i'm derek mcginty.e are live here where the washington nationals will take on the philadelphia phillies in less than two hours. if they can win this 1 game, they will clinch the national -- one game, they will clinch the national game east and roll into the playoffs. we heard the gates are now open, so the washington national fans will begin to stream in. i even see a couple of folks here right now. they've been waiting a long time for this day. a lot of old baseball fans can remember all the frustration and sadness of the senators losing and moving away, but there is one fan in montgomery county who has waited a lot longer than most. our own matt jablow brings you his story. >> we always ended up in last place. >> reporter: of all the long suffering fans of professional baseball teams in the washington area, few have suffered as long or deeply as charlie brotman. >> it's difficult to sell a loser. >> reporter: whose takoma park home is a well appointed shrine to the nationals. >> they are my life. i lo

and we are getting ready to sit down with our sister station to get the facts. >> our coanchor, derek mcginty is live at u.s.a. today headquarters in mcclane tonight with a preview. big night, derek. >> it is indeed a big night, anita. this is the newsroom where they have assembled a team of journalists that will be watching the debate even as we watch the debate. their job is different. their job is to listen and research and make sure that if the candidates try to pass one over on you, perhaps tell a fib or two, they'll put it online for you so you can see, watch, know, and make your decisions as to who you would like to supp

. >> last night both candidates joined derek mcginty in our studio to look at their take on the issues that are important to you, the voters. kristin fisher has more on what came out of last evening. chris continue, good morning. >> reporter: good morning -- kristin, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. no doubt the incumbent has the experience here. he's 86 years old and he's been at this for 20 years but his democratic challenger john delaney is a successful businessman and this redistricting has certainly given him the edge. last night both of these candidates sat down in our studios and they debated the issues but also discussed why they're running. listen. >> some have suggested that part of the reason you're running is because the party asked you to do it because they didn't have anybody else that even had a chance in the new district. did that have anything to do with it? >> it probably does. i really reach across the aisle. for instance, i am the legislator of the year for the humane society. i really appeal to people on a broad spectrum. i have a doctorate. i'm a scientist

last night our derek mcginty hosted a debate between these two candidates. a lot of it focused on all of those high stakes ballot issues this year in maryland. here's what the two candidates -- where the two candidates stand on question six, same-sex marriage. >> marriage has been a term for centuries that's been applied to the union between a man and a woman. i think it needs to stay there. i do, however, believe that our epuhn ration includes your job, your pension and if you want your significant other to share in your health care and visit you in the hospital, they ought to be able to do that. >> i support marriage equality. the best thing that happened to me is getting married. i think when this country has reached for greater equality, we've looked back and realized it was the right thing to do. >> reporter: the candidates also discussed question 4 on the ballot, the dream act which would allow the children of illegal immigrants to get in state college tuition. >> i support the dream act and i support comprehensive immigration reform in this country. i

i' derek mcginty. >> the death toll in the united states now at least 40. many of those victims killed by falling trees. more than 8 million people are without power up and down the east coast. experts say sandy could end up costing $20 billion in damage with billions more expected in lost business. metro is running on a limited schedule tonight. full service resumes tomorrow. d.c. area airports are back up and running, but make sure to check with the individual airline before leaving, and the federal government, most local governments and schools say they will open at the regular time tomorrow. think of old town alexandria or georgetown when we talk about the storm surge and the flooding. in fact we have a crew watching high tide in old town right now. >> they are also playing very close attention to the river up in frederick. that's where our ryan dean is live monitoring the flooding there. ryan? >> reporter: good evening to you. actually a trail that goes down to the river, this trail has been cut off because the river has spilled out of its bank. to giv

we have live coverage from nationals park starting with our own derek mcginty. ek, what's the atmosphere out there right now? it's got to be building and building. >> reporter: the atmosphere is freezing cold. that's what the atmosphere is. it's a brisk night out here at nats park, anita. that will get the blood flowing, as if we needed any help for game five of the national league division series, the nationals all excited about a game that quite frankly a lot of folks thought might not happen, but as we b, one swing of the bat -- know, one swing of the bat can change everything. jayson werth made that happen last night for the

