a shooting in an unlikely place. the delaware park race wheyway in new castle county. nbc10's tim furlong is live on the scene. you found out police have arrested a suspect within the past hour, right? >> reporter: that's right, chris. we were the first ones here on the scene. when we got here we weren't exactly brought to the shooting scene itself, which is actually in the stable area at delaware park way beyond those treeses behind our tv trucks. that's where the shooting actually happened. we're trying to gather details at this point with state police. we understand the person shot was taken to christiana hospital. when we showed up here we

stopped where we stopped because wez saw state troopers running over to this bridge which separates the delaware park complex. we came over here. this is where state troopers found a gun in the water. i was there as they literally spotted the gun in the water. they ran to the bridge. the state police chopper was overhead. what appears to be a handgun in the creek. you could see it in the water from up on the bridge. a state police diver came over a little while later and went down in the mud to retrieve it. it is believed the suspect threw it into the creek as they left the scene. again, i'm working with state police to get the latest details. they tell me they have a suspect in custody. we're waiting on condition of the person who was shot. we're trying to learn more details about the circumstances that led up to it. the area i showed you behind the trees, that's where we're going to go now. we will head over there. as soon as we have more details, we'll bring them to you on air and online. tim furlong, "nbc10 news." >> more from you later. we have issued a first alert

weather day today because of that heat and humidity out there. you can see just how tough it was on these philadelphia firefighters battling a fire earlier this morning in kensington. this was at 6:00 a.m. it was already that warm outside. a live look right now over a very sticky and steamy center city philadelphia. looking live at market street. people won't be spending too longs outdoors in that today. we have live team coverage of the dangerous heat with nbc10's monique braxton to tell us how the hot weather affected firefighters. we begin with chief meteorologist glenn "hurricane" schwartz on this first alert weather day. >> we've had some 90-degree days so far this season. we have several more to go. it's going to be even hotter today and more humidity, so we're adding up dangerous heat alert. high humidity continues and poor

air quality as well. excessive heat warning for you be banized areas from wilmington up to trenton. that goes for today and tomorrow. the air quality warning through tomorrow -- or through tonight, as you can see for much of the area. the ozone level high. it's code orange for those sensitive individuals that should stay inside as much as possible. northeast philly and trenton, already to 90 degrees. 87 in allentown. it's in the mid-80s even toward the shore. but you can see, it's already feeling like it is in the 90s. there's the air quality, the unhealthy area for sensitive groups. children elderly and those with respiratory illnesses the most vulnerable. as we go through the day, temperatures going into the mid-90s. heat and humidity only isolated showers to help cool you off. we'll see how hot it's going to get tomorrow and if we're going to see any kind of break in any

way with the seven-day in a few minutes. >> that heat certainly made it tough on firefighters battling a fire in mercer county. skyforce10 was over the scene. nbc10's monique braxton has been on the ground there shortly after the fire started. she joins us with an update on the fire and a look at how tough that hot weather made it on the firefighters. >> reporter: hi chris. heat exhaustion has landed two firefighters in the hospital. the fire director tells us, while they were battling this blaze, they became light-headed and dizzy. >> for more than three hours, trenton firefighters battled intense flames and billowing smoke on this hot and humid morning. >> it has a great adverse impact on firefighters and first responders. >> as they rotate in and out, we watched as ems teams screened firefighters under a tent a fan

constantly sprays a cool mist. >> because of the heat of the intensity and fires, also the hue humidity and the weather temperatures, with all the equipment that firefighters have to wear and carry, it really takes its toll. >> reporter: he says that equipment weighs 50 to 70 pounds. plus they're constantly swegt under their fire clothing which makes drinking water a necessity. he adds this vacant home inhabited by squatters was heavily engulfed in flames when they arrived. >> it was big and huge and over there. then. tased to this house and this house. >> her 6-year-old brother, marcelo, still clutching his stuffed animal was awakened by the commotion and narrowly escaped the four-alarm inferno. >> reporter: the fire director also tells us as many as ten people have been displaced. as you can see, the fire marshal, arson investigator, is here on scene.

