it's been the worst one in post world war history. >> absolutely right. >> yep. >> john alison, you'ree a way you could try to explain to people who are rightly angry that it's not just corporate america's fault? >> it's a difficult challenge. it's one of the things i was trying to do when i was at cato. it's actually government policy that's created this slow growth rate. as you mentioned, the federal reserve's action, i think, have really deterred investment. the arb traery nature of regulations. they change every day. how can you make long-term investments when you don't know what the rule of law is. that's a huge issue for the economy. it leads to stock buy-backs. >> either one of you can weigh in on this. for seven years we have been highlighting increased regulation and obamacare and executive actions and the -- really, not a very positive environment in terms of washington and the private sector. but dick, people look at the rest of the world and say, look, we've recovered faster than anyone else. with the fed we have recovered faster than anyone else even though we supposedly h

john matarese. abc7 news. alison: tonight, law enforcement in the line of fire.abc7 looks at the local tragedies to see how they compare to a national trend. a 4-year-old goes for a walk with her mother and ends up in a body cast. >> he didn't say sorry. he just rolled away and simple request. cutting ties. why d.c.'s mayor told north carolina we won't be visiting anytime soon. >> now "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. leon: first tonight the warm sunshine we have enjoyed today is giving way to storms in the area. alison: our chief meteorologist doug hill is tracking it for us tonight. what is the latest? doug: a couple of storms turned severe. we have a cluster of storms northwest of the metro area. a little orange box you see is an area under severe thunderstorm warning for 15 more minutes. stretching now from jefferson, maryland, through frederick. southeast of there. racing northeastern toward eldersburg and carroll county, maryland. otherwise only a few additional showers are expected with the cold front through the everything hours. some of the storms could

i'm john matarese, abc7 news. alison: a field trip scare for students involved a bus accident. a run-in with a light pole and why it sent so many to the hospital. plus the tow truck driver that helped rescue a trooper from the beltway crash it will be a busy weekend in d.c. what you need to know about the big events and how to navigate around them. announcer: now "abc7 news at 5:00". on your side. alison: we are getting new perspective tonight of yesterday's horrific crash that critically injured a maryland state trooper and shut down the beltway. new perspectives from witnesses including the man that possibly saved that trooper's life. maryland bureau chief brad bell live where they are fighting for their life. brad: we are at the shock trauma center and we have seen the troopers coming and going. the maryland state police family of the young man. they are telling us they are happy he is still with them. they talk about the speed with which he was able to be extricated from his car and brought here in large part thanks to the work of a good samaritan >> for the first time the

reporter: john gonzalez, abc 7 news. alisondelta, american, and united airlines changed pricing for multi city stops on a single trip. as a result, some travelers could pay seven times the normal price. bookt the lowest fares, tickets individually instead of using the multi-city option on a website. consumer advocates say this is an example of collusion an want the justice department to investigate. leon: new developments in the push to build the purple line. aryland public works approved $5.6 million contract for the project that connect counties north of the beltway. the money will come from federal and local government. ell will have reaction to the vote coming up at 6:00. alison: a five-year-old girl from ohio got to do what millions of people only dream of -- meet the pope. to rome to getew a glimpse of the catholic church and actually got a meeting. it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance. lizzie is slowly going blind due to a rare genetic disease. >> there will come a time when we have to tell her. i dread that day. right now

john. >> hello, alison. bright lights, big city, big debate. big, bruising debate. with each candidate trying to land decisive blows. you want contrast? >> i do question her judgment. >> reporter: you want contentious? >> describing the problem is a lot easier than trying to solve it. >> reporter: you got brooklyn. a high-tension, high-drama debate befitting the high stakes of the moment. from the start, bernie sanders blasted hillary clinton's judgment. >> i question a judgment which voted for the war in iraq. and i question her judgment about running super pacs. >> this is a phony attack that is designed to raise questions when there is no evidence or support to undergird the insinuations that he is putting forward in these attacks. >> thank you, secretary. >> reporter: but nearly every sanders salvo was met by a clinton call for specifics including his suggestion that she is in the pocket of big banks. >> when millions of people lost their jobs and their homes and their life savings, the obvious response to that is that you got a bunch of fraudulent operators, an

alison: for this you can thank john oliver. the hbo comedian decided he did not like comments made by the yankees chief operating officer about premium ticket holders being uncomfortable sitting next to people who purchase their tickets on the secondary market. seats purchase these two to sold them for $.25 each people who look like they should not be sitting in those seats. jonathan: go for. they are expensive. alison: not $.25. jonathan: that's great. alison: very funny. florida hunters showing off a huge fine. owner wast west farms hog hunting with his son, a guide come into being hunters and came across his huge alligator. the alligator weighed almost 800 pounds. is 1045rd weight pounds. jonathan: that thing has not missed a meal. coming up directly at me, five inches from my head, i to i. jonathan: he tried to save an injured eagle. the length this man went to try to save an that story, next. alison: a blast from the past. when a man found in his basement linking his home to the war of 1812. that is still ahead. countdown

