even national identity. unifying the planet if only for a few moments. >> some of the biggest names in music entertainment and sports turned out today to remember one of the most influential artists the world has ever known. good evening. i'm jim vance. >> i'm wendy rieger. doreen gentzler has the night off. this is a day of saying farewell to michael jackson. thousands of people packed the staples center in los angeles to pay tribute to the man who today was called the greatest entertainer whoever lived. jay gray with more on the day's events. >> reporter: just an unbridled tribute to michael jackson here today. and a tribute to his star power as well. 12 days after his death can still feel the staples center and included in the thousands that came here to say a final good-bye, a group of unparalleled entertainment all-stars. a long day of good-byes begin

at forest lawn memorial park. michael jackson's family and including his three young children joined by a small group of friends for a quiet private service. which then turned very public. a 30-vehicle motorcade including a hearst carrying his casket wound through los angeles to the staples center where a quiet, respectful crowd waited. ordinary fans -- >> it is just going to be one of those once in a lifetime experiences. >> reporter: and the famous all here for jackson's final curtain call. to the strains of an old gospel standard. ♪ >> reporter: the king of pop was moved to place he was so familiar with in life and perhaps most comfortable, center stage. and the reverence of a church service -- ♪ i'll be there >> reporter: gave way to a concert. ♪ we are the world

♪ we are the children ♪ we are the children >> reporter: some lighter moments. >> when he started wearing the glove, i was like what's up with the glove? >> reporter: and video tributes. those closest to him say that's exactly what the consummate showman would have wanted. >> i think he's simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived. >> in the end, though, it all came back to the jackson family, his brother jermaine joining the tribute with an emotional and heartfelt performance of one of michael's favorite songs. ♪ smile though your heart is breaking ♪ ♪ smile even though it is breaking ♪ >> reporter: awn expected tribute from his daughter, paris. >> and i just want to say i love

him so much. >> reporter: a heart wrenching end to the memorial. surely the controversy surrounding his death is not -- if only for a few hours, this day was dedicated to the memory and musical legacy of michael jackson. in los angeles, jay gray, now back to you. >> thank you, jay. across this country today people got together to watch the memorial service. radio station 93.9 held a memorial viewing at sidelines restaurant in largo, maryland. jackson fans of all ages turned out to watch the memorial there. the event was one of many across the country. mark barger has our report. ♪ where there is love ♪ i'll be there >> reporter: as mariah carey honored michael jackson's legacy in los angeles, fans were

stening around the word, including harlem. >> i wanted to be within the neighborho. ch that cared for him as much as i did. >> reporter: some celebrated jackson's spirit and musi others tearfully mourned a legend lost. >> this young man touched a lot of people and brought a lot of people together. >> reporter: this movie theater in nearby chelsea was one of dozens around the country that aired the memorial service. fans at this theater and conyers, georgia, lined up early to get a seat. >> i didn't want to miss the opportunity see it on the big screen. if i had a way to get there, believe me i would be there with michael jackson. >> reporter: the king of pop was also remembered in detroit. the home of motown. >> he is a kid. he is like a legend. >> reporter: nearly two weeks after jackson's death, his fans continued paying homage. >> absolutely unreal. the last thing like this was princess diana. >> reporter: to jackson's fans, the massive scale of this good-bye is just right.

>> he was a super icon, you know. you cap get too big. he did everything big. i think that why not. why wouldn't his sendoff be big? >> we will have more on people here in the d.c. are are remembering michael jackson. coming up in our next half hour. we have breaking news now. a southwest airlines flight from baltimore to providence has had to make an emergency landing. shortly after takeoff. this happened an hour ago. the authorities say the plane struck as many as 40 birds and as it was taking off from bwi. there were 137 passengers on that southwest flight from bwi to providence. no injuries reported. we will have more details on the story. today president barack obama met the man some suspect is really running russia. prime minister and former president vladimir putin. the pair traded views on a long list of common goals and threats. afterwards the two said they found some common ground. brian mooar has our report.

