from the first local station with news high- definition, this is wusa 9 news. good evening. nearly five-year long investigation lands prince george's county executive jack

johnson and his wife in some very serious trouble with the law. the court documents talk about tens of thousands of dollars stashed inside leslie johnson's underwear, under the table deals between the johnsons and developers and attempting to flush a $100,000 check down the toilet. our team coverage begins live outside of the federal courthouse in green belt. andrea. >> reporter: the u.s. attorney says this 10-page affidavit is just the tip of the iceberg. part of a broader ongoing investigation into corruption. he said in the weeks and months to come there will likely be additional defendants and more charges. >> reporter: the affidavit alleges that a real estate developer gave jack johnson currency and a check for $100,000 in return for home funds and other official

assistance. if you have information regarding a pay to play scheme in this county or state it is far better to talk to us now than for us to come knocking on your door. >> we just heard from leslie johnson's attorney and he made this brief statement. >> mrs. johnson has entered a plea of not guilty today to all charges that are being lodged against her. back live to recap prince george's executive jack johnson and his wife leslie johnson, both charged with federal crimes tonight tampering with a witness and evidence as well as destruction, falsification and alteration of records in a federal investigation. both johnsons have been

released on their own recognizance. my colleague scott broom is outside the johnson home in mitchellville. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in mitchellville where federal investigators just finished their search of county executive jack johnson's house. nine investigators leave the johnson residents tonight with at least 13 indicates of evidence. leslie johnson is accused of hiding $80,000 in her underwear. earlier today a plumber was called to the residence saying he was here to dismantle toilets. leslie johnson is alleged to have tried to flush down a $1000 check down the drain. investigators could be inside scouring the house. johnson was returned to the home and finally was led away in handcuffs about 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon just after his wife had been taken away. >> they are our neighbors. they scrus got arrested. i'm just like what happened? >> reporter: i'm bruce leshan at the prince george's county administration building in upper marlboro where federal

agents have just wrapped up their search of jack johnson, the county executive's offices upstairs here on fifth floor. >> i'm sorry, you have to go back downstairs. you can't be up here. >> reporter: we don't have any idea what they found and it may be some time before we find out. but law enforcement officials did issue a clear warning to other people in the county who might be involved in what they call a pay to play scheme. that's paying county officials in order to get permission and county deals to get permission to build county buildings. law officials say it is far better to come forward now and talk to the fbi than for us to come knocking at your door. you can bet those words are ringing in the ears of folks here. whether there will be other people here at the county administration building charged with federal crimes, we will have to wait and see. >> joining me now to talk about

the day's events, former chair, former public safety director. thank you for coming in tonight of the we appreciate it, jim. first of all, you've known the johnsons for a long time. your thoughts? >> it is a sad state of affairs. >> how surprising is it really? we have been hearing rumors about things like this in the county going back to that washington post a little while ago about the situation in green belt. this is not surprising. >> i think when you are in politics and particularly as it gets close to an election year there are all kinds of rumors floating around. you hope they are not true. >> he has been indicted. we will see what happens after that. now let's talk about the fact that your county has been trying so hard for so long to upgrade its image. in fact, this big development at green belt was supposed to be part of that, maybe a new department store, maybe some

other things. what does this do to those chances? >> i think perception is 90% of the game and the unfortunate thing is if people have a perception that you have to pay to play in prince george's county it is not good for business. but you know, we have got a new team coming in. a new county executive that i think will do a terrific job. he has vision, integrity and we certainly think that he and what he represents along with a new county council are going to bring a new day to prince george's county. >> you're hoping for a enough beginning here. but what does it say? jack johnson went through two terms. it took the feds to come in and deal with this. >> it is always hard for the voters because they get soundbytes and cliches and we need to focus on the fact during our election cycle we have to really examine candidates and this is about public service. this is about having a servants' heart. this is not about something that is done for personal gain and i think both nationally and locally we have got to return

to that concept. >> i love that idea of a servant's heart but a lot of people might say you need to have some safeguards in place as well. so when the heart is not quite right there are things that can keep this kind of thing from happening. do you need to change the laws in prince george's county so maybe they have some checks and balance. >> we have a charter form of government which was an improvement over the old county commission form of government where there had been some corruption years ago and you have the council and the executive that are supposed to be checks and balances on each other. one of the things that baker said he is going to do is establish an inspector general's office that can keep an eye on whether proper adherence to laws is being followed. >> how can prince george's county move forward? >> i think our economic day has

just begun. >> former chair of the county council. we appreciate your time tonight, jim. appreciate your insight as well. >> thank you. >> a lot more on this story and all the documents we have been talking about at wusa9.com. i'm meteorologist topper shutt. our food drive 9 takes shape tomorrow. if you received a bag in maryland or virginia from the boy scouts fill it with food tonight and put it out for pick up. downtown in the district go by any safeway. 15 in the district. and just donate some food. we really need your help for food drive 9 and boy scouts need your help as well. the full forecast is coming up. up next, riding in style after a frightful night. we will have an update on those veterans whose bus caught fire.

