mayor muriel bowser in jail if she allows the voter approved initiative to become law. jim osman is live at the capitol. what have you learned about this showdown? it's d.c. versus the congress. >> reporter: hi, derek, and good evening, folks at home. it's not clear whether house republicans are puffing their chest or they are serious, but the mayor says it doesn't matter. she has a job to do. >> the law will go into effect one minute after midnight. >> reporter: d.c. mayor muriel bowser made herself clear the voter approved initiative 71 to legalize marijuana with various restrictions and conditions will become law within minutes now, but citing potential violation of federal law house republican lawmakers made themselves clear. muriel bowserer might have to exchange her green business suit for an orange jumpsuit if she keeps that promise. >> i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia. me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. >> reporter: a letter from the house oversight chairman states to muriel bowserer, if you decide to move forward tomorrow wi

mayor muriel bowser from pressing ahead with that. surae chinn explains what's likely to happen next. >> reporter: the district is not backing down and they will not be intimidated either. with the backing of d.c. council and the police chief, mayor muriel bowser says they are proceeding with the legalization of marijuana tonight. >> our government is prepared to implement and enforce initiative 71 in the district of columbia. >> reporter: mayor muriel bowser received a stern letter from the house of representatives oversight committee saying if you decide to move forward tomorrow with the legalization of marijuana in the district, you will be doing so inenning and will of -- in knowing and willful violation of the law. it's contrary to law and we strongly suggest you reconsider your position. >> we're acting lawfully. so i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia. me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. aarp adam idinger is chairman of the d.c. -- >> reporter: adam idinger is chairman of the d.c. marijuana campa

. >> today mayor muriel bowser got a threatening letter tropical hill warning her not to implement -- capitol hill warning her not to implement the pot law, but she said she's moving forward with what the d.c. voters want. >> reporter: i'm surae chinn in the district of columbia. the mayor is not backing down when it comes to legalizing pot tonight. >> our government is prepared to implement and enforce initiative 71 in the district of columbia. >> reporter: mayor muriel bowser received a stern letter from the house of representatives oversight committee. the letter addressed to the mayor says, "if you decide to move forward tomorrow with the legalization of marijuana in the district, you will be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law. the committee is investigating your recent assertions that initiative 71 in your opinion take effect on february 26th, 2015. it's contrary to law and we strongly suggest you reconsider your position." >> we're acting lawfully, so i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia. me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. >> co

. >>> right now several congressmen are threatening mayor muriel bowser to stop d.c.'s marijuana law from taking effect at midnight and on the other side is mayor bowser who said the city will press on. surae chinn reports from outside the wilson building with a shutdown. >> our government is prepared to implement and enforce initiative 71 in the district of columbia. >> reporter: mayor muriel bowser received a stern letter from the house of representatives oversight committee. the letter says if you decide to move forward tomorrow with the legalization of marijuana in the district, you will be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law. it further says the committee is investigating your recent assertion that initiative 71 in your opinion take effect on february 26th, 2015, is contrary to law and we strongly suggest you reconsider yourself position. >> we're acting lawfully. so i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia. me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. >> reporter: chairman of the d.c. cannabis campaign and proposed initiative 7

mayor muriel bowser said that might not happen. first responders are supposed to train for the worst, but after the delgadoly accident at l'enphant plaza station last month, d.c. fire officials discovered that only 100 firefighters took part in metro training last year. one suggestion to make it easier to train was to bring old metro training facility. >> it sounded nice. we'll see what metro has to say about that. >> reporter: the military has metro cars at a training facility close to d.c. where they train for terrorist attacks. but firefighters in our region have to troovl metro's training facility to get that same hands of on experience. d.c. mayor muriel bowser was noncommittal on the union's request to get its own cars for training. >> we all have to kind of make the best use of resources, and i don't know that that's the answer when we have it pretty well set up at metro, but i am happy to look into that. >> reporter: one thing the mayor and the chief have promised is to increase training. right now, less than half of the 1,

mayor muriel bowser has ordered firefighters to stop encrypting their emergency radios. >> this comes in the wake of last month's deadly metro smoke incident aboard a yellow line train. delia goncalves is live outside the wilson building right now in northwest. >> delia, do we know exactly when this encryption will stop? >> reporter: you know, we just ound midnight from the mayor's office. a spokesperson from mayor bowser's office. she confirmed to us that this encryption has already been lifted. we don't know exactly when that happened but i can tell you that the mayor is expected to make an official announcement this week. but we have been hearing from the president of the fire union who says the system has always been flawed and always needed to be reevaluated. he says this private system led to those communication failures during the smoke incident at l'enfant plaza last month. firefighters in the metro system could not communicate with supervisors above ground after learning people were trapped on that train. and of course one person died. but the administration says despite the

muriel bowser already named the summer youth employment program for him, and there are other options across the district to honor him, they say.

