. nearly one outside of six americans are in poverty, the worst rate in a generation. mitt romney's running mate on the attack. hello, everybody. i'm bruce johnson. thank you for joining us this saturday night. it's a move most say will energize the republican base, but could cost the ticket some independents. mitt romney and his vice

presidential running rate, wisconsin congressman paul ryan, on a bus tour of battle ground states tonight, starting in virginia. after joining the ticket in norfolk, ryan told the crowd america is a nation facing debt, doubt, and despair and a transformative change in leadership is now vital. we caught up with the white house hopefuls on their bus stop in month naz. >> reporter: today's tour through virginia is very important to the romney campaign for two reasons. voters are getting their first glimpse of romney, alongside his newly announced vp candidate. even the republican party knows if they want to pull ahead in this election, they have to win virginia, a state that's still narrowly favoring president obama, according to a recent poll. scores of people packed into the harris pavillion in oldtown on saturday to show their support for the romney-ryan ticket. the pair spent the day touring the commonwealth and made a big showing here in northern virginia. >> if we do this right and we reapply those principles that built this country, we honor you

by letting you decide the choice and the course of this country. we will get our country back on november 6th! [ cheers & applause ] >> it was also a good day for america. we've taken the next step to restoring america's promise with paul ryan as our nominee for vice president! >> reporter: there were other possibilities for mitt romney to choose as his running mate, but he has made his choice and this romney-ryan ticket, at least among this crowd, seems to be very popular. among the names tossed around to be romney's pick for vp was virginia governor bob mcdonald. of course he didn't get the nod, but did show his support for romney's choice. >> i am delighted to have the romney-ryan ticket here in the northern virginia area. >> reporter: representative ryan doesn't come without his share of criticism. as chairman of the house budget committee, he has been referred to as an architect of deeply controversial budget plans. >> we can turn this around, get ourselves back on the right track. it's going to take leadership.

>> reporter: he's a staunch republican with a projection to cut more than $5 billion in government spending within the next decade. he's also been vocal about restructuring the medicare system and turning it into a voucher program. >> i'm happy with ryan, his choice for a running mate. i think that's the ticket for me. >> reporter: these northern virginians seem to like the hopeful, but as a notoriously known swing state, time will only tell how the choice and the duo will fare in the eyes and minds of these voters. >> at first, i was a little skeptical, but then i started thinking about the reasons he might have made that decision. >> >> reporter: a recent cbs news poll this week shows obama leads by 4% among virginia voters. other swing states, including south carolina, florida. the announcement of paul ryan as romney's running mate came as a surprise to a lot of virginia voters. some were hoping that governor bob mcdonald would get the nod.

ryan isn't well known in the state. here's what some people had to say about the republican vp pick. >> virginia republicans, a few of them tonight are going, aw, shucks, could have had a slightly easier november. ryan is not a national figure, not a rubio, not a governor, not mcdonald or eric cantor, who would have really helped in virginia. i don't think there's a big virginia impact. what the pick of paul ryan says if romney wants to run on big ideas. >> it's time to exercise some restraint. and i think paul ryan's plan seems to be a good idea. >> what's your reaction? >> really? that was the best he could do? >> i voted for obama last time and i was very disappointed in how things have gone. so it's definitely moving me to the romney side. >> reporter: political experts say romney has few paths to victory if he does not win the state of virginia. mitt romney's announcement of ryan didn't go off without a hitch this morning. at the podium in norfolk, virginia to announce his running

mate, romney gave the wisconsin congressman a promotion before correcting his mistake. >> join me in welcoming the next president of the united states, paul ryan! >> every now and then, i'm known to make a mistake. [ laughter ] >> i did not make a mistake with this guy, but i can tell you this, he's going to be the next vice president of the united states! >> romney and ryan have dubbed their new partnership america's comeback team. romney made the announcement to supporters via a phone app while introducing ryan at a rally in norfolk. the wisconsin congressman is normally not one to throw purple hay makers, but the new vice presidential candidate wasted no time in criticizing the obama administration for its economic recovery plan. >> moms and dads are struggling to make ends meet. household incomes have dropped more than $4000 over the past

four years. [ crowd booing ] >> whatever the explanation, whatever the excuses, this is a record of failure. >> ryan called the situation, quote, the worst economic recovery in some 70 years. turning elsewhere, swine flu and county fairs have gone hand in hand in some parts of the country this summer. infections shot up this week, roughly 160 reports of the virus there. are no known causes in our area, but county fairs are being extra vigilant. we visited opening weekend in montgomery county. >> they are the cutest things i have ever seen! >> reporter: this family has come to the fairground, excited to see the barnyard animals. >> i'm so excited that there's babies this year. >> the momma pig is so cute. >> reporter: the message going out at some state and county fairgrounds is don't pet the pigs. but in maryland, there are no cases of the swine flu, so the

