"news 4 today" continues now at 5:00 a.m. fit for a king. we're just hours away from a spectacular send-off. the memorial service to honor michael jackson. coming up, the star-studded lineup planned for the big show out in los angeles. >> training day. a high police presence in montgomery county, but not because the nation's under threat. we'll have details on what you can expect to see as you head out the door this morning. >> and stranger danger. the frighteningomierein's here in the studio with us. tom? >> good morning.

another morning with low humidity, a few clouds around, a pleasant morning, nothing on radar. there's the live picture from our city camera. and in about eight minutes, seven minutes now we'll be able to see the international space station perhaps through breaks in the clouds zipping through our sky from northwest to southeast. space station will be looking like a very bright spot, sort of like what venus looks like in the eastnwi sky,ynl o be moving quickly, northstnl to southeast eebetwn 085: and 5:.10. ing on radar nonow, no precipitation. it's a cool morning, temperatures in the 60s, now 68 in washington. out in front royal, one o o hb hoodnehoor network locations, cool, clefoabrt 65. in the upper 50s and low 60s on the eastern shore.ab it's nnlyear 5ea on t iuthe

jay gray has more on what to expect. >> reporter: they are -- >> michael jackson. i love this man. >> reporter: -- the chosen few. >> charlie and the chocolate factory, golden ticket. >> reporter: more than 17,000 fans who want a spot inside the public memorial for michael jackson began picking up their tickets and wrist bands today. >> if you can watch it happen you'll see all these people up there. >> reporter: while there are still no specifics about the program, there is now a partial list of those who will participate. including stevie wonder, mariah carey, line on i will richie and jennifer hudson, all part of an overwhelming lineup, even by hollywood standards.

also overwhelming, the fans who registered but didn't get a seat. >> i'm coming with or without a ticket. >> reporter: that's what concerns police who will lock down streets within a quarter mile of the arena in the morning. they'll also monitor the area from a bunker beneath city hall. >> it is impossible to do anything without a scene. >> reporter: also today, a los angeles judge shifted temporary custody of jackson's estate from his mother katherine to a long time attorney and music industry friend listed as administrators in his will. >> it's our obligation, our duty, our responsibility and our desire to do everything we can to carry out michael jackson's wishes. >> reporter: wishes that included his mom taking care of his three children, but ex-wife debbie rowe is still considering filing for custody. that hearing is next week. >> are you ready to fight for your children? >> are you ready to get your butt kicked >>eporter: today, rowe decided not to attend the memorial, worried she would be a distraction.

thousands, though, say they won't miss the chance to say a final good-bye. for those fans who don't have a seat, there is word tonight that as many as 80 movie theaters across the country will broadcast the memorial live. jay gray, nbc news, los angeles. >> just a reminder, youan ac m tcheic melon jks right here on nbc 4. our live coverage begins at 1:00 this afternoon. >> happening today, you may notice a heavy police presence if you ride the metro through montgomery county. but don't be alarmed. it's all part of a planned terror training exercise. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from silver springs, the metro station there, and has more for us. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning, barbara. 180 law enforcement officers from a number of different jurisdictions, including montgomery county police as well as the sheriff's department, the maryland transit authority, they're all going to be participating in today's exercise, so do not be alarmed if you're traveling along either the metro system or the marc

system, if you see a heavy police presence. on the platforms, inside the trains, even around the stations, that is all a part of this training exercise. the exercise designed to alert officers, train them in how to detect and deter terrorism. we have some video from last year's exercise, and we want to emphasize here that there is no specific intelligence, no information indicating that there is a problem or a threat. this is something that they do all the time. it's a training exercise. this video was actually shot last year, and you're going to see very similar things during this year's training exercise so don't be surprised if you see canine units, even s.w.a.t. team members on the metro and marc trains today. also we're going to be seeing some inspections of trucks through the areas around the stations so all of it part of this training exercise. don't be alarmed. barbara, back to you. >> all right. thank you, megan. this morning, we're learning new information about that

deadly metro crash. metro's sister system in san francisco says it experienced similar problems with a track circuit but took safety measures to correct it. nine people were killed when two trains collided on the red line last month. the problem was traced to a faulty circuit. according to "the washington post," workers at san francisco's system flagged the same sort of issue. they installed a backup system to prevent any problems but metro never followed suit. metro says every system is unique and it's difficult to know how these systems compare with each other. marion barry's lawyer says he thinks stalking charges against the council member wl be dropped. it's a story you saw first on 4. u.s. park police say a woman named donna watts-brighthaupt flagged down an officer on saturday in anacostia park and accused barry of stalking her. barry says he has been dating watts-brighthaupt for more than a year now. he says they were on their way to rehoboth when she decided she

wanted to go back to washington. >> he denies stalking anyone in the district of columbia or at any other time. we believe the charge stems from a personal relationship that has gone horribly wrong in a lot of ways. >> watts-brighthaupt told news 4 she did not intend for the incident to go as far as it did. barry is scheduled to appear in court on thursday. >> the district's bill to recognize gay marriages performed in other states became law at midnight last night t bill was passed back in may. it is considered to be a first step toward eventually allowing gay marriages to b performed in the district. a judge has already thrown out a separate effort to put the gay marriage issue on a referendum. the judge ruled that such a refrn dumb would violate the city's human rights law against discrimination. our time now is 5:08. a frightening attack on a little girl in fairfax county. why parents there are now on alert. >> and the latest on the death of a former nfl star. we'll tell you who owned the gun that killed steve mcnair.

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. >> could be good for you. let's go to -- >> all right, tom, take it away. >> nobody's growling about the weather. a beautiful morning under way, partly cloudy now, temperatures in the 60s around the region, 68 the washington. by 9:00 in the mid-70s and we'll have lots of sun today but a few clouds midday as a weak front comes through. highs mid-80s, low humidity, slight chance of a passing isolated thundershower. partly cloudy tonight and tomorrow mostly sunny on wednesday, low humidity still in place, a bit breezy. afteoon highs in the low to mid-80s. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> tom, serious accident 66 westbound at business 234 in manassas. there's a car underneath this tractor-trailer. from time to time a trickle of traffic gets by. quickly we'll bring up the map, i can give you a perspective of where this is. again, 66 westbound, 234 manassas. eastbound you only get a little bit of a view so right now moving along pretty well. keep you updated. back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> our time is 5:12, 68 degrees.

five people murdered, including a teenage girl. we'll tell you how the hunt for a serial killer came to a violent end. >> plus, they traded barbs in the past but now they're optimistic. how two world leadersit decided iñaño ec

our time is 5:17. now updating the top stories in the news for today, police are undergoing terror training exercises at metro and marc station in montgomery county today. commuters will notice a heavy law enforcement presence. authorities say the drill is not in response to any actual terror threat. al franken is set to be sworn in to the u.s. senate today. the democrat is officially the newest senator from minnesota. he defeated republican inn couple bept norm coleman after an eight-month recount battle. the democrats now have 60 votes in the senate, enough to defeat a filibuster. south carolina's governor has officially been reprimanded now by his republican colleagues. the state gop voted to censure mark sanford amidst revelations of his international affair. sanford admitted he was in argentina meeting with his mistress when he disappeared for several days. he says he will not step down. >> there's a warning out to parents in fairfax county after a man reportedly tried to abduct a young girl who was playing outside.

it happened on sunday in the 10,700 block of dudley court in oak tob. police say a man pulled up outside the girl's house where she was playing and grabbed her arm. he then tried to drag her away and appeared to signal an accomplice down the street. she screamed and was eventually able to break free. >> what she did was right exactly. she screamed, she made noise, she -- the second she got away, she ran and told an adult and they notified the police. >> never happened before, never happened. i've lived here. my neighbors live here 35 years. >> anyone with information is asked to call fairfax county police. >> new today, president obama spending his second day in russia, met with russian prime minister vladimir putin for the first time. he also laid out his foreign policy views at a school in moscow. it was the president's chance to reach out directly to the russian people. in doing so, he even touted capital star alexander ovechkin's contribution to america. brooke hart has more.

