n at midday. we have new information about the man police say set himself on fire near the white housere polic concerned about liz physical and emotional welfare before the incident. there is no obstruction. you see what we're saying there is no obstruction, no collusion, no nothing. >> new reaction from president trump on robert mueller's statement on the russia investigation. the oneen thing the p is admitting for the first time. and i'm not only tracking the potenti for the first heat wave of the year but if a now rounds of showers and thunderstorms and severe weather

developing but we're dry right now. latest timing and impact in the updated forecast. >> announcer: "news4 midday" starts now. good morning. and welcome to "new midday." i'm molette green. >> and i'm pat lawson muse. we begin with a chance of the storms. mentioned. the sun is out and teams are on the way up. it is expected to be our third day in the 90s. the first at wave of the season. storm team 4 is tracking the storms. >> all right, amelia, let's come back and talk about what we can expect. what are you seeing? >> i think we'll see two rounds of showers and thunderstorm moving through the area. one between about 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. and the other between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. we have sunshine out there right now that will help to fuel the storms. rm our temperatures to around d grees. already seeing activity developing back to the west. the threat today mainly between 2:00 and 8:00 p.m. are going to be heavy rainfall that could strong flooding and gusty winds. biggest concerns, again, strong

damaging winds and heavy rain. i can't rule out hail. maybe weak tornado but that ist not he biggest concern. here is what the stormct pren center is thinking. everybody here in yellow has a slight risk for severe weather. a 50% chance that your dealing with thunderstorms and right now we're at 83 degre with the south wind at 10 miles per hour. i'll have future weather, pat, showing you time of the thunderorms hour by hour at 11:20. >> thanks, amelia. now to the disturbing developing story. missing montgomery county man has died apparently after setting himself on fire. >> it happenedn a grounds of the white house around noon yesterday. horrifying tourists. u.s. park police identifying the man as arnav gupta of he was reported missing yesterday morning. there was concern for his physical and emotional welfare. the response to the scene was swift and heavy. federa officersused a fire

extinguisher to douse the flames. tourists say gupta looked like i zom just walking with his entire body on fire. gupta died from injuries at the hospital. we are learning new details in a deadly discovery inside a spotsylvania county home. >> three people were discovered dead on the home on arne acres drive yet morning. according to our news parter to wp an infant and a toddler were also found in that home. they were unharmed. they were both taken to the hospital forva obseron. the deceased were 39, 34 and 14 years old. they're names haven not v released. the sheriff's office is classifying the deaths as s. suspiciou now to a southeast d.c. neighborhood where people say they were tet orized by two pi bulls. >> yesterday the dogs attacked two people in one day. one woman was seriously hurt ani news4 jus finch is at the

police headquarts with more on the attack and what police found in the dogowner's home. >> reporter: two pit bull attacks in the same neighborhood in one day may come as a shock to a lot of people. but for those who live in that southeast neighborhood where all of this happened yesterday, they say it is no shock at all. but just sadly unsurprising. want you to check out here this neighbor surveillance video showing a teen boy taking his dog out for a walk yesterday, and but take a look at your screen. you'll see those two pit balls meet, follow and attack that boy and his dog all the way to their door. he did suffer hand injuries trying to get his dog and himself to safety. but this is the same day that a womanhis neighbor in her 50s and 60s, was also attacked by thosewo pit bulls as she was taking out her trash. she tried to use her trash can, we're told, to fend them off but no match in the end. police had to be called. officers did fire shooting and

killing one of the dogs. the other now in custody of animal and that dog did suffer injuries as well. we can tell you neighbors say for a very long time they had concerned about the unsupervised dogs, even trying to get id of a dog owners who they say were squatters. >> we have to get them evicted. we contact the property amendment company a -- the property management company and they are waiting for a lockout date and thi going on since october of last year. >> another attornturn in the ca. they did find signs of a marijuana operation inside of the home. sources tell us they have a warrant to go in and learn more. d.c. fire hazmat also called inw and we them pulling out butane tanks from the home. we'll bring you much more onha as it comes in to us. but as far as the woman goes, she did suffer injuries to her face and her hands. she is recovering at this time. i'm justin finch, nbc4. back inside to you.

