daylight shooting. as many as seven young people are shot as they stand near a metro station in northeast d.c. it's been a quiet start to the hurricane season but things are beginning to heat up with two new named storms. and more heat and humidity. it will be another typical summer day in the washington region. good morning. welcome to "news 4 today." it is sunday, august 16th, 2009. i'm keith garvin.

the news is just ahead. first let's go to chuck bell upstairs in storm center 4 for a quick look at this morning's weather. >> good morning. you're still smiling from your day off, aren't you? >> it was a good one. >> welcome back to work. welcome to sunday morning, everybody. if you're up this early you've got a big-time head start to day. clear skies outside for us. first thing this morning it will be a very pleasant day today. temperatures a little bit warmer than yesterd but not completely intolerable on the humidity scale so that is welcome news. tempato ures tget your sunday started we're 71 here at nbc 4 in northwest washington, 71 degrees in annapolis, 66 in beautiful prince george's county this morning. 65 in mt. vernon and springfield and quantico. 63 in manaas. 63 degrees in damascus, maryland. dew points low to mid-60s right now. it will be a touch humid. th ae ises a little bit of fog out there as well. jugs like yesterday morning. frederick, maryland, visibility under one half mile.

that won't last long. the sunshine will burn it away. hot temperature. around 92. keith? >> sounds good. thank you. it is a busy summer weekend for d.c. police officers who are dealing with multiple shootings. the first incident left seven people injured. one victim is just 14 years old. it happened at a bus stop in broad daylight. just hours later, police were called to a new scene, this time i ir f i ncident happened nc st tt evening ocas l he t 4100 block of minnesota avenue northeast. police say seven young people were shot at a bus shelter just outside the minnesota avenue metro station. none of the victims' injuries is believed to be life-threatening. investigators say at least one gunman opened fire on a large crowd at the bus shelter. they also believe many of the people in the crowd had just attended a go-go party just a few blocks away. then just before 11:00 last night, a young man was found sh multiple times in northwest. police say it happened in the 100 block of jefferson street. the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

there are no reports of arrests in either case. in prince george's county, the search is on for a suspect who fired at an off-duty police officer using a flri rifle. policearound ndou ntlitees yayrd cnclinton yestery thyorsas he tn. orities say the o county police was in h visleeh at the hit.ved, that thewes ir t he pt.dolhie he told pole gh ol tmi sint be eshe might be the result of a dispute with a family member. aotomac river outing came to an abrupt stop after a boat ran aground onto some rocks. were four were on board the vessel. they apparently misjudged how shallow the water is in the area north of bowie number 90. the prince george's county fire department sent two rescue boats to help dislodge the boat and escort it back to shore. no one was hurt. there's a proposal on the table to increase rates on the dulles toll road. t traise the toll next yearye 25 cents at the ain toll plaza and ramps, but

it doesn't end there. the toll is eec gted too up incrementally after last year. the mon g wyeldoudoldarow the o trnsarexpameionex iain trgndd aarow virginia and toward irosvent he tlin tol road. airpfft ols tiaic want to hear iautom ybo abothis. they are accepting facdbee k online through september4th. there will also be three public hearings on the issue. a few simple questions designed to keep you safe when flying the next time you book a flight. you may have to provide a little more personal information. darcy spencer tells us what the thinking is behind the changes. >> reporter: starting today when you make an airline reservation you may need to provide your gender and date of birth as well as your full name. it's all part of the transportation security administration's security flight program. >> better to b safe than sorry. i would rather have somebody ask me for more information and know they're doing what they're supposed to to keep us safe, when everybody's traveling, especially with people with families and little kids. like to see them do more due diligence a little bit so i think it's good.

>> reporter: secure flight is a behind the scenes watch list. officials say it's an important tool for those with a no fly status don't get boarding passes. it's aimed at making it safer and easier for travelers. >> i don't think it's a big deal. probably takes an additional 15, 20 seconds so i don't think it's a big deal at all. and to ensure safety, i think it's a good thing. >> reporter: the additional information is also supposed to prevent misidentification of people on watch lists. >> that was darcy spencer reporting. the government officials say that this program will be fully phased in by the end of next year. the new security measures go into effect the same weekend one of india's biggest move i stars was reportedly detained for two hours. it happened at newark's airport after immigration officials spotted the word khan in .s name. the bollywood superstar was on his way to chicago when he was held for questioning. customs officials d ieny the clm

and say he was questioned for a little over an hour as part of a standard process for screening foreign travelers. coincidentally, khan was heading to chicago to promote his new film about racial profiling. up next on "news 4 today," grab the sunscreen. it's going to be a sweltering sunday. chuck bell's full forecast coming up next. and he dominated in college. the nationals betting he'll do the same for them. details of a record-setting offer coming up.

their canvas is a concrete wall. 100 artists creating one massive work of art in northeast. they are painting a mural in the edgewood neighborhood. when they are done, the mural will be longer than a football field. artists of all ages andarying talents are taking part. if you would like to have a look, just hop on the train. you can see it from the rhode island metro station on the red line. nothing like some good constructive, creative art. >> i thought for a minute there that i was involved because you mentioned artists of varying talents. typically that's what i hear when my artwork is involved. >> a wide range there, good and bad. >> it's a good thing i have computers to help with most of my drafting. >> you're creative in the meteorology department. that's right. >> good, creative --

>> i can make up the forecast like you wouldn't believe. boy, we have a good one for today as well. sunny, hot, going to be just like august out there, so be ready for a little taste of summertime in washington. temperatures today, i think, back into the 90s once again, and we might have our longest stretch of 90-degree days summer comg summer coming up. outside right now, a beautiful day tside is under way. sunrise is at 6:23 this morning so you still have 13 minutes to get outside and watch a sunrise come up. you need to do that a couple of times every year. right now here in downtown, our current temperature's 72 degrees, a lig southeasterly wind at 3 miles per hour. dew point high but not uncomfortable just yet. 66 degrees. so far august a degree and a half warmer than average and one inchsu of rainfall, drier than average. so we do need some rain. not to mention some cooler temperatures. all right. temperatures around the area for this morning to get your sunday started, 66 in baltimore, 66 in fairfax county this morning, 65 degrees in loudoun county, virginia. 72 in hagerstown.

mart tins burg down to 63, one of the will cooler spots. culpepper as usual one of the cooler spots on the map at 1 degrees. the weather is starting to get more active -- not here. we'll be socked in with high pressure for the next couple of days. but the tropics have really started to get active right now. high pressure in karnlg of our weather. two named systems already now in the central atlantic. ana, a-n-a -- i was told that a-n-n-a would be anna, and a-n-a is ana. this is tropical storm bill. bill is the one i think we'll need to watch more carefully. bill has a much more favorable environment for strengthening here. but of immediate concern is now tropical depression number four just west of tampa, florida, first thing this morning. it's only a tropical depression at this point, but the national

hurricane center thinks it will take on tropical storm strength. if it does, we'll have claudette. we'll have ana, bill and claude net the tropics at one time. this may come onshore as a tropical storm here sometime during the day on monday between mobile, alabama, and apalachicola in florida. if you're traveling down to the gulf coast or anywhere down toward atlanta or birmingham we're going to need to keep a close eye on that. doesn't look like it will make hurricane strength but nonetheless could bring copious amounts of rain to portions of the northern gulf coast. for us, just high pressure and hot weather around here for the next couple of days. 92 is our forecasted high today. 94 tomorrow. 93 tuesday and 90 on wednesday. that would be four days in a row, and thursday 90 would make five days in a row. our longest stretch of consecutive 90-degree days this whole summer has been three, last week. >> we're getting off easy. we have so far. >> so far. >> it's ana, not anna. >> ana. i was corrected.

