new information from in quiet town community that is the keep of a deadly shooting involving a charles county family. another member of the family has died and we're learning more about the person police say is responsible. >> right now the house is in session ahead of today's vote on the health care overhaul and after a reported ultimatum by the president. a look at the chances this bill will pass in the next few hours. and it is raining outside right now but don't worry, it will clear out and temperatures will warm up. i'll show you the forecast coming up.

lawson muse. >> investigators are now saying a shocking shooting in charles county appears to be a murder suicide. two young children dead. their mom in the hospital right now. news 4's justin finch is live in waldorf. >> reporter: that's right, new information from the charles county sheriff's office identifying three of the four victims in this case. we're told that when officers arrived here last night they found a woman bloody and shot outside of her home. inside an upstairs bedroom they found two daughter, one 4 years old died on scene. a 17-year-old later died at the hospital and suspected shooter in this case is their own father who is said to have turned the gun on himself. on this cloudy quiet day, hardly a trace of the horror that befell this block thursday night. >> little girl is a cute little

hi, hi. >> reporter: but neighbors won't see the friendly faceany more. 4-year-old and her father carl ton, they and lay la's 17-year-old sister died in a shooting in the 3300 block of west dale court. their father carlton the suspected shooter. authorities say he was found dead with a gun near his side. la tanya williams won't forget her daughter's frantic call. >> she started crying, mommy, i'm scared, somebody got shot. can you come home? >> i saw a lady on the ground, blood all over her. >> reporter: charles county sheriff's investigators suspected he open fire on their wife and daughters last night in a apparent domestic related shooting. the teen and her mother were shot several times and air lifted to a nearby hospital. >> really shocking and disturbing. you know, i didn't sleep very well last night. >> for those who live close, it was a tragedy they never

three lives lost, one just begun. >> and on social media, friends of goodwin are expressing their condolences in this case. so far investigators have yet to have found a motive. back in to you. >> justin finch, thank you. we've also got breaking news in the district, a guilty plea in the comet ping pong pizza case. >> derrick ward is live with what happened in court a short time ago. derrick? >> reporter: he came to town with guns and a grudge, 28-year-old edgar welch drove to d.c. for what he called an investigation, a rescue mission landed him -- and charged videos -- >> i think we're having some trouble with derrick's live shot

we'll try and get back with him if we can. >> developing, a man killed in the district overnight. d.c. police say a neighbor called 911 about a shooting not long after midnight. police found the man on near 19th street, shot in the head. he later died. police didn't say if they arrested anyone. take a look at this video chopper 4 captured of a serious crash in charles county. an suv went off the road in anybuanne newburg at 5:30 this morning. three people were air liptfted the hospital. the road has since reopened. three adults and two children were injured in a fire in prince william county. a viewer sent us this video from ramrock road where the huge orange lightus

prince william county fire says there was serve peopven people t the time. turning to the weather, a cloudy and cold start to the day but there is some good news right around the corner and with that meteorologist sheena parveen is here to explain. >> you saw the rainy view on the left and temperatures on the right. it is still cool outside. rain a little on the heavier side where you see the yellow through d.c. near the beltway. the beltway is really getting rain around currently and bethesda towards reston getting the rain. it is going to quickly move through. once it moves through we don't have any more rain coming our way. we're going to be dry this afternoon and once we dry out, temperatures are going to rise. take a look here, we'll be in the upper 50s early this afternoon. then by mid afternoon in about the mid to low 60s. a cold start this morning. that's going to lead to a warmer day but wait

tomorrow's forecast an even warmer start to the weekend. i'll show you those numbers coming up. >> right now the d.c. council is hearing from witnesses in the confirmation hearing for acting d.c. police chief peter newsham, it's the next step in his confirmation process. the acting chief has the support of mayor bowser and his predecessor cathy lanier, she'll testify on his behalf. more than 80 people are set to testify today. >> he has tremendous experience and track record of success in working with my partners like myself and others through the capitol region. build alliances and relationships and always leave things better than you found them. >> newsham will be the last one to speak and he'll take questions from the council. >> a local non-profit group is now suing to get d.c. police records related to arrests during the inauguration protest. you remember these scenes? the

