they're among the 49 spellers competing today. that i beat -- they beat out more than 200 kids so far. the semifinals start at 10:00 this morning. the championship round is at 8:00 tonight. some of these words they spelled overtishous and angieitis. we'll tell you what they mean. "news4 today" starts right now. >> right now at 5:00 a.m. his bloody arrests sparked a national outcry. now we're standing by to see if the charges against a student will be thrown out. and a vote that is expected to save you some money. we'll explain how. and a live look at the radar, dry right now. but that's about to change. amelia segal is in for tom this morning. >> good morning, aaron. temperatures right now in the 60s and 70s. petersburg is coming in at 58

degrees. hot and humid once again today. you can see how we warm up during the morning hours. 9:00 a.m. we are near 80 degrees. mid 80s and near 90 by noon. with that, we'll be tracking pop-up storms and downpours during the afternoon and evening hours. that hit or miss activity where not everybody will see rain. you can see right now storm team 4 radar, not tracking any activity out there. in ten minutes future weather, the timing what you can expect in your neighborhood. but for now we send it over to alexis davies. any issues on the roads? >> we have a couple of issues. right now we have a road closure in d.c. naylor road southeast at good hope road is closed in both directions due to police activity. avoid that area for a little bit this morning. here's a look at prince george's county county, darcy road, all roads are open. after 66 after the fairfax county parkway, some volume building out of manassas.

no reports of incidents there. looks like we're having some trouble with our 270 camera. take a look at the overall view of the beltway, no reports of incidents or slowdowns in virginia or maryland. back in ten minutes. 5:02. d.c. police are looking for suspects in four different shootings in d.c. last night. d.c. police say that a woman, two men and a boy were all shot. we are working to find out the woman's condition. the men and the boy were awake and breathing when police arrived. here's a look at where the shootings happened. they took place in a space of two hours. police have not said whether any of these cases are connected. today, two women are expected in court in connection to the murder inside a d.c. hotel room. police say that jamyra gallmon stabbed lawyer david messerschmitt to death in february. gallmon admitted she went to that hotel intending to rob the victim after communicating via

craigslist. a second woman dominique johnson is charged with conspiracy to commit robbery in this case. they robbed him of $40 and his metro card. the video of the arrest of a university of virginia student went viral on social media and sparked an uproar and today, we'll find out if a judge will drop the charges against martese johnson. johnson's lawyers says that state alcoholic beverage control officers did not have just cause to slam him to the ground outside a bar in march. it prompted terry mcauliffe to order abc officers to be retrained. today the courts will decide whether to move forward with charging johnson with public intoxication and obstruction of justice. health officials are concerned for laboratory workers who handled live anthrax samples. the u.s. military accidentally shipped the samples to labs in maryland and virginia. instead of sending inactive samples it shipped at least some active samples to as many as nine states via fedex.

defense officials confirmed yesterday live spores were found in one shipment and they suspect the others did as well. the cdc has ordered that all of the anthrax shipments be locked down until they can be collected for further testing. students at a montgomery county high school is being tested for tuberculosis. we're working to find out if the one person is a staff member or a student. anyone who took part in after school activities or in class dating back to march can get a free x-ray. tb is treatable. four minutes after the hour now and today we expect a tense vote in prince george's county on a possible tax increate. the tax hike could cost you hundreds of dollars but advocates say the tax could also do a lot of good. news4's molette green live for us in hyattsville with a look at what's at stake here. good morning.

>> reporter: aaron, good morning. yes, a very emotional issue for parents in this county and property tax owners. property owners, that is. one of the most frustrating issues has always been improving schools and raising property taxes to do it simply does not sit well with so many people in this county. that is still reeling from a foreclosure crisis. this county took one of the hardest hits in the country. now the county executive baker has gotten an earful from people on both sides of the issue. and now is willing to back down from his original request for a 15.6% tax hike. he's now willing to ask for much less. from $133 million down to $65 million, what it would all spell out. now, the county council votes on this in just a few hours. later this morning. coming up in the next half hour what the superintendent the head of schools, wants to do with this money to improve schools.

