tuss on the phone. can you tell us why they're doing this at this time? >> from what we've learned from multiple sources is that they are in fact going to shut the rail system down starting at midnight tonight and they'll take the entire day on wednesday to do some safety checks this all comes in response to what happened yesterday when you saw the huge fire that shut down systems, shut down most of the system for the day. or caused the huge disruptions during the morning period yesterday. and what happened specifically was that fire, that started yesterday morning, and affected so many riders on blue, orange and silver line service, it happened with the same kind of cables that were the big problem in the l enfant line. are the cables that work as cords between the third rail.

going on with the jumper cables that they feel they have to get in there and look at the entire system tomorrow and each one of the cables to make sure that things are checked off properly and that they are safe. it's a concerning issue for metro for sure that they're going to do this they're doing this in the name of safety and we expect to hear this announcement at 4:30 today. >> is there a reason why they have to do this right now and they couldn't wait for the weekend? is it that serious? >> i think the new general manager has taken a hard line. you heard him say that metro is in worst shape than he thought when he first got here. and the plaza smoke was deadly. the general manager went on to the tracks after that issue yesterday and there must have been enough concern with him that he wants to check the whole system out. so if this is in fact in the name of complete safety, you have to give him credit. because he doesn't want to put anybody in harm's way.

as the general manager, which have proven unpopular in some circles, including shutting the system down during the blizzard, he said he did that in the name of safety. if you're going to put safety at the top of the list, then frankly, you have to do things like this. if he's concerned about the potential that a fire could erupt in the system causing the same kind of smoke as l'enfante plaza. >> adam, if he's that concerned, are we for sure only talking about 24 hours? what if they get in there and start looking at the kales and start finding some problems, is he guaranteeing this is only going to be one day? >> i know they can check the entire system in one day. they have enough people to do that and they have enough track walkers to go in there and take a look at

sure they're not going to find something that is concerning and needs to be replaced. i think at this point this is a prudent step. if there's a legitimate-enough concern that the cables are a problem and guys, you know, the federal authorities have come out, the ntsb has come out. the federal transit administration has come out, high-ranking, high, serious transportation officials have told metro that these specific cables like the ones in the lee enfant plaza system are not safe. to shut the system down in this manner seems like the right thing to do if in fact they are that concerned about it to the point where someone could get hurt. >> adam tuss, our transportation reporter, thank you so much. and again the news conference is at 4:30, which we bring that to you. this has huge ramifications. >> federal workers. >> we reached out to op

but private employees who use the metro, kids in the district who take the metro trains to go to school. we're going to have to stay on top of this all night to figure out exactly what companies, what the school district, government is going to do. >> this is going to have a domino effect. you can't just say, honey, i'll just take the khartoom. you may not have a car to take tomorrow. there's a whole lot of problems with moving millions of people into the city ofry day. so without a subway system. >> talking about maryland, virginia, and the district. all going to be massively affected. >> and this area stretches out this is a big area. people often drive a long way just to get to the subway to get into the city. the news conference from metro is at 4:30. we'll be able to answer a lot of these questions. we have reached out to opm to find out if there's going to be a liberal leave policy. nothing so far. moving on, other stuff to tell you about. police just released new video, hoping it

>> they're trying to determine if they know anything about a possible attempted abduction at one of d.c.'s largest and most popular museums. >> tour group was walking out of the smithsonian's national air and space museum, when a man grabbed a child's hand. >> a quick-thinking chaperone saw what was going on and put a stop to it, news4's jackie benson just talked with the u.s. park police about this case. jackie? >> wendy, obviously a very disturbing incident. this is the height of spring tourist season. take a look behind me this is one of the most popular museums in the world. thousands of people come through these doors every hour. united states park police are very concerned about the report they received mark 3rd and now we're seeing surveillance camera video of two people that detective wasike to talk to. about this unusual incident. persons of interest they're calling them. we're told the two were seen lk

