people are recovering from a wild day of weather in and around the district in d.c. at least ten downed trees are causing problems for residents and in fairfax county fallen trees damaged at least three homes with dozens of electrical wires still down. the national weather service reports that two tornadoes may have touched down in chantilly and prince georges county. right now, about 26,000 people are still without power in our area. at one point, more than 150,000 customers did not have electricity because of the

storms. good morning. thanks for being with us. each richard jordan. >> i'm angie goff. the storms rolled through yesterday as we saw and then this morning such a different story. things are cool and calm outside. >> that's right. now let's check to see if storms may affect us again today. storm team 4 meteorologist chuck bell has your first forecast. >> good morning, richard and angie. good morning, everybody. a noticeably cooler start to the day today. dew point temperatures which were in the 70s at this time yesterday have fallen back into the 50s this morning. as a result, it is crisp and cool outside. current temperatures are mostly in the 50s and low 60s now. remember, this time yesterday a lot of spots were well into the 70s. not a completely clear sky yet, but clearing is the trend of the day. 62 at national airport, but 58 waldorf this morning. 55 culpepper. and 55 in martinsville and inwood, up in the panhandle of

west virginia. as far as the rest of the day goes, i think you'll like it a whole lot. a couple of showers for your friends out in delaware. but not too much of a threat around here. near perfect day to be outside today. 77 degrees, cooler and less humid. there will be a chance for a little five or ten minute spot shower, especially north and west of town up into parts of southern pennsylvania. don't really think we have to worry much about that around town. but a spot shower or two. tomorrow, there's an absolutely positively zero percent chance of rain for everybody. isn't that nice to hear? >> i like it. thanks, chuck. >> and when chuck was talking about the rain yesterday, there were a lot of events going on all over the place. it put a damper on a festival in northern virginia and the prince georges county fair up in upper marboro. >> we have reaction from those

caught outside. >> reporter: vecndors try to salvage what they can and emergency officials say one worker was hurt when the stage collapsed. these women were selling jewelry. >> all our stuff gets blew over. >> what was the wind like? it was in the car and it was shaking. >> it came through so fast. we couldn't see nothing. a big gust of wind and rain and that was it. >> reporter: vendors say the storm hit with very little warning blowing over tables and tents. officials say up to 500 people were at the festival and ran for cover. >> it was coming on pretty smooth and then all of a sudden somebody opened the faucet. >> reporter: a news4 photographer took this iphone video as wind gusts rocked the car. drivers were stuck in traffic and some seemed to enjoy getting a rain-soaked workout.

in upper marl pboro, a dozen people were hurt after a near stampede. people rushed the doors to escape the striking storm. >> people knew they were being evacuated and to evacuate for a reason. they could see that reason so there was an urgency to leave the open air and get into a covered building such as this one. >> reporter: officials say fierce winds forced a couple of tents to collapse. some fair goers were assisted to safety by fire and rescue crews. >> it came out of nowhere. we were trying to close up the stage. it took two of us to hold the doors open so we could fold it and put everything back together. it was crazy. >> reporter: on 32nd street in d.c. a large tree fell on an apartment building and thousands are without power. on a positive note, call it the calm after the storm. a picture-perfect sunset over

the capitol. the goal is to have 90% of the customers restored by monday. in camp springs maryland, darcy spencer. look at this video from silver springs. the storm knocked over massive tree right on to a house. it brought down some power lines along with it. two people were inside the home when the tree came down. luckily they weren't hurt, but one of their cats did run off. many d.c. residents will spend today cleaning up from the storm. >> that's right. winds damaged homes and businesses across the district. look at the roof of this building on the corner of 4th and 8th street. completely stripped here. it flew off and it was damaged -- it damaged a nearby building as well. it was a miracle no one was hurt. >> we looked up and just seemed the top came down pretty fast. we couldn't tell if anybody was underneath. but apparently no one was. >> the winds toppled trees

across the area. this was shot in the rock creek section of northwest d.c. as you can tell from the video the tree took down all the power lines with it. it was more than just winds and rains that wreaked havoc in virginia. >> there are reports that a tornado may have touched down in fairfax county. at least seven homes there were damaged. two may even have to be condemned. fortunately, there are no reports of any major injuries. >> i think there was enough warning, most people saw what was happening and their memory is not too short from a few weeks ago. most took coverage in their basements and other safe areas. >> some homeowners whose homes were damaged received insurance checks yesterday. >> pepco is reporting about 5600 outages in d.c. montgomery county and prince georges county, dominion has

around 18,000 still without electricity and bge says 1,400 customers are still in the dark. remember to stay with news4 as we'll bring you the latest outage numbers. you can stay up to date with any breaking storm news by following our facebook and twitter pages. president obama is campaigning this weekend in florida. he's telling voters that creating more jobs is his top priority right now. he's calling on americans to rally behind real achievable goals that will lead to new jobs. his newest high profile surrogate is in our area. julian castro attended a kickoff yesterday. he was the keynote speaker at the democratic national convention in charlotte last week. he talked about why president obama deserves a second term. >> there's no question that it's a close race in virginia. i believe what's going to tip the scales is president obama's

commitment to creating opportunity and economic prosperity. what he has done already, 30 straight months of private sector job growth, more than 4.5 million jobs created and what he wants to do in the future. >> mayor castro will be on "meet the press" with david gregory at 10:30 right here on nbc4. mitt romney will be on "meet the press" and like mayor castro he spent yesterday in virginia. the republican presidential nominee is blaming president obama for exposing the military to huge spending cuts. defense spending will take a major cut automatically next year. romney calls that unthinkable. the time right now is 6:08. coming up later, we have a traffic alert on metro, getting around the washington area will once again be a challenge for metro riders. we'll show you what metro stations are closed. plus, new pictures from mars.

we'll check out the red planet. [ male announcer ] as the economy gets worse,

barack obama calls on bill clinton to help his failing campaign. [ clinton ] it's about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. [ male announcer ] he's a good soldier, helping his party's president. but what did bill clinton say about barack obama in 2008? give me a break. this whole thing is the biggest fairytale i have ever seen. [ male announcer ] 23 million americans struggling for work.

a middle class falling further behind. give me a break. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. all right. so someone didn't get any sleep last night. that's okay. you look awesome. >> i have done the numbers here. i have had three hours of sleep. those were all early this morning. yikes. >> but this is why you're here, because when things like this happen, i mean, there's a lot of damage done across the area. you were tracking it all. >> i was back here by noon yesterday for the severe weather coverage. it was a busy afternoon. noontimes out towards martinsburg, west virginia and then it was into western loudoun area. tornado warnings went out in fairfax as early as 2:00, 2:15

yesterday afternoon. luckily we will not be facing any severe weather today at all. that is well come news. may still get a quick little shower in the high spots north and west of town, but the vast majority of us will be dry for your sunday. the proof is sometimes in the pudding. picture always worth a thousand words as you lookout side this morning. look at that. vanilla sky. a beautiful day for your early morning activities. there will be a few clouds bubbling up in the daytime heating as that cooler air rides in on a north to northwesterly breeze. winds out of the north at eight miles an hour. 62 at national airport. dew point is in the mid 50s now. a cool, dry start out there this morning. 53 in the panhandle of west virginia. 52 in culpepper. even 64 in annapolis for you bayside communities. the current dew points yesterday these numbers were in the 70s. today, back into the 50s. you'll notice the difference as you make your plans.

