active this evening. -- start getting more active this evening. national weather service is saying they aren't going to issue a severe thunderstorm watch just yet. they're a little gun shy to pull the trigger, but they are talking about it. doppler showing quite scattered storms. we are under a risk for severe weather, though, for today. the main threat is damaging wind gusts and hail. all the areas in yellow under that risk for severe weather today. the heat is still on. that's the other big weather stole. 9 clock is our heat advisory until -- until 9:00 is our heat advisory. 101 downtown, 112 leesburg, culpeper 103. annapolis feels like 101 degrees when you factor in humidity. everybody will be out for a barbecue and fireworks tonight. not the best news. temperatures still warm, in the lower 90s this evening with scattered thunderstorms, some of those heavy or severe. so please have a backup plan if you're going out to see fireworks this evening. keep your eyes to the sky. we'll keep you posted through

tonight. they're all across the country, people heading out to 4th of july celebrations much like the one about to start at the white house, president obama and the first lady hosting 1,200 service members and families for a bash cue, concert and fireworks. about -- barbecue, concert and fireworks. about 100,000 families in our area are spending their holiday in dark homes dealing with downed trees, but there is some good news tonight regarding recovery efforts from last friday's storm. both dominion virginia and pepco, the companies with the largest number of outages, have restored power to more than 90% of those who lost it. here are the latest numbers. pepco is down to just 36,800 customers without power, but more than 33,000 of those are in montgomery county alone. over in northern virginia dominion has just over 15,000 outages. as for our smaller utilities, bge still has 4,700 out in

montgomery and possible while smeco, potomac, edison and nova have just a handful of outages. continued outages in maryland turned a 4th of july in cabin john into a protest march against pepco. in other neighborhoods signs are now going up trying to get pepco's attention. scott broom is in cabin john with an explanation. >> reporter: people are complaining again tonight there appears to be a complete communications breakdown with pepco. >> we joust got anne mail saying that the power had -- an e-mail saying that the power had been restored in cabin john. half of cabin john is still out. doesn't make sense, does it? >> when you call the utility, you can speak with a human being, you get very different answers. >> reporter: pepco's website does not inspire confidence here. residents complained their reports do not show up on the map or are grossly inaccurate. >> they don't give us good

information, we can't help them. >> reporter: nearby in the green acres section the bethesda resident have taken to posting signs to direct crews to the neighborhoods. >> pepco is hiding from us. >> reporter: because they have no confidence the utility even knows about the outage here despite their constant calls. >> we should all go to a hotel and send pepco the bill because they're responsible for our misery. >> we've been told multiple times that it is back on and there isn't a problem and there's never been a work crew that's even come to look at it. >> reporter: the signs may have worked. a pepco scout showed up shortly after they went up. >> hallelujah. >> reporter: this afternoon a pepco spokesperson admitted to me that the automated callback robocall script they use to talk back to customers can be misleading and they are in the process of changing that script. in cabin john scott broom, 9 news now.

at last check as we told you the number of customers without power in northern virginia stood at more than 15,000. dominion power views have been getting into residential streets, but even some high priority cases are waiting for power still. consider this high rise building for senior citizens in reston. the new property manager is trying to do what she can in a building where many elderly residents have medical conditions. >> i think we're all frustrated, but looking at the big scheme of things for those people that can't get out and see the damage. >> what sometimes complicates getting power back on for the last remaining customers is crews have to get to homes in remote areas. many summer school programs start back up tomorrow, but some schools are still without power. that means they'll be closed. here's what we know so farful eight schools in fairfax county -- far. eight schools in fairfax county still have no county. all d.c. public schools except vair few hope and winston education campus will --

fairview hope elementary and winston education campus will be open. high school summer courses at regional centers will start up again, but other summer school programs won't start until monday. you can get a full list of closings at www.wusa9.com. we told you about county cooling centers this week, but washington sports club are also chipping in to help those still in the dark and the heat. all of the d.c. area clubs are opening their doors to all storm victims between now and july 8. you'll be able to use the showers, electrical outlets, locker rooms and workout equipment and attend gym classes free of charge. we have a full list of resources on our website to help you out until the power comes back on including cooling centers for you and your pets. log onto www.wusa9.com. despite all the damage and lack of power it is still the 4th of july. to mark the occasion a lot of people headed to the national archives to check out the document that led to the holiday. they were treated to a reading of the declaration of

