♪ what did we learn on the show tonight, craig? ♪ yee-haw! [laughter] craig: if you stayed until the end of the show because you thought we were all going to get together and sing "rainbow connection" you're wrong. [laughter] we were going to but i just heard at the last minute when i decided we wanted to sing it, and by we i mean me, they said you can't sing it. we can't clear it. and then geoff said -- geoff: balls. [laughter] craig: so instead of having "rainbow connection" an american classic, which we're really good at, we are now going to have geoff's rendition of a cat. one -- geoff: meow. craig: wait! geoff: that was premature cat. [laughter] craig: one, two, three -- geoff: meow.

craig: good night, everybody. captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org--

. this is 9news now. in 2010, the mayoral campaign was compromised by back room deals, secret payments and a flood of unreported cash. >> bagging another conspirator in election corruption and the illegal activity goes back for more than a decade. and we are now learning just

how widespread this illegal activity is alleged to have been. prosecutors say corruption infiltrated campaigns for the senate, the house of representatives, even the presidential campaign of 2008. the center of the conspiracy is here in dc. the center of the investigation, the 2010 mayor's race. our gary nurenberg is here to tie it all together. gary. >> reporter: the headline today, a guilty plea from a big sforter of dc -- supporter of dc mayor gray. $650,000. >> can you tell us why you did it. >> no comment. thanks. >> reporter: 75-year-old eugene harris admitn federal court the role in what prosecutors call a shadow campaign to elect vincent gray mayor in 2010. >> today's plea confirms the sad truth that many of us have long

feared. the 2010 mayoral election was corrupted by a massive infusion of cash that was illegally concealed from the voters of the district. >> reporter: prosecutors say harris, a long time employee, arranged to have contributions to the gray campaign illegally reimbursed by a campaign man. >> she also purchased more than $100,000 worth of campaign material that were identical to the official campaign materials. these materials were purchased from the same vendors as the official campaign materials that were delivered to the official campaign headquarters. >> reporter: how could candidate gray not know? mayor gray did not respond to a 9news request for an interview. >> it just didn't start in 2010. >> reporter: the scheme goes back to dwun 2001 and involved illegal help for campaigns to federal office as well. he won't say which ones, but they learned harris made

contributions to the campaign of former prince george's county congressman albert wins, eleanor holmes norton, barack obama and hillary clinton. none is charged with knowing about the illegal help. they allege a huge coverup, document shreddingding city council chairman tuesday night. >> today's events are troubling and it speaks to corruption in elections far beyond what anybody realized. it's safe to say that the candidates who received these donations did not realize that they were coming from donors. and it's a time to rebuild the trust. >> reporter: it's safe to say that they didn't realize it was coming from donors. there is $650,000 in donations in the mayoral campaign. how can the candidate not know? >> i can't speculate on that.

i don't understand some of this. and we're all learning this together. but your question was about whether we can -- how can we guarantee the elections are not corrupt. i think it would be quite constant vigilant. the bottom line is there is not an easy answer. >> reporter: do you expect that major gray is going to be in -- mayor gray is going to be indicted? >> no. but what good is it for me to speculate. >> reporter: but the big question remains $650,000 in a shadow campaign, how could a candidate gray not know? it's important to say, anita, that mayor gray has been charged with no wrongdoing at all. >> far-reaching implications to what happened in court today. thank you, gary. so what did they do with the 650 grand? >> well, they spent on the campaign. more than $200,000 for campaign staff expenses, 265,000 in rental vans, hotel and other expenses, $127,000 on campaign material.

