the russia story is a total fabrication. >> growing frustration this morning at the white house over the russia investigation. the president using words again, like fake and hoax. the new rallying cry being heard as a special prosecutor expands his probe. get out your checkbooks and make your list. you can save a lot of money this weekend. we'll let you know what's covered under virginia's tax-free holiday. and we just have to make it through one more round of showers and storms and then it's smooth sailing for our weekend. i'll have a full forecast coming up in just a moment. and good morning, wme

news4 midday on this friday morning. i'm pat lawson muse. we beginning now with live coverage of the news conference about to get started with attorney general jeff sessions. he's announcing a major new crackdown on leaks coming out of the white house. he says they threaten national security. this comes after transcripts of the president's private phone calls with world leaders were handed over to "the washington post." we're going to monitor this news conference and bring you up to date later in this newscast. the leaks are just one problem the white house is dealing with today. the russia investigation is also heating up this morning. the special counsel has reportedly impanelled a grand jury to look into possible collusion. news4's tracie potts tells us what's next for the investigation. >> are there any russians here tonight? >> reporter: president trump at a rally in west virginia as the "wall street journal" reports special counsel robert mueller has put together a grand jury to look into possible collusion between russia and the trump campaign. >> the russia story

fabrication. what the prosecutor should be looking at are hillary clinton's 33,000 deleted e-mails. >> reporter: nbc has not independently confirmed the existence of this grand jury, but we have reported on two others looking into former national security adviser michael flynn and the president's former campaign chair, paul manafort. what does it all mean? >> what he's saying is this is going to be a broader problem. this is very serious and i'm kpted to keep doing this for a while. >> reporter: grand juries can subpoena witnesses and records to help the investigation. >> we have no reason to believe that the president's under investigation here. >> reporter: a former senior intelligence official tells nbc the special counsel is looking at whether the president obstructed justice. >> there's a concern that he frankly may have a conflict of interest. >> reporter: on capitol hill, democrats and republicans are working on a bill to prevent the president from firing mueller or stopping his investigation. but the president's outside attorney h

indication the president has never asked him or talked to the legal team about getting rid of mueller or trying to shut down the investigation. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. i can't help you any more being a democrat governor. i will be changing my registration to republican. >> also at that rally last night, west virginia's democratic governor, jim justice said he's switching parties. he's becoming a republican. the announcement got big cheers from the crowd. governor justice was just elected in november. he's a billionaire coal and real estate businessman. in the past, he's always been identified as an independent. toyota and mazda are teaming up to build cars here in the u.s. the announcement was made just a few hours ago. this plan is to build a new $1.5 billion plant that will create 4,000 jobs. they're working on new battery technology that could mean a breakthrough for electric cars.

president called it a great investment in american manufacturing. right now, d.c. police are looking for a dark colored chevy mall boou or impala following a quadruple shooting that left one person did. it happened just before 8:00 last night on 18th street northeast in the brookland neighborhood. police think the shooter fled in that car. three other victims are expected to be okay. we're following a developing story in baltimore county this morning. two teens in critical condition after a tree fell on their car in lutherville. a 14-year-old girl was also killed. it happened during those powerful storms last night. take a look at the car in this video. you can see it was crushed. the tree fell on the backseat where the teens were sitting. the mother of the 14-year-old was driving the car. she's expected to survive. well, at some point, most of us heard and felt the storm move through the washington area. the lake

fairfax county was one of the hardest hit. first responders had to quickly move branches and debris to get to people who needed help. part of columbia pike was shut down after a tree pulled the power line down near the bancroft plaza shopping center. right now, more than 700 people in fairfax county still don't have electricity. and we are hoping for no more weather like that today. storm team4 meteorologist samara theodore is here to tell us what we can expect. >> unfortunately, pat, we do have a chance at more showers and storms later on this evening. let's go ahead and get straight to the headline. here's what i want to talk about. for the last couple days, we've seen these storms roll in pretty early. today, a little different. we've got a cold front moving through overnight so i'm going to push that storm chance to later on in the day. we do have a calm weekend ahead but there's more rain to come at the top of next week. let's relish in the next couple days. temperatures at 82 degrees, climbing as we head through the afternoon to the low

