leave it to the voters. the steps taken just minutes ago that could lead to marijuana becoming legal in the district. first, news4's richard jordan is following breaking news at the live desk. >> this is a traffic alert on i-270 southbound at old georgetown road in bethesda. look at that, that's the fire that erupted there just after 10:00 this morning. it's the back of a garbage truck, so all that trash in the back of the truck, that's what caused -- or that's what was on fire and sending all that smoke into the air. we have at least two lanes there blocked, but traffic is able to get by slowly. here's a live picture of the scene right now. you can see the smoke is out but montgomery county firefighters are waiting for maryland state

police to bring over a front-end loader so they can actually clear all that trash and all the debris out of the way. then they'll be able to open up i-270. we'll be watching this. still don't know exactly what caused that fire. >> thank you, richard. the latest on a deadly crash in northeast washington. witnesses tell news4 the car was flying down h street when the dver hit a pole and burst into flames. the driver died. molette green has been on the scene all morning and is live with the latest. >> reporter: barbara, good morning. i just spoke with d.c. police a few minutes ago and they still have not identified the driver of a car. most of the wreckage now gone. it's mostly back to business as usual. only a few of the car parts remain strewn alongside the sidewalk and the curb here, evidence the terrible end to a man's life.

>> you could see a motorcycle flying past, that's how far that car passed him where he lost control. >> reporter: the aftermath is horrific. here at 14th and h in northeast, a man lost his life. not much left of his gray nissan infiniti. car parts scattered over an entire city block. >> i ran on the scene. there was a lot of smoke. >> reporter: a man who did not want his face on camera says he saw the trapped driver, conscious and moaning. >> he was halfway in and halfway out of the car. he was on the passenger side hanging out from the debris that you could see on the left side of the car. >> it was about ten minutes to 4:00 this morning. i'm in my bed. >> reporter: this woman who would not tell us her name heard the impact from her apartment building on florida avenue, where police say the driver began to lose control. >> and i heard this loud, loud sound, louder than thunder. it sounded like a bomb had

exploded. >> reporter: d.c. police exact investigators spent the morning piecing this scene together, one car part at a time. >> when it hit the first traffic light pole, it hit a second d.c. street car pole, one of the tension poles. both are fixed objects which starred the disintegration of thvehicle. >> reporter: and it all ended with a final crash into the back of this tow truck. that driver was not hurt. now d.c. police would not confirm if the car exploded on impact, as witnesses told me earlier this morning, only that firefighters had to free the driver from the mangled car. we are live along h street, i'm molette green, back to you in the studio. news4's richard jordan following more breaking news for us. let's go back to him at the live desk. >> this is quite the development when it comes to marijuana in the district. d.c. residents, it is going to be up to you to make the ultimate decision whether or not

it will be legal to possess and grow pot in the district. that was the decision today from the city council. they're going to put this on the ballot in november. if approved by the voters, that means d.c. voters over the age of 21 could possess up to two ounces of marijuana and could grow up to six marijuana plants inside their homes. the reason this is getting on the ballot is because a team of supporters got more than 57,000 signatures to get the measure onto the ballot. now we'll have the election in november. again, this is to legalize marijuana in the district. barbara, back to you. >> thanks, richard. turning to the weather now, we're tracking some rain showers in parts of our area. chuck bell joins us with his first midday forecast for today. good morning. >> good morning, barbara. plenty of clouds outside early this morning and those clouds continue to lower and thicken as raindrops are getting closer and closer to the metro washington area. there's the view from tower looking northbound toward the raindrops, which are across parts of northernmost montgomery and frederick county right now.

