spill shutting down parts of the beltway during the busy evening rush, it's one of several developing stories we're following for you. >> also set back. the later -- the late reaction to the plans to scrap a boat on that senate bill. >> plus, what we're now learning from a whistle blower about allegations of fraud in the prince georges county school system. >> we have some breaking news first at 5:00 on the beltway is going to make a lot of people late getting home from work, a lot of aggravation. take a look at this massive backups, on the inner loop right now. a tractor broke down in the middle of the road just north of the american legion bridge and to make matters worse, it is leaking fuel. >> what a mess. again, these live pictures from chopper four. this is backing up traffic for miles, folks, well into virginia towards tyson's corner. only one lane is getting by, fortunately, no iie

you and keep you updated. if you know somebody about to head home from that side of the beltway, tell them to please find another way. >> beltway has had a lot of problems the last few days. an investigation into corruption allegations in prince georges county schools. it is growing. >> and it comes as we hear for the first time from one of those whistleblowers whose complaints led to this probe within the prince georges county school system. it involves allegations of widespread grade changing and alleged effort to boost graduation rates. >> now the ceo of the public school system is asking the maryland state board of education for a thorough review of these accusations. this comes after maryland's governor made this same request. >> so we don't have anything to hide. i mean, there's nothing to be afraid of. >> reporter: the teacher we

was never anything in writing asking teachers or asking counselors to change grades, but she told us that it was made clear to them that this is the expectation that more students graduate, today, the maryland state board of education said they want to do an investigation into these accusations. >> all in favor, aye. >> aye. >> reporter: the maryland state board of education voted unanimously to investigate allegations of widespread grade tampering within the prince georges county school system. >> we don't have any evidence yet, these are just allegations. this implicates the reliability of data. >> after maryland state superintendent, karen, read a letter from prince georges county school ceo requesting the board do an independent investigation. >> so we don't have anything to hide. i mean, there's nothing to be afraid of. >> dr. maxwell spoke with news 4 where he denied any wrongdoing. >> i have not, nor have anybody on my team told

changed. >> but he says graduating more students is a primary goal at his school system. >> we are getting the second chances and we're working to try to try to graduate more children so they have the post secondary opportunities. >> maryland governor released a letter calling for independent third party investigation into the allegations. >> i have no response. >> the maryland state board of education saying they're going to hire a third party. reporting live in baltimore, i'm tracy wilkins, news 4, back to you all in the studio. >> now to breaking news involving the republican efforts on capitol hill to repeal and replace obama care. late this afternoon, senate leadership announced delay on any vote and right now republican members are at the white house. >> let's get right to news 4 leon harris who was in the

>> senate majority leader mitch mcconnell, as you know, has been working to whip votes for the plan. but there's growing opposition since they announced its estimate that 22 million more people would become uninsured. mcconnell announced they would continue their discussions, rather, after some in the gop voiced competition to proceed ral test vote. they called it a big complicated subject. >> of this complexity, almost always takes longer than anybody else would hope, but we're going to press on. we think the status quote is unsustainable. >> republicans cannot exercise the rotten core at the center of their health care bill. no matter what tweaks they may have in the next week and a half, it's fundamentally flawed at the senator. >> republican senators are at the white house, they're meeting with president trump. just a short time ago, the president

over repeal and replace, had this to say. >> we have to have health care. . this will be great if we get it done and if we don't get it done, it's going to be something that we're not going to like and that's okay and i understand that very well. >> now, let's get back to the bill itself. a new analysis by nonpartisan tax policy center found that millionaires will see the biggest cuts. meantime, middle income families, they'll get about $260. along the groups voicing concerns, which fear veterans administration could fill any coverage gaps that might occur. there will be no vote now before the holiday and we'll see if anything comes out of the white house meeting this afternoon. ultimately the republicans can only afford to lose two to get

