. "news4 midday" begins with breaking news. >> our breaking news is coming from capitol hill. right nowhe senate judiciary is meeting to discuss the nomination of brett kavanaugh. good morning. welcome to"news4 midday." i am chris lawrence. it is anotherraatic day on capitol hill. chuck grassley was right in the ddle of his opening statement when democrats stormed out.

the sen ne panel is set to take the key vote on kavanaugh at 1:30 this morning. >> reporter: today the senate judiciary committee takes the first step towards confirming juree kavanaugh to the u.s. supreme court. republicans are pushing forwd, hoping a weekend of procedural votes could place kavanaugh on the bench early next week. though there are no guarantee,p ident trump remains confident. >> judge kavanaugh laid outot just a very compelling testimony but a corroborated one. >> reporter: the nion watched at kavanaugh laid out an emotional defense. >> this confirmation process has become a national disgrace. >> i believed he was going to rape me. i tried to yell for help. >> reporter: the american bar association, which a month ago gave kavanaugh its highest recommendation now wants a delay while the fbi investietes all

allegations against kavanaugh, as do democrats. >> and the only way we get to the bottom of this is if we reopen the fbi investigation. >>deporter: republicans sho zero inclination to do that and intend to move forward. former president george w. bush s beenorking the phones, trying to work over a handful of key undecided republicans. susan mcguiness, nbc news. >> just listen to some of the chaooutside today's committee meeting. protesters shouting things like "we believe christine." ahead of today's senate committee meeting, president trump confirmed his supdgrt for kavanaugh. he tweeted the judge showed america exactl why i nominated him. his testimony was powerful, honest and wveting.

het on to say the senate must vote. as we mentioned, both judge kavanaugh and dr. ford delivered powerful statements to the committee stday. dr. ford spoke first and insisted politics had nothing to do with her coming forward. >> dr. ford, with what degree of certainty do you believe judge kavanaugh assaulted you? >> 100%. t she went on detail the alleged assaultpa at y in bethesda in 1982. she said kavanaugh pinned her to a bed, grope t her anded to take off her clothes. one of the most powerful moments came when senate leahy asked her what she remembered most about that assault. >> none of thesere allegations true? >> correct. >> no doubt in your mind? >> i'm10 certain. >> not even a scintilla? >> not even a scintilla.

100% person, senator. >> you swear to god? >> i swear to god? >> so it was judge kavanaugh's trn t tu testify. several times during the hearing he was visibly emotional, he was also angry saying democrats turned the process into a search and destroy missio he insisted he never assaulted dr. ford. dr. ford has now asked the fbi to investigate the incident, but at this pointthere's no sense that they're going to do so. one of the country's leading victim advocacy groups says it saw about147 increasing calls to its hotline during the if you or someone you know is a survivor of an assault and need to speak to someone, help is out there. the national sexual assault hotline is on your screen. we also have that in our nbc washington app along with

complete coverage of what happened yesterday in the hearing. >> got to turn our attention to what is definitely anmproving forecast after a rainy night and morning. the sun's arting to come out. sheena is here with more. >> oh, you meant the actual suny i thought were talking about me, chris. yes, the sun is coming out a little bit so we've seen peeks of no rain right now but we're seeing the breaks in the cloud, we're going to keep seeing this all day,raal improvements throughout the afternoon. we're looking at flood warnings along creeks mainly. juste careful. if you see flooded water, you never wan t to driough it. we have dry air moving in so nice condions as we go through the afternoon. we're cool now, mid 60s across the area but we'll start to warm

into the 70s, mostly the mid 70s later on today. comingakup, we'e a closer look at ur weekend forecast, chris. >> thanks, sheena all that overnight rain caused a lot of hiccu on the roads this morning. a lot of people have been late to work or school because of this crash on the beltway. crews spent hours working to clear a jackknifed tractor trailer on the inare loop. the scene was finally cleared around 8:30 this morning. from bethesda to arlington, crews stayed busy. some of the crews on the george washington parkway, thankfully they were able to get tha cleared out of the way before the bulk of the rush hour this rning. >> this weekend you may need to find an alternate route in and out of the district. it will be closed for a major