plenty of clouds over bethesda and chevy chase. no rain inside the capital beltway just yet but northernmost montgomery county, frederick, maryland, hagerstown seeing light rain. these raindrops as you can see are traveling off to the east at 20 to 25 miles per hour. no severe weather out there just yet. in fact not even any thunderstorms just yet. a little more daytime heating, though, we may bubble up a couple of thunderstorms coming our way later this afternoon. rain chances will continue to increase over the coming hours. temperatures now are in the mid to upper 70s, even low 80s in washington and fredericksburg, so it's going to be a nice, warm, humid afternoon which will lead to a chance for afternoon thunderstorms. thankfully a limited severe weather threat and another humidity break coming. all that plus some active tropics. hawaii might be in the line of some tropical weather. we'll talk about that too. see you, barbara. the city of falls church is

remembering an army major general killed in afghanistan. 55-year-old harold greene served in the army for 34 years. he's the highest-ranking officer killed overseas since the vietnam war. flags are out in falls church this morning. he was killed in kabul by a lone gunman dressed up in afghan military clothing. more than a dozen other soldiers were injured, including a german general. this morning that general is in stable condition. the gunman was eventually shot and killed. yesterday's insider attack comes with less than five months until u.s. combat forces leave it's reigniting concerns about handing over the complete control to afghan forces there in afghanistan. pentagon officials say the attack will not change any plans to withdraw most u.s. forces by the end of the year. right now they're still trying to figure out what triggered this attack. they say it appears that greene was not specifically targeted. we have some more breaking news for you.

let's go back to richard jordan. what's happening? the verdict is in in the montgomery mall stabbing from last november. we have that decision from the jury now. david goldberg found not guilty of attempted first-degree murder, guilty on the charge of attempted manslaughter. again, this is back in november that according to prosecutors goldberg stabbed a couple after they had some kind of confrontation in the parking lot there of the mall. the defense was arguing self-defense but now we have the verdict from the jury. it took them three days to reach this verdict. not guilty on the charge of attempted first-degree murder but guilty on the attempted manslaughter charge. chris gordon was in the courtroom and we'll have more from him throughout the day here. barbara. >> thank you, richard. an amber alert right now. a 3-year-old boy taken by his father in southwest virginia, and he is believed to be in danger. take a look at your screen now. tom tommy ingall was last seen near

the border. his father may be armed and has made threats towards police. they're believed to be in a 2004 navy blue dodge neon. if you've seen them or that car, call 911. and new this morning, we learned police are looking for someone who broke into a home in capital heights. it happened on 58th avenue just outside the d.c. line. no one was hurt. we're working to find out what was taken from that home. prince george's county police say they plan to release more information later today. and this morning bob mcdonnell's trial started late while they searched for a msing juror. the trial is under way right now. yesterday mcdonnell's senior policy adviser said he warned his boss about jonnie williams even before the former governor took office. williams gave thousands of dollars in gifts to the mcdonnells and they're accused of taking it in exchange for political influence. just this morning mcdonnell said the longer the trial goes on, the more confident he feels.

>> i think the more the truth comes out, the better it is for me and that's all we want in this case is the truth. >> if the mcdonnells are convicted of corruption, they could spend decades behind bars. northern virginia bureau chief julie carey is working for you in richmond right now. you can find out everything she learns about this trial by following her on twitte twitter @juliecareynbc. how fed up are you with the job lawmakers on capitol hill are doing? the surprising answers in a new poll. plus, if it could be the largest breach ever, a billion users' passwords have been stolen. we'll tell you what's going on with that. coming up also the steps you should be taking today to protect yourself. stay with us

♪ ♪ ♪here i am. rock you like a hurricane♪ fiber one now makes cookies. find them in the cookie aisle.

i'm richard jordan at the live desk. right now president obama is

hosting the last day of the u.s./african leader summit here in washington. the president joined by 50 african heads of state right now for this final day of the summit. it is a forum, so to speak, and the president discussing a new africa that he says is emerging and a new model for the partnership that he wants to develop between the african nations and the united states. he says he has three goals, to expand trade which would create jobs, to strengthen those african governments in those african countries. he wants the governments to appear transparent to its citizens. also deep in the security efforts there, we know and have heard about the terrorist group boko haram that has been kidnapping young women. the president also briefly mentioned the ebola outbreak and the crisis that many african nations are dealing with. he said the u.s. will help where it can. that's the latest from the live desk, barbara. >> thank you, richard. about an hour ago first lady michelle obama and former first lady laura bush kicked off an

