tv News4 This Week NBC June 4, 2017 11:30am-12:00pm EDT
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right now on "news4 this week" painful memory. a local musician who was on stage with ariana grande just before the terror attack in manchester. movie money. the fake cash that led to a real-life lesson for a local girl. why it should be a wake-up call for anyone trying to make a few bucks online. and panic button. the new tool being used in hotels across the city to keep workers safe. >> announcer: welcome to "news4 this week." >> hi, everyone, i'm chris lawrence. we begin with a story that dominated headlines this week, the terror attack at the ariana grande concert in manchester, england. grande's drummer is from
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still lives. shomari stone spoke to both men this week about what unfolded over seas. >> how are you feeling right now as a father. >> blessed. blessed in every way. >> reporter: kenneth spears thanks god his son, aaron spears, wasn't killed in the manchester terror attack. >> when i first heard it, my heart just jumped. my goodness, the worst kind of nightmare. >> reporter: the blast happened at the end of the ariana grande concert leaving 22 dead. aaron spears had just walked offstage. >> he called me shortly after that and said i'm all right, i'm all right. >> reporter: on instagram aaron says we finished the show and were walking back to our dressing rooms and boom. we could hear people panicking. he goes on to say it's so heart breaking because so many little ones attend our shows. i just keep thinking about them. this painful memory and the weight associated with the lives lost will live with us all forever. i'm still just in disbelief. it's so surreal.
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during our interview, kenneth spears called aaron. we asked him how he's doing. >> i'm doing fine, i'm cool. everything is all right. i'm just looking forward to seeing what the next step is as far as with the tour or what we're doing next. >> what's the first thing you're going to do when you see him face to face? >> i'm going to hug him. i'm going to definitely hug him. we're very close. >> i can understand why. a moment of reflection on the university of maryland campus this week after a promising future was violently cut short. ♪ students and staff of both umd and bowie state university stood in solidarity to reflect on the life of army second lieutenant richard collins. he was a bowie state university student and was murdered in what police call an unprovoked attack on maryland's campus. after a moment of reflection behind the chapel, a large group walked to the bus stop where
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she wanted to make some money for a trip but wound up scammed out of hundreds of dollars. now police are looking into a case involving funny money that at first glance looks pretty close to the real thing. our pat collins has the story that can teach us all a valuable lesson. >> what is it? >> a $100 bill? >> are you sure? >> what's it look like? >> what's it look like? >> what's it look like to you? >> it looks like a $100 bill. >> reporter: at first glance, it looks pretty authentic, but when you get close, there's some telltale signs. like inscription. >> for motion picture use only. >> yeah, it's a $100 bill. >> uh-huh. >> would you give me two $50s for this? >> no. >> reporter: even ben franklin's arched eyebrow gives you a hint something is not right. >> what kind of bill. >> 100. >> would you give me two 50s?
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money. thieves are using these to buy things from unsuspecting sellers. >> do you feel like you were taken? >> oh, yeah, very taken advantage of for sure. >> reporter: hannah sold her iphone. she thought she was getting five $100 bills, but when she went to deposit the money in her atm, return to sender. >> as you stuck the money into the atm -- >> nothing. nothing happened. >> it came back? >> yes. >> and back. >> yes. >> and then you looked real, real close and what did you find out? >> i saw at the bottom of it, the bottom of one of the bills it said for prop use only. >> reporter: police say you have to be real careful when you're making cash deals with total strangers. >> if you're going to do an online transaction, bring somebody with you or let somebody know where you're going and ideally meet at one of our exchange zones at the police station. >> reporter: remember, just because it's green doesn't make it money.
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>> it looked pretty real to me, pat. panic buttons, they can save a life, keep people from harm, and now they're showing up more and more at hotels to protect workers against abusive guests. tom sherwood shows us how it works. >> reporter: the hotel employee entrance, not the fancy entrance the guests all see. now 30 washington area hotels with union staff have something new for their hotel workers who sometimes have to fend off abusive guests. panic buttons to summon security. >> we just press here when we have any kind of situation. >> reporter: 20-year veteran martha pereira inspects hotel rooms for cleanliness after housekeepers are finished. >> the work is very hard, you know, because the ladies working, they cleaning a lot of rooms and some rooms they are so, so dirty. >> reporter: and sometimes dangerous. there was international coverage of a guest
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charged with misdemeanor sexual abuse for putting his hands on two mayflower hotel housekeepers. >> we have incident where people open the wrong doors and don't have on any clothes. >> reporter: local 25 negotiated panic buttons for its workers who often work alone. union surveys in some cities show more than half of hotel workers report abusive behavior from guests. >> there's closed doors, locked doors. we've had incidents in the history of hotels in this city and around the country. >> reporter: and not just women workers are at risk. >> men, we have housemen, room attendants that are male room attendants, so it's for all employees. >> reporter: hotel managers are also stepping up security efforts to protect their workers and their hotel reputations. in the district, tom sherwood, news4. when we come back, could we see another panda cub? the signs the
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seeing that suggest maejong is ready to be a mom introducing fios gigabit connection. seeing that suggest maejong is ready to be a mom superfast internet at an incredible price. with speeds up to 940 megs. that's 20x faster than most people have. and, it's just $79.99 a month online for 1 year. and only $5 more per month for the second year. get fios gigabit connection for $79.99 with tv, hbo for 1 year and multi-room dvr service for 2 years. all with a 2-year agreement. switch now at fiosgigabit.com.
