erica gonzalez is at the news4 super screen with details. >> okay, so you have heard of the best in show, right? now the washington animal rescue link is putting their own twist on it, there's four dogs in the finals, voting starts tomorrow. here's a preview of the contestants. first up, we've got buster, and while he doesn't have full use of his bag legs, don't call him handicapped, because he ruffles to run and play fetch, next up bela, let's look at her, this is our number two contestant, a sweet 7-year-old chihuahua, just as happy chasing after her toys as she is lounging and taking naps. bela may look tiny, but don't let her fool you. she has a big personal. moving on. number tloo, our third pooch is hooch. he's the biggest of the bunch, but he doesn't know that. he loves making new friends and

erica gonzalez will have a report, with retion from people who say immigration immunity sends the wrong message. >>> and "meet the press" motte rater david gregory explains what it could mean during an election year. >>> we're learning of more serious allegations against the secret service. it's part of a list of allegations agents and officers have faced since 2004. news organizations requested this list after the prostitution scandal in south america. the list includes one agent linked to a prostitution ring, one eight videotaped twice wandering nude around an apartment complex. some were resolved administratively while others were formally investigated. >>> the sandusky trial took the day off. but the judge granted a defense motion to present evidence that san dulles kiss suffers from histrionic personality disorder. the belief that relationships are more intimate than they really are. the prosecution will have a chance to examine sandusky. the former assistant coach has pleaded not guilty. the prosecution is expected to rest its case come monday. >>> family and friends of a business

a lot of >>> breaking news in oakton, virginia, erica gonzalez on the scene of a house fire. phone with the latest, erica. >> talk about the side effects of the severe weather that we have seen today. this may very well be another example of that. fairfax county fire fighters were called out to this scene, 3100 block, about an hour ago. now prior to that, two hours prior to that, the residence of this two-story home called emergency officials saying they had heard or seen some type of lightning strike. neighbors called in and said the residents were trying to extinguish the blaze themselves. fire crews were called out and said the attic was engulfed in flames. the fire fighters tell us all four family members were able to make it out okay. they have a dozen fire trucks out here, and ambulances, about 50 fire fighters, they are still working as you can see, crews are on the ladder, over the attic working to extinguish this blaze. fire fighters say they be a result of a lightning strike in oakton, virginia. doreen. >> erica gonzalez reporting by phone. thank you. >> doug, awfull

. >>> we have erica gonzalez, our erica gonzalez who is out in this, in the car. her crew is driving and erica is on the phone to tell us what you're seeing. you're on 270 north. what is the situation out there, erica? >> hi, wendy, you just mentioned we're on 270 and we're headed north and we're going towards montgomery count y and theres lots of traffic and congestion and there's not a lot of the windshield wipers are not on. we continue to travel north and the clouds are looking good. look like there's sun breaking in and as ver d earlier, i'm not sure if that is a good thing or not. looks like we're leaving a lot of dark clouds behind us as we continue to travel north, as we mentioned earlier on 270 and going towards montgomery county. you can see pan this way you can see a lot of the traffic here on 270. lots of cars coming to a stand still and a halt but no rain action over here. just drizzling. maybe about two minutes ago on 270 and drizzling light. right now, not rainy at all. the clouds are starting to break up and starting to see some sunshine move in. a

erica gonzalez is there for us now. erica, can you hear us? >> she's on a nine-second delay. she should be hearing us shortly. >> hi, richard, yes, i can hear you. we are in damascus and we're on clarksburg road and, so, let me kind of show you what's going on here. this creek that we are on or that we are near in damascus on clarksburg road looks like it's overflowing. it hasn't gone up into the roadway quite yet. but lots of heavy water coming through here. i don't know if you can walk a little bit further with me this way so you can kind of see a few more feet that way and there's a big dip back over there. probably only walk a couple more feet without getting pretty, pretty deep into it. but i think you all had video from earlier today of what this looked like. the aerial views and some folks trying to drive through. a very dangerous situation because you can't really tell how deep it is, but check out how fast the water is just rushing through here. just kind of ripping through these branches and these trees. really impressive sight. the water just flowing and flowing he