john, michelle. >>> jean, thank you. joining us is alisonhe world. asian stocks lower. european markets are in the red. so are u.s. stock futures. stocks kicked off the week on a bad note. the dow lost 21 points. the s&p and nasdaq closed lower yesterday. that lower close for the s&p puts the index back in negative territory for the year. >>> happy equal pay day. today marks how long into the year women need to work until earnings catch up to full-time working men earned last year. meaning women have to work an extra four months just to make what men do. on average, women earn 79 cents for every dollar a man earns. that number hasn't moved much since 2000. african-american women and hispanic women earn less. that pay gap actually quickly adds up. women earn almost $11,000 a year less than men. that works out to be about $900 per month. when women and men start out in the work force, they make the same. it is maternity leave and women failing to ask for a higher salary to extend the pay gap. >> the president will give a speech today. thank yo

john and lynda. >> jean casarez, thank you. >>> time for an early start on your money. alisonund the world. european markets are in the red. red arrows for u.s. markets at this hour as well. a great day for wall street yesterday. dow, nasdaq and s&p all closing at the highest levels of the year. the dow jumped 1% rising 187 points. adding to tuesday's gains. in just two days, the dow jumped more than 350 points. getting close to 18,000 again. the financial sector led the rally. we saw jpmorgan chase earnings report. wasn't too great, but it was just good enough. just good enough for a rally. today, we get profit reports from bank of america and wells fargo. this as first quarter season starts revving up. >>> let's see what is coming up on "new day." chris cuomo is joining us now. a lot of hot talk, chris. >> a lot of hot talk, i believe you are stealing a phrase from me, john berman. i respect that. we are here at the brooklyn navy yard off the water with the wind howling and i'm sitting here just because. however, this is also the site of the big debate tonight. that will be

reporting live from the john wilson building, i'm sam ford, abc7 news. alison: thank you. people across the southeast hoping for a quieter weekend after days of severe weather. this is one of several tornadod that touched down in mississippi. no serious injuries believe it or not. dozens of homes were damaged. there were damage on and around robins air force base in central georgia. this is video of the base in the height of the storm. look at that this morning. man! rough situation there. jonathan: that is when you see the video and you have to say to yourself i wish people would head to basement. you can get a flying car coming your way. doug: thatk loose like on the base. hangars there. there may have been no basements nearby. this is the prime time of year. alison: we have storms tonight. doug: a couple of isolated, heavy to severe get started with that. doppler radar moving north of the metro area. zoom in to give you a look at where the storms went. they have been moving at 55 miles per hour. they are just flying by. right now the last look at them here as they move

alison: a community is coming together to honor a firefighter killed while trying to save lives. john ulmschneider was shot friday as he and a colleague entered a home to check on a man whose family feared for his life. kevin lewis joins us live from the visitation for ulmschneider in hollywood, maryland. kevin? >> hundreds of loved ones and fellow firefighters have begun to form a single file line in there is a press conference taking place and one of ulmschneider's fellow firefighters answering questions from the news media. you can see the outpouring of support. there is a fire engine beside the individuals by the hearse. ulmschneider's helmet and the black bunting on are on the fire engine. we will listen in the press conference taking place now. a nmber of family members including his wife and 2-year-old daughter will be in the receiving line of the church greeting throng of loved ones. let's listen in. >> he was a man of great character. [inaudible >> this firefighter saying he was a man of great character. a loved one. reporters are asking about the legacy. i am told tomorrow a

alison: solemn job in prince george's county today as a workman added the name of a fallen firefighter to the memorial outside the fire services building. the name added is that of john ulmschneider. he was the firefighter shot to death while responding to a call earlier this month. a candlelight vigil planned for 7:00 p.m. to honor the man known to his friends as "skillet." leon: now to a breaking news story in prince william county. tom roussey just arrived at the scene of a homicide investigation. he checks in with the latest. tom, what is the story here? police believe the victim is a woman profited missing under bizarre circumstances earlier in week? tell us about that. tom: they believe a woman who vanished two weeks ago. cotton mill drive and griffith in the lakeridge area. police shut the street down here. the reason is that the woman's body according to police w found in a drainage ditch down the hill over there. you can see we have a lot of police on the scene. still investigating right now. here is a picture of the woman they say the body is presumed to be at this point. lopez who was 36 years old. lived in alexandria. initially her family reported her mis

