. . . the story continues to break and bring you updates throughout the morning. we'll check in with wtop's dave dildine soon, shortly to find out alternate routes around this tie-up. we want to head over to the storm team weather center where chuck bell is standing by with the weather. after a string of glorious days, we might see clouds today. >> a little more cloud cover to deal with today. not much of a rain chance. there could be an isolated sprinkle or shower today, mainly into southern maryland and on to the shore. not much of a rain chance in and around the city today. no chance for rain up in the shenandoah valley. rain chances as low as they are ar

maryland and the northern neck. 0% chance for rain in the shenandoah where temperatures are back down into the lower 60s. 61 in gaithersbu gaithersburg. milder 72 here in washington. for today, plenty of warmth and humidity. no more than than an isolated sprinkle or shower. the clouds will tekeep temperatures down a smidgen. still 10 degrees warmer than average. extended forecast is coming up. thank you. 4:01 right now. more breaking news to report. take a look at this. this is out in arlington, virginia. you can see the intense flames rising into the air. this is off a large vehicle on i-66. crews quickly were able to work and contain this. they put the fire out just after midnight. we're hearing that the vehicle may actually have been

sweeper. all lanes of westbound 66 just before spot run parkway, they were shut down for some time. this is what things look like now. we're checking out, making sure everything is in the clear. looks like lanes wide open in the same area along i-66. dave dildine right now, up early, working on getting the traffic updates and ways to get around other morning tie-ups. that's coming up at 4:26. you can follow first 4 traffic on twitter also. before the national anthem played for the games, players, teams, coaches took a knee. >> they were adamant about separating that message from the national anthem. >> you can hear that there was boo'ing from that arizona crowd. after kneeling, the cowboys stood up and kept their arms locked as the national anthem played. jones, who has been a big and vocal supporter of the president said after the game that

message about unity and equality was being pushed aside by the controversy. the controversy started friday when president trump said players who protest during the national anthem should be fired. the arizona cardinals also linked arms during the anthem. singer jordan sparks performed that national anthem and sent her own message to those watching. you see something was written on her hand. we looked into that. and it is a bible verbs. this refers to speaking for the oppressed. the verse made such an impression it was trending on twitter during the game. sparks father played nine years in the nfl. despite the pushback from the nfl, vice president mike pence defended the president and his words. >> we've all got a right to our opinions. but i don't think it's too much to ask the players in the

stand for our national anthem, and i know the people of alabama agree. >> the president continued a tweet yesterday about the nags an anthem saying that the players were disrespecting the country. today, president trump will hold a news conference with the president of spain and that will happen in the white house rose garden. at 4:04 this morning, the latest plan to repeal and replace the affordable care act is in trouble. senator susan collins says that she will not support the health care bill. >> the democratic party made a huge mistake in pushing through the affordable care act without a single republican vote. it is a mistake for my party to repeat that error. >> that no from senator collins means republicans do not have the numbers to push the bill through. right now there's a humanitarian crisis going

puerto rico. the governor saying more than half of the island in the dark, without power and without running water. >> by looking at the this video, you can see all that flooding. nearly a week after hurricane maria hit. you can barely see the street there. inside this house, the water is waist-high. first responders from virginia were in puerto rico and lived through hurricane maria and news 4's jackie bensen caught up with them as they returned home last night exhausted from deployments to multiple natural disasters. >> i don't think anybody was quite aware to the level it was going to happen. >> battalion chief describes the unexpected after helping in texas in the aftermath of hurricane harvey and then to florida following hurricane irma. members of virginia task force one arrived in puerto rico

the bull's-eye. >> right there in the stairwells of the elevators where it was concrete. we were able to stay in there and ride that storm out there. >> often more sensitive to impending storms than humans, the canine members did something unusual. >> the dogs were awake but they were fine. they were good. >> fairfax county fire chief richard bowers says luckily recent training prepared the dogs and the handlers something they haven't done before, island hopping by helicopter. >> the canines never did that before. now we're able to employ that on this rescue mission from san juan to st. croix and the other virgin islands. >> family members waited for hours at a facility in chantilly to give them an enthusiastic welcome home. even the youngest wanted to express their pride. >> i took a bunch of pictures because it felt good and i