we'll be following this investigation and keep you posted. live now from trenton, monique braxton, "nbc10 news." firefighters in philadelphia rescued a man from a house in kensington. neighbors say they heard an explosion at this home around 5:30 this morning. they saw the home go up in flames. crews rescued a man trapped in the home. he's in stable condition. no word on what may have caused that explosion. again, even at 6:00 a.m. the hot weather was a challenge for firefighters on this scene. crews rotated in and out and the firefighters drank plenty of water to stay hydrated. back to the fire neighbors told us how they were awakened. >> we were sleeping and we just heard a loud sound and we looked out the window and there was flames in the whole front wall of the house was just blown out. >> the home partially collapsed as you see the front was gone there. the red cross is helping two

families displaced by the fire. the cause of today's dangerous heat the philadelphia corporation of aging will activate its heat line just in about an hour. you can call 215-765-9040 between noon and midnight today. the staff there will give advice on how to avoid heat stress and they may refer to you emergency services if necessary. and pse&g has this advice for staying cool and saving money on energy during this stretch of hot weather. set your thermostat to a daily and weekend schedule. it should stay around 78 degrees. also close blinds on windows that face the sun. delay heat-producing chores like drying clothes or using the oven until later in the even. philadelphia city council is teaming up with walmart to give hundreds of fans to the citizens who need them most in this weather. today 500 senior citizens will pick up free fans at one of several locations. since 2007 city council and

walmart have given away more than 5,000 fans to seniors across the city. you can stay on top of this steamy forecast and get alerts if any severe weather should pop up by downloading the free "nbc10 news" app for smartphones and tablets. a man lost his leg but is alive thanks to a surgical team who rescued him after he was pinned beneath a freight train in philadelphia. a csx freight train hit the man around 2:45 this morning. his leg was pinned beneath the wheel of an engine. surgeons came out and worked for two hours to free the man. they had to amputate his left leg to do so. he's in critical condition. a crash shut down a stretch of calahill street in center city. a driver crashed into two parked cars between 20th and 21st streets. two people were hurt and taken to a nearby hospital. no word on their conditions.

police hope this new surveillance video will help them catch a robber who held up a 7-eleven in lawndale early yesterday morning. you see the guy pulled out that handgun there and demanded money. he got away with an undisclosed amount of cash. and after watching this video, you may find yourself paying more attention to your surroundings. when you're distracted by your cell phone. two men followed a woman on east 75th avenue in mt. airy monday afternoon. one man snatches that iphone right out of the woman's hand. the robbers ran off in opposite directions. police are still looking for them. a former philadelphia narcotics officer who pleaded guilty to corruption charges will be sentenced in federal court today. jeffrey walker admitted to robbing a suspected drug dealer. he agreed to testify against six other members of the narcotics squad. they were charged with beating suspects and robbing them out of

hundreds of thousands of dollars but in may a jury acquitted those officers. now five have filed a defamation suit against the mayor, the district attorney and the police commissioner. they claim those officials made unfair accusations that led to their firings and arrest. happening right now, philadelphia law enforcement, the fire department and other agencies are working to improve their coordination when there's an emergency situation. nbc10's drew smith shows us the training exercise under way right now in south philadelphia. this is a large-scale exercise. take a look right now. there are several crews out here assisting a large team of volunteers who are playing the part of people who are subject to a large contamination inside at&t station over here. so, they're all being brought out and brought over to firetrucks over here. they're being sprayed down. there are several agencies involved in this including the office of emergency management the philadelphia police and the philadelphia fire department.

septa also taking part. now, this is not a drill set up because of the pope's visit, but there are a lot of questions about how these agencies will be working together during that visit. we'll be asking questions out here as this drill continues. another big thing going on is, of course, the heat. we're told because of the excessive heat this drill will be shortened a little bit. that's another factor in play here. in south philadelphia, drew smith, "nbc10 news." sex, drugs and an escape plan. the woman who pleaded guilty to helping last month's prison breakout in new york reveals stunning details about the events leading up to the escape. plus deflategate suspension upheld. tom brady's comments about the nfl commissioner's decision and hear what new england patriots coach bill belichick just said about his star quarterback. excessive heat warnings in effect right now and also tracking our chance of showers and storms.

