right now communities up and down the east coast watching the track of tropical storm hermine closely. the timing of the storm also a big concern as people across our area make their plans for the labor day weekend. i'm storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. the very latest forecast is coming out as i speak. i'll show you the latest track and the potential impacts on us this weekend coming right up. good morning, everyone, i'm erika gonzalez. >> and i'm melissa mollet. police are back on the scene of a tragic accident that left a 5-month-old baby dead. this morning the officers are writing tickets hoping to prevent a similar accident.

we begin right now with breaking news. an explosion at a launch pad in florida. the latest now from molette green at the live desk. >> we've been following this breaking news for about an hour now, just getting some new details on this explosion that rocked the spacex launch site. the force of the blast could be felt miles away, shaking buildings. we're hearing there were multiple explosions for several minutes and a cloud of dark smoke filled the overcast sky. we just heard from spacex, a spokesman there confirming there was a, quote, anomaly on the pad resulting in the loss of a rocket and its satellite. there were no injuries, the vehicle was unmanned. this test fire is considered routine. it's done in advance and was done in advance of a planned saturday launch from cape canavarel air force base. that is the latest. back to you. right now people in florida are bng

and flooding as tropical storm hermine barrels toward the gulf coast. people are being told to take the warnings seriously. sara, how is it looking there right now? >> reporter: well, we can already feel that the wind is picking up. we've had on and off rain all morning long. we're just south of where that storm is expected to make landfall early tomorrow morning and there's several warnings and watches in effect here. one of them is a hurricane warning. we haven't seen a hurricane warning here on florida's gulf coast since 2012. that's when hurricane isaac came through this area. residents are being told stay inside, stay off the roads. and while many have had time to prepare for this storm, some people are not heeding this warnings and that's where they are lrunning into problems. this tropical storm has dumped a lot of rain, threatening homes, already causing some evacuations.

pets and their valuables, while other people living in flood-prone areas are struggling to get sandbags. a county just north of tampa, more than 7,000 sandbags were handed throughout yesterday alone n ocala, about 15,000 sandbags handed out in two days. the good news is this tropical storm is expected to pass through this area by tomorrow. but again, there are still some warnings and some threats for people here in this area. as it continues to move north, it brings that threat along with it to all those people on the east coast. reporting live, sarah rosario, back to you. >> the question now is what will the storm do after it crosses florida. for that we want to check in with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell who's been at it all morning long. how are things looking now, chuck, and what will that scenario be like for florida? >> florida will have to deal with a lot of wind and rain and we will as well, but to a lesser extent. we're just watching rain showers

the latest now from the hurricane center shows a developing storm out here, still expected to become a hurricane here probably before it makes landfall. this is the new track from the hurricane center just out as of the 11:00 advisory. it has the storm up here into parts of southern georgia. by late tonight early tomorrow morning. as we get towards 8:00 p.m. friday. so tomorrow night somewhere just near charleston, south carolina, here's where things get a little dicier. by 8:00 saturday morning somewhere over the pem lick owe sound, starting to show indications of being a little farther away from the coast. this is good news for us potentially, but the cone of uncertainty and the storm could be anywhere inside of here. it's a large enough storm so the wind and rain impacts will be felt a long way away from any potential center line. the good news is the new track continues to hint that it's going to go a little farther to the east, but there's a lot of uncertainty and a long way to go betweno

impact on the delaware and maryland beaches but there's a chance for heavy rain here late saturday and sunday. >> thank you, chuck. heading into labor day, travelers will be watching the weather to see if their beach days will be a washout. aaa says more than 35 million americans will travel over the final holiday weekend of summer. 87% will drive to their destination and be pleased with prices at the pumps. gas prices are below $2.50 in our area. 7% of area will fly to their vacation destination. not everyone is traveling, though. 68% of people say they plan to chill out at their own cookout. sounds good to me too. you need to know about a big traffic problem if you're driving in bowie today. police shut down the road at racetrack road. chopper 4 over that problem earlier this morning. the person very lucky. police say no one was in the car at the time and no one was hurt. they did call a tow truck but the road is still closed right now.

