tom sherwood has more to the story. >> at the smithsonian, visitors looked over the plane that dropped the atomic bomb. but the terrible violence of that day 70 years ago also has a different peaceful story. here on the quiet grounds of the national arbor lee tum in northeast washington sits this b bonsai tree. >> it's an amazing feat that it was started 390 years ago and generations and generations have cared for it. and it's still alive and healthy today. >> but that's not the whole story. the 390-year-old tree survived that atomic bomb blast. given to the u.s. in 1975 for the american by centennial, it wasn't until 2001 officials learned from visiting japanese that the tree had been two miles from the blast. that contrast of long life and violence doesn't go unnoticed among visitors. >> feels pretty magical to be here. and good reminder of something that was terrible. >> the generations of people that worked on it is phenomenal. >> joanne clauden, director of the national bonsai foundation, says the tree has a message for everyone. >> i hope that future generations and other people

i'm tom sherwood. our guest this morning, district mayor muriel bowser.the few pages, the turn of the calendar we'll be in cold weather. with the forecast for even tougher, more bitter cold, lots of snow, how are we doing on preparing for the homeless -- in this city, the law is if it drops under 32 degrees, everyone is entitled to some type of quality shelter. >> yes. so we have been tackling this issue head on and we have committed to doing it in a different way. and made some pretty robust pledges around ending homelessness. veterans homelessness this year which we're on track to do. family homelessness in a couple of years which includes closing the largest family shelter in the district of columbia. >> district of columbia -- >> yeah, old d.c. general. but also looking for pathways to ending chronic homelessness in this city. one thing i learned, everybody is committed to it. they think that in a city that has grown the type of prosperity that we have should have safe and affordable housing for people. so we -- we have put together a great team on se

news4's tom sherwood reports the program is open to anyone who wants to participate. >> reporter: at the catholic charities food bank in columbia heights, long-time volunteer, elba myra vargas is watching over a small but determined effort to prepare food bags for 120 families. today she was part of the catholic charities event to kick off a unique program to welcome pope francis to washington in september. cardinal donald wuerl, archbishop is asking more than 100,000 people to sign pledge cards by walking with francis to honor the pope's visit. the effort is not just for catholics. >> this effort to walk with francis includes everyone who wants to be a part of it. everybody can do a good deed to a brother or sister. >> reporter: monsignor john ensler says it can be a simple prayer or deed. >> i'm going to serve someone by walking down the street to maybe someone who's homebound. we need at least 100,000 people locally to take this pledge. >> you're excited about the pope coming? >> yes, yes. i'm very excited. >> this pledge idea grew occupy catholic charities and grew occupy monsign

tom sherwood explains how much it costs you. >> reporter: montgomery county, bethesda, civic leadersere out on the noisy street encouraging people to be traffic aware by driving one day less a week. >> we have 20% less traffic and 20% more places to park. >> reporter: the new texas a&m study says billions of dollars of fuel and time are lost. in the d.c. region, it's the worst in the nation. tom robertson says they failed to keep up with biking and pedestrian routes. >> it's, in effect, the price we are paying for deferred may not nons. >> reporter: the study shows washington area drivers lost 82 productive hours in 2014. los angeles, 80 hours. san francisco, 78. in new york city, 74. >> constantly commuting between richland and nevada. governor mcauliffe told nbc 4 i-66 and other transportation improvements. >> we need to do more on metro. we need more bus service. these are the things we are looking at. >> reporter: in the district, david from the greater washington website faulted reporting on the study saying the d.c. region is improving, not falling further behind. >> unlike wha

tom sherwood was one of those lucky souls of which i refer.d about it through social media. >> reporter: stevie wonder checking out his keyboard as the crowd near rfk kept growing. >> so, this is how we do when we first go to rehearsal and stuff. >> reporter: and he was off. ♪ you can feel it all over ♪ you can feel it all over people ♪ ♪ you can feel it all over >> reporter: wonder played an hour's set promoting his songs in the key of life tour here october 3rd. d.c.'s school chancellor kai ya henderson couldn't wait. our nbc 4 periscope caught up with her. the free concert was advertised just hours before it happened. >> i heard about it on twitter about 7:00 this morning. i thought it was a beautiful thing. >> i heard about it at 8:30 this morning. i had to rush to get ready and commute so it was amazing. >> reporter: eric moses runs the city's events d.c. >> happened in 48 hours and a call from the pro-moernt ftor o friday. >> reporter: he says d.c. is shedding its image of a difficult bureaucracy. >> a musician or pro-near the wants to d

