news 4 midday begins with breaking news. right now we're following two big stories on metro. first, a busy scene all morning in southwest d.c. where firefighters responded to smoke at the metro power station. you can see some of that in the video. >> the incident caused speed restrictions and delays this morning. news 4 is live on ohio drive south. molette? >> reporter: yes, good morning. the scene is all clear of emergency vehicles, but let me step out of the way and show you that workers are still here on the scene. a metro train just went by on

the track at normal speed up there on the train bridge here at ohio drive. we want you to see the video we hot earlier where this was quite a scene. firefighters worked to vent the smoke that was coming from this power substation and prompted metro to slow down the trains on the yellow line. the trains are running again at normal speed now that firefighters have cleared the scene and vented the substation room. still unclear the cause and exactly what was smoking. we are here in the 1000 block of ohio drive in southwest. we're following this developing story throughout the morning. i'm molette green reporting live from the scene. back to you. >> thanks, molette. our other big metro story, the ntsb is about to issue an urgent

recommendation on oversight of metro. the recommendation will encourage the department of transportation to place it under the federal railroad administration. that means a different set of inspectors and standards for metro rail. the current oversight group will also be heavily criticized. that would be a first of its kind move because subway systems don't generally fall under fra oversight. good morning. all eyes on hurricane joaquin. why? because it may come close to us over the weekend. right now, there it is. latest satellite loop showing it's still fairly dig organized. it's a category 1 hurricane. there's miami. there are the bahamas. still well east of the bahamas, but it's packing winds now of about 80 miles an hour. it's slowly tracking off to the south and west before it does eventually begin to take a turn and get closer to us. the winds at 80 miles an hour

right now. the pressure is beginning to deepen a bit. category 1 hurricane becoming a category 2 hurricane. now the latest track, this is as of friday in the morning. it's going to be staying east of the bahamas. then it gets closer to us and starts to take a turn inland and maybe just off of ocean city by monday morning. coming closer to us, could be a big change in our forecast for the weekend. we'll look at that coming up. >> all right, tom. thank you. more breaking news now. the national weather service is checking on reports of a possible microburst or tornado. take a look at this picture of damage and debris inside a store there. laurel also says the national weather service used a drone to check out damage. crews are also out looking at roof inspections there, looking along main street. the city says many signs were blown over in the wind. remnants of last night's storms are scattered across our area, like in bethesda. a tree landed on a family's

home. montgomery county fire crews say the family inside the house had to be displaced. and take a look at this video from d.c. right now the district is still soggy and trying to dry out after a whole lot of heavy rain last night. pat? >> parts of blair road in falls church are closed right now because of sink holes from last night's rain. you'll have to take a detour if you need to use the roads between columbia pike and malibu circle. i'm angie goff here at the live desk where the push to avert a partial government shutdown by midnight is moving ahead. take a look, we have a live view. just moments ago the senate passing a stopgap spending bill to keep the federal government running through december 11th. we expect approval in the house today before it goes to president obama's desk. now, this latest shutdown battle has put the abortion debate back in the spotlight. the new bill preserves funding for planned parenthood. a defeat for a more conservative lawmakers who have been pushing

to strip that funding. we're going to keep monitoring the vote in the house here, and we'll send you the very latest updates throw our nbc washington app. barbara? >> thanks, angie. the scene is clear where a man lost control and crashed his suv early this morning in montgomery county. the driver died in the fiery crash. fire crews tell us the driver hit a tree, flipped over, and his suv burst into flames. right now it's too early to determine what may have led to that crash. a 21-year-old marine is dead after he stopped to help a driver stranded in the rain. right no maryland state police are looking for the tractor trailer driver who hit him last night around 11:00 on u.s. 15 northbound near auburn road. police are asking that you keep an eye out for the truck. they say it's a black tractor trailer. it kept going north on 15 after the crash. according to police, the truck is designed to haul cars. they say you may have noticed a lot of damage to the front right side. around that same time last

night, another pedestrian was hit by a car along i-395 in arlington. virginia state police say they were already responding to a crash near glebe road when another accident happened and a man was hit by a car. "the washington post" is reporting that man was a v-dot worker. police say his injuries are very serious. this morning a vatican spokesman confirmed what "the new york times" said, that the pope met with kentucky court clerk kim davis who refused to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. davis' lawyer said she met with the pope at the vatican embassy during his visit to washington. davis says she hugged the pope and he presented her and her husband with two rosaries. a busy morning of breaking news today here on news 4 midday. we're tracking it all from wild weather to the threat of a government shutdown. we're also keeping a close eye on two big stories surrounding metro. first, the smoke rising above the streets of d.c.

