in it the thieves took off with an atm. >> megan mcgrath is live with details on this. , good morning. >> reporter: well, good morning, guys. yeah, the search for these thieves that took this atm still under way but b what a lot of damage they left behind here. take a look at the 711 behind me. you can see that the plate glass front windowhere, everything basically to the left of the front door completely smashed out. we've got the lottery sign just sort of hanging there at an angle fro a chain. now, this was 2:00 a.m. in the morning. hat's when police say that the thieves drove a truck through that plate glass window there into the store. they grabbed the atm and then made their escape. no worn how much money may have been in that machine, but wholeere able to take the thing with them. and they still have not been found at this point. now, this is the 711 on fin's lane just off of 450 in lanham. everything is closed at that point. a lot of people stopping by, tryico to get ee, but closed right now and looks like they will be closed for some time to come there's a lot th

megan mcgrath is in the newsroom with details for us. megan? it appears we are having trouble withme n's microphone. we'll try to get that fixed and go back to that story. >>> right now, we want to tell you about president trump. heontinued his attack on the fbi during an inrview with sean hannity. he expressed anger that the mueller investigation was allowed to begin in the first place. >> you had dirty cops.le you had peophat were bad fbi. i know so many that are incredible pple. at the top, they will not clean. >> the president said he would release the fisa warrants and the documents that the fbi used to investigate his campaign. >>> today we'll learn the plan to eliminate parking spaces. county executive mark elrich wants updated regulations that would require building owners to have what'called a traffic mitigation plan. some business owners are worried the removal of parking spaces will hurt their profits. the issue is being discussed at the council meeting. >>> baseball is back.th nationals are opening a new season in just -- a little l

. >> megan mcgrath is gng to let us what you need to know befor hitting the road. >> reporter: the rain has stopped. we're not seeingai any but we're seeing problems around the area. this is piper lane in bristow. this road leads to the e station. it is completely closed off in both directions. it'se lit dark. you can't really see. down arod where the curve is, there's three feet of water. they are diverting traffic. this is a little road that leads to an industrial park here. we have seen some drivers trying to persuade the officer to let them through. at this point, it is a no-go. about three feet of water down there. you don't want cars to over there. it's a low-lying areaon that's to flooding. you can't see it right now. i can see glistening liat. definitely down there. we're seeing but some of the low-lying areas having issues. >> thank you for theheads-up, megan. >>> dozens of prince george's county residents say they were duped by a travel agency that sold them fa plane tickets. this was something that telemundo 44 uncovered. 25 people say they gave money to a woman named anna ma

news 4's megan mcgrath joins us from fnconia elementary school where the incident happened last year. megan, what's going o here? >> reporter: well, some change, which will hopefully helpeep ds safe. it was just a terrible accident. a third grader here at franconia elementary school was pinned and killed as he helped a teacher operate one of those large, motorized partition walls inside of the sc now, new rules are coming to help safeguard children. governor ralph northam signed a law in honor of wesley lepicky.w a 4 investigation, found that many school districts in the area do not have or did not have formal written policies or training in place. 17 of 21 districts did not. that is now changing. new rules take effect july 1st in virginia. under the new law, motorize ed partitions cannot be used if kids are in the room, unless safety devices like motion detectors are installed. schools must develop policies to train operators and they'rere ired to train the operators once a year. now, the lepickyerfamily, happy about this new law. they want to make sure that nobody experiences the tr

megan mcgrath is live with details. megan? >> reporter: well,, that's right. this was a smash and grab that happened over night. the thieves getting away with an atm machine. if you take a look behind me here, you can see all of th mage that was left behind here. essentially everything to the left of that front door all of that glass completely broken out here. ce say that the thieves used a truck. through that up plate glass window and then threw that atm machine in the back of the truck and made their escape. noord on how much money might have been in there. but, they took the whole machine here. now, the people inside that were working at the time, they were not injured, so that's good news there. but they are still looking for the people responsible here. you can see, a lot of damage a lot of cleaop that needs be done here. now, i should mention that there cameras, quitece a few of them, actually on the outside of the building. and presumably possibly on the inside as well. now, whether those ceras were working, or whether they recorded anything that could