we're live in hyattsville. i'm molette green. a teenager is facing charges accused of intentionally setting a fire in howard county. we first brought you this story yesterday morning. david mckinnie is being charged with arson after a fire at the huntington park playground. firefighters were called to the park in columbia on tuesday afternoon after reports of a fire. the damage to the playground is estimated at $40,000. more evacuations in texas. now in the city of wharton southwest of houston. people there are being encouraged to leave their homes, floodwaters continue to rise. the colorado river is expected to reach flood stage in this area. many homes and parts of wharton are already flooded. and the river has already seen fling in austin. houston has been hammered as well. people right now salvaging what they can and heading to higher

ground. 23 people are dead from the flooding and storms in texas and oklahoma and nine this morning are missing. 5:07. there are now legal protections if you call 911 to report a drug overdose in virginia. governor terry mcauliffe signed a good samaritan bill. it does not protect people who commit acts of violence or felonies or distribute drugs. he wants young people to know about the law in case they witness a friend's overdose. 800 virginians died of drug overdoses in 2012. heroin overdoses jumped 164% in the two-year time period. it's a move that will have some parents cheering and others jeering. the move that's gender identity taking center stage again at fairfax schools. the father of daron wint speaks out. a warning for anyone with an iphone, the text that could crash your phone and what apple is doing about it. looking outside this morning, dry now.

but rain is on the way. amelia monitoring when your neighborhood will see showers in the next weather and traffic on

welcome back. 5:10. the issue of gender identity is dividing parents and students in fairfax county public schools. the school board plans to vote next month on adding gender identity and sexual orientation to part of its curriculum. the class is for middle and high schoolers. parents will be able to opt their child out of that

curriculum. the move comes weeks after the board voted to include gender identity in the school's nondiscriminatory policy. well the next story sort of seems like a trick, but it's happening. a newly discovered glitch can cause iphones to mysteriously shut down when they receive a very specific text message. if you do get the message, your phone automatically shuts off and then reboots. apple is working on a permanent fix. until then you can prevent the problem by turning off the message previews feature. all right. going to affect a lot of us apple users. >> trying to figure out what that message is if you don't use it. 5:11, weather and traffic on the 1s. storm team 4 meteorologist amelia segal is tracking our weather for us. good morning. >> good morning, eun. look at this beautiful sunrise this morning. partly to mostly sunny skies, it is hot and humid today with the heat and humidity going to be tracking some of those hit or miss showers and thunderstorms. and some heavy rain today. but otherwise, the threat of

severe weather is quite low. do want to grab the umbrella as you head out this morning. we're dry through the midday hours. again, hazy hot and humid. in the afternoon at about 3:00, notice the showers and storms starting to bubble up. that can slow the commute with some heavy rain. not going to be the problem right now though. alexis you're tracking an accident on the beltway already? >> we have an accident on the beltway. at georgia avenue. here's a live look at connecticut avenue. we have two left lanes blocked. you see cars moving over to the right in this area. we are seeing some slowdown here as you look at the map of the beltway. slowest spot is at georgia avenue because of the accident on the inner loop. elsewhere, naylor road, good hope road is closed in both directions due to police activity. 95 near dumfries avenue, that work zone has been cleared. for more traffic when you hop into your car tune into our friends at wtop. it could be months before construction crews repair

parking garage at watergate. that means months of road closures for you. how long it will take, coming up. the secret service will start making changes when it comes to the white house security. the major overhaul starting today. we are just learning about a shooting in northeast washington. kristin wright is working hard at the live desk trying to

breaking news right now in the district. a man has been shot in northeast. now, here's what we know so far. the shooting happened just after 4:00 so just about an hour ago in the 5300 block of clay terrace. we know this man was taken to the hospital. he was breathing. he was awake. d.c. police have not -- they are there on the scene, so far they have not communicated any suspect information to us. we are working to find out more right now.

