we want to begin with that breaking news. a powerful earthquake rocks the capital of nepal. lots of new information still coming in right now, but we do want to start off with what we know. the u.s. geological survey saying this was a magnitude 7.9 earthquake. >> 688 people are dead. search teams continue to comb through the rubble right now. we're hearing a first-hand report from a reporter in nepal when the quake hit. take a listen. >> the road was going in waves. everyone else was driving

erratically, slamming on the brakes people screaming, motorcycles falling in front of us. >> wow. the quake hit around 2:00 a.m. our time about noon in nepal. the usgs reporting 18 aftershocks magnitudes 5 and above. >> and several avalanches also have been reported on mt. everest. at least eight bodies have been removed from the mountain. many more feared dead. the hospitals are overwhelmed with patients right now. a big story we'll continue to follow throughout the morning. we're looking at 9:31. first we want to tell you good morning to you. we want to check on our forecast. >> yeah. let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell out on the deck. he has company with him. >> yes, indeed. the brownies troop 6058 are joining me out here on the lawn. we're huddled in a group to stay a little bit warmer as temperatures here are only in the mid-40s this morning. so a cold start for an april morning here in washington and even colder across parts of northern maryland. take a check from our tower

cameras. there's the view of clouds over washington this morning. clouds over prince georges county as well. and headed up into parts of northern maryland. temperatures as i mentioned are on the cold side. only 42 in hagerstown. near 50 here in washington. rain coming our way for later on this afternoon. temperatures going to stay in the 50s today and if you're going out for dinner and a movie tonight, plan on getting wet as it will be light to moderate rain for much of your evening. when we see you next we'll talk about the week ahead. girls, who is excited about snow flakes in april? >> me! >> i thought as much. >> you know chuck, i think a couple of them were trying to catch them. i saw a couple tongues out there. >> yeah. >> are you girls sticking your tongues out? that's what i heard. >> very cute. thanks guys. >> they deserve a badge for that right? >> absolutely. well right now we do have a traffic alert to tell you about. the northbound lane lanes of the g.w. parkway are closed at spout run because of a deadly crash.

park police say one man is dead. a cart apparently drove off the road there. the southbound lanes are still open. right now there are some texas sized power outages in the dallas area. tens of thousands of people there waking up to blinking clocks all because of this. take a look at this video. we got 70 mile-per-hour winds, pouring rain, hail hammering that state. pretty intense stuff, right? >> yikes. >> that's out in kansas. take a look. you can see in one spot it was the size of baseballs. we're talking about that hail that fell. some small tornadoes also touched down in that area. >> and new this morning, we're learning more information about a fire that forced several people from their apartments in montgomery county. the fire broke out last night at a complex on blackburn lane not far from columbia pike in burtonsville. derrick ward is there. what do you know? -- >> yeah.

we understand now this fire started about midnight. it went to two alarms and a hundred firefighters were here at the height of things. take a look at the aftermath here. you can see the damage to the third floor apartment. that's where it started in the third floor. take a look video from last night. 12 families have been displaced and one person was injured. se rescued from this building. the height of the fire. it's believed to have started in a third floor bedroom. and at this point, investigators say that it looks like it may have started in a propdiscarded smoking materials. we did speak to one woman in an adjacent building said her dogs awakened her. she was let back into her apartment. but this part of this apartment building is evacuated, not inhabitable. 12 families displaced and the investigation continues into the exact cause. derrick ward news4. >> thanks. today protesters say they will shut down baltimore. demonstrators demanding answers

over the unexplained death of freddie gray. gray suffered a spinal injury and died in custody after his arrest earlier this month. baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings-blake says she wants today's demonstration to be peaceful. tom costello has more on the errors they believe they made in the handling of gray's arrest. >> reporter: confirmation from baltimore police that once gray was arrested and placed into a van, they failed to put a seat belt on him, a violation of police policy. >> we know he was not buckled in the transportation wagon as he should have been. no excuses for that. >> reporter: police said gray appeared to be talking and moving in the van until the third stop. among the questions was gray given what's known as a rough ride. jarring stops and starts that might have caused his fatal injury. >> if someone harmed freddie gray we're going to have to prosecute them. so giving too much information out to you on the front here now may jeopardize that prosecution. >> reporter: in the six days

since gray died of a spinal cord injury demonstrators have demanded answers. among the protesters this week entire families including 11-year-old david williams. >> i'm worried about me dying. and i'm thinking i'm in my neighborhood stressed out and i just don't want to die. >> reporter: now demonstrators are promising to ratchet up the pressure. >> they want an end to the cycle of black men being shot down gunned down having their spines broken and their backs broken. >> reporter: surrounded by civic and religious leaders, the mayor urged all protesters to remain peaceful. >> this community and this whole community is committed to seeking justice for mr. gray. so if you're going to come here come to help us. not to hurt us. costello reporting there. metro transit police need your help to identify the person who attacked a 69-year-old man on a metro escalator. the surveillance video shows the graphic assault. investigators say the man argued

