harbor. meteorologist chuck bell with the changes you will see in the day ahead. >> good morning, aaron and eun and everybody. friday finally here. you made it all the way through the week. 66 now at national airport. 61 in leesburg and lovettsville. 55 in martinsville. temperatures will continue to rise in the mid and upper sises is by 9:00. most of the afternoon today will be in the low to mid 80s. a mix of clouds and sunshine. warmer than yesterday, not too humid yet. the humidity starts to really build back into the area for tomorrow. and your friday night plans, 81 at 7:00. 74 by 11:00. a check on traffic by melissa. >> two mile backup, 95 southbound as you approach route 1. that's because of a crash that's still taking up the right lanes. you only get by there on the left. orange, silver line, blue line, we are no longer single-track g single-tracking. no longer single-tracking. just the residual delays kind of hanging around. 66 inbound at nutley street.

sending chopper to this crash right now. we could have a ramp blocked. backlick road at fullerton, one lane is closed. we have road work there clearing up because of the accident. and right now the search is on for a convicted sex offender in our area. take a look at your screen. this is james norris, jr. he walked off during a home visit yesterday. he was an inmate at a state hospital near landover hills. he was last seen wearing a black track jacket, jeans on and new balance sneakers. call 911 if you see him. your tips can really help police. cathy lanier says tips from the public and good police work are helping to close some of the city's open murder cases. police made three arrests for homicides in 24 hours on thursday. the most recent case was this past saturday near howard university. today we expect a judge to sentence a teenager for helping another teen join isis.

a ali shukri amin pled guilty to conspireing to support terrorists and he admitted to helping another teenager travel to syria and to using social media to ask for donations and support for isis. in the newsroom here, we are tracking erika. new warnings are in effect for the dominican republic and the bahamas right now. it's pounding puerto rico with rain right now. it's killed four people on the island of dominica in the eastern caribbean. erika knocked out power there and brought severe flooding and mudslides after dumping 15 inches of rain and 20 people are missing in dominica. erika could -- is expected to hit florida on monday. possibly as a hurricane. >> kristin wright, thank you. new details in the on air

ambush that left the virginia reporter and photographer dead. the husband of the woman alison parker was interviewing says that his wife is lucky to be alive. tim gardner said vester flanagan was standing over his wife ready to fire when his gun jammed. after the gun failed to go off, gardner says flanagan walked away. vicki gardner managed to get up and walk to an ambulance. virginia's attorney general addressed gun control at a vigil for alison parker and adam ward at wdbj in roanoke. at last night's vigil, mark herring said we need to quick thinking we can walk away from tragedies like this and that the problem will go away itself. a memorial service for adam ward will be held next tuesday. he was an avid virginia tech fan and the shopping plaza will reopen today. the floorboards were replaced at the shooting site. this morning we're looking inside the shooting suspect's

apartment. vester flanagan's apartment is less than half a mile away from wdbj. nbc news obtained this video of inside the one bedroom unit. investigators say there wasn't a lot of furniture inside. flanagan had a computer without a hard drive. his refrigerator was covered with pictures of himself. alison parker's father says colleagues warned her not to rent there because it's where flanagan lived. 6:04 now. it was looted and torched and now it will demolished. the store was set on fire during the riots that followed the death of freddie gray. the store will be rebuilt and it should open by the end of the year. today, school officials may decide whether to push back the start of classes at stafford high school. we told you this week that a construction company is having

hard time getting the permits it needs to allow administrators move in to the building. they were supposed to get a temporary occupancy permit by the end of the day yesterday. that didn't happen. school officials may push the first day of school from september 8th to september 14th. 6:05 now. you can find out whether the surviving panda cub at the national zoo is male or female. news4's megan mcgrath is at the zoo this morning. megan, a lot of excitement. what can we expect to learn today? >> reporter: well, a big announcement scheduled for later on this morning at the national zoo. we're expected to find out if it's a boy or a girl and we'll learn who the father is, as well as getting an update on the health of the new panda cub. let's take a live look at the panda cam. mei xiang has been moving around a bit, right now show's rather quiet. but she has been active. all indications are good that the panda cub is healthy. but making noise, very active. of course that's good news following the death of the cub's smaller twin earlier this week. later this morning we'll learn the gender of the surviving cub.

