i'm meteorologist chuck bell. it's a weather alert day here in washington. chances for storm to severe thunderstorms this afternoon. >> smoke out of their own homes. stunning new images as we come on the air to show you a wildfire that firefighters are struggling right now to stop. >> and then there were 14. we are standing by as one of the most outspoken names in politics throws his hat into the ring. >> and first, the pope's upcoming trip the d.c. for a lot of you it's what you've been waiting for. news 4 midday starts now. >> reporter: we just finished a

press conference with some of the leaders of the catholic churlg and they laid out the lan plans for this important visit. planning began last year at the vatican as well as here in the united states. now, when the pope arrives here, he will be coming from cuba and it's going to be part of a world wind tour of the united states, and we also have some information about what he's going to be doing while he's here in the city. take a look at the itinerary. he is going to arrive at andrew's air force base on tuesday. now after that he will go to a meeting at the white house with president obama. following that, there will be midday prayers here at st. matthew. important for the church because he's also going to be speaking to all u.s. bishop. every archdiocese to be represented here and that's sort of the business of the church. following that, another big event, a mass. that will be a ticketsed event

that's going to be held outdoors. given that, even with the amount of people who want to attend they're going to ticket for that event, and, again, it will be limited seating for that. now, wednesday he won't have any events but thursday, he will begin with the address of the joint session of congress. congress asked that he come and he, indeed complied. that is a historic first for the pope. then he's going to st. patrick in the city for an event with the city. he's going to feed the homeless. that is something where he's going to get down and close to the people. now, a lot of significance to this trip. a lot of important things. the least of which is not the address before congress. now, they aren't privy to exactly what he is going to say but we heard that sort of character riseized by a cardinal. >> a pastor of souls who has no

political agenda and represents no political party or interest but simply speaking to the hearts of people about what is our relationship to one other? what should that be? >> reporter: there have been questions as to whether the hope mobile is coming and whether there are chances to see him. there are some opportunities along the motor kad. that's still being worked out. we spoke about the fence at the vatican embassy. doesn't look like that's going to happen. >> we have a weather alert day here at nbc washington and that means you need to say weather alert as we go through the rest of our day. down load our app and you can stay ahead of the weather when we're not on the air. the slight risk for severe weather outline second-degreeis outlined in yellow. main threat is for damaging

winds and the timing is between 3:00 and 9:00. we have a couple more hours before anything gets going. we're waiting on the sun shine. sun starting to come back in the washington area. as a result they're already a little bit warmer. 81 in winchester. it's only 78 in town. temperatures will be up near 90 degrees today. back in a few minutes to talk about the severe weather threats. >> developing now, new fire concerns out west. i'm mo let green. take a look in the we have new video just in. right now nearly 100 buildings could go up in flames. fire moved quickly burning up nearly 30 homes and businesses in washington state. heavy wind gusts today poses big cob stacks for firefighters. about two hours from seattle. evacuated residents returned to find 13 consecutive homes on one single black

single block burned to the ground. >> it's going to hit me hardener a few days when i realize i don't have anything. >> that fire is only 10% contained. 3,000 acres burned in less than a day. >> at the live decksk, right now we're waiting for chris christie to announce he's going to be running for president. that announcement is expected any minute now. this is a live picture. this is at christie's old high school in new jersey. the governor has told his most avid backers before this official launch event. it could be a difficult road to the gop nomination. 14 candidates have announced they're running and two more are expected to join next month. >> the taliban taking responsibility for a deadly attack on a nato convoy in afghanistan today. a suicide bomber attacked that convoy heading to the airport in

kabul. two people were killed. 26 others were hurt. we know twof these injured are american soldiers. at least two of the convoy's vehicles were damaged. >> police are trying to find out why a vehicle with five california tashlgs went off a road. all five teens had to be cut out of the vehicle. only two were wearing their seat belts. police tell us this happened near med nightmid might. the car hit a tree on the passenger's side. they think the dreyer wasiver was speeding but they don't think alcohol or other cars were involved. >> several people are recovering from synthetic drug overdoses. the fire department says four people went to the hospital last night. we'll show you video here of a

