what people should know, there are two locations where you can g into the ellipse. let me show you how many people are out here at 4:30 in the morning. these are the 1500 invited guests. all these people in line here have tickets. they're on the 15th and pennsylvania side of the white house and they're all going to go to the south lawn. there is also another entrance for the public over on the 17th street side close to the constitution avenue. of course, if you want to see the pope, that's probably a good place to be if you don't have a ticket. also we are told there should be some jumbotrons set up in that area. remember all the road closures we told you about, yeah, they're very real. swing it over here. we've got roads closed all over the area down here. driving downtown today, that is just not going to be an option. it's not going to be an easy thing do do. getting close to the white house this morning, obviously that's a challenge. the pope is moving all over the area all throughout the area today. he starts here but goes towards

the basilica later on this afternoon. driving will be tough. we'll keep an eye on that for you. also keep an eye on metro and make sure they don't have any problems for you. back to you. >> thanks so much, adam. >> thank you, adam. talking about the closures again, it's worth repeating because you don't want to come downtown today. here's why. northbound massachusetts, we are shut down in front of the vatican. southbound traffic can get by and closed until thursday at 4:00. wednesday at noon we have closures until then. 17th street and pennsylvania and independence. this is because of the parade. constitution avenue between 12 and 23rd. 15th street between 8th street and main avenue. we have one other problem that's not pope related this morning. 95 southbound at the beltway, emergency road work with one lane blocked here. we'll be tweeting about all of these issues, both things that are happening today and things that we know have been planned for quite a while from first 4 traffic here this morning.

eun? >> thank you, melissa. let's turn things over to storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. chuck, is the weather going to cooperate for all these events today? >> you betcha. it looks like a fine day for any and all activities and plans. skies are continuing to clear during the overnight hours tonight. we'll be left with a pretty nice start. a little bit of patchy fog through frederick maryland and the shenandoah valley. 55 gaithersburg, 62 washington, 61 in manassas. hometown in downtown d.c., a little bit of fog through 7:00 in the morning. temperatures in the mid to upper 50s early. so if you're waiting in line early, that's what you should expect. by noontime today temperatures will be rising into the mid 70s. by 6:00 tonight staying in the mid 60s. anything you're going to do outside weather will be cooperative. weather upper 70s.

the papal planners coming up in a few minutes. back to our extended coverage of the papal visit. we expect american bishops to pray with pope francis around 11:30 this morning at the cathedral of saint matthew the apostle. it is the home church for the arch diocese in washington. the prayers will be private. you could see the pope leave along rhode island avenue near connecticut avenue. advocates with the human rights campaign will put up this banner right across the street on instagram the hrc posted a picture of it with a message asking the pope to welcome lgbt catholics back to the church. pope francis has said in the past it is not his job to judge people based on their sexual orientation. after visiting saint matthews pope francis heads to the basilica shrine of the immaculate conception. we'll watch the celebration this

evening. mollet green is there. you can find the latest road closures just by searching basilica on the nbc washington app. eun? our coverage of the papal visit continues this morning with a look at where pope francis heads after saint matthews. remember to download the nbc washington app for everything you need to know about the pope's visit including the major impact it's going to have on commuting. breaking news just into the live desk. kristin wright is back on a deadly

breaking news now. a homicide overnight in d.c. police have already made an arrest. they found a body on 14th and b streets northwest. there is no information at this point on who this person was. the investigation is continuing. eun. >> kristin, thank you. it is now time to check our weather and traffic on the 1s. >> it looks like things are going to be quite pleasant for the pope's visit. right, chuck? >> absolutely right. everything is going green. i guess they call it the pope francis effect. yesterday he came in and the skiegs started to clear out. we have better weather on tap. 62 capital heights, 59 in college park. planning to head out? a lot of kids still have to go to school today.