independence by descendants of our founding fathers. they got to check out the original document inside. that was just the start of 4th of july events in downtown d.c. the big show is tonight, of course, with the fireworks town can on the national mall. more than a half million people are expected to attend. kristin fisher was there all day to see how people were holding up in the heat. >> whose birthday is it? >> united states of america. >> that's right. so we wanted to celebrate it in style, didn't we? >> reporter: they sure did. john anderson and his family scouted out the perfect spot over the weekend and by 11 appear they'd staked out not one -- 11 a.m. they'd staked out not one but two spots by the washington monument. >> this is our daytime spot under the tree where we can stay cool and may games and relax and have lots -- play games and relax and have lots of shade and this over here is our evening spot when the sun goes down so we have an unobstructed view of the fireworks. >> reporter: now that's

planning. with two families and seven kids they brought gallons of water and coolers full of food for the 12 hours spent on the mall in the middle of a heatwave. >> we have all sorts of games, hard games and frisbees and tarps and umbrellas in case it rains. >> reporter: how did you get it all in here? >> strategically planned. everyone carried a bag. we rolled in a cooler. >> reporter: some people might say you are crazy for wait all day long just for the fireworks. >> there's so much to do. there's the parade. >> reporter: they had a perfect view on constitution while farther down the mall preparations were underway for the evening concert at the capitol, but make no mistake. the anderson's kids really only care about one thing. >> fireworks. >> fireworks. >> it's like being in times square for new year's eve. we're here for fireworks on the 4th of july in our nation's capital. >> if you want to check out the

fireworks but don't want to head to the mall, the city of arlington put out a list of good spots including long bridge park, air force memorial, iwo jima memorial, rosslyn gateway point. still to come what would the 4th of july be without a hotdog or two or 68? we'll show you the record breaking performance of the nation's hotdog eating contest. >> but first an attack on four mile run trail in arlington has police on the hunt for a suspected rapist, police and their search next.

police in arlington are looking tonight for a man accused of raping a woman on four mile run trail last night. the attack happened while she was jogging on the trail near glenn carlin park. a man armed with a knife dragged her from the trail and sexually assaulted her around 8:00. she then ran home and drove herself to the hospital. >> we're used to being on the trail, but i usually stay on during daylight hours. >> police describe the suspect as hispanic, about 140 pounds, between 5' 5 and 6 feet tall. he speaks limited english and has a small head, short black hair, brown eyes and a high

pitched voice. just what we don't want to hear, severe thunderstorms are heading our way. anny has the very latest on their track coming up. >> but first what better symbol for july 4th than campaigning for office? we'll check in to see how the presidential candidates marked the holiday next. ♪

♪ ♪

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special ceremony at the white house. president obama spoke to 25 members of the u.s. military who immigrated to this country and who today took their oath of citizenship. the president told them their sacrifice is an example why immigration makes the united states stronger. >> it's why we still need a dream act to keep talented young pool who want to contribute to our -- people who want to contribute to our society and serve our country. it's why america's success demands comprehensive immigration reform. >> meanwhile republican president pall candidate mitt romney strolled along the 4th of july parade in new hampshire today. romney took time out to sit down with cbs news and talk about the recent supreme court decision on president obama's affordable care act. >> not only did he raise the $500 billion that was already in the bill, it's now clear that his mandate as described by the supreme court is a tax. >> the latest gallup poll shows president obama leading romney by four percentage points.

well, it wouldn't be july 4th in new york city without the annual nathan's hotdog eating contest. today's 96th condition of the nausea inducing chowdown brought a new world's record. randall pinkston has all the action from coney island. >> reporter: it's the super bowl of competitive eating and two of the sport's biggest stars were crowned champions of nathan's hotdog eating contest. >> this is amazing. >> reporter: on the men's side joey chestnut showed why his nickname is jaws. he blew away the competition inhaling 68 hotdogs, about 8 pounds worth in just 10 minutes. it's chestnut's sixth consecutive nathan's title tying him for the most wins ever. on the women's side 102-pound sonya thomas won for the second time in a row known as the black widow. she wiggled while devouring 45 hotdogs breaking her own world record. >> where does she put it? >> reporter: this may be america's most famous competitive eating contest, but

it's about a lot more than the number of hotdogs ingested. it's also about the money. the winners walk away with $10,000. that kind of cash attracts all kinds of characters and a big crowd. many spectators are glad they are watching and not participating. do you want to be in this contest? >> no. >> reporter: okay. why not? >> because they eat too much hotdogs. >> reporter: some may question whether this is actually a sport, but fans point out most competitor s do train. chestnut works out four days a week and it seems to be working. lands pinkston, cbs news, brook -- randall pinkston, cbs news, brooklyn, new york. >> some big eaters from d.c. did awfully well, the women's eater sonya thomas from alexandria while the second place women's finisher juliette lee is from jermantown, maryland. i'm with that little girl. they do eat too much hotdogs.