justice funds says the information needs to be released before chief newsham is confirmed. d.c. police arrested 231 people on charges of felony rioting on inauguration day. the group says when officers use those kind of tactics use the that day in particular, their required to file documentation why it was justified. now the organization is suing for the documents under the freedom of information act. >> here in washington, d.c., in the nation's capital, it is one of the most important jobs of the chief of police to be able to uphold the constitutional rights of people to demonstrate. >> we reached out for comment and we were told they don't comment on pending litigation. new this morning, hundreds of employees in d.c. will unionize, mark seagraves broke the news about employees of amr, the ambulance service that assisted d.c. fire when pats

nonlife threatening injuries. there are more than 200 amr employees based in the district and they'll join the american federation of state and county and municipal employees union. it will be a make or break vote on capitol hill today. republicans are expected to vote on their plan to replace the o fordable care act. the vote is expected to take place this afternoon. the house is debating the bill right now. the big question is whether republicans have the votes to pass it. latest count shows 32 republicans are ready to vote no. we are going in depth in the vote in the next half hour, including how it will impact you and most average americans. the answer is very different depending on your health care needs. >> and new information about the american killed in attacks in london and his ties to our area ayxt on midd

some have it, some don't. when the odds are stacked against you,

at strayer university we've seen it in our students for 125 years. and if you ever think of quitting, our success coaches will be there to pick you up and work with you every day to put you on the right path. it's time. strayer university. let's get it, america.

another development about the terror attack in london. >> this is a new photo of the man police say drove into a crowd and stabbed a police officer. they are working to learn whatever they can about khalid masood. >> bill neely has the latest from london. >> reporter: london sigh excellent, standing in tribute, a mayor and city grieving as a fourth victim of terror died, a 75-year-old bsh

a muslim convert. >> the dead terrorist khalid masood, had a number of aliases and we do know his birth name was adrian russell. >> reporter: he had been jailed for violence but not for terrorism. he was once investigated by mi5 in relation to concerns about violent extremism. >> reporter: police have searched his home and raided others making two more arrests overnight. more than 30 injured are still in the hospital. american kirk cochran from utah was one of four killed. he and his wife melissa were on the last day of a european tour to celebrate 25 years of marriage. she too is still injured. in utah, their friends rememb remembered curt. >> curt had such an uplifting way about him. you know, it made you feel good. >> reporter: there were many american survivors

be alive. >> car comes out of nowhere and it just hits four to five innocent bystanders on street. >> reporter: in london the search goes on. police on their knees. westminster bridge in parliament have reopened and searches ongoing at five homes. london still on high alert. police say this morning at the very core of their investigation is how was the killer radicalized? online, on his own? was i really a lone wolf or helped or directed by others? that's why the raids and the searches are ongoing. back to you. >> new at midday, we're learning more about the american killed in the attack in london. the cumberland times news is reporting cochran was from that city. the paper says he graduated from fort hill high in cumberland decades ago, he was 54 in england celebrating his 25th anniversary with his wife. she was seriously

new today, the trump administration is giving the green light to build a keystone pipeline. it reverses the obama administration clearing the way for the $8 billion project to be completed. it marks one of the biggest steps taken by date to prioritize economic development overenvironmental concerns. and the battle over president trump's supreme court pick heating up today. the senate's top democrat vowing to block the nomination of neil gorsuch setting up the possibility of the so-called nuclear option. and nbc's kristen welker with the latest. >> good morning. >> reporter: the state of supreme court nominee neil gorsuch and future of the supreme court are both up in the ail this morning. >> i'm humbled and honored every day i come to work. i've been humbled and honored to be here with you. >> reporter: despite sailing through confirmation hearing relatively unscathed, still angry about the

vowing to block gorsuch's nomination with a filibuster. >> after careful deliberation, i have concluded that i cannot support judge neil gorsuch's nomination to the supreme court. my vote will be no and i urge my colleagues to do the same. >> while there are enough republican votes to confirm him by a simple majority. senate rules require a super majority to end a filibuster. mitch mcconnell has threatened to use the so-called nuclear option, a maneuver that allows senators to change the rules in order to confirm gorsuch with only 51 votes. the problem is it is not a one time exception. and could set a new precedent in the senate. republican senator lindsey graham while reluctant would support the nuclear option. >> whatever it takes to get him on the court i will do. >> reporter: back in january, president trump agreed. >> would you want mitch mcconnell

