plus the fastest internet available, plus up to 200 tv channels, plus phone, with a 2-year price guarantee, all for $79.99 per month with a 2-year agreement. and if you order online by september 30th, you'll get a $150 verizon prepaid mastercard. now is the best time to switch. so call 1.888.get.fios to learn more. get the fastest speeds available for the best price with fios gigabit connection, for just $79.99 a month with a 2-year agreement. and, get $200 toward a range of google and nest smart home devices. go to getfios.com to switch today. 100% fiber-optic network. 100% phenomenal. right now at 11:00, we are in weather alert mode as florence rips through the atlantic and gains strength. chief meteorologist doug kammerer standing by. ♪e are the leaders of today

♪ >> reporter: i'm darcy spencer where there was a back to school rally of a different kind. >> the pain doesn't go away >> reporter: speaking out against gun violence in schools. i'll have the sto ahead. >> the srch is on for a missing swimmer in northern virginia nnouncer: news 4 begins with the storm team 4 weather alert. >> we have s ate of emergency in virginia because of tropical storm florence . good evening. this storm gains steam and puts everybody up and down the east coast on notice. lelgts' break down what governor ralph northam's dee sil means. it lessens any potential damage and it also streamlines the process for the commonwealth to send assistance to other states. theeoovernor wantse to start preparing right now. steam 4 chief meteorologistmm doug er. give us what you're seeing now. >> it's still a tropical storm,

area. this storm is getting its act together again. a couple days ago it was a category 4 stor it weakened all the way down too a 635 mile an hour tropical t storm now bac 70 miles per hour. but take a look here. it was fairly large. now very succinct. you're starting to see the circulation really startg to co together. the convection right around the center of this storm. this will be a hurricane by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. right now a tropical storm but expected to be not only aic hue but a major hurricane in just a matter of 36 hours. 36 hours to a category 3. that's oat official forecast from theational hurricane center. i'm going to have that for you and the latest track coming . but more importantly right now we've got all of this rain,he remnants of tropical storm gordon. that's pushing a lot of rain our way andfecause all the rain heading our way and all the rain we've seen we've got a flood watch through tomorrow night for just about the entire area. flooding, guys, going to be a big threat today.

i think an eve bigger threat as we head towards the week as florence makes its way our wii. >> stillalking about florence, doug, srk is beiouth carolina d state of emergency. some people head ed ourmand bought ssupplies. they loaded up on generators and ponchos. the governor wants edy to take this storm seriously. >> it's a strong storm now. it's been strong. and it has the potential to get very strong. >> emergency as well, and stay with storm team 4 for continuing coverage on florence that will be herengll weekend follo the storm's track and you can get up to the minute updates in our nbc wasn app. meanwhile in other news tonight, as students head back to class, keeping them safe say top priority in the wake of recent school shootings. young advocates gathered in alexandria tonight to rally against gun violence. news 4's darcy spencer spoke to an 11-year-old who has become a naonal voice for safe.

-- safety. >> i willever forgethat my first funeral i had ever been to was for a 16-year-old girl whow shot while trying to get her edoration. >> repter: jackson o'meara is a senior at great mills high school in saint mary's county dhere her classmate jaylen willie was kilast march. >> i will never forget walking in seeing photos and videos of her and seeing her family standing next to their daughter's casket. >> reporter: o'meara was one of the speakers at the back to school rally in alexandria. >> for me shopping for school means shopping for bullet school back packs and news of school shootingsn rollingy by day, hour by hour. >> reporter: that's the new reality for many young people, fear that something could happen. >> personally k i'md of scared to go to school now because you never know when it could be your turn. >> reporter: the event was also organized by young people, a

middle school student and hight. school stud they wanted to bring people together to talk about gun violence and schoolot shogs. >> we got our speakers and we were really passionate about the issues. so it wasn't that hard for us and it's just something that needs to be held. >> reporter: naomi waddler spoke at the mar for our lives rally. >> i'm herey, to feels motivating and empowering. there's power in numbers. reporter: they also encourage young people to register to vote and to use their voting power to push for stronger wsn control la darcy spencer, news 4. george washingt university also talking about ways to prevent gun violence today. they want to holdle eed officials accountable for stricter gun laws. similar eventsaking place ross the country today. meanwhile, searchers are looking for a northern virginia man who