>> reporter: president obama smiled, his body language with russia's putin was relaxed and engaged. >> and we may not end up agreeing on everything, but i think that we can have a tone of mutual respect and consultation. >> reporter: prime minister putin, the former president, is seen as russia's power center. today's meeting was a chance for the two to assess each other in person. >> translator: with you, we link all our hopes for the furtherance of relations between our two countries. >> reporter: many of russia's hard line stands have putin's name on them, opposition to georgia's joining nato, suspicious toward u.s. missile defense and crackdown on the media and political dissent. president obama hopes new cooperation will set a new tone with russian president medvedev on day one, the two did agree to seek, by year's end, to cut their nuclear stockpiles by up to a third.

the plans would not hinge on missile defense. >> this is a point of deep concern and sensitivity to the russian government. >> reporter: the president's goal, advisers say, is to convince the russians they, too, could be protected from a missile threat, even accidental launch by iran. >> if that were to be the case, wouldn't russia and the u.s. and everybody else want to have some kind of a limited system in place? >> reporter: iran was not mentioned publicly, but advisers say it dominat the leaders' talks in private. in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. >> president obama also plans to meet today with former russian president gorbachev, again with president medvedev and with russian opposition leaders as well. >> happening today, ousted honduran president manuel zelaya is expected to meet with secretary of state hillary clinton in washington. the talks will be the obama administration's highest level contact with zelaya since his removal from office. talking to reporters during a shopping trip in nicaragua, zelaya vowed to return to

honduras to reclaim power after his visit to d.c. the leftist leader tried to return to honduras on sunday, t obstacles on the runway prevented his plane from landing. in china, hundreds of rioters are still marching on the streets this morning despite a heavy policerackdown there. over the past few days, at least 156 people have been killed and several hundred injured in violent riots. the violence began when tensions boiled over betwn china's ethnic muslims and china's han majority. more than 1,400 people have already been arrested. >> in sports now, the nationals will get one more chance to try to score a run against the colorado rockies tonight. >> lindsay czarniak has more now in your sports minute. >> good morning, everybody, your sports minute begins with the nationals. usually it is a high-scoring affair when teams play at coors field in colorado, but it was all pitching and defense last night. craig stammen only gave up one run in seven innings, and it was

in the first inning. rockies pitcher jason marquis became major league baseball's first 11-game winner. the rockies beat the nationals 1-0. the game finished in just over 2 hours. the two teams will play again tonight. in golf news, phil mickelson is dealt another blow. mickelson's mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer. will have surgeryater this week. his wife amy just had surgery for breast cancer last week. mickelson is unlikely to play in next week's british open. at congressional country club, now that tiger woods' at&t national's in the books, the course in bethesda is focusing on getting ready for the u.s. open in two years. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsey czarniak. have a great day. >> just about 5:21 now, time for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> we're going to check in with meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4. >> good morning. some of our viewers were able to see the international space station go over about ten minutes ago. now most people are able to see that full moon low in the western sky, and right now we're seeing it on our tv.

there's a live picture from our city camera this morning. great shot. and we have a few clouds floating through, temperatures are pleasant, in the 60s with low humidity. 68 in washington, highs today in the mid-80s. just a slight chance of an isolated afternoon thundershower. tomorrow, mostly sunny, the mid 0s, low humidity, still not mu humidity around thursday and friday, partly cloudy, highs in the 80s. getting hotter and more humid over the weekend. saturday, up near 90, a steamy day. and then a chance of showers coming through on sunday and rather humid with highs in the 80s. should dry out first part of next week. jerry, good morning. how's the traffic now? >> tom, good morning. good morning, everyone. following breaking traffic news this morning on i-66 westbound out toward manassas. accident, there was a car and looks like it's still underneath this tractor-trailer. again, 66 westbound near 234 south manassas. right now, three out of the four westbound lanes are currently closed. only one lane getting by. trickle of traffic from time to time.

now, eastbound, because of the jersey wall, really you can't get a good look at it and that's a positive thing. right now very little, if any, distraction for eastbound commuters. but again, westbound just be forewarned if you'reeaded that direction. bring up a map quickly here and show you again so you have a little bit of a perspective. westbound, going against what you would call the rush hour flow but i don't really subscribe to that. there's 234 south again. eastbound lanes are open. back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. 5:22 now, 68 degrees. it started as a holiday celebration but it took a dramatic turn. coming up, how some local firefighters leaped into action to save a life at a fourth of july parade. >> plus, the latest on the death of steve mcnair. we'll tell you who owned the gun that was used to kill the former football star. >> but first here's your liz "on the money," money saving tip of the day. >> health care is expensive. parade magazine has this tip to lower your health care bill. visit a low-cost clinic.

many community health centers will charge fees on a sliding scale. also, clinics run by dental schools are often 50% lower in cost. i'm liz crensha woñ

brand-new information this morning in the murder of former nfl star steve mcnair. police now say his girlfriend owned the gun found at the

scene. that girlfriend, 20-year-old sahel kazemi i, was also found dead in the nashville star's condominium on saturday. police say she bought the gun less than two days before the shootings. investigators are waiting for ballistics test results to determine whether kazemi committed swayed. >> after a string of five back-to-back murders and one bizarre police shootout, authorities think they have finally stopped a suspected serial killer in south carolina. police believe that patrick tracy burris is responsible for shooting five people to death in gaffney last week. yesterday, police were called to a burglary in a town about 30 miles away. that's where burris was shot and killed during a shootout with police. it wasn't until later that police started to piece the story together. >> the anger i felt when i saw this individual's rap sheet. folks, look at this. this is like 25 pages. >> very relieved. >> i'll rest better. >> an officer shot by burris in the shootout was treated and released.

police say their investigation continues into burris' actions as well as why someone with such an extensive record was not i incarcerat incarcerated. our time is 5:26, 68 degrees. your personal information at risk? how thieves could figure out your social security number with some simple guesswork. >> also the latest on marion barry's arrest. why he says the stalking charges are nothing more than a lover's spat. >> then, the dangers of texting and not just behind the wheel. why too much of it could be hazardous to your health. ( rock mus playing )

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remembering the king. in just a matter of hours, the world will watch an incredible memorial to michael jackson. we'll have a preview of the star-studded performances and the latest on the legal wrangling around his estate. good morning, welcome. we're glad you're up with us. it's tuesday, july 7th, 2009. i'm barbara harrison. >> i'm joe krebs. training day. commuters will notice a heavy police presence in montgomery county. don't be alarmed. it's all just a drill. >> stranger danger. a warning to parents in fairfax county after a man tried to drag away a little girl as she was playing outside. what police think her attacker might not have been working alone. >> an accident waiting to happen. new revelations about that

deadly metro crash. why some say that faulty track circuit was a preventable problem. those stories and more coming up after we take a look at traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's talk to meteorologist tom kierein in storm center 4 about our weather for today and the rest of the week. tom? >> hi, barbara and joe. good morning. now at 5:31, about 20 minutes away from sunrise and about 20 minutes away from moonset. there's the full moon getting low in the western sky, a live picture from the city camera. temperature now 68 in washington, mid-60s montgomery, fairfax, prince george's counties. near 60 around the blue ridge, mural areas of maryland and virginia, weather watchers are reporting this morning. out in the mountains, even colder. down into the 40s in a few locations and just near 50. as we look at what's been happening over the last six hours, a few clouds coming through. a few breaks, though, in the clouds allowing us to get a view of the space station as it came over about 20 minutes ago. we'll show you someape of that coming up. this morning, temperatures mid-70s by 9:00.

by noon, low 80s. by mid-afternoon, low 508s with humidity. a slight chance of an isolated thundershower. a look at tomorrow in ten minutes, barbara and joe. >> thank you, tom. >> now let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. any problems? that big problem on 66 i guess, right? >> absolutely. good morning. police are in the process of getting things cleared out, but for the time being again looking at live pictures of 66 westbound near 234 south in manassas. one lane of traffic westbound right there is getting by. there was a car underneath the tractor-trailer, looks like they've yanked that thing out of there so progress is being made. eastbound, haymarket all the way in, no worries. theier see wall is keeping folks from seeing all the activity on the other side of the road. elsewhere out on the rails we do have an issue on marc, brunswick train 870 is 13 minutes late getting out of the station this morning. should be leaving here in about 4 1/2, 5 minutes according to marc. vre, metrorail looking good.

