well, our bruce johnson caught up with d. c. mayor gray on monday. >> have you been sitting before the grand jury? has your attorney talked to prosecutors? >> i have not been called and i don't know the extent to which my attorney has discussed any of this with the u.s. attorney's office. >> have you drawn any conclusions in your mind as to possible irregularities? >> no, that's why we called for the investigation. >> lorraine green who was the chairwoman of gray's campaign, has also denied any wrongdoing. >>> at this hour, the d. c. city council is holding an emergency vote to repeal a law that some say is too harsh. triple a even calls it ridiculous. the law allows police in the district to arrest drivers who have expired tags. even those from other states. the passed, the legislation will be effect i immediately. immediately -- effective immediately. but it will still only be a temporary solution. >>> still to come when 9news now continues, kayakers have a close encounter with a whale and it's all caught on tape. >>> and afte

bruce johnson has been working on this story. bruce, what have you learned? >> reporter: we have learned a lot tonight. howard brooks, is cooperating with the federal investigation. we don't know if he has been grand immunity. but our sources say mr. brooks has already agreed to wear a wire. sources say others have also been approached by federal prosecutors, and have refused the same level of cooperation. they will not wear a wire. now if you follow the story from the beginning, you know brown, a form mer candidate for mayer, testified before a dc council committee and produced money orders he says were given to him by brooks. brown says he was also given cash and the promise of a job if gray won the election. gray won the election and brown was required and fired from a six figure position. mayor gray today reiterated that a payment and promises of a job were made to brown, who knew nothing about it. he has not been called before the federal grand jury. he has not been told he is a target. >> i haven't been called for anything at this stage. we want to coop

bruce johnson, 9news now. >> the king memorial is very personal for president obama. he credits the civil rights leader with paving his path to the white house. he left a copy of his inaugural speech in a time capsule at the site. >>> 4:33. here's a look at other things making news now. the occupy wall street movement is showing no signs of letting up. over the weekend it spread to several cities in the country and overseas to europe. protesters were arrested after refusing to take are down their tents. >>> 19 people, including princeton university professor cornell west was arrested while protesting on the supreme court. the demonstrators are part of the stop the machine protest against corporate influence. dr. west is a well-known writer. >>> indy car drivers and fans are mourning the death of indianapolis 500 winner dan wheldon. the 33-year-old died in a fiery 15--car pileup at the las vegas motor speedway sunday. three other drivers were injured. wheldon is the indianapolis 500 champion. >>> there was talk of a possible controversy between rex grossman and john be

bruce johnson, 9news now. >> wow. so jail time for an expired tag. that is pretty harsh in d.c.o you agree? let me know. e-mail me. the address mailbag@wusa9.com. or jump on the facebook page. >>> new at 7 p.m. virginia's new multimillion dollar mistake. ineligible medicaid recipients are costing the state a fortune. $18 million to 263 million in the year 2009 alone. we are not talking about fraud. this audit blames it on case workers at the department of social serviceses mistakenly signing up people who simply don't qualify. likewise, many people who do qualify get denied. the good news is a brand-new computer system is in the works and that ought to cut way down on these human mistakes. >>> well, teachers get ready. there is going to be a lot of reading, writing and math coming your way around the bargaining table. a new contract for d.c. teachers. the last contract took three years plus a mediator to settle. this time around it could get bogged down over a controversial teacher valuation program that the school system now uses. >>> tonight millions of blackberry users are se

bruce johnson picks up the story. >> when you are stopped by police, you will not be asked your immigration status. >> they packed the mayor's press conference today to hear d.c. officials proclaim they will not help federal authorities track and deport illegal immigrants. >> this order means to us that the families are not going it be separated. it means a lot. >> executive order signed by mayor gray today directs d.c. police and other agencies not to detain individuals on the basis of immigration status. it prohibits the city from making adult offenders available for federal immigration interviews without a court order. >> d.c. officials say the undocumented population is between 7 and 10,000. but privately they concede it is double or triple that, because afterall, who is going to admit they are here illegally? >> we want to make sure we create a set of conditions in this city where people feel like they can work with, cooperate with the law enforcement official. >> it means people can trust the police more. that they can come to them with major problems in their lives. without fear of b

