global action on today. and laying out specific steps following a deadly smoke incident at one of their stations. pope francis continues his u.s. visit today with a busy day in new york city. here's a live look at the united nations general assembly building, which is his first stop this morning. the speech at roughly 8:30 this morning is expected to tough touch on climate chamg and posh earth. here's a look at the rest of the day. at 11:30 he'll pray at the 9/11 memorial. at 4:00 he'll stop at the school. at 5:00 a procession in central park and wrap up at 6:00 with mass at madison square garden. jie gray will have more. the teens will stay at a

retreat center and pray in between with pope francis. our coverage doesn't stop there. jim handly will be live in new york today starting at 4:00 and later tonight. this weekend eun yang will report on the world families in philadelphia. let's get a check of your weather with chuck bell. >> good morning. the rain showers carry off and on into the weekend. for now the east and northeasterly wind is keeping the raindrops bottled up. it's a dry start with temperatures in the mid-50s. near 60 in the western suburbs. and then your hometown forecast in falls church, virginia, near 60s. 72 at noon.

maybe a shower chance rolling in. no washouts in place. commuter impacts. right now it's first 4 chopper time. >> southbound van dorn street at franconia road, right now it looks like most folks are having to turn left here. hoping this will be clearing up soon. manassas, this one in manassas, grant avenue closed. a big look at travel time in minutes. >> happening today chinese president xi jinping will be officially welcomed to the white house.

xi arrived last night. they'll talk cyber security, human rights and the big one, climate change. today a man suspected of a quadruple killing will be in court. duron i went hwint has a hearin few hours. the man's wife and children and housekeeper were also killed but wint was not charged in their courts. d.c. police say kevin lee killed this young woman there, tanika fontanell and shot her son in the arm. power is out, roads are

blocked after reports of a tornado in south carolina. right now still no reports of injuries but the danger isn't over. flash flood warnings are still in effect. some areas of west charleston took the brunt of it. our sister station is reporting ten homes. power lines down in the road as well. right now there are power crews out working to try to get the lights back on that. is the latest. back to you. melissa, thank you. today metro has the go-ahead to fix incidents. one person died when smoke filled the tunnel in january. "news4's" megan mcgrath has more. megan, what can you tell us about these solutions. >> >> they're going to do a number of things.

there are other steps being taken as well to improve safety. several federal agencies began reviewing procedures and practices after a deadly incident back in january. the federal transit agent say came up with 91 action items, things that metro had to change to improve safety. 17 for metro rail 13rks for metrobus. they'll provide an update. now, the safety issues that were flagged by the fta include not enough training for employees, a staff shortage at the rail operations and control center, not enough time for track maintenance, problems with the ventilation system, as well as systems with overall maintenance. they have already taken action in some of these areas and that they have a plan to fix the other issues that were highlighted by the fta.

they're going to be updating the metro board. that meeting getting under way at 10:00. megan mcgrath, live for us. at 6:06 they're getting ready for a make or break budget. house leaders will call representatives to a conference to fight taxpayer fujding of planned parenthood and still senn rat spending. it could take a procedure vote as soup as monday. >> you've about got a chance to save cash and see your energy flow and if you're a pepco company, see that as a low. if you're part of pepco's energywide program you can skpecht a 1- to 3-tee degree

change. a few interception were part of the giants bergevin. hall injured his toe. it's not clear when he'll be back. they get a rest until october 4th. the individual matchup could set the tone. developing news in seattle. where a pour bus crashed into a bus. snoop not a bad day to be outside but chuck bell says you want to pack extra. that's coming up. >> and queue the "awww." getting not one but two president al visions. >> he gave it to me. >> how one colorado man's dream

of seeing the

a special gathering after a crash. take a look here. a duck tour crashed into a bus. four people died. four students from north seattle college were on that bus. more than 50 were hurt in that crash. crews in maryland are working to clean up 10,000 gallons of latex that spilled into the potomac. the maryland department said the latex spilled into the water. the cumberland times news said it happened as the latex was being unloaded from a car on wednesday. the mda says they don't believe there's any threat to water quality but they have notified

people of the incident. 11 minutes after 6:00. 65 degrees outside the studio. >> let's get look at "weather & traffic on the 1s." starting first with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. >> good morning to you, erika and aaron, good morning to everybody. you might get filtered sunshine in the front part of the day. but clouds are going to totally win it. 59 in gaithersburg. 64 in arlington. really not much. any rain chances don't come in until much later on in the day today but hit or miss rain chances could slow things down just a smidgen. dry roads this morning. temperatures in the upper 50s to near 60s and there's a chance south of washington by later on today and then lingering on into your weekend as well.

