sam sweeney is at the live desk with the details..sam. passengers on jetbl f georgia got quite the scare last night. during it's landing in boston - the plane skidded off the taxiway, fishtailed and ended up facing the opposite direction. earlier in the day -- a snow storm temporarily shut down runways at logan. the good news - no one was hurt.. but still passengers onboard were a bit shaken up. one by one the passengers were helped off the plane by firefighters and bused to the terminal. yesterday's snow caused several flight delays.. but this morning -- airport operations are back to normal. developing now.. a man is in custody after allegedly crashing into a horse and buggy in st. mary's county, maryland. it happened around 5:30 last night on thompson corner road near mechanicsville. the horse was killed. a person in the to a hospital with serious injuries. the incident was initially reported as a hit and run. when an abc-seven crew arrived at the scene hours later, police were arresting a man. they say he returned to the scene. two lo

sam sweeney is live in herndon with more on the suspect-- and a child, injured in one of those crashes. also breaking this morning in alabama-- roy moore is now headed to court to try and stop the state from certifying democrat doug jones as the winner of the u-s senate race. moore filed the lawsuit late last night. jones defeated moore by about 20-thousand votes in the december 12th special election, but moore refuses to concede. his lawsuit claims there may have been voter fraud. developing now in maryland. a homeowner may be facing criminal charges, after a car break-end ends in gunfire. police say deontae parker and another man tried to break into a vehicle on sligosly-go parkway early tuesday morning. authorities say the vehicle's owner saw them, then fatally shot parker from inside the home. the shooter's daughter called 9-1-1. parker was pronounced dead shortly after the shooting. neighbors say several children were inside the house at the time of the incident. detectives are state's attorney's office to determine if the homeowner should be charged. new this morning. president t

sam sweeney at the airport. larry: but it depends on the weather. bill: the weather is not going to play a role on the travel conditions. just the roads themselves are with the amount of people. 42 in d.c. herndon in 30's. that is it. no freezing temperatures out there now. all temperatures are above freezing. philly, new york city, to central p.a. the temperatures are also above freezing. thin the bigger picture take temperatures aside is there rain or snow? if you are heading anywhere tonight in a reasonable five or six-hour drive, seven hour you are fine. no problems. most of the day tomorrow as well. a little bit of change. mid-to-upper 30's. 36 by 11:00. that is close to where we end up at. we will get down less than that before temperatures are back up by the morning. there is a little bit of change coming in tomorrow night. >> we have sent sam sweeney to the airport to see how everyone is dealing with the busy time. sam? sam: a good day here. it's a smooth day. all the flights have gone out. no cancellations on the american airlines. this is

reporting live at reagan national airport, i'm sam sweeney. jonathan: whatever it takes. >> a fairfax police officer is going to be okay as he was investigating a crash. i happened to be going by and it was an absolute mess with the traffic. the crash led to backup throughout the rush hour commute. everything, though, we are told is back open and the ride home should b kimberly: a dozen of people were injured when they ran into a crowd of people. they say it's deliberate but no evidence to link it to terror. the driver and another person taken into custody and investigators say he has a history of mental illness, drug-in and other run-ins with police. jonathan: g.o.p. tax plan will be law and that means big changes when you file in 2019. there are things to do before the end of this year to help maximize the take-home pay. melissa dipane with the move you can make now. there are things to help yourself. melissa: that is right. everybody's tax situation is different but based on what the tax advisers have pulled out of the bill most people can

sam sweeney is at the live desk with more. the president spent a half hour with the new york times at his golf club in west palm beach. he told the times 16 times that theres been no collusion discovered by the speicial councils investigation. the president told the times that robert mueller and his team are making the united states look very bad. on china, he voiced frustration about secret oil imports to north korea. but went on to say that chinas president treated him better than anybody has ever been treated by china in history. to taxes, he told the times he knows quote the details of taxes better than anybody. better than the greatest cpa." it should be known, president trump has not dont a sit down television interview with a major network since last may. that's reaction from taxpayers in virginia ... some of them - finding out from seven on your side... that they aren't eligible to claim a property tax deduction this year, after all!! that's after an i-r-s bulletin telling taxpayers that, in order to do so -- their ass

abc7's transportation reporter sam sweeney on your side with how it works. sam: we have all been there. heading out on vacation and bang, the flight is canceled. if the airline's fault they will pay for the hotel and meals. but what happens if it's a weather cancellation or a terror attack. some people have no idea the credit card will pick up the tab. >> i didn't know that. >> airline weekly explains how it works. >> you have to get what it pays for. some of them have higher fee. if something goes wrong the card might pay for what the airline won't. >> a six to a 12-hour delay. not all credit cards are equal. the city advantage cards are among several to pay up to $500 per passenger for hotels. food and toiletries. >> we are talking about basic travel expenses. if you find yourself stuck in a day's end you keep the receipt. the credit card might pay for it. >> it is a process. keep your receipt. like a lot of things in life the squeaky wheel gets the grease. they won't just do it. if you follow the rules you will get your money back if you have one of the ca