>> thanks kristen. 5:17. a woman died in one of four shootings in southeast washington last night. police say someone shot the woman near the intersection of alabama avenue and good hope road in southeast. they have not released her name and as alexis davies has been reporting, naylor road and good hope road in southeast are both closed right now. 17 after the hour right now. in less than an hour, we expect some important activity around the white house. news4's megan mcgrath on pennsylvania avenue now where contractors will start working on the white house fence today. megan? >> reporter: well aaron, people coming down the white house to visit may notice that some areas along the fence are going to be temporarily off limits this morning. that's because crews are going to be doing some of the prep work for the installation of the anti-climb fence in front of the white house. fence jumping incidents like this one and there were a number of them in the span of just a couple of months well those incidents have focused attention on white house security. so some changes are going to be made to the fence.

they're going to specifically put steel spikes on the top of that fence to make it more difficult to jump over. now, crews are going to start taking measurements beginning at 6 clock a.m. this morning. so some of the prep work being done this morning and it's expected to take eight hours. while that work is being done, there are some areas along the white house fence that are going to be closed for a time. so people are going to have to adjust and perhaps go to different spots. you might not get that prime spot you may have to shift down while that prep work is being done. as for the installation of those steel spikes that work is going to begin in july. back to you in the studio. >> megan mcgrath, thank you. more than five months after it happened, we could learn a lot more about the underground smoke emergency on metro. medics treated hundreds of people when smoke filled the l'enfant plaza in january. one woman died. a hearing has been scheduled.

and leaders from metro and fire and ems will face questions. three southern california beaches remain closed this morning as crews work to clean up after a massive oil spill. crews were busy sweeping up tar balls on the beaches in santa barbara county. meanwhile, the owner started the process of digging up the pipe to figure out why it broke. 100,000 gallons of oil leaked into the ocean when the pipeline broke last week. investigators say it could be weeks or even months before we learn what caused that accident. news4 your health maybe somebody has a dating app on the phone. it's behind a rise in std's. gonorrhea has increased by 30% and that was between 2013 and 2014. the apps can lead to high risk behaviors like arranging casual

sex and having multiple partners. we know a lot of you are waking up and about to put on a fitness tracker for one reason or another, but how accurate are those trackers? consumer reporter erika gonzalez taking a closer look at new research. it gives you a closer look at whether those trackers deliver precise results. she is working on that story, you will see only on news4. fitness trackers tracked tonight at 11:00. we are learning about a rare disorder that might explain why your child is having a hard time sleeping from the looks of this video, a toddler is having a temper tantrum. but she's actually asleep. it's a sleep terror episode. a rare but usually not harmful disorder. it's when the child wakes up a few times a week inconsolable. most research on the sleep terror incidents point to kids not getting enough sleep. >> the big thing that we have seen is sleep deprivation. so just kids who have a very irregular sleep/wake cycle or the kids who miss naps for several days.

>> since night terrors happen during a deep stage of sleep, some doctors believe interrupting the child a half hour after it happens can help. it's hard to tell sometimes. you think your child is having a nightmare. luckily none of my kids experience that. >> yeah. 5:21 is our time right now. a live look outside where we're starting to see the first few rays of sun. peeking through the clouds. >> that sun will heat us up for sure. let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist amelia segal. weather and traffic on the 1s. >> good morning, eun. high temperatures today in the mid to upper 80s. similar to yesterday. it's muggy and we'll be tracking some scattered afternoon and evening storms and a few downpours. very similar case for tomorrow as well. one difference -- tomorrow on your friday, the best chance of rain later in the day is going to be mainly west of washington.

everybody kind of has equal chances of getting a shower or thunderstorm today. looking ahead to the weekend rain more likely on sunday than saturday. by far after that cool and showery for next week. wait until you see the change in high temperatures. up to 74 degrees. i'm showing you the dew point temperature because this measures the moisture in the air. right now it's at 67 so it's humid. yesterday our dew point temperatures were in the 70s. that helped to spark severe thunderstorms in the afternoon. here's a look at the high temperature in your neighborhood. gaithersburg warms to 87. fredericksburg high temperature of 91 degrees. the weekend outlook, saturday it's hot. high temperature of 89. it's still muggy. and there's the chance of some late day rain and thunderstorms. on saturday, very similar to friday, mainly west of washington. now, for sunday rain and storms are likely later in the day. a high temperature on sunday of 85 degrees.