>> justin, thank you. take a look at this.ra this bad c caused a mess for morning commuters and knocked out power for dozens d.c. residents around 6:00 a.m. near 28th and pennsylvania avenue in southeast. and you could see the car knocked down a powerline. at one point this morning all lanes of pennsylvania avenue southeast were shut down. that was a big problem for drivers. but at last check, a few of the lanes are back open. the power is still out, though. non word o what exactly caused that crash or how the driver is doing. well, this morning we're getting a look at prince william's county newest high school. >> a school of global citizenship and set to open in the fall of 2021. news4 megan mcgrath is live in gainesville with more on today's ground-breaking. a lot of excitement about this, megan. >> reporter: a lot of excitement. if you look behind me here, you coulsee the shuttles that are

still there and the ceremonial ground-breaking having wrapped up a a little while and it was ceremonial. because if you look off in the distance here, look at all of those construction vehicles.yo u could see that work on the new high school is well underway. construction is already underway. but dignitariesathered this morning for the ceremonial ground-breaking. prince william newest high school is slated to open in 202b on universiulevard in gainesville. no name yet. for now it is being called the 13th high school. and it will emphasize global citizenship and students can expectlenty of technology. >> there will be other areas such as pull-out spaces for small gatherings, technology where kids could pull out in a larger space and work on technology and work on projects and technology. there will be electronics throughout the school such as the small things like places to gather, to charge iphones. >> 107 class courtrooms and two

c cafeterias and an outdoor amphitheater and greenhouse with a capacity for more than 2500 students, officials say the schoolill go along way to ease overcrowding in the county's other high schools. >> you get that much overcrowding in the schools, it affects the environment and the school environment. so this will help. >> reporter: so the 13th high uc school not m of a name here. but it is going to be changing. the school board will choose a more appropriate name and blic will have some input during that process. back to you. >> megan mcgrath, thank you. now to a developing story. we have learned a former government official is accused of siouxly asing a child at a restaurant in tenltown. it allegedly happened at the chick-fil-a on wisconsin avenue tuesday evening. police say 39-year-old scott m metse unwanted contact with a child and then ran off.

he used to woat the departme of homeland security as a deputy director of events. we reached out to the agency and a spokesperson replies, scott matejov resigned his position on may 6th of 2019. dfs is unaware of any allegations that occurred during his employment at dhs and currently conducted an internal review. this mrning president trump is reacting to the robert mueller russia probe. he rote in part, after spending $40 milln offer two dark years with unlimited access, people, resources and cooperation, highly conflicted robert muelled wouave brought charges if he had anything but there were noc rges to bring. in a very next tweet he said russia, russia, russia, that's l you heard the beginning of this witch hunt hoax and now russia disappeared because i had thing to do withssia helping me get elected. but as tracie potts reports, the

president quickly changed his tune about that help from russia. >> good morning, everybody. >> reporter: president trump this morning lashing out at former special counsel robert mueller. >> i think he's a total conflicted person. i think muellers a -- a never-trumper. >> reporter: and on evidence ofh obstruction resulted in no indictment. >> they got nothing. russia did not help me get elected. you know who got me emekted? you know who got me elected? i got me elected. reporter: mueller made clear that the justice department does not allow him to prosecute president trump. >> charging the president with a crime wastherefore not an option we could consider. >> reporter: yet he also can't clear the president on obstruction of jtice. >> if we had had confidence that the president clearly did not commit a crime, we would have said so. we did not -- o >> reporter: bom line, it is up to congress. more than 40 democrats and 1

republican, michigan justin amash, are calling for impeachment. it would start with congressman jerry nadler judiciary committee. >> all options are on the table. and nhing should be ruled out. >> reporter: but nancy pelosi is pumping the brakes on >peachment. many constituents want to impeach the president. but we want to do what is right and what gres lts. >> reporter: the white house said mueller's statement means case closed. congress needs to move on. >> if bob mueller had determined he woulde was a crime, have had a moral obligation to report it. >> reporter: he didn't. he said he couldn't. and democrats are divided on what to do next. so democrats will continue to investigate with no idea where is may be headed. tracie potts, nbc news, washington. louisiana lawmakers are passed a bill that outlaws abortion once a fetal heartbeat is e -- detected to ban abortion

