daycare. we're learning who police say was behind it. the chicago cubs are n.l. central champions! >> the cubs clinch a post-season spot and will be taking on our nats. you can earn tickets today for the game against the world series champs. good morning everybody. i'm chris lawrence. thank you for waking up early with us on this thursday morning. got a lot of news to bring you. first, i know a lot of you have been sweating it out. let's look at the weather center. when is this heat wave going to break sf. >> done. it's already done. chris, it hasn't felt -- you probably haven't noticed it yet. the cooler air is on the way. it will arrive later into your thursday. skies mostly clear at this point in washington. current temperature, a really mild

and that's already above our average high for this particular date. north wind at 12. promises cooler air to be used into the area. goodbye summer. still near 80 degrees today. nowhere near the 91 of yesterday. the cool wind is blowing today. sweater weather moves in for the weekend. details on how low we'll go coming up next. thanks, chuck. the man who founded playboy has died. founder hugh hefner was 91 years old and died peacefully on wednesday at his iconic mansion. the tributes have been pouring in overnight. still one of the top trends on twitter. i just retweeted. my photos of hefner, you forget what he looked like when he was young. here's erica edwards with a look back at his legacy. >> hugh hefner was never far from female companionship or controversy. by hefner's own account,

sold in his issues of playboy magazine was sophisticated puritanism. >> good for business but shows a lot about how unsophisticated we are in terms of sex. >> they were born in chicago. it hit newsstands in 1953. thanks to a nude photograph of marilyn monroe included as the centerfold. subsequent issues had the same success launching an entertainment empire. by the end of the decade, playboy was selling more than 1 million copies a month. in the 1970s. hef as he was called moved west buying a home in los angeles that became known as the playboy mansion. the wild parties at the mansion became notorious for their scantily clad guests. the '80s saw a switch in nis lifestyle. the ultimate bachelor married kimberly

failed one 30 years earlier. >> this is a unique celebration. >> the couple separated in 1998 but remained married until the youngest of their two sons turned 18. during a separation, hef rebounded by dating up to seven women at once. he was a figure of unchecked heed onnism and exploitation. he was a window to the good life. but he left an indelible stamp on pop culture. >> it's nice to be remembered. erica edwards, nbc news. i don't know if you remember, playboy made headlines last year when it released its first issue with no nudity. but less than a year later, the magazine went back to publishing nude photos. it was sold to the co-owner of hostess cake. it allowed hefner to spend the rest of his life there. a development this morning, active shooter. those are the two words no parent wants to hear at a

the falls church maryville preschool is in an office building in fairfax county. it's the building where john wood walked in and started shooting. jackie bensen takes us inside the case os and fear. >> active shooter, fairfax county's police chief says multiple 911 calls for what he called the nightmare of law enforcement began coming in just before 5:00 p.m. >> as far as the background as to motive for that, we do not know that at this time. >> police say the shooting happened in a law office in the fourth floor of a large commercial building home to a preschool. officers helped evacuate students who were bused to a nearby middle school to be reunited with their worried parents. >> police worked absolute perfect. well done. so we are very glad said all the children are safe. >> it's

just sort of -- i don't know. you're stunned. you don't expect this to happen in a building where your son's school is. >> they found a man believed to be the gunman dead. self-inflicted gunshot wound. the building was evacuated as officers worked to make sure there were no other gunmen. chief roseler says detectives will determine detectives -- what happened in the office. if he planned to shoot others but was prevented. >> we have several hundred employees that we have to interview, including the witnesses to this event. we are thankful that this event did not create any other injuries and/or our community. >> after being closed hours for the investigation, the building has been released and returned to the tenants. in merry field, jackie bensen, news 4. thi

american university are looking around hoping police catch the person who hung symbols of hate on their campus. this is surveillance video from tuesday. the man enters different buildings dressed as a construction worker. it's hard to identify him because the hard hat is covering his face. when students saw the video, they were understandably upset. they asked how a stranger could walk on to campus, get into buildings without being stopped by a public safety officer. they think he held confederate posters in several locations. this isn't the first case of this happening this year. we now know who the nats will take on in the first round of the baseball playoffs. the world champion chicago cubs. >> let the celebration begin! the chicago cubs are n.l. central champions once again! >> last night

