three of those arrested live here in the washington area and held secret meetings on street corners and hotels and restaurants. i'm jim vance. >> i'm doreen gentzler. court documents detailing the secret multiyear-long investigation read like a modern-day spy novel, videotaped meetings, drop locations, encrypted messages on public websites. it's not clear how successful the suspected deep cover agents were. what we do know is some of the surveillance on them goes back six years. and the arrests today come just days after presidents barack obama and dmitry medvedev met at the white house. jackie bensen begins our reporting in arlington tonight. jackie? >> reporter: doreen, three of the defendants were arrested here at river house in arlington, accused of spying in the d.c. area. according to court documents, accused spy mikhail sat on a bench in this park on saturday evening and was handed a newspaper folded around an envelope containing $5,000 by a man he thought was a representative of the russian government. he was told, quote, there is an envelope in there. there's money in it. the money has to go to a park in arlington tomorrow. it has to be there between 11:00 and 11:30 a.m. people walking by the spot this evening were astounded by the alleged tie to international espionage. >> it's crazy. it's a busy section. >> that's unbelievable. >> reporter: court documents indicate the man who passed him the money was actually an you understand cover fbi agent, and that led to his undoing. he worked at travel all russia in arlington, virginia. the owners say they are shocked by his arrest. they say he had worked there as a travel agent since moving from new york last summer, that he spoke russian, english, spanish and a dialect of chinese, and he recently appeared to have become disinterested in his job. less is known about the two other d.c. based defendants. who lived together with their two children at river house in arlington. they're accused of communicating with purported russian agents through a method not previously described in espionage cases here, by establishing a short-range wireless network between laptop computers while they were near each other in public places. one transmission intercepted by the fbi reads, you were sent to usa for long-term service trip, your education, bank account, car, house, et cetera, all these serve up with goal so fill your main mission, policy-making circles in u.s. and send intelligence reports to moscow center. all three virginia-based defendants appeared in court this afternoon, but that hearing was closed because the case against seven other defendants had not been unsealed yet in new york. doreen, back to you. >> jackie bensen reporting tonight from arlington. thank you. six of those charged in the spy ring were arrested in or around new york city. we continue our coverage now from manhattan. >> reporter: the five alleged spies from the new york area all appeared in federal court this evening although none entered a plea, they were all remanded. suspected spies were married and lived just north of manhattan on a quiet suburban blonk ck in yonkers. neighbors say they were quiet, unassuming people. she worked for a spanish newspaper. lozario told one neighbor he worked as a college professor. everyone found the news quite alarming. other defendants richard and cynthia murphy live in an average suburban home in new jersey and finally anna chapman lived in manhattan. in new york, i'm ida siegal. >> for more information on the russian spy ring, we invite you to our website, nbcwashington.com. it was a rough ride home for commuters on metro's red line. the station was shut down about an hour after a man jumped on the tracks and died. when it reopened, trains were single tracking between the grover and medical center stations for more than two hours. these are pictures of the platform at the medical center station during the height. the drive home was no better for one couple from maryland. a tree branch fell right into their windshield. so why are they so thankful tonight? craig melvin joins us with the answer to that question. hi, craig. >> hey there, doreen. we were actually on our way to another story on a stretch of highway behind me when our photographer saw something two cars in front of us. we pulled over and met some folks who do not believe in luck. we spotted mary grooms alongside the road moments after it happened. she and her husband seemed pretty cool for a couple that just saw this branch up close. >> i was just driving down the street. i wasn't even speeding this time. >> the wrong spot at the wrong time. >> reporter: the grooms had just left their target nearby and were heading home. afternoon storms left trees sagging. charissa grooms knew something was wrong. >> i had called several times and she didn't answer. >> reporter: when