fire rescue personnel on the seen. earlier this month at least 1 1 people overdosed outside a homeless shelter. >> from changes in the law to the possibility of bringing home more money. it's been controversial from the start. now the debate over who can see video of arrests and police confrontations confrontations. life's morning multitasking. it's multiple ideas for growing families

and drawers with many layers to show exactly what you need. life's the food that brings us together. and kitchens where every meal is the most important of the day. we have four things trending. in the district this morning hash tag overtime is trending. you can see the people obama makes eligible for overtime. in maryland several new laws into into effect tomorrow. they include a new law to better

protect k through 12 data and a new law that provides police accountability reporting. they have to report deaths and deaths in the line of duty. in virginia, a golfer shot a 67 in 18 holes. this is according to sporting news dealership. a marine veteran made four birdies in the first six holes. and today the leap second. today you will get one extra second in your day. use it wisely.

welcome back. i'm meteorologist chuck bell. a busy potential for later on this afternoon. there is a threat for some severe weather today. the main threat we're watching out for is the chance for some damaging winds. in other words winds gusting

over 50 to 60 miles per hour. there will be a risk for some small hail and the threat timing is between 3:00 on the front end and 9:00 on the back end. on radar across the region there's a little ripple in the atmosphere across parts of western ohio. that in association with the increasing amounts of moisture across the area, you've probably noticed it's a lot more humid today. that's the reason for the chance of severe weather. have our washington app ready for more. >> in indonesia, at least 64 people are dead after an airplane crashes into a residential area. this is in the third largest city. it crashed two minutes after takeoff. the air force says they told the plane they needed to turn back because of engine trouble. >> oh boy, there it is.

beast mode is what the kids call it. a d.c. firefighter celebrating after making the top 20 qualifiers on american ninja warrior. he set the american ninja warrior course on fire. the d.c. firefighter rebounded from an early exit last season to wind up in the top 20 last night. >> we're not saving the world or solving hunger but it's symbolic for all of the struggles that we face in our every day lives and the things that we strive to become better at to help ourselves and help others. i'm going to keep doing it as long as i can. >> he moves onto the city finals for a chance to head to vegas and you're watching him in action. his chances are looking good. >> he was hot. no one of the men who led police on a week's man hunt finally starts

we are watching the d.c. council vote that will affect when all d.c. police will wear cameras and who will get the tee see the footage. >> reporter: good morning. this vote was supposed to happen at about 10:30 this morning. it has not happened. this is about police body cameras and whether or not the public should have access to the video. what we're going to learn today will they find a compromise or will this late add amendment go

through. we had an opportunity to sit in on the meeting this morning and had an opportunity to kind of get a read for people as they had their broadcasteakfast there and see where people stand. i came away kind of split on how they felt about this. the amendment last night calls for the police body camera to the public and is asking that $1.5 million be added to the 2016 budget. that's the costs to manage the video. the mayor wants to have a full rollout in october but she doesn't want any of the video to go public, and if they can't come up with a compromise or agree on one of the last two points, it's going to be stalled until they figure it out. i spoke to a councilmember who sponsored this amendment late last night. >> the whole purpose of a program is to improve police community relations to build that trust and you undermine the purpose of a program if you

exclude the footage from our freedom of communication access. i'm selling with the d.c. open government coalition. >> again, i talked to mcduffy this morning. he's the one who sponsored the e, he'll have reports and updates for you all morning long. they'll need seven votes for this amendment to pass. reporting live at the wilson building. back to you in the studio. >> thanks. right now we are bracing for a second tough day on wall street. but right now things are looking up. let's take a look at the big board at the new york stock exchange. the dow is up. investors are reacting to the continuing questions in greece where banks are closed. greece is in a stalemate over whether to stay in the eurozone. there will be a referendum ontoto let the freak rez denltds vote.