muggy and humid and after about 5:00, 6:00, all the way into the evening, we have those shower and storm chances at play. again, we do have rain coming at the top of next week but it looks like this weekend is shaping up beautifully. back to you, pat. well, you might want to mark the calendar and head to your nearest store in virginia this coming weekend. the commonwealth's tax free holiday is here. you'll get to stock up on all the school supplies and clothes your kids are going to need this year. news4's derrick ward is live in alexandria to take a look at how you can save some cash. >> reporter: well you know what? i got some stuff. i got my composition book that goes with the composition book. i got some pens and some number 2 pencils in case i have to take the s.a.t. again. not souch what much what's in t, it's what's not on this receipt. no taxes. it's almost like delaware. take a look. yes, it's that time of year again. shop

certain items. school supplies, clothing, and shoes and on the first day, it came as a surprise to a surprising number of shoppers, but a pleasant surprise. >> i didn't get his stuff yet. >> reporter: virginia is one of nine states that are going tax free. that is, tax free with an asterisk. >> any little bit can help. yeah, having two small kids, we have to buy a lot. a lot of things. >> reporter: even if those things include hurricane and emergency supplies as well as certain energy saving appliances. they won't be in kids' pencil boxes but a break is a break. >> a break on the taxes is great. >> reporter: this also signals something else. the end of summer is nigh, time to start thinking about the three rs and the fourth r kwoez parents don't talk about quite as much, rest. >> i think, you know, moms are ready for school to start. >> reporter: so you've got today and until sunday to take advantage

virginia. later this month, there will be one in maryland. we're live in virginia. derrick ward, news4. in northern virginia, an incredible story about how dangerous police work can be. a stafford county sheriff's deputy is now recovering after he was accidentally exposed to a dangerous opioid. deputy a.c. wolford was investigating a case involving david chambers and samantha stout. deputies say they were found with illegal drugs in a van at the goddard school parking lot. the deputy handle d fentanyl when he was collecting evidence and he got sick. just touching that drug can result in an overdose. hospital staff gave him narcan to reverse the effects of the drug. the deputy is expected to be fine. it was a story we brought you as breaking news yesterday morning, a d.c. rookie firefighter who was critically injured after he was hit by a ladder truck at a

dane smothers jr. is still hospitalized this morning, but now we're learning that so many people, including capitol police officers have been stopping by his station at engine 3. they have been delivering food and sending their best wishes to firefighters. and we are working for you with a big heads up concerning metro. metro will shut down a stretch of the green line beginning this weekend for an improvement project. the branch avenue and suitland stations will be closed for the next two weeks beginning tomorrow. metro is running shuttle buses to and from naylor road. on the red line, crews will be working to stop leaks in the tunnels. the medical center in bethesda station will be closed. buses will run from friendship heights to grovner. new this morning, new job numbers. the labor department says employers added some 209,000 workers and jobs in the month of july. that's well above the projected 183,000 jobs predicted. it drops the em

growth in americans' paychecks, however, remains pretty steady. average hourly pay rose by 2.5% from a year earlier. that's the same annual pace as in june. fire tears through one of the world's tallest residential tours. debris came flying down, causing major safety problems, and this isn't the first time the same building went up in flames. a major development in the emissions scandal surrounding volkswagen. an

40 floors of this skyscraper in dubai fully engulfed this flames. it took hours for firefighters to get it under control. the blaze broke out around 1:00 in the morning. luckily, there were no injuries reported. it's the second fire at this high-rise in the past two years. nbc has the latest on the investigation. >> reporter: more than 40 floors of the 86-story torch tower in dubai turned into an inferno a after a fire broke out in the early hours of the morning local time. with flames engulfing one side of the building, sending chunks of debris falling below. the building, which has almost 700 apartments, was evacuated safe a