all-day program for the spouses of the nearly 50 heads of state in washington, d.c. for the summit. this is happening at the kennedy center right now. it will highlight the critical role first spouses play as advocates for women and girls around the world. and today is the last full day of the u.s./africa summit and the road closures are not over yet. you'll see more of this around downtown d.c. today. police cars on the corners. in fact they're totally closing roads around the state department right now. here's a look at where you should avoid. anything red on this map there, parts of constitution avenue, virginia avenue and the neighboring roads are shut down. they will reopen again at 6:30 this evening. and right now the cease-fire brokered between israel and hamas is holding in the middle east. it's been a little more than 24 hours. israel has pulled its forces out of gaza. israel and hamas have delegations in egypt to negotiate day long-term truce. egyptian mediators will try to

work out a deal. the cease-fire is the longest lull in a war that has killed nearly 1900 palestinians and almost 70 israelis. questioning begins today for an ex-taliban captive. sergeant bowe bergdahl will face army investigators about his 2009 disappearance in afghanistan. the procedures will be something similar to police questioning. after today, investigators will make recommendations ranging from a court-martial to finding that he was innocent in any of these considered wrongdoings. the 23-year-old was released in a prisoner exchange with the taliban. fellow soldiers accuse bergdahl of abandoning his post before he was captured. americans are fed up with washington. that according to a new nbc news/wall street journal poll. nbc's political writer carrie dan joins us to break down the poll results. good morning. >> good morning. >> so this is something we thought was happening but this new poll says that they really are kind of fed up.

so what was the approval rating for the president and for congress? >> well, the president hit an all-time low in this new poll of just 40% of people approving of him. we saw similar numbers that we've seen in the past for congress as well. overall, our pollsters describe the american electorate, one word they used is cranky. they're fed up, they're angry with everybody across the board, republicans and democrats. they're upset with the president both on the economy and his numbers on foreign policy are even lower than that 40% approval rating, so a lot of dissatisfaction with washington all around. >> we know that a lot of that anger is coming from the fact that americans are still trying to dig out from the great depression, but do they see any improvement in the economy? did you ask that question? >> those are an interesting observation pollsters made. 50% of the americans said yes, the economy is objectively getting better. things seem to be getting better a little bit. but this is a stunning number. 64% of those we asked said that they believed that the recession is still affecting them

personally today. that includes 40% of people who say in the last five years they have had a member of their household who's lost the job. these are big numbers and people are still feeling the effects of that recession, even though it seems to be getting better. >> who do they blame for the recession? this administration, the prior administration? >> washington, d.c., all around. 71% of the public said that washington is to blame, their inability to get stuff done. so this is blanket disapproval, it's republicans, democrats, members of congress, the administration. americans are saying this should be your job to help fix this. most of them are saying this isn't a big economic problem that's outside of washington, this is your inability, lawmakers in washington, to come together and find solutions that work for me and my family. >> it's a pretty interesting question that they ask on this particular poll. they said are you upset enough to get out and carry a sign, a protest sign. what did they say? >> 57% of people said, yes, i would go carry a protest sign for a day. that is democrats, independents

and republicans. democrats were more likely to say there was something that makes them upset enough to do that but independents and republicans say yes, i'll take up a sign. from republicans that want to impeach the president to democrats on immigration rights and all across the board. >> tell us about a special election in virginia. >> when eric cantor stepped aside, he requested a special election be held on november 4th to replace him. governor terry mcauliffe has granted that request. dave brat is the republican candidate there. he is expected to win. he would be able to take over that seat immediately instead of waiting until january when other members of congress are sworn in. >> november is getting closer and closer, isn't it? >> right around the corner. >> a lot going on until then. thanks, carrie. for more from carriean the rest of the nbc news political team, check out first read on nbcnews.com. we're talking about the weather because we might get some storms later today. chuck bell is here to talk about that. >> a chance for a rumble or two of thunder, yes, but severe