the other, that ground breaking recommendation by the ntsb. we'll tell you those stories, mo

right now, the trial for a deadly hit-and-run on the vw parkway is under way. u.s. park police say 73-year-old earl peter hit and killed 38-year-old rick warrick on super bowl sunday. warrick was trying to fix his car on the side of the road. this case also triggered an investigation at the fire department. a 911 dispatcher was fired after telling warrick's daughter to stop whining as she called in for help. president bill clinton's former health and human services secretary is recovering from a stroke right now. donna shalala suffered the stroke last night. she formerly worked as president

of the university of miami. just this year, she took over as president of the clinton foundation. changes are coming to the route 7 corridor. we could learn about those changes this week. >> transit leaders say they're considering several options to ease traffic on route 7 between leesburg and alexandria. among them, dedicated bus lanes, a streetcar or light rail line. the northern virginia transportation commission says new public transit could take 9,000 people off the roads. they'll be able to weigh in on the options in just a couple months. meanwhile, a d.c. tourist attraction gets ready to close its doors forever. plus, how you can weigh in on the future of a local landmark be landmark.

right now getting just a few scattered sprinkles coming from

these low clouds. live view from the storm team 4 tower camera. also a few breaks in the clouds south of the metro area. the temperatures already in the upper 70s. fredericksburg at 78. upper 70s, near 80 already in southern maryland and part of the eastern shore. metro area, low to mid-70s. upper 60s, near 70 to the north and west. as we get the afternoon going on, just a few sprinkles now. a small chance of a passing sprinkle in the afternoon. here's the future weather hour by hour. this area in the green, maybe around 2:00 or 3:00, a few sprinkles south and east of the metro area. southern maryland, lower neck, part of the eastern shore by 4:00 p.m. pretty much all gone, just clouds around. a little sunshine coming and going. that's the way it looks. >> thanks, tom. more talk about the future of rfk stadium today. there's a meeting at the washington convention center, a follow-up from another one a few weeks ago. according to "the washington post," neighbors who live near rfk say they did not want the redskins to build a new stadium there. today is your last chance to

visit the crime and punishment museum. the museum is in northwest. it's closing today after seven years. the people in charge say they were asked to leave their building, and they didn't have a choice. the museum will continue to offer some programs like walking tours and traveling educational programs. storms moved through the region, making for big problems. a closer look at the cleanup when news 4 midday continues in just a minute.

right now on news 4 midday,

tracking a hurricane. joaquin was just upgraded from tropical storm to category 1 hurricane. storm team 4 will update us on its projected path, which could impact all of us, in just a matter of days. we are working to learn what caused that smoke scare in southwest washington this morning. metro says it found evidence of smoke at the power substation in southwest. it didn't impact service at first, but metro slowed down trains once firefighters arrived. metro teams are still investigating. zblmpl take a look at this scene in virginia. this is widespread flooding in harrisburg. you can see water is up to their ankles there. some people even tried to ride the waves. flooding away from the campus was even more severe. storm team 4 meteorologist is here with how the rain impacted our area. tom? >> out there in the ridges and

valley, all that water funnels into small locations. over 4 1/2 inches in some spots there in southwest virginia. as a result, you get that flooding. right now, no more flood warnings or watches out. getting a few scattered sprinkles here on the radar north and west of the metro area. then closer to washington, might have a few scattered sprinkles. have an umbrella handy. during the rest of the afternoon, might get a few breaks in the clouds. upper 70s by 2:00 p.m. by 5:00, the winds start picking up. might get a little sunshine breaking out. it'll be in the mid-70s. by 8:00 p.m., back down to near 70 degrees. bit of a blustery wind as the clouds close back in. look at rain chances over the next seven days. that's coming up when i join you in a few minutes. >> thanks, tom. new today, an alexandria judge is changing the rules for who can be inside the courtroom for charles severance's murder trial. the court is allowing his parents to watch the trial, even though they could be called as witnesses. most witnesses are supposed to

