historic flooding, and i'm tracking the deadly floods in south carolina. i'll tell you about the latest cleanup efforts as the death toll rises. big new revelation in a controversial attack. an admission from a top army general just revealed here in washington. bright sunshine. temperatures jumping into the 60s. and awesome autumn day underway. i'm tom kieran. look at how long this is going to last coming up. how the federal government just got involved in a hurricane tragedy off the coast of florida. "news 4 midday" starts right now. the sun is out right now, but no rest for crews trying to

get historic flood waters under control in the state of south carolina. here, the army national guard using sandbags to try to help the situation. this after at least 18 dams breached or failed across the state. we know the death toll is still rising. 13 people have died in south carolina alone. communities downstream will likely have to evacuate, officials say, as all that rain water makes ittowas way the low lying coast. so along with more flooding that is expected, there are so many people today without power and without running water. and drinkable water at that. some officials even saying they fear the worst is yet to come in some areas. we've just learned that nikki haley is going to hold a news conference in about 15 minutes. right now, virginia's task force one is on the ground in south carolina. helping out first responders. the team from chantilly is in west columbia. that's about an hour south from the hard hit capital city.

the team was called in sunday night by fema. the 80-member team and 59,000 pounds of equipment left yesterday morning. task force one will assist in swift and still water rescues. they'll be down there for about ten days. this morning, the ntsb says it's opening an accident investigation into the disappearance of el faro. the coast guard is handling the search and rescue portion of the investigation. investigators say the ship lost power as it ran into hurricane storm force winds and started taking on water. the ntsb will work to find out how safety was compromised on the voyage. >> what happened, why it happened. ultimately to prevent this from happening again. so we'll be looking at the voyage data recorder. that'll be of utmost importance to look to try to find that. we'll be looking. >> 33 crew members were onboard the ship when it lost contact yesterday. the coast guard located a badly

damaged lifeboat and a body and a survival suit. the former president of the united nations general assembly now charged in a corruption scandal. u.s. prosecutors say john ashe took more than $500,000 in bribes in exchange for governor contracts and investments. they also say he used the money for his family vacation and to build a basketball court at his home. ashe is among six people charged in this case. there's a news conference scheduled for 11:30. we'll let you know here and on the nbc washington app if anything new comes out then. a developing story this morning, mistakenly struck. that's how a top u.s. commander describes an air strike on a hospital in afghanistan. john campbell faced tough questions this morning as he appeared in a senate armed services committee. 22 people including doctors and patients were killed in that air strike. >> to be clear, the decision to provide aerial fires was a u.s. decision made within the u.s. chain of command.

a hospital was mistakenly struck. we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility. >> three investigations are now underway into that air strike. president obama says he wants reassurances this won't happen again. >> i'm megan mcgrath, live in arlington, where there have been nine sexual assaults since july. police don't necessarily think the same person is responsible. the suspect description is similar in some of the cases and it's totally different in others. but it's certainly an alarming trend. >> the latest incident happened in the 1800 block of north scott street in rosalind. the victim parted ways with her friends and was walking home around 2:30 in the morning when a man grabbed her from behind, threw her into the bushes. and implying he had a knife began to touch her. the 23-year-old got away without serious injury, but the encounter is part of an alarming

pattern. nine women have been attacked in a similar way since july. >> most of the time, they're walking alone, not very aware of their surroundings. have been under the influence of alcohol and our subjects are using the cover of the night to attack them. >> women we spoke to say they normally feel safe in arlington, but find the string of assaults disturbing. >> i wouldn't expect that. but i need to watch out. >> you never know where people could be hiding. i try not to walk alone. i feel safe in this neighborhood. >> and so police aren't exactly sure how many different suspects they're looking for. they're trying to piece all of that information together. but at this point, no arrests have been made. back to you in the studio. >> thank you, megan. a man is dead and police in prince george's county say the shooter targeted the victim. police say they hope surveillance cameras caught the gunfire around 7:15 last night at the bp station on walters lane near chavez lane. officers say the victim was a customer and the shooting did