weather not looking all that likely so a little good news there. a little bit more rain chances. it's rained on four of the first five days in the month of august, and today might very well make five out of the first six of the way things are going. outside for now, we do indeed have filtered sunshine coming through an otherwise mostly cloudy sky here in washington. temperatures are on the up and up, thanks to a little bit of early august sunshine getting on through. there's the view over downtown washington. more than enough sunshine getting through now to cast shadows in downtown, but there's a lot more cloud cover out to our north and to the west of the city. it's 81 now at reagan national airport. humidity at 52%. so it's not too bad out there, but the humidity will also continue to increase. north breeze right now at 14 miles per hour helping to hold temperatures down just a touch. the weather impact on your day today, on the hole it's going to be a low impact. rain coverage is fairly light route there for now but that rain coverage and a little thunderstorm chance will be increasing as we go into the afternoon hours. before the showers get here,

still very high on the uv index, it's at an 8 today, so don't forget your sun block. 70 degrees right now in hagerstown where the raindrops have been falling. 65 in thurmont. 81 in manassas. 77 in la ray. fredericksburg at 88 degrees. so your afternoon into your evening planner, mostly cloudy skies for the next hour or so. showers more and more likely in the metro area. after 3:00 or 4:00 this afternoon until 6:00. occasional thunderstorms can't be ruled out. i have lowered our temperature back to the upper 80s. i don't know that we'll make 90 degrees because of the clouds and showers that continue to move on in. again, no severe weather just yet. just a couple of rain showers along i-81 and also interstate 70 and the top end of 270 as well. those raindrops, though most of them are going eastbound, i do think that they'll expand coverage southward as well. so rain chances on the up and

up, at least a 40% chance you'll get rained on today. here's our future weather forecast for you hour by hour through the rest of your day. 1:30 this afternoon, a continuation of rain chances mainly out to the west of town. with time, by 3:00 there's one little thunderstorm going down through manassas and fairfax county parkway. by 5:00 more showers in loudoun and frederick county. here we are stopped at 6:30 this afternoon. that's the tail ending of the rush hour but along route 50 westbound in loudoun county, pretty good chance for showers in the metro between 5:00 and 7:00 or 8:00 this evening. the nationals first pitch is 7:0 five. a rain delay can't be ruled out but i don't think they'll have to cancel the game and schedule it another day. i think we'll get enough dry time to otherwise get the game in. highs today mostly in the mid to upper 80s. a cloudy and humid day, passing showers and again a risk of a thunderstorm or two, but no big

severe weather today, so that's welcome news. highs today generally in the mid to upper 80s. first check of the ole seven-day forecast looks good. doesn't look any too oppressive by august standards. our average high starting to drift back a little bit to 87. we'll be at or below average for most of the next few days. our best chance of seeing rain as of now comes up on sunday, but some of the newer computer models are trying to pull back on that weekend rain chance. so we'll let you know. >> we'll see you later. faster for a fee? coming up, the new service amazon is now offering. plus call to action, what the crowd at the train station did to help a man whose leg was stuck between the train and the platform. first, here's a look at what's hot on nbcwashington.com.

amazon is expanding same-day delivery to d.c. and baltimore. you can order items like movies, electronics and back-to-school supplies as late as noon as get things delivered the same day. amazon prime members pay $5.99 for unlimited delivery. everyone else will pay $9.98 for the first item. heads up if you're an iphone fan. you may want to mark september 9th on your calendar. that's when apple will unveil the next generation iphone. they are expected to feature bigger screens and faster processors. this next story is pretty amazing. dozens of people at a packed australian train station helped free a man trapped between the train and the platform. as trying to get t train.hen he watch as scores of passengers line up to push that train. they're just pushing, all of em at the same time. they were able to tilt it enough

so the man could free his leg. amazingly he got out and he was not hurt. wow. a shocking crime, a 12-year-old stabs and kills a 9-year-old on a playground. coming up, how the 12-year-old confessed his crime. plus we'll show you how to protect your personal information after news breaks of one of the largest breaches ever repted. a billion user names and passwords have been stolen. and it's an overcast day this wednesday morning. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will be back with an update on the threat of storms this afternoon.