option? >> yes, i would. >> reporter: the white house hoping the extreme move won't be necessary. >> we call on senator schumer to follow democrats to abandon this attempt to block judge gorsuch from receiving a fair up or down vote that he and the american people have voted for. >> that was kristen welker reporting. senator mcconnell wants to get gorsuch confirmed before the senate takes its easter recess in the first week of april. >> the national museum of african-american history and culture has been open for six months and packed just about every day. 1.3 million visitors have walked through the doors. if you'still waiting for a chano visit, entry passes for july will be available beginning april 5th. >> poetry we picture rhymes on pieces of paper. >> tlsz a group of teenagers in the d.c. area taking poetry to a whole new level. amy cho takes us in theor

>> if the truth is concealed. >> reporter: adding delivering them from memory. >> not a minority. >> reporter: don't forget being vulnerability. >> weight upon my sofa. >> reporter: and the result sam poetry. >> like church bells. >> reporter: they perform and judges sean get scored from one to ten. >> make my father happy. >> reporter: to win creativity is free. >> i feel free when i'm writing appoint et t poet poetry. >> brought out feelings no other art form has for me. >> reporter: they don't have to rhyme but they've certainly got reason. >> you better be talking to your mother and saw these two guys bothering this girl like cat calling but to an extreme, they kept following her down the street. >> walking on new world order. >> i've seen a bunch of violent attacks on people that look like me and are my

>> reporter: the teens tell me their work is never over, they are still constantly going through line by line to see how they can make it better. >> definitely feel as a human being i should care about other human beings an what it is they struggle through. >> reporter: they do it through words. >> afraid to tell her. >> reporter: that speak volume. >> crying in a confessional booth. >> reporter: amy cho, news 4. >> so talented and that young man with that deep, deep voice. >> yeah. >> slam poets are gearing up for big competition this weekend. more than 200 local teens are vying for five spots at the international finals in july. >> the final five will be decided saturday night arena stage at southwest. to learn more about the group or attend gs the event, you can head to our website, nbcwashington.com and search slam poetry. good tough. >> things are about to get hot and heavy at the national zoo. sounded so much better when

breeding season is almost here and giant panda is getting ready. the zoo says he's in full rutt, making him very restless. zoo keepers have watched him washingt watching through the window and making noises at her. she responds with a moan that indicates she is not interested in him just yet. >> meanwhile -- >> give her a little time. meanwhile, on the other side of the world, bao bao just moved into her brand-new digs, it's of course at the conservation and research center for giant pandas in china. this is new video of bao bao getting used to her new digs. she has a playground to share with her brother. bao bao spent a month in quarantine after arriving in china from washington. >> we miss her but looks likes she's

them. >> it is expected to be a very big weekend for the cherry blossoms along the tidal basin. >> what you can expect if you plan to visit. >> i'm britney johnson, it's going to be a gorgeous weekend in the d.c. area. outside of checking out cherry blossoms are there are other ways to enjoy the warm weather, you can check out cherry blossom restaurant deals and specials and take a fee yog ga class at the kennedy center sean one of the biggest light art installations is coming to the area next week. search the scene in our app and don't forget to tag us in your spring pi

so it looks like the weather and cherry blossoms are finally on the same page. we are expecting not only temperatures in the 70s but also peak bloom weekend at the tidal basin. >> megan mcgrath has more on why for a while it was touch and go for the cherry blossoms. >> well last week's cold snap really did a number on the cherry trees down by the tidal bas basin, you can see the damage that was done. about 50% of the yoshino cherry blossoms were killed in that cold. well the surviving blossoms though, they are starting to move and pop. if we look over at this tree over here, you can see this is in really good shape. lots of blossoms are open, still have a few buds here and there as well. hoifr we are expecti