as well as who is the father. mei xiang was artificially inseminated and her mate tian tian at the zoo with her, he's one of the father candidates, but there's another male panda living in china who could also be the father. they have done some dna testing. we're expected to learn the results later on this morning. we are also going to learn more about what went wrong with the panda who died earlier this week. a necropsy and official results are in. that's the animal autopsy. so we're expecting to get some more information there as well. that press conference scheduled for 9:00 a.m., as soon as we know who the dad is, whether it's a boy or a girl, we will let you know. back to you guys. >> thank you, megan. remembering the devastation. we'll take you live to new orleans to see how that city is marking ten years since hurricane katrina came ashore. right now, 95 southbound and a new problem on 66. we're sending chopper. details coming up. a college campus in georgia

is in heightened alert after a shooting puts it in lockdown. the precautions being taken there today. your time is 6:07.

welcome back. right now police in georgia are searching for the person who shot and killed a student at savannah state university. the victim has been identified as a junior from atlanta. police say he was shot during a fight at the student union last night. the shooting prompted a brief campus lockdown. that has been lifted. 6:10 your time now and hawaii's kilauea volcano is active once again. i want to show you the video taken from above the volcano. you can see lava flowing here. so far it's moved more than one half mile. it's threatening a subdivision

of homes as well. at this point, there's no reports of an injury or accident from the lava flow. >> nice to look at. stunning. all right, we'll find out what kind of day we'll have as we look outside. speaking of stunning we have a beautiful city, don't we? >> great skyline, every time you look out there, you can actually see it today. chuck bell with a look at the forecast. >> hey, there, good morning. one of the favorite things about watching it, the only big city without big buildings to block the view of the sky. a great place to live. but we all know that because we live here. 55 in frederick, maryland. 59 culpepper. 65 in washington. your hometown forecast, prince george's county, oxon hill maryland, 65 on your way out the door this morning. 81 at lunch time and 79 for cooking in the backyard. it looks warmer and more humid each day. breaking news on first 4 traffic. >> breaking news on the roads. right now, 66 inbound here at nutley street. we have a crash that is blocking the ramp. chopper 4 over the scene here right now. we have backups building. that shot doesn't show you so great, but we have a three mile

slowdown as you're headed in on 66. 95 southbound here at route 1, getting by here on the left lane. here at this point a two mile backup. 270 north new crash there. no problems from germantown to the top of the beltway. 66 inbound looks good. 95 south from the beltway down to quantico where that issue is here this morning. we are talking about twice as long as it normally should. listen to wtop 103.5 when you hop in your car. sending a message, how d.c. is putting a stop to the repeat of fender -- offender of selling synthetic drugs. and the skills a young boy used to save his

t a lot of faith in our neighbors and trust in them. and this is a block that really building pretty quickly right now and, you know, we want to be always -- we always want to keep open lines of communications with the businesses around here. >> some neighbors in petworth may not be aware of the crackdown on the stores selling

synthetic drug, but the message is clear. they want the businesses shut down. the riyadh market has been given until november to vacate the property. the attorney general's office is shutting down the store notorious for selling synthetic drugs. more than 500 packets were found in the store last october. the property owners worked closely with city officials to evict that tenant. attorneys for bob mcdonnell say he's the victim of high profile political prosecution and they're fighting hard to keep the republican out of prison while the supreme court decides whether it will hear his appeal. earlier this year a judge sentenced him to two years in prison on 11 federal counts of corruption. two major new developments this morning. the body count is rising in a gruesome discovery in austria. 71 bodies, four of them children in a refrigeration truck abandoned in vienna. before officials thought it was more like 20 to 50. the truck was ditched on a main highway. the bodies are believed to be