they hired political consultants, drivers, and perhaps significantly the shadow campaign was used in consultation with the official campaign leading up to the primary. >> it's mind boggling. gary nurenberg, thanks for your work tonight. meantime, dead in a fire. fauquier county investigators said they found a woman in the building in which she lived. they are calling the death a homicide. it all happened on monday on a farm in upperville, virginia, and our ken molestina is live in fauquier county. ken. >> reporter: anita, she lived here by herself in a tenant house she rented on the farm. an off duty firefighter saw heavy flames and fire coming from the house. that's when he called for help. >> the fire department was conducting their fire fighting restoration, they discovered the body of a female. >> reporter: james hartman says the body was later identified as sara greenhall, a reporter for

the winchester star. >> she was a prolific facebooker, if you will, and in social media. she had a lot of friends. >> reporter: her colleagues at the winchester star said they began worrying about her when she didn't show up to work on monday. in a phone conversation, the star's editor said the 48-year-old was bubbly. she described her as someone who would light up the room when she walked in. she said she can't think of any reason why someone would want to harm her. they're trying to figure that out and they may be on the right track to getting those answers. >> we have several persons of interest and we've talked. some we have not. >> reporter: because this is an ongoing investigation, authorities are limiting what information they release. an autopsy has been performed, but the sheriff's office is also keeping those details under wrap. >> i can't comment any further on what was discovered. >> reporter: and tonight the sirkdz surround the circumstances surrounding her death are still a mystery. officials are asking anyone with information surrounding her death to give them a call.

we're live in upperville, ken molestina, 9news now. >> hopefully they'll get some answers soon. tomorrow, house republicans are expected to vote for a repeal of president obama's affordable health care law. this is the 3 third time house gopars have tried ers tried to rule the law is constitutional. >> it is political theater with political games against the head of the health of the nation's citizens. >> the vote we will take tomorrow to repeal is not a symbolic vote. it is the will of the american people. >> republicans say their vote is sincere and they won't quit until the law is off the books. the last time a full repeal came up for a vote in the house, three democrats fighted with the republicans. president obama is determined to make taxes the election issue. he took that message to iowa today. mr. obama is trying to convince

voters that extending bush taxes for households making less than $150,000 a year is good for the economy. >> i leave we should make sure the taxes only the 98% of americans -- on the 98% of americans don't go up and we should let the tax cuts expire for folks like me. >> the very time the american people are seeing fewer jobs created than we need, he says he's going to make it harder for the jobs to be created. >> romney calls an extension of all of the bush era tax cuts a matter of economic freedom. the president has already warned congress he will veto any extension of tax cuts for wealthier americans. a 9 wants to know story is already generating outrage online. some of you will be paying extra to losses from pepco and bge?

why? because they can't bill you for usage during the outage. >> reporter: power companies make their money not by selling electricity but by charging the fee to deliver it. since they couldn't deliver during the storm, they had losses. and in maryland, regulators allow them to make customers pay the bill. for maryland customers who spent hours or in so many cases days without power, it's not news that pleases. >> i think it's unfair. >> reporter: unfair because he believes it's like being charged for the power they didn't deliver. maryland officials say they can recover from the first 24 hours, and that can be less than a dollar for the utility's average user. but anything is too much for many angry users. >> not good. not good at all. that's not a good thing. i am going to call pepco and can

them about them. >> reporter: bge and pepco said they couldn't explain it, but the utilities will bill maryland customers automatically. officials in the district and virginia say the utilities cannot charge customers for lost billings there, so this is unique to maryland customers. and, again, although bge and pepco wouldn't estimate the cost, one state official says it could average less than a dollar a customer. anita. >> all right. so that doesn't sound like a lot per customer. but how much money could the utilities get? >> in 2010, pepco got $1.4 million in one storm alone. but they have limited adjustments to the first 24 hours, so this time it's likely to be less. >> so how is it going to show up on my bill? that's what i want to know. >> we do too. neither bge or pepco would explain it. but it will likely be rolled into the customer fee without a line item explaining the charge, so many of you won't even know

you're being charged. >> okay. thank you. in the past week, there have been three shootings in this area in which police felt the need to open fire on suspects. and in each case, the suspect was killed. today prince george's county police unveiled a new tool they believe will help officers deal with confrontations with armed suspects. it's an interactive scenario-based system designed to help officers know when to fire their weapon and when to hold off. >> drop the weapon. drop the weapon. >> drop. [ shot fired ] >> what we really want to get from this is officers to use communication skills to be able to deest clat some situations -- deescalate some situations. >> the cost was $85,000. it was paid for by a grant from the department of homeland security. the verizon center will be shining a little more brightly down in china town. today the dc council approved legislation to approve more animated signs on the exterior

