'. breaking news. a d.c. firefighter has died in the line of duty. we just learned his name lieutenant kevin mccray was on the scene of this apartment fire in northwest washington. our coverage on news 4 midday begins there with news 4's chris gordon. chris? >> reporter: this is chris gordon at the scene. this is 1330 seventh street northwest, a high-rise apartment fire. we want to show you that fire truck four still has a ladder extended to the ninth floor. that's the apartment where this fire occurred. we want to show you video shot at the height of this smokey

blaze. it happened about 8:00 this morning. it's a two-alarm fire. additional fire ambulance and medics all this equipment was brought to the scene. we were told a firefighter was transported priority one, that means critical condition can life-threatened injuries. we later found out he died. also we were told about other serious injuries. >> the second firefighter was transported serious but non-life threatening injuries and another reported serious with non-life threatening injuries. >> all i know i work to an alarm going off in the building. i came to look outside my door there was smoke everywhere. >> now, ira evans lives next door on the ninth floor, in ex-door to the building where the fire broke out. he says an elderly woman lives there. he saw her briefly. he tells us she said she had

been cooking nothing this morning, that she had serial for breakfast and told him the fire broke out in a back room. d.c. firefighters are trying to determine the cause of this blaze that killed one firefighter who was transported to the washington hospital center that ice where we find mark seagraves? mark? >> reporter: d.c. mayor is inside with firefighters right now. he spokesperson told me about an hour ago that lieutenant kevin mccray passed away after collapsing at the scene of that fire on seventh street. here's what sources are telling us happened inside the fire. that after mccray and other firefighters on his team fought the blaze they were walking down the stairs they got to the first floor when they started complaining of trouble breathing and that's when two firefighters collapsed one was transported and later regained consciousness. >> we know lieutenant kevin

mccray passed away. we are expecting a press conference within the hour from d.c. mayor muriel bowser and fire chief dean. it's important to know this is the third day on the job for chief dean. it's been several years since there's been a fatality in the d.c. fire department. we'll keep you up to date on twitter and on our web site of any developments that come out of that press conference. now let's go to aaron gilchrist. >> mark thank you for that. as mark said we'll follow that news conference set for 11:30 and fill you in on the details as we learn them. news 4 will stay on top of this breaking story throughout the day. look for updates on the nbc washington app. >> i'm melissa mollet. a new report says the co-pilot who cashed a germanwings plane in the french alps tested a controlled descent before the crash. andreas lubitz tried that descent several times, this report says on this same plane while alone in the cockpit just hours before the march 24 crash. investigators say that descent was so gradual no one on the

plane even noticed. the crash happened on the return flight. all 150 passengers and crew died. authorities say lubitz suffered from depression in the past. they're still looking for a motive. barbara? >> a big announcement in baltimore. mayor stephanie rawlings-blake says the justice department is now investigating baltimore police. >> i will make sure that whatever they find we need to do to repair the relationship with the community and have a department that our citizens deserve. i'm determined to get that done. >> that was the mayor at a briefing only a half hour ago. she said federal investigators will determine if officers used bias practices and/or excess i have force. her announcement isn't the only one in baltimore. aaron tells us what the governor is talking about today. aaron? >> i would bet the governor gets questions about the mayor announcement. .

but he also plans to address the state of emergency order he issued for baltimore. hogan has said all the national guard troops had to leave the city before baltimore can go back to normal status. we'll bring you hogans news conference live here and on the nbc washington app. freddie gray's death sparked the protests and fights and arson in the city. the baltimore state's attorneys charged six officers with his death. one officer knew challenging the charges. he says he wants his lawyers to inspect the knife gray was carrying when police arrested him. state's attorney marilyn mosby said officers illegally arrested gray because the knife didn't break baltimore law. the officer says that is not the case. we learned prince is heading to baltimore to play a concert this weekend. no longer the artist formerly known as. he's going to be at royal farms arena on sunday. prince calling the concert a rally for peace. you can buy tickets on live nation starting at 5:00 this afternoon. >> a new report says the fbi and city leaders secretly watched

