we're outside marie reed elementary, which is now the marie reed community learning center.ndergone $60 million in renovations. other schools, like duke ellington and several others throughout the system have indeed undergone renovations and spruce-ups as well. you need to watch out for kids on the roads much the city has an initiative called the slow down campaign which takes effect this time year. it says, watch out for the kids. a lot more of them on the street now that the public schools are going back. the mayor will be here later today to talk about that campaign, as well as the everyday counts campaign. it's aimed at upping the attendance rates at d.c. schools. so the system wants them here. you got to make sure you let them get here safely in one piece. we're live at the community learning center. derrick ward, news 4. back >>> 6:51 is our time right now. the man accused of stabbing his 6-year-old sister and their two young cousins will be in court. antonio williams could be ordered to undergo a mental evaluation. this happened on friday ina home in clinton. we're le

mayor muriel bowser is promoting the importance of attendance at the newly renovated mary reed elementary school. the reminder to slow down if you see the flashing lights, watch out in school zones for kids on bike and foot. the school begins after what has been a violent and tragic several weeks for many young people across our city. as jeff goldberg reports, those fighting to stop the violence hope the start of a new school year means an increase in community involvement. scene tape hangs by the basketball court in southeast washington where eight-year-oldan boy was shot and wounded, caught in the crossfire while playing at the fort davis unity center. >> it was sad because there are a lot of kids out there. >>. i'm outraged jeff: renÉ thomas has lived here for seven years and says the violence keeps getting worse, young people shooting young people. >> they are there's drugs everywhere. you cannot go anywhere without the drugs. jeff: saturday night in northwest come a man was injured following a shooting at a playground, this at the reagan rec center in petworth. shot andnager was kill

will learn squirming and physical education class right here it he marie reed -- >> there's new programs and instructions as well. when you sioux the night, the pool, the know it is a building that our kids deserve. >> reporter: they came right down to the hour with the finishing touches. this is the new playground, but unfortunately the kids won't have access to it yesterday. there's still tarp and more landscaping to be done. for the actual use of the kids, but the only thing going on inside those walls. it's open to this community. always v we're live, derrick ward, news 4. >>> back to you. 11 another 09. today a dramatic scene for clinton, maryland man accused of stabbing his 6-year-old sister and their two young cousins. we were in that courtroom for the bond hearing. she says after family on both sides, they started fighting in the courtroom. williams had a series of strange outbursts. the judge stopped the hearing and ordered a mental evaluation. prince george's county police say williams killed the three girls inside a house in clinton on friday. police say he confessed to the cr

. >> one, two, three dashes >> the mayor launched a searches 'sed marie reed likes in northwest. 13 others opened early. >> you should be skipping. celebrating. horns. >> the charter schools make up 33% of the public school students. >> we are so happy that everyone is back. the goals are the same. >> it's prek through 8th grade. the students like dean were not that happy to be back. >> you want to keep playing. >> this is eclipse day. a lot of the first day of school was the solar eclipse. >> at this school in southeast, a teacher commandeered 300 pairs of glasses. they were enjoying the view safely. abc7 news. alison: a fun activity on the first day of school. jonathan: sad. alison: very honest. >> the school year may have started in the district. the schools started back on august 9. fauquier county open august 16. jonathan: share your back to school pictures. upload them straight from the phone by going to burst.com/wjla. you can look for some of the pictures on the air at wjla.com. >> coming up next at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- for two or three minutes darkness in the middle of the day.

a big day for the kids at marie reed learning center. i'm derrick ward. back to you. >> thank you, derrick. it's 5:08. now to breaking news we've been talking about. the navy is in the middle of a navy search and rescue operation for ten missing sailors. the john s. mccain singapore. the navy says the ship sustained significant damage to the hull which led to flooding of several rooms. this is the second accident vog a ship from the navy's 7th fleet in the last two months. >>> president trump is set to address the nation tonight on a new strategy for dealing with afghanistan. it this comes after a lengthy strategy reviewing looking at whether additional troops should be deployed to the country. the president will deliver the primetime address from arlington. you can watch the president's address tonight at 9:00 here on nbc4. >>> we're all watching weather for the eclipse. but also weather for your commute this morning. the roads are dry. that's good. as we go through the afternoon, please don't try to watch the eclipse from the car and do not drive with t

were outside marie reed elementary and northwest.new schools throughout the just a couple minutes ago the principal was opening the doors with kids lining up. parents are saying their goodbyes and heading off to class. a lot of families taking pictures, and adjust couple minutes the mayor will be out as part of her everyday compass or in encouraging students to attending school and importance of drivers to slow down in the areas of school jones. she'll be out here in a couple minutes. the kids are ready to start their first days back to class. back to you. >>> we are 4 hours from the eclipse. will a chance for storms cloud your view? here's veronica johnson. >> finally it is here, no more days to count down for solar eclipse appeared here locally will have 80 percent coverage of the moon blocking the sunday it will be a hot day for us as we look up and try to catch some of that we will be finding some cloud cover today. maybe isolated storm is a factor. the best chance of storm comes right at the talent. just around 4 o'clock. that i

agenda being derailed let's get to phil lebeau >>> a statement from gm's ceo mary barra regarding leaving the foruming we won't reed all of it to you, but general motors is about unity and inclusion, and so am i. recent events it can lay already those in shaltsville and its aftermath require that we come together as a country and reinforce values, including tolerance, inclusion and diversity. that's the staismt from mary barra on the disup and downing >> phil you very much. we have marc morial, former mayor of new orleans, mr. mayor, welcome. good to have you with us >> thank you, ty >> we've been talking about the news at hand, which is the disbanding of these two advisory panels, but i want to turn it back to one i know you can speak about in a most heartfelt way. you're the mayor of new orleans, a lot of confederate war statues. i'd like to hear you talk about thor symbols broadly and react to what i'm told was the response of the current mayor down there, mr. landrieu, to move many, if not all of those into a museum. is that a smart way to handle this >> you know, ty, it's interesting. 25 years ago when i was i