stay outside the courtroom. he is charged with killing three alexandria residents over a ten-year span. police have made an arrest in connection to the threatening graffiti they found in several locations. the words "killing aac cops coming soon" were found on three separate walls in the brooklyn park neighborhood. officers also found more graffiti on hammonds lane. surveillance video led police to zachary shano, who was already in police custody for unrelated charges. today the man accused of abducting and killing two college students in virginia will be in court for a pretrial hearing. jesse matthew heads back to court as we learn new details about his past. a judge unsealed a lett written by a former girlfriend. she says matthew was sexually abused and raped multiple times

during his elementary school years. in a few hours, you could be part of a ceremony to mark the start of national fallen firefighters memorial weekend. leaders on capitol hill plan to recognize 87 firefighters by presenting american flags from the u.s. capitol to the national fallen firefighters foundation. you're invited to a ceremony at the upper senate park at 2:00. please be aware that a motorcade directly after the ceremony will travel along the beltway and i-270 and then take i-70 into fredrick. well, the leaves are starting to change. the temperature is starting to drop. maybe not today. but we know it's coming. and the days are getting shorter. by this time next month, we're going to have lost an hour and 13 minutes of daylight. and that could have a serious effect on your mood. dr. joshua winer joins us this morning. we're talking about seasonal affective disorder. what is it? >> about 4% of people in this area are going to notice a significant drop in their mood

around this time of year. it's related to decreases in the amount of sunlight, as you just mentioned. these are people who around this time are going to start to get depressed. their mood is going to get lower. they're going to withdraw. they're going to feel like they want to stay in bed longer. they're going to have carbohydrate cravings, et cetera. >> what is the scientific reason for these changes in the body? >> we don't really know. we think -- got to remember, we're animals. we're sensitive to the environment. we think that the decrease in sunlight has effects on serotonin levels, melatonin levels, and these changes have an impact on our mood and how we feel. >> okay. tell us some of the symptoms of seasonal affective disorder. >> if you notice that year after year around this time of year you have a drop in your mood -- and it's not just a mild dip because about 10% of people are going to have the seasonal blues or winter blues. we're talking about something more significant here. if you notice a significant drop in your mood, then you are probably dealing with this if it's happening on a consistent

basis. >> so check yourself out to see how you're feeling. but it does happen to many, many people? >> yeah, we're talking about 4% of people here. if you go to higher latitudes, like maine, it affects about 14% of people. about 1% of people in florida. so it is directly related to the amount of sun exposure that you're getting. >> interesting. well, we're going to talk about how to treat it once we realize that's what we've got. i also want to ask you if a person needs to see a doctor for this. stay where you are. we're going to be back with dr. weiner in a little bit. pat, back to you. >> thank you, both. a social media hoax flooding our news feeds. and where president obama just bucked a long-time tradition.

we're following the stories you're clicking on this morning. president obama will not stay at the waldorf astoria during his trip to new york. according to "the washington post," this will be the first

time in decades the president will not stay at the waldorf. the hotel was bought by a small chinese insurance company earlier this year, and security experts say the obama administration is right to be cautious about espionage risks from staying in that newly acquired hotel. well, you may soon be able to say more on twitter. the social media giant plans to expand beyond the current 140 characters. the 140 limit has been a trademark of twitter. many of you are curious to know how it will look if the expansion goes ahead. twitter is hoping it will attract more users. all right. here we go again. we're facebookers. the pay-for-privacy hoax is back. you've probably seen this in your feeds already this week. this is what's happening. it's being posted over and over again. the message asks you to copy and paste the text, not share, and post it if you want to be exempt

from the feed. beware this is actually a hoax, and it could set you up for future scams. we're back in 60 seconds.