people in west baltimore last week. according to the "washington post," two surveillance planes flew over the city for several days. one flew directly over the heart of last week's riots. the aclu says the surveillance is a problem. it says the planes put lots of people's privacy at risk. >> #summerinmay. another day with much warmer-than-average temperatures. live view from the storm team 4 tower camera. haze in the air. really looks like summer doesn't it? it's more humid, everything getting green, we will see clouds building in this sky. your weather headlines for this wednesday a warm afternoon and some afternoon and evening thunderstorms are looking likely. this warmer-than-average pattern is going to continue for the next several days. temperatures right now are in the 70s all across most of virginia and maryland except right near the chesapeake bay we're in the upper 60s. 78 at reagan national.

as storms build this afternoon, keep up with it with the storm team 4 weather app. lots of you cleared your calendars to watch the caps take on the new york rangers in the stanley cup playoffs tonight. the teams play at 7:30 the caps are up 2-1 right now. in d.c. basketball this morning, we're all wonder willing john wall play for the wizards this weekend. the team is tied 1-1 in its playoff series with the atlanta hawks. wall's wrist is hurt you probably knew that. it sidelined him last night. he was dressed in a suit at the game. he wasn't able to play last night. the wizards and the hawks play again saturday afternoon right here in d.c. and right now the nation's largest drone convention is under way and we are expected to hear from the faa about the future of those flying machines. plus we continue to follow the breaking news we first reported at the top of the newscast. the death of a d.c. firefighter in the line of duty. this is a tweet from mayor becauser saying "i am saddened by the laos of one of d.c.'s

bravest." a news conference is expected at med star hospital at

here's store rhys lighting up social media. according to yahoodom.comyahoo.com, astronaut chris forina fired up an espresso machine. and staying with trending stories on yahoo this morning, let's have a look here. there we go. a baker in austria did something that we're not sure that we think is so great. it's stirring up things. he created a cake depicting

austria's main political parties as new york's twin towers. it get worse. the cake also symbolizes them coming under attack from opposition party aircraft. not sure how big a seller that cake is going to be. let us know what you think about this on twitter at nbc washington. >> come on down! the price is right but the prize isn't. the popular game show is a little embarrassed about giving a contestant in a wheelchair a treadmill. people have taken to youtube to watch janie alvarez unveil that big prize. in nine hours, the video has had almost a half million hits. cbs says all prices are chosen ahead of the show.

today drone enthusiasts are

keeping a close watch on an industry conference. the faa expected to announce brand new initiative that could open up huge new markets. nbc's tracie potts has a preview of how the faa plans to balance drone dangers and dollars. >> aaron, right now at a conference in atlanta, the faa is talking about new initiatives that could open up the airspace for hundreds maybe thousands of drones to be flying overhead in coming years. businesses have been pushing them to take a look at what happens if a drone goes out of the line of sight of its operator. we know in some cases that means it lands on the white house lawn but businesses for the most part think that can happen safely and it would open up a huge new market for them. a billion dollar tech market on standby for things like deliveries and surveyors and realtors who want to be able to use these unmanned drones. there are obviously safety concerns concerns with interference with commercial aircraft all of this part of the proposed rules that the faa

is already taking a look at. they got over 4500 public comments and those rules should come out some time in the fall. but new announcements today about what we believe will be the faa taking a look at the use of unmanned drones out of the line of sight of that operator. back to you. >> thank you tracie. very mild morning out there, temperatures now in the 70s. tom, what can we expect for the rest of this day. >> it will be a warm and comfortable afternoon so this is our weather emoji of the day. and it's a happy emoji because of these warm and comfortable conditions. then later today maybe a few showers and thundershowers rolling in. right now team team raystorm team 4 radar showing a few thundershowers across central pennsylvania but we have nothing showing up on radar yet but later this afternoon we may see some of these popping up during the afternoon. here's the timing on that as we look at our future weather going forward as of 4:00 p.m.

