9news now brought to you in hd by verizon fios. a network ahead. there is 9news now. "this broadcast realtime captioned by becky lyon." good evening, i'm matt jablow in for bruce johnson tonight. powerful thunderstorms this afternoon some so severe people on the national mall were told to leave. we have live team coverage

tonight starting with anny hong who has the latest information. >> the good news tonight. we no longer have any more severe thunderstorm watches or warnings in effect. all that is done with. still though a few lingering showers are in the area. take a look at some of the storm reports we got in today. quarter to golf-ball sized hail reported. we had 60 to 70-mile-an-hour wind gusts prompting lots of trees to be downed along washington george parkway, virginia, along the eastbound lanes of interstate 66. a tree following onto there. dc. west lawn of the capitol. quite a bit of damage. live doppler 9000 hd. we are actually a lot quieter in the dc area tonight. we just have clouds out there. no green on there which means no showers. all now into the south just around leonard town and

basically the southern virginia area. doppler radar now. wider view showing you all lightening strikes that went through which did cause a lot of damage in a lot of locations. overnight expected mostly cloudy and muggy conditions. a few showers and thunderstorms are possible. not expecting them to be severe overnight. 66 to 74 degrees. west winds at 5 to 10 miles per hour. wakeup weather for tomorrow getting ready for that barbecue. your 4th of july party. by 9 p.m. in the upper 70s to lower 80s. 11 p.m. 82 to 87 degrees. partly cloudy to mostly cloudy conditions. more details on the holiday forecast coming up a little bit later. >> all right. anny, thank you. some of the storms plowing through the area packing a powerful punch downing trees and leaving thousands of people in the dark. we continue the live team coverage from arlington now. >> reporter: the majority of the power outages. 22,000 in northern virginia. and hereby in north arlington one of the hardest hit

communities. behind me arlington county workers are already cleaning up. this scene is being repeated throughout arlington as they pick up branches, shred them and then carry them off then of course there are a lot of dominion power workers trying to clean up the mess. it has been terrible. >> in the 10 years i have lived here this was the most violent storm. the wind had the trees bending at a 45-degree angle. >> reporter: north arlington was the hardest hit. >> unbelievable the wind. the rain coming and push of the wind was like a tidal wave coming from that direction. >> reporter: the force of the winds snapped utility poles. >> whether it is a tornado or not you can see the damage. >> reporter: the trees in my backyard with hitting my windows and we looked outside and there were trees all over the neighborhood. downed power lines were blocking roads. >> i saw the flash then ran

into the basement my dog. >> reporter: take a look at what the storm did to this humongous tree brought it crashing onto the street. look at what happened to the transformer just a few feet away. >> reporter: the storm surprised some people as they walked outside. >> a lot of thunder and lightening. i took shelterner an elementary school. >> my mom was telling us to get down stairs. >> reporter: knocked this transformer and destroyed this tree and also demolished part of this historic home. >> that house next door that got it is well over 100 years old. they are one of the original families on the street. >> reporter: the storm had both rescue and utility crews very busy during the early evening. now you're looking at a live image of those crews. they are now as you can see taking care of some of the fallen branches, fallen trees

that are dotted throughout this north arlington community. i'm sad to report this has now become a fatal storm. we learned that one person in montgomery county was killed as he was riding his bicycle near the cno canal and a tree fell on him. killed him almost instantly. reporting live in north arlington. back to you. >> very sad news. thank you. the same line of thunderstorms that caused all that damage in our area sent five people to the hospital in pennsylvania. the victims were hurt when lightening struck a tent pole at a camp of civil war reenactors. three were treated for minor, two suffered major injuries. stick with the 9news weather team for everything you need to know when severe weather strikes. log onto our website for your up to the minute forecasts. the bad weather kept spectators away from rehearsals for tomorrow's big fireworks show and concert. tomorrow you can see the whole show on the national mall. the annual event marks the