that of refugees. the war in syria has led to a record number of migrants trying to cross from the middle east into europe. the other new piece of information this morning, three people have been arrested, suspected of smuggling people. autopsies are being done to see exactly what happened to these migrants. eun? >> thank you. 6:17 now. a sad reminder for parents and guardians to be aware of your kids' locations. a 4-year-old nevada boy is dead after being left in a hot car. police say the boy's grandfather was running errands and forgot that the boy was in the car. the 4-year-old was then discovered inside the parked car in las vegas around 6:00 in the evening. no word on how long the boy had been left in the hot car. happening in the day ahead, frederick, maryland, will swear in the new police chief. edward hargis actually took over the police department at the end of july. he's now in charge of nearly 200 uniformed and civilian

employees. today's ceremony set for 6:00 p.m. at hood college, it is open to the public. teachers are scrambling to find jobs days after they were supposed to start teaching in prince george's county. classrooms are empty inside the jericho christian academy. it is a private school that teaches more than 100 students. pre-k through eighth grade. but a week ago today, the alert went out the academy would not open this year. >> everyone is scrambling to get another job, but teaching jobs had been filled. >> it is the latest in a five year battle over who is in charge of the jericho city of praise church and everything connected to it including what school. the latest court decision left control of the church with the founder's son. summer vacation wrapping up for many kids in our area. a lot of you head back to school in monday morning. in maryland, schools in montgomery and charles county will welcome back students. in virginia it's loudoun and prince william kids who head back to the classroom. you can sleep in longer in loudoun. the board of education voted

earlier this year to change the school start times, middle and high school students start 20 minutes later and elementary school students start ten minutes later this year. parents, it's time to make sure your kids have their back to school immunizations. you have to provide documentation of the vaccines if your child goes to school in fairfax county. starting today, clinics in annandale, herndon, willard, mount vernon and springfield, they're offering extended hours to make it easier for you. they'll be open from 7:30 in the morning until 3:30 in the afternoon so you can bring your kids in to get the vaccines that you need. we are marking ten years since hurricane katrina slammed into the gulf coast. nearly 2,000 people lost their lives back in 2005 when the storm hit in the days that followed. today, former president george w. bush will visit new orleans. katrina and the federal government's response became one of the most contentious parts of

the bush presidency. nbc's jay gray is live in new orleans with more on the recery efforts still going on. ten years later. jay, good morning. >> reporter: yeah. good morning, eun. it's hard to believe ten years down the road and we're still talking about so many families that can't come back because of the devastation here. just overwhelming. we talked about former president bush being here, first lady laura bush at his side. they'll visit a library that was build using funds from a program she started while they were in the white house. from there they will visit some of the neighborhoods that have been restored here in some of the hardest hit. as the recovery continues there's been a renewed focus in the neighborhoods, the lower ninth ward, new orleans east. right now, 60,000 homes or more are needed to be either rebuilt or restored. that's families that can't come home. so there's a renewed spirit here, a dedication from a lot of the people who have been working

on this for a decade now to make sure they get that opportunity. when you look at uptown, when you look at the central business district or the french quarter, we're on the edge of that, all of those up and booming, a lot of people say better than before the storm. in fact, new orleans right now, the fastest growing city in america. so they feel like they had a good ten years here, but they want to stress the work is not over. eun? >> jay gray, live in new orleans, thank you. and today, our coverage from new orleans continues with live reports from chris beginning at 4 -- chris lawrence, that is, beginning on news4 at 4:00. 6:2 is our time right now. we are keeping an eye on our weather this morning as well. and more the same, i guess today. >> yeah, which is not a bad thing. we had such a lovely week. chuck bell, how is our forecast for today? >> it's been early september preview for the last full week

of august and ironically as we go into first week of september, next week, it will feel like august as high pressure and high heat and humidity come back in our direction. what a beautiful morning, mostly clear sky over washington. this is looking eastward towards what will be a rising sun, about 12 minutes from now. it's going to be a pretty nice day to be outside. but our cool pattern is coming to an end. the heat and humidity coming back. beginning a little bit tomorrow, sunday and monday, back in full force and tropical storm erika on the move. just now on the southwest corner of puerto rico now. over the next couple of days, the forecast track maintains tropical storm strength, not hurricane strength. but the track has been shifted, the forecast track further back to the west. this now looks like it may run the entire length of the florida peninsula and the timing on that is during the course of the day monday into monday night and tuesday. but they're still a great deal of uncertainty of where this storm will end up.