weir back with breaking news happening right now. this is the u.s. district attorney. he just announced a 29-count indictment against u.s. congressman of philadelphia chaka fatah and four other people on charges including racketeering and many other counts. let's listen in for a moment. >> finally, bonnie browser,

district chief of staff in congressman fatah's philadelphia office and the treasurer of fatah for mayor and fatah for congress campaign organization. the racketeering in count one outlines five schemes in which congressman fatah and co-conspirators sought to enrich themselves financially and politically. the schemes can be briefly described as follows. scheme one, the 2007 mayoral campaign. the indictment alleges that in connection with this failed 2007 campaign to serve as mayor of philadelphia congressman fatah and several associates accepted an illegal $1 million campaign contribution in the form of a loan from a wealthy supporter. and disguised the illegal contribution as a loan to a consulting company. after he lost the election congressman fatah returned to the donor $400,000 that the campaign had not used. he then arranged for an

education -- educational advance alliance run by defendant karen nick loss and founded by fatah to repay the remaining $60,000 using charitable and federal grant funds to disguise the source of these funds, fatah and co-conspirators arranged for payments to pass through two other companies, including a company run by defendant robert brand. to conceal the contribution repayment scheme defendants bowser nicholas and brand created sham contracts and made false entries in accounting records, tax returns and campaign finance disclosure statements. after his defeat congressman fattah sought to extinguish approximately $130,000 in campaign debt owed to political consultant to consultant. accordingly, congressman fattah

directed the consultant to apply for $15,000 grant on behalf of then nonexistent, nonprofit entity. in exchange for fattah's effort the consultant agreed to forgive the $150,000 debt owed by the campaign. to conceal this bribery scheme congressman fattah and bonnie browser issued false campaign finance reports in 2010 which reflikted in kind contributions from the political consultant of $20,000 a year when there were, in fact, no such contributions. scheme three. using campaign funds to pay son's student debt. the indictment alleges that congressman fattah misappropriated funds from mayoral and congressional campaigns to pay his son's student loan debt. to execute the steam and conceal, it congressman fattah and bonnie bowser arranged for his campaigns to make payments to a political consultant

company which in turn used the funds to satisfy student loan debt belonging to congressman fattah's son. between 2007 and 2011 the political -- the political consultant used the campaign funds to make 34 loan payments on behalf of congressman fa fattah's son totally approximately $23,000. scheme four the herbert breederman bribe scheme. the indictment alleges that beginning in 2008 congressman fattah used his government connections to try to excuse for defendant and lobbiest an ambassadorship or appointment to united states trade commission. in january 2012 congressman fattah hired defendant biedermann's girlfriend as an employee in his congressional office. in exchange for these efforts, he provided money and other items of value to congressman fattah. for example, in january of 2012 he provided $18,000 to congressman fattah to help him

buy a pocono vacations house, then to conceal the $18,000 bribe payment from biedermann the defendants disguised it as a payment for sham car sale that actually never took place. scheme five defrauding noaa with fictional conference on higher education. the indictment alleges that in december of 2011 defendant karen nicholas as the ceo for educational advancement alliance sought $409,000 grant from noaa to cover the cost of fattah annual national conference on hire education. after grant application was partially approved nicholas received $50,000 for the conference. however, the conference never took place and nicholas used the grant funds to pay $20,000 to another member of the criminal enterprise, paid $2,000 to her attorney and wrote several checks to herself from eaa's

operating conference account. nicholas falsely reported to noaa the conference took place in october of 2012 and even claimed congressman fattah was keynote speaker at fictional event. receipt maining 28 counts in indictment consistent of substantive and related criminal charges that form the pattern of racketeering activity i just outlined. those crimes include bribery, conspiracy to commit mail wire and services fraud and multiple counts of mail fraud, false fiction of records, bank fraud, making false statements to a financial institution and money laundering. it is important to note here the targets set forth in the indictment are merely allegations and that the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. before turning over the podium to assistant attorney general leslie caldwell fbi special agent in charge and irs criminal special agent in charge for a few remarks, i would like

to thank them for their partnerships in this investigation. i would also like to thank the department of justice office of inspector general, the nasa department of inspector general and department of commerce office of inspector general for their assistance in this investigation. finally, i would like to thank assistant united states attorney paul gray and department of justice trial attorneys for their work leading up to today's charge. i'll now turn the podium over to leslie caldwell. >> thank you. good morning. as charged in the indictment congressman fattah and associates undertook a wide-ranging conspiracy that included bribery, concealment of unlawful contributions, theft of federal funds, all to advance their own interests. when elected officials betray the trust and confidence that's placed in them by the public the department of justice will

do everything in our power to ensure that they are held accountable. public corruption takes a particularly heavy toll because it undermines people's basic belief our elected leaders, their elected leaders are committed to serving the public intshgs not to lining their own pockets. corruption like what is charged today really shakes public confidence, not only in those who are accused, but in all those who serve in elected office. as a result the allegations made in this case should concern not only people in philadelphia and the people who reside in congressman fattah's district but all americans. i would like to recognize the efforts of the criminal division public integrity division the fbi in philadelphia and the irs, cid who led the investigation and also the inspector generals from nasa, commerce and the department of justice. now i'll turn it over to special agent in charge, ed hanko.