. >>> this is bruce johnson. coming up, hank williams jr.een sacked by espn after comparing the president to adolf hitler. i'll have the story coming up. state farm. this is jessica. hey, jessica, jerry neumann with a policy question. jerry, how are you doing? fine, i just got a little fender bender. oh, jerry, i'm so sorry. i would love to help but remember, you dropped us last month. yeah, you know it's funny. it only took 15 minutes to sign up for that new auto insurance company but it's taken a lot longer to hear back. is your car up a pole again? [ crying ] i miss you, jessica! jerry, are you crying? no, i just, i bit my tongue. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. state farm. >>> you know that voice. hank williams, the singer who usually opens up monday night football. the theme song was pulled last night after williams compared president obama to adolf hitler during an interview on the fox tv network. bruce johnson is covering the fallout from this story and there is a lot of reaction to this. >> there's fallout. he's apologizing

. >>> this is bruce johnson. the only city in the country where tags on your car expire and you're arrested. that could soon change. i'll have that story coming up. [ screaming ] [ zapping ] there goes dwayne's car. oh, man. there goes dwayne's house. whoa! whoa! and there goes dwayne. man, that thing does not like dwayne. [ male announcer ] state farm's got you covered. nice landing. it was. [ male announcer ] get to a better state. >>> we have some shocking breaking news coming out of california. a live picture from steal beech where we understand nine people, nine have been shot at a hair salon and as many as six people could be dead in this shooting. the suspect we are told is in custody. steel beach is about 30 miles south of los angeles. this is a very active scene unfolding right now. we're going to continue to monitor it and give you updates as it comes in. there you can see the salon there. again nine people shot and six may be dead in the breaking news out of california. >>> back here in d. c. this may

. >>> this is bruce johnson. this is 7th and 0 street. this is the thriving area. the giants food store back there. you can get fresh meats. president barack obama is now showing an interest in this area and coming up, we're going to tell you why. >>> but up next, families across the country may soon be going nuts over the 40% price hike for peanut butter. we'll be right back. >>> we have a consumer alert tonight about a kitchen staple. peanut butter could take a big chunk out of your wallet this fall. experts expect the prices to jump to 44% next month. failing peanut crop and that is causing a shortage of peanuts and this could be the worst peanut season in more than 30 years. >>> president obama says he is prepared to break his $447 billion jobs bill into pieces if the congress won't pass the whole measure. the president spoke today in pittsburgh just hours before the legislation faces its first critical vote in the senate where it is likely going to be voted down. the plan includes public works projects, unemployment assistance and tax hikes on the wealthy. rep

. >> bruce johnson, thank you. >>> well charges of disen franchising voters and trying to get rid of a republican congressman was the focus on redrawing the lines in montgomery county. this was day one of the special legislation of the legislature called to redistrict the state due to the latest census. roscoe bartlett of maryland's district would be changed to heavy democratic area and in montgomery county they might vote him out. donna edwards has also complained that minority districts around the washington area would be broken up. alley taking much of the heat. >> the greatest amount of population growth happened in the washington suburbs. and therefore, that is where this disruption of lines has also been the greatest. >> it submits communities, it splits neighborhoods, it hurts the minority population or those of us who live and represent rural areas and it's a poor plan by the governor. >> they are hoping to have the redistricting done over the objections in the districts by the end of this week. >>> yesterday morning thousands of people showed up to watch history be made at t

hello everybody, i'm bruce bruce -- bruce johnson, thank you for joining us this sunday.ey been able to beat dallas last month. >> yes, that's the good news. and the 3-1 start is something that we would have liked to have been taking. the bad news is over the last three weeks the redskins offense has been averaging just over 18 points per game. while they did win this afternoon, it may have been against the worst team in football and certainly it was not convincing. not a great day for them at quarterback, though we did have a couple of moments, this is one of the big one, second possession, santana moss gets both out there, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. a huge game for this man right here, who had been glued to the bench weeks one through three. he wasn't today. 135 yards on 19 carries including 20 on that touchdown. redskins lead 17-0 in the third, but the rams got within 7. they had a chance to draw even after the pick to james. the skins defense responded with only 7 sacks in the game. 17-10 final skins, 3-1. >> you know, you need to hold them, to get the ball in

