shower here. the crime scene, the kesher israel synagogue in georgetown. the crime, according to the police report, view void you'rism. the suspect, dr. barry frindle, a 62-year-old rabbi who has been the spiritual leader of the synagogue for 25 years. the rabbi arrested at his home in georgetown this morning. arrested after police raided the place and seized some computer equipment. i talked to some women who were nearby when it happened. how many cops? >> five cops? >> five. and they took out about five hard drives. >> reporter: hard drives? >> oh, yeah, they took out -- >> kept bringing them out. >> computers. >> reporter: did they take out the rabbi? >> yes, but we didn't see that. >> reporter: really? >> he was in the back, running around. >> reporter: accordi to a

police report obtained by news4, a witness says the rabbi installed a hidden camera in the woman's shower at the synagogue. the police report described it as a dream machine, similar to this one, a camera and recorder disguised as a clock radio. according to the witness, the rabbi said he was using it for ventilation in the shower. dr. frendel is a highly regarded ab rabbi, adjunct professor at georgetown law school. news of the raid and his arrest came as a big surprise in the neighborhood. >> i think that's rather unnerving, having a rabbi in your own neighborhood four doors down -- >> reporter: arrested. >> that was arrested. >> reporter: tonight the rabbi is in jail, expected to be officially charged in court tomorrow. live in georgetown, pat collins, news4. breaking news in the district. police investigating a shooting within a couple blocks of

several schools. officers tell us a man was shot around 3:30 here on q street southeast. the person was conscience when they got there. other than that, we know very little about what led to this shooting or the condition of the man. but the shooting happened just a block away from orr elementary and cramer middle school. the increased awareness about ebola is leading to a number of false alarms this week, including a brief scare in virginia. a patient at vcu medical center in richmond tested negative for ebola. the woman was placed in isolation last night because she had a fever and recently returned from liberia. a man who was rushed to holy cross hospital in germantown tested negative last night. he had been to west africa recently and developed aches and a fever when he came back. more news on ebola. facebook ceo mark zuckerberg and his wife are donating $25 million to the centers for disease control and prevention. that money will help the cdc fight the virus at its source in

west africa. here in the u.s., the nurse infected with ebola remains in stable condition tonight. the cdc has not yet identified the specific breach in protocol that led to her infection. and the agency is creating new ebola response teams that will be on the ground within hours of an ebola diagnosis. here in our area, montgomery county is trying to determine if its hospitals are prepared for an actual case of ebola. the county has had two patients show up with what looks like symptoms, but they turned out to be negative. today news4's chris gordon found out what county officials are concerned about the most. >> reporter: the montgomery county council is turning to its health department for answers. they want to know if local hospitals are prepared after 26-year-old nurse nina pham got ebola tending to the patient in the dallas hospital. the nurse wore protective gear but there apparently was a

breach of protocol. i asked montgomery county's health director -- are you confident there would be no breach of protocol if something happened here today? >> i can't really answer that. i know they know how to put it on. the issue that's coming up, do we know how to properly remove it so that there isn't any contamination. and that's exactly what cdc is looking at now. >> reporter: nurses at emory university hospital's isolation unit which successfully treated dr. kent brantly and nancy writebol demonstrated putting on and taking off the protective gear recently for nbc news. >> inadvertently, it seems that while trying to maintain your equipment, people actually end up contaminating themselves when they're taking pieces of equipment off. >> reporter: nih here in bethesda is a world renown disease control center, able to treat ebola patients. but can the other hospitals here in montgomery county be expected to offer the same level of care while protecting its health care workers? >> i for one believe that when

you have a state-of-the-art institution like nih, that when you have a case that could possibly be ebola, that you want to make sure that the best, brightest and an institution that was built for this purpose fundamentally is the place where people go. >> reporter: montgomery county's health department is suggesting coordinated drills and exercises to make sure all local hospitals are aware of the protocols and practices to treat patients and protect health workers. chris gordon, news4. meanwhile, there is growing concern among humanitarian aid groups as they continue their missions overseas. coming up at 5:30, a woman who just returned from liberia shares what she saw firsthand and tells how it is motivating her to do even more. storms team 4 is tracking the storms heading our way now. we have some rain creeping on to the radar already tonight. storm team 4 chief meteorologist doug kammerer is in the storm center with our first details. doug? >> we really are starting to feel the first effects of this

