. >> reporter: lahood said a big part of the investigation will not be just the incident, but why the faa found out about it for the first time from a news reporter. >> that's something they've got to figure out. thank you. >>> secretary lahood went out of his way to compliment the air traffic controller who helped avert near disaster in the sky, but imagine being on the other end piloting the plane responsible for dozens and dozens of lives. kristin fisher spoke with a former pilot to get his perspective and she joins us live from reagan national with that part of the story. >> this was a serious event and it's being termed as a loss of separation which means the aircraft got closer together than what they're normally supposed to do. were they on collision courses? we're not exactly sure at the moment. >> reporter: even if you're not sure, any time you hear the word collision course and aircraft in the same sentence, it's cause for concern especially if you're kevin hyatt, chief operating officer of the white safety foundation. >> i'm concerned but i'm not

today'svfçmcÃannouncement by secretary lahood and deputy transit administrator mcmillan of nearly $25or bart and the municipal transit agency will mean cleaner, faster muni buses and real time bus and train information at key bart stations. in@z@z demand, with less than one in five applications or did, san francisco succeeded because it was prepared to pioneer with innovative ideas, and japan real spirit, and a commitment to serve each and every citizen. thank you for being here today. [applause] >> thank you. i love the sound of cleaner, faster muni buses. as recently as a couple of months ago, it was not clear that the reauthorization of the transportation bill was going to happen. part in the last couple of months of bringing at home and getting that bill done. we are grateful for her leadership. the balance of san francisco not represented by the leader is represented by congresswoman jackie speer, who also represents other parts of the bay area. she has been a great voice in washington for us as well. speaking on behalf of her, i want to welcome brian perkins. [applause] >> good

the transportation secretary ray lahood will announce more than $470 million will be immediately available for transportation improvements. the transportation department initially set aside that money for special projects. under this plan, states have to identify how the money will be used by october 1st. >>> 4:36 now. 73 degrees. ahead on "news4 today," the storm's moving in. that could put a damper on your start to the weekend. >>> attention all baby boomers. why the government wants you the get tested for hepatitis c

on behalf of transportation secretarys÷ [l$eÑ lahood, i am d to be here today to announce quality publicansportation in the san francisco bayyya home region, about to take another step forward. for the third year in a row, we are announcing funds to help transit agencies across the country modernize and repair their bosses and related facilities, bringing these systems into a state of repair, a commitment the san francisco bay area has had for many years. .9 transit providers together are receiving over $45 million collectively to make traveling by transit faster, more efficient, more comfortable, and safer than ever. congratulations to all of you for your commitment. the projects here in this region range from replacing old diesel buses in san francisco, san mateo, santa clara, and our neighbors to the south in monterey. these buses have logged thousands of miles over the years, and importantly, being replaced with clean, fuel- efficient hybrid!Ø vehicles but also improve the environment that we all love and respect here. as well, we will be upgrading bus service as part in the muni rap

the head of the employees against government waste says lahood shouldn't have to do a crackdown like he did. >> it never should have come to such a strongly worded letter. anyone in a private organization that conducted themselves like the airports authority would be fired. a private company simply wouldn't stand for the kinds of abuses with expensive bottles of wine and last-minute travel. >> the washington airport authority has oversight of the construction of the new metrorail silver line as well as the operation of the dulles toll road and reagan national and dulles airports. they responded to the letter saying, among other things, they have resized their travel policy and they have ended or are in the process of ending all professional services contracts with former board members. >>> verizon will formally hand ore its 911 failure report today to the metropolitan washington council of governments. the report details the cup's emergency line failures during june's derecho storm. verizon says it will improve communication between 911 directors and operators and it is auditing the

today'svfçmcÃannouncement by secretary lahood and deputy transit administrator mcmillan of nearly $25t and the municipal transit agency will mean cleaner, faster muni buses and real time bus and train information at key bart stations. in@z@z demand, with less than one in five applications or did, san francisco succeeded because it was prepared to pioneer with innovative ideas, and japan real spirit, and a commitment to serve each and every citizen. thank you for being here today. [applause] >> thank you. i love the sound of cleaner, faster muni buses. as recently as a couple of months ago, it was not

