scott: he was firm and attempted to explain the viewpoint. he was heavily criticized for the first comments saying many sides were to blame. then yesterday he gave a much more careful, scripted response. that was better received. today a much more free wheeling president trump who lashed out at those who criticized him. here is a snippet from his back-and-forth. president trump: what about the alt-left that came charging at the as you said alt-right? do they have any semblance of guilt? let me ask you this. what about the fact they came charging with clubs in their hands, swinging clubs? do they have any

i have condemned neo nazis. i've condemned many different groups. but not all of those people were neo nazis. believe me. not all of those people were white supremacists by any stretch. those people were also there because they wanted to protest taking down of a statue robert e. lee. this week it's robert e. lee. i notice stonewall jackson is coming down. i wonder is it george washington next week? is it thomas jefferson the week after? you have to ask yourself where does it stop? scott: agree or disagree with the president and his stance this is likely only to elevate the debate over racism and about the statues and the monuments around the country that seems to some to be very offensive and others to be a bit of their history. but michelle, clearly headlines from the president as he gave the comments in new york. michelle: absolutely. a lot of folks were looking to this moment to lower the temperature. his

thank you, scott. abc7 carried the entire news conference with the president live on facebook. watch itous. we are tracking the reaction pouring in at the moment over the comments at facebook.com. alison: the confrontational news conference at trump tower came after another tense standoff at the robert e. lee statue in charlottesville. [yelling] >> go home. >> get out of here. alison: the young man you saw there told jeff goldberg he came armed with a rifle to defend the controversial statue. police eventually moved in to calm down the situation. escorting that man away. dave matthews band member and the charlottesville native who visited the site a short time later said he was shocked about what happened in his to

>> you need to take your message somewhere else. it doesn't belong here, not in charlottesville. >> 's likety dave matthews band will play a benefit to promote peace and unity. michelle: tonight we are hearing from the father of the woman killed in the car attack on saturday. mark heyer says his daughter heather never backed down from doing what is right. >> heather was a strong, opinionated woman that was willing to stand up for what she believed in. it wasn't lip service for her. i was real. michelle: for the man police say killed heather heyer, james fields jr., her father mark heyer says he forgives him. he says he knows fields will have to live with what he has done the rest of his life. memorial service for heather heyer and the other victims of saturday's violence will be held tomorrow in charlottesville. you the watch it live on our

newschannel8. starting at 11:00. alison: meanwhile the violence in charlottesville appears to be the final straw in the debate over a maryland statue. this isn't a civil war memorial. this is a statue of former supreme court justice, roger b. taney. the man who wrote the decision that kept slavery alive in america. maryland governor larry hogan now wants the statue gone. brad bell broke the story first and is live outside the state house in annapolis. brad? brad: this is the statue. it has stood here for many, many years since 1872. it's in a prominent location but it doesn't look like it will be here longer because today, governor hogan said now is the time to remove it. the statue has stood in this place of honor since 1872. but governor hogan said, "the time has come to make clear the difference between properly acknowledging our past and glorifying the

history." and so, he said removing the statue should start immediately. >> goodbye. it should go. brad: ev lin johnson among those -- evelyn johnson among those visiting the state house applauding the decision. >> whatever you have at the state house should be indicative of the ideals of the people that it represents. >> it seems like a step in the right direction. >> as the fifth chief justice of the supreme court, maryland roger b. taney wrote the so-called dred scott decision that african-americans could not be citizens in 1857. dred scott was a slave denied his freedom by that decision. the statue has always been controversial but kept here as part of hisser which was -- history which was explained by the recently installed sign. this called for mike bush to call for the removal yesterday. and mike miller left it up to hogan. the decision means the statue will be gone soon. that i

controversial. >> if we take down everything that makes someone uncomfortable there won't be a lot of statues around. brad: we haven't seen any sign of protest here today but the capitol police have been making frequent patrols around the area. the only thing is this little sign. i showed it to you at 5:00. here it is again. that someone left here this afternoon. maryland values the statue for historical reasons only. no one is proud of the pro slavery legacy. we don't know who put it here but the governor has said the statue must go. we keep an eye on it and will let you know when that happens. brad bell, abc7 news. alison: one more note here. five months ago a bust of roger b. taney removed in march. it was in front of city hall. it was moved to a nearby cemetery with the is that chew of the maryland first governor and slave owner thomas