st. louis. they beat the cardinals, clinching the division title and putting them in position to take on the nats. where do we stand? playoff tickets for the nats go on sale today. they'll be back home on october 6th and 7th, and if there's a game 5 in the series, they will be back again here on october 12th. i am very specific about those dates, chuck, because you know within a matter of days, fans are going to start asking you, what's the weather going to be like on october 12th? >> let me see, i think i'm on vacation that day. we'll see. typically, our weather is usually on the cool side by october. but man, we've been so warm, so deep into september, it's going to take a little while. the next couple of hours, get the early morning started on a thursday. temperatures are going to be on the mild side for the remainder of your morning plans. near perfect morning to get outside and do a little extra couple of miles. cooler air for the weekend, too. more on that coming up. plus, are you up early t

we don't have to tell you traffic around our area is bad. but up next, we'll tell you which local intersection

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.

this morning, we're learning o.j. simpson could be a free man in a matter of days. he'll be released as early as

the plan is being finalized right now by officials in nevada. simpson is now 70 years old. he's been in prison since 2008 for kidnapping and armed robbery. he was granted parole back in july. new this morning, you know our traffic is bad. but we've got the results of a new study that shows exactly where it's worst. d.c. is right behind new york and l.a. so your drive through some of the worst spots in the country. the latest inrix global traffic scorecard say it leads in delays, specifically exit 133a to the fairfax county prark way. it's going to cost drivers more than $29 billion over the next ten years. that's followed by exit 143 and the beltway at route 201. you can look a bit lower down the list and find a road in columbia, maryland. this is costing all of

wasted time and fuel and corban -- even getting through parts of northwest d.c., you can get jammed up. >> it feels like a lifetime getting through dupont circle. us locals are pretty good at it. but boy, there's a lot of people with out of state tags lost in space in dupont circle. anyway, we have a pleasant enough way to get the day started today. you're going to appreciate the weather the next few days. goodbye summertime. no more 90s in sight. that is welcome news here as october starts on sunday. there she goes. >> it's a -- >> just to hear his laugh again. it's the iconic blip seen more than 20 million times online and now we've tracked down the model that made useful as jim advance and george michael laugh

good morning. it's taken a while but we now have the other side of the story of one of the most talked about moments in news 4 history. >> wearing that pink skirt and the orange platform shoes. haven't quite recovered after that -- there she goes again.

>> that had to hurt. that was up cool. that's embarrassing. this is at least the second time -- [ laughter ] >> vance and george just could not contain themselves back when we aired a story about a model falling not once, but twice on the runway. i've seen people in the newsroom laughing watching it again. the clip has gone viral and people watched it some 20 million times. can you believe that? when vance passed and we were talking about this video, it got us thinking. whatever happened to the model? does she even know about them laughing at her. if so, what does she think? well, turns out she lives in poland now. but we were able at that track her down and doreen gentzler talked to her about this tiny moment in tv history. >> it's the highlight of my career. i don't know if it's sad. but i do know -- i take it for what it is.

see it. i can believe this is me and the form of me falling down is hilarious. >> it's amazing. she looks so young. >> she talked about why she fell. it had nothing to do with her heels and how it impacted her modeling career. you can hear her conversation with doreen tonight on news 4 at 11:00. >> i tell you, you know what, as we get a look at the weather, chuck, i think doreen even mentioned it, vance's memorial. how that moment of all the things he had done in his career, it was that moment that people remember. his laugh at that story. >> it's that laugh of innocence. you know you feel guilty doing it, but you just can't get yourself to stop doing it. what a great laugh. great moment. weatherwise, we're about ready to have some great moments coming our way as the late summer heat and humidity

