we're looking at 7:07, truth estates and the time of the quarter hour that storm will move pretty far off to halfway manor at 7:16. this is the storm rolling south and east headed towards meyersville eventually. the big picture, we see these line of storms, it has weakened rolling eastward, but we'll watch it roll across the mountains and crosses i-81. our atmosphere is very unstable and still pretty saturated with a fair amount of moisture. we're not done with the severe weather once this clears us by any means. we have storms back to the west of us. we'll watch those until the midnight hour. i say to myself is it reasonable for an individual to be upset if they're out of service for a week or more and obviously the answer is no. >> what? well, that is pepco president thomas graham trying at least to apologize to customers today for all those massive power outages following the epic

storms the end of last month. lawmakers were grilling graham in rockville today and graham just couldn't seem to get it together. >> i think you meant the opposite. i'll just give you -- >> i'm sorry. is it reasonable to be upset for not having power for a week, it's not reasonable for a person to be upset at all. >> he was struggling. the meeting moved on, but few were in a forgiving mood. an audience member said she was without power for three days and the only thing graham offered up today was excuses. today we confronted that maryland regulator who okayed billing customers for revenues lost in the outage. investigative reporter rosaries tries to get public service commission chair douglas nazarian just to acknowledge folks are very angry about this. >> reporter: mr. nazarian, russ ptacek, 9 news now. we've been trying to get an interview for two weeks now about this bill stabilization allowing the utilities to bill customers for the time they

were without power do. you feel you explained that today? >> i do. >> reporter: people were not happy about it here. >> not happy about my explanation or not happy about what? >> reporter: they're not happy about customers being billed to reimburse the company for revenues lost during the outage. >> i think i've explained. you're not paying for power that hasn't been delivered. >> reporter: no one said they were. they said the utilities are being reimbursed for revenue they're not making and you signed that order. >> we instituted bill stabilization adjustment for most of maryland utilities a couple years ago, yes. >> reporter: did you get the message today these council members don't like it, the people in this audience don't like it? >> i heard a lot of different messages and we're taking them all back. >> reporter: did you hear one person say they liked it? >> no. but i heard a lot of people didn't say anything one way or the other. >> reporter: do you regret signing that order? >> which order? >> reporter: do you regret signing the or allowing utilities to bill customers for

revenues lost during the outage. >> i do not regret the bill stabilization adjustment or the change we made in january to make it more fair for everyone. >> they stopped charging within the first 24 hours of lost revenue. when russ asked if he was aware there's a move to get him fired. he said yes, but he's focused on his job. a hot day got even hotter for firefighters in montgomery county battling a blaze in potomac around 1:00 this afternoon on stanmore drive. crews knocked it down in about 15 minutes, but then the red hot weather presented more challenges. 55 firefighter had responded because the crews needed to rotate in and out. >> we check their blood pressure and pulse. their blood pressure has been in norm rage and obviously continue to hydrate -- normal range and obviously continue to hydrate and monitor them. >> you need to drink a lot of water before, during and after your shifts they're told. more than one half d.c.

voters now say mayor vincent gray ought to step down according to a new washington post poll in the wake of the continuing campaign corruption scandal. as reporter kristin fisher explains, mayor gray is not so happy about his low marks. >> thank you very much. >> reporter: mayor gray gives a glowing report card on the state of hiv and aids in the district, all as and bs, but minutes later he's swarmed by reporters. we want to know what he thinks of his report card. mayor, on a personal level when you hear about these kinds of poll numbers does it bother you? >> of course. i would love to be able to have the as and bs we just saw in the aids report. of course it does. >> reporter: especially when this poll shows your own political base is turning on you. if 48% of after -- 48% of african american voters polled say it's time for mayor gray to step down. do you think he should resign? >> yes. >> reporter: why? >> because he's hutting the city. >> but mayor gray -- hurting

the city. >> but mayor gray says crime and unemployment are down and just because three of his campaign associates pleaded guilty to felonies mater says it doesn't mean he's -- the mayor says it doesn't mean he's guilty. >> i haven't been charged or convicted and i would urge people to allow this whole process to play out. >> but this poll shows that more than half of d.c. voters don't want to wait. 61% of the people polled say he's not honest and trustworthy and 63% say he's not running an ethical administration. >> a lot of their opinions i think have been colored by this investigation and this campaign issue and that's not unusual. i think that happens to a lot of people. >> problem is he's not a lot of people. he's the mayor. >> if you can't hire people with ethical standards that you can trust, then there's a fund meant problem with you as an administrator -- fundamental problem with you as an administrator. >> not only is that poll bad for mayor gray, apparently it's not helping the city. 74% of people say they think

