at the live desk. >> chris, what's developing out of cuba? >> this is pretty strange. a series of strange incidents. americans serving in cuba say they had physical reactions to something at the u.s. embassy. the state department says multiple people came back to the states for medical reasons, but the exact cause of it isn't really clear. apparently this all started late last year and because of it, u.s. officials have asked two cuban officials here in washington to leave. aaron. all right, chris, thank you. today marks one year since a deadly explosion in our area. two children were among the seven people who died at the flower branch apartments in montgomery county. it was an incident that changed the lives of everyone involved. that was one of the emotional moments we witnessed. an infant reunited with his parents after being tossed from a window to safety. and those memories are l

the first responders. >> within the fire service, you see events, you ever career changing events and events that you do remember always. this will be one of them. >> now, there will be a vigil tonight for the victims of this fire and explosion. i was there in the hours after this happened last year and witnessed some of the events unfold first hand. since the fire, county officials have pushed in new laws and they have examined their own response. for a look at what has happened sipsz t since the fire, search flower branch in the nbc washington app. early this hour, the world continues to watch the tensions rise between north korea and the united states. kim jong-un's regime says it plans to fire four missiles toward guam possibly before the end of this month. the pentagon says it already has a plan for a preemptive strike on north korea's missile sites if president trump orders an at

now, this all comes after the president warned the north that the rest of the u.s. would be met with, quote, fire and fury. in guam yesterday, secretary of state rex tillerson said traditional diplomacy just won't work. >> what the president was doing is sending a strong message to north korea in language that kim jong-un would understand because he doesn't seem to understand diplomatic language. >> tillerson went on to say that he doesn't think that there is an immediate threat and on bbc radio overnight, one of president trump's deputy assistants said the u.s. would use, quote, any appropriate measures to protect itself. negotiate, don't escalate. >> now, if you were driving past the white house, you may have seen these protesters out. they are asking president trump to deescalate the growing crisis with north korea calling for a return to diplomatic talks. in addition to the rally here in d.c., a similar protest was held in new york. he was

leadership, and now the former director of d.c.'s veterans affairs hospital is back on the payroll. brian that y brian hawkens was fired after audits found mismanagement. he appealed and the board is requiring the v.a. to keep him on as an employee until his claim is reviewed. for now hawkens has been reassigned to administrative duty at v.a. headquarters. today is the day, redskins fans, football is back. time for that practice to pay off. the team headed up to baltimore for its first preseason game. >> and that is happening at 7:30 p.m. right here on nbc 4 right after nbc nightly news. you can go to training camp again this saturday and sunday. >> and then coming up on the 6:00 news, news 4's molette green this morning will talk with someone, we've seen her pictures online, this perhaps is one of the biggest fans ever of the redskins. >> and we of course have your front row seat, too. ki

nbc 4. after that, you can catch the first of four really highly anticipated episodes of snl weekend update summer edition. and of course all that followed by news 4 at 11:00. 4:34. time to get another check of your weather and traffic. >> let's start with chuck and sheena and 69 cool degrees here in contin. >> it has been so easy to walk the dogs. hasn't been all that humid, hasn't been hot. i've been enjoying it and they have, too. get outside and enjoy it while you can. it won't last for a whole lot longer. most of these raindrops out here in eastern kentucky as they come farther and farther northbound into the dry air, most of those are going to get eaten up.

but increase in the evening hours. and so 4 things to know, no complaints for today. you can complain about tomorrow and the weekend though as rain is looking quite likely for your friday night and potentially lingering into saturday morning. saturday will be ob on the wan d humid side. >> and not looking forward to the rain chances over the weekend. just pay attention to the nice weather today. but the rain chances do increase tomorrow. let's look at the temperatures this morning. 69 right now in washington, gait in the 50s. 59 degrees. if you are in manassas, 59. 61 in leesburg. 55 winchester, 64 in quantico, 63 in clinton. so feeling very nice this morning. we'll keep this same weather pattern in place through the afternoon that we saw yesterday, so we are talking about another very comfortable day. these numbers may even drop a co m