hello, i'm bruce johnson.e than three million customers remain without electricity after a freak october snowstorm knocked down trees and power lines across the region. close to two feet of snow fell in some areas. it's going to take days to restore power even though the snow has ended. the storm smashed records for october, dumping from 1.3 inches in new york central park to the 27 inches that piled up in plainsfield, massachusetts. snow and downed trees also caused travel problems from airport delays to suspended rail service. the storms stranded thousands in airports and on trains. people were forced to spend the night on one amtrak. at least nine deaths are blamed on the storm. >> we heard a whole bunch of crashing and crackling, everything. this tree wound up falling, breaking and crushing the whole side of the house where my mother was sleeping. >> because we have so many trees, so many limbs and so many roads unpassable. >> i expected snow the whole nine yards, but what we got today, i had no idea. >> i

according to the court documents, there was a witness and that person talked to bruce johnson who agreed to protect his identity. >> it turns out there was an eyewitness to this shooting. he talked to police and he talked to us as we were standing out here today. the cab was parked here on pond street right where the channel 9 vehicle is right now. back there is anacostia avenue northeast. according to our witness, the man who talked to police, the suspect pulled the cab driver out of the cab, put him on the sidewalk, stripped him of his clothes and demanded money. the cab driver repeated, i don't have any money. the suspect went through the cab looking for cash, came back, put a bullet into the cab driver. the cab driver still alive. he was able to dial 911 and put the cab in reverse and backed into the park where he reportedly died. the suspect fled this way and this is where police found the cab driver's wallet, his identification, and some clothing belonging to the suspect. >> and officials with the dc youth rehabilitation services says the law does not allow them to comment on young

hello, i'm bruce johnson. thank you for joining us this sunday night.d tonight but counting is just beginning. the fear that number will climb dramatically. an undetermined number trapped under collapsed buildings and homes in the massive quake that struck the eastern part of turkey this morning. drew levinson begins our coverage with the latest on rescue and recovery efforts tonight. >> reporter: emergency crews worked through the night tigging through the rubble for survivors after a 7.2 magnitude earthquake devastated eastern turkey sunday. rescue workers endured bitter temperatures along with several aftershocks including one that registered 6.1. the turkish prime minister went to see the damage himself. in the daylight it is easier to get a clearer picture of the devestation. buildings are in shambles and thousands have been forced from their homes including this woman who lost her home. but said thank god my kids were not at home during the quake. emergency workers dug through the debris hoping to find someone inside alive. and they did. this man

our bruce johnson talked with some current and former students who are struggling with this massive debt. this is like the second biggest debt that most americans have. second only to their mortgage. >> consider this. rene tipett has four daughters that graduated from college. they owe over $300 in student loans. we didn't even have to leave the building to find people that owe money. >> reporter: a senior at the university of maryland. the communications major and channel 9 intern doesn't have a job lined up just yet but she knows she will have a student loan to pay back. >> the president's plan how we understand it initially is it would cap the amount you pay back to no more than 10% of your income. what do you think? >> it would help students like me. >> how much do you owe at this point? >> about 25,000. >> director and part-time student at george mason university and a newly wed with student loans. >> being an older student all my money is going to other things like we are looking for a house and all that. so anything that would take the load off would be great. >> about 1.6 million

bruce johnson reports even with the new law, driving an unregistered vehicle will cost you plenty in d.c. >> and they said by the way, we now have to arrest you. >> last week, you heard this woman describe for 9news now how she was arrested for expired tags after a vehicle had been hit by a bus. >> they cuffed me and put me in the back of the police van. today the d.c. council voted unanimously to stop police from arresting drivers, merely for expired tags. >> we wanted to change with the fact people being arrested. we do believe that's just silly. glurnd the emergency bill that becomes law as soon as the mayor signs it, an expired registration of 30 days or less carries a $100 fine. it goes up to $200 after 30 days. at that point, your vehicle could also be towed by police. >> we applaud the district for passing this emergency legislation and ending this practice. but to substitute it for towing vehicles for the infraction is also troublesome. >> john townsend says the towing continues to drive d.c.'s response to x pyred tags over the top. the city of philadelphia has a similar law