>> you don't want to upset hurricanes. >> you call someone the wrong name, they will slap you in the face. >> thanks, chuck. >> all right. >> the nationals make a push to lock up their potential ace of the future. here's hakem dermish with today's sports minute. >> good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with baseball. the nationals have offered number one overall draft pick sfb strasburg a record-setting contract, yet team president stan kasten says there's a very real possibility strasburg won't sign. meanwhile o the field, the nationals' offense erupted for ten runs last night against the reds. elijah dukes went 2 for 4. the nats down the reds 10-6. orioles hosting the angels. l.a. put up a five-spot in the third inning. in golf at the pga championship, tiger woods has a two-shot lead going into today's final round. tiger is 14-0 when leading after 54 holes at a major tournament. in football, michael vick made his eagles practice debut.

vick worked out as the number three quarterback in the afternoon practice. the 29-year-old vick is eligible to play in the eagles' final two preseason games. that's your sports minute. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> next up, "reporter's notebook," an inside look at the stories affecting your community. we'll be back in 15 minutes with the latest on the top stories. for now, he's pat lawson muse. >> good morning. this is "reporter's notebook." i'm pat lawson muse. on the notebook this morning, metro. it has been a rough summer for the metro system. deadly accident, bus and train operators suspended or reprimanded for operating their vehicles while distracted. a 21-year-old metro veteran killed on the job. now there is a push to get rid of general manager john catoe. a petition circulating on facebook and on local blogs is calling for catoe's termination. question to you all this morning is how serious is this effort, and is john catoe becoming a scapegoat for all of the problems that metro is

experiencing? >> the answer could be yes and yes. he is, obviously -- he's the obvious scapegoat because all of this has happened. he's the head of the metro operation and we've had all these problems, deadly, serious problems. is question is, how has his watch been? has he failed? there's a debate about that. on the other hand, he inherited the system that had these problems in them before he got there, and tight budgets, less oversight, it all came up in a cropper one time and had really caused a problem. >> i think ultimately, this comes down to what the national transportation safety board determines ultimately was the cause of that wreck and when did they know what, when? there's been some confusion about the reporting of -- they said, well, there have been problems reported in march. then they said in june. now they're saying they knew shortly after the accident that there were problems with that automatic braking system.

then there's another report of a person in a near miss having to deploy the emergency brake, keeping the operator of that train from crashing into another car. there's a public relations problem because operators have been seen reading, talking on the phones and those issues don't necessarily reflect catoe's management but it's his responsibility to correct them. he's instituted a zero tolerance policy. we'll see how the public responds. i think a lot of what happens will be -- as long as there's no sligt of hand in hiding inspection reports and inspections that were failed to be carried out, i think he'll probably survive this. >> the board seems to like catoe. jim graham likes him and also the metro board. but the question here is money in many ways. we can sit here and pick out a lot of things that happen in a

system. but when you don't have enough money to correct the problems that have been going on for years, then you're going to run into these snafus later down the line. we were talking about his contract. his contract is just about up in another year, 2010. so whether he's going to be renewed or not it seems as though the board likes him, but the blog that you're talki about, pat -- >> petition. >> petition, rather, i -- >> petition on facebook and on local blogs. >> we kind of figured this was going to happen when the accident happened because whenever something like that happens, the leadership catches it. >> but here's the next question then. in your opinions, how would catoe leaving metro help metro? >> i think jerry points to some key issues. money is, obviously, a big, big problem, and dave can speak to what's going on in terms of capitol hill in terms of the allocation for the continued support of metro. but again, look at what it is,

jerry. if you have -- you can't say it's routine for a train to run into the back of another train and nine people to be killed. that's not a routine occurrence. you don't want that on your watch. i don't care where you are or who you are. there's some serious things going on here that require some attention. and if those allocated funds that are available were not attended to braking problems that are still in deployment, that's a big, big deal. >> how culpable is catoe in what me knew about before the accident, what they knew, how prepared they were, how culpable might he or might he not be in getting enough funds? i think the jury might still be out on that. i think we have to wait and see what happens. >> it comes down to one thing -- the buck stops here. he's the top man. >> terror trials. trials for guantanamo bay inmates could take place at a new high tech courthouse in newport news, virginia. there has been an outcry recently over the prospect of holding terror trials in xaen, which is still under

consideration as a possible site, along with the cities of richmond and for fok. what are your thoughts? >> nobody wants them. nobody wants them anywhere near them and yet when you hear arguments presented by jim moran, who is the northern virginia congressman where the federal courthouse that has had these trials, when he takes the stage, he says there is protection, there is security. we've done it for tough terror people before. we did it for the last guy, the extra hijacker as we used to call him and it worked out all right. then there are other people who say, wait a minute, cell phones are a problem. even if these people are under tight security, and they obviously can't get out or harm themselves or anyone else, there's still cell phone traffic and things that happen around the prison, in the area. fbi director muller raised this issue which surprised me when i heard it. it isn't just a simple thing of having a trial. the question is, is there enough security in all areas? >> well, theeople of xaen are worried. you take a family living in the

neighborhood of a prison where these people are supposed to be placed. naturally they will worry about it. but i don't know. i might be out on a limb about this, but a lot of this is political, dave, i think. politics simply because like obama says, they have to move these people to the federal courts, give them a fair trial. but i'm not so sure americans have gotten over that fear from 9/11 that i want them in my back yard. >> we do know that the obama administration has sent the records of at least 30 detainees to four different u.s. attorney's offices around the country, including alexandria. one of the larger questions will probably be, do they have standing to continue to hold and/or try these folks outside of a military tribunal? that question i don't think has ultimately been settled. also, as you say, alexandria, norfolk, richmond, newport news, all these places seem to be gearing up on some level for some type of federal activity regarding these dane tease yoofrnlgts it will be draw

attraction, it will draw people who tend to be disruptive, people who want to make demonstrations. the crush of people. that's another thing. in addition to taking care of a trial and the incarceration, there's the outside challenge for everybody. >> logistics. >> yeah. >> but no prisoner has ever escaped from a supermax prison in the history of the united states, and i don't expect we would see that happen now. >> let's talk about the virginia governor's race. creigh deeds this past week threw abortio in the ring, criticizing bob mcdonnell's record of working to restrict a borgz. why did beads bring up abortion at this point? >> personally, myself, i think it's desperation. that race has been going on and on and on. we hear from both camps these various ideas that some way they -- i think deeds in this particular case just picked out aborgs because that's a hot issue. >> he was talking to a group of women. >> he was talking to a group of women. >> that's a real hot potato. >> i think it's deeper than that.

there's a fear of a mall az on the democratic side. now obama's having a tough time selling his health care plan, selling his stimulus plan, some of his foreign policies. kind of the bloom is off the rose. some of the people that were energized for him may not be energized, especially in northern virginia. how to get them back? bring up abortion, so people are saying. the question is, he risks offending people who are anti-abortion. >> there has been talk about abortion funding within the confines of this health care debate. >> yeah. >> but again, warner nor kaine touched the abortion issue at this point in their campaigns for governor so this is a little bit of a departure in democratic circles. >> we have to take a break. we'll continue on that point right after this. stay with us.

throwing the abortion i shall knew the campaign. you want to ask you about mcdonnell's proposal this week to fight crime by implementing a lifetime monitoring system for sexual offenders using gps. >> it seems to be not unlike the business as usual that his opponent was using. he's speaking to women for deeds and he's talking about what he nsiders to be one of the pivotal issues to that -- for that constituency. now he's talking to the virginia association of chiefs of police. of course he's got t give them some red meat. there's always -- there's already a registry for sex offenders. now, putting it on to satellite, what does that mean? >> electronic monitoring for the rest of the life who's going to pay for that? >> that's a good question. mcdonnell is all for these powerful type police procedures. he's credited with cutting budgets with not spending money on police, not giving them

enough money. therefore, he's been a tight wad, they say. these are wonderful ideas but how is he going to tell us how he's going to pay for them? and why not? >> we have deeds talki abo abortion, mcdonnell talking about sexual predators and gps. why is neither of them talking about health care, jerry? what's that everybody else is talking about, health reform. >> can't put on a good show. but that's a good question. they're playing to the constituency, what they feel issues are important -- abortion to the women and crime to the police chiefs. but health care is the issue all over the country that's happening in the states, and why they're not speaking about health care, because i think right now it's a dangerous thing for them. >> nobody really has a clear view now of how this thing's going turn out. there really isn't a bill to lk about, to play off. there are three proposals in the house side, three drafts by three committees, one committee draft in the senate and the finance committee, they're still

working among themselves to get it out. that leaves openings for all kinds of misinformation and assumptions and i think they probably both want to pull back from it, but they can't. thisomes up at their town -- whatever you want to call it, town hall meetings or their campaign stops. i think basically you'll find that creigh deeds is generally -- and the democratic area of health care, no predisposed -- no predisposed illness can hurt you. you don't have to lose your plan if you like it. but the republicans are saying, no, watch out for government takeover. >> i think this is right in dave's bailiwick there, with max baucus, finance. it's probably going to be done where the money is, in the finance committee, i would guess. but again, as jerry pointed out, it's so dangerous. are the republicans overplaying their hand with these vehement displays in this town hall meetings? do the democrats dare broach it in the form of deeds? >> this election is in what, september?

they can wait until the last minute. >> every democrat i talked to could take a real shot says, you know, there's a lot of disruption out there. some of it is inspired. but there are a lot of people who are really confused about this thing. they don't want to go over there. so the republicans, for the moment, have some political people that i talked toell me the republicans have a good issue but they better be careful. if they overdo it without any real ideas it will come back to bite them. >> the late jerry falwell said it. there's a silent majority. we don't know where that lies right now. >> let's talk about the chesapeake bay bridge because it's been a year now since the deadly crash on the bridge that sent a tractor-trailer plunging into the waters of the bay. this past week, aaa renewed a call for the state to halt two-way traffic on the twin spans during peak hours. is aaa overreacting? is it legitimate to ask why there's even two-way traffic on the bridge? >> i don't think aaa is overreacting at all. they even have a program on the bay bridge where if you're

afraid to drive across the bridge, what, $5 or $10 you can get someone to drive your car across. that is really intimidation, to drive across the bridge. a lot of people can stand heights. a lot of people don't mind driving a cross a bridge. but what aaa is saying here is that the oncoming traffic can be intimidating so there need to be -- maybe concrete divide to, you know, to distinguish what is east/west traffic. >> they're reluctant to stop it because they say the volume is so high and they don't have a better alternative. this, after all, was caused by someone who -- there was the aura of driving in intoxication situation, not paying full attention to driving. one of those just horrible horrible moments. of course, that can happen any time and you've got to guard against it. >> they have reinforced the so-called jersey walls that separate the various directions of trfic. but again, as you say, 25 million cars a year is a lot of traffic to manage.