>> in march 2013 the fbi and irs opened aa joint investigation into fattah biedermann robert band and karen nicholas. as the grand jury indictment alleges, congressman fattah and his associates conspired to use his office to further personal and political aspirations and personally enrich themselves at the expense of the very people they serve. as citizens we expect honest services from those elected to represent us in all levels of government. when our representatives put its self-interest above public they erode the public's faith in government. this investigation shows congressman fattahn an effort to

become mayor of philadelphia, is alleged to have violated the law to gain access to funds he was not entitled to. and with the held of robert brand, karen nicholas bonnie browser, conspired to repay an outstanding campaign debt using funds nis appropriated from a federally funded program and a charitable organization. it is also alleged congressman fattah sought and received things of value from heb either vederman in exchange for official acts. once these underlying crimes were committed, fattah and his associates engaged in a cover-up lasting years in an effort to avoid detection. these alleged crimes and subsequent cover-up are a breach of the public trust. it is the duty of the fbi, the irs and the department of justice to investigate and prosecute those who violate this trust and put personal gains above public service. thank you and i'll introduce

ms. conner from irs. >> good morning, thank you. on behalf of irs criminal investigation, i'm exchangely proud to sand before you today in partnership with the u.s. attorney's office united states department of justice and the fbi. as a result of this partnership and under the leadership of the u.s. attorney's office. eastern district of pennsylvania, congressman chak ka fattah sister herbert vederman robert brand, karen nicholas were indicted in a 29-count indictment. whether elected or appointmented, we hold their public officials and staff to a high level of trust. while the vast majority of public officials are hard working and dedicated, fraud and corruption at any level of public service breaches this trust. the sanctity of this trust is absolutely vital. no public official gets a free pass to ignore our laws and irs criminal investigation will continue to ensure that our

elected officials abide by their oath to faithfully discharge the duties of their office. irs ci and our law enforcement partners here today remain committed to investigating those who consider themselves above the law and bringing them to justice. thank you. >> thank you. we're now available to answer a few questions. [ inaudible ] >> what has happened is the indictment has been filed. the case is assigned to charge bartel. he'll receive notification of the date of his initial appearance and then he'll be expected to appear in court as well as his co-defendants. [ inaudible ] >> the fbi received information

in march of 2013 with regard to an organization. we began an inquiry into that. over the last two years we've been conducting an investigation into that activity which is revealed fraudulent activity by congressman fattah as well as his co-conspirators as alleged in the indictment. [ inaudible ] >> i can't get into specifics of the exact information that was provided. [ inaudible ] >> the co-defendants identified in the indictment? >> yes. >> well there is lobbyist herbert vederman robert brand, he's the founder of a philadelphia-based for-profit technology based technology company. karen nicholas a former congressional staffer for fattah and also the chief executive officer of the educational advanced alliance and then

bonnie browser, the district chief of staff in congressman fattah's philadelphia office. [ inaudible ] >> i'm not in a position to make corollaries to other cases that i wasn't involved with. i can tell you the conduct that congressman fattahen gauged in undermines confidence in government, that the behavior is something that our public does not expect our public officials to engage in in terms of fraud, bribery, bank fraud. those activities are something that congressional persons or political figures in general should not engage in. to the extent we get information involving that activity we will investigate and prosecute those cases accordingly. >> reporter: can you describe the steps the congressman took to cover all this up? >> yeah.

well going back to the first scheme, the 2007 mayoral campaign. they received an illegal $1 million contribution scheme. they're required to pay that contribution back. they funnel money through the educational alliance in order to pay those funds back. that's not proper use of government funds. they then proceed to file false financials reporting statements with regard to the election. that's not appropriate as well. that's concealment activity. you have the blue guardians, similar situation. in terms of paying back $130,000 campaign debt by basically, getting -- hopefully getting a $15 million grant for an entity that doesn't exist. then you have false finance

campaign reports being filed to cover that up and hide the fact of that arrangement being in place. and then you have similar things with regard to the campaign funds. you got the herbert vederman bribery scheme where there's a mortgage in play for a vacation house up in the poconos. then they create a sham transaction for a vehicle that didn't exist in order to defraud the holder of the mortgage. then you also have the noaa scheme fictional conference on higher education, where basically lies are made in order to get a grant to hold this national annual conference. and the fact of the matter is that conference did not occur and moneys then utilized for other purposes, other than conference, and representations are made that fattah is keynote speaker at those conferences. that is fraudulent and concealment activity which forms the racketeering activity as outlined in the indictment.

