hello. fireworks may light up the night sky tonight, but some have been left in the dark

because of mother nature's show last night. northern virginia was hardest hit with thousands still without power. >> sitting, watching tv and i heard a bang and i went to take cover. >> glen wasn't the only one who heard the strong storms rolling through arlington county. >> we heard a big bang, boom. >> part of the tree fell on this bmw crushing its windshield on south capital and k street southwest d.c. up and down north gleam road in arlington, huge trees such as this 60-year-old red oak toppled over bringing down power lines because of the high winds. >> trees over here were blowing side to side. and it was just kind of insane. >> caution tape lined the street. power lines and branches litter people's yards. >> scare you? >> no, just we were happy to have the power back and went out again. >> could be a problem come 2:00

this afternoon? >> could be. have to go somewhere else. >> somehow they will manage this fourth of july. >> our daughter has power and she lives up at lee heights. hopefully they have it there. >> in whole place is a mess. my dad was actually surveying the land and he said look at the battle zone. it's like a bomb went off. >> clean up continues on this holiday despite blocked roads and debris everywhere, arlington county officials say the scheduled parades are expected to go on. in arlington county,. news now. residents in arlington county have been told power will be restored by 6:00 tonight. the weather is weighing heavily on holiday plans for millions of us. so should you pack an umbrella to the national mall? let's get to howard who joins us with the forecast first. it all depends how early you get there because we have a threat for a few showers and storms this afternoon. i think by 9:00 for the fireworks we should be in better shape. right now looking at

temperatures throw mid-80s. but 70s in the mountains with a bit of thicker clouds. we were sitting at 85. last night storms of there they go but today we were watching a bunch of showers in ohio toward wheeling, west virginia. south of pittsburgh. these are moving east, southeast. if they can hold together over the mountains give them another four or five hours and you see what's going to happen here even toward 6:00, 7:00. we could have showers and storms. as we look at the future cast i will have to tied in with the temperatures. 3:00not too bad. mostly cloudy. 89 degrees here. 86 in annapolis. out to the west part of the shenandoah valley may be looking at storms. 5:00looking at heavier storms in western maryland and west virginia. as they move toward us by 6:00 they will lose a little strength but will fizzle a bit. winchester could be looking at stronger storms toward 6:00 p.m. go toward 7:30 and winchester toward culpepper a better chance than here, but won't take much to get those showers and storms toward us.

good news as we head toward 9:00 key firework time, seeing a lot less activity showing up. perhaps down toward culpepper. but right now i think most of us should be okay, at least by 9:00 but your afternoon grilling may be interrupted by a passing shower or storm. i will see you in a few minutes and we will talk about the rest of the week and the seven-day forecast and more storms. today marked america's 235th birthday and with the threat of shower thousands will pack the national mall for a day full of festivities. armando joins us live with the preview. hi. the good news right now for those thousands of folks you spoke about is at its overcast and that means they won't turn into baked potatoes at least any time soon. if you want to take a look, it's not that crowded out here on the national mall sa. few folks have staked out their prime real estate right in front of the monument. that's where they will get the best view of the fireworks later on tonight. now the action right now is on constitution avenue.

that's where the national parade is going on from 7:00 to 17th street and that just kicked off another hour or so of marching. and also the smithsonian folk life festival goes on until 5:30. the themes this year rts country of colombia, the peace corps and rhythm and blues. there will be concerts out here on the mall around 6:00 one begins here in front of the monument with military bands out until 9:00 and then the capitol fourth on the west lawn of the capitol from 8:00 to 9:30. but of course the big event, the fireworks that happens around 9:00, 9:10, 9:15, as soon as the sun goes down. and you heard howard, he is working and he has that patriotic tie on should keep the rain away. reporting live on the mall, armando. thank you. if you don't feel like fighting the crowds on the mall, there are other places you see the fireworks. about.com recommends graively point in arlington. north of national airport. join people at the marine corps

memorial in arlington. that iwo jima memorial and if you don't mind dropping money you head to the rooftop at the hay adams hotel. if you find you enjoyed the july fourth holiday too much you can call sober ride for a free and safe ride home. rides are offered to adults from 10:00 tonight to 4:00time morning. all you have to do is call 1- 800-200 taxi or at&t customers can dial pound taxi. it covers up to a $30 fare. congress has cut its july fourth recess short to hammer out a deal on the nation's debt. democrats and republicans seem far apart but there might be a new glimmer of hope. danielle nottingham reports from the white house. >> reporter: senators return to washington tomorrow to try and hammer out a deal over the deficit and some key republicans seem to be cracking open the door to compromise. negotiations between democrats and republicans have been