and we'll have the latest always on our website and our our nbc washington app. 50s and 60s out the door this morning. no weather related slowdowns today, tomorrow or sunday. forecast for your drive time then, out the door, 50s and 60s. turning into the low 80s for your ride home from work and school later on this afternoon into this evening. mid 80s today. upper 80s tomorrow. back into the 90s tomorrow. we may be 90 or higher, next week. depends on what erika decides to do. that's a check on the weather. and now to the traffic. >> breaking news right now, 66 inbound. chopper 4 is over it. we had a crash. causing a big problem this morning so it's very slow. you'll want to leave early this morning or perhaps take an alternate. not a pretty picture especially on a friday morning.

virginia, 95 southbound here at route 1, we are still just getting by the left side of the roadway because of the crash. blocking the three lanes this morning. we have a two mile backup there. backlick road at fullerton, one lane closed in each direction. a warning there. inner and outer loop of the beltway, no major problems on the beltway right now. remember this, southbound g.w. parkway, that's shut down through saturday. it was supposed to be all better by tonight. now it's shut down through saturday. alternate there is the roosevelt bridge instead. take a look at 66 right now. as you're headed inbound, just a mess this morning. allow a bit of extra time. back in ten minutes with some travel times. >> see you then, thank you, melissa. it is now 5:25. "news4 your health," 6:25, sorry about this, 6:25. do you suffer with high cholesterol? well, you'll soon be able to get your hands on a new cholesterol lowering drug. it's the second fda approved drug that suppresses the genes that slow down production of

cholesterol receptors in the liver. that means there will be more receptors to act like a sponge and soak up cholesterol. well, money could be getting in the way of another city applying to host the 2024 olympic games. los angeles city analysts say that the construction costs for the olympic village were significantly underestimated. preliminary report says the village would cost over $1 billion. boston dropped out of being a host city last month over money concerns. today, a special ceremony at the martin luther king, jr., memorial. 29 people will become u.s. citizens. today is the 52nd anniversary of king's i had a dream speech. the new citizens come from 27 countries including australia, cuba, and the united kingdom. congratulations. this morning an idaho eagle scout is credited with saving his own father's life. >> pretty amazing here. they were hiking in a remote area last week when the father was hurt by a falling boulder. broke an arm, broken leg. he had a huge deep gash on his

shin. that is when years of wilderness training kicked in for his 13-year-old charlie finlayson. he grabbed some warm clothes for the night. they spent hours the next day crawling back to camp. nobody was around, so charlie hiked 13 miles by himself to find a park ranger. >> i feel like anybody could do what i did. everybody is saying they can't. but i feel like anybody could stay calm as long as they try. >> humble too. >> charlie eventually ran into two members of his church. they were able to call in a helicopter to airlift him and his dad to safety. now, as we understand it, so charlie's father now has had two surgeries. he is expected to make a full recovery though. charlie said the first thing he thought, stay calm. >> stay calm. which is really hard to do. you're panicking. i know i might have passed out. >> the father, he was hit by the boulder and then fell 30 feet

before, you know, before he stopped and that's when his son had to get it together. >> all that to the boy scouts, 13 years old, good job. all hands on deck for the d.c. police this weekend. the neighborhoods that will see increased patrols as the city tries to slow a spike in crime. also ahead, vandals leaving their mark in montgomery county. the damage left behind on two speed cameras there. enjoy one more morning of the pleasant conditio

a big day ahead for mei xiang and her young cub. >> wake up, girl. >> she just had a panda cub. what we will learn about the zoo's newest addition in 20 minutes. of first some breaking news on the roads. melissa mollet tracking some pretty lengthy backups. >> at this point, 4 1/2 mile backup right now. 66 inbound here. this is chopper 4 over 123. had two crashes that are out of the way. we are still slow, leave early or take your favorite alternate.