our derek mcginty is live at u.s.a. today headquarters with a preview of it all. >> hi lesli. it's less than two hours and 45 minutes before president obama versus mitt romney on the stage in denver. the first presidential debate. now of course they'll be both sharing their views on what aught to be done and spinning the news on that situation to fit that various world views. here at u.s.a. today where i'll be all evening long, they have fact checkers in place to examine what is being said for the truth and the spin. they'll put it online. so you can know the difference. meantime, susan page of u.s.a. today says this debate has high stakes. >> this contest has been close from the start, although president obama is now building a small advantage when you look at the national polls. and that means that if 5% of americans switch their vote from president obama to mitt romney because of what they see in the debate, that could sway the election. now if the debates are a draw, that's probably to the advantage of president obama. it is mitt romney who needs to shake things up in thes

i'll be back here at 11:00 along with derek mcginty. you want to catch russ' food alert report as well. go nats! i'm anita brikman. >>> "entertainment tonight," the worldwide leader in entertainment news. >>> lindsay lohan with "e.t." after the blowup with her mom. >> it's a long story. >> the claim that dina was on cocaine. why she's mad at her dad. >> i don't have any reason. >> plus, paris, prince and blanket. our new interview with michael jackson's kids. >> maybe a reality show in the works? >> and a tearful bobbi kristina as the stars remember whitney. >> then "cheers'" greatest moment, the top ten "cheers" episodes we love the most. >> totally insane. >> the cast counts them down with "e.t." ♪ kelly, kelly, kelly, kelly >> the laughs, the tears. >> i do. >> the wedding, the proposal. >> will you marry me? >> i thought you were going to kill me.

i'm derek mcginty at nationals park in southeast where tonight the nationals will either end or extend their season. after winning game four in dramatic style last night, that walkoff homer from jayson werth, the nats face the cardinals, the world champions, i might add, in a decisive game five. first pitch 8:37, but the gates just opened up a few minutes ago and the fans are already pouring in. they are worked up, excited, dolled up in their nats gear. we go too ken molestina live outside center field -- to ken molestina live outside center field gates with more on all that excitement. ken. >> reporter: natitude is all over the place right now. the gates just opened up 6:00, these fans filing into the stadium. you can see just how excited they are for this game five. they've been waiting out here for hours bearing the cold chilly weather, but things are getting exciting over here and these fans finally getting ready to go inside the stadium, a couple hours till game time. listen to what some fans said earlier when we talked to them. >> i'm pumped for game five and we're going to take

then at 11:00, derek mcginty will be at "u.s.a. today" headquarters for deeper analysis of the hits, the runs, the errors of the first presidential debate. >>> about 100 metro riders had to walk down a rain soaked broken escalator at dupont circle this morning. many were turned away because metro crews deemed that the escalators were unsafe. this is just one of a string of problems that metro has faced in recent weeks. metro riders that we talked to say they are fed up. >> the other one won't run so they don't let people walk down the one that's not running. everybody stands in the rain waiting for one escalator to work. >> reporter: does it make sense? >> i'm sure there's very good reason that everything metro decides to do. >> crews have repaired the escalators so they should be fine for the evening commute. >>> and it was a hectic commute this morning for drivers who take rockville pike. about 26 traffic lights were out. montgomery county police were directing traffic at other intersections -- directing traffic. at other interse

derek mcginty watched the debate with our partners at "u.s.a. today." >> reporter: there was a lot to talk about and a lot of facts out there, especially this $5 trillion in tax cuts. president obama says that's what romney wants to do. romney says not me. take a listen. >> governor romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of the extension of the bush tax cuts. that's another trillion dollars. and $2 trillion in additional military spending that the military hasn't asked for. >> i don't have a $5 trillion tax cut. i don't have a tax cut of a scale that you're talking about. my view is that we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class. >> reporter: all right. two contending points there. only one of them can be right. paul singer, the fact checker here tonight, political editor at "u.s.a. today." who's right? >> mitt romney does have tax cuts in his plan. the issue is it really a $5 trillion tax cut because what he says is if it will -- says but it will make more revenue because it creates more jobs. t