unless it is necessary to prevent a pregnant woman's death or serious injury. but there are no exceptions for rape or incest. democratic governor john bel edwards supports th ban and intends to sign the bill into law. according to the bill's text, it would only take effect if a similar bill in mississippi is upheld by a federal appeals court. your time now 11:12 this morning. drain and repair. the work being done right now on the national mall to clean up a growing algae problem at the reflecting pool. >> algae gets ugly and nasty. and oust sight. up, president trump comments on a new report that the white house wanted the war ship named afterohn mccain covered up during his recent trip japan .

new this morning, the white house wanted the u.s. navy to move the warship uss john s.

mccain out of sight o aheadf the trump's visit to pan. >> according to the "wall street journal," before the trip crews obscured the shape's name with a tarp but the military said the tarp was taken down before the president'sil arrival. s typically wear caps with the senator's name on them but they were given the day off during trump's visit. the president tweeted he was not informed of the concerns and commented on the report this morning. >> to me, john main, i wasn't a fan. but i would never do a thing like that. now, somebody did it. because they tidught i dt like him. okay. and they were well-meaning, i will say. i didn't know anything about it. >> nbc news haot seen the email the "wall street jonal" used for itstory. new this morning, the national park service has begun draining the lincoln memorial crews are repairing a broken water line that is affected the

water quality of the pool this spring. e lincoln memorial reflecting pool should be refilled and operational and it will take five to six days to fully drain the pool. repairs and cleaning are to expected ast a week. monday will mark the 50th anniversary ofhe a deadly day in the vietnam war. 34i7 sailors were killed when their ship went down in the south china sea but none of w those gave their lives has a name on the vietnam wall. mark segraves explains the renewed fight to change that. >> reporter: the uss frank e. evans was providing artillery support off the coast of vietnam in the spring of 1969. in the early morning hours of june 3rd, the evans was earticipating in training exercises outsid of the combat zone when an australian aircraft carrier accideally collided ith the ves'll, slicing it in half.

and armstrong daily's brother was among those. >> just an amazing young man and incredibly bright but very humble. >> allen armstrong and 73 oerjz were lost to the depth of the south china sea. their bodies never recovered. daily recalls last time she poke -- she spoke with her brother as he was deploying to the combat zone. >> and we told each other we o loved eachher and i'm glad that we had that chance. >> reporter: years after their deaths, when the vietnam was being designed, the families of the lost 74 looked forward to being able to honor their loved ones. >> and we just thought, oh, how wond wonder -- wonderfult last. and then the names of the sailors killed that day would not be included on the vietnam wall. >> and to be honest, it was like sing him all over again. >> reporter: because the evans went down outside of the combat zone, the 74 u.s. sailors didn't qualify to have their names on

the wall. every day from her balcony, daily looks at the monuments to our country's heroes thiing aboutth her b and his crew mates. >> these boys answered the call of their nation. they gave the ultimate sacrifice for their nation and they deserve to be honored. >> reporter: legislation is pending in the senate that would pave the way for the lost 74 to have their names added to the wall. but congressional efforts have failed in the past. >> i just do it with hope and trust that sometime soone will have his name along with his -- his ship mates on the wall to touch and visit ande can celebrate. >> reporter: at the vietnam memorial, mark see segraves, nbc4. today we're set to ref a major update on he fightr d.c. statehood. congresswoman eleanor holmes norton and mayor the buriel bowser and d.c. council chair