we'll get more. >> you can see most of the activity from that earlier crash off to the right side of the roadway pretty much open here at this point this morning. in manassas, grant avenue closed between prince williams street and burg drive. we'll check that one. 270 southbound looks good. top of the beltway don't have any problems. 66 eastbound and 95 northbound looking fine. remember to listen to our friends wtop 103.5 f.m. in your car. a new solution to weight loss. is a shot too good to be true? >>. new details about where travelers are asked to

following a developing story a travel warning for americans touring melissa. sta malaysia. stay away from the marketplace

in kuala lumpur. malaysia has arrested more than 100 supporters of the islamic states in the past two years. that's the latest. now back to you. pope francis is waking up to you in new york city. he's got a very busy schedule planned each though whoemt be in the city for very long. nbc gray tells us what he's got planned. >> hey, there. good morning. pope francis will only spend just over 30 hours here in new york, but a lot of that time he'll spend doing what he seems to enjoy doing the most. meeting the people faith to faith. he'll start at the u.n. speaking with the general assembly where he's expected to skuft the environmental including global warming. he's also expected to talk about the sanctity of life and encourage leaders to work together, especially countries that haven't seemed to been able to do that in the past. it's something that's been part of the agenda during the world

u.s. tour. following that he will spend the time at the memorial. a an interdenominational service there. and then harlem. something he said he wanted to be part of this agenda. next he'll tour central park winding up at madison square garden where he'll hold mass this evening. 19,000 is what that arena can hole. we'll see a lot more packing the malls and corridorsing likely spilling out into the streets as they have at all the other stops and tours here. that's his final visit in new york. then he'll travel to philadelphia. that's where philadelphia will end his six-day u.s. tour. that's the latest here in new york. i'm jay gray. erika, now back to you. >> thank you so much. good to always see you. meanwhile larry hogan received the pontiff's blessing on behalf of cancer patients everywhere. governor hogan is under going

dream and starting his final round of chemo next month. he's been diagnosed. he was told to avoid touching people but he reached out to shake the pope's hand. deputies in loudoun county said one man may be be attacking joggers. sheriff's deputies say a man tackled a woman near kidnap hart drive. she is okay. at the same time a woman was joug ugg near ida lee drive when police say a man in a hood sweatshirt grabbed her and she ran off. d.c. police say a southeast synthetic drug seller is closed. today the people in charge of smily mart may be wondering if they'll lose their license. they say the shop on martin luther king avenue was selling

synthetic drugs. police chief cathy lanier said tips from the community gave information that helped officers close it down. >> we thank the bge guy who told told us to evacuate. had we not done that, we would probably have still been in the house. >> some lucky neighbors are lucky to be alive. that blast destroyed one home and left five others uninhabitable. the bge spokesperson said they're lucky to be alive. so far that damage is estimated at $2 million. prince george's firefighters say two kids are responsible for setting fire to a playground in ox p hill. it started yesterday afternoon at the forest hills apartments on southern avenue. investigators think the kids were playing with fire and have referred the matchless

opportunities fire safety program in this case. coming up on 6:21 now on this friday morning. we're that much closer to the weekend and we'll have to see what it's going to be like outside? that's right. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell joins us with the forecast. >> good morning to both of you. things are settling down. clouds are unfortunately coming back into the pi as your friday afternoon and saturday and sunday come in. for now there's a little bit of cleared ps. there will be more sunshine in northern maryland than southern maryland for today and rain chances will gradually sneak back in our direction by late this afternoon into the weekend. high pressure will do its darndest to keep all that moisture bottled up to the south. but that also brings an east to northeasterly wind along with it. i do think we'll have a lot of clouds around. rain chance will be higher south and west of washington and lower to the north and to the east.

