she said that may be why he came to the d.c. area from illinois. >> he wanted to go up there and work with people to change the tax brackets. he made preparations for leaving. >> what kind of preparations did he make? >> he sold almost everything he owned from his business. she revealed a lot more information about hodgkinson. you'll hear from justin finch at 5:00. this is a story we will continue to follow. you can get the developments with us on air and on the go with the nbc washington app. disturbing image discovered montgomery village. somebody hung a noose from a tree. it was hanging in a common area near the parking lot. montgomery county police are asking anybody with information on this to please speak up. today president donald trump expected to make it more difficult for you to visit cuba in the future. he's going to announce new travel restrictions later today. that's going tope

miami. he's eliminated the category that allows individuals to travel to cuba alone. instead, you need to be part of a licensed tour group. they're hoping to stop tourism money from going straight to the castro governors. they can visit the island under 11 other categories. this will not impact flights nor cruises to the island nation. coming up, news 4's tracie potts is going to break down how this could hurt cuban small businesses and the owners down there. 4,000 military families will soon prepare to send their loved ones into a war zone. the trump administration is sending 4,000 additional american forces to afghanistan. most of the troops will train and advise afghan forces. this morning, the man arrested for having guns at trump international hotel is back in police custody. authorities say brian moltz was ordered to stay out of d.c. but he came back. police say this time it was to buy drugs. we're told he

concerning things on facebook including a photo of newspaper headlines about wednesday's shooting in alexandria and a black bag with unknown contents. he will stay in jail until his trial. today one of the men accused of beating up protesters at the turkish embassy will be in court. he was one of 12 people that d.c. police arrested there. you can see him kicking and beating protestors from outside the turkish ambassador's residence last month. turkey's president errdogan was in town. the jury was deadlocked, but it's trying to reach a unanimous decision. hours from now jurors will return to court to try to determine bill cosby's fate. they couldn't come together on any of the counts of aggravated sexual assault. cosby is accused of drugging and molesting a former temple employee 13 years

consensual. if the jury remains deadlocked prosecutors will have four months to decide whether to retry that case. dozens of women say cosby sexually assaulted him and he denies all of those allegations. now one of his accusers is trying to get sex crime laws changed. we'll show you how charlotte fox hopes to make a difference. >> a pleasant start as we came into the studio this morning. >> very nice out there. >> 4:33. >> before we do that, want to get to melissa mollet. high, guys, busy morning clearly in the weather department. busy morning on the roads. melissa mollet tracking developments this morning. >> that's right, guys. here's the problem. we do have breaking news northeast. benning road shut down both directions between oklahoma avenue and d.c. 295. you can sort of see it here in the distance. this could be a situation that lasts through the

you. inner loop express lanes between springfield interchange and gallows road, we have some closures there. milling and paving. remember this one, this is worse than i thought it was going to be there at least right now. this came by out bound river road after little falls parkway, we have the milling and paving project. be really careful as you're headed through that area. you found the clicker? >> and i just found chuck. >> they're like, hey, we're coming early. >> chuck running in here. happy friday. >> yes, indeed. we're doing really well. >> i was wondering where the clicker was. it was underneath melissa's makeup bag. you can't see it at home either. >> we found it so that's good. >> we're all underway. i probably don't need this much. >> you're a beautiful woman, why is this bag

>> you need to make changes this early in the morning. >> four things you need to know about the weather early this morning. rain chances are climbing as we go through the rest of today. most of the weekend looks pretty good but there could be some thunderstorms around here tomorrow afternoon. our best chance for rain really comes up later this afternoon. sunday looks like it's going to be a steamer for sure. talking about temperatures. let's go over to miss lauren rickets. good morning. >> temperatures out there right now. a little on the warm side. we're in the 60s and 70s at this point. we will have a little bit more humidity throughout the day today. 71 in washington. 70 and upper 60s. as chuck says by the weekend, things really heating up. we'll make it into the 80s. we have a few showers maybe this morning and a few thunderstorms maybe possibly later in the day, but we also have some chances of thunderstorms throughout the weekend. we'll be talking about that. all coming up in a

erika? >> thank you, lauren. as one safetrack surge ends, another begins. details on what will impact your weekend plans and why there is some light at the end of the tum for riders. erika, they were protecting our roads when they were mowed down by a truck. an update on two officers one week after a terrifying crash. d.c. sniper resentencing. a victim now speaking about the chance his convicted killer could one day goree. f