some storms on sunday could be on the strong to severe side. so we'll keep a close eye on that day. the greatest threat for severe weather out of the next seven is looking like it would be on sunday. look at the temperature change that i talked about. monday a high of only 70 degrees. the chance of some rain no storms. otherwise, cloudy. the chance of some showers on a cool tuesday. high of 72. 75 next wednesday. alexis davies is tracking breaking news on the beltway right now. >> that's right. breaking news on the beltway. we have an accident on the inner loop near route 97. it involves a tractor-trailer and a fuel spill. as you can see from the live picture. only the right lane is getting by. we have 1.2 mile backups due to this accident there. again, on the inner loop of the beltway at georgia avenue. you can see from the map of the melt seeing some backups. elsewhere on the beltway running smoothly. taking a look at 66, at wanals mill road, we are seeing the volume building there. no reports of understand

departments. 270 at old hundred road no reports of incidents. 95 b.w. parkway looking good. route 50 into the beltway is looking good. we're hearing from the father of the only suspect in the killing. police say daron wint killed three adults and a child two weeks ago. wint's father talked to "the washington post." he did not talk about guilt or innocence. but he said, quote what we dos crime was egregious and heartless and we hope that whoever committed these heinous crimes my son included will suffer the consequences of their actions. and later this quote, this violence is in no way an indication of the life we live or the values that my family embraces. a convicted killer will spend the rest of his life in prison for the murder of his childhood friend. police say rahul gupta stabbed

waugh to death. they say gupta admitted to killing his friend because he thought his girlfriend was cheating with him on waugh. waugh would have graduated from georgetown law school this week. >> his murder was a sin. not just on his family but on the community as a whole. so much promise, so much opportunity. so much loss. >> a judge sentenced gupta to life in prison. state's attorney john mccarthy believes gupta received the life sentence by repeatedly lying. japan one step closer to restarting the nuclear plant after the fukushima disaster. the operator says it's hoping to bring one reactor back on line by the end of july. japan has been without nuclear power since september of 2013. the prime minister there wants to restart stations once they clear safety regulations. but many people oppose that idea. walmart has reached a

settlement with actor tracy morgan. he was injured last june when a walmart tractor-trailer crashed into his limo on the new jersey turnpike. the actor and his associates filed a lawsuit, saying the driver had exceeded federal safety limits when that crash happened. both sides thought the settlement was fair. they are not disclosing the terms of the settlement. morgan's friend james mcnair, died in the crash. and take a look at this video of a car chase in texas. i promise you this is a car chase. may not look high speed at this point. but it really wasn't. police in ft. worth said it moved at a snail's pace at times. it lasted two hours, you can see a s.w.a.t. team van slamming into the side of the car to stop it. the reason for the chase still unknown right now. the driver was taken to the hospital and he's expected to be okay. d.c. drivers, you can expect some delays near the watergate complex for several months. construction crews are clearing up and making repairs that after that parking garage collapsed a

few weeks ago. we learned one eastbound lane of virginia avenue will be closed for the next four months. two lanes were originally shut down but one has reopened. today loudoun county leaders will discuss new silver line metro stations. metro plans to open two stations in loudoun. they'll talk about the development that you might see when it is done. the meeting is at morefield elementary school at 6:30 tonight. metro may not have as much money as it planned for the 70000 rail car. today, adam tuss will learn what they plan to do in response. they meet at 9:00 a.m. this morning. some consider it one of the most important tests you take in your life so imagine how nearly 100 virginia students are feeling not knowing how they did on the s.a.t. why the results are missing and why they may have to take it all over again. new details out of baltimore this morning. where the officers arrested in

freddie gray's death are making a request. what they're asking for, straight ahead. looking outside this morning a beautiful sunrise is underway. the pink skies. the skies are about to change though. amelia is back with a look at your commuter forecast and whether or not we'll see s

puerto rico's healthcare system is on life support... putting three and a half million puerto ricans at risk. it's an outrage. puerto ricans are us citizens and pay the same medicare taxes, but receive only half the federal healthcare funding as the other 50 states. the headlines tell the story.... "unfair treatment from washington"... "thousands without medications"... "it's a crisis that could imperil the whole economy." president obama must act now to protect care for three and a half million u.s. citizens.