. >> coming up at 5:30, tom sherwood takes a look at whether the spike in violent crimes is impacting tourism in the city. >> he was hired to help protect one of the areas most highly secured and classified government facilities and today he is charged with trying to make methamphatamine while working there. that top ranking police official at the national institute of standards and technology might have been trying to cook the drugs on the job. >> former national institute of standards and technology police officer appeared. he resigned his job in july, one day after that suspicious explosion on the agency's headquarters and campus. >> it was said that bartly did so on or about july 19 tt. laumpt officials acknowledge that the case told news 4 what had been found inside the building that day. and that a worker was injured. court records don't specify if bartly was the injured employ ewe but records show that he resigned the next day and that the agency is cooperating with a federal investigation into the case led by the fbi. as this agency video shows, this is a research agency and a

tom sherwood used periscope during this morning's surprise concert, an app that let's create and shareo from your smartphone instant labor day with the app, tom was able to catch d.c. schools chancellor henderson dancing. that is her right there stay on top of news events just like this one. >>> big announcement about jobs in prince george's county today. for the first time in more than a decade, the county is seeing a jump in the jobs there. the county executive, you rush short-term baker and his development team, made the announcement in largo. rushern development team, made the announcement in largo. they are taking home better paychecks and finding more opportunities in the county. >> not just largo but suitland, the next hot place. you want to buy suitland, buy now. that place is taking wauchboff. you want to buy, go to new carrollton. bowie taking off. through all of prince george's county, we are on the rebound. >> baker says the increase in jobs, income and decrease in crime is making prince george's county a major competitor in the d.c. metro area. >>> just a little over a mon

coming up at 5:30 tonight, news4's tom sherwood will have much more from mayor bowser and chief lanierabout this new gun and reward initiative. >>> a united airlines flight is being closely inspected now after it rammed a jetway at dulles international this afternoon. take a look, flight 127 had just arrived from dublin ireland and pulling into a gate when it hit the jet way, damaging an engine. none of the 170 passengers and crew on board was hurt. in a statement, united says tonight the plane will be inspected and repaired. >>> and repair crews have been trying to fix a 74-year-old water main that burst in bethesda. the pipe broke around 6 this morning on goldsboro road between macarthur boulevard and tulip terrace. crews replaced about eight inches of the old pipe and now patching up the road, but until they wrap up, traffic can only run on one side of the road and there is no set time for goldsboro to reopen. all seven customers who lost water now have it again. >>> hey, guys. tracking a couple of light showers around the area that is about it talking about the better chance for sh

tom sherwood is among them. tom?>> reporter: jim and doreen, it's pretty quiet here at the zoo right now, but busy days are ahead to care for and name the new panda cubs. the panda watch was going strong all day, even though the new baby pandas are still in isolation and under intense 24-hour care. >> struggling for food. they are struggling for warmth. and their mom's used to only raising one, so we are supplementing her and swapping her out from time to time. they are doing okay but it's a critical time. >>. >> reporter: the crowds settled for watching 2-year-old bao bao, when all right panda fans be let in to see the pandas through the usual plate glass windows. >> coming outside is three or four months away. these cubs are so tiny right now, their eyes aren't opened, they have no fur. but they wll grow quickly, but just like bao bao, they won't be out for about three or four months much. >> reporter: the twin births are big news here and for the friends and national zoo that supports all the zoo exhibits. lynn mi

tom sherwood explains how much it costs you. >> reporter: montgomery county, bethesda, leaders out on the noisy street encouraging people to be more practical by driving one day less a week. >> we have 20% less traffic and 20% more places to park. >> reporter: the new texas a&m study says time is lost because of traffic. the d.c. region is the worst in the nation. retired planner says the whole nation failed to keep up with the planning. biking and pedestrian routes, highways and basic maintenance. >> that's the price we are paying for the deferred maintenance. >> reporter: the congestion study showed washington area drivers lost 82 productive hours in 2014. los angeles, 80 hours. san francisco, 78 and new york city 74. >> constantly commuting between richland and northern virginia, it's a mess. >> reporter: appearing on wtao radio, the governor said virginia is pressed for i-66 and other transportation improvements. >> we need to do more on metro. we need more rapid bus service. these are the things we are looking at. >> reporter: in the district, the greater washington website said

tom sherwood reports on the price tag because of all of that. >> reporter: montgomery county, bethesda, civic leaders were out on the noisy street today, asking people to be more traffic aware, like driving one day less a week. >> we have 20% less traffic and 20% more places to park. >> reporter: the new texas a&m study says billions of dollars in fuel and time are lost because of traffic. and the d.c. region is the worst in the nation. retired planner tom robertson says the whole nation has failed to keep up with transit planning, biking and pedestrian routes, highways and basic maintenance. >> that's the price we are paying for deferred maintenance system. >> reporter: congestion study showed washington area drivers lost about 82 productive hours in 2014. los angeles, 80 hours. san francisco, 78. in new york city, 74. >> constantly commuting between richmond and northern virginia, i got to tell, it's a mess. >> reporter: appearing at wtop radio today, governor mcauliffe told nbc4 that virginia was pressed forrism-66 and other transportation improvements. >> we need to do more on metr