back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> the king of pop, a music legend, many ways michael jackson will be remembered, but there's no debate over the fact that he will be remembered. michael jackson's public memorial is just hours away now. tracee wilkins is here, more on the anticipation surrounding the service. good morning. >> good morning. a lot of anticipation. it will be an all-star tribute to michael jackson this morning but there are still few details about the program or about the private family service that could be held before today's memorial. it's been 12 days since michael jackson died and today thousands will say good-bye in person and millions from afar. >> michael jackson. i love this man. >> the chosen few. >> charlie and the chocolate factory. >> reporter: more than 17,000 fans who won a spot inside the public memorial for michael jackson began picking up tickets and wrist bands yesterday. >> if you can watch it happen,

u you'll see all these people up there. >> reporter: there is now a partial list of those who will participate. it includes stevie wonder, mariah carey, lionel richie, jen hifr hudson. part of an overwhelming lineup, even by hollywood standards. also overwhelming, the fans. more than 1.5 million who registered but didn't get a seat. >> i'm coming with or without a ticket. >> reporter: that's what concerns police who will lock down streets within a quarter mile of the arena tuesday morning. they'll monitor the area from a bunker beneath city hall. >> it is literally impossible to do anying without a scene. >> step back. >> reporter: a los angeles judge today shifted temporary custody of jackson's estate from his mother to katherine, to a long time attorney and music industry friend listed as administrators in his will. >> it's our obligation, our duty, our responsibility and our desire to do everything we can to carry out michael jackson's

wishes. >> reporter: with wishes that include his mom taking care of his three children, but ex-wife debbie rowe is still considering filing for custody. that hearing is next week. >> are you ready to fight for your children? >> are you ready to get your butt kicked? >> reporter: cameras have been following her for weeks, and today she decided not to attend the memorial, worried she would be a distraction. thousands, though, won't miss the chance to say a final good-bye. for those who don't have a seat or couldn't make it out to l.a., there is word as many as 80 movie theaters across the country will broadcast the memorial live. here in our area, marquis south point nin in fredericksburg, virginia, will show the memorial. wkis is hosting a luncheon. >> thank you, tracey. complete live coverage of the michael jackson memorial service starting at 1:00 p.m. >> also happening today, people riding the metro through montgomery county may notice a large police presence today but you shouldn't worry. it's all part of a planned

terror training exercise designed to keep you safe. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us now from the silver spring metro station with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning, joe. yeah, both the metro system as well as the marc train system. don't be alarmed if you're traveling metro or marc and you see a big law enforcement presence. it is all a part of this training exercise that is taking place. this is something that they do every year. there is no information, no intelligence information that suggests that there is any threat or problem. they do it every year. in fact thirgs video was shot from last year's exercise. we are expecting very similar things to take place all around the system later on today. now, this exercise is designed to teach law enforcement officers how to detect and deter terrorism. again, there is no threat, no information indicating that there is a problem on either metro or marc right now. they just want to be in

practice. they take the information from these training drills and they use them in the event of a real emergency alg th system. also keep in mind that you may also see some trucks in the area of the station being pulled over and searched. again, that is also a part of the exercise. expect to see a lot of law enforcement folks today, including canine units and perhaps even s.w.a.t. team members. joe, back to you. >> okay, megan, thanks very much. we have new information about that deadly metro accident. metro's sister system out in san francisco says it had similar problems with its track circuits that failed to detect a stopped train on the tracks but it took steps to prevent such a traj dichlt last month's accident on the red line killed nine people and it was traced to a faulty circuit in the tracks. now, according to "the washington post," experts who work with a similar system in san francisco flagged the same sort of issue in the past, and they installed a backup system. metro did not. metro says every system is unique and it's difficult to

know exactly how the system do, in fact, compare. >> the attorney for former d.c. mayor marion barry says his client's recent stalking arrest stems from a personal relationship, quote, gone horribly wrong. it's a story you first saw on news 4. s. park police say a woman name donna watts-brighthaupt flagged down an officer on saturday and accused barry of stalking her. barry says he's been dating watts-brighthaupt for more than a year. he says on saturday they were on their way to rehoboth when watts-brighthaupt decided she wanted to return to washington. barry's lawyer says he denies any stalking incident. the woman has told news 4 she did not intend for this incident to go as far as it did. our time is 5:41. how thieves could get your social security number with a little bit of guesswork. >> plus, a holiday celebration takes a dramatic turn. why firefighters had to leave the parade route to save a spectator's life. >> the dangers of texting, and

not just to your thumbs. why too much time on the blackberry could be bad for your 7ñcc x

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through july 9th. >> sounds yummy. tom, good morning. >> it's a believe july morning. temperatures around the metro area in the mid and upper 60s now. partly cloudy. by 9:00, the 70s. by noon, low 80s. mid-80s by mid-afternoon. slight chance of a passing isolated thundershower. low humidity today, tonight and tomorrow. beautiful day tomorrow, mostly sunny, a bit breezy, highs mid-80s. coming up in ten minutes i'll show you some recordings of the space station passage that occurred about 45 minutes ago. look at the rest of the week and the weekend, too, in ten minutes. how's the traffic? >> a live look at this hour along interstate 66 and progress is being made with the accident westbound in manassas. the tractor-trailer moving on down the road now. got a little cleanup of fuel it appears here. left lane gets by westbound 66. eastbound no worries. all lanes eastbound from haymarket and lanes are open. updating the rail boards, brunswick train 870 out of germantown now 14 minutes late. and other than that, vre and

metrorail looking good. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. our time 5:46, temperature 68 degrees. she's one of his closest friends but elizabeth taylor won't be at mblg jackson's memorial today. we'll tell you why she says she's staying home. >> plus, escape to alcatraz? why the famous prison could soon be hosting sleepovers.

our time is 5:48. updating our top stories of the morning. commuters will notice a heavy police presence in montgomery county. police will be undergoing a terror training exercise at metro and marc stations. authorities sayhe drill is not in response to any actual terror threat. al franken is set to be sworn in to the u.s. senate today. the democrat is officially the newest senator from minnesota. he defeated republican incumbent norm coleman after an eight-month recount battle.

franken's addition to the senate means the democrat have 60 votes, a filibuster-proof supermajority. south carolina's governor has officially been reprimanded by his republican colleagues. the state gop voted to censure mark sanford amidst revelations of his international affair. sanford says he will not step down. >> today's the day the word says good-bye to a music icon. michael jackson's public memorial service will get under way in los angeles in just a few hours. friends, family, dignitaries and fellow entertainers will be on hand at the staples center. details about the service are sparse so far. the list of participants, though, inudesvitewo se nder, mariah carey, lionel richie, jennifer hudson and justin timberlake. long-time jackson friend elizabeth taylor says she will not be on hand. she says she loved him, quote, too much to be part of the public hoopla.

security will be extremely tight around the staples center today. 17,000 members o the public will be attending the ceremony. extensive security measures are in place to ensure that only those original ticket holders actually get in. yesterday, the lucky members of the public who won those tickets through a lottery lined up to pick them up. here's the reaction of some of the folks who went through those lines. to pick them up. >> oh, my god, i couldn't believe it. >> i felt like i -- charlie in the chocolate factory, golden ticket. >> to watch it happen, you'll see all these people up there. >> by one estimate, upwards of 1 million people might actually show up in los angeles just to be near that memorial service. a reminder for you. we have complete live coverage of the michael jackson memorial service beginning today at 1:00 p.m. >> new today, president obama joined russian prime minister vladimir putin for breakfast this morning. the president is in moscow on the second day of a week-long overseas trip.

