demographic in america. stay with us. news 4 today continues now at 5:00 a.m. health care threats. some lawmakers are the threats of physical violence because of their votes on health care reforment. >> a civil rights icon is in the hospital this morning. we'll have the latest on dorothy height's condition. >> good morning. welcome to news 4 today. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm pat lawson, muse this is thursday, march 25, 2010. >> let's look live outside right now. 47 degrees. the lights of the city bright and nice this thursday morning, the 25th day of march, 20106789 let's look at our forecast. >> good morning, tom. >> hi, pat and joe. we have a spring chill in the air this thursday. 47 in washington. it's in the low to mid 40s in

prince george's, arlington, fairfax counties. upper 30s further west and north. around most of the region it's in the 40s, except near the bay where it's near 50. out of the mountains, low to mid 30s. we have considerable cloudiness coming in from the west ahead of a rainmaker that will be here later tonight. today highs climbing into the 60s, a southwest blustery wind. overnight tonight, rain is likely from late this evening to midday friday. sun back tomorrow afternoon with a blustery afternoon out of the northwest. much cooler with highs around 50. 20 saturday morning, afternoon highs near 50. more rain sunday afternoon and evening. and now, jerry, how is that traffic. >> thursday morning under way. we're doing fine through the northeast, along new york avenue. kenilworth avenue, and the major roadways through the southeast looking good. let's head over and check things elsewhere.

interstate 270, i-70 okay no worries on the bw bridge. back to you. >> thank you. they didn't kill the bill but they succeed in sending it back to the house. senate republicans have found a glitch in the democrats health care overhaul. they found two provisions that violate congressional budgets. there is one involving pell grants. democrats say it's an easy fix, but they're not ruling out the possibility that republicans will be able to remove additional sections of the legislation. this comes as president obama heads to iowa trying to sell the bill to the american public and trying to calm an increasingly volatile debate. the fbi is investigating death threats, even attacks against lawmakers who voted for health care reform. tracee wilkins is live with more on these serious allegations.

tracee? >> reporter: good morning. folks have had cars vandalized, homes vandalized as well. there have been threatening calls and voicemails, now it looks like this violence is getting worse. a tea party activist posted what they thought was a virginia congressman, tom perriello's address online. turns out it was his brother's. someone went to his house and cut the gas line to his propane tank. someone smashed a window of a congressman in buffalo, new york. and someone destroyed the door of a congressional office in arizona. bart stupak's vote helped democrats get the health care bill passed he once opposed wednesday. stew pack released some of the vulgar voicemail he's received. >> congressman stew pack, you baby killing [ bleep ]. you [ bleep ]. >> so far there have been about ten congressman who have received threats.

we are told some senators have received what they are considering violent threats. democratic lawmakers are blaming republicans for this escalation in violence saying no politicians have stepped out and denounced what's been going on. on capitol hill, i'm tracee wilkins, back to you in the studio. the murder of a woman in fairfax county has been linked to a suicide in arlington. yesterday morning a woman was get nothing her car in mount vernon when she was shot and killed. witnesses report seeing a gold car drive away. later this day, police were called to south quincy street in arlington for reports of a man with a gun. when they approached him, he killed himself. police later realized the man's car was the same as that reported fleeing the murder scene. investigators say the man and woman did have a relationship. there are new developments in northern virginia's road rage case that involved gunfire, a dump truck, an expensive car and a 2-year-old child.

this morning the toddler's father will make an appearance in court and police upped the charges against the other driver. elaine reyes has details on this story. good morning. >> reporter: good morning pat and joe. police arrested truck driver james bringham last nit. they charged him with attempted second degree murder for his involvement in the violent highway encounter. the road rage incident happened during tuesday's evening rush hour on southbound i-95 this is a picture of the father of that toddler. however james bringham was trying to merge on to the highway when he came upon another car. police say 25year-old gabriel povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in his jaguar at the time. they say both men were aggressively pursuing each other for miles. the truck hit the jaguar, then the father pulled out a gun and fired at the truck. povetund faces charges including child endangerment and attempted murder. one day later police decided to also charge bringham with a

similar serious charge. now, both men are from woodbridge, virginia. this morning's hearing gets under way at 9:30. pat and joe, back to you. >> thanks. well, if you see heightened security around the area t may be the navy's annual training exercises. the navy has those exercises taking place throughout navy installations throughout the d.c. area until tomorrow. drills are under way at the n y naval yard, the naval research laboratory. the goal is to test the response to threats and emergencies. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's visit to the u.s. is over without a deal in the dispute over israel's plans to build housing in east jerusalem. president obama and netanyahu held two days of talks over the announcement of plans to build 1,600 new apartments in a traditionally arab held area of

jerusalem. there has been no easing of tensions between the u.s. and israel. still netanyahu says he thinks some progress has been made. civil rights icon and activist dorothy height is in intensive care this morning at howard hospital. yesterday was her 98th birthday. she was supposed to be celebrating with friends and supporters they are this morning praying for her speedy recovery. she is president of the national council of negro women and founder of the black family reunion. dr. dorothy height has been a civil rights advocate and educator for more than 75 years. >> what a treasure. we wish her well. >> speedy recovery. still ahead, they were involved in last june's deadly crash. now metro wants to replace some of its oldest railcars, but what will the new cars cost the cash-strapped agency? >> a warning if you like to chat on your phone behind the wheel.

we'll tell you about the most recent states considering banning driving while

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it is time for weather and traffic on the ones. od morning, at 5:11, a chilly 47 in washington. in the low and mid 40s in the suburbs and rural areas. temperatures will just be climbing into the 50s by midmorning. we ought to get to 60 by this afternoon. a little sunshine in and out. but overall quite a bit of cloudiness this afternoon after a partly sunny morning. tonight, rain is likely by late is evening. occasional showers after that, all the way through midday on friday. looks like we'll have a blustery wind tomorrow, that will usher in much cooler weather with highs around 50. cold saturday morning, afternoon highs near 50 with sunshine on saturday. chilly susunday, could get some rain sunday evening.

jerry, how is the traffic. >> in pretty fair shape. dry road surfaces so far this morning. southbound 270 getting past montgomery, a couple of work zones northboundnd southbound. basically between germantown and rockville. let's head over and see how we are getting under way, 66 eastbound headed towards the capital beltway no worries, plenty of space between the vehicles. no incidents to report. pat, joe, back to you. still ahead, looking to book your summer vacation? we'll show you where you can get flights to florida for under a hundred bucks. and the octomom may have found a creative way to try to

our time right now is 5:15. 47 degrees.