>> you may have to wait up to six weeks long toreer to get a security clearance. there's a flaw in a database and it's been shut down. the database is known as equip. federal workers and government workers use that system. we spoke to someone about the fear of a new data breach. >> 100% cyber security isn't realistic in the environment we live in today. everybody at some point is either going to be hacked or is going to be targeted for a hack. >> opm says the move is not a direct result of malicious activity. the agency says, rather it is taking the step proactively as a result of a security assessment to ensure the ongoing security of the network. weather alert here here for nbc washington viewers and you may want to have our app ready to go. we go off the air at noon but there will be a chance for

strong to severe thunderstorms this afternoon. we'll have frequent updates here on nbc washington and nbc 4 to keep you ahead of the storms. future weather here, not looking for widespread severe weather but any individual storms that cook up could be able to generate severe wind dpusgusts. most likely toward the blue ridge and the sennen doe wa valley. things will settle down after about 11:00 tonight. we'll be here to keep you posted all afternoon. >> a maryland family is now suing amtrak over the deadly derailment in philadelphia. this is bob gildersleeve jr. he died when the train dlaled last month. now his family is accusing amtrak of negligence and outrageous conduct. their lawsuit is more than a dozen filed so far. some breaking news in the prison escape in new york. just a few minutes ago we

learned that several top corrections officials and officers have been placed on leave now. this is all following theape of murders richard matt and david sweat. this comes as sweat, the surviving escapee spilled more details about how he hid and he's explaining why he ditched his parter in along the way. we have more details. >> reporter: shot twice and injured. david sweat says after his prison break with richard matt, the dangerous duo planned to go to mexico. that according to to the governor who says the convicts wanted to kill joyce mitchel's husband. >> mitchel was in love with down or both of them and then they would go live happily ever after. >> she never showed so they moved toward the canadian border. on the run 23 days, the pair had broken into at least three

cabins, including this one 30 miles from the prison. last friday matt had been hiding out in this trailer before he was gunned down. two days later sweat was shot just three miles from the word border. the governor said he had a bag with maps and tools and pop-tarts. the pair split last week. >> sweat felt that matt was slowing him down, as a matter of fact. >> with joyce mitchel accused of smuggling tools with the prison to aid them in their escape a corrections officer was back in court after bleeding not guilty to charges including promoting prisoner contraband. sweat has only implicated joyce mitchel. >> she told investigators it was just mitchel. >> he still wants her to well he wants her to come home at some point in time.

>> stick around. starting today a lot of you have a new way to listen to music on your smart phone and you can do it for free, for you.

apple launches its streaming music service today. the company is hoping the millions of people with i tunes accounts will sign up. the questions remain over whether they'll stick around past the three-month free trial. it costs $9.99 a month. and a free live radio station hosted by celebrity d.j.s. that's your morning business report. >> organizers of the miss universe pageant say the show will go on after being dumped because of kmechbts by trump. >> he called them racist before saying that some were good

people. right now the pageant is trying to mend ties and move forward. in a statement they said the pageant will always seek to transcend controversy. it is unfortunate that recent events beyond our control have only served to negatively impact the women who participant in the pageant. nbc has severed all ties with trump. trump says he might sue. >> a florida man is lucky to be alive this morning after accidentally jumping a drawbridge with his car. you can see the black suv go through the barricade and then up and over the rising bridge. in palm beach, police say this was not a stunt. the driver was messing with his gps and didn't see the bridge rising. >> we have drawbridges. i always wondered what i would do if it started to open. i'd lose my mind first. i don't know if i'd make it over that jump. >> pay close attention.

>> don't find ourself there. >> it's a new place to worship that's getting a lot of attention. >> why a place called the church of cannabis may not be all it's cracked up to

if you were thinking about going out on the upper potomac river today, you should know it could be dangerous because of high water. the maryland department of natural resources is asking you to avoid the potomac fromcumberland to great falls. more rain heads our way. today is another weather alert day. chuck, how much rain could we get this time? >> widespread not looking far whole lot of rain across the entire area. individual storms will be able to put down a quick half inch or inch of rain. it's not the kind of threat like we had on saturday where we were inundated. today it's much more on an isolated nature. mid to upper 70s to around 80

degrees around much of the area. it's a warm day to be outside. temperatures up in the upper 80s to near 90. best chance to strong to severe thunderstorms thunderstorms. >> a church that worships marijuana is getting ready to hold the first services tomorrow. the main attraction is not a part of the ceremony. it's called the first church of cannabis. organizers are setting up shop in cannabis but cannabis is illegal in indiana. they will not smoke because the religion is all about love. police have threatened to arrest if they do light up. >> this is not the way to challenge a law. >> i want to know what the chief is smoking when he makes those kinds of comments. it must be pretty good. >> well a lot of neighbors are against the church. they're concerned that it will bring drugs back into a drug-proned neighborhood. they are planning to bring the battle to court citing freedom

