>> those conditions right now coming in at 97 after a high temperature so far of 100 degrees. i've got to check that official number, but winds out of the south at 17 miles an hour. tack a look at the heat index. this is the heat index. we also have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect under 1:00 a.m. it also included the entire area, because we have a very intense line of thunderstorms just to the north. this is the severe thunderstorm watch extending from baltimore all the way back into the west, but notice the yellow here. these are all severe thunderstorm warnings here along this line. that line is moving our way.

they're going to take their time getting here. we'll have more in a minute. thank you, doug. a very large d.c. competitive community has been rocked by a sex abuse scandal. a woman who was involved in the scandal, who was 13 years old at the time is telling her story. it involves a prominent local swim coach. she told her story to jackie bensen. she joins us now with more. >> this story was first reported in "the washington post." kelly curl r kelly currin believes a crime was covered up. >> my cry is just to, you know make one mother or father raise their eyebrow at a situation between the coach/athlete relationship.

>> reporter: the website of the 950-member curl-burke swim club, with the coach who has coached dozens of swimmers to national and international levels. the club uses 11 d.c. area pools as training facilities. one of those swimmers was kelly davies, now kelly curren, living in texas. she began swimming when she was 9 years old. she says the abuse began when she was 13. >> i know what i know, and the truth will set you free. and i was bound for 23 years, 6 months and however many days, and i'm free. >> reporter: kelly says she eventually told some people, including her parents. at 19 she was encouraged to sign a settlement in which he agreed to not speak about the charges, ever. >> in my coming out and talking

about this changes one life, if it changes one life, then it's -- my heart's d. then my life has made a difference. >> reporter: kelly says her love for her former swim club and its kids remains in tact, the curl-burke club released a statement saying that rick curl has taken a leave of absence. efforts to reach curl today were unsuccessful. jaxxie benson, news4. >> and time is shifting. >> this is video of james hole systems, long before he became a suspect. he's given a presentation at the salk institute for biological

studies, where he was doing a summer internship. he was 18 at the time. the motive for the shooting remains unclear, nearly a week after that awful massacre. he's accused of killing 12 people and wounding nearly 60 others. he's due in court on monday to face charges. in montgomery county, two customers at a post office got into an argument in line one of them ended up stabbing another. police believe the argument was somebody cutting in a line. the alleged stabber ran away. he was arrested a short time later. the stabbing victim is expected to survive. mitt romney's campaign says there's voter fraud in virginia. this comes after reports that dead people, children and family pets receive voter registration forms. back in june, the participation center sent thousands of forms to ineligible

vote ner heavily democratic areas. "the richmond times dispatch" reported this first on sunday. since then lawyers for the romney campaign have asked virginia's attorney general and the state board of elections for a criminal investigation. the nonprofit group acknowledged occasional errors in the mailing list, but they deny doing anything wrong. so far the state board of elections has not requested a formal investigation. romney is now in london, where he is kicking off an overseas campaign to shore up his international credentials. yesterday he took a bit of a controversy, when he told nbc's brian williams that he's concerned about britain's security efforts for the olympic games. >> you know, it's hard to know just how well it will turn out. there are a few things that were disconcerting, stories about the private security firm, not having enough people, the supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials. that obviously is not something

that's encouraging. >> romney met with david cameron today, and then changed that critiq critique. he said it is obvious there's been forethought in the planning and he believes the games will be, in his words, highly successful. the world is counting down to the official start of the 2012 summer olympics. we're just a day away from the opening ceremony now. here's a live look from london where final preparations -- the anticipation is building sometimes, but olympic competitions are already under way in sites around great britain. mike barri mark joins us from london. >> reporter: good evening. we're coming to you from olympic park. the stadium is lit up as a rehearsal goes on. ten years ago this whole area was a wasteland, but not anymore. 24 hours from now it will be home to the opening ceremony.