our derek mcginty is at the park with a preview. >> reporter: we're a little damp at the park, but spirits remain high. part of the reason is as you said one game is all the nats need. we've got a special guest. i want to bring in somebody very important. his name is teddy roosevelt, one of the racing presidents at nats park. a lot of people think maybe this could be his year. maybe as the nats have begun to win maybe this could be his chance to finally win a race. teddy, is tonight the night? teddy says tonight could be the night. you know if you win, teddy, it's over, right? no more races. the shtick is done. you're going to win anyway? he says tonight's the night. there you have it straight from the mouth of teddy roosevelt himself. tonight is the night. for those of you saying let teddy win, he's in shape, he's been training. he expects to take the race tonight. of course, maybe it will be poetic justice because as we know the phillies are in found and 1 more game and the nats will be nl east champions. we should note some things for you. here's what can happen tonight. first of all, i

. >> all right, derek mcginty, everybody out there, thank you so much. >>> well, the first debate betweenresident obama and mitt romney just two days away now. it's happening in colorado. a key battleground state. inside a denver airplane hanger, gop volunteers worked the phones as crews set up the stage for mitt romney's last rally before his first presidential debate. >> people are waiting until the debate on wednesday. i think that's going to be a big sway for some people. just to finally see them kind of go head to head and see where they are on the issues. >> wednesday's debate at the university of denver focuses on domestic policy. romney supporters want the gop nominee to show undecided voters how he'll jump-start the slow economy. colorado is a battleground state that went for president obama back in 2008. a new washington post poll gives the president a comfortable 11-point lead in the swing states. the poll also shows 56% of voters think the fort president is going to win this first debate. sunday in las vegas, he tried to dial back those expectations. >> governor romney, he's a

derek mcginty has more with the "u.s.a. today"'s political editor. >> reporter: there was a lot to talk about, a lot of facts, especially the $5 trillion in tax cuts. president owe bottom ma -- president obama says that's what romney wants to do romney says not me. >> his central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion tax cut on top of the extension of the bush tax cuts. that's another trillion dollars and $2 trillion in additional military spending that the military hasn't asked for. >> i don't have a $5 trillion tax cut. i don't have a tax cut on the scale you're talking about. my view is we ought to provide tax relief to people in the middle class. >> reporter: all right. two contending points there. only one can be right. paul singer, political editor at "u.s.a. today," who's right? >> mitt romney does have tax cuts in his plan. the issue is it really a $5 trillion tax cut because what he says it will make more revenue because it creates more jobs. those people then start paying taxes. so it doesn't actually cut revenues

good evening, i'm derek mcginty. welcome to 9news now at 7:00. i'm live in the u.s.a. brikman is live in the studio. i'm joined by paul singer. he is the politics editor where they are fact checking the debate as it happens. >> how much they say is true and what isn't quite. >> check on our website where we link to u.s.a. today's website. in the meantime, we get to the

. >> and i'm derek mcginty. >> we have breaking news to talk about.very available police officer in prince george's county is on the lookout for three young children abducted in a carjacking. an amber alert has been issued. >> it happened around 9:40 this evening at liberty gas station. the car is a nissan altima. the three children are under the age of 6. we'll update this story as we get more information. now we go back to the monster storm with the deceive tily gentle name making its presence felt all across our neighborhoods tonight. there are lots of closings to tell you about for tomorrow, but if you plan on going anywhere, you wouldn't be able to take the metro. no trains, no buses. we've also got school closings to tell you about tonight. in maryland schools are closed in prince george's county and in virginia no classes in fairfax, loudoun and arlington county schools. >> the federal government is closed tomorrow. mark is shut down and amtrakcancelled most eastern trains. we have it on our website, wusa9.com. throughout this expanded broadcas

