charter schools. that's coming up. we are watching a developing story in prince william county. this picture showing the scene of an intense fire broke out at the apartment complex at lake ridge overnight. we're live with more on the damage left behind. and breaking news on the rails. melissa mollet is watching a problem that has vre passengers stuck in a holding pattern. >> a major problem here. fredericksburg line. so right now, we have three trains just sitting in fredericksburg this is because of police activity, a report of a train possibly hitting something. so right now, all trains are late up to two hours this morning. you're going to want to take an alternate if you ride vre out of fredericksburg. yellow line delays to mt. vernon square this morning. we have a brand-new crash slowing things just a tad in the area. prince george's county, overall, no major issues. getting volume here, inbound branch avenue and outbound pennsylvania avenue. and then 270 here getting a little bit of slow volume all the way down. pretty much from frederick all

the way to germantown. chuck? all right, outside, back to school. everybody wants to know will you need to put the umbrella in the backpack? yes, you will. here's the live picture of the sky this morning. still waiting on sunrise about 30 minutes away. but there's nothing on storm team 4 radar so we're dry this morning. current temperatures mid to upper 60s in the twes earn suburbs. near 70 from the bayside area communities into the inside of the beltway. commuter forecast, mild and dry here for the next hour or two. sunny and plenty warm from 8:00 to 10:00 this morning. nothing to worry about early on, but after lunch time today, after about 3:00 or 4:00, there will be a chance for showers and thunderstorms coming through as a cold front comes our way. today's high up near 90 degrees. back to you. all right, chuck, thank you. 6:01 now and today it's back to school for thousands of students in the district. as you finish preparing the lunches and backpacks we want to let you know about some changes.

>> molette green is outside the newly renovated school. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, brand spanking new, 540 at this school. the first thing that the kids will see when they arrive is this art structure behind me. the lights look like rain drops and etched at the top are weather or climate terms like groundwater and condensation. nearly $60 million put in this school. a lot of money and a lot of focus on strengthening the middle school options in the city. a lot riding on this to keep students in the age group from enrolling in the competition charter schools. now on this first day back, you're going to see a city leaders out and about at the schools. mayor bowser, the school chancellor, kaya henderson, greeting students. they will be at -- later this morning at woodson high school. hd woodson in ward 7. we will catch up with them when

they get there. they'll be rolling out two precareer programs at that school this year. information technology is one of them. engineering is the other one. those programs are said to be a very popular program, and of course will gain a high achieving jobs, high earning jobs. also new this year, a new d.c. state superintendent. the eighth person to head up that troubled agency that oversees standardized testing in the schools. that is the latest live from northeast d.c. back to you. >> all right, thank you. this morning your d.c. student can board a metro train for free. mayor muriel bowser expanded the free metrobus ride program for d.c. students to include the trains now. she says this allows your family to save money. to get the free ride all students have to do is scan their d.c. 1 card at the fair gate. if they don't have the card they can get one at school. this morning you will see kids waiting at the bus stop in frederick, maryland. they're back in session today,

so are howard county schools. this morning first through sixth graders in anne arundel county head back to school. for all you have headed back to school we want to show you your pictures. be sure to show us your scho scholars. tweet us or whatever works best with the photo of the student headed back to school. we'll share online and you might see your scholar photo on the air. not all of them will be smiling like that. 6:04. developing this morning, gratitude for the people police say cuffed a man who tended to a trooper who had been shot. a trooper is in critical condition. a man with a long criminal record shot him in the head yesterday. they say two people nearby saw that shooting, pipped down the suspect and -- pinned down the suspect and put the trooper's handcuffs on him.

they think the shooter was driving under the influence. and new york police are questioning two people after bb pellets hit a member of the mayor's security detail. this is not the first time that someone fired off a b-b gun near mayor de blasio's home near the east river. the mayor was not with the female officer when the shooting happened yesterday. new this morning, we are hearing from three americans and a british man just honored in france for taking down heavily armed man on a passenger train. you can see right here, france's president pinning the legion of honor medal on them. it's the country's highest honor. the men said they relied on gut instinct and their bond when they decide to go after the -- decided to go after that suspect and as for the suspect this morning, we're learning that authorities say he was an islamic extremist who spent some time in syria and eun, i'm working to get more on the story