sam sweeney takes us to the hilton innovation lab in tyson to show us how this works.tate-of-the-art innovation lab, the future is here. everything in your hotel room connect to your phone. this is 100% personaliz and, if you want a picture of your dog on the wall come it will do that, too. >> we will store your favorite streaming apps, your photos. sam: from your phone, you will be able to adjust the lights, tv. movie start watching a and fall asleep, don't worry. when you come back, you can pick up where you left off. >> at the end of your stay, anything that you have saved, your pictures, they are wiped clean so that the next guest will not be able to access it. sam: we asked a privacy expert about the risks of this. >> and rental cars, consumers are able to hook their phones up to the cars, and we know rental cars are keeping customers' information after the customer is done using the car. sam: hilton says they are not selling or mining any of your personal information. >> hilton is not going to force anybody to use this new technology. exciting, but right now, it'

sam sweeney takes unside a vdot command center and brianne carter is catching up with commuters. but we begin with sam sweeney on the big day of big traffic changes. hi, sam. sam: hey, alison. good afternoon. great day in the command center. it was busy. everything went according to plan. this is what they want it to look like. traffic free flowing every day. they are going to do that with the new tolls. that is exactly what happened this morning. they averaged 57 miles per hour. that is 20 miles per hour over what they had on monday last december. now they say that 37% of people use the carpool today which means they didn't pay a lot of people were getting upset on social media when the prices topped $34.50 at the height this morning at six minutes. it changes every six minutes. but people paying for that didn't have a choice to pay that. on friday they weren't alive to drive at all. so that is good news for those people. but there are still a lot of people who weren't sure what to do. 14% of the drivers didn't have an easy pass. knowing they will get a violation in the mail. >>

sam sweeney is live along 66 with how high the tolls got today. sam, what are we talking? sam: $44. nobody thought they would go higher than $40. they did this morning. take a look at the traffic now inbounds. that is what officials are trying to avoid. a busy morning on 66. 395. the tolls go up. the more cars there that is how the program was supposed to work. transportation secretary in virginia says the plan is going according to what they had planned all along. last week the lawmakers from both sides of the aisle said they should freeze tolls because they are out of control. there should be a cap and roll back rules they had two weeks ago. if transportation secretary said no, that is not going to happen. this is as planned. the traffic is moving and the tolls are only averaging $10 inbound and $4 outbound. we taught up with the drive -- we caught up with the drivers to hear what they think of the crazy numbers. >> i understand prior to the toll in place i couldn't even use the road. i wouldn't pay $44 unless there was an emergency of some kind. >> it's ridiculous. it's crazy. i

sam sweeney explains why montgomery county firefighters are back there an hour ago talking to neighbors. sam: firefighters left the scene here. they worked all night long to get this fire under control at this house in chevy chase. they came back to hand out these papers that are notifying residents in the neighborhood about the smoke alarm law that goes into effect january 1. these new smoke alarms will last for 10 years. some people forget to change their batteries, even during daylight savings time, and that is one of the main causes for fatalities. we talked with one of the cap with montgomery fire to see why this is so important. >> they have a 10-year battery. there is no maintenance. a lot of times people forget to change the batteries. all were back. some people get too busy. in this case the person who was sleeping inside was able to make it out safely because of a fire alarm. that is exactly why they are making this such a priority here in montgomery county. reporting chevy chase, i am sam sweeney. adrianna: a baltimore couple are among the five people dead in a plane crash in

sam sweeney tells us it doesn't look like they are going away anytime soon. >> $40? that is ridiculous. sam: with tolls as high as $40 on i-66, our area went wild. some lawmakers demanded change. >> there are ways to do this to move people and move cars in a more efficient matter -- manner, a number of lawmakers called for an immediate full thisnsion, but later morning, transportation secretary aubrey lane sent this multipage letter back, detailing each reason why he will not suspend the toll. lane this morning, transportation says it was only a brief time period, only six minutes, and only 30 cars aided that price. the average driver paid $14.50. lane says the $40 toll is not something drivers should expect to pay daily. restrictions,rid lane says allowing hybrids would increase tolls. more cars, higher the toll. he points out i-95 doesn't allow hybrids. >> i'm not angry about it. it reduces congestion, and if you have to be somewhere and want to pay, you will do it. sam: the transportation secretary says it will ask vdot to review its algorithm. in arlington, i am s