and the way it stand that's two-way traffic system is the best way. >> until that morning they hadn't had anything, as i recall -- correct me if i'm wrong, viewers, but i don't believe they had anything like that. >> very quickly, this pushes toward one thing. they need another bridge that they've been talking about. >> that plolitically is not -- >> they've been talking about it. >> you can talk about it. >> 25 million cars on one bridge a year is a lot. >> jerry, dave, jim, thank you. thank you for being with us. that's "reporter's notebook." stay with us now for "news 4 today" which continues. i'm pat lawson muse. have a great sunday. topping the news this half hour, seven young people are hurt after they were shot near the minnesota avenue metro station. police say at least one gunman opened fire on a crowd standing at a bus shelter outside the station. all the victims are expected to

survive. a young man was found shot multiple times in northwest. police say it happened in the 100 block of jefferson street. there are no reports of an arrest. be sure to look out the window the next time you take metro through the rhode island metro station. 100 artists are creating a huge mural in the edgewood neighborhood in northeast washington. it will be longer than a football field. ulg be able to see the work of art from the metro station. good morning and welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm keith garvin. we want to begin this half hour with a quick look at weather. for that we go to chuck bell up in storm center 4. good morning, chuck. >> good morning, everybody. i promised you a sunrise at 6:23 this morning. cue the city camera. the sun is up now. seven minutes over the eastern horizon, climbing high in the sky. it will be a beautiful day outside today but you can get

the idea from the sunrise it will feel a lot like summertime out there today. a little touch of haze and a little touch of humidity out there for you. . 71 here in downtown washington. 72 in annapolis. 70 degrees on the nose in arlington, virginia, this morning. 65 in springfield. 72 in hagerstown. going to be a nice day, a little bit of humidity out there. dew point temperatures low to mid-60s right now. a little bit of fog as well. manassas, culpepper, visibility under two miles. martinsburg, west virginia, 1 1/3. frederick, maryland, less than a 1/2 mile in visibility. a little bit of fog first thing but that won't last long with the august sunshine streaming through. highs near 92 degrees. keith, only two days left this year with a sunset 8:00 or later and today is one of them. >> we'll try to enjoy it. thanks a lot. a calculated attack trying to frighten people into staying home on election day. a deadly blast killed seven people in afghanistan. the attack happened yesterday morning in a high security area in kabul. 100 people were injured.

the taliban claims responsibility and is threatening more violence. afghanistan's presidential election is less than a week away. president hamid karzai, who is up for re-election, says he believes the people will defy the taliban and head to the polls. a developing story this morning involving virginia's senator jim webb. the american man released from a myanmar prison is on his way home with the senator. senator webb apparently won the man's freedom. this is videof n the matalking withe aung san sue chew.sa a missouri man got caught visiting her and got a seven-year prison sentence. then webb stepped in. it's becoming less of a vacation, more of a business trip for president obama. for the second day in a row he held a town hall meeting on health care. this time in colorado. brian moore tells us the president is not only pushing his plan, he's trying calm

the debate. >> reporter: at a town hall meeting in colorado, president obama offered up a dose of reality in the health care reform debate. >> there is no perfect, painless, silver bullet out there. >> reporter: he asked his critics to do the same. >> the only thing i want to make sure of, though, is you make an honest argument because nobody's talking about government takeover o health care. >> reporter: it was another in a series of events that look a lot like his election campaign, but reform opponents are running a pretty good campaign of their own. >> thank you all very much for -- welcome to the rumble. >> reporter: democrats have been on the defensive all week. >> it's my opinion what we're seeing right now is the intentional, systematic dismantling of american republic. >> reporter: republicans say it's righteous indignation. >> there is nothing un-american about disagreements. in fact, our great nation was founded on speaking our minds.

>> reporter: meanwhile, the president will continue his campaign trying to convince americans that health care reform isn't about politics.s . brian moore,ew n tltea c hhare hdetehe,ba tba focus of "meet the pss " is th ing. on the show,enesveprtik taicme w senator tomoworks, otoah cole tr nato tom r written a book about the crissi and politicalme commentator racl maddow. hear what they think of the bill at 10:30. he may be soliciting ideas from residents, but the maryland governor has his own pn c to help reduce sfat butate spendin. it's in-state aid to local governments whichillecff at ffcal health departments, police aid, community colleges and money foros.ad o'malleyasor f for $470 million in spenting cs to

works next week. the board has already approved $280 million in reductions. d.c. councilman and former mayor marion barry says first priority is to his constituents so he stays focused on his work amid all the media attention. barry's personal life has often made headlines. you will remember he was convicted for failing to pay his taxes. >> i just ignore it. if i got bogged down in it, then i would not do my work. so, i'll continue to do my work to help people to help housing, help jobs, help health care and do everything else. that's why i think the people of washington have a great deal of fondness for me. they know that i've served, served well. >> barry also discusses his humble beginnings. the new movie about his life and more in this week's "viewpoint." you can catch the entire interview in just a few minutes here on nbc 4. it will provide college kid sms extra security and parents a little peace of mind as thousands of students head back to school, some colleges in the district are using new

technology to make sure they're safe. derrick ward has more. >> reporter: move-in day, a rite of passage for sons and daughters becoming freshmen. howard university and american university, parents say good-bye. >> i'm not so concerned about really just leaving her by herself. i'm just concerned about, you know, some of the things that may go on here in the city. >> i love the city. i thought this is the best part of the city, as far as i know. we're very excited. i think it's going to be a tremendous opportunity here for her. >> reporter: one of the things that parents at both campuses are concerned about is safety. this year, howard university is starting a new programimed at keeping all students safe. >> a new system called the hugs, h-u-guardian service. >> reporter: it's cell-phone based. a company called rave wireless. phones have featus like panic buttons and a timer function that can alert help if the user isn't at a preset location at a

preset time. >> we know that the students all have cell phones and so we feel that this is a way to reach out to the students and for them to reach us rapidly. >> reporter: this is in addition to existing campus security measures. meanwhile here on the campus of american university they have the same system in effect but it's called a.u. campus connect. for parents and students, the same calming, re-assuring effect. >> she's already signed up for that. she's more high tech than i am. >> it was wonderful. they send text messages to your phone, in case of any alerts, snow day, stay in. if someone's on campus that shouldn't be, they'll send it right to your phone. >> reporter: technology and good old common sense go a long way to put parents' minds at ease. >> as long as i'm careful and know my surroundings and get to know people who know the area, i think i'll be fine. i know not to go out late at night by myself. >> i feel much better than i did a few weeks ago. >> there are 1,700 members of the freshman class at howard.

american has about 1,500. still ahead on this early sunday edition of "news 4 today," 25 million bucks will buy you a piece of history. the latest on efforts to sell the watergate hotel. and the tropics starting to look like an assembly line. what the experts say about a slow hurricane season now speeding up.

this week's business report, most big name stores are struggling but the are some chains still turning a profit in this recession. cnbc's bill griffeth looks at that and everything else coming up this week in the world of business. >> reporter: the slow days of august are here but there's still plenty for wall street to watch this week. for example, are the big do it yourself chains getting it done right now? lo lowe's and home depot look to report lower profits from last quarter. we'll also hear from retailers like target, sax and the gap also looking at tough quarters as well. but t.j.x. companies, the parent of off-price marshal's and t.j. maxx stores are the bright spots in this recession. there's been some good news in housing. this week we'll hear from home builders on where people are buying new homes and where housing starts are looking to be rebounding. then on friday, we get july's

existing home sales figures. washington should be quiet with both the house and senate still in recess but look for more health care town hall meetings, which as you know have been far from quiet. what will ben bernanke do during his summer vacation? he's heading to the jackson hole economic summit in wyoming. top policymakers from around the world convene under the grand teton mountains, mapping out a global recovery plan. and this weekend, the obama family will be touring yellowstone national park and the grand canyon, highlighting a fee-free weekend of free parking for park goers right now. by the way, the president's birth state, hawaii, celebrates its 50th anniversary of statehood this week. i'm bill grif fitted. gret all your business news on cnwc. >> the watergate hotel is still on the rket. there are at least six potential buyers right now. last month the famed hotel was put on the auction block. bidding opened at $25 million, a bid so p.b.ered

capital bank took back the property. the lender is holding the $40 million note. the interested parties that are eyeing the watergate are said to be hotel chains. they are touring the property before they make their final decisions. the first person to present a check will likely get the hotel. a luxury hel for pocket chan . astute barin seekers booked the weekend at a four-sr inhol te venice for -- get this --l one cent. 230 people booked rooms at the rown plaza before t ed izts realized i e mi wthce pro griote. the wrong price got posted .line li he hotel meant to offer a two-night stay at half icpre.pr rooms at the crown plaza usually go for the equivalent of $214 a night. miltehote admits this is their ak te d pany thelano honor .oelaserervatrv.ns that decision could tos c cost them $129,000. why can't ever find those deals? >> price of a martin any the bar just went way up. >> they're going to get their money back somehow. >> diet coke, $17.50. thanks for staying here.

