one critic says if you wait a few years and this will be awful for those. >> the deal puts the rate-payers first to deliver public utility that is cost effective, dependable and environmentally sound. today i can say we reached a settlement that does all of those things. >> this is a short-term, feel-good deal that masks the long-term consequences. it's not in the public interest to do the merger even with the little extra money they have thrown in. >> keep in mind this is just a proposal. a proposal that still has to go back to the public service commission for their approval. jay korff, abc7 news. leon: >> thank you. a busy day.

they are considering what could be a landmark bill for the nation. paid family leave time. legislation considered by the district to allow up to 16 weeks to be off work after a new baby, adopted child or ill family member. the d.c. approved mayor bowser's man to hire independent ambulance company in a one-year trial period. d.c. fire and e.m.s. have been overwhelmed with the muslim and the nonemergency calls. the goal is to have new ambulances on the street in a few weeks. maureen: only on 7 a long-time columbia heights district says he is victim of vandalism and threat.

someone spray painted his home with homophobic graffiti. then he received to threatening letters and he called police. >> they're just hate messages. the victim has installed surveillance camera around his home. maureen: a developing story in waldorf. a teenager has been shot in what we believe was a robbery. the teenager was on a bike path when he was shot. we don't know the victim's condition. tom roussey is on the way to the scene and will have more information on the story throughout the evening on abc7.

leon: the military is calling it a mistake but doctors without border is calling it a war crime. >> this could change how the u.s. military operating in that arena. tell us about it. >> it look like a possibility. there is an effort on the hill to get it back on the table. the rare testimony of a fatal mistake. >> it was a u.s. decision. hospital was mistakenly struck. scott: admission of fault followed by a suggestion that the u.s. change rule of engagement. >> is it true the strike was

requested by afghan forces on the ground? >> even though the afghan requests that support it has to go through a rigorous procedure. >> some report indicates there was fighting near the hospital. but doctors without borders said it provided them with the g.p.s. coordinates so it wouldn't targeted. but now they say it appears intentional and they are calling it a war i'm. >> i'm sure nobody intended this. >> violation of our code and the rules of engagement. maybe the rules need to be revisited. >> the white house says the justice department, nato and forces are all looking into it. >> i can't ask for more than that. tragic. >> now hospital officials say they awarded both afghan and the u.s. officials immediately

after the bombing but they claim that the airstrike continued for 30 minutes manufacture. that is why they say it can't be brushed aside as a mistake. scott thuman, abc7 news. leon: thank you, scott. the top commander in afghanistan say more u.s. troops are needed there. general john campbell told congress that conditions on the ground including the threat of isil and they need more troops there. maureen: searchers found more debris from the upen container ship near -- sunken container ship near the bahamas. they sent images and there is large piece of metal. the el faro with 33 people on board sank in hurricane joaquin last week. national transportation safety board go team went to the bahamas from reagan national airport this morning.

>> we will look at all the factors. what happened and why it happened to prevent it from happening again. maureen: they left florida when joaquin was still a tropical storm. so far only one body has been recovered. leon: coming up on "abc7 news at 6:00" -- the historic flooding in south carolina gets worse. how many gallons of rain are falling on the state. maureen: also ahead, milestone for the national zoo. the most famous new resident. the giant panda cub bei bei. leon: first, blame for a nasive drop of the number of people riding metro and what it means for those relying on the train and the buses. doug: doug hill in the belfort furniture weather center. a beautiful day today. another on tam. the

announcer: you're watching "abc7 news at 6:00". on your side. maureen: a new report by metro finds ridership plummeted in the last four years. last year, 40,000 fewer people rode metro than in 2010. the decline is forcing the embattled system to rely more and more on fares for revenue. ridership peaked in 2010 at

740,000 daily passengers. passengers we spoke with say they are not surprised. >> i understand the math behind it. but at that point they are caught in a death spiral. the worst of the services and the fewer people will ride it and the more they have to jack up the prices. maureen: this report blames the drop off on several factors including a shrinking federal workforce, more government employees working from home. and reduction to the federal transit budget. metro plans to comment on the report after it is presented at the wmata board meting this thursday. leon: abc7 traffic watch alert for you. at 9:00 tonight, vdot will shut down two left lanes of 66 from 123 to the beltway. this is just the beginning because by midnight every lane will be closed down. it won't be reopening until 5:00 a.m. that same stretch is closed

tomorrow night. the crews are installing over the highway so they have to close everything down. maureen: if national zoo's famous resident is getting a look at the world. bei bei's eyes are partially open. the 6-week-old male giant cub is developing teeth. he is weighing 4-1/2 pounds. getting to be a big boy. leon: going to get bigger. up next at 2:00, what is next for the communities already seeing the historic flooding in south carolina? maureen: doug hill will tell us how long the beautiful fall weather will last before rain returns. erin: i'm erin hawksworth. coming up in sports how much of an advantage will the redskins have this week going up against kyle

leon: the rain stopped for now in south carolina. but for many people it's

guessing worse. maureen: brad bell is in kingstree and we understand that the town is at great risk. brad: they are hurting here. yesterday we were in columbia. all of that water is making its way down here. this the black river. out of the banks. this is the only road left in and out of town. the water has gone up and that is terrible news for the community. there was hope that the river would crest but it didn't happen. the river has the banks risen

to 22 feet. >> my heart goes out to them. this is nature. >> the likes of the town has never seen. the flood is three feet high and the worse recorded. businesses and homes alike are submerged. brown, among those evacuated. >> the town is isolated as well. all major roads in and out officially closed. we were escourted out. >> i have been throughout town and seen residents losing furniture from their home.

