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that this danger was next door. good evening. i'm wendy rieger. jim and doreen are off tonight. we will first get to the heat. it is 11:00 and it remains hot and humid in the nation's capital. we are living up to our summer reputation. derrick ward will show us how people are trying to keep cool but let's head up to bob ryan. bob? >> you can see some showers knocked the temperatures down. germ germantown, 74 degrees. these are showers in prince george's county. theyre a long way from loudoun county but they have been moving rapidly east with cloud-to-ground lightning. that is the good news. how does this compare? we had our hottest day of the summer so far, 97 degrees. remember, two years ago it was 102 degrees. right now only 81. that's how it feels in washington. the temperatures in many spots are down into the 70s because of those showers and thundershowers. i think we will be seeing more tomorrow. this will not be an extended

period of heat. there will be a break coming autopsies we go to the next couple of days. i will tell you about that. the hottest day so far this summer. >> thank you, bob. the heat and humidity didn't keep folks inside tonight. a lot of people were out there doing all kinds of things. derrick ward is on the national mall telling us what people are up to in the dark hours. >> reporter: well, dour ren, a hot day in d.c. in august no. surprisethere. but what is surprising is how few of these hot day that's we've had. these storms that have moved through have cooled things off significantly. that's a stark contrast to how things were earlier today. short pants and short stints outside. that was the order of the day in our area. folks were advised to avoid strenuous activities outside because humidity made temperatures in the 90s feel like 100-plus. there are heat advivisories and opened up cooling centers. >> i came in to hydrate. >> reporter: outside the cooling center, there was enough of a

breeze to keep the flag unfurl but not enough to keep those who had to be out cool. >> i have to get something to eat and then i came here. >> i receive treatments and it's really america like to be in a place where you can come and cool off. >> reporter: how about cooling with a tropical flavor at a tropical ice cream and eatery in silver spring. as the weather heats up, so does business. >> a steady flow of customers coming in all day. >> reporter: ice cream and a swimming pool. that's the prescription. >> reporter: down on the mall, the ever-present joggers weren't so present until sunset. and back at the cooling center, time for fond memories of how folks kept cool in the days before ac. >> we just go up on the old trees. >> reporter: well, it's a big difference again now, thanks to these storms that have moved through but the temperatures are expected to climb again tomorrow. let's see if they are as hot as it was today. live in the mall. back to you in the studio. >> thanks, derrick. a tattoo parlor is closed

tonight after aeadly shooting. police say a woman shot her husband about 6:00 inside lake widty jones tattoo and body art in southeast d.c. that's near the potomac avenue stop. we're told the couple owned the shop together. no customers were inside at the time. the woman is in police custody. authorities in new york are hoping to recover the final body from a deadly midair crash. divers will go back to the hudson river when it gets light. today they pulled one man from the wreckage of a small plane that crashed into a sightseeing helicopter on saturday. the photo showed the plane's wing sheared off on impact. 911 calls reveal the panicked moments shortly afterwards. >> there's a helicopter down in the water. >> two helicopte went down in the hudson. >> the helicopter went down into the water. the plane, i'm not sure what happened to it. i can't see it from my window. >> three family members from

pennsylvania, the helicopter pilot and five italian tourists were all killed. the wreckage is spread out, so ntsb investigators say it is going to take some time to gather it all for inspection. still ahead tonight -- an incredible story of survival. a dog found ditched in a dumpster, left for dead. now she's on the road to recovery. and one year after a truck crashed and fell off the bay bridge, are drivers any safer? stuck in midair, two dozen ridersto b wuet for rehos sctoe rescue there's something big happening at pizza hut. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut. or sit on her bed and talk about her day. but she's ready. thanks to walmart's unbeatable prices, i was able to get her everything she needed.