today's meeting was the first between the two leaders who have both expressed hope that the meeting could ease relations between russia and the u.s. yesterday, obama and russian president dmitri medvedev signed a preliminary agreement to reduce both country's nuclear stockpiles by as much as a third. the president is expected to travel to the g-8 summit in italy later today. a warning to parents in fairfax county this morning. a young girl says she was playing outside when a man walked up to her and tried to drag her away. it happened sunday in the 10,700 block of dudley court in oak ton. news 4's derrick ward has more. >> reporter: a child that played in the front yard with adults not far away. a seemingly safe scenario. but fairfax county police say on sunday that sense of safety was shattered for a 9-year-old girl here on dudley court in oakton. >> this definitely is a strange innings dent. there was a 9-year-old girl, she was playing in the front yard in the afternoon. a man allegedly ran up, grabbed her by the arm. >> reporter: police say the man

tried to drag the little girl away from the yard and he appeared to signal an accomplice further down the street. >> she was able to break free, and she screamed. she immediately ran and told an adult what happened. >> reporter: it happened in a neighborhood where the residents watch out for each other, and the street ends in a cul-de-sac so there's no through traffic and no history of this kind of incident. >> never happened before. never happened, you know. i've lived here five years. my neighbors, they live here 35 years. >> reporter: families here are shocked at the notion that there could be an aempted abduction in broad daylight, even amid the quiet suburban calm of this community, parents warn their kids, beware of strangers, even in their own yards. >> we definitely tell them not to go with anybody that they don't know, and obviously we leave the door open as wlo we can kind of hear what's going on. >> reporter: there's relief that if this abduction attempt happened, it was just that, an attempt. police say the little girl appears to have been lucky and smart. >> what she did was right exactly. she screamed, she made noise, she -- the second she got away, she ran and told an adult and

they notified the police. >> reporter: derrick ward, news 4. >> police in prince george's county are looking for three men who pulled off a series of home invasion robberies. investigators say the robbers struck three times between the hours of 4:00 a.m. nad 6:00 a.m. yesterday. two of the robberies took place in district heights, one in glen ar deny. at each home, masked men tied up the residents and robbed them. police say the suspects may have committed other recent home invasions in the county, and they're warning people to be vigilant and keep doors and windows locked. well, members of the fairfax city fire and rescue department are used to responding to emergencies but they did not expect to do so during the city's fourth of july parade. the rescue workers were waving flags along the parade route this weekend when they noticed a man in the midst of a medical emergency. his family said he was having a heart attack so eight city firefighters and paramedics quickly sprang into action. >> we did it in front of a crowd, at the end of it we got a standing ovation. i don't ever recall where at the

end of it people applauded what we did. some people, they don't know what we do on a day-to-day basis. >> it wasn't even over for the firefighters after that. later they helped another spectator who had fainted due to the heat. >> our time right now 5:54. time for a look ought aur weather d traffic. >> it's a soothing, cool summer morning under way here in about 45 minutes ago we had the interspat space station zipping through our sky. a few breaks in the clouds. in silver springs able to see a bright spot there right next to the building. that is the space station going at about 17,000 miles an hour. up there about 130 miles above the earth's surface and zipping through our sky this morning. unfortunately, it was just a little too cloudy to really get a good shot but we did get a little bit of a shot of it there. right now the sun is up. there's the bright spot in the eastern sky. sun's up now in a mostly clear sky. a lot of the morning clouds have cleared out now. sunrise, temperatures are pleasant with low humidity. that's a live picture from our

city camera. sunrise at 5:50 this morning. there is radar, no precipitation around the region. we have temperatures reported by weather watch flers the shenandoah valley and the highlands of west virginia down into the low 60s. watchers around the blue ridge reporting near 60 degrees. montgomery, fairfax, prince george's county the mid-60s now. it's in southern maryland upper 60s, near 70 near the waters. inland, weather watchers calvert, charles, st. mary's reporting temperatures in the upper 60s. near 60 on the eastern shore. it is quite a chilly morning out in the mountains. only in the upper 40s out in western maryland, garrett county reporting there as well as out near elkins, just near 50 degrees. so quite a chill for a july morning. over the last six hours we've had some of these high clouds drifting through. they're ahead of a cold front that will be drifting through the northeast and maybe trigger some rain there. if you're traveling, could be some flight delays across northern florida, the gulf coast and south texas as well as the northern plains. a little bit of rain out in the

dakotas and in the pacific northwest, but elsewhere shouldn't have any travel problems. around our part of the country, a weak cold front moving through the lower great lakes, coming to ohio and northern indiana. that's going to be drifting through our sky here later on this afternoon. just bringing us some clouds nad very small chance of a passing isolated thundershower during the early afternoon hours. otherwise, quite a bit of sunshine on tap for this tuesday, the 7th day of july. here's how we're looking for today. by 9:00, in the mid-70s with lots of sunshine. and then at noontime, in the low 80s. aiag low humidity in place, a great beach and pool daaiy. afternoon clouds, though, will build a bit as that cool front comes through. yagainl o just a slight chance of an isolated passing nlundershower, highs in the d-80s. sunset at 8:36. by then, temperatures should be near 80. then back through the evening hours we'll be in the0 7s. by dawn tomorrow we'll be in low and mid-60s again with low ound.ity ar j thattust past full moon.

then at dawn should be in the mid-60s as we start off tomorrow morning. then during the day on wednesday, mostly sunny tomorrow. afternoon highs mid-80s, low humidity, a terrific beach and pool day. if you have to work outside. then on thursday, again on friday a few more clouds ou,ndar but still pleasant. afternoon highs in low 80s on thursday, mornsg 6 lowow l0s. getting a little more humid on w friday, but not really oppressive. afternoon highs in the mid-80s, morning lows in the mid-60s. but over the weekend we'll have a bit of a pattern change. large area of high pressure building, winds shifting in the south/southwest. that will bring in heat and increased humidity. in fact, looks like an oppressively hum day on saturday, highs near 90 degrees. a few clouds in and out. and then on sunday, mostly cloudy, weak low pressure coming through may bring us some passing showers so it should be a bit cooler but still a rather steamy day. then drying out a bit first part of next week and no big heat wave on the way. that is the way it looks this

morning. >> thank you, tom. >> count our blessings. thanks very much, tom. let's go to jerry edwards, take another look at the roadways out there. problems being cleared up on 66, jerry? >> absolutely. good morning. as a matter of fact, show you a live picture of the improving news along interstate 66 westbound out in manassas. the accident which involved that tractor-trailer and another vehicle completely over to the shoulder, lanes open westbound. eastbound picking up some volume now as you begin the commute out of haymarket. but eastbound no troubles reported. let's see what else is going on. check of the beltway as you travel from central avenue past andrews across the wilson bridge we're okay. top side from i-95 to 355 all is well. barbara and joe, back to you. >> all right. thank you, jerry. >> thank you, jerry. news for your health this morning, may want to rethink your texting addiction. according to swedish researchers, too much texting can also cause arm and neck pain. they say that kind of pain is more likely when people text using only one hand while they're hunched over their telephones. that puts a strain on the neck and the upper back muscles. in more serious cases,oo much

texting can also cause joint inflammation and arthritis in the hands. researchers recommend paying attention to your posture and using both thumbs while typing. well, another study has found that you may be more at risk for identity theft than you ever thought. researchers from the carnegie mellon university in pittsburgh say that it's possible to guess a person's social security number just by using publicly available information. some numbers can be guessed simply by knowing a person's birth date and hometown. the study comes as lawmakers here in washington are pushing to ban businesses from requiring people to supply their numbers when buying goods or services. >> news 4 is helping to find jobs for you. this morning, hca dominion hospital, a psychiatric facility in falls church, is loong for the best nurses a health care professionals. interested, go to nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 for. an old prison doesn't seem like a great place to spend the night, but it might be in san

francisco. golden gate pash officials are considering converting alcatraz into a dormitory. they say it wouldn't be a hotel but more of a place for volunteers working on restoration projects on the island. the projects would take some work since the building dates back to the 1860s. if approved, officials say the new dorms would be years away from being complete. hotel wouldn't be a bad idea. >> everybody likes a big house, but not necessarily "the big house." >> still ahead, the rumors circling about michael jackson's burial. >> and the warning from microsoft and why your personal computer could fall victim to hackers. >> we're expecting another gorgeous day across washington. how long meteorologist tom kierein says we can enjoy the break from the humidity when "news 4 today" continues. =ññc

the final act. on the very stage where the king of pop last performed, the stars of aligned to pay tribute. all eyes from the music industry and beyond are remembering the life and legacy of michael jackson. good morning, everyone, and welcome to "news 4 today." i'm barbara harrison. >> good morning to you. i'm joe krebs on this tuesday, the 7th of july, 2009. and take a look outside. you can see the sun is already up. beautiful sky out there right now. 68 degrees. looks lovely and comfortable on this 7/7/09. >> it certainly does. let's talk to tom kierein about what we can expect for the rest of the day. >> a serene sunris t shi