temperatures in the 60s through most of the morning hours. there will be an opportunity for a few little bubble up showers later on this afternoon. no severe weather. a quick little shower. and mostly north and west and then clearing out quickly. when the sun sets, that will be it for cloud cover and rain in general for the next four or five days. just the last of the showers off the jersey shore andell off the coastline. not going to be bothering us at all. a little ripple in the atmosphere back here across ohio and indiana. that little ripple, that's going to be the impulse that may wring out a shower or two, especially in the mountains of west virginia. not looking for much of a rain threat east of the blue ridge today. away she goes, there's that little opportunity for a bubble up shower or two around here. things clear out and a nice,

school start tomorrow morning. 40s in a few spots, but 50s for most. then a bright, sunny day for tomorrow as a big area of high pressure rolls on in. it's not here for tomorrow, but here for most if not all of the upcoming week. so for today, mix of clouds and sunshine by mid afternoon. little showers. nothing to worry about though. upper 70s. a nice change from the humid day yesterday. crisp and cool tomorrow, 100% sunshine tomorrow. look at that. nothing but bright, sunny days and cool, crisp nights all the way monday through at least thursday. then a little rising temperature and moisture may bring us a quick little shower chance in saturday. but a long way of sunshine from here. we do still need the rain technically so i don't want to ignore that. good week coming. >> thanks, chuck. time is 6:15. next up is reporters notebook.

a look at stories affecting our community. >> we'll be back in 15 minutes with the top stories and your forecast. good morning. welcome to reporters notebook. i'm pat lawson muse. it was a big week in politics as the democrats wrapped up their convention in charlotte. we'll look at the local participation starting in maryland. martin o'malley delivered a primetime speech urging delegates to stick with the president and continue moving the country forward, not backward. but o'malley's speech got mixed reviews with critics complaining it was short on substance. what did you think of the speech? >> well, i thought first off that he was in a tough position. you know, not everyone who speaks at one of these conventions is going to hit a home run. you knew michelle obama was going to be really good. you knew bill clinton was going to be really good and you knew president obama was going to be really good. so he was speaking in an early part of the convention and he

was not there to sort of do anything other than cheer lead for the president. and that can be a little difficult and if you misstep it you'll get hammered by it. i want to set that as a context. now, the speeches are not necessarily about substance. they are trying to rally the crowd and get people energized. the fact that people are criticizing that speech for not having very much substance is not a big deal to me. he has to overcome that. convention speeches can hurt your reputation as we saw with bill clinton back in '88. but of course you can overcome that as well. >> yes, jerry? >> i think a lot of people have criticism of o'malley about his speech. they say it was short, without substance and all of that. i have to agree with my colleague mike here because he was put in a tough situation. look who he followed the

governor of massachusetts who hit a home run twice. you know? with one ball and one bat. so it was difficult to follow that act as the old saying is in show business. he had to follow that act. what did he have to say, you know, coming from maryland? of course, he took on the romney campaign and he criticized romney and all that. but i think o'malley is trying to be himself, pat. i think those in the democratic community as well as on the streets here in maryland that he's looking at 2016. so that's the possibility. but building an image at the convention like you say, it can be very difficult. >> he's had quite a high profile too recently. he's been on the sunday morning talk shows. >> he is certainly somebody who wants a higher profile, you know, at some level we all want -- >> did he help himself? >> well, i think ultimately people will not spend a lot of time on this. so i would say he probably -- he probably didn't hurt himself. >> right.

>> you know, he may have not helped himself. >> i wouldn't write home to grand what about his speech. >> let's talk about dissing d.c. the leaders complain they were dissed at the convention. the voting rights got two sentences on the platform, calling for equal citizenship rights. statehood was not included and eleanor holmes norton was not allowed to speak. that hasn't happened since 1991 when she was elected. what was that about? >> that was shocking to me, that congresswoman eleanor holmes norton was not on the agenda or to speak. because like you said, this has been going on. every time i think about the democratic convention, i look for eleanor to get up and say her part. which she again -- we're talking about a convention that was actually -- it was directing itself towards women's rights. you talking about a spokesperson

for women's rights in this area eleanor holmes norton has been one. >> jerry is being nice. i'm not. the organizers and those who made the decision to shut out d.c. from any meaningful participation at the convention are cowardly and craven. this is an issue on which democrats have played footsy for years. they have talked one way and walked the other. to not even play that game strikes me as wildly unnecessary. >> is d.c. perhaps a victim of its own division in the democratic party and all the scandalous political -- >> it depends -- >> the corruption? >> it depends on who has the pen writing the message as to control the message. so, you know, i'm wondering within the platform committee itself the people this did not have d.c. at heart. maybe i'm being nice about this. but i think this was a big oversight and i think that it's

something that the democratic party is going to have to answer to down the line. >> well, just quickly, i understand the optics and all of the recent stories about corruption and the impact that may or may not have had on the profile of the district ott tat convention. that's always going on. why are we deciding this isn't a topic or issue worthwhile? the problem is the same, so why does it get less attention? >> there's the division between the parties. some think go for the voting rights in the house, not statehood. >> that is fair. that division is always -- it existed as well. i'm disappointed that the democratic national convention is no different from the republican national convention when it comes to voting rights. >> the leaders were allowed to speak at the so-called free speech zone which was set aside for protesters. unfortunately the mayor and delegate norton couldn't get there because of security. >> mike said i'm a little soft

on this. but i'll take the hard core. it would have been nice if at least ten minutes of primetime was given to the cause of statehood for 600,000 people in america. we talk about americanism, we talk about freedom, we talk about justice in all. but yet, 650,000 people are denied full voting rights. i think that should be an issue that's of priority and it should have been during primetime. >> let's go to virginia and talk about virgil good, the former congressman who has qualified to be on the ballot as the constitution party nominate. his candidacy though is not good news for those who tried to keep him off the ballot. how good will he be for the republicans in november? >> i think he has the potential to be a very significant problem for the romney campaign and for

that matter for george allen's candidacy for the senate. he's an interesting candidate in that he was a blue dog democrat, he sort of morphed into the conservative republican. now he's the constitution party nominee. he's all through those years he's been very popular in the southwest part of the state. and he doesn't have to get a lot of votes there to harm romney throughout the commonwealth. 26,000 votes separated mccain from obama in 20008. it's likely to be at least that close this time around. and his candidacy could come at a real cost to the romney camp. >> that's because of the demographics and the geographics of northern virginia itself. it's more purple or blue than the rest of state, but you're talking about southwestern virginia which is hard core conservative. very -- what christian, very strong christian area. this again, another thing that

mr. good could play against romney if we're talking about mormons and christians. >> well, you mentioned mormons, i want to add quickly. we do not know how many christians will not vote for romney because he's a mormon. that number can't be found in the polling. and obviously, president obama is not an option for these voters. now they may say, okay, i have an option now and i don't have to hold my nose to vote for romney. i can vote for virgil -- >> putting it in a perspective, it's a close race for both romney and obama, but anything could tilt it a little bit. this is what we're saying. southwestern virginia could be the tilting measure. >> all right. we have to take a break. we have to take a break. anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools...

real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. welcome back. i'll ask you this question. the virginia public access says

independents have spent ten times as much outside money as in '08. can we all stand anymore? >> i can't. >> well, i think we may have to park an ambulance next to jerry's house and we have to watch -- if we have to watch any more of the ads. this is the by-products of the citizen united supreme court decision and much of the money comes in from those who are undisclosed. the fact of the matter is, we will continue to see the ads until november. >> but i do think the target as we said earlier, they're targeted to a particular group of people, undecided. but pat, i think everybody is really tired of the ads. i don't know what effect they have. yes, negative advertisement has had an effect. but too much of it has no effect. >> let's talk about the dulles toll road, could become more expensive to travel. there's a petition drive underway to fight higher tolls on the toll road. public hearings have gotten

underway about what can double the tolls. some drivers are saying it won't happen without a fight. opponents want the airport authority to turn it over to the stage. how much would that help? >> i think it's unclear. whether the state runs it or the authority runs it, you still have to fix potholes. >> that's right. >> and you have to pay for that some kind of way. so i'm not sure that changing ownership will -- or changing management is going to make a difference at all. >> i'm sure governor mcdonnell would like to take it on. but when i look at the stats here, you're talking about $2.25, $2.75 next year and it seems like it goes up 25 cents more. >> up to $4.25 by 2015. >> what do you expect? you have like mike said a lot of infrastructure that you have to keep up maintenance on. >> but it is a fair question. you know, will these toll

increases cover maintenance costs or are they going to feather somebody else's -- >> that's what the petition is about. >> yeah. there's some evidence that that's what's going on. see the petition -- the people petitioning this are saying that the monies could go towards the silver line. that's what they're saying. >> well, listen, you need roads. you need subway. you know, i mean, you can't do it just one way. >> let's hop on our cars, pay our tolls and go back into d.c. to the bloomingdale neighborhood where there is an effort underway to set up a flood relief fund. ward 5 council member kenyon mcduffie is concerned about neighborhoods that have been flooded because of the recent rain. it's a neighbor where it floods all the time, doesn't it? >> yeah. >> i'm a son of ward 5. i have relatives who live not far from the blooming dale neighborhood, i'm very familiar about that neighborhood.

