the official gsa couldn't or wouldn't answer the committee's bonus questions. >> miss metzler, do you know anything about the total number of bonus dollars that were expended? >> chairman mica, unfortunately i do not. >> cynthia metzler, gsa's chief administrative services officer told the committee active manager dan tangherlini is on a previously planned family matter and couldn't there be. >> that's absolutely outrage. >> committee chairman republican congressman john mica and other members repeatedly focused on the 9 wants to know investigation that uncovered $30 million in unreported bonuses. before our report the committee had only known about $10 million in bonuses. >> so we have $44 million in bonuses, absolutely stunning amount. >> what's the percentage of the employees at gsa who receive bonuses? >> i would have to have someone get back to you with that information. it's not part of my responsibilities.

>> leaving that hearing? she declined to answer my bonus questions, too. can you appreciate how this doesn't look transparent that you won't talk to us for five seconds? ma'am, you represent the united states government. >> so, derek, our investigation wasn't the only thing that got congress ruled up today. congressman jeff denham of california questioned that same gsa official about a conference that's taking place right now that the very minute in nashville. she couldn't answer his questions either about that like are gsa workers staying in sweets at a gaylord opryland in nashville and is it true they reserved space on a showboat for a social? we've got a camera on it right now and we're tracking that element of the gsa as well. another effort in congress tonight to ban certain abortions in d.c. now this is in the senate this time.

republican mike lee attached an amendment to a cyber security bill that senators are looking at this week. that measure would ban abortions in d.c. after 20 weeks of pregnancy. that is the exact same as the house bill that failed by 70 votes last night. lee's amendment is expected to meet the same fate in the democratic controlled senate. the maryland man accused of threatening a mass shooting at his workplace faces criminal charges but not for weapons or attempted murder. it's telephone misuse and the prosecutor is not happy about it. she says maryland's law has tied her hands and left the public threatened by similar suspects. scott broom has more on the single misdemeanor charge. >> reporter: the charge against 28-year-old neil prescott is telephone misuse, a misdemeanor. prescott, the man who threatened to splatter brains of his victims all over the sidewalk to, go joker on his former workplace, recalling the mass shooting in the aurora colorado theater july 20th and

who had an arsenal of 25 guns, mostly assault rifles, when he was arrested. he's getting off too easy prince george's county prosecutor angela alsobrooks fears. >> unfortunately maryland does not have a law that makes it expressly illegal to communicate generalized threats over the telephone. i believe that when people like mr. prescott threaten violence, especially in in day in age with all that we have going on right now, he ought to be facing a felony charge, not just misdemeanor charges. >> reporter: alsobrooks with her hands tied said prescott's guns were all legal and there will be no charges there. he's in a hospital now. police chief mark magaw. >> we're not walking away from this individual. he's going to have a lot to answer to when he comes out of the hospital. >> reporter: regardless of the misdemeanor charge magaw counts this case as a victory. >> it's hard to measure what you prevented, but all the

elements were here that we believe that a tragedy was averted in this case. >> reporter: one consolation for prosecutors, the charges will prevent prescott from getting his arsenal of 25 guns back and if he's convicted, he'll lose his right to possess firearms in maryland into the future. in prince george's county scott broom, 9 news now. >> you might want to take note if he is convicted on this telephone misuse charge, prescott could still do three years in prison even though it's a misdemeanor. maryland is clear to enforce its gun permit law while it appeals a ruling that overturned part. it a stay was reissued today. the original ruling from march found the law's requirement for people to show a good and substantial reason to carry a gun was unconstitutional. arguments in appeals court are set for october. chick-fil-a's same sex

marriage controversy took center stage across the country today. from california to indiana to georgia and right here at home supporters were flocking to the chain's restaurants today. they bought food as a counter protest to those who are upset at the company after its ceo publicly announced he doesn't think much of same sex marriage. >> reporter: i'm kristin fisher at a chick-fil-a in sterling. this restaurant chain is now at the front line of the same sex marriage debate after the owner's controversial comments. >> i believe a ceo should have the right to express his convictions and his commitment to men and women who eat chicken and are faithfully married. >> reporter: sterling supervisor eugene degrees lgadio has been at this chick -- delg audi o has been at this chick-fil-a for breakfast, lunch and dinner. the hashtag that's become popular among chick-fil-a

