Scott . Now confirmed by the pentagon that at 6 40 five this morning, two fighter jets dropped 500pound laserguided bombs on some artillery as well as a truck that was transporting this is in northern iraq. Were talking about the kurdish region. The actions that we are seeing today are twofold. You got the humanitarian crisis, especially regarding christians. You have islamic militants that have essentially taken over large swaths of iraq. There have there has been a ton of public pressure over the last few hours. Of course, theres the fight against terrorism, that front. Has been advancing were the u. S. Has about 40 personnel. The president had made the announcement at the white house last night authorizing these airstrikes. Keep in mind, this is the very first time it is the first strike by the u. S. Against isil. A lot of people are saying that it is not just a problem there, that eventually we will they will have their sights set on u. S. Interests. The president reiterated that there will be no boots on the ground of this particular it promises to be a very busy day as we will see of food and water and we may also see more airstrikes. We will bring it to u. S. Soon as we learn more developments. Thank you for that. After three days of a ceasefire, rockets are flying yet again in the middle east. About aanges renewed new border deal for gaza broke down. Hamas says it is ready to renew talks, but israel says it will not come back to the table so long as it is being attacked. In the meantime, two days of withency meetings ended the Ebola Outbreak in africa declared an International Health emergency. At least 961 people have died so far. There are no licensed drugs to treat the illness, but the World Health Organization will meet next week to talk about using experimental treatments. Virginia is joining the first wave of states asking the Supreme Court to rule on the legality of a ban on samesex marriages. The attorney general petitioned to maket this morning it through quickly. Virginias attorney general is officially filing a petition today at the u. S. Supreme court, essentially asking for the the countrys highest court to finally review virginias Marriage Equality case, even though he does already support the lower courts recent decision. A court of appeals judge ruled the samesex marriage ban in virginia is unconstitutional. Im of the legal questions the justices will face in the future are not only whether a state can prevent a samesex couple from marrying but also whether it can refuse to recognize marriages from other parts of the country. Outside of the u. S. To bring court today, we spent time talking to a mother of two who also has nine grandchildren. She says she is from michigan, grantedstay has been delaying its ruling. She has been paying close attention to what happens on capitol hill because it will have an impact not only in virginia but in at least four other states. Heres why i was partnered for 14 years, and my partner passed away from cancer. We lived together and shared everything. We had mutual debts. We raised a huge family. When she passed away, even though we had all of that, and we had videotaped her last will and testament and videotaped how she wanted her estate settled and everything else, none of that was upheld because we were not considered a marital couple. I lost absolutely all benefits. She says she personally knows of more than 2500 couples in virginia and what they are dealing with today. Without a stay, this incident law will become legal. Right now, samesex couples have the right to get married in 19 states as well as the district of columbia. In addition to virginia, cases from utah, oklahoma, and florida were also brought to the Supreme Court this week. Cases challenging the bands in idaho, indiana, kentucky, michigan, nevada, ohio, tennessee, texas, as well as wisconsin are all at the federal appellate level. 18 other cases on samesex marriage are also pending at the state level. It is now the second week of testimony wrapping up in a real court in richmond for bob and maureen mcdonnell. Virginias former governor and his wife are charged with accepting more than 165,000 in bribes from the head of the Dietary Supplement Company in exchange for promoting his products. Bob mcdonnells former deputy chief of staff was on the stand this morning. Matt conrad testified that the governor was displeased with the amount of gifts on his 2012 tax form. Jeff goldberg is in the courtroom in richmond right now and will have more on todays developments starting tonight on abc seven news at 5 00. A woman is out of the hospital this afternoon after being attacked while she was out for a run. It happened along the Silverado Court in mitchellville. Someone sawoping something that will help catch the culprit. A violent, seemingly random attack on a jogger shattered the usual morning calm. Very unusual for this neighborhood. We might have some petty crimes here and there from teenagers, before somebody to be physically attacked randomly is very nerveracking. Forolice are on the lookout a man that approached a woman jogging. When she turned around at this deadend, an africanamerican man in all black with a back nearwas calmly standing her, and he approached her and hit her on the head repeatedly with a wooden stick. The woman ended up blowing on a whistle alerting a neighbor nearby. She came out and scared that man off into these nearby woods, but not before he left his victim beaten, andy confused. It was just a targeted ring. What was he trying to do . What was the point of this all . She did not have anything on her. Its not like this was a robbery. Neighbors believe it may be a homeless man, a person with around 2 30 this morning, the storm made landfall. A pretty day starting to shape up here back