before it's too late...

breaking news on the roadway. inner loop of the beltway near georgia avenue we had an accident involving a tractor-trailer and a fuel spill. here's a live look. only the shoulder is getting by here in this area. here's a live look at the beltway. this is at connecticut avenue. the backups are pretty significant. building 1.6 miles here. as you can look at this map here again the inner loop of the beltway, very serious accident involving a tractor-trailer. we're looking at 1.6 mile backups. >> thanks alexis. looking at the stories making headlines right now in just 30 minutes temporary security improvements get underway at the white house fence. contractors will take measurements for what the secret service call the anti-climb fence. the military shipped live anthrax samples to labs across

the country. the cdc has ordered all be locked down until they can be collected for further testing. we could learn a lot more about the underground smoke emergency on metro. the ntsb is holding a two day hearing starting today. medics treated hundreds of people when smoke filled the tunnel by l'enfant plaza. much more on the stories throughout the broadcast, but first, good morning. i'm eun yang. >> i'm aaron gilchrist. right now, i want to get a look at your weather headlines. meteorologist amelia segal in the storm team 4 weather center. >> good morning. happy thursday. spectacular sunrise. and it's another balmy start with temperatures in the 60s and 70s. 74 in washington. 71 for those of you in annapolis. the commuter forecast for this morning, temperatures in the 70s. no weather issues to contend with. partly to mostly sunny skies. headed home we'll be tracking scattered storms and that could slow the evening commute with wet roads. highs today in the mid to upper 80s. the greatest concern for storms this afternoon and evening would

be some heavy rain. the threats of hail and high winds very low coming up in ten minutes i'll have your hour by hour planner, eun, for today. you have been doing this type of business for ten years. have you ever seen anything like this? >> never before. >> in loudoun county at least 100 students could now have to retake the s.a.t. the college board said it has not received the county's shipments of exams and that means students who took the test at broad run high school this month will have to take it again. one student said she studied for more than 100 hours. >> i think of the time and the effort i spent, because it's over a month since i have done all my studying and stuff. so it's going to affect my scores. >> and then -- >> the college board told us they're making every effort to find the missing shipment. if they don't, the makeup date is june 20th.

a developing story rocking the soccer world. the group that runs the world cup is meeting tomorrow amid incredible uncertainty. more than a dozen high ranking officials have been indicted for trading votes on hosting and broadcast rights for millions of dollars in bribes. major sponsors like coca-cola, adidas and visa have filed complaints now. they're holding elections tomorrow. the current president has not been charged an is expected to win a fifth term. an nfl lineman in custody for the second time this week. defensive end ray mcdonald was arrested yesterday, accused of violating a restraining order. police say that order was issued after his arrest on monday in connection with a domestic violence charge. the chicago bears released mcdonald on monday after his first arrest. the baltimore police officers charged in the death of freddie gray are asking a judge to move their case out of baltimore. attorneys told a judge it will be impossible to select an impartial jury and receive a

fair trial there. the officers face charges ranging from assault to second degree depraved heart murder. they can select a bench trial and that's when the verdict is determined by the judge. it's now 5:35. a man accused of killing an fbi agent in stafford county will remain in custody. a bond request for antoine johnson was denied yesterday. he is accused of shooting the fbi agent four times. he said that brown was his former lover and johnson will head back to court for a preliminary hearing in august. a dozen people facing drug conspiracy charges for running a pill mill operation in maryland and d.c. today the u.s. attorney will announce indictments against 16 people. officials say they operated purported pain management clinics that were pill oxon hill and in the

district. the federal aviation administration taking a closer look at the mental health of airline pilots. the agency created a working group to study the issue after the germanwings crash and the disappearance of flight 370. they may consider changes to pilot training and testing. a waldorf family is thanking the quick actions during a fire of a fire deputy. sunday night, ashley gawthorp's home went up in flames. everything inside and out scorched. she grabbed her 3-year-old daughter and thought her husband was right behind her but he was trapped. a sheriff's deputy kicked in the front door and saw the man lying there. >> there's never a thought about not going in. so it was just kick the door in and get him out. >> not many people would just jump in to a burning house. not knowing if they're coming back out if they're coming out to save somebody they barely