>> thank you, leon. and there are new developments on a cyber attack that's effecting companies across the globe. we now know the u.s. drug maker merck was effected. its computer network compromised. it didn't provide other details. merck has global locations in ukraine, which appears to be the epi center of this attack. banks, shipping companies. the ran some wear also hit the biggest oil company in russia. this appears to be the same type of attack that calls all sorts of problems around europe last month. >> video evidence tonight of atv riders terrorizing from maryland to dc and now virginia. we want to show you later one of the more brazen moments caught on camera this weekend at national harbor. >> route

big group of riders as it always is. they were up here right on route 1 here and they just kept going here and after they got through the intersection, a number of them jump right there into the middle there. that is the bus lane right there. so in the new video that we're about to show you, it looks as if cars just got out the way. >> illegal a tvs and dirt bikes took over route 1 in arlington and into alexandria sunday. video from gas station cameras shows the riders go speeding by one after another. >> i'll say, at least 100 of them. >> they got into the bus lane and continued their aggressive antics. . arlington police say their officers respond today a gas station, but by the time they got there, the crew was gone. the department has a limited pursuit policy but says it's too unsafe to cse

anything, they'll take -- they'll ride. >> it's an accident waiting to happen. i mean, i use to be a cop. i know what's going to happen. >> it's a problem across the dc metro area, bikers even going up on sidewalk at national harbor. and swarming eighth street in dc. so the question is, what's finally going to be done. >> well, i wish the police would come together, dc, maryland, and virginia and maybe set up a task force. >> reporter: and right now, police are saying at this point, all of the different incidents that we've been telling you about that have happened over the past few days, they don't know if it's the same group or if they're related, wendy, back to you. >> kristin wright, thank you, kristin. a man who was charged with abducting and killing a muslim teenager in sterling last week was implicated in another violent attack just a week before

we have learned about why that man is still on the street. . here is more on this. >> national attention and june 18th and that shocked. >> sought treatment in the hospital. and but

>> the services report was not related to a hate crime motivation, significant information, obviously, as police continue to investigate the murder. live in sterling, jackie bensen. and we're looking at a couple of showers out there, right now, storm team, we're tracking the showers and most of them on the south side and beautiful, beautiful day ad

now. we'll show you where those showers are. mostly down to the south and east around i-95 right along here coming in and one shower is where you'll see this one, right along the frederick area. which is working its way through the east behind this and we get beautiful again tomorrow. the heat goes in, too. i'll show you in. >> we'll show you in a bit. >> thank you. >> still to come tonight all news 4 -- on news 4 at 5:00. >> ahead, how the nation's capitol is gearing up

♪

what a headache on the inner loop of the

it's effecting everything on the inner loop by the american legion bridge there. >> folks, take a good look. this is a fuel spill, causing quite a backup. here we are right in the heart of rush hour on the inner loop, north of the american legion bridge. so this is montgomery county. it is impacting traffic and around tysons and virginia here. this is up in the chopper now. brad, tell us how far these backups are stretched. >> we actually came down a little bit into virginia just to see how bad these were. this is going to be the inner loop approaching tysons corner. this is just after route 66. that's where these delays begin. we can't even see the incident now. when we left just a couple of minutes ago, they still had the two right lanes blocked and the left lane squeezing by this incident. it was a tractor-trailer that had a combination of fuel and antifreeze that was spilled out on to the highway. we had it with

gallons with a 100 foot spill as the cars that were first on the scene here we're tracking it around the inner loop of the beltway. and outer loop taking a look. eight miles delay on the inner loop starting after route 66 just to get into maryland over the legion bridge. back down to you. >> before you go, if you can still hear us. are they letting anyone by at all. i think they had one lane open before. is that still open, or can you tell? >> they're actually letting the left lane by and partially people are just using that left shoulder, but, as you can imagine, this is one of the most heavily traveled routes in the afternoon. it's just a nightmare for folks trying to get home, just absolutely bumper-to-bumper traffic and the express lanes, too, as you get out there, you can see they're not moving at all. >> all right. brad. eight miles. and this is just so far. i mean,