we are a family. >> 37-year-old lieutenant john skillet ulmschneider laid to rest today at a private ceremony. in st. mary's county, brad bell, abc7 news. alison: an apartment fire today in suitland became an example of local fire departments helping their colleagues in prince george's county. firefighters from d.c., baltimore, la plata, alexandria, and wheaton all responded to this fire at pembrook station apartments. those firefighters rescued several residents including a baby. no one was hurt. several people lost their homes in this. the fire is now blamed on malfunctioning electronics. leon: speaking of fire, we are still at high alert fire for brush fire doug: no. the winds are much lower today. it's still exceptionally dry. more dry than yesterday. we will get rain coming here friday. this is bull run elementary school. late in the afternoon high clouds coming in. we will see more of that tomorrow in the way of cloudiness. especially tomorrow afternoon. now here is the latest on the rainfall deficit. this is the number sings march 1. the departure from average. reagan national, three inches below rainfall. three inches at dulles. it's e

john ulmschneider. was held in hollywood, maryland, today. ulmschneider was remembered as a hero. he leaves behind a wife and two-year-old daughter. alisonfuneral, and emergency in prince george's county, but other department stepped up to help. several outside fire departments covered for the prince george's county firefighters who were at the service. several people were rescued at the fire, including a baby. nobody was hurt, though, and some residents were displaced. leon: warm and sunny weather coming, but steve rudin has the outlook of the rain coming. steve: we have a cold front that will move through friday. no problems right now, mainly clear skies. the view, chicago, indianapolis, st. louis, that is the weather on its way late tomorrow night and into the day friday. tomorrow looks good to start the day, grab the sunglasses. the temperatures eventually make it to just about 75 degrees. the timing of the showers and the thunderstorms and th minutes. alison: right now, the flooding situation shows no sign of letting up in houston. more rain fell today and the skies are not expected to clear until friday. rescuers were having to use

alison: a former fairfax county police manslaughter. adam torres accepted plea deal before his trial was set to begin. torres shot johnr as he stood unarmed outside his springfield home in august 2013. leon: jury selection began in tulsa, oklahoma, in the manslaughter trial of former sheriff deputy robert bates who shot and killed an unarmed man. bates said he confused the handgun with his stungun. i was recorded on a police body camera. bates pleaded not guilty. alison: the palm beach zoo reopen today after a veteran keeper was attacked and killed last week. the tiger was tranksized after mauling the zookeeper. there is support to honor the zookeeper. reason to check the district. we will tell you the money coming your way. >> two men wanted for killing people in the area. help in the race to find them next. on the wall of justice. >> coming up at 6:00 -- why police arrested a former student teacher from fairfax county. details straight ahead. steve: i'm steve rudin. temperatures in the low 80's. look at the seven-day outlook moving through the next few days. cooldown on the way. the temperatures will eventually fall

alison: thank you. the new york state republican gala is taking place tonight at the grand hyatt on the east side. donald trump, ted cruz and john kasich will be there. so will hundreds of protestors event. >> this is what made america, people coming out and expressing their sentiments and how they feel and what they feel and because it's such a great moment in america. >> we are not about racism. we are not about islamaphobia or building a wall between us and mexico. justice. we're all human beings. alison: the democratic presidential hopefuls go head to head tonight days before the new york primary. hillary clinton and bernie sanders will take part in a live debate at the brooklyn navy yard. that's starting at 9:00. >>> in other news, a crucial ruling in the manslaughter trial he will be sentenced next week. arthur chi'en is in downtown brooklyn to explain the decision. >> reporter: the conviction stands in this case. all it centers around a question that was asked during jury deliberation, has anyone close to you been convicted of a crime? juror no. 9 answered no. but his father was serving time. with barely a pause, the judg

alison: the prince george's county firefighter injured in last week's shooting that killed his colleague johnschneider is improving today. a statement from morning side volunteer firefighter department says swain is walking and has gone outside for the first time. he is meeting with plenty of guests and among them the two firefighters who survived that deadly ambush in webster, new york, in 2012 that claimed two other firefighters lives. jonathan: police in ohio are investigating a mass killing where eight members were killed execution child, including two children. the bodies of the victims were discovered in four different road area. the investigation is ongoing and it could take a while. jonathan: new developments in a story on 7. alison: every public and charter school in d.c. will soon have the water tested. it comes after discovery of the elevated level of lead at three different elementary schools. the goal is have each school tested in 60 days. if the elevated lead levels are found the water play will be turned off and a filter will be installed to for pipes will be replaced altogethe