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you're watching "news 4 today." the adams morgan community is pulling together for the two officers hit on the job. last night at the bar they hosted a fund-raiser to provide money towards the officer's recovery. they were hurt a week ago when the driver of a pickup truck raced up 18th street and hit both officers along with an ddot worker. one is still in critical condition. >> these guys are kind of part of our family, you know? so when i heard about that, you know, my heart went out to them. they put their lives on the line every day. >> police have charged the driver in that case assault with the intent to kill and gun charge as well. they're trying to figure out the motive. >> metro

good news for you if you ride the rails. the final safetrack surge begins tomorrow. will shut down the red line between shady grove and twin brook. should wrap up by june 25th. safetrack will be officially over. safetrack was a success even though some parts of the system still need more work. the head of the safetrack program said the initiative was very badly needed. >> i know some people have said we could have used more time to plan. you could always use more time to plan. the areas we turned was in really bad shape. >> they were able to accomplish three years worth of work in one year because of safetrack repairs. they are celebrating a hero out in l.a. that was a crowd cheering for adam west last night. you can see that the city was all lit up right there on that

west played batman back in the '60s. he died earlier this week. a lot of people at the ceremony were dressing up in a tribute. west was 88 years old. it was just another regular selfie until the former vice president of the united states planted a kiss on her cheek. >> vice president joe biden has gone viral again. >> uncle joe. >> here's why. >> get away from me. >> got it on video. that just happened last month at graduation in baltimore. biden was the commencement speaker. she posed for a selfie. you saw what he did, planted a kiss right there on her cheek. you can see, i think excitement, that's a good word for it. haven't seen that much excitement since lauren and chuck found their clicker this morning. a lot of

>> off the rales this morning at 4:45. somebody help us please. >> i love it. please, please. >> it's a long day. >> good friday morning. we do have some rain in the forecast. i mean, take a look at the radar. we've got some rain to the south of us in southern virginia. could that impact you for the morning commute? we're talking about rain chances coming up on the other side. >> also coming up, health concerns at a local target. part of a local store shut down? what you should know before you head out shopping this weekend. the first new twist in the russia investigation. the action vice president pence is taking as theuestions pile q

well, temperatures right now in the low 70s, and we'll take those temperatures into the mid 80s today with added

and also an added chance of showers and storms later on today. chuck's going to time out those rain chances and talk about that father's day weekend forecast all coming up. >> thanks, lauren. plus, a local woman who accused bill cosby of assault now fighting for local victims of sex crimes. the changes that she says will help them find justice. and i want you to hear from the victim of the beltway sniper. he's speaking up after learning the convicted killer could be released. first, a look at last night's congressional baseball game. the democrats beat the republicans 11-2. >> the annual game drew tens of thousands of people to nats park last night. the fans watching them come together for steve scalise. he was shot while preparing for that game. >> president trump posted a video to twitter offering his support. >> but as you all know, tonight's game has taken on a much deeper level

beyond anything that we would have thought. by playing tonight you are showing the world that we will not be intimidated by threats, acts of violence or assaults on our democracy. >> two elite members of the u.s. capitol police helped save the lives of nearly two dozen congressmen. >> they were on the alexandria ball field practicing when the horrific shooting happened. the u.s. house formally paid tribute to those officers yesterday. those same members of congress will be asked to approve a budget boost for u.s. capitol police. the budget would add to increased security members for congress. congress is it not the only legislative body upgrading security. the montgomery county council building plans to add metal detectors. today the president will announce changes to travel and business with cuba. the latest hinge is a big break from a signature policy of the obama administration. it also comes as the president is facing new troubles over the russia investigation. >> all right. let's bring in news