tom sherwood has our report. [ applause ] >> reporter: mayor muriel bowser at malcolm x elementary, laying out steps she has taken and will take against the spike in homicides. >> we are nowhere near the bad old days of the '90s and we are not going back there either. >> reporter: but a small group of demonstrators tried several times shout down the mayor. protesters say they fear a coming police crackdown in poor communities. bowser specifically denied reports police would enter homes searching for guns. >> to basically search anyone, any time, anywhere. that is blatantly false. >> reporter: the mayor did say 182 more officers are patrolling streets. 235 officers are working 12-hour shifts. and she plans a 15-million boost to community groups to engage young people. >> that's my job and i'm going to do it. god bless you, ward eight. >> reporter: community leader denise rolark barnes. >> all communities agree is not one solution to the problem, but the community, i think, wants to find twice become more engaged in the solution. >> reporter: later, the mayor specifically praised police chie

she sat down with our tom sherwood. >> that $30 a month they could put towards extracurricular activities for their kids, electronic devices to help kids with learning. we want that money to stay in the home. so our school bus is the metrobus. and the rail helps with that as well. >> the mayor also discussed how closely she and chancellor kaya henderson are working to follow their school plan. that helps boys in the classroom. >>> all right. some of you doing that last night -- last minute shopping and you may be saving money this year. >> that's right, news4's consumer reporter erika gonzalez shows us how families are spending less on supplies. >> reporter: it is time to start tossing pens and pencils into your shopping cart. kids are going back to school. lexi keeling is headed to high school. >> i got some spiral notebooks. >> reporter: at this target in rockville, grandma judy is buying supplies for five grandkids so she has to be smart about it. >> everything is more expensive and i have noticed a big difference between store to store. >> reporter: there are signs that consumers are

in washington at the national zoo, tom sherwood for nbc 10. >>> coming up next on "nbc 10 news at 6:00leen kane's court hearing just wrapped up minutes ago. the attorney general's lawyer just talked, too. a live report, next. >>> we have some showers to our west right now. will anyone see rain tonight? the first alert forecast is next. >>> how about this. tonight a look at a new sea wall that will connect atlantic city to nearby shore towns. >>> stock market turmoil. stocks tumbled from the start. it was quite a roller coaster, down 1,000 points at one time before it finished down 588. here's a look at the volatility. when the market opened at 9:30 this morning, the dow was quickly down 657 points. just minutes later it dropped 1,000. then the comeback. people started to buy low and the market climbed back over the next few hours. at 12:32 today, the dow was only down 150 points but then the markets tumbled again around 2:00. at the closing bell the dow closed 588 points. to put this in perspective, in the last week alone, $1 trillion has been wiped out of the stock market. nbc 10's de

tom sherwood explains. >> reporter: there was one chart showing homicides up 35% this year. another doubting the closed case in the summer of violence. >> several tragedies across our city because of guns. we, i speak for us all saying this is unacceptable. >> reporter: mayor bowser and chief lanier announced higher rewards and more police deployments to fight a spike in homicides that have shaken many communities aren't district. >> glad the mayor's here. glad there is a plan of action. my constituents want more than rhetoric they want a plan. >> we have increased reward for certain crimes. we are headed in the right direction. crime remains -- violent crime remains out of control in the city. >> we have added a reward of $10,000 for shootings because we are seeing shooting with high-capacity magazines and the tension to be lethal is greater. >> reporter: mayor politically scrambling to stay on top of the violence says it is personal for her, too. >> we gave a press availability at congress park yesterday. it was among the saddest experiences of my life. after were press br

tom sherwood, news4. >>> police are trying to track down this man in connection with an armed robbery. you can see him holding what appears to be a gun and pointing it at another person. after getting something from that person, he walks off. this happened on a monday evening late last night ant long morris road southeast in d.c. that's just a few blocks off of mlk avenue. >>> seated marks ten years since one of the worst natural disasters in u.s. history hit the gulf coast. news4's chris lawrence is live in new orleans where many are still working to recover from hurricane katrina. >> you met one woman plucked from her roof in the aftermath who is not eager to return. chris? >> reporter: not at all, wendy, doreen. you know, she dried when she heard that she had to go to d.c. at the last minute, told me she would not stay in the area one minute more than she thought she had to. and here we are, ten years later. the last time this woman saw her home, the national guard was hoisting her out of a hole in the roof. >> i didn't evacuate and people said, why didn't you? i said, 'cause we ha