megan mcgrath will have more on this in a live report, coming up at 5:45. >>>e turn to ain devel story in montgomery county. he will report to the i.c.e. office in hours. hemeas been living in montgory county for nearly 20 years. he runs the elite soccer development academy. he flew in was in 2000. he applied for asylum and was denied and has been living her ever since. parents of his players are devastated if he has to leave. >> losing him in the community would be a tragedy. not just for me and many, many adults, but also for the kids. >> i just forget. you know what? i live for the community. >> a group of supporters plans to go to the ice office to show support for the coh. >>> here are some o the stories we're following this morning. president trump fired up his supporters at a rally in grand rapids, michigan, last night. this was the first one since the attorney general released a summary ofhe mueller report. the president attacked democrats, the media and talked about hisindication overhe report. we'll have more on thi coming up. >>> the man who atta

megan mcgrath is along the tidal basin with this story. hey, megan. >> reporter: thah. sun has come up a little bit so you can a getter idea of how longs look at the tidal basis. we're jteginning this process. you can see the tiny buds forming on the end here. thre closed tightly. we have a ways to go here. everybody, of course, wants to now, when will peak blo happen? and the national park service, their experts, they reased the prediction yesterday. theye saying april 3rd through the 6t look at video from years past. a popular time of year here in waington. yhousands of people come to see the cherr blossoms. peak bloom is when 70% the blossoms are out. a lotan impact the prediction, however. we'll have to keep a close eye on t temperatures here over the next couple of weeks.s, cold temperatuwell, that slows everything down. we see warmer temperatures, the budds start to loosen up and start to open sooner than predicted. we'll keep a close eye on what mother nature does in the next couple of weeks. for the home, april 3rd, through the 6th, that's the predicted peak blo

megan mcgrath is along the tidal basin with more on this story. we know they will come eventually, right? it doesn't look like it right >> or feel like it. >> there's not a lot to see here. ok at the coa'm wearing. i'm wearing down this morning. it's just 26 sgrees. buing is coming, which, of course, means the cherr blossoms are going to bloom. we're in stage one. tages one out of six stamgs h e here. the buds are tiny and they are clamped tightly shut. we got a ways to go here. we have the estimate. everyone wanting to know when peak bloom can happen. the national service thinks it will be april 3rd through the 6th. look at video here. he's are blossoms from years past. they're gorge year after year. thousands of people come to washingtonk and wound the tidal basin to take it all in. peak bloom is when 70% of the blossoms are out. and it's an explosi of pink, down along the tidal basin. we have aouple ofeeks to go here. if it's cold, the bloom process ll slow down warm weather, these are speed up. we have to pay close attention to what happens in

. >> news 4's megan mcgrath joins us live with that story this morning. >> reporter: good morning, guys. they are not happy about what happened, but female students here at bethesda high school are turning it into a positive. they are using the backlash from that t list focus a spotlight on thessue of sexual harassment. hurtful, that's how yasmin droidroib describes it. she's one of 18 female high scho students on the now infamous list. the 18 seniors were ranked by male students on their physical attractiveness. the results circulated by text. >> it was hurtful to me because i kind of was thinking, why a i not more than enough to be a higher number. but at the end of the day, i realize i define who i am. >> knowing my closest pears in my community h createst that list felt like the ultimate betrayal. that us could hang out with them every day and talk to them, but under that i was still a number. >> some of the students spoke to the "today" show. the teens growing up in the age of me too are using the experien to start a dialogue and hopefully bring about change working with the school

megan mcgrath reports. >> reporter: classes were just getting under way for the day when students at spring brook high school walked out andd bo bus bound for the metro st tion. thens are calling for tougher gun control laws, u specificallyversal background checks they want an end to the school violence that has become all too familiar to their generation. >> i'm a kidup growing always looking at the tv seeing other kids atdieing. how i feel. i'm just hurt we've gotten to the point where lot of people don't care because it's become the new norm. we have to make sure we do everything we can. we have a moral obligation to speak out and do the right thing. >> reporter: the first school walk out happened last year following the deadly parklan shooting. organizers hope it happens every year. this video shows students leaving mont gumry blair high school, they hopped onto the metro and into the city. >> we're trying to show the studen movement has staying powehe >> reporte teens made their way to the white house and observed 17 minutes of silence for the parkland victims. they then marched