our derek mcginty spoke with singer about it over medicare. >> reporter: one of the things we heard a lot about tonight bringing paul into this discussion was the $716 billion medicare cut that actually mitt romney has been talking about for quite some time. it came part of our debate. >> i can't understand how you can cut medicare $716 billion for current recipients of medicare. you point out we're putting some back fl we'll give them a better prescription program. that's one dollar for every 15 you've cut. they're smart enough to know that's not a good trade. >> reporter: president obama comes back and says i didn't cut the $716 billion. i just cut rates. is this a good or bad thing? >> this one has kicked around for a while. there are two things about it worth noting. one, there is a $716 billion reduction in payments to providers under medicare, to providers, not in nary to beneficial -- theory to beneficiaries. if you're cutting providers, where are you going to cut it? they'll stop providing benefits. that was the same number in paul ryan's budget. he also endorsed the same cuts

then at 11:00, join derek mcginty and anita brikman to find out what the "u.s.a. today" fact checkers have to say about the candidates. all the coverage you need right here on 9news now. >>> right now our time is coming up on 6:09. we'll have more news, weather and traffic when we return. >>> howard here with your weather first. we're dealing with a brink start. we'll warm only to the middle 50s by lunch time. lots of sunshine. highs getting into the lower 60s. i'll be back in a few minutes with the weekend forecast. >>> over in montgomery county, things are fine on 270. you have slow traffic at route 109. here on the outer loop of the beltway heading for route 355, watch out for that accident cleanup on the ramp to northbound route 355. i'll be back with more traffic coming up at 6:18. back to you guys. >>> jessica doyle is back. >> she's watching your money and your car and its safety. >> that's right. we told but this problem yesterday with fake air bags. we now have more information to share with you. if you replaced your car's air bag in the past three years,

derek mcginty watched the debate with our partners at "u.s.a. today." take a listen. >> reporter: there was a lot to talk about regardless, a lot of facts out there, especially this $5 trillion in tax cuts. president obama says that's what romney wants to do. romney says not me. take a listen. >> governor romney's central economic plan calls for a $5 trillion toox cut on top of the -- tax cut on top of the bush tax cuts and another $2 trillion in military spending that the military hasn't asked for. >> i don't have a $5 trillion tax cut. i don't have a tax cut of the scale you're talking about. my spew is we ought to provide tax relief for people in the middle class. >> reporter: two contending points there. only one can be right. paul singer, as fact checker, political editor, "u.s.a. today," who is right? >> mitt romney does have tax cuts in his plan. the issue is it really a $5 trillion tax cut? because what he says, if it will -- it will make more revenue because it creates more jobs. those people then start paying taxes. so it doesn't actually cut

at 11:00, join derek mcginty and anita brikman as they fact check what the candidates say with the "u.s.a. today" fact checking team. that's all thursday night. we'll be right back. howard is up next with the forecast. >>> welcome back. it's 6:12 and 58 degrees. monika here with your timesaver traffic. the beltway here at pennsylvania avenue looks great. no problems to report in prince george's county. in charles county an accident involving a tractor-trailer, northbound route 5 after gallon green road. also southbound bw parkway ramp to powder mill road, two separate accidents. i'll be back with more coming up in a few minutes. >>> it is 6:12. jessica doyle is back and she has another your money report. >> she says look out, drivers. there's something you need to be aware of this morning. >> that's right. this morning goes out to people who have had an air bag replaced in the last three years. if this is you, auto industry officials say the national highway traffic safety administration has alerted them that thousands of car owners may be driving vehicles with counterfeit air bags. some

derek, we have a shower or thunderstorm in on tuesday. >> thank you, sir. we'll be back in a minute. >>> we want to hear what you think. send your e-mails to mcginty's mail bag. the address is mailbag@wusa9.com. 9news now will be right back. >>> in the mail bag tonight, rprisingly passionate reaction to our story at 11:00 last night on the local group that wants to collect belts to encourage young men to pull up those saggy pants. we have a lot of it on our facebook page. he said morons who have no idea what to dress. where are the parents who let their kids go out like this. and gayle says this has been going on since the late 1990s, it has to stop. pull them up or pull them down. and vanessa gilbert says, you never know when you might be treated to a view of some dude's boxers. i wish more people would stand up against this fad. some of their employees walk around like this at target. i have spoken to a couple magers, but nothing has happened. i know they weren't dressing like that during their interview. david leven says let's not over react to st. rememberback when the beetles first came on the scene and they looked stupid and they needed haircu