the stage is set for the final act as family, friends and fans prepare for a memorial to michael jackson.

and, good evening, i'm wendy rieger. jim and doreen are off tonight. it's a day that's expected to be somber and star packed as people come together to remember the man known as the king of pop. this event will be broadcast live on tv networks and even internet social networking sites. jay gray has our report. >> reporter: they are -- >> oh, michael jackson! i love this man. >> reporter: -- the chosen few. >> charlie and the chocolate factory. golden ticket. >> reporter: more than 17,000 fans who won a spot inside the public memorial for michael jackson began picking up their tickets and wristbands today. >> if he can watch from heaven, he will see all of these people that love him. that's why i want to go. >> reporter: there is now a partial list of those who will participate, including stevie wonder, mariah carey, lionel richie and jennifer hudson. all part of an overwhelming lineup, even by hollywood standards. also overwhelming, the more than 1.5 million 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 monday morning allowing only those with a wristband inseed. they will also monitor the area within a bunker in city hall. >> it is impossible to do nick without being seen. >> reporter: a los angeles judge shifted temporary custody of jackson's estate from his mother katherine to a longtime 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. >> 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! 346 tod >> reporter: 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. baseball fans in charles county were treated to a michael jackson tribute tonight. ♪ abc ♪ easy as one, two, >> the first 100 fans 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 free. but the tribute did not stop there. a jackson impersonator threw out the first pitch. there was also a moonwalking contest won by a guy who said he wasn't worried about embarrassing himself because he's from california. and a programming note. nbc news will provide live coverage of michael jackson's memorial at 1:00 starting tomorrow afternoon, and you can catch it here nbc 4. d.c. council member and

former mayor marion barry is scheduled to be in court on thursday but his lawyers say he expects the charges against him to be dropped. news 4 was first to report the arrest of the d.c. council member in anacostia park on saturday. police say a woman named donna watt brihoff flagged down an officer an accused barry of stalking her. barry said he's been dating her for more than a year. he said on saturday they ate lunch together in annapolis and were on their way to row hoebage wh when she decided she wanted to return to washington. >> councilman barry denies stalking anybody in the district of columbia or at any time. we believe that the charge stems from a personal relationship that has gone horribly wrong in a lot of ways. >> police went stott womto the home in the southeast to get a complete statement on the matter. she told news 4 she did not intend for this incident to go

as far as it has gone. police investigating a frightening incident in fairfax county. a little girai sd she was playing outside when aan m walked up to her and tried to drag her away. this happened on dudley court in oakland yesterday. derrick ward joins us from fairfax county police headquarters with more on this. derrick? >> reporter: as you said, this is still under investigation by fairfax county police, and at this point we found out that word of it is just starting to spread throughout the neighborhood in which it has said to have occurred. a child at play in a 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 incident. there was a 9-year-old girl. she was playing in the front yard in the afternoon, and a man allegedly ran up and 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 accomplish further down the street.

>> she was able to break free and she screamed and 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. i lived here for years, my neighbor, they live here 35 years. >> reporter: families here are shocked at the notion that there could be an attempted abduction in broad daylight, even amid the quiet suburban calm of this community, parents warn their kids be wear of strangers, even in their own yards. >> we tell them not to go with anybody they don't know. obviously, we leave the door open as well so we can kind of hear what's going on. >> reporter: there's relief if this abduction attempt happened, it's just that, an attempt. police say the little girl appears to have been lucky and smart. >> what she did was right exactly. she screamed, made noise. the second she got away, she ran and told an adult and they notified the police. >> reporter: and police are asking anyone with information