opponents, but supporters say it's about protecting free season not about hate. >> no mayor or elect -- free speech, not about hate. >> no mayor or elected official has the rate to speak freely. >> reporter: kristin fisher, 9 news now. >> same sex marriage supporters in northern virginia held a protest of their own tonight at crystal city chick-fil-a in arlington. friday opponents of the ceo of the company are staging a nationwide kiss-in and near asking folks to show up at chick -- they're asking folks to show up at chick-fil-as and kiss somebody of the same gender. >> all day storms have been popping up across our area. we got ourselves a yellow weather alert. >> across the metro area all the warnings to the west have been canceled, but a couple of storms are still popping up on live doppler 9000. the ones in frederick died down and those prompted the warnings in pennsylvania and up into berkeley county, west virginia, and also out toward winchester.

they've died down. we'll zoom in. still see storms out on the other side of new market in the mountains, but these are dying out from frederick to leesburg, but these two storms have popped up right over the district, right over oldtown south of the district. this is a good storm between fairfax, east of manassas towards woodbridge. this is going off south and east passing between springfield and woodbridge. this is a heavy storm, too right over oldtown. i think it had some hail in it a couple minutes. now it's just got very heavy rain. the next hour things weaken and move east. we'll track them for you when we come back in the full weather. we'll also talk about the heat returning and if more storms return tomorrow and friday. speaking of all that heat and drought plaguing the country leaves literally half of american counties in disaster zones. >> but first a teenager gets more than $40,000 worth of plastic surgery, but not because she's unhappy with her looks. we'll tell you why she went under the knife up next.

if you've been successful, you didn't get there on your own. if you've got a business, you didn't build that. somebody else made that happen. my father's hands didn't build this company. my hands didn't build this company. through hard work and a little bit of luck, we built this business. why are you demonizing us for it? it's time we had somebody who believes in us. someone who believes that achievement should be rewarded not punished. we need somebody who believes in america. [ romney ] i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

maryland wildfire reserve and zoo is ready to pay for violations and allegations. the u.s. claims in one incident the improper safety programs led to a jaguar mauling a zookeeper and in another an employee allowed a camel to get away 1/4-mile before it was caught. a bully teen-ager is hoping a surgery will end her torment. 14-year-old nadia said she was constantly bullied as a child and called elephant ears and dumbo. when she turned 10, she asked her mom for a surgery but couldn't afford. it now she was given a $40,000 plastic surgery and says she looks forward to going back to

school. so did nadia and her mom make the right call? isn't she kind of giving into the bullies by getting that surgery and wouldn't it be better to instill her self- esteem so the bullying wouldn't matter so much? on the other hand, we all know how tough bullying can be on kids and some kids get very depressed by. it maybe she saved some torment and made the teasing go away. weigh in at mcginty's mailbag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. >> rain is clearing and sunny days are on the way, but we are trading storms for heat. topper has your toasty next few days in minutes. >> plus millions of women nationwide will be able to get preventive healthcare services without paying any out of pocket costs. i'm theresa garcia in beverly hills, more on the changes in the new federal law coming up. ♪

i've never felt this way before, but it's a scary time to be a woman. mitt romney is just so out of touch. [ female announcer ] mitt romney opposes requiring insurance coverage for contraception. and romney supports overturning roe versus wade. romney backed a bill that outlaws all abortion, even in cases of rape and incest. there's so much we need to do. we need to attack our problems -- not a woman's choice. [ obama ] i'm barack obama, and i approve this message.