but this is the second time in as many years that the more than 1100-foot-tall building has caught on fire. it's not immediately clear what the cause of the fire was, but authorities there have previously acknowledged that at least 30,000 buildings across the uae have cladding or panelling that safety experts say accelerates the rapid spread of fires. back to you. well, here's a scary story if you're a parent. an 8-year-old girl died months after drinking boiling water on a dare. her name is kiari pope. government records in florida show her mouth and throat were severely burned back in march. her cousin dared her to drink boiling water through a straw after they watched a youtube video together. on sunday, she complained she couldn't breathe, then she died. doctors believe her death was connected to complications from the burns. we are learning more details about that tragic

anne arundel county. we now know the names of the grandfather and granddaughter who died in a backyard pool yesterday. lemuel cain couldn't swim but he jumped into the water to try to save the 4-year-old. the little girl was struggling in the deep end of the pool. rescue crews were not able to save them. a former volkswagen executive is going to be spending seven years behind bars. this morning, oliver schmidt pleaded guilty to conspiracy and lying to u.s. regulators about emissions in cars. vw admitted to cheating on emissions tests with rigged software in more than 11 million vehicles. schmidt will also have to pay a fine of up to $400,000 as part of his plea. one of music's biggest stars, taylor swift, is preparing for court. swift is set to testify on monday in a denver courtroom against former dj david mueller. the allegationste

incident in 2013. swift claims mueller groped her before a concert while taking a photo. he says the allegation isn't true. he also says it cost him his job. the trial will involve 32 public courtroom passes that will be available on a first come, first serve basis. there might be a party in kalarama today. it's president obama's birthday. he's turning 56. last year on his birthday, mr. obama had usher and stevie wonder perform at the white house. a fairfax county family is so very proud this morning because their daughter is making history at west point. simone will become the first african-american woman to lead the cadet corps there. only on news4 now bureau chief julie carey spoke with her family. >> reporter: simone has always been an achiever, a leader. at fairfax high school she was president of

of the volleyball team, founder of the black student union but now at age 20 she is making history. she is the first african-american woman to lead west point's corps of cadets. her new official title, first capital. younger sister nina breaks into tears when i ask what it means. >> i'm so proud of her. she's such a big role model for me. and i'm just so proud. >> reporter: mom pam says simone was drawn to the military at a young age when as a third grader, she watched the midshipmen march into a navy football game. >> she saw them all in formation and rose up and asked me, what does it take to lead that? and that was third grade. >> reporter: simone got appointments to both the naval academy and west point but it was her love of the army that decided it, and now has taken her to the top of her class once again. >> she takes a lot of pride in

and she has always been a leader. she will do what no one else will do, and doesn't matter who's watching. if it needs to get done, she'll do it. >> reporter: her family says simone is well aware of the significance of her new position. she knows many will be watching. they hope especially african-american girls will take notice. >> it's so exciting and, you know, it's a great step for not only women but african-american women, because it shows that, you know, like no matter what your sex or your race, like, you can really do anything. and there's nothing that can hold you back. >> reporter: and after graduation next spring, simone steps into her next position as a military intelligence officer. in fairfax county, i'm julie carey, news4. and along with many other achievements, simone has also been on the west point crew team but her mother says she may have to put that on hold in order to focus on her new responsibilities this year. coming up, a scary

at one of the country's most popular music events. see how people were forced to find cover duringtormy weath ser

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it's a story we've been following closely for you, carbon monoxide leaks in police suvs are causing concerns around the country, and now that concern has hit this area. news4 was first to report that montgomery county police are inspecting itsnt

so far, none of the county's suvs have tested positive for carbon monoxide in the cabin but the vast majority of vehicles have cracks in the manifold and have to be repaired. ford says its problem is with modifications made to vehicles that police use, so if you have an explorer at home, it shouldn't be impacted. we which he could with other police agencies in our area, and they say they're aware of this but so far, they have no problems to report. if you plan to head to the beach in maryland or delaware this weekend, expect it to take you maybe a little longer. in addition to regular beach bound traffic, mdod is closing an eastbound lane of u.s. route 50 on the salisbury by pass so they're urging people to drive through to avoid construction. the pavement repairs aren't expected to be finished until fall. i guess the festival was sad the weather is too crazy for us to play right now. >> we weren't the only ones