updating the top stories, the health care debate has take an serious turn. the fbi is looking into attacks and threats against members of congress. in one case someone cut a gas line at the home of virginia congressman tom perriello's brother thinking it was actually the lawmaker's address. senate republicans have succeeded in sending a health care bill back to the house, the fix-it bill that is. this morning they found two provisions that violated budget rules, the issues deal with pell grant force ls for low-income s. the driver who fired shots at dump truck on i 59 is due in court this morning. 25-year-old gabriel povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in the car at the time. he faces child endangerment and attempted murder charges. the truck driver, james bringham faces second degree murder charges and reckless driving. a major makeover of metro is in the works this morning metro's board will meet to

discuss a new plan to buy hundreds of new cars, they will be safer and more comfortable but also cost $2 billion. news 4's megan mcgraph joins us from tyson corner this morning. hi, megan. >> reporter: good morning. the silver line is under construction here in tysons corner. when this project is completed, metro is hoping to roll out a whole new generation of railcars. the 7,000 series. metro's board today will present the plan to buy 648 new railcars. the first 64 will be used for the expansion, the rest will be added overtime. this will help metro phase out those 1,000 series cars that have come under fire for their crash worthiness. the 1,000 series cars were involved in june's deadly crash on the red line. thgoal is to get rid of all of those cars by 2014. metro says the new cars have a

number of advantages. let's look at some of them. they'll have improved pubc address systems, overhead and seat grab handles, security cameras, active route maps as well as improved operator controls. the switch, however, will not be cheap. each of these cars, the 7,000 series cars, will cost $3 million. now, the first 64 will be paid for by the washington airport authority as part of the dulles expansion project. the rest will be subject to board approval and the availability of funds. so we'll have to wait and see about that. pat, back to you. >> thanks, megan. metro wants to hear from the public on how it should close its $189 million budget gap. the second meeting was held last night in southeast washington but there are four more scheduled. the next is monday march 29th at mt. cavalry baptist charge, on march 31st at the boardroom.

all meetings begin at 7:00 in the evening, an open house is held before each meeting that begins at 6:30. maryland drivers may soon have to put the cell phones away. the state senate narrowly passed a bill yesterday that would require drivers to use hands-free phones. those who get caught using a regular cell phone with their hand would face a $40 fine. the measure moves to the house of delegates. a powerful earthquake shook the capital of the philippines this morning. the 6.2 quake happened just outside manila. there were no immediate reports of major damage or casualties. the quake lasted about 30 seconds causinged buildings to shake and people to run out into the streets. in iceland, scientists are looking at an active volcano. this volcano erupted over the weekend. it sent smoke almost three miles

into the sky. geologists are concerned more eruptions could trigger activity in another nearby volcano and that could cause widespread flooding because ice in the area could melt. >> back on the home front, we will get a little more heat today. just little bit. >> yes, then a chilly change moving in beginning tomorrow that will last through the weekend this morning it's chilly now. we're in the 40s around the region. 47 in washington under a partly cloudy sky. mid 40s prince george's county, near 40 in parts of montgomery, fairfax counties. in the north, upper 30s. elsewhere, upper 40s in southern maryland, eastern shore. for later on today, we'll have thickening clouds with highs still climbing into the 60s with a blustery southwest wind. tonight it looks like rain is likely from mid to late evening, off and on through all day midday friday. sun back tomorrow afternoon with alustery wind. highs near 50 tomorrow.

chilly day on saturday with sunshine. sunday increasing clouds with highs in the mid 50s. showers may linger through midday on monday and clear out after that. jerry, how is traffic. >> off we go and to the beltway. had a fender bender close to pennsylvania avenue, just out of camera range. everything is moved to the shoulder but the flashing lights might be a distraction. 66, route 50, all the bridges, traffic very much still on the light side. >> jerry, thank you very much. if you need to book some airline tickets for your summer vacation there are some good deals out there, but you have to move fast. air tran is having a sale that ends today. flights to florida are as cheap as 73 bucks each way. frontier airlines has a special that runs through tomorrow. the cheapest fares from our area to the west coast are about $160.

keep in mind there are some restrictions in place. still ahead this morning, the octomom hatches a new plan to save her house. and she has always been outspoken, but now many people say that ann coulter might have gone too far with her latest comments. here's to the believers. the risk-takers. the visionaries. the entrepreneurs... who put it all on the line to build and run their own businesses. at at&t, we know something about that. our company started out in a small lab, with not much more than a dream. and today, we know it's small businesses that can create he jobs america needs. that's why at&t is investing

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the so-called octomom is now the new face of peta. nadya suleman has allowed the animal rights group to put a sign in her front yard that will say don't let your dog or cat become an octomom. always spay or neuter. in exchange, suleman will get $5,000 along with a month's supply of veggie burgers and hot dogs. suleman has 14 children including a set of octuplets.

she is currently in foreclosure and owes a $450,000 balloon payment. the actor best known for being a secret agent in "i spy" has died. robert culp starred with bill cosby in the hour-long serieses which was the first to star an african-american actor. he was rushed to the hospital yesterday morning after falling and hitting his head while taking a walk. he was found by a jogger and was pronounced dead shortly after arriving at the hospital. an investigation determined culp's death was accidental. dennis hopper's health may be fading. the easy rider star weighed barely 100 pounds and can't tolerate long conversations or

stressful situations, and therefore cannot give a deposition in his divorce case from his wife, victoria. hopper is still scheduled to receive a star on the hollywood fame tomorrow. 5:26 is the time. >> he'll return to the golf course for the masters, but will tiger woods face the media before that? e answer coming up next.

that's what you are. you and your family are scum. you ought to fill your pockets with lead and j jump in the

potomac. >> that's a phone message left for congressman stupak. the health debate takes a scary turn. the fbi is looking into threats against lawmakers. >> ann coulter finds herself in the center of yet another controversy this morning. good morning. welcome to news 4 today. i'm pat lawson muse. >> good morning, i'm joe krebs. it is thursday, the 25th of march, 2010. it is 47 right now, but it will get nice today, i think. let's go to tom kierein now. >> yes. we should be warming up another 20 degrees by this afternoon. a rapid warm-up, but not until mid or late morning. it will stay chilly for the next three, four hours. right now near 40 in montgomery and fairfax county. arlington, prince george's counties in the mid 40s. out of the mountains, in the low 30s now. we have a few clouds drifting through, they'll be with us from time to time this morning, a

cloudy afternoon, highs into the 60s. rain likely late tonight and off and on through the morning on friday ending by midday on friday. sun back on friday with a blustery wind. cold saturday, sunny saturday afternoon. could get some rain on sunday. jerry, how is traffic? >> looking prett good hopefully we will have a much better commute through the southeast than we did yesterday. a terrible day yesterday. right now very quiet. 395, 295, pennsylvania avenue, south cap all doing fine to the a anticosta. metro v and mark all reporting no delays. >> the driver who fired shots at a dump truck on southbound 95 is due in court this morning for a