erica gonzalez has more. >> reporter: it's been seven hours since 27-year-old conrad thames was lasteek working on a road crew. there's still no sight of him. the convict weighs about 160 pounds, last seen off of 197 and merekirk road in laurel. initially maryland state police and prince georges authorities were using canines and choppers to find him. now the efforts are solely ground level. police presence is high in the areas. thames is serving a ten-year sentence, and according to the maryland department of safety and correctional services, had just about a year left to serve. does it make you nervous? >> we're all linked up. i haven't gotten an alert all day. i have young dulles that work evening shifts that walk dogs during the day. this is more of a concern to me, the communication to the neighborhood than the convict actually working off. >> reporter: i'm told that it is not uncommon for criminals that have a background like his to be on a work program. however, what they do say is uncommon is for someone that is so close to being reintegrated into society to make such a risky

on the national mall, erica gonzalez, news4. >> i really want to see it.'t seen it since it was here last time. >>> well, doug is out in the weather, he's with some lovely people out in alexandria. >> a lot going on, including flies around the food right now. that's okay. you wanted to do so the food that we're going to have here today. take a look. we have the pollo, the yucca with the salsa verde, the frijo will les, we're bringing the rice and beans. i do feel weird, though. take a look around. i'm the only one with food here. >> they're going to eat after you. >> reporter: i like that. normally it's ladies first, but in this case i'm the only guy here, so i think that works out. why did you have us come to your backyard? >> well, i'm a retired police officer, but i always watch news4, especially in the morning and the afternoon. i met wendy about 15 years ago on a rape case in alexandria, and i met doreen. so i like the people from channel 4. >> reporter: so she thinks of us as family. you always serve your guests first, is what she says. you know it's

. >> i'm erica gonzalez. angie goff is off this morning. we're bringing you extended coverage of the storm damage. it is saturday, june 30th, 2012. >> and it sure is a mess out there. we've had a lot of downed trees. also power out in many areas as well. >> absolutely. but we have live team coverage this morning. and we'll begin with julie kerry in just a few minutes. but first to veronica johnson who joins us this morning. it seems like this happened in an instant. >> it did happen in an instant. this is a storm system that came in hard, it came in fast with hurricane force winds. a lot of folks unprepared on a friday evening. maybe they had their guard down for whatever reason just thinking that we're going to get run of the mill thunderstorm. but what we had yesterday was a derecho. this long line of storms. we saw it midnight on friday back in chicago holding together for a very long distance, over a very large real estate, moving pretty good. and by the time we got to around midnight 1:00 a.m., this thing was still holding together fro

erica gonzalez reports. >> reporter: nurissa sylva is about to say good bye to her daughter. >> i felt i was blessed. >> reporter: high school valedictorian has no green card. her mom an international special ed teacher brought her and her sister to this country as dependents under her visa. there has been a recent hiccup in processing. >> the school system was denied from taking international teachers like me. >> reporter: while she has been accepted to a number of colleges -- >> i have gotten into st. john's -- >> reporter: she doesn't have the means because she can't apply for financial aid. >> i don't have the money to go to college. >> reporter: she can't apply for financial aid because -- >> first thing they ask for is social security number. >> reporter: she says all of the accolades mean nothing now that she can't stay in this country. her to-do list is short. she is packing her things and getting ready to head back to the philippines by next month in order to start college there. the only thing she says that can keep her family together is a miracle. >> i think with the grace

. >> i'm erica gonzalez. delaying "nightly news" because of the destruction from last night's severe weather and potential of more storms also in the forecast for tonight. as we speak, more than a million people in our area are still without power. and it could be a week or longer before the lights are back on everywhere. >> storms being blamed for at least four deaths in our area. d.c. and virginia have declared states of emergency. maryland is following suit. >> complicating matters in virginia, the 9191 -- 911 system is down. bring emergencies to local police and fire stations. >> water restrictions are also in place for many marylanders. wssc is telling customers in montgomery and prince george's county to limit the water he noouds use, because the storm knocked out pouber to filtration plants and other facilities. if the heat weren't unbearable enough, word more storms could roll right through parts of our area tonight. tom kierein is watching things in the weather center for us. tom, bopup thunderstorms