that's when we'll likely see showers and thundershowers maybe some heavy ones in this area in red north and west of the metro area. then between around 5:00 6:00 7:00 p.m. they track into the metro area and our suburbs in virginia. after that they move farther to the south and dissipate overnight tonight. barbara? >> thank you, tom. >> if you felt tired when you got out of bed this morning, you're not alone. americans sleep about an hour lesst. sleep sleepnumber.com crunched data. the average american gets a little less than seven hours of sleep. 41% of people surveyed say they got less than four hours. the survey compared states too. here's how we rank. people in d.c. sleep the longest, not by much 6.9 hours a night. that's compared to 6.8 hours for virginia and 66.6 hours in maryland and virginia. how many hours are you getting? we've put up a new poll online.

you can vote on our facebook page tweet us or text us at the number you see there. a developing story. thousands of gallons of raw sewage leaking near a neighborhood and a school. we have a reporter on the scene. plus stay with us for updates on the breaking news this morning, the death of a d.c. firefighter in the line of duty. i want to show you a tweet from d.c. councilwoman mary cheh expressing her support for the firefighter's family. stay with us.

we're following a developing story in prince george's county right now. a broken sewer line is leaking thousands of gallons of raw sewage into a neighborhood. this is happening along huron drive off a field near forest heights elementary in oxon hill. news 4's kristin wright is live with how long the repairs will take. kristin? >> reporter: barbara, it will take some time. two important numbers to throw at you right off the bat so listen carefully. more than 10,000 gallons of raw sewage has spilled so far and more than one mile of temporary pipe has to be put into place before the sewage will stop leaking into this neighborhood. it could be friday at the earliest before thousands of gallons of raw sewage can be stopped from leaking into an oxon hill neighborhood in prince george's county. wssc crews out this morning assessing the big repair job ahead. the sewage spill the right behind homes on huron drive.

george mcdermott has lived here a long time. >> you know, in 50 years i've never had water behind my house. water comes down it goes right in the sewer, it's gone it's over with. >> reporter: but a buried sewer line is cracked. waste water is spilling into the ground coming up above ground and getting into oxon run creek, all near forest heights elementary school and the kids playing fields. have you ever had a problem like this in those 50 years? >> not in 50 years. no. >> reporter: wssc is still setting up 7,000 feet of temporary pipe to reroute the spill to a manhole. but the sewage water will keep leaking until that bypass system is fully in place on friday. >> to me they're doing the best they can possibly do. >> reporter: the good news is, the leak has not impacted the drinking water or forest heights elementary school. wssc tells us by the time they're able to stop the leak

friday p more than 25,000 gallons will have spilled. kristin wright back to you. i'm melissa mollet at the live desk. right now, elton john speaking on capitol hill this morning talking about aids and the aids epidemic. he's the founder, of course of the elton john aids foundation and is alongside pastor rick warren. john just appeared at the senate appropriations committee hearing this morning. he's there to talk with global health experts about progress and setbacks in the battle against aids. take a listen. >> because the american people had the optimism, the ingenuity and the will to make a difference, the lives of millions of people halfway around the world have been saved. but i'm here today with a simple message: the aids epidemic is not over and america's continued leadership is critical. >> reporter: john is asking the senate committee to continue funding hiv and aids prevention and treatment programs.

>> good morning and god bless you. yes, the pollen count is high not quite as high as it was yesterday but it is in the high range and it's mostly oak tree pollen now. there's some mulberry and some pine and if you're going to be outside for a length of time and you're an allergy suffererer keep this in mind. otherwise you might want to stay inside because the count will stay high. for the afternoon planner, by 1:00 we'll be in the low 80s. by mid-afternoon we may actually make it into the mid-80s. by then between 4:00 p.m. through 7:00 p.m. some thundershowers likely coming through. probably not severe just some downpours with some frequent lightning between 4:00 and 7:00. >> tom, thanks. new rules to conserve water because of the drought there. regulators impose water-saving targets for hundreds of agencies and cities that supply water to california. basically, property and homeowners are being told to let their grass die.