. >> megan mcgrath is down in that area. she joinss live now with how this group is moving toward the tol. good morning, megan. mo reporter: well, gooing, guys. the students actually walked out of class ps tty muchon as school started this morning and about a half hour ago, there were hundreds of them marching down 15th street right on the midd 15th street as they made their way from the white house to the u.s. capitol. they are calling for tougher gun laws and an end to school violence w classesere just getting under way for the day when students at spring brook high school walked out and boarded a bus bound for the metro station. the teens are calling forr toughe gun control lawsp ifically universal background checks. choolwant an end to the violence that has become all too familiar to their generation. >> i'm a kid growing up, always ing at the tv and seeing other kids dying, right? that's really how i feel. i'm just hurt that we've gotten to the point where a lot of people don't care because it's become the new norm and w

coming , megan mcgrath will have a live report from the counsel onmerica islamic relations, the nation's largest muslim organization will hold a news conference t respond to today's killings at mosque and it will call for an end to islamaphobia, wte supremacist and anti-immigrant bigotry arou the world. >>> new this morning, students take to the streets in d.c. to urge increased action to combat climate change. this is part of a worldwide movement. the coordinated school strikes were inspired by a 16-year-old swedish activist after she delivered a powerful speech at the united nations climate summit in december. >>> all right. let's switch gears now. weake turn to our weather. we're headed into the weekend and we're watching for rain. give us the update on the timing of this rain. i have my umbrella. i'm tready. good news is, i think for us in the metro area, just ar spotty shor two. south and east of washington we could be dealing with some thunder storms,ome impressive rain fall and strong gusty winds in the late afternoonin and ev hours. here's the latest. i've also added the satellit

megan mcgrath is outside of the court now with this story.ood morning. >> reporter: well, good morning. 27-yealoold t boykin pleaded guilty to sexually abusing four young girls in his care at the miniland academy in bristow. today, he will learn his he admitted to touching the girls' genitals as they came down a slide on the playground he said he took pictures of his victims' private parts using a smart watch. they found 120 images. boykin will appear before a judge later today. he could get life in prison for these crimes.s paref some of the victims are expected to come and speak during today's sentencing. they're expected to explain how the abuse affhtted their das. back to you. >> very disturbing. megan mcgrath, live for us this morning. >>> a judge in montgomery county are going to announce whether a fourth teen will be to adult court. he is one of four teens accused of raping a fellow junior varsity football player with a broomstick in a locker room last year. the judge was going to make a decision on tuesday but needed o more timeview t

. >> megan mcgrath, live f us. thanks. >>> new details about the theft of an atm from a 7-eleven in lanham, we told you about this yesterday. it appears the crooks are the same ones that have stolen several other atmsrom businesses across prince george's county, d.c. and baltimore. >>> this morning, a bald eagle is in the care of the city wildlife rehab center, after being rescued fm metro tracks. >> many of you were glued to this live rcue yesterday. metro transit police officer and natural resources officers, used blankets and towel to safely catch the bird. the eckle was s against the blue and silver line tracks near the addison roaio st metro cut power to the third rail and began single tracking cso the birdld be rescued. while moste commurs hate delays, they seemed to be okay with it this time. >> ieard thereas a bald eagle on the asack. he hurt. >> we were just talking on the subway about the eagles out there. >> we're glad the eagle was rescued. but people are asking if there's some connection to tin fa mous

megan mcgrath joins us from franconia elementary where this happened last year. >> reporter: this was just heartbreaking. a terrible accident thatth took life of a young boy. but positive change is coming in tragedy. of this tarajraged sley lipicky was helping to operate one of the motorized partitions. he was pinned in that roll awal crushed. governor ralph northam signed a law yesterday. and following the tragedy, news 4 launched an investigation. they found that many school districts in the area did not have formal written policies or training in place, for operating those partitions. news 4 pound 17 of 21 districts in the area d not have the ain organize the policies. that will be changing now. starting july 1st here in virginia, new rules are taking effect here. under theew w, the motorized partitions cannot be used if room.nts are in the that is unless other safety measures, other safety devices like motion sensors have been installed. under the new law, schools have to train those operating the partitions once a year. the lipicky family very happy about this new law. they want