not happen during a robbery. we are beginning a spring of dreamy autumn days. gorgeous blue sky, a live view from the tower camera overlooking the urban forest of northwest washington. you can see just a little bit of a tinge of color showing up here, but still mostly green here. however, we are getting autumn colors out in the mountains. look at our temperatures jumping quickly. in fact, we have seen it jump 20 degrees here just in the last several hours because this morning, it was down near 40 degrees in the shenandoah valley. winchester now at 61. leesburg 61. reagan national at 63. around the bay, beautiful day there. blue waters of the bay. a light breeze. temperatures there in the low to mid-60s. a look at neighborhood highs around the region. that's coming up in a couple of minutes. >> thanks, tom. the work/home balance. why it may get easier in the

area and why it could be a first for the entire country. plus, a big scare in the cockpit. the scary situation that passengers said they had no idea

the union that represents hundreds of health care workers at laurel regional hospital is pushing to keep the hospital open. dimensions health care plans to open a walk-in center for patients and lay off close to 120 workers. the union is hosting a public forum tonight with community members and public leaders. it's happening at 6:00 at partnership hall on 5th street. this midday, d.c. council members are considering the most lenient paid family leave plan in the country. a new proposal suggests d.c. employers pay a new tax, so employees can take up to 16 weeks of paid leave. both part-time and full-time employees would be able to use this benefit. it would cover time to take care

of a relative, be home with a newborn or an adopted child or recover from a military deployment. praise this morning for an american airlines co-pilot who landed a plane safely after the pilot died mid flight. michael johnston became incapacitated during the trip from phoenix to boston on sunday. the plane started to descend. and that's when the co-pilot jumped in. he diverted the flight to it wasn't until all 147 passengers were on a new flight that they actually found out what happened. american airlines released a statement saying they're focusing on caring for the pilot's family and colleagues. >> when we landed, we didn't know the magnitude of what was going on. all we saw was the fire trucks, the ems. they knew what they were doing, and they put you all at ease. >> american airlines, again, released a statement saying they're focused on caring for the pilot's family and colleagues. it is a big decision that could save lives in an

emergency. news 4 midda

good morning. all dry here. and where they have been rain soaked in the carolinas the last several days, thankfully that rain is now well off the atlantic seaboard. we'll be continuing to stay off the coast so they are getting some much-needed drying there. we are dry here. afternoon highs, the metro area, mid-70s today. should be into the mid-70s across northern virginia, areas to the south and east around the chesapeake bay. upper 60s to near 70. a gorgeous day there around the bay. and all over the region, we'll have plenty of sunshine, temperaturesup near the pennsylvania border, out in the mountains, shenandoah valley, should be in the low-70s during the middle part of the afternoon. enjoy. emergency legislation going up for a vote in d.c. today.

proposing the city use private ambulances for the next year. those ambulances would be used in addition to d.c. fire and ems ambulances. the private companies would take low-priority incidents like colds, cuts, twisted ankles. fire and ems would take the more serious cases. the change would increase emergency response time and give all the crews more time to train. any minute now, we'll learn more about a big lottery winner in michigan. we're waiting on an announcement about the winner of the $310 million power ball jackpot. i never win this thing. co-workers say the woman was working an overnight shift at an industrial plant when she realized she had won. the ticket was sold in three rivers, the town just of 7,000 residents. >> better luck next time. a big recall alert this morning. morning. the iconic household food staple

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breaking news out of philly. s.w.a.t. teams are on the campus of the community college philadelphia for the report of a man carrying a gun. police are investigating and telling students to stay in place. you are looking at live aerial pictures of that campus right now. that is what multiple sources tell the sister station in philly. this comes as college campuses in that city are already on edge. yesterday, the fbi and atf

issued an alert to schools due to a non-specific threat of violence. you can see a lot of police there on the ground. we have no confirmation that yesterday's warning is in any way linked to what is happening right now at the community college of philly. >> we'll echeck in with you soo. president obama will be in oregon on this friday. he's visiting umpqua community college, the site of the tragic mass shooting last week. three victims of the shooting are recovering in the hospital right now. nine people and the shooter, christopher harper mercer all died. we're learning more about his family life this morning. nbc's miguel almaguer reports that mercer's mother posted several times about mental illness online and wrote about guns and gun laws. one of the shooting victims said she felt sympathy. >> and all honesty, i feel sorry for him, feel bad for him. and i just wish he could've not

