financial turnaround track record in the district combined with general manager paul wiedefeld's success at bwi marshall airport has them in the right position to make a meaningful difference at metro, but he says in no uncertain terms it's going to take extra in d.c., maryland, and virginia and the federal government will have to contribute more to get it done. i'm not interested in congress or anyone saying we're waiting for you to get your house in order. we got our house in order. we have the best people now in charge. now we need you to step up. >> reporter: he says it's time for hard, tough decisions. now, evans, of course, says that local jurisdictions and the federal government need to contribute more to help metro get back on its feet, but what about riders? will there be a fare hike? tell you about that, wendy, coming up next hour at 6:00. >> thanks, adam. >>> we are learning new details about what may have been the district's first murder of 2016. the medical examiner is now saying that a man's death inside a home in northwest d.c. in january was actually a homicide. it says t

paul wiedefeld. theou why the new kid on block him and we are counting on you, but i want people fired and something done. jay: when metro board chair jack evans called on congress to contribute 300 million dollars annually, some blast at metro for poorly managing it finances. >> i'm not going to bail you out. jay: after the hearing, paul wiedefeld said that riders would see clear improvements in time. be improved. live at the l'enfant plaza metro station, we also got a bit of developing news when the ntsb announced their investigation into the fatal smoke incident that happened at the station was wrapped up early may. live in the district, jay korff, abc 7 news. alison: thank you, jay. advisoryanother frost expanded, and some parts of the area under a freeze warning. steve rudin has the outlook. steve: a cold start tomorrow, which are that you bundle up, leave extra time especially to the north and west of d.c., where we have no use you'd freeze warnings in frederick, loudoun county, the panhandle o

today at the metro board meeting general manager paul wiedefeld said to pay fares is being scrapped. brianne carter is live to explain. brianne: well, that is right. really is what has been focused on this, a cell phone and how you would pay for it. using it to tap on the machine. there were ten of the different machines across the station. now they will be no more. it will be the smart trip for the foreseeable future. today general manager paul wiedefeld said they will not move forward implementing the technology across the system. this pilot program began in 2015 to test the pay by phone and the pay by credit card as well. metro today said they had trouble to get people to sign up for the pilot program and that now looking and analyzing it, enough people just have not adopted that new technology for them to move forward on it. ed the general manager saying there is enough on metro plate. and now is not the time to implement >> in our stations we'd have to have two different gates. half is old card. half with the new card. we have to come one two targets for the different cards. jus

paul wiedefeld will speak to a house oversight committee. erika gonzalez is live with details about what he's expected to say. >> reporter: on the safety and service of stage on the hill this afternoon. as you just said, paul wiedefeld expected to testify this afternoon. the explanationwise, the system shutdown we experienced last month, what about rider confidence and what some see as an abontiquated system will alle there. of course, we're going to stick very close to the story and bring you more updates this afternoon first on news4 at 4:00. we're live outside of the metro station. back to you. >>> back to dis2016, a tight race for maryland's senate seat. the nbc4's marist poll shows congressman chris van hollen six is points over donna edwards. 18% of likely democratic voters tell us they're undecided. you can control through poll on the nbc washington app to see who supports them. >>> and we got just another poll on what americans think about the fight for the seat on the supreme court. two in three americans hope it democrats demand th

paul wiedefeld answering questions about the controversial shutdown. jonathan: he made the decision last month to take all the trains out of service for one full day. emergency inspections finding frayed cables underground. some of the tissues so bad that if they knew about it earlier the trains would have been halted a lot sooner. brianne carter has wiedefeld's explanation. he took the hot seat for sure. brianne: well, the hearing is still ongoing here on capitol hill. just beyond these doors. that hearing again he said continuing this a meeting with the houe earlier today the general manager met with senators from the region managers as well. this comes after the shut down on march 16. that has been a large focus of the controversy today. the general manager said he never wanted to shut the system down but knew after the answers he was getting to many questions about what had been done there with the cables and the trap he had no other option. saying they inspect all the tracks after the cable fire that happened last month at mcpherson square. today

the letter was to general manager paul wiedefeld and it call for immediate action. abc7 transportation reporter brianne carter joins us with the problems they found. brianne: well, the f.t.a. spent weeks on what they call a safety blitz on ten section of the metro system, including a stretch here from l'enfant plaza to smithsonian. according to the report the inspections found critical safety concerns. lights out in tunnels, debris in emergency walkways, and expired or nonworking fire extinguishers are some of the latest critical safety concerns on metro. >> can't even live in an apartment if it doesn't have a fire extinguisher so i don't want to travel on a metro if it doesn't have one. brianne: the federal transit adm are putting employers and riders at risk. the problems highlighted in this letter from the f.t.a. to metro general manager paul wiedefeld also include out of order power traction switches. covered and emergency signage and violation of the wmata roadway worker program designed to keep track workers safe. the f.t.a. says the train operators did not fo

