the mayor were in attendance there. now, at 2:30 this afternoon, the president arrived here, at the hyatt regency at the inner harbor, first for a private roundtable with about 15 top donors, and then he addressed a crowd of about five wonder people with a speech that heavily leaned on the economy. after that speech, we caught up with a couple of obama supporters to see what he thought. >> i thought it was very encouraging, very inspirational. he talked about the truth, about what he has accomplished. he has accomplished a lot for the american people, and he talked about what he is going to do moving forward. >> i thought he was very exciting, motivating, that he laid out a good plan for the next four years, and i will be voting for him. >> i love obama. his speech was on time. we needed it today. to make me believe, i believe. >> and the president had hoped

to raise about $1 million here in maryland for his campaign. as you pointed out, he is now on his way to philadelphia for more campaigning. we are live at the inner harbor, lowell melser, wbal tv 11 news. >> meanwhile, the rise of mitt romney is in town to be at a fund raiser at the hilton hotel near the thurgood marshall airport. we spoke to an honorary post and asked about why holding such an event in maryland, often called a democratic state, and the money will go to a joint fund- raising committee consisting of romney for president inc., the republican national committee, two other national committees, and some gop committees. >> a guilty verdict for the maryland delegate accused of paying an employee in orloff form with public money. this was less than one hour after gathering for the second

day of deliberations. prosecutors say she pulled about $800 out to pay the employee, saying they were a member of her legislative staff. the conduct convictions put her at risk of being forced out of office. she faces incarceration on the theft charge. when it comes to misconduct, that is for the court to decide. >> a 22-year-old woman was raped early saturday morning. police say the victim woke up about one hour after the attack, face down in a neighborhood about 7 miles away from the bar. it is reported that the victim has no recollection as to what happened during the attack. and fire investigators are still not sure what caused that five- alarm fire in fells point yesterday. >> the massive fire impacted the grocery store and other nearby businesses. barry simms has details for us. >> fire investigators were

definitely back here today. this was after there was a rekindling of the fire this morning. firefighters say they came and doused the flames at that point. fire investigators were here, try to determine what caused the fire and where it started. >> the firefighter team came in and said, "everybody get out, out. " >> now, the smoke has cleared. this is boarded up. peering through the front door gives a glimpse of the tremendous destruction. >> to see this, it was just shocking to see it. >> simmons says he was in the front of the store when the building shook. he began noticing a strong smell of smoke. around the corner, one man was at his home on register street. >> we saw smoke, and then it was flames. he started right along this wall, and then it gradually

burned the roof out. >> the firefighters went into the grocery store just after 1:40 monday afternoon, ordering everyone to leave. the blaze grew to 5 alarms. along with the smoke, the intense heat created more problems for the firefighters. the roof collapsed. >> we were dousing it from the front and the rear, trying to get to the seat of the fire itself. it was very difficult getting to the seat of the fire. therefore, the fire burned for quite awhile. >> one woman said when she returned home, all she could see was smoke. >> they would not let me go further. they turned me back. >> there is charred wood, steel, and other damage. the owner of the latin palace says despite all of his ears, his club and restaurant were scared. he did not even get smoke damage. >> we feel very proud and glad

to be back in business again. with the exception of not maybe having electricity for a few hours. >> ellenton palace, we are told, will open tonight. other businesses along this block remain closed throughout the day. barry simms, wbal tv 11 news. >> we are less than 24 hours away from the baltimore sailabration, and the public remains to be prepared for something else. we are live from fort mchenry with rob roblin. >> first of all, you need to be doing a little planning, because it is estimated there will be about 200,000 people through the whole celebration, so come early and be prepared. a great place to see the parade of tall ships coming to the inner harbor is here, at the sea wall at fort mchenry, but since lots of people will be here, traffic will be a problem.