of the front page of our nbc4 app. a woman could soon face criminal charges after running a man over with her car. police tell us the two had an argument inside their home in lannan yesterday. the man walked out and the woman followed him in her suv, eventually running him over on seabrook drive. neighbors helped the man, but it was too late. he died at the scene. investigators say the charges against the driver are possible. more than 100 people have been killed this year so far in the district. the city's 102nd homicide happened yesterday on meade street in northeast. police say someone stabbed bobby ellis to death and no suspects right now. 6:06. d.c. is celebrating two brand-new baby panda cubs. we can't call them twins yet because we still don't know who the father is or who the fathers are. mei xiang and the babies at the national zoo they were born on saturday. one of them is with her right now and the other in an

incubator. they're switching them out at different points during the day to make sure they're both healthy and both get enough quality time with their mom. >> you know i love this news so much. >> the baby pandas, yeah. still won't let you touch them. >> i know. i want to. i want to hug them. a developing story in prince william county after an intense fire overnight leaves extensive damage behind in an apartment complex in lake ridge. we'll show you what the people who live there are dealing with this morning. breaking news on the rails if you take the fredericksburg line on vre, avoid it today. some major delays on that line. but first, the driver seriously hurt after the debris went flying after this crash during an indycar race. what we're learning about his condition this morning.

breaking news on the rails right now.

if you ride vre, fredericksburg line, all trains are late at this point this morning. this is because of police activity. two hours behind at this point. don't do it this morning if you can possibly avoid it. 66 inbound, 95 northbound don't have any problems there. 270 south and outer loop, looking quite good. remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car. aaron? melissa, thank you. an indycar driver in a coma after the crash you see here. a piece of debris broke off of a car during this wreck yesterday. it hit justin wilson in the head. wilson's car was not the first one to spin out here. a helicopter took him from the track when it veered to get out of the way -- he veered to get out of the way of another car and hit an interior wall. today the colorado movie theater shooter could address the courtroom. at least 100 victims of the witnesses will testify in front of james holmes. we sent an alert to our nbc washington app earlier this

month when a jury found him guilty, but spared him from the death penalty. over the next few days we expect the judge to formally give holmes the sentence of life without parole. we know you're up this morn, the kids are up. the folks are getting ready for schol and i think the weather will cooperate this morning. >> let's check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. weather and traffic on the 1s. what's going on? >> quiet weather early this morning. no need for the umbrella at the bus stops for the ride in to school, but have it ready because later on today there will be a chance for rain drops to impact your outdoor plans. temperatures mid 60s in the shenandoah valley to near 70 degrees in and around washington right now. timing out your best chances for rain, most likely between 2:00 and 5:00 west of the blue ridge. most likely timing in the metro area between 5:00 and 8:00 this evening. the good news, less humid for tomorrow. and the rest of the week. the seven day forecast in ten minutes. a number of area kids will be adjusting to life back at school today.

but we'll show you why a number of parents like you are unhappy about what they're focusing on in the classroom. a two alarm fire

it is back to school today for thousands of students in our area. d.c. schools are back in session today.

an there's a number of changes happening this year, a live look outside of the middle school in northeast. check out the nbc washington app to see what's new. and we'll tell you all about the good things that are happening for back to school. how about that? 6:15. a developing story in prince william county. firefighters there trying to figure out what sparked the flames at an apartment complex in lake ridge. the fire tore through the building along meandering way just before midnight. meagan fitzgerald joining us live from the scene. what's happening now? >> reporter: well, crews have remained on scene since that call came in at 11:45 last night. you can see they taped off the area behind us. secured the area. we're told they'll start their investigation in a matter of minutes now. if you look up here, you can see how that fire just tore through that unit there. investigators tell us it was behind that top floor unit they believe the fire started. now, we want to show you some pictures that were on the

facebook page of the fire department. you can see flames shooting out of the roof. we are told the fire was able to be contained to one apartment building, but crews had to cut the roof away on the adjoining building in order to stop the fire from spreading. now, the red cross is on scene helping some 60 residents and their pets who had to evacuate. firefighters returned to the scene about 30 minutes ago to shut off the water after a pipe broke, contributing to significant water damage in units that were already damaged by the fire. if you look here, this entire row, this is where the people had to evacuate, again some 60 people being treated with the red cross. no injuries except for those two firefighters, but they're expected to be okay. back to you. >> meagan fitzgerald live for us, thank you. it's 6:17. today a hearing in the texting while driving case while a man died. nadine hager is charged with manslaughter for john bushman's death.

