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right now on "news4 this week" saving a statue. protesters came to charlottesville in part to stop robert e. lee from coming down. so what does one of his great grandsons think about this week's violence? special reunion, how a place for somber reflection became a place with a lot of smiles more than 70 years in the making. can you hear me now? we tested metro's new cell service to let you know if you'll get a signal underground. welcome to "news4 this week." >> we, of course, begin with the big story of the week, the chaos in charlottesville that stemmed from a controversial rally of far right groups, including neo-nazis and white nationalists. the groups say they were

robert e. lee's statue at the university of virginia. this week news4's chris gordon spoke to one of lee's descendants who lives right here in our area. he has the interview you'll see only on news4. >> reporter: robert e. lee iv is 94 years old. he is proud of the lee family 2345i7 name, the statues of robert e. lee and his place in history. i asked his reaction to the violence that occurred in charlottesville because of the city's decision to remove the statue of general lee. >> we don't believe in each other, we don't have any love for each other anymore, we don't have any respect for each other anymore. >> reporter: i also asked his reaction to the decision to take down his great grandfather's statue. >> it's something if the people want to take it down, take it down. i have no problem with it. however, as i said, i think if you're going to take it

fine. if you had the choice, i'd say let's take that money and build a better history courses. >> reporter: he knows for many people his great grandfather's statue is a symbol of slavery, but he doesn't see it that way. >> he owned slaves only by marriage. and then when he got the plantation back in shape, whatever that meant, and i don't know what that meant, he let them go. >> reporter: chris gordon, news4. >> now, lee says his great grandfather was first and foremost a military man who fought for virginia. and when the civil war was over, he said general lee taught his students at what became washington & lee university that the time had come to unite as one country. meanwhile, confederate statues are being taken down in a lot of cities across the country. robert e. lee and stonewall jackson w

cover of darkness this week in baltimore. some critics think those monuments should stay up. but when justin finch spoke to families that live nearby, they told him how relieved they were to see them go. >> i'm just so happy. i had to get up on my way to work, and i had to go to all four areas to actually see it. >> reporter: for sheila boone, baltimore is home. but today, she says, it feels more like home than ever before after four confederate monuments were removed early this morning. we met sheila at the confederate soldiers and sailors moniment, now an empty pedestal, defaced by anti-trump graffiti. at each monument she's finding a sense of community. >> i'm meeting all sorts of people talk and laughing and taking pictures and saying, yes, this should have happened a long time ago. >> reporter: it happened overnight. city and private crews called in to remove the four confederate sts

one of robert e. lee and stonewall jackson. the takedowns happening sooner than many planned, just about one day after baltimore's city council voted to remove the monuments. >> to actually see it in real life, like, wow, this is finally coming down, this was surreal. there's no other way to say it over than this is surreal. >> reporter: at this memorial near johns hopkins, a statue of the supreme court justice, roger tawny now gone as well. monuments regarded as symbols of strength seen by others as something hurtful. >> anybody that thinks these things are innocuous historical symbols, i think you need to ask yourself why is it then that neo-nazis find them so important. >> reporter: many who have been showing up to the site say their hearts go out to those in charlottesville and they did not want happened there to happen here in

mopme monuments, they will be stored until it's decided what to do with them. >> this has become one of the most read stories on the nbc washington app this week. if you'd like to read it and other stories we've covered on the topic, just search monument. now, this is a story you'll see only on news4. a survivor of the holocaust reunites with the family who hid him and his sister from the nazis. they hadn't seen each other in more than 70 years. as news4's david culver reports, it's a reunion that wouldn't have happened if it wasn't for a high school assignment. >> don't tell anyone. >> reporter: those words he'll never forget hearing from his mother. >> we were not to say anything in school or even to our best friends. that was drilled by my mother. >> reporter: it was early 1945.

in the netherlands. suddenly one night the house got a bit fuller. >> these people needed a place, so my parents decided they -- you know, they would take them in. >> reporter: two young jewish children, a boy and a girl, hid from the nazis in the family home. after a few weeks, they left. tom was 7. didn't think he'd see them again. until his grandson turned a high school project into a personal mission. >> i think almost every night looking for e-mails an phone numbers, same as i. we were a team on this. >> reporter: they finally connected, first by voice. >> i said this is tom. you stayed at our house. >> oh, my god, is that really true? >> reporter: that led tom to join his daughter and grandsons on a trip from their home in canada to d.c. for this moment.