we now know when john hinckley jr. will live full time outside a d.c. psychiatric hospital. nine days from now it will happen, on september 10th. what is what his lawyer revealed this morning. he will leave st. elizabeth's hospital and live with his mother in virginia. in july a federal judge ruled the 61-year-old was no longer a danger to himself or others. hinckley is the man found not guilty by reason of insanity for shooting president reagan in 1981. his press secretary as well and two law enforcement officers. that happened outside a washington hotel. back to you, melissa. for days we've been following a series of tragedy, deadly accidents involving pedestrians. >> the worst one involved a mother and her baby yesterday. so now the community is showing support and sympathy for that family. megan mcgrath is live at a growing roadside mes

megan? >> reporter: well, that's right. this memorial continues to grow as people stop by and leave mementos. you can see all of the flowers. we have quite a few stuffed animals as well as notes. we have seen a spike in pedestrian deaths, five in the washington area in just two weeks. but yesterday's death of an infant in a stroller has really shaken the landsdown community. all morning long residents came to the memorial on riverside parkway. some leaving flowers, others kneeling in reflection. there are blue ribbons tied around trees and posts in the neighborhood in memory of the baby boy who died. >> it's really terrible. i feel very sorry for the family. i can't even imagine what they're going through right now. >> reporter: sheriff's deputies, lights flashing, kept watch over the intersection this morning. a 5-month-old baby died here

his mother walked him across the street in a stroller. emotions are high following the accident. there was this heated exchange with a jogger in the crosswalk yelling at a turning car to stop. the driver got a warning from the sheriff's deputy. yesterday's tragedy is the latest in a string of pedestrian deaths. five people have been killed in the dmv in the last two weeks. it's part of a national trend. fatal crashes are up 7%. pedestrian and cyclist deaths are at the highest level in 20 years. and the driver involved in yesterday's deadly accident did stay on the scene. still no word on the possibility of charges. i also got an update on the mother's condition. she was seriously injured as well, but i'm told that she seems to be improving and that they do expect her to survive. back to you in the studio. >> thank you so much. right now closing arguments

maryland man charged in the death of his girlfriend's baby. he is accused of killing the 23-month-old boy while he was in his care last august. an autopsy revealed the little boy had died from blunt force trauma and a lacerated liver. he says he found the baby unconscious after he wandered off. the jury will receive the case for deliberations after closing arguments. the rhode island avenue metro station is back open after emergency repairs to the ceiling there. metro riders were able to use the station for the morning commute after crews fixed an area of the ceiling. concrete and metal fell from above around 8:30 p.m. commuters are taking it all in stride. >> they're doing their best. i have no complaints about it. >> metro says there was no structural issues from the metal and falling debris. if you are heading to tonight's bruce springsteen concert, you might want to find

taking the metro. the boss performs at 7:30 at nats park. the last train leaves at 11:20. with no red line connection you'll have a little more time. the final train leaves at 12:17. that may not be enough time because spring stein played nearly four hours at a concert in new jersey. if you're there, say hi to melissa. runners will

>> the republican candidate did speak again this morning. hear how he is responding. at the live desk, new information coming in on a recall of a popular snack food. how plastic bits may have goen intott t

trump made his pitch to veterans this morning, speaking at the american legion convention inspect ohio, one day after hillary clinton spoke to the group. he spoke about his meeting with mexico's president yesterday and described the areas where they agree. >> we agreed in the meeting about the need to stop the illegal flow of drugs, guns, cash and people across the border and to take out the cartels. >> today's speech coming just hours after he delivered a much-anticipated speech on immigration where he recommitted himself to mass deportations. as we are learning, trump will get his second intelligence briefing tomorrow. nbc's tracie potts has the latest. >> reporter: donald trump in arizona last night. >> mexico will pay for the wall, bee

100%. >> reporter: trump hours earlier in mexico with the country's president. >> we didn't discuss who pays for the wall. >> reporter: he later explained. >> they don't know it yet, but they're going pay for the wall. >> reporter: the clinton campaign is already out with a new web video this morning claiming the great negotiator choked, then lied about it. the mexican government tweets they did discuss who pays for the wall. that mexico won't do it and that's not negotiable. tim kaine this morning called it diplomatic amateur hour. >> it shows that he sort of folded under pressure and didn't have the backbone to say to the mexican president what he's been saying over and over again. >> reporter: in the arizona speech, trump lays out his immigration plan. immediately deporting 2 million criminal immigrants. verifying that workers are legal, cracking down on those who overstay visas. the focus should be on american, not immigrant families. >> no one will be immune or exempt from enforcement.