virginia at 95 southbound at route 1, having a three mile backup southbound. you can only get by on the left side of the roadway. chuck? outside we are waiting on the sun to come up. it just minutes away. here's the view from the tower looking eastbound toward the horizon. i checked myself right there. the disc of the sun appearing on the eastern skies. temperatures are in the cool 50s out west of i-95. mid 60s downtown and mid to upper 60s in most of the bayside neighborhoods. edge water and chesapeake beach. bus stop weather, 61. 66 between 8:00 and 9:00. a-plus for recess. temperatures in the low to mid 80s this afternoon. aaron? >> thank you. 6:31 is your time. loretta carswell's cousin shot her last week and barricaded himself in northwest d.c.

he faces first degree murder charges. she was 63. her friends tell news4 she was a metrobus driver who retired two years ago. today d.c. police officers will take direct steps to try to stop a recent increase in crime. there have been more than a hundred homicide cases already in the district this year. molette green has more on the safety push you will see starting this afternoon. molette? >> reporter: aaron, all hands on deck, just hours away from kicking in at 3:00 p.m. all available officers and recruits are called in. more cops will be on foot. focusing on community policing. recruits will pass out crime related information. detectives will be out, focusing on following up on cases. all of this about increasing police visibility. and it's answering what some residents have asked for in the wake of not just the shootings that we have seen, also the

additional uptick in armed robberies around the city. but this 48-hour initiative and stepped up police presence in general concerns some people this the community who want more options for young people. they say that's what the answer is. the mayor says she is also addressing that part of the equation with a $15 million plan to boost community groups that do engage young people in the city. all hands on deck. 48 hours, so it will end on sunday at 6:00 p.m. we're live outside police headquarters, i'm molette green, news4. it is now 6:33. we should learn the results today of a mental evaluation for a man police say murdered an american university student on a metro train earlier this summer. police say jasper spires stabbed 24-year-old kevin sutherland to death at the noma gallaudet metro station on july 4th. two days before the stabbing, police say spires attacked a man during a robbery in northwest. spires should be in the courtroom the this morning. this morning we are hearing

the frantic call for help from a family trapped on a balcony during an apartment fire. listen to this. >> there's a fire and we're stuck and we can't go nowhere. >> ma'am -- >> we're on the balcony, please -- i can't breathe. >> they were definitely scared. they were experiencing a lot of smoke and heat up there. >> firefighters were able to save them though. this fire started wednesday night at an apartment building on 68th place in landover hills. it displaced 19 people but no one was seriously hurt. stafford county officials say the rappahannock river is safe once again. sewage spilled into the falls run creek which flows into the river near the sal mouth bridge. the county hasn't reported how much, but the water tests show everything is safe. police say the same person may be responsible for a series of bold robberies in northwest washington. take a look at this video here. the robber breaks the door of a

place in the heights. someone robbed businesses on 11th street, also on georgia avenue. people who live in the area tell news4 they're disappointed. >> that's sad because we want to change this neighborhood. that's why we're here. >> business owners say they know the area is going through a transformation. they say despite the rash of burglaries it is safe. police are looking for the person who spray painted swastikas on two speed cameras in olney, maryland. montgomery county executive ike leggett said he's appalled and called the vandalisms acts of hate and anti-semitism. when news4 drove by spartan road yesterday the graffiti was gone. police found another one spray painted on a neighborhood sign in rockville. one of the top planners for the purple line project is leaving the job. henry kay is leaving to pursue a private sector job. he has been an integral part of

