i heard like a -- like a clunking sound, and my wife thought she heard something hit the window. >> passengers left scared and stranded after a tragic accident on the tracks near union station. two csx workers struck and killed. we have the latest on the investigation and the impact on travel up and down the east coast. a drawnout battle over a new mosque in prince william county may finally be over t big step forward for the project that was debated for nearly nine hours at a public hearing. and we're looking at a gorgeous start to your wednesday, allow humidity, really comfortable temperature buzz the heat is on for the weekend, so are the thunderstorms. i'll show you that coming up.

developing story we have been following all morning. two csx workers struck and killed by an am track train. we have team coverage of this accident that is still causing major delays for rail passengers. erika gonzalez has more on the impact but we start with justin finch at the scene of the accident. >> reporter: good morning, we're on new york avenue northeast not too far from where amtrak 175 came to a rest after striking those two workers last night. take a look behind us here. investigators are still here on the scene, still collecting clues as they look into what caused this tragic accident. stopped on the tracks, amtrak 175 within minutes of a stop at union station but never making it after striking two csx railroad workers close to 11:20 tuesday night. for hours, the train was parked on those tracks

ninth street bridge and parallel to the 1200 block of new york avenue northeast. 121 passengers and crew on board were not hurt and were put on to another union station-bound train. the national transportation safety board joined amtrak, csx, and police. surveying the train, witnesses and surrounding area working to find out about the events leading to this deadlessly dent. still at this hour, investigators remaining on scene. they got hours worth of physical evidence out here earlier today. we are also told here on scene they have some digital evidence to go through as well such as data recordings that could be taken from that train. we're live here at northeast, i'm justin finch. now this is what amtrak riders were greeted with at union station today. screens here filled with cancellations and delays after last night's deadly crash on the

tracks. news4's erika gonzalez is live there with the impact customers are still feeling this morning. >> reporter: hey, good morning to you. we've been monitoring the progress of all these travelers trying to get on their trains and get to their destinations. let me give you an example of how rough of a morning it's been. the people that were loaded up on trains at 7:15 really took off at 9:00. the folks at 8:00 really got going at 10:00 so the residual delays persist. it was a long night for the duncan family, coming back from a day in new york, they were on board amtrak train 175 when it collided with and killed two csx workers. >> we heard like the horn blow, and about three seconds later, we heard like the -- like a clunking sound, and my wife thought she heard something hit the window next to her. >> reporter: duncan says they were stuck on the track waiting to trek just one more mile to union station. >> it was about almost four and a half hours later. >> reporter:

knew something bad had happened. >> and i could tell one of the -- one of the workers on the train who had probably seen what happened was really, i guess, in shock. >> reporter: back at union station, delays and cancellations all morning. but gail herring thought she was in the clear. she actually got on her 3:00 a.m. train. >> we boarded the train, was on the train for an hour and a half. yeah. and then they told us to get off the train because we weren't going anywhere. >> reporter: she tells me the amtrak refunded her money. as of 9:00 a.m., trains resumed service but the residual delays persist. >> it's unfortunate on all parts, i suppose, and communication's been fine. there's not much they can do about it, i suppose. >> reporter: at noon, we are expecting a press conference from the ntsb. you can look for adam tuss's

as he'll pick up our continuing coverage on this story. we're live from union station. i'm erika gonzalez. back to you. news4 was first to report this situation overnight. we sent out an alert in the nbc washington app minutes after it happened. make sure you have that free app downloaded on your phone to stay up to date with everything happening in our area. one more beautiful day before all that heat and humidi humidity start moving back in. sheena parveen is here with what we can excepect. >> it is fantastic out there. few friendly clouds, nothing very ominous in store for today, even tomorrow, even friday. it's not going to be until the weekend when the rain chances come back. 76 in the district, complete sunshine across the area and had humidity's low too. leesburg is at 73 degrees, upper mor marlboro 71, and through