johnson. michelle: moment of defiance in durham, north carolina. the protesters there tearing down confederate memorial statue outside the courthouse. now, though, criminal charges, prosecutors are charging the woman seen climbing a ladder to help topple the statue with vandalism. charges against other protesters are possible. at this hour, the national park service is working to clean a national treasure. earlier this morning someone and havized the lincoln memorial -- and havized the lincoln memorial. it had -- vandalized the lincoln memorial. it's the third time vandals struck the memorial. alison: take a good look now. fairfax county police want you to see this. this is the sketch of a guy they believe grabbed a 5-year-old girl on sunday and sexually salted her. the child disappeared from a playground in alexandria and was returned a short time later.

family what happened. now she is getting counseling and medical care. police want to hear from you if you know anything about this. michelle: a pride flag burned in the district. the owner's message for whoever is responsible and how police are responding. alison: a new report shedding new light on last year's deadly apartment explosion in silver spring. doug: pretty rapid clearing around the area now. that is great news for the nats. first pitch will be under partly cloudy skies. we talk about the weekend. warming trend ahead and next ten days in the forecast still to come. "abc7 news at 6:00".

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alison: a smoking manhole shut down an intersection in d.c. but it's back open at this hour. the smoke billowing through the manhole on 14th street between v and w street. that is right by provision 14 and best boy and poets. no word on what caused this. michelle: new information on the explosion that killed seven people at the flower branch apartments a year ago. they released a hundred pages of documents, photographs and interviews with witnesses. the cause is not yet known a preliminary report blamed a buildup of natural gas. new information on last week's deadly fire in shady side. anne arundel county fire investigators tell the

found dead in the burned out home set the fire intentionally and then took his own life. one else was hurt coming up at 6:00, the deluge that swamped part of the district and the damage left behind. alison: a woman's pride flag burned in the district. how she is fighting back next at "abc7 news at 6:00". and the "7 on your side" call for action team taking your calls right now. just call this number. 301-652-help. 301-652-help. they can help you get action to resolve consumer or the business disputes. we'll be back after this.

alison: we have just learned more business leaders resigned from president trump's manufacturing conference. they all cited president trump's comments on charlottesville and they join other leaders including the under armour president as well. michelle: a d.c. woman

to be intimidated after someone set fire to the pride flag outside her northeast washington home. the police are investigating the arson as a suspected hate crime. shanna tells abc7 getting rid of the damaged flag was never an option. it hangs from the second floor of her home higher and prouder than before. >> i don't think violence and hatred have anyplace here. so i just wanted all my neighbors and whoever did this to know i'm not afraid. i'm not fearful. the way you fight hate is with love. >> surveillance cameras in the area did not capture the person who set fire to the flag sunday night. police have not made any arrests. >> citing the first amendment a tech company is refusing to comply with a justice department warrant. federal prosecutors are demanding dream host surrender information to disrupt tj 20.org. they say they helped c

some of the protests turned violent with people smashing windows, setting fire to a limo. more than 200 people have been charged. a court hearing set for friday. "7 on your side" tonight helping you get problems solved. you can speak to our call for action team to get help resolving a consumer or business dispute. call 301-652-help. they will take calls until 6:30. >> turn to the weather and the heavy rains we saw earlier today flooded basements, brought down tree limbs as well. it turned a busy street to the river. >> a busy intersection confluence of two rivers. drivers carried along connecticut avenue carried along by a strong current. those go

finding themselves fighting a downward deluge. >> it's a river going down nebraska. going up in my car. i had one of those flashes of am i going to float away? >> the rain brief but hard and fast. enough time to bring down a portion of a large tree in bethesda. >> probably a foot at least. we have no idea what it did to the engine or the brakes or anything else. >> also to flood a parked car on connecticut avenue. >> a lot of water. >> so, i'm going to try to bail some of it out. >> another problem from this surge of water, flooded out basements. especially down nebraska and down connecticut avenue. we spoke with a couple of people who said this isn't the first time this summer they have had to dry out their lower levels. stephen tschida, abc7 news. michelle: flooding problems weren't exclusive to the district. the baltimore firefighters tweeted out the images showing