>> 6:43, 72 degrees outside. are we going to be thanking you for this forecast? >> if you like summertime, you should start writing your thank you note immediately. detailed check of the weekend forecast coming up.

almost 7,000 firefighters say they are making progress as they try to contain fast-moving wildfires in california. one of the largest is in santa cruz county south of frasan francisco. that fire is burning just miles away from 1,000 homes and buildings. it's only about 30% contained. governor schwarzenegger is urging people there to obey mandatory evacuation orders. firefighters say they are worried some coming weather changes could spark even more flames. hurricane season gotten off at that time quiet start but that silence has definitely been broken tropical storm ana is the first named storm of the season. it could hit puerto rico by tuesday and possibly florida by thursday. as carrie sanders reports, ana may be the start of a potentially busy hurricane season. >> reporter: it's been a quiet

summer so far, but now the formation of tropical storm ana and bill threatening on her heels means the atlantic hurricane season is finally kicking into gear. >> last summer at this point we had six storms already we had been tracking or wer trking. now we only have two. up to this point, we had 2 1/2 months of quiet. that was very unusual compared to what we've seen the last couple decades. >> i'm advised now that the toll is above 300. >> reporter: it was 40 years ago this monday hurricane camille slammed the gulf coast. that monster category 5 storm was the third named storm that year. it's why camille began with the letter "c." storms are named from a to z. most recently here in south florida, the first storm in 1992 was hurricane andrew. it formed august 17th. andrew, with its winds in excess of 175 miles per hour, was the costliest natural disaster in the united states. at the national hurricane center

in miami, forecasters say there's no reason to think a slow start means fewer or less powerful hurricanes. >> we're just now getting into the time frame where we, on average, see our first storm reach hurricane intensity. >> reporter: fortunately until now, conditions were perfect for calm summer weather. >> the upper level winds, that's what tears thunderstorms apart, have been very strong up through now through the caribbean, the gulf and off the east coast. that's one of the big reasons why it's been so quiet until now. >> reporter: then there's what's called el nino, a weather pattern in the pacific that, in turn, may calm hurricane conditions in atlantic. >> so folks who live along the east coast in the hurricane target zone like el inn know years? >> they better not. el nino occurred in 1992, hurricane andrew. 1965, hurricane bet see. >> reporter: the 2009 hurricane season still has 14 weeks to go. kerry sanders, nbc news, miami.

>> guess it was only a matter of time. >> that's right. the '92 season is a classic example. only one hurricane hit the united states that year and it was andrew. it did $30 billion worth of damage. >> it was a doozie. >> for south florida and louisiana. made two landfalls. september, october, those are really the busiest months. >> typically the peak of hurricane season is labor day weekend. we should expect more tropical activity and, as a result, we're getting some. two named storms and a new depression in the gulf of mexico to tell you about. outside around here, off to a beautiful start on your sunday morning as you get ready to get out and get going. is that fishing? can you fish this early in the morning? >> that's your boat, chuck. >> mine is much larger than that, keith. you know that. mine's a yachtage. that'shat i have. good looking day to be outside to water. get your floaty and settle in for a beautiful day in the sunshine.

72 in downtown, a light southwesterly breeze. dew points in the 60s but a little touch of august humidity but as long as we keep it under 70 i will be happy with that. a warm and dry august so far. it will be hot and dry for not just today but the next couple days as well. all the way down to brandywine and clinton and upper marlboro, mid-60s to get you started this morning. good looking day on the way if you like summertime sunshine and a little bit of heat as well. haven't had that many 90 degree days so far this year. less than half of our average number of 90 degrees days so far but we're about to start adding onto that count. high pressure in charge. a dying weather front off the virginia capes. hot, not too humid today but definitely a little touch of august humidity in the washington area. here's a look at the wide tropics. this is ana right here. definitely going to be keeping an eye on ana here over the next couple of days. this is tropical storm bill. bill is a much greater concern to me and to the national hurricane center over the longer

term as that storm moves to the west. of more immediate concerns for the folks in the gulf of mexico, that is tropical depression numb four sitting just offshore from tampa, florida. the storm direction now is going to be taking it up almost directly toward apalachicola late tonight, into the early morning hours of monday morning. apalachicola, florida, to pensacola to mobile bay on the lookout now as what will probably become tropical storm claudette makes landfall late tonight or early tomorrow, somewhere in the western parts of the florida panhandle. should be a minimal tropical storm but it could bring copious amounts of rain to central and southern georgia, southern alabama and the western parts of florida and maybe, if we're lucky, some of those rain showers will put a little increase in rain chances in our forecast by middle to later parts in the week. because for now august has been hot and dry. that pattern is going to continue today. no more than one or two lonely showers out in the west virginia mountains by later on this afternoon. as you can see here our longest stretch of 90 degree days this summer is only three.

there's four in a row right in there on the four-day forecast. number five right there on thursday. our best chances for rain start picking up late in the day on wednesday and go through thursday and friday. >> copious. that's a lot of rain, tom. >> it can be. i have to learn how to spell it. >> thank you, sir. in sports this morning, the nationals ready to break the bank for a college phenom but that may not be enough. here's hakem dermish. >> the nationals have offered number one overall draft pick stephen strasburg a record-setting contract, outteam president stan kasten says there's a very real possibility strasburg won't sign. nats all star ryan zimmerman thinking, when it comes down to it can i go to bed when i turn down 15 or $16 million? the nats rip the reads in ciinnati. top of the second, no score, adam dunn facing his old teammates. adam dunn, get her done. send as shot to left. just over the wall for a home run.

it's dunn's 31st homer of the season. that busts johnny cueto's bubble there. nats take a 1-0 lead, looking good early on. top three now, nats up 3-0. johnny cueto facing alberto gonzales with the bases loaded. gonzalez rips one past the third base bag, into the left field coer. ryan zimmerman, josh willingham and elijah dukes score. a bases-clearing double for gonzalez. he had a heck of a night. the nats cruising along. in the fourth, former nats pitcher kip wells on the mound. elijah dukes up with the bases full. he ropes one to right field. nyger morgan, ronnie belliard and adam dunn, come on down. duke's hustling around the bases. he's in with a triple. the nats build a nine-run lead and would hold on to win it 10-6 the final. elsewhere, the orioles lose to the angels 5-1. the pga championship isn't officially over, but it's over. when tiger woods has the lead after 54 holes at a major he's 14-0. wood has two-shot lead over

padraig harrington, who will probably need more than a little luck of the irish to upset a guy who doesn't lose on sundays. >> it is quite a rush, especially when there's a major championship involved. and, you know, where -- if you're in that position, you know you're not playing poorly. it's fun to go out there and test what you have and, you know, other guys are throwing it at you. hopefully i can throw it back at them. it's fun. that's -- as i said, that's the rush of it, is you try to go out there and deal with it and execute. >> tiger woods tees off today at 1:45. here's a perfect exale of just how divided fans are about the eagles signing of michael vick. so are ordering had is jersey, while others are logging on for tee shuts that read, hide your beagle. vick's an eagle. he made his practice debut. there he is, michael vick wearing number 7, starting next

to starting qb donovan mcnabb. in the afternoon session, he worked out as the number three quarterback. the 29-year-old vick is eligible to play in the eagles' final two preseason games. in soccer, d.c. united on the road in toronto yesterday playing in a conference showdown. here's how it went down. we start with the d.c. united fans in full force all the time, every whenner they go. 30th minute, no score. toronto seeing red on the attack. check this out, using his noggin perfectly. rosario's ninth of the season. toronto up 1-0. second half, the corner kick, back to rookie white. he rips into the back of that toronto blanks d.c. united 2-0. abby wambach and the washington freedom hosting the sky blue in the first round of the playoffs. freedom down. check out abby wambach. collides with the keeper. free for lisa, and she puts it

into the back of the net as well. we're all tied at 1 just like that. her first wps goal. unfortunately, they are eliminated from the playoffs. that's your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> we're back in two minutes with this morning's top stories, plus weather, sports and news 4's "viewpoint." stay with us.

