news 4 midday begins with breaking news. that breaking news, a plea deal for a former police officer charged with murder. we're live outside the courtroom in fairfax county right now. molette. >> reporter: barbara, good morning. right now the prosecutor in the case is speaking to reporters saying the defense just approached him yesterday about a deal. we just came out of the courtroom a short while ago where adam torres apologized saying he was heartbroken about this situation. the geer children now being without a father. he spoke after entering a guilty plea

in john geer's death. the news was broken on twitter before all of this. this is a change from the second-degree murder charge and it carries a maximum ten years in prison. the agreement here is for a 12-month sentence. he's already been locked up for about eight months, but the judge does not have to go with that at sentencing, which is set for june 24th. the prosecutor said the agreement was just and right. said the victim's long-time partner, the mother of his children and his children did not want to have to go through a trial and testify and re-live this incident all over again. the prosecutor pointed out as well in court that geer's mother is highly opposed to this plea agreement. he then laid out the details of that night at geer's home when torres shot the 46-year-old revealing that the bullet hit his heart and his lungs. and he probably would not have

survived had he been given medical treatment right away. investigators say the 33-year-old admitted to having an argument that night with his wife and that that incident was also on his mind at the time of the shooting. he thought geer was reaching for his gun, but there were other officers and other accounts at the scene that contradicted his account. torres has sat in jail without bond, again, sentencing set for june 24th in this case. that is the latest live from fairfax outside the county courthouse, molette green, news 4. later today our bureau chief is covering this story and we'll have a complete wrapup and updates of course throughout the day on our social media. back to you. >> thanks, molette. and as she mentioned julie carry did break the news of the plea deal on twitter. you can follow her at

juliecarey.nbc. right now, search teams back out at national park. teams are focusing the search area on that area near white oak canyon trail. that's where her car was discovered saturday morning. she's married to a virginia state police officer. police do not suspect foul play in her disappearance. if you were stuck waiting for a metro train this morning on the orange and blue lines, it's all because of a small fire near the rosslyn station. firefighters say it was an arcing insulator that started the fire. trains were forced to single track for about an hour this morning which caused delays in both directions. and a flash flood warning is in effect through tomorrow morning for most of southeast texas. heavy rain and strong winds started last night. some streets in houston have already flooded. thousands of homes and businesses have lost power. that weather's practically the opposite of what we're

right here. storm team 4 is outside on the weather deck right now. and, boy, is it gorgeous out there, melissa? >> look at all of us in our sleeveless? >> i know. >> we've been waiting for a while to get to this point. it is gorgeous, guys. yeah, we've got sleeveless dresses on. it's sun dress time for a lot of the area. i know i saw a lot of girls in sun dresses over the weekend and the guys in the shorts. and maybe even some tank tops. today definitely rocking some tank tops because we're going to heat things up. now, yesterday low to mid-70s. we're already there right now. low 70, 72 degrees is our temperature right now. you can see the dew point down. so we're not talking about that humidity. we're talking about warming temperatures with all this sunshine. i got to tell you there's not a cloud in the sky outside the nbc 4 studios we're only going to continue to take those temperatures up. we'll be right around 80 degrees. i do believe some places will be in the mid-80s today, but clear all throughout the evening. we do have some changes tomorrow as we will have a chance for so

and it's going to be a little breezy tomorrow, but still warm. and then those temperatures fall a little bit for wednesday. no rain at least for the next three days because we do need it. in fact, we need it to get rid of some of this pollen. but we will have some rain towards the end of the week, so we're going to be talking about that when i come back inside, if i can come back inside. hopefully i won't spend too much time in there. it's gorgeous out here, guys. >> it might actually be tough to get back in here. >> i know. >> thank you, lauryn. the man fbi says planned to attack the capitol. today, a federal judge will decide if the ohio man is competent to stand trial. the judge ordered the evaluation after his attorney suggested he may have a mental illness. cornell was arrested in 2015 after buying two guns and allegedly sending text messages and putting messages on social media in support of islamic state militants and violent attacks, barbara. just days afte