. >> i'm muriel bowser i'm the dual elected mayor of the districtcolumbia. our government is prepared to implemt and enforce initiative 71 in the district of columbia. in bullying the district of is not what his consti expect nor do ours. >> a republican house committee letter said if she went forward she'd be violating the law. the next step is up to congress. here in the district tom sherwood. news 4. >>> thank you, tom. we're working to learn more about a fire that shut down part of busy m street in georgetown today. it broke out at the steve madden store ju store worker tells us he went in the basement and saw the furnace on fire. everyone inside got out okay. >>> just two work days left for congress to come up with funding for the department of homeland security. the budget expires at the end of the day on friday. the senate impasse appears to have broken within the past hour.e senate voted to advance the funding bill for further consider but even if it passes the bill's fate in the house is unknown. if the deadline comes without a soluti in place thous

maria measure but the distri says that law was invali today may muriel bowser annod she was g ahead with the new city law at midn tonight. despite congression warnings, sh could be jailed if she proceede i have a lot of things to do hecolumbia. me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. our gover is prepared to implt and enforce initiative 71. >> police chief kathy le near says her officers would enforce the law. training is under way and wille compl in the coming hours and this wid in law after 12:01. a republican house committee warn in the letter today bowser should reconsider her positi that going ahead would be a knowing willful violation of the law. and in bullying the district columbia it's not what his cons expect nor do ours. >> nearly every d.c. council stood with the mayor today putting themselves at risk if the house brings any legal action ready to go to jail if necess >> you know in america there e many ways of expressing your um citizenship. >> pot advocates who worried the city would buckle under pressu praised the mayor. >> bailed on this. >> i'm pleased that the mayor i

mayor muriel bowser says the is going to go ahead witi move to legalize possessionflc marijuana t next few weeks. at a job training center in southeasttoday bowser said she agrees with the d.c. council that congress acted too late last year to stop the law that was overwhelmingly approved by d.c. voters. the ballot initiativ changed the law. we'll work with the chief of police to make sure we have very clear guidance to our police officers. >> up on congress, house republica have said that congress' te barred any further spending by the district on the marijuana law. so it's not clear what action, if any, congress intends to take against ci if it goes ahead with its plan to enact this law. >>> well, the sunset's nice out there, bu iing cold, buddy. >> i'll tell you what thursday will be okay then we're going right off a cliff. temperatue g toe the coldest we've seen so far this winter, a we just saw some of those c numbers here. take a look outside first off and i'll shoal you what's happening o there. towards reston, look at this, a nice shota dulles airport out towar the blue ridge.

mayor muriel bowser and expensive price tag on her inauguration festivities spending about $1 million on the celebration. that is about $400,000 more than her predecessor. bowser's inauguration was the most expensive in the district. >> a cruise cut short by sickness passengers forced to return to baltimore early. >> plus, dodging the blame for lance armstrong. >> and we continue to follow breaking news from new york where several people are kille >> returning to the breaking news outside of new york city, these are live chopper images. at least six people dead, 12 injured after a metro north train crashed into nan suv. the driver of the vehicle was killed as well as five train passengers. the ntsb will investigate. we are also waiting a news conference in new york and we will bring you updates as soon as they are available. >> a newly cleaned up her ship is back at sea. it left baltimore after was scrubbed down following a nora virus outbreak. the ship experienced two outbreak/year. the virus can spread quickly last year from contaminated food and water. >> we do not get to go to hai

mayor muriel bowser says it is perfectly legal. >> as a business people need to take it seriously and not just somebody sitting on the couch. >> d.c. voters overwhelmingly passed initiative 71. so the will of the voter should be number one. richard: most people at the expo believe the debate will die down, but an interesting concept, cannabis as a business. a man from colorado said that his state has earned $24 million from sales tax on legal marijuana. richard reeve, abc 7 news. kimberly: an all hands on deck in the district for trash pickup. it is part of an effort to catch up on the tress collection that was delayed because of the snowstorms. residents complained the trash was overflowing onto city streets. the department of homeland security has enough money to stay open one more week. president obama signed a one-week funding extension before the midnight deadline. the bill passed congress late last night after a other funding bills failed to pass. at issue is the president's executive action shielding up to 5 million people from deportation. israeli prime minister benjamin netan

mayor muriel bowser declared a snow emergency. when all the fees are added up it could cost $350 to get your car back. >> metro buses will be on a regular schedule tomorrow. metro access will be resuming a normal schedule and metro trains will return to a weekday schedule. today the trans-randall -- today the trains ran on a weekday service schedule. >> stay with us for updated forecasts and traffic reports on "good morning washington" starting at 4:24. also follow us on facebook twitter, and wjla.com. now back to the breaking news in southeast d.c., where the police are searching for a suspect who carjacked a vehicle with a child inside. the child is safe at this hour. roz plater is at mpd headquarters. roz? >> this had to be a terrifying ordeal for the child. the child is a five-year-old. i just got off the phone with the police they say this happened just after 9:00 in the area of second and mississippi in southeast d.c. a man was getting into his black suv when two men approached pushed him to the ground interpol for the car.