folks here say it's okay to pet the pigs. but if you do, the signs say, please remember to clean your hands. you've got sanitizer here or the old fashioned way, with soap and water. >> some people have an opportunity to pet an animal. if the animal is near the edge of a pen and they can do that, that's fine. but we always encourage hand washing. >> every animal is inspected by a veterinarian. every animal is inspected by the owner. so we feel very confident we have a very safe environment. >> reporter: pigs spread the virus, just like people do, coughing, sneezing, runny nose, so people can get it just by touching them. with any flu, you can avoid getting sick by washing your hands. most of the cases have been mild and no one has died. the infections have been spread by pigs and not humans, at least for now. the barnyard superintendent says these are not reasons to stay away. >> please, don't stop coming to the fair! we have a camel, we have an app loosesa lawmaker make, baby

ducks. come see the fair! >> i think it's more dangerous to get bitten by a mosquito these days. coming up tonight on 9news now, a miracle in the sky. >> it's just unbelievable. >> crossed atop my house, cleared, guessing, by 10 feet. >> the amazing story of a pilot who was able to keep his troubled plane in the air long enough for a dozen sky divers to safely eject. overseas this weekend, the death toll is climbing after an earthquake. . >> and we want you to know about a special programing note. tonight, the mclaughlin group show was pre-empted because of golf coverage. you can see the entire show tomorrow morning at a special noon time slot, 12:00 noon tomorrow on wusa 9. >> and we saw showers and storms come through and you could feel the humidity dropping. how is your sunday looking?

really nice. here's a look at wakeup weather. plenty of sunshine, temperatures in the 70s by 9:00. around 79 to 84 by 11:00. i'll let you know how long this nice stretch of weather lasts before the next round of storms comes this way. stick around. 9news continues after the break.

. the obama campaign says romney's choice for a running mate underscores his commitment to the, quote, budget-busting tax cuts for the wealthy. obama's campaign manager says paul ryan's budget proposals would turn medicare into a voucher system and gut education programs. as president obama flew to his hometown of chicago this afternoon, the president had no public events scheduled for today. tomorrow, he'll be on the campaign trail attending a $40,000 ticket round table in downtown chicago, followed by several other campaign fund raisers, including one at his home in chicago. on monday, the president kicks off a three-day campaign bus tour in council bluffs, iowa. you can stay updated 24/7 with all the campaign news on our website, wusa9.com. all dog owners in the state of maryland are being put on notice tonight. the state senate has approved -- has voted a bill that would create a strict liability standard for all dog owners.

the current law cesspit bull owners alone could be liable for a dog fight without preaches evidence of a dog being dangerous. the new law would place liability on everyone owning a dog. if you bought some prepackaged apple slices in the area, you might want to listen up. packages of ready pak apples are being recalled due to possible listeria contamination. listeria was found on equipment used to produce the apple products. dc, maryland, and virginia, all part of the recall. the ready pak apples have been sold at mcdonald's, burger king, also at wagmans and giant food stores. user dates are july 8 through august 20th. if you bought the product, toss it out or return it to the restaurant or store. in iran tonight, at least 180 people are dead, more than 1300 injured, after an earthquake shook the northwestern part of the country. the quake had a magnitude of 6.2 and was quickly followed by

three after shocks. iran state television reports four villages were destroyed. more than 60 villages were heavily damaged. the country is prone to daily earthquakes, but most are minor. just ahead on 9news now this saturday, why one woman is lucky to be alive this weekend after a bizarre lightning strike. we'll have the story. >> and after a wet spell, we're finally looking at a sunny and dry sunday. we've got the full forecast, coming up next.