know. >> leon gawthorp suffered serious burns but he is expected to fully recover. if you want to help the family you can find a link to the family's gofundme page on the nbc washington web page. 5:37. less than a month until the world police and fire games happening in fairfax county this year and organizers are concern that fewer athletes will attend this year's games. fifrgs say that's -- officials say that's because the dollar is very strong and athletes from overseas have to pay their own way. overall, fairfax county still expecting to see about 10,000 athletes and visitors when it begins in the last week of june. if you live in northern virginia, be on the lookout for black bears. there were two sightings near the potomac river road areas yesterday. animal control officers say they're seeing the bears this time of the year is not unusual, but there are some things you can do to keep bears out of your yard. for example, put your trash out in the morning of for pickup and

then take down any bird feeders you might have. i just tweeted out more tips that will help you with that situation if you're worried about it. we're continuing to follow some breaking news on the inner loop of the beltway. this is near georgia avenue where all lanes are blocked because of a fuel spill. you can see all the brake lights there. alexis davies is in the first 4 traffic center for a work around for you. and why some women are upset about a change in brand. a 13-year-old accused of leading law enforcement in maryland on a high speed chase. that's not the only crime he is accused of.

5:41. welcome back. a 13-year-old boy in maryland in custody after leading sheriff's deputies on a high speed chase through two counties that boy apparently stole it from the sheriff sheriff's youth ranch and he took off and reaching speeds of 100 miles an hour in frederick and howard counties. deputies caught up with him at 8:15. no one was hurt. breaking news on the roadway. on the inner loop of the beltway in montgomery county at route 97, georgia avenue, we have an accident involving a

tractor-trailer with a fuel spill. now, there are fuel leaking and has what at crews are -- and hazmat crews are on the scene. cars are only getting by on the right shoulder two mile backups on both the inner and the outer loop as you approach the accident scene. so you want to give yourself extra time. if you're on the inner loop bail out at rockville pike and make your way over to georgia avenue. amelia? right now on storm team 4 radar, dry across the area. partly to mostly sunny skies throughout the day today. it's hot and it's humid. school day forecast at the bus stop some isolated fog in the more rural areas but for the most part the weather cooperating. recess looking good, just warm and humid. dismissal, some storms are around. your hour by hour forecast for today, low 70s at 7:00 a.m. for the midday hours we jump into the mid 80s. a high today of 89. and for the afternoon and evening hours some scattered

showers. storms and downpours in the forecast, but it's one of the days that not everybody will see rain, but you need to keep the umbrella handy. n days in ten minutes. >> thank you. so how safe is your teenager behind the wheel? just out this morning a shocking study that says he's not. and we'll tell you some of the reasons why. we're just a few hours away from a vote in prince george's county that will raise your taxes. the negotiations going on right no

breaking news at 14 before the hour now. take a look we have major problems on the top side of the beltway. only one lane getting by on the inner loop near georgia avenue. apparently a box truck overturned there. montgomery county fire says that it's leaking diesel fuel from saddle tanks on the truck. hazmat crews are on the scene. this could be a problem for some time. you see a huge backup in this

picture right here. alexis davies watching this closely in the first 4 traffic center. she'll have an update at 5:51. today we expect a tense vote in prince george's county on a possible tax increase. the tax hike could cost you hundreds of dollars, but advocates say the tax could also do a lot of good. news4's molette green is live this morning in hyatts have illville with a look at what's at stake. good morning. >> reporter: eun, good morning. well, the backlash has certainly forced the county executive baker to back down from his original request to try to ease the burden on property owners who basically say just a couple of hundred dollars extra would be just too much. this county still struggling to come back from a foreclosure nightmare. so instead of asking for 15.6% hike, baker is now willing to ask for much less. in real dollars that means from