prosecutors say she was texting at the wheel when she ran him over back in january. they say she then drove away. new calls for police reform in maryland. today activists are asking lawmakers to revise the maryland law enforcement officer's bill of rights. it's been under review since freddie gray's death in police custody earlier this year. the activists say their voice is not being heard as much as police officer's. something on the korean peninsula, high level talks between the north and the south. the korean news agency is reporting that north korea deployed about 20 air cushion landing craft on the south korean border and sending lots of troops and submarines. meanwhile, the president demands an apology from the north for planting land mines that seriously hurt many soldiers.

we'll bring you more as we get it. back to you. >> thanks, angie. we have more fallout now from the ashley madison hack. a florida prosecutor is the latest high profile person to admit that he had an account. >> i deeply regret my affiliation with the site which has caused a great amount of stress and heartache to my wife and children. >> jeffrey ashton gained national attention for prosecuting casey anthony. ashton insists he signed up because he was curious and says he never had an affair. meantime, two law firms in canada have launched a $578 million class action lawsuit against ashley madison. data breach exposed some 39 million members. 6:19. it's not only the young kids heading back to school today. fall se memester begins at the university of mary washington. they have just over 1,000 students coming in. it's a big welcome back at

sweet briar college today as students move in as well. it was a few months ago that the women's college seemed destined to close. alumni took matters into their own hands. they raised tens of millions of dollars to ensure that the liberal arts college would open this academic year in southwestern virginia. classes begin on thursday. students go back to school there's a new poll that says we're putting too much emphasis on standardized testing. a newly released gallup poll shows they're not the best way to judge the students or teachers. 64% share these views. the majority of them say the best way to measure success is to see how engaged students are and how hopeful they feel about the future. so maybe your children are planning to play sports in school this year. you'll have to stick to your own camera, maybe your phone instead of a drone if you want video of them.

according to wtop, maryland and virginia prohibit drones from high school sporting events. maryland placed a full ban on drones at state tournaments. virginia says it's doing with faa regulations around any sporting events even ones with low attendance. the states say that the rule is for safety and to prevent any kind of cheating. we want to remind you about nbc4's backpack for kids drive. you can come to the kingstown branch on wednesday from 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. to donate a backpack. we have more information on how to donate on the nbc washington app. breaking news right now on the rails. vre, fredericksburg line, if you take it today, if you take it, period, don't take it today. police activity, all trains about two hours delayed at this point. we are sending chopper right now to get above this and see exactly what's going on. sounds like a train hit something there in fredericksburg. southbound old georgetown at democracy, lane closures. blue line delays to largo popped up.

yellow line service back to normal. and big look at the beltway, no major problems. chuck? >> all right. a little good news at least for drivers if not train riders. outside in our sky, early morning color is getting brighter and brighter. sunrise a couple minutes away. we lost more than an hour of daylight since the summer solstice. it's still going to be a warm one day with temperatures back up to 90 degrees. the overall weather impact on your day is relatively low. but don't completely stray too far from your umbrella. more heat, more humidity than we had over the weekend and there is a 30 to 40% chance for a shower or a thundershower coming our way late this afternoon into this evening. off to a dry start this morning. temperatures are comfy in the western and northern suburbs. 64 in winchester, virginia.

68 fredericksburg. 67 now at pawtuxet river air naval station. showers to the west of i-81 and by 2:00, shower chances on the western sides of the metro and highest rain chances along the i-95 corridor between 4:00 and 7:00 this afternoon into this evening. rain chances later than that as you get into southern prince george's county, charles county and st. mary's county. then we'll start to dry out tonight. hour by hour, nice morning. 74 now. 89 at lunch time. near 90 for a high later on this afternoon and again, have your umbrella ready to go because of that rain chance. here's a quick check of the seven day forecast. near 90 today, back into the 80s with full sunshine. get into the weekend, a chance of a shower or two. no one wants rain on the weekend.