morning, low humidity still in place. we'll ta tnhisss july. we he veryabomfort le morning unde way, t peratures are in the mid to upper 60s around the metro area. nothing on radar. no precipitation. we'll have a few clouds, high clouds in and out ty,shi mornin through .onstime by mid-morning, mid-70s. by noon, low 80s. by mid-afternoon, low 80s, low humidity, a few clouds building aas weak cool front comes through early to afd-oomi arnte. when that weak cool front comes through it might tgg aerrnn at olised passide olwethunrshor. there's a very small chance of that. otherwise, just a few clouds around by the middle of the afternoon. then by sunset, mostly clear, near 80 by then. a look at the forecast for tomorrow, that will be coming up at 6:11. >> thank you, tom. >> thanks very much. let's go to jerry edwards now and the news 4 traffic network. >> good morning. head out and about, see how things are progressing here. time for the old bridge check and so far, so good. american legion bridge looks like the visibility is pretty good this morning so that is a hopeful sign. here's the outer loop crossing the bridge, inner loop right now

between tysons corner and i-270, no worries whatsoever. one more stop south of town, there's the long shot of the woodrow wilson bridge over the potomac. right now moving very, very nicely. travel lanes are open, zipping right along the bridge. nice picture there. back to you. >> beautiful. >> thanks, jerry. >> thank you, jerry. the stage is set for michael jackson's final act. the world capital of makebelieve is bracing for what could be the biggest, most spectacular celebrity send off of all time. >> a star-studded roster of participates will be at today's memorial service in los angeles. tracee wilkins joins us in the stewed know right now. good morning. >> good morning. millions will mourn as they watch a public memorial that will be televised around the world from the staples center in los angeles. the service will begin hours from now, but a security lockdown around the area is already in effect. security officials are prepared for an onslaught of thousands and thousands of people. the world says good-bye to an

entertainment length end. activity at forest lawn cemetery in the hollywood hills monday night as police surrounded the area. reports but no official word that this was a private service and viewing of the body of michael jackson. a crowd gathered outside. >> i was hoping to pay our respects. >> this morning, a private funeral for jackson is expected to be held before his family and friends, along with close to 18,000 others who will make the pilgrimage to the staples center in downtown los angeles. the star-studded event will be anything but private. >> just to be there will be an honor. >> the lineup of jackson's musical peers including mariah carey and john mayer, just to name a few. 1.6 million people applied online for a chance to tickets. those who won't be seated in the indoor area will watch a closed circuit broad cass not the nokia theater next door. >> yeah, row four. >> for some of the winners, carrying tickets and wearing wrist bands it's the chance of a

lifetime. >> this is just as big or bigger than elvis. >> outside the staples center, panels are filled with handwritten condolences. the courtyard is crowded with broadcast crews. wide screens here will not show the memorial, part of a crowd control strategy to keep the public away. an extraordinary event and a final farewell for a pop legend. i think it will be hard to keep the public away. meanwhile, the investigation into jackson's death continues. part of the focus, the possible role of prescription drugs. nbc news has learned dr. conrad murray was not licensed to prescribe medications in the state of california where jackson died. for those who don't have a seat to today's memorial there is word that as many as 80 movie theaters across the country will broadcast the memorial live. in our area, marquis south point 9 in fredericksburg, virginia, will show the memorial. wkys is hosting a luncheon at the capital center in largo. it will be nice for fans to be together today.

>> thanks very much. the legal struggle over jackson's estate continues. a judge ruled jackson's long time attorney and family friend will have temporary custody over his estate. that's what jackson designated in a will filed in 2002. jackson's mother is also applied to oversee the estate. another hearing will be held next month to discuss permanent control of the estate. and stay with us all day for continuing coverage of michael jackson's memorial service. nbc news will provide live coverage of the memorial beginning at 1:00 this afternoon. of course, you can watch it right here on nbc 4. >> a warning to parents in fairfax county this morning. a young girl says a man tried to abduct her while she was playing outside her home. it happened on sunday in the 10,700 block of dudley court in oakton. police say a man pulled up outside the girl's house and grabbed her arm. he then tried to drag her away and appeared to signal an accomplice down the street. she screamed and was eventually able to break free. >> what she did was right exactly.

she screamed, she made noise. the second she got away, she ran and told an adult and they notified the police. >> never happened before. never happened. i've lived here five years. my neighbors they live here 35 years. >> anyone with information is asked to call fairfax county police. >> well, today a commuter alert as you head out the door this morning, metro is conducting terror training exercises on marc and metro trains and station platforms in montgomery county. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from silver spring metro station with more on this. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. we are waiting for this to get under way here. expecting to start to see some of the law enforcement folks involved in this training exercise here shortly. you can see that things are picking up here at the silver spring metro station. if you are traveling on metro or on marc trains for that matter and you notice an increased police presence today, don't be alarmed. it's part of a training exercise that gets under way this morning and actually continues

throughout the day. there are 180 law enforcement officers from a variety of agencies that are going to be participating in this. there is no information, no threat indicating there's a problem. this is something they do every year. this video was shot from last year's training exercise. we're expecting to see similar things this year. now, don't be alarmed if you see those law enforcement officers on trains, on the platforms and around the stations. you may also see some trucks in the area of metro and marc stations being pulled over and inspected. again, part of the training exercise and there is no threat, no problem. they're just practicing. back to you, joe. >> megan, thanks very much. >> new information about that deadly metro crash. metro's sister system in san francisco says it experienced similar problems with a track circuit but they took safety measures to correct it, they say. nine people were killed when two trains collide odd the red line here in our area last month. the problem was traced to a faulty circuit. according to "the washington

post," workers at san francisco's system flagged that same sort of issue. they installed a backup system to prevent any problems. but metro never followed suit. metro says every system is unique and it's difficult to know how the two systems compare. >> 6:08 is our time. 68 degrees. the major milestone for same-sex couples in the district. >> plus, the chaotic end to a massive manhunt for a serial killer and why many questions about the man will never be answered. >> and local firefighters are forced to spring into action while marching in this year's fourth of july parade. america, whattaya say to big cheesy-steaky-ness!

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that front does sweep through, there's a slight chance of an isolated thundershower. tonight, partly cloudy. tomorrow morning in the low 60s. afternoon highs in the mid-80s with low humidity and a northwest breeze. mostly sunny on wednesday. jerry, how's the traffic? >> head south and see how we're doing along the 95 corridor. picking up volume on the northbound side. that's the exit for route 17 fredericksburg, no worries there. all lanes open southbound. doing fine as well. elsewhere, up the road a little bit, beginning to bog down just a bit now as you come north headed up to the beltway. no accidents reported. back to you. >> 6:12, 68 degrees. another hit for the governor of south carolina after admitting that he had an extramarital affair. >> plus, the nation's commander in chief working overtime to repair u.s. relations overseas. the high stakes summit and ag pemtsdeenresintasbare hma

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center in los angeles. the event will be broadcast around the world, including right here on nbc 4 at 1:00 p.m. commuters will notice a heavy police presence in montgomery county today. police will be undergoing a terror training exercise at metro and marc stations. authorities say the drill is not in response to any actual terror threats. the violent riots continue in northwestern china this morning over the past few days, at least 156 people have been killed and several hundred injured in violent riots. the violence began when tensions boiled over between china's ethnic muslims and china's han majori. >> while you were sleeping, president obama was busy overseas. already today he's met with russian prime nister vladimir putin and delivered the commencement address at the new economic school. the president is working to drastically change our relationship with russia. brooke hart has more from capitol hill. >> reporter: president obama smiled, his body language with

russia's putin was relaxed and engaged. >> and we may not end up agreeing on everything, but i think that we can have a tone of mutual respect and consultation. >> reporter: prime minister putin, the former president, is seen as russia's power center. many of russia's hard line stands have putin's name on them, including opposition to georgia's joining nato. president obama told students in moscow nato is not aimed at russia. >> nato should be seeking collaboration with russia, not confrontation. >> reporter: and he said a u.s. missile defense system is not aimed at russia. >> this system is directed at preventing a potential attack from iran. it has nothing to do with russia. >> reporter: the president's goal, to defuse russian fear and enlist help in keeping iran from developing a nuclear weapon. >> if the threat from iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs is eliminated, the driving force for missile defense in europe will be eliminated. that is in our mutual interests. >> reporter: for now, experts

say a miss sem would prevent even an accidental launch. >> if that were the case, wouldn't russia and the u.s. and everybody else want to have some kind of a limited system in place? >> reporter: president obama's main message to russia, let's leave mutual suspicions in the past. president obama also planned to meet today with former russian president gorbechev, again with president medvedev. in washington, brooke hart, nbc news. >> later today, president obama will travel to italy in preparation for tomorrow's g-8 summit. >> today, al franken will become the newest member of the u.s. senate. the democrat from minnesota is scheduled to be sworn in today. he arrived on capitol hill yesterday and said he's ready to get to work. he defeated republican norm coleman after an eight-month recount battle. he brings with him the filibuster proof majority for the democrats. to south carolina now where e governor has been censured by his own party. 22 members of the state's gop

executive committee voted to formally condemn governor mark sanford for leaving the state last month on a secret trip. sanford traveled to argentina to meet his mistress without telling anyone where he was going. >> new details in the serial killg spree in south carolina. this morning it looks like it's finally over. 42-year-old patrick burris was shot and killed by police in north carolina during an alleged robbery attempt there. at a press conference investigators said burris' gun matches the gun used in five murders in south carolina. police also said that burris has a long criminal record. we're also lerpg new details about the murder of former baltimore ravens quarterback steve mcnair. police say mcnair's girlfriend owned the gun found at the scene. the girlfriend, 20-year-old sahel kazemi, was also found dead at the nfl star's nashville condominium on saturday. police say she bought the gun less than two days before the shootings. this morning we're also learning that a memorial service for mcnair will be held thursday at a tennessee church.