it floods all the time. i'm certain there's some money in the budget to deal with whatever it is they want to deal with, without having to create this new fund. if that's not possible, and a fund needs to be created, fine. the truth is, this always occurs in the neighborhood and people who buy in that neighborhood -- there's been a lot of gentrification there, people need to understand they're buying in what is effectively an urban flood zone. like don't buy a house near the air importaport and complain th noise. >> i think the council member has a point. if he can get funding fine. i don't know what the funding is going to do. it will take a city wide effort, pat, because here we're talking about an area at the bottom of rhode island island. this is always the question if you know anything about washington, d.c. we have always had problems with flooding in certain areas. like 15th and v street is at the

bottom of the hill, coming off of 13th and v. so all of the areas have been questioned over the years, but bloomingdale has really been suffering. and the city has got to get up and get some bucks and put in some good technologies to really control the waters that's coming into the people's basements. >> i would like to see, for example, if it's necessary some infrastructure changes. >> right. >> that may actually alleviate the problem. we want to get it fixed to prevent these floods in the first place. >> they have to do that. >> all right, thank you both. that's reporters notebook. i'm pat lawson muse. stay with us.

the d.c. metro area is once again cleaning up after a major storm system ripped through the region. in the district the storm knocked over at least ten trees causing problems for residents and in fairfax county, fallen trees damaged at least three homes with dozens of electrical wires still down. the national weather service reports that two tornadoes may have touched down in chantilly and prince georges county. right now, about 26,000 are without power in our area. at one point more than 150,000 customers didn't have electricity because of this storm. good morning, everyone. welcome to news4 today. i'm angie goff. >> i'm richard jordan. today is sunday, september 9, 2012. while the storm did leave behind some damage it left behind some cooler temperatures. >> it looks like brighter days are ahead. let's check in with meteorologist chuck bell. >> hey there. good morning to you. a very good morning to everybody out there in the news4 nation at home. a beautiful way to get the day started.

it is noticeably cooler behind the storm and the cold front. yesterday, we had quite a blast of wind and rain across the area. peak wind dusts across the area, 59 miles per hour. the peak gust at andrews, 59 mile per hour. and in rosslyn, virginia, 59 mile per hour. even dusts 40 or higher for dulles airport, reagan national and the naval academy in annapolis. first thing this morning, temperatures 50s and low 60s. still a drop or two showing up on the eastern shore for rain showers first thing this morning. we don't need to worry about that. can't rule out a spot of showers of five or ten minutes in pennsylvania and west virginia. rest of the seven day in a few minutes. the storm caused plenty of problems in northern virginia, especially for those in the

rosslyn area. people were at the jazz festival when the storm arrive, one person was injured when a stage collapsed. the winds knocked over tables and tents including jewelry stands set up by some women at the festival. >> what happened? >> all our stuff just blew over. >> what was the wind like? we were in the car and it was shaking. >> we couldn't see nothing. just a big gust of wind and rain and that was it. >> no other injuries were reported at that festival. fairfax county residents are cleaning up after from what appears to have been a tornado. at least seven homes were damaged there, two may even have to be condemned. rescuers say the situation could have been a lot worse if people hadn't received advanced warnings about the storm. that allowed them to head to their basements or to find some other safe area. the storm is to blame for at least a dozen injuries in prince

georges county. the high winds and heavy rain ripped through the county fair in upper marlboro. several hundred people tried to go into the show case arena causing a near stampede. >> people knew they were being evacuate and they were feeling that reason, they could see that reason. there was an urgency to leave the open air and get into the covered building. >> the winds knocked over a couple of tents, but there was no other serious damage at the fair. this is what the storm looked like when it rolled through adams morgan. as you can see many cars had trouble staying in their lanes. the storm did rip a roof off the building in northeast washington, but like in virginia, no one was seriously hurt. stay with news4. we'll bring you complete storm coverage including the latest power outage numbers. stay up to date with any breaking storm news by following

nbc4's facebook and twitter pages. president obama and mitt romney are campaigning in key battleground states this weekend. the president is in florida while romney spent yesterday in virginia. nbc's brian mooar reports on some of the lighter moments from a fierce day of campaigning. >> reporter: president obama wasn't looking for laughs when he dropped into an orlando bar. but he walked straight into a punch line too easy to pass up. when a boy flashed his sign that any native hawaiian would recognize. >> you were born in hawaii? hawaii. okay. do you have a birth certificate? >> say yes, sir. >> reporter: the president and republican challenger mitt romney were both in key battleground states. both battling for middle class credibility. the gop nominee was at richmond international raceway. ready to wave the green flag starting a nascar race. but the rain stopped that plan in its tracks.

still, plenty of time to do what he came there for -- connecting with voters he'll need this fall. >> i've got to do it. thank you. >> reporter: a day with some light moments in a campaign that's getting serious. brian mooar, nbc news. mitt romney will be on "meet the press" with david gregory at 10:30 right here on nbc4 and david, he will join us live on the set with more on that exclusive interview. a traffic alert now for metro riders if you're headed to the nats game or competing in the nation's triathlon. you might want to leave earlier than usual, especially on the red line. buses are replacing trains at dupont circle. three stations are closed completely. and the red line is closed at metro center and gallery place. the construction will help improve wireless service in metro tunnels. today the baltimore area

school yeardley love graduated from dedicate the $1.2 million field during the ceremony today. it will include prayers and a speech from the love family. yeardley love was found dead more than two years ago. her boyfriend was accused of killing her. still ahead, the dangers of singing while you drive. a new study is out. it may have you thinking twice before you belt out that song on the road. plus, tornado touchdown. we check out at least one twister heavy load in america. but mitt romney plan, a middle class to $2,000 more a year in taxes. multi-millionaires like himself hits the middle class harder... bigger break. forward for america? this message.

welcome back. now that the conventions have wrapped up, the presidential

candidates are campaigning in key battleground states. >> joining us with his take on the presidential race is "meet the press" moderator david gregory. >> good to be home, i have to say. back in washington after a while. >> last week, mitt romney kind of laid low, let the democrats have their time in the spotlight but he's back. >> he's back. he's on "meet the press" exclusively, first time in the presidential campaign. we are quite excited to have him. what a romney presidency would mean for the country. he addresses all of that. look, this is the critical time. this is still a tight race. the conventions are done. we'll have a real sense of where the race is i think in the next couple of weeks once more of this campaign advertising takes effect. they're freed up to spend more of their general election money. you let those conventions sink in. the reality is that mitt romney is in this thing, but probably a little bit behind. i think coming out of the democratic convention that's still the case. >> when we talk about targeting the demos, we're down to the

homestretch now. romney just released an ad today in the spanish language targeting latinos. will we see more specific focuses on women's groups and the hispanics? >> no question about it. there's going to be a big push. you think about virginia in our area. both sides recognize that women will be critically important, in northern virginia. but there's a big play for latinos and for women. but also independent voters. that may be a smaller number. but again if you are an obama supporter from 2008 and weakly committed, and if the romney campaign thinks that i can bring you over to their side that will be a big target. for me, do americans blame the president for the state of unemployment in the country or do you think he needs more time to fix the problem? i think the answer to that question determines the race. >> and the jobs report numbers that came out on friday, how are