at the fairfax county midsummer center, sam sweeney, abc 7 news. youanna: for those of waiting to see who will come out on top in the virginia delegate race, you'll have to wait again until the -- as the name drawing was postponed. a random drawing was set to decide the winner of the 94th district. there is a tie between democrat shelly simonds and republican david janssen. -- david y vote counted after republicans argued it should be included. in the 20th district, democrat will not contest his call -- but a luncheon officials say some stafford and fredericksburg voters were given the wrong ballots. now to this developing story that had social media buzzing overnight. a tokyo-bound flight turned around after eight hours of flying. the reason, a wrong passenger on board. explains whaty happened, and has reaction from the celebrity you went viral with a rant online. overnight, after the plane parked at a secure location. passengers were deplaned and bust to the terminal all because it on board. left laxof the flight at 11:36 a.m., and touched down e

how the roads are working and where the money is going let's go to the transportation reporter sam sweeney. he is in arlington for us. sam? sam: >> the goal is to keep the traffic moving and to provide new transportation out for the people who live and work along the 66 corridor. take a look at in. this morning's commute on 66 inside the beltway noticeably lighter. the average speed is 57 miles per hour. what typically is one of the most congested roads in country. >> we experienced on average over the four-hour period 20 miles per hour increase. in speeds. >> tolls for the single occupant vehicles increased based on demand. and there is no limit. today they surged to $34 hadn't -- $34.50 in the 8:00 hour. vdot hasn't said how much they expect this year or how many paid this morning but it goes back to the congestion on the 66 corridor. >> we are putting the money in the bus service. more transportation strategy. this morning a new bus route started from the government center to foggy bottom. >> before today solo drivers were been ad in the morning rush. now they -- were been ad in the mor

reporting live along i-66, sam sweeney, abc7 news. alison: we will keep watching sam mentioned this morning they hit $34.50. but consider this. riding lane solo last week in rush hour would have landed you a ticket of $125. brianne carter picks up the team coverage with the driver reaction from mobiletrak7. hi, brianne. brianne: consider this. take a live look at what we are seeing. this is 66 westbound at 5:00 in the evening. almost sight that you haven't seen in quite a while. but still some drivers say no matter what the price, they don't plan to hop in their car and hopping on the stretch of road. >> the first morning. fluctuating toll along interstate 66. >> it seems like a drastic change. >> single drivers had to pay up to use the lane from the beltway eastbound in the city. >> that is outrageous. >> according to vdot, the climbed to $34 at the height of rush hour. >> that price when i heard this morning, i can't comprehend it. >> vdot says with the toll the traffic was lighter than a typical monday. john says it's not a sustaina

sam sweeney is at the live desk with more. this morning.. virginia's transportation secretary is responding after lawmakers called for an immediate suspension of the tolls. aubry lane sent a 6-page letter to the state senators and delegates who called for the suspension. in it-- lane detailed why he will not suspend the tolls. he said reducing the hours would result in higher tolls. as for that shocking 40 dollar toll... lane said just 39 cars paid that price this week - and it's not something drivers should expect to pay daily. paid 14 dollars and 50 cents... which he says is below the estimated cost of 17 dollars. new video of the damage left behind after a car slams into a business in rockville. glass shattering - as customers were left scrambling inside. you can see the shelves overturned. it happened sunday afternoon at the kielbasa factory on rockville pike. the owner says it was a busy day - her store - packed. luckily - no one was seriously hurt. it's not clear if the driver will be charged. to the middle east now - and new reaction

i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. michelle: spirit airlines is booting the c.e.o. he will step down in a year and will be replaced by the company chief financial officer. they have struggled as the legacy carriers adopted the no frill tickets that come baggage to beverages. the profits are down 20% this year. nancy: johns hopkins university taking environmental stance against coal. the board of trustees saying they will no longer invest in the companies that produce coal for power or heat. the move made out of concern for the effects on climate change. michelle: winning is nothing new to a local high school. but the three-peat hardly comes to what the coach has endured. >> i wouldn't want to go through it again. through is good that came out of it. >> next up, the battle off the field that makes our coach of the week a champion in more than one way. nancy: driving through the thomas fire, the largest one burning in southern california. more of this video. for the first time in days progress in the fight. robert: everyone fields good at westfield. another title bid.

