good evening everyone, i'm surae chinn in for bruce johnson tonight. every year, hundreds of children flighting alone are escorted to their -- flying alone are escorted to their connected flights. but united airlines is coming under fire by some parents who say their children have been left to fend for emselves at busy airports by contractors.

armando trull reports it's happened again this time to a local family. >> reporter: john galbreath paid united airlines $99 so his 12-year-old daughter charlotte warbiest courted to her connecting flight to -- would be escorted to her connecting flight from chicago o'hare. >> $99. >> reporter: for peace of mind you thought. but you didn't get. >> correct. >> no one approached you and no one said anything to you. >> no. i just kind of looked at the screen and went where i was supposed to. >> they outsource it to a third party. the meeting of the passenger. >> reporter: now apparently this is not the first time that united airlines failed to provide an escort far minor taking one of its flights. the same thing happened on july 30th. this time the young passenger was only 10 years old. the girl named phoebe was headed from stance to summer camp in -- san francisco to summer camp in michigan but was abandoned for more than two hours because the escort failed to get her. >> when you drop a child off you think it's with a career

carrier employee. that's more reassuring than knowing that your kid is going to be taken by the cheapest labor they could find. >> reporter: what's worse her parents learned their daughter was missing after camp staffers called frantically to say she wasn't on the plane. >> they're trying to get the cheapest labor for so many of their services. and that's where the public's being misled. >> reporter: in a letter to united phoebe's parents complained when they called customer service the call was handled in india and they were placed on hold for 40 minutes all the time fearing something terrible happened to their daughter. at reagan national airport, armando trull, 9news now. >> 9news now contacted united airlines and they had this response tonight. quote --

a silver spring family had their suv stolen and police are searching for the thieves and thanks to the family's surveillance camera system it was caught on tape. it could help police catch the crooks and get the family car back. matt jablow has details. >> reporter: this was just before midnight in silver spring when two men were caught on camera by his elaborate home surveillance systemmen up fortunately, the men got awe with one of his cars. >> my car was parked right there. >> reporter: here's what happened. the two men first broke into his car that was parked near the curb on new hampshire avenue. once inside the car, they found a spare key to his suv. so they walked over to the suv and got in and took off. >> i've never seen something

like that. >> reporter: behigh says the whole experience made him feel much more vulnerable even with a multicamera surveillance system watching over the house. >> it's like in a very safe area. it's one of the most crime free areas in america. if this stuff happening here like this, then in fact we really need to be scared because how can this even happen? >> reporter: the car that was stolen be a 2003 gray honda pilot. maryland license ple number 1 ae 1935. if you've seen it. or have any idea who may have stolen. you're asked to call the montgomery county police department. matt jablow, 9news now. in other news now, new information tonight on that horrible beating that has left a capital hill father and husband badly beaten. 29-year-old thomas maslin has undergone brain surgery and is now in a coma after he was found unconscious on a front porch near eastern market yesterday morning. >> he collapsed on the porch.

>> michael boudreau lives a couple of doors down from where thomas maslin was found unconscious in the 700 block of north carolina avenue. the proud father of a young son and husband of a brent elementary schoolteacher is lying in a coma at the hospital. family and friends say thomas who goes by tc had gone to a nats' game friday night. stopped at the neighborhood bar before walking home but something terrible happened. he was found just six blocks from his house. >> there wasn't until about 8:30 in the morning that someone saw him on -- and they thought it was me. >> reporter: anc commissioner says the community around the eastern market is a safe one but there have been for assaults. >> we've had a slight increase in robberies and assaults and that's got people worried even prior to this. but certainly there's no crime wave. still a very safe neighborhood.