outside, good 79 degrees by lunchtime. happy hour, looking at about the mid to low 80s, very nice as we go through the afternoon, more heat and humidity into the weekend. i'll show you the storm chances too coming up. developing right now, d.c. police are investigating a shooting in the trinidad neighborhood. police say around 8:00 a.m. they responded to trinidad avenue northeast for reports of a shooting. they found a man who was not conscious or breathing. he was rushed to the hospital. police are searching for a suspect but have not released a description. now to those allegations of grade tampering in prince george's county. it's said teachers changed grades to boost graduation rates but one teacher says the investigators won't find a paper trail of orders to change grades. the school system denies any organized effort to boost graduation rates with grades that students didn't earn and teachers say

written orders, teachers received a lot of pressure and innuendo to help kids, quote, over the line. this teacher asked that we not identify her. >> if you don't change the grade or don't give the work, your principal has the authority to do what's called an administrative override and they can change a grade for you. >> teachers union says it is impossible for teachers to change grades once they've been published. the ceo of prince george's county schools has also denied allegations but he says he wants the new investigation. university of maryland police are investigating a possible hate crime. they say two people found a knotted piece of plastic wrap on the ground in the 7500 block of baltimore avenue yesterday. a preliminary investigation found that the material is used to contain and protect loose items during transport. police are reviewing security cameras in that area. we are learning about the suspect in the murder of a muslim teenager in sterling last week. "the washington post

accused of sexually assaulting a woman in the days before that murder. that woman told investigators she did not want to press charges because she feared torres was an ms 13 gang member. he is now charged with abducting and killing 17-year-old nabra hassanen on june 18. the all dulles area muslim society just got the green light to build a new mosque. the public hearing took nine hours. this follows three years of debate and opposition from people living near the proposed site. you take a look at this map. it's going to be a 14 acre site at the intersection of vint hill road and shaffer lane near the cedar point elementary school. that mosque will hold 500 people. delayed but not dead. we will have the latest details on the senate's health care bill and when we can see action again from republicans pushing for a vote. and wild fires destroying lands and homes out west from utah to

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senate republicans are delaying the vote on their health care plan, but the fight is far from over. >> democrats are stepping up their opposition, but the big question remains, will the delay lead to a republicans getting the votes needed to pass the bill. news4's tracie

on. republicans now have at least two more weeks to get the votes to replace obamacare. >> they're not interested in participating in this. >> i would sit down with them in a heartbeat. they don't have the license to do that. >> reporter: nine republicans refused to support it, so leaders canceled the vote. >> now we're starting to get some information and the information i'm seeing, i think, really can lead to a good result. >> reporter: now they head home facing intense pressure. >> the american people have spoken. hopefully the republicans in the senate and the house will continue to listen. >> reporter: president trump summoned republicans to the white house for a new game plan. >> we're getting very close. but for the country, we have to have health care. >> reporter: getting it will involve arm twisting on both sides, convincing skeptical republicans. >> i need to look realistically at the cost

>> rorter: and democrats keeping up approxima keeping up the pressure. >> now more than ever we need americans to understand democracy is not a spectator sport. you have got to get into this fight. >> reporter: both sides agree it's not over. it's deja vu here on capitol hill. things that happened in the house a few months ago when they tried to rush a health care vote on the day that vote was supposed to happen, it got scrapped because there wasn't enough support. but then they went back and lobbied members of their own party, negotiated, made some changes, and that bill passed. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. congress is taking steps to increase its security in the weeks after the shooting attack in alexandria. the house has approved a plan to add $25,000 to the office budgets of all 435 members. that money would be used to bolster their office security or personal security when they're outside of the capitol building. news4 has learned that u.s. kal toll police