>> maryland task force one are still on the ground in the hardest hit area of puerto rico. jackie bensen, news 4. we may have to wait a little longer to see bryce harper back on the field for the nationals. he was supposed to make his return last night at the game against the phillies. after waking up with flu-like symptoms, he was forced to sit out of the game again. this is a real sting, of course, since harper has been out with that knee injury since early august. august 12th. he's set to be reevaluated today. >> and taylor gets one high in the air to left center. see you later. >> and we do have to mention as far as last night's game goes, the nats did beat the phillies 3-1. game 2 in the series is tonight. game time at 7:05. chuck bell, bryce harper not being there. another setback for so many fans. they were anticipating it.

wait it out until he's 100%, you know. >> the problem with playing hurt, sometimes you favor where that injury is and you get hurt another way. wait until the world series if need be. >> you bet. still feelgt affects of maria? >> you bet. the clouds outside today are exactly courtesy of maria spinning its wheels off the coast about 200 and so miles east, southeast of cap hatteras north carolina. but the clouds we see today are definitely part of the shield from that storm. i'll show you the track of maria coming up in a minute. okay. thanks. snatched off the sidewalk. we've got scary new video of a possible kidnapping. why police a notre s

we stcontinue to stay on to of this breaking news. chopper 4 is hovering over the site of this major crash where it looks like we have a car overturned into the woods, into the tree on to the side of the road there. what we know at this point, this is happening on the baltimore washington parkway. the southbound lanes mostly affected here where the crash occurred near 197 where all southbound lanes remain shut down. one of our nbc news producers was caught up in the tie-up this morning. she said she had to sit there for an hour before they w

it looks like they're not even close to removing this vehicle. one person was badly hurt. we believe park police flew them to the hospital. we're working to get the latest on their condition. we'll also be checking in with first 4 traffic and dave dildine with wtop working to get you the best alternate routes to avoid this tie-up. this early morning tie-up. a story that continues to break. we'll continue to follow it throughout the morning. now to some national news n recent weeks, southern california has been hit hard by fires as we know. this latest blaze is getting worse near anaheim. take a look at this. you can see the large plume of smoke and bright flames. i believe we have video. it was over a freeway. traffic was just whizzing by. just eight hours, about 2,000 acres already charred. forcing people to evacuate, to leave their homes. today, the weather, though, could actually help the fire

temperatures have cooled and the humidity is rising. at 4:12, we're about to show you some more video of what looks like -- actually, we don't have the video right now, but we'll be sharing this on social media. a possible kidnapping. this is out of california as well. police looking for a woman snatched off the sidewalk, pulled into a car on sunday night. now, in that video, what you're going to notice is that the car, driver gets out and grabs the woman. he carries her to the car, puts her in the passenger seat. when she tries to get out, he pulls her right back in. the car had texas license plates and there may have been a second person inside and, as i mentioned, we're going to be sharing that through the nbc washington social media accounts. sometimes you want your time in the spotlight, right? well, i believe we have some video of two killer whales. actually, we don't have that video either. but i'll go ahead and

over the weekend, it was quite the sight. a duo stole the show at a surfing competition in norway. surfers realized what was happening and they moved to the shore when they realized, obviously, they were not the only ones in the water. someone else out there much bigger than them. i mean, i've seen the killer whale shows, chuck. those things are huge. surfers, they're fearless. but when you see a whale in the water with you, that's your cue. >> i would agree. anything with a dorsal fin that swims around with big teeth and wants to be in the water, i will let it stay uninterrupted by me. looking at the open waters, keeping a close eye on maria. it's making slow but steady progress northward here. temperatures here will be above average as a result. even look at the cloud cover around. there's maria, the latest track on maria carries the storm northward here. slowly northward over the next 12 t4

