back. live report coming up. leon: tonight the d.c. police are trying to track down group of people attacked a marine outside mcdonald's. maureen: we are told that there is video from the victim. stephen tschida is live from the scene of the attack with the latest development in the investigation. stephen? stephen: the assault went down in front of the mcdonald's as the victim walked out. he said moments before his assailants were yelling about black lives matter. he doesn't know if they belong to an organization or a group but he is convinced they use this movement.

>> it's a big part of me because of my race, because of my skin color. i think it was a hate crime. >> he says friday night a group of young men and one woman yelling "black lives matter" slogans came at him. >> they surrounded my table but i ignored them. >> he kept his head down. when he left they pounced, knocking him unconscious, pummeling him and robbing him. >> i have a short pain going down my head. >> so severe he needs further medical care but he can't get in the v.a. for treatment until he replaces his stolen i.d. >> if they have done it before they will do it again. hopefully they don't hurt or kill someone next time. >> this mcdonald's is filled with surveillance cameras. you can see them up there on the cei

of the mcdonald's corporation who said she reviewed the surveillance video and she has handed it over to the d.c. police. we called police. they told us they are unaware of any video. we will stay on top of this. we know a lot of people want to see what went down in the mcdonald's last friday night. reporting live, stephen tschida, abc7 news. maureen: thank you. what a difference warm temperatures and a few hours can make. this was the scene in leesburg earlier today. where the snow and the ice and the heavy rain flooded the road. now, looking outside the temperatures are warmer and things are drying out. what about the chance of a refreeze? let's turn to chief meteorologist doug hill. doug: we have a chance in some areas. i don't think we had a lot of widespread issue. but late tonight and early in the morning anything on the roadway or the parking lot look wet. treat it as though it

just a few high clouds on the horizon. temperatures are heading down slowly. still in the low to mid-40s. that is good news. below freezing for many areas for quite a while. 46 in reagan national. 45 in annapolis. 48 in fredericksburg. overnight the coldest area is in the western zones. 25 in frostburg. 27 in berkeley springs and martinsburg. 31 in leesburg. metro area a degree or two higher. many of the areas could drop below freezing. admonition, anything that looks wet and driving in the morning treat it as ice. the problems will improve if there are any. we have sunshine again. temperatures back in the 40's tomorrow. the rain will fizzle out and won't bother us. maureen: don't forget to stay connected to the abc7 weather team through the media platforms

abc7 weather app. within the past hour, president obama reiterated his intention to nominate someone to fill the supreme court vacancy left by the death of justice antonin scalia. today, scalia's empty seat in the court was draped in black. the body will lie in repose in the great hall of the supreme court on friday. the public can pay respects from 10:30 in the morning until 8:00 at night. scalia's funeral is scheduled for saturday at the national shrine of the immaculate conception. the 79-year-old justice died over the weekend from natural causes. leon: the race for the white house takes us to south carolina. where a new poll gives donald trump a 17-point lead over senator ted cruz and marco rubio.

the justice died over the weekend from natural causes. hillary clinton met with the naacp, league in harlem. clinton outlined steps she would take to combat racial injustice. including the investment in job and education. >> more than half a century, after rosa parks sat and dr. king marched, and john lewis bled, race still plays a significant role in determining who gets ahead in america and who gets left behind. leon: issues of race dominated a bernie sanders event at the university of south carolina this afternoon. tonight, he is going to be holding a rally in atlanta. tonight on a special your voice, your future town hall round table, it is all about millennials and the politics. look into the most important challenges facing the young americans in a round table at the sister station in columbus, ohio, tonight at 7:00 streaming liv

wjla.com. maureen: hank stawinski is the new prince george's county police chief. he grew up there in prince george's county and has 23 years of service on the force. he had been the interim chief since the former chief mark magaw stepped down in december to take another county position. still ahead on "abc7 news at 6:00" -- >> a sister's fight to honor her brother killed in a fire. i'm suzanne kennedy. i'll have that story coming up. leon: don't forget to check out the bald eagle cam at the national arboretum. they are waiting for two eggs to hatch. that should happen in the next 30 to 35 days. if you want to watch the h.d. live stream we have it posted. link to it on our website at wjla.com.