on the get a check in ground with sam sweeney. the reason the weather service has the weather advisory in effect is if more snow materializes, it coincides with the morning rush. driving in with cloudy conditions, cold conditions. will get sunshine by lunch. it will be called. we will talk about the tumbling temperatures and more snow chances this weekend. sam: we are in hagerstown. it is cold, 24 degrees. we are in hagerstown and it is dry. cold.ound is it will stick and make for slippery conditions. going to check out frederick and the district and let you know if we find out anything. you kind of have a commute. 60 inbound, you are going to have a good ride. inside the beltway through falls church and in towards the key bridge, in great shape. the american legion bridge, doing well between maryland and virginia. ride.l, a good if you are doing interstate travel, heading out of town, it is a good ride. you is the trip on 95 as ride out of laurel towards the capital beltway on the southbound side of 95. 20 of cars on the roadway.

adrianna: sam sweeney is following the latest from the live desk. sam: the fire was six months ago and it killed more than 70 people and hundreds lost homes. only 42 families have been resettled so far. 166 families are still living in temporary shelter. two days of public hearings are said to get underway. after the fire, british officials promised change, but experts say dozens of buildings in britain are constructed with that ultra-flammable tear real and remain occupied. officials will hear two days of comment. resettlement attempts because resentments run so deep. extremely flammable insulation is linked to the cause of that fire. autria: 7 is on your side with a warning for homeowners in the area. fire investigators warning about the importance of chimney investigations -- inspections. chimney anded in a the homeowner was able to get out safely, but the fire has caused about $200,000 worth of damage. >> it appeared that a break, a fire brick from inside the firebox of the fireplace, had fallen out of place at some point while the homeowner was

sam sweeney with the live -- live with the strange change events. sam: this was like the scene of a movie on the 6200 block of autumn lane. someone knocks on the door of a home, a child answers, and the suspect attacks the child. a family calls 911 and police rushed to the scene. the suspect took off to a local shopping center, attacked . takes off down centreville parkway in herndon and crashes into a minivan with seven people inside at frying pan road. one child is ejected and she is blown to the hospital. the suspect again takes off. the least give chase on foot and finally catch up with him, but it does not end. the suspect attacks the officers, sending one to the hospital. a massive police presence all night long. the suspect had minor injuries and is expected to be ok. the police officer is also expected to be ok. as to why that suspect knocked on the door in the first place, we are trying to figure that out . as soon as we get new information, we will pass it along. adrianna: breaking news out of alabama, where senate candidate roy moor ,e fil

: all day we have seen people reunited with the lll dan people reunited with the loved ones and sam sweeney is there what that part of the story. sam? sam: today we stood at the international arrivals hall where the people wait for their loved ones all day long. our job was to capture the reunions. >> i'm so excited. this is the best moment ever. the best day. venezuela. >> it's a long time to see my mom. >> the scene played out over and over again. >> her sister just came home. and his dad is home from working in saudi arabia. >> everyone coming from different part of the world for different reasons. >> celebrate with the family. >> this all comes down to family. this scene plays out every day but around christmas time it's more special. reporting live at dulles, sam sweeney, abc7 news. kimberly: i admit it, i'm teary eyed. >> it's always sweet. to get the families a d larry: the family who are fans of yours. >> that is even better! they are not always. kimberly: that is preferable. bill: it isn't always easy around the holidays. show you what is going on now. we don't have problems in ter

transportation reporter sam sweeney with when construction will start. sam? >> this is a great announcement. construction for the big project starts next fall. the bridge is so damaged they have to do emergency repairs this january before they can begin a major project. this is a lifeline to the area. 70,000 people use the bridge the conditions deteriorated so fast. it's so bad that buses can't use it because they are overweight. the congressional delegation worked hander the clock to find funding for this. >> we are excited because it was scheduled to be done in two phases. by awarding it by a single contract we saved taxpayers $35 million. just adds importantly we are able to shave off a year and a half of time in the construction work needed. >> if they didn't start the project now they would have had to shut down the bridge in 2021. that is when the construction is now expected to be during the construction project. reporting live on the side of the memorial bridge, i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. jonathan: thanks. a reminder on the interstate 66 the toll lan

sam sweeney at the airport. larry: but it depends on the weather. bill: the weather is not going to play a role on the travel conditions. just the roads themselves are with the amount of people. 42 in d.c. herndon in 30's. that is it. no freezing temperatures out there now. all temperatures are above freezing. philly, new york city, to central p.a. the temperatures are also above freezing. thin the bigger picture take temperatures aside is there rain or snow? if you are heading anywhere tonight in a reasonable five or six-hour drive, seven hour you are fine. no problems. most of the day tomorrow as well. a little bit of change.