construction project tonight. what can w expect? megan. >> good morning. the memorial bridge is one of the prettiest in town but is certainly in need of serious repair. some of the work is alrea d beinge on the underside of the bridge. boaters are being told to avoid that area and usesshe side if le. and in about another eight hours or so, the bridg itself is going to close completely. it will stay closed through the entire weekend. it carries tens of thousands of hicles every day but starting tonight, drivers will have to find another wayss to c the potomac because the memorial bridge is closing for the en we >> the memorial bridge is such a great way to get into washington. it's too bad it will be closed. but i also understand they need o repairs. >> all lanes and sidewalks will

close for much-nded repair work. 7:00, begins tonight at and runs through 5 a.m. monday morning. no cars, no joggers, no kes, nothing. >>. >> it's going to mess up a lot foris to. it's already a high-volume area. >> find another way to get to the city i would say. i wouldt come this way. >> and there will be two lanes in each direction with a center barrier when it reopen it's certainly a very, very heavily used bridge. this is going to cause tiups, no doubt. >> thanks so much.

>> take a look. we're learning more about this plane crash. how it ended up in the water, andou may not believe what happened to the crew. >> well, hispanic heritage month is in full swung. we're live at the hispanic heritageinstitute. >> look at flags from all of these various countries. >> then of course we've g to talk about food. 've gou

we're following breakin news out of indonesia. we're getting reports earthquakes and a tsunami. e strongest quake was a 7.6 magnitude. indonesia is prone to earthquakes because of its location on a rink of fire, an arc of volcanos and fault lines. >> incredible new video coming out overnight from micronesia.

the plane was about 150 yards from where it was supposed to land when it suddenly went down in the water. amazingly no serious injuries have been reported. investigators are trying to figure out what caused the boeing to go down. >> heartbreak for the family of a 6-year-old little by named maddox ritch. despite a massive search, sports think they have found his body. his father posted on facebook "today i found out i'm not a dad anymore." gabe gutierrez has more as the investigation continues. i.d. orter: the official of the body is pending from the medical examoler but pe believe it is that of 6-year-old maddox ritch. >> this is not the end we hoped for. >> his body was found partially

submerged in a creek. the boy had autism and for day search teams had scoured the area in a desperate attempt to find him. more than 0 investigators were on the case. now the investigation is not over. there are still many unanswered questions about how the body ended ue. ther there are barriers along the way. local authorities say it is possible maddox could have walked to the creek itself. maddox's father had said that his son had ran ahead of him 25 to 30 feet chasing after a jogger and he just couldn't keep up with him.ni ovt maddox's father took to social media writing "for t rest of my life i will live with the guilt ofot being there to save my son." >> reporter: overall just a heartbreaking story all around. >> certainly not the way anyone wanted that to turn out. developing this morning,

studentst the university of maryland and college park are on edge and upset after messages of hate have surfaced. thisad been at the technology advancement building on wednesday. police say it's the fifth alleged hate crime at the school this month againster african-ans and the lbgtq community. >> i think hate crimes at such a diverse school is discouraging. >> people needo be educated on diversity and cultural differces. the university urges anyone with information to contact them. >> we'reorking for your health and flu season ramps up. there's anrgt warning from doctors. statistics show last year's flu season broke records killing more americans in anynlu sea

in 40 years. the cdc said more than 900,000 people were hospitalized so doctors are. >> -- urging people to get their flu shot this year. >> i'm tired ofpl hearing p say i didn't get the flu shot last year and i didn't get the flu. well, those 8,000 people that died got the flu from someone. >> only half of pregnant women received a flu shot last year. they say it isob ously safe for women to get that. >> hispanic heritage month is under way. news4 is joining in the

