stifling and unbearable thec word you describe what the d.c. region is dealing with right now. it's 4:3rn good mog. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. you could use dangerous and why we are in weather alert mode this morning. our melissa mollet is standing by with your first 4 traffic. >> let's start with storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell. anotheweather alert day. >> it gets much worse forour friday and your saturday plns.

plan to stay out of the extreme heat as much as. we have a heat index already and how indicative how humid it is. upper 70s from the d.c. metro area, eastbound to the bay. not much of a rain chance the first part of the day b heat index is over 100 degrees as early as noon time p.m. high in the 90s. 60% chance of more thunderstorms later today. possible storms for today and sweltering saturday on the way and deep fried friday here today. complete check of then- teday forecast, which has the cooldow at thed of it, melissa. >> i like hat. a cooldown somewhere in the future sound pretty good tome northbound 95 before orcentrep parkway road work so a delay there. after you take a look after

fredericksburg you can see. the rest of the beltway and op inner los looking okay. yesterday's storm knocked out power to thousands of people across the d region. this morning, about 5,000 people are still without electricity. largest group is in fairfax. dominion energy says 4,200 people are without power. arlington and loudon have also people in the dark. developing this mornial. a l man is behind bars charged with sexual assault nd abduction. >> polce say 62-year-old steven edwards committed those crimes in reston. he was arrested yesterday.ti investors released the sketch you see there on the left after an attack last month near reston parkway in barron cameron

avenue. one woman said she was shopping aty a nearb store when they struck up a conversation with man. when she left the store she saia tht man hit her from behind and raped her on a walking path. a reward is being issued in hopes of finding the men who killed a morgan state university student in prince george's county county. manny luis was shot and killed during a robbery off campus last week in baltimore. he was on his way to his parents house when it happened. he recently graduated from p arkdale high school in river dale, maryland. they say someone vandalized a memorial for their dad son. this is all that is left of the memorial for kevin sullivan jr. he was killed back in 2010. that memorial was on salem church road where police believe kevin was hit by a car and his

father discovered the vandalism. >> i dre around and he see this. >> reporter: how did it make you feel? connected to him? >> yes. >> reporter: sullivan sr. says he is going to rebuild that memorial and put it back in the same place to keep his son's memory alive. a mother is not giving u on another unsolved case that it's br years since a security guard wasnn gued down and still no arrests. adrian canard was shot and killed ouletside of central gardens apartments.er his partn was shot but he survived. police quickly found the shooter's car but have not found much else since and still have not made anytsarres >> we have done an extensive amount of research with the evidence that we have gathered so far in the case. our investigators are traveled out of state. they have gone as far as doing as many canvassing interviews

they could do. >> the police is offering up to 5,000 that could help lead to a conviction shall in this case. we are learning about a deadly fire at an animatn studio in japan.i jummy olabanjs at the live desk with the latest. >> reporter: according to the associated press, japanese fire official are telling us 23 people are either presumed dead or confirmed dead. we do have some video in to our newsroom to show you right n of this fire. we are learning also that at least three dozen others have been hurt in this fire. some of them even critically. this building here is in a city of kyoto. ey say a man is suspected of starting this fire and he appearpoured what appeared to be gasoline and set the building on fire and he's in custody right now. several outlets from japan reporting this morning that that studio's fame work includes vi gent everden which netflix picked up last year.

this is a story still developing. as we get more information, we will be sure to pass it along to you. >> thank you. oo here is a lk at other top stories we are folloing for you this morning. evidence that was used inhe rial of james field jr. has been made public. field was the man who plowed his car into a crowd of charlottesville protters and killed in 2018. much of this wason parascope who carried the incident live. today, a judge will rule o jeffrey epstein's bail proposal. his attorneys asked he be released on bond to $1 million. prosecutors say he is a flight risk and a danger to children. epstein was pleaded not guilty to sex charges including sex trafficking to minors. etosecutors in massach have dropped an indecent assault and battery charge against actor kevin spacey. spacey was accused of groping an

18-year-oldn 2016. prosecutors in attorney california are also at investiging sexual misconduct allegations against spacey. so far, no charges have been filed in that swas. spacey has repeatedly denied all of the accusations against >him a new york judgciencentenced el chapo guzman to life in prison. precutors say heontrol much of the illegal drug trade in the western hem physician meisphere0 years. guzman pleaded together andaid he did not have a fair trial. judges paul stevens passed away. this morning, we kno he will be laid to rest at arlington national cemetery alongside his wife in the section below jfk's grave. >nia senator tim kaine has reached out to the fbi director asking that the bureau

investate the death of saudi arabian journalist khashoggi. the "the washington post" resident and journalist was murdere last october in the nsulate in turkey. still ahe, restoring glory. we are taking e ining you insid notre dame cathedral to sh you how they are repairing it after a fire. >>