disappeared while swi in the patuxent river in md. he was swimming off myrtle point park in saint mary's county and 12:30 this und afternoon. sheriff's deputies tell us the swimmer lives in alexandria and is in his 20s. several agencies will join the coast guard ach continue seg tomorrow morning. tsa agents stopped a man with 9 millimeter loaded wh seven bullets in his carry-on. he arrived c at theckpoint in question. they allowed him to place the gun unloaded in his checked baggage. so, it's been annwtten rule for decades -- former president doesn't criticize a sitting president. the former president obama is breaking with tradition. democrats are poised to potentially take control of the use and that has mr. obama campaigning hard in california. seven democric candidates are

in competitive u.s. house districts. the former president called out president trump by name yesterday, but only alluded to him today. >> the news is have a chance to restore some sanity in our politics. we have the chance to flip the house of representatives and ma sure the real checks and balances in washington. >> mr.obama has campaign rally stops planned in ohio, pennsylvania and new york before the mid terms. another illness on a passenger plane, and this time it's the measles. why healthns officials fear do may have been exposed. people running for safety rocks partsng quake of china. you're going to see some of the damage coming up. >> investigators work to learn the cau of an explosion that levelled a home in howard county.

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health officials in texas are sounding the alarm after a passenger infected with measles go on several southwest airlines flights. dozens of other passengers may haveeen exposed to the highly contagiovirus. so southwest says the passenger took four flights toio destin in texas last month. according to health officials, the passeng never left the airport in between flights, but spent several hours in theas waiting a putting as many as 30 people at risk. >> there have been reports of airport waiting room, tr hours afe person with measles left. >> health officials are contacting all the passengers who may have been exposed.

it's not clear passenger contracted the virus, but experts say most ofur measles cases come from europe or the vaccination rate is nos as high it is in the united states. panic today in southwestern china when a 5.9 magnitude earthquake struck there. so, hers the surveillance video that captured some of the chaos there. people running out othe buildings. you can see debris falling down in the alley ways. 14 people suffered minor injuries. firefighters are checking damaged homes now. and this is violence in northern greece today. demonstrators threw molotov cocktails, police firing tear gas. nt is over a proposed name change to the c of macedonia which borders northern greece. macedonians will soon vote to call itself republic of northni mace some greeks are upset because a

northern greek provence is called macedonia. okay. so, take a look at this. a driver hangi out at a northern virginia parking garage. find out how the suv ended up like this and we'll see how the driver is doing as well. also atonight, maryland home blown to bits. >> i heard a loud boom and my room shook. and i louked over to theirse and it was like all in flames. >> the family inside barely makingt out in time. e e onthing that may have

so, this picture behind me

shows the moments after a 's famiome in howard county exploded. it was around this time last night when the family escaped. smoke rising from the ash could be seen todays news 4's derrick ward explains. it's what the family started to smell inside the home that may have saved their lives. >> reporter: a home everything in it reduced to a smoldering pile of rule, it happened in wood bonnie, maryland in howard county friy night. miraculously, no one was injured. a resident of the home smelled the odor of natural gas. aftert t report of the smell of natural gas was called in, everyone got out of the house. it's a good thing. just as the first fire crews were showing up, that's when the explosion happened. >> and i heard a loud boo and my room shook. >>eporter: it was the same for neighbors blocks away from the blast. >> everybody felt like a tree landed on their personal house. that's how loud and impactful it was. and then we look out the window and there's an inferno. >> reporter: while that report of the smell of natural gas