right now you may want to consider changing your online passwords. we're learning about a massive data breach this morning that's affecting more than one billion user names and passwords across hundreds of thousands of websites. nbc news chief justice correspondent pete williams has a look at who may be responsible. >> reporter: good morning. the company that discovered this, a milwaukee firm called

whole security, is not naming the sites that were compromised but it's fair to assume that it affected an enormous portion when you consider it's more than a billion user name/password combinations and the entire internet has something like three billion users, even though many of us use log-in combinations for different sites. we don't know which specific sites they were. the company doesn't want to single them out but it's a reminder if we needed one that it's best to assume that very little on the internet is secure. the bulk of this stolen data is not things like credit card numbers or names and home addresses, it's e-mail addresses. it's user name/password combinations, all of which can be changed. so the experts say the best thing to do is assume that the nd change your log-in ave been information, even though that can be a big pain if you have lots of those. the good news apparently here is that whole security, this

milwaukee company, says the russian crime ring that has gathered all this data hasn't done much with it yet. the security experts can often tell when data is sold because it's typically offered in huge blocks and advertised in some of the internet's dark corners. so the thought for the day, change your password. and for websites, get better security. back to you. >> thank you, pete. with your internet identity at risk, eun yang has the extra steps you can take to keep your family safe online. >> you should change your password, of course, but there is more you can do. first get a good password manager. many are free and they all create and store complicated passwords so you don't have to remember all of them. second, take a look at all of your passwords, delete any duplicates and get rid of any that are weak. third, search your e-mail. there are probably passwords same in some of your messages. take extra steps to protect yourself, especially those

critical accounts. perhaps not facebook but your online banking, for example. if it's offered set up a two-step verification where you enter an extra code after your pass code every time. for more information check nbcwashington.com. for more information just search passwords. and news4's richard jordan is following a live story. >> the ebola outbreak has claimed another life. a 40-year-old saudi man died from ebola. he had just returned from sierra leone. he was being treated in an isolation ward at a hospital when he passed. now, we're also getting new numbers from the world health organization. they say this year 932 people have died from ebola and 45 of those died just this week. that's the latest from the live desk, barbara. and we have some more developments now on that ebola outbreak. a nigerian nurse has died from ebola. the male nurse contracted it from a patient he treated in

liberia, who also had the virus. and this is the new video of a spanish priest who tested positive for ebola. he will be flown back to spain to be treated. meanwhile, two americans are showing improvements in isolation at the atlanta hospital. nancy writebol arrived from liberia yesterday to begin treatment. missouri has executed the first prisoner since a botched lethal injection back earlier this year in arizona. michael worthington was put to death for raping and killing a college student back in 1995. his lawyers asked the supreme court to put off his execution, citing the incident in arizona where an inmate took two hours to die from a lethal injection. and new this morning, an unattended candle sparked this huge fire at a hair salon in laurel. take a look at the massive flames shooting out of sheer bliss along main street. the fire started around 1:00 this morning.

no one was hurt. firefighters estimated the damage to be about $50,000. over in d.c., two people were shotov overnight. it happened shortly after midnight on stanton road just east of alabama avenue. here's what it looked like at the scene. you can see this car was peppered with bullet holes. police have not released any details on a suspect. we do know the victims were both women and they're both expected to survive. a vigil is going on today for a family of five found dead in culpeper. relatives found the victims late sunday night at their home. investigators believe clarence washington shot his wife, shawna, and their three daughters before taking his own life. today's vigil will be at st. stevens baptist in stevensburg where the family attended church. it begins at 6:30 this evening. this morning a 12-year-old is going through mental evaluation after he stabbed another boy to death. police say a group of children was playing at this park in michigan when the boy pulled out

a knife. he then stabbed a 9-year-old in the back several times, then went to turn himself in. >> the young man approached by house, wanted to borrow my phone. i assumed he wanted to call his mother. he said hi, i stabbed someone. please pick me up. >> it's not clear why the boy did it. police charged him with murder and he will be tried as an adult. he has pleaded not guilty. new on news4 midday, the european space agency is making history. a comment-chasing space probe named rosetta finally reached its destination. it has been chasing the 67-p comet for more than a decade. this is an animation of what the comet looks like. if all goes according to plan, rosetta will drop the first ever lander onto a comet this coming november. scientists hope this will help them learn more about the oerrin of comets, stars and planets.