loss, prince georges county fire chief talking about how he and his department are coping after a firefighter was shot and killed. moments ago we learned that there will be an update in the investigation this afternoon. 37-year-old john omssnyder, the two forced their way into a temple hill home at the request of the homeowner's brother. he was worried the man was having a medical emergency. but when they got inside police say the man started shooting. that homeowner was questioned and released with no charges filed. he told police he thought someone was breaking into his home at the time and that he was shooting in self-defense. >> can't even put the pit that was in my stomach into words. you just can't. >> as the department continues to mourn the loss, they tell news 4 changes will be made

like this does never happen again. funeral plans are already set now. visitation is being held tomorrow at st. john's parish in hollywood, maryland. that starts at 5:00 p.m. the funeral mass is wednesday at the same church. he's known in the fire fighting community as skillet. he also leaves behind a wife and 2-year-old daughter. firefighters set up a you caring fund to help support his family. right now if you would like to help you can open the nbc washington app and search firefighter fund. as for injured firefighter kevin swain, we are told he is showing signs of improvement. the volunteer is recovering after getting shot four times friday night. he's now out of intensive care at baltimore shock trauma. i'm kristen wright at the live desk where we're watching what's going on at the supreme court. immigration the big issue. thousands of protesters are rallying right now. we have live

you the heated debate is over president obama's 2014 executive action that would sheed more than 4 million undocumented immigrants from deportation. 26 states led by texas claim obama's use of power here is unconstitutional. the orders would allow undocumented parents of children who are citizens to stay if they meet certain residency requirements. and it would also expand a program to protect young people from deportation if they were brought to the u.s. illegally as children. so we are watching what happens, and we'll keep you posted in the nbc washington app. back to you. well, presidential candidates battled for new york, ted cruz's campaign is turning its attention toward maryland. cruz is in new york city, but his campaign has events scheduled in bethesda and towson. cruz scheduled to gain ground on donald trump. >> the bottom line look at the po

underestimated how we do in elections. >> bernie sanders tells the "today" show he's hoping a big win in new york will help him catch up to hillary clinton. 291 democratic delegates are up for grabs. polls show clinton leading by at least ten points. sanders has been on a winning streak lately though. he is now trailing clinton by less than 700 delegates. and today we'll find out which democrats will become delegates in falk iier -- fauqur county. the caucus is tonight at the fauquier county office building in warrington. to ecuador and the race to find survivors after the country's most powerful earthquake ever. and we'll check in with the live desk as well. i'm adam live in

transit system in place? i'll tell y

i don't believe that big money can buy votes -- not in our district. and i won't claim to have single handily passed just about every bill in annapolis.

not when our basic rights are being threatened by trump and cruz. i'll stand up to their bigotry and be a passionate voice for maryland women and families. in tv and in business, i built relationships. as a woman in the house, i'll do the same to get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message. a lot of excitement in boston right now. that's a live picture at the official marathon live stream. that's where we're taking it from. the marathon there in boston underway right now as you can see. so far the first wheelchair racers have crossed the finish line. a

the half-way marker. this is the 120th boston marathon. it's been three years though since the attacks that killed three and wounded dozens of others. the city's police commissioner says all necessary measures are in place for the runners and the spectators today. right now some big news out of iraq. u.s. defense secretary ash carter is there right now meeting with several different leaders. you are looking at video from when he stepped off the plane a short time ago. now, carter says the u.s. will send about 200 more troops to iraq to help the fight against isis. we learned that news only about one hour ago now. right now iraqi forces are working to free the city of mosul from the terrorist's control. now, in addition to more troops carter says the u.s. is also considering air strikes and cyber attacks. on "nbc nightly news" tonight you can watch an exclusive interview with secretary carter between him and lester holt. lester is in the middle east and he'll anchor "nightly news" from there tonight. the show

after news 4 at 6:00. american forces also have a presence in japan right now. they're delivering aid in response to those two earthquakes that hit there. at this point rescue crews say 42 people have died. they're looking for more survivors right now. it's an even more devastating story in ecuador right now. >> a giant 7.2 magnitude earthquake. we're learning new information. news 4 at the live desk. >> the death toll in ecuador keeps going up. 350 dead now. the numbers just grow more and more grim as search and rescue teams try to get to people in time. meanwhile, thousands of other people are injured. so now we're hearing about americans who happen to be on vacation in ecuador. reporter mike lowry talked to a couple that survived the massive quake. they're from california visiting ecuador on vacation, survived the