phil mendleson are hosting a news conference in 15 minutes on the national mall. back in march congress passed a broad voting access and reform bill that calls for d.c. to be defined as a state. it is the first time eitherha er of congress has endorsed statehood for the district. we will be streaming that news conference when it gets underway in the nbc washington app. there are only a handful of days left in the school year. for hundreds of young local teachers it is their finalye . >> an i-team investigation reveals widespread worry about tube -- teacher turnover and nearly four in five local ngachers surveyed by the i-team thought of chag careers recently. >> reporter: state education officials in virginia, maryland and d.c. have all issued warnings bout teacher turnover. educators leaving the profession. in virginia, they've called the turnover problem a worsening

problem. nd, they say shortages ry istentma and i n d.c., the highest turner rate in the area, a state board of education member said turnover is de stating. wekn wanted to ow why so we surveyed teachers throughout the area and the responses flooded in. nearly 5,000. more than 80% of respondents said they thought of leaving teaching in the past two years, some cited lack of support and testing and student behavior and the dislaction of student cel phones. heather sailer needed more time with her children and she left herjoeaching to open a family farm. >> i taught for 12 years if i could have figured out a way to leavet work a work i would have figured it out in that time. >> you can't teach the home and be done teaching. >> correct. >> tonight on nbc4 as part of ll the fu investigation, the other responses to our survey. what some schoolar districts doing to better retain teachers

and the words that surface most often when we ask teachers why they're leaving. scott mcfarland, nbc4 i-team. high school seniors will spend less time worrying about getting into college and more time looking forward to attending the university of virginia. the university is launching a new early decision plan. it offers high school students the chance to receive their admission decision inhe first semester of their senior year. under the new plan, the application deadline is in tober and the notification comes in december. >> i wanted to know early, but i had to wait forever it seems. waiting is the worst. >> it is. so new this morning, uber is holding both drivers and riders accountable for their behavior. the s ride-sharing comid customers could lose access if they develop a significantly below average rating. the move is part of a new education campaign to promote the uber community guidelines with a focus on safety. tisapsnd sideveral opportunitie

to improve scores prior to losing access. those tips includeng encouragi polite behavior and keepinghe car clean and avoiding asking drivers to exceed the speed limit uber expects only a small number of riders to be impacted by this. tonight is the finals of the scripps national spelling bee. more than 500 students have beeg competin at national hall all week. >> only 50 finalists are left in the running to be cowned the champion. two maryland eighth graders are among them. ancon cook goes to cabin job middle school and sacketh sundar have made it thise farre and anson tied for 34th place last year and sake made it to the final three times and thein fists will be narrowed down to 15 students ahead of the

nationallytelevised championship. >> they're like veterans. the winner will receive $40,000 and other prizes and could use that money to pay fo>>school. that is a big price for a little kid. >> that is good. it has been two weeks of nonstop threatsof severe weather across the country. last night was no different. we have the latest on damage in texas. and dinosaur hll is about to reopen at the smithsonian national museum of natural history. a sneak peek at what will see in just about a ek. we

welcome back. well here is new video that you have to see to believe. this is recorded yesterday in montezuma, iowa and it shows the kids warming up for a baseball game with a frontal cloud forming in the background. the parent who recorded the video tells nbc news sheno did feel there was any threat to the boys. and there was no wind, rain or lightning, so the game went on.

well today the national weather service is in northern exas surp v.a..ing storm damage. they're determining how many tornados hit the state yesterday. this is some of the damage in canton, about an hour southe t of dallas. you could see buildings were ripped apart by the strong storm yesterday. no official word on any it has been quite a week for tornados. >> it has. >> today is our 15th consecutive day to track severe weather nationa sy. it is theson. but i know so far this year the orm reports of tornados have 935. >> wow! >> so 935 reported tornados so far this year. our average, ladies,e for th year, 1,000. and tha is nationally. to give you an idea, it is an active season. now we could have some actions thiternoon. that is why we're in orm team 4 weather alert mode. the storm potential yesterday did not play out to full potential. that does not mean that today we' not going to see severe