bond hearing. 25-year-old gabriel povetund got into an altercation with a dump truck driver on southbound 95 and fired shots at the truck. povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in his jaguar at the time. he is now facing child endangerment and attempted murder charges. the truck driver, james bringham, was also arrested. he is facing attempted second degree murder and reckless driving charges. >> a sheriff's deputy in fairfax county is under arrest after police say he engaged in sexual activity with a female prisoner while she was in a hospital. the prisoner was taken to the fairfax county hospital on march 8th and the deputy, james heinz was assigned to guard her. they say heinz and the woman had inappropriate contact. the sheriff's department learned about the incident almost ten days later and investigated. they turned the case over to fairfax county police who arrested heinzhis week. a highly charged debate has taken a violent turn. the fbi is looking into attacks

and death threats against lawmakers who voted for health care reform. tracee wilkins joins us this morning live from capitol hill with more on who has been targeted. >> reporter: good morning. democrats who supported that health care bill have been targeted and have been the victims of vandalism. some folks have had their offices destroyed by rocks, et cetera. homes have been vandalized as well. there have been some threatening voicemails as well as phone calls. now it looks like this violence is getting worse. >> reporter: a tea party activist posted what they thought was a virginia congressman, tom perriello's address online. turns out it was his brother's. someone went to his house and cut the gas line to his propane tank. someone smashed a window of a congressman in buffalo, new york. and someone destroyed the door of a congressional office in arizona. michigan representative bart stupak's vote helped democrats get the health care bill passed he once opposed

and on wednesday, stupak released some of the vulgar voicemail he's received. >> congressman stupak, you baby killing [ bleep ]. you [ bleep ]. >> reporter: he's also gotten pictures like this. wednesday, steny hoyer said the democratic leadership was genuinely concerned. >> i think we've had very serious incidents that have occurred over the last 48, 72 hours. >> reporter: there's increased security now on capitol hill. so far about ten congressmen have been targeted. the sergeant at arms of the senate says there's also been credible threats aimed at senators as well. >> yes there has been. we're working, again w federal authorities and local authorities on those. >> reporter: some democratic lawmakers are blaming republicans for this increase in aggression because she have not

denounced any of it. >> meanwhile, president obama is hitting the road today to sell health care reform to the skeptics. he is in iowa, heading to iowa, where he first announced the plan in 2007. yesterday the president kept a promise he made in order to get the bill passed, he mandated that federal funds will not pay for elective abortions covered by private insurance. still the health care fight is not over. early this morning, senate republicans sent the fix-it bill back to the house. they found a provision that violates congressional budget rules. the provision deals with pell grants for low-income students, democrats call this a minor setback, but it means they'll have to change that fix-it bill and get it to the house again for final approval. democrats are not ruling out that republicans will also be able to remove additiona sections of the bill. she's no stranger to controversy, even ann coulter may be surprised by the debate over her canadian speaking tour. >> the conservative speaker

canceled an appearance last night at the university of ottawa after 200 students showed up to protest. twle angry about her comments at western ontario on monday. a student asked coulter about the controversy that erupted after 9/11 when she said muslims shou not be allowed on planes and should travel on flying carpets instead. >> besides flying carpets, what mode of transportation would you suggest. >> what mode of transportation? take a camel. the postal service is moving towards cutting back mail delivery to five days a week. the postal governing board agreed to go to the postal regulatory commission for an opinion about dropping saturday delivery. the commission will review the request next week. the change would reportedly save more than $3 billion a year. only express mail would still be delivered on saturdays. post offices would also stay

open. congress would have to approve the changes. tiger woods is getting ready for his return to golf and his return to the press. woods will hold his first press conference in nearly five months on april 5th, the monday of the masters. it will be his first time speaking to a room fullf reporters since he won the australian masters back on november 15th. 12 days later woods crashed his suv into a tree outside his home in florida setting off revelations of his extramarital affairs. our time is 5:38. 47 degrees out there. medical marijuana may soon be legal in the district, but could all pot use soon be legal in california? and some good news about trooper. remember the poor little pup found in a dumpster and left to die? a check of the morning weather and traffic next at 5:41.

time for weather and traffic this thursday morning. it is 5:41.

a chilly 47 in washington. the nearby suburbs in the low to mid 40s now. some of the rural areas down to the mid 30s a partly sunny morning and cloudy afterno with highs in the 60s. tonight, rain likely moving in from west to east. by mid to late evening into the metro area, that may continue through midday friday, sun back tomorrow with a blistery wind and much cooler with highs near 50. cool saturday morning, sunday, increasing rain sunday afternoon into evening. how is the traffic now, jerry? >> checking things along the capital beltway, any overnight road work has been wrapped up. right now bween the wilson bridge and springfield looking okay. 270 southbound picking up volume through the interchanges, briefly heavy on a couple of stretches out of frederick, but out of rockville all traffic lanes are reported open. still ahead there are new charges in that virginia road rage incident involving a dump

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it is now 5:45 in the nation's capital. updating our top stories -- the fbi is looking into attacks and threats against lawmakers who voted for health care reform. several representatives have had windows smashed. others have gotten death threats. metro's board will discuss a plan to buy hundreds of brand new railcars. officials are expected to present a $2 billion planned that would include buying hundreds of new 7,000 series cars, those cars would replace the old 1,000 series cars involved in last year's deadly metro crash. a sheriff's deputy in fairfax county is under arrest after police say he engaged with sex acts with a female prisoner while she was in a hospital. deputy james heinz was assigned

to guard the prisoner. they say heinz and the woman had inappropriate contact. there's new charges and another date with a judge in the virginia road rage incident. this involves gunfire, a jaguar and a dump truck during the evening rush hour on busy i-95. elaine reyes has the details. good morning. >> reporter: hi there, joe and pat it was violent hhway encounter. last night police arrested james bringham and charged him with attempted second degree murder. this road ragencident happened during tuesday's evening rush hour on southbound i-95. police say 25-year-old gabriel povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in his jaguar at the time. bringham was trying to merge on to theighway when he came upon them. they say both men were aggressively pursuing each other for miles. the truck hit the jaguar, then the father pulled out a gun and fired at the truck. povetund faces charges including child endangerment and attempted

murder. a day later police decided to charge bringham with a similar serious charge. >> it's dgerous when somebody pulls out a firearm and fires in that type of environment. you have the other factor that there's a 2-year-old in the car this could have ended in a tragedy. fortunately it didn't. >> reporter: this morning's hearing gets under way at 9:30. both men are from woodbridge, virginia. back to you guys in the studio. thank you very much. major changes to the military's don't ask don't tell policy will be announced today. defense secretary robert gates is expected to announce he's relaxing the rules to allow a more humanitarian approach. under the new rules, the military will no longer be allowed to discharge gays and lesbians outed by a third pasty against their will. the review process of gays and lesbians under the don't ask don't tell policy will also be handled by officers higher up the chain of command. gates has ordered a review of the law to determine whether it should be repealed.