let's check in again with chuck bell. how's it feeling out there? >> plenty of clouds but sunshine making its way onto the front lawn allowing for a delightful warmup. news from around town, there's the national harbor camera looking back over the woodrow wilson bridge. plenty of sunshine on the capital beltway. plenty of clouds out there. storm team 4 radar is showing a couple of showers. temperatures in the upper 70s and low 80s. there's the showers now, northern montgomery county, frederick county, about ready to move into northern loudoun county as well. if you're headed out for lunch, may want to have the umbrella with you just to be safe. i can't rule out a rumble or two of thunder. a long way from us but still in the united states, hawaii getting ready to deal with a one-two punch for hurricane chances. hurricane iselle is the first one closest to hawaii. it's going to be making an approach on the hawaiian islands

the next couple of days. most likely going to make landfall as a tropical storm sometime late thursday night into friday. currently it's an 85-mile-per-hour sustained hurricane. it's supposed to be weakening to a tropical storm. next in line, julio, looks like this one will stay away from the islands but it's going to be awfully close in the sunday, monday time frame, so vacationers to and fro hawaii, they want to be checking their flights because there are flight interruptions there. have your beach forecast for right here and your seven-day in a few more minutes, barbara. >> thank you, chuck. and we could see changes in security in our airports after a woman took a flight without a boarding pass. the culprit, this 62-year-old woman. she tried to sneak past the gates before also. this time she made it through a document checkpoint in san jose. however, she was caught by the time the plane landed in los angeles. here's how they got her. just a simple head count of everyone on board. the woman was arrested when they landed. san jose where the woman got

on her plane is the same airport where a 15-year-old illegally took a flight to hawaii. he jumped a fence and spent the whole flight stowed away in the plane's wheel well. that boy was not charged with anything. today you can go to a meeting in d.c. about improving how you get your male. d.c. delegate eleanor holmes norton called it a problem-solving meeting. he also wants to talk about the safety of mail carriers across the region. if you want to go to this roundtable, it begins at 6:30 in the old council chambers at one judiciary square. a new hotel and conference center at the university of maryland could soon be a reality, according to "the washington post." officials strongly support this project. the hotel could open as soon as the fall of 2016. the hotel will be built right across the street from the university's main entrance. university president wallace lowe hopes it will attract

academic conferences and fans for terps sporting events. a new workout method has even die hard skeptics changing their tune. it's called solid core and is attracting a legion of followers, including first lady michelle obama. at solid core, you work on mega former, that's what it's called. mega former machines that target all your muscles. >> we're doing lunges on here, planks on here, working our abs, our obliques, our arms. you never, ever get the same workout twice because of the sequencing put together by your coach. >> we sat down with the founder and owner about key moves to help you get fit. look at her report tonight at 5:00. d.c. says it might have to start cracking down on the so-called lum locks that are popping up all over the city. the locks first became popular in paris. lovers have been snapping these padlocks onto a famousbridge in

paris. so many people took part that part of that bridge actually collapsed paback in june. right now there are 48 love locks on the key bridge and 22 on a fence near e and 2nd streets in southwest d.c. according to "the washington post" the dmv will cut down the locks if they interfere with the integrity of the bridge or threaten pedestrian safety in any way. one day before the preseason game number one, injury worries for a redskins star. and why buying school supplies is not the only thing you need to do to get your child ready to head back to school. stay with us, we'll be right back with those stories and mor

it could be the first real test for olympian michael phelps since he decided to come out of retirement. he returns to the water today for the u.s. national championships. michael phelps has won a

record-setting 18 olympic gold medals and 22 medals overall. he retired after the 2012 olympics, you may remember, in london. also making a splash is local swimming sensation katie la decky. she will also be at the u.s. nationals. she is entered in eight events, including every freestyle event. she holds world records in the 800 meter and 1500 freestyle. a square for the redskins as they get ready for the preseason. news4's diana says wide receiver desean jackson left the field this morning after apparently hurting his left ankle. dianna says jackson may have stepped on someone's foot while running a route. this happened during the final joint practice between the redskins and the patriots this morning. the two teams are getting ready to square off in their first preseason matchup of the year. that game is tomorrow night at fedex field. if you can't go, you can watch it live at 7:30 right here on nbc4. there is a troubling new trend among student athletes.

