>> hello, everybody. i'm bruce johnson. thanks for joining us. 70 arrests in a 72 hour period. prince george's county police are cracking down on prostitutes and their customers. they're targeting hotels in the college park maryland area. armando trull is there tonight. armando, we're hearing in some cases female officers posing as hookers? >> reporter: exactly, bruce.

the problem happened along this stretch of u.s. 1. five hotels involved. female officers would post messages on internet websites and then when the johns showed up here, they would get nabbed. they also arrested prostitutes. officers used the more traditional method of having undercover male officers solicit prostitutes. as you said since the sting began on august 1st, 70 people were arrested. let's take a look at some of the pictures that prince george's police posted on their website of folks being arrested. of the 70 arrested, the oldest male customer 64. the youngest prostitute 19. assistant police chief kevin davis says this is a problem that's been going along for years along this stretch of u.s. 1. >> the prostitutes and the johns aren't going away, which now leads us to a place where we want to engage the hotel business community in more of a responsible business practices to dissuade prostitutes, pimps and johns from doing business

in prince george's county. >> reporter: some of the ways that they're suggesting this be done is not taking cash, not renting rooms by the half hour or the hour, making sure they get i.d. from all of the people renting rooms, and checking the license tags on vehicles that are parked on the premises. now, police have not identified the five hotels where these arrests went down. possibly because the sting operation, bruce, is still ongoing. a lot of activity on a saturday night. we've seen a lot of officers driving up and down this portion of u.s. 1, and it could be in the next few days, more names are added to this list of 70. by the way, we should say that none of the people arrested had any links whatsoever to the university of maryland. reporting live in college park, i'm armando trull. >> thanks, armando. ♪ ♪ it was fan appreciation day out at redskins park. more than 24,000 turned out to see the home team. much of the excitement was

caused by rookie quarterback rg3. dave owens is here with that story. >> bruce, that 24,000 a little off from last year's attendance of 29,000, which by the way was a fan appreciation day record. still 24,000 is pretty good. burgundy and gold nation has been abuzz every since the team moved up to get like you say rg3. redskins park was packed today as fans desended upon ash burn to clear on their favorite team. the band was there playing the fight song, of course. mike shanahan addressing the crowd. this year rg3 was the main attraction. of course, as always, fans having a good time. >> this is my first time to a fan appreciation day, so i'm enjoying it. it's pretty good. >> oh, it's a lot of people. it's really hot, but it's fun. >> we're season ticket holders, too, so we go to games. this is my first year coming down here. >> who's your favorite player on the team? >> rg3. >> when rg3 came here, it made a difference i think. >> i think everyone is super

pumped for rg3. >> a better season than last year. >> i think we're looking at a ten-win season and hit the playoffs. >> we're hoping for autographs at the end. >> ten wins, talking about playoffs already. that's the fans' perspective. coming up in sports you'll hear from mike shanahan and dan snyder. hadn't heard from the big boss awhile. nats pitcher zimmerman does something he hasn't done all year in a historic performance at the olympics today. governor mcdonnell was among the fans at redskins park today. in june, mcdonald announced a financial package that would move the summer camp from ash burn to richmond. in exchange for public funding on renovate year-around facilities. >> the mayor and his team have about four sites. i know i talked to the redskins this morning.

they'll be down there at the next couple of days and look at the options. they'll be ready to go next summer. we'll see practices in richmond. i can't tell you how excited people in richmond are about this. >> governor mcdonnell says he hopes the financial assistance will help them expand their brand through a hall of fame in virginia. the candidates are intensely concentrating their efforts on the swing state of virginia. most polls have president barack obama and mitt romney in a near dead heat in the commonwealth. volunteers for both sides opened new campaign offices in northern virginia. surae chinn has that story. >> more campaign offices are popping up all over northern virginia. volunteers for president obama will open six offices by the end of the weekend. romney's camp held two events today and opened up one campaign office today. the get out the vote effort will only intensify as we draw closer to election day.