medical marijuana is legal in california. could recreational use be in the works now? that's the question that voters will likely face in november. supporters have gathered 700,000 signatures, far more than they needed to put the issue to the ballot. medical marijuana is already legal in california. some say allowing recreational use makes financial sense. >> the millions of dollars we're losing in revenue regarding enforcement of marijuana laws, the money being made on the black market, i think the public is sick of. >> federal law prohibits marijuana possession, but the obama administration has said it will respect state law when it comes to this drug. california residents are used to breakdowns causing freeway traffic, though not quite like this look at this. commuter were delayed getting home last night because of an airplane landing on the freeway. the pilot was having engine problems, unable to make it to the nearest airport, he landed on the northbound i 57 freeway,

that's about 30 miles east of los angeles. fortunately he was not injured there was no damage to the plane or to anyone or anything on the ground. well, imagine that in the middle of the rush hour. let's look at the weather on this thursday morning. >> we don't see low-flying planes, that's a good thing. 47 degrees. and we have some warmer temperatures headed our way. nice spring day, is that right, tom? >> it looks like we'll have about a 20 degree warm-up from now, but the morning will be quite chilly. just 47 in washington. prince george's county in the mid 40s. montgomery, arlington, fairfax counties down into the low 40s. further to the west and north, down to the 30s. parts of montgomery county, frederick, loudoun county, also in the 30s in parts of fauquier county and the blue ridge and the central shenandoah valleys. around the eastern shore,

temperatures there are in the mid to upper 40s. away from the waters, it's down near 40 degrees in morning. in the mountains at this time, we're in the 30s from western maryland to west virginia. over the last six hours, we have been watching clouds come in from a rain system that's in the midwest. the closest rain is still quite far away. we are off to a clear start on the eastern shore, and much of the lower southern maryland area and southeastern virginia. we do have just a few clouds coming across northern virginia, west virginia and much of maryland. the wider view is showing that rain system that is the same storm that dumped snow in colorado. now that system is spreading rain from arkansas up to the upper midwest, into the tennessee valley. looks like tha will be arriving here into the metro area by late this evening. perhaps off and on through midday tomorrow. here's how things are looking for the next several days. for today, we'll have a little

sunshine in and out this morning. temperatures near 50 by 9:00. by noontime, we should be near 60. it may quickly climb to the mid 60s or so by mid afternoon with a blustery southwesterly breeze. it will be mostly cloudy by mid afternoon, cloudy by sunset which today is at 7:25. sunrise this morning, 7:04. overnight tonight, cloudy, rain developing by mid to late evening. rain is likely by late evening through the rest of the night. by dawn tomorrow, down to the mid 40s. during the day on friday, morning rain will likely end by midday. and some sun back tomorrow afternoon. we'll have that wind out of the northwest gusting to 30iles per hour, highs tomorrow only near 50. so a chilly change moving in. by dawn saturday, cold, into the upper 20s. highs near 50 with sunshine on saturday. overall good weather, but chilly for the smithsonian 44th annual kite festival which is taking place on the mall near the

washington monument on saturday afternoon from 10:00 in the morning until 4:00 p.m. sunday, increasing clouds, highs in the 50s. could get some rain late afternoon and evening. that may linger through midday monday. there's a chance that that rain will be off and on on monday. then it will be clearing up. still on the chilly side tuesday. maybe making it back to the 60s by mid week next week. jerry, how is the traffic? >> looking live intown, moving along well for those of you coming out of rosalyn. light volume of traffic. no worries getting across the key bridge at this early hour. good news overhere. let's look at 395, just volume right now. north across the 14th street bridge. southbound traffic, the left side of the screen moving along nicely. metrorail, vre and mark telling us no delays. trains close to on-time.

good news there. >> thank you very much. winter snows are long gone, but the damage is still hanging around. now d.c. is getting money to help pay for it. president obama has signed a disaster declaration making d.c. eligible for federal funds to deal with february's snowstorm. it means fema will help foot the bill for snow removal and recovery. the federal government closed for four days in february because of those blizzards. those plows may have been a godsend a few weeks ago, but they caused property dage. >> reporter: after the snow, a muddy, grassy, ugly mess is what lines some roads. >> a lot of this was vehicle traffic, snowplows moving mounds of snow. as they move, they will often pick up the sod and dirt and push it off to the side of the road. >> reporter: among the muck,

inmates from the sheriff's office was looking for displaced dirt and trash on state roads. >> was substantial divots on the side of the road. we are replacing those. tamping them down. >> reporter: v-d.o.t.'s operations manager showed us where a backhoe fouled up a section of kingstown road. >> when you have snow this deep, you couldn't see where the curb is. that's probably what happened here. >> reporter: plows tore up sewer drains, concrete curbs in addition to sod damage. for v-d.o.t., it's about priorities. >> right now, this is not a safety issue so this is not a priority. we will get to it because it's the right thing to do. but it's not a priority. >> reporter: what is a priority? potholes. this stretch of kingstown had so many, crews had to completely resurface it. since march 1st, 13,000 potholes

have been filled in fairfax, as part of the governor's statewide effort to make roads safe after the wintry weather. there were a lot of neighborhoods that saw a fair amount of damage from the snow cleanup as well. if some of that damage happened on your property, fairfax county wants to you step up. where v-dot can't get to it quickly and where the sheriff's department hasn't picked up the slack, the county is asking homeowners and businesses to step in. >> if they can assist with putting sod back down where it's still alive or cleaning up branches if they're able to, in their yards or in the streets next to them. >> reporter: and eventually, if v-d.o.t. is responsible, the agency says it will level, seed and wait for spring. in fairfax county, aaron gilchrist, news4. >> you can report plow damage and file claims in d.c., virginia and maryland. for details on doing that, nbcwashington.com and search plow damage. a dog that beat all the odds is looking for a loving home.