they -- >> it hurts. it hurts because it shows you while jobs are being created the recovery is a jobless recovery. and the administration will say, hey, wait a minute, 30 months of positive growth we're losing 700,000 jobs when obama came into office. the reality is that while the underpinnings of the economy are quite strong, employers are not hiring because there is uncertainty. there's just, you know, a lot of concern still out there. and as long as that's the case, it's going to be a real knock against the president. it allows mitt romney to run the campaign he very much wants to run which is to say, look, he had a chance. economic record is what it is. americans do think that romney has some better ideas about the economy. that's his calling card. >> over the last couple of days, we've noticed that president obama hasn't touched on the job report. he's laser focused on the medicare issue and expected to drive that home today with his next visit. >> i think this is important too cause the argument from obama is you're not happy with the

status quo, get that, economy is in bad shape. i understand that. what is mitt romney offering you? you have to believe in the prescription that he has. which is a big tax cut even beyond where george bush was, president bush was, and they're going to change medicare as you know it. those are true statements. a lot of people who look at medicare, even though romney presidency would not touch medicare for ten years. but what they do want to do would change how the program operates. very tough -- it's a very tough fight to win. >> at the convention in charlotte it seemed like bill clinton got a lot of attention. michelle obama too. but bill clinton came out as a big supporter for obama. what do you think the clinton factor will be? >> critically important because bill clinton cannot only lead a charge against mitt romney, but to really explain the issues in a way that i think americans can absorb and really listen to. he's just very powerful in that way. arguably more effective than president obama.

i asked mitt romney whether bill clinton could get elected today and he said, well, yeah, he probably could. e -- he even said that clinton was more effective than obama. part of it an interesting explain we had on the campaign bus. but clinton will be battling in the key battleground states. >> you have a round table. >> we'll digest the news that mitt romney has and talk about the effect of the two conventions on the race. the fall campaign is now with us. we have football, we've got the campaign. unfortunately we still have the power outages. i got power back in the middle of the night here. you know, we live nearby here. so hopefully, you know, other folks who are still affected will get it back soon. didn't seem like the storm lasted that long. of course in northern virginia much more powerful. but in northwest d.c. it was

less severe. and yet we have the outages. >> you'll also have san antonio mayor castro on. >> yeah. he'll offer some response i think to what mitt romney offers this morning. >> a lot of visits at the battleground state of virginia. >> we're in the prime part of the country. >> all right, david, thanks so much. see you later on "meet the press." speaking about the weather let's see if there are some sunny days ahead. chuck? >> absolutely right. if you hear the sound of chain saws today, you'll know your neighbor didn't fare as well as you did in the power outage situation. we have some good clean-up weather and good sitting around

anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it.

four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland.

barack obama calls on bill clinton to help his failing campaign. [ clinton ] it's about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. [ male announcer ] he's a good soldier, helping his party's president. but what did bill clinton say about barack obama in 2008? give me a break. this whole thing is the biggest fairytale i have ever seen. [ male announcer ] 23 million americans struggling for work. a middle class falling further behind. give me a break. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message. you have heard the warnings about talking on the cell phone

or texting behind the wheel, but you may be driving more dangerously if you sing along to your favorite song. singing behind the wheel makes driving seem more mentally demanding. that make its it more difficult to maintain your speed. >> you actually tend to slow down, you kind of stay more centered in your lane. you become a little bit more careful. >> psychologists say people do realize how distracting music can be when they are driving. that's why many of them turn off the radio when it starts raining hard or snowing. and now to video, something that had some drivers in new york on edge. check that out. it's a funnel cloud that touched down in brooklyn.

>> it is a good morning for a nice, long run. if you did any running in the heavy rain yesterday, not with thunder and lightning, you've got 15% mileage credit for running in the pouring down rain. 62 right now in washington. dew points are back down into the comfortable 50s. a nice light breeze out of the north averaging eight miles per hour. 56 in hagerstown. down into beautiful northern virginia, leesburg, ashburn, middle burg, all into the mid to upper 50s. and winchester a whisper out of the 40s already. so for today, just an unbelievably nice start to the day. temperatures in the 60s. climbing into the middle and upper 70s for a time today. with all the daytime heating,

there may be a spot shower to worry yourself with. sprinkles still lingering right along the immediate coastline this morning, but the weather front that sparked the severe weather is well off shore. a little ripple in the atmosphere back here across eastern indiana, western ohio as this ripple right here rides that northwesterly wind. that combined with our daytime heating may wring out showers. i don't think we have much of anything in the way of a real rain threat east of the blue ridge and down into southern maryland today. spotty showers north and west of town. things turn nice and cool for tomorrow morning. high pressure continues to build on in. monday looks nice. tuesday even better than that. the stretch of nice weather will last throughout the week. a mix of sun and clouds this afternoon. if you're headed down to the beach a few folks like to take

september to go to the beach, the crowds are gone, but the weather is perfect. rain first thing this morning but after that an awesome week. not just here, but beachgoers as well. the water nice and warm still. that's our seven-day forecast. look at the 50s in the morning. those will be our coolest morning, maybe our coolest morning since early june. about three months ago since we were anywhere near that chilly. >> oh, man. >> i like it. >> you like it? >> well, i need to wear a cardigan. i needed to be better prepared walking in. >> a beautiful dress. >> i was booking it into the studio. it was nice. >> good. thanks, chuck. we appreciate it. young girls got a chance to try out a new sport for free. the prince georges women's lacrosse association held a clinic to teach girls the ins and outs of the sport.

donna edwards and others attended that event. our own tracee wilkins was the master of ceremonies. yesterday's storm couldn't put a damper on the nationals offense. >> rg3 prepares for his nfl debut. carol maloney has it all in this morning's sports minute. >> good morning. i'm carol maloney and we begin with the stephen strasburg shutdown. nats strasburg officially shut down on saturday. meanwhile, his team taking on the marlins. after a 2 1/2 hour rain delay, jayson werth has his fifth home run of the year. then in the bottom of the tenth, cory brown wins it for the nats with a shot to right. nats win 7-6. rubber match today at 1:30. college football, maryland visiting temple. the terps get three touchdowns from kerrey hills.

maryland beats temple 36-27. virginia, virginia tech and georgetown all winners. howard falls to rutgers. today, the robert griffin iii era begins for the redskins with the season opener against the saints. rg3 who has a lot of family in the big easy is ready for his debut. >> you try not to get too antsy and then the coaches talked to me about it. don't try to go out and show anything or prove anything. have fun. i think that's the approach i'm taking towards it. rather than now it's time to show what i've got. it's a matter of going out and executing. >> i'm carol maloney. >> thanks. do you ever turn your camera around and maybe take a picture of yourself? well, nasa's mars rover is no different. curiosity took a picture of itself on mars. the big eye on the rover's face shoots laser beams to vaporize rocks and analyze techemicals

below that. it's been sending back the pictures since curiosity landed on the red planet more than a month ago. that curiosity is such a narcissist. >> curious. there you go. that's how it got its name. i call that move the angie goff. >> that's the richard jordan camera with the laser beams on it. vaporizing your co-anchor. >> it's not working. i'm still right here. chuck? >> will she be back in two minutes? >> i know you're going off no sleep. you're saying silly things. that's it for news4 today. more after the break. anncr: this casino's in west virginia.

but it makes millions off marylanders every year. now they're running dishonest ads. why? because voting for question seven is a vote to build a... world-class resort casino in maryland. creating thousands of jobs and... ...according to the official department of legislative... services, hundreds of millions for our schools.