we're told to treat today like a snow day. that gets kids excited to mention the word snow. except for a few lone exceptions, most kids are going to school. school day forecast today an a for recess. outside recess today and so many outdoor activities, outdoor services and everything. 50s this morning. low to mid 70s at noontime. highs today right around 80 degrees. what to wear today? you might need a light jacket early this morning but if you're going to be spending a lot of time outside today, sunglasses and sun block as well as you will get a sun burn. highs upper 07s a70s and low 80 road closures will be happening all throughout the day in washington. want to talk about the metro here if you're planning your day. wednesday's metro schedule. running normal opening and closing 5:00 a.m. to midnight. all stations will be open. some entrances could be closed

because of security reasons for the pope's visit. regular rush hour train service expected. additional trains being added midday and late night hours. brookland station, exit only before the mass, entrance only after the mass. it's going to relieve some of the stress there at brookland because it is the smallest station in the metro system. metrobus running on a regular weekday schedule. you have to expect delays here today because of all the closures. as far as mark goes, they're adding trains there. camden lines adding trains for capacity reasons. a train that normally runs only on fridays is running today and tomorrow as well, train 871. more coming up. >> reporter: i'm mollet green reporting live from the east

portico outside the basilica. we are here and all set up and ready to go to talk about this historic mass coming up in just a few moments. and is the new panda cub trying to upstage the pope? no way. the update we have with some suspicious timing. very cute.

. later today pope francis will cannonize a new saint into the catholic church. here's a live picture of the basilica of the national shrine of the immaculate conception in northeast washington. the pope will arrive at the basilica around 4:00 this afternoon and mass begins at 4:15. 23,000 people are expected to gather outside on the east portico and during that mass pope francis will cannonize blessed father sera, an 18th

century missionary. >> this will be the first time someone has elevated someone to sainthood on american soil. he was a priest and teacher in spain before traveling to san diego. it was there that he began setting up catholic missions. before his death he set up 9 of 21 missions throughout california. as many as 90,000 native americans were converted to catholicism. despite all of his work his canonization isn't coming without controversy. >> the opposition among a number of native californians to the canonization of father sera stems from the fact that he was part of the system and a leading part of the system which resulted in the death of 150,000 native californians during the time from the beginning of the spanish etlement until the gold rush. >> pope francis sees sera as a

link to the latin american people and their history. later today he'll make the formal declaration entirely in spanish. deacon gabe cahoon spent time building this. the 450 pound altar will be the center or at the center at the top of the steps during today's mass. after pope francis completes his mass the altar will be carried inside to the sanctuary where it will be used for months to come. molette green is live at the basilica shrine of the immaculate conception. last-minute press stop there? >> reporter: yes, good morning, eun, to you. we're outside the east portico. it looks like we're all set and ready to go. i'm going to step out of the way so you can see the altar behind me ready for the mass coming this afternoon. you can see some of the many

thousands of chairs as well as my photographer pulls out. they are set up. set up for the 25,000 who have tickets. this is a ticket only event. at this early hour the secret service is still on campus doing sweeps. we're hearing the public can start arriving and will be able to start coming in around 8:00 a.m. among the faithful, of course, attending this historic event, a large number of hispanic catholics. much of the ceremony, as you already mentioned, in spanish. then of course a large group from california and then overnight the arch diocese of washington reached the 100,000 mark in the walk with francis pledge to follow the pope's example of service and prayer. so great expectations for the events all day today and of course this historic mass that will happen later today around 4:15 this afternoon. we're live outside the east portico, i'm molette green, news 4. ♪