temperatures to begin to rise today and it's going to be a gorgeous weekend that's going to move things along and the peak bloom time for the cherry blossoms down here on tidal basin is now this weekend. now, your best bet because the peak is falling on a weekend, it's going to be very crowded. you'll want to take public transportation, a metro or bus or walk down here. all kinds of people will be taking pictures and checking things out. keep in mind lots of activities, many of which are free. it's certainly worth coming down. it's going to be a gorgeous weekend. back to you guys. >> gorgeous weekend finally and it's going to really warm up so that should help them pop. >> yes, we do hope that will help them pop because temperatures will be in the ' 70s tomorrow. we have the rain around, it's kind of cool outside, but don't worry, once the rain leaves, temperatures will jump up. we expect to be in the 60s this afternoon. clearing afternoon today. you'll noticet

your evening commute will be dry, milder for your friday night plans and staying dry. if you do have those plans this evening, tomorrow though, 70 degree temperatures return, live look outside, it is rainy, 40 degrees is the current temperature. that's a chilly rain. as we go through the day, temperatures will warm up. here's a look at the radar, a small area of rain moving through right now in the district but mostly the heaviest shown south of alexandria near mount vernon but still across the beltway upper marlboro seeing the rain currently and east of frederick. in clarks become you're seeing another round moving through. there's nothing behind it except a little bit drier air. so we don't have any more rain heading our way. that area will be moving out soon. future weather shows that by 1:00 p.m. we should really be mostly dry across the area. now we're going through the evening, nice and dry if you're heading out and dry

saturday. currently, parts of the area are still in the upper 30s. so again, it's cold, kind of rainy, if you're dining out, temperatures will be again in the 60s once we clear out after lunchtime. closer look at your extended forecast and weekend forecast coming up. >> thanks, sheena. >> in a few minutes we'll introduce you to the american record holder who spent more time in space than anyone else. >> and there's a lot of drama on capitol hill over the health care overhaul, no matter what happens, you will most likely be

more on breaking news from the top of the broadcast. edgar welch pled guilty this morning to transporting a weapon across state lines and assault with a deadly weapon. welch's case received national attention for its implications about fake news during the presidential election. in december welch took a gun into the pizza restaurant, comet ping pong in northwest and fired shots. police say he told them he was investigating a fake internet report about democrats and child sex trafficking. he'll be sentenced in june. we are now back with the bigger picture heading into today's vote on health care in the house. starting with what's happening today and president trump. >> president is making it clear

delivered an ultimatum to republicans last night through his budget director telling them to pass the bill replacing the affordable care act or it stays. here's what's happening right now on capitol hill, the vote on the bill is expected to happen this afternoon possibly between 4:00 and 4:00 or 5:00. democrats are expected to force procedural votes throughout the day in order to stall as long as possible. while lawmakers debate this bill, many of their communinstis are on edge. >> nbc's gadi schwartz has a look how this political fight in d.c. is impacting every day americans. >> reporter: at 5 years old, jude smith has had so many medical complications after 300 visits to the hospital, his mother alita has stopped counting. >> we go all the time, even more so when he was a

>> reporter: she's usually glued to any news about health care reform but not today. it's too stressful. >> what do you think of what's happening in washington right now? >> i think that it's scary. it scares me that they might cut medicaid because it's in line with maybe a political stance. >> the republican plan could mean major cuts to state medicaid budgets and fewer services for children. an estimated 600,000 people could lose coverage in colorado alone. >> you're talking about having a whole lot of uncertainty for over half a million colorado citizens. >> her 5-year-old jude medicaid made brain surgery possible and physical therapy and even paid for jude's special orthopedic shoes. >> cool. >> reporter: in western colorado, a special needs family watching the debate with a different view. >> we're following it very closely because it's an issue that affecd