>> reporter: the first meeting between president obama and russia's prime minister putin was far from the showdown some had been expecting. >> with you, we -- link all of our hopes and for the furtherance of rations between the two country. >> we think there's an excellent opportunity to put u.s./russian relations on much stronger footing. >> reporter: many believe putin, former president, is the man really running russia. president obama recently accused him of having a foot stuck in the cold war past. now president obama says the former kgb man's old school suspicions may be giving way to new world pragmatism. >> infound him to be verymart and i found him to have a practical bent. >> reporter: president obama suggested a solution to two key sticking pnts. our missile defense system and russia's unwillingness to get

tough on iraq. >> threat from iran's nuclear ballistic missile programs is eliminated, the driving force for missile defense in europe will be eliminated and that's in our mutual interests. >> reporter: the president was trying to sell a reset of u.s. russian relations -- >> we need a fresh start between our societies. >> reporter: the first family got a taste of local culture. history on the russian stage as the president tries to make some of his own. the president and the prime minister didn't agree on all of the issues but they promised to be better listeners. on capitol hill, brian mooar, news4. >> russia's foreign minister says any progress made towards a new nuclear treaty during the trip will be undone if the united states does go through with plans for a missile defense system. al franken was once a performer on "saturday night live." today he is officially a u.s. senator sworn in today on the senate floor. franken was named a winner of the senate race in minnesota

last week after an eight-month recount. he was escorted to a swearing in by former vice president walter mondale from minnesota. vice president biden delivered the oath of office. franken says he wants to focus on education and health care and energy issues. he says he hopes to be known as minnesota's junior senator. not the 60th democrat in the senate. a montgomery county high school student has died after collapsing during an off-season football workout. edwin miller was 16 years old. he collapsed during practice thursday during conditioning drills. miller died in the hospital yesterday. michael flynn with our report. >> it was here on this field early thursday evening when a member of the northwest high school football team collapsed. 16-year-old edwin miller who went by deck was taking part in conditioning drills at the germantown school when his medical emergency began. >> he came around 5:30, you know, quarter of six and there for 30 minutes or so.

and then collapsed. and the coaches saw he was not breathing. so they called 911 right away. >> reporter: northwest principal says coaches performed cpr on the team. he was rushed to a local hospital. miller took a turn for the worse friday and passed away yesterday. school officials say this they don't know what caused miller's death. they say it was not humid when he collapsed. the team wasn't even wearing his football gear. >> it is just devastate to the school and football team and community and the coaches are taking it really hard. >> reporter: a worry for everybody. >> dr. james gardener is an orthopedic surgeon that works with many athletes, including montgomery county high school students. he says that heat stroke and heart conditions are most often to blame for young athlete deaths when it comes to trying to find out if a teen could have undetected health problems gardener says parents should do some family research. >> has anybody under the age of 50 died? has there ever been any other kind of medical problems that may kind of set you off that

there's -- there's something? >> reporter: about 100 people gathered at the school yesterday and after hearing news of miller's death and counselors are being made available for students and staff. >> everyone is just very, very agendaed by this and just trying to come together and to support each other during this sad time. >> reporter: football team members and parents are working together right now to organize a vigil for miller here at the school. so students can come together and mourn this loss. in germantown, maryland, michael flynn, news4. >> again, there are no official causes yet why miller died. >> reporter: when the broadcast continues tonight, we will continue to report on the public memorial held today for michael jackson. >> there are new developments tonight in the stalking case against d.c. council member marion barry. i knew i wanls going to run for re-election. i knew everything changed on august 29th in politics in alaska. that's the day i was tapped to run for vice president of the united states. >> sarah palin talking about her decision to step down as the governor of alaska.