we'll get that tweaked between now and friday. >> work on that. new this morning, nearly one in five new cases of cancer now involve someone who has had the disease before. it involves different tissue types or different sites, not a reoccurrence or spread of the original cancer tumor. doctors say this proves that people with cancer are living longer. but some of the treatments like radiation raises the risk of developing a new cancer later in life. well, days after revealing his cancer diagnosis, former president jimmy carter was back in front of the congregation. he said there are four spots left in the brain and then he spoke about the power of laughter, love and i wish him a speedy recovery. well, today, president obama giving the keynote speech at the national clean energy summit. that annual summit is happening in las vegas.

it brings together clean energy leaders, public officials and they'll discuss ways to make clean energy supplies like solar panels more widely available and how to create jobs within the industry. if you're looking to do something tomorrow you might want to head over to the shenandoah national park. they're offering free admission to celebrate the 99th anniversary. you will receive a 10% discount in the bookstores. a new call to make baseball games safer for fans. in detroit, a foul ball struck a woman above the dugout and medics had to wheel her out of the ballpark. yesterday a foul ball at a cubs game hit a woman and she was taken off in a stretcher. now, both fans are believed to be okay, but these incidents are causing concern for people who are paying attention, but the balls are flying out so fast. >> remember the woman who was hit by the bat in boston. one of the pitchers -- one of

the games said that major league baseball needs to do something about that netting to make it better. before somebody really gets hurt. >> right. it is 6:26 right now. a number of area kids heading back to school this morning. and that means a number of them will be crossing busy streets like the one you see here in northwest washington. the steps that d.c. is taking to make sure that drivers are watching out for those kids. a live lookout side at national harbor. you see the capitol wheel there. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell has your child's bus stop forecast at 6:31. breaking news right now on the rails. we're talking vre. talking about the freder

breaking news and some big problems on vre this morning.

the fredericksburg line all trains about two hours behind because of police activity down near fredericksburg. manassas, this just popped up right now, it's topped because of an engine issue. we could start seeing slowdowns on the manassas line as well. southbound at old georgetown road at democracy, a slowdown because of a crash in the intersection. b.w. parkway, southbound, we're pretty slow as you're headed southbound because of a crash. those delays are building. 270 at old hundred road, a bit of volume. nothing terrible this morning. and we still have the blue line delays to largo this morning. eun? >> thanks, melissa. we are live at school and on the roads as kids head back to the classroom across washington, d.c. the steps the city is taking to make sure kids make it to school safely in a minute. but first, storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell is here with the child's bus stop forecast. the sun is up. >> just barely up though. but a correct answer is a

correct answer, aaron. there's the sunrise in our eastern sky first thing this morning. some cloudiness out there first thing. but these aren't rain clouds yet. there will be a chance for rain coming our way later on today. so have your little pocket umbrella ready to go. 64 now in college park. 68 in reston, virginia. 64 in gaithersburg. 71 downtown. bus stop weather this morning, mild and dry. temperatures in the upper 60s, but between 3:00 and 5:00 temperatures up near 90. back to the news. >> thank you, chuck. happy first day of school to thousands of you out there in the district. here's a live look in northeast washington. this school is newly renovated. beautiful out there. and the weather is pretty nice too. with all the students headed back to class, the city leaders are warning you to slow down. they have volunteers to say so. right now kristin wright is live

at one intersection where they're working to keep everyone safe. good morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning, guys. yes, the bottom line is simple. the message clear and that is slow down. we're at the intersection of rhode island and florida avenues this morning in northwest. you see volunteers, one of them waving. just getting here. and they are out here this morning to remind drivers to just slow down. this is the first day of school, kids are going to be back and walking and this is a busy intersection. several schools in this area. take a look at the list of locations where the volunteers are throughout the morning. we have the ones that are here with us. this morning at rhode island, and florida avenue. and here are -- here are the rest of those locations. take a look on your screen here. there are four of them. in different places across the district. we understand that mayor bowser will be at a couple of these locations, both this morning and also this afternoon when kids

are walking home. so just remember to slow down. that's the bottom line. also, pay attention because it's the first day back to school. kids are out and about, walking. when you're headed out to work, slow down and pay attention bottom line. back to you. >> thank you. 6:33 right now. it's transition day today in prince george's county public schools. this is for any students starting at a new school this year. that means some sixth and seventh graders and all new high school freshmen, they'll have day to get acclimated before the classes start tomorrow. and as you send off your kids to the bus stop or take them to school, show us your scholars. you can e-mail us, tweet us, facebook us pictures of your back to school excitement or whatever the kids are showing this morning. we'll share as many of the photos online and might show your scholars' photos on tv as well. a developing story right now. we are learning more about the stabbing death of oklahoma's labor commissioner.