california governor jerry brown ordered water agencies to cut water use by 25% from levels in 2013. it's unclear how regulators will enforce those rules. after the break, tracking a great white shark off

our language is evolving faster than ever these days and dictionaries are working harder than ever to catch up. dictionary.com says it has just added brand-new entries, most deal with technology. have you ever heard of the dark web? it's a term that describes part of the internet hidden from search engines. then there's revenge porn smart watch and how about this one? bro brogrammer a male computer programmer. and the word microaggression which describes an offensive action targeted at a minority group. dictionary.com updates listings four times a year. unlike some dictionaries they

don't shy away from slang dictionaries or slurs? aaron? there's a shark off the coast of maryland and virginia and a nonprofit group says mary lee was in chincoteague bay yesterday morning. she swam into our area from north carolina over the weekend. you can see her path in pink here. mary lee's tracker pinged again this morning. so keep your eyes out if you're headed to the eastern shore of virginia chincoteague area. >> i know a lot of folks who like to swim in those waters out there. maybe this will make them a little wary. >> stay out of the water. >> we now know when an out-of-control russian rocket is expected to start falling back to

[ speaking russian ] a russian spaceship that launched into the wrong orbit last week is expected to fall back to earth on friday. ess cargo ship was headed to the international

space station when crews lost contact with the rocket. russian space officials say it went into an uncontrollable spin and they couldn't get it under control. space debris from the rocket could fall to earth but most is expected to burn up in the atmosphere spacex will launch the next mission next month. it's rare enough to be an astronaut, but the fact that two twins both decided to become astronauts gives nasa an unprecedented research opportunity. astronaut scott kelly is currently on a one-year stay at the international space station. his brother mark is back here on earth and mark explained how that will help nasa in the future. >> if one day we want to go to mars or some other destination in the solar system we know what the engineering is to do that we don't know a lot about the human body so scott's sending a year in space and nasa's studying both of us because we are genetically the same. that's going to give nasa a lot of information to reach out into the solar system. >> as we mentioned earlier, scott kelly also talked about

the espresso maker they have their saying it works great but they only had 15 capsules so they're rationing them very carefully. the visibility of transgender americans is rapidly heightening because of people like bruce jenner. the community faces discrimination especially young people. a report by the national center for transgender equality showed alarming rates of harassment for children who expressed a transgender identity while still in school. students experienced bullying physical assault, sexual violence and they also experienced thoughts of suicide. students who had been harassed and abuse bit teachers showed dramatically worse health and other outcomes. so we asked psychiatrist joshua weiner about gender dysphoria. dr. weiner any idea what causes gender dysphoria? >> we don't know. but this really shouldn't be all that surprising. we think maybe there's some genetic influence, maybe some environmental influence like in utero development, but we don't even really know what causes depression so to figure out

what's causing something as rare as gender dysphoria is very difficult. >> and is there any increased risk of suicide in transgender teens. >> absolutely. this is one of the prime problems. teens with gender dysphoria have about a 50% risk of making a suicide attempt five to eight times higher than the general population so you want to take this issue seriously and make sure that these kids are getting the necessary treatment. >> we want to talk a bit more about that coming up so stick

breaking news now. a d.c. firefighter is dead after collapsing outside this high-rise building. there was a fire there on seventh street just north of the convention center in northwest d.c. this happened this morning. we want to go back to news 4's mark seagraves at med star with new information on lieutenant kevin mcrae. >> that's right, it was lieutenant kevin mcrae who passed away fighting this blaze on seventh street. we have now been told by the mayor's office that mcrae comes from a family of firefighters and in 2007 his cousin james mcrae also died in the line of duty. d.c. mayor muriel bowser is inside. we're waiting for the mayor, the new fire chief and a doctor from med star to brief us. that should happen in the next

few minutes. when it does we'll bring it live. aaron, back to you. >> mark we'll check back in with you. thank you, in baltimore right now, maryland governor larry hogan is about to give an update on the state of emergency order in that city. you can see a picture here from the news conference we expect to start at any moment. the order the governor gave is still in effect. it began last monday in response to the violence and fighting and fires in baltimore the governor said they had to be gone before the state of emergency could end. an hour ago, baltimore mayor stephanie rawlings blake made a big announcement. she said the justice department is investigating baltimore police. >> we all know that baltimore continues to have a fractured relationship between the police and the community. we have to get it right. failure is not an option. >> the mayor said the civil rights investigation will determine whether officers used biased practices or excessive