mayor muriel bowser unveiled her plan to get families out of shelters and into permanent homes. sam ford explains bowser's plan to solve the city's homeless problem. >> the playground outside of the homeless shelter was built in memory of the 8-year-old who hasn't been seen since march of last year. today, mayor muriel bowser launched her initiative to get homeless families out of shelters and hotels and into permanent homes. >> help them identify units available across the district of columbia. >> she plans to hire who she calls navigators or home finders to work with inspectors or social workers whose jobs are to get into homes, people like 22-year-old alison thomas who has an 11-month-old in her arms and is 8 months pregnant. she had been staying at one of the city's motels for homeless families until bed bugs drove her back to her godmother's couch. >> it's stressful because i can't be on the street with a baby. >> running the show for the mayor will be the one who said she cut the homeless population by a third for the obama administration. >> the solution that works for ve

mayor muriel bowser held a press conference a >>> more video right now of today's snow. this was the scene just a short time ago out in fairfax. it is really starting to stick. it's coming down. we've been telling people about it and now it's here. i'm lesli foster. >> i'm jan jeffcoat. let's get back to first alert chief meteorologist topper shutt with the latest on our forecast. top, you say it's only going to get heavier. >> especially south of town and as we go deeper into the night. 4 to 8 inches across most of the metro area, 8 to 12 down toward culpeper and fredericksburg and southern maryland where you folks sometimes have to worry about rain or mix, not this time. it's a snow event. 3 to 6 inches hagerstown and martinsburg. very dry snow, bad for snowballs, good for sledding and pretty easy to shovel. bull's eye south and east of town, a general 4 to 8 inches. sterling 6 inches for a total, fredericksburg 11, frederick, maryland, only 4, maybe 5, oxon hill about 6 inches. look at the storm. one reason we were so confident about this storm was is because it was a

mayor muriel bowser ordered radio testing inside of metro stations. the ntsb will hold hearings in june. >> a first look at stolen items confiscated by the police in an unusual theft ring bust. several people were arrested. they seize stolen items like guns and drugs. abc 7 was the only station inside the million dollar home where the group would squatting. it was littered with clothing, mattresses food, and they even had a baby living there. a crime alert near howard university campus. a string of car break-ins in the north and south banneker parking lots. the thefts happened early this morning. if you have information, d.c. police with love to talk with you. >> now a story we first broke an nfl player charged with assault in d.c. jackson of the colts made the play that set off deflate-gate. now the police say the linebacker attacked a pizza delivery man after argument about a parking spot. it happened last night in an alley off of u street. >> he said i'm going to kill you because i told you not to park here. he grabbed my hand in my neck. he grabbe

mayor muriel bowser s her fight to leat > news > a woman fought off a guy to rape her near the of maryla she wasn't his only victim. want to catch him bef strik again. e man expos himse to one n and then tried to rape the last night in the 1400 k of hampshe court west silver spring. n has more on how victim got away. this is a gutsy and couras young womans surrea>> just after 10:00 night the 20-yead e stu w asked that not use her name was dropp f at her apart compl new h avenue near e u of maryla. a m she did not know was in e foyer. began speak her in whi she knows a but he was slurrg his s and not making sense. she says it got very weird. he then took out money from s pocket and offer it to and my guess was that he was it to me for sex. d i polity declin in an insta the turned violen at that moment he attacd . came at me very fast and i him no and he threw me on floor. d right there in the foyer, d the he ripped off my pants. she says what she d nex surpris even her. i start screa and g becau i'm not going to t anybo touch me like that. d he -- and that scared him. ran away. how did sh

. >>> today mayor muriel bowser says she's done all she can on the district's new marijuana law. but opposition could still take a toll on d.c.'s budget. some lawmakers say the new pot law violates federal law and they could reduce the amount of federal funds that flow into the district. at this point mayor bowser says she has to work with the city council to clarify the rules for marijuana specifically when it comes to private clubs. this law takes effect just in time for an event this weekend focused on marijuana. a group called comfytree cannabis academy is hosting a conference at the holiday inn near the capitol on c street southwest teaching people to grow pot safely and navigate some of the marijuana taxes and policy. it kicks off tomorrow morning and runs through sunday. >>> we may have to get to another bit of winter weather before we get to folic in the warmth, right, doug? >> there's that word frolic. i tell you, we're all going to be doing that come wednesday when temperatures get over 60 degrees in parts of the area. tonight, though a very cold night. talking 60 wedne

mayor muriel bowser on this, the first day of the legalization of marijuana. >> so our d.c.d is live now with the mayor. hi, sam. >> hello, alison leon. we have mayor bowser here with us on day one. how did it go? >> well nothing has changed much. you see, the sky didn't fall. >> you didn't go to jail. >> the will of the voters has been implemented. let's face it we have the voters changed the law. and i'm the mayor of the district of columbia and my job is to implement it. and make sure that everybody that works for me knows the rules. and knows what to do and that's exactly what happened at 12:01 last night. >> ok and, of course you didn't go to jail. >> why would i? we believe that the district of columbia is acting lawfully. >> ok. and i don't know, would the police be able to enforce this thing? i mean i guess, i got some sense today that the police are saying let's just stay away from it. we're not sure what to do. >> i think you know and everybody out there knows last year the council passed a decriminalization of marijuana law. and now, the legalization that was appr