but this assault has really got people on edge. >> people look after each other and people communicate and we talk. >> reporter: well, his wife works at brent elementary school as we mentioned. the principal shares his thoughts and prayers on the school's website tonight and he writes -- it is hour by hour now. we as a brent family must come together and support their family in whatever way you can. police are trying to identify a body pulled from the inner harbor in baltimore early this morning. a fire spokesperson says it's a man between 15 and 20 years old. there are no signs of foul play. the governors of virginia and maryland clashed over medicare and taxes as they debated presidential politics on a news talk show this morning. virginia governor bob mock donnell and maryland -- mcdonnell and maryland governor o'malley appeared on "meet the

press." >> it is tax avoidance at a time when our country needs everyone's help to accelerate our nation's recover hi. hardly the creditables of a person we should elect to -- >> governor mcdonnell. that's just flat wrong. this is the same slanderous remarks that reid said a couple of weeks ago and you know this is not what the american people are caring ability. this is below their dignity. this is about how do we get the greatest country on earth out of debt and back to work. >> meanwhile, o'malley said romney's plan would cut health care spending for seniors and mcdonnell says is that medicare needs to be reformed to provide for future generations and that the gop plan will give people a choice. well, it is that time. summer is sever for kids in prince george's county. the first day of school begins tomorrow morning and with that, drivers need to be extra careful with more cars and buses on the road and kids at the bus stop. parents you'll also want to double check your child's bus

stop location. it may have changed this year after prince george's county schools announced they were streamlining the bus routes in an effort to save the school system roughly $5 million. the money will be put back into the classrooms and the changes include the maximum walking distance is now half a mile between residences and bus stops. walk zones have been adjusted at approximately 24 schools and in some cases, middle and high schoolers will share bus rides. a common practice in some neighboring districts. so, what will the weather be like at the bus stop? will we need our umbrella? over to anny hong in the weather center. anny? >> they will probably need the umbrellas for tomorrow. the rain boots not expecting a very stormy day or widespread showers and maybe those can stay at home but definitely the umbrellas will be needed as kids are going to the bus stop on the monday morning. right now though a look at live doppler 9000 hd. we have some areas of some light rain and some showers you

see where the green is just around lees -- in-betweens leesburg and the beltway and into warrenton. chantilly reston maybe getting some light showers and just in- between gaithersburg and reston where you see the yellow you may be getting more of a moderate rainfall there at this hour. it's very sporadic around the area tonight. here's a greater look at the doppler and very few thunderstorms earlier today but it's bin coon of a drizzly and gray day for the sunday. temperatures also the unofficial high at reagan national only 78ed to. average being 87. now we're in the mid 70s in downtown. already into the mid 60s outside the beltway. and in our suburbs. so overnight, cloudy and cool with just some isolated showers. lows will fall into the 60s and tomorrow morning, as you're waking up and kids are going to the bus stop we're expecting mostly cloudy conditions and a chance for some showers and temperatures will be in the 70s by 9:00. so definitely maybe a light jacket for that morning walk to school. and also of course your umbrellas. i'll tell you how long this

cooler and unsetted weather pattern lasts, surae? >> thank you anny. the white house isn't commenting so far on today's appeal from julian assange that the u.s. end what he calls a witch hunt against his website wikileaks. he made his first public appearance today since taking refuge in london at the embassy. >> the united states must vow that it will not seek to prosecute our staff or our supporters. >> yesterday, the obama administration said the fate of assange is a matter for sweden, britain and ecuador to resolve. assange spoke in london from a balcony of the ecuadoran embassy that's granted him asylum. he's. been living in a small room. coming up on 9news now tonight, firefighters getting the upper hand on the wildfires out west. while other fires are threatening more homes this weekend. >> and not so good news for drivers at the gas pump this

week. we'll have the latest on the pain at the pump. stay with us. we're back in a moment.

welcome back. a fatal motorcycle accident in prince george's county this weekend, we have little information tonight. but police say a 26-year-old

man was killed when a car struck his bike along browns station road in upper marlboro. police have identified him tonight as juan ariel pena of silver spring. two people are dead in new york city and a third seriously injured when a small plane crashed into a long island neighborhood. an faa spokeswoman says the plane was carrying three people when it went down shortly after takeoff. residents say they heard the crash and saw flames. some grabbed their garden hoses to put out the fire. authorities say the pilot became trapped in the fuselage and died. two passengers a man and a woman were airlifted to the hospital. some neighbors say the pilot did an amazing job of avoiding the houses and somehow managed to fly between two homes before crashing into a tree in front of a house and landing on the street. the cost to fill up your tank is still rising. it's a trend that began last week after more than three months of gas prices holding