in northwest washington i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. larry: there is good news for the metro riders. the free wi-fi service available at the 30 underground rail stations. it was available at six stations before today. >> good way to pass the time. you have to have that working. >> is it going to snow? not a big snowstorm. this is around the west virginia, the maryland line. it looks fine but snow flakes out there. take a look. there is not much going on. it's typical to get the cold air and a lift over the mountains. not a big deal. the clouds work in the area. we have snowflakes tomorrow between 12:00 noon and 5:00. there is not a ton on the map. we don't see a big weather system through the area. when we have those real little brief snowfalls, those will sometimes be more flettenning at times. not saying tomorrow. but at times. what we are looking at is the temperatures that drop. we watch the air temperature. this has an effect on what is going on in the sky and the road as well. everybody is at or above freezing. there are a couple of spots to the west below. but the winds are fi

i'm sam sweeney. kimberly: that is so sweet. if you are on a road trip, download the abc7 news app for traffic alert and real time traffic map to avoid the backup. larry: new developments on the deadly derailment. the ntsb reviewed the trains data recorder. inward facing camera. they were talking about speeding six seconds before the crash. they were not using personal devices like a phone or tablet. it will not run again until positive train control is operational. that is a system that gets slow. it was on the train and it had not been activated. kimberly: mitch mcconnell goes after stephen bannon. the sartistic quip up next -- sarcastic quip up next. larry: and a car ran into a church in capitol heights yesterday. >> the community coming together and offers help. that's up next. kimberly: doug jones defeated roy moore thanks in large part to a significant amount of we have some of the best and the funniest 58 terntive votes you don't -- alternative votes. you don't want to miss. larry: the bottom falls outs of bitcoin. the dr

sam sweeney explains how you can recover them. sam: today the officials at the t.s.a.les airport are showcasing the items lef behind over the christmas holiday and informing the public of what happens to the items left at the airport, airlines control, the t.s.a. control or even the airport control. they will be tweeting the mog until 2:30 this afternoon. the first is the boze headphones. then there are wrapping paper and sentimental objects exist. pictures, old family photos left behind. look at the video we shot not long ago of the lost and found area at dulles airport. you can see the bins and bins of the things they have that are collected. usually t.s.a. keeps it around for 30 days before they destroy them or go into the government surplus where they are then sold. keep in mind at dulles airport there is a t.s.a. lost and found, the airport lost and found and then the airlines have their own lost and found. if you have something that you may have left at the airport, you might want to check in with t.s.a. or check the twitter feed today through 2:30. in the newsro

transportation reporter between -- sam sweeney is live on your side with the brewing battle. sam? >> we are heard of the prices of $30 to $40. they will demand that vdot suspend the program. they say what is happening is highway robbery. vdot called it a win-win. the single drivers can use 66 in rush hour for a fee. car pooling is still free. it sounds great. unless -- >> people with the hybrids can use it. >> i also understand people were cheating and going to the one person and not paying. fine. pay for it. >> some are calling for vdot to cap the to prices and lower the toll prices altogether. >> this is not the right thing to do. there are ways to do this. move people to move the cars to an efficient manner. without having to get a part-time job. >> he says he is calling for program to be suspended if there are not immediate changes. >> how much more volume son the side streets now that the drivers are steering clear of 66? we have that coming up at 6:00. reporting live along 66 in arlington, i'm sam sweeney. abc7 news. >> the state board of education expected to tackle the al-

at reagan national airport, i'm sam sweeney. michelle: the naacp is still warning about african-americans flying on american airlines. the organization says the airline is making progress combating racism. they ordered mandatory training for all employees after they issued the tavel advisory in october. alison: jerome powell nomination to be the next chairman of the federal reserve moves forward. the senate banking committee approval means that the nomination will move to the full senate where it is expected to pass. the only senators vote no was elizabeth warren. michelle: people packed charlottesville city hall monday night to comment on investigation in the summer's white nationalist rally. >> it's an insult to the dead, the wound and the community. michelle: they found the action of the city leaders contributed to violence between protesters and the counterprotesters. they asked the investigation by a former u.s. attorney. >> we talk to a lot of police officers who said i have no idea what to expect. [000:49:59;00] supposed

reporting live along the memorial bridge i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. jonathan: thank you. reminder starting monday interstate 66 will be h.o.v. inside the beltway. you will need to have at least another person in the car with you you want to drive for free. if you are an easy pass or you will have to pay a minimum $2 toll. there is no maximum. the rates will change based on volume. we have all you need to know about the extended h.o.v. hours and the new toll on the abc7 app. nancy: breaking news from american airlines, sam sweeney tweeting that the airline and the pilot union reached a deal to staff every flight in the holidays. you may recall a computer glitch allowed too many pilots to take time off in the holidays but now we understand the problem is solved and the union has withdrawn the grievance. jonathan: on the hill we are standing by for the senate to vote on tax reform. mcconnell announced the republicans have the votes to pass. democrats are not going quietly. >> i believe it will help the economy. it will help working people. most people benefit from it. not ev