while saving taxpayer money by cutting casino subsidies. question seven. good jobs and better schools in maryland. not west virginia. good morning. and welcome to news4 today. i'm angie goff. >> it's sunday, september 9, 2012. things are changing because there's a nice, cool breeze behind us. >> i like the story behind us. it's pretty damaging yesterday. roofs were ripped off, a lot of power lines and trees down. >> 50 to 60 mile per hour winds from the blue ridge to the bay, all across the area. most locations had winds gust over 30 to 40 miles an hour and

some areas 50 mile per hour or higher. 59 for peak at the air force base. look at stanton, virginia, petersburg, west virginia, those are 40s on the map this morning. meanwhile, 67 in annapolis. 62 in town. mostly 50s in close to the suburbs now. but those 40s, there will be a whole lot more on the map the next couple of mornings. be aware of it, cardigan sweater. here's your sunday planner. i can't rule out a little five or ten minute long shower. mainly north and west of town today. i don't think we need to worry about rain drops but temperatures in the mid 70s. tomorrow promises to be even better. i think one of our coolest mornings in months and yes, there's a lot of 40s on the map the next couple of mornings. sleeveless dresses are a great idea in june, july, august. >> but they're still fashionable. come on. >> it's very close to white

after labor day. that's all i'm going to say. >> no, it's not. this is off white. >> let's move on here. >> let's not get into the conversation about the wardrobe. >> okay. >> mr. mixed prints. >> settle down. let's talk about yesterday's storm. here's the latest now, thousands are still without power in our area after high winds and heavy rains ripped through the region. the national weather service is reporting that two possible tornados may have touched down. there were only a few reported injuries as a result of the storm. expect more long waits if you're taking metro today. the red line is undergoing major construction affecting at least seven stations. pluses will go between dupont and noma gallaudet. and the wait finally over. the redskins open their season today against the new orleans saints. it will be robert griffin iii first regular season nfl game. you have to wait a few more weeks to see the skins in person. their home opener is two weeks from today. those are some of the stories

making headlines this morning. next is nbc4's viewpoint. >> of course we'll be back in a few minutes with another update. good morning. welcome to viewpoint. i'm pat lawson muse. access to health care is an important issue across the country and here in the washington area. it is a very big issue for prince georges county residents many of whom seek health care still outside the county because it's either convenient to do so or because they can't find what they're looking for. we focus on the mobile health care and my guests is a health office we are the prince georges county health department center and maria gomez is president and ceo of mary's center. dr. harris is medical director of health programs at the children's national medical center. thanks for join us this morning. let's talk just a moment about prince georges county. 150,000 residents approximately lack health care or have insufficient care and often rely

on the emergency rooms. for their care. how does that impact the overall health care system and how is it changing? mar maria? >> i think it impacts because it's more costly and people are getting into care late. instead of preventing those cancers, cervical cancers, you know, which are preventable, we could be seeing them early on. so that's to me -- it's cost us. and the second thing is that we really want to make sure in prince georges county the centers grow with the health care reform. and that means that it's all about prevention, it's all about getting people into care early and then making sure that there's a place for treatment. and so that's why it's exciting, what's happening in prince georges county at this time. >> pamela, you're smiling. there's a plan on the table for a new hospital in prince georges which i assume you're excited about. >> very excited about. i have to agree with maria, it's not the best place to get care

for the kinds of things they're seeing at prince georges hospital currently. the other concern with is that you need on going care from management and treatment and the infrastructure we're looking to build in prince georges county is that much easier with a large regional teaching hospital within our community that will draw providers, primary care specialists and others to the community so that our residents insured or insured don't have to leave the county to get health care. >> you're a medical doctor and many of the residents and we're talking about coming into the district. many bring their children to children's hospital. >> yes. >> how does that impact the services that you're providing and your network? >> well, with children's national, we have been providing services to prince georges county residents for many, many years. we have the highest market share of prince georges county

residents in patient. we have regional outpatient centers as well as some private practice. children's pediatric and associates. what we're excited about is providing a safety net for the kids. so the kids aren't using the emergency room for nonacute reasons. and this will ensure that we are screening for health systems, we are providing wellness versus treating them when they're sick. so our entire aim at coming into prince georges county is extendg the district of columbia to the kids who need wellness, who need a primary care provider and they're not falling through the cracks and using the emergency room for their care. >> they call it the convoy of care in prince georges. you're sort of a force behind this mobile health care plan. but you have been doing it for a while. >> yes. we have been in the district of

columbia for 20 years providing medical services for kids birth to age 21. then for the past ten years we have been providing oral health services, dental care, and for us it's definitely the temporary solution where the families don't have easy access to primary care provider, we go to where we're needed. because ultimately we can't wait for the infrastructure to be built. we can't wait for the family to come to the emergency room so we go to our families. we go to the communities that need us. so coming into prince georges county just one additional aspect of going with where we're needed. >> do the patients who need the care find care? she's talking about going into the communities, but how are residents using the services there? >> well, just started in prince georges county. with regards to children, and

mary's center. but they're at the schools. our kids -- the one place where we know they are, they're at our schools. part of the problem also for a lot of the residents is they may be eligible for benefits that they're not aware of. a lot of the kids that we see in the school are programs at the high schools. some are eligible for medical insurance, but they have not applied, so of the 150,000 people you mentioned, uninsured or underinsured, some of them may have access to it and there are a variety of reasons. some of them aren't able to get insurance because of citizenship. but for our county, we absolutely have a need for more availability of primary care services. children will fill that need. they'll go where we know the kids are. they're in the schools. it's not just for the schools, the people in the community can

access the services. >> all right. we'll take a break and talk more about the partnership and the access that's being provided to so many residents who need health care in prince georges right after this break. stay with us. [ male announcer ] as the economy gets worse, barack obama calls on bill clinton to help his failing campaign. [ clinton ] it's about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. [ male announcer ] he's a good soldier, helping his party's president. but what did bill clinton say about barack obama in 2008? give me a break. this whole thing is the biggest fairytale i have ever seen. [ male announcer ] 23 million americans struggling for work. a middle class falling further behind. give me a break. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

welcome back. we are talking about mobile health care in prince georges county. and it's being expanded and improved with the help of a new partnership between the children's national center, mary's center and the governor's well mobile. tell us again how the people who need this care are going to access it. >> well, first of all, i would like to say that the partnership is really working excellent because the health department is involved, because the executives office is involved and because the school system is involved. they're all just opening the doors and making and being flexible and working with the community for this.

i think that the -- the piece that's really important is some of us have centers also like children's at prince georges county so we're spreading the word with those who come through the doors. the principals are key and the vice principals and teachers. we find in the middle school that we're at, the word has spread. so the teachers want to be treated. the principals want the parents to come in. there's an enthusiasm and while this is somewhat a gap -- filling in a gap, everyone is interested how do we make the entities permanent in the school systems and within the neighborhoods. >> so students are accessing this care, but they're parents as well? >> well, there are others -- so the governor's wellness plan they don't typically do children, but adults. we have dental vans, part of the prince georges county health

department. they have two chairs on the mobile unit. they're doing sealants and dental care and screening. we have colgate palmolive who is a partner in this. so it's not just primary care. it is also dental. it's too many schools to name. we'll obviously forget someone. but they're inside the beltway in areas that are typically underserved with regards to health care. we thought the middle schools would be the best place to pull from elementary and the people in the community. >> dr. harris, there are four schools that you're working with. >> yes. we are at four schools at prince georges county. the first is stoddard. benjamin stoddard. then also at william works, william hall. so those are the four schools that we will be working at to provide medical and oral health

services. >> getting the word out again is very, very important. you have chosen a perfect venue. back to school night or you chose that. >> yes. >> how did that go? >> that is going very well. we are attending all the back to school nights and also prince georges county had a back to school fair in august where all of the mobile health programs came out and they had over 6,000 participants attend this fair where families got to find all the resources within the school system. and one of the resources would be the mobile health program. but we're finding a lot of excitement in the back to school nights and it's been great. we're able to tell the family about our program. even get some families signed up. >> what are the biggest issues the children in these middle schools are facing? we know now that children are having the same medical crises that many adults are experiencing with diabetes. juvenile onset diabetes and obesity.