car stalled out in the floodwaters. no was hurt. alison: you were saying this is building up, too. we have had so much rain this summer. doug: it may not be obvious. there are no strong winds. they will cave in. and root system undermine. even more so we have the heavy thunderstorms and the strong winds full canopy of the leafs. it will go down. it's all due to the excessive rainfall. talk about the weather. it will get better as we speak with clearing skies. live look at the national harbor along potomac river. sunshine cutting through. the trend will continue to spread eastward across the area through the evening. much different evening than the day. we won't have the rain to deal with we have had in the day. but we may wind up with areas of fog. 81 in hagerstown. 82 in culpeper. 78 in baltimore. 81 in a -- annapolis. watch for the temperatures to hold steady in the upper

break. the temperatures fall off. we get close to the dew point, likely to see area of fog. especially areas with the rain today. that will be the storyover night. low clouds associated with the cooer temperatures. muggy air. so parky dense fog you -- patchy dense fog you may deal with but it will burn off the morning hours and turn into a nice day. expect a lot of sunshine. big happening the next few days for the montgomery county fair. monster madness. truck madness tomorrow. sunny. after morning fog. highs of 88. monster truck madness continues on thursday. eileen will be there. on friday, veronica johnson will be there with the demolition derby. it's a summer fair and it will feel like it. upper 80's to near 90 but there could be scattered thunderstorms thursday and friday as well. the weekend, there is a chance of a thunderstorm or two scattered late in day on

sunday. generally it will be a better pattern for saturday and sunday than thursday or friday. warm, not overwhelmingly humid. fair sunshine as well. check out the next ten days. it will look sweet with the summer weather rebounding fisely. the daily shower chances for thursday and friday, lingering to saturday. monday for the eclipse it looks terrific. partly cloudy skies and 87. heading through the middle and the end of next week. plenty of sunshine. getting warmer and more humid in the upper 80's. by that point the upper 80's is above average for the middle of august. that is the latest. alison: thank you very much. yeah talk to erin about sports. what do you have for us? erin: we have secret to gio's bounceback season. robert burton goes one-on-one with the pitching coach mike maddux and plus, kirk cousins reveals where he wants to play next. the answer may

erin: in one of the mostdy fin tiff statements kirk cousins says he wants to play for the redskins for his entire career. he is set to become a free agent in seven months. he told espn that he loves playing where he is and he is not looking to sign with another

the question is will washington give him the long-term deal he wants. >> if you cow draw it up i'd be a redskin the rest of my career. when you look at the best of the best, the quarterbacks played with one team. my desire to stay with one team my entire career is washington. erin: this story is not going away, is it? meanwhile the nationals are back in action hosting angels. gio gonzalez on the mound tonight. the nat starter having a fantastic career. gio is in the midst of one of the best season in years. 10-5 with 2.59 e.r.a. robert robert call -- robert burton caught up with the pitching coach mike maddux to talk about his success. >> he has been consistent all year. he's been focused. the game plan and what he wants to do when he goes into it. the side work, there is a purpose for every throw he

takes. >> cravens had surgery and is expected to be recovered by week one. september 10 is the first game. >> already. >> thank you. >> all right. weather wise, a lot of changes every day. >> rainy day. gloomy. we have areas of fog tonight. it shall clear to part any sunny. 88 near a high. near 90 for both days with afternoon thunderstorms a good bet. josh is in for steve and he will talk about the summer heat returning and a look at the weekend and the eclipse weather right now. the initial outlook encouraging for the weekend. a cup ol of afternoon storms but a good use of weather with highs for upper 80's both days. we have more at 11:00. alison: great. michelle: thank you. "world news tonight" with mur you are up next. alison: we hope you will join

tonight, breaking news as we come on the air. president trump doubling down, defending his response to charlottesville, waiting 48 hours before condemning racism, the kkk and white supremacists and tonight now saying there is blame on both sides. >> i think there's blame on both sides. you look at -- you look at both sides, i think there's blame on both sides. and i have no doubt about it. >> the president standing firm saying both sides should take responsibility. also tonight, the growing storm threat. the hurricane off the east coast. the track coming in and how it will affect the coastline. the horrific discovery today. the invisible danger. a father finding his entire family overcome by carbon