>> in sports the nationals will get another chance to try and score a run against the colorado rockies tonit. >> lindsey czarniak has more in your sports minute. >> good morning, everybody, your sports minute begins with the nationals. usually it is a high-scoring affair when teams play at coors field in colorado, but it was all pitching and defense last night. craig stammen only gave up one run in seven innings, and it was in the first inning. rockies pitcher jason marquis became major league baseball's first 11-game winner. the rockies beat the nationals 1-0. the game finished in just over 2 hours. the two teams will play again tonight. in golf news, phil mickelson is dealt another blow. mickelson's mother was also diagnosed with breast cancer. will have rgery later this week. his wife amy just had surgery for breast cancer last week. mickelson is unlikely to play in next week's british open. at congressional country club, now that tiger woods' at&t national's in the books, the

course in bethesda is focusing on getting ready for the u.s. open in two years. that's your sports minute. i'm lindsey czarniak. have a great day. >> our time is just about 6:21. time again for traffic and weather on the 1s. >> let's check in with meteorologist tom kierein now in storm center 4. tom? >> good morning. brilliant sun in a blue sky and you can see that sunlight gleaming on the waters of the potomac river. live picture from our city camera on this delightful july morning. low humidity in place. columbia heights to landover, berke and kensington, temperatures in the mid-60s. it's near 70 near the bay. weather watchers in southern maryland away from the waters reporting mid-60s. other weather watchers checking in this morning in the rural areas of maryland and virginia, west virginia reporting temperatures just near 60. but by later on this morning, a rapid warm-up. and during the afternoon, mid and upper 80s, low humidity, a few clouds coming through. a slight chance of an isolated thundershower. tomorrow, low humidity, mostly sunny, a bit cooler, highs low and mid-80s. morning lows, low 60s.

another cool start thursday morning, a bit cooler thursday, a few more clouds around. partly cloudy, in the low 80s, not very humid. a little more humid on friday but not oppressive. highs mid-80s and partly cloudy. getting rather oppressive over the weekend, steamy humidity saturday and sunday it appears now and hotter. highs near 90 saturday. sunday, mostlycloudy, a bit cooler. it will be a steamy day with a chance of showers. then drying out, low humidity moving back in. first part of next week. now, jerry, good morning. how's the tuesday traffic? >> good morning, everyone. back to work for those of you who had an additional day off yesterday. looks good this morning coming off the roosevelt bridge, 23rd street at constitution avenue, no worries there whatsoever. see how you're doing traveling south of town to and across the wilson bridge doing fine. 295 south capitol street, pennsylvania avenue up toward the anacostia okay. 395, the southeast/southwest free way between the anacostia and the potomac, smooth sailing. barbara and joe, back to you. >> nice to see that. thank you.

>> thank you. >> our time right now 6:21, 68 degrees. the warning from microsoft about a serious security flaw. >> and why you soon may be able to have full access to the salaries of hundreds o senate staffers. >> plus, the rumors circulating about why pop star michael jackson may be buried without his brain. >> first, here's your liz "on the money" money saving tip of the day. >> health care is expensive. parade magazine has this tip to lower your health care bill. visit a low-cost clinic. many community health centers will charge fees on a sliding scale. also, clinics run by dental schools are often 50% lower in cost. mi'renshaw, tonhe."haeyon t

there are several reports in london newspapers this morning that the king of pop will be buried without his brain. michael jackson's brain will be held back for further neurological tests, according to these reports, which could take several more weeks. so his family, according to these reports, decided to have him buried without it. the coroner's office says neurological tests can often reveal signs of past drug and alcohol use. jackson's funeral and a massive public memorial service, of course, will be held later today.

>> the salaries of hundreds of senate staffers may soon be posted on the internet. yesterday senators passed a bill that would let the public examine their budgets for staff sal advice, travel and office expenses, all of that online. the house already posts that kind of information for the internet. because it's part of an appropriations bill, the new senate rule must now go through a compromise process before it's sent to the president to become law. >> what attorneys for d.c. councilman marion barry are saying about the stalking charges against him. >> also, a memorial fit for a king. the final preparations under way to remember michael jackson. >> then, a major milestone for same-sex couples in the district. why maryland may soon follow suit. ( rock music playing )

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curtain call. the stage is set for the kichk pop's final act as millions get ready for a global good-bye. a preview of the day's events and the latest on the investigation and the memorial for michael jackson. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." i'm joe krebs. >> and i'm barbara harrison. it's tuesday, july 7th, 2009. look outside. we've got some sunshine again today and a nice, mild temperature right now, 68 degrees. tom's here to tell us what we n capect. >> another day with a break from high summer humidity. a delightful morning under way. nothing on radar, no rain around the region. a mostly clear start to the day. the forecast for the rest of the day, by 9:00 we'll be in the mid-70s. haur dthg ine aerenoon we'll ur o tvee'rapesemtumbtu cliing tou oft heof 60sre whee we ar i inhe t lndow a 60 wemiarheoud-nd t gire.on rhechatat wserheg cck iinn cperemre tratuins urth ree r aalasfard aanylannd a virginia west and north of interstate.95

bu r.htig nearheht bay,t' is i near 70. eastern shore, though, away from erater it's rather olco, low 60s. it's a chilly morning in the mountain 4rndpe a0s l aow 50s there now. we've had a few overnight clouds heading off to the easso we'll have quite a bit of sunshine through the morning and early afternoon. a weak cold front coming through by mid-afternoon, may trigger a passi passing thundershower by early to mid-afternoon. only a small chance of an isolated thundershower this afternoon. tomorrow's forecast coming up in ten minutes. >> okay, tom, thank you. >> now let's go to jerry edwards and the news 4 traffic network. any problems in this hour? >> relatively quiet. that's very good news. certainly picking up a lot of volume. looks a little busier this morning than just 24 hours ago. a lot of folks trying to grab one more day of holiday vacation yesterday. but back to work. no worries. lanes are open along 270. this is near the exit from middle brook road. there's the northbound side, there's the southbound side coming down from 118 to mo montgomery village. all is well so r.

another update on penn line beain 503 is 16 minutes late. ar that in mind. go,otanthvr are stillkioo lng od out there as is metrorail. back to you. >> thank you very much, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. >> the curtain is slowly rising on michael jackson's last show. today, public memorials. today's memorial, that is, includes a spectacle of screaming fans and a lot of star power. >> it al adds up to what could be the biggest celebrity sendoff of all time. news 4's tracee wilkins joins us in the studio with the last-minute preparations under way for the king of pop. >> good morning. there are still so many questions surrounding jackson's death. toxicology report that's could reveal the cause of jackson's death aren't expected for another few weeks and the investigation is ongoing, but today there will be an all star tribute to the singer. it's been 12 days since michael jackson died. in just hours, thousands will say good-bye in person and millns from afar.

>> michael jackson. i love this man. >> the chosen few. >> charlie and the chocolate factory, golden ticket. >> more than 17,000 fans who won a spot inside the public memorial for michael jackson began picking up tickets and wrist bands yesterday. >> if you can watch it happen, you'll see all these people loved him. >> while there are still no specifics about the program, there is now a partial list of those who will participate. it includes stevie wonder, mariah carey, lionel rich yip and justin timberlake. the fans, more than 1.5 million who registered but didn't get a seat. >> i'm coming with or without a ticket. >> that's what concerns police who will lock down streets monday morning, allowing only those with a ticket and a wrist band inside. they'll monitor the area from a bunker beneath city hall. >> it is literally impossible to do anything without us seeing.