deadlocked over the issue of raising taxes. the gop is adamantly opposed. but senator john mccain signals may be open to negotiations and senator john core in likes the idea of eliminating certain tax loopholes. >> this is a fruitful area for us to work on in a bipartisan. >> both sides agreed on trillion dollars in spending cuts but democrats want something they call revenue razors they include ending tax breaks for oil companies and corporations that send jobs overseas. democrats are also calling for the elimination of subsidies for corporate jet owners. the white house argues ending such tax breaks could save billions of dollars, money that could help bring down the deficit and raise revenue. >> it would be nice if we could keep every tax break. but we can't afford them. >> with both sides struggling to reach a compromise, former president clinton jumped into the debate suggesting lawmakers could make a mini deal. one that would fund the government for the next six to eight month. >> the problem with a mini deal

is we have a maxy problem. and the big problems aren't going to go away if you caught mini deal. >> treasury department says if congress doesn't raise the debt ceiling by august 2, the federal government won't be able to pay its bills and the economists believe that could have a severe effect on the already fragile economy. danielle nottingham, cbs news, white house. the debt ceiling deadline is august 2 but many believe a deal actually needs to be reached by july 22 in order to get it through congress in time. this morning former secretary of state condoleeza rice and other u.s. dignitaries were in london, england, for the unveiling of the ronald reagan statue. sits outside of the u.s. embassy there. this marks 100th anniversary of reagan's birth. it joins with franklin d. roosevelt and dwightup, dwight d. eisenhower. >> firefighters got much needed

help. first, the fate of a accused killer casey anthony is now in the hands of the jury.

former international monetary fund chief dominique strauss-khan may be free today but his legal troubles are far from over. 9 news just learned a french novelist is filing an attempted rape suit against the billionaire.

strauss-khan was arrested in new york in may on charges that he tried to rape a hotel maid. he was released without bail after the questions were raised about the maid's credibility. it's deliberation day for the jury charged with deciding if casey anthony committed murder. they have been sequestered for six weeks and are hearing final arguments from the prosecution before meeting to figure out their verdict. karen brown has the latest from orlando. >> reporter: casey anthony's fate will be in the hands of the jury. jurors must decide if the 25- year-old murdered her two-year- old daughter caylee. this morning they heard prosecutors present their rebuttal to the defense's closing arguments. >> our position is that the facts in this case show beyond a reasonable doubt that this was a premeditated murder of a young child. >> prosecutor first focused on the forensic evidence trying to convince jurors that anthony killed her daughter more than three years ago by covering her

face with duct tape. >> that tape had to have been on that skull before she decomposed. >> the defense has tried to inject doubt into the case by saying caylee accidentally drown in the family's pool and that casey anthony's father covered it up. and they say the prosecution is smearing anthony's character by claiming she killed her daughter because she got in the way of her hard partying lifestyle. >> the reason you don't have that evidence that they are desperately trying to find is because it's an unprovele case. >> people don't make accidents look like murder. that's absurd. and nothing has been presented to you to make that any less absurd. >> reporter: the jury must consider seven charges including first-degree murder which carries a possible death sentence. karen brown, cbs news, orlando, florida. anthony is also charged with aggravated manslaughter of

a child, aggravated child abuse and four counts of providing false information to law enforcement. howard is up next with our holiday forecast. >> the clouds are keeping things kind of comfortable. it's a little muggy but temperatures, they are very durable this noon hour. still have 76 in fairfax. i think that report is old. rockville is 84. and 82 in andrews and 85 now in washington. we will come back and look at those regional radars and talk about the rest of the day and the seven day when 9 news now returns.

leave it to the experts. new york police department destroyed more than 5,000 pounds of illegal fireworks. it is illegal in the city to buy, sell, transport or use fireworks. this year police arrested 73 people in connection with illegal fireworks. the seized fireworks was set off at the weapons range. someone strapped a tiny camera to fireworks to get their perspective on the fourth of july. check it out. we aren't sure how much this costs but the video has picked up 325,000 hits since friday. and police will be on local waterways today. they want to make sure people aren't drinking and boating

this fourth of july. on holiday weekend alcohol is a major factor in drowning. a lot of times victims aren't wearing life jackets. another problem, knowing our region's rivers. there are water demonstration classes boat owners can take which are specifically designed for our area. >> a lot of it is knowing the water here. there is dangerous parts in the water and you have to recharge the maps to know where the rocks are and the branches sticking up. boaters even need a a coast guard certification to go under the wilson bridge. to get that you have to take a special class. crews are still battling a huge wildfire in los alamos, new mexico. but they got an boost from some rain. thousands of evacuees were allowed to return home sunday and while the blaze is burning near a nuclear lab, officials say there is no sign of unusual radiation levels. and that is a very good thing. >> some of that rain also work its way back to the deserts of california. >> the rain beneficial for them and for some of us in our area put us in the dark and kept us

there. >> they were powerful. got a call from a viewer in lauden, county, a bunch of trees were knocked down, big ones. della pln had hail inch and a half in diameter along with the other severe weather reports we had of wind damage and tree damage raised a report from arlington earlier. today we may see shower or storm but not expecting the ferociousness of the storms like we saw yesterday evening. so independence day forecast for the rest of this afternoon, it's july 4th, we were talking about temperatures in the upper 80s over the next few hours. 90 or 91. if we can eek out a little sunshine. mostly cloudy at 3:00. by 5:00 scattered thunderstorms west of town in the mountains south and west of washington down through parts of shenandoah valley and by 9:00 a leftover isolated thunderstorm and temperature 83 for fireworks times. if you are going out to watch shows tonight, should be comfortable. don't forget the bug spray.