force. six officers facing charges for the death of freddie gray last month. later today, tickets go on sale for a last-money concert in baltimore. prince is headlining. the artist put out this poster saying he'll play a rally for peace concert this sunday at royal farms arena in baltimore. the tickets go on sale on livenation.com at 5:00 this afternoon. >> somebody really wanted to impress their prom date but one prom proposal could end in charges for a student in idaho. someone spray painted the invitation in bright pink and purple on large rocks. here's the problem -- those rocks are in a sacred desert landscape of the black cliffs that are significant to the native american community there. >> you know whoever did this did a lot of damage and aesthetically and culturally. >> that land is managed by the bureau of land management so the spray painter is also possibly looking at federal charges. and they ought to make him clean it up too.

that's horrible. well here today we've got summer in may weather. it's already pushing 80 degrees. reagan national now is at 78. it's a bit cooler around the bay, we're in the upper 60s. but 70s to near 80 elsewhere. that will stay this way into the afternoon, even a bit milder in fact we may make it up into the mid-80s this afternoon. and isolated showers and thundershowers popping up. it will be in the metro area maybe between 4:00 to as late as 8:00 or 9:00 p.m. likely not severe. downpours with lightning. after that we dry out tomorrow sunshine near 80 low 80s on friday. saturday might have an isolated shower or thundershower, mid-80s again. a look at mother's day. warm and comfortable, the mid-80s. another chance of some showers and storms around monday and tuesday, mainly in the afternoons. >> thank you, tom. the orioles helped pay tribute to a new york police officer who was shot and killed in the line of duty. officer brian mor wasmoore was an

orioles fan. they took part in a tribute to him at last night's game. the os are giving the family a signed ball from chris davis, moore's favorite player. governor larry hogan speaking about the state of emergency order in maryland. >> on saturday april 25 we activated the state's emergency operations center at the maryland emergency management agency and we put the national guard on alert in preparation for the possibility of being called up. on monday april 27 at approximately 6:30 p.m. i declared a state of emergency to respond to the violence and lawlessness that was engulfing baltimore. when we arrived on monday night, the city was on fire. homes and businesses were being burned looted and ransacked, police were being attacked and

injured. we responded quickly. we immediately moved our entire operation from an lap lis tonapolis to the city of baltimore and set up this office and the state police command center at camden yards. to put an immediate stop to the riots and to keep baltimore safe we brought with us 3,000 national guard, many of whom were on the ground within three hours. we may have broken a national regard as it normally takes at least eight hours for the guard to mobilize. we also organized and brought in 1,000 additional police officers from the maryland state police local police departments, sheriff's departments from all across maryland as well as substantial assistance from other states as well. as this overwhelming force moved into the city to back up the

city police force, we quickly brought calm and order back to the city. relative calm was effectively restored by early tuesday morning. and we spent the entire weekday and night managing the crisis, keeping the peace, touring the city thanking our law enforcement officers and soldiers and firefighters and listening to the concerns of residents from every part of the city. we repeatedly visited penn and north, sandtown winchester and many other communities on both the east and west sides of the city. we worked from the baltimore city police headquarters. we visited injured officers at shock trauma. we had a meal with members of the national guard at the armory and with officers at the state police command center. we met with and thanked as many state troopers and allied police

officers soldiers and firefighters as we possibly could. our entire team was working 16 to 20 hours a day in addition to managing managing we're literally making hundreds of decisions and managing the 4,000 people we brought with us. we also talked with business owners religious leaders commune community leaders in order to provide reassurances and to understand their immediate concerns. we touched every corner of the city we could reach and in doing so i saw things that i will never forget. we saw devastation and destruction, but we also saw incredible acts of kindness we saw neighbors helping neighbors. we saw a community that cares about each other. i'm extremely proud of our entire team and all of the hard

work they put in to help us restore law and order and bring peace to the city. and while i will never forget the violence and lawlessness that sought to tear the city apart, i will also always remember the individual acts of charity and forgiveness. in the midst of the crisis i saw our cabinet and our staff respond in an extraordinary way. it is very fitting that today happens to be state employee appreciation day. every member of our cabinet and our entire staff accomplished amazing work and the thousands of others who work so hard all deserve our gratitude and appreciation. but there are a few that deserve special recollectiongnition and deserve to be mentioned this morning.