alexander on capitol hill this morning. blaine, a lot of folks have been watching the changes with cuba. now we have the modifications that are supposed to be coming down today. how is that going to impact travel here as well as the small business owners on the island nation. >> absolutely. good morning to you both. this is something that a lot of people have questions about. for people who have travel plans to go to cuba, this is the biggest thing that will kind of affect travelers going over from the u.s. is the elimination of the people-to-people category. basically that means people can no longer go to cuba individually, you have to go as part of a group. keep in mind there are still a number of other categories that people can use to travel over there. this will restrict travel in some way. to answer your question about what businesses are saying, a lot of businesses over there are really protesting these changes. they say that they're relying on the constant flow of dollars coming from american tourists to kind of help keep them in business. we're talking about small hotels all the way down to people who teach dance classes so theyre

it's not necessarily fair and they're pushing back against the trump policy changes. just to keep in mind, these are not going into effect immediately. these things first have to be written before they are implemented, guys. >> all right. i know now the russia investigation, another big head line this morning. a big bombshell there. the president under criminal investigation for possible obstruction of justice. how are the president and vice president reacting? >> sure. this is a major change because what experts are saying is before the russian investigation, while very wide reaching only dealt with issues that happened allegedly during the campaign, and now what this does with this new kind of scope, it brings those questions into the white house. so this is a major development. as you know, president trump had already hired a personal counsel to handle any questions into the russia investigation and now vice president pence is following suit. he has also announced yesterday that he has hired his own personal counsel, somebody with local ties. former attorney be general of

virginia, but he is now directing all questions to his outside counsel as well. and as for the president's reaction, he issued a number of tweets yesterday. one of the things he's repeatedly called this was a witch hunt and he doubled down on that. >> a very busy morning on the hill there. we appreciate your perspective. 4:49 your time now. this morning, adam worm bier's father calling out the north korean government for lying. he was released from the country this week. it hasn't been a happy homecoming. he has extensive brain damage and is unresponsive. his brain went too long without receiving oxygen. the north korean's say he suffered from food poisoning and has been like this for a year. the family isn't buying their explanation. >> even if you believe their explanation of botulism and a sleeping pill causing the coma, and we don't, there is no excuse for any civilized n

kept his condition secret. >> last year warmbier was sentenced to 15 years in a north korean prison for trying to steal a propaganda poster. a judge will depsy whether leroy malveaux's life sentence should be thrown out. he went on a shooting spree in 2002 that paralyzed this region. he was given six sentences of life without parole for murder. now they say the sentence is unconstitutional after they ruled that a juvenile cannot be given a mandatory life sentence. yesterday in court one of the shooting victims said he knew this day would come. >> i wasn't shocked to hear it, but it's still troubling to me that it came up this soon really. i thought it would -- might come up but in the distant future. >> montgomery county judge robert green will decide if malveaux will get a new sentencing hearing. the judge will issue a written decision but gaveo

when that will be. another woman claiming bill cosby sexually assaulted her wants to change sex crime laws here. she testified before the d.c. council yesterday. they asked the council to extend the statute of limitations for sex crimes. they say it often takes years of survivors years if they even come forward. >> if you don't take full advantage of extending the statute of limitations, it will be another crime on humanity. >> she said cosby sexually assaulted her when she lived in l.a. decades ago. cosby denies all allegations of sexual misconduct against him. a former d.c. council member known for having a huge impact in the gay community had an illness. a bacterial infection. he represented ward 1 and was defeated in 2014. his death comes as

board 2 council member jack evans speaks about him. >> i think it's important to remember there was a lot to jim graham. not only was he a council member, leader in the gay community but he was a funny guy and very smart. >> graham was an early leader in the fight against hiv and aids. he was easy to recognize in his trademark bow tie and tortoise shell gra glasses. he was 71 years old. breaking news right now in first 4 traffic. take a look at this video taken just a short time ago. this is a major problem here as you're headed into the district or out of the district. benning road between oklahoma avenue and 295 is what we're talking about now. take a live look at that camera right here. you can see some of that response still hanging around there in the distance trying to get some more information as far as injuries there in the next couple of minutes as