s mayor muriel bowser in regard to the homeless in the city.y get a new place to stay on the on. on the campaign trail she said it was not proper to place them in rooms. she asked a judge for permission to house them in places like rec centers. if the judge grants her request, as many as 15 families could be placed in semiprivate areas of d.c. general. >>> it could be harder for you to take a selfie in some of d.c.'s biggest museums. the museum has banned selfie stix at the hirsch horn this week and is work ong a policy for other attractions on a mall. this follows a similar ban in new york city's museums. a spokeswoman says the ban is meant to protect the artwork from damage and visitors from hurting each other. >> aren't you supposed to be looking at the art anyway not yourself? >> come on folk. peel yourself away from your thing. doug? >> what? >> oh yeah. >> who needs a stick selfie? >> busted. >> everything's fine. i'll tell you what we are in for some great weather over the next couple days and it's coming just in time for the weekend. to

mayor muriel bowser said the city would not become like amsterdam, which has legal pot. today, the netherland's embassy posted an in-depth fact sheet between -- with the difference of between d.c.'s law and there's. to read the complete comparison, there is a link at wjla.com. russia is commenting on d.c.'s initiative 71. the russian health ministries top drug specialist shared harsh words. he said, "when authorities take their cues from the basest interests of the population, what will happen is everyone will become drug addicts." recent studies confirm that marijuana is safer than previously thought, similar to alcohol and tobacco. maryland is considering a change to the drinking law. they are debating a bill that would allow service members who are at least 18 years of age to be served beer and wine. they would have to show an armed forces id to get served. they said if they can fight for the country, they should be allowed to drink a beer. and warning about a possible danger of getting too much sleep. researchers found people who sleep more than eight hours per day h

mayor muriel bowser ordered the city's fire department to stop encrypting emergency radio transmissions. unencrypted channels should make it easier for different responders from different agencies to work together. that encryption system played a part in the communication issues in the response to that deadly smoke incident last month on board the yellow line train. bowser's office said the radio system was under review weeks before that incident. >>> repair crews wrapped up work for the night to a beltway bridge in prince george's county that dropped concrete on a car, but we found what happened to be plenty more where that came from. >> reporter: i'm scott broom in morningside where repair crews used epoxy to try to stablize that portion of bridge where a chunk fell off. i found out this may not be the only bridge with problems like this. this is where the beltway crosses over southbound sixth avenue. concrete appeared to have fallen out in chunks and gaps in bridge concrete above. the high spokesman says despite issues the internal integrity of the bridge at branch avenue and the bri

mayor muriel bowser unveiled a new program this morning designed to help homeless families in the city. people in the district have a legal right to shelter when the temperatures are under freezing but among other things mayor bowser's program teams homeless families with case workers who understand the rental market and can help with the paperwork. >>> a house committee is holding its first meeting on president obama's request to authorize military force against isis. the proposal already has plenty of critics on both sides of the aisle. nancy core advertise has more from -- nancy coretes has more from capitol hill. >> isis is on the defensive and isis is going to lose. >> reporter: president obama consulted with leaders in both parties to craft a resolution that authorizes military operations against isis for three years and allows for the use of ground troops in limited circumstances. >> for example, if we had actual intel about a gathering of isis leaders and our partners didn't have the capacity to get them, i would be prepared to order our special forces to take action because i

mayor muriel bowser is ordering the department to list the encryption on radios. they broke the news on twitter. the fire chief will stop the encryption beginning friday morning. the encryption prohibits anyone except fire personnel from listening to radio transmissions after the deadly smoke incident in the tunnel outside the l'enfant metro station, the fire department union complained that encryption led to communication problems. a formal announcement on this is expected in a few days. >>> following another story in alexandria where a small sinkhole opened up tonight. it happened on southbound richmond highway at i thinkleside road after a water main break. fairfax water officials are on the scene trying to repair the break. nbc tomorrow morning will have the latest on sinkholes and any road closures. >>> a little girl disappeared five months ago from charlottesville downtown mall. not so little. but tonight hannah graham's family is hoping that they're a step closer to justice. charges were filed today in her murder. a man named jesse matthew will appear in co

mayor muriel bowser is launching a new program aimed at helping homeless families and permanent housing. the program would increase d.c.'s capacity to quickly connect homeless families to housing opportunities in the private market. the mayor also suggests working with the department of human services to teach skills and help find employment for those in need. >> insurmountable as the problem seems, i think that we can set out a path with the will and i think that residents all over this city have it. i think their representatives have it as well. the resources, the right team and the consistent plan. >> mayor bowser hopes that her new initiative will help end family homelessness in d.c. by 2025. the former head of the falls church democratic committee is in court today. michael gardener is accused of sexual assaulting a family member under the age of 13. it happened back in 2009. he was released from prison in june after the virginia supreme court overturned previous molestation charges against him. gardner is charged with multiple counts of aggravated sexual battery. m.p.d. released t