governor scott walker fires up the crowd of romney supporters in arlington. >> we've got to celebrate another great victory in the state. >> reporter: congressman jerry connally rallies in reston. >> we need to balance out southern virginia. >> it is good to be back in southern balance balance. >> reporter: some political analysts say president obama has to win convincingly in northern virginia. >> he needs to crush romney. >> reporter: george mason university associate professor on public policy, jeremy mayor, adds there are few father to victory for romney that doesn't involve taking virginia. someone who could throw the race off kilter is virgil good who spent 24 years as a virginia state senator and 12 years in the house. the conservative is gathering signatures to get on the ballot as a third party candidate. he's widely known in the southern part of the state and many argue a vote for him takes away from romney. >> governor mitt romney has the right approach to turn this

state and this country around. >> reporter: supporters are concentrating on what they can control and that is get out their message and enjoy the commonwealth being in the spotlight. >> we're the epicenter in some ways of this president campaign and northern virginia is the epicenter of the epicenter. >> it's such a privilege to be a virginian right now and i'm excited about the work ahead for us. >> reporter: mitt romney still has to pick a running mate. he'll be back campaigning in virginia next week. president obama celebrating his birthday today. will return to the campaign trail next week. i'm surae chinn for 9 news now. moving overseas, tensions in syria continue to escalate tonight as government troops try to crush one of the last rebel-dominated neighborhoods in damascus. heavy explosions rocked an area known for its rebel support. syria's military says it was a rebel attack on civilian and, sir, ryan soldiers.

gunmen kidnapped 47 pilgrims who visited a shiite shrine. another day of fighting as syrian government troops pummeled rebels with artillery from the tanks and russian-made fighter jets. >> they made ground today. they say they've taken over the citadel, an ancient monument in the center. but we know that the syrian army gathering in greater numbers, more tanks have been brought up. and of course, they completely control the skies. >> rebels seized several neighborhoods two weeks ago and so far syrian troops have not been able to drive them out. back here closer to home, fast moving wildfire near oklahoma city has destroyed more than 60 homes. tonight authorities say that fire was deliberately set. the blaze started friday afternoon and was finally contained today. some residents who fled to safety when the fire started returned today to find their homes reduced to ash and rubble.

>> most everything else, it's just ash and dust. i come back early thinking that i would pick something up and be able to find some things underneath that were protected, but you can't pick anything up, because it falls apart. >> i'm 82 years old. i've never seen nothing like it before. i've lived in this community all my life. >> wildfires were also reported in creed county, oklahoma. authorities say that fire near oklahoma city was set when somebody tossed newspapers out of a pickup truck and then set them on fire. attention virginia shoppers. one more day to take advantage of the state's tax free shopping. the savings apply to school supplies under $10 and all clothing and shoes under $100. shoppers say in this economy, every little bit helps. >> do you think you'll take advantage of something this weekend, maybe think about some extra items you might need? >> now that it's tax free, probably so. save a little money. >> any time you can get some

sort of break on anything is helpful. >> i always wait for the good bargains and then if there's something a little extra, i'll go for it. >> again, virginia's tax free shopping ends tomorrow. maryland's tax free shopping days begin on august 12th through 19th. d.c. stopped offering tax free shopping in 2009. maryland's house of delegates will convene next friday for a special session ongambling, the day after members of the senate are expected to come back to annapolis. maryland currently allows slot machine gambling at five locations. lawmakers will consider an expansion to include table games such as blackjack and new casino sites. lawmakers may also consider the possibility of internet gambling in the state. in loudoun county today, parents and law enforcement officials took part in the first annual child victim awareness day. that event at the junction

plaza shopping center in ashburn featured information on how parents can help their kids keep from becoming victims. parents were videoed with cell phone electronic child identification and child i.d. cards. today's event also remembered erica heather smith. you might recall the 14-year- old disappeared in 2002. her body was found 11 days later in a grave near a creek. her killer has not been caught. >> it's so important that we try to get this child murderer off the street. and try to get some legal justice for our daughter, erica heather smith. again, she does deserve justice. she was just a child. she did not deserve to be murdered. >> loudoun county sheriff's office is asking anybody with information about erica smith's death to give them a call. coming up later on 9 news now, tonight we're used to getting cash from the atm. what about a sweet treat with the swipe of a card? count down to mars.

a $2.5 billion landing, just a day away. warm and humid overnight today. you can feel the stickiness in the air with our temperatures moving into the 80s. we'll get down to the lower 70s for your wakeup weather. we'll feature lots of sunshine through morning. by midday clouds roll in. i'm tracking a slight risk of severe storms on the way for sunday. your full updated forecast when 9 news now continues. 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.

