presence known along the gulf coast. just about 4:00 a.m. good morning, everybody. i'maron gilchrist. >> and i'm eun yang. hurricane michael moved into a category 4. toda might be a day that no one living on florida's gulf coast t fo >> this morning we have live coverage and we'll begin with a check on the morning commute and our travelforecast. >> melissa mollet is standing by and we have amelia. >> it's another mild start out there with temperatures in the 70s.im veryar to monday and tuesday as well. take a look at your morning planner. we're going to stay in the low to m 70s until 10:00 a.m. plenty of clouds artnd. after t we'll see sunshine developing. it's another humid ay. onin we'll be tracking temperatures 10 to 15 degrees abov. norm as you're heading out the door and getting the kids ready, it is t-shirt weather. you'll want to grab the sunglasses. i can't rule an isolated

shower. you can probably leave the umbrella at home. i'm going to have the latest on category 4, michael, the latest track coming up in under five minutes. for w, how are theroads, maine slays? >> just a little bit of road wo here. northbound between old georgetown and montrose, a work zone with the one right lane getting by pretty big operation. you can see it here on the map. it turnedit little darker there this morning. t is slow as you're heading northbound. preparing signs and doing stuff on the roadway. i drove by and the are ten trucks out there. southbound 270. work zone weh the left l getting by here and in fairfax o westund, 66 at 50 and work zone and left lane getting by. 4:01 right now. as we wake up this morning, hurricane a michael is category 4 storm. people along florida' panhandle are bracing for what could be an historic hurricane. >> the hurricane is bringing

powerful rains, destructive winds and a potentially lifere ening storm surge. >> it won't be until later when we see how vlent thisan be. passengers alo a caribbean cruise ship have already experienced it firsthand. >> a passenger on board the royal caribbean ship shot this video monday night. the ship actuall delayed its arrival as the hurricane was pounding down on cuba. as we mentioned, michael is expected to make landfall in the u.s. this morning. >> as we talk about cuba,e want to show you what people are seng there. w michael brougds up to 90 miles an hour. trees bent in the wind. rain cameown in sheets and streets were turned into ponds. torrential rainfall caused 13 deaths in central america.

the waves are beginning to pick up along the panama city beach coast. this is a live pictu from that area. you can see how close the buildings are from the water. amelia draper back with us now for a look at the latest on hurricane michael. >> aaron, this is an historic urrricane because we've never seen acane of this intensity, a category 4, makell land along the pan handle of florida. they've seen a f category 3 but never a category 4. what to expect, gusts 110 to 110. the storm surge is 9 feet or greater. flooding will affect alabama, florida, georgia as well as the carolinas. aximum winds at 130 miles an hour. it weakens to category 1 this evening as it's inland at thioint it's bringing flooding rains. it weakens further to tropical

storm thursday morning and then it heads out to sea. we go from cold front that will impact our area. i'll have more on any impact from michael plus a major cooldownoming up in ten minutes. meanwhile, for the latest on the forecast and the impact of hurricane michael, stay with us. it's now 4:04. new developments this morning out of prince williamcounty. police say the man who sexually assaulted an 11-yr-old girl and hit a woman who tried to save her is now behind bars. adam seth walter now faces several felony charges. police say he grabbed a young girl. a woman walking her dog saw walter with the girl and thought she nd help. the girl told theth woman that suspect had a gun. walter then dragged both the won and the girl into a backyard. news 4's david potolger with the woman's son. >> he displayed the gun. he took her to the backyard and sat her. do said if you move or talk, i will

shoot you. she gave him t car. she said, just go, just go, leave me alone. he was like, well,ow i have to kill you. he went into the kitchen to grab a knife and thenhat's when she started wrestling with him and started yelling. that's when i woke up and i grabbed the sledge hammer and by the time i came out he was already gone. >> the woman called police and he escaped with a gi. he sexually assaulted her and le her go. the girl was able to lead them to walter. this morni wre following two pedestrian involved crashes in maryland. >> we'll begin montgomery county. four high school students are recovering after they were hit by a car while waiting for a school bus. a two-car collision nearby sent one vehicle directly into the students. all of themre from kennedy high school and each had to be taken to the high school. nie of them, a 15-year-old, had life threa injuries. and in prince gorges county

we hope to learn more about a woman who was killed after being struck byca r. she later died at the hospital. the driver of the car stayed on the scene and wasn't hurt. 4:06. breaking news. a deadly shooting a a florida shopping center. angie goff with more. >> this sto is just tragic. a woman said she was celebrating her birthday at aau rent. she went to pay and that is when she said someone shot and killed her husband son right in her. of of the to show you video scene overnight. this happened in fort myers at the bell tower shop. this is one of those large outlet malls that h restaurants, movie theater. pltwo other p were also hurt. police do not believe though that this is a randomng shoo we'll bring you more as we get it. back to you. >> angie, thank you. coming up on 7 minutes after the hour. happening today, president trump begins the search for a new

