i'm peggy fox reporting live, back to you, lesli. >> thanks. we are of course in the peak season for waterfront and tragedy and yesterday a six- year-old boy drowned at the sandy point state park. he was out in a secluded part of the water and could have been missing for a half hour. this turn of events happens all too often out in open waters and pools and spas every day during this time of the year. the safety commission says at least 123 children have either died or come close to drowning in pools and spas just since memorial day and they are urging parents to keep kids safe out in the water. so this campaign that they launched does not cover waters and lakes and oceans and rivers and of course with so many of us headed to the beach, this right here something that children need. we don't see enough of them. when you look across the beach, little ones should have a coast guard approved life jacket on. it costs about $60 and the thing to know about drownings with kids is it happens so quickly and quietly that this kind of personal flotation de

peggy fox is live now with the latest. oh my goodness, look at that stuff, peggy. >> this is a huge crane. they had to bring it in so they could lift two utility poles, one at a time up over these two homes. because the two utility homes in their backyards came crashing to the ground in sunday night's storm. dominion virginia power crews found two downed utility poles behind two homes on williamsburg road. they realize they couldn't just drop the trees to the ground because under the leaves was a buick and a jaguar. >> the work that is involved here is tremendous. we're going to remove all of the trees that are here, being careful not to damage the two vehicles that are underneath all of these trees that have fallen. >> to replace the two poles would take special care as well. a massive crane had to be brought in. because trucks could not drive into the backyards with the new poles. the poles would have to be lifted up and over the houses. a very rare procedure. hundreds of arlington residents were without power for much of

. >>> i'm peggy fox at the prince william county courthouse where a mother and veterinarian made her first court appearance today after being charged with felony murder in the death of her 2-year-old son. karen murphy and her husband answered no questions as they walked quickly out of the judicial centre. charged with felony murder after accidentally leaving her 2-year-old son ryan strapped in her honda odyssey. she forgot to drop him off at daycare before going to her animal hospital. >> very sad case. didn't have to happen but it did. >> reporter: ryan murphy was left in the minivan for more than seven hours. she was called a loving mother who is devastated after making such a tragic mistake. >> we will do everything we can to legally keep this family together and to keep the prosecutor and the legal system from tearing this family apart. >>> that story that just won't go away. well, it will be with us for another day. casey anthony scheduled for sentencing tomorrow morning. 9 a.m. and everybody is still talking about the verdict in the case that came down yesterday. but one person

peggy fox was in the court today with just a heartbreaking story. peg. >> reporter: yes, lesli, the prosecutor said he decided to pursue charges against karen murphy in part because she made a similar mistake last january. today in court the 40-year-old mother of three looked sullen and sad. she and her husband were silent as they quickly walked from the courthouse to their vehicle. their only son died in her honda odyssey on june 17th. she had apparently forgotten to drop the 2-year-old child off at daycare and went to her vet job. he was left in the van for more than seven hours. his mother apparently didn't realize he was there until her husband called wondering why ryan wasn't at daycare. >> i don't know if she will be any better or worse from prosecution but one of the reasons we hope it will be a wakeup call for other people who may be inclined to not take care of their children. >> we will do everything we can legally to keep this family together and to keep the prosecutor and legal system from tearing this family apart because of what was ob

at independent hill in prince william county, peggy fox, wusa 9 news. >> and justin is expected to be in the hospital for 10 more days. >>> we are following a developing story tonight. a critical arrest in an arson case. 26-year-old maurice dews is charged with arson in dc and is suspected of many areas. we go live to where the arrest was announced. andrea mccarren has the story. >> reporter: in a late afternoon news conference we learned dews claimed to be a volunteer firefighter. he was also spotted at several fire scenes taking photographs, shooting videotape, and according to the investigation, he even called 911 to report fires at least nine times since 2007. >> mayday. >> reporter: the devastating fire in april that injured five dc firefighters prompted arson investigators to solve a case that haunted them. someone was setting fires in dc and after today's break through arrest investigators couldn't hide their satisfaction. >> i think everybody was more than pleased, to say the least, and it is certainly going to be a good feeling to notify the firefighters and their families th

and peggy fox is here to tell us that the cuts could push familiar lies like the one you profiled on thursday into crisis. >> that's right. but the country's massive debt has a lot of people talking about making really deep, deep cuts to medicaid. i spoke with some local experts today. and they have some ideas that will do a better job helping people that need it and save taxpayers money. >> reporter: viewers were shocked what happened to teresa hammond, a single mom who medic but the more that people can care for their loved ones themselves, they having them in their home and that can save money. so what the experts are saying, we need to individualize this they need to look at each person's case and so what works best. that way you can give people the support they need and save money at the same time. >> it's a tough decision and tough times for sure. >>> a man that flew across the country using somebody else's expired bordering pass appeared in federal court today in los angeles. he's a nigerian american charged with being a stoa away. he passed through multiple layers of security

peggy fox was there. peggy. >> reporter: her face was filled with grief and pain as she sat in the courtroom this morning waiting for her name to be called. the 40-year-old mother of three is a veterinarian but on her way to work one day last month she made a deadly mistake and forgot about her little boy in the back seat. >> we know the community has been very supportive to you. is that going to help? karen murphy and her husband answered no questions as they walked quickly out of the judicial centre. slee is charged with felony murder, child neglect and abuse after accidentally leaving her 2-year-old son ryan strapped in her honda odyssey. she forget to drop him at the daycare before going to her vetrinary hospital. the child was left in the minivan for more than seven hours. at the end of the day she drove home until her husband called and wondered why he wasn't at daycare where he was supposed to pick him up. >> i'm surprised that the prosecutor elected to bring these charges literally within two weeks

if that's your version of fox news -- >> it's a fictional sending of peggy's column. >> whatever. you are looking at this panel thinking -- >> that's why you are so feisty this morning. hoe ta kotb will be up next. david gregory and chuck todd. first, bill karins with a check on the forecast. bill. >> what are you doing to us? >> this heat and humidity is brutal. if you are walking outside this morning, you may have never experienced the heat and humidity at this hour of the morning. new york city is still the hottest location east of the rockies. heat index is 94. the temperature is taken in the shade. if you are in the sun, it's worse than this. we are going to see heat today like yesterday, if not worse. 103 in d.c., 101 in new york. still in the 100s in the midwest. saturday is the hottest day. 102 by the time sunday arrives. a little bit of a break if you call a break in the 90s. you are watching "morning joe" on this hot morning. boy, i'm glad we got aflac huh. aflac! oh, i've just got major medical... major medical. ...but it helps pay the doctors. pays the doctors, boyyy!