ward 4 voters will go to the polls on that same day to fill the seat vacated by now mayor muriel bowser. >>> family and friends of john geer, the man killed by a fairfax county cop, they say that officer who pulled the trigger out to be fired and charged. they're reacting to the 12,000 pages of documents regarding that shooting a judge ordered the county release. the documents reveal officer adam torres had just had a fight with his wife over the phone as he drove to the domestic call. of the other officers in the scene felt -- none of the other officers in the scene felt threatened by geer. torres also lost control in a courtroom and screamed at a prosecutor. >> should an officer who has that kind of a temper at least on that day with the commonwealth attorney in the most inappropriate places of all be carrying a weapon? i don't know yet, but we hope to find out. >> the police department, commonwealth attorney and the county board, i think all of them have made their share of mistakes. >> right after officer torres shot john geer police waited for a hostage rescue vehicle to arrive and

mayor muriel bowser appeared confident, yet cautious that the team had done well in getting the snow and ice off the streets. >> there has been a sweep throughout the city and he expects by 9 p.m. today that every street would have been covered. so let me be clear that the snow team has been on residential streets, not all of them, but the expectation is all of them have been hit by 9 p.m. tonight. >> d.c. homeowners are responsible for clearing the snow from the sidewalks in front of their homes and our crews say sidewalks throughout the district cosnow or ice often force people out into the streets. >>> that overnight storm stranded hundreds of passengers at the regional airports around here. out at reagan national airport, for example, dozens of folks spent the night on the cold hard floor or the slightly more comfortable chairs. 1 group was a high school class from savannah, georgia, whose flight home was canceled. the chaperone said they did appreciate the blankets given out to them by delta airlines, but mostly they just wanted to be on a plane for home. >> well, it wasn't five

the district enacting the law, two republican congressmen with district oversight warned mayor muriel bowser, if you decide to move forward with legalization of marijuana in the district you'll be doing so in knowing and willful violation of the law. despite the threat of a possible lawsuit, legislative action and even jail time bowser did not back down. >> i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia and me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. >> adam who spent years advocating and campaigning for legalization says he plans to double down demanding that congress removes legislative riders that would allow the district to tax and regulate marijuana sales. even now under the new law selling and buying the drug remains illegal. >> we need to stand by our city government and be ready to take to the streets. we might have to protest. >> in adams morgan mike conneen, abc 7 news. >> new developments this noon in the fight against isil. jihadi john the militant believed to be the one who beheed several western hostages has been identified. marcy gonzalez reports now on what we h

minutes ago in fact we got word that mayor muriel bowser will hold a press conference at 4:00 this afternoon to give an update on the district's response to this evening's weather. we know at this hour that the city will deploy the d.c. snow team, a crew of about 200 at 3:00 this afternoon and they'll be ready to go by 5:00 in time for that storm system. residents here in the district if you live here you have your work cut out for you as well. we have 24 hours after this storm has come and gone to clear your sidewalks. now, we caught up with a couple of people here. a family from tampa, florida, and they're just about ready to go. take a listen. >> headed back to floorrida where it's nice and warm. feel bad for you guys. >> when it's this cold and there's no snow, not worth it. >> and we're also keeping track of a couple of other numbers. take a look. 32, 125. 32 sounds pretty amazing right now. 32 days until spring and 125 days until this summer. so hopefully that's some good news that of course if you're outside in these elements it's hard to see the silver lining in all of that. but i pr

mayor muriel bowser has declared a cold emergency and road crews are on alert. and george washington canceled the 10 k because of the cold. >>> developing tonight, a fight in a bathroom between a police officer and the prisoner he was escorting shut down part of dallas/ft. worth international airport. happened just after 6:00 our time. during the scuffle the officer fired a shot hitting the prisoner in the hand. >> doesn't look like we had any impact to flight operations or anyone other than those two men inside the bathroom when the altercation occurred. >> both were taken to the hospital for injuries suffered in the fight. all the terminals are open although the area around the bathroom is still closed off. >>> new at 11:00, a search for four men who may be connected to an armed robbery and assault on metro. transit police release these pictures of the men. the robbery and assault happened just after 10:00 thursday night at the tenleytown metro station. investigators say they don't have warrants for the men, they just want to talk to them. if you have informat

by midday mayor muriel bowser appeared confident yet cautious the team had done well in getting the snow and ice off the streets. >> the snow team has been on residential streets, not all of them, but the expectation is all of them would have been hit by 9 p.m. tonight. >> reporter: we criss-crossed the city much of the day and found people digging out their vehicles and clearing their driveways. how has the city done getting the snow this time? >> i believe they're out here early yesterday, late this morning. >> reporter: we saw sidewalks throughout the city covered with snow and ice often forcing people into the streets. citywide snow emergency was lifted at 2:00 this afternoon, but not before 132 vehicles were ticketed and towed from snow emergency routes. let's see. parking ticket, towing, impoundment fees, if your car is at blue plains today, you owe the city nearly $400. this is bruce johnson from northwest washington, wusa9. >> d.c. homeowners are responsible for shoveling the snow from their sidewalks in front of their homes. next year if you don't, they'll fine you. >>> a snowy