of r

mere lay quarter of a million people in our area could see a major increase in the paychecks if overtime pay takes effect. >> the final rules aren't in place until next year. here's a look at the plan and who's pushing back. >> reporter: just out from the

white house this morning, 140,000 people in virginia another 100,000 in maryland and 10 10,000 in the district could benefit from this. the president wants to raise the salary for people who are eligible for overtime from 23,000 to $50,000 a year. that includes women and half of those illeligible would be women and people with college degrees. not everyone is behind this. the chamber of commerce says it would be tough on businesses trying to add all that extra overtime. the unions are happy about it. they say it's a good first step, but they think that be t bosses is simply cut the hours back so they are eligible but can't make the money. they are rolling out plans today. the president will officially announce on thursday. on capitol hill, tracie potts news 4.

at the live desk. we know a lot more about the pope's official trip. his staff inop in washington will include a trip to congress. he's also going to be visiting st. matthew's cathedral downtown, and lots of stops. the pope will then head to new york and philadelphia before finally going back home to rome. this will be his first visit to the u.s. as pope. >> a lawyer for the families of those killed in the german wings crash says the compensation offered is completely inadequate. they want to give the families about $28,000 per passenger and another $11,000 to every immediate relative. 150 people were on board and killed when the co-pilot locked the rest of the flight crew out

and flew the plane into the alps last march. >> welcome back. temperatures now in the upper 70s to near 80. up close to 90 by later this afternoon. and the closer to get to 90, the more likely it is for stronger to severe storms. have our app ready to go. here's the 7-day forecast. 60% chance of thunderstorms this afternoon. not everybody is going to get rained on but the individual storms could be strong to severe. hot and humid tomorrow. that is our driest day of the rest of the workweek. storm chances back thursday and especially friday. optimism rains supreme for the fourth of july weekend. i still think the fourth particularly fire works time that time should be dry. saturday around 85 and dry to the beach too just in case you're going to the ocean. >> this morning we're learning more about the moments after three hikers in colorado were knocked unconscious by a lightning bolt and we warn you,

some of the injuries that you're about to see are a little tough to look at. all the victims survived but their four-legged climbing partner wasn't so lucky. >> it seemed like the perfect day for a hike. >> i love taking pictures of my dog. he's beautiful. >> reporter: he and his friends took a picture. on their way down, that perfect day turned dangerous. >> out of nowhere we can't know where to hide. >> reporter: memories of that moment are scarce. >> just a bright light hitting the ground, and then i just fell, and then i got up and then everybody was on the ground cry and screaming. the next thing i know i just woke up and i couldn't move my arms or legs or hands. >> reporter: the feeling lingered until he could finally think straight. >> i started looking for my dog and that was when i looked up and saw him just laying there. >> reporter: rambo was gone.

>> one of the hikers was trying to carry my dog down but he was 70 pounds. i saw him try to throw his lifeless body over his shoulder. >> reporter: hiking down to the ambulances, they all realized the gravity of what had happened. the shocked knocked marry andy and will off their feet. jonathan took the direct hit. i have the strike wound from where the lightning hit me and they could strastrace it through my body. >> and at the hospital it all became clear. >> the doctors told me that he shared that electrical charge with me because he was right next to me at you know, if it weren't for him, i might have had that whole thing in my body alone. they said there's a chance you might still be here, a chance you might not. >> he's still in the hospital this morning. he says once he gets out, he

plans to get rambo and bury him in a nice place in the mountains. >> healthy and strong that's how maryland's governor says he's feeling after more than 60 hours of chemotherapy treatments. he posted this message on his facebook page a few hours ago. today is day four of a 24-hour chemotreatment. he's being treated in baltimore for nonhodgkin's lymphoma. he says he's feeling good and appreciates all the support. he's on track to head home tomorrow night. having a little fun on the job. a video of it is getting a lot of attention this morning.