storm system. first off, it's going to be the wind and the very warm temperature. that's what we have seen pretty much all afternoon. winds gusting to 20 to 25 miles per hour, and now we're starting to see the rain back towards the west. this rain back in towards fauquier county, western loudoun county, not around the i-95 corridor but back to the west, along the i-81 corridor, winchester, front royal, martinsburg, about to see rain. and the heaviest rain right now close to marshal and around the gainesville area and through portions of fauquier county. this rain almost moving due north now, so staying away from the district over the next couple hours. the wider view, however, shows where the rain really is, and this is the area right here where we're looking at the potential for severe weather, still numerous tornado watches in effect just down to our south. so the severe weather threat not quite out of the woods yet. wind advisory in effect for the areas back down to the west, including page county, shenandoah county and areas south and west. we could have winds gusting over 40, maybe 50 miles per hour. secure those outdoor items. this is especially for you folks on the mountain ridges, anybody over about 10 or rather 1,000 to

1,500 feet, best places for some of the winds. but they could see those winds everywhere else too. we'll talk about that and the flooding concerns in a minute. new at 5:00, take a good look at the man in the surveillance video. police say he robbed murray's, a small grocery store in northeast d.c. you can see him pointing a gun at a couple workers before going into a back office. this unfolded along busy minnesota avenue, just off benefitting road, about 1:00 yesterday morning. no one was hurt. but the guy did scare everybody and he got away with some cash. also on video, two very determined thieves who allegedly broke into a car that was parked in the lot off u and sixth street northwest. one suspect appears to throw something at both the front and the rear windows. when that didn't work, he kicks at the rear window several times. there you go. finally broke. he climbs inside. this happened last month. d.c. police just released this surveillance video. the thieves made off with an

ipad, ipod, two computer tablets and some headphones. there are disturbing charges tonight against a man whose job was to help disabled children. police tell us johnnie miller drove a special needs bus in fairfax county. now he's accused of improperly touching a student as he strapped her into her bus seat. virginia bureau chief julie carry is at francis scott key center school in springfield with details she found today in a search warrant. >> reporter: that is the school that the 13-year-old girl attended. the key center school is a special education center for children with intellectual disabilities and autism. in fact, the alleged victim had to ride on the bus in a special harness. it was an adult on that bus, an attendant, who saw something last may she thought looked improper. we discovered this search warrant affidavit at the courthouse today to tell us the story of what allegedly happened. johnnie miller had been a bus driver for the fairfax county public schools for 23 years when

the allegation against him surfaced last may. on his route to the key center school last school year, a 13-year-old girl who was intellectually disabled had to be strapped into a special seat for the ride. but this search warrant affidavit reveals last may 6, the attendant on the bus noticed what she thought was possible sexual abuse as miller buckled the student into her seat. the attendant told transportation supervisors and urged them to review the bus video from that day. it had been recorded over, so they took a look at the may 8th video instead. court documents say it showed miller rubbing his hand back and forth while fastening the girl in. the victim could be heard yelling at him. when confronted by supervisors, miller explained it was, quote, just a little tickle game. school officials say they contacted child protective services and the police investigation soon began. >> we're calls concerned about the safety and well-being of our students. and we are thankful that the attendant brought this alleged incident to our attention.

>> reporter: the 66-year-old bus driver was immediately placed on administrative leave. he retired at the end of may. then on september 11th, johnnie miller was arrested by fairfax county police, charged with assault and battery in connection with the incident. parents at the key center school got the word today through media reports. they were not notified last school year when the allegations surfaced. >> well, i'm concerned, but i'm going to with hold judgment until i hear the whole story. >> reporter: i called johnnie miller's home in fredericksburg today but was not able to reach him for comment. now johnnie miller is due in court on october 29th. coming up on news4 at 6:00, an update on that original decision not to notify the parents here at the key school of what allegedly happened. reporting live in springfield, virginia, i'm julie carey, news4. dangerous light, heavy rains and strong winds moving across much of the east coast tonight. we'll have an update on the damage left behind as the storm system moves closer to us. it got a lot of bad press

after the disappearance of relisha rudd. now d.c.'s largest homeless shelter is going to be shut down. we're going to find out what's going to happen to all of the families. there are striking similarities between the car break-ins and theft in montgomery county and what prince george's has been experiencing over the last two years. i'm tracee wilkins. coming up on news4, why these jurisdictions are working jurisdictions are working

have you seen the news about barbara comstock? first, the washington post reported, barbara comstock

failed to report eighty-five thousand in income. now, we learn, barbara comstock pushed a client's issues in the virginia legislature and didn't disclose it. barbara comstock shepherded a trio of bills through the legislature and into law, but barbara comstock never officially disclosed that all the while she was being paid thousands of dollars. no wonder she hid it.