are those -- >> she can speak to it better, but there are problems, multiple problems. but one of the goals is to take away some of that stress and angst on where i can find that care. if it's right at a school or near in my community with the quality names of the children's national and the mary center, we can get it to them quicker. but the problems are the same. >> i think some of the biggest things we are seeing are the issues around nearly homeless families. domestic violence. child abuse and neglect. hunger that is happening in the county. so -- and the weather hasn't helped with this. so we are seeing a lot of the cases. and so i think that for us, the vans are a place we can attract people so they can get something done like den tall care.

they need a permanent medical home instead of the vans. >> to piggyback on what maria said, medical services are great but there's also other social factors that impact a child's life. whether it be hunger. mental health. whether it be security. there are so many things to help the family as a whole with once we get them in the mobile program. it's key for us not to only look at the child, but to look at the family unit. we have social workers. i'm sure most have social workers that can help the families get insurance. you know, because ultimately, getting insurance allowing them to get the specialty care. primary care they will get, but having insurance will not only get them the prescription that they need, the medicine they need, but also specialty care. >> the other key is linking -- i

do want to add, linking these wonderful partners to the services that are already available, the department of family services and within the health department, i think it's one of the best kept secrets. there are wonderful youth programs in our addiction and mental health division that we could link kids to, so there are resources for treatment. outpatient therapies. there are a variety of resources within our health department that these programs will be able to link some of these families to. so we're really excited about the partnership. >> i think we must not forget though even with all of that, there will be a huge cohort of families not insuranced and that the prince georges county will have to carry. that as a private sector, we'll see how we will ensure that those families who will never be insured regardless of health care reform or not will still be out with that card.

>> we'll continue our discussion about health care in prince georges after this. anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland.

good morning. i'm angie goff. here are some of the stories we are following this sunday morning. thousands are still without power after high winds and heavy rains ripped through the region. two possible tornadoes touched down. there were only a few reported injuries as a result of this storm. expect more long waits if you're taking metro today. the red line is undergoing major construction, affecting at least seven stations. buss will go between dupont and no what gallaudet. and the redskins are you redoes, the season finally gets

underway today. robert griffin iii and the skins take on the saints in new orleans. kickoff set for 1:00. this will be rg3's first nfl game. we'll have more news and your forecast in 15 minutes. well. we're talking about health care in prince georges county. there's a lot of debate about the health care law, the reforms that have been passed. and tell me how this law impacts the majority of your clients and the residents that we're talking about in prince georges. >> i'll speak to prince georges and the state of virginia. the health care bill was amazing for us and it going to provide access to insurance for a large number of the people in our state. we were talking about the benefits of it. the state of maryland is far ahead of other states in the country and they're committed to moving forward with health reform. even if the worst thing in my view happens is that it's repealed. the residents of maryland will

still be able to purchase health insurance on a health exchange with subsidies. they are moving forward fast and quickly towards that goal. so we will feel it in maryland but not to the degree of most of the other states. there are states in this -- in the country that are not even planning for health reform. and some of our surrounding counties. but the state of maryland is far ahead and we'll have a program in our state. >> so i think for us it's al also -- i agree with that. i think that the new health care reform addresses a lot of issues of prevention. a lot of issues of education. many of our communities, especially in prince georges county, that's just -- there's just a lot of lack of education. getting people into care early and then saying how do you keep healthy, better nutrition and how do you detect asthma, how do you prevent asthma attacks that

keep children from learning? now, that is being paid for at the primary care level and now we can use the dollars and we did it by the grace of god and foundations and the other people who gave us money. now we're able to bill for those. that is really something that, you know, the piece that -- it goes back to we'll need a whole bunch of health care providers. and in the future with the health care reform. if we can keep the children learning so they can become the next group of providers, next group of nurses and doctors, you know, it's all interrelated. this is just the beauty of health care reform. it's keeping people healthy. when you keep people healthy, you keep the communities and the children learning and building the next set of professionals that come after me. >> dr. harris, are you seeing an impact? >> i am seeing an impact. children's national has always

been promoting wellness and prevention. and for us, what we're trying to do is build the capacity because once it's implemented there will be more individuals looking for primary care as to what nation's children is doing right now is making sure that all of the primary care practices are able to build the capacity, to see the children so that they're not using the emergency room or illnesses aren't going longer than they should. so we're very excited that we will be able to see the kids at the right place and at the right time. >> how much of a responsibility -- well, actually, parents have a responsibility. but how important is it for parents to be proactive and not to wait until the children are sick and then take them to the doctor? >> as a parent myself, i can speak, you know. i have three children. i think one of the key things that most parents want is for child to be well. unfortunately sometimes there's

different factors that impact our ability to take them to the wellness checkup every single year. so sometimes we end up taking them to the doctor when they're sick. that education in terms of prevention and wellness needs to happen when the child is in the room. so that that mom is taking care of themselves while they're pregnant so you have a healthy pregnancy. that child comes out at term. so it's important that we put the message out of taking care of the body, oral health care impacts, you know, pregnancy. taking care of the whole body, the mental component, the physical component even before the child is born. once you have that component of self-literacy as part of your package, you will see more individuals taking health as a priority and accessing well care as a priority. we need as a community to do that. we shouldn't say the government needs to do this or the community. it takes a village to raise a

child and we with this collaboration we are that village that's helping families. >> we'll take another break and be right back. stay with us.

anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel... but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes...

where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. welcome back. we are talking about mobile health care access in prince georges county. and it occurs to us all, you know, everybody works. some people work two jobs and with parent's busy schedules sometimes it's difficult to get to the clinic before it closes or to get to the mobile van. how are you addressing our lifestyle changes and the need to adjust to parent's schedules? >> what's innovative about the mobile programs, i know mary's center as well as international, they're connected to the mobile health centers. so even though the children or parents may get their services through the mobile programs,

they tend to have extended hours. so we have extended hours into the evening. as late as 8:00 most days of the week. we are also open on saturdays. that's responding to the needs of the families so that we are making sure that when they need the care, we are there for them. >> right. so when the hospital -- for instance, when the new hospital opens up, i think it will be very exciting. the idea of like having centers of excellence that are open at different places. not everybody can be open every night, but how do we collaborate together as a hospital that the hospital has a place so when somebody comes to the e.r. and it's not an e.r. emergency they can refer back to the community. >> at that time. >> when they need the care. >> and with regards to the health department, so the question about the hours, i'm new, i've been there maybe a year now in the acting capacity but officially since july.

but we are looking at every single division and aligning those with our goals, new goals. i'm new, so i have new areas of focus and we are trying to align those with some of the health disparities that we have, absolutely not been completely addressed in prince georges county. so we are looking at everything. we have extended hours in our addiction and mental health programs. our family planning, maternal child health clinics have extended hours. when we get a minute and we'll only have a minute, we will be expanding hours to meet the needs of our residents. >> i want to ask you about the -- an event up coming up on the 12th. we're unveiling a fleet of medical and dental units. tell us about that event. >> it is scheduled for wednesday the 12th. it is at james gallson middle school. all of the vans -- all the

mobile units will be there on display. we're excited about that kickoff for the event. many of them have started already, but we are looking forward to this amazing event. >> really wonderful that this event, it can be coupled with the -- that nbc4 has and if we can draw that together that would be wonderful. the other piece, this is really about the health, the executive office and the school system coming together and saying we've got to look at families where they're at and as a community, not just health care alone from the school, from the executive office. planning together and the beauty of this, you know, already pam has started. we have the group, so we have started working together on chronic disease. all the health issues to make sure we are on the same page. >> you have a lot of work to. >> well, it's a collaborative effort. >> thank you so much.

thank you, all you have, for being with us. nbc4's tracee wilkins will be emceeing the event at james gallson middle school on wednesday. >> thank you. >> thank you all. thank you for being with us. that's view point. i'm pat lawson muse. stay with us. news4 today continues. people can breath a sigh of relief after a wild day of weather in our area. crews in d.c. are working to remove ten trees that fell during yesterday's massive storm and in fairfax county, fallen trees damaged at least three homes and dozens of electrical wires are still down. the national weather service reports two tornadoes may have touched down in chantilly and prince georges county. right now about 22,000 people are still without power in the

area, but at one point more than 150,000 customers did not have electricity because of the storms. hi, everyone. welcome to news4 today. i'm richard jordan. >> i'm angie goff. september 9, 2012. chuck said yesterday we need to be weather aware. a lot of damage done across the area. a lot of people are waking up in the dark again this morning. >> let's go to meteorologist chuck bell to see what's on tap for today. >> good morning. the one little bit of improvement for those suffering without power this time around as compared to the duration back at the end of june is now we do not have a 10 or 11-day stretch of near 100 degree heat to deal with. in fact, outside of not being age to charge your electronic world, good sleeping weather. no a.c. needed at all. 54 degrees in beautiful montgomery county. 54 in manassas.