tomorrow before senate committee to request a budget boost for his police force. we have an update. the man who died in a crash in district heights had just stolen that car from a couple in upper marlboro. prince george's county police spotted the car and chased it briefly. officers say they lost sight of the car when derrick foster turned off his lights and sped away. the car ultimately crashed into two utility poles and caught fire on silver hill road. police pulled foster out of the burning car but he was pronounced dead at the scene. police also found a gun in that car. security upgrades to montgomery county high schools that the news4 i-team first reported will be costly. they voted in favor of spending at least is$.5 million on the changes. these upgrades include the addition of security gates at some of the buildings and door locks at others. also, so-called vestibules to prevent trespassers or attackers. work begins this summer and will

only three newly renovated high schools will be untouched. these upgrades were triggered by a rape accusation at rockville high school that captured the nation's attention earlier this year. the criminal case has since collapse and had charges are now dropped. district officials tell news4 they will now undertake a security review of montgomery county's nearly 200 middle and elementary schools. despite the growing number of teens and young adults with opioid addiction, a newly released study suggests only one in four of them is receiving medication to help heal the addiction. here to discuss the study and the treatment options for opioid addiction is psychiatrist dr. joshua weiner. good morning. thanks for joining us as always. so the number of teens and young adults with opioid use disorder increased six fold from 2001 to 2014. those numbers are really alarming. what do you see is behind this surge in opioid addiction, especially for young people? >> well, we've seen this search

medications, and then what happens is people have these pain meds sitting around their house in their medicine cabinets and this type of medication and -- has just sort of become en vogue over the last decade so kids look around and find this stuff in their parent's medicine cabinet and they start taking it and the problems with these medications is that it's not very hard to quickly become addicted to them. >> so how do you treat it? you have to treat it with medication as well. >> you don't have to. this is not something that requires mediciation, but like most addictions, you're going to have the best outcomes if you combine medication plus a therapy or other treatment approach and what this study looked at, two of the best methods, one is a medicine and the other is something called naltrexone. it takes away the

ations that can't be overdosed on. so they're great. they work really well. and then there's naltrexone that comes in a pill form, which is taken daily and that blocks your ability to get high or get any effects from an opioid if you take it and they have an injectable form that you get once a month so you get this shot once a month and no matter what you do, if you try to use opioids, you're not going to get an effect during that month so these are impressive medications that can make a difference. >> and this is safe for young people as well and there are harmful seed effects? >> no. generally very well tolerated medications and you want to use these medications for a period of time. so there are different approaches for how to use these. generally what i would suggest is that people take these medications for anywhere from six months to a year and try to get their lives turned around. one of the big things you have to watch out for is you've got to change your social circle in many cases. you've got to have new fr

and once you're in a position where you're feeling better and things are going in a better direction, then you're much more likely to have success in remaining off opioids when you get off these medications. >> the treatment is multifaceted. >> exactly. >> even though these medications are very effective, why is it so few young people seek medication for treatment of addiction? >> well, i think there's a couple factors going on here. one is that there's a lot of doctors still out there who are not aware of these medications. so if people are going to see their internal medicine doctor or their media tripediatrician, doctor may not know about these medications. the other issue has to do with cost. these medications are not cheap. especially the injectable one. that's like $1,000 a month. now there are some programs to try to cover that cost. but so these emedications can be very expensive and then if you don't have insurance, they're really that much more expensive.

can run you a few hundred dollars a month for these treatments so i think those are the two factors that are playing into these numbers being lower than we'd like to see. >> all right, dr. joshua weiner, thanks as always. >> my pleasure. death by drowning. days after you get out of the pool. it's called dry drowning and it's happened to this little boy. the symptoms to look out for to keep your summer safe and secure. and miss usa joins us in our studio. she is a d.c. scientist who is helping students in our area will follow in her footsteps, how she's motiving those kids. at