some of trump's latino supporters, surrogates, have quit as of this morning, saying they feel betrayed, disappointed, misled after what they heard last night. joining me now, nbc news senior political editor, mark murray. yesterday you talked about the four things that trump needed to answer to really get his speech across. did he tackle those four things? did he get that done? >> really the biggest one he did. there was so much uncertainty about whether there was any way for a legal path or legal status for the undocumented immigrants and he ruled that out. he said there should be deportations, either mass deportations for criminals or self deportation for people who are undocumented immigrants and closing off any way they can make a living, do anythig, which basically says everyone needs to leave. >> i want to talk about this news fox news poll that now shows a v

clinton up 41% to trump's 39% in a four-way matchup. are we seeing a result in the shift of the way that we're seeing trump's campaign run? we're seeing a much more scripted trump, new management there? what exactly is this a result of? >> look, i think what we can see is the poll numbers have gotten a little bit closer but it's also worth noting where they had come from. you mentioned it's a two-point race in the four-way, but in a two-way she's ahead by six points. she's ahead in our survey monkey online tracking poll. six points is a pretty healthy lead in today's polarized climate. going to your question if something has changed, it's mainly because he's focused his fire on hillary clinton more over the past two or three weeks. remember before then he was going after gold star families, fellow republicans. now he has a democrat and maybe that's helped his numbers a little bit. >> nbc news senior political

for joining us. president obama is in hawaii today amplifying his call for global action on environmental protection. he's expected to speak at the pacific island conference of leaders. later today he'll visit some islands halfway between asia and north america where he recently expanded a marine monument. air travel to iran is about to benefit from the lifting of sanctions as part of the iran nuclear deal. british airways resumed direct flights to the country today. service had been suspended back in 2012 as relations deteriorated. british airways plans six round trip flights her week with more planned to be added later this year. taking a live look at the u.s. capitol. you may soon see painting crews on the outside. nearly two years of restoration work is almost complete and it's under budget. they'll be ready in time for january's presidential inauguration.

details about a recall of several popular treats, some of them sold recently in maryland and virginia. bimbo bakeries has issued a voluntary recall of these products because of a choking and/or cutting hazard posed by some small pieces of plastic that could be inside. here they are, little bites fudge brownies, the five pack, the chocolate chip muffins and blueberry muffins, 5 and 10-pack boxes and the variety pack. they were distributed to retail stores in the last two weeks. if you bought the recalled product, dispose of them immediately or return it for a full refund. that is the latest from the live desk. another effort to fight mosquitos and the dangerous diseases they carry. montgomery county officials say they are worried about you getting infected with zika or the west nile virus so they're sending out spray trucks tonight.

if you live in the strawberry hills area of gaithersburg, stay inside after 7:30. the county plans to inspect property. if you get a phone call, somebody is knocking on your door, this is probably what it's for. people came together to save a dog that was trapped in a canal. this is probably the saddest video that you're going to see all day, but it does get better. nikki was searching for food when she stuck her head through a foal and couldn't get out. people in the area heard nikki, gave her some water, gave her some food. somebody found a drill, freed her, caught her out of there. i think she's a stray so they're hoping somebody will adopt her. >> she wasn't hurt amazingly. >> incredible. coming up after the break, we have an update on the two storms threatening hawaii in the pacific ocean. >> and the life-saving steps a 6-year-old boy took to save his

we're getting our first images of the heavy rains and flooding from hurricane madeline in hawaii. the hurricane made landfall on hawaii's big island last night. most people stayed inside but a few decided to go out with their phones to get a better look. hawaii has put under a state of emergency. madeline is the first hurricane to hit the state in about 20 years. an even bigger storm, hurricane lester, is