the scandal is not an isolated incident, it's a sign of bigger problems in d.c. government. in a statement just into the 9news room mayor gray's attorney writes that mayor gray is being treated very unfairly by some of the media and those with their own political agendas. they are not focusing on the very good things he's doing for our city, the improvements in city services, local economy and welfare of the less fortunate in our attorney, statements from mayor gray's attorney. campaign 2012 news, mitt romney and president obama are neck and neck in the race for the white house. there's a new poll out from the new york times. in it romney holds a 47-46% lead over the president. mr. balm mr. -- mr. obama spoke in jacksonville today. >> governor romney has been owning business called pioneers shipping jobs overseas. >> this is the land of

opportunity. we welcome people here with dreams and say to them come build it, not come here because government will give it to you. >> that comment by romney was in reference to a speech obama made last week and has drawn a lot of criticism from the right. romney spent today in massachusetts. he'll be in new hampshire friday. president obama will spend another day in florida. a $50,000 reward for was in tonight on a couple crooks caught on tape. check these guys out. police want to know did these band it'ses you see here ripping off this harris-teeter in loudoun county part of a multi-state crime spree perhaps? maybe. >> reporter: i'm surae chinn in stone ridge in loudoun county where this grocery store was robbed at gunpoint earlier this week. now authorities are looking at the strong possibility the same criminals hit nearly a dozen other harris-teeters. at 2 a.m. tuesday morning with guns drawn two manned men rushed the terrace heater in -- manned men rushed the harris-teeter in

stone ridge. this video was released from inside the plaza grocery store. the pair make their way to the cash registers after pushing an employee to the ground. >> seemed like we were a lot safer than that. >> reporter: they had heed straight for the self--- headed straight for the self-checkout and helped themselves to the cash boxes. it is similar nearly 10 robberies in north carolina and south carolina. after tuesday's early morning robbery here a charlotte harris- teeter was robbed at 10 p.m. one of the suspects forces the store manager to clean out the safe. the robbers are bold, in some cases firing shots inside the store. in stone ridge surae chinn, 9 news now. russia and china today rejected a u.n. resolution that was designed to bring an end to the civil war in syria. that plan included nonmilitary sanctions against president bashar al assad's government if his troops aren't withdrawn in 10 days, but the long time syrian allies oppose the measure because they think it

could eventually allow the use of force. still ahead george zimmerman opens up on national television. what do his comments mean when it comes to his upcoming trial? >> plus it once stood as a symbol of everything great and now some say joe paterno's statue is tainted and needs to come down, more on the debate right after the break.

some exciting new programming coming to sunday morning this fall.

wusa9 will launch an exciting new talk show with bloomberg government. the show will air sunday mornings as part of the acclaimed power block on wusa9. bloomberg's chief washington correspondent peter cook will be the post. that comes your way sunday this fall on wusa9. should it stay or should it go? that is the question people are asking about that joe paterno statue at penn state. according to visitors, the late football coach had a role in covering up the jerry sandusky sex abuse scandal and earlier this week a banner flew over the school saying take down the statue or we will. >> i think that the statue sha go. should go just because we need to protect the kids. >> after hearing from that report of about 14 years of abuse i can't imagine that penn state could survive being attached so closely to joe paterno. >> an official decision is still a few days away. in the meantime people keep

coming taking pictures and posing and debating. let's take a love look outside now, pretty hot earlier -- a live look outside now, pretty hot earlier, scorching heat. the storms are heading our way. the full forecast is coming up. >> but george zimmerman got candid last night about the night he killed trayvon martin. we have an expert to tell you whether or not those comments will have an impact on his upcoming murder trial.

i don't think god would have it in his plan to murder an innocent child. >> trayvon martin's mom reacting to george zimmerman's interview on fox news last night in which zimmerman's said martin's death was all part of god's plan. the former neighborhood watch leader claims his life was in danger and he had no choice but to use his gun. >> i do wish that there was something, anything i could have done that wouldn't have put me in the position where i had to take his life. >> martin's parents say they just cannot accept zimmerman's apology because he apparently has no regret. so what sort of impact will last night's comments by zimmerman have on his trial? joining us now is glenn ivey who a lot of you remember as the prince george's county state's attorney, top prosecutor for the county. we rarely see defendants on tv before a trial. his attorney is right beside him, so obviously he approved it. what was going on there? >> it's a risky strategy because it could cut both ways,

but i assume they were trying to get a chance to allow him to make public statements to get his version out and maybe give him a chance to show himself as a calm credible speaker as opposed to how he's been portrayed with respect to the allegations of sexual abuse and racism. >> not to mention lying to the judge about the financial situation. why do you say it's risky? >> well, of statement he made on -- every statement he made on tv could be used against hip at trial. so the prosecutors will comb -- him at trial. so prosecutors will comb through the statements he made and if there's anything they can use against him, they will. >> the comment folks are upset about is basically zimmerman saying i have no regrets, this is god's plan. there was nothing i could have done. well, you could have not gotten out of the car. was that something that would have put him in jeopardy? if he had said hey, i'm sorry i got out of the car, would that perhaps be a legal mistake? >> potentially. i think the challenge on getting out of the car part i thought was the weakest part of his explanation because it