to contact them at their nonemergency number or contact crime solvers. live outside fairfax county police headquarters. back to you. >> thanks, derrick. police in prince george's county are searching for plea men who pulled off three home invasions this morning. the robbers struck at 4:00, 5:00, and 6:00 in the morning. two of the robberies happened in district heights. one in glen arden. at each of homes, masked men tied up the residents and then robbed them. police say the suspects may have committed other recent home invasions in that county. they're increasing patrols in the area but they're warning residents to be vigilant and to keep the doors and windows locked. police in south carolina say the hunt for an accused serial killer is now over. the man suspected of shooting and killing five people in the past week alone was shot and killed early today in the normally quiet town of gaffney. kristin dahlgren has the latest. >> reporter: after a string of five back-to-back murders and one bizarre police shootout,

authorities say they have stopped the man suspected of being the south carolina serial kier. >> through this investigation it's conclude thad mr. burris is our killer. >> reporter: patrick tracy burris is now thought to be responsible for three shootings over the past week that left five, including a teenage girl, dead and the town of dpgaffney terrorized. he was killed when police in north carolina, not far from the border, responded to a call that three people were outside this abandoned home. then neighbors heard shots ring out. >> i heard one gunshot, and it was coming from this end of the house, like it was being fired towards the police officer. >> reporter: police shot and killed him and a short time later started to piece it together, a similarity to the police sketch. a champagne-colored suv, like the one witnesses say the killer drove, and finally ballistics test that conclusively linked burris, a man with an extensive

criminal past, to the killings. >> the anger i felt when i saw this individual's rap sheet. folks, look at this, this is like 25 pages. >> reporter: for residents of gaffney watching the announcement -- >> relieved. very relieved. >> i will rest better. >> reporter: -- an end to the fear, but not the sadness, as they continue to say good-bye to the victims. kristin dahlgren, news 4. when news 4 at 11:00 continues -- new information about the murder of former nfl star quarterback steve mcnair. a wild end to a high-speed chase on the houston streets that lasted for nearly an hour. the impact ofoo muc texting on your health. it goes deeper than the so-called blackberry thumb. bob, full moon out there. >> yes, indeed. we have high clouds indeed. but folks did see the shuttle -- not the shuttle, the international space station. look at the weather now. >> coming up in sports, more tough news for golfer phil mickelson's family.

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police now say steve mcnair's girlfriend owned the gun that was found at the scene of the murder this weekend. his girlfriend, 24-year-old kazemi was found dead at the star's nashville condominium saturday. mcnair had been shot four times. kazemi was shot once. police say she bought the gun less than two days before the shootings. investigators are waiting on the ballistics tests to determine whether kazemi committed suicide. one of her relatives sab s said was expecting mcnair to leave his wife and be with her. microsoft is taking the rare step of warning users about a security flaw it hasn't yet fixed. the problem affects internet explosioner users with computer that's run the windows xp or windows server 2003 operating software. microsoft says that hackers can remotely take controlf victims' computers. all it takes is a visit to an infected website. microsoft is working on a patch,

and in the meantime, you need to visit the microsoft website to disable the vulnerable part of that software. did you get all of that? when our broadcast continues, the district minutes away from recognizing gay marriages that are performed in other states. confusion reigns and customers scramble after an unexpected visit at a hdwe e. st an because of one word, imagination and reality have merged. because of one word,

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it is considered a first step to eventually allowing gay marriages to be performed in the district. at midnight tonight a district bill that allows the city to recognize same-sex marriages that have been performed in othestates becomes the law. jackie bensen's at the wilson building to tell us about this. jack? >> reporter: hello, wendy. news 4 spoke with a couple who will benefit from this

legislation, which was not without controversy. d.c. residents jeff and trevor blake were married in province town, massachusetts, in 2006. a at midnight on monday, the d.c. council will recognize that union. >> we just bought a home in december and we're starting to think about going to a lawyer and dealing with will issues and rights of survivorship for property and then there's life insurance and taxation and inheritance taxes that married people don't have to pay. >> there are a lot of different protection protections that marriage gives couples in the law. >> reporter: the senior pastor at the new macedonia baptist church is a part of a coalition ofasto who oppose same-sex marriage recognition in the district. they wanted it to be the result of a voter referendum. >> unfortunately, the citizens have not had any voice in that process, and i think that's the thing that's most disheartening