at home. It is weather like this and vacations that leave brush supplies suffering in the summer months. To the National Harbor this afternoon for your forecast and also a way you can help this afternoon. The need is critical. We got to get people down here donating blood to help those who are in need right now. Weve had a pretty steady flow come through, so you can come and do a little back to School Shopping perhaps. Endnote is to just a couple of people here, but we need to fill these beds up with people like you, and you have time to do it until 3 30 today. I knew friend of her here is from silver spring, and he is donating blood. And a lot of people are very hesitant. It hurt . No, its not a big deal. Its a quick pinch. Thats the worst of it. Minutes overall by the time you fill out the paperwork and give your blood. I just want to do my part, help out the community. Thank you for doing what you are doing. Glad to know it does not hurt. A lot of people i was talking to outdoors were asking if it was going for, said they do not like needles. If i can do it, if any can do it, you can do it as well. This is an outdoor mall, so you can enjoy some of the beautiful conditions. Temperatures are 81 degrees at this hour. A few clouds across the region. We will watch those the can up a little bit throughout the day. We will watch those the can hicken up. N t things are going to be changing this weekend. Even a chance of a few showers. In the meantime, coming up here, a woman goes to great to save a cold hearted pet. Plus, a look at vacations turned into nightmares happening in Atlantic City. Welcome back. We have a 7 on your side consumer alert for all you gm owners. The carmaker is recalling a group of suvs. The latest issue involves power window switches that could start a fire. The recall involves 2006 and 2000 seven chevy trail blazers, envoys, buick when ears, he susan isuzu ascenders. Gm says parts needed to fix the problem will not be ready until at least october. Get ready for some roads around the area to be closed this weekend especially around the capital. Crews will be filming a mock motorcade and some other video for the show house of cards. There will be rolling road closures as well as their cross streets. We have a complete list of all of those street closures on our website. Just head on over to wjla. Com. The stars will not just be on the ground this weekend. A meteor showers expected to be in the sky this sunday, but the moon may make it hard to see. Sundays full and may is what is called a superman because it comes when the moons orbit closest to earth. Hope you can send us some pictures if you got them. We are going to head over to jackie right now for a check of the or cast. Is the blood drive . The blood drive is great. We have a few more people coming in. Michael over here, my new friend, is just about to get the big needle stick. How you doing, michael . Im doing just fine. Are you nervous at all . No, im ok. You look like a strong, tough guy that might not be too nervous. You just happened to come across the blood drive while you were out shopping. What made you want to stop in . I have not given blood, so i wanted to do my part. You have your nephew behind you, setting a good example for younger generations as well. Yes, absolutely. Do you need me to hold your hand . Im available, just in case. People get nervous when they do this kind of stuff. At the National Harbor, its a great time to do a little shopping. We have a booth set up out here, and weve got some freebies here that you can get. If that is not incentive enough, the need is critical, so you will get these great coupons. This one is my favorite because it is all free. Free medium iced coffee, which you need if you work the hours i doughnut. L as a lets talk a little more about the weather and we will get back to what is happening at the blood drive in just a minute. This is a spectacular day. Fabulous friday to look forward to. Temperatures at the noon hour, 81 degrees at reagan national, and 70s in the outlying area. Have been a little bit on the hazy side. Have you noticed that back in the forecast today . That is not humidity. Humidity is very low. That is smokenot, which has come back into our region from those wildfires in canada. That is going to impact us a little bit and keep stays around. You got some highlevel cloudiness. The further west you are, you have a few more clouds as well. Pressuren area of low on the system in the nations midsection, and its bringing scattered showers and thunderstorms, pretty widespread from the middle Mississippi River valley into the Tennessee River valley. Rainfall will be headed there. If you have travel plans, there could be some delays. Places like nashville and lexington, kentucky, could have a few holdups. Make sure you call ahead on this kind of flights. That system tracks to the south of us. I think most of the rain that this time is going to stay just southwest of washington, d. C. Notice on saturday, thats when our best chance of rain is going to come in. The best probability will be happening along and west of i95. Put that in emotion throughout your sunday, notice the heavy rain into the central appellations. Nice that we will get on the cusp of that system. Its going to be warm, 84 degrees to 88 will be our range of temperatures. A few more clouds will be increasing through the overnight hours. 