>> 13-year-old has autism. his care covered by medicaid. costs for the rest of the family skyrocketed as insurers left the marketplace. >> it tripled our mediums and increased deductible s quite a bit. >> reporter: they are counting on him, a tale of two families waiting for the vote to determine their future. gadi schwartz, nbc news, arouro colorado. >> leading to a lot of discussion online and they are concerned about the absence of women in this picture. this is the moment when they proposed cutting maternity coverage from health care plans. larry summers, the former treasury secretary for secretary clinton called it a step backwards. on the right the tea party patriots took a shot at the

the way it was passed and heritage on the hill tweeted it will lead to a rise in premiums. the next big battle could be in the senate. >> the question is are republicans going to be doing everything to take a vote on legislation that's not going to go anywhere in the senate? there is a path that basically house passes what they want and senate says you screwed up, we're going to do something even better and jam that down the house's throat later on. that's possible but also possible too mitch mcconnell doesn't have a whole lot of room to maneuver. >> some republicans in the senate have already announced their concerns about the house bill. we'll keep a close eye on capitol hill as house republicans take their vote. be sure to check the nbc washington app to get updates. >> thank you, pat, astronauts ventured out on a space walk to prep the international space station for a new parking ot

old docking port and needs to be moved out in order to make room for a docking device compatible with future crew capsules. the newport, the second of two will fly up late this year or early next year. >> it's we're taking the initial steps towards a bold and bright new future for american space flight. >> reporter: that was president trump this week signing a nasa policy bill among other things and reaffirms the agency's commitment to put a man on mars. that's sure to excite our next guest as electtro astronaut jef you hold the record for most time in space at how many days? >> 534 -- >> who's counting. >> including nearly 32 hours in five different space walks. that is incredible. it really is an honor for

with the different trips, do you learn something different or experience something different or feel something different every time you go? >> absolutely. my career was spent building or participating in the building of the international space station, first element launch in 1988, we've had continued human presence since the fall of 2000. a lot of folks don't know that and it's an orbiting laboratory. and a lot of stuff has been accomplished on it and we've got great plans for the future. >> speaking of, do you think you'll go back? >> it's too soon to tell. just got back in september. >> i'm back at the end of the line now. >> okay. are there maybe some trips that you remember more fondly than others or things that have made some more memorable than others. >> they've all been great. my first visit was at the beginning of the assembly and then i was back at midway through the assembly and then at the end of the assembly and then most recently when full unitization mode we've got this

laboratory in full unitization. >> you take spectacular pictures and they've gotten a lot of attention. they are used to commemorate the centenni centennial. tell me how those tie in together and where we can see those. >> one of my passions dourg the free time was to photograph the earth and details and there's an endless array of things you can see on earth. last year i focused -- >> these are pictures right here. >> i had a focus on the national parks across the country. i went to many of them as a child and of course later in life. >> that's cool. >> absolutely beautiful. so i the centennial was in august, so we had built a tribute for the park service. >> that is incredible. really are beautiful pictures. did you always want to be an astronaut? and in that same kind of line, what would you say to a student who says i want to be an astronaut? >> when i went to the military academy in the '70s, i began to realize i potentialou

goal. what i say to young folks is figure out what you're interests are and then pursue your interests and they will develop in the passions, work hard of course to prepare yourself for those areas and when doors of opportunity open up, you'll be prepared to enter into them. >> that's excellent advice. jeff williams, we thank you so very much for being with us, an honor to be here. >> beautiful pictures, thank you. >> it started as a cold, cloudy, rainy day but there are changes coming our way. here's a look outside right now and we're winding up for a near perfect saturday. sheena is back with a look at the weather to com e it's time, america. there's work to be done.

easy but there's grit inside of you. and if you need extra motivation the grad fund at strayer university can help push you forward. because up to your last year of classes could be on us. that's right. on us. today is the day. strayer university. let's get it, america.

it's not looking much like spring in parts of wisconsin this morning. they got hammered with a strong line of storms overnight. hail left the roads covered in ice.

there was so much hail some areas looked like it had been snowing on the road. >> nothing like that for us, this is a time where i'm so thankful we have a ten-day extended forecast because i can see a row of 60s and 7 0 degree temperatures. >> it does make you feel happier because of the seasonal depression goes away and it won't come back if you don't like the cold but temperatures tomorrow will be warmer than today. we're talking about the 70s and 60s and those will hang around through next week believe it or not. right now we have rain to get through, it's not going to last too long and we'll warm up this afternoon. right now it's chilly and rainy but we're going to warm up quickly once we dry out. there's the rain moving through the district. some of the heaviest areas shown by yellow coloring around alexandria, west springfield, falls church, another area of heavier rain about to move into the district. but once this all moves out, we will be seeing those temperatures spike. nothing behinhi