a storm shut down the first night of chicago's lalapalooza concert and now that same system is headed toward the washington area. you can see people were soaked because they got all that rain. organizers had to evacuate grant park as headliners muse and lourde started their sets. the second day of lalapalooza is expected to go as scheduled today. hopefully with some dry weather. dryer weather. >> yes, much drier today but we do have storm and shower chances in the forecast but it's a little later on in the day. i'm out of breath, guys, i was running around the studio. >> looking for your clicker. >> clicker found. so let's get into this forecast, pat. i do have some good news. i do have that shower and storm chance moving in this evening again but our weekend is panning out beautifully. let's get straight to the current temperatures. right now, deep breath, 82 degrees, mostly sunny. that flow out of the south, guys, you know, that's really causing all this heat and humidity we've been seeing so

seeing some very muggy conditions. as we head through the next couple of hours, check this out. for your friday, remember how yesterday, the day before that, we were stuck in this pattern with showers and storms moving in around 3:00 or 4:00, as we head through friday, the storms move through a lot later on in the day. you can see the models depicting that here. we start off around 6:00 p.m. then we move into the overnight hours. i'd say around 7:00 or 8:00, start to look for those showers and storm chances to rev up and this is because a cold front is moving through. friday night revel erlers, mighe a little damp. but saturday, a great deal of sunshine. breezy at times with that front pulling through. but very comfortable because behind the front, we've got that cooler air in place. sunday, similar pattern to your saturday. we wake up to brilliant sunshine and we should be staying dry through your sunday as well. here's a look at your pool forecast today. if you are planning on heading to the pool as far as temperatures go, i think it's a good look. low 90s, bch

is going to be before 5:00 because we are going to see that showering storm chance start to rev up as we head through the later evening hours, other than that, great pool day but if you're looking to this weekend, headed to the beach, not too bad either. as we head through saturday and sunday, temperatures are going to be in the low 80s, upper 70s on sunday. the best chance for showers at the beach is going to be like 6:00 or 7:00 a.m. on saturday. other than that, it's going to be a home run forecast. here's a look at the ten-day storm team4 outlook. a few days i want to highlight. this weekend, it's a go. monday, that's going to be our next big talker. we've got showers, storms, it's going to be very overcast on monday, very damp. temperatures in the low 80s but once we get through monday, we've got a nice stint of great weather. that's a look at your forecast. i'll have more coming up. for now, over to you, pat. a major crackdown just announced by the attorney general, what he says is threatening national security and what his office is ready to do

and when the new school year starts next month in montgomery county, all public schools, even elementary schools, will have supplies of

just

the justice department to find and charge people leaking sensitive government information. attorney general jeff sessions laid out the steps his department is taking to plug leaks, which he says put you and your family in danger. >> we will investigate and seek to bring criminals to justice. we will not allow rogue anonymous sources with security clearances to sell out our country. these cases -- >> in his watch, sessions says four people have been charged with leaking classified information. the justice department has tripled the number of active leak investigations compared to those pending at the end of the obama administration. the baltimore police department is under fire this morning. police are accused of planting evidence and getting caught by their own body cameras. as a result, there have been dozens of cases that had to be overturned. nbc's stephanie goss talks to a woman who finds herself in the middle

>> reporter: shamir collins was pulled over by baltimore police. >> you're locking me up for what. >> i think they put something in my car. >> reporter: officers are seen searching the car on body camera video. after a 30-minute gap, body cameras pick back up and police pull what they say is heroin from the car. >> i put handcuffs on you because there's drugs in your car. >> reporter: when they told you they found marijuana and heroin if your car, what was your reaction. >> my reaction was, how? you understand what i'm saying? how? where? >> reporter: internal affairs is investigating. >> it's no doubt that the video that we see, the piece of video that we see is ugly. >> reporter: the baltimore police department is in crisis. accused of tampering with evidence in the collins case and another from january when an officer apparently unaware his camera was recording appears to plant drugs in a cluttered backyard. >> we're looking at the possibility that this could have