bassador to the united nations. nikki hailie announced thathe was resigning at the end of the year. the president sai that he has narrowed down the list of replacements to five including his former national security advisor, dana powell.ie haaid after serving as south carolina's governor and her currentposition, she needs a break. >> sometimes it's good to rate in oth people who can put that same energy and power into it. >> president trump said his daughter ivanka would be a greac reent but acknowledged he would be accused of nepotism. yesterday ivanka trump tweeted it will not be >her. lso developing this morning, the ford motor company is planning massive layoffs blaming president ump's ariffs for costing the automaker $1 billion. ford officials called the move a redesign that canve imp the physical fitness of the company.

it's not clear how many jobs will be cut. they estimate 24,000 people can lose their jobs. it's now 4:07. standing room only. lgbtq advocates packed the meeting inct rn to reports a transgender middle schooler was separated from other students. parents, clergy, teachers called on the school system to better tron school staff address the needs of transgender students. >> i'm tir of students being afraid to be themselves. i'mf tired not being able to address these issues in a productiveh manner w fellow staff members because honestly most to want to give t equity all of our students. >> the school superintendent has apologized acknowledging that l afford county public sch should be a place of respect, fairness and dignity for all

stents and staff. a full-time resourcefficer at a loudoun county elementary school continues this morning. this after the criticism over the handling of a security scare. earlier in the year a sheriff's deputy was posted the school. parents found out later he was ther because of a violent threat of ar staff membe by her ex-boyfriend. the man accused of the threat was recentl acquitted. parents say their kids were at risk and they should haveeen formed. take a look at this video of a takedownnc in priles gorges county. this is the man that led them on a wild chase before being captured inhe district hts, maryland. al ton sotos slipped away from police during a standoff at a hotel. he fell off the radar until yesterday morning when he was otted in fairfax county. before the standoff and chase he was wanted for grand larceny a

credit card fraud. it was a close call for a police officer in minnesota but he hopes the video we're about to show you is a lasting reminder for drivers to keep their eyes on the road. take a look. this is the crash. look at that. one was hurt. the officer says he fears the worst. the woman behind the wheel of the other car s reaching down to grab a drink id not paying attention. >> think this also proves a point it are not always cell phones that are a distraction, grabbing a drink, eating fo. >> the officer responded to another distracted driving crash that same intersection a week later. he hopes his experience can help him make the area safer. there's just so many distractions while driving. you have to focus. what you have to put your mind on every time behindhe wheel. driving and only driving. this morning the mega millioacot is now at more

than half a billion dollars. using the word this morning. >> that's right. no tchkets mated all six numbers in last night's drawing. the jackpot for friday, that will be an estimated $548 million. that is the third largest in the game's history. the cash prize option will pay out $3049 million. aiif you can't wt until friday the drawing for powerball, $282 million, that is tonight. >> that could be a strategy. mega millions, i go ahead and buy a powerball. >> i see you doing that. we're all guilty of it. taking too long to make a difficuldecision. >> coming up, what science says we should do when we're unable to make up our minds. >> are we really showing snow blowers? >> stop it! this is dylan's fault. the top four products discounted this month and how much you'll save. >> well, eun, not talking about snow, i am traing a major

cooldown. a high of 83. one last day where it' really feeling like summer and looking mainly dry. rain in the recast and i'll rain in the recast and i'll ha more on thatve the ross fall dress event is finally here.

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you're watching "news 4 today." welcome back. 4:15. supreme court justice brett kavanaugh jumped right into his new job. kavanaugh received a standard e. welc chief justice john roberts wishing him a long and happy. care he is seated next to justice alana kagan. as kavanaugh gets to work, it appears voter registration among young people is rising and pop star taylor swift may be to thank. we told you about swift's political message on instagram on monday. she said she'll be voting for democrats in her home state in tenness

tennessee. told others they need to register soon if they want to vote. vote.org said 65,000 young people and 45,000 older people have registered. >> student activists are encouraging people to vote. >> students from marjorie stoneman douglas brought their message to american university. they called for tougher gun laws. they said that victims of mass shootings need a place to turn. >> we need concrete places to go to. >> the same group of students helped organize march for our lives rally in d.c. this past spring. take a look. this is video from that rally. you may recall hundreds of thousands of people participated. turning now to news 4 your health, naps aren't just for preschoolers. the truth.