weekend. >> here for us, we've been talking about tropical storm hermine and what that could mean for us and specifically the beaches. >> the farther east you go out to the coastline, there's going to be a much larger effect from this storm. the farther west you go, not as much of an issue. there's a great deal of uncertainty about where the storm will be and. when the timing remains fairly consistent, late saturday into the day on sunday timing for us. but exactly where it is is still yet to be determined. here's the very latest advisory from the national hurricane center. still expecting this to obtain hurricane status before it makes landfall here. by 8:00 friday night, somewhere near charleston, south carolina. as we get towards 8:00 saturday morning up here in the outer banks of north carolina, after that it's always tempting to just look at the line but you have to look at the entire forecast here because the storm could be just as

as a result, this storm could be as close by as the mouth of the chesapeake bay or right off of ocean city. it's just a long ways away so there's no way to guarantee that. as it's coming north, it's really starting to show signs of slowing down and potentially all but coming to a complete stop somewhere off the coastline. that's the reason that circle continues to expand as we get into the early parts of next week. as far as the timing. heavy rain, here comes the rain arriving here potentially as early as about daybreak saturday in southern california -- southern maryland and then possibly in the metro around noon or around the evening time frame. here's the way the next five days of looking. scattered showers today. i'll show you the high resolution model for the rest of the day but again saturday night into sunday looks like it could be very windy and rainy, especially east of the d.c. area. >> and look at th

>> yep. 6-year-old sawyer is protecting his baby sister before she's even born. he called 911 after his mom passed out at their california home. she's pregnant. his mom, danielle, is six months pregnant, said she was dizzy yesterday and fell right on her stomach. the 6-year-old was the only person inside the house and reacted quickly. >> i tried to find her phone and then i clicked the numbers 911 and then i start calling. >> he took care of everything. he's a very responsible kid. i wasn't surprised that he knew what to do. >> danielle says she plans to tell the new baby about her big brother's heroic actions. so important, i remember getting those lessons from my parents about how to call 911 when and only if it's an emergency. >> oh, yeah, got to do that. >> valuable lessons. georgetown university is

taking steps -- who the school is giving preferential status to in the admissions process coming up. plus the announcement that still has some educators in maryland ready to fight back

right now, florida governor rick scott is ordering state government offices in 51

forecasters are expecting the storm to become a hurricane before it moves ashore later tonight or early tomorrow. residents in low-lying areas are being urged to evacuate. we now know when the man who shot president ronald reagan 35 years ago will leave a psychiatric hospital. john hinckley jr. will live full time in virginia starting september 10th. his lawyer released that information this morning. an explosion this morning at the spacex launch site in cape canavarel, florida. kp spacex was conducting a test of an unmanned rocket. the rocket was scheduled to launch on saturday. welcome back. maryland's governor hopes to boost business in the state and give family extra time together. >> yesterday governor larry hogan signed an executive order to start school after labor day. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins tells us

>> reporter: this is an issue that has been heavily debated and researched in the state of maryland, even under the o'malley administration. they toyed with the idea of starting the school year after labor day. well now, maryland's governor, larry hogan, has taken steps to make that happen. he signed an executive order that will now start the maryland school year after labor day with it ending on june 15th. that's a 180-day calendar year. what the school systems are going to have to do is figure out christmas breaks, spring breaks and the rest of their vacations and days off to make sure even with those snow days and those weather emergency days, that it all fits within that calendar. some school systems, including prince george's county, are saying they don't like it. the county executive is saying that he thinks the governor is putting economic growth ahead of education. governor larry hogan saying yesterday that if they extend the summer, that they're looking at the state getting more than

through economic opportunities. thinking about places like ocean city and parents and families spending more time there. it's a debate that we expect to continue for some time in the state of maryland. some school systems may apply for special waivers, giving them an opportunity to start the school year a little earlier, but they're going to have to have some really good reasons for that. i'm tracee wilkins, news4. starting today the loudoun county sheriff's office will enforce changes to the county's noise regulations. the new rules include music not being heard beyond 100 feet from the source between the hours of 11:00 and 7:00 a.m. and a horn cannot be sounded more than 20 consecutive seconds except as a danger warning. violations range from a class 3 misdemeanor all the way up to 12 months in jail and a $2500 fine so bow careful with that. a restaurant in d.c.'s city center was just slapped with a lawsuit. a district couple say