58 in frederick burg and stafford. 67 bayside and annapolis, thanks to the moderating influence of the chesapeake bay. no sprinkles, but sprinkles across maryland. can't rule it out in the mountains of west virginia or pennsylvania. east of the blue ridge i don't think we need to worry too much. highs today, mid to upper 70s. ten minute shower chance and then for tomorrow, not even a slim little chance of a shower. 100% sunshine tomorrow. a nice, cool start. tomorrow may be the coolest morning in three months here in washington. get ready to enjoy that. >> thanks. well, the storm swept into the area quickly. >> in fact, it caught some people by surprise in northern virginia. 500 people were enjoying the rosslyn festival. it knocked over tables, tents

and chairs. >> i don't know, it was coming down pretty smooth and then somebody opened the faucet. >> what was the wind like? we were in the car and it was shaking. >> it was coming through so fast. we couldn't see anything, a big gust of rain and wind and that was i. >> luckily no other injuries were reported at the best value. fairfax county residents are clean up from a tornado. at least seven homes were damaged. two may even have to be condemned. fortunately, no one was seriously hurt. rescuers say it could have been worse if they had not received advanced warnings about the storm. in prince georges county, the storm is to blame for at least a dozen injuries. >> the high wind and heavy rain ripped through the county fair in upper marlboro. several hundred tried to get out of the rain by going into the show place arena and causing a near stampede. four people ended up hospitalized. >> it just seemed to come out of

nowhere. it was breezy all day. then all of a sudden, i hadn't felt wind like that in a long time. it was nuts. we couldn't close it up fast enough. >> the winds knocked over a couple of tents, but no other serious damage at the fair. in silver springs, a tree was knocked over on a house on wood burn road. it brought down some power lines as you can tell. luckily, no one was hurt, but one of the cats did run off. many d.c. resident willing clean up from the storm. >> just look at the roof of this building. on the corner of 4th and h streets, it flew off and damaged a nearby building. it was a miracle no one was hurt. >> we looked up and we just seen the top just started to come down pretty fast and we couldn't tell if anybody was underneath.

apparently no one was. >> the winds also toppled trees across the area. this was in the northwest section of d.c. the trees took down power lines along with it. >> we'll have the latest outage numbers and you stay up to date with us by going to the website, nbcwashington.com. you can follow our nbc4 facebook and twitter pages. in decision 2012, president obama and mitt romney are campaigning. romney spent yesterday in virginia. and nbc's brian mooar reports on the lighter moments from a fierce day of campaigning. >> reporter: president obama wasn't looking for laughs when he dropped into an orlando bar. but he walked straight into that punch line too easy to pass up. when a boy flashed a sign that any native hawaiian would recognize. >> you were born in hawaii? >> hawaii.

>> okay. do you have a birth certificate? >> yes, sir. >> reporter: the president and republican challenger mitt romney were both in key battleground states. both battling for middle class credibility. the gop nominee was at richmond international raceway ready to wave the green flag starting a nascar race. but the rain stopped that plan in its tracks. still, there was plenty of time to do what he came there for, connecting with voters he'll need this fall. >> i've got to do it. thank you. >> reporter: some light moments in the campaign that's getting serious. brian mooar, nbc news. so with both conventions over, it's crunch time for president obama and mitt romney. "meet the press" moderator david gregory joined us earlier today. he says the 2012 election will come down to one simple question. >> i think this comes down to

something very simple at this point. do americans blame the president for the state of unemployment in the country? or do you think he needs more time to fix the problem? i think the answer to that question determines the race. >> and coming up later on "meet the press," david welcomes mitt romney for an exclusive interview. you can see it right here on nbc4 at 10:30. in the week ahead now, the country will remember the lives lost during the september 11th attacks. tuesday marks 11 years since the terrorist attacks. president obama will once again take part in the 9/11 day of service. he's asked people to remember and honor the victims as well as the first responders who risked their lives to help. on thursday, people in our area will be able to say good-bye to neil armstrong. the national cathedral will host a memorial service for the legendary astronaut. it is open to the public but you must make reservations through nasa. in 1969 he was the first man to

walk on the moon. maryland health officials will be spraying parts of anne arundel for mosquitoes as they try to prevent the spread of west nile. officials will spray in the arundel marley area at 7:30 at night. nearby residents are being encouraged to avoid outdoor activities that night. this could be the week we see the new iphone. rumor has it the announcement will be the introduction of the iphone 5. there are also rumors apple could unveil a smaller and cheaper ipad as well. i think they're calling it the miniipad. >> if they don't can't only without the iphone 5, hearts will be broken. >> i thought they'd wait closer until the holiday time. >> it gives you time to collect your money and make the purchase. >> here's what's coming up, a

falling object catches neighbors by surprise. find out what they found in their yard. and it may have you thinking twice before you belt out a song on the morning drive. we are on twitter and facebook. we'll be there throughout the morning. just search news4 today. we are back in a minute.

so the 9:15 meeting

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. imagine leaving your house this morning and finding a piece of an airplane sitting in your driveway. it happened to one washington state man. the landing gear door from a 767 landed right in front of his house. >> this is a piece of the door that fell. i couldn't pick up the whole thing so i just got a little piece. >> no one was hurt when the door crashed into the neighborhood. the faa is not saying whether it

identified the plane that lost the door. >> imagine being on the plane. you've heard the dangers about texting while driving but you may be in dangerous if you also sing along. singing behind the wheel makes driving seem more mentally demanding. that makes it mo difficult to maintain your speed. >> you actually tend to slow down. you kind of stay more centered in your lane, become a little bit more careful. >> psychologists say people realize how distracting music can be when they're driving that's why many of us tend to turn the radio off when it starts raining hard or snowing. >> i have to admit i have missed exits before just jamming out. just getting into the song. >> at least you make it to work, i'm surprised that happens. >> wow. beat up angie day today. i'm going to start singing for you. >> no, no. >> jenna wolfe, she's live in new york. save us.

>> sing it. sing it. >> no. >> hey, guys, good morning. coming up on a sunday morning we'll have much more on the wild weather that slammed the northeast. two tornadoes touching down in an unlikely place here in new york city. a new controversy in the -called trial of the century. the o.j. simpson murder case. one prosecutor is saying the defense tampered with that famous bloody glove. this morning the o.j. defense fires back. plus, with the big finale this week, lester goes behind the scenes at "america's got talent" to talk to howard stern and howie mandel about the show and the breakout stars. check out what we've got to do. we went back to where it all began. lester and i head to jamaica, my birth place. we'll learn more about us and forget singing, we hooped it up with a little dancing in the caribbean sun. we had a good time with that.

all that and much more when we get started on a sunday morning. i know it wasn't pretty. >> is there video of lester cutting the rug? >> oh there is a lot of video of that we have seven minutes worth of that video. it's a little bit of a comedy routine. tune in for that. >> you can post it raw online. >> should be a good 30 minutes of it. >> thank you. let's turn to the weather now. yeah. >> i'm sorry -- >> can't dress, can't sing. what can you do? that's the new lyrics to the song. >> i'm going to start a twitter campaign against all of you. >> we'll have red slap marks on our face when we come back and then we'll talk about your weather. anncr: it'll start out as concrete and steel...