fire gutted a house in bristol, virginia, saturday afternoon. firefighters were called to the residence in the 13,200 block of sapphire ridge place after 4:00 today. the two adults and three children inside the residence managed to escape unharmed. smoke from the blaze could be seen as far away as gainesville. it took firefighters nearly two hours to bring this blaze under control. no word yet on what caused the fire. the double shooting in southeast washington leaves one man dead, another wounded. police were called to the 800 block of barnaby street southeast after 2:00 this morning for a report of a shooting. they found 24-year-old antoine bowsman dead at the seen. a second man was taken to the hospital. both man had been shot several times. no suspects. good news tonight for

drivers who use the outer loop of the capital beltway. starting monday five lanes will be open to traffic. the wilson bridge traffic left drivers with three lanes open in each direction. starting next week, the new permanent five lane configuration will be in effect. the rockville metro station is open again tonight. the station was shut down earlier today after a man was hit and killed by a train. metro says the man intentionally put himself in the path of an oncoming red line train just after 11:00 last night. he was pronounced dead at a hospital a short time later. tonight the red line trains are operating on a single track in both directions between shady grove, rockville and twin brook. coming up on 9 news now this saturday night, clear skies today. with showers could be on the way tomorrow. we'll have the full forecast when we come back.

>> curiosity rover from nasa is zooming toward mars. a day to go from a landing attempt and tores at -- orbitor at mars. >> it's designed to search for evidence mars may have once had conditions favorable to some form of life. it's a $2.5 billion mission. you're convinced there's life out there. >> i am. this mission is very exciting for science enthusiasts like myself and i will be watching live tomorrow night.

i won't miss that one. >> okay. forecast tonight, we were expecting the showers and storms to move on through. we got pretty lucky. it looks like most of the rain activity stayed off to our west. tomorrow, that front is much closer and the low is kicking off showers and storms ahead of it. we'll have a better chance for more widespread, even possibly severe weather as we head into tomorrow. right now on our doppler 9000, we are looking good. a few of the stray showers out toward the west. nothing made it over into our area. at this hour we're looking pretty good on the satellite and radar. you can see pops of severe weather that went through chicago land today. it hit detroit, toledo, heading to cleveland. it will continue to race off to the east ahead of the front. i think for the next few hours, at least the next 12 to 20 hours, we're doing okay here in the metro area. we will have more of an opportunity as i mentioned for those severe showers and storms to move on through. some showers early in the afternoon tomorrow, but the brunt of the heavy downpour in

pockets will come to us tomorrow night. more on that in the extended forecast. right now, looking good at the michael and son camera for capitol hill. just a light breeze. temperatures have gone down to the middle 80s. we'll keep on going to a low in the 70s later on tonight. right now, about 83. in arlington, 83. up toward rockville and 79 up ford in laurel. we will begin to see the gad dull clear -- gradual clearing. a sunny start to your sunday morning. a few showers will be off to the west overnight tonight. i don't think any will reach the metro region. as we sit down to about 76 degrees for the overnight low, it's still going to feel muggy and sticky as you head-on out tomorrow morning, but our air quality is going to stay in the good range. that is a good thing as we hit our highs or hit the 90-degree mark by noontime, we'll keep on pushing into the afternoon hours. we'll pull in some more cloud cover? our highs should top out around 95 degrees in the city center. we'll be a little cooler than

that off to the south and to the east. let's take a look at sunday's zone forecast. we're talking about only the upper 70s out in the panhandle toward oakland. much of the region west of the vibe will stay in the upper 80s. the metro region could see a late day shower or thunderstorm begin to develop. 1:00 to 2:00, we'll see a few pops of showers. the more stormy activity i think will hold off until about 8:00 in the evening. now, the storm prediction center has given us a slight risk for severe weather for tomorrow. we'll keep you abreast of that. we will get a little bit of clearing through the afternoon hours tomorrow. then the showers and storms move on through as that cold front continues to progress, we will see heavy downpours and some pockets of very steady rainfall. so we'll keep you up-to-date on that. the forecast for the next three days, we'll keep it code yellow for sunday. by tomorrow, things will be a little more dicey for us as the front moves through. seven-day forecast is going to feature a good day on tuesday. then lower 90s fort middle of