8-year-old relisha rudd was last seen seven months ago. she lived at the district's largest homeless shelter. and now is there a plan to shut down that shelter and move those families out. d.c. mayor vincent gray made the announcement today after repeated requests from concerned families who live inside that shelter. news4's mark segraves is live at the shelter with more on the plan. mark? >> reporter: well, wendy, the shelter behind me can hold nearly 300 families and it's expected to be at capacity within just a matter of weeks as

we head into the cold weather. today, as you said, mayor gray announced a $90 million plan to move the families here into real permanent housing. if that plan is successful, it would pave the way to close d.c. general, the district's most troubled homeless shelter. >> that is not as bad as people are making it seem. a lot of this animosity really came about when relisha went missing. it just seemed like because a little girl went missing, everybody just started talking bad about the shelter. >> despite being satisfied with her room here at d.c. general, this homeless mother wants to move her family to a real home. and that's the government's plan, as well. for everyone here. >> it's something we get off the private market for releasing and something we build ourselves. that is the point where we'll know and have a date certain for the closure of d.c.general. where the intent will be to take it down. >> reporter: that plan depends it on private landlords to lease small apartment buildings to the district for $24 million a year.

and for the government to build additional housing units at a one-time cost of $48 million. until that can happen, the shelter here will stay open. >> well, i'm against this remaining open. i'm against this. >> reporter: homeless advocates have been complaining about conditions at the district's largest family shelter and the lack of suitable accommodations for the growing homeless population for years. after the disappearance of 8-year-old relisha rudd, an internal government report found d.c. general is no place to raise a family. despite that earlier this month, the district moved dozens of families out of the government subsidized hotel rooms and into the aging shelter. with winter approaching and the number of homeless families expected to increase, the district is faced with finding suitable places to house them. >> my hope is that we can avoid the need for overflow shelter by identifying units the families can move into permanently. >> reporter: district officials expect the homeless demand to far exceed the capacity here at this shelter, which means once

again the district will be forced to put homeless families in hotels like they did last year. but this year, there's no funding for that. coming up at 6:00, we'll introduce you to some mothers here who tell us they don't want to leave the shelter and they explain why. i'm mark segraves reporting live at d.c. general. news4. homelessness is an issue in the d.c. race for mayor. nbc 4 and the "washington post" are co hosting a candidates' forum tomorrow at 12:. it's going to be streamed live at nbcwashington.com. and we will show it on nbc 4 on sunday at 11:30. a massive storm system is headed our way, and packing quite a punch. it has already spawned more than a dozen tornadoes, and it's crossed the nation's mid section. one killed a marine in arkansas. high winds are also bringing down trees and knocking out power across the south. a woman in alabama was killed when a tree fell on her home. it's estimated that 40 million people are still in the path of

those strong storms. and what is that going to look like when it gets here and when is it going to get here? >> it's going to get here really early tomorrow morning, potentially, in some locations. for most of us around the noon hour, through early afternoon. and that's the big question. how -- what are we going to see? is it going to be that severe? no. definitely not. i was talking to some of the kids, as a matter of fact, today out at st. joseph's catholic school, and they were asking that question in beltsville. will we see those tornadoes our way. and the answer to that is no, i do not think so. that is not anticipated. these kids here, kindergarten through eighth grade. those are all the kids there at st. joseph's catholic school. there is the other side of the room, had a great time talking with all of them across the region today. temperatures today, we were talking about the warm temperatures, 79 degrees, even up to 81 a little earlier. winds out of the southeast at 13 but winds gusting to 25 miles per hour. they will continue to gust through the day today. 73 currently in gaithersburg. 82, though, in fredericksburg. very warm air mass. temperatures right now running about 10 degrees above average. and they'll be well above

average tonight too. storm team 4 radar, not a lot of rain on it, and most of us on the dry side and should be a fairly easy commute. if you're heading out 66, look at the showers right here coming right along 66, be even a heavier shower along the gainesville and marshal area. but warrenton, winchester, la ray, towards mart tinsburg, thi is the area i expect to see more rain. we'll zoom in on this area here, route 17 from marshal up towards the millwood area along route 50. if you're heading out 50 from loudoun county back towards clark county, you will see rain along the blue ridge. some fairly heavy. that's nothing compared to what we have in storm over the next 12 hours. notice the storminess from all the way towards the great lakes down towards florida. notice the areas in yellow, those are tornado watches. so we still have some spin to the atmosphere. it's still possible that we see something like that here tonight. 11:00, most of the rain still back towards the west, as expected. tomorrow morning, however, just about everybody starting to see the rain and notice where the