done that. >> nbc news reached out to harper mercer's mother for comment, but she did not reply. we also learn he wrote about mental illness himself. he said everyone other than him was irrational and he believed he alone was sane. right now, council members may be arguing over pesticides. a bill up for discussion today would forbid residents from using them or regulate how often people spray their lawns. most folks say they want to be able to use the chemicals to keep mosquitos away. today's discussion will consider changes. a 70-year-old homeless woman recovering after being rescued from rising waters in las vegas. we don't have the video of that rescue, but we do have this. take a look, lightning, hail, heavy rain, affected the las vegas valley and the surrounding area. yesterday, a woman was plucked to safety as her couch and her cat were being swept away. the area is also dealing with

power outages. nevada highway patrol also responded to 76 crashes in southern nevada. when you are out and enjoying this wonderful autumn weather, you can keep up with the latest forecast, storm team 4 radar, all on the nbc washington app. and you'll see that we have these areas in green, title flooding possible, the coastal zones of these counties in green for high tide times. again, maybe 1 to 2 feet above average high tide. that includes the alexandria water front as well as east potomac park. later this afternoon, the high tide of alexandria at 4:23. there may be water coming up king street a little bit there by later today. and highs reaching the mid-70s. gorgeous day, we're going to keep it going tomorrow. a little bit warmer. a little more cloudiness. sunny, mild on thursday, highs mid-70s. look at the weekend coming up in a couple of minutes. >> thanks, tom. amtrak is running modified service between vermont and d.c. today and tomorrow because of this train derailment.

officials say rocks fell from a ledge on to the track in vermont. now, a crew member is still in the hospital. six other passengers were taken to the e.r. to be checked out. the train's engine and one passenger car went into a ditch. three other passengers left the cars. defense attorneys are trying to get a judge to drop murder charges against a former nfl player. they will ask again in a hearing today. they say grand jury does not have enough evidence to establish probable cause against aaron hernandez. prosecutors say the former new england patriot shot two men after they bumped into him at a club in boston. montgomery county leaders approved a plan for police officers to use body cameras in your kids' schools. it comes with a lot of requirements. while police will be able to turn those cameras on in an altercation, police will treat the data from cameras as juvenile school record. so in most cases, it'll require a court action for relief. any time someone accesses the video, it'll leave a traceable

electronic trail. right now, only three school resource officers have those body cameras. mcgraw hill education is apologizing for something it printed in a high school textbook. calling slaves brought to america workers. it was used by more than 1,000 school districts in texas. says the wording wasn't intentional and it will improve the editing process. all right. check your shelves this morning for cheerios cereal. recalling nearly 2 million boxes of cheerios and honeynut cheerio cereal. some labeled as gluten free could contain wheat. affects honey nut cheerio boxes with better if used by july 12th, 2016, through july 25th, 2016. and the original dated july 24th, 2016, through july 17th, of 2016.

expect delays on i-66 starting tonight. 66 will shut down completely for up to half an hour at a time. both ways between route 23 and nutley street. crews in virginia are working on installing signs there. the shoulder lane and the hov lane could open late for the morning rush. and the work continues, again, tomorrow night. a fast food dream come true. why a lot of you might be enjoying eggs and hash browns for lunch today. that's coming up in 60 seconds.

we are following the stories you are clicking on this morning. mcmuffin fans listen up, you can now get your favorite breakfast items all day. mcdonald's launches its all day breakfast today, more than 100,000 of you tweeted that request for breakfast and mcdonald's delivered. hash browns good all day. according to a russian weather forecaster, conditions for air strikes are favorable as

a top u.s. commander faced tough questions from an armed senate committee this morning. russian tv is giving cheery air strike forecast. a weather forecaster told viewers that light clouds cover, quote, will not make flying more difficult and will not influence the systems for aiming weapons. facebook lost its fight against data privacy in the european union. the eu's highest court ruled today that an agreement allowing companies to freely transfer data to the u.s. is invalid. it says as it does not adequately protect consumers. a transfer of data, but allows authorities to review the kind of information companies want to send to the u.s.