>> a man approached the group and took the hand of one of the children in the group and walked with the group for a few steps. before a chaperone noticed and approached the man and told him to leave the child alone. >> now coming up on news4 at 5:00, we'll tell you about some crucial information that police believe shuttle bus drivers in this area may have for them. live on the national mall, jackie benson, news4. thank you, jackie. got a whole lot easier to get to and from cuba. a prince william county school board member gets an unwanted item in the mail box after the naming of a new elementary school. what sparked the backlash? >> we take you for a ride in the new tesla model x coming up.

now to a developing story out of prince george's county. police have released the dispatch calls from the shoot-out outside a police station that left one officer dead. >> one in front, other one down by district 3. still two suspects in the area. >> one

>> police have three brothers in custody for the shooting of officer jakai colson, investigators say two of them watched and videotaped the ambush while the other opened fire at the station. bureau chief tracee wilkins is live in upper marlborough. what are you hearing about charges or anything having to do with these brothers? >> the state's attorney office just wrapped up a press conference complaining what's going on with these charges. as you said three brothers in custody. we now know that the two brothers who are considered accomplices have been charged. the brother who is considered to be the gunman in this incident has not been charged yet. now this morning, prince george's county police were back on the scene, taking a look at evidence. that included the police van that had several bullet holes in pictures released by the police yesterday. we saw that this van, is the van that the gunmen hid himself behind as he shot at police. michael ford is

gunman, he's being held, but again not been charged. his two brothers were charged for helping their brother pull off this shooting and for videotaping it. the brothers are facing attempted murder charges and first-degree assault. but the state's attorney's office and police did not get the second-degree murder charges they hoped from the commissioner for the two brothers, they're being held without bond. in the meantime, police have yet to charge michael ford, the alleged gunman. the state's attorney says they need time to build their case against him. >> this is a very complex case, we recognize that, we're prepared for that. and again, that really is why we're going to make sure to take time we need. fast is not important, accurate is, so we're going to take the time to make sure we review all the facts and evidence and build the strongest case that we can. >> the brothers are expected to have their first appearance tomorrow

prince george's county courthouse. we talk with an eye witness who saw what happened in front of the police station and talk with the chief who was back out on the scene this morning, walking through and talking with evidence technicians. reporting from upper marlboro, i'm tracee wilkins. down south the rain started falling about a week ago and just didn't stop, people had to get pulled out of the water. some others evacuated their home. now the time is for cleaning up, we'll show you what parts of texas looked like from above. we just learned a major announcement coming from metro. metro will shut down the entire subway system tomorrow. for emergency inspections. we are watching this story and the impact it will have, stay

glenn:threateningicans: gofederal workers;ns over 60 votes to repeal obamacare. now they're refusing to even consider president obama's nominee for the supreme court. it disrespects the president and all of us -- and we won't put up with it. in congress, i'll protect president obama's legacy, defend obamacare, and stand up for social security and medicare. i'm glenn ivey and i approve this message. i'll take on republicans - for all of us.

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breaking news at 4:00, news4 has learned from multiple sources that the entire metro rail system will shut down at midnight and will not reopen for more than 24 hours. >> yeah, metro officials are going to tell us more about this in 15 minutes when they hold a news conference. during the shutdown, the agency has to inspect more than 1200 connectors systemwide, those sort of act as extension cords to the third rail. >> it was one of those connectors that was involved in the fire yesterday that caused massive delays on the blue, orange and silver lines. the press conference coming up in 15 minutes and we'll bring it to you live. well, traveling and banking with cuba it just got easier for americans. the obama administration just announced new rules allowing individuals to travel to the island for educational trips. and the u.s. dollar will be allowed in more transactions, the new rules take effect tomorrow. but don't grab you

just yet, because travel by tourists is still banned from cuba. the latest changes continue the effort by president obama to normalize relations that started in december of 2014. last summer, both countries opened embassies, last summer air service resumed between the two countries. the latest changes come five days before president obama makes an historic trip to cuba. a school board member got a nasty surprise in prince william county. a confederate flag wrapped with a racial slur. a northern virginia bureau reporter david culver has been working the story in dale city. any idea what motivated this. >> to fully understand this controversy, you've got to go back a couple of weeks, when a second school board meeting was being held in prince william county. the topic was to name a brand new elementary school and they were deciding between two namesakes, two individuals who they believe represented this