except just some cloud cover but drier air, we don't have any more rain for today. here's future weather, we go into the next couple of hours and a lot of computer models showing this quickly moving away. then for the rest of the afternoon, temperatures will be reaching the 60s and if you have the plans this evening, 8:00 p.m. looking nice and dry, we'll stay dry into the weekend too. we have upper 030s on the map though. 40 degrees in the district but this will be changing as we go throughout the day. now, if you're watching the dog today, we have one dog up for adoption, if you need a dog to walk, polka available at the humane res cue alliance, today we're talking about temperatures in the low 50s by 4:00 p.m. we'll clearly be drying out for the afternoon, 7:00 p.m., 62 degrees and mild. if you're planning tomorrow to go down to the tidal basin and see the cherry blossoms, much better day than today. no rain in the

3:00 p.m., 76 degrees for your saturday. looking really nice. sunday upper 60s, very light rain, most of sunday will be dry but look at that extended forecast, 70s and 60s only. >> spring wardrobe is around the corner. >> thank you, sheena. >> all right, look at these sweet faces. shelters across the country actually being flooded with them. even calling this kitten season. a look at how you can help coat the problem. mb

with spring comes kitten season, these little guys make more of an appearance at animal shelters across the entire nation. they are flooded with kittens. the humane rescue alliance chief operating officer is here with more information on kitten season. good morning. thank you for being here. >> thank you. >> we have a litter of kittens available soon for adoption? >> about a month. four to six weeks they'll be ready to go. >> a lot of people i just realized do not know there's a kitten season. can you explain what kitten season? >> there is indeed a kitten season and it is when we start just like all kinds of other animals, it's spring time and baby time, you're going to see baby squirrels and birds and kittens. shelters across the country and in our area we see kitten season starting anywhere from february to march and running through september. >> wow. >> pretty long season. >> so clearly mating

be -- they were already born and now ready to get adopted. so you see an influx of kittens coming into shelters now. as far as adoptions, what can you tell people wanting to adopt a kitten? >> i would say the most important thing adopt two. two kittens are so much easier to have together, they play with each other and keep each other entertained. they love it. it's great for them. and it makes it a lot more fun. >> i will say the interaction between two kittens is just -- we've been playing with the kittens for a while now before we came on and they are hilarious, they are similar to puppies, i'm more used to puppipuppy s admit but i was holding it and the kitten's feet were hanging -- didn't like it. make sure you put under the kitten. what can you say about people like myself who never owned a cat before i'm a little afraid because of just them growing up similar to a dog, kind of

what can you say about kitten proofing your home? >> farce kitten ploofing for their own safety, you want to look for things like hanging cords and making sure that kind of thing, anything easily knocked off and broken, out of their reach. as far as them doing damage to the home, it really is about training kitties, cats scratch, that's a normal cat behavior. so it's about you want to supply them with something approach, a scratching poeflt or pad. you can train them really easily to use that and not your furniture. not out for your furniture really. litter box issues, cats really train themselves to a litter box. you want to make sure they have a clean litter box, he is sfeshlly with kittens, they need a small space at first because a full house is too much for them. it's not like house training a puppy. you can train a cat to use a litter box, pretty easy. then toys, you want to have different ideas, different cats like to p d

floor. some like to chase things flying through the air. >> we know shelters are overcrowded with cats as well aside from dogs and as far as people coming in and adopting kittens this time of year, do you typically see more cats getting adopted or do you end up having these cats that people aren't taking home and you have this really bad crowding? >> it's a really important issue. we love kittens, who couldn't love a kitten but we do see the cats take a back seat to kittens this time of year. >> if your heart is set on a kitten, we will have kittens throughout the entire summer. they do come in every single day throughout the summer, litters of kittens, but don't count out the cats. we like to remind people that they grow up fast, they are kittens and adorable but become cats, do rule the cats out. >> what if you have another dog or cat in the home, what do you do when you now bring the kitten home? >> it's about making the