we're following what you're clicking on this morning. do you ever wonder if the new iphone is better than your iphone. the first one went on sale 8

years ago today. there are a lot of physical changes but you can see from the iphone 3, the quality of the photos has improved significantly, so the short answer yes, they do get better. if you're on a budget, here are some of the cities you may want to avoid eating in. according to business insider.com, geneva switzerland is the number one spot for the most expensive city in the world in which to eat. with a burger costing more than $35, that's really not that surprising. in columbia a second place with mexico city close behind. new york is the only american story make the list ranking at the tenth most expensive city in which to eat. and who says you can't have a little fun on the job. this video has gone viral. an nypd officer joined in on the gave pride festival and busted a noouf. we don't know the identity of the officer but we can tell you

he can dance. back to you. >> all right. it's finally happened. one airline popular for the lack of fees makes an about face.

the next time you book a flight on jet blue, you're going to pay for your bags. 25 if you check it at the counter at the airport. a blue plus ticket comes with one checked bag but a second bag will cost you $35. if you book the flight before today, your first bag for that flight will be fry no matter what kind of ticket you have. >> outside right now, temperatures are on their way up. 79 in ma 85 already in fredericksburg. it is warm and humid and we could have stronger thunderstorms to contend with.

main threat is damaging winds but there could be hail in and around the storms as well. threat time is between 3:00 and 9:00. a little curly in the atmosphere. that's the ripple in the atmosphere that's going to interact and that's the reason we have a chance for showers and storms. we'll be here all day to keep you posted. >> the earth is getting older and it's slowing down just a little bit every year. for that reason today an extra second a leap second will be added to the clock. that leap second helps the atomic clock sync up with the earth's movement. the earth's slow down is due to the gravitational pull of the moon. any time you need to change the time, it means lots of computers have to change along with it. there are some concerns this year because it's the first time a leap second will be added while some stock markets are still open. this is the 27th leap second that's been added to the clock. practice started back in 1972. some countries including the

united states and france actually want to abolish this practice. great britain and china want to keep it like it is and there are some concerns that technology actually as it revolved, the yearly time changes will cause more time problems than they solve. >> thanks, aaron. we're going to see an unusual sight on the white house lawn. we'll tell you about that.

right now on news 4 midday

we've covering all the big stories. >> first, at the live desk with news about a big name entering the race for the white house. >> it is official. new jersey governor chris christie just announced he's running for president. he made the announcement a few minutes ago inside the gym of his old high school in livingston. he says both political parties have failed this country calling for more compromise in politics. >> i have spent the last 13 years of my life as u.s. attorney and governor of this state fighting for fairness and justice and opportunity for the people of the state of new jersey that fight has not made me more weary. it has made me stronger and i am now ready to fight for the people of the united states of america. >> christie heads to new hampshire later today where he's planning to campaign through the end of the week. could be a difficult road to the

gop nomination. 14 candidates are also running with two more expected to join next month. >> governor christie already sat down with matt lauer after his announcement. part one of the interview will air tonight. part 2 will air tomorrow morning on "today." >> and weather alert day for nbc 4. we'll have more frequent updates. have the app ready to go. here's future weather. up through 2:00 not much going on but a chance of thunderstorms, any one of which could become severe. those will move toward the i 95 corridor by about 3:00 this morning. not looking for widespread severe weather today but individual storms could pack quite a funchpunch.

still an opportunity for son-in-lawsome storms along the blue ridge. another chance for a couple of rumbles late tonight into tomorrow morning. >> all right, cluck.huck a wind drif driven wildfire. there are new fears that conditions could make matters worse. that fire is burning still right now. we are here with a look at where things stand. >> reporter: right now we're watching powerful images about two hours outside of seattle. fires are still burning as crews battle to keep the flames away from about 100 buildings in danger. as far as fires go this one moved at the base of a cheetah quickly devouring at least two dozen houses. >> it's going to hit me harder in a few days when i realize i don't have thing. >> reporter: this woman has lived here 45 years. >> there's nothing left. >> reporter: she narrowly escaped the flames because a

neighbor knocked on her door. >> there's no point in crying. it's gone. and they were just saying -- >> reporter: 13 consecutive homes were destroyed on a single block. families are just beginning to assess what was lost. they could grab little before evacuating. >> it was really scary. a nightmare. >> reporter: because it looked like rivers of fire were flowing in their direction. >> it chased us. it was like it was chasing us. >> reporter: hot, ambers also sparked a few warehouse fires about a mile away and one caused an ammonia leak monday. all the fires eventually settled down after a quick round of rain. >> we have some concerns with the wind and the lightning. >> reporter: another fire 50 miles away is a reminder that the risk remains high with