new data shows student athletes are more likely to use illegal substances than their friends that don't play sports. males, especially football players, abuse prescription drugs the most and caucasian students use them more than black or hispanic students. long-term use of aspirin may be able to help you ward off many major cancers we're hearing. that according to a new study out of the u.k. researchers say a 75 milligram daily dose over ten years could cut cancer risks by up to 30%. there's in downsides for people with health problems, though. aspirin could lead to an increased risk of stroke and internal bleeding. always consult with your doctor before taking any drug. well, you may have started shopping for the supplies, but that's just one step in getting your children ready to go back to school. dr. joshua weiner joins us with a to do list that you should start with very soon besides buying those notebooks and

pencils. what are the things that you say parents should start with? >> i think the first thing is taking a look at sleep. a lot of kids fall out of their sleep schedule over the summer. i see many teenagers in my practice who over the summer are going to bed at 3:00, 4:00 in the morning and waking up a noon. clearly that's not a schedule that will work for kids during the school year. that's the primary thing. also look at after school activities, map things out, set rules regarding screen time and talk about addressing anxiety. school refusal and school phobia are big issues for about 10% of kids. >> let's talk about the sleep schedule. how should parents start changing her back to the school sleep schedule? >> i suggest they move the sleep time up 20 minutes each night until they're getting to the required sleep time that they're going to keep for school. so they want to go to bed 20 minutes sooner and set the alarm for 20 minutes earlier. you want to get kids to wake up, even if they're still tired and

want to stay in bed because the body takes a little time to train to get in a regular schedule. >> we think everybody needs eight hours are sleep but are there some kids with different needs? >> a lot of parents still think my kid is getting plenty of sleep, they're getting eight hours. in general the rule of thumb is for elementary school age kids near 11 hours, middle school age kids 10 hours, high school kids 9 hours. i know a lot of people don't get that. but i actually think lack of sleep is one of the primary forces driving psychological problems. we know it impacts mood, attention, appetite. all sorts of things are impaired by not getting enough sleep. >> it's our high school students that want to sleep 11 hours. you have a hard time getting them out of bed. >> it's interesting you bring that up, because some high school kids have something called delayed sleep syndrome where there's a shift in their biological clock. their bodies don't get tired until 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and they want to sleep

until 11:00, 12:00. there's a problem with that, it doesn't match their school schedule. use things like melatonin and a light box to help those kids. >> tell us about this after school schedule that you think parents should have also. what should they plan on? >> pretty simple thing. i think everybody should post on their refrigerator a schedule where it's broken down by hour all the things they need to do, all the activities from day to day but also have time blocked for homework, time blocked for free time and time blocked for when they're going to go to sleep. i think it's important for the kids to see this so they can really track how much time they really have that's free. i think a lot of kids don't really think how little time they actually have to just have downtime because there's all these activities planned. >> we're talking about all the way through 12 years of school? >> i think it's more important for the younger kids, but certainly there's no harm in getting a schedule and being able to take a look at what you have on hand. >> what about screen time, we're talking television and computer

screen time and iphones. >> this is a big battle for a lot of people. tough because a lot of homework is done online. in general i think it's wise to limit screen time to two hours a day. the big thing is limiting screen time. you want to stop it at least an hour or two before bedtime because it can interfere with the secretion of melatonin so it interferes with sleep. the other thing i suggest is that parents make kids turn in their phones at night or have their phone service shut off for both text and phone calls at a certain hour because way too many kids are sleeping with their phones and texting all night long. >> and we should talk sometime about the anxiety as we get closer to the start of school. >> maybe at some point in the near future. >> thanks so much, doctor, good to see you. our time right now 11:50. coming up, camp bringing two unlikely groups of teens together. plus storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell will be back with another check on how much rain to expect today. stay with us, we'll be right ba