closest approach to the coast is sometime late tonight or early on wednesday morning before it pulls away. we'll be left with breezy conditions thereafter. complete check of today's forecast hour by hour coming right up. thank you, chuck. 4:15. want to take you back outside. the view from chopper 4 over the scene of a bad crash on. b w bw parkway. all southbound lanes are shut down as police continue to investigate this accident that has injured one person who is in the hospital. we'll continue to work to get teternate rou

ralpand i sponsoredralph northam, canthis adfor governor narrator: ed gillespie says dr. ralph northam doesn't show up? dr. ralph northam was an army doctor and a volunteer medical director at a children's hospice. he passed the virginia law requiring concussion standards for school sports. the smoking ban in restaurants. and dr. northam is working to connect veterans to good paying jobs in virginia. ed gillespie is a washington dc corporate lobbyist. he shows up for whoever pays him.

all right. welcome back everybody. i'm here in the weather center with chuck bell. we are talking about pain cakes. you know what day it is. >> what? >> national pancake day. >> no one told me. >> these are unicorn pancakes. i made them with the kids yesterday. >> can you eat them? >> yes. >> we're going to -- i dyed them. >> you dyed them? >> aren't food coloring poisonous? >> no. >> here chuck, have this pink pancake. >> people used food coloring for years.

best topping for pancakes are. not going to tell you -- >> if number one isn't maple syrup, i'm not playing this game. >> i like chocolate chips. definitely weigh in. talking weather, though, today. looks like we're going to stay dry again. >> more clouds but mostly dry. not much of a rain chance around the area today. really, honestly, we need the rain anymore. also foggy news out there this morning. be on the lookout. frederick, maryland to warrenton, virginia. some fog in the rural areas in the sheltered valleys. certainly going to be something to keep an eye on for the next hour or two. eventually that will be gone. the clouds will be with us for most of the day, though. there's a look at satellite. you can see a little bit of very light rain in the outer banks of north carolina. there could be a lonely sprinkle or raindrop across the lower parts of the eastern shore, the lower bay and maybe the northern neck. rain chances around town are

you can see future weather coming in. more and more in the way of cloud cover this morning. a lot of clouds before lunchtime. after lunch, might try to thin the clouds out a little bit, especially for areas north and west of i-95 and the washington area. more sun today for winchester and martinsburg and frederick, maryland. less sunshine from annapolis to calverton and st. mary's city. here comes your wednesday on future weather. more sunshine. there could again be an isolated drop or two sometime tomorrow or two. by and large not much in the way of a rain threat. temperaturewise, mostly in the 60s to 70 this morning. the forecast for today mostly cloudy day. but mild for sure and still plenty humid as well. highs mostly in the 80s. 82 in annapolis. 79 in@mary's county and calvert

degrees before much cooler weather this weekend. that part of the forecast i'll share with you when sheena joins me at 4:26. and at 4:20 right now, we continue to stay on top of this breaking news. chopper 4 just arrived on the scene of the serious crash in the southbound lanes of the baltimore washington parkway. someone was hurt badly. park police took them to the hospital. we'll be checking

welcome back. so this is a story that continues to shock so many of you. it's one that a lot of you are talking about. the snake that bit the woman in

restaurant. we showed you the photos of the snake and the woman's bites yesterday morning. now we're hearing from you. julie carey shares her story. >> an arrow points to the snakebite marks left in rachel's foot. >> it happened just inside the entrance to this restaurant. my rick, her son, boyfriend and others were headed in for dinner. she felt what she thought was a bee sting on her foot. a second later excruciating pain. she reached down and felt a copperhead snake attached to her foot. she screamed. >> yelling out in pain. yelling i got bit. i got bit. kicking my foot. it finally lets go. mike and my son both step on it. >> they began to draw lines and sometimes to mark the progression of the swelling. it was bad.