this week, we are working for you with ways to make sure your family's summer is safe and secure. drowning is a leading cause of death for children. >> and a recent story about a child's death from dry drowning has been getting a lot of attention online. many of us have never heard of it. >> so we talked to the experts about what to look out for even days after getting out of the water. >> reporter: a 4-year-old boy from texas spent a day swimming. a week later, he died from what's called dry drowning. many of us have never heard of dry drowning. it's rare, but this doctor, chief medical officer with doctors community hospital, explains it can happen, even when parents don't realize anything is wrong. >> what happens is your upper area here spasms or closes and it does -- there's a reflex

your lungs. when that happens, the spasming can continue to persist. if it persists you don't get oxygen to your lungs and then that effect is just like drowning. >> reporter: it can take hours or even days for symptoms to appear. the key to prevention is to know what to look out for. >> the most common symptoms are shortness of breath, chest pain, persistent cough or lethargy, meaning low energy. >> reporter: here are four things you can do to make sure your child is safe in and out of the water. make sure they know how to swim. make sure your child is closely supervised when they're around the water. know the symptoms of dry drowning. if you suspect anything, have your child examined by a doctor. and coming up tomorrow, keeping your home safe and secure while you are away. the tips and tools you can use that go beyond just locking your door. the four things you should do before going on vacation. that's tomorrow on news4

of the u.s. are dealing with multiple wild fires right now. the one that you're looking at here is the brian head wild fire in utah. so far, it's destroyed 13 homes and forced the evacuation of 1,500 people. the fire is the largest in the nation at 78 square miles. in arizona, the goodwin fire is burning north of phoenix. some residents have been forced to leave. >> the couple up the hill, he's a pastor, and the been praying and we've all been praying and this is terrifying. >> i'll be safe, you know, it's just a house. i just get the important stuff and to hell with the rest. >> meanwhile in california, crews are making gains against two wild fires, one of those fires has destroyed the home of the big bang theory star johnny galecki. >> wow, that is a dire situation out there. here, we are dealing with beautiful weather. but you know, we knew it was too good to last too much longer. >> i know. so today's really the last day of the

tomorrow, friday, it's going to it's going to feel like summer this weekend and then we have thunderstorms moving back in. so it's going to be a hot and humid one but we expect that it's almost fourth of july. speaking of which, i'll show you that forecast coming up in a second. low humidity for one more day. hotter, more humid tomorrow, even more humidity friday and the weekend like i mentioned is going to be looking and feeling more like what is typical for this time of the year. 7 6 degreed currently in the district, 72 good faithersburg 72 front royal, winchester still at 68 so still really comfortable there. big area of high pressure. that's going to stay in control for today. the rest of the week. today, it's giving us the low humidity but that's going to go away as we move into tomorrow and friday. if you're walking the dog today or you need one to walk, this is remy. you can head to their website to find out more. around noon today, perfect weather to walk the doog or do anything outside, 78 degrees sunny by 4:00

70s. for the beach forecast going into the weekend, it actually looks really good for your friday if that's where you're heading on the way to fourth of july, which is next tuesday. 85 friday, mostly sunny by the humidity's going to start to crawl back up. saturday, 85, mostly dry though for your saturday. most of your day looks good. it's that very late thunderstorm chance. we have a little bit more of a widespread chance. temperatures still mid 80s and humid. the rest of the area, aside from along the beaches, we're going to be in the 90s, tomorrow 91 degrees, then your weekend the heat and humidity are back. 93 sunday, 94 monday, and most of your saturday does look dry. coming up in just a minute, we're going to look at your fourth of july forecast. so far,it's looking pretty good. thank you, sheena. a massive ransomware

hits businesses around the worl experts think could be behind the attacks. >> what do we need to do to bring him home. parents of a man being held in syria desperate for new information about their son. the help they are looking for here in washington. and a lot of folks are already looking ahead to the fourth of july. we'll tell you how the nation's capital is getting ready from the fireworks tohe security. t