instead of deciding between those two namesakes, a school board member said they should change godwin middle school so as to incorporate both of those individuals. the school board voted on it, they approved it. those gathered there seemed to be in favor of it. in the days and weeks since, fallout has been strong. a lot of emotions have come forward, including it's believed this rationally targeted slur put into the mailbox of school board member wilkes. >> everything revolves around the name of this school. is this something that the school system handles itself? or do they get the police involved? >> so we've been touching base with both the police and the school system. first with the police, i should tell you they say they are looking for the person responsible for putting that flag and the message into the mail box. however no charges have come forward yet. they're still investigating

this. as for the school system. they say they feel like this one incident is a distraction. really clouding, putting a cloud over the message sent by the two individuals. and what they represent here in the community. so they feel like this is just overall a cloud that they're hoping to push away. you'll hear from the school system. i'll have them on the show when i join you on news4 at 5:00 and you'll hear from some of those in the community who feel like their voices have been rather silent here. we saw a little sun coming out today, doug. >> a little bit. it depends on where you are. north of d.c. we're seeing the clouds. south of d.c. where david is, you notice he was in the sunshine across the area, still a lot of cloud cover around the d.c. metro area. you can see the clouds coming through. and also some sun. that's what we're going to see the rest of the day. partly to mostly cloudy skies, 61 degrees. winds out of the northeast at 6:00. 61 is a nice afternoon. but look at the temperatures, really interesting, only 52

annapolis, that's right along the water. but look back to the west, 71 down towards stanton. 65 in petersburg, west virginia. nothing on the radar, we're not expecting anything tonight. tomorrow could see a shower, but that's going to be about it. look at the current numbers, we mentioned the 61-degree mark. only 51 in philly. much cooler here, down to the south, near 80 in jackson, kentucky. 71 charleston. roanoke at 74. that's some of the warmer air coming into our region tomorrow. tomorrow a very warm day but we'll have to watch for shower activity. we saw the showers move through earlier today. those are now getting out of here. we're seeing a mix of sun and clouds. depending on where you are. our next storm is back to the west. not a very strong storm. but it is going to move through our region during the day tomorrow and it will bring us a slight chance of some showers. for most part, a mix of sun and clouds during the day tomorrow with temperatures into the upper 60s, low 70s in most areas. now notice through 3:00, most of the

we're dry, but here we go. around winchester to culpepper, we see the showers coming through around 5:00, 6:00, it coincides with the evening rush with metro shut down, there could be a lot more people walking around or driving around. so any of the rain could impact the evening rush for sure. it's not going to be much and again it will be a quick shower. it will move out of here just as quickly and we're looking at a much better wednesday night. high temperatures tomorrow, 73 d.c., 69 up towards gaithersburg. 70 luray. most of the day dry for everyone, if not the entire day. we've only got a 30% chance of an afternoon shower. thursday, st. patrick's day coming in with temperatures of 65 degrees. 57 on friday. 50 degrees on saturday, so we do have some cooler weather making its way in for the weekend. and with that, we've got another storm coming in on sunday and the "s" word has been thrown out there. we'll talk about it,

coming up. she was supposed to be with donald trump, but instead she's with her husband. >> sarah palin is back in alaska tonight, todd palin crashed his snow machine and we'll tell you how he's doing. in the race for the white house, megatuesday, five big delegate-rich states. holding primaries right now and we're going to miami, next.

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sarah palin's husband remains in intensive care after a snowmobile accident in alaska. today we learned that his injuries are serious and are going to require some more surgeries. as we report, his family is confident that he'll pull through. >> shane barber, todd palin, four-time champion -- >> he's known as a champion veteran snow machiner on the iron dog trail, a 2,000-mile race across some of alaska's toughest terrain. something todd palin doesn't shy away from. >> i kind of gave it everything,

about 30% luck. >> but it was an accident on a snow machine that put todd here. at mat-suh regional hospital. the husband of sarah palin, got in an accident sunday night, fracturing eight ribs, breaking his collar bone and injuring a lung. >> my husband was out snow machining and thank you, guys, for your prayers for my husband who is recovering right now in icu. >> shortly after these remarks in florida, palin left the campaign trail for donald trump to be with her husband in alaska. >> part of alaska living is you get out there and do these types of things and enjoy them and hopefully you don't have any major problems. but this one was a major problem. >> jim palin said his son will get through this the 51-year-old racer broke his arm in 2008 while competing in iron dog and still managed to finish in fourth place. >> i'm very positive that he'll go through this process and

maybe with a big lesson learned. >> having no doubt todd will be back on the trail soon. >> well as we wish the best for mr. palin. we're following breaking news from metro. the entire rail system down tomorrow for emergency inspections. we're waiting on a news conference to start and we're going to bring it tu