>> step back. >> a los angeles judge today shifted temporary custody of jackson's estate from his mother, katherine, to a long time attorney and music industry friend listed as administrators in his will. >> it's our obligation, our duty, our responsibilitynd our desire to do everything we can to carry out michael jackson's wishes. >> wishes that include his mom taking care of his three children, but ex-wife debbie rowe is still considering filing for custody. that hearing is next week. >> are you ready to fight for your children? >> are you ready to get your butt kicked? >> cameras have been following her for weeks, and today she decided not to attend the memorial, worried she would be a distraction. thousands, though, won't miss the chance to say a final good-bye. for those who don't have a seat to today's memorial or a ticket out to l.a., there is word as many as 80 movie theaters across the country will broadcast the memorial live. in our area, the marquis south point 9 will show the memorial and wkys is hosting a luncheon

at sidelines at the capital center boulevard. back to you. >> okay, thanks. well, baseball fans in charles county held their own tribute to michael jackson last night. the first 100 fan to arrive at the southern maryland blue crabs game in waldorf received a free batting glove in honor of jackson. anyone named billie jean got in for free. a jackson impersonator threw out the first pitch and, yes, there was a top of the dugout moon walking contest. a reminder, we'll have complete live coverage of the michael jackson memorial service beginning today at 1:00 p.m. >> members of the fairfax city fire and rescue department will be forced to spripg into action this weekend while marching in the city's fourth of july parade. or they were this past weekend is when it happened. they were walking in the parade when they noticed a man having a heart attack. they stabilized the patient and

loaded him into an ambulance. they then resumed the parade as spectators gave them a standing ovation. later, firefighters held another parade goer who fainted because of the heat. >> well, today the district now officially recognizes gay marriages performed in other states. the gay marriage recognition bill, which passed back in may, became a law at midnight. it's considered the first step toward eventually allowing gay marriages to be performed in the district. >> this is 30-plus years in the making. it just took us a little longer to be successful, but i think the people of this city did speak when, on two occasions, 12 members of this council, voted in favor of equality. >> a coalition of local ministers is promising to continue their efforts to ban gay marriage in d.c. the judge has already thrown out their effort to put the gay marriage issue to a referendum, though. the judge said it would violate the district's human rights law against discrimination. well, this morning maryland is also taking steps toward

recognizing gay marriage. the state's attorney general is looking into whether that would be legally possible. maryland was the first state in the country to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman back in 1973. the state supreme court upheld the gay marriage ban in 2007. virginia banned gay marriage back in 2006 after a voter approved amendment to the state's constitution. same-sex marriages are currently legal in iowa, connecticut, massachusetts, vermont, new hampshire and maine. >> d.c. councilman marion barry is scheduled to be in court on thursday but his lawyer says he thinks the charges against him may be dropped. barry was arrested on saturday. u.s. park police say a woman named donna watts-brighthaupt flagged down an officer and accused barry of stalking her. barry's lawyer says the former mayor had a relationship with watts-brighthaupt that went bad and insists he was not talking her. watts bript haupt told news 4 she did not intend for the

incident to go as far as it did. >> the "today" show is coming up at 7 o'clock. let's go live to matt lauer in new york city for a look at what they're working on. good morning to you. >> good morning to you. coming up on a special edition of "today" on this tuesday morning, meredith's live at the staples center in los angeles where, as you know, thousands will attend the public memorial for michael jackson. millions more will watch that on television. we'll get the latest on the security and the stars set to take part. this morning, there are reports that michael jackson's body could be brought to that arena so we'll ask the man who's helping the jackson family organize the memorial about that. then, alaska's governor sarah palin takes nbc's andrea mitchell fishing and opens up for the first time about her decision to resign and what could lie ahead. so we've got all that and much more as we start on a tuesday morning coming to you from new york and los angeles right here on "today." joe, back to you in washington. >> sounds like a busy day. look forward to it. thanks, matt. >> see you soon. >> yep.

thanks. >> our time right now is 6:37. a local neighborhood targeted and residents tied up while robbers ransacked their homes. >> plus, a warning for parents in fairfax county after a child is attacked in front of her own home. >> and why anyone might be able to gain access to your social security number. >>

meso> frees tsoatrein this news 4 bargain blast.at j>>t stopnt i jo ylor oulcar va almi toto sameevpl saler teddiliontionamcere carrlore esth. ere'a hazelnut geto,int chocolate ch and nnpotali ta av s.or ethe frs. samplesreei be ng red thro 9hofhe tthhe of july. that's, what, two more days. >> 6:41 the time now. time for traffic and weaer on the 1s. and tom's standing by with the forecast. >> hey, tom. >> good morning, barbara and joe. a summer sun up in a satin blue sky on this tuesday morning. there's the live picture from our city camera, potomac river sunrise under way. it's 68 in washington. right now mid-60s in prince george's county, low 60s montgomery and fairfax counties. from capitol hillo oakton, greenbelt and olney, low humidity in place again this morning. by 9:00, mid-70s. by noon, low 0s. mid-80s by mid-afternoon. two clouds building, a weak cool front coming through might trigger an isolated passing

thundershower. there's a very small chance of that. overnight tonight, partly cloudy, 70s through the evening, low to mid-60s tomorrow morning. tomorrow, mostly sunny, low humidity, a bit breezy, highs mid-80s. a look at the rest of the week and the weekend in ten minutes. jerry, how's the traffic? >> take a live look and see how we're doing. the beltway northern virginia pretty quiet so far traveling both ways around south van dorn street. both the inner loop and outer loop moving nicely. but look out for the sunshine delays. one more stop, head over and check out lovely pictu of 395 northbound as you head for downtown, all lanes are open. no worries there. southbound also looking good. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks, jerry. our time is 6:42. the temperature 68 degrees here in washington. the warning from microsoft and why your personal computer could be at risk. >> plus, the life and legacy of pop star michael jason. we're live out in los angeles as preparations are under way for this star

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a big day at the beach. with the legendary taste of dunkin' donuts coffee on ice... this looks like a good spot. you kin' do it. america runs on dunkin'. ve lin up your afternoon with a small coolatta for only $1.99 today. a drop in oil prices and other commodities hurt energy

and material stocks. microsoft is warning of a serious security flaw that hackers are exploiting. for more on all this morning's business headlines, here's courtney reagan. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, futures are gaining some steam this morning. looking pretty good. seeing more green following a mix have had session on monday on wall street where markets were pushed and pulled by a slide in oil on commodity prices which impacted energy and material stocks. asian markets did close a bit lower overnight but europe is now higher in early trading. it's a quiet day on the economic data front for us here in the u.s. really no major data to speak of so the dow will kick us off at 8324 after gaining 44 points on monday. the nasdaq fell 9 points to 1787. well, microsoft is warning of a serious security flaw in its internet explorer software that could let hackers take over your pc. users of windows xp and windows ser vir 2003 could be impacted just by visiting ser websites that are infected with a tiny

bit of code that exploits that flaw. microsoft says it's working on a patch. there's no vacation in paradise for hawaii's tourism industry. a new report shows hotel occupancy fell to a record low in may. the big island saw the biggest declines with only half of available rooms being boed. and the recession is being felt all over the world, even at the annual running of the bulls in pamplona, spain. big-spending americans and other foreign tourists are harder to find. hotel rates are down. you can find a room for as low as $125 a night. the pamplona city hall has cut the budget for this year's event by more than 10%. back to you. >> thank you, courtney. see you tomorrow. >> reporter: see you tomorrow. >> well, you may be more at risk for identity theft than you ever thought. researchers from carnegie mellon university in pittsburgh say it's possible to guess a person's social security number by using publicly available information. some numbers can be guessed simply by knowing a person's birth date and hometown. the study comes as lawmakers are