a new dangerous strain of ransomware called petya is crippling computers. among the targets are big names like pharmaceutical giant merck. two pennsylvania hospitals had to cancel surgeries and the chernobyl nuclear site in ukraine was also hit. the source of the attack is not clear at this point but experts say it is similar to last month's attack. >> i have to see where the evidence leads in this particular case. i mean, you crane russia is the target for ukraine to point at but there are many, many criminal organizations in the world based in many different countries and it could be a criminal organization, it could be a hatchett victivist. it could be a nation state. it's too soon to tell. >> in our nbc was

believe their son is still alive. the freelance journalist and georgetown law school student was taken captive in syria nearly five years ago. if you've been anywhere near the museum, you've seen this banner. it features his picture, calling attention to his story and urging lawmakers to do whatever they can to secure his release. he went missing just days before his 31st birthday in august of 2012. his parents talked about how hard this ordeal has been for their family earlier on "the today show." >> well, it's turned our lives inside out and upside down. you know, one of the things that is as difficult as anything else is that it prevents us from giving our other children who are very tired of being called the other children the attention that they deserve. so, it's been a tremendous challenge. >> the parents have worked tirelessly to bring their son

brieflying in the syrian capital of damascus to find more information. they failed to make any contact. new details in the lyon sisters case. a key piece of evidence is missing. the bed ford county virginia sheriff's office recently lost a tooth. that tooth helped prosecutors charge lloyd welch with the murders of the two girls. it was found in a remote area of virginia where police believe welch burned the sisters' bodies. the tooth disappeared before it could be tested. now if welch is convicted, he could face the death penalty. the loudoun county sheriff's office is looking for a man accused of taking upskirt photos at a target store. take a look at this video here. investigators say a woman saw him trying to take video of her at the target in sterling on monday. she and a store employee confronted him and then he ran away. if you recognize the man in this video, contact loudoun county

classes after labor day. school board members approved the calendar with the start date last night. this comes after months of debate on whether to start classes three weeks earlier. a pre-labor day start is still on the table for the 2019/2020 school year. school years go by fast. the kids are out of school. they aren't the only ones ready to play. >> it is prime season for scammers too. consumer reporter susan hogan is working for you and has what you need to know. >> reporter: well, the warmer weather brings out all kinds of pests, including mosquitos and ticks but it also brings around some other kinds of pests like scam artists. here are four scams making the rounds in our region right now and the protections you need to know. number one, the vacation scam. whether it's a travel deal that seems too good to be true or a rental home on craigslist, do your research beforehanding over any of your hard earned cash.

put it into your browser, see it if comes up. if you see duplicates, that could be a scam artist. >> reporter: number two, the abduction phone call. all of those photos you post during your vacation, scammers are trolling social media sites and use those details to trick your family and friends. >> the most often thing you hear is your loved one was involved in an auto accident has been slightly injured, tried to run away and the family or somebody has abducted that person because they need to pay for what they did. >> reporter: number three, home improvement scams. be wary of landscapers who approach you in your yard and with in kind of home improvement project, do your homework. confirm that the company or person you are hiring is properly licensed, and look for reviews online. number four, door to door sales. it can be anything from an alarm company to a third party utility

they have sales quotas they've got to meet. they have hard sales stress on them. so, they may be a little misleading in their presentations to the homeowners. >> reporter: beware of scare tactics and don't ever show your utility bill to anyone. if you want to stay on top of the latest scams in your neighborhood happening right now, the better business bureau actually has a scam tracker and we have a link to that right now on our nbc washington app. just search summer scams. usa 2017 is district of columbia. >> that was the moment miss d.c., kara mccullough, was crowned miss usa last month. the 25-year-old scientist who works at the u.s. nuclear regulatory commission is now working to get more kids across the country interested in s.t.e.m. programs. kara mccullough is here in our studio now with what the last month has been li

