats donate money and it tickets to the program. always great event to get out there and read to the kids. i have to read stories every night so i know what that's like. >> i bet. you are put on the spot. tell me a story. >> oh, right now. >> i bet you've heard that one. >> right now? >> really? i was going to say how much time do we have? >> save that for the ladies at homes the girls i'm sure are waiting for dad to tell them a good story. chuck is here to tell us a good forecast. >> it's quite a story i've got to tell, no doubt about that. cloudy skies for sure. rain chances in spite of how many clouds are out there, the rain chances remain at barely 30% for your outdoor activity plans this afternoon. so what would i do if it were me? i would just go ahead and make your plans and worry about the rain drops if they find your

picnic. otherwise it's really just going to be a cloudy day, just enough, i shouldn't say plenty, just enough sunshine getting through to generate shadows across the area. there are thin spots in the overcast up here over northwest washington right now. and it will allow for a warmup today. temperatures are already now at 77 degrees at national airport. wind has gone calm right now. the wind should come back around to the east and southeast later today. temperatures have already made the 70s everywhere. 70 in winchester and front royal, 71 smithsburg, 72 mount ari, 73 in gaithersburg, rockville, germantown, ga da mass cas, prince george's county from buoy to brandywine and mid 70s on the western shore of the chess peck bay. your rain -- chesapeake bay. low chance of a passing shower around the metro, medium chance for rain from northern maryland,

pan handle of west virginia, locations to the west of the blue ridge. just because the rain chances are higher don't expect much in t the way of a rainfall amount. scanning the skies and finding nothing out there just yet b there are and miss sprinkles and showers way down to our south. they're lifting northbound. these showers here along the virginia/north carolina border are likely going to miss southern maryland and head to the lower parts of the eastern shore. these out here in the roanoke valley will increase in coverage as they come up the mountains. so from massnutten to grandfather mountain going to be a shower dad. not a bad day to climb old rag today. temperatures will be in the upper 70s at higher elevations to low 80s around town. future waeshlgeather forecast, chance of a sprinkle around noontime and that sprinkle chance lingers into 3:00 or 4:00 this afternoon. best chances again today will be central and southern parts of the shenandoah valley where you might get as much as a tenth of an inch of rain.

by 6:00, things starting to settle down and during the overnight hours partly to mach but rain-free for much of the overnight. can't rule out a sprinkle or two tomorrow morning and tomorrow afternoon a better chance for showers in the mountains and shenandoah valley but low rain chances in and around town. i think our best chance for rain comes up wednesday afternoon with afternoon and evening thunderstorms and again on thursday as well. it's going to start feeling like summertime. 90 or better tuesday, wednesday, or thursday. thursday expected to be the rainiest day, thursday showers lead to friday and saturday sunshine. >> appreciate it. sometimes it's not all about a personal profit. why some musicians are asking you to

today a chance to give back to a musician who has given us so much great music. that fund-raiser will be held for john jennings in bethesda. fellow musicians are banning together to help jennings and as mark seacle graves reports he's not the only musician our area is helping out. ♪ >> reporter: john james has been writing, producing and playing music for decades. ♪ too long since somebody whispered ♪ most notably with mary chapin carpenter.

bill says jennings and chapman carpenter wrote their first songs together decades ago. >> that became chapman's first album and the relationship. >> reporter: but now jennings has been diagnosed with cancer. taken a toll on his abity t earn a living. >> i would be touring with mary chapin when she's recording and doing recording projects but i couldn't have a choice in that. being sick has put me on the dl for a while. >> reporter: jennings considers himself lucky and knows he's not alone as a musician facing a debilitating disease. his good friend and nationally renowned celtic singer grace griffith who lives in our area is battling parkinson's. >> it's getting to the point where she can't sing a lot anymore. >> reporter: it took her two years to record her cd. because of her illness she had to record it one phrase at a time. >> every record is a labor of love.

i would think in grace's case particularly so. >> reporter: while insurance covers some medical experiences health issues like cancer and parkinson's can bankrupt a person, particularly artists. >> these guys get paid when they work and sing. >> reporter: sunday night musicians like tom packton, eddie from ohio and mary ann redman and many more will be performing at two benefit concerts for their friends. the benefit for griffith at the binchmere and the jenning benefit at the jazz club. >> it's going to be great. a wonderful night, magical night. >> reporter: jennings notes while he and his friend are seriously ill, they both have a lot of music left to give. >> we're supposed to keep doing this untiwean d anymore and she can still do it and so can i. >> reporter: mark seagraves, news 4. >> to find out more about the tribute concerts and how to donate, go to nbcwashington.com and search benefit.

beautiful gray skies out there if you like that kind of thing. >> we were talking about that earlier. >> yeah. >> distinguished gray. >> have to like a little gray in your life and everything is fine. >> giving me some gray. look very close. >> gray hair and blue eyes for you today. not a bad ta to be outside. hit and miss sprinkle or shower chance. nothing to worry about. >> thank you so much for joining us this morning. that's it for "news 4 today." but "meet the press" is next. >> and wake up with us tomorrow morning we begin at 4:26 a.m. until then have great sunday, everybody. you used to sleep like a champ.

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the crisis with russia over the downing of malaysia airlines flight 17. strong reaction this morning from the obama administration as russian-backed rebels take the outrageous step of removing bodies from the website. how will t u.s. force president putin to cooperate. war in the middle east after a failed peace push by the obama white house. i'll ask secretary of state john kerry if the president's foreign policy vision is up to all of these global tasks. later, the blow to aids research. some of the world's top experts killed in the malaysia airlines disaster. i'll get