$133 million down to $65 million for schools. now the head of schools is under big pressure to improve the system and he says he needs the money to lower class size, pay for teacher training offer competitive salary and even add pre-k. th stake only of the items off the table. we'll continue to watch this vote. it's supposed to happen later this morning when the county council meets at 11:00. that's the latest from hyattsville, molette green. back to you in the studio. the police chief in edmonston in maryland is charged with misconduct. stephen walker voided a parking ticket to help the town's mayor. the charging documents say the chief probably did it for professional gain. residents around there have a problem with these allegations if they are in fact true. >> i think they should set an example.

they get paid to provide a service for the community. >> chief walker's attorney says we're told he is still on the job there in edmonston. the state's attorney general will screen the charges in the next few weeks to figure out if there's enough evidence to move forward. a new warning regarding a kidnapping related extortion scheme in maryland. the frederick county sheriff's office says it's handled virtual kidnapping cases in the past peek. week. if you get a call from an outside area code or if the person demands payments through wire transfers, the fbi says those are indications that the call is fake. if you're paying car insurance for your teenager to get behind the wheel, you know it's expensive stuff. we have new research that may explain why. the new study from aaa says young drivers are not only a danger to themselves but to everybody else too. the study says nearly 3,000 people were killed in crashes involving teenagers in 2013. but two-thirds of the time the

person who died was not the teen. experts say young drivers have always lacked experience but now you can add in distracted driving from smartphones as a major risk factor. ford is recalling more than 400,000 cars and suvs because the power steering may fail while driving. it covers certain ford flex vehicles. if you own an mks, they're also affected. the ford fusion and some milans may be affected by this issue. you can see a full list of the cars impacted by the recall on the nbc washington app. "house of cards" fans here is your chance to join frank underwood and all his slimy political misdeeds. there's a casting call for season four of the hot netflix series. they're looking for certain kind of people. if you are an average joe, a man who can rock a tuxedo. is that you, aaron gilchrist? they're looking for an art gallery type.

they want you to show up camera ready, that includes hair and makeup. be prepared to have your photo taken. casting starts at 10:00 a.m. saturday in annapolis. hey, a lot of high school students are getting ready to turn their tassels. i got a chance to talk to the class of 2015 from capitol heights. 170 graduated yesterday. they were offered $7 million in combined scholarship money for the class there. i was very honored to deliver the commencement speech. i tried to encourage the students to find their passion in life and try to get the crowd worked up a bit. >> that's right. >> i told them to turn up. they weren't excited enough for me. that's what the kids say today. we also talked about learning from their experiences and trying to give back in whatever way they could. >> excellent. >> congratulations. breaking news on the beltway. just on the inner loop of the beltway at georgia avenue.

we have an accident involving a box truck, it's an its side as you can see from the news chopper 4. we're looking at a 2 1/2 mile backup on the inner loop and a four-mile backup on the outer loop due to this accident. your work around you can take rockville pike to roundoff road 297. you are seeing backups here at connecticut avenue again 2 1/2 mile backups on the inner loop. back to you. >> thanks alexis. we'll talking about another steamy day on tap for us. >> amelia segal is watching the heat build already. >> high temperatures today near 90 degrees. not only that but it's humid as well. so your weather impacts, traveling possibly slow for the evening commute with those hit and miss showers and storms in the forecast once again. one of the days where you need to have the umbrella. you might not need to use it, but if you do you can be dealing with a downpour. it's hot and humid, make sure you drink plenty of water. you should be fine as long as you're prepared for the

potential storms later on today. right now in the 60s and 70s. 74 in washington. and 66 degrees up in baltimore. here's the high temperature today in your neighborhood. d.c. a high of 89. culpepper, high of 90. 86 degrees over in annapolis. bit more comfortable there, but not by much. future weather, i'm jumping ahead to tomorrow, on friday. it's another dry and balmy start to the day. as we get into the midday hours you can see here at noon we're still mainly dry as we get into the afternoon and the evening hours. showers and storms develop once again. now, tomorrow because of the wind direction, storms will be favored for areas west of washington. and north as well. areas like frederick, montgomery prince william, loudoun and fauquier counties. once again tomorrow afternoon there could be a few downpours. severe weather though not looking likely. now, for the weekend better chance of rain will be on sunday. for tomorrow there's the chance -- excuse me, saturday, there's the chance of some rain and storms during the afternoon.