thunderstorms. while the threat overall is lower for intense weather, we have a bigger trigger and that is a cold front moving through yesterday our trigger stayed to the north of us in pennsylvania and that is where they saw some wicked weather once again. here is the latest on storm team 4 radar. you could see showers and thunderstorms firing back in west virginia. so they're alady on the radar. these are going to be moving eastward and inan our area future weather is putting out rounds. mire we are at noon. so about 30 tes from now notice the area is still dry. still hazy sunshine out there. but once we hit 2:00 p.m., notice the thunderstormstthat are sting to bubble up. mainly in northern virginia. e ok at the bright colors here. that is the chancr very heavy rainfall and strong gusty winds. this first round moved through the metro area around 3:00, 4:00 nd then off the east over on to the eastern shore by about 4:00 or 5:00. then at 6:00 in the evening, this is round two. moving into the area, around the i-81 corridor. ntnchester at about 6:00, maybe some showers i parts of

northern virginia and the district. 8:00 p.m., notice the area of heavy rainfall pretty much en across the ire region. and especially in the d.c. metro area. again, the concerns today, heavy rainfall and trong, damaging winds but i can't rule out some hail and maybe a weak tornado. but for the mt part, it is oing to be very heavy rainfall and strong winds. currently our temperatures are in the low to mid-80s. will we hit 90 today? that is the million dollar question. if we do, we'll have our first official heat wave this year. i'm going to have much more on how today's storms impact the rrow on into the weekend coming up in about 20 minutes. >> thanks amelia. a group of women a suing the fbi. why they say they were kicked out of a training program at quantico. and plus behind the scenes and behind the curtains at the kennedy nter. the new access is part of a huge expansion project at the theater. a closer lookt what is available to see, heaand do. r

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welcome back. at 11:30, people who want to join the fbi know the road to becoming a special agent is tough. but this morning a group of women is filing a lawsuit against the agency alleging they got kick out of the training program at quantico because they were women. >> they spoke with nbc'san steph gosk in an exclusive interview. >> when i asked if i could be recycled and into a class behind me, for additional training, they responded to me that they did not do that. and i had an instructorrm inf me after the fact that they, in fact, did do that. >> so they were male colleagues who were given second, third chances? >>yes. now the fbi said it can't comment about the lawsuit but that it does value diversity, cluding different genders. in a statement they told nbc news they are committed to fostering a work envirrement

whe all employees are valued and respected. the kennedy center is breaking down barrierso the arts through its new multimillion-dollar expansion. the new pformance space is called the reach and designed to show you a different side of the creative process. here is news4ory smith with a ook.nd-the-scenes ♪ [ singing ] >> reporter: it is rare to see a performance at the kennedy center from this perspective. watching artists and musicians bring a story to life. >> hpping into the driver's seat. >> reporter: soon this is the new normal as the reach stepped into the spotlight on the kennedy center campus ushering a new era for the >> we opened up all of the arts. so that you see the inside from the outside as well. and that you could check it out and then maybe go in and participate as well.

>> reporter: after nearly five 250 million k, spent, the sounds of traffic and construction -- are giving way to sweeter notes. the rooftop pavilion are bathed in natural light and the reflecting pool is in use and when it is all finied this place will be -- what is the right word? >> amazinglymazing. that is amazingly amazingly mazing. >> > reporter: this is about drawing in the d.c. community by peeling back the curtain on the artistic process. t t sure about a show you w owe -- you want to see come check out a rehearsal and maybe you want to go yoga, bring your mat to the largest green room in d.c. and what is most important, if you think your family cannot afford a night at kennedy center, many events here at reach are free. for mark joseph, the vp and artistic director of social impact, that is what matters. >> to be present communities that historically haven't had

the resources necessarily, although havhad the creative dmagine. >> reporter: an come september, when the reach opens, the kennedy center hopes your imagination will run wild. coryith, nbc4. now we resolve to woo the girls. >> now to an amazing theater in d.c. that is william shakespeare comedy of matteran d love's labe's lost playing at soldier theater. two of the stars of the show are here, zachary fine andamelia pedlow joining us with more on this romantic comedy. good morning. thank you for coming in. >> thank you for having us. >> we appreciate you. so the first thing we need to say off the bat, that it is not set insp shakere time. tell us about this twist on this classic. >> well, the director decided to set it in thebr liary, the folder shakespeare library soin beautiful way the theater is the same wood, beautiful, old, green, and a stain glassed