planning the east-west purple line. it would link prince george's and montgomery counties. a heads up if you're driving anywhere near georgetown university today. it's move-in weekend, incoming freshmen and new students will be moving in tomorrow. classes begin on tuesday. news on the roads right now. 66 inbound, we have a several mile backup at this point this morning and a brand-new problem here on 95 in the northbound lanes in addition to a problem in the southbound lanes. details coming up. it was the epicenter of the rioting in baltimore. now this drugstore is set to come down. the plan to replace this cvs. plus, some encouraging news out of washington state where firefighters are struggling to contain

right now, firefighters are getting a handle on the largest wildfire on record in washington state. winds pushed parts of this massive fire back on itself. so far, more than 1,100 square miles have burned. that's an area about twice the size of rhode island. meantime, the three washington state firefighters killed battling the flames last week will be laid to rest on sunday. that means flags at national parks including the washington monument here in washington will continue flying at half-staff until sunset that day. breaking news on the roads right now. chopper 4 over some serious slowdowns here. 66 inbound they're better than they were, but still nasty. about a two mile backup because of two different crashes. 95 south at route 1, a backup

there because of an earlier crash. 95 at fairfax county, a slow down. travel times in maryland no real problem at this point. 66 inbound and 95 northbound looking food. remember to listen to our friends on wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car. chuck? >> that's right. amelia segal is doing radio weather right now. beautiful morning, sun is up, closely clear sky. literally one cloud in our sky. temperatures out the door, mid to upper 50s in the suburbs. highs will reach the 70s and it will be a beauty on the day to be outon the outside today. today, tomorrow and sunday, perfect beach weather. ocean water temperature 70. highs in the 80s at the beach this weekend. >> there's mei xiang. do you think she's sleeping? she's probably tired. a big day ahead for her and the national zoo and the panda. plus, a developing story playing out in the caribbean as

tropical storm erika plows its way across that region. the damage we're already seeing this morning. plus, when and where the stor

right now parts of the caribbean bracing for tropical storm erika as a storm leaves its mark on puerto rico. the damage we're seeing this morning and where the storm could come ashore here in the u.s. and everybody is talking about the panda in the day ahead. of course, involving the

national zoo's newest cub. the big reveal planned in the next few hours. breaking news on the roads. let's check in with melissa mollet and your first 4 traffic. >> breaking news 66 inbound, have a two mile backup near 123 in earlier crashes. better than it was, i can say that. and virginia, 95 southbound as well. at route 1, we are still really slow from the earlier crash. still getting by to the left. chuck? and all eyes are focusing on tropical storm erika now off the west side of puerto rico. the official forecast track from the national hurricane center now has a potential landfall early monday morning somewhere in south florida as a tropical storm. then running the length of the florida peninsula as we go from tuesday on into wednesday. a lot of uncertainty, from the outer banks to the keys, so stay tuned. it's now 6:45. right now, the search is on for a convicted sex offender in our area. james norris, jr., walked off

from the state hospital where he lives near landover hills. he was last seen wearing a black track jacket with a white stripe down the sleeves, jeans and new balance sneakers. call 911 if you see him. proof your tips can help police. cathy lanier said tips from the public and good police work are helping to close some of the open murder cases. police made three arrests for homicide in 24 hours on thursday. the most recent case from just this past sunday near howard university. today we expect an alexandria judge to sentence a teenager for helping another one join isis. amin is from manassas, he pleaded guilty in june to conspireing to support terrorists. he admitted to helping another teenager travel to syria and to using social media to ask for donations and support for isis. a developing story now, tropical storm erika is lashing puerto rico. the storm could strengthen to a hurricane as it moves closer to florida.