with a teenager at the eastern market station yesterday afternoon. the t then spat on him, then started throwing punches at the top of an escalator. the victim fell and hit his head. and then the teen took off. the man went to the hospital for treatment. if you have any information on this attack call metro transit police. new this morning, you can buy your favorite cup of joe at starbucks without any problems following a computer glitch. overnight the company said it fixed the register outage. last night some stores across the country had to close early because of that glitch. well we found some starbucks in our area actually giving out some free coffee while the registers were down. once again the system is back up and running at starbucks. all will be okay in the world. >> and bring your starbucks card or your cash and you'll get your coffee. coming up a maryland teacher accused of sexual abuse is behind bars. >> and a step school leaders are taking to prevent future events. the stars will be shining at

the white house correspondents dinner. and we're hearing f

yes. for all intents and purposes i am a woman. people look at me differently. they see you as this macho male. but my heart and my soul and everything that i do in life it is part of me. that female side. >> yeah. bruce jenner trending this morning. in an interview with abc news' diane sawyer the gold medalist admitted he is transgender. he is transitioning from man to woman. his famous family all tweeting their support for the former athlete. other stars like degeneres and winfrey tweeting support for jenner. half a dozen more parties scheduled for today before the white house correspondents

dinner tonight. >> it's a big night for d.c. >> probably a lot of people in town watching us this morning. >> maybe getting ready to go out to the nice garden brunch. this is an all-day event. we are talking politicians, journalists, celebrities. jim hanley gives us a preview. >> reporter: 26,000 seats, 260 tables. almost 1,200 requests have been turned away. at $3,000 a table, it is an expensive room and could be a rough room too especially if you're on the receiving end of a barb or if you're dishing out a roast. are you going to take the gloves off? are you worried about offending anybody? >> i don't want to be too harsh, i don't think. but i will get a little tough here and there. >> reporter: president's going to be there right beside you and the first lady. >> he has to be there. yeah. we both have to be there. >> reporter: and he brings the funny too. >> i know. that's tough too. he's a tough one to follow.

>> reporter: we're getting early word on some of the big names to attend. donald trump, jane fonda, "walking dead" cast members, and washington themed shows stars like kerry washington of "scandal." if you'd like to see what's the latest on what's happening, we'll be updating and posting on the nbc washington app. >> so what's your tip? you want to get a picture with somebody? >> you need to get there early. if you're going to any parties, get there early because the celebrities show up early. "walking dead," a lot of actors from there out last night. >> don't be pushy though. >> no selfies a lot of these say no selfies. >> and no selfie sticks. coming up it's the jaw-dropping video that's hard to watch. >> high school students falling through a stage during a performance. we're hearing how witnesses describe this scary moment. and it's going to be a rain boot and umbrella day.

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♪ don't stop believing ♪ [ screaming ] frightening. several high schoolers are now home from the hospital after this scary scene in indiana. we told you about it when it happened earlier this week. the students were on stage

performs journey's "don't stop believing" when the stage collapsed beneath them. 17 teenagers were hurt. >> it's like a great theater to -- department and they like try -- they work really hard on it and stuff. i'm pretty sure no one in a million years thought this would ever happen. >> the school says it's still not clear why that stage collapsed. investigators will be working to find that out today. the montgomery county school district says it is working with police on the sex abuse investigation into a former teacher. police say robert otis wilson iii had a relationship with a 13-year-old student. he worked at the middle school in silver spring at the time. well take a look at this video. this is wilson's family leaving his first appearance in court yesterday. one as you can tell right there pushing our news cameras away. another telling us she found out about the charges that day. >> i don't believe it's true.

but if it is true i wish he would have told somebody so we could have got him some help. >> this is the fourth sex offense incident at montgomery county schools in the last two years. well today moms you can help your daughters get ready for the prom and save money in the process. reston community center giving away prom dresses. begins at noon at the washington plaza north in reston. the giveaway will last until 6:00 p.m. community members donated all the dresses you'll see there today. also take the family to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the hubble telescope. head over to the center near dulles. the telescope continues to capture pictures from light years away at it circles the earth. the special celebration begins at 10:00 this morning. it'll wrap up at 3:00 this afternoon. and i know this is stuff you get excited other. >> i love the hubble telescope. everything they've done with it.

ever since they had the problem with me mirror when it first went up there. what incredible imagery they've gotten out of that thing. they've learned so much about our universe. >> millions of galaxies chuck. >> yeah. i retweeted a video they took that they put together the other day. it's just -- it's like looking out the front window of the starship enterprise to watch all the stuff flying towards you. it's cool stuff. >> very cool. >> speaking of cool. >> jinx. >> yeah. a little chilly outside this morning. who said april can't be cold? they haven't been around here. we were 84 degrees last saturday afternoon. and we will barely make 60 in most neighborhoods today. a complete turnaround across the area. cloudy skies have moved in while you were asleep last night. and cloudy skies will be the rule for the remainder of the day. don't expect much sunshine today. i'm getting more and more confident we'll have sunshine back here by tomorrow afternoon. it's a chilly 49 with a light northeasterly wind in washington right now. temperatures around the rest of the region still mostly stuck in