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it's scott mcfarland, at 4:30, metro is with to hold a press conference to announce the entire rail system will shut down for at least an entire day, starting at midnight. that's metro headquarters, news4's transportation reporter, adam tuss and news4's tom sherwood have confirmed that the shutdown will allow for emergency inspections across the system. we're told they'll be looking at 1200 connectors that act as

third fail. those connectors played a role in the fire situation yesterday and in the fatal smoke situation last year at l'enfante plaza. we're still waiting to hear from the federal government about whether the federal offices will be opened. we're told that congress is in session tomorrow. the federal government is at its mid-week full-staff best and as you've seen it, you've been outside in d.c., there are tons of visitors from out of town. it seems so often this afternoon, we are the ones notifying other public information officers from other local transit agencies, the ones that might support metro rail about the news that there will be a shut down. vre, virginia rail express will run a normal schedule tomorrow. we're waiting on information from marc train, from the mta in maryland. it might be worth familiarizing yourself with the maps now. might be worth driving to get

those worth noting parking could fill up early wednesday morning. we're waiting for d.c. metro rail. to offer a press conference and some information officially about what's suspected to be at least a 24-hour shutdown systemwide for trains starting at midnight. all the information being updated regularly at your news4 washington app. >> the thing is it's coming so late in the day and so out of the blue, it's going to be hard to make contingency plans. >> exactly. outside our area, a lot of people are calling this the megatuesday. five big presidential primaries are under way right now. and on the republican side, florida, ohio, winner take all. >> and winning both could make donald trump unstoppable in his march to the republican nomination. losing ohio, however, could stop him in his tracks. >> steve handelsman is tracking the race from florida. the must-win state for marco rubio. >> it's a good turn-out

can save him. >> don't stay home. make sure no one stays home. we don't know how close it's going to be. >> many ofryrxqs say their vote today go to donald trump. >> because i think he's a personal guy that can change this country. >> i want to see somebody strong. a strong president. not a weak one that we have four eight years. >> the current president weighed in, not naming trump. >> our country has to toughen up, folks. >> but imploring the violence and vulgarity at recent rallies. >> and we've heard silence from too many of our leaders. >> house speaker paul ryan had criticized trump two weeks ago. but trump playing today, gop leaders now accept he will be the nominee. >> the biggest people in the party are calling. >> ryan said he called trump to say the party elite won't pick the nominee. >> the republican primary voters are going to make this decision. this is not our decision to make. >> john kasich today could take all of ohio's delegates. >> i feel great, we're going to win, i feel

might end up short of the delegates he'd need to lock the nomination. ted cruz, kasich, rubio or others could fight for it at the convention. hillary clinton's road to the democratic nomination looks smoother. >> i've gotten more votes than anybody. >> but bernie sanders winning ohio today could stretch out the race. that for republican marco rubio could end tonight. i'm steve handelsman, nbc news, miami. >> it's scott mcfar land, let knee give you an update from the office of personnel management. a nonupdate update. opm is actively coordinating with d.c. metro rail, d.c. and regional government and regional transportation entities to assess the current situation. opm will have guidance for agencies on the status of the federal government, shortly. likely the status for tens of thousands of federal workers, including the ones who use d.c. metro rail. re