below 2011 prices. aaa says the national average price for a gallon of regular is now $3.72. it's five cents more than one week ago. and 29 cents more than last month. it's also 14 cents more expensive to pump gas than last year at this time. a northern california produce supplier is voluntarily recalling row plain lettuce that was shipped to 189 state -- 19 states including police department and virginia over fears about possible e. coli contamination. the company said the recall is limited to a single lot of its field fresh wrapped single head romaine. it was available at retail stores starting august 2nd. the lettuce is packed in a plastic bag with a upc number -- 027918-20314-9. and it may have a best buy date of august 19th rather. there have been no reported illnesses associated with con

isn't of this product -- consumption of the product. thousands of people are being told to leave their homes in northern california because of a fire. fire officials say about 3500 homes are threatened. meanwhile, in washington state, bet earl weather conditions over the weekend have helped firefighters gain ground on the fire that has scorched dozens of homes east of the cascades. hundreds of homes in idaho remain under a mandatory evacuation order because of a 130 square mile wildfire that's been burning for two weeks. drew eleven sovereign picks up our -- drew levinson picks up the coverage from here. >> reporter: helicopters water drops along with better weather conditions are helping firefighters in their battle against the taylor bridge fire in central washington. >> it does look to be tracking north to northeast. >> reporter: firefighters stood in a line 20 yards apart. looking for spot fires. >> we're tolding the line making sure that nothing jumps across the line and gets out there and starts another spot near.

>> reporter: still, more than half of the nearly 23,000-acre fire is burning out of control. nearly 50 houses were either destroyed or damaged. katherine and lon were among the hundreds of residents forced from their homes earlier this week. their house is still standing. many of their neighbors' homes are not. >> one friend barely got out. and he came back today and found everything's gone. >> reporter: some residents still aren't allowed back in. >> the house is a house. i mean -- it's just the whole picture and i feel for everybody else. >> reporter: in the town of featherville, idaho, residents were taking what they could and getting out. they were forced to evacuate because of smoke. in some places it was so thick, visibility was reduced to just ten feet. and firefighters in northern california are doing everything they can to slow the progress of the ponderosa fire. it's burning out of control.

nationwide, about 40,000 wildfires have burned six million acres of land this year. that's one million more than average. drew levinson, cbs news. >> so devastating. the north american aerospace defense command is planning a training exercise over the washington area. norad says residents can expect flights to take place beginning tomorrow night into early tuesday morning. the exercises are designed to hone norad's intercept and identification operations. since september 11th, 2001 fighters have responded to more than 3400 possible air threats in the united states. just ahead on 9news now, an update on the long distance swimmer trying tombing her whey if cuba to florida this weekend. >> after a mostly wet sunday, what should we expect tomorrow morning and the rest of the workweek? the full forecast is up next.

>>we've got an update now on diane nyad trying to swim from cuba to florida. she's been doing the backstroke in hopes of reducing contact with jellyfish and a tweet from

a team member says hey the backstroke is working. the team reports that she is steadily streaking on ward and nyad who was a week shy of her 63rd birthday jumped into the water near havana yesterday in her latest bid to make the crossing, so she is going and -- >> she's in amazing shape and looks great in the swimsuit at almost 63. >> we're looking at more cooler temperatures i. i like it but the wet weather coms with it. >> still unsettled weather for tomorrow and into tuesday. . the wills still be below -- temperatures will still be below average. a lot of folks are liking the change. we can news the rain and sure middle of august temperatures in the what upper 70s today? i think some people are very happy to deal with that versus what 90s even 100. all right, here's a look at our live doppler 9000 hd. just some isolated spots of showers for today again you can see it is not widespread at this hour. where you see the green is the light rain and here's a look at the doppler. don't see any thunderstorms

right now. that's the good news. we saw a couple earlier but again nothing severe. we'll zoom on into the one in sterling and also into the -- entering potomac where again this is mainly some light to moderate rain that's falling and yeah we can use several inches of rain to catch up for the year. the live look at the michael & son weather camera. very great day. dew points in the mid 60s and winds are east northeast at around 7 miles per hour. temperatures have already cooled down into the mid 60s in leesburg. upper 60s in manassas. 63 in winchester culpeper 68 and fredericksburg 70 degrees right now. where we saw more of the showers and widespread stuff go through earlier today and just some remnants of emergency and moisture for tomorrow and into tuesday as well. so you want your umbrella for the next couple of days. monday morning also could see some areas of patchy fog and remember that tomoow morning. again some showers are possible