. a woman is lucky to be alive today after a bizarre lightning strike. investigators say lightning hit a tree in her yard, then traveled through the dirt to her house. you can see the path the lightning took as it went across her lawn in massachusetts. parts of the woman's house were also burned. >> she should buy a lottery ticket! very lucky woman. >> i'm telling you. great day tomorrow? >> yeah. got to get your ride in tomorrow, because we've got some drier air moving in, which means it won't be as humid. for august, that's going to be really nice. so temperatures will be just around average, a little bit above for your sunday. we really finish off the weekend on a beautiful note, especially after we saw some of the showers and storms that went through

earlier today and this evening. live doppler 9000 hd, much quieter tonight, just a few spots for showers, where you see the green. most of it has gone off to the north and northeast of us, as a cold front went through. the eastern seaboard really got hammered earlier today. you can see now we've got maybe some light activity just outside the beltway and you can see some of the showers really did come down. pretty good downpours, especially this evening, around the district as well. so right now, temperatures are in the mid-70s. cloudy skies out there, but those clouds start to break up, especially overnight. dewpoint still in the 70s. the winds are south-southwest at around 9 miles an hour. tomorrow, the dewpoint should be falling and it should be pretty comfortable. right now, temperatures elsewhere, 70 in gaithersburg. mid-70s for leesburg. 70s for hagerstown. annapolis cooled down to around 77 degrees. here's a look at your mid-atlantic satellite and

radar. showers and storms went up along the eastern seaboard, impacting parts of new york state, into pennsylvania. this is that front that went through, a cold front. so drier air, you'll really feel it, especially by tomorrow. sunday looks better with more sunshine as well. not as humid. so you got to enjoy it. get outside, get on the ride, get the jog in. now, monday also looks to be nice again and then storms are possible for tuesday, as another cold front approaches the region. so here's a look at future cast. overnight, clouds clear out tomorrow morning, lots of sunshine and we have a really nice start to the day. afternoon looks really gorgeous. no need for your umbrella tomorrow or for your monday as well. tuesday, though, potentially a different story. here is a look at your forecast. we're looking at basically overnight mostly cloudy, a few showers and storms. otherwise, gradual clearing, lows in the mid-60s to lower 70s. southwest winds 10 to 15. sunday morning, partly cloudy and pleasant. air quality is code yellow,

which is moderate, so no major concerns there for our air. temperatures starting out in the 60s and 70s. now, afternoon looks really nice, pleasant, less humid. highs in the upper 80s. winds come in from the northwest at around 10 miles per hour. that northwesterly wind, we'll feel the humidity dropping. sunday in western maryland, oakland, pretty nice day for you, mid-70s, cumberland. hagueers town, 86. winchester, around 87. leesburg, upper 80s. farther south in culpepper, up to 91 degrees. in downtown, up to close to 90, call it 89. keep in mind, i advertised 87, so we'll be a couple degrees above that. annapolis, 87. our next three days, 9 weather alert code, code green for sunday, monday and tuesday. might change tuesday to yellow, but we'll wait for the models to update. sunday, high of 89, great day monday, repeat, highs in the upper 80s. tuesday, hotter, in the lower 90s with a chance for isolated

storms. check out your next seven days. once those storms go through on tuesday, wednesday and thursday, temperatures will be in the upper 80s. friday, also a chance for isolated storms. again, for those days, we expect storms, not widespread. hit and miss for most people. saturday is the coolest day of the seven-day. looking like we'll maybe only make it up to the mid-80s and maybe a bit unsettled, maybe showers are possible along with some thunderstorms also on saturday. tomorrow and monday, got to get out and fire up the barbecue, get the kids outside. it's going to be really, really nice. >> thank you, annie. small plane full of sky divers crashes, minutes after takeoff. tonight, firefighters are calling the pilot a hero because all 12 sky divers were able to eject from the plane before it went down in a champagne, illinois neighborhood. the pilot was able to avoid hitting any homes, power lines or vehicles. >> we heard this noise and i looked up and there's a plane coming down out of the sky.

i took off running between the houses and i fell in the bushes and then all of a sudden we heard the big crash. >> a friend of mine, we were sitting in the backyard and heard him coming. over the top of my house, probably cleared, guessing by 10 feet and started thinking about how close he actually came. my wife was in the house. >> just unbelievable. >> pieces of the plane broke off and landed in neighboring yard. surrounding homes were evacuated as a precaution. investigators say that pilot died in the crash. gold medalist gymnast gabby douglas had a special tribute this weekend in her hometown of virginia beach. a giant mural painted by brothers todd and eric lindberg shows the 16-year-old olympian holding her gold medal with an american flag backdrop. the brothers spent four days painting the 9 x 30-foot mural on the outside wall of a sports bar. they say the idea for the mural came to them after seeing gabby on tv at a medal ceremony. gabby is thrilled by the

gesture. she has seen it. the team sent a tweet friday from the olympics in london. she said, wow, this is amazing, so honored. >> good for her, huh? >> beautiful mural, very talented. >> absolutely. >> you got to get her in here. >> i'll try to do that. >> we got to get our picture taken with her. >> she's quite the olympian, quite a gymnast. best record in baseball, they are it, hottest team in dc by far and the hottest team in baseball. nats, raising razing the competition tonight. rg-iii back in the saddle on saturday. coach shanahan with an in-depth analysis. and tiger playing like a clawless kitten on saturday. how many strokes does he need to make up? that and more, next.