celebration. our molette green is live. what's going on there? gi>> reporter: we're out with tease young people from the layc career acady. latin them representing american countries. as you can see, they'rirholding up tflag. when you talk aboutheispanic heritage, you're talking about a multi-facetted community of people. food is a big part of it, guys?, oh, the peruvian brothers are he, we're have giuseppe and mario. did you get that right? >> you got thatright. >> you're going to tell me what mario is going to be cooking up heres you talk about the food as being an important part of the culture and bringing it here to america, right? >> absolutely once weome from our country, one of the things we miss the most is the food. so that's why we started our

peruvianrothers food truck five years ago. we want to recreate and share our food from peru with everybody in the u.s. or lives in the u.s. or maybe from other countries. >> what are we looking at here? >> right now my brother is making a sauce, which our sandwich is a layer of sweet potatoes andel rish and onion cooked with lime juice, extrain virg olive oil and spices. alvin, you are dominican and peruvian. have you ever had this peruvian dish? >> i have. the good thing is this is a healthier version without losing the flavor. >> he's plating it up.

>>hat's the name of this dish again? >> it's our most iconic sandwich in peru. >> doesn't that look good, guys? e month so ic herit all of us need to be educated on this beautiful culture. many people may not know that hispanics are the nation's largest et -- ethnic minority, 10% of dc population. >> and u.s. is the second spanish speaking country behind mexico.we re celebrating our diveity, i would say our basic, most important strength right now. >> what do you think about that, udents over there who joined us? >> that is the very latest.

ba toyou, guys. >> thank you,molette. that fiesta parade is one of the coolest events in d.c. and they'll have great weather for it tomorrow. sheena promised us improving weather.et she'll us know how long it will last. >> the first full official weekend of fall is going to be beautiful. ime to get outside with family and friends. search fall festiva in our app for the fall season. don't forget to

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right chopper 4 is over walkersville, lomaryland. at some of these live pictures. you can see that flooded out road. this is near the monocacy river. we're getting reports of other flooded out roadshe in county this morning. >> we still have flood warnings across the area. that's basically what we're taingabout, the areas where

we typically see flooding or the creeks and streams. when you run into it, don't drive through it. you don't know howeep that water is. the good news is we go through the rest of today, we will be dry. no more i rain the forecast. it's 66 degrees. nice north wind pulling in drier air for us. even though ite looks l it's going to rain, it's actually not. we're going to see gradual clearing through the afternoon. great weather ifnight. ou have the friday night plans, it's going to be really plsant. over the wlkend nice fal weather and it's going to stay dry. there youee all t clouds, satellite as well. we don't have the rain right now. i mentioned we still have some flood warnings. these are all thes. area you can tell by the skinniness of the green box here. that's a river most likely or a creek that are seeing flooding

and high-lying areas seeing the flooding. if you're walking the do w perfecther today to do it. this is levanzo available for adoption. by 4.m today mid 70s. by 7 p.m. sun setting earlier.er teures will be in the low 70s. look at your weather over the weekend. afternoon highsn the m 70s. very seasonable 80s return next week. >> thanks, sheena. >> a py written by a local writer now being pformed here. plus, more on the breakingews on the confirmation of judge brett kavanaugh. we'll have the l test ont and when and when

i put criminals in prison during the day i'm jennifer wexton, and as a prosecutor, and changed diapers at night. later, when i had a law practice, i volunteered to help moms collect child support. then, as state senator, i worked across party lines to target sexual offenders and take guns away from domestic abusers. in congress, i'll stand up to president trump. i approve this message because, like every working mom, what's ahead is as important as what's in the rearview mirror.

have rules based on common sense notions of fairness and due process, not the other way around. >> democrats stormed out of the nomination heang for judge brett kavanaugh, but the senate panel is still set to take up the key vote ler this afternoon. the anticipated vote is coming