one of those things i will remind you about clouds are streaming in all morning. and more showers now that we are watching out in ohio and kentucky and some of these should they hold together to make it across the mountains during the afternoon and evening and that's early evening when we will have the highest chance let's say from 83 to 7:00 of seeing anything moving through. temperatures, they are near 90 in richmond at 89. dover, delaware at 87. only 82 in winchester and hagerstown. cumberland is 79. clouds are thicker up here. in town we were at 85. when you factor in the humidity, it feels more like 88 here. heat index up to 95 right now in richmond. it's a steamy day down. there 58 with the clouds. feeling like 88. a light wind. winds are light all day. variable. right now north, northeast at 3. with the dew points in the upper 60s, that's the muggies. the muggies are back. look at the showers coming in off baja, california, across the arizona, nevada, border headed toward las vegas if they can make the trip north a little bit more.

then we have showers and storms lining up from eastern oklahoma. arkansas, right here across the ohio river. aheaded toward eastern, kentucky. the strong ones are moving toward central and southern virginia. northcarolina. much higher threat they will see strong thunderstorms. got one watch box up here in new england until 8:00 p.m. but the stuff in southern ohio that has me a little concerned that if it holds together could give us some problems this afternoon. right now the computer is by 5:15 taking that action in western maryland here. southwestern pennsylvania. sneaking in toward the shenandoah valley. as you watch washington for the evening hours, it really does start to sliferl up as it approaches 67 well to the south and east between richmond, williamsburg, norfolk, over toward parts of the delmarva there could be stronger thunderstorms here later on this afternoon and this evening. we will try to get rid of most of that overnight tonight a few isolated showers south of the morning and then notice afternoon a better chance tomorrow will be south of washington, closer to the boundary.

looks like that boundary was a little more to the north on wednesday. yeah, we will be dodging a few showers and storms here but i think most plants will be already a chance for a thunderstorm west and south. high 91 maybe optimistic given the cloud cover. certainly in the upper 80s. tomorrow more sunshine around 90. wednesday a few more clouds with again a threat for the isolated storm in the afternoon or evening. 89 degrees then some heat looks like it will build back here for thursday and friday. i believe highs in the lower 90s with chance for mainly afternoon and evening storms and not much change over the weekend. saturday 91 and sunday 93. don't go ani where. we have a great restaurant in the kitchen. we will visit when nine news not at noon returns.

switching to progressive could mean hundreds more in your wallet year after year. feed me!

saving you money -- now, that's progressive. call or click today. locking for an exotic -- looking for an exotic dish? sounds delicious and smells better. here is barry who is chef and owner of fusion restaurant. and bar on georgia avenue in northwest. i wish you had smell-o-vision. >> we were making wonderful shrimp curry. >> he got started thon because we have a lot to talk about fusion. the melding of something. what are you fusing together in your meal here in today a fresh asparagus salad. goat cheese and blend of indian spice. >> the indian spices and caribbean spices and we said it was perfect for the fourth of july because this is a nation

of immigrants and what they really have brought to america is the wonderful food from their native culture. the goat salad has asparagus and the asparagus is really good. >> fresh, nice and crisp. the tomatoes here. >> and everything is about presentation and we had some the recipes on our website. if you are missing this and we have the tomatoes in here. >> asparagus ready to go. asparagus really kind of sauteeing it. will it be crunchy? looks good. and while you are doing that we see these -- those are not just shrimp. what are those? >> those are black tiger shrimp. black tiger shimp. this is goat cheese i'm adding here. >> and if you let the saute'ed asparagus cool off, it's okay as well to be sort of room

temperature. >> absolutely. >> very lovely presentation. that's our beginning and the enterry -- entree now. >> these are -- >> this is again from special local supplier in the d.c. area and we got started early but what do we have in here besides the curry leaves and tumorric powder. >> and fresh garlic. >> little tomatoes. >> yes. >> and are we ready for the presentation for that? >> absolutely. >> and while you are presenting the shrimp which i get to taste first, what else do we have here? a whole fish. >> we have plastic tendery food there, duck, pork chops and the mediterranean sea bass. >> how long has fusion been open. >> two and a half years. >> and business is going well. >> business is decent. having fun and enjoying it. >> and you are busy on the fourth of july. >> we close today so i can spend time. >> thank you and welcome to

your family for being here with us. thank you for watching. >> the curry smells great. and watch out for maybe an isolated storm but better chance west and it will be okay for the fireworks tonight and. >> and we will say good-bye. thank you for watching nine nut at noon. the restaurant is fusion. georgia avenue in northwest. have a wonderful safe happy fourth of july. howard and i will be back starting at 4:25 bright and early tomorrow morning.