reporting live outside the hospital center i'm sam sweeney. larry: very interesting. thanks.cks are the talk of the town. today we are getting our first report card on one of the biggest dockless bike share companies doing in d.c. line bikes said since it launched in d.c. they have 16,600 active riders and combined 36,000 miles. a lot of people have taken to social media and complain about the bikes but the company is telling us most people are happen wi the program. >> this is a very small number of extreme cases. >> they make the news. but on a daily basis the team will touch dozens of bikes and have problems where to find them or what is wrong with the bike. and not much difference in d.c. 1% or less is vandalized or theft. these are the ones that stick out. >> the trial basis will end in april and the city will decide whether they will continue to allow dockless bikes. "7 on your side" with a new warning about batteries in the kid's toys. alison: investigators are blaming a lithium ion battery inside a toy for an apartment fire over the weekend that caused major damage. a

sam sweeney in the newsroom. a trake situation all around. >> this is horrific. i knocked on the door of the family. they spoke to me and said emotion is raw right now. behar, the father is injured. he is on his way back to florida with three fractured ribs. his 11-year-old son was killed in his arms on the side of the road. anna behar was also killed and her mother was killed as well. she was from florida. you can imagine how difficult it is. 12 people on the board was killed traveling to the mayan ruins there a hundred miles south of the yucatan peninsula. they were all traveling from the royal caribbean cruises. they were on a day trip there. the driver in the case was speeding and negligent and detained and spending c listen to a passenger on board. >> my wife's sister saw it. >> my wife put this. i did it. i took it off later. took it off later. >> at this hour, mexican authorities do have the bus driver detained as they get new developments. we will pass them along. in the meantime, behar, the man from lorton on his way back to florida and will be evaluated

transportation reporter sam sweeney at the reagan national airport. a lot of people can get reimbursed for this. sam: they can. it's not easy but you can do it. the catastrophic failures like we saw in atlanta can have the ripple effects across the be stranded. as you said, they have to buy hotels, meals, ground transportation. some have to get medicine. big question is how do you get reimbursed. can you at all? a scene from a horror movie, dark concourses, angry passengers and nowhere to go for help. >> we are waiting to get out of here. a complete nightmare. >> thousands find themselves in the same situation. >> there isn't a flight for me until tuesday. >> many people need hotels but in this case the airline likely won't be paying. >> the passengers have no rights whatsoever. >> airline consumer advocate with the travelers united says when it is not the airline's fault, passengers typically are on their own. but what about those who bought trip insurance? >> you have to read the fine print carefully because they might say we handle natural disasters

i'm sam sweeney. >> thank you. the new year will bring the good gnaws for driverers who use beach drive in northwest d.c. the national park service will reopen the road in early january. project. phase three will remain closed until fall. the way to pay for parking in ocean city could be different next summer. right now you have to leave the receipt on the front of the dashboard. >> a mother wants answer after a d.c. school let her 3-year-old daughter leave with a stranger. the girl wisconsin allowed to leave with a relative of another student thinking she was his niece. they are investigating the incident. >> a step closer. the tax cut hours after the house did the same thing. how does it affect us moving forward? kristine frazao has a look at the three biggest changes ahead. >> this is the greatest example of a promise made in a promise being kept. >> what will they see change? if it passes the legislation is a sere use boon for big business -- serious boon for big business. cutting the tax rate which g.o.p. says

. >> i'm sam sweeney. abc7 news. alison: wow! interesting to see. despite the cold there is for the start of hanukkah. >> former president jimmy carter lit the first minora in 1979. bill: the winds, a formidable opponent. alison: took them a while. bill: it sure did. winds stick around. good evening to all of you. looking at the capital wheel. we have gusts for the 30 to 40 miles per hour range. the overall wind speed in 15 to 25 miles per hour range. you saw leesburg there from 30 to 26. manassas is 37- andrews at 45. this is relatively warm. 17 in winchester. d.c., we are below freezing. the farther east, warmer. the numbers will fall below freezing in the hour. so currently we also have snowshowers that are working across. we had it earlier. we talk about that in the mountains to the west. the future cast. we show you that. working to the overnight we experience nighttime. tomorrow the thermometer might read 17 to 18 or 24 through the downtown, or the metro i should say. looking at the wind. the wind chill is down there to the single digits. it's