♪ today 90 singers from across the washington area will have the opportunity of a lifetime. the arch diocese's papal mass choir has been rehearsing for weeks to sing for pope francis at this afternoon's mass. >> really a wonderful spiritual moment for america and for the pope. this is the first time he's going to get to introduce himself up close and personal to the american people. >> the singers come from many different parishes including music teachers and students from catholic university of america. more than 330 singers tried out. the papal choir will sing 25 pieces at this afternoon celebration. the music will be beautiful, too. >> breathtaking. >> can you imagine the pressure to sing before the pope? >> i know. there's a lot of excitement surrounding the pope, of course. he is leading a revival in the catholic church. >> yeah, if you want to talk

about an approval rating, his is through the roof. pope francis is connecting deeply to people outside the faith. we have more on how this pope has captured the imagination of the public. >> i love pope francis. i would love to meet him. he's one of my heroes. >> reporter: but lance weitzel wasn't in love with the church for years before pope francis became the pope. he found it tough to relate to the church in his life. >> i didn't understand the mass. i went to the mass and i felt that people were just blindly reciting phrases that they didn't understand themselves and i didn't understand what was going on and i had questions that weren't getting answered. i had problems with the social teachings of the church or what i perceived to be the social teachings of the church. >> reporter: archdiocese say they see evidence of people coming back to the church who have fallen away after years. they say this pope they can relate to more than any before. >> it's not just his

authenticity but the compassion with which he announces all of the challenges of the gospel. he's so inviting. >> cardinal wurl told me he heard from a self-described last catholic recently who said pope francis is the reason she's practicing again. >> it just seems like he's saying to everybody, it's okay. we can all keep trying together. we don't always get it right. >> weitzel is back, too, dedicated to the church with his family. he credits something he heard pope francis say early. >> that the church is like a field hospital. he was humble paying his own bills. he was getting rid of the glitter. >> reporter: if the ranks and pews swell, so could the number of people devoting his lives.

>> he speaks to the heart. >> reporter: after the mass the pope will walk over to meet with patrick augusta and his fellow seminarians. >> i've seen many people my age come back to the church and there's just this new excitement, new vibrancy, you know, renewal in the church among young people. >> reporter: is there a certain realness that you think people feel? >> oh, absolutely huge. like he's human. he's so human. whether you plan to see the pope or not, we have his latest schedule and road closures right now on our nbc washington app. search papal visit for all you need to know. pope francis's visit comes with a lot of fanfare and a lot of traffic, some of which you may have already experienced. late night host jimmy fallon pointed out last night that president obama didn't make things much better speaking about the pope fallon said in part, i saw that president obama actually picked him up at the airport because what better way to alleviate traffic the pope is

about to cause than sending out a presidential motorcade. yeah, like a double whammy, right? yesterday president obama greeted pope francis when he arrived at joint base andrews. we know that the first lady joined them along with their daughters. >> that's a special occasion. usually the dignitaries. the fact that the president made it out to joint base andrews was a big zbleel the pope was like, lose the limo. give me my fiat. >> the secret service would have a vote in that. >> so fitting with everything he's communicated in his messages. >> it's so funny to see the pope's fiat amongst the huge suburb bans. wonderful stuff. >> wonderful weather this wednesday. >> absolutely right. everything is coming up roses in the weather department today. don't need to worry about your umbrellas or any heavy jackets, nothing like that. a little hint of late summer. summer officially from an astronomical standpoint ended just moments ago at 4:20 this

morning. so it is now officially meteorological and astronomical autumn out there. 62 now in washington. northwest winds averaging 9 miles an hour. nice north to northwesterly breeze today. temperature back down to 48 in frederick, maryland. 54 in gaithersburg and loray. temperatures are closer to 60 degrees a little closer inland. no drops anywhere near us. showers off shore. that will be a little bit of a concern as we get closer to the weekend. that area of moisture off the coast line looks like it will mess up our saturday afternoon plans for sure. what to expect today? temperatures a couple of degrees warmer than average. hourly temperatures, 50s and 60s here early this morning. if you're headed outside for the next little while, you might need a little jacket. mid 60s and around 70 to low 70s. highs low 70s to near 80 degrees. here's future weather.