the weather channel's mike seidel is joining us from miami. good morning. so when do you think we'll see first sign of the storm here? >> well, here in south florida, we're looking at sunday night and monday. meanwhile, we have the beautiful sunrise here on south beach. a couple ocean liners, cruise ships out there over the water as the sun comes up on the 81 degree morning. i'm not a huge level of -- it's not a huge level of concern right now, because it's not going to be a major hurricane. in fact, the national hurricane center at 5:00 a.m., downgraded the forecast. the official forecast its comes in over the everglades as a tropical storm so that lowers the wind and the surge threat here. we're in a drought situation here in south florida. miami is down a foot of rain for the year. they have had plenty of rain up in the tampa area. so the question is and the key today is what happens with erika as it goes over hispaniola, the

dominican republic, and these mountains have been known to tear apart even category 2 and 23 hurricanes. this the a highly disorganized tropical storm. a weak tropical storm. so if it survives the trek over the island, by tomorrow morning it will have a better idea on the intensity as it moves up through the florida straits into florida by sunday night into monday. bottom line we'll get some rain and that's what they need. eun, back to you. >> all right, mike seidel, thank you. right now, police in georgia are searching for the person who shot and killed a student at savannah state university. the victim has been identified as a junior from atlanta. police say he was shot during a fight at the student union last night. it prompted a belief campus lock the down. and the attorney general addressed gun control at a vigil for alison parker and adam ward

from wdbj. mark herring said we need to quit thinking we can walk away from tragedies like and that the problem will go away itself. a memorial service for adam ward will be held next tuesday in roanoke. he was an avid virginia tech fan, so the attendants are being asked to wear school colors. the owners say they replaced the floorboards at the shooting site. we are learning new details about the shooting. the husband of the woman that alison parker was interviewing said suspect vester flanagan was standing over his wife ready to fire when his gun jammed. gardner says flanagan walked away and vicki gardner got up and walked to the ambulance. investigators searched flanagan's apartment in roanoke. it was less than half a mile away from wdbj. we have obtained this video from inside the one bedroom unit. there wasn't a lot of furniture inside. flanagan had a computer without a hard drive, his refrigerator

was covered with pictures of himself. allison parker's father said colleagues warned her not to rent there because it's where flanagan lived. now a baltimore drugstore will be demolished. demolition will start on the cvs store at pennsylvania and north avenues today. the store was set on fire during the riots that followed the death of freddie gray. the store will be rebuilt and opened by the end of the year. 6:50 our time right now. today the zookeepers are going to tell us whether the surviving panda is male or female. panda-monium, that's what we're dealing with. news4's megan mcgrath at the zoo this morning. she is going to get the answers today. big questions that folks are asking this morning. >> that's right, aaron. we'll find out whether this is a boy or a girl cub and find out who the father is. not a lot of romance in panda

procreation. she was artificially inseminated and there are two potential fathers here. you can see mei xiang there, a live picture. show's been moving around quite a bit in the last two hours or so. looks like she's sleeping at this point. there are two potential fathers here, tian tian her mate here at the national zoo. there's another panda living in china. the test results are in and we'll find out who the father is in a matter of hours. we're going to learn the gender of the cub. we're going to get an update on the cub's condition, on the health of the cub. from what we understand so far from zoo officials everything looks good. the cub appears to be healthy, moves around. is quite noisy. all good signs of course. especially in light of the fact that its twin died earlier this week. so a lot of information coming out, that press conference happening at 9:00 a.m. i'll be tweeting out all the latest information as soon as we get it. back to you in the studio. >> your twitter will be blowing

up today. >> i know. you saw the cub, mei xiang was cuddling her baby. >> that's right. >> so sweet. >> bears do that, you know. >> right. >> they lick and clean the pandas. not a lot of discovery here on that. >> zoologist. i mean, in addition to all the talents and knowledge, it's fascinating. fascinating stuff. voyeuristic. your time to speak is over. we have a clear sky, sunshine to start your friday morning. it will be a great day to be outside today. another good day for running and walking across the area. 66 now at national airport. not much of a breeze yet. winds will come back around to the south later today and into the weekend. that means it will start to warm up and get more humid. not much of anything in the way of a rain chance any time too soon. right now in the mid and upper 50s along i-81. 59 in leesburg and ashburn. and 55 also in frederick, maryland.