manager paul wiedefeld obtained by the "washington post."ors found non-working fire extinguishers, blocked escape routes and broken shut-off switches used to cut power to the third-rail. the problems -- which the f-t-a says need to be fixed immediately -- were found during the agency's ongoing "safety blitz." new this morning.. two of bernie sanders's most famous supporters began their night at george washington university. and they ended it in handcuffs. ben cohen and jerry greenfield spoke about sanders and the role of money in politics. they also handed out samples of ice cream. afterwards- two joined hundreds of protesters on the steps of the u.s. capitol building for the "democracy awakening" protest. they were arrested along with about 300 other protesters. it's xx and we're just getting started. new details in a disturbing child pornography ring. lawyers for a former school employee take action to have his confession thrown out! the details.. coming up. the capitals are in the drivers seat after a statement game on the road. highlight

gm paul wiedefeld is not ruling that out but says he's working on a long-term plan. news4's jackie bensen is at the smithsonian station with new reaction. hi, jackie. >> reporter: hello, doreen. well, everyone we talked to had heard about this, and everyone had something to say about it. >> i don't have a car. i take metro every day, so it would definitely be something that will be, you know, a problem for me. i will have to take uber, extra money. >> reporter: even the possibility long-term shutdowns of entire lines of the metro system for maintenance has generated so much concern that general manager paul wiedefeld has now issued a letter to riders. it reads in part, "i want to reassure you that, while i am keeping options open on how to proceed, no decisions have been made." it goes on to say, "moreover, any service change in the plan that could affect your commute will receive ample notice to customers, businesses, stakeholders and the region as a whole." >> i understand that they've got to do what they've got to do, but what are you going to do with the people?

>> i don't see anything to require anything near six-month shutdown. >> metro general manager paul wiedefeld says he doesn't expect long-term single rail line closures but adjustn't to service are likely to address the may want and the safety issues. >> it's is not just maintenance. it's safety related. >> wiedefeld is expected to lay out new ways to maintain the system in the coming weeks. the practices now aren't working adding it's time to move to >> i don't think we push it further down the road and not show the prose governor people >> brian: he addressed the issue raised last week meeting with the council. >> if there are things that i know will be difficult decisions but in the long run are better for the system as a whole i encourage you as a person as individual councilmember to continue to do the things. >> it was something put on the table in 2014 when the water leaks were discovered on the red lane. today the journalist said that is a problem that needs to be fixed. addressing system issues is something that wiedefeld has been considered, bringing in the outside consultants. sayi

looking for w to see from paul wiedefeld. >>> when i was sworn in lastla year i inherited the successesresident cessors and all the loo loose that's what loose general manager inn her rents. paul walked into this with hisis eyes wide open. he knew what he was inheritingnt with metro want would take too get it fixed. fixed. so far his focus on safety beinb very frank about what it's going take to do the maintenance workr needed on metro is important.mpa one thing that i'm calling on metro to do the chairman of the board and my former colleaguecoa jack evans briefed council andoc me just a couple of days ago that said metro will come to us and fy18 budget with a big we bg are bill. they're going to come to each om the jurisdictions and say they t need 80 more million dollars a piece. he made a similar presentationrt to the congress and i agree that the congress has to september uu from the federal level and pay p its fair share of the operatingi costs. co metro to be leaner in ways to w look at their organization, howh can they be more efficient, howe can they make sure they have thy empl

that is only one of the issues brought up as paul wiedefeld came to capitol hill a month after the shut down on march 16. there were a number of questions and concerns raised not only by members of the house and also in a meeting that happened earlier today where wiedefeld sat down with the leadership senators from maryland and virginia. we heard from a senator from maryland saying that women are afraid to ride metro. and that safety issues need well, we do know that that is the priority for general manager paul wiedefeld. we do expect that to work on safety and maintenance in the coming days or weeks. he is expected to lay out a new maintenance plan. so what do the general manager think of what happened here today? what is his take-away? we talk to him one-on-one moments ago. >> there is a clear understanding of the importance of the system to this region and we better get it right. that is what i keep hearing for everybody. not saying this is a dumb idea or why are we doing it? they are not saying that. they are saying look, we can't survive without this. make it work. get on it. bria

this is paul wiedefeld's first meeting with the full board. our brianne carter was there as well. joins us from the bethesda. is he serious for closing it down for six months when he talked about the blue line going down for repairs? brianne: jack evans mentioned that last weekend. today the general manager addressing it head on. he said from this point from what he sees, he does not think there will need to be six-month closure to address on maintenance and the safety issues as well. paul wiedefeld was meeting with the montgomery county uncil today in a meeting scheduled to happen during the blizzard. when there was a shut down of the rail system. he said changes are likely to happen moving forward how they address safety issue and maintenance in the system. mr. wiedefeld addressing one thing. there may need to be track closures between the stations and the bus bridges between the two to get into the system and realize get the what is going on in terms of maintenance isn't working. a lot of riders are feeling pain for not a lot of gain in terms of the frac work. wiedefeld says it