this week examining a gene patenting case that could turn research and development on its head. sunday morning, 8:30 a.m. right here on wusa 9. a group of vietnam veterans continued their tour today despite their bus burned down around them. you saw this last night at 11:00 p.m. on the news. it happened at 10:00 p.m. near the 14th street bridge in arlington. veterans finished their dinner and were heading to their hotel when the bus started filling with smoke then burst into flames. today that bus company gave the group an upgrade. they are now riding in style in a hummer stretched limo and party bus. >> what do you think of your new ride? >> the pit mobile? i've never ridden in a stretch limo before. it is much better.

it doesn't feel like it will catch fire. >> who knows what could go on in there. fire investigators say a mechanical problem is what caused that bus fire. >> a commuter alert for you to get ready for some headaches on all five metro lines over the week. starting in less than an hour red line trains will share a track. 10:00 p.m. trains will start sharing another area on the red line. vienna and west falls church station on the orange line. tomorrow morning, 7:00 a.m. it will be one track between the prince george's plaza and college park stations on the green line and braddock road and pentagon stations on blue and red lines. all that work for track maintenance. it will be done by the time the system closes sunday. drivers need to be ready for all but one lane of the outer belt to close. it will run through tomorrow afternoon. if that's not enough for you.

how about ohio drive? that is set to close tonight at 11:00 p.m. between the roosevelt bridge and independence avenue. that is so the crews can wrap up all those repairs they have been doing for the last several months around the lincoln memorial. the road is expected to be back open by 5:00 a.m. monday. let's talk about tonight's rush hour. the 9news now traffic center. >> in virginia westbound i-66 still stop and go. heavy volume. had some bright sunlight problems awhile back. maryland few slow downs i-270. not too bad a drive. a while back we had a crash up the line. northbound 270 by route 280. that has been cleared off and we should be back to normal there. 395 in virginia a good drive now. basically moderate to occasionally heavy from the pentagon going past the beltway

going southbound there. nothing to really hold you up there. >> thank you, richard. it has been a great week outdoors. could the weekend be even better? let's find out from topper just ahead. first, the price of history. reaction tonight to one proposal to charge folks to get into the smithsonian. that's up next.

update about our turkey for

troops push with the metropolitan washington. a $15,000 matching contribution from quest software will buy food baskets for 836 families this thanksgiving. a lot more need your help. click on the u.s.o. banner at wusa9.com to donate. could free admission to the smithsonian museum soon be a thing of the past? a commission wants to start a $7.50 admission fee so it can cut the museum's funding by 225 million. now, this is not the first time congress has thought about charging a fee. it has tried five times since 1986. >> every time the smithsonian decides to remain free because we think it is really important that regardless of your income you can come and visit the museum. >> a smithsonian spokesperson

says two thirds of the budget is federally funded through taxpayer dollars so she says even with the free admission you are still paying for your visit to the museum. >> lots of folks weighing in on this one on our facebook page after we told you about it last night at 7:00 p.m. james poseyed the smithsonian belongs to us. it would be like a pay toilet in my bathroom while sebrina argues that's ridiculous they are not good enough to go in especially if you have already been in them numerous times. if disney can charge $84 a person to watch mickey and ride three rollercoasters i have no problem charging. you may even learn something in the process. more coming up in the mail bag. how did the universe begin? a local high school teacher is headed to antartica. they will be searching for

answers at the bottom of the world. >> reporter: washington science teacher heading to where it is a frigid 40 below zero joining a group of scientists with a project called ice cube. it is collecting data from a mile underground from 8000 photo collectorses like this one. >> electricity comes into a light bulk and light comes out. in this light comes into this end an electricity comes out of the top into a cable that goes to our data collection computers. >> reporter: miss sherry says it captures the life that comes through mueons. >> they are literally streaming through you and me right now. all through the building, all through the earth and all through the sun and we have never been able to study them in large quantities before. >> reporter: miss sherry says scientists at the south pole are hoping to detect he neutri

treonos. >> where do we come from, who else is out there? what are we made out. >> reporter: oh, yes. getting to see a lot of penguins and seals also but no polar bears. they live at the north pole. peggy fox, 9 news now. >> it will take katy sherry five days to get down there and once she is there she will be blogging and sending back video clips to share with her students and on our website. >> cool. >> but not that cold here. >> no. although that said, it was 66 today but it was 36 this morning. cold as it has been downtown. >> that is so weird how cold it gets at night. >> it is so dry. that's the key. actually, we will pay dividends for that. >> temperatures. a wide range. 40s, 50s. we have got anything from 45 up