. the nats are for real. how many more ways can we qualify that statement? here's one. with its victory lap night, washington reaches 70 wins before anybody else and stephen strasburgh became the team's second pitcher with at least 13 wins. gio, the other one, he's got 14. back at it in the big az tonight. z-pack doing his thing, going the other way, and watch danny

espinosa on the base pass. motoring! comes around to score 1-0 nats. 7th rbi this week. mike morse to the gap in the 5th. combined 3 rbis tonight, this one just finishing, 6-5 nats. eight in a row for them. they are smoking. orioles-royals, this is awesome, guys, one of the great baltimore orioles throwing out the first pitch, eddy murray, 504 rbis, switch hitter, too. to the game, 2nd inning, perez hits this one to el salvador. this one is delayed by rain in the 5th, 4-0 royals right now. tiger woods is a combined 13 over par on saturday and sunday at this year's major championships. let that sink in. plus 13. weekends used to be his time when he made everybody wilt. not anymore. woods looking very unclutch in

the clutch. third round pga championship today in south carolina. tiger trying to get things done, back to him in a second. i've heard of using the whole course, but this is ridiculous. rory mcilroy in the trees, please. he actually parred this hole, dropped it and actually parred the hole. so planned pretty well. watch the red line right there. that tells you it's a hook. i guess it's pretty cool, though, because tiger beans a spectator and the guy gets a souvenir, autographed. nice glove there. tiger, plus 3 in his first 7 holes. back to rory on the 8th. hasn't been playing well, but he played well today. 4-under for the round. then the bad weather starts to roll in and you know how the officials blow the horn. watch the guy right here. he gets all scared when he hears the horn! third round of play, suspended. let's take a look at the leaderboard now. mcilroy, been a while since we've seen him at the top of the leebd. good to see him up there. bj and scott close behind. scott could rebound from the

nightmare finish at the british. woods falls from 10 spots in 7 holes. he'll have to play 29 holes tomorrow. cam newton went 8 of 19 for 134 yards in his preseason debut last year. now, he did that because of backups, and at the time he was a backup. preseason stats never matter, but coaches want to see a glimpse of potential. newton showed it, so did rg-iii on thursday night. if you were writing a script, you would have scripted it just this way. get the team in and out of the huddle, check. show accuracy, check. look poised, check. lead the team to a score, check. it was a good start, so says coach and griffin's teammates. >> you're hoping the quarterback does play that way in the first game. so many times it doesn't happen that way, especially in game situations. but i was pleased and hopefully we can keep on growing. >> we moved the ball downfield, got 1st downs, scored a

touchdown. you know, we continued drives and it was a good first start. we did everything we wanted to do. >> gar sole looking pretty good, 3 catches, 58 yards. redskins have heard from kent bomber, the defensive end who cleaned out his locker and left camp eight days ago without telling anybody. mike shanahan saying today, someone from the team did get in touch with him, finally contacted him, and he is okay. high school news, jordan smith committed to penn state, the first since the school received severe sanctions. archbishop carol high school last season, since transferred to woodson in northeast dc. smith told me today that playing for the nittany lions is a dream come true and says those sanctions won't change that. finally, dc united, soccer tonight, in kansas city trying to avenge early season loss to kc, but they lose 2-1. dc united after that hot start,

now down to 4th place. remember, top five in each division make the playoffs. so they got to get some work done here in the next couple of weeks, as they wrap up the season. tomorrow will be a baltimore ravens camp, lot of exciting stuff, and sports plus, of course. >> i'm thinking penn state, still get the penn state diploma. >> well, academics. >> big deal. >> one last look at the seven-day forecast, great weather, 79. monday, same deal, upper 80s. maybe showers and storms by tuesday. enjoy tomorrow's lower humidity. thanks for watching. see you tomorrow night. release me, momigus!

that's mom to you. and you should eat something that's good for you before you go outside. never! come on james. it's a new fiber one chewy bar. chocolatey and delicious. fiber one chewy bar, huh? mmm. refueled space captain james. [ male announcer ] new fiber one chewy bars. great taste kids love plus calcium and fiber kids need.