>> thank you. it see you on the stage there winning, representing d.c. so well. what was that like? what was that moment like, winning the miss usa competition? >> it was just exciting. i was so thankful for that opportunity. and just standing there even with new jersey, she was such a dynamic individual as well. i mean, i'm just so thankful tore miss usa and standing there just really put so much more thankfulness and excitement in my heart. >> i wonder if people are really surprised when they win. do you really have no idea going into that moment? >> well, for me, i extracted myself from the outcome because i wanted to enjoy the entire process. but of course after they said my name, the first thing i said was, what is my life? is this really true? is this real? >> how did you even get started with, you know, before the miss usa pageant, how'd you get started in this prajts? >> i wanted to try something different. i secretly always wanted to compete and i had a cousin that competed very frequently and i talked to her about it so she said i would do well, and i went out for miss d.c. usa and

threeme so yeah. >> fantastic. well, we know you're doing a lot of traveling now and you're talking a lot about your s.t.e.m. enrichment program. you want to get young people interested in science, technology, engineering and math. >> i do. >> tell us about your program. >> i have a -- excuse me, originally, it was a self-funded community outreach project called science exploration for kids and now as i'm working with the miss universe organization, they're allowing know really promote that. so i'm working on continuing going to the schools, i'm hoping to do like a d.c. school tour first and maybe like a tristate one in new york and we're going go to elementary schools, do science projects with the kids, hopefully we can bring like a tutoring aspect as well for one day a week to the middle school students and then bring that type of college aspect to the high school students so they can get geared up to study s.t.e.m. subjects in college. >> so you take your crown and your lab court repoat. >> maybe the goggles too. >> congratulations and good luck with the next competition, miss

>> yes. thank you. thank you. a circus is back. how you can spend a little time

you could be a millionaire and not even know it, especially if you recently passed through richmond. aaron. but you're running out of time to claim your cash. that's because a million dollar winning lottery ticket will expire friday at 5:00 p.m., this friday, people. the ticket was sold at a 7 eleven and was part of virginia's new year millionaire raffle. all unclaimed prize money depose to the state literary fund so it's a good cause. >> give me the money. >> i'm saying -- >> i mean, love the kids. >> i'm just saying, don't hold out on me. if you don't show up for something -- >> what? huh? richmond? imagine if you had that, though. and you just didn't

>> i've only bought power ball tickets so it's not me. >> i wait for the jackpot to grow and then we buy tickets. >> then it's worth driving to the store to get a ticket. we have a jackpot today, though. that's something we can be happy about today, tonight, tomorrow for the rest of the week, really, but the humidity is going to start to go up, but if you like summer and you want that hot summer-like weather so you can jump in the pool and cool off, we have it coming. today, though, very pleasant, 76 degrees right now, beautiful sky conditions. mostly sunny. this is what it's going to look like all afternoon. don't expect any changes with your skies until we go into the weekend. so it looks good for the rest of the week. fitness forecast, 78 degrees, comfortable, sunshine still obviously by 4:00 p.m., you'll need the sunglasses if you're exercising or maybe a hat. low humidity even by 7:00 p.m. temperature in the upper 70s. so here's what's going to happen as we end out the week. right now, we're very mild, we're very comfortable. these are our future air masses i'm showing

weath is going quickly goingum to move in all the way through the end of the week across the weekend and now we're looking at tuesday, the fourth of july, that is showing us temperatures in the 90s, high humidity, it's going to feel like summer, but the good news is for tuesday, right now, it actually does look to be pretty dry. now if you're heading to the beach this weekend ahead of the fourth of july, your weekend looks pretty good which would mostly sunny, saturday will be dry most of the day. it's only until very late when we have that storm chance for cape may, by the way, in new jersey. 85 saturday, 84 sunday, some scattered showers around, and if you're heading to the beach friday, mostly sunny, 85, dry most of your saturday, mid 80s we'll see those late storm chances, humidity will be up across the weekend. by sunday, scattered showers, 83 degrees. ocean city's looking good too. low 80s friday, mostly sunny. low 80s saturday, mostly dry until very late and then that storm chance around sunday. down in