this is trooper, the pit bull. you may remember him from last summer. she got the name after she was found inside a dumpster in southeast washington badly injured and duct taped inside a trash bag. now trooper is healthy and she loves to play. the humane society says now that she's healthy again, she can be adopted and find a good home. what a courageous little dog. that's really a remarkable story. has fought back and ready to go again. >> really cute, too. >> deserves a good home. >> looks happy. >> just ahead, some dire predictions. why some 40,000 jobs could be lost in virginia. and you may think it stinks. why trash inspectors in the district are going to be writing a lot more tickets. and we'll look outside now. we'll have a look at the forecast coming up. it looks le a nice spring day is headed our way. 47 degrees right now. we'll look at the thursday traffic. keep you on top of that when new

4 today continues now at 6:00 a.m.

do over. why the fixes to the massive health care bill will have to go back to the house for another vote. plus -- >> you ought to fill your pockets with lead and jump in the potomac. >> outraged opponents of reform targeting congress and their families. and highway gun play, new charges against one of the drivers involved in that shootout on 95. good morning. welcome back to new 4 today. i'm joe krebs. >> i'm pat lawson muse. it is thursday, march 25, 2010. we have yet to see the sun rise

over the nation's capital, but it promises to be a nice day befo changes set in. >> let's go to tom kierein now. >> hi pat and joe. good morning. this thursday morning we have a partly cloudy sky. it's rather chilly. only near 40 in montgomery and fairfax counties. arlington in the mid 40s. upper 40s in washington. mid 40s in prince george's county. mid to upper 30s further to the west and north. around the waters, upper 40s. out in the mountains, mid 30s. considerable cloudiness coming in amid a rain system that wl be coming through our region here by late tonight into morm midday. before that, we should make it into the mid to upper 60s today. tomorrow, highs near 50. quite chilly saturday, but sunny. sunday, showers could be seen late in the day. how is the traffic. >> checking out 270 sthbound

getting past hyattstown, towards clarksburg, incident-free into the split. light volume of traffic on 270. the trip in along 95, 395, 66, dulles toll roads,o far so good. checking out the bw parkway, northbound around route 450, had an accident, police wrapping that up. inbound along the beltway and bridges doing okay. back to you. >> they didn't kill the bill but they did send it back to the house. senate republicans found a glitch in the democrats health care fix-it bill. they found two provisions that violate congressional budget rules. the provisions deal with pell grants for low-income students. democrats say it's an easy fix. they're confident the house will give the bill final approval. but they're not ruling out the possibility that republicans will be able to remove additional sections of the fix-it legislation.

president obama is hitting the road today to sell health care reform to the skeptics. he is heading to iowa, the same place he first outlined his plan in 2007. yesterday the president kept a promise he made to get the bill passed, he mandated that federal funds will not pay for elective abortions covered by private insurance. >> now some who approved the bill are getting death threats. tracee wilkins has more. >> reporter: some of the democrats who supported thi bill have received threats and vand vandalism, homes, threatening voicemail

voicemails as well as phone calls. now it looks like this violence is getting worse. a tea party activist posted what they thought was a virginia congressman, tom perriello's address online. turns out it was his brother's. someone went to his house and cut the gas line to his propane tank. someone smashed a window of a congressman in buffalo, new york. and someone destroyed the door of a congressional office in arizona. michigan representative bart stupak's vote helped democrats get the health care bill he once opposed passed. on wednesday, stupak released some of the of the vulgar voicemails he's received. >> congressm stupak, you baby killing [ bleep ]. you [ bleep ]. >> reporter: so far ten congressmen have been targeted. we are told some senators as well. there are some democrats who feel like republican lawmakers hold some responsibility for what's going on because no one has denounced any of this violence. no arrests have been made. i'm tracee wilkins, live on capitol hill. pat and joe, back to you. new charges in the road rage case along i-95.

both drivers involved are now locked up. state police say 25-year-old gabriel povetund got into an altercation with a dump truck driver on southbound 95 and fired shots at the truck. povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in his jaguar at the time. he faces child endangerment and attempted murder charges. he's due in court for a bond hearing today. the truck driver, james bringham, was also arrested last night. he faces an attempted second degree murder charge. >> they were at a height and level that had there not been anything between the driver, yeah, certainly the drive we're have been in jeopardy. we're concerned anybody pulls out a firearm and starts firing in that environment you could hit any innocent bystander, then you have the over factor that there's a 2-year-old in the car. >> no one was injured. both men are from woodbridge, virginia. a suicide in arlington has now been linked to a murder in fairfax county. yesterday afternoon police were called to south quincy street in

arlington after a report of a man with a gun. when they approached the man, he killed himself. police later realized the man's car was spotted speeding away from a murder scene in mount vernon earlier that day. a woman was getting into her car around 7:30 yesterday morning when she was shot and killed. >> i was in my kitchen and i heard three shots. my grandson came down and said, grandma, did you hear that noise? >> it was loud. i looked out my door, i saw a police cruiser coming by with his lights d sirens on. >> investigators believe the man and woman had been involved in a relationship. their names have not been released. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu's visit to the united states is now over without a deal in the dispute over israel's plans to build housing in east jerusalem. president obama and netanyahu held two days of talks to discuss israel's recent announcement of plans to build 1,600 new apartments in a

traditionally arab-held area of jerusalem. netanyahu extended his stay for last-minute discussions but there's been no announcement yet and no easing of tensions apparently between the united states and israel. still netanyahu says he thinks some progress has been made. civil rights icon and activist dorothy height is in intensive care at howard university hospital today. yesterday was her 98th birthday. she was supposed to be celebrating with friends and supporters they are this morning praying for her speedy recovery. she is president of the national council of negro women and founder of the black family reunion. dr. dorothy height has been a civil rights advocate and educator for more than 75 years. it is now 6:07. 47 degrees. a d.c. firefighter arrested and charged in a 20-year-old crime. the new mandate that could cost you money. why more people are going to get ticketed for their trash. and tom says there's a

chilly change coming. when it will arrive ne

good morning. time for weather and traffic on the ones. a chilly 48 in washington. 40s in the suburbs and rural areas. few spots in the 30s. highs today should make it in the 60s. increasing clouds after some morning sun. rain likely tonight and off and on through the rest of the night and through midday friday. sun back tomorrow afternoon. windy and chilly with highs near 50. a chilly weekend coming up. how is the traffic? >> doing pretty well. chopper 4 checking out the approach to the i-270 spur. left side of your screen, the spur, those folks headed down to georgetown road, and the twinkling of the school buses getting read i do pick up the youngings for another happy day

of school. right now all the southeast corridors moving along nicely. pat, joe, back to you. thanks. still ahead, amazing new video of the volcano erupting in iceland sending lava shooting into the air. we'll show this to you. >> and a look at what could be the future of metro. why the agency says these new railcars are worth 2 billion, with

our time right now is 6:15. updating the top stories, senate republicans have succeeded in sending the so-called fixes health ce bill back to the house. earlier this morning they found two provisions that violate congress budget rules. they deal with pell grants. democrats say they will fix the bill and send it back to the house for approval. the fbi is looking into attacks and threats against members of congress over the health care bill. in one case, someone cut a gas line at the home of virginia congressman tom perriello's brother thinking it was actually the lawmaker's address.