whether federal workers will be able to telework or be required to go into the office. we're expected to hear from d.c. metro rail formally about the status in a few moments. a live picture of from d.c. metro rail. i believe that's the general manager making his way to the podium. we have a camera there. let's go hear what the general manager has to say. >> good afternoon. paul wheatfield, the general manager of metro. as you all know we had an incident yesterday morning at mcpherson square, a fire in the tunnel. and so i received a detailed briefing last night and report last night and further this morning, and into this afternoon, on the investigation into the yesterday's cable fire that shut down service on the orange, blue and silver lines in the core. while the investigation is ongoing, the preliminary findings show commonalities with the cable fire in the l'nt

while the risk to the public is very low, i cannot rule out a potential life safety issue here and this is why we must take this action immediately. when i say safety is our highest priority, i mean it. that sometimes means making tough, unpopular decisions and this is one of those for sure. i fully recognize the hardship this causes to the region and to the community. in fact i'm announcing that we will sus send rail service for 24 hours to inspect 600 underground jumper cables, the entire rail system will be closed until 5:00 a.m. thursday. if we find any additional cables that require replacement we'll announce those to the public as soon as possible. what additional track outages will be needed and any impacts our service our customers within the next 24 hours. with that i'll be glad

questions. >> how will this affect federal workers trying to get to work? will we expect -- >> we're working with the federal government and they'll make their decisions. >> provide some other kind of transportation? >> we will provide our bus system as normal, we will also increase our buses for the school system in the district. >> what we intend to find out is where we have potentially any issues, we'll treat them just like we did with the mcpherson square situation. which is if we have a situation where it can be located locally, we will single-track around it in that evening we'll shut down at 9:00 p.m. because we need to shut down power on both rails to deal with this issue and we'll basically replace the cabling. and reopen in that morning. just like we did yesterday. >> we've been reached out to them so t

>> there's no way that this can be held off until the weekend it has to happen tonight? >> from where i sit, you know, the safety of the public and my employees is paramount. to rick that, i just cannot do that. [ inaudible ] >> because we brought people in. we want to give them the choice of what they want to do. we will provide the service to midnight. we have to get the trains back in and there's issues we have to deal with. but i think it's, the most rational way i can do it. with the hundreds of thousands of people that came in on the system today. again, it's very, very low. but until i know that we've got these 600 inspected and i'm comfortable with them, i want to make sure i do that as soon as i can. that starts tonight at midnight. [ inaudible ]

as the person responsible for the life, safety and the safety of this operation, it's something that i've chosen to do. >> you believe -- >> i do believe i have the authority. >> can you give us any more detail as to the fire that happened yesterday, that prompted you to take the measures you have? >> we basically have what are called jumper cables, third rail. it comes and there's a gap in between it occasionally. 600 times underground, for instance, and for operational needs you have that. four large cables that connect the power from one end to the other. in this case, there was potential metal to metal. which is very similar to what we had in the l'enfante plaza situation. where you had a metal ribbed tunnel and there was issue there is. so similarities there are concerning to me. potentially there are other issues with the cable, if there's any, any friction on the cable that could cause it to

there and then you have the situation that we had. [ inaudible ] >> it's the deterioration of the metal is could be the issue again. that's why we're looking at what happened. [ inaudible ] >> no, there's insulation that is covering the cable. so if that touches metal and rubs, it can get open and you have the direct connection. [ inaudible ] >> i don't have all the numbers directly, but basically we reached out to other properties, the consultant community and our own resources to do this. >> the insulation on the cables that keeps water contact out, was under way last year. former -- [ inaudible ] >> how is this different? will you have to replace cables

on them from -- >> that's why we're doing the assessment of all 600, because i want to make sure i know what i've got with all 600 of them. this was inspected last year as you just mentioned. it was found to be okay. we had a situation there, so i got to find out what's driving that situation. but i do know some of the similarities. >> so the 600-plus cables that are going to be looked at, that project -- [ inaudible ] now you're going to go back and look at them again? >> if you recall the ntsb recommendations, we had to replace all of the sleeves, the boots. we're about 50% there, that was a program we laid out. you know some of these things we've committed to to do. but this is a situation you know, it happened once, okay, what happened, right? but it's happened twice in a year. so i can't -- i can't wait for the third time. >> the