pushing to ban businesses from requiring people to supply their numbers when buying goods or services. >> news 4 is helping find jobs for you. this morning, hca dominion hospital, a psychiatric facility in falls ch,chur is looking for the best nurses andcaeachh ltre profs.sih alal interested? go to nbcwashington.com and search jobs 4 you. >> police in prince george's county are looking for three men who pulled off a series of home invasion robberies. they struck three times yesterday. two of the robberies took place in district heights and one in glenarden. at each home, masked men tied up the residents and robbed them. >> as always, we do want neighbors to be vigilant, we want them to watch out for each other, keep their doors and windows locked when they're home and when they're not. >> police believe the suspects may have also committed several other recent home invasions throughout the county. >> there's a warning out to parents in fairfax county after

a man reportedly tri to abduct a young girl who was playing outside. it happened on sunday in the 10,700 block of dudley court in oakton. police say a man pulled up outside the girl's house where she was playing and grabbed her arm. he then tried to drag her away and appeared to signato an accomplice down the street. the little girl screamed and was eventually able to break free. >> metro is conducting training exercises on marc and metro trains and station platforms in montgomery county. the security training will be used to detect and prevent a possible terrorist attack. news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live from silver spring metro station with more on what is happening today. good morning to you. >> reporter: good morning. the big message to riders this morning is don't be alarmed if you see an increased police presence at metro and marc train stations today. it is all a part of a day-long training exercise to teach law enforcement officers how to detect and deter terrorist activity. they want to stress that the have no information that

indicates there's any kind of threat out there. this is something that they do from time to time in order to keep up with their training. in fact, this videoas shot from a similar exercise that took place last year. now, you can expect to see a lot of uniformed police officers in the stations, on the trains, the platforms, as well as around the stations. you may also see canine units as well as members of the s.w.a.t. teams from the area. now, riders we spoke to this morning say that they think it's a good idea in light of what happened with the revent collision on metro. they say you never know when you might be faced with anna emergency. >> i think that it was very important to have people train, you know, so that when people got injured and all of that and they were able to, you know, dispatch the different areas. and they were able to, you know, take care of the patrons that ride the metro. >> probably pretty important that they do them occasionally, but i think you're going to scare a lot of people unless you tell them.

>> i think it's good to do the training and everybody knows, you know, what should be expect in the future. >> reporter: and you may also see some random inspections of trucks in the area of stations. again, don't be alarmed. all a part of this training exercise. is this going to continue throughout the day. joe, back to you. >> megan, thanks very much. >> well, if you've recently asked yourself, what a hooty and the blow fish is dng these days we have an answer for you. darius rutger is his name, you may remember and we caught up with him at nissan pavilion. turns out he has gone country. some 15 years after releasing some of the biggest pop hits of the '90s, he's the opening act for the country group rascal flatts. he's sold 3/4 of a million copies. unassuming and laid back, he says he's thrilled to be back on tour. >> actually probably good to do it and have it roll o the way it has. last two numbe one, third one on the way. i just sit back and really i

pinch myself because i go, who really gets a second chance at a career? >> recognize him? darius rutger says hooty and the blow fish will continue making music and touring in the future, but for now country music is his day job. he plans to release another country album last spring. >> right now spending tile in the big silver bus, looks like, doing the country thing. >> tom is here to talk about the weather. >> out in the country, a beautiful july morning is under way with low humidity. don't have any fog around this morning like we did yesterday morning. weather watchers are checking in in the rural areas of virginia and maryland and reporting out in the countryside temperatures in the low 60s now. here in washington right near downtown it' in the upper 60s. there's capitol hill under a blue sky. sun's been up now forn hour. sunrise this morning was at 5:50. annprawed we gotaw a shot ofhe t tenarnatio tl space station at coming through our sky quickly. that doesn't happen toon. ofte well, right now on radar, no precipitation around the region. it is just in the mid-60s now in

montgomery, fairfax and prince george's counties. weather watchers in southern maryland are reporting temperatures in the low to mid-60s but from cambridge, on the eastern shore, temperatures right near the waters are near 70. farther to our west, weather watche watchers reporting from the shenandoah valley, only in the 50s, a few isolated places in the low 40s, some of the high spots out there. it's in the 60s elsewhere around the region. over the last few hours, a few clouds drifting to east ahead of a cool front that will be moving through the upper midwest later on today. some rain, maybe some storms to our north. only a slight risk here. could be flight delays along the gulf coast, south texas, the northern plains, maybe some rain for the pacific northwest. but elsewhere, if you're traveling should not have any travel delays. for us we'll see this weak front that's now just coming in to ohio and indiana out of ontario. that will continue to drift to our south. and perhaps trigger an isolated hounrsdewer by later on this

rs afternoo th er as lyon small c nclyofe that. highs reaching theidof-80s. otherwise, just a few clouds oming through, low tyhudimi, ai terrific beach and pool day. then partly cloudy tonight, 70s through the evening, low to mid-60s by dawn tomorr. should be mostly sunny wednesday, another day with low humidi and temperatures in the low to mid-80s. a bit cooler on thursday, partly cloudy, a little more humid friday, in the mid-80s. then over the weekend, steamy humidity and highs near 90 saturday. and looks like clouds around sunday, could get some showers. >> thank you, tom. >> now let's go to jerry edwards, take a look at the roads. >> good morning. got a little bit of a wrinkle here in the rush hour i want to show you. 395 northbound right at edsel road, a little fender bender. looks like three vehicles involved. police vehicles just pulled up to the scene, squeezing the left lane ever so slightly on 395 hbnortound so look for delays coming up from the beltway to edsel road. elsewhere, see how things are progressing. route 50, no worries either direction out to the bay bridge. wilson bridgeou're okay. earlier accident 66 westbound in

manassas all gone. barbara and joe, back to you. >> thank you, jerry. >> thanks a lot. the stage is set for michael jackson's final act. the world capital of make-believe is bracing for what could be the biggest celebrity sendoff of all time. >> a star-studded roster will be participants. leanne gregg joins us live from los angeles with the last minute preparations under way to remember the king of pop. good morning. >> good morning. it's not even 4:00 in the morning out there. what's the scene look like? are people, even at this hour, starting to gather? >> reporter: it's really quiet right now within the perimeter. this area around the staples center is on a lockdown which means nobody can get within a quarter mile of the area without a proper credentials. there's a strong police presence. there has been for several hours now. people are concerned about an onslaught of something like tens of thousands of people trying to get into this area.

who may want to be collectively a part of it, a chance to say good-bye to the pop legend. yesterday, before the security lockdown, we did see thousands of people in this area. you can see these three panels. they've all been signed with personal messages of condolences for michael jackson. but police aren't really sure what to expect. they do believe there will be a huge crowd in downtown los angeles. they're bracing for what might be a security nightmare or a nightmare of crowd control. one thing they are doing to try to avoid that, the big screens that usually are going here during the other events like ball games, basketball games, will not be broadcasting what's happening inside at the memorial service. so, they're doing what they can and hoping for the best. that service, of course, expected to begin in a few hours from now. barb, joe. >> have you seen any of the participants? we've heard of a roster of

incredible talent apparently appearing there today. any of them there for rehearsals this morning? >> reporter: we did hear that overnight that there were rehearsals going on, and we could hear people talking or rather singing from inside the arena but no official word. they didn't have a lot of time to rehearse soe'll see what the program actually turns out to be. >> all right. leanne gregg, thank you very much, reporting live.no >> thanks. stay with us all day long, of course, fonu cononing cereag ichael jackson's memorial service. nbc news willde pofvirovieiv l gecorainveeg bning at001:eg ts afternoon. you can watch it right here on nbc 4. >> today's news 4 morning person is described as super woman. george johnson say h isife fran has dedicated her life to public seice. she served six years working for the clinton administration and ho now retired. r,veweve she gets up every day, brepesaris medication, kfast, lunchnd dinner. she also cares for her children, grandchild and is currently planning a wedding for both her

.ilen dr wow. if y know someone like fran johnson, e-mail their sto and a clear, close-up video or picture to morning person@nbcwashington.com. >> that is "news 4 today." thank you for staying with us. >> stay connected with us. we're on facebook and twitter. wake up with us tomorrow morning. we start at 5:55 a.m. have a terrific day. >> bye. whee! happy days are here again. whee! ooh. celebrate summer with giant and enjoy mouthwatering fruits and vegetables at prices you can handle. like sweet cherries, just $1.57 a pound. only at giant. k, eackst cri , enbs, c and burgers on the grill. people: oh! at giant, you'll find fresh, delicious, quality meats at prices that sizzle.

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