the pain, itching and nausea inten intense. two weeks later, my rick still can't put weight on her leg. recovery could take months t wasn't her son or another child bitten. she's thankful for that. >> it could have been anyone else's child. the fact that it wasn't a child a million times over is the blessing. >> snake experts say, dozens of virginians are bit by venomous snakes, it's extremely rare. >> nine times out of 100, the snakes -- it's probably a garther snake. >> they got medical help, called 9-1-1. that's the right thing to do after a venomous snake bit. here's what you should never do. do not apply a tourniquet or ice, don't cut into the wound or use suction. avoid drugs and alcohol, even advil. in spotsylvania, julie carey, news

continues with more on that breaking news with aaron and eun. >> that breaking news is prompting a warning for anyone heading into d.c. a bad crash on the baltimore washington parkway. >> this is happening in laurel in the southbound lanes. take a live look right now. we begin our team coverage with wtop's dave dildine. dave, what's going on here? >> the crash occurred around 2:30 this morning in southbound lanes of baltimore washington parkway. you can see a live view from chopper 4 showing no traffic on the southbound lanes. there's the car in the woods. this is, again, at a point south of maryland 197. if you're headed out early, you'll have to use route 1 or better yet i-95. again, the southbound lanes are shut down. you can rejoin the

points south, such as maryland 193 or the capitol beltway. the northbound lanes reopened on the baltimore washington parkway. no work zones on those roads. lets check in with chopper brad flying above the scene in chopper 4. no southbound traffic getting by the scene as police begin this investigation. brad freitas is live in chopper 4. brad. >> that's right, dave. you can see in the top left-hand corner, there's still some equipment on the scene and they'll be doing an investigation for a little while. you definitely want to stick to 95 or route 1 to get south towards d.c. 295 not accessible at all. it doesn't look like they're making much progress. a violent crash into the trees just before 2:30 this morning. we'll continue to watch live from above.

>> that stretch of bw parkway is dangerous in laurel at 197. we see a number of accidents in that same spot. >> very little shoulder. >> really dark out there, too. >> we'll keep an eye on that for you. meantime, let's talk about the weather. summer-plus continues. >> summer-plus. >> back-to-back days in the 90s for the first time since the eclipse. that's how long ago that was. >> i enjoy it. we finally do have fall weather coming. it will be here before the weekend. for everyone wanting fall, it's my favorite season, it's on the way. >> not excited about what's following, though. it gets really cold around here. but we had a little bit of fog this morning in the area. not too bad. here is a look at the visibility. we have less than a half mile in frederick. that's one spot you want to watch out for. less than a mile in warrenton. rest of the area not looking too

so it is comfortable outside. many areas, the suburbs in the 60s. 66 clinton. 68 in leesburg. 68 manassas. as the kids head to the bus stop this morning, it's going to be really comfortable. we stayed dry by 7:00 a.m., 71 degrees. by the afternoon, it will be warm again. unseasonably warm. 84 degrees through the afternoon hours. now we are watching maria. it is still a hurricane. it's off the carolina coastline. it's going to be swinging in some rain but locally, maybe just a little bit of a breeze. that's about it. we'll talk about the track on this coming up. we'll talk more about what you can expect for your fall weather straight ahead, too. >> sheena, thank you. we are getting a look at new video now of a fire this morning. a pretty intense fire on i-66 overnight. you can see the flames coming from a large vehicle here. this is about 12:30 this mong

tloi put -- quickly to put this out. it may have been a street sweeper. all the lanes were shut down for a time before this. even before the national anthem played for monday night football, players, coaches and even team owner jerry jones took a knee. >> you can see a show of solidarity here at the game last night. the crowd in arizona not too happy about this. you may be able to hear the boos a little bit there. after kneeling, the cowboys stood up and kept their arms locked as the national anthem played. jones, who has been a vocal supporter of the president, said after the game that the message about unity and equality was being pushed aside by the controversy. the controversy started on friday when president trump said players who protest during the national anthem should be fired. the arizona cardinals also locked arms during the nags an anthem. >> jordin sparks