well, did you catch this? lions fans are outraged over a blown call by the refs during

monday night football. in the final minute, seattle's safety punches a ball out of calvin johnson's hands as he crosses the goal line. but then the seahawks players slaps that ball out of the end zone. you can't do that. an nfl vp says that's an illegal bat of the ball and the lions should've gotten the ball back. first and goal, instead, the seahawks won the game 13-10 and the lions haven't had a win yet. yikes. >> gorgeous blue sky. live view overlooking washington where all the trees are still green here locally. but we are beginning to see some nice color showing up, especially around the blue ridge. this photo was taken yesterday morning near front royal. she posted this on my twitter page. you can share your photos on twitter as well as on facebook and instagram. and you can see autumn color beginning to show up there. peak color out in the mountains of west virginia and the higher elevations. later today, the mid-70s. four-day forecast. a bit milder on wednesday into

the upper 70s. thursday and friday, into the mid-70s. chance of some showers, maybe even some thunder friday afternoon into friday evening. should clear out in time for the weekend. storm team 4 7-day, looks great for saturday and sunday and nice into the first part of next week, as well. >> thanks, tom. a 13-year-old boy is recovering this morning after being saved by his brother from a shark. >> the boy was swimming with his older brother when a big wave knocked them both down. when the younger boy came up from under the water, he started screaming for help. >> i saw he had my brother. i punched it in the side and hit it and grabbed him and just we swam to the shore. >> the shark bit the young boy on both hands. he's been treated for a broken thumb and broken tendons in his hands. his ankle was also seriously injured. but some quick thinking from the big brother. >> what a brave -- >> probably saved his life. >> my big brothers would have been like, good luck.

>> you don't have to be the fastest. >> right. good for him. >> let's talk about right place at the right time. >> close call along the busy road with a young child's life hanging in the balance. plus, buckle up for a bumpy and slow ride. >> why last week's rain is causing slowdowns for thousands of you. and nothing to do with flooding. news 4 midday is back in a moment.

developing right now, it stopped raining, but water keeps

rising in some parts of south carolina. take a look at this video. the national guard, the army national guard working to hold it back. here you can see them using sandbags at dams on the east coast of the state. nbc's jay gray is in columbia, south carolina, one of the worst hit places right now. he'll join us live with the latest developments in 15 minutes. and whether it's bad weather, heavy traffic or something else, commuting on the beltway, we know this firsthand, tough, tough, tough. >> it's tough. all the rain we had last week is stalling asphalt repairs on the beltway creating a new challenge for drivers. a rough and bumpy ride. we're talking about a stretch of the outer loop between the american legion bridge and maclaine, virginia. live from tyson's corner to explain what's going on. hey. >> hey there. we drove this stretch of the beltway a little while ago, and talk about a bumpy ride. driver beware and hold on. it's a bumpy ride on the outer

loop of the beltway from the american legion bridge to tyson's. just drove it. did you feel all the bumps today? >> yeah, bumps. everywhere, especially coming from my home to here. the bump is so rough. >> it's a repaving project gone upwards. they had to stop working because of the recent deluge of rain. rough road signs are posted. she is worried about her car. >> i don't want to catch a flat tire. i don't want any stones or what have you sometimes when you're driving on uneven pavement like that, you get rocks and little things that hit your car. and hit your car. >> and the rocky road isn't helping traffic. it was bad before and it's bad now as drivers try to get down the unpaved lanes in one piece and on time. >> so many people stop there. takes an hour to come to work and i'm already late for work. >> vdot is working on finishing a project on the beltway at night. and we understand it's going to

take them about a week. back to you. >> going to need to get to work on that pretty fast. well, new video this morning showing an elderly woman being robbed in the district. d.c. police are hoping you'll recognize the man. the video was taken in the parking garage of the giant store in northwest last month. the man appears to be trying to help the woman with her walker, but police say he was actually robbing her. ridership numbers are down and metro says that means fares could go up to take the train. it's part of a so-called death spiral they're working to avoid right now. take a look at how ridership has declined over the last seven years. also has a smaller budget, too. that could drive even more riders away. temperatures have warmed up 20 degrees in the last three or four hours, quite a change from this morning's chill when it was down to just near 40. now well into the 60s most of the reason, around the bay,