didn't go to the self-defense claim. i just don't think it was very credible. i don't think it really made sense. when he said i wasn't following him. i was just walking his direction, i just didn't think that was going to be persuasive. >> on balance is this a strategy you would have done if you have a strong case or is this something you'd do if you were a little desperate? >> it's a risky strategy. i think for people of zimmerman they liked what he said. four -- people supportive of zimmerman they like what he said. for people that aren't, they don't like what he said. we'll just have to see how that plays out. >> let's get to topper because we know the storms are on their way. >> warnings expired in washington and berkeley county, still in effect for adams county, pennsylvania, as well as anne arundel and howard county until 7:30. these are the storms we've been tracking, pretty heavy storms up into the hagerstown area

between hagerstown and cumberland. right now generally see the red? that's rainfall rates 1 inch per hour, a little hail possibly just on the other side of the 522, but williamsport getting heavy rain, hagerstown heavy rain, along the i-68 and 70 highway pretty much rain out to hancock which is pretty intense rain at this moment. we'll back out the radar a bit, a pretty good storm just east of martinsburg. where are these going now in the next hour and will they hold together? we'll put this into motion. most of them are moving southeastward 15 to 18 miles an hour. get ready in charlestown. they weak know a little bit going from red to yellow. that's moderate rain and get ready for heavy storms in winchester. we'll track these moving east warr tonight. even in the metro area we're looking -- eastward tonight. even in the metro area we're looking at potentially heavy storms until midnight. lightning is a factor, too up around hagerstown and

cumberland. here's a look at our live weather cap, very nice downtown after a -- cam, very nice downtown, after a high of 95, our live weather cam brought to you by michael and son, dew point 67, winds out of the south, southwest at 8, pressure rising in the past half hour, 89 in arlington, 95 college park, 90 in reston and vienna. heavy storms possible by midnight, more clouds tomorrow than today, just warm, storms more numerous friday and cooler and unsettled on saturday. for tonight partly cloudy and muggy, showers and storms, some heavy, lows in the 70s, light winds and then by morning we may have a wet commute, going to work. showers and storms possible even in the morning, 70s and 80s and by afternoon showers and thunderstorms possible again. some could be heavy or severe, highs 84 to 89, not hitting 90 degrees a treat. the next three days code yellow, yellow, green.

82 saturday, pretty good, 88 sunday and isolated thunderstorms possible be not enough to change plans. we'll keep it code green. next seven days, gets hot next week, monday and tuesday briefly back to the mid-90s with just isolated storms and we nice on wednesday and thursday, in fact. we're looking at partly cloudy skies both days, upper 80s wednesday and around 90 on thursday. i was invited to be on a panel today in front of the emergency managers from across the nation today at george mason university in arlington. i there was with scott broom and julie parker and we talked about social media and how we get the word out in terms of storms and how they get the word to us and how we use social media in different ways. scott broom says he uses it because he get their information, no longer has to make telephone calls. i use it because i put the was in out and try to keep people -- put the information out and

try to keep people ahead of the storms. we got to get to the weird news because if you don't like your plus mugshot, apparently there's -- your police mugshot, apparently there's a simple way to get it redo an. a georgia woman tanya -- redone. a georgia woman tanya fowler has found pout. if this is a better version -- out. if this is a better version, we don't want to see the other one. apparently tanya called to complain. apparently the other photo didn't capture the real tan why. tanya got her wish with a new -- tanya. tanya got her wish with a new more glorious mugshot. police got her again for misuse of the 911 phone service. >> we want to hear what you. this send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag@wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back. [ male announcer ] where did all the obama stimulus money go?

friends, donors, campaign supporters, special interest groups where did the obama stimulus money go? solyndra: 500 million taxpayer dollars. bankrupt. so where did the obama stimulus money go? windmills from china. electric cars from finland 79% of the 2.1 billion in stimulus grants awarded through it went to overseas companies. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

in the mailbag tonight pepco under the gun again today this time at a hearing in montgomery county where the local pepco president tom graham was struggling even to get his apology right, but john in chantilly says give the guy and the utility a break.

all of the power companies did a very good job of restoring power in the face of unprecedented damage to lines and infrastructure. that derecho was not an isolated afternoon summer thunderstorm. it was a historic unprecedented event for this region even considering isabel. to get the amount of work done they did in the amount of time they did was commendable not lamentable. governor o'malley and mayor gray should have socks stuffed in their mouths, about the dave from north chevy chase says even when pepco finally showed up in his neighborhood, they did a shoddy job and he's got photos to prove it. our neighborhood in north chevy chase went a week without power when fallen trees took out our intersection. after a week of calls they finally relented, moved the trees and replaced one pole but left the short one. you can see this is shattered halfway up and calls have gone unreturned. i'll send you pictures when it's fixed. the address is

mcginty'smailbag@wusa9.com. please, don't forget to include your name and where you're writing from. that's our report. i'll be right back here at 11:00 with topper. we'll see you then. bye bye.

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