and bruce johnson reports, even with this new law, driving an unregistered vehicle will still cost you plenty in washington, d.c. >> and they said by the way, we now have to arrest you. >> reporter: last week you heard this woman describe for 9 news now how she was arrested for expired tags after a vehicle had been hit by a bus. >> they cuffed me and put me in the back of the police van. >> all in favor, say aye. >> reporter: today the d.c. council voted unanimously to stop arresting drivers merely for expired tags. >> we believe that's silly. >> reporter: under the emergency bill that becomes law as soon as the mayor signs it, an expired registration of 30 days or less carries a $100 fine. it goes up to $200 after 30 days. at that point, your vehicle could also be towed by police. >> we applaud the district for passing this emergency legislation and ending this practice. that is done nowhere else across the country. but to substitute it for towing vehicles for infractions is also troublesome. >> reporter: townsend says the towing continues to drive d.c.'s response to expired tags over

hello everyone, i'm bruce johnson.or a missing montgomery county boy has ended with no signs of the 11-year- old william mcquain. his mother was found murdered in their home last week. her estranged husband, the boy's stepfather has been charged with murder. armando trull reports tonight they were searched after police got hips about the boy -- tips about the boy. >> reporter: direct examination detectives will not say -- detectives will not say where or how, but it touched off a massive search. 80 agents searched several acres for nearly nine hours. some were on horseback. >> looking for signs that somebody was back here. they also have dogs that are cadaver dogs that act you know on the accident of somebody who is deceased -- scent of somebody who is deceased. >> reporter: the dogs were there for a reason. >> we had to act on the information given to us. there is the possibility that we would find william deceased here today. >> reporter: among those looking for any sign of william and the woods where he used to play

hello, i'm bruce johnson. we'll get to that story in a moment. breaking news at this hour. d.c. the scene of a fatal shooting in northwest washington. it happened just 30 minutes ago at georgia avenue and w street in northwest. that is near the howard university homecoming. the celebrations are underway. we're not sure if there's any relationship. we're told one person has been fatally shot and we'll have more details as they become available. we have a live crew headed to the scene. back to that other story. a who's who among city leaders were at the gala tonight. the city is on a roll, but for high unemployment in some areas and a political scandal that won't end until the u.s. attorney says it's over. >> they packed the annual d.c. chamber of commerce dinner tonight. >> this is the business solution, not a social work solution. >> 11% unemployment rate could be reduced, cut a lot of the red tape that is tieing the hands of local businesses. >> we want lower regulations, for one. make it easier for businesses to be here. >> if you look at a company like living social. they had

. >> hello, i'm bruce johnson. the air and space museum was forced to close its doors after protesters stormed the building. between 100 and 200 demonstrators tried to enter the building carrying large signs. they were protesting the use of drones in the war against afghanistan. security guards protested the protesters. a second guard used pepper spray on at least one protester, but several others appeared to be affected by that spray. >> we don't think that would be a museum such as this. we came to the doors and the guard and the police forces inside immediately pushed us out. pepper sprayed us, about 12 of us were pepper sprayed, treated here. >> we were in the mcdonald's restaurant and chased everyone out the door. >> one person was arrested. the air and space museum is scheduled to be open again on sunday. >> observers say some of the protesters are part of the bigger occupied dc movement, which of course is part of the nationwide demonstration that began on wall street. there is no one cause, one leader, or o

hello, i'm bruce johnson and thanks for joining us. snow, sleet and rain have been falling across the washington area. tonight, temperatures are dropping. we've got team coverage for you, this unusual october snowstorm. from western maryland. to parts of virginia to the northeast states but first we will go to annie on the weather terrace. >> you can see the cold air mass that has been left behind. once the storm went on through. dropping lots of snow in some locations. and in fact here on the weather terrace, i see a little bit of snow, even on our patio furniture. here is a look at some of the snow that has fallen. cascade maryland, a lot of snow. in maryland, in clarksburg, thanks to harold sending in those pictures for us today. snow totals around the area. here is a little sampling. maryland, in frederick kahn, check that out. almost a foot of snow fell today. clarksburg maryland getting three inches officially. and gaithersburg a half of an inch. barryville virginia three inches and winchester, virginia, five inches. inside the b