outbreak last year at fig & olive. the couple is asking for half a million dollars. their attorney told news4 the illnesses could have been avoided if the restaurant had, quote, safe food practices in place. last year d.c. health officials linked illnesses at the restaurant to dishes of truffle fries and mushroom croquettes. news4 has not been able to reach fig & olive but an attorney who has represented the restaurant said other civil lawsuits have been resolved. red light cameras are being triggered at a fast pace. cyclists have been setting off the cameras because they are rolling through red lights. transportation reporter adam tuss has the eye-opening report on the number of violations, but also says it's a good reminder that everyone needs to share the rolled responsibility. >> reporter: cyclists triggering red light cameras by rolling through red lights. wat

obtained by news4. a cyclist rolls through a red light, comes close to a metro bus and weaves through cross traffic. in another video the light turns red and the cyclist goes through. in another the cyclist goes through the crosswalk, hangs out in the middle of the intersection. in another, a red light and a cyclist rolls as traffic is turning. >> we clearly see this as a of a tee issue. >> reporter: news4 has learned from the beginning of 2015 to april 2016 there were 1,557 red light cameras triggered boy cyclists. nowhere in the city have cyclists triggered more red light violations than right here, rhode island avenue and 1st street in northwest. a total of 276 violations at this intersection alone, according to recent stats, and this is happening at intersections across the city. mpd has no way to track c

>> if our officers do witness these cyclists violating the law, they will be cited on scene. >> reporter: it is important to put things in perspective. last year alonehere were 60,000 red light camera violations by cars in d.c., and that's according to aaa. >> let's remember who is injuring and killing people. i know this is hard to hear, but the vast majority, 99% of the people who get hit and killed walking, biking or driving is committed by drivers. >> reporter: greg billing with the washington area bicyclists association. >> we feel frustrated bicyclists are targeted when we know the real issue. i know that's going to cause a lot of controversy. so to my fellow riders, follow the rules. it makes our job easier. >> for now, a good reminder to just be safe on the roads. in the district, adam tuss, news4. georgetown university is working to acknowledge and responsible to its slave history. the school will now

preference in admissions to the descentants of slaves. two priests who were school presidents organized the sale of hundreds of people to pay off debt. this morning a university committee also released a report that also calls on leaders to formally apologize. coming up next, you can expect rain to arrive just in time for the weekend, thanks to tropical storm hermine. chuck is back after the break with when we ca n

right now, two american astronauts are taking a space walk. these are live pictures that we've got for you. for the second time in two weeks, nasa astronauts jeff williams and kate reubens are outside the space station. they are working to complete maintenance or part of the international space station's cooling system. this will be the 195th space

maintenance and assembly. very cool stuff. >> they don't have the ac working. you can't open the window. the trick is all the air would flow right out and that would be the end of that. >> so would you. >> no kidding. >> for us, all eyes are focused on hermine on the long term for the weekend but we are dealing with raindrops early today, early this morning as well. this will continue on into the afternoon. nothing all that heavy but here's storm team 4 radar to bear it out for you. light rain now mainly from the washington area southbound into parts of northern virginia. fredericksburg getting the rain. those drops are moving over the potomac and into charles county. showers out towards leesburg, virginia, those are coming in towards fairfax and poolsville and montgomery village and bethesda. not a lot of heavy rain but a passing shower can't be ruled out. here's future weather to time it out for you. most of the rain pushing into he

isolated showers in northern maryland between 2:00 and 5:00 but the coverage area gets more and more spread out with time. once we get the done down about 7:00 or 8:00, things should settle down quickly. if you're going to the bruce springsteen concert tonight, not a guarantee to be dry, but it's a likelihood. i couldn't rule out a drop or two as you're going out to the ballpark. temperatures now are only in the mid-70s for the remainder of the day. upper 70s, low 80s. if we could get a little sunshine, and there's a possibility for that this afternoon, we'll get up into the low 80s. if the clouds hang on a little tougher, it will be tougher to get into the 80s. hermine is friday night into south carolina. saturday morning the outer banks of north carolina. but again, it could be anywhere inside of that cone. the storm could be as close by as immediately next to the coastline. with time, these are two