beautiful day there. shenandoah valley climbing into the low 60s. a fog earlier is dissipating quickly and it'll continue to climb as we get into the afternoon hours. right now, beautiful day all around the region underway. your afternoon planner, mild temperatures by 2:00, low 70s, by 5:00 p.m., mid-70s. then this evening, upper 60s and under a clear sky this evening, see that streak of light? i took that photo of the space station recently flying over. and tonight, we're going to have a space station fly over at 7:16. from the west-southwest heading to the northeast, it'll be visible for four minutes beginning at 7:16 p.m. >> thank you, tom. so far, no survivors have been found since a u.s. cargo ship sank during the hurricane while rescue crews continue their search, a team from the national transportation safety board is now on its way to florida this morning. hoping to find what went wrong and why the ship set sale during

a storm. kristen dahlgren reports. >> reporter: after four days of searching, a sign of just how rough hurricane joaquin was. one of the lifeboats found torn apart by the massive wave. >> about 75% of it was damaged. so very bad shape. >> the body of one victim was also found, even for experienced mariners in survival suits like this one, the conditions would be tough. >> they were abandoning ship into a category 4 hurricane. that means about 140-mile-an-hour winds, up to 50-foot waves, zero visibility. >> rivera was the ship's cook, a father to two with a baby due this month. >> those are things that keep you alive. if there's a fight to be fought, he's fighting. >> for some,here is also anger. >> you never should've sailed through those waters. period. >> it wasn't the first time it sailed into a storm. just last month, after tropical storm erika, crewman clark posted this picture of a flooded

ship. he wrote, our ship made it through the storm. no rough weather can stop us from getting the cargo here. ship owner tote maritime says joaquin was a tropical storm when they left. and had it not lost propulsion, the ship would have been able to skirt the storm. >> what's regrettable in all of this, the fact that the vessel did become disabled in the path of the storm. >> now the company is promising to do all it can for the families as they wait for word on their loved ones still lost at sea. >> that is our family that's at sea. we want to make sure that we bring them home. >> that was kristin dahlgren reporting. an off-duty emt from arkansas says he did right by his father's memory when he stepped in to help police save a baby girl. >> it was meant to be. right place, right time situation. assist the officer in what he

was doing and help save a life. >> amazing how fast the baby came back, the eyes came back. the baby became responsive, started tracking our fingers. >> 9-month-old kensley mae is okay this morning. they say she was in a car on 270 sunday when her grandparents say she stopped breathing. a police officer and an emt named brody chanel were on i-270 helped. a sideline brawl in front of hundreds of kids in 60

tonight at 6:00, meet your street as we hit one of the most debated roads in the area so many stories and thoughts and opinions. >> do you have any idea?

>> absolutely not. >> not a bad thought. >> we'll take a closer look and dig for some real answers. i have to say, it's kind of a tricky way that it got its name. then we'll head down the street to another historic spot, reno road. i do all the research for you tonight on "news 4 at 6:00." >> adam just told us it's walnut spelled back ward, could that be a clue? video of a high school coach, a game led tois arrest. now investigators say he punched a referee. that coach originally claimed he pushed the referee to break up a fight. but take a look at this video here, and you can see he appears to instigate a fight when he lu lunges at the ref. apparently he made a call that upset several coaches and parents. he was not seriously hurt. the coach was charged with battery and released on bail. hoping for a reunion. a man wants to find the woman

who saved his life. and he's doing it in a pretty

it's october 6th, have you done with your holiday shopping yet? this annual outlook, consumers are being cautiously optimistic. 53% say they'll spend the same as last year. well, a third say they'll spend more. overall, $1,000 on gifts, travel and entertainment. the most popular items, gift cards, toys, clothes and electronics. with your business report, i'm landon dowdy. right now, beautiful blue sky, but we still have high water at times of high tide. these counties in green right near the bay, along the title potomac. including the alexandria water front along the upper potomac. and right along east potomac

park. high tide, 4:23 this afternoon in washington. we may get some water coming up in the alexandria water front and around haines point. times for high tide for the rest of the day today, tonight, and tomorrow morning. tides may be running 2 to 3 feet above normal. and afternoon high temperatures, just a gorgeous autumn day. near 70, low 70s, mountains, shenandoah valley. nearby metro area, southern maryland, mid-70s. right around the bay into the low 70s during the afternoon with lots of sunshine. looks like a great day. >> thank you, tom. well, it is rare to find something on craigslist that's heartwarming. >> well, a boston man posted a letter looking for a woman who saved his life back in 1972. and the letter is so beautifully written, you hope the story is true. in this letter, the vietnam veteran writes about the woman he met courted for just an hour and never forgot. the veteran was in a dark place after getting back from the war and was contemplating suicide. he said he saw the woman on new