do it slowly. we always recommend having them in separate rooms or a resident cat, letting them have the run of the house and having the cat you adopt in a separate room then work on introducing them slowly. for people who come to our shelter to adopt, we have amazing adoption shelters, they walk them through that to set them up for success. >> perfect. thank you so much for being here. it is kitten season, don't forget and nbc is a proud sponsor of clear the shelters, proud participant. this year's event will be august 19th. if you're interested in adopting a pet, we have resources on the nubs washington app and these kittens are available, they are cute, adorable and through the humane rescue alliance. be sure you head over and take some home with you. >> they said take two. >> always two. two at a time. >> all right, thanks to sheena for that. after the break, teaching

be beautiful. >> and this is something that's been happening at a summer camp for more than 20 yes, herear

game night is our daughter allie's favorite night. and knowing that her favorite general mills big g cereals are gluten-free, like honey nut cheerios, rice chex and lucky charms, she can enjoy it her way. try new very berry cheerios. the taste of real fruit in every bite. so berry good.

right now some local high school students are getting letters of acceptance to a unique summer camp. >> spending two weeks in maine coming up with ideas on how to solve some of the world's most pressing problems. news 4's barbaraar

>> it can take a while for neighbors to become friends. here it can happen in justice days. >> it's just the beginning. >> bobby has been welcoming kids to this camp for what will be the 25th year this summer. the challenge, to create peace between neighbors and while for most of those years it was about making peace in other countries, these campers live here in america, like moona mu ham mad. >> i moved to maine when i was four years old. >> her parents were part of a large group of immigrants fleeing unrest and civil war in somalia in the '80s. >> a lot of somali people, atlanta was the site, one of the first like resettlement sites. and after atlanta, some people stayed but some people moved up north and i was part of the immigration wave up nor t

>> a state where she says there were very few people of color. >> at the time, it was the whitest state in america. my first welcoming to maine was more so with hate and with the feeling of not being welcomed. >> during the same years, every summer for two week sessions at this camp in the state of maine, kids would come not very different from these to learn to get along with each other. >> the first year we brought them from egypt and we brought palestinians and israelis. >> the camp was called the seeds of peace camp. the idea of co-founder john wall lack, an american journalist who lived and worked in the middle east. >> he had this idea of creating a camp for kids from conflict areas of the world. concentrated mostly on the middle east and soviet union. >> the conflict and prejudice was happening just down the road. >> with immigrants who recently ca

immigrants, wrapping their heads around the new concept of race and what blackness means in america right when they get to a new place and being thrown in something like a race war, that's a lot. >> and it wasn't just about skin color. >> i've always felt like religion has been the bigger elephant in the room. it didn't seem right for us to focus on the problems far away from home when we really should also be helping people in our own backyard. >> by the year 2000, a domestic was launched and first camper were from the state of maine. moona was chosen to go after her sophomore place in high school. kids learn to talk about their differences. >> a lot of like what islamophobia goes down to is not knowing. and people not knowing comes the prejudice, comes this violence and feeling of unfe

of her high school class in maine. she is now in college she continues to be active with seeds of peace and in her every day life fostering open conversation to help neighbors become friends. >> any go through a lot at camp. they go through so much together. but they really develop an appreciation for each other and they worry that they'll never see each other again. you've never seen so much hugging and crying as when they have to leave camp. >> so well spoken. barbara harrison reporting. when the kids leave camp they are called seeds and expected to use their voices to sou piece wherev peace for their lives. >> wonderful story. >> last check on the weather, a fabulous en

today, we'll be getting new 63 degrees. the rain still around the district now moving out soon. then warmer this afternoon, 76 tomorrow. 68 on sunday. the weekend will be mostly dry and rain chance on sunday is late in the day. look at that nice warm-up, the rain will linger into monday. temperatures to tart next week in the '70s and look at the morning temperatures, no 30s on the forecast there. then next week for most of the week we'll stay in the 60s, guys. >> thanks, sheena. >> and that's news 4 midday. thanks for being with us. join us again for news 4 first at 4:00 this afternoon. >> rain drops behind us. news and weather updates any time with our nbc washington app. have a great day, everybody, we'll see you again later this afternoon and tomorrow morning.

stand by, everyone, we're live in five, four, three, two, one. >> nobody got hurt. >> who doesn't feel like that. >> i want to say, natalie and i know that sharing is caring. >> i'm wearing ining ponytail. >> now.