. >> metro general manager paul wiedefeld who testified in congress last week expected to restore rider confidence in the system. last week the park service asked for millions in the federal funds to repair the iconic structure. 84 years of rust and corrosion have take an toll. with funding it could look like this. the work is not done it could be shut down in five years. a touching presentation coming up. leon: now the voting is open to give the eaglets at the national arboretum names. since they were born last month they have been called dc2 and dc3. here are the choices -- stars and stripes. freedom and liberty. anacostia and potomac. honor and glory. get the link to vote at wjla.com. maureen: the "7 on your side" phone bank will end in about 20 minutes. if you have a question about organ donation, please call the number on the screen. scott: i'm scott abraham in philadelphia. caps on the verge of sweeping the flyers but we tell you why they may be without goalkeeper i'm chris van hollen, and i approve this message. narrator: an attack ad from the campaign for donna edw

metro general manager paul wiedefeld was there in that meeting. virginia senator tim kaine was telling him he thinks the metro board is actually too involved in the day-to-day operations of what's going on in metro. take a listen to that. >> a lot of my concern about leadership has been about the board and the absence of a general manager and, you know, i have just been flummoxed about some board activity. now, i'm not asking you to comment on the board, but i just am saying, you've got to be the manager of this system. >> reporter: so to that the general manager basical replied i run the system. a lot talked about on capitol hill today. what manager's plan, what he's going to do specifically to get the system back to where it needs to be, pat. >> adam, tell us about the safety oversight and what they said about that today. >> reporter: right. so there's been an ongoing dispute about who should have direct oversight, the federal transit administration is now basically conducting that, but there is back and forth as well with the federal transit ad

paul wiedefeld said he would release a long-range maintenance plan in the coming weeks. the firefighter who survived the shooting while responding to a medical call is out of the hospital. a week ago friday, volunteer firefighter kevin swain and prince george's county firefighter john ulmschneider were shot in temple hills. ulmschneider died from his injuries. swain was released from baltimore shock trauma a few hours ago. >>'s mom, dad, brother right by his brothers and sister firefighters, the countless number of firefighters from all over the country who came to see him respects, and come by and wish him well. all of those things encouraged him. kimberly: the shooter has not been charged in the case. the authorities say the homeowner did not hear the firefighters identify themselves and opened fire when he thought someone he was breaking into his home. developments tonight, we are hearing from the chief of the fairfax county fire department about web postings referring to firefighter nicole mittendorff, whose body was found thursday in shenandoah national park. in her

this week, metro's general manager paul wiedefeld are sure to commuters they would not face long-term closures. tonight for the first time he faced riders with poignant questions. tom roussey has that story. tom: what he was responding to got a lot of people talking. imagine the possibility of these folks winning for the metro would have a line on the tracks for six months at a time. that was raised by the metro board chair. metro seems to be dialing back on that possibility. here is video of where the general manager met with the advisory- riders council who asked about the idea of shutting down lines up to six wants to do. himn the media talked with after the meeting, and here is what he said to a question about that. did they rule out a shutdown of the duration? >> i have not seen anything that leads me to that length of a shutdown. >> i think that's really good to hear because i heard that he was going to shut down the blue line, which is what i ride often. it's good to hear they will fix what is going on. >> i guess you would say you don't mention you are going to do something or

paul wiedefeld has planned a comprehensive maintenance overview in the next co reeve, abc 7 news. thank you. investigation in d.c.'s busiest neighborhoods. a woman was attacked early morning in northwest, away from a high school and elementary school. jeannette reyes is live with the investigation happening now. jeanette: this is a pretty busy road, pretty well lit, but d.c. police say that a woman was sidewalkn this very man approach from behind, forced her out of sight into alley, and sexually assaulted her. word is spreading quickly on 12 street of the disturbing incident that happened over the weekend from a high school and elementary school. this person lives next door. told them to be careful, something had happened here. je at 1alking down the street a.m. sunday when a man came from behind, forced her into the alley, struck her head against her,all, try to suffocate and sexually assaulted her. it all lasted about 25 minutes. i would have been in my house, sleep. i definitely did not hear anything. jeannette: just the thought is frightening. it makes me feel scared and helpl

we learned a little while ago that metro gm paul wiedefeld and board chairman jack evans will testify next week before congress. two subcommittee that is oversee the district want to learn more about last month's systemwide shutdown for emergency safety inspections. the hearing will happen on wednesday morning. >>> an emotional farewell to a by a stranger for no apparent reason. today friends and classmates and family said good-bye to davonte washington. he was shot easter weekend at the deanwood metro station right in front of his mother and his young sisters. news4's derrick ward has more on how he's being remembered. >> reporter: the last trip for 15-year-old davonte washington. classmates from his largo high school junior rotc company helped him along. outside the first baptist church a horse drawn hearse finished the final leg of his journey. >> we will not lit his dealet h vain. >> he was shot for nothing more than looking at someone the wrong way. >> we know that there are questions of why and there's hearse and there's pain and there's suffering. >> reporter: the church was fi

paul wiedefeld and chairman jack evans faced hours of tough questioning on capitol hill. the pair met with senators from virginia and m overnight hearing. the lawmakers said while much more needs to be done, metro is slowly making progress improving safety. they praise the hiring of the new york veteran patrick lavin as the chief safety officer. jerry connelly represented the decision to close down metro for a day to perform inspections. >> it served as a shot across the bow that a culture of mediocrity is no longer acceptable. >> i will be coming out in the near future with a new program to get at the issues and get the system up to the state it should be. >> metro leaders called on the federal government to help fund the system's operating budget the way the local and the state governments do now. we are following this hour breaking developments regarding the zika virus. the cdc with the latin american health officials are now saying that the zika virus is linked to birth defects including so far no documented incidents of zika innext in the u.s. from mosquito bites. ma