in manassas, erica gonzalez. >>> they didn't mess around with birrers. >>> you're a busy man tonight. >> yes, you are. >> if you haven't seen it just yet its still coming, folks, as a cold front is making its way off to the east. that cold front will do a lot to get rid of our heat. we've reached 96 degrees again today. that heat index approaching 100 a bit earlier, but now we're talking about the storms just off to the west for most of us. right now you can see it around the washington area, a few light showers down through the south. in through portions around fredericksburg, also into southern maryland, we're watching storms there. these are where we have the severe storms, including this storm towards berkeley county, right around martins burg, just north, also in through washington county, this goes under 5:30. another warning is in frederick county until 5:30. a blot of lightning with this. you can see where these are just east of boone borrow, very heavy rain along route 15, back to the west. right along i-81 here, if you live in haguers ton, this storm is moving your way. yet

erica gonzalez has the story. >> reporter: are you okay? are you nervous? it's okay.s going to be fine. >> reporter: the thought of being separated from his parents is more than enough to bring this 12-year-old to tears. he says he has night mares about the gang members who once told him if he didn't join their group, they would kill him. after losing the only family he had in that country, an uncle, his parents here in the u.s. sent for him two years ago. while attempting to cross into the country illegally, he was detained. according to his attorney, he meets all the requirements of a memorandum set by the department of homeland security met at the time. >> they don't require that the person have been here for five years. they just require that the person have strong reason foss remains here and not be a criminal. >> cohen says in the first court here with i.c.e. in april, attorneys had a chance to stop the deportation process, but instead moved forward. then nearly two weeks ago, the president announced a new immigration plan with its own set of requirements. >> re

erica gonzalez has more on an organization that's helping vets make that transition. >> reporter: heved in the u.s. marine corps for eight years and most recently did a tour in iraq. re-entering the workforce is not easy for sergeant seamus sullivan. >> the civilians might be scared to hire veterans. they may not know what job skills transfer into the civilian market. >> reporter: in 2009, the veterans curation program was started to help wounded veterans like sullivan learn basic office skills within six months to either re-enter the job force or go back to school. >> a lot of these veterans, last time, they wore a suit or a tie. it wasn't a suit or a tie, it was a uniform. >> reporter: these men and women aren't just filing paperwork though. they're rehabilitating ancient artifacts. the u.s. army corps of engineers has one of the largest archaeological collections in the country second only to the smithsonian. they've got about 10 years worth of backlogged work to get through. many pieces, like these projectile points, are anywhere from a couple hundred to 8,000 years old. >> i wou

erica gonzalez has our report. >> he finished talking to me on the phone, bye, mom, i love you. >> chester creswell's mother is still trying to figure out why her son was shot and killed by a metro transit officer yesterday afternoon on the 7100 block of laurie lane. >> two suspects pulled up to the bus stop. >> reporter: dan citiesle with metro tells news4 creswell and franklin sweeney allegedly tried to abduct a woman from the bus stop on the 4100 block of minnesota avenue in northwest sunday evening. sweeney has since been arrested for attempted kidnapping. following up on a lead, a metro transit officer, who is now on paid administrative leave, went to creswell's neighborhood. >> during the process of being on the block, he made contact with the suspect, who was armond. he returned fire. this cell phone video shows the heated moment when backup arrives on scene. metro is investigating what led to creswell's car being rammed against the detective's vehicle. neighbors tell us creswell lives three houses, this is where the clusters begin all the way up to number 24 in this one area. famil

erica gonzalez has our report. >> reporter: 44 years old chester creswell was shot and killed by a metroolice officers yesterday afternoon in the 7100 block of laurie lane. >> i'm a mother. i love my child. he wasn't perfect. >> reporter: >> his mothers wants to know why dan stessel says creswell and franklin sweeney allegedly tried to abducked a woman from minnesota avenue. creswell's brother says it doesn't make sense meanwhile, swinesy has since been arrested for attempted kidnapping. following up on a lead, a metro transit officer on paid administrative leave now, went to the neighborhood. >> during the process, he came in contact with the suspect, who was armed. >> and so i guess 9 police interviewed him about it, he got frustrated about it, that's when they started arguing. >> reporter: metro says creswell shot at the investigators and he returned fire. this cell phone video shows the heated moment when backup arrives on scene. metro is investigating what let to creswell's car being raymond against the detective's vehicle. neighbors cease he lived three houses down, but the evidenc