24 hours after dr.inchri blasey ford testified before the committee accusing kavanaugh os al assaulting her when the two were in high school. kavanaugh then sat in that same chair to defend himself. the committee returned this morning with hardened stances on this historic vote. >> as a former prosecutor, as a husband and a parent, found dr. ford's testimony to be wholly credible. not one member of this committee has suggested she was not and the same cannot be sai of judge kavanaugh. >> if kavanaugh's coming finfir is approved, the full senate ll vote ande could be on the supreme court just dayslater. >> women and men are sharing their experiencesf sexual assault and harassment in an effort to stop sexual violence.

we get a lookt how people respond to yesterday's intense day of stimony. >> reporter: dr. christine blasey ford nt standinge crossroads of american politics an the me t movement. >> it is not my responsibility to determine whether mr. kavanaugh deserves to sit on the supreme court. my responsibility is to tell you the >> reporter: some hailing her as a hero after delivering four hours of unwavering testimony, detailing her sexual assault claims against supreme court nominee brett kavanaugh. kavanaughehemently denying ford's allegations. >> that's not who i am. it is not whos. i >> reporter: many supporting ford both online with hash tags like i believe christine blasey ford and on the streets. >> in is what the me too movement is about. it has been twisted ad tur

andso misrepresented as thing about taking down powerful men but it has nothing to do wit that. was tress alyssa milano also in the room. >> it was a moment in history i couldn't miss. >> i'm a 76-year-old woman sexually molestedn the second grade. this brings back so much pain. >> and this actress saying "this is me at 14,as the age i w raped." >> an encounr capturing how personal this high-stakes moment many.r so >> i've never a few people who have gone through this and i know the way they've responded. so this is -- i mean, this is

tough for somebody to go ythrough. >> a're going to want to keep it right here on nbc 4 had. it is at 1:30, vote for kavanaugh. >> a new sales tax hike, going up to m6% f 5.75. that means you'll pay more for the stuff your families use every dayle day. cigarettes are really going to at thaake a will the. feminine hygiene products will be exempt from that hike. >> joining us actor richard

fanning and the director. tell us a little more about it.i >> is studio neater's 40th anniversary so that's 40 years of bringing the best of contemp taryater to logan circle at 14th street. we wanted to kick it off something really local. the play is written by stephen leven and this is his d. play. he whole play takes place in a townhouse and it's about a family who gathered to celebrate eir dad's 75th birthday. they're trying to figure out what they're going to do with their inheritance, which is a piece of real estate on 14th

street. so it is lot of things that just really make this like a dncht c. play andfehe p way to kick off ournniversary season. >> richard, a lot of people will know you from years past as elaine's boss o the tv show "seinfeld." >> i have not done renal theaters and. >> i was very moved by it. and i read it again when i got off the flan i auditioned by video. i did an iphone audition in barcelona and got the role a

it it's.wa once again, i a surprise. things don't fit together this well that ofte in my experience. >> richard plays the central father figure in the play and from what we've avheard, you sort of this really powerful, impressive monologue. how do youre pre really? i don't know how i work. for the toorl arl. i hope it speaks through me. >> it fascinating. >> it's a family dramaobviously but it also talks about the gentrification of 14thstreet. i went to college here in the early 90s, a,ve very different d.c.

how does the play address these chges? >> well, i don't want to give too much away. but i will say that the real estate for the past couple of worth thatn't been much money. all of a sudden with some of the changes on the street and all t the thingt are happening, it's worth a lot more money. that causes p disagreements among the family over what should be done. i know that the father really wants to keep in the family. lou wants this to be the mainstay of the family for all the future generation t this lea some of the disagreements and disputes. some of the extremely funny. that's important to say. likehat the play really captures that spirit of a family who disagree with one another and who break that cardina rule of no religion, no politics. >> a lot of familie out there could probably identify very much with that.