sunshine for today. no weather-related problems. relatively clear and cool. seasonably cool tonight overnight tonight into tomorrow. tomorrow afternoon, sunshine and warm once again. hourly planner for tomorrow, 50s and 60s early. once again, highs tomorrow upper 70s and 80s. a little chance of rain in the weekend could arrive late friday night. friday night late, saturday, may linger into sunday as well. so we get sunshine for the papal visit but we trade it in for sunshine. melissa mollet. road delays 95 south as you're approaching the beltway. right lane blocked because of emergency construction that popped up a couple minutes ago. inner loop and outer loop rolling along nicely. prince gorges county. when the pope came in at base

andrews shut down temporarily. prince william parkway getting report of some road work there in that area, that's alternating lanes. 66 into town and out of town looking quite good. nice and green here this morning. remember listen to our friends at wtop 103.5 fm when you hop into your car this morning. we'll talk about more closures because of the pope's visit this morning. melissa, thank you. our coverage of the papal visit live this morning when we take a look at the ellipse where people are trickling in. >> we know that a lot of you are being urged to use a metro. a major closure affected a lot of you last night. wher

looking live at the ellipse right now and the basilica. as we've been telling you, pope francis will be at all three locations today for his first full day of his papal visit. we're going to check back in with all of our crews out on the road this morning in just a few minutes. first we want to check in with kristin wright. >> she's in the newsroom with some of the other stories we're following around the washington area. good morning, chris at this. >> good morning, angie. good morning, eun. service is fully restored on metro's green and yellow lines after another problem with absolutely terrible timing. metro tweeted out the update after some passengers you see here had to walk through the tunnel when the power went out

near the georgia avenue and columbia heights stop last night. you'll only see video of their walk here on news 4. ahead at 5:00, what passengers thought about that walk and what it means for you if you plan to use metro to see the pope today. a 2-year-old boy is recovering this morning after falling off a balcony montgomery county. fire and rescue officials say the child fell 40 feet from an apartment on hewitt avenue in aspen hill. it happened around 5:30 yesterday afternoon. this video was taken from the scene shortly before a chopper had to take the boy to the hospital. first responders tell us people were in the apartment when he fell. police in the district may soon be wearing body cameras. d.c. is getting $1 million in federal cash to equip its police officers with the cameras. it's part of a larger $20 million being districted across

the country. the d.c. voted to allow the mayor to buy more than 2400 body cameras with that money. the city has been working on this project for more than a year. >> once we actually procure the cameras and get them outfitted for mpd officers, the district of columbia will have one of the most robust body worn cameras in the country. >> the council and the mayor still have to work out the final details. among those details will be who is allowed to see the footage and whether or not it will be subject to freedom of information requests. the council expects to answer those questions by the end of october. the latest addition to the panda family at the national zoo is growing and healthy. not to be upstaged by the pope though, panda cub weighed in at almost three pounds yesterday. zoo keepers say he has now passed the weight of his older siblings at that very same age. keepers were able to weigh the cub yesterday when mom left the den to eat and here is mei xiang

this morning. looks like she's moving around just a little bit. well, her cub has been scooting around the den but can't walk fully just quite yet. we are learning though that he can now hear. good news. well, this is life in the social media age. check it out. the white house perfeiscoped po francis's arrival. they called it the pope scope. they joined the streaming network for this special occasion and earned nearly 10,000 followers in the process. there you go. >> not surprising. >> not at all, right? back to you guys. >> it's funny because he's selected in most of the traditional ways but he's taken it so far in the digital age. stay with us. news 4 continues now at 5:00 a.m. from cuba to the capitol.

this morning pope francis is waking up in the u.s. for his first official visit as pontiff. >> real excited. really excited to see what he has to say. >> in the next few hours he'll visit the white house, hold a midday prayer service for hundreds of bishops at a mass for hundreds of thousands, but his trip could impact yours. and looking live this morning at the ellipse where the gates just opened less than a half hour ago, this is the only location where pope francis can be seen without a ticket during his trip to washington. >> we're watching that crowd minute by minute just continue to grow. of course, the basilica at the national shrine of immaculate conception where the pope will deliver a mass in just about 12 hours. that's only part of his itinerary today. >> good morning to you. you're watching "news 4 today." i'm eun yang. >> and i'm angie goff. >> adam tuss and