erica gonzalez reports. >> 32-year-old sergeant andrew served the u.s.marine in iraq. >> provide reconnaissance and precision fire and supportive operations. >> reporter: his skills were not an easy fit in a civilian job market. >> it's hard to, then, translate into, you know, a set of direct job skills. it has been sometimes challenging to get responses back from companies but this is a difficult job market. >> reporter: in 2009, the veterans curation program was started to help wounded veterans like him learn basic office skills within six months to either re-enter the job force or go back to school. these men and women aren't just filing paperwork though. he, for instance, is a lab technician. they've got about 10 years worth of backlogged work to get through. many of their pieces are anywhere from a couple hundred to 8,000 years old. >> i would want to know how they're -- >> reporter: veterans work under the guidance of two archeologists. this doctor is one of them. >> i made the decision not to join the armed forces and i believe it is my duty to gi

news4's erica gonzalez has more. good morning. >> reporter: hey, aaron. good morning.t looks like buses will be running on normal schedules this morning. the incident happened about 9:30 last night. detectives found a 40-year-old man dead near one of the bus bays. metro's spokesman says the suspect is described as a black male in his late 20s, about 5'8", approximately 220 pounds. he was seen wearing a black hoodie. he had a full beard and was wearing jeans. detectives are looking for the suspect. a 4 0-year-old man pronounce d dead last night. buses running on normal schedule this morning. live in temple hills, news4. >> thank you. >>> today a 31-year-old woman will be back in court for the deadly stabbing of a mother in southeast washington. prosecutors say a 31-year-old was using pcp when she stabbed and killed her neighbor, 28-year-old amber kent. the stabbing happened on monday at an apartment building on 13th place in southeast. kent's 5-year-old was not far away. the "washington post" reports alvin says she has no memory of the incident. >>> this morning we are

that's where we find erica gonzalez. she joins us live with more for us now. can you tell us more about what happened there this morning? >> hi, barbara, good morning. the teens are being called heroed. they tell us they just happen to be at the right place at the right time. >> we were just long boarding. it's what we do every night. >> reporter: 17-year-old and herdon high school student told me and his buddies were skateboarding around 1:00 a.m. when a fire broke out in these fires broke out. the trio quickly snapped these pictures. >> as soon as we got here, we were overhearing some lady that was just screaming to get everybody out of the house. >> reporter: that lady is tamra newman. >> three teenage boys that happened to be riding their long boards home. >> reporter: together the group ran door-to-door urging people to escape. >> i came out. >> reporter: by that time the fire had spread. >> and the chimney had engulfed the entire chimney and reaching out like hands across the building. >> reporter: it charred ten condos and has left nearly 20 people disp

erica gonzalez is in that area. what do you see? >> hey, jim, doreven. well, the sky it looks like they're starting to clear up. we're starting to see more movement and it's barely raining. that wasn't the case half an hour ago. we were starting to get real heavy rain here. but we have barely a drizzle. if you even want to call it a midst. what yor seeing in the roadway is debris. 2:30, 3:00 in the afternoon this was overflowing. loads of water rushing through, clarksburg road, people daringly trying to get through this roadway. this is cleared up and you can still see some of the water rushing lightly in comparison to what it looked like this afternoon. but if the rain picks up later, this is going to be another problem area and a potentially dangerous situation for cars to try and get through because you don't know how high the water is. this is a we're starting to hear the rumbles of thunder and looks like the clouds are starting to get brighter here. but this is a potentially dangerous situation in damascus on clarksburg road. a lot of cars still tra

. >> i'm erica gonzalez in for angie goff. we'll be going until 10:30 this morning. so stay with us for that. we're talking about this massive storm that seemed to blow in out of nowhere. our meteorologists were tracking it from chicago yesterday, in a matter of a couple of hours it came into our area and caused deadly destruction. >> the winds were up to 70 miles per hour. that's hurricane force winds that blew across the area and really no one was unaffected. just about every single part of the region was covered at some point. there were two deaths associated with this storm. a woman died after a tree fell on to her home. that was over in falls church, there was also a driver in west springfield that died after a tree crushed a car there. >> in prince jornl george's coue winds ripped off the roof from apartments in riverdale displacing hundreds of residents. in d.c. downed power lines sparked a car fire sending two to the hospital. it all came after a day of record breaking heat across the region. just sweltering heat. and that has kickstarted the outages. then th