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that helps spread gravel and stone. they will help replace tie construction work and they plan to review work rules and procedures. it's been exactly one year since the horrific and deadly crash on the chesapeake bay bridge. travel experts say there are still not enough safety measures in place along that span. a truck driver was killed a year ago today when he swerved and crashed into the barrier, falling into the water below. since then, crews have been reinforcing bartier. aaa applauded the improvements but the travel club is now calling on transportation officials to install a barrier that separates two-way traffic as an added safety measure. the washington humane society is now nursing a dog back to health that was left for dead in a dumpster. officials say someone found the dog known as trooper in a dumper

outside a southeast d.c. apartment complex. the dog was wrapped in a trash bag that was duct tape to her body. she was taken to friendship hospital for manuals where she underwent surgery for immediately. >> i was in a little bit of disbelief when the doctor was describing me what it sounded like what we were seeing and when we had got to the scene, it was worse than i was expecting. i was shocked. it was probably up with of the most pathetic things i have ever seen. >> it's believed trooper was a so-called bait dog for an illegal dogfighting ring. trooper is recovering but may need another surgery. once healed, they hope to place her in a loving home. still to come -- anonymous text messages keeping children up all night but there could be an easy fix. breastfeeding, it can benefit the woman and child by helping fend o

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nk > m>>aas> w kanlesdhi t lea a of d o couple of dogs atom a he in rg h. when police arrived, there was chaos both inside and outside the house. jackie bensen reports. >> reporter: when police arrived at the house on plaza street in leesburg, this was a cocker 'barking inside this plastic dog crate. inside the house, they fnd a terrible scene. there were two pit bulldogs running through the home and a body of a 20-year-old man. beside him was a small pug mix dog that las peered also appea been mauled to death. >> what made this difficult is the animals were in the house. >> reporter: distraught family and friends arrived while police were there. emotions ran high. at one point police subdued and temporarily detained a man.

neighbors said they knew the family had dogs but never saw them running loose or out of control. >> i live right over there. i have nephews and nieces. it's a scary thing. i don't know if i would necessarily blame it on the pit bull. i think a lot has to do with the ownership. >> reporter: the dogs were taken from the home by leesburg animal control officers. neighbors say the incident shocks them. >> my brother's got a pit bull and he said you have to take special care if you're going to have that kind of an animal. so it's just awful. >> reporter: that was jackie bensen reporting. police have not released the name of the victim. well, kids are getting text messages threaten that if they do not forward it, someone will come to their home and kill them. and tonight it is happening in a lot of -- happen happing to a lot of children and it is more often than you might think. nbc's lou khan has our report. >> i'm like a ghost. i'm dead. if you don't text this to 15

people, i'll come with a knife and kill you tonight. and it scared me. >> reporter: this 10-year-old is talking about the text message she received on her cell phone, and her mother says she hasn't been the same since. >> really been traumatizing for h her. >> they would be waiting at his bedside, to slice him in his neck and his parents would find him floating in his bathtub, overflowing with blood and water. >> reporter: she's talking about the same horrifying text message her 10-year-old son read on his cell phone. >> he was petrified, petrified. >> reporter: the cell phone text is a prank well documented on the internet. the text comes into the cell phone like spam, anonymously, but it claims to be sent by a 7-year-old ghost named jenny. the haunting tale is always graphically gruesome and says, if it is not forwarded to 15 others, the child will face certain doom. of course, it's all make believe. but the terror it's causing children with cell phones in our

area is very real. >> he hasn't slept by himself for a few days now. he won't leave my sidewalk in through the house. >> hearing i'm going to kill you or kill your parents, it's terrifying. >> reporter: psychologist nicole lipton said it's incidents like this that make her question the wisdom of giving cell phones to young children. she knows cell phone companies are marketing it as a good thing to do. and parents are buying it. >> they are saying you buy your child a cell phone for safety issues and then they're receiving these kinds of things. >> reporter: that's because the cell phone is now like the internet, put it in the hands of your child, and anyone can reach out and touch them psychologically. >> important to be in touch with your kids but there are ways where you can limit what the phone is used. orio f for. >> reporter: at&t is the cell phone provider of the families we interviewed. in a written statement, at&t said it's vigilant at protecting our customers from text message spam. we users fteil and other methods to prevent spam f chin