>> reporter: when did nicholas obtain the federal grant? >> the noaa grant, the conduct began in 2011. the conference was scheduled to be held in 2012. the application went in the 2012 time period. that's when the money was obtained. [ inaudible ] >> as you know, there's substantial penalties involved under the statutes and the sentencing guidelines. a number of factors that come into play in terms of dollar loss sophistication of the scheme, a range of things. as i said these are merely allegations at this point. we still need to prove our case in a court of law assuming we prove our case in a court of law, then we'll get to a sentencing phase, at which time probational prepares sentencing report. the court will evaluate arguments from defense council and the government and decide on whether it's an appropriate sentence.

but penalties are substantial by the sentencing guidelines. [ inaudible ] >> i can't comment at this time. thank you very much. appreciate your time today. there you have it. if you're just joining us that's the u.s. attorney for this district zane memenger laying out a wide-ranging case his office and federal investigators have made against u.s. congressman from philadelphia, fattah. harry hairston has been following these developments for some time now. harry, we know that two of fattah's former associates pleaded guilty in federal cases last year and at the time it looked like that fattah the congressman was the actual focus of this probe. now we have this wide-ranging 29-count indictment for racketeering. can you boil this all down for us here? >> i can tell you back in 2007

when fattah had that fated attempt to run for mayor, he lost that and had taken that $1 million loan. that's basically the nucleus of it. he was able to pay back as you heard, $400,000 of that loan. but the vefs-h investigation began when the feds believed he misappropriated money to pay back. by misappropriate rating that money, they say he tried to cover up by giving that money back paying back that loan, and doing it through charitable organizations. that, they say, was a form of misappropriation. last year two of his associates were indicted and pled guilty. their sentencing has been constantly pushed back. it's been the belief for many they were talking to those associates and trying to get more information. whether they were working out a deal or not before their sentencing, but trying to get more information about what fattah's actions were exactly were and trying to button up this case. part of this case is quite interesting because i talked to

fattah about this, he denied any wrongdoing, but part of the case involves a scheme where they talk about his son, and paying back his son's student loans and his son had gotten a position with the charitable organizations and those payments came out to 34 different payments. they were all going to the loan. i also talked to fattah jr., the son, who denied there was any wrongdoing with that and suggested he actually worked in a particular office to be paid for that type of money. so, this isn't something that has just come out of the blue. this has been working since 2007. there's been several reports. the grand jury has still been going on. there's been many people that have been indicted and what i mean by many people also one of fattah jr.'s roommates also indicted and now also we're told by sources on the federal level that's turning over evidence to the federal government and is expected to testify against fattah jr., who has been indicted himself in a

trial that's expected to come up a little later this year. so, just to give you a recap of this this has been going on for quite some time. there have been many of his associates, fattah the congressman's associatings that have been indicted and come out and also helping out the feds. they are now still waiting for sentencing. we're going to see where this all goes from here but this is not something that has just come out of the blue. this has been something we've been reporting on for quite a while. we'll see what happens. as i said fattah, who i talked to personally, said he has done nothing wrong as a congressman and has also said there are charges, then charge him and he'll have his day in court. >> he has said, harriyyharry, he said he thought this was all borne of some type of political scheme to get him into some type of political vengeance, am i correct in saying that? >> yes. he felt that this was a political scheme. he felt that the fbi, according to the congressman, had it out

for him. as a matter of fact, he says that one of the fbi agents that worked on the case to indict his son is the one that's been working on the case, trying to indict him as well. so he feels this has been some type of political scheme. fattah has also said that what he's done for the community as far as raising money to help send kids to school he's tauted that as saying listen, people are getting it wrong. at least the feds are getting it wrong, that everything he's done has been for the good of bettering students and bettering the kids in african-american communities here in philadelphia that may not have had an opportunity to go on to college. that's what he's been pushing very hard for for education. as you're hearing from the feds a lot of those charitable organizations that fattah was associated with they say that was all bogus and he was using that to cover up what he was trying to do in paying back money that he should have been