worse as the evening rush wears on. we should let everyone know, again, as we mentioned, no injuries reported thus far. but, again, 170 foot. >> that's going to take a long time for that spill to be cleaned up. if you've been anywhere near the national mall recently, you've noticed the security plan to keep you and your family safe during the fourth of july festivities. with a look at how recent attacks in europe are influencing this plan here in washington. chris? >> reporter: wendy, police say we should all feel safe coming down to the mall with fireworks this fourth of july. they say their security plan was in preparation for the presidential inauguration and it worked well in january. and they also say there is no credible threat at this time against the nation's capitol. >> what

agency coordination center. >> we toured dcs emergency operation center with a person in charge. federal and local agencies will be monitoring independent stay events here to protect people, celebrating in the nation's capitol. >> one of the main things they could show if you have common operating picture, you know everything that's going on in the district. on independence day it's not what goes on on the national mall. we have multiple parades going on. so be able to have a good picture of everything that's going on using our camera so that we can make the decision and we really comes down to have a good situation throughout the entire event. >> there is a noticeable increase in tourism here leading up to the july 4th fireworks. this family is visiting from jackson mississippi. >> i will be concerned, you can't be too careful. >> as long as, you know, the police are

i want to be more comfortable. >> fences are going up around the mall. there will be security check points to screen people entering to see the fireworks. police here are well aware that last july in france people celebrating were rammed by a man who drove a truck down a crowded street killing 86 people. police responsible for safety and the mall have taken measures to protect against that kind of terror threat. >> we are absolutely aware of the vehicle attacks and that is a centerpiece of the security plan for this year. >> today i spoke with police departments in maryland and virginia and they, too, say they have good security plans in place for the fourth of july. and that's the latest. >> scott mcfar land, congress is beefing up its own

in alexandria. group planned ahead $25,000 to the office budget of all 435 members. the money would be used to bolster their office security or their personal security when they're outside and protected shield of the u.s. capitol complex. the shooting earlier this month in alexandria. >> capitol police chief testified thursday before u.s. senate panel help deal with the rising number of threats. jim, back to you. >> some passengers under charged, others paying too much. a revelation from metro, today, that some riders have been paying the wrong fare. what the agency plans to do about it. tennis star serena williams taking a page from demi moore, the mag

doug cameron joins us, what a gorgeous team you've got in store. >> we'll have one more. and i'll take it. comes back and i'll tell you, a lot of people are excited about the heat. i'm not one of them. >> no.

here. not heat lover, but for you folks that do love the heat. it's coming back pretty quick. thursday the first day above 90 degrees. the cloud cover across the areas. temperatures at 78 degrees. winds out of the east at 6 miles per hour. take a look at what we've got here. temperature wise around the region. mostly 70. 80 right now down towards. look at annapolis. we're seeing some rain come through parts of the area. those parts have cooled. all pretty good shower and that's what's going on there. another shower through prince frederick. look at this shower right here about to come right across the area, very close seeing shower activity and going to come right across 301. you might see a rumble or two. . you can see that, not much in our area. all from an upper level low that's parts of the

dc all the way back to chicago, keep going, kansas city, minneapolis, not much going on at all. i want to show you something here, take a look at this, wendy and jim put your phones down. take a look at this. okay. >> that's the jet stream, it's back to west and brings in cool. here comes the heat moving on in. see what happens here. the heat comes in across the area and we get back into the 90s. >> you got it. >> we were watching you scream on your phones, buddy. >> there you go. >> 83 degrees your forecast tomorrow, a last great day and lots of sunshine out there, tomorrow is going to be very nice afternoon if you're headed to the pool. 75 at