good morning. welcome to "news 4 today" at 7:00. it is sunday, august 16th, 2009. i'm keith garvin. we want to get things started with a weather update fwr chuck bell up in storm center 4. mr. bell? >> hey there, mr. garvin, a beautiful sunday morning under way already. temperatures mostly in the mid-60s in the suburbs this morning. the low 70s in town. low 70s also if you're nestled right up alongside the beautiful chesapeake bay. clear sky overhead. a little bit of patchy fog, especially for you folks toward the shenandoah valley and out onto the virginia piedmont. that's where most of the fog can be found.

culpepper has dropped down to 59 degrees right now. manassas, virginia, 63. dulles airport, 66. frederick, maryland, 64. visibility's right now 1/3 of a mile in frederick, now ticking up to a mile. culpepper about a 1/3 of a mile. once this little bit of morning fog is gone we'll be left with sunshine and hot. high up to near 92 degrees. sun doesn't go down until 8:01 this epg. >> thank you, check. seven young people were shot a a bus shelter outside a minnesota avenue metro station. none of the victims' injuries is believed to be life threatening. investigators say at least one gunman opened fire on a large crowd at the bus shelter. they also believe many of the people in that crowd had just attended a go-go just a few blocks away. just before 11:00 last night, a young man was found shot multiple times in northwest. police say it happened in the 100 block of jefferson street. the victim was pronounced dead at the scen there are no reports of an arrest. and the u.s. embassy says an american man ill pris ond for

sneaking into the home of myanmar's democracy leading has been flown out of the country with virginia senator jim webb. john yettaw, 53 years old, was arrested after swimming to the home of a democracy leader who was under house arrest. the senator and yettaw are headed to thailand. senator webb secured his release saturday with a plea to myanmar's ruling junta. those are the top stories this morning. next is channel 4's "viewpoint." we'll be back in a few minutes with a good morning, everybody, and welcome to "viewpoint." i'm jim hanley. our special guest this morning is former d.c. mayor and current ward 8 council member marion barry. mr. barry, thank you for coming in and joining us. >>hank you for having me. always delighted to be on "vwpoint." >> i want to start with all the buzz this month -- and this is the hbo documentary about your life. the nine lives of marion barry. this was something in the beginning, you weren't completely on board with.

why not? >> well, first of all, you know, i've been in public life for about 50-some years, and most people know me through the eyes of the media, 15 seconds, 30 second news slots, most of them negative. some newspaper print or jay leno or chris rock, et cetera. so, this movie almost didn't get made in a sense that i had this distrust of media in terms of people being close to me all the time for four or five hours a day, in and out, doing this, doing that. but i met dana floor about seven years ago. we got started. she ran out of money because this is self-financed for a couple of years, got back started again. then it took about a year, year and a half to edit all this stuff. and then she signed a deal with hbo. and the idea was to humanize me,

to show marion barry more than just one 15-second clip, one 30-second clip that the breadth of it. most of the things people read about is that much of my life, a sliver of my life. my life is broad and all i've done and the things i've achieved for other people. >> you, in fact, took her down to mississippi where you grew up? >> yeah. i was born very -- literally in a cotton field of mississippi. my mother was pregnant with me, and she still -- she was picking cotton because that's how they had to make it. when they finished the two year for $200. my mother had a fourth grade education, my father a fifth grade education. i wanted her to see my beginnings. most people thought i was born with a silver spoon or some kind of spoon. in the cotton field, she didn't know what cotton was. she was touching it, feeling it, how you pick it, all this kind

of thing. i was showing her where the cotton gin was, et cetera. i think she got a sense of where i came from and the kind of odds i had to overcome to get to be even where i am now. it took a tremendous amount of overcoming odds, getting knocked down, getting myself up and having strong faith in god, myself, and -- but one thing my mother always did, she always said to me, u got to get an education, even though she didn't have one. you got to get one. you got to get one. so when i'm growing up, you know, carrying both morning commercial papers, selling pop bottles, doing all these kind of things. it was hard to do. i said i don't want these young people to have to go through this difficulty. >> that was a tremendous part of your legacy and i want to talk more about that, too. all the way from a cotton fields to a premiere last week in the big apple.

what was that like, the whole experience, seeing your life, the ups and the downs on the big screen? it's been well received. >> well, i was apprehensive when she showed it to me at my house, you know. came by the house with a couple of friends. i didn't know what all was in it. and i saw it. i felt that it was balanced, that it showed a lot of things about me -- the trials, tribulations, tragedy, and the triumphs. more triumphs than tragedies. to ce where i came from, poor as a church mouse, having to walk 25 blocks to school, to go to college, didn't have 15 cents for the bus fare and having to overcome so many other things, having gone through the civil rights movement without being killed or shot at, coming to washington in '65, a sleepy southern town. that's what it was. to see all of that displayed -- not all of it, but some of it displayed on the screen just

made me feel that all of the sacrifices i made, all the commitments i made to help other people was worth it because it sort of brought back the memories of what i had gone through. >> had to be emotional. >> it was. the most emotional part of that film was effi. she was one of my strongest supporters and stood by me during the good times and the bad times. >> right up until the end of hers. >> yeah. so, when she -- i knew she felt disappointed. i knew she felt i had embarrassed not only her but the world. but i didn't know the depths of it. when i saw that, that sort of hit me very hard. but then i started thinking about the fact she taught for ten years. we always were friends because we wanted to raise christopher in a friendly situation. when she came back to washington in 2003, we were even talking about getting back together

again. there was the downside of it, but then the up side of it in my mind. >> we're going to take a break now, mr. barry, and then we're going to come back and talk about some of the issues of the the day and what's before the council, too, and issues facing the city as well when we come back on "viewpoint." stay with us.

welcome back, everybody, to "viewpoint." our guest this morning, former d.c. mayor marion barry, ward 8 council member. councilman, let's talk about a bit more about his hbo movie which is airing throughout the month of august on hbo. what would you like to have people take away from this documentary? you said people don't know the real marion barry. >> well, i'm thinking about 50

years of service that i'm one of the most compassionate, courageous, tenacious, that i'd rather help than hurt. i'd rather serve than be served. and that -- i think the main thing throughout the whole movie is overcoming difficulties, overcoming challenges, and for getting knocked down, as i said, getting up. but also the movie talks about washington, d.c., and the transformation of it. it's parallel, the fact that prior to 1974 we couldn't vote for a mayor, city council, on the school board in '68, run by white southerners who were segregationists who ran our city, and that washington was a sleepy southern town. now washingtonians don't like it when i saw that, but the

reality, when i came here in '65, jim, it was -- it was not the metropolis it is now. we didn't have a convention center, didn't have a verizon center, which i helped abe do, didn't have the kind of development downtown or in our neighborhoods. i'm sort of known for -- the thing that was not in the movie is my whole economic development, the redistribution of the wealth. we went from 3% contracts to 47%. over $2.5 billion out of this pot, about 8 or $9 billion for construction and services went to african-american qualified contractors and service providers as well as latinos. including bob johnson. when bob johnson came to the city council asking for the franchise for d.c. cable, he was in contention.

i sper swaypersuaded the counci had a quality product, to give the franchise to d.c. cable. he only had four hours of programming then and look what happened. hundreds of the bob johnsons we helped with economic -- up in the gold coast and other places where you have a strong african-american middle class because we gave people who could do these jobs top jobs. when i came into d.c. government in '79, the top -- the top was 18. you can see there was some departments lilly white, all at the top. we changed all that. gave everybody a chance to operate. so it's not all my life but it gives people a flavor of my courage and my personality, you know. i'm being sort of stereo typed, you know. some of the reporters say cocaine-smoking, womanizing, corrupter. that's all they see.

>> well, you bring that up, and you use the word -- when you talked about effi barry about -- you used the phrase embarrassment. why do you think so many people focus on what some say are character flaws? why do you think that is? >> well, we have to question who's doing that. a lot of instances -- unfortunately people in the media -- i'm not blaming abody but they come with an attitude. say take mark fisher or other people who do these things. once it gets cast, it stays this way. 19 years old, there was no conviction. the fbi spent 20, $40 million. people don't remember that part of it. the fbi brought their pipe, their substance and everything, sort of stays with you. >> in living that down, how difficult has that been over the years when other lesser things

will pop up along the way? and to hear this joked about constantly. do you just kind of brush it off? >> what happened, you have to understand what the goal is in some izs. sometimes the goal is to distract me from my work. it's an indiana tended consequences. to disorient me. when these things come at me, when i -- i don't take -- i see chris rock. i don't pay much attention to it. i like to see the people. private conversation put on front pages. i just ignore it. if i got bogged down in it, then i would not do my work. so, i'll continue to do my work to help people, to build -- to help housing, help jobs, help health care and do everything else. that's why i think the people of washington have a great deal of