the anticipation will be over, and the games will begin. seven years after it was awarded the games, london is about to put on its big show. the city becomes the first three-time host of a modern olympics. the u.s. team was officially welcomed today, one of more than 200 teams with more than 10,000 athletes. >> being able to wear the stars and stripes is nothing like it u just being here for the last few days, the atmosphere is electrifying. >> electrifying, but cautious. the games are blanketed by layers of security. 25,000 police and soldiers supplemented by some 7,000 private officers. the hms ocean is docked in the river thames, and surface to air missiles are deployed in a half dozen sites. the biggest peacetime military operation in british history. >> i am very confident in the plan. >> reporter: covering the games, some 21,000 accredited journalist with nbc providing

more than 5,500 hours of coverage among its combined platforms. >> nbc has about 3,000 people here working for us during the games. >> reporter: it's a festive time. tomorrow morning big ben will toll for three minutes heralding the arrival of these 2012 olympic games, more than seven years in the making. now, the final rehearsal has been going on behind us for the last couple hours. we have seen a few of the pyrotechnics. because of some last-minute production changes they've been able to free up a few more tickets. several hundred additional ones made available, for about $2500 a pop. back to you. >> so still time to get in there. thank you, mark. the coverage is just getting under way. dan hellie is in london and will join us live with a special report on the olympians as they arrived in town. dan also caught up with the williams sisters. he's live at 11:00 tonight.

this is a good time to be a sports fan here in d.c. you have. you have the olympics coming up. the nats are smoking. the kastles are winning more games -- what do you call it? the soccer team is doing okay, too. and you have d. yrkd.c. united sorry about that. and skins training camp. the fans endured the hottest part of the day, all for a chance to see, guess who? chris gordon is out at the park now in ashreturn. >> reporter: rg3 is the man, true dat. the phages hope their new quarterback joins the ranks of injuring son, theismann and they finally rejoiced as he took the field. a long line formed hours before

the gates opened and practice began here at redskins training camp, day 1. this family drove two days from texas, that's right, texas. >> i'm teaching them the right way to come up and -- >> reporter: you're teaching them if you're from texas, you have to be a redskins fan. >> yes, not a cowboy. >> reporter: you're hoping for autographs? >> rg3, santana moss, and many more. >> reporter: fans hit the field only to face another two-hour wait. they showed their true colors. >> i saw the redskins bonnets there in audible cory where i'm from, in new mexico, so i saw the colors and said, hey, i've got to have this. >> reporter: some found what little shade they could. others sought out the cooling tents, electric fans sprays water. no matter how hot, it was time to put on your jersey. >> uh, hot. >> reporter: is it worth it? to see who?

>> rg3. >> what does rg3 stand for? >> the redskins. >> reporter: he may be right gauging from fan reaction when rg3 took the feed. it took only a couple completed passes to raise fan hopes. how far do you think rg3 will take this team? >> i don't know. everyone hopes for the super bowl, but definitely a lot of games. beat the cowboys hopefully. >> they're going to the championship game. >> reporter: you're predicting they're going to the championship? what about the super bowl? >> i won't go that far, okay? but at least going to the championship game. they're not going to be able to stop rg3 and that receiver corps. >> reporter: the redskins last won a super bowl more than 20 years ago, but we all know every preseason fans talk about a playoff, but this year may be good reason, and that reason is

rg3. reporting from training camp, day 1, news4. women are being targeted in maryland. the crooks may be zeroing in at very specific gas stations. metro is coming clean about recent trouble on the tracks, and there's a reason there were so many problems in the last month. [ chanting ] >> the chik-fil-a foot fight is growing. and a pair of twin sisters shared a rare birthday. ♪

♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] everyone likes a bit of order in their life. virtual wallet helps you get it. keep track of spending, move money with a slide, and use the calendar. all to see your money how you want. ♪

thieves have been snatches purses right out of women's

cars. pat collins has our our report. >> reporter: look at the sneaky move, ducking down near the pump, reaching in the passenger's window, grabbing the purse and making a getaway before you can fill her up. warning -- they're not bashful about it. it happened four times in about three hours this morning. 9:46, the snobun sun okayo. and then the wawa, and 12:36 p.m., this shell station at 5604 st. barn abbas road. a woman is on her way to new york, some guys in a green mercedes drive up on this side,