. president accounted for, sir. >> for the first time in more than 100 years, girls are being given the chance to spend their summers at boy scout camp. at camp frsafin in maryland, camp is under way and the boys and girls have different camp ut sites bhey come together for dailyprograms. she camp plans to raise money to update facilitie for future programs to come. it's been nearly three months since theon icic notre dame cathedral went up in flames in france. >> this morning, we are getting a look at the extent of the damage there in paris. camera were let inside dung a tour of the site yesterday. french official say the ceiling of the cathedral is still torn apart and the site is still covered in burnt degree. robotic machines are being used

to r doveebris from the floor.nc official arened more of the cathedral may collapse. t' le turn to chuck bell. >> the doing with yous need to be efficient and speedy and especially if you're out later on in theay today. polar, he would be more comfortable outside in the shade with a nice cld bowl of water, as would i. add him to your family at the during rescue center. back into the 90s and that is ro eight in a doubling down down south. president trump take his feud with democrats on the road with him but what does that mean for congress back here in washington? stay with us. we will be right back. good thursday morning. today on t "news4oday" at tou4:. we all know summer vacation for youea ones can m sleeping in and filling up on junk >> if someone says try this, it

is good for you, the first response is going to be yuck! >> this afternoon we wi shoal >> this afternoon we wi shoal ll

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> . [ chanting . one of the moments from president trump's rally in north carolina last night afterla sing democratic congresswoman ilhan omar.

he called the congresswoman hme-filled sick and clai awa four ed to destroy the heuntry. >> trowd ate it up. back here they are doing little but dividing congress. ngtracie potts is joini us live from capitol hill. what effect is this having on lawmakers. >> reporter: before leaving f north carolina, president trump said he believes h w isinning this political fight with . democra lawmakers specifically the democratic-led house of ives rejected a bid to impeach him over this. green of texas said the president's words could incite violence and some of the women gesaying they are ing death threats. nancy pelosi is slow to move on impeachment saying they got six committees working on collecting the facts and that is where they are going for now. they have rejected tweets and his tone and his word as racist but when it comes to anything further mpeachment, for now,

democrats aren't ready to go there. >> trsie potts live for u on capitol hill, thankyou. this morning, the white leuse is slamming the democrat-controld house after it voted to hold attorney general william barr and commerce secretary wilbur ross in contempt of congress. it comes after the two refused to imply with subpoenas to citie census. >>esses from ticks are new o ju joining us live from the newsroom with a look at this study. >> reporter: good morning. when peoplety of tic think of t think of lyme disease and one of the most known disease out there but one o many people are contract from this insect. dog tick can be found all across the d.c. region. we know the precautions to take

and wear long s and pants and use tick repellant and check yourself regularly. it's also suggested if you an to go hiking this summer, keep in the middle of the trail and away from trees and grasses where the ticks like to hang out. also important to kow the symptoms. aches, pains, fevers along with any sort of fatigue or muscle weakness areall good signs you should head to your doctor. back to you. a rise in use of cbd oil, police have a probem. common drug tests cannot tell the difference betweet and marijuana. earlier this year, the news4 i team exposed failure in the roads test that officers used. jody fleischer looked int a possible solution that police in urr area aren't using yet. >> reporter: it tns out officers in switzerland were me problem so more than a year ago a theysked their forensic lab to come up with a new field test that can

distinguish between marijuana and hemp. it happened to this great grandmother while she was at disney world, arrested by police because she was carrying cbd for her ar ihritis. >>as in shocked and i didn't know what was going on. ago, orter: three weeks florida changedi itity its laws. in n may thews4 i-team showed f how theield test and state lab couldn't distinguish bween me hemp product and some illegal marijuana. >> there has to be a way to tell what people have. so my kit is that solution. >> reporter: his kit is the test swiss police created and verified and using it since last september. john waldma is the only one to get orders the last couple of weeks but none come the commonwealth. they are all from law enforcement agencies in florida rushing to get the test first. >> we definitely don want to