>> reporter: the powerful earthquake shook up a california couple. alice and bill were on vacation in the tiny seaside town of san clemente. >> a lot of the buildings here are made of cement. and the side walls had crumbled down. bricks had crumbled down on the side. >> reporter: rescuers are searching desperately now for survivors. >> we're from the bay area. we feel earthquakes, but this was pretty intense. more than anything we felt in the bay area. >> and we were really kind of scared because there was a tsunami alert. we didn't know how serious that was. we had no way to get out. we had no place to go. we had to go back to get our stuff. so if a tsunami would have happened, i don't think we would have made it out. >> reporter: but there was no sue namtsunam tsunami. and

the earthquake. >> i am informed of has disappeared from earth. >> reporter: in california relief efforts are under way to help the people of ecuador. >> we have done this for other countries and so happen that this time it has touched our country and our families. >> reporter: like many who hail from ecuador, jose is closely monitoring the damage from his native land. >> people are reporting to us specific needs. and that's how the association is going to be doing. >> that was mike lowry from our partner station in sacramento reporting. this is an ongoing developing situation there in ecuador. and we'll be monitoring it all day long. you're watching a little snip-it from the trailer of "sweet smell of spring." just one of the featured films atth

this year marks the 30th anniversary of washington signature film festival. this year there are 75 films from 45 countries playing on six different screens for 11 days. joining us today, founder and director of the washington international film festival. welcome back. >> thank you. thank you. >> we've been talking about this for a lot of years now. >> it's been 30 years now. and we're very so happy to be here. >> this is something you dreamed up 30 years ago, right? >> myself and a number of friends, but washington was quite different than it is now. there was no internet, there was no netflix. and we thought we'd bring wonderful films to watch. >> but you still get people coming out. >> oh, by the thousands. >> you say that you've got something for everybody in this film festival. you've got thrillers, you've got come comedy. tell us about that. >> well, washington is a very diverse audience, so we try to bring films that we think will be interesting to them. so we have these thrillers, these international thrillers and comedies from france and from italy and germany and africa. > t

>> are they dubbed? >> no, no, they have subtitles. >> and what are we looking at now? >> this is another film that we have coming in that is from france. it's a wonderful comedy. this is also a film that was shot in cuba. it's a musical film that is about the music of cuba and the people there and the musicians. >> how do you pick the films that are going to be shown here? >> well, we get a lot of submissions. we get hundreds of submissions. we attend other film festivals. we have friends and colleagues who share ideas. >> it actually started on friday, right? the film festival. but it goes on until next sunday. >> it goes on until the 24th. we had a wonderful opening, just a great opening with catering and a wonderful film starring kate winslet. in between we're showing scores of films for people to come and have a great time. >> people can go to your website and find out what films are still out there and still coming this week. >>

all the film information is there, schedules, trailers, everything you want to know. >> but you have to have tickets, right? >> well, you got to have tickets, of course we're a nonprofit organization and we need all the support we can get to come back. >> always great to see you. >> always a pleasure too. you look great. >> you do too. and we love the fact that we've got a film festival here in washington still in spite of all the movies you can see on youtube. thank you, again, the film festival runs through april 24th. melissa. sounds like fun, thank you. we are tracking the latest on a reported midair collision between a british airways passenger jet and an unmanned drone. now, the plane landed safely in london, but as nbc's tom costello reports, this scenario is exactly what aviation experts have feared. >> reporter: it happened near the busiest airport in europe. just after noon sunday, a british airways jet flying into london he throw from

encounter with an unmanned drone. so close a report it collided in midair. the air bus a320 with 132 passengers and five crew on the board landed safely. engineers found no damage to the plane and returned it to service. if confirmed it would be among the first known collisions involving a passenger plane and an unmanned drone. with so many drones now crowding the skies, it's exactly what u.s. aviation authorities have been warning about. >> this is a situation where you have zero tolerance for any kind of interaction between an unmanned aircraft and an airplane. >> reporter: last year alone the faa reported more than 1,400 close calls between drones and planes in the u.s. >> we just had something fly over. i don't know if it was a drone or a balloon. >> reporter: the fear, a drone could take out an engine just as a flock of geese forced a u.s. airways jet into the hudson river seven years ago. at virginia tech uni