paying out of his pocket as opposed to using campaign loan money. >> it remains to be seen if the congressman will comment on this indictment that's come down today. nbc10's investigator harry hairston in the digital operation center. thank you for that. again, a 29-count racketeering indictment against u.s. congressman chaka fattah and four of his associates. there's a lot to digest. we'll continue to follow this as it develops and reach out to the congressman for comment. he's not been arrested. he will turn himself in at the date of his initial court appearance which has not been announced at this time. we should mention the congressman is the husband, is married to nbc10 news anchor renee chenault-fattah. we'll be back with a look at the hot weather gripping the area today.

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the heat really moved in yesterday. now that it's here it's going to hang with us for a while. we have a first alert weather day because of the heat humidity and poor air quality combined. that's for today and tomorrow. the phillies are coming back home tomorrow night. it's going to be a pretty hot homestand for them. 87 degrees now. feels like it's 93 because of the humidity is so much higher than it has been.

excessive heat warning until tomorrow evening for the areas around the i-95 corridor and the air quality warning for the rest of the day and evening for much of the area, as you see the areas in gray. it's already 90 degrees northeast philly and trenton. mid to upper 80s just about everywhere else, including at the beaches, because we don't have a west wind so far. it's 86 in beach haven right now. feels like it's in the 90s right now. 95 in dover with the extra high humidity there. as we go through the afternoon, temperatures getting into the 90s. just some isolated showers around, as you can see. and a bit of a sea breeze coming in later today preventing the shore areas from getting into the 90s. tomorrow morning it's very warm very muggy and some patchy clouds. then we get some showers.

the greatest threat of storms will be later in the day after about 3:00 we're in the 90s again. very high humidity. even higher than today. that will trigger some thunderstorms as they come through. behind that, we're going to be see releech in the form of lower humidity. the temperature isn't going to drop a whole lot. the humidity will. hazy, hot and humid today. just isolated showers. highs in the low to mid-90s. feeling like it's close to 100. similar story tomorrow. feeling like it's at least 100, perhaps a little bit above if we do get to the mid-90s. the humidity will be so high. those mainly afternoon storms. lower humidity on friday. the heat is still with us over the weekend. not terrible humidity. the humidity starts to increase early next week. we continue to follow the breaking developments against federal indictment against congressman chaka fattah.

we'll try to talk to justice correspondent pete williams who will look at these charges and tell us what it means for the 11-term congressman. iran keeps their nuclear facilities. military sites can go uninspected. restrictions end after 10 years. then iran could build a nuclear weapon in two months. iran has violated 20 international agreements and is the leading state sponsor of terrorism.

an update on breaking news just developing a few minutes ago. federal prosecutors announced charges against u.s. congressman chaka fattah philadelphia the representative and three others -- four others are charged in a racketeering case. investigators aallege the conspiracy included things like bribery, falsifying campaign documents, misappropriating campaign money using it to pay back loans, allegedly, also defrauding other institutions like noaa, to cover other expenses, and in general using the office to enrich himself and others around him. and now we do have nbc news justice correspondent pete williams live for us to help us further understand the

indictment against congressman fattah. pete, thanks for making time for us. >> it's sometimes easy to get drowned in the description of what the charges are, but let's look at what the government says the offenses are, underscoring we have not yet heard anything from the congressman's side of this. basically the government says these were the crimes he committed. they've charged, of course him, his congressional district a lobbyist and two others. first, they say one of the problems involved his unsuccessful campaign for mayor in 2007. he had a million dollars in debt. he borrowed money that was disguised as a loan to another company. and then he used some federal grant money and some charitable contributions to help repay that debt. that's, of course, illegal, they say. secondly, he tried to arrange for a federal grant to a

political consultant to repay $130,000 in debt from that campaign. they say he used money from his political campaigns. both his mayoral and congressional campaigns to try to repay his son's student loan debt. they say he took an $18,000 bribe from a lobbyist to try to get that person an ambassadorship or some other federal job. so they have a lot of charges connected with these acts. you mentioned some of them bribery, so forth, misappropriating funds. we haven't heard from the congressman yet. as you know, this whole scheme has been under investigation now for some time. it's resulted in criminal charges against others. so, this you could say, was the last shoe to drop here. >> congressman to be indicted on charges like this. i'll repeat the question. how rare is this for a sitting congressman to be indicted?