safety protection lacking on metro, that according to a letter from to metro general motors or paul wiedefeldinspectors found nonworking fire extent wishers, blocked escape routes, broken shut off switches. all of these problems which the says need to be fixed immediately were found during the ongoing safety blitz. more unseasonable warmth they had tomorrow. will re-reach -- will we reach 80 degrees? reallyone more day of warm weather, then a the week. tomorrow, bright sunshine, grab the sunglasses. 80 degrees by midafternoon. any light jacket in the morning, you will shed those quickly. lookingwn, and always ahead to the upcoming weekend in just a few minutes. leon: thanks, steve. the evil of a big decision, new york's primary set for tomorrow in the candidates are racing for last-minute support. for the democrats, 291 delegates are at stake. 91 delegatesns, are at stake. what have the results tomorrow night. -- we will have the results tomorrow night. alison: donald trump on social a slips having fun with of the tongue. he spoke in buffalo and referred to the 9/11 terrorist attacks as "some

latest incident add to resent comments by paul wiedefeld that they could shutdown entire lines to complete major repairs. >> poo people who drive by the white house may see an unusual demonstration. local advocates for realizing marijuana. a smoke in. 1:45 in the afternoon. from there, they will carry a 51 foot long fake joint toward the white house. by the way fake joint is 51 feet long because the demonstrators want the district to becomely 50 first state. >> everyone will pick up on that as they are walking. others things. [ laughter ] >> still ahead at 11 american idol is breaking a longstanding tradition when the series comes to an end. why you won't be able to see the song birds on tour this summer. >> later in the show, bar manager from oks dental grill is here to make a cherry ricky, we'll be right he was flicking matches on me... for my life. my ex-husband's intentions were to murder me. glenn: i made sure yvette's abuser went away for good, and put in place tougher sentences, because domestic violence can never be tolerated. yvette: mr. ivey showed compassion. i felt like i could

paul wiedefeld issued a letter to riders, he says he's keeping the possibilities open about closing lines for maintenance. he has heard from many customers who were concerned. >> i don't have a car and i take metro every day, so it would definitely be something that would be a problem for me. i'd have to take ub what you got to, but you'd lose millions. >> wiedefeld says if metro makes any changes, customers will be notified ahead of time. >>> now to coverage of decision 2016. wisconsin voters weigh in on the race for the white house on tuesday. polls this week show only 24% of wisconsin women now support the gop frontrunner. edward lawrence is live on krill now with more. good morning. >> reporter: good morning. yeah, even governor jop kasich is attacking donald trump, something he has not done in the past. the other candidates sense an opening here. donald trump was in washington, d.c., gave a thumbs up when he met with the republican national committee, but he's in trouble with female voter over what he calls misstatements about women being punished for an abortion. trump's meeting at

latest incident add to resent comments by paul wiedefeld that they could shutdown entire lines to complete major repairs. >> poo people who drive by the white house may see an unusual demonstration. local advocates for realizinglii marijuana. a smoke in. 1:45 in the afternoon. from there, they will carry a 55 foot long fake joint toward the white house. by the way fake joint is 51 feet long because the demonstrators want the district to becomely 50 first state.tate >> everyone will pick up on than as they are walking. >> they'll pick up on a lot of others things.ot [ laughter ] >> sti idol is breaking a longstandinga tradition when the series comese to an end.. why you won't be able to see the song birds on tour this summer. >> later in the show, bar manager from oks dental grill in here to make a cherry ricky, we'll be right right back. ♪ brave to take on that song. when american high dollar signsl off for the final time nextex week, wow, another tradition iss ending with the show. this is the first year in i dollar history that an americann high dollar live tour will notl follow the seas

the gm, paul wiedefeld, he wield says prepare yourself if youf if use the red line this weekend.ke thisork is going to go on go nonstop and tha they have to repair these leaks before this gets any worse than it is.or >> looking at all the cables,ab orange boots and just cables a s in general track, anything anyth with the third rail itself,l it, leaks, basically we patch theh leaks but as you know it's a its losing battle out there.ou it's like a leaky basement andas until you get in and redo it ano you can't control it.ontr >> reporter: all right, nowr: a we want to remind you if you yof do use metro tonight to go to the caps game, well, they're not going to start this untilhil 8 o'clock. that's after the puck drops.ucks so you should be okay getting ot down there. down but you need to remember this heading back from the game the g this evening. eni they're going to help you out. t metro is going to remainemain opened an hour later this latert evening but they're alsols telling caps fans tonight you fi need to make sure you get onetn those trains for the red line rl at gallery place by

because there's so many the y different metro incidents wetroc reached out to general manager paul wiedefeldultiple times requesting interviews wanting tr talk to him.vita he has not responded and/or and declined and so we still put the call out. >> whata chairman jack evans e talking about the need for fun funding these incidents under score the need for funding. fun what more can they do, if theyy don't get the money they can't n fix these had a bitch tal a bit problems.problems. the only thing you can do say ds help us feds.. >> the back and forth is for i frustrating. >> new pressure on the new press general manager to get everybody to --to -- >> i'm not riding metro.ro >> lot of people aren't.f pe a yo hands literal whole do you thiso . any better think again.ga business massive water mainatrsb and it was just shooting waterot all over rockville pike. 75-year-old pipe broken before wssc crews will need to look nok possibility of a permanent fix e now since the water main is so o old crews will likely be thereyb all day making repairs now. dozens of folk in the area willl not have water