richa richard, the play has been extended from now until october 21s, it' at studio theater in d.c. >> i put on a tie just for that interview. coming up, aook at how google is stronger is rebuilding a newborn's heart... and restoring a father's faith. it's standing tall after one surgery... not six. stronger is being a typical kid... despite a rare disorder. stronger is finding it earlier ... and coming home sooner. stronger is seeking answers... and not giving up, until you find them. because we don't just want your kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger.

google i celebrating a major milestone. yesterday the company turned 20 years old, almost old enough to drink. the company is releasing a google doodle. this includes terms like how do you a tie? and is pluto still a planet? >> pluto will always be a in my heart.

google waste sound on ser 4th, 1998 but considers the 27th as its birthday. >> pluto was my favoritean ng gett'vg. >> been googling weather in sad in jan getting -- you know what's going t happen when you're standing here covering a blizzard? we of snow? >>. >> sheenia's going to or nbc station in. >> may they be your last bad weather forecast for a ile. >> potentially, yes! we don't have any flch actually look really nice wrong peer. we have at already in, we could

stil see some flooding but as we go into the weekend, we have great weather shaping the radar is not showing us any rain. there's a look at those floodrn gs across the area. never drive through flooded roadways. thernt temperatures are in medical way. we'll and if you have friday night ngplans, you're g going to look this forecast. you won't feed the umbrella, afternoon highs in the 70s and next week, backn the 08s. >> ballpark opera, we'll have re on the event. waiting for a liver transplant.. will die waiting.

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if you'rehiing about bringing a new family member into your home, maybe fuz one, we always encourage it. we're here to talk about the main things, the top three at least, that you need to do to get your house ready for a new pet. thank you for being here. we have two dogshere. who are these guys? >> this one is jake. he's a bishon frise.

his owner had a stroke and c couldne for him anymore. and this is a 14-year-old scdog. >> he looks like he should be on "gremlins." he's so cute. >> so top four things to get ready for a new pet. >> you want to set your home up so the dog can't run around everywhere when he get home. things like baby gate and getting the water bowl in pla s plates. >> and you want to think aboer you can start to potty lot of ur dog, and a times that's going to be a crate if you can have somebody maybe

come inidday and do a walk, the taug can stay in a cte for up to four hours. if you can't do that, having a slightly larger area, maybe in the kitchen or the bathroom or the laundry room. you just want to think those things through and me sure you get your collars and harnesses ahead of time. >> it probably better to not ha that area carpeted. i've learned that the hard way.y whether tant to go to the bathroom on it or just rip it up. >> and with the harnesses -- e you want to m sure they fit right. but what are some of the differt rnesses? what would you consider the best for training a dog? >> if the dog is a really young people, i would say a back st hare if you have a dog oer than >> >> dave: and i simply got a

gentle leader. it is a rae. because i bpt. >> does. >> you can get your doing used to it slowly aboutin g them treats when they're on. you want to take a couple weeks and just kind of get them used to the house. don't take a ton of excursions to the dog park or doggy day care or even cafes. just give them time to settle and learn the rules of the house. it's scary to come into a brand new place. this is a huge deal for them. so that's how we suggest a wk or two of just kind of keeping them near the house first. >> so toearn thatt's their home and maybe a good idea would be to eventually take them on walkso they lea where home is. >> definitely. can you take them on walks when you first b get home try to

avoid busy places. >> perfect. so manynils available at the hugh main rescue alliance, so make sure you head to their webi . look at this cuteguy. you guys are amazing for what you do. you can find these guys at the humane rescue line if you're looking to adopt hopefully we've helped you wit all thetips. >> thanks, sheena. molette green has been hping to kick off the celebration of hispanic heritage month in d.c. what's gng on? >> there are so many cultuareer academy stents, ages 16 to 24. alvin has been here to talk about just tow much we cane in, right? >> definitely.

and we also need to highlight the special coverage that we have because of this month on both telemundo and here on channel >> beatrice castro is with us. delighted to have you. you let me try on your tiara earlier. >> delighted to be here. >> tell us about miss d.c. and your reign. >> every single year all the couture hpanic get together toe celebr everything hispanic. >> and you graduated from? >> george mason?