[ inaudible ] >> yes. >> so the boots at the gap jumper cable -- [ inaudible ] were those -- was that problem rectified? >> we're looking into all that. this is an active investigation, about 30 hours. that's its own, that's taken its own course. right now, there's people trying to solve that. i'm just trying to deal with what i know and what i fear. [ inaudible ] >> it's cable -- it's cable and boots. were impacted. >> is this a different issue than what caused the, about 50% of -- different issue that's caused the fire and water infiltrati infiltrio

but with that uncertainty that's why we're doing the inspection. >> who is actually doing the inspection. and are they the same people who did the inspections on the cables before? >> it's a different -- some of the same could be, yes. but we have, we have outside help, consultant weiwise and ot properties helping us. >> on the tracks? >> yes. [ inaudible ] >> i've spoken to secretary fox, we've, ntsb has been out already and fta has been out already so yes we're coordinating with them as well. [ inaudible ] [ inaudible [ inaudible ] >> jack evans, the chairman of the board of metro. it will impact the entire metropolitan region, there's no doubt about it without metro, it's going to have a lot of congestion, it's going to be

that for people to get into work, for school children to get to school. for everyone who relies on metro. but safety is paramount. and we need to get to the bottom of this. we did have a conference call at 2:00, with paul and a numb of board members. discussed this thoroughly and we support the general manager's decision to close this down for 24 hours. and see what we're dealing with. [ inaudible ] >> i spoke with the mayor right after our 2:00 conference call. so 2:30, 3:00, so i informed the mayor and i know paul you've reached out to naurm, he can speak for himself who he's reached out to. but we've reached out to everybody we can. [ inaudible ] >> that's not my

chancellor. i don't know what they're going to do. [ inaudible ] >> when i know you said risk is low here. this bring back memories of l'enfante plaza and that situation? it seems like there's an accident waiting to happen in l'enfante. you remember that in. >> yes. and that's why we are making the decision we made. again, when paul, myself and the board members were talking about this at 2:00, the information we had is we have 600 of these. they were inspected about a year ago. we do not know the condition they're in we may find one or two of them are bad, we may find that 50 of them are bad.oa,2r but we in good conscience and as the administrators of the system cannot send trains out in this system, into these tunnels, knowing full well that something can go wrong. we

which we're doing today. but we believe the most prudent thing is is to close down the system. find out what we're dealing with and fix it. and that safety is paramount. the lives of people who ride the system are paramount. and i am not, nor are my board members willing to take a chance. [ inaudible ] >> my understanding is other than weather conditions where we have closed down metro before, this is the first time it's been closed down for nonweather conditions. >> jumper cables were inspected last year, correct? >> yes, sir. [ inaudible ] >> again this is one that was

inspected. i have some concerns with what came from that inspection. based on some of what i've seen with this particular location. >> it's in this case, there's potential metal-to-metal. i want to know why that would have been you know, that would have passed inspection at that time. >>. [ inaudible ] >> right. [ inaudible ] >> it's my understanding. >> we're talking now about more issues than just water. >> we're looking at the cables for any potential for basically deterioration of the casing of the cable and/or boots. >> i want to make sure i understand -- the inspections were passed and then you have th

passed inspection? >> that's exactly right. i want to see all 600 of them looked at. >> we should be confident -- >> i don't know. all i know is i want to see the 600. i can only see what's in front of me. which is i have this in front of me and i got to do something about it. >> you say the first time they were inspected, how many of them were -- found deficient? >> i believe 125. >> how often are they now -- >> annually. >> for people with passes or weekly, monthly passes, any consideration given to compensation for them as of yet? >> yes, but i haven't made a decision on that yet. >> the 125 on the first go-round -- [ inaudible ] >> yes. >> you say you shut down at midnight tonight. >> yes, sir. >> how soon will the inspections begin and is there any possibility that the shutdown will not last as long as

anticipate? are you confident they can get the inspection done in time? could they finish it early? >> let us see what we've got. the plan is basically what we feel we can get through. the reason to shut it down is you have people crawling around third rail. that's what you're doing. we got to get as many people out there if we do a piecemeal, guess what, this is going to take weeks. we've got to get out there. get people -- saturate the entire system at these 600 locations, physically do the inspection. that is what it takes. what we feel we can do in that time period. >> we have. >> i don't have the latest report on that, i'm sorry. i don't have the latest report on that. we're dealing with you know, two governors, mayor, dealing with lots of people right now. the emergency management homeland security, all of those issues. obviously congress you know, we're dealing with all of those at one time. and it's been you know, it's evolving as we speak.