window of shakespeare, sevenag s of man in the back and it embraces the space that it already is set in and inhe year that the folger library was built. so 1932. >> amelia, you are the princess and adam -- or zachary you play not the young king, but a problem child. >> that is right. he's a bitf a problemchild. he's a troublemaker. the king sets up the story that we won't pay attention to women and we're not going to -- we're just going to study and not eat a lot of food and sleep much and then i say, i think that might be a bad idea >> there you are there. we see new that clip there. and you get into a -- some nd twists a turns. but this is lot of fun for people. talk about how people will enjoy this. >>t is -- we're doing it in springtime which is so putfect. it is all about they set up impossible rumz antthirst thing happens is an embassy with france arrives with four beautiful young women.

> how do we keep this -- come on, zachary. >> it is a good setup. it is good. it is -- it is surprisingly shakespeare and it istill funny. he is still funny. he's just -- he's just a good writer. so we sll have lines that are just hilarious and just a classic comic setup. >> and a lot of physical comedy involved in this. >> yeah. >>g old staircase. we run it add slide and it fall down. >> ndbang into things a make a fool of myself as much as possible. >> now are audiences surprised by the ending? >> they are. there is a bit of a giveaway in the title. but it has a beautiful twist. it is all a big escape and then a bit of life comes crashing down which is just i think powerful for people. >>ou guys are funand have a lot of energy here. i can't even imagine what it is like seeing you do your thing. >> come see it. >> check us out. >> we will. so let'set people know where to go. okay, loves labor lost playing at soldier theatir through june

16. you government -- you got an extension on that. >> sounds like fun. i would like to see it. a major lgue baseball player over come after his foul ball hits a young girl.

a young girl is in the hospital and expected to be after being hit by a foul ball at a houston astros game. chicago cubs outfielder albert al mora b hit thell that went into the stands. there is protective netting around parts of the field. at all stadiums. but the ball went past the netting. he was visibly shaken after it happened. he ended up striking out and it appeared to be crying between innings. >> that had to be tough. >> oh, my goodness, yes. things haven't been easy for

the nat this is sea they have a record 24 winz and 32 losses already this year. >> but lastusnight gave some hope. they crus d thebraves. they scored 14 runs before atlanta d one. the braves eventually put up four of their own but couldn't stop the nats. coach davie martinez has been saying things would turn around and perhaps this i the start. >> okay. >> rooting for you. >> >> so amelia, what is the latest on the weather alert and possible storms could get today. >> yeah, so it looks like we'll have a 40% to 50% chance for thunderstorms today so they are hit and miss. not everybody is guaranteed thunderstorms but storms that do materialize could have strong damaging winds and some very heavy rainfall. so just because yesterday's storm chance didn materialize, does not mean that we're not going to see storms today. so you still needto be weather ready. and in addition to scattered thunderstorms between 2:00 and 8:00 p.m., it is hot and it is a bit humid out there as well with

the high temperature around 90 degrees on your thursday. as we look to tomorrow and the weekend, big improvement with the humid. especially tomorrow and saturday. tomorrow is looking amazing. it is a perfect pool day if you are thinking about taking the kids. on saturday it is really nice. a little bit warmer. the humidity not that bad. sunday you could definitely still head to the pool but the earlier the better because we're looking at some scattered thunderstorms for the late afternoon and evening hours. i hate to say it, but i'll have to. if you have a sick day tomorrow, you're looking to use, it is the day. because we're just going to be gorgeous on our friday. if tou are heading out ofn early, maybe you already planned that day off and heading to our local beaches, the water temperates still chilly in the 60 the but looking fantastic at the beaches tomorrow with 82 ir a h. 80 on saturday. and then somela showers er in the day on sunday with the temperature around 78 degrees. now as we take a look at our ten-day forecast, from 90 today to a spectacul 84 tomorrow.