you don't agree with ray lahood, the transportation secretary.ou don't this that the surplus or the transportation department stimulus was a success, right? >> well, when i asked him that question he said that out of 48 billion dollars, that they spent, 65,000 jobs were created, at $738,000 per job if you do the math and that means the government spent $738,000 for one job being created for every single job, and so, and he's proud of that, but you know, the issue with this stimulus, they're temporary jobs, when the money goes away, when the project ends, the job's lost. >> are you going after ray lahood? he's had a few gaffes over the years. are you going after him? >> well, at first i asked him about the unspent earmarks that the obama administration is sending down to the states. so, the interview was framed around that and i asked him about that, what's going to be done with that money and he said we're send it go down to the states and the governor's can apply, from different states, and spend that money on infrastructure and it segued into m

the warning came in a strongly worded letter from transportation secretary, ray lahood. karen gray houston live with what prompted all this. >> this is highly unusual for the federal transportation secretary to become involved in local affairs. the feds are getting tough and they mean it. one of the biggest construction projects in e country hangs in the ball balance. the air force authority has construction. as well as the operation of the dulles toll road and the reagan national and dulles airports. the letter came from transportation secretary, lahood, and signed by virginia governor, bob mcdonnell, maryland governor, martin o'malley, and vincent gray. they express concern about the reports that the board spent lavishly on air travel, meals, and wine, and express outrage at reports of nepotism and lucrative no bid contracts going to former employees. we asked the head of the citizens against government waste if the secretary did the right thing. >> it never should have come to such a strongly worded letter. anyone in a private organization that conducted themselves li

lahood tells the washington post he has serious questions about the how the board is operating. a recent audit found questionable spending and contracting. lahood recently appointed someone to oversee the board's operations. >>> with the maryland senate already on board the house delegates now considering whether to expand gambling in the state. the debate is still underway. some delegates want to lower the amounts of taxes the casino in anne arundel county and a planned casino in baltimore would have to say saying that would offset a potential loss of business if a sixth casino is built in prince george's county. >> the well is only so deep. if you put four 7-elevens on a corner, they're going to day. >> if you ask 188 lawmakers, i don't think you're listening to the voice of the people. i'd like to see the voters decide. >> if the bill the house ways and means committee does pass it will head to the full floor for debate. >>> a maryland congressman is saying no to a d.c. commuter tax the representative elijah cummings told the baltimore sun the move could lead to a turf war in

secretary lahood says he is gravely concerned about what he calls a lack of accountability on the board. the d.c. mayor and the governors of maryland and virginia all signed an open letter with mr. lahood demanding the board get rid of no bid contracts, former employees and terminate former board members who have gotten jobs at the airports. the airports' board says it's already implementing many of these changes. >> those are easily fixed things, should have been done a long time ago, shame on the board for not doing it up till now. >> members of congress are moving forward with changes to the law that created that board and these changes are expected to address these concerns even more. >>> it is 4:31 just about. taking a look at what's going on on the campaign trail this morning. vice president joe biden made some comments that some are saying are controversial. others are even saying these are racially sensitive. >> as drew levinson reports, some of the sharpest words from both sides are coming from the political ads. >> reporter: vice president joe biden sparked controversy from th

i agree to this point with secretary lahood. true infrastructure is a valuable investment and one of the things that government could do. and individuals can't build their own roads and bridges. and sewer systems. and airport run ways. all of this is true. and it was not the job. and the fact is when you are going to invest in infrastructure. it can be done because of the politics of the project and merit of the project. and the number of people that are served. we need those what we don't need is a bunch of money to make people winners and losers. and new york bloomberg talked about the shooting of the empire state building on friday. >> the murder victim and thank god no one else was seriously injured and they will recover. and once again there is it a lot of guns out thank you very much. >> this is typical. you have a gun crime and immediately politicians say we need to control the guns. the guns are under control as much as they can be in new york and look what happened in new york f. a person doesn't abide by the gun laws.