researchers simulated an eight-pound drone hitting an aircraft engine. the result, catastrophic failure that could destroy the engine and potentially bring down the plane. drone operators in the u.s. are required to register their drones with the faa. it's illegal to fly one within five miles of an airport or above 400 feet. >> america 190 use caution, a drone was reported on the rway 27 right. i'm not picking up anything on radar. >> reporter: but the close calls keep coming. >> that was tom costello reporting. ahead, a controversial take on student safety. >> we're going to take you to the school that wants to put guns in the hands of teachers. >> them to carry a weapon is totally out of the the nra and its campaign cash are what stands between us and gun reform. "searing tragedy struck in a place parents felt their children were safe"

that would let the nra skirt a new campaign finance law and block gun control. but democrat donna edwards said "no" to the nra loophole and stood up to the gun lobby. and she would ban assault weapons. democrat donna edwards, maryland's next senator. working for us pac is responsible for the content of this advertising.

but sierra club chooses jamie raskin for congress they all talk about climate change. because only raskin wrote laws to reduce our carbon footprint

raskin: i'm jamie raskin, and i approve this message. ifor all the wrong reasons.gical you may be muddling through allergies. try zyrtec® for powerful allergy relief. and zyrtec® is different than claritin®. because it starts working faster on the first day you take it. try zyrtec®. muddle no more®. the names you might want to be thinking about if you're going to talk about the caps game today. they're playing the philadelphia flyers in game three of their playoff series tonight. now, right now the caps are up 2-0. the game is at 7:00, and of course game four will be on wednesday. go caps. this is all -- >> and look at us. >> you guys are rocking the red. >> we're wearing the red. >> rocking the red. >> i didn't get the

>> well, who's thinking about ice on a day like this? >> i know. i'm not. that is a distant memory. >> the last thing you want to think of is ice right now. >> exactly. can you imagine right now if we had another snow -- >> don't tell us. don't say that. don't even think it. >> how upset would people be at that point? upset at me i know that. you know, i am loving this weather. i think everybody is as well because it's been quiet, it's been so nice. yes, we need the rain, but if we're not going to have the rain we might as well just deal with days like this. now, the pollen number, yeah, that's running up. you may have found yourself reaching for the kleenex a lot more. we don't have rain until the end of this workweek. look how beautiful it is outside. oh, goodness, try to get outside and enjoy it. looking good from our live tower camera. the weather headlines the sunshine's continuing. the pollen running high, rain toward the end of the week, maybe on thursday. but most likely on friday and saturday. our daytime high today you're going to top out in the low 80s. here in dc some areas outside

number on up, looking good throughout the day, very warm. current temperatures across the region lower 70s leesburg, washington, ma na sass already 85. panhandle of west virginia only upper 70s. no clouds to talk about here. different story as you head towards texas. that's where they're seeing some pretty nasty rain. some historic flooding in that area because we have this blocking pattern keeping our weather so nice and their weather just so nasty. lows tonight are going to end up in the 50s. and then we're back to around 80 degrees tomorrow. we got that seven-day forecast. we're not going to keep these temperatures around for much of the week. we will have to drop them a little bit and introduce some rain. we'll show you that in the seven-day in a few minutes. thank you. this man demanding an apology for what he's calling a clear case of islamophobia. the story and his words in about ten minutes. but first, commute

people tell us they're a little bit confusing. we have transpoation reprtor kids: he came here from rocky mount, north carolina. married 27 years. raised 6 kids. including 5 boys. he had grandpa move in with us. glenn: we loved having him as part of the family. it's what you do. kids: in congress, dad will protect president obama's legacy. he'll fight for jobs and protect social security and medicare. glenn ivey will never quit on you; and we should know, we're his kids. glenn: i'm glenn ivey and i approve this message. i'll take on the republicans for all of us.