>> it's good to see you. who would have known. who would have guessed? >> 73 years. 73 years. >> reporter: ralph now lives in arlington, virginia. his sister moved back to the netherlands, never forgetting what the family did for them. >> they were just doing what they thought was the right thing. they certainly saved our lives. >> reporter: a reunion made possible by the determination from the next generation. david culver, news4. >> the two world war ii survivors also shared insight on today's social climate. they told david the next generation needs to be aware of racism and anti-semitism so as not to allow a repeat of what we saw during their period. when we come back, are more tolls coming to the beltway? why one of our local governors says he thinks it's a great idea. plus the long

process after vandals strike the lincoln memorial. fios is not cable. we're a 100% fiber optic network. and with the new fios gigabit connection... you get our fastest... internet ever. with download speeds up to 940 megs - 20 times faster than most people have. switch to fios gigabit connection with tv and phone for $79.99 a month online for the first year. plus hbo for one year and multi-room dvr service for two years, all with a two-year agreement. and switching has never been easier. get out of your contract with up to a $500 credit

more and more toll lanes are popping up along your commute. they're meant to make the drive to work faster, but of course it comes at a cost. virginia's governor says he'd like to see more tolls around the entire beltway. drivers would be able to pay to get around traffic or car pool to get around the congestion. as you can imagine, commuters have strong opinions about this. >> having expressways definitely will be better for the traffic. >> and you're willing to pay a toll to get around? >> oh, yes. i am. >> take the metro, be smart. i hate 495. >> transportation leaders are looking into it, trying to decide if it would make sense. remember, the beltway is 64 miles around, and right now less than a quarter of it has express lanes. the

arlington is getting a $5 million facelift that will last several months. philanthropist david reubenstein donated to the project. it will have better lighting as well as improved roads that take a beating from tour buses. the memorial will stay open and people are encouraged to take public transportation to access the plaza right off meade street. still ahead, most of metro's tunnels are now wired for underground cell service, but just how good is it? adam tuss puts it to the test. plus vandals strike the lincoln memorial. we'll look at how crews will clean it up.

an electrical fire forced people out of smithsonian castle this week. flames broke out at the historic building right as folks were enjoying lunch. the castle is home to the smithsonian's administrative offices and visitors

the fire was in a nonpublic area and sprinklers contained it. it is home to precious art and artifacts, but none of those items were actually damaged. right now crews are beginning the long process of removing spray paint from the lincoln memorial. vandals hit the memorial this week writing a foul message. mark segraves tells us this type of problem is unfortunately somewhat common. >> reporter: the latest vandalism here at the lincoln memorial was done with red spray paint. one of the rear columns that face the river. the "f" word is written down the column and the word "law" appears across the bottom. what will you go back and tell your classmates about this? >> that they vandalized the lincoln memorial. >> what do you think of that? >> it's awful. i hate it. >> reporter: a news4 i-team inveig

park service investigates about 2,000 cases a year of vandalism to our parks at a cost of more than $1 million to clean. while news4 was interviewing a parks service spokesman about the graffiti, we noticed another place the memorial had been defaced, this was someone's initials carved into the marble. while the paint can be removed, it will take a few weeks. but something like this carved into the monument cannot be fixed. mark segraves, news4. >> there have been other high-profile vandalism cases in recent years. a woman from d.c. was arrested about four years ago, accused of splattering green paint at the lincoln memorial and the national cathedral. she was later found incompetent to stand trial. your next metro ride could be filled with a lot more chatter, because the transit agency recently upgraded cell service to a big part of the downtown section of the system. transportation reporter adam tuss is