fondness for me. they know that i've served, served well. to whom much is given, much is required. that's how i live. people are beginning to see the broader marion barry, what i stand for, what i want to stand for, what i believe innd don't believe in, what visions i have and don't have. one thing i do believe, jim, is you always aim high. you never sink low because dr. mace at the moore house college president said if you shoot for the stars -- shoot for the moon and miss the moon, you may hit the stars. that's what i think. i also think that a setback is a setup for a comeback. those kind of things i just believe in my heart that keep me substantial. >> comeback has become second nature to you through the yes. i want to talk more about that, too. >> god has blessed me. there are a lot of people -- everyone in life, if you live long enough, are going to go through some trials and tribulations. may not be drugs, alcohol. may be a bad marriage, some kids you can't control, maybe some

other habits you got. but the goal here is not to go through it, but to get up. that's what my message is. >> is a goal, too, not to repeat bad habits or wrong decisions or make poor judgments? >> if you make them, but if you look at all the things that have happened to me, from the vista going ford is what -- '71, what other people have done, the fbi did this, the park police illegally arrested me. i'm not blaming. i'm just stating the fact. i take full resnsibility for it is my taxes. the first year got to be kind of hard. used to someone else taking care of my taxes. i went out -- they didn't take any income taxes out of my check. i was in the private sector. the second year got to be overwhelming. that went on that way. i take full responsibility because i'm paying the price. $30,000 a year come out of my

check, you know, to pay back all that money. >> you're on the track to pay that off. when and how much is left to pay off, roughly? >> i don't get too much into that because i think that your taxes ought to be your private business. i'm public. i just say this. everybody's satisfied. i'm satisfied. the irs is satisfied. the judge is satisfied. probation office satisfied. and that's it. but again, even during that tax period, i didn't get distracted from my work. i had to work harder, work longer. my lawyer had to work harder and longer but i didn't get distracted. that's the key. whenever you go through something in life -- and we're all going to go through it -- keep your eye on your work. >> focus? >> your mind on service, on helping. in terms of ward 8 -- the people in ward 8, the 70,000 of us who live over there, we've been beat down and beat up on, been kicked around, been disrespected. so one of my jobs, which is kind of to what other people have to

do sometimes on the council, i have to build hope. give people a sense of pride, a sebs of being that we can overcome these things. before i was elected in ward 8 in '04, used to say, where you from? well, i'm from ward 8. not very proud of it. but now you go there and talk to people in ward 8. they're proud of the fact that they got a council member and proud that they're helping themselves. we're going, chain mgd the geography of ward 8. go over there, you'll see new houses, no avenues, no shopping center. >> we'll pick up and continue this conversation. we have to take a break right now. we'll come right back on "viewpoint" with marion barry.

good morning. i'm keith garvin. updating the news. governor martin o'mley said yesterday his budget secretary

another a way to cut $250 million from the state budget. it's in state aca tloo l governments which will affect calohealth departments, police aid, community colleges and mone y for o'malley has beenoongki for $470 million in spending cuts to bring to the board of pubcli works next week. thboardcas h already approved $280 million in reductions. 1 artists creating a massive mural in northeast in the edgewood neighborhood. when they are done, it will be longer than a football field. artists of all ages and varying talents are taking part. if you'd like to have a look, hop on the red line. you can see it from the rhode island metro station. the nationals make a record-setting contract offer to their number one pick, stephen strasburg. the source would not say how much it's worth, only that it would be the highest contract ever for a drafted player. no "vo bawpie." dnt >> and welcome back this morning to "viewpoint." our guest this morning is former d.c. mayor, unprecedented 16 years as mayor and current

council member from ward 8 marion barry. we've been talking about his movie, this documentary, "nine lives of marion barry." you raise the issue of distractions. you talked about taxes and so forth. i want to go through a couple of issues facing the city. you may call this a distraction, but one topic that people have been talking about, just to get the latest in your response to it. the issue of using taxpayer money to hire an ex-girlfriend as a consultant. you still don't see anything wrong with that? you said that you would do it again. >> here's what happens, jim. i'm sworn to represent the people of ward 8, to bring as many resources to them as i can, to get quality jobs, development for them, to do housing, to do all the kind of things that i'm obligated to do. and if i need someone to do something for me like i was trying to build leadership. one of my regrets as being mayor, i didn't build enough leadership beneath me.

therefore, you have a drought of leaderships in the city. ward 8 is particularly that way. i keep thinking about my own future, when i leave here,m i going to leave four or five people around to do this? we have problems getting people to run. i had this idea about emerging leaders. >> but back to the question -- >> wait a minute. i'm going to get to that. all of my life, i believe in accountability, believe in transparency and believe in following the personnel rules of the district of columbia. so the other thing which happens is that i'm not going to hire my political enemies. i'm not going to hire people who are opposing my vision. i'm going to hire qualified people, and donna watts-brighthaupt was qualified to do this work. i got a product that -- that stacks of information that she did, et cetera. so what people do grab onto that

and they assume just because we had a personal relationship that i'm going to hire somebody unqualified. that's not in me. i wouldn't hire my mother if she weren't qualified, simple as that. simple as that. >> it wasn't illegal. was it appropriate? you would do it again? >> it was not inappropriate. it was not illegal. people -- here's what happens to some of us. i don't use the race thing lightly, but i noticed that there's a disproportionate amount of work for black politicians. this is as american as american pie. remember matt bailey when he hired old man bailey, when he hired his son to do the insurance thing. he said what's a father for if he can't help his son? politically, i'm not going to hire my enemies. i'm not going to hire political distracters. not going to hire people who won't carry my vision. >> i want to ask you one other thing, councilman, about some recent documents from 2007, 2009, showing that your office spent far more on these outside

contracts, $252,000, i think the second council member was in the $40,000 range. do you see anything wrong with that? >> absolutely not. what i need to do is stay within my budget. i've stayed within my budget every year i've been on the council. if i choose to organize my office that way, which is legal, then i choose to do that. that's why i'm so effective. >> all of this had to do with city business. >> yes. >> or did it? >> absolutely. >> some of it having to not do with city business. >> in the news business, if you can't find out what the truth is, you sometimes tell half-truths. you sometimes don't tell the truth. but that's it. that's the distraction to some extent. but the public ought to know that marion barry had nothing but the highest of integrity. in fact, even my critics would tell you that i never put my hand i the till. i never did anything like that. that's why you have to find some other things, personal. incidentally, we're human, too,

as public officials. but everything is aboveboard and i'm not going to stand much more time listening to it or talking about it because i, i have been very effective in organizing my staff. i think some of the other council members are jealous that they are not as effective as i am in getting the work done. i'm sworn to uphold and work for the people of ward 8. as mayor, it's the city. but now my constituency is 90% african-american. so many needs out there, health care, et cetera. >> we have to take another break. you talk about other council members. i want to ask you about the current mayor and your thoughts on his job performance, too, when we come back on "viewpoint."

we're back with councilman marion barry. mr. barry, some people have raised the issue of putting safeguards in place to manage

money. do you think that's needed, necessary? >> jim gray had put in adequate safeguards. people just assumed the negative, that you're guilty of something as opposed that you're innocent of it. weon't have any problem. laws are being followed by all of us. we have all the steps. see, one thing that bothered me when i quit is when i learn the rules -- i've learned the rules very well. i know how to play this game excellently. when you learn the rules, some people want to change the rules. simple as that. >> real quick, 16 years as mayor. who better to be able to rate or review the performance of our current mayor, adrian fenty? wh do you tnk of the job he's doing so far? >> you know, i was one of two council men who supported adrian fenty. still do. i'll leave it at that. if i say he's not doing a good job, people will say you're criticizing the mayor. if i say he's doing a good job, he's brown-nosing the mayor. let him speak for himself. >> your documentary airing on

hbo, goes back to your formave years on the front lines of the civil rights movement. of course, president obama our first african-american president in the white house. your thoughts on that? >> well, i fealy lated about it because i worked in the civil rights movement. when i ent with to mississippi in '62, 3% of african-americans registered to vote. now mississippi has the largest number of black elected officials in the country. i supported jesse jackson. i nominated jesse jackson. i knew then that america was not ready for jesse jackson or any other african-american, or al sharpton. barack -- president obama has said to himself he stands on the shoulders of many, dr. king and other people in the civil rights movement. that makes me feel good, plus he's brilliant, bright, doing a good job. i'll rate him. >> okay. there you go. "the nine lives of marion barry." it's on hbo. you can see it the rest of this month.

councilman, thank you for coming in. we appreciate this. >> thank you. >> now back to "news 4 today." we thank you for joining us this morning on "viewpoint." enjoy the rest of your weekend, everybody. gunfire erupts outside a metro station. seven people are shot. teen aimingers are among the victims. new details and video about one of the largest jewelry heists in britain's history. another beautiful sunday morning, but how long can we hold out before rain moves back into the picture? od morning. welcome back to "news 4 today." i'm keith garvin. the news is just ahead. but first we want to check in with chuck bell who's up in storm center 4. chuck, another nice day on tap?

