Used from federal grant money for an educational seminar fatah never held. His long time Congressional District assistant the helped cover up the cashflow. Brandt took part in the alleged crimes. 29 counts in this indictment and some of those penalties are pretty hefty, with racketeering and bribery carrying each a maximum of 20 years in prison. Reporting live outside city hall deanna durante, nbc10 news. Congressman fatah was in washington when the indictment was announced today. Nbc10s keith jones is live now in our Digital Operations Center with more on what the congressman had to say today. Hes going to let his attorney handle this matter, he wants to continue to focus on helping his constituents. All i want to say is i spent my time helping people. Im going to spend my time helping millions more and im going to let my attorney its going to be important to my constituents that this not be a distraction in terms of my would, and im going to try not to have it be a distraction. This is not deflategate. This is a normal issue of allegations after a very long running eightyear investigation. I did note that they said well it just started in 2013. I think from your own coverage you know thats not true. Records have been press reports on this subpoenas flying since 8 years. We now have actual allegations. We have a chance to respond, ill stand by my previous statement, never been involved in any unlawful activity and any mis misappropriation. And i think theres a lot for us to digest once we see the indictment. I understand its a rico charge. Whats unusual about it none of people involved in it have never been involved in any type of problem before. The one thing i can speak of these are allegations, of the people involved in it are innocent until proven otherwise. Ive not spocken to speaker boehner, i am going to recuse myself from my leadership position until this matter is cleared up. As you just heard, the congressman said hes stepped down from his role as Ranking Member on the appropriations subcommittee. About an hour or two ago he released a statement saying this will not be a distraction from my service to the people that elected me and i am confident that i will be cleared of these charges. Live in the Digital Operations Center, keith jones, nbc10 news. Our Live Team Coverage continues with nbc10 Investigative ReporterHarry Hairston harry has been following the investigation into congressman fattah. Walk us through what led up to today and how the congressmans son says he fits into all of this. This all started back in 2007 when congressman fattah made a run for the philadelphia mayoral seat. Federal agents started investigating chaka fatta after he received an unlawful Million Dollar loan to support his 2007 chain for mayor. After losing the race fattah paid back 400,000 of the loan but then stole charitable and federal grant funds to pay the remaining 600,000. Multiple stories were done as leaks by federal officials suggested he used Campaign Funds to pay off his sons college debt. Now that Debt Repayment has been described in todays indictment. Last year a former fattah aide helped him hide payment schemes. Shortly after i questioned fattah himself about the statements that implicated him. In all my years as an elected official, ive never been involved and never would be involved in any illegal conduct. He insisted he didnt know why his former aide would plead guilty, he told me you may never know what kind of pressure people are under. As far as you say, hes done nothing wrong. I said i have never. Never is a very clear declaration, right . No illegal conduct period. At the time fatah told me he believes the feds were overzealous. We have concernings about the conduct, particularly the left. This has been going on for seven years. We think it should come to some conclusion conclusion. That conclusion started today and will likely continue in a courtroom. I also sat down with fattahs son who was indicted last year on his own federal bank fraud and federal charges much the feds indicted him, hoping to get him to testify against his father. Juniors trial is scheduled to start later this year. The two fattah former associates who plead guilty face sentencing in november. For more than 20 years, many have seen congressman fattah as a tireless advocate for young people many. His district is diverse, covering west north and northWest Philadelphia and parts of south Philadelphia Center city and the Montgomery County suburbs. To many people there, congressman fattah is beloved. Cydney long is in his district this afternoon to see the love and the support theyre giving him after todays indictment. Reporter the sentiment here in the neighborhoods and communities that congressman fattah is truly one of shock and disappointment today. All the people that we talk to we couldnt find anyone that hadnt met him. Hadnt had the opportunity to shake hands with him. In fact some of them didnt even want to speak to us unless they were able to boast all that hes accomplished. Im very shocked to hear that he was indicted today. Very. Because this man, i held from up here. Delores is shocked at the allegations stacked against chaka fattah. He wasnt an absentee congressman. And he was there, like physically. Hes been the driving force behind grants and millions in funding to inspire city students to enrole in the stem programs science, Technology Engineering and math majors. He was very strong on education, and hes done a lot for the community. Hes done a lot for africanamericans, period. Morgans worked with fattah on his Mayoral Campaign in addition to bringing dollars to West Philadelphia hes made a major impact on the boys and girls club of america here at home. Im disappointed i really love this guy. I held him in high regard and he did so much. Now, the house of emojo which was inspired by his better and started by his mother provides unity in place of gang