. >>> some of another stories making headlines, transportation secretary ray lahood is warning people overseeing the dulles rail project to shape up n a strongly worded letter, leaders expressed concerns over recent reports the board spent lavishly on air traveling meals and wine. they also expressed outrage at reports of nepotism and of lucrative contracts going to former employees. >>> verizon will form aally hand over its 911 failure report today to the metropolitan washington council of governments. the report details the company's emergency line failures during the derecho storms. verizon says it will improve communication between 911 directors and auditors. >>> a montgomery county man accused of killing his stepdaughter is expected to learn his fate today. david hang is charged with stabbing 12-year-old jessica wynn 45 times back in may of 2011. detectives tracked him down using dna found at the scene and cell phone records putting him in the area at the time of the murder. the jurors got his case last night. they will resume dlib rigs this morning. >>> a judge has denied a requ

ray lahood made the announcement today. projects such as the repair of crumbling roads and bridges. >> you will be spending a little more on your weekend getaway thanks to an increase and gas prices. the national average is now $3.72. that is up one a nickel from last friday. prices in d.c. are higher at $3.93. >> the first lady michelle obama is hosting a unique steak dinner. she has invited 54 children to attend the first kids state dinner at the white house. part of the let's move initiative starts -- aims at stopping child obesity. i hope the weather is good for them. >> they should get out and run around the white house. >> it will be better than today. >> today was not a bad day though. >> it was a little on the humid side. >> a little bit of a breeze. i do not think there will be any real nasty weather. tomorrow will be a little chilly compared to today. it has been a hazy day. temperatures outside today were into the 90's. i know who likes the 90's. our high-temperature today 94 degrees. this was the 48th day this s

ray lahood will announce more than $370 million will be immediately available for transportation improvements. transportation department initially set aside that money for special projects. under the plan the state has to identify how the money will be used by october 1st. >>> starting next week, a newly created committee will study the possibility of burying power lines in the district. vin sint gray announced that panel yesterday. he's co-chaired by the city's administrator and pepco holding ceo rig by. the mayor wants the group to figure out what has caused outages over the past decade. how much money has been lost and how much it would cost to bury lines. ray was a vocal critic of pepco after june's bad storms and has pushed for undergrounding the line as an option to avoid outages. >>> 6:07 is your time. 72 degrees. why some airline passengers were asked to give the pilots a little extra cash to make sure they got home. >>> plus, why where you live could be to blame if you drop your cellphone a lot. >>> nice start to the morning but the threat of more storms is but the threat of more sto

ray lahood says there was ever threat of a collision. the controller did her job. the plane away from other plane. >> he says while yesterday's was agreed as, the threat 200 passengers likely was not high. somebody made a mistake. the way itis built allow that to happen. >> reaction today not exactly understanding. deal to me.ig >> of the three flights involved, they were all u.s. planes. released a statement saying with the faa to find out what happened. >> thank you. hall of fame baseball star tell written, jr. will speak publicly since hisrst time was abducted. was -- baseball start cal ripken, jr. will speak for the his mother wase abducted. he is scheduled to appear on america which you see here tomorrow. >> president obama signed a declaration for maryland. -- federalding well come.g will this after he made a declaration the district in parts of virginia as well. an alert by pepco. they're asking customers to as temperatures are expected to soar into the 90's. tomorrow will be a peak savings day. have their air- conditioning cycle of for short periods tomorro