we're following several developing stories throughout the day on nbc4 first. the garbage truck fire is still causing problems. this is near old georgetown road in bethesda. crews are trying to clear the debris and tow the truck away. here's a live look at the delays. the truck still blocking the right far lane as you can see there. the corruption trial of former bob mcdonnell is under way. the governor says each day helps his side. we'll know this afternoon. tune in at 5:00 and 6:00 for all the crucial evidence today. and we'll keep an eye on a massive data breach. more than one billion user names and passwords were reportedly stolen from hundreds of thousands of websites. we're still working to find out some of the sites affected. the best advice is to change passwords to some of your critical accounts. from the war zone to campgrounds, israeli and palestinian teens are bunking up together at a summer camp in the u.s. it happens every summer, but this year with the war in gaza

it's taken on an even greater importance. here's cnbc's andrea mitchell. >> reporter: far from the war zone, israeli teenagers arrive in maine to beat their new bunk mates, palestinians. seeds of peace, for years bringing together teenagers from conflict zones for three weeks of soccer, tag, water sports. but never during a war so brutal with emotions so raw. 17-year-old salma, a second-year camper from gaza. >> you're here at a time of war back home. how complicated does that make it for you? >> it's so complicated for me and confusing, because i'm here having fun, laughing and playing, while the children in gaza are dying. >> also 17, yural, just a year away from military service in the israeli army. >> people think that because

it's war it's not the right time to talk about peace, but we say exactly the opposite. this is exactly the right time. >> reporter: what makes this place so special is dialogue, conversations between the palestinian and israeli campers where they're free to express their pain, their anger, even their hatred, and try to start working through it. >> we're looking at this as a long-term investment. that feels very frustrating in moments like this. >> reporter: most, like first-time camper kahir have spent their whole lives thinking of the other as the enemy. >> for me they are terrorists. >> reporter: but after three days, his israeli bunk mate is listening. >> maybe what you think about it is wrong. maybe not all of them are mean, not all of them are terrorists. >> reporter: it's a conversation just getting started. >> the other side is also a people. they have a faith, a personality. >> like if a soldier is going to carry a gun and point at the palestinians, i need to let him think twice.

make him count to three before he does it. >> reporter: could it be they're onto something good for the middle east, from a campsite in the woods. >> it looks like they have got some nice weather up there in maine right now. >> it's a lot cooler than the middle east. maine in the summertime can be a little chilly. >> are we going to get rain? that's the big question. >> there's the million dollar question, are we going to get rain. i think most of us will get a hit-or-miss shower chance this afternoon. i'd have the umbrella ready to go. if you're making plans for friday, saturday or sunday anywhere from ocean city to rehoboth, it's going to be a fine strep of weather to go down to the ocean. high temperatures look like they'll stay in the mid to upper 70s, so make your plans to head down to the beaches and enjoy your weekend. here's our seven-day forecast again. highs today mid to upper 80s with at least a 40% chance you're going to get rained on today. but then bright sunshine and yet another break from the august humidity comes our way for thursday and friday.

weekend rain chances are still in the forecast, but as i was mentioning before, there is n computer data coming out that is giving me more and more optimism as we start looking a little closer towards the weekend. so for now the chance is there, but we may be able to take the chance out of at least saturday and maybe both days. >> does crossing our fingers help? >> i think so. it won't hurt, put it that way. >> that's news4 midday today. we thank you for being with us and invite you to tune in at 4:00, 5:00, 6:00 and 11:00. we'll be back tomorrow and hope you plan to join

today on "access hollywood live," big sexy joe manganiello strip tease. >> and the wedding weekend. and a girl breaking baby news now. >> plus jenny mccarthy on leaving "the view." plus jailbreak. right here on "access hollywood live." >> stand by billy and kit. we're live in five, four, three, two, one. ♪