61 down in quantico and fredericksburg. running forecast, cool mornings coming to an end. you can stretch out the extra mile or two, but otherwise, next week, the summer running doldrums are back. this afternoon, partly to mostly sunny. not too humid today. temperatures in the low to mid 80s. going out to the baseball game, the marlins are in town. about 80 degrees when the game starts. mid 70s when it ends. tomorrow, 60s for most of the morning. then tomorrow afternoon a smidgen more humid. temperatures into the upper 80s tomorrow. then back into the 90s on sunday. and the forecast into next week, 90 or better every day. we have to wait and see what tropical storm erika decides to do. now a check on traffic with melissa. >> thank you, chuck. 66 inbound is looking better than earlier. we are a going about 45 mile per hour, it's a one mile backup. chopper 4 over that. 95 south at route 1 here.

very slow, about four mile backup as you head southbound. northbound, north capital street, we have two lanes blocked because of the crash there. beltway looks good. nice and green. overall, prince george's county, don't have any major problems there. volume in prince george's is fairly light. 95 is looking good. b.w. parkway southbound here as you're passing 197 a tad slow. nothing happening, just volume. 270 at montrose, northbound and southbound, not so bad this time of the day. now turning to the washington football team. members of the military get a chance to watch the redskins practice today. the team will have practice at joint base andrews starting at 1:05. after the practice, the service members will meet the players. tomorrow, they'll take the team against the baltimore ravens. jason pugh and carolyn maloney will have live coverage at 6:00.

kickoff set for 7:30 here on nbc4. summer vacation is wrapping up for many kids in the area. a lot of you head back to school on monday morning. in maryland, montgomery county schools and charles go back to school. loudoun county and prince william students go back to school. and you can stay in bed earlier. >> the school board decided to change the starting times. today, school officials may decide whether to push back the start of classes at stafford high school. we told you that hess construction is having a hard time getting the permits it needs to allow administrators to move in. "the free lance-star" reports it was supposed to get a temporary permit yesterday, but did not. they may push the first day from september 8th to 14th. ten years since hurricane katrina ravaged new orleans.

today, president bush will visit the city. the former president and his wife will visit a charter school there and a library funded by the laura bush foundation. coming up on the "today" show a live report on how that city continues to recover a decade later. here are 4 things to know before you head out the door at 6:56. tropical storm erika is over puerto rico and it's setting its sights on florida. look for a live update from san juan in a few minutes on "today." today, all available police officers will be on the street, part of the department's all hands on deck initiative to stop crime and improve community relations. a baltimore drugstore that was looted and torched during the recent riots will be demolished today. the cvs store at pennsylvania and north avenues will be rebuilt and opened by the end of the year. and today we'll learn whether the surviving panda cub at the national zoo is male or female. zookeepers will tell us who the father is as well. announcement is set for 9:00 this morning. cool start this morning.

50s and 60s on the way out the door. back to near 90s tomorrow. looks like a whole lot of 90s coming our way starting on sunday. 66 inbound here this morning, very slow. about a two mile backup there. 95 southbound virginia at route 1, slow there as well because of an earlier crash. not the greatest friday, but beltway looking good. >> it's friday too. >> take that. >> we'll take it. >> thank you, melissa. that's the broadcast this morning. thanks for starting the day with us. >> the "today" show is next. have a great day. >> make it a great friday, everybody.

good morning. breaking overnight. tropical storm erika lashing puerto rico right now after hammering other caribbean islands. at least four people dead, 20 others missing. forecasters say it could hit florida as a hurricane this weekend. nbc news exclusive. a look inside the home of the man who kled two journalists on live tv. his apartment sparsely decorated except for photos of himself on the refrigerator as the community comes together to mourn the victims. waiting for a verdict. jury deliberations under way at the closely watched rape trial of an elite new hampshire prep school student. could he go to prison for decades or will he walk free? and