board meeting was gettinget under way some decisive action t here by metro's general manager paul wiedefeld this is happening after justg ar really a month of majorf m troubles on that red line, finally getting some intensiveei care.. during this maintenance blitz this is the kind of stuff that's going to be going on.e n. workers will be cleaning tunnels inexpecting power p cables and boots and removing debris and mud all of thisth because of water infiltrationiln causing problems. metro's gm says the underground stations were not w sealed when they were built.hen now the water they are taking their toll and metro's gm says it will get wilg worse if it's not addressed. >> looking at all the cables,ab orange boots and cakes in cakes general track, anything with the third rail itself, leaks basically if we patch the leaks but as you know it's aw is losing battle out there.tlout it's like a leaky basement. basn until you get in and redo it, i, it you can't control it.ontr i >> reporter: from van nesster: to metro he sent single tracking that went ont wt yesterday and it continueson today so to

l they talked to general manager g paul wiedefeld about his plansip for the future, also asked himsh about safety.af a lot of people concerned p about riding metro they're t telling their representativesepe that they are and wiedefelde and did assure them that there areea now police officers riding the n rails. back to you guys. guy >> melanie, thank you veryie much. >>> the wife of the anne, of arrundel county sheriff sri charged with assault isss i speaking out this morning.ning. she released a statement thatnta reads in no part at no part inar the argument did ron punch orono kick or hit me.kickr hi he did not intentionally hurtlyr me. no one is perfect or has a perfect marriage orarage relationship. i do not believe anything thatva occurred tweenesses criminalwee and was nothing more than ahingh heated a husband and a wife.sban i do not wish to pursue a criminal prosecution.secu >> happening today marylandng t voters can begin casting early e ballots for the state's apri april 26th primary.apri each county and the city of thet baltimore have voting sitesotins open every day throu

new metro ceo paul wiedefeld faced tough questions on continuing safety problems metro faces and the decision last month to close metro for 24 hours. this is just over two hours. >>> good afternoon. i'd like to welcome everyone to the committee on government oversight and reform, and we have this afternoon a joint subcommittee hearing. the subcommittees of transportation and public assets, which i am pleased to chair, and we have our ranking member ms. duckworth and then we also have the government operations subcommittee, which is chaired by mr. meadows and mr. connolly is the ranking member. so i would like to call the meeting to order and without objection the chair is authorized to declare recess at any time. i would also like to announce the order of business. we will first hear from the chairs and ranking members and then we will go to questions and first i will introduce the witnesses and swear them in and we welcome them today. in just a few minutes we will get to them. so that's the order of business for the joint subcommittee hearing today. i also would like to note the pre

degrees.deee >>> also this morning a mng systemwide metro he safetyeaf check is under lester metro gm paul wiedefeld to theto t riders and in that letter itettt said that the review of thee ree system will take a four to six-week period to complete.plet he also promised to updatepd riders of any changes whenes w they do occur. do o just yesterday metro gourd chairman jack evans raised thenr possibility that an entirent line could be shut down forn f repairs if the review deems itei necessary. metro riders had mixed reactions to the possibilityto of a t long-term shutdown. shuow >> i agree that if they shut s it down they should just getthey it fixed. shut it down for the timeime needed fix everything get itver up and running and it can be running smooth again. >> would it affect your lifect y if they closed a line down forn you.you. >> if they closed a line downine then it would affect me prettymy bad 'cause i have no other way to work. w >> reporter: would you haveould to choose a bus? ce a >> yeah, i would have to he choose a bus, uber, something. g >> reporter: you're willinge wil to deal with it

wnesday two transportation officials were will testify.l test paul wiedefeld said he shutd hes down theetec he wasn't sure it was safe tore run the train.ra. that shut down allowed inspectors to find problems with third rail power cables and also replace them.ce >> checking our other top stories, starting today through next monday over 3,000d0 people have pledged to sit in at the u.s. capitol.. cap this is part of a civil disobedience protest. crisis because "our democracyem isn't working for everyone,very only the wealthy and elite. ." >> president obama sat down oba with fox news sunday hosty h chris wallace yesterday for an exclusive interview one inrvie everything from his responses ro to the recent terror attacksteot in europe to the legacy ofegac hits time in office. off he also touched on the e-mailail scandal surrounding hillaryrodi clinton.cl the president says he does notss his former secretary of state jepp died national security heut also discussed what heiscu considered to be his biggestig accomplishment and failure so far. >> biggest accomplishment.cc >> saving the economy