maria will bring it away and in maria's place, we have a gusty northwest wind today. that's bringing autumn and a little touch of cooler weather our way for the next couple of days. here's a live picture outside. skies are clearing out quickly. a little cold front is expected to reach through here sometime around the time the sun comes up this morning. winds are out of the north right now at 10 miles per hour. when the winds go northwesterly, that's how we'll know the change of air mass is under way. ahead of it, it remains a mild start. 76 degrees right now in washington. even leesburg, 72. gaithersburg 70. this is incredibly mild. three hours before the sun even comes up this late into september. our average high for today is 75 degrees. we'll be warmer than average for sure. temperatures around 72 at 7:00 a.m. when the sun comes up. winds at noontime, 10 to 20 miles per hour. as we get into the heart of the afternoon, i think 15 to 30 miles per hour northwest winds are quite likely. a lot of

temperatures today. a hover in the upper 70s and low 80s for most of the day today before cooling back off. highs in your hometown today, 80 for washington. if you're going to the baseball game tonight, the pirates are in town. 7:05 for the first pitch. it's already dark now. i'll take that 20% off there. there's no chance for rain or delay tonight. let's hope it's 100% chance of a nats win. weekend forecast coming up. thanks, chuck. pregnant and stuck in puerto rico. a mother to be trapped on the island because of hurricane maria. reunited at the caps game. a local sailor returns home to surprise his little girl. we'll show you the video you'll want to share. more on that breaking news of hugh hefner's death. we'll show you how hollywood and

this morning, some d.c. police officers are waking up in puerto rico and pretty soon they'll start handing out supplies. our cameras are there. they left joint base andrews yesterday aboard an air national guard plane. they'll be there for a few days. this was really a personal mission for some of the officers and guardsmen who have family living on the island. they're going to be handing out bottled water, canned food and other essentials, everything lacking in puerto rico. this morning, congressional democrats are calling for additional help for both puerto rico and the u.s. virgin islands. the situation there is growing more desperate every day. it's been a week after maria week and still no drinking water. they're nearly half of the people in puerto rico. this is a life-threatening crisis. pharmacies and markets are closing. they don't have enough fuel to stay open. right now, more than 8800 federal workers are there on the ground. surrounded by das

no pregnant woman would ever want to be in that situation. but it's happening to the sister-in-law of a woman from fairfax. she and her family are stuck in a small town in puerto rico that was destroyed by maria. meagan fitzgerald spoke to the woman in fairfax who told me her family is running out of time. >> i'm scared for them. i'm scared because i know that it's not good -- >> for the last week, paloma has been desperately trying to rescue her family trapped on the devastated island of puerto rico. >> people talk about how bad it is, but you really don't see it until you see it. >> time is running out. >> want to get them here. her health is what we are most concerned about. >> paloma's 28-year-old sister-in-law is almost nine months pregnant. her husband and family members are doing everything they can to comfort her. but hurricane

everywhere and resources are quickly running low. >> they have no electricity, no water. there's a big concern for gas because there's humongous lines that take hours. >> paloma's father took these pictures of the devastation near their home, an hour outside of san juan. entire chunks of roadways are gone. neighborhoods surrounded by water and thick piles of mud. even young children are helping to capture rainwater so they can survive. but people are becoming desperate. >> my brother told me, i cannot sleep at nighttime. i'm afraid somebody is going to come and steal what we have left. >> paloma has been calling her family and the airlines hoping to get them on a flight here before her sister-in-law goes into labor. in the meantime, she's trying to stay busy, to keep her mind off of what's happening on the island. it's notas

limited resources, her family's chances of survival are fading fast. >> i'm trying to keep calm because they need me strong to be able to fight for their life. >> reporting in fairfax county, megagan fitzgerald, news 4. with life so dire in puerto rico, a lot of you are wondering how to help. several local events will be helped to raise money and other types of aid. of course, you can always donate online. we posted some links on our website and of course, on the nbc washington app. >> it is coming up on 4:26 in the morning. "news4 today" continues right now with aaron and eun. >> that breaking news, the death of playboy's hugh hefner. how the magazine mogul died and how he's being remembered worldwide. new details in the deadly office shooting. more on the man police say fired