about this entire process, regardless of what side of this issue you're on. >> reporter: d.c. council member kattania, who voted in favor, said he believes many members who opposed the measure lived outside of the district. >> this is not an issue for us. it's 30-plus years in the making. i think the people of this city did speak when on two occasions 12 members of this council voted in favor of equality. >> the marriage recognition act passed the council by a vote of 12-1. ward 8 council member marion barry was the only one to vote against. wendy, back to you. >> jackie bensen thanks, jack. maryland officials, meanwhile, taky'regin t steps towards recognizing gay marriage. the state's attorney general is looking into whether that is legally possible. ndlaasndhe t first state in the union to define marriage as a union between a man and a woman. that was in 1973. the state supreme court upheld the gay marriage ban in 2007.

virginia banned gay marriage ine ad erppft endmentota t s he's te .oontititu same-sex marriages are legal in iowa, connecticut, massachusetts, vermont, new hampshire and maine. boy, we've got a full moon and space station. busy up there tonight. >> but a few high clouds, too. nonetheless, we were able to see. some folks, why is it so bright? it's so bright? it's big, and it's constructed now. those solar panels in the sun is strong, too, even when you're up at the level of space station. amazing when you can see it this late. again tomorrow night, i will tell you about that as well as about 5:45 in the morning. i will miss that one. anybody happen to be up at that time. outside, beautif day with our high temperature up to 85. our average now is 88 and for the next 4 1/2 weeks, folks our average high 188 or 89. hottest time of the year. remember ten years ago, 103.

here we are right now, 74 and 48 degrees up around sioux st. marie. look at caribou, maine. maybe they have the heat on in july. 55. we had wonderful sunshine but little patch. you can see high clouds that have come in now. they will also be moving off. you get a hazy view. 85 is the high temperature. it's been cool around the lakes. in the deep south, mccowan, texas, 108 degrees, which broke not only the record for the day but also theonth of july. miami was 95. they tied the record. even at that, look at most of the country temperatures at or below average. there will be plenty of heat in the weeks ahead. right now it is 80 in new orleans, with the dew point of 74. the humidity has been building. long weather boundary is where

the showers and thundershowers are. also get an idea much of the country is cloud-free, although out along the western slopes, out in the western plains and in the rockies, there are some severe thunderstorm watches out until the early morning hours. meanwhile, there's another little weather front. we have been getting a series of these. generally we get high pressure that will be coming through tomorrow. during the afternoon, we will see a bit more of cloudiness. but in the back, overall dry pattern and that will continue for several more days before the humidity comes back later on in the week. enjoy tomorrow. it will be for the most part clear and delightful. this batch of high clouds we have over us will be moving off. temperatures in town, 67, 68 degrees early in the morning. by 8:00, 9:00, it will be into the low 70s. still reasonable to low humidity. u.v. index because of the clouds around in the mid part of the day will be six. and then we will clear out and

partly cloudy tomorrow evening and day by day, temperatures may creep up a bit. not until friday will we see temperatures at or above average. humidity comes in as our winds turn a little more to the southwest. right now, looks like a summary weekend but it's july. these things do happen. anear 90. >> it's nice to have it pleasant now. >> we've only had three 90-degree days so far. >> no complaints. thanks, bob. up next in sports -- tiger's tournament is o ( rock music playing )

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nationals began a seven-day road trip with momentum. ryan zimmerman is the newly crowned all-star. tonight nationals had pitching and defense but they couldn't hit when it counted. they lose to the rockies 1-0. warren, colorado. first inning, this was a bright spot. craig stamen really pitched well enough to win. his only bad pitch to todd helton, who hit it's into the gap in left center field. and it turned out that would be all of the rockies would need. helton would the rbi double on that play. so now we go to the fourth innings. rockies are leading 1-0. brad hawpe, lines it to first. johnson rolls over, picks it up clean, tosses to first to get hawpe out. take another look at this. incredible play by nick johnson. rolling over and maintaining contro tossing for the out. moving on now, top of the seventh inning. rockies still are up 1-0.