starting today millions of american women now have eight new health services all covered at no cost. that's because of a new round of provisions from ated forrable care act which took -- from the affordable care act which took effect today including the controversial healthcare mandate. >> reporter: expectant mother christine kimmel tested negative for gestational diabetes. starting today most private insurance companies will have to cover screenings for gestational diabetes with no cost for the patient. it's one of eight preventive healthcare services for women

mandated under the affordable care act. >> i think it's just a huge win for women's health in general. >> reporter: the covered services are annual well visits for women, screening for gestational diabetes, breastfeeding support, screening and counseling for domestic violence and hiv, counseling for sexually transmitted diseases, and contr an estimated 47 million women are in health plans that must cover these services without co- pays or deductibles. certain religious organizations such as churches and schools are exempt. the contraception requirement includes access to the morning after pill which some groups claim is the same as abortion. >> to force women of religious views and values and certainly pro life to subsidize whether it's contraception or abortion inducing drugs, it's wrong on many levels. >> reporter: but kimmel appreciates the new rules, especially the breastfeeding support. >> now i know there's all the equipment with the pumps and

the tools that you need. >> reporter: and most women won't get free benefits today. the new regulations kick in only when their insurance plan is renewed. theresa garcia, cbs news, beverly hills. >> healthcare law also includes some free preventive services for men and kids including flu shots and other immunizations, cancer screenings, screening for high blood pressure, cholesterol and compression. if you live in d.c., get ready to shell out more for your tap water because d.c. water is tapping on two rate hikes and a surcharge. the average family bill will increase by about 70 bucks a year. the washington examiner reports the hikes will be used to help fund a multi billion dollar tunnel in northeast. d.c. is now eligible for federal help to clean up costs from when the june derecho

swung through town. the district is now request federal assistance. virginia was declared a disaster area last week. maryland's request is pending. the widespread drought is creating disaster situations in much of our country. more than half of all u.s. counties have been designated as disaster zone because they haven't gotten any rain. 218 counties in 12 states were added just today. this is the most severe and expensive drought in 25 years the agency says and it's just getting worse. >> it is. there's no relief in terms of it's going to change the table, so to speak, turn the tables. we just had radar on. we now have warnings out to the west in rockingham county, graham county and hardy county. let's start with live doppler 9000. we'll zoom out to these storms first. they had a little hail and strong gusty winds, so get

ready. rockingham county around harrisonburg in virginia, it's a pretty hefty storm near petersburg around 220, hail in it, no doubt drifting south, southeast. you're not in a warning in shenandoah county, but a hefty storm nonetheless. now back to the two storms we showed you, tiny little storms but pretty power packed especially the one right by the airport. that may cause some delays, may have small hail. this is a pretty good storm, too southwest of burke, southeast of manassas down around 236. that's drifting to the south and east, too. we'll put this in motion. for the most part these weaken quickly. i think the computer has weakened them too fast. this will cross over around lorton and 95 in the next hour. this may go over toward ft. washington and diminish altogether around 1:00. the nats game should be okay, by the way, this gorgeous shot brought to you by michael and son.

85 now, dew point 71, not a good thing, winds east, southeast at 10, pressure back on the rise, 29.83 inches of mercury. temperatures in the 80s which is good for the first part of august, 82 great falls, 81 vienna, 82 bethesda, 84 college park, 82 bowie. we had no hurricanes in the month of july. i talk about that on my blog at www.wusa9.com. is it common or uncommon? economic it out. heating up with more storm -- check it out. heating up with more storms, isolated storms, hot tomorrow, a dry morning commute, afternoon storms, some heavy, some severe possibly. tonight isolated storms, partly cloudy, mild, 66 to 74, a suppose a little muggy downtown. tomorrow morning -- i suppose a little muggy downtown. tomorrow morning 70s and 80s, wind light southwest 5 to 10, by afternoon thursday partly cloudy, hot, thunderstorms, some heavy, some severe, high temperatures 90 to 95 and winds