year's eve taking shelter from the rain and spoke with her. that talk convinced him to keep living, and the veteran says he just wants to say thank you. for all you skeptics out there, it did, indeed, rain in boston on the last day of 1972. is there a romantic in you? >> of course. >> you want to believe this story, right? >> i want to believe that oliver stone is trying to get to that guy to make the movie about that. >> and have the reunion and we can do the story again. >> right. >> homes and towns washed away on "news 4 midday." we'll take you to the center to the south. >> also tell you how local first >> also tell you how local first responders are playing a

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right now, a major response in parts of south carolina as flood waters rush toward low-lying parts of the state. governor nikki haley held a conference about this latest news. >> live in columbia, the state capital with all the developments. what did we learn? >> reporter: we learned that there's a lot of work to be done here and there's a lot of concern about potential flooding. look, finally the sun is out. but it's allowing a lot of people their first real chance to get out and take a look at the damage the flood waters left behind. they're also keeping an eye on those dams and bridges in the area. worried that more water could be on the way. >> sunrise for the first time in

days here. comes without rain. an orange glow replacing the clouds providing a ray of hope for many. but also, shining the light on the devastation from historic flooding and the difficult recovery ahead. >> got a long way to go. this is going to be a long haul. the sun's out, thank god, but we've still got a long way to go. >> the national guard has moved in to help with the ongoing effort in the flood zone. in many neighborhoods, the flood waters are still rising. >> the rain stopped, but there's still water coming from the upstate. we'll be slowing down here. hopefully these other dams will hold. >> more than a dozen have already given way. and now response teams are staged in areas still at risk ready to move families to higher ground. more than 350 were evacuated yesterday and officers continue to go door-to-door in neighborhoods still under water. >> teams still out, richland county and city of columbia. out searching or looking at houses, checking homes, making sure we don't have anybody

that's in the home that needs help. >> in an area that needs so much help right now. >> yeah, take a look at the devastation here. in this area, there's a blanket of mud in some places 2 to 3 inches thick. when you get to the wall of the building here. you can see the water line. 8 feet of water or more that rush through this area. the mayor says across the city, there's $1 billion or more in damage and that in the hardest hit areas, the cleanup and recovery will take a year or more. that's the latest live here in columbia, south carolina, i'm jay gray, news 4. back to you. >> yeah. a devastating scene there. jay, thank you. right now, virginia's task force one is in south carolina helping out first responders. the team was dispatched to west columbia. they've been assigned to the area about an hour south of hard hit columbia. the team was called in sunday night by fema. the 80-member team and 59,000 pounds of equipment left yesterday morning, task force one will assist in swift and

stillwater rescues and they'll be down in south carolina for ten days. sunshine now, temperatures mid-70s this afternoon. and then great weather to see the space station fly over tonight. i took this photo of the space station as it flew over as a very fast-moving, bright spot of light with mostly clear skies, watch for it tracking southwest to northeast. begins at 7:16 this evening. should be visible for four minutes. it should be pretty high in the sky. after that, tomorrow, beautiful day, partly cloudy, the upper 70s, then into the mid-70s on thursday. increasing clouds friday, friday afternoon and evening, maybe some showers, maybe some thunder. nice weekend to follow. cooler on saturday with sunshine, highs in the mid-60s. sunday, the low 70s, then back into the upper 70s on monday, first part of next week. that's the way it looks. >> thank you, tom. right now, arlington police are looking for a suspect in the latest of a series of sex assault cases over the last several months. they say a man followed a 23-year-old woman home a few days ago.

he pushed her into the bushes on north scott street and touched her without her consent. if you know anything, call police. council members may be arguing over pesticides. a bill would forbid residents from using them, at least regulate how often people spray their lawns. most folks say they want to use the chemicals to keep mosquitos away. it will consider changes to the original restrictions. >> someone died, at least 19 others recovering from a bad crash in philadelphia. take a look at the scene here. an suv ran into the rear end of this trolley bus. the driver of the suv died. everyone on the bus, including the bus driver were also treated for injuries. >> the decision to provide aerial fires was a u.s. decision made within the u.s. chain of command. a hospital was mistakenly struck. we would never intentionally target a protected medical facility.