breaking news. a plea deal for a former fairfax county police officer who killed a man, adam torres killed john geer in springfield three years ago. he was charged with murder, but pleaded

manslaughter this morning. right now search teams are combing through parts of shen doe wa national park looking for a missing fairfax county firefighter and paramedic. she disappeared last friday. more problems for metro, this time a small fire forced trains to single track for about an hour this morning. firefighters got the flames out just after 6:00 a.m. they say an arcing insulator started the blaze. you now have a new way to commute around here. the region's first-ever fully completely rapid bus system is in service. they get to ride around traffic on route 1 around pentagon city. our transportation reporter has been tracking the first rush hour commute and joins us live from arlington. how is it looking so far, adam? >> reporter: pretty good, barbara. and pretty impressive when you consider how many people actually turned out to ride this system. and when you take a look around at all thede

actually around these stops, just seems to make sense that it will work. if a bus gets its own lane, and gets to roll around the traffic, it could make a difference. >> it will make it easier because we won't have to wait through all the regular commuter traffic along like route 1. so, yeah, definitely easier. >> next arrival in three minutes. >> reporter: the buses here come often. >> welcome aboard metro rail. >> reporter: and they show up on time. whole new screens give you a wealth of information. the bus stations themselves look like interesting transit stops. >> metro -- >> reporter: if you can keep a schedule while providing reliable transportation, then you may get a following. >> we'll see. i'm cautiously optimistic. >> reporter: janet lives right across the street from one of these new stops. she's using it to connect to the crystal city metro station. janet thinks there will be a learning curve especially for drivers. >> and i think it's going to be very

motorists in the area. but again, i'm anxious to see how it works. >> reporter: drivers here do have to pay special attention to the lane they're in. for the next 30 days you'll get a warning if you're riding in a bus only lane. after that you could face a $200 fine. but for now riders getting on board hoping to maybe, just maybe, maybe their commute a little easier. now montgomery county and the district both have plans for rapid bus systems just like this one. they hope to get them up and running in the next few years, guys. back to you. >> all right. thank you, adam. metro is installing more escalators, this time it's at the columbia heights station where work has started on two new escalators there. it means the entrance on the northeast corner of 14th and irving streets will remain closed for nine months. escalators at the station's other entrance will be up and running once work is done on this current project all seven of the station's escalators will have been

just in to the live desk, an unusual situation at the judiciary square metro station. a person got their arm stuck in an elevator door. about a quarter to 11:00 this morning d.c. fire and ems was able to free this person after they were trapped there for some time. and this individual is being evaluated right now, barbara. >> thank you. eight more weeks until former olympic track star oscar pistorius learns his fate. today a judge set june 13th for the sentencing in pistorius' murder conviction. the south african sprinter was found guilty of shooting his girlfriend reeva steenkamp who died in their home on valentine's day in 2013. the murder conviction came after a court overturned his initial manslaughter conviction. the minimum murder sentence in south africa is 15 years, so it can be reduced in some cases. teachers at one california high school may soon begin

classrooms. school officials at kingsburg high school in central california say they want to arm a group of five teachers, only police and the superintendent would know which teachers were armed. the district says the goal is to cut down the three and a half minute gap in police response during an active shooter situation. but some worry the risks would outweigh the potential benefits. >> measures like this could actually make schools less safe. students who are prone to high risk behavior might decide they want to get their hands on those guns. >> i think accidental shootings are a concern, but to me they're no more concerned than any other accident. >> nationwide at least a dozen schools have approved school staff to carry weapons with prior administrative approval. but there have been problems. in 2014 at least two educators accidentally shot themselves on campus. the prince georges county school system is facing a federal lawsuit stemming from a

to perform a proper background check on jason jamar howard. in 2002 howard was charged with assault and sex offenses, but the charges were dropped. he later admitted to abusing an 8-year-old student while working as a teaching aide at glendale elementary school. the student's family filed the suit saying howard never should have been hired by the school in the first place. this comes as the school system deals with a sex assault scandal involving a different school volunteer. there's a traffic alert for drivers headed through langley park right now. wssc has resumed paving along university boulevard following a water main break over the weekend. it will mean partial road closures between piny branch road and new hampshire avenue. crews were able to fix the main. a major airline accused of discrimination after removing a man from a flight. that passenger who's a student who came to the u.s. as a refugee from iraq says he was doing something most people do before