first of all, i want to thank lieutenant governor boyd rutherford standing her behind me. i'm proud to have him as a partner. while i was solely focused on the baltimore crisis he took over operations in annapolis and managed all the other normal functions and operations of government and managed our staff and the cabinet agencies. >> maryland governor larry hogan speaking in baltimore about the unrest in that city and how things have calmed significantly since he put a state of emergency order in place in that city. we'll continue to watch the governor's news conference and you can watch it as well on the nbc washington app as we get more information from what he

if you were stuck in a hostage situation, would you think to order pizza? it helped save a florida woman's life. using a pete sat hut app, she

ordered a small pepperoni pizza with two messages added. on the top it said "get 911 help." on the bottom it said "hostage help." county deputies went to that address. when they arrived they found a man holding his girlfriend and three children hostage while sharpening a large hunting knife. >> did you think someone was playing a prank on you. >> no. no because i've been here 28 years and i've never never seen nothing like that come through. >> it's moments like these in law enforcement that you get to help people actually that makes you feel good. >> reporter: summoning 911 through a pizza ordering app was a first for this agency. the mother and her children are safe now. the father is in jail. we'll check in with tom keiran for what we can expect for our weather. tom? >> clouds will likely be closing in later this afternoon as we'll get thundershowers moving in. team team radar showing a few flashes of lightning with showers here up in pennsylvania those will stay to the north but

later today we'll see some develop. right now storm team 4 radar all clear, just sunshine. as the clouds build, we'll likely get thundershowers beginning to move in. now as of 2:00 p.m. maybe an isolated shower in the metro area but most areas should stay dry. it's 4:00 to 5:00 when we'll have some stronger thundershowers coming on through, likely not severe but heavy downpours, flashes of lightning, this area in the red and yellow coming right through the metro area between around 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. then it moves to the south and dissipates tonight. >> all right, tom, thank

a developing story right now. a new report says the co-pilot who cashed the germanwings plane in the french alps practice add controlled descent. andreas lubitz tried that on the same time while he was alone in the cockpit just hours before that crash back on march 24. investigators say that descent was so gradual no one on the plane noticed. the crash happened on the return flight. all 150 passenger and crew members died including two people from virginia. authorities say lubitz suffered from suicidal tendencies and depression in the past. they're still looking for motive. now we want to go to d.c. mayor muriel bowser speaking about the death of a firefighter. >> a hero today, lieutenant kevin mcrae a 24-year veteran of the d.c. fire and emergency medical service passed away

following a two-alarm fire on the 1300 block of seven street northwest. that's at the intersection of seventh and o streets in northwest. at 8:10 this morning, units were dispatched to a fire on the ninth and tenth floors of that building. units arrived at 8:13 and lieutenant mcrae's crew was the first team to arrive and fought the fire on the ninth floor. it took approximately 50 minutes, 50 minutes, to extinguish the fire. after the fire was put down lieutenant mcrae exited the building safely with his crew. he then collapsed on the scene. paramedics started cpr immediately and transported lieutenant mcrae here to med star where every effort was made to revive lieutenant mcrae. sadly, lieutenant mcrae was pronounced dead shortly after