of verizon center. caps and wizards owners says the new signs will improve aesthetics and increase tax revenue for the city. what is wrong with jesse jackson, junior? the illinois congressman has been on medical leave since june 10th. last week they said the congressman is being treated for physical and emotional ailments and that his condition is worse than previously thought. now, democratic reps says jackson has a duty to provide more information to voters about what is going on. >> i'm scared. >> and how would you feel about surface to aramis lz stationed on top of -- air missiles stationed on top of your bid -- building. they wanted to install it in london. they wanted to do it in case of a terror attack during the olympics. the missile system can shoot down a high jacked aircraft. still ahead on 9 news

tonight, a really important health alert. right now pregnant women and babies may need to take extra care because of an illness. cops race for a teacher accused of inappropriate relationships. that's next. it's kind soupy out here. fog is going to develop overnight. keep that in mind. 66-74 for the early risers. we'll come back and tell you if we're in storm of

back on 9 news with a wild scene caught on tape. police in la were in hot pursuit of a man in that truck there. he's a teacher accused of lewd acts against a former student and he was clearly not interested in cooperating. that man led police on highways all around los angeles. the chase ended with the truck

veering off the road smashing through a guardrail, souring -- soaring into the air and crashing into a tree. the teacher survived and is recovering in the hospital. tonight we're talking to the teenager who lost an arm to an alligator. yesterday he came face-to-face with a gator 11 feet long while he was swimming in a river near fort myers. >> i got maybe about 30 yards away from the bank and my friend starts yelling gator. >> the gator was coming after him on top of the water. his tail was wagging back and forth. he was coming. >> i have to lose this arm or i'm going to die. >> oh, boy. wildlife officers searched for the alligator. it took them three hours. they found it and killed it. they recovered his arm but surgeons were not able to reattach it. this is a peak year for a dangerous illness with a

horrible cough. pertussis. more than 16,000 cases were reported by the end of june. that's more than double for the same time last year. whooping cough is very contagious and can cause death in worst case scenarios, especially in babies. that is why everyone who is going to be around a newborn or infant needs to make sure immunizations are up-to-date. pregnant women too are being told to get a boos sister, the shot -- booster, the shot. why the increase? the agency tells us pertussis is cyclical. it has stronger and weaker infection years. but not enough vaccinations are part of the problem. if you think the kids are looking a little doughy in your neighborhood these days, here is one possible reason why. a university of georgia professor beliefs kids aren't getting enough physical education at school. they investigated jim programs in every state.

kids are not getting the 150-225 members of exercise recommended a week in school, but here is the deal. pe is getting cut back in favor of more class time to meet testing needs. if you are out and about earlier tonight, you may have run into this. torrential rains and flooded out roadways. this was the scene on rhode island avenue in northwest. you can see motorists having a tough time getting through. topper joins us now again. lots of rain, flooding. we can't seem to catch a break. >> no. but this was a small area. this was reminiscent of how a real weather pattern should be. >> not a whole wall. >> exactly. some areas received about an inch, inch and a half of rain. the good news is, everything is on the way. the bad news is we may do it again tomorrow. let's start with a live look outside. this is wisconsin avenue. you're looking northeast ward out wisconsin avenue from our building. and brought to you by michaels and son.

high temperature was 90 today. that is average. winds out of the north at 6. pressure steady over the past hour. 30.05 inches of mercury and the dew point is falling back into the upper 60s which is sort of bearable for this time of the year. satellite picture, radar combined, kind of looks like last night, doesn't it. a lot of showers through texas, along the gulf coast and the southeast. that is where the front is. it was stationary yesterday. it is a cold front now which means it's actually moving a little further south. it's going to move back to the north, though, over the weekend as a warm front will usher in some hotter air and increase our chances for showers and storms on a more widespread bases as we go through saturday and sunday. this is the thunderstorm that developed inside the beltway. it stretched over to mclane and some very heavy rain with the one thunderstorm and that's about it. tonight some fog during the morning commute is possible. mr. bernstein will be here at 4:25 in the morning. we'll have more sun than today.