nbc's lafr ra mall pert has our story. his plan was simple. set to fly from l.a. to oakland then go to class. instead, the u.c. berkeley senior was kicked off a southwest airlines flight after speaking arabic during a phone call with his uncle. >> at the end of my call i said i will call you. and he was call me when you get home. and i was like -- and that means if god is willing. >> reporter: turns out another passenger aboard the plane thought she heard him say martyr in arabic, a word often linked to jihad and terrorist. moments later he was removed from the plane, searched and questioned by the fbi. >> and while he's touching me and going into my private parts he asks me why he was there he told me do you have a knife that you might want to cut me? i cannot forget what happened. >> reporter: he says this is a symptom of a larger problem. >> i told him, you know what, this is what slamophobia got this coun

>> reporter: now he's saying he only wants one thing. >> all i need is an apology to say we are sorry that we singled you out because of some person who felt threatened because that a violation of the law. >> southwest says its crew members followed protocol and that it hasn't gotten a direct complaint about this incident. >> the airline also says it regrets any bad experiences customers have had and does not condone or tolerate discrimination. well, everyone likes a piece of chocolate. up next we're going to introduce you to one of the guys who's putting quite the message on some of your favorite treats. plus, brand new competition for netflix days after we learned the streaming service is going to cost you

the packaging is in red, white and blue, colors we see here in washington a lot, but rarely do we see them with wrappers like red state, tea party, flip-flopper, left wing and filibuster, but not so surprising a chocolate tier based in the nation's capital might put his political spin on his array of chocolates. thank you for joining us. >> wonderful to be here. >> you came here to start this company, right? >> that's right. >> colin hartman. >> that's right. >> you were actually in the marines and ended up in brazil for a while. is that where you developed your taste for chocolate? >> actually the whole idea of the company is the brain child of my wife. she worked in the industry for a couple of years and then i was in business school and she needed some business help and so i jumped in. really became fascinated with this new industry that is really called the craft chocolate industry. >> like craft beers. >> yeah. just like craft beer and coffee.

companies trying to improve the quality of the product. there are a lot of issues in the supply chain of cocao, it's something we're trying to improve while augmenting the flavor and the interesting history of such a great industry. >> let's start with the chocolate. you brought some cocoa beans. choco beans? >> they come from the fruit they're fermented and dried and that's what we import here to d.c. we manufacture everything here in northeast d.c. in our factories. >> i want to see what they smell like. well not quite like chocolate. >> no. once you roast the beans and add sugar then you start to get more of the flavors we associate with chocolate. the quality of the beans is really the most important part for the quality of the chocolate. >> do you import them here to make the chocolate? >> right. we work directly with three farms from brazil, where sarah's from. so we just launched for a brand new company and we have a few products that we launched with back in december. and we figured,

d.c., how could we not launch the political collection of partisan chocolate. so this is just our way of having fun, adding some satire into an intense period -- >> you didn't name the chocolate after yourself. it's called harper mccaw. >> yeah. >> where is that from? >> it represents two endangered birds from brazil where we source the cocoa. just symbolic of the health of the rain forest in brazil. we decided to take those two names and personify them and that's how we got harper mccaw. >> let's talk about the political names on these chocolates. >> great. >> do the taste -- you select them this is called red state. >> red state is obviously the one with the freeze-dried red berries on it. you're welcome to taste that. >> wonderful. >> sometimes the design, you know, push what sort of inclusions we wanted in the chocolate. and then other times the actual inclusions like the tea party was very