>> not that rare. i'm thinking of the case. congressman jefferson from louisiana a couple years ago who was indicted, charged with a scheme to use money that he got from contributors to try to do business overseas. this is the case remember that he hid the cash in his -- in the freezer compartment of his refrigerator. there's a pending case against a member of congress now. so whenever you get into these cases, one of the complicationses is the immunity members of congress have. this so-called speech and debate that limits how the government can investigate these cases. the justice department is well aware of that. they went around and around in court with congressman jefferson over that. so, they try, they say, when they build these cases to work around that limitation. whether that will be part of congressman fattah's defense or not, we don't know. but you know i guess they're

rare in the sense they don't happen every day, but they happen at least once a year. they're certainly not unheard of. >> and it appears,fy recall correctly, the justice department went after the congressman's private e-mail as they were investigating this case over the past couple of years. from your information, does it look like that's where they glean some of this evidence that they're using against him? >> well that and guilty pleas involving others who apparently have agreed to testify, or have provided the government with evidence. >> yeah, again, two of his former associates pleaded guilty last year. "nbc10 news" justice correspondent pete williams joining us now to help us digest and process the racketeering charges against u.s. congressman chaka fattah. thank you for your time. >> you bet. we will be right back with this. dmren is back with a final word on the soon-to-be heat wave gripping the area.

a quick recap of our breaking news. federal prosecutors announcing charges against u.s. congressman chaka fattah philadelphia. he and four others charged in a wide-ranging racketeering charge including misappropriation of funds, in general, using fattah's office to enrich him and people around him. we know his son, cha ka fattah jr., faces trial for bank fraud.

congressman fattah is married to nbc10 anchor renee chenault fatah. wednesday's child has a connection with legos. nbc10's vai sikahema introduces us to javeon. >> reporter: 12-year-old who likes to go by jay is shy at first, but when he's in his element, he really opens up. he's passionate about legos, so we went to check out the franklin institute in fl philly. we had a great time exploring the exhibits. he was really amazed at what could be done with legos. >> javeon is a very bright young man. he has a big heart. he likes to help people. he likes to do nice things for his family and friends. >> jay is currently in the sixth

grade and enjoying playing sports with his friends. he has a passion for professional wrestling and has dreams to become a wrestler some day. >> i want to be a wrestler. >> a wrestler. >> a professional wrestler. >> the ideal family would be there for jay, providing love and structure. >> he would do best in a two-parent family with an experienced family that has parented before. he has expressed interest in a family that goes to church or is spiritual in some way. >> he is ready to share his big heart and dry sense of humor with a forever family. >> what's your t-shirt say. >> i'm not laeszzy. i just really enjoy doing nothing. >> tell me about your t-shirt. >> i just picked that up because i thought it was cool. >> javeon is this week's wednesday's child. >> love that personality. we will have to watch for a professional wrestler in a few years with the love of legos. if you would like to help make his dream come true or the dream of any wednesday's child sponsored by the dave thomas

foundation, go to nbc10.com and search wednesday's child. you can also call the national adoption center at 1-866-do-adopt. we have adopted some hot weather today. it's getting steamy out there. >> it's going to be as steamy tomorrow. the temperature will be similar and humidity will be higher than today. today's high about 94 with higher humidity it will be feeling like closer to 100 degrees. tomorrow if we hit 94 it would feel like above 100 because of that higher humidity. best chance of showers and thunderstorms in the entire seven-day period is tomorrow afternoon as a weak front comes through. it's not going to cool us off with the temperature for friday but the humidity will drop significantly. so, you'll be feeling some kind of relief. >> keeping the 90s in there for the foreseeable future, though. >> could be an extended heat wave. >> late july right?

thanks for watching "nbc10 news" at 11:00. i'm chris cato for glenn "hurricane" schwartz and all of us here at nbc10, have a great day.

>> nicole: you know something? it's beautiful out there-- stars everywhere gorgeous moon. after dinner, we should take a walk down by the river. it'll be perfect. just like here in my new home. daniel, what's wrong? >> theresa: okay so just hang here for a minute and then ring the bell. say all the right things and, voilà, you'll be the answer we've been looking for. oh, for god's sake spit your gum out.