>> work was done last year after a horrific incident on january 12, 2015, was not done correctly? >> i don't know that all i know is that i have a situation that i'm viewing that i've got to make sure that i'm comfortable going forward with the system. >> it's safety, it is the safety of the customers. >> thanks, everyone. >> thank you. >> metro general manager, metro general manager paul weedefeld, with a major announcement, the metro rail system shutting down for at least 29 hours starting at midnight. he was saying he knows it's a hardship, a tough, unpopular decision, but he said we can't send trains out knowing something can go wrong. making it very clear there are safety concerns with the cables on d.c. metrorail system. alluding to not only an incident yesterday which stalled the morning rush hour, but also the

january 25th, or january 2015 smoke incident at l'enfante plaza, which was fatal. led to a number of injuries, led to dozens s of federal lawsuit. so the rail system, systemwide, shut down at midnight. paul weidefeld making an unprecedented announcement. >> ride-on buses will add to their fleet to help supplement to help montgomery county customers find their way to work. still awaiting a decision on whether county workers will telework. still waiting on the office of personnel management will make a decision on whether federal workers will be afforded the opportunity to telework because of the metro shutdown. the vre, virginia rail express system says it's running normal service tomorrow despite the metro shut down and the marc

awaiting a final decision. saying we stand ready to help affected passengers, but the logistical information, any changes to marc, still to be determined. how to supplement metrorail, that's it at the live desk for now back to you. >> great work at the live desk there, scott. we got this story covered from all angles, mark segraves is at the district. shamari stone at the red line station in silver spring and derrick ward in franconia. >> we're waiting opm reading on twitter that the district government and the federal government administrative officials are not happy that they're just getting this word late this afternoon. and this thing is going down at midnight tonight. this is such a hub. so -- >> you mentioned that earlier. about how t

>> the domino effect. >> in trying to respond to this on short notice. late in the day. and then mark segraves was tweeting out that mayor bowser felt she got late notice on this and a lot of folks trying to scramble for a back-up plan. >> y'all know, y'all live out there. on a good day our roads are bad. now you're going to add another 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 people on the roads and it's just not that easy to grab a car and head in. >> to our nbc washington app and nbcwashington.com and we're even looking at uber and lyft and capital bike share. and you know it won't help you out in ashton and out in warrenton and those areas out in the far regions. but even just getting around. and then it might even rain. veronica, is that going to just make this even harder? >> as we, react to this. at least i think our weather tomorrow will be

and cooperate. it is going to be a warm one tomorrow. temperatures probably the highest in the last couple of days. we're going to be scooting up to the low to mid 70s across the area. so for some folks they might say that's hot. as far as the showers go during the afternoon there could be an isolated shower around the area. not expecting anything long-lasting or anything too heavy for tomorrow. so good news for us, that means the weather tomorrow will have a lower impact on our day. again nice and mild for tomorrow. so storm team 4 radar you can see how quiet it is. here's where we're going to be early part of the day. we start out with the morning fog, visibilities will be down under a mile. and is it could be rather dense and widespread across the area. there's 2:00, there's 4:00 in the afternoon. that's when there could be more of the isolated showers pushing into the area. leesburg, frederick, around areas of fredericksburg and leonardtown. by 5:00, 6:00, through d.c., howard county, montgomery county, moving east. it's not going to last very long. a brief,

our way for tomorrow. early part of the day, a cool start. 48 to 51. our temperatures will rise very quickly throughout the day tomorrow. want to show you how long the fog could stick around. at 5:00 a.m., under a mile. at 7:00 a.m., under a mile. it's probably going to start lift out or scour out by around 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. what you'll notice is the warmth. today temperatures were in the 50s. tomorrow, upper 60s to low 70s. that's when we could have an isolated shower coming our way after 3:00 and lasting up until 6:00 or 7:00 tomorrow afternoon. we're forecasting 73 in d.c. 69, 70, gaithersburg, 73 degrees, waldorf, college park, high of 73. you get to areas like quantico, fredericksburg, 76 for a high temperature tomorrow. in terms of rain intensity, a few showers isolated for tomorrow afternoon. your morning tomorrow is looking dry. so i would say pack the purse-size umbrella for the afternoon and rain