both drivers involved in the case of road rage on i-95 are behind bars. state police say 25-year-old gabriel povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in his car when he fired a dozen shots at a dump truck. he faces child endangerment and attempted murder charges. last night police arrested the truck driver as well. james bringham faces second degree murder and reckless driving charges. maryland may become the next state to ban cell phones around the wheel. those who get caught using a regular cell phone with their hand would face a $40 fine. today the transit agency will talk about phasing out some of the older 1,000 cars.

while the move may be necessary, it could also be costly. megan mcgraff joins us from tysons corner. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. that's right. th dulles extension, the silver line, is well under way. construction of it under way here in tysons corner. when that project is completed, metro hopes to roll out a whole new generation of railcars. the 7,000 series. metro's board today will present a plan to buy 648 new railcars. the first 64 will be used for the expansion, the rest will be added overtime. this will help metro phase out those 1,000 series cars that have come under fire for their crash worthiness. the 1,000 series cars were involved in june's deadly crash on the red line. the goal is to get rid of all of those cars by 2014. metro says the new cars have a number of advantages.

let's take a look here. they say they'll have improved public address systems, overhead and seat grab handles, security cameras, active route maps as well as improved operator controls. the switch, however, will not be cheap. these cars cost $3 million a piece. now, the first 64 will be paid for by the washington airport authority as part of the dulles expansion project. the rest of the cars, though, they'll have to be approved by the board and paid for overtime, depending on the availability of funds. so we'll have to wait and see how that all pans out. back to you, joe. thanks. metro also has new equipment to use in case of emergency. the so-called mobile emergency response vehicles, also knore battery-operated carts to get people to accident scenes

quickly. they can also transport equipment and people who cannot walk away from an accident scene. a sheriff's deputy in fairfax county is under arrest after police say he engaged in sexual activity with a female prisoner while she was in a hospital. the prisoner was taken to the fairfax county hospital on march 8th and the deputy, james heinz, was assigned to guard her. they say heinz and the woman had inappropriate contact. the sheriff's office learned about the incident almost ten days later and investigated. they turned the case over to fairfax county police who arrested heinz this week. a story you saw first on 4, one d.c. firefighter is on leave after being charged in a child abuse case dating back 20 years. michael rmussen was charged with second degree child abuse earlier this month. police say he had sexual contact with a close relative from 1989 through 1996. that relative complained more than a decade ago but police were not able to prove anything. last october rasmussen was

accused of child abuse in another case. police investigating that incident revisited the prior accusation and they were finally able to build a case. if you see heightened security around the area, it may be the navy's annual training exercises. they'll take place at naval installations throughout the d.c. area from now until friday. drills will take place at the washington navy yards, the naval research laboratory, and the naval research lab facility in suitland, maryland. the goal is to test the response to threats and emergencies. there is a measure that would put bringing card games to the state to a state-wide referendum. now the bill goes to the house of delegates. spectacular video of an active volcano.

scientists were able to get a close look at the volcano in southern iceland. the volcano began erupting over the weekend. scientists are concerned the eruption could cause the glacier to melt and that could result in flooding. so far authorities have moved 500 people out of the area and international flights are being diverted. the pictures are just spectacular. >> amazing pictures. >> we certainly have an active climat to >> we do. >> fortunately not here, though. thankfully off to a tranquil start. we do have a chilly morning under way. good morning, right now in the 40s in montgomery, arlington, fairfax, prince george's counties. mid and upper 40s near washington. many areas are just near 40 degrees. highs should make it into the 60s. it looks like we'll have rain

likely developing this evening and continuing through the night, off and on through midday friday. sun back tomorrow afternoon, windy and chillier. chilly on saturday, increasing sunshine sunday, could get rain sunday evening. that may linger into monday. drying out tuesday and wednesday of next week. jerry, how is traffic? >> checking things out at the american legion bridge. lanes are open. no worries between rockville pike and tysons corner. both directions moving along nicely. let's see how we're doing on the gw parkway, both directions are doing all right. travel lanes there are open. elsewher headed for downtown, pennsylvania avenue just little volume right. that's how we are doing right now. back to you. >> thank you very much. time is 6:22. in the nation's capital, she is a dog with nine lives. the dog who stole t hearts of many people in d.c. is now looking for a permanent home. we'll give you an update on trooper after the break. and the solution to some of

d.c.'s budget problems could be in the garbage. why you can expect to

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trash inspectors in the district have been told they need to write more tickets or they could lose their jobs. the public works director says on average inspectors are writing two tickets a day. he wants that number to be 10 to 12 tickets a day. inspectors issue tickets for a number of infractions including putting your trash cans out on the wrong day and not picking up after your pets. a dog who beat all the odds is looking for a loving home. remember trooper from last summer? she got the name after she was found inside a dumpster badly injured and duct taped inside a trash bag. now trooper is healthy and loves to play. the humane society said she will be up for adoption soon.

right now she's with aoster family. how tainted milk ended up being served to students at one local school. and new changes this morning -- new charges, that is, in the case of a road rage shootout in virginia. and the health care debate has boiled over. how some opponents are turning to violence.

health consequences, threats and acts of violence directed at some of the congress members who voted yes on the health care bill. >> and road rage shooting. why both drivers involved are behind bars. thanks for waking up with us this morning on the news 4 today. good morning, i'm pat lawson muse. >> good morning, i'm joe krebs it is thursday, the 25th of march, 2010. looking outside, looks like a beautiful sunrise when it gets here. a few clouds above us now. going to be a very nice day, we understand, from meteorologist

tom kierein. >> chilly now, but a nice warm-up on the way by later on this afternoon. you need your spring jacket off to work and school this thursday morning. weather watchers checking in from calvert county into garrett county. temperatures vary from the near 50 degrees by the bay to the 30s out in western maryland and west virginia. right now 48 in washington from columbia heights to oxon hill, franconia and montgomery village, temperatures in the 40s. eastern shore near 40. the view frshowing considerable cldiness coming in from the west. and later on today, clouds on the increase, highs in the 60s. rain likely tonight through midday tomorrow. windy and colder on friday. chilly saturday and sunny. maybe more rain late on sunday. jerry, how is the traffic? >> chopper 4 over interstate 66 at the capital beltway. so far 66, the toll road, everything coming in from the west seems to be doing well.

