has to go along with tons of concrete, asphalt, dirt and three weeks of work. that is just one line. a smaller 10-inch line is also getting replaced. understand why the light street work is going to take three weeks, you need to start all the way on the other side of town. last week the city started work on a 54-inch water line. one of the biggest in the city that takes water to two other counties. the reason why they tore out this section of pipe is because special sonar equipment told them it was going to fail. so they were proactive. >> we're looking at all the underground pipeline systems so we can evaluate it. and lay out our plans. systematically we replace the pipes that need to be replaced. >> reporter: there is not just one pipe on light street. there are two. 700 feet of 10-inch pipe laid here back in 1914 was nearing

the end of its life span and the city says the best way to manage that asset is to take it out as well. with monitoring and planning they hope the two new lines will last another 100 years or more under light street. >> three weeks is a long time. for motorists. this work needs to be done. we're hoping people will be patient, and once it's done we will have more reliable systems for water. >> reporter: those repairs are expected to take about three weeks. for motorists forced to wait in traffic for a while this part of light street, all the bumps, we -- well, those are going to be rolled out of the street as well. roosevelt leftwich, abc2 news. check it out. maryland's most powerful doppler radar, a couple of storms up into northeastern maryland. zoom in a little here and you can see the storms flaring up

over basically harford county, a little bit into western baltimore county, and all toward carroll county too getting downpours there. most of the state sitting relatively clear now. but not those particular areas in the northeast corner and also ocean city with a pretty big storm at the moment. this is the other story, isn't it? the humidity has come up. air temperatures are actually 10 to 15 degrees cooler than this time yesterday. with the humidity it feels almost as hot. heat index, nothing to play with. 90s the rest of the evening. we'll see temperatures fall to the 80s and 70s overnight but it's still going to be hot tomorrow. still the chance for more storms tomorrow. will we see any change for the weekend? we'll talk about it. >> thank you. it is expected to be the biggest hit of the summer. tonight "the dark knight rises" on to the big screen in theaters all over the country. the biggest batman fan charley crowson is at the rotunda gearing up for the caped

crusader. i can't wait to hear your review. i'm going to see it this weekend. >> reporter: i think rosy may give me a run for biggest fan. >> it's close. >> reporter: we're live on 40th street getting ready for premiere of "the dark knight rises." this has been anticipated for more than a year now. the end of chris nolan's batman trilogy. this could be darker than even the middle one. that would be "the dark knight." tonight they are going to have the previewing at 9:00, ramping up to the premiere of "the dark knight rises" coming up at midnight. we're here with don and friends at z104. this guy, adam walks in, about 30 minutes ago, you buy a ticket. you are excited about this. >> i am. i'm an avid batman fan. i think christian bale did an awesome job in the batman trilogy. chris nolan did an awesome job directing it. it's going to be awesome. i'm looking forward to the midnight showing. to be one of the 50s first. >> reporter: look over your

left shoulder. what is this? >> that is the dark knight himself. that is batman. >> reporter: that is batman. we're going to talk about that at 6:04. kelly, you were talking about the possibility of this movie breaking records. the record is $207 million. that was from "the avengers" a couple of months ago. projections right now from "the dark knight rises" are at about $185 million for its opening weekend. some say it could give "the avengers" a run for its money at $207 million. you asked for a review. tune in tomorrow morning on "good morning maryland." i'm going to see the movie coming up tonight at midnight. we'll tell you our thoughts on it on "good morning maryland." we'll be back at 6:00 and we're talking to that guy. for now live at the rotunda on 40th street getting ready for the premiere of "the dark knight rises," charley crowson, abc2 news. >> i thought it was a statue until he moved. >> reporter: wait, batman! hey! don't smile. no smiles. wave to kelly swoope.

>> all right. >> reporter: it's that simple. >> see you at 6:00. thank you. coming up -- another story about a driver speeding down the wrong way and involved in a crash. what the driver told police after the crash. a florida fisherman gets the scare of his life when he stares down a shark. >> don't forget to check our weather apps. right now we have active storms on the radar. you can find them here by using maryland's most powerful doppler radar. even zoom in wherever you are traveling. it's an important app, and available at the i-tunes store. we'll be right back. ♪

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an arrest in a frightening case caught on tape. a man comes up and tries to grab a 10-year-old girl walking down the street in philadelphia. scott goldberg reports. >> reporter: the surveillance video appears to capture the kind of attack that authorities say rarely happens. a stranger first following a 10-year-old girl in his car, then walking up behind her on the sidewalk in broad daylight and trying to snatch her. the girl bit him, he dropped her, then he tried to pick her up a second time while she fought and her younger 2-year-old brother started screaming. the attacker eventually let go