sunrise, but then after that, we'll be very comfortable. low humidity through the afternoon, temperatures once again in the mid-80s. but we'll talk about the rain chances coming up in a bit. let's check your roads with jack taylor. good morning. sever democratic n river bridge should be in the clearing stations by the time you get there. headed west on 50 between 424 and 197, chances are pretty good that will probably still be in place. usually hangs in until after 5:00. right lane getting by. 270 headed the northbound before 80, we have a paving project going on, that is actually guardrail work and the right lane only is getting by. we're in pretty decent shape coming southbound. no issues out of frederick headed toward the lane divide. and new this morning, it looks like there was no winner in last night's powerball jackpot. you know what that means, y

big money. the next drawing coming up saturday night. right now the estimated jackpot there is $356 million. that is the power ball. and the mega millions actually still has another drawing coming up tomorrow night. the jackpot there right now is $382 million. >> last night some winners in iowa and texas, so if you know anybody, have any relatives, they won a smaller sum. >> give them a call. >> not us again. they thought it was part of the process of buying a house until they were out of more than $1 million. the sophisticated scam making the rounds and how to make sure it never happens to you. and we are just a few weeks away from back to school. but officials have an important reminder for parents and students that are gearing up for that first day. the danger they want you to be on the lookout for. and usually they make a mess when they break in. but this one tidied up. the bizarre burglary that wasn't really a

this may be the kind of burglar i'd welcome with open arms. arlington county police say somebody broke into someone's apartment and cleaned it. the resident was on vacation apparently when this alleged break-in happened. things had been moved around, but nothing was missing. the resident says that they don't have a

there is no suspect description right now. >> do you think they have a cleaning problem and maybe a partner -- >> somebody decided i'm not going to take anything, this thing is a mess. my address, 90 -- no. >> don't go there. vdot is promising to make things right for dozens of drivers whose cars were splattered with some kind of gunk. >> this was all over social media yesterday. it happened during the morning commute on a stretch of minnieville road. a paving contractor had put down a see plant that contasealant t contains liquid asphalt, but it didn't dry in time and then the rain came, so it sprayed cars with the tarlike substance. >> black road spray coming you and that's when i tried move away from other people. i thought it was dirt until i got to the car wash yesterday. >> drivers whose cars were damaged are asked to call the vdot call center or go online. all the contact information is

all you have to search is tar. let's see what we can expect weather-wise today. chuck. >> yeah, get that car washed 150 sooner rather than later because rain chances are going up. humidity levels still on the comfortable side for today, becoming more humid tomorrow as the rain chances come on in and over the weekend, it will be very sticky around here. sheena will help you with your 10 day forecast coming up in just a minute. and by new you have probably seen it and now we know the motive behind it. why a prankster set up a poultry version of the president right outside the whit e

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good morning. it is 4:44 on a thursday morning. temperatures are in the

mid-80s around the d.c. metro area, but upper 70s for highs in the shenandoah valley. great day to be outside today. sheena will show you future weather and explain to you why some of your weekend plans may need some rearranging. i'm chris lawrence here at the live desk. want to take you to california where an overnight standoff between police and a crowd of people has just ended. take a look at all the police officers, this is in los angeles. officers swarmed the scene after one officer said he couldn't get the crowd under control. lapd says people were throwing rocks and bottles at officers. two people have been arrested. fortunately no one was seriously hurt. it's 15 before the hour now. another day and a new threat from north korea. >> the country says that it will complete a plan by the middle of this month to fire missiles toward the u.s. territory of guam.