elsewhere, 270 doing fine. but we have an accident on i-700 eastbound between route 40 and route 15. incident with an overturned car this is west of frederick eastbound on i-700. pat, joe, back to you. thanks. president obama signed the health care reform bill into law, but the health care fight is not over. early this morning senate republicans sent a bill designed to make changes to the first bill back to the house. they found a provision that violates congressional rules. that provision deals with ll grants. democrats call it a minor setback, they plan to change the "fixes bill" and send it back for final approve. some critics of the bill are going to dangerous lengths, and some are even apparently trying to terrorize lawmakers who supported the reform bill.

tracy wi tracy wilkins has more now. >> a lot of folks feel they need protection on capitol hill. there were people who had an issue with the health care bill and then had an issue when it passed, but it doesn't appear many people were prepared for e aggression and violence that followed. a tea party activist posted what they thought was a virginia congressman, tom perriello's address online. turns out it was his brother's. someone went to his house and cut the gas line to his propane tank. someone smashed a window of a congressman in buffalo, new york. another one in western new york. and someone destroyed the door of a congressional office in arizona. michigan representative bart stupak's vote helped democrats get the health care bill passed he once opposed wednesday. on wednesday, stupak released some of the vulgar voicemails he's received. >> congressman stupak, you baby killing [ bleep ]. you [ bleep ].

he's also gotten pictures like this. wednesday house majority leader steny hoyer said the democratic leadership was generally concerned. >> i think we've had very serious incidents that have occurred over the last 48, 72 hours. >> reporter: there's increased security now on capitol hill. so far about ten congressmen have been targeted. the sergeant at arms of the senate says there's also been credible threats aimed at senators as well. >> yes there has been. we're working, again w federal authorities and local authorities on those. >> reporter: some democratic lawmers are blaming republican counterparts for not denouncing some of these acts of vandalism. so far no arrests have been made. tracee wilkins, live on capitol hill. back to you in the studio. >> thank you very much. there are new developments this morning in a northern virginia road rage case that involved gunfire, a dump truck, an expensive car and a 2-year-old. this morning the toddler's father will make an appearance

in court, now we learned police upped the charges against the other driver. elaine reyes has the details. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you. it was a violent highway encounter. last night police arrested truck driver james bringham and charged him with attempted second degree murder. this road rage incident happened during tuesday's evening rush hour on southbound i-95. police say 25-year-old gabriel povetund had his 2-year-old daughter in his jaguar at the time. bringham was trying to merge onto the highway when he came upon them. they say both men were aggressively pursuing each other for miles. the truck hit the jaguar, then the father pulled out a gun and fired at the truck. povetund faces charges including child endangerment and attempted murder. a day later police decided to charge bringham with a similar serious charge. >> it's dangerous en somebody pullout a firearm and fires in that type of environment. you could hit any innocent

bystander. then you have the other factor that there's a 2-year-old in the car. this could have ended in a tragedy. fortunately it didn't. >> reporter: this morning's hearing gets under way at 9:30. both men are from woodbridge, virginia. pat, back to you. >> elaine, thank you. the murder of a woman in fairfax county has now been linked to a suicide in arlington county. yesterday morning a woman was getting into her car in mount vernon when she was shot and killed. witnesses reported seeing a gold car drive away. later this day, police were called to south quincy street in arlington for reports of a man with a gun. when they approached him, he killed himself. police later realized the man's car was the same as that reported fleeing the murder scene. investigators say the man and woman did have a relationship. their names have not been released. students sickened by tainted chocolate milk, a dairy processor in frederick, maryland said it made a mistake leaving

two students feeling ill. dairy maid dairy sent the milk to a middle school in frederick county. two students who drank the milk said they felt queasy. workers were not supposed to ship the mill, but the warning sign attached somehow got lost. six cases of the milk were mistakenly sent out. well, "the today show" is next at the top of the hour. let's go live to meredith vieira in new york to see what they're working on. >> overnight senate republicans found glitches in the health care fixes bill, that will force it back to the house. we will talk to republican senator john mccain. >> also an exclusive live interview of the family of the 13-year-old girl accused in the text rage beatg of a

15-year-old. and you'll meet a young girl who is doing remarkably well even though doctors had to remove half of her brain. that's when we get started this morning on "today." >> have a great day. >> thank you. coming up, a local university issuing a crime alert for students with a specific type of phone. and how the white house is helping after the whiteout we had last month. and thankfully no more talk of snow, but a weather change is just hours away. a look at the weather, traffic, and all the updates for

time foreather and traffic on the ones. good morning, at 6:41, a chilly 48 in washington. low to mid 40s in the suburbs. highs today reaching the s with increasing clouds. uld get rain this evening. rain is likely late tonight and off and on through midday on friday, colder tomorrow. highs near 50. sun back in the afternoon a chilly weekend to follow. looking to next week in ten minutes? how is the traffic? >> loading up, but no accidents.

395 at the 14th street bridge, unusually slow. i suspect something is going on. that's not looking right. we'll get right back at you. our time is 6:41. 48 degrees. mayor adrian fenty is here. after the break we'll ask the mayor about the tough cuts that could be part of this year's budget proposal. and why lawmakers are flock to california to build their case against toyota. >> and the imposed law that would impact

d.c. mayor adrian fenty is with us live this morning in the connecting with the mayor segment. good morning. >> how are you guys? >> great. >> this is your first time doing this show, connecting with the mayor. >> not exactly. >> this morning we reported on the directive to inspector -- trash inspectors to issue more citations. in fact, he said they should be issuing 10 to 12 tickets a day.

this sounds like a quotquota, ws the thinking behind that? >> it's the first i heard of it, let me find out more and get back to you. >> is that a way to issue ticket? whether it's the trash department or the police department, a number that officers are expected to issue per day? >> no i can't be more plain. en i was on city council, that wasn't the policy. >> mr. mayor, next week you are going to unveil your budget proposal. how tough are the cuts going to be? >> i would say on a scale of one to ten tough, they will be tough for sure. we've committed to making sure that there's no interruption or reduction in service delivery. in fact, i do believe that with more experience you should be able to do more for less. so i think you will see actually less money spent in 2011 than in