police arrested mark costello's 26-year-old son. authorities say the two argued last night at a restaurant in oklahoma city and that's when the son stabbed his father several times in the parking lot. the son is now charged with first degree murder. in d.c., police are looking for someone who fired several shots in southeast on 28th street yesterday. police believe this was a domestic fight that started in an apartment. police say they received a call about a man with a gun in the apartment. no one was hurt. two families are grieving after a deadly motorcycle crash in laurel. prince george's county police say the two men both on motorcycles collided head on on laurel-bowie road yesterday. both died. one of the men was baltimore county fire lieutenant hubert harrison, jr. he was coming home from work. the other man was fahad iqbal. police say he lost control of the motorcycle and crossed the center line. they are working to find out why

that happened. it is now 6:35. a pair of hollywood a-listers has joined the movement to change the name of a high school. julianne moore and bruce cohen went to the school j.e.b. stuart in the '70s and they have more than 25,000 signatures to change the name. the contract affiliated name came under fire after the shooting death of nine black parishioners at a church in june. today you're invited to be part of the big moment for some members of our community. at noon, there will be a mural at the largo day center. the art provides services for those with disabilities. the students learned important skills over the eight weeks it took to make that mural. students had to sand wood, cut it and sort and select their

materials. breaking news on the rails right now. we are very slow on vre. we had some major delays. full delays coming up in a minute. also ahead, a special honor for three americans credited with foiling a terrorist attack aboard a train in europe. the award the men received during the special ceremony overnight. plus, a developing story in southern england where workers are searching for people missing after an air show crash there. the steps crews are taking this morning to find those victims. your time right now is 6:36.

breaking news on the rails right now, chopper over the scene here. this is a vre train that we hear hit something down near fredericksburg. right now, we are very slow on all fredericksburg trains here this morning. all of them are late about two

hours behind because of the police activity there on the tracks. manassas train 324 there, stopped because of the engine issue. 50 minutes behind. manassas train line 326, it's also behind because of the issue. 66 inbound as 95 looking good. a top of the beltway 14 minutes. remember to listen to our friends from wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car. the death toll could go up this morning from the deadly air show crash. we want to warn you this video could be disturbing. british police say crews will bring in a crane today to lift the pieces of a jet that crashed over the weekend. a fighter jet slammed into a busy road in southern england. british police say the pilot did not pull out of the maneuver soon enough. the pilot is in critical condition. police say the crash killed at least seven people on the road. all right. coming up on 6:41 right now. we are expecting the heat to

sort of kick back in today as a lot of kids get ready to go back to school. >> chuck bell with what we can expect. how should we get ready, chuck? >> well, first thing you need to know, if you're packing your backpack today, you have the pb and j, lunch money, have your little umbrella ready for later on today. not a guarantee you'll get rained on, but it is a real possibility. so have the umbrellas in the backpacks this morning. weather slowdowns, nothing this morning and this afternoon. a chance for a thousand thunderstorms this afternoon. more about that in ten minutes. placing for another rough day on wall street. and what steps you should take to protect your retirement savings and other accounts. we'll show you a brand-new school and tell you about the lesson plans for this

breaking news on the rails in fredericksburg. chopper 4 right now over the scene here where we have a train stopped near fredericksburg this morning because of police activity. so on the fredericksburg line, you are two hours behind this morning. also have some delays on the manassas line as well. 324, 15 minutes behind. and 326 is 20 minutes behind. take an alternate if you ride vre. right now, kids in washington and frederick county are waking up and getting ready to head back to school this