open her passenger door, steal her purse, off they go. >> we know it's a trauma dib crime to have their personal items taken. so we really feel for that victim. we want to bring closure to that case. >> reporter: it happened recently on sheriff road. we have surveillance video of that one. the woman pays for her gas and walks toward her gas. watch as it pulls slowly in the gas station. they see her with her purse on her shoulder. as she gets into her car, she tosses that purse onto the passenger seat. with her mercedes positioned for a getaway, one of the suspects sneaks over, ways for the right time, grabs her purse and he's off. meet ann hanley s she's had her purse stolen before. when she gases up, she says she

doesn't take any chances. lock, lock, lock. >> always. >> reporter: your purse is in there? >> you can't see it. i kind of push it out of the way. >> reporter: a reminder from miss hanley and police, keer your car windows rolled up, keep your doors locked and keep a close eye on the purse. don't be an easy targets. in prince george's county, pat collins, news4. a group of gay rights supporters gathered outside the chik-fil-a foot truck downtoday. they protested recent comments made by the president. it also prompted jim henson's company to pull its muppet toys out of chik-fil-a toys, and the some mayors -- most recently chik-fil-a released a statement,

that going forward, they will leave the same-sex marriage debate to the political arena. for the second time in a week, a vehicle and a training tried to occupy the same space and the train won. a freight train slammed into a dump truck in hyattsville. the dump truck driver says his truck stalled on the tracks. he went to the hospital with mimer injuries. the train, of course, suffered no damage at all. earlier this week an suv was hit. the driver of that car was injured. doug is here with more details about our hot, hot day. >> not just hot day, but hot month. we hit 100 again today. that's the seventh day this month we have had hit 100 degrees. with that, that is a new record. we continue to set records all across the area for this heat, and the heat goes on. we'll show you how things are doing. we have a few more clouds coming in across the region, but not all that bad if you like the

sunshine and you like it hot. some of you out there on my facebook and twitter pages have said, hey, we love this hot weather. keep it coming, i would rather not. 100 today after a low of 74. there's that seventh day this month of 100, a new new record there. eight days so far this summer, that is number two all time, as far as 100 degrees, with winds out of the south. plenty of sunshine, starting to -- 95 the current number. 97 in culpepper, 98 in fredericksburg, 96 towards the pax river. the heat index is way up there. and out there along the river, cambridge coming in at 110 degrees. no storms right now, but we do have a severe thunderstorm watch in effect until 1:00 in the

morning. we don't see that advise often when a thunderstorm warning goes into the nighttime hours, but this is why. a very strong line of storms. just to our north, look at this, this watch box encompasses boston all the way back towards st. louis, but the yellows are the severe thunderstorm warnings. that is most of southern and eastern pennsylvania. you follow that line back to the west. these are the storms we'll be watching if you live north of washington i think you have a much better chance of see severe weather. you folks in northern maryland, frederick county, washington county, i think you have a chance of seeing strong storms. south of the district, lessen a chance, but it's still there. these storms have a history of producing damaging winds. look how far back this line goes. all the way down towards st. louis, and then all the way down towards dallas. all because of the heat. the hot temperatures are

sticking around. and into the day tomorrow, another chance for strong storms during the afternoon tomorrow. some of those storms could be severe. we'll stay on the hot side on saturday. temperatures on saturday i think in the low 90s, but we've got a couple hot and stormy days. you want to make sure you stay at nbc 4. we'll keep you updated. hot and muggy with isolated storms. 88 to about 93. the storms if they come in i think will be between 10:00 and 1:00 at night, so you want to make sure you tune in. we'll be back with the latest on those at 11:00. temperatures 742079 when you wake up tomorrow morning. then tomorrow afternoon, well, guess what? another hot one, 91 to 96, hot and humid. strong storms will be possible once again. we're going to stay with the possibility of strong storms on saturday, a high of 91 there.