she finally got her on the phone? >> she said she had an accident. i asked her where she was, she told me and i came. >> reporter: the paramedics were giving her mom the once-over and firefighters were chalking the whole thing up to good fortune. you'll notice she didn't say anything about being lucky alive nor did she attribute dodging death to her superior driving. they say it's one thing that saved her. >> it's prayer. that's the secret. >> this is a blessing. i am truly blessed. >> just think if it had been a little bit over. an angel. i believe that. >> reporter: so much so she didn't hesitate to depririve ho with a busted windshield. she tells me she was going to call the insurance company as soon as she got there, though. we are live in forestville, maryland, news 4, back to you. >> thank you, craig. confirmation hearings for supreme court nominee elena kagan got under way today on capitol hill. kagan said she'll be impartial and open-minded as a justice if confirmed. democrats praised her legal credentials while republicans exposed her lack of experience as an actual judge. kagan's confirmation hearings will resume tomorrow. general stanley mcchrystal told the army he plans to retire. last wednesday he was ousted as commanding general in afghanistan for his criticism of the obama administration's handling of the war. mcchrystal hasn't handed in his retirement papers yet. an army spokesman says the process usually takes a few months. >> there's no shortage of praise today for senator robert byrd. the senator from west virginia died this morning at the age of 92. >> byrd once wrote that if the question was whether to be loved or respected, he always chose to be respected. yet his real accomplishment is that in the end, he managed to be both. >> his career in congress spanned 57 years, 51 of those in the senate. it leaves democrats without a 60th vote for the financial reform bill. west virginia's governor, who is a democrat, will appoint a temporary replacement. still ahead, a teenager is found dead inside a crashed car in fairfax, and police say the crash didn't kill her. 2200-pound hydrogen gas tank exploded and blew out windows on a college campus. later on, "tie light" hysteria comes to washington once again. we are looking for a quieter weather day tomorrow and really nice weather coming up for the middle of the week. i'll give you all the details. lindsay, sports? >> at the world cup, brazil flexes its might against chile. in atlanta, the national defense and offense falls behind with steven strasburg on police in fairfax county are trying to solve a murder. they found 19-year-old vanessa in an overturned vehicle in a ditch off arlington boulevard and williams drive in annandale. they found her yesterday. but an autopsy found she was beaten to death before the car crashed. she graduated from james madison high school in vienna. she had just finished her first year at the savannah college of art and design in georgia. police have no leads at this time. a gaithersburg, maryland, family is in mourning after a teen was killed. four other teens were also hurt. the accident happened just before 6:00 last night in darnstown along river road. police say the driver of the toyota echo with all the teens inside crossed the centerline and hit a mercedes head on. 17-year-old justin dorsey was a passenger in the echo. he died. his uncle says justin was like a son to him and will be missed. >> i watched him speak his first words. i watched him walk. and to see him end up this way, it's hard. >> the four other teens in the car and the driver of the mercedes were hospitalized with minor injuries. charges are pending. >> the humane society delivered almost two dozen rescued horses to a farm in maryland tonight. 22 horses went to the paradise stables 2 in new market, virginia. they'll be there until they can be adopted. last month the humane society rescued almost 50 horses, mules and donkeys from a farm in wayne county, west virginia. officials say the animals were extremely emaciated and neglected when they were found. still to come tonight, bp's cleanup in the gulf moves forward, but now all eyes are on tropical storm alex. a lot of storms cooled us off some this evening but my goodness, it is sticky now. oprah to capitol hill. former illinois governor rod blagojevich thought an explosion in a science lab injured four people today at the university of missouri. something went wrong with an experiment and a 2200-pound hydrogen gas tank exploded. the explosion blew out windows and it melted the blinds in the building. one person suffered what are said to be critical injuries. a spokesperson at the school didn't know if the injured are studented or faculty members. congress is demanding more answers from four of the country's biggest oil companies to make sure their response to a spill is