>> flip-flopper. >> so that's sweet and salty it has sea salt as well as butter toffee. >> all names and titles and phrases from washington. >> the filibuster. >> is that one you've got? >> yeah, so that one i actually ate on the way here so it's not available to try -- all the other ones are here. >> tell me if these don't have any sugar. >> no, they actually don't have a lot of sugar. >> really? >> the quality of the cocoa bean is really high, so you don't need to add as much sugar. that's where 85% cocoa for example. >> the packaging is beautiful. we wish you luck with it. where can you buy it? >> multiple places in d.c., salt and sundry, baked and wired, a lot of different stores. coffee shops around here. i wanted to make sure i mentioned our design creative agency design army was behind the visual graphics here. we really consider this to be a collaboration. >> well, we thank you so much

the beautiful -- >> you can keep the rest of the chocolate too. >> well, i appreciate. melissa, i'm bringing it over. thanks so much. >> thank you. >> lauryn, i know you like chocolate too. >> i was literally just standing here saying i hope he leaves some of that chocolate because i'm going right to the studio after this and grab me some of that. and what a great day. at least we're not talking about hot chocolate out there. a little too warm for that as those temperatures are warming up into the low 80s. enjoy it, yeah, it might be a little warm, but at least we don't have that humidity. those dew points in the 40s, pretty much going to stay on the dry side, so again we're not worrying about that moisture coming in here and upping that humidity. low to mid-70s, even upper 70s, leesburg, gaithersburg, it's warming up all throughout the region outside the beltway. here in d.c. i do believe we'll be in the upper 70s earlier this afternoon. and then eventually we'll top out in the low 80s. but still it's going to be clear, it's going to be clear into tonight. and of course no rain. when we don't have any rain, we don't have anything to wash that

feel it out there. tree pollen running high. grass pollen on the low side. main culprits are oak, ash, mulberry, birch, you name it, that tree pollen running high. we're not going to have any rain until the end of the workweek. if you can deal with the pollen, get out and enjoy it. it's going to be great today. this eching, even tomorrow we will be a little breezy tomorrow but warm. warmer temperatures in the 50s, that wind will pick up through the mid-morning tomorrow, and then a few more clouds. but we're going to remain dry tomorrow. and dry for the next four days. i do think maybe there could be a sprinkle on thursday. we'll have to watch the timing of that. temperatures slip a little bit on wednesday, but we're back in the 70s thursday and friday again. that will be our next chance of rain thursday into early saturday morning. but other than that that's all we're looking at before more sunshine arrives on sunday. guys. >> just keep that sun around. that's all we're asking you, lauryn. that's not too much, is it? putting the finishing touches on your tax return, it is tax day if you

tonight. the irs says as many as 5 million people could file today. if you don't have time you can ask for a filing extension, but you do still have to pay today in honor of tax day there are some discounts you can take advantage of. we need something, right? we'll tell you where to go coming up in trending in just a couple of minutes. just in, virginia's state lab is going to be testing for the zika virus. the cdc was backlogged so this should mean faster test results. as of last thursday the virginia department of health reported 11 cases of zika, back to you. thank you. tonight on the top 12 an all new episode of "the voice." >> will you be watching? >> i'll be watching. >> me too. among them a singer who has roots in our area.

to be a party or parade ♪ >> that was owen on last week's playoffs. coach adam levine saved him to bring him to the top 12. he lives in new york now, but he's from d.c. he says some of his big musical influences included artists like john mayer, bob dylan. >> they are such story tellers. they may not be the greatest technical singers in the world, but they are so honest and they're so easy to connect with. >> and we like them. another likely influence owen's own father who was in starland vocal band who hit "afternoon delight" earned them two grammys. remember that? >> absolutely. >> i mentioned before they really have such amazing talent on this show. >> and that song has been in my head since he sang it a week and a half ago or whatever it was. >> i know you're going to be singing it until tonight. >> but not out loud because i

really terrible if i do that. new technology could mean comfort for families with a loved one in surgery. >> in a few minutes we're going to show you how doctors are getting closer to procedures tailor made for their patients. stay with us.