losset of rain in southern k and virginia. rain chances for today are below 30% but as we get into saturday and sunday, a 40% chance of showers each day over the course of the weekend. so the weather impact will be fairly low, but do expect plenty of clouds. i'd pack the umbrella just to be on the safe side. the longer youer going to be home. the more likely you're going to need your umbrella before you come back to your comfy abode. mid 50s. there's the moisture i'm talking about. high pressure in that east to northeast wind keeping the wind at bay for now. it will be raining there. with time, though, that moisture is going to try to make its way into our area, so i can't give you the all clear for the forecast as we get into the weekend. there's future weather then. all clouds. not much rain during the daylight hours today. rain chances start to sneak in starting this evening. umbrellas as a precaution for today. 74 today.

only near 70 for tomorrow. a lot of clouds around. rain chances do linger out of the weekend and on into early next week. another 0 degree day next tuesday. we'll break down your friday. for now updates on traffic troubles with melissa. >> you can see most of the tircht on the right sued of the roadway. that looks like that might be pulling away. in manassas, just got off the phone with police. great news there this morning. 270 northbound and southbound looking good. a little bit of volume. nothing typical. taking a big look at the belt way, as you're approaching georgia avenue, totally fine right now. all nice and green and travel times in maryland looking good. see you back here in ten

minutes. >> if you tend to get anxious, try to keep it away from your children, a recent study says children of people with an anxiety disorder have an increased risk of developing similar behaviors. only 9% of children develops it compares to nearly a third of those who did not participate. imagine getting a shot and shedding all those unwanted pounds. it could happen. saxenda has been approved on the market. the drug's active ingredient has been used for a if you'res to treat type 2 diabetes but no word on when it could be marketed strictly for weight loss. an entire plane of people grounded at bwe marshall while a crew searched for spiders.

not talking about little tiny spider. bag handlers noticed a baboon tarantula on the loose. the captain grounded the plane so it could be searched for any additional eight-legged creatures. none were found. a personals on the plane were put on another plane, sent on their way about three hours later. >> i can't get a bottle of water on the plane but they can let tarrant las? really? >> i need to know the tail number of the plane and i will never ride it. take a lack outside. 65 degrees. very nice. chuck bell is tracking when things will warm up hour by hour at 6:31. >> and the near abduction of a little girl. what parents in woodbridge will notice different this morning as police try to ease fears.

if you take a look at this, you wouldn't expect it but the man behind the wheel of this truck that we're going to show you this morning walked away unharmed. you're going to hear his incredi

right now security is tight around the united nations where the pope is expected to speak this morning. >> he's expected to touch on climate change and poverty. the pope has a pretty busy day ahead. >> first we want to check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell with the fraflt which, i understand, includes maybe some rain? >> it certainly does. you should check your twitter feed. melissa mollet sent you a picture. brace yourself before you look at it. outside there's a mostly sky already in place. moisture bottled down to your south. if you're traveling to roanoke or virginia beach, take your umbrella for sure. rain chances will gradually work their way to northern maryland. they'll have a better chance of

sees showers. your runner's forecast, a cool and rain-free morning. getting up into the low 70s today. your afternoon planner, cloudy skies. clouds thickening later on this afternoon. and what are you doing on your friday night? maybe you're going down to the gnats ballpark. there could be a shower or a brief rain delay. i think they're going to be able to play ball tonight. >> i know aaron gilchrist is probably looking at that baboon tranlt la. >> that's a scary picture. right now chopper 4 over the mixing bowl looking pretty good in all directions. eastbound franconia at south van dorn street no, problems there. 66 looks good. 95 northbound also rolling along

pretty nicely as you approach the beltway. right now prince george's county overall moving nicely as well. going to get more information on this crash here on 270 and be back in a couple of minutes. >> all right. melissa. thank you. it's 6:31. a lot of parents are anxious after an attack at a bus stop that tore a girl's shirt right down the middle. the girl is okay. police say in prince williams county thanks to her they now have a fair amount of information of the man they're looking for. they say they're keeping an eye out for a blue pickup truck. the driver, a man in his early 50s with a beard and distinctive mole on his left cheek. officers say he tried to grab the girl as she was walking home from the bus. her father didn't want to have his face shown but he described what happened next. >> he grabbed her arm and she ran from him and then he grabbed