235th anniversary of america's independence. josh grobin. dancing from the stars performers will be strutting their stuff. >> it is the 235th anniversary. we will be doing a song from beauty and the beast. >> if you are planning to go to the big show tomorrow the fireworks show set to begin at 10 after 9 p.m. tomorrow night. and should last exactly 17 minutes. and this is important. no alcohol whatsoever is allowed on the national mall. also leave grills, tents and glass bottles at home. as far as getting there the best way is probably by public transportation. and make sure to get there early so you can get a good spot to watch the show. casey anthony's fate will soon be in the hands of a jury. today lawyers began wrapping up their closing arguments in the sensational murder trial.

karen brown has the very latest from orlando. >> reporter: casey anthony's defense spend its final hours in front of the jury trying to convince them there is not enough evidence to convict her of murder. >> the reason you don't have that evidence that they are desperately trying to find is because it is an unprovable case. >> reporter: they tried to discredit the state's charge that the 25-year-old woman suffocated her 2-year-old daughter caylee by attacking the forensic evidence then they pointed the finger at anthony's father saying he covered up an accidental drowning. they were not allowed to bring up allegations that he molested his daughter as an explanation of her bizarre behavior because the judge ruled they had failed to prove it. >> i don't think anybody here can justify her actions. but they do not constitute murder. >> reporter: many of the seven women and five men on the jury appeared tired as the day wore

on. they have now been sequestered for six weeks. first the prosecution will have the final word with their rebuttal to the defense. prosecutors detailed how casey anthony spend the following month after caylee disappearance partying with her boyfriend. we can only hope that the chloroform was used before the duct tape was applied sows that caylee went peacefully. >> reporter: the prosecution claims anthony killed her daughter because she did not want to be a mom. the defense believes she is an imperfect mother who is wrongly accused. soon, the jury will decide. karen brown, cbs news, orlando, florida. >> anthony did not testify in her own defense. if the jury finds her guilty of murdering her own daughter the panel will consider whether to impose the death penalty. a maryland man is missing after a boating accident in pennsylvania. two bystanders witnessed the crash and pulled a mother and

two teenage boys to safety. >> we were like check that out. that boat is flying by. the boat just rolled. probably 15 feet off the water it started rolling. >> we rushed over to the scene. i had two other guys jump in the water with me. >> i automatically started throwing life jackets. everything. the lady and two boys were floating in the water. they were breathing and everything. i asked the mother of the one boy if there was anybody else on the boat and she said her brother. >> the missing boater is a 50- year-old man from cumberland. it highlights the importance of boating safety this holiday weekend to ensure more people don't go missing or hurt on the water. britany morehouse reports it is a good time to review for boaters safety rules. >> a boat like this is capable of doing just about 50 miles an hour.

>> reporter: a boating pro for sure. gary has been driving these puppies since he was 16. >> this marina wasn't here ten years ago. >> reporter: when he bought his boat he says he was happy to take the courses offered. >> if you buy a boat they have maintenance classes, a safety class and one course i haven't taken yet is to go underneath the woodrow bridge they require to you have a coastguard license. >> reporter: carlson phillips owns the marina saying the water demo is designed specifically for this area. >> there are dangerous parts in the water and you need to read maps to know where rocks and branches are sticking up. >> reporter: even greater danger is alcohol on the 4th of the july. it is the leading contributing factor in recreational boat fatalities. most of the deaths are drownings and most of the victims are not wearing life jackets. >> i have 11 life preservers.

inboard fire extinguisher system. >> reporter: items the coastguard will check. >> last week they had an event down the river where the police were doing sobriety checks and they stopped every boat coming in this way. >> reporter: something he never worries about because he never carries alcohol on board. >> i'm not saying i am against it, i just personally don't drink that much so i don't bring it. i make sure that i'm sober. >> reporter: but it doesn't change his cautionary awareness level. he says is he not obviously the only boat operator out here. britany morehouse, 9news now. >> in 2010 there were almost 5000 recreational boating accidents nationwide. 672 of them were fatal. most of those deaths happened on boats where the operator had never taken a safety course. political news now. three weeks ago 69% of those polled did not think that congress should raise the debt ceiling. that number is quickly shrinking as the day approaches when the government will default on all of its loans.