the 40s. now just touching 50 degrees. the northern neck. 47 now in annapolis. temperatures not going to move much. we're 49 50 now. we'll barely make it into the mid-50s. might touch closer to 60 towards fredricksburg and the northern neck. but most places will not get to 60 degrees today. timing out the steady rain. there's also some areas of light rain this morning. but the stead jer showers arriving between about now and 2:00 this afternoon. out to the south and west. right in the heart of the metro, the steadier rain between 1:00 and 4:00 this afternoon. then after 3:00 or 5:00 this afternoon on the shore. do plan on getting wet by late this afternoon and it's going to be a rainy saturday evening as well. weather slowdowns. not much to slow you down this morning into the afternoon and evening. could slow things down just a touch. it's all part of a big area of storminess out here that's brought severe weather to kansas

and missouri. more severe weather for places like houston and atlanta. for us we have just enough cold air out there to get the conversational snow flake. and it's quite the conversation on social media as well. zoom in closer for you here into the shenandoah valley. right along skyline drive there up towards front royal. can't rule out one or two snow flakes. most of that is coming down in the form of rain. and most of this which was slight rain is now just rain temperatures well into the 40s across the baltimore area out on the eastern shore. so here's your future weather then through this afternoon by 4:00 or 5:00. there's that steady rain pushing into the area. this is the newer model timing. hold it back a little bit, i'm not buying a the just yet. plan on having rain around here at least the potential of rain by mid to late afternoon. rain overnight tonight. any time you need to stay ahead of the wlr, have our app ready to go. that will keep you ahead of the drops as well. seven-day forecast. we've got 100% chance you're going to get rained on today.

highs today in the 50s. tomorrow rain mostly in the morning. looks like it'll be out of here before noontime tomorrow. should get sunshine back tomorrow afternoon. temperatures in the low 60s. a blustery day on wednesday. and wilder weather as we head towards the second half of next week. news4 today back after this. >> thanks chuck. by the end of the day you're going to see a brand new look at an elementary school in d.c. >> yep. it's comcast cares day. volunteers are heading to houston elementary school to clean up, do painting. we're joined now by chris lawrence. what's going on there? green shirt on. tell us more what's happening. >> reporter: i do. they pulled me out of my service project which is actually painting one of the murals inside. you can take a look behind me. you can see one of the other projects going on. they're building some flower boxes to help beautify some of the grounds here at houston elementary school. it's an elementary school here in northeast d.c. with me here is andrew stein.

he's with city year d.c. one of the partners on the project. just how big is this project? not only locally but nationally? >> reporter: well nationally we've got 750 projects across the country. 90,000 volunteers. here in d.c. we've got 3,000 comcast nbc universal volunteers across the greater washington area. then here at houston elementary school in partnership with city we've got 500 volunteers friends, family and community members to help beautify the school today. >> let me just ask you. taking it down just to this school right here what kind of work is being done here? what is it going to be like when we leave here today? >> there's a lot going on. so we've got painting murals we've got building benches. planting gardens. really we want this school to be a place that kids show up to every day. and are happy and they're proud of their schools. so monday morning when they come in and they see fresh coats of

paint on the wall and beautiful benches and gardens, looking forward to the looks on their faces. >> all right. angie and adam both have kids. they can appreciate what a great elementary school looks like. >> that's an understatement. you can tell they're layering out there too. little chilly right? >> yeah. chill in the air.

we continue to follow this

breaking news out of nepal. a powerful earthquake rocked the capital of nepal. the u.s. geological survey says this was a magnitude 7.9 earthquake. 876 people are believed to be dead. they continue -- the rescuers continue to search and comb through the rubble right now. the usgs also reporting that 18 aftershocks of magnitudes 5 and above hit the area. eight people died in an avalanche. that was on mt. everest. deaths also are being reported from neighboring countries. we want to take a look at more top stories. one man is dead following a crash on the g.w. parkway. the northbound lanes are closed at spout run. a car drove off the road there. investigators are on the scene. and investigators are trying to figure out what caused this fire that forced several people from their apartments. this was in montgomery county. the fire broke out at a complex on blackburn lane. that's not far from columbia pike in burtonsville. the fire right now is out. protesters say they will

shut down baltimore. demonstrators demanding answers over the unexplained death of freddie gray. gray died in police custody after his arrest earlier this month. download the nbc washington app to see our coverage of the white house correspondents dinner tonight. we have "snl" cecily strong headlining the party. celebrities from all of your favorite shows, they're going to be out and about as well. >> and they might be dodging rain drops, right, chuck? >> yeah. an indoor night for sure across the area. it's going to rain pretty much all night. >> thanks. that's going to do it for news4 today. - if you've come lookin'

for some fun or a chance to be most anyone there's a little shop i know you'll find it on the chica show follow me and step inside imagination is your guide pick a costume off you go now you're on the chica show cowboys dancers astronauts and much more adventure is a thing we always have in store so join our funny family - there's me! - and me! [chica squeaking] - and me! - the clothes are cool the fun is free so welcome to the chica show - hey ya' go, carolina. have fun quacking up your friends in your duck costume. here's you bill-- quack, quack. - thank you. - you're welcome. [chica squeaking] i think those