eceded the explosion, it has not been ruled as the definish tim cause of the explosion. till still evacuating the house quickly savedhe family's lives. others gathered to help see what they could do to help the family escape the worst night of their lives. in howard county, derrickwsward ne 4. >> okay. this was not the parking job this driver in alexandria was aiming for. take a look. sthe went through the wall of a second floor parking garage, landed in this precarious position. the driver managed to get outhu before the fire department got there. wait for t wait for it. go.e you all right. it happened at a parking lot on seminary road, a tow truck driver had to figure out how to hook it up and get it down as you a building inspector was called in to assess the damage to the parking garage after that. giving back and remembering those killed on this 9/11 day of service, it took place at the

university of the district of columbia. nonprofit casey treesitched in to help. people gathered here at the burn ee back us hub east. they gathered to make room for planlts. it includes plant nursery andor garden bed people in the community to grow food. >> more about creating capacity in the community rather than just providing people with food, but teaching them hdo it themselves. >> also today, organizers remembered a teacher and students from the backus middle school. they bot died in the plane that crashed into the pentagon on 9/11. all right. we are in weather alert mode here. so, rain not done with us yet for the weekend. >>heo. >> and we take our eyes into next week. and that is a whole different story. is.t really we have so much we're going to be talking about over the next couple days. really the next 24 hours. g we have t through that first before we can even talk about florence because weofave a loain coming, guys, over

the next 24 hours. take look outside now. this just sets the tone for you. kind of ominous looking picture now. boy, it's coming. current temperature 65 grees. the cool est temperatures we have seen in quite sometime .around our regi winds out of the northeast at 13 miles an hour. here's the rain moving back in across thearea. now, you notice it's not down around fredericksburg and southern maryland. you folks are going to get the least. if you're winchester, d.c., points north, it's coming down now the next 24 hours or so. heavier rain towards front royal. leesburg, gaithersburg, towards herndon, fairfax, heavy rain, there, too. all pushing east. watch what happens as we move west. this is just a line of storms, a line of very heavy rainfall. this right here, you can see a little swirl, bigger thunderstorms. that's the remnants of tropical storm irdon. that going to move across our area,o, just to our north and

that's why we're going to see all this rain here. take a look overnight tonight, here it is 11:00 5:00, 6:00, 7:00, 8:00 a.m., more rain. southern maryland, down around fred aicksburg points south, lot less for you. watch what happens all day long. 00, yeah, sti raining. tomorrow afternoon 5:00, everybody still raining. that's why i think wre going be dealing with the potential for flooding. national weather service putting out a flood watch different than a flash flood watch. a flood watch simply meansee and streams will be rising and may overflow their banks. it won't happen quickly but it may help happen. 1 to 3 inches possible. turn around, don't drown. we definitely don't want to see any of more of those water rescues and you don't want to lose your car or your life. tropical storm florence, it's right here. we have tropical storm isaac and tropical storm helenef all which should be hurricanes by tomorrow morning. this one moving into the caribbean potentially. helene staying maybe a fish storm.

all eyes right now on florence. and florence starting g to its act together. it was a fairly weak -- down to 65 mpies an hour tl storm. but now really starting to get some thunderstorms activity right around the cente of circulation. the convection wrapping all the way around the this will be a hurricane by the time you wake up tomorrow morning. right now winds of 70 miles an hour moving wets st at 6 mileser hour. watch where this goes. quickly becoming a category 3, eventually a category 4 hurricane. thursday, 8:00 in the afrnoon, 8:00 in the evening 130 mile an hour category 4 right on th doorstep here of the carolina coast line. where is it going to santa anita well, take a look at the cone of uncertainty here. from charleston allp the way towards the outer banks and even virginia beach in this cone.or here's the part about this, okay. yes, the windrm and the s surge with this scenario would be devastating, but even worse than that, all the computer models stall this storm out right over this region here,in uding our region. meaning flooding.

and i mean major flooding. we are gng to have to watch this one extremely close over the next couple of days. that's why you see right here we have a chance of rain just about every day the nex ten. heavy rain at times during the day tomorrow. watch out for flooding then. a little bit of a breakmonday, tuesday and wednesday, but yes, still some showers and thunderstorms there. temperatures back into the 80s. and theng track florence, not just thursday or friday, but maybe saturday into sunday and monday. some of the computer models actually had this storm over the mid-atlantic for upwards of 5 to 6 days. >> oh, no, no, no. that is too lon >> we ve to watch that. hopefully that doesn't happen. >> doug, thank you. he was a nats fan favorite fo years and now he is enshrined in the team's ring of honor. honor. we're going