. >> reporter: an animated secretary of transportation ray lahood insisted the three aircraft were onifferent altitudes and different headings. the faa administrators say at no time were they in any danger of ever colliding. >> it is important to point out the planes were on different headings and at different altitudes, so they would not have collided. >> reporter: the question now, were proper procedures for reversing the direction of reagan national airport used and, if so, how could this happen? >> turning around in a major airport is one of the toughest things you do. >> reporter: bill voss is a former air traffic controller and now heads the flight safety foundation. >> the on board alert systems in the aircraft didn't go off. we got down to 2 miles separation which isn't great, but it's not alarming. >> reporter: the faa said the plane that was landing came within 500 vertical feet and 1.7 lateral miles from the one taking off and 600 vertical feet and 2.8 lateral miles of the second plane. faa requires a spraying of 1,000 vertical feet and -- a separation of 1,000 vertical fee

for drivers to be even more less attentive, and thus we'll take another last question. >> secretary lahooding at the idea that he's even going to touch the idea whether or not this is more distracted driving out there. simon, back to you. >> a good story there. thank you very much for that. car makers aren't the only ones using technology and fresh ideas to address those lingering problems. high shipping costs and missed deliveries are one of the biggest questions facing retailers and their customers. the story of how one handful of companies are turning those delivery problems into profit. >> it's a problem most of us can relate to, order something online. a padgetts shipped to your house, you're not there to sign for it. the problem, the padgetts dumped on your doorstep or back to a warehouse where it waits for you to pick it up. now, a couple of start-ups and giant e-tailor are trying to turn this into profit. kinek lets members shop online. instead of their home address, customers can ship their packages to over 1,000 locations for pickup later, places like grocery stores and local bus

i don't know secretary lahood to at least publicly be a testy man but he certainly seemed to be thatws conference. >> throughout he was testy, he was combative, he was some say defensive, he was irritated. you got the sense, they were upset with these initial media reports that said these planes were on a collision course. they wanted to basically get people off that notion immediately. they were eager to do that. he got very irritated, but there was something about this whole thing, it's unusual for them to call a news conference with the transportation secretary and the faa administrator, over one airline incident, there's some consternation behind the scenes here over this incident that we don't know yet, maybe it will come out in the coming weeks. >> none too pleased to hear from reporters. >> not really, no. >> thanks so much, brian todd. >>> next rap artist snoop dogg is changing his name. >>> finally, on the culture front, rap artist snoop dogg announced he's changing his else. who else but jeannie moos reports. >> reporter: after all of these years of dog -- >> please welcome

. >> transportation secretary ray lahood is demanding the metropolitan washington airport's authority make drastic changes immediately to regain the public trust. lahood's letter included several changes that included cancelling all current no bid contracts with former board members and employees. this comes after a federal audit done in may found the agency too often awarded contracts without competition. it also questioned thousands of dollars in travel expenses from the airport authorities' board. virginia governor bob mcdonald and martin o'malley and vincent gray also signed the letter. >>> a nationwide two-week crackdown on drunk driving is set to start on friday here in the washington region. police tell us they're ready to step up checkpoints, sobriety tests and arrests. tom sherwood is here with more on the story. tom? >> police from all over say they're serious about this. drive sober or get pulled over. 10,000 people die in drunk driving wrecks each year. 70% of them caused by someone who's blood alcohol was more than twice the legal limit of .08. washington area police and

transportation secretary ray lahood says he has serious questions about how the board operates reagan washington national and dulles airports. that comes after a recent audit found questionable spending and contractor deals. secretary lahood tells "the washington post" he's met with maryland governor o'malley, virginia governor bob mcdonnell and d.c. mayor vincent gray about possibly making changes to the board. >>> it is 5:35. time for another your money report now. >> jessica doyle is back with an unusual way to make money. >> that's right. we all know that recycling is important for the environment. everywhere you go you see the blue recycling bins. we do it at home. what if i told you that recycling certain items could actually give you cold, hard cash? three things you can recycle for cash back or a tax deduction. that's of course like having cash come april 15. number one, gift cards. we've all received that gift card for a holiday gift or birthday present we feel we're never going to use. if you have one of these laying around the house, gift card rescue is a service that will