90 on sunday. the weekend actually not looking too bad, so that's good news, too. monday, tuesday and wednesday, a little unsettled, but it does look like showers around average this time of year. we did hit 100 degrees today. i had to stay here and hold down the fort, so we sent chuck bell. he is out doing our backyard weather. how is it going? >> reporter: you picked the wrong assignment, doug. you should have come out to the backyard. we're going to talk to brian and robin. these are marinated bacon-wrapped chicken/pineapple thingamabobs here. you were talk about the barbecue and smoker, and there's the chicken nuggets. a little salad over here, the

kielbasas and fruit salad, of course, all the accoutremenacco. and i guess you guys have been out here for 26 years and you're the new kids on the block, essentially? >> yes, we are. >> reporter: must be a great neighborhood. >> it is, laid-back and quiet. >> reporter: your kids grew up here? >> yeah. >> reporter: ms. honey has lived here since 1953 she's been on this street. we say at 26 years you're the new ones on the block. job well done on the dinner. i can hear doug salivating. i'll just give you a little -- don't eat the toothpick. this is yummy stuff. thank you so much. we'll be back one more time and show everyone the empty plates. delicious. doug, you should really have come out here and left me in the studio. irges i have . >> reporter: it's all on videotape for you. >> just let you know i didn't

see a single thing. we sent chuck out for our backyard weather every thursday right here. >> it looks so good we could practically smell it tooking. >> that stuff travels well enough to get from fairfax to here. anything leftover, we'll take it. thank you. coming up, it looks like the drought could dry up your wallet. a trip to the grocery store for everyday needs is about to get more expensive. synthetic drugs called spice and bath salts are in high demand. the feds are cracking down. coming up in sports, the nationals are in milwaukee after sweeping the mets yesterday. out here in ashburn, day 1 of training camp is in

more than 90 people have been arrested as part of the first nationwide raid on synthetic drugs. >> u.s. drug agents are calling it a huge blow to a growing industry, as erica edwards report, agents received about 19 million packets sold as k-2, spice and bath salts. the national crackdown on synthetic marijuana and other designer drugs is called "operation logjam" and it's been huge. from florida, to new york, kansas and beyond, drug enforcement agents have arrested at least 90 people, confiscated more than $36 million in cash, and seized millions of these packets that look very much like something that would pique the interest of a young person. >> they're deceptively marketed as bathsalts and spice, and

incense, even marketed. so-called bath salts are snorted or swallowed, and can lead to psychosis, paranoia. >> i have seen this type of behavior, this extreme paranoia, this almost superhuman strengths, where they can break through handcuffs. >> reporter: they're sold online and at specialty shops and convenience stores. officials had stern words for anyone selling these items. >> you are nothing more than a drug trafficker, and we will bring you to justice. >> reporter: president obama signed a bill into law earlier this month banning the most common synthetic drugs. erica edwards, nbc news. we now know the name of the little boy who was killed in an accidental shooting in woodbridge, virginia. he's 4 years old, his name is kyrell mcneil. prince women county police say he found the gun in a pickup truck outside his house.

the child shot himself. police believe it was an accident. no charges have been filed yet. july has been a tough month for metro and its riders. storms, extreme heat and computer glitches all have created interruptions in service. tonight metro officials say they're beginning to understand what went wrong and how to fix the problems. derrick ward has more. >> reporter: what's july been like for riders? ask them. >> my biggest concern is my fare card went dead, so i've been using the paper ones. they put an additional dollar on i guess to charge for maintenance. >> reporter: quite a month in other respects. downed trees and power lines and the computer glitch that took down the system, bringing the train traffic for a halt. >> let's take a pause here, bring the trains into the stations and the customers are good, the employees are safe,

and we'll take stock of this and move. we have since gone through, and after a few days of detective work found that a circuit board had failed. it failed in an unusual way. it doesn't stop, but it wasn't fully doing what it's supposed to do. the normal backup systems didn't know quite what to do with it. >> there was the partial derailment. the heat, and the laws of physics, still can expand or contract in hot or cold extremes. the extreme heat we saw caused the rails to warp, and metro reacted in line with the burgeoning new safety culture. >> we will slow the sim down. if a rail kink occurs, either we'll spot it before the train gets to it, or the severity of the incident can be reduced, you

know, maybe you don't tear of 1,000 feet of track like we did. >> reporter: as long's they run on ribbons of steel, heat will be an issue. until the technology addresses it adequately, vigilant and low speed on days like this are the only answer. somebody attacked a woman on the capital crescent trail la last -- capitol crescent trail last neat. the man was fondling her. she screamed and she had the attacker then took off running. it happened at about 9:00 last night. there's a new health clinic that opened today in southwest d.c., mayor vincent gray helped break ground on the center that's desperately needed. the event was also a break from the crush of scandal surrounding the mayor's 2010 campaign. tom sherwood reports. >> reporter: for once in recent days, he got out and wasn't

