and they found two children, a preteen and a younger child still inside the house while it was burning. they rescued the children, brought them out. all three of these people have been taken to hospitals. i have been told by prince georges county fire rescue officials all three of them are in critical condition. so they are battling for their lives tonight. the fire is out right now. the next step is to figure out exactly what happened. how a fire like this could break out in broad daylight with three people inside. again, three people rescued out of this home on carington court in prince georges county. three people sent to the hospital in critical condition after being rescued by prince georges county firefighters. live, scott broom, thenews now. >> thanks. it was the motorcade that topped headlines around the world. and tonight, the d.c. police captain demoted after actor, charlie sheen, got that high speed escort you see from dulles into d.c. is filing a

whistle blower lawsuit against the city. bruce leshan just spoke with the man who says d.c.'s police chief is getting away with lying to the d.c. council. >> lost my rank, lost my pay, been pretty much exiled off the police department. so here i stand. >> former commander, now captain, hilton burton, after filing a $12 million lawsuit, alleging police chief, kathy lanier, violated the city's whistle blower protection act that she ignored his fundamental rights and that she did it with actual malice. >> i want justice done. i want to be say that the system runs the way it's supposed to. >> burton told the committee last june that high speed lights and sirens celebrity escorts were common long before charlie sheen tweeted a photo of his doing 80 on the dulles toll road. he says when chief lanier

commanded this special operations division, she lent her officers escort, billy joel, paul mccartny, and minister, lewis. >> i feel i cannot stand by and allow the fact. >> lanier told the committee just the opposite, insisting that all celebrity escorts violated an obscured general order on residential parking from 1974. >> you violate the general orders. it's like ignorance of the law. >> two months after testifying, burton was demoted and relegated to a department back water. and that came after a report from the d.c. inspector general, essentially validated his version of events. >> every time we see retaliation like this, less people are willing to come forward. when you have government employees afraid to come forward to right wrongs, to stop misuse, fraud, you name it, things get worse for the district of columbia. >> there is corruption, nobody will say anything about it because they are afraid of what

happened. to me, happening to them. >> no comment so far from chief lanier, but both burton and the fop said they are most disappointed that d.c. council chair, phil mendelson has done nothing to determine who is telling the truth. no comment from mendelson's office so far either. in d.c., bruce leshan, 9news now. >> chief lanier has insisted that burton's demotion was about his job performance and not his testimony. a man is recovering tonight after being hit in the back of the head with a hammer. now the hammer attack happened early this morning, 14th and irving streets northwest. the victim tells police four men came up to him, demanded money, and then someone hit him in the back of the head with a hammer. the suspect escaped with his wallet and cell phone. >> police say the two men whose bodies were found inside an apartment yesterday were indeed murdered. friends say 59-year-old keith springs and 31-year-old carl

were friends. their bodies were found in the building on north culpeper street near the va hospital center. these would be the 3rd and 4th murders in the county in the last month, that's after 2 1/2 years with no murders in the books at all. investigators in wisconsin have interviewed more than 100 people as they are trying to figure out why a man opened fire at that temple over the weekend. they may never know exactly what wade michael page's motive was. page's exgirlfriend was arrested sunday on a weapons charge, but the fbi says there is no evidence that she was connected to the shootings. a d.c. man ordered a big screen tv from amazon, but he sure was shocked by what ended up being delivered to his doorstep instead. >> i'm kristin fisher in northeast washington. imagine that you're opening up a package that you think is a new tv that you got from amazon.com. instead, it's a high caliber

semi-automatic rifle. that is exactly what happened to seth inside this apartment building. >> i opened the phone up further, it was a huge shock to see that this was a military grade rifle. >> the ups label had his name and address on it. but the invoice inside the box was made out to a gun store in pennsylvania. d.c. police confiscated the weapon and they say they are investigating how it ended up in seth's apartment. so far, no one is taking responsibility for it. not ups, not amazon, and not the third party seller that he got it from. >> i would like to know how this type of mixup could take place. especially with what's going on recently. these mass shootings. i don't want to be in a situation where this type of weapon can just show up on someone's doorstep. >> in washington, kristin fisher, 9news now. >> now attorneys for facebook and the aclu want a federal appeals court to rule that clicking like on the social networking site is

constitutionally protected free speech. this revolves around an employee fired in virginia after that employee liked the facebook page of the sheriff's reelection opponent in 2009. a u.s. district judge ruled earlier that merely liking a facebook page was insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. derek. well, a new study shows the grout that is used to protect the steel support cables in the bridge and dozens of other bridges could be the cause of premature rustling. engineers say there's no sign of imminent hazard, but crews will check. talking about the wilson bridge. >> under an abundance of caution, leading the charge in terms of nationwide, there is an issue found with one of the suppliers of the grout. but we don't perceive, it's not an issue right now and it may never be an issue. we are going to go ahead and look at this as part of our