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construction on beach drive in northwest d.c. will soon be shifting to its second phase. that involves this highlighted stretch from tilden street to broad branch road. the first stretch of beach drive that was under construction is supposed to reopen this summer. the full reconstruction of the roadway is not expected to wrap up until fall of 2019. a new panda watch is officially under way at the national zoo. the female giant panda showing signs she's ready to breed again. zoo officials say mei xiang has been more restless lately and calling out to the zoo's male panda, tan tan. tests show her estrogen levels are rising. mei xiang has produced
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surviving cubs including ba bae bae. if she gets pregnant now, her cub would most likely be born around the end of september. the countdown to summer is on. when we come back, susan hogan shows you what works and what doesn't when it comes to bug sprays. plus fair evaders create danger for metro bus driv we just got the keys to our new house! we got the keys! ahhh! wooo! this is exciting we've got our own house! yeah! i'm sorry do you like it here maddie?
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all with a 2-year agreement. switch now at fiosgigabit.com. as we count down the days until the unofficial start of summer, news4 is working for you. if your plans have you heading outdoors, you'll want to make sure you have the right bug spray. consumer reporter susan hogan has what you need to know. >> reporter: with the return of warmer weather comes the return of those pesky mosquitos and with the threat of zika swarming around, you don't want to take any chances. consumer reports says look for insect repellents with one of these three
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deet, oil of lemon, you ceucaly. sprays are most effective. you can skip natural repellents. most of the plant-based repellents lasted just one hour or less against the mosquito known to spread zika. wristbands and clip -ons and wearable devices are marketed as being safer, but consumer reports tested two wristbands and one clip-on and found them to be ineffective. citronella candles and a battery powered diffuser did not keep mosquitos away. sonic repellent, ultra sonic devices claim to emit high frequency sounds that drive pets, including mosquitos away. the trouble is, there's no proof they actually work. and listen to this one. next time you're sitting on your deck, have an oscillating fan t
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reports said that mosquito landings to people who were sitting near it were cut down by 65%. back to you. >> good hadadvice. the city of rockville just began the second area to ban smoky outdoor areas at restaurants and bars. the mayor and city council passed the ordinance by a 4-1 vote. it bans both smoking and vaping. councilmembers say they'll discuss fines at future meetings. there are no outdoor bans in d.c. and virginia, but the city of la plata, maryland, has passed similar legislation. the d.c. mayor, muriel bowser wants to think about the way people think about missing teens. this week the mayor emphasized that there is no spike and the majority of those missing are runaways who usually come home within a matter of days. she plans to open a
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this year nearly 900 teenagers have been reported missing. only 28 of them remain so. they might seem like nickel and dime criminals, but some riders not paying their fares on metro buses are getting violent. as scott mcfarland and the news4 i-team found, when they hopped on the bus, being so brazen is putting drivers at risk. >> we all know the cost of commuting. the time, gas and the fare and patience, but some riders aboard a d.c. metro bus are cutting the bus. >> how's everything going? >> nobody is paying. >> nobody is paying? >> people riding without paying. a review of rhemetro records sh an 80% jump in citations and warnings for unpaid fares in one year. >> it puts them in a catch-22
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situation. >> carol thomas drove a bus for 13 years. drivers are at times powerless to stop the crime. >> you can either hold that busload of passengers up or keep the bus moving. >> fare evasion is nothing new to transit systems nationwide, so why this new spike with violations? we found there's been a crackdown by metro transit police and found brazen riders who don't care about the countdown and skip paying the fare in plain sight. our cameras followed as police deployed a team of officers in northeast d.c. in the daylight hours, we quickly saw a string of passengers blowing past the fare, without swiping. >> people just don't pay the fare right in front of you? >> yes. >> despite being there, they'll still walk past you and not pay? >> yes. it's the same way in the rail system. >> reporter: we heard bus drivers frustrated how often it's happening. >> she's experiencing it up and down the line. >> but