immediately surrounded by reporters asking about scandal. he took part in a groundbreaking for a $20 million community of hope health center to be built off of south capitol street in ward 8, the city's poorest. it's expected to bring health care to thousands who now have to travel to get health care. >> we have -- this is fairly recent data -- 750 primary care physicians in the district of columbia. 35 of them practice east of the river. >> reporter: neighborhood citizens also desperately hope the health center will bring our retail jobs and opportunities compared to today. >> i drive near and far to work, exercise, get groceries, shop, get my stair styled, and receive medical care. even my dog has to travel to the veterinarian. >> reporter: for gray, with a history of health care and nonprofit experience, the upbeat event was a contrast to days like wednesday when reporters pressed after him to ask scandal

questions. on this hot thursday, the media heat was off while citizens fanned themselves focused on the promise of better health and said the scandal would work itself out. >> i wouldn't want to be him every day. i have to say in terms -- i've seen a lot of mayors, his involvement, him showing up, he's been there. >> reporter: in the district, tom scherr within, notify. today family and friends paid their final respects to a giant? journalist. "the washington post" columnist william raspberry, they gathered for funeral services. he wrote about social issues for nearly 40 years and was a pioneer for black journalists. his columns appeared in more than 200 newspapers nationwide. he retired in 2005. raspberry lost his battle with prostate cancer last week. he was 76 years old. coming up in the broadcast tonight, a pair of twins sharing an amazing birthday celebration. two mothers doing something even doctors said is extremely rare.

a baby had to be rescued from a locked care in dangerous heat. how about the heat here, doug? >> 100 degrees for the seventh time this july. any time we talk about heat like that, we're also talking about thunderstorms. look at all these storms making their way our way. i'll

. a mother in california is accused of leaving her baby strapped in a hot car while she went shopping. it happened on tuesday. surveillance video shows a maintenance worker who noticed the baby and called the police. an officer broke the car window and rescued the 4-month-old child. the baby was found unconscious, but it is expected to be okay. the mother was arrested charged with child endangerment. it was 75 degrees that day, but firefighters say it might have been up to 140 degrees inside

that car. a lot of states are dealing with extreme drought conditions right nour. it could mean a jump in your grocery bill. food prices are expected to rise 3% to 4% next year. that's the estimate from the department of agriculture. milk egg and meat prices will be affected. normal inflation is usually just below 3%. prices for fruits and vegetables are not expected to rise as much. we'll have the sport report. amber, what's up? coming up, the capitals will be a lot of alexander simmen. plus rg3 makes his fir

a heat index of 106. winds out of the south-southwest. those winds helping to keep that dew point up above 70 degrees. 99 right now in college park, 97 in camp springs. take a look at the heat index.

107 in reston, 113 in huntingtown. and an extremely hot day out there. we are looking at a chance for very strong storms. a watch in effect until 1:00 in the morning for our entire viewing area. this is why. big-time storms from up around knocks right on down through pennsylvania, back to the west. now a new severe thunderstorm warning for garrett county. these storms will move most likely to the north of washington, but there's a lot more back to the west that could come through our region. we're going to be watching this very closely for you right here at nbc 4. you want to make sure you stay tuned. follow me all night long if we're not on the air. we want to go to chuck bell who's been doing our backyard weather. there's a line out the door waiting for the goody backs when

you come back. >> reporter: we've had a great time. the ribs have been slow-cooked, the kielbasa is yummy, and these bacon-wrapped pineapple chicken thence things are to die for. thank you for having us. good luck with your summer barbecuing from here on out. serving a bit of food. backyard barbecue where are you are. back to the station. >> what we're about to see are one of the wonders in the world. >> i know it's got to be 108 heat index. cool a as a cucumber. just another day, how do you do

that, girl? >> it's a tight shot right now. a lot of makeup involved. day one of training camp is in the books in ashburn. they wanted to see rg3. they started chanting his name around 3:00, but first let's check in with chick hernandez from comcast sports net. who didn't we see? >> he tweaked his hip. it's been a problem as far as a year ago. he's on the p.u.p. list. that does open a roster spot right now, but this was day 1 of training camp, and despite the heat, as you can expect, all