maureen: in january of 2015, an electrical problem set a christmas tree on fire in annapolis. it destroyed a mansion and killed two adults and the four grandchildren. fire officials said if the home had sprinklers, lives may have been saved. now a bill is debated that -- being debated that would weaken a law making sprinklers mandatory in new

suzanne kennedy shows us who showed up in an annapolis today to fight that bill. suzanne: the annapolis house where six people died in a january 2015 fire was built before a state mandated law requiring new homes have sprinklers. >> the costs are minimal. it's comparable to the granite counter. this is the cost of a life. suzanne: she lost her brother and is now fighting to keep the law on the books. >> if his home was mandated to have sprinklers, obviously he would have had them. i would have him here today. he and his family. the loss has been immeasurable. zeus she testified at a hearing against the bill to do away with the mandatory sprinkler law. that law has been on the books since october of 2012. it requires that all fully constructed townhouses and one and the two-family dwellings be equipment with the

sprinkler system. christopher adams says compliance with the law is financial hardship for the rural communities. >> the impact has been slowdown if not a drop off in the residential home permits pulled on new, affordable housing. people buying the first home. >> according to a study by the fire production research foundation the number of the fire deaths between 2007 and 2011 were 82% lower. in new homes with the sprinkler systems than in homes without them. fire safety advocates say the statistics should show the law should stay on the books unaltered here in the state of maryland. in upper marlboro, suzanne kennedy, abc7 news. maureen: a decision on whether to move the new bill forward is expected in a couple of days. leon? leon: the virginia house of delegates passed a bill that the critics say legalizes discrimination against same-sex couples, transgender people and a

outside of a marriage. the bill blocks state agencies from punishing actions taken by individuals or businesses on religious grounds. governor terry mcauliffe promised to veto the measure if it does reach his desk. coming up at "abc7 news at 6:00" -- >> the budget fight is already intensifying over school funding in fairfax county. parents and the teachers are making their voices known. we will tell you what they are saying after the break. maureen: will there be a refreeze tonight? doug hill is back with a check of the forecast.

maureen: there is a budget battle brewing in fairfax county. at the center of it is how much money the county school system should get. northern virginia bureau chief jeff goldberg is live in fairfax where a rally is underway tonight. jeff? jeff: well, maureen, a lot of disagreement over that question in particular. what we are seeing here is hundreds of teachers, parents and students rallying against what they see as unfair budgeting by the fairfax county board of supervisors. the budget was unveiled this morning.

certainly charged. >> it is music like this that could be silenced due to budget cuts according to the teacher and the parents in fairfax county. precious crabtree says decrease funding could lead to scuts in staffing and programs like the arts. >> if we start to make cuts to the programs we won't have the students ready for the 21st century. >> today county executive ed long presenting $4 billion budget next year. he says the slow economy resulted in a shortfall leading long to request a 4% property tax increase. >> there are unmet needs and investment. >> school funding tops the list. the county is proposing a 3% increase of $55 million and the

nearly 7% boost of $122 million. >> make no mistake. this is increase to the school budget but not meeting their needs. jeff: school director says the fairfax board should not be blamed for the problems created by the general assembly in richmond. >> they have an obligation to meet funding in education and they are failing. >> i have yet to see them fighting for the fairfax county public school system. the budget introduced this morning. discussions will continue followed by the public hearing in early april. there are a lot of intense feelings about this but the fight is only just beginning. jeff goldberg, abc7 news. maureen: thank you. the $100 bill should be scrapped. that i

secretary larry summers is saying citing a new study from harvard university. he says it would make it difficult for the tax cheat and others to break the law. leon: "7 on your side" with a consumer alert about the faulty takata air bags. general motors is recalling 200,000 saabs and saturns so air bag inflators can be replaced. it includes the saab 9-3 from 2010-2011 and the 9-5 from 2010-2011 and it also involving the saturn model. be careful. maureen: we don't have to worry about that, i hope. we have enough to worry about with the wet and the ice and the rain. and the snow. doug: a few icy patches overnight. i don't think it is widespread. but this time of environment this time of year if you are driving down the road and it is dry and you see something ok

as ice. slow it down and be safe. leon: a lot of people are falling down. doug: we do a time lapse. i love from the belle haven country club. it was started at 8:00. 44 degrees now. look what happened in the day. once the heavy rains came in. the gusty winds and the temperatures started warming and the sun came out. poof, it's all gone. it's remarkable huh. that will show what the sunshine will do for you. snow all gone. many areas have a slush north and west and town. it will be gone in the next few days. 44 in alexandria. up the river at reagan national airport, 53 the afternoon high and the sunshine. the morning low of 30. we go to above average day statistically. we have the rainy and the snowy day yesterday. temperatures are in the 40's. 46 at reagan national. 44 in andrews. annapolis, 44. 44 in culpeper. 41 in winchester. tonight, we will see a few clouds. it is from a little storm