good morning. right now, live view from the storm team 4 capitol camera. looks like a few breaks in the clouds, beginning to brighten a little bit right over washington. might get a little bit of sunshine breaking out in the metro area. already getting sun in northern parts of virginia. north and west is a patch of green, a few scattered sprinkles. might have a little sprinkle right in washington and south and east of us here over the next hour or two. so have an umbrella handy if you're about to head out the door. then that little sunshine may be breaking outs. temperatures into the upper 70s by early afternoon. then clouds close back in tonight. cloudy on thursday. afternoon and evening showers now looking likely, much cooler with highs in the low 60s. rain likely friday. much cooler, highs only in the 50s. back into the 60s on saturday with some showers. mainly saturday evening. could get some downpours on

sunday from hurricane joaquin getting close to us by the latter part of the weekend. stay tuned. well, it could have ended in disaster. the wing of an american eagle flight scraped the runway as it was landing in texas. this happened yesterday. a novice plane spotter snapped this photo as the plane hit the tarmac. there's no word on how many people were on board or what caused the plane to tilt. we do know no one was hurt. it could be a hint of things to come. vice president joe biden was the subject of a funny moment at the u.n. general assembly. >> biden was chairing a summit panel when denmark's foreign minister had a slip of the tongue. he called mr. biden president biden. >> mr. president -- sorry. i'm -- well, could have been, can be, who knows. physical you have something new to tell us here, please let us know. >> the vice president laughed off the foreign minister's comments. >> he might have liked it.

>> probably. >> well, he hasn't entered the race, but a nbc news "wall street journal" poll found that many people would support a biden 2016 run. >> he hasn't decided yet. >> everybody's waiting to hear. right now, a busy morning of big stories. first, more problems for metro as smoke rises near a busy station. >> we'll get you an update from the scene. we're also keeping a close eye on capitol hill right now. in a little over 12 hours, the government shut will shut down unless lawmakers can reach a deal. we'll be right back.

the threat of another government shutdown is very real this morning. right now we are watching as lawmakers on capitol hill try to reach a deal that would keep washington working past the midnight deadline. from tropical storm to hurricane, we are tracking hurricane joaquin this morning and the potential for this storm to pass a little too close to us for comfort. tom will bring us an update in a minute. first, some breaking news in d.c. trains are back to normal service on the yellow line after reports of smoke along ohio drive. that's where a metro power station is. news 4's molette green is outside that station, where firefighters were checking out the tracks. molette? >> reporter: barbara, just got some new information from metro. just a few workers are still here near this substation. take a look at that door. there are a couple workers up

there working inside that area right now. in just the last 30 minutes, metro told me this could be possibly a pepco-related issue, possibly a power surge. the utility does have a feeder line inside. at the height of all this, there was quite an active scene here. metro says there was no active fire or smoke when firefighters got here. there was a component in the substation that may have tripped. so that's why the workers are still here on the scene and crews are working to address that issue. trains on the yellow line are moving again at normal speed. in fact, a train just left here seconds ago on these tracks that are just above the power substation. but back to normal speed. we're still following this investigation throughout the day. but that is the latest for now. i'm molette green, reporting live from ohio drive. news 4. our other big story on metro

this morning, an unprecedented move to improve oversight. >> transportation reporter is on the phone with us now. tell us what's about to happen here. >> all right. so in essence, the national transportation safety board is going to make an urgent safety recommendation saying that the federal government should step in and take control of the safety oversight of metro. that is an unprecedented step. that is not done with other subway systems in the country. that will be a first of its kind step to get the safety culture of metro back on track. >> all right. any response from metro, reaction from metro, adam? >> so far what we've heard is welcoming news, that they'll certainly take this. now, it's important to remember that this is just a recommendation from the national transportation safety board. it will actually be up to congressional leaders to make that change to put that in a bill and give the federal railroad administration the authority to go in there and take over the control of metro

oversight. frankly, what you've heard with all of these past incidents, all of the derailments, dating back to the 2009 red line crash, you heard simply that the oversight wasn't there, that it just wasn't there. the safety oversight was not where it needed to be. currently today, the national transportation safety board is briefing congressional leaders, telling them that same exact thing, that in every incident they've investigated in the past number of years, they've gone in and found that the tristate oversight committee as it's known a little-known safety oversight group that has direct oversight of metro safety, that they're just not strong enough. they don't have the teeth to enforce penalties, and they don't have safety plans and protocols in place that they can make happen. so that's why. and the ntsb frankly doesn't make urgent safety recommendations just to make them. this is a big step. and they have influence and can influence change. so that is something that is going to be coming down today or possibly early tomorrow. they're going to make that