southwest 5 to 10. next three days our 9 weather alert codes all yellow, 93 thursday with storms, hot, hot friday with storms, 95. notice we have a little stronger icon, more rain, better chance of storms friday. then on saturday look for thunderstorms and still hot, temperatures also in the mid- 90s. the next seven days it stays hot. we're in the mid-90s sunday, not record breaking heat, isolated storms on sunday. monday a cold front approaches, showers and storms may keep us in the upper 80s, got look for little victories and low 90s tuesday and wednesday with isolated storms. >> we take our wins where we can. let's get to our weird news because everybody knows the story of noah's ark but up till now the ark itself has lived only in our imaginations. not anymore. to the netherlands where a millionaire has built an authentic replica of the on, ark. there it is. it's -- original ark. there it is.

it's authentic because he went by the guidelines written in genesis. he used his arm to measure the cubit and that means his ark is 450 feet long. he built all this because 20 years ago he had a dream the netherlands was going to be submerged in a flood, but you got to wonder how seriously he's taking all this because with the exception of some live chickens and maybe a goat or two, most of the animals are plastic replica which might say they're unlikely to reproduce, just saying. >> did they make a movie about that, building an ark? think they did. >> not sure. >> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mailbag, the address mailbag@wusa9.com. 9 news now will be right back. i got the chance to start my own business.

i know what it's like to hire people and to make ends meet. from those experiences, i had the chance of running the olympics. the games were in real trouble. there'd been way too much spending. and in massachusetts i found a budget that was badly out of balance. our legislature was 85% democrat. and every one of the four years i was governor, we balanced the budget. i want to use those experiences to help americans have a better future. we believe in our future. we believe in ourselves. we believe the greatest days of america are ahead. i'm mitt romney and i approve this message.

sometimes you understand what's trending. sometimes you're not quite sure. in the mailbag tonight the chick-fil-a gay rights debate goes on and this time it's renee who says she is tired of hearing about gay rights. what about my rights she says? my right to go out without anybody speaking of their sexual preference or my right not to be lectured or harassed because i believe marriage is between a man and a woman. you have the right to be what you want to be, but when you infringe on my right and peace of mind with your signs, public display of affection or rudeness when you don't think i've acknowledged that you're gay, that's just wrong. renee, i hear you, but what you seem to be talking about is the right to remain unoffended, which of course, does not exist. that's the downside to this whole freedom of speech, freedom to assemble thing. sometimes the things you see and you hear you're not going to like. that's okay. on the other hand, i am always happy to see what's in mcginty's mailbag unless, of course, it's running on empty.

please don't let that happen. drop me a line. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. don't forget to include your name and city. that is our report. i'll be right back here tonight at 11:00 with anita brikman and topper. log on any time you like to www.wusa9.com. you have a great evening. we'll talk to you a little later. bye bye. over the next four months, you have a choice to make.

not just between two political parties, or even two people. it's a choice between two very different plans for our country. governor romney's plan would cut taxes for the folks at the very top. roll back regulations on big banks. and he says that if we do, our economy will grow and everyone will benefit. but you know what? we tried that top down approach. it's what caused the mess in the first place. i believe the only way to create an economy built to last is to strengthen the middle class. asking the wealthy to pay a little more so we can pay down our debt in a balanced way. so that we can afford to invest in education, manufacturing, and home-grown american energy for good middle class jobs. sometimes politics can seem very small. but the choice you face, it couldn't be bigger. ♪ i'm barack obama and i approve this message.

now, "entertainment tonight," the most watched entertainment news magazine in the world. j. lo strikes back. her assault on the new tabloid report that her boyfriend was caught in a gay nightclub. plus janet jackson breaks her silence on the allegations that she slapped her niece, paris. is macaulay culkin addicted to heroin? the new headline. brad pitt the gangster? >> i don't know what it is with these guys. they can't keep their mouth shut about nothing. only "e.t." has the first scenes from "killing them softly." plus, the action debut of tom cruise's son. connor's new movie. >> you've seen the photos of michael douglas and matt damon in the new liberace movie, what liberace's real-life lover told us. >> kind of like a father/son relationship. >> but you had sex?