inspection. >> we will keep you posted on what those inspectors may find. >> move over speed and red light cameras. the state of maryland will allow its first stop sign camera to nab drivers who roll right by stop signs. the mayor, population 255, want wants a stop sign camera at the intersection. more than 200,000 cars pass through it every year as it does lead to the entrance of the popular park. the town studied that intersection and found that 80% of the drivers rolled through the stop sign. that was confirmed repeatedly today by our news camera, which was in plain sight. >> 70% of all crashes in this country occur at intersections. and we know that 40% of all traffic brutalities occur at stop signs. >> l.a. put six controversial stop sign cameras in place last year and they raked in more than a million dollars in fines. however, motorists are fighting

back. they filed a class action lawsuit because apparently the state of california never authorized the use of stop sign cameras. and you can't do that. >> that's right. coming up tonight at 7:00, city in crisis. d.c. takes the legal action against the company that is part of the probe into mayor gray's 2010 campaign. that's tonight at 7:00. >> still to come in this half hour, a side of the secretary of state you don't see every day. top. >> kind of humid and sticky out here. nothing in northwest. there are showers popping up on live doppler. some up to the northwest of gaithersburg. some between reston and chantilly and heaviest is toward manassas and around 66. we'll track those for you live and talk about a strong cold front on friday. but first, plans to keep the power on across the region. a look at one plan trying to move forward and another that is not. up next.

back now with an update on plans to build a high transmission power line through parts of maryland and virginia. we told you last month about pjm interconnection's decision that it may not need the path line any longer. and tomorrow, the company will make that decision final by ending the project. pjm originally contended that the $2 billion project would help supply energy to 13

states. but it says conditions have changed, it's no longer needed. >> pepco plans to file for another rate increase this fall. maryland regulators denied most of all the other requests for a rate increase and pepco executive says higher rates quote, will be crucial to continue the pace of investment in maryland. well, gambling is the focus of a special legislative session in maryland, but pepco could emphasize, or we should say, could become the center of debate. at the very least, you'll see legislation introduced tomorrow for lost storm profits. investigative reporter, russ, uncovered the rule that recently allows it and is now tracking efforts to repeal it. for the longest time, pepco and utilities say when your power isn't on, we can't charge you for it. >> they cannot charge you for the actual electricity. what they are allowed to charge

is for the transmission fee. they couldn't transmit it, therefore, they couldn't make a profit. now this special session, which is for the casino is allowing all this to come up in the state house. we told you that state senator, brian, was going to push legislation to prevent maryland utilities from charging you, because they lose money when the storm cuts off your power. what we didn't know is he would be able to introduce it so soon. many of you were still without power when we uncovered the mandate that automatically charges maryland customers a portion of every dollar the utilities lost compared to forecast revenues. no one has been able to put an exact dollar amount on what you'll be billed when they are done counting how much money they weren't able to bill and then they bill you a portion of that. but experts say it could be around a dime to under a dollar. this is the senator's second try to outlaw it. >> if you don't work, you don't get paid. and that is the rule that

applies to everybody else, aught to apply to pepco. >> is there a chance that there will be a vote? >> i think the odds are against it. >> that's because as you know, the governor called the special session for the casino. >> that's it. >> well, they can introduce legislation, but everybody is going to be in a hurry to get out. he's going to push it, but it might have to wait until the regular session, which starts in january before it is acted upon. >> we'll keep going and going and going. all right, russ, thank you for that. still ahead, the latest poll show just how close this fall's election may be right in the white house's backyard.

just 90 days to go until election day and tonight, new polls are showing a tight race in key battleground states. a cbs news "new york times" poll of likely virginia voters find president barack obama leading republican mitt romney by 4 points in virginia. in wisconsin, the president has a 6 point lead, but in colorado, it is governor romney enjoying a 5 point lead over the president. the presidential election could come down to one distinct group of people in those swing states, asian voters. the same republican strategist who helped bob mcdonnell win the asian vote and the election is now helping mitt romney. and as peggy fox reports, those undecided voters could be the key to a romney victory in november. >> there he is. right there. >> pat is a die hard

republican. we found her shopping in falls church where many vietnamese business owners are backing mitt romney. >> i have been divorced. >> here at the barbershop, you'll find pictures by a visit from governor bob mcdonnell, part of a strategy to win the asian vote. >> there he was in the barbershop. >> he helped mcdonnell win the election in northern virginia. he is hoping asian voters will be the key to a mitt romney victory. >> with that foundation built by governor mcdonnell, governor romney has already initiated, taken the step to engage the community. his team has been holding biweekly meetings. >> here's a picture of romney and mcdonnell at a meeting in sterling a few weeks ago. inbetween them is dr. nunen, a human rights activist who voted for obama four years ago, now he plans to vote for romney. >> i am very impressed and i