heaviest rain is, west of the blue ridge along i-81, thunderstorms too. still around the 10:00 a.m., hour, watch 1:00 in the afternoon. a storm develops or a line of storms develop. and if that happens, well this is what we could see. your severe storm potential tomorrow on the high side for a couple things. one, high winds. we're thinking winds upwards of 40, maybe 50 miles per hour. but definitely heavy rainfall. and that's one thing we're worried about. veronica johnson live in the storm center now with more on what we could see tomorrow rain-wise. vj? >> that's right, this is a slow-moving system and powerful system so it will be putting down a lot of rain throughout the day tomorrow. areas west get hit first around petersburg, la ray, charlottesville. that's where we're going to see heaviest rain. flash flood watch through wednesday. you can see from shenandoah through warren county, madison, green, albemarle county, too. this is, again, through wednesday, expecting anywhere from 2 to 3 inches of rain in these locations west. so flash flooding possible for

tomorrow. let me show you hour by hour, just how much rain will get put down as we head through wednesday and even into thursday morning. right now with this weather system in the purple, that's where there could be a lot more of those 2-inch amounts. you can see it west, but even around here, areas around fredericksburg, stafford, green belt, there could be, doug, more than an inch of rain falling. >> yeah, could come at a quick pace. that's why we want you to keep alert and that's why we have a weather alert day scheduled for tomorrow. be on the lookout. storm team 4 online, as well. 78 degrees the high temperature we're going for tomorrow. a stormy wednesday. 70 on our thursday. still some shower activity around. but nothing too heavy. and then we get into some very nice weather. friday, saturday and sunday. looking really nice. but notice the weekend. 71 on saturday. only 63 on sunday. as we still have some sunshine. but much cooler weather making its way in for early next week. >> thank you, doug. four score for the caps tonight. they'll be a happy team and one

player may get this snazzy beard and top hat. jason pugh joins us to explain live from the verizon center. of. >> they didn't have anywhere to go. they didn't have anywhere to sleep. >> orphaned by the ebola outbreak in liberia, a local woman who just came from that region tells us how her organization is helping those children whose parents have died children whose parents have died from this virus.

enron, the largest coporate fraud in american history... and ed gillespie was their lobbyist. enron paid gillespie and his firm seven hundred thousand... dollars to block regulation of the energy markets... so they could raise utility rates. then got even worse. "thousands lost their jobs and life savings."

"the former leaders of enron head to prison." enron's ed gillespie. the million dollar lobbyist who put enron ahead of you. ♪ welcome back to news4 at 5:00, everyone. i'm jason pugh here at the verizon center with where the capitals are playing host to the san jose sharks tonight. puck drops in this game at 7:00. so often in the sports world, we see teams give out an award to the player of the game. should be a championship belt, possibly a hard hat or maybe a trophy. this year for the capitals, they're putting their own special twist on the player of the game award.

during the capitals' first win of the season against boston, brooks sacrificed his about how wide for the team. that effort earned him the honest abe players player of the game. >> it hurt. the reason they gave it to me is for the blocked shot. but it hurt. i don't know, it's nice to be recognized by your teammates. >> the award is supposed to go to maybe the best player, unsung hero of the game. so we figured they call him honest abe, he can be the most honest player that night. we don't think about it too much, because we confuse ourselves. >> it was eric thayer who purchased the costume after the team's leadership committee came up with the idea. >> just got it at a costume store locally around here. it worked out well. >> reporter: looks like you went all out. did it cost a lot of money? >> it wasn't too bad. we charged it to the team fine

fund. >> reporter: caps were eager to wear the hat and beard this season. sort. >> yeah, i don't know how it's going to look. i'm a little nervous. i mean, you want to win it, yeah. but at the same time, you are going to take your grief. i'll take my lumps when i get it, and hopefully i do. as long as we win is the main thing. >> reporter: now if the cap as it do win tonight against san jose, brooks like will give the abe lincoln hat and beard to whoever. the player of the game. puck drops tonight at 7:00 here at the verizon center. from chinatown, i'm jason pugh, news4 sports. now at 5:00, helping the youngest victims of the ebola outbreak in west africa. what's happening to the children whose parents have died from the virus? a local woman just back from liberia shares her story. and there is a scare in the air. after the cabin of an airplane cracks mid flight. >> trick or treat!