announcement and put metro on the hot seat. >> adam, thank you. >> no problem. right now, clouds in the metro area and a few sprinkles. and way south of us is hurricane joaquin. it's a minimal hurricane, category 1, but getting better organized you see here in the satellite history over the last several hours. beginning to expand in its area of coverage. it's still well east of the bahamas, well east of miami. there's the florida coast. the carolina coast. so it's well south of us right now. it has 80-mile-an-hour winds moving ever so slowly out to the southwest around 5, 6 miles an hour. very slow moving there. but it starts to take a turn to the north as a category 2 hurricane by tomorrow morning. that may briefly become a category 3 but well off the coast. that's going to be early saturday morning. then this is as of monday morning with 85-mile-per-hour winds. it could be anywhere in this cone of possibility close to the

metro area or off the atlantic seaboard. prime track does appear to be near ocean city by early monday morni morning. stay with us. we'll be keeping you fully informed. a lot more rain and wind for us late sunday and into monday. stay tuned. >> okay, tom. thank you. right now we're awaiting developments on capitol hill where the house is poised to pass a bill that will avert a partial government shutdown at midnight tonight. the senate just passed its version of the funding bill about an hour ago. it still faces opposition from tea party affiliated lawmakers in the house who wanted to strip funding from planned parenthood to avert the shutdown. but the house is still expected to pass the bill with funding for planned parenthood this afternoon. meanwhile, penalties for drunk drivers involved in deadly crashes in maryland will go up starting tomorrow. dui offenders with blood alcohol levels of 0.08 or high ler have suspended licenses for six months for the first offense, a

year for the second. if a driver's bac is 0.15 or above, the penalty will be one year on the first offense. a driver will lose their license completely if it's a second offense. a lot of you are talking this morning about kelly gissendaner, who was executed overnight. she was convicted of plotting to kill her husband back in 1997. she's the first female death row inmate executed in georgia in 75 years. several new developments coming into our newsroom this morning about the fight against isis in syria. russia is now involved. we learned overnight that the kremlin voted unanimously to let russian president vladimir putin send in air strikes there. then we learned the strikes were under way. russia told the u.s. to avoid flying over syria during the strikes. the state department says it would ignore that request. one of the country's biggest

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target will start matching online prices of more than two dozen competitors starting thursday. until now, it's only matched prices at its own stores. customers will have 14 days up from seven to get a price adjustment. rivals include amazon, walmart.com, sam's club, and costco. wi right now walgreens is providing free health testing in northwest. the tests measure a number of things ranging from your cholesterol to your body composition. regularly testing could cost you over $100, but you can sign up at the greater washington urban league on 14th street in northwest to take the tests, which go on until 4:00 this afternoon. do you have one of those new credit cards with the microchip on it? they're supposed to be better at protectin g yourmoney, but a new study finds millions of american

credit card holders do not have one of those yet. starting tomorrow, businesses will be responsible for any fraudulent transactions if they do not upgrade their readers to accept the chip-enabled cards. you, the card holder, will not be responsible. a newly released study found both businesses and credit card companies are behind in making those changes. and new this morning, pack lightly the next time you take amtrak, or you could be paying extra. starting tomorrow, amtrak will charge $20 if you exceed the restrictions on carry-on bags and personal items. you're allowed two personal items weighing up to 25 pounds. you can also have two carry-on bags weighing no more than 50 pounds each. the national zoo's panda cub is in the spotlight this morning for something we do all the time, except it's cuter. that's in 60 seconds.

still mostly cloudy but getting a little sunshine breaking out. a few sprinkles south of the metro. here's your afternoon planner. by 2:00, upper 70s and maybe a few breaks in the clouds after that. otherwise, a lot of clouds. winds will begin to pick up a bit. temperatures dropping down to around 70 by 8:00 p.m. then by dawn tomorrow, we'll be down into the upper 50s and low 60s. tomorrow afternoon, only the low 60s for highs with a few afternoon showers. and then maybe some more showers thursday night and off and on friday now showers likely and much cooler. temperatures only in the 50s throughout the day on friday. an adorable moment from the national zoo's new panda cub. >> here is mom and cub this morning. that's right now as we look at the live panda cam. so cute. they seem to be lying down there. here's the moment when the cub

was caught in the cutest sneeze. have a look. the 5-week-old cub was taking a nap with mom when it happened. we're told he now weighs about four pounds. first lady michelle obama and the first lady of china named beibei last week. >> the naming broke the tradition of waiting until the cub is 100 days old. he's awfully cute. >> i think we all are loving watching him grow up and start to look more like a panda. >> he's growing fast. >> we're counting down to what could be another messy government shutdown here in washington. >> plus, many of you are cleaning up this morning after a windy, wet start. news 4 midday back in a minute.