more efficient than british petroleums. responses from exxon mobil, conoco phillips, shell and chevron are due friday. meanwhile, the current cleanup in the gulf seems to be avoiding a significant hurdle in tropical storm alex. >> bad enough already without no tropical storm or hurricane. we don't need none of them. >> reporter: alex is an early warning of what is predicted to be a very active hurric season. and authorities are watching the track carefully. >> well, there's no plan right now because we haven't met the threshold. the couldn'tnd direction of alex doesn't indicate evacuation. >> reporter: if alex or another storm approaches, officials will stop the cleanup process five days before gale-force winds would hit. 38,000 workers and 6,000 vessels would need time to move. such an evacuation would mean unhooking the containment dome and halting relief well drilling, a move that would leave oil flowing freely into the gulf. for now stopping oil is on track. one of the relief wells has penetrated 12,000 feet and has made the turn to intercept the bad well sometime? august. meanwhile, on shore heavy equipment's in place, so are crews to clean up pensacola's famously pristine beach. >> the overnight cleanup is critical. it's absolutely essential. because if they're able to get it off the beach before the sun comes up, then people see how beautiful these beaches really are. >> reporter: and the costs are mounting. bp announced its tab for cleanup and claims has now reached $100 million a day. get the latest on tropical storm alex in the gulf and our weather around here, chuck. >> sure is, slippery sliding around there because tropical storm alex is likely to become a hurricane alex over the next 24 to 48 hours. take a check of it here on our graphics. the "x" in the top center of your screen there just off the coast of louisiana, that is where the deepwater horizon rig went down. that is the mark where all the cleanup efforts are taking place. meanwhile, as you see from the national hurricane center, this is the official forecast track for what will eventually become hurricane alex over the next several days. luckily for all the cleanup efforts in the northern gulf of mexico, this storm looks to be headed for brownsville, texas, or just down to the south of there. current position just 500 miles to the southeast of brownsville, texas. it is moving up now to the north at four miles per hour. again, that turn to the west is all important for all the efforts down in the gulf. meanwhile, around here today, wloo, what a day it was down on the national mall. everybody running for cover and running through some absolutely blinding rainstorms out there. thunder as well. everybody managed to get out safely, but a lot of folks had trees down in their yards and heavy rain for a time. our official high temperature today at national airport, 97 degrees. 7 out of the last 9 days here in washington have all been 95 degrees or higher. that, my friends, is a heat wave by any standards unless you live in phoenix or las vegas. unbearably high, 74. the humidity, 72%. almost .8 of an inch of rain making it the rainiest day in three months. we could really use the rain around here. 84 in town, 81 in manassas. the rainfall amounts were copious. an inch in montgomery village, an inch in herndon and crownsville, a half inch. a couple showers across northern maryland moving into the panhandle of west virginia. the severe weather threat is gone for the remainder of the evening. that is welcome news. and a series of weather fronts will drive increasingly cooler and less humid air down into the area. so the misery and high humidity is headed down to the south. that is definitely welcome news for all concerned. and by wednesday, you're going to think it's back to mother's day. nice and pleasant. the weather is going to be. so for tonight, partly cloudy, cooler. a little bit less humid. overnight lows, 67 to 75. for tomorrow, it's going to be a warm to borderline hot day tomorrow. highs, 84 to about 90. outside chance at a shower or thunderstorm. by and large, most of us will be dry. by the time you get to wednesday, thursday and friday, absolutely gorgeous. the western suburbs will be in the 50s wednesday, thursday and friday morning. as we head into the holiday weekend, gorgeous weather continues. it will be dry. sunday, of course, is the all-important fourth of july holiday. high right around 92. doesn't look like mother nature will mess up our plans for fireworks on the mall. >> it looks divine. >> thank you. still ahead tonight, a scare on stage during a speech by the vice president. in sports, brazil rolling along in the world cup. lindsay has our report. ♪ [ deb ] people don't just come to ge capital for money. they come to us for help. at ge capital, we've been financing taylor guitars for over eight