. >> i'm out there, anita brickman is out there with bruce johnson. that is this saturday, it begins and ends at nationals park. at 8:30 in the morning the walk starts at 10:00. if you would like to join us go to the website wusa 9.com. thank you for sharing your story with us. you are obviously staying fit now and i doubt you will be having any more heart attacks the way you are taking care of yourself. >> no i choose to get out and exercise every day and live a healthy lifestyle. looking forward to seeing on you saturday. >>> let's switch gears to weather right now. we are going to move forward right now. we have temperatures this morning in the 20s and 30s. isolated fog toward cumberland. we start with sunshine. the clouds increase. 53 by 1:00. southeast winds at 5 to 10. if you want the sunshine, take the walk this morning. weiss winds at 5 to 10. maybe a shower late in the day. with southern maryland and the northern neck. halloween forecast, cloudy and ghoul. 28 in hagerstown this morning to 36. at the naval air station. 32 at fred ricksburg. a

that us bruce johnson reporting. excel goes through the third grade. the plan to is to add a year until 8. >>> we have lots of kids waited for the forecast. >> i think we are okay. the little ones are okay. if you play crazy in georgetown you may have a sprinkle on your head. >> i don't think they will worry about it. >> you will be okay. let's start with temperatures. temps are on the cool side. mid to low 50s. 54 downtown. 52 gaithersburg. 54 in leesburg. 52 in may nan says and 54 to the south in fredricksburg. showers are trying to make its way into the mountains. most of this is not making it to the ground. most of the showers that are reaching the ground are in west virginia, south of wheeling and over to pittsburgh. here is the deal. not as cold tonight. chilly. early trick or treaters should stay dry. nice tomorrow. you need your shades and a light jacket. for tonight, mostly cloudy and chilly a. shower possible by midnight. lows 38 to 46. winds southeast at 10. temperatures about 10 warmer than last night. 36 at national. 38 in gay verseburg to

now police have a suspect, bruce johnson reports that some drivers are already taking matters into their own hands. they want to protect themselves. >> you're absolutely right. he was killed in the district and drivers on both sides are saying this is the latest example of how dangerous their work has become. >> the weekend murder is among the many cab drivers who operate out of the taxi yard in landover hills, maryland. >> i don't drive at night. >> how come? >> because it's dangerous. >> this is where 40-year-old domingo had been leasing his cab beginning four years ago. he was discovered in his vehicle saturday morning dead from gun shot wounds. >> this is a very bad situation for all the drivers because they don't know what to expect. >> the vehicle had been stopped at the park in northeast. police and other drivers believe, picked up a passenger and drove him into the city where he was robbed, then shot. >> as long as the customer is not unruly, not drunk, anything like that, we have to pick him up. >> this is a lot bigger than prince georges county. they have shields in their cabs.

our bruce johnson caught up with mayor gray about this on monday. >> reporter: have you been steppingefore the grand jury? has your attorney talked to prosecutors? is there anything you can share with the public on this? >> i have not been called and i don't know the extent to which my attorney has discussed any of this with the u.s. attorney's office. >> reporter: have you drawn any conclusions in your mind as to possible irregularities? >> no, that's why we called for the investigation. >> lorraine green the chairwoman of the gray campaign also denied any wrongdoing in this. >>> 6:37. jessica doyle is back and she's watching your money. >> she says now someone else is watching the minutes on your cell phone. not just you. >> that's right. the government. >> what? >> yeah, that's the situation here, okay. so what's going on is i'm sure this has happened to you or some of the viewers. you get your cell phone bill and it is unexpectedly high because of extra usage problems. those days of cell phone bill shock could be coming to an end. wireless carriers and the fcc have announced a pro

our own bruce johnson has been all over this story and in addition getting exclusive details only on 9. >> reporter: this investigation is taking off. the investigation was launched after vincent gray defeated the incumbent mayor this year. a third candidate for mayor, brown, was hired by the gray administration, only to be fired later. brown, you might recall, claimed he was promised that job and given money by the gray campaign in exchange for his criticism of the mayor during the political debates. brown testified before a dc council commit tee and processed money -- committee and produced money orders. today mayor gray agreed to talk with us and other reporters about the stepped up grand jury probe. he repeated what he has always said. if there were payments and other irregularities, they were done without his knowledge. >> reporter: has your attorney talked to prosecutors? is there anything you can share with the public on this. >> i have not been called. and i don't know the extent to which my attorney has discussed any of this with the united states attorney's office. >> repor

bruce johnson is working this story.ou talked to the cab drivers and now this part of the story. >> you are going to hear this is an argument over 75 cents. it wasn't about that at all. this was a planned robbery and that's why this cab driver did not go home to his family that night. >> it's a terrible tragedy. >> any one of these cab drivers could have met the same face had they been working over night saturday picking up fares at the metro station in landover. >> according to the dispatcher and the gps tracking system, it was 2:53 saturday morning. domingo picks up two passengers at the morgan boulevard metro station. by 3:21 a.m., the cab had arrived at its destination and the 4300 block of pond street northeast. by 3:27, a mere