right now we're counting down to the last final hours before possible government shutdown. we are likely to avoid it. this is a live look at the senate as it moves to pass a bill that would fund the government through the middle of december. the house should take a similar vote this afternoon. nbc's tracie potts brings us up to date. >> i think everyone is relieved that we're keeping the government open. >> reporter: a last-minute senate vote later this morning, another this afternoon in the house, just hours before the deadline, and lawmakers expect to barely avoid a government shutdown. >> it's not the way to do business. >> it doesn't have to be that way. >> reporter: today's votes would

add $13 billion for defense, $17 million to fight fires, and extend everything else through december 11th. >> it's a holiday gift for america. >> reporter: the senate's top republican wants a long-term deal through 2017. >> so that next year we can have a regular appropriations process. >> reporter: but conservatives are still fighting to strip money from planned parenthood. the group's president endured a five-hour grilling tuesday. >> do you defend the sale of baby body parts? >> no. >> reporter: and in the middle of all this, leadership is changing. >> i'm not going to be any different tomorrow than i am today. >> reporter: republicans are trying to figure out how much they can negotiate before john boehner leaves next month. looks like the likely replacement for boehner is california's kevin mccarthy, but the election date has not yet been set. tracie potts, nbc news,

washington. i'm angie goff here at the live desk with an update on the serious storm damage we've been watching that's under investigation in laurel, maryland. this is via chopper 4, live right now over the city of laurel. the national weather service is there. in fact, on the ground, checking on reports of a possible microburst or tornado. a lot of you on social media reporting this as well. crews are also out doing roof inspections along main street. the city says many signs were blown over because of the high winds. we know the national weather service also using drones to get pictures as they continue this investigation. we will continue to follow it and bring you the very latest. you can find more at nbcwashington.com. barbara? >> all right. angie, right now a lot of folks are stepping over or picking up branches after last night's heavy rain. storm team 4 meteorologist tweeted these pictures of trees down. the wind was almost as much a problem as the rain in some

areas. now tom is back from louden county and he's in the weather center with an update on the current conditions out there. >> quite a bit of debris there. that was right now downtown leesburg. right now temperatures are in the low 70s north and west. the 60s in the shenandoah valley. a little sunshine breaking out in southern maryland through north-central virginia. fredericksburg up to 77. inland, we might get a little bit of sun this afternoon around the metro area. highs in the upper 70s. cooler weather moves in. clouds tomorrow. might get an afternoon or evening shower. in fact, looking likely now with highs only in the low 60s. thursday into friday, staying in the 50s. rain likely friday. pretty good chance saturday. likelihood on sunday as what is going to be the situation with joaquin as a maybe category 1

hurricane or tropical storm near us on sunday with rain and wind. stay tuned. well, it's that time of year. we now get less than 12 hours of daylight each day. leaves will start to change very soon in our area. the days are getting shorter and shorter as we get closer to the start of winter. dr. joshua weiner is back with us this morning. we talked about seasonal affective disorder. what months does it happen mostly? >> beginning now. we're looking at october through april. this is sort of the beginning season for this. >> and people start to feel depressed around this time? are we talking about big numbers of people? >> we're talking about 4% of people in this area. but the interesting thing, i think, is that a lot of people think of seasonal affective disorder being winter only. but actually, seasonal affective disorder can affect people at other times of the year as well. in fact, in my experience, the worst time of year for a lot of people, particularly people with bipolar disorder, is the springtime.

a lot of people don't think march and april are rough months for people emotionally, but they are. in fact, there are more suicides that time of year consistently than any other time of year. >> that's the time of year when we're starting to see more daylight. how do you explain that? >> that's the interesting thing. again, this daylight thing has an impact on how we feel and what we think. for people with bipolar disorder, when there's an increase in the amount of sun exposure, it destabilizes them. >> as we move into october, oing to get shorter and shorter and we will not see that much daylight, what can we do now to get ourselves ready for that? >> well, one thing i suggest people do, if they've noticed they've had problems with this -- and you know, i don't think people really have to have seasonal affective disorder with depression in the winter. even if you have the winter blues, i think there's very little downside to just going out and buying yourself on amazon or some place like that a light box. these are about 12 by 12. they're little light boxes, literally, that sit about a foot