>>annd what's one thing you us to take away from the whole celebration? >> i think the best thing we it take out of this is we are a huge community and when we get it together we can do and great things. >> beautiful and great things. do you agree with that? [ cheers and applause ] >> i do want to thank the peruvian brothers. they started fixing up this beautiful dish here, mario and giuseppe. >> we bring a little bit of our culture whah little hats tt are hand woven by women in the mountains of peru, straight to you. >> the festival, the parade is tomorrow. so many things going on. >> this weekend we have special coverage of all these latino stories we have here.

>> so muchhappening. check out the nbc washington app. i want to thank all of you guys for joining us and sharing a little bit of your culture with us oh, it's been fun. back in to you now. >> thank you so much, m omolett. >> thank you so much, m omolett. >>

i put criminals in prison during the day i'm jennifer wexton, and as a prosecutor, and changed diapers at night. later, when i had a law practice, i volunteered to help moms collect child support. then, as state senator, i worked across party lines to target sexual offenders and take guns away from domestic abusers. in congress, i'll stand up to president trump. i approve this message because, like every working mom, what's ahead is as important as what's in the rearview mirror.

♪ ♪ what's old is new this weekend. the 1954 crimerama "on the waterfront" with a live performance by the national philharmonic. our entertainment editor has morema infon for your weekend. >> i'm recommending an older movie this time, a classic, "i could have been a contender," marlon brando best picture winner, "on t waterfront." it's going to stream live. it will be epic. you'll seep this crisp, black and white beautiful picture on the screen and you'll get to hear leonard bernard's scores o.

all ti it's a really big treat. check out the movie. of you've seen it before, you're going want to see it like ever before. if you've never seen, it you owe it to yourself, it's an eight-time oscar erwi if ballet is more your thing, this is a treat. the washington ballet isicng off this season with bit of a collectionm things from previous years andy ought with artistic director and some of the vising artists. >> we're welcoming four

wonderful performanc. >> joan baez will be performing. opera in the outfield will be at nationals park and anderson cooper and andy coen at warner theater and christina aguilera will be at the national harbor. >> we send it to sheena for her final weather. she'll be heading out to san diego when she'll be tling people whether it's 70 and sunny or 75 a sunny. >> everyone here has been so great. this has bee the besttv family

to join around, chris.ee you've so much fun to work with and of course all thes producnd directors so much fun. i have good news before i believ we have great weather this week and fall-like temperatures. back in the 08s neex80s week, a couple of chances of rain. i'm staying withi the nbc family so that's always a good thing. 'rris, i know y going to miss me. i already realize that. >> i miss you so much already, sheena, though i a going to see you at our get together. the whole staff is going out to say good-bye to sheena in a couple minutes. we'll send her off in yle. we'll send her off in yle. we'rste

z2ydpz z16fz y2ydpy y16fy ti stronger is caring for at cha baby's heart in the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. and a future when prenatal pediatrics leads to healthier children. it's being the number one newborn intensive care unit in the country.

and giving parents peace of mind. it's less recovering in our bed, and more jumping on yours. stronger is standing out and standing proud. because we don't just want your kids to grow up. we want them to grow up stronger.

♪ we're live in five, four, three, two, one. >> accused of sexual misconduct and many republicans are defending him. americans were like, nher's idea. just pick a different judge. there's thousands of judges. anyone! what does judge judy do? ere.s get judge judy? judge joe brown. simon cowell. i don't care who it is. >> okay. late night guys taking on the histor ford/kavanaugh hearings. kit's off. we were alllued watching this yesterday. >> yep. >> you with respect here. what were you doing to watch it yeda