violence. A mother who answered the phone said house of emojo is not closed but we are asking for our privacy. One man who came through these doors said this is the place that changed his life. What hes doing now to pay it forward, youll hear his story coming up at 5 00. Live in West Philadelphia cydney long, nbc10 news. Congressman chaka fattah says hes confident hell be cleared of the charges hes faces. A 29 count indictment accuses the congressman of misusing hundreds of thousands of dollars of federal, charitable and Campaign Funds. Fattah is not under arrest and vows to remain in office. Renee chenaultfattah is now on leave from the station. Count on nbc10 for continuing coverage. You can read the entire document and watch fattahs entire story on our news app. Were going to ask about the message this sends to other elected officials and the way they conduct business. Turning to our weather with heat like this hydration is key. Kids were lining up for water at this camp in West Philadelphia today. For some the liquid relief felt just as good as it tasted. We have issued a first alert today because of the heat and humidity. Lets head to glenn hurricane schwartz. The heat isnt going away any time soon is it . Neither is the humidity at least in the next 24 hours, thats why our first alert goes not only through today but tomorrow as well the combination of the heat and the humidity is what makes it feel so bad. The poor air quality continues through the afternoon as well. Phillies are coming back home tomorrow and its going to be some pretty hot baseball weather. 93 degrees now, feels like 97. Because that 44 humidity is actually kind of high for this time of the afternoon. With temperatures like that. And you can see the temperatures are going to be fairly uniform from the last couple of days until tomorrow even friday. The humidity is going to drop on friday. Its going to feel a little bit more tolerable by friday and saturday. Weve got an extended period of hot weather here. Its 93 in northeast philly as well. 92 in reading, its cooled down in delaware and parts of south jersey because of some showers, right at the shore its cooled down because of the sea breeze. Were in the low 80s, while its in the 90s inland. It feels like its 95 in wilmington wilmington 97 in mt. Holly, 96 in Atlantic City international. Tomorrow might feel even worse because of the higher humidity. Theres some of those showers in delaware, trying to move across delaware bay to cape may weakening as they do it theyre also redeveloping around milford and delaware. Those are the areas most likely to see any kind of showers early this evening. And then the temperature really isnt going to drop a lot over night tonight. Its going to be very warm and very muggy, could even be a couple showers around in the morning. Watch what happens as we go into the afternoon, just a little bit of sunshine tomorrow. We push us into the 90s, and then help to trigger some showers and thunderstorms. A weak fronts coming down and it has that less humid air behind it. Right along that front we could see some very gusty thunderstorms and brief downpours tomorrow before some of that dryer air comes in for friday and into saturday. Not really cooler but less humid. Those early showers in delaware and parts of south jersey 78 for the low in philadelphia so most of the night were going to be in the 80s. Hot and humid tomorrow mainly some afternoon and early evening thunderstorms. It could end up being a line of storms that moves through. Temperatures into the low 90s, that is unless we get the clouds and the rain in a little bit earlier. So thats our one chance of not getting into the heat wave. If the storms come in early enough. But we do expect it to be back into the 90s on friday. But much lower humidity not just a little bit lower, much lower humidity the lower humidity lasts into saturday. The eagles start practicing and not exactly great weather for that or for the first outdoor practice on tuesday. You can see that heat lasting for several more days. More now on the impact of our stifling heat right now. The heat especially hard on senior citizens. The city of philadelphia is offering older residents some relief. More on three ways people can cool off. The amount of heat thats being absorbed by these row homes is not just uncomfortable, it can be deadly. Days in the 90s and eventually everything starts radiating heat. Keep the fan on. Keep the windows down, and thats why it could be tragic. The Martin Luther king center fills up. You cant have both of them on. To have a place like this available for people to come when they dont have to run up their energy bills, they have a reliable source of cooling. It gets hot, i come down here because its nice and cool down here. Havent had a fan in about a year and a half. Second in line for a free fan is kevin campbell. It gets very hard to breathe if you have a medical condition. It gets even worse. He carries it the six blocks back to his house on stillman street where he has no air conditioning. Its almost like christmas. You can only endure so much heat. Its finally there. Yes. Thats a wonderful feeling right there, they helped a needy person, they really did. To find out if your local Senior Center has air conditioning, give them a call theyll beth to take you in. Call 2157659040 between noon and midnight today. The staff will give you tips on how to avoid heat stress and refer to Emergency Services if theyre needed. Stay on top of the steamy forecast. Be sure to download the free nbc10 news app for smart phones and tablets. We have new information about a hit and run that killed a philadelphia boy, the suspected driver surrendered this morning more than three months after the crash. 