the sign on the avenue says it all. "expected delays." >> use public transportation. bringing in a car to fort mchenry is one of the worst things you can do. there are shuttles from m&t bank stadium. there is a special handicapped shuttle. we are handicapped accessible. >> it is not just tall ships coming to the harbor. the coast guard says there will be more than 1000 pleasure boats here on the water, and because of that, boating safety is a concern. >> the prime concern is to make sure that the recreational boaters operating in a safe manner, and that means wearing white jackets and not boding if you have consumed alcohol -- wearing life jackets. not boating if you have consumed alcohol. >> there are some other routes that are your best option, including bus route one. if you want to see the blue

angels, parked at the m&t bank stadium and then take the shuttle from there to fort mchenry. >> sunday for the blue angels, getting here early is crucial, so while you do not need a ticket, my advice would be to get here early, get your spots, bring the food and the suntan lotion, and prepared to have fun. >> and as was said earlier, use public transportation. reporting live, rob roblin, wbal tv 11 news. >> thank you. with more than 40 tall ships and vessels navigating through the harbor, we will hope that you will watch our star spangled sailabration special starting tomorrow at 7:00 right here on wbal tv, and, donna, you will be co hosting it. >> i will. will be amazing. we hope you do not miss it. and our co-worker, his memory and lives on.

>> benefiting the john hopkins cancer research, next. >> i am nikole killian in washington, where lawmakers turn up the heat on the attorney general. >> and mandatory camp gets underway. as conspicuous no-shows and a change for ray lewis. we will have that for you later in sports. >> as far as grain is concerned, the heaviest of it is moving on to the east. we have the instant you forecast. here is our view at ocean city, not raining and 72.

>> tonight, attorney general eric holder is under fire, with at least one senator demanding his resignation, and others criticizing his handling of recent scandals. nikole killian has more. >> from the moment attorney- general eric holder entered this congressional hearing room, the sparks flew. >> i was getting hammered from the left on that two weeks ago, and now i am getting hammered by the right. >> the investigation of a security -- to an ongoing scandal known as fast and furious. >> you will not cooperate with a legitimate investigation, and you will not hold others or yourself accountable. >> there is so much that is

factually wrong since you started your statement, it is, is breathtaking in the mistakes. >> and one senator asked him to step down. >> you leave me with no alternative than for those calling you to resign. >> i do not of any intention of resigning. >> senator john mccain blasted him about the probe of white house leagues, and he introduced a legislation calling for an independent investigation. >> this obviously is one of the highest reaches of security that this country has ever seen. >> democrats oppose the measure and accused republicans. >> this is strictly partisan, insincere, an attempt to embarrassed the president. >> this all comes as a house committee looks at holding him in contempt of congress. a vote on that is scheduled next

week. nikole killian, wbal tv 11 news. >> that vote is expected next wednesday, june 20. >> the legacy of a wbal reporter. there was a $50,000 check presented to his charity to go to his doctor, and specializes in testing new therapies for treatment of pancreatic cancer, and there was a clinical trial program to optimize a vaccine approach. he is currently investigating chemotherapy resistance in pancreatic cancer in will be testing in targeting new treatments for pancreatic cancer. >> thanks to your ongoing, generous support, this will be used at johns hopkins, which will find training every year of our graduate students, medical students, a clinical oncology fellow who will dedicate their career to this research. >> ron smith died late last year

after a quick battle with advanced pancreatic cancer. he had just turned 70 years old. >> now, your 11 insta-weather plus forecast with meteorologist john collins. >> checking our hd doppler radar, we are seeing less and less rain on the radar, but there is still plenty of it. this is reaching into cecil county at this time, both north and south of the bay. also in talbot county, coming off of the bay. most of this has led up. westward, no rain to speak of, although there are still some spotty showers out west. let's widen our view of the radar just a bit and give you a view of what is going on with a larger scope of the store. the heavier rains are, for all intents, outside of the bay, then moving up into new england. we may still have some way to put up with. it is very spotty and scattered. there may be a lightning strike or two before all of this

finally ends, and let's take a look at what has happened today. 76 was the high. baby was the high at the inner harbor. after 2:00 when the rain hit comedies temperatures dropped down. this was heavier at my house, well, 59 hundredths downtown, 9100 c on tv hill. you had to be under the storm to get the good rains. -- 9100 s on tv hill. it has not rain yet at ocean city, but they are likely to catch some. the shaded orange areas primarily west of the potomac river, they have had some sun this afternoon, and that drove the temperatures near 80 or so. here is the satellite pictures showing the clouds beginning to