planes were never on a collision course to hit head on according to transportation secretary ray lahood, traffic controllers had to redirect planes because of bad weather south of the airport. one u.s. airways commuter flight approaching from rosalind for a landing came close to the flight path of two commuter flights that had taken off heading toward rosalind. >> there was a loss of separation. it shouldn't have happened. but because of a well-trained controller, at dca tower who immediately recognized the situation and worked to fix it. >> george novak explains what happened. >> we had two aircraft that had taken off in this direction at the same time we had aircraft to land in a similar direction. and because of a miscommunication among the air traffic controller, these aircraft were essentially to be in the same place at the same time, but it was caught well before anything happened or a any -- a serious incident occurred. >> audio recordings of the communications between the inbound pilot and the controller shows some confusion. >> what happened? >> 3329 standby, we're trying to fi

health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius and ray lahood will lay it out. nearly two dozen kids have died. >>> it is almost that time. back to school. it is just around the corner. tonight rockville is hoping to get kids excited and prepared. the city is holding their annual back to school jam tonight happening from 6:30 to 9:30 at the lincoln park community center. there from a deejay, moonbounce and free food. parents can buy fully stocked backpacks for just $1 as well as receive health screenings and find up for after school programs. it will be the last weekend for summer for unds of students in our area as well. prince george's county schools begin class enon monday. some will be headed to a brand new school green belt middle school opens on monday. it will serve about 1,000 students from grades 6 through 8th. >>> on tantibiotics may be linko obesity in children. introducing too many antibiotics into the body may throw the balance of good and bad bacteria in the stomach out of whack. especially for kids. to see how that worked in real life, the doctor

transportation secretary ray lahood, d.c. mayor and maryland governor and virginia governor all sent a scathing letter to the airport's authority yesterday. they essentially told the agency to clean up its act. they've been criticized in recent months for spending tens of thousands of dollars on trips. >>> a group of firefighters no longer opposing a controversial ambulance fee. the county volunteer fire and rescue association reached a deal with the county that will give firefighters 15% of the revenue those fees generate. the organization had wanted voters to decide if the fee would be implemented. it worried it would discourage people from calling 911. the county says the fee will go right to insurance companies in most cases. set to go into effect january 1st. >>> 71 degrees. a new low for the presidential campaign. the remark by vice president joe biden that has mitt romney so upset. >>> also ahead. the plans for a spectacular fireworks show that went up in smoke. >>> plus, why the much anticipated ipad mini may not look

that is why president obama, vice-president biden, and secretary lahood are so energized about high-speed rail. this is how we will lay the foundation for future prosperity in america. so thank you. [applause] >> thank you, mr. secretary. it gives me great pleasure to introduce our last speaker who deserves tremendous credit for bringing us here today. after being appointed by governor brown to the high-speed rail port, dan richard has made extraordinary progress to make california high speed rail a reality. the skill at building a consensus around high-speed rail and commitment and leadership as chair of the board set a new tone to address serious issues in a transparent and purposeful way. and he got results. results that we have the pleasure of celebrating today. the california high speed rail system will be a wise investment promises to generate long-term trends and economic benefits for california. please join me in welcoming the california high speed rail chairman dan richard. [applause] >> thank you. thank you, maria. that is very kind. i want to take a few moments. i wanted to ack

ray lahood says he has serious questions about how the inlaws board is operating. all this after a recent audit found questionable spending and contractor deals. the hood tells the washington post he met with the maryland governor, martin o'malley, bob mcdonnell and vince gray about possible changes to that board. >> virginia's attorney general has filed a legal brief in a maryland gun case. that brief is in support of a federal court ruling that struck down the maryland gun control law. that law grants permits only to people who can prove a good and substantial reason that they face a specific or imminent threat to their safety. argues the maryland law is too restrictive. the state of maryland is appealing the decision that struck down that law. >>> up on capitol hill, the house filed a lawsuit against eric holder. the lawsuit demands that holder produced records related to the botched gun tracking operation, known as fast and furious. holder and the house republicans were sparring over holder's refusal to turn over documents and lawmakers then voted to hold holde