. >> the general manager paul wiedefeld said the market didn't dictate the need for these right now. he has heard from the stakeholders to get what they have working sometimes he has heard from the riders and it doesn't activate. the money will be used to get all of these up and running as they should be. reporting live, brianne carter, abc7 news. leon: a lot of folks took metro to get to the national game against the braves. that coupled with the 7:00 p.m. start for the caps first playoff game against philly. that is a busy time on the green line. kevin lewis rocking the red at the verizon center tonight on what is turning out to be a busy sports dayment hopefully it will be a happy one. >> we have seen uptick in those sporting red. the caps are favored over the opponent. but the critics say this is still a pretty exciting matchup. >> there is a distinct rhythm. >> let's go, caps! verizon center. tonight the caps take on the philadelphia flyers and game one of the stanley cup playoffs. a championship title that washington yet to conquer. diane used her lunch break to do laps around

paul wiedefeld, the new general manager of the washington metropolitan area transit authority. welcome, sir. we have the honorable chris hart, chairman of ntsb, national transportation safety board, and we have ms. carolyn flowers, senior adviser at the federal transportation administration. i guess you're new to that position but we also have accompanying you, mr. matthew, is it wellby, and he is executive director of the federal transportation administration. -- federal transit administration. i'd like to welcome all of our witnesses. the order of business is such that we allow you about five minutes. some of you have been here before, some of you haven't. we'd like you to summarize your testimony, hopefully in that time. if you'd like additional information or statements or data to be submitted, just ask through the chair or a member and we'll be glad to do that. now, this is an investigation, an oversight committee of congress so we do swear in all of our witnesses, so i'd like you to stand if you would, please, raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that th

paul wiedefeld announced he has hired patrick lavin who arrives after working with new york city transit. his first day on the job is a month away and he will start may 9. leon: maryland lawmakers passed last minute bills and let others fail as well. maryland bureau chief brad bell is in the capitol today to go over what made it and what didn't. they went to the wire last night. brad: they always do. people say this is the most important work product of the maryland legislature. the encyclopedia maryland state budget. this was passed weeks ago. what get attention are the 3,000 bills that get introduced. most of those do not get through the legislature. one that died last night is one that would have taken a lot of this money and put it back in your pocket. it was to be a highlight of governor larry hogan's second legislative session. a significant tax break for marylanders. it didn't falling to a dispute between house and senate leaders. >> the senate felt strongly it should go to high-income earners. we felt it should go to middle class families. brad: they also failed to pass earned pa

paul wiedefeld, the new general manager of the washington metropolitan area transit authority. welcome, sir. we have the honorable chris hart, chairman of ntsb, national transportation safety board, and we have ms. carolyn flowers, senior adviser at the federal transportation administration. i guess you're new to that position but we also have accompanying you, mr. matthew, is it wellby, and he is executive director of the federal transportation administration. i'd like to welcome all of our witnesses. the order of business is such that we allow you about five minutes. some of you have been here before, some of you haven't. we'd like you to summarize your testimony, hopefully in that time. if you'd like additional information or statements or data to be submitted, just ask through the chair or a member and we'll be glad to do that. now, this is an investigation, an oversight committee of congress so we do swear in all of our witnesses so i'd like you to stand if you would, please, raise your right hand. do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you're about to give bef

thenhe all weekend long they areon going to be single tracking tck between these stations.on gm paul wiedefeld says preparere yourself.your this work is going to go ono through the weekend but theseute nonstop fires, these nonstop smoke incidents, they have to be fixed and these repairs and this surge has to start now.ow. >> looking at all the cables,ab orange boots and just cables jus in general track, anything, leaks, basically we patch the leaks but as you know it's at ao losing battle out there like a leaky basement and until you y get in and redo it you can't control it.ro >> reporter: all right, sor: all if you're heading to the caps game tonight, this is important, you should be okay bo getting there.g there. they're not going to restartgotr this work until 8 o'clock tonight. but they are keeping metro opened an hour later tonightight to accommodate passengers pseng going to that game.am but you need to be on those tho trains by 12:45 tonight downow at verizon center in order tordt get back up here. h we are told this work startsta again tonight at 8:00 p.m..m you need to be aware and c

metro general manager paul wiedefeld and two federal transportation officials are scheduled to testify. leon: coming up on "abc7 news at 5:00" -- a happy, happy ending. how things are working out for violet the mastiff after being found so close to death. kimberly: plus the man in the hat. today's big day for police terror attack. leon: later the pope's plea. what he is calling for in the joy of love. brianne: the only local show to go one-on-one with alex trebek. what is "abc7 news at 5:00"? the story is coming up. kimberly: but first, take a moment to take in this lovely picture of the morning's sunrise. of course, really freezing this morning but jennifer e-mailed a pic at wjla.com. we are always happy to have you send in your pics as you see them. wall street. the nra. they're powerful. they usually get their way. but not with democrat donna edwards. she won't take cash from wall street banks. and when washington insiders wrote a loophole to let the nra spend dark money to kill gun safety laws, donna edwards said 'no' she's fighting to ban assault weapons and putting the safety of

general manager paul wiedefeld announced the maintenance surge this morning after a month of malfunctionon the system. three and a half hours ago the u.s. secretary of transportation announced a shakeup on metro's board. brianne carter covering metro for us from the van ness station in northwest washington. tell us what does it mean for riders? brianne: it means here from the van ness station is single tracking for riders heading in and out of the section of the red line. for the next couple of days as part of a so-called maintenance surge. over two hours ago workers wrap up the first part of the four-day process of keeping mud and debris away from the track. it comes after days of issue along this stretch of the track. last saturday smoke filled the tunnel after a train car piece came contact with the third rail. monday a piece of the rail cracked. there is more than one arcing insulator. today the general manager said he wanted workers on the tracks inspecting everything. >> we are going through inspecting the insulators. replacing them if they need to to be. looking at all the cables.