eyes were on robert griffin iii. of course, ever since the trade that was made, they took that second pick overall. he's been the story of that franchise. irges you can tell when you meet guys who have it. and i think he's on a way -- just the way he carries himself. >> one of the things i'm most impressed is the attitude. i saw some of the quotes from yesterday, from his press conference. i'm impressed by him, from his humility standpoint. >> he still feels like he has to

earn it, like you want you know, his's doing it. >> reporter: despite his $121 million contract, he is still a rookie. there is robert griffin iii, carrying several helmets of veterans back into the locker room. as it should be. they flip off the schedule, so it's the walk-through in the morning. it seems to have worked out okay. whatever the coach says, goes. >> this is not hot enough? >> again, not so much. >> how can you not look cool sitting next to chik? all right. moving on to some hockey news. it looks like the capitals will be seeing a lot of alexander simmen, as he has signed with

the carolina hurricanes. so he will be staying within the southeast division. so he -- simmen spent seven seasons with washington, a coming off a career low 21-goal season. nhl insiders believe. the inconsistency is the reason he received a one-year deal. some daytime baseball for the orioles up at camden yards taking on the rays. they win this one. 6-2, a three-game losing streak. chris tillman on the mounds for the birds. he gets back-to-back wins for the first time in his career. fans suffering in the heat, but they've got to enjoy the offense they saw at the bottom of the fifth, james shields on the mound for the rays. chris davis sends one to the gap. they all come in to score.

it is 5-0. but davis was not done for the same. the 7th, he smacks that pitch to center field. the solo home run, chris davis, 2 for 4 today, with four rbis. the orioles beat the rays, now in second place in the american league east. nats in milwaukee taking on the brewers. it was stephen strasburg all day long. he just gave up one earned run. they used the long ball to back up their pitcher. three home runs on the day. the nats picked up a 5-2 win over new york. in the clubhouse they're feeling good about how they're playing. >> we've been playing this hard since day 1, so why not finish the season like this? >> you know, there's ups and downs in a season, but you know, as long as we stay even-keeled, we have a chance. we know we're good, our pitching

is really good form the hitters are doing their jobs, so why not have confidence, a little swagger? >> that game starts at 8:10 tonight from milwaukee. let's go to soccer. it was a dramatic finish for the mls all-stars last night in philadelphia as they took on chelsea, they reign supreme now in international play. it was d.c. united forward. chris was named all-stars mvp. so congratulations to him. in the 37th minute, chelsea, mls in the blue down beckham with a long pass to dwas derosario. he passes to his teammate, and they beat the goalie. ? stoppage, 91st minute. first deflected, into the goal. mls all-stars pick up the 3-2

victory. chris pontius is your mvp. and then fans come on out, even though it could be a hot one, but you can start to watch the practices at about 3:00 tomorrow. that's

one more check on the weather. i hope you're not going to show that heat index thing again. it just makes me feel hotter. >> i'm not. i'm going to show the severe storms. >> that's worth taking a look at. >> the heat index 106, and take a look at the storms -- >> thanks. >> you're welcome. showing we have that severe thunderstorm watch. the areas in purple. the areas in yellow, those are severe thunderstorm warnings, now continuous from connecticut all the way down through new jersey and pennsylvania, all the way back towards portions of west virginia and maryland. they should be here in about three hours. we're talking about the panhandle over towards frederick county. if you're north of washington,

expect three hours. if you're around d.c., areas to the south, we could be talking about between 10:00 and 1:00 in the morning. that's why we want you to keep your head up. make sure you tune in right here at news4. temperatures cool back a bit for the weekend. thanks, doug. they share almost shared everything growing up, and now they have something else. both of them, the two of them had babies on the same day. they're identical twins, due dates about a month apart, but they went into labor at about the same time yesterday. family members, even their doctor never expected this. >> did you y'all plan this? like, no, it was not planned. >> one of the twins actually had twins herself. >> oh, my goodness. >> those new mothers are looking forward to some big birthday parties in the years to come. >> years of fun ahead, too.

>> how