slide across virginia and we will get the clouds. that is it. 26 to 46 degrees. the more clouds the higher the temperatures will be. some areas will stay above freezing. the area that get down north and west of washington in 20's for a while, then we could have the issues with glazing or the refreezing spots. the low pressure of rain. it will head east and dissipate. i will run into dry air. that is the end of that. it could pick up clouds. temperatures will rebound tomorrow. probably mid-40's to the upper 40's heading through the afternoon. it's turning partly sunny through the day. we get through the day thursday, more sunshine in the forecast. it will turn cooler heading through the day on thursday. tomorrow, 48 degrees. partly sunny skies. northwesterly winds. that isable is. that -- that is seasonable. but the highs are 40 at best for thursday. 45 on frida

through friday night. nice one. it will open up the skies. the sunshine. much warmer temperatures. 63 on saturday. 59 on sunday. still mild on monday. keep our eye on tuesday as possibility that another storm system could form south to bring us rain, slow, sleet, plagues of locust, i don't know. we'll keep an eye on it. that is the latest. back to you. leon: erin hawksworth looking at the people who like the ice. erin: yes. exactly. the capitals. they are used to life as hockey hunted. and don't look for kirk cousins to get a new contract anytime soon. bruce allen weighs in on th

my job was to play football the best i could. whatever i did on the field will speak for itself. let chips fall where they may. erin: at this point it appears kirk cousins and his agent may be asking for too many chips because the two sides have broken off contract negotiations. that is according to espn's adam schefter. but before you hit the panic button, this is the most likely posturing and the two sides will probably resume contract negotiations next week during the combine. over the weekend, team president bruce allen was asked about the slow progress on a new contract for

>> we told him we want him to be the starting quarterback. so we have some sometime. those things usually work out. i think his future is bright. he got better each week in the season. >> i think he has a chance to lead us in the future. erin: there you go. tonight the capitals host the canes that could be a stanley cup preview. a contender from the west to a contender from the east. caps lead the nhl in goals per game. they are not only first place but they are 12 points ahead of the panthers who are second. we look at how they handle teams coming at them at full speed. >> teams come at you with everything they have. no easy games. some teams will play you one way. for us we stick to the script. do what we have always done. more about what we do. not the opposition.

erin: holtby leads the league in goals but he gets a night off tonight. leon: it's good for them to have every team coming after them with the best so when they get on the path to the final -- erin: it will be a breeze! leon: they will be accustomed to it. maureen: that is your theory? erin: a great theory. i like it. doug: our story is this. overnight we have a chance of refreeze. do not think it will be widespread issue. a little bit of a breeze from the northwest at four to eight miles per hour. as we look late tonight steve rudin will look at the delays and the computer models will give you an idea of which areas might have best chance for slick spot. looking to a mild weekend. it will be nice. maureen: thank you. >> looking forward to fun tomorrow. tomorrow is alex trebek day condition "good morning washington" and he will be on set to answer questions and sharing more tomorrow. don't miss it

you can't deal with something, by ignoring it. but that's how some presidential candidates seem to be dealing with social security. americans work hard, and pay into it. so our next president needs a real plan to keep it strong. (elephant noise) (donkey noise) hey candidates, answer the call already.

i lead the 11 o'clock news with stories of gun violence. and like many of you, my family lived through the beltway sniper crisis.

to expand background checks on guns and ammunition, ban assault weapons, and mandate gun safety locks, because too many kids die from accidental shootings. let's show the nra we're not afraid of them; as democrats, as americans, as parents. i'm kathleen matthews and i approve this message.

breaking news tonight. storms slamming both coasts. in the east, treacherous driving, a dangerous mix of sleet and rain. the pileups. 60-mile-per-hour winds. across the south, 20 reported tornadoes. the woman trapped under her home, rescued. and in the west tonight, bracing for a major system, too. also breaking tonight, the new polls coming in now. where do donald trump and hillary clinton now stand in south carolina? and former president george w. bush taking aim at trump. also developing, the supreme court. the president just moments ago, saying, "i intend to do my job. i expect them to do their job, as well." a message to the senate. the case of the serial killer, far worse than first thought. accused in ten deaths, now linked to several others. what was discovered