and ran away. police say the man in the video turned himself in a day after the attempted kidnapping. after his family urged him to fess up. >> he is identified as a carlos figueroa and has been charged with the following crimes -- that includes attempted kidnapping, unlawful restraint, simple assault, false imprisonment and unlawful contact with a minor. >> reporter: after the attack the girl's mother spoke to abc's philadelphia station wpvi with her face hidden to protect her daughter's identity. >> she's mentally stressed out but physically she's doing ok. >> reporter: mom says she can only think one thing when she saw the video. >> oh, my god, oh, my god. >> reporter: a media campaign and citywide search to catch the predator may have convinced him to turn himself in. et -- he told them the right

distrig tribbution of the video prevented him from walking the streets. ? in mississippi, cars speeding on the wrong side of the road for miles. cars dodging it, getting out of the way until the wrong-way cars crashes into an oncoming car. the driver told police he doesn't even remember the crash. he faces a number of charges. fortunately the cars hit were not hurt. a spear fishermen off the coast of florida jumps in the water. the first thing he comes face-to-face with, possibly a great white shark. he was able to scramble back on the boat safely, no one was hurt, the shark then followed him for 20 minutes. glad he was not bleet bleeding or he would have been toast. climbing stairs to honor the firefighters who lost their lives on september 11 we'll have more on the memorial.

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firefighters from all over the state climbed for a good cause today. they are remembering fallen firefighters killed on september 11th of the world trade center. manny introduces us to the men and women who are creating awareness one step at a time. >> reporter: baltimore city fire department in conjunction with the national fallen firefighters foundation held a memorial stair climb to fdñhonor the sacrifices made by men and women whose lives were claimed on september 11th.

>> i'm retired from the fdny. i lost a lot of family, fdny members in the trade center. the men and women who are behind us right now, they are remembering them. for me as well as all the family members who lost loves ones. >> reporter: hundreds of firefighters came to support the nonprofit fallen firefighters fund like battalion chief paramedic angel from prince george's county. she and the boys are climbing the stairs to honor some of the fallen heroes. it's for richard allen, on ladder 15. it's a great cause to raise money for the families of the fallen firefighters. >> reporter: this large family of firefighters will climb seven flights to equal the 110 flights, the same number as the world trade center towers. this climb is a time to remember and pay tribute to those 340 members of the fire department. >> to remember the sacrifices,

not only for the fdny members, but the families that were in that family, civilians and everybody else. it was a big event in our country, and it should never be forgotten. because a lot of sacrifices made that day. by the whole entire country and it brought the country back together. >> reporter: in downtown baltimore, manny loch, abc2 news. the event also served as with a way to firefighters to honor the comrades who made the ultimate sacrifice on september 11th. thundershowers on the map and this is welcome actually. welcome rain. yes, some lightning. you have to be careful with that if you're outdoors at all. we've even seen the lightning diminishing and getting a good shower, bel air, back into parts of -- well, actually, you have to call it eastern baltimore county, basically from white marsh south into towson some

rain. that's not all. there's more rain to the west here. we have a storm flaring through carroll county and big storms rumbling down here at the beach. and boy, this is parched earth on the eastern shore where we're eight inches or more in spots behind on rain totals. so again, you have to watch for the lightning showers. the rain showers on and off through early saturday, actually pretty welcome stuff. the weather that developed through the day, downtown bel air, storm clouds develop and rn÷get the downpour dousing downtown and main street. it gets wet, the trees are liking it. manchester in northeastern carroll county getting a healthy downpour here as well. so rain continuing on and off. we have a nice heavy shower. the football fields are soaking that up. at the beach, checking out that powerful thunderstorm, look at this, yeah, big waves of rain, and stormy skies. beach clearing out in a hurry. that's a good idea when the

weather takes at that kind of a turn. at the airport not far from our view of annapolis 90 degrees. wind out of the east, humidity very high. so the numbers, which are believe it or not 10 to 15 degrees cooler than our highs yesterday, doesn't feel that way because the humidity level has come up. so as a result this is what it feels like now. 109 in frederick. 101 downtown. even state capital 98. 97 cambridge. hot sticky conditions. yesterday was not quite as sticky but was hotter, but the end result, either way felt like 100 both days unfortunately. there's some change on the way. this boundary should provide some cooling and perhaps some overnight showers and thunderstorms. if they get in here after sunset it's great. it will really allow the rain to soak in a bit. rain that we need. across the east coast now it's an unsettled pattern as our persistent heat wave gets a little break. the pattern gets more active in the east, that means more showers and thunderstorms, more cloud cover and less extreme

heat. in terms of the highs. will we see more showers and thunderstorms tonight? i think it's possible. at least on and off. as we go into the day tomorrow, right now looks like our computer model keeps a lot of the storm action west of us. if it gets in here it could be severe, at least briefly in the afternoon. and then looks like just some showers and maybe a thundershower overnight into saturday morning. this would be great news too. some soaking rains hopefully at least in spots, overnight into early saturday before we think we get some clearing into saturday afternoon and the weekend. but the most intense heat is still out there. in the country's mid-section where the crops are burnt to a crisp. still low to mid-100s. that's not the heat index. that's current temperatures. overnight 74, 2-degree guarantee of 85. tomorrow night down to 70. the 7-day forecast shows that the temperatures will run in the 80s for most of the weekend. we'll keep a chance of a shower