of this developing story. and is this a direct threat in response to what we've heard from president trump? >> reporter: well, it certainly seems to be. north korea is now making the threat more specific saying they will fire four missiles into the waters surrounding guam, guam's governor and the u.s. government still saying that there is no reason to worry. they are essentially calling north korea's bluff. we don't know what will happen next. north korea says president trump's fire and fury warning is a load of nonsense. so the rhetoric is heating up on both sides. the concern is whether or not there will be an actual military conflict. >> what can you tell us about the pentagon's plan or how prepared it is for anything north korea might do? >> reporter: the pentagon according to four military sources telling nbc that they have a plan for a preemptive strike, for the u.s. to strike first if that is what president trump decides, if that is w

it would involve b 1 bombers from guam targeting north korea, some two dozen sites there that have been identified as supply sites and missile launch sites, this would be from several hundred miles away, they are able to launch these missiles at those sites. that is the plan. we're told it can be put into action very soon again if that's what the president decides. but a lot of military experts say that a preemptive strike would immediately draw fire and a response from north korea and put us much more quickly into a military conflict where there is still hope that diplomacy could work here. >> tracie potts on the hill, thank you. the inflatable chicken outside the white house made to resemble president trump is getting a lot of attention on social media this morning. now we know the motive behind it. the man who inflated it wants president trump to release his tax returns. the poultry prop appears to be th

march. we checked with the national park service and the protesters did have a permit for this yesterday. well, the democratic field for maryland governor just got bigger. a former aide to firster first lady michelle bomb entered the race. so far half a dozen candidates have declared their intention to run. now to a story trails cicee wilkins in our prince george's county bureau chief has been following for months now. this week the former liquor board commissioner was indicted by a federal grand jury. and now faces federal bribery charges. the u.s. attorney says he accepted bribes from lobbyists in exchange for help from liquor board matters. he resigned from his position on the board back in january. we may soon get answers about the shutdown of the birthing unit at a d.c. hospital. the health department ordered

southeast to stop all deliveries and prenatal care for the next 90 days. now d.c. council member vincent gray wants to hold a public hearing to residents in wards 7 and 8 can learn more about the problem and what is being done to fix it. yesterday united medical center said the deficiencies include screening, clinical assessment and delivery protocol. you need to be aware of this alarming growing skamg. people are targeting new home buyers and taking their money. in the district, a couple lost more than a million nar dollars. their lawyer says hackers broke into the server of a title company and e-mailed them. they had already made a $200,000 deposit, but it said they needed the rest. >> so they e-mailed back and said we notice that this is a different account number and they got an e-mail back again from federal title saying you used a different account for the different types of payments. >> well, the couple sued the title company in a written

news 4 it continues to work with the fbi as they complete their investigation and, quote, federal title's internal review has revealed that no other customers were affected by this attack. end quote. we are working to make sure by the way that this never happens to you. so we did talk with a mortgage expert who says never transfer money to anyone even if you know them based off of an e-mail. always call the company requesting the money to verify. and this is really important. when you call, don't use the number on the e-mail. look it up yourself. today we'll learn how rookie d.c. firefighter dane smothers junior is doing. he was badly hurt last week when a ladder truck ran him over while responding to a house fire. his family will provide the update on his condition today. we were there yesterday as the community rallied around the family. the scorched soul's motorcycle club held a breakfast benefit on capitol hill. a gofundme page also set up by

goal in just two days. if you would still like to donate, you can go to the nbc washington app and search smothers. just two minutes away from the 5:00 hour and there is a new report out about your child's safety. this just as many of us are getting ready to send them back to school. it says many kids just don't feel safe walking there. according to the family career and community leaders of america, 77% of high schoolers think that the intersections near the schools are dangerous. researchers talked to more than 1,000 students in 22 states. just under 10% ever schools reported having crossing guards at those intersections. only 19% of areas near schools were properly marked as school zones. >> we all share the roads with each other. so we all are trying to make the right steps. but if the road isn't right and if the other drivers that we're sharing the road aren't doing the right things, we're the a risk. >> earlier this year the governor's highway safety association said the annual pedestrian

deaths. the highest number in two decades. which is very, very alarming. 4:52 right now. sheena, i would like to order exactly what we had yesterday and get the same thing. >> but there is always a kicker. and so there is rain in the forecast, just not immediately. >> everything good like this unless you live in california comes to an end. >> i know. always a but. >> but it will come back though. so that is the other but here. we have the rain across the weekend after a couple really nice days, but don't worry, it will be back here next week. unfortunately the timing won't put it over your weekend, but that is okay. it won't be a complete washout. we just have more rain in the forecast. another beauty of a day today. it will look very much like yesterday. showers increase as we go into tomorrow. so does the humidity. rain chances across your weekend both saturday and sunday. showers looks like a higher chance though than sunday. temperatures right now pretty