86 on saturday and 83 on sunday. as we look to next week, there is a chance for someu erstorms out there wednesday and thursday. but we do get a break from this heat. no 90s on the board after today. bod as we talk a scattered isolated and widpread thunderstorms, i want to quicklv er what exactly is the difference. first, let's take isolated.ve say we ha 10 people out there, well with tisolated, only a two of them are going to be dealing with rain. and of course those two people probably saying i thought it was supposed t be dry. bout scattered we'll have four to six people dealing with ra while the rest aren't. so your either saying where is the rain or why i am getting the rai it was juattered. but with widespread, you take the same ten people and just about all of them are seeing rain and hopefully all of tem have umbrellas ready. again today we fall into the scattered rain with thunderstorms between 2:00 and 8:00. >> thank you, amelia. well theres more evidence that you are what you eat. the food that could help improve your mental health. plus in just about a week,

dinosaur hall inside the smithsonian natural history museum reopens. we're going to take you inside to see the $110 million

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welcome back,i'm aaron gilcrest. anxiety zis disorders are the most common health problems and we hear aboutdication or therapy but what ishe changing t composition of what is in your gut could help alleviate anveiety. we hahe impact of gut bacteria on mental health. so doctor, good. as i tarted to learn more about this. explain the role of bacteria and the role it plays in your gut in general and then in a mental ecealth persptive. >> so ese gut bacteria, we em.e trillions of each of them has about three pouns of bact eerpia in our gastrointestinal tract and they are involv in different

activities. from a general standpoint they're volved in the immune io system functng. so they are a primary defense for yourmmune system and we're learning mored an more is that mental health and depression and anxiety hasn inflammatory component so anything that could help improve your immune system can likely help improve your mental health we also know that 95% of the in serotonthat feel-good brain chemical, i produced in your gastrointestinal tract and your gut bacteria play a critical role in the development of that serotonin. >> i wouldn't have guessedt. t healthy gut, healthy mind. >> exactly. >> so you mentioned there was a study had a looked at the link between the two things. walk through that. >> there was a chinese study trying to figure out what can we do to improve the gastrointestinal health of ople and how likely is that to result in improvements, in is case, in helping with anxiety. so they looked at studies whe ople took probiotics and other

studies where people changed what they found is that for the studies in which there wa a probiotic supplement given, about 40% of the studies showed that there was improvement in anxiety. so it wasn't outrwhelming. b it was decent. the key here, though is in the studies where there were dietary changesnd having people eight foods rich in pre-boy ottics likeasparagus, onions, garlic, hings of that sort, they found that 86% of the studies reported improvement in anxiety symptoms. so clecrly we have dent evidence at this point to sugest if you can improve your gastrointestinal health and improve that good, healthy bacteria in your gut, you'll have a goo chance of improving mental health. >> and it sounds like making that improve with your diet might do better than doing with probiotics. what sort of diet would you recommend? >> so in general you want --ul wod suggest people look up

prebiotics. e fuel or food for the bacteria so the more s,prebiotic the more healthy and eat low carbohydrates and diets low in sugar. anything that isoing to decrease inflammation and decrease b feeding thead bacteria will have a positive impact on gastrointestinal health. >> so if you were going the probiotic route instead of the diet route what would you recommend for that. >> what you want to try to do is find a pbiotic that has at least 40 million what are called cfu or colony forming units and one that has a wide range of bacteria species and in particular you want lacto silis and those are two key in mental health but choose one high in cfu age a lar number of di erent bacteria strains and the more -- you really n't -- in my opinion you can't go wrong with probiotics.

they're very easy and it is easier than changing your diet. certainly we always know that dietary changes could be better just in general. but a good probiotic, one i take is called dr. mer cola. complete probiotics. i take it every day. >> it is like takingit a vamin. >> just taking thete bacria that will populate your gut with more healthy bacteria and you have to do it for months to see any result. >> good information there. >> we have to do more digging on that for me. figure it all out. all right. the dinosaur hall athe natural history museum has been closed off for the past five years. >> but next week it is set to reopen. with exhibits even bigger and better than before. > nbc's tom costello got a sneak peek inside. >> reporter: taking center stage at the smithsonian new dinosaur raul, t rex.