mainly west of washington high near 90. on sunday, a high of 85. rain and storms are likely some storms later in the day on sunday could be on the strong to severe sides. so keep a close eye for the potential threat of severe weather. big changes, we lose the humidity. a high temperature on monday only around 70 degrees. 72 on tuesday, with a chance of showers both monday and tuesday. 5:54. today, george pataki is expected to announce he's running for president. he's considered a long shot candidate. he said his record as a three-term governor shows his dedication to small government and tax cuts. there are still more than 500 days until the election but right now candidates are jockeying for position. especially in the battleground states. hillary clinton is in south carolina where she lost big time to then-senator barack obama in 2008. she is arguably the biggest name

in the field and that means underdog candidates including carly fiorina and rick santorum are pulling no punches. >> how can we trust mrs. clinton? >> working families don't need another president tied to big government or big money. >> and take a look at this. we have many more candidates who may declare on the republican side in just the next few weeks. lindsey graham and former texas governor rick perry are expected to announce their bids. five before the hour. to you feel financially stable? a survey is shedding some light on how people feel when it comes to money. cnbc's landon dowdy has that and more this morning. >> good morning. so americans are feeling more optimistic about their financial well-being. a new survey by the federal reserve finds 29% expect higher paychecks this year. versus 21% last year. two-thirds of adults say they're doing okay financially but many aren't ready for retirement.

31% say they have no savings or pension. and college students may not have to leave their dorm room to get a late night taco fix. taco bell is considering deliveries. it's a popular request from customers but it wouldn't be for lunch and not every day, just thursday friday and saturday night. aaron, i'm sure the college students graduating at your commencement speech the other day were very sad that this is happening after they leave. >> tough world moving into. >> just welcome to the real world. >> thank you, landon. fashion giant j crew is losing some of the key shoppers. young professional women are looking to shop elsewhere. according to "the wall street journal" one of the reasons is the brand is moving toward luxury styles and moving away from basics. many fans say the clothing isn't as well made as it was. >> some styling options they're putting some pieces forward, but i think shoppers are looking to them for the more classic items

for their wardrobe. >> j crew fans now say they don't trust the brand because of the vanity sizing that's a trick to make customers believe they're a size smaller than they are. increasing security at the white house, work is set to begin at any moment at protecting the president. the changes you will see in the coming hours. plus, breaking news on the beltway. i want to show you live pictures from the scene above. chopper 4 over the area for us right now, where three lanes of traffic are blocked. this is right near georgia avenue. what is causing this mess how you can get around it. all that ahead as "news4 today" continues.

[baseball crowd noise] ♪ ♪ [x1 chime] ♪ ♪ [crowd cheers] oh! i can't believe it! [cheering] hi, grandma! ♪

"news4 today" begins with breaking news. >> chopper 4 live above a major mess on the beltway this morning. you're looking live at the inner loop near georgia avenue. you can see not much traffic getting by as this tractor-trailer is strewn across those lanes. >> alexis davies is in the first 4 traffic center with more on the problem. what's happening out there? >> right now, eun and aaron, the shoulder is now stopped. all of the lanes are completely stopped by this accident. it's a fuel spill, hazmat is on the scene. we're look at 2 1/2 mile backups on the inner loop and that's going to build as this shoulder has been shut down here as well.

here's a look at connecticut avenue at some of those backups. again at a stand still on the inner loop at the beltway approaching georgia avenue. elsewhere on the roadways we are not seeing any other problems. you're traveling in virginia on the blement. 95 north headed out of dale city volume only no accidents reported there. and then 66 in virginia as well headed inbound at route 50 is open with all lanes and no reports of incidents. >> you can see in the traffic camera starting off the thursday with some sunshine. partly to mostly sunny skies. temperatures in the 60s and 70s. 74 right now in washington. it's balmy and humid and another summer-like day. look at how our temperatures warm up through the morning and midday hours by 10:00 a.m. around 81 upper