her shirt and she ran and it tore down the middle. her fiancee said she was able to run home. he said she was so upset she curled up in bed still wearing her backpack. president obama will welcome chinese president zwith a 21-gu salute. tracie potts is live this morning with what that meeting could mean. hi, there, tracy. >> good morning. what we expect concrete from this meeting today is a deal that's being announced on emotions and reducing emissions with the u.s. and with china. it's part of this continuing effort that president obama has been making to try to effect climate change. that's one thing. there are a number of other things that these two countries are dealing with. not all of them seem to be in a positive way. president xi is coming back from

the west coast talking about more investments with china. but many think this is not a fair trade balance. there are questions about whether it's a fair trade balance to the united states. and then, of course, there are issues with cyber security. china accused of hacking into government coom computers. are they going to get into that? critics are wondering if they're soft pedaling here or tough enough with china to deal with some of those issues. later today the president and president xi will meet one on one. they'll have a joint news conference. there's a big state dinner happening tonight. >> tracie potts on the hill. thank you. the ntsb is helping to find out what caused a big gasoline spill in fairfax county. the gas seeped into some retention ponds and stormwater

systems but it did not get into the drinking water. no one has been evacuated but three restaurants were temporarily shut down. the man behind the wheel of a smashed tractor trailer says he can almost really not believe he's alive. the crash stalled the vre service last night. it should not affect your drive this morning. alan houseland said it sideswiped his truck as he was trying to make deliveries. three went to the hospital. baltimore will have more than a million theres to help pay for costs after the freddie gray death investigation happened. the u.n. department of justice and maryland said they made the suggestion together. baltimore suffered eight days of unrest if you remember. maryland governor larry hogan asked for federaldy aster assistance to help cover the cost of the riots. fema denied his request and his appeal. a vigil will be held today

in memory of the man who founded reston, virginia, more than 50 years ago. he died on monday at the age of 101. last may he led students at lake anna elementary on a bike to school campaign day. a individual ll be held at 6:45 on lake anne plaza a place he told "news4" he was most proud of. it's one of the first plant communities in the u.s. funeral services for jake brewer er at 11:30 this morning at the national cathedral. brewer lost control of his bike on a curve in howard county and was hit by a car. the gofundme page for an education fund in his memory has raced more than $100,000. metro repair this weekend could affect your ride. crews plan to walk on five of the six lining starting tonight at 10:00. trains o on the orange, blue,

silver, and yellow lines will arrive every 24 minutes. red lines, every ten minutes. bill cosby, more fallout. after allegations of sexual abuse. right now a problem here. southbound 270. we have a crash blocking the right lane at middle brook road right lane at middle brook road and we're starting to see a real [ female announcer ] business travel isn't just about the going.

it's also about the going home. and being connected all along the way. whether you're working or recharging, do business travel on your terms. acela. take off.

two more universities are cutting ties with bill cosby. fordham and he has been accused of drugging them and sexually assaulting them. fordham and marquette say it's

the first time they've reskriblded an honorary degree. it's one, two, three -- baby born at a ball park. a baby boy born at petco park, the first in the ballpark's 11-season history. firefighters were called to help there, but the park's own medical system actually ended up delivering the baby. the petraeus even tweeted the new addition. great crowd of 31,137. of course, that doesn't include the baby boy that was born at petco park around the third inning. >> very cool. congratulations to them. what an interesting game. >> coming up on 6:41. your "weather & traffic on the 1s", and isn't that nice when the sun starts to come up. >> that is a pretty picture. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell with the forecast.

looking heidicey. >> that poor kid at the ballpark. doesn't even have a ticket. look at all the rain from norfolk and richmond to the carolinas. all that rain bottled up and most of our day will be dry. temperatures are now in the upper 50s, to 60s. mostly cloudy sky between 7:00 and 8:00. up into the low 60s between 8:00 and 9:00 chld recess gets a "b." lots of clouds around but showers don't show up in the forecast until we get closer to sundown tonight. have your umbrella just to play it on the safe side. for now big backups in "first4 traffic." breaking news on 270. we're talking southbound right here at middle brook road. have a crash blocking the right lane that. means the three-mile backup. we're pushing it on the app. typically starting to get slow on the top of the beltway around the outer loop .