for the morning. and afternoon. grab the umbrella before you head out the door and tuesday unsettled once again. here's a look at your 9 futurecast, here's your clock -- up here just above my head. we'll put this into motion and so monday morning with chance for some showers. again with the patchy fog. afternoon we'll see more showers as well. maybe even just a couple thunderstorms but the main threat 2010 will really be the light to moderate rain. temperatures still below average. tuesday also in the morning things look okay. maybe a little more sunshine tuesday but still looking to be uncement ld with some light to moderate rain possible for your tuesday. overnight though what can we expect? lows in the 60s and tomorrow morning maybe even a little light sweater or jacket not a bad idea. says she for the kids going to school. mostly cloudy in the morning and a shower possible with some patchy fog. air quality is code green which is good. temperatures starting out in the 60s and 70s. now the afternoon, mostly cloudy and mild. i think we have a better chance

for showers in the afternoon. highs upper 70s to lower 80s. winds coming in from the northeast at 10 miles per hour. our sunset will be at 7:55. here's your zone forecast. we start in western maryland, oakland in the lower 70s. cumberland 77. hagerstown and martinsburg close to 80. winchester i think you'll get to 80 degrees. and warrenton lower 80s and leesburg manassas 81. culpep 84 degrees. in downtown, getting into the low 80s around 82 degrees. and annapolis you'll get to 79. and we do have a small craft advisory in effect for the bay until 2:00 p.m. pax river 83 and easton and cambridge also topping out in the lower 80s. the next three days our 9 weather alert code for monday, yellow because of the showers and the unsettled weather. high 82. tuesday, kind of the repeat. 83. i think we'll see a little more sunshine but i'm keeping a code yellow with still some shower on tuesday. wednesday looks dry for a lot

of us with the exception of just a shower possible. only have a little rain develop there and high around 84 and i'm keep tag green. the complexion seven days, the nats are playing the next couple of nights here again baseball weather we'll have to see the showers. but thursday mid 80s with a chance for a shower. friday and saturday looking dry and looks pretty nice. upper 80s on saturday. under partly cloudy conditions. and looks like it's going to be a really nice weekend as of now. sunday around 87 degrees and under partly cloudy skies. so hey for middle of august? really not bad at all and it actually may be feel like fall for some of you especially long- term early in the morning and on tuesday. >> there you go. >> i know right? people might have to wear sweaters tomorrow morning. >> i think so possibly. >> open the windows, all right liking its anny. thank you. next the nats looking to take the series against the mets and the skins looking to

improve on both sides of the ball. it's all ahead on "sports plus."

after a successful road trip where the nats won all three series, they returned home and just kept on rolling. even a little halt there mother nature couldn't ruin the parade today after almost three hours of a delay, the game finally got underway.

today, though, was the bryce harper show. he scored three of the team's five runs today in one way or another. an rbi triple. a run and this home run. his 12th of the season. what slump? i don't see a slump from him. let's hope he can keep it up when the braves come to town starting tomorrow. >> they're going to -- the braves series is going to be a lot of fun. it's going to be a good baseball week and i think go in there and hopefully play some good baseball and you know beat a good team. and you know -- extend that lead. robert griffin iii last night, but in the redskins' second preseason game against the bears rg3 was mauled. he looked more like a rookie getting sacked three times and losing a fumble. is there reason to be concerned? our redskins expert is here to break it down. plus the quarterback bat system brewing in ledge park -- battle is brewing in college park. which freshman will get the nod to replace cj brown? plus a local product, wowed at

birds' stadium. and finally, tempers flared at rfk stadium today. dc united fighting the make the playoffs for the first time since 2007. several miscues and missed opportunities could derail their plan. we'll take a look at today's heated match in d.c.. a good one and d.c. united able to get the points that they needed but not you know -- still got a lot of work to do. >> you will break it all down "sports plus." and we need to be prepared tomorrow. >> with showers possible and upper 70s and lower 80s. >> thank you so much for watching and you can get all the updates anytime online at wusa9.com. "sports plus" is next. have a great night everybody. [ captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com ]