metro's gm paul wiedefeld just hered a safety officer from new york city. wiedefeld believes he will have an impact. >> basically, he's he understands that. so there's nothing probably he hasn't seen and he brings that to the table which i think is very valuable. >> for right now, safety is the most valuable commodity that metro can acquire. >> reporter: metro tells us they're working to immediately fix all of the issues detailed in this report, doreen. >> adam, it's shocking to hear about all those problems still taking place after the deadly tunnel accident of a year ago. can the feds -- what can they do to make sure that metro complies with the safety rules? >>. >> right. so there is something that the federal transit administration can do to metro. they can withhold funds when it comes to a project they want to get going to metro's mission to get back on their feet. they can't fire anyone and make funds. >> thank you, adam. >> in two weeks, federal investigators will reveal new information about the plaza smoke incident. a woman was killed and more than

brianne: the problems highlighted in this letter that was sent to paul wiedefeld the general manager of metro from the f.t.a. outlining the issues. among them as you mentioned some of those. but others include the fact they were not even having clean signs f the safety and the emergency signs that are inside of metro. the expired or extinguishers as well as blocked off emergency commit ways there. something they have been talking about in terms of getting people out and keeping workers and employees safe in case of an emergency. the f.t.a. says the train operators did not speed restrictions either when approaching work crews. all of the discoveries made in the f.t.a. safety blitz. they were looking at metro after the shut down that happened last month. this is after the cable fire that happened at mcpherson square station. the shutdown happened for 29 hours. then the safety blitz happened. this is the result of that. the final report from the f.t.a. expected out this summer. the f.t.a. say the problems now putting employees and riders at risk. >> hope to go in the right direction. i

paul wiedefeld issued a letter to riders yesterday. he says he's keeping his options open about the possibility of closing some lines for maintenance. letter because he has heard from many concerned customers. >> i don't have a car and i take metro every day. so it would be something that would be a problem for me. i would have to take uber, spend have a money. >> i understand that they have to do what they got do, but what do you to with the people. you'll lose millions of dollars. >> wiedefeld says if metro makes any changes, customers will be notified ahead of time. >>> a new report warns of a serious security risk at federal buildings here in washington and across the country. monday's security threat at the capitol has heightened security concerns. the report done by the general services administration says there are too many different types of security badges issued to workers. that increases the chances of identity fraud, tampering and counterfeiting. federal workers agree things need to be done to keep them safe. >> whatever ca

general manager paul wiedefeld is signaling that anotherer major maintenance blitz is coming. >> sacrificeur customers intoi terms of the impact we will have on service availabilityilal but clearly with 168 hours in68 the week and we're only out on the -- 135 of those are beingreb used for rider service it'svi i hard to catch up and the a current plans are just notot working. >> reporter: so let's talk so le about this weekend's impact.mp from van ness to medical mic center single tracking todayg ty from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.0.m then that single tracking tck picking up again at 8:00 p.m..m until closing. clong then this weekend saturday andur sunday single tracking on the entire portion of those tracks t along the red line withe service back up to normal on monday.moay. well, we've also been talk,al annie and maureen, about this ti track maintenance plan thatinte wiedefeld is planning ond putting out in the next couplehc of weeks and we heard a little l bit more yesterday, some clues e as to what it could mean.n. sounds like, well, i'm not going to say shutdown butown b perhaps some port

manager paul wiedefeld toiedefeo testify before two house oversight subcommittee this coming week.colic safety and violence are also issues for the troubledtr system. fox5's jennifer davis has jenni the story. >> reporter: guardian angels ang have been patrolling metro forao awhile following ahsir reecengie of violent incidents in recent c months in and around theroun t transit system and thursday thu they detained someone for police. >> the main thing that we are trying to do is just to be assistance to the police and just detain, make sure no oneeon gets hurt. i wasn't sure if what he -- heeh had a gun or knife. o knife. >> reporter: aaron thompsonter:n says it started when he noticed the young man tryingryin to surf a train at gallery place.place. >> i just observed the i j individual that was in a veryhan dangerous position.it he put himself at risk by holding onto a train that wastas about to begin to move ande could have brought a lot of danger to himself as well as others. >> reporter: thompson saysr: t when he asked the ma the teen rider threatened him.dh >> the guy said to m

now, beforer: now, that hearing there was also a as separate meeting with generalral manager paul wiedefeld and thent local congressional delegation t from d.c., maryland and virginia.in wiedefeld said he'll bee presenting a new maintenance a plan in the next four to sixne weeks to the public. t he also said that it may notit y make sense any to keep metroetro opened until 3 o'clock in theckn morning on saturday and sundayuy mornings given the amount of aun maintenance and repairs thatnce metro needs to do perhaps that earlier closing times would give engineers ad little bit more time to work andgi get -- catch up on some oo the things that need to beings done. also told the local delegationeo in response to their questionsue about safety concerns that metro transit police officers or both uniformed and undercoverrmd are currently riding metroetro trains. back to you guys. >> all right, mel.ig lot going on on the hill.on othe we're going to continue that tha discussion coming up laterat this hour. congressman john mica is goingog to join us live and we'll talkek with him about what'simbout