discovery of the drugs that weren't recovered when the body camera was on. >> reporter: that officer was suspended. his two partners put on desk duty during the investigation. >> i think the videos highlight not only what our clients have been telling us for a long time but just a deep level of disrespect. >> reporter: prosecutors have now tossed out 46 criminal cases connected to the officers in both videos. with dozens more under review. the baltimore pd was already under scrutiny after the death of freddie gray. a bottom cam program was launched to help improve trust. now, new guidelines. cameras have to be activated at a scene and at no time should officers attempt to re-create the recovery of evidence. collins says she's scared of the police. >> i'm not saying all of them are bad but it's like the ones that are bad are making all of them look bad. >> reporter: making the job of policing an already tough city even tougher. stephanie gosk, nbc news,

baltimore. montgomery county public schools are taking steps to prevent drug overdoses. for the first time, beginning this year, every montgomery county public school will be stocked with naloxone. it's a life-saving treatment to reverse the effect of overdoses. the county spent the summer training school staff on how to administer the treatment. people we spoke to think it's a good decision, but they're also alarmed. >> i think it's a great idea. i think it's scary that this is going on in the county, and it's a good first step. >> we've never had a case of reported overdose on our school property, but it doesn't mean that we don't need to be prepared. >> now the decision to put naloxone in all 205 public schools is a response to a new maryland law designed to tackle the state's drug crisis. well, a lot of students don't want to hear this, but it's soon going to be time to head back to classes and it's important to make sure they don't suffer from the summer slide. teachers say it usually takes weeks, sometimes even months to get students refocused o

school work. news4's molette green has some advice to help make sure your kids are ready for school. >> reporter: inside charles flowers high school in prince george's county, a summer robotics class keeps the learning process fresh. >> well, it's really cool because i need this over the summer because if i don't stay on top of my education over the summer, it will, like, go down, and then when school comes, i will be all frantic when it comes to, like, learning everything all over again. >> reporter: but when you don't have a summer bridge program, learning can still happen outside the classroom. >> attending museums, getting kids out of having those real experiences -- experiential learning experiences over the summer. >> reporter: that advice from flowers principal who's about to welcome 2,100 children back to campus. in the final days of summer break, he wants school children to read and check out some online math lessons to jump start a back to school, back to class mindset. in prince george's county, molette green,

classes for your kids in a few days or a few weeks, news4 has you covered. we're working for you to make sure your youngsters are ready for the new year, from the best supplies to making sure their sleep schedules are back on track. tune in starting monday for our back to school series. you've probably used the app before. some time soon, you could be working for yelp. the company is moving into a new office space here in washington. it's planning to hire 500 new employees. the office will be located on 7th street, just south of verizon center. the washington business journal reported that yelp spent months looking for just the perfect space here in the nation's capital. americans love wine. in fact, no country consumes more of it than this country. some of the biggest wine buffs have taken to buying their wine before it hits the stores. and if you're thinking about taking your wine hobby to the next level, scott

cnbc's "american greed" has a warning. >> reporter: we spend some $60 billion a year on wine according to the wine institute. wine merchant john fox saw that as an opportunity for fraud. his business, premier crew, was a $55 million ponzi scheme, selling pre-arrival wine. that's wine that's been bottled but not shipped. but much of the wine wasn't his to sell, and customers lost out. now john fox is aging in prison after pleading guilty to fraud. pre-rif pre-arrival wine is one type of pre. >> sold wine. there's also wine futures. both can be good ways to secure the bottle that you want but do your due diligence to make sure your broker is trustworthy. wine expert marine downey says check your vendor's business license and track record on message boards. >> if a lot of other people have had a bad experiencer

that they're asking for, that's a huge red flag. >> reporter: and give more weight to people's negative experiences than the positive. john fox was able to keep selling because he had some influential buyers defending him. >> the vendors will always take care of certain people, so that those people will go out and say that the vendors are great. >> reporter: pre-selling wine is legal but it's largely unregulated, so be as discerning about your vendor as you are about your wine. scott cohn. well, it is hot even for one of the hottest spots in the u.s. and the world. the new word that will have you sweating just thinking about it. and when most people go to the animal shelter, they're not thinking about adopting a turtle, but that's just one of the unusual animals available in our area.