inner loop between little river turnpike and gallows road, that has just cleared out of the way. don't have to worry about that anymore. 66 is okay. so is 95 in virginia. no major problems there. we do have this hanging around. outbound river road after little falls parkway. it may have cleared out of the way. we'll have an update on that in a minute. good morning, chuck. >> good morning, melissa. quiet start to the day. increasing chances of rain. if you haven't found your umbrella yet, you may want to start peeking for it. 71 degrees with a light wind out of the southeast. 60s out across the shenandoah valley. 68 also at joint base andrews and 72 there by the bay in annapolis. chances for thunderstorms coming our way later on in the day. here's a marginal risk for severe weather today. not expecting any high end or organized long lasting severe weather but any individual storm could certainly produce brief pockets of heavy rain and gusty winds. right now most of the rain ow

central parts of the county. sprinkles along i-66. future weather to help you plan out the next couple of hours. by 8:00, hit-or-miss showers. the first chance of rain will be fizzling out by late morning to lunchtime. after 3:00, 4:00, a much higher chance for thunderstorms developing here. future weather by 6:00 p.m., a line of thunderstorms along into the east of the blue ridge. that will come into the d.c. metro area here. so the afternoon and evening commute could be a little on the stormy side. afternoon highs today, generally up into the low and mid 80s. nothing too bad to worry about. tomorrow a cloudy and humid start to the day. temperatures into the 70s. tomorrow's high up near 88. a little lower chance for rain tomorrow and lower rain chances still as we get into sunday. there's a chance each day, but lower rain chances saturday and sunday. our next best chance for rain all over the area on a day long event will be coming up o

monday. and then as we get into next week, generally fair skies and temperatures just about near average. let's go back over to the news. >> hi there, chuck. thank you. it's a story that's been getting a lot of attention. ocean city telling vacationers to cover up. now maryland's top attorney weighing in. what he's saying about the topless ban. that's still ahead. plus, if you think getting one kid out of bed, that's hard. meet the local mom who's making raising more than a dozen kids look pretty easy. and he's the cat who's taking the internet by storm. oh, my goodness. he's right here in d.c., all of him. we're going to tell you about the cat who could afford to, let's put it nicely lose a few, ,

you're watching "news 4 today." so you're not going to be able to grab that frappucino if you're shopping at target. the starbucks on 14th street northwest is closed. this was cited for health code violations. no word yet on when the cafe will reopen. crews say that this is going to save dozens of ducklings lives. crews on the national mall will finish cleaning the reflecting pool in front of the lincoln memorial. there was a parasite in the water. over the last month the park service found 80 ducklings dead. rangers say parasite would

if you touched it. the cleaning is complete. good news for dads this year. americans expected to spend more than ever on fore's day. talking about a total of $15.5 billion. >> that still puts them under mom. >> it does. a lot of ties. the most popular gift, ball games, concerts, maybe just dinner. don't forget, by the way, father's day is this sunday. that's your reminder. a d.c. resident's weight loss journey is going viral this morning. it's probably one you'd like to share, too. >> this is very personal. we're going to show you his picture. his name is sim ba. he's 35 pounds. >> big one. if you're not looking at your screen you should be looking at this. you can see he's a cat. they say he's actually bigger than a lion cub. >> big boy. they are looking for somebody to take him home and keep up with his diet. he's sweet, pretty mellow. the last owner

up when he moved into an assisted living facility. >> you were just saying you were looking for a pet. >> you must have me mistaken. no. no. >> go for walks with him. he needs them. 5:00 is your time right now and "news 4 today" continues right now. breaking now on "news 4 today," bad crash on a busy route in washington. the traffic problem that could impact your drive to work. plus, an annual tradition made even more special. congressmen playing ball after an attack on their colleagues. new details from the congressional game and what the suspect's wife is saying about the shooting. plus, it's friday. you may want to add that raincoat to your weekend plans. when you're going to start seeing showers ahead. your storm team 4 forecast. "news 4 today" starts now. good