>> south carolina governor mark sanford has been condemned by members of his own party after admitting to an extramarital affair. >> another great day with low humidity and lot of warm air and how long will it continue? i will tell you how long i think it will continue. lindsay, what have you got? >> coming off of wimbledon, venus williams is putting smiles on kids' faces. lance armstrong pedals his way closer to wearing the yellow jersey. marquee pitcher does the nats in. america, whattaya say to big cheesy-steaky-ness!

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late into the afterno today, prosecutors are still looking over evidence in the stalking case against d.c. council members marion barry. the former d.c. mayor was arrested over the weekend by u.s. park police. accused of stalking a woman with whom he has had a personal relationship. tom sherwood has been following the story and has more on this now. >> jim, barry is due in court thursday to hear whether any charges will be filed against him. it is still not clear what happened last weekend. that's donna watts in the pink suit. walking barry out of federal court april 16th when show had a hearing on his income tax case and now she's the woman caught up in the july fourth incident. u.s. park police say a woman believed to be watts flagged down an officer in anacostia park saturday and complained barry was bothering and

following her. after an investigation, the officer arrested barry on a misdemeanor stalking charge. womanth declined to speak to 4 wsneestdawsbuy t odbu usn monday that i didn't intend for things to go this far. barry, who is separated from his fourth wife, proudly introduced the woman by his side. >> donna watts. donna watts. >> reporter: at a news conference monday, barry did not speak on advice of his lawyer but attorney fred cook said the incident was only personal relationship that was ending after a weekend lunch in a beach trip abruptly canceled. >> they were in a relationship. they were in a relationship for at least a year, maybe 18 months. he was not following anyone. he was not attempting to go anywhere except to his home. he was going home from the house of the complaintant. . >> reporter: the u.s. district

attorney is deciding whether think charges will be brought in this case. sources say that private conversations are suggesting that there may be no evidence of any stalking because there is a clear relationship between barry and the woman. and no evidence this she's ever complained before about barry's behavior. barry has a court date thursday to find out if any charges will be formally filed against him. wendy, back to you. >> tom sherwood, thank you. mark sanford has been censured by his own party. 22 members of the states republican's executive committee voted last night to formally ndemn sanford for taking a secret trip last month. sanford traveled to argentina to meet his mistress without telling anyone where he's going. in addition to the vote, ten members of the committee voted to ask the governor to resign. nine members voted to support sabb forward. the governor said repeatedly he does not plan to resign. alaska's governor sarah palin is speaking publicly now about the report last week that she's resigning with more than a

year left in her term. nbc's andrea mitchell caught up with palin at a remote fishing village in western alaska. that commercial fishing site has been run by her husband's family for generations. palin said she was leaving office now for the sake of her state. >> cost thousands and thousands of hours in state time and millions of dollars in state sources to continually send off these pet frivolous ridiculous wasteful ethics violations. >> reporter: how much debt do you have in legal fees? >> we have a legal bill of about half a million dollars. but that's not the consideration. the consideration is how does this affect the state? >> governor palin said she will remain politically active and she did not rule out a run for the presidency in the future. >> it has been four years since the deadly bombing of london's transit system. memorial honoring the victims unveiled today in london's hyde park and families of the victims joined british leaders at the dedication. the memorial has 52 steel

columns, one for each victim. each pillar stands more than 11 feet tall. prince charles told the mourners that he believes the date of the bombing is etched visibly in their minds. i do feel that perhaps that i have some, just some small awareness of the loss you all suffered. >> some families of the victims are calling for a new inquiry into the terrorist attacks. two previous investigations projected claims that security officials did too little too thwart those attacks. coming up, federal and local officials teamed up today to prepare for a terror attack on the train track. >> we will tell you about a report that suggests the polluted waters of the chesapeake bay are increasingly dangerous to humans. >> we will continue our coverage of the memorial of michael jackson. wguwo/

lovely day out there. >> wonderful. >> warm but not humid. >> and low humidity. good tennis weather. we have tenn. we can talk about winning tennis teams. . outside another beautiful day today. this is around chevy chase circle. you don't -- nobody running under the sprinklers. must be very warm but not searing humidity.