away from your eyes. you don't have to stare right at it. it doesn't damage your skin or eyes. you put it at roughly that 2:00 position and sit in front of it for about 20 to 30 minutes every morning. you don't want to do it later in the day because it can then disrupt your sleep. but that has been shown to be the most effective treatment for helping people improving their mood, improving their energy. there are even studies suggesting that even at other times of the year, you can use these light boxes to help somebody who's depressed to help their antidepressant medications work. >> so this s this some kind of special light? can you just sit near a lamp? >> there is a special type of light that's emitting 10,000 lux. that's a measure of light intensity. a typical office has about 1,000 or less. so you're talking about a very bright light. but it's not going to hurt your eyes or anything like that. and you're sitting in front of that. it's a full-spectrum light. you sit in front of that in the morning, and it has that elevating effect on your mood and energy. >> some people might think it sounds silly, but you're a

psychiatrist a medical doctor. if you say that's something that helps, we should think about that. >> and real quick, because people have to be careful because those with bipolar disorder can actually trigger a mania sitting in front of these lights. so it really has a powerful effect. >> we talk about this every year. i'm going to get myself ready. not sure if i'll do the light box, but i'll do something. >> yeah, a light box works and works quickly. >> thank you, dr. wooeiner. news 4 midday back in a

here are just some of the stories lighting up social media this morning. decades after being treated for severe burns as a baby, the now-grown woman finds the nurse who cared for her. such a special story. the baby in the photo is amanda. until now, the nurse in the photo was a mystery. after years of trying to find the nurse, she reached out on

facebook to help find the woman who saved her life. the nurse was susan burger, and the reunion between the two was a very special moment. what a lovely story. now, a popular d.c. spot is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary. social media editor brittany johnson has the scoop. >> so busboys and poets is approaching its tenth anniversary. honor of the big success, they're having a huge birthday bash on friday. it's from 6:30 to midnight. it's going to be a lot of fun. angela davis, alex walker will be in the building. you do have to purchase tickets in advance. don't worry, i posted details on our nbc washington facebook page. you can also open up our app and find the details there. >> thanks, brittany. can't believe it's been ten years. a woman in eastern europe has made a big mistake. instead of grabbing a can of mousse for her hair, take a look at this picture. she grabbed builder's folk. results are just not good.

i don't even know how to begin to get that out of your hair. i feel bad for her. back to you. >> oh, my goodness. >> going to be washing a while, won't she? >> i don't think it's going to move in the wind. >> doesn't look like it. we're getting a new look at the storm damage in one part of our area. >> back in 60 seconds.

breaking news. chopper 4 is over laurel, where there appears to be roof damage from storms last night. no indications of any tornadoes, but definitely enough of a wind to rip off parts of these roofs that we are seeing right now in laurel, maryland, in prince george's county. we'll be keeping an eye on this. it is a possible microburst or perhaps a very brief tornado touchdown. however, there's no indication of any tornado that we've had yet, but we'll be giving you an update on that later today.

so stay with storm team 4. definitely a little bit of damage there. i saw some tree damage in louden county this morning. right now, just a few sprinkles locally. getting showers off the atlantic beaches. the afternoon planner, might get some sun breaking out later. humid, becoming breezy by late afternoon, dropping out of the upper 70s down to near 70 by 8:00 p.m. tomorrow, rain likely in the afternoon and evening. before then, up into the low 60s. a lot of clouds around. breezy, cooler friday. highs only in the 50s. in fact, staying in the 50s from thursday night through much of friday into saturday morning. showers likely friday. 50% chance of showers on saturday. then the effects of joaquin getting closer to us. new timing would be perhaps on sunday, perhaps into sunday evening. so stay with storm team 4. latest track throughout the afternoon. >> all right. and that's it for news 4 midday. thanks for joining us this morning. we're back on the air this afternoon at 4:00. >> i'm going to join pat at

4:00, but you can get weather updates any time with nbc's

>> today on the miriah vieira why can't soph ia hold her tongue. and meredith in a challenge. >> and opening up about the mentor. and yamaneika has advice to help you, too. >> i am single and i have a time frame. it all starts right now on meredith. ♪ [applause]