or storm through early saturday. it will infringe on the weekend a bit but it's rain we need. so we'll take it. >> it's a vicious cycle. >> it is, hot, dry -- we don't want that. democracy 2012. we've been looking at the five doctors that could drastically reshape washington come november. and today we're examining the role of super pacs. tori joins us from washington tonight. this has not been a traditional presidential campaign as far as the presidential ads are concerned, has it? >> reporter: it really hasn't. money is driving the message. that is because the rules have changed. chances are at some point you've seen an ad like this. >> he's the $200 million man. >> reporter: or this. >> he has more baggage than the airlines. >> reporter: guess what? you've seen what is leading up to november.

>> tell obama to stop the spending. >> reporter: one research firm estimates spending on national, local and state races could hit $9.8 billion. by comparison, 2008's tab was $7 billion. >> he's putting you at risk. >> reporter: it stems from a 2010 supreme court ruling. it says spending by corporations and unions cannot be limited. enter the word of the super pack. >> the "jvzsuper pack is doling huge dollars. >> it's the year. >> i didn't say something nasty, it was the super pack. >> reporter: they can collect and spend unlimited amounts of campaign contributions. here's where it gets tricky. they are not allowed to coordinate with the campaigns so candidates are not always in control of the message. >> the benefits for candidates for the super pacs far outaway the negative. they raise a lot of money, they are able to go out there and run devastating commercial that's the candidate doesn't have to take ownership of.

>> reporter: so far these outside organizations have actually spent $170 million on campaign ads. they are unregulated, uncapped and it's really creating a whole new spin to this election. >> it's just getting started. so, the president kicked off a two-day campaign trip to florida. what is on the agenda? >> reporter: earlier today he was actually in jacksonville, florida, right away he went after mitt romney and described what he thought he would be like as a president. >> cut more investments in things like education and research. it's not what you and i believe, florida. that's not what most americans believe. no matter what party you belong to. >> reporter: the president also visits west palm beach tonight and makes two other campaign stops in florida tomorrow. and kelly, it's pretty clear he understands how important it is to win the state in this re-election. remember four years ago in 2008 he only won florida by 3%.

>> tori, thank you for that live report from washington. oscar winner morgan freeman donated $1 million last month to priorities usa action. the super pac is raising money to support the president's re-election campaign. in a statement, several celebrities also donated to the group. i'm jamie costello. coming up at 6:00 -- police seize heroin, guns, thousands of dollars in cash. the suburb where it happened and why it's not that uncommon anymore. and scientists have been saying for years that stem cells could be the key to treating diseases but a new breakthrough is really expanding that idea tonight. here's a preview of what is ahead of "world news" at 6:30. diane sawyer. >> coming up -- that video we showed you of the 10-year-old girl escaping a kidnapper. while an arrest has been made.

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and our schools and teachers. thousands of good paying jobs it's the new resort casino at national harbor. but it won't happen unless lawmakers act right now. all that money -- and all those new jobs -- will go to delaware, pennsylvania, west virginia. the only loser: maryland schools. tell your delegate and state senator to vote yes for schools, jobs, and small businesses by saying yes to national harbor.

your kids may not be excited about the idea of going back to school but those retailers are. despite three straight month of slumping sales retailers are optimistic about what they say is the second biggest shopping season of the year. abc2 news karen kafa explains what that means for your wallet. >> reporter: the thought of going back to school is a downer for most kids on summer break. for retailers, however, things are looking up. the national retail federation's annual survey of

back-to-school shoppers finds the average person with school-aged children will spend $688.62. up about $85 from last year for a total of more than $30 billion in retail sales. >> when you think about how much people are spending, a lot of them have tried to make do with what they had over the last several years and want to make sure that their kids have everything they need to go back to school this year. >> reporter: the bulk of back to school money will be spent on clothing, about $246 followed by electronics, $217. shoes just over $129. and about $95 off supplies. retailers hope a robust back-to-school season can snap a three-month streak of declines in sales as consumers remain cautious. half of those surveyed said they will be seeking discounts. retailers say they will find plenty in store and on-line. still back-to-school and back to campus shoppers are expected to spend a combined $88.3

billion this year. a buying season retailers say ranks second only to the winter holidays. i'm karen kafa, abc2 news. >> i look forward to tax-free shopping. into we're hours away from potentially recordbreaking opening of "the dark knight rises." we'll check back with charley crowson who is in the thick of the premiere action. coming up at 6:00 which starts now. >> police seized almost $50,000 worth of heroin, marijuana and cash along with some stolen guns. harford county admitted to a hero win problem years ago. you'll hear they are not alone. how the war on drugs is moving to the suburbs. somebody is watching you. it's a good thing. cameras rolling all over baltimore to =2ábprevent crime. there's about to be more. right now let's look live