if republicans and democrats don't come to an agreement president obama could simply bypass congress and order the treasury to keep borrowing. >> if the congress refuses to act, the argument would run the president of necessity must act in order to follow the command of the constitution. >> that argument is based on a little known section in the 14th amendment which says that the public debt "shall not be questioned . " the treasury would only have enough money to pay 56% of its bills. still ahead on 9news now. holds the remains of some of the bravest americans but arlington national cemetery is now being marred by scandal after several people's remains were found in one grave. now the fbi is investigating. move over kid's menus. several new items being offered at fast food restaurants are for adults only. we will tell you why some chains are now serving alcohol. [ kate ] if this icelandic mud could work wonders on my skin,

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new mexico tonight in los alamos. thousands were forced from their homes a week ago after a massive wildfire started. flames still threaten several sites. the flames are just miles from a sentry old cliff dwelling of natives. another fight underway at the final resting place of many of the country's veterans. the fbi has been called in to join the army's investigation into the alleged massive mismanagement at arlington national cemetery. burial maps did not match up to grave sites. one grave was found to have eight people instead of just one. >> you have potentially millions of family members that have a question mark in the back of their mind saying is my father, my husband, my mother, my daughter, buried where she

is suppose to be. what it really reflects is a lack of leadership from the top down, a lack of accountability from the top down. and down at the worker bee level they don't care. >> the army appointed all new administrators for arlington national cemetery but some veterans say the move is too little and too late. a consumer alert tonight. more employees said to be stealing from the companies where they work. according to the national retail federation retailers lost $37 billion last year from theft. that's up more than $3 billion from 2009. surprisingly some analysts say the trend is actually good news for the economy. why? because employees apparently are less likely to steal during a recession because they are afraid of getting caught and fired. so the risky behavior could be a sign that the economy is on the up swing. the next time you want to belly up to a bar it could be a fast food counter. more chain restaurants are

serving alcohol to help boost sales. some burger king restaurants, for example, are now selling beer. sonic will start serving beer and wine at the end of the summer. wine on the menu at some starbucks in seattle. wine and beer will be on the menu for a lot of cookouts tomorrow for july 4th. anny, a lot of people hanging honour every word tonight. >> i think the threat for severe weather we are done with mainly overflight and for tomorrow. that's the good news. i do though see a couple of storms out to the west of us. i think they could pop into our area but not again severe. that's the good news. we are still looking at a chance for some isolated storms popping up tomorrow for your 4th of july holiday. we will talk about that in a moment. around the beltway much calmer. dryer. and just really nice tonight. kind of muggy out there. south of us we are still seeing activity but not severe as of now and they should not be. doppler radar you can see. look at the storm that just

went through. all that lightening some damaging wind gusts. golf-ball sized hail. what i'm watching we could have more storms in our area. a chance for thunderstorms overnight as you're sleeping. right now temperatures around 75 degrees in downtown. 72 andrews air force bay. 72 winchester. does feel mild out there. with the dew point also at 68 degrees we are also feeling that humidity. it is cloudy skies out there. and those cloudy skies will stick around for part of tomorrow as well. here is your satellite/radar picture where we might get some clearing tomorrow afternoon. that all depends on how this front lines up. so near seasonable as far as temperatures are concerned for july 4th. we have a chance for some afternoon, early evening isolated thunderstorms. so not as widespread and scattered compared to today. i think for the fireworks it is okay but not 100% dry. we have a slight chance that maybe some spots could get a

little shower and it is still going to be humid on tuesday as you're heading back into work. here is your futurecast. by tomorrow morning seeing cloudy conditions. i'm calling it partly to mostly cloudy skies. then tomorrow night for the most part really shouldn't be too active. maybe an isolated shower but for the most part for the fireworks it should be pretty good. so everynight mostly cloudy and muggy. a few showers and storms are possible. lows will be 66 to 74 degrees. now tomorrow morning as you're getting ready for your barbecue, partly to mostly sunny skies and mild. temperatures in the 70s. and partly to mostly cloudy conditions. rather warm and humid. models thinking more cloudy than sunny. your highs around downtown lower 90s. 90 manassas.