go into sunday. your fourth of july forecast looks pretty good. rain chances over the weekend, but into tuesday, which is the fourth of july, we're looking at good conditions. 79 by 9:00 a.m. that's going to be warm and humid start to the day. hot and humid by 3:00 p.m. for the evening, it looks dry right now. we're going to keep checking on this, of course, as we get closer to the fourth of july. so far, it looks really good. look at all these 90s in the forecast after today. the 90s get here tomorrow friday through the weekend into next week and i will tell you, through next week, it does not look like the humidity the going to drop. it's going to stay hot and humid, be feeling like summer, so if you really like that type of heat, well, you're really going to like the next many days coming up. we'll take another check coming up. we are getting you ready for the fourth of july too with things to do and places to go. and peace of mind, the security

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it is an explosive safety reminder on the national hall ahead of the fourth of july holiday weekend. yesterday the consumer product safety commission used mannequins and other props to show just how dangerous fireworks can be if you don't

last year, four people died and more than 11,000 were injured by skploesives. now in less than a week, thousands of you will pack the national mall for the big july fourth fireworks show. >> once again, security will be very tight. news4's chris gordon splansz how recent attacks in europe are influencing security plans here at home. >> reporter: it's america's birthday, attracting an enormous crowd to the national mall. security experts say because of its symbolic significance, there is heightened awareness this independence day, although there is no credible threat at this time. >> folks who are visiting the mall this week on into the fourth will already notice some of the fencing starting to go up, the bike rack is starting to come in place, establishing those secure areas to protect spectators and participants in the event. >> reporter: recent terrorist attacks in europe have targeted large crowds. last july, 86 people were

celebrating bastieance. they were kuld on a crowded thoroughfare by a driver who rammed into them with a truck. d.c.'s security chief says there is a coordinated plan here to harden targets against attacks using vehicles as weapons. >> there will be some blocking areas. again, law enforcement looks at these things, they look at these things very closely, and try to take the appropriate measures, whether it's use additional police vehicles or ballards or those type of things. >> reporter: jim couplings brought his family from dallas, texas. he believes police have done all they can do to ensure public safety. >> ultimately, i guess you try not to worry about it too much but it's a fair concern for sure. >> reporter: police departments in the maryland virginia suburbs tell me they have a heightened sense of awareness because of what is going on globally but they have good security plans in place for the fourth of july. reporting from the mall, chris gordon, news4. one other note for

fourth of july. trains will run until midnight. that's a half hour later than usual. trains will operate every 12 minutes milliuntil 6:00 p.m. ann increase to rush hour service before and after the fireworks on the national mall. off peak fares will be in effect all day and parking at metro lots will be free. well, fireworks are not the only thing you will see on the national mall this holiday weekend. a big top circus tent is going up for this year's smithsonian folk life festival. a curator at the smithsonian is here with more on what will be the 50th anniversary of the festival. thanks for joining us. >> you're most welcome. >> what a milestone. in years past, the festival has focused on a particular country or region of the world. this year, it's the circus, which is a culture in itself really. >> exactly. and that's precisely what we're trying to highlight on the national mall this year. the culture of the circus arts. we're bringing more than 500 people from all across the united states, aerialists,

circus arts, demonstrating and sharing their culture with our visitors. >> and it's very exciting. i understand there will be some interactive circus schools so people can take part. that sounds exciting. >> exactly. circus schools are vital to the continuation of circus culture where we have master artists training students. and carrying on these traditions and sharing their culture. >> and tell me about what people can learn about the culture, especially, you know, recently, the barnum and bailey circus closed. is it tough for the culture to continue? >> i think that's an excellent point. because the major circus closing, on a smaller community base are thriving and that's what we want to show our public is how these circus traditions and culture are being carried from master to student for visitors to see. >> what will happen under the big tent? >> the big top is a fully rigged state of the art tent that is coming to us from