transportation reporter sam sweeney is on your side with that sam: in this situation you don't have many options. we caught up today with the airline in the district who said look, typically when the airlines mess up, they take responsibility. and they put passengers up in a hotel. well, in this case, jonathan just said this was on the airport. there was a fire there. that shut down the power. then the airport shut down as well. so people were stranded. not just atlanta but across the country. they said the airline offered them a hotel but many were stranded on the floor of the airport. chincoteague offered to give them free food. but they said you are out of luck if you are hoping for reimbursement. let's listen. >> they love to cover everything on their own. they may h insurance. read the fine print carefully because they might say we handle natural disasters and the problems like wars and stuff like that. sometimes they don't. but none of them say we will handle an electrical blackout. >> i went through the fine print and the credit card websites and no one says anything about a black

sam sweeney is live in arlington, where a few hours ago, a group was demanding change. : a lot of people across virginia are talking about this. this afternoon, more than 50 state senators and delegates caused for a -- called for a suspension of the tolls. the toll rates now to the beltway is at $9.50. that changes every six minutes. the delegates and senators say they were misled during the planning stages. they want the tolls gone and the original hov hours brought back to where they were week and they want hybrid vehicles back on the roads during rush hour. they say you can't start charging for a road you haven't improved yet. >> you can't start charging people for lanes that were previously free. what we are calling for is to a neck the new lanes, make them happen. times.e the hov create new capacity inside and outside the beltway with new parking lots, and to what we can to go back to the original promise, which is to say we will only charge people for using eye-66 when i-66 is improved, not before. vdot calls this political rhetoric. they say the program is working as they planned.

sam sweeney, abc 7 news.ly: 7 on your side the consumer alert about a potential scam that could leave you burning a hole in your pocket. lisa hartman posted on a facebook page asking them to update her home for the hit home-improvement show. a man contacted her and claimed she won a home makeover. messagei first saw the i was really excited. kimberly: then she realized it was a scam. when the man asked for $27,000. a few red flags -- the wrong name of the application, asking for money up front, and blatant misspellingss. holiday season. some hurricane harvey victims lost everything during the storm, including christmas decorations, so a group in texas came together to give families trees and ornaments and lights. one of those trees went to a family that said they would have celebrated christmas without lights theyis year. >> thank god, thank god, i got it. kimberly: about 100 harvey survivors were surprised with the christmas decorations. i have not put up my tree yet and it's making me crazy. it has to happe

sweeney is at the live desk with more. samplane coming in from georgia skid off the runway, fished -- fish tailed. the runway was shut down due to icy conditions. this is a new york, where four feet of snow blanketed parts of buffalo. historic snowfall. portland, oregon, seeing a white christmas for the first time in a decade. this is only the sixth time since 1884. nothing like back to you. two officers have been shot. loudoun county shares deputies are recovering after being shot. they were responding to a domestic dispute between a man and his 19-year-old daughter. when deputies tried to arrest the man, he pulled out a gun and shot them. neighbors are stunned. timeis is supposed to be a of happiness. it is unbelievable. larry: the deputies are expected to survive. the suspect was arrested and is being held without bond, charged with two counts of attempted capital murder. toianna: we are expected learn the name of a teenager killed in silver spring. to death around 6:30 on christmas eve. we will let you know when police hav

sam sweeney with more on this chaotic scene. scene out oflike a a movie. it all unfolded before 8:00 last night on autumn drive. that is where it started. the suspect knocked on a door. that is when the suspect attacked the child. when the family called 911, the suspect took off in a stolen car headed to the nearby shopping center, crashed into a pickup truck, and got into a fight with the pickup driver, then carjacking in stealing the pickup truck. he headed down the road and crashed into a minivan. the minivan had seven people inside of it. a child was ejected and is in the hospital in critical condition. the suspect took off on foot. two police officers gave chase. finally tackling the man. he injured one of the police officers, sending him to the hospital. the officer is expected to be ok, but i this hour, it remains unclear why the suspect originally knocked on the door and assaulted the child. we are waiting on an update from fairfax county police. as soon as we get it, we will pass it along. adrianna: people are behindtwo -- this afternoon, two peop

sam sweeney has more on what they had to say. sam: we have heard from these women individually before, but now they are joining forces, foring out president trump what they say were inappropriate sexual advances. one woman says it happened decades ago on an airplane and she told dozens of people about it. >> i am hoping that this will come forward and produce enough to address congress this. othery have investigated congress members. i think it is only fair he be investigated as well. sam: the white house has denied allegations, saying the women are lying. over the weekend, u.n. ambassador nikki haley said all the women deserve to be heard. adrianna: new developments involving paul manafort, the former trump campaign chairman and his business associate rick dates. they are back in federal court this morning. urging manafort to tread lightly, the judge decided not to penalize him for an op ed he ghost wrote for a newspaper dozens of charges from conspiracy to money laundering. we are one day away from the alabama senate race. right