83 degrees at 4:00, looking pretty good all day long. into the 90s for you, six days at 90 degrees or better. look at friday, saturday, sunday, oh, mid-90s. best chance of shower and storms right now is saturday, looks like it could be a slight chance which happens to be 90 degrees. yesterday we had the temperature at 96. it's looking a little cooler now. >> very good. how they're cracking down on hate speech. >> one reason you're drinking safe clear water is because of dr. tom brissard. he passed away after a bike accident. coming up his friends and colleagues recall his many contributions to virginia. dozens of headstones a

what a church says it has to do to keep this from happening again. somebody who has no respect. it's

now at 5:30, heart break for a widow who recently lost her husband and someone vandalized his final resting place knocking down dozens of headstones as well. some of them more than two centuries old. it's saint thomas's chunrch. police say the vandals toppled more than 20 headstones at the church cemetery. they're trying to find out who did it. megan fitzgerald is live

pick up the pieces, literally. >> reporter: yeah, that's exactly right. church leaders tell us this is a quiet and close nit community. they didn't think twice about not locking the gate here to the cemetery. this is exactly how police say the suspect was able to get into the area before toppling over 24 gravestones. state thomas's church is more than just a sang ware, -- many family members are buried right outside the church. >> my husband who is buried here and his grandparents, great grandparen grandparents. >> she and so many others are devastated. >> it makes my heart

suspects storm the cemetery, toppling over as many as 20 headstones before taking off. >> due to the nation somehow these stones are mounted. the whole history throughout the united states. >> over the last few days, kiss sin ger who is a senior member and it's like brenda. >> it's terrible. it's terrible. >> what did you do to fix it. >> it was only when she arrived here that she realized her mother-in-law's gravestone was among those targeted by vandals. >> this church has been here for hundreds of years and nobody has ever done anything like that. and now out of the clear blue sky, somebody has no respect for family and family members and the deceased have come in and vandalized. it's unforgettable. >> church leaders estimate the damage at around $12,000. they say they'll recover the

to try to make money to cover the cost, meantime police are asking anyone with information about this case to contact them right away. jim. >> megan fitzgerald. megan, thank you, horrible story there. the lincoln memorial needs some rehab and the park service wants you to weigh in on the plans officials want the improvements to be finished by 2022 when the memorial celebrates its centennial anniversary. among the proposed changes, improve accessibility and visitor services. there's a meeting tonight about the plan park service headquarters. if you can't make it, comments are welcome until july 10th. >> the gold scam that is targeting the chinese community has now hit montgomery county as well. these are suspects in the case. police say they struck twice in one case they made off with $20,000. during the scam, the men befrie

community. tricked them into buying fake gold. these two suspects are charged in fairfax county for the same crime. if you know the whereabouts of these men, you're asked to call the montgomery county police. >> you recognize this man, he's the suspect in an up skirting case here at this target in sterling. investigators tell us a woman saw him trying to take video of her yesterday. she and store employee confronted him. he ran from the store. if you know who this is, you're urged to contact louden county sheriff's office. >> and sadly a second child has died after that accident in the family's backyard pool in sterling virginia. the mother found her two-year-old twins unconscious in the pool on saturday at their home on acorn court. one twin, girl, died later today and today, the other twin, a boy, passed away. >> tonight hundreds are mourning the loss of a man some describe as the protector. he was hardly a houho

virginia, he played a big role in making sure your water supply is safe. >> reporter: when you turn on the tap and grab a glass of water tonight, you might want to thank tom grizzard. >> that's the reason why you have this nice clean water that you want to keep drinking. >> tom grissard, virginia tech civil engineer. he ran what's known as the watershed monitoring lab. in the 1970s when water quality was in jeopardy. he and his lab on the front line of making sure water in the lake reservoir was safe. but he was also a pioneer in ensuring that treated water from prince william county was also clean when it went downstream. >> he was just very brilliant individual. that's all i can

industry turned to for answers was tragically killed last week in a cycling accident at this busy intersection. >> tom hired me in 1984. >> barbara worked with him at the lab for decades. >> tom grizzard is known as the protector of the watershed. i really don't know who is going to fill those shoes. >> he's a manassas director of utility. >> right now hard to believe that he's no longer there. and i won't be able to pick up the phone and call him when i'm stuck. >> he's retired from the lab a few years ago, but was recently back helping out there and doing consulting work worldwide. he also served on the manassas utility commission and volunteer. >> in a facebook post,