morning. >> it's one of the stories we're working on to get you up to the minute the minute you're up. let's go to chuck bell. >> temperatures in the upper 60s to 70s. there's an opportunity for a rain shower or a thunderstorm to find its way over your activities later on this afternoon. a warm and mild start today. it will turn into the hot afternoon. temperatures near 90. timing out your rain chances is just ten minutes away. today is back to school for thousands of students in the district. before you and the kids get ready to rush out the door we want to let you know about some changes this school year. >> yeah, molette green is live outside the newly renovated brookland middle school. she has more on the first day festivities, molette. >> reporter: oh, yeah, i'm certain of that, aaron. look, the students are about an hour away or so from arriving at school and i saw a worker

inside, inside the front entrance there vacuuming to get ready. i'm standing right next to a cool art structure right next to this cool, modern school building. this is part of a huge plan to prop up the middle school options in the city at this particular school. later this morning we'll catch up with the school chancellor, the mayor, who will be out and about at the different schools. they're going to be out at hd woodson high where we'll catch up with them to talk about the improved graduation rates at that particular school. that school has the most improved graduation rates and they have a new program, i.t. program, information technology and an engineering program. there are four brand-new schools opening in the city and the district is proud to say that it has its highest enrollment in

four years at all 113 d.c. city schools. so a lot of expectations with this brand-new start of the school year. we'll be here throughout the day to bring you the very latest. that is the latest live from brook land middle school. >> thank you. this morning your d.c. student can board a metro train for free. muriel bowser expanded it to include the trains. she said this will allow families to save more money. to get the free ride, all students have to do is scan their d.c. 1 card at the fair gate. if they don't have one they can get one at school. this morning kids will be waiting at the bus stops in frederick, maryland. so are howard county schools and first through sixth graders in anne arundel county also head back to school. and no matter what grade you're in, we want to see you on your first day. show us your scholars. send us a picture of the students starting class and we'll include it on the nbc washington app. and possibly on air as well.

tweet us, facebook us or e-mail us. gangie goff at the live des. overnight, three americans get france's highest honor. france's president here pinning the legion of honor medals on u.s. airmen stone, college student anthony sadler and skarlatos. well, the man subdued the suspect who is an islamic extremist. they said they relied on gut instinct as well as their bond among themselves when they decided to stop the suspect from shooting. brave men indeed. >> thank you. developing this morning, grat today for the people -- gratitude for the people who cuffed a man after a trooper was shot. state police say a man with a

long criminal report shot him in the head yesterday. they say two people nearby saw that shooting, they pinned down the suspect and put the trooper's handcuffs on him before the officers got there. police think the suspect was driving under the influence. also developing new york police questioning two people after bb pellets hit a member of the mayor's security detail. that officer out of the hospital right now. police say this is not the first time someone fired off a b-b gun near mayor bill de blasio's home along the east river. police say the mayor was not with the female officer who was shot when that happened yesterday. in prince george's county, a woman can face criminal charges after running a man over with her car. police tell us the two had an argument inside their home in lannan yesterday. the man walked out and the woman followed him in the suv and eventually ran him over on seabrook drive. neighbors ran over to help the man get out from underneath the car but it was too late. the man died at the scene and investigators say charges against the driver are possible. more than 100 people had been killed this year so far in

the district. the city's 102nd homicide happened yesterday on meade street in northeast. police say someone stabbed bobby ellis to death. no suspects right now. a developing story we're watching for you this morning on wall street. where nervous investors will be watching the stock markets closely after friday's massive sell-off. there are already signs that it could be another rough day ahead. cnbc's landon dowdy live with that story on for your money. >> good morning to you. what a rough week for wall street, another day, another decline and we can expect to see more red arrows as the opening bell this morning, following the sell-off. the dow tumbled 531 points. that's the worst day in four years. now, the worries are that it could affect the rest of the world and speculation when the fed will hike the interest rates and continuing slides in the oil. the nikkei had the biggest decline in two years. shanghai fell to a five month

low. the european markets are all in the red by more than 2%. aaron? >> a lot of people with money invested in different things are paying a lot of attention to all this. and wondering if that's anything they should be doing right now as they watch these moves happen. >> well, aaron, i know the markets look scary right now, but individual investors should be taking the long term view and not trying to anticipate what is happening on a day to day basis. they recommend you look at how you divvy up your investments so focusing on the safe havens in ponds and catching in high yield savings accounts. >> thank you. one of the brand-new baby pandas is with its mom at the national zoo. zookeepers are caring for the other run in a special incubator right now. that's one of the little guys right now. if you missed it just in case you're living under a rock, two baby pandas at the national zoo. so zoo folks are trying to make