the metro general manager, paul wiedefeld, acknowledging that there are employees at metro who simply don't think about safety and at a meeting before all of this, the general manager was talking with the local congressional delegation and senator barbara mikulski made an interesting comment. she says some women who are constituents of hers tell her they're afraid to ride metro. aplot going on and a lot of heated exchanges. >> thanks, adaniel. >>> hector olivera place for the trant braves. his contract is worth tens of millions of dollars. he was playing this week in the series against the nats charges. he's been accused of attacking a woman in a pentagon city hotel. pat collins is at the arlington police headquarters now with more on this story. pat? >> reporter: jim, no baseball tonight for hector olivera. he's locked up in arlington on an assault charge. this is how we normally see baseball player hector olivera, in uniform at the ballpark. but this is how he looked today in a mug shot after he was arrested on an assault charge in arlington. police say it happened around 7:00 this

year we've been giving you money and yet things areng still a mess.es we asked general manager paul wiedefeld today what would itt take, take for you to fix everything. here's what he had to say. s >> my focus right now again iss on the current system and --- and managing what we have as best as i can so that's what wha i'm focusing on now. chairman as chairman of theman board as the policy levelel person, he is pushing veryng v hard on the funding issue andnd he he has his case to make there. i'm focused on the day to day igerations right now andions r that's what i'm focusing on.us >> reporter: so my follow-up fl- question to the general manager was do you have enoughh money as it stands to make the changes that you want and hee says that is what he is tryingg to do.to do. he's trying to work with the t budget that he has. h he's going to leave theve the additional funding for jack forj evans to fight for but he saysay under his current budget he's bs going to do the best that he can do. live at rosslyn station mattro >> matt thanks very much.thanks >>> a maryland state trooperroor is hospi

you talked about metro's gm paul wiedefeld has plans in place.e he may be communicating thoseti plans to you, but there's aut ts perception that he's not geekote extremely transparent witnessit rider who's frankly are loathedl to get on metro because they are concerned for their safe team s more and more people saying tha and that's what we're hearing.rg what's your response as far as r communication and having peoplee understand really what'seall wha happening and where things areds going?? >> well, what paul is doing hiss team is evaluate the wholete t w system.syst all six lines and he's going geg back to all of us with a plan. what is the extent of thef maintenance that needs to beo done? and how are we going toeg get it done? and the second t part is something that this that whole region has to focus on. fs what we're doing now in trying t to address the maintenance issues, we closed from midnightt to 5:00 in the morning.orni get about three hours of work w done because we have an hour se up, an hour of take down. then on the weekend the ser

paul wiedefeld is working on. he is expected to lay out a long-term maintenance plan in the coming weeks to outline how to get metro back on track. in northwest washington, brianne carter, abc7 news. jonathan: well, today was a good day to walk. what a gorgeous day out there. good start for the workweek. tuesday could be a whole other story. chief meteorologist doug hill checking in now with what we can expect with the forecast. doug: hey, jonathan. tomorrow we will have maybe temperatures warmer than today. sunshine till we hit the afternoon. then it could get interesting as well. potential for showers and the thunderstorms will ramp up. at the moment, live look at the weather bug camera at montgomery county in rockville. 79 degrees right now. breaks of the blue sky among the overcast condition. very mild. temperatures ranging from the low to mid-80's. 84 in charlottesville. 81 in leesburg. 71 in washington. 76 in baltimore. the fo cloudy and mild. overnight lows upper 50's to mid-60's thanks to the southwesterly

. >>> metro's safety and security will be front and center metro gm paul wiedefeld and board chairman jack evans has been called to testify before the oversight committee. last month a one-day shutdown was held. >>> a dozen strip clubs are now closed in prince george's county. they were forced to shut their doors at 5:00 this afternoon after a year-long zoning battle. prince george's county bureau chief tracee wilkins broke this story for us. she talked to club owners today about what they're planning to do next. >> reporter: for a year now daniel irving has been fighting the county to keep his adult entertainment businesses running. >> that's their whole idea, to try to bankrupt you. it exhausts all your funds in legal fees. >> reporter: as of 5:00 p.m. today, 12 clubs operating as strip clubs must stop by court and county that's a lot of money lost for business owners like daniel irving who had two clubs on the list. daniel says changes in county zoning law have made it hard for him and other strip club owners to operate. >> cease and desist letters were sent to the 12 establishment

mey yesterday general manager paul wiedefeld says he's pushingus hard to get the system back in shape.shapain, aa is on the current system and -- and managing what weg wt have as best as i can.s i c so, that's what i'm focusingin on now. chairman -- chairman of theof board as the policy level person, he is pushing veryhinger hard on the funding issue and a he has his case to make there.h. i'm focused on the day to dayay apparitions ratday to dayoperatw >> reporter: wiedefeld announced he's canceling ag contract to add smartphone paype systems to metro saying that really it just wasn't a wiset as way to spend money at this t point. we still do not know what caused that rain to lose powerra but weren't that power and track problems are systemice syi issues. back to you guys. >> thanks, mel. t seems like every day there'sverd something with metro.thin >>> now to the campaign trail. c hillary clinton and berniendnie sanders squared off iner brooklyn last night just fivet f days before the new york y primary.imar it was one of the most contentious democratic debatesse yet and sanders said clint