and here in the lab they're talking about ways to make sure tom grizzard is remembered for years to come, by naming something after him or holding an event in his honor. i'm julie carey, news 4. >> they were detained for selling bottled water without a permit and a video of them shows them sitting in handcuffs. it went viral. when we come right back tonight, how these teens are bouncing back after that incident. i'm tom sherwood at dmv office in washington. as of today, a new form for driver's license. it has a section on gender neutral, what

hi guys. in the desert.be here. at the mall. on the mountain. at school. at the beach. in the big easy. yeah yeah today i want to show you guys the next-gen chevy equinox. what do you think? that's pretty. pretty sexy. it looks aggressive. but not overbearing. it's not too big. not too small. seems like the perfect car for anybody. i would take it anywhere. she's a bad mama jama. (laughter) current qualified gm lessees can get this introductory lease on the all-new 2018 chevy equinox for around $249 a month. find new roads at your local chevy dealer.

a false facebook posting went viral. the post accused him of being a child predator. the damage was so great to the man's safety and reputation that the lakeland, florida police department asked the facebook posters to cease and desist and to verify their facts before they post in the future. police say the man saw the toddler alone at softball game, picked her up and walked around asking if she saw her parents. when the child's father

man holding his daughter, he punched him and posted the man's picture and address on facebook, calling him a predator. police verified the man's story. the father was not arrested and he still is refusing to apologize. it's a first region in d.c. issuing driver's licenses with gender neutral markers. the metro still a few years off from coming from louden county. that has not stopped first responders for repairing for any emergency on the rail. head on news 4. we're working for you. we'll walk you through tackling any potential iue yearsss

several high profile incidents have put safety in the spotlight. january 2015, the tunnel killing a woman and injurying dozens more, that led to a report and shutdown of the entire rail system for two days. then a year of safe track as metro expands in virginia, we're getting a look at how first respondersre

you'll see only on news 4. >> did you realize met tro has already come to leesburg. well, sort of. two old rail cars on a stretch of track headed no way. this, it's critical for first responders to prepare for whatever arises, including smoke from the track. this isn't from an insulator, but rather a smoke machine. added training to what the county here already offers, will help save metro riders from the worse case scenarios. >> this is something that we have not dealt with. there's no rail lines in louden county. >> the silver line is still a few lines away. >> we'll train from one spectrum to the other.

like this, well, the details they matter. they wanted to have an old rail car to use for their training. they wanted to position this car on track everything from the distance from the car to the fence line and the drop below. you don't always have a platform to step on to. >> they need to be able to climb on it. that's why there's no steps on it and this is designed to be not a station. this is meant to be the one that you see when you're driving. >> working with metro to make this happen. she's noticed some surprised drivers who passed the grounds. >> in an effort to prevent tragedy on the rails, before the rails even exist. in leesburg virginia, david, news 4.

>> some metro riders with registered cars could see a couple of bucks returned. technical error caused some riders to be over or under charged. the fair was off by a nickel. major change today for gender identification in the district, starting today people can make their gender, mark their gender with an x on the driver's license, rather than saying they're male or female. the district is the first city in the nation to make that change. it's a very personal molt fment members of the transgender community. a record crowd at dc june pride parade. >> now serving g 67. >> and now the government today has taken a first in the

step from allowing to mark a simple x for their jender. >> and they can be for people like me who identify as nonbuy nair. immediate person for the national center who got the new license today. >> it's just going to help everyone come to a place where we respect everyone regardless of their gender. >> there's no estimate of how many may opt but district officials say they're alerting federal and state agencies nationwide that the license is legitimate. >> it's saying that we respect the rights of all individuals and all individuals deserve the right to be able to say who they are. >> we recently visited the family home. >> i heard her

that i was trans for the first time. and that was a really great moment. >> transgenders are prepared to confront any confusion or hostility over the licenses. they say there's nothing new about their struggle for equality. in the district, tom sherwood, news 4. >> we've got an update now to a story we brought you last week on news 4. a group of teenagers handcuffed for selling water bottles down on the national mall without a license, they eventually led the teens go with a warning, but some witnesses and a council member questioned whether the boys may have been profiled that focuses on tech support. spoes says after he got the job, he got jobs for his friends as well. >> and for the weather is working out. it b