>> and don't waste your hard-earned money on a halloween costume you'll only wear once. we'll show you how to save some big bucks without skimping on

i love the bacon on this sub. i love bacon so much, i'm launching a line of bacon jewelry. aw, i've seen those online, but-have you ever seen bacon brows? what was that? i was just putting the finishing touches on my bacondor. everyone loves bacon at subway. try it on the chicken & bacon ranch melt. subway. eat fresh. thing is...our crazy tax code actually rewards companies... for shipping them overseas. it's wrong and i'm fighting to fix it. i'm mark warner...i brought republicans and democrats... together on a bill that gives incentives to companies that... bring high tech and manufacturing jobs to virgina.

because instead of outsourcing jobs to china...we should be... insourcing them here for our people...and thats why i... approved this message. have you seen the news about barbara comstock? first, the washington post reported, barbara comstock failed to report eighty-five thousand in income. now, we learn, barbara comstock pushed a client's issues in the virginia legislature and didn't disclose it. barbara comstock shepherded a trio of bills

through the legislature and into law, but barbara comstock never officially disclosed that all the while she was being paid thousands of dollars. no wonder she hid it. hello, everybody, i'm storm team 4 chief meteorologist doug .s and thunderstor tomo a nasty day, but today storms already. just to the west of i-95, not a lot going on around d.c., look towards loudoun county, western loudoun county right around bluemont. if you're in bluemont or jefferson county, west virginia or clark county, virginia, showers. more showers likely west of the corridor. winds a big issue, not just tonight. look at 1:30 this morning, winds upwards of 30 miles per hour and tomorrow morning, gusts between 30 and 35 miles per hour. could be stronger during the afternoon. tomorrow, like i said, could be one nasty day. i'll explain it more with you coming up in just a minute.

>> doug, thank you. the news today that west africa could face up to 10,000 new ebola cases a week within the next two months is heightening concern tonight about the deadly virus. and how best to treat those impacted by it. news4's kristin wright talked to a woman who just got back from a humanitarian mission in liberia about the challenges her group is facing. kristin? >> well, jim, after the ebola crises worsened over the past few months, save the children decided to step up its response efforts, shifting from just public awareness of prevention and symptoms to treatment. >> one of the most heartbreaking aspects of in this tore me was the way children have been affected by this emergency. >> reporter: these four children in liberia were orphaned after their mother died from ebola. they were shunned. they are like many other kids who need immediate help. >> they didn't have anywhere to go. they didn't have anywhere to sleep. they didn't have any regular source of food. >> reporter: kutsche returned from liberia ten days ago.

she is senior director of human response for nonprofit relief organization, save the children. kutsche was in west africa for one month. >> we flew into monrovia. >> reporter: kutsche's organization is helping children who are affected by ebola across west africa. >> save the children was supporting them with food and with hygiene items, trying to find extended family members and making sure they just had some semblance of support to get back to normal. >> their work is from the ground up, with a construction of ebola treatment units and other facilities to care for the sick. >> we want to create ebola care centers at the community level, which is a very simple structure with beds for suspected cases and confirmed cases. >> reporter: on news4 at 6:00 tonight, the precaution sonja kutsche took while helping the children in liberia. >> kristin wright, thank you. we have only had a handfulful of cases and a majority of americans are still concerned about a widespread ebola outbreak in the united

states. there's a new "washington post" abc news poll that shows nearly two-thirds concerned about a domestic outbreak. and almost as many say, however, they are confident in the government's ability to respond. an overwhelming majority, 91%, also said they favor stricter screening for people flying in from affected countries. expanded screening starts this week at dulles, atlanta, newark and chicago airports. it is exactly what you don't want to see when you're thousands of feet up in the air. the walls of your plane popping and cracking. but that's exactly what passengers on board a flight from san francisco to dallas witnessed on an american airlines flight yesterday. travelers say the walls of the cabin began rngippi and tearing during takeoff. but after flight attendants checked it out, they made a surprising announcement. >> they peeled back the panels to check for daylight. and there was no oxygen masks dropping. they said oh, we're okay for now so we're going to keep going. >> the pilot also came back to take a look and originally said they would keep going. but after about an hour he