but it'll become so much more. a new world-class resort casino in prince george's county. two thousand construction jobs to build it. four thousand permanent, good-paying jobs when it's done. hundreds of millions for maryland schools... real oversight to make sure the money goes... where it's supposed to. but none of it will happen unless we vote for... question seven this november. vote for question seven. and help build a better future for maryland. [ male announcer ] from our nation's networks... ♪ ...to our city streets... ♪ ...to skies around the world... ♪ ...northrop grumman's security solutions are invisibly at work, protecting people's lives... [ soldier ] move out! [ male announcer ] ...without their even knowing it. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

barack obama calls on bill clinton to help his failing campaign. [ clinton ] it's about which candidate is more likely to return us to full employment. [ male announcer ] he's a good soldier, helping his party's president. but what did bill clinton say about barack obama in 2008? give me a break. this whole thing is the biggest fairytale i have ever seen. [ male announcer ] 23 million americans struggling for work. a middle class falling further behind. give me a break. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

today going to be another big mess on metro especially over on the red line. today wraps up a major weekend of construction on the red line. buses are replacing trains between dupont circle and noma gallaudet. the red line is closed at metro center and gallery place. it will help improve wireless

service in metro tunnels. families in prince georges county are getting a chance to learn a new sport. >> and the kids are being introduced to the world of lacrosse. seth lemon has the story. >> reporter: rebend, scoop, cradle. those are the basic techniques coaches taught these future lacrosse players. kids hit the field outside the learning complex for an event sponsored by the prince georges county lacrosse association. >> this is a great way to start lacrosse. >> reporter: the nonprofit hopes to increase interest in the sport, especially for girls. director and founder ashley russell gave them a taste of the ball and stick game. >> once they try it and they see it's not the body checking, more the finesse of the game, then they're really captured into it and then really hooked. >> reporter: she is well known for lacrosse, prince georges county hasn't had ways for kids to get involved. that's changing thanks to help from people like delegate justin

ross. >> this is the fastest growing scholarship sport in america and yet our kids aren't playing it in high school. working with governor o'malley we got it passed >> reporter: they're learning the fundamentals of lacrosse and donna edwards and i decided to put our skills to the test. she's a little better than me already. >> i think it's great idea for them to get involved in the lacrosse. because lots of kids i know love it. >> reporter: parents are excited about it. >> there are lacrosse scholarships to college. if we have hopes for the kids to go to college and be successful, this is one of the ways to get there. >> reporter: what's call it would fastest game on two feet is called the fastest growing sport and it's giving the kids a winning shot for the future. in landover, maryland, seth lemon. >> take a look at who emceed the event. it's news4's own tracee wilkins. if you're interested in having

your kid join the fun. >> i think she was wearing the green shirt. >> there she is. >> no, that's not her. she was there. >> visit the website. now to video of something that had some drivers in new york on edge. this is a funnel cloud that touched down in brooklyn and queens yesterday. it was shot on the belt parkway where the tornado crossed the street. it missed cars by a few feet. there were two tornados spotted in new york city yesterday. the rain came quickly yesterday. so fast it caught some people by surprise. some unlucky folks were stuck outside when the skies opened up. soaking them immediately. but one guy, he was not -- there he goes. he's running in it. >> i like this guy. >> that's something you would do, chuck. >> absolutely. >> notice he looks happy too. >> yeah. i think the sound bite was she was like are you really running in this? he was like you bet.

>> you get 50% mileage bonus credit for running in the rain. >> what about the snow? >> i don't run in the snow, because at my age that's a recipe for a broken ankle. >> we don't want to talk about snow. but it is cool out there. >> oh, a lot cooler today, no doubt about it. you'll notice the change the instant you walk outside this morning. temperatures are some 15 to 17 degrees colder now than at this exact same time yesterday and more important than that, the dew point, real measure of humidity, our dew points have tumbled out of the 70s and back into the 50s. just where we like them in september. what a gorgeous way to get your sunday morning started. temperature now -- time now, almost 8:00 in the morning. 62 at national airport. a light breeze out of the north averaging eight miles per hour. there's the dew point, 56 degree. yesterday, a 72 degree dew

point. no more summer humidity like that, today it will feel autumnal outside. a lot of 50s on the map this morning. there were a couple of spots in stanton in the 50s and 40s are inching their way eastward. so there will be some nice, chilly starts to get back into the going back to school mode. we can't rule out a little spot shower or two across the high spots north and west of town. the vast majority don't need to worry about it. as far as rainfall yesterday, an inch and a third at andrews air force base. lovettsville, 1.18. burke, virginia, under an inch. winchester, virginia, under an inch of rain yesterday. and even martinsburg, more than half an inch of rain. today, we don't need to worry about rain. a couple of sprinkles off the

ocean city coastline. that's part of the cold front long gone. there's a little impulse generating the showers in northwestern ohio. as this rides that northwesterly wind, combined with the daytime heating can't rule out the opportunity or two for a little spot shower or two up into the mountains of west virginia, southern p.a. not to worry too much. no severe weather threat at all. tonight, clear skies and cool mornings. then a beautiful sunny stretch for tomorrow. this is your monday forecast. that high pressure is going to be in charge all week long. could be the nicest week for the entire month of september. today, sunshine for now. sun and cloud mix this afternoon. one or two quick little showers, that's it. highs will stay generally in the 70s today. yesterday, 91. crisp in the morning for sure. 100% sunshine on your back to school and back to work day. temperatures failing to make 80 degrees for a high temperature.

running weather has started to really peak here in september, one of the best months of the year for running in the washington area. you morning runners this week, oh, that's going to be nice. you might almost need a little light, zippy kind of a jacket. first thing. i tend to walk on the treadmill you know for 10 or 12 minutes first to bet the first bead of sweat on the brow so then i don't need the zipper when i go outside. if you start in the morning, that's chilly. >> you mentioned this could be the end of the 90s. >> i really think short of some freakish event in early october, i think we're done with 90s. >> remember last year in october we got our first snow. >> right before halloween, it was great. >> could that happen again? >> it could. i'm not forecasting it, but it could. >> all right. chuck, we'll see you on the

weather and online, following you at @chuck bell 4. >> and let's move to sports. rg 3 prepares for his debut. carol maloney has it all in this morning sports in a minute. >> good morning. your sports minute begins with the stephen strasburg shut down. he's officially shut down on saturday. meanwhile, his team taking on the marlins. bottom nine, after 2 1/2 hour rain delay, jayson werth ties the game at six with his fifth home run of the year. and in the bottom of the tenth, cory brown wins it for the nats with a shot to right that stanton can't handle. rubber match today at 1:30. college football, maryland visiting temple. the terps get three touchdowns from freshman quarterback perry hills. two through the air, one on the ground. maryland holds on the beat temple 36-27. virginia, virginia tech and win.

howard falls to rutgers. today at 1:00 the robert griffin iii era officially begins for the redskins with a season opener in new orleans against the saints. rg3 who actually has a lot of family in the big easy is ready for his debut. >> you try not to get too antsy and copaches talked to me about it. don't try to prove anything, go out and have fun. that's the approach i'm taking towards it. it's a matter of going out and executing. >> have a great day. the next time pope benedict hits the road he'll be helping the environment. re renault gave him an electric car as a gift. it was custom made for the pontiff with his coat of arms painted on the side. pope benedict has been called the green pope because of his concern for the environment. in 2010, he installed solar

panels on the roof of some vatican buildings. >> how cool. >> looks comfortable inside too. >> i wonder if he'll tweet, you know, how he's tweeting now. he's really up with the times. >> really? >> yeah. >> the pope doesn't have peeps for the tweeting. >> like his own ghost tweeter? somebody who does it for him? >> might be tweeting himself. i would be pleasantly surprised to find out that the pontiff himself sends out a tweet. from his new green car. >> okay, guys. all right. well, that's going to wrap it up. we'll be back in 25 minutes with another local update. >> join us at 9:00 for a full hour. "today" show is up next.