have hinted that the storm may be going a little bit to the east. let's keep our fingers crossed and hope we get more and more of an easterly component to that forecast track with time. we just have to wait and see. today showers coming to an en. tomorrow will be very nice, sunshine and low 80s. chance for heavy rain saturday night into sunday and we have to see what hermine wants to do. as long as that storm moves out, we'll be back into the 90s by the middle of next week. >> all right, thank you, chuck. watching colin kaepernick. the quarterback's actions before tonight's game expected to be watched as closely as any action on the field. up next, a look at his ongoing and controversi al

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tonight we're expecting another development in that protest everyone is talking about. san francisco quarterback colin kaepernick says he will not stand when the national anthem is played. he says the flag does not represent freedom, liberty and justice, specifically for black people in the country. the 49ers played the san diego chargers tonight and kaepernick says he plans to sit again. his protest has been incredibly divisive. he's been blasted by other athletes and supported by others, including people in the military. we have been talking about that big storm that is about to hit florida, of course, and the impact it could have here this weekend. tropical storm hermine already caused a couple of changes.

preseason game last night. as jason pugh shows us, the rain didn't slow them down. >> it was a rainy and sloppy night here but the redskins wrapped up the preseason with a victory over the tampa bay buccaneers. tropical storm hermine affected this game earlier in the week. it was supposed to be played on thursday, instead moved up to wednesday. the rain fell all game long and it certainly had its effect on the players. >> a little different dynamic. the ball gets really heavy and it gets pretty slick. but that's why you've got to practice it in the off-season and during the week so you can prepare for it and understand how to adjust. overall glad we had no turnovers and got the win tonight. >> i played at the university of florida, so we had an indoor stadium for practice facility so we played in the rain all the time. i'm used to it. >> being in the rain takes you back to your childhood games. you never had

in the rain when you were younger. once you get out and got wet, it's just like let's play football. >> the redskins flew in yesterday morning and flew out right after the game. they didn't want to take any chances being delayed from the tropical storm coming. i'm jason pugh, news4 sports. >> thank you, jason. because the storm changed the football schedule, it changed our primetime programming too. we had to move "america's got talent" from last night to tonight. it airs from 8:00 to 10:00 right here on nbc4. leaders around our area, are talking about it again. the redskins next stadium. it could be a big battle between the jurisdictions around here. yesterday virginia governor terry mcauliffe got things started on our news partner, wtop. >> if it makes sense for the taxpayers of virginia and the folks at the redskins, then we can come up with a deal. there are creative ways to do it. as you saw the recent deal out in l.a., there was no taxpayer involved in that one. >> governor mcauliffe said he's been meeting with the team's managt

loudoun county. after that jack evans told our tom sherwood the best site is where rfk stadium is right now. prince joegeorge's county execue says he wants the team to stay put at landover. some good news for families this morning with young kids. car companies are making car seats easier and safer to use. chris clackum breaks down the number for us. >> reporter: for many parents finding the right latch or anchor to safely secure a child restraint seat is a quest on par with finding nemo. >> lower anchors can be too deep in the seat and be difficult to maneuver around the tether anchors can be easily confused with other hardware. >> reporter: the insurance institute for highway safety found parents using adult seat belts because they couldn't locate latches or anchors. a year

standards to make finding them easier. a year later, several automakers have already made changes. >> part of the improvement is that the tether anchors are moved higher up and are in the middle of a seat back and they're clear low labeled. >> reporter: the institute just concluded tests on 170 vehicle malls, most of which earned a good or acceptable rating with the audi q-7,toyota prius getting the highest marks. a year from now they expect child restraint seats to be even more secure. chris clackum, nbc news. claims for flooded and damaged cars in louisiana are finally coming in. the national insurance crime bureau estimates at least 100,000 insured vehicles were soaked. last month more than 30 inches of rain fell in pa