put anyone who is innont in jail. >> reporter: coming up on "news5 today" at 0, what it would take foraw enforcement in our area to begin using these new field tests and how soon that could happen. jodie flecher, news4 i-team. he is proposing all landlords be required to provide and maintain air-conditioning for their tenants. while news4 was out shooting this story, our cameras caught video of one woman who passed out because of the heat, even ough she was inside at the time. >> she fainted. she got too hot. and no water to drink. >> on daysike today this is really a life or death issue. it's not a comfort issue. without a bill like this, a law like this, the housing department in montgcery county t exccompel a landlord to fix air-conditioning because it's not a emrequirt. >> a final vote would come in

the fall. good news from alexandria this morning. hooray for books has reopened. the book store was forced to close last week when it was damaged during flash foogloodin. hundreds of donated children's book were lost. she expects to have quadruple the amount of donated books soon end she has organized a fund-raiser evnt to compensate her staff who couldn't work while the store was closed. that fund-raiser at the store is july 31st at 5:00 p.m. independent book stores are just going away so i'm glad to see it's going to survive. >> absolutely. there is usuall one week every summer with horrible heat. >> yeah. >> this is kin it, right? >> let's hope. >> we still have more than a to month go. >> we sure do. july 15th midpoint of summer june, july, august being the threeummer months.

peaking.ures average highs at their highest po yt of ther for the next condle of days around here a you have to sweat it out here in the d.c. area. not just today but dangerous levels of heat and humidity comingur way the next couple of days. this morning, very sticky outside. 79 in washihtton r now. light breeze out of the south. there is actually a heat index already in washington. temperatures in th mid to upper 70s all across the region so your planner for your thursday plan on it being hot d humid. no record. not even near the record high for today. only 93 degrees this afternoon. but heat indexes up close to hundred our main concern like yesterday, the possibility of some severe thunderstorms around later this afternoon. so stay weather ert with us here atbc washington today. next step above heat advisory is a heat watch for friday and saturday. it will likely be extended into

sunday as well. overnight lows struggling to get below 80es degre afternoon highs near 100and heat index over that. plan to limit your outdoor activities as best you can and heat tidbits on were nbc washington app. rain across virginia now. this is all part of that humidity out there. a chance for afternoon storms th bubble up in day today. doesn't look that impressive here on the future weather presentation but any individual etorm could pack quit punch. no chance for any cooling rained on friday or saturday after today. here is a look at the

traffic. rest of the beltway is looking quite good. northbound 95 before centreport parkway not as bad delays as they were while ago as you head fredericksburg. it'about intaas bad as it gets. a massive sinkhole is distracting drivers in pennsylvania. look at the size of this thing! crews are rushing to try to fix it and officials are still trying to fige out what caused it. they think it's a mix of aging infrastructu and record setting rainst week. you'd hope with a sihole that size people would notice it andc have it notuse that many problems but you never know.

my goodness. one woman in serious financial trouble. her insurance comny is refusing to hlp her with an accident she never knew would happen. >> an 11-foot alligator in her home and left holes in the wall and she filed an insurance claim but it was denied. she quickly learned while some omeowners insurance covers wild did not. ers >> i mean, if it was wind, they would have fixed iif it was anything but a gator, they would have fix the defendant. >> rough. the damage was quoted at thousands of dollars. she has to flip that bill el he >> i guess you should add that in florida. >> gator insurance? lesson learned, right? next on "news4 today" how urban gardening is helping young people in. d.c grow fresh fruit and develop new life skills.

> how to cut costs on your energy bill as summer heats up. people are cleaning up in the area after last night's severe weather. we will show you some ofgehe worst dahen we return.

4:59 now. good morning, everybody. i'm aaron gilchrist. >> i'm eun yang. we are workiut for a thursday morning to help you start another very hot and busy day. our melissa mollet is standing by with your first 4 traffic. >> let's start with storm team 4 meorologist chuck bell. weather alert day. pushing 80 degrees out there. what is on tap. >> we are at national airport at 80 degrees. 79 now and 79 quantico. 81 easton andambridge and 81 st. mary's county. another steamy day today. yesterday's hig was 95. a little bit moreco cloud r today and high chance for thunderstorms.'s today high temperature only expected reach 93. that is the coolest day until

sometime early next week. enjoy the 93 as bestyou can. heat indexes on friday, saturday, sunday could be as much a110 degrees. start planningut your spot and start staking out the pool chair now. n you'll want to stay ie water or in thend shade a in the ac all weekend long. more on that and the ihacts it wile on the rest of the program coming up. for now, let's go to melissa mollet. 270 southbound, 70 to the spur 65 miles per hour in 25 minutes. southbound looks okay. northbound 270 also okay right now.o inner lop and outer loop no complaintst at this poin in time from the earlier situation we told youabout. centreport parkway, delays not