this upcoming weekend during the second half, and maybe that could last a little bit into early monday. as far as the sky cast for tomorrow, some clouds, fog to start. by the time we get to the latter part of the morning, early afternoon, we've got sunshine on tap. so it's going to be a very pretty-looking day during the afternoon hours tomorrow. temperatures plenty warm. warmest out of the next seven tomorrow. we're talking about another cooldown. cooling way down by the weekend. and even as we approach the end of march. 73 degrees, 2:00, 3:00 p.m. showers still lasting until about maybe 7:00, areas east of i-95. if you have plans for thursday, st. patrick's day, yeah, not too bad on either. it's looking mostly dry. another day where we could have an isolated shower coming our way during the mid part of the day afternoon. from the 50s, low to upper 50s, between 9:00 and 11:00 a.m. topping out in the mid 60s during the afternoon hours on

some folks probably liking that. let's look at your storm team seven-day forecast. showers coming our way for tomorrow. and we're dry, st. patrick's day. saturday, sunday, very cool with spring arriving on sunday. we've got 50 degrees on saturday, 46 degrees on sunday. a cool weekend with mostly rain on sunday. can't rule out a little bit of snow that could be mixing in on sunday. meteorologists doug cammer has more coming up. as we've been following the weather, incredible developments with metro shutting down. over on capitol hill they've been holding hearings, federal hearings on the water crisis in flint. jay gray has been there tracking the story all day. he's picking up our coverage right now. >> the information that we all got was somewhat misinformed. >> where did the lies start? >> the outrage and search for answer notice flint water crisis flowed all the way to washington today. >> the flint drinking water crisis

it cries out for accountability from those that are responsible. >> but responsibility was hard to come by. >> you were in charge. did anybody at the epa do anything wrong? >> i don't think anyone at epa did anything wrong. but-day believe we could have done more. >> wow. >> the congressional committee investigating the lead contamination heard from federal, state and local officials, all involved in the flint water scandal. >> this problem should never have happened in the first place. and i need to remind you, epa had nothing to do with that. >> each agency blaming the next. >> the regulators provided false assurances to us about the safety of the water. >> i think this hearing is going to be known as the great finger-pointing, the great finger-pointing hearing. >> while the virginia tech professor who helped to expose high levels of lead in the water at flint pointed directly at susan headman, the epa administer sh who

to be harmed. >> the hearing will continue on thursday when michigan governor rick snyder is expected to testify. jay gray, nbc news. all right. the latest developments on metro. news4 at 5:00 starts now. jim and wendy. metro announcing it is shutting down the entire subway system for 29 hours. starting at midnight tonight. >> now this is a decision that is going to have a huge impact. from the rails to the roads. crews will be out saturating 600 different areas throughout the system. and we've got you covered this evening. we begin our team coverage now with news4's mark segraves, live at a metro headquarters, mark? >> that's right. metro general manager just made the announcement as of midnight tonight. the entire metro rail system will shut down until thursday morning at 5:00 a.m. he says it's a matter of public safety. while he s

he says he doesn't want to take any chances. this all comes out of a smoke incident yesterday at mcpherson square. where smoke was seen coming out. he said the initial investigation to that smoke indicates the same cause, the jumper cables that caused the smoke at l'enfante plaza last january were to blame for the incident yesterday. he has orred an immediate inspection of all 600 jumper cables throughout the entire metro rail system. it's important to note and this was brought up extensively at this press conference, that the same jumper cables were inspected just a year ago and the ones found to be faulty, about 125 of them. were either replaced or repaired. this one that did catch fire or smoked up yesterday, they say was one that was inspected and was cleared. but now the gm says he doesn't have a lot of faith in that inspection from a year ago. so he's ordered a new inspection starting tonight at midnight. he knows this is going to cause a lot