customers. one way to be guard ed about where and when you give out your cell phone number. and there are plans like smart limits who will block text messages except for her family and a few friends. >> that's a great idea. >> reporter: this drexel hill mom said she will happily pay for the service. and they hope to protect more children before others read the ghastly story or something worse on their cell phone. >> they should talk to their child about it because it's going to happen again. >> if you do get a cell phone for your child, experts say most companies offer security options to help protect children from unwanted messages. we had that steamy hot day and interesting not. flashing across the sky. >> wrapped to the west, i thought they would stay there. and a subtle relief, really. >> did it help bring the temperatures down? >> it has. where folks had gotten, there it

was, and this is how it lood downtown. 97 degrees our high temperature today, which was, as i mentioned earlier, our highest for the summer so far. look at e high temperatures around the east. boy, we made it to 97. a lot of 90s around the area but mid-part of the country, so this is not going to be one of those extended periods of heat. look at the departure. we're 10 degrees above average but mid-part of the country, temperatures just around average. so this was really a one-day for us. right now, our temperature here is 77 degrees and it is still humid with the heat index 81 degrees. that earlier heat index advisory is down. we had a little ripple in the atmosphe atmosphere. nasty storms to the west and north waste west. that was the reason some of those came over the mountains and when we had a little leftover convergence smshgs came across the bay. and there are severe thunderstorm warnings out

principally from fair cloud-to-ground lightning as can you see. there's the area for you folks around kent island. boy, it's a nasty night over there to the north. it continues up into around chestertown. meanwhile, out around loudoun county, nothing's going on nor has there been anything really for the last hour, hour and a half. so all of that has moved off and that's where we will see it. look at ocean city, still 86 degrees. ocean city was even warmer than we were here in washington, 98 degrees. german town, that's what the difference can make. temperature 74 simpson spots picked up ape quick quarter inch of rain. we will still be in the humidity tomorrow but more in the way of cloudiness means we will see our temperatures not as high tomorrow as they were for today but later on tomorrow and especially as we get into wednesday, a weather front i think will be bringing in some showers and some thundershowers. principally on wednesday, light risk. there may be showers and

thundershowers tomorrow to our north. hazy, warm and muggy tomorrow morning when you get up and head out. we will see a fair amount of clouds and the result will mean that the temperatures tomorrow will not be quite as high as today. settle for 93, 95 degrees. mostly sunny skies, hot and humid. later on tomorrow, the risk of seeing some more of these pop-up variety showers and thundershowers, principally for you folks out to the mountains of west virginia. we will keep an eye on things. temperatures tomorrow evening into the mid to high 80s. next seven days, here's how things shape up. wednesday, greater risk of seeing those afternoon thunderstorms. temperatures on wednesday, not even getting to 90 degrees. this will not be an extended period of searing heat and humidity. we had those in other summers. don't need it this one. weekend looks good. maybe an afternoon thundershower saturday. after that, into the 80s. sort of like feeling like august. >> that would be lovely.

>> sweater weather. still ahead tonight -- general motors and ebay teaming up to give you a whole new car-buying experience. but coming up next in sports, the redskins try to beat the injury bug.

what's going on with the nationals? >> here's the deal. they've got exactly one week and 40 minutes to sign first round draft pick. overall pitcher steven strasburg. in the nationals now, they will need it more than ever. it could be the most expensive signing in the history of the draft. rumors actually are swirling up to 50 million, but now the nationals need him more than ever because tonight they receive some very bad news. nationals rookie right-hander jordan zimmerman is expected to have season-ending surgery on

his right elbow. 23-year-old jordan zimmerman really is considered one of the building blocks of the nationals' franchise. he will be sidelined at least a year after tommy johns surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow. the team will get results on a final opinion tomorrow. he's 3-5 currently with a 4. 3 e.r.a. in 16 starts. went on the disabled list last month with soreness. moving now to baltimore. action tonight. orioles were hosting the a's. top of the second, no score. jeremy guthrie facing mark ellis. two on, one out. sends it to center. comes around to make it 1-0 oakland and that was just the beginning for ellis. now we move you to the top of the fifth inning. 3-0, a's. mark ellis up again. this time he's got the bases loaded. ellis trying to make it happen. sends it into left. jack cuts, scores and take a look. here comes kurt suzuki.