john kasich visiting annapolis tonight. we will see a lot of attention from republicans in a state where republicans -- larry hogan aside -- don't jay: the primary is next tuesday in maryland. jay korff, abc 7 news. alison: a reminder, stay with abc 7 for continuing coverage for the race for the white house. the maryland primary is next week and we are keeping track of the delegate count. we also have campaign updates around the clock at wjla.com. leon: breaking now, criminal charges in the flint water crisis could come in soon as tomorrow. today" is reporting the attorney general will make the announcement tomorrow. among those facing charges, a city official accused of making false statements about the drinking water. the water was contaminated with lead after switching water sources to save money. could be tiedtion with a deadly outbreak of legionnaires disease. new developments and shooting of an off-duty secret service officer. charles sims was arrested monday night and tries with first-degree murder, ac cused of shooting arthur baldwin in december. they believe the motive may have been robbery. baldwin was suspended at the time of the shooting. leon: a a scathing review of metro from a federal age

john kasich just received an endorsement this morning. endorsed by the new york daily news. joining us now for an early start on your money is alison kosik. >> looking like a mixed start for markets. asian markets ended higher, but red arrows for european markets at the moment. it looks likes u.s. futures will follow their lead. it was a great day for dow and nasdaq and s&p all closed at the highest levels for the year. the dow jump more than 1% gaining 187 points. we will see if the rally will carry through today. >>> verizon ceo is calling out bernie sanders. he says the vermont senator is disconnected from reality. sanders spoke at a rally of striking verizon workers yesterday. he said verizon is shipping jobs overseas and not paying its fair share. verizon wrote a long post saying the company has paid billions in taxes in the last two years. that wireless has overtaken landlines and to stay competiti competitive, it had to shift call centers abroad. just last week, he called sanders out of touch after saying ge is destroying the moral fabric of america. pointing to one example of corporate greed. >> you know who loves this crit

john kerry says the u.s. will help in any way it can. >> i have gratitude for all the workers who haven't slept or eaten as they work hard to save lives. alison: this morning a 7-year-old girl were rescued. international aid group are setting up plants to provide clean drinking water there. doctors are also in the area to help people cope with the disaster. michelle: the u.s. is airlifting water, and supplies to remote southern japan rocked by two earthquakes late week. another thousand injured and ten people are still missing today. 180,000 people were evacuated from the shelters over the weekend as the aftershocks hit the region. one caused a mud slide that made it harder to search for the survivors who still may be trapped. now coincidently, today marks 110 years since massive earthquake hit san francisco. memorial service was held in the city that included a wreath laying for the more than 3,000 people who die jonathan: on storm watch, just unbelievable video from texas today after 16 inches of rain fell in the houston area in less than 24 hours. that is the result. the storm brought hail this morning. dallas, the brazso river is overflow

john kasich hosting a veteran town hall in brooklyn this evening. jonathan: covered a lot of ground. coming up for us at "abc7 news at 4:00" -- update on a massive warship. alison: when the most expensive aircraft carrier ever will hit the open seas just ahead. jonathan: plus, another death blamed on the faulty takata air bags. why this crash is highlighted unlike any other. that's coming up. alison: and honda is apologizing after double dipping into your bank account. who might have been make sure it's not ripping anyone off again. jonathan: the new "star wars" trailer drops. we'll have an update in ha you don't let anything keep you sidelined. that's why you drink ensure. with 9 grams of protein and 26 vitamins and minerals. get back to doing... ...what you love. ensure. always be you. narrator: all that political mail mlet's simplify.lming. only one candidate has been endorsed by the washington post: kathleen matthews. as a journalist and progressive leader at marriott, she has a broad and deep facility with policy. emily's list praises matthews as pro-choice and the post says on gun control, clean ener

alison: if an orphanage asks for money, many of us would say sure. michelle: but we have a warning about the latest scam so you don't waste your money. johna two-century old orphanaging is its good name damaged by scammers that are using the orphanage to scam money out of the church goers in the d.c. area the country. leaders want you to know about it. st. joseph orphanage is taking care of troubled children for 200 years. little has changed here over the decades where jesus words "suffer the little children" welcome visitors. but something strange has been happening lately. >> we started to receive interesting messages through our contact us feature on the websitement people saying they either had made a donation or they were inquiring about making a donation. john: communication manager brittany carden is getting dozens of e-mails asking if she is asking for money to get in god's good graces. >> this thing is running from texas to california to florida to georgia. john: the only problem the orphanage is not asking for money. the twitter and the facebook posts the orphanage has nothing to do with them. >> we want people to know we are in