years, helping them build a strong dealer network. bringing music to people... i like that. ♪ ♪ [ bob ] i didn't know you could play. i didn't either. ♪ so what is going on? >> that nationals foen s offens making me yawn, man. here's the deal, last week strasburg pitched. i haven't seen that team so frustrated with themselves for that lack of offense because they didn't score a run. i can tell by ryan zimmerman. he's normally a bubbly, pleasant guy. and he was missed. and you could see it. i don't want to imagine what they're like tonight down in atlanta. the nationals have scored run one in the last 20 innings. the slumping offense followed them to atlanta. strasburg gave up six hits with two walks, seven strikeouts, allowed four runs, three earned. no run support. and the defense basically imploded in the seventh inning with an error by ian desmond. the nationals waste a solid effort by their best pitcher. strasburg didn't rack up many strikeouts early. bottom first, no score. brian mccann loops it to left. josh willingham, heads-up play. fires it to the plate. he tags out cabrera. willingham gets them out of trouble. bottom fifth, still no score. strasburg getting better. strikes out eric hinske. he'd finish the night with seven strikeouts including five straight in the fifth and sixth innings. but things started to unravel for the nationals in the bottom of the seventh. troy glaus up with two on. grounds it to ian desmond. what is this? he can't handle it. everybody's safe. bases are loaded with no outs. should have been a double play. instead desmond's 19th error. two batters later, after the braves took a 1-0 lead on a sacrifice fly. yunel escobar lines it to left field. brian mccann would score to make it 2-0. at that point jim riggleman had seen enough. strasburg pulled after going 6 1/3, striking out 7, walking 2 and giving up 3 earns. nationals lose, 5-0, but strasburg, like a pro. >> for the most part, you know, i did well enough, you know, kept the team in the ball game. you know, things aren't working for us right now. so we've got to keep our heads up and go out there and keep working hard. hopefully things will turn around tomorrow. >> that is a classy steven strasburg because he has every right to say what is going on? i could be with the red sox. right? or back in the minors having fun. >> with an umbrella drink on the beach. the nationals have placed tyler clippard on the dl. chile can relate to the nationals' offensive struggles. they could do nothing to stop five-time world cup champion brazil. brazil played with the confidence and execution that has come to define this team. we're in south africa. brazil looking to advance to the world cup quarterfinals for a sixth consecutive time. 34th minute. no score. brazil with the corner kick. and this is using your head. brazil's juan puts it into the net just like he lined it. brazil with the 1-0 lead. it wouldn't take them long to score more because just four minutes later, brazil on the break. looks like fabian oso was offsi. he carries it home. he scores. brazil beats chile, 3-0. they will play the netherlands. i've been thinking about the nationals. >> thank you. coming up next, imagine driving down the highway and seeing ads on license plates. we'll tell you where they're cons an executive with general electric collapsed on stage as vice president biden was giving a speech today. there he goes. jim campbell was listening to the vice president at a warehouse in louisville when he fell off his stool. campbell was the head of ge's appliance division. biden called for a doctor. campbell was alert when escorted out. his collapse was apparently related to the heat and he's going to be okay. rod blagojevich, once considered putting oprah winfrey into senate. that was made today when a secret fbi tape was played during the corruption trial. he called winfrey a kingmaker and said no one could criticize him for putting the talk show host in president obama's former senate seat. california lawmakers are considering making license plates digital, a move that could make some money for the state. the electronic plates would display ads after a car was stopped for more than four seconds. it would switch back to a standard plate when the car started moving again. critics argue that the plate would be distracting and fear the technology could be hacked. lawmakers say revenue from ads on the license plates could help close a $19 billion budget deficit. hundreds of area "twilight" fans got an early look at the third movie in the series. there was an advanced screening of "eclipse" tonight at the uptown theater in cleveland park. people lined up around the block on connecticut avenue to get into the screening. those who didn't get to see it will have to wait for the movie's wide-release premiere on wednesday. he's not big with teenage girls.