2010. that's what we will propose to the council. it will be in a way that we think will not only preserve service delivery but actually improve it. >> this is an election year. some are wondering how that might impact any budget decisions that you make. >> it won't. i mean, i really frown away from making decision force political reasons. i think we need to make decisions for what's best of the people in the district of columbia. that's what we will do with the budget. >> a lot of peoples favorite time of year is here, spring. cherry blossom festival around the corner that means tens of thousands of additional people coming into the district. for those of white house live in the area and want to come downtown, any advice for folks on how to best deal with that? >> you know, i would say beyond the common sense things of being patient and appreciate the beauty of downtown, there will be different ways -- different

notices about the best times to go. but, you know, i've lived in d.c. all my life. i've been an elected official for ten years now. it never impedes traffic that much. it brings so much to the city having people come visit our city, spending money in our restaurants, in our hotels, et cetera. >> this is the time of year that we find out that tour buses are like rabbits, they seem t multiply unpredictically and are everywhere all the time. what are the special plans to deal with all those tour buses, like where they will park and what will you do with them? >> it's all pretty much regulated. most of them stay in that cluster around the tide the basin, east potomac park. but to the extent they want to go outside of that area, there's only specific places where tour buses can park. again, more tour buses means more people want to visit washington, d.c. which is exciting not just for revenue but the reason why all of us

moved here in the first place. it's the nation's capital, a beautiful place, and the cherry blossom festival is beautiful to see. >> do you ever steal time and walk around the tidal basin for yourself? >> just over an hour in mid-april every year, i do the cherry blossom ten-mile run. that's fantastic. i will be doing it again april 10th. thank you. >> thanks. if you have a question or comment for the mayor, send us an e-mail, e-mail fenty@nbcwashington.com. >> a dire prediction for virginia workers today. a nonpart season groisan group e state budget and they said 37,000 jobs could be lost over the next two years. most of the losses would impact the health care, social services and education field. californias now ground zero in the legal fight against

toyota. cnbc's courtney reagan joins us live with that. good morning. >> reporter: good morning to you, joe. a panel of judges in san diego will consider today whether to consolidate pore than 80 class action lawsuits against toyota into one national case. theuits are not as sensational as those people who were hurt or killed when vehicles spun out of control, but they could be more damaging financially. toyota could lose billions after facing lawsuits about diminished value of vehicles. >> the u.s. postal service one step closer to eliminating saturday mail delivery. there is a plan to cut deliveries to five days a week. congress has to sign off on the move which could save the postal service about $3 billion a year. a warning to people in georgetown. keep your hands on your

valuables. georgetown university says there's been a rash of iphone thefts. many of the thefts are happening around the wisconsin and m street area. protect yourself by paying attention to your surroundings. if you're in public, don't put your phone down, even for a second. that's how long it takes for a thief to grab it. the snow is long gone, now d.c. is getting money to pay for it. president obama has signed a disaster declaration making d.c. available for federal funds to deal with february's snowstorms. it means that fema will help foot the bill for the snow removal and recovery. the federal government closed for four consecutive days in february because of the blizzards. >> let's go to tom kierein now in storm center four to look at what promises to be a nice spring day. >> good morning. >> good morning, pat and joe. a live picture from our city camera. mostly cloudy sky over the

potomac river at this hour. 48 in washington. near 40 in montgomery and fairfax counties. mid 40s in arlington and prince george's county. southern maryland, weather watchers reporting near 40 degrees away from the water, on the bay near 50. further to north, temperatures up and near the 30s. especially the mountains of west virginia. eastern shore, temperatures near 40s. a few clouds coming through, but also some sunshine ts morning. bus stop forecast, dress for a chilly morning. it will be in the 40s. a little sunshine in and out. sunrise is at 7:04. by 9:00, it could be near 50. a little breezy. we will warm up to the 60s. overnight tonight rain developing by late evening, a little earlier further to the west that will continue through dawn and midday on friday. tomorrow's lows near 50.

getting sunshine back friday afternoon. winds will increase gusting to 30 miles per hour. should be chilly on friday night and cold saturday morning under a clear sky. 20s. afternoon highs just near 50 with bright sunshine. on sunday, we'll have increasing clouds, could get showers late in the day. highs in the 50s. those showers will linger into nday, drying out monday afternoon through mid week. jerry, how is the traffic? >> chopper 4 over interstate 66, volume only. still too early for sunshine delays. just getting initial reports of a beltway crash above this point, up around 123 or towards route 7. rescue crews just headed out there. 395 a problem, an accident in the roadway. 395 northbound at the 14th street bridge. the exit for main avenue. look for delays headed north. it will be a tough morning heading in from virginia. >> a tough morning but a beautiful sky out there now.

thanks. drivers in mafrryland may sn have to put the cell phones away. the state senate narrowly passed a bill that requires hands-free devices. the bill that would require drivers to use hands-free devices if they want to talk. of people would face $40 fines if caught holding a phone while talking and driving. it now moves on to the hse of delegates. metro's board will meet to discuss a major overhaul of the agency's railcars. the measure could cost $2 billion. >> metro is looking for an upgrade in railcars. they are looking to add the 7,000 series. the first of those cars would be added once the silver line is completed in a couple of years.

they will present a proposal to buy 648 of these new railcars. the first 64 will be used for the dulles extension. the rest added overtime. this would allow them to phase out the 1,000 series cars that would involved in the june deadly crash on the red line. metro says the new cars have a number of advantages. let's look at some of them. they'll have improved public address systems, overhead and seat grab handles, security cameras, active route maps as well as improved operator controls. so they say they're a better railcar, safer, more efcien they're not cheap, however. each of these cars will cost about $3 million. the first 64 would be paid for by the airport authority as part of the dulles extension. the west would have to be paid for overtime. joe, back to you. >> megan, thank you very much. >> senate republicans wanted to

send the health care bill back to the house and they have done just that. early today they found glitches in the fixes legislation that violate budget rules. the provision deals with pell grants for low-income students, now they will be sent back to the house for final approval. now some members of congress have been threatened and even attacked by those angry about the health care legislation. tracee wilkins has more on why the fbi is now getting involved. tracee? >> good morning. there are congressmen who feel they need protection, senators as well. plenty of folks did not want to see this health care bill passed, but no one expected this level of aggression. there's been a lot of vandalism, offices, cars, homes, a lot of violence targeted at democrats in both congress and the senate.

bart spak who helped democrats get the health care bill passed on wednesday released some information about vulgar voicemails he received. one said i hope you bleed, get cancer and die. so far no one has been arrested, but security has been increased on capitol hill. i'm tracee wilkins, back to you. >> that is new 4 today. thank you for starting your thursday with us. have a great thursday. join us again tomorrow morning. we start at 4:55. >> bye. can you go back to the right? no, back here. how about over here? hmm... let's go back to the left. uh... waffling is back at dunkin' donuts with the return of the waffle breakfast sandwich. two oven-toasted waffles with a hint of maple, complete with fluffy egg, a slice of melted cheese, and now with delicious sausage. so hurry in today because it's only around for a short time.

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