i don't believe that big money can buy votes -- not in our district. and i won't claim to have single handily passed just about every bill in annapolis. we can't settle for the same old politics, not when our basic rights are being threatened by trump and cruz. i'll stand up to their bigotry and be a passionate voice for maryland women and families. in tv and in business, i built relationships. as a woman in the house, i'll do the same to get things done. i'm kathleen mathews and i approve this message. i'm kristen wright, and here's a look at what's trending. beyonce fans are going crazy after a trailer for what looks like a visual album

take a look. lemonade will premiere on hbo this saturday at 9:00 p.m. beyonce has not commented on the speculation but is expected to drop a new album later this year. and it would be timely as her formation world tour kicks off next wednesday. now, let's send it over to our social media editor britney johnson, she's got some tax day treats to tell you about. >> it's tax day everyone. and you have until midnight tonight to finish your filing. but the good news is there's lots of free-bies and deals taking place today. just search tax day in our app for more details. >> finally this morning, nba star steph curry teams up with the potus for a closer look at his my brother's keeper initiative, schooling him in the ways of connect four and even how to properly shoot a jump shot. the president hopes men will sign up to become mentors to young men around the country. and that is a look at w

trending. back to you. all right. thank you, kristen. amazon is keeping up with the competition. the online company has launched a new stand alone service called prime video. they launched it sunday. it costs $8.99 a month, another change for amazon they are now offering amazon prime monthly subscriptons for $10.99. that is a change from the original yearly subscription. customers have the option to turn it off and stop paying at any time. the newest dunkin' donuts in our area catering to a few top politics. >> we're here in town because we just opened a location right in the u.s. house of representatives, which we're really excited about. there's nothing more american than donuts. >> the new location has custom donuts like the cherry blossom and capital craze donut. to see the full interview go to the nbcwashington.com facebook page -- i mean the app. and news for your health rn, or

their patients all the time. they say it's changing medicine. nbc's brian shows us advances that could be used for your children monday. >> over 1,000 medical device leaders gathering at the university of minnesota. some people even linked in from across the country. >> in this very room about an hour ago they finished a live stream of a surgery that was being done in pennsylvania. >> reporter: the theme of this year's conference is 3d and biological printing. 3d printers are giving doctors a chance to see and interact with replicas of a patient's organs before they even operate on it. >> customizing personal, specific surgeries, we're not there yet. but we'll get there. there's no doubt we'll get there. because technology is moving so fast. >> reporter: he says another thing getting a lot of buzz this year is home health care and devices patients could wear so doctors can monitor them after they leave the hospital. >> well, we have a shirt on, but why can't the shirt have some type of

that's measuring maybe heartbeat, blood pressure -- >> reporter: a lot of ideas discussed. and his company sits side by side, some even competitors, the focus is on one thing. >> it's all about patients. and it's all about understanding the real needs. >> the design of medical services conference took place in minneapolis just a couple of days ago. we also talked about robots for surgeries, new kinds of prosthetics and micro devices that can test your blood. and we're back with one last check of the forecast next. stay with us.

the nra and its campaign cash are what stands between us and gun reform. "searing tragedy struck in a place parents felt their children were safe" chris van hollen met with nra lobbyists to craft a loophole that would let the nra skirt a new campaign finance law and block gun control. but democrat donna edwards said "no" to the nra loophole and stood up to the gun lobby. and she would ban assault weapons. democrat donna edwards, maryland's next senator. working for us pac is responsible for the content of this advertising.

well, we're just loving this weather out there. most people are. now, we do have that pollen running pretty high right now, that tree pollen. and it's a little warm, but at least we don't have that low humidity. low 80s for daytime highs today. again, we're going to continue to take that temperature up, eat some lunch outside, eat some dinner outside, maybe have a few drinks considering it is tax day as well. but wonderful weather for tax day as temperatures top out in the low to mid 80s. overnight tonight temperatures falling into the 50s. not quite as cool as previous nights. back to near 80 tomorrow with breezy conditions. upper 60s on wednesday and then rain chances friday and saturday. get that pollen out of here before sunday we return to sunshine. guys. all right, thank you, lauryn. that's it for news 4 midday. thanks for joining us. we're back on air

at 4:00. >> and you can get your news and weather updates any time with

♪ the >> announcer: today on the meredith vieira show pitch perfect stars got engaged. you will not believe what she did when he popped the question. it is time for another juicy secret? who is revealing today. actre actress blythe dannon opening up about "madoff" and criminals. look at your car's car seat. it is scary. we have must have tips to keep your family safe this winter. it is all on "meredith". ♪ makes you feel good.