upper 80s again. isolated thunderstorm is still possible. and much like today, well, if they form, they may have some heavy rain associated with them. this one had no wind or no hail, so it was not severe. all right. overnight, mostly cloudy. mild. some thunderstorms ending. fog developing. 66 to about 74. and winds out of the southeast at 10. now, by morning skies return partly cloudy. could beat the fog early in the morning. pleasant. you will need your shades. temperatures in the 60s and 70s. winds southeast at 10. and then by afternoon, kind of a similar day. partly cloudy. seasonable. some isolated storms. upper 80s. and winds easterly at about 10. high temperatures then essentially average. we'll be flirting with 90. 88 in college park. so let's go ahead and break it down. fog and clouds.

by evening, 85-89. perhaps a thunderstorm. next three days, we're still going to keep the 9 weather alert codes green, green and green. 89 on wednesday. 88 on thursday. 90 on friday. all days with a shower or thunderstorm possible. next seven days, saturday and sunday notice we have beefed up the icons there. so a better chance for showers and thunderstorms as the front lifts northward. that will get us back into the low 90s saturday and sunday. mid 90s on sunday and then back to around 90 on tuesday. so no triple digits. >> have to love that. got to love one of the most glitziness nights in baseball. it was fun to watch. >> it was fun to watch. they were playing serious baseball. there is still a lot of stake. there was still some great action. major mistakes. major league baseball and the all stars, they took center stage tonight. we have got our own unusual highlights as well as the game highlights. there was the parade from beforehand. and we

now 9 sports with kristen berset, the best sports in town. >> major league baseball's all star game isn't just about seeing which league is better than the other. it isn't just about seeing the biggest and brightest starts in

the game. but there is -- stars in the game. but there's something even bigger at stake. the winning side gets home field advantage in the world series. it's taking place in kauffman stadium in kansas city. there is bryce harper getting a warm welcome from the fans. steven strasburg both making their first appearance. this is the second all star game. justin burlander got the start. that was jeter throwing it in the dirt. five runs came in the dirt in the first. gonzalez worked a perfect inning with a strike out against why reter to -- against jeter to start out. strasburg gave off a leadoff single. got out of that inning unscathed. bryce harper didn't fair so well. he walked at his first at-bat. struck out at his second. also misplayed a ball in the

outfield and in the end the national league shuts out the american league. we can't show you highlights of a game which is still going on and being shown on another network, so we thought for sure tonight's all star game wouldn't be over in time for the newscast so we decided to reenact the highlights ourselves. all right. so we were wrong about the time. but thought you deserved a good laugh. so we decided to share this video with you anyways. here is our justin burlander starting off the game and here is pablo sandoval at the dish. sandoval wind up. sends a triple to deep right. three runs come into score. look how fast the runners are. national league with a 5-run first inning. enough about everybody else. how about the nats. gonzalez looking sharp as usual. 3 up, 3 down. knocking the hats off the american league. steven strasburg, on the other hand, struggling. good form. got out unscathed but got some help from the defense as well. here is bryce harper. a guy nats fans wanted to see.

was walking his first at-bat. gets caught in the runoff between second and third. gets out. even the lightning quick feet couldn't get him out of the jam and then loses. but we've seen this from bryce. here is the replay. >> i got it. i got it. >> where is it? >> i don't got it. it falls behind him. that was our version. oscar winning performances. >> absolutely. >> great baseball players. >> clearly not enough to do in the sports department. >> apparently not. as we're doing it in the newsroom as you're trying to work. >> i was wondering what was going on. i'm here to prove that mini babybel cheese packs a whole lotta something special inside this little wax package. why go ordinary? try the special zip peel freshness that only comes from mini babybel. nice! yes! hey, girls. want the perfect snack accessory? it's totally natural, 100% delicious cheese! tasty. see? good things really do come in small packages. like rubies! girls like rubies... mini babybel cheese from the laughing cow.

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