. >> for three years bruce johnson has struggled daily with the trauma of dealing with the police departmented his family. >> there's a fight across the street now. there's a guy beating up a man on the grass. >> this is the 911 tape from a witness on the night of may 23rd, 2005, when bruce went to rescue his eighth-grade daughter from the house where she had been kidnapped and prostituted for ten days by a vicious pimp named derek willoughby. >> the guy's sitting on him and the other people are beating him. >> okay. >> they're hitting him with a rock and a tire iron right now. >> the man being beaten by willoughby and his cohorts is bruce just moments after he freed his daughter. bruce, who still struggles from the aftereffects of the severe beating, remains outraged. >> the police aren't trained to believe that forced prostitution of kids happens here. >> for ten days after his daughter laura and her cousin were abducted while walking to their neighborhood wendy's, bruce said the toledo police did nothing. >> they just believe it's just a runaway, just a runaway, just a runaway. >> in fact

johnson in the autumn of 68 elections but nothing came of that. westmoreland always denied that he had presidential aspirations but i have a lot of confidence that bruce plummer -- i believe he did. the situation never allow anything to come. thanks for that. anybody else? >> right here. recently i read h r mcmasters's book dereliction of duty. you knew him well and he stayed at your house when he was writing the book. in that book, he really lays it on president johnson and secretary mcnamara and he also said -- the crux of my question, he kept saying -- every time he saw the joint chiefs, largely ignored but every time he saw him he said that. with westmoreland's emphasis on body count, what did that have to do with leading to that? the cause of it? or is it somehow -- >> very fine question and i will start by saying i have enormous admiration for h r mcmasters. that is a wonderfully fine book and i am glad to see when i go into bookstores even though it has been out for many years you see it on the shelves. it has a long life. we talked about what you asked about many times. basically his book ends before my count begins. in particular we discussed

johnson a gas in the ottawa 68 elections, but nothing came of that. westmoreland always denied that he had in a presidential aspirations, but i have a lot of confidence in bruce palmer, so i believe he did come up with the situation let anything to come of it. thanks for that. anybody else? >> right here, bob. >> yes, please. >> recently i read h.r. mcmaster specter election of duty. i knew you knew him well, even a stitch or how silly was while he was writing about. and not vote, he lays it on president johnson, secretary mcnamara. and he also said in the crux of my question, he also kept saying every time he saw the joint chiefs of the largely ignored, but every time he saw him, he said that. now, with that with westmoreland synthesis, what did that have to do with leading to that? because other? or is it something else? >> that's a very fine question. i'll start by saying that enormous maturation and i think that's a wonderfully fine book. i'm glad to see when i go into bookstores and even though it's been out for many years to still see it on the shelves, so it has a long life. here again i've talked about the kinds of things you ask about and basically h

bruce jenner and a whole lot more. >>> 8:56 is your time now on this tuesday, october 4th, 2011. let's go to our meteorologist, veronica johnsonwait a little longer for it this morning. we are doing the battle with the cloud cover, but it's not as chilly as it has been. and the north west wind at 9 miles per hour. and expect a little bit of more wind, too. we will warm up from 65 to ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] combine a pnc cashbuilder visa credit card with a pnc performance select checking account and get up to 1.75% cash back for just about every purchase. learn more and apply today at pnc.com/cashbuilder. pnc bank. for the achiever in you. >>> good morning. crash takes away your left lane at hunt avenue, and still seeing a lot of congestion. here is the outer loop of the beltway in maryland. in new hampshire avenue, very slow, about 17 miles per hour as you make your way from i-95 to i-270. and your delays start at the fairfax county parkway and all the way to the beltway, it will take you >>> we're back with another hour of "today" on a tuesday morning, the 4th of october, 2011, brightening up in the northeast, chillier than we