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happened to so many drivers who tried to stop fare cheaters, assault. some are spit upon, others punched. the i-team obtained this video of a case in d.c. court earlier this year. a 64-year-old passenger was seen arguing with the driver after being accused of not paying the fare. the footage shows the passenger pulled a three-inch knife and slashed the driver on his face. emergency medics treated the driver and police arrested the passenger, who was charged with assault but deemed mentally unfit for trial. at least four drivers are on medical leave right now because of attacks. to protect drivers metro has installed shields on many of its buses. one-third of the fleet has them now. >> does this stop the assaults? >> some. >> attacks against drivers dropped 14% last year but they have surged again in 2017. metro has responded with a so-called high
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enforcement program. despite this new effort by police, i i-team cameras caught several passengers dodging paying. on the bus earlier this month we saw it happen many times. >> was it something you were worried about when you were driving the bus? >> all day long. my main goal was to get home to my family. >> so what are the top ten bus routes for fare evasion? the i-team found out, to see if the stations or routes are in your area, go to our nbc washington app and search for investigations. scott mcfarland, news4 i-team. when you sign up to be a sheriff's deputy, you know there's a possibility your life could be in danger. for one deputy, his life was put in danger while he was off the job. fortunately, some of his colleagues came to the rescue. introducing the italian collection from subway. head in now to grab the five dollar footlong spicy italian. loaded with salami and pepperoni. for a limited time, the spicy italian footlong is just five dollars.
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introducing fios gigabit connection. superfast internet at an incredible price. with speeds up to 940 megs. that's 20x faster than most people have. and, it's just $79.99 a month online for 1 year. and only $5 more per month for the second year. get fios gigabit connection for $79.99 with tv, hbo for 1 year and multi-room dvr service for 2 years. all with a 2-year agreement. switch now at fiosgigabit.com. y2d1iy y16fy this week we learn when the next shipment of new train cars will go on metro.
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officials said they will roll out the new cars next month. the new trains are all eight cars long, have more space and are supposed to be more reliable. the new trains are expected to start running on june 25th. news4 is working for the community in recognizing a d.c. teacher. a math teacher at ketchum elementary school in washington became $25,000 richer this week. he was awarded the 2017 fishman award which recognizes the nation's most effective teachers working in high needs public schools. he said he'll invest some of the money for a class trip for his students. this week was also national ems week. when not on the job, firefighters and paramedics work to save as many lives as possible. they do the same off duty. a st. mary's county sheriff's deputy was saved by other first responders when he went into cardiac arrest while playing hockey. kristen wright was there when he got to meet the man that saved
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realized -- >> st. mary's county sheriff's deputy david corcoran and the men who saved his life thankfully have the chance to laugh about it now. >> it was 8-0 when the heart attack happened. as a goalie, i take pride in i think the heart attack inhibited my ability to stop some of those pucks. >> maybe eight is his lucky number. these are the eight d.c. firefighters who kept deputy corcoran alive. >> i trusted in what he was telling me, that i'm going to make it, because this guy knows what he's doing and he told me i'm going to make it, so i'm going to make it. >> april 7th, deputy corcoran was playing goalie as a fund-raising tournament for the firefighters burn foundation. he collapsed on the ice, went into cardiac arrest, no pulse. but the deputy lived to tell his story and shake the hands of those firefighters who used cpr and a defibrillator to bring back the father of four. >> my family and my friends, everybody in my world is eternally grateful for everything they did
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today. >> the fire chief awarded the eight firefighters cardiac arrest save coins, highlighting the cpr training and a job well done. >> it's not very often where we get someone back to the point where they're like awake and talking and cracking jokes like he was. >> only 43, deputy corcoran is in cardiac rehab now and pair wears a portable aed. he's ready to get back on the ice. >> as soon as the doctor authorizes me to play, my bag is packed. >> he gave them restaurant gift cards, a small token for the greatest of hockey saves. >> it's all about them saving my life. >> in the district, kristen wright, news4. >> boy, what a great ending. that's going to do it for "news4 this week." i'm chris lawrence. we're going to leave you with more pictures of giant panda mei xiang at the national zoo. will there be another cub on the way? we'll have to wait and see. thanks for joining us. have a great e
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nbc sports, home of the olympic games, the fedexcup playoffs. the nhl. the nascar playoffs. and super bowl lii only on nbc. welcome to paris and venus williams at the very top playing a crucial point, trying to stay in this round of 16, singles match. a month shy of her 37th birthday. already the oldest woman in the history of the open here in tennis to get to the round of 16 at roland garros. this has not been her best major. can she write another
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