. >> reporter: lahood said one of the things they intend to find out is why exactly the faa found out about the incident for the very first time from a news reporter and not from air traffic control. >> got some work to do. thank you. >>> this close call raises questions about the safety of our air traffic control system. was this near miss rare or more common unanimous we'd like to think? industry expert -- than we'd like to think. industry experts say this seems to be an isolated incident. our air traffic control system still by and large is pretty effective. >> we have one of the if not the safest air traffic control systems in the united states. if you take a look at our recent aviation accident statistics, there has only been .17 accidents per million departures. >> that is reef assuring. even if the -- reassuring. even if the pilots hadn't corrected the course, commercial aircrafts are equipped with a backup system that would have been the final fail safe had this close call gotten even closer. >>> today the senate pulled the plug on a bill designed to protect infrastructure lik

. >> reporter: lahood said one of the things they want to figure out is why the faa found out about the incident for the very first time from a news reporter. matt jablow, 9 news now. >> that's just one of the questions we've got. what we really want to know is how dangerous was the situation and is there an intrinsic problem with our air traffic control system? mark weiss is here with us to give us insight, a retired american ail pilot and aviation and homeland security -- airlines pilot and an aviation and homeland security consultant. this was a serious miscommunication. was it a serious impending disaster? >> absolutely. any time you have the distance between the planes closing at that speed it becomes the potential hazard and certainly the situation could have gotten to be disastrous. so this never should have occurred. it should have been caught before it happened. fortunately it was stopped before it became something else. >> are we right to call that air traffic controller a hero for noticing it in time and calling the planes and saying hey, turn aside? >> i'm glad they did thei

. >> this is extraordinary action by transportation secretary lahood, on top of which letter he wrote expressing outrage over the authorities reported excesses and questionable contracts was also signed by the governors of virginia and maryland and d.c.'s mayor. the metropolitan washington air force authority has an awesome job. managing the operations of reagan national airport and dulles airport, along with the dulles toll road and the on going construction of metro rail silver line. but an audit showing some board members were reimbursed $4800 for three meals and another paid more than $9,000 for air fare to perugie at the last minute has been a distraction. >> anyone in a private organization that conducted themselves like the air force authority would be fired. >> transportation secretary, ray l ahood fired off an angry letter to the authority. expressing outrage at questionable contracts. ordering the termination of all contracts with former board members and former employees. demanding that the board tighten travel procedures to eliminate wasteful spending and be more transpare

john and secretary lahood have been tireless advocate for california in executing the vision of president obama for a smart transportation system across the united states. they played a critical role in securing the funding for the activity you see behind you. please join me in welcoming in and thinking deputy of transportation. [applause] >> when you see here is a great the senate, speaker of the house, who could not be here, with the local leadership, mayor lee and his team, that is how you get things done. president obama and vice- president biden have made some of the most significant investments in our railroad in infrastructure since the days of abraham lincoln. they have helped turn high-speed rail from a dream long in the distance, to reality. with last week's vote, california will help lead the way to bring high-speed passenger rail to america. as many of you know, california will add 700 million residents in the next couple of years but it already has some of the most delay-prone airports and infrastructure. just on airline delays and high with traffic jams along california's cr

but transportation secretary ray lahood disputed reports that the jet gnarly averted a midair disaster. >> the controller did exactly what she should have done and these planes were not on a collision course. they weren't. >> reporter: now, the collision warning systems aboard all three planes did not go off, another strong indicator that in the end, the incident was more frightening than actually dangerous. still, officials say this kind of conflict must never happen so f.a.a. investigators, scott, are taking a very hard look. >> pelley: thanks, bob. a blown tire caused a deadly bus crash in illinois today. the double decker plowed into a support pillar along iex-55. the bus heading from chicago to st. louis had 64 people on board. one is dead. at least 25 others are injured. a teenager at the strf a tragic death gets a second chance. a program to protect chemical plant has been in place for years, but the man who ran it says it's failing. and the duel in the pool-- phelpss versus lochte when the cbs evening news continues. a party? [ music plays, record skips ] hi, i'm new ensure cle