with a daycare inside. plus, forced to evacuate. hundreds of people told they can't return home. more on the trouble inside this tyson's high-rise. that's caitlin being surprised by the return of her papa from deployment over the middle east. >> reunited at the caps game. a sailor surprises his little girl on edge of the ice and her reaction is going to start your thursday off right, folks. >> you know, these stories always get me. my eyes are watering already. >> nice way to start a thursday morning. i think she clearly sprinted across the -- >> that was adorable. >> didn't even miss her. looks like a perfectly worked out gymnastics routine. picked her right up. >> the sacrifice that our military makes for our country and the families who have to wait so long. >> no bigger sacrifice than time apart like that. >> especially as a

when you're that young, it's sad. it's sad but it's happy to see that. >> wonderful. we're also happy -- i'm happy to be -- >> no, i'm happy to. >> happy to see the temperatures lower? >> sure. >> 91 yesterday. >> it is the end of september shall right? >> three 90s out of the last four days. the second highest number of 90 degree days this late in september on record. >> what do we have today? >> today we have cooling temperatures. today is the transition day between the 90s and the 70s. we'll be around 80 by the afternoon. here's the thing. right now, it's still mild outside. so it may not feel like a cool afternoon but there is a cold front on the way. i'll show you where it is in a second. right now, it's 76 degrees in washington. it is mild right now outside. 73 dulles. 75 clinton. 78 currently quantico. frederick at 64 degrees. here's the cold front. it hasn't moved through yet. it's just to our north and west. but it will be moving through throughout the day today. we're watching

it's going to move out to sea quickly through the next 24 to 48 hours. as we go through your morning, we'll be in the low 70s by 7:00 a.m. clear skies, plenty of sunshine. getting breezy by 9:00 a.m. with temperatures in the mid-70s. by this afternoon, we will not be as hot as yesterday. then we have much cooler weather in store for your weekend. we'll show you that forecast coming up. let's check the roads with jack taylor. good morning, jack. >> good morning, sheen a couple of words from the topside of the beltway. montgomery county between georgia avenue and 355, it's two right lanes getting by there. just beyond it towards georgetown road, only one right lane getting by the paving project. volume still pretty light. not causing major delays. also up in frederick, careful. 15 going northbound, have accident activity after 7th street involving a vehicle and unfortunately, a tractor-trailer that we believe was carrying paper products. they were strewn all across the roadway.

getting by. wa we're hearing, pretty big cleanup involved. aaron, eun, back to you. >> jack, thank you. 4:29 now. the breaking news. hugh hefner is dead. >> he passed away wednesday at the iconic playboy mansion. hefner was 91 years old. he started the magazine in the 1960s. he's credited with ushering in the sexual revolution. hefner was known for the large parties he threw at the mansions. >> the tributes have been pouring in on social media overnight. hefner is still a top trending item this morning. celebrities, like ryan seacrest, larry king, even jesse jackson are offering condolences. >> playboy made headlines in 2015 when it released a first issue with no nudity, the d decision came down no 2015. less than a year later, it went back to publishing nudity. >> the sale included a provision allowing hefner to spend the restf

mansion. >> he really was connected to the brand. he was the face of playboy after all those years. >> yes, absolutely. we're following a developing story this morning. people will be a little on edge when they return to work at a fairfax county office building. it was a crime scene a few hours ago after a man shot himself to death there. fairfax county police say the gunman is 52-year-old john francis wood. the shooting happened at a law office on the fourth floor of that building in the merryfield section of that county. police are still trying to figure out what happened. they don't know whether he intended to shoot anyone else there. police received multiple calls about a man firing a pistol and responded as if there were an active shooter. >> what made it scarier, the preschool sits inside the office building where the shooting happened. students were bused to a nearby middle school after the shooting. we were there as parents were very relieved and picked up their little one