sam sweeney has calls for change less than a week in. >> some strong words this afternoon from t n the democratic delegation calling for an immediate suspension of this program. 2013, they were promised tolls the most at $17. they have now gone up to $40. it lasted for six minutes. vdot put a a response in only 39 cars paid that toll, but thousands averaged tolls below that. the delegation says we wanted to go back to normal, back to hybrid vehicles allowed to use it, they want more slug lines, more park-and-ride's and they want each of those hours to go back to what they were. they said it is not fair for people have -- to have to change their lives because their constituents cannot do that. they said if the program is suspended will the people who paid the money get it back question requests i don't want to make any commitments, i don't know how much has been collected if it is in escrow or what will happen but we need to take it pays by piece. first we need to suspend the tolls. >> vdot did put out a statement calling this political rhetoric saying the program is working exactly as

sam sweeney is at dulles with everything you need to know. >> today the line stretched on and on. >> 4.2 million people to pass through the security screening checkpoints on what are expected to be the busiest flying days of the season. >> the best advice for traveling with gifts. them in wrapping paper. we recommend that you use gift bags and gift boxes. >> this allows for quicker screenings incase one present sounds an alarm. all electronics larger than a cell phone must be out for separate inspection. for the gifts with the water like snow globes, you might want to put them in the checked luggage. >> the rule of thumb is, if it's bigger than a tennis ball it's more than 3.4 ounces. >> this may be obvious but no real or play guns go in carry on luggage. this year they have seen a surge of passengers trying to board with guns. >> most people tell us they forgot they had their loaded gun with them interestingly enough. a first offense to bring gun to checkpoint is $3,900. that is an expensive mistake. if they forget or the wife or husband packed the bags, none of the excuses fly. >>

reporting live, i'm sam sweeney, abc7 news. alison: thank you. coming up tonight a student activist tackling tough issues. how the bowie state freshman is inspiring others. that is next. >> first lady melania trump packing and sorting toys. the message through giving back. plus -- >> a special reunion happened today after a special delivery. coming up, details on the baby's emergency arival at josh: welcome back. i'm meteorologist josh knight. coming to you live from georgetown. it's cold but not enough to stop people getting about. we are starting out on th radar. there are snowflakes coming down for us to front royal. the air is dry. so a lot of that is disappearing. or evaporating on way down. you might still see flurries. if you are getting to nner, it's around the low 30's. it may be bumping up a degree close to nine as the clouds move in. chance for flakes not out of the question. 42 saturday getting in the weekend. chilly day but not too bad. 46 on sunday with the showers developing later on. news at 5:00 continues after >>> i need to dres

sam sweeney is patrolling the roadways in mobiletrak7. we keep an eye on his feet and josh as well. we will alert you to the problem spot. keep tabs anytime you want. you can download it. radar is nice. check it at any time. >> thank you. we will move to the developing story in prince george's county. a daring $200,000 heist in the middle of the day. >> the target here armored car sitting outside of a bank. alison: our maryland bureau chief brad bell is there and tracking the story for us. brad? brad: yeah, it happens ri that was their target. we see the crazy video all the time of using chains and the trucks to yank open or steal a.t.m.'s. they don't have much success. so these guys waited until the money machine was open. >> the masked gunman ran in after they opened for loading. bad guys had rifles and the couriers had handguns. in a matter of seconds the thieves raced away with what the sources say is nearly for 250,000 in cash. >> this is obviously a brazen robbery in the middle of the day. this because was open for business. we haven't seen this case in a long time. brad: it w

transportation reporter sam sweeney has been tracking these every morning since the tolling began.over nine miles for solo drivers. those of you what don't have an e-z pass flex for the carpool. get one fast. they won't know how many people paid that much. a lot of moment. you could walk. alison: my goodness. most brides plan the wedding down to the very last detail. but a new york woman left something really big in the hands of her future husband. >> i promised my bride i would make her a dress but she is not going to see it until the day of the wedding. this is the making of the dress. alison: so he got to work 15 days before the wedding. he used a mannequin and he didn't know if he -- if he didn't know how to do something in particular he did what we would all do. heg the bride saw her dress the day of the wedding. >> i was so overcome with emotion. i didn't know what to say. i just was speechless. i saw it and i was like how did you even know that this exactly what i wanted? alison: since she posted the video on facebook he has now gotten dozens of requests to make other weddin