that will be coming. three 90-degree days so far this summer on average by now we have about 12. here we are heading into the hottest time of the year. average 88 degrees. but it was a comfy 88 degrees. wasn't it? outside now, got that nice clear sky tonight and another chance to see the international space station tonight and as that 9:35 looking high in the southern sky. i think we will have not the pesty clouds that came in yesterday. 87 degrees. you can see the westerly wind and heat index right now it feels a little bit cooler than it actually is because of the low humidity p 87 degrees. outside now, here's what the temperatures are around our area. 60s to our north. . 68 degrees right now in chicago with the dewoint in the 50s. it is almost autumnal air someplaces to the north because of that pattern with an overall northwesterly breeze. with the spin in the atmosphere, up to our north, boy, it has been an afternoon of really violent weather through new

england of all places. look at since earlier this afternoon, you see the lines, moving through boston, and cape cod, and there are still severe thunderstorm watches out in some parts around the berkshires and central western parts of massachusetts, on into the hudson valley, nasty thunderstorms moving through saratoga springs. another batch now through long island and all of that continuing to move off towards the south. look at the amount of wind damage reports and hail reports just this afternoon. almost 50 reports of small hail up to one-inch hail and some damaging winds, too, for a wide area of new england. what a wild day up there. the temperatures, 62 degrees in framingham. they had almost three inches of rain. even block island. this is block island. winds gusting to 40 miles an hour. some of those nasty storms coming through. that's where the cool air is. the warm air remains in the mid part of the country and also down south. ft. lauderdale, 97 degrees today. and as we get later into the

week, we are going to be seeing a shift in that overall pattern that won't be allowing some of the warmer and more humid air and at least more humid air dom in. another great day tomorrow. high pressure in on us. light south to southwesterly winds. as we get into late thursday and especially friday, we will begin to see those south westerly winds coming back. and the humidity will be increasing. that really won't be until late friday or even into the weekend. then tomorrow, another beauty. bullpen 84 degrees. for the remainder of the evening, warm and pleasant. sunset at 8:36 and the time to look for the international space station, it is very, very bright because of the big sole partisan el and having finished construction, 9:32 to 9:35, southern sky. i will show you a diagram in a few minutes. 60 to 67 degrees tomorrow morning and when you get up. you folks in the shenandoah valley, west virginia, northern maryland, maybe a few spots into the high 50s. warm and comfortable. wonderful day again tomorrow. 80 to 87 degrees.

more of those fair weather clouds. not causing any problem. tomorrow evening once again nice comfortable humidity. temperature fall into the 70s during the evening hours. and a little touch of humidity coming in but with a little light northeasterly breeze. temperatures onl in the low 80s on thursday by late friday, into saturday, then the humidity does come in near 90 degrees, i think, date. with that humidity, weak weather front, a chance for an afternoon. afternoon showers or thundershowers. saturday and sunday. sort of july-like. another wonderful day tomorrow. >> we'll take it. coming up night, people in the d.c. area that got together to watch the memorial service to michael jackson. >> federal and local officials teamed up for a training exercise aimedality preventing terrorism. >> in spain today, the running of the bulls. once again. >> we are going to introduce you to a 15-year-old girl that teamed up with a tuskegee airmen in an effort to fly into the record books.

>> coming up in sports, marquee matchup does not go to the nationals' way. venus williams in town. ready to put on a show and a bunch of crashes in the tour de france. lance armstrong tries to take over the yellow jersey. "news4 at 6:00" continues.

we are back now with more on our top story. the public memorial held in los angeles today for michael jackson. >> the service today included musical tributes from musical greats with whom he used to perform and those who were inspired by him. it also included fond memories shared by those who knew michael jackson best. ♪ i'll be there >> as much as we may peel, and we do, that we need michael