>> i believe so, as long as you like it hot and slightly humid you're going to be very happy with today's forecast and for the next couple of days actually. bright blue skies over washington this morning. a little patchy fog out in the shenandoah valley and across parts of the virginia piedmont but that fog will not last long in this strong august sunshine out there. temperatures this morning, as you head out the door for whatever you plan to do on sunday, whether you're going to services or the lake, or sit in that hammock in the back yard and read your favorite book, good day for it today. pick a shady spot and enjoy. temperatures mid-60s in the suburbs to near 70 downtown. still some patchy fog out there. visibility two miles in culpepper, 1 1/3 in martinsburg. highs today upper 80s and low 90s. so, yes, indeed, get your sunscreen and a bottle of water, keith. easy for me to say. >> we're going to lather up with it today. thanks. it is a busy summer weekend for d.c. police officers who are dealing with multiple shootings. the first incident left five young people injured, one victim

is just 14 years old. it happened at a bus stop in broad daylight. just hours later, police wer called to a new scene, this time a person dead in eft dead northwest. ir ino hwest. that first incen b 00 juor6:ef just before 6: thn ie the 4100 avenue sone avenue noasrtt.he po bce say seven young people serlthe shelter st outside of the minnesota avenue metro station. the youngest victim just 16 years old. none of the victims'njuries is believed to be life-threatening. investigators say at least one gunman opened fire on a large crowd at the bus shelter. they also believe many of the people in the crowd had just attended a go-go a few blocks away. then just before 11:00 last night, a young man was found shot multiple times in northwest. police say it happened in the 100 block of jefferson street. the victim was pronounced dead at the scene. there are no reports of arrests in either case. prince george's county, the search is on for a suspect who fired at an off-duty police officer using high caliber rifle. police set up a perimetodd ywodd odwodar road and olden

eseav c ionlitent y itory ths eieth ioon.esterdayau leorities y the s county police officerun i o cr s ehwa wicehle when the red. the td. thehit, and he t, ahind he hooting might with restul of a diste a family member. a potomac river outing came to an abrupt stop after a boat ran aground onto some rocks. four people were on board the 21-foot investigate tell. they apparently misjudged how shallow the water is in that area. the prince george's county fire department sent two rescue boats to help dislodge the boat and escort it back to shore. no one was hurt. there's a proposal on the table to increase toll rates on the dulles toll road. the pl ios tit raise the toll xt year b 2r5 cents at the main toll plaza and at ramps, e t it doesn't end the. toll is expected to go upth incrementally after next ar. pee money would be eonosiann n ierthorn trvio expansion in northern rginia and improvements to the .lad ro airport officials want to hear from you about this sue. y they are accepting feedback

online through sepe mber athllws there will also be three public hearings on the issue. starting this weekend you'll have to provide more personal information before taking to the skies. u.s. airlines is now asking travelers new questions to confirm their identities. you'll have to get your -- give your gender, rather, and date of birth when you book the flight. the new procedures are aimed at preventing misidentification of people on terrorist watch lists and to better weed out people who pose a legitimate threat to airline safety. the new security measures go into effect the same weekend one of india's biggest movie stars was reportedly detained for two hours at newark's airport after officials spotted the word khan in his name. the bollywood superstar was on his way to chicago when he says he was held for questioning. customs officials deny the claim and said he was questioned for a little over an hour as part of a standard process for screening foreign travelers. coincidentally, khan was heading to chicago to promote his new

film about racial profiling. the taliban is trying to shake the people of afghanistan days before they are supposed to vote for president. the group is claiming responsibility for deadly bombing and says it is just the beginning. richard evening will has more from kabul. >> reporter: we clearly heard and felt this explosion. it woke people up in this building, shook the windows and many here in down down kabul. most of the people who were killed were out in front at a checkpoint near the main nato headquarters here in kabul. the area is a fort fid zone, very close to the u.s. embassy. the embassy was not damaged and according to a u.s. official, all american personnel have been accounted for. the taliban spokesman said this attack was carried out by the taliban and that more attacks would be coming ahead of elections in this country scheduled to take place next thursday. the taliban spokesman said it was a suicide car bomb and that the car was packed with about

1,000 pounds of explosives. richard enge nwsbc ne, kabul. >> the thieves behind one of britain's largest gilljewel hei apparently visited the scene two days before the robbery. police believe the men might have been planning to rob the store that day. two days later, the two well-dressed men made off with dozens of diamond jewels worth more than $65 million. it will provide college kids some extra security and parents a little peace of mind. as thousands of students head back to school, some colleges in the district are using new technology to make sure they're safe. derrick ward has more. >> reporter: move-in day, a rite of passage for sons and daughters becoming freshmen. howard university and american university, parents say good-bye. >> i'm not so concerned about really just leaving her by herself. i'm just concerned about, you know, some of the things that may go on here in the city. >> i love the city. i thought this is the best part of the city, as far as i know.

we're very excited. i think it's going to be a tremendous opportunity here for her. >> reporter: one of the things that parents at both campuses are concerned about is safety. this year, howard university is starting a new program aimed at keeping all students safe. >> a new system called the hugs, h-u-guardian service. as well as our upgraded alert system. >> reporter: it's cell-phone based. a company called rave wireless. phones have features like panic buttons and a timer function that can alert help if the user isn't at a preset location at a preset time. >> we know that the students all have cell phones and so we feel that this is a way to reach out to the students and for them to reach us rapidly. >> reporter: this is in addition to existing campus security measures. meanwhile here on the campus of american university they have the same sysm in effect but it's called a.u. campus connect. it's got some of the same features. for parents and students, the same calming, re-assuring effect. >> she's already signed up for that. she's more high tech than i am.

>> it was wonderful. they send text messages to your phone, in case of any alerts, snow day, stay in. if someone's on campus that shouldn't be, they'll send it right to your phone. >> reporter: technology and good old common sense go a long way to put parents' minds at ease. >> as long as i'm careful and know my surroundings and get to know people who know the area, i think i'll be fine. i know not to go out late at night by myself. >> i feel much better than i did a few weeks ago. >> reporter: derrick ward, news 4. >> this year, there are 1700 members of the freshman class at howard. american has about 1500. michael phelps says his ankle is sore after the car crash but that won't keep him out of the pool. he plans to resume training tomorrow. the crash happened thursday night. in a message posted on facebook, phelps says his ankle hurts and he's having it checked out. baltimore police say he was not at fault in the accident. the driver of the other car was ticketed for running a red light. phelps did receive citations for driving without his license and for failing to register as a maryland resident.

the nationals offer a record contract to a college superstar. here's hakem dermish with today's sports minute. >> good morning, everyone. your sports minute begins with baseball. the nationals have offered number one overall draft pick stephen strasburg a record-setting contract, yet team president stan kasten says there's a very real possibility strasburg won't sign. meanwhile, on the field, the nationals' offense erupted for ten runs last night against the reds. elijah dukes went 2 for 4. 3 rbis. the nats down the reds 10-6. orioles hosting the angels. l.a. put up a five-spot in the third inning. it was more than enough. the angels beat the orioles 5-5. in golf at the pga championship, tiger woods has a two-shot lead going into today's final round. tiger is 14-0 when leading after 54 holes at a major tournament. in football, michael vick made his eagles practice dut. vick worked t as the number three quarterback in the afternoon practice. the 29-year-old vick is eligible to play in the eagles' final two preseason games.

that's your sports minute. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> it is now 7:47. up next on this early sunday edition of "news 4 today," the health care debate hits home especially hard for small business owners. we'll explain coming up next.

the "today" show is coming up next here on nbc 4. it starts at 8:00 a.m. lester holt is live with a preview. good morning. >> keith, good morning to yo coming up this morning on "today," the president gets personal as he takes on the critics of his health care

reform plan. we'll have all the latest in his efforts to refus the debate. plus, hurricane season got off to a slow start this year, but it's quickly making up for lost time. we'll tell you about storms ana and bill that could be heading our way. also, got aching knees? lots of us do. we'll find out what to do it. and royal rumors. a new report out this morning adds to the speculation of wedding bells for britain's prince william. have he and his long-time girlfriend already set a date? we'll tell what you we know about this when jenna and i see you later today. >> a lot of young ladies not happy about that potential news. >> yeah, yeah, try to figure this out. >> thank you, lester. speaking of president obama, more options, lower cost. that's what he says his plan for health reform offers. he pushed his plan yesterday at a town hall meeting in colorado. he emphasized americans won't have to run with the government-run plan if they're happy with the plan they have right now. >> a government-run nonfor

profit would have its own option that people could sign up for it. if it could keep its costs lower and provide a good quality service and good benefits then that would help keep the insurance companies honest. >> the health care debate hits home especially hard for small businesses. many are faced with tough decisions over whether to provide health care to their employees while still staying afloat. robert buzz el has more. >> reporter: cupcake royale, a chain of three coffee shops and bakeries in seattle is doing well despite the tough economy. >> mama's little cupcake. >> reporter: jody hall, a new mom, left her position as an executive at starbucks six years ago to start the venture. >> if you buy 11, you get 12. >> reporter: she offers health insurance to all of her 57 employees who work at least 25 hours a week. >> i feel like it's a moral obligation for a company that takes from the community, so to speak, that they're bringing their dollars in here, to really