>> i agree with you. i got out and mowed the lawn a little bit earlier today. they did really fantastic weather. you know the heat is going to come back because we do live in the swamp. right now seeing some sunshine, temperature wise we're at 78 degrees 79 on the network. 79 down towards mount vernon. not seeing much as we make our way through the next couple of days. what we're going to be seeing, though, take a look, here is the storm system moving u

north. this is what we've got coming in the next couple of days. but the heat, that's something else entirely. we go outside right now to laura who is beautiful in the beautiful weather. it doesn't get much better than this. >> you're right. now let's go ahead and show you what's going on. what about the weekend, we've got a lot of things going on. and we've also got the beaches. for your beaches, what can you expect headed out of time. temperatures are going to be right around 80 degrees. but that water temperature at 70 if you're sticking around for the national tournament

problems tomorrow, a little humidity towards the end of the day on thursday, a few pop up storms on friday and afternoon storms on saturday and sunday that they may have to dodge, definitely getting hot and humid by the weekend. how is it looks for the fourth. >> that heat wave wants to continue right on through the fourth. i'll be out there coming up on thursday. last great day for a while, we've got lots of sunshine, low humidity, that's about as perfect as it gets around here. we get into the hot, humid weather friday, saturday, sunday. that may bring temperatures back down. the fourth of july forecast right now looking okay. 79 humid at 9:00 a.m. 30% of the storms and looking pretty good for the fireworks at

9:00 what we're dealing with next year. >> it's a whopper, we've got to look into the company and what nn's plaing both on and off

amazon already big, getting bigger. already commands a third of the e-mm

foods deal, what could be next, news 4 chris lawrence has possibilities. >> when it comes to retail, amazon.com already seems to offer it all. from books and home goods to electronics and apparel. and now you can even add groceries with last week's $13 billion purchase of whole foods the internet tie tan going from cyber space to shopping carts. >> wants to sell everything sold to anybody. >> it likely means aggressive growth is far from over, what's next for the $136 billion a year business speculation ranges from prescription drugs to gas station to high end apparel. >> they need to buy a ralph lauren for p -- so they've got real credibility in the brand side of their business. >> some experts say rele

competitors. mom and pop businesses and smaller internet companies like.com and zappos have been gobbled up and it's created a major shift in the land of retail. more than 100,000 retail employees have lost their job since october. 25% of malls nationwide are expected to close by 2022. >> amazon is gradually destroying the retail. people don't like that because it means they might go out of business. it doesn't mean the world is not getting cheaper. >> for most consumers, the bottom line is saving money and time. for new mom kylie life is easier with amazon. >> i bought her dresses. i just got an awesome pair of shoes. i've ordered routers for my computer. you name it, i probably ordered it. >> and now amazon is prime for another big move, the question now,

cost will the competitors pay. chris, news 4. start tonight capitol belt with way, big truck stalled on the bridge and to make matters worse, it's leaking fuel. >> chopper 4 over the scene right now. traffic backed up for miles. montgomery county fire and rescue about 175 gallons of fuel has spilled there. having emerged down from two lanes between the american legion, fairly getting by. hazmat crews are on the scene and it's cleaning up that mess. it's eventually going to be towed away and take some time, though. no word on what cost it. >> just to give you an idea of the ripple effect this is having. take a look at this, it's not just the inner loop that's way backed up. it's also the outer loop, the gw parkway,

much every major roadway nearby. if you know someone who is making their way home and have to take think of these routes, you should give them a heads up. >> and bad time of day to happen there. >> yeah, indeed. now to a sudden pause in the high stakes senate battle over health care. >> republican rebellion of sorts is trampled the hopes of getting the bill before the holiday break which was the plan. the vote has been pushed back while republican leaders regroup. duane alexander live on capitol hill, blayne. >> that push back of the vote is really exactly what republican leaders were trying to avoid. they didn't want to send their members home over break without getting this done. they don't want to see them have to face another hall and they didn't want -- >> protesters celebrating. news that the health care is a no go. president trump now jumping directly intohe