>> a little extra sleep can help you make tough decisions. you know how they say sleep on it? british researchers say naps help weigh the proson and cs of a situation. it helps people improve their responses. the length of the upcoming flu season could depend on where you ve. scientists at oregon state university found the flu season lasts longer in larger, crowded cities. this helps experts predict how bad a flu season can be. researchers say smaller cities end to have a shorter but more intense fluseason. >> okay. >> makes sense. >> ihought maybe you add that to your list of all of the things you do. >>ot at all.

>> it doesn't feel like flu we have warm weather. >> i know. we were talking about this. we're going to get the switch flip. the lhts are going to dim. no. the lights are off. fall is here. spring, no fall. summer just winter. take a look. here are your weather toheadlin. y is the last warm and humid day. honestly, i'm looking at our overall forecast, i really think of the year. soak up the warmth, tomorrow will be the transition time with rain and then a major cooldown. i have a high temperature of 59 in the ten day forecast. mild but cloudy at the bus stop with a temperature around 73. at recesso t's going pretty nice out there, partly to mostly cloudy skies. no worries of rain. temperatures already near 80. picking the kids up, temperature

around 83. another warm day for the after school activities. aybe an isolated shower this afternoon. for most of us, it's a dry day. take a look. futureweather, 4:30 tomorrow morning. scattered showers out there already. parts of what's left of michael and a cold front moving through the area. we are going to get breaks in the rain but cloudy skies otherwise. very muggy feel to the air. here's around the midday. i could see this go back to e wen parts of southern maryland. moves from michael as we towards 6:00 p.m. on thursday, still tracking areas of rain. that rain moves out early friday morning. we have temperatures friday in day.0s throughout the not only that, but it's windy. it's going to feel much friday is the day you want to break out the flannel. here on news 4, you have flannel friday. again, 83 today. 80 tomorrow. you want toave the umbrella

for your thursday. for the weekend, guys, a change on turday. a clipper system may bring us some morning sprinkles. mostly and partly cloudy skies. suay is another cool, comfortable autumn day. 66 with a mix of clouds and sun. notice next thursday on the air and high of 59. melissa as ll. >> it is here. 80s to 59. green belt here, outer loop before bw parkway. you have a work zone you can see on the map not slowing anything down right now. beltway looking qui good. 95, quantico to the north, going to get you there in 17 minutes. further in on 395, that's nice and clear as well. rockville, northbod 270 between old georgetown and montrose work zone with just the there. in getting b melissa, thank you. 4:21. if you're lookingo save money,

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google is out with some new oducts. the announcement was made yesterday. one of the products isalled home hub. it combines a small display screen with an internet connected speaker and a voice activated assisant. it d not include a camera and costs about $150. google's newest pixel phones were showcased and will feature a spectacular camera. i think that's the word they use. the phone costs 800 bucks. >> that was convcing. spectacular camera. >> product, sales, voice. >>ll right. >> only $800. >> i'm not buying it. everybody likes a good deal when they go shopping. consumer reporter susan hogan is working for you on some of the most discounted products this month that you will wanto take out. >> reporter: the "consumer rerts" tracks the prices on what they test. ey can tell you which one to

buy. >> repor r: you can spend as little as $200 or well over $1,000. consider what yo need snow blower for. siwalks or a b driveway,h, to help determine the right size and featus for you. interior paint. brand lines keep expanding and the price might jump by $20 per gallon. the type of finish you choose can cutch down on how paint you have to y. smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. newer models offer more featu s features. before you shop, check regulations. don't sleep on it when it comes to mattresses or you may miss out on savings. many charge big markups so they can lower prices during their frequent sales. this gives you room to strike a deal.

>> perfect timing because if you are in the market for a new mattress, we have the latest ratings for you from "consumer reports." all coming up at news 4 at 5:00. back to you. 4:26 is yourime now. counting down to another big night for the caps. their snley cup final rival. we'll get you ready for the championship rematch. andy friday it will start to feel like >> we are seeing leaves drop with the warm temperatures and i'll haven more the rain and what we can expect with the leaves. we are tracking hurricane michael. we're tracking storms past and thempact it's already having thempact it's already having on

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4 today" starts now. right now 4:29. a live l outside over washington as we start this wednesday morning. halfway through the week. this may be our last sunny

summ like day for the year. rain and chilly temperatures come our way just like that. big change. >> i'm a little ready for . >> you are? >> a little bit. at the same time we're trackg hurrican michael. the storm strengthened to strength 4. we'll have more on what's being called an historic hurricane. first, we'll turn back to our thel forecast and a look at commute too. >> melissa mollet is standing by in the first 4 traffic.we begin with storm team 4 meteorologist amelian draper for chuck. another hot and humid day? >> yeah. you want to soak itup. as you said, eun, i think this could be the last warm and humid day of the year. right now we're at 74 degrees and we're three degrees warmer an where we should be. we'll stay in the low to mid 20s.