in gaithersburg to 52 downtown. to 43 in reston and 42 in sterling. the air mass is very dry. sun has been down a couple hours. temps are really starting to fall big time. wonderful weekend. saturday, sunny and milder. saturday night colder again. so if you're going to go out you need a jacket. temperatures will fall quickly. very nice day on sunday. yes, a few more clouds. then monday afternoon clouds and perhaps some showers before the end of the redskins game. for tonight though, clear skies and cold. temps falling fast after sunset. that was proof just a minute ago. 28 to 40 for temperatures for lows. north east winds at 5. 10. very wide range tonight. we are not copping out. sometimes we do get a 12 to 15- degree range in our micro climate. 29 in gaithersburg. 40 downtown. 41 over in bowie. 31 in fairfax. and reston and you get out towards leesburg and upperville and down from manassas temperatures in the upper 20s tonight. your day planner.

for saturday. cold to start. 30 to 40. 59 by lunchtime. sunshine. and then 65 by evening but again sun is down at 4:57. we had to put a moon up. but still a spectacular, spectacular day. want to emphasize that. next three days. great. tomorrow 66. milder sunday. upper 60s. will be cooler on monday. 60. cold front goes through sunday. pretty much unnoticed. might see a storm system bringing a little bit of moisture here late into monday night. and yes, that might actually occur just before the end of the redskins game. we will kind of fine tune that as we get closer. next seven days. we are not going to escape the rain because eventually on tuesday we are looking at cold rain. temperatures low 50s. morning shower on wednesday then we clear out 59 then sort of a pattern change. yes, it is november after all. low 50s on thursday with sunshine. and temperatures next friday will struggle to get to 50 and that is also with full sunshine, derek. so enjoy our october-like weekend. >> while it lasts. >> yes. >> all right. let's get to our weird news

file. you may have served detention for starting a food fight. remember those? at one new jersey schools they wanted the students to start chucking their food around. teachers handed out 1500 chocolate custard pies and the students took aim. ready, aim, fire. classmates. faculty. anything caught in the middle got hit with a chocolate pie. now, the goal to break the world record for a pie throwing contest. it was all for a good cause. every pie thrown raised money for a local soup kitchen. in the end the school did raise $10,000. however, there was a cost to the carnage. $2000 worth of chocolate pie just everywhere. >> hose that down. we want to hear what you think. sends your e-mails to...9 news now will be right back. oh wow, look at that.

calm down donkey. it's vacation time! ohhhhh, who says ogres can't surf? nice moves fiona. ha, ha, ha, i love 3d. wooo hooooo! [ shrek ] gingy? [ laughs ] do the roar. roar! marty, what's shrek doing on a cruise ship? looks like he's having fun! [ female announcer ] join the dreamworks experience for the ultimate vacation, only on royal caribbean.

the cruise from hell. that cruiseship that lost power and had to be towed back to shore while passengers dealt with no air-conditioning and bad food. nancy, however, says, it could have been worse. i understand that having your cruise vacation go wrong is not fun. however, it was an engine fire. and i'm quite sure people on the titanic would have been

grateful for spam and pop tarts. be happy for a funny story to tell and the fact they didn't end up in icy water fighting for their lives. you are technically right, nancy you can say that about anything. i got a flat tire. at least it is not all four. true but that is cold comfort as they say. is that the cruiseship standard now? i'm thinking funny story is okay. a good vacation not having to eat pop tarts is way better. then whether we ought to pay to get into the smithsonian to help the government save catch. justin not a fan of that plan. i think that there should not be a fee he says. museums should be one place where you don't pay to learn something. i already pay for a college education. >> having grown up here in dc i was actually an adult before i knew that in other towns paying to get into zoos and museums is pretty standard. we have been very fortunate to have the taxpayers foot the bill for such wonderful facilities for so long.

maybe now in tougher times the folks who actually use the museum may have to ante up a bit more. we would love to hear from you. mailbag@wusa9.com or join us conversation by going to our wusa 9 facebook page which you can link to on our website. i will be back tonight with anita brikman. our game of the week. don't forget log on anytime to wusa9.com. we will see you a bit later. bye-bye. captions by: caption colorado, llc 800-775-7838 email: comments@captioncolorado.com [ man ] are you aware that verizon fios brings fiber optics to your home and cable doesn't? yes. -i read that. -i do know that. yes, but there's a contract. at verizon, they want you to have a two year contract.

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