there is a warning to buyers that flooded vehicles without insurance are frequently cleaned up and resold, so keep your eye out for that. if you see a coupon for food lion, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. the grocery store is asking people not to click on this. this coupon says you can take $90 off a $95 purchase. people are seeing this on facebook. food lion says not only is the coupon fake, they're worried that it could expose your computer to some risks online, so please do not click on that. you're going to have to wait a bit longer for the newest samsung smartphone to arrive. landon dowdy is here to explain the problems that the galaxy note 7. >> reporter: shares of samsung taking a hit as the consumer electronics giant delays shipments of its new galaxy 7 smartphone. the move is due to quality control testing ando

phone's battery exploded while charging. walmart is kicking off its holiday layaway program two weeks early this friday. the retail giant is hoping to get a head start on the year-end shopping season and repeat last year's strong toy sales led by star wars. layaway could account for 15% of walmart's holiday sales in low income areas. i'm landon dowdy. >> have you started your christmas shopping yet? >> oh, get out of here. >> you'll call my mom october 15th, what are you doing? going through my christmas list. she's done november 1st. >> this earlier start on layaway plans really is a life saver because you've got extra time to little by little chip away at that and it perhaps diminishes some of the crowds on black friday maybe? >> not bad, not bad. >> speaking of things that are probably too early for most of us, it is the beginning of

september and starbucks is already getting you ready for fall. >> yeah, it's the famous pumpkin spice latte returns today. followers can request a psl fan pass to get the drink today. it will be sent to your phone as a text message. it returns a full week earlier than last year. people were breaking out in hives and stuff last year, so they had to bump it up a week. >> i will say, i will splurge every now and then for the expensive latte but i will not call it a psl. i'm not trendy. >> psl, what are they talking about? if you like surprises, there's a new travel service we want to tell you about. >> it has some on

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today pope francis is continuing his green agenda by asking christians to do more for the planet. the pope is proposing adding care for the environment to the traditional works of mercy that christians are called to perform. he delivered that message during his speech. the pope instituted the day last year as a way to highlight his glean agenda -- green agenda. our economic system has turned the earth into an immense pile of filth. how would yo

a trip where it's already planned for you? >> the control freak in me says no. something travel agents has been helping vacationers do for years but now there's a new way to travel that will have you surprised. >> ariel and alex are heading off on vacation and they have no idea where they're going. >> i really wanted to go somewhere with alex but i had no way and no time to plan. >> reporter: they're trying a new travel startup called pack up and go which leaves the destination a surprise. just go online, set a budget, dates and type of trip. >> if you like spas or craft beer, hole in the wall restaurants. and then you tell us anything else we need to know. >> then pack up and go gets to work. a week before departure clients get an e-mail with the weather forecast, what to pack and one thing to save for later. an envelope to open at the airport. >> so where do you think you're

we're going so that we could pack appropriate clothes. >> we know the city is very scenic and so to bring a camera. we know that we had to bring hiking shoes and a bathing suit. >> reporter: other travelers have trekked everywhere from austin to barbecue to nashville for breweries. chicago for a first anniversary plus san diego, new orleans and minneapolis. the start-up says it's not just for millennials. >> we've had couples celebrating 70th birthdays or 30th anniversaries. we've had women that are best friends for 45 years. >> what are your final two guesses? >> portland, maine. >> portland, maine? that's amazing! >> no cheating! >> and away they go with a custom itinerary in hand. >> this is nice. it's been exciting. there's so many great places to eat. >> a surprise getaway that makes the journey as delightful as the destination. >> what do you think? >> i dont

if you could check off like no this, no that, if you could do a couple of nos, like i've been to some -- i don't want to be sent somebody i've been. >> and it's been the united states. >> yeah, yeah. all right. let's get to chuck with a look at the latest models now. >> is it free? here's the latest on hermine. the forecast track here continuing to show a real possibility of impacting especially our coastline. the delaware and maryland beaches will have a much larger impact from this storm than we will along the i-95 corridor. the further west you go, the lower the impact will be. saturday night into sunday is the time frame to watch very, very carefully and then we'll have to wait and see what hermine needs to do. watch out saturday night and sunday for the possibility of wind and rain here before the heat returns. >> thank you, chuck. that is it for news4 midday. thanks for joining us. w we're back on air first at 4:0

and weather any time with our nbc washington app. have a great day and we'll see

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