ripping winds. >> what are you going to do? >> reporter: and no shortage of victims who know how quickly a fire can strike. and that fire is about 10% contained. no so far 24 houses, four businesses burned to the ground. the cause is still under investigation. >> thanks. "the washington post" says it started encrypting its website. you'll notice a little lock symbol in the web address bar. it also starts with https. that means that it's much tougherer for hackers or the government to track exactly what you're reading online. >> a former inmate is suing the district of columbia after he was wrongly convicted. "the washington post" reporting kevin martin is seeking $30 million. this is a photo of him after being exonerated last year. they found dna evidence that the

crime scene ruled martin out. he was convicted of a 1982 killing of a woman in southeast, washington. >> and the first lady is hosting girls at the white house. they're going to pitch their tents on the south lawn at the white house. there will be a rock climbing wall. this is part of the first lady's let's move. it's called let's move outside. >> get ready for a lot more hyundai commercials when the nfl season starts up. they signed a sponsorship deal to replace gm as one of the major sponsors. it's likely in the neighborhood of $20 million a year. well, bugs are usually what you don't want to see when you go to a restaurant. >> there's one burger chain that's proudly adding crickets to the menu. brace yourself. this is a look at the way back

burger's new oreo mud pie cricket protein milk shake. yum. yeah. this is made with chocolate flavored cricket powder. this started as an april fool's joke this year. the drink got pretty positive feedback so way back is ad adding it to the mean you for a limited time and if people like it i'll take their word for it. >> i'll pass on that and take my milk shake without the bugs. it's your chance to watch the big game on the big screen. >> make that a really big

it was very scary commute for some passengers. take a look at this train. it jumped the track at a station in mum buy. you can see a woman hops out and gets moving. four people were injured. news outlets say the train slammed into the platform because the operator did not hit

the breaks on time. >> the u.s. takes on germany today in the world cup today. being in the semi final is nothing new for the team. they've reached the semi final round of every women's world cup. the winner will go onto play in the finals on july 59s. you can watch the game at national harbor tonight. a big screen will show the game and if you missed any matches, you can catch those tonight as well. the canada versus china game will be played out at 6:00 p.m. dan didn't 6:00 p.m. this morning walmart makes headlines and this one has everybody talking on social media.

welcome back. walmart is apologizing after one of its bakeries made an isis

battle flag cake. a louisiana store man says he originally ordered a flag with the words heritage not hate on it. the bakery rejected the design. so he put in an order with an isis flag. walmart says the baker didn't know what the flag meant. in retailers have announced they would no longer sell confederate flag products. >> this morning the identity of a woman in california is a total mystery to everyone including herself. she doesn't know her name, where she's from or if she has a family. she showed up in a san diego suburb needing medical attention in may. firefighters rushed her to the hospital and that's when they found out she had a tumor on her ovaries. she appears to have an australian accent. all she can remember is what's coming from her dreams. everything else she says is a

blank. >> there's a thick fog over my memory and my brain that i can't see through. i didn't have anything on me. i had no jewelry or purse, nothing. >> doctors removed the tumor and they say the tumor may have caused her memory loss. interesting. >> and we are under a weather alert for the remainder of the afternoon. down load our app to stay ahead of the storms. stronger severe weather a possibility over the evening and an unsettled pattern for most of the remainder of the week. near 90 today with a 60% chance of showers and storms. the fourth of july weekend looks like it's going to be dry. >> we're glad to hear that. >> thanks. that's it for news 4 midday and thank you for joining us. we're look at 4:00 this morning. have a great day.

. >> jj: hey, i can meet you in the park in a half an hour. does that work? >> bev: i'm already here.

it'll be good to see you, jj. >> jj: yeah, it'll be good to see you too, bev. hey, mom. >> jennifer: i think i know what you're doing, jj. come on. this never works. >> daphne: that's him... the guy you're meeting? >> paige: yeah, you get why i wanted you to be here with me? >> daphne: i don't get why you would come here by yourself. he's way, way too-- >> paige: i know what he is. that's exactly why i want to meet him. >> eve: nothing marlena has on laura horton's gonna be on the