ellis, tremendous night, 5 for 5 with 4 rbis. a's win big, 9-1 the final. redskins are back on the field for two a days tomorrow preparing for a preseason game with the ravens. they are seeing injuries not from the heat but injury bug. other players are trying to get back to the action. wide receiver devin thomas had been out of practice because of a sore hamstring. same jer that kept him out much much of last season. today he was working after practice in the heat, really trying to loosen things up. he said he snows he has to get himself back out there in practice. this might have been the greatest glimmer of hope. guard randy thomas, sidelined with a sore knee, back today. he says he knows he will have to push it when he feels good enough to go. >> i just know when i'm ready and when i'm not. and i know it's a long year. trying to be careful. it's been responding well the

last two days. we're going up with it. we're not going back south. >> would you say you're 100% good to go? >> i will never be 100% the rest of my life that. started when i was 10. let's put it this way, when it's time to battle, i'll be there. >> randy thomas said he will take it when he can get it. he will try to go thursday against the ravens. to nascar, stony stert said it after the race, watkins glen is his house. he won the fifth race in the last eight at the track. we're back in new york. let nell you something, these guys have missed racing sunday because of rain so they were thankful to get back out there. lap 63, kasey kahne in the 9 car and sam hornish jr. in the 77. look at that unbelievable wreck. jeff gordon in the 24 was caught up in that one. take a look from this angle. this is the exact kind of thing these guys try to avoid on those tough road courses. the cars just look like they're completely demolished. sam hornish jr., you see his car

there, all wrecked up. he would have to settle for a 36th place finish. final lap -- and here comes tony stewart, who really does own this track. tony stewart pulls out front, holds off marcos ambrose for 21 laps for his senth road course victory. stewart won five times in watkins glen alone. like i said at the end of thiced race, he said watkins glen, this race is my house. second is marcus ambrose and third with carl edwards. great race. >> looked like it. thanks. coming up -- roller coaster gets struck, stranding people in for all event,

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not the ride they were expecting at the great america amusement park in santa clara, california, this afternoon. two dozen people were left hanging when the invert go roller coaster got struck partway up the steep climb. rescue workers used cherry pickers to release the passengers, removing them from their seat harnesses. park officials say no one was ever in any danger. tomorrow general motors launches a trial program to sell automobiles on ebay. it is part of the plan to reinvent itself. car buyers can go to gm.ebay.com, place bid on vehicles, negotiate the price directly with the dealers. the site will let customers know if their current cars qualify for the cash for clunkers program. right now the pilot program is just in california but if it's successful, it will expand to other dealerships aoss the country. there's a new study that finds that breastfeeding can help women who have a family history of breast cancer.

60,000 women took part in this study. it was at the university of north carolina. those who had a family history of breast cancer were 60% less likely to develop cancer themselves if they breast fed their babies. researchers say the protective benefits of breastfeeding are an equivalent to taking the cancer drug tamoxifen for five years. the findings did not apply to women who did not have family histories of breast cancer. overseas, some damaging weather, a mud slide triggered by an onslaught of rain smothered a village in southern taiwan, burying hundreds of people. the rain came with a typhoon that battered the country with high winds and rain. it was taiwan's worst flooding in five decades. hundreds are feared missing or dead from the land slide and at least 100 others managed to escape the village where they were rescued by helicopter. more dmatic video. this one out of the same region. floodwaters caused by the same

typhoon in taiwan swept away an entire buildi. taiwan television showing the entire building collapse as the strong current swallowed it. officials fear one ld slide there's something big happening at pizza hut. - woooh, nice! - that's a lot of food! now get big meals like our stuffed pizza rolls, pizza mia, the p'zone... and our personal panormous pizza starting at just $5. the big eat tiny price menu. only at pizza hut.

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