>> i can't do hotdogs, but if it were sweets, cupcakes or cookies, can i put those away? >> how many cupcakes in 10 minutes? >> maybe 20. i don't know. >> goodness. >> little ones, red velvet? bring it on. okay. everyone wants to know about the fireworks forecast. we've been talking about the severe weather alert day here and sorry to say it does not look picture perfect. i don't think everyone will see big storms come through the area. it's really hard to say who is going to see them. we do see those storms already firing up, though, north of us into the pennsylvania area. you can see in yellow they already have severe thunderstorm warnings in effect. garrett county, maryland is just being added into that severe thunderstorm warning and those storms are slowly making their way to our area. i think they'll be here the next couple hours maybe just in time for fireworks. we'll have to watch the timing. the radar is showing us we had pop-up scattered thunderstorms around the area again.

look at the pennsylvania area and all that lightning coming with those severe storms. so we had to prepare for those storms coming through. we just saw basically pop-up stuff throughout the area, nothing too intense. we did have a severe thunderstorm warning earlier in prince william county and fauquier. the heat is still on until 9:00 this evening and boy, it feels hot out there. it is just cooking. temperatures, the heat index 105 in leesburg. this is when you factor in the humidity, 101 still in downtown, even annapolis, manassas 100, culpeper 103, our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son showing a hazy sky and the clouds have increased. temperature now in downtown is 96. the dew point is in the 60s and 70s. that is some heavy sticky air. so scattered storms tonight under very warm and muggy conditions, storms until 11:00 this evening. those storms are possible during the fireworks. so keep your eye to the sky and some of those storms will be

heavy or severe. our futurecast showing us again it's not widespread this evening, but it will be scattered in nature even through 9:00 could see storms come through the district, andrews air force base into fredericksburg, but after 11:00 most of the stuff pulls out of the way. then we're setting up for another warm day tomorrow. so here's a look at your neck three days. yellow alert -- next three days, yellow alerts the next three days because of tomorrow the heat and a stray storm possible, 100 degrees, friday 97, saturday 102. that's our best day to maybe challenge some records saturday. sunday is still hot but 95 degrees. the cold front comes through, scattered showers and storms along with that. then we'll get a break from the heat early next week. so tonight i don't think you need to damage your plans if you're going to a barbecue or fireworks show. just keep in mind you may have to seek shelter in you see lightning or hear thunder. have a backup plan just in case. the good thing is the museums

will be open along the malls in case people need to seek shelter and that is a very smart move. >> thank you. up next you could argue it's one of the most powerful songs in american history. this month it turns 150 years old, a special july 4th tribute to the bugle call taps when we come back.

[ bugle playing taps ] >> taps, a song almost anyone can recognize within the first three notes. the famous bugle call was composed 150 years ago this month. so on this 4th of july cbs' mark straussman looks at how taps came to be and what it means for americans today. >> reporter: when america buried jfk in 1963, most of the world heard for the first time a haunting melody, taps. the 24 notes seem to stir something in everyone. at arlington national cemetery on average taps is heard 30 times a day. yari villanueva, a retired air force bugler played here for 23 years. >> taps at arlington national

cemetery is the highest honor that a military musician can have. i've always considered it to be like the military musician's equivalent of playing carnegie hall. >> reporter: jack lechner coordinates all the funerals at arlington national cemetery. >> when taps is played, everybody from the military stands a little taller and it's that one thing that unites us all. it's that one song other than the national anthem that brings us all together. >> reporter: taps was born during the civil war at berkeley plantation at harrison's landing, virginia. originally the tune was never meant for funerals. 100,000 battle weary union troops were camped here along the james river and their commander wanted a new way to end their day. >> general butterfield actually adapted taps from an older bugle call. >> reporter: union brigadier general daniel butterfield wanted a new call to end the day for his troops. brigade bugler oliver wilcox norton helped him compose one.

lyrics followed that began day is done. gone the sun from the hills, from the sky. taps became the official final call for all u.s. military funerals in 1891. 24 notes all matter, first three and last three matter the most. >> the first three and last three provide perfect book ends to this piece of music, almost like a metaphor of life. so you have a birth, a high point in your life and then received into the twilight. >> reporter: villanueva estimates he played taps at arlington during more than 3,000 funerals. >> even though we played the call so many times that call is going to be special to that family and so that's why we want to make sure that the call is just so perfect. >> reporter: bugler keith clark played at jfk's funeral. >> and it wasn't perfect. the call itself wasn't perfect, no. he missed a note going up. >> reporter: clark and the sixth. ♪ he played cracked under the

pressure. >> the call because of that performance spread throughout the world. everybody knows now from that time on that taps was the song of farewell to our nation's heros, to our nation's fallen. >> reporter: mark straussman at arlington national cemetery. >> that's our report for tonight. lesli and anny will be back at 11:00. log on any time to www.wusa9.com. have a great night and a great 4th.

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