jason marquis is in a bases-loaded jam but ronnie belliard grounds out to short. rockieturn the double play. belliard just out at first. nats blow the chance. they lose 1-0. to new york, the yankees against the blue jays. new outfielder eric hinske makes his debut in pin strikes. hinske making no time in making a big play. look at the diving catch. hinske also would hit a home run in the game. there you go, getting congratulations from his new teammates. the yankees here down 4-0 in the fourth. cano, one to deep left field. jose batista tracks it down, hits the wall and throws the ball back into the infield. the blue jays would double up alex rodriguez. the jays beat the yankees 7-6. one face did you not see playing in tiger woods' tournament over the weekend was phil mickelson, who was taking time away from the game of golf

to be with his wife amy, who is battling breast cancer. well, last week mickelson learned his mother has also been diagnosed with the same disease. she will have surgery later this week. meanwhile, workers out at congressional country club are deep into the cleanup process from the at&t national, an event that will not be back in d.c. for the next two years. we're in bethesda. tiger woods, of course, winning his own tournament over the weekend on sunday, holding that trophy up. very, very proud. construction crews, though, didn't waste time. they were out there since 3:00 a.m. this morning. the focus for congressional is getting ready now for the 2011 u.s. open. tiger's tournament, meanwhile, will move to philadelphia for two years before coming back to d.c. congressional's president told me it was a close vote but they are thrilled to be the host site for tiger's tournament in the future after the u.s. open. >> we are a democracy and our members voted and it was a close vote. we put that behind us now. we will see them in 2012. they will be here three years

and the club members will vote on it again and see if there's another three years. i fully expect them to be here for the whole time. i'm not worried about tiger moving this out of congressional. he really loves this course and players love this course. as we start tweaking for the open, i think they will love the course even more. so i'm not worried about that at all. >> club president tim sullivan told me it was 51% approval to bring it back. so just by a hair, though. so they will have it locked in three years and try to get it here for a total of six. >> cool. thanks. >> you're welcome. coming up -- coffee is good to pick up in the rnmoing. the distance from the field to your table just got shorter.

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a high-speed chase played out on the streets of houston today. police were chasing a burglary suspect who took off in a white minivan. the vehicle swerved through all kinds of afternoon traffic on an interstate and drove into a parking garage. the guy ditched the van, ran up to the roof, as they do. and that's when police closed in. he tried to drop off the side of the roof to the level below. but he was injured in thatall and arrested. a small business in upstate new york had an unusual creature running through it today. a deer that was apparently frightand by some nearby traffic took refuge in lumber in a hardware store. the buck ran down the aisle and made its way to a storage area. store employees tried to keep up with it but decided to let it go. eventually theshl able to get a backdoor open and it ran out. a cup of coffee could hold a key to preventing memory loss, according to new research. u.s. and japanese scientists studied the effects of caffeine

in mice that had the rodent e quav lent of alzheimer's. those that were given large doses of caffeinated water for five weeks did much better on memory tests, while signs of dementia increased in mice that were given regular water. the next step is to see how caffeine affects memor in humans. in the meantime, researchers warn against drinking too much coffee since it can raise your blood pressure and cause sleeplessness. a new study says the hazards of text messaging go way beyond thumb discomfort. too much texting can also cause arm and neck pain. that's according to researchers in sweden. that pain is likely when people text using one hand while they're hunched over their phones, which puts a straight on the neck and upper back muscles. in more serious cases, too much texting can cause joint inflammation and arthritis in your hands. researchers recommend paying attention to your posture and using both

that's it for us. "the tonight show" is next. have a good evening. show with c o