but he's not just striking a pose. e >> what we'vdone is posed it dismantling a dead try sayre tops. >> taking a bite out of one. >> it is decapitated if you look closely. >> reporter: paleontologist has loved dinosaurs since he was a kid. >> what is it about t raxthat captured our aimagine for so long. >> it has a five foot head and six inch teeth and one of the dargest carnivores and the home is here in unitates and we feel like it is our aambassdor. >> for five years dinosaur lovers have been waiting for this great hall at the smithsonian museum of natural history to reopen when it first opened in 1911 it was the hall of extinct monsters, a big hit throu the 20th century. butith a $110 million renovation in 2014, and the last few weeks arod the clo efforts. >> got to be more careful arount all of the exhbecause they

are old. >> reporter: now set to reopen as the hall of deep time. more exhibits, more fossils and more interactive. >> we've tried to bring the animals to life and so every single thing in this hall is doing something it might have donwhen it was alive. >> there is the s steggore us staring down a they'ra pod and a guarding eggs and a ground sloth the size of an elepnt and the excavation work continues realtime here in the fossil lab. also in the exhibit -- >> 209 million-year-old reptile teeth. that you're look at for the first time. >> reporter: a staggering 20 must dinosaurs are discovered each year. >> our planet writes histy in fossils and stone. so it could be back and read that history by look at fossils and analyzing the rocks. >> reporter: dinosaurs roamed the planet for 165 million years. >> he's so excited about the dinosaurs and can't wait to see the new exhibit. >> reporter:ot since they died off have they ever looked so

good. >> that is gog to be great. >> for the summer. so afterseeing the nsider taking in this summer adventure. ♪ ♪ it may not be a galaxy far, far away but itsp may trant you there chblt coming up, a look inside of sneyland's di

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if your planning a trip for the - summer, you may take the family to disneyland and you may not just see mickey mouse. >> gal -- galaxy edge will show us -- a galaxy not too far away. >> light speed. >> dreams of pilot hans solo legendary ship are about to come true for "star wars" fans. the bucket of bolts that launched a billion dollars movie anchise has been recreated disney designers. >> to make sure it feels a like real spaceship. >> and with a ride, smuggler's run. >> i couldn't possibly imagine what i had done in my life that broughte m this moment.

but i couldn't be happier. >> reporter: the ride is the center piece for draw for the galaxy edge, an estimated billion dollars attraction that deposits visitors in an galactic outpost. similar to what they've seen in the hit film series. >> it is the sights, sounds and it is truly a feast for the senses in an other-worldly kind of way. >> reporter: and a feast with outpost cuisine. >> this is our oi puff. >> reporter: random encounters with the locals. >> you have one here. >> i'm wearing a monkey lizard. >> reporter: and of course, me market handise. >> you could start with a belt or do the tunic and do the shirt. >> reporter: it is an immersive trip to take fans beyond the ce movie experien >> once they walk away, they'll feel they transported to the black fire outpost and able to live their own star wars story

here. >> without traveling to a galaxy far, far away. >> reporter: stephanie stanton, nbc news, anaheim, california. gi ane -- >> here is the latest check of storm team 4 radar. we're trackndng thustorms back into west virginia. these are moving eastward. think we'll see two main rounds in the d.c. metro area between 2:00 and 4:00 and 6 and 8:00. and strongs are severe and that is why we're in weather alert mode and strong, damaging winds withhigh around 90. >> and that is it for "news4 midday." thanks for joining us. we're back on the air first at 4:00. >> get weather updates any time with the nbc washington app. have a great day. we'll see you in the m

meghan marklend prince harry have decided to name archie harrison mountbatten windsor. ev benedict cumber batch was like, oh, that's a mouthful. >> my wife and i, weooked like we had been in an alley smoking crack. >> a little more with kimmel on that. >> eryone having fun with little archie. >> harry is already back at work three days after archie was born. >> he's in the netherlands to launch the countdown to the invictus games.