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(music throughout)

>> announcer: this is the xfinity sports desk. >>hey, now it is september. the nationals, well, they're trying to finish a loss season that, yeah, has lost its meaning. today the team honored a player who gave the franchise real meaning in d.c. before jayson werth's arrival, 4th place was the best the nats could do. worth set them on a path of e to ntion they would l return to. weather alert proved his worthn here i d.c. you might say he put theat tude in nat-itude. he was the driving force in four division titles. the nats division header weather alert added nationals ring of honor. so many memories for the fans, so many emotions for jayson werth. >> i stand before you tonight truly humbled with this great

honor and i'm happyt to rep back to mom. i gave it everything i had, mom. i left it all on the field. [ applause ] >> he was special. all right, to thal bas part of the evening, double header, we know that guy daniel murphy in d.c. cubs blue. through the infield with the bases loaded. bryce harper, that makes it 2-0. that's good, right? now they're up big in this game in the 7th inning. matt sherzer set the plate, he 11 in a kes out complete game. nats win it 10-3. with the arrival of wayne rudy in d.c. came the #no wayne no gain. to be sure d.c. united has gained and grown, but heading to new york they still needed more. united at yankee stadium to take

on new york city. 50 minute here's the game with rooney. he sends a ball in the box that finds steven bern balm, united up 1-0. getting closer to full 3 pnts. 84 admitted. he got a rocket that's savy bill hamin. almost through. a couple minutes later, this guy is good. the free kick, theli eqzer, the spoiler for united, 1-1 the final. 1 point each for the times. united five points out of a playoff spot.ll a right. serena wliams ends her 9th open u.s. final with controversy and punctuated by accusation of sexism directed at chair umpire carlos ramos. williams lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-4 against osaka. he deducted a point when williams broke her racket and issued a game penalty f vbal abuse. emotions run high in men's mahes but williams doesn't

believe men were penalized like she was today. >> but i'm going to continue to fight for women and to fight for us to have equal. she should be t able take her shirt off without getting a fine. this is outrageous, you know? i just feel like the fact that i ve to go through this is just an example for the next person that has emotions and that want to express themselves and they want to be a strong woman. >> i think she's right. how often do you siemens players -- see men's your school supplies today... -- see men's school. grade. done. done. hit the snooze button and get low prices on school supplies all summer long. now get 50% off school backpacks at office depot officemax. as your home becomes more connected, you need fios to keep up and fios is the 100% fiber-optic network... which means you get phenomenal capacity for your tech. now, get $200 toward a range of google and nest smart home devices

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here, the world is a big, beautiful place filled with adventure. take it in. come up for air. asheville. discovery, inside and out. sonew laptop,our 24/7 tech support. yep, thanks guys. i think he might need some support. yes. start them off right. with the school supplies they need at low prices all summer long. like this asus notebook for only $199.99 at office depot officemax. [ cheers and applause ] >> i don't know. i don't know, mr. vice president i feel like i say this every week, but this week was bad. i'm beginning to regret my wish to become a real boy.

i tossed and turned in my shoebox all night wondering what's the fbi gna do next? >> i know, i know, we're in a real pickle here, jeff, and you know how uncomfortable i am around pickles. >> mm-hmm. yeah. i can't believe they raided michael cohen's office.in what are we to do, mike? >> the important thing is to stay calm. in a couple ofonths, the president will be back to normal. >> how's that? >> becauset will be me. >> [ laughs ] oh! that's a good one. that's a good one, mike. oh! >> excuse me, mr. sessions? >> oh, no, are they here for us? i will go peacefully. >>o, it's not the police. the president's lawyer, michael cohen, is here tsee you. >> oh, finally. yes, by all means, send him in. [ cheers and applause ] >> hey. how you doing? yeah, that's right, it's michael cohen, attorney at law.n also sometimes not at law.