6268 degrees. For your saturday, we get peaks of sunshine. You are. Er north temperatures should be somewhere into the lower 80s, i think. We will show you a good chance of showers and thunderstorms come tuesday, but in the middle of the week, things look really fantastic. No excuses. The weather is great. Come on down and do a little backtoSchool Shopping. You go to the office here, there are some coupons. You can get some good bargains. I know youre going to be joining me shortly somewhere after the 1 00 hour. Looking forward to hearing you then. See you soon as this newscast is done. The meantime, some are starting to come to a close. Too bad. It has been a summer of dirty beaches, outofcontro some guests at harrahs casino in Atlantic City are calling it a vacation from hell. They claim they were roughed up by hotel security, and it was all caught on camera. Its just one of the stories abc is working on for tonights 20 20. What a story. This is pretty incredible. When you see the videotape, you will not believe it. We have three different instances where it looks like security went way overboard. We talked to everybody involved and post some tough questions to the casino. You will be pretty amazed at what you see. It is definitely an eyeopener. I know another of the stories has to do with it are the beaches. It is still summertime. Folks probably just getting back from the beach or maybe even still heading to the beach. My kids and i are heading to the beach this weekend in fact for a vacation. This is a pretty eyeopening report as well. We test some of the waters and the beaches. Beaches inpular florida and california. Nobody could shower, bathe, brush their teeth, or get in the water because of algae blooms, so we take our test kits to bodies of water all across the country and find out what is in them and what can make people really sick. I know storms are still out there. You guys are looking at deadly lightning strikes as well. It happens more often than you think. Theften hear about instructor lightning is something that is incredibly rare, but its not as rare as you might think. Heres the biggest revelation you do not have to be struck by lightning outside. We talk to people who were struck by lightning in their own homes. Interestingly enough, did you know this . Men are almost always struck by lightning more than women are. No reason to explain the gender difference, but tonight, we talk to people who were struck by lightning, we figure out how to survive such a thing and give you some tips on how to avoid it happening to you. Something to tune in for tonight. Thank you so much. Those reportsl tonight at 10 00 right here on abc 7, and make sure you stick around for abc 7 news at 11 00. A woman who loves to share her passions. Grandma mary has atrial fibrillation, an irregular heartbeat not caused by a heart valve problem. That puts her at a greater risk of stroke. Rome . Sure before xarelto®, mary took warfarin, which required monthly trips to get her blood tested. But thats history. Back to the museum . Not this time now that her doctor switched her to onceaday xarelto®, mary can leave those monthly trips behind. Domestic flight . Not today like warfarin, xarelto® is proven effective to reduce afibrelated stroke risk. But xarelto® is the first and only onceaday prescription blood thinner for patients with afib not caused by a heart valve problem that doesnt require regular blood monitoring. So mary is free of that monitoring routine. For patients currently well managed on warfarin, there is limited information on how xarelto® and warfarin compare in reducing the risk of stroke. Xarelto® is just one pill a day taken with the evening meal. Spinach . Grazie plus, with no known dietary restrictions, mary can eat the Healthy Foods she likes. Dont stop taking xarelto®, rivaroxaban, unless your doctor tells you to. While taking xarelto®, you may bruise more easily and it may take longer for bleeding to stop. Xarelto® may increase your risk of bleeding if you take certain medicines. Xarelto® can cause serious bleeding, and in rare cases, may be fatal. Get help right away if you develop unexpected bleeding, unusual bruising, or tingling. If you have had spinal anesthesia while on xarelto®, watch for back pain or any nerve or muscle related signs or symptoms. Do not take xarelto® if you have an artificial heart valve or abnormal bleeding. Tell your doctor before all planned medical or dental procedures. Before starting xarelto®, tell your doctor about any conditions, such as kidney, liver, or bleeding problems. Switching to xarelto® was the right move for mary. Ask your doctor about onceaday xarelto®. Go tot lengths would you save your pet . What if your pet look like this . Right there. This bearded dragon lizard was given mouthtomouth after he fell in a swimming pool. His owner says he was not breathing, so she also gave him tiny chest compressions. She runs a reptile rescue out of her oregon home. We are going to check back in at the red cross blood drive going on at the National Harbor. Michael is one of those people doing just that. He happened to be here shopping. Hes just about hooked up, and now hes about halfway through. Hes giving me the thumbs up. I just talk to the red cross officials here, and they tell me theyve had less than 30 people donate so far today, and they are hoping for 130. Lets see if we can do that. Come on out here to the National Harbor. Are going to be here for a while this afternoon, so if you can do [dramatic music] yeah [cheers and applause] what up . What up . Whats up . Whats up . Whats up . Whats up . Whats up, baby . Hey. Welcome back, man. Yeah. [cheers and applause] yeah hello, and welcome to millionaire. Todays returning contestant is an actor who is no stranger to the spotlight, but he says theres no role that could have prepared him for the pressure hes feeling here today. From new york city, show some love for joe chisholm. What up, joe . [cheers and applause] i mean, you play it cool, joe. I mean, thats the thing about you you got to play it cool, man. You play it cool, man. [laughs] i mean, here you are, man. You know, youre 3 questions away from being out of round 1