i'm tom sherwood at the national zoo, back to you, bendy. start thinking. >> all right. you, tom. a lot of you have questions about the new pandas, so we have asked the zoo experts and you can check out our panda q & a on the washington app. >>> a republican candidate joined the maryland senate race. richard douglas is from bladensburg, a navy veteran and served as an appointee in the defense under george w. bush. he is the second to announce he will seek the nomination in the race to succeed barbara mikulski. she will announced back in march that she will not seek re-election. >>> will he or won't? he growing speculation that vice president joe biden may be edging closer to that 2016 run for the white house. mr.ed by.met with president obama earlier today following the president's two-week vacation in martha's vineyard. the vice president is also fresh off a weekend meeting with massachusetts senator and progressive favorite, elizabeth warren. white house press sec joshernst had this to say when asked about the possibility of the vp entering the race. >> president has i

we see it in cities around the country right now. >> news4's tom sherwood hosted "viewpoint" today airing sunday morning here on news4. she said there is no quick fix and everybody is looking for one thing. all we have heard about the past week is getting illegal guns off the street. i think sometimes you wonder if that's even possible anymore these days. what else are they doing? >> no politician, no leader will say i can't fix this immediately, a real problem with that, but says the gun violence is from drugs from high-powered guns, from some hot headsetleing scores and neighborhood beefs. there's a lot of problems, the police are out on the streets, but this gunfire just erupting, even though police very close by. they seem to be oblivious to the fact that police are around and don't seem to care. >> the union saying it is because they got rid of their vice squad or vice units and the police chief, cathy lanier, a problem with, saying that is not a problem. >> have more at 6:00 about what the union is saying about the police response. yesterday the mayer did increase the rewards. if yo

in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. >> jeb bush is taking on donald trump's plan to deport all illegal immigrants and there's a new sign that vice president biden may be getting ready to run. we are here with the latest developments. >> most were treading lightly but jeb bushas decided to dive in and take on the business mogul. trump was called all talk. >> i'm not a talker i'm a doing. there are a lot of really good talkers running for president. there's one in particular that i'm thinking of. the problem with the trump plan is it's not conservative or practical. >> those words are suggesting that republicans are starting to take trump seriously. they also say bush is trying to out mr. trump as a fake conservative. biden watch continues on the democratic side. also, hillary clinton's recent stumbles may be influencing his decision making the vice president is weighing the needs of his family as they grieve the death of his older son. biden has invited major fundraisers to meet with him at his residence right after labor day. a lot of people predict that he will have to make a decision

while tourism officials say they are happy that the violence has not kept people away they tell tom sherwood that it is still a real concern. >> sudden gunfire and violence in many places around the city right now. violence that is in stark contrast to things like the carefree summer of a stevie wonder concert. >> it's one of the largest and fastest growing segments of the econo economy. >> so far toists don't seem troubled by the violence. >> we are familiar with the area. we come a lot. >> i kind of knew about this area beforehand but it didn't stop me from coming. >> but the mayor was quick to answer news 4. >> is there any concern at all that the image of the city will discourage tourism? >> no. people are encouraged by tourism. >> tourism is big business in the city. second only to the federal government. a 6.8 billion dollar boost to the local economy. tourism officials say tourists here and anywhere should just be alert not afraid. >> we're asking people to pay attention and use common sense. >> officials have confirmed the first human case of a west nile virus this year. we're told t

tom sherwood doing that interview with the mayor. tom, is there ever a time that there's not a beef with the union and police chief, but also doesn't the mayor really like cathy lanier? >> yes, emphatically endorsing her police chief as the previous mayors did, back to adrian fenty. the union is concerned the police chief reorganized the staff, more officers in uniform, some of the squads disbanded. squads used to go out in advance around the city and gather intelligence as much as the people. the chief says things have changed, more aggressive in fighting crime, gun violence. she says we are making arrests, seedsing guns, the mayor told me in this program,ly air sunday morning, october 1st there's going to be some incentives for the officers to keep them on the force so they don't go to fairfax, montgomery county, other places. the union fight has been a long time. each side has some good things about touch the main thing the is mayor wants them to focus on the crime and violence happening now. >> chief lan knows ex-what the rank and

. >> news4's tom sherwood will have more on the crime proposal and reaction to the mayor's speech coming up on news4 at 5 and 6. >>> this afternoon, politics mixed among the tears and tributes over yesterday's on-air ambush in virginia. >> northern virginia bureau chief, julie carey, reports on efforts to use the tragedy to push gun control laws. >> reporter: while most virginians are just trying to absorb the details of yesterday's tragic shooting, some virginia elected leaders are using the incident to renew their call for gun control measures. virginia's governor focused on gun control within hours of the tragedy. democratic delegate patrick cope launched this petition drive, seeking support for universal background check legislation. >> and in virginia, we have elections that come up. and yes, i'm taking advantage of a situation where it's really raw for people right now, but people are frustrated and we have got to quit hiding behind this do-nothing altitude, because if we don't do something it will continue to happen. >> reporter: not surprisingly, some republicans quickly took to