brad: this is a horrible scene. they hope the water heads down. in the floods, the longer the water is in houses and the buildings the greater the damage. a farmer said he lost most of the crops. maureen: the death toll has climbed to 14 and the damage is estimated at more than $1 billion. most of the deaths involve people who drove around barricades and through high water. most south carolina rivers have crested. that is a good thing. one meteorologist estimates 6 trillion football lon of rain fell in south carolina in the past ten days. leon: virginia task force one

is there in south carolina. the 80-member task force helping fema with the search and the rescue missions. maryland sending its task force to help with the flood response. it is not clear how long it will be needed in south carolina. doug: it is near 80 degrees and sunshine will help dry it out. the weather bug camera in great falls. it's a beautiful sunrise this morning and through the morning. the skies got front and fair weather clouds. interesting timing of the year. the shadows are different. the longer shadows this time of day. officially today.

you can see from the district it's 72 and 54 are the average. 35 was a record low from 1881. right now it's the upper 60's to the lower 70's. we get to the overnight hours and it will be clear and partly cloudy. 53 in bethesda and fairfax. 54 in woodbridge. it will be cooler north and west. it will be a mild and sunny afternoon. i do see cloudiness on the radar. it's got really low rain showing up at all. there is nothing more than the package of high clouds. the future cast bears that out. looking to 12:30 tomorrow

afternoon. bethe time we get friday, there is a cold front to swing out of the lower lakes and out of michigan. there could be thunderstorms friday an. mid-70's. it will be a pleasant october weekend. it's 56 in the morning. as you wake up, midday and a lot of sunshine. it will be 77 in the an. the next seven days show temperatures staying in the 70's. the chance of shower and storms. cooler over the weekend. nice and the sunshine next week. anytime you are away from the t set a good way to keep up with the breaking weather news and the text alerts. wjla.com/text. figure out how to sign up. we will get text information to you immediately. back to you. maureen: thank you, doug. leon: time to hit restart button for the caps. especially they have had a number of additions but the centerpiece. we'll hear from owe ovechkin

after this. wow. this place is spectacular.

thank you . we worked with a designer from havertys for a complete refresh. you must be happy to get out of that tiny house? yeah you know when we realized how great the e furniture could be, we knew we wanted more space. when we realized how great thhow much more space?be, we went from a hundred square feet to... three thousand! (whispers) three thousand! we still have the original structure. she uses it as a yoga studio. it's more like a tool shed. refresh your space during our harvest sale at havertys. plus, enjoy thirty-six month, no-interest financing havertys. discover something you. erin: the redskins coming off their comeback win over the eagles on sunday. but the skins have the work

cut out for them this weekend as they take on the atlanta to take on the falcons who are flying high under style shanahan. the name is familiar. he is no stranger to the redskins. many of the playerson the current team play for him. they are familiar with the mastermind system. jay grude grude asked if it could be an advantage for washington this week. jay: the only advantage we have is kyle decides to play. he is doing a great job in atlanta. they are running the ball extremely hard. he has a great plan. it's a great challenge for us. maureen: a bigful in -- erin: there was a big nfl officiating mistake in game last night. dean blandion says that wright

should have been called for illegal back to head it out of the endson and the penalty would have given the ball back to detroit at the seattle one but instead the seahawks went to win the game and they are 2-2 and the lions are still winless. optimism is at an all-time high as the capitals are set the open up regular season at home saturday against the new jersey devils. the team made key off-season changes adding forward justin williams and t.j. oshie and letting defenseman green leave via free agency. to get a step closer to retrieve the final goal. stanley cup. ovechkin coming off one of the best seasons of his career and he is looking to build off the momentum. >> i am trying to do better. erin: redskins, capitals and now the wizards who start the

preseason tonight at home to the sixers. we'll have the highlights at 11:00. leon: all right. see habit eating kyle shanahan to start for atlanta -- see about getting kyle shanahan to start for atlanta. maureen: meanwhile, we are enjoying the great weather. tomorrow it's in the mid-50's. doug: most of us are going to warm to 77 in the afternoon. 75 on the day thursday. the cold front is a possibility. 30%. warming back up to the 70's next week. we have an eye on this. we will talk about the cold front. steve rudin will join us at 11:00. leon: sounds like a man. maureen: david muir with "world news tonight" is up next. leon: we'll see you at 11:00. have a go

tonight, authorities now bracing for a possible second disaster. all eyes now on several dams ready to burst. the death toll rising in the carolinas after the president declares a disaster. and tonight, authorities say these next 36 hours are the most crucial. the mystery at sea. and this evening, the urgent search now for the black box, after the new discoveries today. those 28 americans on board and what crew members said before on facebook. the second air scare in 24 hours. this time, the co-pilot falling unconscious in the cockpit. we now learn why, just a day after another pilot died mid-flight. ben carson and what he said today about the school massacre. when asked if a gunman points the gun at you and asks your religion, he answered, i wouldn't just stand there and let him shoot me. and the record fees you're now paying at