sure they're both healthy. switching them out so that mei xiang can spend all this good time with the babies. they were born on saturday. they're considered twin births, not twins yet, because we don't know who the father or fathers is. >> we expect maury povich to be showing up at the zoo any time. >> dna results in hand. who's your daddy? >> chuck with us now. >> we'll name them singh and singh zhang. a nice day outside. it will be a hot one for sure, if you're still allowed to wear shorts to school, i think some elementary kids can wear shorts to school. if you can get away with it, it's a shorts day for sure. there's the live view outside of what promises to be another 90 degree day. you had 44 days 90 or higher this summer. i think today is likely to be number 45 on the list. current temperature now at reagan national at 71 degrees.

winds out of the south averaging seven miles per hour today. what to expect today, a dry start this morning. it will be warmer and more humid over the weekend. there's a chance for rain and thunderstorms starting after 3:00 to 4:00 this afternoon. temperatures right now are in the mid 60s in the shenandoah valley. 63 martinsburg and winchester, downtown, 74 in annapolis. going for the early morning run, run before 10:00. if you're going out the the pool today, hot and mew mid and keep -- hot and humid, and keep an ear out for the thunderstorm. it will be hit and mislater on with the showers coming through. a rain chance on your sunday. nis? >> breaking news right now, again, vre. chopper 4 over manassas -- i

mean, excuse me, fredericksburg. we have a two-hour delay because a train hit something there on the tracks. all trains are late on the fredericksburg line. two hours behind. manassas, 50 minutes behind and 326 is behind this morning. 270 at montrose road, kind of normal volume. look at the b.w. parkway southbound at 193, a five mile backup. we'll be pushing that out on the nbc washingon app. prince george's county looking pretty good this morning. 66 east at 123, crash on the shoulder there. otherwise, things looking pretty good on the beltway as well. guys? >> thank you, melissa. it is now 6:54. and developing right now, prince william county, firefighters are trying to figure out what sparked the flames at an apartment in lake ridge. it happened just before midnight

and news4's meagan fitzgerald is joining us live from the scene with the latest. meagan? >> reporter: yeah, they started that investigation just within the last 20 minutes or so, now that the sun is up. you can see this truck has the l ladder deployed. they're taking aerial pictures of the damage as part of their investigation. they tell us that the fire they believe started behind that charred out unit. we want to get back to those pictures taken by the fire department. months after the -- moments after the fire started you can see how intense the flames were. crews had to cut through the roof of anned adjoining buildin. back out on the scene, we're told that the entire row of apartments behind us here are forced to evacuate. that's a total of 57 people we're told. the red cross has set up a shelter for those people and their pets at wood bridge high

school. back to you. >> thank you, meagan. it is 6:56. here are 4 things you need to know before you head out the door. your kids head out to school today. at the national zoo two brand new baby pandas are healthy, doing well right now. zookeepers are switching the cubs between the mom and a special incubator room. dozens of people will testify at the formal sentencing for james holmes today. the gunman may choose to respond. in the end a judge will sense tense -- sentence him to prison without parole. and three americans received the medals in france. and we want to wish everyone a happy first day. >> breaking news on the rails, chopper 4 over fredericksburg vre. station there, it is going to be slow for folks this morning. train hit something on the tracks. all trains are late by about two hours and delays on the manassas line as well. so you'll want to get some -- take some extra time this

morning. it will take much longer or do something different. chuck? >> all right. dry now, but chances for showers and storms later this afternoon. be umbrella ready for your monday but after that, dry for the rest of the week. all right, we like the way that sounds. thank you, chuck. that's the broadcast this morning. we appreciate you waking up with us. >> the "today" show is next. i hope you'll join us in 25 minutes. >> make it a great monday.

good morning. breaking overnight. heroes honored. the americans who foiled an attack on a paris bound train presented with france's highest award while the attacker says he isn't a terrorist. why was he armed? market melt down. the worst week for stocks in four years. signs point to a rough day. a popular ding driver in a coma after being hit in the head by crash te bree. >> oh, oh, into the wall goes justin wilson. >> how the accident could lead to a