270 southbound, 19 minutes behind. no problem here. 95 northbound to quantico eight minutes behind. no big teal. are tone listen to our friends on wtop 103.5 f.m. when you hop in your car this morning. >> metro is answering scathing questions about everything from mablt tense to inadequate training. we'll get look at how they plan to fix their problems from the inside out. i'm kristin wright live at the national zoo where a special announcement is coming today. coming up in just a little wh

breaking news with melissa mollet. chuck bell says you need to have an umbrella and we have our eyes on the campaign trail as well. let's check in with megan mcgrath and growing issues. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. after that deadly smoke incident in the tunnel at the la

phenomenon tant, they came up with essentially things they need to do in order to improve safety along the system. 17 formy trow rail, 13 for metrobus. later we're going to learn more about what needs to be done. we're going to get more on all of these issues and what they plan to do to address and fix the problem. the safety issues include not enough training for employees, a staff shortage in the rail operations control center, not enough time for track maintenance as well as problems with the ventilation system. metro officials say they've already addressed some of these issues and they have a plan that they will follow in order to fix the other problems as well. they're going to be updating their board later on this morning. that meeting getting under way at 10:00 and we expect to get a lot more details at that point. back to you all in the studio. >> megan, thank you. it's 6:46. pope francis continues his visit.

a live look for you here near the united nations general assembly building, which is his first stop this morning. his speech is expected to touch on climate change and poverty. at 11:30 the pope will pray at the 9/11 memorial. at 4:00 he'll stop by the school in harlem. at 5:0080,000 will expect to watch him move through central park and he wraps up at 6:00 with mass at madison square garden. jay gray is live in new york city. we'll check in with him a bit later. pope francis will leash for philadelphia tomorrow morning. 600 teams from 100 parishes throughout the area will join him. a mass on the benjamin franklin parkway. the teens will stay at a retreat center and pray in between pope francis's event. starting this weekend a rare bible given to the library of congress during the pope's visit in washington will go on display

or dedicated. the it ooh tess first hand-written and hand illuminated bible. the lie brai of congress will place it on public expedition everywhere. >> he ohas been everywhere. >> we're going to stick with him everywhere he goes. jim handly tonight starting at 4:00 and again at 11:00 and this weekend eun yang reports on the world families of philadelphia. she's heading there right now. happening this morning, chinese president xi jinping will be weaponed to the white house complete with a 21-gun salute. later today the two will sit down to discuss cyber security, china's economy, human rights and climate change. there will be a big dinner, lobster, lamb, and the musical

stylings of ne-yo. recovery if there south carolina follow ang apparent tornado in charleston. crews will be heading out to figure out how bad this is. you can see the storm took down some trees, blue siding off of homes. . there's a flash flood warning in southeast charleston. thousands are also without power rew it now. 6:49. another hear for your the suspect in a quadruple hearing today. daryl wint will be in a d.c. court. savopoulos's wife, housekeeper arc chnld were also killed. wint was not charged with their murders. kevin lee is charged with killing a woman and shooting her son in the arm.

lee is 17 years old. he was charged as an adult in this case. the latest this morning. >> decision 2016. senator marco rubio is firing back at gop front-runner donald trump. he's been on the campaign trail saying pretty mean things about him. hallie jackson has more on that. good morning. >> good morning. it a is not just on the campaign trail. overnight donald trump tweeted about marco rubio again. there's that voters summit later on today. there's a slew of candidates who will attend. two of them, donald trump. marco rubio. if his attacks all week long are any indication, look at this. rubio is not taking this sitting down. he was on sports radio, fox news taken how donald trump doesn't have specifics, doesn't have a foreign policy plan and he's