>> yeah, the top u.s. commander in afghanistan admits the air strike on a doctors without borders hospital was a mistake. >> doctors and patients were killed in that attack this weekend. >> and the pentagon has changed its story, and the controversy is far from over. nbc's edward lawrence is following developments from capitol hill. >> the u.s. top general in the region now says afghan troops on the ground ordered the air strike. this differed from initial reports that u.s. troops were taking fire. >> an air strike was called to eliminate the taliban threat and several civilians were struck. >> 22 people died including doctors and patients when the u.s. bombs destroyed the hospital in afghanistan. it was run by the organization doctors without borders. >> we've directed our forces in the area to make sure that all civilians who need medical care know that our medical facilities are available to treat them. >> afghan officials say taliban fighters were shooting from the

hospital. something doctors without borders says is impossible. >> this hospital is a fenced hospital like all of our hospitals guarded by guards. the only people inside the hospital are patients, care takers and staff. >> the white house says three investigations are in progress. >> and his expectation is that details won't be whitewashed. they'll be full accounting of what exactly transpired. >> the president wants changes to make sure this never happens again. >> this city where this happened is the first major city that was taken back by the taliban since 2001. in washington, edward lawrence, now back to you. >> this just into our newsroom, we now know the name of the man gunned down at a prince georges county bathroom. police do not believe this was a random act. this happened at the bp station on walters lane. the shooting did not happen during a robbery.

there's now a $25,000 reward for information. coming up, seeking revenge for layoffs. >> what worker stole from executives that might have been feeling a little exposed. we're back in 60 seconds.

here are some of the stories lighting up social media this morning. air france employees are not happy. this photo shows an air france executive with his clothes ripped off his back by angry employees. last week, the company announced it would restructure shedding almost 3,000 jobs. yesterday, angry staff stormed a meeting about the job cut. now, almost 200,000 of you have checked out this video on youtube posted by what's trending. take a look here. a group decided that they were going to brighten up their space with some super hero murals. the cool part is that they're made out of post-it notes. they didn't stop there in the creativity. brought in a leaf blower, you can see here, into the office to take the notes down before the

sticky wore off. and this next one, i would not win this next competition. it had to do with mustaches. beard and mustache championship. don't worry, we have you covered here. more than 300 men took part in the annual event held this year in austria on saturday. take a look at nbcwashington.com. men were competing in three main categories, mustache, chin and stubble beard and full beard. how about that? some interesting and complicated styles. a follow-up event will be held in new york in november. back to you. >> that's a lot of work and maintenance. going to travel for the holidays? why you might want to start planni

if you're traveling for it will holidays, this might be the best week to buy your plane ticket. going to philly? >> yes, i can't believe that it's time to travel, though. a new report from orbit says this week's prices are about 5% lower than average tickets. today is the best day to book

for thanksgiving travel. friday is the best for christmas and saturday is the best for new year's eve deals. right now, a wonderful autumn day underway. there's a live view from the storm team 4 city camera. look at the washington monument lit up in the bright sun and the blue skies. just a few wispy eye clouds coming over later. our temperatures jumping 70 degrees now in manassas, near 70 in washington. we're in the 60s north and west of us, upper 60s around the bay. low 70s there later today. much of the region in the low and mid-70s this afternoon. gorgeous day on wednesday, and the upper 70s, partly cloudy. another beautiful day on thursday. the mid 70s. next chance of rain may be friday afternoon into friday evening. have a great day. >> thank you, tom. looks like a good day to get outside. >> picture perfect. >> maybe a little yard work for you? that's it for -- >> what about you? >> sleeping. thanks so much for joining us. we're back on the air this afternoon first at 4:00. >> and get your news and weather

with the nbc washington app.

>> announcer: today on on the meredith vieira show why is the kardashians called america's first family? and what is the prank on donald trump. and abigail reveals the text from hollywood's hoddest men. and one woman's ultimate betrayal by her husband. it starts right now on meredith. ♪ [applause] ♪ makes you feel real good. feel real good. [applause]