mayor muriel bowser declared a snow emergency for the city. before you go to bed tonight don't leave your vehicle parked on a main street. the d.c. government will have 285 pieces of equipment on the streets. the green mixer is for the below freezing temperatures. >> just as a reminder to residents, we ask that everybody be safe. limit your travel as there will be a lot of our vehicles out on the roads this evening. >> reporter: outside the home depot at the brentwood shopping center in northeast everybody seemed to be preparing for the snow. what have you got? a snowblower, shows? >> main thing is we have -- shovels? >> main thing is we have heat, books and food. >> reporter: are you going to be doing the shoveling? >> i'll be doing it. >> reporter: pedestrian traffic was bustling outside the giant store in northeast. what are you praying for, how much? >> whatever the lord wants to send. i figure that's the best way, put everything in his hands. >> reporter: inside the giant's checkout counters were busy, the shelves constantly restocked and

. >> reporter: two other house republicans lawmakers threatened to put mayor muriel bowser in prison if she allowed the initiative to become law today. she's still free and it's d.c. law. >> i didn't think they were actually going to put the mayor or council members in jail. i kind of find that rather amusing. >> reporter: that might have been congressional bluster, but this new threat tonight calls into question $670 million d.c. received last year from congress, yet with larger issues looming in congress such as tomorrow's deadline to fully fund the department of homeland security there's doubt higher- ups in the house like house speaker john boehner or senate republican majority leader mitch mcconnell will enter this dust-up at all. >> boehner andmcconnell, they're trying to get some legislation through congress to keep the department of homeland security open. near dealing with the affordable care act and immigration issues. so this really appears to be a small minority group of individuals that have a problem with initiative 71, but it's not a majority of congress. >> reporter:

mayor muriel bowser tweeted, "i stand with d.c. residents." referring to the bill passed overwhelmingly by d.c. voters in november. >> i'm not sure they'd want to risk throwing the d.c. mayor in jail. i don't think that will really come to a head. >> reporter: a statement was released today urging house republicans to essentially back off saying local decisions should be made on the local level and that initiative 71 was voted by 70% of the voters. in northwest washington surae chinn, wusa9. >> we did reach out to the house oversight committee and got no answer to the threat of prosecuting d.c. leaders. >>> another type of marijuana is now legal for some rgviinia residents. >> it is now law. [ applause ] >> governor terry mcauliffe signed a bill today that lets epilepsy patients use cannabis oil to control seizures. he was surrounded by epileptic children and their families who fought to make the bill law including one local family. peggy fox previously spoke with jennifer and beth collins as they pleaded their case to lawmakers in richmond. t

mayor muriel bowser on the district's marijuana policy. the house oversight committee sent a layer to the mayor warning her to the plan is against the law. district is set to ease its laws on recreational amounts of marijuana starting tomorrow. it will be legal to have up to two ounces of pot for anyone 21 or older and three fully grown plants for personal use. because of congressional intervention, the city will not be able to tax or regulate the drug. >> attorneys for a former marine found guilty of murdering american sniper author chris kyle and another man plan to appeal the verdict. a jury in stevensville texas, found eddie routh guilty of gunning down kyle and chad littlefield at a gun range in 2013. routh's attorney argued he suffered from schizophrenia and experienced a psychotic episode at the time of the shooting. jurors did not agree. >> he would get intoxicated and get in trouble and police would show up and say i'm a veteran. i have ptsd. >> there was reportedly little emotional reaction from routh when the verdict was read. h

mayor muriel bowser's plan to help black and latino male students succeed. the empowering males of color initiative includes an all boys prep school in southeast. the american civil liberties union applauds this effort but questions whether the program singles out black female students. in a letter to bowser the aclu writes studies show that separating boys and girls does not improve academic performance. it simply increases gender stereotyping. > l federal employees could be working for ious next week if congress doesn't work on way to fund the department of homeland security. reports show 1,000 workers in maryland would stay on the job but without their regular paychecks. the federal emergency management agency has also notified workers it will be unable to process emergency declarations and could furlough 3600 employees, and mu that the u.s. fire administration headquarters in frederick is to be shuttered unless an agreement can be reached. >>> fairfax county high school students and parents packed an aw tore yum tonight for a unique program aimed at prev