support the community behind the counter to make sure they have a viable job that's going to -- a company that sports them. it's becoming harder and harder. >> reporter: harder because the insurance available for cupcake royale and other small businesses costs far more than the plan's big companies buy. >> i was astounded by the fact that my dollars of a similar level of what i had in corporate america bought me about half the coverage, if that. >> reporter: that is why so many small business owners just can't get insurance even for themselves, like testaluna who owns the boutique across the street. >> it's something you try not to think about for a while until something happens. >> reporter: about half of employed americans own or work for a small business, and because of that, they are far less likely to have health insurance. 95% of americans who work for large companies get health insurance at work. but only 42% of people who work for small businesses like these

get health insurance. that is why so much of the health reform discussions, in town halls and in congress, have been about new options for small business owners and their workers. private health insurers exchanges and/or a new public plan. the benefits are obvious eastbound for young people. ally, who works at cupcake royale, was hit by a car while riding her bicycle. >> my first reaction was maybe i shouldn't go to the e.r. it's going to be expensive. i was like, wait. i have health insurance. >> reporter: her boss believes small business owners have to pay more precisely because they are small, work constantly and lack the voice to negotiate. she and many others are counting on health care reform to change that. robert bazell, nbc news, seattle. >> injen u it at its best. >> those cupcakes look good. >> fattening. get you in trouble. >> only this big, you know?

>> that's enough, that's enough to get you in trouble. 7:47, 72 degrees outside. 72 and counting. >> that's right. on its way up for the day. i suspect another 90 degree day is in our future, and for some stds thek tol choocafore back to schl forecast

p. well, one action movie here

is proving to be another kind of hero for victims of the typhoon that de stated taiwan. jet lee donated more than $40,000 to the relief effort. he also met with the thousands who are living in shelters yesterday. the death toll from the typhoon could top 500. lee knows firsthand about coping with natural disasters. he and his family narrowly escaped death from the 2004 tsunami. firefighters are hoping mother nature cooperates in their battle against the california wildfires. the most troubling fire is burning south of san francisco. crews are trying to hold the lines of containment and they are worried about today's forecast. hot, dry and, worse, windy. the fire is threatening hundreds of homes, thousands of people who live in them have been told to get out. despite the warnings to leave, some are staying put. >> raised our kids here. we have a lot of emotion involved. the best place in the world as far as i'm concerned.

>> nearly 7,000 firefighters are working to save the threatened homes. you can imagine it's tough to leave, you have to leave all your belongings hubd, but -- >> got some friends who live in california. they have the plan, which is when they get told to vehicle, they already know what things they're going to put in their to go-box, the family pictures and domts. they have to get out and go. >> those mementos. >> save the things which are most important, which is you, your spouse, yo kids, your dog and your pictures. >> right. >> everything else can be replaced, a little bit more easily anyway. for us, it will be hot but we don't have to worry about wildfires around here. it is getting dry around here but we have just enough moisture in the atmosphere to keep things at bay. be careful doing any outdoor burning, just to be on the safe side. the sun is up in a mostly blue skover washington. it will be a beautiful day to be outside enjoying it today as you look live on the capitol dome on capitol hill. very appropriately named. temperatures are on their way up for the day.

currently at reagan national airport, the temperature's 71. a very light southwesterly wind. august rainfall about .8. july rainfall, just over an inch. a total of under 2 inches of rain since july 1st. that is 65% below average in rainfall since july the 1st so we really cld use some rainfall around here. no rain in the forecast for today or for tomorrow. probably not even until we get to late in the day on wednesday before some legitimate rain chances come back into the area. most everybody in the suburbs are in the 60s this morning. 68 in frederick, maryland, this morning. 67 degrees in new market. 66 at dulles airport. 65 degrees in ashburn. 63 in culpepper, virginia, this morning. 69 degrees down in california, maryland. nice weather on the way for today. high pressure's in charge of our weather. yesterday we did ck up one or two lonely showers west of the blue ridge nooshgs the shenandoah valley and mountains of west virginia. might see one or two lonely showers today up in the high country. around town, nothing but heat

and a little touch of summertime humidity as well. as we've been talking about, the tropics are getting very, very active. this is tropical storm ana here. that's trocal storm bill not too far back. that's about 2,500 miles away from the united states so it's a long way out there. but much closer to the united states and of much greater concern nows tropical depression number four sitting just to the west of tampa, florida, right now. maximum winds only 35 miles per hour so it's a minimal tropical storm, but the forecast track from the national hurricane center will bring this intensifying storm onshore as a tropical storm. if it becomes a named storm it will take on the name claudette and it will need to be watched anywhere from apalachicolapalac florida, to about mobile bay in alabama sometime late tonight or early tomorrow. could bring some very heavy rain to the southern half of mississippi, alabama and georgia and maybe, if we're lucky, some of the remnants of that tropical moisture will come here later on in the week. won't happen today, though. mostly ahe h and dry outside this afternoon.

around town, temperatures up into the low 90s today, about 92 downtown. 94 comingp tomorrow. likely to be the hottest day of the week. increasing levels of humidity especially as we get toward tuesday and wednesday. wednesday might get a little chance of a shower. best chances for rain this week will come along thursday and friday. if claudette forms and strengthens, might be able to sneak the rain in sooner. >> okay. we will be waiting. thanks. in sports the nationals bats come alive and tiger is still in the lead. here's hakem dermish. >> the nationals have offered number one overall draft pick stephen strasburg a record-setting contract, but team president stan kasten says there's a very real possibility strasburg won't sign. nats all star ryan zimmerman thinking -- when it comes down to it, strasburg has to think about can i go to bed if i turn down 15 or $16 million? that would be pretty hard to do. meanwhile, on the field last night, the nats rip the reds in cincinnati. top of the second, no score, adam dunn facing his old teammates. adam dunn, get her done.

sends a shot to left, just over the wall for a home run. it's dunn's 31st homer of the season. that busts johnny cueto's bubble there. nats take a 1-0 lead, looking good early on. top three now, nats up 3-0. johnny cueto facing alberto gonzales with the bases loaded. gonzalez rips one past the third se bag, into the left field corner. ryan zimmerman, josh willingham and elijah dukes score. a bases-clearing double for gonzalez. he had a heck of a night. the nats cruising along. in the fourth, former nats pitcher kip wells on the mound. elijah dukes up with the bases full. he ropes one to right field. nyger morgan, ronnie belliard and adam dunn, come on down. duke's hustling around the bases. he's in with a triple. the nats build a nine-run lead and would hold on to win it. 10-6 the final. elsewhere, the orioles lose to the angels 5-1. the pga championship isn't officially over, but it's over. when tiger woods has the lead

after 54 holes at a major he's 14-0. woods has a two-shot lead over padraig harrington, who will probably need more than a little luck of the irish to upset a guy who doesn't lose on sundays. >> it is quite a rush, especially when there's a major championship involved. and, you know, where -- if you're in that position, you know you're not playing poorly. it's fun to go out there and test what you have and, you know, other guys are throwing it at you. hopefully i can throw it back at them. it's fun. that's -- as i said, that's the rush of it, is you try to go out there and deal with it and execute. >> tiger woods tees off today at 1:45. here's a perfect example of just how divided fans are about the eagles signing of michael vick. some are ordering his jersey, while others are logging on for tee shirts that read, "hide your beagle. vick's an eagle." regardless of how you feel about michael vick, yesterday he made his practice debut.

there he is, michael vick wearing number 7, standing next to starting qb donovan mcnabb. he ran the team offense. in the afternoon session, he worked out as the number three quarterback. the 29-year-old vick is eligible to play in the eagles' final two preseason games. in soccer, d.c. united on the road in toronto yesterday playing in a conference showdown. here's how it went down. we start with the d.c. united fans in full force all the time, everywhere they go. 30th minute, no score. toronto seeing red on the attack. crossing into the box. check this out, using his noggin perfectly. rosario's ninth of the season. toronto up 1-0. second half, the corner kick, pasdz back passes back to rookie white. he rips into the back of that for his first mls goal. let's go to germantown, maryland. abby wambach and the washington freedom hosting the sky blue in the first round of the playoffs.

freedom down 1-0. check out abby wambach. collides with the keeper. free for lisa, and she puts it into the back of the net as well. we're all tied at 1 just like francie ellie with the ball at she shoots and just sneaks it in eliminated from the playoffs. that's your morning sports. i'm hakem dermish. have a great day. >> all right. great day, warm day. >> yeah. would you turn down 15 million buck q. >> i couldn't do it. i would be swinging for the nats. >> this is a great place to live. >> especially, the nats, up and coming team. >> better to be the first superstar. >> good advice. that's "news 4 today." the "today" show is next. we'll be back in about 25 minutes for a local news update. join us again at 9:00 for a full hour of the latest local news, weather and sports. have a good morning.