declared an emergency and returned to san francisco. well tonight will be the first stop on the listening tour for school superintendent dr. karen garza. it's at 7:00 p.m. at whitman middle school in alexandria. garza will be in the alexandria area of the county. garza will be hearing ideas and comments from parents, students and school staff and answering their questions. the superintendent initiated these tours last fall. the next tour date is in november at robinson secondary school. if you're planning to vote in maryland or virginia next month, the deadline to register is tonight. both states are offering online registration with your driver's license, mva, dmv issued i.d. card numbers. in maryland, you need to sign up before 8:00. we have links to the registration sites on our home page, nbcwashington.com. just search vote. a school bus driver facing

dwi charges after the bus she was driving was caught on video swerving all over the road. one parent on board was so scared, she called 911. we've got her call for help, next. targeted while pumping gas. this crime spree is spanning two counties now. thieves are stealing purses, even cars from unsuspecting customers at the pump. now police are working to find ou ♪

they may not be the most handsome of body parts. yet, there they sit on the sides of our heads. for the world to see. but what happens when they stop hearing? should we stop doing? should we stop living? not today. esteem. the hearing implant. ♪

you won't hear the roar of engines from some motorcycle cops in prince george's county. bowie police are now going electric. it is the first law enforcement agency in maryland to buy electric motorcycles. officers showed off the two new bikes today at allen pond park. they use the bikes to preserve the parks and nature trails. the motorcycles are quiet. the sirens, not so much.

and they can travel about ten hours and 180 miles on a single electric charge. a school bus driver in utah under investigation for suspected dui after a scary ride for kids, parents and teachers. dash cam video shows the bus swerving erratically on this highway. this happened during a bus field trip to byu. parent chaperones noticed something was off and then called 911. >> oh, oh! >> what happened? >> she almost hit -- she almost hit this van next to us. it is freaking scary! and we've got 76 people on this bus. and she is nuts. >> no one was hurt. and state troopers eventually stopped the bus. they say the driver failed field seasobriety tests and she had prescription medication in her purse. she told the officer she was up late and was tired. a series of crimes spanning two local counties.

police want to know if they are connected and they have got a warning for you. halloween. it's not only the gouls and goblins that are scary. it's the price tag on your kid's costume. i'm erika gonzales, and i'll tell you how you can catch a break and payay next.

thing is...our crazy tax code actually rewards companies... for shipping them overseas. it's wrong and i'm fighting to fix it. i'm mark warner...i brought republicans and democrats... together on a bill that gives incentives to companies that... bring high tech and manufacturing jobs to virgina. because instead of outsourcing jobs to china...we should be... insourcing them here for our people...and thats why i... approved this message.

possible ring of thieves targeting customers in our gas stations, and investigators believe these crimes in had two counties are linked. >> thieves have grabbed wallets and purses, even driven off with the entire car. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins is live in bowie explaining how the thieves are choosing victims. tracee? >> we're right outside bowie in lan ham, actually. this is a gas station where a car was stolen in prince george's county. now we're hearing this issue, the county has been dealing with for a couple years now. it's spreading to montgomery county. and they're trying to figure out how to deal with this. scenes like this one are becoming a regular occurrence in prince george's with an estimated 5,000 thefts from auto last year. now it's a growing problem in montgomery county too. >> in some cases, stealing items from the vehicles, in some cases stealing the vehicles themselves.

>> reporter: the latest happened just this morning at this exxon in silver spring near colesville road. >> a gentleman went in to pay for his gas and left his keys in his vehicle. the vehicle was unlocked. and he looked up to see his vehicle being driven away. >> reporter: now both jurisdictions are working together and comparing notes to try and figure out are all of these connected. and are they dealing with a crime ring. >> on our end, it's a trend. we're working with pg county on their end to come together, pool our resources and do the best we can to eliminate these crimes. and if it is a particular group of people, work with as many jurisdictions as we need to that are indicating it's a trend in their jurisdiction, as well. >> reporter: police from both jurisdictions say folks who are distracted are more likely to become victims. so the more aware you are of your surroundings, the better. >> right now, there's been no contact between our suspects and our victims. these suspects are taking their moments of opportunity when the victims are distracted or not

around even. >> reporter: coming up on news4 at 6:00, what police are suggesting you do to stay safe while they work on getting these criminals behind bars. in lanham, aim tracee wilkins, news4. d.c. may have a bigger rat problem than many people realize. we just made a ranking of the rattiest cities in america. and the list is compiled by orkin pest control. chicago was first followed by los angeles and then we come in third. new york city is below the district. baltimore squeezed into the top ten at number nine. the best way, by the way, to keep rats away is to keep your trash sealed and your food contained. orkin says a rat can squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter. it's harvest day at the white house kitchen gardens. students from harriet tubman elementary and bancroft elementary were invited to join the first lady in picking a bounty of fall produce. they also got to go into the white house for some healthy eating. a junior chef from chevy chase