mayor muriel bowser says the voters had already spoken. >> so we would encourage the congress to notbe so concerned about overturning what seven out of ten voters said should be the law in the district of columbia. >> reporter: two members of the house committee that oversees the district told the mayor she's in willful violation of the law and demanded names of employees who worked on the initiative. >> there's up to two years prison time, you lose your job there are fines involved. it's a serious violation because it's taking taxpayer money and spending it for something congress says you specifically can't spend taxpayer dollars on. >> we believe we're acting lawfully. so i have a lot of things to do here in the district of columbia,. me being in jail wouldn't be a good thing. >> reporter: as for jail time, it would be up to the attorney general to prosecute. that's unlikely in a democratic administration. now, scott pot isn't legal in all of d.c. it's still prohibited on federal lands including all the monuments and museums. >> pelley: the district joins three states with recreati

mayor muriel bowser announced a big change to the city's system of encrypting radio communications. officials blame changes to the settings for radio failure among firefighters and paramedics during last month's deadly smoke incident at l'enfant plaza. firefighters dispute the claim. mayor bowser says unencrypted channels will be used for standard operations. encrypted channels will be for events with sensitive communication. transportation safety board officials will talk about that smoke incident investigation today. this in front of the washington council of governments who will also get an update on metro's emergency procedures. carol glover of alexandria was killed and 80 othero hospitals with smoke inhalation after an electric malfunction on the yellow line. police are investigating a homicide in an upscale hotel in downtown d.c. police say the man was stabbed to death. they found his body at the donovan hotel just after 11:00 yesterday morning. police have not released his name and so far, no arrests have been made. opening statements will begin today in the trial of a former

and mayor muriel bowser says street cars will only whoep it's safe to do so. >>> in southeast, a man and woman are recovering after someone shot them. happened just before 2:00 in the morning on elvins road. a woman of shot in the face and a bullet grazed a man. the shooter is still out there. >>> al shabaab is responsible for the deadly mall attack in kenya. now the terrorist group is making threats against malls here in the united states. as nbc's kristin welker reports, they're already beefing up in one of the nation's >> reporter: at one of the world's busiest shopping centers, the mall of north america in minnesota, there is extra security today. this after a video surfaced overnight showing shabab a somali-based terrorist group, calling for attacks against western malls including this one. >> i think when it's a threat like that everyone's extra on guard. >> reporter: the group claimed responsible for the 2013 attack in the westgate mall in nairobi, kenya. a reign of terror where more than 60 were killed. today the secretary of homel officis are investigating the latest threat

mayor muriel bowser said there was the expectation that all d.c. neighborhood streets would be plowed by 9:00 tonight. >> 9 p.m. came and went. we still found some snow covered streets in the district. hank silverberg joins us from northwest washington with a look at some of the problems drivers could encounter in the bitter cold days ahead. hank? >> reporter: those were great expectations that maybe just couldn't be met. we're at quebec and 35th street in northwest. i had to remind myself where we were because there are many streets like this. question become has been plowed, but 35th street has not. if you look up, you can see there's a furrow right in the middle of that. the cars have run this down. that's all going to ice up tonight. then there's the other problem. will your car start in the morning? if you haven't maintained your battery right, you could have a real nightmare. some streets like this one in bethesda are well plowed and clear. others like this part of idaho avenue in the district need work, but getting onto any street is trouble

mayor muriel bowser has a record number of salt trucks on the roads tonight. him your travel to give them room to operate -- limit your travel to give them room to operate. >> reporter: motorists try to get home before the big part of the storm. this is hank silverberg on the loudoun/fairfax county line. >> good evening. i'm jan jeffcoat. >> and i'm derek mcginty. this storm is expected to be the big he is we've seen this season. -- biggest we've seen this seasonful several virginia classes have canceled tomorrow. we have a list scrolling at the bottom of your screen. >> the snow is expected to continue into the morning. chief meteorologist topper shutt tracking who could get the worst of it. >> we're on the weather terrace. in the last minute or two it's not snowing super hard, but it has dusted the terrace. the good news is the light fluffy snow, bad news is it's going to get heavier overnight. we still think a general of 4 to 8-inch band is going to be pretty prevalent either side of i-66 and up through the beltway, bethesda, maybe even up to rockville. now

mayor muriel bowser held a press conference a half-hour ago after a snow emergency was put into effect this morning. that allows the city to clear snow emergency routes but also means if your car is parked in the way, you could be ticketed and towed and it is not cheap. sam ford is live in northwest d.c. this noon with an update from the mayor on the plan going forward in the day. sam? >> yeah jumpy, -- jummy, if you are ticketed and towed it could cost you up to $370. they have towed 132 vehicles so far today. but they are lifting the snow emergency at 2:00 this afternoon. but one of the things they said was that they essentially ticketed and towed on the snow emergency routes and a lot of people have to move their car anyway. so that way, as they didn't have 400 or 500 cars being ticketed and towed. that's one of the concerns. they have 385 trucks, various types, out on the streets clearing the city. and the mayor has asked people to think of those in need. and if necessary, call the city for help. >> really? why are you doing it? >> to help out. >> ok. well those were some young men