megan mcgrath joins us from the live desk, with details. rning. >> reporter: good morning, molette and aaron. the big takeaway froms toll is something we know too well. americans are dividedhen it comes to who should be leading the country. look at these results. if the election were held todayo 43% of surveyed say president trump and the publican party would win re-election. the same number, 43%se of t surveyed, say a democrat would win. another 9% say a third party candidate would come out on top. and the survey goes a bit further. asks participants who they would vote for. 34% say they passed a ballot for president trump. 29% say they would vote for the democrat no matter who it ends up being. and 15% saying they are unsure who they would vote for. 52% agree wh the green new deal that addresses climate change. 63% in medicaid for all health care program. back to you guys. >> thank you. >>> this morning, we know when ng on sportst bet in the district. now, you won't be able to do it for today' opening nationals game. not going to be able t

megan mcgrath is in the newsroom with details for us. megan? >> reporter: c acago journalist filed a freedom for information act. what was given out was the police report. in it, detectives who worked the case found the connection between the others and smollett. but the new information stop there's. chicago p.d. says a judge blocked them from givingut more information. despite that, the county's top prosecutor, who recused herself from the case, insists smollett did not get special treatment. earlier this week, prosecutors dropped 16 felony counts filed against him in return for 2 days of community service and a fe $10,000 cour >> mr. smollett was ed the same opportunity that anyone in cook county who had a nonviolen offense and quired background would be able to get. >> reporter: smollett is facing a federal probe foinallegedly mahimself a death threat. this morning, nbc news has learned that that case is also unraveling and may result in no criminal charges.'l keep an eye on the story and give you information as soon as it becomes available.

megan mcgrath live outside of the archdiocese in washington northeast, with more on this. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. we thoug we might hear something as soon as 6:00 hit this morning. we haven't heard anything. pope francis is expected to name wilton gregory, the nexwa archbishop oington. now, gregory is serving in atlanta. he is a lo-time leader in the catholic church. he served as president of the united states of -- united states conference of catholic bishops. he held that decision during the 2002 sexual abuse scandal, the so-called spotlight scandal. he is known for the dallas charter to make priests accountable. it's n known if archbishop gregory will accept the position. a lot of unanswered questions here. a local church expert says, if he does take the job, he will have a lot of challenges ahead of him. >> a long-rumored candidate for washingt has always been archbishop wton gregory. a great archbishop will be a transitional figure. >> the archdiocese announced that we are awaiting an announcement fromhe holy see. now, the archdiocese of washington, h

megan mcgrath is live near the crash site with more on how his kids are remembering him this morning.rter: good morning. he was a husband, a father and a retired army tveteran. an family of 65-year-old willie williams says he will be missed. take a look at this surveillance video here. poli say this is the vehicle that was i involve this deadly hit and run. it's described as a gray minivan with a black bike rack on the ro. it happened on tuesday night. investigators say williams waso crng rhode island avenue. he was outside of a crosswalk when he was struck by a minivan. williams tdied of his injuries n wednesday. williams spoke t his daughter an news 4. she w the driver to come forward. >> you don't keep going. going?you keep how do you live with yourself. please, come foo ard. own up. just admit it. >> reporter: the search for driver continues this morning. family members are hopeful that someone wil recognize the minivan seen in the surveillance video and give investigators a call. >> meganra m. thank you very much. >>> want to tell you that the maryland house of delegates has appr

megan mcgrath is near the crash site how williams' kids is remembering him. good morning, megan. >> reporter: good morning. his daughter describes him as a kind army vet who was enjoying retirent. w, the family of willie williams, they want justice in this case. look at surveillance video here. this is the vehicle that police say was involved in this deadly hit and run in northeast. 's described as a gray minivan with a black bike rack on the roof. williams was crossdeg r island avenue, outside of the crosswalk, and this happened in block.00 he was hit by that minivan and the driver kept going. williams died of his injuries on wednesday. his daughter says they areus devastated. >> a very respectful man. he outlived so much. i never saw this.comi ain't nobody see this coming. >> reporter: and the driver of that vami kept going and has not been found. police are hoping that someone will recognize that vehicle, that gray miman, from that surveillance tape and give them a call. back to you. >> megan, thank you. >>> we're learning new details about the death of a w