was among the guests. esther was the maryland winner of the kids' state dinner contest. she said meeting the first lady was, of course, a thrill. >> i just really am excited to be able to know that she loves just eating healthy as much as i do. and i just am really grateful that i have this experience. >> okay. grab aled who aled who of your stove. esther's winning dish was chesapeake tacos with lemon basil sorbet. >> now we're talking. >> from this little girl. >> pretty fancy. >> wow. >> now i'm hungry. we are still a couple weeks away, but nasa is already in the halloween spirit. check out what the space agency calls the pumpkin sun. snapped a few days ago. you can see the active regions appear to come together in the shape of a jack lantern. nasa says those active regions

appear brighter because those areas emit more light and energy. pretty cool. >> we're not going to see the sun for a while, are we, doug? >> i'll tell you what, if we do see the sun tomorrow, that's only going to help to produce some of those stronger thunderstorms. so let's hope we're not going to see too much. we auto saw a little sun today, putting temperatures near 80 degrees. still well above average by ten degrees. national harbor, wind blowing, gusts upwards to 20, 25 miles per hour. that will continue through the evening. 79 degrees, a very, very warm october evening. breezy conditions right on through the night and 72 at 11:00. we are going to see an incredibly warm night tonight and actually could be a record high low temperature. if you get that. it means we're going to stay warm all night long. storm team 4 radar, dry across the i-95 corridor in through most of maryland. back to the west in through northern virginia, parts of the west virginia panhandle, that's where we're looking at shower activity back towards front royal, winchester, martinsburg seeing showers. around bluemont.

and this area around bluemont is watching this move right up route 7, right over towards jefferson county in through cabletown, also over towards the charlestown area. so if you're around that region, even towards harper's ferry, you may see heavier showers moving your way. that's part of one little system coming off of the atlantic. there is another one coming off the atlantic and yet another off the gulf of mexico. so a lot of moisture here. >> and that's why parts of the region are under a flash flood watch overnight tonight through tomorrow. areas to the west, the area that's going to see the rain first tomorrow. look at 6:30 in the morning. already showers around the d.c. metro area. but the heavier rain back towards the west. and then it comes across our region during the morning hours and into the early afternoon. and that's when we could see some of the heaviest rain and winds. so around 1:00, 2:00, 3:00 in through the d.c. metro area, heads up at that time. 78 degrees on your wednesday. 70 degrees on thursday with still a chance for shower activity. much nicer for the weekend. right now we're dealing with plenty of sunshine both saturday and sunday, although sunday

looks cooler. chuck bell, of course, will have the latest for you when you wakum up tomorrow morning on "news4 today." breaking news in the race for governor in maryland. chris gordon at the live desk with details. chris? >> we have just learned that president obama will be making a campaign appearance with the democratic candidate. just got confirmation from the campaign of lieutenant governor anthony brown. the appearance details will follow being sent directly to campaign contributors just a few weeks ago. new jersey governor chris christie made an appearance with the gop candidate in the maryland governor's race. larry hogan. both parties trying to increase interest in this race with the "baltire sun" saying it is getting tighter and tighter, seven points separating the two candidates. that's the latest from the live desk. i'm chris gordon, back to you. a record number of halloween costumes expected to fly off the racks this year. often the high price tag can be scarier than the costume. erika gonzales is here with a

way to get a quality brand-name get-up for much less. >> it's one of the fastest growing consumer holidays, according to the national retail federation, and total spending on halloween this year, an estimated $7 billion. so here is how your family can save with consignment. >> trick or treat! >> oh, boy! >> the sounds of halloween are right around the corner. >> oh! >> but many come with a price tag. the national retail federation says the average person will spend $77.52 on a halloween costume this year. that's the most money spent on a costume since the nrf started keeping track. >> how much did you spend on one halloween costume? >> over $100. >> reporter: on one? >> on one. >> reporter: amanda hood of oldtown alexandria paid full price at the peak of halloween shopping. then she came here.