acrobatics, you'll see all the disciplines of the circus arts. >> very cool and one thing that is so great, we were just discussing this, is that the folk life festival is free. can you tell us about when people can go and what they should expect. >> we open tomorrow. there's an opening ceremony at 11:00. we open officially at noon. everything is free, except for the food, but we've got vietnamese food, we've got irish food, we've got southern barbecue, and we've got new mexico food. so -- but from 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., followed by evening concerts, almost every evening, not the fourth, starting at 5:30, so starting tomorrow through sunday -- through, sorry, through tuesday, july fourth, we're off on july 5, threat then july 6 through july 9. >> so you have a whole week to enjoy the festival. >> ten full days. >> and there are evening concerts. >> almost every night. so

night, it's our ralph rinson memorial concert featuring the tex maniacs. on friday, june 30, it's the chuck brown band from d.c. >> all right. so many things to see and do and the folk life festival is really so fun for the whole family. james, thanks so much for joining us. the smithsonian folk life festival starts tomorrow on the national mall. up next, we have a new reaction from a dancing deputy from our area who made his tv debut last night. stay with us.

♪ did you see him on "america's got talent"? that is the dancing deputy, if you will, from our area. right here in our own backyard. >> look at him go. he's wearing a full uniform. >> then there's the split. >> tyra has his hat. that's lieutenant deuntay diggs from stafford county. he is a sheriff and there was a viewing party for him last night for the show. he watched his debut at the sheriff's headquarters with his very supportive colleagues. news4 talked to him about the inspiration behind those dance moves. >> i watched videos. some of my favorite artists as most people know, beyonce is my favorite artist. >> yep. you know,

beyonce, though. although he didn't advance to th diggs has no regrets and good for him for putting himself out there. now he's famous. he's the dancing deputy. >> i think that started with he was dancing with some kids. >> that video went viral because he has some good moves and someone encouraged him. there you go. get to dance. i'm going to have that song in my head all day. >> and the dance moves. >> not so much. >> try it. you should. >> in the privacy of my own home, maybe. let's get one last look at the forecast. >> i'll be dreaming about you dancing now. i think i'm going to have a good sleep tonight. 83 degrees for the high today. sunny, low humidity, really comfortable. but this is really going to be the last day with that low comfortable humidity. it goes up tomorrow and friday, temperatures in the 90s, storms over the weekend, there's your fourth of july on tuesday, so far it's looking good. it's looking dry. but it is looking hot. look at all those 90s in the forecast. now if you're heading to the beach this weekend ahead of fourth of july, keep in mind friday and saturday do look

saturday when we have storms moving in, then we go into sunday and that's more of a scattered storm chance but it is going to stay hot and humid all of next week. we don't see the humidity dropping after today any time soon. guys? all right, sheena, thank you. we are waiting to hear from the ntsb on last night's deadly train accident. you're looking at a live picture from where they're setting up this news conference that will be starting shortly. two csx workers were hit and killed there. amtrak service was suspended for hours after the accident and delays are still a problem at this hour. you're going to see that live news conference streaming on the nbc washington app. it's expected to start in just a few minutes. our adam tuss is there as well and you can look for updates from him on twitter. and that does it for news4 midday for today. thanks so much for joining us. we are back on the air this afternoon, first at 4:00. >> you can get news and wealthe updates any time with the nbc wagt

we'll see you back here tomorrow morning.

stand by, everyone, we're live in five, four, three, two, one! [ fight sounds ] >> yeah, uh-huh. >> his eyebrow. >> did you get hit, too? geez. >> oh! >> oh, my gosh. a little viking wrestling match. it was a blood bath last night on "the bachelorette" but not what we thought at all. not what we thought between kenya and lee. we were duped. afonso ribeiro is with us. >> enjoy yourself, girl. but yeah, what craziness, right? >> it was crazy.