finally, some good news this morning for folks with v

that massive power outage in the outer banks, it's over. two islands that were in the dark will start welcoming tourists back today. they lost power last week. 50,000 folks had to leave, and there's an untold number who had to cancel their plans because of this. it happened when workers who were building a bridge damaged a major underground transmission line. well, if you're thinking of vacationing here, it's pretty hot. death valley just set a new record for the hottest month in u.s. history. the national weather service says death valley had an average temperature of 107.4 degrees during july. nighttime temperatures weren't much better. temperatures only dipped to about 89. the previous hot record temperature there was set in 1917, a sizzling 107.2 degrees, and according to guinness, death valley's hottest day

in 1913, 134 degrees. >> there's a reason they call it death valley. >> i've been there and it's sizzling. and we're going get more comfortable this weekend. we are expecting these temperatures to really cool down after a cold front rolls through tonight and we still have to grin and fwabear the heat and humidity for your friday. right now, in the district, we're at 82 degrees down towards areas like lorton, 83, leesburg, how you doing, 84 degrees, 83 in gaithersburg, maryland. all right, folks, let's talk about our rain chances for today. so for the past couple of days, i mean, we have been seeing these showers and storms like clock work. yesterday i said it felt like we were in the twilight zone on a repeat of that summer pattern but as we head through today, we're going to see that showering storm chance a little bit later on so you can see 4:00, we're pretty much still clear and dry here in the district. back towards the blue ridge, we're starting to see those showers and storms fire up. and as that front

through, i'd start to look for it maybe after about 6:00 p.m., 7:00 p.m., i know the models are pushing it later but just keep your eyes peeled for that. we should see that line of showers and storms and we're talking heavy rain at times. that will push through overnight. by tomorrow morning, sunrise, we're dry. behind the front, a little bit more breezy, but you can see not only dry, clear, we should be seeing mostly sunny conditions through a lot of your saturday. so let's get back to today. you've got some errands to run for the remainder of the day, i always say go before the rush hour time frame as well as that chance for storms, which comes in later on in the day. but through the afternoon, lunchtime, into about 4:00 p.m., we're staying mostly sunny, very humid out there, temperatures in the low 90s. for your weekend activities, it's green light all the way. i mean for the city open, we are looking at comfortable, breezy at times, howard county fair is going to be wonderful conditions to be outdoors and if you do have some shopping to get done this weekend, i'll probably get mine done early sunday morning. we are expecting mostly sunny conditions, not as humid, very comfortable. ho

need to know about the next few days. one other thing, we're looking at unsettled weather at the top of next week. if you're already thinking beyond this week, check out monday. we will be seeing shower and storms greet us monday morning and it's going to be overcast in the low 80s but let's focus on the weekend where we're going to be seeing a great deal of sunshine. well, the weather sounds great for a big event at training camp this weekend. it will be a great chance for you to see, close and personal, your favorite players. what you need to know before you hit e road.th fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. hit e road.th and with the new fios gigabit connection... you get our fastest internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone

plus hbo for one year and multi-room dvr service for two years, all with a two-year agreement. and switching has never been easier. get out of you contract with up to a $500 credit to help cover your early termination fee. go to fiosgigabit.com

well, this is the last thing you want to happen when you go to a concert. a group of concert goers had to wait an extra hour before seeing match box 20 perform. a massive swarm of bees delayed the show last night in tucson. they had to wait for the swarm to be cleared out before they could get that concert underway. the local fire department was at the scene to provide first aid and there was an exterminator to handle the bees. oh my. rabbits, ferrets, turtles, big adoption program this month will give you the opportunity to bring a cute little pet into your home. sheena parveen shows us how. >> animal shelters all across the country are teaming up with nbc and telemundo stations to find loving homes for puts in need. clear the shes