essentially insecure in rubio's words. cracking the top three in a new new hampshire poll. we're going to talk about this in a couple of minutes on the "today" show. >> thank you. i'm landon dowdy. people are lining up to get their hands on the first 6 s and 6 s plus. china, the world's biggest smartphone market. it boasted modest upgrades including a better camera and 3-d touchscreen technology. >> thank you. it's 6:51 right now. sun's up or almost up? >>. >> almost up. today is the last day with more than 12 hours of daylight. tomorrow 12 on the nose and then that's autumn as the days

continue to shorten up. what a gorgeous picture outside. shutterbugs grab your camera, head out the door and look east. lots of clouds out there to provide that great sunrise shot. 64 degrees with a northeast wind at 9 miles per hour. temperatures, mostly mid to upper 50s. fairfax, prince william, and loudoun county. allotments of clouds coming your way. there will be lots of showers. for your now forecasted highs today generally up into the low 70s for most rain chances are higher the farther south and west you live or travel from washington today. all this moisture for the most part going to stay bottled up just down to our south, but that means rain chances will be high est in st. mary's county. by 5:00 tonight there's the chance for some light showers

pushing into southern maryland and maybe as far north as prince william and parts of charles and prince jornl's. those are your best chances. light rain. mr. drizzle can't be ruled out just about any time not just for tomorrow but on into sunday as well. so not a complete loss or washout of a weekend but an awful lot of clouds. not going to be a weekend for the pool or the beach. more traffic troubles with melissa mollet. >> breaking news 270 southbound. on middle brook is where we have that crash. it looks like it's loosening up a bit here. we do still have a three-mile backup. just hearing that in my ear. kenilworth avenue, a chopper on the way. sounds like a fire with road closures in that area. big look at the beltway. no major problems on the beltway. 66 looks good.

95, looking good. b.w. parkway also looking pretty good on this friday morning. guys? >> thank you. it's 6:54. while president obama greet's china's president today the first lady michelle obama is greeting china's first lady. kristin wright is live at the zoo. kristin, what do we know about this? >> reporter: this is going to be interesting. first and foremost, it's not going to be normal at the zoo. there will be some restrictions. we'll get to that. the first lady michelle obama and the first lady of china visiting the panda site. a longstanding collaboration and conservation between u.s. and china. so these days everybody is talking about the cute little panda cub. we just got word from the zoo the pap da cub is doing just

fine, nearly three pounds now. they're native to china. mei xiang and the male giant begans with born there. the new panda cub will also be going to china when he is 4. so we don't know what this announcement is. maybe one of the pandas is going to stay at the zoo a little bit longer. we don't know. the pedestrian entrance on connecticut avenue to the zoo is going to be closed until noon as well as the giant began habitat. that will be closed to noon. so keep that in mind. we'll let you know what the announcement is as soon as we find out. back to you. >> all right, kristin. thanks. >> we expect metro to update us this morning on its plans to improve safety on the deadly incident. we'll talk than in just a

minute. >> right now we'll talk about tickets. they're hard to come by. a woman from denver is overjoyed. a woman hoped somebody would sell her a ticket but was given for one for free. >> i was standing there and they just gave it to me. >> and one for me. >> just overwhelmed there. some families traveled as far as 14,000 miles to be there. 6:56 now. four things to know this friday. the white house will welcome the president of china with a big state dinner. the two will meet to discuss climate change this afternoon. we expect metro to update on its plans to improve safety efforts. the update is in response to more than 90 recommendations from federal transportation officials. more people at volkswagen

could lose their john over the company's emissions scandal. the epa is expected to announce sweeping changes in how it addresses emissions. the pope will visit the 9/11 assembly and later have mass at madison square garden and then leave for philly tomorrow. that is the broadcast this morning. we appreciate you waking up with us. >> thanks for joining us, everybody. have a wonderful afternoon. >> the "today"

good morning. new york city marathon. pope francis gets set for his busiest day yet, the u.n., ground zero, harlem, central park, madison square garden all on the schedule. [ cheers and applause ] last night an unforgettable welcome at st. patrick's caedral. >> papa francisco, welcome to st. patrick's cathedral. >> and a moment savannah and i will never forget today, friday, september 25th, 2015. >> announcer: from nbc news, this is a special edition of "today," pope francis in america, with the matt lauer and savannut