529 kids consign in old town. a children's consignment shop stocked with costumes. >> i bought her a couple of "frozen" costumes here and i think they were all around $20. >> reporter: a $100 costume versus a $20 costume. >> saves you quite a bit of money. and for some people they only wear it once or twice. >> they wore it once, they bring it here and we sell it. >> reporter: megan, a mother herself, started this children's consignment shop after her own kids grew out of expensive brand name clothes and they just started piling up. so selling children's costumes was a no-brainer. cost-cutting good as new. >> this little tiger is $9.99. some are $29.99 here. but you're not going to spend more than $29, $30 on a costume on consignment. >> one girl, one boy? >> yeah. >> reporter: eileen schultz agrees, you can't beat costume prices sold on consignment.

>> they do change their mind next week. i'm not going to be upset i just dropped all this money on a halloween costume. >> reporter: and that's a real treat for parents. >> thank you! bye! have a great night! >> thank you! >> so one year my mother dressed me up as jasmine, had something made and i'm sure spent an exorbitant amount of money on that costume. where it is today, i have no idea. if you have a costume, consider selling to a consignment shop next year. 529 kids consign. 40% the price it sells for ends up in your wallet. there are several shops that sell in our area. for a list, head to our website, nbcwashington.com and search kids consign. >> thanks, erika. a man crawls out of a new york city subway grate and throws a smoke bomb. there he is. into a restaurant. >> ooh. >> reporter: who wants a car?

walking, yeah. that's probably the best way to get around our area these days. a new report says younger people want nothing to do with a car. i'm adam tuss. we will tell you about trading-in or selling your car, truck or suv? webuyanycar.com takes the hassle out of selling in just 3 easy steps. one, get your free online valuation. two, book an appointment. and three, pick up a check at your nearest buying center. ♪ find out how much your car is worth ♪ ♪ at webuyanycar.com

it may seem like a harmless prank, but there are growing security concerns after someone tossed a smoke bomb from one of those sidewalk hatches into a restaurant. this happened at a popular spot in new york city. mark san thea has the story from grenich village. >> reporter: new video just released by the nypd. look at the area on the right side of your screen. a guy pops out from a subway exit hatch and then lobs a smoke bomb into sixth avenue. here's another angle of the attack from a second camera. news4 cameras were there as officers reconstructed the crime today. the man came up through the exit hatch on sixth, just south of bleaker street. the tunnel connects two subway

stations, the west fourth treat as well as the spring street stations. law enforcement sources say there was not a functioning alarm that sounded when the man opened the hatch. we have learned the attacker lobbed a commercial-grade py pyrotechnic smoke generator. >> it started with a pink color and then it turned white. it was a lot. >> reporter: he works at the restaurant next door. the smoke covered his eyes. the stench filled his nose. and that has him worried about the future. >> if someone can do that with a smoke bomb, who knows what is next, you know. pretty scary. >> reporter: while workers at neighboring businesses were rattled, people who live here in the village were relatively unfazed. >> new york is such a big, crazy place, crazy things happen. >> that's pretty crazy. actress rose mcgowan happened to be dining at the restaurant at the time and said the smoke made her eyes burn but no one else

was seriously hurt. now at 6:00 for the first time tonight, we're hearing from a nurse in texas fighting for her life. from ebola. she says she is doing well. her comments come as efforts intensify to stop the spread of that deadly disease. both financially, a $25 million donation from the founder of facebook and from the science community. doctors at walter reed beginning to test an experimental vaccine on people for the first time. all of this comes as u.s. troops join the battle against ebola in it africa. >> tonight we have team coverage, including concern from local health officials and we hear from a charity worker who just returned from liberia. but we're going to begin first with nbc's jay gray. >> reporter: the fight against ebola is intensifying right now. today more u.s. troops left for west africa to help battle the epidemic there. >> setting up warehouses to make sure the -- all of the stuff the doctors need get in countries to build facilities they need to treat the patients.

>> reporter: as for patients in the u.s., doctors in omaha say freelance journalist ashoka mukpo is showing signs of progress, and for the first time now, we're hearing from critical care nurse turned patient nina pham. in a written statement released this afternoon, she says, i'm doing well and want to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers. i am blessed by the support of family and friends and am blessed to be cared for by the best team of doctors and nurses in the world here at texas health presbyterian hospal as that treatment continues, experts with the centers for disease control are trying to figure out how she was infected and how to make sure it doesn't happen again. >> for any hospital, anywhere in the country that has a confirmed case of ebola, we will put a team on the ground within hours. with some of the world's leading experts in how to take care of and protect health care workers from ebola infection. >> reporter: the cdc is