the week. >> thank you. you know you can hit the atm machine for fast cash. a bickery in chicago has an atm that can also satisfy a sugar fix with the press of a button. sprinkles bakery has a new cupcake atm on its patio. customers swipe their cards and collect their treats. the machine holds up to 500 cupcakes and they're restocked every few hours. >> wow. >> i guess it wouldn't work if they weren't fresh. >> the things you can get from an atm. what would you get from an atm if you could get one, just push a button? tickets, i guess, something like that? >> maybe redskins game, exhibition. but you're going to take care of me once the season starts. >> buffalo, i'll hook you up. i'll talk to dan snyder. a lot of traffic today, more than normal on a saturday today. redskins fans, they won't be denied when it comes to supporting their beloved burgundy and gold, and they did today. an explosion of runs, 17 at

nats park tonight. jordan zimmerman, a first for him as well. the kiddoes from great falls, they keep pouring it on the competition at the little league tournament. we'll talk about it 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. >> all right, stephen strasburg gets the headlines. geo gonzales had been one of

the offseason acquisitions of the year. meanwhile zimmerman has been quietly the stamina king of this staff. every one of his 21 starts, been the best pitcher on the team most of the year. start number 22 tonight. what did is jayson werth doing here? i call that a bad angle. a couple of runs will score. zimmerman didn't make it to the 6 the first time this season. he needed a bailout. just like the banking system and he got one, 8th inning. danny he's pie knows za, he's pie know za -- espinosa. the nats win 10-7. >> we didn't play very well, but we persevered. make it to this ball club, came roaring back. it was fun. >> all right, for those of you who don't know, this baltimore tampa bay series is big. matt weeders for those about to rock, we salute you.

baltimore had been over 22 in the last four games with runners in scoring positions. gnat scores and comes back and does damage in the second inning. seven shutout innings. baltimore winning 4-0 in tampa. players come, players go. one thing about the redskins that never changes, the fans. burgundy and gold nation loves their burgundy and gold. it's one of the reasons attendance at fedex field is at or near the top of the league. fans also come out in large numbers for appreciation day, which they certainly did today. they flocked to redskins park for the annual fan fest. there's gz meeting and greeting like he always does. fans of all ages got to see their favorite players go through practice. time, of course for the autograph session afterwards. earlier tonight we heard what fans had to say. what about the main men. talking about quarterbacks and excitement. >> those quarterbacks, you know, every year, they're a hot commodity. people know that there's a

difference in winning and losing for a franchise. if you can get one of the topquarterbacks in the league, that person's going to get a lot of attention. >> it's obviously exciting for everybody. it's a big deal. we're thrilled with him as a person and what he stand for as a redskin. it's exciting for all redskins nation. >> there you go, bruce. daniel snider, your boy. he came into the olympics with a cloud of uncertainty, but michael phelps proved again he is superman in the pool. he will leave london adding to his already ridiculous resume. tonight one more trip through the aquata center, as a member of the relay team. he swam the butterfly leg and they won gold. sear rethat will -- serena williams wins gold, winning all four grand slams and an olympic

medal. south african's man game the first amputee to run in track. he will head to the semifinals. a great women's 100 degree final, shelly an frazier edges out american jetter. fourth place in the eastern conference but still hanging tough. the poor columbus goalie. the ball's out front and nobody helping him. d.c. united winning 1-0 tonight. finally, little league world series, great falls, virginia, and jason saying great falls, great balls of china. two run home run. they win 12-1 over south are carolina. they play again on monday. by the way, northwest d.c. plays tomorrow. let's hid from the kids from great falls. >> i was kind of upset with my game yesterday. i didn't do very g. i was going in there hoping to spark something for our team.

i knew if we won this game we would be on espn the next game. i was hoping to start a ruly, and it -- a rally and it worked. >> espn? how about channel 9? give us some love here. >> why didn't you cut that part out? >> i don't know. we could see severe storms pass through our region tomorrow night. i'll keep you posted. >> thanks for watching. you can get updates any time, wusa9.com. we'll see you back here tomorrow. bye. ♪

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