break up to the west of a but with the heavier clouds, with summering producers, especially up in these counties, including cecil county. there are some pretty big storms in pennsylvania. this is more scattered in western maryland at this time. once the front goes through, it may stall offshore, but the bulk of the rain will be done overnight. the insta-weather futurecast shows the shower activity at midnight, still in the area, still a chance for some showers, but you see this diminishing considerably. by daybreak tomorrow, there may still be some lingering showers. west of the bay, it looks pretty dry. it looks good for wednesday for the sailabration. the rain ending overnight. that is our forecast. 61 to 65 the low. the winds will swing around northwesterly. during the day, the winds pick up and get gusty. it will be some stronger gusts

from time to time. generally, partly cloudy skies. at time, the sun may outweigh the clouds. less humid. 84 the high. on the bay, a small craft revisory is out, winds from the north to nw, gusting them 25 knots with a three-foot chop on the open waters of the bay. the futurecast shows that way of developing, so on thursday, we may pick up some clouds and maybe a sprinkle or two, but essentially after tonight, the forecast is a good one. 78 on thursday. a little cooler. most of the cloudy skies. friday and tuesday, dry weather. next week looks great. a high around 80 degrees. >> the ravens take the next step in their off-season preparation, the beginning of mandatory camp.

there were a couple of no-shows. they did not take part in practice today. one is negotiating a new contract, and coach harbaugh says he did not speak with one player. there are some family obligations that are keeping him away from football, but he expects everyone will be here in july. the ravens rolled out in miserable weather today. terrible conditions, a driving rainstorm, and they just went right ahead with it. joe flacco got praise for standing up to the weather and delivering strikes. by the end of the practice, you can see the football looks like it was a 50-pound hunk of lead. the last of four years, they have made trips to the championship games, but the focus never wavers.

it is always, find a way to improve, regardless of the weather, and this was a classic coach harbaugh moment. a driving rainstorm, and by the end of practice, the coach sounded like he had gone to disney world. he could not have been happier. also, lewis looked a bit thinner than in years past, and i think you will notice a bit faster on the field, too. >> it was fun. it was fun being out there. great work. we were laughing and getting soaked and playing ball. we have got a lot of guys that love football, you know, and i think we had fun out there. we got a lot of work done, and we had fun doing it. >> there are no physical fullbacks that are going to, at me. everything is about this and speeding and running and tried to get smaller people on the field.

just just to the game. >> all about timing in sports, and it looks like the orioles will have better timing with the rather today. -- with the weather today. plane tonight as they open up the series against the pittsburgh pirates. the orioles are back one game in the east. and a surprise in the lineup, roberts returns for the first time this year. brian roberts in a uniform for the orioles. he has not played at camden yards in more than a year when he suffered a concussion last may. but he will be batting as they take on the pittsburgh pirates. on the mound tonight for the pirates, getting the start for pittsburgh, lincoln, and we will have those highlights for you tonight at 11:00 as the orioles and the pirates, the two teams with the longest streak of consecutive losing. things are starting to change

around there. john collins. he will be back in just a minute to let us know if the weather will change, and i warn you. the ravens wanted to change. they were not happy with you today. stick around. ♪

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>> right now, here is what we are looking at 4 tonight. some concoctions. a six-year-old girl is the latest victim. plus, a new report is raising the stakes and that new casinos. that is on 11 news.

>> we would like to see the rain may be just and they go away. >> we have had a lot happening, and the forecast is going to cooperate. the reign ends soon. essentially dry thursday. a few more clouds. you may get a sprinkle. 78 will be the coolest day. and right now for the weekend, it looks pretty good. >> i do not know if we can have any better weather for the sailabration. >> those tall ships will be zooming. >> all right, thanks, john. thanks for joining us. "nbc nightly news with brian williams" is next. we will see you back here toou