works. >> reporter: can you hear me now? >> hello? >> hello? >> reporter: you'll likely be hearing a lot of people's conversations now that metro has upgraded cell service in a significant portion of the downtown core. >> i don't want to hear other people's conversations but i would love to talk myself. >> you want to talk. >> correct. >> maybe we'll have to get a quiet metro car? >> yes, like the vre. >> reporter: on the blue, orange and silver lines, the major carriers, at&t, sprint, t-mobile and verizon wireless should have uninterrupted service from metro center all the way to stadium armo armory. we found riders catching a call between these stations. >> watch me tonight on news4 because i'll be on there. >> reporter: and her call held. now time for our own test. here's the deal. we wanted to see for ourselves if the

actually kbrouimproved, especia inside the tunnels. i'm calling my photographer's phone. up on the screen pops my name, adam tuss. okay, at least the call is going through. now, can we answer the call? can i answer and talk to myself? hello? hel hello? hello? it actually is working. but cell service being what it is, this may not be 100% all the time. riders trying to call one another -- >> hello? no, it's gone. >> it's gone. >> it's gone? >> yes, it's gone. >> reporter: metro won't say specifically which section of the system will get the upgrade next, but the transit agency expects to have service in all tunnels by late 2020. at metro center, adam tuss, news4. >> when that happens, i've got a feeling more people are going to be clamoring for that quiet car. it is convenient for some, but too overcrowded for others, and soon there may be fewer options for everyone. people who shop at the sitiny

the grocery store is too small to add wine and beer. tom sherwood reports on what they want instead. >> reporter: there are lots of booze deliveries east of dupont circle but none deliver to this decades-old tyiny safeway tucke on the corner. safeway's license is irritating neighbors. they want more food options not booze buys. >> they're concerned that the store is small already. if they devote a couple of aisles to beer and wine, it will be smaller yet. it is a grocery store. we can't go to the liquor store to pick up celery and carrots. >> reporter: safeway told nbc4 it's been a good neighbor. we constantly look for ways that we can provide great service and value to our customers. beer and wine will make up less than 4% of the store's inventory. still, safeway plans show alcohol shelving takes up space in the middle of the store. barbara donaldson is a parent

leader at nearby roth elementary. parents, teachers and school staff shop at safeway. >> if they want to make some improvements to the store, it could be around the quality of the food that they have. there's so many opportunities for them to do that. >> reporter: safeway says it has been upgrading store shelves and service in the limited space. some neighbors say food shortages and limited shelving prompted the nickname soviet safeway years ago. a public hearing on its beer and wine license will be next month. in the district, tom sherwood, news4. >> the good old soviet safeway reference. still ahead, training camp is over for the redskins, but players are still trying to make the team. we'll show you how one player is getting motivation from his own family.

the redskins wrapped up training camp this week, but there's still plenty of work to be done, especially for

hulsey. he's a long shot to make the team but is finding plenty of motivation in his own family. >> for my english 11th grade teacher who told me i would be in jail and lead all my friends to jail, i just want to say thanks. but redskins rookie josh hulsey already knew where to turn for motivation. while his dad, jonathan, was deployed in iraq, his convoy hit an ied. the explosion cost him his left leg below his knee. yet, he still completed officer's school and now runs 5ks. >> it's crazy to see how he can run. i used to give him a head start, but i can't do it anymore. >> nine years after dad's injury, josh tore his acl not once, but twice, almost sidelining him forever. >> i had somebody tell you once you walk away from the game, it's one of the worst things you do. >> he didn't have to look far for a source of strength, his

his leg and comes back and can still run 5ks and bike and do all of these legs, me tearing a ligament shouldn't be too hard. it was good but he was a big factor, especially everything he did as an amputee. >> roster spot or not, this camp is another impressive page in his life story. >> it's just another chapter in my life that i've got to go conquer. it was all worth it, coming back two times. it's a harder deal to come back from two acls so it just shows the type of person i am. but to be here is a great, wonderful thing. >> boy, oh boy, i wish him luck. that's going to do it for "news4 this week." i'm chris lawrence. we leave you with pictures of the national mall where people gathered to remember the victims of the violence in charlottesville. thank you for joining us. have a good week.

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