nationwide pet adoption initiative that takes place in just a few weeks. we're going to take a look at animals other than cats and dogs that need homes because we have other animals at the shelter. laura from the humane rescue alliance is here with some very special animals today. hey, lauren. who do you have here? i've seen different animals when i've gone to your shelter. >> we have a lot of small animals because we have to accept every animal from the district. this is lixi, a male rabbit. just one of our many rabbits that are available for adoption right now. >> okay. now, adopting a pet like a rabbit, now, we're not talking dog or cat. you obviously need a cage and other things like that. >> that's right. well, you have to consider the fact that living in a cage is maybe not an ideal situation. these are social animals, social with humans, social with other animals. they do need time to exercise and space to exercise. so consider that based on the time you have to commit to the animal and additionally the space. >> okay, so definitely do your research. >> yes. >> it's not something you want runng

messes they make. >> it's actually okay to have them have their kind of quiet time when they're in their enclosure and there are plenty of resources and we can also counsel when you come to adopt your small animal. we can give you some tips and tricks on how to set them up in your home. >> we have this little sweetie pie available. and we have two other animals. >> we have francesca the ferret. she was found as a stray in rock creek park so these animals come us in a many number of ways and ferrets, we want people to check with their jurisdiction, what animals are legal to own in the jurisdiction. she's just one of our ferrets that we have right now. she's incredibly social. again, these guys are social beings. we often have multiple. we have a pair of ferrets in addition to francesca right now. these guys can live up to ten years so i would definitely think about the time commitment and the length of time commitment as well. these are not just classroom pets. these are par

>> and when you say classroom pets, i was going to say, the first thing you think of, i think of "kindergarten cop" because i've never really known anybody to have a ferret. they do give off a certain unique fragrance. >> they have a musk. every species is different so really read up on what you're committing to living with and if you're willing to take that on. >> very cool. now we have a turtle. so, we're going from fuzzy, mammals to reptiles and you guys really have everything, aside from the turtle, ferret and rabbit. >> we have snakes a lot of snakes available and they can be social as well. so think about if you are a snake owner or a snake person and previously gone to purchase your snake, you can come to us for that. but we do have a lot of red eared sliders as well. and these guys are actually native to certain areas, but because they're so overpopulated, they're illegal to release so we get them in our facilitate and we put them up for adoption. >> do they need a tank with water? >> they need a lot of water. these are turtles. they need a space to bask in warmth. theyee

hide. and consider the space. so these guys are going to grow. they're often bought when they're just a couple inches big and they grow to needing a tank of about 100 gallons at least so consider that when you're getting that little tiny turtle at the fair for nour chiyour ch. these guys can live decades. >> so keep in mind, down the road, what you need for the animal. thank you so much. and obviously aside from the interesting exotic-type animals, a lot of dogs and cats also still at the shelter. nbc4 is proud to help clear the shelters every year. if you're interested in adopting a pet, we have the resources on the nbc washington app and all these animals you just saw available right now through the humane rescue alliance. you can head to the nbc washington app for more information on that. thank you, lauren >> thank you. >> all right, lots to choose from there. hey, if you're looking for an update from training camp, this weekend, well, to

today. the team has today off but tomorrow is fan appreciation day. >> thank you. >> no problem. >> you can get autographs from players, coaches, and cheerleaders. there will also be marching bands to see. the gates open at 11:30 tomorrow in richmond. the team says get there early, though, because there's going to be a big crowd. practice starts at 1:30 in the afternoon. okay, jack, jack, when i was a little girl, i didn't think that i could ever be president, and do you know why that was? >> you're not photogenic? >> season one of the rebooted "will and grace" here on nbc hasn't even started yet and already we found out there will be a season two. the announcement was made yesterday in beverly hills. nbc says the first season will include 16 rather than just 12 episodes. "will and grace" returns to the air september 28. you can watch it on thursday nights. after the break, we take a look at the new museum

to the unicorn of the sea. and as you start your weekend, we're getting you ready to head out of the door with what you can expect over the ne ten days.xt howl whimper yap yap yap yip is your dog trying to tell you something? allergic itch in dogs is a medical condition that's more common and treatable than you think. that's why there's prescription apoquel: the revolutionary medicine that's giving millions of dogs the relief they deserve. apoquel goes to the source of the itch to provide relief in as little as 4 hours. woof and apoquel is safe without many of the side effects associated