4yearold latif wilson was killed in the crash, a driver ran him over in kingsessing back in april and took off. Police havent released the name of the woman who turned herself in today, they would only say shes in custody and has not been charged. Still no arrests in a hit and run that killed a 2yearold boy in kenzing gkensington the same day of that crash. A Delaware Park racetrack is in custody after the shooting this morning. It happened in the stables area of the racetrack. Sky force 10 is over that seen this morning. The victim is another worker he was shot in the stomach and is in stable condition. State police tell nbc10 there was an argument before the shooting. Police are questioning the worker in custody, but have not filed any charges. A husband and wife on the run no more. Investigate irs have arrested a couple suspected of stealing the identities of several elderly people in Montgomery County. Eric and Porsche Martin are being held on bail this afternoon. We told you about the search for the pair on monday. Martin ran a heating and air conditioning repair center. Authorities say they swindled tens of thousands of dollars using the names and Social Security numbers of unsuspecting victims. 20 minutes of nonstop news continues with practicing for a catastrophe. These scenes look very real. It was all part of an important drill today in philadelphia that will help First Responders prepare for the popes visit. Randy gyllenhaal watched todays disaster drill and is live in south philadelphia. They simulated a chemical attack downstairs here at the broad streetline it will involved hundreds of First Responders. It was not planned with the papal visit in mind but that was some good training ahead of the citys largest event in some time. The call comes in at 9 00 a. M. A dirty bomb explodes in the subway. Rescue crews gear up. Charge the line for us were going in. They find people coughing and twitching, infected with an unknown chemical. Its evacuation, we want to try to get people out. Victims are rushed into a wall of water decontamination to remove any lingering chemicals, survivors report seeing a strange device that went off. There was an explosion. Not a real explosion, no this was all just a drill. The victims are actors but the police and firefighters are very real. Emergency management director Samantha Phillips played the role of a septa passenger. I was contaminated because i had been down on the subway platform. This is how the city would respond to a chemical attack. The operation was planned separate from the popes upcoming visit. Its still Good Practice for any possible incidents come september. Its hard to test a drill that could include 1. 5 million people. That would be our entire population. The subway systems are a primary target for attack about. Crowded subway lines are prime targets for terror. Thats ott benefit of training. With any luck it will never happen here. These subway lines will be impacted during the papal visit. They will be conducting a few much smaller drills ahead of the big eveb the in september. Live in south philly nbc10 news. We want you to take a look at these firefighters right here. They battle blazing temperatures along with the flames today in philadelphia. Crews try to cool down with wet towels and icy drinks after butting out this house fire in kensington. In the process, they rescued a man from the burning home. The neighbors say the fire began with an explosion here on east tuslam street around 5 30 this morning. Part of the home collapsed. Firefighters rotated in and out because of the extreme heat as they battled the blaze. Crews did the same thing in trenton as they put out a fire here this morning. They toughed out the temperatures for more than three hours after a vacant home went up in flames on south olden avenue. An ems team was on hand to check firefighters for any problems. It really takes its toll. And as a result what we try to do is provide rehab. We try to rotate companies, make sure that theyre hydrated things of that nature. Two firefighters went to the hospital as a precaution. Plywood covers the windows of the hammond building. Right now its closed for cleanup, no one was hurt. Back to our top story at 4 00 chaka fattah indicted accused of bribery and stealing charitable contributions. Nbc news justice correspondent Pete Williams will join us to break down what this means. Killing a protected lion. The worldwide outrage that sent an american into hiding. Get this. I was at my shop tied up with a customer when i realized the time. I had to get to the bank before it closed, so i made a break for it. When i got out it was almost closing time. Traffic was bad. I knew i was cutting it close. But it was ok. I use td bank. Its got the longest hours and stays open an extra ten minutes every day. Im sid. And i bank human at td bank. The hunter is now the hunted. Police are looking for Walter James Palmer who allegedly hired helped to poach a protected lion. Maybe you heard about this this is video of zimbabwes cecil the lion. He paid a farm owner 50,000 to track and kill the animal. The hunter and farm owner appeared in court in zimbabwe today on poaching charges. He was unaware the lion was protected and relied on his guides to follow the law. People have been leaving stuffed animals outside palmers dental office in bloomington, minnesota. Prosecutors are expected to gather there teed. Palmer says he hasnt heard from zimbabwe or u. S. Authorities. A 911 dispatcher in new mexico has resigned after hanging up on a caller. How many times do i have to tell you you know what maam, you can deal with yourself im not going to deal with this okay . No i that was Matthew Sanchez hanging up on the friend of a 17yearold shooting victim. The victim later died from his injuries. The Albuquerque Police chief has launched an internal investigation. The feds accused philadelphia congressman chaka fattah of corruption. What the congressman had to say before todays indictment, and whats next as he faces several charges. First class flight for the first triple crown w