fredericksburg warming up to 90. a few degrees above our average high. we should be in the upper 80s an downtown. here is how your 4th of july holiday breaks down. by noon, partly to mostly cloudy. 87 degrees. by 5 p.m. in the 90s. a storm possible. 9 p.m. cooling down to lower 80s. here is your beach forecast for monday. 90s a chance for some scattered showers and thunderstorm. bethany beach near 90 degrees. here is your seven-day outlook. temperature wise not bad. a chance for some isolated storms on tuesday. lower 90s. the rest of the week looking like we have a chance for unsettled weather but temperature wise not too bad. >> a bit of a scare today with all the bad weather but tomorrow looks like it will be okay. >> much better tomorrow. >> excellent. thank you, anny. we will be right back. ♪

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and how he signs up for every activity. ♪ he even hangs out with the camp director. just like that. [ male announcer ] the new citi thankyou premier card gives you more ways to earn points. what's your story? citi can help you write it. americans are often frustrated when dealing with immigrants who don't know english well but imagine how frustrating it must be for the immigrants. in tonight's hero's central derek mcginty tells us about an organization that reaches and teaches adult learners who find their way from frustration to

eternal gratitude. >> this is the fire station. >> reporter: the lessons sound ridiculously simple. >> that's my birthday, right? >> reporter: but for these students it may as well be a foreign language because it is. >> some learners coming into our program might be learning the alphabet. might be learning to put together the word cat or dog. >> reporter: these learners coming from all over the world and now they have got two things in common. they badly want to learn english and they have come here to the literacy council of northern virginia to do it. >> we just focus on very, very beginning level because there is nobody else helping the population. >> reporter: executive director patty donnelly says most of that help comes one on one from 1400 dedicated volunteers and we do mean dedicated? >> in order to be a literacy council volunteer tutorrer they have to take 12 hours of training to serve in the basic literacy program or 16 hours of training to serve in the esol

tutoring program. >> abraham lincoln. >> abraham lincoln. >> born in 1809. >> i'm very motivated to give someone a stronger voice to express her ideas and thoughts. >> reporter: ann has been helping this woman find her voice for the last year and a half and the results speak for themselves. >> i never thought i would be typing a letter in english or taking my brother or my sister and go to the doctor and interpret for them. i never thought i would be doing that. >> when you teach someone to read then they have the skills to learn more and more. you've just given somebody the keys to the kingdom. >> reporter: derek mcginty, 9news now. >> volunteers make the literacy council of northern virginia successful. donations keep them going.

the gannett foundation has given $5000 to support this worthy cause. coming up. a long holiday weekend for the nationals ends badly. kristin will join us right after the break with the very latee and with a quick look ahead at sports plus.

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kristin is joining us with a look at a busy day in sports. >> very busy day. nationals closed out a four- game series against the pirates this afternoon and despite this being a holiday weekend they didn't have too much to celebrate today. they just haven't been able to

get any mojo back. whatever it was they had before jim riggleman left. the nationals got stuck 10-2 today despite having nine hits. ate a big fat zero with runners in scoring position. only with two wins under their new skipper johnson. they are become below 500. >> obviously not good. left too many balls in the zone and it was just one of those days. >> 25 times. >> good news came out of today. nationals lone all-star selection is clifford who came from the yankees in 2006. 67 strikeouts in 46 innings. we will hear what he has to say and he said it was a have you unexpected honor. plus, a new number 1 in the world and a new wimbledon champ. novak djokovic continued his sheer domination not just offer the tennis world but over

rafael nadal. he won his first wimbledon title. highlights from today's exciting match up later. plus the capitals sure were busy the last two days sending one gholie to colorado and signing one of the best free agents in his place. plus, three more veterans added to help fill the void led by free agency agency. we will introduce you to the newest capitals. >> feels too hot outside to be talking hockey. >> one of the only sports not in a lockout. >> but it is good news for the caps. >> yes. >> good news for people tomorrow, is it not? >> generally. partly to mostly cloudy conditions. chance for some isolated showers and storms for your 4th of july holiday. >> thank you, anny. thank you for watching. the next 9news now is at 4:25 a.m. sports plus is next. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com i have fallen in love with making bird houses.

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