laytonsville, 70 washington, 64 riverdale and cheverly ft. washington coming in at 61 degrees. throughout the afternoon, another fantastic day if you still plan on grilling outside, it will be great. 3:00 p.m., 83 degrees. 5:00 p.m., low humidity. and by 7:00 p.m., very pleasant. and by 7:00 p.m., for the redskins game, we are talking about temperatures continuing to slowly dropoff, a very comfortable evening if you are heading to that. mid-70s by the end of the game. future weather, tomorrow morning we will be dry, but then tomorrow evening, showers and storms. saturday for much of the day, we have the rain chance around. sunday is looking a little bit better. but still the rain chance in the forecast. monday, that will be a pretty rainy day it looks like, but as we go in to next week, really nice weather comes back. let's take a look at your roads on this thursday morning. good morning, jack. thank you. good morning. crews working in northwest rock creek parkway at the ken

about 6:00 most mornings. traffic alternates by one direction at a time at the scene of the ongoing work. and trouble leaving frederick headed toward hagerstown is i-70 west toward myersville. the paving project had the right lane getting by, and now they changed the category to emergency road work which probably means that it won't clear until about 6:00, 7:00. so plan ahead in that two lane stretch. prince george's county county outer loop area fter branch, tw lanes get you by. they practically go hand in hand when somebody gets married or has a baby, so why not college? >> how students can now register for dorm

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you might remember we told you about a chipotle in dallas where somebody saw mice. it's closed this morning. and last month somebody saw three mice inside the restaurant. here it is again. you can see one of them climbing the wall here. chipotle said it fixed a small gap in the building, but now it is taking a closer look inside. also last month, the chipotle in sterling, virginia closed after dozens of people got sick with ne

>> and rodents can actually have a serious impact on our city's infrastructure. jody fleischer explains. >> reporter: it's no secret rodents are on the rise here in the d.c. area with nearly 3,000 complaints just this year and one of the leading experts told us they can cause big problems. you might not realize these holes are rat boroughs. it can cause sidewalks and streets to crumble. >> i see it constantly. >> reporter: national park service already has about $850 million worth of projects needing funding. and some of the district's lush parks provide natural habitats for the pesky pests. at dusk, our cameras spotted them scurrying across the already cracked pavers. >> certainly if you have rats that areak

to that tally, that is something that we're trying to avoid. >> reporter: bait boxes line sidewalks and alleys across the district where cracked sidewalks with holes 00 either he said can mean real trouble. >> they live down in here, dozens and incidence of them. >> reporter: coming up tonight, see hugh our expert rates d.c.'s rat control efforts and plus what you can learn from the methods they use. jodie fleischer, news 4 iteam. if you are thinking about getting a new job, you don't have to think much farther than the district of columbia apabout you live in one of the best cities for people looking for jobs in the tech industry. in fact d.c. and baltimore both made the top five according to a relocation company. it compared job postings on linkedin. the company says seattle and sfwran hasan francisco haves most tech jobs, then d.c. and baltimore. toronto rounds out the top five. and that report said there are 40,000 tech jobs in the district al

the most obvious reason, our proximity to the federal government. >> and that makes it easier for companies to get contracts. we also have several top tier schools training people for tech jobs. and yelp said it is opening an office in d.c. because of the t diverse talent pool and proximity to other cities. where i live, there is a google i've and a startup ib could ync. stay with us. news 4 "today" continues at 5:00 a.m. good morning. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> and i'm angie goff in for eun yang. first things first, we want to get a check on your weather and traffic. >> let's start outside with chuck and sheena and a look at the weather. >> beautiful morning outside today. the folks that care of the lawn have been actively mowing and trimming and is t. smells like fresh grass. >> i