muriel bowser has done all she can on the law. some say the pot law violates federal law. they could cut the funds that flow into the district and we put the breaks on what's allowed and what's not on the nbc washington app. >> i few hours ago, they are short of the goal to keep the heat on in dozens of homes. our daily bread is trying a funding site to raise $15,000 by the end of tomorrow. so far they are not all the way there. the money would help with the cost of heat for dozens of families. for more information visit nbc washington.com and search our daily bread. how cold is it in. >> temp teres in the teens and the 20s even with the bright sunshine. even the cold sunshine while we can. old man winder is not done with us yet. our latest winter threat arrives tomorrow a thank you, cable for taking longer to upload our family movies. for the slower internet upload speeds. for taking longer to upload my files to the cloud. for making me wait longer to share my photo albums. and for never upgrading to 100% fiber optics thank you cable... thank you cable, because if we neve

muriel bowser said she has done all she can on the district's new law.makers say the new pot law violates federal law and they could cut the amount of funds that flow into the district. what's allowed and what's not on the nbc washington app. >> i'm chuck bell off to another really cold start to finish out the month of february. tomorrow begins a new month and new promises of at least warmer air for one day in the coming week. we are not done with winter >>> president obama is mourning the loss of actor leonard nimoy who played mr. spock in the series and movies. he said he loved spock. they met in 2007. he died at his home in los angeles at 83-year-old. the original captain kirk wrote that he loved him like a brother. the tcl chinese theater in hollywood dimmed its lights in a tribute to nimoy. this is the ninth time it did so. the last time waslliams died. the theater opened in 1927. >> have you filed taxes yet? maybe you are planning to doing it this weekend. we have a warning about tax fraud. >> here is the tax return. >> adrian thompson is a middle

. >> todor muriel bowser subeden listi clafya marijuana use willot be permitted in private clubeither. >> the only thing that's 100% clear that the only lawful pla for sure is going to be in a prt that you own that is frees >> you see our map of reste locations by going to the nbwainon app. in the district, mark segraves, news4. >>> while marijuana in the city is le has been decrin s last july. in those 31 weeks the police handd 283 tickets. near half of them were in the sevent district which covshbs east of the anacos river. the frt district which is primil northwest d.c., issued onlei tickets. >>> we weary of winter and winrbe getting a little wearitself. soundse spring is going to sta t us in the coming days. i think we have a chance for a spring-like storm late next week. t rsav little more wenr e with. we h a winter storm earlier toda tak. iss wa it looked bet ad 3:00 a.m. and 11:00 as that snow came in moved in quickly and quickly coved roads and the ari. saw numerous school closings aroou region before it finay moved out. once it moved out we saw sunsne tho roads became a lot b

now mayor muriel bowser says the city will defend the will of the people.e representativ responded, though saying even in this scenario s would be in "willful violation of the law." if it does go through, here's need to know about it. you can have up to 2 ounces of marijua and even grow it up 200, up to sexx plants a share it as well. however, can not sell the drug to anyone or use it public at all. no public use and also still totally illegal on federal land which makes up more than a . >>> right now police in paris are on alert after a drone was spotted flying over city planned mark ps what's being done to track down a mystery drone in a city already on edge. >>> plus we to you about the snow arriving early tomorrow. should be quickly out of the area. storm team 4 meteorologi chuck be will bring us up to da >>> right now the city of boston hit a big weather mileston more than 100 inches of snow havelen on boston this winter. y know boston has been pummel by several storms in recent weeks, and in a unique twist a man in northern massacs is now selling snow to people out of state. creating

mayor muriel bowser announcing a new program to help find homeless with permanent housing. pairing those with who understand the housing market and help with paperwork. bowser tweeted she wants to help families get off the streets by 2018 and end all homelessness in the districts by 2025. >>> a montgomery county man used his job to collect child po rmpltporn. he used his job to collect pictures of local children at cvs. when he saw a foet know a customer's order he would like he would make a copy for himself and used a cell phone to take videos of girls walking through the store. >> one day i saw him with a tripod. he was taking a tripod with him to the zoo. i've known him for years. never knew. >> martin told police he recorded girls at the national zoo in 2013 at his home investigators found tens of thousands of pictures and videos martin will been collecting since 1977. we reached out to cvs for comment and are waiting to hear back from them. >>> your morning commute could soon cost you a little more on metro. the agency wants to raise fares by 10 cents per ride and also

mayor muriel bowser only let's fire officials hear what's being said. the encryption blamed for communications problems that day. the fire chief said it is ending that this week. >>> next week u.s. park police say it's going to be hiring 18 new officers in response to concerns the department can't keep national monuments safe. this was mark seagraves spoke with the chairman of the parks police union saying terrorism was a concern at monuments across the united states especially in light of attacks in other countries. even things like homicide investigations are suffering. >> we're pulling detectives and horseback officers to respond as patrol officers. we're pulling folks who usually do forensic evidence collection to work as patrol office because we're so short staffed. >> the union officer told mark the agency does have enough cameras to practice incidents on roads like the baltimore-washington parkway, maryland state highway administration planning to put in six new cameras next year. >>> the daughter of whitney houston a show of support, bobbi chris