megan mcgrath is livesi o the store in annapolis where folks will not be gettinginheir mo coffee the same way today. megan? >> reporter: that's right. no cup of morning joe, no slurpees, at least not for now. yogcan see everyth is still closed down at the 7-eleven on fins lane. b they'rerding up that smashed out glass storefront. now, it's difficult to crack open an atm and access the money. what the thieves did in this case, tthy too whole machine. smashed glass, the electric lotliry sign dang -- lottery sign dangles at a strange angle. another sign reads atm. but there is no atm, not anymore. thieves stole it overnight. they drove a truck through the glass orefront, loade up the machine and drove away.an thisas working when it happened. >>ng they b the truck and they hit the door and they break heeverything and they taketm machine. they took the atm machine. >> the heist happened just before 2:00 a.m. at the 7-eleven on finns lane in lanham. nobody was hurt but there's a big mess to clean up. workers spent the morning covering the hole with plywood. cust fers looking their morning c

let's get right to megan mcgrath where we just heard from attorneys in this case. megan, what are welearning? >> reporter: well, first of all, let me say that it's a crime that shoed t community and traumatized the victims and now the family of those victims as well as their attorneys, they are expressing unhappiness and anger over the njudge's decis to move the trial of a fourth defendant to juvenile court. now the attack happened on ttlloween, j.v. football players wereked in the locker room by fellow players assaulted with a broomstick. the defendants have called it a hazing ritual, but prosecutors say it ras . three of the four defendants have had their cases waived back to criminal court already and a judge decided that the fourth defendant who prosecutors say was the main instigator will also be tried as a juvenile. the judge said ts was a horrible attack but law requires him to consider several factors when deciding if a 15-year-old can be tried as an adult, the judge in the end waived that ca back to th juvenile court so that the defendant can continue to ge

megan mcgrath ise l this morning with a look at what you need to know before the work gets undery. >> reporter: good morning. this is going to happen. the shift is going to happen on the etbound side of the suitland parkway right here where it goes underneath 295. you can see these new signals here. they're still covered up at this point but they will be apart of this new nfiguration. this work was supposed to happen tonight, the shift was supposed to tappen tonight butre was a delay. so drivers can expect to see t new pattern monday night. suitland parkway at the 295 overpass in southeast. construction has snarled traffic in the area for a while now and things are about to get even morecomplicated. >> oh, good, that's good to know. that will be fun. looking forrd to that. >> reporter: next week, a new traffic pattern takesct ef eastbound traffic on the suitland parkway will shift to the left and share the westbound lanes and new traffic signals will occasionay stop traffic coming off the 295 ramps. the ramps have been widened allowing an extra lane, but the new configuration may be a

megan mcgrath is live at the parkway and route123. tell us more about the impact of this closure, megan. >> reporter: well, it was a real mess earlier this morning for the rush hour. still a mess. uta new min ago we got word that the southbound lanes, all clear has been givenor them to reopen. so southbound is reopening. however northbound side, that is a different matter en srely. you c the barricades are still in place. this is the ramp that heads from 123 down on to the northbound side of the parkway. it is stillnd closed a what we are hearing is thathe northbound side may not reopen nor an extended period of time. inspectors are d there right now trying to assess the safety because of this hole that has opened up alongside the road and under thoseorbound lanes. needless to say, with everything shut down during r theh shower, this morning it was an absolute mess. the hole is deep, just watch this road crew checking things out. one man uses a tape measure to try to figure out the depth. from chopper 4, you can see several feet of mea

megan mcgrath is live at the tidal basin whereeople are already enjoying the splendor of trees. good morning, megan. >> hi, megan. >> reporter: absolutely, good moing, guys. there's nothing prettier than washington in the spring time and the cherry blossom trees have started to blooe we'r not at peak yet, that's as couple dway but you can see we actually have some of the trees like this one which have reallypopped, the blossoms are really out but then you still have trees like the one right next door to it, those blossoms, those buds are still pretty tightly closed but that's all going to change in a mat days and right now no crowds and it's absolutely beautiful along theidal basin. also a great time to do some people watching. >> it's jus like a dream, yeah. >> reporter: it was rather ke dream- two women in traditional chinese amongng striking poses the pink blossoms. you see a lot of interesting things along the tidal basin this time of year. plenty of couples taking engement photos, lots of people all dressed up for the experience. brandon johnson wore his pale blue suit with