10:00 a.m. lieutenant mcrae is survived by his wife terry, three children and his mother. lieutenant mcrae joined the fire department as a member of cadet class four on july 31 1989. he was h 444 years old. in july 2007 lieutenant mcrae's cousin firefighter james mcrae also passed away in the line of duty as a fire department employee. today is the day to mourn the passing of the lieutenant and comfort members of engine 6 who lost brother and a leader. lieutenant mcrae is the 100th member of the department to perish in the line of duty. as a city we take care of our own. we take care of our firefighters and we will soon have details of how members of the public may support the mcrae family. another firefighter was

transported for care here to med star and has since been released. two civilians were also transported to area hospitals with non-life threatening injuries. we will have more details on residents who were displaced because of today's fire but they are also receiving services from the american red cross. i am joined today by council member kenya mcduffie, deputy city administrator kevin donahue and the acting fire chief gregory dean. we will hear from fire chief dean as well as med star's jeff dugan. the fire chief will tell you a little bit more about the response to the fire and dr. dugan will be able to answer any questions related to care rendered to lieutenant mcrae.

fire chief? >> you are watching a news conference, d.c. mayor muriel bowser announcing the 100th death in the line of duty of a d.c. firefighter. 44-year-old fire lieutenant kevin mcrae died as a result of an emergency he suffered while fighting or after fighting a fire in the shaw neighborhood in d.c. this morning. the mayor mentioned too, that his cousin james mcrae died they was last firefighter in d.c. to die in the line of duty in 2007. also suffering a medical emergency in his fire

>> my name is carol spiny. >> you've watched his work since 1969. the man behind big bird is 81 years old today but this might be the first time you've ever really seen him. a new documentary looks at the life and work of carol spiny who

plays big bird and oscar the grouch too, on "sesame street." the film "i am big bird" cron chronicles his decades of work and many stories you've never heard. in the 1980s, nasa considered sending big bird into orbit. spiny told the "today" show's jenna bush haguer the plan would have placed him aboard the ill-fated challenger mission. >> all of a sudden it goes boom and i said oh my god -- >> so that moment gave you chills. >> and it was like we all started to cry. we knew it was a disaster. made my scalp crawl to think i was supposed to be on that. >> wow. the film is available right now on itunes. it also is available as video on demand from several cable providers. it hits theaters in select cities starting tomorrow. >> talk about a legacy. >> always a big fan of big bird. >> generations and generations. >> i'm sure you grew up watching him on

maryland governor larry hogan has just rescinded the state of emergency in baltimore. he issued the executive order back on april 27 after homes and businesses were burned looted and ransacked during those riots. take a listen to what he said. >> as of this morning i am pleased to report that all national guard, state police and other police personnel and all the assets that we brought in have now been removed from the city. city. >> he said the state will spend about $20 million to pay for the unrest in baltimore though the total financial loss there is still unknown. tom? >> approaching the noon hour already 80 degrees in washington upper 70s elsewhere. near the bay it's cooler. temperatures there in the upper 60s to around 70. later today it will make it into the mid-80s.

isolated showers and thundershowers. getting going in the metro area between 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. now likely they won't be severe but they could produce brief heavy downpours with frequent lightning. again, that's 4:00 to 7:00 p.m. in the moat roe area. tomorrow sunshine back 60s in the morning, afternoon highs around 80. then low to mid-80s again on friday and saturday there's even a smaller chance on mother's day partly sunny and warm on mother's day, mid-80s. then first part of next week monday and tuesday could get afternoon thunderstorms. back to you. >> all right, tom, thank you. that's news for midday. we have news from 4:00 to 7:00 later this afternoon. i'll be back at 4:26 for news 4 today. >> and we hope you'll join us tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. for news 4 midday. watch out for showers. watch tv and we'll be on the air. see you tomorrow morning.

i do have a meeting for another job possibility, and it's local. really? yeah. is it good? will your mother be green with envy? she might. she might. i don't want to jinx it though. i don't want to talk about it too much. - okay. - hungry? starving. let's go. get your stuff. oh, hey. kiss for luck first. - mmm. - mmm. [both laugh] next time, you may want to do that with the door shut. justin, you're back. i had no idea you were coming home. that much is obvious. i came by to have a few words with lucas but you may as well stick around. [suspenseful music] (tori) you're doing that instead of enjoying the view?