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them, being dumped into the chicago river. they're not being trashed. it's the annual rubber duck derby, which raises money for special olympics. each of the 60,000 ducks cost $5. the owner of the duck that ended up at the finish line won a brand-new car. no word on how long it took to finish all those ducks out of the river, though. it's called the unicorn of the sea, an unusual kind of whale that has a special feature that makes you ask what was nature thinking? the smithsonian thinks this creature deserves some love because its habitat is melting. wendy rieger shows us the brand-new exhibit. >> reporter: it's called a narwhal or narwhale. it's a creature that makes you look twice because of its unusual tusk, a spear of sorts that protrudes from its head but it's not a weapon. it's actually a kind of tooth designed as an antenna, enab

about its environment. >> there's a direct tie, as our teeth are tide to our brain, there's a direct tie from this tooth to the brain. >> reporter: he is a dentist that has been studying the narwhal for years, focusing on this tusk or tooth because it is considered a tooth. >> it decides to put all of its tooth-growing capacity into this extraordinary tusk. >> reporter: yes, extraordinary. it can be as long as 8 feet and it's off center and it's always a spiral. >> this is the only spiral tusk in nature. >> reporter: the narwhal resides in the arctic circle, providing sustenance for the inuit people of northern canada. >> it's in the arctic size. it's always stuck up there where humans don't go. >> reporter: but more humans are starting to go there. climate change has shifted the ice shelf, opening up more northern passages for merchant vessels. >> maybe twice as fast warming as the rest

exhibit in the natural history museum. the melting ice makes the place more accessible. those ships can bring pollution and other woes. it's hoped that introducing the public to the narwhal and the proud inuit populations of this frozen world, that it may prompt us to turn our attention north and maybe care about these people and their traditions of this pristine and exotic place. so that nature's creations can continue to amaze and we can believe in unicorns. >> that was wendy rieger. you can check out the narwhal, revealing an arctic legend now at the smithsonian's natural history museum. pretty fascinating. is our weather fascinating? >> well, when it's been so active for the past couple days, it's nice to calm down. let's spend a little time with this storm. i've got one minute here. let's break this down. friday, we are going to be seeing temperatures in the low 90s, here's the thing today, still very humid out

your best chance for showers and storms is going to move in later in the day, about 5:00 or 6:00 start to look out for this them and this is accompany bid a cold front pushing through so that transition period is going to be friday evening through friday night. as we head into your saturday, it's shaping up to be lovely. if you have any outdoor plans, capitalize on them this weekend. temperatures in the low 80s, very comfortable, sunday, similar situation, temperatures in the low to mid 80s, lots of sunshine, and then we're going go through another transition period, sunday night into monday. so, late sunday night, we'll see those clouds increasing. we will see our rain chances starting to rub up and by monday, that is going to be the next big talker, showers and storms as a warm front begins to lift on monday. after that, i think we're faring on the drier side through the middle of next week so it's looking good this weekend. that's a look at your forecast. and thank you for joining us. that's news4 midday. we're back on the air this afternoon, first at 4:00.

updates any time with the nbc washington app. have a great friday and a great at ikea, we believe your perfect student deserves the perfect room for the perfect price. so she can afford to feel at home even when she's miles away. and you can help her feel bright, without breaking your budget. and... who's there? hey. a boy? you never told your dad and i about any... oh, on the bed? absolutely not! okay... studying together is fine... and at ikea, we believe that letting go can be hard, but not pricey. what's going on now? move the flag.

stand by, everyone. we're live in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. ♪ rose all day. >> oh, yes! oh, i love that from bobby newbury, rose. it is rose friday. we're getting into the spirit around here. oh, my gosh, kit. we should do this every friday. >> i think it's every friday. i wore a rose dress just to match the wine. >> by the end of the show, i may know nothing that's going on. >> i love when morales goes deep. >> it's summer water to