believe i voted for him and i hope that he will win. >> of course the asian american population is extremely diverse with different allegiances. the indians are considered strong democratic voters. the votes up for grabs are the east asian votes. >> i think they have too many gains. >> who are you supporting and why? >> obama inherited a bad economy and needs more time to fix it. in falls church, peggy fox, 9news now. asian americans own 7% of all businesses in virginia and there are 11 asian american delegates from the commonwealth going to the democratic convention. that is the largest number ever according to the president of a democratic association of asian americans of virginia. >> during a trip to south

africa, secretary of state, hillary clinton, showed off her fancy footwork while dancing at a dinner hosted by south africa's foreign minister. we have not seen these kind of moves, topper. >> not bad. >> she looks like she's having a fantastic time. >> i like her dress, too. >> can you move like that on the dance floor? >> we shouldn't do that to you? >> no. >> you know what they say, don't trust men who can dance. i guess i'm trustworthy. >> we'll trust you with the forecast. that's all we care about it. >> there's no doubt about that. a couple storms popping up now. doesn't look that ominous when you look at the whole picture. we'll zoom in a little bit. three storms, really just in the past half hour. sprung to life, if you will. one to the southwest of town. this is just around manassas and cross 66. this is a heavy storm. heavy rain. you see the red, that's red fall rates of an inch an hour. this storm inbetween reston and chantilly headed for fairfax

has weakened a little bit. this is a big storm on the west side of 270. we'll zoom into this storm and this is over poolsville. this may have hail in it. we'll zoom in more. i think the purple here, or the pink looks like hail to me. inbetween peach tree road, over toward bealesville. this looks like hail. certainly if it's not hail. it's heavy rain. big rain drops. that may be more what it is. in any event, it's heavy and it's not going to roll anywhere. it's going to produce heavy rains in this area for the next 20 minutes. which in some ways it's good, because everybody's yard is on the brown side. outside story, we did it today. 41 days. another day above 90. so far, 41 days since june 1. average is 31. that's gone. last year we did 47. year before 52. all-time record is 55 days for metrological summer. well, it's mathematically possible, we shall see. live look outside.

it's pretty nice in northwest in parts of downtown. sunshine out. 87. brought to you by michael and son. not very comfortable. humidity now 55%. pressure is still steady at 29.94 inches of mercury. mainly 80s. 88 in rockville. 83 in vienna. it's cooler in fairfax, because you have a shower. 84 in arlington. 88 in college park. cold front on friday. we'll focus on that. that's going to be interesting friday afternoon and evening. isolated storms. hot and humid tomorrow, yes. some afternoon storms tomorrow and severe storms are possible on friday and we're going to watch that very, very carefully. for tonight, early thunderstorm possible. some heavy, more south. 68 to about 76. next three days, we're going to go code yellow, code yellow, code green. a few storms, much better chance of severe weather on friday. 89. and then green on saturday. maybe a morning shower. we should salvage the afternoon temperatures in the upper 80s.

next seven days, should be in great shape by sunday. sunshine, upper 80s. maybe a storm monday, tuesday, back in the low 90s and low 90s on wednesday as well. we'll have sports right after this. stay tuned.

now, 9sports with kristen berset. the best sports in town. >> the wildly popular shark week begins in less than a week. the nationals couldn't wait that long. center fielder, aka, sharkadina made one of the most spectacular cashes ever seen in baseball last night. take a look. >> fastball, to left center. he's got it. unbelievable. >> he made the catch and the game is over. >> unbelievable is right. he disappears, comes back,

saves the game in the 12th inning. stealing the victory for the nats, that catch comes one day after he scores a imam game- winning run. the nats go for their fifth win in a row. the orioles had a long night as well. but one that paid off. the mariners in 14 innings, thanks to a walkoff single by adam jones. that makes their 12th straight win when going to extra innings. tonight, they go to sweep seattle. training camp is a long, hot few weeks. during which players don't get much time to see their families. a day of fun at the park yesterday with their families. a chance to relax one day before getting down to work. in 24 hours, the redskins will take to the field for their first preseason game of the year. it's our first chance to see rg3 and his offense in action. now of course is preseason number one, so rg3 won't be getting too many reps, but

offensive coordinator is hoping to make the most of it. >> we know it's going to be tough. we are trying to put him in tough situations and you know, so he is prepared and putting pressure on the other guys knowing they have to take that pressure off. guys will have to step up. >> we will be ready to go, the team will be ready to go. it's going to be fun. it's football, that's what we do. >> and second-year defensive end, anxious to take the field. he missed all of his rookie season after suffering a knee injury in the preseason. i spoke with the big guy yesterday. his knee feels great. he is excited to show what he can finally do. and the great fall little leaguers hoping to keep the ball rolling. tonight they take on robins. >> fantastic. that's it for us, the cbs evening news is next. derek will see you at 7:00 and we hope you have a great night.